The principal official of the station then entertains the Lieutenant-Governor and his party at dinner, unless the Lieutenant-Governor takes the precaution to ask all the principal residents to dine on board his yacht, which is by far the safest course for him to adopt. If the Lieutenant-Governor has not a good cook, good food, and good wine with him in his yacht, he is not fit to be Lieutenant-Governor. For in a remote district the best and most liberal local official may have but an indifferent cook, who, perhaps, takes the opportunity to get drunk; and the local supplies of food and wine and ice may not be of the very best quality. Therefore, a Lieutenant-Governor with due respect for his own health and comfort, does well to invite the local people to dine with him in his yacht, instead of going on shore to dine with them. And after dinner the broad deck of the yacht affords an excellent space for an evening party, to which the Lieutenant-Governor can ask all the other local residents, and especially all the native gentlemen who do not care to be invited to dinner. Probably some wealthy native gentlemen illuminate their houses, or get up a display of fireworks on the river-banks near the yacht; and this counts, in the eyes of the assembled crowds, as part of the evening’s entertainment. And so the night wears on, and by the time that the last guest has gone on shore the Lieutenant-Governor has long been slumbering peacefully in his cabin; and the next day, as soon as the rosy-fingered dawn appears, the anchor is weighed, and the steamer and yacht proceed on their journey to some other station, where the Lieutenant-Governor will have again to go through the same kind of business as that which we have attempted to describe. So we will now bid him farewell. CHAPTER III. ENGLISH COLONISTS IN BENGAL.