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The growth of the vegetation which in Bengal 

 springs up after a rainy season even out of burnt 

 bricks, readily told the tale. Indeed it may truly 

 be said, that in the interior of Bengal, there are no 

 roads at all. Dacca, the once flourishing Capital of 

 Eastern Bengal under Mohammadan rule, is still 

 unconnected with the Metropolis. A trip to Darjee- 

 ling, the Hill Sanatorium of Bengal, and the only 

 rising European colony of the Province, is literally 

 a perilous undertaking. The hill portion of the road 

 the last official report on the subject tells us will not 

 be practicable for carts, before the end of 1864. In X, 

 the North Western Provinces of India, where Go- 

 vernment is the landlord , though very much remains 

 to be done, we have the finest roads perhaps in the 

 whole world ; sarais stud the great lines of inter- 

 communication at convenient intervals, noble canals 

 for irrigation hundreds of miles in length, intersect 

 two great divisions of the country, and others are 

 being built in the Punjab. In truth, it is common 

 to hear persons arriving in Calcutta from the upper 

 Provinces exclaim that Bengal is a century behind 

 the North West in material progress^ and the asser- 

 tion is undoubtedly not without some foundation. 

 I am well aware of the great difference in climate 

 between Bengal and the North West, and the gTeater 

 engineering difficulties, and the absence of kankar or 

 road stuff in many parts of the former. I have re- 

 sided nine years in each division of the Bengal 

 Presidency, but making all due allowances for these 



