1867.] On the Antiquities of Bdyerhdt. 133 



height being 15 feet to the point of the arch. The building is flanked by 

 four massive towers which rise above the line of the domes. Two of them 

 enclose winding staircases ; that to the south-east being very dark and 

 steep, while the one on the north-east is well lighted and easy of ascent. 

 The people call the former Andhdr Mdnik and the latter Raushan 

 Mdnik. Altogether the building has a grand and imposing appearance, 

 and even in a more favoui'ed locality than Bagerhat would command 

 admiration, and be reckoned as an object worthy of notice. It was 

 evidenly intended for a jummah masjid or Friday mosque. 



The only other object which has been associated with the memory 

 of Khanja Ally and which demands a passing notice, is a physical 

 phenomenon of some interest. It is a dull roaring sound, as of the 

 booming of distant cannonade, which is said to be fired by aerial 

 hands in honour of Khanja Ally. At Bagerhat, those sounds are heard 

 at all times of the year ; particularly when the weather is calm and the 

 sky clear. It is most distinct during a lull after a storm or a heavy 

 shower of rain. At Burrisal they are equally prominent, and noticed 

 with great curiosity. Various theories have been hazarded to account 

 for the phenomenon. Mr. Pellew, the superintendent of survey at 

 Burrisal, in a letter to me, says— 



" What you allude to must be the ' Burrisal guns,' which are heard 

 all over south Jessore and Backerganj, at least in the neighbourhood 

 of the Baleswar. They are distinctly heard at Burrisal. I have never 

 heard them myself west of Morellganj. My own idea is, that they are 

 perhaps the sound of heavy surf. My reasons for supposing this (of 

 course I am by no means certain) are as follows. The noise exactly re- 

 sembles the sound of surf as heard often by me at Pooree under certain 

 circumstances, viz. when, on account of a cessation of the south-west 

 monsoon, the swell rises to an unusual height before breaking, and 

 then breaks simultaneously for perhaps a length of three miles of coast. 

 I have often been woke from my sleep by the thunder of these waves, 

 when breaking in this manner. As regards the succession of 10 or 1 1 

 reports, we all know that waves generally break successively along a 

 beach, and at the distance the listener is from the sea these would 

 appear equally loud. 



" 2nd. Reason. The further south I go, the louder the reports are, 

 and the more unequal in power (this I have not tested quite sufficiently). 

 17 



