DACCA, a city of Bengal proper, stands about 190 m. to the n.e, of Calcutta, in lat. 23' 43' n., and long. 90° 25' east. It is situated on the Thalia Gunga, a considerable auxiliary of the Dulasseree, which is itself at once a mingled offset of the Brahmaputra and the Ganges, and an affluent of the lower course of the former stream. The city thus enjoys singular facilities in the way of inland navigation. Down to the close of the 18th c., D. was widely celebrated for the delicate texture of its muslins, which, in the phraseology of the cast, were characterized as - flowing water" and " evening dew;" and, in connection with this manufacture, the French and the Dutch as well as the English, had extensive establishments in the place. Since 1801, however, these Euro pean agencies have disappeared; while the annual value of the elegant fabric, under the influence of British competition, has gradually fallen from £250,000 to nothing at all. The present aspect of the city is in keeping with this utter decay of its staple trade. In
many quarters arc ruins overgrown with jungle, the haunts of tigers and serpents; and this remark is applicable to numerous splendid edifices, such as the residences of its native princes and the factories of its foreign sojourners. Still D. within a space of 4 m. in length by 11 in breadth, contains, by the census of 1872, 69,212 inhabitants. It seems, of late years, to have partially recovered from the effects of its commercial decline, and produces lac, dye, soap, cheese, and gold and silver ornaments. Some times as many as COO elephants are for sale in the depots here. There are 180 mosques and 119 pagodas and places of worship belonging to Romanists, Armenians, Greeks, and English, as also a college and several schools. D. is connected with Calcutta by the Eastern Bengal railway. The maximum temperature in 1S71 was 89° and the minimum was 54.6°. The 'rainfall in 1871 was 82 inches.