A new account of East-India and Persia, in eight letters being nine years travels begun 1672 and finished 1681 : containing observations made of the moral, natural and artifical estate of those countries ... / by John Fryer ... ; illustrated with maps, figures and useful tables.

CHAP. V.

Shews the Pleasure and the Product of the Woods: The People bewitched to Idolatry; the Sottishness of the Atheist. I am sent for to Bombaim; after some endeavours to go thither, and some time spent at Goa, am forced to Winter at Carwar, and then I return to Surat.

THE Exercises here are common with India, only Cock-Fighting; for which Sport they have a Breed of Cocks as big as Turkies; which they Arm with Razors tied flat under their Claws, and faulched Two Inches instead of Gavelocks, with which they slash one another Mortally; so that the Dispute endures not long, for most an end the first or second Blow decides it.

For our own Diversion here we had none besides Shooting,* 1.1 in which we spent sometimes a whole Week in the Woods and Rivers sides; for if we expected Flesh, or Fowl, we must take Pains for it; no Beef being to be Bought here, though up the Country from the Moors we could; so that our usual Diet was (besides plenty of Fish) Water-Fowl, Peacocks, Green Pidgeons, spotted Deer, Sa∣bre,

Wild Hogs, and sometimes Wild Cows. Going in quest where∣of, one of our Soldiers, a Youth, Killed a Tigre-Royal; it was brought home by Thirty or Forty Combies,* 1.2 the Body tied to a long Bamboo, the Tail extended; so they brought it to the House, where we saw 'twas Wounded in Three Places, one through the Head with Two Bullets, another through the Body slanting up to the Shoulders, a Third in the Leg; it was a Tigre of the Biggest and Noblest Kind, Five Feet in Length beside the Tail, Three and an half in Height, it was of a light Yellow, streaked with Black, like a Tabby Cat, the Ears short, with a few Bristles about the Lips; the Visage Fierce and Majestick, the Teeth gnashing, Two of which she brake against the Stones for anguish, the Shoulders and Fore-legs thick and well set, the Paw as Large as the biggest Fist stretched out, the Claws thick and strong.

The Boy Shot it in the Night from a Chouse, or Estarzo, as it came to Drink, supposing it to have been a Deer; the first Shot was that under the Shoulder, which made her Spring Three times an incredible Height, at the last of which she fell into the Chouse from whence she saw the Flash, where with the English Boy were a Comby, and a Comby Boy of Eight Year old, asleep a little on one side; she pawed the Straw with her Feet, while all but the Child asleep fled; but being wrung by her Pain, she soon left the place with an horrible Noise that made the Woods tremble, all which awaked not the Lad, nor had it any Harm.

In this interval, the English Youth Charged again with a couple of Slugs, and tracing the Blood, as she was making at him, discharged through the Brain-pan, at which she was quiet; but to make sure, he made another shot at her, which he believed was that in the Leg: All this time the Moon was Obscured and Cloudy; the Comby that had left him and his Son, at length came with a many more, calling Fringi, the Term they have for Europe-Men and Franks; the Boy was walking about, fearing to venture within reach, till at last laying aside his well-advised Suspicion, he approaching, found the Terror of the Wood Slain.

Disrobed of its Royal Hide,* 1.3 Two Bones of the Bigness and Figure of a Levator, presented themselves to our view, that had no Connexi∣on with the other Bones, but wholly immersed in the Flesh per sy∣sarcasin, in the ends of each Pectoral, and the Three circumducing Muscles, towards the joining of the Shoulder-blades, and the upper Bones of the Fore-feet, commonly called Shoulder-bones; of these there goes a Story handed by Tradition, as that Licking the Right Shoulder it appeases Hunger, the Left it whets it where these Bones lie; but probable enough it is, that Nature added these for its greater Strength; The Entrails were little variable, but the Heart was mighty, and the Liver (they say) had as many Lobes as that was Years old, which were Six and an half, like to a Foxes.

