rS K -'mimii^'^ ^. ^ '4 c^ 13WV .-'>' ^>i ■v/ia^Ai, i SLI m-j\fi> OFf.M,IFOP,{^, ^ .OFCALIF0% .S;0f-CA1IFO% ,^W^UNIVEM// ^J'JIJDNVSO]- 1? -^ ^1 ,>aOSASCF!fr;., aV'^^-UBRARYq ^ :;a3AINn-3Av \ .vlOSANr.Flfr-, ,aOF'CAI!FO/?;^ =3 ^\Wf UNIVERS/A 5 ^ ' il'JNV'SOl^" >^ ^^V\M' ^^>■ 4? c^oft; > In aweuniver% o '/v. a s # v.in';..wrrirr. i i^ ^ ^tUBRARYa. ^ ^.iOJIlVDJC ;0FCA1IF0% UJj tIMIl J I > ^'CAavaani'^ ly^ ^^m\\m//i 7- ^tllBRARYQ^ ^^WEUNIVEW/^ ^1 tvL/'^l „.., ;.\v ^ .' \i ?:3 ^aojiivj-jo'^ ''^'^ CAllfO%, ^OFCAilFOff^' '^ if m ~-* IJtJlll JV I OUJ' VI. Mi J I > l)NIVERJ/A ^ '> o ^-^^ ^^^f' •l)NIVER% l:\INll^l\V -> '>/' iwsoi--^^ •' If tuii\,'rnr , u > UUI 1 - "-■Ag MiM 1 :3\ INIVERJ//,. ^>:lOSANCflfj:> -V ^WE•UNIVfRS/A vvlOSANCEIfj- IDNVSOl^"^ iV"^ %OJIlVDJO"f^ UNIVERy//^ "% ^OfCAllFO/?^., <^\\' family ; a lady of which, named Madigheshy, having burned herself with her husband's corpse, her name was given to the town ; for, above the Ghats, this practice, so far as I can learn, has been always very rare, and con- sequently gave the individuals who suffered a greater reputation than where it is constantly used. Madigheshy was afterwards go- verned by Rains, or princesses, of the same family with the heroine from whom it derived its name. From them it was conquered l)y the family of Chicuppa Gaiida, who retained it long after the Po/y- gars of Mysore had deprived them of their original possessions, Madhtl-giri and Chin' -nardyan' -durga. During the invasion of Lord Cornwallis, a descendant o? Chicuppa Gauda came into this country; and, when he found that the place must return to the Sultan s do- minion, he cruelly plundered it of the little that had escaped JSLarattah rapacity. He did not leave the place, which is extremely strong, till Commur ud' Deen Khan came into the neighbourhood with a considerable force. Li the vicinity there is very little cultivation; owing, as the Want of natives say, to the want of rain. The late Sultan three years ago expended 700 Pagodas (about 230/.) in repairing a tank, that ought to water 8 Candacas, or 240 acres of rice-land : but in no year since has the rain filled it, so as to water more than what sows two Candacas. The wells here are too deep foi»the use of the machine called Capily, 4 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER 9tli August. — The native officer commanding the seapoys in the ^ "• fort having informed me that I was deceived concerning the herds August 9. of breeding cattle, and the village officers being called, he gave natives! "^ ^"'^^ particular information where the herds were, that it became impossible for them to be any longer concealed. The people, in excuse for themselves, said, they were afraid that I had come to take away their cattle for the use of Colonel Wellesley's army, then in the field against Diuidia ; and, although they had no fear about the payment, yet they could not be accessory to the crime of giving up oxen to slaughter. In the morning I took the village officers Avith me, and visited some of the herds ; but the whole people iu the place Avere in such agitation, that I could little depend on the truth of the accounts which they gave; and I do not copy what they said, as I had an opportunity soon after of getting more satis- factory information. Appearance The country round Madightshy is full of little hills, and is over- try, grown with copse wood. The villages of the Goalas, or cow- keepers, are scattered about in the woods, and surrounded by a little cultivation of dry-field. The want of water is every where severely felt, and the poor people live chiefly on Horse-gram, their Ragy having failed. In many places the soil seems capable of ad- mitting the cultivation to be much extended. Quarries. Near the town is a fine quarry, of a stone which, like that found at Rdma-giri, may be called a granitic porphyry. Here also may be easily quarried fine masses of gray granite. August 10; 10th August. — In the morning I went three cosses to Madltu-giri, of the'coun- '^'^^ '"^^^ ^^^ through pretty vallies, surrounded by detached rocky iry- hills. These vallies showed marks of having once been in a great measure cultivated, and contained the ruinous villages of their former inhabitants. Ever since the devastation committed by Pur- seram Bhow, and the subsetiuent famine, they have been nearly waste ; and many of the fields are overgrown with young trees. A few wretched inhabitants remain^ and a few fields are cultivated; MYSORE, CANARA, AND ^lALABAR. 5 and it is said, that this year greater progress would have been made CHAPTER toward the recovery of the country, had not the season been re- ^''• niarkably dry and unfavourable. August 10. On my arrival at Madhu-giri, and questioning Trimula Nityaka Breeding on the subject, I found, that every town and village in this hilly 'ifth of ■' ' •' -^ '' black ciiule. country had herds of breeding cattle. One of the herds I had met on the road ; but they were so fierce, that, without protection from the keepers, it would have been unsafe to approach them. I deter- mined, therefore, to remain a day at Aladhu-giri and examine the particulars. 11th August. — I went with Trimula Nuyaka, and examined three August 11. herds of breeding cows, one of them chiefly his own property. From him, and from some of the most sensible Goalas, I afterwai'ds took the following account. In this country the Cadu Goalas, or Goalaru, are those who breed Goalas, or cattle. Their families live in small villages near the skirts of tlie «^ow keepers. woods, Avhere they cultivate a Jittle ground, and keep some of their cattle, selling in the towns the produce of the dairy. Their families are very numerous, seven or eight young men in each being com- mon. Two or three of these attend the flocks in the woods, while the remainder cultivate their fields, and supply the towns with fire- wood, and with straw for thatch. Some of them also hire themselves to the farmers as servants. They are a very dirty people, much worse than even the generality of the people of Karnuta ; for they wear no cloathing but a blanket, and generally sleep among the cattle ; which, joined to a warm climate, and rare ablutions, with vermin, itch, ring-worms, and other cutaneous disorders, render them very oftensive. In criminal matters relating to cast, the Goalas are under the ju- risdiction of a renter, who in the language of KanuUa is called Betii/ Cliavadi, or in the Mussulman dialect Musca Cliavadi, which signifies the head of the butter-oflice. He resides at the capital, and pays to government an annual revenue. He goes to every village where any 6 A JOURNEY TROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER regular families of Goalas are established, and from each levies the ^2Jb^. ^^'^ which they pay to government for liberty to pasture their flocks August 11. on its property. In this neighbourhood, every family, Avhether it consists of many persons or of few, or whether it be rich or poor, pays the same tax ; which is indeed a mere trifle, being only six Fanams, or about 4*. a year. For this small sum they are exempted from any tax or rent for grass, and may feed their cattle in what- ever woods they please. In some villages there is often only one family of privileged Goalas, in others there are two. If a family change its place of abode, it must always pay its tax, and also cer- tain dues owing to the temples, at its original village. The same happens to the individuals of a family, which sometimes may occupy ten houses ; the whole of them, wherever settled, must send their share of the tax to the head of the family. The head man of the family is generally the eldest son of the last man who held the oiilice ; but in case of his being incapable, from stupidity, of trans- acting business, the ^eny Chavadi appoints an acting chief, or Ijya- niana. There are some Goalas, who are not privileged, nor under the authority of the Beny Chavadi, who in proportion to the extent, of their flocks pay a rent for the grass to the GyddaCavila, or keeper of the forest. This also is very moderate; 100 cows paying annually five Fanams, or 5s. Aid. The Ijyamanas, or hereditary chiefs oi Goala families, settle all disputes ; but the Boiy Chavadi punishes all transgressions against the rules of cast. When the flocks of any family have perished, either by war or pestilence, the sufferers go and solicit a new stock from the other persons of the cast, each of whom will give a beast or two for that purpose. Should they be so unreasonable as to refuse this bounty, the Beny Chavadi will compel them to assist their dis- tressed neighbours. There are a great many different races of Goalas, with whom the Cadu Goalas neither eat nor intermarry. These last are a tribe of Karnala; and persons, who consider themselves as of any rank, ]\IYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 7 marry into such families only, with the purity of whose origin they CHAPTEU are w-ell acquainted ; for in this tribe there is a very numerous race \,^^.^ of Cutigas, or bastards. Widows who prefer disgrace to celibacy, August u. and women who commit adultery, connect themselves with the bastard race, who also keep Hadias, or concubines ; a practice that is not permitted to Goalas of a pure descent. These, however, may keep as many wives as they please. A woman wlio is incontinent with a man of any other cast, is inevitably excommunicated. If the adultery has been committed with a Goala, she will be received as a C'utiga; and both the man who seduced her, and her husband, are 6ned in t\ve\ve Fanams, or about Ss. The Goalas are not permitted to drink spirituous liquors, nor to eat fish, or hogs; but they may eat sheep, goats, deer, and fowls. They bury the dead, and have no knowledge of a future life, except believing that those who die un- married will become Vir'mas, whom they worship in the usual manner. The gods peculiar to their cast are, Jinjuppa and Ramuppa. The Brdhmans say, that the former is the same with Lechmana, the younger brother of Rama; but of this the Goalas are ignorant. These poor people have a small temple, containing two shapeless stones; one of which they c^W Jinjuppa, and the other Ramuppa. \ The Pujciri, or priest, is a. Goala, whose office is hereditary ; but who intermarries with the laity. Sacrifices are not offered to these idols; they are worshipped by ofterings of fruit, flowers, and the like. There is a forest called Gyddada Mutraya, to which the Goalas re- pair, and sacrifice animals to Mutraya, v/ho is represented by the first stone which the votaries find in a convenient place. On this occasion there is a great feast ; and any Ddseri (religious mendicant) that attends obtains the head of the sacrifice, and some bread. They sacrifice also to the goddess Mar'mia. Some of the Cadu Goalas take the vow of Ddseri ; but none of them can either read or write. Their 6rw/'« is a Sri Vaishnavam Brdlunun; but they neither know his name nor where he lives. He comes once in two or three years, admonishes them to wear the mark of Vishnu, and gives them holy S A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER water. Each person presents him with a Fanam ; and, if he happen ^l}lii ^^ ^^ present at a marriage, he gets a measure of rice. Although August 11. these people call their Guru a, Braliman, it is more probable that he is a Vahhnavam or Satanaua ; for the Panchanga, or astrologer of the Village, does not act as Purohita at any of their ceremonies, and they are not a tribe that can claim to be of «S«f//'rt origin. Oxen of the The racc of oxen in this country may\)e readily distinguished from the European species, by the same marks that distinguish all the cattle of /W/fl ; namely, by a hump on the back between the shoulders, by a deep undulated dewlap, and by the remarkable de- clivity of the OS sacrum. But the cattle of the south are easily dis- tinguished from those of Bengal by the position of the horns. In those of Bengal the horns project forward, and form a considerable angle with the forehead ; whereas in those of the south the horns are placed nearly in the same line with the os frontis. In this breed also, the prepuce is remarkably large; and vestiges of this orgau are often visible in females ; but this is not a constant mark. Of this southern species there are several breeds of very diflferent qualities. Plates XIII. XIV. and XV. contain sketches of some of them. Above the Ghats, however, two breeds are most prevalent. The one is a small, gentle, broM'n, or black animal : the females are kept in the villages for giving milk, and tlie oxen are those chiefly employed in the plough; their short, thick make enabling them to labour easily in the small rice-plots, which are often but a few yards in length. This breed seems to owe its degeneracy to a want of proper bulls. As each person in the village keeps only two or three cows for supplying his own family with milk, it is not an object with any one to keep a proper bull ; and as the males are not emasculated until three years old, and are not kept separate from the cows, these are impregnated without any attention to improvement, or even to prevent degeneracy. Wealthy farmers, however, who are anxious to improve their stock, send some cows to be kept in the folds of the large kind; and to breed from good bulls. The cows Voi.n.f,. s. PLATE Xm. Jy S4. MADii^VS Ox . ly 3 J. Vri.u.r.ii. PLATE XW. MADIIl -oim lUJJ.. Fui 37. m^i^'-^w^'^^: Madi ir-(;iin ( ow . Earner v.'i .n.j<.8. Plate xv. rh>m fitc late Su2ta/u- Jigrti, SERi:srG^>kPATA:M Ox. ffamu- sr. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALADAll. <> sprung from these always remain at the fold, and in the third gene- CHAPTER ration lose all marks of tlicir parents degeneracy. The males are ^'^'• brought home for labour, especially in drawing water by the Capily ; August n. and about every village may be perceived ail kinds of interme- diate mongrels between the two breeds. In the morning the village cows are milked, and are then col- lected :in a body, on the outside of the wall, with all the buffaloes and oxen that are not employed in laljour. About eight or nine in the morning the village herdsman, attended by some boys or girls, drives them to the pasture. If the flock exceeds 120, two herdsmen must be kept, and their herds go in different directions. The pastures are such waste lands as are not more than two miles distant from the village, and are in general poor; the tufts of grass are but thinly scattered, and the bare soil occupies the greater space. This grass, however, seems to be of a very nourishing qua- ' lity, and the most common species is the Andropogon Martini of Dr. Roxburgh's manuscripts. At noon, and at four o'clock, they are driven to water, to raise which the Capily is often employed. At sun-set they are brought home ; and in the rainy season the cow- • house is smoked, to keep away the flies. In the back yard of every house stands a large earthen pot, in which the water used for boil- ing the grain consumed by the family is collected; and to this are added the remains of curdled milk, of puddings, and a little ^our, oil-cake, or cotton seed. This water becomes very sour, and -is given as a drink to the cows in the evening, when they are again milked. At night, in the rainy season, the cattle get cut grass, which is collected in the woods, and about road sides: this last is ■-the most nutritious, the very succulent roots being cut up with the leaves, and the situation preventing the harsh stems from. gr£> wing. Jn dry weather, the cattle at night have straw. Those who can afford it, chiefly Brahmans, give their milch-cows cotton-seed and '■A'oavQ.y. The .working cattle ought to have Horse-gram, After the Vol. IL C 10 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER niilk for the family has been taken, the calves are allowed to suck; ^2/L, and unless they be present, as is usual with all the Indian race of August 11. cattle, the cows will give no milk. The cows here go nine months with calf, begin to breed at three years of age, and continue until 15 years old. They breed once a year, but give milk for six months only. A good cow of the village kind gives twice a day from four to six Cucha Seers, or from about 2j to 3^ pints ale measure. The cattle of the other breed are very fierce to strangers, and nobody can approach the herd with safety, unless he be surrounded by Goalas, to M^iom they are very tractable ; and the whole herd follows, like dogs, the man who conducts it to pasture. The bulls and cows of this breed never enter a house ; but at night are shut up in folds, which are strongly fortified with thorny bushes, to defend the cattle from tigers. At 5 years old the oxen are sold, and continue to labour for twelve years. Being very long in the body, and capable of travelling far on little nourishment, the merchants purchase all the best for carriage. To break in one of them requires three months labour, and many of them continue always very unruly. The bulls and cows were so restless, that, even with the assistance of the Goalas, I could not get them measured ; but the dimensions of a middle sized ox were as follow : From the nose to the root of the horn, 21 inches. From the root of the horn to the highest part of the hump, 30 inches. From the height of the hump to the project- ing part of the ossa isdiia, 45 inches. From the hump to the ground 46 inches. From the top of the hip-bones to the ground 51 inches. The cows of this breed are pure white; but the bulls have gene- rally an admixture of black on the neck, and hind quarters. These cattle are more subject to the disease than the cattle living in vil- lages ; and once in three years an epidemic generally prevails among them. It is reckoned severe when one-third of a man's stock pe- rishes, although sometimes the whole is lost; but in general, as all MYSORE, CANARA, AND IMALABAR. U the cows are reserved for breeding, the loss occasioned by one CHAPTER epidemic is made up before another comes. v,^v-%»/ These cattle are entirely managed by Goalas ; and some of these Augu:>t u. people have a considerable property of this kind : but the greater part of these breeding flocks belong to the rich inhabitants of towns or villages, who hire the Goalas to take care of them ; and, for the advantage of better bulls, send to the fold all their spare cows of the village breed. In procuring bulls of a good kind, some expense is incurred : for the price given for them is from 10 to 20 Pagodas (3/. 7s. Id. to 61. 14*. 2d.), while from 8 to 15 Pagodas is the price of an ox of this kind. Care is taken to emasculate all the young males that are not intended for breeding, before they can injure the flock. The Goalas live in huts near the small villages, in parts of the country that contain much uncultivated land, and are surrounded by the folds, in Avhich they always keep as many cattle as will cul- tivate a little land, and as the pasture near the place will maintain. But as local failures of rain frequently occasion a want of forage near their huts, some of the men drive their flocks to other places ■where the season has been more favourable, and either take up their abode near the huts of some other Goalas, giving them the dung of their fold for the trouble which they occasion, or live in the midst of woods, in places where the small reservoirs, called Cuttaijs, have been formed to supply their cattle with water. All the breeding and young cattle, with all tlie sheep and goats, are carried on these expeditions ; but a few labouring cattle and the buffaloes are left at home in charge of the women, and of the men who can be spared from accompanying the flocks. During the whole time tliat they are absent the Goalas never sleep in a hut; but, wrapped up in their blankets, and accompanied by their dogs, they lie down among the cattle within the folds, where all night they burn fires to keep away the tigers. This however is not always sufficient, and these ferocious animals sometimes break through the fence, and 12 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER ]^jii or womul tlie cattle. The men have ho fire-arms, the report of wliich would terrify the cattle; and for driving away the tiger, they trust to the noise which they and their dogs make. They are also much distressed by robbers, who kill or carry away the s1>ee[» and goats ; but unless it be a numerous I'abble that call themselves the army of a Polj/gar, no tliieves can annoy their black cattle ; for these are too unruly to be driven by any persons but their keepere, and the most hardened villain would not dare to slaughter an ani- mal of this sacred species. Exclusive of the bufl'aloes, which are managed as I have described , at SerifigapcUavi, the cattle of the Goalaa have nothing to eat, except M'hat they pick up in the wastes. The cows and sheep eat grass, and the goats the leaves of every kind of tree, bush, or climber, those of the Periploca emetica W: excepted. Each kind of cattle must have a separate fold. From this, M'hen at a distance from home, they are driven out at sun-rise, as then the calves get all the milk, except a little used by the herdsmen; but near the vil- lage the cows are milked every morning ; and this operation, w;hich is performed by the men, takes up two hours. From each about two Seers, or 1|- pint, only are taken. They are indeed miserably lean, and at twenty yards distance their ribs may be distinctly counted. The cattle ai'e once a day conducted to the -water; and the calves, after they are a month old, follow their mothers to pas- ture : before that they remain in the fold, under the charge of the man who cooks. When a rich man sends a flock of a hundred cows under the care of the Goalas, he allows wages for two men, each of whom has an- nually 60 FaiHims, with a blanket and pair of shoes; in all, worth about 2/. 5s. 1 d.; and when they come on business to their master's house, they get their victuals. For grass he pays also five Fanams a year to the keeper of the forest. These (3*. 4d.) with the two ■ men's wages, making in all 4/. 13.y. 2d. are the whole of his annual expence. The profits, M'hen no disaster happens, will be : for Ghee, lyiYSOEP, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 1! or boiled 'hutter, 8 Pagodas; for sour curds, butter-milk, &c. CHAPTER 4 Pagodas ; for 20 three-year-old bullocks 60 Pagodas ; in all 72 Pa- ^^ILj :godas, or 790 Fan.ams, w 24/. 3s. 6d.: from this deduct the expense, August ii. smd there will remain ly/. lOi-. as the gain upon the original stock, ivhich may be estimated at 150 Pagodas for the 100 cows, and 30 Pagodas for tlie two bulls; in all, 1300 Faiutms, or A3 1. \3s. which is almost 45 per cent, annually on the original value of the ■stock. The Goedas keep many Curis, and Afai/hai/s, or sheep and goats. Sheep and These always accompany them in their expeditions ; and even those '^ '' ^* Avho arc servants to the rich men generally carry with them flocks of sheep and goats, or are accompanied by some men possessed of that stock ; so that less than four men never go together^ The sheep are more subject to the disease than the cows, and the goats still more so than the sheep. A flock of a hundred small cattle Tequires the attendance of two men, and two dogs ; and these have more profit froiii their own small herd, than the men who serve the rich to take care of cows. This they acknowledge themselves ; yet they will only allow the profits of the 100 goats to amount to '100 Fananis a year; that is to say, 80 Fa/iams for 30 three-year-old males, and 20 Fan a ms for boiled butter. They eat the old females, •and give th-e keeper of the forest two males for every hundred, in order to obtain his permission to cut the trees, that the goats may procure leaves. AGoala, that is reckoned rich, will have 200 cows, 30 female Stock of th* buffaloes, 50 ewes, and 100 she goats; and will l melted iu an earthen pot^ MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 15 and boiled until all the water mixed with the butter has evaporated. CHAPTER. VII. It is then taken from the fire; and, for what reason I could not i^..,^^^ learn, a little Tyre and salt, or Betel-leaf and reddle, are added. It •^'^S"-' !*• is kept in pots, has a ver}' strong smell, and is best preserved from spoiling by a little tamarind and salt, which at any rate enter into the dishes of all the natives that can afford to use G/iee. It is eaten when even a year old. Three Pucka Seers, or 252 Rupees weight of buffaloes milk, give 100 Rupees weight of Ghee ; the same quantity of cow and buflfulo milk mixed, as usual, give 80 i22/' t]„ i /.,■/,'/•!/ . K, 40. cdlon of a ■■■t,r7 liiriuiu- ,it ru/Lf ,i/i,//,.'- A' t/i,' iL-li-jnl . Fi\t 41. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. i9 him 55 wedges of iron, he will receive in all 1050 pieces, which, at CHAPTER the usual price, are worth only 26%j Fanams ; so that in the course y^J^ of the year, his expenses being 276 Fanams, he would lose AS\ Fa- August 13. nams, while the lowest workman gets monthly 7f Fanams, or about 5s. which is more than is earned by the common labourers of the country. The point in M'hich I think he attempted to deceive was. in the number of days that the people wrought. If they smelted every day in the year, his profits would be very great; but allow- ing for many interruptions, owing to the avocations of agriculture, and to occasional deficiencies of sand, we may safely suppose that the forge is employed 6 months in the year; and then the profits of the proprietor will be about 100 Fanams, which is nearly in the «ame proportion to his stock, as the gains of the breeder of cattle are to his property. At this rate, the quantity smelted in each set ■of works, taking my estimate of the weight of each piece, will be about 106 hundred-weight; and the 19 forges, stated in the public accompts to be in this district, and that of Madhu-giri, will yearly produce about 100 tons of iron, worth nearly 1000/. For making steel, there are in this vicinity five forges ; four in Steel, this district, and one in Dcva-Raya-Durga. To enable the work- men to give them a supply, the merchants frequently make advances; for almost the whole is exported. It is used for making stone- cutters-chisels, sword-blades, and the strings of musical instruments. The furnace (see Plate XVI. Fig. 40, 41.) is constructed in a hut (a); and consistsof a horizontal ash-pit (b), and a vertical fire-place (c), both sunk below the level of the ground (d). The ash-pit is about 5 of a cubit in width and height, and conducts from the lower part of the fire-place to the outer side of the hut, where it ends in a Equare pit (e), in which a man can sit, and with a proper instrument tlraw out the ashes. The fire-place is a circular pit, a cubit in dia- meter, and descends from the surface of the ground to the bottom of the ash-pit, being in all two cubits deep. Its mouth is a little dilated. Parallel to the ash-pit, and at a little distance from the so A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER mouth of the fire-place, in order to keep the workman from the ,^^_^^ 1, sparks and the glare ol' the fire, is erected a mud wall (f) about five August j3. feet high. Through the bottom of this passes an earthen tube (g) which conducts into the fire-place the wind of two bellows (h). The bellows are as usual supported on a bank of earth (i), and consist each of a bullock's hide; they are wrought, as in other places of this country, by the workman passing his arm through a leather ring. The crucibles are made, in a conical form, of unbaked clay, and each would contain about a pint of water. In each is put one third part of a wedge of iron, with three Rupees weight [531 grains) of the stem of the Tapigada or Cassia auriculata, and two green leaves of the Huginay, M-hich is no doubt a Convolvulus, or an Ipomea with a large smooth leaf; but never having seen the flower, I could not in such a difficult class of plants attempt to ascertain the species. The mouth of the crucible is then covered with a round cap of un- baked clay, and the junction is m'cU luted. The crucibles, thus loaded, are well dried near the fire, and are then fit for the furnace. A row of them (k) is first laid round the sloping mouth of the fire- place; then within these another row is placed (1); and the center of this kind of arch is occupied by a single crucible (m), which makes in all fifteen. That crucible in the outer row (k) which oc- cupies the place opposite to the muzzle of the bellows, is then taken out, and in its stead is placed horizontally an empty crucible (n). This the workman, who manages the fire, can draw out when he pleases, and throw fewel into the fire-place. The fuel used is charcoal prepared from any kind of tree that grows in the country, except. the Ficus-Bengalensis, and the Cliloroxylon Dupada of my ma- nuscripts. The fire-place being filled with charcoal, and the arch of cruci'oles being covered with the same fewel, the bellows are plied for four hours ; when the operation is completed. A new arch is then constructed, and the work goes on night and day ; five sets, of 14 crucibles each, being every day converted into steel. When the crucibles are opened, the steel is found melted into a button, MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. ' 21 with evident marks on its superior surface of a tendency to crystal- CHAPTEll lization ; which shows clearly, that it has undergone a complete ilj.!^, fusion. It is surrounded by some vitrified matter, proceeding from August la. the impurities of the iron, and probably nearly equal to the quan- tity of carbon absorbed from the sticks and leaves shut up in the crucible ; for the steel in each crucible is by the workmen reckoned to weigh \^ Seer. These buttons, however, are never sold by weight, and those that I tried weighed very little more than one Seer of 24 Rupees. In some crucibles the fusion is not complete ; in which case, the steel is of a very inferior quality, and diti'ers but little from common iron. The number of people employed at one of thc.sc works is thirteen; a head workman, who makes the crucibles, loads them, and builds up the arch ; and four reliefs of inferior workmen, each consisting of three persons, one to attend the fire, and two to work the bel- lows. Each set therefore, in the working season, labours only four hours in the day ; except every fourth day, when they must attend double that time. They are all cultivators; and in the leisure time which they have from the furnace, they manage their fields. There is also a proprietor, who advances all the money required, and who receives payment M'hen the steel is sold. Fifteen Pagodas worth of iron is purchased ; two for the head Avorknian, and one for each labourer, and for the proprietor. This iron is then given to the head workman, Avho for three months is occupied in making the cru- cibles, loading them, and preparing the furnace. During this time the twelve workmen bring him clay, repair the buildings, and make charcoal ; but these labours occupy only intervals, tliat could not be employed on their small fields of Ragy. In the fourth month, Avhen all has been prepared, they convert the \5 Pagodas worth of iron into steel, as above described. Every man then takes the steel which his iron has produced ; and the proprietor is repaid for his advances. Another quantity of iron is then purchased, and the same process is repeated; so that by each furnace 45 Pagodas worih. 22 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER of iron is, in the course of the year, converted into steel. Besides ^'^- the money advanced for iron, the proprietor, for the immediate August 13. subsistence of the workmen, is occasionally under the necessity of advancing them money; and he must also pay the general expenses attending the forge. These are : Fanams. To the keeper of the forest, for leave to make charcoal 1 10 To the Sunca, or coUector of the customs - - 30 To the Gnuda, or chief of the village, for house-rent - 15 To sacrifices . _ - - - 30 To bellows - - - - 42 To the Brahmans as charity - - - - 20 ' Fanams 247 Every man, however, repays his share of this, in proportion to his quantity of steel; and the whole profit of the proprietor is the having three Pagodas worth of iron converted into steel, for which he will in general be in advance about 40 Pagodas. He therefore requires a capital to that extent; unless le can borrow it from some merchant, which indeed he generally does. The 45 Pagodas procure 1800 wedges of iron, and on an average procure 4500 pieces of good steel ; which, at 2t for the Fanam, are equal to - - - - Fanams 1800 900 pieces of bad steel, at 6 2^a«a?«5 - - 150 1950 Price of iron _ - - 4jo Deduct general charsres - - Fanams 247 697 Neat gain - 1253 The neat gain, \9.55 Fanams, divided by 15, gives ^'3\ Fanain^ clear profit for each share. The workman's wages are equal to one share, and thus amount to about 7 Fanams a month ; with double that for the foreman, because he gives up his whole time to the MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. jg- business. These washes are ffooci ; but the allowance for the pro- CHAPTER . . . \'ll pvietor is small, unless we consider, that lie in general gets the k^,,^-^^^ money from the merchant, and that his only claim for reward is ^"6"*' 'S- some trouble in settling the accompts, and tiie risk of some of the people running away Avith the advances made to them. Among the natives themselves, however, very little danger arises from this cause, as they are perfectly acquainted with the characters of the individuals employed. Taking the estimate of the natives, of 30 Rupees Aveight beings the true average of the pieces of steel, the quantity of stee, fit for exportation, that is annually made in this vicinity, will be about 152 hundred weight, and its value about 300/. or 2/. a hun- dred weight. Having examined the iron and steel works, the Amildar and I Tank. visited a fine tank, which is said to have been constructed by Krishna Rayalu of Vijaya-nagara ; and it is the finest work of the kind that I have yet seen above the Gkats : unfortunately, it has long been out of repair, and lofty trees now cover all the fields ■which it watered. It is said, that it would require 10,000 Pagodas (about 3354/.) to remove all tiie mud collected in its bottom, and to put it in complete order. A partial repair has just now been given, and it will be able to water some part of its former fields : the remainder will be cleared, and cultivated for Ragy, until other more urgent demands shall allow the repair to be completed. As we approached Tavina-Cctray, the country becomes open ; and Appearance I observed that every field was cultivated. Tavina-Caray is a small try. town; but several additious to it are making. Some streets in the Petta are well laid out ; and, as an ornament before each shop, a coco- nut palm has been planted. The fortress, or citadel, is as usual almost entirely occupied by Brahnwns. This might seem to be an improper place for men dedicated to study and religion ; but in cases of invasion their whole property is here secure from marauders; wliile the Sudras, who are admitted during the attack as defenders, 24 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER must lose all their effects, except such moveables as in the hurry they can remove. lith August, — Iweut to Tumcuru, the chief place of a district, called also Chaluru. The country is the most level, and the freest from rocks, of any that I have yet seen above th^Ghats. I observed only one place in which the granite showed itself above the surface. The soil iu most places is good, and might be entirely cultivated. NearTawiwa-Caray it is so ; but as I approached Tumcuru, I observed more and more waste land. I understand, that the late Amildar did not give the people proper encouragement ; and about twenty days ago he was removed from his office. By the way I passed nine or ten villages, all fortified with mud walls and strong hedges. At some distance on my left were hills; and the prospect would have been very beautiful, had the country been better wooded ; but, ex- cept some small palm gardens scattered at great distances, it has very few trees. Tumcuru is a town containing five or six hundred houses. The fort is well built, and by the late Amildar was put in excellent repair. The Petta stands at some distance. The great cultivation here is Ragy, but there are also many rice-fields. This year there will be no Kartika crop, as at present the tanks contaia only eight or ten days M'ater. r,atas of Here, as in several other parts of the country, there are people ^"bb^ru'^^ of a Karmitatx'ihQ of Bestaru, who, although they do not intermarry with the Telinga Bestas, are so nearly allied, that they will eat toge- ther. They never carry the Palankeen, their principal occupation being the burning of lime-stone. Some of them are small farmers; • but they never hire themselves out as hinds, or Baiigaru. This tribe are called also Cubbaru. They have hereditary chiefs, called Ijyamunas, who, with a council of the heads of families, settle dis- putes, and excommunicate those who, notwithstanding admonition and reprimand, obstinately persist in bad practices. If a woman commit adultery with a strange man, she is excommunicated ; but if it be with a Cubba, both the adulterer and the husband are fined ; the MYSORE, CANARA, AND IMALABAR. i$ one a> a corrupter, and the other for having been negligent. An CHAPTER assembly of at least ten of the tribe is called, and the Avonian is v.^^.