A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER 
I. 
Mr. Place. 
Codies, or sluices of stone. These are twenty or thirty feet wide, 
and are lower by some feet than the other parts of the bank. On 
the surface, they are strongly fortified by large stones placed in 
a sloping direction ; so that the water rushes over without under- 
mining the bank, and is conveyed away from the fields by a canal. 
This is a matter of the utmost importance ; for there are instances 
where, the banks of these large tanks having given way, whole 
villages have been destroyed by the torrent. In order, however, 
that when there is plenty of rain, the tank may be completely 
filled, a row of stone pillars is placed on the top of the sluice; and, 
on the water rising to a level with their base, a temporary wall is 
formed of mud, sticks, and straw, placed between the pillars, so 
as to confine the water till it rises as high as the top of the bank. 
People watch this night and day, in order to break down the tem- 
porary bank, should any additional rain endanger the whole. The 
water is let out, to supply the fields, by a sluice lined with cut 
stone, or bricks, and placed under the bank, on a level with the 
country. The inner end of this sluice is covered by a flat stone, in 
which is cut a circular opening, that can be shut or opened by a 
plug fixed to a bamboo, and secured in its place by two pillars 
of stone, which rise above the level of the wat£r. The accompany- 
ing sketches (Plate I.) will assist the reader to understand the fore- 
going description. The proper name for a tank of this kind, in 
the Tamiil language, is Eray. Saymbrumbacum tank is said to be 
sufficient to supply with water the lands of thirty-two villages 
(should the rains fail) for eighteen months. In these villages, it 
is said, there are five thousand persons employed in agriculture. 
In a country liable to famine from want of rain, a reservoir, such as 
this, is of inestimable value. 
The late collector, Mr. Place, although he augmented the re- 
venue considerably, by the repairs made on this tank during his 
administration, gave great satisfaction to the inhabitants. Another 
of Mr. Place’s measures seems to have been very well judged. He 
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