[Footnote 227: Duris, ut ilex tonsa bipennibus-ducit opes animumque ferro.—Terry.]

Our messenger was thus dismissed, and shortly afterwards this sore distressed ship, being entirely unmanageable for want of masts and sails, was forced by the winds and waves upon the adjacent island of Gazidia or Komoro, where she stuck fast between two rocks. Those who remained alive in the carack got ashore by means of their boats; and when all were landed, willing, as it would seem, to consume what they could not keep, they set their carack on fire, that she might not become our prize.[228] After leaving their ill-fated carack, the poor Portuguese were most inhumanly used by the barbarous islanders, who spoiled them of every thing they had brought on shore for their succour, and slew some of them for opposing their cupidity. Doubtless they had been all massacred, had they not been relieved by two small Arab vessels who were there engaged in trade, and which, I suppose in hope of a great reward, took them in, and conveyed them in safety to their own city of Goa.

[Footnote 228: Childe says, he could not say whether she was fired accidentally or on purpose.—E.]

In the morning of the 9th, Mr Alexander Childe, who commanded one of the English ships, sent his mate, Anthony Fugars, ashore in his long-boat, to see if any of the Portuguese were saved, to fetch such away, and to learn how she was set on fire. But the carack was still burning, and not a man belonging to her was to be seen. There were many negro islanders on the coast, over against the carack, who held up a flag of truce to invite the English on shore, but it was impossible to land in that place, or any where within three leagues to the east or west, as the rocks were all extremely high and rugged.

In this long conflict, only five men were lost out of our four ships, three belonging to the admiral, and two out of the James. Besides whom, there were about twenty wounded in our fleet, all of whom afterwards recovered. But, of 700 who sailed in the carack, there came not above 250 to Goa, as we were afterwards credibly informed. In this fearful engagement, our ship, the Charles, discharged 375 great shot against the adversary, as reported by our gunners, besides 100 musqueteers who plied their small arms all the time. Neither were the enemy idle, for our ship received at least 100 great shot from them, many of which dangerously took place in her hull. Our foremast was shot through the middle, our mainmast wounded, the main stay, and many of the main shrouds, cut asunder.

After we had seen the carack set on fire, which was about midnight of the 8th, we stood off and on till morning, to see if we might find any thing in her ashes. Finding this ineffectual, we sought about for some place where we might find succour and refreshment for our sick and wounded on shore. The land was very high, and the sea every where too deep for anchoring, so that it was the 10th before we could find a good harbour, which was in the S.W. part of the island, where we anchored. The James came to anchor in twenty-two fathoms, with one of her anchors, while the other was only in fourteen. This harbour was over against a town called Mattoma.

This island seemed very pleasant, full of goodly trees, covered all over with green pasture, and abounding in beeves, goats, poultry, sugar-canes, rice, plantains, lemons, oranges, and cocoa-nuts, with many other wholesome things; of all which we procured sufficient to relieve our whole company for a small quantity of white paper, a few glass beads, and penny knives. For instance, we bought as many oranges as would fill a hat for half a quarter of a sheet of white paper, and all other kinds of provision in the same proportion. The islanders brought much of their fruits to us in their little canoes, which are long and narrow boats, like troughs, hollowed out of single trees; but their cattle we bought on shore. I observed the people to be straight, well-limbed, and able-bodied men, of a very dark tawny colour. Most of the men, and all the women, were entirely naked, except merely enough to hide their parts of shame. Some few of the men wore long garments, after the fashion of the Arabs, whose language they spoke, and were likewise of the Mahometan religion, and so rigid, that they would not suffer us to come near their places of worship. They have good convenient dwellings, and fair sepulchres for their dead.

They scorned to live under strict obedience to a king, whose residence was some miles up the country, as they required to have his leave, which was sent for, before they would sell us any provisions. When informed of our arrival, their king sent a message of welcome to our commander, together with a present of beeves, goats, and choice fruits; in return for which, he was well recompensed and contented, by a present of paper, and other English toys. We saw some Spanish money among them, of which they made so small account, that some of our men got rials of eight, in exchange for a little paper, or a few beads. What use they made of the paper, we could not guess. The cocoa-nut tree, of which this island has abundance, may have the pre-eminence of all trees, in my opinion, by its universal usefulness. Without the help of any other, one may build and furnish out a ship for sea, with every thing requisite. Of the body of this tree may be made timbers, planks, and masts; its gum may serve for paying the bottom; the rind of the same tree will make sails and cordage; and the large nut, being full of kernel and pleasant liquor, will serve those who navigate the ship both for meat and drink, as also for merchandize.

Being well stored with these nuts, and other good provisions, after six days abode here, the breaches in our ships received in fight being all repaired, and our men well refreshed, we put again to sea on the 16th of August, with a prosperous wind. On the 24th, we passed under the line, without any heat to offend us, bending our course for Socotora, near the mouth of the Red Sea, an island whence comes our Socotorine aloes. But an adverse wind from the coast of Arabia prevented us from being able to fetch that island, which we passed on the 1st September.

In the year before, our English fleet touched at this island, on which occasion the petty king came to the water-side, and hearing some of our wind-instruments, asked if they ever played David's Psalms, which he had heard of, being a Mahometan. He was answered by one who stood by, that they did. On which he observed, that it was an evil invention of him who first mingled music with religion; as God, before that, was worshipped in heart, but by this only in sound. I mean not by this story to condemn the use of music in churches; leaving it to him who bids us praise the Lord with stringed instruments and organs, to plead that cause.

Missing our port of Socotora, we proceeded on our voyage; and, on the 4th of September, we celebrated a solemn funeral in memory of our slain commander; when, after sermon, the great guns and small arms gave a loud peal to his honourable remembrance. At night on the 6th September, to our great admiration and fear, the water of the sea seemed as white as milk. Others of our nation since, passing in the same course, have observed the same phenomenon, of which I am yet to learn the cause, as it was far from any shore, and we could find no ground.

On the 21st of September we discovered the main land of India; and on the 22d had sight of Diu and Damaun, cities inhabited by the Portuguese. The 25th we came safely to anchor in Swally roads, within the bay of Cambay, which is the harbour for our fleet while in this part of India, when we were visited by the merchants of the Surat factory, the principal of whom was Mr Thomas Kerridge.

Sec.2. Description of the Mogul Empire

Although this account of Hindoostan, or the Mogul empire in India, be very incorrect, and in some places hardly intelligible, it is here retained, as a curious record of the knowledge possessed on that subject by the English about 200 years ago. We have two editions of this account in Purchas, one appended to his narrative of Sir Thomas Roe, and the other in this relation by Terry, which he acknowledges to be the most correct, and which therefore is alone retained. On the present occasion, instead of encumbering the bottoms of our pages with the display of numerous explanatory notes on this topographical list of places and provinces, a running commentary has been introduced into the text, so far as seemed necessary, yet distinguished sufficiently from the original notices by Terry. The observations, by way of commentary, are marked, as this paragraph.—E.

* * * * *

The large empire of the Great Mogul is bounded on the east by the kingdom of Maug;[229] on the west by Persia; on the north by the mountains of Caucasus [Hindoo-Kho] and Tartary; and on the south by the ocean, the Deccan, and the bay of Bengal. The Deccan is divided among three Mahometan kings and some Indian rajahs. This extensive monarchy of the Mogul is called, in the Persian language, by the Mahometan inhabitants, Indostan or Hindoostan, meaning the land of the Hindoos, and is divided into thirty-seven distinct and large provinces, which were anciently separate kingdoms. Their several names, with their principal cities, their rivers, situations, and borders, together with their length and breadth, I shall now enumerate, beginning at the north-west.

[Footnote 229: Meckely, now a province of the Birman empire; perhaps called Maug in the text, from a barbarous tribe called the Muggs, or Maugs, who inhabit, or did inhabit, the mountains east of Bengal, and who are said to have laid waste and depopulated the Sunderbunds, or Delta of the Ganges.—E.] 1. Candahar, the chief city of which is of the same name, lies N.W. from the heart or centre of the Mogul territory, bordering upon Persia, of which kingdom it was formerly a province.

2. Cabul, with its chief city of the same name, lies in the extremest north-west corner of this empire, bordering to the north on Tartary for a great way. The river Nilab takes its rise in this country, and runs to the southwards, till it discharges its waters into the Indus.—This is a material error. The Nilab is the main stream of the Indus, and rises far to the north in Little Thibet, a great way N.E. of Cabul. The river of Cabul is the Kameh, which runs S.E. and joins the Nilab, Sinde, or Indus, a few miles above Attock. Another river, in the south of Cabul, called the Cow, or Coumul, follows a similar direction, and falls into the western side of the Indus, about forty miles below the Kameh.—E.

3. Multan, Moultan or Mooltan, having its chief city of the same name, is south [south-east] from Cabul and Candahar, and on the west joins with Persia.—This is an error, as Hajykan, to be noticed next in order, is interposed.—E.

