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June: the best grape season in the Deccan is from March till 
June. 
The most productive gardens in the Concan are on the banks 
of rivers, and in the beds of nullahs, or rivulets, which run from 
the mountains. In these situations, at the beginning of February 
they sow the seeds of musk and water-melons, cucumbers, gourds, 
and pumkins in great variety : these continue to supply their tables 
until the Hurries, which generally precede the rainy season; then, 
on the first swelling of the rivers, the villagers take a licence to 
rob and plunder the plantations, to the great detriment of the 
owner. They have two excellent sorts of pumkin, the red and 
white; and a profusion of beans and vegetables, indigenous to this 
part of India. 
Many of the rivers in the rainy season abound with good fish: 
the bheinslah, in general appearance and flavour, resembles the carp, 
having a large mouth, without teeth, and strong scales; they weigh 
from fifteen to twenty pounds: the poatlah is of a similar kind, 
but smaller. The sewrah is an excellent fish, without scales; it 
has a large mouth, several rows of teeth, and weighs ten or twelve 
pounds. There are five or six other sorts of fish in those waters, 
whose Hindoo names are of no consequence, and I am not icthyo- 
logist sufficient to know where to class them: they also abound 
with cat-fish, and very good eels. 
I did not observe any wheat or cotton fields in the Concan; in 
the upper country they cultivate both : our journey was not in- 
deed in the season to see many crops on the ground: as the rice, 
juarree, and most other grains, are sown at the beginning of the 
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