134 



Public Works in Travancore. [No. 11, new series. 



from seaward the activity of the waves is so deadened as to render 

 the shore line free from surf." I regret never having met Lieute- 

 nant Taylor. 



A number of years ago, I brought to the notice of General Cul- 

 len, that the perfect smoothness of the water in the roads and at 

 the beach at Allepey, was attributable, not to the softness of the 

 mud at the bottom, so much as the fact of the existence of a sub- 

 terranean passage or stream, or a succession of them, which com- 

 municating with some of the rivers in land and back water become 

 more active after heavy rains, particularly at the commencement 

 of the monsoon, than in the dry season, in carrying off the accu- 

 mulating water, and with it vast quantities of soft mud. General 

 Cullen the Resident sent a quantity of piping and boring appara- 

 tus in order to test the existence, or otherwise of what I had urged. 

 Accordingly, I sunk pipes about 700 yards east from the beach 

 and at between 50 and 60 feet depth ; and after going through a 

 crust of chocolate colored sand-stone, or a conglomerate mixture 

 of that and lignite, the shafting ran suddenly down to 80 feet, for- 

 tunately, it had been attached to a piece of chain or it would have 

 been lost altogether. Several buckets from this depth were 

 brought up which corresponded in every respect with that thrown 

 up by the bubbles as they burst at the beach, which I shall here 

 try to describe as accurately as I can. Due west of the Flagstaff 

 and for several miles south, but not north of that, the beach will 

 after, or during these rains, suddenly subside, leaving a long tract 

 of fissure varying from 40 to 100 or 120 yards in length, the sub- 

 sidence is not so quick at first, but when the cone of mud once 

 gets above the water the fall is as much as 5 feet in some instances, 

 when the cone bursts, throwing up immense quantities of soft 

 soapy mud, and blue mud of considerable consistence in the form 

 of boulders, with fresh water, debris of vegetable matter, decayed, 

 and in some instances green and fresh. These bubbles are not 

 confined to the seaboard, but are, I am inclined to think, both 

 more active and numerous in the bed of the roads with the Flag- 

 staff bearing from E. N. E. to the South, until it bears N. E. by 

 N., or even South of that. About five years ago for about 4 miles 

 down the coast and from the beach out to sea for a mile and a 



