GANGES. 
300 miles, in dire&t diftance ; when meeting the great chain or 
ridge of mount Himmaleh, which extends from Cabul alon 
the north of Hindooftan; and through Thibet, the rivers are 
compelled to turn to the fouth; in which courfe they unite 
their waters, and form what is properly termed the river 
aan 
oO 
- 
n 
the rock, at the hither mountains anges 
ts.us.appears, to incurious {peCtators,-to derive its original 
{prings from this mountains:; and the min fu- 
peritition has given to the ca of fie cavern the a of 
the head of a ‘cow 3 an animal held by:the Hindoos ina de- 
e of veneration, oi equal to that in which the ancient 
Egyptians hs held their pis. From this fecond fource, 
e termed, o e Ganges, its courfe becomes 
than before, through the rugged eaeeea = 
Sirinagur, until at Pie it finally sae : from the m 
tainous tra¢t, in which it has wandered for about 800. Britifh 
miles. 
The true origin of the Ganges was explored, fo lately as 
the year 1717, by. perfons deputed by the emperor Camhi 
for this purpofe ; and after a journey ee about 2. ig 
tifh miles from the head of the Ganges, they brought fom 
Me its-water back Peon egies . ae ntil the refult of 
expedition was kno n Eur t was believed, on the 
telimony , of the Hi nosy that the ‘pri a of the Ganges 
were att ae foot of mount Himmaleh, o 
ar Hurdwar, or Hurdoar, i in atitude ° ; "7 opens itfelf 
a paflage through mount Suvalick, or Suva-luik, th 
chain of mountains that borders.on the level se on ie 
north of the.province of Delhi; and after gufhing through 
this opening, it flows witha — navigable {tream through 
delightful aeies duri ng the remainder of its courfe to the 
@a, W. ine is a miles, _ diffafing plenty one mael 
y m of its is See Hic ns, and fecondarily, 
Foie om adjacent lands, and affording. an eafy means Of 
tranf{port for the productions of its borders. In a military 
view, it opens a communication between the different polts, 
and Serves asa military way through the ‘country, renders un- 
of ma azines, and infinitely furpaffes 
the celebrated. inland navigation of North America, where 
the carrying places not only” obftruét the progrefs of anarmy, 
but enable the a ieee to determine his place and mode o 
attack with cer ainty. 
e ae. in its courfe through die plains, receives 11 
rivers, fome of hare h are equal to - bei and none — 
than the Tham is many © of lefier To 
this vait influx of Hien Lie “that the Gare eX- 
while ‘the 
the Ganges i is, in ths rove re{pect,. inferior to many of the 
northern rivers of A‘dia; though Mr. Rennel!- eet that it 
difcharges as.much.o more water than any of them, becaufe 
- rivers donot: ie? within. the. limits of the periodical 
— of the Ganges is very par ee with iii to 
width. . m its firft ponder in the plains at Hurdwar, to 
the pee ee “of the Jum -firft river of note that iin 
it, its bed is generally aoe a mile to r 
wide, and, compared with the latter oan of i os courle, tole- 
rably ftraight. Hence, downward, its courfe becomes moré 
winding, and its. bed wider, till,. having fuceeffively received. 
the waters of the. Gogra, ‘Soane; a nd Gunduck, befides many 
{maller ftreams, its bed has attained 1 its full width ; although, 
Vou. XV. 
eT he 
cP 
o 
% 
: ae ‘origin. to rl 
during the oo 600 miles of its courfe, it rec eives 
many other principal .ftreams. Within this {pace it is, in 
the narroweft parts of its bed, half a mile wide, and in the 
wideit, three miles, even where no iflands intervene. The ftream 
within = aon isalways ere increafing, or oe accord. 
ing tothe feafon. When at its loweft, which happen inAp - 
the pene al channel varies yas 400 yards to 14 Aare nee 
commonly about # of a mile in width. ‘This river is ae 
i es above fae of the Jumnah, but the 
e Below that, the channel ts 
depth ; ae aie additional isan bring a 
greater oe of depth than width. At 500 miles pee 
the fea, the channel is 30 feet deep when Age river is at its 
loweft ; and it continues, at leaft, at this depth to the fea, 
where the fudden nae me the ftream deprives it of the 
force neceflary to {weep away the bars of fand and mud 
thrown acrofs it by the Giang | foutherly winds; {fo that the 
principal branch >. the Ganges cannot be ent tered by large 
veflels, See Dextt A of the. Ganges, and 
The ge sa defcent of the Gan 
eae per mi the 
han three m 
a boat was carried, again 
n the other, on 
ame defcent of four inches per mile ; ae that the motion 
of the inundation is only half a-mile per hour, on a | 
doubt, owing to the Tele te of ale foil ; and major 
alleges as a proof of this, that they are papel paige 
; which thofe, originally induced al an inequality o 
ing ; 
{urface, can feldom or never do. 
P : ith a 
ee tr aditi on), w m 
a junction with the Bur 
e the secien 
the iflands, in the mouths 2 a Ganges and Burrampooter ; 
many places rife in a few feet of the furface. 
ooh — a 
ands formed in 
iles ii 
€ obftrudtion aking at the ea an 
rapidly accumulating. The river borrows on each fide to 
4K 
fupply 
