Chap. II. ^he Hiftory of the French Eaft-India Commerce , See, 955 
intruded with the Command of the Place, which in the 
Space of four or fivfe Years he fo changed, as that it was 
fcarce to be known. He not only compleated the Fortifi- 
cations according to his Irtftrudtions, and affembled a good 
Garrifon of feven or eight hundred Men, but likewife 
built one hundred new Houfes, and laid out a regular Plan 
for a large Town, into which, by his own Prudence and 
good Management, he drew within the Space of five 
Years more, fifty or fixty thoufand Inhabitants; fo that 
in the Year 1710, it was become one of the moft confi- 
derable Places in the Indies , in the Plands of the Euro- 
peans ; and if the Affairs of the Company in Europe had 
kept Pace at all with the Improvements made by this Gen- 
tleman in the Indies , the French Company might very 
foon have been upon a Level with their Neighbours the 
Englijh and the Dutch. 
This, however, was fo far from being the Cafe, that 
both this Gentleman and fucceeding Governors, were ob- 
liged to find Ways and Means to fupport themfelves ; 
the Factory and the Town, by the Trade carried on in 
it, and by the Induftry of the Indians fettled there, in 
which they were fo fortunate, that while the Company was 
daily declining at Home, every Thing carried the Face 
of Plenty and Profperity there, and none knew, or felt 
Difficulty or Pain, but the Governor and their Council, 
who yet were never tempted fo opprefs the People with 
Taxes, or to endeavour to make their own Circumftances 
eafier, by laying any Part of the Load upon others. It 
is true, that when the Town grew too large for the old 
Fortification, it was found neceffary to furround it with a 
new Wall ; but how clear foever that Neceffity might ap- 
pear, and however advantageous for the People, yet the 
Governor found it abfolutely impracticable to defray the 
Expence without the Abidance of the Inhabitants. In 
order to procure this, he acted with equal Integrity and 
Caution ; for, having firft ordered the Wall to be marked 
out, and Parc of it to be eredted at each End, he there- 
by fhewed his People at once the Advantages which would 
be dirived from fuch a Fortification, and the Expences 
that would attend it ; fo that when, in order to compleat 
his Defign, he impofed upon the Inhabitants a Tax of 
Two-pence a Month for every Head, they were equally 
fatisfied, as to the End for which it was impofed, and the 
Sum that would be raifed by this Impofition, and there- 
fore, inftead of Murmuring or Complaining, they paid 
it with the greateft Chearfulnefs, and gave the Governor 
hearty Thanks for the Care taken of their Intereft. 
I have dwelt the longer on this Incident, for a very 
particular Reafon, with which, when communicated, I 
am thoroughly fatisfied, the Reader will be very well pleafed. 
The French , who. in Europe pride themfelves fo much in 
the. Grandeur and abfolute Power of their King, and talk 
in fo high a Strain of his Conquefts, affeeft quite another 
Language in the Indies ; for they value themfelves there 
upon their Juftice and Moderation •, their having pur- 
chafed the fmall Territory, which they poffefs ; their hav- 
ing lived always upon good Terms with their Neighbours, 
and their eftablifhing fo large a Town, and acquiring fo 
many thoufand of Subjects, purely by the Equity and 
Mildnefs of their Adminiftration : The Fact is- equally 
true and ftrange, at the fame Time that it demonftrates 
that common Senfe directs all Nations to think the fame 
Way, and that the great Difference of Opinions, and 
what we call the Temper and Difpofidon of Nations, arifes 
purely from Accidents in Education and Government. In- 
dependent of thefe, Reafon, is every where the fame, and 
Men think exadtly alike, which fhews the Reality and 
Certainty of the Laws of Nature, to which all Men re- 
turn of themfelves, when the Influence of Power, and 
other accidental Reftraints are removed. 
9. As we have ffiewn by what Courfe of Events this 
Eortrefs of Pondichery is become the chief Seat and capi- 
tal Refidence of the French Eajl- India Company, it will 
be neceffary to give the Reader a more particular Defcrip- 
tion of it, and of the Government eftabliffied therein. The 
Town then of Pondichery is fituated in the Province of 
Gitigy, on the Coaft of Coromandel , in the Latitude of 
twelve Degrees North, and in the Longitude of one hun- 
dred and .fourteen from the Meridian of Paris . It Hands 
at the Diftance of one hundred Yards from the Sea-Chore, 
and has nothing more than a Road before it ; fo that they 
are obliged to carry all their Goods in Boats for a full 
League. The Magazines of the Company, and of pri- 
vate Perfons, are both numerous and magnificent, as far 
as any Thing of this Nature can be fo ; they have a large 
and very beautiful Market-place, fix fine Gates, eleven 
Baftions for the Defence of their Walls, a regular Citadel 
well fortified, upwards of four hundred Cannon upon their 
Works, befides a good Train of Field-pieces, Bombs,- 
Mortars, and other military Stores in their Arfenal. 
