nd Backergunje has many beauties of
detail which strike a traveller in passing through the country. The level
of the country is low, forming as it does a part of the great Gangetic
delta; and the rivers, streams and water-courses are so numerous that it is
very difficult to travel except by boat at any season of the year. Every
natural hollow is full of water, around the margin of which long grasses,
reeds and other aquatic plants grow in the greatest profusion, often making
it difficult to say where the land ends and the water begins. Towards the
north-west the country is very marshy and nothing is to be seen for miles
but tracts of unreclaimed swamps and rice lands, with a few huts scattered
here and there and raised on mounds of earth. In the south of the district,
along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, lie the forest tracts of the
Sundarbans, the habitation of tigers, leopards and other wild beasts.

The principal rivers of the district are the Meghna, the Arial Khan and the
Haringhata or Baleswar, with their numerous offshoots. The Meghna
represents the accumulated waters of the Brahmaputra and Ganges. It flows
along the eastern boundary of the district in a southerly direction for
about 100 m. till it debouches into the Bay of Bengal. During the latter
part of its course this noble river expands into a large estuary containing
many islands, the principal of which is that of Dakshin Shahbazpur. The
islands on the sea-front are exposed to devastation by cyclonic
storm-waves. The Arial Khan, a branch of the Ganges, enters the district
from the north, and flows generally in a south-easterly direction till it
falls into the estuary of the Meghna. The main channel of the Arial Khan is
about 1700 yds. in width in the dry season, and from 2000 to 3000 yds. in
the rains. It receives a number of tributaries, sends off several
offshoots, and is navigable throughout the year by native cargo boats of
the largest size. The Haringhata, Baleswar, Madhumati and Garai are various
local names for the same river in different parts of its course and
represent another great offshoot of the Ganges. It enters Backergunje near
the north-west corner of the district, whence it forms its western
boundary, and runs south, but with great windings in its upper reaches,
till it crosses the Sundarbans, and finally falls into the Bay of Bengal by
a large and deep estuary, capable of receiving ships of considerable
burden. In the whole of its course t