Letters from Malabar

Jacob Canter Visscher served as a Dutch chaplain at Cochin in the early 18th century, spending five years observing the land, people, and customs of the Malabar Coast. His letters home, originally published in Dutch in 1743, provide a remarkable window into colonial-era South India.

This translation by Major Heber Drury, published in 1862, includes an appendix featuring accounts of Travancore from Fra Bartolomeo’s travels, offering additional perspectives on this fascinating region.