8 2§ The Roads to the fever al Roads ^Bidia ? Book I* 
they are drawn by two Oxen, and fome of them are fo 
ftrong, that they will travel upon the Trot twelve or fifteen 
Leagues a Day, for fixty Days together. When they have 
got half their Day’s Journey, they give them two or three 
Balls, as big as one of our Twopenny Loaves, of Wheat 
Flour, kneaded up with Butter, and black Sugar. 
The Hire of one of thefe Coaches is a Rupee a Day, or 
a little more •, for from Surat to Agra is forty Days Jour- 
ney, and you pay for the whole not above forty-five Ru- 
pees. They, who have more to fpend, may make ufe of 
a Palanquin for their Eafe, wherein they travel very com- 
modioufly ; *tis a little fort of a Coach, fix or feven Foot 
long, and three broad, with Ballifiters round about it. It 
has a kind of Covering over it, of Sattin, or Cloth of Gold, 
and when the Sun lies upon either Side, there is a Slave 
goes by the Side to pull down the Covering, and another 
carries a Targot of Ofiers, covered with fome genteel Stuff, 
to keep the Traveller from the Heat of the Sun. Three 
Men, for the moft part, apply themfelves to each of the 
Ends, to carry the Palanquin upon their Shoulders, and 
they go fwifter than our Sedan-men, and with more Eafe, 
becaufe they pradtifc it from their Youth : You give to 
every one four Rupees a Month, but if the Journey ex- 
ceeds fixty Days, they will have five. 
Whether it be in a Coach, or a Palanquin, he that will 
travel honourably in the Indies , muft take along with him 
twenty or thirty armed Men, fome with Bows and Arrows, 
others with Mufkets, who have every one the fame Pay as 
thofe that carry the Palanquin. Sometimes, for more Mag- 
nificence, they carry a Banner, as the Englijh and Hol- 
landers do, for the Honour of their Companies. Thefe 
Soldiers watch and keep Centinel for your Defence, and 
are mighty careful to give Content, that they may deferve 
the good Word of the Chief of the Town where you take 
them ; for he is refponfible for their Fidelity, and has two 
Rupees apiece of them for his Recommendation. In the 
Villages where a Mohammedan commands, you may have 
Mutton, Pullets, or Pigeons *, but where there are only 
Banyans , there is nothing to be had but Flour, Rice, 
Herbs, and Milk Meats. In the Indies , where the Heats 
are exceffive, ’tis more commodious to travel by Night than 
Day ; and therefore, when you come into any fortified 
Town, you muft be gone before the Sun be fet, if you in- 
tend to travel the Night following ; for the Gates being 
Unit, the Commander of the Place is to anfwer for all the 
Robberies committed within his Jurifdiflion, and will fuffer 
none to go out, telling them, it is the King’s Order, to 
which he muft be obedient. The Meafure of Diftances in 
India is by .Colts, which is a League, and Gos, which is 
four of our common Leagues. 
5. I11 travelling from Surat to Agra there are two Roads, 
one through Brampour and Seconge , and the other through 
Amadahat. In the firft of thefe you go through Barnoly , 
a great Borough Town, where you ford a great River ; 
this firft Day’s Journey lies through a Country fomething 
woody, yet having many Fields of Rice and Wheat. From 
Barnoly you travel altogether through Woods to Bahor , a 
large Village upon a Lake, about a League in Compafs. 
Three Quarters of a League before you come at this Town, 
you muft ford a fimall River, but with great Difficulty, be- 
caufe it is full of Rocks and Stones, which are ready to over- 
turn the Coach. 
From Bahor the next Stage is through a woody Country 
to the Inn, Kerkoa , or de la Begum , becaufe it was built by 
the Charity of ' Begum- Sakeb, the Daughter of the Shah 
Jehan , for the Eafe of Travellers, who before were forced 
to travel to Navapoura , which, befides that it was too 
great a Journey, being upon the Frontiers of thofe Rajahs, 
who often revolt from the Great Mogul. The Caravans 
were generally abufed . This Inn, or Caravanfera, is large, 
and very commodious. In the Road from hence to Nava- 
poura you ford two Rivers. 
Navapoura is a great Town, full of Weavers ; but Rice 
is the greateft Commodity there *, for not only the Ri- 
ver that runs through the Country makes it very fruit- 
ful in that Grain, which requires Moifture, but the Rice 
that grows there has a peculiar Excellency, for which it is 
much efteemed. It is, indeed, lefs by half than the Grain 
©f the common Rice ; but when it is boiled new. Snow is 
not whiter, and it frnells like Mufk. This Property makes 
the Indian Grandees fo fond of it, that they will eat no 
other ; and when they would make an acceptable Prelent 
to any one in Perfia , they fend them a Sack of this Rice. 
