﻿THE 
  BARISAL 
  GUNS- 
  201 
  

  

  Various 
  are 
  the 
  theories 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  propounded, 
  in 
  the 
  

   numerous 
  communications 
  to 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  Society, 
  in 
  explanation 
  of 
  

   the 
  phenomenon. 
  First 
  among 
  them 
  may 
  be 
  placed 
  that 
  which 
  can 
  best 
  

   be 
  described 
  as 
  sceptical. 
  According 
  to 
  this 
  the 
  ' 
  Barisal 
  guns' 
  are 
  

   nothing 
  but 
  the 
  sound 
  of 
  firearms, 
  or 
  of 
  pyrotechnic 
  bombs, 
  exploded 
  

   on 
  the 
  occasion 
  of 
  marriages 
  or 
  other 
  rejoicings, 
  or 
  of 
  distant 
  thunder. 
  

  

  This 
  explanation 
  may 
  be 
  rejected. 
  In 
  individual 
  instauces 
  it 
  may 
  

   be 
  impossible 
  to 
  distinguish 
  between 
  the 
  sound 
  of 
  fireworks 
  at 
  a 
  

   little 
  distance 
  and 
  the 
  true 
  ' 
  Barisal 
  gun, 
  ' 
  yet 
  the 
  universal 
  belief 
  in 
  

   the 
  reality 
  of 
  this 
  last 
  shows 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  to 
  deal 
  with 
  a 
  phenomenon 
  

   distinct 
  from 
  the 
  familiar 
  sounds 
  by 
  which 
  its 
  explanation 
  is 
  attempted. 
  

  

  Another 
  explanation 
  attributes 
  the 
  'Barisal 
  guns' 
  to 
  electric 
  dis- 
  

   charges 
  or 
  the 
  release 
  of 
  explosive 
  gases 
  under 
  water. 
  This 
  hypo- 
  

   thesis 
  is 
  too 
  vague 
  to 
  explain 
  anything, 
  and 
  till 
  some 
  definite 
  

   indication 
  is 
  given 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  discharge 
  or 
  explosion, 
  it 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  accepted, 
  especially 
  as 
  there 
  is 
  another 
  and 
  adequate 
  

   explanation. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  more 
  definite 
  explanations, 
  which 
  are 
  very 
  probably 
  also 
  

   partially 
  true, 
  the 
  most 
  popular 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  that 
  which 
  

   ascribes 
  the 
  sound 
  to 
  the 
  breaking 
  of 
  surf 
  on 
  the 
  sea 
  shore. 
  This 
  

   appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  adopted 
  because 
  the 
  ' 
  Barisal 
  guns/ 
  in 
  the 
  

   Gangetic 
  Delta, 
  seem 
  to 
  come 
  from 
  the 
  south, 
  and 
  the 
  Proceedings 
  

   of 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  Society 
  contain 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  explanation 
  of 
  

   how 
  a 
  large 
  roller 
  breaking 
  on 
  a 
  flat 
  shore, 
  could 
  produce 
  a 
  sound 
  

   which, 
  in 
  certain 
  positions, 
  would 
  resemble 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  distant 
  gun, 
  and 
  

   some 
  accounts 
  of 
  how 
  such 
  sounds 
  had 
  actually 
  been 
  heard, 
  the 
  result 
  

   of 
  a 
  heavy 
  surf. 
  

  

  This 
  explanation, 
  however 
  satisfactory 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  for 
  places 
  not 
  

   too 
  for 
  removed 
  from 
  the 
  coast, 
  cannot 
  be 
  accepted 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  

   the 
  precisely 
  similar 
  sounds 
  heard 
  far 
  inland 
  in 
  northern 
  Bengal. 
  

   Here 
  another 
  explanation 
  becomes 
  more 
  applicable, 
  that 
  the 
  sounds 
  

   are 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  falling 
  in 
  of 
  river 
  banks. 
  When 
  the 
  Gangetic 
  rivers 
  

   are 
  rising 
  in 
  flood 
  the 
  high 
  river 
  banks 
  are 
  largely 
  undermined 
  and 
  

  

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