4. Hajacan, or Hajykan, the kingdom of the Baloches, who are a stout warlike people, has no renowned city. The famous river Indus, called Skind [Sind or Sindeh] by the inhabitants, borders it on the east, and Lar, or Laristan, meets it on the west, a province belonging to Shah Abbas, the present king of Persia.—In modern geography, the country of the Ballogees, or Baloches, is placed considerably more to the north-west, bordering on the south-east of Candahar; and the Sewees are placed more immediately west of this province. The seats, however, of barbarous hordes, in a waste and almost desert country, are seldom stationary for any continuance; and the Ballogees and Sewees are probably congeneric tribes, much intermixed, and having no fixed boundaries. We have formerly seen the Baloches, or a tribe of that nation, inhabiting the oceanic coast of Persia about Guadel, and one of their tribes may have been in possession of Hajykan, which perhaps derived its name from their chief or khan having made the Haji, or pilgrimage of Mecca. The assertion that Hajykan joins with Lar, or Laristan, is grossly erroneous, as the eastern provinces of Persia which confine with Hindoostan, are Segistan in the north, bordering with Candahar, and Mekran in the south, bordering with the provinces of Hindoostan which are to the west of the Indus. Lar or Laristan is a Persian province within the gulf of Persia, at least 850 English miles from the most westerly part of Hindoostan.—E.

5. Buckor, or Backar, its chief city being Buckor-Suckor. The river Indus pervades this province, which it greatly enriches.—In modern maps, the city of Backar is placed in a small island in the middle of the Indus, at the junction of the Dummoddy from the N.E. Suckar, whence probably our word sugar is derived, is given as a distinct place, on the western side of the Indus. Indeed, in the map of India given in the Pilgrims, Backar and Suckar are made distinct places, but their situations are reversed.—E.

6. Tatta, with its chief city of the same name. This province is exceedingly fertile and pleasant, being divided into many islands by the Indus, the chief arm of which meets the sea at Synde, a place very famous for curious handicrafts.—The most western branch of the Indus, called the Pitty river, from a place of that name on its western shore near the mouth, is probably that here meant. That branch leads to Larry-bunder, the sea-port of Tatta; and the Synde of Terry is probably the Diul-sinde of other authors, a place situated somewhat in this neighbourhood, but which is not to be found in modern maps.—E.

7. Soret, the chief city of which is called Janagur, is a small, but rich province, which lies west from Guzerat, having the ocean to the south.—Soret is not now recognized as a distinct province or district, but seems the modern Werrear, the western district of Guzerat, Rhadunpoor appearing to be its chief town. Janagur, in this district, is on the west side of the river Butlass, or Banass, which runs into the head of the gulf of Cutch.—E.

8. Jesselmere, of which the chief city has the same name, joins with Soret Backar and Tatta, being to the south of Soret and Tatta, and having Backar on the west.

9. Attock, the chief city being of the same name, lies on the east side of the Indus, which parts it from Hajykan.—This account is erroneous, as Attock-Benares is much farther up the river Indus than Hajykan, having the eastern extremity of Cabul on the opposite side of the Indus.—E.

10. Punjab, which signifies the five waters, because it is seated among five rivers, all tributaries to the Indus, which, somewhat to the south of Lahore, form only one river. This is a great kingdom, and extremely rich and fertile. Lahore, the chief city, is well built, very large, populous, and rich, being the chief mart of trade in all India.

11. Chishmeere, Kyshmir, Cachmir, or Cashmere, its chief city being Siranakar. The river Phat passes through this country, and, after creeping about many islands, falls into the Indus.—The rivers of Cashmere, here called the Phat, are the Chota-sing, or Jellum, in the N. and the Jellium, or Colhumah, in the S. which unite in the W. to form the Jhylum or Babut, the Phat or Bhat of Terry and Purchas, and the Hydaspes of the ancients, one of the five rivers of the Indus. The present capital of Cashmere is likewise named Cashmere; but has in its close neighbourhood a town or fortress called Sheergur, the Siranakar of Terry.—E.

12. Banchish, with its chief city named Bishur. It lies east southerly from Cashmere, from which it is divided by the river Indus.—No such province or city is to be found in the modern geography of Hindoostan, neither any names in the indicated direction that have any resemblance to these. In the map of the Mogul empire in the Pilgrims, appended to the journal of Sir Thomas Roe, Banchish and Bishar are placed on a river named the Kaul, being the fourth of the Punjab or five rivers, counting from the west, and therefore probably the Ravey, or Hydraotes of the ancients. Near the head of that river, and to the east of Cashmere, is a town, called Kishtewar, which may possibly have been the Bishur of Terry: But there is a little-known district near the head of the Jumna, S.S.E. from Cashmere, named Besseer, that has considerable resemblance in sound to Bishur, and is in the indicated direction.—E.

13. Jeugapor, with its chief city likewise so named, lies on the Kaul, one of the five rivers that water the Punjab.—The only place upon the Ravey, which answers to the Kaul, which has the smallest resemblance with Jengapor, or Jenupur, as it is likewise called by Purchas, is Shawpoor, N.E. from Agra. Yet Jaypoor, otherwise called Jyenagur, in Ajmeer, is more probably the district and city here meant, though not in the Punjab.—E.

14. Jenba, its chief city so called, lies east of the Punjab.—This may possibly be Jambae, north of Lahore.—E.

15. Delli, or Delhi, its chief city being of the same name, lies between Jenba and Agra, the river Jemni, which runs through Agra and falls into the Ganges, begins in this province. Delhi is a great and ancient city, the seat of the Mogul's ancestors, and where most of them are interred.—The Jumnah, or Jemni of Terry, rises far to the north of Delhi, in the high-peaked mountain of Cantal to the east of Cashmere.—E.

16. Bando, its chief city so called, borders with Agra on the west.—No such name is to be found in modern maps.—E.

17. Malwa is a very fertile province, of which Rantipore is the chief city.—In the other edition of this list in the Pilgrims, Ugen, Nar, and Sering, or Oojain, Indore, and Serong, are said to have been the capitals of Malwa. The Rantipore of Terry may have been that now called Ramypoor.—E.

18. Chitor, an ancient and great kingdom, its chief city being of the same name.—Chitore is in the south of Ajmeer. In the edition of this list given by Purchas at the end of the journal of Sir Thomas Roe, he gives the following account of Chitore: "Chitore stands upon a mighty hill, and is walled round in a circuit of ten English miles. There still remain at this place above an hundred temples, the palace of the ancient kings, and many brave pillars of carved stone. There is but one ascent to the place, cut out of the solid rock, and passing through four magnificent gateways. Within the walls are the ruins of 100,000 houses of stone, but it is now uninhabited. This was doubtless one of the residences of Porus, and was won from the Ranna, his descendant, by Akbar shah, the father of the reigning Mogul. The Ranna fled into the fastnesses of his mountains, and took up his residence at Odeypoor; but was at length induced, in 1614, to acknowledge the Mogul as his superior lord, by Sultan Churrum, third son of the present emperor Shah Jehanguire. This kingdom lies N.W. from Candeish, N.E. from Guzerat, and in the way between Agra and Surat; the Ranna keeping among the hills to the west of Ahmedabad.—"Purch.

19. Guzerat is a goodly and mighty kingdom, and exceedingly rich, which incloses the bay of Cambay. The river Taptee waters the city of Surat, which trades to the Red Sea, to Acheen, and to divers other places.

20. Khamdesh, the chief city of which is Brampore, [Boorhanpoor, or Burhampore,] which is large and populous. Adjoining to this province is a petty prince called Partap-shah, tributary to the Mogul; and this is the most southerly part of the Mogul dominions.

21. Berar, the chief city of which is called Shahpoor. The southernmost part of this province likewise bounds the Mogul empire.—The Shahpoor of Terry may possibly be Saipoor in the north of Berar. In modern days, the chief cities of the great province or kingdom of Berar, now belonging to a Mahratta chief; are Nagpoor, Ruthunpoor, and Sonepoor.—E.

22. Narwar, its chief city being Gohud, is watered by a fair river that falls into the Ganges.—This province of Narwar, now called Gohud, from its chief city, is to be carefully distinguished from Marwar to the westwards.—E.

22. Gualior, with its chief city of the same name, in which the Mogul has a great treasury in bullion. In this city likewise there is an exceedingly strong castle, in which state prisoners are kept.—Gualior is, properly speaking, in the same province or district with Gohud.—E.

24. Agra is a principal and great province, its chief city being of the same name. From Agra to Lahore, the two chief cities of this empire, the distance is about 400 English miles, the country in all that distance being without a hill, and the road being planted the whole way with trees on both sides, forming a beautiful avenue.

25. Sanbal, with its chief city of the same name. The river Jumna parts this province from that called Narwar.—This province and city are not to be traced in modern maps.—E.

26. Bakar, the chief city of which is Bikaneer, lies on the west side of the Ganges.—Nothing resembling either name can now be found in the indicated situation in modern maps. Bicaneer is a district and town in the desert, far west of the Ganges.—E.

