COMMUNICATIONS

FERRIES

An account of ferries taken from the old Khandesh Gazetteer is given below.

''The only public ferry in the district is across the Girna at Mehunbara. [Jalgaon district.] After the loss of the flying bridge in 1872, a double ferry boat twenty feet by fifteen, drawing about three feet and able to hold fifty passengers was, in 1874. built out of local funds at a cost of,£300 (Rs. 3.000).

"Besides this public ferry, forty-eight private boats ply at different places on the Tapti, some working throughout the year where the river is never fordable and some during the rainly season only. The depth of water in these places varies from five to thirty feet. Of the forty-eight Tapti boats, one is in Amalner, seven are in Bhusaval. four in Chopda, two in Erandol, one in Nandurbar, two in Nasirabad nine in Savda, seven in Shahada, nine in Shirpur, three in Taloda, and one in Virdel. The boats are generally built of teak at Prakasha, Sarangkheda and other Khandesh villages, and sometimes brought from Burhanpur or Bombay. They vary in size, from eighteen feet long by eight broad and three deep, to forty-seven feet long by eleven broad and three deep. They can carry from fifteen to 100 passengers and some of them from four to fifty animals. Their charges are, for a passenger, from⅜d. to ¾d.(¼-½ anna). for animals from ⅜d. to d. (¼-2 annas), and for carts from 3d. to 6d. (2-4 annas). The whole yearly number of passengers varies from 100 to 7,000 and of animals from 300 to 1,600. The boats cost from £ 15 to £330 (Rs. 150-Rs. 3,300), and last for nearly twenty years. The crew, who are also the owners of the boats, are generally Kolis and Bhois, and some are Bhils, Mhars, Rajputs, and Pardeshis. When not employ-ed on the boats they work in the fields or do some other unskilled labour. They row the boats with paddles, generally, in times of flood, starting a mile or two higher up the stream than the place they make for. Other rivers are crossed either by swimming with gourds tied under the chest, or on a gourd-buoyed cot launched some distance up the stream and guided across by two or three Bhois or Kolis swimming on either side. The usual charge is from 3/8 d to 3/4 d. (¼-½anna).''

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