The Chief,* 1.4 to encourage the Lad, told him, That though he were a Boy, he had done a Manly Action, and therefore according to the Custom of the Country, in presence of all his Admirers, he plucked off his own Coat, which was Venetian Cloath of Silk and Silver, and gave it him. The Great Ombrahs always do the like upon any hazardous

Atchievments, and if Wounded, throw them their Sashes and Pa∣merins to Bind them up, and Cover them, though never so Rich: Having likewise another Custom among them, to Cloath the Gun with Scarlet that has made any notable Breach, Slain any great Sol∣dier, or done any extraordinary Feat.

It is memorable what is attested,* 1.5 by these Woodmen, of the Tigre, that when he intends to Prey on the Monkies (with which these Woods abound) he uses this Artifice or Stratagem; the Monkies at his first approach give warning by their confused Chattering, and im∣mediately betake themselves to the highest and smallest Twigs of the Trees; when the Tigre seeing them out of his reach, and sensible of their fright, lies Couchant under the Tree and then falls a Roar∣ing, at which they trembling let go their hold, and tumbling down he at leisure picks them up to satisfy his Hunger: They are his ac∣customed Repast, seldom making Man his Meal, and they are judged (as St. Paul's Barbarians did him) guilty of some horrid Crime that such Vengeance overtakes; the Woods and Mountains yielding them variety of other Food. The Tigre is dull Scented, and not long Nimble, Three Leaps Tiring him, otherwise it's probable he would make more havock than he does. The She brings forth but once in Twelve Years, and then but a single Cub; they are Ingend∣ring Three Months, in which time their Fury as well as Lust rages upon one another; thus has Providence suppressed the Growth of this masterless Creature: Besides, if the Proverb be true, the Bitch brings forth but once in her life, or very rarely more; Iteratus haud partus leoenae contigit, notwithstanding Aelian says otherwise in his 4 lib. de Historiâ Animalium.

The most frequent in these Woods are the lesser sort of Tigres spotted like a Leopard; these are Cruel and Ravenous, but more Fearful than the others are; that Monkies are their Food, the very Ordure declares scattered up and down, where is visible the shagged Coats or Hair of these Creatures.

Many of these Apes fell by our hands,* 1.6 either for being noisy and impertinent spoiling our Game, or provoking us by their constant pursuing us, being of the largest size, upon which account many came under my Knife; opening them I found and observed their se∣minary Vessels turgid, their Virge White and Nervous. To Kill one of these the Natives hold Piacular, calling them Half Men, saying, once they were Men, but for their Laziness had Tails given them and Hair to cover them: Towards Zeilon they are Deified; at the Straits of Baligaot they pay them Tribute.

Bamboos make the gross of the Woods,* 1.7 which are High, Taper∣ing, Thorny Trees, incumbred from the Roots with abundance of shrubby ones, the Bark Green and jointed with the Wood, the Branches are Tapering and inclining, sending from every Joint sprouts of the same form, leafed like long Five-••ingered Grass, the Body is thick and strait; their use is for Staffs, Poles, or Rafters for Houses, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Fences; being slit they are hollow and serve for Laths.

Those they carry their Palenkeens on, require an exact attend∣ance, Shaping them while Young and Tender, and taking care to keep them growing in that Position; Cut and Pickled they make

good Achar: Bamboos are so general, that by way of Excellency they call all Sticks and Canes, Bamboos; the Woods are over-grown with them; for which reason often impassable.

I travelled to the Tops of the Hills for the Cassia Fistula Tree,* 1.8 whose Trunk is but slender, but Tree tall, leafed most like an Ash, with small Veins, and the Cassia hanging down in long Green Canes or Cods, in manner of its Keys between the tender Nodes, by the Natives called Singa. Et Lobel Siliqua, aut Cassia purgatrix Arabum Carobis similis.

In the Groves about Carwar grows Cassia Lignum,* 1.9 Xylo-Cassia, or Bastard Cinamon; the Trees are large as a Pear-Tree, a Leaf of the like bigness, but ribbed like our Plantain, the main Bark and Body like other Trees, of no different Smell or Taste till dried, when it bites, and smells Spicy; the Leaf bruised and chewed smells like strong Cinamon, and upon the Tongue is as hot as a Clove; the Bark of the small Branches also when Green alters nothing in Taste from Cinamon, but dried is more slimy, and is very good Cassia Lig∣num: It bears little long Whitish Flowers, of no Smell nor Taste, but the Leafs of the Branch that bear them have a more Aromatick Taste.

