This great river has its rise in the southern face of the Himalaya Mountains, and after a course of between 1500 and 1600 miles falls into the Bay of Bengal through two principal channels, widely separated from each other; the one known as the river Hooghly, which flows by Calcutta in its passage to the bay of Bengal; the other, further to the eastward, termed the Poddar, or Ganges, and subsequently the Megna, which finds its way to the sea through the Sunderbunds. The remote sources of the Ganges were long imperfectly known, and afforded a fertile subject of conjecture and controversy to the geographers of Europe. Prior to the commencement of the nineteenth century this river, designated the Bhageerettee in the upper part of its course, had been traced by Hindu pilgrims to Gangootri, the point at which it issues from the Himalaya mountains; but all accounts agreed that its origin was still more remote. On the side of Thibet it was reported to have been surveyed by lamas or priests, sent for that purpose by the Emperor Cambhi, whose route terminated at Rentaise, a range of snowy mountains on the west and south of Thibet. The most general notion was that it flowed within the Himalaya chain of snowy mountains for many hundred miles from the imaginary lake of Mapama to Gangootri. In 1808 Lieutenant Webb was sent by the Bengal government to explore the sources of the Ganges. About 17 miles beyond Gangootri his further progress was stopped by the difficulties of the country, but the Moonshee who accompanied the party went forward; and as he proceeded upwards after leaving Gangootri, he occasionally perceived the river among the snow, which, a little higher up, so completely filled its bed that no trace of it could be discovered. Five hundred yards farther on it again showed itself; but in front was a steep mountain rising up like a huge wall, from an angle of which the Ganges appeared to issue, whilst all beyond was an impenetrable mass of snow. This is the furthest point to which the Ganges could then be traced. Subsequently, however, it has been clearly established that the most remote feeder of the Bhageerettee, or Ganges, derives its origin in British territory, and from a locality situate on the southern instead of the northern base of the Himalayas. Ten miles above Gangootri the Bhageerettee, or Ganges, first comes to light at a place called the Cow's Mouth. It is a large stone in the middle of the stream, the water passing it on each side, and leaving only a small piece above the surface, to which the fancy of superstition has given the form of a cow's head, an animal held sacred by the Hindus. From Gangootri the Ganges flows among the mountains from S.E. to N.W., to Bhairogathi, where it is joined by the Jahnvi, its most distant feeder, and to which the title of originating the waters of the Ganges must now be awarded. The pretensions of the Doulee to this distinction have been asserted; but as the distance from the source of that river to its confluence with the Ganges at Deoprag falls short of the distance measured from the latter spot to the source of the Jahnvi, the grounds upon which its rival claims have been advanced cannot but be regarded as insufficient. From Sookie, where it fairly pierces through the Himalaya Proper, the river assumes a course S.W. to Hurdwar. Here, in the latitude of 29° 57' N., it gushes through an opening in the mountains and enters the plains of Bengal. From Hurdwar to its conflux with the Junna at Allahabad it is described as a stream of shoals and rapids, but navigable for river craft. The inland navigation of this portion of India will be materially improved by the Great Ganges Canal, now (1855) rapidly advancing to completion, and which was undertaken with the twofold object of affording increased means of irrigation to the north-western provinces, and adding to the facilities of water transit. The canal issuing from the river at Hurdwar traverses the Doab to Allyghur, whence it diverges in two channels, one leading to the parent stream at Cawnpore, and the other to Humepore, with several offsets to other districts. The total length of this canal, with its branches, measures upwards of 800 miles, and is estimated to cost a million and a half sterling. (See also Aqueduct.) With the exception of the Ramgunga flowing from Rohilcund, the Junna is the first large river that joins the Ganges after it debouches from the hills. From its arrival in the plains of Hurdwar, to the conflux with the Junna, its bed is of unequal depth, and its course, compared with the latter part, tolerably straight. From hence downwards it becomes more winding, till having successively received the waters of the Gograh, the Soane, and Gunduck, besides numerous smaller streams, its bed attains its full width, which, though very unequal, is estimated to average a mile in the dry