5 2 2 L I EUT ENA NT COOK ’s V O Y A G E
1770- Log, or a dead horfe, is ftranded upon the fhallow parts, and
. it being the bulinefs of no particular perfon to remove the
nuifance, it is negligently left to time and accident. While
we were here, a dead buffalo lay upon the fhoal of a river
that ran through one of the principal flreets above a week,
and at laft was carried away by a flood.
The houfes are in general well adapted to the climate ;
they confift of one very large room or hall bn the ground
floor, with a door at each end, both which generally Hand
open: at one end a room is taken off by a partition, where
the matter of the houfe tranfafts his bulinefs ; and in the
middle between each end there is a court, which gives light
to the hall, and at the fame time inereafes the draught of
air. From one corner of the hall the flairs-go u-p to the floor
above, where alfo the rooms are fpacious and airy. In the
alcove, which is formed by the court, the family dine ; and
at other times it is occupied by the female flaves, who are:
not allowed to fit down any where elfe.
The public buildings are; moft of them, old, heavy, and:
ungraceful; but the new church is not inelegant; it is built
with a dome, that is feen. from a great diftance at fea, and;
though the outfide has rather a heavy appearance, the infide;
forms a very fine room: it is furnifhed with an organ of a
proper lize, being very large, and is moft magnificently illuminated
by chandeliers..
The town is inclofed by a ftone wall, of a. moderate height;,
but the whole of it is old, and many parts are much out of
repair. This wall, itfelf is furrounded by a river, which in
fome places is fifty, and in fome a hundred yards wide :■ the
ftream is rapid, but the water is fhallow. The wall is alfo*
lined within by a canal, which in different parts is of different
breadths; fo that, in palling either out or in through the
4 gates,..
R O U ND T H E WORLD. ■225
gates, it is neceffary to crofs two draw-bridges ; and there
is no accefs for idle people or ftrangers to walk upon the
ramparts, which feem to be but ill provided with guns.
In the north eaft corner of the town ftands the cattle or
citadel, the walls of which are both higher and thicker than
thofe of the town, efpecially near the landing-place, where
there is depth o f water only for boats, which it completely
commands, with feveral large guns that make a very good
appearance.
Within this cattle are apartments for the Governor General,
and all the Council of India, to which they are enjoined
to repair in cafe of a fiege. Here are alfo large ftorehoufes
where great quantities of the Company’s goods are kept,
efpecially thofe that are brought from Europe, and where
almoft all their writers tranfacl their bulinefs. In this place
alfo are laid up a great number of cannon, whether to mount
upon the walls or furnifh fhipping, we could not learn ; and
the Company is faid to be well fupplied with powder, which
is difperfed in various magazines, that if fome fhould be de-
ftroyed by lightning, which in this place is very frequent
the reft may efcape.
Befides the fortifications of the town, numerous forts are
difperfed about the country to the diftance of twenty or thirty
miles ; thefe feem to have been intended merely to keep the
natives in awe, and indeed they are fit for nothing elfe. For
the fame purpofe a kind of houfes, each of which mounts
about eight guns, are placed in fucli fituations as command
the navigation of three or four canals, and confequently the
roads upon their banks: fome of thefe are in the town itfelf,
and it was from one of thefe that all the beft houfes belonging
to the Chinefe were levelled with the ground in the Chi-
nefe rebellion of 1740. Thefe defences are fcattered over all
S * 2 parts