Page:The Seven Cities of Delhi.djvu/113

 Scenery," published in 1793, there is a plate, showing the river close up to the Kudsia Bagh ; now, even during the rainy season, it flows at a considerable distance.

The rivers of Northern India, in comparison with which the Thames is a mere rivulet, flow through plains of alluvial soil, and wander very considerably. It is often a matter of difficulty to keep them in their courses, and to prevent their leaving the large railway-bridges high and dry and finding a new course elsewhere ; the soil is quite powerless to resist the cutting of the river, which is liable to sudden floods during the melting of the snows on the mountains and the heavy downpour of the periodical rains. In the cold weather, however, the volume of water is comparatively small, and the river is unwilling to give itself unnecessary trouble in cutting its banks, but follows a meandering course, loop following loop ; it thus flows at a lesser velocity, and lives at peace with the banks. This condition of quiet is yearly disturbed. As the summer heats melt the snows, the river, which has been sluggishly flowing in its tortuous bed, begins to rise, and to spread itself over the spits, or spurs, which jut out at each bend ; rising still further, it covers them entirely, and the channel becomes, it may be, a mile wide. Then