>. -j;

ORIENTAL MEMOIRS.

VOLUME I.

“ Seeing the Almighty hath given me grace to return to my native country, after having for
“ eighteen years coasted and travelled in the Indies, I thought it good, as briefly as I could, to write
“ and set forth this voyage made by me, with the marvellous things I have seen in my travels. The mighty
“ princes that govern those countries, their religion and faith that they have: the rites and customs which
“ they use and live by: of the divers success that happened unto me; and how many of these countries
“ are abounding with spices, drugs, and jewels. And that my countrymen may more commodiously rejoice
“ at this my travel, I have caused it to be printed in this order; and I now present it to thee, gentle and
“ loving reader, by whom, for the varieties of things herein contained, I hope that it shall be with great delight
“ received. And thusGod of hisgoodness keep thee!” C. Fredericke, 1593.

*****

“ If then my fortunes can delight my friend,

These pages, fruitful in events, attend:

Another’s travels may thy ear enjoy,

And distant scenes thy leisure hours employ.

Here let us feast, and to the feast be join’d
Discourse, the sweeter banquet of the mind ;

Review the series of our lives, and taste

The melancholy joy of dangers past !” Homer’s Odyssey.

///

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ORIENTAL MEMOIRS

SELECTED AND ABRIDGED FROM

A SERIES OF FAMILIAR LETTERS

WRITTEN DURING

SEVENTEEN YEARS RESIDENCE IN INDIA:

INCLUDING

OBSERVATIONS

ON

PARTS OF AFRICA AND SOUTH AMERICA,

AND

A NARRATIVE OF OCCURRENCES IN FOUR INDIA VOYAGES.

Illustrated by Engravings from Original Drazcings.

By JAMES FORBES, F.R.S. &c.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT.
PUBLISHED BY WHITE, COCHRANE, AN D CO. HORACP/s HEAD,

FLEET-STREET.

I

’

TO

Sir CHARLES WARRE MALET, Bart.

I enjoy a heartfelt pleasure, and gratify a
laudable pride, in dedicating* these volumes to a friend
with whom I spent my juvenile years in distant climes,
and participated in many interesting events related
in the following pages. To you these memoirs are
indebted for several valuable acquisitions, which
you was peculiarly enabled to furnish, from having-
explored countries little known to Europeans, whilst
employed in a public character for the East India
Company, and the representative of the British nation
at different Asiatic courts— -situations filled with ho-
liour to yourself, advantage to your employers, and
lustre to the name of an Englishman.

Tho se best acquainted with your talents lament,

that on returning to your native country in the prime

of life, and the vigour of a superior mind, you should

b

11

have chosen that private walk which you embellish
with all the endearing* characteristics of social life ;
the protector of the poor, and encourager of industry,
throughout your extensive influence. On this delight-
ful theme I will not expatiate, hut you must allow
me to say, that the amiable owners of Wilbury House
present a bright example of those days when gene-
rosity, urbanity, and hospitality, dignified the charac-
ter of an English Country Gentleman, and the
maternal virtues and charities of life were deemed the
most brilliant female ornaments.

Your reasons for preferring otium cum dignitate
are known to your friends j they also can estimate
the public loss from your not occupying a seat in
the British senate : because you possess patriotic zeal
and virtue worthy of those illustrious ancestors who
adorn the history of our country in three of its most
distinguished periods — the battle of Hastings, the
signing of Magna Char! a, and the civil wars during
the reign of Charles the First.

Notwithstanding my promise to the National
Institute at Paris, and through it to the French
government, as mentioned in the ensuing preface ;
and notwithstanding what 1 once thought a duty to

Ill

my friends and country, without your encouragement
and kind assistance, I should have been too diffident to
publish these volumes. Lavish as you were with the
former, I must ever regret that your avocations did not
allow me more of the latter. I have now embarked too
far to recede; you must be my pilot: whatever may
be the imperfection of these memoirs, your name will
impress them with the seal of truth.

You need no adulatory expressions to convince
you of the sincerity with which I subscribe myself

Your sincere, and affectionate friend.

Stanmore Hill,
At ay 1, 1812.

JAMES FORBES

PREFACE.

Tubs e memoirs are founded on a series of letters written during a
long residence in India. A variety of new and interesting matter
collected from valuable and accurate sources, has induced me to
alter their original form, and present them to the world in the
shape of a connected narrative. I consider this explanation neces-
sary, to account for the epistolary style, and occasional repetitions,
which will be found to pervade them.

Leaving England before I had attained my sixteenth year, and
being, while in India, deprived of a choice of books, I lay no
claim to literary merit. I am conscious of numerous defects in a
work commenced at that early age, and continued for eighteen
years in the India Company’s service, when duty stationed me at
many of their settlements, and curiosity led me to other places, in
the western provinces of Hind os tan.

Diffident as I am of this performance, I deem myself, in some
degree, pledged to publish it, in consequence of the following
correspondence with the National Institute at Paris; which was
the immediate cause of procuring the liberation of myself and
family from captivity. I also asssign as another reason, that some
of my letters at full length, and copious extracts from others, have
appeared in several late publications, without being ascribed to .
their real author.

VI

Translation of a letter to Mons. Carnot , President of the National

Institute , at Paris.

“ Sir,

In consequence of a letter which I have just received
from a member of the Royal Society in England, I take the
liberty of enclosing a copy of one sent to him by our worthy
President, Sir Joseph Banks; in which he mentions his intention
of writing, to entreat your interest, with a view of obtaining an
order for my return to England.

44 Such an introduction from our President has induced me to
trouble you with this address, to inform you of a few particulars
respecting my situation; a representation which, I trust, will have
some weight with the members of an Institution so justly cele-
brated for the encouragement of science.

“ In the public offices at Paris and Verdun, my name and
situation are thus inserted, 4 Mr. James Forbes, (Gentilhomme)
Fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies in London, and
of the Arcadian Society at Rome/

44 I left England before Iliad attained rny sixteenth year; with
a little knowledge of drawing, and an ardent desire to explore
foreign countries, I travelled and resided upwards of nineteen years
in different parts of Asia, Africa, and America; endeavouring to
investigate the manners and customs of the inhabitants, to study
the natural history, and to delineate the principal places and pic-
turesque scenery in the various regions which I visited: to these I
added the costume of the natives, and coloured drawings of the
beasts, birds, fishes, insects, fruits, flowers, and vegetables, pro-

Vll

cluced in such infinite variety in those climates. During that time
I resided some years amongst the brahmins in Ilindoslan, at a
distance from the European settlements; where I had an oppor-
tunity of observing the modes of life, and the peculiar tenets, of that
singular people.

“ Twenty years are now elapsed since I returned from thence
to my native country: never having seen the continent of Europe,
I left England a few years ago, in order to view the classical scenes
in Italy, the romantic regions of Switzerland, and the varied king-
doms of Germany; the late war prevented me from entering France
at that period.

“ In April 1803, when peace waved her olive over the contend-
ing nations of Europe, I accompanied my wife and daughter to
Holland; and from thence, ignorant of the renewal of hostilities,
arrived at Paris the day after the English were made prisoners. I
was compelled to share the same fate, and am now with my family
at Verdun.

14 My drawings, and the letters which were written during those
travels, occupy fifty-two thousand pages, contained in a hundred
and fifty folio volumes; the work of my own hands: these ob-
tained me the honour of being elected a member of the Royal and
Antiquarian Societies of London. My friends insisted upon my
publishing them; and, previous to leaving England, I had devoted
some time to a selection of the most interesting parts, which I was
preparing for the press. In that state they now await my return,
when 1 hope to complete the undertaking.

“ Not knowing, Sir, that I should enjoy my present fortunate
access to you, and having suffered much in my health, on the 11th

Vlll

of Ventose I addressed a letter to General Berthier, minister of
war, requesting permission to drink the waters at Bareges; but I
have not yet been honoured with an answer. Could you have the
goodness to procure me this favour, and, still more, could you
second the wishes of the President and members of the Royal
Society, by enabling me to return to England before declining
years render me incapable of finishing my undertaking, you will
confer the greatest obligation on,

“ Sir,

“ Your obliged and obedient servant,

Verdun, 21 st Germinal, An 12.
(Wth April, 1804;.

“ James Forbes/’

Copy of the Answer from the Secretary to the National Institute

at Paris.

<s A. Monsieur James Forbes, Anglais, Membre de la Societe Royal ,
a Verdun, sur Meuse.

Institut National,

Classe des Sciences, Physiques, et Mathematiques.

Paris, le 19 Floreal,

- An 12 de la Republique Francaisc.

“ A Monsieur James Forbes, de la Societe Roya/e, et de celle des Antiquaires

de Londres.

“ Je m’empresse de vous annoncer, Monsieur, que
la Classe s’est mterressee pour vous aupres du Ministre de la

IX

*

Guerre ; et qu’elle a appuy6 votre demande de Lous les motifs
qu’elle pouvoit puiser, dans voire age, dans vos travaux scienli-
fiques, et surtout dans la reciprocity que meritent les services ren-
dues par le Chevalier Banks, et par la Societe Royale, aux Fran-
cais qui ont ete dans le cas dc reclamer leur protection. Si les
reclamations de la classe ont le meme succhs que pour M M. Os-
borne et Ferguson je me haterai de vous en faire part.

J’ai l’honneur de vous saluer,

G. Cuvier, Secretaire.

Copy of a Letter from General J Virion.

I erdun, le 29 Prairial, An ] 2.

“ Commandement Superieur de la place de Verdun. Execution
de Farrete du gouvernement, du ler Frimaire, An 12. L’ln-
specteur de la Gendarmerie, Commandant Superieur a Ver-
dun, a Monsieur Gouthot, Chef de la 5e division du Ministre
de la Guerre.”

“ EIoxsieur,

<c J’ai l’honneur de vous addresser Mr. James Forbes,
savant Anglois, qui a obtenu de sa Majeste imperiale l’autorisa-
tion de retourner dans sa patrie. II a choisi le port de Morlaix
pour son embarquement. Je vous prie de vouloir bien faire ex-
pedier, le plus promptement possible, les ordres necessaires pour

qu’il n’eprouve aucun obstacle; et s’il en est besoin, veuillez le

c

X

X

recommander aux ministre de la marine. Mr. James Forbes
voyage avec son epouse et sa fille; il s’est acquis Festime generale
pendant son sejour a Verdun, et c’est a ce litre que je lerecommande
a votre obligeance. En passant a Paris, Mr. Forbes, a Fintention
de remercier les membres de 1’Institut, par qu’il a ete recommande
a sa majeste imperiale. Les sciences, les arts, la peinture, la bota-
nique, forment toutes les occupations de cet estimable etranger.
il vous sera conduit par mon aid-du-camp Ricard.

“ J’ai Fhonneur de vous saluer avec consideration,

“ WlRION.'’

A Monsieur Cuvier, Secretaire perpStuel de la classe des Sciences

Physiques et MathSmatiques .

s< Monsieur,

“ Pendant mon sejour a Verdun, j'ai eft Fhon-
neur de refevoir votre lettre de la part de FInstitut National. Je
prends la liberte de vous prier de vouloir bien~etre, aupres de cette
respectable et scavante societe, Finterprete de ma reconnoissance,
pour la bonte et la promptitude avec lesquelles elle a bien voulu
se preter a la demande de Mr. le Chevalier Banks, president de
la Societe Royale d'Angleterre, dont j’ai Fhonneur d’etre membre.
Par ses soins, et par Findulgence de Fempereur, la liberte rn’est
rendue; et bientot, au sein de ma famille, je jouirai dans ma patrie
du bonheur et de la tranquillite. Veuillez bien, Monsieur, assurer
les membres de FInstitut que je me souviendrai toujours avec re-

XI

connoissance d’une si grande faveur que je dois a leur bienveil-
lance, et que non seulement notre president, mais encore tous ceux
a qui je pourrai le communiquer, sfauront que l’lnstitut National
ne doit pas seulement sa juste reputation a letendue de ses con-
noissances, mais a sa generosite, a son humanite, et a Loutes les
vertus sociales, qu’elle scait si bien pratiquer.

“ J'ai Fhonneur, &c. &c.

“ James Forbes/'

Paris, 11 Messidor, An 12.
(30th June, 1804.,)

The manuscripts from which these volumes are compiled, and
the drawings which illustrate them, have formed the principal
recreation of my life. The pursuit beguiled the monotony of four
India voyages, cheered a solitary residence at Anjengo and Dhu-
boy, and softened the long period of absence from my native coun-
try: it has since mitigated the rigor of captivity, and alleviated
domestic sorrow. Drawing to me had the same charm as music
to the soul of harmony. In my secluded situation in Guzerat, I
I seemed to be blest with another sense. My friends in India
were happy to enlarge my collection ; the sportsman suspended
his career after royal game to procure me a curiosity ; the Hindoo
often brought a bird or an insect for delineation, knowing it would
then regain its liberty ; and the brahmin supplied specimens of
fruit and flowers from his sacred enclosures.

India formerly was not the resort of artists ; when there I had

Xll

little to excite emulation, and no other instruction than a few
friendly hints from Sir Archibald Campbell; who, during a short
residence at Bombay in 1768, encouraged my juvenile pursuits.

In the original letters I occasionally introduced a few remarks
and quotations from other travellers to illustrate my own obser-
vations in India. In arranging them for the press, I have consider-
ably, but I trust not unnecessarily, enlarged these acquisitions.
The names of Sir William Jones, Dr. Robertson, Major Rennel,
and other respectable writers of whose superior talents I have
now availed myself, would add value and authenticity to a work
of much greater merit.

I also acknowledge my obligation to another author of acute
discrimination and strict veracity, Dr. Fryer, F. R.S. who was ap-
pointed physician to Bombay, soon after it was ceded to the English,
on the marriage of Charles the Second with the Infanta Catherine
of Portugal; and on his return published his letters from India and
Persia. Dr. Fryers travels corroborate and illustrate many seem-
ing improbabilities in the manners and customs of the Hindoos; a
people who then were, and still remain, in the same stale as when
the Greek historians recorded the invasion of Alexander. I shall
conclude my own preface in the simple language of that prefixed
by this intelligent writer to his own publication.

“ As to the method I have taken in this work, it is unconfined,
such being the privilege of a traveller; not bounded with the nar-
row terms of an historian, nor loosely extravagant, like poetical
fictions; but suited both to time and place, and agreeable to the
nature of the relation ; which, though it may make some uneven-
ness in the style, as where the ruggedness of the way interposes,

Xlll

or the subject matter is varied, it must happen ; yet the warp
quite through is of the same thread; which being the due to so
many and intricate meanders, trodden by a few, I am the more
pardonable when I slip; though I do declare my desire is, to
shew my diligence in collecting, and sincerity in compiling, what
may make the road more easy to the next adventurers, and satisfy
the present inquirers.’

“ Nisi utile est quod facias, stulta est gloria,” Ph/ed;

Brighthelmstone,
March 1, 1812.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

The author embarks as a Writer for Bombay. . Peak of Teneriffe. , Cape de Verd
Islands. . St. Jago briefly described. . sail for the Cape of Good Hope. . obliged to
steer to the coast of Brazil, .arrival at Rio de Janeiro, .beauty of the country. .
brilliancy of the birds. . Humming-birds described, .serpents and reptiles. . City of
St. Sebastian. . inhabitants. . provisions. . natives of Brazil. . gold and diamond
mines. . departure from South America. . Tristan de Cunha. . Table land. . storms
off the Cape of Good Hope. . Ocean Fish. . dying Dolphin. . ship on fire. . calms
. . sea-scurvy, .funeral ceremony at sea. .public worship on board a large vessel a
delightful spectacle, .monotony and distress in long calms. . discovery of land!. .
Malabar coast. . settlement of Cochin. . Calicut. . Tellicherry. . Mangalore. . Goa
harbour, and city. . arrival at Bombay Page 5

CHAPTER II.

Residence at Bombay. . brief state of that .settlement in 17f>6. . soil, climate, and
natural productions. . cocoa-nut. tree fully described. . palmyra. . date and banian-
tree. . gymnosophists. . cubbeer. . burr. . anecdote of monkeys. . areca, betel, mango,
and other fruits of Hindostan. . flower. . vegetables. . rice-grounds. . rainy season
. . dreadful famines in India.. 21

CHAPTER III.

Wild beasts of Hindostan. . mus-malabaricus. . musk-rat. . ants. . termites. . lizards. .
Guana. . serpents. . cobra de capello. . cobra minelle. . fatal effect of the poison of
the hooded snake. . Dr. Russell on Indian serpents. . insects of India. , locusts. .
honey. . ghee. . birds of Hindostan. . myneh. . Baya, bottle-nested sparrow. . tailor-
bird, . Bulbul, Indian nightingale, . Persian ode. . fish at Bombay., ,,,,,,,,,,, 41

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV,

Inhabitants of Bombay. . Hindoos. . their ancient history. . division into castes., the
four grand divisions. . Brahmins. . sacred books. . religious tenets. . idols in the
Hindoo mythology. . Brail m ah. .creation, rebellion of the celestial spiiits. .origin
of the Hindoo metempsychosis. . explanation of its system. . sublime description
of the Deity. . extracts from the Vedas. . Menu’s code of laws. . Fakeers and Yo-
gees. . their austerity and severe penances, . Cnandalas. . Pariars. . general descrip-
tion of the Hindoos, .domestic arrangement, .dress of the men. .delicacy of the
women. . their character. . dress. , ornaments. . houses. . education. . Hindoo school
. . marriages. . funerals. . cremation of the widows. . astrology. . comparison with
patriarchal manners. . hackeree. . palankeen. . rural feasts. . dancing-girls. . religi-
ous choristers, singing men and women of scripture. . sacred groves and lakes. .
ablutions. . hummums, . effects of opium. . halcarras.. ...................... 59

CHAPTER V.

Commencement of the Mahomedan conquests in Hindostan. . plunder of the Hindoos. .
immense riches in their temples. . establishment of the empire of Ghizni. . invasion
of India by Timur-lung. . Mogul empire formed. . character of Akber. . usurpation
of the Nawabs, after the death of Aurungzebe. . religion of Mahomed. . brief ac-
count of that prophet. . voluptuous paradise, dress, and customs of the Mahome-
dans in India. . Mahomedan women. . genii, talismans, and charms. . story of a
talismanic ring. . great extent of the Mahomedan religion. . Ishmaelites. . Solo-
mon’s trade with India, .traffic of the ancients, .extensive commerce of the Ara-
bians.. general character of the Mahomedans in Hindostan, with their manners
and customs in private life 89

CHAPTER VI.

Parsees, or Guebres. . under the Mahomedan persecutions, emigrate to Ormuz, and
from thence to Hindostan. . land near Surat. . arrangements with the Hindoo Ra-
jah. . dispersion in India. . worshippers of fire, .everlasting fire near Baku, in Per-
sia.. manners and customs of the Parsees. . treatment of their dead. . women. .
ancient Persians. . religion of Zoroaster and the ancient Magi.. 109

CHAPTER VII.

Portugueze, and their descendants in India. . Romish missionaries. . Indian converts. „
Armenians at Bombay. . other occasional inhabitants. . general remarks on the

CONTENTS.

XVII

moral and religious system of the Hindoos. . their erroneous chronology. . geo-
graphy of the Brahmins, .astronomy, .ancient history. . the deluge confirmed by
the Hindoo scriptures. . Iran in its ancient state. . comparison between the Egyp-
tians and Hindoos. . further illustrations of the Hindoo religion, compared with
the Mosaical dispensation. . moral character of the Hindoos, as influenced by
religion and climate. . blessings of Christianity. . valuable quotation from Bishop
Watson. . conclusion respecting the confirmation which sacred history receives
from the Hindoo religion.. 1G1

CHAPTER VIII.

Town of Bombay. . fortifications. . harbour. . docks. . marine yard. . public buildings. .
hospitals. . ecclesiastical establishment. . English houses. . verandas. . villas. . bazar
.. Asiatic houses. . extensive commerce of Bombay. . civil and military establish-
ment. . courts of justice. . amiable character of the European inhabitants. . furni-
ture, equipage, servants. . purvoes. .domestic arrangement, .moonlight evenings. „
Dr. Fryer’s account of Bombay in the seventeenth century, on the first establish-
ment of the English, compared with its modern history. . small salary allowed by
the India Company to their junior servants, the cause of much distress, . repre-
sentation in consequence. . not noticed in England. . a second letter to the gover-
nor and council, .melancholy statement accompanying it. .the governor’s minute
o . pecuniary redress in consequence.. .................................. 151

CHAPTER IX.

English settlement of Fort Victoria. . adjoining country. . Brahmin village of Har-
rasar, beauty of the women, simplicitj' of their manners, .hot wells at Dazagon. .
effect of the waters. . voyage thither from Fort Victoria. . prospect from Dazagon
..extreme heat. . hot winds. . wild beasts, danger from tigers. . chamelion of the
Concan. . serpents. . excavations in the mountains. . Hindoo devotees, swingers,
jugglers, combatants, and vanlters. . Marre. . religious hermit. . Mahratta govern-
ment.. oppression of their subjects. . commencement of a journey to Bombay, „
number of attendants and necessaries. . corn ricks. . Candhar. . caravan of oxen. .
V anj arras. . Gau t mountains. . monsoons. . Mahomedan burying-ground our dor-

d

ii CONTENTS.

mitory. . cultivation, gardens, and produce of the Concan ; liver fish. . grain. .
corn mills. . Guru, Hindoo high-priest. . and other religious castes. . great respect
paid them, .value of water in India. . charity of digging wells. . Mahomedan pa-
triarch at Ram-Rajah. . occasional reflections there. . reception at Alla Bhaug. .
hospitality of the governor. . Cotabie. . visit from a Mahratta prince. . his equipage,
dress, and presents. . family of Ilagojee Angria, . generosity to his pundit. . beauti-
ful temple and gardens. . excellent sentiments of their founder, .character of the
Hindoos. . superiority of Christianity. . nymphea lotos. » lotophagi. . foundation of
the Mahratta empire, .method of supplying travellers with provisions in Hindos-
tan. . conclusion of the journey. . reflections. . cemparisoti between India and
England in their most striking features. . oppressions of the oriental governments
pervade every class of society. . superior blessings of England 189

CHAPTER X.

Voyage from Bombay to Surat. . description of the coast. . teak tree. . Surat bar. .
source of the river. . port of Surat. . ancient trade of India with Europe. . diamond
mines and jewels of India, .city of Surat. . bazars. . variety of merchandize im-
ported. . public buildings. , castle. . European factories . . burying-grounds. . cara-
vansaries.. choultries and public wells. . poetical description of oriental bene-
ficence., gardens at Surat, .mode of watering. . Mahmud-a-bhaug, the nabob’s
garden, haram. . Mogul women. . Mahomedan voluptuousness. . quotation from
Homer’s garden. . hummums, chain poing. .banian hospital, .its wards for animals,
and peculiar arrangements. . manufactures. . shawls. . Cachemire. . trade of Surat
with Europe, .visit of the English chief to the nabob. . ceremonies, presents.,
nabob’s public procession to the mosque. . dress of the Mogul ladies. . veils and
embroidery. . anecdote of a Mogul widow and an English gentleman. . country,
cultivation, kitchen gardens .. vegetable soap. . wood-apple .. weavers. . game. .
birds. . amadavads. . wild beasts. . hyena. . tiger. . leopard. . cheeta. . a cheeta-hunt
fully described. . porcupines. . Pulparra. . sacred groves. . Hindoo devotees. . burn-
ing of widows. . Crestonians by Plerodotus. . affecting account of the immolation
of a Hindoo widow. . Bernier’s description of a dreadful scene of that kind.,
minute division of the Hindoo castes, . similar to those of the Egyptians. , ablu-

CONTENTS.

XIX

tions of the Hindoos. . marks of Vishnoo and Seeva. . compared with those in
scripture. . travels of Hindoo devotees. . death of Calanus, burning of an Indian
woman in the army of Eumenes 243

CHAPTER XI.

Voyage from Bombay to Anjengo. . Rutna. . Ghereah and Mahratta fortresses in the
Concan. . Ghereah harbour. . Raree, Fort Augustus and Vingorla. . Geographical
division of the Malabar coast. . Concan, Deccan, Visiapoor, and Malabar. .Goa
harbour. . Alguarda fort, .city of Goa, churches, palaces, and convents, .tomb of
St. Francis Xavier. . inquisition. . cruelties of that tribunal at Goa. . inhabitants
of Goa. . commerce. . arrack. . mangos. . decline of the Portuguese in Asia. . causes
assigned. . account of Goa in the sixteenth century. . Benezegur. . Kankanco. .
political history of India, . rise of the Mahratta empire. . Carwar. .manufacture of
the terra-japonica. . Mirzee and Barcelore, the ancient Musiris and Barace. . navi-
gation of Hippalus and commerce of the Greeks, Egyptians, and Arabians, with
those ports. . fortified island. . Onore. . beauty of the country. . productions. .
sandal-wood, its cultivation and use. . land and sea winds. . water-spouts. . Mala-
bar frontier. . Mangalore. . gigantic statue at Kirkul. . customs of the Buntar. „
Tulava. . landed property in India. . its tenure. . Mount Dilla. . Cannanore. . Tell i-
cherry. . fortifications, houses, trade, and cultivation. . cardamom, growth of that
valuable spice. . Dumapatam island, coffee plantations, .ordeal trials in Malabar. ,
Mucuars at Tellicherry. . Mahie. . Sacrifice Rock., edible birds-nests. . Calicut. .
European factories. . former trade. . overwhelming the ancient city. . Dr. Fryer’s
curious account of Calicut. . provisions .. Vapura. . teak timber .. sapan-wood. .
grand appearance of the Ghaut mountains. . Cochin-town, fort, inhabitants, and
commerce. . hospitality of the Dutch. . Cochin-leg. . Mattancherry. . Jews-town, ,
history of the Jewish colony there, .epitome of the Jewish history. . Porca, Calli-
quilone. . Quilone. . Eddova. . arrival at Anjengo, difficulty of landing. . descrip-
tion of Anjengo. . poverty and melancholy situation of that settlement. . Portu-
gueze and native inhabitants. . trade and manufactures. . birth-place of Sterne’s
Eliza, and Orme, the historian. . his superior character. . south-west monsoon at
Anjengo. . catamaran. . abundance of fish. , hippocampus. . contest between the
river fish and those of the ocean during the monsoon.. 293

XX

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII.

Reasons for leaving Anjengo. . natural history of Travencore. . beauty of the lakes and
rivers, .mountain scenery and solitary wilds, .cultivation of pepper, and value of
the produce. . cassia lignea, and cinnamon. . oil plants. . olive tree. . silk cotton. .
wild animals. . wild buffalo particularly described. . civet cat; mode of extracting
the perfume. . crocodile and alligator; that of India in its form and character ;
battle between the alligator and royal tiger, .crocodile of scripture, .ichneumon. .
seal of Travencore rivers. . birds of Travencore. . beauty of the paroquets. . devas-
tations by the Malabar parrots, .bird of Attinga. .crescent snake, .black amphis-
boena. . number of noxious reptiles. . termites, or white ants, their extraordinary
depredations; anecdotes of these marauders. . public roads shaded by trees. . gold
dust in Malabar rivers. . iron mines, forges, and smelting-houses in Malabar. .
salt-pans. . molungies or salt-boilers of Bengal, their wretched situation in the
Sunderbunds. 347

CHAPTER XIII.

Division of the Malabars into four principal tribes. . many inferior castes . . brahmins
of Malabar ; religious and secular employments. . sacred rivers of India. . venera-
tion for the cow. .public charities, .similarity of the Malabars and northern Hin-
doos. . negative character. . extraordinary purification of the king of Travencore
passing through a golden cow. . the same ceremony by Ragobah. .purification of
his brahmin ambassadors. . Sevajee weighed against gold. . superstitious veneration
of the Malabar brahmins. . religious pride. . singular adventure in Quilone forest
..civilization of the Malabars. .physical effects of the torrid zone, .listless indo-
lence of the natives, .conduct of a Morawar heroine, .dominions of the king of
Travencore. . his capital. . military force. . bravery of the Nairs. . heir to the throne
of Travencore. . dress of the king. . suspicion of the natives. . manners and cus-
toms.. tribe of Nairs; extraordinary marriages, mode of inheritance. . reasons
assigned for a plurality of husbands. . singularities of the Nairs. . Namburis. .
Tivees. . dress of the men and women., large ear-rings. . Tetees. . Moplah women
. . cruelty of the queen of Attinga. . writing on olas. . Malabar Christians. . famine. .

CONTENTS.

XXI

slavery. . cheap purchase of children. . anecdote of a fish-woman. . houses of the
Malabars .. furniture .. implements of agriculture .. tribe of Pooleahs .. their
wretched degradation, and miserable situation. . Pariars, a caste still more de-
graded.. Dr. Robertson’s account of the Pariars. . excommunication, or loss of
caste, dreadful to a Hindoo. . purport of the cruel sentence. . comparison between
the Hindoos and Egyptians. . many tribes mentioned by Herodotus. . their man-
ners and customs illustrated by those of the Malabars. . Paramahansa. . Hindoo
anthropophagi. . further particulars of the Pooleahs and Pariars. . Moplahs, Ma-
homedan Malabars. .their character, ferocity, manners, and customs. . run-a-muck
» .massacre of the English at Attinga. . queen of Attinga, a shadow of royalty. .
interesting particulars of the St. Thome, or Syrian Christians in the interior of
Malabar 37o

CHAPTER XIV.

Excavations at Salsette and the Elephanta. .correctness of Mr. Daniel’s delineations
. .long ignorance of their founder, .journey from Bombay to Salsette : description
of the great temple there. . ancient basilic lingam. . portico. . dimensions of the
principal temples. . smaller excavations. . indicate an ancient city for religious
brahmins. . poetical description. . view from the summit of the excavated moun-
tain.. depredations of the tigers. . anecdotes of tigers. . island of Elephanta..
excavations. . grand temple. . sculpture .. comparison between the Grecian and
Hindoo artists. . inferiority of the latter. . columns. . baths. . smaller caves. . visit to
the Elephanta with an English artist. . sleep at Butcher’s island. . solemnity of the
temple at Elephanta. . comparison between it and the excavations in Egypt.,
deism of the brahmins. . opinion of Sir William Jones on their religion. . stanza
of the hymn to Narayena. . Dr. Flyer’s journey to the caves of Salsette in the
seventeenth century, and account ot those works, .opinion refuted of their being
formed by Jews, Greeks, or foreigners of any description. . caverns and temples
at Ellora. . their history, antiquity, and destination. . Mr. Goldingham’s account
of the Elephanta and discrimination of their sculpture, .the subjects illustrated. .
Mr. Wilford’s translation of the inscriptions. . conjecture respecting the origin of
these excavations. . wars of the Kooroos and Pandoos from the. Hindoo legends..

xxrt

CONTENTS.

the latter exiled into forests and mountains. . inscriptions relating to this history
. . and the great probability of the excavations having been executed by the
exiled Pandoos. . similar grottos in Egypt. . written mountains in Arabia, .re-
markable passage in the book of Job. . engravings on rocks and stones. . cemetery

in the desert of Sinai Conquest of Salsette, Curanjah, Elephanta, and some

smaller islands, by the English in 1774. . siege of Tannah. » description of those
new acquisitions 423

CHAPTER XV.

The author obtains an appointment among the civil servants attached to the British
detachment ordered from Bombay, to assist Ragonath-Row, peshwa of the Mah-
rattas, then driven from his capital, and at the head of an army in Guzerat. .
origin of the Mahratta empire, .epitome of the Hindoos in general, .derivation of
the Mahratta name. . Shajee the founder of the empire. . his son, Sevajee, assumes
the title of rajah. . his wars with Aurungzebe, depredations in the Mogul empire,
and death in 1680. .misfortunes and death of his son Sambajee by Aurungzebe. .
military character of the Mahrattas. , great increase of their army. . Raje-Ram. .
his widow assumes the government, .dreadful scenes in the Mogul empire on the
death of Aurungzebe. . its rapid decline, subsequent plunder of Delhi by Nadir
Shah, and wanton cruelties on the destruction of the Mogul power at the conclu-
sion of the eighteenth century. . Saojee, the son of Sambojee, escapes from the
Moguls, and ascends the Mahratta throne. . constitutes the great council. . rapid
rise of the brahmin family of Ballajee. . Ballajee advanced to the dignity of pesh-
wa. . supersedes the power and splendour of the rajah, and becomes in fact sove-
reign of the Mahrattas. . success of the Mahrattas, and increase of their dominions
under the administration of Ballajee Bajerow and Nanna Saib. . situation of
Poonah, the capital of the empire. . progress of the Mahrattas in the art of
war. .battle of Panniput. . death of Nanna Saib. . accession of Mhadarow. .
disputes with his uncle Ragobah. . foreign wars. . success, and death of Mha
derow. . conduct to his brother Narrain Row on his death-bed. . last interview
with his wife, .his noble behaviour and provision for her widowhood, .her resolu-
tion to devote herself on his funeral pyre ; fortitude and dignity on that trying
occasion. . accession of Narrain Row ; weak and irresolute character of that prince

CONTENTS.

xxiii

..machinations of his uncle Ragobah. . massacre of Narrain Row. . Ragobah
claims the title of peshwa. . and assumes the government. . Ragobah’s imprudent
conduct respecting the murderers of Narrain Row. .the mother and widow of
Narrain Row appear in public view. . character of the former. . the latter declares
herself pregnant. . ceremony of investing Ragobah with the honours of peshwa
procrastinated on that account. . Narrain Row’s widow delivered of a prince. „
Ragobah leaves Poonah, and marches against the Nizam. . confederation of the
ministers in favour of the infant peshwa, and commencement of the civil war. .
Ragobah applies to the Bombay government for a detachment of British troops,
and enters into a treaty, .embarkation of the English detachment to join his army
in Guzerat. 459

CHAPTER I.

A VOYAGE FROM ENGLAND TO BOMBAY,

in 1765.

CONTAINING REMARKS ON THE ISLAND OE ST. JAGO,
THE COAST OF BRAZIL,

AND THE SETTLEMENTS ON THE MALABAR COAST.

“ Lo! now the ship unfurls her spreading sails,

” Their swelling bosoms catch the rising gales;

“ Like distant clouds appears the lessening shore,
“ Till the faint prospect can be seen no more :

“ Adieu, my friends, my countrymen adieu!”

B

.

. - . . J.,,-. . .. « . •• » ... . .

CONTENTS.

The author embarks as a Writer for Bombay — Beak of Tenerife — Cape
de Verd islands — St. Jago briefly described— sail for the Cape of
Good Hope — obliged to steer to the coast of Brazil — arrival at
Bio de Janeiro — beauty of the country — brilliancy of the birds —
Humming-birds described — serpents and reptiles — City of St. Se-
bastian— inhabitants — provisions — natives of Brazil — gold and.
diamond mines — departure from South America— Tristan deCunha
— Table land— storms off the Cape of Good Hope — Ocean Fish —
dying Dolphin-ship on fire- — calms — sea-scurvy— funeral ceremony
at sea — public worship on board a large vessel a delightful spec-
tacle— monotony and distress in long calms — discovery of land! —
Malabar coast — settlement of Cochin — Calicut — Tellicherry —
Mangalore— Goa harbour , and city — arrival at Bombay .

I

'I

*

C H A P T E R I

Having obtained the appointment of a writer in the East India
company’s service at Bombay, I embarked with fourteen other
passengers for that settlement, in the month of March 1765, before
I had attained my sixteenth year; and at that early age I com-
menced my descriptive letters, and the drawings which accompany
them.

After encountering the boisterous seas in the Bay of Biscay,
we entered the warmer latitudes; and had a distant view of the
islands of Madeira, Palma, and Ferro: we next saw the Peak of
Teneriffe, rearing its majestic head above the clouds, and present-
ing a scene of infinite grandeur. From thence we steered for St,
Jago, the largest of the Cape de Verd islands, for a supply of
water and refreshments; and passing by the Isles of Bona-vista,
Sal, and Mayo, whose barren and rocky shores are seldom visited
by strangers, we arrived at Porto Praya the middle of May: this
is the principal sea-port of St. Jago; the city where the governor
and bishop reside is situated at some distance inland; but there is
so little attraction in the manners of the Portugueze, and so great
a scarcity of horses, that the passengers do not often go there.
The fortress and principal houses at Porto Praya, are on a rocky
eminence near the watering place; but below it is a beautiful

6

valley, which we daily visited. Our youthful party were charmed
with its novelty, and regaled on the plantanes, cocoa nuts, and
pine-apples, with which it abounded. The lofty cocoa-tree, and
waving plantane, were enlivened by monkeys, and a variety of
birds; but the weather being extremely hot, and the hills barren,
we seldom strolled beyond the limits of the valley.

We remained about a week at St. Jago, and then sailed for the
Cape of Good Hope; but on discovering a dangerous leak in the
ship, we were obliged to alter our course, and to proceed imme-
diately to Rio de Janeiro, a Portugueze settlement on the coast of
Brazil, where we continued from the end of June until the middle
of October; while the vessel underwent the necessary repairs.

If I was pleased with St. Jago, I had much greater reason to
be delighted with the Brazils: the grandeur of the mountains, the
fertility of the vallies, the mildness of the climate, and the general
beauty of animal and vegetable nature, render this part of South
America very interesting; the variety of trees and plants, the pro-
fusion of fruits and dowers, and the brilliancy of the birds and in-
sects, afforded an ample scope for my earliest attempts in natural
history. One lovely valley, over which the aqueduct passes which
supplies the city of St. Sebastian with water, was my favourite
place of resort; and I seldom passed a day without visiting this
sweet retreat; there the rose and myrtle mingled their fragrance
with the clustering blossoms of the citron and orange trees, bend-
ing at the same time, under the weight of their golden produce.

“ For here great Spring

tc Greens all the year, and fruits and blossoms blush,

“ In social sweetness, on the self-same bough.”

Milton.

Mummqmg- Bikids <u //>e Brasil §

yj. '/./// //c /z&>y£ cm //ic ffiia / / cf^y y/cccc ■

W. Hoolaz' '/hdt.

Jano. J?crrbcs, if 65.

Thousands of nature’s choristers, arrayed in all the brilliancy
of tropical plumage, enlivened these extensive orange groves; and
the humming-bird, the smallest and most lovely of the feathered
race, buzzed like the bee, while sipping the nectarious dew from
the blossoms and flowers. Nothing can exceed the delicacy of
these little beauties; especially of that, which from its minuteness,
is called the fly-bird; its bill and legs are not thicker than a pin;
its head, tufted with glossy jet, varies with every motion into shades
of green and purple; the breast is of a bright flame colour; every
feather, when viewed through a microscope, appears as if fringed
with silver, and spotted with gold.

The serpents in this part of South America are large and nox-
ious, but often beautifully coloured; the town and country are
infested with lizards, scorpions, centipedes, and troublesome in-
sects of various kinds. The wild animals generally keep upon
the mountains, and leave the vallies to the cows, sheep, and goats,
which were introduced into these colonies by the Portugueze.

St. Sebastian, the capital of Rio de Janeiro, is a large city,
with numerous churches, convents, and nunneries; but the man-
ners and customs of the inhabitants are neither pleasing nor inte-
resting: pride, poverty, indolence, and superstition, are the pre-
vailing characteristics of these degenerate Portugueze; and seem
to have entirely extinguished the noble virtues of their ancestors:
their cruelty to the plantation negroes, and slaves of every descrip-
tion, is excessive: humanity shudders at the constant smack of
the whip, and the loud cries for mercy, vainly implored by these
poor wretches, from their tyrannic masters, who seem to have lost
every sense of that divine attribute.

8

The splendor of the churches, the pompous ceremonies of the
Romish worship, the various dresses of the monks and nuns, and
the beauty of the gardens at their convents, were all attractive. I
could enlarge on these subjects, as also on the variety of the
animal and vegetable productions, which fill many pages in my
manuscript volumes; but as I am endeavouring to condense them
as much as possible, I shall only further observe, that the coast
abounds with excellent fish of different kinds; a profusion of fruit
and vegetables supplies the public markets, and the numerous ves-
sels which are constantly arriving in this noble harbour; beef,
mutton, pork, and different kinds of poultry, are also plentiful, and
at a moderate price.

The native Brazilians are seldom to be seen at Rio de Janeiro;
the few who yet remain live at a distance from the Portugueze
settlements; and their manners and customs are little known.
Neither could I obtain much information about the gold and
diamond mines, for which Brazil is celebrated; they are in the
interior mountains, far from the capital; and the roads are strictly
guarded to prevent all communication. The jewellers shops at
St. Sebastian’s make a grand display of diamonds, topazes, ame-
thysts, and other precious stones, brought from the mines; a
great deal of gold dust is found in the beds of brooks and torrents
near the mountains, and eagerly sought for, especially after heavy
rains ; by means of which a few of the poor African slaves have
purchased their liberty, and become masters of a little plantation,
where they enjoy the sweets of freedom.

We left Rio de Janeiro on the 12th of October, for the Cape
of Good Hope; and about the end of the month saw Tristan de

9

Cunha, a desolate island in the Atlantic ocean, inhabited only by
seals and sea-fowl. On the 15th of November, we had a distant
view of the Table mountain at the Cape; the southern boundary
of Africa, and for many ages the barrier of navigators from
Europe to India, until Vasco de Gama, at the conclusion of the
fifteenth century, surmounted every obstacle; and his approving
monarch changed its name from the Cape of Storms, to that of
Good-Hope.

In those seas we encountered violent tempests; and, for weeks
together, passed through such foaming mountains, as baffle all
description: indeed it is difficult for a person unaccustomed to
such scenes, to form any idea of this immense body of water when
agitated by a storm. In those southern latitudes we saw abun-
dance of whales, grampuses, sword-fish, and porpoises ; with
flocks of albatrosses, and other aquatic birds, usually met with in
stormy seas: in the milder climates, the ocean was enlivened by
shoals of albicores, bonitos, dolphins, sharks, and flying-fish;
which amused the passing hour, furnished variety at table, and
afforded me an opportunity of delineating their different charac-
ters: the remora, or sucking-fish, which adheres to the body of
the shark; the azure pilot-fish, which conducts him to his prey,
but is never devoured himself; and the flying-fish, which by
means of its long fins, wings its way through another element, and
escapes its direful jaws, are all curious and beautiful; but the
exquisite colouring of a dying dolphin, surpasses every effort of
the pencil. Falconer, in his inimitable poem of the Shipwreck,
has happily described it:

c

10

“ What radiant changes strike the astonish’d sight?
“ What glowing hues of mingled shade and light!
“ Not equal beauties gild the lucid west,

“ With parting beams all o’er profusely drest;

“ Not lovelier colours paint the vernal dawn,

“ When orient dews impearl th’ enamell’d lawn,

“ Than from his sides in bright suffusion flow;

“ That now with gold empyreal seem to glow;

Now in pellucid sapphires meet the view,

“ And emulate the soft celestial hue;

“ Now beam a flaming crimson on the eye,

“ And now assume the purple’s deeper dye;

“ But here description clouds each shining ray,

“ What terms of Art can Nature s powers display?

We were not permitted to touch at the Cape, and therefore
bore away for India. Soon after leaving the coast of Africa, we
were awoke at break of day by the cry of fire! No situation can
be more distressing; every dreadful idea which present danger
suggests, or future misery anticipates, rushes on the mind; and
most other trials of human fortitude appear light in the compa-
rison: from conflagration on shore there is some prospect of
escaping; and we look forward with hope, to the cessation of the
severest tempest; or, if shipwrecked on a desolate island, we
thank Providence for our preservation, and, like Crusoe or Selkirk,
endeavour to make the best of our situation; but to be in flames
on the boundless ocean, is a scene fraught with horror! in mo-
mentary expectation of the powder taking fire, and blowing the
vessel to atoms; or, of gradually burning to the surface of the
water, and then foundering: a dreadful alternative! Providentially

11

we did not continue in suspense; the captain and officers acted
with a calm intrepidity, and in an hour the dames were extin-
guished.

On our second approach to the equator, we met with calms
and contrary currents, which drove us quite out of our reckoning;
fresh provisions and water became scarce, and the men were
attacked by the scurvy; a distemper which was then very inci-
dental to mariners in long voyages: it is various in its symptoms
and progress; but is generally attended with heaviness, restless-
ness, swelled limbs, livid spots, and ulcerated gums: the last stage
seems to be a total putrefaction; which soon carries off the un-
happy sufferer. The scurvy baffles all the art of medicine; but
if the patient is taken on shore, to breathe a pure air, and enjoy
the refreshment of fruit and vegetables, he generally recovers.
Before we experienced this liapp}' change, many of the seamen,
and more of the recruits for the army in India, fell a sacrifice to
the malady; and we were often called upon to attend the awful
ceremony of committing their remains to the deep. There is
something peculiarly solemn in a funeral of this kind, where
the body is consigned to the fathomless abyss: but Faith
anticipates that glorious morn, when the ransomed of the
Redeemer shall hear his voice, and the sea shall give up her
dead!

Except at the funeral ceremony, which was now so frequently
performed, I never had an opportunity of seeing a ship’s company
assembled at public worship; it is a fine spectacle; every feeling
mind must rejoice to behold the deck of a large vessel covered

i°2

with her crew, in the humble attitude of devotion: surrounded by
the boundless ocean, the foundation of their august temple; and
the cerulean expanse of heaven, its magnificent canopy! to see
them in the midst of this unstable element, when separated from
all their friends, adoring the universal Friend and Father of the
creation; who maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon
the wings of the wind; who raiseth the tempest; and saith to the
raging waves, peace! be still? — I am sorry to observe, that the
solemnity of public worship is a duty too little attended to in these
iioaling habitations, these worlds of wonder! Surely, in such a
situation, it must he the highest gratification to offer the tribute of
prayer and praise to the great Jehovah; for the sea is his, and
He made it!

During the calms under the line the sea was smooth as glass;
and every floating substance thrown over-board, remaining round
the vessel, we were often obliged, in the cool of the evening, to
lower the boats, and tow her to some distance. We continued
six weeks in these sultry climates, with only now and then a light
air to waft us gently on; and when most wanted, our water began
to fail: we at last became almost spiritless from the languor occa-
sioned by the enervating heat, and the dull uniformity of this
part of our voyage.

At length, after being disappointed by many deceitful appear-
ances of imaginary shores, and when reduced to our last cask
of water, the man at the mast-head saw land, and trie coast of
Malabar was soon discerned through the telescopes on deck: the
powers of language fail to express the joy which thrilled in our

hearts at this happy prospect; those only who have been in a
similar situation can conceive it: favoured bj^ a gentle breeze, we
gradually approached the cocoa-nut groves, which seemed to rise
from the ocean, on the low sandy shore, near the Dutch settlement
of Cochin, where we anchored in the evening. The ship was soon
surrounded by boats, laden with cattle, poultry, fruit, and vege-
tables: this was indeed a most grateful visit to us all: but especially
to our poor invalids; who were immediately brought upon deck
to enjoy the refreshing gales from the land, and partake of our
delicious fare. The town of Cochin is pleasantly situated near
the road, at the entrance of a broad river, surrounded bv the low
lands and cocoa-nut trees just mentioned; beyond them are woody
hills, and majestic mountains, forming a noble boundary to the
landscape.

We remained only two days at Cochin, and then sailed for
Bombay, aided by the land and sea winds, which alternately pre-
vail on the Malabar coast, after the breaking up of the south-west
monsoon: the former blows fresh during great part of the night,
and gradually declines a few hours after sun-rise; when the western
breeze sets in from the ocean, and lenders the navigation delight-
ful. As the season advances towards the commencement of the
ensuing monsoon, in the months of April and May, the north-west
winds blow strong; and the ships sailing to the northward, no
longer assisted by the land breezes, are obliged to stand further
out to sea, to beat up against their powerful adversaries, and thus
the passenger loses the beauties we daily enjoyed in this pleasant
part of our voyage.

14

From Cochin we proceeded along a diversified coast to Calicut;
the celebrated emporium where Vasco de Gama landed after his
perilous voyage round the Cape of Good Hope, in the first Euro-
pean vessel which ever navigated the Indian seas: it was then
a place of great importance, now little more than a Malabar
fishing-town, with four European factories. We did not anchor
at Calicut, but arrived the next day at Tellicherry, a settlement
belonging to the English, in a pleasant and healthy situation.
From thence, sailing by a hilly tract of country, we arrived at
Mangulore, then a principal sea-port of Hyder Ally Khaun ;
where, after procuring water and refreshments, we renewed our
coasting voyage, and passing Onore, Mirjee, and some other
places of little importance, we anchored in the beautiful harbour
of Goa; a noble basin, surrounded by woody hills and fertile
vallies, enriched by plantations of cocoa-nuts, and fields of rice:
the prospect was embellished by numerous churches, convents,
and villas; whose white aspect was finely contrasted with the dark
mango and tamarind groves which embosomed them. This
noble harbour is defended by the fortress of Alguarda; and
the city of Goa, situated a few miles up a navigable river,
presents some lovely scenery on its hilly shores: Goa was the
most magnificent of all the European settlements in India; and
the churches, monasteries, and other public structures, indicate
the former splendour of the capital of the Portuguese Asiatic
establishments, the seat of the inquisition, and the residence of
the governor-general, the archbishop, judges, and other principal
officers.

Published by White-, Cochrane ic CC Fleet Street, June Ft iQja.

15

This was the last place we touched at on the Malabar coast,
and after sailing along the mountainous shores of the Concan, we
anchored in Bombay harbour, exactly eleven months from the
commencement of our voyage.

Should Fate command me to the farthest verge
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes.

Rivers unknown to song ; where first the sun
Gilds India mountains, or his setting beam
Flames on th’ Atlantic isles, ’tis nought to me :

——I cannot go where Universal Love not smiles around!

Thomson.

BJLITE BABMA. EIKU) a£ MlO ^lAJEI10s

WAYA fftec/.

W. ITooIcer, fecit.

Tarrv. JPovbfur, 1766.

CHAPTER II.

CONTAINING

A DESCRIPTION OF THE TREES, PLANTS, FRUITS, AND

FLOWERS,

ON THE ISLAND OF BOMBAY, AND THE WESTERN
PARTS OF HINDOSTAN.

Not content

With every food of life to nourish Man,

Thou mak’st all Nature beauty to his eye.

Or music to his ear: well-pleas’d he scans

The goodly prospect; and, with inward smiles

Most sweet, he feels their influence) Akensxbe,

I)

CONTENTS.

Residence at Bombay — brief state of that settlement in 1766 — soil ,
climate , and natural productions — cocoa-nut tree fully described — •
palmyra — date and banian-tree — gymnosophists — cubbeer — burr
— anecdote of monkeys — areca , betel , mango , and other fruits
of Hindostan — flowers— vegetables — rice-grounds— rainy season
dreadf ul famines in India .

I

A residence of eighteen years on the island of Bombay, and
several of its subordinate settlements, afforded me an opportunity
of seeing a great deal of the western part of Hindostan ; and 1
occasionally visited most of the principal places, from Ahmedabad,
the capital of the northern province of Guzerat, to Anjengo, the
most southern factory on the coast of Malabar.

During that interesting period, I corresponded with a near
relation, whose congenial mind wished to share in the novelty 1
met with in a part of the globe, which is unrivalled in its gratifica-
tions for travellers of every description; especially for a youth, to
whom ail the world was new.

I have already mentioned my arrival at Bombay in 1766; that
establishment was then on a smaller scale than at present; espe-
cially in the military and revenue departments: the latter was
always inadequate to the expenses; but the docks, fortifications,
magazines, and storehouses, render it an object of national impor-
tance, both in a political and commercial point of view: the har-
bour is one of the finest in the world, accessible at all seasons, and
affording a safe anchorage during the most tempestuous monsoons:
the merchants carry on a trade with all the principal sea-ports,
and interior cities of the peninsula of India; and extend their

22

commerce to the Persian and Arabian gulphs, the coast of Africa,
Malacca, China, and the eastern islands.

Bombay is situated in the latitude of 18° 50' north, and 73° of
east longitude from London: the island does not exceed twenty
miles in circumference: and being entirely surrounded by the sea,
the heat is seldom oppressive, and the climate in general healthy
and pleasant, and the inhabitants are strangers to the hot winds so
troublesome on the continent. The surface of the soil is very un-
equal, consisting of rocks, hills, and plains; except in one part,
where a very considerable tract is overflowed by the encroachment
of the sea, notwithstanding a very strong wall which was erected
at a great expense to prevent it.

From being situated only a few miles from the Mahratta
shores, and still nearer the fertile island of Salselte, the markets
are daily supplied from thence with all the necessaries of life: for
so circumscribed, so rocky, and so unequal is the surface of Bom-
bay itself, that it only produced a sufficiency of grain in one year,
to supply its population for six wrecks. Yet each spot that will
admit of cultivation, and is not occupied by houses, is sown with
rice, or planted with cocoa-nut trees; which, in extensive woods,
lend their friendly shade to thousands of neat cottages, and form
delightful rides, impervious to a tropical sun.

Of all the gifts which Providence has bestowed on the
oriental world, the cocoa-nut tree most deserves our notice: in
this single production of nature, what blessings are conveyed to
man! It grows in a stately column, from thirty to fifty feet in
height, crowned by a verdant capital of waving branches, covered
with long spiral leaves; under this foliage, bunches of blossoms,

J5ru[r<zv<ul Zv J.SJmrv.

MlNBOO FEA'SAWT COCOA FUT TMEE

dbzM;s£ie/ TAMI ^ TOBDY,

Jarro.Forbas, Jimribay, dj(?8.

JPabZis7ied '8r fl'LcJiardJBentlg)'. ft.Jl ew

Barling ton SlltfSjk .

23

clusters of green fruit, and others arrived at maturity, appear in
mingled beauty. The trunk, though porous, furnishes beams and
rafters for our habitations; and the leaves, when platted together,
make an excellent thatch, and common umbrellas, coarse mats
for the floor, and brooms; while their finest fibres are woven into
very beautiful mats for the rich. The covering of the young
fruit is extremely curious, resembling a piece of thick cloth, in a
conical form, close and firm as if it came from the loom; it ex-
pands after the fruit has burst through its inclosure, and then ap-
pears of a coarser texture. The nuts contain a delicious milk,
and a kernel, sweet as the almond: this, when dried, affords abun-
dance of oil ; and when that is expressed, the remains feed cattle
and poultry, and make a good manure. The shell of the nut fur-
nishes cups, ladles, and other domestic utensils; while the husk
which encloses it is of the utmost importance: it is manufactured
into ropes, and cordage of every kind, from the smallest twine to
the largest cable, which are far more durable than those of hemp.
In the Nicobar islands, the natives build their vessels, make the
sails and cordage, supply them with provisions and necessaries,
and provide a cargo of arrack, vinegar, oil, jaggree or coarse sugar,
cocoa-nuts, coir, cordage, black paint, and several inferior articles
for foreign markets, entirely from this tree. Gibbon, the historian,
writing of the palm tree, adds, that the Asiatics celebrated, either
in verse or prose, the three hundred and sixty uses to which the
trunk, the branches, the leaves, the juice, and the fruit, were skil-
fully applied.

Many of the trees are not permitted to bear fruit; but the
embryo bud, from which the blossoms and nuts would spring,

24

is tied up, to prevent its expansion; and a small incision be-
ing then made at the end, there oozes in gentle drops a cool
pleasant liquor, called Tarce, or Toddy; the palm-wine of the
poets. This, when first drawn, is cooling and salutary; but when
fermented and distilled, produces an intoxicating spirit. Thus a
plantation of cocoa-nut trees yields the proprietor a considerable
profit, and generally forms part of the government revenue.

The cocoa-nut tree delights in a flat sandy soil, near the sea,
and must be frequently watered; while the palmyras, or brab
trees, grow on hills, and rocky mountains. These also abound on
our small island, as well as the date-tree; but the fruit of the lat-
ter seldom attains perfection. These trees are of the same genus,
though differing according to their respective classes; they all pro-
duce the palm-wine, and are generally included under the name
of Palms, or Palmetos. 4

Thomson gives a very beautiful description of these oriental
groves; whose leaves, I omitted to mention, are used instead of
paper, by the natives on the Malabar coast, and the inhabitants
of the Carnatic.

“ Stretch’d amid these orchards of the sun,

“ Where high palmetos lift their graceful shade,

“ Give me to drain the cocoa’s milky bowl,

“ And from the palm to draw its freshening wine;

“ More bounteous far than all the frantic juice
t( Which Bacchus pours!’’

The Banian, or Burr tree (Ficus Indica, Lim) is equally de-
serving our attention: from being one of the most curious and

CUBBEER BERM, sfoc/ ceAAa^/' lAMM TREE rsn/M-f/ r/sJ.^ l^EMBIIDIDA .

25

beautiful of nature's productions in that genial climate, where she
sports with the greatest profusion and variety. Each tree is in it-
self a grove, and some of them are of an amazing size; as they are
continually increasing, and, contrary to most other animal and
vegetable productions, seem to be exempted from decay: for every
branch from the main body throws out its own roots, at first in
small tender fibres, several yards front the ground, which conti-
nually grow thicker; until, by a gradual descent they reach its
surface; where striking in, they increase to a large trunk, and be-
come a parent tree, throwing out new branches from the top.
These in time suspend their roots, and, receiving nourishment from
the earth, swell into trunks, and shoot forth other branches; thus
continuing in a state of progression so long as the first parent of
them all supplies her sustenance.

A banian tree, with many trunks, forms the most beautiful
walks, vistas, and cool recesses, that can be imagined. The
leaves are large, soft, and of a lively green; the fruit is a small fig,
when ripe of a bright scarlet; affording sustenance to monkeys,
squirrels, peacocks, and birds of various kinds, which dwell among
the branches.

The Hindoos are peculiarly fond of this tree; they consider its
long duration, its out-stretching arms, and over-shadowing benefi-
cence, as emblems of the Deity, and almost pay it divine honours.
The Brahmins, who thus 44 find a fane in every sacred grove,”
spend much of their time in religious solitude under the shade of
the banian-tree; they plant it near the dewals, or Hindoo temples,
improperly called Pagodas; and in those villages where there is
no structure for public worship, they place an image under one

E

26

one of these trees, and there perform a morning and evening sa-
crifice.

These are the trees under which a sect of naked philosophers,
called Gymnosophists, assembled in Arrian's days; and this histo-
rian of ancient Greece gives us a true picture of the modem
Hindoos; “ In winter the Gymnosophists enjoy the benefit of the
££ sun's rays in the open air; and in summer, when the heat be-
£C comes excessive, they pass their time in cool and moist places,
££ under large trees; which, according to the accounts of Nearchus,
“ cover a circumference of five acres, and extend their branches
4£ so far, that ten thousand men may easily find shelter under
u them.5'

.[’here are none of this magnitude at Bombay; but on the
banks of the Narbudda I have spent many delightful days with
large parties, on rural excursions, under a tree supposed by some
persons to be that described by Nearchus, and certainly not at all
inferior to it. High floods have at various times swept away a
considerable part of this extraordinary tree; but what still remains
is near two thousand feet in circumference, measured round the
principal stems; the over-hanging branches, not yet struck down,
cover a much larger space; and under it grow a number of cus-
tard-apple, and other fruit trees. The large trunks of this single
tree amount to three hundred and fifty, and the smaller ones ex-
ceed three thousand; each of these is constantly sending forth
branches and hanging roots, to form other trunks, and become the
parents of a future progeny.

This magnificent pavilion affords a shelter to all travellers, par-
ticularly the religious tribes of Hindoos; and is generally filled

CUUBBHB BTORJR .

with a variety of birds, snakes, and monkeys: the latter have often
diverted me with their antic tricks; especially in their parental
affection to their young offspring ; by teaching them to select their
food, to exert themselves, in jumping from bough to bough, and
then in taking more extensive leaps from tree to tree; encouraging
them by caresses when timorous, and menacing, and even beating
them, when refractory. Knowing by instinct the malignity of the
snakes, they are most vigilant in their destruction: they seize them
when asleep by the neck, and running to the nearest flat stone,
grind down the head by a strong friction on the surface, frequently
looking at it, and grinning at their progress. When convinced
that the venomous fangs are destroyed, they toss the reptile to
their young ones to play with, and seem to rejoice in the destruc-
tion of the common enemy.

On a shooting party under this tree, one of my friends killed a
female monkey, and carried it to his tent; which was soon sur-
rounded by forty or fifty of the tribe, who made a great noise, and
in a menacing posture advanced towards it: on presenting his
fowling-piece, they retreated, and appeared irresolute, but one,
which from his age and station in the van, seemed the head of the
troop, stood his ground, chattering and menacing in a furious man-
ner; nor could any efforts less cruel than firing drive him off: he at
length approached the tent door; -and when finding his threaten-
ings were of no avail, he began a lamentable moaning, and by
every token of grief and supplication, seemed to beg the body of
the deceased: on this, it was given to him: with tender sorrow he
took it up in his arms, embraced it with conjugal affection, and
carried it off with a sort of triumph to his expecting comrades.

28

The artless behaviour of this poor animal wrought so powerfully
on the sportsmen, that they resolved never more to level a gun at
one of the monkey race.

The banian tree I am now describing, is called by the Hindoos
cubbeer-burr, in memory of a favourite saint, and was much re-
sorted to by the English gentlemen from Baroche, Putnali was
then a flourishing chiefehip, on the banks of the Nerbuddah, about
ten miles from this celebrated tree. The chief was extremely fond
of field diversions, and used to encamp under it in a magnificent
style; having a saloon, dining-room, drawing-room, bed chambers*
bath, kitchen, and every other accommodation, all in separate
tents; yet did this noble tree cover the whole; together with his
carriages, horses, camels, guards, and attendants. While its spread-
ing branches afforded shady spots for the tents of his friends, with
their servants and cattle. And in the march of an army, it has
been known to shelter seven thousand men.

Such is the banian tree, the pride of Hindostan, which Milton
has thus discriminately and poetically introduced into his Paradise
Lost:

Then both together went
“ Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose
“ The fig-tree. Not that tree for fruit renown’d,

“ But such, and at this day to Indians known
fC In Malabar or Decan, spreads her arms,

" Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
“ The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
“ About the mother tree; a pillar’d shade
,e High over-arch’d, and echoing walks between :

** There oft the Indian herdsman shunning heat,

,f Shelters in .cool, and tends his pasturing herds,

'f At loop-holes cut through thickest shade.’

29

The areca, or betel-nut tree, the areca catechu, Linn, is one'
of the most beautiful of the palmyra tribe; it grows perfectly
straight, with an elegant tuft of plumy branches on its summit,
overshadowing the blossoms and fruit which are interspersed among
them: there is a peculiar delicacy in the proportion and foliage
of this tree, which makes it generally admired : the Indians com-
pare it to an elegantly formed and beautiful woman; and there is
the same allusion in Solomon’s Song; “ How fair, and how plea-
sant art thou, O my love, for delights! thy stature is like to a palm
tree, and thy bosom like clusters of grapes.”

The betel-nut, better known by the name of sooparee, is in
appearance like a large nutmeg, enclosed in a thick membraneous
covering; and is highly esteemed by the Indians of all descrip-
tions as a fine stomachic, and a preservative of the teeth and gums^:
they cut it into small pieces, and eat it with a hot pungent leaf,
called betel, spread over with chunam, or delicate shell lime;
which the natives carry in boxes, like tobacco, and chew it at all
hours. The betel is also introduced at visits of ceremony, when
the nut is cut into slices, mixed with cardamoms and chunam, and
folded up in a betel-leaf, fastened by a clove: these are presented
on a salver to each guest at the conclusion of a visit, and is gene-
rally an indication to lake leave. The betel-leaf, properly so
called (piper belle, Linn.) is a plant entirely distinct and separate
from the areca, or betel-nut tree; and grows in neat regular plan-
tations, like hop-grounds, creeping up the small poles, prepared
for their protection.

The groves and gardens on Bombay and the adjacent conti-
nent, supply the inhabitants with guavas, plantains, bananas, eo-s~-

30

lard-apples, jacas, tamarinds, cashew-apples, ananas, jamboos,
oranges, limes, citrons, grapes, and pomegranates: but the most
useful, plentiful, and best fruit, is the mango (mangifera, Linn.)
which grows abundantly all over Hindostan, even in the forests
and hedge-rows, on trees equal in size to a large English oak, but
in appearance and foliage more resembling the Spanish-chesnut:
this valuable fruit varies in shape, colour, and flavour, as much as
apples do in Europe: the superior kinds are extremely delicious;
and in the interior resemble the large yellow peach at Venice,
heightened by the flavour of the orange and anana: and so plen-
tiful are mangos, in the hot season, throughout most parts of India,
that during my residence in Guzerat, they were sold in the public
markets for one rupee the culsey; or six hundred pounds in Eng-
lish weight for half a crown : they are a delicacy to the rich, and
a nutritious diet for the poor, who in the mango season require but
little other sustenance.

The anana, dignified by Thomson as the “ pride of vegetable
life,” needs no description; nor have I ever tasted pine-apples of a
superior flavour in the torrid zone, to some produced in the Eng-
lish conservatories. The custard-apples, of two kinds, are plea-
sant fruits: the pompelmose, or shadock (malus aurantia, Indica,)
is much larger and more estimable than the orange: the jaca (ar-
tocarpus integrifolia, Linn.) is of a prodigious size, growing from
the trunk and large branches of the tree; the fruit is luscious, and
of a powerful smell; with a seed resembling the chesnut: the guava
(psidium, Linn.) shaped like a pear, has something of the straw-
berry flavour: some of the jamboos are palatable, and that species
called the jambo-rosa, or rose-apple, has the scent and taste of the

31

rose. The carambola, bilimbi ng, corinda, halfaluree, and some
of the smaller fruits, are pleasant, particularly in tarts and
preserves.

Hindostan is celebrated for a variety of flowers and odoriferous
plants, much esteemed by the Asiatic ladies, but generally too
powerful for Europeans. The champa ch (michelia champaca,
Linn.) which resembles the magnolia glauca, and whose blossoms
perfume the air to a great extent, is the most highly prized. The
inogree, keurah, oleander, hinna, and several others, whose oriental
names and characters it would be uninteresting to detail; together
with myrtles, jasmins, and a few Chinese flowers, flourish in the
Indian gardens; but two of their principal ornaments are the
tube-rose and mhadavi (ipomoea, Linn.) the former, both double
and single, are extremely luxuriant ; and from their alluring
fragrance in the cool of the evening, are called by the Malays,
soondul mullam, the intriguer of the night. The mhadavi is a
most beautiful creeper, covering our seats and arbours with a small
monopetalous flower, divided into five angular segments, like fine
crimson velvet, surrounded by a foliage uncommonly delicate: it
is introduced in the Hindoo drama of Sacontala, translated by
Sir William Jones, with the blooming patalis, the balmy usira,
and other flowers highly prized by the Hindoo females. How
beautiful is the apostrophe of Sacontala to this her favourite plant,
when about to leave the sacred groves, where she had spent her
early days in innocence and peace. “ O mhadavi! thou lovely
creeper, whose red blossoms inflame the grove! O, most radiant of
shining plants, receive my embraces, and return them with thy

32

flexible arms! I must, from this day, leave thee! O my beloved
father, consider this creeper as myself!”

The double and single Japan-rose (hibiscus rosa sinensis, Linn.)
form excellent garden hedges, and the rich crimson of the flowers,
contrasted with the vivid verdure of the leaves, add much to our
horlensiai beauty: but, from being almost scentless, they are less

/v

esteemed than the kenna, or mendey (lawsonia spinosa, Linn.)
which makes as fine a fence, and perfumes the air with a delicious
fragrance; few shrubs are more esteemed throughout India, Persia,
and Arabia, than the kenna. The hibiscus mutabilis, or change-
able-rose, in its three varieties, of white, rose-colour, and crimson,
all blowing at one time on the same plant, is a pretty object in an
oriental garden.

Bombay abounds with excellent vegetables, indigenous to the
climate, and is not unfavourable to cabbages, lettuce, potatoes,
and several others, introduced from Europe and the Cape of Good
Hope. The banda (hibiscus esculentus, Linn.) is a nutritious
oriental vegetable; so is the bungal, or egg-plant (solanum melon-
gena, Linn.) which grows to a much larger size than in Europe;
the yam (dioscorea, Linn.); with the fenugreek (meli trigonella foe-
num-graecum, Linn.); the sweet potato, and a variety of calavances,
or Indian beans, are much liked at the English tables. The Chili
pepper (capsicum), of various sorts, is planted throughout Hindos-
tan, and forms a principal ingredient in curries, and other savory
dishes, which the natives are all fond of, whether they eat animal
food or not: to the capsicum they generally add the cardamom
(amomum-repens, Linn.) a pleasant spice from the Malabar coast;

33

which, with salt, pepper, and ginger, season their viands, mingled
in small quantities with the rice, which is the chief article of food
among all the higher classes of Indians: the poor live principally
upon juarree (liolcus sorghum), bajaree (holcus spicatus), and other
inferior grains.

The rice, or batty, is sown in June, at the commencement of
the periodical rains; which continue, more or less, until October,
when the harvest begins. The rice-grounds are enclosed with
mounds of earth, and contain a great deal of water; for rice will
not grow in a dry soil; and as it always rises with the water, in
Pegu, and some other countries, the harvest is reaped in boats;
and many low lands which can be artificially watered, produce
two crops of rice in a year, with the addition of a little manure.

During the rainy season, and for a few weeks afterwards, the
country in Hindostan is delightful; nothing can exceed its verdure,
and general beauty; but the fervour of a tropical sun soon clothes
the earth with a russet hue, which continues until the annual fall
of rain; in that long interval of eight months not a single shower
falls; and the nightly dews, though copious, are insufficient to pre-
serve the grass: yet most of the trees, as in other tropical climates,
are ever-greens.

In the temperate climes of Europe, it is difficult to conceive
the force and beauty of the eastern language respecting fertilizing
streams and refreshing showers: it is not so with the inhabitants of
the torrid zone, who look forward with eager expectation to the
setting in of the rainy season; when cultivation commences, the
seed is sown, and a joyful harvest anticipated. Should these pe-
riodical rains be withheld, when the heavens are “ as brass, and

F

the earth as iron/’ the consequences would be fatal. Famine and
pestilence, with all their dire attendants, stalk through the land,
and spread destruction and despair on every side: as those can
testify who beheld the dreadful scenes at Bengal in the year 1770;
and others, who have witnessed the sad effects of a failure of the
crops in different parts of Hindostan; where thousands are carried
off by famine; and, from being deprived of sepulture or cremation,
the atmosphere is rendered pestilential. In such a climate, Chris-
tians and Mahomedans, Jews and Gentiles, all unite in the hymn
of the royal shepherd, when the rains descended on the arid vales
of Palestine: “ Thou visitest the earth, and blessest it: thou makest
it very plenteous: thou waterest her furrows, thou sendest rain into
the little valleys thereof: thou ma.kest it. soft with the drops of rain,
and blessest the increase of it. Thou crownest the year with thy
goodness, and thy clouds drop fatness F

What renders the privation of rain at the expected season more
dreadful on the continent, is the effect of the hot winds which then
generally prevail, especially at a distance from the sea: they are
very little known at Bombay : in the northern provinces of Hin-
dustan, and in the Carnatic, they are felt more or less in the best
constructed houses; but are most distressing to travellers from
milder climates, when passing through a country where no cara-
vansera, tent, or friendly banian-tree, afford a shelter; the greatest
alleviation is a house with thick walls, to resist the heat, and every
door and window shut to exclude the air; or if open, to have
screens of matted grass hanging before them, kept constantly wa-
tered. When these winds prevail, furniture of wood, glass, por-
celaine, and metal, exposed to their blasts, although perfectly

'IPinnin

If ,\

r\ P in> TiTi

35

shaded from the sun, are as hot as if they had been placed before
a fierce fire: at the same time, water in guglets from Persia, and
jars of porous earth, hung up in the current of wind, is refreshingly
cold; and wine, beer, and other liquors, in a cotton wrapper,
constantly wetted, exposed in the same manner, a short time be-
fore they are brought to table, are like iced wines in Europe

As a contrast to the violence of the monsoon, and the unplea-
sant effects of the hot winds, there is sometimes a voluptuousness
in the climate of India, a stillness in nature, an indescribable soft-
ness, which soothes the mind, and gives it up to the most delightful
sensations: independent of the effects of opium, champoing, and
other luxuries, so much indulged in by the oriental sensualist!

/

i

-

CHAPTER

Hi.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE BEASTS, BIRDS, FISH, REPTILES,

AND INSECTS,

WITH OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF NATURAL HISTORY,

ON THE ISLAND OF BOMBAY, AND OTHER
FARTS OF HINDOSTAN.

Pauca haec vidimus operum Dei, multa abscondita majora his !

Paraphrased extempore ly Marv Knowles.

But few, though wondrous, are the works we see
That manifest the hidden Deity !

Of his full glory but a glimpse is given.

Nor can we reach the climax of high heavren !

A germ unfolded is the soul of man.

Unable to contain creation’s plan;

But when transplanted in celestial land.

To the eternal sun it will expand !

Will endless flourish, fill’d by rays divine.

And will in everlasting strength and beauty shine !

. ... ■

'. . • tai to y ( : . ■ i a i

a,: a- V-r-' 0150!.! \L0 '. '.si ;u. . ■

. *£ AT a 0 a . £ : . El ’4 O ■; T )x L %

/ '

■: ft-Jibno ' " . ■ i '' t . ■ . ■ c>i '

' •• ilj 0«\ 1

! in it ;;

. . f

.

(

CONTENTS.

Wild beasts of Hindostan — mus-malabaricus— musk-rat— ants— ter-
mites—-lizards — Guana serpents — cobra de capello — cobra minelle
— fatal effect of the poison of the hooded snake — Dr. Russell on
Indian serpents — insects of India— locusts — honey— ghee— birds of
Hindostan— myneh—Baya bottle-nested sparrow— tailor -bird—
Bulbul , Indian nightingale— Persian ode— fish at Bombay „

i

.

'• - • - f '

■

.

■ .Vi . : i . S3

CHAPTE R III.

Tu e small island of Bombay does not afford the variety of ani-
mated nature found on the adjacent continent: which abounds
with tigers, leopards, wild-hogs, antelopes, deer of many kinds,
hares, rabbits, and smaller animals; the elephant and the rhino-
ceros are common in several parts of India. Armadillos, hyenas,
porcupines, and others of less note, are to be seen in most places;
but jackals, squirrels, and hedgehogs, are the only wild animals
on Bombay. Salsette, and the Mahratta shores, supply its mar-
kets with plenty of oxen, sheep, goats, kids, poultry, butter, and
every other necessary of life.

The mus malabaricus, or bandicoote rat, frequently undermine
warehouses, and destroy every kind of merchandize; so that they
are a dangerous enemy. The musk-rats, though small, are nearly
as destructive, and have a most disagreeable smell; if one of these
vermine gets into a chest of wine, every bottle it passes over smells
so strong of the animal, and acquires such a disagreeable flavour,
that it cannot be drank.

Nor are the ants less obnoxious; they vary in shape, size, and
colour; the largest are black, near an inch long, and of great
strength; their bite is painful, and blood frequently follows the

G

wound. They march in large armies, and exact heavy contribu-
tions, particularly on sugar and preserves; though few eatables
come amiss, and in a few hours they commit terrible depredations.
But the termites, or white ants, make still greater havoc; they
gnaw through the thickest planks, demolish beams and rafters, and
entirely destroy books, papers, and bales of goods; which they
perforate in a thousand places. These, at a certain season, quit
their reptile state, and become a winged insect.

Lizards abound in the houses, fields, and gardens; they are a
harmless race, differing in size, form, and colour; and some, like
the chamelion, assume different hues. The alligator, which in all
respects resembles the Egyptian crocodile, is a terrible animal,
seldom seen on Bombay; but they are found in most of the rivers
on the continent, from five to twenty feet in length. The guana,
a land animal of the lacerta tribe, is the next in size, though sel-
dom exceeding four feet; its colour is a dirty green, and the skin
covered with scales ; some of the natives eat the flesh, and consi-
der it a dainty; others use it in medicine as a great restorative.
India, like most other countries between the tropics, is infested by
serpents, scorpions, centipedes, and noxious reptiles of various
kinds.

Among the serpents of India the cobra-minelle is the smallest,
and most dangerous; the bite occasions a speedy and painful
death. They are of a brown colour, speckled with black and
white, though at a distance not easily distinguished from the
ground on which they move; and happy would it be if they con-
fined themselves to it; but they enter the houses, and creep upon
the beds and chairs; I once found four, and at another time five,

The cobba me capeiio s

<rj/ ■ If ' >/ da&fasr/y.

Jeaw.JTcn'bcs, ^77^ .

W. Jin o /aw. fbal.

43

in my chamber up stairs. Thomson truly defines this dreadful
reptile, as

“ The small close-lurking minister of fate:

“ Whose high-concocted venom through the veins
“ A rapid lightning darts, arresting swift
“ The vital current. — Form'd to humble man !

“ This child of vengeful nature !”

The cobra di capello, or hooded-snake (coluber naja), called
by the Indians the naag, or nagao, is a large and beautiful ser-
pent; but one of the most venomous of all the coluber class;
its bite generally proves mortal in less than an hour. It is called
the hooded snake, from having a curious hood near the head,
which it contracts or enlarges at pleasure; the center of this hood
is marked in black and white like a pair of spectacles, from whence
it is also named the spectacle-snake.

Of this genus are the dancing-snakes, which are carried in
baskets throughout Hindostan, and procure a maintenance for a
set of people, who play a few simple notes on the flute, with which
the snakes seem much delighted, and keep time by a graceful mo-
tion of the head; erecting about half their length from the ground,
and following the music with gentle curves, like the undulating
lines of a swan’s neck. It is a well attested fact, that when a
house is infested with these snakes, and some others of the coluber
genus, which destroy poultry and small domestic animals, as also
by the larger serpents of the boa tribe, the musicians are sent for;
who by playing on a flagelet, find out their hiding-places, and
charm them to destruction: for no sooner do the snakes hear the

44

music, than they come softly from their retreat, and are easily
taken. I imagine these musical snakes were known in Palestine,
from the Psalmist comparing the ungodly to the deaf adder, which
stoppeth her ears, and refuseth to hear the voice of the charmer,
charm he never so wisely.

When the music ceases the snakes appear motionless; but if
not immediately covered up in the basket, the spectators are liable
to fatal accidents. Among my drawings is that of a cobra de ca-
pello, which danced for an hour on the table while I painted it;
during which I frequently handled it, to observe the beauty of the
spots, and especially the spectacles on the hood, not doubling
but that its venomous fangs had been previously extracted. But
the next morning my upper servant, who was a zealous Mussul-
man, came to me in great haste, and desired I would instantly
retire, and praise the Almighty for my good fortune: not under-
standing his meaning, I told him that I had already performed my
devotions, and had not so many stated prayers as the followers of
his prophet. Mahomet then informed me, that while purchasing
some fruit in the bazar, he observed the man who had been with
me on the preceding evening, entertaining the country people with
his dancing snakes; they, according to their usual custom, sat on
the ground around him; when, either from the music stopping too
suddenly, or from some other cause irritating the vicious reptile
which I had so often handled, it darted at the throat of a young
woman, and inflicted a wound of which she died in about half an
hour. Mahomed once more repeated his advice for praise and
thanksgiving to Alla, and recorded me in his calendar as a lucky

man.

8

Zabl.1 slwcl by 'JUclucrcUimdy. Uccrlina tun S3f3£.

