CALCUTTA. 
67 
in which Mr. Salt, I, and my English servant, proceed by dawk; 
my luggage goes chiefly by the Ganges in a small boat, escorted by ^ 
two seapoys, and under the care of two of my native servants. We 
take with us indeed, in six bangys,* sufficient changes of linen till 
the others arrive, which, from the lowness of the water, will pro- 
bably not be for three months, as the Gossimbuzar river is closed, 
and they are obliged to proceed by the Sunderbunds. 
February 2i .—My indefatigable and intelligent friend Mr. Graham 
determined to accompany me as far as Hoogly, whither, in conse- 
quence of the great heat, we meant to proceed by water. At ten in 
the morning Mr. Salt, he, and I, set off in his carriage for Chitpore 
gaut, where his Excellency had promised one of his barges should 
be in attendance. My servant, with our palanquins, proceeded to a 
gaut still higher up, where small boats were prepared for them. On 
our arrival we were not a little disconcerted at finding that no boat 
was in sight. The tide was nearly turned, and as the distance to 
Hoogly was 56 miles, we required the whole of the flow to convey us 
thither: waiting was therefore out of the question. We were much 
mortified at the change from a splendid, and, what was still more 
important, a cool and expeditious barge, to a small boat covered 
only with reeds ; yet with this we were obliged to content ourselves ; 
and accordingly, about eleven o'clock, embarked with the turn of 
the tide, which carried us upwards of four miles an hour, with the 
assistance of only two naked dandy sf paddling at the head of the 
vessel. The breeze was fresh, and right against us; but the delay 
* Baskets of wicker-work covered with painted cloth, carried by a man, and sus- 
pended by a cane across his shoulders, 
t Watermen, 
VOL. I. K 