^-i,^ asked before the people, whether or not she chooses to return to August u. • her husband. If she consents, and he agrees to receive her, as is usually the case, he gives the assembly a dinner, and no one after- wards mentions the affair. If the parties cannot agree, the marriage is dissolved. This cast does not admit the connection called Cutiga. The women are extremely industrious, and hence are very valuable to their husbands, and are independent of them for support; which seems to be the reason of their possessing such a licence in their amours. After the age of puberty they continue to be marriageable. Except a few rich men, the Bestas of Karnctta generally content themselves with one wife, unless the first has no children, or has had only daughters. In such cases, even the poor struggle to pro- cure a second Avife, to keep up the family. They are allowed to drink spirituous liquors and to eat animal food. None of them can either read or write. They bury the dead, and seem to have no knowledge nor belief in a future state; but they appeared very willing to assent to any thing that either I or my interpreter said on the subject. This, however, did not proceed from any convicr tion of its truth ; but merely from civility, they being unwilling to contradict persons who were supposed to be better informed than themselves. The}' neither make the vow of Duseri, nor believe in the spirits called Virika. The goddess of the cast is Yellama, one of the Saktis, in whose temples the Pujuris are persons of this tribe. They offer sacrifices to her, and to all the other destructive spirits; but say that they are of Vishnu'^ side. They have a Guru ; yet, al- though he was here fifteen days ago, they know very little about him. lie is a married man, is named Lingiippa, and was attended by servants of the Curuba cast. His disciples here M'ere Cubbaru, Curuhas, and some other cultivators. He slept in one of the tem- ples of the Saktis. All these circumstances would point him out to be a worshipper of Ska, and one of the Cut ubaru Jaiigamas ; but he Vol. II. E 26 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VII. Anmst li. Additions to the account of the Cura- baru. Customs of the Panchama Cumbkaru, wore a thread, and marked his forehead with turmeric, like a wo- shipper of Jaifia. He gave the Cubbas turmeric to mark their fore- heads, and accepted of their Dharma, or charity. His Matam, or college, is at Meilar, near Satanuru. The Panchdnga acts as Pur6- hita at marriages, Mala-paksha, and births. For his trouble, he receives rice, or other provisions, but is sometimes paid in lime; money being rather scarce among this tribe. The Curubas here say, that, at a temple of Bhairawa at Hercay Samudra, which is near Mercasera, to the north of this place, and where one of their cast acts as Pujari, the image represents a man sitting on horseback, with the Linga round his neck, and a drawn sword in his hand. They oifer sacrifices to this image, and eat the flesh. The family of Ruvana have now spread all over the country ; but Sarur is still considered as the proper family seat. Their Guru has the power of restoring any outcast to the enjoyment of full com- munion. They have a book peculiar to the cast, called Jiraga Cha- pagodii. It is written in the language of Karudta, and gives an account of the tribe. The Curubaru buy their wives ; a girl of a good family costs from 30 to 40 Fanams ; a girl of the bastard or Cutiga breed costs 15 Fanams, or 10*. The Panchama Cumbkaru, or Cumbharu that wear the Linga, are an original tribe of Karnata. They say that they are of the Gunda Brimmia family, and claim no connection with Salivahanam, as the other Cumbharu do. They follow no other profession than the making of earthen-ware. Their hereditary chiefs are called Iji/a- manas, and pay annually to government a certain sum for the clay used in their manufacture. The Ijijamana divides this assessment upon the families that are under his authority, so that each pays its proportion. They must also furnish with pots all persons travelling on public business. Each house, besides, pays annually three Fa- nams, or 2*. The Ijyamanas assemble four persons as a council, and with their assistance settle disputes, and punish transgres- sions. No higher punishment is inflicted o\\ men than a temporary MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 27 excommunication. Women, who commit adultery, are entirely ex- CHAPTER communicated, and are never allowed to remain as concubines ; and v,^~^-^^ the man who seduces another's wife is obliged to pay a fine to the August i+. public. They, and the Pancham Baiiiji^^as, although they do not intermarry, can eat together ; of course, they neither can eat ani- mal food nor drink spirituous liquors. They can marry into any of the forty families descended from Gutida Br immia ; but a man and woman of the same family cannot be married together. The men are allowed to take several wives, who are very industrious in bringing clay, and making cups. The girls continue to be mar- riageable after the age of puberty ; but a widow is not allowed to take a second husband. None of them can read. Like all other persons who wear the Linga, they bury the dead. The men of this cast have no knowledge of a future state, and neither believe in the Virika, nor take Ddseri. Their principal object of worship is Iswara, represented as usual by the Linga; in sickness they pray to the Saktis, who are supposed to inflict disorders ; and they make vows of presenting their temples with money, fruit, and flowers, provided these vengeful powers will relent, and allow them to recover; but they never appease the wrath of the Saktis by bloody sacrifices. Their Guru is an hereditary Jangama, who resides at Guhi, and is called Sank'-raya. He comes once a year," eats in their houses, ac- cepts of their charity, gives them consecrated ashes, and advises them to follow the duties and labours of their cast. If any of them are in distress, he bestows alms on them. The Pa/ichdnga, or village astrologer, reads Mantrams at their marriages, and on the building of a new house, and is thus supposed to render it lucky. The Jan- gamas attend to receive charity at the Mala-paksha, or annual com- memoration of their deceased parents, at births, and at funerals; but do not either read or pray on these occasions. There are many of the J roaiUgas, or Sudra cultivators of Karndta Persons who extraction, who wear the Linga. In this neighbourhood these are ^Ms^aiM'Tho of the following tribes: Cunsa, Gangricara, Sadru, or Sadu, and Nona. "^" ''^'^ §8 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH August i4. Customs of the Nona Wocul. CHAPTER But many of each of these tribes worship Siva without wearin-ular masses. All that I saw were in a state of great decaj', so that it was difficult to ascertain their na- ture ; but, no doubt, they are either earthy quartz, or hornstoiae variously impregnated with iron, and perhaps sometimes with man- ganese. Within, the masses are whitish, with a fine grained earthy texture ; but outwardly they arc covered with a metallic efrlores- cence, in some places black, in others inclined to blue. A ledge of this rock passe* through the longer diameter o^ Dora)/ Gtida, and seems to furm the basis of that hill ; but the whole super- stratum, both of the sides and summit, seems to be composed of a confused mass of ore and clay. The surface only is at present wrought ; so that very little knowledge can be obtained of the inte- rior structure of the lull. In its sides the miners make small exca- vations, like gravel-pits, but seldom go deeper than five or six feet. On the perpendicular surface of these the appearance is very va- rious. In some places the ore is in considerable beds, disposed in thin brittle vertical plates, which are separated by a kind of harsh sand, yellow, bluish, or green. In one place I observed, this sand of a pure white, and forming little cakes, readily crumbling be- tween the fingers. In other places the ore is hard, forming irregu- lar concretions, with various admixtures of earth, clay, and ochres. This kind has a tendency to assume regular forms, botroidal, and reniform, which inwardly are striated with rays diverging from a center. Sometimes plates are Ibrmed of this kind of ore, which consist internally of parallel slrix. Another form of the ore is bluish, and very brittle. The whole is mixed with what the natives call Cari-cul, or black-stone, which is brown haematites. This is also scattere' is much more correct than the revenue accompts that are kept in August is. Pumea's office at Sefingapatam. No tradition remains concerning the time when this mine began to be wrought, for the natives think that ore has been taken from it ever since the creation of the world ; or, as they express themselves, since the hill was born; and, as above 100 ass-loads are daily car- ried from it, I think it probable that the miners have repeatedly gone over the surface. At each time the natives remove only a very small proportion of the iron; and after a certain number of years, new decompositions, and recompositions of the materials seem capable of rendering the surface again fit for their manner of working. The miners have a tradition, that formerly there had been dug into the southern face of the largest hummock an immense cavern, from whence the whole neighbourhood was supplied with ore. The roof of this is said to have given way, and to have buried the mi- ners of seven villages, with all their cattle. The appearance of the hill confirms the truth of this tradition, there being evident proofs of a part of it having fallen in ; and in the perpendicular surface, left by this convulsion, may be seen the mouth of a cavern, pro- bably a part of the old mine. The time when this happened, is likely to have been very remote; as, lower down than this con- vulsed sui-face, there is another mine, Avhich the natives believe to be a natural cavern, and into which, not without some reason, they are afraid to enter. Indeed, none of them have attempted it; for they are persuaded that it extends a great way into the earth, which made me curious to examine it. The miners have evidently wrought into this part of the mine from the westward ; and until they came to the ledge of earthy quartz, or hornstone, before mentioned, they have carried on a regular face of considerable width and depth. This ledge cutting . Vol. II. G 4S A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER off the mine, they had by the side of the ban'en rock made a hord- ^l^l", zontal cavity into the hill, and thus formed a cavern about fifty August 18, feet long, twelve feet high, and nine wide, it is probable, that they had then met with some obstruction ; for under this they have formed another mine, which cuts off the communication between the o-round and the first mentioned cavern. As there were evident marks of the feet of a large beast of prey at the mouth of the cave, I took the precaution of making a Seapoy fire 'his musfcet into it ; and, nothing but a large flock of bats having appeared, 1 went in, accompanied by two armed men. We soon came to a place where a bed had been formed in the sand by some of the tiger kind ; and having advanced about 100 feet we reached the end of the cave, where another wild beast had formed its bed. This, therefore, was probably the usual haunt of a pair of leopards. We found also a porcupine's quill; but were uncertain, whether the animal had fallen a prey to the leopards; or whether, protected by its prickles, it ventured to shelter itself in their company. The sides of the mine consist partly of the ore, and partly of the rock already men- tioned, which is much intermixed with the Caricid, or brown hasma- fcites. The place is perfectly dry. It is probable that the work was deserted when the poor people in the higher mine suffered. Ever since, the miners have contented themselves with working on the surface, and even there are in constant fear. An annual sacrifice is offered to prevent the spirit of the hill from overwhelming the miner. She is called Canictd Devaru, or the goddess of ironstone, and Gudada Umma, the mother of the hill ; and is represented by the first convenient stone that the workmen find when they come to offer the sacrifice. They also put themselves under the protec- tion of a benevolent male spirit, named Muti Rai/a, or the pearl king. He is worshipped by offerings of flowers and fruits only, and is represented by a shapeless stone, that is hid in the obscurity of a shrine, which is composed of stones and flags, and which in all its dimensions extends about six feet. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 43 lyth August. — In the morning I went two cosses to a village CHAPTER named Madana Mada, having been detained on the way by exa- v,.^,^ mining the minerals of a hill, which, from a temple situated near ^"5^"* it, and dedicated to Siva, is named Malaiswara Betta. Owing to Betta. the vicinity of this temple, a white Lithomarga that is found on the '"'^'^^ * hill is considered as holy, and is used in place of the consecrated ashes which the followers of .SVr'a employ to make the marks of their religion. The strata are nearly the same as near Doray Guda, and consist of a schistose decaying rock disposed vertically. Parallel to this I observed strata of white fat quartz, from one inch to twenty feet in thickness. Near the temple I found the veins or strata of quartz running parallel to each other, and from six to twelve inches distant, and at similar distances sending off transverse bands which united the strata. The interstices of this kind of net- work were filled up with the common stone of the country, not much decayed. It seems to be a hornstonc, containing a good deal of iron, and some mica. The surface of this rock had a curious ap- pearance. The ferrugineous brown of the hornstone being chee- quered with the gray quartz ; while this, resisting the Mxather best, stood up considerably above the surface, and represented in minia- ture the whin-dykes of the island of Mull, as described in the Phi- losophical Transactions. In some places I saw the white quartz decaying into sand, and forming masses that on the slightest touch crumbled between the fingers. As I ascended the hill, I met with a curious concretion of brown calcareous tufa. It resembled *ery exactly a decayed white-ant's (termes) nest changed into lime; ^d amongst its branches were impacted some pieces of decayed horn- stone, round which it had evidently been formed. In these hilb such concretions, I was afterwards informed, are very common ; and some of them are of a pure white, in which case they are burned into lime. But this information I did not receive in time to ascertain the fact. I saw also several detached lumps of brown haematites; hut on the hill there is no ore of iron, that is by the natives considered as workable. 44 A JOURNEY PROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VII. August 19, Madana Mada. The Lithomarga is found in large masses heaped together, and incumbent on the rocky strata, with various fragments of which it is intermixed ; and it appears to me to have been formed from the hornstone in a particular state of decay. Its surface is generally shining, polished, and conchoidal. The masses, so far as I observed, are not disposed in strata ; but, internall}', some of the pieces are composed of alternate thin plates of different colours. That used for superstitious purposes is of a pure white colour, and indurated substance; some is red, being coloured by an oxyde of iron; some, as I have observed before, is internally stratified, and consists of alternate layers of the Lithomarga and of a yellow ochre ; some is black, resembling very dark vegetable mould in an indurated state; some again of the Lithomarga is of a pure white colour, and friable nature ; and nearly approaching to this is another clay, which is evidently decomposed white mica. Among the Lithomarga is found a black friable substance, in its appearance much resembling char- coal ; but it is undoubtedly of a fossile nature, and probably is an iron ore. It has a bluish tinge, which it probably derives from manganese. The temple of Malaiswara is a very poor building; but is much frequented at a festival in the month of 3Iag ha. Some of the figures on the chariot of the image are exceedingly indecent. The woods above the temple are rather taller than usual in these barren hills, and contain many trees of the Dupada, Chloroxylon Dupada, Buch; MSS. The resin is used as incense; and musical instruments, some- what resembling the guitar, are made of the wood. From the top of the hill the view is very fine ; the country being composed of hills, cultivated fields, reservoirs like small lakes, and palm gardens, all intermixed. In this hilly country are some considerable flock* of sheep, but no herds of breeding cows. Madana Mada contains 40 or 50 houses, and is placed between two reservoirs ; one belonging to itself, and the other to a neigh- bouring village. So partial are the rains in this country, that the one reservoir is now half full, while the other has not above a^ MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 45 quarter of its water; the two hills, from whence they are supplied, CHAPTER being on opposite sides of a very narrow valley. Madana Mada v^^^,,.^ has a very fine palm garden, for the use of which the water of its A"S"5t i9- reservoir is entirely reserved. When that fails, the proprietors have recourse to the machine called Capily. Three thousand Pagodas have been granted by Purnea for enlarging their reservoir; by which means the machinery is expected to become unnecessary, and of course the revenue will be greatly augmented. The gardens here contain 48,000 palm trees. At night I was awaked by a prodigious noise in the village, which Epilepsy was at some distance from my tents. On inquiry of the sentry, I j!" ^w'i'n^ t(> was told, that there was no one near except himself; every other a devil. person having gone into the village as soon as the uproar com- menced. I lay for some hours in great uneasiness, supposing that my people had quarrelled with the natives; but, it being a rainy night, I did not venture out, and was unwilling to part with the sentry. Soon after all was quiet, and the people returned. In the morning my interpreter told me with a good deal of exultation, that one of the cattle-drivers had been possessed by a Pysachi, or evil spirit, and had been for some time senseless, and foaming at the mouth. On this occasion the whole people, Mussulmans and Pagans, had assembled ; and, in hopes of frightening away the devil, had made all the noise that they could : but he had conti- nued obstinately to keep possession, till the arrival of the Brahman, who, having thrown some consecrated ashes on the man, and offered up the prayers proper for the occasion, at length procured a release. The interpreter, I suspect, made the most of his story, in order to remove my infidelity ; as the day before I had I'efused my assent to believe, that certain Mantrama pronounced by a Brahman could compel the gods to be present in whatever place he chose. It is almost unnecessary to observe, that the poor cattle-driver was subject to the epilepsy, the recurrence of which this night had, I believe, been occasioned by a violent paroxysm of intoxication, im 4€ A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTETl M'hicli the ■whole party had been so deeply engaged, that until yljll, morning I could not get a man to tie up the baggage. August 20. 20th August. — In the morning I went to Chica Nai^akana Hullt/ ; GajiiiaGuta. ^^^ ^V ^^^^ ^^^Y visited a hill called Gajina Guta, which produces much Cavi cuUu, or reddle. This hill is reckoned 1 j coss from Chica Nayakana Hully. The part of it which I examined consists of C'a- rkul, or brown ha2matites, and clay. In some places the haematites forms a kind of rock; in others, it is found only in small lumps immersed in the clay. In this hill it has every where a strong ten- dency to decomposition, and then in most places forms red ochre, but in some parts it falls into a yellow oxyde. I observed nothing in it like*/rflr/fl. Those masses which consist of clay mixed with lumps of the hEematites, in various stages of decomposition, bear a strong resemblance, except in hardness, to thehornstone porphyry found near Seringapatam ; for many of the lumps of hajmatites are angular, and have a glassy longitudinal fracture, while their trans- vei'se fracture is earthy. Whoever sees these masses, I am per- suaded, will be struck with the resemblance, and will believe that from the one kind of mineral the other derives its origin. In all this chain of hills, however, I confess, I saw no porphyry, nor even granite. The reddle is found in large veins, or irregular masses, running through the rock of hasmatites, or masses of clay, in very irregular directions; and seems to be nothing more than the horn- stone of the country dissolved into clay, and then strongly im- pregnated with the red oxyde of iron, from a similar dissolution of the hematites. It alwa3's contains specks of yellow ochre. People come to dig it from Hegodu Derana Cotay, Chiri-raya-pat' tana, Narasing/ia-pura, Guhi, and all the intermediate country toward the south and west, and they send it still farther toward the frontiers. For every ox-load of about 5 Cucha Maunds, or about 130 lb. they pay to the renter 12 Dudus, or about 6d. He says, that about 30 loads only are annually required. He keeps no person on the spot, and is either attempting to deceive me, MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 4t7 or is himself defrauded ; for the excavations made to collect it CHAPTER are very considerable. It is used to paint walls, and to dye Goni, ^"- or sackcloth, and the cloth used by Saniiyasis and Jangamas. August 20, The dye comes out with the least water, but the colour is easily restored. In the same places are found Lithomargas of several colours, which seem to me to be portions of the clay less impregnated with iron than the reddle; and which perhaps derived their origin from hornstone, that contained magnesia, as some are known to do. In one of the excavations that have been made by digging out the hseniatites, and which forms a cave, I found the nests of a flock of wild pigeons, exactly resembling those of the caves of Europe. This bird therefore, is perhaps one of the most universally diffused kinds in the old world, at least of such as are in a wild state. The common sparrow is equally universal. Chicd Nayakana Hidly is a large square town strongly fortified with mud walls, and having Bruches, or cavaliers, at the angles. In its center is a square citadel fortified in a similar manner. In the outer town a wide street runs all round, and on both hands sends off short lanes to the outer and inner walls. The houses are at present very mean and ruinous, and do not nearly occupy the whole space within the walls. They are in number about 6OO, of which 80 are occupied by Brahmaiis. It contains a garden which belongs to the government, is in great disorder, and is rendered disgusting by two Banyan- trees (Ficus Betigalensia) loaded with large bats, whom the people will not disturb. To the south of the town, there was formerly a large suburb ; but about forty years ago it was destroyed in an invasion of the Marattahs. It was plundered by Purseram Bhow, when he was going to join Lord Cornwallis at Serin gapatam ; but at that time he obtained very little, the inhabi- tants having hidden their most valuable eflFects, and withdrawn into the hilly country. When the Marattah army retired to Sira, 48 • A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER they sent to the inhabitants assurancesof protection, and began by ^^J^^li, making small daily distributions of charity to the Brdhmaiis. By August 20. this means they inveigled back a considerable number of the inha- bitants ; and no sooner had they got the leading men into their power, than they put them to the torture, until the wretched men discovered where their effects were hid, and thus they procured 500,000 Rupees. During the remainder of Tippoo's reign the place continued languishing, the inhabitants of 300 houses only having ventured back. It possesses a small manufacture of coarse cotton cloth, both white and coloured, and made by Devdngas and Togo- taru. It has also a weekly fair, at which these goods, and the produce of the numerous palm-gardens in the neighbourhood, are sold. Many of its inhabitants act as carriers, transporting goods to different places for th^ merchants oi Naggara and Bangaluru. Its name signifies the town of the little chief; which was the title assumed by the Polygars of Hagalawadi, its former masters, and who about 300 years ago first fortified it. About a century afterwards they were overcome by the Polygars of Mysoix ; and, in order to retain Hagalawadi free from tribute, gave up entirely this part of their dominions. Hyder made them tributaries even for Hagalawadi, and his son stripped them of every thing. August 21. 21st August. — I remained at Chica Nayakana Hully, investigating the management of the palm-gardens in its vicinity. These occupy by far the greater part of the watered land in the districts called HonaxoiiUy, Budihalu, Hagalawadi, and Chica Nayakana Hully, with a considerable portion in Sira and Gubi. In the dry season they require the assistance of the Capily, the water in the reservoirs sel- dom lasting throughout the year. Coco-nut. Coco-nut palms are planted in rows round the Betel-nut gar- dens, and also separately in spots that would not answer for the cultivation of this article. The situation for these gardens must be rather low; but it is not necessary that it should be under a .MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 49 reservoir; any place will answer, in which water can be liad b}' CHAPTER digging to the depth of two men's stature. The soil which is here ^ ^'• reckoned most favourable for the coco-nut, is a reil clay mixed August 21. with sand. It must be free of lime and saline substances. Othci- soils, however, are employed ; but black mould is reckoned' very bad. The coco-nuts intended for seed are cut in the second month after the winter solstice. A square pit is then dug, which is suffi- ciently large to hold them, and is ai;out a cubit in depth. In this, fifteen days after being cut, are placed the seed nuts, with the eyes uppermost, and contiguous to each other; and then earth is thrown in so as just to cover them, upon which is spread a little dung. In this bed, every second day for six months, the seed must be watered with a pot, and then the young palms are fit for being transplanted. j! Whenever, during the two months following the vernal equinox., an occasional shower gives an opportunity by softening the soil, the garden must be ploughed five times. All the next month it is allowed to rest. In the month following the summer solstice, the ground must again be ploughed twice ; and next month, at the distance of 48 cubits in every direction, there must be dug pits a cubit wide, and as much deep. In the bottom of each a little dung- is put; and the young plants, having been previously well watered to loosen the soil, are taken up, and one is placed in each pit. The shell still adheres to the young palm, and the pit must be filled with earth, so far as to cover the nut. Over this is put a little dung. For three months the young plants must be watered every other day ; afterwards every fourth day until they are four years old, except when there is rain. Afterwards they require no water. Every year the gai- den is cultivated tor Rag]/, Udu, Ilessaru, or whatever other grain the soil is fitted for, raid is well dunged ; and at the same time four qx-loads of red mud are laid on the garden, for every tree that it con- tains, while a little fresh eartli is gathered up toward the roots-of the palms. The crop of grain is but poor, and injures the palms ; it is al- ways taken, however; as, in order to keep down the weeds, the ground: Vol. II. H 50 A JOURNEY PROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAITER must at any rate be ploughed;, as the manure must be given ; and as no rent is paid for the grain,' On this kind of ground the coco-nut pahn begins to bear in twelve or thirteen ycari, and continues in per- fection about 60 years. It dies altogether after bearing for about a hundred years. They are always allowed to die; and when they begin to decay, a young one is planted near the old one, to supply its place. In this country, M'ine is never extracted from this pahn, for that operation destroys the fruit ; and these, wlien ripe, are considered as the valuable part of the produce. A few green nuts are cut in the hot season, on account of the refreshing juice which they then, contain, and to make coir rope : but this also is thought to injure the crop. The coir made from the ripe nuts is very bad, and their husks are commonly burned for fewel. A sufficient quantity of coir for country use is made by people of the low cast called JVhal- liani, who collect the green husks of the nuts, which have been cut for juice, or thrown down by the monkies. In order to rot the substance connecting the fibres, they steep the husks for six months in water ; and then having placed them on a stone, they beat them with a stick,. and finall}'^ rub off with their hands all the adhering substance. The fibrous part, or coir, is then fit for being twisted into yarns. The crop begins in the second month after the summer solstice, and continues four months. A bunch is known to be ripe when a nut falls down, and it is then cut. Each palm produces from three to six bunches, which ripen successively. A middling palm produces from 60 to 70 nuts. As the nuts are gathered, they are collected in small huts raised from the ground on posts. When a merchant offers, the rind is removed, at his expense, by a man who fixes an iron rod in the ground, and forces its upper end, which is sharp, through the fibres ; by which means the M'hole husk is spee- dily removed. He then, by a single blow with a crooked knife, breaks the shell, without hurting the kernel, which is then fit for sale, and is called Copra. A man can daily clean 1300 nuts. From 20 to 30 per cent, of tiiem are found rotten. These kernels sell to IvIYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 51 the mercliant at from 30 to 40 Fanams a thousand. The merchants CHAPTER frequently advance to the whole amount of the expected produce, k^^^.^ and sometimes are forced to wait for repayment till a second crop: August 21. but the price, they allow, is in generallow ; and the proprietors of gardens, that are in easy circumstances, prefer taking their chance of the market. The old branches and leaves, of which a certain number annually perish, are allowed to drop spontaneously ; and are here used chiefly for fewel. They are also used to thatch tlie huts in the garden ; but in this country are seldom, if ever, employed in the houses of the natives. The shells are made into charcoal, which is the only kind that the goldsmiths use. To stock a garden of 200 trees, requires two men, three oxen, and a buffalo. These do no other M'ork, but are sufficient for the •whole cultivation. It must be observed, that if the palms are planted at the distance stated by the cultivators, a garden con- taining 200 trees would occupy above 23 acres ; and the dry crop of grain may be considered as fully equal to the whole expense of cultivation. A garden of good soil pays 70 Fanams for the hundred trees ; and of a very bad soil, such as tliat containing lime, the hun- dred trees pay only 20 Fanams ; and all intermediate rents are paid according to the value of the soil. At the first rate, the tree pays as rent about 5\d. and the acre not quite 4*. Take the average produce of a middling tree, as the neat produce of a tree on agood soil, and we have 65 nuts, the average price of which, at S5 Fanams a thousand, will be I8-5- pence; from which deducting the rent, each tree is worth about 13r/. a year to the proprietor. To judge from appearance, however, I am inclined to think that the trees are in, general planted nearer to each other. The coco-nuts that are planted around betel-7iut gardens are not 50 productive, but pay a similar rent ; which, however, is always low, in proportion as the soil is bad, They are planted in order tQ shelter the betel-nut palms. Bctel-nui. 52 A JOIJRNEV FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER The Betel-nut palm, or Areca, tlirives best in the rich black ^ ^^]lj niouW called by the natives Eray,or Krishna Bumi. The natives August 21. here look upon it as a matter of indifterence, whether or not, on digging a little depth, water may be found in the soil. All that is required, is to have a proper supply of water either from the reser- voir, or by means of machinery. In the second month after the winter solstice, the nut intended for seed is cut ; and, having been put in a heap, is for eight or ten days kept in the house. A seed-bed is then dug to the depth of a foot, and three inches of the mould is removed from the surface, which is then covered with a little dung. On this the nuts are placed with their eyes uppermost, and close to each other. They are then covered with an inch of mould, and for three months are watered every other day. The seedlings are then three or fourin- clics high, and must be transplanted into a fresli bed that is prepared in the same manner; but in this they are placed a cubit distant from each other. Here they grow for three years, receiving Avater once every other day ; and once a month they are cleaned from weeds, and have a little dung. One year after planting the seed, the gi'ound that is intended for the garden must be dug to the depth of a cubit, and the soil ex- posed for two months. Young plantain trees (Musa) are then placed in it at \6 cubits distance from each other, and it is sur- rounded by a screen of coco-nut palms, and oi' Jack (Jrtoca/'pus integrifoiia), lime, and orange trees, which are defended by a hedge of the Euphorh'nnn Tirucalli, or milk-bush. At the same time seeds of the Agdshay, or JEschynomone grandiflora, are planted throughout the garden, at the distance of four cubits. When there is no rain, the garden must unce in fifteen days be watered by channels made for the purpose. In the second month after the summer solstice of the third year, tlic young Ancas arc lit for transplantation. Tlien throughout the gartlen, at the distance of 16' cubits, and in the middle between every two plantain trees, arc formed pits, a cubit MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 53 deep and a cubit wide. In each of these pits a young Jreca is put, CHAPTER and it must be carefully raised from the seed-bed with much earth ^^^..^^^ adhering to its roots; and, after it is placed, the pit must be filled August 31. with earth, and then receive a pot of water. The young Jrecasave then between two and three feet high, and have four or five branches. If there be water in the reservoir, an irrigation once a month is suflficient ; but the Capili/ must be used once in ten days, as the waterings given by it arc but scanty. For three years after- wards the whole garden must be completely hoed twice annually. At the one hoeing, for every four Arecas, it must have a bullock- load of dung; and at the other hoeing, every tree must be allowed an ox-load of red soil. The mud of reservoirs is here thought to be very bad for a betd-7iut garden. Ever afterwards the garden is hoed completely once a year only, and is then manured with dung and red earth. At the intermediate period of six months, it is hoed near the trees, and has a little dung. At the end of the first three years, the Agashay trees are cut. The plantains are always reserved; but, as the old stems are cut, which is always done in from 12 to 18 months, the young shoots are conducted to a distance froni where the parent was originally placed ; and when the garden is twent}' years old, in these spots are planted other young Arecas, to supply the places of the old ones when they decay. This second set are again supplanted by a third, growing where the first set did, and thus a constant .succession is preserved. In a new garden, the Areca begins to bear fruit in nine years ; but fourteen or fifteen 3'ears are required to bring forward those which are planted among old trees. They continue to bear for sixty or seventy years ; but after having been twenty-five or thirty years in perfection, they begin to decay. In a few gardens here, the mode of raising betel-nut that is in use at Madhu-giri has been adopted ; and it is said to be preferable, but is attended with much trouble. The plantain tree, however, is always preserved, and is considered as useful to the old palms. 5-1 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER Yams, or Dioscoreas, are considered as pi'ejudicial ; but I observed them in several gardens, tbe proprietors of which said that they allowed tliem only to climb on the old palms, and to these they did little harm. There are annually two crops of betel-nut : one in the second month after the summer solstice; the other in the two months which precede the shortest day. The last crop is superior both in quantity and quality. The nut, on being cut, is skinned in the course of two days, and put into a large pot with as much water as will cover it two inches. It is then boiled for about three quarters of an hour,, until a white scum rises. The largest are then cut into eight pieces, and the smallest into two, with the others in proportion to their size. During the four foUoM'ing days they ai'e spread out in the sun to dry, and every night they are gathered in a heap. When the fruit has been allowed to approacli too near to maturity, the nut loses its colour; and a deceit is attempted, by adding a little reddle to the water in which it is boiled. This frequently deceives the consumer, but never the experienced dealer ; and seems to be done purposely to enable him to defraud the unwary. A garden of 1000 trees, allowing eight cubits square for each tree, ought to contain rather more than 3f acres; but a young gar- den, containing ti'ees at sixteen cubits, will require 8|- acres. If it receive a sufficient suppl}' of water from a reservoir, it re- quires the constant attendance of two men and two buffaloes; but if it be watered entirely by the Capily, it requires an addition of two men and four oxen. The rent in the first case is 25 Fanams for the hundred trees, and in the latter case only 12. The labour of two men and four oxen is therefore estimated at 130 Fanams a year, and we may allow 120 for two men and two buffaloes. The great digging of the garden requires additional labourers to the amount of 40 Fanams. The nut is prepared by a man who receives two Dudus for every Maund, or about 6 Fanams for the garden. The bunches of nuts are cut by a person of the Bayda cast, wha MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALAEAR. 