Dr. Russell, in his valuable treatise on Indian serpents, lias
distinguished between the venomous and the harmless species, in
the three genera of boa, coluber, and anguis: he has given an ac-
curate description, and coloured engravings of forty-three of the
most common serpents in Hindostan; experiments on the effects
of their bite, and the several remedies applied; with observations
on the apparatus provided by nature, for preparing and instilling
their poison: he mentions, that a quantity of warm Madeira wine-
taken internally, with an outward application of eau-de-luce on the
punctures, was generally successful in curing the bite of the most
venomous species: and that the medicine called the Tanjore-pill
seemed to be equally efficacious. Dr. Russell further observes,
that “ of forty-three serpents examined and described by him,
seven only were found with poisonous organs: and upon com-
paring the effects of the poison of five oriental serpents on brute
animals, with those produced by the poison of the rattle-snake,
and the European viper, it may in general be remarked, that they
all produce morbid symptoms nearly similar; however much they
may differ in the degree of their deleterious power, or in the ra-
pidity of its operation. The bile of a rattle-snake in England,
killed a dog in two minutes; the bite of the most pernicious snake
in India was never observed to kill a dog in less than twenty-seven
minutes.”

It would be entering on too extensive a field to describe the
character and beauty of the papilios, libellulse, scarabei, cicadae,
cantharides, and other insects, which animate the Indian groves,
and gardens throughout the day: and are succeeded by a variety

46

of moths, and nocturnal visitors; but especially the lampyris, or
fire-flies, which glitter by thousands in the dark recesses of the
banian-tree; and in perpetual motion on the external branches of
the spreading tamarind, produce a singular and brilliant effect.
The locusts, which are so much dreaded in many parts of Hiti-
dostan, are seldom seen on Bombay: but the creeping-leaf, and
some others of the mantis class, are extremely curious.

India also abounds with wasps and bees; the latter build their
nests in rocky caverns and ho!lowr trees, and produce plenty of
wax and honey; but the best is brought from Muscat, and different
parts of Arabia. The bees are sometimes very troublesome and
dangerous, and often annoyed us in our visits to the caves at Sal-
sette and the Elephanta; where they make their combs in the
clefts of the rocks, and in the recesses among the figures, and
hang in immense clusters: I have known a whole party put to the
rout in the caverns of Salsette, and obliged to return with their
curiosity unsatisfied, from having imprudently fired a gun to dis-
perse the bees, who in their rage pursued them to the bottom of
the mountains.

I am surprized that commentators on the scriptures have per-
plexed themselves about the food of John the Baptist in the wil-
derness; which we are informed consisted of locusts and wild honey;
and for which the cassia-fistula, or locust-tree, and many other sub-
stitutes have been mentioned: but it is well known that locusts
are an article of food in Persia and Arabia, at the present day ;
they are fried until their wings and legs fall off, and in that stale
are sold in the markets, and eaten with rice and dates, sometimes

47

flavoured with salt and spices: and the wild honey is found in the
clefts of the rocks in Judea, as abundantly as in the caves of
Hindostan.

We often read in scripture of the butter of kine, the milk of
sheep, and the fat of the kidneys of wheat; with the pure blood
of the grape, and honey out of the rock: “ I would have fed thee
with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the stony rock
would I have satisfied thee/’ There can be as little doubt what
that honey was, as of the wild honey on which the Baptist fed in
the wilderness; some of the greatest delicacies in India are now
made from the rolong-flour, which is called the heart, or kidney of
the wheat: and most probably the brooks of honey and butter,
mentioned by Zophar, in the book of Job, Avere the liquid honey
from the wild bees; and the clarified butter, or ghee, used through-
out Hindostan, Avhich pours like oil out of the duppers, or im-
mense leather bottles in which it is transported, as an article of
commerce; and is every where preferred by the natives to butler
not so prepared.

The continental Avoods are enlivened Avith peacocks, partridges,
quails, green-pigeons, and other birds of brilliant plumage and
excellent flavour; but under my present limitation, I can only
describe a small part of Indian ornithology. Vultures, kites, haAvks,
crows, and a variety of smaller birds, abound in Bombay; and
amadavads, and other songsters, are brought thither from Surat,
and different countries.

The myneh is a very entertaining bird, hopping about the
house, and articulating several Avords in the manner of the starling;
and frequently repeating its own name of mvneh; the sharukh, a

48

bird of the same kind, i am not so well acquainted with, but it is
said to imitate the human voice in a wonderful manner.

The baya, or bottle-nested sparrow, is remarkable for its pen-
dent nest, brilliant plumage, and uncommon sagacity. These birds
are found in most parts of Hindostan; in shape they resemble the
sparrow, as also in the brown feathers of the back and wings; the
head and breast are of a bright yellow, and in the rays of a tro-
pical sun have a splendid appearance, when flying by thousands
in the same grove; they make a chirping noise, but have no song:
they associate in large communities; and cover extensive clumps
of palmyras, acacias, and date trees, with their nests. These are
formed in a very ingenious manner, by long grass woven together
in the shape of a bottle, with the neck hanging downwards, and
suspended by the other end to the extremity of a flexible branch,
the more effectually to secure the eggs and young brood from ser-
pents, monkeys, squirrels, and birds of prey. These nests contain
several apartments, appropriated to different purposes: in one the
hen performs the office of incubation ; another, consisting of a little
thatched roof, and covering a perch, without a bottom, is occu-
pied by the male, who with his chirping note cheers the female
during her maternal duties. The Hindoos are very fond of these
birds, for their docility and sagacity: when young, they teach
them to fetch and carry; and at the time the young women resort
to the public fountains, their lovers instruct the baj'a to pluck the
tica, or golden ornament, from the forehead of their favourite, and
bring it to their expecting master.

Dr. Fryer gives a very pleasant description of the baya, under
the name of the toddy-bird, in his entertaining travels. “ Nature,

ZDra.wn r,n, <5(jTjUjz, h\r -J. /<-///.

,-vi

*■

)

.. ' •

If

'?

'

TA5XOM BURBS a-nJ COWOBWMJS .

’WMbolar fecit.

. T/an.I'crbes, Honibay, i-joi.

49

in the rainy season at Bombay, affords us a pleasant spectacle, as
Avell as matter for admiration: for here is a bird, that is not only
exquisitely curious in the artificial composure of its nest with hay,
but furnished with devices and stratagems to secure itself and
young ones from its deadly enemy, the squirrel; as likewise from
the injury of the weather; which being unable to oppose, it eludes
with this artifice, contriving the nest like a steeple-hive, with wind-
ing meanders: before which hangs a penthouse for the rain to
pass, tying it with so slender a thread to the bough of the tree,
that the squirrel dare not venture his body, though his mouth
water at the eggs and prey within; yet it is strong enough to bear
the hanging habitation of the ingenious contriver, free from all the
assaults of its antagonists, and all the accidents of gusts and storms:
hundreds of these pendulous nests may be seen on one tree/’

Equally curious in the structure of its nest, and far superior in
the variety and elegance of its plumage, is the tailor-bird of Hin-
dostan; so called from its instinctive ingenuity in forming its nest:
it first selects a plant with large leaves, and then gathers cotton
from the shrub, spins it to a thread by means of its long bill and
slender feet, and then, as with a needle, sows the leaves neatly to-
gether to conceal its nest. The tailor bird (motacilla sutoria, Linn.)
resembles some of the humming-birds at the Brazils, in shape and
colour: the hen is clothed in brown; but the plumage of the cock
displays the varied tints of azure, purple, green, and gold, so com-
mon in those American beauties. Often have I watched the pro-
gress of an industrious pair of tailor-birds in my garden, from their
first choice of a plant, until the completion of the nest, and the

enlargement of their young. How applicable are the following

ii

lines in the Musae Seatonianre, to ihe nidification of the tailor-bird,
and the pensile nest of the baya.

“ Behold a bird’s nest !

“ Mark it well, within, without!

“ No tool had he that wrought ; no knife to cut,

“ No nail to fix, no bodkin to insert,

“ No glue to join his little beak was all:

“ And yet how neatly finish'd ! What nice hand,

<c With every implement and means of art,
c‘ Could compass such another?”

Although the last in my collection, yet not the least in favour
with all the orientals, is the bulbul, or Persian nightingale; who
also call it hazardasitaun, or the “ bird of a thousand songs/’ Its
plumage is variegated by shades of brown and white, with a black
tuft upon the head, and some feathers of a bright scarlet near the
tail: it has a pleasing wild note, but I never heard one that pos-
sessed the charming variety of the English nightingale, or sere-
naded us with its nocturnal melody: whether the Indian bulbul
and that of Iran entirely correspond, I have some doubts: the
Persian bulbul is celebrated by Hafiz and Khusroo, not only for
the plaintive sweetness of its song, but for its passion for the rose;
as they allege it is so enamoured with that flower, that if it sees
any person pluck a rose from the tree, it laments and cries. I
drew a bulbul fluttering over a full-blown rose, as a vignette to
a Persian ode, translated by Colonel Woodburne, who presented
me with the following copy, which has not before appeared in
print.

i

V-

u

W. Honker, fait.

51

ON TIIE ABSENCE OF II IS MISTRESS.

Translated from the Persian of Amir Khusroo.

How, sweet nymph, shall I be gay.
Though it be the month of May ?
Banish’d from the flower of spring.

How shall the mournful bulbul sing?

Joy, that once inspir’d my lay,

Joy and hope have fled away:

Plaintive notes must tell my woes
In the absence of the rose !

Looks, the language of the eyes.

Tears may speak, and so may sighs 5
But the muse must lend her aid
To describe my lovely maid.

Limner, would you paint her fair,

Mark her mien, her gait, her air;

Mark the mischief of her eye.

Where the loves in ambush lie :

Shew the sense, the ease, the grace.

In each feature of her face ;

Every feeling of the mind.

Fond, affectionate, refin’d!

Heavens ! how swift our joys have past !
Joys, which heav’n might wish to last*
Fancy, bring me back her charms.

Bring them quickly to my arms.

52

Haste upon the morning gale.

Tell her all my mournful tale :

Tell her how my bosom burns.

How it bleeds till she returns!

Ah ! how happy once, and blest.

Panting near thy spotless breast;

Drinking poison from that eye.

Breathing soft the mutual sigh !

Now complaining, now content.

Free from every false restraint;

Pleas’d we spend each happy hour.

Under love’s auspicious power.

Shall ambition, wealth, or pride.

Lead me from thy path aside ?

No — sweet sovereign of my breast.

Love alone shall make us blest !

Khusroo, cease thy artless strain.

Nor suppose the numbers vain ;

If these pearls at random flung.

Please the nymphs for whom they’re strung.

The metaphor of stringing the pearls at the conclusion of these
stanzas, is a poetical idea, common in the Persian language; and
frequently to be met with in the beautiful odes of Hafiz.

Having limited myself so much in the pleasing walk of oriental
ornithology, I shall be very brief in its icthyology: the surround-
ing ocean supplies Bombay with a variety of excellent fish; some
of them are similar to those in Europe, others are peculiar to India.
The pomfret is not unlike a small turbot, but of a more delicate

flavour; and epicures esteem the black pomfret a great dainty:
the sable, or salmon-fish, a little resembles the European fish, from
whence it is named: the robal, the scir-fish, the grey mullet, and
some others, are very good; but the bumbalo, a small fish, ex-
tremely nutritive, and caught in immense numbers, is the favourite
with the natives, who are allowed by their religion to eat fish:
they are dried for home consumption, and furnish a principal ar-
ticle of food for the Lascars, or Indian sailors, on board their ves-
sels; they are also a considerable aiticle of commerce in their
dried state. Turtle arc sometimes caught at Bombay, and the
adjacent islands; as are sea cray-fish, oysters, limpets, and other
shell fish.

I

X

CHAPTER IV.

A GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE HINDOOS,

THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF HINDOSTAN, AND THEIR
DIVISION INTO castes;

WITH A PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE BRAHMINS,
AND THE MOST PROMINENT FEATURES IN
THE OTHER TRIBES.

Homo sum, human! nihil a me alienum puto. Ter.

In India a people present themselves to our eyes, clothed in linen garments, somewhat low
descending: of a gesture and garb, we may say, maidenly and well nigh effeminate; of a coun-
tenance shy and somewhat estranged; yet smiling out a glozed and somewhat bashful familiarity.

Lord’s History of the Persees in ]6’30,

CONTENTS.

Inhabitants of Bombay — Hindoos — their ancient history — division into
castes — the four grand divisions— Brahmins- — sacred books — reli-
gious tenets — idols in the Hindoo mythology — Brahmah — creation ,
rebellion of the celestial spirits — origin of the Hindoo metempsy-
chosis— explanation of its system-sublime description of the Deity
— extracts from the vedas— Menus code of laws — Fakeers and
Yogees — their austerity and severe penances — Chandalas — Pariars
— general description of the Hindoos — domestic arrangement —
dress of the men — delicacy of the women — their character — dress
— ornaments — houses — education — Hindoo school — marriages —
funerals— cremation of the widows— astrology — comparison with
patriarchal manners — hackeree — palankeen — rural feasts— -danc-
ing-girls—religious choristers , singing men and women of scrip-
ture— sacred groves and lakes — ablutions — hummums — effects of
opium — hale arras,.

i

H aving briefly mentioned the animal and vegetable productions
of Bombay, I shall proceed to describe its inhabitants, commenc-
ing with the Hindoos, the aborigines of Hindostan. From the
northern mountains of Thibet and Tartary, to the southern pro-
montory of Cape Comorin; and from the western shores of the
Indus to the eastern banks of the Ganges, extended the boundaries
of the vast empire of the ancient Hindoos; a country comprising
nearly as much land as half the continent of Europe, and con-
taining about seventy millions of inhabitants.

The Persians gave it the name of Hindustan, from being the
country of the Hindus, or Hindoos; but in more early ages it was
called by themselves Bharata, and sometimes Punyabhumi, or the
land of virtues: a name expressive of the gentle government, and
flourishing condition of a mild and happy people. The Greeks
derived the name of India, which has been so generally adopted,
from the Persian appellation; and in modern times, India has
been used as a general name, not only for the extensive region
abovementioned, but the still more eastern tracts of country, with
the island of Ceylon, and those in the oriental archipelago.

The origin of the Hindoos, like that of most other nations, bu«

60

ried in obscurity,, and lost in fable, has baffled the researches of
the ablest investigators. Megasthenes, who was sent ambassador
by Seleucus, to Sandracottos, king of Practri, whose dominion
now forms the fertile provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Oude, wrote
an account of his embassy, which Arrian has preserved in his his-
tory of India; and that narrative, written two thousand years ago,
when compared with the modern history of the Hindoos, convinces
us how little change they have undergone in that long period: nor
have the conquests and cruelties of their Mahomedan invaders,
nor their commercial intercourse with the Europeans settled among
them, been able to alter the long established manners and customs,
so deeply interwoven with their religious tenets.

The Hindoos are divided into four principal tribes; the Brah-
min, the Cshatriya, or Ketterree, the Bhyse, and the Sooder; and
these chief tribes, or castes, are distinguished as the followers of
Vishnoo, and Seeva; called Vishnoo-bukht, and Seeva-hukht.

The Brahmins study religion, astronomy, arts and sciences:
they are the instructors of youth, take care of the dewfahs, or
temples, and perform every kind of charity. The Cshatriya tribe
includes kings, nobles, magistrates, officers, and the superior orders
of mankind. The Vursya, or Bhyse, are employed in commerce,
agriculture, arms, and the occupation of shepherds and herdsmen.
The Sudra, or Sooder, includes manufacturers, mechanics, servants,
and all the lower classes of society. Each of these principal tribes
is subdivided into a number of classes, or castes, amounting in ail
to eighty-four; who neither intermarry, nor intimately associate
with each other. So that each caste dithers in features, dress, and
appearance, as much as if they were of different nations; and by

61

laws most strictly observed, they are separated from each other by
insurmountable barriers.

The Brahmins are in all respects the first caste among the
Hindoos, and by the laws are entitled to very extraordinary privi-
leges; especially in cases of delinquency: no other tribe is admit-
ted to the priesthood; to them are all the mysteries of their reli-
gion and sacred knowledge confined: they alone understand the
language of the Shastah, or Shastras, those holy volumes which
contain the religion and philosophy of the Hindoos; which are
divided into four bedes, or vedas, a word signifying science. These
books the Brahmins esteem so sacred, that they permit no other
caste to read them; and they are written in the Sanscrita language,
which is now understood by very few except the Brahmins, and
not by all of them: for although there can be no Hindoo priest
that is not a Brahmin, yet it by no means implies that all of the
Brahmin tribe are priests: on the contrary, they are employed in
the political and revenue departments, and appear in various
public characters under the governments in India; the great and
powerful Mharatta empire, is at this day ruled by a Brahmin
sovereign, with the title of Pesliwa: others throughout the vast
peninsula, pursue a variety of employments in the agricultural and
commercial line, and some even cultivate their own lands.

The Hindoo religion admits of no proselytes; and is therefore
a principal means of preserving the castes pure and distinct: nei-
ther have the Mahomedan conquests and oppressions, nor the in-
tercourse of Europeans with the Hindoos, been able to subvert a
system of theology and jurisprudence, founded on a firm basis,
and interdicted from all change by the most rigid laws.

This religious and moral system is no doubt of great antiquity;
but those who have deeply investigated the ancient and pleasing
fictions in the Hindoo mythology, which bears a great resemblance
to that of the Greeks, and may perhaps be traced to the same ori-
gin, are of opinion, that the religious and civil laws of the Hindoos,
called the Institutes of Menu, were compiled about eight hundred
and eighty years before the birth of our Saviour; that the Vedas,
or sacred volumes, were written three hundred years prior to the
Institutes; and that preceding this period, every thing being
handed down by oral tradition, the account was obscure and
fabulous.

But divested of extraneous matter, there appears to be a great
degree of purity and sublimity in the genuine principles of the
Hindoo religion, though now obscured by superstitious riles and
ceremonies, and blended with gross idolatry: in their original
simplicity, they teach that there is one supreme ruler of the uni-
verse; who is styled Brahma, or the Great One: they inculcate
also, that this supreme intelligence consists of a triad, or triple di-
vinity, expressed by the mystic word Om; and distinguished by
the names of Vishnu, Brahma, and Sheva; or the creating, pre-
serving, and destructive power of the Almighty. Images of these
attributes are placed in their temples; and worship and sacrifices
are daily performed before them, and a variety of other statues,
representing the different qualities of the Supreme Being: so that
it is a complete system of polytheism, and a source of a thousand
fables subversive of truth and simplicity.

Yet it ever was, and ever must be difficult, for either Christians
or Mahomedans, to convert a Hindoo: for with them theology is

so blended with the whole moral and civil obligations of life,
that it enters into every habit, and sanctions almost every action.

On withdrawing the veil from the sacred volumes of the Hin-
doos, we see Brahma, or the supreme deity, represented as ab-
sorbed in the contemplation of his own essence, but from an im-
pulse of divine love, resolving to create other beings to partake of
his glory, and to be happy to all eternity. He spake the word,
and angels rose into existence! He commanded, and the host of
heaven were formed! they were created free; and were made
partakers of the divine glory, and beatitude, on the easy condition
of praising their creator, and acknowledging him for their supreme
Lord. But not content with this happy state in the celestial re-
gions, some of the principal spirits rebelled, and drew a number
after them; who were all doomed to languish in that scene of
horror, so finely described by our sublime poet:

“ Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
“ And rest can never dwell ■, hope never comes
“ That comes to all ; but torture without end,

“ Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed

“ With ever burning sulphur, unconsum’d!” Milton.

In process of time, at the intercession of the faithful angels,
the fatal doom of these fallen spirits was revoked ; and they were
released on the conditions of repentance and amendment, in a
state of probation. For this purpose a new creation of worlds
took place; and mortal bodies were prepared for the apostate
angels, which they were to animate for a certain space; there to
be subject to natural and moral evils; through which they were

doomed to transmigrate under eighty-nine different forms! the last
into that of man! when their powers and faculties are enlarged,
and a merciful Creator rests his chief expectations of their repent-
ance and restoration to his favour. If they then fail, their punish-
ment is renewed, and they are doomed to begin again their first
state of transmigration. In this system we are struck with the in-
termixture of truth with error, and false traditions, bearing in
many particulars a resemblance to the sacred truths of divine
revelation.

On this hypothesis, it appears that one principal reason for the
Hindoos regarding the cow with such religious veneration, is, that
they believe the soul transmigrates into this animal immediate!}"
preceding its assumption of the human form. No Hindoo, even
of the lowest caste, will kill a cow, or taste its flesh; they will die
with perfect resignation, rather than violate this tenet; as has been
frequently experienced on board the vessels in the Indian seas,
when all the provisions except salt-beef has been expended. But
I am not certain respecting the first principle of the Hindoo's ve-
neration for the cow; since many conjecture the command to
have originated in the preservation of an animal so useful to man-
kind: and it is well known, that the Egyptians, Phoenicians, and
other ancient nations, have equally venerated this valuable
animal.

The Hindoos estimate the delinquency of these apostate spirits,
by the class of mortal forms which they are doomed to inhabit;
thus all voracious and unclean animals, whether inhabitants of
earth, air, or water, as well as men whose lives and actions are
publicly and atrociously wicked, are supposed to contain a ma-

65

lignant spirit; on the contrary, those animals which subsist on
vegetables, and do not prey upon each other, are pronounced
favoured of the Almighty.

That every animal form is endued with cogitation, memory,
and reflection, is one of the established tenets of the Brahmins;
indeed it must necessarily follow, from the supposed metempsy-
chosis of the apostate spirits through these mortal forms: they also
believe that every distinct species of the animal creation have a
comprehensive mode of communicating their ideas, peculiar to
themselves; and that the metempsychosis of the delinquent spirits
extends through every organized body, even to the smallest insect
and reptile. They highly venerate the bee, and some species of
the ant; and conceive the spirits animating these forms to be fa-
voured by God, and that the intellectual faculties are more enlarged
under them than in most others.

With such tenets we cannot be surprized at their unwillingness
to take away the life of any creature whatever; as they must sup-
pose them to possess still more acute sensations than our dramatic
poet describes:

“ The smallest beetle that we tread upon,

“ In corporal suffering feels a pang as great
“ As when a giant dies!” Shakespeaee.

The devotion of the Hindoos to the Supreme Being, and the
inferior deities, consists in a regular attendance at the dewals, or
temples, especially at the solemn festivals; in performing parti-
cular religious ceremonies in their own houses; in prayers, ablu-
tions, fastings, and penances; but especially in oblations, which
consist chiefly of spices, incense, rice, fruits, and flowers; and al-

K

though they have been in former times accused of offering human
sacrifices, it is certain they now very rarely shed even the blood of
an animal in their religious services.

I shall not dwell particularly on the religious books of the
Hindoos, but it would be injustice to omit the following sublime
description of the Supreme Being, from the writings of Governor
Hoi well; who was an early investigator of those subjects, before
the field of oriental literature so laudably engaged the attention of
the English.

“ God is One! Creator of all that is! God is like a perfect
sphere, without beginning, and without end! God rules and go-
verns all creation by a general providence, resulting from first
determined and fixed principles. Thou shaft not make inquiry
into the essence of the Eternal One, nor by what laws he go-
verns. An inquiry into either is vain and criminal. It is enough,
that day by day, and night by night, thou seest in his works, his
wisdom, his power, and his mercy: — Benefit thereby!’'

As applicable to this subject, I shall transcribe a few passages
from the Vedas of the Hindoos, translated by Sir William Jones;
to whose invaluable works we are indebted for so many acquisi-
tions in oriental literature.

“ By one Supreme Ruler is this universe pervaded; even every
world in the whole circle of nature. Enjoy pure delight, O man!
by abandoning all thoughts of this perishable world; and covet
not the wealth of any creature existing/’

“ To those regions where evil spirits dwell, and which utter
darkness involves, all such men surely go after death, as destroy
the purity of their own souls.”

“ Unveil, O Thou who givesl sustenance to the world, that lace
of the true sun, which is now hidden by a vase of golden light! so
that we may see the truth, and know our whole duly!”

“ O Thou who givest sustenance to the world, thou sole mover
of all, thou who restrainest sinners, who pervadcst yon great lumi-
nary, who appearest as the son of the creator! hide thy dazzling
beams, and expand thy spiritual brightness, that I may view thy
most auspicious, most glorious, real form.”

“ Let 1113' soul return to the immortal spirit of God! and then,
let my bod}r, which ends in ashes, return to dust!”

“ O Spirit, who pervadest fire, lead us in a straight path to the
riches of beatitude! remove each foul taint from our soul^; who
approach thee with the highest praise, and the most fervid ado-
ration!”

“ God, who is perfect wisdom, and perfect happiness, is the
final refuge of the man who has liberally bestowed his wealth, who
has been firm in virtue, and who knows and adores that Great One!”

“ Remember me, 0 Qm, Thou divine Spirit!”

In Sir William Jones’s institutes of the Hindoo laws, after
stating some blemishes, and a few absurdities in the system, that
excellent orientalist observes, “ nevertheless a spirit of sublime
devotion, of benevolence to mankind, and of amiable tenderness
to all sentient creatures, pervades the whole work: the style of it
has a certain austere majesty, that sounds like the language of
legislation, and extorts a respectful awe; the sentiments of inde-
pendence on all beings but God, and the harsh admonitions, even
to kings, are truly noble; and the many panegyrics on the Gd-
yatri, the mother, as it is called, of the Vedas, prove the author to

have adored (not the visible material sun, but) that divine and in-
comparably greater light, to use the words of the most venerable
text in the Indian scripture, which illumines all, delights all, from
which all proceed, lo which all must return, and which alone can
irradiate (not our visual organs merely, but our souls, and) our
intellects. Whatever opinion, in short, may be formed of Menu
and his laws, in a country happily enlightened by sound philo-
sophy, and the only true revelation, it must be remembered, that
those laws are actually revered as the word of the Most High, by
nations of great importance to the political and commercial inte-
rests of Europe, and particularly by many millions of Hindoo
subjects, whose well directed industry adds largely to the wealth
of Britain, and who ask no more in return than protection for
their persons and places of abode, justice in their temporal con-
cerns, indulgence to the prejudice of their own religion, and the
benefit of those laws which they have been taught to believe sacred,
and which alone they can possibly comprehend/’

The fakeers, or yogees, of the Senassce tribe, are a set of men-
dicant philosophers, who travel all over Hindostan, and live on
the charity of the other castes of Hindoos. They are generally
entirely naked, most of them robust handsome men: they admit
proselytes from the other tribes, especially youth of bright parts,
and take great pains to instruct them in their mysteries. These
Gymnosophisls often unite in large armed bodies, and perform
pilgrimages to the sacred rivers and celebrated temples; but they
are more like an army marching through a province, than an
assembly of saints in procession lo a temple; and often lay the
countries through which they pass under contribution.

Many y ogees, and similar professors, are devotees of the
strictest order, carrying their superstition and enthusiasm far be-
yond any thing we are acquainted with in Europe: even the
austerities of La Trappe are light in comparison with the voluntary
penances of these philosophers; who reside in holes and caves, or
remain under the banian trees near the temples. They imagine
the expiation of their own sins, and sometimes those of others,
consists in the most rigorous penances and mortifications. Some
of them enter into a solemn vow to continue for life in one un-
varied posture; others undertake to carry a cumbrous load, or
drag a heavy chain; some crawl on their hands and knees, for
years, around an extensive empire; and others roll their bodies on
the earth, from the shores of the Indus to the banks of the Ganges,
and in that humiliating posture, collect money to enable them
either to build a temple, to dig a well, or to atone for some parti-
cular sin. Some swing during their whole life, in this torrid clime,
before a slow fire; others suspend themselves, with their heads
downwards, for a certain time, over the fiercest fames.

I have seen a man who had made a vow to hold up his arms
in a perpendicular manner above his head, and never to suspend
them; at length he totally lost the power of moving them at all.
He was one of the Gymnosophists, who wear no kind of covering,
and seemed more like a wild beast than a man: his arms, from
having been so long in one posture, were become withered, and
dried up; while his outstretched fingers, with long nails of twenty
years growth, gave them the appearance of extraordinary horns:
his hair, full of dust, and never combed, hung over him in a savage
manner; and, except in his erect posture, there appeared nothing

human about him. This man was travelling; throughout Hindos-
tan, and being unable to help himself with food, women of dis-
tinction among the Hindoos contended for the honour of feeding
this holy person wherever he appeared.

I saw another of these devotees, who was one of the phallic
worshippers of Seeva; and who, not content with wearing or
adoring the symbol of that deity, had made a vow to fix every
year a large iron ring into the most lender part of his body, and
thereto to suspend a heavy chain, many yards long, to drag on the
ground. 1 saw this extraordinary saint, in the seventh year of his
penance, when he had just put in the seventh ring; and the wound
was then so recent and painful, that he was obliged to carry the
chain upon his shoulder, until the orifice became more callous.

I could recite many other facts; with a variety of superstitious
as well as indecent riles and painful ceremonies, which these mis-
taken votaries practise, in hopes of appeasing the deity. Such
austerities ought to make us more highly prize the pure and holy
tenets of the Christian religion; and should fill our hearts rvith
love and gratitude to Him who brought life and immortality to
light through his gospel; and offered Himself as a complete atone-
ment for the sins of a fallen world!

The Brahmins at the Hindoo temples seldom wear a turban,
and the upper part of their body is generally naked; but they
never appear without the zennar, or sacred string, passing over
them from the left shoulder; and a piece of fine cotton is tied
round the waist, and falls in graceful folds below the knee. Their
simple diet consists of milk, rice, fruit, and vegetables; they ab-
stain from every thing that either had or could enjoy life, and use

71

spices to flavour the rice, which is their principal food; it is also
enriched with ghee, or clarified butter.

We cannot but admire the principle which dictates this huma-
nity and self-denial: although, did they through a microscope ob-
serve the animalcule which cover the mango, and compose the
bloom of the fig; or perceive the animated myriads that swarm on
every vegetable they eat, they must, on their present system, be at
a loss for subsistence. Some of the Brahmins carry their austerities
to such a length, as never to eat any thing but the grain which has
passed through the cow; which being afterwards separated from
its accompaniments, is considered by them as the purest of all
food; in such veneration is this animal held by the Hindoos.

From the religious order of Brahmins, I descend to the
cast of Chandalahs, or Pariars. These people are considered so
abject, are employed in the vilest offices, and held in such detes-
tation, that no other tribe will touch them; and those Hindoos
who commit enormous crimes are excommunicated into this caste,
which is considered to be a punishment worse than death.

But I will dwell no longer on particular castes; being desirous
to draw a portrait of the Hindoos, where they bear a more general
resemblance with each other: for although each caste, as I have
already mentioned, differs something in dress, and has a few pe-
culiar customs, and rales for ceremonial and moral conduct, yet
they all agree in the fundamental tenets of their religion, and the
principal duties of life.

They are commonly of the middle stature, slight and well
proportioned, with regular and expressive features, black eyes,
and a serene countenance. Among the virtues of the Hindoos are,

piety, obedience to superiors, resignation in misfortune, charity
and hospitality: filial, parental, and conjugal affection, are among
their distinguishing characteristics. They are extremely sober,
drinking only water, milk, or sherbet; and none but those of the
lowest order are ever seen in a stale of intoxication. They eat in
the morning and evening; their cooking utensils are simple; their
plates and dishes are generally formed from the leaf of the plan-
tain-tree, or the nymphea lotos, that beautiful lily which abounds
in every lake; these are never used a second time: the furniture
of their houses is equally simple; seldom extending beyond what
is absolutely necessary for a people whose wants are very few,
when compared with those of the inhabitants in northern cli-
mates.

The men, in most of the Hindoo tribes, shave the head and
beard, but leave the mustachios on the upper lip, and a small lock
of hair on the head. The better sort wear turbans of fine muslin,
of different colours; and a jama, or long gown of white calico,
which is tied round the middle with a h inged or embroidered sash.
Their shoes are of red leather, or English broad-cloth, sometimes
ornamented, and always turned up with a long point at the toe.
Their ears are bored, and adorned with large gold rings, passing
through two pearls, or rubies; and on the arms they wear brace-
lets of gold or silver. The princes and nobles are adorned with
pearl necklaces and golden chains, sustaining clusters of costly

e

gems; their turbans are enriched with diamonds, rubies, and
emeralds; and their bracelets composed of gold and precious
stones.

The inferior castes are of a darker complexion than the superior

73

Hindoos; their dress generally consists of a turban, a short cotton
vest and drawers; but some wear only a turban, and a cloth
round the waist; although the poorest among them usually con-
trive to purchase a silver bangle, or bracelet, for the arm.

The Hindoo women, when young, are delicate and beautiful;
so far as we can reconcile beauty with the olive complexion. They
are finely proportioned ; their limbs small, their features soft and
regular, and their eyes black and languishing: but the bloom of
beauty soon decays, and age makes a rapid progress before they
have seen thirty years: this may be accounted for, from the heat
of the climate, and the customs of the country; as they often are
mothers at twelve years of age, and grandmothers at five and
twenty. Montesquieu justly remarks, “ that women in hot cli-
mates, are marriageable at eight, nine, or ten years of age; there-
fore in those countries infancy and marriage generally go together.
They are old at twenty; their reason therefore never accompanies
their beauty: when beauty demands the empire, the want of
reason forbids the claim; when reason is obtained, beauty is no
more!” And he further observes, that “ those women ought to be
in a state of dependence; for reason cannot procure in old age,
that empire, which even youth and beauty could not give.”

What superior advantages do my fair countrywomen derive
from a liberal education, and a milder climate? the virtues and
graces assemble in their train, and form a delightful union of
chastity, beauty, elegance, and affability! what influence such
women have over our sex, every man of feeling and sensibility
must acknowledge.

L

“ Something than beauty .dearer, should we look
“ Or on the mind, or mind illumin'd face;

“ Truth, goodness, honour, harmony, and love,

“ The richest bounty of indulgent heaven !” Thomson.

No women can be more attentive to cleanliness than the Hin-
doos: they take every method to render their persons delicate,
soft, and attractive: their dress is peculiarly becoming; consisting
of a long piece of silk, or cotton, tied round the waist, and hang-
ing in a graceful manner to the feet, it is afterwards brought over
the body in negligent folds; under this they cover the bosom with
a short waistcoat of satin, but wear no linen. Their long black
hair is adorned with jewels, and wreaths of flowers: their ears
are bored in many places, and loaded with pearls: a variety of
gold chains, strings of pearl, and precious stones, fall from the
neck over the bosom; and the arms are covered with bracelets,
from the wrist to the elbow; they have also gold and silver chains
round the ancles, and abundance of rings on their fingers and toes;
among the former is frequently a small mirror. I think the richer
the dress, the less becoming it appears; and a Hindoo woman of
distinction always seems to be overloaded with finery; while the
village nymphs, with fewer ornaments, but in the same elegant
drapery, are more captivating: although there are very few wo-
men, even of the lowest families, who have not some jewels at their
marriage.

In these external decorations consist the pride and pleasure of
these uninstructed females; for very few, even in the best families,
know how to read or write, or are capable of intellectual enjoy-
ment We learn from liomer, that the women in ancient Greece

Published Vu Thchaud fiaittey Mite Barhanlfn.Sl'Ud.L

75

always kept in a retired part of the house, employed in embroidery
or other feminine occupations; and at this day, the Indian females
are never seen by those who visit the master of the family; they
know but little of the world, and are not permitted to eat with
their husbands or brothers, nor to associate with other men.

After the girls are betrothed, the ends of the lingers and nails
are dyed red, with a preparation from the mende}r, orhinna shrub,
already mentioned as a principal ornament of the Asiatic gardens.
They make a black circle round 1 ho eyes with the powder of anti-
mony, which adds much to their brilliancy, and heightens the
beauty of the eastern ladies.

The houses of the rich Hindoos and Mahometans, are generally
built within an inclosure, surrounded by galleries, or verandas,
not only for privacy, but to exclude the sun from the apartments.
This court is frequently adorned with shrubs and flowers; and a
fountain playing before the principal room, where the master re-
ceives his guests; which is open in front to the garden, and fur-
nished with carpets and cushions.

Education in general among the Hindoos, is attended with verv
little trouble: few boys in the subordinate tribes are taught any
thing more than to read and write, with the rudiments of the trade
or profession, they are intended for; but many of the Brahmin
youth are instructed in astronomy, astrology, and physic; and
acquire some knowledge of the civil and religious laws. Nothing
can be more simple than a Hindoo school; which is usually under
a thatched shed open on three sides, with a sanded floor, on which
the boys learn to write, and go through the first rules of arithmetic,
in which science some of them make a great progress.

76

The ceremonies of the Hindoos open an ample field, on which
I can now make only a few cursory observations. The children
are married at the discretion of their parents; the girls at three or
four, and the boys at six or eight years of age: the nuptials are
very expensive; occasioned by an ostentatious parade, nocturnal
processions, feasting for several days, and presents to the numerous
guests. The bride afterwards sees her husband as a play-fellow,
she is taught to place her affection on this object, and never thinks
of any other; until, when about eleven years old, she is con-
ducted with some ceremony to his house, and commences the
duties of a wife, and the mistress of a family. But should the
boy die during that interval, the girl must remain a widow for life,
have her head shaved, be divested of every ornament, and perform
many menial offices. One delicate attention which most of the
Hindoo women voluntarily pay to their husband, is, that when
he is absent from home for any length of lime, they seldom
wear their jewels, or decorate themselves with ornaments; since the
object they most wished to please is no longer in their presence.
.No widow is permitted to marry a second time; but a man may
have a succession of wives: polygamy is allowed by the Hindoo
law, though not generally practised, except when the first wife
proves barren. Every Hindoo must marry into his own caste; but
among the lower classes at Bombay, I have known this ordinance
evaded. And in several parts of India, especially in Mysore and
Malabar, the ryots, or cultivator^ of the land, take as many wives
as they can maintain, as the women there are extremely useful in
different branches of husbandry, and are not expensive to their
husbands.

77

Most of the Hindoos burn their dead. The funeral piles of the
rich are mingled with sandal-wood, and fed by aromatic oils;
while the poor are consumed with humble faggots. Some put the
bodies of their deceased friends into rivers, especially those they
deem holy streams; and there are particular castes in Bengal, who,
when they think the sick past recovery, expose them on the banks
of the Ganges, fill their mouths with sacred mud, and leave them
at high-water mark, to be carried away by the tide.

Throughout the greater part of Hindoslan, when all hopes of
recovery are over, the sick person is taken from the bed, and laid
upon the earth, that he may expire on the element from which he
was originally formed. After his death, the house is surrounded
by widows, hired for the purpose; who make loud lamentations,
beat their breasts in a violent manner, and affect every token of
grief and despair. The male relations attend the corpse to the
funeral pile; which, if possible, is always near the water, and after
the body is consumed the ashes are sprinkled with milk and con-
secrated water, brought from the Ganges, or some other holy
stream; and ceremonies are performed for several days.

Although the custom of burning tiie dead so generally prevails,
yet in some districts, on particular occasions, the}^ are interred.
The extraordinary custom of the widow burning herself with the
body of her deceased husband, is never permitted under the Eng-
lish government, and very seldom by the Mahomedans, but is
constantly practised among the Mahrattas, and different castes of
Hindoos, under their own princes on the continent.

On the decease of the husband, if his widow resolves to attend
him to the world of spirits, a funeral pile is erected, covered with

78

ail arbour of dry boughs, where the dead body is placed: the living
victim follows, dressed, in her bridal jewels, surrounded by rela-
tions, priests, and musicians. After certain prayers and ceremo-
nies, sire takes off her jewels, and presenting them with her last
blessing to her nearest relative, she ascends the funeral pile, enters
the awful bower, and placing herself near the body of her husband,
with her own hand generally sets fire to the pile; which being
constantly supplied with aromatic oils, the mortal frames are soon
consumed: and the Hindoos entertain no doubt of the soul’s re-
union in purer realms; where, however false the principle, they
are taught to believe that such heroic virtue, and approved con-
stancy, will meet with a proportionate reward. During the cre-
mation, the noise of the trumpets, and other musical instruments,
overpowers the cries of the self-devoted victim, should her resolu-
tion fail her: but those who have attended this solemn sacrifice,
assure us, that they always observed, even the youngest widows,
to manifest the greatest composure and dignity throughout the
awful scene.

The Hindoos are much addicted to astrology, and place such
implicit faith in their Brahmins and soothsayers, that they will not
make a bargain, enter into a contract, nor suffer a ship to sail, on
a day, or an hour, which they pronounce unlucky. They have
even lucky minutes, when important business can only be trans-
acted. But Greece and Rome, even in the highest state of civi-
lization and refinement, produced many persons who were equally
credulous in omens and auspices, and as much addicted to astro-
logy and augury, as any of the modern Hindoos.

Religious disputes and unavailing controversies, seldom disturb

the peace of a Hindoo; con ten ted \y he adopts the rites and cere-
monies of his forefathers, believes in their tenets, performs his
stated ablutions, and keeps the appointed festivals: nor by free
inquiries, and freer opinions, does he disturb the peace of others,
or permit them to interrupt his own.

It is not then in Hind os tan that we are to look for the perfec-
tion of art and science, for eminent statesmen, and sage philoso-
phers.: but the Hindoos, who reside at a distance from capital
cities, still preserve much of that simplicity of manners fancied by
the poets in the golden age: and seem, more than any other people
now existing, to realize the innocent and peaceful mode of life, which
they ascribe to that happy sera. When I saw the Brahmin women
of distinction drawing water at the village wells, and tending their
cattle to the lakes and rivers, the}' recalled the transactions of the
patriarchal days. Very often have I witnessed a scene similar to
that between Abraham’s servant and Rebekah, at the entrance of a
Hindoo village in Guzerat. “ He made his camels to kneel down
“ without the city, by a well of water, at the time of the evening,
“ even the time when the women go out to draw water: and behold
•“ Rebekah came with her pitcher on her shoulder; and the damsel
“ was very fair to look upon: and she went down, and filled her
“ pitcher, and came up. And the servant said unto her, Let me
drink, I pray thee: and she said, Drink, and I will give thy ca-
u mels drink also: and she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into
5< the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew
“ for all the camels.” The Hindoo damsels of the present day
live in as much simplicity as those formerly in Mesopotamia; they

80

still descend to the wells, and continue to pour the water into an
adjacent trough for the convenience of the cattle.

The natives of the torrid zone are not fond of exercise; walk-
ing is by no means considered as a pleasing recreation; they like
to ride a good horse, with gentle paces, or to take the air in a
hackree, a sort of chariot drawn by white oxen; it is seldom hung
on springs, and consists of a conical dome, supported by four pil-
lars, covered with broad cloth, and curtains in front and on each
side, to open at pleasure. Officers of government, and men of
rank are carried in a palankeen, or more properly a palkee, an
Asiatic luxury, as yet unknown in Europe. It is composed of a
shell, or frame, about six feet long, and half as broad, fixed to a
long bamboo, forming a bold curve in the center, which there rises
about four feet from the frame. Over the bamboo is spread a
canopy of cloth, or velvet, the length of the shell, adorned with
fringes and tassels of gold, silver, or silk; and the frame contains
a bed and pillows, covered with silk, and so disposed that you
may either sit up or recline, as is most agreeable. The palankeen
is carried by four men, who with relays, travel at a great rate; and
I think there is not a more cheerful or happy set of people in
India, than the generality of the palankeen bearers.

The Asiatics love to retire with their women and children to
some cool spot near a river or tank, shaded by the friendly banian
tree, or spreading mango; there they enjoy that sort of indolent
repose which they are so fond of; and partake of an innocent
repast of herbs and fruits, on the verdant carpet.

The wealthy Mahometans, Hindoos, and Parsees, frequently

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81

entertain their friends at their garden houses: but in these mixed
companies no women are present, except the dancing-girls, or
tolerated courtezans, who are accompanied by musicians, playing
on instruments resembling the guittar and violin. These singing-
men and singing-women, are hired at festivals and grand solemni-
ties, among all sects and professions in India. Many of the
dancing-girls are extremely delicate in their persons, soft and
regular in their features, with a form of perfect symmetry ; and,
although dedicated from infancy to this profession, they in general
preserve a decency and modesty in their demeanor, which is more
likely to allure, than the shameless effrontery of similar characters
in other countries. Their dances require great attention, from the
dancers feet being hung with small bells, which act in concert
with the music. Two girls usually perform at the same time;
their steps are not so mazy or active as ours, but much more inte-
resting; as the song, the music, and the motions of the dance,
combine to express love, hope, jealousy, despair, and the passions
so well known to lovers, and very easily to be understood by those
who are ignorant of other languages. The Indians are extremely
fond of this entertainment, and lavish large sums on their fa-
vourites.

Another kind of dancing-girls are dedicated to the principal
Hindoo temples; these are supplied by their parents, who are
taught, that the presentation of a beautiful daughter to the deity
is highly acceptable: they dance and sing at the festivals, but are
not considered in the character of the vestal virgins in ancient
Rome, or of those we read of among the Peruvians; for if we
investigate the brahminical mysteries, we shall find that these

M

damsels are not only dedicated to the principal idols, but to the
pleasure of the priests. They seldom leave the place of their
initiation, looking upon themselves as wedded to the deities: but
as they frequently have children, who partake more of a terrestrial
than a celestial origin, the boys are taught to play on musical in-
struments, and the girls are early instructed in the profession of
their mothers.

All the large cities in Hindostan contain sets of musicians and
dancing-girls, under the care of their respective duennas, who are
always ready to attend for hire at weddings, and other festivities;
or to finish the evening entertainment of the Europeans and na-
tives; and many of them accompany the Asiatic armies to the
field.

The singing-men and singing-women mentioned by the aged
Barzillai, and the daughters of music that we read of in the sacred
pages, as well as in the ancient poets, resembled these characters
in Hindostan. The women of Israel came out to meet David and
Saul, dancing to instruments of music, and complimenting Saul
with having slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
The choristers of Palestine resembled those in India; who now
celebrate a prince, or general, in the same manner at a public
festival.

It is not only the introduction of dancing-girls and musicians,
but a variety of other customs, which remind us of similar
scenes among the ancients. The Greeks and other nations kept
their religious festivals among consecrated groves, gloomy forests,
and sacred fountains. The Hindoos do the same, and have done
so from the remotest antiquity. The Druids had their solemn

83

oaks, their awful shades, and holy retreats; the Brahmins have
their venerable trees, favourite tanks, and consecrated rivers; to
which, at appointed seasons, they repair with their followers, to
perform ablutions, to drink of the hallowed stream, and deck the
banks with flowery oblations. There is something awful in the
gloomy shade; it naturally inspires religious reflections; and there-
fore the Druids, and pagan priests, always held them in venera-
tion: but nothing in this respect equals the banian-tree, that rural
fane, which is so fully described in a former chapter.

The Hindoo religion requires frequent ablution, which is a
custom wisely introduced in a warm climate, where cleanliness is
very conducive to health: these ablutions are performed in the con-
secrated tanks near the temples; but in most of the principal cities
are hummums, or public baths; and people of fortune, espe-
cially among the Moguls, have these conveniences in their own
houses. Bathing sumptuously was a great luxury among the
Greeks and Romans; and the buildings appropriated to this pur-
pose, constitute some of the most magnificent remains of antiquity.
The hummum, or warm-bath, is equally the delight of the Asiatics;
as is the subsequent anointing with aromatic oils. The Hindoo
women perfume their hair with oil of cloves, cinnamon, sandal,
mogrees, and other sweet-scented flowers; and those who can
afford it, use the oil, or ottar of roses: this delicate and costly
perfume is made in Persia, and the northern provinces of Hindos-
tan: it is the pure essential oil of roses, rising in small particles
on the surface of newly-distilled rose-water. In Persia, whole
fields are covered with the Damascus-rose, or the scripture rose of

84

Sharon : but it requires many gallons of rose-water to furnish only
a few drops of this delicious essence.

The Hindoos, as well as the Mahometans, are forbidden the
use of wine and spirituous liquors; and I believe most of the
higher classes attend strictly to the prohibition; the lower classes
are less abstemious: but rich and poor, especially officers in the
army, and soldiers, are addicted to the use of opium, which they
take in large quantities, and enjoy the pleasing delirium it occa-
sions. In battle it inspires a false courage, and sometimes pro-
duces a phrenzy, which lasts only for a short time; leaving those
who swallow this pernicious drug in a state of languor and imbe-
cility, until a renewal of the dose revives the spirits: but its fre-
quent use enfeebles the constitution, and shortens the lives of its
deluded votaries.

Opium is used to a better purpose by the halcarras, who are a
set of people employed as messengers, spies, and letter carriers.
An halcarra takes a letter, wraps it up in some secret fold of his
shabby garment, and with a little opium, some rice, and a small
pot to draw water from the wells of the charitable, he undertakes
a journey of several hundred miles, and receives his reward on
delivering the letter.

CHAPTER V.

THE INVASION OF THE AFGHANS IN HINDOSTAN,

WITH THE CONQUESTS AND ESTABLISHMENT
OF THE MAHOMEDANS,

IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF TI1E HINDOO EMPIRE:

A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE FOLLOWERS OF THE
ARABIAN PROPHET,

AND PARTICULARLY OF THOSE SETTLED ON THE
ISLAND OF BOMBAY.

“ Every writer of travels should consider, that like all other authors, he undertakes either
“ to instruct or please ; or to mingle pleasure with instruction. He that instructs, must offer
e( to the mind something to be imitated, or something to be avoided; he that pleases, must
“ offer new images to his reader, and enable him to form a tacit comparison of his own state
“ with that of others,” Dr. Johnson.

c

CONTENTS.

Commencement of the Mahomedan conquests in Hindostan — plunder
of the Hindoos — immense riches in their temples — establishment of
the empire of Ghizni — invasion of India by Timur-lung — Mogul
empire formed — character of Akber — usurpation of the Nawabs ,
after the death of Aurungzebe — - religion of Mahomed — brief
account of that prophet — voluptuous paradise, dress, and customs of
the Mahomedans in India — Mahomedan women — genii, talismans ,
and charms — story of a talismanic ring— great extent of the Ma-
homedan religion— Ishmaelites — Solomons trade with India-
traffic of the ancients— extensive commerce of the Arabians— gene-
ral character of the Mahomedans in Hindostan, with their manners
and customs in private life .

"v

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■ ■■ V: . — • '-V" '

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C H A P T E R V.

The rich and fertile kingdoms of Hindostan were inhabited
entirely by the Hindoos, until the year 976 of the Christian sera,
when the Islamites, or Mahomedans, commenced their conquests
in the northern provinces, and formed the empire of Ghizni.
These invaders were Tartars, from the northern parts of Asia, who
brought with them the most bigotted attachment to the Mahome-
dan faith; and under a pretence of converting the Hindoos to
the tenets of the Koran, they destroyed their temples, and plun-
dered them of the wealth which had been accumulating for
ages. The treasures of gold and jewels found in some of those
sacred repositories, appear almost incredible. History informs us,
that the Sultaun Moaz-ul-Dien, who made nine expeditions into
Hindostan, left behind him in diamonds alone, of various sizes,
five hundred maunds in weight, which is little less than twenty
thousand pounds in avoirdupois: and the avarice and cruelty of
Mahmood, the first sultaun of Ghizni, in consequence of an im-
pious vow, are too shocking to relate. These invaders at length
reduced all the northern kingdoms; the Mahomedan religion was

O o

1ST

90

established, and followed by the most horrid massacres and de-
vastations during the reign of eighteen princes: a period which
presents a sanguinary picture of war and famine, desolation and
despair! arising from the frequent but ineffectual struggles of the
wretched Hindoos, for their civil and religious liberties.

At the end of the fourteenth century, Timur Bee, or Tamer-
lane, a prince descended from Zingis Khan, chief of the Mogul
Tartars, invaded the empire, established by the former Mahomedan
conquerors, and with atrocious cruelty plundered not only the
Hindoos, but the followers of the prophet; although the Mogul
empire was not completely founded until the sixteenth century;
when Baber, a descendant of Timur, got possession of Delhi, and
made it the capital of his dominions. Most of the southern dis-
tricts were shortly after subdued, and the tenets of the Koran
adopted by numbers; the converts entirely relinquished the Hindoo
manners and dress, and lost the name.

After these Mogul sovereigns were firmly established on the
imperial throne, they permitted their Hindoo subjects the free
enjoyment of their religion; and although, from foreign wars, and
intestine commotions, the picture of the limes too often presented
a scene of blood and cruelty, yet the blessings of peace sometimes
prevailed: during those happy intervals, poetry, history, and
music, raised their dejected heads, and with many useful arts and
sciences, assumed a short-lived smile; convincing us they only
wanted the aid of milder governments, and less tumultuous times,
to flourish in the realms of Hindustan, as well as in Grecian or
Italian climes.

91

“ Can misery bid the imagination glow,

" Or genius ripen, midst domestic woe ?

“ Sad sits the bard amidst his country’s tears,

Cf And sighs, regardless of the wreath he wears.

“ Did ever want or famine sweetly sing?

“ The fetter’d hand uncouthly strikes the string."

Among the sovereigns of Hindostan, the imperial Akher merits
particular notice ; and, did my limits permit, gladly should I at-
tempt a theme, on which poets and historians have dwelt with
fond delight. Akber succeeded his father Humaioon, the eldest
son of sultaun Baber, in the fourteenth year of his age; and from
that early period, during a long reign of fifty years, shone a bright
example of wisdom, clemency, and justice. He was supreme
monarch over all the provinces of Hindostan, from the Indus to
the Ganges; and by his mildness and equanimity diffused happi-
ness throughout his extensive dominions: the Hindoos enjoyed
their religious privileges without molestation; no distant governor
was suffered to be guilty of the smallest oppression; agriculture
and commerce flourished; the elegant arts were cherished, and a
princely encouragement was given to literature and science. The
Ayen Akbery, or institutes, compiled by Abul Fazel, the secretary
and historian of Akber, remain a lasting monument of the justice,
prudence, and unwearied assiduity, of this great prince, for the
true interest of his subjects. IJe reigned from 1556 to 1605.

The Mogul empire continued to flourish from the reign of
Akber until the death of Aurungzebe, in the beginning of the
eighteenth century; soon after that event, the nawabs, or gover-
nors of the distant provinces, began to shake off their allegiance

m

to the court of Delhi, and establish themselves as independent
princes; by which means the power of the emperors gradually
declined, and instead of one Mahomedan despot, a number of in-
ferior sovereigns, styled nabobs, o^ nawabs, arose in different parts
of the empire; so that there is now hardly a place of note in Hin-
dostan, where the followers of the Arabian prophet are not found;
being tolerated under the Hindoo rajahs, and protected by all the
European governments.

It is unnecessary to discuss the tenets of the Koran, which
is the standard of the Mussulmaun faith; its rules for religious
and moral conduct, are as much attended to in Hindustan, as in
other countries professing the same religion. This book, which
was composed by Mahomed, a native of Mecca, in Arabia,
assisted by a monk, named Sergius, is a most extraordinary in-
stance of imposture.

Mahomed, the only son of Abdallah, a prince of Mecca, was
born in that city in the year of Christ 571, and died at Medina in
631. At the age of forty, he publicly assumed the character of
a prophet sent by Cod to establish in its purity the religion of
the patriarchs. Being desirous of superseding the missions of
the Jewish and Christian law-givers, he admitted their divine
origin; but from having proved ineffectual to accomplish their
intended purpose, the artful Arabian announced himself to be the
Paraclete promised by Jesus Christ, and asserted that the Almighty
had sent him with more ample powers; and had especially com-
missioned him to compel those by force, who resisted gentler
means, to embrace the doctrines of the Koran, which had been
revealed to him from heaven by the angel Gabriel. By his un-

93

common art and address, and by the temporal power which he
had acquired in Arabia, Mahomed not only spread his religion in
that country, but throughout Egypt, Syria, and Persia: his pos-
terity were looked upon as holy, and reigned over some of the
most considerable kingdoms in Asia.

About ten years after the commencement of Ids religious
career, some of his more enlightened countrymen, who had known
the prophet from his youth, but neither approved of his life or
doctrine, resolved to destroy him, and deliver the world from such
an impostor: Mahomed, apprized of their design, fled from Mecca
to Medina, where the fame of his sanctity procured him a favour-
able reception. This event, winch happened in the six hundred
and twenty-second year of the Chrisian rnra, is called the hegirah,
or flight; and from this period the Mahomedans compute their
time, dating every thing from the first year of the hegirah.

Mahomed not only distributed to his followers the spoils of
the earth, as a reward for their faithfulness in propagating his
doctrines, but promised them a paradise in the world to come, so
luxurious, that it wrought powerfully on their minds, and worked
them up to a high degree of enthusiasm. A description of this
sensual Eden has been given by an English poet, with as much
delicacy as the subject admits of.

“ There, in the gardens of eternal spring,

<{ While birds of paradise around you sing,

“ Each with his blooming beauty by his side,

“ Shall drink rich wines that in full rivers glide ;

Breathe fragrant gales o’er fields of spice that blow,

“ And gather fruits immortal as they grow :

“ Ecstatic bliss shall your whole powers employ.

And every sense be lost in every joy 1” Hughes.

94

The complexion of the Mahomedans in India, is much the
same as that of the Hindoos; a clear olive brown: their dress is
in many respects similar; especially in the turban, the long white
gown, sash, and shoes; but in addition, the Mussulmauns wear
full long drawers, generally of a satin, called kincob, with gold and
silver flowers; and a catarra, or short dagger, in their girdle. The
warriors have a broad sword, with spears, lances, and fire-arms;
and some of the bravest troops in Hindostan are Mahomedans,
from Arabia, Candahar, Scind}-, and the provinces bordering on
Persia. Their religion permits the use of all animal food, except
pork ; and as they secretly indulge in wine and spirits, they are
more robust and hardy than the disciples of Brahma: avarice,
indolence, and effeminacy, mark the character of the Hindoo; and
if, to the two former, we unite ambition, valour, and jealousy, we
shall have a tolerably correct outline of the Mogul.

The Mahomedan women in India enjoy less liberty than the
Hindoos; but in complexion, manners, and behaviour, are not
unlike them. They adorn themselves with a variety of jewels,
worn over a close gown of muslin, with long sleeves and a short
waist; silk or satin drawers reach to the ancles, and a transparent
veil covers the head: the education of these women, like that of
the Hindoos, is very confined; the men do not seem to wish them
to be rational companions, and purposely keep them in a state of
ignorance. I believe music is prohibited by the Koran; but the
Mahomedans have dancing girls among them; and hire vocal and
instrumental music at weddings, and other entertainments where
a mixed company is invited.

The Moguls, Persians, Arabians, and the generality of the

JZ7up'<lVcd Zj' -ZT Wa^eTruOt'.

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oris //zu) / cJ.au niftae .

Jam. Forbes, in OH.

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Majbiomebak' Youth

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95

Asiatics, believe in genii, angels, and supernatural agents of various
denominations, and degrees of existence; their histories, tales, and
romances, abound with such imagery. Some are the friends and
guardians of the human race; others, called the evil genii, are in
a constant state of warfare with the benevolent spirits. On this
account, talismans, amulets, and charms, esteemed for their latent
virtues, and mysterious powers, are worn by the inhabitants of
India; who believe that such cabalistical preparations are effectual
against witchcraft, fascination, and all the operations of the male-
volent genii: they serve also as guards and protectors of hidden
treasures, which are frequently buried under the earth, to conceal
them from the avarice of Asiatic despots.

The Greeks and Romans were not exempt from these preju-
dices, nor is it long since they have subsided in England. Acts of
parliament on this subject, were passed so late as the reign of
James the First. In the age of chivalry, enchantment and divina-
tion prevailed throughout Europe; and in the oath administered
by the constable to the combatants in a duel, are these expres-
sions;

“ Ye shall sweare that ye shall have no stone of virtue, nor
“ hearbe of virtue; nor charm, nor experiment, nor none other
enchaimtment by you; and that ye trust in none other thinge
“ properly, but in God, and your body, and your brave quarrel/’

I constantly wear one of these talismanic stonbs, it having
been left to me by an invaluable friend: it consists of a convex
oval emerald, as taken from the mine; uncut and unpolished by
art: it is set in plain gold, and shines in native beauty without any
extraneous ornament. I pretend not to investigate the antiquity

96

and legendary (ales of this ring during the time of its oriental
proprietors, which gave it an imaginary value, far exceeding its
real worth: but the English gentleman who possessed it fifty jmars
ago, fully appreciated those virtues. He had from his early youth
been much with the Hindoos; and although a Christian in prin-
ciple, and possessing the amiable and benevolent characteristics
of that divine dispensation, yet he believed also in lucky and un-
lucky days, omens, and spells, so universally accredited by the
Hindoos.

This gentleman had often been at Poonah, the capital of the
Mahratta empire, and had resided much among the Brahmins:
when a member of the council at Bombay, about forty years ago,
he was appointed ambassador to the Mahratta government, on an
affair of great importance to the East India Company, and the
English nation: the business was so urgent, that he left Bombay
in the middle of the rainy season to ascend the Gaut mountains,
and reach the Mahratta capital on a day which the Hindoo astro-
logers had marked as peculiarly auspicious. Being in a public
character, he travelled with a considerable retinue; there being no
choultries, or caravansaries, on that road, they generally pitched
their tents where they found the convenience of shade and water;
for in the rainy season, on the western side of the Indian peninsula,
a series of fair weather often holds for several weeks together,
when those accommodations are as desirable to travellers as during
the fine months.

On the second evening of the journey, the encampment was
formed under a friendly banian tree, on the margin of a lake: on
retiring to his sleeping-tent, the ambassador missed his ring; but

97

but could not recollect whether he had taken it otY when he washed
his hands after supper: the strictest search was immediately made
for it without success: it was not merely the loss of the ring which
now troubled the owner; he annexed certain ideas to the event,
which I shall not attempt to explain; and, notwithstanding the
urgency of the embassy, and the implied necessity of being at the
Mahratta durbar on the auspicious hour already mentioned, he
remained the next day at the encampment, in search of this pre-
cious gem, and offered a large reward for its discovery; but in
vain: and the following morning he proceeded on his journey,
under very unpleasant sensations. The embassy continued about
thirteen months; at which period, during the ensuing rainy season,
the gentleman and his suite returned to Bombay.

The advantage of shade and water induced them to occupy
the ground of their former little encampments, and the tents
were again pitched upon the same spot where the ambassador
had lost his ring: it had rained hard in the day, but the evening
was remarkably fine, and the moon at the full: while sitting at his
tent-door after supper, reviewing his late negociations at Poonah,
and by an association of ideas, reverting to the loss of his ring
in that very place, he perceived the dark side of the grove illu-
minated by thousands of fire-flies, flitting among the branches,
with a brilliancy, of which the faint light of the European glow-
worm gives but little idea. Those who have travelled in Italy
during the summer months, and have there seen the lampyris, or
lucciola, although not so numerous as in the Asiatic woods, can
easily conceive the nocturnal splendour of these insects in the
torrid zone. I have seen them produce a fine effect in the dark

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98

recesses of the majestic coliseum, and illumine the gardens of the
Villa Medici at Rome; on the banks of the Arno, they add much
to the beauty of the Tuscan evening; and the Italian and the
English poets are fond of celebrating the “ emerald-light” of the
lucciola and the glow-worm.

While the ambassador was amusing himself with the splendid
appearance of these insects in the surrounding shades, he observed
one of them settled among the grass, which was always stationary
and motionless, although shining with equal lustre. Having re-
marked it for a considerable time, curiosity led him to approach it:
the moon shone on the spot ; he stooped to seize the insect; and took
up his ring. We must first enter into his peculiar feelings respecting
omens, talismans, and charms, and then conceive his surprize and
joy at this auspicious event. It had most probably been shook
from the table cloth thirteen months before, and remained on that
spot the whole time, unobserved by other travellers: during the
fair season it was probably covered with dust; but now a heavy
shower combined with Cynthia's beam to produce the brilliant
effect on the convex face of the emerald, and to restore the lucky
ring to its owner; who having so highly prized it before the ad-
venture, it is needless to say how much it was now advanced in his
estimation.

My most intimate friend was not only the public assistant, but
the confidential friend of this gentleman; he was always his agent
during his absence, and left the sole executor to his will: he had
an only son then in England for his education; and knowing that
he would not appreciate the ring as his father did, he promised it
to my friend at his death ; but omitted to mention it in his will.

Being absent at a distant settlement when that event happened,
I was commissioned to sell the effects oh the deceased, and to
purchase the ring at any price: a number of Europeans and na-
tives, some attracted by its real value, but more by its imaginary
virtue, attended the sale; and as I had not mentioned my com-
mission when the ring was put up, it was already advanced far
beyond the price of such a jewel, either for its size or lustre; when,
as the o:enlleman had died worth a considerable fortune, and had
only one child to enjoy it, I thought it proper to declare my
friends resolution to purchase it at all events. The company were
only hurt at my having kept silence so long, and unanimously
declared that he only ought to have the ring, for whom it was in-
tended by its late owner: loo soon, alas! it came into my posses-
sion, as a testamentary legacy from one of the best of men, and
dearest of friends; and has been ever since my constant com-
panion.

The three divisions of Arabia were conquered and commanded
by Mahomed himself: Abubekir, his immediate successor, assumed
the title of caliph, or vicar to the prophet; which continued in
that line for several generations. Jo Europe, and among the
Asiatic Christians, his disciples were generally called Saracens;
and, under that appellation, in less than a century from the de-
cease of the successful impostor, they spread his religion from the
Atlantic ocean to India and Tartary; and his successors reigned
in Syria, Persia, Egypt, Africa, and Spain.

The establishment of the religion of Abraham and Ishmael,
the great progenitors of the Arabians, was no doubt the principal
design of Mahomed, as J have already mentioned; lie wished, at

100

the same time, to extend the commerce, and increase the wealth
of his native country. The Ishmaelites had always been famous
merchants, as well as warriors: in a very early state of their tribe,
they travelled with their camels to Egypt, laden with spicery,
balm, and myrrh; neither had they any objection to deal in slaves,
as the history of Joseph exemplifies.

It would be foreign to my purpose to enter into a detail of
oriental commerce from that transaction, until the time that “ So-
lomon made a navy of ships at Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth,
on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom: and Hiram
put in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the
sea, with the servants of Solomon; and they came to Ophir, and
fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents; and
plenty of Algum trees, and precious stones: and they had at sea a
navy of Tharshish, with the navy of Hiram; once in three years
came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold and silver, and ivory,
and apes, and peacocks.’"

It is not yet decided whether the island of Ceylon was the
Ophir of Solomon, as well as the Screndib of the Persians and Ara-
bians, or whether the vessels of Hiram traded to other parts of
India: but from that period the commerce of the East has been a
most interesting and productive source of wealth. When refine-
ment and luxury had made a rapid progress in their extensive
empire, the Romans were supplied with the most costly produc-
tions from all parts of the known world; and received by different
channels, a variety of articles from India and China; but there
was little maritime intercourse on these seas, until after the pro-
mulgation of the Koran; when the Arabians, with a boldness

101

unknown to former navigators, and never exceeded by any, until
the discovery of the magnet, were urged by their enthusiastic zeal
to spread their new religion on the shores of the Indian continent,
and its remotest islands: they were for some lime established in
the city of Canton, subject to their own laws, and enjoying many
privileges: they indeed only resided there as merchants, the cau-
tious policy of the Chinese not permitting them to colonize. In
most other places they not only planted their religion, but in-
creased their trade, and returned to their own country with a
variety of valuable articles. Thus was the oriental commerce
enlarged; and numerous converts, from the Red Sea to the re-
motest of the eastern islands, were added to the Mahomedan
faith.

I shall conclude this account of the Mahomedans in Hindos-
tan, with a summary of their general character, from the writings
of an intelligent officer, who travelled through the Nizam’s country
in 179R and communicated his observations in the first volume of
die oriental collections. I am not acquainted with his name; but
as far as my knowledge extends, I have found all his remarks ex-
tremely correct and satisfactory.

<! What is most surprising to an European, is the decorum,
gravity, and elegance of the Moorish children. They are, for the
most part, handsomer at this age than when fully grown; and with
all that is infantine and engaging, they can upon cases of cere-
mony assume the unaffected steadiness of an old courtier. By
paying attention to what was said to these children by their tutors,
and by observing the most admired and popular characters among
the men, I endeavoured to acquire some insight into what style of

102

manners was held in greatest repute among the Moors; and I
found the leading principle of external behaviour to be a majestic
and martial deportment, a serene and steady countenance, which
should remain calm and unaltered amidst the greatest events;
neither manifesting signs of depression nor exaltation, but capable
of that pliability which softens the countenance to the reception
of friends, and accompanies good offices with a benignant smile.
This frequently borders upon dissimulation, since condemned per-
sons of rank have often been dismissed from the presence to
execution, without threats or menaces, but with every mark of
politeness. Having discoursed upon this subject with the Moors,
reminding them of similar circumstances in history, they have
replied, those instances were marks of collected firmness in the
prince; since whatever the cause might be, he should never dero-
gate from his own dignity, nor forget the attentions due to a man
of rank, whatever his situation or conduct might be. They are
extremely careful not to interrupt one another in discourse; and
generally possess a natural eloquence, which they utter with flu-
ency, in a soft, but audible tone; and are peculiarly graceful in
their action, which is so expressive, as often to forestall what they
are about to deliver.”

The same observant traveller makes a remark on the seclusion
of the Mahomedan women from the society of the men, which I
believe to have great weight in the general opinion of the Orientals.
“ On combining together the inclinations of Mahomed with his
policy, we shall find the seclusion of women from the society of
men, gives to the latter all those hours, which, in Europe, are
generally employed by men to please the object of their wishes;

103

leaving them at full leisure to pursue, without distractions of
jealousy, the business of the day. It also prevents those bitter
feuds and lasting animosities, which poison the minds of contend-
ing rivals, otherwise formed for mutual esteem and friendship. It
preserves the marriage-bed not only from pollution, but also from
the dread of it: and it secures women from those delusions and
temptations, which irritate the mind with fleeting joys, leaving
behind the permanent sting of bitter remorse! while never having
tasted the universal triumph and dominion which beauty gives in
the circles of Europe, the loss of power is not added to the painful
sensation of fading charms*"

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CHAPTER VI.

THE EMIGRATION OF THE PARSEES,

THE DISCIPLES OF ZOROASTEK, AND THE ANCIENT MAGI,

FROM PERSIA;

AND THEIR ESTABLISHMENT IN IIINDOSTANI WITH A
PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE PARSEES
SETTLED AT BOMBAY.

He that would travel for the entertainment of others, should remember that the great object
of remark is human life. Every nation has something particular in its manufactures, its works
of genius, its medicines, its agriculture, its customs, and its policy. He only is a useful traveller,
who brings home something by which his country may be benefited ; who procures some supply
of want, or some mitigation of evil, which may enable his readers to compare their condition
with that of others ; to improve it whenever it is worse 5 and whenever it is better to enjoy it.

Dr. Johnson.

P

CONTENTS.

Parsees , or Guebres — under the Mahomedan persecutions , emigrate to
Ormuz , and from thence to Hindostan — land near Surat — ar-
rangements with the Hindoo Rajah — dispersion in India — worship-
pers of fire — everlasting fire near Baku , in Persia — manners and,
customs of the Parsees — treatment of their dead — worhen— ancient
Persians— religion of Zoroaster and the ancient Magi .

'

CHAPTE R VI.

The Parsees, or Guebres, are a people whom the Mahomedan
persecutions drove from Persia, their native country, in the eighth
century of the Christian sera. They are descended from the ancient
Persians, followers of Zoroaster; to whose religious tenets and
moral laws, they still profess to adhere.

While the Mahomedan religion was established in Persia under
the system of terror, these people emigrated to the isle of Ormuz,
and continued there fifteen years; they then embarked in small
vessels for India; bringing with them the autus-byram, or sacred
fire, which they preserved with the greatest care. After a dreadful
voyage, they landed at Dili, on the south-west point of the Cam-
bay gulph, a settlement now belonging to the Portugueze. They
continued at this place for some time, and then crossing the gulph,
landed at Suzan, near Nunsarree, which is a little to the south-
ward of Surat. Here these unhappy Persians implored the pro-
tection of the Hindoo rajah; and pathetically related their religious
persecutions, their flight from their native land, and all their sub-
sequent misfortunes. Astonished at the appearance of so many
armed strangers, the rajah was doubtful how he should receive
them: at length humanity prevailed; he granted them permission

no

to settle m his dominions, and to build a temple for their sacred
fire, on their compliance with certain conditions; particularly, that
they should never put an ox or a cow to death, nor on any consi-
deration taste the flesh; a covenant, which both themselves and
their descendants have kept inviolable to this day.

As their families increased, the Parsees dispersed, and settled
at Bombay, Surat, Baroche, and other northern towns on the
western coast of India. Active and industrious, they applied
themselves to domestic and foreign commerce; and many of the
principal merchants and owners of ships at Bombay and Surat,
are Parsees: others learned the mechanic arts, and engaged in the
varied manufactures of the loom: the best carpenters and ship-
wrights in India are of this tribe.

Their number at Bombay is considerable, and at Surat they
amount to twenty thousand families: hitherto they have not at-
tempted to establish a government of their own; and an unfortu-
nate schism in their religious tenets has divided them into two
separate factions.

The Parsees are all worshippers of fire; and in every temple is
a sacred flame, lighted at first from that originally brought from
Persia, which is still preserved with great reverence at Oodwarra,
near Nunsarree. These fires are attended day and night by the
andaroos, or priests, and are never permitted to expire. They are
preserved in a large chafing-dish, carefully supplied with fuel,
perfumed by a small quantity of sandal-wood, or other aromatics.
The vulgar and illiterate worship this sacred flame, as also the sun,
moon, and stars, without regard to the invisible Creator; but the
learned and judicious adore only the Almighty Fountain of Light,

Ill

the author and disposer of all things, under the symbol of fire.
Zoroaster, and the ancient magi, whose memories they revere, and
whose works they are said to preserve, never taught them to con-
sider the sun as any thing more than a creature of the Great
Creator of the universe: they were to revere it as his best and
fairest image, and for the numberless blessings it diffuses on the
earth; the sacred flame was intended only as a perpetual monitor
to preserve their purity; of which this element is so expressive a
symbol. But superstition and fable have, through a lapse of ages,
corrupted the stream of their religious system, which in its source
was pure and sublime.

Some of the Parsee tribe still reside in Persia, near the city of
Baku, on the shores of the Caspian sea, about ten miles from the
everlasting fire which they hold in such veneration. This fire issues
from the cleft of a rock, five or six feet in length, and three in
breadth, appearing like the clear flame over burning spirits; some-
times it rises to the height of several }mrds, at others only a few
inches above the aperture. It has continued thus for ages without
intermission, and the rock is said not to be in the least affected,
either by the fire consuming its substance, or changing its colour.
Travellers mention, that if a hollow tube is put a few inches into
the ground, for some hundred yards around this rocky opening, a
similar flame issues through the orifice: the poorer people, who
live in the neighbourhood, frequently cook their victuals over the
flame. What the cause may be I know not, but the effects of
subterraneous fire, which I observed at Sol fate rra, near Naples,
greatly resemble those on the border of the Caspian.

In their nuptial ceremonies, and many other particulars, the

modem Parsees have adopted the customs of the Hindoos; but
their mode of treating the dead, seems to be peculiar to them-
selves. At Bombay, soon after the decease, the body is conveyed
to Malabar Hill, an eminence about three miles from the town;
where are two large cemeteries, fifty or sixty feet in diameter,
surrounded by circular walls, twenty feet high. Within this en-
closure is a smooth pavement, sloping gradually from the side of
the wall to the center, where it terminates in a deep pit, the bodies
are laid on this pavement, which is divided into three distinct
parts, for men, women, and children; they are exposed naked, to
be devoured by vultures and birds of prey, which generally hover
over them: a person is appointed to watch which of the eyes they
first pluck out; as they annex some superstitious idea, respecting the
happines or misery of the departed spirit from this circumstance:
and the bones are afterwards deposited in the pit, to make room
for others in this extraordinary mausoleum. When they are carry-
ing the corpse to the tomb, which is a duty belonging to a parti-
cular set of people, they must neither speak, nor touch wood; for
which reason the body is laid upon an iron bier, and the draw-
bridges at the town-gates, when they pass over them, are covered,
either with sheets of copper, or with fresh earth.

The Parsees are generally a tall comely race, athletic and well
formed, and much fairer than the natives of Hindostan ; the
women are celebrated more for chastity than cleanliness; the girls
are delicate and pleasing, but the bloom of youth soon decays;
before tweiity they grow coarse and masculine, in a far greater
degree than either the Hindoos or Mahomedans.

Wherever the Parsees settle throughout Hindostan, they build

1PAK SEES n/

B ©MB AIT.

J<On>.Forbcs. zfSg .

Bu'bLUfiecL ~bj> RrLc/t&ncl Senclei' t?.< Irti’ Zhz/'lino Imi Se. /J3. &

113

a temple for their sacred fire, and construct a cemetery: whether
there is any particular mode of consecrating either of these, I
cannot say: the sacred fire must be lightel at that originally
brought from Persia; and never suffered to go out: this was also
positively enjoined to the Levites, and was adopted by the Greeks
and Romans, under all their governments. Quintus Curtius tells
us, that the eternal fire was carried before the army of Darius, on
silver altars, followed by the magi singing hymns, and by three
hundred and sixty-five youths clothed in scarlet, amounting to the
number of days in the year.

I am almost led to suppose/that the worship of fire originated
at the mountain of Baku. An ancient hisorian* mentions, that
the Persians relate a story concerning Zoroaster, whose love of
wisdom and virtue leading him to a solitary life upon a mountain,
he found it one day all in a flame, shining with celestial fire; from
the midst of which he came without any harm, and instituted
certain sacrifices to God, who, he declared, had appeared to him.

Herodotus says, that the ancient Persians venerated fire as a
divinity, and the magi, who detested the adoration of images, wor-
shipped the Almighty only by this element; at the same time they
admitted two principles, one which was the cause of all good, the
other that of all evil; the former was called Oramasdes, the latter
Ahriman; the one represented by light, the other by darkness.
This was the system of Zoroaster, and the Magi ; and under
various modifications, inculcated with their moral system, is sup-
posed to form the contents of the Zend-Avesta, or sacred books of
the modern Parsees. It is well authenticated, that for a long

* Dion Chrysostom.

Q

114

time the ancient magi retained the exclusive privilege of having
their bodies left as a prey to carnivorous animals; and that after-
wards the Persians exposed all the dead bodies of their friends
indiscriminately, to be devoured by birds and beasts of prey; a
custom, which is still in some measure adhered to by their poste-
rity in India, and by the Guebres in Persia, although so very
repugnant to the feelings of almost every other civilized nation.

From my own knowledge and observation, I can assert nothing
more respecting the Parsees, who are certainly an industrious and
increasing people, and a valuable class of subjects in the Com-
pany’s settlements: but, in addition to this chapter, which was
originally written in 17^9, the following extract from Butler’s
Horae Biblicse, will prove extremely satisfactory to those who may
not have met with that interesting and entertaining work.

44 To the exertions of Mons. Anquitel du Perron, we are in-
debted for our first knowledge of the Zend-Avesta, containing the
doctrines of Zoroaster and the ancient magi; his translation of that
interesting work are deposited with his other manuscripts, in the
national library at Paris. From them we learn, that under the
name of Zerouane, or time, without bounds or beginning, the fol-
lowers of Zoroaster recognized a first and original Being: that by
him, and in him, they believed the universe to exist, appears suf-
ficiently clear: but they seem to have considered him rather as a
principle, giving motion to a machine, or an impulse of fate, than
a real object, possessed of wisdom, independence, and energy.
From him Ormuzd and Ahriman proceeded; each independent of
each other; each possessed of the power of creation. Ormuzd is
the being absorbed in excellence, living in primeval light, good

115

in his essence, and the cause of all good. Ahriman was originally
good, but from envy against Ormuzd became wicked; was hurled
into darkness, is evil, and the cause of all evil. Ormuzd formed
mankind for virtue and happiness; the malice of Ahriman plunges
them in vice and misery: whatever is good in the moral or phy-
sical world, is the production of Ormuzd; all that is bad is the
production of Ahriman.

