Sarasvati River

“ The only ones of any importance are in the Pesháwar Valley. These draw their supplies from the Kábul, Bára, and Swát rivers, but the works supplied by the first two streams only command small areas. The Lower Swát Canal was begun in 1876, but the tribesmen were hostile and the diggers had to sleep in fortified enclosures. The work was not opened till 1885. A reef in the river has made it possible to dispense with a permanent weir. The country is not an ideal one for irrigation, being much cut up by ravines. ”

“ There are no mountains.
Drainage.—The drainage of the country is carried on by the Gumti and Sai rivers, which in their turn receive small tributary streams. The chief of these is the Bạita, a small perennial stream, which, rising in the Hardoi district, passes through the Malihabad pargana in a south-easterly direction, and falls into the Gumti at a point on its right bank near Kánkrábad. "The Loni, another stream having its source in the Mohanlalganj pargana, passes through it, and joins the river near Salempur on its right bank. ”

“ In mountainous districts landslips sometimes occur and block the valley of a stream which then forms a lake. The water gradually rises and eventually flows over the dam and sweeps it away causing a flood, which is of great suddenness and height but decreases very quickly in height as it travels down the valley. In a case which occurred in the Himalayas in 1888 the inhabitants of the valleys, from the dam to the point where the river debouches from the hills, were compelled by Government to vacate all habitations below the probable level of the flood, and no loss of life occurred. ”

“ High floods rise quite 50 feet above the normal level, so that the gorge then encloses a torrent of waters from 150 to 250 feet in depth.† [9]
After passing this point and entering the open country, the river widens out and flows by the old zamindari strongholds of Pólavaram and Gútála and the picturesque and sacred islands of Mahánandisvaram and Pattisam.‡ [10] At Rajahmundry it is nearly two miles wide, and some five miles further down, at Dowlaishweram, at the head of the delta, it is crossed by the celebrated anicut which renders its waters at last available for irrigation. ”

“ In Bombay and Madras provinces almost all of the irrigation systems are dependent upon this method. In the river provinces are many canals which act as distributaries during the spring overflow, carry the water a long distance and distribute it over a large area during the periods of inundation. In several places the usefulness of these canals has been increased by the construction of reservoirs which receive and hold the floods upon the plan proposed for some of our arid states.
In India the water supply is almost entirely controlled by the government. ”

“ The Sirhind Canal weir is at Rupar where the river emerges from the Siwáliks. Patiála, Jínd, and Nábha contributed to the cost, and own three of the five branches. But the two British branches are entitled to nearly two-thirds of the water, which is utilized in the Ludhiána and Ferozepore districts and in the Farídkot State. The soil of the tract commanded is for the most part a light sandy loam, and in years of good rainfall it repays dry cultivation. The result is that the area watered fluctuates largely. ”

“ There is no lake or marsh cultivation except that of the singhára or waternut. They are not used for irrigation. North of the Ul, at Ramia Bihar, in the Dhaurahra, beyond Tirkaulia in the Palia pargana, and at Matera there are in curves of the ancient channels of the Kauriála and Sárda fine sheets of water from ten to twenty feet deep, from three to four miles long, and in some places fringed with magnificent groves. These lakes are locally called 'bhaggħar. There are no river-side towns, nor do the villages adjoining contain any number of persons who live by fishing or river traffic. ”

“ These fellows push out from the rock whenever the state of the water will permit, and follow the voyagers with their importunities. But when the river is full, and the current, strengthened by the melting of the snow, comes down in one sweeping flood, there is no loitering under the rock of Janghera, and a vessel sailing up with a strong wind, against this tide, makes rather a perilous navigation as it stems the rapid waters. In going down the Ganges at such a period, we pass the rock like an arrow shot from a bow, only catching a transient glance of its picturesque beauty ”

“ It runs quicker than the Indus, or any of the Punjab rivers, and its banks on both sides are open and richly irrigated by larger canals of running water, dug with great labour; on the right bank, from Mooltan upwards, there is a desert of low sand-hills, which does not admit of cultivation, and presses in upon the cultivated land at the short distance of two miles from the river. ”

“ That on the eastern side of the Kunar River, from the river bank up to the crest of the main range which forms the watershed between the Kunar River and the country (lit. direction) of Barawal and Bajaur, this frontier follows the southern watershed of the Arnawai stream, which falls into the Kunar River close to the village of Arnawai, leaving to Chitrar all the country of which the drainage falls into the Kunar River, by means of this stream, while the southern drainage of this last-mentioned watershed, which does not fall into the Arnawai stream, pertains to Afghanistan. ”

“ At this season the whole country is dry, but during the summer rains it is inundated by the Nárí river, which rises in the hills about Dadur, and spreads its floods broadcast all over the desert tract extending from Gandáva to Jacobabad. Most of this water is allowed to run waste, and from want of care much is lost by evaporation. Under a settled government there is little doubt that most of this desert tract could be brought under cultivation, for the soil appears very good, and the facilities for irrigation during the summer months are at hand. ”

“ The backbone of the district is a high and dry tract known as the Ganjí or Bald Bár. The advent of the Lower Bárí Doáb Canal will entirely change the character of this desert. Its south-eastern boundary is a high bank marking the course of the old bed of the Biás. Below this is the wide Sutlej valley. The part beyond the influence of river floods depends largely on the Khánwáh and Sohág Pára inundation Canals. The Ráví valley to the north-west of the Bár is naturally fertile and has good well irrigation. But it has suffered much by the failure of the Ráví floods. ”

