CHAPTER XIX.

THE WATERWAYS OF BRITISH INDIA. “Flies tow’rd the springs Of Ganges or Hydaspes.” —_Milton._ It has long been a contested point between different sections of the officials charged with the government of India whether canals or railways were likely to provide the cheapest and the most suitable means of communication for that extensive country. The enormous area of British India, the generally level character of the immense plains that form so prominent a feature of her physical conformation, the generally slow pace at which everything is carried on, and the comparatively little importance that is attached to a high rate of speed, all seemed to mark out the Indian possessions of the British Crown as extremely favourable for the construction of an extensive system of artificial waterways adapted to the twin purposes of irrigation and navigation. Sir Arthur Cotton has even advocated the summary and indefinite suspension of nearly all railway schemes and works, in order that the attention of the Government might be concentrated upon canals, mainly for irrigation, but also adapted for purposes of navigation.[135] Irrigation is, indeed, one of the absolutely indispensable requirements of the country, and the State has expended many millions for this purpose. But the work has been carried out, for the most part, for agricultural purposes alone, and it was not discovered until too late that a valuable source of power and economy was lost in not, at the same time, adapting them for navigation purposes.[136] In some of the later canals this oversight has been repaired. In the great deltas most of the principal irrigation canals recently constructed have been adapted for navigation, as well as some of the larger canals in the North-western Provinces and the Punjaub. In the Madras Presidency, again, there is a system, commencing with the Buckingham Canal, at the town of Sadras, and continuing along the Delta Canal and by the Kistna and Godavery lines, which affords 456 miles of unbroken water communication.[137] This canal, however, is, like the railway system of India, exposed to the serious disadvantage of a broken gauge. The locks on this system are all of the same dimensions, viz. 150 feet long by 20 feet broad, with a minimum of 5 feet on the sills of the lower gate. That portion of it which is dependent on a tidal supply consists of level reaches, with only one lock, near Madras. When it leaves the coast, there is an ascent of about 50 feet to be overcome to the Kistna, a difference of about 20 feet between the low-water levels of the Kistna and Godavery, and a descent from the latter of 35 feet to the port of Cocanada. In the Tida Section near Madras the surface width of the canal is 60 feet, and there is a minimum depth of 4½ feet. The tonnage of the boats plying on the Buckingham Canal was, in 1882, registered at 10,215 tons, and the receipts, consisting of licence fees and tolls, amounted to 12,000_l._, showing an increase of 1000_l._ over the previous year. In the fresh-water reaches, the width varies from 120 to 60 feet, with an average depth of 6 feet, and a current varying from ½ to 1¼ mile per hour. Every variety of boat is to be found on this canal, ranging from 3 to 80 tons. In the Delta canals there is a large number of passenger boats, built on improved English models, but the majority of the craft are built on native lines, clumsy in appearance, but good cargo carriers notwithstanding, and almost all are decked. The haulage is almost entirely carried on by men; no cattle are used. On the Godavery and Kistna, small steamers have run in connection with the Government works, but, practically, no steam towing, though practised on the river itself, has as yet been used on the canals. The cost of traction cannot be accurately stated; but, as far as General Rundall could make out from independent inquiries, the cost of working native boats is about one-eighth of a penny per ton-mile; the charge varies with the demand and the description of cargo. The carriage of material for the Government Works used to be contracted for at three-eighths of a penny per ton mile, and the charge made to native merchants was probably about the same; but to European traders it was higher. There is no other purely navigation canal in the Madras Presidency, but there is a considerable boat traffic carried on in the lagoons on the western coast. The Godavery Delta is composed of three principal tracts. A main canal is led off from the river to each tract, and from it are thrown off several main branches, most of which are fitted with locks. The lines which skirt the edge of the Delta are carried with a very small slope, and therefore require no locks, except at the terminus, where, on one side (the right bank), the canal is connected with a similar line led from the Kistna, and on the left bank, at a distance of 30 miles, it is connected with the port of Cocanada by a short junction canal, in which are built the locks necessary to overcome the difference of level, about 30 feet above the sea. All the main lines are dropped into the tidal reaches of the respective branches of the Godavery, and are in this manner connected with one another. The total length of navigable canals, exclusive of the tidal portions of the river, and the various salt-water creeks permeating the lower part of the Delta, extends for between 458 and 502 miles. The canals are open to any carriers. Tolls are not levied generally, but only on unlicensed boats, as the water rates derived from irrigation yield a large return on the capital expenditure. The majority of boats pay the small registration fee which is exacted in preference to tolls. _s._ The fees on cargo boats, per ton of 50 cubic feet, were 4 ” passenger boats, 1st class ” 8 ” ” 2nd class ” 6 These rates were increased from January 1882 to:— Cargo boats, per ton of 75 cubic feet 7 Passenger boats, 1st class ” 14 ” 2nd class ” 10 These fees