A little beyond the Temple of Kali is the burning ghat of Calcutta.  Here the Hindus bring the bodies of their dead and burn them on funeral pyres.  The cremations may be witnessed every morning by anyone who cares to take the trouble to drive out there.  They take place in an open area surrounded by temples and shrines on one side, and large piles of firewood and the palm cottages of the attendants on the other.  The river which flows by the burning ground is covered with all kinds of native craft, carrying on commerce between the city and the country, and the ashes of the dead are cast between them upon the sacred waters from a flight of stone steps which leads to the river’s brink.  There is no more objection to a stranger attending the burning ceremonies than would be offered to his presence at a funeral in the United States.  Indeed, friends who frequently accompany the bodies of the dead feel flattered at the attention and often take bunches of flowers from the bier and present them to bystanders.

The Black Hole of Calcutta, of which you have read so much, no longer exists.  Its former site is now partially built over, but Lord Curzon has had it marked, and that portion which is now uncovered he has had paved with marble, so that a visitor can see just how large an area was occupied by it.  He has also reproduced after the original plan a monument that was erected to the dead by Governor J. Z. Howell, one of the sufferers.  You will remember that the employes of the East India Company, with their families, were residing within the walls of Fort William when an uprising of the natives occurred June 20, 1756.  The survivors, 156 in number, were made prisoners and pressed into an apartment eighteen feet long, eighteen feet wide and fourteen feet ten inches high, where they were kept over night.  It was a sort of vault in the walls of the fortress, which had been used for storage purposes and at one time for a prison.  The company consisted of men, women, children and even infants.  Several of them were crushed to death and trampled during the efforts of the native soldiers to crowd them into this place, and all but thirty-three of the 156 died of suffocation.  The next morning, when the leader of the mutiny ordered the living prisoners brought before him, the bodies of the dead were cast into a pit outside the walls and allowed to rot there.  The monument to which I have alluded stands upon the site of the pit.  To preserve history Lord Curzon has had a model of the old fort made in wood, and it will be placed in the museum.

Calcutta is a fine city.  The government buildings, the courthouses, the business blocks and residences, the churches and clubs are nearly all of pretentious architecture and imposing appearance.  Most of the buildings are up to date.  The banks of the river are lined for a long distance with mammoth warehouses and the anchorage is crowded with steamers from all parts of the world.  There is a regular line between