INDIA. 



95 



the Gulf of Cutch ; the fish are dried, and exported on 

 camels and bullocks to the interior. The natives here 

 are also employed in the pearl fishery ; bnt this kind 

 of fishery is carried on to the greatest extent on the 

 there* of the south-eastern extremity of India, particu- 

 .ticorin, and six other villages in the district 



mevelly. There are two fishing seasons in the 

 year ; one rn March and April, and the other in Au- 

 gust and September. The pearls are disposed of at a 

 fair that i* held immediately after the termination of 

 each fishing season ; they are much inferior to those 

 procured in Ceylon, being disfigured by a blue or 

 inge. Near Boml>ay, fishing stakes, formed 

 of the trunks of the cocoa-nut tree, are hid down at 

 the beginning of the fair season, in eight or nine fa- 

 thoms water ;. they are taken op before the south-west 

 monsoon commence*. They are fixed by means of 

 boats filled with water, attached to them when the tide 

 is low ; thus, of course, they are sunk to the bottom : 

 and they are raised by a similar process, empty boat* 

 being attached to them, by mean* of which they Are 

 lifted up at the flowing of the tide. 



The utlernal tr.iilc of India is conducted by boats, 

 land carriers, travelling merchants, and at fairs The 

 boats which are used <m the Ganges, and its tributary 

 streams, are of various sizes and constructions ; from 

 Patna to Calcutta, where the navigation resembles that 

 of the sea, both from the width of the river, and the 

 storms which frequently arise, it is necessary to em- 

 ploy large and strong boats, or rather ship* of upward* 

 of 100 tons; in the higher parts of the river, the boat* 

 are made either low and deep, or flat, and clinker bmilt. 



oen Calcutta and the sea, among the shallows, 

 the boats are made without keel. Those which are 

 used in the Indus ate flat-bottomed, with tqiure heads 

 and sterns, low forward, high abaft, and drawing only 

 a few inches water; oar* are seldom employed, but 

 they are either dragged by men or pushed along with 

 pales ; when the wind admit* it, tails an used. The 

 malarial* of which these boats are constructed are very 

 few, simple, and cheap ; and the boatmen scarcely re- 





itinerant grain dealer* a singular race of people. St: 

 Formerly they were never molested in the most dis- 

 turbed state of the country, being regarded as sacred; 

 this reverence for them, however, is now nearly at an 

 end. They travel in large parties, with their grain on 

 bullocks, brought from a great distance ; but they do 

 not depend entirely on their profits as grain dealer?, 

 nor on their returns of merchandise from the Decan to 

 Hindoetan IVoper ; for they occasionally become sta- 

 tionary, and apply themselves to husbandry. Thi., 

 however, seldom happens, except when they are unable 

 to dispo-e of their grain. They also employ their lei- 

 sure in weaving a stuff from hemp, of great strength 

 and good quality ; this is made into bags to carry 

 grain in, and into large cloths to cover camels. The 

 travelling merchants or banyans resemble the chap- " ;>;f - 

 men in Britain ; they come in great numbers from 

 Guzerat to Bombay, selling muslins, cotton cloths, &e. 

 They are chiefly Hindoos ; though some Mahomedans 

 adopt the name and the profession ; thiy are distin- 

 guished by a ml turban, shaped in front like the horn 

 of a rhinoceros. The banyans are generally rich, 

 and carry on a stationary as well as an itinerant busi. 

 ness. Whin travelling they are attended by atoliet, 

 porter*, to carry their merchandize. Besides these, 

 there are the borahs, or petty chapmen, who -arc M.i- 

 hoaaedans, very poor, and not distinguished by their 

 honesty. They travel about the country with an almo-t 

 infinite variety of small and cheap articles in their 

 boxes 



There are weekly markets over most part of 1 1 in- Markttj. 

 dostan Proper, but they are not common in other parts 

 x At these there i* a considerable interchange 

 of commodities, but, of course, confined to the vicinity 

 of the place where the market is held. The fairs of Fain of 

 HindosUn are of infinitely greater importance. The Coolou 



- ited are those of Cooloo, Hurdwar, and 

 Nolucky Hint. The fair of Cooloo, in the province of 

 Oriaaa, it attended by the traders of the inland parts of 

 HindosUn, particularly those of Berar, and the traders 

 in salt and European commodities from the sea coast. 



ceive any wagesxeei* what will purchase then a lit- During the months of January, February, and March, 

 tie ah, tobacco, and clothing , grain i* supplied them tue farmer arrange their caravans, and bring their 



for food. The average rate of travelling,' with 

 against the current, may be reckoned S3 miles a-day. 

 o inland navigaton in Hindottan Proper, salt, 

 . cotton, an. I manuGscturcd articles, are inter- 

 changed. It is said that the whole number of boatmen 

 employed in the river* of Bengal and Bhar are nearly 

 900,000 ; matt of these are al*o labourer* in husbandry, 

 or fishermen. 



Land carriage i* performed by oxen, buKiIort, and 



: - 



merchandise, which consists chiefly of cotton, on bul- 

 lock* to Cooloo. Here they are met by the trader* 

 from the M coast. Factors are employed to transact 

 i tines* among them ; and they aUo supply them 

 liuts. food, and other necessaric*, during their 

 abode. The commission of the factors is one per cent. 

 Nearly all the business i* carried on by factor*. The 

 fair break* up about a month before the commence, 

 merit of the rainy season. The traders then depart ; 



ictimei by bone* , no carriage* are used, their be- but the factors are stationary. 



no road* adapted tat them. The owners of the /The eara-non hat at I lurdwar, the place where the and Hard- 



Ganges enters Hindostan, is held annually ; but every wu. 

 twelve years there U a fair here, at which are assem- 

 blrd a much greater number of people than at any 

 other fair in the world. Many of these, indeed, per- 

 hap* the largest portion of them, visit Hurdwar from 

 i: olives of superstition, and a* a place of pilgrimage, 

 which will be afterwards noticed; but great numbers are 

 also led hither from commercial motives. At the an- 

 nual fairs, it is computed that between.SOO.000 and 

 500,000 people are collected. At tiie fair every twelve 

 years, there are often a million ; and in April 1809, it 

 u supposed there were assembled at Hurdwar, from 

 every part of Hindostan, from the confines of China to 

 those of Persia, Hindoos of every description, amount* 

 ratta countries, and other part* of India, vanjaries, or ing to two million* of persons. An immense variety 



ly the owners av> of the 

 iey carry, at well at the drivers, (hie driver it 

 allowed to tour oxen. Their food is generally obtain- 

 ed without expense on the road tide ; but where buffa- 

 loe* are employed, k i* necessary to give them grain. 

 The article* ofmerchandUe which arc thus transported, 

 are grain, salt, cotton, sugar, tobacco, betel nut, cc. 

 In the Decan there it a wandering tribe of carriers, 

 called Lomballiet, or Burgarahs, who interchange the 

 commodities of this part of HindosUn for those of Ben- 

 gal and the adjacent provinces. They are said to be 

 the ilttmnJaiUs of those camp- followers who accom- 

 panied the emperors Shah Jehan and Allun 

 their war* in the Decan. There are also in the Mh- 



