THE

ENGLISH IN WESTERN -INDIA,

PRINTED AT THE

BOMBAY GAZETTE" PRESS.

THE

ENGLISH IN WESTERN INDIA;

BEING THE

EARLY HISTORY

OP THE

FACTORY AT SURAT, OF BOMBAY,

AND THE SUBORDINATE FACTORIES ON THE
WESTERN COAST.

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD UNTIL THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

Draton from Shitfjenttc <!Mor&3 anfc (Original Documents.

PHILIP ANDERS6N;*A.M.,

ONE OF THE HONORABLE COMPANY'S CHAPLAINS IN THE DIOCESE OF BOMBAY,

AND A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE BOMBAY BRANCH OF THE

ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.

BOMBAY:
SMITH, TAYLOR AND Co.

LONDON: SMITH, ELDER, AND Co., G5, CORNHILL.
1854.

[ The Author of this Work reserves the right of authorizing a
Translation of it.}

MORSE

PREFACE.

THE following pages will not, it is hoped, be thought un-
called for, as they fill an hiatus in Indian History. They con-
tain facts which have been hitherto buried in old Manuscripts or
in such printed works as are not accessible to many persons. It
lias been thought that when such are given for the first time to
the world, they should be clothed, as far as possible, in simple
and unadorned language. They may thus form a ground-
work for those whose object is philosophical inquiry, and to
trace the progress of Anglo-Indian civilization.

The various authorities have been carefully examined, accu-
rately quoted, and a diligent attempt has been made to estimate
their true value. First in importance are the Records of Go-
vernment, permission to consult which was conceded with libe-
rality, and accepted with gratitude. Next in importance comes
Bruce's Work, which is simply an analysis of those Records.
The third place must be assigned to writers who have consulted
those Records, and made use of them toa limited extent; such
are Orme, Macpherson, Milburn, G^IH|iiff, and Kaye. In

rat^^;

the fourth class are personal narrat; such as those of
Herbert, Roe, Fryer, Terry, Ovington, and Alexander Hamil-
ton. These have different degrees of authenticity, which we
must determine in various ways. There is no reason to ques-
tion the truth of their accounts, when they declare that they
were eye-witnesses of the facts which they record. But when
their information was gained at second hand, we know that they
were liable to be imposed upon. Hamilton especially had a
particular bias, and was a prejudiced, although probably an
honest man. The books of least importance in the compi-
lation of this little work have been standard histories ; for they
are not drawn from original sources, and sometimes their facts
are squeezed into a shape which best suits their writer's purpose,
or is most ornamental to his pages.

* 511491

VI PREFACE.

In searching original Manuscripts, the object has not been
to note clown facts, which have already appeared in the pages
of authentic writers. That would have consumed much time, with
no other result than the correction of a few and unimportant
mistakes. The aim has simply been to supplement histories,
and to record circumstances which had been concealed from ob-
servation through the neglect of inquirers, a low estimate of
their value, or timidity in exposing nude and ugly truths.

Bacon has broadly stated it as his opinion, that " a mixture
of a lie doth ever add pleasure" ; and that although truth may
be as much valued as a pearl, which shews best by day, it will
never rise to the price of a diamond, which shews best in
varied lights. This hint appears to have been taken by some
modern historians, who have converted history into romance,
and set off facts with ornaments of imagination. Perhaps,
however, some sober-minded readers will be satisfied with know-
ing, that as the writer of the following Chapters cannot offer
the attractions of such authors, so neither has he been led
away by their peculiar temptations. He has not endeavoured
to walk on the stilts of fancy ; but has been satisfied with the
secure footing of plain dealing and truth.

One circumstance to which his attention has been obligingly
drawn may be here noticed. The troops which Sir Andrew
Shipman brought wkwjfc 1 from England (see page 52 &c)
formed the IlonoraWb {Company's First European Regiment,
and are at this day represented by the gallant Fusiliers. It
appears that two Regiments had been raised in England. One
was sent to Tangier, and when that place was abandoned, having
returned to England, obtained infamous notoriety as " Kirke's
Lambs." This body of men is now represented by the Second
or Queen's Regiment. The other Regiment, which was raised
in 1638, afterwards comprised the European officers and soldiers
who are mentioned in this work. When Bombay was transfer-
red to the Company, only ninety-three soldiers were living of the
five hundred which had left England ; but few as they were,
these must be regarded as the Corps which has since gained so
many laurels in various parts of India.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

16121616.

PAGE

OBJECT of the Writer Progress of the British Power iti India ; its
incongruous character ; its moral force Early European travellers : Sir
John Mandeville, Friar Odoricus, The Portuguese, Caesar Frederick Early
English Travellers : Thomas Stephens ; his valuahle letters ; Leedes, Fitch,
Newberry, a painter and others English Prisoners at Goa ; their harsh
treatment Mildenhall arrives by the overland route ; his crimes and death
Captain Hawkins and his wife William Finch Sir Henry Middleton
Best Defeat of the Portuguese Receipt of a firman First establish-
ment of English reputation English Factors : Starkey, Canning', Aldworth,
and Withiugtou ; their adventures Downton Second defeat of the Portu-
guese Sir Kobert Shirley and Sir Thomas Powell; their misfortunes Ed-
wards' mission to the Great Mogul ; his presents Sir Thomas Roe ; ar-
rives at Surat ; recepti >n at Burhainpiir and Ajmfr ; his presents ; revel-
ries ; jealousy of the Factors Hoe's subsequent history Treaty with the
Zamorin Factory established at Calicot Sea fight : Portuguese gallantry
Sketch of the Portuguese Establishment of a Dutch Factory ; their
economy ; Vail den Broeck English Shipping. - 1

CHAPTER II.

16161630.

ARRANGEMENTS of tho Factory President Kerridge ; his character
Joseph Salbank ; his complaint Presidents Rastell and Wyld Busi-
ness of the Factors ; their private trade and inadequate salaries ; their social
position ; aims solely mercantile Domestic Economy of the Factory Dress
of the period adopted in India Society ; a wedding banquet ; no English
ladies ; history of a Portuguese damsel ; intemperance Legal powers to
restrain offenders ; escape of a Dutch murderer Religion ; the Clergy ; the
Rev. Henry Lord ; his oriental researches ; Lescke and John Hall : Terry ;
his history ; his sermon before the Company ; Copeland ; Dr. John Wood's
good opinion of the Company Conversion of the natives ; Salbank's pious
letter Native opinions of English Christianity ; the Knight of the Golden
Rapier's opinion ; account of this personage Three portraits ; Tom Coryat;
his travels and eccentricities ; death and burial ; the reckless sou of an Eng-
lish Baron ; a rollicking cook Delia Valle's visit to Surat ; his romantic
history Sir Thomas Herbert's visit ; his history Two speculators ; scheme
1'or navigating the Indus Piracies by the Company's Captains Reflections
oil English character - - - - - 1 9

vili CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

16301662.

PAGE

A DARK AGE Oldest despatch extant iu India Surat becomes the
Company's chief place of trade Description of Surat ; it? population
and trade The use and exportation of tea ; orders from England lor tea
Swally ; description of the port and roads English accounts of the state
of the country ; the Emperor's wealth ; inventory of his jewels; various
opinions ; oppression ; unsettled state of the provinces ; dangers of travelling ;
thuggism ; highway robbers ; a bloody nach ; the markets : awkward posi-
tion of foreigners Presidents Methwold, Fremlen, Breton, Blackmail,
Rcvington, Wyche, and Andrews Speculation in a Diamond Weddel and
Mouutney, agents of a new Company Pusillanimity of the President
and Factors Expedients of the new Company; piracy Sufferings of the
Factors Union of the two Companies Interlopers Question of monopoly
stated and considered Failure and triumph of monopoly First collision
with Sivaji Factories at Uajapur, Carwar, Cochin, and Ponaui Improve-
ment in the social position of the Factors; their mal-practices Private
trade Surgeon Boughton's adventures Davidge's mission Internal eco-
nomy of the Factory ; regularity of prayers ; religious tone ; Sunday sports ;
refreshments Dutch hostility - - - - 34

CHAPTER IV.
16621685.

BOMBAY : origin of the name ; its importance ; at first little appre-
ciatedDescriptionThe Company desire to obtain it ; their plans and
proposal Ceded to England .Arrival of an English fleet The Portu-
guese refuse to evacuate English fleet sails with the troops to Swally ;
thence to Anjideva Bombay resigned to the English under Cook ; his ab-
surd treaty Appearance of the new possession Sir Gervase Lucas suc-
ceeds Cook as Governor ; his history and death Captain Gary ; his cha-
racter ; his claim to the Governorship disputed Bombay transferred to the
Company Commission sent from Surat Bombay governed by Commis-
sioners Deputy Governors Gray, Gyfford and Henry Oxeudeu Court re-
solves to improve Bombay Military arrangements ; the Militia ; the re-
gular Troops ; first European Regiment Fortifications, and other De-
i'ences Threatened attack from a Dutch fleet Development of the Re-
sources of Bombay Natives invited to settle Trasie_ncpjiraged A Mint
Courts of Judicature The first Judge Unhealthiuess of the climate ;
Cholera ; its cure ; causes of unhealthiness : intemperance of sick Soldiers ;
an Hospital built A Church proposed ; the rise of Christianity ; a Bi-
shop at Kalyau ; Martyrs at Thaiia ; description of Christian worship ; the
Portuguese ; English place of worship ; general anxiety to build a Church
Improved condition of the Island : the Revenues ; Increase^ of ^trude New
View of Bombay and its neighbourhood Expenses of the Works ou the
Island Measures to increase the Revenue. - - -50

CONTENTS. ix

CHAPTER V.

SAME PERIOD.

PAGE

GENERAL AND MERCANTILE AFFAIRS Presidents Sir George Oxenden,
Gerald Aungier, and Sir John Child The Company's investment ^n.l
djehts Factory at Amoy Articles of trade; indigo, pepper, &e. ; Cotton ;
the first Cotton Screw ; English Horses ; slaves for labour ; slaves for the
fancy Hindrances to trade ; bankers driven away ; suspension of trade ;
vexatious at the Custom-House, and meddling propensities of the officials
Troubles of the Factors Question of keeping- up Factories Sivaji plunders
Surat ; gallant conduct of the English Second assault of Sivaji ; base con-
duct of the French Losses at Canvar and Hiibli English interchange
civilities with Sivaji ; Ustick's mission, and its results; Nichol's mission
Henry Oxeudeu and two Factors at Sivaji's installation ; settlement of a
treaty ; the butchers' friends The Company's Navy Sivaji's Navy The
Siddi of Jiujfra The Siddi enters the harbour of Bombay ; awkward pre-
dicament Frequent visits of the Siddi ; cause disturbances Contests for the
possession of Haneri and Khaneri The Court protests against war Native
opinion of English courage The Court's crooked pulicy Naval fight be-
tween the Marathas and Siddfs Native Pirates ; their contest with Eu-
ropeans ; cruel murder of an Englishman ; fight at Vengurla ; hazards of
the coasting trade The Portuguese ; their futile threats ; their priests ex-
pelled from Bombay ; they murder an English Serjeant ; vexatious inter-
ference ; migrations from Bandora to Bombay The Dutch ; their war and
intrigues The French ; their Factory ; its failure Capuchins at Surat ;
Father Ambrose Prosecution of interlopers Proposal for a new Com-
pany James the Second proclaimed - - 70

CHAPTER VI.

SAME PERIOD.

HOME AND PERSONAL AFFAIRS Swally, and the ride to Surat The Fac-
tory Rank and pay of the Factors ; the rest of the Establishment ;
idleness The President's style Sepulchral monuments The Court re-
monstrates Characters Fryer ; his history ; his Travels into the interior,
ascent of the Ghats and other adventures Sir George Oxendeu ; his fami-
ly ; character ; descendants Gerald Aungier ; his religion ; death Religi-
ous phrases in ordinary use Contrast in the immorality of the times Go-
vernors Cook and Gary Deputy Governor Young ; his outrageous conduct
A Naval ensign A Drunkard's broadside A Military quill-driver
Gentleman Jones the Serjeant A Corporal's freak Official peculation
Bombay punch and its effects ; duelling and gambling ; dive's opinion of
the Military The Court's opinion of their servants A cargo of Ladies ;
bad investment ; their cruel treatment Children of mixed marriages Mu-
tinies at Bombay ; causes ; spirit of the times ; retrenchment ; first mutiny ;
Shaxton sent home ; the Court disgusts all classes ; Keigwin raises the stan-
dard of revolt; Statesmanlike conduct The President fails to establish or-
der Officers sent from England Sir Thomas Grantham arrives, and gains
possession of Bombay Treatment of the rebels Factories at Dharamgam,
Houawar, Carwar, Rattera aud Brinjau Anecdotes of the Factors - S9

3C CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

16851697.

PAGE

SIR JOSIAH CHILD ; his character and influence with the Company ;
new designs of the Court Sir John Child ; his early history ; be-
comes General ; his character discussed Sir John Wyburn, Deputy <^over-
nor ; his career and death The Court prepares for war ; recruit their forces ;
secrecy Preliminary steps to war Child's disinterestedness The Com-
pany's policy discussed Child begins to capture native ships The Cuurt's
approval Auraugzfb's anger Factors imprisoned Child insults the Siddi ;
his first misgivings Desertion of the militia and of Europeans The Siddi
invades Bombay ; his success Child negotiates ; his abject submission The
Siddi withdraws Review of Child's proceedings Child prosecutes Petit and
Bourchier His death Bartholomew Harris, President Yaux, Deputy
Governor ; his History : suspension and death Hard times for interlopers
Seizure of three interloping- vessels Successful resistance and escape of
others European pirates; their settlements at Bab-el-maudel and Mada-
gascar Sawbridge's cruel fate Captain Avory plunders native vessels
Fury of the mob at Surat The Company's ships, the Mocha and Josi<ih,
engaged in piracy Native rovers Fight with a Frigate The Factors
placed in irons Sir John Goldesborough Cook and \Yeldon, Deputy Go-
vernors Annesley, President ; his conduct and dismissal Sir John Gayer,
General - - - - - - 109

CHAPTER VIII,

SAME PERIOD.

OVINGTON ; his account of the Factory and Factors The Company
borrow of their servants New regulations for Bombay Low state
of the revenues and garrison Burdens on trade Increasing ravages of
disease Everard ; his visit to Bombay ; adventures and sufferings Man-
ners of the English ; their diet ; dissolute morals ; character given of the la-
dies Sir John Gayer's ward ; her first and second marriages ; seduction
The Court attempts to check vice Taverns, Poisoning, Consumption of
spirits The military ; Captain Carr Religion ; special form of prayer ;
Divine Service A Chaplain refuses to marry Conversions to Romanism ;
Lieutenant Finch; persecution of a Priest Reasons for this intolerance;
treachery of the Jesuits Punishment of the Portuguese Newton'a
apostacy Unsettled state of the country Minor Factories ; Amoy, Siam,
Aujengo, Baroch Sporting at Carwar Young Goring and Lembourg
Dutch intrigues Ships captured by the French Spirited conduct of the
Court Armenians - - - - - -J25

CHAPTER IX.

16981701.

NECESSITY of referring to English politics The House of Commons
sanctions a new Company Both parties bribe The old Company ex-
posed ; ordered to be dissolved A Bill passed in their favour Consequent
state of affairs iu ludiu Additional rules of the New Company's Charter

CONTENTS. Xi

PAGE

Hope for the Old Company ; their prospects and spirit Fresh calami-
ties of the Old Company European, piracy Kidd sent to suppress it ;
turns pirate ; his adventures ; taken and executed Sivers ; his piracies ;
taken and brought to Bombay Satisfaction demanded from the Factors
Low condition of the Factors The two Companies prepare for a strug-
gle Lucas appears for the New Company ; receives the Act of Authoriza-
tion -Fresh arrivals of New Company's servants Sir Nicholas Waite ; his
reception ; contest for a flag Waite's proceedings The New Factory In-
trigues Sir William Norris the ambassador ; preparations for his recep-
tion ; arrival at Surat ; his public entry Mutual injuries Good times
for the Mogul Officers Sir John Gayer and others imprisoned The ambas-
sador proceeds to Court ; offends the Minister; his grand procession and
audience; result of his Embassy ; he is insulted and injured; returns to
Surat Reflections on the ambassador's conduct His departure, sickness,
last words, aud death - - - - - J88

CHAPTER X.

SAME PERIOD.

CONTINUED RIVALRY of the two Companies The Emperor refers
the question to aMiila Liberal conduct of the English Compnuy Terms of
union arranged Illustrative anecdotes The new Company's Chaplain dies ;
interred in the Armenian cemetery ; succeeded by Hackett ; his martial
commission The Reverend Pratt Physou Surgeon Maxwell Disputes
between the members of Council Lock strikes the President Mewse breaks
Proby's head The old Company's Surgeon Statistics of crime for six months
Fight between Charles Peachey, Esq. and the President; the President
goes in and wins ; Peachey severely punished Offences of Walsh, Hartley,
aud Woodford Captain Wyatt murders a sepoy Provost Marshal Hall
Serjeant Bazett and other scabby sheep Disease in Bombay State of
Bombay ; frugality The Moguls Marathas Portuguese ; dispute with
them ; their threats ; ridiculous termination of the affair ; they send au
Envoy to Bombay ; his proposals rejected Au Embassy from Abyssinia
The British Squadron Queeu. Anne proclaimed - - 154

CHAPTER XI.
17031708.

CONTINUED DISPUTES in India Heavy liabilities of the London Com-
pany Arrangements for the Government of Bombay Factors still in
confinement Sir Nicholas Waite's malicious and selfish behaviour ; he
offends all parties ; is dismissed ; impartial view of his character Mewsa
causes disputes between the two Companies' servants Eustace Needhain
State of the two Factories Fresh acts of piracy, aud consequent injuries
inflicted upon the oM Factory Wretched state of Bombay ; the revenues
aud garrisou Disease ; the European population dwindles uway Dr. Ale*-

Xii CONTENTS.

PAGE

aiider Orme Oppressions of the Mogul Officers; Sir John Gayer's al-
legory The Marathas threaten fresh assaults Contest at Sea The Mus-
cat Arabs The Geuuims The Dutch successfully resist the oppression of
the Moguls Captain Green ; his piratical transactions Suppression of
European piracy Union of the two ''ompauies completed New arrange-
ments ; the Government The state and system of trade : chartered
hhips ; import and export trade ; how conducted ; alarm at competition
Infringement of monopoly Conclusion; remarks on the East India Com-
pany ; on the Company's servants ; ou their relations with the people of
India - - -. - - - - 166

THE

ENGLISH IN WESTERN INDIA,

CHAPTER I.

16121616,

CONTENTS : Object of the Writer Progress of the British Power in India ; its
iucongTuous character ; its moral force Early European travellers : Sir John
Mandeville, Friar Odoricus, The Portuguese, Csesar Frederick Early English
Travellers : Thomas Stephens ; his valuable letters ; Leedes, Fitch, New-
berry, a painter and others English Prisoners at Goa; their harsh
treatment Mildeuhall arrives by the overland route ; his crimes and death
Captain Hawkins and his wife William Finch Sir Henry Middletou
Best Defeat of the Portuguese Receipt of a firman First establishment
of English reputation English Factors : Starkey, Canning-, Aldworth, and
Withingtou; their adventures Downton Second defeat of the Portuguese
Sir Robert Shirley and Sir Thomas Powell; their misfortunes Edwards' mifsion
to the Great Mogul ; his presents Sir Thomas Roe ; arrives at Surat ;
reception at Burhampur and Ajmir ; his presents ; revelries ; jealousy of the
Factors Roe's subsequent history Treaty with the Zamorin Factory
established at Calicot Sea fight : Portuguese gallantry Sketch of the
Portuguese Establishment of a Dutch Factory ; their economy ; Vau deu
Broeck English Shipping.

THE history of the English in Western India may be divided into
Five Periods. The first period commences with the establishment of a Fac-
tory at Surat ; the second with the formation of a settlement at Bombay ;
the third with the supremacy which the Government of Bombay was
authorized by the Honorable Company to assume over its other factories
and settlements in India ; the fourth with the annexation of territory in
the neighbourhood of Bombay, Gujarat, and other places ; the fifth, with
the loss of that supremacy which Bombay for long enjoyed, and its subjec-
tion to the Governor- General of India. The following History is designed
to embrace the three first of these periods.

The narrative of an Empire's rise and progress usually tells how the
brook became a river, and the river became a sea. But the history of
British India is peculiar and incongruous. It began without a strip of
territory. A warehouse was expanded into a province ; a province into an

Empire. I propose to collect some tales of the Warehouse, and to record
the early history of the Province ; but I do not aspire to relate the annals
of an Empire.

My aim, moreover, is to furnish a few sketches of men and manners
without devoting an exclusive attention to the great and illustrious. In
most historical pictures, kings, statesmen, and warriors stand conspicuous,
whilst the multitude are grouped together, and their separate features are
scarcely perceptible. But in modern ages a spirit of research has led
students to inquire into the habits and characters of the many, and their
minute discoveries have supplied defects in History, throwing, as they do,
light not only upon heroes, but on Man.

The following work is not indeed antiquarian, but yet its design is
to exhume from the graves in which they have been buried, the motives
and acts of individuals. As students of antiquity, by finding a bone here,
a piece of tesselated pavement there, in another place some pottery or
rust- eaten weapons, have caught glimpses of the Roman's domestic life
and social condition ; so now it is hoped, that by collecting heterogeneous
facts from new and old books, and from mouldy records, we shall be able
to form a museum, in which will be exhibited the social and moral con-
dition not only of the architects by whom the foundations were laid, and
the building superintended ; but also of those who were work-people in
the construction of our Anglo-Indian Empire. And when expatiating " free
o'er all this scene of man," it will be an object to shew, that although
" a mighDy maze," it is " not without a plan."

In writing the word " Empire" we are reminded how ill it assorts itself
with the facts which are here to be recorded. The word conveys ideas
of grandeur, wealth, and power ; whereas this and the two following
Chapters are annals of mediocrity and weakness, sometimes of drivelling
baseness. The instruments, which Providence employed to create a Bri-
tish power in India, were often of the basest metal. But such answer the
same purposes as the finest in the hands of Infinite Wisdom. And
though we may feel disappointed, we ought not to be surprised, when
we see little to admire in the pioneers of our Eastern empire, and find that
some were amongst the meanest of mankind.

Yet, bad as were such agents, it will, I think, appear in this work that
British power has been established by the moral force of British character.
A writer of Anglo- Indian History must indeed soil his paper with narra-
tives, from which virtue and honesty turn with disgust. But here is a
distinction. Truth and sincerity have been, in the main, characteristics
of the British, and the opposite vices exceptions. With the Oriental races
amongst whom they have been located, fraud, chicanery and intrigue
have been the usual engines of State policy ; truth and sincerity have been
rare as flowers in a sandy soil. When British merchants or statesmen
have formed compacts, given pledges, or made promises, they have usually
though not in all instances observed their compacts, redeemed their pled-
ges, and fulfilled their promises, and the natives have generally acknow-
ledged this : so that, although their confidence has been sometimes
misplaced, and has received a few severe shocks, they have continued to
rely upon the good faith of Englishmen. On the other hand, they have

rarely placed dependence on one another, and although some have been
distinguished for their virtues in private life, their rule has ever been, to
regard each other with suspicion and mistrust.

But let us see the steps which led to the first establishment of the
English in India. So early as the commencement of the fourteenth century,
certain Europeans, who have left accounts of their travels, visited the
Western Coast, and mentioned places well known at the present day
such as Cambai, Bassein, Choul, and Thana. In the marvellous history
composed A. D. 1325 by Sir John Mandeville of St Albans, there is a
vague description of these parts ; but the credulous knight does not state
whether he had himself visited them. There is also a curious and
fragmentary narrative published about 1330 in Latin, which sets forth
that it was taken by William de Solanga from the lips of Odoricus,
an Italian friar of the order of Minorites oi'fratres minores, a branch of the
Franciscans. From Ormus, Odoricus passed in twenty-eight days to
Thana, where four of his Christian brethren suffered martyrdom. He
specifically calls the ship in which he sailed a ' jahaz,' the generic name-
by which vessels of all kinds are known in India, and he was surprised,
as many other Europeans have been, to see that such were made of bam-
bus without any appearance of being fastened by iron bolts. * He also
notices with quaint brevity the flying foxes, and bandicote rats, which -
were so large that cats could not kill them, the tulasi tree standing before
the houses of idolaters, and their superhumane practice of feeding ants
and pismires.

Soon after the Portuguese had discovered the passage by the Cape
of Good Hope, they formed settlements at Diu, Daman, Goa, Calicot, Co-
chin, and other places on the Western coast. The deeds of high daring
which they wrought, and the wealth which their deeply laden carracks
bore to Europe, spread their reputation far and wide, and inspired the
English in particular with a desire to share the risks and profits of
Eastern adventure.

In 15 03 Master Ciesar Frederick, a Venetian merchant, travelled by
way of the Persian Gulf to these parts. He describes Cambai, where
the marine supremacy of the Portuguese was acknowledged, and Ahmed -
abad, both of which places were remarkable for their extensive trade.
When journeying in a palanquin from Ankola to Goa, he was assailed
by robbers, stripped naked, and would have been plundered of all that
he possessed, if he had not, before starting, taken the precaution to con-
ceal his valuables in a bainbti.

Thomas Stephens is the first Englishman of whom we are sure that
he visited the Western shores of India. When there, he was only
known as a Jesuit, but he had been originally educated at New College,
Oxford. On the fourth of April 1579 he sailed from Lisbon, and the
following October reached Goa, where he lived many years. A letter

* " In hac terra homines utuntur navigio, quod vocatur Jase, sutum sparto.
Ego autein ascendi in unum illorum, in quo nullum ferrura potui reperire; et in
viginta octo diebus perveni ad civitateii Thana, in qua pro fide Christi quatuor de
fratribus nostris martyrizati sunt." Hakluyt's Voyages, Vol. II. The same is
aoticed iu " the Voiage and Travail of Sir John ilan.de vil, Kt."

which he wrote to his father, a London merchant, soon after his arrival,
is printed in Hakluyt T s collection of Voyages. It not only contains a parti-
cular and interesting description of his perilous navigation round the
Cape, but many sage remarks are made in quite a mercantile spirit
on the state of Portuguese trade, of which he evidently desires that his
countrymen should obtain a share. The reader is surprised to find a Ro-
man ecclesiastic entering with such eagerness and penetration into com-
mercial affairs. Probably Stephens' advices were the strongest induce-
ments which London merchants had been offered to embark in Indian
speculations, and certainly they began from this period to fit out expedi-
tions for the East. Pyrard de Laval, who was a prisoner at Goain l(508 r
states that Stephens was then Hector of a College on Salsette, by which he
probably means the province of that name in the Goanese territory.
The English Jesuit was a kind-hearted man, and true friend in need to
several of his countrymen, who within the space of a few years found
their way to India. * The advance guard to an army of English ad-
venturers now made their appearance.

In 1583 Leedes, Ralph Fitch, John Newberry and some others, entered
India by the route which Ctesar Frederick had followed. A suspicion
that they were engaged in trade was sufficient to alarm the jealous Por-
tuguese, and no sooner did they reach Goa, than they were thrown into
prison. They tell us that first of all they were " examined whether
they were good Christians or no," and, as they never hesitated to tell a
lie, their Christianity was approved. In fact, they passed themselves off
as " real Catholics," although strongly suspected of English heresy.
One of their party had some skill in painting, and as his art was in
great request at Goa for the decoration of its magnificent churches, he
was induced to regain his liberty by becoming a Jesuit, and natural-
ized inhabitant of the place. Indulgence was also shewn to the rest
through the good offices of Thomas Stephens, and after enjoying partial
freedom they at last contrived to effect their escape, leaving the painter
behind them. When too late he repented of having changed his religion,
and although he had no intention of leaving Goa, persuasion was in
vain used to retain him in a cloister. He opened a shop, carried on a
lucrative business, and married the daughter of an Indo- Portuguese. As
for Fitch lie returned to England after a lengthened peregrination, and
Leedes entered the service of the Great Mogul. ( %

Pyrard de Laval, who, combining business with pleasure, left St. Maloes
on the 18th May 1601, and stayed many years at Goa, met there with
Spaniards, Venetians and other Italians, Germans, Flemings, Armenians,
a few English, and only three Frenchmen. J The English were chiefly
prisoners, who had been surprized at the bar of the Surat river by a
cowardly stratagem of the Portuguese. Probably they had belonged to
the expedition of Captain Hawkins, whose long-boat with twenty-seven

" Histoire generale des voyages ; par C. A. Walckenaer. Hakluyt's Voyages,
t Hakluyt's Voyages. Oriental Commerce : By William Milburn, Esq. Vol I.
J Voyaqre de Francois Pyrard de Laval Seconde partie, Chap II. Historical Frag-
ments of the Mogul Empire. By Robert Orme, Esq.

men and some valuable goods was seized. Laval merely states that they
had been employed in traffic, and a gentleman who had come with them
had gone on to the Great Mogul's Court, where he had been well received.
Whilst their ships were at anchor, seventeen persons had left them in
two boats laden with merchandize, which they intended to exchange
for Indigo. Their movements, however, had been watched from some
Portuguese coasting vessels, the commander of which bore down upon
them, cut off their retreat, and carried them all to Goa. Confinement
and neglect soon brought on disease, and in a short time there were but
six or seven survivors.

Six months before he left Goa, Pyrard met another English prisoner,
who seemed a person of some distinction, and had been surprized in the
same way as the others, when he was taking soundings. He accused the
Portuguese of savage ferocity, declaring that they had slaughtered his
cousin in cold blood, and placed his head upon a pike as a trophy. His
own life had been in great danger, for his captors, knowing that he had
been surveying the coast, regarded him with peculiar suspicion. After
a long imprisonment he was suffered to depart.

Four months after this gentleman had been seized, the unlucky ship
to which he belonged was wrecked on the coast. The crew, twenty -
four in number, having contrived to reach the shore near Surat with their
money and other property, were well treated by the native authorities.
They then divided themselves into two parties ; the more adventurous
spirits making an attempt to return home by way of Tartary, the others
remaining at Surat. The former were enabled by passports, which they
procured at the Mogul's court, to pass through his dominions, but were
not permitted to enter the country of the Tartars, and after a fruitless
journey they returned to Surat. All the survivors repaired to Goa, and
sailed fronTthence to England. * Every Englishman on whom the Por-
tuguese could lay their hands was treated by them as a prisoner, and
when Laval was about to leave India, several Englishmen were actually
brought on board in irons, f Yet even when in this sad plight they
appeared to him a proud set, who took every opportunity of shewing
their contempt for Frenchmen. J

Such was Portuguese hospitality ! Shipwrecked mariners, instead of
receiving from them generous fare and clothing, or at least protection and
sympathy, were condemned to eat the bread and water of affliction in a
dungeon, and if they survived such treatment, were sent to their own
country with ignominy. Exclusiveness and illiberality are the sure fore-
runners of degeneracy, and the English are avenged. Being now the
dominant party, they can return good for evil by blessing the descendants
of these persecutors with religious toleration and political freedom.

Mildenhall, a London merchant, was sent out from that capital by
a commercial association in 1599 ; but, as he travelled overland and was
frequently delayed, he did not reach Agra until 1603 ! His object was
to obtain from the Emperor a firman, authorizing the English to trade

* Pyrard de Laval. Troisicme paitie, Chap, xx,

t lb. Chap xxi.

J Ib. Seconde partie, Chap vi.

in his dominions. After waiting three years, and defeating the machina-
tions of Jesuits and two Italian merchants, he was satisfied with his suc-
cess, and returned to England. We hear of him as being again at Agra
in 161-4, but have no very clear account of his history. It is said that
he went in 1G10 to Persia, where he was joined in a commission with two
young men, whom he poisoned, and having possessed himself of their
property repaired to Agra, lleligion of course safe- loosely on such a
character, and as soon as he found it convenient to be a Roman Catholic,
he threw off his Protestant faith. It was not long before he was him-
self poisoned, and dying left his money to a Frenchman, whose daughter
he had intended to marry. *

Two years after Mildenhall had left Agra to give an account of himself
in England, Captain Hawkins of the ship ' Hector' came to Surat. He
tells us that he was kindly received by the natives " after their barbarous
manner ;" but was much harassed by the Portuguese, who, however,
permitted him to land his iron and lead with some treasure. As soon as
possible he started with a letter from King James to the Great Mogul for
Agra, where he arrived at the end of May 1609, after being in continual
fear that he would be assassinated by his attendants at the instigation of
the Portuguese. His reception at Court was flattering, and he was assured
that he should have permission to establish a Factory at Surat. The Great
Mogul wishing to engage his services and keep him in the country, offered
him a pension and a wife. Hawkins was not averse to either. Although
he called himself an English ambassador, he did not scruple to accept a
salary, which, however, was very irregularly paid ; and as the imperial
harem contained a large assortment of ladies varying in race, colour, and
religion, he was provided with a bride to his taste who was both a Christian
and a maiden. He seems to have really loved his wife, and to have
resolved not to forsake her. Still he did not forget the interests of his
English employers. He repeatedly demanded the privileges which they
required, was frequently promised them, and as frequently disappointed.
At last, baffled by the intrigues of the Portuguese, and disgusted with the
wavering counsels of the Emperor, he gave up his efforts in despair,
and requested his dismissal. The Indian potentate did not condescend to
give any answer to King James's letter, and Hawkins, after a protracted
contest with his wife's brothers, who wished to prevent her from leaving
the country, contrived to take her on board an English ship at Cambai,
from whence he sailed with her on the 26th of January 1612 to Europe, f

William Finch and three or four English servants had been left by
Hawkins at Surat when he went up the country, that they might
dispose of such goods as he had landed. Whilst they were there the
ship ' Ascension' was wrecked at Gandavi, and happily they were enabled
to succour the crew, seventy-five of .whom escaped from the wreck, and,
not being suffered to enter Surat, were maintained for some time by
Finch at a neighbouring village. They were afterwards dispersed over
the country. Some were probably the persons whom Laval met at

* Historical Fragments of the :\'ogul Empire. By Robert Orme, Esq.
f History of the European Commerce with India By David Macphersou. Orme-'s
Fragments.

Goa. Finch was summoned in January 1610 by Hawkins to Agra, and
travelled by way of the Panjab and Persia to England. *

Expeditions from England to the Western coast of India became now
more frequent. The object of all was purely commercial, but it was an
ominous fact that Englishmen only obtained respect and influence amongst
the natives by means of hard fighting. Their laurels were first gathered
at Swally near Surat. The managers of a Factory which had a few years
previously been established at Bantam in Java, had recommended that a
trade should be opened at Surat and Cambai for the sake of supplying
them with cloths and calicoes. Sir Henry Middleton endeavoured to
comply with their suggestion in January 1612 ; but his efforts were
frustrated, partly through his own unfair dealing and insolent treatment
of native chiefs, partly by Portuguese intrigue. More successful, however,
was one of those daring spirits, which have never been wanting to the
British in their hour of need. Captain Best was determined to open a
passage to Surat with his two ships, the ' Dragon' and ' Hosiander.' He
reached the coast on the 28th October 1612. Two Portuguese armaments
successively threw themselves in his way at the river's mouth ; but after
severe struggles the skill and courage of himself and men prevailed against
both. The great Mogul then sent down to him a firman authorizing an
English Minister to reside at Court, and opening to English subjects the
trade of Surat. This imperial ordinance was forwarded to Best as an
ordinary letter, but he had by this time become aware of his own power,
and of the impression which a little display makes upon native minds.
He therefore wisely insisted that the usual ceremonies should be
observed, and the firman was formally presented to him by the Governor
of Surat, who came in state to Swally for the purpose. Best then sailed
away, first leaving at Surat ten persons to dispose of the goods which
he had brought, and with a stock of four thousand pounds to purchase
the manufactures of India. That was the first rising of the British
star, and the Portuguese paled before it. In vain did they afterwards
endeavour to undermine by intrigue the influence which was built upon
conduct and bravery. Englishmen had left an impression which was
never to be effaced, f

The principal Factors left in 1613 by Best at Surat, were Andrew
Starkey, Canning, Aldworth, Withington, and Kerridge. Starkey had
orders to proceed overland to England with intelligence that a Factory
had been established, but, as is asserted, he was poisoned on the
journey by two friars. Canning, being sent with a king's letter to Agra,
was attacked on the road by robbers, who wounded him and another
Englishman, and killed one of his escort. He carried with him a
present for the great Mogul, but it was of so little value that it was received
with contempt, and the disappointed monarch asked if that was sent by
the king of England. He was in constant dread of being poisoned, and

* Orme's Fragments.

f Annals of the Honorable East India Company. T?y John Bruce, Esq. Vol. I.
Orme's Fragments. Description of Hindostan. By Walter Hamilton. Appendix to a
Treatise on the wealth, power, aud resources of the British Empire. By P, Colquhoun,
LL.D.

as he died on the 29th of May, the Portuguese Jesuits, whom the Factors
believed capable of committing any crime, were suspected of having caused
his death*

Aldworth and Withington travelled in November from Surat
to inspect Baroch, Jambusir, Baroda, and Ahmedabad, with a view to
ascertain the state of their markets. At Baroch and Ahmedabad they
hired houses on the Company's account, and left brokers to transact their
business. Aldworth was for some time the principal merchant at Surat, and
died in 1615 at Ahmedabad.

At this place Withington heard a report that three English vessels were
lying in the Indus, and immediately started on a most perilous journey
overland to assist them with his counsel. He had better have remained
where he was. He never reached the Indus, but being plundered by
the predatory tribes of all that he possessed, and reduced to sustain life by
begging alms, was compelled to retrace his steps. After an absence of
a hundred and eleven days, during which he had suffered intense mi-
sery, he thought himself lucky in April 1 61 5 to set his foot again in
Ahmedabad. Soon afterwards he was sent for to Agra, that he might se-
cure the effects of Mildenhall, who had lately deceased.*

This season Captain Nicholas Downton sustained the reputation of
which Captain Best had laid the foundation. He was the chief comman-
der, or, as such officers were then styled, " the General" of four English
ships. At Surat he found three English Factors, Aldworth, Biddulph,
and Richard Steele, the last of whom had lately come from Aleppo.
His first step was, to demand redress for extortion in the customs ;
his second was to require, like a true Englishman, that a market for
beef should be established at Swally. The first application was met by
evasion ; the second by a declaration that beef could, not be had, as
the banyas, by whom the preservation of animal life was regarded in
the light of a religious duty, had paid a large sum to prevent bullocks
from being slaughtered.

The Emperor and petty princes of the Deccan were united in an
attempt to drive the Portuguese out of India, and no sooner had Down-
ton arrived, than the Governor of Surat invited his co-operation. But as
Portugal and her possessions were then subject to the Spanish crown, and
there was peace between Spain and England, the English Captain declined
this invitation, which so annoyed the Governor, that he in turn refused
him all assistance, and on a frivolous pretext threw the English Factors
into prison. Downton's forbearance was but ill-requited by the Portuguese ;
for they falsely represented to the Governor that he had consented to j oin
them in an attack upon Surat. Their own acts, however, soon refuted
this calumny. With six galleons of from four to eight hundred tons
burden, three other vessels of considerable size, and sixty smaller ones,
mounting in all a hundred and thirty-four pieces of ordnance, the viceroy
of Goa attacked the four English ships, which could only mount eighty
guns of inferior calibre. To the astonishment of the natives, the assailants
were defeated as signally as in the previous year, so that their glory
and renown were for ever transferred to their conquerors. Downton was

* Orme's Fragments.

no longer treated with roughness and insolence, but before leaving Surat
received from the pliant Governor and principal men of the place, distin-
guished marks of courtesy and respect. He died at Bantam on the sixth
of the following August, "lamented, admired, and unequalled."*

The report which had induced Withington to attempt his hazardous
journey, was an exaggeration ; but one English ship had actually arrived
at the Indus. On board were Sir Robert Shirley, who was returning
from England whither he had been sent as the king of Persia's Ambassador,
and Sir Thomas Powell, who had been sent to that monarch on an embassy/
by King James. Debarred by the Portuguese from passing the Straits of
Ormus into the Persian Gulf, the two ambassadors and their wives
attempted to land in Baluchisthan, where they, narrowly escaped being
murdered. At last they disembarked at Diui on the Indus, and there
again were ill-treated and detained by the Governor, whom the Por~
tuguese had either bribed or intimidated. Sir Thomas Powell and one of
his followers died; but Sir Robert .Shirley persisted in setting off for
Persia. No sooner, however* had he put off from the shore, and was
afloat on the river Indus, than an armed force brought him back,
A fray ensued, in which his compaaion, Mr. Ward, fired his pistol
in the face of a trooper, and was instantly shot dead by another trooper.
At this juncture Sir Thomas Powell's widow was confined, and died
with her infant, as did also Michael, the brother of Sir Thomas. Shirley at
length escaped from the hands of his barbarous tormentors, and reached
Agra, where he was courteously received by Jehangir, who sent him
forward on his journey with rich presents, equipages, provisions, and
an escort f

By this time a regular Factory had been established at Surat. It
was usually styled ' the English House,' and was presided over by
Kerridge. A Factor named Edwards had also been left at Ahmedabad.
It was arranged between these two that Edwards should proceed on a
mission to the Mogul Court. He was provided with a letter from King
James- ; and Kerridge having an eye to business made him take with him
an investment of cloths, looking-glasses, and sword-blades. Half Ambas-
sador and half hawker, he thus went to Agra, where he was presented to
the Emperor by Asof Khan, the Prime Minister and favourite Sultana's
brother. By a judicious distribution of presents he obtained all that he
asked. To the Emperor himself he delivered portraits of King James and
the Royal family. But his most acceptable offering, was a large mastiff,
of which Kerridge wrote as follows :

" Mr. Edwardes presented the Kinge a mastife, and speakinge of the
dogs courage, the Kinge cawsed a yonge leoparde to be brought to make
tryall, which the dogge soe pinchttj thatt fewer howres after the leoparde
dyed. Synce, the Kinge of Persia, with a presentt, sent heather haulfe a
dozen dogges the Kinge cawsed boares to be brought to fight with them,
puttinge two or three dogges to a boare, yet none of them seased ; and
rememberinge his owne dogge, sentt for, him, who presently fastened on

* Orme's Fragments. Maopherson's History. Colquhoun's Treatise.
f Orme's Fragments.

the boare, BO disgraced the Persian doggs, wherewith the Kin-ge was ex-
ceedingly pleased. Two or three mastiftes, a couple of Irish greyliowndes,
and a couple ot well-taught water spanyells, wold give him greate con-
tente."

No needy client ever studied a patrician's whims and caprices more
attentively than did the English Factors study the Great Moguls. In
1612 they had specially recommended that toys and bull dogs should be
sent for presents to him and his courtiers ; and now Edwards desired that
landscapes, such pictures as represented the manners and customs of Eng-
land, portraits of the nobility, and some fine beaver hats, should be for-
warded.*

Although Hawkins, Canning, Kerridge, and Edwards had assumed tha
imposing title of Ambassador, yet they were merely humble agents of the
Company. It was now resolved to try what effect the dignity of a Royal
Embassy would have. Sir Thomas Roe was chosen to make the experi-
ment, and there could scarcely have been a better selection. The object
of his Embassy was twofold to arrange the terms of a treaty, and to
recover large sums of money due to the Company from persons about the
Court. He brought with him the draft of a treaty comprising nineteen
articles, the first seventeen of which related to the protection and en-
couragement of trade, the last two to an alliance offensive and defensive
between the Emperor and the English people.

Having left England on the sixth of March he arrived at Surat on the
twenty-fourth of September 1615, and was received in an open tent by
the chief Officers of the city with distinguished honour. On this, as well
as all other occasions whether he was admitted to interviews with great
Chiefs, the Prince Royal, or the Emperor himself he refused to com-,
promise the dignity of England by making those slavish prostrations which
Indian despots expected from the representatives of foreign powers.

From Surat Sir Thomas marched to Burhampur, where he was most
courteously and honourably received by Par viz, one of the Emperor's young-
er sons. The Prince's Court had no pretensions to splendour, but parade
was by no means neglected. A hundred native gentlemen on horse back
formed a lane in the outer court of the palace, through which the Ambaa-
lador was conducted. Parviz himself sat under a canopy in the inner
Court, and his nobles were ranged on either side of him, according to their
rank. An interpreter standing upon the steps of the throne was the
medium of communication. Many of the usual ceremonies were dispens-
ed with, that the Prince might pay Sir Thomas the compliment of receiv-
ing him according to the customs of England.

The Emperor was residing at Ajmir. The day before the Ambassador
arrived there he was met by Edwards and Coryat. He found the Court
in the midst of joyous festivities, and was well pleased with his reception ;
but complained that the meanness of the presents which he took with him,
proved a serious drawback. In spite of the care with which their Fac-
tors had drawn their attention to the subject, the Company did not un-
derstand how to gratify the taste of an Oriental potentate. The presents

* Bruce's Annals, 1614-15.

were ill selected, unworthy of the monarch by whom Sir Thomas wax
accredited, and, as he well knew, were spoken of with contempt by tha
Emperor. An English carriage was accepted graciously, but was not
sufficiently gaudy to please a native of India. As before, so now, some
noble mastiffs had an irresistible charm for the Imperial sportsman, who
was however much disappointed when he found there was no "great
English horse," for which he would have given a lakh of rupees. And
then his inquisitive Majesty began to fumble in the Ambassador's chests,
until by ill-luck he drew out a picture. The subject was ' Venus leading
a Satyr by the nose.' " What is the meaning of this ?" asked Jehangir.
The Ambassador really did not know. His Chaplain was then asked for
an explanation ; but he also pleaded ignorance. So the Emperor per-
tinently demanded why they brought to him things which they did not
understand. His suspicions soon suggested to him an interpretation. He
decided that it was an allegory and caricature of himself and people. The
Satyr was black ; so he must represent the Natives of India. Venus
leading him by the nose symbolized the great influence which women were
supposed to exercise over men in Hindustan. His Majesty was in high
dudgeon for some time after the discovery of this ingenious solution. It
was natural that it should occur to the husband of the beautiful and all
powerful Nur Jehan, better known to the readers of English poetry by the
name of Nourmahal, " his harem's light."

Sir Thomas Roe's liberality was soon exhausted in attempting to cram
the maw of an Indian Monarch and his greedy courtiers. On new year's
day he had so little left that he could only offer the Emperor " a couple
of fine knives, and six glasses," to Asof Khan " a pair of gloves, and a
curious nightcap," the former of which was returned as " of no use in
India." The neglect with which he was occasionally treated, was at-
tributed by him to these evidences of poverty ; yet on the whole he was
honoured with marked distinction.

