354 TANJORE. 
coming under the British controul than Tanjore,for in former times 
no country suffered so much from hostility. It was in one point 
more open to injury than any other, its existence almost depend- 
ing upon the preservation of the prodigious mounds which have 
been raised at Goiladdy, to prevent the waters of the Cauveri from 
rejoining the Coleroon, after they have separated near Terichinopoly. 
The former branch of the Acundacauveri is subdivided again and 
again, and by its different canals carries fertility into the whole 
plain, from Devicottah to Point Gallamere, a district which, were it 
not for the labour of men in procuring a supply of water, would be a 
barren sand. The French were fully aware of this, and in the war 
of 1754 attempted the destruction of the mounds, but failed through 
the exertions of the English. War has long ceased in these fertile 
provinces, and the union of the peninsula under one controlling 
power has rendered the return of it highly improbable. 
The Rajah is not obHged by treaty to keep up any military force ; 
but the Madras government having, as a favour, given him the 
possession of the two forts of Tanjore, he has established a garrison 
of fifteen hundred men, and keeps the walls in excellent repair, at 
an expense of fifty thousand pagodas per annum. The education 
he received during the time of his adversity was far superior to 
that of Asiatics in general. He speaks the English language with 
fluency and propriety, and has been thoroughly attached to our 
Government by the conciliatory and respectful conduct which has 
been uniformly pursued towards him. To a man of sense, which he 
certainly is, the rapidly increasing prosperity of his country must 
be gratifying, and the strict attention to the religious prejudices of 
the inhabitants ties him still closer to us. 
