DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2373#0081
62
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH
Name of Ser~
ingapatam.
CHAPTER a parapet wall on one side, and by the aqueduct on the other. But
however rude such a bridge may be, it is of most essential conveni-
May 20, &c. ence to the town, and to the inhabitants of the southern bank of
the river, though the construction is attended with great expense.
The inconveniencies felt from the want of a bridge on the northern
branch are so great, that both Purnea and the Resident are very
anxious to have one erected ; but on an estimate being formed, it
is found, that even without an aqueduct, a rude bridge of this kind
would cost 16,000 Canter'raia Pagodas, or 5,372/. 9s. 4>d. It is very
fairly proposed, that the Company should defray one half of this,
as lords of the island; while the Raja should defray the other half,
on account of the advantages to be derived by his subjects on the
north side of the river.
Seringapatam is commonly called Patana, or Patau, that is to say,
the city; but the name used in our maps is a corruption from Sri
Jtanga Patana, the city of Sri Ranga, from its containing a temple
dedicated to Vishnu under that name. The temple is of great cele-
brity, and of much higher antiquity than the city, which did not
rise to be of importance until the time of the princes of the Mysore
dynasty.
The island is about three miles in length, and one in breadth,
and has a most dreary, ugly appearance ; for naked rock, and dirty
mud walls are its predominant features. The fort or city of Sri
Ranga, occupies its upper end, and is an immense, unfinished, un-
sightly, and injudicious mass of building. Tippoo seems to have
had too high an opinion of his own skill to have consulted the
French who were about him; and adhered to the old Indian style
of fortification, labouring to make the place strong by heaping
walls and cavaliers one above the other. He was also very diligent
in cutting ditches through the granite; but, as he had always on
hand more projects than his finances were adequate to defray, he
never finished any work. He retained the long straight walls and
square bastions of the Hindus ; and his glacis was in many parts so
City and
island.
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH
Name of Ser~
ingapatam.
CHAPTER a parapet wall on one side, and by the aqueduct on the other. But
however rude such a bridge may be, it is of most essential conveni-
May 20, &c. ence to the town, and to the inhabitants of the southern bank of
the river, though the construction is attended with great expense.
The inconveniencies felt from the want of a bridge on the northern
branch are so great, that both Purnea and the Resident are very
anxious to have one erected ; but on an estimate being formed, it
is found, that even without an aqueduct, a rude bridge of this kind
would cost 16,000 Canter'raia Pagodas, or 5,372/. 9s. 4>d. It is very
fairly proposed, that the Company should defray one half of this,
as lords of the island; while the Raja should defray the other half,
on account of the advantages to be derived by his subjects on the
north side of the river.
Seringapatam is commonly called Patana, or Patau, that is to say,
the city; but the name used in our maps is a corruption from Sri
Jtanga Patana, the city of Sri Ranga, from its containing a temple
dedicated to Vishnu under that name. The temple is of great cele-
brity, and of much higher antiquity than the city, which did not
rise to be of importance until the time of the princes of the Mysore
dynasty.
The island is about three miles in length, and one in breadth,
and has a most dreary, ugly appearance ; for naked rock, and dirty
mud walls are its predominant features. The fort or city of Sri
Ranga, occupies its upper end, and is an immense, unfinished, un-
sightly, and injudicious mass of building. Tippoo seems to have
had too high an opinion of his own skill to have consulted the
French who were about him; and adhered to the old Indian style
of fortification, labouring to make the place strong by heaping
walls and cavaliers one above the other. He was also very diligent
in cutting ditches through the granite; but, as he had always on
hand more projects than his finances were adequate to defray, he
never finished any work. He retained the long straight walls and
square bastions of the Hindus ; and his glacis was in many parts so
City and
island.