In his case there were few of those barriers which are now raised
between Europeans and Natives. He did not indeed, when invited to
great men's houses, partake with them of the same dishes ; but sat with
his Chaplain at a separate table ; except in one memorable instance, when
Asof Khan listened to his remonstrances, and shared a meal with him.
But this restriction upon social intercourse at formal banquets was amply
compensated by the admission which he freely gained to drinking bouts.
Like the symposia and commissationes of the Greeks and Romans, these
were separate entertainments, conducted with the utmost freedom and
joviality. For although Jehangir and his courtiers were strict ol servers of
the Kuran by day, at night they felt absolved from all attention to its
abstemious principles. The Ambassador's wine of Alicant was in great re-
quest, and accepted without scruple ; but ** the Lord of the world" called
also for a more potent draught. The liquor of which he drank deep was
so strong that the mere fumes made the Ambassador sneeze. Then his
Imperial Majesty passed through the stages of intoxication, known a
" laughing" and " crying drunk." Now in the warmth of his heart he
vowed that he would recognize no distinctions between Christians, Moors,
and Jews, for that all should share his favour equally ; now '* sighs stole

out, and tears began to flow." The Ambassador having thus discovered
his taste, took the hint as usual, and in writing to the Directors of the
East India Company offered them his advice thus : " There is nothing
more welcome here, nor did I ever see men so fond of drink, as the King
and Prince are of red wine, whereof the Governor of Surat sent up some
bottles ; and the King has ever since solicited for more. I think four or
five casks of that wine will be more welcome than the richest jewel in
Cheapside."*

Although Sir Thomas was mortified by many refusals and evasions, yet
he obtained more success at last than he could have anticipated. He so
completely brought Asof Khan over to his interests, that even a stout
opposition of the heir to the throne was overcome The separate articles of
his treaty were indeed rejected ; " yet^by piecemeals," he wrote, " I have
got as much as I desired at once. I have recovered all bribes, extortions,
and debts made and contracted' before my time till this day, or at least an
honorable composition." He gained 'also permission to establish a Faet)ry
at Baroch, which, although its fortunes varied, was so flourishing in 1683,
that an investment of fifty-five thousand pieces of cloth was sent from it in
that single year to England.

Sir Thomas was much vexed and retarded in his operations by difficul-
ties which the Factors of Surat threw in his way, probably at the suggestion
of their English masters. The East India, 'Company have always been
jealous of surch servants of the Crown as have been mixed up with their
affairs, and the Ambassador was convinced that' they were so in his case.
He writes:

" Your 'Factors sent me four or five clauses of your commission that
concerned Ptrsia, a fort, a plantation in Bengala, all which they knew
were not of use ; with no other proposition or resolution they will acquaint
rne. They cannot abide I should understand or direct them. If they
resolve of anything in their opinion for your profit, I will effect the court
part; bat you will find in my letters and journay how they use me,
which doubtless at first was sowed by some jealousy of yours, which will
cost you dearly,"

It is creditable to the good sense of both parties that they understood
each other at last, and when Sir Thomas left the country the Factors
parted with him on good terms.

On the whole, the result of 'the Embassy must be pronounced a triumph
of diplomacy. Its display was indeed insignificant as compared with the

* That Roe's narrative is not a libel against Jehangir is evident from that Monarch's
own confessions. He acknowledges in his autobiography that when on a hunting
expedition he had for the first time drank a cup of wine, at the reco" mendation of
the Commandant of Artillery, who assured him he would be much refreshed by it, ho
found it so delicious, that he afterwards repeated the draught. Increasing his pota-
tions gradually, he at last drank wine in large quantities, and it had no effect upon
him. Then he craved a stronger liquor. "Constantly, for nine years, he drank of
double distilled spirits, fourteen cups in the day, and six cups at night, which, he
says, were altogether equal to six Hindostan seers, or English quarts." The result
was the same as in Falstaff, who had but " one ha f pennyworth of bread to an in-
tolerable deal of sack." Jehangi'r suffered loss of appetite, and contracted such a
nervous affection, that lie was obliged to have the cup lifted to his luouth. Glad-
Kin's History of Jehanguire.

splendour of the Court to which it was dispatched, and at one time it was
on this account threatened with failure. Yet such as it was, it proved in
the end so expensive, that as the thrifty King threw the burden upon
the Company their finances were drained alarmingly. Happily, Sir
Thomas Hoe was gifted with judgment and tact, and he had the good
fortune to visit a communicative and sociable, if not a liberal and enlight-
ened Emperor. So that, although eighty years or more afterwards the
character tsf the British nation was lowered by an Embassy entrusted to
the vacillating and misguided Sir William N orris, it was at this time
exalted. The condescension, affability, even friendliness, with which Sir
Thomas was received by the occupant of the peacock throne, caused the
English to shine in Native eyes with lustre reflected from Imperial glory.*

So highly were the Company pleased with Sir Thomas Roe's conduct,
that when he returned to England they paid him the compliment of
offering him an honorary seat in their Court of Committees, and more
substantial!}' rewarded him with a pension of two hundred pounds per an-
num, f He afterwards obtained a seat in Parliament, where he supported
the Company's interests. So late as 1643 his name appears in English
history. He was then sent as Ambassador Extraordinary by Charles the
First to the Emperor and Princes of Germany ; and was the subject of
unjust accusations, which were secretly submitted by the French Ambas-
sador to the English Parliament.

In March 1616 Keeling, " the General" of the four ships with which
Sir ^Thomas Roe arrived at Surat, made a strenuous effort to establish a
Factory at Cranganor. The Zamorin, as the ruler of the country was
styled, having heard the fame of Downton's exploits, sent his Minister
to meet Keeling at Calicot, and invited him to a conference. The
English Captain took the precaution to secure a hostage for his safe
return, and then went to the neighbourhood of Cranganor, which the
Zamorin was besieging. He was received with great politeness, and soon
concluded a treaty, which commenced with the heathen ruler's words,
thus : " As I have been ever an enemy to the Portuguese, so do I
purpose to continue for ever." He then promises to give the Fort of
Cranganor when captured the islands, and nine miles of coast to the
English ; also with their aid to take Cochin, and then transfer
it to them with all its territory ; finally he stipulates to exempt them
from all payment of duties and customs. It is scarcely necessary to
say that these terms were too favourable for the English to be observed.
However, Keeling left at Cranganor three Factors and a lad, as also a
gunner who entered the Zamorin's service. It was not long before the Fac-
tors found themselves the victims of gross extortion, instead of being
encouraged. They seized the first opportunity of escaping with their
goods to Calicot, where they remained in spite of the many difficulties

* Journal and Letters of Pir Thomas Roe in Churchill's Collection of Voyages.
The History of Hindostan ; translated from the Persian. Hy Alexander Dow,* Vol.
iii. Chnp. iil The View of Hindostan. By Thomas i ennant, vol. i.

t Macpherson's History.

t Robert Grant's " Sketch of the History of the East India Company," Chap. i.

| Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, Book vi.

with which they had to contend. Thus the English Factory of Calicot
had its origin.* The place, we may be sure, was celebrated for the
produce of its looms from the fact of its name having been given to our
ordinary cotton fabrics.

As these pages contain much that is discreditable to the Portuguese it
is a pleasure now to chronicle an action which redounds to their honour.
Four English ships, in one of which was Terry, afterwards Sir Thomas
Roe's Chaplain, were bringing to India merchandize, and the presents
which the Embassy was to take charge of for the Emperor. All were
under the command of General Joseph. At the head of the channel
between Madagascar and the African coast, they descried a Portuguese
carrack of enormous size, which proved to be commanded by Don
Manuel de Menezes. Although England and Portugal were at peace,
yet in the Indian Seas there was a smouldering enmity between the
eeamen of the two nations, which was always ready to burst into a
flame. The Globe, a small but fast sailing vessel of Joseph's squadron,
gave chase to the carrack, and on coming up was saluted with opprobrious
language, and an order to fall to leeward. As obedience was not promptly
paid, the Portuguese fired five large shot at her. By this time Joseph
himself had come up in his large ship, the Charles, and called out that the
Commander of the carrack must come on board. As the excuse was
made that they had no boat, Joseph sent his own, which brought three
officers with a message, " that Don Menezes had promised his mas'er,
the King of Spain, not to quit his ship, out of which he might be forced,
but never commanded." Joseph replied, " that he would sink by his side,
or compel him." After these words of defiance had been exchanged, the
fight began. Joseph was killed in a few minutes, and his command
assumed by Captain Pepwell. Night came on ; but the chivalrous Me-
nezes scorned to skulk away in the darkness, and hung out a light to
guide his enemies. The following day and night passed without any
continuance of the struggle, but it was renewed at sunrise on the
second morning. Pepweli was wounded in the jaw and leg, and his
eye was struck out. The carrack's main and mizen masts were brought
down, and her fore top shot away. Seeing their foe in this plight the
English sent a boat to him, with Mr. Cormack, the principal merchant,
bearing a flag of truce, and Menezes received him courteously, but declared
his resolution to renew the contest on the morrow. Unhappily for the
gallant Don, his ship struck on the rocks during the night. The crew
set her on fire, and made their escape with treasure to a large amount,
but being overpowered and plundered by the natives were reduced to
great distress. Menezes at last contrived to reach Goa, where he was
received with great respect on account of his valour and misfortunes.
He was also much honoured on his return to his country, and, as his
force had been far inferior to that of his enemies, his defeat was considered
equivalent to a victory. f

One of the most peculiar features in this early part of English history
is the evidence of a jealousy and hatred with which all who were in the

* Orme's Fragments.

t Orme's Fragments. Terry's Voyage.

Company's employ, and their rivals hi trade, mutually regarded each
other. The French had not yet appeared in India, if we except the
three whom Laval met at Goa, and a few whom Bernier found employed
by the Emperor as cannoniers. But the Portuguese had been there so long
that they had passed their zenith, and were in the descendant. They had
formed settlements at Calicot, Mangalor, Goa, Bombay, Salsette, Bassein
and Daman. As they always seemed ignorant how to use victory with
moderation, their haughtiness and insolence had prepared the natives
to look with favour upon any rival, who should contest with them the
privileges of trade and command of the sea. In 1 508 they had taken
and plundered Dabhol, and in 1510 under Albuquerque surprised and
conquered Goa. As early as 1512 they pillaged Surat, and nearly
destroyed it.* The inhabitants then spoke of them as " the vile
miscreants," and when a Turkish Admiral arrived welcomed him as a
deliverer from their odious tyranny. The Admiral himself, who has
left us an account of his voyage, always uses the ward ' miscreant' as a
gynonyme for ' Portuguese. 'f Bombay was occupied by them in 1532.
The same year they burned the whole of the towns on the coast between
Chickli Tarapur and Bassein, and in 1548 all between the neighbourhood
of Goa and Bankot. Although their chief possessions were at a distance
from Surat, yet we have seen them using all their power to prevent the
English from entering its port. However, the power of these dreaded
plunderers was shown by a succession of naval defeats to have been over
estimated. " On my word they are weak in India," wrote Sir Thomas
Roe, " and able to do your fleet no harm, but by supplies from Lisbon. J
At last in 1630 they procured a reinforcement from Europe, and with
nine ships endeavoured to destroy a fleet of five English slips as it
approached Swally. Their efforts were baffled, and then the superiority
of British seamen was for ever established.

Lest it should be suspected that our opinion of the Portuguese is dictated
by national prejudices, the testimony of their own countrymen and
intelligent Frenchmen is appealed to. Much of the above account is taken
from their historian De Faria. The biographer of Francis Xavier dwells
upon their moral degradation, and declares that they " lived more like
idolaters than Christians." He adds that they had imitated the depraved
habits of the heathen, that wedded chastity was little esteemed amongst
them, that they were even proud of the number of their concubines, and
nothing could be more corrupt than their whole lives. || Father leGcbien
traces the aversion with which they were regarded by the natives to the
violence which they had employed, and Father de Fontenay makes special
mention of their dissolute behaviour. *|f

* Conquets des Portugais par Lafitou. Maffeei Historiarum Indicarum, Lib x.
'\ his Jesuit gives detailed accounts of their plundering expeditions, without expressing
any disapprobation.

t Vogages de Sidi Aly par M. Moris. Grant Duff's History of the Mahrattas, Vol. I
Chap. 2.

1 Sir Thomas Roe's Letters to the Company.

2 Mill's History of India, Book I Chap. 2.

[JS. X:verii Vita, auctore Tursellino. Lib ii cap. i.
f Choix des lettres edifiantes, torn. iv.

The Abbe Raynal enters into the subject, and his testimony is very
decided. He regarded the Portuguese as a decaying race. The religious,
zeal which once inspired Irliem with energy and generous cour.ige wa
afterwards manifested only in ferocity, and served to stifle all scruples about
pillaging, cheating, and enslaving idolaters. As they pretended to have
been endowed with authority over the kingdoms of Asia by a decree of
the Pope, they chose to suppose that a power to seize the property of in-
dividuals was also conferred upon them. Demanding trftute from the
ships of every country, ravaging the coasts, and insulting native chiefs,
they became the scourge and terror of all the nations bordering upon the
ocean. Nor was their treatment of one another better than of foreigners.
They were divided into factions, and amongst all, avarice, debauchery
and cruelty prevailed. Many of them had seven or eight concubines,
whom they employed as menial servants. Effeminacy pervaded their
armies, and they lost the courage for which they had long been celebrated.
" No Portuguese pursued any other object than the advancement of
his own interest ; there was no zeal, no union for the common good.
Their possessions in India were divided into three governments, which
gave no assistance to each other, and evert clashed in their projects and
interests. Neither discipline, subordination, nor the love of glory, animated
either the soldiers or the officers. Men of war no longer ventured out of
the ports ; or whenever they appeared, were badly equipped. Manners
became more and more depraved. Not one of their commanders had
power enough to restrain the torrent of vice ; and the majority of these
commanders were themselves corrupted. The Portuguese at length L at
all their former greatness, when a free and enlightened nation, actuated
with a proper spirit of toleration, appeared in- India, and contended with
them for the empire of that country."*

The first Dutchman who attempted to open a trade at Surat was Van
den Broeck. He was favourably received on the second of August 1616
by the Governor, and permitted to dispose of his goods ; but when he
craved permission to establish a Factory, as well as the English, he was
told that a reference must be made to the Great Mogul. His failure at
that time is attributed by him in great measure to the success of English
intrigue. However, when he went away he promised that he would
return, and left behind him three Factors with a Chief. Accordingly he
did return in 1620, and declared himself Director of the Dutch trade in
all those parts of the East. From that year he kept a diary, which has
been published. Delia Valle describes him as " a gentleman of good
breeding and very courteous, "f

Before Van den Broeck's return to Surat, an accident, turned to account with
remarkable adroitness by the Dutch, had gained them a secure footing. One of
their ships having been wrecked in July 1617 on the neighbouring coast, the
merchants were allowed to dispose of its cargo in the city,, and as they quickly
discovered how valuable traffic there would prove, they left behind them tea

* A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlement and TraJe of Europeans
in the East and West Indies. By the Abbe ftaynal.

t Voyage de Pierre Yan den Broeck. Recueil des Voyage?, Tome vii.

persons with instructions to make arrangements for the establishment of a Fac -
tory.* As they were more powerful, and soon proved themselves more skilful
in trade than the Portuguese, the English did not fight them, but en-
deavoured to supplant them by base and underhand means. Sir Thomas Roe
used every art to prejudice the Mogul government against them, his object
being, as he said, " to disgrace them," and " turn them out," if he could
do so without risk.f Referring to the arrival of a Dutch ship at Surat \w
writes thus : " This I improved to fill their heads with jealousies of the
designs of the Dutch, and the dangers that might ensue from them,
which was well taken ; and being demanded, I gave my advice to prevent
coming to a rupture with them, and yet exclude them the trade of
India."J When the crafty ambassador said that he improved a fact,
he simply meant, that he perverted the truth. However, his illiberality
was neither more nor less than was shewn at that time by the representa-
tives of other European nations in India.

The Dutch appear to have had the advantage of the English in the
superior management of their Factories, and sagacity in all commercial
transactions. The large capital which their Company possessed, andthuf
economy in disposing of it, enabled them to compete successfully at Surat,
so that the English Factors were reduced to utter puerile complaints,
that their rivals bought Indian goods at a higher rate, and sold European
goods at a lower rate than themselves. But after some years this opposi-
tion ceased, and the two nations joined their arms against the Portuguese. ||

At this period the Dutch were distinguished chiefly for their enterpriz-
ing spirit, and republican simplicity of manners. This simplicity was
probably accompanied by rudeness, and some years later fell under the
lash ofDryden's satire.^" Their Governor General's salary was at the rate
of 91. 13s. 4d. per annum, with the liberty of private trade, which,
however, was afterwards withheld from all their Company's servants.
Even at Batavia, their chief settlement, the members of Government
dressed, we are assured, like common sailors, and before the year 1 650
not one remarkable fortune had been made. But this state of affairs did
not continue very long. At Surat they soon affected some style, and
finally luxury and magnificence were introduced.**

As the reader will probably be glad to gain some idea of the English
shipping which visited the coast of India, I conclude this chapter with an
extract from a curious pamphlet entitled " Trades Increase" published at
that time. " You have built," writes the author, apostrophizing the Com-
pany, " more ships in your time, than any other merchants' ships, besides

* truce's Annals, 1617-18. t Letter to the East India Company.

+ Sir Thomas Roe's Journal. g Mill's History.

|| Van den Broeck.

^[ " With an ill grace the Dutch their mischiefs do :

They 've both ill nature, and ill manners too.

Well may they boast themselves an ancient nation,

For they were bred ere manners were in fashion.

And their new Commonwealth has set them free,

Only from honour and civility,"

Satire on the Dutch.
** Raynal's History,

what you have bought out of other trades, and all those wholly belonging
to you. There hath been entertained by you since you first adventured,
one and twenty ships, besides the now intended voyage of one new ship of
seven hundred tons, and happily some two more of increase. The least
of all your shipping is of fourscore ton ; all the rest are goodly ships of
such burthen as never were formerly used in merchandize ; the least and
meanest of these last is of some hundred and twenty ton, and so upward
even to eleven hundred ton. You have set forth some thirteen voyages ;
in which time you have built of these, eight new ships, and almost as good
as built the most of the residue, as the Dragon, the Hector, &c." Respect-
ing a ship called like the pamphlet, "The Trades Increase," the writer
adds : "It was a ship of eleven hundred ton, for beauty, burthen,
strength, and sufficiency surpassing all merchants' ships whatsoever. But
alas ! she was but shown ; out of a cruel destiny, she was overtaken with
an untimely death in her youth and strength."*

* This pamphlet was pnblislied in 1615. Robert Grant's " Sketch of the History of
India Company."

the East

CHAPTER II.

16161630.

CONTENTS: Arrangements of the Factory. President Kerridge ; his character.
Joseph Salbank ; liis complaint. Presidents Rastell and Wyld. Business of
tlie Factors ; their private trade and inadequate salaries ; their social position ;
aims solely mercantile. Domestic Economy of the Factory. Dress of the
period adopted in India. Society ; a wedding banquet ; no English Ladies ;
history of a Portuguese damsel ; intemperance. Legal powers to restrain offen^
ders ; escape of a Dutch murderer. Religion ; the Clergy ; the Rev. Henry.
Lord ; his oriental researches ; Lescke and John Hall : Terry ; his history ;
his sermon before the Company ; Copeland ; Dr. John Wood's good opinion
of the Company. Conversion of the natives ; Salbank's pious letter. Nativa
opinions of English Christianity ; the Knight of the Golden Rapier's opinion ;
account of this personage Three portraits ; Tom Coryat ; his travels and
eccentricities ; death and burial ; the reckless son of an English Baron ;.a rol-
licking cook Delia Valle's visit to Surat ; his romantic history Sir Thomas
Herbert's visit ; his history Two speculators ; scheme for navigating the
Indus Piracies by the Company's Captains Reflections on English character.

IT has been shewn in the preceding pages that an English Factory had
been established at Surat under encouraging auspices. Through the efforts
of Best, Downton, and Roe, the Factors had attained by proxy to a high
degree of reputation. English courage and naval skill were feared ; and even
the inferior pretensions of the Embassy to magnificence, patronized as it
had been by the great Mogul, were respected. Let us now enter the Factory's
gates, and endeavour to ascertain its internal economy, with the qualities,
characters, and employments of its occupants.

The persons who superintended the Company's affairs were, according
to the humour of the times, variously styled Presidents, Agents, or Chiefs.
In 1616 the title of President was given to Thomas Kerridge, the first
Superintendent, by his own subordinates, and many of his successors are
so addressed in the Company's records. The little we know of this
Kerridge is much to his credit. He came to India in Best's ship, the
Hosiander, September 1612. For some time his residence was at Agra,
and then he managed a Factory at Ahmedabad, where he suffered much
from the oppression of Mogul Officers. His integrity and ability were
unquestionable, and which was scarcely to be expected under the circum-
stances he had an inquiring and literary turn of mind. As Europeans,
before his time, had been sorely perplexed by the various castes into which
the natives are divided, and had in vain attempted to thread fhe mazes of
their idolatory, he urged Henry Lord, " Preacher to the Honorable
Company of Merchants," to explore the whole of Hindu and P&rsi mythology >

and himself supplied the student with all the information which his
position enahled him to obtain.*

Joseph Salbank, a man of observation, though somewhat illiterate,
whose testimony we shall have occasion to cite hereafter, was in 1617 a
Factor at Surat. He wrote to England a grievous complaint of the way
in which he had been treated by " proud Captain Keeling," who as
General of the Fleet appears to have had a controlling power over the
Company's servants on shore. Poor Joseph maintained that he had carri-
ed himself " very genteelly" towards Keeling, and indeed had shown an
excess of humility, but yet suffered the indignity of being placed under
" punies and younglings," for whose grandfather he might have passed,
so much was he their senior. f

Thomas Rastell seems to have succeeded Kerridge in the Presidency,
in 1G23, and he w r as succeeded by Wyld. The narratives of two visitors
will presently introduce us to the acquaintance of these individuals.

To house for exportation the calicoes and produce of the country was
the business in which the community engaged on their principal's account.
These goods were paid for in money, or else by the exchange of spices
and the manufactures of England and China. J With this business of the
Company, the Factors combined a profitable trade on their own account,
and, as might be expected, considered their own interests, w'thout paying
too exclusive an attention to those of their employers. Indeed, unless
they had had this recourse, they could scarcely have hoped to obtain a
bare subsistence, so beggarly were the salaries whicli they received,
much less could they have amassed fortunes. By the bad policy of the
East India Company their servants' were thus driven to consult more for
themselves than the public good. That judicious observer, and their true
friend, Sir Thomas Roe, foresaw this consequence. He therefore strongly
urged the Directors to increase their Factors' salaries, and then to prohibt
them, under severe penalties, from engaging in private trade. He also
justly remarked, that if they complied with his recommendation, they
must select persons of respectability for their service, such as would only
be induced by the offer of liberal payment to come to India ; but when
once there would regard high w r ages as a compensation for the loss of other
profits, and would honestly devote their time and ingenuity to fulfil their
employers' intentions.

This advice was not followed, and after a very few years4he servants
of the Company were obscure individuals, whose characters were either
unknown, or only known to their disadvantage. Gentlemen they did not
pretend to be ; for even their masters did not aspire to such a title. It
was an age when the occupation of a merchant was still looked upon as

# A discovery of two forreigue sects in the East Indies, by Henry Lord Churchill's
Voyages. Bruce's Annals.

f Letter from Joseph Salbank to the Company, quoted in Kaye's " Administration
of the East India Company."

J Mokreb Khan complained to Sir Thomas Roe that the English brought ' too
much cloth and bad swords." lie recommended that they should import rarities
from .Japan or China, and from England the richest silks and cloth of gold. Sir
Thynas Roe's Journal.

$ Letter to the East India Company.

decidedly vulgar.* The persons who formed the Company were known
by the name of " adventurers," and so far from seeking for men of rank,
they regan'el gentle blood and noble race as disqualifications for their
service. When the crown proposed that they should employ Sir Edward
Michilbourne, they looked upon the prefix to his name with suspicion and
bw-minded jealousy. It was their resolution, they declared, " not to
employ any gentleman in any place of charge," and they requested that
they might " be allowed to sort theire business with men of their own
qualitye, lest the suspicion of the employment of gentlemen being taken
hold upon by the generalise, do dryve a great number of the adventurers
to withdraw their contributions."f So that the first English Factors
were above, or, perhaps we should, say below, all suspicion of being^
gentlemen.

But what the Directors most dreaded was, that their servants might be
animated with a martial spirit. They repeatedly warned them against
any appeal to arms, even for their own defence. They declared that war
and traffic were incompatible, and in this instance at least attended to
Sir Thomas Roe's counsel, who, when recommending the Company to
confine their attention to trade, had referred to the examples of the
Portuguese and Dutch. " The Portugueses," he wrote, " notwithstanding
their many rich residences, are beggared by keeping of soldiers ; and yet
their garrisons are but mean. They never made advantage of the Indies,
since they defended them. Observe this w ell. It has also 'been the error
of the Dutch, who seek plantations here by the sword. They turn a
wonderful stock ; they prole in all places ; they possess some of the best ,*
yet their dead pays consume all the gain." With even more prudence,
the ambassador points out the uselessness of expensive Embassies. He
himself had obtained solid advantages for the Factory ; but he thought
that in future they should be content with employing a native agent at
Court on a low salary. J The wisdom of this opinion was subsequently
proved, when Norris frittered away large sums of money, and only brought
contempt upon himself and his countrymen.

Books and records enable us to catch but few glimpses of English man-
ners at this early period. We may represent the Factory as a mercantile
house of agency, in which the President or Chief was head partner. He
and his junior partners, who were called Factors, lived under the same
roof, each having his own private apartments ; but all assembling for
meals at a public table, maintained by the Company. They were also
expected to meet at a certain hour every day for prayers. Such carriages
and cattle as they possessed, were part of the ommon stock. Horses were
expensive luxuries, used only by the Chief and some of his friends.
Bullock Carts were in ordinary use. For space and furniture the English
and Dutch houses excelled all others in the city. The President affected
some style. When he went into the streets, he was followed by a long

* The word " merchant" is frequently used in Shakespeare as a term of contempt.
Thus in the first part of Kin? Henry the ixth. \ct II Sc 3, the * ountess of
Auvergne when perplexed by Talbot calls him * a riddling merchant ;" and in Komeo
and Juliet, Act II. Sc. 4, the nurse calls Mercutio " a saucy merchant,"

f Mill's History, Book I. Chapter 2.

i Roe's Journal and Letters.

train of persons, including some natives, armed with bows, arrows, swords,
and shields. A banner or streamer was borne, and a saddle-horse led be-
fore him. His retainers were nume.rous ; and as each only received three
rupees per mensem for wages, the whole cost but little. There were also
many slaves, whose clothing was white calico, and food rice with a little
fish.*

The English had not yet properly adapted their mode of dress to the
climate. The costume of the seventeenth century must have been found
peculiarly cumbersome and oppressive in a tropical climate. Old prints
represent Europeans in India with large hose, long waisted, " peasecod-
bellied" doublets, and short cloaks or mantles with standing collars. Then
there were ruffs, which Stubbs says were " of twelve, yea sixteen lengths-
a piece, set three or four times double" ; and he adds that the ladies had
a " liquid matter, which they call starch, wherein the devil hath learned
them to wash and dive their ruffs, which being dry will then stand stiff
and inflexible about their necks." Breeches, too, were worn by gentlemen
preposterously large, and their conical-crowned hats were of velvet, taffata,
or sarcenet, ornamented with great bunches of feathers, f Probably, how-
ever, this dress approved itself to Native taste better than ours. At least
Fryer, when at Junar, flattered himself that Nizam Beg, the Governor
of the Fort, admired both the splendour and novelty of his costume. J
Sir Thomas Ptoe and his suite, as we are informed, were all clothed in
English dresses, only made as light and cool as possible. His attendants
wore liveries of " red taffata cloaks, guarded with green taffata," and
the Chaplain always appeared in a long black cassock.

Society was of the free and jovial kind. There were no English ladies,
and if the Factors wished to enjoy the conversation of the gentler sex, they
must resort to the Dutch Factory. We have an account of a wedding
party there. The bride was an Armenian ; the bridegroom a Dutchman.
All the Europeans of the place were invited, and every lady came ; so
there were present one Portuguese and one Dutch matron, a young Maro-
nite girl, and a native woman who was engaged to marry a Dutchman.

The circumstances under which the Portuguese lady was brought there
are so characteristic of the times, that they should be narrated. The King
of Portugal was in the habit of giving a dowry every year to a few poor
but well-born orphan girls, whom he sent to assist in colonizing the settle-
ments of India. A ship which was conveying three of these maidens had
been intercepted and seized by the Dutch, who immediately carried their
prizes to Surat. A supply of ladies was naturally received with avidity
in that time of dearth, and the most eminent of the merchants became
candidates for their hands. Two were taken, we know not where ; but
Donna Lucia, the third, married a rich Dutchman, and was a guest at the
wedding banquet. She seems to have been contented with her lot. The
affection of her Protestant husband led him to tolerate her religion in

* The Travels of Signer Pietro della Valle, Letter I. Sir Thomas Herbert's Travels,
page 43.

f See the History of British Costume in the Library of Entertaining Knowledge,
t Fryer, Letter iii. Chap. 5.
1 Roe's Journal.

private, although she was compelled to observe in public the forms of the
Dutch Reformed Church.

The reason why there were ladies in the Dutch, and not in the English
Factory, was, that the Government of Holland encouraged the matrimo-
nial desires of their Company's servants. At Java such as had wives and
families could claim peculiar privileges ; and on that account many came
to Surat, merely that they might marry native women and take them to
Batavia.**

Sir Thomas Roe remarked with disgust the prevalence of intemperance
amongst Europeans at Surat, and wondered that it was tolerated by the
native Government. Drunkenness, he writes, and " other exorbitances
proceeding from it were so great in that place, that it was rather wonderful
they were suffered to live." The mariners of the young men in the
Factory were extremely dissolute, and on that account they were con-
tinually involved in quarrels with the natives. Even the President, after
passing the night on board the ship which brought Delia Valle, no sooner
rose in the morning than he began drinking " burnt wine." This was
a hot mixture flavoured with cinnamon, cloves, and other spices, and, we
are told, was " drank frequently in the morning to comfort the stomack,
sipping it by little and little for fear of scalding."^*

Where intemperance prevailed to such an extant, there must also have
been a considerable amount of crime ; but it is difficult to determine
what were the legal powers with which the Company were invested for
the punishment of criminals. In 1616 a formal trial was held, and
sentence of death passed against one Gregory Lellington, who was charged
with murdering Henry Barton in Surat. The Court assembled on board
the ship Charles at Swally. The prisoner having confessed his guilt,
was sentenced to be taken ashore the next day, and there shot to death
by the musketeers of the guard. J This appears to have been a Court
Martial ; but in 1622 James the First authorized the Company to chas-
tise and correct all English persons residing in India, who should com-
mit misdemeanours. Yet the Company could not have considered that
they had authority to visit with severe punishment any who were con-
victed of grave offences, as in 1624 they petitioned for the establishment
of martial and municipal laws, which at a still later period were sanct : oned
by Parliament.! It is probable that in some instances the Factors adopted
summary measures, without troubling themselves about the slow process-
es of law. When one of Van den Broeck's seamen had killed an English
gunner, the enraged countrymen of the latter insisted upon having the
Dutchman executed at once. In vain did Broeck beg that the forms of
justice might be employed. Nothing would do but immediate execution,
until the crafty Dutchman devised a plan which shewed that he relied
upon English generosity. He declared that the sailor had been con-
demned to be drowned. No sooner had the Factors heard this, than their

* Delia Valle, Letter I.

t Hoe's Journal. Terry's Voyage. Delia Valle, Letter I.

i Consultation held on board the ship Charles. Extracted by Mr. Kaye from
the Records of Government
Morley'a Digest of Indian Cases, Vol. L Mill's History, Book 1. Ctap 2.

thirst for blood was allayed. Believing that there was really an intention
of putting the man to death, they relented, interceded for his life, and
he was pardoned. *

Where the execution of human laws was so vague and uncertain, the
milder influences of Religion were the more required. And indeed the
inmates of the Factory regularly engaged in devotional services, and
forms at least were scrupulously observed. In the first Charters no
ecclesiastical establishments were provided ; but, when possible, the good
offices of a clergyman were always obtained. Every Portuguese, Dutch or
English vessel of large size had its minister on board. The French only,
Laval remarked, were without the fear of God, and never cared to have
divine service performed in their ships, On b ard an Fast Indiaman,
belonging to the English Company, a clergyman was usually to be met
with, and if, when such an one arrived at Surat, there happened to be a
vacancy in the Factory, he was easily induced to become a resident
pastor. This was the case in 1616 with Henry Lord, who tells us that
he had left one of the English ships for a charge of souls upon shore.
He was both a studious and practical man, and his researches have been
the means of preserving his name for posterity. Kerridge urged him to
redeem the omissions of his predecessors, and make himself thoroughly
acquainted with the religions of the Banyas and Parsis. Lord's curiosity
had been excited so soon as he set his foot upon Indian soil ; he therefore
readily undertook the task. The commencement of his work gives us
some idea of -the impression made upon an Englishman at his first arrival.

" According to the busie observance of travailers, inquiring what noveltie
the place might produce, a people presented themselves to mine eyes,
loathed in linnen garments, somewhat low descending, of a gesture and
garbe, as I may say, maydenly and well nigh effeminate ; of a coun-
tenance shy and somewhat estranged, yet smiling out a glosed and bashful
familiarity, whose use in the companies affaires occasioned their presence
there. Truth to say, mine eyes unacquainted with such objects, took
up their wonder and gazed, and this admiration, the badge of a fresh tra-
vailer, bred in mee the importunity of a questioner. I asked what manner
of people those were, so strangely notable, and notably strange ? Reply
was made, They were Banians."

After the worthy preacher had stared sufficiently at these effeminate
and smirking dealers in cloth, he set to work with his book ; and as he
remained in the Factory several years, during which he diligently
inquired into native customs, the book proved to be very valuable. As was
to be expected, he could not clearly distinguish the difference between
the numerous sects of Hinduism, but his knowledge of their literature,
mythology, and cosmogony was extensive. To him Sir Thomas Herbert
was indebted for the information which his work contains regarding the
Parsis ; and half a century later, Bernier acknowledged with gra-
titude his obligations to " Monsieur Henri Lor."f

In the same year there was also a Chaplain named Lescke at Surat.
The Ambassador, too, brought with him the Reverend John Hall,*

Voyage de Van den Broeck.
t 'Lord's Discovery of two forreignc Sects. Bernier's letter to M. Cliapclain,

Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who soon fell a victim to the
climate. His place was immediately supplied from an English ship then at
Svvally, and Terry was installed into the Chaplaincy of the Embassy. He also
recorded what he saw, and hasUeft us a work which proves the soundness
of his principles, and accuracy of his judgment. He was afterwards
Hector of Great Greenford in England, and in 1649 preached at the
Church of St. Andrew Undershaft before the East India Company after
the safe return of seven ships. His discourse, whch is still to be met
with in print, was earnest and impressive. After exhorting his hearers to
shew their gratitude for the Divine mercies which had been vouchsafed
to them, the preacher impresses upon the Company that it is their duty
to employ only such Presidents, Ministers of the Word, Factors, and
other servants as may " take special care to keep God in their families,"
and not " play the heathens," when professing themselves Christians.*

When Lord and Terry must have both been in the country, a clergyman
named Copeland came to Surat in the Royal James East Indiaman.
It was the custom before the Company's ships left England for some
minister of the Church to preach a farewell Sermon on board. When
Copeland was leaving in 1618, Dr. John Wood intended to have dis-
charged this office, as he " had divers times before," but being prevented
on this occasion, he published his sermon in the form of a pamphlet, en-
titled " The true honour of navigation and navigators ; or holy meditations
for seamen." In this he declares that he has been an eye-witness of the
care which the Company had taken to provide all things necessary for
the bodies and souls of those who sailed in their fleets. In 1622 we find
Copeland preaching at Bow Church, before the Virginia Council, and we
are told that he was constituted Member of the Council of State in Virginia,
and Rector of a College established for the conversion of American Indians. f

In these early days, much more than at a later date, the conversion of
the natives was regarded by some pious Christians with interest and
hopefulness. Amongst the Company's records for the year 1617 is a
curious letter recounting the conversion of " a Mogul atheist." On this
subject, too, Joseph Salbank wrote to the Directors with an earnestness
and urgency which we are surprised to find in a commercial adventurer.
He implored them to send " preachers and ministers," who might " break
unto the Factors the blessed manna of the Heavenly Gospel." In the
first place, he said, let us have " sufficient and solid divines, that may
be able to encounter with the arch-enemies of our religion, if occasion
should so require, those main supporters of the hierarchy of the Church
of Rome ; I mean the Jesuits, or rather (as I may truly term them)
Jebusites, whereof some are mingled here in several places in the King's
dominions amongst us." In the next place he asked for " godly, zealous,
and devout persons, such as may, by their piety and purity of life, give
good example to those with whom they live, whereby they will no less
instruct and feed their little flock committed unto them, no less by the
sincerity of the doctrine they teach them."J

* A history of the Church of England in the Colonies and foreign dependencies of
the British Empire. By the Rev. James S. M. Anderson, Voi. ii. Chap, xv.
t Anderson's Colonial Church, Vol. i. Chap, x., :m<l Vol. ii. (.'bap. xv.
'$. .Joseph Salbank to the Company. Extracted by Kayo.

But according to Terry, the natives had formed a mean estimate of
Christianity. It was not uncommon to hear them at Surat giving utterance
to such remarks as : " Christian religion, devil religion ; Christian much
drunk ; Christian much do wrong, much beat, much abuse others."
Terry admitted that the natives themselves were " very square, and exact
to make good all their engagements ;" but if a dealer was offered much
less for his articles than the price which he had named, he would be apt
to say : " What ! Do'st thou think me a Christian, that I would go
about to deceive thee ?"

There was at least one European also who had no higher opinion than
natives of Englishmen's religion, as will appear from the following
anecdote. When Terry was in Surat a certain Spaniard presented
himself at the Factory, and asked for employment. He gave out that he
was by birth an Hidalgo, which, as our author explains, " signifies in
Spanish the son of somebody." He had all that national fondness for
exaggeration, and recklessness of assertion, which so fatally imposed upon
the English at the commencement of the last Peninsula war, but in his
case were inoffensively ridiculous. He tried to pass himself off as a hero
and the flower of chivalry. Butler has given us his portrait, as if it were
taken from the life :

* A wight he was, whose very sight wouM
Entitle him mirrour of knighthood ;
That never bent his stubborn knee
To anything but chivalry ;
Nor put up blow, but that which laid
Right worshipful on shoulder blade
But here our author's make a doubt,
Whether he were more wise or stout ;
Some hold the one, and some the other,
But howse'er they make a pother,
The difference was so small, his brain
Outweigh'd his rage but half a grain ;
Which made some take him for a tool.
That knaves do work with, call'd a Fool ;
And offer'd to lay wages, that
As Montaigne, playing with his cat,
Complains she thought him but an ass,
Much more she would Sir Hudibras."

This strange character gave his name as " the Knight of the Golden
Rapier," and declared that having come with the Spanish Viceroy to
Goa, he had, in defence of his spotless honour, fought so many duels there,
that he had been placed in confinement, and required by the priests
to atone with penances for the indulgence of his sanguinary propensities.
No sooner was he set at liberty, than his honour was again injured,
and having slain his adversary, he was compelled to fly the country.
Such was the story of this mock hero, who added that he was now re-
solved " not to live any longer amongst the Christians, but that he
desired to live amongst the English." " But the English are Christians,"
some one replied. " Jesu Maria !" exclaimed the amazed Spaniard ;
he had never before heard that such was the case. Eventually he
was received into the Factory, where he remained for some time. When
about to leave, he assigned a reason for his departure, which gives us a
peep into the Factors' mode of living. His pride was hurt, because at

meals he was not permitted to occupy a place of honour ; but he, an.
Hidalgo of Spain, was required to sit with menials at the lower end of
the table.*

Writers of the period have painted three portraits of the English in
India, which shall be presented to the reader, although it must be
admitted, that they would add but little ornament to a gallery of national
characters.

Tom Coryat, " our English Fakier," as Fryer styled him, was the
most conspicuous. A short sketch of his life was made by Terry, his
companion and fellow traveller ; it well deserves a page in the history of
his times. This eccentric man was born in 1577 at Odcomb in Som-
ersetshire, and having early in life set his heart upon visiting foreign
countries, he began with Europe. On his return he published a laughable
account of his travels styled " Coryate's Crudities." Prefixed to the book
were about forty copies of verses written in various languages, by the most
witty persons of the day. Amongst other strange matters the author declares,
that he had walked nineteen hundred and seventy-five miles in one pair of
shoes, which he had occasion to mend but once. He is also said to have
hung these shoes up in the church of his native village, as a donarium
in token of gratitude for his safe return, a fact recorded by his biographer
with sufficient gravity to shew, that he had an admiration both for old
shoes and pedantry.

Tom desired to know and to be known, so as to obtain contemporary
and posthumous fame. Unrestrained by poverty, he again started with a
determination of traversing Asia, limiting his expenses to two pence a
day, which he expected to procure by begging. His designs were
vaster than his actual labours ; for he planned not only a journey through
Tartary and China, but also a visit to "the Court of Prester John, in
Ethiopia."

It is not our business to trace minutely his wandering steps ;
but we will follow him hastily to the scene of our narrative. In 1612
he sailed from London to Constantinople ; thence to Alexandria. After
seeing enough of Cairo and the Pyramids, he explored all the vene-
rated places of the Holy Land, and then passed with a caravan from
Aleppo to the sites of ancient Nineveh and Babylon. Persia, Candahar,
Lahore, and Agra where he found an English factory were all traversed
by him. Mixing with the natives of the countries through which he
passed, he acquired with facility a knowledge of many foreign languages.
Some acquaintance he had with Turkish and Arabic ; but in Persian
and Hindustani his proficiency was considerable. At Agra he appeared
before the Great Mogul, and pronounced an oration in florid Persian. The
Mohammedan potentate was pleased to hear himself compared by Coryat
to Solomon, and to be told that as the Queen of Sheba had heard of the
Jewish monarch's fame, so the Englishman had heard of the Emperor's,
and like her acknowledged, that what he saw far surpassed all that had been
reported. The flatterer was rewarded with a hundred rupees, and thus
enabled to prosecute his travels.

Less remunerative, but more amusing and creditable to him as a

* Terry's Voyage.

linguist, was his next feat. Having joined Sir Thomas Roe's suite, he
found amongst them a washerwoman, whose native language vvaa
Hindustani, and who was celebrated for being a fluent and pertinacious
scold. One day, writes his companion, Tom " undertook her in her own
language, and by eight of the clock in the morning so silenced her, that
Bhe had not one word more to speak."

On another occasion he heard a Mula uttering from the summit of a
mosque his usual call to devotion. Suddenly all Coryat's religious fervour
was awakened, and standing on an eminence opposite the Mussulman
devotee, he cried out at the top of his voice, " La alah, aid, aluh, Hazrat Isa
Banalah !" there is no God, but God, and Christ the Son of God ; adding
moreover, that Mohammed was an impostor. With another Mula he
entered into argument, and after both the disputants had become very hot
and very angry, Tom closed the controversy by asserting, that he himself
was the orthodox Mussulman, or true, true believer, and the Mula was
the pseudo- Mussulman, or false true believer. Happily for himself he was
considered a lunatic, and, as before the introduction of European reforms,
such persons belonged in all Mussulman countries to a privileged class,
and were allowed to do almost as they pleased, so Tom's insults were left
unrevenged, and he could indulge his freaks without paying the penalty
of a broken head.

Inordinate vanity seems to have been the motive cause of all his eccentric
acts. Great men must feel an interest in him, and the world must regard
him as a distinguished traveller this was his aim. What then was his
delight to be told by Richard Steele, the merchant, that King James had
inquired about him. The eager fop immediately wished to know all his
Majesty's words, but alas, after hearing that Tom was well, all that the
monarch said was, " Is that fool yet living ?" Equally mortified
was he to discover, that in a letter which Sir Thomas Roe had written
on his account to the Consul at Aleppo, he was styled " an honest poor
wretch."

Tom's vagaries were brought to an abrupt termination at Surat in De-
cember 1617. His health had for some time been failing when he arrived,
and his death was hastened by an act of imprudence. Although ordinarily
a temperate man, he could not resist the seductions of a little sack which
he heard was to be had in the Factory. Forswearing for the time all " thin
potations," he began to soliloquize upon good liquor. " Sack, sack," ex-
claimed the thirsty wanderer, " is there any such thing as sack? I pray you
give me some sack." The unusual draught was too much for his weak stomach.
He was taken ill and died, as Fryer says, " killed with kindness by the
English merchants, who laid his rambling brains at rest." He was buried
on the shore near Swally, where there is a small hill at the left side of the
road leading to Baroch. As no one was to be found who could and would
engrave an epitaph, his name was unrecorded. Sir Thomas Herbert writes
of him as one with whose reputation he supposes his readers to be ac-
quainted, and adds that his grave was known " but by two poor stones
that speak his name there, resting till the resurrection." A Persian in the
Ambassador's suite, who had accompanied Herbert from England, and
whose conduct having been such that he dreaded to meet his royal master,

destroyed himself at Swally by eating opium, and was buried about a
stone's cast from Coryat's remains.*

Coryat's follies were harmless ; not so those of another man who visited
Surat about this time. He was an English Baron's son who had fallen at
home into such reckless habits, that his angry father sent him to find
either reformation or a grave in India, as that country was considered by
many, we are told, an excellent field for sowing wild oats. During his
passage out he had at first been appointed to wait upon the Commander of
the vessel, but as the young aristocrat was soon found unworthy even of
such menial employment, he was afterwards sent to work as a common
seaman before the mast. At last Sir Thomas Roe chanced to meet him in
Surat, and having been acquainted in England with his family took him
under his protection. But the scapegrace was continually embroiling him-
self with those around him. When travelling in the Ambassador's train,
he one day flew into a terrible rage, because the servant of a native
prince refused to hold his horse after he had dismounted. Not only did
he ply his horsewhip over the servant's shoulders, but fired a pistol at
him as he was running away in terror. Happily the ball only grazed
the man's knuckles, and broke his bow. " Young bedlam's" companions
instantly disarmed him, and did their utmost to hush the matter up ; but
it gave rise to a serious disturbance. This wild youth was fortunate in
living long enough to be sent home by the Ambassador, f

We have thus seen a specimen of the English middle class, and one of
their aristocracy in India. The third and last of those, whose pranks
have appeared in print, was an English cook. He had been brought out
by Sir Thomas Roe, and was at least as anxious to provide good liquor for
himself as savoury viands for his master. Surat must have offered few
attractions to such a thirsty soul, for when Fryer visited it some years
later, he saw an Armenian flogged through the city, simply because detect-
ed in the act of selling liquor. But Akbar, the late Emperor, had pub-
lished a decree permitting intoxicating spirits to be sold to Europeans, be-
cause, he said, " they are born in the element of wine, as fish are produced
in that of water," " and to prohibt them the use of it is to deprive them
of life." In consequence of Akbar's consideration for a national failing,
the cook was so lucky as to light upon a shop where they sold what was
called Armenian wine. J " But," remarks Terry, " I do believe there
was scarce another in that populous city of that trade ; the greater shame
for those, whosoever they be, that suffer so many unnecessary tippling-
houses (in the places where they have power to restrain them), which are
the Devil's nursery, the very tents wherein Satan dwells, where Almighty
God receives abundance of dishonour ; drunkenness being a sin which hath
hands and fingers to draw all other sins unto it ; for a drunkard can do
any thing or be any thing but good." After making these moral reflec-

* Terry's Voyage. A new nccount of East India and Persia ; By John Fryer.
Some years' travels into divers parts of Africa and Asia tie Great, by Sir Thomas
Herbert. The View of Hindoostan, by Thomas Pennant, Vol. i. I have tried to
reconcile Fryer's and Herbert's accounts of Coryat's burial place.

t Terry's Voyage.

