May 24th.—Mango fish fifty per rupee. The weather very hot, the nights most oppressive, from the heavy mist and great heat. We left our horses at the Cape, which we regretted on our arrival in Calcutta; we have been looking out for a pair of carriage horses for some time. This is the cheapest season of the year in which to make the purchase, but they are very dear; those for sale at eight hundred rupees are vile, those at one thousand indifferent,—you cannot get a good pair under fourteen or sixteen hundred rupees; it would not answer to bring riding horses from the Cape for sale, but carriage horses would answer well, they are in such great demand in Calcutta.
29th.—Rain having fallen on the Queen’s birthday, the display of fireworks was postponed until to-day; it was a failure, with the exception of one bouquet, which was good. They would not bear a comparison with the jeux d’artifices that I witnessed in Paris on the day of the King’s fête; I never saw any colours that equalled those in brilliancy and variety. The last firework, a bouquet of rockets of divers colours, was superb; and sometimes a composition was burnt, that threw a red glare over the landscape; then came a glare of blue lights, casting a spectral appearance on the houses, the river, and the sky, after which another tint was thrown forth, and the effect was excellent.
June 16th.—Lord Ellenborough recalled,—deposed by the Court of Directors.
July 18th.—Visited the livery stables to see some fresh Arabs, among which some very good ones were pointed out to me. There was not a horse that I would have selected for my own riding whose price was less than from twelve to sixteen hundred rupees; and for those likely to turn out good racers they asked two and three thousand.
31st.—Lord Ellenborough quitted Calcutta, and returned to England.
Aug. 22nd.—A very heavy gale, and a deep fall of rain; the next day the natives were catching fish all over the maidān in front of the Government House; they say the fish fell with the rain, which is now a foot deep on the ground.
Oct. 1st.—It being our intention to proceed by the river to Allahabad, and the weather becoming daily cooler, we hired a pinnace budgerow for ourselves, a large olāk for the baggage, and a cook-boat, sent them to Prinsep’s Ghāt, and prepared for the voyage.
That branch of the Ganges that quits the main stream at Gopalgunj, flowing by Sooty to Moorshedabad, is called the Bhagirathī until it reaches Nuddea, at which place it is joined by the Jellinghy, and they flow on, passing Calcutta, to the island of Sāgor, under the name of the Hoogly. Only that part of the Ganges which lies in a line from Gangoutrī to Sāgor island is considered holy by the Hindūs, and named the Ganga or Bhagirathī. The Hoogly river, therefore, of Europeans, is considered as the true Ganges.
The Bore commences at Hoogly Point, Sāgor, where the river first contracts itself, and is perceptible above the town of Hoogly: so quick is its motion, that it scarcely employs four hours in running up from the one to the other, although the distance is nearly seventy miles. It does not run on the Calcutta side, but along the opposite bank; whence it crosses at Chitpūr, about four miles above Fort William, and proceeds with great violence. On its approach boats must immediately quit the shore, and go for safety into the middle of the river; at Calcutta it sometimes occasions an instantaneous rise of five feet. The tide is perceptible as far as Nuddea.