Travels in India (Tavernier) 26.3

26.3

Between Weeyur and Nilimor, about halfway, you cross a great river upon a raft, there being no boat there. From Nilimor to Milmol (Nedumulu) . 6 coss. ,, Milmol to Maslipatan (Masulipatam) 4 ,, Masulipatam is a straggling town (village), in which the houses are built of wood, and are detached from one another. This place, which is on the seashore, is only renowned on account of its anchorage, which is the best in the Bay of Bengal, and it is the only place from which vessels sail for Pegu, Siam, Arakan, Bengal, Cochinchina, Mecca, and Hormuz, as also for the islands of Madagascar, Sumatra, and the Manillas. It should be remarked that wheel carriages do not travel between Golconda and Masulipatam, the roads being too much interrupted by high mountains, tanks, and rivers, and there being many narrow and difficult passes. It is with the greatest trouble that one takes a small cart. This I have done to the diamond mines, and I was obliged to take mine to pieces frequently in order to pass bad places. It is the same between Golconda and Cape Comorin. There are no waggons in all these territories, and you only see oxen and pack-horses for the conveyance of men, and for the transport of goods and merchandise. But, in default of chariots, you have the convenience of much larger pallankeens than in the rest of India; for one is carried much more easily, more quickly, and at less cost.