J That is, wine made by Armenians at Sluraz : according; to Hamilton's " New
Account of the East Indies," Chapter ix.

tions by the way, Terry records that the English cook got very drunk,
and sallied out into the streets. As he staggered along he met the Mogul
Governor's brother with his attendants. Balancing himself upon his
sheathed sword the drunkard cried out: " Now, thou heathen dog ! " The
Native gentleman did not understand him, and civilly inquired what he
wanted. The cook's reply was, a stroke with his sword and scabbard,
upon which the bystanders interfered, seized and carried him to prison .
When the account of this awkward occurrence was brought to the Ambas-
sador, he begged the Governor's brother to deal as he pleased with his
insolent retainer. However, the fellow met with more consideration than
he deserved, being set at liberty without suffering any punishment. *

But passing from buffoons and debauchees we next meet with two
visitors at Surat who made some figure in their day, and whose slight
sketches of English society deserve on that account the more attention.
Pietrodella Valle, surnamed II Pellegrino, was here about the year 1G23.
This remarkable person was born at Rome of a patrician family in 1586,
and had been distinguished early in life for his literary attainments. In
1614 he set out on his travels, and hearing whilst on his route to Bagdad
that there was at that place a young Maronite lady of extraordinary beau-
ty, named Maani, he soon found her out, and offered her his hand, which
was accepted. She accompanied him on his journey, and was cherished
by him with the greatest affection.

Delia Valle tells us that when he arrived at Swally the ship was im-
mediately visited by the English President " with one of their Ministers
so they call those who exercise the office of Priests and two other
merchants." Rastell, the President, spoke Italian with fluency, and was
very polite, " shewing himself in all things a person sufficiently accomplish-
ed and of generous deportment, according as his gentile and graceful as-
pect bespoke him." The English and Dutch Presidents contended for the
honour of shewing hospitality to the noble stranger. Rastell first invited
him to the English Factory, but Delia Valle objected to take his young
and timid bride where there were only men. Anxious, however, not to
give offence, he begged a friend to engage a private house for him. His
friend acting in concert with the Dutch President, contrived to bring him
near the rival Factory, when the President hurried out in his shirt sleeves,
and clutching the bridle of Delia Valle's horse, urged the reluctant stranger
to go and live with him. Further resistance was useless. Delia Valle
yielded ; but next day went to make his peace with the English President.
Rastell was in such high dudgeon that he refused to see him, and was
with difficulty induced to read a letter of apology. At last, on the Dutch
President's mediation, Rastell relented, and not only forgave the deserter,
but also invited him and his friends to supper. He treated them " very
splendidly, and every thing ended in jollity and friendship, as at first."

It was not long before poor Delia Valle lost his young Maani. She died
near the Persian Gulf. Her husband had her remains embalmed, and car-
ried them about with him until he returned to Rome. He then had them
interred with great pomp in the Church of Ara Cceli, and pronounced over
them a funeral oration, which was printed. He afterwards married a

* Terry's Voyage.

Georgian who had been a friend of his first wife, and who also travelled
with him. He wrote an account of his travels, which was published at
Rome in 1650, and which shews considerable knowledge and love of na-
tural history. Pope Urban the Eighth made him gentleman of the bed-
chamber, but having in a fit of anger killed a coachman, whilst the Pope
was blessing the people in the Place of St. Peter, he was banished. He
soon returned, and died in 1652 at Rome.*

Mr. Herbert, afterwards Sir Thomas, a cadet of the house of Pem-
broke, was at Surat about this time. He was born in 1606, and educated
at Jesus and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge. In 1626 he left England
with Sir Dodmore Cotton, Ambassador from Charles the First to the king
of Persia, and travelled for four years in Asia and Africa. On the 1 7th of
November he touched at Goa, which, and not Baroch, he supposed to be
the Barigaza of antiquity. On the 29th he went to Swally, where he
found six English and seven Dutch ships, most of which were of a thousand
tons burden. He travelled, as he says, to Surat in " a chariot drawn by
two Buffollos," and attended by " some pe-unes, or olive coloured Indian
foot-boys, who can very prettily prattle English." He was hospitably re-
ceived at the Factory by the President, whom the young aristocrat des-
cribes with transparent condescension as " one master Wyld, an ingenious
and civil merchant, to whose kind respect I owe acknowledgment." Her-
bert published in 1634 a book of Travels, which was translated into French.
In the civil war he took the Parliamentary side, and was appointed one
of the Commissioners with the army of Sir Thomas Fairfax. Being after-
wards placed in attendance on the imprisoned Charles, the fallen monarch's
misfortunes so enlisted his sympathies, that he treated him with the greatest
respect, and afterwards published his Threnodia Carolina, being an account
of the two last years of Charles the First, In acknowledgment of these
services, Charles the Second made him a Baronet. He was held in much
repute by the literary men of his time, and assisted in the composition of
many learned works. f

Even at this time a few persons disregarded the Company's monopoly,
and endeavoured to push their fortunes by carrying on a private trade.
Richard Steele seems to have deserted the Factory, and with a person
named Jackman to have traded in pearls. The two also projected exten-
sive water works with a view of increasing the demand for lead. It is
a curious fact also, that some adventurers submitted to Sir Thomas Roe a
project for opening a trade on the Indus. They recommended that the
merchants of Persia and Candahar should be induced to ship their goods
on the Indus, instead of bringing them by Lahore and Agra to the towns
of lower India. English vessels would then be lying at the mouth of the
Indus, and transport the merchandize to the Persian Gulf. The one
serious obstacle to this plan was, the difficulty of returning against the
stream, and it has been reserved for our days and the force of steam to
shew that this is not insuperable. t

* The Travels of Sig. Pietro della Valle. Biographical Dictionary, by the Rev. Hugh
James Rose.

t Herbert's Travels. Rose's Biographical Dictionary.
t Mr Thomas Roe's Journal.

As the number of adventurers increased, the reputation of the English
was not improved. Too many committed deeds of violence and dishonesty.
We can shew that even the commanders of vessels belonging to the Com-
pany did not hesitate to perpetrate robberies on the high seas or on shore
when they stood in no fear of retaliation. Daring a visit which some
English ships paid to Dabhol the officers suddenly started up from a con-
ference with the native chiefs, and attacked the town, having first secured
Borne large guns in such a manner that they could not be turned against
them. Their attempt failed, but after retreating to their ships they suc-
ceeded in making prizes of two native boats'. Delia Valle declares that it
was customary for the English to commit such outrages.*

And although this last account may be suspected as dictated by the
prejudices of an Italian, we can see no reason to question Sir Thomas
Herbert's veracity. Sailing along the coast with several vessels under the
command of an English Admiral, he descried, when off Mangalore,
a heavily laden craft after which a Malabar pirate was skulking. The
native merchant in his fright sought refuge with the Admiral, but, writes
our author with confessed grief, his condition was little better than it would
have been, if he had fallen into the pirate's hands. After a short con-
sultation, his ship was adjudged a prize by the English officers. " For
my part," proceeds Herbert, " I could not reach the offence : but tins
I could, that she had a cargo of cotton, opium, onyons, and probably
somewhat under the cotton of most value, which was her crime it seems.
Bat how the prize was distributed concerns not me to inquire ; I was a
passenger, but no merchant, nor informer." The whole account would
be incredible if not given on such good authority ; but as it is, we must
regard it as a blot upon the English character, and some justification
of the Mogul officers when they afterwards brought charges of piracy
against the Company's servants. Sixty of the native seamen, concluding
from the churlish conduct of the English that mischief was intended, and
that they would be sold as slaves to the people of Java, trusted rather to
the mercy of the waves than of such Englishmen, and threw themselves
into the sea, " which seemed sport to some there," writes Herbert, " but
not so to me, who had compassion !" Some were picked up by canoes from
the shore, and some by English boats ; but the latter were so enraged
with the treatment which they had received, that they again endeavoured
to drown themselves. A terrible storm which followed was regarded by
the narrator as a token of God's severe displeasure, f

Such were the English at their first appearance on the Western coast
of India. It must be confessed that the natives had before them a strange
variety of models from which to form in their minds the character of an
Englishman. Roe and Herbert, the acute diplomatist and the polished
gentleman ; Best, Downton and other valiant mariners ; the inquiring
and literary Kerridge ; hard headed, ungrammatical and religious Joseph
Salbank ; wine-bibbing- Rastell ; Mildenhall cheat and assassin ; preachers
or gospellers half Anglican and half Zuinglian ; orthodox chaplains ; a few
scampish reckless travellers ; and piratical, merciless captains such a

* Delia Valle's Travels. f Sir Thomas Herbert's Travels.

medley could scarcely leave any well-defined impressions upon the native
mind. Probably opinions were decided by circumstances. The jovial Jehangir
found that an Englishman was a well- trained courtier and good boon-
companion ; the banyas of Surat found that he was a clever tradesman,
and a hard driver of a bargain. But doubtless at first the popular feeling
was one of fear, afterwards of contempt. Hindus and Mussulmans con-
sidered the English a set of cow-eaters and fire drinkers, vile brutes,
fiercer than the mastiffs which they brought with them,* who would fight
like Eblis, cheat their own fathers, and exchange with the same readiness
a broadside of shot and thrusts of boarding-pikes, or a bale of goods and a
bag of rupees.

As time wore on, the estimation in which the English had been held,
declined. After a few years there were but certain illiberal merchants,
struggling that they might keep the market of Surat to themselves,
and exclude by fair means or foul the Portuguese and Dutch. The
celebrity which their naval skill and courage had gained for them soon
passed away ; the glory reflected on them from a royal embassy was
soon forgotten. They were only known as shrewd and vulgar adventurers
who had opened warehouses in India. Their existence was scarcely heeded
by the Mogul despot, whose imperial sway was one of the most extended,
and his throne one of the most splendid on the face of the earth. Yet
that sway was destined to fall into their grasp ; that throne to depend upon
the forbearance and magnanimity of the successors of those peddling
traders. These English were indeed regarded as men of an insignificant
country, dissolute morals, and aegraded religion ; yet they were the
pioneers of a Company which now possesses territory more than four
times the size of France, and seven times that of Great Britain and
Ireland.

Let the British Empire in the East, then, be compared to Gothic
architecture, which began with its wooden buildings, thatched roofs, and
rush strewn floors, but was gradually refined into the groined roofs,
elaborate mouldings, stately pillars, and delicate tracery of our magnificent
cathedrals. Joseph Salbank and his contemporaries were of the ruder, not
to say of the baser sort ; but now the Empire is a noble structure, the
style and order of which remain to be further developed by ingenuity
and labour ; nor have they, we thank God, yet reached a period of debase-
ment and decline.

* " Tetrse bellu*, ac molossis suis ferociores." So says Salmasing of the Regicides ;
quoted by Carlyle in his " Oliver Cromwell's letters and speeches."

CHAPTER III.

16301662,

CONTENTS. A dark age Oldest despatch extant in India Surat bpcomes the
Company's chief place of trade Description of Surat ; it? population and
trade The use and exportation of tea ; orders from England tor tea Swally ;
description of the port and roads English accounts of the state of the
Country ; the Emperor's wealth ; inventory of his jewels; various opinions ;
oppression; unsettled state of the provinces ; dangers of travelling ; thuggism ;
highway robbers ^ a bloody nach ; the markets : awkward position of fo-
reigners Presidents Methwold, Fremlen, Breton, Blackman, Revingtou,
Wyche, and Andrews Speculation in a Diamond Weddel and Mountney,
agents of a new Company Pusillanimity of the President and Factors
Expedients of the new Company; piracy Suffering's of the Factors Union of
the two Companies Interlopers Question of monopoly stated and consider-
ed Failure and triumph of monopoly First collision with Sivajf Factories
at RdjapUr, Carwar, Cochin, and Ponaui Improvement in the social position
of the Factors ; their mal-practices Private trade Surgeon Boug'hton's
adventures Davidge's mission Internal economy of the Factory ; regularity
of prayers ; religious tone ; Sunday sports ; refreshments Dutch hostility.

WHEN writing the two last chapters I was the more anxious to give
the reader all the information I could glean respecting the habits, occupations,
and characters of Englishmen in India, as I knew that we were approaching
a period of which it would be difficult to gain any historical details. The
first half century of Anglo-Indian history may remind us of the Hindus, who
profess to trace with great exactness events, which they throw back into re-
mote antiquity ; but are utterly unable to distinguish facts in the foreground
of comparatively modern ages. The days of Best, Downton, and Sir Thomas
Roe, are the "twilight of gods." They are followed by the darkness of Erebus.
The affairs of the East India Company were so unskilfully managed, their re-
verses so severe and frequent, that at this period they were hidden under a
cloud, and the world saw little of them. Such records as are preserved at the
East India House are meagre, and wide gaps in them remain unfilled ;
until at last for several years after 1642 no account even of the annual
equipments is to be discovered.*

The oldest despatch, of which a copy is extant in the books of the Surat
Factory, was forwarded to London by Thomas Rastell, and was dated the
twenty-sixth of July 1630, on board the Ship James in St. Augustine's
Bay, Madagascar.")" It throws no light upon the history of the time ; but
we learn from other documents that the Company's agents were then

# Mill's History, Book i. Chapter 3.

f Outward Letter Book of the Surat Factory.

engaged in negotiating with the officers of the Great Mogul and the King.
of Golconda an extension of their trade in Hindustan.* Surat was gra-
dually acquiring importance in the Company's estimation ; tliithar their
largest fleets were despatched, and they now styled the principal person in,
the Factory " Chief for the Honorable Company of English Merchants
trading to the East."f As Bombay was held by another European
nation, the Directors could find no place so well suited for the attainment
of their objects as Surat ; and intimately connected as it became from this
time with the English nation, it claims from us a paiticular descrijtlon.

Surat had been from remote antiquity celebrated not only for the number *
of its inhabitants, and the beauty of its gardens rich with an alluvial soil;
but also for its commercial wealth, and the concourse of fort ign era who
thronged its streets. Situated on the left Bank of the Tapti, its walls ex-
tended six miles in a semi. ircle, of which that river was the chord. As
the city was about fourteen miles from the sea, it offered a secure haven,
and the navigation of its waters was sufficiently easy for such barks as.
were anciently employed in the Indian ocean. Seaward it drew riches,
from those ancient ports of Sinde, Gujarat, and the coast of Malabar,
which were known even to the classical writers- of Greece and Rome.
Its inhabitants had also opened communications with the coasts of
Africa, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. From the land side the produce
of the interior was carried down the valley of the Tapti, or in a journey of
a few miles was transported from the still more famous valley of the
N armada.

At the period now under consideration the streets as is usual in Oriental
countries were narrow. The houses, writes Herbert, were " indifferent
beautiful ;" and, if we may form an opinion from the statement of an
Italian who visited the place forty years later, they were mere cottages,
with the exception of a few, belonging to European and Mussulman Mer-
chants, which were lofty and spacious. Mosques were numerous, but
displayed little of that elegance and airy stateliness for which such buildings
are often distinguished, and still less worthy of admiration were the
temples of Hindus. The principal' objects of attraction were the Mus-
sulmans' houses, gardens, and artificial lakes in and about the suburbs.

Perhaps no city in the world contained a more varied and mixed as-
semblage of people. In the thoroughfares were to be seen not only natives-
of the Gujarathi and Marathi provinces ; but also Sindians, Persians,
Arabs, Armenians, Parsis and Jews, together with English, Dutch, and
Portuguese. Here were Christians, who acknowledged the authority of the
Pope, the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch, and the CathoRcus of
Armenia ; Christians also who disowned them all, agreeing only with the
thirty-nine articles of the Anglican Church, the confession of Westminster
Divines, or the Synod of Dort. Mussulmans also there were of both Suni
and Shia sects, and a large number of industrious, intelligent Boharas.
The bazaars teemed with riches, and no better market could be found

* Mill's History.

t Inscriptions in the English cemetery at Surat.

1 A Voyajre round tha World, bv Dr. John Francis. Gemell 1 ! Caw'. l*artiii. Her-
bert's Travels, page 43.

in India for the sale or purchase of indigo, spices, pepper, lead, quicksilver,
tin, copper, porcelain, Cashmere shawls, silks, Chinese satins, Oriental
jewels, mother of pearl cabinets, ivory, ebony and sandalwood manu-
factures. *

One article of commerce, which was imported to Stirat from China at the
commencement of this period, although not exported to England for many
years after, deserves more lengthened notice. The herb, which we now
call ten, derives its name from a word ordinarily used at the present time
in India, through a variety of formations all found in the works of old
authors. According to the dates at which they wrote they styled it chah,
cha, chia, thea, the, thee, tey, or tea. So early as 850 A. D. two Arabian
travellers described it under the name of cftah. In 1633 Olearius, a
German, having been in Persia, wrote that "they drink a kind of black
water, prepared from a decoction of a certain shrub, called cha or chia,
which the Usbeck Tartars import from China." The introduction of it into
Europe was much opposed by medical practitioners. In 1035, Simon
Pauli published a treatise to shew that its effects were injurious, f and it
became ridiculed in Holland under the name of hay water. But in 1641
Tulpius, a celebrated physician of Amsterdam, came forward to maintain
the virtues of Thee. At last we find it in 1664 exported from Surat to
England ; but how great a rarity it was considered will be shewn by the
Following extracts from the records at the East India House :

" 1664 July 1. Ordered, that the master attendant do go on board the
ships now arrived, and enquire what rarities of birds, beasts, or other
curiosities there are on board, fit to present to his Majesty, and to desire
that they may not be disposed of till the Company are supplied with such
as they may wish, on paying for the same."

" 22nd August. The Governor acquainting the Court that the Factors
have in every instance failed the Company of such things as they writ
for, to have presented his Majesty with, and that his Majesty may not find
himself wholly neglected by the Company, he was of opinion, if the Court
think fit, that a silver case of oil of cinnamon, which is to be had of Mr.
Thomas Winter for 75, and some good thea, be provided for that end,
which he hopes may be acceptable. The Court approved very well
thereof."

Accordingly, in the Secretary's accounts for the 30th September 1664,
there is entered a charge of four pounds five shillings " for 2lbs 2oz of thea
for his Majesty ;" and on the 30th June 1666, " for 22}lbs ott/ica, at 50

* When the first ships arrived in India from Europe, the Merchants inquired
rhiefly for anile or.indigo, which had been since the earliest periods exported from
Oambai. The names nil, anile and indirjo -A\\ denote its origin, llhases, who lived at the
end of the tenth century, calls it " nil, alias Indicum " Salmasius suggests that the
names nil and nir arose from the Latin word nir/er ; but if he had known S nskrit he
wou Id not have thought of such a forced etymology (Sanskrit, nil). In 1631 birge
cargoes of indigo were imported to Holland from Gujarat, and other countiies in the
Kast Indies

Tin was at first brought by Europeans to Surat ; but it was soon found that there
wore mines in countries near India

Tavernier mentions sal ammoniac as amongst exports from Ahmedabad ; but
Rltiioujrh it was known in India, it does not i,eem to have been exported to England,
Hedfc matin's History of Inventions.

f The treatbe wa^ M.vlcd " Comment, de Abusa Tabacca ct Tl-i."

shillings per Ib, 56 17s. 6d." and " for the two chief persons that at-
tended his Majesty, thea 6 15s."

The first order received from the Company was in 1667, when the
Factors were desired " to send home by these ships lOOlbs weight of the
best tey that they could get." In 1680 a hundred and forty-three pounds
were imported from Surat. In 1686 the Court sent an order to Surat, from
which we conclude that this herb had hitherto been considered an article of
private trade ; for they desire that in future it should form part of the
Company's imports. In 1687 they write an order " that very good tea
might be put up in tutinague potts, and well and closely packed in chests
or boxes, as it will always turn to accompt here, now it is made the
Company's commodity ; whereas before there were so many sellers of that
commodity, that it would hardly yield half its cost ; arid some trash thea
from Bantam was forct to be thrown away, or sold for 4d. or 6d. per Ib."
From this time until the Company opened their trade with China, the
exportation of tea from Surat to England gradually increased, and in 1690
upwards of forty-one thousand pounds were forwarded.* But a desire of
giving a connected account of this interesting trade has led us much
beyond the period with which we are concerned in this chapter.

Swally was the seaport of Surat, and was a village situated about twelve
miles west of the city. The only anchorage for vessels was in a road, seven
miles in length and a mile and a half in breadth, between the shore and a
sand bank which was dry at low water. About midway up this chan-
nel was a cove called Swally Hole, where a fleet could lie in tolerable security.
At one time all large vessels which brought cargoes for the market at
Surat were permitted to remain there ; but as the situation offered the
commanders convenient opportunities of defrauding the revenue, this per-
mission was restricted after the year 1660 to such as were in the service of
the English and Dutch Companies who had built warehouses there and laid
out pleasant gardens. Fryer tells us, that the whole place was infested by
" two sorts of vermin, fleas and banyans." When any ships arrived
from Europe, which ordinarily they did between the months of September
and March, banyas crowded to Swally, and there pitched tents and booths
or built huts, so that it resembled a country fair in England. Boys also,
called " pe-unes," were in waiting and ready for four pice a day to act
as interpreters or run errands for strangers. f

Leaving the spots at which the English were located, and following tra-
vellers to the interior, we regard their evidence as particularly valuable, to
shew the actual condition of the country under Native rule. On two points
all were agreed, the enormous wealth ot the great Mogul, and the lawless un -
settled state of his provinces. Hawkins was astonished beyond measure at
his riches, of which he seems to have obtained a pretty exact account from do-
cuments preserved at Court. According to him the Emperor's inventory
was as follows :

"Of jewels composed solely of diamonds, one batman and an half a

* Oriental Commerce. I'y William Milbnrn. Esq. vol ii Macpherson's History.

f This account of Surat and Swally is taken from a Description of the coasts of
Malabar and Coromandul. by Philip Haldaus, Ttievenot Uv i. cb. If). &c. Voyage de
'.autier Sf.houten anx lades ! Jrktit:ilcs., Tomei. Sir Tbotnas Herbert'* Travels, aad

r 'rMi i -''s i . a^uienl.-.

batman is five and fifty pounds weight English these are rough, and of
all sorts and sizes, but none of less than t\vo carats and an halt. Of balass
rubies, two thousand. Of pearls, twelve batmans. Of rubies of all sorts, two
batmans. Of emeralds of all sorts, five batmans. Ofesliime, which stone
comes from Cataga, one batman. Of stones of Emen, a kind of red stone,
five thousand. Of all other sorts, as coral, topazes, &c. the amount is
innumerable.

" Of jewels wrought in gold two thousand and two hundred swords,
the hilts and scabbards set with rich stones : two thousand poinards in
like manner ornamented. Of saddle drums of gold, used in hawking, set
with stones, five hundred. Of rich broaches for the head, in which their
feathers are set, two thousand. Of saddles of gold and silver set with
stones, one thousand. Of tuikes, five and twenty. This is a great lance
covered with gold, the fluke set with precious stones ; they are carried before
him when the king goeth to the wars. Of gold parasols of state, richly
set with diamonds, one hundred. Of gold chairs of state, one hundred
and five. Of large agate chrystal vases for wine, adorned with gold and
jewels, one hundred ; of drinking cups of gold five hundred, of which are
fifty exceedingly rich, all of one stone, as beryl, sapphire &c. Of gold
chairs strung with pearls, and rings set with jewels, the number is infinite.
Of gold plate of all kinds exquisitely wrought, as dishes, goblets, basons,
three thousand batmans." This account, we are told, relates only to the
palace at Agra ; but the great Mogul had also palaces at Delhi, Cabul, and
Lahore, where also vast treasures were accumulated. *

Although Jcssph Salbank did not enter so far into particulars as
Hawkins, yet his sentiments on this subject seem to have been formed as
deliberately, and expressed as judiciously. He admits that exaggerated
accounts of the great Mogul's wealth had been sent to England ; but yet
he was sure that it was vast. He also explains the two methods by which
it had been raised. The first was the rent of land ; the second, the
appropriation of deceased persons' estates, which in most cases reverted to
the sovereign. The autocrat's wealth consisted of ready money, with which
his coffers were filled, and which was continually being imported into the
country, but never was exported ; and also of precious stones, pearls, and
jewels, which he possessed in greater abundance than any other prince. f

To these testimonies we may add that of Gemelli Careri, who, half a
century later, derived his information from abundant sources, examined
the matter closely, and after discussing the question fully, summed up in
these words : " I am of opinion, that next to the Emperor of China, no
monarch in the world is equal to the Great Mogul in strength and riches. "

With regard to the condition of the country, although there may be
some minor differences of opinion, yet the facts and arguments of European
writers all shew that the people suffered from tyranny and bad Govern-
ment. Lodovico Barthema, otherwise called Lewes Vertomannus, one of
the first Europeans that visited Gujarat, thought well of the people, and
was sure that they would be saved by their good works, if they were only

' I'urclias his Pilgrims Vol. i.

7 Letters from Joseph Salbank to the Company : extracted by Kaye.

+ Voyage round tha \Vorld, I'ook ii. Vhup vi.

baptized. But their very virtues and mild dispositions made them the
unresisting victims of a cruel monarch, named Machamuth, as lie styles
Mahmud Begarra, whose ferocity was incredible. His appearance was
sufficient to justify a spectator's worst apprehensions. A long beard felfc
down to his waist, and his moustachios were of such prodigious length that
he fastened them over his head like a lady's hair. Deadly poisons were
his ordinary food. He was continually masticating betel, and when sitting
in judgment condemned criminals to death by the simple process of squirting
the juice at them a sentence which was executed within the half hour.
The grave author further tells us, that this Bluebeard maintained be-
tween three and four thousand women in his seraglio, and the one upon
whom he bestowed his favours, was certain to be found dead in the morn-
ing.* If the reader wishes to know how the lady's death was caused, I
must refer him to the lines in Hudibras, beginning,

" The prince of Cambay's daily food
Is asp, and basilisk, and toad."

This story may be taken for what it is worth. It will probably be
received as evidence to shew that, when Europeans first became acquainted
with the country, they found oppression rampant. The same is true of the
middle of the seventeenth century. The Mogul empire was mighty and
extensive ; but it could only be held together by an able and powerful
ruler. The native chiefs of distant provinces were always ready to seize
opportunities of disowning allegiance. As there was no fixed law of
succession, wars were continually breaking out amongst the members of
the reigning family, and the prince who had the most talent for military
tactics or intrigue grasped the reins of Government. In the meanwhile,
and until some successful usurper overcame the other contending parties,
the provinces were involved in the worst disorders. Travelling in the interior
was most dangerous, and Thuggism, which has made the robbers of India
infamous above those of all other countries, was very frequent. f Salbank
described the roads as swarming with robbers, who would at any time cut
a man's throat for " the third part of a penny sterling." One Englishman
had been robbed on the road between Surat and Agra, and when charitable
persons offered him money, he refused to take it, knowing that it would
only be stolen, and his life endangered by it. " Howbeit," adds this pious
writer, " I for my part passed through all those hellish weapons that these
cannibal villains used to kill men withal securely enough, through the
tender mercies of my gracious God." There can be little doubt that this
description was accurate, and it must not be forgotten, that when written
the Mogul Empire was not in its lowest condition, but the power of

* Nauigation and Vyages of Lewes Vertomannus, Gentilman of tliecitie of Rome ;
Hakluyt's Voyages. Jt must be admitted tli at some of these Roman Catholics were
peculiarly addicted to the marvellous. \Vhen Terry was endeavouring with laudable
curiosity to acquaint himself with the country, Francisco Corsi, a Jesuit missionary
at Agra, supplied him with marvels to his heart's content. Amongst other stories the
Jesuit told him, that on the Western coast of India there was a race of men descended
from persons who had stamped St. Thomas to death. The right legs of all were de-
formed ; but the left were like other men's. Terry's Voyage, Section xxx.

t Les Voyages de M. de Thevenot aux Indes Orientales. There is a curious account
of the Sirens whom the Thugs employed to entrap their victims.

Jehangir was considerable, although not properly consolidated or vigorously
employed.*

The testimony of other English Factors corresponds with Salbank's.
Canning, when on his journey to Agra, was assaulted and wounded by
robbers. Starkey was poisoned. The caravan which Withington accom-
panied was attacked in the night at the third halting place, and the next
day they met a Mogul officer returning with the heads of two hundred
and fifty coolies who had been plunderers. In Rajputana the caravan
was attacked twice in one day. Between that and Tatta the son of a
Rajput Chief professed to escort them with fifty troopers, but designedly
led them out of their way into a thick wood. He there seized all the men,
camels, and goods, and strangled the two Hindu merchants, to whom the
caravan belonged, with their five servants. Withington and his servants
having been kept for twenty days in close confinement, were dismissed,
to find their way home as they best could. After this, when Edwards was
travelling to Agra, 'the escort which he took from Baroch was found to be
in league with fifty mounted freebooters, who hovered about them at
night, and were only deterred from attacking them by seeing their bold
attitude. When Aldvvorth and his party were returning from Ahmedabad,
their escort was increased by the orders of Government, because robberies
and murders had been committed two nights before close to the city.
Between Baroda and Baroch they were attacked in a narrow lane,
thick set on either side with hedges, by three hundred Rajputs, who with
their lances and arrows wounded many of them, and succeeded in rifling
two of their heavily laden carts, f Gautier Schouten, a servant of the
Dutch Company, who was at Surat in 1660, confirms all these accounts,
and declares that when the English and Dutch went to Agra they always
joined themselves to native caravans. Even then they had frequently to
defend themselves against Rajputs, who descended from their mountains to
plunder travellers.

One anecdote affords us some idea of the local Government at Ah-
medabad. When Mandelslo was there, he was invited, together with the
English and Dutch Factors, by the Governor to a native entertainment.
As is usual on such occasions dancing girls exhibited their performances.
One troop having become fatigued, another was sent for. The latter how-
ever having been ill requited on a former occasion refused to attend.
What measure then did the Governor adopt ? A very summary one
indeed. He had them dragged into his presence, and then after taunting
them for their scruples ordered them to be beheaded. These reluctant
ministers of a despot's pleasure pleaded for mercy with heartrending cries
and shrieks. Their appeal was vain, and eight wretched women were
actually executed before the company. The English Factors were horror
struck ; but the Governor merely laughed, and asked why. they were
troubled. This account, given by an eye witness whose veracity has been
ordinarily admitted, is in itself a commentary upon the records of Native
rule. J

* Salbank's Letters. Kaye. f Orrae's Fragments.

J Les Voyages Du Sieur Albert de Mandelslo.

Bernier, a Frenchman, arrived at Surat in 1055. I-te was an observ-
ant man, who made notes of all that he saw, and took an especial interest
in the bazaars. He leads us to conclude that Europeans had not as yet
been able to provide themselves with edibles suited to their tastes and
habits. The grandees of the country lived in luxury ; but ethers could
scarcely provide themselves with the necessaries of life. " At Delhi there
is no mean," he wrote, " there you must either be a great lord or live
miserably ; for I have experienced it myself, in a manner dying of hunger
this good while, though I have had considerable pay, and was resolved to
spare nothing that way, because commonly there is found nothing in the
markets but the refuse of the grandees."*

Europeans suffered almost as much as Natives from the misrule of the
age, and that not only when they left home, but at times also when they
remained in their Factories. Of this we shall see abundant proofs as we
proceed. The distant dependencies of the empire were left to the caprices
of their Governors j ust so long as they could bribe the Court to overlook
their delinquencies. Foreigners at Surat, therefore, had a difficult and deli-
cate part to play. As they had no power to awe the Governor, they could
only retain his favour by considering his interests, for which they often
resorted to artifice and corruption.

We have no complete list of the officers who superintended the Company's
affairs at this period. We find that in 163(3 Methwold was president, and
that having repaired to Goa he there arranged a convention with the
Viceroy on the basis of a treaty which had been concluded between England
and Spain. f

On leaving for Europe in 1G38, he was succeeded by William Fremlen,
who, together with his council, urged the Directors to establish a central
management of their affairs at Surat. After him comes Francis Breton,
whose unostentatious monument may still be seen in the cemetery at Surat. J
The inscription states, that after he had " for five years discharged his
duties with the greatest diligence and strictest integrity, he went unmarri 7
ei to the celestial nuptials on the 21st of July in the year of Christ 1640."
Captain Jeremy Blackmail was appointed President in 1651. Restrictions
were then for the first time placed upon private trade, and his salary was
fixed at 500, to be considered due from the date of his leaving England,
and to be continued until his return. This was thought a handsome
allowance and fair compensation for the loss of private business. Blackman
was ordered to make a survey of all the dependencies of Surat. Revington
and Nathanael Wyche also presided over the Factory during the time of
Cromwell's Protectorate. The latter was succeeded by Andrews. It has
been stated that Revington was the last who was styled " Agent" and
Wyche was the first " President," but this is not correct. The Principals
of the Factory received from the commencement the titles of President,
Chief or Agent, according as their friends or the Directors were pleased
to honour them.||

# Beruier's Letter to M. de la Mothe le Vayer.

f Bruce's Annals l()35-36.

j Bruce's Annals 1(537-38.

$ Bruce's Annals 1650-51.

|j Epitaphs at Surat. Tavernier's Voyages, Chapter ii. Kaye's History.

Tavernier who was in India at various intervals between the years
1642 and 1666, gives a curious account of a speculation into which
Fremlen and Breton entered, and which ended in a mortifying failure,
In conjunction with a Jew trader named Edward Ferdinand, they had
purchased a stone, supposed to be a diamond of the purest water, of good
shape, and forty-two carats in weight. This was entrusted to Ferdinand,
as he was going to Europe, in order that he might dispose of it to the best
advantage. On arriving at Leghorn he exhibited it to some of his Israelitish
friends, who offered him for it nearly twenty-five thousand piastres ; but
as he was unwilling to take less than thirty thousand, he carried it with
him to Venice. There it was placed on the wheel previous to being set.
Alas for his fond hopes ! The supposed diamond was broken into nine pieces.

During this period a new association, at the head of which was Sir
William Courten, had obtained from Charles the First a licence to engage
in the Indian trade. In 1636 Captain Weddel and Mr. Mountney being
sent out, declared that they were under the protection of the English Crown.
Weddel addressed a letter to the President and Council at Surat, and at
the same time forwarded the copy of a letter from King Charles. His
Majesty avowed that he had a particular interest in the new Company, and
requested that if they were in any distress, the President would afford them
assistance. At the same time Weddel took the opportunity to express his
desire of living on good terms with the old Company.

The President, having received no information from his superiors in En-
gland, either could not or would not believe that a new Company had been
formed. He told Weddel as much, adding that two Companies could not
carry on trade in the East Indies, and desiring to know what privileges bad
been granted to the new Company. The following year a letter from the
Secretary of State shewed that there could be no doubt of the innovation.
The Factors were then thrown into a state of despondency and wrote thus :
" Wee could wish that wee could vindicate the reputacon of our nation
in these partes, and do ourselves right, for the loss and damage our estate,
in those partes, have susteyned ; but of all these we must beare the bur-
then, and with patience sitt still, until wee may find these frowning tymes
more auspicious to us, and to our affayres." Their hands were tied, or they
would have attempted to ruin the new Company. They then fell into de-
spair, and proposed to give up the trade ; but the Court urged them to
continue, and even allowed them to grant bills on England for any money
which Weddel might lodge in their hands, and to purchase from him goods
at reasonable rates. They could, however, scarcely restrain their in-
dignation when they heard that the innovators were trading at Rajapur,
which they regarded as their domain, and that they had established Facto-
ries at Batticolo and Carwar. The new association was afterwards styled
" The Assada Merchants," and in 1645 formed the plan of a colon}- at St.
Augustine's Bay, Madagascar, which was soon reduced to great distress.
Their agent then offered to sell the Factory at Carwar to the President of
Surat ; but his offer was declined. To relieve their embarrassments the co-
lonists tried the desperate expedient of coining native money, but they only
brought themselves into disgrace with the people of India, and indeed left
a stain on the English character.

It was charged against some of the servants of this new Company, that,
by committing acts of piracy, they caused those misfortunes which at this
time fell upon the Factory of Surat ; but the case against them has not
been properly established. It was said that one of their commanders, instead
of waiting for the fair profits of commercial enterprize, had plundered two
native vessels belonging to Surat and Dili, and even tortured their crews.
Probably this was partly, if not wholly, untrue ; but the native Governor
of Surat chose to believe it, and pretended to be, or really was, so incensed,
that he ordered the Chief of the Factory and his Council to be thrown into
prison, where he detained them two months, decreed the confiscation of all
the old Company's property, and only suffered it to be redeemed by a pay-
ment of seventy thousand rupees.*

It may be imagined that this misfortune raised the old Company's spirit
of hatred and opposition against Sir William Courten and his associates to
the highest pitch. Trading operations were completely suspended in the
Factory, and it was feared that they would never be renewed. Happily,
harmony was in some measure restored when in 1650 terms of agreement
were settled by the two Companies. Still some adventurers, who had be-
longed to Courten's association, continued to prowl about the Indian seas.~j"

But if the Factors had not suffered at all, or had not pretended to trace
their sufferings to the acts of tl.e new comers, they would have re-
garded them with the same jealousy. Competition was always dreaded by
those who traded with the Company's licence ; and from this time, En-
glishmen who ventured to approach the shores of India were stigmatized
as "Interlopers" a name, which they who are acquainted with the history
of England, remember was invented there by the monopolists of that age.
All such intruders were persecuted with virulent hostility, and under the
Charter of Charles the Second could be seized and sent in custody to
England.

And, as in the course of our inquiries we shall meet with repeated in-
stances of determined resistance to all free trade, and indeed of a jealousy
on that point which in these days must astonish us by its sensitiveness,
we may inquire, once for all, how far such narrow policy could under the
circumstances be justified. The arguments by which the original esta-
blishment and protection of a monopoly were defended, may now be easily
refuted. It was asserted that it was necessary in order that the Com-
pany might be enabled to support the expenses of a Factory. But the reply
is, that in most places Factories were not required, and were mere load's
upon trade ; where they were required, their charges might have been
defrayed just as well by the contributions of several mercantile houses, as
by an exclusive Company. An equally satisfactory reply may be made
to the argument, that the concentric powers of a Company were necessary
to protect its commerce from the rivalries and assaults of European ene-

* Bruce's Annals 1636-1650. Pietro della Valle ("Letter viii) says that in 1624 the
Mogul caused all the English at his Court to be put to death, and the Factors at Surat
to be imprisoned, because they had made reprisals on native vessels for alleged injuries.
However, we have no account of this in Bruce's authentic Annals or other works.

f The union was not completed until 165J. The old Company could not have been
possessed of much property, for their forts, privileges, and immunities iu Persia and
India were valued at only twenty thousand pounds,

mies, as well as from piratical surprises. There is no doubt that such pro-
tection could have been more efficiently rendered by a small naval force,
which, for a consideration, the British Government would have gladly
placed at their merchants' disposal. These arguments, then, which were
urged in favour of an exclusive trade, may be pronounced weak and un-
tenable.

Yet it must be admitted, that when once a monopoly was legally estab-
lished, an invasion of its privileges became an insult upon the majesty of
law. The agents of the Company in India, therefore, were fully justified
in resenting the intrusions of " interlopers." Their masters had entrusted
to them the defence of a monopoly, which, however objectionable to those
who had no share in its advantages, was a species of property which had
been obtained with all the forms of law and justice. Moreover, their esta-
blishment was maintained at a great expense, and they often disbursed
large sums of money to procure and retain the favour of a corrupt Court
in England, and a still corrupter Court in India. The Factors were, as
it were, keepers of a Manor, for which the tenants, their masters, paid a
high rent, and which they farmed at a heavy cost. Interlopers, then,
were to them as poachers, who must be warned off, and if they persisted
in their depredations, strenuously attacked with fire and sword, or pro-
secuted in Courts of law as enemies not only of the East India Company,
but also of the British nation.

For a considerable part of the time embraced in this Chapter, all ex-
clusive privileges met with such rude treatment in England, that the Fac-
tors must have been disheartened in their attempts to support them, and
private adventure was proportionately encouraged. There was no strong
Government to enforce restrictions upon trade. Politicians dared to argue
upon liberal principles, and to maintain that the Company's Charter was
an encroachment upon public liberty. Speculators took advantage of these
political innovations, and, without asking leave of the Company, sent their
ships with rich cargoes to India. So well did their enterprizes succeed,
that the imports from the Eastern seas were doubled, and the English con-
trived to sell Oriental goods so cheaply, that the Dutch were supplanted
in all European markets. At length Cromwell was induced to sanction the
East India Company, and finally, after the Restoration, an exclusive
Charter given by authority of the King and Parliament, was feebly opposed
by the defenders of popular rights, and the Court of Common Pleas arrived
at the strange decision, that the Prince had authority to prevent his sub-
jects from holding commerce with infidels, lest the purity of their faith
should be contaminated.*

A few years after the Factors had emerged from the troubles in which
they maintained that the interlopers had plunged them, and when their
exclusive privileges of trade had been again recognized, they were
threatened with new perils by the aggressions of the celebrated Maratha
usurper, Sivaji. The English came for the first time in contact with him
in 1661. Having assassinated the King of Bijapur's general, defeated .
his army, and escaped from a second and more considerable force which
that monarch had sent against him, this chief of plunderers appeared be-

* Raynal, Book iii.

fore the town of Kajapur, where the English had established a small Factory.
Suspecting and with some reason that the Factors had assisted his
enemies with mortars and shells in laying siege to Panala, from which he
had just escaped, he was resolved to have his revenge. After taking,
therefore, and plundering the town of Rajapur, he plundered also the En-
glish Factory, seized the Factors, and confined them for two years in a hill
fort. They were not released until a ransom had been paid for them, and
the losses sustained by the English were estimated at ten thousand pagodas.
Their Factory of Rajapur was inconsequence closed.*

Of subordinate Factories Carwar was the most important. It was
pleasantly situated on an arm of the river in the midst of a piece of ground
which had been originally granted by the King of Bijapur to a Cornish
gentleman, named Cutteen. By its means the Company carried on an ex-
tensive trade in cloth, for the manufacture of which they employed about
fifty thousand people of the country, and no place in India was more
celebrated for fine muslins. But about the year 1660 the whole territory was
overrun by Aurangzib's army, whose rude soldiers pillaged the houses of
the industrious inhabitants, and scared the weavers from their looms.
Their subtle general expressed a desire to arrange with the Factors terms
on which their commerce should for the future be conducted, and, as if
with that view, invited them to an entertainment in his tent. Secretly,
however, he sent a party of troops, who plundered and burnt the Fac-
tory. The English afterwards mounted some small cannon on two ba-
stions, but these fortifications were of little use, as they were built a league
from the sea, the communications with which could easily be intercepted
by an enemy.

A Factory which had been established by the English at Cochin was
closed about the year 1660, when that town was taken from the Por-
tuguese by the Dutch, who immediately ordered the Factors to remove
with their effects. They accordingly retired to a small Factory at Ponani.f

Although the Company had not been for many years so successful as at
the. commencement of its operations, and its affairs were sadly depressed,,
yet the members were becoming men of mark and consideration in society.
They no longer shrank with plebeian modesty from the name of gentle-
men. In 1637 the adventurers included both noblemen and gentlemen,
and in 1647 it was thought good policy to enrol as many members of par-
liament as possible amongst the subscribers to the stock-! ^he Company's
servants in India also, in spite of their misfortunes, were gradually rising
to a higher position. By the Charter of 1661 they were authorized to
make peace and war with any prince or people not being Christians, and
to administer justice for themselves and their dependants. These pri-
vileges transformed a body of warehousemen into a political corporation,
which might almost be called a Government.

However, the Factors were by no means so exalted as to be above
betraying the confidence reposed in them by their English masters. For

* Grant Duff, Chapters V. and viii.

t Hamilton's " New Account of the East Indies," Chapters xxii and xxvi. Fryer,
Letter iv. Chap. i.
J Mill's History, Book i. Chap. 3.
\ Ib. Chap. 4.

long they had concealed their mal-practices by mutual agreement, and this
did very well whilst they were united in friendship ; but as soon as a mis-
understanding arose, they became the accusers of one another, and shewed
that they had grossly neglected the Company's affairs to care exclusively
for their own. Gibson, who had been sent from 3urat as Agent to Persia,
was found after his death to have defrauded the Company by employing
twelve thousand pounds of their money in the Dutch trade. The Persian
Government professed to be so offended at his dishonesty, that the Presi-
dent and Council of Surat became alarmed, and declared that the trade
would be ruined, unless a person of good character was appointed to the
agency. These scandalous proceedings of their servants led the Court to
require from them all an oath that they would not engage in private
trade, and this, in spite of their Anabaptist members, who pressed hard
for the substitution of a mere declaration."*

Still the practice was only checked for a time, and not suppressed.
Honour was at such a low ebb, and profits were so large, that oaths were
ineffectual. When we consider that both the Company and their servants
frequently traded on borrowed capital, for which they paid a veiy high
rate of interest, we conclude that their business must have been stopped
unless their gains had been immense. Eight or nine per cent were paid
even for loans taken up on account of the Company, and so unsettled was
the state of the country that many capitalists preferred burying their money
to advancing it on the best investments. In spite of this, the Factors
contrived to raise capital, and to trade with it on their own account, for we
find in 1659 an order again issued on the subject, and these sorts of
engagements strictly prohibited. f

In the midst of storms which threatend to tear up the Company's trade
root and branch, the seed of their sovereignty was silently sown. From a
small source in Surat sprang that Anglo-Indian power which rapidly be-
came a torrent, and bore away all that checked its progress. To Gabriel
Boughton, Surgeon of the Company's ship Hopewell, more than to any
other individual, must the British admit that the origin of their valuable
privileges, and consequently of their territorial possessions, is to be traced.
On the application of a nobleman at the Court of the Emperor Shah Jehan,
the Chief and Factors of Surat gladly seized the opportunity of sending
Boughton to Delhi in 1636, that he might confirm the reputation which
medical practitioners from England had already gained. He had the good
fortune to attend the Emperor's daughter, and so much were his skill and
attention appreciated, that Imperial favours were liberally bestowed upon
him, and in particular he obtained a patent permitting him to trade, with-
out paying any duties, throughout the Mogul's dominions. The benefit
of this would probably have been doubtful, if his good fortune had not

* Bruce's Annals, 1637-38. Anderson's Colonial Church, Vol. ii. Chap xv. The
following is a curious extract from Evelyn's Diary ' 1657- Nov. 26. I went to London
to a court of ye East India Company on its new union, in Merchant- taylors' Hall,
where was much disorder by reason of the Anabaptists, who would have the adven-
turers oblig'd onely by an engagement, without swearing, that they might still pursue
their private trade ; but it was carried against them."

t Letter of Nathanael Wyche to the Company ; dated 14th February 1658 -39.
Mill's History, Book i. Chapters 3 and 4.

followed him to Bengal, where he cured a favorite mistress of the Nawah,
who in gratitude confirmed all his privileges. The generous surgeon did
not in prosperity forget his former employers, but advanced the Company's
interests by contriving that his privileges should be extended to them.
Having done so, he wrote an account of his success to the Factory of Surat,
and the next year a profitable trade was opened in the rich province of
Bengal*

The mission of Mr. Davidge, who went from Surat to the Court of Delhi,
was also eminently successful, and did much towards repairing the Com-
pany's shattered condition. He obtained the protection of Sultan Dara, the
Emperor's eldest son, and after a prolonged negotiation, received five sepa-
rate firmans granting the Company licence to trade, exemption from duties,
protection for their servants, and safe conduct for their merchandize.!