27. Nagracutt, or Nakarkut, with its chief city of the same name, in which there is a temple most richly adorned, the ceiling and pavement being of plates of pure gold. In this place they have an idol called Matta, visited yearly by many thousands of the Indians, who, from devotion, cut out part of their tongues, which they sacrifice at his altar. In this province likewise, there is another famous place of pilgrimage, Jallamaka, where there are daily to be seen incessant eruptions of fire, out of cold springs and hard rocks, before which the idolaters fall down and worship.—In the edition of this list, appended by Purchas to the journal of Sir Thomas Roe, this district and city are said to be in the northeasternmost confines of the Mogul dominions, N.E. from the head of the bay of Bengal. This description is however entirely at variance with the accompanying map in the Pilgrims, in which Nagracutt and its capital are placed east from the Punjab; the capital being on the easternmost of the five rivers of the Setlege, and towards its head. In the edition of this list given by Churchill, as an appendix likewise to Sir Thomas Roe, Nagracutt is said to lie to the north, between the Punjab and Jamboe. In our best modern maps, no district or place, having the smallest resemblance in name, is to be found in any of these indicated situations. Terry gives no reference as to situation; so that we may conjecture that Nagracutt may refer to Nucker-gaut, the passage of the Ganges through the Sewalick mountains, between Serinagur and Hindoostan.—E.

28. Siba, the chief city of which is Hardwair, or Hurdwar, where the famous river Ganges seems to begin, and issues out of a rock, which the superstitious Gentiles imagine resembles a cow's head, which animal they hold in the highest veneration; and to this place they resort daily in great numbers to wash themselves.

29. Kakares, the principal cities being Dankalec and Purhola. This country is very mountainous, and is divided from Tartary by the mountains of Caucasus, being the farthest north of any part of the Mogul dominions.—In the map of Purchas, this province or kingdom is called Kares, and is placed directly to the north of where the Ganges breaks through the Sewalick mountains, above Hurdwar, at the Cow's-mouth. In that direction are the little-known districts of Serinagur, Badry-cazram, and others; but no names either of towns or districts that in the least resemble those given by Terry.—E.

30. Gor, its chief city of the same name. This province is full of mountains, and in it begins the river Persilis, which discharges its waters into the Ganges.—In the other copy of this list in Purchas, so often already referred to, Gor is said to lie in the northern part of the Mogul dominions. From this, and the mountainous nature of the country, as stated by Terry, it may possibly be Gorcah, one of the little-known twenty-four rajahs, to the west of Napaul; and the Persilis of Terry may be the Sursutty or the Marshandy, both head streams of the Gunduck.—E.

31. Pitan, and its chief city so named. The river Kanda waters this province, and falls into the Ganges on its confines.—This is probably one of the twenty-four rajahs, called Peytahn, in the mountainous country to the north of Oude, which is watered by several of the head streams of the Gunduck and Booree or Rapty rivers.—E.

32. Kanduana, the chief city of which is called Karhakatenka. The river Sersili parts it from Pitan; and this province, with Pitan and Gor, are the north-east boundaries of this great monarchy.—The indicated connection with Gor and Pitan, or Gorcah and Peytahn, would lead to suppose that Napaul is here meant. Karhakatenka may possibly be some name of Catmandoo, or may have some reference to Kyraut, a district in the east of Napaul, bordering on Bootan. The river Sersili of this district is evidently the Persilis mentioned in Gor, and may refer to the Sursutty.—E.

33. Patna, the chief city of which has the same name. The river Ganges bounds this province on the west, and the Sersilis on the east. It is a very fertile province.—In the former edition of this list by Purchas, this province is said to be watered by four rivers, the Ganges, Jumna, Sersili, and Kanda, all of which rivers here unite. Patna is seated on the south side of the Ganges, which is joined a little way higher up by the Jumna. Opposite to Patna the Gunduck falls into the Ganges, probably the Kanda of Purchas, of which the Sursutty, formerly supposed to be the same with the Sersili, or Persilis, is one of the feeders. Patna is well known as a principal city of Bahar.—E.

34. Jesual, the chief city of which is called Rajapore, lies east of Patna.—This may possibly refer to the district and city of Hajipoor in Bahar, to the N.E. of Patna.—E.

35. Mevat, the chief city of which province is Narnol, is a very mountainous country.—In the map of the Pilgrims, Mevat and Narnol are placed to the east of Jesual, but the geography of this part of Hindoostan in that map is utterly unintelligible, and no conjecture can be hazarded respecting either Mevat or Narnol.—E.

36. Udessa, the chief city of which is called Jokanat, is the most easterly territory in the kingdom of the Mogul.—In the other edition of this list given by Purchas, Udessa, or Udeza, is said to border on the kingdom of Maug, a savage people dwelling between this province and the kingdom of Pegu. Its eastern situation would lead to the province of Chittagong or Islambabad. The Maugs, or Mugs, are probably the barbarous mountaineers of Meckley to the north of Aracan; but no names in modern maps have any reference to Udessa, Udeza, or Jokanat, unless Jokanat be some strange corruption of Chittagong.—E.

37. Bengal, a mighty and fertile kingdom, bounded by the gulf or bay of the same name, into which the river Ganges discharges itself by four great branches, into which it divides.—In the other edition of this list, by Purchas, so often referred to, Ragamahall and Dakaka, or Rajemal and Dacca, are mentioned as the chief cities of Bengal. It would require far too long a commentary, to explain some farther ignorant indications of the havens and provinces of Bengal, contained in that former list, and in the map of the Pilgrims; both being so faulty in positions, and so corrupted in the names, as to be useless and unintelligible. By the labours of Rennel, as since extended and improved by Arrowsmith, the geography of Bengal is now as completely elucidated as that of Britain.—E.

Here I must take notice of a material error in our geographers, who, in their globes and maps, make Hindoostan and China neighbours, though many large countries are interposed between them. Their great distance may appear, from the long travels of the Indian merchants, who are usually more than two years in their journey and return, between Agra and the wall of China. The length of these before-named provinces, from N.W. to S.E. is at least 1000 cosses, every Indian coss being two English miles. From N. to S. the extent is about 1400 miles. The greatest breadth, from N.E. to S.W. is about 1500 miles. The northernmost part is in 43 deg. of north latitude.[230]

[Footnote 230: The northern mountains of Cashmere, are only in lat. 35 deg. 30' N. so that the 43 deg. of the text is probably a mistake for 34 deg..—E.]

To give an exact account of all these provinces, were more than I am able to undertake; yet, from what I have observed of a few, I may venture to conjecture concerning the rest, and I am convinced that the Great Mogul, considering the extent of his territories, his wealth, and the rich commodities of his dominions, is the greatest known monarch of the east, if not in the whole world. This widely extended sovereignty is so rich and fertile, and so abounding in all things for the use of man, that it is able to subsist and flourish of itself, without the help of any neighbour. To speak first of food, which nature requires most. This land abounds in singularly good wheat, rice, barley, and various other grains, from which to make bread, the staff of life. Their wheat grows like ours, but the grain is somewhat larger and whiter, of which the inhabitants make most pure and well-relished bread. The common people make their bread in cakes, which they bake or fire on portable iron hearths or plates, which they carry with them on their journeys, using them in their tents. This seems to be an ancient custom, as appears from the instance of Sarah in our bible, when she entertained the angels.

To their bread, they have great abundance of other excellent provisions, as butter and cheese in great plenty, made from the milk of their numerous cows, sheep, and goats. They have likewise a large animal, called a buffalo, having a thick smooth skin without hair, the females of which give excellent milk. Their flesh resembles beef, but is not so sweet or wholesome. They have plenty of venison of several kinds, as red and fallow deer, elks, and antelopes. These are not any where kept in parks, the whole empire being as it were a forest, so that they are seen every where in travelling through the country; and they are free game for all men, except within a certain distance of where the king happens to reside. They have also plenty of hares, with a variety of land and water fowl, and abundance of fish, which it were too tedious to enumerate. Of fowls, they have geese, ducks, pigeons, partridges, quails, pheasants, and many other good sorts, all to be had at low rates. I have seen a good sheep bought for about the value of our shilling: four couple of hens for the same price; a hare for a penny; three partridges for the same money; and so in proportion for other things.

The cattle of this country differ from ours, in having a great bunch of grisly flesh on the meeting of their shoulders. Their sheep have great bob-tails of considerable weight, and their flesh is as good as our English mutton, but their wool is very coarse. They have also abundance of salt, and sugar is so plentiful, that it sells, when well refined, for two-pence a pound, or less. Their fruits are numerous, excellent, abundant, and cheap; as musk-melons, water-melons, pomegranates, pomecitrons, lemons, oranges, dates, figs, grapes, plantains, which are long round yellow fruits, which taste like our Norwich pears; mangoes, in shape and colour like our apricots, but more luscious, and ananas or pine-apples, to crown all, which taste like a pleasing compound of strawberries, claret-wine, rose-water, and sugar. In the northern parts of the empire, they have plenty of apples and pears. They have every where abundance of excellent roots, as carrots, potatoes, and others; also garlic and onions, and choice herbs for sallads. In the southern parts, ginger grows almost every where.

I must here mention a pleasant clear liquor called taddy, which issues from a spungy tree, growing straight and tall without boughs to the top, and there spreads out in branches resembling our English colewarts. They make their incisions, under which they hang small earthenware pots; and the liquor which flows out in the night is as pleasant to the taste as any white wine, if drank in the morning early, but it alters in the day by the sun's heat, becoming heady, ill-tasted and unwholesome. It is a most penetrating medicinal drink, if taken early and in moderation, as some have experienced to their great happiness, by relieving them from the tortures of the stone, that tyrant of maladies and opprobrium of the doctors.

