JOURNAL of the first Expedition for the discovery of the nearest Passage from y e 
Ganges to Calcutta in the dry Season. 
Copy of Orders from the Hon’ hie Henry V anSitt art 1 Esq. 
Governor of Fort William. 
Fort William, 6 th. May, 64 
Sir, 
The first Service on which you are to be employed is the Survey of 
y e great River (Ganges) to the Eastward of Jelenghee ; & upon this Survey your 
Particular Object must be to find out the shortest & safest Channel leading 
from the great River to Channel Creek or Rangafulla.' 2 3 4 
For this purpose you will coast along the South side of the great River & 2 
examine every Creek or Nulla which runs out of it to the Southw d -, tracing 
them as far as you find them Navigable for Boats of Three hundred Maunds 
Burthen & informing yourself by Enquiry from the Countrey People whether 
they are like Navigable all the Year ; of which Circumstance you may yourself 
form a tolerable Judgment by the Appearance and steepness of the Banks. 
You will keep a very particular Journal of your Proceedings, noting the 
Appearance and Produce of the Countries thro’ which you pass ; the name of 
every Village, & whatever else may seem remarkable, of which Journal you will 
give me a Copy along with the Drafts you are to make of the Rivers and 
Creeks. 
I am Sir 
Yr. most Obed Sert. 
HENRY VANSITTART. 
Monday May 7th. set out from Calcutta in order to proceed by way of J elenghee 3 
in a small Budgarow, :i together with 5 small Willocks * to carry the People &c. 
1 Governor of Bengal, 1760 to 1764. 
2 Rangafulla. A creek connecting the Hugli with the Sandarbans. It leaves the Hugli at Mud Point, about 60 
miles below Calcutta, and is at the present day the route taken by river steamers proceeding from Calcutta to Eastern 
Bengal and Assam. 
3 Budgarow. Sometimes also called Buggalow. “A travelling boat, constructed somewhat like a pleasure barge. 
Some have cabins 14 feet wide, and proportionably long; and draw from 4 to 5 feet water ” (Rennell, Memoir of 
Hindoostan, note p. 360). The ‘ Bajra ’ is still one of the most common forms of boat employed on the rivers of the 
delta, both for cargo and passenger traffic, and no traveller on the great water-ways can fail to be struck by the 
picturesqueness of these craft, with their mediaeval-looking high poops and bellying square sails, as they work up stream 
under the influence of a favouring breeze. 
4 Willock. A smaller boat having a long narrow bow overhanging the water. The name is spelled in various 
ways, such as Woolock, Oolock, Hooluck, Ulank, etc. The term now appears to be obsolete, but it is probably one of 
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