650 Miscellaneous. [Dec. 



so soft that all but the thickest bones break on endeavouring to separate them 

 from the earth. I cannot say to what animal they belong, but I am very sure there 

 are now no animals at Dumdum to which such large bones could have belonged, 

 and I have never heard of any kind of deer near the place. The tree was found at 

 a depth of 18 feet below the ground ; it seems to be Soondry, (as is the case with 

 most of the wood found in similar situations elsewhere.)" 



We hope when a deposit of bones is again found, either at Dumdum or in any 

 other parts of the Delta, some pains will be taken to extract them carefully, for 

 comparison with existing species of the inhabitants of the present Sunderban swamps 

 and forests ; for, although, geologically speaking, they are of very modern origin, and 

 we trace in the names of villages considerably higher up the Delta the fact of the pre- 

 sent continent having at one period been divided into islands : such as Agardwip, 

 Sukhsagar, &c. Still at the present observed rate of recovery of flooded Sunderband 

 land, it appears to require a very lengthened process to fill up from 18 to 25 feet of 

 alluvium over the peat stratum, which was evidently the Sunderban vegetation of the 

 time. History lends no aid in defining the sea boundary at different epochs. We 

 must therefore seek the aid of physical research to solve the interesting question of 

 the growth of the Delta. J . P. 



5. — Fall of Fish from the Sky. 



The phenomenon of fish falling from the sky in the rainy season, however in- 

 credible it may appear, has been attested by such circumstantial evidence, that no 

 reasonable doubt can be entertained of the fact. I was as incredulous as my neigh- 

 bours, until I once found a small fish, which had apparently been alive when it fell, 

 in the brass funnel of my pluviometer at Benares, which stood on an insulated stone 

 pillar, raised five feet above the ground in my garden. I have now before me a note 

 of a similar phenomenon, on a considerable scale, which happened at the Nokul- 

 hatty factory, zillah Dacca Jelalpur, in 1830. 



Mr. Cameron, who communicated the fact, took the precaution of having a regular 

 deposition of the evidence of several natives who had witnessed the fall, mf.de in 

 Bengalee, and attested before the magistrate : the statement is well worthy of pre- 

 servation in a journal of science ; I therefore make no apology for introducing a 

 translation at length. The shower of fish took place on the 19th February, 1830, 

 in the neighbourhood of the Surbundy factory, Feridpoor. J. P. 



Deposition of the Witnesses to the Fall of Fish from Heaven, on the 9th of Phalgun, 

 1236, B. E. at Havelli, zillah Dacca Jelalpur. 



1. Shekh Kitabuddin, son of Shabdi, and Shekh Shumsuddin, son of Bakshu, 

 were called, and declared in their deposition, saying, " That on Friday, in the month 

 of Phalgun, we do not recollect the date, at 12 o'clock p. m., the sky being cloudy, 

 there was slight rain, and a number of fish of different kinds and sizes fell from 

 heaven ; we took some of these fish and retired home. This is the account which 

 we know." 



2. Shekh Sulimuddin, son of Ibadullah, inhabitant of Bibhagdi, declared in 

 answer, saying, "On a Friday, in the month of Phalgun, the date of which I do not 

 recollect, at 12 o'clock evening, while I was coming from a village named NuTcol- 

 bati, I perceived a badall fish, large about one cubit, fall before me from the sky ; 

 after which, I went further, and found another fish of the same size, lying 

 upon the ground. I picked up these two fish and proceeded forward ; and as soon 

 as I arrived at home, I found, to my great surprize, that many persons had likewise 

 collected fish, and carried along with them. This is all, and I know no more.' , 



