BENGAL 525 siderably exceeding that of the largest lions. It is much dreaded by the natives, and tiger hunting constitutes a favorite sport among the British army officers and residents. The pan- ther, striped hyiena, jackal, and true civet cats are also found. One species of the rhinoceros (/?. Irulicus) is met with in the valley of the Brahmapootra. The Bengal elephant (elephas Indicus), which occurs in great numbers, is extensively domesticated and employed as a beast of burden for military and other pur- poses. Bears, foxes, antelopes, Indian buffaloes, and monkeys abound. Four species of the crocodile are found in the Ganges and contigu- ous streams, one of which, the gavial, lives only in fresh water and preys exclusively on fish ; the others, however, frequent the Sun- derbund region, and attack bathers, and cattle when they come down to drink. The number of venomous snakes is proportionately small as compared with the entire number of serpents; but the terrible cobra de capello is among them. Birds of beautiful plumage are abundant, and crows, storks, the common domestic fowl of Eu- rope, and many varieties of game birds are found everywhere. As a rule, the native horses, cat- tle, and swine are of inferior breeds and poor ; their sheep and goats are rather finer animals. The administration of the province is intrusted to a lieutenant governor, who is appointed by the governor general of India subject to the approval of the crown. The local divisions, each presided over by a commissioner (hence called commissionerships), with their respec- tive districts, each under an officer denomi- nated magistrate and collector, are as follows : The Presidency Calcutta, the 24 Pergunnahs, Nuddea, Jessore, the Sunderbunds. Burdwan Burdwan, Beerbhoom, Bancoorah, Hoogly, Howrah, Midnapore. Rajshahye Maldah, Di- nagepore, Rungpore, Bograh, Rajshahye, Pub- na. Moorshedabad Bhangulpore, Moorsheda- bad, Monghyr, Purneah, the Sonthal Pergun- nahs. Patna Patna, Shahabad, Behar, Sa- run, Chumparum, Tirhoot. Guttack Cut- tack, Pooree, Balasore, the Tributary Mehals. Dacca Dacca, Mymensing, Sylhet, Cachar, Furreedpore, Backergunge. Chittagong Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Tipperah, Bulloah. Assam Kamroop, Durrung, Now- gong, Seebsagur, Luckimpore, Naga Hills, Cossyah and Jynteah Hills. Chota Nagpore Lohardugga, Hazareebaugh, Singbhoom, Maun- bhoom, the Tributary States. Cooch Behar Gowalpurrah (with the Eastern Dooars), the Western Dooars, the Garrow Hills, Darjeeling, the native state of Cooch Behar. The pub- lic revenue is mainly derived from the land tax, which differs in Bengal from that im- posed in other parts of India. It was insti- tuted by Lord Cornwallis, then governor gen- eral, in 1793, by a permanent settlement with the principal landowners, called zemindars, by which they agreed to pay to the government a sum about equal to one half of that which they receive as rent from their own tenants. Another principal source of revenue is the government monopoly in the growth and manufacture of opium. The amount exported in 1864-'5 was valued at 4,724,300. The commerce of Ben- gal is carried on principally with Great Britain. Raw cotton, rice, indigo, saltpetre, and silk are the chief articles of export. The silk prod- uct is large, but of inferior quality, the manu- factured silk goods of Bengal being surpassed by those of China. Muslins are extensively manufactured in the province. The imports into Bengal for the year ending March 31. 1870, represented a value of 19,496,082, and the exports for the same year a value of 20,- 971,121, against 13,656,506 in 1861. Com- mercial intercourse was formerly carried on almost exclusively by water, the roads being very poor, and the fine causeways construct- ed by the old native rulers having fallen into ruins. The introduction of railways, however, has somewhat changed the lines of internal trade, as well as given it a vast impetus. In 1859 there were only 142 m. of railway in Bengal ; 1,510 m. were open for traffic there in 1870. The East Indian line, which is the grand trunk route to Delhi and the highlands of northern India, traverses the valley of the Ganges from Calcutta upward. Calcutta, the provincial capital and seat of government of the British East Indian empire, is the most im- portant city in Bengal. According to the last official enumeration, which was made in 1866, the population is 377,924. The cities next in rank are Patna (284,000), Moorshedabad (147,- 000), Dacca (67,000), and Burdwan (54,000). These figures, being merely estimates, are only approximations to the true number of inhabit- ants. The population is made up principally of native Hindoos and the Mohammedan de- scendants of the ancient Mogul or Mongol in- vaders, in the proportion of about four of the former to one of the latter. The Mohamme- dans, who abhor the religious rites and cus- toms of the Hindoos, are most numerous in the eastern districts. On the whole the Bengalese have generally been regarded as a weak, treacherous, and intriguing people. In the latter part of the 17th century, when the East India company of England established their first trading factories in Bengal, the country was under the sway of a viceroy of the Mogul emperor of Hindostan. Their settlements were small, and they occupied their limited territory as tenants holding under the native rulers. In 1746, however, the war between England and France extended to southern India, and during the succeeding ten years there was a constant increase of British military power in that re- gion; so that when in 1756 news reached Madras that the company's settlers on the Hoogly had been attacked by the nawaub Nazim, the reigning viceroy, and that 146 of them had been thrust into the black hole at Calcutta, where 123 died, Lord Clive was at once despatched with an adequate force to their relief. He landed in Bengal in Febru-
