50 tons a day.' The traffic in 1893-94 amounted to 393,725 tons, or over 1,000 tons a day; and by 1902-03 it had risen to 576,643 tons, or nearly 1,680 tons a day, that is, more than 33 times as much as that anticipated by the founder of the canal system.
It was not till 1863 that tolls were levied for the use of the canals. Nowadays a considerable annual income is derived from them. The total receipts in 1902-03 1[1] were Rs. 85,600 and the total maintenance charges Rs. 63,900, leaving a net profit of Rs. 21,700. A navigation establishment (chiefly lock superintendents) costing Rs. 448 per mensem is kept up for the central and eastern deltas belonging to this district. In 1902-03 fees were paid on 458,000 tons of displacement; and cargoes worth 230 lakhs and over 345,000 passengers were transported on the canals. Timber rafts with a displacement of nearly 119,000 tons also used these waterways.
The passenger traffic is carried in what are called rádhári boats, long covered craft holding from 40 to 70 passengers and entirely owned and directed by private enterprise. They are towed by regular staffs of coolies paid monthly wages and posted at stages of from ten to twelve miles in length. These boats also carry produce, and are patronized for this purpose when time is an object, as their pace averages three miles an hour. They all start from Rajahmundry or Dowlaishweram, and they constitute a regular boat service.
The cargo boats are numerous and range from 7 to 40 tons displacement. They all carry sails. Their charges for cargo are about four pies a ton a mile on the average. They are worked by crews of two or three men and one or two small boys, who tow, pole, or row the boats as convenient. On still water they can sail five miles an hour. Otherwise their pace is about three miles an hour down stream and one and a half up stream.
The timber rafts consist mostly of logs and bamboos from the forests of the Upper Gódávari, which are lashed together and floated down between December and May for export. Bamboos come down in December, but timber not until January. Of a total transported tonnage of 118,632 tons, only 418 tons were taken up stream.
The canals are used to a small extent by house-boats. These are nearly all Government boats employed by officials, but there are one or two private house-boats also. The only
- ↑ 1 These, and except where otherwise stated the following, figures are for the whole delta system, including the part in Kistna district.
