They are tremendous swells, and are perfectly conscious of
the fact, coming on board with their native servants and their
white "cub" or pupil. There is one shoal in particular, known as
the "James and Mary," on which a ship, touching ever so lightly,
is as good as lost. Calcutta, since I first knew it, has become a
great manufacturing centre. Lines of factories stand for over
twenty miles thick on the left bank of the river; the great pall
of black smoke hanging over the city is visible for miles, and the
atmosphere is beginning to rival that of Manchester. Long use has
accustomed us to the smoke-blackened elms and limes of London, but
there is something peculiarly pathetic in the sight of a grimy,
sooty palm tree.
The outward aspect of the stately Government House at Calcutta is
familiar to most people. It is a huge and imposing edifice, but
when I first knew it, its interior was very plain, and rather
bare. Lady Minto changed all this during her husband's Vice-
royalty, and, with her wonderful taste, transformed it into a sort
of Italian palace at a very small cost.
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