Inland towns are usually built in the vicinity of some large jeel, or lake, or on some ravine, which, during the rains, forms a rapid water course. Such as are near to hills, are often, for many days together, impassable; owing to the torrents which, through their means, find a way either to some expanse, or to some navigable river,
The jeel, or, for want of one, the tank nearest to the town, usually becomes the receptacle of every Hindu corpse, and, at the same time, supplies the inhabitants with water for every purpose. One would think this intolerable practice were, of itself, sufficient to deter men, who pretend to the utmost delicacy and purity in all respects, from drinking at so contaminated and corrupt a reservoir. What then shall we say, when it is known that the borders of tanks in such situations, become places of ease, where men, women, and children, perform their duties to the goddess in colloquial association; and where, having got rid of their burthens, they free themselves from its remains, by washing with those very waters whence, probably, another person is baling into his pot, or leather bag, for culinary purposes, or for beverage.
Tanks and jeels are, in almost every part of India, full of rushes, and of the conferva, which, together with duck-weed, docks, &c., both cover the surface and fill up the deeps. They are, generally, replete with small fishes of various descriptions, and if of any extent, or deep, either harbour, or serve as visiting places for alligators, which infest both the running and the stagnant waters in every part of the country. These voracious animals travel at night from one jeel, or tank, to another; often announcing their presence by snapping up some poor unsuspecting Hindu, who wades up to his middle for the purpose of performing his ablutions, and of offering up the customary prayers on such occasions.
In many tanks, alligators are known to exist in numbers; nay, in some places, they are subsisted by the eleemosynary donations of travellers, who disburse a trifle in money, or present some provision to a faqueer, (or mendicant priest,) to provide food for the alligators, which come forth from the waters, on hearing the well-known voice of their holy purveyor; from whom they seldom fail to receive each a small cake of meal, or some other provision. This liberality does not, however, occasion any qualmish scruples of gratitude; it being found, that alligators thus handsomely treated are not a whit more reserved in the application of their teeth to bathers, &c., than those which have never been honored by such liberal consideration.
The respiration and effluvia proceeding from an animal, perhaps twenty, or twenty-five, feet in length, and from six to twelve in circumference, must have an effect upon even a large body of water. Allowing that such a monster should consume as much air as ten men, which, surely, is not an unfair calculation, and that twenty gallons of water contain one of air; as a man, on an average, consumes one gallon of air in a minute, the alligator must consume twelve hundred gallons, equal to near twenty hogsheads, in an hour: in twenty-four hours, the quantity of water contaminated by one alligator would amount to four hundred and eighty hogsheads!
From this, we may conceive the effect produced by the presence of, perhaps, seven or eight alligators in a tank not exceeding two acres in measurement, and no where above twelve or fourteen feet in depth: we must likewise take into the account abundance of fishes; for, if that abundance did not exist, the alligators would speedily decamp. Add to these two sufficient drawbacks, all that has been said of the impurities added by the inhabitants, and we shall form such a nauseating and unwholesome combination as must cause us to wonder how ever one should be left to tell the fate of his lost friends.
Amidst the mountains, where, of course, the inundations cannot be of any duration, and where the waters of every description are limitted as to extent; the streams being very small, and, excepting a few hollows between two hills, or, eventually, a valley, in which a pool may exist, alligators are to be seen. They are generally small, but of a very savage species, making up, by their rapacity and activity, for the want of that bulk which renders the alligator of the great rivers more apparently dangerous. By the term ‘small,’ we must not conclude them to be diminutive, but, that they rarely exceed twelve or fourteen feet in length. Such will, however, seize a bullock when wading in a tank, or jeel; stealing upon him with the utmost caution, so as not to disturb the fluid, and even keeping the dorsal spines depressed until the very moment of seizure; when, fastening upon the unwary animal’s leg, and throwing his whole weight backwards; at the same time swinging round, so forcibly as to raise the greater part of his disgusting frame above the surface, the alligator, by one violent effort, which appears almost instantaneous, ordinarily succeeds in dragging the poor animal into a sufficient depth. Pain, surprize, and the unrelaxing bite of his devourer, combine to disable him from making any adequate resistance; being, besides, kept completely immersed by the subtle and experienced assailant, no more is seen, except that the waters appear for about a minute violently agitated, by the efforts of both parties: the alligator is, however, compelled to raise his head above the surface when in the act of deglutition. This is seen daily, even when a fish becomes the victim. On these occasions, the stupendous animal rears in the waters, exposing sometimes so far as his shoulders, and ordinarily biting the fish in two, when, with the utmost ease, he swallows what would make a hearty meal for thirty or forty men of keen appetite. I have frequently seen an alligator thus chuck down a rooee, or river carp, weighing from fifty to sixty pounds: a size by no means uncommon in the great rivers of Bengal!
The great use made of water by the natives in every part of India, occasions an immense number of tanks and wells to be dug, chiefly by persons of property, under the pretence of aiding the poorer classes, but, in fact, with the view to become popular, or of transmitting their names to posterity by affixing them as designations to the tank or well in question. This takes place equally in regard to plantations, generally of mango trees; and in the building of seraies, for the accommodation of travellers, such as Europeans generally understand to be caravan seraies; but that term can only apply to those parts of Arabia, &c., that furnish caravans; which are not known in the great peninsula of India; where, on account of the extent of sea-coast, navigation absorbs the chief part of the trade. Seraies are usually known by the name, or title, of the founder. Thus, Maraud ka Seray implies that the public accommodation for the reception of travellers was founded by Maraud; respecting whom the people in attendance either have some traditional account, or supply a famous history, invented for the occasion.
Seraies are now going fast to decay; the power of the native princes has been so much abridged, and their influence is so little felt, that, generally speaking, were a rich or exalted character to found a seray, even on the most liberal footing, it is probable his expectation of immortal fame would not be realized. The rage is now more bent towards gunges, or grain markets; hauts, or villages, holding periodical markets; maylahs, or annual fairs; and, in fact, to such establishments as afford a profit, or which, from becoming notorious in the way of trade, are more likely to perpetuate the celebrity of the institution.
Durgaws, (commonly called mosques,) appertain exclusively to those of the Mahomedan faith, and mhuts, which are, properly, places of Hindu worship, also madressahs, or colleges, with endowments for faqueers, or Hindu priests, seem to hold their ground. These, like the abbeys of Monkish times, are ever to be found in the most beautiful and most eligible situations: above all things having a command of excellent water.