CALCUTTA: PAST AND PRESENT
tide, and proceeded up the river to Chandernagore, and so back to Chinsurah.
The Governors of Calcutta were by no means behind hand with their state boats, and, up to the introduction of steamers and railways, the Governor-General's "yacht" was his chief if not sole means of visiting distant provinces. When Lord Wellesley, in 1801, made a tour in the "Upper Provinces" his journey occupied eight months, although it extended no further than Lucknow and Cawnpore. For a week-end visit to his country seat at Barrackpore, the Governor would use his state barge; and Lord Valentia recorded his admiration of the animated aspect of the river there, at the time of his visit in 1803. "The state barges and cutters of the Governor-General, painted green and ornamented with gold, contrasted with the scarlet dresses of the rowers, were a great addition to the scene."
The tales of travellers, and the sober columns of the Calcutta Gazette, which tell of all this brave pomp and show, record also grim details of tragedies the most moving. The river waves, which bore these proud galleys, washed over the stiffening limbs of the dying, gasping out their latest breath on the muddy banks. And when the last breath had fled, they tossed the
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