At Surat, and thence to Agra and beyond, it only rains during one season of the year, which begins when the sun comes to the northern tropic, and continues till he returns again to the line. These violent rains are ushered in, and take their leave, by most fearful tempests of thunder and lightning, more terrible than I can express, but which seldom do any harm. The reason of this may be the subtile nature of the air, breeding fewer thunder-stones, than where the air is grosser and more cloudy. In these three months, it rains every day more or less, and sometimes for a whole quarter of the moon without intermission. Which abundance of rain, together with the heat of the sun, so enriches the soil, which they never force by manure, that it becomes fruitful for all the rest of the year, as that of Egypt is by the inundations of the Nile. After this season of rain is over, the sky becomes so clear, that scarcely is a single cloud to be seen for the other nine months. The goodness of the soil is evident from this circumstance, that though the ground, after the nine months of dry weather, looks altogether like barren sands, it puts on an universal coat of green within seven days after the rains begin to fall. Farther to confirm this, among the many hundreds of acres I have seen in corn in India, I never saw any that did not grow up as thick as it could well stand. Their ground is tilled by ploughs drawn by oxen; the seed-time being in May or the beginning of June, and the harvest in November and December, the most temperate months in all the year. The ground is not inclosed, except near towns and villages, which stand very thick. They do not mow their grass for hay as we do; but cut it either green or withered, when wanted. They sow abundance of tobacco, but know not the way to cure it and make it strong, as is done in America.

The country is beautified by many woods, in which are a great variety of goodly trees; but I never saw any there of the kinds we have in England. In general their trees are full of sap, which I ascribe to the fatness of the soil. Some have leaves as broad as bucklers; others are much divided into small portions, like the leaves of ferns. Such are those of the tamarind tree, which bears an acid fruit in a pod somewhat like our beans, and is most wholesome to cool and purify the blood. One of their trees is worthy of being particularly noticed: Out of its branches there grow certain sprigs or fibres, which hang downwards, and extend till they touch the ground, in which they strike roots, and become afterwards new trunks and firm supporters to the boughs and arms; whence these trees come in time to grow to a great height, and extend to an incredible breadth.[231] All trees in the southern parts of India are perpetually clothed in verdure Their flowers rather delight the eye than please the sense of smelling, having beautiful colours, but few of them, except roses and one or two other kinds, are any way fragrant.

[Footnote 231: The Banian tree, a species of Indian fig.—E.]

India is watered by many goodly rivers, the two chief of which are the Indus and the Ganges. There is this remarkable in the water of the Ganges, that a pint of it weighs less by an ounce than that of any other river in the empire; and therefore, wherever the Mogul happens to reside, it is brought to him for his drinking. Besides rivers, there are abundance of well-fed springs, on which they bestow great cost in many places, constructing many stone-buildings in the form of ponds, which they call tanks, some of which exceed a mile or two in circuit, made round or square or polygonal, girt all round with handsome stone-walls, within which are steps of well-dressed stone encompassing the water, for people to go down on every aide to procure supplies. These tanks are filled during the rainy season, and contain water for the supply of those who dwell far from springs or rivers, till the wet season again returns. Water, the most ancient beverage in the world, is the common drink of India, being more sweet and pleasant than ours, and agrees better with the constitution in this hot country than any other liquor. Some small quantity of wine is made among them, which they call arrack, but is not common, being distilled from sugar, and the spicy rind of a tree, which they call jagra. This is very wholesome, if used in moderation. Many of the people, who are strict in their religion, use no wine at all. They use a liquor which is more wholesome than pleasant, called cohha; being a black seed boiled in water, which does not much alter the taste of the water, but is an excellent helper of digestion, serving to quicken the spirits, and to purify the blood.[232] There is also another help for digestion and to comfort the stomach, used by those who refrain from wine. This is an herb called betel, or paune, its leaf resembling that of our ivy. They chew this leaf along with a hard nut, called areka, somewhat like a nutmeg, mixing a little pure white lime among the leaves; and when they have extracted the juice, they throw away the remains. This has many rare qualities: It preserves the teeth, comforts the brain, strengthens the stomach, and prevents a bad breath.

[Footnote 232: The author here describes coffee, now so universally known in Europe.—E.]

Their houses are generally very mean, except in the cities, where I have seen many fair buildings. Many of the houses in these are high, with flat roofs, where, in the cool of the mornings and evenings, they enjoy the fresh air. Their houses have no chimneys, as they use no fires, except for dressing their victuals. In their upper rooms, they have many windows and doors, for admitting light and air, but use no glass. The materials of their best houses are bricks and stone, well squared and built, as I have observed in Ahmedabad, which may serve as an instance for all. This is an extensive and rich city, compassed about with a strong stone-wall, and entered by twelve handsome gates. Both in their towns and villages, they have usually many fair trees among the houses, being a great defence against the violence of the sun. These trees are commonly so numerous and thick, that a city or town, when seen at a distance from some commanding eminence, seems a wood or thicket.

The staple commodities of this empire are indigo and cotton. To produce cotton, they sow seeds, which grow up into bushes like our rose-trees. These produce first a yellow blossom, which falls off, and leaves a pod about the size of a man's thumb, in which the substance at first is moist and yellow. As this ripens, it swells larger, till at length it bursts the covering, the cotton being then as white as snow. It is then gathered. These shrubs continue to bear for three or four years, when they have to be rooted out, and new ones substituted. Of this vegetable wool, or cotton, they fabricate various kinds of pure white cloth, some of which I have seen as fine as our best lawns, if not finer. Some of the coarser sorts they dye in various colours, or stain with a variety of curious figures.

The ships that go usually from Surat to Mokha, are of exceeding great burden, some of them, as I believe, exceeding 1400 or 1600 tons; but they are ill built, and though they have good ordnance, they are unable for any defence. In these ships there are yearly a vast number of passengers: As, for instance, in that year in which we left India, there came 1700 persons, most of whom went not for profit, but out of devotion, to visit the sepulchre of Mahomet at Medina near Mecca, about 150 leagues from Mokha. Those who have been upon this pilgrimage are ever after called hoggeis, [hajim] or holy men. This ship, from Surat for the Red Sea, begins her voyage about the 20th of March and returns to Surat about the end of September following. The voyage is short, and might easily be made in two months; but during the long season of the rains, and a little before and after, the winds are mostly so violent that there is no putting to sea without extreme hazard. The cargo of this ship, on its return, is usually worth L200,000 sterling, mostly in gold and silver. Besides this, and the quantities of money which come yearly out of Europe, which I do not pretend to calculate, many streams of silver flow continually thither, and there abide. It is lawful for all to bring in silver, and to carry away commodities, but it is a capital crime to carry away any great sums.

All the coin or bullion that comes to this country is presently melted down and refined, and coined with the stamp of the Mogul, being his name and title in Persian characters. This coin is purer silver than any other that I know, being of virgin silver without alloy, so that in the Spanish dollar, the purest money in Europe, there is some loss. Their money is called rupees, which are of divers values, the meanest being worth two shillings, and the best about two shillings and nine-pence. This is their general money of account. There is in Guzerat a coin of inferior value, called mamoodies, worth about twelve-pence each. Both these and the rupees are likewise coined in halves and quarters; so that three-pence is the smallest piece of current silver in the country. That which passes current for small change is brass money, which they call pices, of which three, or thereabout, are worth an English penny. These are made so massy, that the brass in them, when put to other uses, is well worth the quantity of silver at which they are rated. Their silver money is made both square and round; but so thick, that it never breaks or wears out.

For farther commodities; India yields great store of silk, which they weave very ingeniously, sometimes mixed with gold or silver. They make velvets, sattins, and taffetas, but not so rich as those of Italy. This country also produces many drugs and gums, and particularly the gum-lac, from which hard sealing-wax is made. The earth also yields abundant minerals, as lead, iron, copper, and brass, and, as they say, silver; yet, though this be true, they need not work their silver mines, being already so abundantly supplied with that metal from other nations. They have spices from other countries, and especially from Sumatra, Java, and the Molucca islands. They have curious pleasure gardens, planted with fruit-trees and delightful flowers, to which nature lends daily such ample supply, that they seem never to fade. In these places they have pleasant fountains, in which to bathe, and other delights by various conveyances of water, whose silent murmurs sooth their senses to sleep, in the hot season of the day.

Lest this remote country might seem an earthly paradise, without any inconveniences, I must notice that it contains many lions, tigers, wolves, and jackals, which are a kind of wild dogs, besides many other noxious and hurtful animals. In their rivers they have many crocodiles, and on the land many overgrown snakes and serpents, with other venomous and pernicious creatures. In the houses we often meet with scorpions, whose stinging is most painful and even deadly, unless the part be immediately anointed with an oil made of scorpions.[233] The abundance of flies in those parts is likewise an extreme annoyance; as, in the heat of the day, their numbers are so prodigious, that we cannot have peace or rest for them in any part. They cover our meat the moment it is set on the table, wherefore we are obliged to have men standing ready to drive them away with napkins, while we are eating. In the night, likewise, we are much disquieted with musquetos, like our gnats, but somewhat less; and, in the cities, there are such numbers of large hungry rats, that they often bite people as they sleep in their beds.

