THE STORY OF AN ABDUCTION 



to the cathedrals, of which there are three still standing, 

 though shorn of their former splendour, the shrines and 

 vestments which were once studded with exquisite gems 

 of priceless value, being now decorated crudely with 

 coloured glass imitation. Still, in the architecture of the 

 cathedral there is much to admire, and then also the sight 

 of the " Auto da Fe," where heretics were burnt in the time 

 of the Inquisition. 



St. Francis Zavier, as is well known, converted most 

 of the inhabitants to Christianity, and has since been their 

 patron Saint and is much revered by them. 



Amongst other miraculous powers attributed to him 

 is the gift of tongues. This is rather curious, as from some 

 letters of his still extant it would appear that his ignorance 

 in this particular respect, and I believe, a slight defect in 

 speech, were the source of great grief and disappointment 

 to him ! It would be interesting therefore to discover the 

 origin of the apparently erroneous belief. 



A fair number of tourists visit Old Goa and Panjmi. 

 They come by steamer, and their time ashore being limited, 

 they can necessarily see but little of the beauties of the place. 

 Going there, however, as I did with officials, we were shown 

 many interesting details, as, for example, the convent near 

 the seashore, whence a famous traveller once attempted 

 to remove a discontented nun. 



It is an old story, but, like many of its kind, will possibly 

 bear repeating. It appears that this modern Paladin, 

 whose name for obvious reasons it is inadvisable to divulge, 

 was on a yachting trip, and finding Goa an interesting 

 spot, had anchored in the river, where his yacht had been 

 lying for some months. 



In addition to his fame as a great traveller, he had also 

 a world-wide reputation as a linguist, and as it happened 

 that in the convent library there were some ancient and 

 very valuable books of Arabic and Sanscrit origin, the 

 authorities gave him free access to this library. 



Hence it came about, though how nobody knew, that 

 in due course of time he became acquainted with one of 

 the nuns, whom he subsequently described as " cherry- 

 lipped," and who apparently tired of a conventual life was 

 anxious to abandon it. 



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