CAR 



471 



CAR 



being cut down. In the Carnatic, however, the 

 to collect the grain in stacks, or heaps, af- 

 ter u l<a-, 1" ' " thrashed out in the field. To guaid 

 ist embe/./.lement, si venl pieces of clay, btamp- 

 1, arc thru put on the surface of the 

 ; ami, to prevent injury from the weather, it is 

 tched. Tin- grain continues in these heaps till 

 the cultivator is able to satisfy the renter, either hy 

 advancing money, or by dividing the produce. In 

 y village a particular officer, called talliari, keeps 

 watch at night, and is answerable for all that may 

 be stolen. See Buchinan's T run-Is. 



Tlu-iv are no markets in the Carnatic, similar to 

 the fairs or hauls of Bengal. The shopkeepers pur- 

 chase what they have occasion for from the farmers 

 and manufacturers, and retail the articles thus pro- 

 cured in the bnzars, or towns. Milk, a favourite be- 

 verage, is sold in all its different preparations by wo- 

 men on the road side. 



Animal*. The animals in the Carnatic are nearly the same as 



arc to be found in the other countries of Hindoostan. 

 It would exceed our limits even to attempt an enu- 

 meration of them. These shall be noticed under the 

 article INDIA. 



Roads. The roads through the Carnatic are in general 



tolerably good. That from Pondicherry to Madras 

 is excellent. In many places it is bordered by bushy 

 trees, under the shade of which the traveller is pro- 

 tected from the scorching heat of the sun. Every 

 two or three miles there are c/toidlries or taverns, in 

 which comfortable accommodation may in general 

 be obtained. Of these, however, there are two sorts ; 

 one for the convenience of travellers, and another 

 for the reception of those images that may happen 

 to be carried in procession. If not occupied by 

 their idols, persons of all descriptions are admitted 

 into them. These charitable foundations bear a great 

 resemblance to institutions in the Romish church, 

 and to the caravanseras in Turkey and Persia. The 

 accounts given by different authors of the hospitali- 

 ty of the natives of the Carnatic, is very various. 

 They run into extremes ; and perhaps a whole peo- 

 ple have been characterised only from the compara- 

 tively few individuals with which they may have each 

 happened to have had intercourse. 



Manufac- The manufactures of the Carnatic are chiefly those 

 of cotton, which is wrought into an immense va- 

 riety of different articles. From the earliest times, 

 the Hindoos have excelled in this species of manu- 

 facture, and for ages supplied the whole of Europe, 

 a great part of Asia, and the shores of Africa upon 

 the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, with cotton 

 goods, whether for the purposes of dress, or of house- 

 hold furniture, &c. Madras and Pondicherry have 

 always taken the lead of all the other towns and ci- 

 ties on the coast in regard to commerce. The fo- 

 reign trade was formerly partitioned principally among 

 the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danes, the French, 

 and Englibh. The latter, however, have at present 

 a monopoly of the whole trade with India. What 

 is called the country trade, is carried on in ships, 

 theproperty of merchants who reside on the spot. 



There is a very great difference in the value of the 

 coin used in the Carnatic, as well as in other parts of 

 Hindostan. The East India Company have, however, 



co-operated with the natives in bringing the weight! 



and measures to a much greater degree of accura ^ 



and in tin- .Lighire they are permanently fixed. See * ' 



', Bvc/utnan t - .-,//, and 

 llti'l^n ; see also the articles INDIA, MADRAS, and 



J'liMMI MlvliHV. (it) 



CARNEADES. See the article ACADE 



CARNICOBAR, the northernmost of that cluster 

 of islands in the bay of Bengal, called the Nicobarc. 

 It is about 4-0 miles in circumference, of a circular 

 figure, and elevated little more than six feet above 

 the level of the sea. So much does it abound iu 

 wood, that at a distance it appears to contain nothing 

 else, though there are several poU upon it well clear- 

 ed, and very delightful. The trees are chiefly UK. 

 barriongtonia, cocoa nut, tournefortia, borassus, and 

 arcca ; the alctris fragrans, and various other shrubs, 

 arc to be met with : nuts of different kinds, pine- 

 apples, plaintains, limes, &r. are produced in great 

 plenty: there are also wild ginger, excellent yams, and 

 a root which the natives call cachu, and which is ob 

 viously a species of arum. All these grow abun- 

 dantly, and with very little care, the climate being 

 genial, and the soil rich. Lord Valentia, however, 

 when he visited the island in 1802, could get no 

 yams, and did not see a single pine-apple. The tim- 

 ber, which is plentiful, affords excellent materials for 

 building and repairing ships, and some of it is of 

 very large dimensions. No grain of any sort is pro- 

 duced on the island. There are great numbers of 

 pigeons, poultry, and pigs. The latter are of the 

 species called sus babyrussa. It is probable that 

 now there are also goats, as Lord Valentia left a male 

 and female of that useful animal, of which the na- 

 tives promised to take great care. The other qua- 

 drupeds are dogs, rats, and a large animal of the 

 lizard kind, called by the natives tolongui. Serpents 

 are numerous, and their bite is frequently fatal to 

 the inhabitants. 



The houses, or huts, in this island, are generally 

 erected upon the beach, which is sand, intermixed 

 with coral rock ; and form villages, each consisting of 

 fifteen or twenty of them, and every house containing 

 a family of about twenty persons. They are of a 

 round shape, elevated upon long wooden pillars, co- 

 vered with thatch, and having no windows, so that 

 they very much resemble bee-hives. The entrance 

 to them is by a trap door below, and the inhabitants 

 mount by means oY a ladder which is drawn up at 

 night. For the admission of light and air, the floor- 

 ing is made of thin slips of bamboo, laid at certain 

 distances. The inside is finished off with neatness, 

 and usually decorated with nets, fishing lances, and 

 other implements of that kind. The inhabitants sleep 

 in little hammocks made of matted grass, or the rind 

 of trees ; the males on one side, and the females on 

 the other. To prevent the rats, and especially the 

 snakes, from getting in, the pillars on which the 

 houses stand, are covered with a very smooth sort of 

 leaf; and still farther to increase security, there is a 

 flat broad piece of wood made to project from each 

 pillar, near the top of it, which it is impossible for 

 the noxious animals to pass. 



The inhabitants of Carnicobar, though of small 

 stature, are well made, very muscular, uncommonly 



