THE 
MONTHLY ™ 
TY le iL. 
No. 172.] 
MAGAZINE, 
1808. 40 of Vor is. 25. 
eee ees 
&6 As long as thofe who write are ambitious of ans Joumen' and 5 Oe giving to their ey alg a Maximum o 
** Infiuence and Celebrity, the mof extenfively circulated Mifcellany will repay with the greatett Bfrect the 
me Seren of thefe who read either for Amufement or Infruction.” 
JOANSON, 
icatae eR canes 
ORIGINAL COM MUNICATIONS. 
NARRATIVE e @ TOUR through BENGAL, 
BAHAR, and OUDE, to AGRA, DELKI, 
and other PLACES in the INTERIOR of 
HINDUSTAN, undertaken in the yuans, 
1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797. 
AVING eed several pressing 
I solicitations to visit the camp of 
Dowlett Ras Scindia, and being assured 
of powerful ecoaminend dacs from gen- 
tlemen of consequence in the Company’ s 
service, which would protect me during 
my 10% ‘ney, and in some measure secure 
a safe return, whenever I felt disposed to 
quit the Marattah Dominions; I resolved 
to proceed from Calcutta towards Hin- 
dustan, the latterend of the year 1794. Ay 
previous residence of several years in the 
country, both at Madras and Bengal, 
had afforded me ample opportunities of 
studying the language, disposition, and 
characterestic traits of the natives; ac- 
utes indispensably necessary to a 
traveller in India, and more particularly 
on the North West side of the Peninsula 
where the manners and prejudices of the 
inhabitants. assume a original aspect, 
and where an European is tegarded asa 
rara avis, often heard of, but seldo om 
seen. 
There are two modes of travelling in 
Bengal—by land and by water. The 
Ganges, which traverses the whole extent 
of this country and its dependencies from 
its first entrance into the plains of Hin- 
dustan, through the rocks of Hurdwar to 
its final disemboguement into the Bay of 
Berea alfords every facility to the tra- 
veller in the transportation of himself and 
baggage. A budgerow for his own accom- 
modation, and a common boat for his 
servants, will contain every thing requi- 
site, and is not by any means so expen- 
sive as travelling by land. A very com- 
fortable budgerow may be purchased for 
about six or ejaht hundred rupees, anda 
servants’ boat for less than one hundred; 
both of which may be disposed of at one 
of the frontier stations for at least prime 
cost, so that there will only be the hire 
of the boatmen to defray; whereas a tra- 
veller by land requires a marquee for him- 
self and a private tent for his servants; a 
horse, a palanquin for his own conveyance, 
MontuLy Mac. No. 172. 
and several camels for that of his baggage 
and stores, the latter of which must ne- 
cessarily be considerable from the cir- 
cumstance of there being no inns to stop 
at in thiscountry, nor any means of ob= 
taining a fresh supply of such articles as | 
youmay reCuITGs until your arrival at one 
of the military stations; the followers 
must also be increased and several other’ 
expences incurred which may be avoided. 
by going up the Ganges—these consider= 
ations induced me to give the latter mode 
the preference, and “baving accordingly 
purchased a twelve-oared pinnace budge- 
row for myself and a good dacca pulwar 
for my servants, &c. “and bad adieu te 
the hospitalities of Calcutta, I embark- 
ed at Champaul Ghout on the 20th of 
December, 1794. 
The first thing I did was to muster my 
people, whom i found to consist of thire 
ty four in my own service, including the 
aenigees and Dandiest of the two boats, 
and five or six acquaintance of, theirs — 
une embraced this opportunity of, tra- 
velling free of expence. Having given 
them such instructions as I judged ne- 
cessary, k ordered the boats to be une 
imoored about twelve o’clock, and after 
disengaging ourselves from the numerous 
shipping which edorn and enrich the port 
of, Caleta, proceeded gently along with 
the tide; finding no inclination to sleep, 
and the moon ‘shining with unclouded 
splendor, I placed a chair on the deck, 
ordered a frefh chillam, and contemplated 
the calm and picturesque scene before me 
with peculiar satisfaction. The river is 
extremelyirriguous, forming what is techs 
nically called a’ succession of reaches, 
beautifully fianged with bamboo, cocoa 
nut, orange and mango trees, in‘er= 
spersed with therudetemples of the Hin= 
dus and the more elegant minarets of the 
followers of Mahummed. On the North 
bank of the river, fifteen miles from Cale 
cutta, is situated the military cantonment 
of Bar rackpore, where there is alwaysa 
brigade of six battalions of Infantry sta» 
tioned, from which the necessary guards 
LLL LL LALLA RAL AAO eee 
* The master or pilot. | 
+ The boatmen, 
SR for 
