the mud between the river
and ghaut was more than ankle-deep. It was of course an immense
improvement in every sense when the land was reclaimed from the river,
and the present roadway at that part of the Strand was made and
extended in a straight line as far as Tackta Ghaut. The railway to the
docks did not then exist nor the two houses to the south of the ghaut,
one of which is occupied by the Conservator of the Port. Another
striking improvement higher up at the junction of the Strand and
Esplanade Road, West, has been also effected in recent years. On the
site of the Public Debt Office which has been added on to the Bank of
Bengal there had stood, from time immemorial, a large three-storeyed
house adjoining the residence of the Secretary and Treasurer of the
bank, flanked on the Strand side by some low godowns in which Harton &
Co. had their stores and office. It was at various times occupied as
offices and residential flats, and was quite a pleasant sort of place
to live in, particularly the top floor as it overlooked the river on
the west and the Strand and Maidan on the south. The Bank of Bengal
requiring space for the new building of the Public Debt Office
acquired the property under the Act, which I seem to remember resulted
in a big law-suit in the High Court, as the owners claimed a good deal
in excess of what the bank was willing to pay.

THE CURRENCY OFFICE.

The site of this was once occupied by a concern called the Calcutta
Auction Company, started, I believe, in competition with the
well-known and old-established firm of Mackenzie Lyall & Co. It was a
huge barn of a place stretching away from Dalhousie Square to Mission
Row, filled from one end to the other with a medley of all sorts of
goods and chattels which had been sent in for sale from time to time
by various people. The office accommodation was also of the most
primitive order, and consisted merely of a slightly raised wooden
platform on which were perched a couple of desks and a few chairs.
They had never held at any period a position of standing or importance
in the commercial world, and some time after my arrival there were
unpleasant rumours floating abroad about them, and I recollect shortly
before their final collapse the manager's chair was occupied by the
founder of one of the most influential and leading firms of the
present day. When it disappeared the ground was acquired by the Agra
Bank which erected the present very handsome build