Let us now again take a walk into the Factory, and observe its internal
economy. A learned traveller who visited it at this time was highly pleas-
ed with the good order which prevailed. He was also struck with the
deference shewn to the Chief and Chaplain. J He admired the regularity
of attendance at prayers, which were offered twice every day at six in
the morning, and eight in the evening. On Sundays divine service was
celebrated three times, and once a Sermon was preached.

And, indeed, few as are the records still extant of this period, all who
read them at the present time must be struck by their religious tone. They
prove that it was an age of religious profession, if not of moral practice.
Puritanism was dominant, or at least had not given way to that open
profligacy, that ridicule of sacred things, and contempt of religion, which
disgraced the reign of Charles the Second. In India religious men did not
blush to own their fear of God, and it suited the purposes of irreligious
men to imitate them. Official correspondence even was devout. Thus when
Ilastell had arrived in St. Augustine's Bay on his passage to Surat, he
commenced his homeward despatch with these words : " It hath pleased
Almighty God in his great goodness to protect us hither in safety, and in
blessed union and concord together, the 14th day of this present month ;
our people generally then in reasonable good plight, and without the loss of
any more than five men in our whole fleet, for the which His mercies may
His Blessed Name be magnified for ever." And he concludes by declar-
ing, that he humbly commends his masters in his prayers, entreating God
to bless them, and direct their counsels and affairs. When announcing the

* Orme's History of Tndostan, vol. ii. sect. i. Bruce's Annals, 1044-45,

f Bruce's Annals, 1650-51.

J The reader will pardon my digression if I remind liim that this and the three
following chapters include the period to which Mncanlay refers, when he describes
with such exaggerations the degradation of the Clergy. He writes : -" The Clergy
were regarded as, on the whole, a plebeian class. And indeed, for one who made
the figure of a gentleman, ten were mere menial servants." And again ; -'A young
Levite might be had for his board, a small garret, and ten pounds a year," for which
he was expected to live as a servant. These statements ;ire taken from a satire of
Oldham's and given as grave history. Yet at the same time a German traveller
noticed the great respect shewn at Surat to the Clergy, and it is a fact, that when
Oxenden, Aungier, Streynsham 1\I aster all men of good families were there, the
Chaplain received higher pay than all the senior Factors, and took precedence after the
Members of Council. Is there any reason to suppose tliat the East India Company
delighted more than others to honour the Clergy ?

death of a subordinate in 1630 the Chief of the Factory writes thus :
" The death of Mr. Duke was very unwelcome unto us, as being sensible
of the want you will find by the missing of so able an assistant in that
place where he hath been long acquainted. God of His mercy so direct
our hearts, who must follow him, that we may be always ready for the
like sudden summons." The same style is observable in all official letters,
and the usual formula with which they conclude is, " Commending you
to the Almighty's protection," or " Commending you to God's merciful
guidance."*

Yet these pious adventurers had notions of their own about the observ-
ance of the Lord's Day. Although they were scrupulous in attending
Divine Service, in the disposal of the rest of their time they preferred
" The Book of Sports" to the " Lesser Catechism." After Sermon on
Sundays they used to repair to the suburbs, where they amused them-
selves in a garden by shooting at the butt. And which was still less to
be defended they indulged to some extent in gambling. Their visitor,
who has told us these little facts, was so skilful in shooting that he contriv-
ed to win a hundred mamoudis or five pistoles almost every week, f

Each inmate of the Factory had his allotted hours for work and recre-
ation. On Fridays, after prayers, the President and a few friends met for
the purpose of drinking to the health of their wives, whom they had left
in England.

The liquor in which they ordinarily indulged was arak, of which Bernier
said that it was " a drink very hot and penetrant, like the brandy made
of corn in Poland. It so falls upon the nerves, that it often causeth
shaking hands in those that drink a little too much of it, and casts them
into incurable maladies." " The soul of a feast, which is good wine," was
to be found no where but in the English and Dutch Factories. At
Ahmedabad and Golconda they had wine of fair quality, which had been
made in the country, but it was usually imported from Shiraz or the
Canaries at so great expense, that six or seven crowns were charged for a
bottle. What they called " pale punch" a compound of brandy, rose
water, lime-juice and sugar was also in great favour. So early as 1G38,
when tea was unknown in England, it was much drunk in the Factory at
Surat. " It acts as a drug," writes the traveller, who highly approved of
the decoction, " for it cleanses the stomach, and dissipates the superfluous
humours by a temperate heat peculiar to it."J

The Dutch were still successful rivals of the English, and the Portuguese
were endeavouring to regain their lost ascendancy. The chief reason why
the English Company had directed their main efforts to Surat was, that
they could find no more suitable place, after they had repeatedly failed in

* Outward Letter Books of the Furat Factory for the years 1630-1673.

f Mamoudis were only current in Surat and the neighbourhood ; each was worth
rather less than an English shilling ; but their value varied. In 1663 two hundred
and twenty mamoudis were exchanged for a hundred rupees. See Fryer's account of
coins, weights, &c., in India,

J Les Voyages du Sienr Albert de Mandelslo, Liv i. Pernier's Letter to M. le
Vayer. The common belief has baen that tea was first introduced into England from
Holland l.y the Lords Arlington and Ossory in 16CG. What is Stated above in the
account of the tea trade will be found correct'.

attempts to divide with the Dutch the profits of their trade in the Spic
Islands. For the same reason they concluded a treaty in 1634 with the
Portuguese, who then opened to them ports, where their enterprizes could
not be foiled by the greedy and active republicans. During the war with
Holland, which in Europe terminated so gloriously for the British Navy,
the English Factories suffered considerable injury. In 1653 the Factors
of Surat were thrown into the utmost consternation by the appearance of a
Dutch fleet ; they found it impossible to carry on the coasting trade except
at a risk, which they were unwilling to run, and all their commerce was
suspended. In 1656 they were equally alarmed by hearing that the Dutch
meditated an attack upon the island of Diu, which, if successful, would
have enabled them to demand the payment of such heavy duties from all
ships entering the river of Surat, that the English trade must inevitably
have been ruined.

The Dutch Company was at this time very powerful, and their Factors
ventured to dictate terms of peace and war even to the Great Mogul.
In consequence of some injuries inflicted upon them by the Governor of
Surat, they equipped four ships in 1649 to make reprisals, until the
Governor or Shah Jehan should give them satisfaction. Two native ves-
sels, the Ganjwar and Sdhibi, were seized by them, and all the ready
money found on board was held in pledge. The result was a firman from
the Emperor, conceding a portion of the Hollanders' demands.*

* Baldseug.

CHAPTER IV.

16621685.

CONTENTS. Bombay ; origin of the name. Its importance ; at first little ap-
preciated. Description. The Company desire to obtain it ; their plans and
proposal. Ceded to England. Arrival of an English fleet. The Portuguese
refuse to evacuate. English fleet sails with the troops to Swally ; thence to
Anji'deva Bombay resigned to the English under Cook ; his absurd treaty.
Appearance of the new possession. Sir Gervase Lucas succeeds Cook as
Governor ; his history and death. Captain Gary ; his character ; his claim to
the Governorship disputed. Bombay transferred to the Company. Commis-
sion sent from Surat. Bombay governed by Commissioners. Deputy Gover-
nors Gray, Gyffbrd and Henry Oxenden. Court resolves to improve Bombay.
Military arrangements ; the Militia ; the regular Troops ; first European
.Kgiment. Fortifications, and other Defences. Threatened attack from a
Dutch fleet. Development of the Resources of Bombay. Natives invited to
settle. Trade encouraged. A Mint. Courts of Judicature. The first Judge.
Unhealthiness of the climate ; Cholera ; its cure ; causes of unhealthiness :
intemperance of sick Soldiers ; an Hospital built. A Church proposed ; the
rise of Christianity ; a Bishop :it Kalyan ; Martyrs at Thaua ; descripti n of
Christian worship ; the Portuguese ; English place of worship ; general anxiety
to build a Church. Improved condition of the Island : the Revenues ; In-
crease of trade. New View of Bombay and its neighbourhood. Expenses of
the Works on the Island. Measures to increase the Revenue.

AMONGST the foreign dependencies of the British Crown none are of
greater and more increasing importance than Bombay. The growth of
the Australian Colonies has been indeed far more rapid, and their sudden
acquisition of wealth more astonishing, than any progress which has
been made in India, But the possession of Australia and other colonies
is not essential to the maintenance of England's power and glory ; if their
independence were to be at once proclaimed, no serious consequences
need be apprehended on her account. It is, however, essential to her
prosperity that she should preserve her Indian Empire, and every year
strengthens the conviction ol thinking men, that whether that Empire be
regarded from a political or commercial point of view, its most important
possession is the island of Bombay.

Bombay or Bombaim, as it is called by old writers has been natural-
ly supposed by Europeans to derive its name from the Portuguese, and
to have denoted an advantage of its geographical position. But Briggs
declares without, however, giving his authority that in ancient days
part of the island was called Mahim, and part " Mumbaye" from an

idol.* And, certainly, an old temple, dedicated to Mumba Devi, or the
goddess Mumba, formerly stood on the plot now called the Esplanade.
About a century ago it was taken down and rebuilt at some distance from
its former site. The place where it now stands is well known.f

For many years the English had been anxious to lay their hands upon
this treasure ; yet strange to say, when they had obtained it, its value
remained for a while hidden from the penetration of their statesmen, the
practised eyes of their naval and military commanders, and the keen
avidity of their enterprizing merchants. Its retention was considered
scarcely worth a struggle, and the question whether it should be resigned
was actually debated. Even the Dutch historian of the age, a shrewd
and accurate man, considered that this possession was worthless. J

Yet where is there a site more calculated not only to strike the eye of
a casual observer, but to grow in the estimation of a well-informed and
scientific resident, than Bombay ? Two centuries ago its distinguishing
features must have been the same as they are at present ; for they could
only be altered by the disturbances and revolutions of a geological era.
The deep capacious harbour, with its channel so narrow, but safe for
careful and well-trained pilots ; the false harbour of Back Bay, offering
to inexperienced mariners or threatening invaders a tempting and danger-
ous lure ; the Eastern hills which rise in rugged and fantastical shapes
one behind another, until at noonday they are lost in misty heat ; their
feet fringed with palm trees, their summits crowned with primeval fo-
rests, or here and there with the ruins of ancient fortresses all form a
scene which promises strength and security to the inhabitants ; and if it
had but the exquisite associations of classic antiquity, or the decorations
of Italian taste, might be thought by a lover of the picturesque to rival
even the place where Virgil sleeps and the Siren sang beautiful Par-
thenope.

But although the outlines of the distant scenery are bold, the appear-
ance of the island when approached from the sea is somewhat insignifi-
cant. Flat plains, in some places below the level of high-water mark, are
slightly relieved by low ridges of trappean rock, the highest point of
which is called Malabar Hill, and that does not exceed a hundred and
eighty feet. The whole area of the island is about sixteen square miles.
Its shape approaches a trapezotd, with its shorter side, six miles in
length, towards the sea, and its longer side extending eleven miles parallel
to the main land. Between the two hilly ridges, which form these sides ,
there is a level plain, about two miles in width, now called the Flats.
The greatest breadth of the Island is little more than three miles. Malabar
Point is the name of that extremity which, to the south, faces the open
sea, and at the northern extremity are the Hill and Fort of Warli. The
line which is parallel to the harbour and mainland has for its southern
extremity the Light House and Burial ground of Golaba, and for its-
northern the tower called Riva Fort.

* Briggs' Ferishta, vol. iv. chapter 4.

f Paper by R. X. Murphy, Esq in the " Transactions of the Bombay Geographical
Society," vol. i.

; Baldieus, chapter 12,

Colaba was a separate island, until joined a few years ago by a cause-
way to Bombay. Between it and Malabar Hill is the Back Bay, to which
we have already alluded. On the Colaba side the Bay is shallow and
filled with dangerous rocks ; but under the opposite cliff is a channel,
sufficiently deep for ships of considerable tonnage. To the north of
Bombay is another Bay, with a beach called Mahim Sands, and on that
side the island is separated from the mountainous island of Salsette by a
small arm of the sea, which at one part is only a hundred and twenty-
five yards wide, Salsette itself being separated from the main -land by
another channel. To the South and East is the harbour, which contains
several lofty, interesting islands, and is in one place six miles broad.*
It extends a considerable distance inland, and, as it narrows, the shores
on either side present various scenes of extraordinary beauty.

Observing the natural advantages of Bombay, the Company had hoped
to gain possession of it so early as 1627. In that year a joint expedition
of Dutch and English ships under the command of a Dutch General,
Harman Van Speult, had sailed from Surat with the object of forming
an establishment here, as well as attacking the Portuguese in the Red
Sea. This plan was defeated by the death of Van Speult ;but in 1653
the President and Council of Surat again brought the subject under the
consideration of the Directors, pointing out how convenient it would be
to have some insular and fortified station, which might be defended in
times of lawless violence, and giving it as their opinion that for a considera-
tion the Portuguese would allow them to take possession of Bombay and
Bassein. The following year the Directors drew the attention of Cromwell,
the Protector, to this suggestion.!

It was the gratification, then, of a wish which had long been felt, when
in 1661 Bombay formed part of the Infanta Catherina's dower, and was
ceded to England on her marriage with Charles the Second. On the
eighteenth of the following September a fleet of five ships, under the Earl
of Marlborough, arrived in the harbour, and ^brought with them a Portu-
guese Viceroy to see that the articles of cession were strictly observed. But
the Portuguese on the island had by that time discovered the value of the
place, and were indisposed to resign their claims to such a favoured spot.
They found an excuse in the demands which the English made. Lord
Marlborough asserted, and they denied, that Salsette had been included in
the cession. They also pretended that the patent or letter authorizing
them to give up the place was informal, and finally they refused to arrange
any terms or listen to any proposals.

Those were not days when the fortifications of refractory enemies could
be ruined in a few hours by the fire of an English fleet, and the Com-
mander was compelled to sail away. As the military part of his force
were suffering from long confinement on shipboard, he landed them at
Swally. There were four companies of a hundred men each, exclusive of
officers ; and Sir Andrew Shipman, their Commanding Officer, immediate-
ly began to drill and prepare them for military operations. However, he

* Geology of the Island of Bombay ; with a map and plates. By H. J. Cartar,
Esq., Assistant Surgeon, Bombay Establishment.
t Brace's Annals, 1&26 27 ami 1652-53.

was soon interrupted by the President of the English Factory, who intreat-
ed him to depart, as the jealousy and fears of the Government were
excited by such a display of force. Maryborough, therefore, having re-
embarked Sir Andrew and his men, landed them on the small island of
Anjideva, twelve leagues to the south of Goa, where he left them. On
this unhealthy spot they remained during the rains, without sufficient
protection from the weather. The consequence was, that Sir Andrew
Shipman and three hundred of his men perished. The Earl of Marl-
borough had sailed with his fleet to England.*

Previous to his departure, the Earl had offered to make over Bombay
to the President and Council of Surat ; but as their title would not be
good without the sanction of royal authority, and even if it were good,
they had not the means of enforcing it, this offer was declined. After
Shipman's death, Cook had succeeded to the command of the wreck of an
army, as the few English troops still surviving on Anjideva might be call-
ed. Too glad to find an asylum at Bombay on any terms, he accepted
such as the Portuguese were pleased to dictate, and the island was resign-
ed to him on the following conditions, some of which were reasonable,
others simply absurd : He renounced all claim to the neighbouring
islands, promised that the Portuguese should be exempted from all pay-
ment of customs ; that private estates should be secured to their owners ;
that all deserters, run away slaves, Hindus in charge of property, Kunabi's
or agriculturists, Bhandari's or toddy-drawers, and artificers who might
escape from the Portuguese territories and place themselves under the
protection of the British flag, should be immediately sent back to the
Portuguese territory ; that there should be no interference with the rites
of the Roman Catholic religion, and not only that, but if any Portuguese
should offer to embrace the Protestant faith, the English should not con-
sent to receive him.-j- As these conditions were afterwards appealed to by
the Portuguese, it is important to observe that the King of England refus-
ed to ratify them, and they were never ratified by the Crown of Portugal.
The English Government indeed were so dissatisfied with Cooke's mea-
sures, that they deposed him, and demanded of the Portuguese Govern-
ment satisfaction for damages sustained in consequence of the island not
having been delivered over according to the original agreement J

The English were by no means charmed with their new possession,
and to them it did not appear worth the precious lives and treasure which

* James Ley, third Earl Marlborough, an eminent mathematician and navigator,
was afterwards Lord Admiral at Dartmouth. Commanding in 1665 " that huge ship,
called the'Old James, in that great light at sea with the Dutch upon the 3d June, lie
was there slain by a cannon bullet." His honours reverted to his uncle, the fourth
Earl, with whom the peerage became extinct. Burke's ' Extinct Peerage.' " He was a
man of wonderful parts in all kinds of learning, which he took more delight in than
his title ; and having no great estate descended to him, he brought down his mind to
his fortune, and lived very retired, but with more reputation than any fortune could
have given him." Life of Clarendon, by himself.

t Translation from the ancient record in the archives of Goa, by Major T. B. Jervis,
F.R.S. in the '! ransactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, Vol iii.

J So it is stated in a Letter from the Court, dated 1723. They appeal to the authori-
ty of the Records in the custody of the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations,
the Report of the Lords of Council, and the Letter of King Charles the Second,

it had cost. Indeed the place must have looked desolate enough. Large
tracts of land which have since been recovered from the sea, were then
overflowed. At high tides the waves flowed to the part called Umerkhadi,
and covered the present Bhendi Bazaar. Near where the temple of Mum-
badevi stands, a place still called Paydhuni, or " feet-washing," marks
where a small stream of salt water was formerly left by the receding tide,
and where persons might wash their feet before entering Bombay. Where
Kamatapur is now, there was then sufficient depth of water for the pas-
sage of boats. In fact during one part of every day, only a group of islets
was to be seen. According to Fryer, forty thousand acres of good land
were thus submerged.* The rest of the island seemed for the most part a
barren rock, not being extensively wooded, as at present ; but producing
only some cocoa-palms, which covered the esplanade. The principal town
was Mahim. On Dongari Hill, adjoining the harbour, there was a small
collection of fishermen's huts, and a few houses were seen interspersed
amongst palm trees, where the Fort now stands. On various spots were
built towers with small pieces of ordnance, as a protection against Malabar
pirates, who had become peculiarly insolent, plundering villages, and either
murdering the inhabitants, or carrying them into slavery. f The English
also found, but soon removed, a Government House, which was slightly
fortified, defended by four brass guns, and surrounded by one of the most
delightful gardens. Portuguese society was depraved and corrupt. The
population did not exceed ten thousand.

Besides his political failure, Cook was charged with fraud and em-
bezzlement. The seat of Government, from which he was ejected, was
then occupied by Sir Gervase Lucas, who had been well known in the
Civil wars of England. A staunch royalist, he adhered to Charles the
First's cause amidst it reverses, and when Governor of Belvoir Castle
had, with a body of troops, escorted the King in his escape from the fatal
field of Naseby.J He arrived in Bombay on the fifth of November
1666. Unhappily a misunderstanding sprang up between him and Sir
George Oxenden, the President of Surat. It caused considerable irrita-
tion ; but a reconciliation took place before the death of Sir Gervase,
which occurred on the twenty first of the May following his arrival.
Oxenden announced the melancholy event to Lord Arlington, and ex-
pressed his regret for the loss of an officer whose exertions and probity had
been highly honourable.

Captain Gary was then appointed Deputy Governor. Hamilton
calls him " an old Greek ;" but he had been born in Venice of English
parents. He was more merchant than soldier, and had gained some
learning, being well acquainted with Latin, Greek, and Portuguese. He
is even said to have been engaged in writing a treatise in Arabic,
which he dedicated to the viceroy of Goa. Yet is he described as a proud,
wasteful, and extravagant officer. His power was not undisputed.

* Mr. Murphy's paper as above. Fryer's account .
t Hamilton's East India Gazeteer.
J Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, Chapter 9.
| Fryer, Letter iv. Chapter 2.

The Portuguese had in the time of his predecessor threatened a
resort to arms, because a claim which the Jesuits' College of Bandora
made for a considerable tract of land had not been allowed. This threat
Sir Gervase Lucas had considered an act of treason, and declared all
the Jesuits' lands forfeited to the Crown. Cook, therefore, who had yield-
ed the reins of Government with reluctance, and retired in discontent to
Goa, took this opportunity of asserting his right to succeed Lucas. Coming
to Bandora he threatened to join the Portuguese in attacking Bombay.
But his countrymen only treated him with contempt, and denounced
him as a rebel and traitor.*

Such were the Governors of Bombay under the Crown. Either
they were wanting in will or ability to discharge their trust efficient-
ly. The King of England soon ceased to attach any value to this portion
of his consort's dowry, and was only axious to get rid of his new and
expensive acquisition.

On the first of September 1C68 the ship Constantinople arrived at
Surat, bringing the copy of a Royal Charter, according to which his Majes-
ty agreed to bestow Bombay upon the Honorable Company, as the adven-
turers had for some time been styled. As the island had been found so
burdensome, there was little difficulty in arranging the terms of transfer.
It was to be held by the Company of the King " in free and common
soccage, as of the manor of East Greenwich, on payment of the annual
rent of 10 in gold on the 30th September in each year." At the same
time were conveyed to the Company all the stores, arms and ammunition
which were upon the island, together with such political powers as were
necessary for its defence and government.!

On the receipt of this authority, the Right Honourable Sir George
Oxenden, Kt, President of Surat, and his Council, held a consultation, at
which they agreed to assume at once the Government of Bombay. But
they felt that this would be an affair of some delicacy, as the royal officers
might not be disposed to acknowledge the supremacy of a few mercantile
agents, who were two hundred miles distant from them. They therefore
resolved to proceed with caution, and before despatching any one to receive
charge of the place, considered which of their number possessed the
requisite tact and other qualifications. Their choice fell upon Mr. Goodyer,
because he had lived on terms of intimacy with Gary, and whilst on a
visit in Bombay had gained the affections of the officers, which, they
remarked, " will very much conduce to their peaceable surrender, and
our quiet possession of the place." With Goodyer were associated Streyn-
ham Master, and Cotes, members of Council at Surat, and Captain
Young who was to be Deputy Governor.

Goodyer fulfilled his mission with judgment. On the twenty-third of

# The following have been the authorities consulted in addition to those before
specified : Bruce's Annals ; Fryer's account; Hamilton's " New Account" ; Hamil-
ton's Hindostan : Mill's History, Book i. Chap. iv. : Letter from the Deputy Gover-
nor and Council in the Surat Records, dated 2nd May lt>77.

t ' ecord of a consultation held in the Surat Factory on the 3rd September 1668.
Treaties, Agreements and Engagements between the Honorable East India Company,
and the Native Princes, Chiefs, and States in Western India ; by R. Hughes Thomas.
Bruce's Annals.

the month Gary drew up his troops in line, read to them the royal letters,
and formally transferred the Island, its live and dead stock, and cash
amounting to 4,879, 7s. Gd. to the Company's Commissioner. In
reporting his proceedings to the Secretary of State, this last of Royal
Governors declared, that " the unexpected change had much troubled
him," and that he had performed his task with a heavy heart. His sol-
diers also manifested symptoms of resistance, but soon perceiving that
they had only the alternative of being disbanded, they eventually submitted.
Gary obtained a seat in Council, and afterwards was Judge of the Island.
Young, the Deputy Governor, was soon dismissed for gross misconduct,
which will be explained below. *

The next year the President himself visited Bombay, and, during a
short stay, framed a set of regulations for its administration ; but as he
died soon afterwards, the island was left in a state of anarchy. Five
commissioners were appointed for the management of affairs. One was
Sterling, a Scotch minister ; the others were Cotes, Captain Burgess,
Lieut. Houghtori, and James Adams, Chairman. The rest so little ap-
proved of this last functionary, that after two days they removed him from
his situation.

Gerald Aungier having been appointed President of Surat, nominated
Mathew Gray to the Deputy Governorship of Bombay. He was succeeded
by Philip Gyfford, who had formerly been sent to open a trade at Tonquin.
After his death in 1G76, Henry Oxenden, Chief of the Factory at Carwar,
became Deputy Governor. He enjoyed his honours but a short time,
and dying was succeeded by Ward, whose term of power, as we shall see,
was clouded by trouble and sedition.f

After the Company had obtained Bombay, a few years elapsed be-
fore they thought of turning it to their advantage. Gradually, how-
over, they perceived that the place was appointed by nature to be an em-
porium of trade. Unlike the roads of Swally, which were exposed and
dangerous, its harbour was safe and commodious. J Easy and direct
communications could be opened with the English Factories in Persia,
on the Malabar Coast, and the Spice Islands. They felt, moreover, that
in case of a war with the Dutch, or if the Mogul Officers continued to
heap upon them affronts which they had endured patiently, but which
might soon be beyond endurance, they could only maintain their ser-
vants in India by holding Bombay with a firm grasp. There they
had the great advantage, which was denied to the Factory at Surat,
of a small territory, where the British were sole masters, where native
officials could not meddle, nor native tyrants domineer. They
therefore said : " We are now much set upon the improvement of that
our Island, and do esteem it a place of more consequence than we have
formerly done." They thought that the best way of securing their little

* Consultation Book of the Surat Factory. Fryer's Account. Bruce's Annals.

f Fryer, Bruce, and other authorities differ a little as to the order of succession of
these Deputy Governors. The above account I trust is quite correct.

J Letter from the Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay, dated 24th January
1676-7.

territory was, to increase its military strength, to encourage the growth of
its population, and to develop! its internal resources. The measures by
which they hoped to attain these ends were enlightened and well deserving
of success.

Their military arrangements included the establishment of a militia,
and a re-organization of their regular force. Their plans for the for-
mer were in the main good, although some of the details appear ridicu-
lous, and drawn up in ignorance of the native character. In 1677 the
militia was composed of six hundred men, all owners of land. A hundred
Brahmans and Banyas, who refused to bear arms, contributed money
instead of service. The following instructions sent out by this trading
Company to their agents in Bombay may induce a Military reader to
smile :

" We would have the inhabitants modelled into trained bands under
English or other officers as there shall be cause, and make of them one
or two regiments, or more, as your number will hold out, exercising
them in arms one day in every two months, or as often as you shall
think may be convenient, but you need not always waste powder at
such exercise, but teach them to handle their arms, their facings, wheeling,
marching, and counter marching, the first ranks to present, draw their
triggers together at the beat of the drum, and fall into the rear for the
second ranks to advance, as is often used with learners in our artillery
ground, but sometimes they must be used to firing, lest in time of ac-
tion they should start at the noise or the recoil of their arms."

The regular troops varied in number as the pecuniary circumstances
of the Company led to augmentation at one time, or reduction at another.
Sometimes their ranks were thinned to an alarming degree by the fatal
inroads of disease. When the island was transferred to the Company, the
garrison numbered two hundred and eighty-five men, ninety three of
whom were English, and the rest French, Portuguese or Natives. These
formed two Companies, each commanded by a Captain. The first Com-
pany comprehended two commissioned officers, sixty-six non-commissioned
officers and privates, and twenty-eight topasses ; * the second, three com-
missioned officers, seventy-three non-commissioned officers and privates,
and twenty-six topasses. This is said to have been the honourable Com-
pany's first European regiment, although many not Europeans found
admission into its ranks.

Many of the recruits sent out were Germans, and more were applied
for as they behaved with so much sobriety and regularity. When the
Court directed that a militia should be raised, they also wished to have
three companies of English and two of " Rashpouts" (Rajputs). Each
Company was to number a hundred men, and the Rajputs were to have a

* I suppose that these were Indo Portuguese, but what was the meaning of the
name ? Nieuhoff in his account of Batavia gives the following explanation : " The
I\Iardickers or Topassers are a mixture of divers Indian nations, called Topassers,
accommodators, because they will accommodate themselves easily to the manners,
customs, and religion of such as they live among : though some will have them derive
their name from a precious stone called a Topaz." Nieuhoffs Voyages and Travels to
the East Indies.

commandant, with other officers of their own caste. In 1G76 there were
four hundred European soldiers, but, as these were supposed to be more
than were required, it was ordered that the force should be. reduced to three
hundred, some of whom were to be sent to Surat, for a storm was gather-
ing in that quarter. There were also forty troopers, mounted on such in-
ferior horses as were reared in the country,* and able on an emergency to
take up forty foot soldiers behind them. Their first commandant was
Keigwin, and he drew a salary of a hundred and twenty pounds. In 1683
there were but a hundred and fifty English soldiers. A few extra files
were usually kept to supply casualties, which were mournfully frequent.
Keigwin afterwards commanded the first of the three companies of In-
fantry ; the other two were commanded by Lieutenants Fletcher and
Thornburn.

There was much difficulty in determining the exact position which the
officers were to hold. When Shaxton was sent out in 1671 with the
command of a Company, he was, in consideration of his high character,
appointed a Factor, that so he might combine civil and military duties.
He was also told, that if he continued to deserve well of the Company, he
might become Deputy Governor. Captain Langford, the Chief Military
Officer in 1676, was admitted to a seat in Council ; but a caution was
gi /en that his case was not to form a precedent. The chief authority was
to be held by Civilians, but they were also to study Military tactics, that
when required they might hold commissions in the Army.

Making an unwise and odious distinction, the Court ordered that non-
commissioned officers and privates should be punished with death for neg-
lect or breach of duty, but that commissioned officers should only be
reduced and deprived of rank. The regulations which they then made were
for many years the martial law of India ; but when royal troops were sent
out, they disputed the authority of the Company's officers to administer
martial law at all.

Fortifications with strong bastions were built at what was then thought
a heavy expense. The ordnance consisted of twenty-one pieces of can-
non, with the requisite stores. There were only two gunners, and the
other soldiers served the guns as occasion required. At Mazagam, Sion,
Sewri, Mahim, and Warli were small forts also mounted with cannon. The
Court were afraid to employ professional engineers as they would re-
quire large salaries, and they knew "the speculations into which men of this
description usually lead their employers." So they at first directed,
that Captains Smith and Tolderoy, two military officers, should act as en-
gineers. But as in 1671 Herman Bake happened to be in Bombay,
and made them an offer of his services, they appointed him their En-
gineer and Survey or- General. Warwick Pett, a naval architect, was
sent out to build ships for the Indian seas ; but only British-built ships
were at that time allowed to import Asiatic produce into England. Pax
qiicesita bello, wrote the Court, now suddenly blazing with martial ar-

* Fromtlie price which was fixed we learn, that then the value of a native horse was
from sixty to a hundred rupees, fiut Fryer says, " 300 is an easy rate for a good
Persian or Arab," Letter iii. Chap, iii.

dour, is an old maxim which must be observed in Bombay. They
insisted that a strict guard should be kept, and that sentinels should
watch day and night, as if an enemy were actually preparing to make an
assault.*

Scarcely had the first measures been adopted for the defence of the
Island, than an event shewed their wisdom. A Dutch fleet arrived on
the 20th of February 1<373 with the intention of taking it by sur-
prise. Orme tells us, that Aungier, who happened to be at the time in
Bombay, exerted himself on the occasion " with the calmness of a philo-
sopher, and the courage of a centurion." Rickloffe Van Goen, the
Dutch Commodore, found to his mortification, that he was likely to meet
with a warmer reception than he had anticipated. Heavy ordnance were
seen mounted on the fortifications, and sixty light field pieces were
ready at hand. According to Fryer, the Fort was guarded by three hun-
dred English troops," four hundred topazes or Portugal firemen," " a
militia out of Portugal," comprising five hundred men with English
leaders, and three hundred Bhandaris armed with clubs.f There
were also in the harbour three men of war, the largest carrying thirty
guns, and five French ships which were ready to assist the English. Un-
der these circumstances Rickloffe stood up to the Western side of the is-
land, and threatened a descent in the Mahim Channel, but Aun-
gier rapidly marched to that quarter, and ranged his troops in defiance
along the shore. Doubtless the Bhandaris and their clubs appeared
very formidable in the distance, otherwise the Hollanders with six thou-
sand men on board their fleet would not have sheered off. They soon
disappeared, and as in a short time peace was concluded between Eng-
land and Holland, the people of Bombay were relieved from further
apprehensions. J

By way of increasing the population, and developing the resources of
the island, attempts were made to establish manufactures. Directions
were given for inviting spinners and weavers to settle, every legitimate
influence was to be employed so as to attract them from the interior,
and cotton was to be served out to them from the Company's stores, that
they might convert it into cloth without any outlay of money. The Court,
having heard that the manufacture of cotton stockings by knitting was
successfully carried on at Goa, required that the same should be at-
tempted in Bombay, and that four or five hundred pairs should be at
once forwarded to England. Not only the poorer sort of artizans, but opu-
lent tradesmen were also induced to settle by promises of liberal treat-
ment and religious toleration. As a first step, a regular engagement was

* Bruce's Annals 1668-1676. Letters from the Deputy Governor and Council,
dated 24th January 1676-7 ; from the Honorable Court, dated May 1682 ; 6th Novem-
ber 1683 ; 16th November 1683 ; February 1684, and 2nd July 1684 ; Letters from
the President and Council of Surat to Bombay, dated 4th July and 14th August 1676.
Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xvii. Hamilton's Hindostan. Fryer's Account,
Leiter iii. chap. 4, and Letter iv. chap. 3.

f The Governor's bodyguard was composed of Bhandaris. To this day men of this
caste carry a union flag, and blow a large trumpet before the JJigh fcberiff at the
opening of the Quarter Sessions. Mr. Murphy's paper, as above.

J Fryer's account. Orme's Fragments, ec. i.

entered into with Nima Parak, an eminent Banya, residing in the city of
Dm, and formal articles were agreed to on both sides. On the part of
the Company it was promised, that all of the Banya caste who might
remove to the Island should enjoy the free exercise of their religion with-
in their own houses,' and should be secured from all molestation. It was
stipulated that no Englishman, Portuguese, or other Christian, nor
any Mussulman should be permitted to live within the private grounds of
Banyas, to enter them for the purpose of slaughtering animate, or to offer
their persons the slightest injury or indignity. If any should in opposi-
tion to these regulations offend them by intruding upon their privacy, the
Governor or his Deputy should, on receiving a complaint to that effect,
cause the offenders to be severely punished. The settlers were to be
allowed to burn their dead, and to observe all such ceremonies as were
customary at their weddings. Lastly it was engaged, that none who
professed their religion, of whatever age, sex, or condition he might be,
should be compelled to embrace Christianity, nor that any should be
forced against their wills to carry burdens. These stipulations were in
striking contrast, and probably it was intended that they should be so,
with the harsh treatment which the natives had suffered from the
fanaticism and injustice of the Portuguese.*

Other steps for the encouragement of trade were taken in accordance
with the spirit of the age. Docks were to be constructed, and an armed
vessel of a hundred and eighty tons to be stationed off the Island for the
protection of shipping. The manufactures of the place were protected at
first by exemption from duties, which were not demanded for calicoes
made in Bombay, raw, wrought, and thrown silks, cotton yarn, gold and
silver jewellery, bezoar stones, musk, amber and ambergrease.f But
afterwards all exports were to pay a duty of three and a half per cent.
Articles of food, such as cocoanuts, fish, salt, with other produce of the
island or its waters, were subjected to the almost prohibitory duty of nine
per cent, including one per cent for the expenses of the fortifications.
Grain, timber, and all goods except Indian iron and tobacco, which were
imported, paid two and a half per cent, and one per cent towards the for-
tifications ; Indian iron and tobacco paid nine per cent.J

In 1670 the Court gave directions for the establishment of a Mint, and
that it might have the countenance of royal authority, letters patent, dated
fifth October 1676 and 28th of Charles the Second, were issued. In
1681 Mr. Smith was sent from England to be Assay Master and Mint
Master on a salary of sixty pounds per annum.

A Court House was erected in the most frequented part of the bazaar,
not only that access to it might be convenient for all who were drawn into

* Letter from the President and Council of Surat to Bombay, dated 22nd March
1677-

t B race's Annals, 1668-69.

$ Brace's Annals I674-/5.

g In 1697 the value of money coined at Surat and Bombay was fixed at 2s.-6d. the
rupee ; the xeraphim of Bombay at twenty pence ; the Persian Shalii for Carwar at four
shillings, and the Pagoda for Calicot at nine shillings. Persian characters were
stamped on these coins, which offended the Emperor ; so for a time the practice was
discontinued. Bruce's Annals, 1697-98.

litigation, but also that prisoners might be confined there, and, according
to a custom still remembered in England, have opportunity to beg relief
of passers by*. Two Courts of Judicature were established in 1 670. The
higher was a Court of Appeal presided over by the Deputy Governor and
members of Council. Its decisions were to be final and without appeal,
except in most urgent cases. The lower Court was presided over by one
of the Factors, assisted by native officers, and took cognizance of all dis-
putes regarding property under the value of two hundred xeraphims.
The Deputy Governor and three Military Officers were also constituted a
Court for the administration of martial law. Each Court was to meet once
in the week. Allusion was made to trial by Jury ; but it was not con-
sidered practicable. About the same time also the Court of Directors re-
commended that a regular force of police should be established.f

In 1671 application was made to the Court for a Judge versed in Civil
law ; but they declined compliance, fearing that he might be disposed to
promote litigation, and probably would not obey the orders which the
President and Council might find it for the Company's interest to give
him. It is difficult to say what contingency the Court had in view ; but
it seems very probable that they supposed no Judge who came out with
the education and spirit of an English gentleman would prosecute inter-
lopers to the death ; and the result shewed, that their fears were not
groundless. As an experiment they resolved to send out some writers
who had received a legal education, and who, if they conducted themselves
well, might be called in as Assessors to the Courts of Justice.

At last by letters patent dated 9th August 1683, a Judge was
authorized to preside over a Court of Admiralty for the trial of such inter-
lopers as he could lay hands upon. Two merchants were to be joined with
him, and it was particularly specified that the processes were to be in
English not in Latin. The first who thus wielded the terrors of the law
was John St. John, D.C.L. It was arranged that he should hold a com-
mission both from His Majesty and the Company, the former bearing date
6th February 1684, the latter 7th April 1684. His salary was fixed at
two hundred pounds per annum, with an allowance for two servants, and
free commons at the Deputy Governor's table. Up to this time English-
men accused of grave offences had been sent to their own country for trial ;
but when Robert Johnson, a troublesome fellow, had thus been consigned
to the Court, they desired that the practice should be discontinued, and
that all criminals should be tried and punished in Bombay. J

But when earnestly engaged in military and economical measures, the
Company did not forget the care of their servants' bodies and souls. A
cry of wailing for the dead seemed to cross the seas, which divide England
from Bombay, and reach their ears. The many advantages of Bombay
were counteracted by its pestilential climate. Of what use sending trusty
. Factors, and hardy soldiers there ? They breathed the poisonous air but

* Letter from the Deputy Governor and Council to the Court, dated 24th January
1676-77.

f Bruce's Annals 1667-71 Kaye's Administration.

J Letters from the Court, dated February 1084 and 6th May 1685. Fryer's Account.
Morley's Digest of Indian Law, vol. i.

a few short months, after which their services and lives were lost to their
employers for ever. Three years was the average duration of European
life. The catalogue of diseases and the records of deaths are, when read
even at this distant day, truly saddening. In the months which inter-
vened between October 1675 and February 1676, a hundred English
soldiers perished ; and in the latter year Mr. Gyfford, the Deputy Gover-
nor, and Bake, Surveyor General. So strong \vas the dread of the cli-
mate, that when Child, who at other times was far too bold and bluster-
ing, had been appointed Accountant of Bombay, and second in council by
the President and Council of Surat, he pleaded his apprehensions of
disease, and positively refused to accept the office.* The natives indeed
and naturalized Portuguese considered the island healthy ; but, wrote
Fryer, fluxes, dropsy, scurvy, barbiers or loss of the use of hands and
feet, gout, stone, malignant and putrid fevers, all combined to make it a
charnel house of Europeans. Of every five hundred Europeans who
came to live upon the island, not one hundred, in his opinion, ever left it.

The disease which was prevalent in the country and especially fatal in
Bombay, was called by the Portuguese practitioners of medicine " the
Chinese death," or cholic. It was divided, according to their system,
into four kinds. The first kind was simple cholic, and its only symptom
was severe griping. The second was attended with diarrhoea as well as
pain ; the third with pain and vomiting. Purging, vomiting, and intense
pain were symptoms of the last kind. This was supposed by Thevenot to
be Cholera morbus, and it generally brought its victims' sufferings to a
fatal termination within twenty-four hours. The remedy, upon which
even Europeans relied, was of a painful and barbarous character. A hot
iron was applied to the ball of the sufferer's foot. If he winced, it was
expected that he would recover ; but if he shewed no signs of pain he was
given over by his medical attendant.")*

Various causes were assigned for the alarming mortality amongst
Europeans in Bombay. The atmosphere was at first supposed to be pol-
luted by the putrid fish, with which the trees were manured. A more
reasonable conjecture was, that malaria arose from the low plains which
were overflowed at high tides, and left in a swampy state when the sea
receded. In 1675 a proposition for draining the swamps was submitted
to the Court by the Government of Bombay. Several surveys were in

# Letter from the President and Council of Surat to the Factors of Rajapiir ; dated
16th November 1676.

t Fryer's Account. Voyages de Thevenot. Choix des lettres edifiantes et curieuses,
torn. iv. Father Martin in these letters gives instances in which this treatment
was completely successful. He adds that Signer Mancuchi, a Venetian Physi-
cian, had discovered another cure, by which he gained " vast reputation" at the Mo-
gul Court, where he resided forty years. His infallible remedy was this : " Take
an iron ring about an inch and a half in diameter, and thick in proportion. Then
heating it red hot in the fire, extend the patient on his back, and apply the ring
to his navel, in such a manner that the navel may be as centre to the ring. As soon
as the patient feels the heat (which must necessarily be in an instant) take aw;iy
the ring as quick as possible, when so sudden a revolution will be wrought in his
intestines, that his pains immediately cease." I have gone further into this sub-
ject than I otherwise should, because some have supposed that cholera is a new
disease in India, and that it was not kiiown two centuries ago.

consequence made, and in 1G84 authority to commence the work was
received.*

But without doubt many diseases were caused, and most were aggra-
vated, by the intemperance which was so common. As long as the sick
soldiers were attended by medical men at their own houses, there was
no possibility of restraining them from the indulgence of their favourite
vice. When death was staring them in the face they became more
reckless. They cannot be kept from debauchery, wrote the Deputy Go-
vernor, " though never so sick, to the destruction of their bodies and
souls." And again he remarks, that to persons labouring under the
diseases of the country " strong drink and flesh is mortal!, which to make
an English soldier leave off is almost as difficlut as to make him divest
his nature, nay though present death be laid before him, as the reward
of the ill -gratify ing his palate. This is the true cause our Bombay bills
of mortality have swelled so high."

In order then that the sick might be provided with constant attendance
and a regular diet, the plan of an hospital was forwarded to Bombay by
the President and Council of Surat. The proposed building was to be
capable of receiving seventy persons ; the cost was not to exceed four
thousand rupees, and it was estimated that about a thousand rupees would
cover the annual expenses of the establishment, which was to be under
the superintendence of a resident surgeon. The President concluded by
remarking : " The lamentable loss of your men doth call on us for a
speedy erecting the fabric, and doubt not but you will approve thereof."
As a temporary measure the old Court of judicature was prepared for
the reception of sick ; and the hospital itself was completed with an
expedition which in India has been rarely equalled. A remarkable
decrease of mortality in the following year was attributed to the suc-
cess of the new arrangement.f

When so many works were in progress it occurred to the Government
that a Church also was required. The project failed in execution ; but
as it was a first attempt to establish openly a Protestant form of wor-
ship, it deserves consideration.

It would be interesting to ascertain whether during those first cen-
turies when missionary zeal was so earnest and successful, the reli-
gion of Christ was ever preached in Bombay. There is one passage in
history and probably but one which throws any light upon this part
of the subject, and encourages us to amuse ourselves with guesses after
truth. Bombay is said to have been anciently incorporated in the
same province as the once famous port of Kalyan. Now there is no
doubt that at this place a Christian Bishop resided so early as the
beginning of the sixth century. { When Cosmas Indicopleustes sailed

* Letters from the President and Council of Rurat, dated llth January 1675-6 ; to
the Court dated 17th January 1675-6; and from the Court dated February 1684.
Description of Hindostan, by Walter Hamilton, Esq.

f Letters from the President and Council of Surat, dated 18th Dec. 1675, and 17th
Jan 1675-6: from the Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay, dated 24th Jan. 1676 7.

| General History of the Christian Heligion and Church. By Dr. Augustus Neauder,
vol. iii. Sect. 1. Neander was ignorant that there was such a place us Kalyan, and
supposed that Calcutta was meant.

down the Western coast of India, he found at " Male where the
pepper grows,*' or Malbar, a regularly ordained clergy, and at " Calliana"
a Persian Bishop.* Do we not feel confident that the Bishop made some
effort to propagate his religion, and may we not therefore suppose that
the Gospel was then heard even in Bombay ?

Sir John Mandeville declares, that when he wrote there were many
Christians in parts of Western India, and brother Odoricus gives us
such a circumstantial narrative that I must crave the reader's indulgence
whilst I set before him the substance.

