Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/318

This page needs to be proofread.

310 SAR cubic feet were due to affluents. At Narowsa Ghat, 8 miles lower, the dis- charge was 5,651 cubic feet; at Marowcha Ghát, 10 miles below Narowsa, the supply was 6,220 cubic feet; and at Bulwari Ghat, 5 miles below Marowcha, it had increased to 6,890 cubic feet; at Sirsee Ghat, 14 miles lower, and close to Delaha, the amount in the river had decreased again to 6,718 cubic feet. Two other discharges were also measured, at 10 and 30 miles below the above gbát, viz., at Burragaon and Chuknathpore, giving amounts of 5,581 and 3,592 cubic feet per second respectively; but when these were measured, the supply in the river at Bunbassa was 200 cubic fect per second less than when the above discharges were taken. " Deducting this quantity, there still remains a loss of 1,000 cubic feet per second to account for in the distance of 30 miles between Sirsee Ghat and Chuknathpore; but looking at Map No. 3, it will be seen that below Sirsce Ghat the numerous nullahs on either side of the river drain away from it instead of emptying themselves into it, as they do above the ghat'; there are also many old and deserted beds of the river in close proximity to and below the level of the present stream, each of which, as well as the above nullahs, are undoubtedly fed by percolation from the river; for although dry at their heads, they quickly become running channels, with a considerable amount of water passing down.”* The Sárda as already stated now enters the Chauka at Mothia Ghát, but formerly at some distance above that river it kept a separate course whose ancient channel is still apparent, and which is the boundary between pargana Khairigarh and Naipál; in this channel, after a few miles, percola- tion supplies running water; two more smaall streams flow in from the forest of Khairigarh, and under Newalkhár they become the river Suheli or Sarju. This is a placid stream, in many places very deep, but not more than two feet deep at the ford; it runs under the fort of Newalkhár, and thence east into the Kauriála at Shitábi Ghát, keeping the whole time within the ancient broad channel of the Sárda, now covered with weeds, jháu jungle, or shisham trees. Through this bottom land, a most picturesque wilderness, the Suheli now winds a mere riband of water. The north bank rises, high and steep, crowned with sál trecs, above the evergreen tops of the shisham trees which grow below, and beneath them again stagnatc broad morasses, which the narkul covers with acres of feathery plumes . The whole of this ancient channel is the haunt of tigers. Considerable pains were taken to render the Suheli navigable, so that sál wood might be floated down it to the depôt at Bahramghat. The nomenclature of this river has been always uncertain. In the treaty with Naipál it is styled the Kálit in March 1816; in May 1816, in the treaty with Oudh, it was called Gogra. I. Both names were incorrect. Tiffenthaler, in 1767, found the Sárda " riviére qui n'est pas médiocre" joined the Kauriála at Shitábi Ghat. The broad features of the changes which have occurred are clear enough ; there were formerly Iumcrous

  • "Oudh Report on the Sárda Canal Project," pp. 14-25,

† Aitchison's Treaties, Volume II., page 206. Aitebison'e Tresties, Volunie II., page 164. Volume I, page 266. Map. Volume III., page 278.