We now cross the Hoogly to Barrackpore, called by the natives
_Achánuck_, corrupted from Charnock, the founder of Calcutta, who lived
here. In the park is the country-house of the Governor-General; and the
military cantonment affords accommodation to six regiments of native
infantry. There is nothing remarkable about the Government House; it is
a plain edifice of one story in height, with lofty rooms; the aviary,
the menagerie, the garden, and a pleasant promenade, where the society
of the station assemble, are the most attractive features of the place.
The regiments here, with the Artillery at Dum-Dum (seven miles from
Calcutta), and the troops in Fort William, constitute the presidency
division of the army, which is commanded by a general officer, who
resides at Barrackpore.
The Governor-General having come up the river in his yacht, the
_Sona-makhī_, towed by a steamer, is represented as quitting the vessel
to land at Barrackpore. The troops are drawn out awaiting his arrival;
the elephants are ready to convey him to the house; the aid-de-camps are
in attendance; and each of their horses is held by a _sāīs_, or groom,
who carries in his hand a _chaurī_, to keep flies from the animal.
In the back-ground is a _shutur-sawār_, a man armed, and mounted on a
camel, for the purpose of carrying messages express. This animal, of a
much lighter description than the camel of burthen, can trot exceedingly
fast, and will go from sixty to eighty miles a day, without distress:
the pace is very rough, and the riders are not considered long lived.
The camel’s neck is ornamented with small brass bells—a common appendage
to couriers in many countries: it is also adorned with blue beads,
cowrie shells, and gaily-coloured cloth and tassels: a small piece of
wood is inserted in the animal’s nostrils, to which is attached a thin
cord, by which it is guided.
The Mausoleum in the Park, of the Corinthian order, to the left of the
Government House, was erected by Lord Minto, at his own cost, to
commemorate the names of the officers who fell at Java and the
Mauritius.