BABER. 
223 
magnificent appearance ; the elegant villas on each 
side of the river, the Company’s botanic gardens, the 
spires of the churches, temples and minarets, and the 
strong and regular citadel of Fort William.” The 
majestic Hooghly, upon the banks of which it stands 
to the extent of two leagues, expands beautifully 
before the capital. That noble river is here about a 
mile broad, and is formed by the junction of the two 
most western branches of the Ganges above Calcutta, 
which it passes, with a broad, deep, and tranquil cur- 
rent, and is the only branch of the Ganges navigable by 
large vessels. Towards the sea it has many shoals, 
and taking a direction to the right near its embouchure, 
an extensive sandbank is produced, which is extreme- 
ly dangerous. Round this the channel is so perpe- 
tually varying, that it is necessary to have it fre- 
quently surveyed. But one of the most singular effects 
witnessed in this river is what is called the Bore,— a 
violent flux of the water, which rushes up the stream 
at certain periods with such extreme violence as to 
swamp everything within its influence. Its power 
is chiefly confined to the sides of the river, being 
scarcely felt in mid-channel, where the Indiamen 
generally lie at anchor. 
“ This sudden influx of the tide commences at Hoogh- 
ly Point, where the river first contracts its width, 
and is perceptible above Hooghly Town. So quick 
is its motion, that it hardly employs four hours in 
travelling from one to the other, although the dis- 
tance is near seventy miles. It does not run on the 
Calcutta side, but along the opposite bank, from 
whence it crosses at Chitpoor, about four miles 
