Chap. II. 
Portugueze Empire in the Eaft-lndies, 
or how great Progrefs the Dutch made in fubdiiing their 
diftant Settlements. The natural Confequence of this was* 
that when fuch Settlements were loft, thofe who were dri- 
ven from their Habitations, inftead of repairing to Goa, 
and taking Arms in the King’s Service, for the Recovery of 
any Part of his Dominions, went into the Territories of 
fome Indian Prince, and there, for a pitiful Subfiftence, en- 
tered into his Pay, or accepted of fome low Office in his 
Court ; fo that while the Fleets and Armies of Portugal 
grew thin and contemptible, for want of Soldiers and Sea- 
men, there were many thoufands of that Nation fcattered 
all over the Indies , difgracing their Country by the manner 
in which they got their Bread, when by a proper Behaviour 
they might have reftored the Affairs of their Prince, as 
well as their own Fortunes. 
One may fafely affirm, that all thefe Mifehiefs were at the 
Bottom owing to the Want of a right Adminiftration m Por- 
tugal, where, if a Council for the Indies had been fettled, 
compofed of Men of real Abilities and competent Experience, 
who had been entrufted with the foie Power of bellow- 
ing Places in that Country, and had been charged to look care-^ 
fully into the Conduct of fuch as were employed by them, 
might, before things had gone too far, have reftored Difci- 
pline in their Colonies, and recalled fuch as from Difcon- 
tent or Diffidence in their former Governors had taken Re- 
fuge in other Places. But their Attention to other things, 
and more efpecially to their Settlements in Brafil , which 
have, indeed, accidentally compenfated in fome meafure 
their Loftes on this Side, hindered them from thinking of 
their Affairs in the Eaft, till they became paft all Hopes, 
as well as paft Recovery. In this diftreffed and dejedted 
State they lie at prefent, which, however, muft not excufe 
us from giving the Reader a View of them even in this Con- 
dition, becaufe the Portugueze are ftill confidered as having 
fome Intereft in the Indies , though it be in a manner no- 
thing in Comparifon of what it was, and is daily growing 
from bad to worfe, fo that they really owe what little they 
ftill enjoy, to the Want of any Inclination, at leaft in 
European Nations, to take it from them, which they might 
otherwife do almoft at Pleafure. 
30. The Dominions fubjedl to the Portugueze Viceroy 
of the Indies are very eafily defcribed. The City of Goa , 
of which we have fpoken before, is ftill the Capital, the 
Seat of the Viceroy, the Archbiffiop, and the Inquifition, 
which are heavy Burthens on fo exhaufted an Eftabliffiment. 
In the Neighbourhood of this City, they preferve the 
Iflands of Salfette , Bardes, Augedive , and fome others of 
no great Confequence, farther than that they fupply the 
City of Goa plentifully with Provifions, which is hard to 
fay, whether it be an Advantage to that Place or not; and 
becaufe this may feem a kind of Paradox, I will explain it. 
As Rice comes in great Quantities, and very cheap, to Goa , 
it encourages the Citizens to keep a vaft Number of Ser- 
vants, efpecially Negroes, who are content with one Dilh 
of this Food at Noon, and another at Night. If thefe 
were kept for any kind of Labour or Manufadtures, there 
would be no great Objection to it ; but almoft every Houfe- 
keeper has fix, moil of them twelve, fome thirty or forty, 
that have no other Bufinefs than carrying their Mailer’s 
Palankin, and Umbrella ; fo that in Reality they are not 
kept fo much for Service as for State ; and thus they ra- 
ther exhauft than increafe the Riches of the Inhabitants. 
Diu , which ^formerly belonged to the Kingdom of Gu- 
zarat, is the ftrongeft Place they have, and is indeed very 
well fituated for Commerce. It has a very good Port, and 
while the Portugueze had any Fleets of Confequence, they 
were generally laid up here ; and at this City the Moors and 
other Traders in thefe Seas were obliged to take out their 
Pafsports before they proceeded any farther to the Eaft. At 
prefent all the Trade, or at leaft almoft all the Trade 
which was carried on here, is removed to Surat , and 
what little ftill remains at Diu , in the Hands of the Portu- 
gueze, is carried on under Gentil Colours ; that is to fay. 
the Portugueze think themfelves fafer under them than 
under the Flag of Portugal , formerly fo much refpedted in 
the Indies. The Port of Daman, on the Gulp.fi of Cambay a * 
is yet in tolerable good Condition, though nothing in Com- 
parifon of what it was, the old Town being in a manner de~ 
ferted, and the new not near fo well peopled as might be 
expedled from its Extent. There are, however, ftill fome 
Manufactures carried on here, particularly in Silk, with 
which they furnifh the Market of Goa , and thereby enable 
the Merchants fettled there to carry on what fmail Com- 
merce they have left. Chaoul ftands behind the Mountains 
on the fame Coaft, and has a very fafe and good Port. 