At the beginning of the fourteenth century, four Minorites, named To-
lentinus of Marchia, James of Padua, Demetrius Laicus, and Peter ot
Senis, came to Thana, where they found fifteen Christian families. Al-
though these were all Nestorians and schismatics, they received the
Italian monks with cordial hospitality. Unfortunately the brethren took
up their abode at the house of one who had a violent quarrel with his
wife, and was summoned by her before the Kazi. The monks also
had to appear as witnesses, and were drawn by the Mussulman Ma-
gistrate into a religious discussion. They maintained that Christ was
very God, and being repeatedly asked for their opinion of Mahomed, at
last plainly avowed, that he was the son of perdition, and all who fol-
lowed him would infallibly be damned. This was too much for the
other's patience, and the fathers were condemned to death. They were
made to stand in the sun from nine in the morning until three in the
afternoon, and as this had not the expected effect of destroying them, they
were then beheaded. f

Sir Thomas Herbert found also Christians of St Thomas at Thana
amongst other places. As many doubts have been cast upon the cha-
racter of this interesting people, and it has been inferred from their
present degeneracy that, such as they are, they have been for centuries,
we are glad to ascertain how they appeared to an intelligent Englishman
of the seventeenth century. He describes their forms and ceremo-
nies as differing both from the Church of Piome and the Reformed
Churches of Europe. Their Churches were low and badly furnished ;
but neat, carefully kept, matted, and without paintings or images. They
came to them cheerfully, closed their eyes for contemplation after enter-
ing, and knelt towards the altar. They saluted their Priest with
humble reverence ; upon which he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. Their service seldom occupied more than two hours. It com-
menced with a brief confession, not unlike that of the English liturgy,
at the end of which all gave their assent with a unanimous Amen.
Then followed an exposition of Scripture, which was listened to with
attention and commendable decorum. Having sung a hymn they de-
parted, first saluting again the Priest, who kept his hands elevated until
all were gone. Herbert also states that they were in the habit of read-

* In the reign of the Emperor Constantino, Theophilus, a native of Diu
having been consecrated Bishop at Byzantium, returned to Diu by way of Arabia, and
then travelling in India found Christianity existing.

f Itinerarium fratris Odorici ; Hakluyt s Voyages, vol. ii.

cr>

ing at home a chapter from the Old or New Testament. They had few
schools and little learning. On the first Sunday of every month the
Priest read a homily, written, as they supposed, by one of the Apostles.
Baptism was administered on the fortieth day after birth, unless the
parent desired it sooner ; the infant being wholly immersed, and the
sign of the cross made on its forehead. Before Holy Communion two
days were set apart for preparation. Both bread and wine were im-
parted, and received kneeling. The clergy were allowed to marry but
once. In sickness a Priest was sent for both to pray and administer the
Eucharist. At burials the corpse was placed with its head to the West.
The writer adds that they observed Lent, and " Feast and Fast, as we
accustome." " Laicks pay their decimce, affect justice, profess truth,
practise humility, and believe in Purgatory."*

But the first people who had numerous congregations for whom they
raised solid structures in Bombay and its neighbourhood, were the
Portuguese. Those zealous Roman Catholics induced a large number
of natives to embrace their religion, and they built many Churches,
a few of great magnificence. But the Portuguese attained their ends by
unlawful means, and the carved stones of Bombay, Salsette, and Bas-
sein, which they professedly raised to God's glory, are after all but records
of fraud, rapine, and violence done to heathens' consciences.

The only place which the English had for the celebration of Divine
service was a Hall in the Fort. The suggestion that a building should
be raised and set apart for the purpose was first made by the Court
of Directors. Sir George Oxenden, the President, eagerly took the hint,
and was anxious that it should lead to some result. He declared that
such an edifice was much to be desired, not only for the use of the Eng-
glish, but also that natives and foreigners who were unacquainted with
our holy reformed religion might be so impressed with feelings of re-
verence for it, that haply they might wish to embrace it. Such persons
could not witness the celebration of Divine service in the Hall, as there
would be no accommodation for them, and in any case it would not be
safe to admit them into the Fort. The President therefore submitted
for the Court's approval the plan of a building, which would contain about
a thousand people, and be of a " form proportionable to the small
Churches in England," but plain and free from superfluous ornament.
He had already proposed to the Company's servants that the expense
should be defrayed by voluntary contributions, and they had come for-
ward " freely and conscientiously," " some offering one year's wages, some
half a year's, and the least a quarter." It was hoped that the Company
would make good the balance. In order that no time might be lost, a cer-
tain sum had been raised already, which had been entrusted to the three
Chaplains of Surat and Bombay, that they might purchase bricks, facing
stones, lime and timber, so as to be ready for a commencement, when
the Court should send the requisite authority. There was a difference of
opinion regarding the site. Some proposed the burying ground at Men-
daim's Point ; but although that would be convenient for the Factors, it

* Sir Thomas Herbert's Travels, pages 355 and 358.

was removed from all places of native concourse, and therefore would not
fulfil " the main design," which was, that the natives should repair to
Church, " and observe the purity and gravity of our devotions.'*
Others, therefore, suggested that the edifice should be raised near the Na-
tive Town, or between the town and the plot of ground set apart for Euro-
pean residences. It would then adjoin the highroad leading to the Bazaar,
and as it would be open and all might freely enter, some natives perchance
might come from motives of curiosity to see the English way of devotion,
and remain to pray. The President and Council stated these reasons,
and confessed that on account of them they were disposed to adopt the
latter opinion. All were agreed that the Church must for security be
near the Fort, and that it should stand upon an open space, where it
would be at a distance from other buildings. 1 hat the work might be
performed with sufficient skill, the Court were requested to send out an
experienced builder or surveyor, whose salary should be paid out of the
sum collected by subscription.*

Such were the remarks of the President and Council. They display
good feeling, and a degree of religious enthusiasm which is not supposed
to have ordinarily prevailed amongst the merchants and politicians of that
age. It was certainly an error to think that the natives would be en-
ticed or their curiosity even excited by the cold and decorously dull
worship which was then offered by the English in India, but it was re-
markable that their conversion should be mentioned in official despatches
as an object, the attainment of which was not only to be desired, but
attempted, and, as they said, devoutly prayed for. However, all these
pious intentions were frustrated. Five thousand pounds were collected,
and they began to build, but the walls were never raised more than five
yards. Further progress was interrupted by the Siddf s invasion, and it
is said that Sir John Child, when Governor, appropriated the funds to his
own use. But this must be accepted as the evidence of one who, being
an interloper, was a victim of the Governor's monopolist zeal.f

The result of the Company's economical measures was soon visible in the
growth of the revenues, and population, and the improved appearance of
the island. The revenues had been slightly increased under the adminis-
tration of Sir Gervase Lucas. They had been estimated at only 2,823
per annum, when the English got possession ; but Gary shewed that in
his day they had risen to 6,490, and in 1675 President Aungier cal-
culated that the annual amount was 9,2 54. J

* Letter from the President and Council of Surat to the Court, dated 17th January
1675-6.

f Hamilton's " New Account," Chapter xvii.

J Statement of the Revenues transmitted by Gary to the Secretary of State :

Xeraphins.

Kent of Mazagon 9,3 "0 40

Mahim ....4,797 2 45

Parella 2,377 I 56

Vadela 1.738 40

Sion 790 GO

Veroly 571 1 34

Bombaim 6,344 2 61

25,920 1 18

Within a few years the population had increased from ten to sixty
thousand. The trade was rapidly becoming superior to that of the Factory
at Surat, and the Court resolved that one half of all their shipping which
left the port of London should load for Bombay direct, and not drop anchor
first, as before, in Swally roads. Of course they were aware that the Go-
vernor of Surat would be annoyed by the diminution of trade at that
place, and consequent loss of his dues. But they were beginning to have
a sense of their own importance. So they merely instructed their ser-
vants to say in case the Governor should raise objections that if he
would return some of the money which he had extorted from them, and
discountenance pestilent interlopers, they might consider the question
whether they should again resort only to Surat. In fact they were pre-
maturely becoming a little arrogant. The experience of a few years only
was required to teach them at a heavy cost that they were not sufficiently
strong to stand in such an attitude.

We will now endeavour to take a dioramic view of Bombay in its im-
proved condition. The population was composed of English, Portuguese,
Hindus, Mussulmans, and native Roman Catholies, called " Cooly Chris-
tians," who were chiefly engaged in fishing. The dwellings of these
different classes were not fixed in separate quarters of the town, but were
placed indiscriminately. The town was a mile in length. The houses
were low, and for the most part thatched ; a few only, which had been
built by Portuguese or English, being of substantial construction. None
of the windows were glazed ; but in many, oyster shells were used as a
substitute for glass. There was a burial ground at a place called
Mendaim's Point, from the name of the individual whose corpse was first
interred there.* Within six hundred yards of the Fort the land was

Xeraphins.
Brought forward. ..25,920 1 18

Rent of the Tobacco stank or farme 9,550 00

Kent of the Taverns 2,400 0(1

The account of Customes 18,000 00

The account of Coconutts 18,000 00

Xeraphins 73,870 1 18
More may be advanced 1,129 1 62

Total, Xeraphins 75,000 00
Which at thirteen Xeraphins for 22s. 6d. sterling amount to 6,490 17s. 9d.

Bruce's Annals 1667-78 and 1675-76.

In 1678 the Court were informed by Henry Oxenden that the Customs had risen to
thirty thousand, and the duty on Tobacco to twenty thousand Xeraphins. About the
same time also the Customs were farmed at 2,284 annually. (Letter from the De-
puty Governor, dated 24th January 1676-7). With these figures the present values
may be compared. Customs yield upwards of 275,000 ; Land Revenue 8,000 ;
Abkari, or tax on such palm trees as yield toddy, 9,000 ; Tax on Tobacco consumed
on the island 8,000. Besides these the Municipal Fund receives from fees for liquor
shops 2,500 ; Assessment on House and Grounds 20,000 ; Wheel Tax 8,000 ;
Shop and Stall Tax 7,000. There are also some miscellaneous duties, such as
stamps &c.

* Doubtless this was where the cooperage now stands, and where, not many
years ago, tombs were still to be seen ; yet Hamilton, who was on the spot, describes
it as a rocky point near the shipping, about five hundred paces South- ward of the old
Fort, from which it was separated by a small Bay. But Hamilton is not always to
be depended upon. New Account of the East Indies, Chapter xvii.

being gradually cleared of trees and cottages.* There was one Church, a
pretty object, belonging to the Portuguese. On Malabar Hill stood a
Parsi tomb recently erected, and the ruins of a large Hindu temple. At
Mahim was a Portuguese Church, with a house and other handsome
buildings attached. There were also an English Guard- House and
Custom- House. The Jesuits possessed a Church and extensive demesnes
at Parell, and Sion was also their property. On the low ground to the
South-east of Sion were salt pans, the Court having sent out directions
that they should be constructed on the model of those at Kochelle in
France, and Santavalli in Portugal.!

Colaba, or old Woman's Island, as it was called for long, had been
taken possession of peaceably in 1674 after an arrangement made be-
tween Gerald Aungier and the Portuguese. For many years it was only
used " to keep the Company's antelopes, and other beasts of delight."
None of its land was appropriated to individuals, as from the first it was
reserved to be a military cantonment. J

In the Harbour, Butchers' Island as it was then and still is called
was only used as a run for a few cattle, and a place where small vessels
were hauled ashore and cleaned. Elephanta was also used only for cat-
tle, and remained in the hands of the Portuguese. The figure of an
elephant carved out of a black stone from which the island received its
name was standing unmutilated, and so also was the figure of a horse.
The tract on the main land extending from the South point of the
Harbour to the river Penn was called " The Corlahs," and Bombay
was dependent upon it for its supply of provisions, particularly at such
times as the Portuguese prohibited all exportations from Salsette.||

At the other side of the small Strait which separates Salsette from
Bombay were the Aquada Blockhouse, and on the hill a mile beyond
Bandora the Portuguese Church, which so gracefully overlooks the sea.
The Roman Catholic services were well performed. A new landing-place
led to a College of Paulitines, as the Jesuits were then called. Before the
College stood a large cross, and before that was a space, which, when the
traveller from whose work this account is chiefly taken, visited it, was
" thwack'd full of young blacks singing vespers." The collegiate es-
tablishment was defended, like a fortress, with seven cannon, besides
small arms. Great hospitality prevailed, and distinguished guests were,
on their arrival and departure, saluted with a roar of artillery. The
Superior possessed such extensive influence that his mandates were res-
pectfully attended to in the surrounding country, and the traveller who
had the good fortune to be provided with his letters commendatory, was
met by the people, wherever he halted, with presents of fruit and wine.
The town of Bandora was large, with tiled houses. A view from mid-
channel embracing the town, college, and Church of St. Andrew, was
extremely picturesque. At a distance of four miles was another Church,

* But all the cadjan huts were not removed from the esplanade until 1802

f Letter dated February 1684.

t Fryer. Hamilton's Hindustan, and East India Gazetteer,

2 Hamilton's ' New Account," Chapter xx.

|| Orrae's Fragments.

described as magnificent; and the whole neighbourhood was studded with the
villas of Portuguese gentlemen, many of whom lived in considerable state.
To the East of Salsette, the sail by way of Thana to Bassein, which is
now so justly admired, must in those days have been of unrivalled
beauty. Trombay was adorned with a neat Church and country seat.
When Thana had been passed, the traveller's eye rested at every half
mile on elegant mansions. .Two of these deserve special mention. One,
the property of John de Melos, was three miles from Thana. It stood
on a sloping eminence, decorated with terraced walks and gardens, and
terminating at the water side with a banquetting house, which was
approached by a flight of stone steps. A mile further was Gre-
bondel, the property of Martin Alphonso, said to be " the richest Don on
this side Goa." Above rose his fortified mansion, and a Church of stately
architecture. Within Bassein were six Churches, four convents, a Col-
lege of Jesuits, another of Franciscans, and a library of historical,
moral, and expository works. The Hidalgos' dwellings, with their bal-
conies and lofty windows, presented an imposing appearance. Chris-
tians only were permitted to sleep within the walls of the town, and
native tradesmen were compelled to leave at nightfall.

But whilst attempting to acquaint ourselves with the seenes amidst
which the English lived, we have wandered from Bombay, and must
retrace our steps. When we left it, several works of great importance
had been completed, or were in progress. The expense of these was so
great that at last the Company began to find themselves involved in dif-
ficulties. In 1684 they stated ; " The island has stood us in first and
last three hundred thousand pounds,"* and the debt upon their dead
stock exactly amounted to that sum.")" And when we remember the
value of money at that period, and the Company's limited resources, we
are not surprised at finding them exhausted by their efforts. They
were compelled to recruit their finances by expedients, some of which
were wise, some paltry, and others dangerous. In 1680 they sent
out positive injunctions that all the expenses of the military and civil
services in Bombay should be defrayed from the revenues. A house
tax was to be imposed, the land surveyed, and portions to be let out on
lease. It was hoped that by draining the Flats, considerable tracts
might be reclaimed from inundation, and made profitable by cultivation.
Other measures, which disgusted all classes and sowed the seeds of revolt,
will be noticed when an account is given of home and personal affairs.
Yet the faults which the Court of Directors and their servants com-
mitted were chiefly the results of inexperience, and such as belong to a
state of political infancy. But when we consider that they had sufficient
penetration to discover the advantages of Bombay, which the royal Go-
vernment seem never to have comprehended ; when we reflect upon the
vigour, decision, prudence, and administrative skill which they displayed
in constructing great works, fostering manufactures, adding to their mili-
tary strength, and devising plans of economy, we must admit that the
measures which they adopted for the improvement of this island illumi-
nate the records of the East India Company.

* Letter from the Court to the President in Council. t Mill's History.

CHAPTER V.

16621685.

CONTKNTS. General and Mercantile affairs.- Presidents Sir George Oxendett,
Gerald Aungier, and Sir John Child. The Company's investments and
debts. Factory at Amoy. Articles of trade ; indigo, pepper, &c. ; Cotton ;
the first Cotton Screw ; English Horses ; slaves for labour ; slaves for the
fancy. Hindrances to trade; bankers driven away ; suspension of trade;
vexations at the Custom-House, and meddling propensities uf the officials.
Troubles of the Factors. Question of keeping up Factories Sivaji plunders
Surat ; gallant conduct of the English Second assault of Sivaji ; base con-
duct of the French Losses at Carwar and Hubli English interchange
civilities with Sivaji; Ustick's mission, and its results; Nichol's mission
Henry Oxenden and two Factors at Sivajfs installation ; settlement of a
treaty ; the butchers' friends The Company's Navy Sivajfs Navy The
Siddi of Jiuji'ra The Siddi enters the harbour of Bombay ; awkward pre-
dicamentFrequent visits of the Siddi ; cause disturbances Contests for the
possession of Haueri and Khaneri The Court protests against war Native
opinion of English courage The Court's crooked policy Naval fight between
the Marathas and Siddis Native Pirates ; their contest with Europeans ;
cruel murder of an Englishman ; fight at Vengurla ; hazards of the coasting
trade The Portuguese ; their futile threats ; their priests expelled from Bom-
bay ; they murder an English Serjeant ; vexatious interference ; migrations
from Baudora to Bombay The Dutch ; their war and intrigues The French ;
their Factory ; its failure Capuchins at Surat ; Father Ambrose Prosecu-
tion of interlopers Proposal for a new Company James the Second pro-
claimed.

THE Company were fortunate in finding men of distinguished abilities
to superintend their affairs at this period. On the nineteenth of March
1662 Sir George Oxenden, Knight, was appointed to be President and
Chief Director of all the Company's affairs " at Surat, and all other their
Factories from Zeilon to the Red Sea." His name is conspicuous above
all others in the first pages of Anglo-Indian annals. In addition to his
other titles, he had in 1669 that of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of
Bombay. He was also empowered to select one of his Council for the
office of Deputy Governor. Sir George died on the fourteenth of July
1669. Gerald Aungier, a zealous, bold, and highly honourable man,
was his worthy successor, and died after a tedious illness in June 1677.
Rolt, who had been appointed by the Company in 1669 Agent for Persia,
then acted provisionally as President. He left India in January 1682,
and John Child, who was created a baronet that same year, succeeded to

the highest authority.* The characters of Oxenden, Aungier, and Child,
will appear in the sequel.

Not only in Bombay, but at all their Factories, great efforts were made
by the Company to extend their trade. We gain an idea of the business
which was carried on by the Factors of Surat at this time, when we learn
that in 1668 six ships arrived from England with goods and bullion to the
value of a hundred and thirty thousand pounds. The next year twelve
hundred tons of shipping arrived with stock valued at seventy-five thou-
sand pounds. In 1G70 came fifteen hundred tons of shipping; and in
1G72 four ships with cargo and bullion valued at eighty-five thousand
pounds. In 1073 stock and bullion were brought to the amount of a
hundred thousand pounds. These sums appear trifling, when compared
with the British Capital of eighty millions now supposed to be employed
in India ; but at that time they were considered large. The debt, for
which the Factory was responsible in 1074, amounted to a hundred and
thirty-five thousand pounds.

For the sake of forming a small link with the cotemporary history of
another country, it may be mentioned here, that in 1681 there was an
intention of despatching from Surat six small vessels to Tonquin and
Arnoy ; but the plan was abandoned when information was received that
the Tartars had driven the Chinese from Amoy, and the Company's
Factory there had been destroy ec 1 .

With regard to particular articles of trade, it may be remarked, that
indigo or anile was more in demand than ever. Pepper, Saltpetre, raw
and wrought Silks to the value of thirty thousand pounds in a year,
calicoes to the value of a hundred and sixty thousand pounds, and various
drugs, were exported to England. A trade in diamonds was chiefly con-
fined to private dealers, who frequently made large profits. f

Considerable attention was already paid to the exportation of raw Cot-
ton, and so early as 1684 attempts were made to save freight by com-
pressing it into bales with the aid of machinery. For this purpose the
Company serft out " a screw or engine," and at the same time wrote
thus : "We would the more encourage the affair of Cotton, and press you
to pursue the method we have proposed of contracting a considerable
weight into a little room, because, if we can bring it home to save the
freight, we shall do a considerable service to our country by the noble ad-
dition it will cause to our English, and so remote navigation." Here
is a strange jumble of Cotton screws and patriotism, and the probability
is, that the Court were not so disinterested as they pretended. It is^a
fact worthy of notice, that the introduction of Screws into India must be
assigned to this early date, and not to a much later one, as Mr. Royle has
done in his valuable work upon Cotton.

Several attempts were made to introduce a breed of English horses, but
it was found very difficult to preserve them alive during the long voy-
ages which were then usually made. J

# Fryer, Letter viii. chapter i. Bruce's Annals. Letter from the Council at Surat
to Bombay ; dated 30th June 1677-

f Bruce's Annals. Fryer, Letter ii. chapter v.

J Letters from the Court to the President and Council of ?urat ; dated July 1G83
and February 1084. Colquhoun's Treatise; Appendix,

Slaves were amongst the exports of the English Factory at this time.
The Island of Saint Helena had been bestowed by the Crown upon the
Company, and they wanted labourers for their plantations. So they de-
sired their President at Surat to send them cargoes of negroes, with as
little concern as if they had been any other kind of live or dead stock,
and mentioned twenty pounds per head as the purchase-money. At first
only males were exported, and these desolate beings remained at St. He-
lena without any of those domestic enjoyments by which even the life of
a slave may be solaced. However, there is a point at which oppression de-
feats its own projects. Like many other animals when deprived of their
mates, the slaves became troublesome. So wives were demanded for
them. The Honourable Company do not indeed hint that their commer-
cial minds were susceptible of pity, but their interests were in this case
promoted by shewing kindness to their human cattle. " It may be conve-
nient," they wrote, "you should send near as many female slaves as male
to St. Helena, because the male will not live so contented, except they
have wives."*

The market at Surat was supposed to be stocked with such a large as-
sortment of live goods, that all fancies might be suited there. The next
order which the Court sent, shewed that they relied upon it for a supply
of their minutest wants. They were on the look-out for a leash of slaves,
and such slaves as only the most whimsical of men could have thought of.
As the contents of their singular despatch will be imagined scarcely credi-
ble, it will be advisable to quote the exact words. They form a postscript,
but are evidently the most important part of the letter :

" His Majesty hath required of us to send to India to provide for him
there one male and two female blacks, but they must be dwarfs of the least
size that you can procure, the male to be about seventeen years of age,
and the females about fourteen. We would have you, next to their little-
ness, to chuse such as may have the best features, and to send them home
upon any of our ships, giving the commander great charge to take care
of their accommodation, and in particular of the females,*that they be
in no way abused in the voyage by any of the seamen ; for their provision
and clothes you must take care to lay it in, and let them be set out with
such ear and nose rings, and shackles for ornaments about their legs (of
false stones, and brass, but not with gold) as is usual to wear in the
country, but let them not be used by them in the voyage, but sent to us
apart."")"

Whether three unhappy creatures of precisely such ages, sizes, and
features as were required, or whether indeed any, were ever procured and
forwarded, we are not informed. The Court seemed as if they did not
feel that they were seeking to traffic in human beings. They write not
of men and women, boys and girls, but only use the words male and fe-
male, as they might in reference to any strange animals.

The reason why this order was sent is obvious. It was in the year
1683, when the Company were seriously alarmed lest their exclusive

* Letters as al>ove.

f Letter from the Court to the President and Council of Surat ; dated May 1G83,

privileges should be lost. A rival Company were strenuously endeavouring
to obtain a Royal Charter, and it was said that the people favoured their
attempt. Even the King and Council had taken the matter into considera-
tion. The old Company, therefore, strained every nerve to conciliate the
monarch, and were anxious to indulge all the caprices of the royal and
effete debauchee. They not only listened to his puerile request for toys
with souls in them*, but also would have them ornamented in such a
manner, as they supposed would satisfy the most fastidious taste.

The English trade at Surat was so hampered by native interference,
that we cannot wonder at the Company's desire to remove it to Bombay.
One year the Shraffs and Banya's, with whom the Factors transacted bu-
siness, were banished from Surat, on account of a religious dispute. The
consequence was, that these important auxiliaries of trade called in their
money that they might bury it, or conceal it, till the return of better
times, refusing to advance any for the Company's investments, or to take
such goods, as were imported, off the Factors' hands.

At another time not only was the trade, but the lives of Europeans were
in danger. Some Dutch seamen had, in a drunken frolic, insulted a
native officer, and, fearing chastisement, they took refuge in the English
Factory. The Governor, having had this represented to him by de-
signing persons as a hostile combination against him of French, Dutch,
and English, issued a proclamation, ordering all natives to withdraw from
the service of Europeans, and declaring that any European wearing
arms might be put to death with impunity. The Chiefs of the three
nations were this time so wise as to act in unison, and as all made a feint
of abandoning their Factories and quitting Surat, the Governor was
brought to reason. They were invited to return, and, after a negotiation
of six weeks' duration, their privileges were restored.*)*

Obstructions at the Custom House were particularly vexatious, especial-
ly to those who had incurred the Governor's displeasure, or had not gain-
ed his favour by an unsparing use of bribes. Thevenot has given us a
minute account of the way in which travellers, and merchants in parti-
cular, were tormented. When he arrived at the bar of the river, he was
taken in a small boat up the stream to the Custom House. Although he
searched that place at eight o'clock in the evening, he was not permitted to
land until the next morning at ten. Plis person was then so strictly
reached, and the conduct of the officers was so offensive, that his patience
was put to a sore trial. And he was treated less severely than many others.
As soon as a ship cast anchor at the bar, her commander was rowed up
to the Custom House, where he was obliged to give notice of his arrival .
A guard was then placed over the vessel to prevent the removal of any
article. From each passenger a fee of half a rupee was demanded, and he
was charged another half rupee for his passage in the boat. As the Cus-
tom House was only open from ten o'clock until noon, the traveller was
compelled to wait until the next day, if he did not happen to arrive in the
intervening time. A body of Peons armed with thick bambus were drawn

* Aristotle calls a slave t^vvov vpyavov a tool with a SOttl,
t Brace's Annals, 16G1M67-'.

up at the landing place, and k was their business to prevent all who
came on shore from holding any communication with the bystanders.
After passing through a large court the travellers were ushered one at a
time into an apartment where the chief officer sat in state. Their names-
were first registered, and often they were then required to strip them-
selves. If gold or silver were found upon their persons, two and a half
per cent of the value were claimed. Native ingenuity was taxed to dis-
cover articles on which duty might be levied, so that even gilt buttons
were included, and the Purser of the Company's marine had to pay for
these appendages to his coat, as often as he crossed the river. After this
scrutiny they were dismissed ; but were obliged to return another day for
their baggage, which was- completely rummaged. Clothes were unfolded,
pistol-barrels sounded, the smallest articles examined, and it was some-
times a month befoue those who had merchandize could get it passed.
Christians paid a duty of four,* and native tradesmen of five per cent or*
their goods.

European tourists often complain of the petty annoyances inflicted up-
on them by the preventive officers of Austria and Italy : native mer-
chants sometimes grumble at the treatment to which they are subjected
in the Custom House of Bombay. If they could only have visited
Surat in the oldeik time, they might have indeed been indignant at the
meddling propensities of native rulers. The Governor himself searched
the baggage of Sir Thomas Roe, and appropriated to himself such ar-
ticles as pleased him .f On another occasion, th Governor was found
seated in the Custom House. His sharp eye fell upon a bracelet and
diamond in the midst of a traveller's baggage, and immediately he signi-
fied to the owner that it was his pleasure to purchase the ornaments. The
poor fellow did not wish to sell. But what matter? His Highness wished
to buy. The other protested earnestly that they were presents from dear
friends. His remonstrances saved the diamond, but the Governor detain-
ed the bracelet, until, as he said, the stranger should honour him with a
visit. It is almost needless to add that the bracelet was never recovered.

It is not to be concluded that the English were always subjected to
the vexations here described, but they were ever liable to them, and if
they happened to offend the Governor of the city, they were oppressed
whenever occasioa offered. Sometimes they were indulged to a great de-
gree, and permitted to introduce contraband articles without being ques-
tioned. At other times their property was seized,, and taken at any
valuation which the native officers chose to determine. J The Presi-
dent and all European women were suffered to pass without exa-
mination.

The history of the English Factors at Surat throughout this whole
period is a record of troublous years with a few bright days of joy and

* But according to a firman issued by Aurangzib, and dated 25th June 1667, the
English and Dutch Companies only paid an ad valorem duty of two per cent on al>
merchandize. Treaties, Agreements, &c.

t Sir Thomas Roe's Journal.

% Voyages de Thevenot ; Liv. i chap. 1 & 15. A Voyage to Surat by Oleef Foreen,
Chaplain of the Gothic Lion. A. Voyage to fcuxat by J, Ovingtou M.A. ISaldtvuis. Fryer,
Letter ii, Chap. v.

hope. Interlopers were as wasps to them ; the Dutch could outbid
them in the markets ; the Portuguese intrigued against them ; the
Marathas tried to plunder them ; and the Moguls to crush them. In
1662 and following years the Factors, in compliance with directions
which they received from home, sought to ruin interlopers by selling their
own goods at low rates. But here the Dutch stepped in, and by means of
their superior capital, competed with them successfully. The English
had reduced their prices so low that the strain upon their commercial
strength was too great. They were compelled to -contract their operations,
and suppress some of their small Factories.*

On account of these difficulties it was for long an open question whether
Factories, when established on an adequate scale, were not a useless ex-
pense, and whether it would not be prudent to give them up altogether.
In many places the Dutch carried on trade without them, and entered
into contracts with native merchants. Why then should the English
Company lavish such large sums upon houses, lands, fortifications, and
equipments ? So late as 1666 a native merchant was employed at Surat
to obtain the investment of the season, and for some time this expedient
succeeded. Probably the Factory would have been given up, if the Di-
rectors had not dung to the patronage which they enjoyed by its mean?,
and which was wholly theirs, whilst their share in the profits of the
trade was insignificant.'!' A Factory which had been established at
Ahmedabad was closed, but another one opened at Nandrabad.

Sivaji was for long a cause of anxiety to the English Factors. They
closely watched all his movements, dreading lest they themselves might
be the objects of his next expedition. They declared that " he seemed
to be every where and prepared for every emergency." At length, on the
fifth of January 1664, he entered Surat. Such of the inhabitants as were
able made their escape ; the helpless Governor shutting himself in the
castle which was protected by English cannon, J and leaving the Maratha
robber to plunder the city at his convenience. An Englishman named
Smith was seized by Sivaji's troops, and -carried into his presence. He
afterwards described him as seated in a tent, and ordering his execution-
ers to chop off the heads or hands of such unfortunate inhabitants as
he suspected were concealing their wealth. Both the Dutch and English
Factors stood upon the defensive ; the conduct of the latter was so gallant
that they not only held their own, but saved the property of rnaay na-
tives. So highly did the Emperor Aurangzib appreciate their courage
and resolution, that he sent to the President, Sir George Oxenden, a robe
of honour, and granted the Factory exemption from a portion of customs
duties. The Company also shewed their approval of the President's con-
duct by presenting him with a gold medal, together with a gratuity of
two hundred pounds for himself, and four hundred pounds to be dis-
tributed amongst the ouncil and subordinate servants. They also ex-

* M ill's History.

r Mill's History, Book i. Chnp 4. Bruce's Annals, 1670-71-
$ Obtained from tke week of the ship iVIkldleburgh. Baldaeus.
Bearing the motto " JS'on minor est virtus, quarn quaerere, parta tueri."

pressed a wish that he would continue in the administration for three
years longer.

Again, on the third of October 1670, Surat suffered under this scourge.
At the head of fifteen thousand men Sivaji pillaged the city. This time
several lives and some property were lost in detached warehouses be-
longing to the English, but, as before, their Factory was gallantly defend-
ed, Streynsham Master having in the President's absence come with a
party of seamen from Swally and taken the command. The Dutch
Factory being in a retired quarter of the city was unmolested ; but the
French, who had lately established themselves here, saved themselves by
ignominiously agreeing that the plunderer should pass through their Fac-
tory to attack and rob an unfortunate Tartar, styled by our Factors,
"The King of Kaskar," who, having been deposed by his son, had
made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and was returning with his suite in fancied
security. By this base and cruel robbery Sivaji obtained " a vast trea-
sure in gold, silver and plate, a gold bed and other rich furniture."*
Laden with booty he soon withdrew his army from the city ; but rov-
ing bands of his followers for long infested the neighbourhood and
terrified the inhabitants ; in some instances actually presenting them-
selves before the Governor, and boldly demanding a contribution. f

In February 1C Go Sivaji had attacked Car war, a town in the province
of Canara, where, as we have seen, the English had established a small
Factory ; but the place being well defended, he contented himself with
levying a contribution, of which the Factors' share amounted to a hundred
and twelve pounds. In 1673 he attacked and plundered Hubli, where
also was a Factory. The English lost on this occasion property to the
value of 7,894 pagodas. Some time afterwards they demanded of Sivaji
an indemnity for their losses, but he steadily refused any, maintaining
that his troops had not molested the Factory. A little furniture, he said,
and a few trifles might have been taken ; but he would not admit that
their value exceeded two hundred rupees. J

Although the English had thus suffered much from the hostility of the
Maratha usurper, they were constrained to treat him with consideration
and respect. Even when he was actually engaged in assailing Surat, the
Factors of Bombay felt so dependent upon his country for their grain and
firewood, that they addressed him in conciliatory language, and inter-
changed civilities with him. During the monsoon of 1672 they were so
terrified by an ineffectual attempt which he made to take the Portuguese
settlement of Ghorabandar, that they endeavoured to secure themselves by
a treaty, and for that purpose sent Mr. Ustick to wait upon him. Hap-
pily Sivaji's interests corresponded with their wishes. So long as they were
his friends the value of his conquests was increased by their trade : if they
had been his enemies, they might have permitted the Moguls to pass
through the harbour of Bombay, and make a descent upon his defenceless

* History of the Marallms. By James Grant Duff, Esq. vol. i. Chap, vi and viii.

Fryer's Account. Bruce's Annals.

f Letter from the President and Council ofSnratto the Court ; dated 20th May 1077-
J Grant Duffs History, Chapters vi and viii. Uuiuillou's East India Gazetteer.

Orme's F

coast. He therefore agreed to an alliance. Mr. Ustick was also instructed
to demand thirty-two thousand pagodas for damages sustained, but of
course the hope of obtaining such a sum was visionary. However, Sivaji
readily consented to respect for the future all possessions of the English,
and to indemnify them for such injuries as he admitted that he had in-
flicted upon them ; if only they would join him in an expedition against
Jinjira, and re-establish their Factory at Rajapur. The reply of the
English was to the effect, that being mere merchants they never took up
arms except in self-defence, and that they could not venture upon a re-
turn to Rajapur, unless provided with some security for their safety.*

The Factors still indulged the hope of obtaining compensation from
Sivaji, and in May 1673 Mr. Nichols went to him as their Envoy. He
was first introduced to Sambhaji, the son, and afterwards to the Raja
himself ; but he had no more success than his predecessor.

When Sivajfs victories had justified his actions in the minds of his fol-
lowers ; when successful rebellion, treachery, robberies, and assassinations
combined with acts which had been suggested by a certain generosity, a
love of enterprize and singular daring had exalted him to the position of a
hero in the estimation of Marathas, they cheerfully gratified his ambition
by permitting him to occupy a throne. The ceremonial of his installa-
tion was in part witnessed by Henry Oxenden, afterwards Deputy Gover-
nor of Bombay. With a view of concluding a treaty on the Company's
behalf, he and two other English Factors travelled to meet Sivaji at Red
or Raigarh. After some difficulties had been removed, twenty preliminary
articles most of them favourable to the Company were signed on the
sixth of April 167-1. Sivaji engaged to allow ten thousand pagodas as an
indemnity for the losses sustained at Rajapur. He did not indeed consent
to pay this sum in cash ; but it was obtained in the native manner by a
little intricate arrangement. According to this the English were permitted
to purchase annually for three years goods to the value of five thousand
pagodas, for which they were only to pay two thousand five hundred pago-
das. They would thus recover seven thousand five hundred pagodas, and
the remaining two thousand five hundred were to be made up by a tem-
porary exemption of the Rajapur Factory from the usual customs. It
was further agreed that the English should establish Factories at Rajapur,
Dabhol, Chaul, and Kalyan ; that they should trade wherever they pleas-
ed in the Maratha territories, and fix their own prices without being
subjected to any arbitrary rules. For all goods which they should im-
port, a duty of not more than two and a half per cent ad valorem was to
be paid ; the current coins of the Company and Marathas were to be ex-
changed according to their specific values ; and lastly, it was engaged that
all the Company's property which might be wrecked on the Maratha
coasts, should be restored to its owners. Sivaji manifested great reluctance
in consenting to this last article. He was at once ready to promise that
protection should be secured to the crews of shipwrecked vessels ; but he
considered it his privilege to claim for himself the vessels and their car-
goes. Finally, all difficulties were overcome, and the unlucky Factory of

* Bruce's Annals, 1671-72. Grant Duff's History, vol. i. Chap. viii.

Rajapur was re-established. But Fortune never favoured it with her
smiles.*

A cet-emporary writer has left a graphic account of this Embassy, in
which with the spirit of a true Briton he incorporates some curious tales
of the larder. With a sneer at the unchristian appetite of a Maratha, he
says that " the diet of this sort of people admits not of great variety or
cost, their delightfullest food being only cutcherry, a sort of pulse and rice
mixed together and boiled in butter, with which they grow fat." On the
other hand the English Factors, being in danger of growing lean, hanker-
ed after the flesh pots of Bombay. It was some time before they could
make an application to the Raja, and a Mussulman butcher " was order-
ed to supply them with what goat they should expend." He only pro-
vided them with half a goat each day ; but this was more flesh meat than
he had sold for some years before ; and the old man was so well pleased
with his customers, that with great labour he dragged his tottering limbs
up the hill to catch a glimpse of the butcher s friends. For the informa-
tion of those who study " the art of dining" in India, our author concludes
thus :

" So rare a thing is it to eat flesh among them ; for the gentiles eat
none, and the Moors and Portugals eat it well stew'd, bak'd, or made into
pottage ; no nation eating it roasted so commonly as we do. And in this
point I doubt we err in these hot countries, where our spirits being al-
ways upon the flight, are not so intent on the business of concoction ; so
that those things that are easiest digested, and that create the least trou-
ble to the stomach, we find by experience to agree best here."f

Although on shore the military preparations of the English at that time
were strictly defensive,and in that respect similar to those which in ancient
days a feudal baron of Europe found it necessary to adopt for his pro-
tection, yet they were not always unwilling to take an offensive position
at sea. They had three men-of-war the Revenge, mounting twenty -two
guns, the Mar/boon, of two hundred and twenty tons, which had been
taken from the Dutch, and the Hunter of fourteen guns ; besides smaller
vessels confusedly styled by English writers manchuas, gallivats, grabs,
shybars, balloons, prows, hoys and ketches. J With this fleet the Factors
were becoming sensible of their power, and although their masters insisted
upon abstaining from all hostile aggressions, they themselves were disposed
to venture with timid and uncertain steps into the dangerous field of war.
There were two Native powers, whose ships they always watched with

* Grant Dnff's History.

t Fryer's Account.

% Manchua for Machava* a small vessel of ten or twelve candies ; gallivat for
galabat) is described by Hamilton as a large row boat with two masts, rarely ex-
ceeding seventy tons ; by Vaupell it is said to be of from a hundred to a hundred and
fifty candies, to carry two lateen sails, and to have been ordinarily used for piratical
purposes ; Grab, Arabic^ ghurdb^ Marathi gurdb, had rarely more than two masts,
and was then of a hundred and fifty tons ; some with three masts were of three hundred
tons. Shybar or Shebar for s'ibad, a large vessel. JBaltoon for bali/dnv, a state barge.
Prow for Para y, a small botella seldom exceeding thirty candies. Hoyiswn. English
name. Ketch or dorioh, meaning one and a half, from having a main and mizen
masts Hamilton's History of Hindostan, vol i. Paper by J. Vaupell, Esq., in the
seventh volume of the Bombay Geographical Society's Transactions.

suspicion, Sivaji's fleet, if estimated by numbers, would appear for-
midable indeed. The Factors of Carwar, giving an account of it in
1665, state that it consisted of eighty-five frigates and three great ships.
Such a force, when only seen upon paper, might have been viewed even
by the great powers of Europe with apprehension ; but probably its actual
strength was trifling. The " great ships" may indeed have carried
three masts ; but by the term "frigate" was signified, we may suppose,
the small coasting vessels, which vary in burthen from thirty to a hun-
dred and fifty tons.*

The other marine power upon the coast was commanded by Siddis.f
This people were originally natives of Abyssinia, but having been for
generations in the Mogul Emperor's pay, their families had received
grants of forts and lands on condition of equipping vessels and rendering
naval service. One, whose descendant still holds the town and port of
Jaffrabad on the coast of Katiwar, possessed at that time the Fort of Jinjira,
and when attacked in 1668 by a powerful force of Sivaji, applied to the
English for assistance. The authorities of Bombay were anxious that the
President should comply with his request, and the reason which they
gave is worthy of notice, as showing that they had not yet learnt to
estimate the true value of their insular possession. Those cunning in-
triguers and short-sighted politicians hoped that, if they were permitted
to interpose, Jinjira might eventually fall into their hands ; and they
suggested that its advantages as a settlement would be superior to trfose
of Bombay. J Jinjira ! Where and what is Jinjira ? You may still find
its place on a map ; but it is no port nor resort of trade ; it has fallen into
merited obscurity.

These Siddis were troublesome, dangerous neighbours, and it is diffi-
cult to say whether their enmity or friendship was most to be dreaded.
In 1672 they anchored with a fleet off Bombay, and requested the Pre-
sident's permission to enter the Harbour, and ravage the districts which
belonged to Sivaji. Their application was refused ; but having afterwards
relieved Jinjira, which was besieged by Sivaji, and routed the Maratha
troops, they returned to Bombay so inflated by success that they entered
the Harbour without thinking it necessary to ask any one's consent. The
President received them with constrained civility, for he was in an awk-
ward predicament. On the one side the Siddi urged him to form a
league against Sivaji, on the other side Sivaji vowed, that if this were done
he would instantly invade Bombay. It was lucky that the Siddi was
reasonable enough to take this dilemma into consideration. He promised
to abstain from hostilities against the Maratha districts which lay along
the Harbour, and prepared to take his departure. His followers, however,
gave proofs of their savage intentions by burning several houses at Ma-
zagam.

* Orant Duffs History, vol. i chap 6.

f What is the origin of this word? A friend suggests * Saiyid.' It was certainly
used as a title or complimentary name ; not as we HOW use the word 'Seedy' for a
African seaman.

Grant Duffs History, vol. i. chap. 1.

The next year the Siddi again came and craved permission to " winter"
in the Harbour. By " winter" we may observe in passing, the English
denoted that wet and boisterous, but hot and steamy season between June
and October. President Aungier, being afraid that the great Mogul might
resent upon the Factors at Surat any inhospitable treatment of his ad-
miral, permitted the unwelcome visitors to haul four of their vessels ashore,
on condition that their crews should withdraw and leave them under the
garrison's protection. In October these ships put to sea, and having
joined a considerable fleet, ravaged Sivaji's district, shed much blood, and
carried away men, women, and children to be sold into slavery.

In 1674 a fleet of the Siddi's again made its appearance. Several
of the men landing at the village of Sion scared away the inhabitants,
and would have occupied their houses during the monsoon, if they had
not been expelled by the English troops. It was then agreed that no
more than three hundred of the Siddi's men should remain on shore at
one time, and that those should bring no other weapon but their swords.*

In 1677 the English were nearly involved in a quarrel with these
people, because a certain Ensign Thorpe chose to insult and injure the
crew of one of their small vessels. f This incident will be mentioned in
another place ; it is enough to remark now, that a wound was left which
time alone could heal. Yet Siddi Sambhol again applied for leave " to
winter on the island." This was a proof of confidence, which the Deputy
Governor received like a bear's hug. He was by no means hospitably
disposed ; but, as the crafty African contrived to prolong the negotiation
until the monsoon had fairly set in, it was not then possible for his fleet
to leave the Harbour. He and his people resided for a month or two at
Mazagam without creating any disturbance ; although their intrigues were
unfailing sources of anxiety to the British Government. A threatening
message from Sivaji was the first intimation which the English received
of an injury which the Siddi had inflicted on the inhabitants of the oppo-
site shore. A Brahman, with money procured from Sambhol, hired a
boat and party of men, who kidnapped four other Brahmans and trans-
ported them to the Siddi's ships, where they were kept in close confinement.
Sivaji's menace aroused the President to discover and punish the men
stealers. Eleven were apprehended, three of whom were executed, and
the remainder sent as slaves to St. Helena. J

In October the restless propensities of these people gave rise to fresh
alarms. Ali Kossim had been appointed by the Emperor to supersede
Sambhol, and that month he arrived to take command of the fleet. Whe-
ther the old commander was willing to obey the august mandate for his
degradation, we know not ; but certainly his officers and sailors were de-
termined that he should not. The followers of the two Siddis were
divided into factions, and commenced a regular fight. The Deputy Go-
vernor immediately commanded his little army to interfere, and only when

* Orme's Fragments.

t Letter to the Court from the Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay ; dated
21th January 1676-?.
J Orme's Fragments.

all the followers of AH Kossim had been disarmed, and four horses of
English troopers killed, was the broken peace restored.*

The next year, at the earnest intercession of the Native Governor of
Surat, the Siddi was again permitted to reside at Bombay. His small ves-
sels were hauled ashore, and the large ones moored near Mazagam.
Many of his men took up their abode in the town, and daily committed
acts of violence against the Hindus. Brahmans, being the objects of their
especial aversion, were sometimes seized by them and subjected to im-
purities which no penances could expiate. The sufferers urged Sivaji to
avenge them by entering the Harbour, and burning the Siddi's fleet. Some
Maratha troops actually threatened to invade Bombay, but as the Portu-
guese were alarmed for the safety of Bassein and resolved to oppose their
march, the expedition was recalled.

Once more, on the twenty-eighth of April 1G80, we find the Deputy
Governor and Council subjected to annoyance by these people. With the
greatest effronteiy they brought some prisoners which had been seized in
Sivaji's districts, and offered them for sale in Bombay. The English
Government discovered twenty-one such unfortunate beings and immedi-
ately released them. A few days afterwards the Siddis attempted to
introduce contraband goods, and attacked the guards at the Custom
House. Their leader Kossim sailed with his fleet into the harbour, and
anchored off the Fort. The discharge of a few guns brought him to
reason : but Sambhaji, who had succeeded his father Sivaji, the death of
the latter having occurred at the beginning of this month was so annoyed
at the protection which the English had unwillingly afforded the Siddis,
that he also threatened an assault and invasion.