The Thamarind Tree hath a small Leaf like a Vetch,* 1.10 bears the Fruit in a Cod like a French-Bean, wherein is the Pulp, inclosing the Stones and Fibres; it is a great spreading Tree, the Body thick, the Bark rough and brownish, bears its Fruit in March; the Indians feed on it, and grow Fat with it; they have not the Art to preserve it with Sugar, but Salt it up: This is Siliqua Arabica too, but not Ni∣gra, as the Cassia Fistula is.

Teke by the Portugueze,* 1.11 Sogwan by the Moors, is the firmest Wood they have for Building, and on the account it resists Worms and Pu∣trefaction, the best for that purpose in the World; in Height the Lofty Pine exceeds it not, nor the Sturdy Oak in Bulk and Sub∣stance; the knotty Branches which it bears aloft, send forth Green Boughs more pliant, in Form Quadrangular, fed within by a Spongy Marrow or Pith, on which at the Joints hang broad, thin, and po∣rous Leafs, sending from the main Rib some Fibres, winding and spreading like a Fan. This Prince of the Indian Forest was not so attractive, though mightily glorious, but that at the same time I was forced to take notice of the creeping Cow-Itch, raising its self upon the Shrubs and Under-woods, there spending in lascivious Twines its Verdure, leaving nothing but withered Stalks to be the Props of its brindled Offspring, which is a small Cod covered with a light and tickling Down; within, it includes in four Cavities, four specked Beans; the fallen Leafs make some appearance of a Nobler Stock, having a Countenance like those of Lawrel; the Root is dif∣ficult to find, being mixed among other Trees, like our White Briony.

Here grows Nux Vomica on a Tree of indifferent bigness,* 1.12 in a round Shell as big as an Orange, filled with White 〈◊〉〈◊〉, where the Nuts are lodged.

Near the Sea grow Squills, or Sea-Onions, as also a Species of Sarsaparilla, with which they do great Feats with the Juice of the Leafs in Venereal Cases.

In their Fields they plant, besides Rice, Nuchery, a small Seed they make Bread of, as also Cushcush, which is Millet, Hemp, and Flax: In the Inclosures Turmerick, which rises with a broad Leaf like our Water Plantain, bearing a broad flaggy Leaf of a Span long, oblique∣ly ribbed till it end in a Spear-Point at top; it proceeds immediately from the Root by a winding Stalk, which the main Leafs embrace, the other Leafs creeping through it till it rises Six Foot.

Ginger comes up like our Gentian; they pickle it well, but cannot preserve it with Sugar.

Potatoes are their usual Banquet.

And to give the Soil its due Praise, it obeys in all things the first Commandment, Increase and Multiply.

For these Blessings,* 1.13 as if Men were to lose their Reasons, and sink below Brutes by a base Superstition, they are ready to acknowledge a Stock for a Deity, rather than to go without, infatuated by the Delusions of the Devil, being captivated at his Will; for which cause they not only make Oblations to him, but give up their Souls and Bodies to his Devotion: As might about this time have been be∣held at an Idol Worship of Priapus, (where the Women prostitute themselves to him, and receive the Pleasure of Copulation, all that while being as it were possessed) at Semissar, on the other side of the Water from our House, where he lay with Two and twenty, who reckon it a great Honour, and the Husband thinks himself happy in his Cornucopia.

There are a sort of Jougies, Priests fit for such a God, among the Linguits of this Country, who practise this daily; the Husbands entertain them courteously, wash their Feet, and the whole Family is at his Beck, as long as he stays to do the Wife a Kindness.

Others slash themselves with sharp Knives, and suffer themselves to be hooked by the Muscles of the Back, and hang so some Hours upon a Vow.

