ASAM AND THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. 335 



On the 8th, the part of the river reached was wide, and separated 

 into many narrow and rapid streams ; in the forenoon, the mouth of the 

 Bhanga Nadi was passed, so named by the fishermen, from an idea that 

 it is a branch of the Dibong, which forces its way through the forest ; 

 but, according to other information, it is a distinct stream, flowing from 

 the hills. It was not navigable even for canoes, but the mouth was one 

 hundred and fifty yards broad, and, if it rises from a distinct source in 

 the mountains, it must bring down a considerable body of water in the 

 rainy season. 



The progress of the Survey was suspended, for the greater part of 

 the 9th, by an accident to one of the canoes, which was split from stem 

 to stern. It was repaired, however, by the fishermen, in a singular 

 manner. Having collected some of the fresh bark of the Simul tree, 

 about half an inch thick, and tolerably strong, they fastened this to the 

 bottom of the dingee with bamboo pins, about an inch and a quarter 

 long, and filled up the crevices with cloth, so as to keep out the water, 

 and this slight apparatus succeeded in rendering the dingee almost as 

 serviceable as before. 



On the 10th, the river, although much intersected with forest, conti- 

 nued still to widen. It appears rather extraordinary, that a stream, the 

 mouth of which is scarcely navigable, should have thus continued to im- 

 prove in practicability, and that it should have presented more than 

 one branch larger than the undivided river at its debouche. The difficulty 

 is to conceive what becomes of the surplus water, unless it be absorbed 

 partly in the sandy soil over which it flows, or stagnates in the hollows 

 of the deepest portions of the bed. It seems not improbable, however, 

 that in the rains, at least, it communicates, in the upper part of its 

 course, with the Dihong, and that part of its water is carried off* by that 

 channel. On Captain Bedford's voyage up that river, he noticed, eight 



