There is a place for the manufacture of gunpowder at Papamow, between two and three miles from the cantonments; also another at Isharpore, near Barrackpore. At these two depôts all the Company's gunpowder is made, and a two-years' supply is generally kept in store. The cantonments of Allahabad are about three miles from the fort, and appear very comfortable.
I may here mention an interesting discovery made by Colonel Kyd, of the Engineers, during the restoration of the fort. While forming the glacis, he discovered a cave, which contained a number of images belonging to the tribe of Serawagy, of the sect of the Jains, which were soon after claimed by some persons, who asserted that they had been deposited there by their ancestors, during the persecution of the Hindoos by Aurungzebe in 1680. In the entrance of the cave is a sacred tree, which is said to have flourished there from time immemorial, and is held in great veneration by the Hindoos. There is also a tank of water, which is in high repute among the pilgrims.
The English church is a very neat building, with a light and handsome spire. The rides in the vicinity are numerous and pleasant; and the roads, which extend in various directions for thirty miles, skirted with trees of abundant foliage, are excellent. Indeed there is no other station in the Bengal Presidency which contains so many good roads. They are made by the prisoners, of whom, unhappily, there are always a great number in the Allahabad gaol. It is said, that the allowance of food is so liberal in the gaol, that some contrive to gain admittance there, as into a comfortable asylum; however they are made to work pretty hard, and the government sells the produce of their labours. It has been remarked of Sydney, that if no convicts had been sent thither, there never would have been a road two miles long. The same may be said with equal truth of Allahabad.
The troops now stationed at Allahabad, are a Company of Native Foot Artillery, two regiments of Native Infantry, and a depôt for H.M. regiments of Foot, under the command of a Lieut.-Colonel. Formerly there were two companies of European Artillery in the fort, of which a general officer was always in command. In 1817, just before the Maharatta war, a European Flank Battalion, composed of companies of royal regiments, was quartered in the fortress. At this time a circumstance occurred which created great alarm; for one evening, whilst the officers of the Flankers were at mess, several of them were suddenly taken ill. The cholera had been known in India in 1781 and 1783, but not since; so that it was concluded to be an attack of that fearful and fatal contagion. Upon investigation, however, it appeared that the cooking pots, which it was customary to have fresh tinned every twenty or twenty-five days, were not clean. Many thought it was a premeditated attempt at poisoning; hence it is necessary in India, more particularly on the line of march, to "look before you cook."
Before quitting Allahabad, I must redeem my promise of laying before the reader some statements confirmatory of my view, that the ancient city of Palibothra was the site of Allahabad, and not, as some suppose, Kanoge.
There are many theories in existence respecting the site of ancient Palibothra. Some of them are so improbable as to be unworthy of notice; but others, propounded by learned and ingenious writers, may fairly claim consideration in this place. Before I enter upon the examination of these it will be proper to state such information, with regard to position and other circumstances, as we may gain from early historians.
In the first place we have the statement of Strabo (lib. xv.), that Palibothra was situated at the confluence of the Ganges with another river; but he does not mention the name. Arrian says:[75] "The capital city of India is Palimbothra, in the confines of the Prasii (or Prachi of Sanscrit writers) nigh the confluence of the two great rivers, Erannoboas and Ganges. Erannoboas is reckoned the third river throughout all India, and is inferior to none but the Indus and Ganges, into the last of which it enters." He further states: "Of the two great rivers of India, the Ganges and the Indus, Megasthenes assures us that the first is by far the largest, for it arises great from its very fountains, and receives many great rivers; namely Cainas, Erannoboas, Cassoanes (Coosah?) Sonus,[76] Sitocatis and Solomatis. All these are navigable; and, besides these, the Condochates, Sambus, Magones, Agoranis, and Omalis."
To determine which is this said third river of India, we must premise that the Berhampooter was not known to Alexander the Great, or his successors, nor was it known in Europe until A.D. 1765.
Megasthenes states also "that the length of this city is eighty furlongs, the breadth fifteen, that it is surrounded with a ditch thirty cubits deep, and occupying six acres of ground, the walls being defended with 570 towers and six gates."
Such is the evidence furnished on this subject by early writers, and the question resulting from it is, which of the many rivers flowing into the Ganges are we to consider the third river in India, at the confluence of which Palibothra was situated? It does not appear that Megasthenes has given the rivers in the order of their size; for he omits all mention of some of the largest, and the first river he speaks of, the Cainas, is certainly smaller than the fourth on his list, the Sonus. The only rivers, of any consequence, entering the Ganges on the right bank, are the Jumna and the Sone, of which the former is by far the more considerable.