HOOGHLY, a river in Bengal, and the port of Cal cutta, is formed by the junction of the Cossimbazar and ..Tellinghy, the two westernmost branches of the Ganges.
The Ilooghly, though by no means the largest branch, has the deepest outlet to the sea, and is considered by the Hin doos as the true Ganges, or most sacred part of that river. It is the only branch which is commonly navigated by large vessels ; but its entrance and passage are neverthe less extremely dangerous, not so much from the shallow ness of the channel, as from the number of the sand-banks which project into the sea. At its junction particularly with the Roopnarrain, there is a large sheet of water form ed, which is full of shoals; and, as the bed of the Hooghly turns to the right, many vessels -me lost, by being carried, with the force of the tide, up the Roopnarrain, which more directly faces the approach from the sea. There is also, at this bend of the Hooghly, a dangerous sand, named the James and Mary, around which the channel seldom con tinues the same for eight clays in succession, and requires very frequent surveys. The bore, which commences at
Hooghly point, where the river first contracts itself, is per ceptible above the town of Hooghly, nearly seventy miles distant ; and so rapid is the progress of the tide, that it passes through this extent in four hours. It does not run on the Calcutta side ; but proceeds 'along the opposite bank, from which it crosses at Chitpoor, about four miles above Fort William, and rushes with great violence past Barnagore, Duckinsore, Scc. At Calcutta, it sometimes occasions an instantaneous rise of five feet, and, upon its approach, it is necessary for boats to quit the shore, and go for safety into the middle of the river. (q)