Part 7
It was in 1849, I think, that the first short experimental line of _Railway_ was opened in India, between Bombay and Tanna, and soon afterwards the then Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, issued his famous memorandum laying down the principles which were to be adopted in the construction of the great imperial lines. That great statesman had been President of the Board of Trade, under Sir Robert Peel, during the time of the English railway mania, and had been an eye-witness of the reckless manner in which money had been squandered by the system, or rather no-system, which had characterized the construction of the English lines. From that at least his famous minute preserved India. It prescribed the chief lines to be laid down, the gauge to be observed, and various other points essential to prevent the public from paying for the rivalry of competing interests. The money was chiefly raised in England by the various companies, but the Government guaranteed a minimum dividend of 5 per cent. per annum to the shareholders, in return for which it was to exercise a complete control over the work, through its own consulting engineers. This divided responsibility doubtless had great disadvantages, and it has since been thought preferable for the Government to borrow the money itself, and to undertake the construction of the lines through the P. W. Dept.; but at that time Government was not in a position to undertake the work, and the money subscribed to make railways could not of course be diverted to any other purpose, as would probably have been the case in the event of war, had Government borrowed the money itself. At any rate, the main lines have been constructed, though doubtless at a higher cost than was anticipated, and their opening has been attended with incalculable advantage to India, both in a military and political, as well as a commercial, point of view.
The East Indian Railway runs from Calcutta up the valley of the Ganges, by the great cities of Burdwan and Patna, near Benares, to Cawnpore, Mirzapore, and Allahabad, and thence to Allyghur and Delhi, a distance of 1040 miles. Agra is served by a branch line from the Toondla junction. There is also a branch line, 220 miles long, from Allahabad to Jubbulpore, where it joins the Great Indian Peninsula line from Bombay, a distance of 600 miles. The Eastern Bengal line runs for 120 miles from Calcutta to Kooshtea, whence it is now being continued towards Assam. Another line runs from Bombay across India to Madras, whence a line runs down the coast to Trichinopoly. From Delhi the main line proceeds to Saharunpore, Umballa, and Loodiana, to Lahore, a distance of 330 miles, whence a line of 210 miles runs down to Moultan. There is also a branch line, 50 miles long, from Cawnpore to Lucknow, and a few others with which I need not trouble you.
The new lines now being projected, and to be constructed by the Government itself, are the line from Lahore to Peshawur, 265 miles, one from Moultan to Kotree, down the valley of the Indus, 600 miles; one from Agra, through Rajpootana, to Indore; and another from Delhi. It has been resolved to adopt a mètre gauge for these lines, and to construct them with the severest regard to economy, and the Government engineers, military and civil, have doubtless a fine field before them.
To return to the lines already opened; they comprise some of the finest engineering works in the world. On the East Indian line, are the great iron bridges over the Jumna at Allahabad, and those over the Tonse and Soane, besides very heavy embankments and severe rock cuttings in the new chord line through the Rajmehal hills. On the Lahore and Delhi line, are the heavy embankments between the Jumna and Sutlej, and the bridging of the Jumna, Sutlej, Beas, and Markunda rivers. The continuation of this line towards Peshawur by the Government engineers will involve works of great difficulty and magnitude in the rocky country between the Jhelum and Indus, and the bridging of those two rivers, besides the Ranee and the Chenab. The passage of the last river alone will task the highest engineering skill, as that of the Sutlej has already, and for the same reasons,—the exceedingly capricious character of the stream, the sandy nature of the bed and banks, and the enormous quantities of silt brought down by the waters.
On the Great Indian Peninsula line are works of at least equal magnitude, though of a different kind, foremost among which stand the great inclines of the Bhore and Thull Ghats, by which the railway ascends the steep barrier of the Western Ghats by a series of zigzags, inclines, curves, and tunnels, which render those works unequalled in the world. On the Thull Ghat, for five continuous miles there is a grade of 1 in 37, in which occur many severe curves; while the Bhore Ghat incline is 19 miles long, and in that distance has no less than thirty tunnels.
The Rails on all these lines are of the usual double-headed pattern, weighing from 66 to 90 lbs. per lineal yard, and laid generally in chairs on transverse wooden sleepers. These sleepers are either of one or other of the woods that I have already described, sometimes kyanized or burnettized; but large numbers of creosoted fir sleepers have also been imported from Europe, and a certain number from Australia. The Punjab line is almost entirely laid on Greaves’s patent Pot sleepers, with which doubtless you are acquainted. The advantage of such a roadway is of course the indestructibility of its material (iron); its disadvantage, that the cast-iron sleepers are apt to get broken, and that the rigidity of the roadway is bad for the rolling-stock at high speeds. But there is no doubt that the life of a timber sleeper in India is very short, and that it is very expensive to renew them; and a good wrought-iron permanent way, that shall not be absolutely ruinous in first cost, is still a desideratum.
