JUNE 176(5. 
77 
None of the Hills exceed the height of 240 yards, & of these Sittacoon 1 is the highest 
& situated about half way between the Fenny & Chittagong. O11 the top of this 
Hill is built a small Pagoda which is much resorted to by the religious Gentoos,* 
who very zealously venture their Necks to go up to worship ; for the sides of the Hill 
are in some places quite perpendicular. 3 
Near Barracoon* (a Village 3 miles to the Southward of Sittacoon) is the famous 
burning Well. It lies within the first ridge of Hills, & thro’ a narrow, bad road. 59 
The Spring rises at the foot of a Hill, & has a small House or Pagoda built over it, 
from whence you decend by six or seven stone Steps to the level of the Spring. The 
Water bubbles up on one side of an artificial Bason or Tank of about 6 foot square & 
5 deep; from whence it is carried off by a subterraneous Passage into the Valley. 
On that side of the Tank where the Water rises is built a Brick Wall of about 4 
foot high as a kind of facing to the Rock from whence the Water issues. This Wall 
by being built very loose, & without Cement, allows the Water a free Passage thro’ 
the lower part of it into the Tank ; & with it a pure flame is continually issuing forth 
for near the breadth of 4 foot, & commonly it rises near 3 foot high, so that the 
Wall itself does not ill represent the back of a large Kitchen Chimney in England. 60 
The Flames are seen to spread near a foot from the Wall, over the surface of the 
Tank when the Water continues its bubbling motion to that distance; but over the 
still parts of it there is not y e least appearance of Flame. 
I observed that when the Water of the Tank rose, or was much disturbed by the 
People that went in to bathe, the Flame went out for some Seconds, but afterwards 
broke out with much greater violence than ever. 6 
The Flames are seen very distinctly in the day Time occasioned by the darkness 
of the House. Altho’ I stood very near them I did not perceive the least sulphureous 
1 Sitakund, the highest hill in the Chittagong District, 1155 ft. above sea level. 
2 Gentoo, a term applied to the Hindus, to distinguish them from the Moghuls or 1 Moors.’ 
B The principal gathering is the Siva Chaturdasi festival on the 14th day of the moon sacred to Siva (usually in 
February). Minor gatherings take place in or near the months of March and November and at eclipses of the sun and 
moon. The ascent of the hill is said to redeem the pilgrim from the misery of a future birth. There was formerly 
a sacred spring in the mountain, said to be bituminous, which dried up in the latter part of the 18th century (Hunter, 
Imp. Gaz., 2nd Ed., Vol. XIII, p. 25). Major Rennell makes no mention of this spring. 
* Bharatkund. The springs of Sitakund are enumerated in Dr. Oldham’s list of the Thermal Springs of India 
(Memoirs, Geol. Sur. Ind., Vol. XIX, Pt. 2, p. 52). The description given is Pogson’s, who visited them in 1778. 
The one called Barracoon by Rennell appears to be Pogson’s Babu Kund, which is “ at the end of a valley surrounded 
by hills ; the water is always cold ; springs covered by brick work. Flames in successive flashes were playing on the 
surface of the water which, though cold, had the appearance of being boiling, from the volume of perpetually rising 
bubbles of gas ; water is brackish, sulphureous, and chalybeate. There are seven other springs within a circle of 6 
miles.” Rennell’s account of the phenomenon agrees very well with this except that he says he could perceive no 
sulphurous smell. 
Sir J. Hooker visited the locality in 1851, but was disappointed with the phenomenon. He writes : — *• The mouiilain 
(Seetakoond) is very sacred, and there is a large • Brahmin temple on its flank; and near the base a perpetual flame 
bursts out of the rock. This we were anxious to examine, and were extremely disappointed to find it a small 
vertical hole in a slaty rock, with a lateral one below for a draught, and that it is daily supplied by pious pilgrims and 
Brahmins with such enormous quantities of ghee (liquid butter) that it is to all intents and purposes an artificial lamp; 
no trace of natural phenomena being discoverable ” (Himalayan Journals, Vol. II, p. 352). He does not mention tile 
spring, and it is doubtful whether he saw the place described by Rennell and Pogson. 
6 From this the gas would appear to take fire spontaneously. 
[ 177 ] 
