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board fide, about eighteen miles from the faid city. Thefe we did not fee as we wentop, becaufe it was dark. The latter has an ill-fhaped wooden caftle, with about eleven,guns pointing down the river ; but fo ill mounted, and the caftle, or rather fhed, foill contrived that it is of no defence : I believe an open boat, with twenty armed men,might drive the inhabitants out of both town'and caftle. We paded through anotherlarge town that almoft joins to the upper part of Tatas, and is called Quaen; and aboutnine at night we arrived at Cay Arrea’s houle in Tatas. He obliged us to ftay withhim that night, though we had rather he would have excufed us, being very muchfatigued : but he being the chief trader in the country, we durft not difoblige him.He told us, that his daughter was to be married on the morrow, and that we muft ftayand fee the wedding ; which was indeed exceeding pleafant, far furpaffing any cere-mony of that nature I ever faw : I believe he made it the much more magnificentupon the account of us ftrangers being there. I (hall endeavour to give the beft accountof it I can.
The partitions of one of the largeft houfes in the town were pulled down, fo thatit was one entire room, to which another great apartment was added, to make fuffi-cient room for the guefts, being fome hundreds in number of the beft people in thetown : the cieling was hung with white linen reaching on each fide to the floor, whichwas covered with curious cane mats. Round the room they hung the fineft of theirapparel; and I believe what they had not of their own they borrowed of their neighbours.At the upper end of the room was built a handfome throne, or foufraw, having a canopy,or teafter over it, not unlike our fine beds. There were many cufhions and pillowspiled up, but no perfons thereon. All the night before the wedding day their mufic keptjangling (for fo I may properly fay), confiding of feveral brafs-pans, called gongs, fromthe tenor to the bafe, which they beat mod unmercifully upon, whilft another tolfes upand catches again a jingling chain; others beat on fmall crooked irons, and fome keepclinking of brafs-plates together: which jargon I can compare to nothing more likethan the rough mufic that the butchers make with their marrow-bones and cleavers,the noife of a copper-fmith’s fhop, or even the thumping and jingling of chains by themad-folks in Bedlam. We laid down (where we were appointed) not far from themufic, in order to take a little reft; but you may guefs how little we flept, our headsbeing dinned with the noife of fuch a horrid concert. In the morning there was agreat number of fmall flags and ftreamers hung round the door. All their large vef-fels difplayed their colours, firing very often with their guns: and 1, to honour thiswedding, ordered our men to draw up and continue firing all the day in vollies, withwhich the father was very well pleafed, and returned me many thanks. There werealfo many of the Banjareens placed round about the houfe, who ceafed not firing andfhouting all day long.
About three in the afternoon was ready a great feaft, according to cuftom, and vaftnumbers of people were placed together, according to their fundry ftations or quality.After they had eat plentifully, each man, rich and poor, had a fmall bafket given himto put up and carry away the fragments in. I and my companions dined by ourfelves,and what we eat not was given to the failors. Beetle , ceeree, and opium went about plen-tifully, and had the fame effedt among them as ftrong liquors among us. Immediatelyafter dinner we faw driving down with the current, from the upper end of the town,the feeming hulk of a large fhip, of about two hundred tuns, very neatly built with caneson a ftage, and covered with cloth painted, fo as to reprefent the fides of a real fhip : inthe middle of the quarter-deck was feated on a throne the bridegroom, with a coronet ofgold on his head, and a green bough in his handj his body dyed yellow, having a linen
8 cloth