418 
EDITOR OF THE AGRA UKBAR ON IMPROVEMENTS IN INDIA. 
is not less than two Inindied and tliirty miles, 
wliicli is only ahont fifteen miles shorter than the 
road hy Sindwa atid Nnnderhiir, which has been 
the comaiun line of coniinniiication heiween Sniat 
and Malwadniing the peiiod the Mniiiatla (iovt'tii* 
nietu has lieen established over the latter pto* 
viiices. 
Now it remains to be seen whetlier theGovern- 
ment will Open its eyes to the immense advantage® 
to be (leiived hy these valuable discovei ies, for 
which we are jmlch'ed- to its faliMited and eiiter- 
piizing public servants. We cannot conclnde the 
•ubjeci witlmtit requestin': pai'iicnlar attention to the 
Bound lo<:ic atid able opinion of the Editor of the 
Agra Ulih.ir on the foreioing snhjecls. 
Oiir readers will recollect that we recently an* 
noniiced the iliscoveiy of :i bed of coal near (iima- 
tvarti which we urged should be made tivailaiile for 
the navi.:ation of the (Jaiiues hy the cotisii nciion of 
a lail-ioad nmler ilie Vindluna Hills to Mirzapoor, 
a piojeci which a citizen of New Yoik or a memher 
of the Stock Exchange would at a glance snltsci iUe 
his money to, hut wliicit the Goveinment «jf India 
rrgaid as tiie sng'gestion of a heated imai:inaiioti or 
the inipiaclicahle sclieme of an ill-directed mind. 
1 he pieseiice of ilie cotil thus discoveied, lemovis 
one at eat objection to ilieiniiodnclion of steam power 
oil the- Neiiindda, and ilins ilie piinctpal means of 
inaintaining a coii.>iaut commimicaiiiui open on two 
of the largest arteries of ilic coiniiiy, if we may so 
Use Ilie wokI, liie Gaiuies and Nei Imdda. at e pla- 
ced in oiii hands, and we only itqniie a little of that 
labour which iiaiuie wisely leqnii es of man, to fa- 
shion them to onr purposes. We need not dilate on 
Ilie elfecl tile full woiking out of this design would 
produce, oi coiisidei wiiai a change had hten bioii;:ht 
about in the state ol ilie conntiy, had it and ilie oilier 
projects we liave seen proposed of late yeais, hceii 
accotnplislied. 'I he mere mention of iheiii would 
Indeed atfoid a melancholy coiiltast between Iheai- 
doiir and activity of individuals, :md the apathy, not 
to siiy opposition, of (>oveinment. I he most pitmii- 
nent of liiese plans had for their object the lonna- 
tion ofaii iinintei I npied comniiinicaiioa. whicli would 
have enclicled the wliole of Central liiilia rioin 
Calcutta to Agiathe (Jaiiges and Jumna olfeieii an 
open anil easy passage, the juiiciioii of the latter liver 
with the Snilege, hy iiu tins of a canal, would have 
lenileied the line of comninn ication niihroKen to 
the most noithein part of onr (loniinions ; the 
opening of the Snilege and the Indus would have 
brought ns to Bomhay, and tli;' coiislmctioii of a 
go.odj'oad (;uid why noi a i ail-i oad), Iiom ilie latter 
to Calcutta, would have completed a loitte, wliicli 
would ciicnmsc rihe the best portion of India, while 
the opening ot tile Neibndda, and the foi mai ion of 
a road to Agia, would oll'ei an opening lliiomili the 
centre of the ciicle we liave desciiiied. All these 
projects have however been either Hied and ahaii- 
doned or totally neglected. Tlie esiahlishmeni of 
steam coiiiinunicaiioii heltveen Calcutta and Agia 
was tiled, piovfed successful, and then given up — a 
canal to join tiie Jumna and Snilege, fiiniished a 
few eOitoiials to the useful papers and was then 
foigotten ; Ihe opening of ilie Sntlege and Indus w'as 
as every one knows a pei feci farce, and might be 
likened to the opening of a liade iiiidet iiisnpporia- 
ble duties. Botli of these livers have been amt will 
remain closeil to ns. until men » f greater ability 
and cupalite of ihinkiiig moie lioldy and taking moie 
extended views, than either Capt. Wade or Coi. 
Potiinger, are eniplojed as the agents of onr 
Goveiiimeni in tiiese (iiiarters. The coiisii nciion of 
roads fiom llointiay to Calcutta and Agia, and tlie 
navigation of the Nerhndtla aie measures whicli have 
scarcely yet had time to be forgotten, recently as they 
Uave been proposed, though we can scarcely hope a 
belter fate for them taaa the oilieis. 
PROSPECTS OF STEAM NAVIGATION. 
The following is a tiuly valnalile communication, 
which we extract from the Bomliay Coniier. 
