538 CENSUS OF THE 



females. As this is the converse of what is found to occur in other coun- 

 tries ; and it is professedly difficult to obtain a faithful account of the 

 " dwellers behind the curtain," if the proportion of males and females may 

 be assumed to be nearly equal, — as they have been found to be at Benares 

 and Burdwan, — and if the military be also included, the total population 

 of Dacca may be fairly assumed to amount at the least to seventy-five 

 thousand. It may at the same time, however, be remarked, that a late 

 Census of the population of Gorakhpur, gives one hundred and eight 

 males to one hundred females, for the whole population. 



Dacca, notwithstanding its present insignificance as compared with 

 its former grandeur, may nevertheless still be classed among second-rate 

 cities. It has a population greater than Devonport or Brussels, and nearly 

 equal to that of the whole county of Fife. Some new brick dwellings 

 have silently sprung up here and there, it may also be observed, within 

 the last year or two ; and this City can now boast an Oil Mill, driven by 

 steam, and an Iron Suspension Bridge. Three more Steam Engines are 

 in the course of erection. On the whole, an increase may be looked for, 

 rather than the contrary, in the wealth, population, and importance of the 

 City of Dacca. 



It would be curious to compare the gradual decrease of the population, 

 with the falling off of the manufacture of those beautiful cotton fabricks, 

 for which this City was once without a rival in the world. The first fall- 

 ing off in the Dacca trade, took place so far back as 1801, previous to 

 which, the yearly advances made by the Honorable Company, and private 

 traders, for Dacca muslins, were estimated at upwards of twenty-five lacs 

 of rupees. In 1807, the Honorable Company's investment had fallen to 

 5,95,900, and the private trade to about 5,60,200. In 1813, the private 

 trade did not exceed 2,05,950, and that of the Honorable Company 

 was scarcely more considerable. And in 1817, the English Commercial 



