maker, and worked into the ball, is merely inspissated
opium-water, the material for which is derived from
the condemned opium (Passewa), the washing of the
utensils, and of the workmen, every one of whom is
nightly laved before he leaves the establishment, and
the water is inspissated. Thus not a particle of opium
is lost.
A powerful smell of opium pervaded these vast
buildings, which Dr. Corbett assured me did not affect
himself or the assistants.
Even the best East Indian opium is inferior to the
Turkish, and, owing to peculiarities of climate, will
probably always be so. I t never yields more than five
per cent, of morphia, whence its inferiority, but is as
good in other respects, and even richer in narcotine.
The care and attention devoted to every department
of collecting, testing, manipulating, and packing, is
quite extraordinary; and the result has been an
impulse to the trade, beyond what was anticipated.
The natives have been quick at apprehending and
supplying the wants of the market, and now there are
more demands for licences to grow opium than can be
granted. All the opium eaten in India is given out
with a permit to licensed dealers, and the drug is
so adulterated before it reaches the retailers in the
bazaars, that it does not contain one-thirtieth part of
the intoxicating power that it did when pure.
Patna is the stronghold of Mahommedanism, and
from its central position, its command of the Canges,
and its proximity to Nepal (which country has been
aptly compared to a drawn dagger, pointed at the heart
of India), it is an important place. For this reason
there are always a European and several Native
Regiments stationed there. In the neighbourhood
there is little to be seen, and the highly cultivated flat
country is unfavourable to native vegetation.
During the remainder of my voyage down the river,
I experienced a succession of east and north-east
winds : such are very prevalent throughout the month
of March, and they rendered the passage in my sluggish
boat extremely tedious. In other respects I had but
little bad weather to complain o f: only one shower of
rain occurred, and but few storms of thunder and
lightning. The stream is very strong, and its action
on the sand-banks conspicuous. All night I used to
hear the falling cliffs precipitated with a dull heavy
splash into the water,—a pretty spectacle in the daytime,
when the whirling current is seen to carry a cloud
of white dust, like smoke, along its course.
On the 1st of April I arrived at Monghyr, by far the
prettiest town I had seen on the river, backed by a
long range of wooded hills. The banks are steep, and
appear even more so, owing to the fortifications, which
are extensive. A number of large, white, two-storied
houses, some very imposing, and perched on rounded
or conical hills, give a European aspect to the place.
Monghyr is celebrated for its iron manufactures,
especially of muskets, in which respect it is the Birmingham
of Bengal. Generally speaking, these weapons are
inferior, though stamped with the first English names.
A native workman will, however, if time and sufficient
reward be given, turn out a first-rate fowling-piece.