Description of Canara, Vingorla, Goa—and the Customs of the Portuguese in these parts.
THE pleasure you have always taken in the study of history, and of its sister science geography, induces me to give you an account of some countries lying to the north of Malabar, and in some measure belonging to it : as it contains factories fortified in ancient times by the Company, which are under the management of its officer, who bears the title of Commandant of Malabar, Canara, and Vingorla.
Canara is a kingdom adjoining Malabar on the north, subject to an independent Prince, who is much more magnificent and powerful than those of Malabar; though the religion of the inhabitants of the two countries is nearly identical. The East India Company possess no jurisdiction whatever in this place, and are only tolerated there as merchants, driving a good business in spices, sugar, &c.
This kingdom produces many peculiar commodities, such as sandal wood, which is found there in great abundance, as well as rice. We might call it the granary of all Northern India ; indeed the East India Company are often obliged to get rice from here for the consumption of Malabar and Ceylon. The Portuguese send a fleet annually to occupy the seaport of Canara, not only for the purpose of supplying themselves with rice for Goa and other parts of India, but in order also to prevent their enemies the Arabs from obtaining any provisions there.
The city of Canara, where the Rajah holds his Court, lies some leagues inland, and is connected with the seaport by a fine road, planted with trees, which the inhabitants are obliged to keep in excellent order. This road is so secure that any stranger might go and sleep there with bags full of money, and nobody would molest or rob him ; for, if such a thing occurred, the people in the neighbourhood would be not only severely punished, but would be forced to make good the money to the owner. Indeed the laws of the Hindoos to prevent robbery are admirable. At Surat itself, a city with so many thousand inhabitants, the merchandize lies out under open tents, as safe as if it were locked up in our storehouses.
Vingorla, lying some miles behind Goa, was fomerly also a factory of the East India Company, where a considerable trade was carried on, but they were lately forced to abandon it on account of the continued attacks of the Mogul Governor, and the Marasyn robbers under Mara Rogia, a rebel who devastates the empire of the Mogul with fire and sword. The Mahometans have indeed, since that time, proposed to restore this place to the Company, but the offer has been refused, the more so as the trade has been transferred to Surat.
While I am occupied with this part of the country, I must add some description of Goa,* as it lies between Canara and Vingorla. It is considered by the Portuguese, as you know, the capital of the Indies, and here a viceroy sent from Portugal has his seat of government and holds his Court. It is sufficiently strong on the sea side and the moles are protected by forts and dykes: but it has nearly fallen into decay within, and is destitute of inhabitants, excepting the ecclesiastics, who have a convent here, the artizans, and the poor people. The upper classes have retreated to the environs of the town on account of the insalubrity of the climate: and the river banks and islets are adorned with flourishing farms and plantations of cocoa and other fruit trees, on the profits of which they subsist. The whole island of Goa is furnished with such like farms, as is also the case with Salsette in the north, where the Jesuits play the master, and other places.
It would be considered a disgrace by the Portuguese Fidalgos, to follow any trade, but the Jesuits look on such employments as honorable, and they are in fact the chief traders of these parts. We need be under no apprehension that the Portuguese will cause any injury to our commerce here, for they are devoid of any knowledge of business, and what with their indigence and their fraudulent conduct which has destroyed all confidence in them, they are held very low in public estimation throughout the Indies. But they are great lovers of fine titles. High offices and generals are all the talk among them. An office which with us would be filled by a small tradesman, must needs require a general with them. For each ship of war, they have a Capitano di Marre Guerre, and a levy of captains, lieutenants and ensigns besides. It would be a great mistake however to suppose that their pay is proportionate to their titles. A captain receives less than one of our serjeants, and the Resident of Panoor assured me that he had only twenty golden fanams or shillings per month from the king, for his maintenance; yet these gentlemen like to cut a figure. Not satisfied with having one umbrella carried over his head, a man of high rank requires two or three, ornamented with hanging fringes and silver buttons. The bearers must be Kaffres, clothed in red coats, and these are accompanied by other Kaffres bearing long swords called Espingardes, who act as bravoes for their masters. For, as their incomes are so slender and their state so imposing, these signors often betake themselves to schemes of plunder and assassination; and every year they despatch an expedition against their hereditary enemies the Arabs, in the hope of obtaining booty, of which however in these days they do not gain much.
There is no place in the world where law is less regarded than here. Scarcely any enquiry is instituted into cases of murder, moreover the Fidalgos or noblemen cannot be punished for crime in the Indies, but must be sent to Portugal for trial; and this is rarely done. Their vice and dissipation are excessive; they surround themselves with troops of Bayaderes or dancing girls, row with them in their Oranbaien on the rivers, and spend their time with them in all sorts of amusements. These Bayaderes are, for Hindoos, very pretty. In their dances they move not their feet alone, but all their limbs. They attire themselves very gaily, with bracelets and golden ornaments, and exercise great fascination over the pleasure-loving Portuguese.
The Portuguese ladies are not better conducted than their husbands. When a man of any rank travels abroad, he does not leave his wife at home, but takes care to shut her up in a convent. Indeed the jealousy of the husbands goes so far that they remark if any man speaks to their wives, and not unfrequently death is the penalty he incurs.
The Viceroy here is the highest in command; he remains for three years only, unless the Portuguese sovereign should prolong the term. He has two residences, one in the city, called the Casa di Pulvere, and the other, where he commonly sojourns, outside the walls. He holds audience every morning; standing under a canopy; and takes his meals alone. His Court circle is considerable: and he makes a good sum out of the presents which the inhabitants, according to custom, must offer at his coming and going. In the interregnums between the departure of a viceroy and the arrival of his successor, the Archbishop or Primate takes the reins of Government, and then the Clergy have their turn in the appointment to offices.