The llfst point to he adverted to, and hitherto 
aiiiiiist luiiveisally admitted in the discnssioii of litis 
quest ion, is I he iifcessity of liaving laige and ex- 
pensive ves?<'ls with lieavy poweis, ill ordcrloen- 
8111 e ilKM'ei tain completion nfilie passage; for it is 
believed to he only in siu li, ili.il a Millicii'iu supply 
of fuel can hecaiiiedto i nti long disfatices. The 
lensoii of ihi.s is, that as the size of a \ essel i- eti- 
bifgetl, Ihe power may lie mnile lelaiivcl) less with 
Ilie same degi ee of speed ; and inns an increased 
tinmbei (»f days consumption of fuel can liecariied 
wiiiiiMit. iiKiking tiie vessel draw too much water. 
Foi iiist nice, lakitig Mr. Field’s tahie, put in he- 
Ibre the committee of tiir- II mse oi' C ••imiions. it 
leqiiirrs a hiindied hotse nowei to piopel a vessel 
of gi'.) Ions,:'.! ilieiia'.e of 10 milcspei honi ; while 
a two hundred and foitv hoise power is siinicieul 
topiopci a Vessel oflOOllions at tiie same rnie. 
The small vessel will only cany 5 days’ coal, while 
tlie laiger vessel will cany enough for 18 dajs’ cou- 
siimpiioii . 
So long as the correctness of this piiiiciple was 
aiimilied, and large extieiisiv e vessels vveie deemed 
iiecessaiy, it w:is cletiilv impossitde that any leiiirn 
wliieii steam communication con'd he expected to 
yield in this conntiy could he nt all proponionate 
to ilie outlay wliicli it was neca ssaiy to make, in 
Older to estaltlisli sticli commnniciiiioii, and its es- 
liihlisiiliH lit thus teemed tiltogellier a liopeless mill* 
let , unless goVei nmeiii took the thing u[)a.sapul)- 
lic measnie :md defrayed the deliciciicy of rciuni- 
fioiii the pnhiic tieasui > • 
roiiunaiely, how'evei, for Ilie cause, ciicnmslau. 
ces have tiecun eil of late veaist i show tin, it if tucli 
pidpoi lions at e necessaiy with paddle wheels of 
Ilie common foim, tliey aiehy no means so u lib 
paddle wlieels on Mr, Morgan’s principle, hut tliat 
ill vessels so filled Ihe (uopoition of power to ton- 
nage may he made the same in both large and small 
vessels, and that tlie small vessel will make her 
votage w iili uiie as much cirtainty as Uie laige 
one —Vice A(iiiiii:il Sir I’nlteiiy Malcolm, in his 
evidence heiore the committee of Ihe House of 
Coiiiiiions, w,is tile ftist who i ecommeiided inode, 
lale sized vessels with small poweis and .Motgan’s 
wlieels, as the l»esl adiipied for steam commiinica- 
lion hciweeii Ihimhay and Suez.— Ife lecommeiidy 
vessels of 43,5 ions with eiigiue.s of 100 Imise pow. 
Cl ; and liiis lecoiiimendaiion was in deatie> many 
yeai s’’ex pci ieiice ot w litii could he eifccteil In ves- 
sels of a'l sizes and power, fiom Ihe bieiiin Fiigitle 
Ihe P-Iedea, wiili 120 horse power, down lo ilie 
Columbia of SOt) tons and lOO ho.'se power, which 
Jailer vessel, h} -; !ie-hye, was fust (itled wiili en- 
gines of 1‘20 lioise power ; hut these weie laken out 
from li:i\ ing heeii found loo lieiivi and replaced by 
ilie present engines, and the vestels’ siieed in every 
respect impi oved. 
I he following leliers w ill, however, hear out this 
principle slill fnilliei, by fully simwing that even 
llie vetsels of 4^5 tons piopnsed by Sit Pniteny Mal- 
coJm, m;iy without disiidvaiitage, be still funlier re- 
duced, [wit li propoi itoiiaie dimiiiniioii of the cost of 
outlay, and w-jiii equal ceitainly of cnVcling’ liie 
passage in the same time ; for they sliow that the 
Transit, n vessel <if;i00 tons ami t'O horsepower 
w ilh .iiory.in’s paddle wheels, made the passage 
from Falmoniii to Lisbon in Apiil last, in four days, 
against strong contiaiy winds and a heavy htad sea, 
heating the steamer of 40J tons iind 200 
hoise power hy 4u hours, both having left Fiihiinuth 
loge.lier. 
Minerva Cottage, Tuesday, May. 
“ Dear .Sir,— 1 take ihe liheiiy ofenclusing for 
your perusal, tlie copy of a letter my hiolliei has 
this (lay received from Mr. Miller, of thefnmof 
Miller, lUvenhill, and Co. conveying their engine* 
