side. The population of these two provinces at present, probably exceeds that of any former period, there being scarcely any period to be traced in Indian history wherein these provinces have so long enjoyed the blessings of peace alike undisturbed by outward invasion and intestine commotion, as within these last sixty years, and certainly none wherein security for person and property has been enjoyed in such a degree. But if instead of thirty millions, the present estimated population of these provinces, we reckon it at twenty millions, this will be quite enough to allow for a million three hundred thousand of this mass being collected in an eastern capital, particularly one on the banks of that noble river which ran nearly a thousand miles from its source before it could reach Gour, and three hundred afterwards before it reached the sea.

and ex

In the midst of this city stood a Fort, nearly square, tending about a mile on every side. The ruins of this fort at the present moment sufficiently mark both its scite and its extent. The ramparts now remaining are in some places full sixty feet high, and have widely branching trees growing on the very summit of them. Within this Fort, there is a wall now remaining, nearly a quarter of a mile in extent, and in some places between seventy and eighty feet in height. Opinion is divided respecting this building, whether it inclosed a Hindoo temple, or a royal palace. The latter opinion however seems by far the most probable; for, not to say that all the other ruins in any degree of preservation, are evidently of Mussulman origin, the length of this wall almost precludes the idea of its being the inclosure of a Hindoo-temple; few temples in India have ever required an enclosure the sides of which must have been full a quarter of a mile in extent; and still less one the walls of which must have been seventy feet high, and might possibly have been ninety or a hundred., With the idea of an eastern palace however, these dimensions well agree, particularly of a palace in such a capital as Gour must have been. It seems therefore by far the most probable opinion that this was formerly a royal palace. We now add a few observations on the ruins

which still remain sufficiently entire for inspection, communicated by a friend who lately visited them, which we give in his own words.

Excursion to the Ruins of Gour.

"Being on a visit at Mr. E's. the residence of the late Mr. Creighton, and consequently on the spot where that indefatigable antiquary, deemed the city of Gour to have stood, we felt a strong wish to take a view of such of its ruins as still remain. Accordingly nine of us, three ladies, two gentlemen, and four children, having procured an elephant and a sufficient number of palanquins, left the house about ten, and proceeded first to what is termed by the natives,

The great Golden Mosque,

where we arrived about eleven, and there found our esteemed friend Mr. A. who, hearing of our intention, had arrived on horseback from Chandnee, about an hour before. This noble building appears to have stood nearly in the centre of this ancient capital. It was built of brick; but it was ornamented on the outside with a kind of black porphyry, which dimost covered the walls, of which only a small part now remains, this, with other ruins, having for ages formed the quarry whence every one near who wished marble for a floor, a chimney piece, &c. has furnished himself ad libitum; even the Cathedral Church of Calcutta being, at its erection, indebted to these venerable ruins, which have also originated many of the monuments in the cemeteries at Calcutta. The walls of the building are now stripped of their stone covering in many places, but the building itself seems equally firm, the stone covering appearing to have been wholly ornamental. This Mosque appears to have been surrounded with a wall, which on the east side of the building formed a court, about 300 feet in length, and 250 in breadth. The Mosque itself, formed a building a hundred and seventy feet in length from north to south, and a hundred and thirty in breadth. These dimensions are easily ascertained, as the north and south doors of the mosque which mark its length, remain entire ; and the breadth is easily compu

ted from the one range and the ruins of the rest, which yet remain. Its height within, is about sixty feet; but it is probable that the spires of its lofty domes rose to the heighth of a hundred feet from the ground.

