The maritime trade of Bengal, as far as it is naged by the natives, was never so extensive as the inland. The principal part of it is conveyed by the way of Calcutta, a district of considerable extent, situated upon a navigable river, a little below the most western mouth of the Ganges. From Balasore, which is its principal port, a traffic in .rice, cottons, and silks is carried on with the Maldives in exchange for cowries ; and with the country of Asam by sup plying it with'great quantities of salt, receiving .in.1 payment, gold, silver, ivory, gum lac, and silk. 17liese two branches of maritime commerce have been entirely abandoned to the natives, for particular rea sons; namely, the fatality of the climate of the 'Alai dives to Europeans, and the regulations of the sove reign of Asam, restricting the right of importation into his dominions solely to the Beugalese.
A very considerable branch of trade is carried on by the Europeans in Bengal, • in furnishing the rest of India with opium, which is produced in Patna, on the upper Ganges, in greater abundance than in any other part of the world, and which is exported in an -unprepared state, scarcely possessing the tenth part 'of the virtue of purified opium. Rice is exported to Ceylon, cottons to Malabar, and silk to Surat ; from •which.is usually brought, in return, a considerable .quantity of raw cotton, to be employed in the Ben •gal manufactures. .Rice, gum lac, and cottons, are sent to Bassora, receiving in exchange, dried fruits, rose water, and gold ; rice and sugar, to the coast of Coromandel, .generally paid for with specie ; a varie ty of rich merchandise to Arabia, receiving in return gold and silver. These branches of trade, though passing chiefly through the hands of Europeans, and carried on under their protection, are not always solely on their account, but frequently in conjunc tion with Gentoo, and especially Armenian mer chants, great numbers of whoni, since the revolutions in Persia, have settled upon the banks of the Gan ges.
The principal manufactures and articles of trade which Bengal could furnish to the merchant in great abundance and perfection, are cotton piece goods of various descriptions ; calicoes, a name applied to se veral kinds of cloth, to which no English names have yet been affixed ; pack-thread, woven into sack-cloth, and employed as clothing by the cot ton canvass, flannel, and blankets ; dimities of various kinds and patterns, and cloths resembling diaper and damask-linen ; wove silk taffeta, plain and flowered ; tissues, brocades, plain and ornamented gauzes ; a mixed cloth of silk and cotton ; filature silk, and tessa or wild silk ; grain, sugar, tobacco, indigo, salt petre, hides, gums, liquorice, ginger, and a great variety of medicinal and dyeing drugs. The articles
which are most in demand in Bengal, are japan cop per, tin, lead, pewter, sandal and sapan wood, all kinds of spices, and a variety of EUropean commo dities.
Bengal and its dependencies contain five large, and as many smaller cities ; forty large towns, and a great number of smaller but not inconsiderable towns ; the chief of which are mentioned in the common maps of the country, and need not be enumerated here.
From the want of public registers, the amount of the population in the provinces of India cannot be very exactly ascertained ; but various calculations, formed on different data, coincide in estimating the inhabitants of this presidency at more than thirty millions, of which Bengal Proper may be allowed to contain more than one-half. From the fertility of the soil, and the slender vegetable diet required by the natives, it has been computed, that on the same quantity of land in Bengal might be maintained four Mmes the number of people that can be done in Great Britain ; and -that. this province, if brought fully into a state of cultivation, could support more than double its present number of inhabitants. Of this population, about four-fifths consist of native Hin doos, and the remainder of Moguls. The Moguls are the descendants of those, who reduced the whole empire of Hindostan about three centuries ago, and were originally natives of Tartary. In the eastern districts of Bengal they are nearly as numerous as the Hindoos. They are of an olive colour, with featur.n resembling the European. They are all Mahomme dans, and hold the idolatry of the Hindoos in so great abhorrence, that, even under the protection' of the East India Company, there are frequently very bloody feuds between these two classes of subjects. The Hindoos are slender, handsome, and well made, re sembling Europeans in stature, of a dark brown co lour, and sometimes a yellowish complexion, with hair black and uncurled. Most of them shave their heads ; eradicate the hair from every part of their bodies ; and go almost naked, with only a piece of linen round their middle ; but those of a higher rank are accus tomed to wear turbans, and a dress of white cotton, Which reaches from the shoulders to the feet. The dress of the women consists of drawers, a loose coat, and a piece of cotton cloth thrown over the shoulders. Their head is uncovered, and their hair fastened up behind. They are fond of loading every part of their body, their hair, arms, legs, fingers, toes, and even nostrils, with all kinds of ornaments.