55 sets 3 Fanams lor the thousand bunches, or about 10 Fandms for CHAPTER ° VII. the garden. The whole annual expense therefore of a garden of \^»^^-*^ 1000 trees is about 426 Fanams. The produce is i-eckoned from 40 ^^^"i^^^ '•• to Go 3faimds ; the average is 50, .which, for each tree, is exactly the same quantity that was said to be procured at 3Iadhu-giri. Nothing is paid to the Amildar for the plantains or other fruit; but on this account the custom-house, according to the size of the garden, charges annually fiom three to five Fanams. Where the Capily is used, the rent for each tree is rather under a penny. When the reservoir supplies the water, it is rather above two pence. Even in this case, when the trees are at 16 cubits distance, the rent of an acre does not exceed 20*.; which is less than rice would give, and not a third part of what is paid for the same quantity of ground at Madhu-giri. On the same produce, the rent is rather greater here ; so much superior at the former place is the skill of the cul- tivator. The Areca tree is never cut till its leaves have turned brown. Its stem has then acquired great hardness, and in building cottages is very useful. The monkies and squirrels are very destructive, but it is reckoned Monkies and criminal to kill either of them. They are under the immediate protection of the Duseris, who assemble round any person guilty of this offence, and allow him no rest, until he bestows on the animal a funeral, that will cost from 100 to 200 Fanams, according to the number of Ddseris that have assembled. The proprietors of the gardens used formerly to hire a particular class of men, wlio took these animals in nets, and tlien by stealth conveyed them into the gardens of some distant village ; but, as the people there had re- course to the same means, all parties have become tired of this practice. If any person freed the poor people by killing these mis- chievous vermin, they would think themselves bound in decency to make a clamour ; but inwardly they would be very well pleased; and the government might do it, by hiring men whose consciences 56 A JOURNEY FROM ^lADRAS THROUGH Augusi 21. State of the plantations. CHAPTER \vouM not suffer by the action, and who miglit be repaid by a small tax on the proprietors. The Marattah invasion has ruined one half of the gardens ; the trees having been cut for the cabbage, which is composed of the young leaves collected, at the summit of the tree, in a large bud. New gardens are now planting without advances from government. Many of the old proprietors, having been reduced to poverty, have sold their right of replanting to others, who were in better circum- stances ; for all palm-gardens become private property, and may be sold or mortgaged, which, in the Raja's dominions, is not the case with any land that is cultivated for grain. The proprietors complain, that for old trees they are obliged to pay the same rent as for young ones. An old garden thus becomes much more valua- ble to the government, as on the acre there will be more trees that pay rent. If allowed to live to the full age of 80 years, -ff will pay rent; but, if cut at 45 years of age, when they begin to decay, ■§- only would pay. The produce of the country however suffers by allowing the trees to live after they begin to decay; and as the profits of tlie cultivator are at present sufficiently great, they might be allowed to cut the trees whenever they pleased, by fixing on the ground a rent equal to the present: the fixing the rent on the tree, is indeed a bad custom for all parties. In the country between Sira and Seringapatam, there are scarcely any kitchen gardens. The farmers have a few spots, where for family use they raise greens; but I see no gardeners who make this business a profession, except in the island of Seringapatam, and in the country to the eastward of ilv^ Durgas, s.s it is called, or that winch lies to the eastward of the chain of hills A^'hich runs north from Capalu-Durga, and on which there are so many fortified strong-holds. 52£d Jugust. — I went three cosses to Jrulu Giipay Except the ridge of hornstone hills on my k-it, and a short detached ridge on my riglit, the country was free from hills. The soil was howevt^T Kitchen gardens. ■'^trata. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. HI by no means so good as that in the level country which lies between CHAPTER the Durgas and the ridge of hornstone ; for in many places the ^^PL> rock appeared above ground, and lumps of white quartz almost August 22. intirely covered nia>:»y fields. The rock here was gray granite, I believe the hornstone is confined to the ridge in which Doray Bctia is situated. In the small ridge to my right, the rocks were gray granite ; the black-stone already described as accompanying this in the eastern Ghats ; and the same containing white spots, which probably were quartz. At a small village by the way, I was shown a well, from whence S/ndi; mumu, what the natives call S/iidi/ mimnu had been taken. It was in the ''" '^'*" ' back yard of a Brdhnian's house. About two months ago he had dug 20 feet through the common soil of the country, which in many places is very deep. He then came to a stratum of this sub- stance, which he continued to procure until prevented by water. It is a loose scaly earth, of a silvery white colour, and is mixed with small fragments of quartz. It is so friable, that it cannot be handled without falling to pieces, and is no doubt Schistose Mica in a state of decay. The micaceous matter is washed off by water, a:nd, in the houses of inferior persons, serves the same purposes that the powdered viica, or abracum, does in the palaces of the great. They are in fact the same, only the abracum is purer. Shidy munnu is said to be found in great quantity near Color. Arulii Gupay is a large village in the Hagalazi'adi district. It is AruluGupay, fortified Avith a mud wall and ditch ; but its market, which is a builtVy sL- street running the whole length of one side of the town, is quite lun Rdi/a. defenceless. It contains about a hundred houses, and a temple of curious workmanship dedicated to Narasingha. It is not of great size, but the whole is built of what the natives call Sila CuUu, or image-stone, which is indurated pot-stone. This has been cut and carved with great pains and industry, but is totally devoid of ele- gance or grandeur. The general design is clumsy, and the execu- tion of the figures miserable. It wants even strength, the usual Vol. II. I A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER Vil. August 22. August 23. Appearance of the coun- try. Tiirka- Caraij. Religious buildinas. concomitant of clumsiness among the buildings of rude nations ; and the walls, although not above fourteen feet high, and built of large stones -which have suffered no injury, are 3'ielding to the pressure of the roof, and probably will soon fall. It is said to have been built by one of the Sholun Rayas. 23d August. — In the morning I was detained by a very heavy rain, which has given the people high spirits. In the afternoon I went two cosses to Turka-Caray, the residence o^ zn Amildar. The country afforded a melancholy prospect. Like that near Ba?iga- loj^e, and the other places toward the eastern Ghats, it rises into gentle swells, and occasionally projects a mass of naked granite, or of quartz blackened by iron ; but it has once been completely cul- tivated ; and every spot, except those covered by rock, bears marks of the plough. Scattered clumps of trees denote the former situations of numerous villages : all now, however, are nearly de- serted. I saw only tM'o houses ; and a few fields ploughing for Horse-gram seemed to be the commencement of cultivation, from the time the country had been laid desolate by the merciless army of Purseram Bhow. Turiva-Caray consists of an outer and an inner fort, strongly de- fended by a ditch and mud wall. It has besides, at a little distance^ an open suburb, and contains 700 houses ; but is by no means com- pletely rebuilt. It has no merchants of any note ; but contains 20 houses of Devanga weavers, and 150 of farmers. It possesses two small temples, similar to that at AruluGupay; and which, like it, are said to have been built by a Shohm R'tya, who was contemporary with Sankara Acharya, the restorer of the doctrine of the Vedas. This prince is very celebrated, by having bu It ten. pies through- out the country south from the Krishna river. All of them that I have seen are small, and entirely built of stone. Then- architecture is very different from the great temples, such as- that at Kuiiji ; the upper parts of which are always formed of bri..ks, and whose most conspicuous part is the gateway. This last lueutioned system of MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 59 architecture seems to have been introduced by Krishna raiin, of CHAPTER VII Vijaya-imgara ; at least, the 18 most celebrated temples in the lower Carnatic are commonly said, by the Brdhmans, to have been rebuilt A"g"st 23. . by that prince: for it must be observed, that scarcely any temple of celebrity is admitted to have been founded \\\t\\hYugam, or age of the world ; and many of them are supposed to be coeval with the universe. The small rude temples so common in the country, and which, from the simplicity of their form, are probably of great antiquity, are all dedicated to Saktis, or to spirits worshipped by the low casts, and never to any of the great gods. Many of them, no doubt, are of very late erection ; but they seem to me to pre- serve the simple form of temples erected by rude tribes ; and the worship performed in them appears to be that which prevailed throughout India before the introduction of the 21 sects which the Brdhmans reckon heretical ; although some of them were probably antecedent, at least in southern India, to the three sects of Brdh- mans who follow the doctrine of the Vedas. This place formerly belonged to tht Hagalawadi Polygars, yvho, Buildings by although called Chica Ndyakas, or little chiefs, seem to have been a ^^e ^o"^"* powerful family. One of them, who lived about 250 years ago, s'"'^- constructed in this neighbourhood four temples, and four great re- servoirs. According to the legend, G««tia supplied him with money for carrying on tlrese. This god appeared to the chief in a dream, informed him that a treasure was hidden under an image which stood in the suburbs, and directed him to take the money and construct these works. The treasure was accordingly found, and applied as directed. The image, from under which the treasure had been taken, was shown to me; and I was surprised at finding it lying at one of the gates quite neglected. On asking the reason, why the people allowcil their benefactor to remain in such a plight, they informed me, that, the finger of the image having been broken, the divinity had deserted it; for no mutilated image is considered as habitable by a god. At one of the temples built with this money, 60 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VII. August 23. A«gust 24 Str&ta. August 25. Appearance of the couii- try. I saw a very fine black stone, well polished, and cut into a rude imitation of a |jull. It was about eight feet long, six high, and four broad ; and seemed to be of the same kind with the pillars in Hydefs monument at Ser'mgapatam. The quairy is six miles distant. The reservoir here is in very fine condition, and was constructed with Ganesa's treasure. It formerly watered some excellent Areca gardens ; but, in consequence of Purseram Bhow's invasion, most of the trees perished. For some days his head quarters were at this place. The coco-nut palms, that formerly surrounded the betel-nut gardens, still remain, and mark their extent. The Amildar says, that he has only one half of the people that would be necessary to cullivate his district, and that most of them are destitute of the necessary stock. 24th August. — I was detained all day at Turiva-Caray by the vio- lence of the rain. The strata here consist chiefly of gray granite, or gneiss ; for the rqatters composing it are sometimes nearly stra- tified, the dark green mica, or talc, being iu some strata much more predominant than in other. This gives it a veined appear- ance ; but it is perfectly solid, and, except this appearance, has nothing of a slaty texture. Here may be observed beds parallel to the strata of granite, and consisting entirely of this green matter in a state of decay. Its very greasy feel makes me suspect that it is rather talc than mica. Here also, as well as in many parts of the country, the gray granite s intersected in all directions by veins of reddish felspar, intermixed with fragments of white quartz. These veins are frequently a foot wide; and sometimes, in place of being disposed in veins, the felspar runs in beds, or strata, which are pa- rallel to those of the granite, and are several feet in width. 25th August. — In the morning I went two cosses to Cada-hully, a small village fortified with a mud wall. The country nearly resem- bles that between Arulu Gupay and Turiva-Caray ; but the soil is more inclined to be stony. It is, however, in a rather better state of cultivation, a,iid perhaps a fourth part of the arable fields is now MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 61 occupied. At this village there was a sheep-fold, strongly fortified CHAPTER by a hedge of dry thorns, and containing four huts, which the ,1}ILj shepherds usually occupied. These people, alarmed at my appear- August 25. ance, and suspecting that I came to take away their flocks for the XLSe of the army, did not approach the village all night ; but pre- ferred exposing their cattle to the danger of tigers. These beasts of prey are said to be numerous here, and at night frequently prowl under the walls ; we therefore burned fires round the tents, as was our usual practice in suspicious places. My motive for stopping at this poor place was, to examine the quarry from Avhence the fine black stone used in Hydei^'s monument was taken. When I assigned this reason to the people, it appeared so absurd to them, that their fears were greatly increased. This quarry is situated about half a mile east from the village. Quarry of and rises in a small ridge about half a mile long, a hundred yards wide, and from twenty to fifty feet in perpendicular height. This ridge runs nearly north and south, in the common direction of the strata of the country, and is surrounded on all sides by the com- mon gray granite, which, as usiial, is penetrated in all directions by veins of quartz and felspar; but neither of these enter the quarry. This stone is called Caricullii, or black-stone, by the natives, who give the same appellation to the quartz impregnated with iron, and to the brown haematites ; and in fact they all run very much into one another, and diifer chiefly in the various proportions of the same component parts ; but have a certain general similitude easily de- fined, and are found in similar masses and strata. The black-stone of this place is an amorphous hornblend, containing minute, but distinct rhomboidal lamellar concretions of basaltine. I imagine that it is the same stone with that which by the antients was called Sasaltes, and which was by them sometimes formed into images, as, it is now by the idolaters of India. The surface of the ridge is covered with large irregular masses,. / 62 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH August 25. Ballapum, or pot-stone. CHAPTER which, where they have been long exposed to the air in the natural ^'^- process of decay, lose their angles first. When these masses have thus become rounded, they decay in concentric lamellfe; but where the rock itself is exposed to the air, it separates into plates of va- rious thicknesses, nearly vertical, and running north and south. In the sound stone, there is not the smallest appearance of a slaty- texture, and it splits with wedges in all directions. The north end of the ridge is the lowest, and has on its surface the largest masses. It is there only that the natives have wrought it ; they have always contented themselves M'ith splitting detachetl blocks, and have never ventured on the solid rock, where much finer pieces might, be procured than has ever yet been obtained. The Baswa, or bull, at Turk'a-Caroy, is the finest piece that I have seen. Immediately north from the village is a quarry of Ballapum, or pot-stone, which is used by the natives for making small vessels ; and is so soft, that pencils are formed of it to write upon books, which are made of cloth blackened, and stiffened with gum. Both the books, and the neatness of the writing, are very inferior to the similar ones of the people of Ava, who, in fact, are much far- ther advanced in the arts than the Hindus of this country. This pot-stone separates into large amorphous masses, each covered with a crust in a decaying state ; and some of them are entirely pene- trated with long slender needles of schorlaceous actynolite. In the same place I found the calcareous tufa in a solid mass, and procured a specimen distinctly marked with the impression of a leaf. Immediately parallel, and contiguous to the pot-stone, is a stratum of quartz in a state of decay ; which separates into schis- tose plates, disposed vertically, and running north and south. At Haduna Bttta, or Kite-hill, a coss east from Belluru, masses of a harder pot-stone, called Sila Cullu, may be procured ; and from thence probably Sliolun Raya conveyed it to build his temples at Arulii Gupay, and Tur'voa-Caray. Calcareous tufa. Quartz. S'da Cullu. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 65 26th August. — In the morning I went three cosses to Belluru. CHAPTER The greater part of the countiy consists of barren heights covered ^'l- with low buslies, and has never been cultivated. More than one August 26. - half of the arable fields appear to be now waste ; but near Belluru of^turcoun- there is a good deal of fine rice-ground, and more of it is under the 'fy- Kartika croj) than I have seen in any other place. The tank of Belluru is a fine work, and at present contains water to ri|)en 40 Cfl«(/r/cfl,y of seed, sowing at 200 &er* a Candaca. Another heavy rain will secure them in 30 Candacas of the Vaisakha crop. Here the sprouted-seed cultivation is preferred to all others. One half of the cattle died last year of the epidemic distemper. There was plenty of forage. The people have not suffered from famine since the invasion of the country by Lord Cornwallis ; but on that occa- sion their misery was terrible. On the approach of the British anny, the Sultan laid waste the whole country between this and the capital, and forced the inhabitants of the open country to retire to the hills, where they built huts, and procured provisions in the best manner that they could ; no steps having been taken by their prince to obviate the famine likely to ensue. They were chiefly supported by the grain of the small villages that are hid among the hills and woods, and which it was not thought necessary to destroy. A large proportion, however, perished of hunger, or of the diseases following too scanty a diet ; and in the whole Naga- mangala country, of which this forms a part, one half of the inha- bitants are now wanting, although they have had eight years to recover. This is the calculation of the officers of government. To judge from the desolation that I see around me, I should conclude the loss to have been greater. In this part of the country a good many sheep are bred : in the Sfaeep, morning I met with three large folds of them. To the eastward of Belluru is a range of barren rocky hills. One Hills called of them rises to a considerable height, and is called Haduna Cullu ^"''"""CmUu Bella, or Kite-rock hill, from its abounding with that kind of bird. '64. A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VII. August 26. £eUant, Worship of the village deity by the Cauda. Customs ot tlie Cummuy BrM/nans. So far as is known to the natives, these hills produce neither 'vrood nor ore of any use. Belluru is a large town, and both suburbs and citadel are strongly fortified with a mud-wall, and ditch. The walls of the citadel have been lately repaired ; but those of the suburb are in the same ruinous state in which, on the approach of Purseram BhoZD, they were left by Tippoo's troops. In all this part of the country it has been customary, when anew village was founded, for the person appointed to be hereditary Gauda, or chief, to place a large stone in or near the village. This stone is called the Cunivu Cullu, or calf-stone, and is considered as representing the Grama Devaru, or god of the village. The here- ditary Gauda always officiates as Pujari, or priest; and at the an- nual village feast, after having rubbed it with oil, offers a sacri- fice, with which he feasts his relations and the chief men of the place. The Cuvimays, or as they are called by the Mussulmans, the Cum,' mavar, are a kind of Bralimans different from the others of the country ; but I could not learn whence the difference arose. They eat in common with the others, but do not intermarry. They con- sist of four tribes, which never intermarry, and are called Canara, Arava-Tocala, Urichy, and Boburu Cummai/s. The three first tribes are of Karnuta descent ; the last are of Telinga extraction. They are of the same Gotrams, or families, with the other Brahiiayis, and like them are divided into three sects, the Smartal, Sri Vaishnaxam, and Mndual; but some of them are of a sect called Bhdgavata. These, although they follow Sankara Acharya, wear the mark of Vis/mu ; and their name implies that they are worshippers of that god. They observe the Ekadasi fasts at the same time with the Tayngala Sri Vaislmavam Brdhmans, which occasionally differ some hours from those observed by the Smartal. These fasts have given still farther room for differences among the Bi'dhmans, the Fada- galay Sri Vaishnat^am, the Vaisraya Mata Maduals, and Utraya Mata MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. • 6.iv Afaduals, all clifFerina: from each other, and from those hefore men- CHAPTER . VII. tioned ; and, as might reasonably be expected on such a subject, k,^^,.-^^ they dispute about the proper time with great bitterness. The August ■^6, length of time for which the fast should last has given rise toother disputes ; some thinking that they ought to abstain from eating 24 hours; others, that the fast should be protracted to two days. lu these fasts, all those who aim at being thought good men abstain totally from both food and drink. Lokika people, or those who prefer to their duty the gratification of their appetites, satisfy the cravings of their stomachs M'ith fruit. The greater part of the Vai- dika Bi'ahmans here, although they employ much of their time in reading the Vedas, or eighteen Purdnas, do not pretend to under- stand either. They get a copy of some portion of either of these books, and every day employ a certain number of hours in reading it aloud, which they perform with a most disagreeable cant, and twang through tlie nose. This, however, they consider as suffi- ciently meritorious to entitle them to the love of god, and the ve- neration of men ; and a large proportion of their countrymen are of the same opinion, 27th August, — I went three cosses to Nagamangala. The country August 27. through which I came resembles what I saw yesterday ; but the greater part of the heights, although barren, appear as if they had been formerly cultivated. At present very little of the country is under cultivation, and it looks very bare. Within sight were many ruinous villages. Ndgmnmigala is a large square mud fort, and contains in its cen- Nugaman- ter a square citadel, which, like that oiC/iica Nayakana Hully, leaves '^ room in the outer town for one street Avith short lanes on each side. In the inner fort are two large temples, and some other religious buildings, in'good repair; and a Mahal, or palace, ^Cutdiery, or public office, and several large granaries, in ruins. The town and all these public buildings were erected by a prince named Jagadtva Raya, who seems to have been of tlie same family M'ith the Rdjas Vol. II. K b" 66 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER o^ Mysore ; for the two houses had frequent intermarriages. Ac- \,^^/^^u cording to tradition, Jagadcva Raya, who founded this city, lived August 27- about 600 years ago. His dominions extended from JagadevU' Pattana on the east, to the frontiers of the JManzur-abud Folygar and of tlie Ikeri Raja on the west. They were bounded by Hagala- wadi on the north, and included the Bdluru district. On the south they were bounded by the territories of the Raja of Mysore, and of the Vif-Raya, who possesses the country that we call Coorg, and who was then proprietor of Maha-Rdyana-Durga. About three centuries ago, the successor o^ Jagadcva Raya, dying without chil- dren, was succeeded by his kinsman, the CMr/z/r of Mysore. This town was originally called Pliani-pura, or the city of snakes ; but its name has been changed into Ndgamangaja, which signifies the blessed with serpents. Before the invasion of Purseram Bhow it contained 1500 houses, which are now reduced to 200, that are scattered amid the ruins. At the same time the Marattahs destroyed 150,000 palm trees. In the whole district there are only about one half of the necessary cultivators, and they come in slowly, the Nizam's country being at too great a distance. Forty houses only have been built since the place received Corel, or protection from the English. It possesses three fine reservoirs ; but for the last four years so little rain has fallen, that very little of the rice-ground has been cultivated, and the proprietors have not been able to re- plant their palm-gardens. Fish. I observed the people fishing in the small quantity of water that is in the reservoirs ; and was told, that small fishes are to be found in all the tanks of the country, although they frequently dry up, and have no communication with streams from whence they might get a supply. The eggs, no doubt, remain dry in the mud, and are not hatched until they have been moistened by the return of the water. Emigration. The greater part of the inhabitants of Nugamangala are what are here called Tigularu, or Taycularu ; that is to say, are descended MYSORF, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 67 from persons who came from countries where the Tamul language CHAPTKU is spoken. According to tradition, tlicy left Kunji about 700 years ^^ ago ; but they can give no account as to the occasion of their an- August 27. cestors deserting their native country. Most of them have lost their original language ; but they never intermarry with the native Karnatas. Some of them can read the books in the Tamul language that belong to their cast. In this district the Gaudas, or chief farmers, partly rent the vil- Manner of lage, and partly collect, on the public account, whatever can be had jands." from the inhabitants. If a renter receives from them a much greater sum than what he agreed to give to the Amildar, part is taken from him ; but a small or reasonable profit is allowed. In every village a piece of ground is allotted for tht Gauda. If he rents the village, he pays nothing for this land, and has it free on account of his trouble ; but if another person manages the village, the hereditary Gauda pays rent like any other farmer. If the crop be very deficient, the renter is not obliged to fulfil his agreement, as he can raise little or nothing from the farmers ; but if he can raise SO or QO per cent, of his expected collections, he must make up the balance. The farmers have a fixed property in the fields, which are let according to a valuation made by Jagadeva Raya; and so long as a man pays his rent according to that valuation, he cannot be turned out of his possession. The Sultan made a new valuation, but never realized it ; for the outstanding balances always at least equalled the additional imposts. The rice ground always pays by a division, and the dry-field by a money-rent. Ground that has not been occupied for some time pays no rent for the first year that it is brougiit into cultivation; a fourth part of the valued rent is laid on every succeeding year ; so that on the fourth year it pays a full rent. Almost everywhere in India some- what similar prevails ; and the custom arises from a conviction that rest injures the soil. In some places it is necessary to cut trees ; but that is not the case here. ffS A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VII. August 27. Strata. August 28. Appearance of the coun- try. Chinna. Company's cattle. Jaina Bona- Immediately west from Nagamaiigala is a hill, which consists chiefly of a talcose argillite, approaching very near to a slaty pot- stone ; the natives indeed call it by the same name ; and they use it for pencils as they do the other. Its structure is slaty, and it is disposed in strata much inclined to the horizon, and running north and south. Some of it is reddish, and some has a greenish hue. Intermixed with it are several large masses of white quartz. The rock at the town is granite. 28th Juo'ust. — In the raorninq; I v/ent three cosses to Chlnmi. The country is more barren than any that I have seen for some time, and the heights rise into low rocky hills. Some parts of it are co- vered with low trees, especially with the Elate sijlvestris, or wild- date. Chinna is a poor ruinous place. It was formerly of some note ; but about 30 years ago it was desti'oyed by the Marattah army, then attacking Hijder, and it has never since recovered. I found near this a herd of draught oxen belonging to the Com- pany, and in excellent condition. This seems to be owing to the care which is bestowed, during the rainy season, on collecting hay. By taking the same trouble, the herds of the natives might be kept in a ver\^ different state from that in which they now are. Here are a set of people, among whom is the chief of the village, that are called Jaina Banijigas. They seem to be different from those called Jainu, as they do not wear the Linga. There are about forty families of them, scattered through the villages north and east from Seringapatam. The Gaiida relates, that Rama Anuja Achd- rya, having obtained the victory in a great dispute with the priests of Jaina at Tonuru, caused these, with as manyof their followers as were obstinate, to be ground in oil-mills. The remainder, who had been converted by this powerful mode of argument, received Chak- rdntikam from the Brd/iman, and their descendants are these Jaina Banijigas. They neither eat nor intermarry with Jainas who retain their former Avorship ; but adore Vishnu, and are disciples of one of the hereditary chiefs of the Sri Vaishnavam Brdhtnans, who gives MYSORE, CANARA, AND IMALABAR. 69 them Chahrant'ikam and holy water, and accepts of their Dhcirma. CHAPTER They arc traders, farmers, and cultivators. \,^-^r-^^ 2yth August. — I went one coss to MaU-cotay, or the lofty for- August 29. tress. The country is steep, and nearly uninhabited. There are, oithecoun- however, many places on the ascent that have a good soil, and that '""i" have formerly been cultivated. The other lands are covered with copse wood. Mail-cotaij, in the Sanskrit language, is called by the uncouth Mall-cotan, name of Dakshina Bhadarikusramam. It is situated on a high rocky hill, and commands a noble view of the valley watered by the Cd- vSri, and of the hills of J\Ij/sore to the south ; of those of the Ghats to the west; and toward the east, Savana-Durga and Siva-Gangd close the prospect. It is one of the most celebrated places oi Hindu worship, both as having been honoured with the actual presence of an Jvatdra, or incarnation of Vishnu, who founded one of the tem- ples ; and also as being one of the principal seats of the Sri Vaish- navam Brdhmans, and having possessed very large revenues. About forty years ago, it contained almost a thousand houses inhabited by Bruhmans, who did not allow many of the Sddras to remain in the place. A few shop-keepers and Satdnanas com\^o?,Qd the remainder of the inhabitants. Soon after this period the Marattahs gained a victory over Hyder, and encamped for some time on the south side of the hill. The Brdhmans here were too cunning to be caught, and the place was entirely deserted ; but even the temples of their gods did not escape Marattah rapacity. For the sake of the iron-work, and to get at it easily, they burned the immense wooden Baths, or chariots on which the idols are carried in procession ; and the fire spread to the religious buildings, some of which were entirely con- sumed. A sufficient number, however, still remain. The three principal are, a temple placed on the very summit of the rock, and dedicated to Narasingha, one of the Jvatdi'as of Vishnu ; the great temple of Chillapulla Rdya ; and a noble tank. 70 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTEIl The large temple is a square building of great dimensions, and 1^^^.,^ entirely surrounded by a colonnade; but it is a mean piece of archi- August 29. tecture, at least outwardly. The columns are very rude, and only Temple o' , . ~ , , , Chiiiapulla about SIX feet high. Above the entablature, in place of a balustrade, •y"' is a clumsy mass of brick and plaster, much higher than the co- lumns, and excavated Mith numerous niches ; in which are huddled together many thousand images composed of the same materials, and most rudely formed. Unwilling to give oflFence, I did not see any of the interior parts of it, although no remonstrance would have been made against my entering the inner courts; but I wished to get some information from the B/ri/if/ians ; and my not presuming to approach so holy a place evidently gave satisfaction. The pre- sent structure was built, or at least put into its present form, by Rama Anuja Acharija ; but, as I have before mentioned, the temple itself is alleged to be of wonderful antiquity, and to have been not only built by a god, but to be dedicated to Krishna on the very spot where that Avatara performed some of his great works. Al- though the image represents Krishna, it is commonly called Chiiia- pulla Jiui/a, or the darling prince ; for Chiiiapulla is a term of endear- ment, which mothers give to their infants, somewhat like our word darling. The reason of such an uncommon appellation being given to a mighty warrior is said to be as follows: on Rama Anuja's going to Mail-cotay, to perform his devotions at that celebrated shrine, he was informed that the place had been attacked by the Tare king of Dehli, who had carried away the idol. The Brahman immediately set out for that capital ; and on his arrival he found that the king had made a present of the image to his daughter ; for it is said to be very handsome, and she asked for it as a plaything. All day the princess played with the image; at night the god assumed his own beautiful form, and enjoyed her bed ; for Krishna is addicted to such kinds of adventures. This had continued for some time when Rama Anuja arrived, and called on the image, repeating at the same time MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 71 some \yo\verfvi\ JlJantrams ; on which the idol immediately placed CHAPTER itself on the Brahman's knee. Having clasped it in his arms, he K„^-^^^^t^ called it his Ckillapulla, and they were both instantaiaeously con- ^"""-' 2.9. vcyed to Mail-cotay. The princess, quite disconsolate for the loss of her image, mounted a horse, and followed as fast as she was able. She no sooner came near the idol than she disappeared, and is sup- posed to have been taken into its immediate substance ; which, in this country, is a common way of the gods disposing of their fa- vourites. A monument was built for the princess ; but as she was a Turc, it would have been improper to place this building within the walls of the holy place ; it has therefore been erected at the foot of the hill, under the most abrupt part of the rock. The tank is a very fine one, and is surrounded by many buildings Fine tank. for the accommodation of religious persons, and for the intended recreation of the idols when they are carried in procession. Were these kept in good order, they would have a grand appearance ; but the buildings are filthy and ruinous. The natives believe, that every year, at the time of the grand festival, the water of the Ganges is conveyed by subterraneous passages, and fills this tank ; yet they candidly acknowledge, that not the smallest external mark of any change takes place. On this occasion it is customary to throw in bits of money. My attendant messenger, who is a Brdlnnan, says, that he was present when all the water M'as taken out by orders from the Sultan, who expected by this means to find a great trea- sure. All that was found, however, was a potful of copper money. The jewels belonging to the great temple are very valuable ; and Jewels be- even the Sultan was afraid to seize them. They are never exposed temple". to the risk of being carried away by any desperate ruffian, but are always kept in the treasury at Seringapatam ; and during the time of the festival are sent to Mail-cotay, under a strong military guard. This property was respected by the British captors, and the jewels are sent to the place as formerly. A JOURNEY FROM I\rADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VII. August 29. ricveiiucs. Principles of the Hindus. The town has never j-ecovered itself since the first Marattah in- vasion. Hi/der, iudeed, allowed to the Bruhmans the full enjoyment of their revenues; but his son first reduced their lands to 6OOO Pagodas B.yevLv; then to four; then to two, and at length to one thousand ; finally, he entirely took away their land, and gave them ah annual pension of 1000 Pagodas. After his fall, General Harris granted them lands to the amount of 6OOO Pagodas ; but at present, from want of cultivators, they produce only 4000, or 1343/. Zs. 5d. These lands are managed by an AmUda)\ appointed by the govern- ment, and accountable to it for his conduct. The houses at present amount to 500, of which 200 are inhabited by Bruhmaiis. The only people here who live by industry are twenty families of Aveavers, and a few shopkeepers. In the great temple four hundred Brah- mans form the higher class of the servants; and from thence they receive a daily allowance. There is also a class of servants of a Skdra extraction, and consisting of musicians, dancing-girls, and Vaishnavam, or Satananas. The houses here are better than any helonuins: to Hindus th^t I have seen above the Ghats; for the begging of the Brd/i?