Under the Banyan Tree, an Altar with a Dildo in the middle being erected, they offer Rice and Cocoe-Nuts to the Devil, and joining some small Ladders together made of Osiers, do the like; when the Gomcar or Bayliff of the Town takes a falched Knife for Sacrifice in one Hand, and a Dunghil-Cock in the other, and cutting off its Head, fixes it at top of the Ladder, and sprinkling the Blood they all dance, and beat Brass Pots with a great Shout, saying, The Devil must be pacified with Blood, God with Prayers.

Some of these sell themselves to Wickedness,* 1.14 and these must be endued with the Spirit of Fascination, always nourishing a Familiar in their Families, which they keep mostly in the forms of Snakes or Serpents, appearing to them upon their Command; and undergo fiery Afflictions to have the most hurtful Devil; and as they wreak their Malice more powerfully, esteem themselves more in favour with their Grand Master: These are the Dregs of the People, who are full of Envy and Ill Designs, who glory in their Shame of In∣cantations and Charms: Such as these are those that out of Fear pray to the Devil and Evil Spirits, saying, God will do them no harm.

The better sort acknowledge a God, and live in the Rules of their Tribes, abstaining from Flesh, and all things of a Sensitive Being:

Sicuti Pythagorici, qui herbis & bellariis tantum vivebant: And these Patronize these more Innocent Rites, such as the Swains asking Advice of their Deities about Increase; and to that end offer Rice, Oyl, and Cocoe-Nuts in a thick Grove, where they piled an huge Heap of long Jars like Mortivans, about Figures resembling Serpents, before which they present their unbloody Sacrifice by the Priest, the Peo∣ple circling the whole Grove in a Ring, beating on Brass Instru∣ments, and shouting.

In their Hooly,* 1.15 which is at their other Seed-time, I observed they cut a whole Tree down to the R••ots, and lopped off the under-Branches till it became strait, when leaving the upper Boughs, they shoulder'd it with great Clamours, the Brachmin beginning a Note which they all followed: Thus they brought it into the Pale of their Pagods, before which, easing it down at one end, the foremost made a Salam, and hoisted it with the same Noise again, and about they went three or four times repeating the same; which being finished, the Arch-Brachmin digs an hole, and baptizes it with Holy Water, where∣in they fix the Tree, crowning it with Flags aloft, and about the Bo∣dy up to the Green Boughs they bind Wisps of Straw, to which they put Fire, and look earnestly on the Flame, according to the Ascent of which the Brachmin pronounces his Auguries; then they offer Rice and Flowers, painting their Bodies with the Ashes, depart∣ing with a Mace of Flowers carried before them, beating of Drums and a great Noise. This resembles the Ambar vallis hostia, or Sa∣crifice for the Fields; of which see Scaliger, and also Virgil,

Terque novas circum foelix fuit hostia fruges.

But to be clear,* 1.16 & ut Fama ad liquidum producatur, let us consider, that these Underlings of the People that do these Services to the Devil, or are said so to do, may be aspersed: For the Brachmins, and other the Purer Sort, as they account themselves, may defame them only, because shedding of Blood is horrible to them, and therefore Diabolical: Besides, those Diseases that are said to be Devils put into one another, (which as many as I have met with, I have been cu∣riously inquisitive of) their Phoenomenaes or Energies are discussed by Natural Causes, and as often cured by Natural Means; but on the contray, it is allowed where they resist them, it is suspicious: And the Devil without doubt cannot easier work on any, than the Weak and Simple, (wherefore he chose the Woman, not the Man) and upon that account may probably delude and overawe these People, that give themselves up to him wholly out of Fear, having not so much Virtue, Fortitude, and Cunning, to resist and check their own Lusts, as the Wiser sort. As for the visible appearance of a Devil or Daemon (which they say is common among them, by those that see it) I am convinced it may be credible; but in the mean while, Rage and Melancholy Madness, assisted by the Infernal Pow∣er, may create great Illusions to a Fancy fitted for such an Opera∣tion, and they may think they see things which in reality are not so.

