\m 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[June, 



gftl in almost any quantity. The price of babool wood in Calcutta for sticks 

 fifteen feet long and about eight inches in diameter in one rupee. In the in- 

 terior it may be obtained for little more than the expense of cutting. An- 

 other species of timber of which there is a great quantity in the hilly dis- 

 tricts west of Calcutta, is the Soondree tree. It is very highly spoken of for 

 its highly durability when exposed ; though at present it is noi much used, as 

 the raeaiis of conveyance to Calcutta are scanty. From the quantity of acid 

 it contains, it is never touched by insects. It might be procured in any 

 quantities at a cheap rate in tlie districts about llazareebaugh. At the Fort 

 Gloster mills, saul posts were pointed out to me which had been in the 

 groimd sixteen years. They were covered with coal tar, and were perfectly 

 Bound. 



Machinehy. — There seems to be no reason to apprehend any difficulty, 

 from the want of mechanics, in the introduction even of the finest steam 

 machinery, in India, without dweUing upon the success attending the em- 

 ployment of the finest machiuei7 in the mints both at Bombay and Calcutta, 

 I w'ould bring forward the experience in the cotton mdls at Gloster as con- 

 clusive upon the above point. All those acquainted with the nature of the 

 machinery used for spinning cotton must be aware of its extreme complica- 

 tion and nicety; of the constant attention — the accurate adjustment and 

 great delicacv required for its management. If such machinery, therefore, 

 can be used at Port Gloster, by natives, under two European superintendents 

 only — and if it can be altered, repaired and removed, by Native agency, 

 and a cotton miU containing nearly 30,000 spindles can thus be kept 

 in daily use and high order, there can, I think, be no doubt that all 

 the machinery connected with a railway, including locomotives, could be 

 kept in equal order by the same means in any part of India. I must also 

 observe that no ditriculty is experienced ih the employment of the steam- 

 engine in the neighbourhood of Calcutta, by Natives without European as- 

 sistance of any kind. I have seen a small steam-boat in which none but 

 Natives were employed, and have been informed by a practical mechanic, 

 long in the habit of working with them, that they acquired a knowledge of 

 maehihery as readily, and used it as expertly, as any operatives he had ever 

 met with. 



FiuE Wood. — .is the Burdwan coal contains large quantities of sulphur it 

 will not be available for locomotive engines ; but wood will form a good 

 substitute. The fire-wood of India is remarkably powerful and good. In 

 Calcutta it cost from twelve to twenty rupees the 100 raaunds, or 3 J tons 

 weight, and on the route to Benares it is procurable at a much cheaper rate. 

 At the above rate, however, it is not more expensive than upon many of tlie 

 railroads in America, where it is used in preference to coal. 



Pkice of L.VND. — The value of land, even in the most fertile portions of 

 Bengal, is comparatively low. In the estimates for some of the canals pro- 

 jected for the neighbourhood of Calcutta, 20 rupees (£2) per bega is allowed 

 as compensation ; a bega being equal to one-third of an acre. The rent of 

 ordinary land in Bengal varies from half a rupee to two rupees per bega, and 

 40 rupees (£4) per bega would be ample compensation for almost any land re- 

 quired for radway purposes. Among the hilly tracts between Calcutta and 

 Benares the greater part of the land is worth httle or nothing. By the per- 

 petual settlement, Government have reserved the right of taking whatever 

 land may be required for roads free of all payment. 



Exi'ENSE or Excavation in India. — By careful and necessarily very 

 laborious examination of the system of levels, transverse and longitudinal, 

 furnished by Lieutenant Cunningham, and on consideration of the rate of 

 labour ascertained, it appears that in the Une of least cutting, and that other- 

 wise best adapted for the navigation, the quantity of earth to be excavated 

 on the Rajmal canal would amount to 41,100,000 cubic yards, which at the 

 rate of twenty cubic yards to a rupee, will cost in digging 2,055,000 rupees 

 (or 205,500/.). The rate of digging here taken may, however, be considered 

 a high one, as in the table of the rates given by Lieutenant Cunningham, he 

 states the cost of excavating tanks near Jummoo Kandee to the depth of 21 

 feet, or that ascertained by the Rajtnahl Canal survey to stand per rupees as 

 follows; — 458 cubic feet, 578 cubic feet, 686 cubic feet, the average of which 

 is 574 cubic feet, or twenty-one one-third cubic yards for a rupee, and it is 

 to be observed that this is for excavating tank work (in which the earth 

 laised has to be carried a great distance), to tlie depth of twenty-one feet, 

 whilst the average depth of digging in the canal will oidy amount to nineteen 

 three-quarters feet. 



ExpBNSB OF Travelling in India. — Travellers between Calcutta and 

 Benares proceed in a variety of ways, viz. : — Ist. On horseback, or rather on 

 tatoos. 2nd. In carriages, of which there are tlirce kinds — namely, the 

 chuck ra, the eka, the rutha. 3rd. On font. 4th. In boats. 5th. In palkees 

 or dhooleys. 6th. By dank. 7tb. By steam-boats. 