“ The morality of the Zend-Avesta is entitled to praise: purity
of word, action, and thought, is repeatedly inculcated; an atten-
tion to truth is likewise particularly enforced. To multiply the
human species, increase its happiness, and prevent evil, are the
general duties inculcated by Zoroaster to his disciples; agriculture
and the multiplication of useful animals, are particularly recom-
mended to them. “ He,” says Zoroaster, “ who sows the ground
s< with diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious merit, than
“ he could gain by ten thousand prayers.” The disciple of Zo-
roaster is enjoined to pardon injuries; to honour his parents and
the king, whose rights are derived from Ormuzd ; to respect old
age; to observe a general gentleness of manners, and to practise
universal benevolence. Fasting and celibacy are forbidden to the
men; and as far as may depend on themselves, the latter is dis-
couraged in women: if a man's wife be not barren, one wife only
is allowed to him: a marriage with his cousin-german is recom-
mended to him as an act particularly pleasing to heaven.

“ Fire was considered by Zoroaster as the purest symbol of the
divinity; and the original element from which Ormuzd produced
all beings: he therefore enjoined his disciples to keep up a perpe-
tual fire, and to perform other devotional exercises in the presence

116

of fire; and every supposed corruption of fire is forbidden under
the severest penalties. To every act of devotion purity of heart is
necessary; and to purity of heart, Zoroaster supposes purity of
body greatly contributes. Every thing which related to religion,
or its concerns, is placed under their priests; they were formed
into a regular hierarchy, not unlike the hierarchy of the Christian
church.

“ From the reign of Artaxerxes, who summoned a general
meeting of the magi, amounting to eighty thousand, until its con-
quest by the Mahomedans, the whole kingdom of Persia was
faithful to the doctrine of Zoroaster. The Mahomedans destroyed
the fire temples of the Parsees, and insulted the magi; they after-
wards allowed them the enjoyment of their places of worship, on
their paying tribute/'

CHAPTER VII.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PORTUGUEZE, ARMENIANS, AND
OTHER INHABITANTS OF BOMBAY:

WITH A VIEW OF THE BRAHMINICAL RELIGION,

IN ITS CONFIRMATION OF THE TRUTH OF THE SACRED HISTORY?
AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE MORAL CHARACTER.

No hypothesis can be lightly esteemed,, which has for its object the confirmation of revealed
truth; nor can the philosophy of that man ever be useless., which brings him nearer to God;
which either strengthens his faith, or animates his piety. It has for its reward what is far more
valuable than the praise of men ; that reward which shall remain when tongues shall cease, and
knowledge shall vanish; which indeed can only receive its full accomplishment when our pre-
sent limited attainments shall be ripened into perfection, when hope shall be recompensed by
enjoyment, and when our capacities shall be fitted for the comprehension of infinite truth.

Carwithem,

I

CONTENTS.

Portugueze, and their descendants in India — Romish missionaries — >
Indian converts— Armenians at Bombay — other occasional inha-
bitants— general remarks on the moved and religious system of the
Hindoos — their erroneous chronology — geography of the Brahmins
— astronomy — ancient history — the deluge confirmed by the Hindoo
scriptures — Iran in its ancient state — comparison between the
Egyptians and Hindoos— further illustrations of the Hindoo reli-
gion; compared with the Mosaical dispensation — moral character
of the Hindoos , as influenced by religion and climate — blessings of
Christianity — valuable quotation from Bishop JVatson — conclusion
respecting the confirmation which sacred, history receives from the
Hindoo religion „

1

CHAPTE R VII.

Such as I have endeavoured to describe, in the preceding chap-
ters, was the stale of Hindostan, and such the character of its
inhabitants at the close of the fifteenth century, when the passage
to India, round the Cape of Good Hope, was discovered by Vasco
de Gama, the celebrated Portugueze navigator. That nation soon
extended her commerce to its remotest shores, and established
settlements in different regions, especially on the Malabar coast,
and island of Ceylon: the excellent harbour at Bombay caused it
to become one of the principal ports: it continued under their
government until it was ceded to the English, on the marriage of
the Infanta Catherine to Charles the Second. The Portugueze have
left numerous descendants there, who live under the protection of
the English laws, and enjoy the free exercise of their religion: they
are generally styled Portugueze, retain their European names and
dress, and speak their original language, although greatly cor-
rupted; but from their intermarriages with the natives of inferior
tribes, their complexion is darker than the high castes of Hindoos,
and their education is very contracted.

The proselytes made by the Romish missionaries in the East

are generally among the lowest tribes of the Hindoos; or such

n

\m

whose misconduct having caused them to lose their caste, are giad
to embrace Christianity, as a religion which is open to all. But
whenever the Hindoos or Mahomedans are baptized into the
Christian faith, the women lay aside their becoming eastern dra-
pery, and put on a jacket and petticoat; and the men wear as
much of the European apparel as their circumstances will admit
of: a coat and stockings seldom form part of their dress, except
on a religious festival, or some particular occasion.

Many respectable Armenian merchants, with their families,
reside at Bombay and other British settlements in India; they
carry on an extensive trade, and are valuable subjects, conforming
to the laws, and enjoying the exercise of their religion, which is
that of the Greek church: their complexion is as fair as that of
the southern Europeans; and their conversation and manners are
grave and polite. The dress of both sexes, in many respects, re-
sembles that of the Turks; except that the men, instead of a
turban, wear a high cap of black velvet, and the women conceal
the mouth with a muslin handkerchief.

A few Persians, Turks, Arabians, and Jews, occasionally reside
at Bombay; but the Hindoos, Mahomedans, and Parsees, form
the great mass of the inhabitants. Fearful of prolixity, I have, in

the foregoing pages, omitted man}7 things inserted in my original

• / •

letters; but I have endeavoured to give a, faithful portrait of these
interesting people; every thing I have asserted was dictated by as
impartial a judgment as I was enabled to form, during a long
residence among them: I viewed them with an unprejudiced mind,
and wherever I went, I sought for knowledge at the best sources of
information among the natives themselves: but in that respect I

123

find my own opinion confirmed by an intelligent observer, that
“ to whatever country of Europe the traveller directs his steps, he
meets with people ready to give him information, and proud to
display their knowledge; in Asia the reverse occurs; the natives are
difficult of access, averse to strangers, and reserved in their man-
ners: slaves to their own customs, they hold those of other nations
in contempt. Ever desirous to preserve their own dignity, they
are too apt to consider the unstudied manners and familiarity of
the English, as marks of disrespect; and will never conceive we
dare to conduct ourselves in like manner to our own superiors/’
Since my return to Europe, the researches into Asiatic history,
the investigation of oriental manners and customs, and especially
an inquiry into the moral and religious system of the Hindoos,
have engaged general attention: much valuable information has
been given to the public within these few years, by those who
made their observations in Hindostan, or by literati, who derived
their knowledge from physical and philosophical studies at home;
who have compared the transactions of remote ages, with the
occurrences of the present day; and from tire stores of sacred and
profane history, have produced such documents and proofs in
favour of the former, as must satisfy every candid and unpreju-
diced mind. I shall therefore close this subject with some inte-
resting extracts from recent publications ; and especially from
Butler’s Horse Biblicse, and the Bamptonian lectures at Oxford, by
Mr. Carwithen, on a view of the Bra h mini cal religion, in its con-
firmation of the truth of the sacred history, and its influence on
the moral character. From these sources I can illustrate and finish
my own general character of the Hindoos with satisfaction; the

124

extracts are necessarily unconnected; and if not entirely conclusive
to every reader, they will not, I trust, be deemed irrelevant to the
general tendency of these volumes.

It is remarked in the Horae Biblicae, that “ Sir William Jones
traces the foundation of the Indian empire above 3800 years from
the present time; the highest age of the Yajur Veda to 1580 years
before the birth of Christ, or 100 years before the birth of Moses;
and the highest age of the Institutes ot Menu, to 1280 years before
the birth of our Saviour.”

“ The Vedas contain one hundred thousand stanzas, of four
lines each; they treat of divination, astronomy, natural philosophy,
the creation of the world, religious ceremonies, prajmrs, morality,
and piety; and include hymns in praise of the Supreme Being,
and in honour of subaltern intelligences.”

“ The geography of the Brahmins is admitted by all to be fan-
ciful and absurd in the extreme: now, if the Brahmins could give
so much loose to their imaginations in the severest of all sciences;
if they could be so grossly ignorant in things which lay perpetually
before them, how much more extravagance and error must be
expected from them in the sciences of astronomy and chronology,
as loosely as all those sciences have ever been treated in India?”

“ Considering Hindostan, in the very largest sense in which
that word is used, it answers to the India infra Gangem of the
ancients; or the country bounded on the north by the Tartarian
and Thibetian mountains, on the south by the sea, on the west
by the Indus, and on the east by a supposed line extending to
the north from the Ganges. The country bordering on the east-
ern side of the Indus made a part of one of the satrapies of Darius

125

Hystaspes; but, speaking generally, the Indus was the eastermost
boundary of the Persian empire, and all the country beyond it
was divided into a number of kingdoms and stales/’

“ About a hundred and sixty years after the reign of Darius
Hystaspes, Alexander the Great advanced with ins army into
India; that point of the Hyphasis, or Reeyah, where it receives
the Setlege, or Setooder, was the scene of the memorable refusal
of Alexander’s army to follow him. On his death, Seleucus made
himself master of the Persian empire; and turning ins attention to
India, sent Megasthenes in the character of ambassador to Paii-
bothra, the capital of the Prasii; or the country watered by the
confluence of the Jumna and Ganges.”

I shall make no further quotations from the Horae Biblicae, as
the Bamptonian lectures other a rich mine of information.

“ In the countries of the East, where the serenity of the climate
is peculiarly favourable to the observation of the celestial lumi-
naries, we might naturally expect to discover an early attention to
their magnitude and their motions. It was by their periodical
revolutions, indeed, that the necessary concerns of human life were
formerly regulated: the constellations were not only in after limes
rendered subservient to the purposes of a blind and trembling
superstition; they were not only regarded with emotions of fear
or transport, as they were supposed to bear an aspect malignant
or auspicious to the interests of man; but they were originally
instrumental to more useful and noble ends: they directed the
course of agricultural labours, and of maritime adventure. Astro-
noray, instead of being the offspring of solitude, leisure, and
contemplation, may be termed more properly the child of necessity

and of nature. The simple occupations of pastoral life, not less
than the uninterrupted repose of philosophical abstraction; the
plains of Chaldea, as well as the observatories of Egypt, were
favourable to its cultivation.”

“ While the calculations of the Egyptians and of the Chinese
have been generally given up as untenable, many of the astrono-
mical {eras of the Indian Brahmins have been supposed to dis-
play an accuracy, which could not have taken place, unless they
had been founded on actual observation. The astonishing pro-
gress of the ancient Indians in science, from which their descend-
ants have so far degenerated, appears to indicate the superior
accuracy of their system. Their astronomy is found to be more
correct the higher we ascend, and its inferiority is the most evident
as we approach the present times: in its original perfection, it
claims a decided superiority over the system of any other oriental
nation.”

The superior knowledge and early civilization, to which India
lays claim, is readily admitted as a strong proof of the veracity of
the Mosaical history. “ They shew that we must look for the
first dawnings of intellectual light in the countries adjacent to the
spot, which the concurrent voice of history and tradition represents
as the first abode of man, and the theatre on which the memorable
events that occurred in the infancy of the postdiluvian world were
transacted. They demonstrate the arrogant and unfounded pre-
tensions of the Greeks and Romans, Avho represent their ancient
progenitors as the immediate descendants of heaven; and who
arrogate to themselves the honour of being the inventors of science,
as well as the arbiters of taste. The falsehood of these pren tensions

127

is clearly discernible, from the history of the progress of know-
ledge, and from the early refinement of oriental philosophy. If
Greece could once boast of her Athens, India still preserves the
remains of her Benares, where the doctrines of the Egyptian school
were, perhaps, understood and taught, long before they were heard
from the lips of Pythagoras and Plato. In the Institutes of Menu
we discover traces of enlarged policy and legislative wisdom,
which would not disgrace the laws of Solon and Lycurgus; and
these were promulgated at a time when the Grecian slates were
hordes of wandering barbarians. It is to the East that we are
indebted for the grand outlines of those metaphysical and political
theories, Avhich, being transfused into the writings of the Grecian
sages, are still perused with avidity, and regarded with vene-
ration.”

“ if the calculations of the Indian Brahmins now appear more
exact than the early observations made in Egypt, Greece, or other
ancient nations, yet they are not sufficiently correct to establish
any certain conclusions, and still less to invalidate the authority
of the only authentic history of the world. The Grecians were
the first practical astronomers to whose observations we are in-
debted ; and the science of the Egyptian, of the Chaldrean, or even
of the Indian school, would have been involved in enigma and ob-
scurity, if it had not been reflected to us by the labours of Ptolemy
and Hipparchus.”

“ Though a difficulty may occur in fixing the precise period,
when the reveries of fancy and fiction were substituted by the
Hindoos in the place of historical truth; yet it is certain, on the
authority of Albumazar, a celebrated astronomer, that before the

128

ninth century their chronology was as complete, or perhaps en-
tirely the same, as we find it at present.”

“ The supposition has been hazarded, that as India can now
indisputably assert her title to the invention of the numerical
figures, which had once been attributed to an Arabian origin, she
will hereafter be found to have formed the first zodiac, which is
generally supposed to have proceeded from Egypt.”

“ The facts stated in the second lecture tend to establish the
following important conclusions: that the strongest presumption
arises, both from the testimonies of ancient authors, as far as they
can be collected, as well as from internal evidence, that the chro-
nological system of the Brahmins has suffered a material change,
and that their present scheme is of comparatively modern inven-
tion; that, in earlier times, this system had some obvious and
striking similarity to that of the Mosaical history; that even if the
reality of the aera from which their present age commences, and
which is now generally supposed to be founded on retrograde cal-
culation, were established, this admission could not, in any degree,
affect the truth of the sacred writings; and that the only pro-
bable origin, which can be assigned to the invention of the primeval
zodiac, expressly contradicts the unwarrantable assumption of an
Egyptian sphere, formed at the immense distance of sixteen
thousand years before the present time.”

The author then naturally asks, to what cause it can be as-
signed, that in all the historical documents which have hitherto
been brought to light, they should ascend to nearly the same point
of time, and then become enveloped in obscurity, and degenerate
into fable? whence happens it, that these fables, in nations, the

129

most distant and dissimilar, however they may be disguised by-
difference of language, however incumbered by the adhesion of
foreign circumstances, which the diversity of national character
may have engrafted on them, should still retain such an evident
similarity as to be clearly traced to the same source? what cause
can be assigned, that the whole fabric of pagan mythology, whe-
ther surrounded by the gaudy, but mishapen ornaments of eastern
magnificence, or rising in the graceful elegance and exact sym-
metry of Grecian taste, or frowning terrors in the ponderous and
massive grandeur of northern architecture, should be raised on the
same foundation, however the superstructure may be modelled or
varied, by the influence of national manners? If this globe had
been inhabited by nations of a separate and independent origin,
could this uniformity in their traditions possibly have existed? If
mankind had reached that perfection, both in science and refine-
ment, which is pretended, would there not have occurred some dis-
tinct and diversified events, which would have clearly characterized
these periods, and would have found their way to future gene-
rations?”

ee From every investigation it clearly appears, that no compu-
tations have been able to invalidate the only historical narrative,
which, independently of the stamp of divine authority, presents a
rational account of the formation of the universe, of the creation
of man, and of the infant state of the world; which, in accuracy
of description, not less than in sublimity of language, stands un-
rivalled. In vain have they been applied to invalidate that ever-
lasting covenant, which was established before the foundations of

the world were laid, before 4 the morning stars sang together, and

s

130

all the sons of God shouted for joy/ In vain have they been
applied to invalidate that covenant, which, as it had a retrospect
to the period before creation existed, shall receive its full and
glorious accomplishment when creation shall be no more; when
Lhe sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall withdraw her shin-
ing, and the stars shall fall from heaven: for thus its Almighty
author has declared concerning it; ‘ Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away/

“ The variety of fables to which the awful event of the deluge
has been accommodated, the diversities in the narrative, adapted
to local prejudices or to theological opinions, prove that they are
taken from uncommunicated fragments of some original tradition.
The incident is recorded, not by construction of philosophical
theories, but by simple narrators of facts. It is also observable,
that the accounts of a deluge still to be found among the more
eastern nations, are as strongly marked by truth, and are equally
conformable to the history of Moses, as those which are preserved
in Egypt/’

“ But although the concurrent voice of antiquity thus loudly
responds to the testimony of the Hebrew historian; though the
memorials of an event, so interesting to the early world, must have
been treasured up with care, and recollected with sentiments of awe
and gratitude; though they have been recorded on the tablet of the
skies, and shadowed out in hieroglyphic sculpture in monuments
on the earth; though the combined powers of fancy and erudition
have been successfully employed, in referring, to this source, many
of the pagan symbols and devotional ceremonies; yet vague and
unsatisfactory would all these evidences appear, if they had not

131

been illustrated and confirmed by that narrative, of which all other
records are but faint adumbrations. If all the solitary fragments
scattered throughout the voluminous mass of oriental mythology,
joined with those which the nations of the west have retained,
were collected and concentrated, their united testimony would be
insufficient to establish the reality of this calamitous prodigy. It
* is not on the exact coincidence of sacred and profane history, that
we attempt to prove the truth, and assume the superiority of the
former; but that the one is perspicuous and full, where the other
is obscure and defective: the one is concise where amplification
would be unnecessary, or would tend to no other purpose than the
gratification of a vain curiosity; the other, by those additions
which the artifice or conceit of man has interwoven, has sometimes
suppressed the truth by concealment, and sometimes weakened it
by expansion/5

“In common with other nations, the Hindoos attribute the
creation of all visible things in six distinct periods, the successive
formation of all terrestrial animals, and finally of man, to one
Supreme God. In common with all other nations, they have also
preserved some indistinct remembrance of the antediluvian gene-
rations, and the antediluvian personages mentioned in the Jewish
scriptures. But the first great and important event, which they
attest, clearly and unequivocally, is the awful catastrophe of the
general destruction of the world by a flood; and therefore it is
from that point, that the monuments of profane antiquity are
properly called in, to confirm the truth of the sacred history.55

“ Distinguished as the whole recital of the deluge is in the
Hindoo Purana, by that mixture of the puerile and sublime, which

132

so eminently characterizes the exuberant fertility of an oriental
fancy; yet we cannot fail to discover in it evident traces of the
more simple and succinct account transmitted to us in the Mo-
saical history. The cause of this signal display of divine ven-
geance; the number of persons who were miraculously preserved
from this convulsion of nature; the manner by which Omnipotence
interposed to effect their deliverance, are all clearly defined; and
remarkably correspond with what we are accustomed to consider,
as the words of inspired truth.”

“As has been now shewn, we can clearly prove the reality of
an universal deluge, not from the Jewish oracles, which relate the
event in its connection with their national history; not from the
phenomena of the natural world, which are in harmony with those
oracles; not from the nations of Arabia and Tartary, who have
preserved many of the facts related in the sacred history, but who
also retain a veneration for the Jewish law-giver; but from the
arrogant and presumptuous Brahmin, who disclaims all kindred
with the less favoured nations of the earth; who regards his own
country as the spot on which the Divinity has displayed a peculiar
manifestation of his presence, as the centre of terrestrial creation,
and the ‘ land of virtues;’ and who views, with a consciousness of
superior sanctity, the professors of that faith which his own records
have shewn to be historically true.”

The civil history of mankind, contained in the remaining
fragments of the earliest annalist, agrees with the narrative of
Moses. They concur in placing the theatre of the first memorable
events that befel the human race, within the limits of Iran, under-
stood in its true and extended signification, between the Gxus

133

and the Euphrates, the Armenian mountains and the borders of
India.

What, however, is still more decisive, and confirms the accu-
racy of the Hebrew historian, is, that the literature of India, lately
explored, records the establishment of the Brahminical religion in
Iran, previously to its adoption in Hindustan. We are informed,
that a mode of faith and worship, essentially different from that of
Zoroaster, was anciently professed in Persia, and continued to be
secretly entertained by many eminent men, long after the general
predominance of the latter.

“ That Iran, understood in its true and enlarged signification,
was the country from which the three original and distinct races
of men first separated, is rendered still more probable, from its
central situation. It was from this part of the globe, that the
adventurous progeny of Japhet could best transport themselves to
those countries, which, on account of their being separated from
Judea by the sea, are emphatically styled in the writings of Moses,

4 the isles of the Gentiles;’ in contradistinction to Asia, which to
Palestine was strictly continental. It was nearest to this quarter
that the peaceful descendants of Shem settled themselves in Arabia,
where so many of their names may now be discovered; and it
was from this quarter, that the Ammonian race, so famed for
daring exploits, subdued the vast and fertile countries of India,
Ethiopia, and the countries situated on the Nile; where they have
left so many vestiges of their scientific excellence, and of their
martial prowess.”

“ From an accurate survey of the Brahminical religion, as we
find it established in India, it is impossible not to perceive its

134

essential identity with that of the Egyptians, and therefore that
both must have emanated from a common origin. Both nations
were distinguished by a division into various orders, of which the
philosophers were the most honourable. Each tribe adhered to
the profession of its family, and never invaded the department of
another. The fundamental principles of their astronomical sys-
tems, would also incline us to suppose, that their sciences were
derived from the same source.”

“ From a comparison of different facts, the following will
appear to be the result: at the time of the general dispersion of
mankind, some tribes migrated towards the East to India; while
others diverged towards the West to Egypt; and some still re-
mained in their original settlements in Chaldaea. Egypt, therefore,
we might expect to find the source of knowledge for the western,
and India for the eastern parts of the globe. The few general
traditions which they had received from their ancestors, it is
reasonable to imagine, would find a place in the religious systems
of all. These traditions would remain unaltered, chiefly in coun-
tries like India, insulated from the rest of the world by continued
and almost impregnable barriers. From the unrestrained inter-
course which so long subsisted between India and Egypt, it is
probable, that a communication might have taken place on sub-
jects of religion and science; that we have the strongest reason to
conclude that large bodies of Hindoos have settled themselves in
Egypt; but that there is no reason to imagine, that the Brahmi-
nical system was transported, at a recent period, from Egypt into
India.”

1 35

<c We find, that the most common method of accounting for the
origin of evil is the degeneracy of man from a state of purity to a
state of corruption: a doctrine which has retained a place in the
popular creed of every nation. Of Brahminism, it may be almost
said to form the basis. It is this idea which has regulated its
elaborate scheme of chronology; it is this idea, which causes its
followers to submit to the most excruciating penances, in order to
purge the soul from the stains which she has contracted during her
abode in this polluted body. They have indeed corrupted and
obscured this doctrine; they have engrafted on it additions which
do not properly belong to it; they have carried it so far, as to in-
spire them with a hatred of life, and a dereliction of every worldly
enjoyment; they have continually placed before their eyes the
accomplishment of that melancholy period, when a total decay of
bodily strength, as well as an entire degeneracy of morals, shall
increase the sum of present misery; but these deviations from the
truth could never have happened, unless they had truth itself for a
foundation. These are phantoms of the imagination, which would
never have existed, if they had not been derived from some corre-
spondent reality.”

“ From the fall of man, we are naturally led to the considera-
tion of a positive ordinance immediately connected with it, and
springing out of it ; the custom of sacrificial oblations,
as an expiation for sin. In whatever point of view this
custom may be regarded, whether as eucharistical or propitiatory,
whether originating in the idea that it was a proper mode of ex-
pressing sentiments of gratitude to the Deity, for the enjoyment
of the bounties of nature, or as a proper atonement for guilt; still.

136

a rite so peculiar, and so universal, must have received its sanction
from some positive command, and could never have been the dictate
of natural reason/5

“ The Vedas themselves, on some occasions, enjoin the obla-
tions of men, as well as animals; and that the sacrifices of the
latter were anciently practised, we have the authority of Strabo
and Arrian. It is also well known, that one of the incarnations of
Vishnfi, that of Buddha himself, is described by the Brahmins, as
having taken place for the purpose of abolishing the sacrifices
enjoined in the Vedas; and whatever difference of opinion may
be entertained concerning the time, or the genuineness of this
descent, it is a decided proof, that the custom of sacrificial offering
must have been universally prevalent/’

“ In the Brahminical religion, we behold a system, subsisting
at the present time in the same form, by which it has been known
since the earliest period of authentic history. We have taken a
review of its doctrines, from a comparison of foreign testimony
with its own sacred records ; and these have afforded mutual
illustration; and the one proves the veracity of the other. We
have seen the regal government, which was established under this
religion, long since overthrown; we have seen its hierarchy par-
taking in the same destruction ; but even in this disjoined state,
retaining those inherent seeds of vitality which have preserved its
dominion over a vast and refined population. We have, in the
first place, shewn on what a baseless foundation those claims to
unfathomable antiquity, which its professors assume, must at
length rest; that there is the strongest reason to suppose, that their
chronological scheme, in its pure state, was not widely different

137

from the moderate computation which the Mosaic writings give
concerning the age of the world; that before this limited period,
we see nothing but cycles of artificial construction, and an im-
mense space of unoccupied vacuity. We have seen, that the first
event, which its records clearly and unequivocally attest, is the
renovation of the present world from destruction by a flood; and
that the modern Hindoos, however solicitous to conceal or deny
the fact, can never rationally explain many of their fables, but b}^
an allusion to this catastrophe. In the sequel of our researches, a
striking coincidence has been discovered, between the geography
of the Puranas, and the Mosaical account of the origin and settle-
ment of nations, branching from three different stocks: and the
geography of the Puranas, however disfigured by wild allegory, is
in many instances, strikingly confirmed by the Grecian historians
and geographers. In the last place, we have attempted to shew,
that man was never left by his Creator without some revelation to
direct his steps; and what that revelation was, what promises it
unfolded, and what doctrines it was designed to inculcate, may
be collected from the concise information contained in the history
of Moses, compared with those traditions, which are yet to be
discovered in all the mythologies of the ancient, world.’'

“ In contemplating the moral character of the Hindoos, as taking
its complexion from their religion, we observe, that as their super-
stitious ritual presents a strange mixture of images, sanguinary and
voluptuous, an intimate union between obscene mirth and austere
devotion; so the manners of its followers have been actuated by
contending and contradictory principles; a circumstance which

T

138

has excited much wonder, and given birth to much erroneous and
unprofitable speculation. While, on the one hand, the native of
Uindostan has been represented as shuddering at the sight of
human blood, as carrying this terror to the most troublesome ex-
cess; to an excess, which prevents him from destrojung the most
noxious animals, or of partaking of such as were designed for the
use of man; and while he has been represented as sunk in the
most degrading inactivity; on the other hand, the same character
is distinguished by such acts of deliberate cruelty, of undaunted
resolution, and of painful and continued exertion, as sometimes
astonish, and sometimes disgust; such acts as surpass all credibi-
lity, and even exceed description. This union, so unnatural and
discordant, can never be distinctly explained nor understood, but
by tracing the steps which led to its formation; by shewing in
what manner the different kinds of superstition have been so
blended with each other, as, at length, to compose one confused
whole.’"

“ ’J’he facts which have been adduced, will contribute to decide
how far the national character may be influenced by climate; and
and how far the power of religious enthusiasm may exclude
climate from any share in its formation. We here behold a people,
living under a temperature favourable to voluptuousness, and, in
some measure, taking the complexion of their national character
from its influence: living in that state of oscitancy, which arises
from natural imbecility, or oppressed by that lassitude which pro-
ceeds from intemperate gratification. But we also see the same
people, when the force of religious impressions stimulates their

139

natural indolence, displaying instances of self-denial, of laborious
and painful exertion, which almost exceed belief/'

“ We may behold the native of Hindostan, whose form is na-
turally of a tender texture, and whose body is enfeebled by age,
patient of fatigue, careless of danger, taking his long and painful
journey from the Ganges to the Volga, to offer up a prayer at the
shrine of his god. We may behold him at another time, relin-
quishing every worldly connection, subduing every feeling of self-
love, and all the sympathies of social life, “ motionless as a tree,
and fixing his eyes on the solar orb’’ until exhausted nature sinks,
or despair prompts him to devote himself to the fury of the Hood
or fire.’5

“ In a country, where the superior orders have repressed every
hope, and precluded even the possibility of advancement in those
below them; where indolence may be indulged without any call
to activity, and where tyranny may be exercised without fear of
resistance; it is impossible that there should not be, on the one
hand, capricious rigour, and, on the other hand, ignorance and
servility. Though such a variety of opinion on religious subjects
is prevalent throughout Hindostan, and though even the Brahmi-
nical hierarchy itself is, at the present time, nothing more than an
oligarchical form of government, yet its power is not less arbitrary
because its operations are desultory and partial. Its influence is
felt in a greater or ]ess degree throughout India; and wherever it
is felt it is converted into an instrument of evading just demand,
or of enforcing immoderate exactions/’

“ Happy then are they, who live under the benign influence of

140

a religion, in which the Deity is represented, not as a stern and
inflexible tyrant, delighting in the sufferings of his slaves; but as
a kind and compassionate parent, who rejoices in the happiness of
his offspring; in which human life is represented, not as a state of
servitude, but as a state of discipline; in which the Almighty does
not address himself to man in the accents of terror, but speaks to
him in the same consolatory voice in which he once proclaimed
himself to his chosen people of old, “ The Lord, the Lord God-
merciful and gracious, long suffering, abundant in goodness and
truth.” *

These illustrations form an excellent answer to the queries put,
thirty years ago, by Bishop Watson, when Archdeacon of Ely, to
the clergy of that diocese; and seem such a fulfilment to the
almost prophetical spirit in which he then delivered the following
part of his charge, as must afford a high gratification to that vene-
rable prelate, whose life has been preserved to witness the light of
truth dispelling pagan darkness; and withdrawing the veil from
the traditional fables, and erroneous data of the Hindoo chro-
nology.

“ To men whose minds are chained to the earth by the sordid
pursuits of wealth, or the empty ones of ambition; who are debi-
litated by sensual pleasure, or rendered torpid to every arduous
exertion, by habitual inactivity; who, unconscious of its import-
ance, fritter away this short period of existence in a frivolous at-
tention to trivial concerns; in a slavish subserviency to the uniform

'* Carwithen’s Lectures,

141

prejudices of the age or country in which they happen to be bom;
to men of this complexion every attempt to investigate the nature
of this earth, or the history of its inhabitants, will appear a chime-
rical undertaking, originating in idle speculation, and terminating
in useless conjecture. But notwithstanding the indifference which
many men feel respecting every intellectual accomplishment, which
happens not to fall in with their particular mode of study, or
apprehension, 1 doubt not but there are many of a contrary turn,
who would zealously sacrifice their health, riches, and repose, in
support of any liberal and enlarged plan, which might be con-
certed for bringing us acquainted with the general history of our
species.

“ Concerning the various colonies, which, in process of time,
after the deluge, traversed the plains of Asia, from the Indus to the
Ganges, from the Ganges to the extremity of China, Taitary, and
Japan, profane history is wholly silent, or speaks with extreme
diffidence and uncertainty. There can no possible reason, I think,
be assigned, why the descendants of Noah should have all gone in
one direction; for the part of the globe to the east of the settle-
ment of Noah and his family, after the flood, was peopled in all
likelihood as soon as that to the wTest. Arts and sciences have
been as successfully cultivated, and the contest for power may
have been as sharp, and may have produced as many great mo-
narchies amongst the inhabitants of the eastern portion of the
globe, as we know they did in the western.

142

■ — “ Medus ademit

c‘ Assyrio, Medoque tulit moderamina Perses.
“ Subjecit Persen Macedo: cessurus et ipse,
“ Romanis.”

These lines of Claudian contain a compendium of all the ancient
history, which the Greeks and Romans, and we, through them,
have had any account of: but we have good reason to believe,
that could the synchronous histories of Ilindostan, Thibet, Siam,
and China, be obtained, they would be well worthy of our atten-
tion. For if a skill in manufactures be a sign of civilization, we
know from various authorities, that the Indians and Chinese were
as much superior to the most ancient nations of the western world,
in the arts of dying, japanning, weaving of silk, and linen, and
other trades, as they are at present to us. And if we may be
allowed to draw any conclusions from the immense buildings now
existing, and from the little of the inscriptions which can be inter-
preted on several of the choultries and pagodas, I think it may
safely be pronounced, that no part of the world has more marks
of antiquity for arts, sciences, and civilization, than the peninsula
of India, from the Ganges to Cape Comorin.

44 We yet know nothing, or next to nothing, of the treasures of
eastern learning; but, from what we do know, there is no reason
why we should be deterred from endeavouring to know more.
Proverbs and poems have their graces and their uses: but from
eastern learning we derive more substantial benefits than what can
be expected from such compositions. We owe algebra entirely to
the Indians, or Arabians: chemistry, medicine, natural history,

143

geography, and many of the abstract sciences are indebted to the
Arabians, it not for their birth, at least for their support and pro-
tection, when they were abandoned by all the states of Europe.

“ The writings of Moses have hitherto been considered as the
oldest in the world; but in the preface to the Code of Gentoo
Laws, we are told of a curious history of India composed four
thousand years ago, and from thence tracing mankind upwards,
through several millions of years. This, and all the rest that is
delivered concerning the great antiquity of the annals of India,
you and I may probably be disposed to consider as a mere fable;
but there are many, neither profligate in their manners, nor desti-
tute of talents, who have not the same veneration for the writings
of Moses that we have; and they may consider the Indian annals
delivered down by the ancient Brahmins, to be as authentic as
those of the Bible; at least they will be perplexed with an uneasy
scepticism, from which nothing but a further examination into the
Indian writings can free them. God forbid, that the search of
truth should be discouraged for fear of its consequences! The con-
sequences of truth may be subversive of systems of superstition;
but they never can be injurious to the rights, or well founded
expectations of the human race. We believe the Scriptures, and
our hopes of eternal life are built on their truth; but we trust, that
no faith can be acceptable to God which is not grounded on rea-
son; and as reasonable beings, we wish not to entertain any hopes,
the foundations of which can be shaken by the most rigid inquiry
into the history of mankind.

“ But the antiquity of the Indian annals is not the only cir-
cumstance which seems to militate against the Mosaic history; we

144

are told, that the Gentoo scriptures make no mention of the de-
luge; and that the Bramins affirm, that the deluge never took
place in Hindostan. Now, 1 look upon the deluge to be a circum-
stance of such a singular nature, that, supposing it to have hap-
pened, the memory of it could never have been extinguished
amongst the generality of the nations which inhabit the earth. It
is not, according to the most received chronology, much above
four thousand years since that great event look place; and if any
individual had the means of tracing back his pedigree through less,
perhaps, than an hundred and forty generations, he would find
either Shem, Ham, or Japhet, to have been his great progenitor.
It is very possible for a tradition, which has passed through so
many hands, to have been much altered; yet the tradition of so
signal a calamity as the destruction of the human race by a deluge,
could not, I conceive, have been wholly lost, except perhaps
amongst a few nations utterly buried in barbarism. And, in fact,
learned men have abundantly proved, that a tradition concerning
a deluge has prevailed in every quarter of the globe; not only
amongst the Romans, Grecians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians,
Scythians; but amongst the Iroquoix, Mexicans, Brazilians, Pe-
ruvians, and other nations of America; and 1 have been informed
by one of the navigators to the southern hemisphere, that the
inhabitants of Otaheite being asked concerning their origin, simply
answered, that their supreme God, a long time ago, being angry,
dragged the earth through the sea, and their island, being broken
off, was preserved. Now if a tradition concerning a deluge has
prevailed in almost every part of the globe, except in India, may it
not be reasonable for us to hesitate a little, till we know more of that

145

country, before we positively affirm that they have no such tradi-
tion, especially when there is a diversity of testimony upon the
subject?

“ If, therefore, we should be able to find in the history of the
eastern nations, as certain traditions concerning a deluge, and as
certain proofs of the invalidity of their pretensions to any great
antiquity, as are confessedly to be met with in every other quar-
ter of the globe, should we not have great reason to acquiesce
in the account given by Moses of the deluge, and the subsequent
spreading of the descendants of Noah over all the earth, notwith-
standing the difficulties which may attend our endeavours to ex-
plain the manner in which the deluge was effected, or the doubts
which some have suggested concerning its ever having taken place,
from their not being able to discover any vestiges of it on the sur-
face of the earth.”

Happily since this learned Prelate delivered his excellent, charge

to the clergy of Ely, Sir William Jones, and many other gentlemen

of taste and judgment, have made deep researches into the sacred

books of the Hindoos, and have solved all these difficulties: and,

as is clearly slated in the preceding extracts from a view of the

Brahminical religion (of which I hope to be excused the repetition

of a few words), it is proved, “ that in common with all other na-

“ tions, the Hindoos have preserved some indistinct remembrance

“ of the antediluvian generations, and the antediluvian personages

“ mentioned in the Jewish scriptures. But the first great and im-

“ porlant event which they attest clearly and unequivocally, is the

awful catastrophe of the general destruction of the world by a food;

u

66

146

4< and therefore it is from that point, that the monuments of profane
“ antiquity are properly called in, to confirm the truth of the
56 sacred history/'

t

CHAPTER VIII.

A VIEW OF THE SOCIETY AND MANNERS OF THE
ENGLISH IN INDIA;

AND PARTICULARLY IN THE ISLAND OF BOMBAY.

Quieto et pure atque eleganter actae aetatis placida ac lenis recordatio.

The soothing and calm remembrance of a life passed with quiet, innocence, and elegance.

Cicero.

In all my wandering round this world of care.
In all my griefs — and God has given my share,
I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown.

In Albion’s happy isle to lay me down:

My anxious day to husband near the close.

And keep life’s flame from wasting, by repose :
I cherish’d hopes, for pride attends us still.
Amidst my English friends to shew my skill;
Around my fire an evening group to draw.

And tell of all I felt, and all I saw.

Goldsmith, altered.

. 3

CONTENTS.

Town of Bombay — fortifications — harbour — docks — marine yard —
public buildings — hospitals —ecclesiastical establishment — English
houses— verandas — villas — bazar — Asiatic houses— extensive com-
merce of Bombay — civil and military establishment — courts of
justice — amiable character of the European inhabitants — furniture ,
equipage , servants — purvoes — domestic arrangement — moonlight
evenings - — Dr. Fryer s account of Bombay in the seventeenth cen-
tury, on the first establishment of the English, compared with its
modern history — small salary allowed by the India Company to their
junior servants, the cause of much distress — representation in con-
sequence— not noticed in England — a second letter to the governor
and council — melancholy statement accompanying it— the governor’s
minute — pecuniary redress in consequence.

9f

LL

View of Bombay cmeef

CHAPTER VIII.

I shall conclude my letters on Bombay with a short account of
the European inhabitants, and their mode of living at that settle-
ment. The principal town takes its name from that of the island,
and is situated near the harbour, at the southern extremity; on the
north side is a smaller town, called Mahim, and several villages in
different parts of the country.

The town of Bombay is about two miles in circumference,
surrounded by modern fortifications; with a fosse, draw-bridges,
three principal gates, and several sally-ports; but the works having
been constructed under different engineers, without any regular
plan, cannot boast of the strength or uniformity which would
otherwise have characterized them.

The harbour is large, and secure from the storms and hurricanes
which are very frequent and destructive at Surat bar, and on the
Malabar coast: near it were three excellent docks, which I believe
are since increased in number; and a spacious marine-yard, amply
supplied with naval stores of every description: here they build
vessels of all sizes, from a ship of the line, to the smallest grabs
and gallivats, employed in the Company's service: the timber
used is chiefly teak (Tectona grandis), the most valuable of the

152

oriental forest-woods, and more durable than the oak: the master-
builders and shipwrights of the Parsee tribe, are very skilful, and
exact imitators of the best models from Europe.

When I left Bombay, the generality of the public buildings
were more useful than elegant: the government-house, custom-
house, marine-house, barracks, mint, treasury, theatre, and prison,
included the chief of these structures; there were also three large
hospitals, one within the gates for Europeans; another on the
esplanade for the sepoys, or native troops in the Company’s ser-
vice; and a third, on an adjacent island, for convalescents.

The only Protestant church on the island stood near the centre
of the town; a large and commodious building, with a neat tower:
there was also a charity school for boys, and a fund for the poor,
belonging to the church of England: there were seldom more than
two chaplains belonging to the Bombay establishment when I was
in India; the one resided at the Presidency; the other, alternately
at Surat and Baroche, where were considerable European garrisons.
The Roman Catholics had several churches and chapels in different
parts of the island ; and enjoyed every indulgence from the English
government.

Idie English houses at Bombay, though neither so large nor
elegant as those at Calcutta and Madrass, were comfortable and
well furnished; they were built in the European style of architec-
ture, as much as the climate would admit of; but lost something
ot that appearance by the addition of verandas, or covered piazzas,
to shade those apartments most exposed to the sun; when illumi-
nated, and fdled with social parties in the evening, these verandas
gave the town a very cheerful appearance: but since I left India,

15$

the town-houses have been almost deserted by the English, who
reside entirely at their country villas; the gentlemen only go to the
fort in the morning, to transact their business; devoting the even-
ing to domestic pleasure, and convivial meetings at their garden-
houses.

The large bazar, or the street in the black-town, within the
fortress, contained many good Asiatic houses, and shops stood
with merchandize from all parts of the world, for the Europeans
and natives. These shops were generally kept by the Indians,
especially the Parsees; who, after paying the established import
customs, were exempted from other duties.

Bombay was then one of the first marts in India, and employed

a great number of vessels in its extensive commerce; Bussorah,

Muscat, Ormuz, and other ports in the Persian Gulph, furnished

its merchants with pearls, raw-silk, Cannenia wool, dates, dried

fruits, rose water, oltar of roses, and several other productions.

Arabia supplied them with coffee, gold, drugs, and honey. A

number of ships annually freighted with cotton and bullion to

China, returned laden with tea, sugar, porcelain, wrought silks,

nankeens, and a variety of useful and ornamental articles. From

Java, Malacca, Sumatra, and the eastern islands, they brought

spices, ambergris, perfumes, arrack, and sugar: the cargoes from

Madagascar, the Comorro isles, Mosambique, and other ports on

the eastern coast of Africa, consisted chiefly of ivory, slaves, and

drugs: while the different parts of India produced cotton, silk,

muslin, pearls, diamonds, and every precious gem; together with

ivory, sandal-wood, pepper, cassia, cinnamon, and other luxuries

This valuable commerce was carried on by vessels belonging to

x

154

the European and native merchants settled at Bombay; totally
independent and unconnected with the trade of the East India
Company. The exports consisted of English woollen-cloths of
every description; with copper, iron, lead, and other European
staples, purchased at the Company’s sales by the native merchants,
both at Bombay, and from the continent. A great deal of cotton,
imported in boats from Surat, Earache, Ahmood, and Jamboseer,
was shipped in large vessels at Bombay for Madras, Bengal,
and China. The Portuguese from Goa, Damaun, and Europe,
carried on a trifling trade with Bombay; but the French, Dutch,
and Danish ships seldom touched there; the American intercourse
with India was then in its infancy.

The government of Bombay, in its civil and military depart-
ments, courts of justice, and other arrangements, was established
by the East India Company under the royal charter; but the
system has of late years been so often changed, that I decline
entering upon the subject. During my residence there, a simple
and regular system in the different establishments seemed to an-
swer all the necessary purposes of government, and every thing
was conducted with order and propriety.

I never visited Bengal or Madras, but I have been at all the
settlements subordinate to Bombay, from Ahmed-abad to Anjengo;
and I can assert, that the character of the English in India is an
honour to their country : in private life, they are generous, kind,
and hospitable; in their public situations, when called forth to
arduous enterprize, they conduct themselves with skill and mag-
nanimity: and, whether presiding at the helm of the political
and commercial department, or spreading the glory of the British

155

arms, with courage, moderation, and clemency, the annals of
Hindostan will transmit to future ages names dear to fame, and
deserving the applause of Europe. As husbands, fathers, masters,
they cannot easily be excelled; and in private friendship, they
act with true nobility of soul. Friendship, illustrated in its more
general sense, by unostentatious acts of humanity and benevolence,
shines in India with conspicuous lustre; distress never pleads in
vain, and the milk of human kindness flows in ample streams.
How often have the sons and daughters of misfortune experienced
the blessed effects of oriental benevolence! how often have the
ruined merchant, the disconsolate widow, and the helpless orphan,
been relieved by the delicate and silent subscription, amounting
in a few hours to several thousand pounds, without the child of
sorrow knowing its benefactors! And here, with all the milder
virtues belonging to their sex, my amiable countrywomen are en-
titled to their full share of applause. This is no fulsome panegyric;
it is a tribute of truth and affection, to those worthy characters
with whom I so long associated. It will be confirmed by all who
have resided in India; and Mr. Bud worth, in his pleasant Ramble
to the Lakes, mentioning the kindness of Colonel Duff, and several
of his brother officers, during his distresses in Bengal, justly ob~
serves, that “ similar instances are not unusual in India: the heart
expands in proportion to the distance from their native country,
and the frequent warfare they are engaged in; and war ever brings
home the soldier’s feelings to the noblest effects. A systematic
cold-blooded Indian is almost a phenomenon in their armies.”

I have not the smallest intention of praising the Anglo-Indians
at the expense of my countrymen at home: the seeds of philam

tlirop v and benevolence, which every where adorn the English
character, impregnated in their native soil, flourish vigorously
when transplanted in a foreign country, where fortunes are gene-
rally more easily obtained than in Europe; where a distressed
individual, separated from parents, friends, and every natural
source of redress, seems to have a double claim upon the compas-
sion of his more fortunate comrades; and where an annual increase
of wealth admits of more unrestrained bounty than a limited in-
come. During my abode in India, there were no arts or sciences
to patronize; no literary or charitable institutions to support; and
neither hospitals nor infirmaries to call forth private benevolence;
the Company provide for the Europeans, and the natives in gene^
ral, take care of their own poor: the chief expenses of the English
are therefore confined to convivial pleasures, and domestic arrange-
ments: whereas, in Britain's favoured isle, how abundant are the
channels for an ample fortune; and how numerous the worthies
who appropriate a very considerable portion of their income to
Felieve the distresses of their fellow creatures!

As far as the climate admits, the English fashion in houses,
equipage, and dress, is generally adopted: very few ladies or
gentlemen kept European servants; the former were better served
by young female Malabars, trained by themselves; and by negro,
or Malabar boys, who were our favourite personal attendants;
while the upper servants were usually Mahomedans and Parsees-;
men of character and family, in most respects preferable to Euro-
peans, and less expensive. Our clerks and writers were mostly
Hindoos, who from being liable to so many religious and ceremo-
nial pollutions, were seldom domestic servants; these writers at

15 7

Bombay are generally called Purvoes; a faithful diligent class,
much attached to their employer, careful of his interest, accurate
in their accounts, and very often such exact imitators of his hand-
writing, that it is impossible in a long letter to discriminate the
fac-simile from the autograph: such an amanuensis is peculiarly
useful in a country where the conveyance of letters was then so
precarious, that both in public and private dispatches, it was
necessary to send duplicate and triplicate copies.

When 1 resided at Bombay, early hours prevailed throughout
the presidency and its subordinate settlements: these are now
altered to the more fashionable routine of England. The morning
was then dedicated to business; every body dined at one o’clock;
on breaking up, tire companj'' went to their respective houses to
enjoy a siesta, and return after a walk or ride in the country, to
pass the remainder of the evening, and sup where they had dined.
Our rural excursions in that climate are early in the morning, or
after the sun declines: the twilight, so near the equator, is short;
but the mildness and serenity of the moonlight nights render them
peculiar]}7 delightful: there indeed we behold the nocturnal lumi-
nary “ walking in her brightness,” without a vapour to dim the
“ sweet influences of the Pleiades, or veil the bands of Orion.”
Such a spectacle naturally disposes the mind to solemn musings;
and, while enjoying the western breeze on the flat roofs of the
oriental houses, and beholding the celestial canopy so gloriously
adorned, it is impossible not to meditate with pious awe on the
Great Parent of the universe,

" Who gives its lustre to the insect’s wing.

And fills with glory the celestial world l” i

158

Having now given an account of the natural history of Bombay,
and of its native and European inhabitants, towards the conclusion
of the eighteenth century, it may not be uninteresting to contrast,
it with a few particulars respecting that island about an hundred
years before, from the letters of Dr. Fryer, who went there in l6‘73,
ten years after it had been ceded to the English, as part of the
marriage portion of Catharine of Portugal.

“ On the English taking possession of Bombay in 1664, they
found a pretty well seated, but ill fortified house; four brass guns
being the whole defence of the island; unless a few chambers
housed in small towers in convenient places, to scour the Malabars,
who heretofore have been more insolent than of late; adventuring
not only to seize their cattle, but depopulate whole villages by their
outrages; either destroying them by fire and sword, or compelling
to a worse fate, eternal and intolerable slavery.

“ About the house was a large garden, voiced to be the plea-
santest in India, intended rather for wanton dalliance, love’s artii-
leiy, than to make resistance against an invading foe: for, the
Portugals generally forgetting their pristine virtue, lust, riot, and
rapine, the ensuing consequences of a long undisturbed peace,
where wealth abounds, are the only remarkable reliques of their
ancient worth; their courages being so much effeminated, that it
is a wonder to most how they keep any thing; if it were not that
they have lived among mean-spirited neighbours. But to return
to this garden of Eden, or place of terrestrial happiness, it would
put the searchers upon as hard an inquest as the other has done
its posterity. The walks which before were covered with nature’s
verdant awning, and lightly pressed by soft delights, are now open

159

to the sun, and loaded with hardy cannon: the bowers dedicated
to rest and ease, are turned into bold rampires for the watchful
centinel to look out on; every tree that the airy choristers made
their charming choir, trembles, and is extirpated at the rebounding
echo of the alarming drum; and those slender fences, only designed
to oppose the sylvan herd, are thrown down, to erect others of a
more warlike force.

“ Not far from the fort lies the town, about a mile in length;
the houses are low, and thatched with olas of the cocoa-nut trees;
all but a few the Portugals left, and some few the Company have
built; the custom-house and warehouses are tiled or plaistered;
and instead of glass, they use panes of oyster-shells for their win-
dows; which, as they are cut in squares, and polished, look grace-
fully enough. There is also a reasonable handsome bazar.

“ At the end of the town, looking into the field, where cows
and buffaloes graze, the Portugals have a pretty house and church,
with orchards of Indian fruit adjoining. The English have only a
burying-place, called Mendam’s Point, from the first man’s name
there interred, where are some few tombs that make a pretty shew
at entering the harbour; but neither church nor hospital, both
which are mightily to be desired. There are no fresh-water rivers,
nor falling streams of living water: that usually drank is rain-water
preserved in tanks; which decaying, they are forced to dig wells,
into which it is strained, hardly leaving its brackish taste; so that
the better sort have it brought from Massagon, where there is only
one fresh spring.

“ In the gardens of India, are gourds of all sorts for stews and
pottage, herbs for salad, and some flowers, as jasmin, for beauty

160

and delight; there also flourish pleasant tops of plantains;
cocoas; guavas, which are a kind of pear; jacs, with a coal of
armour over it like a hedge-hog's, to guard its weighty fruit, oval
without from the space of a span, within in fashion like unto squills
parted; mangos, the delight of India, a plum; pomegranates;
bananas, which are a sort of plantain, though less, yet much more
grateful; betel, which must not be slipped by in silence; it rises
out of the ground twelve or fourteen feet in heighth, the body of
it green and slender, jointed like a cane, the boughs flaggy and
spreading; under whose arms it brings forth from its pregnant
womb, which bursts when her month is come, a cluster of green
nuts, like walnuts in green shells, but different in the fruit, which
is hard when dried, and looks like a nutmeg.

“ Near the towns of Bombaim and Mahim, are woods of
cocoas; these hortoes being the greatest purchase and estates on
the island, for some miles together. Up the bay a mile lies Mas-
sagon, a great fishing- town, peculiarly notable for a fish called
bum halo, the sustenance of the poorer sort: here the Portugals
have another church, and religious house, belonging to the Fran-
ciscans. Beyond it is Pared, where they have another church, and
demesnes belonging to the Jesuits, to which appertain Siam, or
Sion, upon a hill. Under these uplands the washes of the sea
produce a 1 unary tribute of salt, left in pans or pits, made on pur-
pose at spring tides, for the overflowing; and when they are full,
are incrustated by the heat of the sun. At Mahim the Portugals
have another complete church and house; the English a pretty
custom-house and guard-house: the Moors have also a tomb in
great veneration for a peon, or prophet, instrumental in quenching

161

the flames that were approaching their prophet Mahomet's tomb
at Mecca, by the fervency of his prayers, he being at that time at
Mahim, in the island of Bombay. At Salvesong, the furthest part
of this inlet, the Franciscans enjoy another church and convent;
this side is all covered with trees of cocoas, jacs, and mangos: in
the middle lies Verulee, where the English have a watch. On the
other side of the great inlet, to the sea, is a great point abutting
against Old Woman’s island, and is called Malabar-hill, a rocky
woody mountain, yet sends forth long grass. A-top of all is a
Parsee tomb, lately reared; on its declivity towards the sea, the
remains of a stupendous pagod, near a tank of fresh water, which
the Malabars visit it mostly for.

“ The President has a large commission, and is vice-regis; he
has a council here also, and a guard when he walks or rides abroad,
accompanied by a parly of horse: he has his chaplain, physician,
chyrurgeons, and domestics; his linguist and mint-master: at
meals he has his trumpets usher in his courses, and soft music at
his table: if he moves out of his chamber, the silver staves wait on
him; if down stairs, the guard receives him; if he go abroad, the
Bandarines and Moors, under two standards, march before him:
he goes sometimes in his coach, drawn by large milk-white oxen,
sometimes on horseback, and at other times in a palankeen;
always having a sumbrero of state carried over him: and those of
the English inferior to him, have a suitable train. But for all this
gallantry, I reckon they walk but in charnel-houses, the climate
being extremely unhealthy.”

“ Happy then are those, and only those, brought hither in their

nonage, before they have a gust of our Albion; or next to them,

r

such as intoxicate themselves with Lethe, and remember not their
former condition. When it is expostulated, is this the reward of
an harsh and severe pupilage? Is this the elysium after a tedious
waftage! For this will any thirst, will any contend, will any for-
sake the pleasures of his native soil, in his vigorous age, to bury
himself alive here? Yet this abroad and unknown is the ready
choice of those to whom poverty threatens contempt at home:
what else could urge this wretched remedy? For these are untrod-
den paths for knowledge, little improvement being to be expected
from barbarity. Custom and tradition are only venerable here;
and it is heresy to be wiser than their forefathers; — whereby society
and communication, the characteristic of man, is wholly lost.
What then is to be expected here, where sordid thrift is the only
science? After which, notwithstanding there is so general an in-
quest, few there be acquire it: for in five hundred, one hundred
survive not; of that one hundred, one quarter get no estates; of
those that do, it has not been recorded, above one in ten years
has seen his country.”

I will not make any further extracts from Dr. Fryer’s interest-
ing letters; nor particularize the numerous diseases, inconveniences,
and unpleasant manners and customs which then prevailed among
the European inhabitants of Bombay. When I arrived there, most
things were on a pleasant medium between the evils of that period,
and the present refined and luxurious mode of living: comfort,
hospitality, and urbanity, then characterized the settlement: some
of the 3munger classes thought there was rather too much subordi-
nation and economy: no government can exist without a proper
degree of the former, and there was no alternative between living

with the greatest economy, or contracting debts; which, at the
common interest of nine per cent, annually compounded, soon
swelled the amount to an enormous sum, and involved the bor-
rower in distress and difficulty for many years. The small salaries
then allowed by the Company to their junior servants, occasioned
much inconvenience and anxiety to those who had no other re-
sources for their maintenance; and caused us, at different times,
to address two letters upon the subject, to the government of
Bombay; which will hardly be credited by the young gentlemen
who now occupy the same situation in the Company’s service: I
introduce them in evidence of these assertions, and to convince
the English reader, that those who dedicate their best years in the
torrid zone, in the service of their country, are not to be envied
their independence when they return to their native land: and it
must also be remembered, that very few, comparatively, ever
enjoy that blessing: how many of that fortunate class may now
be reckoned, I am not competent to decide; but thirty or forty
years ago, the average of the calculations at the India House, re-
specting those of every description who went to the different
settlements in India, including the Company’s recruits, and of
those who returned home, was, I am informed, in the proportion
of eighty-three to one.

To the Honourable Thomas Hodges, Esquire , President and
Governor , #c. Council on Bombay.

Honourable Sir, and Gentlemen,

We the undersigned, who have the honour to be employed
as writers on this establishment, to the Honourable East India
Company, do humbly beg leave to prefer to your Honour, &c. a
request, which we assure ourselves will not be deemed unrea-
sonable.

The Honourable Company have been generously pleased to
allow an ample increase of pay to their servants, military and
marine, by which they are enabled decently to support themselves;
and with their usual and known goodness, have at the same time,
unsolicited, thought proper to grant us an increase of salary of
ten pounds per annum; for which our warmest acknowledgements
are due; and we take this opportunity of expressing our liveliest
sentiments of gratitude; and animated by a proper sense of their
kind indulgence, shall make due return, by constant and punctual
obedience to their orders, and perseverance with steady and unre-
mitting application to business.

Fearful, lest it might be construed into an abuse of our Ho-
nourable masters’ generosity, it is with peculiar reluctance we do
at such a time, take the liberty of assuring your Honour, &c. that
their generous and free donation, added to our former pittance,
managed with the strictest economy, is not nearly adequate to
the expenses we are necessarily and unavoidably subject to: we
think it needless to remind your Honour, Sec. of the dearness of

165

every kind of provision and necessaries, and that their rates are
daily enhancing; as you cannot but be thoroughly sensible of the
same; we are therefore under the necessity of troubling your
Honour, &c. with this address; most earnestly entreating you will
be pleased to give us such farther provision as to your Honour,
& c. shall seem meet.

We cannot help observing, that we deem it peculiarly hard
that an ensign on this establishment, shall receive sixty, nay, many
of them who have double posts, one hundred and twenty rupees
per month, while the generality of us have only thirty; that a
subaltern officer shall enjoy such an income as will enable him to
live genteelly, while too many of us are obliged to run in debt,
merely to subsist: and flattering ourselves that we are (at least
conscious of having endeavoured to render ourselves), equally de-
serving of encouragement, are emboldened to trouble you with
the above request; relying on your conviction of the justness of it,
we beg leave to subscribe ourselves,

Honourable Sir, and Gentlemen,

Your most obedient and faithful servants, &c.

Signed by myself, and sixteen
other writers.

Dated Bombay,

1st November, 1768.

I am sorry to observe, that although the preceding letter was
strongly recommended by the Governor and Council of Bombay
to the Court of Directors, they took no notice of it at home, nor

166

did we obtain any redress. At that time, I can safely affirm, I
lived in the most sparing manner, a writers income altogether not
exceeding sixty-five pounds per annum. I never drank wine at
my own table, and often went supperless to bed when the day
closed, because I could not afford either supper or candle: as the
dinner hour was one o’clock, and a writer’s age generally between
sixteen and twenty-one, the abstinence was not occasioned by a
want of appetite. During the bright moonlight evenings, I in-
dulged myself in reading on the flat roof of the writer’s apartments
at the bunder; where, through the medium of a cloudless atmos-
phere, I could peruse the smallest edition of Shakespeare without
inconvenience.

Those to whom these details may be uninteresting, will
have the goodness to pass over a few of the following pages:
to many, the next representation made by the civil servants
at Bombay, and the remarks accompanying it, will be grati-
fying: they will there see a candid statement of the civil esta-
blishment at that presidency, and a faithful account of the insol-
vencies, deaths, and fortune, of those gentlemen who devoted
themselves to the service of their employers at Bombay, and its
subordinate settlements, during a series of more than twenty years:
most families are now interested in the affairs of India, and have
some endeared connexion in that part of the world: although the
general system of the Company’s service may, in some respects, be
altered, most of the facts stated in the following representation,
respecting the civil servants at the different settlements in India,
are analogous to the curtailments and deprivations of the present
day.

167

Having received no satisfactory answer to the letters, or repre-
sentations, repeatedly made by the civil servants at Bombay, as to
the inadequacy of their salary, to the unavoidable expenses they
were liable to, on the 8th of October, 1777, the senior-merchants
at the Presidency, addressed the following letter to the Governor
and Council :

To the Honourable William Hornby, Esquire , President and
Governor , §c. Council on Bombay.

Honourabe Sir, and Gentlemen,

The justice and necessity of appointments to the civil
servants of the Company in general, more adequate to their real
wants of life, have been already so frequently and so feelingly
represented by you to the Honourable the Court of Directors, that
we should have remained longer silent on this subject, in hopes of
relief from them; but as it is now four years since the last refer-
ence was made, and not a line yet received in answer, we imagine
more material affairs have so engrossed their attention, that your
representations have utterly escaped their memory. For this reason,
and because our real necessities press so hard on several of us, as
to require instant relief; we have made bold to trouble you to
apply some immediate remedy to the peculiar hardship of our
present situation, which is that ol senior-merchants; most of us
out of employ, and, of course, from the nature of the service,
without means of subsistence from the Company, in the least ade-
quate to the common and indispensable necessaries of life.

Obvious as the hardship we complain of must be to every

member of your Honourable Board; yet as they may not so for-
cibly strike every person, we think it would be wanting in justice,
both to ourselves and to the other servants of the Company, who
in their turn must fall into our situation, if we let pass by this
opportunity of pointing out very clearly the nature and cause of
the peculiar hardship of it; that the Honourable the Court of
Directors may feel the justice and humanity of approving and
continuing the means, which we trust you will be pleased to apply
for the remedy of them.

To explain this matter clearly, it will be necessary to recur to
what we conceive to have been, and still to be, the spirit and
meaning of the Honourable Company in their appointments in the
civil line of their service.

From the ideas we ourselves set out to this country with, and
from those we find to be generally entertained both here and in
Europe, we conceive that the term of the first station in which the
civil servants of the Company are introduced into their service, is
meant as a term of probation; a kind of apprenticeship, to qualify
them for the future conduct and charge of affairs. The orders of
the Company justify this description; as by those orders, a writer
cannot be entrusted with any office where there is a responsibility;
nor is he admitted of council at any of the subordinates; or even
joined with a resident.

Pursuant to this idea, wc conceive the Company regulated
their appointment to them of thirty rupees per month; which to
every member of your Honourable Board must appear rather
meant as a token of their servitude, than as an adequate means of
subsistence: indeed we have better authority to ground our sup-

position on than these speculations, relative to the meaning of the
Company; there is hardly a writer sent out, but what the indivi-
dual gentlemen of the Direction, friends to their parents, recom-
mend those parents to send some money with their children; and.
to make them some allowances, because of the insufficiency of the
appointments of the Company during their writership, to the real
necessities of life here. We can speak for a certainty as to our-
selves: and there are of us, who can affirm, that having mentioned
to gentlemen of the Direction this insufficiency, the answer con-
firmed the ideas above attributed to the Company in their ap-
pointments: it was, that the writership was esteemed as an
apprenticeship in Europe; and that, conformable to the practice
there, young men must look to their friends for assistance during
that period.

It may at first appear strange, and even absurd, that this allow-
ance to a writer, not held adequate even to his subsistence, should
yet continue the same through every gradation of the service, even
until they arrive in council: to explain this, it is again necessary
to have recourse to the ideas entertained of the Company’s service,
and of the advantages arising from it.

It is almost needless to remind you, Gentlemen, that, after the
expiration of his writership, a servant of the Company becomes
by their orders capable of trust; that in consequence of this he is
admitted to be of the council at subordinates, where he of course
holds some office of trust: that from the emoluments of these
offices a senior servant of the Company could acquire a decent
maintenance until his arrival at council, when he would be enabled
to acquire that independent means of subsistence in the latter part

i7o

of life, and in our native country; the hope of which brings us all
to this.

These we believe are the ideas generally entertained of the Com-
pany’s service: for had not the Court of Directors understood, and
even allowed, the emoluments their servants become possessed of,
in course from their arrival at the rank of factors, progressively in-
creasing, till their arrival at council; we repeat, that had they not
supposed these things, it seems impossible that they should have
given into the most palpable contradiction to the nature of ail
other services, and even of their own, in every other branch but
the civil, by not increasing the allowances of their servants. The
pay of the military keeps increasing, from a cadet to an ensign, to
a lieutenant, to a captain, a major, a lieutenant-colonel, a full
colonel, to a general, proportionally as they advance in rank. The
marine does the same through every gradation; and even with
that exactness, that a ship of a lesser or greater rate occasions a
material difference of pay: whilst, by a contradiction to common
sense, without the supposition above alluded to, the subsistence of
a civil servant continues the same through every rank, whether a
writer or a senior merchant; whether he has served the Company
one hour or one and twenty years; whether he is fresh arrived,
and without acquaintance, or whether his first wants are increased
by a climate-worn constitution, a decent regard of appearances,
and a degree of conformity to the manners of the place, requisite
to preserve acquaintance, and the good opinion of the world;
whether married or single; in short, whatever may be his situation,
this diet money, which was never thought of as an adequate sub-
sistence, and is below the salary of the lowest clerks of the offices

171

in England, these thirty rupees per month, and this trifling salary,
are to be the sole dependance of an unemployed civilian for all
the necessaries of life. In this statement we have omitted the
allowance you were pleased to make for house rent, to those who
could not be furnished with apartments by the Company, because
it is rather a deduction than an increase: as you must well know,
Gentlemen, there are no habitable houses to be hired at so small a
rent as forty rupees, per month.

It would be necessary to apologize to \’our Honourable Hoard
for the detail we have been led into on this occasion, had not the
reason for it been before assigned. From what has been advanced,
one evident conclusion, we think, may be drawn, viz. that, in com-
mon with other gentlemen in their service, the Honourable Com-
pany alwaj^s meant and understood, that their civil servants should
possess adequate means of subsistence, proportionably to the rank
they bore by the course of the service; if was so formerly: but by
the number of servants, and the late contraction of the system
here, speculation and fact are in this case at variance; and we
who now address you, after having laboured in the service of the
Company from twelve to upwards of fourteen years, are worse than
expelled from it, as to the present; for we are left without ade-
quate means of subsistence from our employers; and precluded
from benefitting by the opportunities that offer to those who are
not in their service.

We beg leave to observe here, that the Honourable the Court
of Directors foresaw the distress that many of their servants would
infallibly be involved in, by the new modelling of this presidency.
That from a feeling for this distress, they pointed out what

17 2

appeared to them a mode of relief; by permitting five and twenty
of their servants at this presidency to be removed to the Bengal
establishment as writers of the year 1773. We humbly conceive
that they saw some advantages to us in this offer, that would
amply compensate for the sacrifice of those rewards which every
servant has a right to look to, after a course of fifteen or six-
teen years faithfully devoted to their service, in an unpropitious
climate, and banished from our country and our friends; or com-
mon humanity would not have permitted them to address those
servants in the language their letter by the Gatlon in fact amounts
to. “ You have served us twenty years, we cannot but say irre-
“ proachably: by the reduction of our system you are thrown out
“ of employ, and of course out of bread. We cannot help it:
“ there is no remedy: but if you choose it, you may begin a fresh
44 course of service in another quarter.” We conceive, that without
the supposition above alluded to, their humanity would have con-
ferred on us some rank more proportioned to the length of our
services: it might have been a hardship to some of their servants
at Bengal, but in strictness, we conceive it could not have been
an i injustice: it would not have been strangers to the Company,
who, by mere force of private interest, robbed them of their cove-
nanted rights; but servants of the same masters; equally, though
less beneficial, labourers with themselves; whom the necessities of
those masters compelled to provide for in a different line of ser-
vice; and therefore they might have borne this without just cause
of complaint, in the same manner that every person connected with
the Honourable Company must in some shape participate in all
their distresses.

173

If what we have learnt of the opinions expressed by some in
England of the general refusal of this offer be true, our surmises
are perfectly just: we have heard that this refusal has been attri-
buted to mere motives of pride; and inferences drawn from our
neglect of the benefit that must arise by a removal to Bengal; that
there are some secret advantages in the service here, which render
it not so unprofitable as it is represented to be. We hope there is
no just ground for this report. But in justice to ourselves, we
think it requisite to endeavour to remove opinions that may here-
after prove prejudicial to us, should an opening be afforded to
better our situation by a removal to one of the other presidencies.

As to the first cause assigned for our refusal, we beg leave to
observe, that the distinguished character which the Honourable
Company maintain in this part of the globe, renders their servants
an object of attention to the first men of it; quite inconceivable
to those who have never been in the way to observe that attention.
It is also notorious, and easily accounted for, that this attention
increases in proportion as they advance to power: it cannot then be
longer wondered at, that under such flattering circumstances, a secret
pride of rank should grow in the servants of the Company, in pro-
portion also to the years they have numbered in their service: but,
in our opinion, it is a pride that the Company ought to cherish: for
you will allow us, Gentlemen, that the attentions which give rise
to it are also greatly proportioned to the character and conduct of
the servants themselves: for it is well known, that there have been
men on w'hom rank could confer no respect, and who have passed
equally despised through almost every station of the service. On
this ground, which is the true one, we confess our pride; and we

74

must acknowledge for ourselves, that the proposition of the Com-'
pany conveyed to us an idea so degrading, that nothing but some
immediate assurance of completing the great object we all bear
in mind, could have overcome our repugnance to it. We cannot
better express our sense of it, than by supposing the case possible,
of an officer of rank in his Majesty’s army, on his regiment being
effectually reformed, a proposition to recommence his service in
another regiment under the youngest ensign of it.

But, Gentlemen, it was not this pride alone that occasioned our
non-acceptance. We have learnt, that to very junior servants, with-
out a very prevalent interest, Bengal does not afford those great ad-
vantages which were to compensate for our loss of rank: from our
informations, the service there is so overloaded in the junior part
of it, that a person ranking only from 1773, cannot reasonably
hope in the present slate of things to attain the higher offices by
course of service in less than thirty-five years. It is our misfortune
that we had not an interest to surmount those impediments: and
as to the advantages that were to result to a servant of fourteen or
fifteen years standing, who must then of course be past thirty, life
is so uncertain in this country, and the period so remote, that we
could not reasonably hope ever to enjoy the benefits of them: even
at this place also, a servant can hardly hope to arrive in council
from his first entrance in less than thirty years: yet, unpromising
as they are, we thought the prospects of a senior or junior mer-
chant still better by continuing with his rank in the present line of
service.

These were the reasons which induced our non-acceptance of
the offers of the Honourable the Court of Directors, and which we

believe were the cause that only one of their servants of the rank
of factor accepted them; and he was well assured of the patronage
of Mr. Francis, now lives with him, and we suppose, by such
powerful interest, will soon receive the reward of his sacrifices.

As to the second assertion, that there are some secret benefits
in the service, which render it not so unprofitable as it is repre-
sented to be, we wish to God, Gentlemen, we could discover
this to be true: to cut short the matter, we beg leave to present
the Honourable the Court of Directors with a list of their servants
for these twenty-two years past, and how disposed of: the true
inference will then strike them, viz. that there is a want at this
settlement of just and legal opportunities to acquire an indepen-
dence; unless they suppose (which they have no right to do), that
the servants of this settlement have wanted parts and industry to
embrace them: but if the Honourable the Court of Directors will
but please to examine the accounts from this place, they will not
he surprised at it: for they will at once perceive the few offices at
this presidency that yield any emolument to their servants; and
to the misfortune of those who have no interest in England, even
these emoluments can no longer be reckoned in the general esti-
mate of their service; for the attentions that have been paid to
some of the junior servants, secure to them, during their rise to
council, the best provision in the under part of the service, to the
exclusion of all others, whatever may be their ability or deserts.

It is foreign, Gentlemen, to our subject to animadvert on the
bad effects of this, in destroying a leading motive with every junior
servant to signalize himself to you by industry, and by an attention
to the Company’s affairs; but we hope to stand excused, if we

observe here, that this practice seems to us an infringement of our
original compact, by which we always understood that we were to
have enjoyed the common benefits of the service as we advance in
rank: until of very late years, it is well known, that the common
chance for these emoluments formed one of those benefits it was
stipulated we should enjoy.

Besides the emoluments of the service there is no certain mode
in this country of acquiring a rupee; for as to trade, Gentlemen,
we believe you will allow, from the observation of many years,
that it is in general a much more probable mode of sinking a for-
tune than of acquiring one: the road that has led nine men to rain
and one to fortune, is not a road that a prudent man will fall into;
and we believe, Gentlemen, that this may justly be said of mer-
chandizing, from the general experience of it: it is not our business
to point out the causes of it; nor should we have touched thus
lightly on the subject, but that it is well known the free liberty of
trade in any part of the Company’s limits is held out as a great
object: now you must well know, Gentlemen, that however advan-
tageous what is called the free liberty of trade may have proved
to some of the crowd of free merchants, free mariners, and unli-
censed interlopers, whose profits, it must be observed, have chiefly
arisen from their commission as factors, from which we are chiefly
precluded by the uncertainly of our residence; we repeat, that
whatever this free liberty of trade may have been to those persons,
it is notorious that, to the servants of the Company, restricted in
their residence, and liable at every moment to be ordered away
from their private concerns, it has proved only a free liberty to
ruin themselves, which too many have unfortunately embraced.

177

We must again apologize to you, Gentlemen, for this long
digression, and return to our subject: we repeat, that from what
we have advanced one conclusion may be drawn, that in common
with other gentlemen in their service, the Honourable Company
always meant and understood, that their civil servants should
possess adequate means of subsistence proportionably to the rank
they bear. It is evident to you, Gentlemen, that our receipts from
the Company will not supply the most common wants of life: it
is a truth notorious to the whole settlement, that our necessities
press very hard upon us; that we have not a rupee more than
what we receive from the Company, nor the means to acquire
one: as to those whose better fortunes in former times have placed
them in such a state that their present situation is not a case of
absolute distress, they still feel it as cruelly hard and unjust, that
their little savings should be wasting away to administer to those
necessities which they have certainly aright to expect should be
supplied by their employers.

In this situation. Gentlemen, we have no other resource but in
your justice and humanity; which we hope you will be pleased to
afford us, by granting us for the present such allowances as you
may deem adequate to the real wants of life here. We feel, with
its due force, the repugnance that every gentleman in station must
have to innovations tending to increase the expenses of the Com-
pany; nor would we have put you on the disagreeable task, if we
saw any hopes of relief from any other mode, or even from time
itself: for the continual appointments of the Honourable Company
to the subordinate stations in the service, cut us oft’ from any

assurance of employment in any reasonable time.

2 A

Although you have been unfortunately prevented from placing
the Company in such a situation, that the relief we request would
hardly have been perceived in their expenses, yet we hope you will
also bear in mind the present prosperous state of the Company’s
affairs, in the general system, of which this presidency is a neces-
sary part; and though unfortunately not profitable in itself, yet,
as it contributes to the safety and defence of the other, two, the
individuals who compose this part of the general system, should
be considered as contributing to the general prosperity; and not
reduced to a situation of distress from a partial view of the state
of affairs. From these circumstances we hope, Gentlemen, you
will consider, that if,, on one side, to grant our request is an inno-
vation, yet on the other, with eveiy man of humanity, the distress
of our situation will warrant it

We remain, with the greatest respect.

Honourable Sir, and Gentlemen,

Your most obedient, and very humble servants,

(Signed) Benjamin Hollamby.

William Gamul Farmer.

Richard Price.

William Arden.

George Stevenson.

James Forbes.

John Griffith.

Patrick Cravfued Bruce*-

John Dalton.

Bombay, j ■

Sill October, ] 777 ■ i

179

To the preceding letter was annexed a particular statement of
the Company's civil servants, from 1755 to 1777, amounting to-
get her to 187; which it is unnecessary to insert: not so the fol-
lowing remarks which were annexed to the melancholy catalogue
presented to the Governor and Council.

In the course of twenty-two years, from February 1755 to the
present period, three gentlemen have gone to England with for-
tunes acquired in the service; of the seventy-five gentlemen that
belonged to the establishment in 1755, forty-eight have died in
India: of these, eight had acquired, or had a prospect of fortunes ;
but twenty-five died positive bankrupts; and amongst these, were
those who had served the Company from twenty-four to thirty-
three years, and were of the council at Bombay: the remaining
fifteen died possessed of very little more than was sufficient to
defray their burial charges, although many of them had been from
twelve to twenty years in the service.

Previous to the year 1755, and until the year 1767, the general
rise to council was from eleven to fifteen years: from that period
it has become more tedious; the two gentlemen who are at pre-
sent next to council, have been twenty-two years in the Company's
service; and those who entered the service of late years have little
prospect of gaining that station under thirty years/’

On reading the preceding letter, the list of the Company's
servants, and remarks annexed, the Honourable William Hornby,
Esquire, President and Governor, made the following minute:
viz.

“ On perusal of the address from sundry of the senior mer-
chants, the following reflections arise to me:

180

“ That the conclusion they have drawn regarding the intentions
of the Company, seems a very just one, and warrantable both
from common justice, and the former state of the service; for it is
certainly but reasonable to think, that in common with other gen-
tlemen in their service, the Honourable Company always meant
and understood, that their civil servants should possess adequate
means of subsistence, proportionally to the rank they bear. I
must also agree with them in another point, that by the course of
the service it was in general so formerly.

“ I think also, that the gentlemen have been very moderate in
confining their request merely to a sufficiency for the real wants
of life: the situation of the senior civil servants seems to me very
hard, and so very disproportionate to that of the gentlemen on the
other establishments, and even in the other lines of their service
here, that common justice moves me to enter on this subject, and
to point out some certain fact, which, by tending to convince the
Honourable the Court of Directors of the truth of this, will at
least induce their acquiescence to the relief we may now think fit
to administer to the senior merchants, and I hope to some further
consideration.

“ There are only two methods by which a civil servant of the
Company can possibly be imagined to benefit. I mean by the
emoluments he receives from the Company, and by commerce: as
to the latter, the list produced with the address, and our general
knowledge, so strongly confirm the truth of their observations, 4 that
to a servant of the Company this is rather a road to rain than to
fortune/ that it renders any comment needless. And in the estimate
of the service, I shall confine myself solely to their hopes from the
benefit of it.

181

“ Throughout the service, under Council, there are not more
than ten or twelve appointments, which, by local advantages and
the emoluments of office, will yield any thing more than a main-
tenance; and these, I must concur with the address before me,
cannot now justly be reckoned in the general estimate of the ser-
vice; for, by the special appointment of the Court of Directors to
them, they are no longer a common chance. It follows then, that
in general the servants of the Company have nothing but their
immediate pay to depend on, and the trifling advantages of the
few offices on the island; which are not more than adequate to
their common expenses, without being in the least extravagant.
If then a decent competence to retire with to their native country
is but what every man who enters the service of the Company may
justly look to, how hard is their situation; for it is but too pre-
sumable, that, in the present state of things, they must be thirty
years rising to council, and then they must wait for some time
before the most reasonable wishes in point of fortune can be
gratified.

