had really gained two
days upon the estimated period, and he entered the "profit"
accordingly in the column of his diary set apart for that purpose.

CHAPTER X.

In which Passe-partout thinks himself lucky in escaping with only the
Loss of his Shoes.

Everybody is aware that the peninsula of Hindostan has a superficial
area of one million four hundred thousand square miles, in which the
unequally-distributed population numbers one hundred and eighty
millions. The British Government rules absolutely over the greater
portion of this immense tract of country. The Governor-General resides
at Calcutta, and there are also governors of presidencies at Madras
and Bombay, and a deputy-governor at Agra, as well as a governor for
Bengal.

British India proper only includes an area of seven hundred thousand
square miles, and a population of one hundred to one hundred and ten
millions; so there is still a large portion of India independent, and,
in fact, there are rajahs in the interior who wield absolute
authority.

From the year 1756 to the great Sepoy Mutiny, the East India Company
was the supreme authority in British India; but now the country is
under the rule of the English Crown. The manners and customs of India
are in a continual state of change. Till lately, travelling was only
by antiquated modes of conveyance, but now steamers cover the Ganges,
and the railways have opened up the country, and one can go from
Bombay to Calcutta in three days. But the railroad does not cut the
peninsula in a direct line. As the crow flies, the distance from
Calcutta to Bombay is only about eleven hundred miles, and the trains
would not occupy three days in accomplishing that distance; but the
journey is lengthened at least one-third of that distance by the loop
the line describes up to Allahabad.

The Great Indian Peninsula Railway line is as follows: leaving Bombay
Island, it crosses Salsette, reaches the mainland at Tannah, crosses
the Western Ghauts, thence runs north-east to Burhampoor, skirts the
independent territory of Bundelcund, ascends to Allahabad, and then,
turning eastward, meets the Ganges at Benares; then, quitting it
again, the line descends in a south-easterly direction, by Burdivan
and Chandernagore, to the terminal station at Calcutta.

It was half-past four p.m. when the Bombay passengers landed from the
_Mongolia_, and the train for Calcutta was timed to start at eight
o'clock.

Mr. Fogg took le