4 
BENGAL. 
in the capacity of Surgeon. I had every reason to congratulate myself 
on the choice which had been made of these gentlemen as my asso¬ 
ciates; and in their kind and friendly attention, I had the satisfaction 
to find a constant source of comfort, amidst all the toils and difficulties 
of a long and tedious journey. 
Notice of the Governor General’s intention to send a Deputation to 
the Court of Teshoo Loomboo, had been previously given to the Daeb 
Raja, the independent chieftain of the intermediate mountains, which 
separate Bengal from Tibet. This measure was indispensably neces¬ 
sary, since, without his permission and assistance, it was impossible 
to accomplish the object of my mission. 
In the first part of my journey, as far as the Company's most northern 
station, nothing occurred which deserves particular notice. I ascended 
my palanquin at Ghyretty, on the opposite side of the river Bhagi- 
rathy, the name of the principal branch of the Ganges, which at this 
place bears the descriptive appellation of the Hoogly river; an appel¬ 
lation given to it by the first European inhabitants of Bengal, and since 
retained in the common modes of speech and writing. Hoogly was 
anciently the principal port and mart of this province. I forded the 
Bhagirathy at Aughadeep ; thence travelling over the island of Cossim- 
bazar, across the plains of Plassey, rendered ever memorable by the 
brilliant and decisive victory of Lord Clive, and passing near the 
suburbs of Moorshedabad, I arrived on the banks of the Ganges, almost 
opposite to Bauleah. After ferrying across the river, I traversed as 
wide a space of flat and fertile country as that which I had already 
passed; and at the expiration of four days from the commencement 
