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hill or hillock in the whole district, but it derives a certain picturesque beauty from its wide expanses of cultivation, and the greenness and freshness of the vegetation. This is especially conspicuous in the rains, but at no See also:

time of the See also:

YEAR

year does the district See also:

PRESENT

present a dried or burnt-up See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance. The villages, which are always walled See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round by groves of bamboos and betel-nut palms, have often a very striking appearance; and Backergunje has many beauties of detail which strike a traveller in passing through the country. The level of the country is See also:

low, forming as it does a part of the See also:

GREAT

great Gangetic delta; and the See also:

rivers, streams and See also:

WATER

water-courses are so numerous that it is very difficult to travel except by See also:

BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat at any See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season of the year. Every natural hollow is full of water, around the margin of which See also:

long See also:

GRASSES

grasses, reeds and other aquatic See also:

PLANTS

plants grow in the greatest profusion, often making it difficult to say where the See also:

LAND

land ends and the water begins. Towards the See also:

north-See also:

west the country is very marshy and nothing is to be seen for See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles but tracts of unreclaimed swamps and See also:

rice lands, with a few huts scattered here and there and raised on mounds of See also:

earth. In the See also:

south of the district, along the See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of the See also:

Bay of Bengal, See also:

lie the See also:

FOREST

forest tracts of the See also:

SUNDARBANS, or SUNDEBBUNDS

Sundarbans, the habitation of tigers, leopards and other See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild beasts. The See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal rivers of the district are the See also:

MEGHNA

Meghna, the Arial See also:

KHAN (from the Turki, hence Persian and Arabic Khan)

Khan and the Haringhata or Baleswar, with their numerous off-shoots. The Meghna represents the accumulated See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Brahmaputra and Ganges.

It flows along the eastern boundary of the district in a southerly direction for about See also:

LOO (formerly called " Lanterloo," Fr. lanturlu, the refrain of a popular 17th-century song)

loo m. till it debouches into the Bay of Bengal. During the latter part of its course this See also:

NOBLE, SIR ANDREW (1832- )

noble See also:

RIVER

river expands into a large See also:

ESTUARY (from the Lat. aestuarium, a place reached by aestus, the tide)

estuary containing many islands, the principal of which is that of Dakshin Shahbazpur. The islands on the See also:

sea-front are exposed to devastation by cyclonic See also:

storm-waves. The Arial Khan, a See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

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 See also:

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 See also:

CARGO (Span. for " loading," from Lat. carries, car)

cargo boats of the largest See also:

SIZE

size. The Haringhata, Baleswar, Madhumati and Garai are various See also:

LOCAL

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 See also:

SHIPS

ships of considerable See also:

BURDEN, or BURTHEN

burden. In the whole of its course through the district the river is navigable by native boats of large See also:

TONNAGE

tonnage, and by large sea-going ships as high up as Morrellganj, in the neighbouring district of See also:

JESSORE

Jessore. Among its many tributaries in Backergunje the most important is the Kacha, itself a considerable stream and navigable by large boats all the year round, which flows in a southerly direction for 20 m.; when it falls into the Baleswar. Other rivers of See also:

minor importance are the See also:

BARISAL

Barisal, Bishkhali, Nihalganj, Khairaba.d, See also:

BACKGAMMON

BACKGAMMON 133 Ghagar, Kumar, &c. All the rivers in the district are subject to tidal See also:

ACTION

action from the Meghna on the north, and from the Bay of Bengal on the south, and nearly all of them are navigable at high See also:

TIDE (O. Eng. lid, cf. Ger. Zeit, time or season, connected with root of Sanskrit a-diti, endless)

tide by country boats of all sizes.

The rise of the tide is very considerable in the estuary of the Meghna, and many of the creeks and water-courses in the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island of Dakshin Shahbazpur, which are almost dry at ebb tide, contain 18 or 19 ft. of water at the See also:

flood. A very strong " See also:

BORE

bore " or tidal See also:

WAVE

wave runs up the estuary of the Meghna at See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring tides, and a singular See also:

sound like See also:

THUNDER

thunder, known as the " Barisal guns," is often heard far out at sea about the time it is coming in. There are numerous marshes in the district, of great size and See also:

DEPTH

depth, and abounding in See also:

fish. The Mussulmans of Backergunje are among the worst of their creed, steeped in See also:

IGNORANCE (Lat. ignorantia, from ignorare, not to know); want of knowledge, a state of mind which in law has important consequences. A well-known legal maxim runs: ignorantia juris non excusat ("ignorance of the law does not excuse")

ignorance and See also:

PREJUDICE (Lat. praejudicium)

prejudice, easily excited to violence and See also:

MURDER

murder, very litigious and grossly immoral. On See also:

account of an epidemic of murders disarmament had to be enforced in the district. The Faraizis or Puritan See also:

SECT

sect of Mahommedans are exceedingly numerous in the district. The Buddhist See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population consists of Maghs or the See also:

PEOPLE

people of See also:

ARAKAN

Arakan, who first settled in Backergunje about ',Soo, and have made themselves very useful in the clearing of the Sundarbans. A gipsy-like tribe called the Bebajias are rather numerous in this district. They live principally in boats, travelling from See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to place, profess Mahommedanism, and gain their subsistence by See also:

wood-cutting in the Sundarbans, fishing, See also:

FORTUNE, ROBERT (1813-188o)

fortune-telling and trading in trinkets. In 1901 the population was 2,291,752, showing an increase of 6 % in the See also:

DECADE (from Gr. Oka, ten)

decade. A number of small trading villages exist throughout the district, and each locality has its periodical fairs for purposes of See also:

TRAFFIC

traffic. The material See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition of the people is See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good.

Every inhabitant is a small landholder and cultivates sufficient rice and other necessaries for the support of his See also:

FAMILY

family. Owing to this See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason, hired labour is very scarce. Rice is the great See also:

CROP (a word common. in various forms, such as Germ. Kropf, to many Teutonic languages for a swelling, excrescence, round head or top of anything; it appears also in Romanic languages derived from Teutonic, in Fr. as troupe, whence the English " crupper "

crop of the district, and three harvests are obtained annually—the aman, or See also:

winter rice; aus, or autumn crop; and boro, or spring rice. The See also:

CLIMATE

climate of Backergunje is one of the healthiest in Eastern Bengal, owing to the strong south-west See also:

monsoon, which comes up directly from the Bay of Bengal, and keeps the See also:

ATMOSPHERE (Gr. fir µ6r, vapour; orkaipa, a sphere)

atmosphere cool; but the heavy rainfall and consequent humidity of the atmosphere, combined with the use of See also:

BAD, BCD

bad water, are fruitful See also:

SOURCES

sources of disease. The See also:

AVERAGE

average See also:

ANNUAL

annual temperature varies from 78° to 85° F. The thermometer ranges from 62° to 98° Barisal, the headquarters station, situated on the west See also:

BANK

bank of the Barisal river, had a population in 1901 of 18,978. The next largest See also:

TOWN

town is Pirojpur (14,119).

End of Article: BACKERGUNJE, or BAKARGANJ

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