“ The whole system here is on so different a scale from what it
is at Bengal, that S would not be thought, with such a deficiency of
means, to wish to place the senior servants in the situation they are
there: yet I cannot help remarking the liberality of the Company
to their servants at that presidency in tiie common article of salary:
the mere salaries of the provincial councils of revenue, I am in-
formed, are as follow; the chief, 1200 rupees per month; the
second and third, 800 each; and the fourth and fifth, 700 rupees
each: these councils, I am also informed, are composed of senior
and junior merchants.

18S

44 But we have within ourselves a striking instance of disparity,
I mean m the military line: in the mode established by Lord
Clive in the distribution of the profits of salt, senior merchants
rank with lieutenant-colonels; and considering the years they ma}r
have served, I think that in point of emolument this parity is but
a just one: in this view we shall perceive the striking difference
betwixt the civil and military lines.

Rupees.

A lieutenant-colonel is in the annual receipt of 8994 or j[. 1124 5

A major do do ... . 6455 or 806 18

A senior merchant, unemployed .do ... . 1080 or 135 —

46 Besides these certain and constant receipts, the field officers
have a baita in the field in proportion to their increased expenses;
the chance of prize money; and are equally at liberty with every
other person to accumulate their savings, either at respondentia or
common interest.

44 I am very far from wishing to infer, that the appointments of
these gentlemen are more than adequate to the rank they bear, or
to the utility of able and experienced field officers: but as ap-
pointments in every service should bear some proportion to the
length of the service of individuals, it strikes me as very inadequate,
that, whilst these gentlemen are receiving from 800 to 1100 pounds
a year, a civil servant, who may have served the Company upwards
of twenty years, should receive only 135 pounds per annum:
which is precisely the receipt of the senior merchants who sign the
present address.

44 To return to the main subject of this letter, viz. the relief
requested by the subscribers of it from their present distress. In

deflecting on the mode of effecting this, it occurs to me, that of
the share of the Dewannee revenue, with which the Honourable
Company have been pleased to favour the members of the board
and the field officers, there remains now unappropriated the sum
of seventy thousand rupees; it seems but just and reasonable,
that the unappropriated part of a sum intended for the benefit
of their servants at Bombay, should be applied to the relief of
the gentlemen who have now requested relief from us. I there-
fore propose, that from the first of this month they receive an equal
share of the Dewannee. from this unappropriated fund with a lieu-
tenant-colonel; which, considering all things, will render their
receipts but adequate to their expenses.

“ It becomes not me to dictate to my Honourable employers
the degree of bounty they should confer on their civil servants; but
I cannot help observing, that, by the contraction of the system here,
there must at all times be some senior servants at the presidency,
who will have only their stated receipts from the Company to
depend on: and that these receipts should (as in other cases) bean
some proportion to their time of service, considering also that
senior merchants of from twenty to thirty years standing in the
Company’s service may be in this predicament; and that the pro-
posed addition will render their receipts no more than adequate to
their real wants, it seems to me but just and reasonable, that all
such as may hereafter be in the situation of the present gentlemen,
and are found deserving, should at least be entitled to this relief:
particularly as some of them, but for the reduction of the number
of the members of council, might have been strictly entitled to this
share of the Dewannee.

184

“ I therefore propose that this point shall be strictly recom-
mended to the Honourable Company; and I do it with the greater
confidence, because from the present amount of the unappropriated
fund, and the savings that will constantly arise from the sum now
appointed, by the reduction of the members to share in it, the fur-
ther sum to be occasionally granted from the Dewannee will be
very trifling; and, being from Bengal, will not be perceived in the
superabundant means they possess of administering to their own
charges, and to the Company's investment there.

William Hornby,
President and Governor/'

On a due consideration of the preceding address, and accom-
panying statement, with the minute made by the governor, when
they were read in council, the board unanimously agreed to allow
the senior merchants who signed the address, a share in the Dew-
annee-fund from Bengal, equal to that of a lieutenant-colonel,
being about 3600 rupees per annum; and they resolved also, that
the same allowance should be made to the chaplain, secretary,
and deputy-accomptant, in addition to their other salaries. This
rendered our situation comfortable, until we obtained an appoint-
ment at a subordinate settlement, and enjoyed the emoluments
annexed to such a situation.

CHAPTER IX.

FORT VICTORIA,

THE HOT WELLS AT DAZAGON,

AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE ADJACENT COUNTRY
IN THE CONCAN:

A JOURNEY FROM THENCE TO BOMBAY;

WITH SKETCHES OF THE GOVERNMENT, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS

OF THE MAHRATTAS.

177E

I conceive every traveller does well to submit to his country observations which have arisen
from local knowledge; since out of much dross it is possible some pure gold may be extracted;
and by whatever customs or prejudices mankind are enslaved,, that very circumstance renders the
knowledge of importance. An ok.

2 B

CONTENTS,

English settlement of Fort Victoria — adjoining country — Brahmin
village of Harrasar , beauty of the women , simplicity of their man -
ners — hot wells at Dazagon — effect of the 'waters— voyage thither
from Fort Victoria — prospect from Dazagon — extreme heat— hoi
winds — wild beasts, danger from tigers — chamelion of the Concan
— serpents — excavations in the mountains — Hindoo devotees, swing -
ers, jugglers, combatants , and vault ers — Marre — religious hermit
— Mahratta government— oppression of their subjects — commence-
ment of a journey to Bombay — number of attendants and necessa-
ries—corn ricks — Candhar — caravan of oxen— Vanj arras — Gaut
mountains — monsoons — Mahomeclan burying ground our dormitory
— ■ cultivation , gardens, and produce of the Concan ; river fish —
grain — corn mills — Guru , Hindoo high-priest — and other religious
castes — great respect paid them — value of water in India —charity
of digging wells — Mahomedan patriarch at Ram- Rajah — occa-
sional reflections there — reception at Allah Braug— hospitality of
the governor — Got able — visit from a Mahratta prince— his equi-
page, dress, and presents— family of Ragojee Angria — generosity
to his pundit— beautiful temple and ardens — excellent sentiments
of their founder — character of the Hindoos — superiority of Chris-
tianity—nymphea lotos — lot ophagi— foundation of the Mahratta
empire — method, of supplying travellers with provisions in Hindos-
tan — conclusion of the journey —reflections — comparison between
India and England in their most striking features — oppressions of
the oriental governments pervade every class of society — superior,
blessings of England f -

C H A P T E R IX.

After residing five years at Bombay, a slight indisposition
occasioned me to go for a few weeks to the hot-wells at Dazagon,
a village belonging to the Mahrattas, in the Concan, or Cokun,
near the English settlement, of Fort Victoria; a small fortress sixty
miles from Bombay, garrisoned by a company of sepoys, for the
protection of a few villages, and a small district in its vicinity: it
was then the residence of two gentlemen in the Company’s civil
service, who collected a trifling revenue, and procured cattle and
other articles for Bombay. This settlement was ceded by the
Mahrattas in 1756, for Ghereah, a place of far more importance,
then lately conquered by Admiral Watson and Lord Clive: during
the subsequent wars between the. English and Maharattas, it has
never been molested.

Fort Victoria is situated on a lofty hill, near the entrance of
Bancoote river, where there is also a lower battery: this river was
formerly navigable for large ships; but the sand bank at the
mouth constantly increasing during the south-west monsoon, it now
only admits a passage for small vessels. Its source is among the
eastern mountains; at a considerable distance from whence, wind-
ing through woody hills and fertile valleys, it receives some tribu-

tary streams, affords many delightful prospects, and abounds with
a variety offish and wiki fowl.

The western hills near Fort Victoria, from being exposed to
the sea wind, are bleak and barren: in the interior the lofty moun-
tains are covered with trees and underwood, which soften their
craggy precipices, and exhibit numerous springs, not common
in the torrid zone: these not only add considerable beauty to the
landscape, but cause an agreeable freshness in the atmosphere,
and add to the luxuriance of the cultivated vales, abounding with
rice, nalchnee, and other Indian grain.

The villages in the Company’s districts, generally inhabited by
Hindoos, are surrounded by cocoa-nut, tamarind, and mango
trees: the houses are small, seldom more than a thatched cottage;
but some of the dewals, or temples, situated in deep glens, over-
shadowed by the burr-tree, have a solemn appearance. These
secluded spots are occupied by Brahmins, whose religious ceremo-
nies are strangely contrasted by the antic tricks of the monkeys,
which, with green pigeons, bulbuls, and other birds, enliven the
surrounding groves.

We sometimes extended our rides for several miles into the
Mahratta country, and frequently visited the village of Harrasar,
celebrated for the sanctity of its temple, the beauty of the women,
and for having been the residence of the ancestors of the Brahmin
family who at present govern the Mahratta empire. It is inha-
bited by a high caste of Brahmins; the women are certainly ex-
tremely beautiful, characterized by an elegant form, antelope eyes,
and a fairer complexion than the lowrer classes of Hindoos: their
jetty locks are richly adorned with jewels; their garment consists

191

of a long piece of silk, or muslin, put on in graceful folds, falling
like the drapery of the Grecian statues.

The simplicity of the patriarchal age was realized in the rural
occupations of the women at Harrasar: the pastoral lives of the
Mesopotamian damsels, and many customs described by Homer,
still exist in the Brahmin villages of the Concan: there women of
the first distinction, like Rebeka and Rachel, draw water at the
public wells, tend the cattle to pasture, wash their clothes in the
tanks, and gather the flowers of the nymphea, for their innocent
sacrifice at the dewal, and its foliage for plates and dishes; which
are renewed every meal from the lotos, or some other vegetable
with a large leaf. The young women washing on the margin of
the lakes, resemble Homers picture of Nausicaa, a Pheacian
princess, washing her brothers nuptial garments.

cr They seek the cisterns, where Pheacian dames
“ Wash their fair garments in the limpid streams;

<f Where gathering into depth from falling rills,
v “ The lucid wave a spacious basin fills :

“ Then emulous the royal robes they lave,

“ And plunge the vestures in the cleansing waves ;

“ Then with a short repast relieve their toil.

And o’er their limbs diffuse ambrosial oil;

“ And while the robes imbibe the solar ray,

“ O’er the green mead the sportive virgins play.” Homer's Odyssey .

These delightful recreations soon restored me to health ; so that
I had little occasion to bathe or drink at the hot-wells, which I
afterwards visited, more from curiosity than necessity.

The wells are situated in the Mahratta dominions, thirty
miles from Port Victoria, and two from Dazagon: there are several

192

hot springs, and three baths of different dimensions; varying in
heat from 104 to 108 degrees: the cases in which the external and
internal use of these waters has been most successful, are visceral
obstructions: I am not acquainted with their component parts, or
particular classification; being chatybeate and purgative, their
general effect in drinking and bathing, is to carry off superfluous
bile, create an appetite, and promote perspiration: by relaxing
the fibres, without exhausting the strength, they seem peculiarly
adapted to invigorate the system, and counteract the languor, in-
cident to Europeans in the torrid zone. The Dazagon wells are
in essential respects similar to those at Visraboy, in another part
of the Concan, nearer to Bombay; and much resorted to by the
ladies and gentlemen from thence.

The voyage from Fort Victoria to Dazagon affords an inland
navigation of great variety: the river, seldom wider than four or
five hundred yards, winds through a chain of hills, stored with
timber, or covered with jungle; and the banks are fringed with
salt-wood, an ever-green resembling the laurel: an opening valley
sometimes presents a view of arable land, villages, and cattle;
succeeded by woody mountains, water-falls, and precipices: in
the narrow parts the branches unite over the stream, which is
enlivened by monkeys, squirrels, and various kinds of birds; all
familiar, from being seldom molested: among the halcyon tribes,
displaying all the vivid tints of azure, green, and orange, common
in other countries, is a black and white king-fisher, with an elegant,
tuft of the same plumage, not seen at Bombay.

Few prospects exceed that from Dazagon hill, where the Eng-
lish resident of Fort Victoria had a small villa, in which we spent

193

a few days: it commands a view of the river meandering through
an extensive valley, and forming a number of islands, clothed with
wood, and abounding in villages, cattle, fisheries, and agriculture:
this beautiful landscape is bounded by verdant hills and lofty
mountains. It was at sun-rise I first beheld this lovely scene, I
seated myself under a mango-tree with my sketch-book, wonder-
ing how any one could remain in a house, where nature was so
lavish of her charms: but short are all rural pleasures between the
tropics; situated under the immediate influence of the sun, in less
than an hour the sky appeared as in a glow of fire; at that time I
had never felt the effects of what are emphatically called the hoi-
winds, nor had I experienced any thing to equal the heat of I3a-
zagon: on the sea-coast the atmosphere is tempered by its breezes;
but their refreshing influence does not extend to the interior di-
stricts of the Concan, or Guzerat, where the hot winds generally
prevail from the middle of March until the commencement of the
rainy season; and Bombay, from its insular situation, is happily
excluded from their effects. These scorching blasts begin about
ten o’clock in the morning, and continue till sun-set: by noon, the
black wood furniture becomes like healed metal, the water more
than tepid, and the atmosphere so parching, that few Europeans
could long support it, if the delicious coolness of the nights did
not in a great degree alleviate the heat of the day. In the house
at Dazagon, Farhenheit’s thermometer, at sun-rise, seldom exceeded
eighty degrees; at noon on the same day, it often rose to one hun-
dred and twelve. The European convalescents sent from the
hospitals at Bombay for the benefit of the hot-wells, complain

much of lassitude, diminished appetite, and impaired digestion,

2 c

since the prevalence of the hot-winds; which seem to counteract
the efficacy of the waters: those symptoms, in a greater or lesser
degree, affected all our party, after leaving the coast, refreshed by
the salubrious breezes from the ocean.

My stay at Dazagon and the hot-wells, afforded me an oppor-
tunity of seeing more of Indian farming and agriculture, than the
contracted limits of Bombay admitted of. The cultivation in the
Concan, and adjoining districts of the Deccan, is similar to what
is generally practised in the western parts of Hindostan, at least
as far as my knowledge extends. The soil varies considerably in
the same tracts; in some places sandy, others marly, and often a
rich black earth: sometimes manured with wood-ashes, mixed with
horse and cow-dung, which is placed in small parcels over the
field, and afterwards worked in by a harrow, consisting of only
three or four teeth, like an ordinary rake, drawn by two oxen; the
plough, rather an aukward and simple instrument, composed of
three or four pieces of wood, is drawn by two or three yoke of
oxen, agreeably to the nature of the soil. In other parts of the
Concan, they manure with leaves and small branches of trees,
spread over the land, and burnt to ashes, mingled, when procur-
able, with the dung of cattle; but so much of that is made into
cakes, dried, and used for fuel by the Hindoos, especially the
Brahmins, that not much of it comes to the farmer's share.

The soil, generally shallow, badly ploughed, and slightly har-
rowed, produces juarree, bajeree, natchnee, and some inferior
grains; with various kinds of pulse, melons, cucumbers, gourds,
seeds for oil, and indigenous vegetables: but I believe neither
cotton nor wheat grow in the southern districts of the Concan,

195

Fort Victoria is chiefly useful to the Company for furnishing
Bombay with oxen; by which the markets are supplied with
tolerable beef for the European and Mahomedan inhabitants, and
especially the English garrison: a number of buffaloes and horned
cattle are bred in this part of India; the latter, though small, are
very serviceable in agriculture, and thousands are employed in the
mercantile caravans. The sheep of the Concan, as in most of the
other provinces, are long, lank, unsightly animals; instead of the
snowy wool and silky fleece of the English flocks, they are covered
with a coarse brown or grey hair, possessing very few qualities of
the wool : in some places they make cameleens, a winter covering
and blanket for the poor, from this hair, by twisting it into a
thread, and weaving it in a sort of loom: but a considerable ma-
nufacture in the Concan, or more properly the Deccan, is the
spinning and dying cotton thread, which is sold to the people of
Meritch, and wove by them into pieces of cloth called leugra,
which forms the principal part of the Hindoo female dress.

In most of the towns and considerable villages is a weekly
market, to which the inhabitants of the neighbouring country bring
their commodities, either for sale or barter: there is also a collol,
or distiller, who pays a duty to government for the privilege of
distilling spirits from rice, jagree, mowah, and various other ar-
ticles: in the Concan there seems to be no prohibition to drink-
ing spirits, except to the Brahmins: it is more generally inter-
dicted in the Deccan, and the decree rigidly enforced. A pecu-
liar species of the brab-tree is thinly scattered on the Concan
hills, from which they draw a quantity of nerah, similar to that
from the common palmyra; from which this materially differs; the

196

leaves and branches bearing a much greater resemblance to the
suparee, or betel-nut tree.

As these hills approach the Deccan mountains, the scenery
assumes a sublime aspect: the landscape is varied by stupendous
heights, narrow glens, dark woods, and impenetrable jungles; the
haunt of beasts of prey, monkeys, and birds: among the latter is
the jungle-fowl, or cock of the woods, probably the domestic fowl
in a wild state; being of their size and shape, with the head and
some plumage of the partridge, which it also resembles in
flavour.

The lower part of these mountains is shaded by a variety
of ti 'ees, and softened by many dowering shrubs; their sum-
mits present a curious kind of stones, which are found in much
greater abundance on the Deccan mountains, near Poonah, and
profusely scattered in other parts of the country; they are sta-
lactical, grow in large masses, and are of a dinty nature: from
the upper and lower surface of these stones proceed crystalliza-
tions, which denticulate with each other in a very singular man-
ner: in many, from a single base, or bed of pure dint, shoot
forth angular chequers of great lustre and beauty; while others
consist of a common sort of stone, not very hard, encrusted by
a sparry substance: from a close examination, dint appears to be
the matrix of the majority; and as the crystallization advances, the
dint diminishes.

Most of the jungles, or wild forests of underwood, abound with
tigers, hyaenas, hogs, deer, and porcupines: the former are as large
and ferocious as in other parts of India, and render a solitary
excursion dangerous: they approached close to our habitations

197

at the hot-wells, and frequently caused an alarm; the thatched
cottages were so close and uncomfortable, that we generally
placed our beds under a contiguous mango-grove, until one night
a royal tiger, attracted by the smell of a goat which had been
recently killed and hung upon a tree, rushed close to my bed, in
the road to his prey: the noise awakened us in time to secure a
retreat to the cottage before the return of the monster: the moon
shone bright, and in a few minutes we saw him pass us with the
carcase of the goat: which had he not found, one of our party
would most probably have been his prey.

Many natives of the Concan are keen sportsmen, and form
hunting parties, with dogs; nothing in appearance like our sport-
ing, but resembling the common pariar dog, except that a few had
long; hair on the tail and ears. Each man is armed with a stick of
hard wood, called burbur, which grows in the jungles: the tree
bends inwards towards the root, and instead of cutting they break
it off, so as to bring away part of the root, to form a head;' with
this weapon they are admirably dexterous; killing quails, par-
tridges, and pigeons flying; hares running; and breaking the legs
of the fleetest deer. A set of these men killed, in this manner,
three hares and several quails, in less than an hour. Observing
one of the party in a small glen by himself, very intent upon some
object, we imagined he saw a hare; on approaching the spot, he
warned us by a sign to come on softly, pointing to the root of a
milk bush; he then quickened his pace, took up a large stone, and
suddenly dropping it on a partridge, instantly killed it, with no
small degree of exultation.

Bancoote river abounds with a variety of fish; and is the

198

nursery of alligators, and other amphibious animals: on the banks
are serpents, guanas, chamelions, and the large seroor, or lacerta,
commonly called the bloodsucker: some of them, though hideous
in shape, are most beautifully coloured: in some the shoulders
and dewlap take every intervening shade between the palest yellow
and brightest scarlet; in others, the dewlap is of the brightest
azure, contrasted by yellow, scarlet, and orange, in other parts of
the body.

The greatest curiosity is the chamelion (lacerta chamseleon, Lin.)
found in every thicket. I kept one for several weeks; of which,
as it differed in many respects from those described in Arabia, and
other places, I shall mention a few particulars. The chamelion of
the Concan, including the tail, is about nine inches long; the body
only half that length, varying in circumference, as it is more or less
inflated: the head, like that of a fish, is immoveably fixed to the
shoulders; but every inconvenience is removed by the structure
of the eyes; which, like spheres rolling on an invisible axis, are
placed in deep cavities, projecting from the head: through a small
perforation in the exterior convexity appears a bright pupil, sur-
rounded by a yellow iris; which, by the singular formation and
motion of the eye, enables the animal to see what passes before,
behind, or on either side; and it can give one eye all these mo-
tions, while the other remains perfectly still: a hard rising protects
these delicate organs; another extends from the forehead to the
nostrils: the mouth is large, and furnished with teeth; with a
tongue half the length of the body, and hollow like an elephants
trunk, it darts nimbly at flies and other insects, which it seems to
prefer to the aerial food generally supposed to be its sustenance.

199

The legs are longer than usual in the lacerta genus; on the fore-
feet are three toes nearest the body, and two without; the hinder
exactly the reverse; with these claws it clings fast to the branches,
to which it sometimes entwines itself by the tail, and remains
suspended: the skin is granulated like shagreen, except a range
of hard excrescences, or denticulations, on the ridge of the back,
which are always of the same colour as the body; whereas a row
of similar projections beneath continue perfectly white, notwith-
standing any metamorphosis of the animal.

The general colour of the chamelion so long in my possession
was a pleasant green, spotted with pale blue: from this it changed
to a bright yellow, dark olive, and a dull green; but never ap-
peared to such advantage as when irritated, or a dog approached
it; the body was then considerably inflated, and the skin clouded
like tortoise-shell, in shades of yellow, orange, green, and black.
A black object always caused an almost instantaneous transforma-
tion: the room appropriated for its accommodation was skirted
by a board painted black, this the chamelion carefully avoided;
but if he accidentally drew near it, or we placed a black hat in
his way, he was reduced to a hideous skeleton, and from the most
lively tints became black as jet: on removing the cause, the effect
as suddenly ceased; the sable hue was succeeded by a brilliant
colouring, and the body was again inflated.

The Concan abounds with serpents, similar to those already
described: one of the most dangerous is a long snake of a beau-
tiful green; in form resembling the lash of a coach-whip, from
whence it is called the whip-snake. This insidious animal conceals
itself among the branches of trees, from whence it darts rapidly on

200

the cattle grazing below, generally at the eye. One of them, near
the hot-wells, flew at a bull; and wounding him in the eye, threw
him into a violent agony; he tore up the ground in a furious
manner, and foaming at the mouth, died in about half an hour.

Marre was the nearest Mahratta town of consequence to the
hot- wells; by crossing the river, it was within a pleasant walk, and
we made frequent excursions to an excavated mountain in its
vicinity. Marre is fortified, large, and populous; the governor
resided at Poonah, inattentive to the misery of the people, whom
his duan, or deputy, oppressed in a cruel manner: indeed the
system of the Mahratta government is so uniformly oppressive,
that it appears extraordinary to hear of a mild or equitable admi-
nistration; venality and corruption guide the helm of state, and
pervade the departments: if the sovereign requires money, the
men in office, and governors of provinces, must supply it; the
arbitrary monarch seldom inquires by what means it is procured:
this affords them an opportunity of exacting a larger sum from
their duans; who fleece the manufacturers and farmers to a still
greater amount than they had furnished: thus the country is sub-
jected to a general system of tyranny. From the great chieftains
and nobles of the realm, to the humblest peasant in a village,
neither the property nor the life of a subject can be called his
own; all bow to the iron sceptre; having no law to protect them
from oppression, no clement sovereign to redress their grievances.
When Providence has blessed the land with the former and the
latter rain, and the seed sown produces an hundred fold, the Indian
ryot cannot, like an English farmer, behold his ripening crops with
joyful eyes; conscious that the harvest may be reaped by other

201

hands: his cattle are in the same predicament; liable to be seized,
without a compensation, for warlike service, or any other despotic
mandate: money he must not be known to possess; if, by superior
talent, or persevering industry, he should have accumulated a little
more than his neighbours, he makes no improvements, lives no
better than before, and through fear and distrust buries it in the
earth, without informing his children of the concealment: this
occasions the frequent discoveries of hidden treasure in Bindos-
tan. Often during these excursions in the Mahratta districts did
I recollect Lord Lyttelton’s patriotic lines,

tc Hail, happy Britain ! dear parental land !
“ Where liberty maintains her latest stand !
“ O ! while amidst tyrannic realms I rove,
“ Enamour’d, let me pour my filial love
“ Into thy bosom!”

The excavated mountain is about a mile from the town of
Marre, of great height, and difficult ascent; like the excavations
at Salsette and the Elephanta, there are temples and habitations
hewn out of the solid rock, whose origin is lost in fable, and the
purposes of such laborious and expensive works are left to vague
conjecture. The principal temple is sixty feet long, thirty broad,
and ten in height: the roof and sides are not ornamented, but at
the termination is a large image, seated on a throne, with a smaller
figure on each side, and two mutilated animals under his feet; the
light is admitted through a range of pillars, forming a grand
entrance.

2 D

In one of these caverns I met with an aoed Seoassee, under
very strict vows of abstinence and austerity, which he had observed
for many years among those subterraneous regions; with no other
companion than a lark and a parroquet: fruit and water were, 1
believe, the only aliment of the family; nor was the head of it
incumbered with furniture, apparel, or any of what are usually
deemed the comforts of life: the people of Marre revered him for
his sanctity, and religious Hindoos resorted to his cave from a
great distance; his most constant visitors were the monkeys, who
seemed in possession of ail the surrounding territory.

Not far from these sacred caverns, was a spot set apart for
swingers, a set of very extraordinary Hindoo fanatics, to be met
with in different parts of the country: particular villages are ap-
propriated for this ceremony, where the swingers assemble at
stated seasons. In the centre of an area, surrounded by numerous
spectators, is erected a pole, from twenty to thirty feet in height, on
which is placed a long horizontal beam, with a rope run over a
pulley at the extremity: to this rope they fix an iron hook, which
being drawn through the integuments of the devoted swinger, he
is suspended aloft in the air, amidst the acclamations of the mul-
titude: the longer he is capable of this painful exertion, and the
more violently he swings himself round, the greater the merit: from
the flesh giving way, the performer sometimes falls from his
towering height, and breaks a limb; if he escape that accident,
from the usual temperance of the Hindoos the wound soon heals:
this penance is generally voluntary, in performance of a religious
vow; or inflicted for the expiation of sins committed, either by
himself, or some of his family.

203

In these excursions I saw a variety of tumblers and vaullers of
a different description; being in general young Hindoo women,
educated for the purpose, who travel in companies throughout
Ilindostan, and perform surprising feats of agility on the tight
rope; turn themselves round with a girdle of drawn swords, on
the top of a tall upright bamboo, and exhibit many other spec-
tacles; while the elders of both sexes who accompany them, fill
up the interludes by sleight of hand, uncommonly dexterous and
entertaining. Sometimes a set of people, more resembling the
combatants in an ancient gymnasium, exhibit athletic exercises to
the assembled crowds: they generally perform in the large court
of a durbar, or some open place selected for the purpose.

At one of these exhibitions in the Concan, where a prodigious
number of spectators surrounded the square, four pelwans, or com-
batants, suddenly entered from the left side, with a brisk bounding
step, and a shrill yell, or shriek, peculiar to themselves; something
like that uttered by the Bheels and wild mountaineers, when they
make their sudden attacks, and which in a solitary place would
be dreadfully alarming: they were dressed alike in white turbans
and short-drawers, with a strong cotton sash, bound tight several
times round the loins, and passing between the thighs: their tur-
bans were ornamented with chaplets of mogrees and champahs,
and their wrists with bracelets of other fragrant flowers: they
were all large full-bodied men, not remarkably tall; after a few
manoeuvres they made a respectful salam to the company, and
retired. Presently after four other men, who, we were informed,
were to be their antagonists, came in from the opposite side of the
area: these were tall, lank, and bony, with much darker com-

204

plexions, and a graver deportment than the former. One of each
set appeared to be a youth of nineteen, the three others from
thirty to forty years of age. These also having made their obei-
sance, withdrew; and were succeeded by an old man, who it seems
was a celebrated teacher of the gymnastic art, and received a
pension from the Mahratta government for that purpose: he was
received with great respect by the populace, and by a profound
reverence from the eight combatants on re-entering the area from
their respective portals. The contest, which lasted a Jong time,
consisted of wrestling, boxing, and similar feats: in boxing, one
hand was guarded by a case of horn or wood, with a convex pro-
tuberance over every knuckle: they commenced the attack by
raising the hand unarmed in the attitude of beckoning; with the
other they strike desperate blows, particularly at the fingers of their
antagonists, when attempting to catch hold of them.

After a few weeks residence at Fort Victoria and the hot-wells,
I joined two other gentlemen on a journey from thence to Bom-
bay: I rode on horseback; being invalids, they travelled in palan-
keens: our retinue consisted of more than fourscore persons,
besides horses and pack-bullocks. This number of attendants for
only three Europeans, may appear extraordinary to those who
have never been in India; but they were all indispensably neces-
sary in a country, where no caravansary, or house of refreshment,
is to be met with; a traveller must therefore carry every thing
with him, even a bed and kitchen utensils, which renders an Indian
journey troublesome and expensive.

The distance from the hot-wells to Mandava, where we em-
barked for Bombay, was one hundred and thirty miles; yel from

205

necessity it could not be accomplished in less than four days. We
commenced our journey at sun-rise, the latter end of May, and
after three hours halted at a Mahratta village; unable to procure
a house for our accommodation, or to find one shady tree, we
sheltered ourselves under a corn rick, which, until the hot-winds
blew, was more eligible than a low cottage; as the stacks of com
in the Concan are generally fixed upon a platform of bamboos,
supported by strong poles, seven or eight feet from the ground:
this being open on all sides underneath, sheltered us from the
scorching rays of the sun, and afforded a free circulation of air;
which we enjoyed until noon, when the hot-winds set in, and blew
violently for many hours: clouds of dust, burning like the ashes
of a furnace, continually overwhelmed us; and we were often sur-
rounded by the little whirlwinds called bugulas, or devils; a name
not ill applied to their peculiar characteristic of heat, activity, and
mischief.

We left that uncomfortable situation early in the afternoon,
and travelling through a parched country, reached the village of
Candhar, soon after sun-set: here a friendly banian-tree afforded
us all ample accommodation; we supped and slept under its
verdant canopy, with more comfort than in the best house in the
village. Near Candhar the country was well cultivated, and
watered by a serpentine river: the stream so late in the season,
was narrow and frequently fordable: during the rainy months
it fills an ample bed, which was now adorned rvith a plant
called jewassee, from which they make the tattas, or screens,
fixed in bamboo frames, and placed round the verandas and
apartments exposed to the sun: these screens constantly supplied

206

with water trickling in small streams, admit a cool refreshing air,
when the exterior atmosphere is in a glow of heat. The beds of
many Indian rivers abound with the jewassee, as also with a beau-
tiful shrub named kuseernee, very much resembling a small
cypress tree.

Candhar, eighteen miles from the wells, is pleasantly situated
on the banks of the river; and a place of considerable trade; being
a great thoroughfare from the sea coast to the Gaut mountains.
We met there a number of vanjarrahs, or merchants, with large
droves of oxen, laden with valuable articles from the interior
country to commute for salt on the sea- coast: immense caravans
of oxen are employed in the salt trade, in this part of India; where
there are no roads for wheel carriages, and all merchandize is
transported b}^ these useful animals; especially up the steep ascents
and difficult passes of the Gaut mountains, which bound the Con-
can to the eastward; from whence commences the Deccan, an
extent of fertile plains on their summit, containing populous cities,
towns, and villages, situated in a fine climate, surrounded by na-
ture’s choicest bounties. In some parts this tract is called the
Balla-Gaut, or high mountains; to distinguish them from the lower
Gaut nearer the sea, and connecting with the Concan.

These Gants, or Appenines of the East, extend from Cape
Comorin to Surat, through thirteen degrees of latitude; in some
parts only forty or fifty miles from the sea, in others seventy : their
rise is frequently gradual, but all their summits are lofty, and gene-
rally visible many leagues at sea. This stupendous barrier occasions
the phenomenon of summer and winter, or the wet and dry sea-
sons, to be directly opposite in places exactly in the same latitude.

separated only by these mountains, sometimes within a few miles
of each other. The diversity of seasons is caused by the monsoons
which blow alternately on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel,
collecting the clouds, and carrying them towards these alpine
regions; where being arrested in their progress, they become con-
densed, and refresh the plains with abundant showers, to for-
ward cultivation, and insure a harvest. On the western side of
the peninsula, the south-west monsoon continues this blessing,
in a greater or less degree, from June to October: the north-
east monsoon then commences on the coast of Coromandel, and
produces those fructifying rains over the whole country to the east
of the Gauls. In Bengal and the northern provinces of libidos-
tan,, where the mountainous regions no longer exist, the south-west
monsoon extends its influence, and wafts health and plenty to the
“ paradise of nations.”

Early the next morning we proceeded on our journey by
torch-light, and travelled for some hours, through a barren rocky
country; after sun-rise we entered a cultivated plain, encircled by
verdant hills, forming a pastoral landscape; enlivened by villages,
and a busy peasantry. Before ten o’clock the intense heat com-
pelled us to halt at Cotar, a village on the banks of Choule river;
where we found a number of travellers, and droves of oxen, re-
freshing themselves under a mango grove: we joined their party,
and after a slight repast enjoyed a comfortable repose, until the
declining sun permitted us to continue our route along the delightful
banks of Choule river, winding through a populous and cultivated
country, protected by two Mahratta fortresses on the hills.

Several of these small towns and villages were adorned with

208

Mahomedan tombs and mosques, in a good style of architecture;
like the Hindoo temples, they were covered with a coat of fine
chunam, in whiteness and brilliancy equalling the purest marble,
or porcelaine, which it most resembles: these polished domes form
a striking contrast to the mango and banian-trees, by which they

1 are surrounded.

t.

The Mahomedan mausoleums generally stand in a garden of
pomegranates and custard apple trees, which take oft' from the
gloom of a cemetery: the Hindoo temples in the Concan are also
frequently surrounded by a garden, sometimes of singular beauty.
The brahmins evince as much taste and judgment in the situation
of their seminaries and temples, as the monks in the disposition
of abbeys and priories in England; where some of the most lovely
spots are still graced by their ruins. In this respect the monkish
and brahminical taste exactly corresponds: to the latter, shade and
water are indispensably necessary; and, contrary to the general
restrictions of the monastic life, the Concan shades are enlivened
by the songs and dances of the female choristers appropriated to
the temples; the number of Brahmins engaged in their religious
rites; and the concourse of people assembled to morning worship
Nor are these gardens deficient in flowers, fruit, and vegetables;
the latter indeed compose the principal part of the brahmin's food;
their best orchards contain guavas, plantains, jam bos, and every
variety of Indian fruit; with grapes, figs, and mulberries: superior
grapes, oranges, peaches, and apples, are supplied from Poonah
and Aurungabad, in the Deccan. The whole country produces
mangos and tamarinds: the mango season in the Concan com-
mences in April, and ends soon after the heavy rains fall in

209

June: the best grape season in the Deccan is from March till

June.

The most productive gardens in the Concan are on the banks
of rivers, and in the beds of nullahs, or rivulets, which run from
the mountains. In these situations, at the beginning of February
they sow the seeds of musk and water-melons, cucumbers, gourds,
and pumkins in great variety : these continue to supply their tables
until the Hurries, which generally precede the rainy season; then,
on the first swelling of the rivers, the villagers take a licence to
rob and plunder the plantations, to the great detriment of the
owner. They have two excellent sorts of pumkin, the red and
white; and a profusion of beans and vegetables, indigenous to this
part of India.

Many of the rivers in the rainy season abound with good fish:
the bheinslah, in general appearance and flavour, resembles the carp,
having a large mouth, without teeth, and strong scales; they weigh
from fifteen to twenty pounds: the poatlah is of a similar kind,
but smaller. The sewrah is an excellent fish, without scales; it
has a large mouth, several rows of teeth, and weighs ten or twelve
pounds. There are five or six other sorts of fish in those waters,
whose Hindoo names are of no consequence, and I am not icthyo-
logist sufficient to know where to class them: they also abound
with cat-fish, and very good eels.

I did not observe any wheat or cotton fields in the Concan; in
the upper country they cultivate both : our journey was not in-
deed in the season to see many crops on the ground: as the rice,

juarree, and most other grains, are sown at the beginning of the

2 e

210

rainy season, in ground already prepared for the purpose: and
during the fair intervals of the wet months they plow for wheat,
gram, pease, and other articles, which they sow in October and
reap in February: the wheat thrives best in ground wherein no-
thing has been produced the preceding year: for gram and pease,
which they sow broad cast, they prefer low rice-grounds, and
other wet places: for all the rest they use the drill. The juarree
generally springs out of the earth on the fifth or sixth day; about
a fortnight afterwards they weed it by a machine called coalpah,
and repeat the operation in ten or fifteen days.

At the earliest dawn of morning in all the Hindoo towns and
villages, the hand-mills are at work; when the menials and widows
grind meal sufficient for the daily consumption of the family.
There is a windmill at Bombay for grinding corn, but I do not
recollect seeing another in India; where the usual method of
grinding is with mill-stones, and always performed by women,
who resume their task every morning; especially the forlorn Hin-
doo widows, divested of every ornament, and with their heads
shaved, degraded to almost a state of servitude. Very similar
must have been the custom in Judea, from the pathetical lamen-
tation of the prophet, alluding to this very circumstance : “ Come
down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on
the ground, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for thou shalt no more
be called tender and delicate: take the mill-stones, and grind
meal; sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of
Chaldea, for thou shalt no more be called Lhe lady of the king-
doms!” Thus when the Hindoo female, who had perhaps been the
pride and ornament of the family, is humbled on the death of her

211

husband, it is not surprising to see her prefer his funeral pile to
such a state of degradation: and we must cast the mantle of cha-
rity over the young virgin-widow, who infringes the celibacy im-
posed on her by such cruel and impolitic laws.

Soon after the day closed, we forded Choule river, and arrived
at Ustom, a considerable village at some distance from its banks;
which we found a great inconvenience; all the wells and tanks
being exhausted, except one belonging to a mosque still further:
thither we repaired to pass the night, and the fakeer who had the
care of it, allotted one of the largest tombs for our accommodation.
These are often elegant structures of marble, or polished cliunam;
consisting either of a dome supported by columns, or a sepulchral
chamber with only one entrance to the tomb, generally placed in
the centre under the dome: it was one of the latter to which we
were conducted; but the stagnated air, and disagreeable smell of
the bats, soon compelled us to retreat to a clump of custard-apple
trees, where we lighted fires, dressed a curry, and enjoyed a sound
repose amid the graves of departed Mussulmans, until break of
day.

We then continued our journey through a pleasant cultivated
part of the Concan, which afforded nothing particularly interesting
until we met a Brahmin of consequence coming from a celebrated
temple in the Deccan; whether he was a secular chieftain, or one
of the priesthood, I did not learn. The road we were now travelling
was a great thoroughfare from the low country to Poonah, the
residence of the Brahmin peshwa, and the resort of all castes of
Brahmins; especially the Gurus, a very select body of priests, of
the highest dignity and authority in the brahminical hierarchy; in

some respects similar to the bishops and archbishops in the Chris-
tian church; as they travel through their respective dioceses, at
stated seasons, to visit the inferior priests, and administer particular
rites at the Hindoo temples. Those of the greatest sanctity make
more extensive pilgrimages, to perform the upaseyda, and other
solemn ceremonies in their seminaries and sacred groves. The
Guru is reputed a being of so holy a nature, that he is not only
venerated, but worshipped when he appears in public: on some
occasions their splendid processions unite the insignia of orien-
tal grandeur, with the fascinating charms of the Hindoo religion,
bearing a great resemblance to the former magnificence of the
sovereign pontiff on the great festivals in the church of Rome.
These sacred shrines are frequently visited by female senassees,
brahmacharrees, and other devotees, who have entered into reli-
gious vows, and are highly respected: many of these devout
women, as also of the Gurus and exalted Brahmins, are supposed
to have arrived at such perfection and purity, as to be actually an
incarnation of the deity, and consequently an object of worship.

So much sanctity is annexed to the Gurus, that all of inferior
caste to the Brahmins are expected to retire from the ^public road
when he passes by in public procession, that the air may retain its
purity, unpolluted by plebeian breath. Whatever might be the
sacerdotal or civil station of the Brahmin we encountered, hu-
mility of spirit was not his prevailing characteristic, if we may
judge from the pompous titles, and high-sounding praises ascribed
to him by the chopdais and heralds: for, like other great men, he
had these precursors, and a number of pioneers to clear the road,
and “ make his paths straight;0 by removing obstacles, and filling

21 3

up the ravines and the hollow-ways in his route. All eastern po-
tentates affect these distinctions, nor do they ever travel without
their heralds and pioneers: this pervades the magistracy, from
the poorest Hindoo rajah and Mahomedan nabob of a province,
to the emperor himself; who in the days of Mogul splendour,
vied with Semiramis in her progress through Media and Persia:
in which, according to Diodorus, when rocks or precipices
impeded the royal traveller, they were ordered to be removed:
hills and mountains were levelled, and valleys filled up, for the
accommodation of this mighty potentate: finely illustrating the
figurative language on the approach of the Prince of Peace,
when “ every valley was to be exalted, and every mountain and
hill be made low, to make straight in the desert a high way for the
Lord !”

There are many celebrated temples in the Conean, but still
more above the Gauts, where in some the revenues and establish-
ment of the priesthood are enormous: one temple in the Deccan
formerly maintained forty thousand officiating Brahmins; who
with the dancing-girls dedicated to the deities, and the other ex-
pensive ceremonies of the Hindoo religion, must have consumed
an immense income. The Hindoo deities are literally innume-
rable: in a note to Dr. Tennant’s valuable publication, they are
said to be thirty crore; which, at a diminished calculation, in round
numbers exceeds three hundred millions: allowing this to be fabu-
lous, the number of gods and goddesses in the Hindoo mythology
must be infinite: the Brahmins instruct the other castes to wor-
ship them, although they themselves do not believe in polytheism,
and only worship the Supreme Being, as the great mysterious Om;

214

and the creating, preserving, and destroying attributes, in Brahma,
Yishnoo, and Seeva. Allowing the Brahmins, and a comparative
few of the higher orders, to be enlightened by a purer system of
religion, the lower classes of society are condemned to a state of
ignorance in religion, art, and science.

The Gurus have great power: but the ordinary Brahmins
have taken care to reserve a sufficient portion for themselves,
sanctioned and enforced by the code of Menu. At Poonah, the
secular Brahmins occupy all the important stations; especially
the lucrative office called Jeiram Bopput; a sort of censor, whose
province it is to collect fines, which under the authority of the
minister, he imposes arbitrarily on deviations from brahminical
purity; drinking, domestic and family quarrels amongst the high
and rich classes of society: this he manages with the greatest
extortion and injustice. This officer is frequently summoned at
the pleasure of the minister, and fined; which has eventually the
effect of multiplying his abuses, by way of reparation for the mulct
he has been obliged to bear; these are again connived at by his
superiors, that he may enrich himself sufficiently to answer the
call of the minister, as occasion may require.

As the hot-winds commenced their fury, we reached the village
of Chouna; a spot endeared to travellers for a spreading banian-
tree, and a well of excellent water; no less attractive in India,
than the Maison-rouge at Frankfort, or the vineyards of Monte
Fiascone, to the European tourist. Running streams had hitherto
refreshed us when we happily stopped on their banks; but a good
well had not yet fallen to our lot: on the contrary, at Ustam, and
most other villages, the water was so muddy as to be scarcely

215

drinkable; and even this unpleasant beverage was so scanty, that
we often saw the women wait several hours at a small hole in the
earth, to collect sufficient to fill a jar: it is only in the months of
April and May, just before the first fall of rain, that this scarcity
prevails: during that sultry season, of most brooks and rivers it
may be said, “ dumb are their fountains, and their channels
dry"

The commendation of an ancient patriarch who dug a well,
must not be thought too trivial a circumstance for the sacred re-
cords: he could not have bestowed a greater charity in a parched
and thirsty soil: the frequent allusions to living streams, flowing
rivers, verdant banks, and shady fountains, were delightful to the
natives of Palestine: no prospect more enchanting, no promise
more alluring, than to “ feed in a green pasture, and repose beside
the still waters.” A good well and umbrageous banian-tree, are
the most desirable objects to a traveller in Hindostan; since, on
account of the peculiarities of caste, and the variety of religious
professions, although an European carry his own provisions, very
few of the natives will allow him to enter their house to eat them.
This indeed is not to be expected among a superstitious people;
who, like the Pharisees of old, make clean the outside of the cup
and the platter, while they neglect the weightier matters of the law;
who regard, with scrupulous exactness, eating or drinking with an
inferior caste, the performance of stated ablutions, and bodily
purifications: if by any accident, a Hindoo tastes food forbid-
den to his caste, or touches what is deemed impure, he is sub-
jected to the severest penance, or perhaps degraded from his rank
in society; while the same man may be guilty of falsehood, perjury,

216

and the most immoral actions, with impunity. Dr. Tennant, who
lias well discriminated the Hindoo character, after along residence
among them, asserts a melancholy truth, which must be confirmed
by every impartial observer of these singular people.

“ That private charity is b}r no means the bright part of a
Hindoo’s character: religious persons, or those who assume that
character, certainly are liberally supplied; but this must be the
offspring of superstition, rather than the dictate of humanity. On
some particular occasions, such as opening a new serai, most ex-
tensive charities are distributed to the multitude which is invited
there: but this is mere ostentation; neither in its principles, nor
in its effects, does it come up to the rational idea of charity. The
necessitous poor are more happily directed for relief to the door
of an European, than to their brethren in the faith. Temples in-
deed are raised, choultries built, and on great occasions thousands
are fed by a wealthy native; but all this may be done in compli-
ance with the interested advice of the Brahmins, or to gratify
ostentation: and we ought not to confound what is extorted by
the fears of superstition, or what is lavished by vanity, with the
charitable benefactions dictated by a sound understanding, and a
benevolent heart. Another circumstance in which the religious
system of the Hindoos is prejudicial to industry and moral virtue,
and consequently to the happiness of society, is the multitude of
ceremonious rites, and trifling observances, by which it occupies
the mind: thus withdrawing the attention from the necessity of
practising rectitude, and preserving integrity of heart. In almost
every action of his life, the Hindoo is under the immediate influ-
ence of his superstition; his prayers are offerings to his gods; his

2 17

purifications, and ablutions in llie river; his dressing and eating
his victuals; the objects which he touches; the companions with
whom he associates, are to him all intimately and equally con-
nected with religion, and the everlasting welfare of his soul. If
there is any part of his conduct with which his religious ideas have
no concern, it is his moral character. In 44 doing justly, or loving
mercy/' he is apparently left to act as he pleases: but if in the
most trivial action he violate the rules of his superstition, he is, in
this life, deprived of all the comforts of society; and in the next,
condemned to animate the body of some noisome reptile, or con-
temptible animal.”

These sentiments correspond with the reflections I minuted
while reposing under the banian-tree at Clioura, when not permit-
ted to enter a Hindoo habitation. Having refreshed our bearers
and cattle, we pursued our journey through an arid plain towards
the lower Gauts; a chain of mountains separating the broad valley
we were travelling through, from the Concan plains reaching to
the sea. This part of India during the rainy months, is doubtless
a perfect garden; but at the end of the dry season its general
aspect is very different: although in mentioning a parched country
or barren plains in Hindostan, I by no means liken them to the
burning deserts of Persia and Arabia; a scene of desolation, where
Pitts, during a journey of thirty-seven daj^s from Mecca to Cairo,
met with scarcely any thing green, and where neither beast nor
fowl was to be seen or heard ; nothing but sand and stones, except
in one place which the caravan passed by night; this they thought
to be a village with trees and gardens.

The general aspect of Hindostan, excepting the sandy plains

2 F

218

on the borders of Cachemire, and the deserted country near the
Indus, presents a scene of lofty mountains and woody hills, skirt-
ing a champaign, irrigated by livers, or artificial streams, which,
with the tanks and wells, were the noblest works of former
princes: the emperor Firoze, in the fourteenth century, made a
canal of a hundred miles in length: and cut channels from the
Jumna and other rivers, to supply distant towns with water, and
facilitate the inland commerce of his dominions.

With great difficulty and fatigue we ascended the lower Gauls;
only called so in comparison with the stupendous barrier of the
Deccan, on the eastern side of the Concan plains: our guides
mistook the proper route, and bewildered us in a wild and savage
scene: no sooner had we attained the summit of what we imagined
the highest mountain, than one still higher reared its majestic
head, and thus continued in long succession: fortunately during
the extreme heat of noon, the woods and rocks afforded a friendly
shade. We at length accomplished the arduous task, and hailed
the western sea will) delight. Descending by a narrow pass, we
entered the lower part of the Concan, through rocks, woods, and
glens; the haunt of tigers, hyenas, and serpents.

On entering Ram-Rajah, the first town in the low country, we
were welcomed by a venerable Mahomedan, who, like Abraham,
was silting at his gate to receive strangers: his snowy beard
reached to his girdle; his countenance inspired reverence and
love: an urbanity and courtesy marked a distinguished character;
and his whole behaviour evinced a superior knowledge of the
world. He conducted us to the portico of his house, where we
saw him surrounded by many branches of his children and grand-

2 19

children, dwelling under the same roof: the females did not ap-
pear; but, in all respects, as far as oriental manners and religious
tenets permitted, he entertained us with the greatest hospitality,
and exhibited a striking picture of the patriarchal age. We dined
in a garden refreshed by fountains, surrounded with flowers, and
shaded by caringe trees; whose purple blossoms, in rich festoons,
diffused a sweet perfume: the fruit affords a delicate lamp-oil.
The cassia-fistula, a tree of nearly equal beauty, abounds in this
country; exclusive of the medicinal value of the fruit, the blos-
soms are fragrant and clustering; it is esteemed among the sacred
trees of the Hindoos, who erect altars, and offer flowery sacrifices
under its shade to Marialalee and the sylvan deities.

Our venerable friend at Ram Rajah was one of the most re-
spectable Mahomedans I ever knew; although greatly advanced
in age, he retained all his faculties, and had not lost the cheerful-
ness of youth: this I mention, because the natives of India seldom
live to old age; few of the men exceed threescore years, and still
fewer of the other sex attain that period: many causes may be
assigned for this brevity of life; especially early marriages. As
longevity among the Indians is not common, neither is it, per-
haps, very desirable: when declining years render the superior
classes of Asiatics incapable of enjoying the ambitious, avaricious,
and sensual pleasures, which in their estimation comprise the
summum bonum of life; with minds untaught by learning and
experience, unstored by science and literature, and uncheered by
a warm and benevolent religion, they have no relish for those calm
delights which soften the declining path of the pious Christian,
and gild the rays of his setting sun. Possessing a mind at peace

220

with God, the world, and himself; encircled by a loving and be-
loved offspring, to “ rock the cradle of declining age ;”

<c Though old he still retains
f< His manly sense, and energy of mind:

“ Virtuous and wise he is, but not severe ;

“ He still remembers that he once was young;

“ His easy presence checks no decent joy.

Him, ev’n the dissolute admire, for he
“ A graceful freeness, when he wills, puts on;

“ And laughing, can instruct.” Armstrong,

The Mahomedans, in power, are generally intolerant and cruel;
bigotted to the theism of their own system, they treat all other
religions with a sort of contemptuous abhorrence, and we may
safely pronounce them cold and uncharitable in their religious
opinions: the Hindoo character, though very different, is in many
essential points extremely defective, and led by deep-rooted pre-
judice and barbarous custom, to the commission of crimes, which
ought not to be sanctioned by any moral or religious code. Un-
like our patriarchal friend at Ram-Rajah, or the venerable Chris-
tian just mentioned, how often is the aged Hindoo parent deemed
an encumbrance and unnecessary expense^ by his family; and
carried, a living victim, devoted to die, on the margin of the
Ganges, or some holy stream; there his own children fill his
mouth and nostrils with mud; and thus, cutting off every prospect
of recovery, they leave the author of their being to be carried
away by the stream, as food for alligators and vultures. Although
sanctioned by the Brahmins, and perhaps sometimes voluntary on
the part of the aged victim, no religion should tolerate such a sacri-

22 1

rice : that it is not always voluntary, we have many undeniable
proofs: but the fatal consequence of not submitting to this extra-
ordinary viaticum, or of eluding its effect, by returning to his family,
in case of a rescue or recovery, is so provided for by the brahminical
laws, that death is far more desirable than the continuance of life
on such terms: many instances might be produced to confirm this
assertion; I shall rather recite what Captain Williamson, from
more experience than myself, has recorded on this subject.

“ Many Hindoos, in their old age, or when seriously ill, are
removed to the banks of the Ganges, whose waters are held sacred;
and when about to resign their breath, are taken to the edge, of
the river on their beds ; where a Brahmin attends to perform the
religious ceremonies: no doubt that many, who might recover, are
thus consigned to premature death. The damp borders of the
stream, with a burning sun, rarely fail, however favourable the
season may be, to put a speedy termination to the sick person’s suf-
ferings; but it has often happened, that the attendants become tired
by the delay the poor wretch makes in ‘ shaking off his mortal
coil/ and perhaps with the humane intention of finishing his pain,
either place the bed at low-water mark, if the spot be within the
flow of the tide; or smear the dying man with the slime of the
holy waters, and fill his mouth with the precious mud. When a
person has been taken to the side of the Ganges, or other substi-
tuted water, under the supposition that he is dying, he is, in the
eye of the Hindoo law, dead : his property passes to his heir, or
according to his bequest; and in the event of recovery, the poor
fellow becomes an outcast: not a soul, not even his own children,
will eat with him, or afford him the least accommodation: if by

chance they come in contact, ablution must instantly follow. 'The
wretched survivor from that time is hoiden in abhorrence, and has
no other resort, but to associate himself in a village inhabited
solety by persons under similar circumstances. There are but few
such receptacles; the largest, and most conspicuous, is on the
banks of the Mullah, which passes near Sooksongah, about forty
miles north of Calcutta.”

Cruel indeed are these mandates of ignorance and superstition!
and yet, so contradictory and unaccountable is human nature,
even in men of the very same nation and caste, that, notwithstand-
ing the above treatment of their aged and infirm parents by the
natives of Bengal, 1 can with pleasure and with truth record, that
the generality of Indians, of whatever religious profession, whether
Hindoos, Mahomedans, or Parsecs, pay a great respect and defe-
rence to age: the hoary head is by them considered “ a crown of
glory.” In the public courts of justice, as in scenes of domestic
life, I have witnessed with delight, the pious brahmin and the
experienced mullah, informing the members of the adawlet, or
instructing their youthful pupils; who looked up with veneration
to “ days that should speak, and multitude of years that should
teach wisdom; they waited for their words, and gave ear to their
reasons.”

The hospitality of our venerable host at Ham-Rajah, detained
us longer than we intended ; the day was closing when we left his
friendly shade, and proceeded towards Alla-Bhaug, a Mahratta
town at a considerable distance; as the country Avas marshy, and
the roads bad, we had no prospect of reaching it before midnight,
and therefore dispatched a horseman to purchase provisions, and

provide accommodations, before the inhabitants should retire to
rest.

On approaching the town at that unseasonable hour, we were

met by an officer and a troop of Mahratta cavalry, preceded by

mussulcliees , or torch-bearers, who announced the approach of the

duan , or minister of Ragojee Angria, the Mahratta chieftain, to

whom that territory belonged: he soon made his appearance, with

a splendid retinue, and attended us to the durbar; where we were

>3

treated with the most polite and kind attentions, seated on em-
broidered cushions, strewed with flowers, and refreshed by servants
fanning us with punkas of coos grass, cooled with rose water. Our
beds and equipage not being arrived, we were abundantly supplied
by our host: while kids, poultry, rice, butter, milk, and vegetables
were consigned to the kitchen for our supper; pine-apples, mangos,
custard-apples, and pomegranates, were spread before us in the
durbar, with wreaths of mogrees, and nosegays of roses and jessa-
mine. When supper was served, the duan and his attendants re-
tired, that we might eat it without restraint, and enjoy the repose
we so much wanted. This hospitality extended to our servants
and cattle; all were amply provided for, according to their respec-
tive castes, and professions.

On expressing our grateful acknowledgments for these friendly
attentions, the minister informed us, that his chieftain, Ragojee
Angria, was in the strictest friendship with the English, and had
the greatest respect for our nation : having heard we were passing
through his country, he ordered every thing necessary to be pre-
pared against our arrival at Aila-Bhaug, and intended to pay us a
visit on the following morning, if we could postpone our journey.

224

It may not be unnecessary to remark, that one of our party was a
colonel in the army; myself and the other gentleman held respect-
able posts in the civil service; which made us travellers of some
consequence among people who pay great deference to rank and
station.

Bagojee Angria resided at Colabie , a fortified island half a mile
from Alla-Bhaug; in which were the palace, treasury, and other
public buildings; but the stables, gardens, and larger edifices,
were at Alla-Bhaug: the former contained a noble stud of Persian
and Arabian horses, elephants, and camels; and every thing about
the Durbar was in a princely style.

At nine o’clock Ragojee came from Colabie, mounted on a
large elephant, richly caparisoned: the duan followed on horse-
back; and the procession consisted of several stale elephants, led
horses, camels carrying the large drums, trumpeters, and other
musicians, a select detachment of cavalry, and a body guard of
infantry. On dismounting from the elephant, Ragojee’s chopdars,
or heralds, proclaimed his titles, and conducted him with great
state to the durbar, where the duan presented us in form; he
embraced each with a smiling countenance, and sat down on a
cushion prepared for his reception : he then sprinkled rose-water,
decked us with wreaths of mogrees, and concluded his visit by a
present of muslin and keemcab; pieces of satin, with gold and
silver flowers: these ceremonies, and some general political con-
versation occupied about an hour, when the prince reascended his
moving castle, and returned in the same state to Colabie.

Ragojee was splendidly dressed in a muslin vest, and drawers
of crimson and gold keemcab; his turban and sash were of purple

225

muslin, the former adorned with sprigs of diamonds and rubies,
and a very valuable emerald: from his neck depended two rows
of beautiful pearls, sustaining a cluster of diamonds: his ear-rings,
according to the Hindoo costume, were four large pearls, and as
many transparent perforated rubies, on gold rings two or three
inches in diameter: he wore a rich bracelet on his right arm; the
handle of his catarra, or short dagger, was studded with jewels;
the hilt of his broad sword plain gold. He appeared about forty
years of age; of a comely person, pleasing countenance, and
princely manners.

This Mahratta chieftain was of the same family with Conajee
Angria, the celebrated pirate, so long the terror of the European
and Indian vessels trading on the Malabar coast, until the con-
quest of Ghereah by Admiral Watson and Lord Clive. Ragojee,
as one of the tributary Rajahs, paid the Mahratta government two
lacs of rupees annually; he held his lands on a military tenure,
and furnished a supply of troops, similar to the feudal system
which formerly prevailed in Europe. Some Europeans, who had
deserted into his service, informed us he was generally beloved by
his people, and less oppressive than the other Mahratta princes:
these men were married and settled in the country, and made
themselves useful in the artillery department.

The duan’s name was Govindsett, a pundit of the banian caste;
a man of good character, and considerable abilities: to him Ra-
gojee entrusted the whole management of his revenue and dis-
bursements: they were of the same age, and having been brought
up together, a confidential friendship, uncommon in India, had
subsisted between them from the earliest period: in the course of

2 Cx

226

education, Ragojee observing their different pursuits, promised
when he attained the government, and followed the profession of
arms, Govindsett should be his duan, or prime minister: the latter
shrewdly replied, that, according to the usual custom of princes,
Govindsett would be forgotten when Ragojee became surrounded
b}r the insignia of royalty; but no sooner was the days of mourn-
ing for his father accomplished, than the young sovereign promoted
his favourite to the highest honours, and gave him the management
of his treasury.

After an early dinner, we pursued our journey towards that
part of the coast from whence we were to embark for Bombay. In
the course of conversation during Ragojee’s visit, he politely ob-
served, that as our servants and cattle might be fatigued by the
distance and heat of the weather, he hoped we would accept of
his own palanquins, horses, and camels, to the water-side; and an
armed vessel to convey us to Bombay: we declined all except the
latter; and accompanied only by Govindsett and his suite, we
proceeded, at his particular desire, to a dewal, or temple, which
he had lately erected, in a better style of architecture than any I
had then seen in India. It consisted of two separate temples: the
outer one a square, well proportioned, covered by a large dome,
and adorned at each corner by an elegant turret: the roof of the
further temple was embellished by a lofty spire, composed of
cupolas, gradually diminishing to the summit, with appropriate
ornaments to produce a general effect. The outer temple was
dedicated to public worship, the inner exclusively to the brahmins,
who washed and dressed the idols, richly adorned with jewels, and
ornamented with flowers; amongst them the nymphea lotos was

227

most conspicuous. In front of these temples a spacious area
contained a tank lined with hewn stone for the ablutions of the
worshippers, with a handsome obelisk at each corner, illuminated
on the great festivals: for such illuminations are as common
amongst the Hindoos, as with the ancient Egyptians, or modern
Chinese: the surrounding groves were enlivened by dancing-girls
and musicians; and, far from any appearance of austerity or morti-
fication, the brahmins at Govindsett’s temple seemed to partake of
every terrestrial enjoyment: the dancing-girls and Hindoo women
at the tank and fountains were of the most delicate order, and their
own personal appearance indicated no self-denial in the article of
food: on the contrary, they were all as fat and sleek as rice and
ghee could make them; and reminded me of a curious remark in
Orme's Oriental Fragments, that “ the brahmins have made their
gods require, besides the necessity of endowing their temples, the
practice of all other kinds of charities, by which the necessities of
human nature may be relieved. A third part of the wealth of
every Hindoo is expended on such occasions. The brahmins
themselves profess great hospitality, and by this address preserve
that extreme veneration, which otherwise would be lost through
the effects of envy, in a detestation of their impositions. A very
strange custom prevails in some parts of India: a brahmin devotes
himself to death, by eating until he expires with the surfeit: it is
no wonder that superstition is convinced of the necessity of cram-
ming the priest, when he professes to eat like a cormorant through
a principle of religion.55

“ Far be from me the malignity of attributing to the weakness
of human nature, the effects which might justly be given to its

228

virtues: were not the Hindoos infamous for the want of generosity
and gratitude in all the commerces of friendship; were they not a
tricking, deceitful people, in all their dealings; their charity could
not be deemed to arise from the influence of superstition/'

Such are the sentiments of one of the best judges, and most
humane investigators of the manners and customs of the Hindoos.
The sleek and glossy appearance of Govindsett’s brahmins re-
minded me of the singular suicides abovementioned. The dewal
itself answered Dr. Fryer’s description “ of a fair pagod, or
temple beleagured with a grove of trees which cast a lustre bright
and splendid, the sun reverberating against its refulgent spire,
crowned with a globe white as alabaster.” Such was Govindsett’s
temple, encircled by groves and fountains, among flowers, fruits,
and a variety of aromatic shrubs so much esteemed in India: the
extensive lake was covered with the nymphea, waving its lovely
blossoms of azure, white, and rose-colour, to every motion of the
breeze. This oriental beauty is often mentioned by the ancients:
it was as much a favourite with the Egyptians as with the Hin-
doos; the former considered it an object of religious veneration; the
latter offer it in sacrifice, and as a decoration in their temples.
Herodotus mentions a people called Lotophagi, who lived entirely
upon the fruit of the lotos; of what species I cannot determine;
as the fruit was the size of the mastic, and sweet like the date, from
which they also made wine. He says the Egyptians eat the root
of the plant, which was of a pleasant flavour; and from the flour
of the seed they made bread. These properties of the nymphea,
and the rhamnus lotus of Linnaeus, are confirmed by Pliny, and
may possibly be known in some countries at this day.

229

The temple, lake, and gardens, at Alla-Bhaug, presented an
excellent specimen of modern oriental magnificence, and evinced
the taste and liberality of the munificent founder: on alluding to
the immense expense of such an undertaking, Govindsett made a
reply which sensibly affected us: “ By the blessing of Providence
and the generosity of my sovereign, I have been promoted to
honour, and accumulated wealth, sufficient for present enjoyment,
and the future provision of my family. In dedicating this temple
and sacred groves for public worship, with the gardens, tanks, and
fountains, which I have made for general ablution and refreshment
in a sultry climate, I trust I have not only offered an acceptable
sacrifice to the benevolent deity, and bestowed a useful charity on
my fellow creatures; but, from the changes incidental to mortality,
the sun of prosperity may decline, and the clouds of adversity
gather over my posterity; when my children's children may de-
rive a benefit from what now so highly gratifies their father's
heart.'”

In this scene of mutability such changes are no where un-
common; but the rapid revolutions of wealth and power in Asia,
gave double energy to the speech of this benevolent Hindoo:
distinction of caste and profession vanished; and we cordially
united with a heart of sensibility, replete with piety to God, and
love to man !

“ In faith and hope, the world will disagree,

“ Bat all mankind’s concern is charity;

“ All must be false that thwart this one great end,

“ And all of God, that bless mankind or mend:

<f Man, like the generous vine, supported lives,

“ The strength he gains, is from th’ embrace he gives,”

230

As Pope’s lines occurred to me on the spot, and were inserted
in my manuscript of the evening, I have not suppressed them: a
Christian enjoying the light of revelation, will confine them within
proper limits; and notwithstanding my general remarks on the
moral character of the Indians, will not forget that love which
forms the grand test of his own religion, nor the charitable senti-
ment ot an inspired apostle, that God is no respecter of persons:
X willingly allow the Hindoos all the merit they can claim; but
the veil is now as much withdrawn from the inner temples and
mystical reveries of modem brahminism, as from the ancient
Eleusinian mysteries: nor can an unprejudiced mind, conversant
with both religions, admit that the followers have no need of the
gospel: those who best know the Hindoos, know them to be im-
mersed in ignorance, superstition, and idolatry! happy is the
humblest Christian, beyond all the attainments of ancient philo-
sophy or brahminical absorptions, who, under the cheering beams
of revelation, finds his heart influenced to love God, and to evince
that love by benevolence to his fellow creatures: who, lamenting
the evil propensities incidental to his fallen nature, is enabled to
look up to a Redeemer, who made an expiation for sin, which
not all the penance of the Hindoo fanatics, nor even the typical
sacrifices of the Jewish altars could ever have effected.

Our ride from Govindsett’s temple, to the place of embarkation
for Bombay, offered nothing interesting: he took leave at his gar-
den gate, ordering a party of horse to escort us to the sea-port,
and an officer to accompany us in the vessel, to inform him of our
arrival at Bombay. They conducted us several miles over the
salt-marshes, and passing through the Mahratta town of Tull, we

231

arrived late in the evening at Mandava, a small place in sight of
the island of Bombay, from whence we were to embark on the
following morning.

Notwithstanding we were under the protection of Ragojee's
escort, the Hindoos of Mandava, fearful of contamination, would
afford us no better accommodation than a cow-house ; where
we dressed our supper, and passed the night. To this humble
roof, by order of the officers, the villagers brought poultry, butter,
fruit, and vegetables; with fuel and earthen pots in abundance;
which we were not permitted to pay for: this diminished our
enjoyment of a repast obtained by oppression, and consequently
repugnant to the feelings of an Englishman. No murmur reached
our ears, but we knew from our servants, that it was not accom-
panied by the blessing of those from whom menace and compulsion
obtained it.

Lady Wortley Montague remarks, that when the Turkish
bashas travel, themselves, and their numerous retinue, not content
with eating all that is to be eaten belonging to the peasants, exact
what they call teeth-money; a contribution for the use of their
teeth, worn with doing them the honour of devouring their meat.
This humane writer, in her entertaining Letters from Turkey, was
compelled to be an innocent partaker of similar oppressions: and
the story related by Baron de Tott, with a degree of humour
which in some measure diminishes the cruelty of Ali Aga, his
mikmindar, or conductor, 1 have seen frequently realized from the
whip to the cinnamon, during my own travels in India. The
Baron travelling in Moldavia, on an embassy to the chain of the
Tartars, at the expense of the Turkish government, would willingly

°232

have paid the Greek peasants for his supply of provisions; but
that was not permitted: and so liable were they to such pillage,
that they generally denied having the articles. At one place where
the usual supply was demanded, the head of the village pretending
he did not understand the Turkish language, the mikmindar
knocked him down, and kicked him until he began to complain
in good Turkish of being thus beaten, when it was well known the
villagers were poor people, often in want of necessaries, and whose
princes scarcely left them the air they breathed: “ Pshaw! thou
art joking, friend/' replied Ali Aga, “ thou art in want of nothing,
except of being well basted a little oftener; but all in good lime:
proceed we now to business. I must instantly have two sheep, a
dozen of fowls, a dozen of pigeons, fifty pounds of bread, twelve
pounds of butter, with salt, pepper, nutmegs, cinnamon, lemons,
wine, salad, and good oil of olive; all in great plenty." The
Moldavian replied with tears, 44 I have already told you that
we are poor creatures, without so much as bread to eat; where
then must we get cinnamon?" On this, the conductor took his
whip, and flogged the poor Moldavian until he could bear it no
longer: when, finding Ali Aga inexorable, and that the provisions
must be produced, he ran off; and in less than a quarter of an
hour, the primate of the village, assisted by three of his country-
men, brought all the provisions required, not forgetting even the
cinnamon."

I wish not by the preceding relation to diminish the hospitality
of Ragojee or Govindsett: the conduct of their people who
escorted us was consistent with the usage of Hindostan: where
princes, governors, and officers, travelling through a country, pitch

their tents near a village, and levy a contribution of kids, poultry,
fruit, and vegetables, and many of Ali Aga’s accompaniments for
themselves and attendants. Not always contented with what is
produced with inconvenience and ill-will, these officers frequently
extort money from the oppressed inhabitants, which, after the usual
exactions of government, they are very little able to furnish. How
few of them can make the appeal of the venerable prophet to a
people among whom he had walked from his childhood: “ Behold,
here I am, old and gray headed! whose ox have I taken, or whose
ass have I taken? whom have 1 oppressed, or of whom have 1
received a bribe, to blind mine eyes therewith?”

The transaction at Mandava, which gave rise to these obser-
vations, concluded our adventures: the next morning we embarked
for Bombay, and arrived there in a few hours: on taking leave,
we offered our conductors a present, which the}' respectfully re-
fused; saying, their prince’s favour was beyond any other conside-
ration, and they should forfeit it by accepting our bounty.

This was my first journey on the continent of India; I found
it replete with novelty and entertainment: I recorded characters
and events as they occurred; wishing on all occasions to be di-
vested of prejudice, especially in a country famed for its serenity
of climate, luxuriance of soil, and the mildness of its inhabitants:
a country, which, perhaps, precedes Egypt as the nurse of science;
and by its arts, manufactures, and valuable productions, has con-
tributed from time immemorial to the comfort and luxury of other
civilized nations; various reasons, however, induce me to prefer

“ My native isle belov’d 5 by sounding waves

“ Bosom’d remote,. and hallow’d from the world!”

23 4

Aromatic gales and spicy groves; trees adorned by Flora and
Pomona; pellucid lakes and murmuring fountains; charm in
poetical descriptions: we wish to dwell in such delightful scenes;
a residence in the torrid zone convinces us of their fallacy: hot-
winds, and arid plains, unrefreshed by a cooling breeze or living
spring, annoy the Asiatic traveller: and admitting the existence
of such pleasures in the temperate climate and fertile provinces of
Hindustan, we know from experience, that a constant possession
of the loveliest objects, often renders them insipid: the revolving
seasons and variety of Europe, seem more congenial to an Eng-
lishman than the luxurious monotony of India, even in its most
pleasing form.

The inhabitants of the torrid zone are generally indolent and
effeminate; the climate is equally inimical to bodily and mental
exertion: physical causes produce these effects, but they are strongly
aided by a system of tyranny which prevents every manly effort.
History shews the fatal effects of arbitrary power, and effeminate
indulgence; Alexander himself could not withstand them; after
the conquest of Persia, he thought the habit and manners of the
Macedonian kings inadequate to his greatness; he chose to be
treated like the Persian monarchs, and reverenced after the man-
ner of the gods: lie therefore suffered persons, in token of their
respect, to prostrate themselves upon the ground before him.
Happily Phocion, Niocles, Sidney, and similar characters, oc-
casionally shew us wherein true greatness consists: the Hindoo
chieftain, and Mahomedan nobleman, kiss the mandate of death
with the servility which marked their character through life, and
submit to the mute and bow-string with the same stoical indiffer-

S 235

ence, as when formerly invested with a sirpau, or dress of honour,
from a tyrannic master: but this indifference, founded on predes-
tination, is very unlike the heroic firmness which characterized the
truly noble soul of Phocion, who whilst holding the poison to his
lips, being asked if he had any commands for his son, answered,
tell him to “ forget this injury of the Athenians!” of that ungrateful
country, then rewarding his patriotic love with the cup of death!
Niocles, his friend, under the same sentence, desired he might
drink the potion before him; Phocion replied, because he had
never denied him any thing, he would not even this, the most
difficult request he had ever made!

In the court of an Asiatic sovereign we look in vain for true
magnanimity: the nobles approach him with distrust and fear,
conscious that his frown deprives them of life; nor can they, on
so frail a tenure, enjoy wealth or honours: those in the middle
walk of life, instead of being subject to one tyrant, are oppressed
by numerous petty despots, who, dead to every feeling of huma-
nity, rule them with a rod of iron. The lower classes of ryots, or
husbandmen, are not in a more enviable situation; the despotic
system pervades all ranks, and whole villages emigrate, in the
vain hope of finding a more equitable government: they have
not indeed much to leave; their cottages being generally built of
mud, and their furniture only a few mats and earthen pots: they
live scantily on vegetables, rice, or inferior grain.

In travelling, it is easy to distinguish the ancient inhabitants
from those whom conquest or commerce have dispersed through-
out Hindostan; not so much in complexion and outward appear-
ance, as in the peculiarities of character: the Mahomedan is com-

paratively bold, enterprizing, and resolute; the Hindoo tender,
humane, and timid : this distinction may in part be attributed to
the mildness of the climate and difference of food, but still more
to the doctrine of transmigration; since a religion, which teaches
them that the dearest connexions they once enjoyed on earth,
may, on the system of the metempsychosis, now animate the
mortal form of a bird, beast, or insect, not only inspires them with
horror at the idea of shedding blood, but, in a great measure,
prevents every kind of cruelty.

“ Where the human race is struggling through such mighty
ills, as render its condition scarcely superior to that of the brutes
of the field/’ Orme naturally asks, “ shall we not expect to find
throughout Hindostan dreary plains, lands uncultivated, miserable
villages thinly interspersed, desolated towns, and the number of
inhabitants as much diminished as their miseries appear multi-
plied? On the contrary, we find a people, equalling, if not ex-
ceeding in numbers the most populous states; such as enjoy the
best of governments, and the best of laws.”

45 The effects of climate of Hindostan seem to counteract, in
favour of the human race, the violences to which it is subject from
the nature of the government. The sun forbids the use of fuel,
and renders the want of raiment to be scarcely an inconvenience:
the bare earth, with the slightest hut over it, affords a repose
without the danger of diseases to a people vastly temperate:
productions peculiar to the soil of India, exceedingly contribute
to the ease of various labours; a convenient house may be built
in three days, with no other materials than what are furnished by
the bamboo and kajan ; a boat, with all its appurtenances, may

be made from the single cocoa-nut tree, which at the same time
supplies oil, and a nourishment in much request; the ease of pro-
ducing and manufacturing cotton, is evinced by the plenty and
price of linen; health is best preserved in this climate, by the
slightest and simplest diet; perhaps it is from this consideration
that religion has forbid the use of flesh meats and spirituous liquors
amongst the Hindoos.

“ Thus the general wants of other climates become extremely
lessened in this. Now if men multiply in proportion to the ease
of gaining a subsistence, it will no longer be admired, that the
country of Hindostan should, even under the iron sway of despo-
tism, continue populous; especially if we add this better funda-
mental cause, which, resulting like the other from the effects of
the climate, is still rendered more effectual by the most sacred of
customs. Every Hindoo is by his religion obliged to marry, and
is permitted to have more wives than one: it has been proved, that
the number of females exceeds that of the males; so that a plu-
rality of wives produces not the effect in India, which it is ima-
gined to do in other countries, that of decreasing the numbers of a
people.”

In this part of my letters, youthful imagination, and enthusias-
tic patriotism, heightened by distance from the beloved object,
led me to draw a long comparison between the inhabitants of
Britain and India. Warmed by the amor patriae, I pursued the
delightful theme from Windsor’s royal towers, to the palaces of the
nobles, villas of the opulent, commercial sea-ports, manufacturing
towns, cheerful villages, farms, and hamlets: I traced the muni-
ficent endowments for art and science: from her splendid univer-

238

shies to the parochial schools. It was a picture, which, in a
distant clime and secluded situation, delighted the heart, and
animated my endeavours to secure a competence, that I might the
sooner enjoy these unspeakable blessings: blessings! which, after
hve-and-twenty years experience, are still enhanced, by contem-
plating the misery of Europe: but, as the subject is here so hap-
pily understood, I suppress a juvenile rhapsody, which acquired a
peculiar interest in a foreign country.

V

WILw/wr.

Jam .Farl/es.Jaiagtm .lTp..

CHAPTER X

A DESCRIPTION OP THE CITY AND INHABITANTS OF SURAT;
ITS OPULENCE, MANUFACTURES, AND COMMERCE;

THE COURT, PALACES, AND GARDENS OF THE NABOB ;
GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE MOGULS;

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY;

«

AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE HINDOO TEMPLES AND RELIGIOUS
CEREMONIES AT PULPARAH,

1772.

Let India boast her plants, nor envy we
The weeping amber, nor the balmy tree;

While by our oaks the precious loads are borne.
And realms commanded, which those trees adorn.

Pope,

\

.

CONTENTS.

Voyage from Bombay to Surat — description of the coast — teak tree —
Surat bar — source of the river — port of Surat — -ancient trade of
India with Europe — diamond mines and jewels of India — city of
Surat — bazars — variety of merchandize imported — public buildings
— castle — European factories — burying-grounds — caravansaries —
choultries and public zvells — poetical description of oriental benefi-
cence— gardens at Surat — mode of watering — Mahmud-a-bhaug ,
the nabob's garden , haram — Mogul teamen — Mahomeclan voluptu-
ousness— quotation from Homer’s garden — hummums , champoing—
banian hospital — its wards for animals , and peculiar arrangements
— manufactures — shawls — Cachemire — trade of Surat with Europe
— visit of the English chief to the nabob — ceremonies , presents — •
nabob' s public procession to the mosque-— dress of the Mogul ladies
— veils and embroidery —anecdote of a Mogul widow and an Eng-
lish gentleman — country , cultivation , kitchen gardens — vegetable
soap — wood-apple — weavers — game — birds — amadavads — wild
beasts — hyena— tiger — leopard — cheeta — a cheeta-hunt fully de-
scribed— porcupines — Pulparra — sacred groves — Hindoo devotees —
burning of widows — Crest onians by Herodotus — affecting account
of the immolation of a Hindoo widow — Bernier's description of a
dreadful scene of that kind — minute division of the Hindoo castes
— similar to those of the Egyptians — ablutions of the Hindoos — *
marks of Vishnoo and Seeva — compared with those in scripture-
travels of Hindoo devotees • — death ofCalanus, burning of an Indian
woman in the army of Eumenes.

2 i

■

’

.

CHAPTER X.

