ON. RIVER STEAMERS. 269 
will be brought into connexion with the Ganges by means of a canal uniting 
their upper branches so as eventually to enable vessels of suitable form and 
dimensions to pass uninterruptedly from Kurratche on the west coast, through 
the whole riverine system of British India. 
2. Proposal for the attainment.—Of late years many plans and proposals 
have been brought forward for improving and extending the means of internal 
communication in India, and of laying opeu to European commerce and 
civilization the productive resources and capabilities of the country. 
3. These projects may be divided into two classes,—those which consist in 
improving the means of land transport, and those which refer to water 
transport. 
Of the first class there are three kinds—roads, tram-roads, and railroads ; 
of the second there are also three kinds:—river navigation in the main 
channels, canal navigation in connexion with irrigation, and lastly, that which 
forms the subject of the present paper—the navigation of the shallow creeks, 
upper branches, and minor affluents of the great Indian rivers and deltas. 
4. Of the first class, all require not only the construction of vehicles, but 
of the tracks which the vehicles are to traverse, and are consequently expen- 
sive, and require a considerable period of time before they can be brought 
into practical operation. 
Of the second class, with the exception of canals which are supposed to be 
constructed with other views than that of being only navigable channels, the 
others merely require the construction of the vehicles, and are consequently 
the cheapest, simplest, and at the same time the most readily available. 
5. To make the importance of the utilisation of the existing means of com- 
munication by shallow-water navigation more readily understood, it may not 
be out of place to make a few general remarks upon each of the plans above 
enumerated. 
6. Present Roads in India.—First, as to roads—such as deserve the name 
in India, have hitherto been those which were necessitated by considerations 
affecting the military tenure of the country, or were confined to such trunk- 
lines of communication as afforded the greatest facilities for military opera- 
tions, conjointly with the most pressing requirements of the commercial inter- 
ests of the community. In all countries (where water transport is not available) 
the number and excellence of the roads may be taken as a fair index of the 
condition of the population, and the surest test of their comparative progress 
in civilization. Judged by this standard, it is not, perhaps, overstating the 
present condition of the greater portion of our Indian empire to say, that it 
is hardly above the level of Britain during the occupation of the Romans. 
7. There were splendid military roads leading from one great military 
station to another; if these stations coincided with commercial positions of 
importance, that was an advantage of secondary importance. 
8. That such should in a great measure have been, until recently, the con- 
dition of British India, may be matter of regret, but it would scarcely be fair 
to lay the blame exclusively upon the government of the East India Company. 
Since the relinquishment of their charter as traders, their first duty was to 
govern the country, to maintain order, peace, and tranquillity. Accordingly, 
whatever was done in furtherance of these ends was done, and done well ; 
but it was obviously impossible, considering the extent of territory under 
their sway, to do anything beyond constructing such trunk-lines of commu- 
nication as were required for military and strategic purposes. 
9. In these modern days of large enterprises, however, there seems to be 
a fatal tendency ‘‘to run before we learn to walk,” to overlook and despise 
