Roads.

number of live-stock, 594,249; gross receipts, £10,404,753; gross expenses, £5,206,938; net earnings, £5,197,815, of which only £195,787 is credited to the State railways; percentage of gross expenses to gross receipts, 50°04, varying from 34'97 in the case of the East Indian main line to an average of 78 27 for all the State lines. These figures show I mile of railway to every 109 square miles of area, as compared with the area of British India, or to about each 180 square miles, as compared with the area of the entire peninsula. The average cost of construction per mile is almost exactly £14,000. The guaranteed railways, embracing the great trunk lines throughout India, are on the 'broad gauge' of 5 feet 6 inches; the State lines follow, as a rule, the narrow or metre gauge of 3.281 feet. On 31st March 1879, the total length opened was 8545 miles; and the capital invested, 120 millions sterling.

As the railway system of India approaches its completion, the relative importance of the roads naturally diminishes. From a military point of view, rapid communication by rail Old mili- has now superseded the old marching routes as completely as

tary routes. in any European country. Like Portsmouth in England,

The
'Grand
Trunk
Road.'

Bombay

inland route.

Bombay in India has become the national harbour for the embarkation and disembarkation of troops. On landing at Bombay, all troops proceed, after a rest, to the healthy station of Deolálí on the plateau of the Deccan, whence they can reach their ultimate destinations, however remote, by easy railway stages. The Grand Trunk Road, running up the entire valley of the Ganges from Calcutta to the north-west frontier, first planned out in the 16th century by the Afghán Emperor Sher Sháh, and brought to completion under the administration of Lord William Bentinck, is now for the most part untrodden by troops. The monument, erected to commemorate the opening of the Bhor Ghát to wheeled traffic from Bombay, remains unvisited by all but the most curious travellers. Railways have bridged the widest rivers. and the most formidable swamps. They have scaled, with their aerial zigzags, the barrier range of the Gháts; and they have been carried on massive embankments over the shifting soil of the Gangetic delta.

But although the railway system now occupies the first place, both for military and commercial purposes, the actual importExtension ance of roads has increased rather than diminished. They do not figure in the imperial balance-sheet, nor do they strike the popular imagination; but their construction and repair

of roads.

They in

constitute one of the most important duties of the District
official. A few lines, such as the continuation of the Grand
Trunk Road in the Punjab, are still substitutes for the railways
of the future. Others, which climb the passes of the Himá-
layas, the Western Ghats, or the Nilgiris, will probably never
be superseded. The great majority, however, are works of sub-
ordinate utility, serving to promote that regularity of local com-
munication upon which the progress of civilisation so largely
depends. The substitution of the post-cart for the naked
runner, and of wheeled traffic for the pack-bullock, is one of
the silent revolutions effected by British rule.

The more important roads are all carefully metalled, the Road
material almost everywhere employed being kankar or cal- metal.
careous limestone. In Lower Bengal and other deltaic tracts,
where no kind of stone exists, bricks are roughly burnt, and
then broken up to supply metal for the roads.

The minor

streams are crossed by permanent bridges, with foundations of
stone, and not unfrequently iron girders. The larger rivers Bridges of
have temporary bridges of boats thrown across them during boats.
the dry season, which give place to ferries in time of flood.
Avenues of trees along the roads afford shade, and material for
timber. The main lines are under the charge of the Public
Works Department. The maintenance of the minor roads has,
by a recent administrative reform, been thrown entirely upon
the shoulders of the local authorities, who depend for their
pecuniary resources upon District committees, and are often
compelled to act as their own engineers. No statistics are
available to show the total mileage of roads in British India,
or the total sum expended on their maintenance.

Inland navigation is almost confined to the four great rivers, Rivers. the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Indus, and the Irawadi. These flow through broad valleys, and from time immemorial have been the chief means of conveying the produce of the interior to the sea. South of the Gangetic basin, there is not a single river which can be called navigable. Most of the streams in that tract, although mighty torrents in the rainy season, dwindle away to mere threads of water and stagnant pools during the rest of the year. The Godavari and the The GodáNarbada, whose volume of water is ample, are both obstructed vari works. by rocky rapids, which engineering skill has hitherto been. unable to overcome. A total sum of 1 million sterling has been in vain expended upon the former river. Indeed, it may be doubted whether water carriage is able to compete, as regards the more valuable staples, with communication by rail.

The
Ganges.

The Brahmaputra.

Minor

streams.

The Nadiyá rivers.

After the East Indian Railway was opened, steamers ceased to ply upon the Ganges; and the steam flotilla on the Indus similarly shrunk to insignificance when through communication by rail became possible between Múltán and Karachi. On the Brahmaputra and its tributary the Barák, and on the Irawadi, steamers still run secure from competition. But it is in the Gangetic delta that river navigation attains its highest development. There the population may be regarded as half amphibious. Every village can be reached by water in the rainy season, and every family keeps its boat. The main channels of the Ganges and Brahmaputra, and their larger tributaries, are navigable throughout the year. During the rainy months, road carriage is altogether superseded. All the minor streams are swollen by the rainfall on the hills and the local downpour; while fleets of boats sail down with the produce that has accumulated in warehouses on the river banks. The statistics of this subject belong rather to the department of internal trade,' but it may be mentioned here that the number of laden boats registered in Bengal in the year 1877-78 was 401,729. Boat-racing forms a favourite native sport in the deltaic and eastern Districts. It is conducted with great spirit and rivalry by the villagers. In some places, the day concludes with an illuminated boat procession by torchlight.