Soon after my return from the hot-wells at Dazagon, I visited
Surat, one of the principal cities in India; where the manners and
customs of the natives are more oriental, than in those places
immediately under the English government.

Surat is about a hundred and twenty miles to the northward
of Bombay; the voyage thither affords an opportunity of viewing
Bassein, Damaun, and some other sea-ports: the hilly coast ter-
minates half way at the lofty promontory of St. John's; from
thence to the entrance of Surat river, the shore is flat and unin-
teresting: the southern mountains are woody, and abound with
teak trees, often called the oak of Hindostan, from their great value
in ship-building. Teak timber is more durable than oak, from its
oleaginous quality, preserving the wood, and the iron necessarily
used in naval architecture, for a considerable time longer than the
British oak, which contains a corrosive quality, tending to consume
the iron-work. I saw a ship at Surat which had been built near
eighty years; and which, from veneration to its age and long ser-
vices, was only employed in an annual voyage to the Red Sea, to
convey the Mahomedan pilgrims to Juddah, on their way to
Mecca; and then returning with them to Surat, after the hodge,

244

or religious ceremonies were finished; the vessel, was oiled, and
covered up on shore until the following season.

During the fair months, the sea between Surat and Bombay is
covered with ships of different nations: large fleets of merchant
boats, richly laden, sail every fortnight under convoy of the English
cruizers, to protect them against the Coolies, a horde of pirates
near the gulph of Cambay, whose swift-sailing vessels constantly
infest that navigation.

On anchoring at Surat bar I left the ship which brought me
from Bombay, and sailed up the Tappee in her pinnace: this river
takes its rise at Maltay, a small town to the northward of Nagpore,
the capital of Moodajee Bounselah, in the latitude of 21° 8' north,
and 79° 44' east longitude: and after an increase by many tributary
streams, flows into the sea at Surat bar, a distance of nearly five
hundred miles.

We followed the serpentine course of the Tappee, or Tapty,
through a flat uninteresting country, until we suddenly opened on
the city of Surat, pleasantly situated on the southern bank of the
river: the old Indian castle, with the English and Mogul flags on
the principal towers, had a venerable aspect: the English, Dutch,
French, and Porlugueze colours, waved on their respective facto-
ries, and garden-houses near the river; and from that distance,
Surat had a better appearance than on a nearer approach; when we
found the walls and towers out of repair, the public buildings in a
ruinous state, and the streets dirty, narrow, and irregular.

The bar, or sand-bank, where the ships anchor, and discharge
their cargoes, is generally crowded with merchant-vessels from the
commercial nations in Europe and Asia; the city exhibits a busy

245

multitude of Hindoos, Mahomedans, Farsees, Jews, Turks, Arme-
nians, Persians, Arabians, Greeks, and other Asiatic strangers; be-
sides the Europeans, whose factories have been already mentioned,
it is also frequented by merchants from Malacca, China, Abyssinia,
Mosambique, Madagascar, and the Coniorro isles; and by numerous
traders from the seaports, and inland provinces of Hindostan*

In a former chapter I have particularized the trade of Bombay;
that of Surat is very similar; although now one of the greatest
emporiums in India, I do not find it mentioned in the oriental
commerce of the ancients by Strabo, Arrian, or other writers on
that subject, who describe the Arabian and Egyptian trade with
Pattala, the modern Taltah, on the Indus; Barygaza, or Baroche,
on the Nerbudda, and Musiris, now Murjee, on the Malabar coast.
These Arabian vessels imported, from Egypt and other places,
woollen-cloth, brass, iron, lead, tin, glass-ware, coral, wrought-
silver, gold and silver bullion, and several kinds of wine: and they
exported spices, diamonds, sapphires, pearls, and other gems; with
cottons, silks, pepper, and perfumes. Dr. Robertson observes,
that “ the justness of Arrian’s account of the articles imported
from India, is confirmed by a Roman law, in which the Indian
commodities subject to the payment of duties are enumerated. By
comparing these two accounts, we may form an idea, tolerabljr
exact, of the nature and extent of the trade with India in ancient
times.”

The diamonds, sapphires, and rubies of India, have always
been held in the highest estimation; in topazes, amethysts, and
some other gems, perhaps America may be equal: the most cele-
brated diamond mines are at Golconda, in the territory of the

nizam; and at Raolcondah, near Visiapoor, in the Mahratta em-
pire: Ceylon produces the ruby, sapphire, topaz, and other pre-
cious stones; especially one of superior beauty, called the cat’s-eye:
the pearl fishery of this island is very lucrative, and the pearls vie
in size and lustre with those of Ormuz: gold mines are unknown
in India; but that valuable metal is found in the torrents which
flow from the mountains of Thibet into the Indus and Ganges:
there is no silver in Hindostan, but what is imported from foreign
countries: several places in the southern peninsula and Ceylon,
produce iron, but the natives are very deficient in their method of
smelting and manufacturing it.

Orme mentions that the first English ship which arrived at Surat
was the Hector, commanded by Captain William Hawkins, in
August l6Q8: the Captain brought a letter from the East India
Company, and another from King James the First, to the emperor
Jehangire, requesting the intercourse of trade. At this time the
Portugueze marine predominated on the Indian seas, in so much
that they made prize of all vessels which had not taken their pass;
and the fear of their resentment on the ships which traded from
Surat to the gulplis of Arabia and Persia, deterred the Mogul's
officers from giving the encouragement they might wish, to the
English strangers.

The Portugueze dreading the future power of the English, and
actuated by the most inveterate jealousy, did every thing in their
power to prevent the establishment of an English factory at Surat:
they often attacked our vessels at sea with a great superiority, but
acquired neither riches nor glory: yet by bribery and intrigues
with the Surat government, they had for several years sufficient

24?

influence to frustrate our trade, and prevent a settlement. At
length, in October 16T2, a treaty was concluded by Captain Best
with the Mogul government, that an ambassador from the King
of England should reside at the imperial court; that on the arrival
of the Company’s ships at Swally, the anchoring ground near Surat
bar, proclamation should be made, three several days successively,
in the city of Surat, that the people of the country might freely
come and trade with the English at the water-side; and settled the
duties on their commodities at. three and a half per cent.: it also
exempts the trade, and the factory then permitted to be esta-
blished, from responsibility for the robberies of English pirates :
and that in all questions of wrongs and injuries done to the Eng-
lish nation, justice should be rendered without delay, or exorbitant
charge.

Such was the commencement of our trade with Surat, which is
situated in 21° 11' north latitude, and 72” 50 east longitude: the
outer walls of the city are seven miles in circumference, with twelve
gates: between each gate are irregular lowers, mounted with can-
non, and the walls are perforated for musquetry: the inner town is
surrounded by a similar wall, and an equal number of gates: the
streets are narrow, the houses generally lofty, and crowded with
inhabitants: between the outer and inner walls, are many streets
and houses; but, like most other oriental cities, much of that
space is occupied by villas, gardens, and cultivated land, producing
grain, fruit, and vegetables.

The bazars, filled with costly merchandize, picturesque and in-
teresting groups of natives on elephants, camels, horses, and
mules; strangers from all parts of the globe, in their respective

248

costume; vessels building on the stocks, others navigating the
river; together with Turks, Persians, and Armenians, on Arabian
chargers; the European ladies in splendid carriages, the Asiatic
females in hackeries, drawn by oxen: and the motley appearance
of the English and nabob’s troops on the fortifications, remind us
of the following description of Tyre, by the prophet Ezekiel:

44 O thou that art situated at the entry of the sea, which art a
“ merchant of the people for many isles! O Tyrus! thy builders
44 have perfected thy beauty. Thy wise men were thy pilots, and
“ the inhabitants of Zidon and of Arvad were thy mariners: the
44 ancients of Gebal, and the wise men thereof, were thy caulkers,
44 and all the ships of the sea occupied thy merchandize. The men
44 of Persia and Arabia were in thine army, the men of Arvad upon
44 thy walls, and the Cammadims in thy towers. Tarshish was thy
44 merchant for all kinds of riches; with silver, iron, and lead, they
“ traded in thy fairs. Javan and Tubal dealt with thee in the
44 persons of men, and vessels of brass. Togarmah supplied thee
44 with horses, horsemen, and mules. Syria was thy merchant for
44 emeralds, purple, and broidered-work; for linen, and agate; and
44 many isles brought thee horns of ivory, and ebony. Judah and
44 Israel traded in thy markets with wheat of Mcnnith and Pan-
44 nag, and hone}7, and oil, and balm. Damascus was thy mer-
44 chant in the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches,
“ in the wine of Helbon, and white wool. Dan also, and Javan,
44 occupied thy fairs with iron, cassia, and calamus; and Dedan
44 brought thee precious cloths for thy chariots. Arabia, and all
44 the princes of Kedar, supplied thee with rams, and goats, and
44 lambs; and the merchants of Shebah and Raainah, enriched thy

249

“ fairs with the chief of all spices, with precious stones and gold.
“ Haran and Canneh were thy merchants for blue cloths, and
“ broidered work, in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and
“ made of cedar. All that handle the oar, and all the pilots of
“ the sea, come down from their ships, they did sing of thee in thy
“ markets, and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in
“ the midst of the seas!”

This is a true picture of oriental commerce in ancient times;
and a very exact description of the port, and bazars of Surat, at
the present day.

The public buildings at Surat are few and mean: the durbar,
or nabob’s palace, though extensive and convenient, makes but a
shabby appearance. The mosques and minarets are small, with-
out taste or elegance. The Hindoo temples are not more conspi-
cuous, and the serais, or caravansaries, much out of repair.

I need not at present enter into a detail of the disputes and
disturbances which existed in Surat until the year 1759; at which
time a firmaun, or grant, was obtained from the Great Mogul,
constituting the English East India Company governors of the
castle, and investing them with the office of admiral of the fleet;
which dignities they still possess. Some alterations in favour of
the English have since taken place at Surat; when I was in India
the English and Mogul flags were both displayed on different
towers in the castle: the Mogul’s broad-pendant was hoisted in the
principal armed vessel employed on the Surat station; and a sort
of double government, divided between the nabob and the East
India Company, existed in the city.

The Dutch, French, and Portuguese nations, had no share in

2 k

250

the government or police of Surat; but they lived in an elegant
style at their town and country houses, with handsome equipages,
and suitable attendants. The Dutch factory is the most regular
and the best built mansion in Surat; the Dutch Company import
sugar, arrack, and spices, from their settlements in the eastern
islands; and export a considerable quantity of cotton piece-goods
manufactured here. The French trade is greatly diminished; and
the Portugueze, who once commanded the Indian seas, are every
where on the decline: but the commerce of the English Company
and private merchants at Surat, is very extensive.

In the English and Dutch burying-grounds, situated without
the walls, are some handsome tombs, with domes and pillars in the
style of the Mahomedan mausoleums; which, interspersed among
shady trees, give these cemeteries a grand and solemn appear-
ance.

The serai, or principal caravansary, at Surat, was much
neglected: most of the eastern cities contain one at least, for the
reception of strangers; smaller places, called choultries, are erected
by charitable persons, or munificent princes, in forests, plains, and
deserts, for the accommodation of travellers. Near them is gene-
rally a well, and a cistern for the cattle; a brahmin or fakeer often
resides there to furnish the pilgrim with food, and the few neces-
saries he may stand in need of.

In the deserts of Persia and Arabia, these buildings are inva-
luable: in those pathless plains, for many miles together, not a
tree, a bush, nor even a blade of grass, is to be seen; all is one
undulating; mass of sand, like waves on the trackless ocean. In
these ruthless wastes, where no rural village, or cheerful hamlet;

251

no inn, or house of refreshment is to be found, how noble is the
charity, that rears the hospitable roof, that plants the shady grove,
and conducts the refreshing moisture into reservoirs. Beautifully
does Sir William Jones describe such an act of beneficence in an
Arabian female:

“ See yon fair groves that o’er Amana rise,

“ And with their spicy breath embalm the skies;

“ Where every breeze sheds incense o’er the vales,

“ And every shrub the scent of musk exhales;

“ See, thro’ yon opening glade, a glittering scene,
ee Lawns ever gay, and meadows ever green !

“ To cheer with sweet repast the fainting guest,

<c To lull the weary on the couch of rest;

cc To warm the traveller, numb’d with winter’s cold,

“ The young to cherish, to support the old;

“ The sad to comfort, and the weak protect.

The poor to shelter, and the lost direct ;

“ These are Selima’s cares, her glorious task,

“ Can heaven a nobler give, or mortals ask ?

” When chill’d with fear, the trembling pilgrim roves
“ Thro’ pathless deserts, and thro’ tangled groves,

“ Where mantling darkness spreads her dragon wing,

“ And birds of death their fatal dirges sing;

” While vapours pale, a dreadful glimmering cast
<r And thrilling horror howls in every blast;

“ She cheers his gloom with streams of bursting light—

“ By day a sun, a beaming moon by night!”

There are many gardens between the outer and inner walls of
Sural, surrounding the villas of the nabob and principal inhabi-
tants; the finest of them is called Mahmud-a-Bhaug, where the
nabob had extensive pleasure grounds; with small reservoirs of

252

water, and fountains playing near the open saloons, which pro-
duced a refreshing coolness, and had a pleasing effect; the gardens,
according to the season, were filled with balsams, poppies, and
various flowers, of an equal height, closely planted, and so dis-
posed, as to resemble a rich Turkey carpet; this formality seems
to be the acme of Mogul taste. The walks are shaded by cy-
presses, champacas, and cocoa-nut trees; adorned with oleanders,
myrtles, pomegranates, roses, jessamine, and odoriferous plants
peculiar to India.

The method of watering these extensive gardens, and of drawing-
water for the purposes of agriculture in this part of India, is simple,
and more efficacious than the soft showers from a watering-pot,
which would by no means satisfy the parched and thirsty soil. The
wells at Surat are large, and deep, enclosed with strong masonry; a
walk of an easy descent is formed from the surface, ten or twelve
feet wide, its length corresponding with the depth of the well: on
the circumference, opposite to each other, are stone pillars, sup-
porting an horizontal beam, from which is suspended a large
leathern bucket, running by a strong rope over a pulley; to the
other end of the rope is fastened a yoke of oxen; which, as they
descend the sloping walk, elevate the bucket containing the water;
this is emptied into a reservoir, and from thence conducted by the
gardeners in small streams, to everj^ tree and shrub in the garden.
Many of the wells and walks are sufficiently large to admit of two
or three pair of oxen drawing water at a time; and some of them
are erected for the public use by charitable individuals, at the
expense of many thousand pounds.

The haram, or women’s apartment, at Mahmud-a-Bhaug, is a

253

distinct building, separated from the palace by a large garden:
this, from the jealousy of the Moguls, is forbidden ground, when
the nabob resides there; but being uninhabited, 1 had an oppor-
tunity of seeing it: all the windows look into enclosed gardens,
and have no prospect of any thing beyond them. It seems
calculated to furnish every pleasure that can be expected by the
unfortunate females immured under the Argus-eyes of duennas
and eunuchs. Baths, fountains, fruits, and flowers, the European
fair ones would think a poor compensation for liberty: the Asiatic
ladies, accustomed to this confinement, are not discontented with
their lot. The advice which Telemachus gives to Penelope, is still
realized in every eastern haram —

“ Retire, O queen! thy household task resume j
“ Tend, with thy maids, the labours of the loom :

“ There, rule, from public cares remote and free ;

“ That care to man belongs, and most to me. Homer's Odyssey.

An intelligent oriental traveller, describing a scene in the
nizanfls country similar to Mahmud-a-Bhaug, justly observes,
44 that although these gardens cannot be compared to those of
Europe in taste and variety, they are peculiarly adapted to the
retired pleasures of a Mahomedan life: the principal requisites ol
which are coolness, space, and secrecy; besides that, they hold it
both grateful and healthy to live much among the fragrance of
plants and flowers; and that pride, jealousy, and modesty, unite
in demanding perfect security from all intrusion. Hence the high
walls, so inelegant in the eyes of a European, are the necessary
guardians of a Mahomedams honour, and the safeguard of Ins

254

pleasures. Within this protection, secluded from the world, the
voluptuous Mussulman, laying aside the grandeurs of the day,
with the irritation of mind which accompanies ambition, aban-
dons himself to soft repose; and, in the stillness of a starry night,
acquires that serenity of mind which lulls the soul into pleasing
complacency; forming a delightful contrast to the stormy pas-
sions of an agitated day. Negligently stretched upon his couch,
he listens to the melodious song; and contemplates the graceful
forms of the surrounding dancers; amid the odoriferous smoke of
incense.

These oriental gardens bear a great resemblance to those of the
Pheacian monarch, both in situation and general effect.

‘ Close to the gates a spacious garden lies,

Trom storms defended, and inclement skies ;

Tall thriving trees confess’d the fruitful mould.

The swelling mango ripens here to gold;

Here the blue fig with luscious juice o’erflows.

With deeper red the full pomegranate glows ;

The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear.

And verdant olives flourish round the year;

The balmy spirit of the western gale
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail:

The same mild season gives the blooms to blow.

The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow :

A plenteous fountain the whole prospect crown’d ;

Which through the garden leads its stream around.

Visits each plant, and waters all the ground.”

Homers Odyssey.

The palace and gardens of Mahmud-a-Bhaug were out of
repair; as the Moguls of rank are seldom at any trouble or ex-

G)

Da

pense, on a place which was not built by themselves: they had
rather be the reputed founder of an insignificant villa, than pre-
serve the grandest palace erected by their ancestors. These gar-
dens were made by a. former nabob, and called after his name;
they cost an immense sum, and required many years to complete
them: yet his successor never resided there, nor prevented their
decay; while, witli the iron rod of despotism, he was converting a
populous part of the city into a large garden, adorned with exten-
sive walks, groves, and fountains, to surround a summer pavilion:
the reigning nabob dignified this favourite retreat with the appel-
lation of “ The Gift of Godf’ the suffering manufacturers, driven
from their quiet habitations, and shady verdant looms, called it
“ The Garden of Oppression.”

The baths at Mahmud-a-Bhaug had been on a grand scale: in
most of the principal houses at Surat are private hummums, or
bagnios; which consist of one or two small rooms, paved with
marble, illuminated by a sky-light of coloured glass, and furnished
with cisterns of hot and cold water. There are many public
hummums on a larger scale, but of the same construction; where
oils, perfumes, and pastes, are provided for anointing the visitors.
You first enter a vestibule, paved and lined with marble, sur-
rounded by benches for the convenience of undressing: from thence
you are conducted by two men into the marble bathing room;
which contains two cisterns of hot and cold water; these are
mingled in copper vessels, until of the required temperature, and
then poured upon the visitor by the attendants. The operation of
these men is at first disagreeable to Europeans, especially in the
champoing; which is a method of working or kneading the flesh,

250

and cracking llie joints, after being rubbed over with perfumed
pastes: champoing affords delightful sensations to the Asiatics;
and many Europeans, after being accustomed to this singular
treatment, consider it a luxury.

The Banian hospital at Surat is a most remarkable institution;
it consists of a large plot of ground, enclosed with high walls;
divided into several courts, or wards, for the accommodation of
animals: in sickness they are attended with the tenderest care,
and find a peaceful asylum for the infirmities of age. When
an animal breaks a limb, or is otherwise disabled from serving his
master, he carries him to the hospital; and, indifferent to what
nation or caste the owner may belong, the patient is never refused
admittance. If he recovers, he cannot be reclaimed, but must
remain in the hospital for life, subject to the duty of drawing water
for those pensioners debilitated by age or disease from procuring
it for themselves. At my visit, the hospiLal contained horses,
mules, oxen, sheep, goats, monkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety
of birds; with an aged tortoise, who was known to have been there
for seventy-five years. The most extraordinary ward was that
appropriated to rats, mice, bugs, and other noxious vermin: the
overseers of the hospital frequently hire beggars from the streets,
for a stipulated sum, to pass a night among the fleas, lice, and
bugs, on the express condition of suffering them to enjoy their feast
without molestation.

The Banian hospital in Surat has several dependent endow-
ments without the walls, for such invalids and convalescents to
whom pasturage and country air may be recommended; and
especially for the maintenance of the goafs purchased from slaugh-

257

ter on the anniversary of the Mahomedan festival, when so many
of those animals are devoted to destruction.

The doctrine of the metempsychosis is commonly supposed to
be the cause of founding this singular hospital; 1, however, con-
versed with several sensible brahmins on the subject, who rather
ascribed it to a motive of benevolence for the animal crea-
tion: nor can we do otherwise than approve of that part of the
institution appropriated for the comfort of those valuable creatures
who have exhausted their strength in the service of man. At the
same time it must be acknowledged, that the belief in transmigra-
tion which pervades every part of the Hindoo system, has probably
no small degree of influence in this endowment: for the metem-
psychosis is founded nearly on the same principle with that of
Pythagoras, and the ancient philosophers, as we find from Ovid.

“ That all things are but alter’d, nothing dies,

(c And here and there, th’ unbodied spirit dies,

“ By time, or force, or sickness dispossess’d,

“ And lodges where it lights, in bird or beast ;

Or hunts without, ’till ready limbs it find,

“ And actuates those according to their kind:

“ From tenement to tenement is toss’d,

C( The soul is still the same, the figure only lost !

“ Then let not piety be put to flight,

“ To please the taste of glutton-appetite;

“ But suffer inmate souls secure to dwell,

“ Lest from their seats your parents you expel !

“ With rabid hunger feed upon your kind,

“ Or from a beast dislodge a brother’s mind.’’ Dryden.

The inhabitants of Surat are generally merchants or manufac-
turers: after the Mahrattas conquered Guzerat, the weavers of

2 L

258

keemcabs, and other rich stuffs, the embroiderers, jewellers, paint-
ers, and inlayers of ivory, ebony, and sandal-wood, meeting with
no encouragement from the Mahratta government, emigrated from
Ahmedabad to Surat, and other flourishing cities in the western
districts of Hindostan, where they have resumed their employments
with great success.

Surat is also a considerable market for shawls, one of the most
delicate fabrics yet brought from the loom: they are not indeed
manufactured at Surat, nor in any of the southern provinces,
being chiefly the produce of Cachemire, that “ paradise of na-
tions,” where Acber, and many of the imperial princes retired
from the cares of government: encircled by their favourite cour-
tiers, and in the bosom of their family, they enjoyed in that mild
climate the picturesque scenery of the surrounding mountains, and
the rural beauties of the delicious valley, watered by the celebrated
liydaspes, and refreshed by many other streams from its lofty
boundaries. The shawls manufactured in Cachemire, from the
delicate silky wool of a goat peculiar to Thibet, are an elegant
article of luxury, too well known in Europe, to need a parti-
cular description: this manufacture is not confined to Cachemire,
but all others are deemed of an inferior quality: their prime cost
is from twenty to five hundred rupees a shawl, according to the
size, texture, and pattern: some, perhaps, may be more va-
luable.

The staples of Europe are disposed of by agents at the respective
factories in Surat; but the commodities exported to Europe from
India and China far exceed in value those imported from thence: the
natives of India, from the mildness of the climate, and fertility of

259

the soil, want but few foreign supplies: gold and silver have been
always carried thither by European traders. The English com-
merce in Asia, and especially in China, towards the conclusion of
the eighteenth century, never could have been conducted on such
an extensive scale, had it not been for the inexhaustible mines of
South America: their precious metals have, by various channels,
been conveyed to the east, from whence they never return: it is
singular, that the discovery of the new world by Columbus, from
whence proceeds this influx of gold and silver to Europe, was nearly
at the same period when Vasco de Gama opened the trade to India
by the Cape of Good Hope.

Having accompanied the English chief on a public visit to the
nabob of Surat, I will endeavour to describe the court etiquette
at an oriental durbar. The chief went in state, attended by the
members of council, aids du camp, and other officers, preceded
by a detachment of European infantry, the British colours, and
other insignia appropriate to his station. The castle guns fired a
royal salute; and on approaching the Durbar, the nabob’s troops
were ready to receive us. The naib, or vizier, with the nabob’s
brother, met the chief in the inner court, and conducted him to
the hall of audience, where he was seated on the nabob’s right-
hand; the other gentlemen, in chairs, according to their respective
stations. On his left were the naib, the nabob’s sons, brother, and
officers of state. After a complimentary discourse, and a few
political questions, we were served with coffee, in small porcelain
cups, placed in silver saucers, and soon after with glasses of per-
fumed sherbet: the nabob then presented the chief with an Arabian
horse, a diamond ring, and several pieces of gold and silver keem-

260

cab: his attendants brought to each of the gentlemen a present of
shawls, keemcab, or muslin, suited to their rank; the ceremony
concluded by presenting pawn, or betel-nut, folded up in a leaf of
betel, with ehunam, and spices, fastened by a clove: this is the
usual indication of the visit being terminated. The nabob attended
his guests to the bottom of the steps leading from the durbar to
the area, and at parting took each by the hand; his eldest son and
brother accompanied us to the outward gate, and took leave in the
same manner.

The custom of giving and receiving presents, prevails univer-
sally in Hindoslan, and in most parts of Asia; from sacred and
profane history, we find it was ecjually customary among the
ancients. On Telemachus leaving the Spartan court, Mcnelaus
says to his departing guest,

“ No prince will let Ulysses’ heir remove
■'£ Without some pledge, some monument of love:

These will the cauldron, these the tripod give,

“ From those the well-pair’ d mules we shall receive,

“ Or bowl emboss’d, whose golden figures live.

The termination of the monthly fast of Ramadan, one of the
strictest ordinances in the Mahomedan religion, afforded me an
opportunity of seeing the nabob go in state to the jumai-musjod,
or principal mosque: a ceremony he always performs on the ap-
pearance of the new moon after the Ramadan; in which month
the Mussulmans believe the Koran was sent from heaven, and
observe the fast with great austerity.

The procession left the durbar at nine o’clock in the morn-
ing, led by the cajee, a venerable Mahomedan priest, followed

261

by a train of artillery, with two Hags on each gun-carriage; an
officer bearing the sacred standard of green silk, embroidered with
gold, and mounted on an elephant, surrounded by young men
with small banners, formed the first division. Then came a detach-
ment of Mogul infantry, with a band of martial music, preceding
the scidees, or Mahomedan caffrees, favourite slaves and chief
officers of the nabob, mounted on excellent horses, richly capa-
risoned: the scidees are generally natives of Abyssinia, adopted
into the family of the rich Moguls, and often married to their
daughters. After them came a company of English troops, fol-
lowed by an elephant, and camels carrying kettle-drums and musi-
cians, with others on horseback: these were succeeded by an
English gentleman of the council at Surat, in a stale palankeen,
representing the East India Company, as governor of the castle,
and admiral of the Mogul’s fleet: the nabob’s empty palankeen
and carriages went before his two sons, mounted on Arabian char-
gers, immediately preceding the elephant on which his highness was
enthroned in a splendid houdah, with his principal attendant in a
separate apartment behind: the nabob was richly dressed, and his
turban adorned with jewels: the covering of the houdah and capa-
rison of the elephant, were scarlet and gold. The buxey, or general
of the army, at the head of a select body, closed the procession.

'This magnificent cavalcade only occurring once a year, was
very gratifying to a stranger; but I was still more delighted with
the company I accidentally met on the occasion. A friend pro-
cured me a projecting window in one of the principal streets to
view the spectacle ; where I was soon accosted by an old duenna,
to desire I would either turn my back, or walk down stairs, while

2(32

some Mogul ladies passed through the room in their way to an ad-
joining latticed chamber : knowing the necessity of obedience, I
preferred looking out of the window, and kept my station : but at
the sound of foot-steps I was tempted to peep behind me; when
instead of the ladies, I beheld the careful matron holding up a
thick veil, to screen her charge: a similar curiosity to see an Eng-
lish stranger brought them to the lattice; fortunately one of the
party had known me before, which induced her to break through
an established custom, and pay me a visit, accompanied by one of
the greatest beauties I ever beheld: her age did not exceed fifteen ;
her form was perfect, her features regular, and her large antelope
eyes of brilliant lustre : although fairer than the generality of In-
dian females, neither the rose nor the lily adorned her complexion,
yet the brunette tint rather enriched than impaired the softness
and delicacy of her skin ; “ grace was in all her steps,” and her
whole deportment elegant and courteous.

This young beauty excelled in personal charms, but was not so
superbly attired as her friend, whom I hastily sketched, as a speci-
men of a well-dressed Mogul. Her drawers, of green satin flowered
with gold, were seen under a chemise of transparent gauze, reach-
ing toher slippers, richly embroidered: a vest of pale blue satin,
edged with gold, sat close to her shape, which an upper robe
of striped silver muslin, full and flowing, displayed to great ad-
vantage: a netted veil of crimson silk, flowered with silver, fell
carelessly over her long braided hair, combed smooth, and divided
from the forehead, where a cluster of jewels was fastened by strings
of seed-pearl : her ear-rings were large and handsome, that in her
nose, according to our idea of ornament, less becoming: the Asiatic

°26S

ladies are extremely fond of the nose-jewel, and il is mentioned
among the Jewish trinkets in the old testament ; a necklace in in-
termingled rows of pearls and gold covered her bosom, and several
strings of large pearls were suspended from an embroidered girdle
set with diamonds: bracelets of gold and coral reached from her
wrist to the elbow, golden chains encircled her ancles, and all her
toes and fingers were adorned with valuable rings. Like most of
the oriental females, of all religions, her eyes were tinged by a black
circle, formed with the powder of antimony; which produces a re-
freshing coolness, gives the eye additional lustre, and is thought to
be a general improvement to Asiatic beauty.

The slippers, girdle, and other parts of the Mogul dress, of both
sexes, are embroidered with gold, silver, and coloured silks, upon
velvet, satin, or scarlet cloth: the jama is often richly embroidered;
this is the name of the muslin robe, worn by Hindoos and Maho-
medans, which falls in full folds from the waist to the feet;
the upper part is made to fit the body, and crossing over the
bosom, is tied on the left side by the Hindoos, and by the Maho-
medans on the right. The veil is an elegant part of the female
dress; and has been so esteemed, from the time of Rebecca, to the
present day: Homer frequently mentions it as an ornament of
Grecian and Trojan beauty:

“ A veil translucent, o’er her brows display’d,

“ Her beauty seems, and only seems, to shade.”

We were acquainted with a young Persian, a temporary resi-
dent at Baroche, who one day brought his wife to our garden-
house on a visit to my sister, which seemed productive of much
novelty and pleasure to both parties: on taking leave they mu-

tually exchanged presents; the Persian lady presented my sister with
a veil of purple silk-net, embroidered with silver, such as the
Moguls wear either to cover the face, or to throw back as an orna-
ment: similar to that which Helen gave to Telemachus —

“ The beauteous queen, advancing, then display’d
“ A shining veil, and thus endearing said,

“ Accept, dear youth, this monument of love,

“ Long since, in better days, by Helen wove ;

“ Safe in thy mother’s care the vesture lay,

“ To deck thy bride, and grace thy nuptial day.”

Odyssey.

The art of embroidery is of great antiquity, as we learn from
sacred and profane history: the dress of the princes and nobles in
Homer's time resembled the jama, girdle, and kincob drawers,
flowered with gold and silver, now worn by the Moguls; thus
Homer describes Ulysses, in his royal attire:

“ In ample mode,

“ A robe of military purple flow’d
“ O’er all his frame; illustrious on his breast,

“ The double clasping gold the king confest :

“In the rich woof a hound mosaic drawn,

“ Bore on full stretch, and seiz’d a dappled fawn :

“ Fine as a filmy web beneath it shone
“ A vest, that dazzled like a cloudless sun :

“ A sabre, when the warrior press’d to part,

“ He gave, enamell’d with Vulcanian art:

“ A mantle purple-ting’d, and radiant vest,

“ Affection grateful to an honour’d guest.”

The note on the above passage in Pope’s Homer illustrates the
art of ancient embroidery, by remarking, that it was of divers co-

4(j5

lours, as we may gather from the epithet applied to the fawn,
ttomiXov; and it is evident that this art was known amongst the orien-
tals in the age of Ulysses; we read also in the book of Judges,
“ Have they not sped, have they not divided the prey? to Sisera
a prey of divers colours, of divers colours of needle-work, of divers
colours of needle-work on both sides, meet for the necks of them
that take the spoil?” Tamar, after her humiliation, laid aside her
royal robe of many colours, which, as a princess of Israel, she was
accustomed to wear.

Such is the analogy between ancient and modern usages in the
oriental world; where things are much less liable to change than
in Europe, especially among the females, whose manners and cus-
toms keep them in a secluded state: yet the higher classes enjoy
various pleasures in the haram; and many of them confirm Lady
Wortley Montague’s account of the ladies in Turkey, “ where no
woman, of what rank soever, is permitted to go into the streets with-
out two murlins, one that covers her face, all but her eyes; and ano-
ther, that hides the whole dress of her head, and hangs half way
down her back: their shapes are also wholly concealed by a thing
called a feugee, which so effectually disguises them, that there is no
distinguishing the lady from her slave: it is impossible for the most
jealous husband to know his wife when he meets her; and no man
dare touch or follow a woman in the street. The great ladies seldom
let their gallants know who they are, and it is so difficult to find out,
that they can very seldom guess at her name, whom they have
corresponded with for half a year together.”

Nor must we suppose, because neither the Hindoo nor Maho-
medan women are allowed to eat with the men, either at public

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266

festivals or family meals, that they are abstemious in the Haram;
on the contrary they have very expensive entertainments in their
own apartments: thus it was among the Greeks and Persians;
when Ahasuerus king of Persia made a royal banquet for his
nobles, Vashti the queen gave a feast to the women in the royal
house. Maillet, the French consul at Cairo, was invited to a mag-
nificent entertainment given by the Basha on the circumcision of
his son, at which all the great men in that part of Egypt were pre-
sent; aL the same time the expence in the ladies’ apartments
amounted to nearly as much as the public festival; “ there being
the same liberalities, the same pleasures, the same abundance, the
same magnificence, that appeared out of the Haram. ’

The despotism and avarice of the Indian sovereigns generally
prevent their subjects from making that display of fortune,’ which
wealth and situation authorize in other countries; consequently
within decayed palaces, ruinous courts, and closed gates, in modern
oriental cities, it is not uncommon to find a house and garden fitted
up in good style: this contrast was frequent among the Nabob’s
subjects in Surat; those who had claimed the English protection
better enjoyed the gifts of fortune.

During my visit at that city, a young gentleman conversant in
the Persian language, had an opportunity of rendering an essential
service to a Mogul widow of distinction; who, in consequence of
some deeds falsely translated, and misrepresented by the Mahomedan
lawyers, was involved in a long series of trouble and expence: from
the humane impulse of rescuing a respectable family from such
chicanery, he interested himself in the cause, revealed the truth,
and reinstated the lady in her fortune. Not having seen her gene-

rous benefactor during the whole transaction, and desirous of ac-
knowledging the obligation, she requested an interview.

The young Englishman was conducted to a ruined edifice in a
solitary part of the outer city, which appeared to have been an ap-
pendage to some magnificent mansion: passing through the portal
and dark narrow passages common in eastern houses, he entered a
spacious court, adorned with fountains, shaded by tamarind trees, and
double tube-roses, the pride of Surat gardens; this led to an open
pavilion surrounded by a veranda, and over-looking a further gar-
den in a similar taste, terminated by a hall elegantly furnished with
mirrors, carpets and Persian paintings; above were the family
apartments. Here my friend was served with sherbet, fruit, flowers,
and a hooka. The attendants withdrew on the approach of their
lady, richly dressed and closely veiled; she entered with a graceful
dignity ; from the over-flowing of a grateful heart commenced an
interesting conversation, and presenting him with ottah of roses,
and a valuable jewel, seemed hurt at his refusal. Young and
thoughtless, he made a transition from the brilliant gem, to her an-
telope eyes, sparkling through the veil; and, from a momentary im-
pulse, requested he might behold a countenance irradiated by her
superior mind: unwilling to deny the only favour he seemed in-
clined to accept, she withdrew her veil, and displayed a face still
decked with youthful bloom, delicate features, and fine expression:
in this singular situation the enamoured Englishman began a sub-
ject not easy to mistake, in the warm strains of the Persian and
Arabian poets; to which she at first vouchsafed' a smile; but as-
suming a dignified air, and impressive language, she assured him
that the deep sense of her obligation had alone induced her to de-

268

viale from established custom, in requesting this interview ; but a
sense of her own honour, veneration to her husband’s memory, and
maternal example to her children, would ever regulate her com
duct; that he might not, however, think her ungrateful, she ap-
pointed another meeting the next evening.

Encouraged by so flattering an invitation, the enamoured youth
repaired to the pavilion, found every thing in the same style of
elegance and hospitality, and in the further saloon was received by
a lady, whom he accosted as the mistress of the house; until, throw-
ing off her veil, he discovered a beautiful Mogul, young, witty, and
elegant, who entertained him at the pavilion, while the widow and
her children were visiting at a distant villa. He never afterwards
discovered his lovely incognita, nor could he, consistent with pro-
priety, continue his visits in a Mogul family.

We must not too hastily condemn this grateful Mahomedan,
nor judge her conduct by the decorum of female manners in Eng-
land, or the purity of the Christian religion: her education had
been different, and the oriental standard of propriety is more re-
laxed than our own ; on the present occasion gratitude predomi-
nated over every other consideration : and, as a modern traveller
well observes, “ in consequence of the peculiar prejudices and
opinions of one people, the same practice may be viewed by them
in the darkest light, which in another country may not only be to-
lerated but recommended.”

In the vicinity of so populous and opulent a city as Surat, the
country is highly cultivated, and a fertile soil amply repays the
farmer; the fields, generally enclosed, and the hedges planted with
mango and tamarind trees, produce wheat, rice, juaree, bahjeree,

269

and other Indian grains; luxuriantly diversified by crops of cotton,
hemp, tobacco, plants for dying, and a variety of seeds for express-
ing lamp oil; particularly the erindah, or palma-christi, which is
also much esteemed for medicinal virtues. The wheat-fields af-
forded me great delight; they were the first I had seen since my
departure from England, and the harvest had begun: the corn is
trod out by oxen, walking over the ears, as described by Homer

<<r Where round and round, with never wearied pain,

“ The trampling steers beat out th’ unnumbered grain.”

The gardens produce cabbages, cauliflowers, pease, french-
beans, artichokes, asparagus, potatoes, carrots, turnips, lettuce, and
salads, in abundance and perfection; besides a variety of indige-
nous roots and vegetables. Among other useful productions is a
vegetable soap, called ornlah ; the nuts grow in clusters on a wild
tree, and tiie kernels, when made into a paste, are preferred to
common soap for washing shawls, silk and embroidery; it lathers
in salt water, and on that account is valuable at sea, where com-
mon soap is of little use; retah, another vegetable soap, in the
vicinity of Surat, has the same property.

The wood-apple, a fruit unknown at Bombay, grows on a large
tree, in perpetual verdure; and, like many in the torrid zone, is
covered at the same time with blossoms and ripe fruit; the apple
is circular, heavy, and the size of an orange, hanging perpendicu-
larly at the extremity of long slender branches, bending with their
weight; which gives the tree a beautiful appearance: the fruit
smells like a mellow apple, but on breaking the wooden shell, we
find an acid pulp, full of seeds, ate only by the poorer natives.

270

Under the shade of these trees, and of the banian and tamarind
groves, the weavers every morning fix their looms, and remove them
in the evening: they are constructed with the greatest simplicity; it
is astonishing how few materials are required to fabricate the most
delicate muslins.

The lanes near Surat afford delightful rides; the eye wanders
over extensive scenes of cultivation, villages, farms, and lakes, em-
bellished by the nymphea in every pleasing variety: the lakes
abound with water-fowl; the fields are enlivened by partridges, quails,
and green pigeons; and the mango groves filled with monkeys,
squirrels, and peacocks. Parrots, larks, doves, ainadavads, tooli-
ties, and bulbuls, enliven the walks; but gay plumage generally
supersedes melody in the Asiatic birds; the amadavads are very-
small, beautifully arrayed in scarlet, yellow, brown and white; 1
have seen a hundred together in a cage, but never two of them
marked alike, and one only sings at a time, in a low simple note.
The toohtee, a pretty bird, is so called from a monotonous repeti-
tion of its own name, like the cuckoo in England.

The surrounding plains abound with deer, antelopes, hares,
and feathered game: the eastern hills, wild and woody, are infested
by tigers, leopards, hyenas, wolves, and other ferocious animals,
whom hunger impels to commit depredations in cultivated tracts
near the city. The principal Moguls at Surat keep them in me-
nageries; particularly the leopard cheeta, and syah gush, which af-
ford them much diversion in hunting antelopes.

The tiger, leopard, and hyena are well known in Europe, and
therefore need no minute description ; the largest hyaena I ever saw
was in the nabob’s menagerie; his head resembled that of a wolf, but

271

more fierce and ugly: the body partook of the wolf and hog, co-
vered by long bristly hair, of a dusky gray colour, confusedly
striped with black. The hycena is said to be the most savage and
ferocious of quadrupeds; when enraged its aspect is hideous.
Jackalls abound in the country round Surat, and hunt in large
packs. The panther, leopard, and cheeta, are of the same genus
as the royal tiger, but smaller; and differ in having the skin spotted
instead of striped: these spots vary in each species; in the panther
and leopard several small black spots encircle a mark of bright
orange colour, on a field of paler hue; the cheeta, felis jubata, is
distinguished by black spots only, on a yellowish brown; the pe-
culiar marks of the panther I am not acquainted with.

In my original letter from Surat, in the year 1772, I had writ-
ten an account of the cheeta-hunt; but the friend to whom I am
indebted for many interesting occurrences in this publication,
favoured me with the following extract from his journal at Cam-
bay; which, from a keen sportsman, is more accurate and enter-
taining than any thing I can offer : the extract was accompanied
with a beautiful drawing by his lady, from an original sketch taken
on the spot, by a native of Hindostan.

“ The diversion of hunting with the cheeta is much admired
and pursued by the princes and chieftains of Hindostan, both Ma-
homedans and Hindoos, excepting Brahmins. The cheeta, though
of the leopard species, differs from it materially, although con-
founded with that animal by Buffon, and other naturalists: as to
its relation to the panther, or whether it be the panther, I must be
silent, never having seen the creature so denominated. In height
the cheeta considerably exceeds the leopard, and greatly excels it.

272

in form and beauty. Its head is smaller in proportion; its eyes
are brown or hazle, without an appearance of vice; its spots are
black and solid, not in circles; its body is long, loins slender, chest
deep, legs straight and taper, and its paws not larger than those of a
common sized dog; its tail is long and gracefully turned. The
cheeta is as much superior to the leopard in the docility and gene-
rosity of its nature, as in the elegance of its shape; of this I can
speak with the greatest confidence from long possession, and a close
observation of both animals.

44 The cheeta is a native of many parts of Hindostan, but those
of Guzerat are most esteemed: two of them were caught for and
sent to me as a present, by a chief of that province, one of which
is the subject of the annexed drawing. They were brought to me
soon after they were caught; which was effected by digging deep
pits, and covering over with boughs, near the places they fre-
quented; which are easily discovered by certain trees, against which
they are very fond of rubbing themselves. If they are caught
young, and brought up by hand, they prove good for nothing, and
lose that degree of activity and fierceness, which characterize those
procured after having provided prey for themselves in a wild
state.

64 The cheeta introduced into the drawing, is, in every respect
but size, a perfect representation of the one in my possession; he
was broke in after he came to me, and was in the space of twelve
months as familiar as a dog, and would follow his keeper loose
through the streets of Cambay; though, from the apprehension of
his killing goats and other tame animals, he was generally led by a
chain; his common allowance of food is five seir, or something

27 3

more than four pounds of solid mutton every day, except that pre-
ceding the day on which he hunts, when he is kept from food.

“ I shall now describe the method of hunting with this animal :
a reynkla, or Indian carriage, called by the English a hackery, as
introduced into the drawing, is attached to the cheeta; on this cart,
which is drawn by oxen, he leaps from custom without hesitation:
he is then hooded, and his keeper, sitting by him, secures him by a
string through his collar on the neck ; in this manner he is con-
veyed to the scene of action, having a belt round his loins, the
use of which will be hereafter explained.

“ Antelopes are very common in the northern parts of Guzerat,
and there is seldom any doubt of sport: when the game is descried,
the sportsmen generally leave their horses and attendants, and get
on hackeries, or country carts, like that of the cheeta, as being less
likely to alarm the antelopes; all the followers on foot likewise
keep close behind the hackeries; for, exclusive of the circumstance
of frightening the game, the cheeta himself is apt to be alarmed,
when carried out to a hunt, by a crowd, which he might disregard
in the town; and so strongly has instinct implanted in him the fear
of man, and the consciousness of his being obnoxious to him, that
should a person appear at a distance in a line with the game, he
will scarce ever run: but it should be remarked, that the introduc-
tion of the horses and attendants is only a favour allowable after
the game is killed.

Every sportsman being thus mounted on his vehicle, they pro-
ceed in pursuit of the antelopes; and the subsequent manoeuvres
depend upon the nature of the country; if it is woody, or a forest
scenery, the cheeta may be unhooded at any distance; for the asto»

2 N

nishing sagacity of llie animal curbing his impulse to run, on first
getting sight, he leaps carefully off the cart, and creeps on with
the greatest cunning from bush to bush, narrowly observing the
game, and most artfully avoiding discovery. If by these means
he can get within the distance of about seventy yards, he rushes
forth at full speed, and seldom misses. This method is by far the
most entertaining, as it discovers the animal in every point of view,
and shews the extent and turn of his force and genius.

“ If the cheeta finds that he cannot proceed undiscovered, or if
he perceives the game to be alarmed, he crouches, and lies close to
the ground; thus posted, the hackeries take a circuit, leaving the
cheeta, and getting on the other side of the antelopes; and then,
edging down, urge them towards the ambuscade, which if they
pass within the distance of seventy or eighty yards, there is every
reason to expect success.

“ A third method is in a bare and open country, where we are
frequently obliged to follow the game sometime before we can
get within distance; in which case the huntsman studiously avoids
getting to windward; and endeavours by traversing to force the
antelopes to run across him, at which time the cheeta is most likely
to follow them; for, although he may be previously within dis-
tance, he generally hesitates, even when unhooded, to quit his cart,
if the game is standing still, or looking towards him when he has
no cover to conceal himself. But sometimes, with every advan-
tage of distance, the cheeta will not run, and in this respect, so
trying to an eager sportsman, he is very inferior to the dog, who
never fails to do his utmost. When the cheeta resolves to exert
himself, his velocity is astonishing; for although the antelope is

°2J5

esteemed the swiftest species of the deer, and the course generally
begins at the distance of seventy or eighty yards, yet the game is
usually caught, or else makes his escape, within the space of three'
or four hundred yards; the cheeta seldom running a greater dis-
tance, and in that I have measured repeated strokes of seven paces.
On coming up with the game, especially if a doe or a fawn, which
have less strength than the buck, and no horns, it is difficult to
describe the celerity with which it overthrows its prey. But the
attack of an old buck is a more arduous task; his great strength
sometimes enables him to make a hard struggle, though seldom
with success; for, although I have known a buck to get loose two or
three times, yet I never saw one escape after having been fairly seized.

“ The cheeta, on overtaking the deer, by a most powerful and
dexterous use of its paw, overthrows it, and in the same instant
seizes it by the throat; when, if it is young, or a doe, as already
observed, it does not quit its hold until he finds the respiration
ceased: but if it is a buck, whose neck is very thick and powerful,
he is obliged to be more cautious, and to avoid in the struggle not
only a blow from the horns, which from the mere convulsive mo-
tion of terror and agony, might be very dangerous; but from the
hoofs, whose sharpness renders them equally so: the artful care
with which he avoids these weapons is well and truly described in
the drawing: the deer thus seized by the throat, loses all capacity
of struggling, and in the interim the cheeta-keeper comes up, and
instantly cuts the throat of the antelope; as it is an abomination
among the Mahomedans, as with the Jews, to eat an animal killed in
any way but with the knife. The cheeta finding the animal dead,
would commence the work of laceration, which he generally be-

gins between the hinder legs, but is prevented by his keeper; who
either catches the blood from his throat in a ladle kept for that
purpose, and presents it to him to lap, or nimbly cuts off the last
joint of the leg, which is the operation represented in the drawing;
and putting it into his mouth, he leaves him employed with it, and
quickly carries off the game, to secure it behind the hackery. The
cheeta having amused himself with his ladle or bone, his keeper
leads him to the cart, which he ascends without taking any further
notice of the game, though tied close under his nose.

“ This is the mode generally practised when we intend to pur-
sue our sport; and 1 have killed four antelopes in one morning: but
when it is the intention to proceed no further, the cheeta has a
handsome share of the deer last killed. It sometimes happens that
the cheeta is thrown out, and misses his prey; he then lies down,
and the keeper drives the hackery to him: disappointment some-
times sours his temper, and he shews signs of anger, but I never
saw them attended with any danger. The keeper, after soothing
him a little, takes him by the collars round his neck and waist,
and conducts him to the cart, on which he readily leaps. I have
heard of accidents happening on these occasions, but 1 never saw
one, or a likelihood of one, though I always made a point of be-
ins; near the animal, both after seizing and missing.

“ One of my cheetas having frequently disappointed me by
refusing to run, I resolved to keep him without food until he killed
for himself; but although I had him out every day in sight of game,
he forced me to keep my resolution until the eighth day; when he
ran with surprizing velocity, and killed a black buck; though he
had not ate any thing during the whole time/5

I once joined some keen sportsmen on a clieeta hunt in the
forests of Guzerat, but the animal was in a sullen mood, and af-
forded very little diversion. The Moguls train another beast for
antelope-hunting, called the syah-gush, or black-ears; which ap-
pears to be the same as the caracal, or Persian lynx, felis caracal.
The syah-gush resembles the lynx, but is smaller, and less fierce;
with a more pointed head, and remarkably long ears, tufted with
black, its general colour is a reddish brown; in the chace it affords
much amusement, and is employed in the pursuiL of herons, cul-
lums, cranes, and large birds.

Porcupines are met with in most parts of Hindustan; they are
generally about two feet long, and one in height, in appearance
resembling the hedgehog; except that the prickles of the latter
are on the porcupine hard pointed quills, which cover the whole
body in different lengths, from one to fifteen inches; these quills
are strongly fixed in the skin, and very sharp at the point: they
are mostly white, variegated with a purplish brown, and harder than
a goose-quill; some are thick, strong, and sharp, others long and
flexible : every part of the body is closely covered with them, ex-
cept the ears and feet: the porcupines are very destructive in gar-
dens; they select the nicest fruit within their reach, and will pass
over beds of common vegetables, to devour the lettuce, cucumber,
french-beans, and other delicacies: when roasted, their flesh has the
appearance and flavour of pork: I have frequently dined on this
animal, as also on the small land-tortoise; both very common in
Guzerat.

My walks from Surat were often directed to the village of
Pul parra, pleasantly situated on the banks of the Tappee, and

278

famous lor its seminaries of brahmins: the drooping branches of
the banian trees, planted on the steep banks, overshadow the steps
leading to the sacred stream, for the convenience of ablutions, and
spread a solemn gloom around the Hindoo temples and altars,
which abound in this spot. Pulparra is esteemed peculiarly holy;
it is the general resort of recluse brahmins, and gymnosophists of
various descriptions: there also, at stated seasons, the other tribes
of Hindoos repair to bathe, and offer their flowery sacrifices: the
sacred edifices and groves are strewed with the champa, mogree,
and nymphea; and the cottages and arbours of the Yogees and
Senasses are crowded with visitors to behold the austerities of these
devotees; who, forgetting they were created for active and useful
life, endued with a capacity to improve their talents, and enjoy
rational pleasures, consume their daj^s in stupid indolence; or
inflict on themselves severe penance and cruel torture, in hopes of
rendering themselves acceptable to their deities, in a state of igno-
rance or forgetfulness of that Being whose tender mercies are over
a!1 his works.

“ What blessings Thy free bounty gives
“ Let me not cast away 5
“ For God is paid, when man receives 5

“ T’ enjoy, is to obey!” Pope.

The bodies of the deceased Hindoos are burnt at Pulparra,
and their ashes scattered over this sacred part of the river: here
also their widows frequently immolate themselves on the funeral
pile of their husbands. Herodotus mentions a similar practice
among the Crestonians: where “ each person had several wives;

279

and on the decease of the husband, a great contest ensued to de-
termine which of them had been best beloved : she, to whom that
honour was ascribed, was gaudily dressed, and then sacrificed, by
her nearest relation, on the tomb of her husband, with whom she
was afterwards buried: not to be elected was deemed an affliction
by the surviving wives, and was imputed to them as a disgrace/'
This idea certainly prevails among the Hindoos; the memory of
the wife who burns herself is venerated; the widow who survives
her husband is condemned to a sort of domestic slavery. No
immolation of a Hindoo widow took place during my residence at
Surat; nor was I ever an eye-witness of this extraordinary sacrifice.
I have heard many relations, and read several authentic manu-
scripts of the interesting scene; but none more satisfactory than
the following letter from one of my medical friends, who saw a
young brahmin go through the dreadful ordeal, and thus feelingly
describes it.

“ I have often thought, during my absence from Bombay, that
it behoved me to write to you ; but I have ever been at a loss for
a subject of sufficient importance to license a trespass on your
numerous avocations: one has at length occurred, which, if it can-
not boast much weight, may not be unacceptable on the score of
singularity; I shall therefore proceed to describe it to you without
further exordium : it is an instance of the self-devotion practised
among the brahmin females of distinction, on the death of their
husbands.

“ I was hastily summoned by a brahmin friend yesterday,
about five in the evening, to be a spectator of this dreadful cere-
mony. Soon after my conductor and myself had quitted the

280

house, we were informed that the suttee (the name given to these
female victims), had passed by; and we soon traced her route by
the gulol, or rose-coloured powder, she had thrown around her, and
the betel-leaf, which, as is usual on these occasions, she had
scattered.

“ She had reached that part of the river set apart for religious
ablutions, before we arrived, and, having performed her last cere-
mony of this kind, was sitting on the margin of the stream: over
her was held an aftabgheer, or state umbrella; an attendant fanned
her with a waving veil, and she was surrounded by her relations,
friends, and select brahmins, the populace being kept aloof by a
guard from the government. In this situation she distributed two
thousand rupees among the brahmins, and the jewels with which
she was decorated to her friends, reserving only the nose-ring,
called bulawk, and the bracelets on her wrists.

6C My position prevented my seeing more of her than her hands,
the palms of which being joined, they were uplifted in an attitude
of invocation: quitting therefore this place, I removed to an emi-
nence, which gave me an opportunity of observing the construction
of the funeral pile, and commanded the path-way by which I un-
derstood she would approach it: the spot chosen for its erection
was about forty yards from the river, directly in front of her as she
sat: when I came up, the frame alone was raised; it consisted
of four uprights, each about ten feet high. Its length was about
nine, and the breadth of it under six; from near the top of the
uprights was suspended, by ropes, a roof of slender rafters laid
lengthwise, parallel with each other; on this were soon placed as
many billets as it seemed capable of bearing, while beneath, a pile

281

was raised of more substantial timbers to the height of four feet:;
this a«;ain was covered over with bundles of the straw called cur-
wee, and bushes of dried tulsee, one of the sacred plants of the
Hindoos; the sides, and one end being then closed up with the
same materials, the other end was left open, and formed an en-
trance.

“ The dismal tenement being thus completed, soon after the
widow rose and came forward, walking amidst her friends without
support: she approached the door, and there having paid some
further devotions for the occasion, retired a few paces, and sat en-
circled as before.

“ The dead body was now brought from the water-side, where
it had hitherto lain, and deposited within the hollow of the pile;
several sweet-meats were put in after it, and a large paper bag,
containing either flower or the dust of sandal-wood. The widow
rising, walked three times slowly round the pile; when, seating
herself on a small square stone, placed opposite the entrance, she
accepted and returned the endearments of her friends with great
serenity: this done, she again stood up, and having stroked her
right hand in an affectionate manner over the heads of her dearest
relations and intimate friends, with a gentle inclination of her per-
son towards them, she let her arm fall round their necks in a faint
embrace, and turned from them. Now, with her hands indeed raised
to heaven, but her eyes cast, in a glare of abstraction, deep into
that cave of anguish which waited her, she stood awhile a piteous
statue! — good God, have mercy on her! At length, without alter-
ing a feature, or the least agitation of her frame, she ascended the
threshold unassisted, and entering the cave, lay down on the right

2 o

282

side of her husband’s corpse; yielding her tender body, in the full
meridian of its youth and beauty, a victim to a barbarous and
cruelly consecrated error of deluded faith!

“ As soon as the victim entered, she was shut from our view by
several bundles of straw, with which the aperture was closed; and
all the actors in this tragic scene seemed to vie with each other who
should be most forward in hurrying it to a conclusion. In the
same instant the air was darkened by a cloud of gulol; the cords
being cut which sustained the roof, it immediately fell to crush the
limbs of the yet living sacrifice; the dreadful flame was commu-
nicated to the pile in a variety of parts; and the loud clamour of
the trumpets assailed the ear from every quarter! when the confla-
gration became general, and not till then, the pyre was fed for a
time with a large quantity of ghee , or clarified butter, thrown by
the nearest of kin; but no combustible whatever was used in prepar-
ing the wood, of which the pile was composed.

“ It is said to be a custom, that as the victim ascends the pile,
she is furnished with a lighted taper: I heard some brahmins
assert that it was the case in this instance; but I traced the whole
progress of the ceremonial with so close and eager an attention,
that I think I may safely contradict them. Before I left the place,
a guard was posted over the pyre, to remain until the fire went
out, that no accident might befal the bones of the sacrifice, some
of which are always collected by the relations, and sent to Benares;
where they are either preserved as sacred relics, or made an offer-
ing to the holy stream of Gunga.

“ The subject of this shocking, though by no means uncommon
immolation, was Toolsebhai , the wife of Ragobah Tantea, a young

283

man of thirty years of age, nephew to Junabhy Daddah, a person
of distinction, and Amid of Poonah. Toolsebhai was about twenty
years of age; her stature above the middle standard, her form ele-
gant, her features interesting and expressive, and her eyes parti-
cularly large, full, and commanding: at the solemn moment in
which I saw her, these beauties were eminently conspicuous;
notwithstanding her skin was then discoloured with turmeric, her
hair dishevelled, and wildly ornamented with flowers, and her looks
like those of one whose senses wandered; or, to come nearer the
impression, whose soul was already fleeting, and in a state of half-
separation from the body.

“ A beautiful little girl, not more than four years old, the fruit of
their union, survives her parents, thus early removed into another
state of existence.”

Such is the simple account of this ceremony by a man of feel-
ing; man}* relations are published, more highly coloured: the most
extraordinary and affecting spectacle of this kind is related by
Bernier, a celebrated French traveller in the seventeenth century,
who resided many years, as physician, at the court of Aurungzebe.
During a journey from Ahmedabad to Agra, he witnessed a shock-
ing tragedy which roused all the feelings of his benevolent heart,
nor has he suppressed a manly indignation in the recital. A
young Hindoo widow, attended by five females, surrounded by
brahmins, was advancing towards the funeral pile of her husband:
when the usual ceremonies were over, he beheld the young and
beautiful victim kindle the combustible altar on which she had
placed herself near her husband’s corpse: the flames were in-
creased by the oil of sandal, poured in by the ministering priests:

384

and when the pyre burnt most furiously the five infatuated atten-
dants rushed into the midst of the fire, and shared the fate of their
mistress. The amiable Bernier, indignant at this horrid spectacle,
passionately exclaims against a religion which could permit such a
sacrifice, and still more so against <6 Its demons de brahmens who
not only encouraged these deluded females, but were the most ac-
tive persons throughout the infernal tragedy.

Religious prejudices are very powerful, but how they can thus
destroy the feelings of humanity, is rather paradoxical: the cruel-
ties of the inquisition and other mis-named Christian tribunals
proceed from a different cause: they were originally actuated by
the spirit of Christianity ; but bigotry has strangely perverted its
benevolent influence. In the sacrifice of a Hindoo widow, (and
some thousands are annually sacrificed,) religion herself incul-
cates the horrid deed; the laws of Menu approve it; and the
priests of Brahma, who affect to shudder at the death of an insect,
assist at the destruction of this most lovely part of the creation.

Well may these brahmins be called the priests of Siva, the de-
stroying power in the Hindoo triad: who, with her sister-furies, the
satkis, have so many votaries in Hindostan : whether they all agree
in sanctioning this most abominable sacrifice, I cannot determine ;
because the brahmins themselves are divided into various sects,
who differ in many religious points which they deem essential, and
do not eat or intermarry with each other. Although I have, in con-
formity to the generally-received opinion among Europeans, di-
vided the Hindoos into four grand castes, or tribes, subdivided into
eighty-four inferior distinctions, we shall find, on a more minute
investigation, that in the various districts of India, there is a much

285

greater multiplicity of castes, or sects, who neither intermarry nor
eat with each other; neither do they perform the same religious
rites to their respective deities.

We learn from Diodorus Siculus, that the ancient Egyptians
were divided into three distinct classes: the first were those of rank,
who, with the priests, fdled the most honourable situations in the
state; then the military, who were also husbandmen; lastly the
artizans, who occupied the meanest employments. Herodotus
says the Calasirians must not follow mechanic employments, but
the son regularly succeeds the father in a military life: and also
among the Lacedaemonians, some classes of the people were ob-
liged to follow the profession of their fathers; particularly the
heralds, musicians, and cooks: he further remarks, that if a man,
in any manner belonging to another tribe, had a louder voice than
one of these heralds by descent, he could not be taken from one
tribe into another. This is exactly conformable to the unchange-
able custom of the Hindoos.

Although mingled with other sensations, it is pleasing to see
the inhabitants of Pulparra, and most other towns and villages on
the banks of the Tappee, Narbudda, and principal rivers of Hin-
dostan, repair to the water to perform their devotions; no morn-
ing dawns, no evening closes without this pious ceremony. That
the Hindoos worship the Ganges there is I believe no doubt, be-
cause a peculiar sanctity is annexed to its stream: in an inferior
degree they seem to venerate other rivers; and generally enter
them twice a day, not only to perform their devotions, but to
purify their bodies, and wash their garments: both sexes assemble

for the same purpose, and shift their clothes in the water, without
the least idea of infringing the laws of decency.

After performing their religious ablutions, the Hindoos receive
on their forehead the mark either of Visnoo or Siva; this mark,
affixed by a brahmin, varies in form and colour, according to the
sect they profess; the one being horizontal, the other perpendicu-
lar: it is made from a composition of sandal-wood, turmeric, and
cow-dung; the latter is deemed peculiarly sacred. The mark on
the forehead is frequently alluded to in the sacred scriptures, as
characteristic of the righteous and the wicked : we read “ of those
who had the mark of the beast; and of those blessed and happy
beings, who were admitted to the pure river of the water of life,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, whose
name was written on their foreheads; and who had not received
the mark of the beast upon their foreheads, nor on their hands.”

The sacred groves of Fulparra, are the general resort for
all the Yogees, Senassees, and Hindoo pilgrims who visit Surat,
from the most remote regions of Ilindostan; the whole district
is holy, and the Tappee in that part has a more than com-
mon sanctity: all ablutions in a river are thought to be more
efficacious than an immersion in stagnant water; the Levitical
law enjoined the leper to bathe in the running stream; the Hindoos
annex to it a greater degree of purity than in any tank at their
temples. These devotees are great travellers; they wander, either
collectively or individually, from the confines of Russia to Cape
Comorin; and from the borders of China to Malabar-hill on the
island of Bombay, where there is a fane of much celebrity.

28?

Plutarch mentions one of them, named Calanus, who followed
Alexander from India: being seized with a dysentery at Pasa-
gardus, he prepared his own funeral pile; and, after performingsome
religious ceremonies, laid himself on it with great composure, until
burnt to death. Diodorus describes the immolation of an Indian
widow two thousand years ago, in the army of Eumenes, who
burnt herself on the funeral pile of her husband, in the manner
I have just related.

CHAPTER XL

A VOYAGE FROM BOMBAY TO ANJENGO;
CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENTS
ON THE COAST OF MALABAR,

1772..

As Egypt does not on the clouds rely.

But to the Nile owes more than to the sky ;

So what the earth, and what the heaven, denies
To Albion’s favour’d isle, the sea supplies.

The taste of hot Arabia’s spice we know.

Free from the scorching sun that makes it grow ;

Without the worm, in Persian silks we shine ;

And, without planting, drink of every vine.

To dig for wealth we weary not our limbs;

Gold, though the heaviest metal, hither swims:

Ours is the harvest where the Indians mow ;

We plough the deep, and reap what others sow, Wallejr.

2 P

\

CONTENTS.

Voyage from Bombay to Anjengo—Rutna — Ghereah and Mahratta
fortresses in the Concan — Ghereah harbour — Raree, Fort Augustus
and Vingorla — Geographical division of the Malabar coast — Can-
can, Deccan, Visiapoor, and Malabar — Goa harbour— Alguarcla
fort — city of Goa, churches, palaces, and convents — tomb of St.
Francis Xavier — inquisition — cruelties of that tribunal at Goa —
inhabitants of Goa — commerce — arrack — mangos — decline of the
Portugueze in Asia — causes assigned— account of Goa in the six-
teenth century — Benezegur—Kankanco — political history of India
— : rise of the Mahratta empire — Carwar — manufacture of the
terra-japonica — Mirzee and Barcelore, the ancient Musiris and
Barace — navigation of Hippalus and commerce of the Greeks,
Egyptians, and Arabians, with those ports— fortified island — Onore
— -beauty of the country — productions — sanclal-wood, its cultivation
and use — land and sea winds— water-spouts — Malabar frontier—
Mangulore — gigantic statue at Kurkul — customs of the Buntar —
Tulava — landed property in India — its tenure — Mount Dilla — -
Cannanore — Tellicherry — -fortifications, houses, trade, and cultiva-
tion— cardamom, growth of that valuable spice — Dumapatam island,
coffee plantations — ordeal trials in Malabar — Mucuars at Telli-
cherry— Mahie — Sacrifice Rock — edible birds-nests — Calicut — Eu-
ropean factories — former trade — overwhelming the ancient city —
Dr. Fryer s curious account of Calicut — provisions — Vapura — teak
timber — sapan-wood — grand appearance of the Gaul mountains—
Cochin-town, fort , inhabitants, and commerce — hospitality of the
Dutch — - Cochin-leg — Mattancherry—-Jezvs-town — history of the

Jewish colony there — epitome of the Jewish history— Porca , Calli-
quilone — Quilone — E ddova— arrival at Anjengo , difficulty of landing
—description of Anjengo — poverty and melancholy situation of that
settlement — Portugueze and native inhabitants — trade and manu-
factures— birth-place of Sterne’s Eliza , and Orme , the historian—
his superior character— south-west monsoon at Anjengo — catama-
ran—abundance of fish— hippocampus — contest between the river
fish and those of the ocean during the monsoon .

CHAPTER XI.

Soon after leaving Surat, I was appointed a member of the
council at Anjengo, the most southern of the English settlements
on the Malabar coast, about six hundred miles from Bombay, in
the latitude of 8° 39' north. We sailed from that island the be-
ginning of February, 1772, and in a fortnight arrived at Anjengo,
after a delightful voyage, during which we stopped at most of the
principal places on the coast.

A favourable breeze soon carried us past Fort Victoria; the
next day sailing along the mountainous shores of the Concan, we
had a distinct view of Rutnah-Gheriah, and several other Mahratta
fortresses; we then looked into the harbour of Gheriah, the chief
sea-port on the Malabar coast, defended by a strong fortification,
and surrounded by a rich territory. Gheriah is in the latitude of
16° 37" north, twenty-three leagues from Goa; in which distance
are the forts of Raree and Augustus, conquered by the English,
from the Malwans, in 1765, then lately ransomed: still nearer to
Goa is Vingorla, a small town in a hilly country, where the India
Company had at that time a factory, and collected a small
revenue.

The mountainous shore of the Concan is improperly called a

294

part of the Malabar coast; but as the western side of the Indian
peninsula, almost from Surat to Cape Comorin, is generally in-
cluded under that denomination, I will briefly describe the existing
boundaries of the kingdoms and provinces in that part of the globe
called by geographers the Hither-India.

The most northern district was the Deccan; bounded on the
north by Guzerat, east by Golconda and Berar, south by Visia-

t,’ os<--

poor, and west by the Indian ocean; Aurungabad, Satamah, and
Poonah, were the principal inland cities; Poonah, from an obscure
village, became after the brahmin usurpation, the capital of the
Mahratta empire. The sea-ports were Tull, Dundee, Dabul, and
Choule, once belonging to the Portuguese, but then to the Mah-
rattas, who possessed the whole coast: Bombay, Salsette, and all
the contiguous islands were included in this division.

The next was the kingdom of Visiapoor, extending north and
south, from Gheriah to the spot called the Malabar frontier, near
Mangulore: this division was bounded on the east by the Gaut
mountains, on the west by the Indian ocean; Visiapoor was the
chief inland city; Ghereah, Goa, Carwar, Barcelore, and Onore,
the principal sea-ports: the Mahrattas, and a few dependent Hin-
doo princes, possessed the northern districts, except Goa; the
conquests of Hyder Ally added the country of Visiapoor to his
dominions.

The third and last division was that of Malabar; which ex-
tended from the Malabar frontier north, to Cape Comorin, south:
the Gauls were its eastern boundary, the ocean its western. That
part of the coast was divided among many independent sovereigns;
the principal towns were Mangulore, Cananore, Tellicherry,

295

Maliie, Calicut, Panana, Cranganore, Cochin, Porca, Quilone,
Anjengo, and Coletchee: in this division, properly termed the
Malabar coast, the persons, language, religion, and manners of the
natives, differ very much from those in the northern districts.

We anchored in the spacious and beautiful harbour of Goa,
defended by the Alguarda, and other fortresses, surrounded by
gentle hills and fruitful vales, and embellished by churches, con-
vents, and villas; whose white fronts were contrasted with the dark
mango groves and cocoa-nut woods peculiar to that part of India.
The vessel anchoring off the Alguarda, we sailed up the river, na-
vigable for large vessels, and covered with barges and gondolas:
the villas, domes, and spires, on its shady banks produce a fine
effect. About mid-way the city of Goa suddenly opens on the
view, founded, like imperial Rome, on many hills; the churches,
palaces, and public buildings, at that distance, give it a grand
appearance, but it disappoints on a nearer approach: on landing I
beheld magnificent structures mouldering into ruin ; the streets were
faintly traced by the remains of their forsaken mansions, and
squares and markets, once populous, were now the haunt of ser-
pents and noxious reptiles: the few human inhabitants were priests,
monks, half-starved soldiers, and low mechanics. Notwithstanding
the general decline of Goa, the churches and convents retained
their grandeur, and were in good repair: the Augustin monastery
is very handsome, and the church of San Caitan exhibits a beau-
tiful specimen of Italian architecture.

The Jesuits’ college, one of the largest and most conspicuous
edifices in Goa, contained apartments for several hundred of that
society; after their expulsion, it was inhabited by monks of a

296

different order: the church dedicated to St. Francis Xavier, is a
fine structure, the high altar richly ornamented, and the chapel
containing the monument of St. Xavier uncommonly splendid;
the tomb, enclosed by glass to prevent damage, is only opened
on particular occasions: we were admitted within the sacred
enclosure, to examine the bassi-relievi, which in different compart-
ments contain the life and miracles of the saint: the whole is
composed of the choicest marble, sculptured by European artists:
the superb shrine and silver ornaments were presented by a queen
of Portugal.

I shall not detail the extraordinary legends which the priests
gave us of their favourite saint, nor describe the more substantial
entertainment they produced in the refectory. On leaving their
convivial circle we visited several monkish convents, and the onty
nunnery then existing in the city; where, as usual, we saw many
objects to pity, few to envy: on this subject I shall not enlarge, nor
on that of the inquisition, the next public structure that we viewed:
the cruelties inflicted on the native converts at Goa, especially
among the wealthy Hindoos, made me shudder on entering the
exterior courts of this iniquitous tribunal, which were all we were
permitted to see: its history in Spain and Portugal is well known:
the inquisitors at Goa have not been more merciful: how has
misguided zeal tarnished a religion founded in loving-kindness and
tender mercy! how have the judges of the inquisition departed
from the benevolent spirit of its founder! what must the surround-
ing Hindoos, educated in the mild tenets of Bramah, think of the
fsres, the racks, and instruments of torture, used in that merciless
prison? its cruel tyrants, clothed in the vestments of sanctity, but

JubHS7veJ W7iite. CbcfcrartG ic C? Fleet Street, June i^li8zz .

View of 'Go a Hajrioiik

destitute of pity, have spared neither age, nor sex, nor condition,
in human sacrifices to the God of mercy, and the compassionate
Redeemer of man! Mistaken zealots! truly do ye fulfil the awful
words, that he came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword!
a sword too often wielded by those who are strangers to the mer-
ciful spirit of his gospel.

rc Mercy is as the gentle dew from heaven
Shed on the earth beneath — it is twice bless’d;

“ It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:

“ It is the attribute of God himself.” Shakespear.

Goa, situated in 15° 28' north latitude, and 72° 45' east longi-
tude, was one of the finest European settlements in India; where
the Portugueze generally kept a strong force of Europeans, and
Topasses, who are the offspring of the Europeans and natives;
their pay was small, but procured them a sufficiency of rice and
fish (the usual food of the lower classes in that country): the ocean
supplies great variety of the latter, and the rice grounds are very
productive. The oil expressed from the cocoa-nut is exported
from Goa, and forms a considerable article of commerce; it was
also famous for the arrack, to which it gave its name; but that
made at Batavia is now generally preferred: this spirit is distilled
either from rice, sugar-cane, or the juice of the cocoa-nut tree:
the fruit and flowers of several other trees in Hindostan produce
by distillation, a spirit, to which the Europeans give the general
name of arrack. Goa is famous for the Alphonso mango, a deli-
cious fruit, which is sent in presents to other parts of India:
mangos are abundant in the adjoining districts, but the Al-

298

phonso is as superior to the others, as the nonpareil to the crab-
apple.

The commerce of Goa, and the northern parts of Diu and
Damaun, is now unimportant; the rice, arrack, and oil, are ex-
ported to different parts of India; one or two ships annually
arrive from Europe with military stores, and other articles; and
return thither with printed cottons from Surat, and a few eastern
necessaries for Portugal and her American colonies: this, with two
or three vessels trading in Chinese articles from Macao to the
Malabar coast, now comprise the whole of the Portugueze com-
merce in India.

Yet this is the nation, that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centu-
ries called the Asiatic seas her own, and astonished the eastern world
by her martial exploits: the discoveries of Gama, and the con-
quests of Albuquerque, were truly glorious: the latter subdued
Goa in 1510, and secured many valuable possessions to the crown
of Portugal. The emancipation of the Netherlands from the
tyranny of Philip, was the principal cause of the decline of the
Portugueze in India: they were then subject to Spain; and the
Hollanders no longer groaning under the yoke of Alva, sent a
large armament from Europe, who conquered Cochin, Ceylon,
the spice-islands, and many other Portugueze settlements; their
ruin in Asia was also accelerated by the vices of their governors
and principal officers: the sudden influx of wealth wrought a
dreadful change in their moral character: the noble conduct and
patriotic virtues of the first conquerors were annihilated by the ve-
nality and corruption of their successors. De Gama, Albuquerque,
and de Castro, appear a different race from D’Acughna, Coree,

and the other monsters, whose atrocities have fixed an indelible
stain on the annals of Portugal: their rapacity and cruelty, united
to superstitious tyranny, occasioned a rapid downfall, from which
they never recovered.

Caesar Fredericke, two hundred years before my arrival, gave
a very entertaining account of Goa, and the adjacent country.
“ Goa, the principal city that the Portugals have in the Indies,
wherein the viceroy, with his royal court, is resident, is on an
island which may be in circuit five-and-twenty or thirty miles: and
the city, with the boroughs, is reasonably big, and reasonably fair;
but the island is far more fair: for it is, as it wrere, full of goodly
gardens, replenished with divers trees. This city is of great traffic
for all sorts of merchandize, which they trade with in all those
parts: the merchandize which went every year from Goa to Beze-
negur, the capital of the kingdom of Naisinga, eight days journey
from thence, were Arabian horses, velvets, damasks, satins, arme-
sins of Portugal, and pieces of chian, saffron, and scarlets: and
from Bezenegur they had in Turkey for their commodities, jewels,
and pagodas, which be ducats of gold. In 1567, I wTent thither
from Goa, in company of two other merchants, which carried with
them three hundred Arabian horses to the king, because the horses
of that country are of a small stature; and they pay well for the
Arabian horses: and it is requisite that the merchants sell them well,
for that they stand them in great charges to bring them out of
Persia to Ormuz, and from Ormuz to Goa, where the ship that
brings twenty horses and upwards, payeth no custom, neither ship
nor goods whatsoever. So that the Arabian horses are of great

300

value in those countries, from three hundred ducats, to one thou-
sand ducats a horse.

“ I rested in Bezenegur seven months, until the ways were clear
of thieves, which at that time ranged up and down: and in the
time I rested there, I saw many strange and beastly deeds done
by the gentiles/5 Those particularly described are the cremation
of Hindoo widows, voluntary penances, and rigid austerities already
mentioned in these volumes.

Bezenegur is now generally written Vijeyanuggur , or more pro-
perly, Vijaya-nagara; in ancient days it was one of the most splen-
did cities in the east: and the capital of an empire, which nominally
comprised under its jurisdiction the greater part of the southern
peninsula: the dominions of Travancore, and some of the countries
near Cape Comorin, are the only districts which preserved their
independence, and by their distance were protected from the
powerful sovereigns of Vijaya-nagara.

Many countries in the vicinity of Goa have at different limes
been almost depopulated by the mistaken policj7, bigotry, and
oppressions of the Portuguese government; especially the district
of Kankana; from whence, Dr. Buchanan says, the inhabitants
fled to Tulava, near Mangulore, to avoid a persecution in their
native country, and are still called Kankanies. An order arrived
from the King of Portugal to convert all the natives: the vice-roy
being a lenient man, on the receipt of the order, permitted those
who chose to retire to carry away their effects, and allowed them
fifteen days to arrange their affairs : accordingly all the rich
brahmins and Sudras retired to Tulava, with such of their property

301

as they could in that time realize; they now chiefly subsist by
trade, and many are in flourishing circumstances. The poor Kan-
kanies who remained in the Portuguese dominions were all con-
verted to Christianity ; if the religion professed and practised by
the Malabar converts can deserve that appellation.

In the second geographical division of the Malabar coast, I
mentioned Goa among the cities in Visiapoor: this part of India,
including the Concan and Deccan (which latter word means the
south country, relatively to the northern provinces of Ilindostan),
has been from time immemorial inhabited by the nations of Canara
and Malabar; people from Merhat and Telinga, mingled among
them in the northern districts: until the middle of the sixteenth
century, it formed a considerable part of the vast empire of Beze-
negur, just mentioned. At that period, five of the Mahomedan
princes who had usurped the dominion of their respective govern-
ments, north of the Kistnah, ambitious of new conquests, and of
making converts to the mussulman religion, confederated in a war
against Ram Raje, the Hindoo monarch of Bezenegur, who was
killed in battle, A. D. 1565. In consequence of his death, and a
disputed succession, many of the naiks, or governors of provinces,
became independent; and formed the modern Hindoo govern-
ments of Mysore, Trinchinopoly, Madura, Tanjore, and some
others: at the same time the zamorine of Calicut, the king of
Travancore, and different Malabar princes, shook oft' all depend-
ence upon the Hindoo empire; whose seat of government was
removed from Bezenegur to Penekonda.

