'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries, with a map.' [‎354] (396/476)

35 4 TATTAH.
mortar, on a frame of timber; and all of them, from the governor's
palace to the lowest hovel, have Badgeers; which are a sort ot venti
lators, like chimnies, down which the wind blows cool and retreshing
in the most sultry weather; at that time it is the common practice to
shut up every other aperture, so as to exclude the hot wind and dust.
The government of Tattah confers the official title of Nuwwab on
the person holding it, who was in 1809, a cousin of the Umeers, but
his appointment is a complete sinecure, as there are no troops per
manently stationed there, and the customs are farmed by a Hindoo,
who takes his own measures for collecting them. The latitude ol
this city is 24° 44' north, longitude 68° 17' east, both of which are
fixed by the mean of numerous observations taken by Captain Max-
field. The country immediately around it is perfectly level, except
the hills of Mukulee, on which the tombs are built that I have al
ready described, and they extend to the southward till within fifteen
or twenty miles of the sea. These hills, as well as the plain, are
covered with thick jungul, principally of the tamarisk, and a species
of bastard myrtle.
The rains had now set in with great violence, and it poured so
heavily, that the streets frequently ran like rivulets, which quite put
a stop to our riding out morning and evening. The heat had been,
previous to this fall, excessive, for in the coolest apartment in the
factory An East India Company trading post. , the thermometer usually ranged from 94° to 102 3 throughout
the twenty-four hours, but towards the middle ot July it became
much cooler, and we were greatly surprized by the frequent re
currence of strong northerly gales, one ot which enabled the ships
to cross the bar of Kurachee harbour, and make a very quick passage
to Bombay. The latter end of the same month, the mission left
Tattah for Hyderabad, where Mr. Ellis, Captain Maxfield, and my
self, arrived, by water, several days sooner than the envoy and his
party, they having been detained on the road by the severe indis
position of the envoy.