HINDOOSTAN. t; 



in possession of the English. The principal ports of this province are 

 Mangalore and Onore : the capital is Bednore. 



To the east of Canara, on the other side of the Ghauts or moun- 

 tains, is the country of Mysore, the capital of which, Seringapatam, is 

 now held by the English, This celebrated city, the conquest of which 

 has shed such lustre on the British arms, is situate on an island of the 

 river Caveri, four miles long, and about a mile and an half broad. On. 

 the western side is a fortress with regular outworks, and the city con- 

 tains several magnificent palaces and lofty mosques ; for Tippoo and 

 his father were Mahometans, and not Gentoos. The mausoleum of 

 Hyder Ali, erected by his son, is a sumptuous edifice ; in the environs 

 are noble gardens. 



Though Malabar gives name to the whole south-west coast of the 

 peninsula, yet it is confined at present to the country so called, lying 

 on the north-west of Cape Comorin. The principal places on this 

 coast are Tellicherry, an English settlement in a beautiful situation, 

 and remarkable for its salubrity, whence it is the great resort of in- 

 valids. Calicut, memorable for having been the first Indian port visit- 

 ed by the Portuguese under Vasco de Gama, and as the seat of the 

 Zamorins, the sovereigns of the country, who at this period appear to 

 have possessed the whole Malabar coast from Goa to Cochin ; and 

 Cranganore, formerly a Dutch settlement, but sold by them to the 

 rajah of Travancore, the attack of which place by Tippoo Sultan, in 

 1790, occasioned the war with that prince, the result of which put us 

 in possession, by the partition treaty, of the whole coast from Caroor 

 to mount Dilly. 



Cochin is situated on an island separated from the main land by a 

 narrow creek of the sea. It is a rajahship which appears to be de- 

 pendent upon that of Travancore, which extends along this coast to 

 Cape Comorin. Cochin was one of the earliest settlements of the Por- 

 tuguese in India. The Dutch gained possession of it in 1660; and 

 from them it was taken, in 1795, by the English, who still retain it. 



In the vicinity of Cochin are to be found some thousands of Jews, 

 who pretend to be of the tribe of Manasseh, and to have records en- 

 graven on copper-plates in Hebrew characters : they are said to be so 

 poor, that many of them embrace the Gentoo i*eligion. 



Cape Comorin, which is the southernmost part of this peninsula, 

 though not above three leagues in extent, is famous for uniting in the 

 same garden the two seasons of* the year ; the trees being loaded with 

 blossoms and fruit on the one side, while on the other they are strip- 

 ped of all their leaves. This surprising phenomenon is owing to the 

 ridge of mountains so often mentioned, called the Ghauts, which tra- 

 verse the whole peninsula from south to north. On the opposite sides 

 of the Cape, the winds are continually at variance ; blowing from the 

 west on the west side, and from the east on the eastern side. 



Beyond Cape Comorin, the sea coast extends northernly, with a 

 considerable curvature towards the east, to Cape Calymere, whei'e the 

 coast of Coromandel properly begins. This space comprehends the 

 kingdoms or provinces of Tinevelly, Madura, Marawar, or the Mara- 

 wars, and Tondiman. The greatest breadth of these countries is 

 about seventy-six miles ; the length to Cape Calymere, two hundred 

 and twenty. The kingdom of Tinevelly is separated from that of Tra- 

 vancore by the Ghauts; its extent of coast, which is called the Fish- 

 ing Coast, from its valuable fishery of pearls, is nearly a hundred 

 bis province and Madura are flat; and are extremely produc- 



