Partridges and snipes, herons and storks, swarm
on its banks; peacocks, green parrots, jays,
minors, and every variety of beautiful and richly-
coloured bird infest its jungles. Crocodiles may
still be found in its lower branches, on the
low=lying lands of the Delta, whose marshy surface
teems with venomous and destructive reptile
and animal life.

Let us glance cursorily at the principal towns
and places of interest which lie on the banks of
the Ganges, content to notice and remember
only the more salient features of those
monuments of India's native greatness.

Futtyghur, the first that calls for remark,
is a small and ordinary-looking place, little
calculated by its outward appearance to attract
our attention, but nevertheless both memorable
and worthy of notice, for having on two
occasions done good service to the English crown.
The fort, which stands on the west bank of
the river, has twice sheltered a small band of
British subjects from the fury of the turbulent
natives; firstly, in the year 1805, when the
English power was but newly founded in
Upper India; and secondly, in the mutiny of
1857. On the first occasion, Holkar, with a
mighty army of Mahratta chiefs, was ravaging
the Upper Provinces, and threatening
extermination to the white-skinned intruders. Lord
Lake had taken the field against him. Holkar,
profiting by experience, would not be brought
to bay. No sooner did Lake steal down upon
his camp, than the sleeper was up and away,
scouring off with his light-footed warriors far
beyond the reach of Lake's troops. Holkar
laid siege to Delhi, with the object of getting
possession of the person of the Great Mogul, and
of so being able to dictate his own terms to the
foreigners whom he could not prevent sharing
in the booty. Colonels Ouchterlony and Burn
gallantly defended the fort, and Holkar, catching
sight of the indomitable Lake creeping-
down upon his rear over the hills that surround
the city, raised the siege, broke up his camp,
and marched, leaving the Mogul and the city
both in the hands of the English. He next
determined to lay waste the rich towns and
country of the Dooab, but Lake tarried not a
moment in hastening after him. Holkar,
however, outstripped the English, and the latter had
the satisfaction of coming up with nothing but
burnt and plundered towns. At length Holkar
halted near Furruckabad, thinking that he had
put a sufficient distance between himself and
his pursuers to justify his resting for a while.
But he reckoned without his host. Lake heard
of his halting, and, though weary with a long
march, determined not to stay a moment to
refresh his troops, but to push over the
intervening space of thirty miles, swoop down
upon him in the night, and bring the campaign
to a summary termination. Lake did so,
surprised his camp, and totally routed his whole
force. The victory accomplished, Lake pushed
on to Futtyghur, distant about three miles,
and was just in time to save the English
residents at that station from the natives, who,
confident of the success of their countryman,
had set fire to the bungalows, and forced the
Europeans, together with a company of sepoys,
to seek shelter in the fort.

On the second occasion of the fort's doing duty
as a place of shelter and defence to the English,
it resisted for three days the efforts of a large
force of mutineers, who, encamped around its
walls, were endeavouring to reduce to
submission the heroic little band of English
within. Cut off from their friends, unable to
hold communication with any one outside, ill-
provided with food, shelter, or accommodation,
scarce able to work the few guns they
possessed, or to keep up a proper show of strength
and numbers to deceive and intimidate the
besiegers, the little garrison held out for that
time. But where the foe could not enter, death
and sickness stole in; hunger prevailed, and the
alternative of starvation or capitulation began to
stare them in the face. So they left the fort on
the third night, gained the river unobserved,
and embarking in boats, made their way safely
to Cawnpore. This redoubtable little fort is a
simple construction, not even so dignified in
appearance as the generality of fortifications,
which surround almost every village in the
Upper Provinces. The latter are built of
brick, whereas the fort of Futtyghur is built
of nothing better than baked clay. It now
forms the residence of an agent of the English
Government, who superintends the gun-foundry
which has been erected within it, as also the
making of tents, for the manufacture of which
Futtyghur is very celebrated.

Cawnpore stands a little way below Futtyghur
on the same (the west) bank of the river.
The story of this town is but too-well known.
No likeness of the spot, which has become so
cruelly memorable, remains now to enable us
to trace the details of that awful night. The
huts, from which the oil lamps shed a lurid
and fitful glare on the dying as they were
dragged past to their loathsome tomb; the
roads, whose dust was stained with English
blood, have disappeared entirely; and the very
well itself, from which many a thirsty
traveller and many a thrifty housewife drew the
grateful water in days gone by, but whose
spring on that dreadful night ran red with
blood, is no longer recognisable. A space
of several acres round the well has been
enclosed by an iron railing, planted with leafy
trees, and adorned with beds of flowers. This
enclosure is neatly kept; and, screened by its
thick hedge, impervious to the curious and
inquisitive gaze, forms a pleasant and retired
spot. Dark cypress trees are planted in all
directions over its verdant turf, making even
nature appear to mourn over the past. Over
the well has been raised a gently- sloping
hillock, surmounted by an octagonal carved
stone screen about sixteen feet high, passing
through which by a trellised gate of iron
we find ourselves standing on the top of a
flight of shallow stone-steps, which, running
round the inside of the screen, lead down to
the monument over the well. The mouth,
about five feet in diameter, has been closed in,