THE STORY OF AN ABDUCTION 



the cathedrals, of which there are three still standing, 

 hough shorn of their former splendour, the shrines and 

 estments which were once studded with exquisite gems 

 f priceless value, being now decorated crudely with 

 oloured glass imitation. Still, in the architecture of the 

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

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

 f the Inquisition. 



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

 f the inhabitants to Christianity, and has since been their 

 atron Saint and is much revered by them. 



Amongst other miraculous powers attributed to him 

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

 ;tters of his still extant it would appear that his ignorance 



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

 peech, were the source of great grief and disappointment 

 him ! It would be interesting therefore to discover the 

 rigin of the apparently erroneous belief. 



A fair number of tourists visit Old Goa and Panjmi. 

 'hey come by steamer, and their time ashore being limited, 



I an necessarily see but little of the beauties of the place. 



■J, there, however, as I did with officials, we were sho^vn 

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

 he seashore, whence a famous traveller <mcv attempted 



remove a discontented nun. 



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

 lear repeating. It appears that this modern Paladin, 

 irhosc name for obvious reasons it is inadvisable to divulge, 

 iras on a yachting trip, and finding Goa an interesting 

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

 y^ing for some months. 



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



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

 ' ^ in the convent library there were some ancient and 



valuable books of Arabic and Sanscrit origin, the 

 luthorities gave him free access to this library. 



Hence it came about, though how nobody knew, that 



n due course of time he became acquainted with one of 



' nuns, whom he subse<]ucntly described as ** cherry- 



<!." and who apparently tired of a conventual life was 



tnxious to abandon it. 



155 



