Thus the traveller may return on the 8th of February, and reach London on the 25th of March; a trip of six months. The longer journey would cost him about £500, and the shorter one from £280 to £300. In this manner he would see two Presidencies, and the best part of the North-Western Provinces, including Lahore. Calcutta lies on the left or east bank of the Hoogly, or as the natives call it, Bhauguretty, or the "True Ganges," as being the chief of the ten branches which empty themselves into the sea, through their several estuaries in the Sunderbunds. It is distant about 100 miles from the Indian Ocean, in Long. 84° 22´ E., Lat. 22° 23´ N. A magnificent line of buildings extends for six miles along the bank of the river, from Fort William on the south point, to Chitpore at the northern extremity. The princely residence of the Governor-General stands in the verdant square of the Esplanade, and is flanked on either side by the Chowringhee road, which is two miles in length. The city is divided into two districts, the north-eastern part being inhabited by the Europeans, and the eastern by the natives. The streets are, for the most part, narrow, and the houses lofty; the lower part is appropriated to the bazaars, and the upper to the dwellings. I propose describing Calcutta as viewed from the river. Beginning from the right, the spectator will run a line down all the way to the left of what is called the "Strand Road," or "Course," though Calcutta extends beyond the Strand Road. On the extreme right of this line is the Mint, which was planned and erected by Lieutenant-Colonel W.N. Forbes, Bengal Engineers, the present Mint-master. It is a very handsome building, one story high, supported on pillars, and was completed in the year 1830. The Mint is divided into five offices, viz., the Bullion, English, Mechanical, Assay, and Mint Committees, each of which departments gives employment to many persons. Deducting Sundays and holidays, 95 days, there will remain 270 working days. The standard of the Bengal money is silver. Gold is sometimes coined, but the most considerable part of the currency is silver. The silver is first melted, and then run through a mould and made into long bars; next it is passed under rollers, and flattened, until it is of the thickness of the coin required, say a rupee; it is then cut into round pieces of the size of a rupee, and afterwards stamped and milled by one and the same machine. All these processes are effected by the steam engine. Next comes the weighing of the rupees, when if any be found light, they are re-melted and re-formed into bars.