ALLAHABAD DIVISION.
21
strong, respectively, were stationed at Monierkhal and Noarband outposts, on the Lushai frontier,
from 1st January to 16th February ; they were not relieved during that period. On the evening
of the 16th February they rejoined head-quarters, having been relieved by detachments of the
35th Native Infantry. On the morning of 18th February the regiment left Cachar for Dinapore,
at which latter station it arrived on 20th March. The regiment remained at Dinapore for the
rest of the year. A small detachment was sent to Khagoul (three miles off) in the relief season,
to guard the rest camp. On 13th October, two companies, A and H, total strength 136, with
one European officer, went by rail to Berhampore and remained there for the rest of the year.
III. Topography and physical geography. —The cantonment of Dinapore is situated near the
right or southern bank of the river Ganges : in the rains, indeed, it is on the bank, i. e., the per--
manent bank of that river ; in the dry weather it is separated from the Ganges by the almost
dry bed of a stream, usually supposed to be an off-shoot from the Soane river, and sometimes
spoken of as the Soane Ganges, and by a large sand-bank, which, opposite the station, is some two
miles wide. This sand-bank is inhabited, and in the dry season is extensively cultivated ; in
the rains it is very seldom entirely under water. As may be expected, its contour varies very
considerably from year to year. On the southern aspect of cantonments is the Dawnah nullah
running east and west ; its western extremity (which is its commencement) terminates in a
large plain ; its eastern and deeper portion takes a rather abrupt sweep to the left, and terminates
in the stream before referred to as the Soane Ganges. The cantonment extends considerably to
the east of this nullah, and is there composed entirely of bazar. The military portion of
cantonments is therefore a narrow strip of land running east and west, and lying between the
river and nullah as already described ; its breadth varies from about 600 to 1,000 yards ; its
length, from the extreme west of the Native Infantry lines to where the Dawnah nullah enters
t he r i ver , i s some 3, 300 yar ds.
The drainage of the station is for the most part effected by the Dawnah nullah ; the
course of the water in this is usually from west to east : in the rains, however, this is sometimes
reversed. If the Ganges rises beyond a certain height, the nullah becomes obstructed at its
outlet, and a flood results, due (a) to regurgitation of Ganges water, and (b) to obstructed
outflow of the natural drainage chiefly. In July the river Soane rose very suddenly and rapidly,
and burst its banks some miles from the mouth. The country south-west and south of the station
was much flooded in consequence—considerable damage was done ; there was also, I believe, some
loss of life. The Ganges not having been very high at the time, the Dawnah nullah carried
off the water which came towards the station, but the large plain to the south-west of canton--
ments was like a small lake for a long time after. In September, this plain was again converted
into a little lake, but from a different cause. This time the Ganges was at fault ; rising to a
considerable height, it not only obstructed the outlet, but regurgitated up the nullah itself to
no inconsiderable extent. On either occasion the water disappeared from the plain very gradually :
the highest part of cantonment is the permanent bank of the Ganges. The Great Trigonometrical
Survey mark on the Church (some 70 yards from the bank) is 170.72 feet. From the bank the
ground slopes gently to the south, as far as the Dawnah nullah ; the right bank of this latter is
rather high, but beyond it the ground slopes again to the south for a mile or so ; beyond this
again there is a gradual ascent towards the railway station (Khagoul), which latter is the highest
part in all the country round, being 175.29 feet. The level of the bed of the Dawnah
nullah is 157.4 feet. In 1861, the Ganges rose to a height of 172.82 feet ; it is evident
therefore that the station is liable to very severe floods : indeed, with the river at the height
above-mentioned, the extent of ground over water must be very trifling. In the dry weather
the Dawnah nullah contains no water; indeed its banks and bed are then, for the most part, culti--
vated. In the dry weather, also, the branch of the Soane before referred to, is very nearly dry ;
in fact it is then but a chain of posts, connected by little trickling streams an inch or two
in depth : these posts, especially towards the eastern end of cantonments, become gradually covered
with green slime.
Opposite the Native Infantry lines the bed of the stream is composed chiefly of sand mixed
with a little alluvium, whereas lower down, opposite the Church, the soil (i. e., of the bed) is a rich
alluvial one ; this land lying between the posts above mentioned and the permanent bank of the
Ganges is, in the dry weather, a good deal cultivated, being sown with wheat and mustard in
the cold weather, and oats in the hot weather. Such cultivation is too highly commended from
a sanitary point of view.
Topography
and physical
Geography.
Drainage of
the station.
The geological formation of the soil is as follows :
—
(1). Some 3 feet of surface earth, mixed with alluvial matter
(2). A layer of brick clay some 5 feet in thickness.
(3). A layer of stiff black clay some 8 feet in thickness.
(4). A layer of yellow-red clay 15 feet in thickness.
(5). A stratum 11 feet thick composed of three-fourths kunkur and one-fourth yellow
red clay.
Water appears in the fourth stratum, and is abundant in the fifth. The deficiency of
natural drainage, and the impermeable nature of the substratum of brick clay causes the
surface water to be retained in the upper soil, cold and damp being the result ; the upper soil
also becomes undermined and loses its cohesion, especially in the rains, so that the ground
becomes all full of holes, and very dangerous to ride over.
F
Geological
formation of
the soil.