About this period, the Mahomedan prince of Bejapour, or Vi-
siapoor, under his general Mustapha Khan, assisted by Sahoo

302

Bhosla, reduced the Carnatic Bala-gaut, afterwards called Beja-
poury ; and descending into the Payen-gaut, conquered the new
principalities of Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Ginjee. Meer Jumlah,
another Mahomedan chief, was at the same time performing simi-
lar exploits in other quarters: they enjoyed their conquests only a
very short time; for in 1687, the emperor Aurungzebe subverted
their dominions, and reduced them to saubahs, or provinces, of
the Mogul empire, placing them under the command of vice-roys,
or nabobs; who for some time paid a tribute, and did homage to
the imperial government at Delhi; but at length, on the imbecility
and decline of the empire, they also threw off their allegiance, and
became independent sovereigns.

Sahoo Bhoosla, or Shajee, was the father of Sevajee, the foun-
der of the Mahratta empire: his ancestors were leaders in the
tribe of Mahrattas, so named from their having immemorially in-
habited the country called Merhat, which comprehends a great
part of the Peshwa’s dominions in the Deccan. The rise of the
Mahrattas is fully detailed on a future occasion; nor would it be
interesting to enter more into the politics or history of this part of
India: Goa is now of very little consequence, and the influence
of the Portugueze government very circumscribed.

Were I master of the subject, I should seldom introduce any
oriental history previous to the Mahomedan invasion of India;
having already proved that the pretended antiquity of the Hindoos
is trifling and absurd: I will only insert one instance out of the
number which might be quoted in corroboration of this assertion:
I transcribe it from Dr. Buchanan’s Travels in Malabar, where he
procured a ring, in which was set a gold fanam, said to have been

303

struck by Parasu Rama, when he created Kerala. These fanams
are not easily obtained; being considered as relics of the greatest
antiquity: according to the fables of the brahmins, Parasu Rama
created Kerala above eight hundred thousand years ago; and Dr.
Buchanan received an account from the Tulava brahmins, taken
from an historical work in the Sanscrit language, by which it ap-
pears that Tulava was given to the brahmins 1,955,883,365 years,
preceding A. D. 1801: in pursuing the history of Tulava, this
intelligent writer observes, “ the candid reader will not expect, that
in a work comprehending the accounts of such a long duration of
time, a few thousand years, earlier or later, in the chronology of
these degenerate times, can be considered as of any conse-
quence/'

We sailed from Goa with the land-wind, and the next morn-
ing were off Carwar, a town of importance during the flourishing
state of the Portugueze: the English had formerly a factory for
the purchase of pepper, which has been for many years deserted:
there are still a number of Portugueze inhabitants, with a bishop
and inferior clergy; the Roman catholic churches at Bombay are
in the diocese of Carwar.

In the neighbouring country, the peasants manufacture cate-
chu, or terra- Japonica, from the keiri tree (mimosa catechu) which
grows wild on the hills of Kankana, but in no other part of the
Indian peninsula. Dr. Buchanan says, “ the keira tree is felled
at any season; and, the white wood being removed, the heart is
cut into small pieces, and put, with one half of the quantity by
measure, into a round earthen pot: it is then boiled for three hours;
and when the decoction has become ropjq it is decanted. The

304

same quantity of water is again added, and boiled, until it becomes
ropy; when it is decanted, and a third water also is given. This
extracts all the substance from the wood: the three decoctions are
then mixed, and next morning boiled in small pots, until the
extract becomes thick, like tar: it is afterwards allowed to remain
in the pots for two days, and then has become so hard that it will
not run. Some husks of rice being spread on the ground, the
inspissated juice is formed into balls about the size of an orange,
and placed on the husks, to be dried seven days in the sun: for
two months afterwards they are spread out in the shade to dry;
or in the rainy season for twice that length of time, and are then
fit for sale. Merchants who live above the Gattes advance the
whole price four months before the time of delivery; and give two
rupees for a maund of forty Chutcha seers of twenty-four rupees
weight; about nine rupees, or one pound sterling per hundred
weight. The merchants who purchase reside chiefly at Danvara,
Shanore, and other places in that neighbourhood; and are those
who supply the greater part of the peninsula with this article;
which, among the natives, is in universal use.

Not far from Onore we passed Mirzee, and Barcelore, two
places famous for pepper, which grows spontaneously in those di-
stricts; as also the laurus cassia, and wiid nutmeg.

These towns are supposed to be the Musiris and Barace of the
ancients; whither Hippalus made the first voyage from the Arabian
gulf: a voyage from Arabia to the coast of Malabar was then
deemed of so much importance, that the monsoon wind, which
wafted him over a tract of ocean, hitherto unattempted, was called
Hippalus, after this celebrated navigator. Previous to this bold

305

V

undertaking, the merchant vessels belonging to the Egyptians and
Arabians had sailed from Berenice in the Red-Sea, along the
Arabian shore to the promontory of Syagrus, now Cape Rasalgate;
and held their course along the coast of Persia, to the different
ports in India where they traded.

Dr. Robertson, describing the trade of the ancients with India,
and particularly the voyage of 1 1 ip pal us to Musiris, observes, that
“ as this was one of the greatest efforts of navigation in those days,
and opened the best communication by sea between the East and
West that was known for fourteen hundred years, it merits a par-
ticular description. Fortunately Pliny has enabled us to give it
with a degree of accuracy, which can seldom be attained in tracing
the naval or commercial operations of the ancients. Pliny observes,
from Alexandria to Juliopolis is two miles: there the cargo des-
tined for India is embarked on the Nile, and is carried to Coptos,
which is distant three hundred and three miles, and the voyage is
usually accomplished in twelve days. From Coptos goods are
conveyed to Berenice, on the Arabian gulf, halting at different
stations, regulated according to the conveniency of watering. The
distance between these cities is two hundred and fifty-eight miles.
On account of the heat, the caravan travels only during the night,
and the journey is finished on the twelfth day. From Berenice,
ships take their departure about midsummer, and in thirty days
reach Ocelis (Gella), at the mouth of the Arabian gulf, or Cane
(Cape Fartaque), on the coast of Arabia Felix. Thence they sail in
forty days to Musiris, the first emporium in India. They begin their
voyage homewards early in the Egyptian month Thibi, which

answers to our December; they sail with a north-east wind, and

2 u

306

when they enter the Arabian gulf meet with a south or south-west
wind, and thus complete the voyage in less than a year.”

The sight of Mirzee recalled to mind its former importance in
the oriental commerce: nothing can be more clear or satisfactory,
than Pliny’s account of the trade to Musiris; and Arrian, describ-
ing the imports from the Arabian gulf, at that port, says they were
much the same as those I have already mentioned at Surat; but
as it lay nearer to the eastern parts of India, and seems to have
had much communication with them, the commodities exported
from it were more numerous and more valuable. He specifies
particularly, pearls in great abundance, and of extraordinary beauty;
a variety of silk stuffs, rich perfumes, tortoise-shell, different kinds
of transparent gems, especially diamonds; and pepper in large
quantities, and of the best quality.

After leaving Mirzee and Barcelore, there was nothing worthy
of observation, until we passed Fortified Island, a little to the
northward of Onore; it is about a mile in circumference, rocky,
barren, and so strong both by nature and art, as to be deemed
impregnable: it then belonged to the nabob Hyder Ally Caun, as
did Onore, and all the adjoining territory.

Passing Fortified Island, we anchored off Onore, or Honawera ,
as it is called by the natives: the fort was situated on a rising
ground, near a small town of indifferent houses; the best was the
English factory, where two of the Company’s servants resided, to
purchase pepper and sandal-wood, for the English and Chinese
markets: a considerable private trade was carried on with Bombay
and the northern ports, in betel-nuts, and other articles.

Onore river, or rather a salt lake, is navigable at spring-tides

for small vessels; it is indeed connected with a small river which
flow’s from the inland mountains, through a hilly country, whose
romantic rocks are softened by a wild assemblage of trees: among
them the silk-cotton (bombax ceiba, Lin.), and the decannee-bean
(butea superba), are very conspicuous; the former covered with
buds and flowers of crimson, and the scarlet papilionaceous blos-
soms of the latter, contrasted by their black stalks, give a brilliant
effect to the western woods, and appear at sun-set, like immense
forests in a glow of fire. These sylvan regions are the haunt of
tigers, and other wild beasts already described.

The low lands contiguous to Onore are well cultivated; and
planted with cocoa-nut trees, areca, pepper, rice, and inferior
grains: but the most valuable production in this part of India is
the sandal, or saunders tree (santalum album, Linn.)

The sandal tree is indigenous on the rocky hills in the Onore
districts, and if permitted, would grow to a tolerable size; but the
wood is so valuable, that the tree is cut down at an early stage,
and we seldom meet with any more than a foot broad: the wood
is either red, yellow, or a whitish brown; and from its colour and
size, is called the first, second, and third sort of sandal- wrood ; each
varying in price: the best varied in price from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred rupees the caury, of five hundred and sixty-
pounds weight. The w-ood of the brightest colour, and strongest
scent, is most esteemed; having a fine grain, and an aromatic
smell, which it communicates to every thing near it: it is therefore
much used in small cabinets, escritoires, and similar articles, as no
insect can exist, nor iron rust, within its influence: from the dust
and shavings is extracted an aromatic oil; the oil and wood are

308

used by the Hindoos and Parsees in their religious ceremonies; but
the greatest part of the latter is reserved for the China markets,
where it sells to great advantage.

The sandal is a. beautiful tree; the branches regular and taper-
ing; the leaf like the narrow willow, shorter, and delicately soft;
the blossoms hang in bunches of small dowers, either red or white,
according to the colour of the wood: the fruit is small, and valu-
able only for its seed: the tree thrives in a hilly rocky situation,
and there produces wood of the finest grain, and strongest scent:
on low land, and a richer soil, it degenerates, and is in all respects
less esteemed.

It is often extremely difficult, as well as dangerous, to transport
merchandize over Qnore bar, on account of a tremendous surf:
1 never thought myself in such imminent danger as in attempting
a passage through these surges: a little before my arrival, a young
gentleman in the Company’s civil service was overset in a ship’s
boat, and all perished! We took the advantage of the land wind
at midnight to return to the vessel, when the surf was moderate.

I am not sufficiently conversant with the cause and effect of
the land and sea breezes which so generally prevail during the fair
season on the Malabar-coast. The Oriental Voyager assigns the
most probable reason for the regularity of these periodical winds;
although, in my opinion, not entirely satisfactory; as they seem to
prevail equally along the whole extent of the Malabar coast, whe-
ther mountainous or Hat.

64 It is well known that from the time the sun begins to emerge
above the eastern horizon, until he gains his meridian altitude, the
earth is gradually acquiring a temperature above that of the sea.

309

This causing a rarefaction or expansion of the air over the surface
of the land, it ascends into the higher regions; and a column of
dense and cool air rushes in from the sea about mid-day, to pre-
serve the equilibrium, thus producing the sea-breeze. The above
cause continuing to operate while the sun is above the horizon, we
of course have the sea-breeze during the remainder of the day:
but at night, when the earth loses its acquired heat, and even sinks
in temperature below that of the sea, the air which had ascended
in a rarefied state during the day, begins to condense in the upper
regions; and pressing upon that below, a column of air is sent off
towards the sea; and thus the land-breeze is produced. The sole
cause then of these semidiurnal breezes, being the capacity which
the earth has for acquiring a higher temperature than that of the
sea, the cause becomes evident why they do not take place on a
mountainous coast, where the hills are covered with trees and ver-
dure, which retaining the dews that fall in the night, the earth is
as cool during the day as the sea: the mountains therefore do not
obstruct the course of these periodical breezes, but prevent their
existence/’

The regularity of the land and sea-breezes on the Malabar-
coast is sometimes interrupted by tempests: there were two during
my residence in India, of fatal consequence, each about a month
before the usual setting in of the south-west monsoon. Water-
spouts are occasionally seen on this coast, but seldom attended
with danger: those I observed from a distance, had an awful ap-
pearance; if, on a near approach, they realize Falconer’s sublime
description, they must be terrible indeed;

“ Now from the left approaching, we descry
“ A liquid column towering shoot on high ;

“ Its foaming base an angry whirlwind sweeps,

“ Where curling billows rouse the fearful deeps!

“ Still round and round the fluid vortex flies,

“ Scattering dun night and horror through the skies!
“ The swift volution, and th’ enormous train,

“ Let sages vers’d in nature’s lore explain.
f< The horrid apparition still draws nigh,

“ And white with foam the whirling surges fly.

“ The guns were prim’d, the vessel northward nears
“ ’Till her black battery on the column bears ;

“ The nitre fir’d, and while the dreadful sound
“ Convulsive shook the slumbering air around;

“ The watery volume, towering to the sky,

“ Burst down, a dreadful deluge from on high!

“ Th’ affrighted surge, recoiling as it fell,

“ Rolling in hills, disclos’d the abyss of hell!”

A pleasant land-breeze wafted us from Onore, to the fortress
called the Malabar Frontier; where we properly entered on the
Malabar coast: we anchored the same evening at Mangulore, in
12° 50' north latitude, and 74° 44' east longitude. It was then the

well

situated for commerce, and frequented by foreign merchants for
pepper, sandal-wood, rice, and betel-nuts.

The entrance into the river, or rather a salt-water lake, near
which the town was built, is difficult and dangerous, occasioned
by a rapid current running into the sea, through a narrow channel
in the sandy beach, which extends along the coast: this entrance
was defended by batteries; the principal fortress stood on the
opposite side of the river, near a populous town; the houses were

generally mean, and there were no public buildings of importance.
During the succeeding wars with Hyder Ally, and his son Tippoo
Sultaun, Mangulore, Onore, and the oilier sea-porls in their domi-
nions underwent a total change.

At Kurkul, near Mangulore, is a celebrated Hindoo temple of
great antiquity, and a gigantic image of Gomat&swar ; inferior in
size, but of a similar kind, to the famous idol, named Gomathwar
Swami , at Belligola, or Sravana-Belligola, the principal residence
of the Guroos , or high priests belonging to the sect of Jains, a sin»
gular and separate tribe among the Hindoos, particularly de-
scribed in the Asiatic Researches. The image at Belligola is said
to be eighteen times the height of a man, but this I imagine to be
exaggerated upon examining the engravings accompanying the
account, where a man of the usual height stands upon the terrace
near the gigantic figure, to shew the comparative height of art and
nature: when these drawings were taken in 1801, the foot of the
statue was measured, and found to be nine feet in length; hence
the height of the statue is estimated at fifty-four feet. The records
of the Jains also mention a golden image, of five hundred times
the height of a man; which was inundated by the sea: but they
believe it can still be sometimes seen at low water.

We staid a very short time at Mangulore, most of which was
sacrificed to a formal visit at the governors durbar; a Mahomedan
oppressor, in great favour with his sovereign Hyder Ally; I should
otherwise have gone to Kurkul, and some interesting places in its
vicinity.

Travellers who sojourn only a few hours, or even a few days,
in a place, and write decidedly upon the manners and customs of

3 12

the inhabitants, can, in general, have acquired a very superficial
knowledge, by whatever channel derived: I confess I have found
myself involved in many errors, by believing the accounts both of
Europeans and natives, whom I occasionally consulted, on the
Malabar coast. Subsequent visits, and better information, have
enabled me to correct those mistakes; many authentic sources of
intelligence yet remain, and of these, few are equal to Dr. Francis
Buchanan’s journey through the Malabar districts: he mentions
many singular usages in the country contiguous to Mangulore,
particularly in the tribe of Bimtar, who are the highest rank of
sudras in Talava , and resemble the Nairs of Malayala , or Malabar.
“ Among them a man’s own children are not his heirs: during his
life-time he may give them money; but all of which he dies pos-
sessed, goes to his sisters, and to their children. If a man has a
mother’s brother’s daughter, he must marry her; but he may take
two or three wives besides: the ceremony is performed by the
girl’s father, or other near kinsman. When a man marries several
wives, none of them can leave him without his consent; but when
discord runs high, he generally sends one of the disputants back to
her brother’s house; and then she is at liberty to marry again. A
man at any time, if he dislikes his wife, may send her back to her
brother’s house; and he can do no more if she has committed
adultery. In all these cases, or when a widow returns to her bro-
ther’s house on her husband’s death, she is accompanied by her
children; and may marry again, unless she has committed adultery
with a person of low caste: but if that crime has been commit-
ted with a brahmin , kshatri , vaisya , or bunt, she is well received;
her children become her brother’s heirs, and no man will have

313

any objection to marry her. The Buntarare permitted to eat ani-
mal food, and to drink spirituous liquors; they burn the dead,
but seem to be entirely ignorant of a stale of future existence.

<e All the south part of Tulava formerly belonged to the Ctimly
Rajah, who pretends to be a Kshatri from the north of India. The
manners of his family resemble those of the rajahs of Malayala.
All the males keep Nair girls; but their children, who are called
tambans, have no right to the succession. The eldest daughter in
the female line cohabits with a Tulava brahmin; her sons become
rajahs, and her eldest daughter continues the line of the family.
Whenever she pleases, she changes her brahmin; the younger
daughters also cohabit with brahmins, and produce a race of people
called Bayllal, who have no right to the succession. The domi-
nions of this family extended from the Chandra-giri river, to that
on the north side of Cumley, and produced an annual revenue of
fifteen thousand ikeri pagodas, about six thousand pounds. The
rajah lives now in the country; but he has neither lands nor autho-
rity. Before the last war he lived at Tellicherry, on a pension
from the Company; which has been doubled since we got posses-
sion of the country of his ancestors.

“ In Tulava the state has no lands; the whole is private pro-
perty: all the land-tax is now paid in money; but before the con-
quest, part of it was demanded in rice, and other articles of con-
sumption for the troops, at a low rate, which was fixed by the of-
ficers of government: the accounts contain solely the tax which
each proprietor ought to pay. When a man alienates part of his
lands, he agrees with the purchaser to take a part of the tax, and
then the revenue of the new proprietor is entered in the public ac-

314

counts under his name. The sum which he is to pay is always
mentioned in the title-deeds; and the government has a right to
prevent any division that is not in proportion to the value of the
lands alienated; otherwise the revenue might suffer greatly. The
proprietors allege, that the tax amounts to more than the rent;
and that they are obliged to borrow money, or to give part of
the profit from the lands cultivated with their own stock, to ena-
ble them to satisfy the claims of government. Those whom Dr.
Buchanan assembled to give him information, and most of whom
were as fat as pigs, gravely told him that they were reduced to live
upon kctnjee, or rice gruel. From what they say, therefore, no estimate
can be formed of the share of the rent which they pay to govern-
ment. Every one thinks himself bound to conceal the truth, and
none more so than the native officers of revenue. Every step,
indeed, seems to have been taken, by a chaos of weights and mea-
sures, and by plausible but false accounts, to keep the state of the
country a profound mystery.”

This last quotation may not, perhaps, be generally interest-
ing; but I have introduced it, because the subject of landed pro-
perty in the British dominions in India, has lately occupied the
attention of the different governments and boards of revenue;
and is more largely discussed when treating of the agriculture and
revenue of the districts under my charge in the province of Guzerat.
Dr. Buchanan concludes his observations in the country near Man-
gulore, with a remark which is generally applicable throughout
India: “ That the universal cry of poverty, and the care, owing
to long oppression, with which every thing is concealed, render
it very difficult to know the real circumstances of the cultivator:

we may, however, safely conclude, from the violent contest for
landed property of every kind in Canara , that each occupant has
still a considerable interest in the soil, besides the reward due to him
for cultivating whatever his stock enables him to do. It is indeed
sincerely to be wished that this property may long continue un-
molested, as no country can thrive where the absolute property
of the soil is vested in the state/'

The etiquette of the Mangulore Durbar detained us until a
late hour; when we returned on board, and sailed with the land
breeze for Tellicherry, along a hilly coast, particularly near mount
Dilla, a high woody cape, twenty miles from Tellicherry. We
next passed Cannanore, a large sea- port town belonging to a Ma-
homedan prince called Ally Rajah, who was also sovereign of
the Maldivae islands. Cannanore carried on a considerable trade
in pepper and cocoa-nuts, and was situated in a beautiful coun-
try, the sea-coast being enriched by extensive groves of cocoa-
nuts, with cultivated plains between them and the Gatte moun-
tains.

Tellicherry was at that time a principal settlement of the Eng-
lish, in the latitude of 11° 48' north, and 75° 23' east longitude:
the town, enclosed by a slight wall, contained several good houses,
belonging to the English, and native Portugueze: situated on a
rising ground near the sea, it was constantly refreshed by the western
breeze; and, from the salubrity of the air, was called the Mont-
pellier of India. Die fort was large and well garrisoned; it con-
tained an excellent house for the chief, with barracks and other
public buildings: about a mile to the southward was another Eng-
lish fort, called Moylan, and batteries on the adjacent hills; but

316

after the wars with the Mysore sultauns, the wiioie system on the
Malabar coast was altered, and the present civil and military
appointments in that quarter are foreign to the subject. A mem-
ber of the Bombay council was then chief of Tellicherry ; several
junior servants formed his council, and filled the different depart-
ments: provisions were cheap and plentiful, especially fish, in
great variety; it was famous for fine sardinias and excellent oys-
ters. The trade consisted in pepper, sandal-wood, cocoa-nuts,
cardamoms, and ureca, the produce of the country; with shark V
fins, dried fish, and similar articles.

The cocoa-nut groves on the sea-coast in this part of Malabar
are very extensive: 1 have fully described this valuable tree at
Bombay: in Malabar, from the time the nut is planted, until
the tree begins to bear fruit, is about twelve years; it continues
in perfection for fifty or sixty years; and in a decaying state, pro-
duces fruit twenty years longer: it then dies altogether, and is suc-
ceeded by a new plantation.

The low lands produce abundance of rice; those that can be
irrigated give a second crop; the first harvest commences the
middle of September, at the breaking up of the monsoon; the lat-
ter about the middle of January: after which, with additional
manure and watering, they sometimes have a third crop of pulse.

The plantations of pepper in this part of Malabar are exten-
sive and valuable; the jacs, mangos, and other high trees, on which
the vines are trained, add much to the general beauty of the
country.

The cardamom, amomum rcpens, Lin. wdiich grows in this
part of Malabar, is a spice much esteemed by the Asiatics; they

31?

chew it separately, or with betel; it is a principal ingredient in their
cookery, and used medicinally as a stomachic. Tine plant in appear-
ance resembles the ginger: it attains the height of two or three feet,
and sometimes more, before it bears fruit; the blossoms are small,
white, and variegated with purple; some have a brownish appear-
ance: they are succeeded by small green pods, containing the seeds,
which become of a light brown when the seed ripens, grows black,
and acquires the aromatic flavour for which it is so estimable.

This valuable spice is indigenous to many parts of Malabar,
but flourishes most on the acclivity of moist cool hills, among low
trees, bushes, and little springs of water: although the cardamom
delights in such a situation, it will grow in other places; and is
sometimes planted in gardens and orchards of plantain trees; the
roots are taken up and divided. The cardamom hills are gene-
rally private property; when the plants are discovered, they are
preserved with great care, by cutting down the bushes, and attend-
ing to the shoots for three years, at which time they begin to bear;
they have attained their full growth, and produce the best crops
in the fourth year, after which they generally decay. The plants
spring up in the rainy season; those under cultivation are not per-
mitted to grow too close to each other; when it so happens the
roots are divided, and planted at a greater distance: the seed be-
gins to ripen about the middle of September, and continues more
or less for the space of two months. The capsules, or seed-pods,
sometimes grow on a high stalk, often in short clusters near the
root: such as are ripe are daily gathered, and carefully dried for
sale; otherwise the birds and squirrels would carry off a large
share. It is supposed these animals scatter the seed in the unfre-

318

quented spots, where the cardamom is often unexpectedly found:
diligent search is always made for the springing plants at the com-
mencement of the rainy season. I was informed that in some
places they burn the bushes, which are always cut down at that
time; as the ashes produce an excellent manure without injuring
the growing plant; by what means I know not. The cardamom
is not general on the Malabar hills, but confined to particular dis-
tricts, and especially to moist situations.

There were some thriving coffee plantations on the island of
Durmapatam near Tellicherry; the seed was originally brought
from Mocha, but the Malabar coffee is inferior in flavour and
refreshment to the Arabian berry: it is a beautiful plant in
its foliage, blossoms and fruit, but too well known to need a de-
scription.

The ordeal trials, mentioned in other parts of these volumes,
were frequently practised at Tellicherry, even under the sanction of
the British government: this custom, so contrary to the general
opinion in Europe, is universally admitted under the sovereigns of
Malabar. Under their administration, when a man, accused of a
capital crime, chooses to undergo the ordeal trial, he is closely con-
fined for several days, his right hand and arm are covered with thick
wax-cloth, tied upand sealed, in thepresenceof proper officers, to pre-
vent deceit: in the English districts the covering was always sealed
with theCompany’s arms, and theprisoner placed under an European
guard. At the time fixed for the ordeal, a cauldron of oil is placed
over a fire; when it boils, a piece of money is dropped into the
vessel; the prisoner’s arm is unsealed, and washed in the presence
of his judges and accusers: during this part of the ceremony, the

319

attendant brahmins supplicate the deity; on receiving their bene-
diction the accused plunges his hand into the boiling fluid, and
takes out the coin: this I believe is sometimes repeated. The arm
is then again sealed up, until the time appointed for a re-exami-
nation: the seal is then broken; if no blemish appears the pri-
soner is declared innocent; if the contrary, he suffers the punish-
ment due to his crime.

In the account of ordeals, by Mr. Hastings, in the Dhertna
Sastra, or the chapter of oaths, he says “ the word divya, in San-
scrit, is generally understood to mean an oath, or the trial by ordeal;
being the form of appealing to the immediate interposition of the
divine power.” Nine kinds of ordeal are enumerated; but I shall
here confine myself to what is said on that by oil. — “ The ordeal
by the vessel of oil, according to the comment on the Dherina
Sastra, is thus performed ; the ground appointed for the trial is
cleared, and rubbed with cow-dung; and the next day, at sun-rise,
the pundit worships Ganesa, presents his oblations, and pays ado-
ration to other deities, conformable to the Sastra: then, having
read the incantation prescribed, he places a round pan of gold,
silver, copper, iron or clay, with a diameter of sixteen fingers, and
four fingers deep; and throws into it one seer, or eighty sicca weight
of clarified butter, or oil of sesamum. After this a ring of gold,
or silver, or iron, is cleaned and washed with water, and cast into
the oil, which they proceed to heat; when it is very hot they put
into it a fresh leaf of pippala, or bilwa; when the leaf is burned,
the oil is known to be sufficiently hot. Then, having pronounced
a mentra over the oil, they order the party accused to lake the
ring out of the pan; and if he take it out without being burned, or

320

without a blister on his hand, his innocence is considered as
proved ; if not, his guilt.”

“ On the trial by fire, the accused thus addresses the element;
‘Thou, O Fire! pervadest all beings: O cause of purity! who givest
evidence of virtue and of sin, declare the truth in this my hand/
In the ordeal by poison, the accused pronounces, 4 Thou, O Poison!
art the child of Brahma, stedfast in justice and in truth! clear me
from this heavy charge; and, if I have spoken truly, become nec-
tar to me!”

The Muck was, or Mucuars, at Tellicherry are an industrious
useful set of people; some are Mahomedans, some Hindoos:
they are considered a very low tribe among the Malabars, but
are more valuable in society than many of higher pretensions:
they make excellent palankeen-bearers, boatmen, fishermen, and
porters of goods from the landing place to the storehouses. Some
of the young women are pleasing in their countenance, and per-
son, which is generally very much exposed ; their clothing con-
sisting only of a white cotton cloth round the middle. The Hin-
doo Mucuars are kept in a most degraded state by the brahmins,
who allow them to eat all animal food, except beef: they may
also drink strong liquors; and are not very nice in their matri-
monial connexions. Dr. F. Buchanan says the deity of this cast
is the goddess Bhadra-Kali, who is represented by a log of wood,
placed in a hut that is called a temple: they assemble four times
a year to sacrifice a cock, and make offerings of fruit to the log:
one of the caste acts as priest, but his office is not hereditary.
The Mucuars are not admitted to enter within the precincts of
any of the temples dedicated to the great gods of the brahmins,

321

but they sometimes stand at a distance, and send their offerings,
by more pure hands: they seem to know nothing of a slate of
future existence; but believe in evil spirits, who inflict diseases,
and occasion other misfortunes/’

During our stay at Tellicherry, I spent an agreeable day at
Mahie, a French settlement, a few miles to the southward, plea-
santly situated on the banks of a river; trading chiefly in pepper,
cocoa-nuts, and cardamoms. On sailing from Tellicherry to Ca-
licut, we had a fine view of Mahie from the sea, from whence it
appeared to greater advantage than on shore.

Sailing southward, we passed near Sacrifice-rock, a small island,
so called, from the crew of an English ship having been massacred
there by pirates, the beginning of the seventeenth century. It is
famous for the edible birds-nests, found in the clefts of the rocks,
which are esteemed so luxurious a dainty in China, as to have
become a considerable article of commerce: the greatest quantity
are produced on the coasts of Malacca; they are also procured
from Sacrifice-rock, and other unfrequented islands. These nests
are three or four inches in circumference, and one in depth:
formed by a bird of the swallow tribe, (hirundo, nidis edulibus),
either with the spawn of fish, or a glutinous frothy scum, which
the sea leaves on the rock; with this they construct those little ha-
bitations, so highly prized by the Chinese epicure, and voluptuous
Mahomedan, when stewed to a jelly, and seasoned with spices.
Sharks’ fins are dressed in the same manner; they are dried in large
quantities at the fishing-towns on the Malabar coast, and consti-
tute a valuable article of trade to China. The drying of these fins,
sardinias, and other fish, all along the Malabar coast, renders the

2 t

322

atmosphere extremely offensive, if not unwholesome; their putrid
effluviae generally overpower the aromatic odours, which would
otherwise be wafted by the morning breeze from groves of cassia,
sandal, and champach. The sharks' fms are sold at a reasonable
price; but the newest and most transparent nests of the hirundo,
are purchased by the Chinese at five or six dollars the pound.
Those of an older fabric, dry, and less pellucid, are not so va-
luable.

A favourable wind carried us quickly from Sacrifice-rock to
Calicut, in the latitude of 11° 18' north: it is memorable, as being
the place where Vasco de Gama, and his hardy followers, first
landed from Europe in 1498; and where the English established
a factory in l6l6: at present it offers very little to interest a tra-
veller, being chiefly composed of low huts, shaded by cocoa-nut
trees, on a sandy shore; amidst an offensive effluvia from sharks’
fins, and a variety of fish drying on the beach. In this unpleasant
situation, the English, French, Danes, and Portugueze, had their
respective factories, where they hoisted their national flags; and
purchased pepper, cocoa-nuts, coir-cables and ropes, betel-nuts,
timber, oil, and other articles. Beyond this sandy tract is a fertile
plain, extending to the Gaut mountains; which in that part of the
peninsula are of a stupendous height, and visible at sea seventy
miles distance.

Calicut road, where the ships anchor, is deemed unsafe for
those not well acquainted with the navigation; several vessels have
been wrecked upon the ruins of the old city, now under water: as
the mean town just described, formed no part of that emporium
where de Gama landed: Calicut is said to have been then a large

CALICUT* trny otzuy ■6 <7/ MALA® AM

323

city, where the Zamorine, the sovereign of the country, held a
splendid court, and merchants resorted from Persia, Arabia, Africa,
and different parts of India, to purchase pearls, diamonds, spices,
ivory, and other costly articles. From thence the persevering Vasco
freighted the first ship to Europe, and introduced those oriental
luxuries in much greater abundance, and at a cheaper rate, than
they had been imported formerly by the Greeks of Constantinople,
or the Venetians, who succeeded them in that valuable com-
merce.

Every vestige of that magnificent city is now whelmed beneath
the sea, which flowed beyond its bounds, and no more receded :
at very low water I have occasionally seen the waves breaking
over the tops of the highest temples and minarets, but in general
nothing is to be distinguished of this ancient emporium.

“ The face of places, and their forms decay,

“ And that is solid earth which once was sea $

<( Seas in their turn, retreating from the shore,

“ Make solid land what ocean was before:

“ So Zancle to the Italian earth was ty’d,

<( And men once walk’d where ships at anchor ride j
“ And cities that adorn’d the Achaian ground
“ Now whelm’d beneath the sea are sunk and drown’d:

And boatmen there, through crystal surface show
“ To wondering passengers the walls below.” Dryden’s Ovid

Dr. Fryers visit to Calicut, a century before I saw it, is plea-
santly described, and his account of the interior part of this coun-
try is very interesting.

“ In November 1673, we anchored against that anciently

3'U

traded port of Calicut: ashore, the first house facing us was the
English; near it were placed six small pieces, resounding our salutes
at our entry: on the back side lay two great guns, dismounted, of
brass; all that is extant of the Portugal town and castle, which
ran out into the sea, where our ships now ride, near four miles,
overflowed by water; nothing remaining of it, but what is taken
upon chronicle.

“ What is left of Calicut, is not equivalent to what might be
expected from the gleaning of so many ages of traffic: for the city
that stood upon stilts is tripped up; for down it is gone; and the
temple, whose marble pillars durst compare with those of Agrippa’s
in the Roman Pantheon, is topsy-turvy: and if any one that comes
after me, make you believe it to be not above four miles in length,
and in that not an house befitting a, Christian; here and there a
mosque, and burying-places with tanks; a good long bazar with
trash, and ripe fruit; another with opium, and spices of this coast;
changers and jewellers; unfenced and rude in building; he tells
you but the truth. Indeed it is pleasantly situated under trees;
and is the holy see of the zamorine, or pope.”

44 The country is enticing and beautiful, woody in the plain,
up the country mountainous, where grows the pepper: it is a berry
that is brought forth by a bind-weed, wedded to a tree, which it
hugs as affectionately as the ivy does the oak; it is first green,
when dried it is black, and husked white. Between this and Tel-
licherry, hills of cardamoms do bound the sight: on the east a
gravelly forest, with tall benty grass, offers, besides its taking look,
diversity of game; as hares, wild boars, tigers, and elephants,
which are dreaded by travellers; they striking all down before

325

them, trees as well as animals: the like terror is conceived by the
crashing noise made among the woods by the wild bulls: for all
which it is the practice of the wood-men to dig deep pits, and
cover them with sods, laid over with boughs, to entrap them in
their headstrong and unwary course. Monkeys, with white ruffs,
and black shagged bodies, looking very gravely, are brought from
hence.’'

“ The first blackamoor pullen I ever saw was here: the out-
ward skin of the fowl was a perfect negro, the bones also being as
black as jet: under the skin nothing could be whiter than the
flesh, more tender, or more grateful. On the sea-coast are water-
snakes, which, by the goodness of Providence, warn the seamen,
when all is obscured, of their too near approach to land: these are
as sure presages on the Indian coast, as the Cape-birds are
there.”

The water-snakes, black monkeys, and black-boned fowls, like
the native inhabitants of Malabar, remain unchanged; but the
European settlements on the coast have been all metamorphosed
since the French revolution, and the wars with the sovereigns of
Mysore. The poultry, with a black skin and black bones, though
disagreeable at first to strangers, are found to be more delicate in
flavour, and superior in whiteness to the other kind : the hogs, fowls,
and ducks in the southern parts of the coast, feed so much upon
fish, that their flesh is frequently unpleasant, and offensive.

A few miles from Calicut is a small sea-port, called Vapura,
pleasantly situated on the banks of a river; from whence a great
quantity of teak-wood is exported, and where vessels are built of
that timber. These valuable trees are felled on the Gaut mourn

326

tains, and transported from thence to the river-side by elephants;
where it remains to be floated down to Vapura, when the stream
fills in the rainy season.

This part of Malabar also produces the chapingum, or sapan-
wood (gullandina sapan): the trees are planted in gardens and
orchards, for the sake of the wood, which produces a valuable
dye.

From Calicut, we proceeded to Cochin, and arrived there on
the 14th, after sailing along a bold coast, of cocoa-nut trees and
rice-fields, extending over a sandy plain to the Gaut mountains:
whose majestic summits in the morning are generally enveloped in
clouds; but towards sun-set, their western acclivities display an
assemblage of rocks and woods, in broad masses of light and sha-
dow, which rival the Alps and Appennines of Europe; although
deficient in those pinnacles and glaciers, whose sublimity and
beauty, seen through the clear atmosphere of an Italian winter,
baffle the artist’s skill, and defy the power of language.

Cochin, in the latitude of 9° 58' north, and ?6 east longitude,
was among the early conquests of the Portugueze; from them it
fell into the hands of the Dutch, and is now in possession of the
English. The town is pleasantly situated at the entrance of a
broad navigable river, or more properly a lake, which extends
southerly for near twenty leagues to Quilone, another Dutch fac-
tory, affording an inland navigation through that part of the king
of Cochin’s dominions.

When I was at Cochin it belonged to the Dutch; and as such
only can I speak of it. The town was surrounded by a fortifica-
tion, built by the Portugueze; of no great strength except towards

V

I

the sea: the garrison consisted of five hundred Europeans, and
some Malay troops from their more eastern possessions; the com-
manding officer had only the rank of major, and the civil governor
was styled commodore.

I have occasionally resided there several weeks, when transact-
ing business for the India Company: it was a place of great trade,
and presented a striking contrast to Goa; where an empty harbour,
forsaken houses, and mouldering walls, indicated its fallen state, and
proved the wretched condition of a settlement destined from its
advantageous situation to be a grand emporium: at Cochin, a har-
bour filled with ships, streets crowded with merchants, and ware-
houses stored with goods from every part of Asia and Europe, marked
the industry, the commerce, and the wealth of the inhabitants.

The phlegmatic and formal character of the native Hollander
generall}’’ accompanies him to other climates; but at Cochin, a
constant intercourse with strangers had effected a pleasing change.
I constantly received the kindest attentions from the governor and
principal inhabitants; their tables were furnished with hospitality,
and graced with politeness; their houses and gardens displayed
the national cleanliness and neatness. Provisions of all kinds
abounded; in the rainy season, when no ships frequent the port,
a turkey cost only half a rupee; fowls and ducks in proportion:
the beef, though small, was well-flavoured, and very cheap ; as
were fruit, vegetables, and other refreshments for the numerous
vessels which touch there in the fair season. Europeans and na-
tives find the water unwholesome; drinking it frequently causes
that disagreeable disorder called the Cochin-leg, or elephantiasis,
which is deemed incurable: it is the same as the lepra araburn.

328

and considered as a species of leprosy. I have seen many with a
leg thicker than their body; on the naked limbs of the natives it
has a disgusting appearance; to the leg of a European, with a
silk-stocking, shoe and buckle, something ludicrous is annexed;
the Asiatic garb would be more comely. The swelling generally
commences at the knee, and continues of the same wonderful cir-
cumference to the foot; few persons are affected in both legs; and
I believe they are insensible of any other inconvenience than that
of dragging such a cumberous load.

During my residence at Anjengo, I was deputed to transact
some money concerns between the English Company and the Jews
of Cochin; they do not reside in the city, but at Jews-town, or
Mottancheree, situated on the banks of the river, about a mile
distant; where they have two large synagogues, and many excel-
lent houses and gardens; and are allowed the free exercise of their
religion, and carry on the principal trade of the settlement. Jews
from Poland, Spain, and other parts of Europe, were intermingled
with those established in Malabar, many ages before the discovery
of India by the Cape of Good Hope.

Samuel Abraham, a native of Poland, a man of learning, years,
and respectability, was the most eminent merchant at Mottan-
cheree in 1772. He managed my business for the Company, and
gave me every information in his power respecting the Jewish
tribes settled in the king of Cochin's dominions. They are a people
distinct and separate from the surrounding Malabars, in dress,
manners, and religion, as wmll as in their complexion and general
appearance. This Hebrew colony is said to have emigrated from
Judea soon after the destruction of the second temple by Titus

329

Vespasian; when a number of these devoted people, escaping from
the dreadful massacres and sale of captives at Jerusalem, consist-
ing of men, women, and children, priests and Levites, with such
effects as they could transport, emigrated from Palestine to India:
a country probably not unknown to the Jews in more prosperous
days, at least to those tribes situated near Tyre and Sidon. The
Medes, Persians, and Abyssinians, had a communication with
distant parts of India for articles of luxury; and that they carried
on a considerable trade to its remote provinces before Alexander’s
conquest, is evident from Strabo, Pliny, and other writers; exclu-
sive of the maritime commerce already mentioned, from the Peri-
plus and Grecian historians. It is therefore not improbable that
some Jewish families, on their dispersion at the first captivity, or at
some subsequent period, may have wandered to the Malabar coast;
which my venerable informer assured me was believed by his people
to have been the case with part of the tribe of Manasseh.

The fate of the expatriated Jews who wandered to India after
the destruction of the second temple, until their arrival in Malabar,
at the conclusion of the fifth century of the Christian aera, is, I
believe, no where authenticated. At that period the colony reached
their place of destination; the sovereign of the country, a brahmin,
treated them with kindness, and allowed them to settle at Crania-
nore with considerable privileges. There they were established
many centuries, increasing in wealth and consequence, until, from
dissensions among themselves, they called in the aid of surround-
ing princes, and after much cruelty and bloodshed, were driven
from Cranganore, with the loss of their possessions and pro-
perty.

2 U

330

These unhappy fugitives were thus separated and dispersed
among die Malabar districts, until a remnant again collected, and
were permitted by the king of Cochin to settle at Mottancheree,
on the banks of Cochin river, where their descendants have con-
tinued ever since. Samuel Abraham assured me, that they had in
their possession a royal grant of Cranganore, and the district
allotted to their ancestors, on their first establishment in Malabar,
engraved on metal, and signed by the brahmin sovereign of the
country. This is since confirmed by Dr. Claudius Buchanan, who
procured a fac-simiie, engraven on copper, from the original brass
tablet which he saw in the possession of the Cochin Jews in 1807;
he has also published a translation from that made by the Jews
into the Hebrew language: the original grant, as dated in the
Malabar annals, corresponds with the year 490 of the Christian
?era.

J'he history of the Jews is the most wonderful of any in the
annals of time: they are indeed a standing miracle! and however
modern philosophy may raise doubts of revelation in some parti-
culars, a people scattered over the face of the earth, yet preserved
distinct and separate from every nation among whom they dwell,
afford incontrovertible evidence of its truth. We trace them from
the call of Abraham in Chaldea, and rest with delight at the tents
and wells of the patriarchal shepherds: from those pastoral scenes
we accompany them to Egypt, sympathize in their captivity and
oppressions under an ungrateful monarch, and rejoice in their de-
liverance from cruel bondage: we share in their adventures in the
wilderness, and participate in their wars and conquests in Canaan.
Established there, and dissatisfied with the theocracy, we view

331

them under the regal government, in a progressive increase of
wealth and population, until, at the conclusion of David’s reign,
the men of Israel who drew the sword, were a thousand thousand,
and an hundred thousand, and Judah was four hundred threescore
and ten thousand men; all descended in a direct line from Abra-
ham, the pastoral patriarch. In the reign of Solomon the temporal
prophecies were completed; the wealth, power, and greatness, of
that extraordinary monarch, surpassed all the kings of the earth:
they sought his presence to hear his wisdom, and brought every
one a present; vessels of silver, and vessels of gold; raiment,
armour, and spices; horses and mules; until he made silver in
Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees as the sycamore trees in the
plains: all the drinking vessels of king Solomon were of gold, and
all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon of pure gold;
none were of silver; it was not any thing accounted of in the days
of Solomon. Lor the king’s ships which went to Tarshish with the
servants of Hiram, king of 'lyre, returned every three years with
gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. The queen of Sheba
came from a far country to hear his wisdom, and to behold his
glory, accompanied by a very great caravan of camels, that bare
spices, and gold, and precious stones; and when she beheld his
greatness, and the splendour of his court, there was no more spirit
in her; on her return to her own land, she gave the king an hun-
dred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices, and precious stones,
great abundance: but far beyond all was the approbation of iris
Maker, and his manifestation of his divine presence in the temple;
where, after he had finished his prayer at the dedication, the fire
visibly descended from heaven, and consumed the sacrifice: and

332

the glory of the Lord filled the house; so that the priests could not
enter because of the glory!

We cannot easily imagine a more splendid monarch, nor a
happier people: heaven and earth united to exalt them in the face
of the nations: but alas! how soon did the gold become dim, and
the fine gold changed! Solomon forgot the guide of his youth ; and,
in his old age, bowed down to Ashtaroth, the goddess of Zidon,
and to the abomination of Ammon; and built altars, and sacrificed
unto the gods of his strange wives. His example was followed by
many of his successors, until their idolatry became so abominable
in the sight of Jehovah, who had peculiarly styled himself the
God of Israel, that, after a succession of heavy judgments, blended
with signal mercies, he finally withdrew his protection from the
ungrateful tribes of Israel and Judah; and 44 Nebuchadnezzar
“ king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and besieged it,
“ with a large army: and famine prevailed in the city, and there
“ was no bread for the people; the city was broken up, and all
44 the men of war fled by night, by the way of the gate which is
44 by the king’s garden; and Zedekiah king of Judah, went by the
65 way towards the plains: and the army of the Chaldees overtook
“ him in the plains of Jericho, and brought him to Nebuchadnez-
“ zar, who gave judgment upon him ; and they slew the sons of
44 Zedekiah king of Judah, before his eyes, and then put out the
44 eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and car-
44 ried him to Babylon. And they slew the young men with the
44 sword, and had no compassion upon the young man or maiden ;
44 nor upon the old man, nor him that stooped for age: and all the
44 vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures

333

“ of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of
“ his princes; all these were carried to Babylon! And they burnt
“ the house of God; and brake down the walls of Jerusalem, and
“ burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the
“ goodly vessels thereof: and them that had escaped from the
“ sword caused he to be carried away to Babylon, where they
“ became servants and slaves for seventy years.” There we behold
them in a deplorable state of captivity, hanging their harps upon
the willows of Euphrates, unable to sing the songs of Zion to their
taunting oppressors, and suffering a cruel bondage until released by
the decree of Cyrus: then with their millions reduced to forty-two
thousand, they were numbered by hundreds, and by twenties, in
their small encampment near the river Ahava: there Ezra, their
pious leader, proclaimed a fast, and prostrated himself before the
God of Israel, who had delivered their fathers, their kings, and
their priests, to the sword, to captivity, and to spoil: but had now
extended his mercy to them in the sight of the kings of Persia,
and had left a remnant to escape, and to set up the house of God,
and to repair the desolations of Jerusalem! Their history is still
interesting, from the building of the second temple until the final
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus; predicted by the Son of God,
for their rejecting him as the Messiah. Erom that dreadful period,
to the present day, what a spectacle do they exhibit! how fully
accomplished are all the prophecies respecting them! they daily
present a miracle which no sophistry can controvert, no scepticim
elude. Scattered over the face of the earth, how awfully do their
expatriated tribes fulfil the denunciation of their great law-giver!
“ If thou forgettest the Lord thy God, and servest other gods, the

33 4

44 Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of
44 the earth even unto the other; and thou shalt become an asto-
44 nisinnent, a proverb, and a by-word, among all the nations,
44 whither the Lord shall lead thee; if thou wilt not observe to do
44 all the words of the law; that thou mayest fear this glorious and
44 fearful name. The Lord thv God!”

These meditations occupied my mind in many a moonlight
walk, on the spot where this Jewish colony are now settled: they
formed a part of my original letters from Cochin, and although in
some respects they may appear foreign to the general subject, I
was unwilling to suppress them.

We sailed for Anjengo on the 1 7 1 L , passing near a sandy coast,
covered with cocoa-nut trees: we had a transient view of the Dutch
factories at Porca and Calliquilone , where they procure pepper and
cassia, abundant in that part of Malabar: the next morning we
arrived at Quilone , or Coulan , another Dutch settlement; it was
formerly a large town, belonging to the Portugueze, with extensive
fortifications; these are now destroyed; the churches are con-
verted into warehouses, and the European inhabitants reduced to
a factor, surgeon, and a small garrison: the natives are chiefly
Roman catholic Christians.

Quilone is six leagues from Anjengo; about half way we
passed Ecldava , formerly a Danish factory; but at that time a
country villa belonging to the English chief of Anjengo: it stands
on the high bank of a river, commanding a view of the sea, and a
pleasant country, covered with groves of cassia, and plantations of
pepper. From thence to Anjengo the coast is hilly and romantic;
especially about the red cliffs at Boccoli; where the women of

Anjengo daily repair for water, from a very fine spring; which thev
sell at Anjengo , the water there being generally brackish and un-
wholesome.

Although the weather was moderate, we found a violent surf
rolling on the shore at Anjengo; no English boat ever attempts
to pass through it: on approaching these rolling surges, we quitted
the pinnace, and got into a canoe, in which we were thrown on
shore by their fury.

Tims terminated our voyage down the Malabar coast; which
during the fair season is delightful: its shelving shores afford a safe
navigation, present many beautiful scenes, and a number of opu-
lent towns: the alternate land and sea breezes are equally favourable
for vessels bound either north or southward. While the captains
are engaged in commercial concerns, the passengers have the ad-
vantage of stopping daily at some new settlement, where they meet
with hospitality and variety. Paolino has beautifully described it,
in few words. “At three or four leagues from the southern coast
of Malabar, the country appears like a theatre of verdure: here a
grove of cocoa-trees, and there a beautiful river pouring its tribute
into the ocean, through a valley irrigated and fertilized by its
waters. In one place a group of fishing vessels, in another a white
church peering through the verdure of the groves: while the gentle
land-breeze of the morning wafts the fragrance extracted from the
pepper, cardamoms, betel, and other aromatics, to a great distance
from the shore, and perfumes the vessel on her voyage with their
odours; towards noon succeeds the sea-breeze, which speeds them
to their desired haven.”

Anjengo, the place of my destination, was at that time the last

English factory on the Malabar coast, something more than six
hundred miles from Bombay, in the latitude of 8" 39 north, and
7 6° 40 east longitude. On a narrow bank of sand, its western
side bounded by the sea, and the eastern bv a river, were two rows
of houses, forming a street about five hundred yards in length; the
north end terminated by the Portugueze church, and the English
burying-ground; the south by the fort and lower batteries: this
fortress, which reached nearly from the sea to the river, contained
store houses, accommodations for the garrisons* and apartments
for the chief, who was a member of council at Bombay. The civil
servants and military officers resided in tolerable houses; the na-
tives generally in thatched huts. The Portugueze church, white
tombs, a respectable fortress, and other accompaniments, sur-
rounded by cocoa-nut woods, gave Anjengo a pleasing appear-
ance.

Before I left Europe, I had cherished delightful ideas of Pal-
myra groves, and umbrageous banian trees: I said with our sweet
descriptive bard,

“ Lay me reclin’d

“ Beneath the spreading tamarindj or in the maze
“ Embowering endless of the Indian fig*

“ Or stretch’d amid the orchards of the sun,
ec Where high palmetos lift their graceful shade*

“ Give me to drain the cocoa’s milky bowl ;

“ And from the palm to draw its freshening wine!
“ Gather the rich anana, India’s pride
“ Of vegetable life * beyond whate’er
“ The poets imag’d of the golden age :

“ Quick, let me strip thee of thy tufted coat,

“ Spread thy ambrosial stores, and feast with Jove!

Thomson.

337

Poets are allowed to soar beyond the boundaries of humble
prose: the lovely isles in the Odyssey, and Virgil’s rural scenes,
captivate the youthful mind, and store it with pleasing recollec-
tions: the embellishments of Tasso, Ariosto, and many of our
British bards, charm the imagination.

O

“ O’er golden sands does rich Paetolus flow,

“ And trees weep amber on the banks of Po» Addison,

These poetical fictions belong to Utopian scenery: Anjengo
groves were not of that delightful kind; there no verdant turf, or
mossy bank, invited to repose; no purling streams, warbling bul-
buls, or aromatic shrubs, regaled the senses; our slumbers were
lulled by the roar of a tremendous surf; the atmosphere was
impregnated with the fetid odour of fish to manure the rice-fields;
and the arid sands in which the cocoa-trees were planted, offered
no temptation for a walk. Without crossing the river, I had but
little inducement to leave my house; which indeed was a cottage
thatched with palmyra leaves, so small, that a sofa I carried from
Bombay could not enter the door, and T remained in a veranda
the whole time of my banishment. Without a road, cairiages and
horses would have been useless; our only recreation was sailing
on the river, landing on its verdant banks, and strolling among the
wilds; where, 1 allow, the scenery was delightful.

Most of the inhabitants of Anjengo are Christians of the Romish
church; either descended from the Portugueze, or converted from
the lower tribes of Malabars; a poor ignorant people, with whom
we could not associate: many were fishermen; others made cordage

2 x

and cables, from the coir, or luisk of the cocoa-nut, a principal
article of trade at Anjengo; where they also manufactured some
common cotton cloth; but in the kingdom of Travencore were
various and extensive manufactures of that article, which in every
respect rivalled the long-cloth of the Carnatic. The English gentle-
men traded in cassia, but the Company had the exclusive purchase
and exportation of pepper. Among the Anjengo manufactures
may be reckoned the trunks, travelling-cases, and camp-baskets,
composed of cane-work, covered by a composition of quick-lime
and butter-milk, mingled with a black powder, prepared from the
burnt shells of cocoa-nuts: this is afterwards repeatedly varnished
with the juice of a tree, common in Travencore, until it acquires a
polished solidity capable of resisting the weather: two or three
families excelled in gold and silver fillagree work, which they exe-
cuted with the simplest implements; and imitated silver utensils of
the best English fashion, with great facility and neatness.

I do not immediately recollect the Abbe Ray nabs rhapsody at
Anjengo: it implies, that however insignificant the settlement may
be in itself, it will be for ever celebrated as the birth-place of his
and Sterne’s Eliza; a lady with whom I had the pleasure of being
acquainted at Bombay; whose refined taste and elegant accom-
plishments require no encomiums from my pen. But it is, perhaps,
not so generally known, that Anjengo gave birth to Robert Qrme;
a writer who has frequently been denominated the British Thucy-
dides, and the Father of Oriental History; a man, as his epitaph
modestly records, endeared to his friends by the gentleness of his
manners; and respected by the public as the elegant historian of
the military transactions of the British nation in India: a man,

839

whose criticisms, or strictures upon style, were requested by Dr.
Robertson, that his history might profit by one who had attended
so much to the purity and elegance of language; and to whom Sir
William Jones thus writes: “ Your History of the Military Trans-
actions in India, is not one of those books which a man reads once
in a cursory manner, and then throws aside tor ever; there is no
end of reading and approving it; nor shall I ever desist giving my-
self that pleasure to the last year of my life. You may rely on
this testimony, as it comes from one, who not only was never guilty
of flattery; but, like Caesar’s wife, would never suffer himself to be
suspected of it.”

This amiable man was born at Anjcngo in 1728, and died in
England in 1801. I have occasionally introduced his sentiments
in these volumes; his account of the Hindoo and Mahomedan in-
habitants of Hindostan, their laws and justice, their manners and
customs, and peculiar traits of character, is admirably correct, and
his conclusion remarkably striking.

“ Having finished this essay on the government and people of
Hindostan, I cannot refrain from making the reflections which so
obviously arise from the subject. Christianity vindicates all its
glories, all its honour, and all its reverence, when we behold the
most horrid impieties avowed amongst the nations on whom its
influence does not shine, as actions necessary in the common con-
duct of life: I mean poisonings, treachery, and assassinations, in
the sons of ambition; rapines, cruelty, and extortions in the mini-
sters of justice. I leave divines to vindicate by more sanctified
reflections, the cause of their religion and their God. The sons
of liberty may here behold the mighty ills to which the slaves of a

despotic power must be subject: the spirit darkened, and depressed
by ignorance and fear; the body tortured and tormented by
punishments, inflicted without justice and without measure: such
a contrast to the blessings of liberty, heightens at once the sense of
our happiness, and our zeal for the preservation of it.”

The south-west monsoon generally sets in very early at An-
jengo; it commences with great severity, and presents an awful
spectacle: the inclement weather continues, with more or less
violence, from May to October: during that period, the tempes-
tuous ocean rolls from a black horizon, literally of 44 darkness
visible,” a series of floating mountains heaving under hoary sum-
mits, until they approach the shore, when their stupendous accu-
mulations flow in successive surges, and break upon the beach:
every ninth wave is observed to be generally more tremendous
than the rest, and threatens to overwhelm the settlement. The
noise of these billows equals that of the loudest cannon, and with
the thunder and lightning, so frequent in the rainy season, is truly
awful. During the tedious monsoon 1 passed at Anjengo, I often
stood upon the trembling sand-bank, to contemplate the solemn
scene, and derive a comfort from that sublime and omnipotent
decree, 44 Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall
thy proud waves be stayed!”

My cottage and garden were so near the beach, that during the
monsoon, the gauze curtains of the bed, although in a retired
chamber, were constantly wet with a salt moisture, the glasses and
pictures ran down with a briny fluid, and the vegetables in the
garden were incrusted with salt. In that gloomy season, no vessel
approaches the inhospitable shore; in the fair months, their boats

341

never attempt passing through the surf, but wait at a distance, for
the coming off of the light canoes, called toneijs , to bring on shore
the goods and passengers; who are never landed without trouble,
and are sometimes exposed to danger: even then the sea is often so
rough, that neither a canoe., nor even a catamaran, can put off;
although the latter is only a small raft, on which the fishermen
venture in severe weather to vessels in the oiling: they are fre-
quently overset, and the men washed off; yet they are such dex-
terous swimmers, as soon to regain their situation, and paddle away
until their purpose is accomplished.

I shall not enter on the icthyology of the Malabar coast, except
to mention the hippocampus , or sea-horse, which, in its dried state,
forms a part of most European collections: it is not among the
edible fish, though caught in great numbers with them: the hip-
pocampus is generally from four to six inches in length, and two
in circumference in the thickest part: the head and curvature of
the neck resemble a horse; from whence a short swelling body
gradually tapers to the extremity of the tail: some parts of its
form are quadrangular, others hexangular, and the body has seven
or eight divisions; the whole separated by ridges, and furnished
with fins, to shape its course in its own element.

A principal amusement, during the rainy season, was to as-
semble at the bar of Anjengo river, to behold a curious contest,
not only between the deities of the sea and the river, but also be-
tween the finny race in their respective dominions. In those
months when the south-west monsoon blows with the greatest vio-
lence, the floods pour down from the mountains, swell the rivers,
inundate the plains, and with astonishing rapidity, carry trees,

342

houses, men, and beasts, to the ocean: the finny tribes, disturbed
in their calm retreats, are impelled to the embouchure of the river:
where, led by instinct, or accidentally driven by the monsoon
winds, they meet the monsters of the deep ready to devour them.
The floods from the mountains impetuously rush to this outlet, and
there meet a sandy bar, accumulated by the western surges, which
presents a formidable barrier between the contending waters:
Neptune’s terrific billows dash furiously against the river streams,
precipitating over the bar, and present a scene easier to conceive
than describe. The floods contain immense shoals of fish, which,
unused to such violent convulsions, attempt to escape the noise
and fury by leaping over the bar, into the distended jaws of the
tyrants waiting to devour their timid prey. An alligator is some-
times involuntarily impelled to act a part in this extraordinary
gymnasium; and of course perishes in the ocean.

W.Eoolctr, fait.

CHAPTER XIL

CONTAINING

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ANJENGO;

AND THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE COAST OF MALABAR.

1772.

Learn from the birds what food the thickets jield ;
Learn from the beasts the physic of the field :

Thy arts of building from the bee receive 3
Learn of the mole to plough, the worm to weave 3
Learn of the little nautilus to sail.

Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale.

Here subterranean works and cities see 5
There towns aereal on the waving tree.

Learn each small people’s genius, policies,

The ant’s republic, and the realm of bees ;

How those in common all their wealth bestow.

And anarchy without confusion know 5
And these for ever, though a monarch reign.

Their separate cells and properties maintain.

Mark what unvaried laws preserve each state.

Laws, wise as Nature, and as fix’d as Fate.

Pope,

CONTENTS.

Reasons for leaving Anjengo — natural history of Travencore — beauty
of the lakes and rivers — mountain scenery and solitary wilds — cul-
tivation of pepper , and value of the produce — cassia lignea,
and cinnamon— oil plants — olive tree — silk cotton — zvild animals —
wild buffaloe particularly described — civet cat ; mode of extract-
ing the perfume— crocodile and alligator; that of India in its
form and character ; battle between the alligator and royal tiger —
crocodile of scripture — ichneumon — seed of Travencore rivers — birds
of Travencore — beauty of the paroquets— devastations by the
Malabar parrots — bird of Attinga — crescent snake — black am-
phisbeena — number of noxious reptiles — termites , or white ants,
their extraordinary depredations ; anecdotes of these marauders —
public roads shaded by trees— gold dust in Malabar rivers — iron
mines, forges, and smelting-houses in Malabar — salt-pans — molun-
gies or salt-boilers of Bengal, their wretched situation in the S un-
derbunds.

CHAPTER XII.

The climate of Anjengo not agreeing with my constitution,
and the situation I held affording no emolument equivalent to the
sacrifice of my friends and a delightful society at Bombay, at the
expiration of the year I obtained permission to return there, and
wait for some other appointment.

During my residence at Anjengo, I endeavoured to acquire a
topographical knowledge of that part of Malabar; and the man-
ners and customs of the natives of Travencore: its natural history
opens a very ample field for investigation, and the inhabitants dif-
fer in many respects from the northern Hindoos.

The sandy soil on the sea coast is planted with extensive
woods of cocoa nuts; beyond the river are fruitful fields of rice,
natchnee, and other grain ; large plantations of pepper and groves of
cassia; which add a delicious fragrance to the morning breeze.

Although not partial to Anjengo as a residence, I never made
a distant excursion without being charmed with the beauty of the
country, and the variety of its rivers: sometimes we glide through
narrow devious channels, between steep craggy rocks, with woody
summits, where the branches uniting over the stream, form a ver~

348

dant canopy, impervious to the tropical sun: from these dark re-
cesses we suddenly emerge into an extensive lake

“ pure as the expanse of heaven

again we enter a romantic scene of rocks and woods, or pursue
the serpentine course of a broad gentle river, fringed by odori-
ferous plants, and encircling many verdant islands, some inha-
bited, others woody and wild: these scenes are animated by beau-
tiful birds; and the waters abound with excellent fish. Cultiva-
tion extends to some distance eastward of the rivers; from thence
to the foot of the Gaut mountains the country is an entire forest,
never frequented by travellers, and little known even by those
who live in its vicinity: there, amid the solemn stillness of un-
cultivated nature, I have ranged for miles, rapt in solitary
musings.

These excursions were my chief enjoyment at Anjengo: the
fertile plains, the hills clothed by mango, cashers, and cassia
trees, bounded by the stupendous Gauts, towering in rude magnifi-
cence, formed a landscape not often exceeded; its grandeur was
augmented when seen from the heights of Eddova and Quilone;
where I have often beheld the sun majestically rising above the
summit of the eastern mountains, and throwing a broad expanse
of light over the western sea. In such situations we experience
the truth of Addison’s remark, that “ our imagination loves to be
“ filled with an object, or to grasp at any thing that is too big for
“ our capacity: we are dung into a pleasing astonishment at
64 such unbounded views, and feel a delightful stillness and amaze-
w mentin the soul, at the apprehension of them/’

Among the various productions of the southern districts in
Malabar are the pepper- vine, and cassia, (piper nigrum, & laurus
cassia, Lin.) The former is a staple commodity at Anjengo, and
grows on a beautiful vine, which, incapable of supporting itself,
entwines round poles prepared for it, or, as is more com-
mon in the Travencore plantations, the pepper-vines are planted
near mango and other trees of straight high stems, which be-
ing stripped of the lower branches, the vine embraces the
trunk, covering it with elegant festoons, and rich bunches of
fruit, in the picturesque style of the vineyards in Campagna
Felice. The mango and jac trees are generally used for this pur-
pose; few pepper gardens contain more than eight or ten trees:
the vines are planted near the trunk, and led to it while young;
the stem is tough, knotty, and strong: some begin to bear in the
fourth year, others not till the sixth; they are in perfection about
the ninth or tenth year, and continue bearing as many years
longer, if in a congenial soil; from that period the vine gra-
dually decays; a new soil is then prepared for a considerable
depth round the tree, for the reception of fresh shoots from flourish-
ing vines.

The leaf of the pepper plant is large, and of a bright green;
the blossoms appear in June, soon after the commencement of
the rains; they are small, of a greenish white; succeeded by
bunches of green berries, which turn brown and hard as they
ripen: the pepper is gathered in February, and has the same
appearance as in Europe. The flavour of pepper is more or less
communicated to the fruit of the tree which supports it; a cir-
cumstance not at all relished by the proprietor, as many mangoes

350

taste strong of turpentine, and are not improved by the addi-
tional pungency of pepper.

Assiduity and cleanliness are essentially necessary in a pepper
garden; not a weed is permitted to grow; the produce, however,
amply compensates the trouble: for although the Anjengo pepper
is not so much esteemed as that produced at Onore and Carwar,
it is sold, on an average, at eighty rupees a candy; five hundred
and sixty English pounds weight. It is treason to destroy a
pepper-vine in Travencore, where the king monopolizes that
branch of commerce; but permits the merchants of Anjengo to
have a free trade with his subjects in cassia, coir, cables and cord-
age, made from the outer husk of the cocoa-nut.

As warehousekeeper at Anjengo, I received all the pepper
purchased by the Company from the king of Travencore; whose
agents brought it to the warehouses, and delivered it by the maund,
a weight of twenty-eight pounds: I kept a particular account of
the quantity annually received from the Travencore country, toge-
ther with the average price, per candy; but the changes in Mala-
bar, since the death of Tippoo Sultan, render those documents
less interesting than the observations at a later period by Dr. F.
Buchanan, respecting the general produce of pepper in the Mala-
bar province, which has now become a national concern.

“ Before the invasion of Hyder Ally, in 1764, that country
produced annually about fifteen thousand candies, of six hun-
dred and forty pounds each: from that period the crop has gra-
dually diminished to half the quantity: so that a good season
will now produce only eight thousand candies; a bad one not
more than four thousand. Europeans usually purchase about

351

live-eighths of all the pepper that is produced in Malabar; and
the price which they give absolutely regulates that of the whole.
Since the French have been driven from Mahie, the whole of this
has of course fallen into the hands of the Company.”

44 In 1797 the Company exported four thousand one hundred
and fifty five candies of Malabar pepper, of six hundred pounds
each; which was the largest exportation duringseventeen years: since
the capture of Mahie, in 1793, the Company has, according to
Maccay, sent annually about four thousand candies to Europe
direct, to Bombay, and to China. The remainder of the pepper is
exported chiefly by native traders. The largest quantity goes to
the Bay of Bengal; the next largest to Surat, Cutch, Scindy, and
other ports in the north-west of India; and a considerable quan-
tity goes to the Arabian merchants of Muscat, Mocha, Hodeida,
Aden, and Judda. The demand from Seringapatam was the
smallest, and used to amount to about five hundred candies a year.
The pepper that went to Coimbetore came chiefly from the Cochin
and Travencore dominions.”

44 The Company have always made their purchases by a con-
tract entered into with a few native merchants. In December
and January, when the crops are so far advanced that judgment
can be formed of the quantity of pepper likely to be obtainable,
the commercial resident assembles the contractors, and a written
agreement is entered into with them, settling the price, and the
quantity that each is to deliver: at this time, sometimes the
whole, and in general at least one half of the money is advanced
to the contractors. The contract for pepper in 1800, was five
thousand candies, at one hundred and thirty rupees the candy, of six

352

hundred pounds; the price varies from one hundred to one hundred
and forty rupees; and a contract was made for four thousand can-
dies, in 1794, at two hundred rupees the candy.”

The same writer mentions that, in the year 1757, the king of
Travencore having received some assistance from the English was
willing to favour their commerce: on this occasion Mr. Spencer, the
English chief of Anjengo, took an account of the pepper produced
in the dominions of that prince, where there was no land-tax, but
where the king monopolized all the pepper, and gave the cultiva-
tors a fixed price for whatever they could raise. The whole quan-
tity of pepper raised in the dominions of Travencore amounted to
eleven thousand seven hundred candies; for this the king gave to
the cultivators thirty rupees a candy. The amount of the sales,
even including two thousand candies that were given to the Eng-
lish Company at the low price of eighty-two rupees, came to
13,12,260 rupees, or on an average one hundred and eleven rupees
a candy: the king did not, therefore, allow the cultivators more
than twenty-seven per cent, of the produce; yet the cultivation
was carried on with the greatest spirit.

The cassia resembles the bay-tree, of which it is a species:- it
is called cassia lignea, to distinguish it from the laurus-cinna mo-
mum, or true cinnamon, to which it is very inferior: the finest
cassia sometimes possesses the peculiar properties of that valuable
spice, but is in general of a coarser texture and less delicate
flavour. The real cinnamon seems indigenous to Ceylon; there
are some trees in the Company’s garden at Anjengo, as a curiosity.
The leaves of the cassia are smaller than the laurel, and more
pointed; those of the cinnamon still more delicate: the blossoms

of both, like the bowers of the Arbutus, hang in bunches, white
and fragrant; the fruit resembles a small acorn. The young leaves
and tender shoots are of a bright red, changing to green as they
approach maturity; they taste of cinnamon, but the only valuable
part of the tree is the inner bark; which being separated from the
exterior, is cut into pieces, and exposed to the sun, when it dries
and curls up, and is packed in cases for foreign markets. The
tree decaying on being deprived of its bark is cut down, and new
shoots spring from the root; it is also raised from seed.

The Travencore country abounds with indigenous trees, whose
blossoms and foliage have a pleasing and diversified appearance;
most of the fruit and seeds produce oil; one by way of distinction
is called the olive-tree, and bears a fruit in shape, size, and taste
like the olive; and the oil is rather pleasant; but the leaf and cha-
racter of the tree is altogether different, and far more beautiful in
landscape than the grey tint of the Italian olive.

The silk-cotton tree (bombax cerba, Lin.) grows luxuriantly
in those districts: it produces beautiful cotton, but of loo delicate
a texture for manufacture. This tree is extremely curious in its
growth; the branches regularly project in horizontal stages, gra-
dually diminishing as they approach the top, forming in the Mala-
bar woods a crimson pyramid, of singular appearance; the flower
resembles a single peony, or round tulip, of bright red, succeeded
by a pod, in size and shape like a plantain, green at first, but
ripening to a dark brown, when it bursts open, and covers the
adjoining groves with snowy flakes, light as the floating gossamer.

The animals in the southern provinces and mountainous regions
of Malabar are tigers, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, hogs, civet-

354

cats, and a variety of monkeys and squirrels; some of the mon-
keys are large, and covered with black glossy hair, except a very
full white beard and mustachios; which give them a venerable,
and almost a human appearance.

The wild buffaloe is common in many parts of Travencore: I
had never before been in a country where these animals were in-
digenous. The Malabars, and especially the Nairs, form large
hunting parties to destroy them, as also the wild elephant, tiger,
and leopard. They assemble by hundreds, armed with strong
spears, and large bows and arrows: forming a circle round the
thickets frequented by the wild beasts, they make a loud noise to
rouse them from cover, and drive them towards the centre: then
gradually contracting the circle, they unite in an armed phalanx,
and fall upon their prey, of which very few escape: but they
sometimes wound each other in their furious onset, and often sus-
tain dreadful attacks from their enraged foe.

O

The buffaloe is one of the strongest and most formidable of
the savage race; with short horns, powerful neck, and large tuft
of hair on the head. It is justly remarked in the oriental field-
sports, that his aspect is extremely fierce; he seems to look with
disdain on every living object, and to rely on the great strength
he possesses, to overthrow whatever may be opposed to his rage.
The smallest provocation irritates him incredibly! and such is
his courage, that he will sometimes attack even a group of elephants
going for fodder. There cannot be a more menacing object than
a single wild buffaloe, disturbed from wallowing in the mud. His
looks are ferocious in the extreme; and the knowledge of his bru-
tal disposition by no means allays the apprehensions to which his

355

countenance and gestures give birth: the whole race, whether wild
or tame, have an eye full of mischief, and are never, on any occa-
sion, to be trusted.”

It is commonly understood that Providence has allotted to
every animal a climate suited to its nature; and a general review,
throughout the universe, will add no small weight to this opinion.
Whether it be from the original order of things, as arranged by the
Great Founder of the world; or, that, supposing some chance to
exist, such animals as were not in their habits or constitutions,
suited to particular soils, or temperatures, necessarily perished,
and became extinct in such situations, we find the most marked
attention to that system. But to this general rule we have to
plead one exception: namely, that the butfaloe of India is by no
means suited to the climate of the country: that animal not only
delights in the water, but will not thrive unless it have a swamp
to wallow in: there rolling themselves, they speedily work deep
hollows, wherein they lay immersed. No place seems to delight
the buffaloe more than the deep verdure on the confines of pools
and marshes, especially if surrounded by tall grass, so as to afford
concealment and shade, while the body is covered by the water:
in such situations they seem to enjoy a perfect extasy; having in
general nothing above the surface, but their eyes and nostrils, the
horns being kept low down, and consequently entirely hidden
from view.

The civet-cat (viverra civetta, Lin.) so called, though not of
the feline, but weasel genus, is a very ferocious animal, and unless
taken young, extremely difficult to tame: it is larger than a com-
mon cat, the body and feet shaded with dark stripes over a brin-

356

died brown; the head, eyes, and ears resemble a large rat, their
food consists of birds, mice and reptiles, for which they insidi-
ously watch, and seize with wonderful eagerness; 1 kept one for
some lime in a wooden cage, but the smell at length became so
insufferable, that I gave him liberty; for, however the perfume may
be esteemed, the odour of the animal is always disagreeable. The
civet, or musk, is formed in a glandular receptacle under the
tail, from whence it is squeezed out by little at a time, twice or
thrice a week; it is then an offensive unguent like thick greasy
milk, but afterwards changes to a hard brown substance. A full
grown cat always yields more of this perfume when first caught,
than after it has been any time confined.

The eastern districts of Travencore, intersected by lakes and
rivers, abound with amphibious animals, especially alligators and
seals. There seems to be no essential difference between the alli-
gator of India, and the Egyptian crocodile; lacerta alligator,
and lacerlus crocodilus. Naturalists seem to confine the alligator to
South America, the crocodile to Asia and Africa; but in India
the lacerta crocodilus, generally called the alligator, is from five
to twenty feet long, shaped like the genus to which he belongs:
the back is covered with impenetrable scales; the legs short, with
five spreading toes on the fore-feet, and four in a straight line on the
hinder, armed with claws: the alligator moves slowly, its whole
formation being calculated for strength, the back-bone firmly
jointed, and the tail a most formidable weapon: in the river he
eagerly springs on the wretch unfortunately bathing within his reach,
and either knocks him down with his tail, or opens a wide mouth
for his destruction, armed with numerous sharp teeth of various

length; by which, like the shark, he sometimes severs the
human body at a single bite: the annals of the Nile and
Ganges, although wonderful, are not fabulous. The upper jaw only
of the alligator was thought to be moveable; that is now com-
pletely disproved: the eyes are of a dull green, with a brilliant
pupil, covered by a transparent pellicle, moveable as in birds: from
the heads of those of large size, musk is frecjuenlly extracted.

The alligator sometimes basks in the sun-beams on the banks
of the river, but oftener floats on its surface; there, concealing
his head and feet, he appears like the rough trunk of a tree, both
in shape and colour: by this deception clogs and other animals
fearless^ approach, and are suddenly plunged to the bottom by
their insidious foe: even the ro}^! tiger becomes his prey, quitting
the cover to drink at the river; the wily alligator, concealed under
water, steals along the bank, and suddenly emerging, furiously
attacks the tiger, who never declines the combat: the alligator
generally loses his eyes, and receives dreadful wounds on the head,
but at length plunges his adversary into an unnatural element, and
there devours him.

The astonishing size and strength of the alligator and croco-
dile render them very terrible: the small ones live chiefly on fish;
and, far from attacking the human species, dive instantly on their
approach: the female sometimes lays three or four hundred eggs,
which she covers with sand to be vivified by the sun; in about
a month the brood break the shell and instinctively take to the
water. I kept a small one several months in a garden pool,
but growing large and destructive to my poultry, I set him at
iibertcu

358

I shall conclude this desultory account of the alligator, with-
a few passages from the sublime description of the Egyptian
crocodile in the book of Job. “ Canst thou draw out leviathan
with a hook, or his tongue with a cord? canst thou fill his skin with
barbed irons, or his head with fish-spears? Lay thine hand upon
him, remember the battle, do no more! none is so fierce that dare
stir him up; shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him ?
who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round
about: his scales are his pride, shut up together, as with a close
seal; one is so near to another, that no air can come between
them: they are joined one to another; they stick together, that
they cannot be sundered. By his neesings a light doth shine;
and his eyes are like the eye-lids of the morning; out of his
mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out; out
of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot, or cal-
dron. In his neck remaineth strength; his heart is firm as a
stone; the sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold; the spear,
the dart, nor the habergeon: for he esteemeth iron as straw, and
brass as rotten wood : darts are counted as stubble, he laugheth at
the shaking of a spear. Upon earth there is not his like, who is
made without fear!”

The ichneumon, or mongoose (viverra ichneumon, Lin.) which
is said to destroy the eggs of the crocodile on the banks of the
Nile, are equally destructive to those of the alligator, deposited
near the rivers of Tiavencore; where these useful animals abound;
they also devour the young ones on shore, as their food is vermin,
and reptiles of every description: they are enemies to serpents,
with whom they wage perpetual war; and when wounded by their

35 9

poisonous fangs, instinctively go to an herbaceous antidote, with
which the}r are well acquainted. This animal was adored by the
ancient Egyptians for his national services; and is domesticated
by their descendants, to destroy rats, mice, and other vermin.
The ichneumon is formed, like the weasel, with a slender head,
long nose, bright eyes, very sharp teeth, and a long coat of hair
beautifully brindled, often shining like silver. It sometimes springs
suddenly on its prey with wonderful agility; at others, it steals
insidiously among the high grass and bushes, and seizes it unawares:
it is very courageous, and frequently attacks animals much larger
than itself.

The salt waters of Travencore abound with a seal of that
species, which is called phoca pusilla, an animal seemingly between
the beaver and the otter, in some respects partaking of both, and
differing from the phoca vitulina, and others of the genus, found
on the rocky islands of the ocean. The Travencore seal has a
round head, short ears, thick neck, tapering body, and flat tail,
like a fish; it is web-footed, and the skin covered with a soft oily
hair: this amphibious creature, uniting in so many respects the
quadruped with the aquatic animal, seems to link the two species
in the great chain of creation: they vary in size and appearance
in different countries; at Anjengo they seldom exceed four feet
in length: they are gregarious and sociable; form parties on the
banks of the rivers, but always plunge in at the approach of a
stranger.

The birds in the southern parts of Malabar, as in most tropical
climates, are gaily clothed; but less melodious than the northern
songsters. The parroquets are remarkably handsome; the head

360

shaded with red, purple, and blue, finishes in a black circle round
the neck, from whence to its long tapering tail the plumage is a
lively green: the parrots are not so beautiful, but their number is
astonishing: they are as much dreaded at the time of harvest as a
Mahratta army, or a host of locusts: they darken the air by their
numbers, and alighting on a rice-field, in a few hours carry off
every ear of ripe corn to their hiding places in the mountains: I
have often witnessed these depredations, and thought of Pope’s
significant queries:

Is thine alone the seed that strews the plain ?

