proved a dead failure and
the slump was most disastrous, the shares rapidly declining from
thousands to hundreds and even less.

FORTNIGHTLY MAILS.

Of course there were no telephones in the days I am writing about, and
the telegraph was very rarely used. Business had not to be done in
such a rush then, and in the ordinary way the post was quick enough.
Telegraph charges were high, and it was only in matters of the utmost
urgency that the wires were used by business people. Then there were
only two mails a month. One fortnight the mails were sent direct from
Calcutta by the P. & O. steamer from Garden Reach, and the next
fortnight went across country to Bombay. The railway line did not
extend right across the country then, and in places the mails had to
be taken from one railway terminus to the beginning of the next part
of the line by _dak_ runners. I remember when I went home in 1869, I
went by train as far as Nagpur, and from there had to go by _dak_
gharry to join the railway again at another point about 150 miles
away. This was, of course, before the Suez canal was opened, and after
the round-the-Cape route had ceased to be the way to India. Mails and
passengers went by steamer to Suez, and then by train to Alexandria,
where they joined another steamer. Similarly the incoming mail came in
alternate fortnights to Bombay and Calcutta, and the arrival of the
mail at Garden Reach, particularly in the cold weather when all the
young ladies came out to be married, was always a great occasion. All
Calcutta used to gather at the jetty at Garden Reach to see and
welcome the new-comers. Practically, the only steamers then were owned
by the P. & O., Apcar & Co., and Jardine Skinner & Co., the two latter
trading to China; Mackinnon & Mackenzie had one or two small steamers,
but the trade of the port was carried on chiefly by sailing vessels.
These used to lie three and four abreast in the river from the "Pepper
Box" up to where the Eden Gardens now are, and they added considerably
to the attraction and adornment of this particular section of the
Strand. There were no docks or jetties, and all loading and unloading
had to be done over the side into lighters and country boats.

Travelling in the mofussil in those days, as may be imagined, was not
a pleasant and easy business. The Eastern Bengal Railway was only
built as far as Kooshteah, and beyond that the traveller had to go by
boat, bullock cart and _palkigharry_. Assam w