to Poona, Sholapoor, and Kulburga, at which place it has been proposed that a line should branch off eastward to Hyderabad, the capital of the Nizam's territories, while the main line proceeds across the river Kistna to Raichore, where it forms a junction with the railway from Madras.

The distance from Bombay to Jubbulpore is 615 miles, that to Raichore, 441; and the operations of the company extend over a length, including branches, of 1,266 miles. It has been decided to construct the line double as far as Bhasawul, in the direction of Jubbulpore, and also to Lanowlie, at the top of the Bhore Ghaut incline.

The Madras Railway Company was established in the year 1852, with the view of constructing a railway from the city of Madras to the western coast. Operations were commenced in June, 1853, and on the 1st July, 1856, the first section, as far as Arcot, a distance of 65 miles, was opened to the public. In 1858, a further contract was entered into for a line towards the north-west, to meet the south-western branch of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, and thus form a direct communication between the Presidency towns of Madras and Bombay.

The country through which the line to the western coast passes presented few obstacles to its progress, the only engineering difficulties being to convey the line across the several rivers which traverse its path. Leaving Arcot and Vellore a short distance on the left, and throwing out a branch on the right to the important military station of Bangalore, it turns southward through the Shevaroy hills to Salem, beyond which point it resumes a westerly direction, and, passing through the cotton fields of Coimbatore, finds its way by a break in the Ghauts, to the port of Beypoor on the coast of Malabar. The whole of this line from Madras to Beypoor, 406 miles in length, was opened for traffic in May, 1862, and on the 1st August, 1864, passengers were conveyed on the Bangalore branch, which is 86 miles long, and which attains a height of 3,000 feet on the Mysore table-land."

The north-west line, leaving the other at Arconum, 42 miles from Madras, proceeds through Cuddapah and across the river Pennar to Gooty near which point a branch strikes off on the left to the town of Bellary, while the main line crosses the Tongabuddra, and at Raichore joins the main line from Bombay. This portion of the railway is 338 miles in length; and as its path is crossed by twelve rivers, requiring upwards of three miles of bridging, and two ranges of hills, the works in some parts are very heavy. It has already been opened to Cuddapah, a distance of 119 miles, and it was expected that a further section of 32 miles would be ready by last Midsummer.

The Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway Company

was formed to connect Bombay with the cotton districts of Guzerat and Central India. It was incorporated in July, 1855, and the cutting of the first sod took place in May, 1856. Starting northwards from Bombay, through the Island of Salsette, and crossing the Bassein Channel and the Veturnee River, the railway follows the line of the coast, passing Damaun and Surat, at which latter place it is carried over the Taptee River by an iron bridge of 2,003 feet in length. A still more serious obstacle to its progress presented itself in the river Nerbudda, which the railway crosses by another iron bridge 3,800 feet long. Continuing in a northerly direction it proceeds through Broach to Baroda, at which point it turns to the north-west over the Mhye river, and terminates its course at Ahmedabad, 310 miles from Bombay. The whole line is open, except a section of four miles within Bombay Island, from Grant Road to Colaba, which is to be conducted over land now in course of being reclaimed from the sea at Back Bay.

The Sind Railway Company was incorporated by an Act of Parliament passed on the 2nd July, 1855, and was reconstituted in August, 1857. Although its affairs are under a single board, the operations of the company in reality embrace four separate concerns; viz. the Sind Railway, the Indus Steam Flotilla (above described), the Punjab Railway, and the Delhi Railway. The object of the combined undertakings is to establish communication between the port of Kurrachee and the Punjab, and to connect the chief cities of that province with the East Indian Railway at Delhi.

