Journey Through British India

British India and Phileas Fogg's Journey

• India is a vast country spanning 1.4 million square miles with a population of 180 million.
• The British Crown has control over a large portion of India, with a governor-general stationed in Calcutta, governors in Madras, Bombay, and Bengal, and a lieutenant-governor in Agra.
• The East India Company was all-powerful from 1756 until the Sepoy insurrection, annexing provinces and appointing governors.
• The British possessions in India are now directly under the control of the Crown.
• Travel in India has changed with the introduction of steamboats and a railway that traverses the peninsula from Bombay to Calcutta in three days.
• The Great Indian Peninsular Railway route is from Bombay to Salcette, across the Western Ghauts, north-east to Burhampoor, skirting the independent territory of Bundelcund, ascending to Allahabad, turning eastwardly to meet the Ganges at Benares, descending south-eastward to Burdivan and Chandernagor, and terminating at Calcutta.
• Phileas Fogg, after bidding goodbye to his whist partners, left the steamer and directed his steps to the passport office.
• He did not care to see the wonders of Bombay, including the city hall, library, forts, docks, bazaars, mosques, synagogues, Armenian churches, and the noble pagoda on Malabar Hill.
• Mr. Fogg ordered dinner at the railway station and tried a certain giblet of "native rabbit," which he found far from palatable.
• He asked the landlord if the dish was rabbit, and the landlord swore that it was from the jungles.
• Mr. Fogg reminded the landlord that cats were once considered sacred animals in India, and the landlord stopped swearing.
• Fix went to the headquarters of the Bombay police, introduced himself as a London detective, and asked if a warrant had arrived from London regarding the supposed robber.