Capt. Grant on the Geology of Cutch. 305 



alluvial districts must, therefore, be considered partly imaginary, as I have 

 thought it more correct to give a general outline, than to mark, with apparent 

 minuteness, limits, which my examination of the district, did not enable me to 

 ascertain. 



Land gaining on the Sea. — In many places along the coast, where there 

 are ridges of sand, the land gains upon the sea. These dunes are constantly 

 increasing, from the particles blown up by the sea-breezes, or the south-west 

 winds, which prevail during so great a portion of the year ; and the ridges fre- 

 quently occur in double rows, occupying a considerable breadth, and varying 

 from 50 to 100 feet in height. During strong winds the whole appear to be 

 in motion, from the sand drifting along their surfaces. 



At Mandavee, the principal seaport in Cutch, is a ruin on a spot called the Old Bunder, or 

 Quay. It is now about three miles inland, and is situated on the bank of the river, which flows 

 into the sea near the present town ; but at the time when this old quay was in use, the town must 

 have been some distance from the present shore. A small temple, built upon a rock, now in 

 the middle of the town, is said to have been at that time also in the sea. Even now, a considerable 

 space, composed of loose sand and sand-hills, intervenes between the town and the sea; and the 

 distance is continually increasing, owing to the quantity of sandy detritus brought down by the 

 river during the periodical floods, and washed back by the sea in the dry season. A bar is also 

 thus formed across the mouth of the river, and the position of it varies so much, and so often, as 

 to render the entrance to the river very difficult. Even boatmen belonging to the port, who have 

 been absent a few months, cannot pilot their vessels in. During very dry seasons, this bar in- 

 creases to so great a degree as almost to block up the entrance entirely ; and the laden boats always 

 strand upon it at high water, their cargoes being carried away by carts, when the tide is out. 



At Moondrah, Budraseer, and other seaports up the Gulf of Cutch (see Map), the land also 

 gains upon the sea, rendering necessary the frequent removal, further seaward, of the quays or 

 landing-places. Where rivers enter the gulf, this increase of land at their mouths is easily un- 

 derstood, as the sea, for nine months of the year, washes back the sandy detritus accumulated by 

 the river at its delta during the periodical floods. Where rivers flow all the year round, they 

 may be enabled to keep a channel through the deltas constantly free ; but when the stream is 

 inert during three fourths of the year, and the wind and sea are continually at work, the case must 

 be very different. 



Marine Forests. — The same operation is in progress at places separated 

 from the main waters of the gulf by small creeks. 



Some of these inlets penetrate six or seven miles from the coast through a tract covered 

 for miles in extent with shrubs. At low water, these plants are exposed to their roots ; but at 

 high tides, merely their upper branches are visible, so that the boats sail through a marine forest, 

 the sails and yards frequently brushing against the boughs of the trees. The growth of these 

 shrubs is so rapid, that the sailors have very often to force their boats through the upper 

 branches, particularly at the various angles of the very tortuous creeks, when they wish to save 

 a tack, and the wind is scant. The stems and branches of the trees are covered with Crustacea 



