76 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



march. Berhampoor appears to have been then in the centre 

 of the very best sporting country, including both banks of the 

 Bhagirutty and Jellinglue rivers west to east, and from Chog- 

 daho to the Ganges from south to north; and down to 1850 that 

 country was good for sport ; for hog-hunting especially Dacca 

 too was in the midst of the very choicest shooting and hunting 

 to be had in the Eastern Districts, and maintained its repu- 

 tation up to the same period, although nothing to be compared 

 with its palmy days previous to 1840, and earlier times. 

 Colgong and Peerpointee on the western side, even to the 

 time of the laying down of the line of the East Indian 

 Railway, were good for all kinds of game, both small and 

 great. Fifty years ago, tigers, panthers, bears, and many kinds 

 of deer, were abundant within ten to twenty miles of the 

 eastern capital, Dacca, then a larger and more populous town 

 than it is at the present day. The country about Plassey and 

 Rajmehal literally swarmed with game ; while the roads 

 about Santipoor, Ranaghat, and Chogdaho, were unsafe on 

 account of tigers, and gangs of " dakoits " a hundred years 

 ago. 



Captain Williamson gives an interesting account of the 

 famous field of Plassey, as seen in his day (1790 to 1810 ?), 

 although I think his statement that Olive occupied the 

 Nawab's hunting-seat at that place for a day or two previous 

 to the battle is open to doubt, and I am inclined to think 

 that we should read " previous " as " subsequent." " Plassey," 

 he writes, " was ever famous both for tigers and leopards ; the 

 surrounding country afforded choice covers of every des- 

 cription. The house that formerly stood on the bank of the 

 river, was built by Surajah Dowlah, formerly Nabob of 

 Bengal, who was defeated about (sic) the year 1757. It was 

 intended for a hunting-seat, and was occupied by Lord Clive 

 as his quarters for a day or two previous to that memorable 

 victory, which gave to the British possession of all the 

 Southern Provinces of Bengal. The edifice was completed 

 in the Indian style, and until swept away by the river which 

 undermined the bank, it was kept in tolerable state of repair 



