Other noticeable edifices are
the Town Hall, the Hospital, the Museum, Ochterlony's Monument, the Mint,
and the Cathedral. Ochterlony's Monument is a plain stone column, one
hundred and sixty-five feet high, erected in commemoration of a sagacious
statesman and an able soldier. From its summit, to which access is
obtained by two hundred and twenty-two steps, may be obtained a noble
view of the city, the broad reaches of the Ganges, and the fertile plains
of Bengal.
The Cathedral is an imposing pile. Its architecture is Gothic, and the
interior produces a very fine effect by the harmony of its proportions
and the richness of its details. The ill-famed "Black Hole," in which
the Rajah Surajah Dowlah confined one hundred and fifty English men and
women, when he obtained possession of Calcutta in 1756--confining them in
a narrow and noisome cell, which poisoned them with its malarious
atmosphere, so that by morning only a few remained alive--is now part of
a warehouse. But an obelisk stands at the entrance, inscribed with the
names of the victims.
The fashionable promenade at Calcutta is the Maidan. It runs along the
bank of the Hooghly, and is bounded on the other side by rows of palatial
mansions. It commands a good view of the Viceroy's Palace, the
Cathedral, the Ochterlony Column, the strong defensive works of Fort
William; and is altogether a very interesting and attractive spot.
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