>ia)is is a lucrative employment, and several Gurus make this their chief place of residence. The houses are roofed with tiles, and have an odd look, from being entirely covered with thorns. This is done to prevent the nionkies from unroofing the houses ; for those mischievous animals are here very numerous, and to destroy them is reckoned a grievous sin. The very person who applauds his Guru for having ground the Jainas in an oil-mill, will shudder with horror at the thought of a monkey's being killed. I expected here to be able to get some account of the Mysore family, who long had been generous benefactors to the Brahma7is of Mail-cotay ; but in this I was entirely disappointed. I was told, that they gave themselves no concern about worldly afiairs ; and that to them the history of the low casts was of no consequence. They MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. • 73 seem not at all interested about their young Raja; and the family CHAPTER has been so long in obscurity, that it is no longer looked up to with awe ; which among the natives in general is the only thing -Augubt cp- that supplies the place of loyalty. Their military men are the only class that seem to have a strong attachment to their princes ; and they serve faithfully, so long as they are regularly paid, or gratified by a permission to.plunder ; but provided these pay them better, they are equally willing to serve a Mussulman or Christian leader, as a Hindu prince. Terror is therefore the leading principle of every Indian government; and among the people, in place of loyalty and patriotism, the chief principles are, an abject devotion to their spi- ritual masters, and an obstinate adherence to custom, chiefly in matters of ceremony and cast. SOth August. — I remained at Mail-cotay, endeavouring to get a Augusts©, fuller account of the Sri Fais/inavam Brdhmans, or Aai/ngar ; but I ,,„,„ g^^/,. had not so much success as I expected. I could not procure an "'""*• interview with any of the Gurus ; for each of them an excuse was made; some were sick, some were fasting, and most of them were absent on their duty of begging, as it is called. I, however, met with a Vaidika Brahman, who was a very accurate man ; and it was not owing to either want of abilities , or inclination in him, that I tlie intrigues oi Sankara Acharya from having effect. It is certain, CHAPTER that long after his time by far the greater part of the people were v„^s/^ not followers of his college, or Mata. August 30. About six hundred years after the time of Sankam Acharija, the Rama Anvja. snake Scsha entered a woman of the sacred cast at Sri Permaturu, and Avas born as Rama Anuja Acharya. At that time the greater part of the people mIio lived below the eastern Ghats were Pchhandis; and of those who lived above the Ghats, the greater part were Jahias : but limia Amija not only converted a great many Bruh- mans from the doctrine of Sankara Acharya, but also persuadetl many of the heretics to become folloM'ers of the Brdhmans. Among others M'as Vishnu VardaJia Raya, a Jaina prince, and king of the ■whole country, who resided at Yudava-puri ; that is to say, the city of the cow-keeper, a place that is now called Tonuru. Ry the as- sistance of this king, he converted the Jaii/as, and ground their obstinate priests in an oil-mill. As a Brahman, he could not put these people to death ; but having publicly convicted them of he- resy, it became the king's duty to punish tiieir infidelity. This great leader of the Brdhmans made 700 Matas, or colleges, for San- nydsis ; all of which, except four, have gone to ruin. He also appointed 74 hereditary chiefs, of every one of which the represen- tative in the male line continues at present to enjoy his elevated dignity. The Saimydsis are considered as of the highest rank ; but the hereditary chiefs will not receive from them either Chakrun- tiham or Upadesa; for this would be too humiliating an acknow- ledgment of superiority. Each Guru, married or unmarried, has a certain number of families, both Brdhmans and Madras, that are hereditarily subjected to the authority of his college, or house. The Sannydsis are addressed by the title of Swdmalu, or Sxvdmyalti ; tlic hereditary chiefs by that of Acharya. Every Brdhman in this country is called Szvdtni, or lord. The appearance of Rdma Anuja being one of the most important era* in the history of southern India, I was anxious to ascertain the 76 A JOURNEY I-ROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER exact time of that event. The Brahman who had hitherto given ^''^' , me information was not in possession of the hook that contained an Aii^ubt 30. account of the life and actions of the founder of his sect, and which, I found, was considered as too sacred for profane eyes to behold. Having sent for the owner of the book, and requested permission for my informant to copy the date, he replied that he would not venture to take such a step without the advice and consent of the leading men in the place. A council was accordingly assembled at my tent, and it was judged allowable to give me the information which I wanted. To avoid delay, and to encourage the man, I of- fered the owner a small sum of money to pay the writer for copying the date, and of this he readily accepted. At two o'clock the whole party went to consult the book ; and at seven in the evening, no one of them having returned, I sent for my first informant. He told me, that, this having been a fast day, none of them, when I saw them, had eaten any thing ; and that, immediately on leaving the tent, they had all dispersed, and could not be as- sembled without an order from the Parputtif, or civil officer; and that singly no man would do any thing. Application having been made to the Parputty, he immediately called an assembly, and they agreed to copy for me a life or journal of the proceedings of Rama Aniija, leaving out only such Mantranis and passages as were fit only for the ear of a Brdliman. Four or five hours, they said, would be sufficient ; and my interpreter was ordered, until the work was finished, to attend his brethren the Brdhmans at the temple. Valrdgis. There is here a Matam, or convent o^Vairagis, who claimed being my countrymen, as I belonged to the Bengal establishment. They said, that their cast was descended from the children of persons of all kinds, who, not having had any heirs, have made a vow to the image of Ruma at Ayodiia (Oude) to consecrate to his service their eldest son, should the god interpose, and grant them a family. Many of these consecrated persons have married, and the whole of MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 77 their descendants are Vairagis. Their chief convents are at Ayodya, CHAPTER and Jayn-pura ; but smaller ones are scattered in every part of ^^^^^^J^^ India. Their Gurus are also Vairagis; but are always descended August 30. from the children of Brahnaiis. Tliey say, that in Hindustan pro- per the only Pujaris in the temples of Vishnu are the Bruhmans of their cast. In that country many of them are learned; but those here acknowledged their ignorance. They abstain from animal food, and hold in abhorrence the custom, which pi-evails here, of marrying their aunt's daughter. In every part of India a man's marrying his uncle's daughter is looked upon as incestuous. The Vairagis of Sudra origin always assume the appearance of beggars ; but they frequently trade from place to place in horses, arms, pearls, shawls, and other valuable articles ; and on such occasions, to secure their property, they travel in large bodies well armed ; aiot trusting entirely to their professions of poverty. They never trade in shops. They are at constant variance with the people of a tribe called here Gossain (properly Gosw/imi) ; and in the engage- ments that take place between these two sets of vagrants, lives are frequently lost. The forms assumed by the Vairagis in begging are various. Some of them constantly remain in some painful or difili- cult posture ; and, according to the postures which they assume^ are called Urdabahu, or Ticraxvalla. Some of them, called Parama- hansa, or Digambara, go quite naked, with their hair matted, and thickened M'ith dirt; these beg from door to door, frequently pre- tending to be idiots, and to live in wastes and \voods on leaves and Avild fruits. The remainder are called Rumanaridi. There is in this country a set of scoundrels Avho call themselves Vairagis;. but who are disowned by those who pretend to be really so, and are by them called Bersfa. These fellows extort compassion by burning them- selves with torches, and cutting themselves with swords. If pos- sible, they surround a woman mIio is with child, and threaten to 4;orment themselves before her, unless she gives them money. The woman in general complies, being commonly tender-hearted, and 78 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CllAnER also being afraid lest her child should be disfigured by her looking- 'I" at their distortions and agonies. August 30. Tiie hill on Avhich Muil-cotay stands consists of many different kinds of rock ; but to most of them, the French term Roche feuilletee seems applicable. They are all aggregates, with their component parts disposed in a striated or foliated manner. They are of very great tenacity, being extremely difficult to break, especially across the fibre; they s{>iit somewhat more easily in its direction, but even in that strongly resist all external violence. These rocks are dis- posed in vertical strata running north and south, and the fibres or laminse are placed in the same direction. In small pieces this struc- ture is often not easily discernible; but it is always very conspi- cuous in large masses, or when the rock begins to decay. The strata diXe, intercepted by fissures crossing them at right angles; but never, so far as I observed, containing any extraneous fossil, such as quartz or felspar. In decay, this rock has a tendency to form long cylindrical masses, which from their fibrous nature have somewhat the appearance of petrified logs of timber. The most common of these strata are various kinds of gneiss, which may be cut here into pillars of any size, and afford admirable materials for fine buildings. Some of it is very small grained, and assumes the form which by some mineralogists is called regenerated granite. In some of the buildings here are columns of this kind, which are of an excellent quality, and cut remarkably well. The people could not tell from whence they had been brought. Many other strata consist of a granite!, composed of hornblend-slate, quite black, and mixed with white quartz. When broken longitudinally, the quartz forms veins ; when transversely, it forms spots. It might perhaps be called a hornblend porphyry. Here are also strata of schistose Mica; one of which is decayed into a kind of earth called Nama, and is a source of some profit to the place. It is supposed to have been created by Garuda, or the mythological eagle on which Krishna rides ; and near this is used bv all the Sri Jutishuaxam MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 79 Brahvwns, and their followers, to mark their foreheads. Some o\ it CHAPTER is, for this purpose, sent even to Kdsi, or Benares. Sonic Vaialma- ^^^^^^^ vams work it by digging the whole substance out of the beds in Allnu^t30. which it lies, and throwing it into large vessels of water. It is •well stirred about; and, while the mica swims, the fragments of quartz remain at the bottom, and are taken out by the hand. The mica is then allowed to subside, and forms into a mass, which is divided into small pieces, and afterwards made into balls by being moistened in water. These are sold for use, and are perfectly ■white. Slit A umst. — In the mornino; my interpreter informed me, that Au2;ii5t3i. last night, until a' late hour, he had attended the council ot Bran- i\xeH}/i/imans- via ns at the temple. After a long deliberation, it was determined |.",|i°„"|nj-o"r that they would give him a verse, ov SWcam containing the era that raation. I wanted to know, enigmatically expressed, as is usual in these verses. They also explained the enigma to him in the vulgar language, and gave him a copy of this, which he might show ; but they enjoined him by no means to expose to profane eyes the Slokam, a request that he treated with great contempt. It was also determined, that they would neither copy any part of the book, nor permit it to be seen, under pretence of its having been carried away by the Ma- rattahs. What could induce them to adopt such an excuse, I cannot tell. Before a hundred people at my tent, and these the chief in- habitants of the place, a man venerated for his years, his learning, and his piety, declared himself possessed of the book, and received money to defray the expense of copying a part of it; and now he ■was not ashamed to declare, that thirty years ago he had been robbed of it. To do him justice, he offered to refund the money ; but my interpreter refused it, having no orders to rescind the bar- gain. It had, indeed, been by his advice that I had made the ad- vance. He alleged, that in his cast no promises of reward are looked upon as good for any thing ; but that the immediate view of so A JOURNEV FROM LIADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER the money produces strong effects; and, after receiving the money, ^'^- the faithful performance of what a Bralonau undertakes may very August 31. generally be expected. ofihe'couii- I ^^^^^^ went to Tonuru-Caray, hy the Mussulmans called Muti ^'^Y' Talau, or the pearl-tank, a name given to it by one of the Mogul officers who visited the place. From Mail-cotay it is distant three cosses. The intermediate country is very rough, containing only a narrow fertile band on the sides of a water-course, which, after heavy rain, conveys some water from Mail-cotay into the reservoir o^ Tomiru. This band is at present cultivated only in part, all the dry fields being entirely unoccupied. Although these are almost a continued bed of loose nodules of M'hite quartz, they have for- merly been cultivated ; and to make room for the plough, the stones have in many places been gathered up into ridges. At pre- sent, the country is quite bare ; but the remaining stumps show, that the whole way between the two places an avenue of trees for- merly sheltered the road. History of At Tonui'u I found some intelligent Bru/unaiis, who told me that Rama Anuja. ^^^^ translation of the verses given me at Mail-cotay \f^s a, false one; and that the real meaning of them is, that Ruma Anuja AcJu'trya was born in the year of the Kali-yugam 4118, or the year 1025 of the Christian era. These Brahmans repeated another Slokam, which makes the birth of Rama Anuja to have happened in the year of Sulh-dhanam 932, or A. D. 1010, a difference only of 15 years. The account oi Rama Anuja, given here, is as follows. Yadavi Puri, now called Totiurii,\vas formerly a place of great note, and the residence of a powerful king named Belalla Rdya. Nine princes of the saUiC name had preceded him, and Ins empire extended to a great distance. Like his ancestors, he was a worshipperof Jiffi/w; and it is said, that in his capital city seven hundred temples were dedicated to that god. At this time Rama Anuja, having taught new opinions in the country below the Ghats, was persecuted by SholaRaja, or RIYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 81 the king of Tanjore, who was a strenuous supporter of the Smartal CHAPTER Br/thmans. Rama Anuja was obliged to retreat from this persecu- v^^^.^ tion, and come to the court of Belalla Raya. The daughter of this '^"S"'' ^^' prince M^as then possessed by Brimma Racs/iasu, a female devil, who rendered the princess so foolish, that she was unable even to dress herself The king had carried his daughter to all the temples of his idol ; and all his priests, who were generally admitted to be very skilful magicians, had attempted to free the princess from the monster; but all these efforts were vain. Rama Amtja having ob- tained permission to try his power, he presented the princess with some consecrated ocymum (Tuls't), and sprinkled her with holy water; on which she was immediately restored to her understand- ing. The king then declared, that he would follow Rdum Amija as his Guru, and worship Vishnu; whereupon the Brahvian gave him the name of Visluiu Vardana Ruya, and bestowed on him Chakrantikam and Upadisa. The priests of Jaina, as may be naturally supposed, wcrt enraged with the Brahman for having converted their king ; and a grand dispute took place before the whole court. After eighteen days of disputation, the Jainas were fully confuted: some of them took Chak- rantikam, some made their escape, and the remainder were put to the terrible death which I formerly mentioned. The king then present- ed a large sum of money to his new Guru. With this that Brahman pulled down all the temples of the Jainas, and with the materials built the great reservoir. He also repaired three temples o^ Vishnu that had long been quite deserted, and in one of them he rebided three years. He then had a dream, in which Narayana ordered him to go to Mail-cotay, and to repair the temple oi' Ramapriya. This is the original name of the idol now called Chillapulla Raya ; and I have already related the fable concerning the origin of that name; which was told heie also, with very little variation. On his return from Dehli with the image, Rama Anuja repaired the temple, and Vol. n. M 82 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER promulgated the laws that are now observed by the A'apigar Biuik- ^'^^- mans. He resided there fourteen years ; when, the S/iola. lluja that Augusts!, had persecuted him having died, he went to Sri Rangam, near Tritchenopoly, and there also had very great success against the infidels, converting them by means similar to those which were used at Tonuru. Tonuni or '^^^ ^"^y remains of the ancient city are some ruins of the walls, Yadava- which are sufficient to show that they were of great extent. The three temples said to have been repaired by Rdwa Anuja are in good pre- servation, and must either have been founded by him, or entirely rebuilt ; which last is the most probable opinion. Before that time, they were perhaps small buildings belonging to a persecuted or newly established sect. Their present size is very considerable. The Sultan had converted one of them into a fort, and made it the residence of an Asoph, or lord lieutenant; but it has now been purified, and I found that an infidel could not be admitted within the gate. At no place in the peninsula have I found that a European could get admission into the shrine, or chamber in which the idol is placed. In most cases, indeed, the door will be opened ; but as there is no light in any of these places, except that of a glimmering lamp, I have never been able to discern the form of any of the idols that are worshipped by the Brahmans : they are said, however, to be of the same form with the images without, thousands of which are placed about the temples as ornaments, and which any one may see, handle, or purchase. These are not at all objects of adoration ; the divinity not having been placed in them by the powerful 3Iaii' trams of a Brahman. Great tank. The reservoir, or Yadavi Nuildi, is a very great work. Two moun- tain torrents here had united their streams, and forced a way through a gap between two rocky hills. Rama Anuja stopped up this gap by a mound, said to be 78 cubits high, 150 cubits long, and at the base 250 cubits thick. The superfluous water is let off MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 83 by a channel, which has been cut with oreat labour thiouoh one of CHAPTER the hills, at such a height, as to enable it to water a great deal of \^^^,^ the subjacent plain, which is three or four miles in extent. When A"S"st3i. the reservoir is full, it contains a sufficient quantity of water to supply the cultivators for two years ; but owing to failures of rain, the water frequently continues lower than the opening of the out- let. Although the torrents bring clown much sand, it so happens that the reservoir is never affected by that circumstance ; for the two streams enter in such directions, as to force all the sand to- ward the extreme corners, without diminishing the main depth. A few yeai"s ago the Sultan destroyed this favourite monument of the great Hindu doctor, which had been built with the spoils of re- futed heretics, and was hence doubly valued by every true follower of the Purdnas. Tippoo cut a narrow trench through the mound ; and the water, having got vent, rushed forth with such violence as to sweep away two thirds of the whole. Although the demolition of this work by Tippoo was but a just retaliation for the enormities by which it had been erected, nothing could be more absurd or impolitic, both as giving offence to his subjects, and as injuring the resources of the country. The motive that induced him to act so foolishly is doubtful. Some say, that he expected by draining the reservoir to find a great treasure, and that he thought he should be able to effect this without the demolition of the worlc, which, contrary to his wishes, was swept away by the violence of the tor- rent undermining the foundations. Others attribute the action to a sudden ebullition of bigotry, which was his ruling passion. Near the place there is a monument dedicated to one of the fanatical followers of Mahmud Ghizni, who had penetrated this length, and had here suffered martyrdom. Very early a monument had been erected over his grave, and the .S'«//fl?2 had buried one of the ladies of his family by the side of the stair which leads up to the tomb of the reputed saint. When he destroyed the reservoir, he had been on a 84 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH August 31. Amildar of Mail-colay. CHAPTER visit to this sacred place; and his zeal a<;ainst the infidels had been V'll . , v^,^ -i^^ inflamed into rage by the recollection of the martyrdom : the monu- ment of the Mussulman was enlarged, and endowed with the spoils which the. BrahmanshdiA torn from the priests of Jaina. The former establishment in the mausoleum of this fanatic is supported at the Company's expense; and a robust intelligent saint (Peer) receives annually £00 Pagodas, and performs the proper ceremo- nies. From the Mysore govei'nment the temples annually receive 300 Pagodas. The town is increasing fast, and will, no doubt, be soon a con- siderable place ; for orders were given by General Harris for the immediate rebuilding of the tank, and the Amildar has already made great progress in the work. This Brahman, whom Hyder, in one of his invasions of the dominions of Arcot, carried away from Kiinji, has been appointed Ainildar of the lands which were restored to the Brdhmaiis of Mail-cotay. When informed of their conduct, he was greatly enraged, and sent immediately for the leaders of the council. He did this, partly to inform them of the necessity there was for performing their engagements with me; and partly, by the jour- ney, to punish their folly. He told them, that as the English gen- tlemen had always protected the Brdhmans, there could be no reason for concealing their books, of which no one would attempt to de- prive them. He then told me, that under the former government these poor people had got into such habits of lying, as a kind of skreen from oppression, that they were now utterly incapable of speaking the truth. The Brdhmans of Tonuru are very communi- cative, Avhich the Ainildar attributed to their poverty. The strata here are similar to those at Mail-cotay ; but are so intersected by fissurfes, as to be of no use for building. On the rising ground north from the reservoir a severe battle •was fought between the Marattahs and Hyder. The latter was com- pletely defeated, and all his army destroyed, except one corps, with Strata. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 85 which he fled into Seinngapatam, passing hy the western end of the CHATTEU hills. kJ}}^ 1st September. — I went three cosses to the northern hank of the ^f^'- ^- ^ ^ QuaiT)' of Cavery, at Sf^ri/igapatinn. By the way, I examined the quarry of granite. gray granite at C/dca A/al/i/ Betia, which is the hest in the neigh- bourhood. It is about six miles north from Seringapatam. The Avorkmen have nev-er cut upon the solid rock, but have contented themselves with splitting the lower blocks that cover the surface of the hill, and a stone 12 cubits long is reckoned a very large one. Longer ones, if wanted, might no doubt be obtained by cutting into the solid rock. This granite, in its appearance, has nothing either of a fibrous or foliated texture; but in fact its parts are so disposed, that the stone splits much easier in one direction than in any other. The workmen cannot judge of this by external appear- ance ; but they try the block by chipping it in various parts, until they find out the direction in which the wedge will have its most powerful effects. Ift decay, the plates of which the rock consists are abundantly conspicuous. This stone is easier wrought than that o^ Mail- cot ay ; but, owing to the coarseness of its grain, cannot be cut into such fine figures. Chica Mally Betta and the French rocks, as we call them, are two Appearance small rocky hills, which rise up in the middle of the country between ( , Tonuru and the Cwcery. In no other place, except the Kari-ghat hill, is the surface too steep for the plough. All the low ground has formerly been cultivated, though in many places the declivity of the fields is great. North from the canals a very small portion of the arable land is at present in cultivation ; and even under the canals there is waste land, although these noble works are now full of water, and send forth copious streams to ail the fields between them and the river. Owing to the steepness of the ground, many of the rice plots are not above six feet square ; and the ingenuity and la- bour with which they have been formed almost equal those of th& Chinese terraces. 6« A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER 1st — ith September 1800. — I remained at Serbigapalam repairing ^'IJ- my equipage, and making ready for the journey. The Caveri/ is now Sept. 1 — t. full, and contains a large rapid stream ; but its water is by no means RiverCaiery. ^njgg^j-^ a.nd is reckoned unwholesome. The town is so low, that at this season many of the houses are damp and unhealthy ; and the air of the eastern end of the island is still more prejudicial to the human constitution. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 87 CHAPTER VIIL JOURNKY THROUGH THE PART OF KARNATA SOUTH FROM THB CAVERY. /~\ N the 5tli oi September, I went one coss to Pal-hiilly. Owing to CHAPTER ^~^^ some mistake, my ba^'gage missed the way; and, after having ^'iU. wandered the wliole day, arrived in the evening \x\\\\ tlie cattle Sept. 5. SO fatigued, that on the day following it was impossible to move. 6th Septanber. — Pal-huUy formerly contained a thousand houses; Sept. 6. but during the siege ofSerhigapcUam, as it was in the immediate rear "''" H' of the camp of General Harris, it was entirely destroyed. A hundred houses have been rebuilt, and the inhabitants are daily returning. It is situated on the bank of the lower of the two canals that are Canals for ir- forced by dams from the Caverij to water the district called Maha- "■'*'"<"'• sura Ashta-gram. This canal now contains a fine stream, like a small river. It never becomes entirely dry, and enables the farmer, even in the dry season, to have a crop of rice on part of his fields. Here were formerly many palm-gardens ; but the army, in order State of the to procure fire-wood, and materials for the trenches, destroyed the ^;^^)).""',",„ Avhole. They have now been planted again. In this district a good district. deal of sugar-cane is raised ; and some persons have lately come here to make sugar. Formerly all the juice was made into Jagory. The present stock is sufficient to cultivate the greater part of the watered-land, but more than half of the dry field is waste. Although the river abounds with fish, very few are caught by Fish. the natives; for that kind of food is not a favourite one with the people of Mysore, About the villages swine are now beginning to accumulate, as a Swiue. 88 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VIII. Sept. 7. Strata. State of the district of Muhasura Nasara, Sept. 8. Hicani/ pura, or Hussein- poor. Lakshmana tirta river, and its canals. great proportion of the farmers eat pork. Under the Sultan's go- vernment it was necessary to conceal these impure animals. 7th September. — I went .three cosses to Gungural-C/iatur, which is situated in the Mahdsiira Nagara Taluc, or district of the city of Mysoi'e, and distant three cosses from that place. The country is uneven, but contains no hills. Its strata consist of gneiss, schistose hornblende, and schistose mica, and run nearly north and south. Much of the surface, especially toward the west, is broken, stony, and barren ; but a great proportion has been formerly cultivated. This, however, is by no means the case at present ; for I have seen no part of the country that has suffered more by the operations of war. It has never, indeed, recovered since it was ravaged by a Marattah, Avhose forces the terror of the natives has augmented to a hundred thousand cavalry. This part of the country con- tains scarcely any reservoirs or rice-ground, and is very bare, having few or no trees. At all the villages in this neighbourhood there have been palm-gardens, which were watered by the hand, for machinery has never been employed here. All the villages be- tween Gungural-Chatur and Seringapatam are open ; but the former, although it has always been a sorry place, is fortified. 8th September. — I went three Sultany c'osses to Muluro. At the distance of one coss from Gungural-Chatur 1 came to Sicany-pura, which by the Mussulmans Avas called Husseinpoor. It had been given in Jaghir to 3Ieer Sacluc, the favourite minister of Tippoo Sultan; and, although an open town, it has been a neat place with wide streets, which crossed each other at right angles. More than half of the houses are now in ruins. On the approach of one of our foraging parties, it was entirely destroyed by Purnea acd Cummur ucf Deen Khan, and a few onlv of the houses have been rebuilt. At a short distance west from Sica))y-pura is a fine little river called the Lakshmana tirta, which comes from the south-west, and rises among the hills of the country which we call Coorg. At all times MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 89 it contains a stream of water, and in the rainy season is not ford- CHAPTER able. It supplies six canals to water the country. The Anas, or ^'^^• dams, that force the water into these canals, are fine works, and Sept. s. produce beautiful cascades. One of them is broken down, but the other five are in good repair ; and, in fact, one of them that I saw supplied more water than was wanted ; for a quantity sufficient to turn a mill was allowed to run back into the river through a sluice. Owing to a want of cultivators, a great deal of rice-ground is waste. It is said, that the Avhole land formerly watered by the canals of the Laks/imaim amounted to 7000 Candacas sowing; but t\\t Can- dacas are small, and contain only from 100 to 140 Seers each. If the seed be sown here as thick as at Seringapatarn, the 7000 Candacas. would amount to about 18,000 acres. The country on this day's route is no where steep, and rises into State of the 1 1- • • 1 1 11 •! • • 1 country, of gentle acclivities ; but near the road tiie soil is in general poor cultivation, and hard, and from thence very little cultivation is visible. This '*"'^ of stock. part of the country is at present covered with low trees. The pas- ture is better than common, owing probably to a greater quantity of rain. On either hand, I am informed by the officers of govern- ment, the soil is much better, and about one half of the arable land is in cultivation, I am persuaded, however, that this is not the case, and that almost the whole of the country has been at one time ploughed. The custom here is to separate the fields either by hedges, or by leaving between them uncultivated spaces from four to ten feet wide, which are covered with Mimosas, or other trees ; which adds greatly to the beauty of the country, and, by preserv- ing the moisture, probably contributes to the fertility of the land. I think that I can every \vhere observe traces either of the hedges, or of these woody spaces, except in a few spots covered with the Elate sylvestris, or Avild date, and of these the soil is said to be saline. Perhaps, however, the devastation may have been com- mitted before the memory of the present generation, and before the formation of the present village accompts, and one half of the Vol. II. N 50 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VI 1 1. Sept. 8. Condition of the Mussul- mans, and llieir attach- ment to the late Sultan. Aiiacvts on the Caxery and Laksh- mana. Tenures. wliole lands entered in tliem as aral)le may be cultivated. The greater part of the cultivators perished during the invasion by Lord Cornwallis, chiefly owing to the ravages committed by a party of Marat talis, and to the consequent famine. None died last year owing to the war, although many lost their effects ; and at present the inhabitants amount to about one half of the number that were living in the early part of Tippoo's reign. Last year, three fourths of the cattle perished by the epidemic distemper. The Mussulmans who were in Tippoo's service are daily coming to this part of the countr}-. Those who have any means carry on a small trade in grain ; those who are poor hire themselves to the farmers, either as servants or day-labourers. Being unacquainted with agriculture, they are only hired when others cannot be pro- cured. Their Avages are, of course, low, and their monthly allow- ance is thirty Seers of grain (worth three Fanams] and one Fanam in cash; all together about 2*. 8r/. They, however, prefer this to en- listing in the service of the Company along with the infidels who killed the royal martyr. Muluro is an open village which contains about forty houses, and is pleasantly situated about two cosses south from the Caxery. On this river there are here Anacuts, or dams, watering as much land as those of the districts called Ashia-grams do. The dams on the Lakshmana are said to be of greater antiquity than those which Chica Deva Rat/a, the Curtur of Mysore, constructed on the Ca- ve ry ; but the memory of the person's name by Mhom they were erected has perished. In this part of the country there are no hereditar}- Gaitdas, or chiefs of villages, whose duties are performed by renters. Some of these really rent their villages, and agree to pay annually a cer- tain sum. Others receive wages, and account for Mhat they col- lect. Neither can legally take from the cultivators more than the custom of the village permits. This custom was established by one of the Mysore Rajas. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 9J In Hyder's government two Brdhmans, witli the title of Hircaras, CHAPTER resided in each district (Taluc). Their duty was, to hear all com- vX^lil, plaints, and to report these to the office of the revenue department. Sept. s. They were also bound to report all waste lands. This was found to inspectors be a considerable check to oppression, and to defalcations on the ^"ip'oyecl by { ' , _ H.dtrlopK- revenue; but, no doubt, was inferior to the visits of the Resident vent abuses. and Dewan, who in this part of their duty are indefatigable. Such visits were however impracticable to princes like Hyckr or the Sultan. Tippoo disused these Hircaras ; and this measure of economy con- Defect inth? tributed much to the oppression of the people, and to the diminu- yernmem^"" tion of the revenue. It is not supposed that, during the latter part of his government, more than a fourth part of the nominal revenue entered the treasury ; the country having been depopu- lated by various means, and every I'ascal through whose hands any of the public money passed having taken a share ; for to such delinquents the Sultan was remarkably lenient, an error of govern- ment which flatterers call liberality. Water for drinking is here very scarce and very bad, yet the Scarcity of people have never attempted to dig wells. 