Page:Lord Amherst and the British Advance Eastwards to Burma.djvu/182

174 the outward show of Calcutta life. Bishop Heber does more justice to Lord Amherst's state. Elephants, it appears, were not allowed in Calcutta or within five miles of it, but at Barrackpur they were in order. 'That which Lord Amherst rode,' says the bishop, 'was a very noble fellow, dressed up in splendid trappings, which were a present from the King of Oudh.'

The bishop describes an excursion which he made in November, 1823, to the botanical garden. The journey was by water in the Elephant barque, so-called because it was adorned with the head of an elephant with silver tusks. It was a large, light and beautiful canoe, paddled by twenty men, the bard standing in the centre, who sang songs of his own composition in praise of the Company and the Governor-General, and in celebration of victories gained by our troops.