The birds of heaven shall vindicate their grain.

Thine the full harvest of the golden year?

Part pays, and justly, the deserving steer.

The bird of Attinga, or pied bird of Paradise (picus orientalis,
Lin.) is common in the queen of Attinga’s dominions; its elegant
form, purple crest, snowy plumage, and long tail, constitute it one
of the most beautiful in the Indian ornithology.

Like most other countries between the tropics, Anjengo is in-
fested by a variety of noxious insects and reptiles: the most curious
is a small black snake, called by the natives the crescent snake,
though I should rather class it with the polypus: it is two or three
inches long, with a head shaped like a crescent; from the outer
line of the semicircle are small teeth, easily discerned through a
microscope; I could not discover any eyes: on cutting off this
head, the other end immediately supplied the loss; it moves in a
retrograde manner, and lives after the amputation: it is entirely
covered with a glossy slime, which, like the snail, it leaves where-
ever it goes: this is said to be poisonous, and the bite mortal; a

361

characteristic often ascribed to the Indian serpents without foun-
dation.

There was also at Anjengo a small black species of the amphis-
boena, or double-headed snake. The tail is shaped and marked so
like the head, as not to be easily distinguished from it. The idea of
the amphisbcena having two heads, with perfect organs, is erroneous;
but as it proceeds, at pleasure, with either head or tail foremost,
this opinion has been adopted. The bite of this snake is also re-
puted mortal by the natives; but being, like the former, destitute
of fangs, the usual conveyance of a serpent’s poison, I am doubt-
ful of its malignity.

The houses at Anjengo, being mostly thatched with the matted
leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, afford shelter to snakes, scorpions,
centipedes, lizards, and insects of all descriptions.

1 mentioned the termites, or white ants of Bombay; these
extraordinary insects are far more numerous and destructive at
Anjengo, where it is difficult to guard against their depredations:
in a few hours they will demolish a large chest of books, papers,
silk, or clothes, perforating them with a thousand holes: we dare
not leave a box on the floor without placing it on glass bottles,
which, if kept free from dust, they cannot ascend: this is trifling,
when compared with the serious mischief they sometimes occasion,
by penetrating the beams of a house, or destroying the timbers in
a ship;

Where in some gallant ship, that long has bore
Britain’s victorious cross from shore to shore.

By chance, beneath her close sequester’d cells

Some low-born worm a lurking mischief dwells;

3 A

Eats his blind way, and saps with secret guile
The deep foundations of the floating pile.

In vain the forest lent its stateliest pride.

Rear’d her tall mast, and fram’d her knotty side :

The martial thunder’s rage in vain she stood,

With every conflict of the stormy flood ;

More sure the reptile’s little arts devour

Than wars, or waves, or Eurus’ wintry pow’r. Warton.

These destructive animals advance bj myriads to their work,
under an arched incrustation of fine sand, tempered with a mois-
ture from their body, which renders the covert-way as hard as
burnt clay, and effectually conceals them at their insidious em-
ployment.

I could mention many curious instances of depredation by
the termites; one happened to myself: I left Anjengo in the rainy
season to pass a few weeks with the chief at his country house at
Eddova, in a rural and sheltered situation. On my departure, I
locked up a room, containing books, drawings, and a few valuables;
as I took the key with me, the servant could not enter to clean the
furniture: the walls of the room were white-washed, adorned with
prints and drawings, in English frames and glasses: returning home
in the evening, and taking a cursory view of my cottage by candle-
light, [found every thing apparently in the same order as I left it;
but on a nearer inspection the next morning, I observed a number
of advanced works, in various directions, towards my pictures; the
glasses appeared to be uncommonly dull, and the frames covered
with dust: on attempting to wipe it off, I was astonished to find

363

the glasses fixed to the wall, not suspended in frames as I left
them, but completely surrounded by an incrustation cemented by
the white ants; who had actually eat up the deal frames and back-
boards, and the greater part of the paper, and left the glasses
upheld by the incrustation, or covered-way, which they had formed
during their depredation. From the flat Dutch bottles, on which
the drawers and boxes were placed, not having been wiped during
my absence, the ants had ascended the bottles by means of the
dust, eat through the bottom of a chest, and made some progress
in perforating the books and linen. The chief’s lady with whom 1
had been staying at Eddova, on returning to her apartments in
the fort, found, from the same cause, a large chest, in which she
had deposited shawls, muslins, and other articles, collected prepa-
ratory to her leaving India, entirely destroyed by these voracious
insects.

The story of the termites demolishing a chest of dollars at Ben-
coolen, is commonly told, if not commonly credited throughout
India. Captain Williamson in a great degree clears up that sin-
gular anecdote, by introducing another of a gentleman who hav-
ing charge of a chest of money, unfortunately placed it on the
floor in a damp situation; the chest was speedily attacked by the
white ants, who had their burrow just under the place where the
treasure stood. They soon annihilated the bottom, and were not
more ceremonious in respect to the bags containing the specie;
which being thus let loose, fell gradually into the hollows in the
ants’ burrow. When the cash was called for, all were amazed
at the wonderful powers, both of the teeth and stomachs, of the

364

little marauders, which were supposed to have consumed the
silver as well as the wood. After some years the house requir-
ing repair, the whole sum was found several feet deep in the
earth; and the termites were rescued from that obloquy which
the supposed power of feasting on precious metals had cast on
their whole race ! The captain does not give this story on his own
authority; but adds, “ the cunning of the white ants is truly admi-
rable. They ordinarily work within plastering, occasionally ap-
pearing externally, and forming a shelter, by means of earth;
which though taken from situations apparently dry as powder,
when worked up, is perfectly moist. Whence they derive the
moisture is not yet known. In this manner they construct a kind
of tunnel, or arched passage, sufficient to admit passing each other
in their way up and down, with surprizing rapidity. Hence they
not only arrive unseen, though their ways are obvious, at any part
of a house; but, when from finding such articles as they might else
attack, insulated by means of frames, of which the feet are placed
in vessels full of water, they have been known to ascend to the
upper flooring, and thence to work downwards in filaments, like
the ramifications of the roots of a tree; and thus descend to their ob-
ject. In fact it is scarcely possible to prevent them from injuring
whatever they take a fancy tod’

When a bear finds a nest of any kind of ants, but espe-
cially while ants, he demolishes the whole burrow: licking up
ail the clusters he can get at; and lying with his tongue out,
to entice the prey into his mouth: by this means he often ob-
tains an ample meal; for a bushel of them may frequently be

365

found in the same nest. The white ant is about the size of a small
grain of rice; has a white body, appearing like a maggot, and a
very strong red head, armed with powerful forceps: it has four
short legs. They are an article of food among some of the low
castes in Mysore, and the Carnatic.

A nest of these extraordinary insects, in a very singular situa-
tion, is mentioned in the drama of Sacontala. “ A little beyond
“ the grove you see a pious Yogee, motionless as a pollard, hold-
“ ing his thick bushy hair, and fixing his eyes on the solar orb!
“ Mark; his body is half covered with a white-ants’ edifice made
“of raised clay; the skin of a snake supplies the place of his
“sacerdotal thread, and part of it girds his loins; a number of
“knotty plants encircle and wound his neck; and surrounding
“ birds’-nests almost conceal his shoulders.”

In the king of Travencore’s dominions are some useful public
works, but nothing comparable to those in the northern parts of
Hindostan: among other beneficial undertakings of the former
sovereigns are rows of chashew-apple trees on each side of the
principal public roads, extending for many miles: these trees are
shady, and beautiful in foliage, blossoms, and fruit. Formerly the
road from Lahore to Agra, a distance of near five hundred miles,
was in the same manner shaded by large trees; and where there
was a deficiency of wells, persons were placed in small arbours at
convenient distances, to supply water gratis, to the traveller.

Gold dust is said to be sometimes found in the Nelambur river
and other mountainous torrents of Malabar; iron is certainly pro-
duced in many places, where they have erected forges for smelting

it; these are capable of much improvement. Dr. F. Buchanan,
who had excellent opportunities of ascertaining the fact, and
whose knowledge of mineralogy gives him a decided advantage
over most other travellers, observes, that in the hills of the southern
district of Malabar the 46 iron ore is found, forming beds, veins,
or detached masses, in the stratum of indurated clay, of which
the greater part of those hills consists; the ore is composed of
clay, quartz in form of sand, and of the common black iron sand:
this mixture forms small angular nodules closely compacted toge-
ther, and very friable: it is dug out with a pick-axe, and broken
into powder with the same instrument; it is then washed in a
wooden trough, about four feet in length, open at both ends, and
placed in the current of a rivulet; so that a gentle stream of water
runs constantly through it. The metallic sand remains in the
upper end of the trough, the quartz is carried to the lower end, the
clay is suspended in the water, and washed entirely away. In this
ore the quantity of metallic sand is small, in comparison with that
of the earthy matter."

At Velater in Malabar this judicious writer observed thirty-
four forges for smelting iron ; he gives a long description of the
process, from which the forges appear very defective compared
with similar works in Europe. Each smelting requires 2l6'Qlb. of
washed ore, which costs about three pence halfpenny the hun-
dred weight: the process obtains only from eleven to seventeen
per cent, of iron from the ore, and what is produced is very im-
perfect; the Malabar iron sells at seven and eight shillings the hun-
dred weight, but is in all respects very inferior to that imported

36 7

from Europe. This comparison seems to give force and beauty
to a passage in the prophecy of Jeremiah, denouncing judgment
on the Jews ; “ shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?”

Salt-pans, or rather salt-fields, are formed in Travencore, as in
most other parts of the Malabar coast: they are large reservoirs
enclosed by mounds of earth, into which the sea flows at high
tides; from whence, by a simple process, the water is conveyed
into a range of small enclosures, where in the course of the day
the fluid is evaporated, and the salt gathered in the evening.
These reservoirs are most productive in the hot months preceding
\ the rainy season; and from every part of the coast salt forms the
chief article of inland commerce.

These salt-pans being generally near populous towns and vil-
lages, the men employed there are not more exposed to tigers and
beasts of prey, than those occupied in the usual pursuits of hus-
bandry: not so the Molungies, or salt-boilers, in the Sunderbunds,
or wild regions of Bengal; who, of all the castes and tribes through-
out the whole extent of Hindostan, seem to have the hardest fate:
I would rather be a Pariah or Chandala, subject to their most
ignominious treatment, and cruel oppression, than one of these
unfortunate Molungies living in constant terror from the fiercest
tigers, without any means of safety or redress. Their situation
had often been represented to me by gentlemen from Bengal,
and as often excited my commiseration; but 1 had no idea of
their complete misery until I read the account of the Sunder-
bunds by captain Williamson; where, he says, “ the royal tigers
are often seen swimming across the various rivers which form

368

the innumerable islands inhabited only by wild beasts, and pre-
senting an immense barrier all along the sea-coast, from S augur
island to the great mouth of the Megna. Of this propensity in
tigers the Molungies are so thoroughly aware, that, while perform-
ing their duties on the long spits of sand which project into the
sea, from the impenetrable jungles that skirt the soil, a look-out is
always kept for tigers on the opposite banks of the rivers; and as
soon as any appear, the whole take to flight, and conceal them-
selves in caves excavated for the purpose; from which, it how-
ever sometimes happens, the hungry animal removes every obsta-
cle with his claws, and drags out one or more of the inhabitants,
already half dead with terror.”

“ The reader will naturally inquire, why some means are not
adopted for opposing devastations of this nature, and for securing
the Molungies from such a dreadful misfortune? The fact is, that
no one is a Molungie from choice; but, according to the principle
prevailing throughout Hindostan, the occupation of the father and
his ancestors is continued invariably by his posterity. The Mo-
lungies would, however, readily deviate from this principle if they
had the power to do so; but, being kept to their posts by various
guards of revenue peons, or officers, they are unable to quit their
miserable situation. These revenue officers are, in addition to
some provincial militia, posted at all the places whereby it is pos-
sible to escape in boats: as to making off by land, it would be
utterly impossible; the surrounding country being an immense
wilderness, full of tigers, abounding in snakes, and intersected by
a labyrinth of rapid waters, replete with alligators and other rep-

369

tiles. This unfortunate race of human beings sometimes obtains
an addition to their number when trespassers attempt to escape
from the pursuit of justice, and to wind through the mazes of
the inland navigation. These are handed over to the salt-pans,
whence not one in a million ever returns. To arm persons of
such a description, would be to afford them an immediate
emancipation; and would subvert that establishment which sup-
plies Bengal with salt, and affords to the government a revenue
not much under a million of money annually! No doubt but
time will furnish the means of substituting some less objec-
tionable means of providing so indispensable an article of con-
sumption, and do away what must, till then, be classed among the
many necessary evils with which humanity is burthened !

3 B

I - ,

T1 'Booker fecit;.

■Me CAJEW v't.

CASHEW AFFEE

JizmJfarbec, -dvjmgo -?7/2

A HlMBOO TEMPLE,-^ p»Om^ TKAVTEM C ORE

CHAPTER XIII

AN ACCOUNT OF THE INHABITANTS IN THE
KINGDOM OF TRAVENCORE;

AND PARTICULARLY OF THE BRAHMINS, NAIRS, AND POOLEAHS,
IN THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE MALABAR COAST.

1773.

In links of steel, here superstition binds
The unsuspecting native; to his caste
Tethers him ; cramps his powers, condemns to ply.

With joyless hands, the trade his sires have plied
For centuries; proscribes all hope of change!

Gisborne,

CONTENTS.

Division of the Malabcirs into four principal tribes — many inferior
castes — brahmins of Malabar; religious and secular employments
— sacred rivers of India — veneration for the cow — public charities
— . similarity of the Malabars and northern Hindoos — negative cha-
racter— extraordinary purification of the Icing ofTravencore passing
through a golden cow — the same ceremony by Iiagobah — purifica-
tion of his brahmin ambassadors— Sevajee weighed against gold — -
superstitious veneration of the Malabar brahmins — religious pride
—singular adventure in Quilone forest— civilization of the Mala-
bars— physical effects of the torrid zone — listless indolence of the
natives — conduct of a Morawar heroine — dominions of the king of
Travencore — his capital — military force — bravery of the Nairs—
heir to the throne of Travencore — dress of the king — - — suspicion
of the natives — manners and customs— tribe of Nairs ; extraordi-
nary marriages , mode of inheritance — reasons assigned for a plu-
rality of husbands — singularities of the Nairs — Ncimburis — Tivees
—dress of the men and women — large ear-rings — Tetees — Moplah
women — cruelty of the queen of Attinga — writing on olas — Mala-
bar Christians— famine — slavery — cheap purchase of children —
anecdote of a fish-woman — houses of the Malabars— furniture —
implements of Agriculture — tribe of Pooleahs — their wretched de-
gradation, and miserable situation — Par iars, a caste still more de-
graded— Dr . Robertson’s account of the Pariars — excommunica-
tion, or loss of caste, dreadful to a Hindoo — purport of the cruel
sentence— comparison between the Hindoos and Egyptians — many

tribes mentioned by Herodotus — their manners and customs illus-
trated by those of the Malabars — Paramahansa — Hindoo anthro-
pophagi—further particulars of the Pooleahs and Pariars — Mop-
lahs, Mahomedan Malabars — their character , ferocity , manners ,
and customs — run-a-muck — massacre of the English at Attinga —
queen of Attinga, a shadow of royalty — interesting particulars of
the St. Thome , or Syrian Christians in the interior of Malabar .

CHAPTER XIII

In describing the Hindoos, the aborigines of Hindostan, I divided
them into four principal tribes, the Brahmin, Chuttree, Bjse, and
Sooder; subdivided into a number of smaller castes: the Malabars
in this distinguishing characteristic, and many other essentials,
resemble the northern Hindoos: as a nation, their four grand divi-
sions are the Brahmins, Nairs, Thivees, and Pooleahs.

The Malabar brahmins, like those in other parts of India, form
two distinct classes, engaged in different pursuits: both are held
sacred by the other castes: one has the absolute and entire ma-
nagement of every thing relating to religion: occupied by no
secular concerns, they spend their days under the sacred groves of
their temples in superstitious ceremonies, and listless indolence, or
study the sacred volumes, treatises on astrology, medicine, and
fabulous legends; they inculcate benevolence to man, and kindness
to the animal creation, and are reverenced by the inferior tribes,
who swear by their heads, and treat them with filial affection.

The brahmins who live in large towns, and hold situations un-
der their respective princes, as officers of government, collectors
of the revenue, and other political departments, do not merit this
amiable character: they may, on the contrary, be classed with the

376

despots so often mentioned, who unfeelingly exercise the rod of
oppression over the lives and property of their fellow-creatures:
although, by a strange inconsistency, these very people are taught
to shudder at the death of an insect, and tremble at the idea
of inhaling an animalcule. Superstition leads her votaries to
the most extraordinary actions; during my residence among the
Malabars, where the ignominious distinction of castes is carried to
the utmost extent, I was fully convinced that it puts a stop to the
noblest exertions of real charity, blunts the finest feelings of huma-
nity, and estranges man from man.

The Malabar brahmins, like the rest of that priesthood, have
such faith in the purifying waters of the. Ganges, as to believe their
sins are absolved by a pilgrimage thither, or even by their virtue
when transported to a distant country. The Ganges, Kislna, and
Indus, enjoy this preeminence among the numerous rivers of Hin-
dustan; they fertilize the finest tracts in its extensive plains: the
Nerbudda, and other northern streams, claim a share of venera-
tion; but I did not hear of any peculiar sanctity annexed to the
rivers of Malabar: all waters excite a sentiment of affection and
gratitude in a people whose climate and religion require such
frequent ablutions, and where shade is so desirable, that the banian
tree, and man}7 others, are deemed sacred. In their fertile imagi-
nation all nature is animated by an endless number and infinite
variety of inferior deities and benevolent spirits; who occupy every
grove, preside over every fountain, and fill the heavens and the
earth with forms invisible to mortal eyes.

The Malabars regard the cow with as much superstitious vene-
ration as the northern Hindoos; and, if possible, are more severe

oil

in their punishment of those who ill-treat them, or cause their
death: a subject of Travencore who is detected in selling a bullock
to an European is impaled alive. Religious prejudice operates
powerfully in the preservation of this animal; but it is politic
in a country where milk forms a great part of the food, and oxen
are very useful in commerce and agriculture.

Irrigation being absolutely necessary in a climate where rain
only falls during four months in the year, the preservation of water
is a most important object; the brahmins, therefore, judiciously
persuade their disciples to build reservoirs, and construct wells, as
the most acceptable charity tiiey can confer: in the Travencore
dominions are many expensive works of this kind; some made by
the generosity of individuals, others at the public expense. The
high roads are planted on each side with cajew-apple, tamarind,
and mango-trees; which adorn the country, and shade the travel-
ler: caravansaries, or choultries, are erected at convenient distances
for his accommodation. Charity of this kind is every where incul-
cated; and it is equally the ambition of a southern Malabar as of
a northern Hindoo, to have a tank, a well, or a choultrie, called
after his name. Under despotic princes, where property is never
secure, and to be reputed rich is to be really unfortunate, such
munificent acts are far from being uncommon: the fame of these
benevolent works, and the tranquillity of domestic life, form the
chief happiness of a people unaccustomed to public spectacles, or
the refinements of polished society.

The Nairs of Malabar are equally brave, and more energetic
than most of the warlike Hindoos; the national characteristics of
both people are otherwise very similar. A mild climate, and the

o

° C

378

peculiar tenets of their religion, inspire meekness, temperance,
and listlessness: they abstain from intoxicating liquors, are seldom
guilty of debaucheries, and not subject to many of those passions
which enslave the civilized Europeans.

Strangers to patriotism, and the blessings of liberty, the Mala-
bars, as well as the northern Hindoos, are governed by fear; loyalty
and affection form no part of their political system: amongst such
a people, ambition has no scope: every man is confined to his
own caste, follows the profession of his ancestors, is married in
childhood to his equal, and never rises higher than the limited
sphere in which he was born: there may be exceptions, but they
are very uncommon. One indeed of an extraordinary nature,
occurred during my residence in Travencore: the reigning sove-
reign, who was of an inferior caste of Brahmins, advanced himself
into a higher, by purifications, gifts, and ceremonies; part of which
consisted in his majesty passing through the body of a cow, of the
size of life, and made of pure gold : this was the last stage of puri-
fication; and when performed, the cow was divided among the
Brahmins.* It is said, that Ragonath Row, the Mahratta paishwa,

' Ortne ascribes a different cause for the king of Travencore’s regeneration to that given to
me by his subjects, who, perhaps, were withheld by fear from assigning the true reason. “ The
king of Travencore has conquered, or carried war into all the countries which lay round his do-
minions, and lives in the continual exercise of his arms. To atone for the blood which he has
spilt, the brahmins persuaded him that it was necessary he should be born anew: this ceremony
consisted in putting the prince into the body of a golden cow of immense value; where, after
he had laid the time prescribed, he came out regenerated, and freed from all the crimes of his
former life. The cow was afterwards cut up, and divided amongst the Seers who had invented
this extraordinary method for the remission of his sins.”

379

when expelled from his capilal, and defeated by his enemies, passed
through a golden cow, in hopes of better fortune: and two brah-
mins, whom he sent as ambassadors to England, were, on their
return to Hindostan, compelled to pass through the sacred yoni,
or female lingam, made of the finest gold. After performing this
ordeal, and making valuable presents to the brahmins, they were
restored to the privileges of their caste; which they had lost, by
the impurities contracted in travelling through so many polluted
countries. The celebrated Sevajee, in the seventeenth century, on
the day when he assumed the Mahratta sovereignty, was publicly
weighed against gold; his weight was equal to that of sixteen
thousand pagodas; which, wi t h a hundred thousand more, were
distributed among the brahmins.

Herodotus mentions, that Mycerinus, king of Egypt, having
lost his daughter, an only child, it caused him the greatest afflic-
tion; and wishing to honour her funeral with more than ordinary
splendour, he enclosed her body in an heifer made of wood, and
richly ornamented Avith gold.

The Malabar brahmins, more ignorant and less tolerant than
their northern brethren, assume greater consequence than 1 ever
met Avith in other parts of India: Avhen travelling, they have always
precursors to clear the road; Avho make a loud noise, and compel
all of inferior degree to retire: even Avhen their provision is carried
along the highway, the same cry is made; and the vulgar are under
the necessity of hiding themselves, or falling doAvn Avith their faces
to the earth, that the atmosphere may not be polluted by ple-
beian breath, Avhile the food of a brahmin passes by. Even the
king himself is obliged to alight from his elephant, horse, or palan-

380

quin, when he approaches a temple; no person being allowed to
ride near those structures.

These ignorant and bigotted priests seem to hold strangers in
abhorrence, and detest every intrusion into their holy retreats: I
nearly lost my life by indulging an innocent curiosity near Qui-
lone, a Dutch settlement, twenty miles to the northward of Anjengo.
Strolling one evening through a wild scenery of woods and forests,

I accidentally saw a Hindoo temple, almost concealed by banian-
trees. Pleased with the scenery, I ascended a rising ground within
the grove, to take a sketch; and in an adjoining tank saw a Nair
girl performing her ablutions: she instantly snatched up her gar-
ment, and ran to an inner court; aware of her high caste, I did
not attempt to speak to her; but seating myself on the bank,
finished my drawing. In the grove was a Nair at his devotions,
who, on the female speaking to him with earnestness, looked sted-
fastly at me, and departed with her to the temple. Thinking no
more of either, I returned leisurely towards Quilone; when hearing
a noise, 1 looked round, and perceived the same man, joined by
several others, armed with sticks and stones, hastily following, and
alarming the forest with their cries. I had neither time for delibe-
ration, nor any weapon to defend myself; but, with a little distance
in my favour, ran to the nearest village, and claimed the protec-
tion of some Moplahs, having received a few stones in my
flight.

Upon inquiring from these Mahomedans the nature of an
offence so undesignedly committed, they told me I had, in the first
instance, ventured on sacred ground, untrod by Europeans; and
had seen a woman of high caste in a consecrated tank; crimes of

381

great atrocity among that superstitious people; and had they over-
taken me, my life might have been the forfeit of my temerity. The
next day the brahmins sent orders to the English party at Quilone
to keep at a distance from their districts, lest the atmosphere
should be tainted by our breath; and some of the milder sort sent
a basket of live poultry to an English lady of our party, that
during our abode there, we might abstain from eating beef.

Civilization, as far as the Malabars are susceptible of it, has
long attained its height: Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and
Rome, from the pinnacle of grandeur, perfection in the fine arts,
and the luxury of opulence, have dwindled to a name: the Mala-
bars seem to have been for some thousand years in the same state
of mediocrity; on such a system, no new designs in building, no
alteration in manners or dress, no improvements in art or science^
are to be expected.

This ma}r be alleged of a great part of the world besides;
but I do not compare the Negroes and Hottentots of Africa, nor
the savages of America, with the natives of India, or the gene-
rality of Asiatics: these are certainly placed on a higher scale: as
already mentioned in the northern cities of Hindostan, especially
among the Moguls, we find eloquence, poetry, painting, and
architecture, in a considerable degree of perfection: the Chinese
shine with still brighter lustre in the scale of civilized society: as
a nation they have never been conquered, although the Tartars
usurped the sovereignty, and introduced some changes in their
customs: during numerous revolving centuries they have cultivated
the arts of peace, have been governed by wise laws, and have en-
joyed many enviable blessings; considering their limited inter-

382

course with the rest of the world, and how little they are beholden
to strangers for improvement, we must regard them as an enlight-
ened, polished, and independent people.

That the heat of the torrid zone debilitates the body, and ener-
vates the mind, is very obvious: to this cause may be attributed
the want of curiosity, enterprize, and vigour, among the Malabars:
their inclinations are chiefly passive; indolence constitutes their
happiness, and you cannot impose a severer task than mental em-
ployment: with the exception of the warlike Nairs, they pass days,
months, and years, in swinging in their verandas, or under the
shade of a tree, chewing betel, and singing dismal ditties, without
a reflection on the past, or a plan for the future: from this habitual
indolence they become incapable of exertion; and thus the laws,
manners, and customs, are the same at this day as they were some
thousand vears ago.

There are, however, occasionally exceptions to this state of
listless indolence among the Malabars: during my residence at An-
jengo a circumstance occurred which would not have disgraced a
Roman matron. The English were at war with the Marawars, a
people inhabiting a mountainous country in the southern part of
the peninsula: a considerable force from Madras was sent against
them, who with great difficulty obtained a conquest: the obstacles
chiefly arose from the wildness of the country, and the almost in-
accessible fortresses to which the Morawars retreated, in the midst
of thick forests and morasses; the rajah was killed in defending his
last castle, whither lie had retired with his family and treasure: he
expired in the arms of his wife; who immediately ordered one of
the guards, as he valued his master’s honour, to stab her to the

383

heart before the fortress surrendered: the soldier obeyed; and the
English found the unfortunate pair clasped in a last embrace: the
commanding officer caused them to be burnt on the same funeral
pile, agreeable to the custom of their caste.

The king of Travencore, in whose dominions Anjengo is situ-
ated, governed a country extending from Cape Comorin south, to
the kingdom of Cochin north: a district which has always remained
free from Mahomedan invaders, and most probably was never
subject to any of the great Hindoo rajahs. Travencore is moun-
tainous and hilly, difficult of access, and defended at the passes:
the most formidable, though badly fortified, was the pass of Tine-
velli, leading into that country. The king usually resided in a
town called Trevanduram, about eighteen miles from Anjengo,
mean in appearance, and without defence, the palace excepted,
which was surrounded by an indifferent fortification near three
quarters of a mile in extent. His force consisted of four thousand
sepoys, disciplined in the English style, many of them deserters
from the Madras army; and about twelve thousand irregulars,
armed with English muskets: his cavalry never exceeded one
thousand. On an emergency he could assemble a formidable mi-
litia, consisting of a hundred thousand men, armed with spears,
and bows of a large construction. The Malabars are very expert
with these weapons, especially the Nairs; who always assemble
under their respective leaders, on the festival of the full moon in
September, at the breaking up of the moonson; and being drawn
up in two divisions, commence a serious engagement with bows
and arrows, spears and lances: this is sometimes protracted for a
considerable time, and many fall on both sides; who confer a great

384

honour on their family by this sacrifice to glory. The principal
brahmin and Nair ladies are always present on these occasions,
covered with ornaments, if not with drapery.

The throne of Travencore does not descend from hither to son,
but invariably devolves to the eldest son of the eldest sister, that
the blood-royal may be clearly and indisputably preserved. The
king on particular occasions is splendidly apparelled, and adorned
with the royal jewels; but in general dresses, like the other brah-
mins, in a muslin turban, with a piece of white cotton cloth round
the waist, reaching to the knees: this is the usual dress of the Ma-
labars. The hereditary prince has no outward distinction from the
other nobles; and the king’s sons, whether by his wives or concu-
bines, have no privileges annexed to their royal descent, neither
are they by birth entitled to any importance in the government.

I always found more suspicion and jealousy in conversing with
the Malabars, than among any other people in India: they were
very cautious of giving information, and deemed the most common
questions intrusive; it was therefore impossible from such a people
to obtain much knowledge either of a religious or political nature.
Whether the Malabars, like the northern Hindoos, adore the triad-
deity, with the subordinate divinities in their endless mythology;
or whether their idolatrous system comprizes a different set of gods
and goddesses, especially of the dii lares, I could not determine;
neither could I ascertain the jurisprudence of Travencore, or other
Malabar rajah-ships: in those dominions, it is perhaps altogether
a nominal science: for in Travencore, as in most despotic states,
the subjects are seldom governed by written law^s, but implicitly
obey the will of an arbitrary despot. The king is considered as

385

heir to all his subjects when he chooses to exert his full preroga-
tive; consequently they require no laws respecting landed pro-
perty, or titles of inheritance: as he monopolizes all the pepper,
and such other articles as he thinks proper in his dominions, com-
mercial laws are also needless: the women, except among the
Nairs, being entirely dependent, and almost in a stale of slavery,
have no occasion for statutes to regulate dowers or marriage set-
tlements: for as the sovereign is absolute in his kingdom, so is
every master of a family in his own house: moral actions and rela-
tive duties are regulated solely by the will of a father and a hus-
band. Thus, occasions of wrangling and law-suits are removed:
despotic power is allsufficient; and the people, excluded from
general information, contentedly submit to the oppressive
system.

The Nairs, or nobles, form the second tribe in the kingdom of
Travencore: they are a well-made handsome race, of a fairer
complexion than the inferior castes, from whom they entirely sepa-
rate themselves; and neither eat nor intermarry with any other.
Their marriages are very extraordinary, and directly contrary to
the usual system of polygamy adopted in Asia. Among the Nairs,
one wife is common to many husbands, who cohabit with her bv
turns; during this temporary attachment, the arms of the inmate
are placed over the door of the house, to prevent the intrusion of
another husband. These marriages are attended with fewer dis-
putes, and disagreeable consequences than might be imagined:
the wife nominates the father of the child ; and he is obliged to
provide for it.

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in consequence of these marriages, it is an established custom,
both in the royal house of Travencore, and the whole tribe of Nairs,
that the son does not inherit his father’s estate; which, if permit-
ted by a despotic prince, devolves at his death to his sister’s chil-
dren; where there can be no doubt of the consanguinity. The same
law exists among the Hurons in America; on the demise of a chief
in that tribe, he is not succeeded by his own child, but by the son
of his sister; and in default of such an heir, by the nearest relation
in the female line. A similar custom prevailed among the princes
of Ethiopia. Montesquieu assigns the following reason for the
polyandrian system of the Nair ladies. “ In this tribe the men
can have only one wife; while a woman, on the contrary, is al-
lowed many husbands: the origin of this custom is not difficult to
discover. The Nairs are the tribe of nobles, who are the soldiers
of the nation: in Europe soldiers are not encouraged to marry; in
Malabar, where the climate requires greater indulgence, they are
satisfied with rendering marriage as little burthensome as possible:
they give one wife amongst many men ; which consequently dimi-
nishes the attachment to a family, and the cares of housekeeping;
and leaves them in the free possession of a military spirit.”

The Nairs, and other high castes of Malabars, burn their dead,
intermingling the fuel with sandal-wood, cinnamon, and cassia:
the lower classes are contented with a pyre of common wood; and
sometimes bury the deceased in their own plantations.

As a further illustration of these extraordinary people, I sub-
join the following particulars from Dr. Francis Buchanan’s obser-
vations in Malabar; travelling by authority in the provinces then

subject to the British government, he was able to obtain more
accurate information than it was in my power to do among a people
so bigotted, and so jealous of the intrusion of strangers.

“ The Nairs marry before they are ten years of age; but the
husband never afterwards cohabits with his wife: such a circum-
stance would be considered as very indecent: he allows her oil,
clothes, ornaments, and food; but she lives in her mother's house;
or, after her parents' death, with her brothers; and cohabits with
any person that she chooses, of an equal or higher rank than her
own; but never more with her husband. If detected in bestowing
her favours on any low man, she becomes an outcast. It is no
reflection on a woman's character to say, that she has formed the
closest intimacy with different persons; on the contrary, the Nair
women are proud of reckoning among their favoured lovers many
brahmins, rajahs, or other persons of high birth. When a lover
receives admission into a house, he commonly gives his mistress
some ornaments, and her mother a piece of cloth; but these pre-
sents are never of such value as to give room for supposing that
the women bestow their favours from mercenary motives. A Nair
man, who is detected in fornication with a Shanar woman, is put
to death; and the woman is sold to the Moplahs: if he have con-
nection with a slave girl, both are put to death; which is a most
shocking injustice to the female, who, in case of refusal to her lord,
would be subject to all the violence of an enraged and despised
master.

“ In consequence of this strange manner of propagating the
species, no Nair knows his father; and every man looks upon his
sister's children as his heirs. He, indeed, looks upon them with

388

the same fondness that fathers in other parts of the world have for
their own children; and he would be considered as an unnatural
monster were he to shew such signs of grief at the death of a child
which, from long cohabitation and love of its mother, he might
suppose to be his own, as he did at the death of a child of his
sister. A man’s mother manages his family; and after her death,
his eldest sister assumes the direction. Brothers almost always
live under the same roof; but, if one of the family separates from
the rest, he is always accompanied by his favourite sister: even
cousins, to the most remote degree of kindred, in the female line,
generally live together in great harmony; for in this part of the
country, love, jealousy, or disgust, never can disturb the peace of
a Nair family. A man’s moveable property, after his death, is
divided equally among the sons and daughters of all his sisters:
his landed estate is managed by the eldest male of his family: but
each individual has a right to a share of the income. In case of
the eldest male being unable, from infirmity or incapacity, to ma-
nage the affairs of the family, the next in rank does it in the name
of his senior.

“ In the north of Malabar the female Nairs, while children, go
through the ceremony of marriage, both with Namburis and Nairs;
but here, as well as in the south, the man and wife never cohabit.
When the girl has come to maturity, she is taken to live in the
house of some Nam bur i or Nair; and after she has given her con-
sent to do so she cannot leave her keeper; but in case of infidelity
to his bed, may be punished with death. If her keeper have in his
family no mother nor sister, his mistress manages the household
affairs. The keeper, whenever he pleases, may send his mistress

389

back to her mother’s house; but then, if she can, she may procure
another lover. A man’s house is managed by his mother so long
as she lives; when she dies, his sister comes for the fifteen days of
mourning: she afterwards returns to her lover, and remains with
him until he either dies or turns her away. In either case she re-
turns to her brother’s house, of which she resumes the management,
and brings with her all her children, who are her brother’s heirs.
A Nair here is not astonished when you ask him who his father
was; and a man has as much certainty that the children born in
his house are his own, as an European husband has; while these
children are rendered dear to him by their own caresses, and those
of their mother, who is always beloved ; for otherwise she would
be immediately dismissed: yet, such is the perversity of custom,
that a man would be considered as unnatural were he to have as
much affection for his own children, as for those of his sister, which
he may perhaps never have seen. Of all known manners of con-
ducting the intercourse between the sexes, this seems to be the
most absurd and inconvenient.”

The Namburis, just mentioned, are the brahmins of Malabar,
who consider themselves of so high a caste, that they will neither
eat nor drink with those of the northern provinces. These shame-
less priests, not content with the dancing girls attached to the dif-
ferent temples, who are all prostitutes to the brahmins, have con-
nections with the youngest and most beautiful women among the
high tribes of Malabars, who deem it an honour to admit a Nam-
buri to their bed.

The Tivees, although in general onty farmers and husbandmen,
are far from being a low caste: in the vicinity of Anjengo, they

390

are called Cliagos; and as this tribe includes the bulk of the people,
what may be said of them is applicable to the Malabars in general.
They are well shaped, of a middle stature, and dark complexion:
their dress is a cotton cloth, tied loosely round the waist, reaching
below the knee; some wear a turban, others tie the hair on the
back of the head, and throw a loose piece of muslin over it: but
the brahmins are always distinguished by the sacred cord on the
left shoulder. The dress of the Malabar women is similar to that
of the other sex; their black glossy hair, tied in a knot on the
middle of the head, is copiously anointed with cocoa-nut oil, and
perfumed with the essence of sandal, mogrees, and champahs;
their ears, loaded with rings and heavy jewels, reach almost to their
shoulders; this is esteemed a beauty; instead of a small gold wire
in the orifice, as is practised in other countries, the incision is filled
with a filament from the cocoa-nut leaf, rolled around; the circles
are increased, until the orifice sometimes exceeds two inches in
diameter, the ear is then healed, and being stretched to the per-
fection of beauty, is filled with rings and massy ornaments. Round
the waist they wear a loose piece of muslin, while the bosom is
entirely exposed: this is the only drapery of the Malabar women;
but they are adorned with a profusion of gold and silver chains
for necklaces, mixed with strings of Venetian and other gold
coins; they have also heavy bangles, or bracelets: a silver box, sus-
pended by a chain on one side, forms a principal ornament, and
contains the areca, or betel-nut, with its appendages of chunam,
spice, and betel-leaf. Their skin is softened by aromatic oils,
especially among the Nairs and Tetees, who are peculiarly atten-
tive to cleanliness in their persons. The Tetees are of the tribe of

391

cultivators, and the Muckwas of the fishers; both are well made
women, sometimes tall, and always graceful.

The Moplahs, or wives of the Mahomedans, who have been for
many centuries settled among the Malabars, are in all respects a
contrast to the natives; far from exposing any of their personal
charms, they muffle themselves up in a covering of thick cotton
cloth, and always retire on the approach of a stranger: they are
extremely dirty, and pride themselves on their chastity; the young
Tetees, on the contrary, never consider it among the cardinal
virtues; but after marriage, they make good wives, and affectionate
mothers.

I inquired into the truth of Mr. Grose’s anecdote of a Malabar
woman, who living with an English lady at Anjengo, to please her
mistress, dressed in the European manner; but appearing after-
wards in the queen of Attinga’s presence with her breasts covered,
the cruel despot ordered them to be cut off, for such a mark of
disrespect: it was confirmed at Attinga. It is not only the vulgar
who are thus sparingly clothed; for the first princesses wear only
a finer muslin, with costly jewels.

Most of the Malabar men have a knife stuck in their girdle;
and the steel pen with which they write their letters, accounts, and
records, on the leaf of the Palmyra tree, there called olas: they
write in a straight line, in a neat manner, and with great expedi-
tion: their books consist of several leaves, fastened together by a
thong. The northern Hindoos write with the calamus, or reed,
on a smooth glossy paper, made of hemp, rice, and different in-
gredients.

The Malabar Christians dress like their pagan neighbours,

39°2

except that the women cover the bosom. The Christians I usually
met with were of the lowest class; the Roman catholic missionaries
made but few converts of superior rank, although many of them
were seltled in the Travencore dominions, and permitted to build
churches for public worship.

'The poorer Malabars live on rice, salt-fish, and jagree; which
is a coarse sugar produced from the cocoa-nut tree, wholesome
and nourishing; those who cannot afford rice, content themselves
with natchnee, a grain of inferior quality. The despotism of the
government frequently occasions an artificial famine, and the in-
habitants fly the country: a real famine is sometimes attended
with dreadful consequences. Rice is sown at the commencement
of the rains; which do not always fall as expected, and in some
instances they have been entirely withheld for a whole season.
Should the ground be only partially inundated, the ear droops,
and yields but half a crop. On such occasions the poor wretches
are driven by hunger to Anjengo, and other sea-ports, where you
see a youth selling himself for sustenance, a mother offering her
infant son for a bag of rice, and a desponding father parting with
his wife and children for forty or fifty rupees.

Malabar children are generally a cheap commodity at Anjengo;
at the end of the rainy season, when there was no particular scar-
city in the interior country, I purchased a boy and girl about eight
or nine years of age, as a present to a lady at Bombay, for less
money than a couple of pigs in England: I bought the young
couple, laid in two months provision of rice and salt-fish for their
voyage, and gave each of them four changes of cotton garments,
all for the sum of twenty rupees, or fifty shillings. English hum a-

393

nity must not pass a censure on this transaction: it was a happy
purchase for the children; they were relieved from hunger and
nakedness, and sent to an amiable mistress, who brought them up
tenderly, and, on leaving India, provided for their future comfort;
whereas, had I refused to buy them, they would assuredly have
been sold to another, and probably have experienced a miserable
bondage with some native Portugueze Christian, whom we do not
reckon among the most merciful task-masters.

A circumstance of this kind happened to myself: sitting one
morning in my veranda, a young fisli-woman brought a basket of
mullets for sale; while the servant was disposing of them, she asked
me to purchase a fine boy, two years of age, then in her arms: on
my upbraiding her want of maternal affection, she replied with a
smile, that she expected another in a few weeks, and as she could
not manage two, she made me the first offer of her boy, whom she
would part with for a rupee. She came a few days afterwards,
with a basket of fish, but had just sold her child to Signor Manoel
Rodriguez, the Portugueze linguist; who, though a man of pro-
perty and a Christian, had thought it necessary to lower the price
to half a rupee. Thus did this young woman, without remorse,
dispose of an only child for fifteen pence!

The houses of the Nairs, and better sort of Malabars, are neat
and clean; generally situated in a garden, with a few cocoa-nut
and jac trees, betel plants, indigenous roots and vegetables: a small
grove of areca, or a shady tamarind, and a well within the inclo-
sure, furnish a Malabar habitation : the furniture seldom consists
of more than a few mats, earthen pots, grind-stones, and utensils
for cleaning the rice, with the swing already mentioned; where

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the thoughtless proprietor passes most of his time in apathy and
indolence.

The tools and implements of agriculture and mechanism, are
extremely simple: a light sandy soil requires only one yoke of oxen
to a wooden plough, which slightly turns the surface: the rice,
natchnee, and early grains, are sown at the commencement of the
rainy seasons, and reaped soon after they cease; the latter crops
are then sown, as already mentioned in the Concan.

The method of inflicting punishment on criminals and debtors
in Travencore, is in some respects singular: for capital crimes the
culprits generally suffer death; although, as in most oriental go-
vernments, money and interest may purchase a pardon; except for
the dreadful sin of killing a cow, or selling one for slaughter: this
subjects them to the most cruel death. For debts, and non-pay-
ment of fines, inflicted as a punishment, they are confined by the
caricar, or chief of the district; who draws a circle round the pri-
soner, from which he dare not move; then, gently laying a sharp
stone on the crown of his head, demands payment of the sum
required: on a refusal, he places a large flat stone over the other,
and ties it firmly on; additional weights are gradually accumulated,
with a repetition of the demand, until the sharp stone penetrating
the head, either insures payment, or causes a painful death.

Having described the higher castes, and drawn a few sketches
of the inferior tribes of Malabar, I now descend to the degraded
Pooleahs; an abject and unfortunate race, who, by cruel laws and
tyrannical customs, are reduced to a wretched state; while the
monkeys are adored as sylvan deities, and in some parts of Mala-
bar have temples and daily sacrifices. I have often lamented

395

the treatment of the poor Pooleahs, and the cruel difference made
by human laws between them and the pampered brahmins: ba-
nished from society, they have neither houses nor lands, but re-
tire to solitary places, hide themselves in ditches, and climb into
umbrageous trees for shelter: they are not permitted to breathe
the same air with the other castes, nor to travel on a public road;
if by accident they should be there, and perceive a brahmin or
Nair at a distance, they must instantly make a loud howling, to
warn him from approaching until they have retired, or climbed
up the nearest tree. If a Nair accidentally meets a Pooleah on
the highway, he cuts him down with as little ceremony as others
destroy a noxious animal: even the lowest of other castes will have
no communication with a Pooleah. Hunger sometimes compels
them to approach the villages, to exchange baskets, fruit, or such
commodities as they may have, for a little grain: having called
aloud to the peasants, they tell their want, leave the barter on the
ground, and retiring to a distance, trust to the honesty of the vil-
lagers to place a measure of corn equal in value to the barter;
which the Pooleahs afterwards take away. Constant poverty and
accumulated misery, have entirely debased the human form, and
given a squalid and savage appearance to these unhappy beings.

Yet, debased and oppressed as the Pooleahs are, there exists
throughout India, a caste called Pariars, still more abject and
wretched. If a Pooleah, by any accident, touches a Panar, he
must perform a variety of ceremonies, and go through many ab-
lutions, before he can be cleansed from the impurity. With such
ideas of defilement, no marriages are contracted between the Poo-
leahs and Pariars; nor do they eat together; although the only

396

difference in their epicurean banquet is, that the Pooleahs eat of
all animal food, except beef, and sometimes of that which dies of
itself: the Pariars not only feast upon dead carcases, but eat
beef, and carrion of every kind. The brahmins of Malabar have
thought proper to place Christians in the same rank with the
Pariars.

Dr. Robinson truly says, “ the condition of the Pariar is un-
doubtedly the lowest degradation of human nature: if a Pariar
approach a Nair he may put him to death with impunity: water
or milk are considered as defiled, even by their shadow passing
over them, and cannot be used until they are purified. It is im-
possible for words to express the sensation of vileness that the
name of Pariar or Chandala conveys to the mind of a Hindoo:
every Hindoo who violates the rules or institutions of his caste
sinks into this degraded situation. This it is which renders Hin-
doos so resolute in adhering to the institutions of their tribe; be-
cause the loss of caste is, to them, the loss of all human comfort
and respectability; and is a punishment beyond comparison more
severe than excommunication, in the most triumphant period of
Papal power/5

Rejection of caste must to a Hindoo appear much worse than
death: hurled from the high privileges of a brahmin or a Nair,
the delinquent of either sex is obliged to enter the tribe of Pariars,
the outcasts of all ranks of society ; in which both them and their
offspring are compelled to remain for ever! No virtue, no talent,
no merit of a child can ever atone for the venial sin of the parent,
whose whole posterity must feel the full effect of the dreadful sen-
tence: none are to pray, to sacrifice, to read, or to speak to the

397

hapless culprit; none are to be allied by friendship or by marriage,
none to eat or to drink with him: he is to become abject, and ex-
cluded from all social duties; to wander over the earth, deserted
by all, trusted by none; never to be received with affection, nor
treated with kindness; but to be branded with infamy and shame;
the curse of heaven, and the hatred of all good men!

“ Stand off, for I am holier than thou/’ seems to be the predo-
minant sentiment of the brahmin, whether dwelling under the
banian shades in northern Ilindostan, or secluded among the
cassia groves of Malabar. Flow different is the pride and intole-
rance of the Flindoo priest from the charity and benevolence of the
Jewish monarch, who assembled a mixed multitude of all descrip-
tions, from Dan to Beersheba, to celebrate the passover at Jeru-
salem ; how different the supplication of the pious king to the
anathema of the brahmin! “The good Lord pardon everyone
that prepareth his heart to seek God; though he be not cleansed
according to the purification of the sanctuary ! and the prayer as-
cended to His holy place, even unto heaven!”

The brahmins of Travencore, as in most other parts of India,
have taken care to be exempted as much as possible from punish-
ment; at least their sentence is far more lenient than that passed
on the other castes for the same crimes; and their power and in-
fluence in Malabar are more unbounded than in the north of India.

Consulting Herodotus on the purifications and ceremonies of
the priests in ancient Egypt, we find a striking resemblance between
them and the brahmins in India, whose time ought to be divided
between study and devotion. The Egyptian priests possessed
many and great advantages; the brahmins enjoy still greater pri-

398

vileges, by the laws of Menu, and the invariable respect and
affection of their followers.

Beloe, the elegant translator of Herodotus, says “ he is dignified
by courtesy with the title of the Father of History; that his mat-
ter is no less curious than diversified; and his history, as far as his
own knowledge and diligent researches could make it, is entitled
to attention and belief.” This is readily admitted, as far as his
own knowledge extends; and it is not impossible to throw light
upon many passages in his history, which appear to have no
more foundation in truth than the fables in the Odyssey, or the
voyages of Sin bad the sailor.

Herodotus says that Darius, king of Persia, on a certain occa-
sion sent for some of the Greeks who were subject to his power,
and asked them what recompence would induce them to eat the
bodies of their deceased parents; they replied that no sum could
prevail on them to commit such a deed. In the presence of the
same Greeks, who by an interpreter were informed of what passed,
he sent for the Callable, a people of India known to eat the bo-
dies of their parents; he asked them for what sum they would
consent to burn the bodies of their parents; the Indians were dis-
gusted at the question, and entreated him to forbear such language.
This has staggered the belief of those who have only taken a gene-
ral view of Hindoo manners and customs, and have always ob-
served them burn the bodies of their dead: but this strange as-
sertion is wonderfully illustrated by the following passage in Moor's
Hindu Pantheon; “ Not only do the Hindoos, even the brahmins,
eat flesh; but they eat, one sect at least, human flesh. They
do not, I conclude, kill human subjects to eat; but they eat such

399

as they find in or about the Ganges, and perhaps oilier rivers.
The name of the sect is Paramahansci ; and I have received authentic
information of individuals of this sect being not very unusually
seen about Benares, floating down the river on, and feeding on a
corpse. Nor is this a low despicable tribe; but, on the contrary,
esteemed, by themselves at least, as a very high one; and my in-
formation stated that the human brain is judged by these epicu-
rean cannibals as the most delicious morsel of their unsocial ban-
quet. It may be difficult for the English reader to believe this
hitherto unrecorded story of the flesh-abhorring Hindoos; as well,
perhaps, as the now fully authenticated facts of their prodigality
of human life. Anecdotes to a considerable extent might easily
be collected of the sanguinary propensity of these people; such
as would startle those who have imbibed certain opinions from
the relations of travellers, on the character and habits of the ab-
stinent and flesh-abhorring Hindoos, and brahmins with souls as
unspotted as the robes they wear.”

In many Indian customs mentioned by the Greek historian,
we find the same traits of character as among the modern Hindoos;
others appear so extremely dissimilar that little credit is given
them : such for instance are the Padaei, whom he describes as leading
a pastoral life, and living on raw flesh; when any man was dis-
eased, he was put to death by his nearest connections; if a woman
was ill her female relations treated her in the same manner: the
more aged among them were regularly killed and eaten; few in-
deed attained to old age, because in case of sickness they put
every one to death.

Whether the existence of Hindoo anthropophagi is believed or

400

not, there can be no doubt of the aged parents and diseased rela-
lions being at this day frequently carried by their nearest connec-
tion to the banks of the Ganges; where, after their mouths and
nostrils have been stopped with the sacred mud, they are left to
be carried away by the stream as food for alligators. It is well
known that in some of the districts near Bengal, there are a tribe of
people called Sheep-eaters , who seize the animal alive, and
actually devour wool, skin, flesh, and entrails, until nothing re-
mains but the skeleton. Lady Anstruther, who made a valuable
collection of drawings during her residence in India, has a set of
paintings in water-colours, done by a native, which contain the
whole process of these extraordinary gluttons, from the first seizure
of the unfortunate animal, until it is completely devoured.

Herodotus further says, that in India is a set of people, who,
entirely different from the Padaei, put no animal to death, sow no
grain, have no fixed habitation, and live solely upon vegetables.
These were no doubt Yogees, Senassees, and wandering Gym-
nosophists, who live entirely in the same manner at the present
day. The Massagetae and Nasamenes of Africa, who were al-
lowed promiscuous marriage, and during cohabitation with an in-
dividual, fixed a staff before the door, resemble in that respect the
Nairs of Malabar.

I now take leave of the pagan Malabars, who differ in so
many respects from the northern Hindoos: the facts mentioned from
my own knowledge, especially concerning the degraded situation
of the Pooleah and Pariah castes, having often excited a doubt in
the minds of my English friends, when I have related such extra-
ordinary anecdotes, I shall not apologize for confirming them by a few

401

quotations from Dr. Francis Buchanan’s interesting journey in the
Malabar province, the beginning of the present century.

“ The Pooleahs are called churmun , a term applied to slaves in
general: the Pooleahs are divided into many different clans, who
can eat together, and intermarry: they have no hereditary chiefs;
all the business of the caste is settled in assemblies of their elders:
they never excommunicate any person, but they impose fines:
when they can procure it, they eat animal food, and drink spiritu-
ous liquors, but reject carrion: none of them can read. When a
man becomes tired of his wife, and she gives her consent, he may
sell her to any other person who will pay back the expense incurred
at the marriage; which in presents to the girl’s master, her parents,
cloth for the bride and bridegroom, and charges of the wedding
dinner, generally amounts to twenty-four fanams, or sixteen shil-
lings sterling. The goddess worshipped by the Pooleahs is named
Paradevata, and is represented by a stone placed on a mound in
the open air: they have a sort of priests, but never give any thing
to the brahmins, nor do they pray to the great gods whom they
worship. The Pariars are also divided into clans: the highest eat
carrion, and even beef; so that they are looked upon as equally
impure with Mussulmans or Christians; and they may lawfully
drink spirituous liquors. Even among these wretched creatures
the pride of caste has full influence; and if a Pooleali be touched
by one of the Pariar tribe, he is defiled, and must wash his head,
and pray.”

About a fourth part of the inhabitants of Malabar are Mop-
lahs, or Mahomedans, descended from the Moors and Arabians,
who have settled there at different times, and married Malabar

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women: they are the principal merchants in the country, both for
foreign and home trade: many are proprietors of trading vessels,
navigated by Mahomedan commanders and seamen, in which they
make an annual voyage to the Persian and Arabian gulfs; and
after disposing of pepper, cassia, cardamoms, cotton-cloth, coir-
ropes, and other productions of Malabar, they return with coffee,
drugs, dates, and dried fruits. Those on the sea-coast use a cor-
rupt language between the Arabic and Malabar: the Koran, and
the few books they possess, are written in Arabic. The Moplahs
engaged in commerce, and enjoying an intercourse with other
people, are tolerably courteous and orderly; those in the interior,
who are too proud to work or engage in agricultural pursuits, are
generally an idle worthless race; parading about the country with
a broadsword, or murdering time in one of the swings already
mentioned. These are of a most turbulent revengeful spirit, prone
to mischief, especially against the Nairs, whom they consider as
infidels, proud and haughty as themselves. When intoxicated with
bhang, or opium, they frequently run a-muck, and in a dreadful
state of phrenzy, murder every person they meet, until they are
overpowered and destroyed.

The Nairs are at constant variance with the Moplahs; and the
king of Travencore, jealous of their ambitious revengeful temper,
keeps them in great subjection, and levies frequent contributions
on their property; to which they reluctantly submit, from knowing
they would experience the same treatment from other governments.
At one period the Moplahs created great commotions in Traven-
core, and towards the end of the seventeenth century massacred
the chief of Anjengo, and all the English gentlemen belonging to

403

the settlement, when on a public visit to the queen of Attinga: the
sanguinary deed Avas committed near her palace; some were even
murdered in her presence, whom she in vain attempted to rescue
from their fury, although at that time sovereign of the country.

There was still a nominal queen of Attinga when 1 resided at
Anjengo; Avho, like the rajah sovereign of the Mahrattas, was little
more than a state prisoner, Avhile the king of Travencore, the
usurper of her dominions, imitating the peshwa of Poonah, styled
himself duan, or minister to the queen of Attinga.

I shall say nothing more of the Moplahs, thus dispersed along
the coast of Malabar from Tellicherry to Cape Comorin; but the
Syriac churches, or Christians of St. Thome, settled in Travencore,
are objects of great interest and curiosity. I occasionally heard of
such a people in the neighbouring country of Anjengo, but I had
no idea of their number or respectability: as our accounts gene-
rally came through the medium of the Portugueze priests and Ro-
mish missionaries, it was not to be expected their intelligence would
be impartial or favourable.

My own knowledge on this interesting subject being limited, I
shall make a few extracts from Mr. W rede’s satisfactory account
of the St. Thome Christians; who were not unknown to Vasco de
Gama, and the first navigators to India: to whom the unexpected
discovery of Christians on the Malabar coast, Avas a matter of the
greatest surprise and satisfaction; for they were not more enthu-
siastic in extending their military glory and conquests, than in
propagating their religion among the infidels in the remotest quar-
ters of the world. Their exultation, hoAvever, Avas temporary; for,
upon nearer investigation, they found that these Christians folloAved

404

the doctrine of Nestorius, and acknowledged, instead of the
Pope, the patriarch of that sect residing in Syria, for their ecclesi-
astical supreme chief.

“ Their number must have been very considerable in the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century, when the Portugueze became first
acquainted with them; since they possessed about one hundred
and ten churches in the countries now subject to the Travencore
and Cochin rajahs: and at this present time, after the manifold
persecutions, oppressions, and successive revolutions that have
almost depopulated the whole coast, they are computed to amount
to no less than one hundred and fifty thousand souls.

<e They are indiscriminately called St. Thome Christians, Nes-
torians, Syrians, and sometimes the Malabar Christians of the
mountains, by the Portugueze writers of that time, and by the sub-
sequent missionaries from Rome. The most common name given
to them by the Hindoos of the country, is that of Nazar anee , Ma-
pila , and more frequently Surians, or Surianee Mapila.

4‘ The Portugueze were fond of bestowing upon them the name
of St. Thome Christians, though this appellation does not appear
to have been, or now to be, very common amongst themselves. It
originates probably from the chief who settled the first colony of
Syrians on the coast, and who was, according to their tradition,
their first bishop, and founder of their religion in these countries;
and whose name was Mar Thome. This is corroborated by the
curious circumstance of their giving the- name of Mar Thome to
every ecclesiastical chief, or bishop of theirs, although his real
name be Joseph or Abraham; not improbably in compliment
to their first bishop and founder, for whom they have still a reli-

405

gious veneration. His arrival and settlement on the coast, may
perhaps at a future period be ascertained, with historical accuracy,
to have taken place during the violent persecution of the sect of
Nestorius under Theodosius the Second, or some time after.
But the bigotted Portugueze missionaries laid hold of this name
to renew the story of the arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle in
India; who they pretended had converted a great number of idol-
aters on the coast of Malabar, and afterwards on the other side of
India, as far as Malliapoor , now St. Thome , where he suffered mar-
tyrdom.

“ All traditions and Malabar records agree, that the Syrian
Christians, or Nazaranee Mapilas, were known, and had been
settled on the Malabar coast long before either the Arabs or Jews.
In the Malabar histories, the first mention of a Syrian colony of
the Christians is made in the reign of Cocoorangon Perumal,
who probably lived in the sixth century; a wealthy Syrian mer-
chant, of the name of Thome Cannanes, is said to have landed
at Oranganore , where he was well received, and induced to settle,
by great privileges granted to him by the Perumal. He after-
wards married two wives; one of the Nair, and one of some low
caste; by whom he had a very numerous progeny, who after his
death had great disputes about his inheritance.

We find again mention made of two Syrian, or Chaldean
bishops, at Coilan, or Quilone , about one hundred years after its
foundation ; where they were extremely well received by the rajah,
and permitted to build a church, which was still extant when Ca-
bral first visited Quilone. The grants and privileges which they
received from the rajah were engraved upon copper plates; which

406

many centuries afterwards, were shewn to Archbishop de Menezes
at Tevalacaree.

“ If one adds to these historical dales the name of Syrians
retained by the St. Thome Christians, their distinct features, and
complexion somewhat fairer than the rest of the Malabars, the
style of their building, especially their churches; but above all, the
general use of the Syrian, or rather Chaldaean language, which is
still preserved in all their religious functions, even in those churches
which have since embraced the Roman rite, and that to this day they
take their Christian and family names from the Syrian or Chaldaean
idiom, no doubt can remain but that the St. Thome Christians are
originally a colony of Nestorians , who fled from the dominion of
the Greek emperors, after Theodosius the Second began to per-
secute the followers of the sect/’

“ They made at first some proselytes among the brahmins and
Nairs, and were on that account much respected by the native
princes; so that even at present they consider themselves equal in
rank to either of the above two castes. They are in fact in much
greater estimation among the Hindoos than the Christians con-
verted by the Portugueze, and mostly picked up from the lowest
caste. Many of the St. Thome Christians now preserve the man-
ners and mode of life of the brahmins as to cleanliness, and
abstaining from animal food.

44 We learn from the Portugueze writers, that these Christians
possessed upwards of one hundred villages, situated mostly in the
mountainous part of the southern division of Malabar. Their ha-
bitations were distinguished from those of the Hindoos by being
mostly solid buildings, and collected in villages; not scattered and

407

dispersed as those of the brahmins and Nairs. They obeyed their
Archbishop, both in ecclesiastical and civil matters, paying a very
moderate tribute to the different rajahs in whose territory they
lived, who very little interfered in their concerns. When any com-
plaints in civil affairs were preferred to the Archbishop, he used to
appoint arbitrators or judges, whose sentence was final; they never
condemned any person to death, and most crimes were expiated
with pecuniary fines. They paid no tithes to their clergy, but at
weddings they offered the tenth of the marriage gifts to their
churches. On these occasions they were very profuse and osten-
tatious, and celebrated their nuptials with great pomp; it was then
principally that they made a shew of the privileges granted to
them by one of the Perumals; as of the bride and bridegroom
riding upon elephants, of having the hair ornamented with flow ers
of gold, of musical instruments, also of flags of different colours
carried before them. They all wore swords and targets, and some
of them had firelocks; they were great marksmen, and from their
eighth year frequented the firing schools: husbandry and trade
were their principal occupations, and, next to the brahmins, the St.
Thome Christians furnished the greatest quantity of pepper to the
Portugueze.

“ As to their religious tenets, they followed generally the doc-
trine of Nestor i us. They admitted no images of saints in their
churches, where the Holy Cross alone wras to be seen. They had
only three sacraments, baptism, eucharist, and the orders; and
would not admit transubstantiation in the manner the Roman ca-
tholics do. They knew nothing of purgatory; and the saints they
said were not admitted to the presence of God, but were kept in

408

a third place till the day of judgment. Their priests were permitted
to marry, at least once in their life. Their rite was the Chaldaean,
or Syrian.

“ The St. Thome, or Syrian Christians, never claimed the par-
ticular protection of either the Portugueze or Dutch, which the
new Christians generally do, hut considered themselves as subjects
of the different rajahs in whose districts they lived; and, as long
as the old Hindoo system, and the former division of the country,
under a variety of petty rajahs, was preserved, they appear to have
enjoyed the same degree of freedom, ease, and consideration, as
the Nairs. But when the rajahs of Travencore and Cochin had
subjected to themselves all the petty rajahs and chiefs, whose re-
spective territories were situated within the lines of Travencore,
they also overturned the whole political system established by
Ciieruma Perumal; and by setting aside the immunities and
privileges of the higher castes, they established a most oppressive
despotism in the room of the former mild limited oligarchy; and
we ought not to be much surprised to behold the present compa-
ratively wretched situation of these Syrian villages, since we see
the brahmins and Nairs stript of their old prerogatives, and subject
to almost the same oppressions and extortions.”

Dr. Claudius Buchanan, who visited the Syrian churches in
1806, under the sanction of the Marquis Wellesley, confirms the
preceding account, and has given an interesting and affecting de-
tail of his reception by Mar Dionysius the bishop and the pastor
of the Christian churches in Malabar: he describes the venerable
metropolitan, at the age of seventy-eight, in his episcopal mitre
and crozier, as a man of highly respectable character, eminent fc*r

409

piety, and devoted attention to his pastoral functions: in a con*
versation with the English divine the Bishop said, 44 You have
come to visit a declining church, and I am now an old man: but
the hopes of its seeing better days cheer iny old age, though 1 may
not live to see them/’ On Dr. Buchanan’s submitting to the
venerable prelate his wishes in regard to the translation and print-
ing of the holy scriptures, he replied, 44 I have already fully con*
sidered the subject; I have determined to superintend the work
myself, and to call the most learned of the clergy to my aid: it is
a work which will illuminate these dark regions, and God will
give it his blessing/’

Dr. Buchanan collected an ancient Syrian bible, and several
valuable manuscripts among these churches; and the king of Tra~
vencore acceded to his request for sending a catalogue of all the
Hindoo manuscripts in the temples of Travencore to the English
college at Calcutta; a measure to which the brahmins were very
averse. Those manuscripts are supposed to contain most of the
Hindoo literature of the south of India.

The Christians in Travencore, who exceeded two hundred
thousand in number, were much in want of printed versions of the
holy scriptures, having only a very few manuscript copies belong-
ing to all the churches. This Syriac version was carried to India,
according to the popular belief, at the beginning of the fourth
century, before the year 325 of the Christian aera; at which time
Johannes, bishop of India, signed his name at the council of Nice.
Dr. Buchanan, in company with Colonel Macaulay, the British
resident in Travencore, visited Udiamper, where Beliarte, king of

the Christians, kept his court; for the Syrian Christians had for-

a c

410

raeily regal power in Malabar, and when Vasco de Gama arrived
at Cochin in 1503, he saw the sceptre once swayed by their mo-
narchs. At Udiamper is the Syrian church, at which Archbishop
Menezes, from Goa, convened the synod of the Syrian clergy in
1599, when he burned the Syriac and Chaldaic books.

This well authenticated account of these churches affords many
delightful sensations to a reflecting mind, and eminently displays
the protecting power of the heavenly Shepherd. Numerous as the
Syrian Christians now are, they were formerly a more extensive
and flourishing body : and we have every reason to hope there
will again be a glorious revival among a people so well prepared;
a people who preserved a pure and spiritual worship when Europe
was immersed in a gloom, emphatically styled the dark age. The
uncon trouled power of Papal Rome had not then reached the Syrian
churches in Travencore: they preserved their independence, and
remained for ages unmolested, until the maritime discovery of
India by de Gama: after which, priests and inquisitors from Goa
disturbed their peace, burnt their unadulterated versions of the
sacred scriptures, and compelled many of their churches to acknow-
ledge the pope’s supremacy.

The extensive tract of country, now denominated the Malabar
Province, having since the fall of Tippoo Sultan, formed part of
the British empire in India, and been placed under the manage-
ment of the Company’s servants, a more accurate and compre-
hensive detail of the subjects slightly touched upon during my
voyage on the Malabar coast, and residence in Travencore, will
most probably be communicated to the public. The pride and
insolence of the Nambouri brahmins and Nairs will be checked

411

under the English government, and by that means many new
channels of information, which could not have been accessible
forty years ago, will be attainable. A faithful narrative of the civil
and natural history of Malabar will be a valuable acquisition to
the northern Asiatic Researches: it is a country which affords an
ample field for such investigation, especially in botanical pursuits:
in that respect the copious descriptions and accurate plates of the
Hortus Malabaricus, are truly valuable; but it is a very volumi-
nous, expensive, and scarce work; and, being written in Latin,
cannot be generally read. Dr. Roxburgh’s beautiful collection of
Coromandel plants contains many of those common in Malabar;
but others, indigenous to the mountains and vallies of Travencore,
are not introduced into that elegant and classical work.

I now close my own account of this singular country, and its
more singular inhabitants, with a few very curious remarks by
Lewis Vertomannus, a gentleman of Rome, who visited it in 1503,
and published his travels in Arabia, Persia, and India, “ contain-
ing many notable and strange things,” upwards of three hundred
years ago. His descriptions in Malabar are so curious, lively, and
interesting, that I give them in the old English, into which they
were soon after translated from the Latin.

“ The chiefest idolaters, and of the greatest dignity in Malabar,
are the Bramini. They of the second order are named Nairi;
whose office it is when they go abroad to bear swords, targets,
bows, and lances: the third order consisteth of mechanics or
handy-craft men; with those that gather pepper, fruits, and spices.
The basest sort of all are in such subjection to the Bramini and
Nairi, that on pain of death they may approach no nearer unto

412

them than fifty paces: and therefore they lie lurking in certain
shadows, and dark places, and marshes, lest they should suddenly
chance to meet with them. Wherefore when they come abroad,
that they may be heard afar off, they cry with a loud voice, that
they may be heard of the same Bramini and Nairi; lest being
suddenly betrayed, they should be put to death.

“ The higher sort of these idolaters, to shew great courtesie and
friendship one to the other, use sometimes to change wives; but
the children remain with the first husband: they have also divers
other customs; for among some of them, one woman is married
to seven husbands: when she hath brought forth a child, she
may father it to which of them she listeth; who may in no case
refuse it.

“ When they pray to their idols in the morning before the sun-
rise, they resort to the pools or rivers to wash them. Their weapons
are certain crooked swords, bowes, and lances: lying along on the
ground, they eat their meat out of a tray of copper; for spoons,
they use certain leaves of trees: the ruder sort eat so filthily, that
putting their foul hands into the pot, they take out rice by handfuls,
and so thrust it into their mouths. Among the better sort the women
have none other charge or care than to dress and beautify them-
selves; for their husbands like to have them curiously washed, and
perfumed with sundry sweet savours. When these women go
abroad, it is marvellous to behold how they are behanged with
jewels and precious stones, on their ears, arms, and legs.

“ When the king, or any of the priests or gentlemen die, their
bodies are burnt in a great fire, made of a pile of wood; then all
the while they sacrifice unto the devil. Whiles the bodies are bum-

413

ing, they cast in the fire all manner of sweet savours, as aloes,
myrrh, frankincense, storax, sandal, coral, and innumerable other
sweet gums, spices, and trees: these make the fire much greater,
increasing the flame by reason of their gummosity: the wife also
of the burned king or priest standeth by the fire alone, without
the company of any other woman, lamenting and beating her
breast. Within fifteen days after, the wife biddeth to a banquet
all her husband’s kinsfolks; and when they come at a day ap-
pointed, they go all to the place where her husband was burnt,
and at the same hour of the night: then cometh forth the wife,
garnished with all her jewels, and best apparel: in the same place
is made a pit, no deeper than may serve to receive the woman ;
this pit is set about with reeds covered with silk, that the pit may
not be seen. In the mean time a fire is made in the pit with
sundry sorts of sweet woods; and the wife, after that her guests
have well banqueted, eateth very much of a certain thing called
betel, which troubleth her mind, as though she was half mad, or
drunken. After the ceremonies are finished, she taketh her leave
of all her kinsfolks, and then with sudden outrage, and a loud cry,
lifting up her hands, she hurleth herself into the burning pit;
which done, her kinsfolks, standing near unto the fire, cover her
with little faggots of sweet wood; hurling also thereon much pitch,
that the body may the sooner be consumed: and except the wife
should do this after the death of her husband, she should ever after
be esteemed an evil woman, be hated of all men, and in fine, in
danger to be slain both of her own kinsfolks and her husband’s,
and therefore she goeth to it the more willingly. The king himself is

414

present at these pompes; which are not commonly used for all
men; but only for kings, priests, and noblemen/’

As no traces now remain of the ancient city of Calicut, it is
impossible to speak of its magnificence when Vertomannus wrote:
but, considering the wealth and power of the Mahomedans, and
the splendour of their cities in the north of India at that period;
many of which, as well as Bezenagur, the metropolis of the great
Hindoo empire of Narsinga, the Roman traveller had just visited;
it is singular he should call Calicut the “ chiefest, and metropo-
litan of all the cities of India; whose king in royal majesty ex-
ceeded all the kings of the east; and was therefore in the Mala-
bar language called Samory , or Zamorine , that is to say, God on
the earth.

That Calicut was the principal city in Malabar, and perhaps
the greatest emporium in the east, there is little doubt; although
now reduced to a stragging village of fishermen: but as Verto-
mannus describes the capital of Narsinga to be a city eight miles
in circuit, and of proportionable wealth and grandeur, a monarch
maintaining four hundred war elephants, and when he rode out or
went a hunting, attended by six thousand horsemen, it appears
extraordinary he should speak of Calicut in such high terms: not
so much of the city as the palace, which, he says, “ contained) no
less than a mile in circuit; the wall is not high; the building is
fair, with beams well joining the frame, clumsily wrought, and
carved with the figures and shapes of devils on every side. What
pearls and precious stones the king weareth upon him, cannot be
expressed for the greatness of the thing; for doubtless it exceeded)

415

all estimation: although at the time of my being there, he was
not given to joyfulness, but lived in grief of mind, as well for the
wars which the Portugals made against him, as for a grievous sick-
ness; nevertheless his ears, arms, hands, legs, and feet, were so
beautifully and richly garnished with all sorts of jewels and pre-
cious stones, that it cannot be spoken. His treasure is esteemed
so unmeasurable, that it cannot be contained in two wonderful
great rooms; it consisteth of precious stones, plates of gold, and
also so much coined gold, as may suffice to lade a hundred mules;
as their Bramini report, to whom it is best known: this treasure
was gathered and reserved by twelve kings before him, and con-
tains besides a coffer of three spans in length, and two in breadth,
full of only precious stones, of price inestimable.”

“ In the hall of the palace are seen ten or twelve candlesticks,
very fair, and of cunning workmanship; much like unto goodly
fountains, and of the height of a man. In each of them are divers
vessels, and in every vessel three candles light, of two spans long;
and great plenty of oil.

“ 'The king of Calicut and his people are given Lo idolatry, and
serving of the devil: he hath a chapel in his palace where he wor-
ships him; the entrance is by a door of wood, garnished with
carved work, containing divers monstrous forms and shapes of
devils. In the midst of the chapel is a seat of majesty made of
copper, with also a devil of copper sitting on it: this devil hath on
his head a crown, after the manner of the Bishop of Rome; but
this hath overplus four horns, his mouth gaping, with four notable
teeth, a deformed nose, louring and grim eyes, a threatening look,

416

crooked hands like a flesh hook, and feet not much unlike the
feet of acock: a monster horrible and fearful to behold. They
sacrifice a cock to him once a week; they kill the cock with a
silver knife, and the knife also being rayed with blood, they put
often in the fire, that no part of the blood be lost. When the
king hath left eating, the priests carry away all that is left to cer-
tain crows, which they keep for the purpose: these crows are
therefore esteemed holy ; and it is not lawful for any man to hurt
them. When the king marries, the queen is first appropriated to
the chief brahmin, to whom the king giveth fifty pieces of gold:
which they say is one cause, that after the death of the king, if he
have any male children living, they succeed not to the kingdom;
for of ancient law and custom the sceptre pertaineth to the king's
sister’s sons. When the king goeth a hunting the Bramini keep
the queen at home, and remain near about her; for there is no-
thing more acceptable to the king than that the priests should so
keep company with the queen."

Many of these singular customs of the high caste of the Ta~
muri Raja, or Zamorin, mentioned by Vertomannus, are confirmed
by Dr. Francis Buchanan, who travelled in this country three
hundred years afterwards: sic transit gloria mundi! for so altered
is the whole system within that space, that the present Zamorin,
instead of possessing the power, wealth, and dignity of his ances-
tors, is reduced to a cypher, and subsists on a pension from the
English East India Company. Notwithstanding his degrada-
tion and poverty, Dr. Buchanan says, that all the males of
his family are called Tamburans, and all the ladies Tamburetti,

417

appellations of high distinction: as the tamuri pretend to he of a
higher rank than the brahmins, and to be inferior only to the in-
visible gods; a pretension that was acknowledged by his subjects,
but which is held as abominable by the brahmins. All the chil-
dren of the Tamburetti, or females of the family, are still of the
highest dignity: these ladies are generally impregnated by Nam-
buri brahmins; for any intercourse between them and their hus-
bands would be reckoned scandalous: they live in the houses of
their brothers, and the eldest man of the family is the Tamuri
rajah, called by Europeans the zamorin.

3 H

CHAPTER XIV.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE ANCIENT TEMPLES,
AND OTHER EXCAVATIONS ON THE ISLANDS OF
SALSETTE AND ELEPHANTA.

1774.

What does not fade ? The tower that long had stood
The crush of thunder, and the warring winds
Shook by the slow but sure destroyer Time,

Now hangs in doubtful ruins o’er its base j
And flinty pyramids, and walls of brass.

Descend : the Babylonian spires are sunk ;

Achaia, Rome, and Egypt moulder down.

Time shakes the stable tyranny of thrones.

And tottering empires crush by their own weight ;

This huge rotundity we tread grows old.

And all those worlds that roll around the sun.

The sun himself shall die, and ancient night
Again involve the desolate abyss.

Till the great Father through the lifeless gloom
Extend his arm to light another world.

And bid new planets roll by other laws.

Armstrong.

CONTENTS.

Excavations at Salsette and the Elephant a — correctness of Mr.
Daniett’s delineations — long ignorance of their founder — -journey
from Bombay to Salsette; description of the great temple there — -
ancient basilic lingam — portico — dimensions of the principal temples
— smaller excavations — indicate an ancient city for religious brah-
mins— poetical description— view from the summit of the excavated
mountain — depredations of the tigers — anecdotes of tigers — island
of l ephanta — excavations — grand temple — sculpture — comparison
between the Grecian and Hindoo artists — inferiority of the latter —
columns — baths — smaller caves— visit to the Elephanta with an Eng-
lish artist — sleep at Butcher s island — solemnity of the temple at
Elephanta-— comparison between it and the excavations in Egypt —
deism of the brahmins — opinion of Sir William Jones on their reli-
gion— stanza of the hymn to Narayena—Dr. Fryer s journey to
the caves of Salsette in the seventeenth century , and account of
those works — opinion refuted of their being formed by Jews , Greeks ,
or foreigners of any description — caverns and temples at Ellora —
their history , antiquity , and destination — Mr. Goldin gham 's ac-
count of the Elephanta and discrimination of their sculpture — the
subjects illustrated — Mr. W Ilford's translation of the inscriptions — •
conjecture respecting the origin of these excavations — wars of the
Kooroos and Pandoos from the Hindoo legends — the latter exiled
into forests and mountains — inscriptions relating to this history — ■
and the great probability of the excavations having been executed

by the exiled Pandoos — similar grottos in Egypt — written moun-
tains in Arabia — remarkable passage in the book of Job — engrav-
ings on rocks and stones — cemetery in the desert of Sinai.

Conquest of Salsette, Curanjah, Elephant a, and some smaller islands , by
the English in 1774 — siege of Tannah — description of those new
acquisitions.

CHAPTER XIV.

D urijstg my residence at Bombay I frequently visited the exca-
vations of Canara and Elephanta: the former are hewn in the
central mountains on the island of Salsette, contiguous to Bombay;
the latter in a similar situation on the isle of Elephanta, seven
miles from thence, and nearer to the continent. Soon after my
return to England, an engraving was published from my drawing
of the large temple at the Elephanta; and the views of those stu-
pendous works on both islands, since delineated by Mr. Daniell
with the accuracy and effect which characterize all his produc-
tions, give a correct idea of their general appearance.

The nations of Asia, as well as of Europe, continued long
ignorant of the origin and purport of these extraordinary caverns:
later researches have thrown a light on their obscurity: the author
of the “ Indian Antiquities” has taken great pains to illustrate
them ; his minute investigations have the glow of oriental poetry,
and are enriched by interesting anecdotes. If his comparisons be-
tween the tenets of the Hindoo religion and the rites of the Eleu-
sinian mysteries, together with his other hypotheses, do not entirely
satisfy, they at least afford pleasure to the inquiring mind.

