PREFACE
TO VOLUME II. OF
THE STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF BENGAL.
This volume treats of that part of the Gangetic delta which lies within the Districts of Nadiyá and Jessor. Nadiyá and the northern portions of Jessor form examples of old-settled, well-raised deltaic tracts,—of tracts, however, still partially subject to fluvial action and to annual inundations, which in ordinary years fertilize the soil, but occasionally devastate the crops. The southern parts of Jessor District exhibit the delta in a less advanced stage of formation, covered with swamps, and ending towards the coast in a network of sluggish channels and backwaters, through which the Gangetic distributaries merge into the sea.
The total area dealt with in this volume amounts to 7327 square miles, containing a population of 3,887,816 souls. The District statistics were collected in the years 1870-72, and as regards their accuracy are subject to the remarks in my Preface to Volume I.
