29 
eye to the banks, it is only to see the kites, vultures, herons, 
and pariah dogs, actively engaged in the same work. The 
shades of night relieve the eye from this revolting spectacle, 
but these no sooner set in than the howlings of the wolves 
and jackals assail the ear, and announce their approach to 
partake of the same horrid banquet. A short residence in 
the country, however, reconciles Europeans to all these 
objects; and the water of the Hoogly is esteemed by our 
seamen next to that of the Thames. The natives them- 
selves, it is hardly necessary to say, are so indifferent, that 
I one day saw a Hindoo washing his mouth at a small eddy 
of the river, where a putrid body lay floating directly under 
his nose. ks 
«The banks of the Hoogly, for five or six miles below 
Calcutta, are distinguished by the name of the Garden Reach, 
a name derived, probably, from the Botanic Garden which 
occupies a great part of that space along the right bank, 
while the left is adorned with a succession of elegant villas. 
In sailing up to Calcutta, after passing the Dock-yard, we 
first come to Fort- William, situated on the left bank of the 
river. Built on a low alluvial plain, the external appearance 
of this fortress presents nothing grand or imposing; but on 
entering within its gates, every one must be struck with the 
extent, regularity, and beauty of its works. ‘Towards the 
river, the outworks approach within a hundred yards of the 
water. The ditch is very broad, and one half of it is regularly 
filled by the tide. The scarp is double, with an intermediate 
berme of twenty-five feet, strengthened by an impenetrable 
hedge of Trophis aspera. The lower scarp is on a level with 
the plain; the upper elevated so as to command the glacis. 
Platforms in brick-work are laid all around. the ramparts 
for 32-pounder guns, on which, including the outworks, a 
train of 400 pieces of cannon may be mounted. With 
a view to preserve the beauty of the works, the ramparts 
are not cut for embrasures, nor are the guns mounted. ` In 
this climate, artillery, and more especially gun-carriages, 
exposed to the weather, become speedily unserviceable.» Even 
the ramparts themselves would soon yield under the com- 
