In 1866, for the first time, the net receipts of the East Indian, and of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Companies exceeded the 5 per cent. guarantee. The excess of the first named was £108,073; of the second, £75,878. In accordance with agreement, half these amounts, or £91,976, were retained by the Government towards repayment of guaranteed interest which it has already advanced. Mr. Juland Danvers notices, as a very satisfactory circumstance, that “the guaranteed interest which was exceeded by the receipts, was paid on account of capital greater than that which produced those receipts, a large portion having been expended upon unfinished works or lines not opened for traffic, and consequently unprofitable.” How long it will take to extinguish the debt against the companies on this account is difficult to say. Some no doubt will be able to do so in the course of the next twenty to twenty-five years, some very probably never. It will be seen, by referring to page 255, that the surplus profits of the Great Indian Peninsular Company, for the first half-year of 1867, were £132,116; half of this will go in diminution of its interest debt due to the Government. It is quite clear that the guarantee system—without which experience has shown it is impossible to obtain the construction of railways in India—is not to stop at 5,644 miles, involving an expenditure of £88,000,000 sterling. We have already referred to the extension of the line proposed from Baroda to Delhi, called the Rajpootana Line, and that of the Indus Valley. Their lengths (jointly) are about 1,070 miles, and the capital required for their construction—the works for them being, on the whole, not of a difficult character—would be under £13,000,000, or about £12,000 a mile. The construction of these lines, with the guarantee on the capital, will, no doubt, be commenced before long; and there is a third, the capital for which, whenever constructed, can only be raised on the same system—the line to connect Lahore and Peshawer together. This railway has been the subject of a great deal of discussion and debate, both within the walls of the British Parliament, and outside them. Whenever made, it can hardly be looked upon other than as a military and political line, for its commercial importance is very trifling indeed. It will also be very expensive in its construction. Besides the Indus,[99] there are three rivers, the Ravee, the Chenab, and the Shelum, great hurling and devastating torrents at the period when the rains set in, and when the Himalayan snows are melting; but with almost dry beds for at least six months every year. These three rivers must each be transversed by a long and costly bridge. The length of the line would be about 250 miles, and the cost about £20,000 a mile, or a total of £5,000,000. It has been decided that, at all events for the present, the construction of this line shall not take place, and that the two other railways