India and Indian Engineering. / Three lectures delivered at the Royal Engineer Institute, Chatham, in July 1872

THREE LECTURES DELIVERED AT THE ROYAL ENGINEER INSTITUTE, CHATHAM, In JULY, 1872.
LIEUT.-COLONEL, ROYAL ENGINEERS; ASSOC. INST. C.E.; FELLOW OF THE CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY; PRINCIPAL, THOMASON CIVIL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, ROORKEE.
LONDON: E. & F. N. SPON, 48, CHARING CROSS. NEW YORK: 446, BROOME STREET. 1873.
LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
In proposing to deliver the short series of Lectures which I commence this evening, I had two objects in view; First, to interest you in the work which your brother officers are doing at the other end of the world, and which I think is little understood or appreciated in this country; Secondly, to give to those amongst you who are likely to proceed to India some useful information about the country itself, the nature of the work you will be called upon to undertake, and the special subjects of study to which it is desirable on that account to direct your attention.
In the present lecture, I shall endeavour to give you some idea of the physical features of India, its climate, its people, and of the peculiarities of Anglo-Indian life. In the other lectures, I shall say something of the Government, and the great Department of State by which public works are executed, and of the special duties and probable career of the Royal Engineer officers who are there employed; and shall then pass on to the materials and modes of construction with which the engineer is called upon to deal, and those specialities which distinguish his work from English practice.
India, then, is about as large as Europe without Russia. A line drawn from Cape Comorin at the south to Peshawur in the north will measure about 2000 miles; another line drawn from Kurrachee on the west coast to Calcutta will measure some 1500 miles; the total area of the whole peninsula, including British Burmah, is about 1,500,000 square miles, of which 900,000 are directly under British rule, while the remainder, though nominally under native governments, is more or less subject to us.