The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-11 00:00:00

NEWSPAPEE.

06.

j--1.-- ,: I-2c -- , reto•
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL
•
Yesterday evening the third meeting ofis n s
ciety was held in Burlington House—Mr. John
Crawfurd in the chair.

The first paper was a communication from Col.
Tremenheere, R.E., " On the Physical Geography
of the Lower Indus," in which he particularly no-
ticed the conditions of the mouths of the Indus, in
reference especially to the harbour of Kurrachu.
The immense quantity of mud and silt brought
down by the Indus causes a deposit in the plain
through which it flows, for an extent of 500 miles,
which has raised the banks of the river about 30ft.
above the level of the country. This silt, carried
out from the mouths of the Indus, has formed bars
that render it impracticable for ships to enter.
There are, in fact, only four harbours on the Ir dian
peninsula, that of Bombay being the best, and Kur-
rachee is considered the next available for ships.
Large sums of money have been expended in im-
proving the harbour, and the principal object of the
paper was to show that it has been nevertheless de-
teriorating, an I a current sits in along the coast
during the south-west monsoon which carries the
silt brought down by the Indus along the sloping
north-west coast directly towards the harbour of
Kurrachee, and will ultimately choke it up. It was
stated that numerous experiments had been made
by throwing bottles into the sea at some distance
from the land, and they were nearly all washed
ashore on the north-west coast, proving, as Colonel
Tremenheere conceived, that there was a prevailing
current which would carry back the deposits from
the river.

Mr. ANDREW', a gentleman connected with one
of the Indian railways which has the harbour of
Kurrachee for a terminus, controverted the opi-
nions expressed in the paper, and adduced several
facts to show that the harbour has greatly improved
and is improving ; as an instance of which he men-
tioned that as many as 300 ships, bringing materials
for the railway, had come into the harbour within
a short period. The town of Kurrachee has been
extending and improving, its imports have largely
increased, and it resembles an English town more
than any other town in India. Mr. Parker, a civil
engineer, who assisted Mr. Walker in improving the
harbour, explained the nature of the works that had
been effected. The chief work was the, construction
of a wall two miles in length on the east shore ex-
tending out to sea, which had increased the depth
of water at the bar, and rendered the harbour more
accessible. Ile denied that there was a current
towards Kurrachee, and contended that the south-
west monsoon blows directly against the coast and
not obliquely.

Captain CONSTABLE spoke to the same effect, and
from comparisons of the actual state of the harbour,
as recorded at different periods during the last 40
years, he showed that instead of filling up, as Colonel
Tremenheere predicted it would do, it had greatly

improved.
Capt. Ahura. said that judging from the manner
in which the bars were formed at the mouths of the
great rivers in America, he conceived that where
there is a current, as at Kurrachee, the silt would
be carried away, and he inferred, from what had
been said by the preceding speakers, and from the
direction of the shore, that the current would carry
the silt from the harbour and not into it.
Major GORDON, R E., briefly defended his fellow-
officer from some of the attacks that had been made
on his paper.

A second communication was then read on Pan-
gong Lake, Thibet, from Captain Godwin Austen.
The lake lies in 31 deg. north latitude, and about 79
deg. east longitude, and is situated among the lofty
mountains of Thibet, at an elevation of 13,900 ft.
There is an upper and a lower lake, connected by a
small stream, the former of which is 43 miles long,
and the latter about 30 miles. tending in a direction
from north-west to south-east. The most remarkable
fact concerning these lakes is that at such an eleva-
tion, among granite mountains, they are brackish,
the upper one being too salt to be drinkable; the
lower lake is less so. They are only supplied by
small rills from the glaciers and the surrounding
mountains, some of which are 20,000 feet high. It
was i❑ the month of July that Capt. Austen visited
the lake, in' making a survey of the country, and at
that time the water was no-, frozen ; one of the lakeq,
indeed, contained abundance of fish resembling
tench. There were no inhabitants, and the only
animals were two wild asses.
At the conclu,ion of the paper the meeting ad-
journed to the 14th January.