86 Annual Address. [Feb. 



large enclosures for about half a mile to the north and south of the 

 Fort, and for about a quarter of a mile to the east of it. Beyond the 

 English houses were closely clustered the habitations and huts of the 

 natives ; the better classes of them, such as the Setts and Bysacks, 

 dwelt to the north, the lower sort in the Bazars to the east and south."^^ 

 The story of the tragedy of the Black Hole is well-know^n, and I need 

 not repeat it, but till the commencement of the period I am now review- 

 ing its exact site was very imperfectly known. For the exact deter- 

 mination of it we are indebted to two members of our Society, Messrs. 

 R. R. Bayne and C R. Wilson. The results of their investigations are 

 published in our Journal,^^ and may be thus summarised. In 1880, when 

 the new East India Railway Offices were being erected in Clive Street, 

 the excavation made for the foundation of these Offices laid bare the re- 

 mains of an old wall. Mr. Bayne, who was in charge of the works, 

 knowing that he was working on the locality of the Old Fort William, 

 at once resolved to utilize as well as he could the opportunity of de- 

 termining its topography. In February 1883, he laid before the Asiatic 

 Society the results of his investigations. Unfortunately they suffered 

 under two disadvantages. In the first place, the portions of the old 

 building actually excavated were on the northern and least interesting 

 side of the Fort. In the second place, Mr. Bayne had no proper plan to 

 guide him in his conjectures as to the position and nature of the remain- 

 ing portions of the Fort. When Mr. Wilson resumed the investiga- 

 tions in 189], he could do so under far more favourable conditions 

 owinor to the erection of the New Government Offices in Dalhousie 

 Square. He also had the advantage of being guided in his excavations 

 by a detailed plan of Fort William in 1753, a photographed copy of 

 which was presented to the Society by Mr. T. R. Munro. He thus 

 succeeded in discovering considerable remains of the buildings on the 

 south side of tiie Fort, where the Black Hole and other places of interest 

 had been situated. In fact, his investigations were so successful that it 

 was found possible to draw up a plan of the Old Fort, accurately showing 

 its position with reference to the modern houses now standing on or near 

 its site, together with the main features of its principal buildings. He 

 first discovered the true dimensions and position of the east gate of the 

 Fort. The gate was found to be much smaller than Mr. Bayne had con- 

 jectured it would be. Its centre lay on the central line of the road in 

 front of Writers' Buildings, which has always been one of the principal 

 streets of the city. In the next place, Mr. Wilson traced out, as far 



68 See Dr. Basteed's Echoes of Old Calcutta, p. 5. 

 W See Volume LII, p. 105, and Vol. LXII, p. 104. 