From Navapoura you pafs through Najjar bar , Dolmedan* 
and Senquera , to Pollen er : Here you pafs the River that 
runs through Barock , where it grows very large, and emp- 
ties itfelf into the Gulph of Cambaya. 
From Pollener your Way lies by Choupre \ Sen quells and 
Nabir to Badelpoura ; here the loaded Waggons pay the 
Duties of Brampour , but the Waggons that carry nothing 
but PalTengers pay nothing: And, when this is done, you 
go on to Brampour , which was a great City, but is now 
very much ruined, and moft of the Houfes are thatched 
with Straw. In the Midft of it is the Caftle, where the 
Governour lives. The Government of this Province is a 
very confiderable Command, and is only conferred upon 
the King’s Son, or Uncle •, but, fince they have under- 
ftood the Strength of the Province of Bengal , which was 
formerly a Kingdom, that Province is thought the moft 
confiderable in all the Mogul’s Country at this Day. 
There is great Trade in this City, as well as in the Provin- 
ces adjoining, in Calicuts, of which there are prodigious 
Quantities made here, clear and white, which are tranf- 
ported into Perjia , Purky, Mufcovy , Pol and , Arabia , 
Crand-Cairo , and other Places, Some of them are painted 
with Flowers of various Colours, and the Women make 
Veils and Scarfs of them, and of fome Coverlets for Beds,, 
and Handkerchiefs. They make another fort of Linnen, 
which they never dye, and hath a Stripe of Gold or Sil- 
ver quite through the whole Piece, and at each End from 
the Breadth of one Inch to twelve or fifteen, they fix a 
Tiffue of Gold, Silver, and Silk, intermixed with Flow- 
ers; both Sides are alike. Some of thefe Linnens are 
made on Purpofe for Safhes, and are called Ormi, and 
contain from fifteen to twenty Ells : Some are of two Ells 
only, and ferve the Ladies of Quality for Veils and Scarfs % 
and vaft Quantities of thefe Goods are vended into Perfia 
and 'Turky. They make alfo other forts of Cotton Cloths 
at Brampour , becaufe there is no other Province in all the 
Indies which has greater Quantities of Cotton. 
Leaving this City, there is a fmall River, which, when 
fhallow, is forded, and, iffwelled by the Rains, there are al- 
ways Boats attending to take over Travellers : And then 
you come to Pevinbefera , which is an Inclofure of Walls 
and Hedges, in which are fifty or fixty Huts covered with 
Straw, where live certain Men and Women that fell Rice* 
Flour, Butter, and Herbs, and make it their Bufinefs to 
bake Bread, and boil Rice to fell to the Travellers ; and 
thefe Perfons cleanfe the Hut, they take up and put into it 
a Bedftead, with Girths to lay a Mattrefs or Quilt up- 
on, which the Travellers ufually carry along with them : 
This is fignified by the Word Sara , which is added to 
fuch Places. If any Traveller have a Mind to a Fowl, or 
a Piece of Mutton, any Mohommedan in the Place will go 
to the City and buy it for him. From hence you go for- 
ward through Pander , Balkifera , Confembar , Chenipow, 
Charava, and Bichola to Andy, where you pafs a River 
that falls into the Ganges , between Banazon and Potna, 
and fo take the Way by Onguenas , Piquery, No ol-me dan , 
Nova-fera , J 'chav our , Signor, Chekaipour , Dour ay, AJfor - 
hair, Peler, and Sankaira to Secoiige, 
This City is large, and moft of its Inhabitants are Ban - 
jan Merchants and Handicrafts, the Trade paffing from 
Father to Son ; and, for that Reafon ? there are feveral 
Houfes of Stone and Brick. Here is alfo a great Trade 
for painted Calicuts, called Chintes, of which the Cioath- 
ing of all the meaner fort of People in Perfia and Turky 
are made : And the fame are ufed in other Countries for 
Coverlets for Beds and Table-Napkins. The fame forts of 
Calicuts are made in other Countries, but the Colours are 
neither fo lively nor lafting, but wear out with often walk- 
ing ; whereas thofe made at Seconge, grow the fairer the 
more you wafh them. This arifes from a peculiar Virtue 
of the River that runs by the City when the Rains fall ; 
for the Workmen having made fuch Prints upon their 
Cottons as the foreign Merchants give them, by fevercal 
Patterns, dip them into the River often, and that fo 
fixes the Colours, that they will always hold. There is 
