First edition of this rare navigation guide for the “northern part of the Bay of Bengal.” The dedication to the directors of the East India Company is signed by Benjamin Lacam and the introduction makes references to various charts published in 1779. Arranged in three parts, the work is split into sections with headings including a “survey of the coast from Point Palmiras to the Braces … directions for sailing from the Aracan shore along the coast of Chittagong … directions for crossing the head of the Bay of Bengal … of the tides in the Bay of Bengal …” by Captain John Ritchie (fl. 1771-1814), “marine surveyor” to the East India Company. Contributions by the engineer, surveyor and traveller Bartholomew Plaisted (d.1767) include “sailing directions for the coast of Chittagong” and “instructions for Chittagong river”. Also included are instructions by Benjamin Lacam (fl.1777-1804), proprietor of the New Harbour, Calcutta, situated at the mouth of the Hooghly river, for the safe piloting of ships to his port during monsoons, and a “tide table for the west part of the Bay of Bengal”.