Now as these, by the low and mean Conceptions they have of a Godhead, reach not the great Branch of its Omnipotency and Good∣ness,

whereby it is able to defend them from all Assaults and Wiliness of the Devil, depressing their Understandings, bow under the in∣tolerable Yoak of his Slavery;* 1.17 so there are a sort of sublimated Wits, that will own neither God nor Devil, and put all things upon Chance so long, that the very Notions they framed to themselves, after beating of the Air, fly out of their Giddy Heads in Fumo. Let them place themselves under the Aequator, where the Sun is at pre∣sent, and take a Prospect on each hand of the Orderly Course of the Creation; How he passes the Ecliptick, and dispenses his Irradiations as far as either Pole: How within the Tropicks, entring the first De∣gree of the Ram till the second Degree of Taurus, it is Summer; that is, from January till the One and twentieth of March; when the Woods are most denuded of their old Leafs by the parching Heat of the Sun, though new ones succeeding, the Trees keep their perpetual Verdure; yet these lying on the Ground, makes this time then the most like Autumn of any till the Rains fall; which while the Sun is over their Heads make their Winter; till which come, it would be unsufferable living here, did not the Variable Winds ga∣ther the Clouds to obscure the Sun: After the Rains, follows their Spring, when by reason of the Remoteness of the Sun it is most pleasant living. Thus truly might Ovid be deceived, whilst he only reasoned, and not experimented, when he sang of the Zones and the Climes:

Ʋtque duae dextrâ Coelum totidemque sinistrâ Parte secant Zonae, quinta est ardentior illis. Sic onus inclusum numero dist inxit eodem Cura Dei, totidemque Plagae tellure premuntur, Quarum quae media est non est habitabilis aestu.

But what Colour is there for the Ignorance of our Atheistical Young Gallants?* 1.18 Certainly none: Would they abate so much time from li∣ving, as to see and consider an admirable and well-contrived Provi∣dence, and not to harp too much on Casualty; which I am confi∣dent their own Logicians would hiss at as an Absurdity, to say, That such an exact Progress and Observance ever since the Frame of Na∣ture was instituted, should continue such an unalterable Decorum on these Four great Anniversary Wheels, fitly adapted to every Climate; or that they first proceeded from a Bundle of Nonsensical Fortuitous Atoms conjoined into an Hodg-Podge of confused Nothings. For the very Matter being Chance, would without doubt produce a rare Stability for the Impressions of any Forms, but what must be blowed out of as idle Chimeras. I could wish therefore, such bold Disputes being waved, they would confess an All-wise Creator and Preserver of Heaven and Earth; unless they will verify the Proverb, Atheus est talpa de die caecutiens, Rationi autem paret qui Religionem sectatur: The Atheist is a Mole, being blind at Noon-day; the Man that adores God, and follows Religion, is the only Master of his Rea∣son. Which made Cicero profess in Lib. 2. Divinat. Esse praestantem aliquam aeternamque Naturam, & eam suspiciendam adorandamque, ho∣minum genus cardoque rerum Caelestium cogit confiteri. Et in Nat. Deor. Lib. 2. Quid potest esse tam apertum tamque perspicuum, cum Caelum

suspeximus Coelestiaque contemplati sumus, quam aliquod esse numen prae∣stantissimae mentis, quo haec reguntur?

The Deputy-Governor of Bombaim being sick,* 1.19 the Phaenix-Ketch was ordered to bring me up to that Island; wherefore the 6^th of April, 1676. I took my leave of Carwar, which hath no peculiar Commodities or Manufactories of its own Product, but lies conve∣niently for the Markets of Pepper, Bettle-Nut, or Arrach; Cloath, as Potkaes, Suffaguzes, from Hubly, six days Journy hence; Dia∣monds from Visiapour, ten days Journy: But the Factory decays, by reason of the Embroils of the Countrey, Merchants being out of heart to buy or sell: Here are good Returns to be made from this Port to Persia, and back again; as likewise from Mocha, from whence are brought Horses for War.