free boats over the whole system of canals during the calendar year. Unlicensed boats pay 6_d._ per ton for a single trip. The charge for third-class passengers on boats is one-eighth of a penny per mile. Between the river Tumbaddra and the river Pennar there is a large canal, which was originally constructed by the Madras Irrigation Company, and, although intended primarily for an irrigation line, was fitted with locks, in order to enable it to be used for navigation. This canal is, however, only available for about eight months of the year, as the water supply in the river has to be passed on for use in the Kistna Delta. The Ganges and the Brahmapootra are connected with the Hoogly by means of a number of creeks, which are really natural canals, and are connected by two artificial canals: the first called the Circular, or Baliaghatta Canal, and the other Tolly’s Nullah. The Calcutta Canal route for boats extends eastward for about 115 miles to Khoohia, the capital of the Sunderbunds, and is situated at the junction of the rivers named the Atharabanka and Bhoyrab, respectively. The former is an offshoot of the Madhumatti, down which comes all the produce from the north; the latter carries all that which comes from Backergunge on the eastward. The total number of laden boats registered on the canals in 1874 was 77,096, and the total tonnage of all the cargoes imported into Calcutta by the Sunderbunds route was 521,000 tons. A large traffic is carried on along the three branches from the Ganges known as the Nuddeah rivers into Calcutta. In the years 1873-74 the total number of boats passing up and down was 32,887 and 27,242, conveying 378,200 and 323,000 tons respectively, of which over two-thirds was down traffic. The first canals met with in the Bengal series, other than the purely navigation lines, are those comprised in the Orissa Scheme. They are divided into three sections. The largest are those constructed in Orissa proper, the navigated portion measuring 162 miles, but when fully completed this system will extend to about 500 miles. There is a canal from Midnapore to Calcutta 70 miles in length, of which 53 miles are artificial, and the remainder follows the course of the Hoogly river. A canal about 30 miles in length has been cut at Hidgedee, in order to enable boats to escape the dangers of the lower reaches of the Hoogly. This canal is to be continued until it enables water communication to be established for the 250 miles that separate Calcutta and Cuttack. The canal varies from 120 to 60 feet, with a minimum depth of 6 feet, while the head locks and those on the main line are 150 feet by 20 feet. This canal cost 6200_l._ per mile, while the Orissa Canal is stated to have cost 3000_l._, and the Midnapore Canal 4400_l._ per mile, attributable specially to navigation. In Bengal there is a system of canals connecting with the river Ganges, which passes through the province of South Behar. There are three principal branches in this system—named the Patna, the Arrah, and the Buxar—their total length being 217 miles. On this system there were 8613 boats in 1882, the aggregate tonnage of which was 88,657 tons. Navigation is carried on in the North-west Provinces and on the Upper and Lower Ganges Canal. The Agra Canal, which leaves the Jumna eight miles below Delhi, has also been adapted for navigation. In the Presidency of Madras there are upwards of 53,000 tanks, or reservoirs for irrigation purposes alone, exclusive of small tanks near villages, all executed by the natives prior to the occupancy of the Deccan by the British. The aggregate length of the embankment of these reservoirs is fully 30,000 miles; bridges, culverts, sluices, &c., are more than 300,000 in number. The stored-up waters, sent forth at the proper season, still brings to the exchequer of the Madras Presidency a yearly income of a million and a half sterling (one-sixth of the whole revenue), although many of the finest of these reservoirs are in ruins, or useless from want of being properly kept up. One of them, the Ponairy Reservoir, in the district of Trichinopoly, has a superficial area of about 80 square miles, or say 50,000 acres; the banks are 30 miles in extent. Another, the Veranum Reservoir, has nearly 35 square miles of area, or upwards of 20,000 acres, and 10 miles of banks. An expenditure of a considerable amount has been incurred for nearly half a century by the Government of the Madras Presidency in keeping open the existing narrow waterway through the rocky reef which connects the island of Ramisseram with the mainland of India. Even so, however, the navigation has been extremely unsatisfactory. The tide, when making southwards, heaps up the water at the northern entrance to the channel to such an extent that even full-powered steamers require to employ kedges and warps to surmount and pass it. The Madras Government, therefore, are favourable to a proposed new channel, which will at once relieve them of a serious outlay, provide greater security to navigation, and materially reduce the time now occupied in steaming between Ceylon and their own seaboard. It has been proposed to increase the maritime facilities of India and Ceylon by cutting a canal through the island of Ramisseram, which at the present time excludes the possibility of ships drawing more than 12 feet of water from passing northward to the Bay of Bengal. For this reason ships proceeding to Madras or Calcutta have to steer to the east of Ceylon, which entails a voyage of 300 or 400 miles longer than would be required if the route by the Gulf of Manaar and the Palk Straits were open to them. For some years previous to 1887 negotiations had been carried on between the parties promoting this canal and the Government of India, with a view of obtaining such concessions as were deemed necessary to the realisation of the scheme. Authority has been given to obtain land and cut the canal, and the aid of the Government