[Sidenote:  Railway to Benares.]

It was on the 5th of February, 1863, that the Vice-regal party left Calcutta.  They travelled by railway to Benares, which they reached on the evening of the 6th.  The first phenomenon which struck them, as Lord Elgin afterwards wrote, was the ’very sensible change of climate which began to make itself felt at some 250 miles from Calcutta.’

The general character (he said) of the country continued to be as level as ever; but the air became more bracing, the surface of the soil more arid, and the vegetation less rank.  Hot mid-days, and cold nights and mornings, are substituted for the moist and comparatively uniform temperature of Lower Bengal, to a greater and greater degree with every step that the traveller takes towards the north.

The railway, with the exception of a portion near Calcutta, is a single line; but it is perfectly constructed, and with no great regard to cost.  The vagaries of the water-floods, which, during the rainy season, sometimes pour down in unmanageable force from the Ganges and sometimes rush towards it from the opposite side of the railway line, have constituted the great engineering difficulty of the work.  Some very remarkable bridges and other constructions of this class, to permit the free passage of water under the line, have been built.  The most critical point has been to obtain a secure foundation in the sandy soil for these erections; and, strange to say, the principle adopted by our engineers, under the name of the ‘Sunken Well’ system, is the same as that followed by the great architects who built the famous ‘Taj’ of Agra.  It will, it is to be hoped, prove successful; and these important works will remain an enduring monument of the benefits conferred on India during the present reign.  Nothing that has been done by the British in India has affected the native mind so powerfully, and produced so favourable an impression, as these railway undertakings.

[Sidenote:  Durbar.]

On the day after his arrival at Benares he held a Durbar—­his first truly Oriental Durbar—­which, though not comprising any independent chiefs, was attended by several native gentlemen of high consideration and large possessions.  In addressing them, he took the opportunity of dwelling upon the improvement which recent measures had effected in their position, and the consequent increase of their responsibilities: 

’It is the desire (he said) of Her Majesty the Queen that the native gentlemen of India should be represented in the Council of the Governor-General, in order that when laws are made for India their opinions, and wishes, and feelings may receive due consideration.  It is my intention and duty to do everything in my power to give effect to Her Majesty’s gracious intention in this respect.  Among the rajahs and gentlemen here to-day are many who have large estates in the neighbourhood and along the line of railway which we travelled over