The Ecclesiastics here are innumerable; Hindoos and natives of Canara as well as Europeans—so that there are much fewer soldiers than priests. The reason why so many natives enter the priesthood, is that they may be spared the insults of the Portuguese, who treat all black men as if they were slaves.
The Portuguese trade in the Indies is of little value. It makes a great noise when two ships from the mother country arrive together in the year at Goa: and these come more for the purpose of providing the inhabitants with necessaries than for commercial enterprise. Each has on board more than forty Ecclesiastics of various orders. Tobacco is charged with heavy imposts, the produce of which is assigned especially to the Queen for her private purse. It is nevertheless an article of great consumption; being not only used by the Portuguese in all parts of India, but exported also to foreign nations in Europe, the Dutch taking no small share of it.
The most profitable trading voyage of the Portuguese is that to Mozambique. Here they sell linen and other commodities, and purchase in exchange many slaves or Kaffres, whom they convey to Goa, where they fetch a good price. They carry on commercial transactions with China likewise, where they possess an island called Macao. The Macao merchants have for some years kept up a brisk intercourse with Batavia, the Chinese junks having kept aloof. But not more than one or two ships visit Goa during the course of the year, and these part with most of their cargo, consisting principally of Chinese luxuries, as silks, tea, sweetmeats, and sugar, at Cochin and Ceylon. There is no nation in the world so fond of sweetmeats as the Portuguese. They always hand them about on their social visits. But, for wine, beer, and strong liquors in general they have no taste: intoxication is of rare occurrence among them. The Dutch on the contrary drink to such an extent as to expose themselves to the reproaches of the Portuguese and the Natives, who commonly call us Hollandeses bebidos or Dutch drunkards. The English are liable to the same imputation: they are greatly attracted by the Persian wines, and by Punch, which is made of the arrack of Goa. I must remark, by the way, that though in England they talk a great deal about the Protestant religion, the English in India allow themselves to be very much mixed up with members of the Romish communion, generally having their children baptized by the Priests, and marrying Roman Catholic wives.
Having thus far extended my account of the Europeans at Malabar and the neighbouring places, which I trust you will not find tedious,
I shall now conclude, &c.
FOOTNOTES
There was a city, glorious and free, Built on the shore of the dark blue sea, Where towers and spires of gilded hue, Shone over the waves of the ocean blue, And palace and cottage smiling told How fair was that city in days of old ! Far, far above was the glowing sky Where the sun shone bright o’er the turrets high, While the cocoa shade and the graceful palm Hung o’er the waters so lovely and calm, Thick and numberless, side by side, Drinking the stream of the onward tide.
But, now, from that spot where the glad sun shone, That glorious city of palms is gone, Gone with its pride and people so brave, Whelmed by the tide of the salt sea wave. Yes ! there below the surging deep Fair Goa’s sunken towers sleep, All, all that once was glad and bright, Reposing there in ceaseless night ! Swift the remorseless billows roar Rose wildly o’er that fated shore, Nor human power availed to stem The tide that rolled o’er the ocean’s gem ; The wild surge broke—the rising foam Dashed furious o’er each hall and home, Sweeping the happy and the fair ‘Neath the deep wave unburied there ! ‘Tis thus that olden annals tell How Goa’s beauteous city fell ! And, now, ’tis said, in midnight clear, When the boatmen o’er those waters steer
From sunset’s tranquil hour until The waves are hushed and winds are still, Deep, deep below the water shining They see the turrets still reclining And the dim outline, lingering yet, Of many a glittering minaret, And groves and gardens, and the wall That, still unharmed, surrounds them all And silent streets, so drear and dread O’er which no living beings tread— A city wrapt by envious fate In darkest gloom, most desolate!
Not the fair mistress of the world (¹) Was thus to pitiless ruin hurled, Tho’ famine’s waste, and sword and fire, Combined to make her life expire, Tho’ floods and tempests, and the tide Of wild Barbarian crushed her pride, And superstition’s furious zeal Hath rent her more than savage steel; Yet, still her palaces deny The wrath of man, and time defy, And many a ruin can yet unfold Where warriors stood and spoke of old. Nor has worse fate that (²) town befel, Which felt the burning mountain’s power Which, flaming like an earthly hell, Enwrapt it in its lava shower. Ages swept by, none knew the spot, Almost the thrilling tale forgot,
For, vineyards rose and blossomed where Was once a town so stately and fair. Yet now uncovered it stands alone, As once it stood in the days that are gone, And the bright sun shines on the marble floor As it shone there a thousand years before. And, still more famed for wealth and pride, Where kings and prophets lived and died, Was that great city (3) whose dread power Survived not o’er its destined hour. The “mighty city”—ere it fell Where earth’s proud princes loved to dwell, And gorgeous monuments upreared To those they honoured and they feared. Yet seers foretold the threatened doom, And, darker than the sculptured tomb, All pomp and pride for ages lay In heaps beneath the mouldering clay; Yet though deserted in despair, The ruined city still is there! But thou, fair Goa! not again Shall rise from out the boundless main, In all thy beauty buried deep Beneath the wave for ever sleep! No falling rock, no lightning’s blast, Thy sea-girt towers to earth have cast, Nor cruel foe with sword and flame, Thy self-won power e’er overcame, The waters swept thy pride away, To lifeless doom, but not decay.