The history of the Inquisition, as it is exercised at Goa written in French, by the ingenious Monsieur Dellon, who laboured five years under those severities ; with an account of his deliverance ; translated into English.

CHAP. V. (Book 5)

Description of the Prison. I writ to the Inquisitors, who returned me no answer. Extreme misery of the Prisoners.

THe Prison of Daman is lower than the River, which is near to it, which makes it moist and unhealthy; and it wanted but little that it was not overflowed some years since, by a hole which the Prisoners had made under the Wall, for to escape thereby. The Walls are very thick. The Prison consists in two large low Rooms, and one upperone. The Men are in the lower, the Women in the upper Room. Of the two lower Rooms, the greater is about 40 foot long, and 15 broad, and the other two thirds of this extension. We were in this space of ground about 40 Prisoners, and there was no other place to satisfie the ordinary necessities of nature but that. We made water in the middle of this Room, where the collection of these waters made a kind of Sea: and the Women had no better conveinience in their stage, there being this only difference between them and us, that their waters ran from their high room through the Planks into ours, where all those different waters mixed together. For the other excrements, our only conveni∣ence was a large Basket; which was scarce emptied above once a week; whereby an innumerable swarm of Worms were bred, which covered the pavement, and came even upon our Beds. While I staid in this Prison, the care which I took to have it cleansed, rendred it a little less horrible; but altho I often caused even 50 Pitchers of Urine to be cast out in one day, yet the stink ceased not to be very great.

Scarce was I shut up in this sad dwelling, but making a serious re∣flexion upon my unhappiness, I easily discovered the cause, and resolved to forget nothing which might contribute to my enlargement. My friends continually told me, That my best and readiest way to recover my liberty, was to confess voluntarily, and at large, what I thought had procured my ruin. Being willing then to make use of their advice, I writ to Goa to the Grand Inquisitor, who is called in Portugueze, Inqui∣sidor mor: I ingeniously declared to him in my Letter, all which I be∣lieved

I could have been accused of; and desired him to consider, that if I had failed, it was rather through levity and imprudence, than ma∣lice. My Letter was delivered faithfully, but against my hope and the desire of my friends, they returned no answer to me, but suffered me to languish in this stinking and obscure Prison, in the company of diverse Negroes; who, as well as I, were arrested by Order of the H. Office.

The charitable care which Dona Francisca took of me all the time that I stay'd Prisoner at Daman, rendred my Captivity a little more supportable. This generous Lady contented not her self to send me what was necessary, but I received every day from her wherewith to nourish abundantly and delicately four persons. She her self took the trouble of dressing my meat, and always sent along with the Slave, who brought the meat, some of her Grand-Children, who might see me re∣ceive it; fearing le••t any one should suborn her Domesticks or the Jaylor to poison me. And altho she could not come in person to comfort me in the Prison, she took care that her Husband, her Children▪ and her Sons-in-Law should come every day.

It was not so with the other Prisoners; there is no regulated sub∣sistance for them at Daman: the Magistrates leave them to the Charity of whosoever have a mind to relieve them: And as there were in the whole Town but two persons, who sent them Meat duly twice a Week; the greatest part of the Prisoners receiving nothing upon other days, were reduced to so deplorable a misery, that this contributed not a little to imagine mine the greater. I gave all that I could spare from my own subs••••tance, yet there were some of those unhappy persons, who were separated from us but by a Wall, who were forced by hunger to live upon their own Excrements. Upon this occasion I learned that some years before about Fifty Malabar Pirates being taken and shut up in this Room, the horrible Famine which they suffered, cast more than forty of them into such a despair that they strangled themselves with the Linnen of their•• Turbants. The extremity which those poor people endured that were with me, created much compassion in me, which induced me to writ to the Governour, and to the Chief Men of the Town, who af∣ter that were so charitable as to send maintenance to these miserable Victims of the H. Office.