passing up the river are compelled to land any powder they may have on board.
Raipur, a short distance farther down the river, and the principal village in Garh Fiscal Division, is said to have been many years ago the field of one of the contests which took place between the Dutch and the English.
Garia, a village on Tolly’s Canal, about eight miles south of Calcutta, in Kháspur Fiscal Division, containing a large market for produce from the interior. An iron suspension bridge crosses the canal at this village, on the road from Calcutta to Báruipur and Kálpí.
Masat, a small village in Kháspur Fiscal Division, between Báliganj and Gariá. A fair is held every January, which lasts three days, in honour of a Muhammadan saint named Mánik Pír, but who is held in reverence by Hindus and Musalmáns alike.
Falta, in Penchákulí Fiscal Division, on the bank of the Húglí, nearly opposite the point where the Dámodar flows into it, is the site of an old Dutch factory, and is also noted as the place to which the English fleet retreated on the capture of Calcutta by Saráj-ud-daulá. Lat. 22° 17' 35"; long. 88° 9' 22".
Diamond Harbour, in Murágáchhá Fiscal Division, well known as the anchorage of the Company’s ships in olden times. It is at present the headquarters of the Subdivision of the same name, and a telegraph station. A harbourmaster and Customs establishment is maintained here to board ships proceeding up the river.
Sagar Island, at the mouth of the Húglí. I have already given the legend of Bhagirath bringing the Ganges from heaven to search out and wash the remains of his sixty thousand ancestors, who had been cursed and consumed to ashes for having disturbed the meditations of the holy sage Kapilmuni. This story is told to account for the sanctity in which the locality is held. The real explanation is, that Ságar Island, formed from the silt of the beloved and sacred Ganges, obtained a share of its veneration. It was the last land at the mouth of the old bed of the river; and this legend has a historical interest, as it indicates the ancient course of the Ganges to the sea. An immense gathering of pilgrims, from all parts of India, but principally from the Bengal Districts, resort to Ságar Island on the day when the sun enters Capricorn in the early part of January, the date of the Great Bathing Festival of Bengal, and wash away their sins in the holy stream. A fair is held on the
