2 
F. A. Shillingford —On the Kusi River. 
[No. 1, 
tlie author deemed it his duty to place the crude notes he had made, 
during a series of years, regarding the movements of the Kusi, and upon 
which this paper is chiefly founded, before Government, so as to help 
as a guide in case of danger, and if his efforts are now successful in 
drawing attention to this important and interesting subject, his labors 
will be amply rewarded. The theories that this paper is intended to 
elucidate are:— 
(1) That the main channel of the Kusi river oscillates (in its 
general sense) over a vast tract of country, from the Brahmaputra to the 
Gandak rivers, having practically Catra Gaddi (Chatra Gaddi of the 
maps), in Nepal, as its centre, or pivot of oscillation, and that these 
oscillations are repeated at long intervals of time. 
(2) That the westward movement of each oscillation is slow, and 
in a series of steps, each of which is attended with damage to property, 
but of a temporary nature. 
(3) That the eastward movement of any given oscillation will 
probably be accomplished in one great swing, and will be accompanied 
with loss of life and property, with remoter dangers of a serious nature. 
(4) That the detritus, resulting from the sub-aerial denudation of 
the Himalayas, brought down by the rivers, and thrown upon the 
Indo-Gangetic Plain can be held accountable for these movements of the 
Kusi and other rivers similarly situated. 
The Kusi, or Kosi, called in old Sanskrit works Kau^ika, is 
probably the river Cos Soanas (Sankos, in 
reference^ to th “kuS* Ne P al) mentioned Arrian in his De Indicts 
{Chap. IV.) on the authority of Megasthenes, 
as being one of the navigable tributaries of the Ganges. 
The Kusi debouches, or rather leaps, into the Indo-Gangetic Plain 
in about Lat. 87 ° E. Long. 27 ° N. at Baralr 
Chatra, below which the magnificent falls 
occur, where, as is usual with all large rivers 
held sacred in India, there are numerous Hindu shrines, one of the most 
celebrated being that devoted to Mahamaya, situated just above the 
falls, which occur between Catra Gaddi, to which boats can go up, and 
Barah Chatra, about 5 miles higher up, the latter named after the 
Varaha, or Boar Avatar of Yisnu, to whose shrine here pilgrimages 
are made. For some miles below Catra Gaddi, undulating country, in¬ 
terspersed with alluvial tracts, is to be met with, until the Belkar Range 
of hills (marked incorrectly the Sooroongah Hills in Survey Maps of 
1840-47) is passed, about 20 miles below the falls, and then the wide 
alluvial plains may be said to begin. 
Above Barali Chatra the main stream of the Kusi is called the* 
Falls of the Kusi at 
Catra. 
