350 NOA KHALI. The details of the calamity (a full account of which is given in the Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. vi. pp. 525-532) were very distressing. In one char alone, out of 177 people, 137 died. The flood occurred at midnight, and the whole damage was done in a few minutes. A great wave, several feet high, suddenly burst over the country; this was immediately followed by another still higher, and by a third ; escape in most cases was simply impossible. No protective measure against these calamities seems practicable; the trees which invariably surround the homesteads saved most of those who survived. The highest prices reached for food-grains during the famine of 1866 were—for best husked rice, Igs. gd. a cwt. ; common husked rice, 125. rod. ; best paddy, 14s. 7d. ; and common paddy, gs. gd. a cwt. The famine, however, did not directly affect Noakhali District; the rise in prices was solely owing to the demand caused by the failure of the crops elsewhere. Commerce and Trade, etc.—Despite its extensive river coast, extending from Raipur to the mouth of the Bará Pheni, a distance of 200 miles, and its consequent favourable situation for the growth of commerce, the trade of Noakhalí is not extensive, and little enterprise is shown in developing its capabilities. Business is carried on by means of permanent markets. There is a busy mart at Raipur on the Dákátiá river, to which rice, areca-nuts, oranges, and garden produce are brought from the neighbourhood. The traffic on the Little Pheni and the Mahendra khál supplies Chittagong with a large portion of its rice. Cotton from Hill Tipperah and the Chittagong Hill Tracts, kunda boats (dug-outs) also from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and jute from Tipperah, are imported into Noákhálí by way of the Bará Pheni and its tributaries. The principal exports are rice, areca-nuts, and cocoa-nuts; the chief imports—European cotton goods, pulses, brass utensils, salt, sugar, spices, iron, lime, bamboos, and salted fish. No manufactures worthy of the name are at present carried on in Noák hálí. A coarse description of sitalpatí mat is made. Clothweaving is also practised to some extent; but this industry, which was formerly carried on by the East India Company on a large scale in the District, is rapidly disappearing, owing to the competition of European piece-goods. The total extent of water-ways in the District is 340 miles, of which 299 miles are rivers and kháls, and 41 miles are canals. Land conmunications have been much extended of late years. Including roads under construction, the total length of land communications in 1883 was 310 miles, exclusive of village roads. Administration.—Noakhali was first formed into a separate District in 1822. In 1824-25, the earliest year for which records are available, the gross revenue of the District amounted to £51,828, and the