The Variable Winds kept us six days before we could reach Goa,* 1.20 though but twelve Leagues: At the City all Butchers Meat is for∣bidden, except Pork, upon account of the Heats, which afford not much Sustenance for the Cattel; and the approaching Rains, which robs them of that little Flesh they retain, and scours them to mere Carrion: Wherefore the Religion of the Indians has enjoined them the most Healthy Rule to avoid Sickness, the forbidding them to eat Flesh, than which nothing now can be more prejudicial. At this time the Citizens remove mostly to their Aldeas, the Air of Goa being less temperate than the Fields and open Bays.

The Diseases here are Epidemical,* 1.21 unless Plagae Veneris be more Endemial, for which at this Season they have a Noble and Familiar Remedy, the Mango (which they have improved in all it kinds to the utmost Perfection) being a Sovereign Medicine; they are the best and largest in India, most like a Pear-Plum, but three times as big, grow on a Tree nearest a Plum-Tree; the Fruit when Green scents like Turpentine, and pickled are the best Achars to provoke an Appetite; when Ripe, the Apples of Hisperides are but Fables to them; for Taste, the Nectarine, Peach, and Apricot fall short; they make them break out, and cleanse the Blood, and Salivate to the height of Mercurial Arcanaes; and afterwards fatten as much as Antimony, or Acorns do Hogs; these and Sarsa being their usual Diet.

Cheruses grow on a Tree whose Branches send forth a Stone first,* 1.22 like a Bean, whose Meat or Kernel when Green tastes like a Walnut, roasted, like a Chesnut; the Fruit follows, large and of a fine Co∣lour, squashy, of a better Relish than Smell, the Leaves Oval and Succulent.

The Fruit the English call a Pine-Apple (the Moors, Ananas) because of the resemblance,* 1.23 cuts within as firm as a Pippin; Seedy, if not fully ripe; the Taste inclinable to Tartness, though most ex∣cellently qualified by a dulcid Sapor that imposes upon the Imagina∣tion and Gustative Faculty a Fancy that it relishes of any Fruit a Man likes, and some will swear it: It grows on a thick Stalk like an Artichoke, emitting a Tuft of Leafs upon the Crown; the Leafs a-kin to a Carduus A••ininus (as has been partly related already); the Juice will corrode any Iron or Knife, like Limon.

The Eleventh of May, being still Wind-bound, I received a cour∣teous Invitation to return to Carwar; but I could not be diverted till the Full Moon had passed with Rain, Clouds, and Thunder;

Jamque erat in totas sparsurus fulmina terras.

When the Current changed, with which were brought innumerable Shoals of dead Fish; the Toddy worked on the Tree over the Pots, the accustomed Forerunners of the Rains, but hitherto fallible; which is a wonder even to the Country-People; though our Pilots have observed an unwonted Deviation these two or three Rains to∣gether.

The Nineteenth an Express coming from the Chief of Carwar,* 1.24 That a Gentleman there being almost desperate, importuned my Assistance, and I fearing to Winter here, for Expediteness chose a Baloon, though he had sent Horse and Peons, in case I could not ac∣quire one; and the next day by Two in the Afternoon I returned to Carwar House, though two days after the Winds set in Southward to∣gether with the Rains, when the Ketch set sail for Bombaim, with a great Fleet of Grobs to the North. It is the Freshes from the Up∣lands that kills and sickens the Fish.

And now the Rains invade all India, which puts a stop to all Journying and Voyaging, as well as Warlike Preparations,

Aspera tum positis mitescunt secula bellis.

Till St. Francis's Moon in August, when the Earth is discovered, and the Rice begins to ripen, which all this while floated in Water, which it rejoices in; and this is the first Harvest; for it is to be under∣stood this World produces two Harvests; this most natural and un∣compell'd, because of the Rain; the other about March, with great pains of bringing Water by Gutters to their sown Fields, which not∣withstanding yields not so plentiful a Crop as the first, which this Year increases vastly; but the misfortune is, three quarters of the Land lies unmanured, through the Tyranny of Seva Gi.

