Dinapore is the head-quarters of a Division of the army, and is capable of being put into a tolerable state of defence. At present there are a light field-battery of Artillery, a royal regiment of Foot, and three corps of Native Infantry stationed here. The church is a very neat building, and stands in the centre of the large oblong. It contains a tablet to two officers of the 62nd Foot, who were unfortunately drowned in company with a great portion of the right wing of the regiment, in a storm which capsized their boats, near Bhaugulpore, on the 10th of July, 1842.
The 39th Foot being quartered here, I called upon Captain Strachan, of this fine corps, under whom I had acted as Adjutant, in 1844, to a detachment of recruits, consisting of my own corps (the 9th Lancers), the 3rd Buffs, 29th, 50th and 62nd Regiments of Foot.
Beyond the cantonments, and half way to Bankipore are many good houses, some of them being occupied by officers, and others by merchants. The view from the river is extremely pleasing, numerous budgerows, and boats of all descriptions, constantly ply up and down the river, and give great animation to the scene. Dinapore is one of the steam stations; and the vessels coming up and down, stop here to take in coals and wood.
Dinapore is also a place of some trade, and is celebrated for its leather, linen, light hats, and paintings. I bought an excellent pair of boots here, for a couple of rupees—quite equal to some I had purchased at Calcutta for eight.
Having taken in 800 maunds of coals (one maund is 80lbs.), and 200 maunds of wood, there having been a scarcity of the former, we started at five o'clock, on the morning of the 30th of May. During the day we passed H.M. 16th Lancers, in country boats, who had been seven days accomplishing what we had done in seven hours; the poor fellows made no hesitation in complaining of the miserable manner in which they were proceeding to Calcutta. It is a pity that the government should have subjected a set of gallant men, to such unnecessary inconvenience and discomfort, when so many steamers were at the time available for their transport. It is only in the hour of need that a soldier's services are duly appreciated, and thus with the 16th: no other Aliwal was in prospect, or perhaps they would have fared better, and many a brave soldier's life might have been spared from an inglorious death on the river.
At a short distance from Dinapore is Deegah, which with Bankipore, almost unites Patna and Dinapore. Bankipore is called a suburb of Patna; and, as the opium agent for Benares resides at Ghazepore, so the agent for the Bahar opium resides at Bankipore. Here is a great grain Golah, or circular stone building something like a bee-hive. It is black from age, and the effects of the climate. This novel and somewhat absurd building was erected by Governor Hastings. In the year 1770 a terrible famine raged in Bengal and Bahar, and carried off thousands. The Bengal government, in order to secure the inhabitants of Patna and its neighbourhood from starvation, in the event of another similar visitation, built this Golah, for the purpose of containing rice, which is grown very extensively at Patna. But, large as was the building, it was discovered that it would not hold a day's consumption for the people of the extensive Province in which it is situated. For, supposing that there were only two millions of souls, each would require 2lbs. per diem, or about 1,800 tons of grain for the whole population, which was far beyond the capacity of the building. The engineer too contrived to make the entrance door to open inwards; and at the top, an aperture surrounded by a parapet; hence it was self-evident that when this granary was filled, or even if the grain were raised but a few feet above the floor, the door could not be opened; besides which, there was also a further danger that the contents would ferment and explode the building. This first and last attempt to build on such vague calculations, cost between £12,000 and £15,000. It is now used as a store-house for arms, and other purposes.
Outside this Golah, are two winding staircases, one of which the late Earl of Munster ascended on horseback for a wager; another gentleman, a civilian, did more, for he rode down also. The walls at the bottom of the granary are enormously thick, namely, twenty-one feet, but they have given way.
There is a large range of buildings for the manufacture of opium; making it into cakes, and packing them in boxes. The latter is a very delicate process. Thus some of the opium of the year 1848 was deteriorated, because the agent had used fresh planks, of a bad description of wood, for the cases. The price of opium has fallen much of late. In the year 1820-21, the Bahar (Patna) opium sold for 4,303 sicca rupees, or 4,589 Company's rupees; and the Benares opium for 4,276 sicca rupees, or 4,531 Company's rupees per chest. But at that time the amount and value of sales was less, and of course the quantity also. When the market returned to its usual state, Bahar opium sold for 1,960 sicca rupees, and Benares for 1,860: but the sales produced more revenue. Before the above period, in 1819-20, the Bahar opium sold for only 2,463 sicca rupees, and Benares for 2,435. At the sales, the buyers paid a deposit of ten per cent.: thirty per cent. in ten days, and the remainder in one month.
Our next station was Patna, which almost joins Bankipore. It is a large city in the Province of Bahar, of which it is the capital, in Latitude 25° 37´ N., and Longitude 85° 15´ E. It is situated on the south side of the Ganges, which is here very deep, and in the rainy season sometimes five miles across.