1840.] 



On the Geology of Cutch, 



S27 



hud also gains upon the sea, rendering necessary the frequent removal 

 further seaward, of the quays or landing-places. Where rivers enter the 

 gulf, this increase of land at their mouths is easily understood, as the 

 sea, for nine months of the year, washes back the sandy detritus acciunu- 

 lated by the river at its delta during the periodical floods. Where rivers 

 flow all the year round, they may be enabled to keep a chanm-l through 

 the deltas constantly free ; but when the stream is inert during three 

 fourths of the year, and the wind and sea are continually at woi k, the case 

 must be very different. 



Marine Forests. — The same operation is in progress at places separat- 

 ed from the main waters of the gulf by small creeks. 



Some of these inlets penetrate six or seven miles from the coast 

 through a tract covered for miles in extent with shurbs. At low water, 

 these plants are exposed to their roots ; but at high tides merely their 

 upper branches are visible, so that the boats sail through a marine for- 

 est, the sails and yards frequently brushing against the boughs of the 

 trees. The growth of these shrubs is so rapid, that the sailors have 

 very often to force their boats through the upper branches, particularly 

 at the various angles of the very tortuous creeks, when they wish to save 

 a tack, and the wind is scant. The stems and branches of the trees are 

 covered with Crustacea and Mollnsca, whilst numerous water-fowl occu- 

 py the higher branches ; the whole presenting a most curious picture. 

 That the land should gain on the sea, in these places also, is very natu- 

 ral, as during the monsoons, when the numerous small streams convey 

 their muddy alluvium into the gulf, the roots and stems of the shrubs 

 act as a filter, and the water passing slowly between them, a great por- 

 tion of the earthy matter is precipitated ; a portion also adhering to the 

 stems. 



Effects of Floods. — Considerohle damage is frequently done by the 

 periodical floods, which, from the peculiar hilly structure of the country, 

 sometimes rush down with a force, that carries all things before them. 



In August 1834, the rains were very violent and long-continued, and 

 did considerable damage. The river, which flows past Nurra, and 

 through the flat, from six to eight miles broad, which extends from the 

 town to the Runn, brought down so much alluvium, as to cover with a 

 fine soil a surface of 150 pragas, or nearly 1000 acres of land. This tract 

 had been sunk by the earthquake of 1819 so nearly to a level with the 

 Kunn, as to have remained unfit for cultivation. On the opposite side 

 of the province, at a village called Kundagra, not far from Mandavee, 50 

 pragas or 300 acres of soil were entirely washed away, leaving a bare 