has been promised towards obtaining from the railway companies in the south of India an extension of their system to the new port which it is proposed to establish at the Indian end of the canal. The inland navigation of India is, however, chiefly carried on upon the great rivers—the Indus, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra. Taking the limit of the Ganges, and Jumna to the west and south, the Brahmaputra and Megna to the east, the country intersected by navigable rivers, &c., may be computed as covering an area exceeding 180,000 square miles. There is an uninterrupted navigation of 1000 miles up the Indus from the sea to Lahore, which is situated on the Ravee, or Hydrastes, one of the most meandering of the five Punjab rivers or branches composing the Chenab. But, owing to the numerous shallows and sandbanks in some parts of the Indus, this extensive navigation can only be said to be open to the flat-bottomed boats of the country, which draw about four feet of water. There are, however, few rivers on which steam could be used with better effect than on the Indus, which is said to discharge four or five times as much water as the Ganges. It has no rocks nor rapids, and, unless when swollen, the current does not exceed 2½ miles an hour. The swell commences about the end of April, increases till July, and disappears altogether in September. There are many canals connected with the Indus, but they are principally for the purpose of irrigation, and the greater part of them, being mostly natural creeks, have no water except during the swollen state of the river. Such canals intersect the Delta, and are likewise pretty numerous between the latitudes of 26° 20´ and 28°, particularly on the west side of the river; but the most ancient artificial canals connected with this river seem to belong to the Punjab district. By means of the Ganges and its subsidiary streams all sorts of articles can be conveyed between the sea and the north-west portions of Hindustan over a distance of more than 1000 miles. The commercial capital, Calcutta, upon the Hoogly branch of the Ganges, is favourably situated for internal navigation. It is about 100 miles from the sea, and 130 from the Sandheads; but it has a very intricate and tedious navigation through the banks of sand and mud, which occasionally shift their beds in the Hoogly River, as well as in the other branches of the Ganges. The Nuddeah rivers, which connect the Ganges with the Hoogly, are likewise, for eight months in the year, so extremely shallow, that the water communication between Calcutta and the upper country is, during that time, maintained by the Sunderbund passages at a great expense of time and labour. To obviate this inconvenience, it has been proposed to construct a canal which, branching off from the Ganges at Rajamahl, shall join the Hoogly at Mirzapore near Kulna; for, owing to the difference of level at the extremities, amounting to 60 feet, and the height of the Ganges itself, varying 30 feet at different seasons, an open cut without locks would not suffice. The intended route, besides being 300 miles shorter than the present route, would traverse a country rich in iron ore and limestone, and would pass near to extensive coalfields. Among other works of the kind carried out in India during the present century may be named a canal to unite the Damrah and Churamunee; the re-opening of Feroze Shah’s canal in Delhi; the restoration of Zabita Kahn’s canal in the Upper Dooab; the course of Ali Murdher’s canal drawn into Delhi; a new cut from the Votary Nullah; a canal at Chumnapore. A canal of 70 miles has been executed in the King of Oude’s dominions, between the Ganges and its tributary the Goomty. There are several canals in Agra, but they are chiefly used for irrigation, some of them being of considerable antiquity. South Malabar, and nearly all Travancore, are naturally provided near their coasts with a system of inland navigation called the Backwater, which extends from Chowghaut in Malabar on the north, to Trivanderam, the capital of Travancore, within 50 miles of Cape Comorin, on the south, a distance of 170 or 180 miles. A continuation of it is navigable 90 miles farther for small boats during the rains, from Chowghaut to Cotah, 16 miles south of Tellicherry. The Backwater runs nearly parallel to the sea-shore, sometimes at a distance of a few hundred yards, and at other times of three or four miles. Its breadth varies from 200 yards to 12 or 14 miles; its depth from many fathoms to a few feet. Into this Backwater all the numerous rivers flowing from the Western Ghauts are discharged and retained. The Backwater empties itself into the sea by six mouths; of which the only one navigable for ships is the mouth on the south bank of which is situated Cochin. There is a bar at this mouth, but on it there are 17 or 18 feet of water at spring tides. In May 1871 an influential deputation waited on the Duke of Argyll, when that nobleman was Secretary for India, to urge the making of a new ship canal through the narrow neck of land projecting from the continent of India, which separates the Gulf of Manaar from the Palk Straits. At the close of the discussion, his Grace frankly admitted that if the statements made by the several members of the deputation were correct, which he did not doubt, and if the work could be executed at the cost estimated, or anything near it, it would doubtless be worthy of adoption, and he, therefore, would address the Indian Government with the view of obtaining an official estimate, and then give his best consideration to the subject. The project has not yet, however, been carried out. FOOTNOTES: [135] Report from the Select Committee on East India (Public Works), 1879, p. xiv. [136] Evidence of Sir Bartle Frere before the Select Committee on Canals, 1883, p. 159. [137] Report made by General Rundall, to the Select Committee on Canals, p. 280. SECTION II. SHIP CANALS.