94 
PATNA 
The roads are better on the whole than I found them in Bengal ; 
a carriage could he driven along them without any difficulty. I took 
my breakfast of cold tea under a lofty banian tree, and arrived at 
Buxar about twelve o'clock. I immediately proceeded to the fort, 
which is a short distance beyond the town, where I was politely 
received by Colonel Stafford. The fort, though of a very inconsider- 
able size, commands the Ganges. It was originally only mud ; but 
on being taken possession of by the English, stone bastions were 
ingeniously added, without a proper foundation. Their weight has 
consequently brought them down to the bottom of the ditch. The 
guns are all removed, and its only use, as a fort, is to give a good 
salary to a Commandant. I confess I have very strong doubts of the 
policy of destroying these smaller places of defence, which might 
be kept in order at a very trifling expense, and would also serve as 
depots for ammunition. There is not at present a single fortified 
place between Calcutta and Alahabad, a distance of eight hundred 
miles. 
Every vessel passing up or down the Ganges is obliged to come 
to at this place, and produce her pass ; every traveller by land 
does the same. The police in these respects is very strict, and any 
irregularity would probably send back the unfortunate passenger 
to the place whence he came. It is highly expedient that Govern- 
ment should watch the motions of many even of its own servants, 
in a country where our dominion is so extensive, and our actual 
numbers and power so very disproportioned. No one can visit 
the upper provinces without an express permission. I had not a, 
regular pass, but my journey had been notified to the commanding 
officer of every station. Letters from General Deare were waiting 
