533 



Journal of a Voyage in the Indian Seas. [Jan, 1 , 



gets tamifticd, or is futVeied to drop off 

 ht-rc and thfie, and thus difcover the 

 b/icks underiiejth, nothing can have a 

 iflore motley oy bcL^^ariy appearance ; 

 and tills is \( ry JVtuut atly the cafe at 

 Madras, hutli in the Fort and Black- 

 town, where the liouies often put one in 

 mind of fo inany I'ortu^Defi', with darn- 

 ing i'words and cocked liats over Ihabby 

 routs and dirty linen, — complete em- 

 blems of pride and poverty unitod ! 



The i;rent body of the native or Black- 

 town fiiX'tches tiirthcr up along the river 

 tide, and is of confulerable extent ; 

 ahreall of this, the ^iroves of mads that 

 prefeut themfelves, bearing the flags of 

 various nations, hut chietly the Englilli, 

 giie one fome idea of the commerce 

 that mud be carried on in this metropolis 

 of India. 



We landed at Bankfall on a very l^eau- 

 tiful evening ; and while palling; through 

 the Itieets in our pulankeens, were not a 

 little ainufcd with the novelty of the fur- 

 roundinj^ cbjeits. 



The clci!;iince of the honfes, the noife 

 and builie of palanke<'ns and rheir bear- 

 ers, the variety of fpk-ndid equipages 

 dalhing out to the ef(ilanade, and the 

 conconrfe of nati\ es of every defcription 

 palling to and fro, all cwifpired with the 

 ferenily of the evening to I'qrni a h'.giily 

 intereliing lccn«oii our lirlt arrival. 



Though the town itfelf is the rehdcnce 

 of a great number of Euro)>ean gentle- 

 men, ycl the furrounding country, for 

 fume miles, is cherjiiertd (as at Madras) 

 with handfome feats; which, from the 

 fertility of foil, are encompalfed with 

 gardens and ;^roves, far exceeding thofe 

 of Madras in verdure and foliage. 



It appears, however, that at Bengal 

 they cannot give llic chunam that high 

 degree of polilh th;it is ohfervabic on 

 the Coromandel coalt : this may he ow- 

 ing to fome diiFerencc in the ihells, of 

 whole calces this curious palie is made. 



The governor's palace, or sioverminent- 

 honft; (as it i? called), vt ry foon attracts 

 the Uranger's notice ; and we had an op- 

 portunity, ii few days after our anival, of 

 vifiting it. 



It is fituated on the weAern fide of 

 the cfplan<K.le, ;ind is a molt augull and 

 beautiful fabric, from whatever point it 

 is viewed. Over the four cohjlj'al arches 

 or gates that lead to it, there are placed 

 ■fphmxcs, and various figures and ern- 

 felems, that have a very good elTuc-l. 

 The king's and company's arms are ein-» 

 , blazoned over the wefieru and ealLcru 

 gates. 



With refpe6t to the interior jiart of 

 the building, I am not architect enough 

 to give a defcription of it; nor do I think, 

 indeed, that any adequate idea of it can 

 be conveyed by words, — the eye, not 

 the ear, mull be the medium of commu- 

 nicati(m. 



The marble hall, in particular, brought 

 to my mind n\any of the glowing dc- 

 fcriptions of enchanted caliles in the 

 Arabian Tales ; — and, indeed, 1 touid 

 fcarcely pcrfuadc myfclf that I was not 

 treading on magic ground, all the time I 

 was wandering through it 



The efplanade, of courfc, next enga- 

 ged our attention ; here, from day-break 

 till the fun has got to fome height above 

 the h(n'izon, the greater part of the I*>u- 

 ropean iidiabitauts, and many of the 

 natives, may be feen enjoying the cool 

 air of the morning, and taking attive or 

 })a(rive excrrifc, on horfeback, in cha- 

 riots, palankeens, and other vehicles; 

 and indeed, at this cool feafon, even 

 pedcftriivn exercifes may be ufed with 

 I'afety. 



In the evenings, however, when the 

 ladies as well as the gentlemen take an 

 airing before dinner, the grand difplay 

 of beauty, equipage, and pomp, among 

 the Euro] leans; and the variety of com- 

 jilexion, drtfs, and manners, among the 

 diifeient calls of natives : form a icene 

 ft) che(]uered and novel to a perfon jull 

 arri\ed from England, that he mull be 

 of a very phlegmatic difpontion indeed 

 not to be highly entertained w 1th it. 



l"he.bu/ars in the Black-town alVorded 

 us an aniuling lounge every day ; where 

 we often thought we had made good 

 bargains, hut \'ere Invariably over-reach- 

 ed by blacky. Tiicy would aiHually outwit 

 the Jews themfelves: for they have great 

 addrefs and penetration, and inilantly fee 

 whether or not one is a judge of the va- 

 lue of their wares, making their prices 

 accordingly ; and indeed they will fre- 

 quently a(k doulile, treble, or quadru- 

 ple, what tiiey will ultimately take for 

 any article. 



We vitlted tluit fatal fpot in the old 

 fort, called the Black Hole; where, in 

 175(i, the inhuman ioubah of Bengal 

 confined Mr. Howell, and 145 others^ 

 from eight o'clock in the evening till (w 

 in the morning, iluring which time I'ji? 

 fell victims to the cruelty of thU mercilcfs 

 tyrant ! 



The place b(-ing no more than oighteen 



feet fquarc, thoib unfortunate perlons 



were futTocated ; and a moHumcnt is 



eretted over againft the fpot where this 



horrid 



