the Grand Trunk Road, or at least, so far as the bridges are completed. Transit by these conveyances I found to be rapid, comfortable, and economical; and the facilities which they offered determined me to go up-country, at least, as far as Delhi.

There is yet one other way of travelling in India, to which I might have had recourse. I mean, the mail-cart, which is allowed to carry one traveller. These mail-carts are a square box, mounted on two wheels, and look very like the English dog-cart. They go along at ten or twelve miles an hour,. stopping only to change horses; and for a few minutes, at each post-station. The seat is very hard, there is seldom anything in the way of a shade, only fifteen pounds of baggage can be carried, there is no rest, without waiting over a day; and, what is worst of all, the carts are always breaking down from the imperfection of their construction, the speed at which they are driven, and the viciousness of the post-horses. Altogether, I suppose it is the most uncomfortable mode of travelling yet discovered. Few people ever go by it, unless they are very much pressed for time. As for myself, I think it very unlikely that I should have had the pluck to face the fatigue, hunger, and exposure; and I should probably never have visited the capital of the Moguls, if the mail-cart had been the only conveyance within my reach.

CHAPTER XII.

TO BENARĔS.

• Railway to Raneegunj-Indian Railways-Coal-A Dâk-Gárrhee-Dâk Companies-The Rights of Horses-Leopards and Jackals-Dâk-Bungalows-Scenery-Comparison between Natives of India and China-Land-Tenure-Nullahs-People on the Road-Sahussuram-Two fine Tombs-A Dancing Cow-The village Zemindar"Taking Leave"-Unsympathetic Character of Natives-Country between Sahussuram and Benares-Séroor.

I LEFT Calcutta on the evening of the first of November, 1856. Crossing the Hoogly to Howrah, I took the railway to Raneegunj, a distance of 120 miles, which we accomplished in nine and a half hours. It was dark when we started, and before morning, we had passed the limits of lower Bengal. I have since regretted not taking a train by day, as the country which this road traverses is one of the few parts of India where much cultivation or natural luxuriance of vegetation is to be seen. The carriages were very comfortable, and divided into compartments, on the European plan. I enjoyed a comfortable night's rest, the seats being arranged to draw out, and form a bed.

This railway is to extend to Delhi, and probably in time, to some place on the Indus, as Mooltan. It is to connect at Agra with a proposed road to Bombay, and is one of a great net-work of railways projected to connect all the important points in India. The road had been in construction twelve years, when I was there, and only these 120 miles were completed. Another section was nearly finished, but has been since that time much injured by the mutineers. In the Presidencies of Bombay and Madras, not 200 miles of road altogether had been completed. It is now seen that it was a great error of Government, not to have pushed forward more

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rapidly the completion of these great highways, since the facility of transporting troops on them would have done much for the prevention or suppression of the recent mutiny. Independently of the use of the railways in a military point of view, they would no doubt have been eminently successful financially, as the navigation of the Ganges is very dangerous, and precarious as regards time; and the transportation of merchandize on camels or ox-carts by the Grand Trunk Road, could never compete with a railway in time or expense. These railroads were the first great public work that the. Government of India intrusted to private enterprize, and it was supposed that the advantages presented by the scheme were so great, that private capital would be readily furnished for their completion, especially as Government guaranteed the stockholders a dividend of five per cent. It was found, however, that the rich natives, from whom much of the money was expected, were very backward in contributing to an enterprize of a kind in which they had previously had no experience, and from which any immediate return beyond the five per cent. guaranteed, was doubtful. The idea of any great public work being accomplished by private capital, is something quite opposed to a native's habits of thought-if he has any spare money, he hesitates about investing it permanently in land, or any other way, preferring to retain it in his own hands, and loan it to individuals on short time, and at a high rate of interest. In India, twelve per cent. a year can always be obtained, with the best security, and where the money is loaned to the poor ryuts by the month, at compound interest, and in sums of a few rupees, as is generally the practice of native bankers, the rate amounts to six or seven per cent. a month.

