1898.] Annual Address. 87 



as was possible, the main features of the factory within the Fort, in 

 which were situated the apartments of the Governor. This was in its 

 day one of the finest English houses in India. It consisted of a main 

 building facing the river, witli two wings behind at right angles to the 

 main building. Almost all the foundation walls of these wino-s were 

 traced out by excavations, and the position of the walls of the main 

 building was ascertained, although the walls themselves could not be 

 traced out, as the site of the main building is at present occupied by 

 the Government Opium Godowns and by the out-houses of the Custom 

 House. Mr. Wilson also endeavoured as far as possible to ascertain the 

 position of tlie south curtain, of tlie south-east bastion, and of that por- 

 tion of the east curtain which lay between the south-east bastion and the 

 east gate, together with the adjoining arcades and chambeis. Con- 

 eiderable difficulty was experienced by him in coming to any definite 

 conclusion on these points ; for, in the first place, the Post Office covers 

 the site of the south-east bastion and the adjacent south curtain wall, 

 and so prevents any extended excavations in this region ; and in the 

 second place, the plan of the old Fort, which has elsewhere proved to 

 be extremely accurate, seems at this point to fail. Still, in spite of 

 these difficulties, Mr. Wilson was able to definitely fix the position 

 of the south curtain wall and of three parallel lines of arches within it, 

 and to show that tradition was right in asserting that the old arcade 

 and arches which still stand in the Post Office compound were part 

 of the old Fort. The arches of the south face of this arcade are whnt 

 remains of the first line of arches within the south curtain, and the 

 arches in the middle of the arcade are what remain of the second 

 line of arches. The foundation wall of the third and innermost line 

 of arches was traced out for some distance. It was found in the 

 passage on the north of the Post Office. Starting from this wall, or, 

 what is practically the same thing, from the north face of the Post 

 Office, Mr. Wilson traced out the east curtain wall as far as the east 

 gate, the irmer wall containing the chambers built against the curtain, 

 and the wall of the piazza or verandah running west of the chambers. 

 The Black Hole prison was one of these chambers ; but to fix its exact 

 position it would have been necessary to ascertain, not merely the 

 positions of the curtain wall and the inner wall, which formed its 

 eastern and western walls, but also the position of the cross-walls Avhicli 

 formed its northern and southern boundaries, and divided it off 

 from the other chambers built against the east curtain. Unfortunately 

 these cross-walls were run up Avitli hardly any foundation, and hence 

 it was found extremely difficult to trace their position. One such 

 cross- wall was found at a distance of about 100 ft. from the centre of 



