04 ; 
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
Face of the 
country. 
CHAPTER wells were frequently rendered more loathsome and pernicious, 
by having purposely thrown into them the branches of Eupkorbium f 
and dead snakes, or other reptiles, in order to increase the putre- 
faction. It is said, that no native prisoner ever returned to detail 
the horrors of this dungeon. 
/ 
1.5th May. — I went to Muduru. All the country seems to have 
been arable, except on some high land that separates the two dis- 
tricts of Chimpatam and Muduru. This high land is not in general 
too steep for the plough, and some parts of it have been cultivated; 
but much of it remains entirely in a state of nature, and is covered 
with brushwood. There are a few small conical hills, and large 
masses of naked granite. The arable land, on this day’s journey, 
I estimate at three quarters of the whole country. The plantations 
of palm and fruit trees are pretty extensive, and the watered 
grounds perhaps amount to a tenth part of the arable lands. Many 
of the fields are surrounded by hedges ; but these are not kept in 
such repair as to be fences against cattle. Perhaps they are meant 
merely to distinguish the fields of different proprietors, or tenants, 
and to contain the Agave vivipara , and Iatropha curcas, that are 
wanted for the use of the country, and of which they chiefly 
consist. 
\ 
Among the waste lands there are many parts that seem capable 
of being rendered arable. In several places the Phoenix far inij era , 
Roxb: abounds; and intermixed with it, the Elate sylvestris, or 
wild date. From this the inhabitants extract Tdri, or Toddy , in the 
same manner as is practised in Bengal . Here the Tdri is used for 
drinking only ; but in some places, where it is more plenty, it is 
boiled down into a hard substance called Jagory, which by the poor is 
substituted in place of the Jagory extracted from the sugar-cane. 
There have been this season two considerable falls of rain, which 
have enabled the inhabitants to plough a great deal, and the country 
to assume some degree of verdure. A river. passes this place, which 
in the rainy season is considerable, and now contains a small quail- 
Wild date. 
Irrigation. 
