MYSORE , CANARA, AND MALABAR. 579

All thefe fefts admit the authority of the fame Purans ; but each feet exp’a’ns fomeobfeure paffages fo as to confirm its own doctrines.

Each fe£fc of Brahmans has here a number of followers, in proportion nearly toits own comparative ftrength. This, I am told, is not the cafe in Bengal, where"thefeet of Ifwara or Mahadava prevails among the Brahmans, while that of Vifhnu is themoft common among the vulgar.

27th April. —In the morning I went to Oular Sat-ghadam, which is a choultry,or inn, with hardly any houfes in its neighbourhood; but it is remarkable for havingformerly had feven hill-forts in its vicinity ; and from this circumftance it derives itsappellation, Sat-ghadam. In the Decany dialed of theMuffulman language, Ghadarnfignifies a fortrefs fituated on a hill, while Kilah is applied to one built on a plain.In the Sanfcrit language, Patanam or Patana is analogous with Kilah, and Durga orDurgam, is analogous with Ghadam. In the Tamul language a fort of either kindis called Cotay.

Befides the chaturam and mandapam, there is another kind of building, which byEuropeans is called choultry ; in the Tamul language it is called tany pundal, orwater Ihed. Thefe are final! buildings, where weary travellers may enjoy a temporaryrepofe in the fhade, and obtain a draught of water or milk. In fome of the inns orchaturams, provifions are fold ; in others, they are diftributed gratis, at lead;to Brahmans or other religious mendicants, as is the cafe in the choubaries ofBengal.

When a man ereds a building of any of thefe kinds, the natives add its name tohis, as a title of honour ; thus any perfon fpeaking of Vira Permal, would call himVira Permal Chaturam. Others derive a fimilar title from having dug a cularn, orconftruded an eray.

28th April.—In the morning I made a long journey to Arcot. From Oulur toKavary-pak, the barren ridge on which the road leads is very narrow; and thecountry, being abundantly fupplied with water from the Kavary-pak tank, has afertile delightful appearance: and with its diftant hills, verdant fields, and runningftreams, would afford a moft beautiful profped, were it fomewhat better wooded.The great eray, or tank, is about eight miles long and three broad, and fertilizesa confiderable extent of country. I never viewed a public work with morefatisfaftion, a work that fupplies a great body of people with every comfort whichtheir moral fituation will permit them to enjoy. Kavary-pak is a large but dirtyvillage, with a ftone mofque in its centre. The fort by which it was protected, is alfobuilt of ftone, but is now ruinous.

After palTing Kavary-pak, I found the barren ridge more extenfive, reaching almoftfrom the Palar to the northern hills, and in moft places confifting of immenfe bedsof granite, or of that rock decompofed into harfh coarfe fand. The whole country isalmoft deftitute of verdure, but a little withered grafs affords fuftenance to afew wretched fheep. Other parts have fomewhat of a better foil, and in the rainyfeafon may produce fome of the dry grains ; feverai refervoirs have been formed inthe wafte, the water of which produces crops in a few narrow ftrips of land chieflynear the river. The bed of the river Palar at Arcot, where we eroded it, is abovehalf a mile wide, but at prefent is quite a dry loofe fand, except in two narrowchannels, containing a ftream not fufficient to turn a mill.

Arcot, or Arrucate, is the nominal capital of the Carnatic payin ghat, (Carnatic below the paffes) as the Muffulmans and Englifh call the dominions of the Nabob.He maintains a garrifon of his own troops in the fort, which is pretty large, but not

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