MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 17 
Jrcot, or Arrucate, is the nominal capital of the Carnatic pdyin ghat , CHAPTE R 
{Carnatic below the Passes) as the Mussulmans and English call the 
dominions of the Nabob . He maintains a garrison of his own troops Arcot. 
in the fort, which is pretty large, but not in good repair. The music 
of his Nabut, or state band, is much superior to any thing I have 
ever heard among the natives, and is not much harsher than our 
clarionet. His brother-in-law, who manages this part of the coun- 
try, resides near the fort, in a good house belonging to the IStabob. 
The town surrounds the glacis on all sides, and is extensive. 
The houses are as good as in the towns of the Jaghire . The in- 
habitants speak the Decany dialect of the Mussulman language, 
which we call Moors or Hindustany. They took advantage of us as 
strangers, and for every supply we procured, demanded three times 
the usual price. At this place coarse cotton cloth is made. It 
seems to be cheaper than in the sjaghire , but dearer than in Bengal . 
From Madras to Kavery pak, the road is tolerably good. From R oa ds, and 
Kcevery pak to Arcot, a wheel carriage could not easily pass. Many 
of the rich natives travel in bullock coaches, like those in Calcutta , 
called Chaycra. Near Arcot, I met the Mussulman women riding on 
bullocks, and entirely wrapt up in white veils, so as to conceal 
both features and shape. 
The heat on the glacis of the fort, where I encamped, was intense. Hills of gar- 
The hills in this vicinity are the most barren I have ever seen, those mte * 
even of St. Jago in the Cape dc Verd islands not excepted. They 
appear to be composed of the same granite, that abounds in 
the elevated barren grounds, on which the road from Madras 
is conducted. They seem to be undergoing a rapid decay, and will 
probably continue to do so, till they are reduced to nearly a level 
with the circumjacent plain, when the decomposed parts, no longer 
rolling off, will cover them with a bed of sand, and prevent them 
from farther decay, as is now the case in the waste lands already 
mentioned. In many parts of the vallies, formed by these hills, is 
Vol. I. D 
