The Ganges Canal; [manuscript].

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[con]=sequent establishment of villages and agriculture, on a large area which is now a wilder= =ness: knowing, moreover, the singular =ly fertile nature of the soil at those points where the blessings of water are felt even in their most limited extent; looking to the predatory life of the scatterd formulation now existing, and con =templating the certain change to that of agriculture with all its concomi= =tant advantages; the causes that lea to the abandonment of major Bakeis Project[?] may I think be regretted and we may hope that with the satisfactory data he has provided and with the daily increasing interest that is arising in the ex= =tension of Irrigation, the subject of the [?] Canal may [be] ere long be resumed with full vigor. I have now completed a [?] outline of the different projects for canal in the North West Provinces, the sur= =veys of which had been conducted at the same time with those of a line of canal for the irrigation of the country between the Jumma and Ganges, or of that line which is especially the sub= =ject of the present paper.

I have before mentioned that the only attempt which had been madein out time on the irrigation of the land lying on the right of the Ganges River,

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river, was when Captain Debude proposed to make use of the waters of the Kindun and west Kalli Nuddies, and by establishing dams over their courses to obtain the means of irrigating the Meerut Bolunds [?] and Alligurh districts; the site of the proposed works being on an ancient canal bearing the name of Muhummad Aboo Khan, a native chief by whom it was supposed to have been [dug ?] early in the 18th Century. Captain Debude's enquiries established the fact that the united volumes of the above mentioned two rivers would not during the dry months provide a supply that would last longer than 180 days and that during the rainy months the works on the rivers themselves would be subjected to the most extreme flood action. To these sources, therefore, it was hopeless to look for the means of meeting the demands of any comprehensive scheme for irrigation. The Ganges river alone could, consequently be depended on : Colonel John Colvin C.B. at that time Superintendent General of canals, was satisfied that an examination of the river above and below [?], would prove its efficiency for the purposes required; Colonel Colvins views and my own coincided on the adviseability of making early enquiries and subjecting that part of the [Khadu ?] or low land lying between [Kundwa ?] and the head of the east Kalli Nuddi to careful survey

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careful survey; the impracticable living out of this part of the country, especially the depressed tract of land above alluded to, and the abrupt transition from high to low levels in the neighborhood of [Jourasse ?], [Noornugger ?] and Sookurtal, were certainly features by no means favorable to success, but it was determined to settle the question at the earliest opportunity possible Colonel Colvin left India at the end of 1836 giving over charge of his duties as Superintendent General of canals to me; and it was in November of that year that the first series of levels was taken. The [Bangunga ?], an old branch of the Ganges river, is connected with the [parent ?] stream, in the same way that the Boodhi Sumna is with the Sumna river. The head of the Boodhi Sumna is the head of the eastern Sumna canal; it was supposed therefore, that the [Bangunga ?] might do equally good service as the head [of ?] a canal from the Ganges. The village of [Baushahpoor ?] which is close to the [Bangunga ?] was selected as a favorable point from whence to commence a series of levels and the most desirable question to decide, was the difference of level between the water at that point, and the highland near the village of Rampoor the site of Captain Debude's canal head after he had raised the water by means of dams to a height of

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of 30 feet from the bed of the west Kalli Nuddi. The results as will be seen from Diagram I were very unsatisfactory, and showed that the point which had been taken upon the Bangunga was totally unfitted for the site of a head of supply to try, therefore, a point higher upon the line of the Ganges, was the method of overcoming the difficulty which next offered itself, as it appeared that by taking a circuitous route the impracticable line of country might be avoided. Colonel Colvin with whom I was in correspondence on the subject was sanguine that success would ultimately attend an enquiry having for its object the examination of the country lying between the Sewaliks and the high land of the Doub; it seemed to me however that under such difficulties it was more than probable that the cost of a canal would be too great to warrant the undertaking of the work, and it was not until sometime afterwards when I had made myself acquainted with the features of the tract above [referred ?] to, and had examined the data which I had obtained in my [Badshahpoor ?] levels, comparing them with those of the eastern Sumna canal and the known barometrical heights which connected the whole, that I was able to form a proper estimate of the practicality of such a work : at the time, however, my occupations were of a nature that prevented me from continuing the enquiry and the question remained temporarily at rest. At this period the appointment of Superintendent of canals in which I had been acting since Col Colvin's departure for England was abolished and I returned to my duties as Superintendent of the eastern Sumna canal & it's dependencies. The calamitous events of the year 1837 - 1838 and the extent of human

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human misery than caused by the utter failure of the crops in the central provinces, especially in the lower Districts of the Doub, leading to famine in its most aggravated shape, and to misery such as is unknown in civilized Europe, are not even at the present day forgotten by those who at that time were resident in upper India. The exertions of the [?] community in alleviating the sufferings of a starving population were carried on with true Anglo Saxon energy, and the sacrifices of a million sterling in revenue, either in [remission ?] or in distributing food, was a guarantee of the interest that the Government felt in this frightful calamity. As the famine was chiefly felt in the lower and central dis -tricts of the Doub, and as the [evils ?] had after all been only partially relieved by such an amount of philanthropic exertion & such an enormous sacrifice of revenue, the question, as to what might have been the results if a canal for irrigation had been completed previously to this year of famine; naturally suggested itself for consideration had such a work been executed, the Government would in all probability have been saved this sacrifice of money, and in a moral point of view have been spared the [?] of witnessing so much misery. The project of making a canal from the Ganges so as to provide irrigation to the Doub was, therefore, no longer to be considered a mere subject for speculation, but a question to be decided at the earliest possible period. My views