October the Seventeenth I bad a final Adieu to Carwar,* 1.25 and em∣bark'd in the Berkly-Castle with Mr. Oxendine, who was called up to succeed Mr. Gyffard, the deceased Deputy-Governor of Bombaim: Coming again to Goa I lodged at the House of a French Physician in the Camp of St. Thomas, which the City overlooks in the same manner Old Rome did the Martian Vale.

I saw there an unfinished Piece of the St. Thomas Christians, but the Troubles of their Prince called them back before it could be per∣fected; others say prevented in it by Thunder and Lightning. The great Traders of this Place for Diamonds are the two Martins,* 1.26 both Jews, yet to carry on their designs permitted to live as Christians, they constantly frequenting Mass, and at Table every Meal during our S••ay had Hogs-flesh served up.

We left Goa on the Eve of St. Xeverius's Feast;* 1.27 the Tomb there∣fore was richly set out; and as Erasmus relates of Thomas à Becket, that nothing could be seen baser than Gold, so truly here Silver was

the meanest; Pearls and Precious Stones, as well as Gold, cast forth their Lustre, by the reflection of the Virgin Flambeaus upon them: From the tops of the Towers belonging to the Jesuits, we beheld Lamps at Night striving to vie with the Stars for Number and Lustre; which appeared Gloriously on the Water as we Rowed down the River to our Ship.

Being in sight of Bombaim,* 1.28 the Tides horsed us to the Northward, which insensibly threw us on a Ledge of Rocks running from Old Womans Island, where the Ship Struck; after a Quarter of an Hour she cleared, but with the inconvenience of falling more upon them, not without danger of Bulging; whereupon we Fired several single Pieces of Ordnance to give notice; for the Tide being made, the Water began to Ebb and forsake the Ship, so that she stood wavering without any prop, which way to incline; and though the Wind and Sea were Calm, yet the fear of Over-setting caused a general Consternation; no help appearing, we won on the Captain to spare Hands for the Yawl, wherein Four of us got Ashoar (though she was very Leaky) leaving them in despair of their Ship, her own pressure threatning to break her Back; at Night Boats and Pilots went off to her Relief, and with the Tide of Flood as she Floated, re∣leased her to a wonder, being heavy Laden, receiving no damage but in her Sheathing.

I Reimbarked and arrived at Surat the Eleventh of December,* 1.29 where giving you a general Account of all India, you will hear from me next out of Persia.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Diversions.
• * 1.2

  A Tigre Kil∣led and Dis∣sected.
• * 1.3

  Two Bones bound in the Shoulders im∣mersed in the Flesh.
• * 1.4

  The Custom of the Ombrahs on any grat Action.
• * 1.5

  Monkies the common Re∣past of the Tigre.
• * 1.6

  Apes Anato∣mized.
• * 1.7

  Bamboos.
• * 1.8

  Cassia Fistula.
• * 1.9

  Cassia Lignum.
• * 1.10

  The Thama∣rind Tree.
• * 1.11

  The Indian Oak.
• * 1.12

  Nux Vomica.
• * 1.13

  A Feast of Priapus.
• * 1.14

  The Dregs of the People use Charms, or think they do so.
• * 1.15

  Their Sacri∣fice for the Fields.
• * 1.16

  Whether these Wretches do work by the Devil, or no.
• * 1.17

  The sublime Wit as much in the wrong as the depres∣sed.
• * 1.18

  No Evasion for the Atheist.
• * 1.19

  I am sent for to Bombaim.
• * 1.20

  All Butchers Flesh forbid∣den at Goa in the Heats, ex∣cept Pork.
• * 1.21

  Mangoes good to cleanse the Blood.
• * 1.22

  Cheruses.
• * 1.23

  Ananas, or Pine-Apple, the most ad∣mired for Taste.
• * 1.24

  I winter at Carwar.
• * 1.25

  Bad a final A∣dieu to Car∣war, and come again to Goa.
• * 1.26

  Jews feed on Hogs-flesh, for fear of the In∣quisition.
• * 1.27

  Left Goa on St. Xeverius's Eve.
• * 1.28

  In Danger of being Ship∣wrecked at Bombaim.
• * 1.29

  Return to Surat.