2 HOW I KILLED THE TIG Eli. 



to the sea by reason of the shoals, amongst the 

 largest of which is that known as the James and 

 Mary (Jahazmara, ship struck). 



Calcutta is the capital of British India, and is 

 built on the left, or eastern, bank of the Hoogly river. 

 It is the seat of the Imperial Government, is a place 

 of great trade, and has a Mint, a Cathedral, a 

 Governor's House, a fortress, Town Hall, great 

 hospitals, schools, and colleges, a botanical garden, 

 customs office, High Court, and public monuments 

 of Sir David Ouchterlony, Warren Hastings, and 

 others. 



Calcutta was the first concession to the British in 

 that part of India. When they obtained it, it was 

 only a miserable village known as Kalee Ghat, of 

 which some believe its present name is a corruption. 

 It is about eighty miles from the Bay of Bengal. 

 On the i8th June, 1756, it was taken by Suraj- 

 ud-Dowlah. Messrs. Drake and Minchin succeeded 

 in making their escape with the women and 

 children. Mr. Holwell held out for forty-eight 

 hours longer, and he, with a hundred and forty- 

 six other Englishmen, were imprisoned in a small 

 guard-room, eighteen feet high, eighteen feet wide, 

 and fourteen feet deep. On the following morn- 

 ing only twenty-three issued forth alive. The 

 guard-room was thenceforward known as the 

 Black Hole of Calcutta, 