[Footnote 233: This is a mere fancy, as any bland oil is equally efficacious.—E.]

In this country the winds, which are called monsoons, blow constantly, or altering only a few points, for six months from the south, and other six months from the north. The months of April and May, and the beginning of June, till the rains come, are extremely hot; and the wind, which then sometimes blows gently over the parched ground, becomes so heated, as much oppresses all who are exposed to it: Yet God so mercifully provides for our relief, that most commonly he sends so strong a gale as greatly tempers the sultry air. Sometimes the wind blows very high during the hot and dry season, raising up vast quantities of dust and sand, like dark clouds pregnant with rain, and which often prodigiously annoy the people among whom they fall. But there is no country without its inconveniences; for the wise Disposer of all events hath attempered bitter things with sweet, to teach mankind that there is no true or perfect contentment to be found, but only in the kingdom of God.

This country has many excellent horses, which the inhabitants know well how to manage. Besides those bred in the country, they have many of the Tartarian, Persian, and Arabian breeds, which last is considered as the best in the world. They are about as large as ours, and are valued among them at as dear a rate as we usually esteem ours, perhaps higher. They are kept very daintily, every good horse being allowed one man to dress and feed him. Their provender is a species of grain called donna, somewhat like our pease, which are boiled, and then given cold to the horses, mixed with coarse sugar; and twice or thrice a week they have butter given them to scour their bodies. There are likewise in this country a great number of camels, dromedaries, mules, asses, and some rhinoceroses. These are huge beasts, bigger than the fattest oxen to be seen in England, and their skins lie upon their bodies in plaits or wrinkles.

They have many elephants, the Great Mogul having not fewer than 1400 for his own use, and all the nobles of the country have more or less, some having to the number of an hundred. Though the largest of all terrestrial animals, the elephants are wonderfully tractable, except that they are mad at times; but at all other times, a little boy is able to rule the largest of them. I have seen some thirteen feet high; but I have been often told that some are fifteen feet in height at the least. Their colour is universally black, their skins very thick and smooth, and without hair. They take much delight to bathe themselves in water, and they swim better than any beast I know. They lie down and rise again at pleasure, as other beasts do. Their pace is not swift, being only about three miles an hour; but they are the surest footed beasts in the world, as they never endanger their riders by stumbling. They are the most docile of all creatures, and of those we account merely possessed of instinct, they come nearest to reason. Lipsius, Cent. 1, Epist. 50, in his observations, taken from others, writes more concerning them than I can confirm, or than any can credit, as I conceive; yet I can vouch for many things which seem to be acts of reason rather than of mere brute sense, which we call instinct. For instance, an elephant will do almost any thing which his keeper commands. If he would have him terrify a man, he will make towards him as if he meant to tread him in pieces, yet does him no hurt. If he would have him to abuse a man, he will take up dirt, or kennel water, in his trunk, and dash it in his face. Their trunks are long grisly snouts, hanging down betwixt their tusks, by some called their hand, which they use very dexterously on all occasions.

An English merchant, of good credit, told me the following story of an elephant, as having happened to his own knowledge at Ajimeer, the place where the Mogul then resided:—This elephant used often to pass through the bazar, or market-place, where a woman who there sold herbs used to give him a handful as he passed her stall. This elephant afterwards went mad,[234] and, having broken his fetters, took his way furiously through the market-place, whence all the people fled as quickly as possible to get out of his way. Among these was his old friend the herb-woman, who, in her haste and terror, forgot to take away her little child. On coming to the place where this woman was in use to sit, the elephant stopped, and seeing the child among the herbs, he took it up gently in his trunk, and laid it carefully on a stall under the projecting roof of a house hard by, without doing it the smallest injury, and then continued his furious course. A travelling Jesuit, named Acosta, relates a similar story of an elephant at Goa, as from his own experience.—The king keeps certain elephants for the execution of malefactors. When one of these is brought forth to dispatch a criminal, if his keeper desires that the offender be destroyed speedily, this vast creature will instantly crush him to atoms under his foot; but if desired to torture him, will break his limbs successively, as men are broken on the wheel.

[Footnote 234: This temporary madness of the male elephants is usual in the rutting season.—E.]

The Mogul takes great delight in these stately animals, and often, when he sits in state, calls for some of the finest and largest to be brought, which are taught to bend before him, as in reverence, when they come into his presence. They often fight before him, beginning their combats like rams, by running furiously against each other, and butting with their foreheads. They afterwards use their tusks and teeth, fighting with the utmost fury, yet are they most careful to preserve their keepers, so that few of them receive any hurt in these rencounters. They are governed by a hooked instrument of steel, made like the iron end of a boat-hook, with which their keepers, who sit on their necks, put them back, or goad them on, at pleasure.

The king has many of his elephants trained up for war; each of which carries an iron gun about six feet long, which is fastened to a strong square frame of wood on his back, made fast by strong girths or ropes round his body. This gun carries a bullet about the size of a small tennis-ball, and is let into the timber with a loop of iron. The four corners of the wooden frame have each a silken banner on a short pole, and a gunner sits within, to shoot as occasion serves, managing the gun like a harquebuss, or large wall-piece. When the king travels, he is attended by many elephants armed in this manner, as part of his guard. He keeps many of them likewise, merely for state, which go before him, and are adorned with bosses of brass, and some have their bosses made of silver, or even of gold; having likewise many bells jingling about them, in the sound of which the animal delights. They have handsome housings, of cloth, or velvet, or of cloth of silver, or cloth of gold; and, for the greater state, have large royal banners of silk carried before them, on which the king's ensign is depicted, being a lion in the sun. These state-elephants are each allowed three or four men at least to wait upon them. Other elephants are appointed for carrying his women, who sit in pretty convenient receptacles fastened on their backs, made of slight turned pillars, richly covered, each holding four persons, who sit within. These are represented by our painters as resembling castles. Others again are employed to carry his baggage. He has one very fine elephant that has submitted, like the rest, to wear feathers, but could never be brought to endure a man, or any other burden, on his back.

Although the country be very fertile, and all kinds of provisions cheap, yet these animals, because of their vast bulk, are very chargeable in keeping; such as are well fed costing four or five shillings each, daily. They are kept out of doors, being fastened with a strong chain by one of their hind legs to a tree, or a strong post. Thus standing out in the sun, the flies are often extremely troublesome to them; on which occasions they tread the dry ground into dust with their feet, and throw it over their bodies with their trunks, to drive away the flies. The males are usually mad once a year after the females, at which time they are extremely mischievous, and will strike any one who comes in their way, except their own keeper; and such is their vast strength, that they will kill a horse or a camel with one blow of their trunks. This fury lasts only a few days; when they return to their usual docility. At these times they are kept apart from all company, and fettered with strong chains to prevent mischief. If by chance they get loose in their state of phrenzy, they run at everything they see in motion; and, in this case, the only possible means of stopping them is by lighting a kind of artificial fire-works called wild-fire, the sparkling and cracking of which make them stand still and tremble.

The king allows four females to each of his great elephants, which are called their wives. The testes of the males are said to lie about his forehead, and the teats of the female are between her fore-legs. She goes twelve months with young. The elephant is thirty years old before he attains his full growth, and they live to seventy or eighty years of age. Although very numerous, elephants are yet so highly prized in India, that some of the best are valued at a thousand pounds or more.

Sec.3. Of the People of Hindoostan, and their Manners and Customs.

The whole inhabitants of Hindoostan were anciently Gentiles, or notorious idolaters, generally denominated Hindoos, hot ever since the time of Tamerlane they have been mixed with Mahometans.[235] There are, besides, many Persians, Tartars, Abyssinians, and Arminians, and some few of almost every nation in Asia, if not in Europe, that reside here. Among these are some Jews, but not esteemed, for their very name is proverbial, as a term of reproach. In stature, the natives of Hindoostan are equal to ourselves, being in general very straight and well-made, for I never saw any deformed person in that country. They are of a dark tawny or olive colour, having their hair as black as a raven, but not curled. They love not to see either a man or a woman very fair, as they say that is the colour of lepers, which are common among them. Most of the Mahometans, except their molahs or priests, or such as are old and retired, keep their chins shaved, but allow the hair on their upper-lips to grow long. They usually shave all the hair from their heads, leaving only one lock on their crowns for Mahomet to pull them by up to heaven. Both among the Gentiles and Mahometans they have excellent barbers. The people often bathe and wash their bodies, and anoint themselves with perfumed oils.

[Footnote 235: The Mahomedans made extensive conquests in India long before the era of Timor.—E.]

