22 PORT BLAIR 



moral sedative and a warning of what may happen again if 

 his behaviour is not satisfactory in future. 



We steamed along past the brickfields ; the kilns, where, 

 from the raw coral, lime is manufactured ; but as the salt cannot 

 be thoroughly washed out, and subsequently effloresces from the 

 mortar, the result is a rather inferior quality. 



At Phoenix Bay, a little farther up the harbour, where we 

 landed to inspect the shipyard and workshops, are sheds fitted 

 up with apparatus for blacksmiths and latheworkers, carpenters 

 and woodcarvers, where occupation is provided for more than 

 600 skilled workmen. The numerous boats one sees passing 

 to and fro in the harbour are built here, for the shipyard can 

 undertake anything from a 250-ton lighter or 70-feet steam- 

 launch down to a half- rater or the smallest dinghy. The 

 materials for construction are close to hand, since the woods 

 used (J>adouk for the planking and pyimma for frames) 

 are obtained from the neighbouring forests. 



Some years ago Phoenix Bay was a swamp, but now large, 

 brick, steam workshops and wooden sheds of the marine yard, 

 in which the lighters and launches are constructed and repaired, 

 stand on the land reclaimed ; and connected with these is a 

 slipway, one of the largest in India, that is entirely of local 

 construction — the whole of the ironwork of the carriage, rails, 

 wheels, and ratchet, having been cast on the spot. 



Almost opposite Phoenix Bay, the station of Hopetown, 

 conspicuous by its aqueduct, stands on the northern shore. It 

 was here that in 1872 Lord Mayo, the most popular of Indian 

 Viceroys, was murdered by a fanatical prisoner. 



The Viceroy had visited Mount Harriet in order to judge 

 of its suitability as a sanatorium, and had just finished the 

 descent. "... The ships' bells had just rung seven; the 

 launch, with steam up, was whizzing at the jetty stairs ; a group 

 of her seamen were chatting on the pierhead. It was now 

 quite dark, and the black line of the jungle seemed to touch 

 the water's edge. The party passed some large loose stones to 

 the left of the head of the pier, and advanced along the jetty, 



