VOYAGE TO MADRAS.

17

On Sunday, the 10th, a respectable and attentive congregation assembled in the Mission-garden; and Mr. Mowat preached. The place of worship was a Bungalow, a low building with a pent roof and thatched, which served as a school room during the week, and as a chapel on the Lord's day. We were glad to enter again the courts of the Lord's house, and were particularly gratified by the spirit and feeling exhibited by many of the congregation, to whom we were then introduced for the first time. A good chapel has since been erected by Mr. Carver, more commodious, and more suitable for the sacred purpose to which it is devoted.

Commissioner Upton having kindly offered to Captain Dacre, the use of H. M. Schooner, Cochin, 50 tons burden, commanded by Lieut. Twineham, R. N., to convey him and our party to Madras, we embarked early in the morning of Friday, 15th of September, being commended by our brethren and friends to the care of Him, "who gathereth the winds in his fist, and the waters in the hollow of his hand."

Our accommodations on board this vessel were not very commodious. The cabin was given to the ladies: the rest of the party had hammocks slung so near together, that by every motion of the vessel they rubbed one against another. Not having been used to a bed of this kind, at my first attempt, the moment I entered it at one side, I fell out at the other; alighting upon two native men, who were trying to make themselves comfortable on the cargo.

Crossing the Straits between the Island and the Continent, the wind was strong, and the sea very rough, frequently washing over the vessel, and exciting some alarm in those, whose nerves had not recovered the severe shock they had sustained by the conflagration of the Tanjore. The voyage proved longer than had been expected, and famine might again have stared us in the face, had it not been for the liberal supply of bread, fowls, wine, &c. which

C

18

ARRIVAL GAZETTE.

Mr. Carver had sent on board for us, in addition to the public supply allowed to the vessel. The bare deck served us for chairs, tables, and couches; and after an uncomfortable passage, we anchored in the Madras Roads, at half past eight on the evening of Sunday the 17th of September.

Our small vessel rolled and pitched severely during the night, by the influence of the surf and current, though we had anchored one or two miles from shore. Early next morning several Masoola boats came off to us, which, though large and deep, and lightly laden, did not convey us through the surf without subjecting us to a copious sprinkling by the spray of the sea.

By direction of some friendly persons we met with immediately on landing, we entered three palankeens, and soon found our way to the Mission-house, beyond Royapettah, about four miles distant from our landing place; and in the kind attentions of our dear brethren Messrs. Lynch and Close, and Mrs. Close, we soon forgot the inconveniences we had recently suffered.

Immediately on our arrival at Madras, a Gazette Extraordinary was published, announcing the destruction of the Tanjore, and the escape of its crew and passengers. This document, as I afterwards found, reached England, (probably by way of Bombay,) and was published in the London newspapers, long before our letters arrived. It was a fortunate circumstance that it mentioned particulars, and contained the names of the parties, or it might have occasioned much uneasiness to our friends at home.

CHAPTER III.

SEPTEMBER, 1820.

Madras-Beach-Masoola boats-Cátamárams-Kareiars

-Black Town-Gardens-Roads-Season.

MADRAS, (the seat of the Government of the British possessions in the south of India, N. Lat. 13° 5', E. Long. 80° 25') with its immediate neighbourhood, for many miles in extent, is exceedingly low, the land scarcely rising above the level of the sea; there are some bold hills in the perspective, to the north-west, called Naggery-nose; and St. Thomas's Mount is seen to the south-west, about nine miles distant: but the general appearance of the coast, when approached from the sea, is dull and uninteresting.

A pleasing contrast to this general appearance, is presented by the beach opposite the anchorage: to the right, is a line of lofty and handsome buildings, consisting of the Custom-house, the Supreme Court, the Offices of Houses of Agency, &c. extending to a considerable distance; to the left is Fort St. George, with its public edifices, flag staff, and glacis; beyond that, the Governor's Gardenhouse and Banquetting-room. The spacious opening, intervening between the Fort and the buildings on the beach, allows an interesting view of the outer streets of the town of Madras, overtopped here and there, by lofty pandals or sheds, adorned with flags, on the occasion of a marriage ceremony, or to the honour of some god; or surmounted by the tops of public buildings, and the towers and spires of churches, of which there are many in Madras, Armenian and Romish, Scotch and English. The tall minarets of the Mahommedan Mosques, and the towers of the

20

MASOOLA BOATS-SURF.

Hindoo Pagodas, with brazen tops glittering in the sun, cannot fail to attract the attention of a stranger.

Madras, like the rest of the Coast of Coromandel, possesses no harbour. The communication between the shipping and the shore is carried on exclusively by Masoola boats and Cátamárams. The form of the boats is exhibited in the accompanying sketch, taken from the beach at Madras: the middle one is represented, as they usually appear, when waiting for employment, lying high and dry on the sand; that on the left, shews the manner in which they are pushed off; the men who are employed in launching, climb into the boat, with astonishing ease, as soon as it is afloat; and that on the right is represented as passing through the surf, towards the shipping in the roads. These boats, which are from twenty to thirty feet in length, and about six feet in depth and breadth, are constructed of strong planks, bent by means of fire; stitched together, through holes drilled all round the edges, with thread or cord of coir, the outer fibrous covering of the cocoa-nut : inside the boat, the stitches enclose a sort of calking or wadding of straw, rendering the seams water-tight. Masoola boats are generally manned by ten hands, eight men at the oars, one at the helm, and a boy to bale out the water they strike their oars with great regularity, keeping time by a song, kept up by one voice, the whole company joining in chorus at the end of each stanza. There are usually three waves to be passed, between smooth water and the shore; these waves frequently rise to the height of six feet and upwards, and breaking with a curl, the highest part of the wave falls over first, leaving a kind of hollow underneath. Unless well managed, even a Masoola boat would be overwhelmed; any other kind of boat would perish.

The boatmen, accustomed to the surf, are very skilful in avoiding its violence when they come towards the first wave, they rest on their oars in total silence, and the