The great majority of the Bengal rivers require no attention from Government, but the network known as the three Nadiya rivers is only kept open for traffic by close supervision. These three rivers, the Bhagirathi, Jalangí, and Mátábhángá, are all offshoots of the Ganges, which unite to make up the headwaters of the Húgli.2 In former times, the main volume of the Ganges was carried to the sea by one or other of these channels. But they now receive so little water as only to be navigable in the rainy season, and then with difficulty. Since the beginning of the present century, Government has undertaken the task of preventing these Húgli head-waters from further deterioration. A staff of engineers is constantly employed to watch the shifting bed, to assist the scouring action of the current, and to advertise the trading community of the depth of water from time to time. In the year 1877-78, a total sum of £9522 was expended on this account, while an income of £32,494 was derived from tolls.

1 See post, pp. 463-468.

2 See article HUGLI RIVER, Imperial Gazetteer, vol. iv. pp. 106, 107; and in greater detail in my Statistical Account of Bengal, vol. ii. pp. 19-32.

Malabar

back

waters.

ham Canal.

The artificial water channels of India may be divided into Navigable two classes. (1) Those confined to navigation; (2) those canals. constructed primarily for purposes of irrigation. Of the former class, the most important examples are to be found in the south of the peninsula. On both the Malabar and the Coromandel coasts, the strip of low land lying between the mountains and the sea affords natural facilities for the construction of an inland canal running parallel to the shore. In Malabar, the salt-water lagoons or lakes, which form so prominent a feature in the local geography, merely required to be supplemented by a few cuttings to supply continuous water communication from the port of Calicut to Cape Comorin. On the east coast, the Buckingham Canal, running north from Bucking Madras city as far as the delta of the Kistna, has recently been completed without any great engineering difficulties. In Bengal, there are a few artificial canals, of old date, but of no great magnitude, in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. The principal of these form the system known as the Calcutta and Calcutta Eastern Canals, which consist for the most part of natural channels artificially deepened, in order to afford a safe boat route through the Sundarbans. Up to the close of the year 1877-78, a capital of £360,332 had been expended by Government on the Calcutta canals, and the gross income in that year was £44,120; after deducting cost of repairs, etc., charged to revenue account, and interest at the rate of 4 per cent., a net profit was left amounting to £8748. The Hijili Hijili Tidal Canal in Midnapur District, which cuts off a difficult corner of the Húglí river, yielded a net revenue of £3171 in the same year.

canals.

Canal.

tion on

Most of the great irrigation works, both in Northern and Southern India, have been so constructed as to be available also for navigation. The general features of these works have been already described. So far as regards Bengal, navigation Navigaon the Orissa Canals in 1877-78 yielded £3384, on the MidBengal napur Canal £10,692, and on the Son Canals £5965, the canals; aggregate being larger than was derived from irrigation. In Madras, boat tolls in the Godávari delta brought in £4496, On Madras and in the Kistna delta £1718. The works of the Madras canals. Irrigation Company on the Tungabhadra were not made. available for navigation until 1879. A scheme is now under Future the consideration of the Bengal Government for joining the projects. Midnapur and Orissa Canal systems, and extending the line of water communication farther southward through the Chilká Lake as far as Ganjám, 400 miles from Calcutta.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Trade of India.

COMMERCE AND TRADE.

COMMERCE AND TRADE.-From the earliest days, India was a trading country. The quick genius of her inhabitants, even more than her natural wealth and an extensive seaboard, distinguish her from other Asiatic lands. In contrast with the Arabian peninsula on the west, with the Malayan peninsu on the east, or with the equally fertile empire of China, India has always maintained an active intercourse with Europe Philology proves that the precious cargoes of Solomon's merchant ships came from the ancient coast of Malabar. The brilliant medieval republics of Italy drew no small share of their wealth from their Indian trade. It was the hope o participating in this trade that stimulated Columbus to the discovery of America, and Da Gama to the circumnavigation Medieval. of the Cape. Spices, drugs, dyes, and rare woods, fabrics c silk and cotton, jewels and gold and silver,-these were the temptations which allured the first adventurers from Europe The East and the West were then separated by a twelvemonth's voyage, full of hardships and perils. A successful venture made the fortune of all concerned, but trade was a lottery. and not far removed from piracy. Gradually, as the native kingdoms fell, and the proud cities of medieval India sank into ruin, the legendary wealth of India was found to rest upon an unstable basis. It has been reserved for our own Modern. day to discover, by the touchstone of free trade, the real source of her natural riches, and to substitute bales of raw produce for boxes of curiosities. The cotton, grain, oil-seeds, and jute of India now support a large population in England.

The modern function of trade in India.

Before entering on statistics of any sort, it is well to clearly apprehend the function which commerce has now to perform in India. The people have in some Provinces outgrown the food-producing powers of the soil; in many others, they are pressing heavily upon these powers. Agriculture, once their sole industry, no longer suffices for their support. New