CALCUTTA, an English settlement in Asia, on one of the branches of the river Ganges in the kingdom of Bengal. The air here is unhealthy, the water brackish.
* See Chemistry, No 45, 57, 84.
* See Astronomy, Geometry, and Logarithms.
* See Air, No 9.
† Essays, Vol. III. P. 165.
Caldarium is, the anchorage not very safe, and the neighbouring country affords but few manufactures. Notwithstanding these inconveniences, great numbers of rich Armenian, Moorish, and Indian merchants, invited by the prospect of liberty and security, have fixed their residence here. The people have multiplied in proportion thro' the territory, which is three or four leagues in circumference, and of which the East India company are the only sovereigns. The fortrefs called William's Fort, has this advantage, that the vessels bound to the European settlements are obliged to pass under its cannon*. The town of Calcutta is remarkable for the fate of those unhappy gentlemen who in 1757 were suffocated in the dungeon called the Black hole*.
* See William's Fort.
* See Bengal, no 10.