ta, is the
facility with which powerful steamers can now be procured, to tow ships
up and down the Hooghly. Any one who has gone up and down this river,
must be aware of the dangerous nature of its navigation, owing to the
many mud banks, shifting sands, and very rapid current; and must be
sensible of the comfort of having a powerful steamer towing ahead. The
saving of time by leaving the port under steam, is immense. I remember,
on one occasion, overtaking, in thirty-six hours from town, two ships
that had left three weeks before us. The number of lives saved every
year by these steamers, is beyond calculation. This is now so well
understood, that passengers make a point of ascertaining whether a
steamer is to be employed, before taking their passage in any ship; and
the under-writers willingly contribute towards the expense thus
incurred, considering themselves as repaid by the great saving in what
is called "River Risk."

I have heard many complaints against Dutch Custom-houses, but the
Customs in Calcutta, I can state from my own knowledge, are far more
troublesome and unreasonable. Go to any Dutch Custom-house in
Netherlands India, and produce your invoice through some known agent;
your goods will be cleared and passed without further trouble. At
Calcutta, no man's word is taken, but every package landed or shipped
must actually _pass through_ the Custom-house. Even opium purchased from
Government, and delivered to the purchaser from a Government warehouse,
is subjected to this annoying process. Surely the authorities might
allow merchandize purchased from themselves, and delivered from their
own premises, to be taken direct to the wharf, and put on board ship. A
Custom-house officer might accompany the drug, if it was deemed
necessary, and see it fairly afloat before leaving it. The present
arrangement involves a useless waste of the merchant's time and trouble.

The Semaphore established from Kedgeree to Calcutta, is of very great
advantage to the shipping interest of the place. Any vessel getting on
shore, or coming from sea in distress, can send intelligence of her
situation to town in fifteen minutes, and have a steamer down to aid her
in twelve hours.

It would hardly be fair to leave Calcutta without saying a word in
praise of the pilot service. The pilots here are paid by Government, and
are a highly respectable body of men: they enter the service when very
young, as volunteers, and rise by degrees to th