Travels in India (Tavernier) 87.3.5

87.3.5

As for the weight of the stones, one need not be deceived if he does not buy in secret. For when one buys them in public there is a man specially employed by the King to weigh diamonds. who receives no fees from private persons. When he names the weight, both buyer and seller accept his statement, since he has no interest in favouring either party. Having completed my business at the mine, the Governor gave me six horsemen, in order that I might traverse, with greater security, the tract under his authority, which extends up to a river separating the Kingdom of Bijapur from that of Golconda. The transit of this river is very difficult, because it is wide, deep, and rapid, and there is neither bridge nor boat. In order to cross it the same contrivances are used as those of which I have elsewhere spoken for the passage of certain Indian rivers, alike for men as for their goods, carriages, cattle, and horses. A round vessel of 10 or 12 feet in diameter made of branches of osier, like our hampers, and covered outside with ox hides, serves in place of a boat, and I have described in the same place how the passengers adjust themselves. Good boats or a bridge over this river might be provided, but the Kings of Golconda and Bijapur do not allow them, because the river serves to separate the two Kingdoms.