154 



WESTERN HINDOOSTAN. 



Its antient 

 Trade. 



The Zamo- 



R£EN, 



is, and, in refpefl to its natural fituation, what it muft have 

 been at that time. The works of art are too minute to be 

 perceptible, amidft the bold and eternal operations of nature. 



Calicut was at that time the greateft emporium of all hidia. 

 The commerce of the Arabs with this port was prodigious. 

 Pretious ftones, pearls, amber, ivory, Chijia-wzref gold and 

 iilver, lilks and cottons, indigo, fugar, fpices, valuable woods, 

 perfumes, beautiful varniflies, and whatever adds to the luxu- 

 ries of life, were brought there from all parts of the eaft. Some 

 of thefe rich commodities came by fea ; but as navigation was 

 neither fo fafe, nor purfued with fo much fpirit as it hath been 

 fince, a great part of them was conveyed by land, on the backs 

 of oxen and elephants. 



All its fplendorand all its opulence was owing to commerce, 

 yet the houfes were mean, but not crowded, detached from each 

 other, and furrounded with delicious gardens ; none were built 

 of ftone, but the royal palace, which rofe with great magnifi- 

 cence above the other buildings. The town was very exten- 

 iive, and very populous. 



At the arrival of the Portuguefe it was governed by a mo- 

 narch, called the Zamorin, who, like a lord paramount, had all 

 the other princes of Malabar as tributaries. The account, as 

 related by the Portuguefe hiftorians, is, that fix hundred years 

 before the arrival of Gama, or about the year 898, Perimal 

 reigned fupreme over the whole country. In his old age he 

 became a convert to Mabometijmt and determined to refign Ms 

 dominions to his relations, and finilh his days at the holy city 

 of Medina. His fucceffors retained the antient religion, and are 

 confidered as chief of the Nayrs. I will relate the tale in the 



elegant 