The expense attending the journey is as follows : — £ s. 



On Jlorseliaci. — Value of a pony which is purchased, and sold] , .. 



at the end of the journey J 



Feeding the animal 16 



Allowance to Syce 14 



Deduct value of pony resold 



£3 

 14 



Total £2. 6 



May therefore be taken as the expense of a jonrncy by land between Benares 

 and Calcutta, exclusive of food and lodging. 



By Wheel Carriage. — The hire for a cbuckru, which will carry three per- 

 sous, is 25 rupees ; for an eka, for two persons, 30 rupees ; for a rutba, car- 

 rying four persons, 60 rupees. The charge for crossing rivers and other ex- 

 penses, amounts to 8 rupees in addition. 



On Fool. — It is diflicult to arrive at the expenses exactly of a journey on 

 foot ; a small sum for protection and acconjmodation is paid every night at 

 the serais for foot passengers, but the allowance for the journey among 

 natives, wlien a messenger is sent on foot is 10 rupees, which includes wages, 

 food, and all charges. 



By Boats. — A boat of six oars, capable of taking from six to ten persons, 

 costs for the passage 60 rupees. The toll is three rupees, and the sums paid 

 Chokeydars to prevent detention, and for other contingencies, are estimated 

 at 12 rupees. The expense, therefore, exclusive of food, by boats, may be 

 estimated at 75 rupees for from six to ten persons. 



By Paliee. — In this mode, by taking eight bearers, about fifteen miles are 

 accomplished daily; it is attended, however, with considerable danger from 

 robbery ; and natives who adopt it generally take a couple of followers as a 

 guard. 



Jjy Dmel- the charge is half a rupee per mile, or about 22 rupees. 

 To the above charges must be added the expense of food and other con- 

 tingencies, which vary from two annas to five rupees per diem. 

 The time occupied between Calcutta and Benares is 



On horseback, from 15 to 18 Days 



Bv wheel carriages , 15 to 22 „ 



On foot 18 to 20 „ 



By boats 30 to 45 „ 



By palkee 15 to 18 „ 



By dawk 4^ to 5 „ 



By steam 15 to 25 „ 



Tlie natives of Bengal generally prefer the route by water, as it is at- 

 tended with less exertion. But the people of Iliiidostan and the Upper Pro- 

 vinces, generally go by land on horseback, or in carriages. The poorer class 

 are forced to proceed on foot. 



Note by the Editor of the C. E. &. A. Journal. — Since the 

 above was written a dispatch of the East India Company to the Go- 

 vernor General of India, on the subject of Railways li;is been publish- 

 ed. Tins dispatch is for tlie purpose of obtaining further local in- 

 formation, and is accompanied by an intimation that if that inl'ormation 

 prove favourable, the Company will feel ^disposed to further Uailway 

 projects iu India. 



PROCESS OF COINING AT THE ROYAL MINT, LONDON. 



By Professor Bkanpe.* 



The chief importation of gold into this country is through the Hamburgh 

 and Paris market, and the original supply of tliat valuable miHal is princi- 

 pally from three sources, namely from the American mines, the sands of the 

 African rivers, and no inconsiderable quantity from the Russian mines of the 

 Ural mountains. From the year 1832 to 1811, there was imported into this 

 country about 334,000^ worth of gold from Africa. The ingots of gold, as 

 they come into the market, are sent from tlie Bank of England (who are the 

 usual importers as far as we are concerned) to the Mint, having been pre- 

 viously milted by their own melter and assayed by their own assayor, so that 

 when they come to the Mint they arc so far of known quality and (lurity as 

 far as the Bank is concerned. The bullion in innots is delivered into the 

 Mint and weighed in by the officer of the Mint, who is called the " weigher 

 and teller," and whose business is exclusively to weigh in and weigh out the 

 precious metals in that establishment. The bullion is there weighed in, in 

 the presence usually of two Bank officers, ot officers attending from the im- 

 porters. The other Mint officers, who are always present on this occasion, 

 are the Comiitroller ol the Mint and the Queen's Clerk. So that the bullion 

 received from the Bank, under the precautions stated, is consigned to the care 

 of the Mint officers just named, associated with the Deputy Master of the 

 Mint. The Mint are now to become responsible for determining what is the 

 real value of the treasure intrusted to them by the Bank, at first resting 

 merely on the statements of the Bank. Then these ingots are handed over to 

 be examined by the ilaster of the Mint's Assay Master, and the fine and the 

 coarse ingots are so mixed, and so apportioned, that the whole, it possible, 

 may Ix' brought to the state of standard. If, however, all the ingotsshould re- 

 main iinimre, or below the standard, in that case It becomes necessary to 

 direct the addition of pure gold. If, on the other hand, they ran above 

 standard, it is then necessary that^copper should be added in order to make 

 the standard, or some other metal described under the name of alloy. 



Let it be here clearly understood as to what is meant by the term "stand- 

 ard." Standard gold is that which contains eleven parts out of twelve of 



* A Lecture delivered .it the Royal IiislUuUon, January 24, 184,^, and reported In the 

 ' Repertory of Patent Inventions.' 