The dresses of the men and women differ very little from each other, and are mostly made of white cotton cloth. In fashion, they sit close to the shape to the middle, and from thence hang loose to below the knee. Under this they wear long close breeches down to their ancles, crumpled about the small of their legs like boots. Their feet are put bare into their shoes, which are made like slippers, that they may be readily put off on entering their houses, the floors of which are covered with excellent carpets of the country manufacture, as good as any made in Turkey or Persia. Instead of these carpets, some have other floor-cloths, according to the quality of the owner. On these they sit when conversing or eating, like tailors on the shop-board. The men's heads are covered by turbans, being sashes, or long webs of thin cloth, white or coloured, wreathed many times about. They do not uncover their heads in making reverence, instead of which they bow their bodies, placing the right hand on the top of the head, after which they touch the earth with that hand, as if indicating that the party saluted may tread upon them if he please. Those who are equals take each other by the chin or beard, as Joab did Amasa; but salute in love, not in treachery.

The Mahometan women, except such as are poor or dishonest, never appear abroad. Though not fair, they are all well favoured, have their heads covered with veils, and their hair hanging down behind, twisted with silk. Those of quality are decorated with many jewels hung around their necks, and about their wrists and arms; and they have several holes round their ears in which they hang pendents, besides that every woman has a hole in her nostrils, in which to wear a ring, which seems to have been an ancient ornament, being mentioned in the Old Testament. Their women are happy above all others I have ever heard of; in the ease with which they bear their children, being one day able to ride with their infants unborn, and to ride again the next with their child in their arms.

The language of the common people of this country, called Hindoostanee, is smooth, and easily pronounced, and is written from left to right, as we do. The learned tongues are the Persian and Arabic, which are written backwards, from right to left, like the Hebrew. There is but little learning among them, which may be owing to the scarcity of books, which are all in manuscript, and therefore few and dear; but they are a people of good capacity, and were they to cultivate literature among them, would assuredly produce many excellent works. They have heard of Aristotle, whom they name Aplis, and have some of his writings translated into Arabic. The noble physician, Avicenna, was a native of Samarcandia, the country of Tamerlane, and in this science they possess good skill. The most prevalent diseases of this country are dysenteries, hot fevers, and calentures, in all which they prescribe abstinence as a principal remedy. The filthy disease produced by incontinence is likewise common among them. They delight much in music, having many instruments, both stringed and wind; but, to my ears, their music seemed all discordant. They write many pretty poems, and compose histories and annals of their own country. They profess great skill in astrology, and the king places great confidence in men of that profession, so that he will not undertake a journey, nor do any thing whatever of importance, unless after his wizard has indicated a prosperous hour for the undertaking.

The idolaters begin their year on the 1st of March, and the Mahometans at the instant when the sun enters Aries, as calculated by their astrologers. From which time the king keeps a festival, called the norose, or nine days, for which time it continues, like that made by Ahasuerus in the third year of his reign. On this occasion, all his nobles assemble, bringing great gifts, which he repays with princely rewards. Being myself present on this occasion, I beheld most incredible riches, to my amazement, in gold, pearls, precious stones, and many brilliant vanities. I saw this festival celebrated at Mandoa, where the Mogul has a most spacious house or palace, larger than any I ever beheld, in which the many beautiful vaults and arches evince the exquisite skill of his artists in architecture. At Agra he has a palace, in which are two large towers, at least ten feet square, covered with plates of pure gold.

The walls of his houses have no hangings, on account of the heat, but are either painted or beautified with a white lime, purer even than that we term Spanish. The floors are either paved with stone or are made of lime and sand, like our Paris plaster, and are spread with rich carpets. None lodge within the King's house but his women and eunuchs, and some little boys, whom he always keeps about him for a wicked use. He always eats in private among his women, being served with a great variety of exquisitely dressed meats, which being proved by his taster, are put into golden vessels, as they say, covered and sealed up, and brought in by the eunuchs. He has meats made ready at all hours, and calls for them at pleasure. These people do not feed freely, as we do, on full dishes of beef or mutton, but use much rice, boiled up along with pieces of flesh, or dressed in a variety of ways. They have not many roasted or baked meats, but stew most of their meat. Among their many dishes, I shall only notice one, called by them deupario. This is made of venison cut into slices, to which are put onions and sweet herbs, with some roots, and a little spice and butter, forming the most savoury dish I ever tasted; and I almost think it is the same dish that Jacob made ready for his father Isaac when he got his blessing.

In this kingdom there are no inns or houses of entertainment for travellers and strangers. But, in the cities and large towns, there are handsome buildings for their reception, called serais, which are not inhabited, in which any passengers may have rooms freely, but must bring with them their bedding, cooks, and all other necessaries for dressing their victuals. These things are usually carried by travellers on camels, or in carts drawn by oxen; taking likewise tents along with them, to use when they do not find serais. The inferior people ride on oxen, horses, mules, camels, or dromedaries, the women riding in the same manner as the men; or else they use a kind of slight coaches on two wheels, covered at top, and close behind, but open before and at the sides, unless when they contain women, in which case they are close all round. These coaches will conveniently hold two persons, besides the driver, and are drawn by a pair of oxen, matched in colour, many of them being white, and not large. The oxen are guided by cords which go through the middle cartilage of the nose, and so between the horns into the hand of the driver. The oxen are dressed and harnessed like horses, and being naturally nimble, use makes them so expert, that they will go twenty miles a-day or more, at a good pace. The better sort ride on elephants, or are carried singly on men's shoulders, in a slight thing called a palanquin, like a couch, but covered by a canopy. This would appear to have been an ancient effeminacy used in Rome, as Juvenal describes a fat lawyer who filled one of them:

Causidici nova, cam venial lectica Mathonis; plena ipso—

They delight much in hawking, and in hunting hares, deer, and other wild animals. Their dogs of chase somewhat resemble our greyhounds, but are much less, and do not open when in pursuit of their game. They use leopards also in hunting, which attain the game they pursue by leaping. They have a very cunning device for catching wild-fowl, in the following manner:—A fellow goes into the water, having the skin of any kind of fowl he wishes to catch, so artificially stuffed, that it seems alive. Keeping his whole body under water except his face, which is covered by this counterfeit, he goes among the wild-fowl which swim in the water, and pulls them under by the legs. They shoot much for their amusement with bows, which are curiously made of buffaloe's horn, glewed together, their arrows being made of small canes, excellently headed and feathered, and are so expert in archery, that they will kill birds flying. Others take great delight in managing their horses. Though they have not a quarter of a mile to go, they will either ride on horseback or be carried, as men of any quality hold it dishonourable to go on foot any where.

In their houses, they play much at that most ingenious game which we call chess, or else at draughts. They have likewise cards, but quite different from ours. Sometimes they are amused by cunning jugglers, or mountebanks, who allow themselves to be bitten by snakes which they carry about in baskets, immediately curing themselves by means of certain powders which they smell to. They are likewise often amused by the tricks of apes and monkeys. In the southern parts of Hindoostan, there are great numbers of large white apes, some of which are as tall as our largest greyhounds. Some of those birds which make their nests on trees are much afraid of the apes, and nature has instructed them in a subtle device to secure themselves, by building their nests on the most extreme twigs, and hanging them there like purse-nets, so that the apes cannot possibly come to them.

Every city or great town in India has markets twice a-day, in the cool of the morning just after sun-rise, and again in the evening a little before it sets; and in these they sell almost every thing by weight. In the heat of the day, every one keeps within doors, where those of any rank lie on couches, or sit cross-legged on carpets, having servants about them, who beat the air with fans of stiffened leather, or the like, to cool them. While thus taking their ease, they often call their barbers, who tenderly grip and beat upon their arms and other parts of their bodies, instead of exercise, to stir the blood. This is a most gratifying thing, and is much used in this hot climate.

The Mahometans and Hindoos are much to be commended for their truthfulness as servants; for a stranger may safely travel alone among them with a great charge of money or goods, all through the country, having them for his guard, and will never be neglected or injured by them. They follow their masters on foot, carrying swords and bucklers, or bows and arrows, for their defence; and so plentiful are provisions in this country, that one may hire them on very easy terms, as they do not desire more than five shillings each moon, paid the day after the change, to provide themselves in all necessaries; and for this small pittance give diligent and faithful service. Such is their filial piety, that they will often give the half of these pitiful wages to their parents, to relieve their necessities, preferring almost to famish themselves rather than see them want.

Both among the Mahometans and Hindoos there are many men of most undaunted courage. The Baloches are of great note on this account among the Mahometans, being the inhabitants of Hjykan, adjoining to the kingdom of Persia; as also the Patans, taking their denomination from a province in the kingdom of Bengal.[236] These tribes dare look their enemies in the face, and maintain the reputation of valour at the hazard of their lives. Among the many sects of the Hindoos, there is but one race of warriors, called Rashbootes, or Rajaputs, many of whom subsist by plunder, laying in wait in great troops to surprise poor passengers, and butchering all who have the misfortune to fall into their hands. These excepted, all the rest of the natives are in general pusillanimous, and had rather quarrel than fight, being so poor in spirit, in comparison with Europeans, that the Mogul often says, proverbially, That one Portuguese will beat three of them, and one Englishman three Portuguese.

[Footnote 236: This is a strange mistake, confounding the city of Patna, in Bengal, in the east of Hindoostan, with the Patans, a race of mountaineers between Cabul and Candahar, far to the west of India, called likewise Afgans, and their country Afghanistan.—E.]

