Riyaz al-salatin 8.5

8.5

It is a large port, and the commercial emporium of the English Company, and is subject to them. Small ships, called sloops, always every year come to that port from China, England, and other parts, and many remain there. At present, this city is the place of residence of the English Chiefs and officers and employes. The buildings are solidly made of lime and brick. As its soil is damp and salt, from proximity to the sea, the buildings of that city are two-storeyed and three-storeyed. The lower rooms are unfit for dwelling. The buildings are constructed after those of England; they are well-ventilated, commodious, and lofty. The roads of that city are broad and paved with pounded brick. And besides the English Chiefs, the Bengalis, the Armenians, &c., there are also rich merchants. The water of wells in this city, owing to salt, is unfit for drinking, and if anyone drinks it, he suffers much. In summer and rainy seasons, the water of the river also become bitter and salt; but the water of tanks, which are plenty, is drank. The sea is forty Karoh distant from this place; within every day and night the water of the river has one flow and one ebb. At times of full moon, for three days, the tide comes furiously once in course of a day and night. It shows a wonderful condition and a strange furiousness. It drives across the banks many boats, and wrecks them, but those which are not on the sides of the rivers are left undamaged.