The first portion, or Sind Railway proper, proceeds from the harbour of Kurrachee, across the rivers Bahrum and Mulleer, and through the Karatolla Hills, to Kotree on the Indus, opposite Hydrabad, and thereby enables traders to avoid the delay attendant on the navigation of the delta of the river. The length of the line is 109 miles; it was commenced in April, 1858, and was opened for traffic on the 11th May, 1861, with the immediate effect of developing a considerable trade in cotton, which had not been previously seen on the Indus, as well as in indigo, grain, wool, and other products.

The Punjab Railway, starting from Sher Shah on the banks of the Chenaub, about 12 miles below Mooltan, passes through that city, and thence follows a nearly straight course up the left bank of the Ravee, as far as Lahore, at which place it turns directly to the east, until it reaches Umritsur. This line, which is 253 miles long, was commenced in February, 1859, and on the 24th April, 1865, the complete line was opened to the public.

The Delhi Railway, running from Umritsur to Delhi, follows a south-easterly direction through the Punjab, and, crossing the Beas at Wuzeer Ghaut, proceeds by Jullunder to Phillour, at

at

which place it is conveyed over the Sutlej. Continuing its course through Loodiana, Sirhind, and Umballa, it crosses the Jumna shortly before reaching Seharunpore, where it turns southward, and passing through Mozuffernugger and Meerut, arrives Ghazeeabad, whence the trains will run into Delhi over the branch constructed by the East Indian Railway Company. The length of the whole line is 320 miles; the contractors commenced work in 1864; and although no portion has yet been opened, it was anticipated that the section between Ghazeeabad and Meerut would have been ready for traffic by the end of last year.

In 1857, the Eastern Bengal Railway Company was formed for the purpose of affording railway accommodation to the thickly populated districts lying north and east of Calcutta, which are richly cultivated with indigo, sugar, oilseeds, rice, and other grain. Starting from the Calcutta side of the Hooghly, it proceeds up the right bank of the Matabanga to Kooshtee on the Ganges opposite Pubna, thus enabling merchants to send their goods direct to or from Calcutta without undergoing the delay and danger of the navigation of the Soonderbuns. The works were commenced in April, 1859, and the line was opened through its entire length of 114 miles in November, 1862. Arrangements have been made for conveying passengers and goods by steamboats from Kooshtee to Dacca, and also to Assam. In August, 1865, it was determined to extend the line a distance of 45 miles to Goalundo, at the confluence of the Brahmapootra and the Ganges, with the view of intercepting the traffic from the countries on the north-east; and the railway company have agreed to construct it as a part of their original undertaking.

The necessity for increased accommodation for ships trading to Calcutta, and the dangers of navigating the Hooghly led to the formation, in 1857, of the Calcutta and South-eastern Railway Company, with the object of constructing a short line of 29 miles from Calentta, in a south-easterly direction, to the harbour and town which it was contemplated to establish on the Mutlah estuary. The whole railway was opened for traffic in March, 1862, with the exception of the bridge over the Piallee, which was not finished till a later date; but it was not until the beginning of 1865 that a company was formed to build the necessary jetties and wharves required to make Canning Town a trading port.

The Great Southern of India Railway Company was constituted in 1857, its object being to construct railways in the southern provinces of India. The line at first sanctioned runs due west from Negapatam on the east coast, by Tanjore to Trichinopoly, through a country extensively cultivated with rice and cotton. Operations were commenced in May, 1859, and the whole line of 79 miles was thrown open for traffic in March, 1862. An extension of 87 miles

was subsequently authorized to enable it to be taken through Caroor and up the right bank of the Cauvery, to join the Madras Railway at Errode.