Thefe are all the Places that they have on the Malabar 
Coaft, and in other Parts of the Indies they have few Fac- 
tories, and no Eftablifhments at all, except it. be in the 
Iflands of 'Timor and Solor, not far from the Moluccas „ 
which they poffefs jointly with the Dutch , and of which we 
have already given a large Account in the Hiftory of Cap- 
tain D ampler* s Expedition to the South. Once in two or 
three Years they fend a Ship from Goa to thefe Iflands, 
the chief Commodities of which are Sandal Wood, much 
efteemed in China , very good Wax, and a fort of Medi- 
cine called Solor Stones, which are very little, if at all, in- 
ferior to the belt Bezoar. On the Coaft of China they have 
the Ifland and Port of Macao , from whence they carry on 
a confiderable Trade to China and the Philippines. 
All that remains under the Portuguese Dominion from 
the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to the City of Macao in 
China is governed by a Viceroy, with the Title of Captain 
General, who refides at Goa , as the Metropolis of India. 
There are fix, and fometimes eight Defembargadores or 
Judges that attend the Government as a Sovereign Court 
or Council, who wear a Gown down to their Heels over a 
Caffock of the fame Length, the Gown with wide Sleeves 
down half way their Arms. They wear Golillas, and huge 
Perukes of the French Faflhion. The chief Court thefe 
Gown-men fit in is called a Relacaon, which adminifters 
Juftice in civil and criminal Cafes, having Power over all 
Minifters, and tries all Appeals brought from all Parts of 
their Dominions. The Viceroy fits as Chief of this Court, 
under a Canopy. The Gown-men fit on Benches placed 
on the plain Floor. The Council De facada is like the Court 
of Exchequer , where one of the Gown-men fits as the Vice- 
roy’s Deputy. Thus the Pomp and Splendor of this Go- 1 
vernment is ftill kept up, though the Extent of it is much 
leffened, and the Power and Credit of it in a manner de- 
cayed. There are ftill as many Governments as ever, that 
is, in Title ; for otherwife they are of no great Confequence, 
and thofe on whom they are bellowed, have the Characters 
of Generals. There is, for inftance, a General of the Gulph 
of Ormuz , who has four Ships under his Command ; a Ge- 
neral of the North, who diredls the fmail Towns on the Coaft 
of Malabar ; a General of Salfette , who has a Territory 
of about fifteen Miles, a General of China , who is, pro- 
perly fpeaking, Governor of Macao , and an abfolute Vaff 
fal to the Chinefe. There is another General in the Iflands 
of Timor and Solor, to whom even the Potugueze there 
fcarce pay any Obedience, and who lives in a miferable 
Fort, the Guns of which are in no Condition for Service,, 
There is likewife a General of Goa , whofe Bufinefs it is 
to take Care of the Channels between the Iflands, and to 
reftrain Smugglers *. 
But the belt of all die Governments that ftill belong to 
the Indies , is that of Mofambique , which is an Ifland fitu- 
ated near the Coaft of Africa , in the Lat. of 15° South, 
within half a League of the Continent. They have a 
ftrong Fort there, with four good Baftions, which com- 
mands the Chanel, and in which there are feventy Pieces 
of Brafs- Cannon ; and here there is always kept a good 
Garrifon, and in tolerable Order. The Governor is ho- 
noured with the Title of General of the River of Senna , 
where he has his Lieutenant, which Employments was worth 
to him feveral hundred thoufand Crowns a Year* There 
* There is a very wide Difference between thefe titular Preferments and the Governments formerly in the Gift of the Viceroy of Goa, whicli 
Were five ; the firft was that of Mofambique , which is ftill in their Hands, and the only one of the old Government that is fo ; the fecond was that of 
Mafcat , on the Arabian Coaft, which was of very great Importance, and brought in a large Revenue ; the third was that of Ormuz, on the Coaft of 
Perjia ; the Captain-General of the Ifland of Ceylon was the fourth, and the Governor of the important Fortrefs of Malacca M. fifth. Upon each 
®f tiie f e General-Governments there depended many others of lefs Confequence, of which theile Generals had the abfolute Difpofal ; but thofe who 
held them were continued in taem for no longer than three Years. And it was for this Reaion they were guilty of fo much Extortion, looking up- 
$h their Governments as Leafes for fo many Years^ in which they were to make their Fortune. 
Numb, 47. gp are 
I 
