212 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
the largest, being raised to a fourth story and built 
of coarse granite. The ground-floors of the houses are 
used as shops, and the upper stories for the accom- 
modation of the family. The encroachments of the 
Alacananda, the earthquake of 1803, and the Goorka 
invasion, all combined to hasten the decay of this 
town, which when taken possession of by the British 
in 1815 was in a very ruinous condition. The in- 
habitants consist chiefly of descendants of emigrants 
from the low countries, and the leading persons are 
the agents of the banking-houses at Nujibabad and 
the Dooab, who are employed in the sale and ex- 
change of merchandise and coins. Formerly these 
persons resided here only eight months in the year, 
quitting the hills and returning to their homes at the 
commencement of the rainy season. The traffic in 
silver and specie forms one of the most profitable 
branches of commerce, and is carried on to a consi- 
derable amount/' * 
At the western extremity of the valley the current 
of the river Alacananda strikes against the rocky base 
of the mountain with great violence, is cast back, 
and forms a curve just below the town of Serinagur. 
The usual width of the channel where the rope bridge 
is erected, except when flooded by the rains, is about 
eighty yards. At all times the current is here too 
rapid and agitated for the passage of boats. The 
channel is greatly interrupted by huge masses of rock 
that constantly roll from the mountains, between 
which, during the monsoons, the waters foam and hiss 
with frightful impetuosity. At these periods the 
* Hamilton, vol. ii. p. 639. 
