CAN 



> rupees. It was afterwards seized by Tip- 

 jiS.nl); but is now subject to the British, who, 

 under General Abercrombii-, took possession of the 

 fort on the 17th of December 1790. The liilty, or 

 lady of Cananore, however, who at present manages 

 the affairs of the royal family, during the minority of 

 her son, is still allowed to retain the nominal sove- 

 reignty of the district. She pays an annual land-tax 

 of 1 4,000 rupees to the Company, and is allowed to 

 collect all the revenues, except the customs. Her 

 territories on the continent are very small, extending 

 no where above two miles from the town. The sur- 

 face is, in general, high and uneven ; but it is all 

 capable of cultivation, though a small part of it on- 

 ly is fitted for rice ground. She possesses also most 

 of the Lacadive islands, which, however, are so 

 wretchedly poor, that the tribute which she derives 

 from them is altogether trifling. Her principal re- 

 sources arise from trade, which she carries on to a 

 considerable extent in vessels of her own, with Ara- 

 bia, Bengal, and Sumatra ; and " her commercial af- 

 fairs are so well managed, "*ays Dr Buchanan, " that 

 he will soon, it is said, recover the losses that she is 

 alleged to have suffered from the rapacity of some 

 British officers, during the wars of Malabar." The 

 town of Cananore stretches about half a mile along 

 the shore, and is defended by a strong fortress, which 

 was formerly considered impregnable, and several de- 

 tached forts situated on every side. It is very nar- 

 row, except near the centre, where it runs a little 

 way up into the land, and is terminated by a battery, 

 called Spice Fort. It contains several very good hou- 

 ses, which are possessed by -Mahometan merchants ; 

 but its eastern extremity is chiefly inhabited by fish- 

 ermen, and consists only of a group of miserable 

 huts. The fortress stands a- little south-west of the 

 town, upon a promontory , which projects about a quar- 

 ter of a mile into the sea. It has the complete com- 

 mand of the bay ; and, since the province was ceded 

 to the Company, has been considerably strengthened 

 with works after the European fashion. The sea 

 surrounds it on all sides, except on the north-west, 

 where it is separated from the land by a deep ditch 

 and strong fortifications. It contains the wharf, 

 where vessels may lie with great safety during summer, 

 but, in winter, it affords very little security ; a hospi- 

 tal, the chief's house, the warehouses, and lodgings 

 for the different officers of the Company. The house 

 of the present Biby is very large, and is one of the 

 best sultan's palaces in India. Cananore still pos- 

 sesses a flourishing trade, though its exports have 

 been considerably diminished by the disturbances of 

 Cotiote; and it employs from 25 to 30 vessels. It 

 is about 15 miles north-west from Tellicherry ; and 

 lies in N. L3t. 11 55', E. Long. 75 14'. See Bu- 

 chanan's Journey through Mysore, ffc. vol. ii. p. 553 ; 

 Bartolomco's Voyage, p. 144; and a plan of the town 

 and fort, in tin Oriental Repository, vol i. (L) 



CANARA, a province of Hindostan, extends 

 along the Malabar coast between the 12th and 15th 

 degree of N Lat., and is from 30 to 90 miles in 

 breadth. It is separated from the Mysore by the 

 Western Ghauts, ancr comprehends the countries of 

 Tulava and Haiga, with a small portion of Malayala 

 ou the south, and of Ivankana on the north. Its 



CAN 



name is supposed to be an European corruption of ' 

 Karnata, a people residing above the Ghauts, and " V"" 

 was bestowed upon it, because it belonged to the 

 princes of that nation ; and we may observe, that, on 

 the other side of the peninsula, the Camatic received 

 its name from the same origin, and the taree cause, 

 when first conquered by the Moslems. Though the 

 air in this country is, in general, pure and pleasant, 

 and the climate salubrious, yet, in some places, it is 

 extremely unhealthy, particularly in the northern 

 part of the province. In Tulava heavy rains and 

 strong westerly winds prevail, between the middle of 

 May and the middle of August. The rain which 

 they have during the other seasons of the year comet 

 from the east, and commonly falls in gentle showers; 

 and, in the winter months, from November to March, 

 the weather is dry, but the air is reckoned cold by 

 the natives. The soil throughout this province is in 

 general good ; and produces abundance of rice, of 

 which great quantities are exported to Europe and 

 various parts of India. The best in quality is in the 

 neighbourhood of the coast. In many places, it 

 grows gradually worse as you approach the moun- 

 tains, where the rains are sometimes so excessive, as 

 greatly to injure the crops ; but in the inland part of 

 the country, it is very favourable to plantations. 

 Some of the mountains are covered with stately fo- 

 rests of various kinds of wood, among which the 

 teak is the most valuable ; indeed, the Western 

 Ghauts, in general, present a very different appear- 

 ance from those in the east. Instead of the naked 

 sun-burnt peaks of the latter, the hills here, though 

 steep and stony, are by no means rugged, but are 

 covered with a rich mould, and, in many places, the 

 rocks cannot be observed without digging. " The 

 strata on the Western Ghauts," says Dr Buchanan, 

 " are much covered with the soil ; so that it is in 

 few places only that they are to be seen. Having 

 no compass, I could not ascertain their course ; but 

 so far as I could judge from the sun in a country so 

 hilly, they appeared to run north and south, with a 

 dip to the east of about 30 degrees. Wherever it 

 appears on the surface, the rock, although extreme- 

 ly hard or tough, is in a state of decay ; and, owing 

 to this decay, its stratified nature is very evident. 

 The plates, indeed, of which the ; strata consist, are 

 in general under a foot in thickness, and are subdi- 

 vided into rhomboidal fragments by fissures, which 

 have a smooth surface. It is properly an aggregate 

 stone, composed of quartz, impregnated with horn- 

 blende. From this last it acquires its great tough- 

 ness. In decay, the hornblende in some plates seems 

 to waste faster than in others, and thus leaves the 

 stone divided into zones, which are alternately po- 

 rous and white. This rock contains many small 

 crystallized particles apparently of iron. Below 

 the Ghauts, the country consists of latcrite or 

 brick-stone ; but it is much intermixed with gra- 

 nites and talcose argilite, which seems to be no- 

 thing more than a potstone, impregnated with 

 more argil than usual, and assuming a slaty form." 

 * The strata cf Tulava, near the sea coast," says 

 the same author, " resemble entirely those of Ma- 

 layala, and consist of laterite or brick-stone, with a 

 very few rocks of grauite interspersed. This gra- 



