195 
1873.] T. W. H. Tolbort —History of the Portuguese in India. 
C a s t a n li e d a. This historian came to India in 1528, and the eight 
books of his History were published between 1551 and 1561. They bring the 
narrative of Portuguese conquest down to the first siege of Hiu in 1538, 
covering nearly the same period as He Barros. Castanheda intended to 
publish ten books, but the last two seem to have been suppressed, because 
they reflected on some of the grandees who had influence at Court. I can¬ 
not, however, say for certain that the last two books of Castanheda wefre 
never published. My own copy omits them, but from a list kindly given 
to me by Senhor da Cunha Bivara, Secretary to the Portuguese Government 
at Goa, it would appear that Castanheda’s history is brought down to 1550. 
Castanheda is said to have travelled all over Portuguese India, with the 
laudable desire of testing and correcting his history. 
M a f f e i, Historia Indicarum, a Latin history, based I believe on 
Barros. It is in one volume comprising sixteen books. It ends with the 
death of King John the Third in 1557, and is dedicated to Philip the Second. 
The author was a Jesuit; and attached to his principal work are four 
books of Epistolse Indicse, selected letters from India, a very valuable 
appendix. 
S a n E o m a n o, a Benedictine monk, wrote a History of the same period 
in Spanish. I have not seen this work, but believe it is founded on Mallei 
and is inferior to the original. 
Faria y Sousa. His History was published in both Portuguese and 
Spanish. It embraces a more extended period than any of the others, be¬ 
ginning with the early voyages of discovery, and ending in 1640, at the eve 
of the Revolution which restored Portuguese independence. An English 
translation from the Spanish was published in 1695, with a dedication to 
Catharine, Queen Dowager, Charles the Second’s widow. 
For the sixteenth century, Faria y Sousa is an inferior authority to the 
earlier writers, but he is the one generally quoted by English authors, be¬ 
cause his account is the most complete as well as the most easily read. I 
am surprised that the Library of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta does not 
contain a copy of the translation. The copy of the original in the public 
library at Goa seems to be imperfect. Faria y Sousa gives a list of the 
books and manuscripts from which he collected his information. 
L a fit au, “ Histoire des Decouvertes des Portugais,” in French, 2 Vols. 
There is a copy in the public library at Pondicherry, but not, I think, in our 
own library at Calcutta. I have not read this work through, but from a 
cursory examination, it seems like most French Histories to be readable and 
interesting. Lafitau names the authors he has consulted, and brings his 
narrative down to the same time as Faria y Sousa. 
The above authors are all professed historians, who treat their subject 
generally. But history is usually more indebted to particular accounts, 
