344 GANGETIC DELTA. Chap. XXXI. 



upon the slimy surface of the mud, and made the dismal 

 landscape more ghastly still. Silence followed the ebb, 

 broken occasionally by the wild whistle of a bird like the 

 curlew, of which a few wheeled through the air : till the 

 harsh roar of the bore was heard, to which the sailors 

 seemed to waken by instinct. The waters then closed in 

 on every side, and the far end of the reflected moonbeam 

 was broken into flashing light, that approached and soon 

 danced beside the boat. 



We much regretted not being able to obtain any more 

 accurate data than I have given, as to the height of the 

 tide at the mouth of the Fenny ; but where the ebb some- 

 times retires twenty miles from high-water mark, it is 

 obviously impossible to plant any tide-gauge. 



On the 21st we were ashore at daylight on the Chitta- 

 gong coast far north of the station, and were greeted by 

 the sight of hills on the horizon : we were lying fully 

 twenty feet below high-water mark, and the tide was out 

 for several miles to the westward. The bank was covered 

 with flocks of white geese feeding on short grass, upon 

 what appeared to be detached islets on the surface of the 

 mud. These islets, which are often an acre in extent, are 

 composed of stratified mud ; they have perpendicular sides 

 several feet high, and convex surfaces, owing to the tide 

 washing away the earth from under their sides ; and they 

 were further slipping seawards, along the gently sloping 

 mud-beach. Few or no shells or seaweed were to be seen, 

 nor is it possible to imagine a more lifeless sea than these 

 muddy coasts present. 



We were three days and nights on this short voyage, 

 without losing sight of mud or land. I observed the baro- 

 meter whenever the boat was on the shore, and found the 

 mean of six readings (all reduced to the same level) to be 



