26 Travels into I N D I E S. Part III. 
planted on the top and higlieft Branches of it. It hath by it a Pagod 
dedicated to an Idol which they call Mameva -, and they who are not of 
their Religion, believe it to be a reprelentation of E've. We found a Bra- 
wen fitting there, who put fome Red Colour upon the Foreheads of thofe 
who come to pay their Devotions, and received the Prefents of Rige or 
Cocos that they offered him. That Pagod is built under the Tree in 
form of a Grot -, the outfide is painted with diver fe Figures repre- 
fenting the Fables of their falfe Gods^ and in the Grot there is a Head all 
over Red. 
c laritv to- that place I faw a Man very charitable towards the Ants : He carried 
<wiids Ants. Flower in a Sack to be diftributed amongft them, and left a handful every 
where where he met with any number. 
Whilft we were abroad in the Fields, we confidered the Soyl of Surrat^ 
k is of a very brown Earth -, and they affured us, that it was fo very richj 
that they never dunged it. After the Rains they fow their Corn, that isj 
after the Month of Septemher^ and they cut it down after February. They 
sagai Cans. plant Sugar-Canes there alfo -, and the way of planting them, is to make 
great Furrows, wherein, before they lay the Canes, they put a great ma- 
ny of the little Fifli called Gudgeons : Whether thefe Fifli ferve to fatten 
the Earth, or that they add fome qualitie to the Cane, the Indians pre- 
tend, that without thi\t Manure the Canes would produce nothing that's 
good. They lay their pieces of Canes over thefe Filh, end to end, and 
from every joint of Cane fo interred, their Springs a Sugar-cane, which 
they reap in their feafon. 
The Soyl about Surrat is good for Rice alfo, and there is a great deal 
fown. Manguiers and Palm-trees of all kinds, and other forts of Trees 
thrive well there, and yield great profit. The Dutch water their Ground 
with Well-Watec, which is drawn by Oxen after the manner defcribed 
in my Second Part \ but the Corn-land is never watered, becaufe the Dew 
that falls plentifully in the Mornings, is fufficient for it. 
The riv.'i of The River of Tapty is always brackifh at Surrat^ and therefore the In- 
^"/O' habitants make no ufe of it_, neither for Drink nor Watering of their 
Grounds, but only for waftiing their Bodies, which they do every Mor- 
ning as all the other Indians do. They make ufe of Well-water to drink, 
and it is brought in Borrachoes upon Oxen. This River of it fdf is but 
little, for at High-water it is no broader than half of the River of Seine 
at Par^ : Neverthelefs it fwells fo in the Winter-time by the Rain-water, 
that it furioufly overflows, and makes great havock : It has its fource in a 
place called Gehar-Conde^ in the Mountains of Decan^ ten Leagues from 
Brampour. It paffes by that Town, and before it difcharge it felf into 
the Sea, it Waters fevcral Countries, and wafties many Towns, as laft of 
all it does Surrat. At low Water, it runs to the Bar -, but when it flows the 
Sea commonly advances two Leagues over that Bar, and fo receives the 
Water of the Tafty. 
CHAP. XV. 
The Fort of Surrat. 
The Port of 'T^Hc Bar of Surrat^ where Ships come at prefent, is not its true Port ^ 
Surraf. A beft it can be called but a Road -, and I had reafon to fay in the 
beginning^ of this Book, that it is called the Bar becaufe of the Banks of 
Sand which hinder Ships from coming farther in. The truth is, there is 
fo little Water there, that though the VelTels be unloaded, the ordinary 
Tides arc not fufficient to bring them up, and they are obliged to wait 
for 
