Page:Burke, W.S. - Cycling in Bengal (1898).djvu/28

 the pillar box, brings us to the road leading to the Railway Station, fourteen miles from the start. lt is as well to halt here ten minutes. Good drinking water can be had at the station, lemonade doubtful, beer and some fruit can be had in the adjacent bazaar. We negociate the level crossing, wheeling our machines, for the lines are not sunk as they should be, and, remounting, continue through Baidybatty and Seoraphuli, pass the Hastings Mills and enter the magnificent avenues and the incomparable stretch of road leading to Bhadreshwar. Before Chandernagore is reached there is another big bazaar, in which the traffic is always very congested. Bales of jute, carts, coolies, children, old women and dogs abound, and the road is generally in bad repair. After crossing the culvert which marks the boundary of French territory, the first turning to the right brings us through a few crooked rows of tumbledown houses on the Boulevard de Chandernagore, and a few yards further we alight at the Hotel Casanova (25 miles), and then—to breakfast. If we have started at 5 A. M., we should be discussing that meal (arranged for by letter N. B.) about 8 o'clock, and after half an hour's rest should continue.

It is easy enough to get into Chandernagore, but difficult to pick up the main road after leaving the hotel. The shortest way is to take the turning at the end of the Boulevard, skirt round the big tank, turn to the right, and a little way beyond the bazaar we find a sign board indicating the route de Benares, and then we are once again on the Grand Trunk Road. Bandel with its old fortified church and monastery, Hooghly, and its famous Imambara, the old fashioned Dutch