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DECEMBER, 1927]
JEAN DE THEVENOT'S ACCOUNT OF SURAT
219
taken root irregularly, had been cut so skilfully, that one can walk beneath the tree now without inconvenience.
The Hindus in India account this tree sacred, and we had no trouble in recognising it from afar, by the flags which the Banias had planted on its top and on its higher branches. It is accompanied by a pagoda dedicated to an idol they call Mameva; and those who do not belong to their religion, think that it is a representation of Eve. We found a Brahman sitting there, who was dabbing red on the brows of those who came there to pay their devotions, and he also received their gifts of rice, or cocoanut. This pagoda is built beneath the tree in the form of a grotto: the exterior bears paintings of various figures representing the fables of their false gods, and inside the grotto there is a head red all over.
In this quarter I saw a man who was very charitable to the ants. He was carrying flour in a sack to distribute to them, and he laid a handful of it in every place where he saw a number of ants collected together.
While we were in the country, we examined the soil of Surat. It is very dark grey soil, and we were assured that it was so excellent that the people never manured it: the corn is sown after the rains, i.e., after the month of September, and it is cut after February. Sugarcanes are also planted : the custom when planting them is to dig deep furrows into which, before placing the canes, they put several of those small fish which we call gudgeons in Paris ; whether these fish serve to enrich the soil, or whether they add some quality to the cane, the Indians claim that without this improvement the product of the canes will be valueless : they lay their cuttings of cane over these fish the one at the end of the other, and from each knot of cane thus embedded, there springs a sugar-cane which is harvested in due season.
The soil of Surat is also good for rice, and they sow a considerable quantity of it. Mangoes and palms of all kinds, and other kinds of trees thrive well there, and bring in a good revenue. The Dutch water their fields with well-water, which is drawn by bullocks as described by me in Part Two: but the cornfields are never watered, because the dews, which are abundant in the morning, are sufficient for these crops.
The Tapti River is always rather dirty at Surat, and for this reason the inhabitants use it neither for watering nor for drinking purposes, but only for bathing: and this they do every morning, like other Indians. They use well-water for drinking, and it is brought in skins by bullocks. It is not really much of a river, for even at high tide, it is not larger than half of the Seine : however, it rises to such an extent during the winter owing to the water of the rains, that it overflows its banks furiously, causing great ravages. It rises at a place called Gehar. Cond, in the Deccan hills, ten leagues from Brampur.19 It flows past this town, and before reaching the sea, waters various districte, touching several towns, lastly that of Surat. When the sea is low, this river flows as far as the bar: but at high tide, the sea generally advances as much as two leagues beyond this bar; and in this way it receives the waters of the Tapti.
TERVENOT'S TRAVELS.
CHAPTER XV.
The Fort of Surat. The bar of Surat, where vessels now arrive, is not the real harbour : at the most it can only be called a roadstead; and it is not without cause that I said at the beginning of this book that it is called the bar because of the sands which prevent boats from proceeding further. As a matter of fact there is so little water that, even when vessels have been unloaded, the ordinary tides are not sufficient to permit of their advancing, and people have to wait for the full-moon tide ; but at that time they come up to Surat, especially when they are in need of repair. Small boate reach the city easily even when there is very little tide.
The real port of Surat is Souali,so two leagues from the bar. It is only four leagues and a half away from the city, and people cross the river just by the city, so as to go there by land. 1. Burhanpur.
20 Suvali, the famous "Swally Hole," of the Seventeenth Century Rooords.
