A Woman's Journey Round The World, From Vienna To Brazil, Chili, Tahiti, China, Hindostan, Persia, And Asia Minor By Ida Pfeiffer
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There Are A
Few Chinese, Too, Here, Most Of Whom Are In The Shoemaking Trade.
Calcutta, the capital of Bengal, is situated on the Hoogly, which at
this point is so deep and broad, that the largest men-of-war and
East Indiamen can lie at anchor before the town.
The population
consists of about 600,000 souls, of whom, not counting the English
troops, hardly more than 2,000 are Europeans and Americans. The
town is divided into several portions - namely, the Business-town,
the Black-town, and the European quarter. The Business-town and
Black-town are very ugly, containing narrow, crooked streets, filled
with wretched houses and miserable huts, between which there are
warehouses, counting-houses, and now and then some palace or other.
Narrow paved canals run through all the streets, in order to supply
the necessary amount of water for the numerous daily ablutions of
the Hindoos. The Business-town and Black-town are always so densely
crowded, that when a carriage drives through, the servants are
obliged to get down and run on before, in order to warn the people,
or push them out of the way.
The European quarter of the town, however, which is often termed the
City of Palaces - a name which it richly merits - is, on the contrary,
very beautiful. Every good-sized house, by the way, is called, as
it is in Venice, a palace. Most of these palaces are situated in
gardens surrounded by high walls; they seldom join one another, for
which reason there are but few imposing squares or streets.
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of 187810