9th September. — I went to Emmaguma Cotagaht. The country is Sept. 9. nearly of a similar appearance to that which I saw yesterday, and o/'t^fj^l^u^t has been equally desolated. In one place there is a small rocky t'y- hill ; but every other part, near the road, seems capable of culti- vation. As we approach the western Ghats, the vegetation becomes evidently stronger, and the fields have somewhat of a summer verdure. A large proportion of them have even the soil entirely hidden by grass. I am told, that this season the rains have been much less copious than usual, but yet the crops look well. Tiie quantity of grain called Car-ragy gradually increases as we advance to the westward : about Serh/gapatam, and in the country toward the eastern Ghats, ao such crop is known. Here the capsicuiii; ^i A JOURNEY FROM INIADRAS THROUGH (Chapter VIII. Sept. 9. CutfayMala- luxcadi town anil district. Cotagala. Scarcity of water. Sept. 10. Appearance of the coun- try, and cli- ina,tc. ripens with the natural moisture of the climate ; there it requires to be watered. About midway is Cuttai/ Jl/ahilarcafU, a large mud fort, and the chief town (Kasba) of a district (Taluc). About thirty years ago it was fully inhabited, and had a large suburb (Petta); while the cultivation all around was complete. At that period a JSIarattah army, commanded by Badji Row, laid every thing waste, and most of the inhabitants perished of hunger. So complete was the de- struction, that even the excellent governmeirt of Hyder did not restore to the district more than one lialf of its former cultivation. The town never regained its inhabitants, and was occupied by forty or fifty houses of Bi^dhmans, who lived scattered amid the ruins. The suburb, however, was completely rebuilt. In the invasion of Lord Cornwallis every thing was again ruined; nor could any place recover under the subsequent government of Tippoo. At the com- mencement of the late war, the population amounted to about a fourth of the former inhabitants, and few or none have since pe- rished ; but they lost much of their property, the town having been burned and the fort dismantled by the orders of Tippoo, as he re- tired after the unsuccessful attack Mdiich he made on the Bombay army at Seduseer (Siddhesicara). Cotagala, although it gives its name to a district, is an open vil- lage containing about twenty houses, and situated about a mile from another called Emmagnma ; whence the names of the two arc commonly mentioned together. The water for drinking is here also very bad and scarce. The w^ells have not been dug to a greater depth than twelve feet. 10th Septe.mber. — I went three cosses to Pnya-pattana, which in our maps is called Periapatam. The country strongly resembles that which I have seen on the two preceding days ; but is still less cul- tivated. Some parts near Cotagala are rather hilly, and there are no remains to show that these have ever been cultivated. The MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 93 trees there are high, and extend even to the summits of the hills ; CHAPTER Avhich I have not observed to be the case any where to the east- ^^^.^^i^ ward. Near Prii/n-pattana are many small pools, that contain water Sept. lo. all the year, although they never overflow so as to give origin to rivers. They are surrounded by meadows; but, on account of their diminutive size, cannot be called lakes. Near the villages on this day's route there are many palm-gardens in a very neglected state. The tanks also are ruinous, although many in number ; for even here the rain is not sufficient to bring a crop of rice to maturity. I am told, that in the Coduga, or Coorg country, the rains are fully Coduga, or . . p • Coorg, very sufficient for this purpose; accordingly, great quantities of rice productive of are raised there, and much of it is exported, partly towards Cha- ""* trakal, and partly towards Seringapaiam. Every day, on an average, seventy oxen loaded with this grain pass Cotagala. Priya-pattana, or the chosen city, formerly belonged to a Poly- Poh/gars of ga)' family nn.med Nan di Raj. These princes were related to the ;„'/„." ^ Vir' Rajas, or Rajas of Coduga, and both families wore the Linga. The territories of iVif/«r/i 7?^// included the two districts o^ Priya- pattana and Bettada-pura, producing an annual revenue of 30,000 Pagodas {936\ /. os. 8^:^/.), and extending about twenty-four miles east from the frontier of Coduga, and about thirty miles south from the Cavery, which bounded them on the north. At that time the fort was a small square, defended only by a mud wall. It con- tained the Mahal, or palace of the Raja; and three temples, one of Siva, one of Jaina, and one of Veidhwara, who is one of the destruc- tive spirits. This last was the largest. In the centre of the palace the Raja had built a hall, which is now unroofed ; but many orna- ments, of neatly carved teak-rvood, still remain. As usual in Hindu houses, this Mahal was a square surrounded by a corridore ; but the central area was covered with a dome, which is not common. Under the dome was suspended a swing, for the amusement of the Rtja, and of his Momen ; for the natives of India are very fond of 94, A JOURNEY FIIOIVI MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER this exercise, which is well fitted for vacant minds. Two years y^^,^^,^,.^ after having finished this building, and about 160 years ago, this Sept, 10. Ec'ija was attacked by Chica Deva Rdya, the Curtur of Mysore ; and finding himself unable to resist so powerful an enemy, he killed his wives and children, and then died sword in hand in the midst of his enemies. With this, it would appear, the prosperity of the country ceased ; as it was ever afterwards a subject of dispute be- tween the princes of Mysore and the Vir' Rayas, or Coorg Rajas. Chica Deva, however, enlarged the place, and surrounded the mud fort by one built of stone, and placed at some distance without the old works. In this outer fort he settled a colony of BrdlimanSy and built a temple dedicated to Vishnu. War between On 7)/i/?oo'^ accession, in order, I suppose, to distress the inhabi- .u^'f-'^Mj" tants of Coorg;, and thus to make their pi'ince, the Vif Rdua, submit to his authority, he interdicted all communication with that coun- try ; and ordered, that all such of its inhabitants as might be found in his dominions should be instantly put to death. This restraint was severely felt by the people of Coorg, who, being entirely sur- rounded by the dominions of the Sultan, had no means of selling their produce, nor of procuring foreign commodities. The Fir' Ri'iya sent an embassy to the Sultan, and represented that it had always been customary for his merchants to trade with those of Mysore and Malayula, and that he was forced by necessity to require that this custom should not be abolished. He received no answer, but a contemptuous defiance; and immediately commenced a pre- datory warfare, at which his subjects are very expert, and which they had been accustomed to carry on even to the gates oi Mysore, before the dread of Hyder's vigorous government had repressed their insolence. In one of these incursions, seventeen years ago, the Vir Rdya fell into the hands of Tippoo, by v/hom he was confined four years in Priya-pattana, with a yearly allowance of 300 Pagoilas for a subsistence. The walls of the hovel in which he was coufined MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 9i are still shown to strangers. One of his sisters Avas forced into the CHAPTER ^ VIII. Zenana of Tippoo, and to her intercessions the Rdi/a probably owed k,^^,-^^ his life. ^'i"- ^«' The Cooro- country, deprived of its active gallant prince, fell Conquest and under the yoke of Tippoo, who built in it a fortress called Jaffer- bythcSultan. lihad, and placed there a strong garrison. After the Vif Rdya had been four years confined, he was set at liberty by twelve Gaudas, or chiefs of villages, who entered the town in a concealed manner, and carried their master into his own dominions, where he was in- stantly joined by all ranks of people ; and Tippoo's possessions in that country were soon after confined within the walls of Jajfer-abad. The Raja's troops Mere quite unfit for besieging the place ; but he succeeded in cutting oft" all supplies, and was not only able to pre- vent any of Tippoo's forces from entering his country, but was also able to plunder the dominions of Mysore ; to which in a great mea- sure is oM'ing the deplorable state of the neighbouring districts. After a long blockade, the Sultan, with much difficulty, conveyed an order to the garrison permitting them to withdraw ; which they attempted to do, but on the route they were cut to pieces. Pre- vious to this the Raja had made repeated demands of assistance from the Bombay government, requesting a few regular troops to enable him to destroy the enemy's fortress; and as General Aber- cromby's army ascended the Ghats about the time when Jaffcr-abad was evacuated, the Raja received them with every mark of kind- ness and attention. At the same time, he took an opportunity of plundering in the most cruel manner the enemy's country in their rear. On the approach of General Abercromby's army to Priya-patfana Destruction the tort contained 500 liouses or Branmans, and the suburb or tana. " Petta, which is at some distance, contained 1000 houses, mostly inhabited by merchants of the sects that wear the Lhiga. Tippoo ordered the houses in both fort and suburb to be destroyed, and sprung some mines to render the fort useless to his enemy. The S6 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER Bruhmans were dispersed through the country ; but many of their yj^l^l^ beautiful girls became a prey to the lust of the Coorg soldiery, and Sept. JO, were carried into captivity. The merchants voluntarily followed a prince of their own religion, Avho has built a large town for their reception, and for that of the people whom in his predatory excur- sions he had swept from Mysore. During the ten days that General Abercromby waited at Priya-pattana, the gunpowder of his army was kept in the temple of Jaina. On his retreat it was left behind ; but Tippoo, instead of applying it to the purposes of war, caused the Avhole to be blown up, and thus had an opportunity of destroying an idolatrous temple, M'hich was one of his favourite amusements. In the interval between the peace granted to Tippoo by Lord Corn- wallis, and the advance of the Bombay army under General Stuart, a small proportion of the inhabitants had returned to both the tort and suburb ; and, in order to overawe the Vir' Ruya, a strong gar- rison Mas kept in the former ; but after the affair at Siddhisxmra every thing was again destroyed by Tippoo. The Vir' Raya did not fail again to plunder the country; and while he carried away a great number of the inhabitants, he got a large booty in sandal-wood» The neighbouring country does not now contain more than one fourth of the inhabitants that would be necessary to cultivate itj and the people have not yet recovered sufficient confidence to venture large flocks of cattle on their fine pastures. Such a temp- tation, they think, could not be resisted by the people of Coorg ; and the territories of a notorious thief, the Cotay hutty Nair (Ri/Ja of CotlofS), are at no great distance. Present state The fortifications at Prtyapattana are quite ruinous, the late patt'am' Saltan having blown up the best works. In the inner fort there are no inhabitants, and tigers have taken entire possession of its ruins. A horse that strayed in a few niglits ago was desti'oyed ; and even at mid-day it is considered as dangerous for a solitary person to enter. It was deemed imprudent for me, who was followed by a multitude, to enter into any of the temples, which serve the tigers MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 97 as shelter from the lieat of the day, by which these animals arc CHAPTER much oppressed. The outer fort contains a few houses of Brah- ^l^fL^ mans, who are forced to shut themselves up at sun-set ; but who Sept. lO. prefer this restraint to living in the suburb among the vulgar. The Petta is recovering faster; but ruins occupy by far the greater space ; and the scanty population is only able to form pathways through the rank vegetation that occupies the streets. The environs of Priya-paltana, although rich and beautiful, are Environs of not at this season pleasant to a person living in tents; for the mois- ^a',,^"^"'* ture of the climate, the softness of the soil, and the rankness of the vegetation, render every thing damp and disagreeable. Toward the east, the uncultivated grounds are half covered with dry thin bushes, especially the Cassia auriculata, and Dodonea viscosa ; but here they are thickly clothed M'ith herbage ; and near the villages, where the ground is manured by the soil of the inhabitants, and of their cattle, the whole is covered with rank weeds, especially the Ocymum molle, Willd.? t.\\e Datura metel, the Amaranthus spinosus, the Alirabilis jalappa, and the Tagetes erccta ; which last, although originally a native oi Peru, is now naturalized every where, from Ilemada-giri to Ramesxcara. The olhcers of government here had the impudence to inform Orienfal ck- mc, that, according to Chica Deva Raj/a's valuation of the coun- try which belonged to Nandi Raj, it contained 32,000 villages, or Grams. Of these the Priya-pattana district ought to contain one half; but 2532 have been utterly deserted, and their sites are now covered with woods. The remaining ones are valued at 14,000 Pagodas a year; but now produce one half only of that sum. The country appears to be by nature excellently fitted for supporting a numerous population; but the account given here seems to be one of those otoss exao-o-erations common in India, and is entirely contradicted by the accounts which I received from the revenue office at Seringapatam, Vol. II. O 98 A JOURNEY FROjM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VIII. .Sept. 11— 13. Alarm of the iiihabilantsat my enquiries. Irrigation, and watered lands. Cultivation of rice. 11th, 12th, and 13th Scptember.-^l leaiained at Priya-pattana, investigating the state of the neighbouring country; in which I had great difficulty from the fears of the people, which were greater there, than in any place in which I had then been. The whole of what I wrote on the first day I was obliged to destroy, and was forced again to go over the same subjects, the first account having been evidently incorrect. Near Priya-pattana, the wet lands are entirely irrigated from re- servoirs; but in the southern parts of the district canals from the Lakshmana tirta afford much water to the farmers. There are none on the Cavery so far to the westward. Two crops are never taken from the same ground in the course of the year, and the only crops raised on watered-land are rice and sugar-cane. The rains in ge- neral set in early, and are copious ; but they do not continue long enough to bring a crop of rice to maturity ; for all the kinds that are cultivated in the rainy season require six months to grow. Small reservoirs, sufficient to contain six or eight weeks water, are there- fore necessary ; and the common crop, called here the Hainu crop, groAVs in the rainy season. When the rains fail in the early part of the year, siCa)-u crop can be taken, if the reservoirs are good ; but, except those of Priya-pattana, few such are in the country. In the annexed table will be seen many of the particulars relative to the cultivation of rice. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 99 Table explaining the cultivation of rice at Priya-patiana. •• Produce Seed. ' 3 In a good crop. In a poor crop. Kinds of Rice i- u ^.e- mT ^ 13 -«" rt "" Season >- -2 ".% , « ^ 1— "3 '-I "-^ Bushels for = ?. Bushels for -a § ?! Bushels on a o an Acre. 1^5 S-? an Acre. i^ s-f an Acre. S ..^ c ^^ -^ Decimals. Decimals. Decimals. Anaputti - - 6 Ilaiiiu 140 l,253()85 30 4200 37,610833 16 2240 20,06 Caimbuti - - 6 ditto M-7 1,316336 mi 350031,342142 nil 2100 18,801347 Conawaly - - 6' ilitlo 154 1,379062 18i^ 2800 25,073888 1 T+q 2100 18,&04347 Saiiabiitta 6 dilto 119 1,06565 21AV 2520 22,566315 Sana Caimbuti 6 ditto 119 1,06565 '-i'T^-V 2520 22,566315 Caru - » - 5 Caru "■ 2800 25,073888 CHAPTER VIII. Septal— 13. I shall now enter into a fuller detail. The only cultivation of any consequence that is used here is the transplanted, or Nati ; yet the natives allow, that if they used the Mola, or sprouted-seed cul- tivation, the quantity of seed required would be much smaller, and the produce somewhat greater. In their defence, for not adopting a manner of cultivation so superior to that now in use, the farmers allege, that it requires more labour, and that there is at present a deficiency of stock. By far the greatest quantity of rice cultivated here is the Hainu cxo^ o^ Anaputti ; on which accordingly Chica Deva iJ«y« formed his Sfdst, or valuation. I measured what was said to be a Candaca land, as rated in the accompts of the district, and found it to con- tain SyWo^cres; on which my calculations in the foregoing table are founded. The following is the manner of cultivating the Hainu Nati, or crop of transplanted rice growing in the rainy season. The ground, on which the seedlings are to be raised, gets seven or eight plough- ings between the middle of Vaisakha and the tenth of Ji/aishtha, which are the second and third months after the vernal equinox. In the intervals between the ploughings, the field is inundated ; Hainu crop of trans- planted rice seedlings. 100 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER but at each time that operatioa is performed, the water is let off. Vl!l. After the last ploua'hinu:, manure with the leaves of the Clumdra Sept.ii— 13. maligy (Mirabilis), or JVomuttuij (Datura nietel) ; but, if these for"nIniuv. caiinot bc had, with the leaves of the Chaudingy (Solanum, not yet described, but which nearly resembles the Verbascifolium) . Then tread the leaves into the mud, sow the seed very thick, and cover it Avith dung. The seed is in general prepared for sowing, by causing it to sprout ; and the reason assigned for so doing is, that it is thereby secured from the birds. This precaution is however sometimes neglected. If the seed has been prepared, or Mola, the field has water during the third, sixth, and ninth days, the water being allowed to remain on the field all day, and being again let off at niglit. On the tenth day the field is filled with water an inch deep, and is kept so till the eighteenth, when that water is let off. Immediately afterwards the field is filled to three inches deep, and is kept thus inundated until the seedlings be fit for transplantation. If the seed be sown dry, it receives water on the first, second, and third days. On the fourth it has the manure which is given to the Mola, when that is sown. It receives water again on the seventh, ■which is let off on the ninth. Water is again given on the thir- teenth, seventeenth, and twenty-first ; and the field is then inun- dated, until the seedlings are fit for transplantation. They must be transplanted between the thirtieth and forty-sixth days. Management The ploughings for the fields into which the seedlings are to bc of the rice- transplanted are performed during the time in which these are growing ; and are done exactly in the same manner as for the field in which the seed has been sown. Stiff ground requires eight ploughings; in a light soil six are sufficient. The manure is given before the last ploughing. The seedlings are pulled in the evening, and kept in water all night. Next morning the field has the last ploughing, and the mud is smoothed by having a plank drawn over it. The seedlings are then planted, and get no water until the eighth day. On the eighth, twelfth, sixteenth, and twentieth days MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 101 tlie water is kept on the field, and is let off at night. The yellow CHAPTER colour occasioned by the transplantation is then changed into a i21!^L/ deep green; after which, until the crop ripens, the field is con- Sept.ii — 13. stantly inundated. In a bad soil, the weeds are removed on the thirtieth day ; in a good soil, on the forty-fifth. The Cam crop, or that raised in the dry season, being taken in Carii crop of bad years only, which do not often happen, the farmers are obliged to procure seed from places where the Caru rice is regularly cul- tivated. They are supplied from Saligrdma, near the Cavery ; a Sali^r&ma^ place which is esteemed holy, as Rama Anuja threw into a tank there his Saligrdma and copper pot. The place is also celebrated on account of its fine rice-grounds, which are supplied Avith water from the river. The ploughing season for the ground in which the seed is to be sown is the second month after the autumnal equinox. The manner of cultivating the Caru crop differs only in the season from that which is used for the Hainu. The farmers here make their sprouted-seed in the following man- Manner of ner. The seed is soaked all night in water, and is then placed ii;i a ™ g"!* °^J heap on a piece of sackcloth, or on some leaves of the plantain-tree seed. (Musa). There it is mixed with some buffalo's dung, and the leaves of the Burir.ay (or Ocijmum molle Willd.?), and covered with pack- saddles. In the evening it is sprinkled with Avarm water, and co- vered again. In the morning and evening of the second day it is sprinkled with cold water, and next day it is fit for sowing. Although the produce is great, the farmers of Pr((/rt-/>«/i?fl'/z^ never Sugar-cane, raise sugar-cane unless chey receive advances. Jw^wj/ sells here at 1 Rupee, or 5^ Fanams a Maund, or at about 9s. ijd. a hundred- weight. The cane is watered from reservoirs ; the natural moisture of the climate not Ijeing sufficient to raise it, and machinery being never employed. Tlie kinds cultivated are Restalli and Maracabo, both of which grow nearly to the same length, which is in general about six feet. The Restalli ripens in twelve months; while eighteen are required to bring forward the Maracabo ; so that, as a crop of 102 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH Cultivation of Maiacabo 5ugar-cane. CHAPTER rice must always intervene between two crops of sugar-cane, the v,^,^^.^ rotation of the former occupies two years; while in that of the Sept.u— 13. Maracabo three are consumed. A little Puttaputti has been lately introduced. For the Jllaracabo plough twenty times, cither in Aszvaja and Kartika, the two months immediately following the autumnal equi- nox ; or in Kartika and Alargas'irsha, which is of course one month later. The canes are planted in the second or third months after the winter solstice. In order to plant the cane, longitudinal and transverse furrows are drawn throughout the field, distant from each other one cubit and a half; at every intersection a hole is made, nine inches wide, and of the same depth; in each hole are laid horizontally two cuttings of cane, each containing three joints; finally under them is put a little dung, and above them an inch of mould. Then water each hole with a pot, from a channel running at the upper end of the field. On the two following days this must be repeated. Until the end of the third month, water every other day. From the third to the sixth month, the field must, once in eight days, be ploughed between the rows of holes ; and at the same time, should there be any want of the usual rain, it must be watered. At the first ploughing a little dung must be given, and at the end of six months the field must'be copiously manured. At this time channels are formed winding through among- the canes ; so that every row is between two channels. When the rainy season is ovei-, these channels must be filled with Avater, once in eight days in hot weather, and once a month when it is cool. At the beginning of the eighth month the whole field is hoed, and at the end of two months more this is repeated. The cane here is never tied up. A Candaca-land is estimated to contain 7000 holes ; but in this there must be some mistake; for allowing \\ cubit for each hole, 7000 Avould not plant an acre ; whereas the Candaca of land that I mea- sured contained 3:j-VVo ^cres. Tlie produce of a Candaca of land is stated to be about 14,000 Seers, each of 24 Rupees v/QighX; which, MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 103 according to my measurement, would be about 19|- hundred-weight CHAPTER of J<7o-o/-j/ per acre : but, if 7000 holes at the distance from each ^^I'- other of \^ cubit produced this quantity, it would be at the rate of Scpt.ii — 13. above 93 hundred-weight for the acre, which is much more than can be allowed. The sugar-mill used here is the same with that which the farmers Su^ar-miU. of Chcnapatam employ. In the course of twenty-four hours it gives as much juice as produces three boilings, each of about a hundred- weight of Jagory. A farmer, if he has four ploughs, and four constant labourers, Labour per- can cultivate a Candaca-land alternately with sugar-cane and with *^"'""'^'' ^y ■^ _ ^ one plough. rice; but at weedings, and such other occasions, he must hire ad- ditional A\^orknien. He will, however, cultivate thirty-five Seers sowing of Rogy. The Pyr-aurumha, or dry-crops, at Priya-pattana are, Reigy with Pi/r-avrim' its concomitants /haray, Tovary, Navony, Harulii, Tadagimy, and ^^'J^^ ^^' mustard, Huruli, Udii, Caf Ellu, Mar'' Ellu, wheat, Carlay, and Shamay. The only TJtf^j/ cultivated here is called Crtrw ; which does not Kinds of Car' differ in species, botanically speaking, from the Gyd' P-^gy culti- jiosurus\QTii- vated to the eastward ; but the seed of the Gyd' Ragy, cultivated canus. as the Caru kind is, \vill not thrive. There are three kinds of Car^ Ragy : the Balaga, or straight spiked Ragy, which is always sown separately from the others ; the Bily Modgala, or white Ragy with ' incurved spikes, and the Cari Modgala, or incurved black Ragy : the two latter are sometimes kept separate, and sometimes sown intermixed. The cultivation for all the three is quite the same, and the value of the different kinds is equal; but the produce of the Cari Modgala is rather the greatest. A rich black soil is here esteemed the best for Ragy ; next to Soils fiited fhat the red soil usually preferred to the eastward; but it is sown "^^ also on sandy land, and grows there very well, if it have plenty of manure. 104 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGFI CHAPTER A few clays after reaping the former crop, the field is ploughed, and ,X}j\l, the ploughings are repeated once or twice a month, as opportunity SL-pt.ii— 13. offers, till within fifteen days of the sowing season, which lasts all anti produce the two months following the vernal equinox, lu the course or oiCurRagy. ji^ggg fifteen days two ploughings are given; and then the field is manured with dung, and ploughed again. After the first shower of rain that happens, sow the Ragy seed broad-cast, and plough it in; at the same time put in rows of the accompanying seeds, at two cubits distance, by dropping them in the furrow after a plough. On the fifteenth, twenty-second, and twenty-ninth days, draw the hoe called Cuntay through the field, in order to destroy superfluous plants. On the forty-fifth day remove weeds with a knife. The Ragy is ripe in four months. The fields rated in the public ac- compts, as being of a size sufficient to sow a Candaca of Ragy, in fact require somewhat more. I measured one, and found it to con- tain 7- ,V^% acres ; and making allowance for the difference between the public accompts and the quantity said to be usually sown, we may estimate that 7 acres are sown with one Candaca oi" Ragy seed. One acre will therefore sow 2tVo pecks ; and, thirtj^-two seeds being reckoned a good crop, will produce in favourable circum- stances rather more than 227- bushels, beside what grows in the drills. A second In very rich soils, nothing is put in drills along with Ragy ; but j^gy^^ immediately after that grain has been cut, a second crop of Carlay (Cicer arietinum) is sown, M^hich does not injure the ground. Some- times a second crop of Sliamay [Panicum miliare E. M.), or of Huts' Ellu (Verbes'ina satka Roxb: INISS.), is taken; but these exhaust the soil much. When rain does not come at the proper season, the Ragy fields are sown with HnruU, Carlay, Huts' Ellu, or Cari- Shamay. The two leguminous plants do not injure the soil; but the Huts' Ellu and Shamay render the succeeding crop of Ragy very poor. Ragy straw is here esteemed the best fodder for cattle ; and, except in times of scarcity, that of rice is never used. 1^1 YSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 105 The pulse called Hiiruli is, next to Rimi, the most considerable CHAPTER VIII dry-erop. It is of two kinds, white and black; but they ai-e never k^^^..,^ kept separate. It grows best on a light or stony soil, and the largest ^y|^):,/^,^'^J,^ crops are had after a fallow of three years ; but when there is a suf- ik/ius bif/o- ficient number of farmers, no ground is kept fallow ; the fields of a „,.gj„^ poor soil, not fit for Ragy, are cultivated alternately with Hiiruli, and Avith Mar' Ellu, or Cari Shamay. The crop of HuruU that is sown on Ragy-Xd^nd when the rain fails is very poor. For Huriili plough two or three times in the course of ten days, during the month immediately preceding the autumnal equinox. Then after the first rain sow the seed, and cover it with the plough. It ripens in three months. The husks are reckoned good fodder. The quan- tity of seed is half as much as that of Ragy, or about 1-'—- peck an acre ; and, twenty seeds being reckoned a good crop, an acre will produce rather less than 7 bushels. Cari Shamay is the next most considerable dry-crop. How far CariShamoy, this differs from the Sal Shamay, which is the Panicum viiliare E. M., I had no opportunity of learning. However, it is probably a mere variety. It is commonly sown on the poorer soils alternately with HuruU ; but is also occasionally sown on i?fl!^''3'-fields, when in the early part of the season there has been a failure of rain. In the last case, the crop of Shamay is great ; but the succeeding crop of Ragy is very bad. The cultivation commences in the month pre- ceding the vernal equinox. Plough then three or four times, sow broad-cast, and harrow with the rake drawn by oxen. It ripens in three months without farther trouble. The straw is here never given to cattle. For the same extent of ground the same quantity of Shamay seed is required as of Ragy. The produce in a good crop is twenty fold, or rather less than fourteen bushels an acre. The next most considerable crops are the leguminous plants called Carlay and Udu, of which about equal quantities arc raised. Carlay s.\\va.y% requires a black mould; and is cultivated partly Cmlny, or _ as a second crop after Ragy, and partly on fields that have given num. Vol. II. P lOG A JOURNEY PROIM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER no other crop in the year. In this case, the produce is much v«*-^-*»^ greater, and the manner of cultivation is as follows. In the two Septal— 13. months preceding the autumnal equinox, the Ragy having been cut, the field is ploughed once a month for fourteen or fifteen months. Then in the course of four or five days plough twice. After the last ploughing, drop the seed in the furrows at six inches distance from each other, and it ripens without farther trouble. The seed is sown as thick as that of Ragy, and a Candaca sowing in a good crop produces 1400 Seers, which is at the rate of rather less than seven bushels an acre. DodaUdu. There are here two kinds of the pulse called Udu ; the Doda, or great, which is reaped in the dry season ; and the Chittu, or little, which comes to maturity in the rains. I had no opportunity of learning how far the great differs from the little Udii, which is the Phaseolus minimos of Dr. Roxburgh's MSS. It is cultivated on good Ragy-%o\h, and is taken as an alternate crop with that grain. After cutting the Ragy the field is ploughed once a month for a year. At the last ploughing some people sow the seed broad-cast, and cover it with the plough ; others drop it into the furrow after the plough. In this last case, the young plants are always too thick; and when they are a month old, part of them must be destroyed by the hoe drawn by oxen. If sown broad-cast, the weeds at the end of a month must be removed by the hand. The seed required is -V of that sown of Ragy, or rather less than a peck for the acre. Tlie broad-cast sowing gives least trouble, and produces about S^V bushels an acre. The drilled C/ir/i< produces -|- more. It ripens in three months. Chittu Udu, The Cliittii, or lesser Udu, is cultivated at the same season w'ith mhihnoT ^^'^ ^^""' ^^^gy> ^^^ requires four months to ripen. Ow^ng to a more Rwxb:MSS. luxuriant growth, even when sown broad-cast, it requires the use of the hoe drawn by oxen. It is not, however, so productive as the grtat Udu ; lather less than three bushels an acre being a good crop. The quantity of seed sown is the same. Cattle eat the straw MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. lOr of t/^«, when mixed with the liusks, and with those of Huruli, CllAPTEll Carlay, Avaray, and Tovary, and with the spikes of Ragy, after these ^^^^^^ have been cleared of grain. This fodder is reckoned superior to bcpt.u— is. even the straw of Ragy. The next most considerable crop is Car' Ellu, or Sesamum. It is Car Ellu, or sown on Ragy-Jields that consist of a red soil, and does not exhaust them. The field is plonghed as for Ragy, but is not allowed manure. The seed is mixed with sand, sown broad-cast, and harrowed M'ith the rake drawn by oxen. It ripens in four months without farther trouble. The seed is equal to -j-V of the Ragy that would be sown on the same field, which is less than half a peck an acre. The pro- duce is about twenty seeds, or about 2-J- bushels an acre. The straw is burned, and the ashes are used for manure. The next most considerable crop is Mar' Ellu, which is the same Mar Elk, plant that in other places is called Huts' Ellu, and which Dr. Rox- burgh considers as a species of Verbesina. It is sown on poor soils alternately with Huruli, and is cultivated in the same manner. It is sown also on Ragy-fields, when the crop has failed for want of rain. The rich only can have recourse to this, as the next crop of Ragy would suffer unless it received an extraordinary quantity of manure. On this ground it produces most. On the poor soils it produces about twelve fold ; but the quantity sown on an acre amounts to less than six Seers. A very small quantity of the wheat called Juvi Godi (Trhicum monococcum) is raised here on fields of a very rich soil, from which alternate crops of Carlay and of it are taken. The manure is given to the Carlay ; the wheat requires none. From the winter to the summer solstice plough opce a month. Then in the following month plough twice, sow broad-cast, and cover the seed with the plough. It ripens in four months without farther trouble. The seed required for an acre is about 4-rVo pecks; the produce is ten seeds, or rather less than twelve bushels. 108 A JOURNEY FROiM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER I have reason to think that this account of the cultivation of dry ^^hj grains is not materially erroneous. Sept 11— 13. The labouring servants of the farmers are here called Jitagara, Jitagara, or . . , _m i • i • ? i i labourers or hired men. Ihey eat once a day in their master s house : a good employed III ^yorkcr arcts also 40 Fanams, or about 1/. 6,$. 10^. a year; and an agriculture. _ ^ j ' indifferent man gets only SO Fatiams, or about 1 /. A woman gets yearly 5 Fanams worth of cloth, and 4 Fanams in money, and eats twice a day at her master's expense. Their diet consists oi Rasy' jkur boiled into a kind of porridge. The seasoning consists of a few leaves bruised with capsicum and salt, and boiled in a little water. It is only the rich that use oil or Ghee (boiled butter) in their diet. Milk is in such plenty,that the Jitagara may have as much Tyre, or sour curds, as they please, farmers and Owing to the devastations of war, the people near Priya-pattana are at present so poor, that they are cutting off the unripe ears of corn, and parching them to satisfy the cravings of appetite. Be- fore the invasion of the Bombay army under General Abercromby, the poorest farmers had two ploughs ; some rich men had fifteen ; and men who had from eight to ten were reckoned in moderate cir- cumstances. A man who had two ploughs would keep 40 oxen young and old, 50 cows, two or three male buffaloes, four females, and 100 sheep or goats. A rich man would have 200 cows, and other cattle in proportion. One plough can cultivate 10 Colaga^ of rice-land, and 5 Colagas oi Ragy-^tld ; altogether a little less than four acres. This is too small an allowance ; and the farmers seem to under-rate the extent of a plough of land, as much as they ex- aggerate their former affluence. They pretend, that the officers of government are forcing them to cultivate more than their stock could do properly, by which means their crops are rendered poor. The officers deny the charge, and say, that since Tippoo's death this has not been practised. In Indian governments, however, it is a common usage. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 109^ By the ancient custom, the Gaudas, or chiefs of villages, were CHAPTER hereditary, and the heirs still retain the dignity ; but the power is k^^}1j lodged with the renters, who offer the highest sum ; and every year. Septal— 13. in the month preceding midsummer, a new Jummabunda, or agree- ment, is made. A farmer cannot be turned out of his possession so long as he pays the fixed rent; but if he gives over cultivation, the officers of government may transfer his lands to any other person. The rent for dry-field is paid in money, according to an old va- Rent on dry- luation made by Chica Deva Rai/a oi Mysore ; and most of it pays 40 Faiiams a year for every Candaca, or almost 3*. 