Sambhaji's fleet actually did attack the Siddis at the little island of
Haneri, and this led to a fresh annoyance. Having defeated Sambhaji's
men with great slaughter, the triumphant Sicldis brought eighty heads
in baskets to Mazagam, and were proceeding, as a matter of course, to
range them on poles along the shore; but the English Government, feeling
what the others thought a silly squeamishness, positively prohibited the
ghastly exhibition.!

This little Island Haneri, and its twin sister Khaneri, commanding to
a certain extent the entrance of the Harbour, were eagerly coveted by the
English Government, who saw in them a strong temptation to commence
an aggressive war. As Khaneri was supposed to have no fresh water, it
was neglected by all parties until 1G70, but in October of that year Sivaji,
enraged at the Siddis' predatory excursions, and being prevented from
retaliating by attacking them at Bombay, took possession of Khaneri.
This measure placed him in such a j osition that he could not only
pounce upon his African foes, but also, when they were protected by the
English, make reprisals on the hitter's shipping.

Under these circumstances the English, in conjunction with their new
allies the Siddis, attempted to eject the Marathas. Their first step was
to send an aged Captain, or as another writer states with more proba-

# Letters from tho Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay in October 1677
f Onne's Fragments.

l>ility a drunken Lieutenant* in a small vessel, with instructions to de-
mand why the intruders had come to Khaneri. This Officer being in-
duced to land, he and his crew were treacherously cut off. The Revenge,
a Pink, and seven native craft were then ordered to lie at anchor so as to
block up all the avenues to the rock. Upon this challenge the Marathas,
with forty vessels, attacked the English fleet, took one grab, and put to
flight all except the Revenge. The little man-of-war was commanded by
Captain Minchin, and the gallant Captain Keigwin, who was Commodore
for the occasion, was with him. These officers coolly permitted the Ma-
rathas to board, and then sweeping the deck fore and aft with their great
guns, destroyed some hundreds, sunk four of the enemy's vessels, and
compelled the rest to seek refuge in flight. Yet, signal as was this suc-
cess, they did not recover Khaneri.

As a counter movement against Sivaji, Siddi Kossim proceeded to en-
trench himself at Haneri, and in 1680 Sambhaji in vain attempted to
drive him out. Although guns planted on these rocks cofdd never have
such a long range as to prevent ingress to, and egress from, the Harbour,
yet when they were in possession of uncertain friends, like the Siddis and
Marathas, the annoyance must have been almost insupportable. The
Deputy Governor in Council therefore earnestly asked the Court's permis-
sion to expel these occupants. But prudence was the order of the day.
The Court in reply declared that they were quite opposed to any such
undertaking, and then expounded a policy which they soon found reason
to change in reality, although not in profession. They say : " Although
we have formerly wrote you that we will have no war for Hendry Ken-
dry, yet all war is so contrary to our constitution, as well as our interest,
that we cannot too often inculcate to you our aversion thereunto." The
same injunction is repeated only in still stronger terms the following year,
although the inconvenience of allowing these islands to be occupied by the
sailors of another nation is fully acknowledged.!

This excessive caution of the English was, as may be supposed, called
timidity by the Natives, who rather mortified the Factors by taunting
them in some such language as the following : " Why vaunts your na-
tion ? What victories have you achieved V What has your sword done?
Who ever felt your power ? What do you possess ? We see the Dutch
outdo you ; the Portugals have behaved themselves like men ; every one
runs you down ; you can scarce keep Bombaim, which you got (as we
know) not by your valour but compact ; and will you pretend to be men
of war, or cope with our princes ? It's fitter for you to live on merchan-
dize and submit to us."J Reading these taunts in the nineteenth century,
we almost look at them as prophecy under the garb of satire. At that
time, however, a prophet eould only have said ; ' thou sword of the Eng-
lish, how long wilt thou be quiet ? Put up thyself into the scabbard, rest
and be still. Thou hast not yet received thy charge against the nations
of India. For the English, submission and patience are now appointed. '

* Bruce says " an aged Captain," Orme " a Lieutenant in a fit of drunkenness."
t Letters from the Court ; dated 22nd April 1681, and May 16i>2. Grant Duff's His-
tory, vol. i. chapter 10. Hamilton's Eiudustan.
% Fryer, Letter vii. chapter 1. g See Jeremiah, chapter xlvii, G and 7.

Although the pacific instructions of the Court seem plain and decisive,
their policy was in truth mean and crooked. They recommended their
servants to temporize with the great and semi-barbarous powers by which
they were surrounded ; but yet encouraged them to enforce an observance
of treaties by the employment of armed vessels. They thus hoped, that if
their military enterprizes should fail, and they should be blamed in Eng-
land, they might shift all responsibility from their own shoulders to those
of their servants in India. So much, be it remarked, is admitted even by
their apologists.*

The Siddis continued to visit Mazagam frequently, to annoy the
English, and plunder the opposite districts of the Marathas. They even
purchased houses, and established their families in Bombay. One Mara-
tha vessel, which they seized in 1G81, was rescued by the guard-boats
of the English. In 1G82 continual skirmishes took place between their
fleet and Sambhaji's, both sides being guilty of gross outrages. At last
Sambhaji prohibited the exportation of grain from his territories to Bom-
bay, and, as the Portuguese, glad of an opportunity to distress the Eng-
lish, did the same, the price of provisions was tripled. A sanguinary
conflict ensued between the fleet of Sambhaji, commanded by Siddi Misri,
a relation of that Sambhol, who had been dismissed the Emperor's service,
and the regular fleet of the Siddi, commanded by Yakut Khan. Victory
declared for the latter, and Misii being mortally wounded was brought to
die at Mazagam.')'

Another evil, which in time grew to enormous magnitude, had always
been a serious hindrance to English trade. The Western Coasts of India
had been notorious for pirates even when visited by the Romans in the
days of their power, and their fleets which came annually from the Red
Sea carried a number of archers for protection against these rovers. J
Ptolemy wrote of them, as if he respected their heroism. Marco
Polo in 1269 said, that with their wives and children they passed all the
months of fair weather at sea, that each of their fleets comprised twenty
ships, which being ranged at a distance of five miles from each other,
made a line of a hundred miles, and that as soon as one descried a mer-
chant ship, she made a signal to the rest, so that it was scarcely possible
for their victim to escape. 1 1

These pirates of Malabar were at first considered formidable to English
vessels even when well armed. Sir Thomas Herbert fell in with a piratical
craft, to which chase was given by two of the ship's boats, each containing
fifty musqueteers. A hand-to-hand engagement followed. The pirates
used their weapons with such desperate courage, and plied so well what
Herbert calls " a sort of hand-granado with a volley of invenomous
shafts," but which, probably, was nothing more than a " stink pot," that
the English were constrained to retreat, with half of their men either

* Bruce's Annals 1677-8. Mill's History, Book i. chap. 4.
f Orme's Fragments. Grant Duff's History, vol. i. chap. 10.
iPKn. Hist. Nat. Lib. vi. c. 23.
\ Writing of them as a vdpwv Tre/parwy.
II Teaaaat, vol. i,

killed or scalded. The same English ship came upon forty boats of pirates
at Mangalore ; but all made good their escape.

During the whole period which this narrative embraces, the coast was
infested with these marine thieves and others called Sanganians or Sinda-
nians.* The latter yielded in courage but not in cruelty to the pirates
of Malabar.

In 1677 some of these wretches seized an Englishman near Cotarra,
whilst he was sailing in a Portuguese vessel from Daman. They demand-
ed a ransom ; but in conformity with a principle which has been generally
adopted by the British Government in India, Mr. Bourchier, who was act-
ing for the Deputy Governor of Bombay, refused to give any. He well
knew that such a payment would only lead to more seizures, and believed
that his determination was prudent and humane, although apparently
cruel. The disappointed pirates bound their unhappy prisoner to a tree,
and lanced him to death.f

Fryer, when passing up the river to Vengurla, met a Malabar pirate,
which had made prize of a grab in open day. The English vessel in which
lie sailed immediately attacked her, although she had sixty fighting men
who defended themselves with small guns, stones, and stink pots. As the
gunner of the English vessel had been left in the slums of Goa, one of the
Factors was obliged to serve the single gun. He performed this duty so
clumsily that he set his own clothes on fire with a cartridge, and leaped
over board to quench the flames. Taking advantage of the confusion
caused by this mishap, the pirates attempted to board, but were repelled
by a discharge of blunderbusses. They then sheered off. The English
were warmly congratulated and complimented for their gallantry by the
Chief of the Dutch Factory at Vengurla, and others who had been specta-
tors of the combat. They afterwards heard that the Captain of the pirate
vessel and several men had been killed, and that numerous other vessels of
the same class were lying in wait for them with a view of taking their
revenge.J

As for the Native vessels engaged in the coasting trade they were as
mice, for which the Malabarese and Sanganians contended like dogs and
cats. The superior courage and strength of the former generally obtained
the prey. Or, perhaps, the native traders might be better compared to
rabbits, skipping from one burrow to another. During the day they lay
concealed in some hiding place, and towards evening a sailor would ascend
an eminence to make a survey. Not until they were satisfied that no
pirates were in the neighbourhood, and their movements were screened by
the darkness, did they venture forth. In short, the paths of the ocean were
fully as dangerous for defenceless travellers as those of the land.

Secure as the present position of the English in India appears, it is
difficult to imagine the constant alarms and anxieties amidst which they

* Sangadians are mentioned by Arrian. Todd says that the proper name would be
Sangam-dharians, from S(ingams\.n embouchure, because they frequented such places,
Travels in Western India by Lieut. Colonel James Todd chapter 20.

f Letter from the Deputy Governor and Council ; dated 3rd April 1677-

1 Fryer, Letter iv. chapter 2.

\ Thevenot. Liv, i, chapter 6. Fryer, Letter v. chap, 1,

must have formerly lived. We cannot say whether they had most cause
to fear the hostility of native powers, freebooters by sea and land, or their
European rivals. The Portuguese continued to insult and injure them,
nor was it at once discovered how much more audacious were the words
than the acts of that decaying race. They had lately exposed themselves
to contempt, by suffering a force of six hundred Arabs from Muscat to
invade the territory and plunder the churches and houses of Bassein,
although the garrison outnumbered their assailants.* Yet recreant as was
this behaviour of their troops, President Aungier wrote soon after that
they had " grown very prodigiously bold." They chased a Malabar vessel
into the harbour of Bombay, and then insisted that the Deputy Governor
should give her up as their lawful prize. The reply was a peremptory
refusal. So Manoel de Saldanha, their General, arose in his fury, levied
an army of twelve hundred men, and vowed that if the vessel were riot
surrendered peaceably, he would invade Bombay, and take it by force.
He actually began to march, fyut then found that the English Chief was
not to be frightened into submission by threats. His opponent's calm
resolution induced the General to alter his plans and beat a retreat, whilst
the English chuckled and laughed. He was also, they said, " very much
reproached by the Hidolgoos and Padrees for his rash folly."f

The high tone with which the English addressed their neighbours in
this affair was new, and in remarkable contrast with their style at other
times. The Deputy's firmness met with the full approbation of his
superior, who was only afraid that there were spies within the camp.
Some Roman Catholic priests had been more busy than became them in
this matter. The President therefore directed that a strict account should
be taken of such persons, " and particularly of that Jesuit Padree at
Parell, and the Padrees in Mahim."J The refuse of the Goanese clergy
were continually resorting to Bombay, and remaining there without hav-
ing a cure of souls, or any regular appointment, and it was difficult to
ascertain whether they were engaged in political intrigues, or merely
escaping from the irksome discipline of a monastic life. In the one case
they were likely to prove dangerous ; in the other only troublesome ; but
that their object was either to make the Portuguese on the island ill affec-
ted towards the Government, or else to free themselves from all restraint,
and lead licentious lives, appears to have been undoubted. An order was
therefore issued, requiring " all such vagabond Padrees" to repair to
Chaul, or wherever else they pleased. It bore a semblance of intolerance,
but was in reality a protective ordinance.

When menaces had failed to obtain any satisfaction, some Portuguese
of Salsette resorted to baser means of indulging an impotent revenge, and
foully murdered a Serjeant Southerland, who had strayed beyond the
English boundary. ThePresident declared " such bloody violences cannot

* Orme's Fragments. This was in 167i-

f Letter from the President and Council of Surat to Fort St. George ; dated 25th
March 1676.

Letter from the President and Council of Surat to Bombay ; dated 28th March

JL<
1676.

Letter from the same to the same ; dated 17th October 1G76.

be put up without satisfaction," and ordered that the Superior of the Col-
lege at Bandora should be called to account for this assassination, as it was
perpetrated within the limits of his jurisdiction. We are not told whe-
ther this reasonable demand met with due attention.*

Envy was the mainspring of Portuguese hostility. The English Fac-
tors said ; " They are ever exquisite seekers of all ways imaginable to
do us mischief, envying us, we suppose, the sudden prosperity this place is
rose to." Holding, as they did, Karinja and Salsette, they had it in their
power to fetter English trade with the interior, and they were far from
backward in making use of their opportunities. For all goods passing in-
land they exacted a duty of ten per cent, but their heaviest impost was
upon timber brought to Bombay from Kalyan and Brimsley.^ For this
they demanded a duty of thirty-three per cent, in addition to a charge of
twenty per cent made by their officer who commanded at Bassein, as a
premium for permission to let it pass through his district. At one time
they forbad all transportation of Rice from Bandora to Bombay, and,
although their own supplies were abundant, placed a duty, which was so
heavy as to be almost prohibitory, on the exportation of fruks, vegetables,
and fowls from all parts of their territory. However, the English stea-
dily resisted the demand for custom-duties at Thana and Karinja, and
threatened an appeal to arms in case an attempt was made to enforce
payment.

From one part of their illiberal system the Government of Bombay
reaped considerable benefit. ' That intolerance by which the Portuguese
have earned an unenviable celebrity, was as ruinous to their settlements
as it was advantageous to their neighbours. Brahmans, whose services
were of much value, lived at Bandora in constant fear that when they died
their children would be seized by the Priests and baptized. Many of them,
therefore, escaped to Bombay, and of those who remained some built on
that Island houses, where they left their wives and children as in places of
security.}

The Dutch Factory at Surat was now on a grand scale, yet the affairs
of that nation were conducted with such economy and skill that they were
held up by the Court of Directors as models to which they expected their
Factors to conform themselves. || As the Portuguese were the most
troublesome rivals of the English on land, so the Dutch were their most
formidable enemies at sea. After the war had broken out between the two
nations in 16G4, the cupidity of each was instigated by the desire of ex-
cluding the other from the Indian trade. In England avarice hoped to
profit by national indignation, and even poetry condescended to swell the
stream of popular fury, taking for its themes " delenda est Carthago," and

* Letter as above.

f So written in the Records.

j Letters from the Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay to the Court, dated
24th January 1676-7 ; and from the Court to the Deputy Governor &c., dated Decem-
ber 1683.

$ Voyages de Thevenot, Liv. i. chap. 7-

I) Letter from the Court to the President and Council of Surat ; dated 16th Novem-
ber 1683. Fryer's Account, page 63,

the tempting prizes of the Lowlanders' commerce.* But probably the
expectations of the Dutch had a better foundation, as the armaments which
they sent to the Indian seas were far superior to those of the English.
When the avaricious designs of the two nations were frustrated by the peace,
the Dutch still endeavoured to attain their object by intriguing with Na-
tive merchants. The English Company also was almost ruined by the ex-
penses of a fleet which they had equipped to revenge upon the Dutch their
expulsion from Bantam, but which was prevented from sailing by Charles
the Second. They were unable to remit the usual sums of money to India
for the purchase of cargoes, and their Factories having to supply the defi-
ciency, became involved in debt.f

At this period the French made their first appearance at Surat as trad-
ers. Colbert, their Minister of Finance, had contrived the establishment
of an East India Company in 1GG4, and their agents settled at Surat in
1GG8 under Caron, a man of French extraction, but who had grown old
in the service of the Dutch Company at Japan. Having been banished
from that country on account of his intrigues, and not well received by the
Dutch at Java, he placed himself at the disposal of the French, by whom
he was sent to Surat ; but he appears to have soon become convinced that
his countrymen were incapable of competing with the English and Dutch. J
In 1G71-2 a French fleet of twelve ships arrived, bringing stock which
was valued at a hundred and thirty thousand pounds. Their purchases
and sales were made with such rashness, that for a time they reduced the
price of European, and raised the price of Indian goods. But the English
Factors perceived that they were poor men of business, and not likely to
prove successful rivals in commerce. As for their Factory, Fryer dis-
missed the consideration by merely saying, that " it is better stored with
monsieurs than with cash ; they live well, borrow money, and make a
show." The conclusion of the French speculation was, that they ran away
from Surat without paying their debts, and when they sought permission
to return, were positively refused. ||

Some French Capuchins had also established themselves at Surat, and
having used the name of an Aleppo merchant to purchase land, had built a
monastery and elegant church. Important services which they rendered
to the English when in trouble were many years afterwards acknowledged
with gratitude by the President and Council.^" The intrepid and disinter-
ested conduct of Father Ambrose, their Superior, deserves to be recorded.
When Sivaji was approaching the city, the good father appeared before
him and implored him to spare all Christians. Even this Hindu had

* Thus Dryden in his " Satire upon the Dutch" ;
" As Cato did in Afric fruits display,

Let us before our eyes their Indies lay.

All loyal English will like him conclude,

Let Ciesar live, and Carthage be subdued.'*
fTCaynnl, vol. i. Book 3.
+ Raynnl, Book 4.
$ Mill's History, Book i Chap 4.
|j Fryer's Account. Raynal, Book 4.

,i Letter from the President and Council to the Hon. Thomas Pitt; dated 13th
April 1J60. Voyages de Tavernier, Tome iii.

sufficient respect fur his character to grant his request. The Convent was
left unossailed, and all who took refuge in it escaped without injury.*

Not the least of the anxieties with which the English Factors were
harassed, arose from a constant expectation of having their trade shared by
interlopers. Strict injunctions were received from home that such should
be seized ; if possible, by surprise, in order to avoid bloodshed ; but at
any rate they were to be seized. When taken, their ships with the cargoes
were to be confiscated. One-half of the value was appropriated to his Bri-
tannic Majesty's use, and the other half, according to their charter, to the
Company. f Against some who had evaded the Factors' vigilance, suc-
cessful actions were brought in the Courts of England.^ At the same
time the Company declared publicly that Free Trade was permitted but
this was a quibble, or rather an unblushing falsehood.

To men hedged in and protected by exclusive privileges, it seemed as
preposterous that any regularly organized body should be authorized by
Government to enter their field of commerce, as that the trade should be
altogether opened. Several propositions for establishing a new Company
had been made, received favourably by the people of England, and even
listened to by the King. These the old Company affected to treat with
contempt, although there is no doubt that in secret they were really
alarmed. At last, in 1082, they had so far succeeded in propitiating the
King and his Council, that they flattered themselves the threatened storm
had altogether passed away.

" We suppose you may have heard the noise of the new subscriptions,"
they wrote, " or a new East India Stock, a thing in itself frivolous, and
serving only to amuse idle and ignorant people, not Princes nor Coun-
cils of State, or any wise man. But, however, to lay that matter for ever
asleep, it had lately a great debate before his Majesty and Council to the
Company's great honour and reputation, which is enough for us to say to
you upon this occasion. "||

Deluded Court ! When they wrote in this triumphant and self-gra-
tulatory style, they little knew what rivalry was in store for them. They
leaned upon the King and Council a reed which broke and pierced them.
They had confidence in a bad cause, and such usually leads to shame and
discomfiture.

In October 1685 accounts reached Bombay that Charles the Second was
dead. On the twenty-fifth James the Second was proclaimed at Surat
with all possible solemnity, and a congratulatory address forwarded to
him by the President and Council.^

* Raynal as above. Voyages de Thevenot, Liv i. cliap. 10.

f Letter from the Court to the Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay ; dated
May 1682.

J Letter as above ; dated February 1G84.

3 Fryer's Account.

|) Letter from the Court to the President and Council j dated 22nd May 1G82,

TI Bruce's Annals, I0b5-80.

CHAPTER VI

16621685.

CONTENTS. Home and personal Affairs. Swally, and the ride to Surat The
Factory Rank and pay of the Factors ; the rest of the Establishment ; idle-
ness The President's style Sepulchral monuments The Court remonstrates
Characters Fryer ; his history ; his Travels into the interior, ascent of
the Ghats and other adventures Sir George Oxenden ; his family ; charac-
ter ; descendants Gerald Aungier ; his religion ; death Religious phrases in
ordinary use Contrast in the immorality of the times Governors Cook and
Gary Deputy Governor Young ; his outrageous conduct A Naval Ensign
A Drunkard's broadside A Military quill-driver Gentleman Jones the
Serjeant A Corporal's freak Official peculation Bombay punch and its
effects ; duelling and gambling ; dive's opinion of the Military The Co urn's
opinion of their servants A cargo of Ladies ; bad investment ; their cruel
treatment Children of mixed marriages Mutinies at Bombay ; causes ; spirit
of the times ; retrenchment ; first mutiny ; Shaxtou sent home ; the Court dis-
gusts all classes ; Keigwin raises the standard of revolt ; Statesmanlike con-
duct The President fails to establish order Officers sent from England Sir
Thomas Grautham arrives, and gains possession of Bombay Treatment of the
n-bels Factories at Dharamgam, Houawar, Carwar, Rattera and Brinjau
Anecdotes of the Factors.

THE Factors of Surat were making themselves extremely comfortable,
and indeed gradually imitating that style and grandeur which distinguish
the corporate societies of England. Some of them resided at Swally
where at first they had been contented to pitch tents, but in the days of
President Andrews convenient bungalows were erected. The scene here
was interesting, particularly after the periodical arrivals of ships from
Europe. A suitable landing-place led to the English dwellings. English,
Dutch, and French colours were hoisted on their respective flagstaff's ; and
at the sea- side were the tombs of several Europeans.

When the residents of Swally visited Surat, they generally maintained
their dignity by travelling in some state. Horses were not used for draft ;
but their ordinary conveyances were two-wheeled carts or four-wheeled
waggons, drawn by bullocks, and styled by courtesy chariots or coaches.
With few exceptions these were made after the native fashion, and the
rider was compelled to sit cross-legged in them. Fryer savs, " they were
covered with scarlet and ill hung, being much like those sold at London to
please little children with, only larger and lined with velvet." They were
escorted by a company of peons, such a troop, remarks the same graphic
author, as may be seen " in old pictures of our Lord's apprehension."

The English Factory was a handsome and solid building of stone. Tt
supported an upper and lower gallery, was ornamented by some good
carving, and contained private apartments, with " a neat oratory," and
common dining-room. Strangers were pleased with the numerous curio-
sities which were exhibited in it. There were various specimens of zoo-
logy, then considered novelties ; amongst them a good collection of tumbler,
fan tail, and other pigeons, fighting-cocks from Siam, milk-white turtle
doves from Bussora, cockatoes and newries from Bantam, a cassiowary
which had the power of digesting iron, and diminutive Ahmadavats.

The hours for transacting business with natives were from ten to
twelve, and again from four until night. At such times the Factory was
a scene of extraordinary noise and bustle.

There were not more than twenty-eight Factors and Writers.* Their
apartments seemed to a visitor extremely elegant, when compared with
others in India. The higher grades of rank were attained by a regular
system of seniority, and an order of precedence was strictly observed.
First came the President and eight members of Council, five only of whom
were obliged to reside at Surat. Next to the President ranked! the Ac-
countant, who acted as Treasurer, and prepared the accounts for audit.
After him came the Warehouse -keeper, who registered the sales of Euro-
pean, and the purchases of Oriental goods. Fourth was the Purser Marine,
who was required to give an account of all exports and imports, to pay
seamen's wages, provide stores, and discharge other duties connected with
the shipping. The fifth was the Secretary, who regulated the general
affairs. These five were members of Council.

When a young man first arrived in India he was styled an Apprentice ;
but after a time this term seems to have been thought ^'lllgar, and given
up.f When he had served his apprenticeship, he became a Writer ; his
salary was ten pounds per annum, and he was held under a bond of five
hundred pounds to serve for five years. At the expiration of that time he
became a Factor ; his salary was raised to twenty pounds, and he was
bound in the sum of a thousand pounds. After three years he became a
Senior Factor ; and after another three years, a merchant with forty
pounds per annum. The chiefs of minor Factories, Bombay, Bantam,
Persia, Ahmedabad, Agra, Hubli, Rajapur, Carwar, and Calicot, were ta-
ken from this class of servants, but many preferred remaining in Council
at Surat, as they were enabled to make such large profits there on con-
signments. The Accountant's salary was seventy-two pounds, fifty- two
of which were paid in India, and the rest in England. The President's

* Lists were periodically sent home to the Court. The above is the average after
a comparison of numerous lists.

f The following is the Court's regulation : " For the advancement of our Appren-
tices we direct that, after they have served the first five yeares, they shall have <!()
per annum, for the two last yeares ; and having served those two yeares, to be en-
tertayned one yeare longer, as Writers, and have Writer's sallary : and having served
thatyeare, to enter into the degree of Factors, which otherwise would have been ten
yeares. And knowing that a distinction of titles is in many respects necessary, we
do order, that when the Apprentices have served their times, they be stiled Writers;
:ind Avhen the Writers have served their times, they be stiled Factors ; and Factors,
having served their times, to be stiled Merchants ; and Merchants having served tlieil*
times, to be stiled Senior Merchants *' 1'ruce's Annals, 1/75-0.

salary was five hundred, a gratuity of two hundred having been added to
the former salary of three hundred pounds, " for the purpose of remov-
ing all temptation to engage in private trade ;" and in President Aungier's
case this gratuity was increased to five hundred pounds on account of
special services. The President was obliged to sign a bond for five thou-
sand pounds. In 1679 the salary of the Deputy Governor of Bombay
was reduced to a hundred and twenty pounds. Half of all salaries, with
the exception of the Accountants and Writers, was paid in England, and
was considered a security that, in case of any misdemeanour, the offend-
ing party might be fined by the Court. Writers, received their ten
pounds in India. A Chaplain, who received fifty pounds salary, and
significant condition fifty pounds more " during good behaviour," a Phy-
sician and Surgeon, whose incomes corresponded with the Senior Factors',
completed the European part of the establishment. A Munshi was also
attached to the Factory in order that the young men might be instructed
in native languages, but few made any effort to learn them. The Court
complained that they were an idle set. Indeed their betters often set them
but a poor example. Some who ranked next to members of Council, and
others who had been sent out as Chiefs of subordinate Factories, were
severely reprimanded for indifference, idleness, and gross neglect of their
official duties. Many had quite a schoolboy's dislike of the pen, and so
their masters directed that a school-boy's punishment should be inflicted
upon them. For every day their work was neglected they were to be
fined one dollar, which was to be deducted from the portion of their sala-
ries paid in India. But lest the Company should be suspected of any
mercenary motive in taking these dollars, they were to be added to the
fund which was raised for defraying the expenses of public buildings and
the decorations of Bombay I*

That an impression might be made upon the natives, the President
indulged to a considerable extent in pomp and state even more than
the Dutch President. He had a standard-bearer and bodyguard composed
of a serjeant and double file of English soldiers. Forty natives also attend-
ed him. At dinner each course was ushered in by the sound of trumpets,
and his ears were regaled by a band of music. Whenever he left his
private rooms he was preceded by attendants with silver wands. On great
occasions, when he issued from the Factory, he appeared on horseback, or
in a palanquin, or a coach drawn by milk-white oxen doubtless of that
large and beautiful breed for which Gujarat is celebrated. "j" Led horses

* Letter from the Court to the President and Council ; dated 16th November 1683.
Bruce's Annals.

f Fryer's sketch from nature of " a coach" is so fresh and accurate that the
reader shall have a copy : " Two large milk-white oxen are put in to draw it, with
circling horns as black as a coal, each point tipped witli brass, from whence come
brass chains across to the headstall* which is all of scarlet, and a scarlet collar to.
each, of brass bells, about their necks, their flapping ears snipped with art, and from
their nostrils bridles covered with scarlet. The chariot itself is not swinging like ours
but fastened to the main axles by neat arches, whichsupport a four-square seat, which
is inlaid with ivory, or enriched as they please ; at every corner are turned pillars,
which make (by twisted silk or cotton cords) the sides, and support the roof, covered
with English scarlet cloth, and lined with silk, with party-coloured borders ; in these
they spread carpels, and lay bolsters to ride cross-legged, sometimes three or four
in one. It is borne on two wheels only, such little ones as our tbr wheels are, and

with silver bridles followed, and an umbrella of state was carried before
him. The equipages of the other Merchants and Factors came behind in
procession, and corresponded with the President's.*

These accounts of the President's grandeur are confirmed by tombs
which still remain standing at Surat. What was the style of the living
may be inferred from the houses of the dead ; and, moreover, Fancy may
see in these sepulchral ruins the continuance of an undying rivalry be-
tween the agents of England and Holland. Van Reede, the old Dutch
Chief, has a brave charnel-house. His mouldering bones lie beneath a
double cupola of great dimensions, formerly adorned with frescoes, es-
cutcheons, and elegant wood-work. Its original cost may be supposed to
have been enormous, when we read that to repair it cost the Dutch Com-
pany six thousand rupees. It is not indeed to be compared with the
Mohammedan tombs of Delhi, Agra and Bijapur, but no European struc-
tures of the kind, except the tomb of Adrian at Rome and a few others,
equal it. Doubtless the intention of its builders was to eclipse the noble
mausoleum which covers the remains of Sir George and Christopher
Oxenden, who died a few years earlier than Van Reede. Christopher is
commemorated by a cupola within the loftier and more expansive cupola
raised in honour of his more distinguished brother, the President. The
height of this monument is forty feet, the diameter twenty-five. Massive
pillars support the cupolas, and round their interiors are galleries reached
by a flight of many steps. The body of an Indian Viceroy might have
found here a worthy resting place ; it is far too superb for the Chief of a
Factory, and his brother who was only a subordinate.^

The fact is, that the President's pomp and extravagance were in ad-
vance of the times, and the Court of Directors strove to check them. A
Company of " adventurers" could ill afford to support a kind of royal state,
and however much they might have desired that their representatives
should present an imposing appearance to the natives of India, they com-
plained bitterly of the heavy charge, at a time when they were expending
large sums upon the fortifications of Bombay. They plainly told their
President that they would be better pleased, if he could suppress his rising
vanity, and mortify his inordinate love of display. J Two years later also
they ordered that he should only be styled Agent ; and his salary be re-
duced to three hundred pounds a year.

pinned on with a wooden arch, which serves to mount them. The charioteer rides
before, a-straddle on the beamtliat makes the yoke for the oxen, which is covered with
scarlet, and finely carved underneath. He carries a goad instead of a whip. In win-
ter (when they rarely stir) they have a mnmjuma, or waxcloth to throw over it.
Those for journeying are something stronger than those for the merchants to ride
about the city, or to take the air on ; which with their nimble oxen they will, when
they meet in the fields, run races on, and contend for the garland as much as for an
Olympick prize ; which is a diversion, To see a cow gallop, as we say in scorn ; but
these not only pluck up their heels apace, but are taught to amble, they often riding
on them." Letter vi chapter i.

* Letter from the President and Council to the Court, dated 28th January 1663-4.
Fryer's Account. Thevenot, Liv i. Chapter 7- Gautier Schouten, Tome i.

t Olof Foreen's Voyage. Thevenot.

J Letter from the President and Council, in reply to the Court ; dated 17th January
1675-76.

\ Kaye'a Administration.

The reader is now invited to come behind the scenes at Surat and Bom-
bay, and see what after all was the state of society, when its tine dress
and ceremony were thrown aside.

And first, he shall be introduced to a gentleman whose book is, next
to official records, the best authority we have for a knowledge of men and
manners at that time. Fryer had graduated as Doctor of Medicine at the
University of Cambridge, and having given abundant proofs of his learn-
ing, penetration, and sagacity, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
On the ninth of December 1672 he left England in the ship Unity t ac-
companied by ten other East Indiamen, and, after visiting the Coromandel
Coast, arrived the following December at Bombay, where he was received
by President Aungier. There his medical services were in constant re-
quisition, not only for his countrymen, but also for distinguished Portu-
guese and natives. " John de Mendos," of Bassein, sent for him to at-
tend his only daughter, a handsome girl, on the point of marriage with
the Portuguese Admiral of the North. He then went to Junar at the
request of the Mogul general, and was attended by a Brahman, who acted
as interpreter, his servants, and numerous peons. Travelling in a palan-
quin with eight bearers the usual number, we may. observe, in those
days he passed Thana, and reached Kalyan, where he gazed with
astonishment on ruins of stately fabrics, and many traces of departed
magnificence. As he progressed, he noticed with the eye of a close ob-
server, the habits of the natives and condition of the country. Governors
and other officers were not a little troublesome. " A hungry look hung
upon them all ;" and Fryer, who was never satisfied with any one so well
as himself, thought that he escaped their exactions, only by his singular
courtesy, good humour, and adroitness. Leaving behind him Murbar and
Des'ir, he ascended the Ghats to Appagam. This seemed to him if we
may judge from his statement an enterprise little inferior to Hannibal's
passage over the Alps. There was no road, but stones forming broken
steps, and the breathless porters threaded their way amidst hanging trees,
the roots of which had been left bare by the falling earth. Wearied as
they were, even the promise of " nectar in the skies" was but a faint en-
couragement to them. Hands and feet were all called into requisition.
" To look down made my brains turn round," writes the traveller ;
" over my head pendulous rocks threatened to entomb me." Intense
labour extorted tears of anguish from his servants' eyes ; but when at last,
by a narrow cavern cut through the rock, they reached the summit, a
little arak distributed amongst them, according to promise, made them
hasten cheerfully to the nearest village.

On reaching his destination, Fryer attended the darbar, respectfully
presented a letter from the English President, and met with a courteous
reception ; but after being told who his patients were, was desired to wait
for the occurrence of a fortunate day. At length being summoned to the
harem, he found a bed hung with silk curtains, and was desired to place
his hand under the curtains, in order that he might feel an invalid's pulse.
At first his conductors played him a trick, and let him touch the wrist of
a healthy slave ; but when he declared that the owner was in robust
health, there was extended to him an arm which gave signs of a weak

constitution, and left him no doubt as to what should be his prescription.
The following day the Khan sent for him to bleed another of his wives.
Across the apartment into which he was ushered a large curtain extend-
ed, through a hole of which an arm was stretched. As good luck would
have it, there was behind this screen a number of inquisitive ladies, who,
as they peeped through, so pressed upon it, that suddenly it gave way, and
revealed the whole bevy fluttering like so many birds over which a net has
been spread. None endeavoured to escape, but there they stood, pretend-
ing to be excessively modest, and peering at the Doctor through the open
lattices of their fingers. As for him, he found himself holding by the arm
44 a plump russet dame," who summoned the blood to her cheeks, and
commanded that the curtain should be replaced. No offence was given or
taken. The Doctor was rewarded with a golden shower of pagodas poured
into the basin, over which his patient had been bled, and his servants, to
his infinite satisfaction, drew them out of the extravasated gore.

But Fryer had the Company's interests in view, as well as his own. He
did his utmost to open a trade between Junar and Bombay, suggesting
that the Mogul General might in this way provide his army with horses
from Bussora and Mocha, in exchange for which he could give the ordinary
merchandize of his country. However, the Maratha army, possessing the
intervening districts, were an obstruction in this route, which probably
was not overcome.

As Fryer was returning, the bearers of his palanquin must have tried
to enjoy a joke at his expense ; but it was in the end no joking matter
for them. Drawing near a small grove, they saw such a blaze of light
created by fireflies that they really were, or pretended to be, terrified.
The learned Doctor, not being milder and gentler than the rest of his
countrymen, drew his sword, and, as he said, by opening a vein or two,
let out the shaitan, who had crept into their fancies. Yet the perpetrator
of such a wanton and tyrannical act could listen with the most tender
compassion to tales of misery, which the natives told, and which probably
were at that time as harrowing themes as the people of any country have
ever dilated on.

Two men amongst the English, who resided in India, and as far as we
know, only two, deserve particular and honourable mention. Sir George
Oxenden, and his successor, Gerald Aungier, would have done credit to
any age or nation. When the detestable licentiousness and political base-
ness which degraded Charles the Second's reign, were leavening Anglo-
Indian society, these two men remained uncorrupt. They were profess-
edly religious characters, and their behaviour was in the main consistent
with their profession.

Sir George Oxenden's family is said to have derived its origin from Ox-
endenden in the parish of Nonington, Kent, and to have resided in that
country since the reign of Edward the Third. Their arms may, I believe,
be seen in a window of Denton Church, impaling the heraldic shields
of Twitham, Barton, Ratlinga, Yonge, Wenderton and Broadnax. Sir
George's elder brother, Sir Henry, was the first baronet.

In the inscription on the monument at Surat, which is designed to com-
memorate Sir George and his brother Christopher, the former is styled

" a great man," and the affection by which the brothers were bound to
the last, is simply and touchingly recorded. Sir George was both good
and great. In his official correspondence there is a strikingly religious
tone. When after long delay a Chaplain had been sent to Swa'lly, he and
his Council " most humbly thanked" the Company for showing " such
spiritual care for their souls." They added that their minister was a
great comfort to them, that his comportment was " sober, and becoming
his function and call to holy orders," and that they felt sure of deriving
" future comfort and happiness from his piety and sober behaviour." Even
Alexander Hamilton, who had rarely a good word for Indian officials, said
that " when Sir George died, piety grew sick, and the building of Churches
was grown unfashionable." The zeal which made him so anxious to
have a Church built in Bombay, extended its liberality to England. In
] 060 he gave a velvet cushion and pulpit cloth to the Church of Wing-
ham, and in 1682 five hundred pounds for repairs of the same Church and
Chancel. He also bequeathed three hundred pounds for the repairs of
Adisham Church. In the accounts of his demise which the Factors for-
warded to the Company, they express the general regret felt at Surat and
Bombay for his loss, feelingly describe the probity and talents with which
he had guarded the Company's privileges and managed their commerce,
clear his character from unjust aspersions, and finally declare that he
had gained the respect, not only of the English, but of the Dutch, French,
Native Government, and Merchants of Surat.

Sir George Oxenden had accumulated considerable wealth. The bulk
he left, together with his noble example, to the line of baronets, who,
from that day to this, have possessed Brome, and other valuable estates
in Kent.*

Gerald Aungier was also a man of high character, although perhaps in-
ferior in goodness of heart to Oxenden. He was too fond of religious
phrases, and sometimes used them in excess. When accused by the
Court of vanity, he warmly defended himself, and endeavoured to
strengthen his arguments with quotations from Scripture, adding, that he
had done all things in season, and with a constant remembrance of the
account which he must render to Almighty God.f In writing about
the Church which they were proposing to build at Bombay, he shewed
that he was actuated by missionary zeal. He trusts that it will have
an influence for good upon the natives, so that " when the merciful plea-
sure of God shall think good to touch them with a sense of the eternal wel-
fare of their souls, they may be convinced of their error, sensible of their
present dangerous, uncertain wanderings, and desirous to render them-
selves happy in a more sure way of salvation, which we pray God grant
in His good time."

Another document seems to us peculiarly to disclose his feelings, and
admits us to view in one regard his way of life. On his departure for

# Letter to the Court from tlie President and Council at Swally, dated 28th January
1663-4. Bruce's Annals 1669-70. Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xvii. The History
and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent ; by Edward Hasted, Esq.

f Letter as above ; date, l/th January 16J5-6.

} Letter us above.

Bombay lie instructed Mr. Streynsham Master,* the Deputy, as to the
management of affairs during his absence, and commenced thus :

" Firstly, that a blessing may attend you in all your proceedings, we
recommend to you the pious order observed in our family, to wit, morning
and evening prayer, the strict observance of the Lord's day, the preventing
all disorder, profaneness, and debauchery, the preservation of the peace,
and good government among our fellow servants ; in all which we shall not
doubt your careful observance, being well acquainted with your own
inclination thereunto, and therefore need not mind you thereof, but as it
is one of the most essential parts of your charge. "f

Worn out with his exertions, Aungier solicited the Court's permission to
return to England, as soon as a duly qualified person should be appointed
to succeed him ; but he did not live to see his wish fulfilled, and expired
in India. Of him also Hamilton writes most favourably and says, that
when he resided in India thirty years afterwards Aungier's name was
even then revered by the inhabitants of Surat and Bombay. So highly
had the President been esteemed for his love of justice and dexterity in
the management of affairs, that in commercial questions the natives were
accustomed to refer their differences to his arbitration, and in no single
instance had any been known to dispute the equity of his award. J

Other official papers were of the same stamp as Oxenden's and Aungier's
despatches, above quoted. Were the President and Council concerned to
hear of the Deputy Governor's ill-health, they regretted that at that
distance they could do nothing " more than by their prayers to God for
him." Their President, they said, had been ill, but " praised be to God,
lie is now in a way of recovery." Did Aungier and his Council comment
with grief on Colonel Bake's death in February 1G77, they devoutly
added, " We desire Almighty God to prepare us all for our last change."
Had their ships arrived in safety, they blessed God for it, or piously
ejaculated, " Thanks be to Almighty God." Did they make the melan-
choly announcement that an epidemic disease was raging, they wrote in
these words : " It hath pleased God to let us see what we are, by the
frequent mortalities which have happened amongst us." And their
despatches ordinarily concluded with the devout formula, " We commend
you to the Almighty's protection," or some similar words of valediction. ||

But what are the conclusions to which these passages lead us ? Words
and phrases may ordinarily be received as just exponents of an in-
dividual's mind ; when first adopted also in official communications,
religious expressions shew that the writers are anxious to have their

# Streynsham Master was afterwards Chief at Madras, and in 16(30 laid there the
first stone of the first English Church in India, carried on the work at his own
charge, and never halted till he had brought it to a conclusion. He was dismissed
the service by the Court's order in 1681 ; but his offence is not stated. He was then
knighted, and elected a Director of the New Company, which derived great benefit
from his experience. His family was afterwards connected by marriage with that
of Oxenden. It had been endowed with the manor of East Langdon in Kent by
Henry the Eighth after the dissolution of monasteries. Bruce's Annals 1681 and 1/00.
Mill's History, vol. iii. Hasted's Kent.

f Diary of the Surat Factory ; 10th January 1669.

t Bruce's Annals 1676-77- Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xvii.

# Diary of the Surat Factory, 10th January 1669.

II Letters from the President and Council to Bombay, Fort St. George, &c. &c.

105 :, ,/V;,, ? V/*,*'

Through this diplomatist, Keigvvin induced Sambhaji not only to permit
the establishment of Factories at Caddalor and Thevenapatam, but also
to grant the English exemption from duties in the Carnatic, and allow
them twelve thousand pagodas, as compensation for losses sustained at
places which the Marathas had plundered. As for the Siddi, Keigvvin
repressed his insulting conduct with decision, and would neither suffer him
to keep his fleet at Mazagam, nor even to come there except for water.
Knowing these facts, we are the more inclined to believe a declaration,
which he made in his own defence, to the effect that unless he had taken
possession of Bombay, it would have been seized either by Sambhaji or
the Siddi, both of whom were anxious to gain a footing there, and each
was jealous lest the other should anticipate him in its acquisition.*

In the meanwhile Sir John Child, now President of Surat, and his
Council, found that as they had no troops, any attempt to force the rebels
into submission would be hopeless. Yet they tried what threats would
do, and when they had used these to no purpose, conciliatory measures
had no better result. At first three Commissioners, Zinzan, Day, and
Gosfright, were sent to Bombay. The President then went there himself,
and reached the harbour on the thirty-first of January 168-4, but he and
his officers were no friends with any party, and were compelled to return
without effecting their purpose. The crews of their ships could not be
depended upon, and refused to act against the mutineers, so that they
hastily despatched three vessels with valuable cargoes to England, and
stationed two confidential persons at Khaneri and two at Versova, with
directions to warn any ships which might appear in the offing that they
were not to enter the harbour of Bombay, but sail at once to Swally.

When the intelligence reached England that Bombay hai revolted, and
the President had not been able to reduce it to order, the King command-
ed the Court of Directors to appoint a secret committee of inquiry. This
was composed of their Governor, as the chairman was then styled
Deputy Governor, Sir Benjamin Bathurst, Sir Jeremy Sambrooke, and
Mr. Joseph Herne. Upon their report his Majesty sent a mandate un-
der his sign manual to Keigvvin, requiring him to deliver up the island,
and offering a general pardon to all, except the ringleaders. That the
President might have additional authority, he was declared Admiral and
Captain General of the Company's sea and land forces. Sir Thomas Gran-
tham, who had left in a sixty-gun ship before the revolt was known in Eng-
land, was appointed Vice Admiral, and Captain Tyrrel was sent with
the Phoenix Frigate to assist Grantham, and then to cruize against inter-
lopers. It was further declared that if Keigwin and his followers offered
any resistance, all should be denounced as rebels and traitors, that a re-
ward of four thousand rupees should be paid' to any one who would seize
Keigwin, two thousand for seizing Alderton, and two thousand for Flet-
cher. Supposing it possible, however, that a general pardon might have
been already proclaimed, it was decided that in that case the ringleaders
should be kept under surveillance, and if guilty of any further treasonable
acts, apprehended and executed.

* Grant T)uflf's History, vol. i. chapter x. Hamilton's Hindustan. Orme's
Orme only says that Keigwiu recovered 2,600 pagodas from fcambh ji,

106

Sir Thomas Grantham arrived at Bombay on the tenth of November
1084, and showed remarkable promptitude and courage by landing im-
mediately without attendants. This coolness and confidence in the gene-
rosity of Englishmen made a due impression, and Keigwin having invited
him to a conference, agreed to deliver up the Fort to him on the twelfth.
A few dissentients raised a tumult on the following day, and even
threatened his life, so that the island was not formally surrendered until
the nineteenth, when Sir Thomas delivered it to three commissioners who
had come from Surat English, St. John, and Zinzan, afterwards Deputy
Governor. Keigwin having obtained the promise of a free pardon for
himself and adherents, took his departure as soon as possible for England,
where he arrived in July 1685. Thorburn being a married man with
a family, and having a small estate upon the island, was compelled to
remain 4 but he believed that protection was secured for himself and pro-
perty.

Such was a revolt which happily began and ended without bloodshed
if we except a wound inflicted at table by Thorburn on Keigwin in a
drunken quarrel. Alarming as it was, and dangerous, to the existence
of Anglo- Indian power, It forms an episode in our history, of which we
are not ashamed. Keigwin emerges from the troubled sea of rebellion
with a reputation for courage, honour, and administrative capacity. His
crime of treason was in a measure atoned for fey his moderation and shin-
ing qualities, and found some palliation in the provocation which he
received, and which the President as we infer from his subsequent con-
duct must have aggravated. On the other hand, the clemency of the
Crown and Company is worthy of all admiration, and leads us to ask,
Where is the nation that can, like the English, vindicate the authority of
its Government, bring down the haughty front of successful rebellion,
and at the same time not suffer justice to inflict a single pang on mercy?