It evi

Its internal structure presents a singular appearance. dently contained no one space of even fifteen feet square, its breadth is divided into six ranges, somewhat resembling the aisles of an ancient church in England of Gothic structure. These aisles are in breadth twelve feet; and as they extend the whole length of the building, from north to south, they are somewhat better than a hundred and fifty feet in length. The six walls which once divided them and supported the roof, were eight feet in thickness, being built of brick and covered with black porphyry to a considerable heighth. These ranges or aisles were not formed of solid masonry, however, each of them was intersected by eleven openings from east to west, of somewhat more than six feet in breadth. This in reality divided the wall which supports the roof of each range, into twelve massy columns of eight feet square; so that the whole building contained seventy-two of these columns eight feet both in length and breadth; of which the six outer ones on the two sides north and south adhering to the outside wall, left sixty within to support the roof. These rows of columns closed over each aisle, and thus formed six semi-circular roofs, covering and extending the whole length of each aisle. It was however only that part furnished by each column which formed the arches of these six semi-circular roofs; the eleven spaces which intersect each range, were formed above into domes, about eleven feet in diameter within, and terminating in a point without. Thus the roof when entire rose in sixty lofty spires, ten standing in each row from north to south; which if gilt and ornamented as they are in other Mussulman capitals, like those at Moorshedabad for instance, must have presented a most superb spectacle in the midst of this capital. Of these six ranges or axles, only one, that on the east side, is now entire, although traces of the other five are still visible. Of the domes in this range, the roofs of five are

entire, those of two more are merely open at the top, in three more the roof is entirely fallen in, and that on the rest being half fallen, seems to menace the spectator with instant destruction, should any part of the mouldering ruin fall while he is walking underneath. The outward walls are nine feet in thickness; they are built with small bricks extremely hard, and with excellent cement. The whole building seems to have suffered far less from depredation, than from the numerous shrubs and trees which grow upon it, and which insinuating their roots into the breaches of the walls, threaten the whole with unavoidable and speedy dissolu tion. Having gratified ourselves with a view of this Mosque, we proceeded to,

The Obelisk,

This is about a mile distant from the Mosque in the road which leads to the south gate, and is supposed to have been erected for the sake of calling the inhabitants to the regular performance of their daily devotions. It stands alone, completely separate from any other building. It containing a stair case within, we felt a wish to ascend to the summit; but this, as it contains four stories (marked by as many windows placed over each other in a perpendicular line,) the ladies could not venture to attempt. Hav ing procured from the neighbouring peasants, however, the means of gaining the first story, about twelve feet from the ground, four of the company ascended to the top, which is now completely open it contains six windows, formerly surmounted by a dome, but which has completely disappeared. From these six windows the view we had of the country on every side, was such as fully repaid the labor and risk of ascending. After feasting our eyes with the prospect on all sides, we cast them on the wall with in, and discerned the vestiges of numerous former visitors in their initials cut in the walls with the date annexed. Many of these we could identify; but our attention was naturally directed to the most ancient, that we might if possible discover how long this had been the resort of European visitors. Among them we traced “W. Harwood, Ap. 17, 1771," and were on the point of fixing

on him as the first who had ever left his name here, when, inspecting more narrowly, we at length decyphered "M. V. 1683." This was the remotest date which our researches could ascertain, and from this, which reaches into the middle of the famous Aurungzeeb's reign, we could easily perceive that the place had fallen into decay at least a hundred and fifty years. Who this European gentleman could be, we were at a loss to conjecture; most of us agreed however in the idea, that he was some gentleman from France or Holland. This date, if Gour had fallen into decay previously to his visit, might ascertain the time of its having been abandoned.* If the Emperor Ackbar, who was co-temporary with our Elizabeth, repaired and beautified it, the period between this visit and the meridian glory of Gour, could not have been much more than ninety years.

Wishing to ascertain the actual heighth of this obelisk, we procured a small cord from the laborers near, and fastening a broken brick thereto, suspended it from the uppermost window; by which means we found that the heighth of the upper story from the ground was seventy-one feet. When to this we added the heighth of the cupola, &c. it seems probable that a hundred feet was the original heighth of the building. We also measured the diameter of the area in the upper story, and found it precisely ten feet. As the extreme diameter at the bottom was only twenty-one feet, if we reckon the thickness of the two walls at about three and a half, the extreme diameter of the upper story will be seventeen feet, so that in a height of seventy feet, its diameter had lessened lit

* While this was in the press, it was suggested by a friend, who had also visited the Ruins of Gour, and observed this date, that the date was possi bly fictitious, and left engraved on the wall there by some recent traveller with the view of deception. Against this we can urge nothing; from the apparent freshness of this date indeed, we are almost ready to admit its probability; but we must beg leave here earnestly to protest against a fraud of this kind. While the practice of leaving the name and the date appears useful, we would protest against a deception of this nature though done merely in a sportive way, as calculated to mislead and to remove the boundary between truth and falsehood. Truth should never be sacrificed to jest, even on the most sportive occasions.