Portuguese settlement; Húglí, town and Civil Station; Chinsuraha, formerly a Dutch settlement; Chandarnagar, a French settlement; Serampur, formerly a Danish settlement; and Howrah, opposite Calcutta. The Húglí has no important tributaries on the 24 Parganás side, its only feeders being the Diamond Harbour and Kholá Khálí Creeks, and the Faltá, Nílá, Haruá, and Kálpí Kháls, all insignificant streams. The larger tributaries, such as the Saraswatí (formerly the main channel of the Húglí, but now completely silted up), Dámodar, Rúpnáráyan, Haldí, and Rasúlpur, are all on the opposite bank of the river, and belong to the Húglí and Midnapur Districts. A detailed account of this river and its navigation will be found in my Statistical Account of Calcutta.
The Bidyadhari is a large river with a very circuitous course in the District. It flows from the Sundarbans on the east, northwards past Haruá, where it takes the name of the Haruá Gáng, after which it takes a bend to the west and is joined by the Noná Khál; it then flows south-west to the junction of the Báliághátá and Tolly’s Canals, and afterwards takes a south-easterly direction to the town of Canning. Here it is joined by the Karatoyá and the Athárabánká, and the united streams flow southward through the Sundarbans as the Matlá River, debouching upon the Bay of Bengal under that name. The Bidyádharí has an average breadth of from two to three hundred yards, and, as the Matlá, affords the means of navigation for shipping to within twenty-eight miles by railway from Calcutta. A description of the port and town of Canning, or Maltá, as it is sometimes called, will be found on a subsequent page.
The Piali is a cross stream from the Bidyádharí to the Maltá. It branches off from the former river near Bhagirathpur, and flows a south and south-westerly course till it falls into the Maltá about fifteen miles below Canning. This river is bridged at the point where the Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway (which runs to Canning town) crosses it. It is a deep stream, about a hundred yards in breadth where it leaves the Bidyádharí, but increases to about two hundred and fifty yards on its way.
The Jamuna River flows into the 24 Parganás from Nadiyá . It enters the District at Baliání, and follows a tortuous south-easterly course for a short distance as far as Tibi, where it is joined by the Ichhámatí, a considerable stream flowing from the north-east. At this place also the Jumuná throws out a small offshoot, the Padmá,
