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CALAIS - CALCUTTA.

15,577 travellers landed here, and 11,033 embarkedfrom this port. Boulogne Sur Mer has now takenaway a large share of the English visiters.

Calais, Strai+s op. A department of France,formerly the province of Artois, lying east of thechannel, and south of the straits. Population, in1827, 642,969 ; chief place, Arras.

Calamines, or Calamianes. A cluster of islandsin the Indian sea, among those called the Philippineislands. They are seventeen in number, one ofwhich is thirty miles long and twelve broad, dividedbetween the king of Borneo and the Spaniards, withsome independent natives in the interior parts, wholive without chiefs and without laws; they are black,and have no fixed places of abode. A portion ofthe population on the sea-coast submitted to theSpaniards, who had a garrison at a place called Tatay.The country is mountainous, and produces some rice,and great quantities of wax and honey. Lon. 120°20' E., lat. 12° N.

Calcutta. The capital of Bengal, and of the wholeBritish East Indies, is situated on the west branch ofthe Hoogly, an arm of the Ganges, on which thelargest East Indiamen may come quite up to the city.The navigation, however, on account of several sand-banks, which are continually changing their size andposition, is very dangerous. This place, formerly theinsignificant village of Govindpour, rose, in the lastcentury, to the size of a great city, of which we givea representation in the subjoined engraving.

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The climate, when the English first made a settle-ment here, in 1609, was as unhealthy as that of Bata-via ; but it has been gradually becoming less fatal tosettlers, partly by the removal of a forest near the city,and partly by greater attention, in the settlers them-selves, to their mode of living. Notwithstanding theunhealthiness of the place it continued steadily toincrease, quickly recovered from its losses in 1756, andis now one of the most magnificent cities in the East.In 1802, the population was computed at 600,000 ; afew years after (including the suburbs), at 1,000,000,of which about one half may be given to the city.The population of the surrounding districts, within aspace of twenty miles, was estimated, in the sameyear, at 2,225,000 inhabitants. The houses of theEnglish, who occupy a separate quarter of the city,are of brick, elegantly built, and many of them likepalaces. On account of the heat of the climate, theyare not joined together, but stand at some distancefrom each other, have high and airy apartments, flatroofs, and are surrounded with verandahs. With thispart of the city, “ the black town,” so called (thePeltali), which is the quarter occupied by the natives,forms a striking contrast. It has extremely narrow'and crooked streets, interspersed with gardens andinnumerable tanks. Some of the streets are paved.

The houses, which are some of brick, some of mudbut mostly of bamboo or straw mats, present a motleyappearance. 3

Fort William, not far from the city, was begun bylord Clive, in 1757, and is a magnificent work, in theform of an octagon, but on too extensive a scale forthe purposes of defence. It has bomb-proof barrackslarge enough for 10,000 men, and would require 600pieces of cannon for the w'orks. It commands theriver. A trench is drawn round the whole, whichmay be filled, in case of need, with water from theHoogly, to the depth of eight feet. Between FortWilliam and the city there is a plain, which forms afavourite promenade of the inhabitants. Hindoosblacks, Europeans, equipages of all sorts, and palan-quins, are here seen mixed together in a motleycrowd. On the western side stands the new palace,built by the marquis Wellesley, at an expense of amillion pounds sterling, and reminding one, by itsgrandeur, of the fabled palaces of Arabian story.The old fort is now a custom-house, and the infamous“ Black Hole” has been turned into a warehouse.

An obelisk, fifty feet high, at the entrance, containsthe names of the unfortunate captives, who, in 1756,when the city was taken and plundered by SurajaDowla, fell victims to the most inhuman cruelty. Inthe middle of the city is a large tank, for the purposeof supplying the inhabitants during the hot season,when the river-water becomes offensive. Here is theresidence of the governor-general of India, and theseat of the supreme court of justice, which decidescauses according to the English law 7 , without regardto rank, station or country. Smaller offences are triedby the superintendent of police and justices of thepeace. Order is maintained by several companiesof sepoys, who make regular patrols through the city.

Calcutta is the great emporium of Bengal, and thechannel through which the treasures of the interiorprovinces are conveyed to Europe. The port is filledwith ships of all nations. Mercantile enterprise isnowhere more active than here. There are somehouses which trade, annually, to the amount of four orfive million pounds sterling. The trade in sugar,opium, silk, muslin, &c. is very considerable. Largequantities of salt are exported to Assam, and gold,silver, ivory, musk, and a peculiar kind of silky cotton,are brought back in exchange. Cowries, a kind ofsmall shells, passing as coin, are received in exchangefor rice from the Maldives. The trade with Pegu,Siam, and the Malay isles, formerly so profitable, hasof late very much declined. The British merchantsare, as might be expected, the most numerous; andmany of them have acquired fortunes which enablethem to live in a style of great splendour. Next tothem, in number and respectability, as well as outwardshow, are the Armenians. They are peaceable andindustrious merchants. Many of them have largecapitals, and carry on an extensive trade to China andthe ports to the west, as far as the Persian Gulf.The Mongols, however, are the wealthiest; and, asthey lend only at an enormous interest, their profits,from this source, are three times as great as a capitalcommonly gives. The Hindoos remain fixed, how-ever rich they may become, in their narrow views, andaccustomed frugality. Their houses and shops aremean, and it is only on occasion of their nuptials andreligious festivals, that they indulge in any extraordi-nary expense. They then assemble under magnifi-cent illuminated canopies, distribute rose-water and