The Locomotives employed on the Northern lines more nearly resemble those in America than in England, as they have to burn wood instead of coal. A huge spark-catcher is hoisted over the chimney, as serious accidents at one time were common from the blazing sparks of wood out of the uncovered funnel; and a cow-catcher is placed just in front of the smoke-box, to take up stray cows or buffaloes, who _will_ get on to the line in spite of the fencing. The engine-drivers are all Europeans, I think, at present.
Fences are made of cactus or other hedges, or of the usual wire line, or often simply of a mud wall and ditch.
There is nothing particular to say about the Stations, which are similar to those in England, with some adaptation to the requirements of the climate.
The Passenger Carriages are a great deal too much like those in England, and are generally very hot and uncomfortable. The best have double roofs, with cane backs and seats; but none have punkahs or tatties; and it is only lately, and at the instance of a very stern reminder from Government, that any serious attempt has been made to render passenger carriages for European travellers more comfortable in the hot weather. On the Great Indian Peninsula line, however, there are very comfortable saloon carriages, with movable berths, and bath-room and W.C. attached. Considering that from Bombay to Calcutta or Lahore is a journey of some seventy-five hours, it is evident that these things are serious matters in India.
That the results of these railways have been of the greatest benefit to India in both a political and military sense, it would be impossible to deny. Their educational and social value, too, to the people at large have been great, and indirectly they have doubtless added much to the wealth of the country. But only one line, I think, pays more than the guaranteed 5 per cent., so that for all the others, the Government pays a heavy charge annually for the advantages offered by the railways, and this charge has of course to be met by taxation. The traffic, too, is increasing very slowly, and it seems that much is still wanting to assist its development to a much larger extent than heretofore. One reason for this is, doubtless, that a great portion of the goods traffic consists of articles, such as grain, of large bulk and small intrinsic value, which will not bear high transit charges. Another cause is that the natives, though travelling far more than was anticipated, have not yet learned to travel to the same extent as Europeans.
One mode of increasing the inducement would, I suggest, be to make the railway fares more uniform, and the tickets more easily procurable than at present; and this mode, indeed, would apply to English, as well as to Indian, lines. There seems no more reason that you should have to buy your ticket for a railway journey five minutes before starting, and all in a scramble in front of a little pigeon-hole, than that you should be forced to purchase your postage-stamps at the General Post-office only, and just five minutes before the post goes out. I don’t see why all journeys, up to a certain number of miles, should not be performed at one uniform rate of charge, and by tickets procurable at the nearest stationer’s, and available for any line in the kingdom. Such a measure would be a great convenience to the traveller, would prevent him in India from being cheated, as he often is, by the native railway clerks, would effect a considerable economy in the railway office establishment, and, where the lines are all under Government control, ought to be carried out with very little trouble.
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But we must go on to the leading speciality of all Indian engineering, I mean, the subject of _Irrigation Works_. Of course there are other countries in which artificial irrigation is extensively developed,—more indeed than in India,—notably, for instance, in the provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy, in the kingdom of Italy, where they are in advance of us both in the economical distribution of water, and in all legislative questions affecting the administration and rights of, and property in water. But in no other country but India have works been undertaken on so gigantic a scale; and it is in the dealing with such vast bodies of water, and their carriage over such great distances and in the face of so many impediments, that the specialities of Indian irrigation works really consist.
Now, in order to give you a clear idea of the subject, I must begin by premising a few remarks of an agricultural and financial character. India is almost entirely an agricultural country. It is true she has great mineral resources, but these are as yet undeveloped. She has had valuable manufactures, and there is no reason she should not have them again; but for many ages past and for as many to come, she has been and will be almost entirely agricultural.
Again, half of the whole Government revenue is derived from the land. It is called a land _tax_, but is really a land _rent_; that is, rent paid by the occupier or cultivator, as the case may be, to the State as the great landlord. This has been the case all over the East from time immemorial; the only ownership in the land belongs to the Government, although the occupier or cultivator often has rights of occupancy which are almost as inalienable as the right of the State.