My first visit to Salsette was in the beginning of 1774; that

424

island then belonging to the Mahrattas, we obtained a passport
from the Pundit for our journey; and crossing a narrow arm of
the sea which divides Bombay from Salselte, proceeded in palan-
quins towards the caves. Our party consisted of six English gen-
tlemen, a small escort, and numerous attendants; which were as
necessary on this excursion as in the former journey in the Con-
can, from being obliged to carry beds, provisions, and every thing
wanted, on the heads of the villagers.

The first part of the road was through salt marshes and rice-
fields, with few trees, or interesting objects: at sun-set we ascended
a pleasant hill, and took up our quarters in a Portugueze church,
near an extensive lake, bordered by mango-trees: the priest did
every thing for our accommodation, partook of our supper, and at
midnight left us to repose in his spacious dormitory.

At day-break next morning we renewed our journey to ano-
ther church, five miles from the principal excavation: the country
improved in beauty and fertility; its produce chiefly consisting
of rice- fields, mango groves, and palmyra trees. After breakfast
we proceeded towards mountains of difficult ascent, through
narrow rocky paths rendered almost impervious by thickets and
jungle grass; through which our palanquin bearers could not pene-
trate, and we finished the journey on foot.

At noon we reached the great temple, excavated at some dis-
tance from the summit of a steep mountain, in a commanding
situation. This stupendous work is upwards of ninety feet long,
thirty-eight wide, and of a proportionable height, hewn out of the
solid rock; and forming an oblong square, with a fluted concave
roof: the area is divided into three aisles by regular colonnades;

mu

§A1SETTE rtiW EIEPIAFTA

425

similar to the ancient basilic, a pile of building twice as long as it was
wide: one of the extremities terminating in ahemicycle; two rows
of columns formed a spacious area in the centre, leaving a narrow
walk between the columns and the wall ; in these basilici the
Roman emperors of the east frequently administered justice. The
largest excavation at Salsette seems to be on the same plan, al-
though doubtless intended for a place of worship: towards the
termination of the temple, fronting the entrance, is a circular pile
of solid rock, nineteen feet high, and forty-eight in circumference,
most probably a representation of the lingam , the symbol of Seva.
There are no images in this temple, nor any kind of sculpture
except on the capitals of the pillars, which are generally finished
in a masterly style, and are little impaired by time; some have
been left in an unfinished state; on the summit of others is some-
thing like a bell, between elephants, horses, lions, and animals of
different kinds.

The lofty pillars and concave roof of the principal temple at
Salsette present a much grander appearance than the largest exca-
vation at the Elephanta, although that is much richer in statues
and bassi-relievi than any of those on Salsette: I annex a draw-
ing of the pillars on each island, as they have a characteristic
difference. The portico at Salsette, of the same height and
breadth as the temple, is richly decorated; on each side a large
niche contains a colossal statue well executed; facing the entrance
are small single figures, and groups in various attitudes ; the whole
in good preservation. The outer front of the portico, and the area
before it, corresponding in grandeur with the interior, are now
injured by time, and the mouldering sculpture intermingled with
clematis and a variety of rock-plants. We copied several lines

3 I

426

from the long inscriptions on the square pillars at the entrance;
the characters were obsolete, and had not been deciphered when
I left India.

The following are the exact dimensions of the large temple, or
principal excavation at Salsetie.

Length of the interior, ninety-one feet, six inches.

Breadth, thirty-eight feet.

Depth of the portico, twelve feet.

Portico-wall, or support of rock, five feet.

Front-wall, or support of rock, three feet.

Area, twenty- eight feet.

Outer-wall, or support of rock, two feet eight inches.

The length of the whole temple, portico and area, leading to
it, is one hundred and forty-two feet two inches.

After remaining some hours in the large temple, we proceeded
further up the mountain by a flight of steps hewn in the rock,
and continued to the summit. By various intricate paths they
lead to smaller excavations; most of which consist of two rooms, a
portico and benches, cut in the rock : to each is annexed a cistern
of water of about three cubic feet, also hewn in the rock, for the
preservation of rain water; which we found very cool and grate-
ful after a sultry walk.

Some of these excavations are larger and better finished than
others; a few in their general effect resemble the principal temple,
though inferior in size and decoration. The whole appearance
of this excavated mountain indicates it to have had a city hewn in
its rocky sides capable of containing many thousand inhabitants:
the largest temple was doubtless their principal place of worship;

Tuhlislud by lhos k~WiWn Dimidi H? S Cleveland Street, JF'itzroy Square ZondonCAldv aj.RtJ> .

427

the smaller, on the same plan, inferior dewals; the rest were ap-
propriated as dwellings for the inhabitants, differing in size and
accommodation according to their respective ranks in society; or,
as is still more probable, these habitations were the abode of reli-
gious brahmins and their pupils when India was the nurse of
art and science, and the nations of Europe were involved in igno-
rance and barbarism.

Southey has introduced these excavations, with good effect,
into the “Curse of Kehamaf’ which, however extravagant, con-
tains many true pictures of oriental scenery.

“ In solitude the ancient temples stood.
Once resonant with instruments and song.
And solemn dance of festive multitude ;

Now as the weary ages pass along.
Hearing no voice save of the ocean flood,
Which roars for ever on the restless shores ;

Or, visiting their solitary caves.

The lonely sound of winds, that moan around.
Accordant to the melancholy waves.

High over-head, sublime.

The mighty gate-way’s storied roof was spread.
Dwarfing the puny piles of younger time.

With the deeds of days of yore
The ample roof was sculptur’d o’er.

And many a god-like form there met the eye.
And many an emblem dark of mystery.

Such was the city, whose superb abodes
Seem’d scoop’d by giants for the immortal gods.

Now all is silence dread.

Silence profound and dead.

The everlasting stillness of the deep!”

428

The summit of this wonderful mountain commands an exten-
sive view; the island of Salsetle appears like a map around the
spectator, presenting a fine champaign of rice fields, cocoa-groves,
villages, and cattle; woody hills and fertile vales: the surround-
ing mountains form a fore-ground of grey rocks, covered with
trees, or hollowed into gloomy caverns, the haunt of tigers, ser-
pents, bats, and bees, in immense swarms; the horizon is bounded
on the south by the island of Bombay with the harbour and ship-
ping, east by the continent, north by Bassein and the adjacent
mountains, and west by the ocean. In various parts of Salsette
are romantic views, embellished by the ruins of Portugueze
churches, convents, and villas; once large and splendid, but suf-
fered to decay since the Mahrattas conquered the island.

The enjoyment of the picturesque and fertile scenery of Sal-
sette is interrupted by the tigers which infest the mountains and
descend to the plains : they not only prey upon the sheep and oxen
near the villages, but sometimes carry off the human species.
During our short stay, a poor woman gathering fuel on the skirts
of a wood, laid her infant on the grass, when a tiger sprung from
the cover and carried it to his den, in sight of the wretched
mother!

Another of these ferocious animals prowling in a garden near
Tannah, the capital of the island, suddenly put his head and
fore-feet through the small window of a summer house where a
friend of mine was sitting. Alarmed at his danger, he kept his eye
stedfastly fixed on the enemy, rightly judging that the aperture
was too small for the admission of his body; the gentleman then
ran speedily to the house, and returning immediately with two or

J?u Otisht/i 2v/ 7irc7ia/'i£ Zie/itlei/. 6. J\^u JBxrrli7io Ivn .

429

three armed servants, shot the monster through the heart, he hav-
ing never moved from the spot.

The island of Elephanta, about two leagues from Bombay,
does not exceed three miles in circumference: consisting of
two rocky mountains, covered with trees and brush-wood, and a
small valley of rice-fields, cultivated by a few Hindoo farmers,
whose cottages and cattle enliven the scene. Near the landing
place is the figure of an elephant the size of life, shaped out of a
rock, which probably gave its name to the island; that by which
the natives distinguish it being very different.

Ascending the mountain by a narrow path, winding among
rocks, trees, and underwood, we arrive at the excavation, which
has long excited the attention of the curious, and afforded ample
scope for the discussion of antiquarians. The principal temple,
and adjoining apartments, are two hundred and twenty feet long,
and one hundred and fiftv broad; in these dimensions exceeding the
largest work at Salsette: but being very inferior in height, not-
withstanding the numerous and richer decorations at the Ele-
phanta, the spectator is constantly reminded of being in a cave;
at Salsette, the lofty concave roof and noble columns have a ma-
jestic appearance. Yet the observer feels more surprize and ad-
miration at the Elephanta than at Salsette: he beholds four rows
of massive columns cut out of the solid rock, uniform in their
order, and placed at regular distances, so as to form three magni-
ficent avenues from the principal entrance to the grand idol which
terminates the middle vista; the general effect being heightened
by the blueness of the light, or rather gloom, peculiar to the situa-
tion. The central image is composed of three colossal heads,

430

reaching nearly from the floor to the roof, a height of fifteen feet:
it represents the triad deity in the Hindoo mythology, Brahma ,
Vis/moo, and Seem, in the characters of the creator, preserver, and
destroyer: the middle face displays regular features and a mild
and serene character; the towering head-dress is much orna-
mented, as are those on each side, which appear in profile, lofty
and richly adorned with jewels: the countenance of Vishnoo has
the same mild aspect as Brahma: the visage of Seeva is very
different; severity and revenge, characteristic of his destroy-
ing attribute, are strongly depicted; one of the hands embraces
a large cobra de capello; while the others contain fruit, flowers,
and blessings for mankind; the lotos and pomegranate are easily
distinguished. The lotos, so often introduced into the Hindoo
mythology, forms a principal object in the sculpture and paintings
in their temples, is the ornament of their sacred lakes, and the
most conspicuous beauty in their flowery sacrifices. Whether the
Bali-putras, or Palibothra kings, mentioned in Alexanders invasion
of India, were the same with the more ancient dynasty of Bali-
putra , or Patali-putra, is, perhaps, not yet determined; but the
Bhagavata mentions one of the titles of Maha-Bali , the founder of
that dynasty, to have been Maha-padma , Pati-Nanda , the “ Great
Lord of the Lotos”

The lotos is often seen in the Egyptian and Grecian sculpture;
and that a triad deity was an object of worship in the mythology
of those ancient nations is an hypothesis well supported in Mau-
rice's Indian Antiquities.

On either side of the Elephanta triad is a gigantic figure lean-
ing on a dwarf, an object frequently introduced in these excava-

431

lions. The giants guard the triple deity, and separate it from a
Ja rge recess filled with a variety of figures, male and female, in
different attitudes; they are in tolerable proportion, but express
no particular character of countenance: one conspicuous female,
like the Amazons, is single breasted; the rest, whether intended
for goddesses or mortals, are generally adorned, like the modern
Hindoo women, with bracelets, and rings for the ancles; the men
have bracelets only. The intervening space between these large
figures is occupied by small aerial beings, hovering about them,
in infinite variety. I know not whether I am correct in saying the
larger images in these groups are in alto-relievo, and most of the
smaller in basso-relievo, brought sufficiently forward from the
rock to produce a good effect.

The sides of the temple are adorned with similar compositions,
placed at regular distances, and terminating the avenues formed
by the colonnades, so that only one group is seen at a time, ex-
cept on a near approach; the regularity and proportion of the
whole are remarkably striking. The figures are generally in grace-
ful attitudes; but those of herculean stature indicate no muscular
strength. I believe in the finest works of Greece and Rome there
is some peculiar distinction in this respect between the statues of
deities and mortals: in the Apollo Belvidere the graceful attitude,
majestic demeanor, and finely proportioned limbs, unite delicate
softness with manly strength; or, to use the language of a celebrated
enthusiast, “ his stature is more than human; the beauty of youth
is diffused over the manly perfection of his frame, and gracefully
displayed in the noble configuration of the limbs: there seems no-
thing mortal, the body is neither warmed by veins, nor agitated

432

by nerves; a celestial spirit like a gentle stream circulates over the
contour of the figure.” Certainly my first impressions on behold-
ing this master-piece of art, surpassed those excited by the
Venus di Medici, in her velvet tribune, at Florence; and greater
than either was the effect of the Laocoon. The agony expressed in
the countenance, and strongly marked by every vein and muscle
stretched and swelling over the body, especially in the feet, admi-
rably display the power and excjuisite skill of the artist.

Nothing of this kind is observable in the Elephanta; among
many thousand figures, few of the countenances express any par-
ticular passion, or mark a decided character: they have generally
a sleepy aspect, and bear a greater resemblance to the tame sculp-
ture of Egypt than the animated works of the Grecian chisel.

The columns at the Elephanta are of a singular shape, and in
all respects differ from the beautiful orders of ancient Greece: the
shafts are massive in proportion to their height; the large capitals,
swelling over the ornaments, give the appearance of pressure
by the superincumbent mountain; a form appropriate to their
function in this wonderful work.

From the right and left avenues of the principal temple are
passages to smaller excavations on each side: that on the right is
much decayed, and very little of the sculpture remains entire; a
pool of water penetrates from it into a dark cavern far under the
rock; whether natural or artificial is not determined. A small
corresponding temple on the left side, contains two baths, one of
them elegantly finished: the front is open, and the roof supported
by pillars of a different order from those in the large temple; the
sides are adorned with sculpture, and the roof and cornice painted

433

in mosaic patterns ; some of the colours are still bright. The op-
posite hath of the same proportions, is less ornamented; between
them a room detached from the rock contains a colossal represen-
tation of the lingam. Several small caves branch out from the
grand excavations.

I remained on one occasion four days at the isle of Elephanta,
and paid more than one visit to the sculptured mountains of Ca~
nara, sketching the most striking features of these wonderful works,
I once accompanied an eminent English artist on his first visit to
the Elephanta; I had been lavish in its praise; too much so, as 1
had reason to conclude, on our arrival at the great temple. After
the glare of a tropical sun, during the walk from the landing-place,
it was sometime before the eye had accommodated itself to the
gloom of these subterraneous chambers sufficiently to discrimi-
nate objects in that sombre light. We remained for several minutes
without speaking, or looking particularly at each other: at length,
when more familiarized to the cavern, my companion still remain-
ing silent, I expressed some fear of having been too warm in my
description, and that, like most other objects, the reality fell short
of the anticipated pleasure: he soon relieved my anxiety by de-
claring, that, however highly he had raised his imagination, on en-
tering this stupendous scene he was so absorbed in astonishment
and delight as to forget where he was. He had seen the most
striking objects of art in Italy and Greece, but never any thing
which filled his mind with such extraordinary sensations. So en-
raptured was he with the spot, that after staying until a late hour
he reluctantly accompanied me to the hospitable mansion of an

3 K

434

English officer at Butcher’s island; whither we repaired every
evening, and returned on the following morning to revisit the Ele-
phanta, as the nocturnal damps render it dangerous to sleep in
the caverns, and the cottages of the natives cannot accommodate
Europeans.

I do not wish to insinuate from this gentleman’s surprize and
delight in the caverns of the Elephanta, that he placed the Hindoo
sculpture in competition with the Grecian temples and statues;
it was the general effect which struck him. However these gigantic
statues, and others of similar form, in the caves of Elora and
Salsette, may astonish a common observer, the man of taste looks
in vain for proportion of form and expression of countenance.

The Elephanta caves especially cause admiration when we
contemplate the immensity of the undertaking, the number of
artificers employed, and the extraordinary genius of its first pro-
jector, in a country until lately7- accounted rude and barbarous, by the
now-enlightened nations of Europe. It is a work which would be
admired by the curious, had it been raised from a foundation, like
other structures; but when we consider it is hewn inch by inch in
the hard and solid rock, we cannot but be astonished at the
conception and completion of the undertaking. In Egypt are
many excavations similar to those in Hindostan, which, with great
reason, are supposed to be derived from the same origin; nor is it
extravagant to pronounce, with Maurice, that the caves of Ele-
phanla bear a great resemblance to what was exhibited in vision
to the prophet Ezekiel; when, looking in, he saw every form of
creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the

435

house of Israel pourtrayed upon the wall round about: and the
worshippers therein had their faces towards the east, and they wor-
shipped the sun toward the east.

I am far from advocating the cause of Hinduism; but I
confess, that a view of these excavations has often caused pious
meditation and filled my mind with awe, though I was sur-
rounded by idols. My opinion of modern Brahminism is appa-
rent throughout these pages; but many circumstances authorize a
conclusion, that there was a time when the more enlightened
brachmans worshipped God in his unity; and perhaps in these
very temples sung the praises of Jehovah, without the medium of
subordinate divinities; which are said to have been introduced
only for vulgar minds: however erroneous the principle, we must
subscribe to the opinion of Sir William Jones, that “ the inextri-
cable difficulties attending the vulgar notion of material substances,
concerning which

u We know this only, that we nothing know,”

induced many of the wisest among the ancients, and some of the
most enlightened among the moderns, to believe that the whole
creation was rather an energy than a work, by which the Infinite
Being, who is present at all times and in all places, exhibits to the
minds of his creatures a set of perceptions, like a wonderful picture
or piece of music, always varied, yet always uniform; so that all
bodies and their qualities exist, indeed, to every wise and useful
purpose, but exist only as far as they are perceived; a theory no
less pious than sublime, and as different from any principle of
atheism, as the brightest sun-shine differs from the blackest mid-

436

night. This illusive operation of the deity the Hindoo philoso-
phers call maya, or deception/7

The above is extracted from the argument of the hymn to
Narayena, one of the most sublime and beautiful compositions in
any language, translated by our great orientalist: the first stanza
represents the sublimest attributes of the Supreme Being, and the
three forms in which they most clearly appear to us, power, wis-
dom, and goodness; or, in the language of Orpheus and his disci-
ples, love. I shall only copy the first stanza of this divine poem,
and the concluding lines; although every part of it would delight
a refined and pious mind, and enlighten the most obscure recesses
appropriated to such an object of worship.

The Spirit of God, called Narayena, or inoving on the zvater,
has a multitude of other epithets in the Sanscrit, the principal of
which are introduced in different parts of the hymn.

IIYMN TO NARAYENA.

Spirit of spirits, who, through every part
Of space expanded and of endless time.

Beyond the stretch of labouring thought sublime,

Badst uproar into beauteous order start.

Before heaven was, thou art :

Ere spheres beneath us roll’d or spheres above.

Ere earth in tirmamental ether hung,

Thou satst alone, 'till through thy mystic love.

Things unexisting to existence sprung.

And grateful descant sung.

What first imped'd thee to exert thy might ?

Goodness unlimited. What glorious light
Thy power directed ? wisdom without bound.

What prov’d it first ? Oh ! guide my fancy right ;

437

Oh ! raise from cmnb’rous ground
My soul in rapture drown’d.

That fearless it may soar on wings of fire;

For thou, who only know’st, thou only canst inspire !
*********

My soul absorb’d One only being knows.

Of all perceptions One abundant source.
Whence every object every moment flows :

Suns hence derive their force.

Hence planets learn their course;

But suns and fading worlds I view no more :

God only I perceive, God only I adore !

Various are the conjectures of cTAnquitel, Niebuhr, and other
travellers, respecting these caverns, but none satisfactory ; the
author of the Indian Antiquities, and several writers who have re-
cently published their investigations are more explanatory. Before
I proceed to that part of the subject, I shall transcribe Dr. Fryer's
entertaining account of his visit to the excavated mountains at
Salsette, a century before I saw them.

« Curiosity led me to visit the island of Canorein, or Salsette;
nor went I alone, some of the best quality on the island of Bom-
bain being led by the same desire, joined themselves with me:
we carried a train of horses, palanquins, and servants, which were
ferried over before us; and we coming soon after, were met by
some members of the convent of Jesuits, and conducted to the
fathers, who detained us till afternoon by a stately banquet, shew-
ing us the civility of the church and college, diverting us both
with instrumental and vocal music, and very good wine: and
wherever we came afterwards, we received, by the kindness of the

438

padre-superior, presents of the best fruits and wines, and whatever
we wanted.

“ Here, not adjoining to any town, in a sweet air, stood a mag-
nificent rural church; in the way to which,. and indeed all up and
down this island, are pleasant aldeas, or country seats of the gen-
try, where they live like petty monarchs, all that is born on the
ground being theirs; holding them in a perfect state of villainage,
they being lords paramount. (It may perhaps be necessary for
me to remark, that the island of Salsette belonged at that time to
the crown of Portugal.)

“ From hence, when we had bailed, the same night we tra-
velled easily to Magatana, using our fowling-pieces all the way ; being
here presented with rich game, as peacocks, doves, and pigeons,
chitrels or spotted deer. When we came to the town, two several
churches strove to receive us: we accepted of one; and as soon
as we came in, the servitors fetched us warm water to wash our
feet, which was very refreshing; it put us in mind of Lot’s courtesy
to the angels. This night we fared well: next morn before break
of day we directed our steps to the anciently famed, but now
ruined city of Canorein: the way to it is so delightsome, I thought
I had been in England; fine arable, pasture, and coppices: thus
we passed five miles to the foot of the hill on which the city stands;
and had passed half a mile through a thick wood, peopled by
apes, tigers, wild buffaloes, and jackals : here were some flocks
of parroquets.

“ When we alighted, the sun began to mount the horizon over
the hills, and under our feet, as if he had newly bathed his fiery
coursers: there appeared the mouth of a tank, or aqueduct, out

439

of a rock, whose steaming breath was very hot, but water cold;
from hence it is thought the whole city to be supplied with water;
for as we ascend, we find such places, where convenient, fd led
with limpid water, not over-matched in India: if it be so, as I
know not how to contradict it, that it should have its current up-
wards through the hard rocks artificially cut, the world cannot
parallel so wonderful a water-course. From hence the passage is
uneasy and inaccessible for more than two abreast, till we come to
the city, all cut out of a rock; where is presented Vulcan’s forge,
supported by two mighty colosses, bellied in the middle with two
globes. Next a temple with a beautiful frontispiece, not unlike
the portico of St. Paul’s west gate: within the porch on each side
stand two monstrous giants, where two lesser and one great gate
give a noble entrance: it can receive no light but at the doors
and windows of the porch, whereby it looks more solemnly: the
roof is arched, seeming to be born up by huge pillars of the same
rock; some round, some square, thirty-four in number, and the
cornice work of elephants, horses, lions. At the upper end it
rounds like a bow; near where stands a great offertory somewhat
oval, the body of it without pillars; they only making a narrow
piazza about, leaving the nave open: it may be an hundred feet
in length, in height sixty feet or more.

“ Beyond this, by the same mole-like industry, was worked out
a court of judicature, (as those going to show it will needs give it
names) or place of audience, fifty feet square, all bestuck with
imagery, well engraven according to old sculpture. On the side
over against the door, sat one superintendant, to whom the brahmin
who went with us paid great reverence, not speaking of him with-

440

out a token of worship; whom he called Jogee, or the holy man:
under this the way being made into handsome marble steps, are
the king’s stables, not different from the fashion of our noblemen’s
stables; only at the head of every stall seems to be a dormitory,
or place for devotion, with images; which gave occasion to doubt
if ever for that end; or rather made for an heathen seminary of
devotees, and these their cells or chapels, and the open place their
common hall, or school: more aloft stood the king’s palace,
large, stately, and magnificent; surrounded with lesser of the
nobility.

“ To see all would require a month’s time; but that we might
see as much as we could in our allotted time, we got upon the
highest part of the mountain, where we feasted our eyes with in-
numerable entrances of these coney-burrows, but could not see
one quarter part. Whose labour this should be, or for what pur-
pose, is out of memory: but this place by the gentiles is much
adored: some contend for Alexander; and, as a proof, think the}"
have said enough, when it is received by tradition, that a great
gap was cut by him out of a solid rock to make this an island :
but this is contradictory to the story delivered of Alexander, that
he sailed up the Indus, and encountered king Porus; of whom
some little remains may be collected, they speaking of that king by
the name of For, in Cambaia.

“ Returning to Magatana, we spent some days in riding about
the country, which we found every where provided with churches.
The chief city of this island is Tanaw, in which are seven churches
and colleges, the chiefest one of the Paulistines: the houses tiled,
but low: here are made good stuffs of silk and cotton. The For-

tugals suffer none but Christians here; it has no rivers, only inlets
from the sea; but good springs from the rocks; the ground ex-
cellently fertile, either of itself, or by the care of the inhabitants;
that it yields good cabbages, coleworts, and better radishes than
ever I yet saw: besides garden fruit, here are incomparable water-
melons, and onions as sweet and as well tasted as an apple; and
for the natural growth of the soil, it is known not only to supply
the adjoining islands, but Goa also: it is more than twenty miles
in length, and seventy in circumference.”

Dr. Fryer’s account of the excavated mountains at Salsette,
and the temples at the Elephanta, though very entertaining, throw
no light on their origin: I did not pursue his route of Alexander,
as it is foreign to the subject; and it appears almost ridiculous to
mention theopinion of those travellers who conjecture the excavations
to have been made in the reign of Solomon, by artists who sailed
in his fleet from Ezion-geber to Ophir, for the commodities of
India; and as a proof of this assertion, point out a sculptured
group at the Elephanta, where they pretend to trace the story of
the celebrated judgment of that monarch in the case of the two
harlots: this is too groundless for discussion. Many attribute
them to Alexander, as remarked by Dr. Fryer, but after crossing
the Indus, and entering the Punjab, that country watered by five
rivers, the Macedonian hero made little progress into the southern
provinces of Hindostan; for, on the banks of the river Chelum, or
Betah, the ancient Hydaspes, he was opposed by Porus, the In-
dian sovereign, as appears from Arrian’s history, taken from the
iournals of Aristobulus, Nearchus, and the other generals who ac-
companied Alexander: the hardships his veteran Greeks had un-

442

dergone in their marches during the rainy season, made them refuse to
advance further; although he doubtless meant to have extended his
conquests to the banks of the Ganges. The river Hyphasis, now
called the Beyah, was the boundary of his march from Persia; from
thence he commenced his return to that kingdom, and there he erected
several monuments in memory of his achievements. Nearchus fitted
out a fleet of near two thousand vessels, of various size and con-
struction, on the Hydaspes, a branch of the Indus, with which he
entered that noble river, and following its stream to the ocean,
proceeded by the Persian gulph to the Euphrates; while Alexander
himself returned, with the remainder of his army, through Persia.
The other parts of Hindostan had then remained impenetrated by
the conqueror; this would abundantly disprove all connexion be-
tween these works and Alexander’s expedition, did not the total
absence of any thing Grecian, in the style of architecture, or the
character of the mythological figures, preclude any such idea.

Sir Charles Mulct's judicious remarks on the excavations at
Ellora, which are similar, and most probably contemporary with
those at Salsette and the Elephanta, throw considerable light on
these wonderful productions; although in his letter to Lord Teign-
mouth he does not allow his inquiries to have been entirely satis-
factory. “ Doubtless they are the works of people wiiose religion
and mythology were purely Hindoo, and most of the excavations
carry strong marks of dedication to Maiidew, as the piesiding
deity. The fanciful analogies of some travellers, (particularly
that attributed to the eight-handed figure of Veer Budder, hold-
ing up rajah Dutz in one hand, and a drawn sword in the other,
with the famous judgment of Solomon) now vanish; and we no

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longer seek for colonies of Jews, Egyptians , Ethiopians, or Pit cru-
cians, to supercede the more rational mode of accounting for such
works, in the enthusiastic labour and ingenuity of the natives of
the country; b}r which means the wonder is at least simplified.”

“ The difference of the inscriptions in some of the caves, from
the present known characters of Hindostan, may be objected to
their being the produce of Hindoo artists; but it is well known
that the formation of letters undergoes great changes in the course
of ages, and that such is the case with respect to the excavations on
the western side of India, may be fairly inferred, from the diffi-
culty with which the ingenious Mr. Charles Wilkins traced and
recovered, as I have been informed, some inscriptions in the
neighbourhood of Ghya. But I am inclined to think that we are
not sufficiently acquainted with the characters of the south of In-
dia, such as the Tumhole , Arvee, Kenaraa , and Telinghee, to pro-
nounce on their affinity to those in the excavations, which will be
fully submitted to the scrutiny of the learned in an intended pub-
lication by Mr. Wales; whose fine taste, masterly pencil, and laud-
able industry, are mentioned in m}- former letter; he has already
made great progress in such a collection of these wonderful anti-
quities, many of them hitherto unheard of by Europeans, and first
discovered by his inquiries, as, with the addition of those at Ellora,
will at once engage and satisfy the expectations of the learned and
the curious.

“ Though I have mentioned my persuasion that the generality
of the excavations I have seen, not only at Ellora, but elsewhere,
are dedicated to Mahdew; yet I do not mean thereby to aban-
don an idea, that the most northerly caves of Ellora, occupied by

444

the sitting and standing figures, are the works of the Sewras or
Juttees , who b}’ the brahmins are esteemed schismatics; and
whose sect, called Shawuk, is very numerous in Guzerat. The tenets,
observances, and habits of the Sewras are peculiar and, in many
points, very different from other Hindoos. Their adoration of the
deity is conveyed through the mediation of A dnaut and Paris-
naut, the visible objects of their worship, personified as a naked
man, sitting or standing. This sect is supposed to be of a compa-
ratively modern origin; if so, and if the foregoing hypothesis of
the dedication of the temples to their idol, be admitted, the limit
of their possible antiquity follows, but without ascertaining, or
affecting that of the others.’"

“ Whether we consider the design, or contemplate the execu-
tion, of these extraordinary works, we are lost in wonder at the
idea of forming a vast mountain into almost eternal mansions.,
The mythological symbols and figures throughout the whole, leave
no room to doubt their owing their existence to religious zeal: the
most powerful and most universal agitator of the human mind.”

Sir Charles Malefs account of the temple at Ellora was pre-
ceded in the Asiatic researches by a description of the excavations
at the island of Elephanta, by Mr. Goldingham, whose investiga-
tions corroborate Sir Charles’s so far as to prove that neither Egyp-
tians, Jews, nor Greeks, had any share in the undertaking.

Mr. Goldingham’s descriptions of the several compartments
of figures and of the detached baths and temples, are very accu-
rate, and discriminated with judgment; he justly supposes the
triple bust to be a personification of the three grand Hindoo attri-
butes of that Being for whom the ancien t Hindoos entertained the

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445

most profound veneration, and of whom they had the most sub-
lime conceptions. The middle head represents Brahma, or the
creative attribute; that on the left Vishnu, or the preserving; and
the head on the right, Siva, or the destructive or changing attri-
bute. The figure with one breast appears to be a representation
of the consort of Siva exhibiting the active power of her lord,
not only as Bawani, or courage, but as Isani, or the goddess of
nature, considered as male and female, and presiding over gene-
ration, and also as Durga. Here we find the bull of Iswara (one
of Siva’s names), and the figure bearing his trisule or trident. The
beautiful figure on the elephant is Cama, or the Hindoo god of love;
the figure with four heads supported by birds, is a representation
of Brahma, and that with four arms mounted on the shoulders of
another, is Vishnu. The two principal figures in the niche to the
left, represent, perhaps, Siva and his goddess as Parvati, with
Brahma and Vishnu in the back ground.

The terrific figure with eight arms has been supposed by some
to represent Solomon threatening to divide the harlot’s child;
others suppose it to be the tyrant Cansa attempting the life of the
infant god Crishna when fostered by the herdsman Ananda. But
in this, the third attribute, or the destroyer in action, is too well
represented to be mistaken: the distant scene, where the smaller
figures appear in distress and pain, is perhaps the infernal
regions. The figures, male and female, sitting, with a bull couch-
ing at the feet of the former, are Siva and his goddess; and thus
they are represented in the temples of the present day. The figure
with the human body and elephant’s head, cannot be mistaken
for any other than Ganesa, the Hindoo god of wisdom, and the

446

first-born of Siva; and the i ingam is a sufficient testimony of
Siva’s having presided in this ancient Hindoo temple.

Mr. Goldingham does not attempt to deduce the eera of the
fabrication of this wonderful structure; but a considerable light
is thrown on the subject by Mr. Wilford, whose erudition has been
conspicuously displayed in the transactions of the Asiatic Society.
He has discovered some of the inscriptions in the caves at Salsette
to be the pure Sanscrit dialect, and the characters, though un-
couth and barbarous, of the same language; others again are en-
graved in an ancient vernacular dialect, and in characters derived
from the original, or primeval Sanscrit, since they are established
on the same elements, although very different in form from those
at present in use. The subject of these inscriptions would per-
haps have been of little importance, had they not led to a very
valuable discovery of ancient alphabets; which may hereafter
facilitate the deciphering of other inscriptions of greater conse-
quence.

In the literature of India there is no legend more celebrated
than the wars of the Kooroos and Pandoos, the sons of Detra-
rashtra and Pandoo, for the dominion of Plindostan — a subject
which has given birth to the Mahabarat, a poem that, among the
Hindoos, has the credit of divine inspiration, and which Mr.
Hastings has compared with the Iliad of Homer.

Detrarashtra and Pandoo were the sons of Veectreetraveerga,
who was succeeded in the empire by Pandoo in consequence of
his elder brother being incapacitated by blindness. Detrarashtra
is said to have had a hundred sons, of whom Doorgadun was the
eldest, and in fact the representative of that branch oi the family

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distinguished under the name of Kooroos: the sons of Pandoo were
five; Yoodishter, Bheem, Arjoon, Nekool, and Sahader.

Upon the death of Pandoo, Doorgadun, his nephew, succeeded
to the throne; hence divisions were excited, and conspiracies
were alternately formed, on the one hand, to usurp the govern-
ment, and on the other, to extirpate the race of Pandoo. At
length, to terminate the feuds, it was agreed between Doorgadun
and Yoodishter to divide the kingdom; when Doorgadun con-
ceived an artifice by which he might remove his rival, without
occasioning those contentions to which the empire had before
been a prey. To effect this purpose he challenged Yoodishter to
a game of chance; which being accepted, Doorgadun, by means
of false dice, won all his adversary’s wealth and kingdom; and
having thus succeeded, he agreed to give him one chance more of
redeeming his loss, if, in case of failure, he would retire with his
brothers for twelve years into such strict banishment, that they
should not within that time be seen by any man. These terms
were consented to, Doorgadun prevailed, and the Pandoos entered
upon their exile into forests the most unfrequented. The term
of their seclusion from society being expired, they addressed Door-
gadun, by Vedum and Vyasa, to be restored; when, their over-
tures being rejected with contempt, they assembled a large army,
and effected by force what they failed in by entreaty; for in a
pitched battle fought between the two armies near the city of
Tanassar, the Kooroos were vanquished, and Yoodishter succeeded
to the throne.

It is to these exiles in the forests that the inscriptions are found
to relate; they consist of short obscure sentences, supposed to have

448

been engraven on rocks and stones by Vedum and Yyasa, the
friends of the Pandoos, communicating to them, by their means,
such intelligence as was necessary to their safety; consoling them
in their misfortunes, and warning them against the arts of Door-
gad un.

These transactions are supposed to have happened in the com-
mencement of Kalee Youg, a period between four thousand eight
hundred, and five thousand years ago: and some of the most respect-
able Hindoos of the present day, entertain a firm conviction that these
inscriptions are the authentic works ofVedum and Vyasa. It may
be interesting to the lovers of Hindoo literature to be informed
that this Vyasa is the reputed author of the Puranas.

Such is the recent account of those inscriptions, and certainly
there are many corroborating circumstances in the sculpture, espe-
cially in the caves at the Elephanta, to strengthen this opinion;
and particularly so at Mont-pesser, or Mundip Ishwur, on Salsette:
at a little distance from whence there still remain six obelisks, in
tolerable preservation. On some of them is a representation, in
basso-relievo, of sea and land battles; the vessels engaged in a
furious combat are extremely well represented: on others are
carved the emblems of peace, and similar subjects, which may
perhaps relate to the {era just mentioned.

Before I conclude my account of these excavations, I must
not omit the striking resemblance which has been observed between
them and the sculptured grottos in Egypt; a circumstance which
seems to imply that either the Egyptians copied from the Hindoos,
or the Hindoos from them; the former is now generally allowed.
Not far from the city of Assuan, the ancient Syen described by

'

Published by Tho' & WUL’^Danidl Cleveland StrceCJSiZzroy Square . ZondonTcb*i a 6j 6.

449

Strabo, on the confines of Ethiopia, the rocks on the western
banks of the Nile are hewn into grottoes, with places of worship,
columns, pilasters, and hieroglyphics, as particularly mentioned by
modern travellers. Strabo also describes the adjacent island of
Elephantina, with its surrounding rocks in the Nile; from whence
were hewn those enormous masses used in the magnificent struc-
tures of Egypt, and especially of that amazing cube, each side
measuring sixty feet, in which the sanctuary of Butis Avas cut.
The island of Elephantina in the time of Strabo contained a small
tOAvn, with the temple of Cneph, and a celebrated Nilometer.

I have often been struck Avith the idea that there may be some
affinity between the written mountains in Arabia, and the excavated
mountains in Hindostan; I mean only as far as relates to such re-
cords or memorials in times of remote antiquity. The book of
Job is alloAved to be of a very ancient date; coeval, if not antece-
dent, to the writings of Moses. In his sublime and pathetic apostro-
phe the afflicted patriarch exclaims, “ O that my Avords were iioav
written! oh that they Avere printed in a book! that they Avere
graven Avith an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! for I
knoAv that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth: and though worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself; and
mine eyes shall behold, and not another!”

In this memorable speech to his misjudging and uncharitable
friends, uttered by the venerable sufferer, in strong faith and fer-
vent hope, he not only makes this animated appeal, but ardently
Avishes to have it recorded for the consolation of the latest posterity.
Printing, so improperly introduced by the English translators, Avas

3 m

450

then unknown; manuscripts were perishing, but the rock was per-
manent. On an adamantine rock, therefore, did the pious prince
wish that his words might be engraved, the characters filled up
with lead, and remain indelible for ever! All this must certainly
allude to a custom then known; most probably the written moun-
tains in Arabia, the very country in which they lived, were extant
at the time, and familiar to his hearers.

Engraving on stones was generally practised in Egypt: their
hieroglyphics were cut in the hardest granite; the obelisks were
sculptured in intaglio, filled with cement of various colours; which
is probably what our translators have meant by lead. These me-
morials brought into Europe by the Roman emperors, the remains
of excavated hills and sculptured rocks still extant in Egypt,
united with the accounts of the Greek historians, undoubtedly
prove the antiquity of works similar to those in India. The
written mountains of Arabia appear to be a strong confirmation
that such memorials were not uncommon in those early ages The
characters engraved on the portals of the excavated mountains in
Hindostan, and the adjacent rocks, have very lately been deci-
phered : I copied several lines from the entrance of the caves of
Canara, which were then pronounced obsolete, and past finding
out: Mr. Wilford has proved the contrary. Possibly, in this en-
lightened age, the characters on the Arabian mountains may yet
be explained.

In the bishop of Cloghers account of the written mountains
in Arabia, he says, “ the Prefetto of Egypt writes in his journal,
that after disengaging ourselves from the mountains of Earan,
we came to a large plain, surrounded by high hills; at the foot of

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which we reposed ourselves in our lenls. These hills are called
Gebel el Mokatab, that is, the Written Mountains : for as soon as we
had parted from the mountains of Faran, we passed by several
others for an hour together, engraved with ancient unknown cha-
racters, which were cut in the hard marble rock, so high as to be
in many places at twelve or fourteen feet distance from the ground ;
and though we had in our company persons who were acquainted
with the Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Armenian,
Turkish, Illyrian, and other languages, yet none of them had any
knowledge of these characters; which have nevertheless been cut into
the hard rock, with the greatest industry, in a place where there is
neither water, nor any thing to be gotten to eat. It is probable,
therefore, these unknown characters contain some very secret mys-
teries; and that they were engraved either by the Chaldeans, or
some other persons, long before the Christian era.”

Niebuhr mentions a large cemetery in the desert of Sinai,
where a great many stones are set up in an erect position, on a
high and steep mountain, covered with as beautiful hieroglyphics
as those of the Egyptian mountains. The Arabs carried them
to this burial place, which is more remarkable than the written
mountains, seen and described by other travellers in this desert;
for so many well-cut stones could never be the monuments of
wandering Arabs, but must necessarily owe their origin to the
inhabitants of some great city near this place, which is, however,
now a desert.

Most of the preceding remarks formed the subject of a letter
written in 1774, after my first visit to the excavations on Salsette.
I shall not at present enter into the political disputes and civil wars

452

then subsisting in the Mahratta state; they are detailed in a future
chapter: towards the end of that year those commotions afforded
the government of Bombay an opportunity of obtaining the islands
of Salsette, Caranjah and Elephanta; the former was an acqui-
sition of great importance to Bombay. In consequence of a treaty
between the Select Committee of Bombay, and Ragonath Row,
Peshwa of the Mahratta empire, by which those islands were ceded
to the Company, a detachment of 120 European artillery, 200
artillery Lascars, 500 European infantry, and 1000 Sepoys, under
the command of General Gordon, proceeded to Tannah, the prin-
cipal fortress on Salsette; which, in consequence of orders from
the Mahratta ministers at Poonah, the Killedar refused to surren-
der, they being then engaged in a civil war against Ragonath
Row.

The English batteries opened on the 20th of December, and
the breach was effected on the 24th, when the general resolved to
storm. While our troops were filling the ditch during the night a
heavy fire from the fort obliged them to retire with the loss of near
an hundred Europeans, and several officers wounded: they stormed
again on the 28th, and obtained possession with a trilling loss on
our side, but a dreadful slaughter of the garrison, who made an
obstinate resistance.

During the siege of Tannah, a detachment, under the com-
mand of Lieutenant Colonel Keating, marched against Versava, a
small fortress on the west side of Salsette, which surrendered
on the fourth day when the batteries opened, after our troops
had been twice repulsed in attempting an escalade. Colonel
Keating then proceeded with another detachment to the island of

453

Caranjah, situated on the east side of Bombay harbour; the for-
tress was soon evacuated, and the Elephanta and Hog-island, at
that time belonging to the Mahrattas, were surrendered to the
English without opposition.

Thus did the Company acquire these desirable possessions in
the vicinity of Bombay; they have since been guaranteed by the
Mahratta government, and form a part of the Bombay establish-
ment.

I paid an early visit to these new conquests: it is a plea-
sant passage of a few hours from Bombay to Tannah, which so
soon after the siege made a desolate appearance. The fort was
a pentagon, with regular bastions, curtains, and towers, mounting
more than a hundred cannon; most of which were damaged or
dismounted during the siege: it was built by the Portugueze when
masters of the island, and altered by the Mahrattas, who con-
quered Salsette and Bassein during the Peshwaship of Bajerow.
When in possession of the Mahrattas, the houses and gardens at
Tannah reached very near the fortifications; the English engineer
immediately removed them, to form an esplanade of five hundred
yards from the east to the north-west tower; the other sides were
rendered inaccessible by the river and morasses. Haifa mile from
the fort is a Portugueze church, pleasantly situated on the side of
a large tank, surrounded by mango and tamarind groves; the spires
and domes of mosques and Hindoo temples rising amid their dark
foliage, produce a good effect.

I sailed from Salsette to Caranjah, and landed about two miles
from the principal town, situated between two lofty mountains, on
the west side: it was nothing more than a large Mahratta villao-e.

454

with low straggling houses, near a tank covered with wild ducks
and water-fowl, hitherto unmolested by Europeans. On its banks a
small fort, a Portugueze church, and a Hindoo temple embellished
the view. The principal fort stands on the summit of a lofty moun-
tain, romantically diversified by woods and rock: the ascent is
steep and difficult. This castle, small, badly constructed, and mount-
ing only fourteen guns, was incapable of defence, but its situation
rendered it almost inaccessible. It commands a western view of
the town and harbour of Bombay, Salsette, and all the adjacent
islands, and to the east the mountains of the continent, and nearer
plains of Caranjah; abounding with rice-fields, cocoa-nut, palmyra,
mango, and tamarind trees, filled with monkeys, parrots, owls, and
singing-birds of various kinds.

-Pu&lz'shetL ly ~W7ubz. Coder ane, k O? JTl<xfr Street. June .

CHAPTER

XV.

HISTORY OF THE MAHRATTA EMPIRE FROM ITS FIRST FOUN-
DATION, TO THE MURDER OF NARRAIN ROW

IN 1773;

AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CIVIL WAR BETWEEN
RAGONAUTH ROW, AND THE CONFEDERATE
CHIEFTAINS. 1773.

One part of mankind is naturally curious to learn the sentiments, manners, and condition
of the rest; and every mind that has leisure or power to extend its views, must be desirous
of knowing in what proportion Providence has distributed the blessings of nature, or the ad-
vantages of art, among the several nations of the earth. Dr. Johnson.

f

CONTENTS.

The author obtains an appointment among the civil servants attached
to the British detachment ordered from Bombay , to assist Rago-
nath-Row, peshwa of the Mahrattas, then driven from his capital ,
and at the head of an army in Guzerat — origin of the Mahratta
empire — epitome of the Hindoos in general — derivation of the
Mahratta name — Shajee the founder of the empire-— his son , Se-
vajee, assumes the title of rajah — his wars with Aurungzebe , de-
predations in the Mogul empire , and death in 1680 — misfortunes
and death of his son Sambajee by Aurungzebe — military character
of the Mahrattas — great increase of their army — Raje-Ram—his
widow assumes the government — dreadful scenes in the Mogul em-
pire on the death of Aurungzebe — its rapid decline , subsequent
plunder of Delhi by Nadir Shah, and wanton cruelties on the de-
struction of the Mogul power at the conclusion of the eighteenth
century — Saojee, the son of Sambojee, escapes from the Moguls,
and ascends the Mahratta throne — constitutes the great council —
rapid rise of the brahmin family of Ballajee — Ballajee advanced
to the dignity of peshwa — supersedes the power and splendour of
the rajah, and becomes in fact sovereign of the Mahrattas — success
of the Mahrattas, and increase of their dominions, under the admi-
nistration of Ballajee Bajerow and Nanna Saib — situation of Poo-
nah, the capital of the empire-— progress of the Mahrattas in the
art of war — battle of P ampul* — death of Narnia Saib— accession
of Mhadarow — disputes with his uncle Ragobah — foreign wars —
success— and death of Mhaderow — conduct to his brother Narrain

3 N

Row on his death-bed— -last interview with his wife— -his noble be-
haviour and provision for her widowhood — her resolution to devote
herself on his funeral pyre; fortitude and dignity on that trying
occasion — accession of Narrain Rorv; weak and irresolute character
of that prince — machinations of his uncle Ragobah — massacre of
Narrain Row — Ragobah claims the title of peshwa — and assumes
the government — Ragobah' s imprudent conduct respecting the mur-
derers of Narrain Row — the mother and widow of Narrain Row
appear in public view — character of the former — the latter declares
herself pregnant — ceremony of investing Ragobah with the honours
of peshwa procrastinated on that account— Narrain Row's widow
delivered of a prince-— Ragobah leaves Poonah , and marches against
the Nizam — confederation of the ministers in favour of the infant
peshwa , and commencement qf the civil war — Ragobah applies to
the Bombay government for a detachment qf British troops , and
enters into a treaty — embarkation of the English detachment to
join his army in Guzerat.

CHA P T E R XV,

Soon after the conquest of Salsette I obtained one of the ap-
pointments generally given to the civil servants, with the detach-
ment of British forces sent from Bombay to the assistance of
Ragonath-Row, at that time the reigning sovereign of the Mali-
ratlas, though he had then been driven from his capital by the
confederate ministers; and when the Bombay government resolved
to reinstate him on the musnud at Poonah, he was encamped with
his army in the province of Guzerat, waiting for the junction of
the English troops.

That a war, which, in its consequences, has engaged the East
India Company in various treaties and alliances with the Mah-
rattas, may be better understood, I shall give some account of that
extraordinary nation; who, by their caste, are accounted among
the lower tribes of the Hindoos; but by courage, policy, and per-
severance, are become the most powerful and formidable people in
Hindostan.

Having already described the Hindoos, in their national and
individual character, it is only necessary, in this place, to recapi-
tulate a few circumstances, in which the Mahrattas are generally
included. Their religious tenets are mild and benevolent; and,

460

although mixed with many errors, and bewildered in the mazes of
polytheism, their definition of the Supreme Being is truly sublime;
their rites and ceremonies, with a few exceptions, are pious, inof-
fensive, and suited to the climate. The high caste of brahmins
are their priests and philosophers; the physicians of their bodies*
and the guardians of their souls: I now allude to the recluse sects
of this order, who minister in the temples, and preside in the
colleges and religious ceremonies; or abstemiously retire from the
world, to spend their days in pious exercises and superstitious
penance.

The brahmins, banians, and superior castes of the Hindoos,
are generally innocent and peaceable; they never taste any thing
that either lias or can have life, abstaining even from eggs, be-
cause they contain the vital principle; nor will they put to death
the most noxious reptile. Many of these enthusiasts carry a small
broom to sweep the ground before they sit down, lest they should
crush some insect, and wear a cloth before their mouth from the
fear of inhaling them with their breath. The diet of the higher
tribes of Hindoos consists of grain, pulse, fruit, milk, and vege-
tables, except onions and garlic: made into curries, seasoned with
spices and butter, to be eaten with rice, constitute their principal
meal: the Bajepoots, Mahrattas, and many of the inferior castes,
eat mutton, pork, goat, venison, and hsh: but no one, on any
consideration, will taste the flesh of the ox or cow, an animal held
in the highest degree of veneration by every Hindoo.

After this brief recapitulation of the Hindoos in general, I shall
confine myself to the Mahrattas, who are said to derive their name
and origin from Mah’rat, signifying the great province, or country;

and designating a large, although an undefined portion of that part
of Hindostan called Deccan, or Deckshan, meaning the south
country, as situated south of the river Narbudda. From a state
of rustic obscurity, and rigorous vassalage, the Mahrattas, within
the last century, have become a mighty power; and, in that period,
precipitated and completed the ruin of the Mogul empire, which
had commenced in its own vices.

The founder of the Mahratta preeminence was Sahjee, or Sha-
jee, of the Bhosla tribe, for among the Mahrattas are many dis-
tinct tribes; but the first who assumed the title of rajah, or king,
was his son Sevajee: after an infinite variety of fortune, and being
led captive by Aurungzebe, he escaped from the hands of that
powerful emperor; and by the wonderful exertions of his own
genius, seconded by his hardy countrymen, established the founda-
tion of his power, amidst the inaccessible mountains and fortresses
of the Deccan, and extended his predatory excursions to the rich
provinces of Guzerat and Carnatic. In the fortieth year of his age
he assumed the title and honours of rajah, and ascended the regal
throne in the fort of Rairee, A. D. 1673. From that time Sevajee
waged such an incessant war against the Moguls, that Aurung-
zebe, although next to Acber, the most warlike and vigorous of
their emperors, was baffled and distracted by the innumerable
and indefatigable invaders; who, like the barbarians on the Roman
empire, poured down from their mountains, and devastated his
fairest provinces.

Sevajee’s career closed with his life in 1680, leaving two sons,
Sambajee and Raja-Ram; the former succeeded his father on
the throne, and therewith to hostilities with the Moguls. To his

462

brother he gave the fort and principality of Pannella; and his
successors retain it to this day. His own destiny was less fortu-
nate; for having been made a prisoner by Aurungzebe, through
the treachery of Cablis Caun, whom he esteemed as his most
confidential friend, he was brought into the imperial presence,
and on refusing to apostatize, the bigotted despot condemned him
to a cruel death; so cruel, and so strikingly descriptive of Au«
mngzebe’s character, that I shall transcribe the tragic scene from
Orme’s Historical Fragments.

“ Sambajee appeared before Aurungzebe with undaunted brow;
who reproached Cablis Caun, not with his treachery, but the en-
couragement which his prostituted ministry had given to vices
which at length had led his sovereign to ruin, and ordered him
to instant death. To Sambajee he proffered life, and rank in his
service, if he would turn Mahomeclan; who answered by an invec-
tive against the prophet, and the land of his own gods. On which
he was dressed in the fantastic ornaments of a wandering Indian
devotee, who beg in villages with a rattle and a cap with bells. In
this garb he was tied, looking backwards, upon a camel, and led
through the camp, calling upon all the Rajepoots he saw to kill
him; but none dared. After the procession, his tongue was cut
out, as the penal ty of blaspheming Mahomet. In this forlorn con-
dition, Aurungzebe, by a message, again offered to preserve his
life, if he would be converted; when he wrote, “ Not if you would
give me your daughter in marriage on which his execution was
ordered, and performed, by cutting out his heart; after which his
limbs and body were separated, and altogether were thrown to dogs
prepared to devour them.”

463

For having thus emerged from obscurity, and the rustic habits
of pastoral and agricultural society, to the dominion of vast and
opulent regions, the Mahrattas are indebted to the two preceding
heroes: from them the nation assumed a military character, prid-
ing themselves more on their proficiency in arms than in letters;
leaving the revenue-department and management of the exchequer
to the brahmins, who have since become so powerful in the empire.
Although descended from a rural race, a spirit of enterprize, plun-
der, and usurpation, is now the prevailing characteristic of this
reslless nation, ever ready to engage in a desultory kind of war-
fare, which they conduct with great ease and profit to themselves,
to the dreadful annoyance of their neighbours. This enterprising
spirit keeps them in almost perpetual actions, either with foreign
enemies, domestic rivals, or in military expeditions to collect their
choute in different and distinct parts of Hindostan.

The Mahratta army made a rapid increase under the unfortu-
nate Sambajee: the number of their cavalry and infantry, either
at that period, or the present day, cannot be exactly ascertained:
in the middle of the eighteenth century their united forces
amounted to at least two hundred thousand horse, and fifty thou-
sand foot, which they can at any time increase considerably with-
out the least coercion: that indeed forms no part of their system:
voluntary levies supply ample recruits to an army where no rigour
of discipline or subordination obstructs the general taste for war
and predatory excursions.

Rajee Ram succeeded to the government on the death of his
brother Sambajee, and the captivity of his nephew Suojee, who
had been made a prisoner with his father. He maintained his

464

situation through a variety of fortune, against the power of Aurung-
zebe, until the year 1707, when death carried off the Mogul and
Mahratta sovereign within a very short period of each other. On
this event Tarrabhye , the widow of Rajee Ram, assumed the reins
of the Mahratta government, although she had a son by her hus-
band, then living, called Sevajee Raja; and rajee Ram left another
son, named Sambajee Raja, by Rajusbhye , to whom also he was
married.

On the death of Aurungzebe, dreadful was the contest for suc-
cession to the Mogul empire between his two sons, Sultan Aazim
and Sultan Moazim, called also Azem Shah, and Mahommed
Mauzim: the victor, treading in the footsteps of his cruel father,
wore a crown of thorns, and deluged the musnud with fraternal
blood: his three short-lived successors were dethroned and mur-
dered by the Seyds, Abdalla and Hossan, who at length in 1729
established Mahommed Shah on the vacant throne, which he oc-
cupied until the irruption of Nadir Shah in 1738, when Delhi was
plundered of all its money and jewels, the accumulated wealth
of ages. The savage cruelties of Mahmood, Timur, and the
northern conquerors were renewed, and again an hundred thou-
sand of the wretched inhabitants were tortured and massacred to
discover their hoarded treasures: the plunder amounted to seventy
millions sterling, including the peacock-throne, which cost Aurung-
ze'oe’s father eleven millions. After these devastations, Mahommed
Shah was reinstated by his conqueror on a throne less splendid,
and to the government of an empire then shook to its foundation.
From that period, to the conclusion of a century which Aurung-
zebe commenced in the meridian of power, wealth, and dignity.

465

seldom equalled, this immense fabric fell to ruin, until in 1788
Gholaum Kaudir, a Rohilla chief, for the last time plundered
Delhi, with a cruelty surpassing even the atrocities of Timur and
Nadir Shah. After robbing the palace of every valuable left Ivy
the latter fifty years before, Gholaum Kaudir concluded the tra-
gedy by plucking out the eyes of the aged emperor, and consign-
ing him to poverty and wretchedness. This monster of barbarity
surpassed the tyrant whose portrait, drawn by himself, has been
thus transmitted by Orme. A dervise had the boldness to present
a writing to the Persian conqueror conceived in these words: “ If
44 thou art a god, act as a god; if thou art a prophet, conduct us
44 in the way of salvation; if thou art a king, render the people
44 happy, and do not destroy them!” To this the barbarian re-
plied, 44 I am no god, to act as a god; nor a prophet, to shew the
44 way of salvation; nor a king to render the people happy: but I
44 am he whom God sends to the nations which he has determined
54 to visit with his wrath !”

During the rivalship between Aurungzebe’s sons, which even-
tually ruined the Mogul empire, sultan Aazim liberated Saojee, the
captive son of the Mahratta sovereign Sambojce, murdered by his
father, and sent him into the Deccan to recover his patrimony.
On his arrival, Tarrabhye, pretending he was an impostor, dis-
allowed his claims, and rejected his admission ; in this emergency
Saojee being joined by several powerful Mahratta chieftains, and
especially by Pursojee Bhosla, from whom are descended the Nag-
pore rajahs, he overcame all opposition, and triumphantly ascended
the throne in Sattara. Tarrabhye, with her son and adherents, re-
tired into the strong hold of Pannella.

3 o

466

t> us -

Saojee, who was from this period called the Sasu-rajah, pro-
ceeded with energy to reestablish the deranged system of the Mali-
ralta government. The first and most important measure he adopted
was the constituting the great council of the empire. In the course
of these official arrangements, Ballajee Wissarath became a pro-
minent character: he was a brahmin of the Concan, and had
previously served Dunnajee Jaddoo, the Seyna-Puttee, or general-
issimo; but attracting the rajah’s notice, he was first employed as
seyna-kurtee, or deputy of his old master; from which he was ad-
vanced to the dignity of peshwa , or acting general of the forces,
and subsequently exalted to a place among the eight grand coun-
sellors, with the title of pundit purdhan , or purdhan pud. This is
the foundation of that vicarial power which, under the well known
title of peslma , or leader, has superseded the actual power and
splendour of the Mahratta rajahs; who indeed continue to exist,
with a certain degree of regal state, in the fortress of Sattara, but
under such restraint as the reigning peshwa may think proper to
impose, the title and forms of supremacy being still ascribed to
the existing rajah, from whom the peshwa professes to derive his
insignia of authority; which consists of a khellat, or investiture, a
dagger and a seal, with an inscription describing the peshwa as
paramount to the sovereign.

Under this dispensation (ably administered by Ballajee Wissa-
nath and his two immediate successors, amidst the confusion that
followed the death of Aurungzebe, and from which the Mogul
empire was never more entirely extricated) the Mahrattas utterly
subverted and levelled with the dust the vast and mighty fabric
of Mogul power, and are themselves beginning to experience the

467

ascendancy of the British dominion over those internal weaknesses
and vices which have been produced by civil discord out of their
national prosperity. May heaven long avert the same evils from
the British!

On the death of Ballajee Wissanath in 1723, after a series of
important services to the state, his eldest son Badjerow was ap-
pointed by Sao rajah to succeed him as peshwa; and his youngest
son, Chimnajee Appa, was made duan, or principal minister. Dur-
ing the administration of Badjerow the important island and
fortress of Bassein, with several other subordinate stations, were
conquered by the Mahrattas from the Portugueze, about the
same time that the Mogul armies were defeated, and Delhi taken
by Nadir Shah. The consequent weakness of these disasters
greatly assisted the Mahrattas in their expeditions towards the
northern provinces; in which, under the auspices of Badjerow,
the tribes of Sindia and Holkar became conspicuous, and Malhar
Row Holkar, and Rancojee Sindia were entrusted by him with
large commands.

The overwhelming power of the Mahrattas, whose tributary
exactions were now, under various denominations, almost univer-
sally established, would probably have soon annihilated the neigh-
bouring Mogul power in the Deccan, had not the resistance to it
been directed by the great talents of the nabob Nizam al Doula,
father of the present Nizam al Mulk; the death of Badjerow is
attributed to his dejection after a defeat which he sustained from
Nassir Jung, the nabob’s son, in the neighbourhood of Aurung-
abad.

On Badjerow’s death, in 1743, his eldest son, Ballajee Row,

468

more generally known by the appellation of the Nanna, or Nanna
Saib, succeeded him as peshwa; his second son was called indiscri-
minately Ragonath Row, Ragobah, and Dadda Saib, names which
I shall hereafter explain. Ballajee Row was invested by Sab rajah
at Satarra, with the dignities of peshwa and purdun pud: he
made his constant abode at Poonah, an open town in the latitude
of 18° 30' north, and 73° 55' east longitude, situated at the con-
flux of the rivers Moota and Moolah , which, for the convenience
of assembling and subsisting the large armies of the Mahratta
cavalry, had become the favourite residence of the peshwas, and
has since grown into the capital of the Mahratta empire.

Under the administration of Ballajee Row, the Mahrattas
established a tribute on the eastern provinces of Bengal: great
confusion took place in the Deccan on the death of Nizam al
Doula; the subsequentassassination of his eldest son,Ghazd al Deen,
and his second son, Massir Jung, previous to the settlement of the
Mogul vice-royalty of the Deccan in the person of the third son,
Sullabat Jung, who afterwards made way for his brother, the pre-
sent Nizam ul Mulk. Under this peshwa the Mahrattas became
well acquainted with the operations of European regular troops,
the French having been introduced by the competitors for the suc-
cession of Nizam al Doula, and the Mahrattas having entertained
some corps under native and European partizans, to facilitate their
operations against fortified places; in his time also the great
members of the Mahratta aristocracy, the Bhosla family in Nag-
pore, under Ragojee, and the Gugkwar in Guzerat, under Damo-
jee, having assumed too much independence, were reduced to sub-
jection: and although he had lost the able assistance of his uncle,

469

Chinmajee Appa, the success of his arms and councils was great
and uninterrupted. lie enjoyed the unrivalled favour and con-
fidence of his sovereign, Sad rajah; who, with little personal exer-
tion or interposition in the government, devoted himself to the
pleasures of the field and domestic conviviality; and having been
happily conducted, by the fidelity and abilities of wise and active
ministers, through a long and prosperous reign, he closed it by a
natural and tranquil death, in his palace at Satarra, about the
year 1749-

Sad Rajah leaving no issue, Rajah Ram, his grand-nephew, and
grandson of the preceding prince of the same name, was placed
by the peshwa Bailajee Row on the vacant throne, the latter as-
suming to himself the absolute government of the stale, with the
assistance of his brother Ragobah, and Sudobah, the son of his
deceased uncle, Chimnajee Appa, to whom were occasionally as-
sociated his sons, Wiswas Row and Mhada Row; by whose exertions
the Mahratlas made great progress against the Moguls in the north
of Hindostan, and in the Deccan. The splendid administration
of this peshwa was at length clouded by the most decisive and
bloody defeat of the Mahralta army by the Afghans under
Ahmed Shah Abdallee, in the neighbourhood of Panniput. The
Mahrattas were commanded by Sudobah, Wiswas Row, Shum-
sheen Bhadur, a natural son of the peshwa, and many of the great
feudatory chieftains. To those three principal leaders, who were
lost in this tremendous battle, are to be added several others of the
highest rank and fame in the empire; in fact two only are said to
have escaped, Malhar Row, chief of the Holkar, and Damojee, of
the Guykwar families. No estimate has ever been ventured of

470

the general slaughter, nor of the whole plunder of this signal over-
throw; itis certain that twenty-five thousand prisoners, fifty thou-
sand horses, five hundred elephants, two hundred thousand bag-
gage-oxen, several thousand camels, all the ordnance, and the
whole camp, stored with the vast riches attendant on an assemblage
of such great chieftains, fell into the hands of the victors.

It is worthy of notice, that the Mahrattas had a large body of
regular infantry, and a numerous train of artillery, at the battle of
Panniput, under the command of Ibrahim Khan, who had been
educated by Monsieur Bussy; he was made prisoner, and put to
death by Ahmed Shah's order.

Ballajee Row, accompanied by Jannojee Bhosla, was on his
march from the Deccan to succour Sudobah and his sons, when
he received intelligence of this disaster, which so deeply affected
him, that giving orders for a retreat, he sickened and died in about
a month, in 17b0, leaving two surviving sons, Mhadarow and
Narrainrow. The former, accompanied by his uncle Ragobah,
waited on the Sao rajah at Sattara, who with every mark of favour
conferred on Mhadarow the dignity of peshwa, purdhan pud, with
the other honours and distinctions of his family.

The administration of Mhadarow was chequered by domestic
and foreign vicissitudes; the former arising from jealousies which
led to hostilities between him and his uncle Ragobah, who was
finally subdued and imprisoned; and by the secession of Jannojee
Bhosla and Gopal Row, who leagued with Nizam Ally Khan after
deposing his brother Sallabut Jung, and assuming the government of
the Mogul part of the Deccan. This unnatural coalition caused
a temporary ascendency of the Nizam’s arms, which was followed

471

by the capture and pillage of Poonah; but the speedy return of
the seceding chieftains reestablished the predominance of the
Mahrattas, and enabled Mhadarow to direct it with effect against
Hyder Ally, who had become formidable in the southern countries
of upper Carnatic and Mysore, as also to threaten Mahomed Ally
Khan in the lower Carnatic. The northern expeditions of this
peshwa were chiefly conducted by Vissajee Krishun, in command
of the peshwa's troops, and by the northern feudatories, Tookajee
Holkar and Mhadajee Sindia, at the head of their respective
quotas, which gave them a decided influence over the Mogul af-
fairs in that quarter.

Mhadarow having administered the government, and supported
it vigorously against domestic feuds and foreign foes, during a
period of twelve years, died in 1772, much lamented by his country,
without issue, at the age of twenty-six, and with him expired
the prosperity of the Mahrattas.

Aware of his approaching dissolution, Mhadarow sent for his
brother Narrain Row, and knowing the weakness of his understand-
ing, and general incapacity for government, advised him, when
invested with the dignity of peshwa by the Sab rajah, to follow a
different plan from that which he had adopted, particularly re-
specting their uncle Ragobah: cautioning him rather to imitate
the example of their father, by placing confidence in him, and
making him of consequence in the administration. He further
counselled him to cultivate the friendship of the old ministers, and
attached adherents to their family, from whom alone he could
derive assistance, should Ragobah’s ambition create any future
disturbance.

473

Mhadarow was endowed with uncommon talents, and pos-
sessed a mind unfettered by the restraints and superstitious tenets
of the Hindoos: after parting with Narrain Row, he had a last
interview with his wife, a woman of beauty and virtue; her personal
charms and engaging manners had beguiled the cares of govern-
ment, and cheered his retired hours in the haram : his actions now-
testified the sincerity of his affection. To preserve her dignity,
and to free her from that degraded state to which the Hindoo
widows of every rank are subjected, he settled on her a large jag-
hire, or annual income, with the supreme controul over a rich and
populous country; to this he added a considerable sum of money,
and a profusion of jewels. Deprived of such a husband, to her
this munificence was of no importance; nothing afforded her con-
solation but the resolution she immediately adopted, to immolate
herself on his funeral pile.

One of the causes usually assigned for this extraordinary sacri-
fice, could have had no influence on Mhadarow's widow, that of
being reduced to a state of dependance and comparative insigni-
ficance in her husband's family : this young princess was left her
own mistress, and enabled to vie in wealth and dignity with the
first nobles in the realm; but, exalted above all sublunary honours,
she resolved to add her name to those illustrious females who had
accompanied their husbands to the upper world. After bequeath-
ing her property, and dividing her jewels among her friends, she
followed Mhadarow’s corpse to the spot prepared for its cremation,
and having performed the prescribed ceremonies, ascended the
awful eminence with admirable dignity and fortitude, and with
her own hand set fire to the sandal-pile, which the brahmins fed
with clarified butter and aromatic oils.

When Narrain Row succeeded his brother as peshwa in No-
vember 1772, he was only twenty years of age; a weak indolent
prince, destitute of all talent and resolution; placing 110 confidence
in his ministers, and breaking the most solemn promises: the en-
feebling pleasures of the haram had early seduced him from the
path of glory: a stranger to every noble virtue, and a slave to
sensuality, he lavished immense sums 011 dancing-girls, fire-works,
and similar pursuits, seeming to be placed in a sphere of life he
was unworthy to possess, and incapable of sustaining.

In consequence of Narrain Row’s last interview with his bro-
ther, Ragobah obtained his liberty immediately after his decease:
but, far from treating his uncle with the confidence desired, or
endeavouring to gain the affection of the Mahratta chieftains,
Narrain Row carried himself so haughtily in the durbar, that he
entirely lost the esteem of the old friends of his family; and dis-
missing them from his council, he raised a set of low dissipated
characters to the highest and most splendid situations. He be-
haved with more duplicity to Ragobah than the courtiers he
disbanded: to deceive both him and the Sao rajah, he persuaded
his uncle to accompany him to Satarra, on his first public visit,
when he was to be invested with the insignia of peshwa, promising
he should have the title and honours of naib, or vizier, conferred on
him by the imprisoned sovereign, which was accordingly performed
by the Sao rajah, with all the usual ceremonies. On their return to
Poonah, Narrain Row, far from confirming Ragobah in his new
appointment, deprived him of the little power he was beforevin-
trusted with; and although not immediately remanded to prison,

he was surrounded by spies, and ordered not to move from the

capital.

Narrain Row’s duplicity and ill treatment at length occa-
sioned Ragobah to concert measures with Ryder Ally’s ambassador
to effect his escape, which being known by the young peshwa, lie
confined him in his palace, suffering no friend to visit him, nor
any of his own servants to attend him. Being all brahmins, Nar-
rain Row could proceed no further, there being then no instance
of one of that sacred order taking away the life of another.

Having thus once more imprisoned his uncle, Narrain Row
gave himself up to every evil propensity; sensual pleasures, use-
less pomp, and an ostentatious display of wealth, constituted his
chief delight: in a few months he thus squandered the immense
treasures amassed by his predecessors for the emergencies of the
state. This weakness of character, and insolent behaviour to his
ministers, beanie every day more disgusting, and the hearts of the
people were entirely alienated. At length, conscious of defects
which he was too weak and irresolute to amend, and dreading a
revolution in favour of Ragobah, he confined him with yet more
rigorous severity.

Whether from weariness of life, or to intimidate his nephew,
Ragobah now entered into a solemn vow to starve himself, when,
his death being attributed to Narrain Row’s cruelty, the nation
would stigmatize him as the murderer: thus resolved, he put his
vow into execution, and, for the space of eighteen days, took no
other sustenance than two ounces of deer’s milk each day, until
being nearly exhausted, Narrain Row relented, and promised, if

475

lie would procure brahminical absolution from his vow, he should
have the government of a district with five castles, and a jaghire
of twelve lacs of rupees per annum, provided some of the great
chieftains would become surety for his future conduct; to which
they readily assented: but, unmindful of his solemn protestations,
the prince, actuated by suspicion and jealousy, again treated his
uncle with unrelenting rigour.

Such was the state of affairs in the month of August 1773,
when, to the astonishment of all the powers in India, Narrain Row
was assassinated in his palace. The accounts of this catastrophe
are variously related: the peshwa family and a large part of the
nation accused Ragobah of the murder; some of the Mahratta
chiefs, and numerous partizans, asserted his innocence. When we
consider his ambitious character, and his peculiar situation at the
time, it is difficult to exculpate him. When the murder was com-
mitted, Ragobah was confined in a small room near Narrain Row's
private apartment: Sobal Sing, who commanded the peshwa’s
body-guard, had also the immediate charge of Ragobalfs person,
which afforded them frequent opportunities for private conversa-
tion. He is supposed, by large promises, to have been prevailed
upon, with another officer, named Esoof Khan, to perpetrate the
horrid deed.

Seizing the opportunity when Narrain Row had retired from
the public durbar, Sobal Sing entered officially, as if to receive
orders, but instead of the respect due to his prince, Narrain Row
was surprized by his abusive language and insolent behaviour:
when beginning to expostulate, on a signal from Sobal Sing, Esoof

476

Khan, and several armed men, entered the room. The unhappy
prince dreading his approaching fate, tied through a private door
to his uncle’s prison, where, throwing himself at his feet, he
claimed his forgiveness and protection. Ragobah, whether igno-
rant, or pretending ignorance of the plot, opened his arms and
embraced his nephew: the assassins, in a well-feigned rage, ordered
Ragobah to withdraw, or share his fate; he instantly obeyed, and
Narrain Row was stabbed to the heart, after a short reign of eight
months.

These commotions in the palace alarmed the city; but, as the
gates were shut, they remained for some time ignorant of the mur-
der, and only surmised that some mischief was transacting, the
majority naturally concluding that Rago balds sufferings were ter-
minated. The ministers now assembled, sent two letters to the
durbar, one addressed to the peshwa, the other to Ragobah, in
which they mentioned the general alarm, and the suspicion of
some dark transaction; assuring tiie injured prince he should
meet with every redress in their power, and requesting the gates
might be opened. On reading the letter, Ragobah immediately
ordered the ministers to be admitted, and standing near the body,
solemnly declared his innocence, imprecating divine vengeance on
the perpetrators of the horrid deed. Few believed his protestations,
and all retired with horror from his presence, the Hindoo annals
having never before recorded the murder of a brahmin; and the
dagger directed by a near relation of the same sacred caste, dread-
fully increased its atrocity.

On the accession of a sovereign to the throne, it has often been

477

the cruel policy of Asiatic despots to destroy every male relation
capable of creating an insurrection, especially in the Mogul,
Turkish, and Persian courts. The history of the house of Timur is
filled with tales of woe: there seemed no alternative between the
musnud and a grave; it was only to be ascended through a deluge
of blood: no predilection for private pursuits, nor choice of reli-
gious retirement, could screen the royal princes from suspicion.
The fate of Aurungzebe’s brothers, and their descendants, is almost
too tragical for recital: but the murder of Narrain Row had been
committed on a Hindoo prince of the sacred caste of brahmins,
every where most highly venerated.

It appeal's extraordinary, as Ragobah was so generally consi-
dered to be the author of his nephew’s assassination, that he
should have been quietly permitted to succeed him: it is difficult
to determine whether it was occasioned by the general disaffection
to the deceased peshwa, or that the leading men then thought the
revolution necessary: it is certain, Ragobah assumed the govern-
ment in course, and for some months ruled the empire with all the
power of his predecessors, and remained undisturbed at Poonah.
Still there were many obstacles to surmount: had he perserved the
bravery, activity, and generosity, which had formerly distinguished
him, he might have triumphed over all; but his conduct was un-
accountably the reverse: he became timid, indolent, and suspi-
cious; his understanding seemed clouded by superstition, and his
mind weakened, either by the severities he had lately suffered, or
the distractions of a wounded conscience.

The first act of his government was to reward Sobal Sing and

478

Esoof Khan, who were universally detested, thereby attaching to
himself the foul stigma of this murder. The general discontent
and sullen silence that pervaded the capital, soon spread through
the empire: there seemed only wanting an enterprising spirit to
stand forth and effect a revolution. This calm had not been of
long duration, when two formidable enemies appeared in the
highest female characters of the empire; the mother and the widow
of Narrain Row, the decased peshwa.

The name of the former was Gopicabhye, the widow* of Balla-
jee Row, and mother of Mhadarow and Narrain Row; a woman,
who, during her husband’s life, had great influence in the Mahratta
court: at that time her character was not very correct, and after-
wards she became extremely dissolute. Instead of immolating her-
self on the funeral pyre of her husband, she preferred a longer
abode among the sons of men, to indulge in the most licentious
conduct: false, malicious, and tyrannical, her state intrigues were
marked by cruelty and oppression, and, instead of a decent re-
tirement, and chaste deportment, her widowhood was devoted to
shameless levity. This woman was emphatically styled the scourge
of her country: to an undue influence over her husband and her
sons, the three succeeding peshwas, were imputed all the troubles
which had for so many years disturbed the court of Poonah,
especially in the distrust and imprisonment of Ragobah. Being
now deprived of her only surviving son by means of the man she
so much detested, she gave loose to the whole fury of her re-
venge.

Actuated by sentiments equally inimical to the new peshwa.

479

Gungabhye, the youthful widow of Narrain Row, came forth to
public view: being declared pregnant, she was exempt by the
SutteeA aw, had she been so inclined, of becoming, like the wife of
Mahdarow, a devoted victim to the manes of her murdered hus-
band. The promulgation of this interesting circumstance fixed
the attention of the whole nation in the most anxious state of ex-
pectancy, and attracted around the young widow all those, who,
from attachment to her husband, or enmity to her murderer, were
eager to excite, or ready to execute her revenge. Under these
circumstances, and sanctioned by the two widowed princesses, a
conspiracy was formed; in due time the posthumous prince ap-
peared, and religious ceremonies, thanksgivings, and rejoicings
generally prevailed throughout the empire.

During that period Ragobah went twice to Satarrah, to be in-
vested with the khelaut, as peshwa; but the rajah, at the instiga-
tion of the ministers, procrastinated the ceremony; at first alleging,
that decency required him to wait until the expiration of the
mourning for his nephew. It was afterwards deferred until the birth
of the expected child.

On this second disappointment Ragobah marched with a large
army against the nizain, at the time a secret rebellion was per-
vading his own capital. Previous to his departure, he removed
most of the old ministers from their stations, and replaced them
by others of more obscure character. These discarded officers,
who were men of the first families and influence in the state, justly
incensed at such conduct, no longer concealed their design; but
immediately on Rago balds departure, twelve of the principal chief-

480

tains formed themselves into a legislative body, levied a consider*
able army, and commenced hostilities against him.

Thus this infatuated peshwa left the Mahratta capital, no more
to return. Among many extraordinary instances of weakness and
folly, on marching against the nizam, he carried with him only
fifteen lacs of rupees from the public treasury at Poonah, leaving
a much larger sum of ready money to be seized by the confede-
rates, which gave them a decided advantage. Mhadajee Sindia
and Tookajee Holcar, two of the great chieftains of the empire,
collected the principal jaghiredars, and instantly summoned the
husserat , or household troops, who compose a select body of
twenty thousand cavalry, and hold their lands by military tenure,
stipulating their appearance, completely armed, and well mounted,
when called forth on public service: these are esteemed the most
valiant of the Deccan horse; they have always distinguished them-
selves in the path of glory, and are far superior to the occasional
hirelings in the Mahratta armies. A full treasury enabled the
confederate chieftains to add to this valuable corps a large body of
common Mahratta horse, and as many Patan, Scindian, and Ara-
bian infantry as they deemed necessary.

Thus commenced the civil wars in the Mahratta empire, Ra-
gobah, on hearing of the proceedings at Poonah, too late relin-
quished foreign conquest to suppress rebellion at home. Both
armies took the held; but nothing decisive being effected, Ragobah
sent an ambassador to Bombay, to request the assistance of the
English government in furnishing him with troops and a field
train of artillery, to be paid by him, and for which he assigned a

481

considerable territory on the continent, and the valuable acquisi-
tion of Salsette, with some smaller islands contiguous to Bombay .
A treaty to this effect was concluded between Ragobah and the
Bombay government, in behalf of the English East India Com-
pany; and a considerable detachment of European, infantry and
sepoys, and a large train of artillery, were embarked from thence
in March 1775, and sailed to Surat, in hopes of effecting a junc-
tion with Ragobalfs forces in Guzerat; which, according to the
latest intelligence, were then encamped on the banks of the river
My hi, not far from Cambay : the army of the confederate chief-
tains was reported to be on the opposite side of the river.

END OF VOL. i.

T. Hensley, Printer,

Salt Caun, Fleet Street, London.

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