March, 1849. DESCEND TEESTA RIVER. 397 



bottom of the vessels, and in a second we were darting 

 down the river, at the rate of at least ten or fifteen miles 

 an hour, the bright waters leaping np on all sides, and 

 bounding in jets-d'eau between prows and sterns of the 

 coupled vessels. Sometimes we glided along without per- 

 ceptible motion, and at others jolted down bubbling rapids, 

 the steersmen straining every nerve to keep their bark's 

 head to the current, as she impatiently swerved from side 

 to side in the eddies. To our jaded and parched frames, 

 after the hot forenoon's ride on the elephants, the effect 

 was delicious : the fresh breeze blew on our heated fore- 

 heads and down our open throats and chests ; we dipped 

 our hands into the clear, cool stream, and there was " music 

 in the waters " to our ears. Fresh verdure on the banks, 

 clear pebbles, soft sand, long English river-reaches, forest 

 glades, and deep jungles, followed in rapid succession ; and 

 as often as we rounded a bend or shot a rapid, the scene 

 changed from bright to brighter still ; so continuing until 

 dusk, when we were slowly paddling along the then torpid 

 current opposite Rangamally.* 



The absence of large stones or boulders of rock in the 

 bed of the Teesta is very remarkable, considering the great 

 volume and rapidity of the current, and that it shoots 

 directly from the rocky hills to the gravelly plains. At the 



* The following temperatures of the waters of the Teesta were taken at intervals 



during our passage from its exit to 



Rangamally, a 



distance of fifteen linear miles, 



and thirty miles following the bends : — 









Water. 



Air. 



Exit 2h. 



30m. p.m. 



62° 





3 





62° 2 



740 



3 



30 



63° 2 





4 





64° 





4 



30 



65° 





5 





05° 4 



72° 5 opposite Rummai. 



5 



30 



66° 





6 





66° 



71° 7 opposite Baikant. 



