A residence of eighteen years on the island of Bombay, and 
several of its subordinate settlements, afforded me an opportunity 
of seeing a great deal of the western part of Hindostan ; and 1 
occasionally visited most of the principal places, from Ahmedabad, 
the capital of the northern province of Guzerat, to Anjengo, the 
most southern factory on the coast of Malabar. 
During that interesting period, I corresponded with a near 
relation, whose congenial mind wished to share in the novelty 1 
met with in a part of the globe, which is unrivalled in its gratifica- 
tions for travellers of every description; especially for a youth, to 
whom ail the world was new. 
I have already mentioned my arrival at Bombay in 1766; that 
establishment was then on a smaller scale than at present; espe- 
cially in the military and revenue departments: the latter was 
always inadequate to the expenses; but the docks, fortifications, 
magazines, and storehouses, render it an object of national impor- 
tance, both in a political and commercial point of view: the har- 
bour is one of the finest in the world, accessible at all seasons, and 
affording a safe anchorage during the most tempestuous monsoons: 
the merchants carry on a trade with all the principal sea-ports, 
and interior cities of the peninsula of India; and extend their 