It is true that accounts differ as to tlte manner in which the terms of
surrender were observed ; but if it should be shewn that they were in-
fringed, an imputation could not be cast upon the English Government,
^or save indirectly upon the Company, but only upon their President.
Writers who were favourable to the Company, simply state that they
acted in good faith ; their opponents accuse their servants of treachery, but
with such obvious malice, that we suspect their veracity. Fletcher, who
had joined the rebels, but whose conduct was, in other respects, unble-
mished, retained the command of his company. But Thorburn is said to
have fallen a victim to Sir John Child's malignity, and there is every rea-
son to believe that he was treated with singular harshness. It is possible
that he was justly committed to prison, in consequence of his inability to
satisfy the demands of his creditors ; but when there, we are told, not a
slave was permitted to attend upon him, nor his own wife to visit him.
Hard treatment brought on a fever, and his life was in danger. The jailor
conveyed this mournful intelligence to his wife, who hastened, together
with her two small children, to the General's presence, and entreated that
her husband might be provided with a medical attendant. The boon was
denied, but she was permitted to share his sufferings. She soothed his
pain one day and part of a night, after \vhieh he breathed his last. Shud-

dering humanity turns with distrust from the remainder of the narrative,
and therefore we abridge it. On returning home she found the doors of
her own house closed against her, and was obliged to take up her abode
with her slaves and children in a small outhouse. Her relatives ven-
tured to give her succour only at night, and by stealth. The widow of
Thorburn was a proscribed outcast, till her beauty and sufferings attracted,
the love and compassion of an officer who commanded an East Indiaman,
and imagined that he was independent of Sir John Child. He weddfei 1
her, and also her misfortunes. At the General's request he was deprived
of his appointment. Grief soon put an end to his troubles and his life.
The lady was again left a widow, with a thousand pounds of East India-
stock for the support of herself and family.

According to their own records, the Company intended that some who
had shared in the late rebellion should be dealt with as severely as the
terms of the treaty would permit. Their instructions to this effect were
repeated. As for Watson, " that scandalous Chaplain at Bombay," as he
is styled, they wanted words to express their detestation of his conduct.
" Let him have no salary from us," they wrote, "from the time of his re-
bellion, nor any other officers there, as near as you can, without incurring
a new hazard, until you are firmly settled in your Government. And let
Mr. Watson know he is no more our servant ; banish him the island ;
and let him take care to pay for his own passage home, and provide
yourselves of another Chaplain for Bombay out of some of our ships, if you
can meet with any so much to your satisfaction as you have at Surat in
the room of Mr. Badham deceased."*

A few words regarding some minor Factories will bring this period o
our history to a close.

In 1674 there was a Factory so far inland as Dharamgam in Khan-
desh at least we conceive that place must be intended, although it is va-
riously styled Dongong, Drongom, and Dorongom. It is described as a
hundred and thirty coss from Surat, and the road to it passed through
Saler, and Muler. There was also a route through Nandrabar, at which
place a kafila with merchandize for the Company was plundered in January
1G81 by a band of robbers, who are only said to have not been Marathas,
and probably were Bhils.f

On account of the pepper grown in the surrounding country, a small
Factory containing eighteen persons had been established at Honawar,
but after a short time it came to a melancholy end. About the year 1670,
the Chief procured a fine bull dog from the Captain of an English vessel
which had corne there to take in cargo. This animal when accompanying
the Factors on an excursion seized a sacred cow in the neighbourhood
of a Hindu temple, and killed her. Instigated by the Brahmans, the
natives were resolved to revenge this injury to their prejudices, and in a
fury of fanaticism murdered every Englishman. Some natives, more
friendly than the rest, caused a large grave to be dug, and in it the eighteen

* Letters from the Court to the President and Council ; dated February 1684, Oc-
tober 1084, and IJth January lt>85. Bruce's Annals. Mill's Hiatwy. Hamilton's
" New Account, &c." Chapter xvii,

f Orme's Fragments.

108

victims were interred.- The Chief of the Factory at Carwar sent a monu-
mental stone, on which was engraved the story of their wretched fate.
There the traveller read the names of John Best and seventeen other En-
glishmen, who, according to the epitaph, " were sacrificed to the fury of a
mad priesthood, and an enraged mob."*

Another interference with native prejudices, accompanied this time by
dishonesty, nearly led to the destruction also of the Factory at Carwar,
and all its inmates. Two small vessels having arrived there from Surat
to load with pepper, an English sailor from one of them stole and
slaughtered a cow, A mob of Hindus was speedily collected, and being
fired upon by the English Factors in self-defence, two children of rank
were killed. The people then attacked and destroyed the carts on which
the pepper was being conveyed to the sea shore. They were only re-
strained from further violence by the expectation of a battle between the
Moguls and Marathas, which fortunately kept them in a state of suspense
and anxiety.f

The English possessed two small Factories named Rattera and Brinjan
to the south of Ponuni; but they were afterwards abandoned when the
Factory of Anjengo was established. Sterne has given Anjengo a place
in the sentimental literature of England, and at this early period sentiment
seemed to haunt its neighbourhood. It was in the country of the Rani of
Attinga, to whom the English paid their court by sending an annual pre-
sent. In 1685 this offering was conveyed to the princess by a young
Englishman of remarkably prepossessing appearance. Sable royalty was
smitten with his charms, and compelled to admit that she was under
the influence of love. She offered the comely youth her hand, but he
modestly declined so great an honour. However, he remained with her
Highness a month or two, and then withdrew, laden with valuable testi-
monies of her affection. J

* Hamilton's " New Account," Chapter xxiii.

f Brace's Annals, 1684-85.

J Hamilton's " New Account," Chapter xxvi,

109

CHAPTER VII

16851697.

CONTENTS. Sir Josiah Child ; his character and iufluence with the Company ;
new designs of the Court Sir John Child ; his early history ; becomes Gener-
al ; his character discussed Sir John Wyburn, Deputy Governor ; his career
and death The Court prepares for war ; recruit their forces ; secrecy Pre-
liminary steps to war Child's disinterestedness The Company's policy dis-
cussedChild begins to capture native ships The Court's approval Aurang-
zib's auger Factors imprisoned Child insults the Siddi ;his first misgivings

Desertion of the militia and of Europeans The Siddi invades Bombay ; his
success Child negotiates ; his abject submission The Siddi withdraws le-
view of Child's proceedings Child prosecutes Petit and Bourchier His death

Bartholomew Harris, President Vaux, Deputy Governor ; his History :
suspension and death Hard times for interlopers Seizure of three interlop-
ing vessels Successful resistance and escape of others European pirates ;
their settlements at Bab-el mandel and Madagascar Sawbridge's cruel fate
Captain Avory plunders native vessels Fury of the mob at Surat The Com-
pany's ships, the Mocha and Josiuh, engaged iu piracy Native rovers Fight
with a Frigate The Factors placed in irons Sir John Goldesborough Cook
and "VVeldou, Deputy Governors Aimesley, President ; his conduct and dis-
missal Sir John Gayer, General.

IN order that the continuity of our history might not be interrupted, we
have kept the President in the background. He shall now, however, hold
that prominence to which he is fairly entitled.

Sir Josiah Child was Governor of the Company, and Chairman of the
Court of Directors. He had become known in 1677 as the writer of a
pamphlet against free trade, and being a man of large capacity, unwearied
vigour in thought and action, prolonged experience in commercial affairs,
and regardless of any moral principles which might stand in the way of his
ambitious designs, he exercised over the other Directors an influence
amounting to despotic power.*

Under his guidance the Company began for the first time to rush im-
petuously after political importance and power. The example of the
Dutch, which Sir Thomas Roe had formerly warned them not to follow,

* Burnet gives this account of him : " This summer Sir Josiah Child died ; he was a
man of great notions as to merchandize, which was his education, and in which he suc-
ceeded beyond any man of his time; he applied himself chiefly to the East India trade,
which by his management was raised so high, that it drew much envy and jealousy
both upon himself and upon the Company : he had a compass of knoweldge and ap-
prehension beyond any merchant I ever knew ; he was vain and covetous, and thought
too cunning, though to me he seemed always sincere." History of bis Own Times,
Book vi,

110

now filled them with ambitious desires. That which he had raised as a
beacon to caution them against danger, was now the light which attracted
them. " The wise Dutch," they remarked, " took ten times more interest
in administrative functions and military preparations than in the affairs of
commerce." The Honorable Company must increase its revenues that
was their object. " Tis that must make us a nation in India," they
wrote. Without revenues they were merely, they said, " a great number
of interlopers," and persons of little mark or consideration.*

Sir Josiah found in his brother an excellent agent to carry out these
projects. John Child had lived between the ages of ten and eighteen years
at llajapur under the charge of Goodshaw, his uncle. Having afterwards
been the means of bringing this uncle's dishonesty to light, and thus get-
ting him dismissed, he himself when not twenty-four years of age succeed-
ed him as Superintendent of the Factory,")" and in due course of time be-
came President for the affairs of the East, and Governor of Bombay. He
was usually addressed by the title of General. When in 1G87 Bombay
was made superior to all the Company's settlements in the East, his go-
vernment was also styled a llegency in imitation of the Dutch and Portu-
guese, and that his dignity might be properly supported it was ordered
that he should be attended by a body guard of fifty Grenadiers. J

It is extremely difficult to form a correct opinion of his character.
Bruce, the Company's annalist, will not admit a word to be said in his dis-
paragement. No individual's name stands higher on the Company's re-
cords. There he only appears as deserving the highest honour. But wit-
nesses on the other side maintain that he was a consummate villain,
llaynal styles him " avaricious, turbulent and savage," and, apparently
with justice, traces to his acts the calamities in which the English were
involved. But probably Raynal's authority was Hamilton, who accuses
him of fraud as well as excessive and wanton tyranny, and Hamilton was
unduly biassed against him ; for he was one of those interlopers to whom
the General was ever a bitter and uncompromising enemy.

The truth of the matter seems to be this. Sir John was really anxious
to promote the Company's interests, and as their policy was unprincipled,
he was quite ready to make it his. They had become deeply involved in
debt. They owed 281,250 to natives of Surat, and it had become in-
convenient to discharge even the interest of such a sum. Instead therefore
of following the old-fashioned way and paying, they were resolved to dis-
cover some other means of escaping from their obligations. The two Childs
were the men to devise and execute such a plan. We do not see any
ground for accusing Sir John Child of that selfishness and peculation in
which many of the Company's servants indulged to their lasting disgrace.
Not that he neglected his own interests, only he identified them with the
Company's. He was a deceiver and oppressor for their sakes. His sys-
tem of administration, as well as that of his brother the Chairman, was

* Brace's Annals, 1686-1690.

t Hamilton's "New Account," chapter xx.

j Bruce's Annals. Letter from the Court to the President and Council of Surat,
dated 6th May 1685.

# In addition to Bruce, Hamilton, and .Raynal, we read of him in Letters from the
Court to the President and Council of fcfurat; dated Mav 1682, and 6th May 1685.

111-

essentially dishonest. We may rejoice now that it met with just retribu-
tion, and that his backers in England were involved by it in temporary
ruin. He is said indeed to have acted upon his brother's sole authority,
without the sanction of other Directors. If that was the case, the Court
deserved to suffer the losses which were in store for them, on account of a
negligence and incapacity which in them amounted to actual crime.

As soon as the Directors heard that Keigwin's rebellion was suppress-
ed, and their authority again acknowledged in Bombay, they sent Sir John
Wyburn to be Deputy Governor, vice admiral, and second in Council,
holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Captain of the second Com-
pany of British infantry. His salary was fixed at a hundred pounds per
annum, in addition to Captain's pay of eight shillings per diem, and an
allowance for diet, which was to be only a hundred and fifty pounds per
annum, when the Governor was on the island, but two hundred and fifty
pounds during the Governor's absence. He owed his appointment to the
favour of Jarnes the Second, who when Duke of York had been shipwreck-
ed on his passage to Scotland, and rescued by him from a watery grave.
For this service Wyburn was knighted, and although a political opponent
he still preserved the monarch's regard. As neither he nor Zinzan was
sufficiently submissive to the General, the Court ordered that both should
be dismissed ; but Wyburn did not live to hear of this disgrace. He died
in 1G88, much regretted.

The Directors were now prepared to assume the offensive in war, when-
ever a good opportunity should offer. They were puffed up with mistaken
ideas of their power. The Company was but a child, and seeing a giant
rather old and infirm squared its little fists, as though ready to fight him.
The Court pompously announced that they were determined to levy war,
not only on the Nawab of Bengal, but in the sequel on the Emperor
himself. Nor was that even sufficient to satisfy their pugnacity. They
actually directed their General to seize the goods of the Kings of Siam,
Bantam, and Jambi, as reparation for injuries received. And since the
change of Government in England had left them nothing to fear from
Priests or Jesuits, they also contemplated possessing themselves of the
Portuguese territories, which were contiguous to Bombay. At the same
time they ordered, that Bombay should be " as strong as money and art
could make it," in order that they might have a fortress to serve as a basis
of operations.

By way of increasing their military strength, the Court applied to the
King for a Company of regular infantry, and one of the Marquis of
Worcester's companies was ordered to be sent out under the command of
Captain Clifton, the Adjutant, who was to have a salary of thirty pounds
in addition to Captain's pay, and was to be junior member of Council. The
star of the military was on the ascendant. All Captains of infantry were
for the future to have seats in Council.

Yet the Court thought that they were proceeding with great caution,
and used their utmost endeavours to keep their designs secret. Their Ge-
neral was the sole repository of their confidence, and greatly annoyed
was he to find, that during his absence from Bombay, their despatches
had been opened by Sir John Wyburn, and the contents made known to

112

his Council. He feared at first that his measures might he prematurely
brought to light ; hut hoped to prevent any ill effects by a continuance ot'
that duplicity, for which he has been so greatly commended by the Di-
rectors and their apologists.

The preliminary steps which gradually led to the crisis were these.
The Emperor Aurangzib had been justly offended with some violent and
piratical acts of English officers on the coast of Bengal, and his indignation
was excited to the highest pitch when he heard that his Governor of Simit
had been insulted by the English authorities. Child was in this case the
real offender. Having long since made up his mind for war, he proposed
to throw all the odium of it upon interlopers. He therefore maintained
that these intruders had inflicted serious injury upon the Company, and
that the native authorities were responsible for having aided and abetted
them. Bruce admits that he " had determined to act on this principle."
This was the pretext on which the question of peace or war was to hinge.
Of the Governor of Surat, therefore, Child proceeded to make numerous
demands, some of which were reasonable, others extravagant. As he
must have anticipated, they were received with contempt, and then as-
suming that justice was on his side he waited until he had a fair opportu-
nity of resorting to violence.

As the Mogul's ships had returned from Mocha and Bussora, for the
season, he could not seize any of their property at sea, and therefore found
it convenient to postpone a declaration of hostilities. In the meanwhile,
with a disinterested zeal for the Company, which is deserving of some
credit, he assured them that he would take all the responsibility of the war
upon himself, so that if fortune shook her wings and left them, they might
disclaim his measures, and thus find an opening for negotiations with their
enemies.

And here let us venture to unfold the view which we think ought to be
taken of these proceedings. The Company's conduct must be stigmatized
as rash and disingenuous, impolitic and unjust ; but some excuse for it
may be found in the caprice and dishonesty of the native powers. It is
a fact beyond dispute, and one which the natives of India should mark
well, that the moral as icell as the physical weakness of the Indian nations
Jirst suggested to the Company their ideas of conquest. When English trade
had been fairly established, it was continually threatened with ruin by the
caprices of a despot, the cupidity of his officers, or the lawless violence of
regular armies and plundering tribes, scrambling for the pieces into which
the empire was falling. The Company could place no dependence upon
finnans or grants, upon the friendly disposition of a native Governor, or
the forbearance of any conquering horde. To-morrow the Mogul's neces-
sities might drive him to annul the firm'm, and impose upon them new
and hard conditions, the friendly Governor might be withdrawn, and a
new horde come with an unslaked thirst for rapine. Under these circum
stances the Company felt that they could only place dependence on them-
selves. Where might was right, they must hasten to put in their claim,
or consent to have it for ever disallowed. There is no doubt that if they
could have reposed any faith in treaties, have believed the friendly assu-
rances of natives, and have respected the word of an Indian potentate,

113

they would have been content to live under his shadow. As it was, they
found it necessary to create a power of their own, to build their hopes upon
war and aggression.*

Resuming our narrative, we observe that on the second of May 1687,
Child and his Council went to Bombay, leaving Harris as Agent at Surat.
As so many English still remained at that place, the General thought it
would be imprudent to act on the offensive near India, and therefore sent
his two largest ships, the Charles the Second and Modena, to seize all
Mogul or Siamese vessels which they might find at Mocha and Bussora.
Two ships were also despatched to China with similar instructions.
Piracy had been so profitable in the hands of private speculators, that the
jealous Company now entered into the business.

It was hoped that the Factors might be removed from Surat, before
intelligence of these transactions could reach there, and Capt. Wright was
sent with the Ccesar to lie off the mouth of the river. His orders were
to release the Agent and Factors by negotiation, if possible ; but in case
that failed, and the aggressions in the Persian Gulf had been discovered,
he was to seize all vessels belonging to the Mogul or King of Siam, and
detain the principal persons found on board as hostages for the Factors'
safety.

This cunning plot was disarranged by an alarm given to the authorities
at Surat, in consequence of the commander of the Dragon having seized a
vessel whilst on her passage from that port to Siam. No violence was
yet offered to the Agent and Factors, but they were carefully watched.
Child pretending that by this a fresh insult was offered to the English,
took possession of all ships belonging to Surat which were then at Bom-
bay. Upon this tlfe Governor of Surat seemed disposed to make terms,
and permitted Bonnell, one of the Factors, to visit Bombay with a com-
plimentary note from him to the General, in which he expressed a desire
to accommodate matters, and to know what arrangement would be con-
sidered satisfactory. He afterwards sent two merchants, to whom Child
delivered a statement of grievances in thirty-nine articles.

That he might have at least one ally, the General then entered into a
treaty with Sambhaji, who agreed to give the English fifty thousand
rupees, and two thousand candies of rice, on condition that they should
protect the creeks and mouths of the rivers along the Western Coast.

At this time Captain Andrews, who commanded the Charles the Se-
cond, returned with one interloping and six Mogul ships as his prizes.
Hostilities, therefore, could no longer be concealed, and Andrews was sent
to act with the Ccesar at Surat in seizing all Mogul vessels, and watching
the Siddi's fleet, or destroying it, if it should attempt to put to sea.

The appointment of a new Governor to Surat held out a faint hope that
some pacific arrangement might yet be made. This functionary had been
previously known as friendly disposed towards the English, and that he
still continued so was inferred from the fact that he immediately opened a
conference with the Agent, Harris.

It is worthy of note that at this stage of the proceedings the Court so

* Bruce's Annals, 1627-H8.
I

114

highly approved of the ahility and spirit with which Sir John Child had
acted, that they resolved to present him with a thousand guineas.

The new Governor of Surat was not found so yielding and gentle as had
been expected. On the contrary, his tone was threatening, and he soon
began to treat the English as enemies. On the twenty-sixth of December
1688, he seized and imprisoned the Factors Harris and Gladman, ordered
all the goods of the Company to be sold, and offered a large reward to any
who would take Sir John Child, dead or alive. The General, who had up
to this moment been trying to hold a mask before himself, now threw it
aside altogether. Finding that all his efforts to release Harris and Gladman
were fruitless, he took several richly freighted ships of native merchants,
attacked a fleet laden with provisions for the Mogul army, and captured
ibrty of their vessels.

Still this crafty ruler wrote to Aurangzib, and professed that his inten-
tions were pacific. But the Emperor was not now to be blinded by a little
dust. He was exasperated in the highest degree, and sent an order for
the confiscation of all property belonging to the English at Surat. The
Factors were detained in prison, and at times made to gratify the mob by
parading the streets with chains suspended from their necks. Although
they were afterwards liberated from Jail, they were closely confined to
their Factory until the seventeenth of October 1691. During the inter-
vening years their condition was wretched in the extreme. In their let-
ters they appeal piteously for relief, " which," say they, " we think our
poor dejected spirits can't have more occasion for than at this juncture."*

Although Child had written courteously to the Emperor, he treated his
Admiral, the Siddi, with arrogance, and told him plainly that if his fleet
ventured to sea, he would assume that their intentions were hostile, and
deal with them as enemies. At the same time he addressed a letter to
the Court, in which he expressed his resolution to continue the war, and
by no means to purchase a dishonorable peace. However, we now for
the first time catch some glimpses of misgivings ; for he admitted that the
Mogul's pcwer had been increased by the conquest of Golconda and Bija-
pur, and his successes over Sambhaji. For the first time also he seemed
to think that aggression must find its limits. He thought it would be
hazardous to provoke the Portuguese by attacking and occupying Salsette ;
for the very good reason that he had not sufficient troops to defend Bom-
bay. As for the militia, they had already began to desert, so soon as they
apprehended an attack from the Siddi ; an example, we may add, which
was followed by Europeans, and as he remarked, " the loss of one Euro-
pean was of more consequence to him than the death of one hundred
blacks."

After a few convulsive struggles Child's pride received its death blow ; his
blustering tones were silenced ; his turbulent spirit and trenchant energies
crushed. Instead of attacking the Siddi, as he had threatened, aiid thus
adopting the only measure which could have secured the safety of Bombay,
he simply acted on the defensive. He tried to justify this vacillation by plead-
ing the inactivity of the English Presidents in Bengal and Madras ; but

* Bnree's Annals. Hamilton's "New Account," chapter xix. Letters from the Chief
at Surat .; October 1691,

115

they were in a predicament similar to his own. Although he once seemed
to have drawn his sword and thrown away the scabbard, he now tried ne-
gotiations, and when he heard that a new Governor had arrived at Surat,
fondly hoped that he should gain his point by a change of conduct, which
his cunning enemies attributed to the true causes irresolution and con-
scious weakness.

But it was too late. Child's arrogance, and his seizure of the provi-
sions intended for the army of Yakut Khan, the Siddi, had made that
officer a willing agent to execute the Emperor's wrath. With an unac-
countable infatuation the English Governor had neglected to strengthen
the fortifications of Bombay, although the Court of Directors had so
urgently reminded him that this was necessary ; and on the fourteenth of
February 1G89, the Siddi landed at Sewn with twenty or twenty-live
thousand men. Although there were several small vessels in the harbour,
which might have prevented the disembarkation of his troops, no effort of
the sort was made, and the soldiers of a redoubt where he landed, after
firing a gun to give the alarm, retired with precipitation. At one o'clock
in the morning three guns from the Castle apprized the inhabitants of
their danger. Then might be seen European and Native women rushing
with their children from their houses, and seeking a refuge within the
Fort. Next morning the Siddi marched to Mazagatn, where was a small
fort mounting fourteen guns, which the English abandoned with such
haste, that they left behind them eight or ten chests of treasure, besides
arms and ammunition. Here the Siddi established his head quarters, and
despatched a small force to take possession of Mahim Fort, which also was
found to be deserted.

The following day the enemy advanced. The General ordered Captain
Pean with two companies to drive them back ; but he and his little party
were defeated. Thus the Siddi became master of the whole island, with
the exception of the Castle, and a small tract extending about half a mile
to the southward of it. He raised batteries on Dongari Hill, and placed one
within two hundred yards of the Fort. All persons on whom the English
authorities could lay hands were pressed into their service, and amongst
them Hamilton, who has given us details of these transactions. Thus
passed the months from April to September.

During the monsoon the Siddi obtained supplies from the interior and
from the Jesuits ofBandora, who paid a heavy reckoning for thus assisting
the enemy, as at the close of the war their property was seized. Pro-
visions were extremely scarce in the English quarters until the monsoon was
over, but then the Company's cruizers being able to put to sea, were so
successful in capturing vessels and supplies belonging to the Mogul's sub-
jects that distress was alleviated. Still the danger was imminent. The
Siddfs army was increased to forty thousand fighting men, and the Eng-
lish troops, which never amounted to more than two thousand five hun-
dred, dared not venture to meet them in the field.

Under these circumstances Sir John Child saw that negotiation was his
only resource, and soon he also discovered that nothing short of abject sub-
mission could appease the Emperor. He tried the effects of bribery upon
the Imperial officers, and endeavoured to atone for his past insolence by

116

submitting to the meanest degradation. He despatched two envoys,
George Weldon and Abraham Navaar or Navarre a Jew, to Court, where
they arrived in fifteen days. After being subjected to the indignity of
having their hands tied behind them, they were permitted to prostrate
themselves as culprits in the Emperor's presence. The great sovereign
was puffed up with the pride of victory, having just taken Reri, and seized
Sambhaji's family and treasure. He sternly reprimanded the envoys, but
being fully aware how important it was for the welfare of his Empire that
the English trade should be retained, and that his devout subjects should
have the protection ef their fleet, without which they would not venture on
their pilgrimages,* he listened to their entreaties, and consented to an ac-
commodation, on condition that all monies due from them to his subjects
should be paid, that recompense should be made for such losses as
the Moguls had sustained, and that the hateful Sir John Child should
leave India before the expiration of nine months.

On these terms the Emperor granted the English a new firman. The
conditions which had been required by Sir John Child before the war were
unnoticed, and the language of the document was more humiliating and
contemptuous than any which had been addressed to the English from the
first settlement of their Factory in India. The Company were treated, not
as the subjects of an independent power, but as criminals, who having been
mercifully pardoned, were again admitted to live in a state of slavery .f

Harris and the other Factors were released from prison on the fourth of
April 1690 ; but the Siddi, who had already remained more than a year
at Bombay, did not withdraw his army until the twenty- second of June,
when the property captured by the English had been restored, and the fine
paid to the Mogul. He then departed, having first set fire to the Fort of
Mazagam, and the same day William and Mary were proclaimed in Born-
bay King and Queen of England. The Mogul troops left behind them a
pestilence, which in four months destroyed more than had perished in the
war, so that only thirty-five English soldiers were left on the island. No
fewer than sixty Europeans had deserted to the Siddi, but all returned to
their allegiance on receiving a promise of pardon.

* President Harris afterward said, that the real cause why the Mogul had granted
peace was, that a free passage might be allowed to the Pilgrim Ships between Surat
and Judda. Hruce's Annals, 1692-93.

t Translation of the firman of Aurangzfb to the Company, dated February 27 th
1689-9(1, " in the 33rd year of a most glorious reign."

" All the English having made a most humble submissive petition, that the crimes
they have done may be pardoned, and requested another Phirmaund, to make their
being forgiven manifest, and sent their Vakkeels to the heavenly palace, the most
illustrious in the world, to get the royal favor : and Ettimaund Caun, the Governor of
Suratt's petition to the famous Court, equal to the skie, being arrived, that they Avould
present the great King with a fine of 150,000 rupees, to his most noble treasury, re-
sembling the sun, and would restore the merchants' goods they had taken away, to the
owners of them, and would walk by the ancient customs of the port, and behave them-
selves for the future no more in such a shameful manner ; therefore his Majesty,
according to his favor due to all the people of the world, hath pardoned their faults,
mercifully forgiven them, and out of his princely condescension agrees, that the pre-
sent be put into the treasury of the port, the merchants' goods be returned, the
town flourish, and they follow their trade as in former time, and Mr. Child, who
did the disgrace, be turned out aud expelled. This order is irreversible." Bruce's
Annals.

117

The Company are said to have lost four hundred and sixteen thousand
pounds by this first throw in the game of war. And this was not all.
Their interests suffered even more in England than in India. The British
nation felt that a disgrace had been inflicted upon them, which they attri-
buted to the Company's misconduct. Hence all those who hoped to get
into the Indian market gained confidence. This Company, they argued,
is clearly unfit to represent English interests in India ; try another Com-
pany. The public approved, and, what was more to the point, the House
of Commons also approved the suggestion.

When these memorable transactions are reviewed, the reader should be
requested to keep in mind that we have two contemporaneous authorities
the records of Government, and the narrative of Alexander Hamilton. For
facts we have mainly relied upon the former, since we acknowledge their
accuracy ; but yet we find our opinion coincide in many respects with the
latter. According to the former, all the measures of Sir John Child were
unexceptionable. The Court pronoucced his conduct " faithful and honor-
able." They afforded him a consistent and unfailing support, which sa^s
much for their generosity and constancy, but also, we conceive, proves the
obliquity oftheir moral vision. It must always be remembered that Child
was fortunate in having a brother at headquarters, and living during times
which did not encourage severe scrutiny into political delinquencies. Oppos-
ed to the Court's testimony in his favour is the condemnation of Hamilton,
according to whom Child's actions were from first to last reprehensible.
And without surrendering our judgment to this interloper's prejudices, we
must yet maintain that the view taken by Government is, on their own
showing, perverted and unreasonable.

It is admitted on all sides that the results of Child's measures were
disastrous in the extreme. And although we are far from asserting that in
political affairs failure always proves the incapacity of the agents, we yet
think that in this case it was a necessary consequence of defects, both
moral and intellectual.

For a mercantile Company which received but little support from the
Crown, and was ten thousand miles distant from the scene of operations, to
wage a war with an Emperor and several other princes at the same time,
was an error ; for it to dissemble, and without issuing any declaration of
war to seize ships belonging to the subjects of those princes, was a crime.
Persons who professed to be honest traders became pirates. Consequently,
they were both bad traders and bad pirates.

When Child had once violated natural law and incensed the Emperor,
his hopes of success depended upon two measures, neither of which did he
adopt. Bombay might easily have been made impregnable to native for-
ces by strengthening the fortifications, and unassailable by destroying the
Siddi's fleet. But Child neither made it one nor the other. Although
warned that he must look to the walls and bastions, he neglected to do so;
although he had threatened to destroy the Siddi's fleet, he permitted it to
land an army on the island without let or hindrance.

Weldon, when afterwards he was Deputy Governor of Bombay, drew up
an able report, in which he pointed out some of these errors. He himself
was the first to propose that a wall should be built round the town, and

118

he observed that if the fortifications had been stronger, the Siddi would
never have invaded the island, or if he had been prevented from landing,
a more favorable firman might have been obtained. Weldon also gave
it as his opinion that the entire subjugation of Bombay was prevented, not
by the opposition of the English, but by the jealousy of Mukhtar Kh'.n,
who was afraid of the credit and influence which the Siddi would gain by
its reduction."*

During Child's tenure of office there was as much discord at home as
abroad. He brought charges before the Court against two members of
Council, Petit and Bourchier, for alleged encouragement offered to inter-
lopers. They were said to have held a correspondence with the Governor
of Surat, and to have gained his favour by giving out that they were em-
ployed by a new Company, which would soon trade at Surat on a large
capital, and pay customs without reserve. Child also accused them gene-
rally of malversation, but with such secrecy that they were only kept
aware of his proceedings by the communications of vigilant friends in Eng-
land. Suspecting that his representations would readily find credit with
the Court, and that he would receive authority to seize their property,
they had it privately removed from the Factory into a house, hired for
the purpose. As soon as the ships had arrived from England, and the
Directors' packet had been opened before the assembled Council, it was
found to contain orders for the dismissal of the two gentlemen. They im-
mediately withdrew from the board ; but Child sent an injunction that
they should not be permitted to leave the Factory. The reply was, that
they had already left, and the doors of their apartment were locked. He
ordered that the locks should be wrenched, and their papers examined ;
when to his mortification nothing but their beds and empty trunks was dis-
covered. He then endeavoured to apprehend them ; but was unsuccessful
in this also. They willingly severed their connexions with the Company,
and embarked in trade on their own account, doing their utmost to injure
the Factory, and representing to the native authorities that the King of
England had transferred his protection from the old to a new Company.

The remaining history of these two men was eventful. Bourchier,
fearing Child's revenge, endeavoured to procure a special firman, which
should place him under the Emperor's protection, and with that object
visited Delhi. His application was not rejected, but compliance was de-
layed for fourteen months, when a drunken Englishman effected that in
which sobriety and prudence had failed. Bourchier's interpreter, Swan,
having been inspired with artificial courage by potations of arak, rushed
towards Aurangzib as he was taking his ride, and placing his petition on
his head clamoured in the Persian language for justice. Attracted by
his European garb, the Emperor invited him to make his complaint
known ; on which Swan declared that his master desired to become a sub-
ject of the great monarch, that he might be freed from the English Com-
pany's intolerable oppression. The request was granted. The next day

* Bruce's Annals, 1687-1691. Grant Duff's History, vol i. chap x. Hamilton's " New
Account," chap, xix Raynal, vol. i. Book iii. A Voyage to Suratt iu the year
by J. Ovingtoii, M. A , Chaplain to Hiij Majesty.

119

Bourchier obtained his firman, and traded securely in defiance of Child
and his myrmidons.

Poor Petit was not so fortunate. After his dismissal, he was a warm
supporter of Keigwin, and engaged to supply the rebels with grain from
Surat. He also visited them in his own vessels, and was welcomed as one
of their most valued counsellors. But when trading in the Persian Gulf,
his ship was assailed by pirates, and was blown up whilst he was bravely
defending her. He was not killed on the spot, but in his haste to escape
from the flames, jumped into the long boat, fell, and received such a severe
blow on the head that concussion of the brain ensued. The pirates car-
ried him to Gujarat, and as they in vain demanded a ransom for him, he
there perished miserably on the twenty-second of October 1084. Sir John
Child, when in an official letter announcing his death to the Governor of
Surat, declared also that he had " gone to the devil" ; but we may re-
main satisfied with knowing that on this head even the active President
had no correct information.*

The above accounts may be relied upon as being confirmed by grave
and accurate writers. Other imputations which Hamilton makes against
Sir John Child in these affairs of fraud, cruelty, bribery, and suborna-
tion, of attempting to poison Bourchier, and persuading the pirates to treat
Petit so harshly that he died under the effect of their barbarity all these
are so incredible, and so palpably set down in malice, that they claim no
further notice at our hands. f

Sir John Child did not long survive the humiliation caused by an utter
failure of his ambitious designs. He died on the fourth of February
] 690, whilst the negotiations with the Emperor were pending. " The
death of wolves is the safety of the sheep," and the removal of this ob-
noxious man much facilitated the restoration of the English to Aurangzib's
favour. He left behind him considerable wealth some said at least a
hundred thousand pounds. His widow afterwards married George Wei-
don, the Deputy Governor. |

Bartholomew Harris succeeded as President of Surat and Governor of
Bombay, the more imposing title of General being for the present dis-
continued^ Harris had been one of the Factors who were placed in con-
finement, and, as it was contrary to the etiquette of the Imperial Court
that any one who had been convicted of a capital offence should without
special permission be honoured with marks of the Emperor's esteem, he
was unable to attend in order that the usual firman and official gifts
might be presented to him. This duty therefore was delegated to the
Deputy Governor. Harris was a man of feeble mind and indolent dis-
position, so that the management of affairs fell into the hands of Samuel
Annesley, who himself succeeded in due time to the Presidentship.

Vaux was appointed Deputy Governor. He had formerly been book-

* The above expression is quoted by Hamilton from thirty- five printed articles of
frriovanres forwarded by Sir John Child to the (lOvernor of Surat. Hamilton repre-
sents Child's lanoruape as habitually gross and obscene.

t Hamilton's "New Account," chap, xvii. Bruoe's Annals, 1083-84. Orme's Fng-
inents.

i Hamilton's " New Account." Ovin^ton's Voyage.

| Bruoe's Annuls. 1090-91.

120

keeper for Sir Josiah Child in England, and, on account of his good be-
haviour, had been made by his master supercargo of a ship employed in
the China trade, now beginning to be the most profitable of all the Com-
pany's speculations. Eventually he found his way to Bombay, where he
was entertained as a Factor.

Dr. St. John not having been found sufficiently tractable and forward in
persecuting private traders, Vaux was nominated Second Judge. St.
John bitterly complained that a man ignorant of law, and utterly un-
qualified for the duties of the bench, was thus thrust into his office. But
the excuse offered was, that it was intended the lawyer should devote
himself exclusively to maritime cases. However, it is certain that Vaux
also sat in judgment upon interlopers, and it is beyond a doubt that the
two Childs hoped he would wage a war of extermination against them.
To their great disappointment he did not prove such an unscrupulous
agent as they wished.* He was perfectly willing to enforce the law with
the utmost rigour, but he was so cautious as not to proceed further.
1 What a timid fool,' thought his patron. In a letter which Hamilton
read and copied, Sir Josiah pleasantly observed that the laws were " a
heap of nonsense, compiled by a few ignorant country gentlemen" ; but
utterly unfit for the regulation of commerce and the guidance of the
Honorable East India Company. ' My orders, Sir,' he wrote in other
words, ' are to be your rules, and not the laws of England.'

In spite of his lingering regard for an antiquated code, Vaux was thought
worthy of the Deputy Governorship. But after two years he was sus-
pended from the Company's service, and remained unemployed until 1697,
when he and his wife, whilst enjoying a sail on the Tapti, were upset and
drowned. His tomb is still a landmark for ships as they approach the
river's mouth to Surat.

It was a hard time for interlopers at the beginning of this period ;
but before the close of it they derived advantages from the political
liberty with which England was blessed. The legal powers with which
the Court of Admiralty at Bombay was vested, were sufficient to satisfy
the most avaricious and cruel disposition. Interlopers could be seized as
pirates, and when convicted, sentence of death was passed upon them.
Execution of the sentence was indeed stayed until the King's pleasure
could be known, but meanwhile the offender languished in imprisonment,
and when at last pardoned by an exercise of the royal prerogative, his
property having been already confiscated, he was reduced to beggary. Yet
the Directors were still fearful that an appeal to a higher Court might
gain him redress, and therefore sent out orders that when their Judge
Advocate in India had passed sentence, there should be no inquiry into
the legality of his proceedings. f

When the Phoenix frigate was on her passage from England, she cap-
tured three interloping vessels. One was a small craft which she disco-
vered off the coast of Madagascar. Another was the Bristol, which Sir
Thomas Grantham had seen at Surat, but did not think himself au-

* Brace's Annals, 108">-86.

7 Bruce's Annals, 1085-80. Will's History. Hamilton's History of Himlostan,
Vol. i. page 232,

121

thorized to interfere with. She was now on her return voyage, and had
put into Johanna for repairs. The Captain of the Phoenix made no scruple
about seizing her ; and the third day after she sank. Mewse, her super-
cargo, being tried in Bombay, was, in addition to the loss of his property,
condemned by the General to pay a fine of a thousand pounds, and to be
imprisoned until such time as the money should be forthcoming. How-
ever, on the remonstrance of Vaux, he was set at liberty, and the Com-
pany was afterwards compelled to pay in England sixty thousand pounds
to the owners of the two vessels. The third, the Little Betty, belonged
to a Quaker, named Hastewell, whose spirited conduct obtained him sa-
tisfaction. He arrested Tyrrel, the commander of the Frigate, as he was
leaving the Exchange, and, although that officer claimed King James'
protection, the resolute Quaker recovered twelve thousand pounds, which
were much more than the value of the vessel and cargo.*

At one time the Court wrote out to their President that they had re-
solved to prosecute forty- eight of the principal interlopers ; at another
they ordered him to dismiss any of their servants who should be convicted
of corresponding with such persons.f However, their desire to do mis-
chief generally exceeded their ability. When the Success, private trader,
arrived at Surat, the President ordered the Captain of the Benjamin to
attack her, but his crew positively refused to fight in such a cause. The
Commander of the interloper traded as he pleased, and all that his enemy
could do was, to express his chagrin to the Court, and request the Dutch
Governor of the Cape of Good Hope to do for him what he could not do
for himself, and detain the Success on her homeward passage. J Another
attempt to interfere with a certain Captain White failed still more signally.
Having in vain begged the Governor of Surat to prevent this interloper
from trading, the President offered to grant him permission on certain
conditions, which he specified ; but this offer was rejected. The conclu-
sion was amusing. White attained his object and sailed away, when the
Governor, fearing that he might after all be a pirate, actually compelled
the President to become security for his good behaviour. At last the Com-
pany's applications in England to have the voyages of free traders stopped,
were decisively negatived.

It may be pleaded in extenuation of the active malice with which the
Company's servants persecuted interlopers, that it was often impossible to
distinguish private and honest traders from pirates. Great numbers of ad-
venturers had been attracted from all countries to the Indian coasts, and
some resorted to robbery on the high seas, as a more expeditious way of
making money than ordinary commerce. Such reckless Captains created
a terrible sensation. Native piracy, with its hole and corner business, was
completely eclipsed. Instead of small boats from Malabar and SinrJ,
which took by surprise boats sma hr than themselves, there were now
in the Indian seas stately vessels with tiers of guns, and manned by the
stout seamen of Europe. These without any resistance pillaged native
craft, and often treated the crews with great barbarity, whilst for all such
acts the Company were held responsible. It is not easy to see how the

* Hamilton's " Now Account," chap. xvii. and xviii. + Brace's Annals, 1691-92.

J Bruce's Annals, 1692-93. $ Ib. 1694-95.

122

distinction between these pirates and independent traders eonM be always
determined. Hoth were acting illegally, and to attack both was not only
the Company's interest, but was generally required of them by the Mogul
as a condition on which he extended to them his protection.

A few examples will serve to illustrate the truth of these remarks. The
mouth of the Red Sea was infested by European pirates. At first they
attempted to command its entrance, by building regular fortifications on
the island of Trim, near the straits of Bab-el-Mandel, where they found a
good and convenient bay for their shipping. But the difficulty here was,
to obtain water. After digging through fifteen fathoms of hard rock,
they only came to such as was brackish. They therefore abandoned Prim,
md removed to St. Mary's Island, at the East of Madagascar. Finally
ihey settled on the main island, and intermarried with families of the
native chiefs. Their cruizing ground was in the Indian seas. In KJi)(5 a
Hhip which was conveying Arabian horses from Bombay to Surat was
::ci/.ed by them, and when the commander, named Sawbridge, pertina-
ciously expostulated with them, they sewed his lips together with a sail-
maker's needle and twine. For several hours he was thus kept, his hands
being fastened behind him. They then plundered his ship, burned her
and the horses, and set Sawbridge and his crew ashore near Aden, where
he expired.

The most notorious of the rovers was Captain Avory, who, although a
most daring robber, had not like others a character tor brutal ferocity.
Having fitted out in the West Indies a ship called the Fanm/, mounting
forty-six guns, and manned by a hundred and thirty sailors, fifty-two of
whom were French, and the rest Danes, English, Scotch and Irish, he
spread terror amongst the native seamen and merchants of Surat. From
one large ship he obtained in 1(595 booty valued at three hundred and
twenty-live thousand pounds sterling, and a young Mohammedan lady,
who was returning from Mecca. lie was satisfied with securing these
prizes, and did not, as formerly was done, torture, or in any way injure
the crew, but allowed the vessel to prooenlon her voyage. (Jreat was the
commotion when she reached Surat. The populace was inarms, and the
Governor was compelled to place a guard over the Factory, lest it should
be plundered, and the inhabitants massacred.

At length matters were brought to a crisis. In 1000 Avory sei/ed
and plundered the Ganjsavdi, the largest of the Mogul ships, as she was
on her passage from Surat to Mocha with pilgrims. This was sacrilege.
Popular resentment was carried to the highest pitch of fury, and the. <!< -
vernor was compelled to act decisively. The English President, Vaux,
and others, amounting to fifty-three Englishmen at Surat, and ten at
Swally, together with the Factors at Raroch, were all placed in irons and
imprisoned. Afterwards they were confined within the walls of the Fac-
tory.*

The following year pirates, sailing under British colours, plundered,
burned, and sank three English vessels.f Avory at last gained such

Hamilton's " Now Account," chapters V. xiii. and xix. Bruco's Annals, 1095-97
(o-.mt l)ufl"s History, chap. xi.
| letter from the President and Council of Surat ; dated 10th April 1697-

123

celebrity for enterprise and audacity, that the Lord Justices of England
i (Ill-red a reward of tive hundred pounds for his apprehension, and the
Company an additional four thousand rupees. Yet he seems to have es-
caped with impunity. After enriching himself and his crew in the In-
dian seas he sailed to the island of Providence in the Bahamas, where he
sold his ship and dispersed the crew. Two of his Mowers being after-
wards seized in Ireland, one at Rochester and others elsewhere, five of
them were executed.

Little able as the natives were to defend themselves at sea, the risks of
piracy were so trifling, and the prizes so rich, that it became more and
more tempting. The Company's sailors soon began to discover that rob-
bery was more lucrative than honest labour. Mutinous tendencies mani-
fested themselves, and as the power of their officers to inflict punishment
was but ill-defined, their disorders were not suppressed with sufficient
promptitude. On the Mocha Frigate, the sailors openly made several
complaints against Edgecomb, their Captain ; but on this occasion Sir
John Gayer acted with undue severity, and compelled them to sail for
China before they had obtained redress. The consequence was, that they
mutinied, shot their Captain in his cabin, turned pirates, induced the
crew of the Josiah ketch to join them, and infested the straits of Malacca.
They attacked the Dorrclos she was on her voyage to China, but Hide,
her Commander, defended his ship so well, that although he lost sixteen
men, he succeeded in beating them off. So disabled, however, were his
ship and crew that he was obliged to end his voyage at Malacca. The
President chose to attribute these mutinies to the intrigues of interlopers,
but he was himself blamed for turning a deaf ear to the seamen's
grievances. Whatever were the causes at work, a spirit of disaffection
was so widely spread, that the Commanders of vessels feared even to send
a boat's crew away, lest they should desert and take to buccaneering.*

The native rovers also were more numerous and bold than they had
ever been before. So many of them were prowling about Swally, that
the Captains of English vessels would not venture to land their cargoes,
except under the protection of a guard. One of their small vessels, with
eight guns, attacked the Phc&nix Frigate, with forty-two guns, whilst she
was on her voyage to Surat. The pirates supposed that she was a mer-
chant ship, and did not discover their error until it was too late to sheer
off. The Frigate's great guns soon sank their frail bark ; but the des-
perate fellows refused quarter, and only about seventy were taken prison-
ers, whilst swimming for their lives. Sir George Byng, afterwards
Viscount Torrington, who destroyed a Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro, was
Lieutenant on board the Phoenix, and received a dangerous wound.f

We left the President and Factors under durance in consequence of the
injuries which Avory had inflicted on the merchants of Surat. A native
envoy, whom they despatched to the Mogul Court, with a message solicit-
ing their release, found that Sir John Child's seizure of vessels was fresh
in the remembrance of the Emperor's officers, and the late piracies had

* Bruce's Annals, 1GU6 97- Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xix.
f A relation of three years' sufferings of Uobcrt Everard ; Churchill's Voyage*
Hamilton's ' Few Account," chap. xii.