Raneegunj, the present terminus of the railway, is situated at the foot of the Rajmahal hills, a low, irregular range, bounding lower Bengal on the west. It has but few European residents, and they are all connected with the railway, dâk companies, or coal mines. The coal obtained is of excellent quality, it is said, and if so, will supply a great want, as the Labuan coal is far from good.

I had engaged at Calcutta my passage to Futtehghur, by the "North Western Dâk Company," one of the three staging companies, (dâk being Hindoostance for "staging,") which conveyed persons and light parcels up-country, along the line of the Grand Trunk Road. As soon as I arrived at Raneegunj, I went to see the vehicle in which I was to proceed to Benares. I found it a square-built, roughly-finished, but strong gárrhee, with patent axles, sliding doors, and a row of windows on both sides, shaded by Venetian awnings. The well, where, in an ordinary carriage, we put our feet, was covered over, and appropriated to small parcels; and a mattrass extended the whole length of the vehicle. This is a most admirable arrangement for travelling a long time in a carriage, as lying down is, no doubt, the position which can be continued the longest time with the least fatigue; and the convenience for sleeping is a matter of importance, where, as in India, it is customary to travel night and day, and in the hot weather, principally, if not solely, by night.

The Grand Trunk Road is at present the great line of communication between all Northern, and North-Western India, and the coast. It is a broad, macadamized road, as well kept up as any in Europe, stretching in an unbroken line from Calcutta to Peshawur, at least 1,500 miles. The operations of these dâk companies extend along the line of the Trunk Road and its branches, as far to the north-west as Umbala, (the first Punjab station,) beyond which point the bridges are not completed. The branches of the Grand Trunk Road go to Lucknow, Futtehghur, and Moozuffurnuggur, beyond Meeruth. The construction of this great road is entirely the work of the English Government, the Ganges having been previously the only line of communication with the interior.

The dâk companies do not run their gárrhees at any fixed time, but whenever they are engaged. The usual practice is, for one traveller to occupy a gárrhee alone, but the expense and comfort are occasionally shared by two persons, who must be in rather close quarters when they lie down, as the interior of the carriage is not more than four feet wide, if so much. Each gárrhee has a native coachman, who accompanies it for

about sixty miles, and a sáees or groom, who is changed with the horse, every six miles.

I had heard a great deal about the dâk horses, but the reality far exceeded my expectations. They are the most vicious and untamed set of brutes that it is possible to conceive as being made in any respect useful. The first specimen which I saw, made his appearance with eight or ten sáeeses, tugging at a rope made fast to one of his fore legs; the object of this was to move his leg forward, upon which, he, of his own accord, brought his body up to it. This mode of progression is, as may be imagined, slow, although sure. It took about twenty minutes to get him into the shafts, and when made fast, he planted his fore-legs firmly apart, and again refused to move. The sáeeses renewed their efforts, first trying mild measures, and calling the stubborn beast by every endearing name, among which were the sweet titles of "father," and "mother." As the brute, however, showed himself utterly insensible and unmollified by the attributed honours of paternity; and moreover, seemed determined at least to assume the parental privilege of chastisement by biting and kicking his swarthy and supposititious offspring, the original plan of dragging his foot forward was again resorted to, accompanied and aided by the united efforts of a dozen or more black fellows who pushed the gárrhee behind. These efforts being persisted in for half a mile, and the coachman vigourously applying the chabook (whip), our gallant steed at length was wearied with resistance, and, determining to free himself from his persecutors, and give up an unavailing struggle for the rights of horses, rushed off at a ten mile pace, which he kept up the whole stage. The next horse was

quieter, but lame. Natives, however, have very little of that quality which "is not strained," and the lame horse did his five or six miles in less time than his predecessor. The above performances, and practical lessons in the art of horse-breaking, are generally repeated at every third or fourth stage. The only variety in the exercises is when you have a particularly pig-headed animal who lies down-the remedy for which amiable peculiarity is to light a straw fire under him. These