season on its whole course through the plains, and two miles in the freshes. At the height of the inundation the breadth of the river in some parts of its course is enormous. Bishop Heber mentions that at Boglipoor, about 600 miles from the sea, including the turnings of the river, the breadth in one year at this season was 9 measured miles, and 7 in the following season. Though the Ganges be fordable in some places above the conflux of the Junna, the navigation is never interrupted for small craft up to Hurdwar, or for river steamers conveying passengers and treasure as far up as Ghurmuktesur, a town on the river, situate about 100 miles below Hurdwar. Below the confluence the channel is increased, the additional streams bringing a greater accession of depth than breadth; yet so shallow in places is the stream during the dry season, that, according to the author of the work entitled Steam Navigation in British India, craft should have a draught little exceeding 18 inches to navigate safely and beneficially between Calcutta and Allahabad. At about 220 miles from the sea, or 300 reckoning the windings of the river, commences the head of the Delta of the Ganges. The two westernmost branches named Cosimbazar and Jellinghy rivers unite and form what is afterwards denominated the Hooghly, which at Diamond Harbour forms the port of Calcutta. The length of course of the Ganges from its most distant source to the sea by this channel measures 1514 miles. Below the channel where the Ganges sends off these two branches to Calcutta, the main stream loses not only its name, but the greatest part of its sanctity in the eyes of the natives. The Cosimbazar river is almost dry from October to May, nor is the Jellinghy navigable during two or three of the driest months; consequently, at that period the communication by water between Calcutta and the Ganges above the Delta is maintained by a circuitous course termed the Sunderbund passage. That part of the Delta called the Sunder- Gangoetri. bunds consists of a labyrinth of rivers and creeks, measuring about 160 miles in breadth between the Hooghly and the Megna, the two principal channels of the Ganges, at their junction with the sea. This tract is covered with woods, which are infested with tigers, and its numerous canals form a complete inland navigation across the lower part of the Delta. The Ganges, like all tropical rivers, overflows periodically during the season of the rains in Bengal, on which it depends for its supplies, and not, as may be supposed, on the melting of the mountain snows. Its rise commences late in May, and reaches its maximum in September, at which period it attains the increased height (independently of the tide) of about 7 feet at Calcutta, and from 30 to 45 feet at Benares and Allahabad. In October the waters of the Ganges rapidly subside, after which scarcely a shower falls in the long dry season of Bengal. According to Rennell the quantity of water discharged by the Ganges is calculated in the dry season to amount to 80,000 cubic feet per second, and during the inundation to 405,000 cubic feet, giving a medium for the whole year of 180,000 cubic feet. Results widely differing in the extremes of both seasons have been obtained from experiments made at Benares and Sicrigally, from which it would appear that the mean discharge throughout the year averages 250,000 cubic feet at Benares, and double that quantity at Sicrigally. The descent of the river from Allahabad to Benares has been estimated at 6 inches per mile; from Benares to Colgong at 5 inches per mile; from Colgong to Jellinghy at 4 inches per mile; from Jellinghy to Calcutta at 4 inches; and from Calcutta to the sea at from 1 to 2 inches. In the dry season the current flows at the rate of 3 miles per hour; it increases during the wet season to 5 or 6 miles, and in particular situations to 7 or 8 miles. On the banks of the Ganges, where the soil is loose and the current rapid, "such tracts of land," says Major Rennell, "are swept away in one season as would astonish those who have not been eye-witnesses to the magnitude and force of the mighty streams occasioned by the periodical rains of the tropical regions." Great changes are in this manner produced in the course of the river; what is lost on one side being gained on the other by the mere operation of the stream. In its course through the plains the Ganges receives eleven rivers, some of which are larger than the Rhine, besides many others of less importance. The Junma, Goggrah, Soane, and Coosy, are the largest of its tributary streams. The Brahmapootta has its rise near the source of the Ganges, and from hence the two rivers diverge widely asunder, but afterwards they intermix their waters before they fall into the sea, the Ganges having then performed by this channel a course, including its windings, of about 1570 miles.