despotic power must be subject: the spirit darkened, and depressed 
by ignorance and fear; the body tortured and tormented by 
punishments, inflicted without justice and without measure: such 
a contrast to the blessings of liberty, heightens at once the sense of 
our happiness, and our zeal for the preservation of it.” 
The south-west monsoon generally sets in very early at An- 
jengo; it commences with great severity, and presents an awful 
spectacle: the inclement weather continues, with more or less 
violence, from May to October: during that period, the tempes- 
tuous ocean rolls from a black horizon, literally of 44 darkness 
visible,” a series of floating mountains heaving under hoary sum- 
mits, until they approach the shore, when their stupendous accu- 
mulations flow in successive surges, and break upon the beach: 
every ninth wave is observed to be generally more tremendous 
than the rest, and threatens to overwhelm the settlement. The 
noise of these billows equals that of the loudest cannon, and with 
the thunder and lightning, so frequent in the rainy season, is truly 
awful. During the tedious monsoon 1 passed at Anjengo, I often 
stood upon the trembling sand-bank, to contemplate the solemn 
scene, and derive a comfort from that sublime and omnipotent 
decree, 44 Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall 
thy proud waves be stayed!” 
My cottage and garden were so near the beach, that during the 
monsoon, the gauze curtains of the bed, although in a retired 
chamber, were constantly wet with a salt moisture, the glasses and 
pictures ran down with a briny fluid, and the vegetables in the 
garden were incrusted with salt. In that gloomy season, no vessel 
approaches the inhospitable shore; in the fair months, their boats 
