302 du. hooker's mission to india. 



sprung up, against which the boat was slowly tracked, albeit vvith a 

 favoring current of some four or five miles. 



Passing the pretty villa-like houses of the English résidents, the 

 river-banks re-assumed their wonted features : the hills receded from 

 the shore ; and steep clay cliffs, twenty to fifty feet high, on one side, 

 opposed long sandy shelves on the other. Kunker was still most abun- 

 dant, especially in the lower bed of the banks, close to the (now very 

 low) water. The strata containing it were much undulated, but not 

 uniformly so ; horizontal layers over- or under-lying the disturbed ones. 

 At Colgong, conical hills again appear, of rocks similar to those of the 

 mountains behind Bhaugulpore and Monghyr ; and two remarkable 

 sister-rocks start out of the river, the same in structure and dip with 

 those of Sultangunje. A boisterous current swirls round them, strong 

 even at this season, and very dangerous in the rains, when the swollen 

 river is twenty-eight to forty feet deeper than now. We landed oppo- 

 site the rocks, and proceeded to the résidence of G. Barnes, Esq., 

 prettily situated on one of the conical élévations characteristic 

 of the geology of the district. The village we passed through had 

 been recently destroyed by tire ; and nothing but the clay outer walls 

 and curious-looking partition walls remained, often white-washed and 

 daubed with figures in red of the palm, éléphant, peacock, and tiger, — 

 a sort of rude fresco painting. We did not arrive till past mid-day, 

 and the boat, with my palkee and servant, not having been able to face 

 the gale, I was detained till the middle of the following day. Mr. 

 Barnes and his brother proved most agreeable companions, — very 

 luckily for me, for it requires no ordinary philosophy to bear being 

 storm-stayed on a voyage, with the prospect of paying a heavy demur- 

 rage for detaining the Dawk, and the worst one of finding the bearers 

 given to another traveller when you arrive at the rendezvous. The 

 view from Mr. Barnes' house is very fine : it commands the river and 

 its rocks ; the Eajmahal hills to the east and south ; broad acres of In- 

 digo and other crops below ; long lines of Palm-trees, and groves of 

 Mango, Banana, Tamarind, and other tropical trees, scattered close 

 around and in the distance. In the rainy season, and especially imme- 

 diately after, the snowy Himalaya are distinctly projected on the hori- 

 zon, fully 170 miles off. Nearly opposite, the Cosi river enters the 

 Ganges, bearing (considering its short course) an enormous volume of 

 water, the drainage of the whole Himalaya, between the two giant 



