1808.) 
their merchandize for sale. The houses 
have a very mean appearance, and are 
seldom more than one story high; they 
are in general composed of mud, bam- 
boos and mats, with here and there a 
brick building of a more respectable ap- 
pearance, Nothing can be more gloomy 
and forbidding than the exterior aspect 
of the prffate habitations belunging to 
the better sort of inhabitants, of the Ma- 
hometan persuasion—a dead wall, with 
out a single window, or peeping-hole of 
any description, gives them the appear- 
_ ance of so many prisons, and in one sense 
they may be deemed so, as their females 
are inimured in them, and concealed 
from the sight even of their own, imme- 
diate relations of the other sex with the 
most jealous caution, and never sutlered 
to go beyond the precincts of their own 
gardens. The Nawaub’s palace is a 
rude uncouth building, and possesses no- 
thing to excite the curiosity of travellers; 
no signs of royal maguificence, none of 
the grandeur of the Moyhuls, but a dis- 
gusting clumsiness to the eye, while the 
surrounding buildings and filthy lanes 
are equally oifensive to the olfactory 
nerves. ‘here are some good serais 
here for the accommodation of travellers, 
particularly the principal one, which is a 
pretty large square, well shaded with 
trees, and contains upwards of one hun- 
dred separate apartinents, arched over 
and substantially built with brick and 
mortar; it was erected, or rather im- 
proved and enlarged by the Nawaub Alee 
Verdi Khan, grandfather to Surayah Dow- 
leh, In a country where there are no inns 
the great utility of these serais must be 
obvious: the traveller, on his arrival in 
the evening, is accommodated with lodg- 
ings gratis, and there are people in the 
Serai (generally old women, called Meh- 
|twranees) who keep the apartments 
clean, procure refreshments, draw water, 
cook his provisions, and do other little 
|domestic offices, fur which an ana* at 
his departure in the morning is deemed 
ample remuneration. 
~ Moorshedabad is still very populous, 
|but not equal to what it was in Mr. Hol- 
well’s time, when he and his miserable 
companions, after being released from 
horrors of the Black Hole, were led in 
jumph through this city. In his own 
ing narrative he says, “ to be led 
a through this great and popu- 
city, exposed to the derision of its 
ug inhabitants, brought tears of 
Onevsizteenth of half-a-crown, 
Narrative of arecent Tour in India, 
° 
44) 
bitter anguish to my eyes.” The popu- 
lation at present is about two hundred 
thousand, two-thirds of whom are Hin- 
dus, and the remainder Mahometaus, 
witha small sprinkling of Christians, not 
exceeding two or three hundred, com- 
posed principally of that class of beings 
called Portugueze, from a suppositivn of 
their being descendants of those brave 
men, who, under Vasco de Gama and 
Albuquerque, made the Lusitanian name 
so renowned in India. But the blood of 
those heroes ‘has long since been extinct, 
exceptin a very few families of superior © 
note ; and the spurious signiors whe dig- 
nify theinselves with their names, are no 
other than the refuse of the lowest classes 
of the natives. The Pariahs and Hallal- 
chores, who, having embraced what is 
improperly termed christianity, as the 
only means of emerging from their abe 
ject and degraded state, endeavour to 
bide their base origin in the more ele- 
vated rank ef a'Popee Wallah,* and are, 
without exception, the most vicious and 
cowardly race. of mortals in existence. 
The English in’ Moorshedabad can 
hardly be numbered among the inhabi- 
tants, as their residence is merely official 
in the different departments of govern- 
ment; but though few in number, they 
are highly respectable in character and 
authority; the administration of the 
laws, the collection of the revenues, the 
management of the mint, in short the 
whole weight and power of the govern- 
ment are in their hands, subject, howe 
ever, to appeals to the superior courts in 
Calcutta, 
Cossimbuzar, from its contiguity, may 
be called part of Moershedabad; it is 
very populous, and the industry of the 
inhabitants forms a pleasing contrast to 
the indolence which pervades the people 
of that city; manufactures ‘of cotton, 
to a considerable extent, are carried on 
here, but the staple commodity is silk, 
both raw and manufactured. The sur- 
rounding country abounds with mulberry 
trees, on which immense quantities of 
silk-worms are reared. Lhis worm is as 
remarkable for the changes it undergoes, | 
as itis for the riches it produces. From. 
a small egy, nat Jarger than the head ofa 
pin, it breaks forth into the form ofa 
maggot, of a whitish colour inclining to 
brown or yellow, and fixes itself on a leaf 
of the mulberry tree, where it remains 
 * "Phe wearer of a hat, in contra-distince * 
tion to a Puggree Wallah, the wearer of a” 
turban, : 7 
until 
