20 



for a rupee you purchase twenty pounds of excellent beef; mut- 

 ton, veal, and kid, in the same proportion; poultry not so plenti- 

 ful, and fish is a rarity; pork in Mahometan towns is never to be 

 met with. In this city and its surrounding domain arc fifty thou- 

 sand wells, and some very fine tanks; but the nabob, to prevent 

 the Mahratta armies from encamping near his capital, drained 

 most of the lakes, and cut off their resources. 



Cornelians, agates, and the beautifully variegated stones im- 

 properly called mocha-stones, form a valuable part of the trade at 

 Cambay. The best agates and cornelians are found in peculiar 

 strata, thirty feet under the surface of the earth, in a small tract 

 among the Rajepiplee hills, on the banks of the Nerbudda: they 

 are not to be met with in any other part of Guzerat, and are gene- 

 rally cut and polished in Cambay. On being taken from their 

 native bed they are exposed to the heat of the sun for two years : 

 the longer they remain in that situation the brighter and deeper 

 will be the colour of the stone; fire is sometimes substituted for 

 the solar ray, but with less effect, as the stones frequently crack, 

 and seldom acquire a brilliant lustre. After having undergone 

 this process, they are boiled for two days, and sent to the manu- 

 facturers at Cambay. The agates are of different hues; those 

 generally called cornelians are black, white, and red, in shades 

 from the palest yellow to the deepest scarlet. The variegated 

 stones with landscapes, trees, and water, beautifully delineated, are 

 found at Copperwange, or more properly Cubbeer-punge, the 

 five tombs, a place sixty miles distant. 



While the English troops were detained at Cambay, I resided at 

 head-quarters; but spent much of my time with my kind friend the 



