Note 11 — CHAPTER 2

Water is sold, in all the large towns, by the Malis, or ‘gardeners,’ who have the monopoly of this article. Most families have large cisterns or reservoirs, called tankas, which are filled in the rainy season. They are of masonry, with a small trap-door at the top, made to exclude the external air, and having a lock and key affixed. Some large tankas are established for the community, and I understand this water keeps sweet for eight and twelve months’ consumption. [The proper form of the word seems to be tānkh, tānkha (Yule, Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 898 f.; H. Beveridge, The Academy, xlvi. 174).]