RAMNAD. 
545 
the Rannie's people ready to receive me, and a temporary house 
erected for me to rest in: a profusion of fruit was presented in her 
name, which I distributed to my people, and at a little after eleven 
I set off for Ramnad. The night was so much warmer than I had 
been used to, that I slept in my bed-gown only, with the door 
of my palanquin occasionally open. The sands were very heavy, 
the country very dreary, and the salt marshes frequent. 
January ^6.~I was met two miles from Ramnad by Colonel 
Marting's Adjutant, with a note from the Colonel, expressing his 
sorrow that he could not meet me himself Soon afterwards the 
whole of the Rannie's suwarry made their appearance. The morn- 
ing was hot, and I would willingly have dispensed with the dust 
which was raised by the elephants and soldiers. My men were very 
much tired ; but fortunately the old lady had sent her beaixrs, and 
they got on quickly. By nine I arrived at the Colonel's house in 
the fort, which is distant thirty miles from Panban. I found him a 
most excellent and pleasant man. He is a Portuguese, and has been 
forty-four years in India, thirty of which he has spent at Ramnad. 
He is Colonel of a local corps raised by himself, and is an universal 
blessing to the surrounding inhabitants. The house he lives in was 
built by himself: the spot is improved as much as possible, more 
for the sake of the employment it gives to the poor, than for his 
own satisfaction. It is within the walls of the fort, which was com- 
menced by the Rannie's ancestors, but never completed. The palace 
adjoins to it ; a gloomy building, with lofty walls, and no windows 
on the outside. Within the fort is also a large tank, on the banks 
of which are an old pagoda, now a poultry-house of the Colonel's, 
the tomb of the Rannie's late husband, and a Protestant church of 