This being the case, it is evident that the Government is as much interested as the people in the productiveness of the harvest; for if the harvests fail, the people not only starve, but cannot pay the land rent, and the Government has to feed thousands of hungry people with an empty exchequer. Owing to the absence of roads and railways in years gone by, any failure of the rains in a province produced the most appalling distress, and the people died by hundreds and thousands.
Hence, so long back as 300 years ago, the Mahomedan emperors, commonly called the Great Moguls, took a great interest in artificial irrigation, and under the direction of a Mahomedan “Royal Engineer,” one Aliverdi Khan, several canals were opened out. Some of these, after falling into disuse from various causes, have been re-opened and improved under the British Government, and are now known as the East and West Jumna Canals, the one being 110, the other 500 miles, long. Then the Government commenced a great work of its own, the Ganges Canal, of which the main channels alone are 700 miles long, and the first-class distributaries 3000 miles more. Since then, the Bari Doab Canal has been completed; the Sirhind, Soane, and Sardah canals are in progress, and others are projected.
It will perhaps give you a better idea of this kind of works, which are all similar in character, if I briefly describe the largest of all, and the one with which I am best acquainted,—the Ganges Canal. This canal takes out of the River Ganges at Hurdwar, where the river leaves the hills and enters the plains, by an artificial channel 200 feet wide and 20 feet in depth, the water having a depth of 10 feet, and the fall of the bed being 2 feet per mile. This gives a volume of water of nearly 7000 cubic feet per second,—rather more than the Thames at Richmond, I think. The canal, flowing onwards, crosses three great hill torrents, two at a lower level, and one by a level crossing, and finally reaches the valley of the Solani, which it passes by an aqueduct three miles long, revetted with masonry throughout, the Solani river itself being passed by a bridge, which gives it 750 feet of waterway. After crossing this valley, 20 miles from its head, the canal arrives on level and comparatively easy ground, and pursues its way along the watershed of the country between the Ganges and Jumna rivers for another 30 miles, broken only by sundry falls and locks, and spanned by several bridges. At 50 miles from its head, it divides into two branches, of which one runs down to Futtehgurh, the main line continuing to Cawnpore, and throwing off other branches to Bolundshuhr and Etawah. From these main lines, the principal distributaries run on both sides, nearly parallel to the channel, and throwing off in their turn other minor lines,—until the whole country is covered with a network of irrigating channels, conveying the water to every field.
Thus you will see that this and other irrigating canals differ from an ordinary navigation canal, such as you have in England, in two very important particulars. First, the irrigating canal has a running stream of water which is gradually expended as we follow its course, and so its channel diminishes in size; secondly, it is dug on the highest line or watershed of the country, so as to secure a command of level for irrigating the whole area.
Now, as to the use to which this water is applied; you will understand that there are two harvests in Upper India: the _rubbee_, or spring harvest, which is reaped in March or April, and consists mainly of wheat; and the _khurreef_, or autumn harvest, which is gathered in September, October, or November, and consists of rice, sugar, Indian corn, and various tropical products. All these require steady and constant irrigation, and they get it from the spring and autumnal rains, or from wells, during the average normal seasons; but if the rains fail and the wells run dry, they are dependent on the canals, and even when the season is regular, the supplementary irrigation from the canal greatly increases the yield of the crop.
The Soil of Upper India is generally a light friable clay, excellent for wheat, but absorbing a great deal of water. In Bengal, they have a rich mud extending to a great depth, and of such fertility that three crops are often grown on it in a year. In the Central Provinces, there is the black cotton soil, which is, I believe, disintegrated trap or granite. Across the Indus, again, we have a hard stiff clay, which, though not good for wheat, is valuable for many crops when well watered. I notice this question of the soils here, because it is an important point for the engineer when projecting a new canal, for all these soils require different quantities of water.
In designing a canal such as has been described, we must fix the head at a point high up on the course of the parent river, first to get a command of level, so that our canal may run on high ground; and next because, in the higher portion of its course, the river water is free from silt, and the river bed is more stable and less liable to the caprice of the stream, which, lower down, might abandon our canal mouth.
Having fixed on the point of departure, then comes the question, how large is our channel to be? That depends, first, on the quantity of water we can get out of the river when at its lowest; secondly, on the slope or fall we give to the bed of the canal. The minimum quantity of water is, of course, determined by observation, and this has hitherto practically fixed the capacity of canals in Northern India, because the spring crop grown in the dry season is so much the more valuable of the two; but in later projects, an additional capacity of channel has been allowed, so that an extra supply of water may be admitted in the autumn, when the river has plenty to spare.
