Goa. 
GOA 
atdently to the acquisition of wealth, than to the in- 
struction of the natives; and established in the place 
the tribunal of the Inquisition, which continued till 
very recently to exercise all its cruelties upon the Hin- 
doo conyerts.* The town has been rapidly falling into 
decay since the middle of the last century, and <a 
sents a most striking instance of ruined grandeur. The 
banks of the river are still covered with country houses, 
and many of these, especially the monasteries, from 
their elevated situation, make a magnificent appearance. 
The streets are straight and regularly built ; the houses 
are large and handsome; and the number of its churches, 
palaces, and public buildings, excites, at a distance, the 
idea of an imperial residence; but a nearer approach 
disappoints the expectations of the stranger, and exhi- 
bits a melancholy picture of wretchedness and ruin. 
The churches and mouasteries, the office of the inqui- 
sition, and a few other public structures, are still kept 
in good repair, particularly the church of San Caitan, 
which is a beautiful specimen of Italian architecture ; 
the convent of the Augustine monks, which is a hand- 
some edifice; the Jesuits college, which is very large and 
conspicuous ; the church of Francis Xavier, the chapel 
of which, containing the monument ofthe saint, is un- 
commonly splendid, and the tomb is ornamented with 
basso relievos composed of the choicest marbles by Eu- 
ropean artists, representing his history and miracles. But 
more than one half of the houses and adjacent country, 
seats are void of inhabitants; the most magnificent pa- 
laces mouldering into ruin; the streets faintly traced 
by the remains of forsaken mansions; the squares and 
market-places depopulated and silent, and actually filled 
with noxious reptiles. The few human inhabitants are 
priests, monks, half-starved soldiers, and low mecha- 
nics ; and so great is their poverty, that women of the 
best families earn their subsistence by working lace or 
muslin, and making artificial flowers. One of the most 
celebrated productions of Goa is the Alphonso mango, 
a delicious fruit, superior to all others of the same 
species. It has long been famed also for its arrack, 
which is made from the juice ofthe palm-tree, and for 
its cocoa-nut oil. Rice, arrack, and oil, indeed, form the 
principal articles of its now limited commerce. Two 
or three ships arrive annually from Portugal with mi- 
litary stores, and other articles; and carry back print-, 
ed cottons from Surat, a few spices, &c. ‘Two or three 
trading vessels take in cargoes for China; and a few 
coasters collect the produce of the Malabar ports, in or- 
der to supply the ships from Portugal with their home 
cargoes, and to answer the demands of the inland trade 
from Goa. There are a few armed vessels for the pro- 
tection of the traders. Goa is 292 miles from Bombay, 
1300 from Calcutta, 575 from Madras, and 325 from 
Seringapatam. See Mud. Univ. Hist. vol. ix. ; Parson’s 
Travels in Asia and Africa ; Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs; 
Hamilton’s East India Gazetteer; and Buchanan’s 
Christian’ Researches in Asia. (q) 
GOAT. See MamMatia. 
GOBELINS, Tapestry Manufacture at, See France, 
Vol. IX. p. 718. 
GOBIN, Sr, Glass Manufactory at, See A 
Vol. IX. p. 718. Lions dame verted ice 
GOD. See Turotoey. 
GOITRE. See Menicine. 
GOLCONDA, a province of Deccan, a district in 
India, comprehends the tract of country between the 
rivers Kistnah and Godavery in 17° North Latitude; 
* See Relation del'Inquisition de Goa, par Dellon ; and Buchanan’s Christian Researches in Asia. 
+ Within the fort itself, the principal inhabitants and bankers of Hy@rabad are permitted by the Nizam to possess 
upon any alarm, they retire with their treasures and familics. 
330 
GOL 
and extends about 200 miles frem north te south, and 
220 from west to east. It is bounded on the north by 
Berar, on the south by the kingdom of Mysore, on the 
west by Visiapour, and on the east by the northern 
circars. It was formerly a portion of a 3 
empire, which comprised all the peninsula from the 
north extremity of Orissa to Cape Comorin. It was 
ae bere x i ta t : some evidence of 
its original extent, that the Telli an, e is at pre 
sent. ogee from the river Pannert in the ¢ Carnatié 40 
Orissa along the coast, and to a considerable. distance 
inland. It was reduced under the power of Aurenzebe 
in 1687; and now forms the principal possession of the 
Nizam or Soubah of the Deccan. Its ancient capit 
was Warangole or Oringal, about 400 miles from ; 
dras, the site of which is indicated by an old rampart 
of great extent, within which a modern fortress is erect~ 
ed ; but the present metropolis is Hydrabad, about 50 
miles to the south-west, a w town, situated 
in a delightful plain on the banks of the river’ Moussy, 
902 miles from Calcutta, 352 frem Madras, and 480 
from Bombay: (See Hyprasav.) About six miles 
north-west from this town stands the celebrated fortress 
of Golconda, which gives name to the province, and is 
deemed impregnable. It occupies the summit of a hill, 
of a conical form, and is of such extent as to deserve 
the name of a city. It was anciently the residence of 
the kings of Golconda ; and the tombs of many of them 
are still to be seen in the midst of gardens at a short 
distance from the fortress. + The country of Golconda 
is extremely fertile, and produces abundant crops of 
rice and other grain. Vines are very plentiful, and a 
white wine is made of the grapes, which are ripe in 
January. “The wet or winter season begins in June, 
and continues till January ; when the great heats com~ 
mence. But it is chiefly celebrated for its diamond 
mines, which are generally adjacent to the ridges of 
rocks running through the country. The principal of 
these mines are in the neighbourhood of Raolcondo, 
and Culloor, the last of which places is about 110 miles 
east of Hydrabad, .and is situated in the midst of barren, 
rocky plains, The diamonds are sometimes found scat- 
tered in the earth, within two or three fathoms of the 
surface; and in other places they are bedded im the 
body of the rock, at a depth of 49 or 50 fathoms. For 
a particular account of these mines, see Philosophical 
Transactions, vol. xii. or of the Abridgment, vol. ii. 
See also Mod. Univ. Hist. vol. vi.; Rennel’s Mem. of a- 
Map of Hindustan ; and Tavernier’s T'ravels, © (2) 
GOLD. See Cuemistry, p. 17, Gitorinc, GoLp-< 
Beatine, MrineraLocy, Money, and Wire-Drawine. 
GOLD-Begarine is the art of reducing gold to ex- 
tremely thin leaves, for the purposes of gilding. The 
gold employed for this purpose must be pure. It 
should be melted in a crucible, with a small quantity 
of borax, and cast into small bars, or thin flat ingots, Cast an 
about 3ths of an inch wide, and weighing two ounces ingot. — 
each. These are extended to long plates, by ron Y q 
e 
the 
them in a flatting-mill, until they become lengthen 
out like ribbands, and very thin. To effect this, 
ingot must be passed between the rollers a great num- 
ber of times ; and to correct the hardness which the re- 
peated rolling at ae produces, the metal must be oc« 
casionally anvealed, by heating it to redness, and suffer= 
ing it to cool gradually. ehh 
The rollers employed for this process should be of a 
most perfect cylindrical figure, and have a highly po- 3 
extensive . 
houses, to which, 
[= 
ee 
