156 
Analyses af Books. 
j j [May, 
a much less charge than the Enterprise, they are better adapted, as safe and com- 
fortable sea-boats, to keep up the communication with our new possessions on the 
eastern side of the Bay, which, without them, would be at once more difficult of 
protection, and productive of large uncertain expense for the transport of troops 
and supplies. They facilitate the collection of the revenue from the maritime pro- 
vinces, and enable the Commissioner to make his circuits of controul, at seasons 
when it would otherwise be impossible to proceed ; and they abridge greatly the 
term of their duration at all times. By means of one of them (the Ganges towing 
the Nereid yacht) the Commander in Chief made his tour of inspection to Chitta- 
gong, and the stations on the Arracan Coast, in March, 1829, which could not have 
been effected in double the time by a sailing vessel. They carry treasure to that 
coast, and fetch it from Cuttack or Chittagong, and more than once have been use<* 
fully employed in making remittances to and from Madras or Masulipatam. They 
are able, at all times, to bring up troops Iroin the China ships, when the weather 
is too rough for the river steamers, and can proceed with them to the depdt at 
Chiusurah, if required. Although not comparable with vessels built expressly for 
tugging, they are competent to that service in ordinary cases, and are especially use- 
ful in this way, when the regular tugs (such as have hitherto been employed on the 
Hoogly) could render no assistance whatever. They can steam at one stretch, 
in all seasons, to Penang, Madras, or Ceylon ; and were it desirable to devote them 
to such purpose, they might undoubtedly be very useful as steamers on the Pilot 
Establishment.” 
The Hooghly and Burhampootur were also built by contract, the latter by Messrs. 
Kyd, the former at the Howrah Dock. They were of equal draught, size, and ve- 
locity, though differing in construction and shape : “ They have been declared to 
be equally well executed, as regards materials and workmanship, and in accordance 
with their respective contracts.” Notwithstanding these parallelisms, however, there 
is an anomaly of 20,000 Rupees in their cost, which we confess ourselves unable 
fully to comprehend ; it is, no doubt, partly attributable to the costly knee- 
timbers of the latter vessel. Another discrepancy between the sister vessels, is ia 
the consumption of coals; the Hooghly burning half as much again as the 
Burhampootur : this fact deserves to be fully investigated, as it can arise from 
more than one cause ; either the engine may be badly fitted, which seems unlikely; 
its paddles may be too small, or the boat may be too light for the steam power: 
in the latter case, the Hooghly would be the better vessel for a tug. 
According to the original design, one of these boats was preparing for a voyage 
to Assam, and the coal depdts had already been established, when the arrival of our 
present Governor General gave a new impulse to the subject of river steamers, and 
led to the more decisive and interesting experiment of ascending the great Ganges 
itself, a task hitherto unattempted, if we except a partial trip by the Comet, in 
1826, as high as Malda, beyond which she was unable to stem the strength of the 
current. 
After the usual routine of minutes and reports, (the necessary preliminaries of a 
change in the councils of a state, which is bound to furnish reasons, or as it is tech- 
nically called, “ to make out a case,” f or the higher authorities at home,) the 
Hooghly was dispatched to Allahabad on two successive experimental voyages : the 
‘ ,e ® h \ 0f ., the ,reshes of September, 1828; the second in the hottest 
and driest months, April and May, of the following year 
T p 0 ri r ?„ der p theeXP< ' diti0 “ as effeCtiVe “ P° ssibIe > Captain Johnston, and Captain 
r <*aS ; h Trf neerS ’7T " t0 accom P an y it. and collect eve,y information 
X Zwo fni: of "Ration, &c. We must refer our reader 
IQ me work lor a full account of both expeditions. 