6d. an acre. This includes both good and bad soils ; care having been taken, in lay- ing out the fields, to include in each nearly an equal proportion of the four different kinds of soil. In some high places, where there is no good soil, the Candaca lets at twenty Fatiams, or at about 2.0 d. an acre. Some land that is now cultivated for rice, having been dry-field at the time when the valuation was made, continues to pay the old rent. By far the greater part, however, of the wet-land pays by a Rent of wa- division of the crop, made as follows: the produce of a Candaca- /fl«^ having been taken. The farmer gets for his labour _ _ _ The Mety, or priest to the stake of Cassia Fistula The Saktis, or destructive spirits - - _ The watchman, TalUari, or Barica, as he is here called The Shanaboga of the Hobly, or accomptant of the division The Nirgunty, or conductor of water The ironsmith - - ' - - - _ 1 14 The remainder is equally divided between the government and; farmer, the latter taking the sweepings at the bottom of the heap. Cand. Col. 1 5 2 2 1 2 2 MO A JOURNEY PROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VIII. Sept. 1 1 — 13, free-lands. Kitchen gardens. Planfatiofis of palm-trees. Arecc, or Betct-nut. Ill every village there are some free-lands that pay no rent. In this district there are free-lands to the annual value of seventy-eight Pagodas, which formerly belonged to the Panchangas, or village astrologers ; but since Tippoo's death they have been given to Vaidika Brc'ihnans. These formerly had many villages entirely be- longing to them, which were reassumed by Tippoo, and have not yet been given back. The same is the case with the lands that formerly belonged to the temples. The Talliari of each village, who is a kind of M'atchman and beadle, has, as pay, from twenty to thirty Fami/is worth of land free from rent. Here tliis officer performs the annual sacrifice to the village god ; for most of the hereditary Gaiidas -wear the Linga, and will not put any animal to death. The hereditary Cauda and ironsmith had each a portion of land, for which they paid only half rent. The full tax was im- posed on these lands by Tippoo, and is still continued. Some Gaudas manage their villages on account of the government, and pay in the proceeds of their collections. These persons receive wages. In this part of the country there are no professed gardeners; but every farmer, for his own use, raises a few greens and vegetables in a small spot behind his house. The plantations of palm-trees were formerly extensive, and there is much soil fit for them ; but they have been much reduced by the disasters of war. They belong* chiefly to Brahmans. Having assembled some of the proprietors, they gave me the following ac- count. The Areca, or Betel-Jiut palm, requires an Eray, or black mould, on a substratum of lime-stone ; and of such a nature that water may be had at no greater depth than three cubits. This soil does not agree with the coco-nut palm; but rows of these are al- ways put round the plantations of Areca, in order to shelter them. To make a new plantation o^ Areca, takeapiececf proper ground, and surround it with a hedge of the Euphorbium Tirucalli, and some rows of young coco nut palms. Then, at the distance of twelve xubits, dig rows of pits, two cubits deep, and one and a half ia MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 1 1 r diameter. These pits are six cubits distant from the nearest in the CHAPTER . . VIII. same row. In the second month after the vernal equinox, set in 's,*r-v-^.' these pits young plantain trees (Musa), and give them water once ; Scpt.n— 13. after which, unless the weather be uncommonly dry, they require no more. Two months afterwards hoe the whole garden, and form a channel in the middle between every two rows of plantain-trees. Tlie channels are intended to carry off superfluous water, and are a cubit wide, and two feet deep. In the month immediately follow- ing the winter solstice, hoe the M'hole garden a second time. In the following month, between every two rows of plantain-trees, make two rows of holes at six cubits distance, and one cubit wide and deep. Fill each hole half up M'ith fine mould; and, in this, place two ripe nuts of the Areca, six inches asunder. Once in two days, for three months, water each hole with a pot. The shoots come up in Vaisdkha ; after which they get water once only in five days. The holes must be kept clear of the mud that is brought in by the rain ; and for three years must, on this account, be daily inspected. In the month following the autumnal equinox, give a. little dung. Ever afterwards, the whole garden must be hoed three times a year. After they are three years old, the Areca palms must be watered every other day in hot weather; when it is cool, once in every four or five days ; and not at all in the rainy season. The waterings are performed by pouring a potful of water to the root of each plant. In the beginning of the seventh year the •weakest plant is removed from each hole ; and at each digging, for three years more, every tree must receive manure. After this, for three years, the young palms have neither dung nor water. In the fourteenth year they begin to bear, and in the fifteenth come to perfection, and continue in vigour until their forty-fifth year, when they are cut down. When the Areca plantation is fifteen years old, in the month im- Befel-kaf, or mediately following the vernal equinox a hole is dug near every "'^f ^^'f'^f- tree, one cubit deep and one and a half in width. After having H-2 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CIIAPTCR exposed the earth to the air for a month, return it into the holes, VIII v^,^-.^ and allow it to remain for another month. Then take out a little Septal— 13. of jj^g earth, smooth the surface of the pit, and bury in it the ends of five cuttings of the Betel-leaf-vine, which are placed with their upper extremities sloping- toward the palm. Once every two days, for a month, Mater the cuttings, and shade them with leaves. Then remove the leaves, and with the point of a sharp stick loosen the earth in the holes. In the first year the waterings must be repeated every other day, and the whole must once a month be hoed; while at the same time dung is given to every plant. In the second year, the vines are tied up to the palms ; once in two mouths the garden is hoed and manured; and it is in the hot season only that the plants are watered. At the end of the second year the vines begin to produce saleable leaves. In the third year, and every other year afterwards, so much of the vines, next the root, as has no leaves, must be buried. Once in six months the garden must be hoed and manured; and in the hot season the vines must be watered every other day. Manner of The owners of these plantations are annoyed by elephants, mon- ^LT"Y'''t - ^'^^' ^^^ squirrels ; and, besides, both palms and vine are subject tions. to diseases; one of which, tht Aniby, in the course of tM-o or three years kills the whole. Except when these causes of destruction occur, the vine continues always to flourish ; but, as I have before meutioned, the palm begins to decay at forty-five years of age, and is then removed, care being taken not to injure the vine. Near this is made a fresh hole, in which some persons place two nuts for seed, and others plant a young seedling. In order to support the vine, during the fifteen years which are required to bring forward the new palm, a large branch of the Haruana, or Eri/tlirim, is stuck in the ground, and watered for two or three days; when it strikes root, and supplies the place of an Areca. The plantain trees are always kept up. The crop-season of the Betel-nut lasts Aswqja, Kar- iika, and Mdrgasirsha. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. US It is said, that a Candaca of land, rice-measure, will plant 1000 CHAPTER VIII Ai'cca trees; but it is evident, that, at six cubits distance, above iJOOO trees ou<>ht to be placed in the Candaca of 3^-^^ acres. Con- ^•'pt-u— 13. '^ ' '" ° " Produce. siderablc allowances must, however, be made for the hedge, and for the ground occupied by the surrounding coco-nut palms. If for these we take forty feet, the remainder of the Candaca would plant 1200 Arecas. Of these, in an old garden, part are useless; as the young trees put in to supply the place of decayed ones do not bear fruit. Perhaps the 1000 trees may therefore be considered as a just account of the actual number of productive Arecas on a Candaca of land. The produce of these, stated by the proprietors, amounts to forty ox-loads of wet-nut, yielding thirty Maiinds of the Betel as prepared for the market. The quality of the nut is equal to that of the JValagram ; and it is bought up chiefly by the merchants of Mysore and Seringapatam. As these make no advances, it is evident that the proprietors are in easy circumstances. On examining the people of the town on this subject, they said, that seven good trees, or ten ordinary ones, produce a load of fruit containing 6000 nuts. A good tree therefore gives 857, and an or- dinary one 600 nuts. Sixty thousand nuts, when prepared for sale, make a load of between seven and eight Maiinds. One thousand ordinary trees at this rate should procure 75 Maunds, or more than double of what was stated by the proprietors. I am indeed inclined to believe, that their statement was merely accommodated to the share which the government actually receives on a division, in which it must be always defrauded. The 75 Maunds from a Can- r/«frt-land agrees nearly with the produce that Trimiila Nayaka stated at Madhu-giri, and on his veracity I depend. The towns-people also say, that the n4'»de of cultivation, as stated to me by the pro- prietors, is only what ought to be done ; but that the present culti- vators never give themselves so much trouble, and very seldom hoe their plantations throughout ; which is indeed confirmed by their slovenly condition. Piirnea has here a garden containing Vol. II. Q Hi A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CiiAPTER 900 Arecas, which, his servants say, produce about 52 loads of raw V1I[. fruit. This would make the produce of 1000 trees rather more than St'pt.ii — 13. 42^ 3Iaunds of prepared nut, lu-nt of palm While a new plantation is forming, the owner pays for every hun- i>lantdnons. ^^.Q^ plantain trees, three Fanams a year, which will be fifteen Fa- nams, or about lOi-. for the Candaca-\?inA. After the garden grows up, the government gets what is called one half of the boiled Betel- 7iut, or about 15 Maiinds of that commodity, for the Candaca-\?Mi\. This is worth 75 Fanams ; which makes the rent paid to the govern- ment about 15*. an acre, or 2/. 10*. Ad. for J 000 bearing trees. In an old garden nothing is paid for the plantains, or betel-leaf. Such a moderate tax will account for the Brahmans being the chief pro- prietors. Pasture and I have already had occasion to mention the goodness of the pas- ture in this neighbourhood; and at this season, at least, it keeps the cattle in excellent condition. These are all bred in the house, and are of the small short kind. Formerly they were very nume- rous. A good cow gives daily two Pucka Seers of milk, or a little less than two ale quarts. A good buffalo gives three times that quantity. Climate. The following is the account of the climate which was given me by the most intelligent natives of the place. The year is, as usual, divided into six seasons: I. Vasanta Ritu comprehends the two months following the vernal equinox. During this the air is in general very hot, with clear sun-shine, and strong winds from the eastward. No dew. Once in ten or twelve days squalls come from the east, accompanied by thunder, and heavy showers of rain or hail, and last three or four hours. H. Gvishma Ritu contains the two months including the summer solstice. The air is very hot, and there is no dew. The winds are westerly; during the first mouth weak, but after the solstice strong. It is said, that formerly, during this period, the weather used to be constantly clouded, with a regular, unintermitting, drizzling rain; but for the last half MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 11.^ century such seasons have occuiTed only once in four or five years; CHAPTER and in the intervening ones, although the cloudy M'eather continues, v.^»v^ tlie constant rain has ceased, and in its place heavy showers have Sq't-'i — ^3. come at intervals of three or four days, and these are preceded by some thunder. III. Varsha Ritii includes the two months preceding the autumnal equinox. The air is cool. The winds are light, and come from the westward. Formerly the rains used to be incessant and heavy; but of late they have not been so copious oftener than about once in four or five years : still, however, they are almost always sufficient to produce a good crop of grass and dry grains, and one crop of rice. Priya-patiana has therefore been justly named the Chosen City by the natives o't Karnata, who frequently suffer from a scarcity of rain. At this season there is very little thunder. IV. Sarat Ritu contains the two months following the autumnal equinox. In this the air is colder, and in general clear; but once in three or four days there are heavy showers from the north-east, accompanied by thunder, but not with much wind. In the intervals the winds are gentle, and come from the westward. IModeratc dews now begin. V. Htmanta Ritu includes the two months immediately before and after the winter solstice. The air is then very cold to the feelings of the natives. They have never seen snow nor ice, even on the summits of the hills ; but to these they very seldom ascend. Bettada-pura I conjecture to be about 1800 or 2000 feet perpendicular above the level of the country, which is probably 4000 feet above the sea. It is a detached peak, and is reckoned higher than either Slddlicswara, or Sailda Faravata, from whence the Caverrj springs. These two are the most conspi- cuous mountains of the Coorg country, and are surrounded by lower hills. At this season there are heavy dews and fogs; so that until ten o'clock the sun is seldom visible. There is very little wind ; but the little that there is comes from the west. This is reckoned the most unhealthy season; and during its continuance intermittent 116 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER fevers are very frequent. VI. Sayshu Ritu incliules the two months ^'"'- immediately preceding the vernal equinox. The dews decrease Sept.ii— J3. gradually in the first, and disappear in the second month. There is no rain, and the atmosphere is clear, Avith remarkably fine moon- shine nights. The air is cool and pleasant. The winds are from the eastward, and moderate. Except in Hemanta Ritu, fevers are very rare. In the Coorg country the air is hot and moist, and by the natives of this place is reckoned very unhealthy. Weights, The Cucha Seer and Maund of the Sultany standard are here in anTco'iM. "se. The Candaca of grain contains 140 Seers, and is nearly 4^Vo busliels. Accompts are kept in Canter' Raya Pagodas, Fanams, and Dudus. Bombay cash is current ; but Cowries are not used. The Madras and Sultany Rupees exchange for 3| Fanams, although the latter is most valuable by about 4- per cent. The Bombay Rupee passes only for three Fanams. Commerce Priya-pattaua enjoys a considerable share of the trade between factures!"" \\ie Mysore dominions, and those of Coorg ; but the place is now very poor, the Vir' Rdya having carried off all the rich merchants. For their accommodation he has built a new town called, after his own name, Vir' Raya Petta ; and, as he gives them good encourage- ment and protection, they are not likely to return. There is no trade at Modicarey and Nacnadu, the two places where the Raja usually resides. From Mysore are sent the dry grains, cloths, ghee, oil, jagory, coco-nuts, tobacco, garlic, capsicum, betel-leaf, iron, stgel, blankets, and tamarinds. The returns are rice, salt, and all the kinds of goods which are imported at TeUicherry. The sales are chiefly made at a weekly market in T/'r' Raya Petta. The quantity of rice that passes the custom-house of Priya-pattana annually from Coorg, is between five and six thousand ox-loads, each containing from seven to eight Maunds, or about 182 lb. The only cloth made here, is a very small quantity of coarse cotton stuff of a thick fa- bric. It is manufactured by a cast of weavers called the Torearu. MYSORE, CANARA, AND INIALABAR. 117 There is at present no GydaCavUa, or forest-renter ; but formerly CHAPTER there used to be one, who, having made friendship with the wild lY'^^, tribes called Cad' Eravaru, and Jaime Curubaru, procured from Sept.ii— 13. them honey and wax, PopU chica, a dye, Dupada wood, Gunti Bent, a root used in dyeing, Cad' Arsina, or wild turmeric, and Cadii Baly Aly, or the leaves of the wild plantain tree, which are used by the natives as dishes. For timber, or grass, no rent was demanded. Sandal-wood grows in the skirts of the forest. The people of Sandal- Coo?'^ were in the habit of stealing a great part of it ; but since the )y„, album. country received the Company's protection they have desisted from this insolence. It is often planted in gardens and hedges; and, from the richness of the soil, grows there to a large size; but in such places the timber iias little smell, and is of no value. It is a Daray, or stony soil only, that ro duces fine sandal. It may be felled at any season ; and once in twelve years, whatever has grown to a proper size is generally cut. On these occasions, this district produces about 10,000 Maunds, or above 2000 hundred-weight. The whole was lately sold to the agents of the Bombay government, and a relation of Funica's was employed to deliver it. Much to the credit of the Dexvan, this person was put in confinement, having been detected in selling to private traders some of Avhat he cut, and also in having sold great quantities that were found buried. During the Sultan s government a great deal of it arrived at matu- rity, which he would not sell. In general, this was privately cut, and concealed under ground, till an opportunity ofl^ered of smug- gling it into the Vir'' Rdya's dominions. The Amildars have now received orders to cut all the sandal-wood in their respective dis- tricts, and to deliver it to the Bombay agents. They know nothing of the conditions of sale. At present, no sandal-oil is made at Priya-pattana. The woods ai-e infested by wild elephants, which do much injury Elephants. to the crops. They are particularly destructive to the sugar-cane IIS A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER ami palm-gardens ; for these monstrous creatures break clown tlic ^ " f* Be(el-}nit tree to get at its cabbage. The natives have not the art Sept. 11—13. of catching the elephant in Kyddas, or folds, as is done in Bengal; but take them in pit-falls, by which a few only can be procured, and these are frequently injured by the fall. Strata ^nd The Strata of rocks in this neighbourhood are much concealed; rocks. j^^^^ from what I have seen of them, I am persuaded that their di- rection is different from that of the strata toward the north-east. They run about west-north-west and east-south-east, a point or two more or less I cannot determine, as my compass M^as stolen at Ban- galore, nor could I repair my loss at Seringapatam. The most com- mon rock here is hornblende. In the buildings of the place there are two excellent stones : one is what the Gernians call regenerated granite; the other is a granite, with gray quartz and reddish fel- spar disposed in flakes, or alternate plates ; but in such an irregular manner, that it does ndt appear to me that they could be so arranged by any deposition from water, however agitated. -Sept. 14. 14th September. — In the morning I went three cosses to Hanagodii, ^d'ThT^"' *'^^ chief place of a division, called a Hobli, dependent on Prlya- neighbouring pattana. It has a mud fort ; but the suburb is open, and contains about fifty houses. The country is naturally very fine; little of it is cultivated however, and it is infested with tigers and elephants that are very destructive. Hanagodii is one coss and a half distant from the southern frontier of Priya-pattana, and at a similar dis- Fioniier of tauce from the present boundary of Coorg. The Vir'' Raya is said o" to have made a ditch and hedge along the whole extent of the old eastern boundary of his dominions, which runs within three cosses of Hanagodii. One half of this distance, next to his hedge, was reckoned a common, or neutral territory ; but the Raja lately claimed it as his own ; and, the Bombay government having itter- fered, Tippoo was compelled to acknowledge the justice of the claim. The whole country between Hanagodu and the frontier of Coorg has for sixty years been waste. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 119 The Lakshmana river passes within a quarter of a mile to the east- CHAPTER y\\\ ward of Hanagodii, and at present contains much Avater. At all v,^v>w/ seasons it has a considerable stream; and at this place is the upper- ^^'P'- ii- Lakshmana most of its dams. Advantage has been taken of a natural ledge of livcr, and ir, rocks which cross the channel, and stones have been thrown in to ',1,^^^^°" '°"' fill up deficiencies. The whole now forms a fine dam, over which rushes a cascade about a hundred yards long, and fourteen feet high ; which, in a verdant and finely Mooded country, looks re- markably well. This dam sends oft" its canal to the eastward, and waters the ground that requires for seed 100,000 Seers of rice. If this be sown as thick as at PjHya-pattcnia, the ground irrigated will amount to 2678 acres. On the ground above the canal, as the de- clivity in many places is very gentle, much might be done with the machine called Capilij ; but the use of that valuable instrument is here not known. It is probable, that on this river several addi- tional dams might be formed. Here it is said, that of the seven, which have been built, three are now out of repair. The Gungricara J'/ociiUgas are in this neighbourhood the most Gungricara common race of cultivators, and are a. Sudra tribe of Karmita de- vhofoUow' scent. Some of them wear the Lhisa, others do not. It is from ''"'^ ^''^''' mans. these last that I take the following account. The two sects neither eat together nor intermarry. They act as labourers of the earth, and as porters. The head of every family is here called Gauda ; and an assembly of these settles all small disputes, and punishes trans- gressions against the rules of cast. Affairs of moment are always referred to the officers of government. The business of the cast, as usual, is punishing the frailty of the women, and the intemper- ance of the men. If the adulterer be a Gungricara, or of a higher cast, both he and the husband are fined by the officers of govern- ment, from three to twelve Fanams, or from two to eight shillings, according to their circumstances. The husband may avoid this fine by turning away his wife, in which case she becomes a concubine of the kind called Cutisa ; but this is a len2;th to which the husband. 120 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER seldom chooses to proceed ; the difficulty of procuring another wife ^^"'' being: considered as a more uraient motive than the desire of re- Sept. 14. venge. If, however, the adulterer has been of a low cast, the woman is, without fail, divorced, and delivered over to the officers of government, who sell her to any low man that will purchase her for a wife. In this cast there are two kinds of Cutigas : the first are such women as have committed adultery and their descendants, with whom no person of a pure extraction will intermarry ; the others are widows, who, having assembled their relations, obtain their consent to become lawful Cutigas to some respectable man. The children of these are legitimate, although the widows them- selves are considered as infeiior to virgin wives. A man never marries a woman who is of the same family in the male line with himself. The men are allowed a plurality of women, and the girls continue to be marriageable even after the age of puberty. None of them can lawfully drink spirituous liquors. Some of them eat meat, but others abstain from this indulgence. These two do not intermarry, and this division is hereditary. Some of them can keep accompts, and even read legends written in the vulgar tongue. Some worship Siva, without wearing the Linga ; and some worship Vishnu; but this produces no division in cast. They do not offer bloody sacrifices to the Saktis ; but pray to the images of the Baszva, or bull of Iszvara, of Marima, and of the Caricul, or vil- lage god. They do not believe in the spirits called Virika ; but indeed that worship does not seem to extend to the south of the Caxery. They do not take the vow of Daseri. They bury the dead, and believe that in a future state good men will sit at the feet of God. Even a bad man may obtain this happiness, if at his funeral his son bestow charity on the Ddseris. An unfortunate wicked man, who has no son to bestow charity, becomes as mud. By this, I sup- pose, they mean that his soul altogether perishes. Their Gu)'u is an hereditary chief of the Sri Vaishnavam Brdlimans, and lives at Mail-cotay. He gives them Chakrantikam, holy-water, and MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 121 consecrated rice, and from each person accepts of a Fauavi a year, CHAPTER ' VIII as Dharma. The Panchdnga, or village astrologer, acts as Purohila ■^^^ „^ at marriages, at the building of a new house, and sometimes at tlie ^^'P'- ^*' annual ceremony performed in commemoration of their deceased parents. On these occasions, he reads Alanframs, which the Gun- g. icara do not understand, and of course value greatly. He is paid for his trouble. 15th September. — I set out very early with an intention of going Sept. I5. to Hegodu Devana Cotay, whex'e, as I had been informed, I should piucurini? have an excellent opportunity of examining the forests that invest aled, when, on General Aber- cromby's coming up to Priya-pattaiia, the Vir'' Raya destroyed it again, and carried away all the inhabitants. One rich farmer has .>ince returned. Part of the soil in this neighbourhood is the black- Black sol], est that I have ever seen, some peat excepted. It is not very stitf, and is said to be remarkably productive of wheat and Carlay (Cicer ariet'inum); but at present it is waste. Vol. II. R 122 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER l6th, 17th, and 18th September. — I remained at Hejuru, endea- ^^Vil, vouring- to procure an account of the forests, in which I met with Sept.i6— 18. much less success than might reasonably have been expected. I went into them about three cosses, to a small tank, farther than which the natives rarely venture, and to which they do not go Elci)li;iiits. without being much alarmed on account of wild elephants. In this forest these animals are certainly more numerous, than either in Chittagofig or Pegu. I have never seen any where so many traces of them. The natives, when they meet an elephant in the day-time, hide themselves in the grass, or behind bushes, and the animal does not search after them ; but were be to see them, even at a distance, he would run at them, and put them to death. It is stragglers only from the herds, that in the day-time frequent the outer parts of the forest. The herds that at night destroy the crops, retire with the dawn of day into the recesses of the forest; and thither the natives do not venture, as they could not hide them- selves from a number. It is said, that at the above-mentioned tank there was formerly a village ; but that both it and several others on the skirt of the forest have been lately withdrawn, owing to an increased number of elephants, and to the smaller means of re- sistance which the decrease of population allows. Soil and ap- The soil of these forests is in general very good, and much of it the forests, i^ very black. In places where the water has lodged, and then dried up, such as in the print of an elephant's foot, this black soil assumes the appearance of indurated tar. The country is by no means steep, and is every where capable of cultivation ; but of this no traces are to be seen in any part of the forest. Near Hejuru the trees are very small ; for so soon as any one becomes of a useful size it is cut. As the distance and danger increase, the trees gradually are allowed to attain a larger growth; and at the tank they are of considerable dimensions. Farther on, they are said to be very stately. The fo- rest is free from underwood or creepers; but the whole ground is MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. r25 covered with lona; e-rass, often as lii<>:H as a man's head. Tliis CHAPTEll VIII makes walking rather disagreeable and dangerous, as one is always liable to stumble over rotten trunks, to rouse a tiger, or to tread Sept. 16— is. on a snake. These latter are said to be found of great dimensions, Larpn scr- and have been seen as thick as the body of a middle-sized man. ''^'"^*' The length of this kind is not in proportion to the thickness, ahd does not exceed seven cubits. Although I passed a great part of these three days in the forest, I saw neither elephant, tiger, nor ser- pent, and escaped without any other injury than a fall over a rotten tree. These forests are very extensive, and reach to the foot of the Extent and western Ghats ; but in this space there are many valuable and for- (1,^.^^ loresu. tile tracts, belonging to the Rajas of Coor^' and JVynaad. The trees on the 6'/?fl'^s are said to be the largest; yet in the dominions of Mysore there is much good timber. The kinds differ much less from those in the Magadi range of hills, than, considering the great difference of moisture and soil, might have been expected ; for the rains are here copious, and the soil is rich; neither of which ad- vantages are possessed by the central hills of the Mysore Raja's dominions. In the woods o^ Hejurit, however, there are very few of the prickly trees ; Avhereas a large proportion of those at Alagadi are mimosas. The following are the trees which I observed in the forest at Hejuru. 1. Doda Tayca. Tectona robusta. In great plenty. 2. and 3. Cadaba. Nauclea parvifolia, and Nauclea cordlfoUa Roxb. These two species, although very distinct, are by the woodmen of this place included under the same name. Both grow to a large size, and their timber is reckoned equal to that of the Teak, or more properly Tayc. 4. Honnay, or TVhonnay. Plerocarpus santoUnus. Is found in great plenty, and is a beautiful and useful tree. 124 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER 5. Biriday. Pterocarpus. VIII. J J \^^^ -^ This is the same kind of tree with that at Magadi. By the Mussul- Sept.i6-i8. n^ans it is called Sissu. 6. Dalbergia paniculata Roxb. Being useless, it has obtained no native name. 7. Caguli Mimosa Catechu Roxb. Fl. Cor. No. \7\. Grows in the skirts of the forest only, and never reaches to a large size. 8. Bitnni. Mimosa. This is very like the Cagali. Its timber is of no use. The tree is esteemed holy, as the shaft of Rama's spear is said to have been made of its wood, y. Biluara. Mimosa odoratissima. At Magadi this tree was called Betta Sujalu. It is a large valuable timber- tree. 10. Mutti. Chuncoa Muttea Buch. MSS. The natives here have several appellations which they give to this species j such as Cari, or black ; Bily, or white ; and Tor, by which name I knew it at Magadi. 11. Alalay. M^rohalla/ius Arula Bach. MSS. Grows to a very large size; but the fruit, or myrobalatis, are the only valuable part ; and, owing to the remote situation of the place, these are not collected. 12. HuUvay. Chuncoa HuUva Buch. MSS. There is only one kind of this tree, although it has a great variety of names given to it by the natives. It is a large ti'ee, and its tim- ber is good. ] 3. Tari. Mi/roballamis Taria Buch. !MSS. Very large. 14. Nui Bat/la. Mimosa kucophlea Roxb. 15. and 16. Muruculu. Chirongia sapidaRoxh. !MSS. and Chirongia glabra Buch. MSS. These two trees, although they are lofty, do not grow to a great MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 155 thickness. The woodmen talk of Hen and Ghindu Muruculus, or CHAPTER female and male; but they do it without precision, and do not ^..^^--O apply one term to the one species, and another to the other. Sept. 16 — is. 17. Gumshia. Gumsia chloroxylon Buch. MSS. It does not grow to a large size ; but the timber is said to be very strong, and has a singular green colour. Ropes are made of its bark. 18. Dinduga. Andersonia Panchnioun Roxb. MSS. Grows to a very large size. Its timber is valuable. 19. Shagudda. Shaguda Cussum Buch. MSS. A large tree. Its timber, being very rarely found sound at heart, is not much esteemed. 20. Ghent. Anacardium Juss. 21. Nelli. Phiilanthus Emblica. It is the fruit only of these two trees that is of any use. 22. Goja. Clutia stipularis ? A large tree, of which the timber is reckoned good. 23. Schrebera albens Willd. Has here no name. It is, in fact, an Eleodendrum. 24. Tupru. Diospyrus Buch. MSS. Here it is always a large tree, and its timber is esteemed good. 25. Jugalagunti. Diospyrus. The same prejudice prevails here, as at Magad'i, against this tree. 26. Cull A large tree producing good timber. 27. Cad' Ipay. Bassia. The leaves are different in size and shape from those of the Bassia longifolia, which is planted near villages. The art of extracting a spirituous liquor from the flowers is here unknown. 28. Ncerulu. Calyptranthes Javibulana Willd. 29. Gaula. Pelou Hort. Mai. The fruit is said to be as large as that of the Artocarpus integrifolia, and to be a favourite food with the elephant. 125 A JOURNEY FROxM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER 30. Budigayray. ^'"'- Tlie fruit is said to poison fish. Sept.16— 18. 31. Navidady. Vitex alataHnch.'bil^'S. A large timber tree. 33. Jala. Shorea Jala Buch. MSS. A large timber tree. No lac is made here. S3. Nir.ny. An useless tree. 34. Gurivi. Ixora arborea Roxb. ^ISS. Used for torches. ^5. JVudi. Schrebera Szoeitenioides Roxb. A laru-e tree. 36. Chadrunshi. Bauhinia. A small tree of no value. 37. Bamboos. Large, but not solid. 38. Cliaiiingy. Lagerstromia parviftora Roxb. 39. Goda. The. Amutty of MagadL Large and in plenty. Here its timber is reckoned to be bad. 40. Shilla. A large excellent timber-tree, of which I could get no specimen. It is quite different from the Shalay oi Magadi. Cad'Ciiru- The Cad' Curubarii are a rude tribe of Karnata, who are exceed- bairu, ingly poor and wretched. In the fields near villages they build miserable low huts, have a few rags only for covering, and the hair of both sexes stands out matted like a mop, and swarms with ver- min. Their persons and features are weak and unseemly, and their complexion is very dark. Some of them hire themselves as labour- ing servants to the farmers, and, like those of other casts, receive monthly wages. Others, in crop season, watch the fields at night, to keep off the elephants and wild hogs. These receive monthly one Fanam and ten /See/-*, or 1-jVo peck of Ragy, In the intervals MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 18/ between crops, they work as day labourers, or go into the woods, CHAPTER / and collect the roots of wild Vams (Dioscoreas); part of which they yY}]!l, eat, and part exchange with the farmers for grain. Their manner Sept.Ui— 18, of driving away the elephant is by running against him with a burn- ing torch made o? Bamboos. The animal sometimes turns, and waits till the Curubarit comes close up ; but these poor people, taught by experience, push boldly on, and dash their torches against the ele- phant's head, who never fails to take immediate flight. Should their courage fail, and should they attempt to run away, the elephant would immediately pursue, and put them to death. The Curubartc have no means of killing so large an animal, and, on meeting with one in the day-time, are as much alarmed as any other of the inha- bitants. During the Sultan s reign they caught a few in pit-fails. The wild hogs are driven out of the fields by slings ; but they are too fierce and strong for the Curubaru to kill. These poor people frequently sufter from tigers, against which their wretched huts are a poor defence; and, when this wild beast is urged by hunger, he is regardless of their burning torches. These Curubaru have dogs, with which they catch deer, antelopes, and hares ; and they have the art of taking in snares peacocks, and other esculent birds. They have no hereditary chiefs, but assemble occasionally to settle the business of their cast. They confine their marriages to their own tribe. The Gauda, or chief man of the village, presides at this ceremony, which consists of a feast. During this the bridegrooni espouses his mistress, by tying a string of beads round her neck. The men are allowed to take several wives ; and both girls after the age of puberty, and widows, are permitted to marry. In case of adultery, the husband flogs his wife severely, and, if he be able,, beats her paramour. If he be not able, he applies to the Gauda, who does it for him. The adulteress has then her choice of follow-; ing either of the men as her husband. They can eat every thing except beef; and have no objection to the animal having died a natural death. They will eat victuals dressed by any of the farmers. 