Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/71

57 boatmen plied their rude oars in obedience to the pilot, who, by the loudness of his tones, seemed fully aware of the responsibility of his post. When we neared the breakers that make the Madras coast famous, they commenced in earnest. With loud yells, and cries of "Allah! Allah! Allah! Allah!" the oarsmen responded to the fierce cries and stamps of the steersman. As we mounted the first of the three lines of breakers that roll in upon the beach, they pulled and shouted with a fury that might well alarm a new-comer; the boat, with its head to the shore, slid rapidly onward with the foaming billow, and the first breaker was passed. At the second and the third the scene is repeated, and the boat comes grinding upon the beach; the men leap overboard, haul it higher up, and bear you in their arms, or on a chair, to the dry sand. At our landing, the sea was unusually smooth, and gave no idea of the Madras surf as I have often since seen it. After a gale its power is terrific, and the scene upon the beach, when catamarans and Masulah boats attempt to cross it, most exciting. Over and over again they will be hurled back upon the shore; but the hardy fellows manage at length to pass the barrier, and go to the assistance of