40 
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER 
I. 
Manufac- 
tures. 
Cotton. 
Cutnlies , a 
kind of 
blankets. 
held ; there are here none of those small markets called Hants , 
which are so much frequented in Bengal , and are such a waste of 
time to its inhabitants. A small duty is levied on all persons fre- 
quenting this fair, bearing a certain proportion to the value that 
each brings for sale. It does not seem to be considered as bur- 
thensome. The articles exposed for sale to-day were provisions of 
all kinds, coarse cotton cloths, blankets or cumlies , iron work for 
country uses, and the like. 
The chief manufacture of Waluru is cotton cloth ; and the weavers 
work both for country use, and for exportation. The coarse cloths 
for the former purpose, they sell at the weekly fairs. The finer 
kinds they either weave on their own account, selling them to 
traders at the same places ; or they receive advances from mer- 
chants to enable them to purchase thread. On exportation from 
hence, each bullock load of cloth pays a duty of one Sultany fanam, 
or a little more than eight pence. Their cloth must be cheap, as 
during the Sultan’s reign much of it was smuggled out of the 
country ; for he strictly prohibited all trade with the lower Carnatic . 
The merchants of JVallajah petta sent up some European goods, 
spiceries, and other commodities ; and, in return, took back cloths, 
which they sold at Madras. At present, of course, the trade is 
free, and European goods are sold openly in the market. 
The cotton raised in the country is not sufficient for its manu- 
factures ; the people here get it from Hossocotay , and pay a small duty 
on every bullock load that enters. At Hossocotay it is said to pay 
heavier duties, and is brought there from the northward. 
In the neighbouring villages many coarse blankets, or cumlies , 
are woven from the wool which the country produces. When 
offered for sale, they are almost as hard as pasteboard ; but this 
quality is given to them by a decoction of the kernels of the tama- 
rind, and is intirely removed by the first washing. They seem to 
be an article of dress in almost universal use above the Ghats or 
passes, and the families of the weavers may be readily distinguished 
