MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 
m 
durga, are many cultivated spots, in which, during Tippoo's govern- CHAPTER 
ment, were settled many Baydaru, or hunters, who received twelve 
Pagodas (4>l. 5 s.) a year, and served as irregular troops whenever 
required. Being accustomed to pursue tigers and deer in the woods, 
they were excellent marksmen with their match-locks, and indefa- 
tigable in following their prey ; which, in the time of war, was the 
life and property of every helpless creature that came in their way. 
During the wars of Ryder and his son, these men were chief instru- 
ments in the terrible depredations committed in the lower Carnatic . 
They were also frequently employed with success against the Poly- 
gars , whose followers were men of a similar description. At present, 
as they receive no pay, they are obliged to apply more closely to 
agriculture; for in that way' they always employed their leisure; 
and there is a prospect of their becoming a quiet and industrious 
people, although they still retain their arms, and an anxious desire 
for plunder. 
10th June. — I remained at Magadi , endeavouring to complete my June 16 . 
. t <r , 7 . Iron mines a 
collection of the various timber trees. 1 sent also to utiettipiira to Ghettipura. 
inquire after the iron mines : but was inforjned by the officers of 
government, that, nobody havings wrought them for some years, 
their situation was not now known. After a long search, however, 
they had found a few stones, which they sent, believing that they 
might be iron-ore. I then sent for the man who had given me the 
information ; and on the following day, 
17 th June , — I took him along with me to Ghettipura, where I not June 17. 
only found the ore in several places, but also the pits, from which 
the people were then actually taking it to supply their furnaces. 
I am at some loss to account for this desire of concealment relative 
to minerals, which also extends to every kind of quarry throughout 
the country, and which equally pervades the officers of government 
and the other inhabitants. Men, who have given me apparently 
correct information relative to their farms, have eagerly denied a 
knowledge of the fossile kingdom, which they no doubt possessed, 