1£8 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER but would not touch any of my provisions. They do not drink spi- ^^^'1^, rituous liquors. None of them take the vow oi' Ddseri, nor attempt to Sept.iti— 18. read. Some of them burn, and others bury the dead. Ihey believe that good men, afterdeath, will become benevolent Z)e»rt*, and bad men destructive Dtvas. A good man, according to them, is he who labours properly at his business, and who is kind to his family. The whole are of such known honesty, that on all occasions they are entrusted Avith provisions by the farmers ; who are persuaded, that the Curubaru would rather starve, than take one grain of what was given to them in charge. j They have no Guru, nor does the Panchanga, or any other kind of priest, attend any of their ceremonies. The spirits of the dead are believed to appear in dreams to their old people, and to direct them to make ofterings of fruits to a female deity named Bettada Chi- y cama ; that is, the little mother of the hill. Unless thes3 offerings are made, this goddess occasions sickness ; but she is never sup- posed to do her votaries any good. She is not, however, appeased by bloody sacrifices. There is a temple dedicated to her near Nunjinagodu ; but there is no occasion for the offering being made at that place. Betta, or There is also in this neighbourhood another rude tribe of Cinm- ^if7" ^"' ^"^"y called Betta, or Malaya, both words signifying mountain ; the one in the Karnata, and the other in the Tamul language. Their dialect is a mixture of these two languages, with a few words that are considered as peculiar, probably from their having become obsolete among their more refined neighbours. They are not so wretched nor ill looking as XhtCad' Curubaru, but are of diminutive stature. They live in poor huts near the villages, and the chief em- / ployment of the men is the cutting of timber, and making of baskets. With a sharp stick they also dig up spots of ground in the skirts of v^ the forest, and sow them with Ragi/. A family in this manner will sow nine Seers of that grain. The men watch at night the fields of the farmers; but are not so dexterous at this as the Cad" Curubaru ^' are. They neither take game, nor collect wild Ymns, The M'omen MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. WJ hire themselves to labour for the farmers. The Bciia Curubaru CHAPTER vnf. have an hereditary chief called Ijyamuna, who lives at Prirju-pat- (^^-^ tana. With the assistance of a council of three or four persons, he Scpt.i6— 18. settles disputes, and punishes all transgressions against the rules of cast. He can levy small fines, and can expel from the cast any Avoman that cohabits with a strange man. In this tribe, the concu- bines, or Cutigas, are women that prefer another man to their hus- band, or widows who do not wish to relinquish carnal enjoyment. Their children are not considered as illegitimate. If a man takes away another person's wife, to keep her as a Cutiga, he must pay one or two Funams as a fine to the Ijyamuna. Girls are not considered as marriageable until after the age of puberty, a custom that by the higher orders is considered as^a beastly depravity. The men ma}- take several wives, but never marry a woman of the same family with themselves in the male line. The Bctta Curubaru never in- toxicate themselves ; but are permitted to eat every kind of animal food except beef, and they have no objection to carrion. They never take the vow of Ddseri, and none of them can read. Some of them burn, and others bury the dead. They understand nothing of a future state. The god of the cast is Ejuruppa, who seems to be the same with Hanumatita, the servant of Rama; but they never pray to this last mentioned deity, although they sometimes address Siva. To the god of their cast they offer fruit, and a little money: they never sacrifice to the Haktis. Their Guru, they say, is of the cast Wothneru, and from their description would appear to be of those people called Saiunavas. He gives them holy water, and con- secrated victuals, and receives their charit}-. At their marriages, he reads somewhat in a language which they do not understand. "iSih. September. — I went four cosscs to Hcgodu Devana Cotay ; Sept. 19. that is, the Fortress of the mighty Dcva. The two first cosses of the Apiicarance Avay led through a forest, as thick as that which is to the south-west try towards „ , , . , . I'll rrii I iiegudu De- ox Hejuru, and is covered with longer grass. Ihe road was a very xana Cotuif. narrow path. The trees are small, and stunted, probably from the Vol. II. S 150 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER poorness of the soil, which is in general very light. The elephants ^ '"■ are said to be very numerous here also, but I did not see any. The Sept. ly. former sites of several villages could readily be discovered. Farther on, the whole country has evidently been once under cultivation ; but the greater part has been long waste, and is now covered with trees. Here a sudden change takes place. In the rich land to the westward, there are very few prickly trees or bushes; but here, and all towards the east, the most common are Mimosas and Rhamni. On the way I passed two villages which had some cultivation round them. The crops were mostly of the leguminous kind, and seemed to be very thriving. History of The tradition concerning Ilegodu Devana Cotay is as follows. He^^odu De- About four hundred years ago Hegodu Deva, a brother of the Ra- raua Cot at/. .... yalu o^ Anagundi, having had a dispute with Uie king, came and settled here, the whce country being then one forest. He first built a fort at a place called Hegoda-pura, about half a coss west from hence. One day, as he was coursing, the hare turned on his dogs, and pursued them to this spot, which the prince therefore knew to be male ground, and a proper place for the foundation of a city. At this place he accordingly took up his residence, and fortified it with seven ditches. He brought inhabitants to cultivate the country which now forms this district, and was at the head of all the neighbouring Polygars. His son, Sbiguppa Jfodear, was con- quered by Betta Chama Raja JVodear, of Iliisore ; and the present fort was built about 130 years ago by Chica Deva, one of that rebel- lious subject's descendants. He made a Cundaia, or valuation of the country ; but I do not find that any person is possessed of a copy of the M'hole. The Shanaboga or accomptant of each village has a copy of its valuation, which, from want of a check, is very liable to be corrupted. The dominions of Hegodu Deia extended from the city four cosses to the east, six cosses to the south, four cosses to the west, and three cosses to the north. Formerly the whole country was cultivated ; but now three cosses toward the west, and two MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 131 cosses toward the south are entirely desolate ; and in the other CHAI'TKR two directions much land is waste. Near the place, indeed, I can ^^^^^^ no Avhere see much cultivation. These devastations have heen chiefly Sept. ly. committed during the trouhles with the Coorg Raj-as, especially those which happened in Tippoo's reign. The town itself first suf- fered considerably in the Maraitah invasion during Hi/dcr's govern- ment. Previous to that, it contained a thousand houses; but they are now reduced to eighty. The wretched inhabitants of this country have also had frequent State of /)//- trouble from the Bynadu Raja, who is besides possessed of a country „„g^' called Cotay-huttai) in Mulaxjulam. This last territory is below the Ghats, and is a part of what we call Malabar ; which derives its name from its hilly nature. jBj/««fi?« signifies the open country; and, al- though situated on the summits of the Ghats, and in many places over-run with forests, yet it is infinitely more accessible than the other territories of this chief. Coirulu Verma, the present Raja, is a younger branch of the family ; but retains his country in absolute sovereignty, denying the authority of the Company, of the head of his family, and of all other persons. In the reign of Tippoo, this active chief assembled some of his Arab's, and regained possession of the territories which the former reigning prince had, on Hyder's invasion, deserted. The Raja, who had so basely submitted to the Mussulman conqueror, succeeded afterwards to the territory of a relation, and now enjoys his share of the allowance which is made to the Rajas oi Malabar by the Company, to whose authority he quietly submits. The Bynadu Raja has at present sent the Conga Nair, one of his officers, into the il^^Aore dominions, to cut sandal- wood, and to plunder the villages. In this vicinity there are now a hundred cavalry, and one hundred and fifty regular infantry, be- sides Candashara, belonging to the Mysore Raja : but these dare not face the Conga Nair, nor venture to repress his insolence. His master lays claim to all the country west from Nuujinagodu. Had I deferred visiting the forests till I came here, I should have been 132 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH Sept. 19. Samlal-vvood Santaluiii album. / V' ^\ ^ CHAPTER completely disappointed ; altliouoh the best information that I could procure at Sevingapatam pointed this out as the place most proper for the purpose. Hegodu DSvana Cotay is one of the most considerable districts for the produce of sandal-wood ; and I found there a Portuguese agent of the Commercial Resident at Mangalore, who was employed to collect a purchase of this article that had been made by the government of Bombay from tlie Dewan of Mysore. Two thousand Candies, each weighing 520 lb. were to have been delivered at a stipulated period ; but this has not been fulfdled. Orders, indeed, have long ago been issued to the Amildars for accomplishing it; but a prompt execution of any such commands is by no means usual in an Indian government. The account which this agent gave is as follows : the Amildars, having no legal profit for this extraordinary trouble, endeavour to squeeze something out of the workmen. They charge the wages given to these poor people at 5: of a Fanatn a day, which is the usual rate of the country ; and, in place of this, give them only half a Seer oi Ragy. The labourers, being thus forced to work at a low allowance, throw in his way every obstacle in their power. It is the lowest and most ignorant of the peasantry, in place of tradesmen, that have been selected. A sufficient number having been seized, they are ordered each to bring a billet of san- dal to the Cutchery, or office of the Amildar. Every man imme- diately seizes on the tree nearest him ; cuts it down, whether it be ripe or not ; neglects the part nearest the root, as being more trou- blesome to get at, and drags the tree to the appointed place, after having taken off the bark to render it lighter. Before the office the logs lie exposed to sun, wind, and rain, until other peasants, as ignorant as the former, can be pressed to cut off the white wood with their miserable hatchets. These cut the billets of all leng-ths, according as every man thinks it will be most convenient for him to clean them : by this means, being less fit for stowage, they are not so saleable. The whole is then hurried away to the place where VJ* / 4' MYSORE, CANARA. AND MALABAR. 133 tlie agent is to receive his ])urchase ; and when it comes there, the CHAPTER Amildar is astonished to find, tliat one lialf of what he had calcu- ^'"• lated upon is rejected, as being small, foul, or rent. Tlie people Sept. lo. are very docile ; and the agent, so far as he has been able, has had the trees brought to him, just as they were cut, and freed from their branches and bark ; and he has superintended the cutting them into billets of a convenient size, and the cleaning them pro- perly from white wood. Owing to a want of time, he lias been obliged to have them dried in the sun ; and I observe, that in con- sequence of this a great many of the billets are rent in all direc- tions. He suspects tliat the Amildars throw delays in his way, in order to force him to weigh the sandal v/hile it is green. He thinks [ that, in order to instruct the villagers in the manner of cleaning the wood, it m'ouUI be of advantage to send a carpenter, with pro- per tools, to each district. The agent says, that the sandal- wood of Prii/a-paftatia and Malia- Rdyana-Durga, although smaller, is of a much better quality than that of Naggara, which is inferior to that even of the districts south from Priya-puttana. None, or at least a very inconsiderable quan- tity, grows in Coorg, and Bynadu ; but in Tippoo's reign the Telli- cherry market was chiefly supplied by the Rajas of these two countries, to whom it was smuggled by the inhabitants of Mysore; for the most violent orders had been issued prohibiting the sale. The people of Coorg understand the preparation of the sandal- wood much better than those of Mysore, The proper manner, according to the agent, is as follows: the trees ought to be felled ia the wane of the moon ; the bark should be taken oft' immediately, and the trees cut into billets two feet long. These should be then buried in a piece of dry ground for two months, during which time the Avhite ants will eat up all the outer wood, without touching the heart, which is the sandal. The billets ought then to be taken up and smoothed, and according to their size sorted into three kinds. The deeper the colour, the higher is the perfume ; and hence the ]'3A A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTFR merchants sometimes divide sandal into red, yellow, and M'hlte ; Init yj'j" these are all different shades of the same colour, and do not arise Sept. 19. from any difference in the species of the tree. The nearer the root, in general, the higher is the perfume ; and care should be taken, by removing the earth, to cut as low as possible. The billet nearest the root, when this has been done, is comn^only called root-sandal, and is of a superior quality. In smoothing the billets, chips of the sandal are of course cutoff, as are also fragments in squaring their ends. These chips and fragments, with the smallest assortment of billets, answer best for the Arabian market; and from them the essential oil is distilled. The largest billets are sent to China; and the middle-sized billets are used in India. The sandal, when thus prepared and sorted, for at least three or four months before it is sold, ought to be shut up from the sun and wind in close ware- houses; but the longer it is kept, with such precautions, the better; its weight diminishing more than its smell. Prepared in this way, it rarely either splits or warps, both of which accidents render it unfit for many of the purposes to which it is applied. If it be not buried in the ground, the entire trees ought to be brought into a shed at the wai-ehouse, and there cut into proper billets, cleared of M'hite wood, smoothed, and immediately shut up till thoroughly dry. The Fir^ iJ^/a'* people, although they cure the sandal properly, have no notion of sorting it. The R/rja is the principal dealer in this article, and insists on the merchants taking it good and bad, as it comes to hand, at the same price. He, no doubt, thus gets quit of the whole refuse ; but, I believe, most merchants of experience would prefer selling their wares properly sorted. The officers of government say, that the sandal tree seldom or never grows in the lofty forests. It delights in the skirts of the bpen country, where small intervals are left between the fields, or on the banks of mountain torrents. It prefers a light stony soil, and such only as grows there is of any value. In the soil which this tree requires there is, however, something peculiar; as it rises MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR.. 135 up in one place copiously, and not at all in another neighbouring CHAPTER spot, although there be no apparent clitference in the situation or i_l^ 1. soil. It springs partly from seed, scattered ])y the birds that eat Sept. 19. its berries; and partly from the roots of the trees, that have for- merly been cut; and requires about twenty years to come to ])er- fection. No pains, that I rould discover, are taken to preserve the young plants from cattle ; so that they always rise in a very strag- gling manner. If formely any systematic management was oijserved, it has of lute been entirely neglected. To prevent any person from cutting sandal without permission from government, laws have long existed : but these never were enforced Mitli rigour by Tihpoo. ^(,i,o<, (^'>«'*' ' They are excessively severe, and prevent the peasantry from ever ^ stealing the tree. It is only Rajas, and men above the law, that v^ '"'' venture on this kind of theft. The present plan adopted by the Dewan seems to me to be the worst that could have been chosen. The woods are as much destroyed as if they bad been sold to a renter; and, I am assured, will produce no more for at least twelve years; while no pains have been taken to make the most of what has been cut. To the conduct of this minister, however, no blame is, on this account, to be attached. He had sold the wood to the Company; and the misconduct of tlie officer, whom he had en- trusted to cut it down, rendered it necessary for him to adopt the means by which he would be most likely enabled to fulfil his engage- ments, without attending to any other circumstance of less impor- tance. Two means occur to me, as likely to ensure a considerable and regular income from sandal-wood. One means would be, to grant - ^y long leases to an individual, who would of course take every care 1 of the trees, and employ every means proper to render what Mas ^\ ^■ cut fit for the market. The rent would be fixed at so much a year; and restrictive clauses, to prevent the renter from ruining the woods toward the end of his lease, M'ould be necessary. The difficulty in exacting the performance of these restrictive clauses would make 136 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER me prefer tlie other plan ; which would be, to put the sandal-M'ood , ^'^^' , under the nianasrement of an a2:ent, on a footintj similar to the salt- Sept. 19. agents of Bengal. He would preserve the trees, when young, by destroying all the other plants that might choak them, and by Avatching against thefts, or the encroachments of farmers. HcM'ould yearly cut the trees that were ripe, and no others. He would take care that the billets were properly prepared and cured ; and he would bring the whole to public sale at proper times and places. His pay ought to be a commission on the neat proceeds. For some years, it is probable, the quantity procured would not overstock the market; but with care the quantity raised would, no doubt, so lower the price, as to diminish the profit very much. In that event, the sandal of the least profitable districts might be entirely de- stroyed ; and in the most convenient and profitable situation, a sufficient quantity would be raised. As it is a mei'e article of luxury, or rather of ostentation, there can be no doubt of the propriety of making it entirely subservient to the purpose of raising a revenue; ■^ and the whole sandal of India is now in the hands of the Honour- able Company, and of the Rc'ija of Mysore; between whom the necessary arrangements might be readily completed. Sept. 20. 9.0t\\ September. — I went three cosses to Hianpa-pura. The country has formerly been almost entirely cultivated ; but at present about three fourths of it are waste. The sandal-wood is very common here, growing in intervals between the cornfields, and by the sides Want of ve- of torrents. The Parputty, or revenue officer, of Hiunpa-pura had racily. ^jj^ impudence to tell me, that although the farmers were rather poor, owing to the depredations of the camp followers during the late war, yet there was abundance of stock ; and that every field ca- pable of it was actually cultivated. The same officer said, that cattle were never permitted to go near the young sandal-wood trees. Now the man must have known, that from the tent in which Ave were sitting, I had ocular demonstration of both affirmations being false; and what could induce him to make them I could not discover. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. • 137 Among the natives, however, similar departures from the truth are CHAPTER common. ^^"• Purnca has lately repaired a canal which comes from the dam at Sept. 20. Hanagodu, and which in the rainy season conveys the superfluous '^o'"'"'* vater into a reservoir, where it is preserved for Cultivating a con- siderable portion of rice-land in the dry weather. By similar means much water, that is now lost from the Cavery, might be pre- served. We have now again got into a dry soil, with short herbage in- Soil, termixed with bushes of the Cassia auriculata : but the fields have a verdure unknown to the eastward, and Car' Ragy is the common crop. All the high grounds that I have seen south from the Cavery, as Fences, well as those in many places north from that river, have evidently been once fenced with quickset hedges. Some of these at this place are very fine; and the natives, being sensible of the advan- tage of shelter in preserving a moisture in their fields, have allowed the TirucalU to grow twenty feet high. When from its height it has become too open at the roots, they plant in the openings the Eiiphor- bium antiquormn, which grows well under the shade of the other ; and both united make a good and a very beautiful fence. The hedges of the country in general, even where they are kept up as fences, are in a very slovenly condition, and are ruined by being overgrown with the Convolvulus, and other rank clhnbing jjlants. Htimpa-pura is a miserable open village. A little east from it is Monument erected a. stone, coutainini? some small fioures in bas-relief, which of^^Si^eat . .... victory. are much defaced. Concerning this the tradition is as follows: Canterua, Raya of Mysore, having invaded Coorg with a large army, was entirely defeated, and pursued this length by the Fir' Raya. In the flight there perished three hundred and sixty of the Mysore nobles, each of whom had the privilege of using a palanquin. The' conqueror having bestowed great Dharma, that is to say, having thrown away much, money on rehgious mendicants, erected this' Vol. II. T 1S8 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER vni. Sept. 20. Sept. 21. Strata at Humpa-pura. Pot-stone. The goddess Chkama, Iron mines. Descriplion »S Moia Betfa, and its mines. stone as a monument of hts victory, and to mark the new boundary of his dominions. It was but for a short time, however, that he re- tained these acquisitions. Yesterday afternoon I was very unwell ; and another day's stay in the woods woukl probably have given me a serious indisposition. 21st September. — I remained at Humpa-pura, to obtain an account of the iron mines in that neighbourhood. The sti^ata at Humpa-pura are vertical, and run nearly north and south. Many of them consist of pot-stone of a bad quality. These are of various breadths. South from Humpa-pura is a cluster of high hills, named Cliica Deva Betfa, or the hill of the little spirit. It is sacred to Chicama, the deity of the Cad' Curubaru, lately mentioned. Over the ele- phant she has peculiar authority ; and, before a hunt of that animal is undertaken, she is propitiated by a sacrifice. Ou the north side of C/iica Deva Betta are three low hills, which produce iron ore. Mota Betta is situated about three miles E. S. E. from Humpa-pura, immediately below the junction of the river Nuga with the Kapini, and to the right of both. Culia Betta is the most considerable mine, and is situated between the two rivers, being distant from Mota Betta one coss and a half. West from thence about half a coss, is Hitena Betta, which is on the left of the Kapini. I could only examine Mota Betta, without occasioning a delay of several days in my journey; which I did not think ad- viseable, as I was told that the ore in all the three places is nearly the same ; and this is confirmed by the hills lying nearly in the direction of the strata at Mota Betta. Mota Betta is a hill of no considerable height, about a mile in length, and extending from north to south. It is wrought at the south end only ; but no trial has been made to ascertain how far the mine extends. The strata that are in view run from about north- "west to south-east, or rather more toward the east and west ; but I judge merely from the sun. They point directly toward the high MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 139 peak called Ecttada-pura ; while those on the opposite side of the CHAPTER Kapim run nearly north and south. T\\t strata ([\)i toward the north .lilil, at au angle of about 30 degMces. They consist of schistose plates ; Sept. 21. and, owing to their being penetrated by fissures at right angles to the strata, they break with a smooth surface into angular fragments. The internal structure of the plates is foliated, and these leaves being of different appearances, and sometimes straight, sometimes undulated, would seem to show that they have been deposited from water at different times. The strata are from one to three feet in thickness, and consist of granular quartz more or less impregnated with iron ore, which is of the same nature with the common iron- sand of the country. Inmost of the strata the quartz predominates; and by the natives these are considered as useless. In others, al- though having nearly the same external appearance, the iron is more abundant, and these are the ore. From these last, ochres of various colours exude, by which they are readily distinguished from the barren strata. In the rainy season, the workmen content themselves with collecting the fragments of ore which the water brings down from the hill. These are like the black sand, but larger and more angular. From the earth with which they are mixed they are separated by being washed in long wooden troughs, made of hollow trees. In the dry season, the workmen are forced to have recourse to the strata; but never penetrate deeper than the surface. Before they begin to work upon any spot, they cover it with a coat of earth for a year ; which seems to accelerate the decay, and to render the ore brittle. After it has been dug up with pick-axes, the ore is broken into small pieces, and the iron is separated from the stony matter by washing. The smelting is said to be carried on in a manner similar to that Expense and used in other parts of the country. The iron, as it comes from the fvorkin°iha smelting-furnace, is sold to the farmers; and the common forges iio"ore. of the blacksmiths are sufficient to work it up into the implements of agriculture. The rent paid to government is in iron, and this 140 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER must be formed into wedges at a forge. Hyder made an allowance for the expense of doing this, which amounts to a Fanam on the Maund ; but his son stopped this allowance, which has not been restored. The rent paid for each furnace is 30 Mounds of 50 Seers, or about 300 pieces, or 9101b. of wrought iron. For every ten pieces the owners pay, to the people who forge it, one Fanam, or in all 30 Fanams, worth 40 pieces of crude iron. The whole rent then is 340 pieces, or 255 Fanams. This and all other advances are made by the Pyragara, or superintendant, who pays all the work- men by wages. If we allow the furnace to work 320 days in the year, he pays as follows : Fanams, To rent -_._.. 255 To ten makers of charcoal, at ^ Fanam daily - 640 To four miners, at ditto _ . _ 240 To four washers of the ore, at ditto - - 240 To two principal bellows-men, at -f Fanam daily - 213^ To two inferior ditto, at ^ Fanam daily - - I60 Total Fanams 1748|- Fanams, These melt four times a day, and at each time get three Fanams worth of iron, in all - - - 3840 Deduct expenses - _ _ - 1748J- The profit will be - - _ - 2101^ From this, however, must be deducted the expense of bellows and other implements, with sacrifices, presents to mendicants, and other similar charges. Each melting is cut into four bars; and from eight to twelve, or on an average ten, of these make a Maund of forged iron. Its prime cost is therefore 7~ Fanams, with 1 Fanam to the workmen who forge it ; in all, 8|- Fanams for a Maund of 50 Sultany Seers, or about 21*. a hundred-weight. r>eiuitiful In tiie fork between the Nuga and Kapini rivers, is a stratum of rock. ^ MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 141 a similar disposition to those of the mine. It consists of very CHAPTER . . VIII. shining- black foliated hornblendcj or perhaps basaltine, dotted with ^^,^,..0 white felspar. ^"^i''- ^^• The pillars of a temple of Bhairawa Devaru, at the same place, Gneiss. ai'e of very fine gneiss, like some of the best at Mail-cotay. The priest could not inform me from whence they had been brought. Bhairawa Devaru is the god of the Cunibas, and is a malevolent Bhairawa 1 • • TT- 1 • 1 -I 11-1 1 11 1 -Dfiaru, the male spirit. His temple is built exactly like the smaller temples deity ot the of the gods of the Brdhmans, and without spires, or high ornaments. t-M'uiafu. Its roof, like those of the temples of Iszoara (also a destructive spirit), is ornamented with images of the bull. The Pujari, or priest, is a Hal Curubaru, who can neither lead nor write. The Kapini river, at Humpa-pura, is about sixty yards wide, and Ka^ini river, at all seasons contains running water. Its channel is sandy, and considerably below the level of the country; which circumstances have prevented the natives from making dams. It takes its rise from a hill named Banasura, in the Bynadu. At this season the Ferriei. river is no where fordable. I crossed it on BatJiboo floats, which Avith ease transport horses and palanquins, and which are a much better conveyance than the baskets, covered with leather, that are the usual ferry-boats in all parts of the peninsula. The Nuga river is smaller and more rapid and rocky than the Nuga river. Kapini. It also rises in the Bynadu. Formerly there were two dams on it ; but the fields which they watered have for twenty years been deserted. By the disturbances in the country the number of the people had then been so much diminished, that they were no longer able to resist the encroachments of the elephants. This year t\\t Amildar of Ilegodu Dcvana Cotay has sent a party of armed men to protect the place, and some farmers have returned to their for- mer abodes. The country, watered by these rivers coming from the western Ghats, is naturally by far the finest in Mysore, and would equal in beauty any in the world, were it decently cultivated; but ruin and misery every where stare the traveller in the fate. 142 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH s,*" CHAPTER vin. Sept. 21. Ignorance and want of veracity. Sept. 22. Appearance of llie couii" tr>-. Quarry of Sila, or Pro- fimd Cullu. I have no where met with the people so ignorant, and such gross liars, as in this vici^it3^ Except the accomptant, a Brahman, I did not converse •with one man who did not prevaricate; and very few of them would give an answer to the most simple question ; while most of them pretended ignorance on all occasions and subjects. The accomptant's answers were rational, and never contradictory; and it was owing to him that I was able to procure any account of the iron manufacture. During my stay at II umpa-piiral could pro- cure none that was in the least satisfactory ; but, ashamed of his countrymen, he persuaded two of the workmen to follow me to the next stage, and to give me the account that I have inserted. 22d September. — In the morning I went three cosses to Marti- Hully. The road leads parallel to the valley which the Kaphii waters, and runs along its north side at a considerable height above the fiver, and also at some distance from its banks. The valley is natu- rally beautiful. So far as I could judge from looking down upon it, the whole has been once cultivated, and inclosed with quick-set hedges; and it contains an abundance of trees, though few of them are large. The hills that bound it on the north and south are co- vered with bushes, so as to give them an uniform verdure; and, for the matter of prospect, look as well as if clothed with the most lofty forests. Near the road there was very little cultivation ; and some of the soil is too poor to be fit for the plough ; but I am told, that in the bottom of the valley there is a good deal of cultivation ; for the small remainder of the inhabitants choose, of course, to em{>loy their labour on the best soil. By the way I turned out of the road ; and in order to examine a quarry of the stone called Sila, or Pratimu Cullu, I went in among the hills on my left to a small village, named Arsina Caray. The first name in the Sanskrit language means stone ; the latter appella- tion means image-stone, as it is used for making idols. The quarry ji in a hollow, which is surrounded by low hills that are sacred to Chicama. Many stones have formerly been dug, and have left a MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 143 considerable cavity ; but, as the qviarry has not lately been wrought, CHAPTER mucli rubbish has fallen in, and entirely hides the disposition of ^^^^^.^ the strata. The whole of the strain that I observed between Maru- Sept, 22. HuUif and Humpa-pura, on both sides of the quarry, run nearly north and south, and are much inclined to the plane of the horizon. These strata consist of a bad kind of the Pratimd Cullu, which crumbles into irregular masses, and is disposed alternately with thosd of schistose mica, intermixed with parallel layers of pol-sfone. Alt these strata are in a state of decay. I have little doubt, but that the quarry itself is disposed in a stratum parallel to the others; but thicker, more compact, and less decayed. Lying round the quarry were many half-formed images. The largest that I saw was about eight feet long, three broad, and one and a half thick ; but by dig- ging deeper, larger masses might probably be procured. It is an indurated pot-stone, or rather a pot-stone intimately united with hornblende, and is capable of a fine polish. It approaches very near to the hornblende of Hi/der's monument, but is softer. Arsma Caray, or the prince's reservoir, is a small village sur- JrsinaCaray, rounded by huls, which are covered by low trees and l)usl)es. „urebywhich From time immemorial it has belonged to the Sucnr of the Khdlsa ; it'sl'eld- that is, to the master of the mint. The farmers supply, at a regu- lated price, whatever charcoal he may want ; and if there be any balance of rent due, thej' pay it in money. They are sul)jeet to the jurisdiction of the Amildar of Malidsura Naggara, and hence this tenure of the mint-masters is not called a Jag /lire. Maru-Hullj/, commonly corrupted into Afarwulli/, signifies the Maru-Hulli), second village ; for when the dominions of the reigning family yfpunifo. were confined to their original fee (Polj/am), this was, next to Mi/- sore, the most considerable place in their possession. It is, however, entirely exempted from the jurisdiction of the Amildar, having been granted by Hyder as a Jaghire to Purnea, who still holds it by the same tenure, and manages it by an officer called a Parputly. It is an open village, containing thirty houses of farmers, and ten of 14-1 A JOURNEr FROM IMADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER labourers, with a few shop-keepers and artificers. They are very ^^'l^, poor, having been completely pluiulered by the Lumbadies, a kind Sept. 22. of traders in grain, that followed General Harris. Car' Ragy. The chief cultivation here is Caf' Itagy, although the people al- lege that the rains do not begin earlier here than at Seringapatam ; but in this, I imagine, they must be mistaken. Shiva-liac- Most of the cultivators in the Mysore district wear the Linga. Ach}ir^as " ^^ these the Siv' Achurya IVocul'igas pretend to a much higher dig- nity than the others ; and say, that only they and the Pancham Banijigas can be admitted to the order of priesthood. They are a tribe of pure Karndta descent. They act as officers of government, as messengers, traders, farmers, and farmers servants. Disputes being settled by the Gainia, or chief of the village, and their G«/'«* taking cognizance of all transgressions against the rules of cast, they have no hereditary chiefs. The chief Guru, Szvmiialu, or throne (S'mghasana), appoints an inferior Guru to a certain number of families. This person is a married Jangama, and attends at births and marriages, and takes cognizance of all transgressions. For less important ceremonies, such as bestowing the Linga and Upadcm, any Jangama suffices. On all these occasions the Jangama reads Mantrams in the vulgar language. At their marriages, and when Bhana. he receives their Dhana, which is charity given in order to procure an absolution from sin, the Panchanga, or village astrologer, reads Mantrams in Sanskrit. The Jangamas cannot read the Mantrams which are necessary for this purpose. The Brdhmaris, indeed, pre- tend that they are the only persons who have the power of taking away the sins of men ; and they saj^ that, however willing, they cannot do it gratuitously ; for the quantity of sin removed is exactly in proportion to the Dhana, or sum of money given. The perform- ance of this ceremony is therefore one of the most essential duties of a Purohita. The Jangama Gurus attend the &y' Achdryas at the annual ceremony performed in honour of their deceased parents ; and, besides getting provisions at their visits, and certain dues for MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 145 performing all ceremonies, they get annually a Fanam or two from CIIAPTF.R every person who is under their authority. None of this tribe ac- v^^^,-0 knowledge the Bralmans as their Gurus ; and all of them wear the Sept. 22. Linga, and consider Siva as the proper deity of their cast. They offer fruits and flowers to the Saktis, but never appease their wrath by bloody sacrifices. They suppose, that after death bad men are punished in a hell called Nuraca ; and that good men go to the feet of Iswara on mount Coilasa, and there become like gods. They call a man good, who prays constantly, who confers on religious mendi- cants great Dharma, or alms, who gives much Dhana, and who makes tanks or reservoirs, inns, and gardens. This tribe bury the dead, and abstain entirely from animal food, and all intoxicating substances. The men practise polygamy. A man and woman of the same family in the male line cannot intermarry. In order, therefore, to prevent incest, they always marry in certain families that are known to be distinct from their own. The girls are mar- riageable both before and after the age of puberty. A widow can- not marry, but she may become a concubine of the kind called Cu- tiga; her children, however, in this case are considered as belong- ing to a bastard race, although they are still much better than out- casts. An adulteress is not always divorced ; the Guru commonly makes up the dispute ; and the cuckold, having paid a fine, takes his wife quietly back again. Sometimes, however, the man will continue obstinate ; in which case the adulterer pays the fine to the Guru, and keeps the woman that he has seduced as a Cntiga. A woman that cohabits with a person of any other tribe, even with a Brahman or Jarigama, inevitably becomes an outcast. Near iI/«nf-//«//j/ also there is a quarry of aS7/«, or image-stone. Quarry of The mass of rock is larger than that of Ai'sina-Caray, and has lately been wrought for the buildings that are now erecting at Mysore. Although it has been laid bare to a considerable extent, nothing- stratified can be observed. The stone seemsto be of a middle na- ture between that of ITj/der's monument and the Sila of Arsina-Caray, Vol. II. U ueJ A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VIII. St-pt. Co, Alarm of the natives, from a dread of Conks, Quarry of pot-sloiie. Face of the country. and to contain less hornblende than the former, but more than the latter. Large blocks may be procured, and perhaps of the whole it is the finest stone. 