The length of rail in course of construction by the eight companies above mentioned is 4,944 miles, of which 3,332 miles were in working order on the 31st March last. The capital estimated to be required for the completion of the several undertakings already sanctioned is 81,000,000l., of which 60,645,000l. has already been expended. The traffic on the principal lines during the years 1865-66 exceeded the most sanguine expectations, and it is clear now that the traffic on them will be enormous, and that for some time to come it will increase in proportion to the means provided for carrying it. The passenger fares are low as compared with European rates, yet it appears that out of the total number of passengers carried, amounting to between thirteen and fourteen millions during the year, 94 per cent. travelled in the third, 4.78 in the second, and only 1.22 travelled in the first class. Á sum of about eleven millions sterling has now been paid by the Government as guaranteed interest, over and above the amounts received from the earnings of the railways; and although it will be some time before so large an advance can be recouped, the condition of some of the railways gives reason to hope that, at any rate, a considerable portion will ultimately be repaid. Moreover, the free conveyance of the mails, and the reduction in the expense of transporting troops and stores, will effect a considerable saving, and the indirect gain to the State, arising from the greater security afforded to the country and the impulse given to commerce and agriculture, is incalculable.

Adverting to the probable early completion of the main lines of communication connecting the port of Bombay with the Presidencies of Calcutta and Madras, the North-western Provinces, and the Punjab, it was recommended by the recent select committee of the House of Commons on the subject of East India communications, that in future the mails for India should be conveyed to Bombay alone, and that the separate postal service between England and Madras and Calcutta should be discontinued. By this means a saving of several days would be effected in the communications between those places and this country.

In addition to the foregoing guaranteed railway companies, two companies, named respectively the Indian Branch Railway Company, and the Indian Tramway Company, have been formed for the purpose of constructing light lines of railway without the assistance of a preliminary guarantee from Government.

The Indian Branch Railway Company, in 1863, laid down a line, about 27 miles in length, with a gauge of 4 feet, from Nulhatte, a station on the East Indian Railway, 144 miles from

Calcutta, to Azimgunge, opposite to Moorshedabad; it was opened on the 21st December, and traffic carried on throughout the following year, though not to so great an extent as was anticipated. The same company has also obtained a concession of an important system of railway communication in Oude and Rohilcund, and considerable progress has been made on a section between Cawnpore and Lucknow, in which case the gauge of 5 feet 6 inches has been adopted, as on the main lines.

In the south of India a branch line has been constructed by the Indian Tramway Company, from the Arconum junction on the Madras Railway, to Conjeveram. This line, which is 19 miles. in length, was opened on the 1st August, 1865; light rails have been employed, with a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches, and the total cost amounted to about 4,0007. a mile.

A few words, en passant, concerning telegraphic communication in India. In the early part of 1852, the working of an experimental line of electric telegraph between Calcutta and Kedgeree having proved entirely successful, it was determined to construct a complete system of telegraphic lines throughout India, and the aggregate extent of wire now in operation amounts to not less than about 14,000 miles. After an interruption of more than three years, British Burmah was, during 1864, once more connected with Calcutta by the construction of a land line through Arracan, in lieu of the deep-sea cable, which, after a short trial, utterly failed.

In 1858-59, schemes were proposed for establishing telegraphic communication between England and India, both by way of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The line was laid, and messages were actually transmitted by the former route; but after a short period the signals failed, and all attempts to restore the communication for any length of time proved fruitless. Greater success has, however, attended the construction of the alternative, or IndoEuropean line, which, proceeding from Kurrachee in a westerly direction, along the Mekran coast by Gwadur to Bunder Abbas, and thence up the Persian Gulf to Bushire and Fao, at the head of the Gulf, has a total submarine course of nearly 1,500 miles; a land line has also been constructed as far as Gwadur. From Fao the line is conveyed overland to Bussora, and thence across Turkish Arabia to Bagdad, Mosul, and Diarbekir, whence it proceeds through Asia Minor, by Siras, till it joins the European system at Constantinople. The length of the whole line from Kurrachee to Constantinople is about 3,000 miles, one-half of which is submarine. From Bagdad another line has been taken through the heart of Persia to Teheran, and thence southwards to Ispahan, Shiraz, and Bushire.

With regard to the future, whatever may be said in favour of canal navigation in India, the experiments hitherto made in that direction have not been of so decidedly successful a character as to