the question of the water supply of the City in my Statistical Account of Calcutta, I here confine myself to a description of the pumping and filtering apparatus at Paltá.
Ichhapur, the principal village in Hávilíshahr Fiscal Division, in Bárásat Subdivision, is situated on the river side a short distance above Paltlá, and is the site of a large Government powder manufactory.
Samnagar, a river-side village, situated in Hávilíshahr Fiscal Division, Bárásat Subdivision, and is also a small station on the Eastern Bengal Railway. A short distance east of the railway station lie the remains of an old fort built by a Rájá of Bardwán in the last century as a refuge from the Marhattás, who were continually making incursions on his Bardwán estates. The fort, however, was abandoned after a short time, in consequence of a Bráhman having been accidentally killed in it. It was a mud erection, surrounded by a deep moat about four miles in circumference. It has now passed out of the hands of the Rájás of Bardwán, and belongs to the wealthy Tagore family of Calcutta, who have studded its ramparts with thick date plantations.
Kazipara, a village in Anarpur Fiscal Division, Bárásat Subdivision. A large fair is held here annually in December or January, in honour of a Musalmán saint named Pir Ekdil Sáhib. It is attended by Hindus as well as Muhammadans. The legend of this holy man runs thus:—There lived a king named Sháh Níl, who was married to Ashik Núrí, but had no children. One morning the female sweeper absented herself; and on being sent for, she refused to come before dinner, on the plea that by going early to Court she invariably had to see the faces of childless persons the first thing in the morning, which was an unlucky omen. The queen, struck by this remark, set out on a pilgrimage, in the hope that thereby she might beg a child of God. She visited Mecca and other holy places, and after thirty-six years of prayer an angel appeared to her, and after trying her faith in various ways, eventually promised her a child for two and a half days. The empress returned home, and in due time gave birth to a son, which after two and a half days was carried away by the angel, who took the shape of a fox. The child was brought up in the house of one Mullá Tar, and when he was about eight years of age he came to Anarpur riding on a tiger, which he could transform into a sheep at will. He crossed the Ganges on his stick, and came first to the village of Beruá, where he planted his