2Jd Septevibei'. — In the morning I set out for Niaijinagodu, distant three cosses ; and I intended, by the way, to visit a place from whence pot-stone is dag. After having gone halfway, I discovered that the guide had deserted me ; and, in order to procure another. I was forced to go back again to Maru-Hullij. I found the quarry not a mile from that place ; and was informed, that the stone-cutter •who works it lives there, although I had in vain solicited the otficer of government to procure me a workman of that kind to break some specimens of the image-stone. It must be observed, that I find more difficulty in acquiring a knowledge of the quarries and forests, than of any other subject of my inquiries. On the revenue of the country the natives are more communicative than I desire ; and even in their accounts of the produce of their fields, the culti- vators of the land adhere more to the truth than all ranks do, in answering queries relative to quarries and forests. It is evidently suspected, that my object in asking such questions is to fiud out materials for public works ; and the natives are terrified at the thought of being again harassed with the Corxees to which in the reign of the Sultan they were cruelly subjected. The pot-stone o^ Marii-Hully is used for making pots, dishes, and pencils. It differs from the image-stone only in containing more earth of magnesia ; for it has hornblende as one of its component parts. It is readily scratched by the nail; but retains an excessive toughness ; so that before it will break into fragments under the hammer, it is reduced to powder. Like those of the kindred stones that-have been already described, its masses are irregularly angular. The surrounding strata are vertical, and run north and south. The road, by which I travelled to-day, leads partly through among the small hills that bound the vale of the Kapini on the north, and partly through the valley itself. Among the hills, almost all thQ MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAIl. 14^ fields of a good soil are cidtivated ; but many of the poorer ones CHAPTER T ,r T r T are waste : some of the land that would appear never to have been ^^.^-^ cultivated seems to have a tolerable soil; but by far the greater Sept, 23. part can never be made to produce any thing, except a wretched pasture. In the valley, much good land is waste, much very poor land is interspersed, and the cultivation is extremely slovenly. The river winds much, and its course here is rapid. On its north side are several large temples in a ruinous condition. Near one of them is a village, which, from the comparative goodness of its houses, may be at once known to be chiefly inhabited by Bn'thmaus. At some distance from this I crossed the Kapini by a bridge, Bridge, which is here looked upon as a prodigy of grandeur; in Europe it Avould be considered as a disgrace to the architect of the meanest town. The arches are about five feet span ; the piers are of nearly an equal thickness, and do not present an angle to the stream. The sides of the arches have scarcely any curvature, but are com- posed of two planes meeting at aa acute angle. The parapet is rude, and the whole is composed of an irregular mixture of brick and stone. The pavement consists of rough and irregular flags, which form a very bad road. The bridge is, however, both long and wide, and is a great convenience for foot passengers, or mer- chants conveying their goods on oxen. 25th September. — Yesterday I had a febrile paroxysm, and at night Sept. 25. found myself unwell. In order therefore to take medicine, I rcr mained here another day. Nu/ijinagodu signifies swallowing poison ; for it is a place sacred Nunjinago- to Iswara, who, on account of one of his exploits, is frequently temple and called by this name. Originally there was a small temple ten cubits ^'^'">"">^- square, and of the greatest antiquity. About six or seven hundred years ago, the country was entirely covered with forests. The Rqja then in power brought inhabitants, and enlarged the temple to 200 cubits square. From that time frequent donations were made to the Brdhmans ; some Rajas giving them in charity a thousand 148 A JOURNEY FRO^I MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER Pasodas worth of land, and others s;ivino' lands to twice that annual VIll . ^ value. Dha Raya, the Dalawai oi' Mysoix, built the bridge; and Sept. 2o. ]^jg i^rother, who succeeded him, and who was displaced by Hyder, was the greatest benefactor to this place of worship. This prince, named Carasur Naiidi Raya, adopted the mark of Siva, although his predecessors had been followers of the Sri Vaishnavam Brahmcms. He made Niinjinagodu his favourite place of abode, and enlarged the temple to its present size, which is a square of 400 cubits. In the time of this prince the Brahmans of Nwijinagodu occupied 300 houses ; and they possessed lauds which gave an annual reve- nue of 14,000 Pagodas, or about 4700/. The houses of the Sudras amounted to 700. The town was fortified by Nandi Raya, Avho dis- persed the Sudras into the neighbouring villages, and permitted none to remain near the holy place, but the Brahmans, and the ser- vants who belonged to the temple. Tippoo Sultan gradually deprived the Brahmans of the whole of their lands, and gave them a monthly pension of 100 Pagodas. On the re-establishment of the Raja's government, they were put on the same footing with the Brah- mans of Mail- cot ay ; and they receive the income of a whole district, which has last year produced 4000 Pagodas, or about 1343/. This district is managed by an Amildar, who is account- able to government for his conduct. In the reign of Tippoo, the temple suffered much ; but at the expense of Bucharotv, the Nailf Dezcan, it is now undergoing a repair. The fort is ruinous. The town at present contains 120 houses oi Brahmans, and 200 of Sudras. It is situated in the fork formed by the junction of the Kttundini Kaundini with the Kapini or Kapila river. The Kaundini has its nver. source from under the feet of an image of Vishnu, on a hill named Hemada Gopala, in the district of Gundal, of the Raja's domi- nions. The temples on the north side of the river Kapi?ii are of very great antiquity. They are ruinous, but the images are still attended by Brahmans. MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 149 25th September. — Having yesterday had a severe paroxysm, and CHAPTER beincr desirous of uetting: near assistance should my disorder have i^— ^^v increased, I altered my intention of proceedina: to Satlea3:ala by ?fP'- ^^• Coutanda, Areolar, Hardena-hully, Homa, and Ellatuluru, and returned nessofSerw- to Mysoix, which is four cosses distant from Nunjinagodu. At My- ^^^'" "'"' sore I met with some friends, who informed me that Scringapatam Avas then dreadfully unhealthy; and Mysore being in a fine dry situation, I determined to remain there till my fever could be stopped. The country through which I passed has formerly been mostly Face of the cultivated ; but at present a very large proportion of the fields is '^°"" '^^* waste. Were it in a good condition, it would be very beautiful. Several of the tanks are out of repair : near Mysore are two remark- ably fine. Except at Mysore and Scringapatam, I have in every part of the Difficulty in country experienced a difficulty in procuring forage. I have reason fj"^^"""^ to think that this proceeds from the universal and long continued usage, of every person Avho belongs to the government taking without payment whatever forage he Avants. At Seringapatam, and even here, the women of our Madras servants have been of great use. The officers of government are afraid to meddle with them, and they are very diligent, and bring in large supplies of grass. 27th, 28th, and 29th September. — While confined here, I sent for Sept.27— 29. the stone-cutters; who, with the utmost obstinacy, would give me ^''*""^^" no information whatever on the subject of the quarries. In the buildings here, the three most common stones are, a gray granite with large spots of black mica; a reddish granite; and a fine grained yellowish gneiss, like that of Mail-cotay. They are all pro- bably from the hill that overlooks the town, and many of the blocks are of large dimensions. While I was at Seringapatam I had seen specimens of them all. :30t]i September. — Having escaped two periods without any return Sept. 30. of the fever, I went two Suttany cosses to JVuracadu. Tiie country of the^coun- try. uo A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH VIII Sept. 30, Waracadu, CHAPTER has formerly been nearly all cultivated, and more than a half is now occupied. The fields are mostly inclosed, and are all high ground, or such as is fit for palm-gardens. There are some small tanks, the water of which is applied to the cultivation of sugar-cane and betel- leaf. The Gauda, or chief of the village, says, that there is a number of people sufficient to cultivate all the fields ; but the want of stock prevents them from undertaking so much. They sufltered greatly from the depredations of the Lumbadies, or traders in grain, that last year followed the besieging army ; and also from the epi- demic distemper which, after the fa.\l of Seri>igapaiam, raged among the cattle. During the invasion of Lord Cornwallis most of the palm-gardens were destroyed. JFaracadu is a Hobly, or division of Mahasiira Aslita-gram district. It derives its name from JVara, Avishcs, and Cadu, to grant ; from a temple in it, dedicated to IFarada Raya, or Vishnu, the granter of Avishes. This temple was built about 1 20 years ago by Doda Dera Raya. This person Avas a natural son of Krishna Raya, the Curtur of Mysore, and held the office of Dalazcai, or prime minister, between forty and fifty years. This village was his favourite retreat ; and, besides the temple, he built a fine tank from which the inhabitants are supplied with drink. The village is not fortified, and is said to contain 150 houses; but I think that estimation grossly exaggerates their number. 1st October. — J went two cosses to Taiuru. Part of the road passes among low hills covered with bushes, and abounding with antelopes. The soil of these hills is in general poor, and full of small stones ; but they are not occupied by naked rocks, like those on the north side of the Cavery. In some places the soil seems to be to- lerable ; and sufficient marks remain to show, that some of it, which is now overgrown M'ith bushes, has formerly been cultivated. Among the hiils are some level grounds that are now cultivated ; and in the most extensive of these is a fortified village in a very ruinous condition. Towards the Kapini the soil becomes better. Oct. 1. Appearance of the coun- MYSORE, CANARA, AND IMALABAR. 151 and is in a state nearly similar to that of the country through which CHAPTER I passed yesterday. Near the river is a canal, which comes from a v.Jl|iLf dam on the Caverij at Madai/ena-hullij, three cosses below Seringa- Oct. i. pat am ; falls into the Kapini at Usocotta, a coss above Taiuru ; and forms the space between it and the two rivers into rice fields, which are mostly under cultivation. The Kapini is here a fine broad river, and its basket ferry-boats occasioned a considerable delay in trans- porting my baggage. The cattle were obliged to swim. Taiuru is a well-built mud fort, situated on the right bank of the Kapini, about two cosses from its junction with the Cavery. It con- tains 141 houses, Avith 1 1 in a suburb. Its Sanskrit name h Materu- pura, or mother-town; and its vulgar name, in the language of Karnata, has the same meaning. No tradition remains concerning its foundation, nor the princes who mled it before the family of Mysore, It is the residence of an Amildar, whose district is sepa- rated from the Mahusura Ashta-gr/tm by the Kapini river. It has no commerce; nor any manufactures, except the coarse cloth which the JVkalUaru weave. In the two last wars, it met with no disturb- ance, nor did the inhabitants suft'er from famine during the invasion of Lord Cornwallis. Last year more than usual of their cattle died Distemper of the distemper; but once in four or five years it generally pre- hoinedcat^tlc. vails, more or less. In some villages of this district, the Gaudas, or chiefs of villages, Manner of are hereditary ; in others, the renter is called by that name. The collecimgihs "^ ■^ land-tax. hereditary Gaudas seem to be preferred both by the farmers, and by the officers of government. Being personally acquainted with all the inhabitants, their orders are more cheerfully obeyed ; and having been long resident in the place, they have better credit to enable them occasionally to borrow money for making up their rent at the fixed terms of payment. The rent of tiie dry-field is paid by three Kists, or instalments, which all become due before the Ragy harvest. In case of failure in the payment of th.ese instal- ments, the crops are seized, and sold by the Parputty, oraccomptant 152 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER of the division. This ofticer sells also the government's share of K^^^.^ the crops that are divided; and these sales are made at three dif- Oct. 1. ferent periods; as, by selling the whole at once, the market would be overstocked. Cani, or In this country there is a class of men called Caiii, or Shaycana, mijLana. ^ff\^Q are generally IFhaUiaru, and always of some low cast, and who subsist by acting as sorcerers and diviners. Some of them derive their knowledge from the stars, and are considered as men of learn- ing, but not as inspired by the deity; others rattle an iron instru- ment, and sing to invoke the gods, until their voice almost fails. They then appear as if drunk, and are considered as inspired. Con- cerning the causes and events of the diseases of men and beasts, both kinds are consulted. The causes which they assign are, the wrath of different gods ; and at the same time they tell, whether or not the god will be pacified, and allow the object of his wrath to reco- ver, and also how this may be obtained. In this part of the country the spirits of bad men are called Virikas, and are believed frequently to torment the living. The diviners are supposed to be able, not only to tell what Virika is afflicting a family, but also to expel the evil spirit. AA^hen a Virika seizes on the persons of his own family, he is driven out with great difficulty, and requires a sacrifice, and many prayers ; but a strange Virika is not so troublesome; a diviner will take a Fanam and a half, and immediately dismiss him. Except the Brahmans, ]\Iussulmans, and those who pretend to the rank of Ksliatri, every cast labours under this superstition. The Toreas are a kind of the cast called Besta that in the southern parts of Mysore are very numerous, and are an original tribe of Karnata. They neither ^at nor intermarry with the Bestas called Cabba, nor Avith those descended from families that originally spoke the Telinga and Tamul languages. They cultivate the fields, and gardens o^ Betel-leaf, Areca, and kitchen herbs; and act as ferry- men, armed messengers, palanquin-bearers, burners of lime, fisher- men, and porters. They are a low kind oi Sudras, and ha\e no MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 153 hereditary chiefs ; but government appoints a renter, who collects CHAPTER four or five old men of the tribe, and by their advice settles all ^'f'- disputes; and by fines, laid on with their consent, punishes all Oct. i. transgressions against the rules of cast. The renter must always be a Torea, and he agrees to pay annually a certain sum. If the members of the cast behave themselves properly, he must pay this sum out of his own pocket ; but this is seldom the case : the Toreas are apt to be irregular; and the fines which he levies, after paying the rent, leave in general a considerable profit, although they cannot be considered as heavy. They are as follow ; for fighting, half a Fanam, or 46?.; for scolding, half a Fanam ; for committing adultery ■with another man's wife, two Fanams and a quarter ; and for having a wife that chooses to commit adultery, one Fanam and a half. If the husband prefer giving up his wife to her seducer, he avoids the fine, which is then paid by the guilty man : but, as the women are bought by their husbands, the men are very unwilling to pai"t with them, especially if they be good workers. Tlie men buy as many Avives as they can; for the women are very industrious, and assist even to support their husbands. A virgin costs thirty Fanams, and a widow from ten to fifteen. Both of these sums are given to the women's parents or relations. A Torea who has connection with a woman of higher rank is flogged, but not fined. If a man of higher rank corrupts the wife of a Torea, and the husband should choose to part with her, he may pay a shilling to the renter and keep her. The widows, or adulteresses, that live with a second man are called Cutigas ; but their children are perfectly legitimate. The Toreas are permitted to eat animal food, but ought not to drink spirituous liquors. None of them can read. They bury the dead, and believe in a future state of reward and punishment ; but they assign no place for heaven or hell, nor do they pretend to know how the spirits of good men are employed. The spirits of bad men continue to do evil. Some of the Toreas take the vow of Dascri. The deity peculiar to the cast is Marima, a goddess that inflicts the small-pox Vol. II. X 15-i A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH Oct, 1. Heganigaru, or Jotypha- nadas. CHAPTER on those who offend lier. The Puji'iris in her temples are Toreas, and the office is hereditary ; but this order of priests are not above intermarrying with the laity. Some of the Toreas worship Vishnu also, and have for their Gurus the hereditary chiefs of the Sri Vuish- natam Brahmans. Others again worship Siva, and, although they do not wear the Linga, consider the Jangamas as the' persons to whom they ought to give Dharma ; but, by giving Z)^fl«a to the Smartal Bralimaiis, the rich procure absolution ; the poor must of course trust to the mercy of God. At marriages, and at the build- ing of a new house, the Pandidnga, or village astrologer, reads 3Ia)iiranis. There is a tribe of oil-makers, who in their mill use only one ox, and who are called Heganigaru. They call themselves Joti/phaiiaclas; and, as they are not followers of the Brahmans, do not acknowledge themselves to be Sudras. They will neither eat nor intermarry with the oil-makers who use two oxen. They eat with the other tribes that wear the Linga, but do not intermarry with any of them. They are a tribe of Karnata extraction ; and, besides their proper busi- ness of making oil, they cultivate the fields and gardens, and deal in grain and cloth. They have hereditary chiefs called Chittigaras, mIio with the advice of a council often settle all disputes, and pu- nish transgressions against the rules of cast. They are not allowed to eat animal food, nor to drink spirituous liquors. The men take several wives. The women, even after the age of puberty, continue to be marriageable ; but widows are not permitted to marry, nor are any concubines of the kind called Cutigas allowed. Whenever, therefore, a woman commits adultery, she entirely loses cast. The Jotyphatuula are divided into four or five families, and a man cannot marry a woman of his own fixmily. These oil-makers can keep accompts, but they never read books. They bury the dead, and believe in a future state. Heaven is at the feet of Isxcara ; but it is not known how the spirits of good men will there employ them- selves ; nor can these people give any description of Nuraca, the MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 155 residence of the spirits of wicked men. They do not believe in CHAPTER Virikas, nor do they consult the diviners abovementioned. They n.^-v-^^ all wear the Zf7;o-rt, and of course .S'h'rt is the principal object of their ^^^' '• worship; yet none of them occasionally pray to Fis/i/iii. The men are ashamed openly to worship Marima ; but in sickness, their women and children privately carry offerings of money and fruit to the priest of that idol. Their Guru is Cari-Baswa-Uppa, the A7- damaxmdy Szoamalu, who sends his disciples to receive their contri- butions, to eat their victuals, and to give them holy water. These priests also attempt to take Dhana, and thereby excite the indig- nation of the Bruhmans, who consider themselves as the only persons sufficiently in favour with God to be able to procure an absolution from sin. The oil-makers seem to be sometimes of the same way of thinking, and give Dha/ia to the village astrologer, or to some Vai- dlka Br/ihman ; and in proportion to the sum which they bestow, they expect a remission of sin. These Bruhmans, however. Mill not acknowledge that they perform tlie proper ceremonies for the heretics. They take the money, and mutter a few words in &/«*/i;nV, which content the donor. The oil-makers receive the Linga from the Jangama of their village. 2d October. — I went five Sultany cosses to JSIullngy. From Taiuru Oct, 2. to Narasingha-pura is three cosses. Near both places the country ofthe'coun- is very beautiful, and well cultivated. Every field is enclosed with try- quick-set hedges, the whole being high ground without rice-land. In the middle between these two places, the soil is poor ; but for- merly it has been all cultivated, and would produce good crops of Huruli and Shainay. The present stock is only adequate to culti- vate the richer grounds near the villages, and the greater part of the country is waste. Narashigha-pura contains about two hundred houses ; and, many Kamskgha- of its inhabitants being Brahmmis, it is better built than usual ; it P'""' has two considerable temples, and stands on the bank of the Cavcry, U6 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER immediately below the junction of the Kapim, which is six Sultany ^'^^^' cosses from Seringapatam, Oct. 2. About a mile below Narasingha-pura is a small village, named oHhrcouu- ^ilosogy ; and about two miles from Malingy a small rivulet enters "^y- the Cavery, after having passed the town of Moguru, from whence it derives its name. Between Nilasogy and the Moguru rivulet the road passes through one of the finest plains that I have ever seen. It consists of a rich black mould fit for the cultivation of cotton, wheat, Carlay, and JVomu7n; but at present it is almost entirely- waste. The people say, that they have never recovered from the devastation which was committed in the old Marattah invasions, especially in one that happened about forty years ago. In the last war also they suffered considerably from the allied armies. East from the Moguru rivulet the country is rather higher, and the soil is somewhat sandy, but still very good. Some part of the black mould contains calcarious nodules, and by the natives is then called Carulu. Ciihivniionof The principal crop in this fine country is cotton, which here is iich bliick never raised in soil that contains calcarious nodules. The black soil. soil that is free from lime is divided into three qualities. The first gives annually two crops, one of /o/a ( Holcus sorghum), and one of cotton; the two inferior qualities produce cotton only. As, how- ever, next to cotton, Jola is the most considerable crop, and is never sown but on black soil of the first quality, it must be evident, that the two poorer soils form but a small part of the whole, An old mca- In this part of the country a land measure was formerly in use ; surement. ^^^ j^^ ^j^^ revenue accompts the fields are all stated to contain a certain extent. According to this measurement, A\ cubits make an Jlitycotu, or measuring-rod ; and 60 rods square are a Nurmuunu, Nurguny, or Nurcumha. Wherever a foolish prince, under pretence of his arm being long, has not established a royal cubit longer than the natural, eighteen inches may be received as a general MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 157 standard. Taking the cubit at this length, the Nurcumha will be CHAPTER . viir. 4- 1 'oVo acres. On measuring a field said to contain one Nurcumha, I found it to be A-^^ acres, which comes so near as to establish Oct. 2. the accuracy of the old measurement. In this part of the country accompts are kept in an imaginary money, called Gytty Varaha, which contains twelve Canter'' Raya Fananis. The weight used by the farmers, in selling cotton, is as follows. 5 Dudus= 1 Polam=\h. 0,1 264 decimal paints. 60 Polanis= 1 Cuttu = 7,5835. 50 Polam^= 1 Tucu = 6, 3 1 95. The Colaga of gi-ain here contains only 4|- Seers, and the Candaca is nearly 3^^^ bushels. So much having been premised, I proceed to state the account given by the farmers of the cultivation in this neighbourhood. The best black soil produces annually two crops, the first ofjola, joia, or HoU the second of cotton. In the month following the vernal equinox, <^^^ ^"rglmm. after having manured the field with dung, plough twice. After the first good rain that happens in the two following months, sow the Jola seed three Colagas on a Nurcumha, or 0, 1 1 1 decimal parts of a bushel on an acre. The seed is sometimes sown broad-cast, and ploughed in ; or sometimes dropped in the furrow after the plough. On the 12th, 20th, and 28th days, superfluous plants must be de- stroyed by the hoe drawn by oxen ; but if the rains are slight these hoeings must be somewhat later. In the intervals the weeds must be pulled out by the hand. In three months the Jola is ripe, and in a good crop produces ISOO&er* from ^Nurcumha, or nearly twelve bushels from an acre. In the month which immediately precedes, or in that which fol- Cotton. lows, the autumnal equinox, whenever the Jola has been cut down, plough the field, and hoe it twice with the Cuntay. The field is then dunged, and after the first rain is again ploughed. The cot- ton seed is then put in drills, distant from each other one cubit. 153 A JOURNEY FROM IMADRAS TIIROUGIf CHAPTER A furrow is draM'ii with a plouo;h ; at everv three or four inches VIII. . . ... v,^»v..^^ distance a seed is dropt into it, and is covered by another furrow. Oct. 2, Tlien, to smooth the fiekl, a harrow of tliorny bushes is dragged over it. The hoe called Cuntay is drawn by oxen between the drills once every eight days until the cotton is ripe, which happens in the course of the two months immediately following the vernal equinox. At the end of the first month the earth is thrown up by the plough, in ridges, toward the drills of cotton. The moment tlie cotton has been gathered, the field is again ploughed for Jola. A Nurcumba of land requires between seven and eight Seers of seed, and in a good crop produces 150 Cutties of cotton, worth, when cheap, \0 rara/ias, or 120 Fanams ; and, when dear, 15 Varalias, or 180 Fanams. At this rate, a good crop will be about 271 lb. an acre; which, of course, selling low, will be worth \l. \5s. %\d. A poor crop is 60 Cuttus from a Nurcumba ; which, selling dear, is worth 72 Fanams, being at the rate of 108-i- lb. from an acre, worth \0s. ^d. On the two inferior soils, that do not produce a crop of Jola, the cotton yields from 48 to 72 Fanams a Nuixumba, or from 7s. 1 j! n^i lichoshifiorus, oeers a JSurcuvibu, or a trifle more than a peck for the acre. The or Horse- produce in a good crop from a Nurcumba is 900 Seers, or from an ^ "' acre seven bushels and a half. It must be observed, that the farmers here allow a much smaller Produce un- produce from the same extent of ground, than has as yet been done by those of any other place. It is true, that even on their dry-field Vol. II. Y 162 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER they have in general two crops in the year; and it may therefore ^X?^Il, tie supposed, that by this means the soil is exhausted, and produces Oct. i!. little. This may in part account for the poverty of their crops ; but I am inclined to believe, that the farmers wanted to deceive me, and alleged their lands to be less productive than they really are. Western The mountainous tract which forms the western Ghats is visible from Malhigi/, and rises very high above the country to the west- ward. Malingy and There are two MaUngys : this, called Tady ; and another, which town covered ^^ c&Wtd Hossa, and is situated in the Company's territory. Tady by sand-hills. Malhigy is a small open village; but before the Marattah invasion it had a fort, and was a considerable place. The last war has occa- sioned several ruins. Concerning its governors before it became subject to the Rajas of Mysore, no tradition is current. It forms a part of the Talacadu district, the chief town of which is situated on the north bank of the river, and contains about two hundred houses, and a celebrated temple dedicated to Iszcara. Between it and the present channel of the river were formerly situated a large fort, and a great number of temples, which for many years have been overwhelmed by sand-hills. The bank at Malingy is steep, and the principal stream of the river comes near it; yet these sand-hills appear to be higher ; and, to the traveller, coming all the way from Narasingha-pura, they make a very conspicuous figure. They are said to be yearly increasing in height ; and no part of the former city is now to be seen, except the tops of some of the temples, and cavaliers. This is a curious phenomenon ; but circumstances would not permit me to investigate the particulars on the spot. The na- tives attribute it to the prayers of a woman, who was drowned while she was crossing the river to visit the place, and who, while dying, wished that it might be overwhelmed by sand. One temple only has escaped; the legend concerning which is extremely absurd. A men- dicant came one day to Talacadu, intent on making an offering to MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. l63 Mahadeva, or Iswara. The temples dedicated to that idol were, CHAPTER t. 11111. VIII. however, so numerous, that he was much at a loss now to procure v^,-,..^^ an oflfering for each, so as to avoid giving offence to any idol that ^^^- ~' might be omitted. With his whole means, which were very slender, the holy man purchased a bag of pease, and offered one at each temple; but all his pease were expended, and one idol still remained, to which no offering had been made. Of course it was highly of- fended at the preference given to the others by a person of his holiness ; and, to avoid their insolent boasting, it transported itself across the river, where it now stands at Malingy, Avhile its former companions are buried in sand. Near it is a Sila Sasana, or in- scription engraved on stone ; but unfortunately it is not legible, as it might probably have thrown some light on the history of Talacadu. The Cavery here is at present a fine large and deep river, flowing Cmcry river, with a gentle stream about a quarter of a mile in Avidth. In the hot season it is fordable ; but after heavy rains it rises above its present level ten or twelve feet perpendicular, and then its channel is completely filled. Once in nine or ten years it rises higher, and occasionally sweeps away a hut; but its floods are never very de- structive. The only ferry-boats on this large river are what are called T)o- Its ferries, nits, or baskets of a circular form, eight or ten feet in diameter, and covered with leather. They transport with tolerable safety men and goods ; but cattle must swim, which is both a fatiguing and a dangerous enterprize. Bamboo floats provided with a hawser, so as to form flying bridges, would make an excellent and cheap con- veyance. From the north side of the Cavery a fine canal is taken by means of a dam, and waters much land near Talacadu. 3d October. — I went to Satteagala, di lant from Malhigy four Su I- Oct. 3. taiiy cosses ; but, owing to the deepness of the roads, I was obliged iyaUai^ala. to take a circuitous route, a circumstance that never i appened to me in any other place above the Gnats. A sraali village, named 164 A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH CHAPTER VIII. Oct. 3. Cokagala. State of the country. Irrigation, Works of R&ma. Caleuru, is the last in the present dominions of Mysore. Mulur, the iirst place in the Company's territory, is one coss and a half from Malingy, and is a pretty large open village. From Mulur I went one coss to Colew^ala, an open town which contains above 600 houses. It is the residence of a Tahsildar, or chief of a Taluc, or district; for the officers in the Company's territory differ from those in Mysore. It has two large temples, and is a considerable mart for the traders between Stringapatam and the country below the Ghats, and near the Caiery. Coleugala signifies the plundered town; which appellation was bestowed on it after it had been pillaged while under the dominion of Ganga Raja, to whom it formerly belonged. From Cokagala to Satteagala the distance is two cosses and a half. The country through which I passed to-day is in general very fine, and much better cultivated than that between Narasingha-pura and Malingy. In fact, near Mulur and Coleagala the cultivation is equal to any that I have seen in India, and consists chiefly of rice- fields watered by means of several large reservoirs. In the Colea- gala district there were between forty and fifty reservoirs, which about eighty years ago were put in good order by the Dalawai of Mysore, Doda Deva Raya IVodear. From that time until the country came into the Company's possession, after the fall of Seringapatam, they have been neglected. Six of them have now been completely repaired; and orders have been issued for perfecting the remainder, as soon as the dryness of the season will permit. I passed through the grounds of only one of these decayed reservoirs, and found them entirely waste. I saw also many dry-fields waste, especially near Satteagala, where the soil is poor; but in most places it is ca- pable of producing ^Mr«/i. In this part of the country there are very few fences. According to tradition, the god Rama, when on his way to Lanka, formed the great reservoir at Satteagala, and a fine dam named Danaghiry, that waters much land below the town. MYSORE, CANARA, AND IMALABAR. 165 Safteagaln formerly belonged to Rajas who were of the same CHAPTER family with those of Mysore. On the death of Pm^' arsM, the last v„^^,^^ of them, without issue, he was succeeded quietly by his relation O*^'" ^' , ' ' . . . i^attcagala. Canterua, the Curtur of Mysore. The fort is of considerable size, and in good repair ; but at present contains very few houses : the whole number, both in the fort and suburbs, amounts only to about 250. In a Alarattah invasion before tlie time of Hyder, it was entirely ruined, and most of the children and cattle were swept away. Before the invasion of Lord Cornwallis, about 1000 houses had been again assembled. At that time a party of Marat tah plun- derers ravaged all this neighbourhood ; and they were followed by a dreadful famine, in which 400 of the families in Satteagala perished of hunger. In the l^st war, the town was first plundered by the Lumbadies, or dealers in grain, belonging to the British army, and then burned by orders from the Sultan. The inhabitants are now hardly able to defend themselves from the beasts of prey, with which, from its depopulated condition, the country abounds. The black soil fit for the cultivation of cotton extends over the Extent of the lands of the following towns and villages : Nunjinagodu, Moguru, t^^'^J^\ °f Narasingha-pura, Ellanduru, Sosila, Maiuigy, Muluru, Cimiwu, Ala- hully, Homa, and Mangala, and is mostly in the Raja's dominions. In the Coleagala district the soil is mostly red, and is fit for the cultivation of rice and Ragy ; of which nearly equal quantities are raised. In this part of the country the village god is Baszva, or the bull Bnswa, the pf Siva, whose Pujari, or priest, is quite distinct from the Gauda, ^'"^^e go^- or chief of the village. By Major Macleod, the collector, the Gaudas. Gaudas are not allowed to rent their villages ; but they receive a fixed salary, and collect the revenue from the farmers. Here this office was never hereditary ; but that of the Shanabogas, or accomp- tants, always was. In the Coleagala district are some sandal- wood trees, which are Sandal- now cutting by the collector, who employs a Mussulman agent. ^''"'^" im A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH Forests, Oct. 4, Island of