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Viceregal residence in the empire ; the wealthy European
inhabitants live in “marble palaces” that are usually let
in flats. There is not one really good hotel, not a building
 with more than a recent history, not a native residence
that is remarkable for beauty either of outline or decoration.
 The most conspicuous monument is that of
« Ochterlony ” in the midst of the wide maidan, or plain,
round which European Calcutta clusters, and which is
indeed the « people’sown.” To the Bengali “babu” alone
could this monument
be a thing of beauty.
The native quarter of
Calcutta is in every
sense abominable, and
in as marked contrast
to the native quarter of
the sister city of Bombay
 as is the personality
 of the Calcutta
native to that of the
inhabitant of the western
 city. A Calcutta
crowd is as dull and unlovely as only a crowd composed
entirely of men can be—the plain white clothing draped
round the smooth rotundity of the Calcutta “babu,” surmounted
 by a close-cropped black head without headdress,
 and crowned with a cheap and dingy Birmingham
imbrella, can be but unpicturesque either in the unit
or the aggregate. Nevertheless Calcutta is healthy and
wealthy, and in spite of the expense of residence in that
sity, it is so full of visitors during the short cold weather
when the Government of India resides there, that no city
in India has so many social attractions to offer, or such a
varied programme of amusement. Hence it rivals Simla
in popularity, and easily maintains its position as the first
and greatest city of India. At Howrah, on the right bank
of the Hoogley, opposite Calcutta, is the terminal station
of the East Indian railway, and here the Gangetic central
system of communication comes to an end. It pays as no