In regard to arms for war, they have good ordnance, which, so far as I could learn, were very anciently used in this country.[237] I have already described the iron pieces carried on elephants. They have smaller guns for the use of their foot-soldiers, who are somewhat long in taking aim, but come as near the mark as any I ever saw. All their pieces are fired with match, and they make excellent gun-powder. They use also lances, swords, and targets, and bows and arrows. Their swords are made crooked like faulchions, and very sharp; but, for want of skill in tempering, will break rather than bend; wherefore our sword-blades, which will bend and become straight again, are often sold at high prices. I have seen horsemen in this country, thus accoutered, carrying as it were a whole armory at once; a good sword by their sides, under which a sheaf of arrows; on their back a gun fastened with belts, a buckler on their shoulders; a bow in a case hanging on their left side, and a good lance in their hand, two yards and a half long, with an excellent steel head. Yet, for all these weapons, dare he not resist a man of true courage, armed only with the worst of all these. The armies in these eastern wars often consist of incredible multitudes, and they talk of some which have exceeded that we read of in the Bible, which Zerah, king of Ethiopia, brought against Asia. Their martial music consists of kettle-drums and long wind-instruments. In their battles, both sides usually begin with most furious onsets; but, in a short time, for want of good discipline, they fall into disorder, and one side is routed with much slaughter.

[Footnote 237: Vertoman says the Portuguese who deserted at the first discovery of India, and entered into the service of the native princes, taught them this art.—Purch.

I have somewhere read, many years ago, but cannot recollect the authority, "That, when Alexander besieged a certain city in India, the Brachmans, by the power of magic, raised a cloud of smoke around the walls, whence broke frequent flashes of lightning, with thunder, and the thunderbolts slew many of his soldiers." This would infer the very ancient use of fire-arms of some kind in India.—E.]

The Mahometans have fair places of worship, which they call mesquits, well built of stone. That side which looks to the westwards is a close-built wall, while that towards the east is erected on pillars, the length being from north to south. At the corners of their great mosques, in the cities, there are high turrets or pinnacles, called minarets, to the tops of which their molahs or priests resort at certain times of day, proclaiming their prophet in Arabic, in these words,—Alla illa Alla, Mahomet resul Alla; that is, There is no God but God, and Mahomet is the ambassador of God. This is used instead of bells, which they cannot endure in their temples, to put religious persons in mind of their duty. On one occasion, while Mr Coryat was residing in Agra, he got up into a turret over against the priest, and on hearing these words, he contradicted him, calling out, in a loud voice,—La Alla illa Alla, Hazaret Esa Ebn-Alla; there is no God but God, and Christ, the Son of God, is his prophet. He farther added, that Mahomet was an impostor, in any other country of Asia, in which Mahomet is zealously followed, this bold attempt had surely forfeited his life, with all the tortures which cruelty could invent, or tyranny inflict; but in this country every one is permitted to follow his own religion, and may even dispute against theirs with impunity.

In regard to their burials, every Mahometan of quality provides a fair sepulchre for himself and his family, in his life-time, surrounding a considerable space of ground with a high wall, and generally in the neighbourhood of some tank, or else near springs of water, that they may make pleasant fountains. Within the enclosure, he erects a round or square tomb, either on pillars or of closed walls, with a door for entrance. The rest of the enclosure is planted with trees and flowers, as if they would make the elysian fields of the poets, in which their souls may repose in delight. They have many such goodly monuments built in memory of those they esteem as saints, of whom they have an ample calendar, in these there are lamps continually burning, and thither many resort in blind devotion, to contemplate the happiness enjoyed by these peires, as they call the holy men. Among many sumptuous piles dedicated to this use, the most splendid of them all is to be seen at Secuadra, a village three miles from Agra. This was begun by Akbar Shah, the father of the present king, and finished by his son, the reigning Mogul. Akbar lies here interred, and Jehanguire Shah means to be here buried when he dies.

The molahs, or priests of the Mahometans, employ much of their time as scribes, doing business for other men, having liberty to marry as well as the laity, from whom they are no way distinguished by their dress. Some live retiredly, spending their time in meditation, or in delivering precepts of morality to the people. They are in roach esteem, as are another set called Seids, who derive their pedigree from Mahomet. The priests neither read nor preach in the mosques; yet there is a set form of prayers in Arabic, not understood by most of the people, but which they repeat as fluently as the molahs. They likewise repeat the name of God, and that of Mahomet, a certain number of times every day, telling over their beads, like the misled papists, who seem to regard the number of prayers more than their sincerity. Before going into their mosques they wash their feet, and, in entering, put off their shoes. On beginning their devotions, they stop their ears, and fix their eyes, that no extraneous circumstances may divert their thoughts, and then utter their prayers in a soft and still voice, using many words significantly expressive of the omnipotence, goodness, eternity, and other attributes of God. Likewise many words full of humility, confessing their unworthiness with many submissive gestures. While praying, they frequently prostrate themselves on their faces, acknowledging that they are burdens upon the earth, poisonous to the air, and the like, and therefore dare not look up to heaven, but comfort themselves in the mercy of God, through the intercession of their false prophet. Many among them, to the shame of us Christians, pray five tunes a-day, whatever may happen to be their interruptions of pleasure or profit. Their set times are at the hours of six, nine, twelve, three, and six, respectively.

The manner in which they divide the day is quite different from us; as they divide the day and the night each into four equal parts, which they denominate pores, and these again are each subdivided into eight smaller parts, called grees. [Hence each pore contains three of our hours, and each gree is equal to 22-1/2 of our minutes.] These are measured, according to an ancient custom, by means of water, dropping from one small vessel into another, beside which there always stand servants appointed for the purpose, who strike with a hammer upon a concave plate of metal, like the inner portion of a plate, hung by a wire, thus denoting the pores and grees successively as they pass.[238] Like the mother and her seven sons, mentioned in the Maccabees, such is the temperance of many, both among the Mahometans and Gentiles, that they will rather die than eat or drink of any thing forbidden by their law. Such meats and drinks as their law allows, they use only in moderation, to satisfy nature, not to please their appetites, hating gluttony, and esteeming drunkenness a sin, as it really is, or a second madness; and indeed their language has only one word, mest, for a drunkard and a madman.

[Footnote 238: This device for measuring time is the same with the clepsydra, or water-clocks, of the ancients.—Purch.]

They keep yearly a solemn feast, or Lent, which they call Ram jan, [Ramadan] about the month of August, which continues a whole moon; during which time, those who are strict in their religious observances, avoid the embraces of their women, and abstain from meat or drink so long as the sun is above the horizon, but eat after it sets, at their pleasure. Towards the close of this Lent, or ramadan, they consecrate one day of mourning, in memory of their departed friends; on which occasions, I have seen many of the meaner people making bitter lamentations. Besides this ordinary and stated time of sadness, many foolish women are in use, oft times in the year, so long as they survive, to water the graves of their husbands or children with the tears of affectionate regret. On the night succeeding the day of general mourning, they light up innumerable lamps, and other lights, which they set on the sides and tops of their houses, and all other most conspicuous places, taking no food till these are burnt out. When the ramadan is entirely ended, the most devout Mahometans assemble at some noted mosque, where some portion of the Alcoran is publicly read; this being their holy book, like our Bible, which they never touch without some mark of reverence. They keep a festival in November, which they call Buccaree, signifying the ram-feast; on which occasion they kill and roast a ram, in memory, as they say, of the ram which redeemed Ishmael, when about to be sacrificed by his father Abraham. They have many other feasts or holidays consecrated to Mahomet, and their pieres, or pretended saints.

They have the books of Moses, whom they name Moosa curym Alla, the righteous of God. Abraham they call Ibrahim calim Alla, the faithful of God. Thus Ishmael is called the true sacrifice of God; David is named Dahoode, the prophet of God; Solomon is Seliman, the wisdom of God, and so forth; all neatly expressed, as the former instances, in short Arabic epithets. In honour of these our scripture worthies, they frequently sing songs or ditties of praise; and, besides, all of them, except those of the ruder sort, when at any time they happen to mention our Saviour, always call him Hazaret Eesa, the Lord Jesus; and ever speak of him with respect and reverence, saying, that he was a good and just man, who lived without sin, and did greater miracles than were ever performed before or since. They even call him Rhahew Alla, which signifies the breath of God, but cannot conceive how he could be the Son of God, and therefore deny that. Yet the Mahometans look upon us as unclean, and will neither eat with us, nor of any thing that is cooked in our vessels.

