MADRAS. 
389 
vinced iii my own mind, that there is not in India a Mussulmaun 
Prince who would not rejoice to throw off our yoke, and expel us 
altogether, I confess I sincerely rejoice that the power of injuring 
us has been taken away from one of them, at a moment when it 
was evident that our implacable enemy was looking with an anxious 
eye towards India, and exerting his abilities and power for our de- 
struction in that quarter. 
The society of Madras is, of course, more limited than that of 
Calcutta, but it is quite as respectable. The style of living is 
much the same, except that the table here does not groan under 
an equal weight of viands. The fish is better, and the wine far 
superior. 
In appearance, Madras differs widely from Calcutta, having no 
European town, except a few houses, which are chiefly used as 
warehouses in the fort. The gentlemen of the settlement live en- 
tirely in their garden-houses, as they very properly call them ; 
for these are all surrounded by gardens, so closely planted, that 
the neighbouring house is rarely visible. Choultry-plain, once 
the scene of Tippoo's devastation, w^hen, at the head of a body of 
horse, he descended the Gauts, and carried dismay to the walls 
of Fort Saint George, is now^ covered by these peaceful habita- 
tions, which have changed a barren sand into a beautiful scene of 
vegetation. I suspect, however, that the confinement of the air has 
in some degree tended to diminish the healthiness of the settlement. 
It has certainly increased the labour of paying visits, for, owing to 
the large extent of ground that is occupied by each house, the dis- 
tance to be passed is frequently full three miles. 
The Government-house is also in the plain, being situated on 
