'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1865 to December 1867. (Edited by the Honorary Secretary.) Volume XVIII.' [‎101] (128/268)

BOMBAY GEOGEAPHICAL SOCIETY.
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and rapidly re-asserts itself until cultivation is stopped by the streams becoming
first brackish, and finally salt. The villages situated nearest the coast are the
first to feel the effects, but it gradually extends to those more inland, until, by
the middle of the hot weather, the greater part of the district has relapsed into
its normal condition of saltness, and great difficulty is frequently experienced by
the inhabitants in obtaining a supply of water for household purposes. If the
district were dependent on the rain-fall alone this difficulty would become
serious, at the same time the gross produce of the land would be considerably
diminished.
26. It must not be considered however that the inundation of the Bhadur
is without ill effect. Like all rivers liable to
Banks of the Bhadur. Effects of violent floods, and flowing through level plains,
the Inundation, > ° D 1 ’
the Bhadnr is the cause of much mischief. The
fields along its hanks are yearly more or less encroached upon, to the great loss
of their cultivators ; and occasionally the river will quit its bed and cut a new
channel for itself, engulfing in its progress valuable lands, and completely
mining the owners. Again, the effects of the inundation upon the surrounding
country are most capricious. Sometimes, when the flood subsides, large quanti
ties of alluvial soil are found deposited over the surface to the great advantage
of cultivation, and barren spots are suddenly converted into fertile fields; at
other times, the violence of the flood is so great that the deposit of many pre
ceding floods is in a moment swept entirely away, and the thriving cultivator
finds himself reduced to the ownership of a barren waste: again, these floods,
taking place at unexpected and unseasonable times, occasionally inflict consi
derable loss by damaging growing crops.
27. Thus, for good and for evil, the inundation of the Bhadur is yearly
awaited by the people of these districts ; but whilst the damage it commits is
partial, the benefit is great and general.
28. To the south of these joint districts is another curious feature in the
The Ghair shape of a tract of country, already alluded to as
the Ghair. The extensive sand-hills which line
the coast protect this portion of the district from any irruption of the sea; but
the level of the country is so low, that throughout the monsoon months it is
more or less under water, and cultivation is chiefly carried on in the cold
weather, after the water has subsided, and in the hot weather by means of
irrigation.’ ”
11. And the following from James Burgess, Esq., F.R.G.S.,
“ To H. Morland, Esq, F-R.G.S ,
Honorary Secretary, Bombay Geographical Society.
Si a, I beg leave to call your attention and that of the Bombay
eogiaphical Society to a matter in which the Society might lend
valuable aid to the cause of Science.