There are many men among the Mahometans called Dervises, who relinquish the world, and spend their days in solitude, expecting a recompence in a better life. The strict and severe penances these men voluntarily endure, far exceed all those so much boasted of by the Romanist monks. Some of these live alone on the tops of hills, remote from all society, spending their lives in contemplation, and will rather die of famine than move from their cells, being relieved from devotion by those who dwell nearest them. Some again impose long fasts upon themselves, till nature be almost exhausted. Many of those whom they call religious men, wear no garments beyond a mere clout to cover their shame, and beg for all their provisions, like the mendicant friars of Europe. These men usually dwell about the outskirts of the cities and towns, like the man mentioned by our blessed Saviour at the city of the Gadarens, who had devils, and wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but dwelt among the tombs. They make little fires during the day, sleeping at night among the warm ashes, with which they besmear their bodies. These men never suffer a razor to come upon their heads, and some of them let their nails grow like to bird's claws, as it is written of Nebuchadnezzar, when driven out from among the society of men. There is also a sort of men among them called mendee, who often cut and slash their flesh with knives, like the priests of Baal. I have seen others, who, from supposed devotion, put such massy fetters of iron on their legs, that they are hardly able to move, yet walk in that manner many miles upon pilgrimages, barefooted, upon the parching ground, to visit the sepulchres of their deluding saints; thus, tantum religio potuit suadere malorum, taking more pains to go to hell than any Christian that I know does to attain heaven. These do not marry. Such Mahometans as choose to marry, are allowed four wives by the law of Mahomet, but they keep as many concubines as they can maintain. The priests content themselves with one wife.

Notwithstanding their polygamy, such is the violent jealousy of these lustful Mahometans, that they will scarcely allow even the fathers and brothers of their beloved wives or concubines to converse with them, except in their own presence. Owing to this restraint, it has become odious for such women as have the reputation of virtue, to be seen at any time by strangers. If any of them dishonour their husbands beds, or, being unmarried, are found incontinent, even their own brothers will put them to death rather than they should escape punishment; and for such unnatural actions they shall be commended, rather than called in question. Yet is there full toleration for harlots, who are as little ashamed of receiving visits as the men are of frequenting their houses. The women of any fashion are waited upon by eunuchs instead of women-servants; and these eunuchs are deprived in their youth of every thing that can provoke jealousy. Their marriages are solemnised in great pomp. After the molah has joined their hands, with certain ceremonies and words of benediction, they begin their revels at the first watch of the night. Whether the man be poor or rich, he mounts on horseback, attended by his friends, having many oressets, or great lights, carried before him, and accompanied by drums, and wind-instruments of music, and various pageantry. The woman follows with her friends, in covered coaches. And having thus paraded through the principal places of the city or town, they return home and partake of a banquet, the men and women being in separate apartments. They are mostly married at the age of twelve or thirteen, the matches being made by their mothers.

Sec.4. Of the Sects, Opinions, Rites, Priests, and other Circumstances of the Hindoo Religion; with other Observations.

The Hindoos[239] are distributed into eighty and four several sects, all of which differ materially in opinions. This has often filled me with wonder; but I know that they are all deluded by Satan, who is the father of division. Their illiterate priests are called Bramins, being the same with the Brachmanni of the ancients; and, for aught I could learn, are so sottishly ignorant and unsteady, that they know not what they believe. They have little round-built temples, which they call pagodas, in which are images in most monstrous shapes, which they worship. Some of them dream, of Elysian fields, to which their souls pass over a Styx or Acheron, and there assume new bodies. Others hold that ere long, this world shall have an end, after which they shall live here again, upon a new earth. They talk of four books which were sent them about 6000 years ago by their prophet Ram, two of which were sealed up and might not be opened, the other two being read by the Bramins only. They say that there are seven orbs, above which is the seat of God; and they hold that God knoweth not of petty things, or, if he doth, regardeth them not. They circumscribe God in place or dimensions, alleging that he may be seen, but far off as in a mist, and not near or clearly. They believe in the existence of devils or evil spirits; but that they are so bound in chains, as to be incapable of doing hurt. They call man Adam, from the first man of that name; whose wife, as they say, when tempted with the forbidden fruit, swallowed it down; but, as her husband was about to do the same, it was stopped in his throat by the hand of God: Whence men have a protuberance in that part, which we call the pomum adami, which women have not.

[Footnote 239: By Terry, the Hindoos are uniformly denominated the Gentiles, a word of vague and general meaning, merely signifying idolaters, or unbelievers, literally the nations, as contradistinguished from the Jews. By some authors, the natives of Hindoostan are called Gentoos, a word of uncertain origin. The term of Hindoo seems the more appropriate name; at least it has now become universal.—E.]

As anciently among the Jews, the priesthood is hereditary with this people; every son of a Bramin being a priest, and marries with the daughter of a Bramin. So also among all the Hindoos, the men take their wives among the daughters of those who are of the same tribe, sect, and occupation, with their own fathers. Thus the son of a merchant marries a merchant's daughter, and every man's son that lives by his labour, marries the daughter of one of the same profession with himself, so that they never advance themselves to higher situations. The Hindoos take but one wife, of whom they are not so fearful as are the Mahometans of their numerous women, for they are suffered to go abroad. They are always married very young, at six or seven years of age, their parents making the contracts, and they come together when twelve years old. Their nuptials are celebrated with as much pomp and jollity as those of the Mahometans. The habits of the Hindoos differ little from those of the Mahometans, already described; but many of their women wear rings on their toes, and therefore go barefooted. They have likewise broad rings of brass, or of more valuable metal, according to their rank and wealth, which they wear about the small of their legs, being made to put off and on. These seem to resemble the tinkling ornaments about the feet, mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, or the ornaments of the legs, anciently in use among the Jewish women. They have also such on their arms. The laps of their ears are pierced when young, and the hole is daily stretched and widened, by things put in on purpose, so that it at length becomes large enough to hold a ring as broad as a little saucer, made hollow in its edges to contain the flesh. Both men and women wash their bodies every day before they eat, and they sit entirely naked at their food, excepting only the covering of modesty. This outward washing, as they think, tends to cleanse them from sin, not unlike the Pharisees in scripture, who would not eat with unwashed hands. Hence, they ascribe a certain divine influence to rivers, but above all to the Ganges, daily flocking thither in great companies, and throwing in pieces of gold and silver, according to their devotion or abilities, after which they wash themselves in the sacred stream. Both men and women paint their foreheads, or other parts of their faces, with red or yellow spots.

In regard to their grosser opinions, they do not believe in the resurrection of the flesh, and therefore burn the bodies of their dead, near some river if they can, into which they strew the ashes. Their widows never marry again; but, after the loss of their husbands, cut their hair close off, and spend all their remaining life in neglect; whence it happens, that many young women are ambitious to die with honour, as they esteem it, throwing themselves for lore of their departed husbands into the flames, as they think, of martyrdom. Following their dead husband to the pile, and there embracing his corpse, they are there consumed in the same fire. This they do voluntarily, and without compulsion, their parents, relations, and friends joyfully accompanying them; and, when the pile of this hellish sacrifice begins to burn, all the assembled multitude shout and make a noise, that the screams of the tortured living victims may not be heard. This abominable custom is not very much unlike the custom of the Ammonites, who made their children pass through the fire to Moloch, during which they caused certain tabrets or drums to sound, whence the place was called Tophet, signifying a tabret. There is one sect among the Hindoos, called Parsees, who neither burn nor inter their dead. They surround certain pieces of ground with high walls, remote from houses or public roads, and there deposit their dead, wrapped in sheets, which thus have no other tombs but the maws of ravenous fowls.[240]

[Footnote 240: These Parsees, called Parcees in the Pilgrims, and Guebres by other writers, are a remnant of the ancient Persians, who are fire-worshippers, or followers of Zerdust, the Zoroaster of the Greeks.—E.]

The Hindoos are, generally speaking, an industrious race; being either cultivators of the ground, or otherwise diligently employed in various occupations. Among them there are many curious artificers, who are the best imitators in the world, as they will make any thing new very exactly after a pattern. The Mahometans, on the contrary, are generally idle, being all for to morrow, a common saying among them, and live by the labours of the Hindoos. Some of these poor deluded idolaters will eat of nothing which has had life, feeding on grain, herbs, milk, butter, cheese, and sweet-meats, of which last they have various kinds, the best and most wholesome of which is green ginger remarkably well preserved. Some tribes eat fish, and of no other living thing. The Rajaput tribe eat swine's flesh, which is held in abomination by the Mahometans. Some will eat of one kind of flesh, and some of another; but all the Hindoos universally abstain from beef owing to the reverence they entertain for cows; and therefore give large sums yearly to the Mogul, besides his other exactions, as a ransom for the lives of these sacred animals. Whence, though they have other and good provisions in abundance, we meet with very little meat in that country.

The most tender-hearted among the idolaters are called Banians, who hold the metempsychosis of Pythagoras as a prime article of their faith, believing that the souls of the best men and women, when freed from the prison of their human bodies, transmigrate into the bodies of cows, which they consider as the best of all creatures. They hold that the souls of the wicked go into the bodies of viler beasts; as the souls of gluttons into swine, those of the voluptuous and incontinent into apes and monkies; the souls of the cruel, furious, and revengeful, into lions, tigers, and wolves; the souls of the envious into serpents; and so forth, according to their qualities and dispositions; transmigrating successively from one to another of the same kind, ad infinitum; and, by consequence, believing in the eternal duration of the world. Thus, according to them, there does not exist even a silly fly but is actuated by a soul formerly human, considering these to have formerly belonged to light women; and so incorrigible are their sottish opinions, that they cannot be persuaded out of them by any reasoning. Owing to these opinions, they will not put to death the most offensive animals, not even the most venemous snakes, saying, that it is their nature to do harm, and that man is gifted with reason to shun these noxious creatures, but not at liberty to destroy them.