, all this being done in presence of those who brought the
_firmaun_. The 30th, Mr Edwards and we set out for _Amadavar_
[Ahmedabad.]

The 2d of December we reached Broach, whence the governor sent a guard
of horse with us to _Demylode_, and there we had a new escort of horse
and foot to _Charmondo_;[137] whence we departed on the 7th with
twenty-five soldiers, all notorious thieves, as we afterwards found.
With these we went ten coss, when we pitched our tents in a plain,
barricading ourselves as usual with our carts. While at supper, we had
nearly been assaulted by fifty horse, who passed close by us, but they
found us well provided for our defence, and it appeared that the charge
we carried was well known in all the country through which we travelled.
The 8th we came to _Brodera_, [Brodrah] and made a present to the
governor, who received it very kindly, and particularly requested to see
our mastiff dog. Brodrah stands in a plain, which seemed fertile, and is
well watered, a thing rather uncommon in those parts. We departed thence
with an escort of 100 horse and foot, voluntarily offered from respect
for the king's present, yet were they a considerable charge to us. We
came next to Arras,[138] a town mostly inhabited by banians, and where
their superstition of not killing any thing occasioned us to have very
bad fare. On the 13th we came to Ahmedabad, whence we gave a commission
to Richard Steel and John Crowther to proceed on their journey to
Persia; and hence Mr Edwards departed from us for Agra.

[Footnote 137: On this part of the indicated route, between Broach and
Brodrab, no stations are to be found in our best maps resembling these
two names, unless Simlode may have been corrupted into Demylode by
typographical error.--E.]

[Footnote 138: No such name is now to be found in the road between
Brodrah and Ahmedabad, neither is it of much importance in any view, as
the route is so vaguely indicated in the text.--E.]

All this time, the merchants at Ahmedabad, being in hopes of peace with
the Portuguese, held up the price of their indigos, on which we resolved
to proceed for _Sarques_ [Sarkess,] to make trial with the country
people who are the makers of that commodity. We did so on the 7th, and
found plenty of employment, packing in four days no less than 400 bales:
after which Mr Edwards returned to Ahmedabad, where he found the
merchants greatly more tractable. _Sarkess_ is a town of no great size,
three coss