“ The rain was heaviest in the Mádgole and Golgonda hills and consequently the damage was worst in the valley of the Sárada river. This stream was already running full from bank to bank when every one of its tributaries came down simultaneously in flood. It rose twelve feet above the level of ordinary freshes and inundated the whole of its valley. ”

“ One of the gentlemen present, Senhor Candido, had visited a lake 45 days to the N.N.W. of Tete, which is probably the Lake Maravi of geographers, as in going thither they pass through the people of that name. The inhabitants of its southern coast are named Shiva; those on the north, Mujao; and they call the lake Nyanja or Nyanje, which simply means a large water, or bed of a large river. A high mountain stands in the middle of it, called Murombo or Murombola, which is inhabited by people who have much cattle. ”

“ Miserable as the general aspect of this portion of the Nile Valley is, there is worse to come. At 718 miles from Lake Victoria the Bahr-el-Zaraf, or Giraffe River, branches off from the main stream through the swamps to the east, and the Bahr-el-Gebel enters that dreadful tract known as the 'sudd' country. The word 'sudd' in the Arabic language means a barrier, and this name is now applied to the entire area in which the river is liable to be blocked by the water-weeds which break into its channel from the illimitable marshes through which it strives to force a tortuous passage. ”

“ The tract to the north-east of that stream is rich and fertile, being watered by the Cawnpore and Etawah branches of the Ganges canal, and other important works. The south-western region has the same natural advantages, but possesses no great irrigation system, and is consequently less fruitful than the opposite slopes. Near the banks of the Jumna, the plain descends into the river valley by a series of wild ravines and terraces, inhabited only by a scattered race of hereditary herdsmen. ”

“ In no part of the world would it be a small matter to dam up a river draining nearly 300 sq. miles of country and subject to violent floods, with a wall 125 feet high, to transform it into a placid lake three or four times the area of the Husain Saugar, and capable of containing ten times the quantity of water, to construct a covered conduit twelve miles long, and a pipe system for nearly a million people. There have been big engineering works carried out in India. ”

“ Ascending by the dry bed of a torrent on the south side of the river, we skirted the eastern end of Jibel Teluet, which forms the southern boundary of the valley, and descended some four miles farther on to the larger stream of the Wad Unila. The ascent and descent we had crossed forms a small watershed for the tributaries of the two rivers, though apparently these mountain torrents only flow in the wet season. At one spot, rather more than half-way, we passed extensive salt-mines, where quite a number of natives were engaged in working rock-salt. ”

“ These, the most famous falls in India, are situated on the Siruvatti (or Sharavati) river, which at that part of its course forms the boundary between the north-west corner of the native state of Mysore and the Bombay Presidency. The source of the river is in Mysore, half-way up Koda Chadri, a hill about five thousand feet high, near the famous old town of Nuggur, once the seat of the Rajahs of Mysore, where are still to be seen the ruins of an old fort and palace, and the walls of the town, eight miles in circumference. ”

“ Indeed the Bareda is a small stream. It would with us be called a good mill stream. We would rather term it a creek than a river. It is mostly confined in a channel of eight or ten yards wide, and then may be waded without coming above the knee. Much of the water of these rivers is exhausted in irrigation. They flow east, and after rendering a noble plain very fertile and productive for twenty or thirty miles, form a lake or marsh—they have no outlet. I wished much to ride eastward through this plain and see the country about the lake, but the time of the year and other causes prevented. ”

“ We had made it below the junction of Morissett's Ponds, and found that a recent flood had filled its channel with water. The natives dived into it to cure their headaches, as they said, and seemed to go completely under water, in order to take a cool drink. We had reached the united channel of the Macquarie and Morissett's Ponds, and were at an easy day's journey only distant from the junction with the Bàrwan or "Darling." The use of the aboriginal name of this river is indispensable amongst the squatters along its banks, who do not appear to know it to be the "Darling." ”

“ In the Punjab the growth of all kinds of jungle is encouraged. It binds the soil together and protects it from the wash of waves and from winds which blow away sand and dust, and so wear the embankment slowly away.
In embanking a long reach of a river it is convenient to begin from the upstream end, because otherwise floods may get behind the finished part of the embankment and, becoming impounded in a “pocket” formed by the embankment and high land, rise to an abnormal height and, unless gaps in the embankment have been left or are subsequently made, cause breaches. ”

“ Let us invite with songs and holy hymns for help Sarasvati who slayeth the Paravatas. 3. Thou castest down, Sarasvati, those who scorned the Gods, the brood of every Brsaya skilled in magic arts. Thou hast discovered rivers for the tribes of men, and, rich in wealth! made poison flow away from them. 4. May the divine Sarasvati, rich in her wealth, protect us well, Furthering all our thoughts with might 5. Whoso, divine Sarasvati, invokes thee where the prize is set, Like Indra when he smites the foe. ”

“ From Dersai to Si Khanah the mountains run so close together, north and south, that in most places there is only room for the actual bed of the river, and it is only near the mouths of the small hill-side streams that a few hundred square yards of arable soil may be found. About 3 kilomètres west of Si Khanah there are a number of cataracts, and immediately south of Rang the sands, brought down by the stream, begin again to form into dunes. From Nut to Samchan, in the province of Ishkashim, the river [Pg 90] valley becomes broader, the Panja dividing into several arms. ”

“ The rivers of Bokhara belong to the Amu Daria system, the Oxus flowing for 490 versts through the Khanate itself. Constant demands for purposes of irrigation are made upon its waters as well as upon the waters of its many tributaries, [Pg 26] a fact which rapidly exhausts the lesser streams. In the western portion of the Khanate the Zerafshan river is the great artery; and although it possesses a direct stream only 214 versts in length it supplies a system of canals, the aggregate length of which amounts to more than 1000 versts. ”