The Governor has a very fine Houle, with convenient 
Offices, and whatever elfe is requifite for the Service, or 
Credit of the Company. On the Weft-fide of the Town, 
the Company have a very fine Garden, beautifully laid out in- 
to publick Walks, and whatever elfe may contribute to 
the Sansfadtion and Pleafure of the wealthier and better 
fort of Inhabitants : adjoining to which Garden, there is 
a very fine Houfe, richly furnifhed, made ufe of for the 
Reception of foreign Princes and Ambaffadors, who, 
whenever they refort thither, are treated with infinite Ref- 
pedt, and all their Expences defray’d by the Company, 
which has been found a very wife and nfefut Contrivance, 
of much more Confequence to the Intereft of their Com- 
merce, than the Expence it occafions. The other pub- 
lick Buildings confift of a large Convent of the Jeliiics, 
wiwre they have ufually twelve or fifteen Priefts, who, 
befides officiating in that Charadler, likewife teach School, 
and inftrudl the Children of the Inhabitants in Reading, 
Writing, and the Mathematicks, and whatever elfe may be 
of Ufe in civil Life-, for, as to the learned Lauguages, 
they trouble not themfelves about them, and indeed, the 
Knowledge of them would be of little Service in this 
Part of the World : There are, befides that of the Jefuits,two 
other Convents, but not fo confiderable by any Means as 
the former. The Houfes of the Town are as regularly 
laid out, as if it had been all built at once, tho 9 it is now 
near four Leagues in Extent. The Europeans build with 
Brick, but the Indians , and other Nations, ufe only Wood, 
building in that Manner which we call here in England 
Lath and Plaifter. For the latter, they have the beft in 
the World, which is compofed of all forts of Shells ground 
to Powder, and wrought up into a kind of Paitr, which 
when expofed for feme Time to the Air, becomes altoge- 
ther as white, and almoft as hard as Stones. 
Thefe Houfes are one Story only, and are ufually eight 
Yards in Front, and fix in Depth, and yet there are fifteen 
or twenty People live in them, They are but very indif- 
ferently lighted, fo that it is not eafy to conceive how they 
are able to difpatch their Bufinefs in them. Their Roofs 
are all flat, for die Conveniency of lying upon them, 
which they do almoft naked, agreeable to the Cuftoni of 
the Country; for Pondichery , lying in the Torrid-zone, is 
extreamly hot, tho’ otherwife the Climate is found by Ex- 
perience very wholfome. One Thing there is in it very 
Angular, and which therefore deferves Notice, and this is, 
that it never rains there, except feven or eight Days at the 
moft, towards the End of Olfoher , which falls out regu- 
larly, and is therefore the more lingular and extraordinary. 
The native Indians , or as they are called here Gentiles , are. 
moft of them Weavers, or Painters; and tho’ the very 
beft Workman cannot earn above Two-pence a Day, yet 
upon this he is able to fubfift himfelf, his Wife and his 
Children, their principal Food being Rice boil’d in Wa- 
ter, or wrought up into a Pafte, and baked upon the 
Coals, The Country round about is extreamly well culti- 
vated, and produces Rice in Abundance, fo that there is 
hardly a Place in the Indies of greater Plenty, or where 
they have Flefh, Fifh and Fowl, on more reafonable 
Terms; and this, notwithftanding they have no other Wa- 
ter than what is derived to them from the over- flowing of 
the Coh am , and other great Rivers, which they preferve 
in Lakes, or Ponds, and draw it for Ufe, through their 
Country, in artificial Canals, after the fame Manner as in 
Egypt. 
The Governor General for the Company, as he is lodged 
in a fine Palace, fo he makes a Figure equal thereto in 
every Refpedt. Fie has twelve Horfe Guards cloathed in 
Scarlet laced with Gold., and an Officer with the Title ofi- 
Captain 
