124 
MEMORANDUMS. 
Boats of 3500 Maund loaded, draw . . || Cubits. 
300 
* 21 & 2 
From Moanpour in y e Chunnunah Creek to Hobbygunge by Band 4 days, Culna 
7 do. 
*Silet River is called y e little Megna. 
*This means y e Creek leading from 
called the Surma. 
Dimensions of y e great Gun at Dacca 
Corallya to 
1 
Feet 
Allynya; y e Silet R. being 
I. 
Diameter at Muzzle 
• • 3 
1 
Do. Breech 
* * 3 
2| 61,673 lb. 
Do. of y e Trunnions 
• . 
n| or Tons 27 9. 
Do. of y e Bore 
1 
3 i- 
Fength 
. . 22 
6 Wt. of Shot 474 lb. 
H. Water at Dacca full & change nearly VII| Hours. 
1 Further particulars of this gun are given in Rennell’s ‘ Memoir of Hindustan,’ p. 61. “It was made of hammered 
iron; it being an immense tube formed of 14 bars, with rings of 2 or 3 inches wide driven over them, and hammered 
down into a smooth surface; so that its appearance was equal to that of the best executed piece of brass ordnance, 
although its proportions were faulty. 
Whole length 
Diameter at the Breech . . 
,, 4 feet from the Muzzle 
,, the Muzzle 
, of the Bore 
22 ft. 10J inches. 
3 >, 3 » 
2 ,, 10 ,, 
2 ,, 2 * ,, 
I >. 3i „ 
The gun contained 234,413 cubic inches of wrought iron; and consequently weighed 64,814 pounds avoirdupois 
or about the weight of eleven 32 pounders. Weight of an iron shot for the gun 465 pounds.’’ 
The dimensions and weight vary somewhat from those given in the text, but the entry in the J ourual was probably 
merely a rough note. 
Rennell further remarks that the gun “ has since fallen into the river, together with the bank on which it rested.” 
I have been supplied by my friend Mr • H. E. Stapleton of the Educational Dept, with particulars of the great gun 
now preserved at the Cliauk (an open place in the middle of the city) at Dacca, whence it is appears that this is not 
the one described by Rennell. The dimensions of the existing gun are quite different, being: — 
Length 
Diameter at Muzzle 
,, ,, Breech 
,, of Bore 
11 ft. o ins. 
1 „ 7 \ „ 
2 ,, 3 » 
o „ 6 ,, 
Mr* Stapleton has also kindly sent me a translation of a passage in the Tarikh-i-Nusratjaugi, published in 1908 
by Babu Harinath De (Memoirs, As. Soc. Beng. , Vol. II, No. 6) confirming the statement of Major Rennell that one of 
the guns had been lost in the river, and giving some account of their history. The translation runs : — “ The big cannon 
which was placed at Sowari Ghat and the other cannon which, together with two big cannon balls, went down into 
the water at Mughlani Char, were built for the purpose of training the soldiers of the Khankhanan Mouzzim Khan 
(circa 1660) in their handling, and also for serving as a protection against danger. ***** In 1246 A.H. (1830-31 
A.D. ) Mr Walters the Magistrate had the cannon at the Sowari Ghat taken away from there and placed in the 
Chauk.” 
There is another big gun at Murshidabad, the dimensions of which are nearly the same as those of the one now at 
Dacca. An inscription in this states that it was made in the reign of Shah Jahan and governorship of Islam Khan 
(circa 1637) at J ahangirnagar (Dacca) by Janarjan blacksmith (Cal. Rev., Vol. XCIV, p. 339). 
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