MISCELLANIES. 



537 



an equal number of gates ; the 

 streets are narrow, tlie houses ge- 

 neially lofty, and crowded with 

 inhabitants ; between the outer 

 and inner walls, are many streets 

 and houses, but, like most other 

 oriental cities, much of that space 

 is occupied by villas, gardens, and 

 cultivated land, producing grain, 

 fruit, and vegetables. 



The bazars, filled with costly 

 merchandize, picturesque and in- 

 teresting groups of natives on ele- 

 pliants, camels, horses, and mules; 

 strangers from ail parts of the 

 globe, in their respective cos- 

 tume ; vessels building on the 

 stocks, others navigating the river; 

 together with Turks, Persians, and 

 Armenians, on Arabian chargers ; 

 the European ladies in spendid 

 carriages, the Asiatic females in 

 hackeries, drawn by oxen : and the 

 raotly appearance of the English 

 and Nabob's troops on the fortifi- 

 cations, remind us of the follow- 

 ing description of Tyre, by the 

 prophet Ezekiel : — 



" O thou that art situated at 



the entry of the sea, whicli art a 



mercl)ant of the people for many 



isles; O Tyrus ! thy builders have 



- perfected thy beauty,'' &c. 



This is a true picture of oriental 

 commerce in ancient times ; and 

 a very exact description of the 

 port and bazars of Surat at the 

 present day. 



GOA. 



We anchored in the spacious 

 and beautiful harbour of (loa, de- 

 fended by the Alguarda, and other 

 fortresses, surrounded by gentle 

 hills and fruitful vales, and em- 

 bellished by churches, convents, 

 and villas, whose white fronts were 

 contrasted with the dark mango 

 groves and cocoa-nut woods pecu- 



liar to that part of India. The 

 vessel anchoring oft' the Alguarda, 

 we sailed up the river, navigable 

 for large vessels, and covered with 

 barges and gondolas : the villas, 

 domes, and spires, on its shady 

 banks, produce a fine effect. 

 About mid-way the city of Goa 

 suddenly opens on the view, 

 founded, like imperial Rome, on 

 many hills; the churches, palaces, 

 and public buildings, at that dis- 

 tance, give it a grand appearance, 

 but it disappoints on a nearer ap- 

 proach : on landing I beheld mag- 

 nificent structures mouldering into 

 ruin ; the streets were faintly tra- 

 ced by the retntiihs of their for- 

 saken mansions, and squares and 

 markets, once populous, were now 

 the haunts of serpents and noxioua 

 reptiles : the few human inhabi- 

 tants were priests, monks, half- 

 starved soldiers, and low mecha- 

 nics. Notwithstanding the gene- 

 ral decline of Goa, the churches 

 and convents retained their gran- 

 deur, and were in good repair: the 

 Augustin monastery is very hand- 

 some, and the church of San Cai- 

 tan exhibits a beautiful specimen 

 of Italian architecture. 



The commerce of Goa, and the 

 northern parts of Diu and Da- 

 maun, is now unimportant ; the 

 rice, arrack, and oil, are exported 

 to different parts of India ; one or 

 two ships annually arrive from Eu- 

 rope with military stores, and other 

 articles; and return thither with 

 printed cottons from Surat, and a 

 few eastern necessaries for Por- 

 tugal and her American colonies : 

 this, with two or three vessels trad- 

 ing in Chinese articles from Macao 

 to the IMalabar coast, now com- 

 prise the whole of the Portuguese 

 coranicrcc in India. 



