CAMBAY, probably the Camanes of Ptolemy, is a city of Ilindostan, in Guzerat, situated about a league from the gulf of the same name, upon the north bank of the river Canari, Catari, or Alvhie. This city is e.nclosed with a strong wall, about five miles in circuit, in which there are 12 gao•s. The stye( ts, Avid( Ii are very lrge, have separate gatcs Ut the entrance of each. and these are shut every night. '1'he houses, ‘vhich are well built, are chit fly of stone, brick, or marble ; and the principal edifices of a public nature, are the bazars, and lOur cisterns, by which the town is copiously supplied with water in dry The sea formerly flowed to the city of Cambay, and formed a commodious harbour, but it is now fully half a league from the town, and large vessels cannot ap proach nearer to it than within three or four leagut s This cause, tog( titer with the ? iolence of the tides, which 1110VO with immense velocity, and the nunterou-t rocks in the Gulf of Cambay, have contributed to the decline of its commerce.
Cambay was one of the largest and richest cities of the East. It was called the Cairo of the Indies, on account of the extent of its commerce, and the fertility of its soil, which produced cotton, opium, indigo, and many other valuable articles of trade ; but though its commerce has stifil red a great diminution, it is still very considerable. The natives of 'the country, p: r
ticularly the Benjans, who devote themselves to com mercial pursuits, and who have a perfect knowledge of precious stones, carry on a very extensive trade with Diu, Goa, Cochin, Acheen, Bantam, Batavia, Bengal, the coast of Coromandel, Persia, and the Red Sea. As the Benjans, however, were sailors, their ves sels were always managed by Dutch pilots, whom they hired at a very high rate from the Company. This city was frequented by merchant vessels from every part of the East Indies, from .Mozambique, Melinda, and from the Arabian and Persian gulfs.
The principal articles exported from the country were fine cotton cloths, canvass for the sails of ships, silk stuffs of various kinds, scarfs for ladies headdresses, carpets, bed covers of silk and cotton, mattresses, indigo, saltpetre, borax, cummin, ginger, rhubarb, sugar, oil, butter, elephants teeth, and numerous precious stones, which are found in Guzerat. Great quantities of grain and fruits of different kinds were also shipped at Cambay for different parts of the East. East Long. 72° 36', North Lat. 22° 17'. (o)