As to the fall of the bed, or the Velocity to be allowed to the artificial waterway, that is a question depending chiefly on the nature of the soil. Several of the Indian Canals have been designed with too high velocities, and the consequence has been a cutting and scouring of the banks and beds, which have seriously endangered the various masonry works in their course. On the other hand, if you give too little velocity, of course you have to go to a greater expense by making a larger channel to carry the same quantity of water, and you won’t have velocity enough to carry forward the silt held in suspension, or to prevent the growth of weeds, a serious evil in the tropics. On the whole, it seems now generally admitted that a velocity of 2½ feet per second is about what should be aimed at, though a compromise of conflicting interests, in this as in other cases, has often to be made.
When, owing to the slope of the bed being less than that of the country, the slope, if continued, would bring the canal bed too high, and embankments would have to be made, it is evident that the bed must be lowered by an artificial Fall or Rapid, made of such material and shape that the mass of water may flow over it without injury, and take up a new level below. The best forms of falls and rapids have been the subject of great discussion amongst Indian canal engineers. The Ogee fall in use on the Ganges Canal is now superseded by the Vertical fall of Colonel Dyas,—the principle of which is that the shock of the falling water is received into a cistern sunk below the bed, so as to act as an elastic cushion. A grating of wooden bars, inclined at an angle, and fixed along the crest, is also generally added. These bars act like the teeth of a comb, and, by dividing the water into filaments, greatly reduce its force.
If you want to navigate your canal, Locks must be provided as well as falls; but the difficulties of navigation up stream are very great, and the traffic on all these canals, with a current of some three miles an hour, is in a very undeveloped state. It is doubtful whether it is not impossible to combine satisfactorily the requirements of both irrigation and navigation in the same channel.
At the heads of your branches or main distributaries, Regulating gates will be required with sluices, by which the supply of water may be divided, increased, or diminished, as the case may be. A similar work will be required at the head of the canal where it leaves the river. The tail generally ends in a fall or rapid, by which the water is discharged into a river or nullah with a scour to clear away the silt.
You will find details of all these works in the Roorkee C. E. ‘Treatise.’ Besides these, Bridges of communication will be wanted for the roads crossing the canal; Rest-houses (_chokees_) for the use of the establishment; Escape heads for discharging surplus water; Inlets for the reception of cross-drainage; and other works.
One chief object of carrying the canal at a high level is that it should interfere as little as possible with the natural Drainage lines of the country; but it is occasionally indispensable that it should cross some of them, and it may cross them under three cases:—1. When the bed of the canal is higher than the bed of the drainage line. 2. When it is lower. 3. When the two beds are on the same level.
In the first case, the canal is carried over by an Aqueduct, which may be of masonry or iron, according to the size of the canal, and which must allow sufficient waterway underneath for the passage of the drainage line when in flood.
In the second case, the drainage line is carried over the canal by a Super-passage, which is in effect an aqueduct, only that here you have to provide waterway above the canal for the river in flood. The canal, if necessary, may be carried below it by an artificial fall of the usual construction.
The third case rarely occurs in practice, and never when it can possibly be avoided—there are the same objections to it as in the case of a Level crossing on a railway. When it _has_ to be done, the method of doing it may be understood by an explanation of the Rutmoo level-crossing on the Ganges Canal at Dhunowrie, six miles above Roorkee. A regulating bridge, with sluices, is fixed across the Canal, just below the junction. A series of flood-gates hung between piers is fixed across the Rutmoo, on the down-stream side of the canal; these gates fall outwards by a hinge at the bottom, and are held upright by a catch, which can be easily knocked out, and when thus held up, they retain the canal at its normal level. When the Rutmoo is in flood, the Canal sluice-gates are lowered to prevent the flood water rushing down the canal, and choking it with silt or débris. At the same time, the Rutmoo flood-gates are lowered by knocking out the catches, and the whole flood water pours across the canal, and flows down its own channel. When the flood is over, the sluices are raised, and the flood-gates also one by one, the pressure of the water being taken off by dropping planks down grooves in front, provided for that purpose. Such a work of course requires the presence of an establishment to manage it, and is very liable to be damaged by carelessness on the sudden occurrence of a flood.
Well—the canal having been made and filled with water, how are we to get the water into the fields? First, it flows down the main distributaries, and then into secondary channels, which are laid out at proper slopes, and of a size varying according to the amount of water and the area to be watered. From these it is passed by pipes of wood, iron, or earthenware, under the banks on to the fields, which are divided into squares (_kyarees_), into which the water is passed _seriatim_.