124

revived their hatred of Englishmen. In spite of many protestations, an
order was issued prohibiting Europeans from hoisting Hags on their ships,
wearing arms, or using palanquins. On the arrival of a report that ano-
ther ship had been seized, all the Factors, except the President, two of
the Council, and Captain Brown, were once more confined in irons. The
order for their entire release and the restoration of the Company's property
at Surat and its subordinate Factories did not arrive until the twenty -
seventh of June 169G. Even then restrictions upon trade remained.*

In 1G92 Captain, afterwards Sir John Goldesborough, was appointed
Commissary General, and supervisor of all the Company's affairs in In-
dia, with power to dismiss all servants whom he should find after exami-
nation to be neglecting their masters' interests ; and the next year he was
made General. He died in January 161)4, and having been in power so
short a time he scarcely interfered at all with the affairs of Western In-
dia ; we only find him calling President Annesley to account for not living
within the walls of the Factory.f

On the dismissal of Vaux, Cook had been appointed by the Court De-
puty Governor of Bombay, and as his death occurred the same season,
Weldon succeeded him. Samuel Annesley was appointed President of
Surat. One of his acts exhibited him as a man of singular meanness.
It appears that the owners of native vessels being aware of Englishmen's
courage and skill in the art of navigation, employed many of them as Com-
manders, and paid them salaries which in those days were considered
handsome. Masters received from ten to fifteen, and mates from six to
nine pounds per mensem, besides the privilege of carrying a certain quan-
tity of merchandize without paying freight. Annesley insisted that a
portion of such salaries should be considered his fee. Those who had no
other resource complied with this unreasonable demand, and others who
refused were ruined by his contrivance. Some of the latter joined the
pirates, and all in revenge endeavoured to fill the minds of natives with
contemptuous notions of the Company's servants. It may here be men-
tioned that in 1700 Annesley was dismissed the service by order of the
Court, for breach of trust and fraudulent contracts made with native bro-
kers. He was succeeded in the Presidentship by Stephen Colt.

In 1694 Sir John Gayer, Knight, arrived to be Governor of Bombay
with the revived title of General. He was a man of good character and
respectable abilities, but, as we shall see, his period of office was clouded
with calamities and disgraceful rivalries. Some of his acts have been just-
ly censured, and we shall find him shewing singular weakness in suffering
himself and his wife to be made prisoner by the Governor of Surat. We
must not anticipate events, but may simply remark that this negligence
appeared at the time so impolitic and injurious to the Company's interests,
that many attributed it, for those reasons alone, to some secret and mer-
cenary motive. J

Brace's Annals, 1695-97-

f Bruce, 1G92 94. Letter from His Excellency Sir John Goldesborough to the
President of Surat ; dated 13th June 1693

| Bruce, 1696-9U. Uauiiltou's " New Account," chup. xix.

125

CHAPTER VIII.

16851697.

CONTENTS. -Ovinston ; his account of tho Factory aud Factors. The Company
borrow of their servants. New regulations for Bombay. Low state of the
revenues and garrison. Burdens on trade. Increasing ravages of disease.
Everard ; his visit to Bombay ; adventures and sufferings. Manners of the
English ; their diet ; dissolute morals ; character given of the ladies. Sir John
Gayer's ward ; her first and second marriages ; seduction. The Court at-
tempts to check vice. Taverns, Poisoning-, Consumption of spirits. The
military ; Captain Carr. Religion ; special form of prayer ; Divine Service.
A Chaplain refuses to marry. Conversions to Romanism ; Lieutenant Finch;
persecution of a Priest. Reasons for this intolerance ; treachery of the Je-
suits. Punishment of the Portuguese. JS'ewton's apostacy. Unsettled state
of the country. Minor Factories ; Amoy, Siam, Anjengo, Baroch. Sporting
at Carwar. Young Goring and Lembourg. Dutch intrigues. Ships cap-
tured by the French. Spirited conduct of the Court. Armenians.

OVINGTON, a Chaplain in the Royal Navy who left England in 1689,
and remained for several years on the coasts of India, has left us an ac-
count which shews that men and manners were changing, though not
improving, with the times. He made particular inquiries into all matters
connected with the Factory or, as he calls it, the Lodge at Surat, and we
will give the result of them, as far as they can be interesting to the reader.

The building was held of the Emperor at a rent of sixty pounds a-year ;
but his Majesty was a liberal landlord, and expended nearly all this
money in repairs. About forty Europeans resided within the walls.

The President was allowed three hundred pounds a-year, and as the
prohibition against private trade had been cancelled, he and the other chief
Factors could accumulate considerable wealth in a few years. Their
profits were enormous, frequently amounting to fifty per cent ; so that they
could afford to commence business on a borrowed capital, for which they
paid Banyas at the rate of twenty-five per cent. The council was composed
of an Accountant, Storekeeper, and Purser Marine, in addition to the
President, who had a double vote. After these ranked the Secretary, who
usually succeeded to the first vacancy in Council ; but it was tacitly regarded
amongst the Factors as a rule of courtesy that the Chaplain should rank as
third in the Factory.

All salaries were paid half yearly.* The second in Council received a
hundred and twenty pounds a year ; the Chaplain, as formerly, a hundred

* Ovington says annually ; but tUe Accountant's charges in the Records shew that he
was mistaken,

126

pounds, Senior Factors forty pounds, Junior Factors fifteen pounds, and
Writers seven pounds. Forty or fifty peons were in attendance for general
purposes, besides that several others were appointed specially to wait upon
the President and each of the Factors. These men received monthly four
rupees each, and their havaldar or Serjeant six rupees. They were said
to be remarkably honest ; so much so, that not one had been accused of
theft in the course of many years. At the gate oi the Factory was a
Porter, whose duty it was to see that no suspicious persons entered, and that
the Writers and others were within walls at proper hours. Attached to the
Factory were native brokers, who were allowed a commission of three
per cent on all sales and purchases.

All Europeans dined at the public table, where they took their places
according to seniority. The dinner service was sumptuous all the dishes,
plates, and drinking cups, being of massive and pure silver and the
provisions were of the best quality. Arak and wine from Shiraz were ordi-
narily drunk at table. There were an English, a Portuguese, and an
Indian cook, so that every palate might be suited. Before and after meals
a peon attended with a silver basin and ewer, which he offered to each
person at table that he might pour water over his hands. On Sundays
and a few other days high festival was kept. The choicest of European
and Persian wines were then introduced.

On these festivals the Factors often accompanied the President, at his
invitation, to a Garden which was kept for recreation and amusement. At
such times they formed a procession. The President and his lady were
borne in palanquins. Before him were carried two large banners, and
gaily caparisoned horses of Arabian or Persian breed were led, their
saddles being of richly embroidered velvet ; their head-stalls, reins, and
cruppers mounted with solid and wrought silver. The Council followed in
coaches drawn by oxen, and the other Factors in country carts or on horses
kept at the Company's expense.

There was a singular combination of pride and meanness displayed in
the Factors' mode of life. None of them not even the Chaplain moved
out of the walls of the city without being attended by four or five peons.
At the Hindu feast of the Divali, Banyas always offered presents to the
President, Members of Council, Chaplain, Surgeon and others. To the
young Factors these gifts were of great importance, as by selling them again,
they were enabled to procure their annual supply of new clothes.

This was beggarly enough, but not so low as another practice which was
in favour with these young gentlemen, as they were now styled in
courtesy. They had a clever way of enjoying practical jokes, and at the
same time indulging their mercenary propensities. One of them would
enter the premises of a Banya and pretend that he was shooting doves or-
sparrows. The horrified believer in metempsychosis would then come out,
earnestly implore him to desist, and even offer him " ready money."
He " drops in his hand a roupie or two to be gone," says the narrator.
There, reader, is a picture of the representatives of a high-minded nation
drawn by one of themselves. Poor Civilians ! At least in your case
necessity was the mother of invention.

In addition to their salaries, the Chaplain and Surgeon received fees

127

for their services, find at Christmas hoth were accustomed to share " the
President's bounty." The Chaplain was allowed his diet, lodgings, atten-
dants, and he had at his disposal a coach or horse. With all these perqui-
sites his income was raised to a considerable amount.* All were enjoined
to treat him with great deference and respect. His duties on Sundays
were to read prayers three times, and preach once ; on other days to read
prayers at six in the morning and eight in the evening in a room set apart
fur the purpose and " decently embellished." He was also required to
catechize the lads of the Factory, to visit occasionally the subordinate Fac-
tories, and take care that Divine service was properly celebrated in his
absence. As the Dutch were without a Chaplain, he was invited by them
to baptize their children.^

Although the finances of the Factory were in an embarrassed state, the
separate members seem to have been at no time more flourishing. The
consequence was, that the Company were reduced to borrow money from
their servants. The public debt amounted to twenty lakhs of rupees, and
so much were the remittances from England below the sum required for
investment, that it was necessary to raise a portion in India. The Com-
pany's credit was so low that they could not obtain a further loan of one
lakh and eighty thousand rupees without drawing on the private funds of
their Factors. J

The Company, although thwarted for a time, yet steadily kept in view
their object of raising an independent power in India, and on that
account continued anxious to increase the commercial importance of
Bombay. They ordered that regular markets for provisions should be
established there, a dry dock built, and a duty of a dollar per ton levied
on every ship which should be surveyed or repaired in it ; that large
quantities of iron should be sent out for building and repairing vessels ;
that a pier be constructed, and fixed rates charged for landing and
shipping goods ; that a progressive duty, varying from one shilling to two
shillings and sixpence, be levied on every house ; that all English
inhabitants, not in the Company's service, be liable to pay duty for consul-
age ; that a Post Office and an Insurance Office be established, and all the
fortifications strengthened.

The uncultivated lands of the island had been divided amongst " a
number of black soldiers" on condition that they should cultivate them and
give half their produce to Government. These men had been engaged
for military operations during the war, and it was thought that it would
be imprudent to dismiss them. In order that the force of acclimatized
Europeans might be strengthened, all such as were in the service of
native powers were recalled to Bombay, " one seasoned man being worth
two fresh ones."

However, the Company's ability fell far short of their desire to repair
the losses which they had suffered. When Sir John Gayer came to
Bombay in 1091, he found the Government and trade in a most depressed

* On looking over copies of the remittance lists, I find that the Chaplains frequently
remitted the whole of their salaries to England. How much more 1 cauuot say.
f Ovington.

t Mill's History, Book i. chapter 5.
I ih-uce's Annals, 1688-01.

128

condition. The revenues had Men from sixty-two thousand five hundred
to seventeen thousand xeraphims, chiefly because the palm trees, from
which a large portion was derived, had been' neglected. The Garrison
included sepoys, and only a hundred English, Dutch and French soldiers,
who could scarcely overawe the inhabitants, exasperated as they were by
the harsh treatment which some of their countrymen had received from
English pirates. The Court supposed that they could fill up the ranks
with Armenians, and " Madagascar blacks," but found that such were
not to be had. All Gayer's efforts to keep the Garrison in an efficient
state were futile. He increased it, but was soon compelled from lack of
funds to disband three hundred and forty Gcntoos, and sixty Christians, so
that the native troops were reduced to seven Subedars and four hundred
rank and file. In 1G97 they had no more than twenty-seven European
soldiers.*

At the same time trade was oppressed with such heavy burdens that it
could scarcely advance at all. For all goods exported from Bombay to the
Mogul's dominions the Company themselves charged five per cent; a fur-
ther duty of eight per cent was then demanded by the Portuguese at Thana,
and arbitrary exactions were made by the Mogul Governor at Kalyan.f

The climate, instead of improving, grew more pestilential. Year by
year the tragic story of disease and death is of heightening interest.
The sword also had done its work, and so much were the constitutions of
Europeans undermined by the deleterious air, that slight wounds were
healed with difficulty, and severe wounds were usually mortal. The num-
ber diminished with a rapidity truly alarming. Of seven or eight hundred
Europeans, who inhabited Bombay before the war, not more than sixty were
left. There were but three civilians to carry on the Company's business, and
it became necessary to close the Courts of Admiralty and Common Law.
Children suffered equally with those who had reached maturity. Not one
child in twenty survived the days of infancy. One of the pleasantest spots
in India seemed no more than a garish graveyard. Such as remained in it
murmured against their hard fate, and against the Company who would
not listen to their request for permission to escape.J

In addition to causes before stated the water of the island was now
supposed to be unwholesome. Provisions too were scarce and bad. As
the land produced little but cocoa-nuts and toddy, corn and cattle,
usually of inferior quality, were imported. A sheep or two from Surat
was the most acceptable present that could be offered to the Governor
himself. Ovington tried to crack a melancholy joke on this pitiable state
of things, and remarked that as some islands of the West were called
Fortunate on account of their pure air and genial climate, " so the moderns
may, in opposition to them, denominate this the unfortunate one in the
East, because of the antipathy it bears to those two qualities." " It is
certainly a mortal enemy to the lives of Europeans." Of twenty-four
"passengers who arrived with him in Bombay at the commencement of the
rains, twenty, and fifteen of the ship's company, perished before the rains

* Bruce's Annals, 1694-97. t Bruce's Annals, 1697-98.

J Bruce's Annals, 1691-92. Ovington. Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xix.
Hamilton's Hhidostun, vol. ii.

had ceased. He declared that none would have escaped if they had
remained till the end of October. The strictest temperance was of no
avail. When they left the harbour neither the Commander nor himself
had reason to hope that either would survive many days ; but contrary to
all expectation, they were restored to health before they had sailed half
way to Surat. Und^r such circumstances we are not surprised that when
this reverend gentleman was invited by George Cook, the Deputy
Governor, to become Chaplain of the place, he at once declined. He
writes as if he would give the reader a nod and wink in approval of his
own sagacity, adding, that one minister had been buried only a fortnight
before, and three or four more in as many of the preceding years. It was
a current proverb here, that " Two mussoons are the age of a man."
Yet at Surat the health of Europeans suffered little. Not one Englishman
was attacked by the plague in that place, at a time when three hundred
natives were dying there each day. Such is Ovington's account.

Another writer who visited Bombay about the same time is not so well
known, but his narrative deserves notice, not only from his allusions to
Bombay, but as shewing the habits of English seamen and the dangers
of a voyage to India. Robert Everard was merely an apprentice on
board the ship Bauden which arrived in the Indian seas during the
year 1G8G. The Captain was running intoVersova supposing that it
was the harbour of Bombay, and he only discovered his error when the
Portuguese hoisted their national colours. As he was leaving Versova, the
pilot ran his ship ashore, and again when entering the harbour of Bombay
they struck upon the rocks. In both instances they escaped with difficulty.
When in the harbour the mate and gunner having been tried and found
guilty of disorderly conduct, were sentenced to a singular punishment.
They were taken from ship to ship, and on each they received ten lashes.
On their own ship they received twenty lashes. They were then taken,
ashore, and after the infliction of ten lashes under the wall of the fort,
were discharged. When the Bauden had left India, she was treacher-
ously attacked near the coast of Madagascar by the natives of Assada, who
murdered the Captain, Mate, Purser, and many others of the crew.
Everard himself was taken prisoner and kept in slavery for three years,
during part of which time he endured great suffering. When he had
regained his liberty, he visited Bombay a second time in another India-
man. A widow lady came on board with a view of merely taking her
passage to Surat, but during the short voyage the Captain made such
good use of his time that he gained her heart, and when they arrived there,
they were married amidst great rejoicing. Before they kft Surat some
Captains of other vessels and the gentlemen of the Factory came on board
and held a carousal, firing guns and drinking healths. Being told of Everard's
sufferings when in captivity, their hearts were moved to pity, and they made
up for him a purse of fifteen rupees. On their return to Bombay the Cap-
tain engaged sailors at the rate of fifty shillings a head, and three pounds a
month for wages. It is worthy of remark that the Lord's Day was scru-
pulously observed on board the ship in which Everard sailed, and the
merchants refused on that day to employ themselves in traffic,*;

relation.

130

We may glean a little here and there regarding the manners of the
English in this generation. Their diet appears at present in some respects
singular even to their countrymen. Tea was drank in great quantities.
Amongst the Dutch the tea pot, we are told, was seldom off the fire. The
English do not seem to have usually taken it with sugar and milk,
although sugar candy was occasionally dissolved in it. But it was more
frequently drunk with hot spices, or " by the more curious with small
conserved lemons." Khichari, a mixture of rice and split pulse, was an
ordinary article of food. In consequence of the scarcity of flesh meat,
European sailors were required to fast one or two days in the week,
]ust as good Churchmen were in England by the writers of the Homilies,
in order that the Fisheries might not be ruined. On these days hungry
tars were only permitted to eat khichari ; so, because they then conformed to
the habits of Hindus, they called them " Banian days."

Immorality and dissoluteness were of the deepest dye, and added force
to the assaults of the unhealthy climate. One who had been an eye-witness
said after he had left Bombay, " I cannot without horror mention to
what a pitch all vicious enormities were grown in this place. Their
principles of action, and the consequent evil practices of the English, for-
warded their miseries, and contributed to fill the air with those pestilential
vapours that seized their vitals, and speeded their hasty passage to the
other world. Luxury, immodesty, and a prostitute dissolution of manners,
found still new matter to work upon." All kinds of vice were in the
superlative degree, and the most detestable sins were indulged in to un
almost unlimited extent.

Nor were individuals of the gentler sex such as could soften the hearts
and elevate the minds of their husbands. "The Indian market" for
ladies is now but an historical tradition ; but at the close of the seven-
teenth century it was beginning to be a fact and reality. Women avowedly
went there to gain husbands. The article when thus imported was
finished in the most approved style ; but as savages attach most value to
beads and looking glasses, so the Factors did not look for solid acquire-
ments or even accomplishments in their brides. " A modish garb and
mien," we are assured, were all that was required, and if a lady could
display these, she soon obtained the hand of some rich merchant.

One at least of these marriages d la mode turned out unhappily, and
caused no little scandal to the virtuous part of the community. A young
lady, daughter of Ward, the late Deputy Governor, and niece of Sir John
Child, was residing on the island, and as she had no surviving relatives
and a fortune of three thousand pounds, Sir John Gayer looked upon her
as his peculiar charge. Not wishing that the family should lose such a
prize, he intended that she should marry his son ; but one day discovered
to his great annoyance that she had been united clandestinely to Solomon
Lloyd, a Factor. However, the will of a Governor had more of law in
those days than at present, and no marriage was considered valid unless
his consent had been previously obtained. In this case Sir John, without
the least hesitation, transferred the downed lady to his son. This was
bad enough ; but the worst part of the story remains to be told. On the
principle of the French adage, that if a woman cannot get the man she

131

loves, she must love the man she can get, the lady might have lived as a-
faithful and affectionate wife, if her husband had not been called away to
China. But then she began to think of defects in her education, and pro-
posed to employ her lonely hours in learning to write correctly. A school-
master, named Coleman, was engaged for the purpose, and taking advan-
tage of his position, he communicated to her also lessons in unlawful love.
A watchful mother-in-law discovered the intrigue ; the wicked pedagogue
was sent in chains to England, and all hopes of connubial bliss for Sir John-
Gayer's son and daughter-in-law were destroyed.*

It must be admitted that the Company did all in their power to arrest
the progress of vice at Bombay, but as the English nation was in the midst
of an iniquitous career, to which the first impulse had been given by that
mean debauchee, miscalled " themerrie monarch," and his Court, it was
not to be expected that a warning voice from London would gain respect-
ful attention in India.f Yet the Directors did what they could and wrote
thus : " The Governor, Deputy Governor, and committees of the East
India Company, having been informed of the disorderly and unchristian
conversation of some of their Factors and servants in the parts of India,
tending to the dishonour of God, the discredit of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the shame and scandal of the English nation," make certain regulations
with a view to render " the religion we profess amiable in the sight of those
heathens among whom they reside." Then follow directions for religious
observances. The agents and chiefs of the several Factories were also strict-
ly enjoined " to prevent all profane swearing, and taking the name of God
in vain by cursed oaths ; all drunkenness and intemperance, all fornica-
tion, and uncleanness." If any persisted in committing these sins, they
were to be punished, and, if found incorrigible, sent to England.^

Small as were the number of Europeans, taverns and grog shops were
already established for them. We find from official papers that on the-
thirteenth of August 1G94 John Wright applied for and gained permission
to keep a tavern in Bombay. The prices of wines and spirituous liquors
were then fixed by the Governor in Council. For a bottle of sherry two
xeraphims were to be charged, and two lareens for a bottle of punch con-
taining two quarts. An instance of the minutiae to which legislation de-
scended at that time is an order that, " if any man comes into a victualling
house to drink punch, he may demand one quart of good Goa arak, halt*
a pound of sugar, and half a pint of good lime water, and make his own
punch. And if the bowle be not marked with the clerk of the market's
seale, then the bowle may be freely broken without paying anything either
for bowle or punch. "

Cases of poisoning were said to be frequent at these taverns. The rude

* Ilamil ton's " New Account."

f Burnct, who does not ordinarily make his statements in a few words, yet sums up
his account of manners in England after tho Revolution, concisely, thus : " Upon the
whole matter, the nation was falling under such a general corruption, both as to
morals and principles, and that was so much spread among all sorts of people, that it
jiave us great apprehension of heavy judgments from JJuaven." History oi liis Own
Times, Hook v.

J Ovington.

| Order Book of the Bombay Uoveramcat, I3tU Augiut I(j3i.

132

manners of British seamen led them to use a freedom with the dark ladies
who frequented such places, for which they occasionally paid the penalty
of their lives. A rough kiss given when a tar was under the excitement
of liquor, or an offensive piece of raillery, would so disgust " the black
wench" whose employment it was to make that " beloved mixture, punch
of arak," that she would contrive with a subtle skilfulness to- make the
bowl fatal to the man who abused her, whilst his companions drank
without the slightest injury to themselves-.*

Liquor made in the country was drank by all classes of Englishmen.
Sometimes they were contented with arak manufactured atSurator Bom-
bay ; but the best was brought from Goa or Bengal. The strongest sort
was called by Englishmen " Jagre" (jagri), and was, I suppose, a liquor
distilled like rum, from molasses. It was taken in drams and heated, or
made lukewarm by a hot iron oy wedge of gold dropped into it. A fond-
ness for intoxicating spirits was carried even by superior minds to an as-
tonishing degree of ce^rseness.. Fryer, man of excellent edttcation as he
was, could not attend the banquet of a Mussulman officer, without having
the bad taste to draw a flask out of his pocket, and qualify his sherbet
with the more potent draught to which he was accustomed. This he tells
vis himself with an evident conviction that he had beeaknowing and clever "jr

As regards the military at this period, the Company had not been
taught by bitter experience to treat them with liberality, and consequent-
ly they found that they themselves were treated by them with little res-
pect. Their vexatious regulations infused a spirit of insubordination into*
the minds of all the troops, from the highest officer to the private soldier.
Captain Carr, indeed, did not hesitate to insult the Deputy Governor in
his Council Chamber. Unsummoned he appeared before his Honor to de-
mand an inquiry into his conduct. He was told that he had not been sent
for ; but, as he had come of his own accord, he would peidia>ps- be so good
as to explain why he- had not appeared on parade for two. mornings. " I
had business," was his laconic answer. The Deputy Governor mildly
suggested that his business could not have been very urgent, and that it
really appeared as if the Captain was not anxious to perform his duty.
Upon that Carr began to swear " good mouth-filling oaths" at his Honor,
and when threatened with punishment by him, shook his fist in the De-
puty's face. The affair was terminated by the Captain being placed under
arrest, and confined to his own quarters. Such an example thus set by
an officer was, as might be expected, imitated by private soldiers, anil at
last all fell into such a disorganized state that the Governor could not find
a man whom he would venture to make a Serjeant or Corporal. J

The Company professed especial care for the religious instruction; of
their servants, and sent out strict orders that the Lord's Day should be ob-
served, and prayers regularly offered. They also enclosed a form of special
prayer, which taught their servants to implore in the first place the Di-
vine favour for their honorable masters-, and in the second place their

* Oviitgton's Voyage. An infusion of poppies called in Hindustani jjos^ is mentioned
fcy Europeans of that time as a slow poison much used in India,
f Fryer, Letter iii. chap. v. Ovington.
!! LiHter from Bombay to Surivt, dated 6tb Itecorraber, 1 08(3 . Brace's- Annuls, 1096-9*-

133

honorable masters' favour for themselves. The main objects of the prayey
were such temporal blessings as are included in the promises made to the
Patriarchs under the old dispensation. There was also a significant and
suggestive allusion to the Factors' honesty, virtue, and general behaviour
as Christians.* Divine Service was held twice every day at Bombay, and
all the Factors were required to be present. A room was set apart fur
the purpose, but there was neither Church nor Chapel.

An affair in which Spencer, Chaplain of Bombay, was concerned, and
which was made the subject of official inquiry, is a striking instance of the
recklessness with which marriages were sometimes contracted. This gen-
tleman was present one night at a convivial party, when he was suddenly
asked by an amorous pair to make them man and wife. He regarded the
application as a joke, and only supposed that they were enjoying them-
selves at his expense. However, he replied that he could not think of
marrying them at that late hour ; but if they continued in the same mind
next morning, he would do as they required. What must have been his
surprise to find that a charge against him for neglect of duty was ground-
ed upon this refusal, and he was formally called upon by the President to
state his reasons for not discharging the functions of his ofnce.f

The reader will remember that at this time conversions to the Roman
Catholic religion were fashionable in England, until checked by the arrival
of William the Third, and the subsequent Revolution. The fashion had
reached Bombay. Amongst the officers of the garrison was Lieut. Finch,
who must have been no less a person than the son of Sir Heneage Finch,
Attorney General and Lord Keeper in the reign of James the Second,
created Lord Daventry in 1(>73, and Earl of Nottingham in 1681. Lieut,
Finch's elder brother succeeded to his father's title, and was afterwards
created Earl of Winchelsea. Although this young officer's relations were
strict Protestants, he himself embraced the Roman Catholic faith soon
after he reached Bombay. The -circumstance was thought to call for the
interference of government, and the Deputy Governor seized gladly tlio
opportunity of shewing that he had once mixed in high society, by
stating to his Council that having known Finch's Right Honorable father,
and his no less Right Honorable brother, he could assure them that both

* Tlio following is the prayer as printed in Ovington's work : " Almighty and
most merciful God, Who art the Sovereign Protector of all that trust in Thee, and 1
the Author of all spiritual and terapo>pal blessings, we Thy unworthy creatures d<>
most humbly implore Thy goodness fur a plentiful elftision. of Thy grace upon, our em-
ployers, Thy servants, tlie Right Honorable East India Company of England. Prosper
them in all their public undertakings, and make them famous anil successful in all
their governments, colonies, and commerce both by sea and land ; so that they may
prove a public blessing by the increase of honour, wealth, and power to our nativo
country, as well as to themselves. Continue their favours towards us, and inspire
their Generals, Presidents, Agents and Councils in these remote parts of the wor!d T
jsnd all others that are intrusted with any authority urxk>r them, with piety towards.
Thee our God, and with wisdom, fidelity and circumspection in their several stations ;
that we may all discharge our respective duties. faithfully, and live virtuously in due?
obedience to our superiors, and in love, peace, and charity one towards another, that
these Indian nations among whom we dwell, seeing our sober and religious conversa-
tion, may be induced to have a just esteem for our most holy profession of the Gospel
< f our Lord Jesus Cliiist, to whom be honour, praise and glory, now and for ever,
A:in'M.' '

t Letter from tlic ^uyeraor &. oi' Bombay to SiU'4 , 'lateJ Ul January JOB';-?-

134

were steady members of the Church of England. The Council came to
the resolution that they would not suffer Lieut Finch to perform any mi-
litary duty, for they would not " give the charge of the garrison into a
man's hands of the Romish religion."*

So alarmed was the Government at the progress of Romanism, that
they resolved to enforce against its professors the penal statute 23rd Eliza-
beth Chapter I, and having discovered that one John de Gloria, a Portu-
guese Priest, had baptized Matthew, son of Lieutenant Thorpe, deceased,
they arrested him on a charge of high treason for persuading a person
to be reconciled to the Pope. At first the over-zealous Priest was thrown
into the common jail, but on the intercession of his clerical brethren, was
kept a prisoner in his own Church.f

Some apology for this intolerance may be drawn from the relative po-
sition of the English and Portuguese. The latter hoped to regain their
lost ascendancy in Bombay, and were known to hold a treasonable corres-
pondence with the Jesuits of Bandora. During the war with the Dutch
and Mogul they had refused to aid in defending the Island, claiming an
exemption from military service, although it was shown that President
Aungier had reserved to the Company a right to such service, and that
the Company, as representatives of the English Crown, had become their
lords paramount. It was even said that the Jesuits had first suggested to
the Siddi the practicability of invading Bombay, and they certainly had
supplied his army with provisions. It was not then altogether unnatural
that the Government should regard with suspicion any Englishman who
suddenly embraced the religion of their treacherous enemies, and that they
should imagine him to be a fellow-conspirator with the Portuguese.

At this period all the property of the Jesuits on which the Government
could lay their hands was confiscated. Their lands at Parell and Sion
were never restored, because, when invited, they would make no promise
to have the question of their guilt or innocence tried before a Court of Judi-
cature. Other property belonging to Portuguese was given to its former
owners, when, after inquiry, they were proved to have acted in good faith.
It must be confessed that the English Government were hasty in their
confiscations, and that the Court sanctioned their proceedings, because, as
they candidly acknowledged, it had become necessary to improve, by eve-
ry possible means, the revenues of the Island. J

Annoyed as the English were at finding their countrymen embrace a
faith which was in those days regarded as in itself treason to Church
and State, they were shocked beyond measure when they heard that one
had become an apostate to the religion of the false prophet. As has been
stated, numerous Europeans deserted to the Siddi, and surely that shewed
a degraded state of feeling. There were also instances of actual apostacy ;
but we have only one on record, and that may be told in the words of the

# Letter from the Deputy Governor &c. of Bombay to Puvat ; dated 21st February
HJ.sG 7. Ihirnct, in his " History of his Own Times*" praiss highly the integrity of
these noblemen. Both were-con cientious Protestants. The son wrote a " Defentr of
the Christian Faith" in reply to Winston. He had thirty children, so could uot be
expected to ilo much for his brother, tho Hombay officer.

T Letter as above, dated '.'>th April 1(197.

J Bruce's Annuls, lUW-JU. Ovington.

135

Factors at Surat. " In addition of our troubles," they write, " there is
one of our wicked Englishmen, by name John Newton, that came out in
the Royal James and Mary, and came from Umbra yesterday, and went
immediately to the Cossys, and declared his intention to turn Moor, and
before we possibly could have an opportunity to send to the Governor, the
business was done, and he circumcised, which was past our remedy of re-
trieving his wicked soul."*

The country about Surat was more unsettled than ever. There was a
general expectation that civil wars were approaching, and that every one
who had property must lose it, unless he could defend it, or side with the
strongest. Aurangzib was jealous of all his sons, each of whom was form-
ing a cabal against his Government, or raising forces so as to assert his
claims to the throne after his father's demise. So strongly did the Factors
feel their insecurity, that they reduced their stock to the smallest possible
amount. In February 1690, the city was thrown into the greatest con-
sternation by a threatened assault of the Marathas under Raja Ham, who
had approached as far as Nandarbar. The English, Dutch and French
fortified their Factories, and Sir John Gayer sent twenty topasses with
arms and ammunition from Bombay. The Native Governor also made
great preparations, and seemed so determined to defend the place, that the
marauders thought it advisable to retire.f

In 1G85 Sir John Child had despatched a ship to establish a new
Factory at Amoy, and another with Factors to re- settle trade at Siam,
In 1G95 Mr. Brabourne contracted with the Rani of Attinga for a regular
settlement at Brinjan, and an attempt was made to open a trade with
Sind and Moultan ; but the Court disapproved of both these projects.
They would not consent to the latter, because there was not sufficient
depth of water in the Indus for ships to proceed higher than Tatta.J

However, the same year were built the Factory and strong fortifications
of Anjengo about seventy-eight miles from Cape Comorin or Kuniari on
a small strip of land which the English had obtained in 1G84. Although
protected by the sea on one side, and a small river on the other, the spot
was injudiciously selected, for there was no good water within three miles ;
the anchorage was bad, and a continual surf rendered it inconvenient
and even dangerous to land. But the country produced pepper in abun-
dance, and the calicoes which the inhabitants manufactured were in those
days considered of excellent quality. So the Factory flourished until 1813,
when it was abolished. A few years after Anjengo had been selected for a
settlement, the Factory at Baroch was closed for a time, and the Factors
withdrawn. 1 1

Carvvar was celebrated amongst sportsmen for the game and wild ani-
mals with which its forests abounded. The Chief of the English Factory
was held in great respect by the neighbouring Rajas, and when he issued
on a hunting expedition they accompanied him with their followers, A

* Letter from the Factors of Surat ; dated October 1091.

f Bruce's Annals, 1695-97.

t Bruce's Annals.

| Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xxvi. Hamilton's East India Gazetteer,

II " New Account," chap, xiii,

136

pack of twenty dogs was kept there in 1002, and each was allowed two
pounds of rice per diem at the Company's expense. " But now," wrote a
visitor not long afterwards, " they are better husbands of their money, and
have discharged all their dogs, and other superfluities, except one good old
custom of treating strangers that come there from Europe with pretty black
female dancers, who are very active in their dancing, and free in their con-
versation, where shame is quite out of fashion."

This visitor, who had one eye for business, and another for pleasure,
during one of these hunting expeditions saw killed within the space of
twelve hours more than a dozen deer, two wild cows with their calves, and
four or five hogs. At the close of day the Chief, like some Highland laird,
was conducted home in state by his native attendants, who after delivering
their compliments with strict formality parted from him at the Factory gate.

So great was the celebrity of this country for its game, that it attracted
two young men to an enterprize, which must be considered more arduous
than the excursions of modern sportsmen to the rocks and streams of Nor-
way, or even the avalanches of the Himalayas and the plains of Southern
Africa. A youth named Lembourg of the house of Lembourg in Germany,
and a son of Lord Goring, without giving their friends notice of their in-
tention, sailed from London to Carwar in one of the Company's vessels.
As they had left letters behind them, bills of credit followed, and the Di-
rectors wrote to their Chiefs of Factories desiring that they would receive
the young adventurers with hospitality and respect. They remained three
years at Carwar, and then set off on their return home. Young Goring died
four days after the ship sailed ; but Lembourg arrived safe in England.*

The memorable change which came over the English nation at this time
placed the English and Dutch on a new footing. When the Factors first
heard that the Prince of Orange had landed in England, they were evident-
ly in doubt as to the issue, and with amusing caution only replied that
" they trusted the true Protestant religion would be maintained and estab*
lished." The Dutch hearing that the Revolution was complete, played the
English a shabby trick in India, seizing the opportunity to represent Hol-
land as a superior country to England. Mr. Baroon, having been sent by
the Dutch Company as their Ambassador to the Emperor, and being ho-
noured with an audience, maintained that the English were a contempti-
ble people, and that a king had been sent from his country to rule over
them. Aurangzib, seeming to believe this plausible story, and encourag-
ing the Dutchman in his boasting, gravely replied that as the Dutch were
so superior, they had only to drive the English out of his dominions and
appropriate the European trade to themselves. He strongly recommended
them to take this step. But when Baroon excused himself on the plea
that he could not act without instructions from home, the Emperor shewed
that he was better acquainted with European affairs than the other had
suspected. He plainly told him that Holland must be an insignificant
country, for the King of France had conquered it in a few days, and would
never have been expelled, if the English had not interfered ; that in reali-
ty England held the balance of power in Europe, and that if she did not,

* Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xxii.

137

the Emperor of Germany or King of France would conquer Holland in a
single campaign.*

Again, when the English Factors were in confinement, the Dutch seiz-
ed the opportunity to degrade them still lower in the opinion of the na-
tives, and thus advance their own interests at the expense of their neigh-
bours. One proposal of theirs* suggested an idea of which the English im-
mediately availed themselves, and in course of time turned to their advan-
tage. Having a powerful fleet in the Indian seas, the Dutch offered, if an.
exclusive trade were granted them, to convoy the pilgrim ships to Judda.
This was probably the first hint which led the English Government even-
tually to demand and acquire the tanka or assignment on the revenues of
Surat for protecting ships on their passage to the Red Sea. The Dutch
had thirty-six ships of war, divided into six squadrons, cruizing in the
Indian seas. One squadron remained between Surat and Bombay with
a view of intercepting and attacking the ships of France.f

During the administration of President Harris, official information was
received that England had declared war against France. On the eleventh
of October 1692, the Elizabeth, East Indiaman, was captured within fifty
leagues of Bombay by a French fleet of four ships mounting respectively
sixty-six, sixty, forty, and twenty guns. To such a force the Elizabeth
made a stout but of course fruitless resistance. In those days many an
Englishman was tainted with the suspicion of treason, and Vaux was said
to have held secret and traitorous communications with the enemy. Cer-
tain it is that he purchased from them the Elizabeth.^

The French inflicted a more terrible blow on the Company in 169G.'
Four East Indiamen, the Resolution, Defence, Princess Anne and Suc-
cess, with the Seymour an Interloper, to whom fear of the common foe had
induced them to join themselves, were captured on their homeward voyage
by a French fleet. We must all admire the spirit in which the Court an-
nounced this disaster to their President at Surat. Instead of desponding,
they wrote with pardonable vanity, that they bore their loss " with a true
Roman courage," and were resolved to increase their stock. One squad-
ron of six French ships visited Surat and landed merchandize.

Now, for the first time, Armenians appear as mixed up with the Com-
pany's affairs at Surat. It was found that this industrious race could retail
the woollens of England, or bring from the interior fine muslins and other
articles at much less expense than English agents would have cost. Their
services were therefore peculiarly valuable to the Company under their
heavy embarrassments.!

# Bruce's Annals, 1688-89. Hamilton's " New Account," chap. six.
f Bruce's Annals, 1695-96.
t Bruce's Annals, 1690-93.
I B-ruce's Annals, 1695-96.

138

CHAPTER IX,

1G98 1701.

CONTENTS. Necessity of referring to English politics The House of Commons
sanctions a new Company Both parties bribe The old Company exposed;
ordered to be dissolved A Bill passed in their favour Consequent state of
affairs in India Additional rules of the New Company's Charter Hope for
the Old Company ; their prospects and spirit Fresh calamities of the Old
Company European piracy Kidd sent to suppress it ; turns pirato ; his ad-
ventures ; taken and executed Sivers ; his piracies ; taken and brought to
Bombay Satisfaction demanded from the Factors Low condition of the
Factors The two Companies prepare for a struggle Lucas appears for
the New Company ; receives the Act of Authorization Fresh arrivals of New
Company's servants Sir Nicholas Waite ; his reception ; contest for a flag
AVaite's proceedings The New Factory Intrigues Sir William Norris the
ambassador ; preparations for his reception ; arrival at Surat ; his public

-entry Mutual injuries Good times for tho Mogul Officers Sir John Gayer
and others imprisoned The ambassador proceeds to Court ; offends the Minis-

ter ; his grand procession and audience ; result of his Embassy ; he is insulted
and injured; returns to Surat Reflections on the ambassador's conduct
His departure, sickness, last words, and death.

THE state of affairs in India for the next few years was so extraordi-
nary and confused, conflicts being waged by subjects of the British Crown,
each party claiming for itself the countenance of supreme authority, and
each denying that the other party acted under the sanction of either King /
or Parliament I say this state of affairs is such a labyrinth, that before V
we can find our way out of it, we must obtain for a clue not only informa-
'tion drawn from India, but also a little acquaintance with English politics.

Many merchants of London had for long been discontented with the
monopoly granted to the East India Company, and their anxiety to have
it abolished had sharpened their ingenuity in exposing its defects. The
work of John De Witt, the celebrated Dutch statesman, had furnished
their advocates with some of the soundest arguments, and the learned
Pollexfen now brought his stores of knowledge and subtlety to their aid.*
But their main hope had been placed in assailing the vulnerable points of
their chartered adversaries and detecting their flagrant abuses. In the
Parliament of 1691 numerous petitions were presented against the Com-
pany, whose replications were pronounced unsatisfactory, so that the House
of Commons, in an address to the King, desired that it might be abolished,
and a new Company established in its place. Early in 1693 the petitions

* John DeWitt wrote about the year 1662, and Pollexfen iu 1097- Macpherson's
History.

ef malcontents were still more numerous, and a Committee of the whole
House determined that a new Joint Stock Company should be formed.
But then appears to have commenced that flagitious system of bribery
which the world affected to regard with pious horror, but yet encouraged,
and on which both parties relied more than on argument. Those who
had avowed their conviction of the Company's abuses now opened their
minds to reason and gold. They presented, indeed, another address to
the King, praying him to dissolve the Company after three years ; but
they were satisfied with the assurance, which in all ages has befriended
dilatory statesmen, that the matter should be considered.

In the October Session of the same year, addresses were poured upon
the House by clothiers, linen-drapers, and other tradesmen, as well as
influential merchants, who undertook to prove that the transactions of the
Company had tended to the scandal of religion, the dishonor of England,
the reproach of its laws, the oppression of its people, and the ruin of its
trade. The Directors were not contented with printing an answer to these
charges; they also secretly purchased the favour of the Ministry. A new
Charter was therefore granted by the King to the Company ; but an out-
cry was raised against the Government, the Commons' resisting the Royal
grant as an invasion of their rights, and passing a resolution that no per-
sons could be prohibited from engaging in the East India trade, except by
Act of Parliament.

In the Parliament of 1695, further measures were taken, and an inquiry
was made into the means by which the Company had procured their new
Charter. Their books were examined by a Committee, which fully reveal-
ed the system of corruption on which they had acted. The Company,
chiefly through the agency of Sir Thomas Cooke, one of their Directors,
had expended ninety thousand pounds in secret services. Cooke, having
been committed to the Tower, promised to disclose all, on receiving an as-
surance of indemnity. The King endeavoured to stop inquiry by threat-
ening to close the Session ; yet it proceeded. The Duke of Leeds was
strongly suspected of having received large bribes, and articles of im-
peachment wei e exhibited against him in the Upper House. At this stage
the prosecution was stopped by a prorogation of Parliament.

However, these revelations so injured the Company, that when in 1698
a loan was required of them by the Ministry for the use of the State, and
a rival association of merchants offered a larger sum than they could pro-
mise, it was decided that the old Company should be dissolved, and a new
one established in its stead.

Still the old Company had influential supporters, and their case was
defended by acute and powerful reasoning. Besides shewing the benefits
which the country had derived from their trade, and the risk which would
be incurred if it was intrusted to their inexperienced opponents, they ar-
gued that having become Lord Proprietors of St Helena and Bombay,
they could not with justice be deprived of territory which had been confer-
red upon them by Royal grant ; that they had expended large sums on
fortifications and Factories, and that justice and good policy would both be
violated, if their chartered rights were infringed. Their remonstrances
were thought by many to be highly reasonable, so that one and twenty

140

members of the House of Peers formally protested against the hardship and
injustice which they suffered. Moreover, it was quite clear that their
opponents had succeeded by the corrupt means which had drawn so much
obloquy on themselves, and the odium of corruption was pretty evenly
shared by both Companies. Hence in 1700 the House willingly listened
to the advocates of the original association, enlarging on the injuries which
they had endured ; and after hearing both sides of the case, once more
passed a Bill in their favour.

A consideration of these transactions can alone explain the anomalous
state of affairs in India. Two Companies appeared in the field. The old
was now styled " The London Company," and had only obtained permis-
sion to trade for three years, when its accounts were to be wound up, and
all its commerce was to cease. The new association, claiming to be more
national in its spirit and undertakings, was styled " The English Com-
pany, trading to the East Indies." The servants of the two Courts of Di-
rectors made India the arena of a fierce struggle. One party claimed at
one time the support of the King, the other the support of Parliament.
One prevailed for a short period ; the other seemed compelled to succumb.
But the hopes of neither were crushed, nor was the cause of either proudly
trimphant.*

In addition to the usual regulations, the Charter of the new Company,
which became also the Charter of the old, when the two were amalga-
mated contained special provisions for an educational and religious es-
tablishment. A -Minister and Schoolmaster were to be maintained in
every garrision and superior Factory, and a decent place appropriated ex-
clusively to Divine Service, Moreover, it was ordered that every ship of
five hundred tons burden and upwards, should carry a Chaplain. All
clergymen, whether sent for duty on ships or in Factories, were to be ap-
proved either by the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London,
and care was to be taken that they were to be treated with respect. It
was strictly enjoined also that all Chaplains who went to reside in India
should learn the Portuguese language within one year after their arrival,
and should also apply themselves to learn the language of the country
" the better to enable them to instruct the Gentoos that should be the ser-
vants or slaves of the same Company, or of their agents, in the Protestant
religion."!""

When their destruction was imminent, the old Company found one
loophole through which they hoped to escape. Clauses in their rival's
Charter had provided that all subscribers to the new stock might trade
separately, and on their own account ; also that other corporations might
become holders of stock. Availing themselves of these privileges, the old
resolved to subscribe largely to the funds of the new association, and thus
to trade separately when the three years allowed them should have expired.

In the meanwhile they were reluctantly compelled to inform their Fac-
tors how altered was the state of their affairs. In 1G95 their confident
hopes of continued existence were for the first time undermined ; and they

* Bruce's Annals. SraoHett's History of England.
| Charter of King William the Third, A. D.

141

warned their servants at Surat, that as such violent prejudices were con-
ceived against them, they did not know whether their Charter would be
renewed or a new Company instituted. The words in which this infor-
mation was conveyed are worthy of notice as proving that the feuds and
mutual recriminations which will be recorded in this Chapter were not
unforeseen. The Company rather looked forward with hope, that amidst
the confusion something would turn up in their favour ; at all events, they
had no intention of submitting quietly to defeat, and were resolved that
they would either put down opposition with a strong hand or die fighting.
In such a spirit they wrote : " Two East Indian Companies could no
more subsist without destroying one the other, than two Kings at the same
time regnant in the same kingdom ; that now a civil battle was to be
fought between the Old and New Company ; and that two or three years
must end this war, as the Old or the New must give way ; that being
veterans, if their servants abroad would do their duty, they did not doubt
of the victory ; that if the world laughed at the pains the two Companies
took to ruin each other, they could not help it, as they were on good ground,
and had a Charter." And when their servants wrote from India in a
timorous, desponding strain, the stout old Company told them that all
this was only " as a blustering storm, which so far from tearing them up,
only a little shook the roots, and made them thereby take the better hold,
and grow the firmer and flourish the faster."* So as neither of the mo-
nopolist corporations would give way, they set to work, and a hard fight
they had. Each got severe punishment and heavy falls. Then they ended
by shaking hands, and dividing the stakes.

But what most distressed the old Company's Factors was, that their
hands were tied, and instead of being left free to put forth all their strength
against their adversaries, they were fettered by a calamity of another kind.

European piracy had been carried to such an extent, that the alterna-
tive now was either honest trade or piracy must be suppressed. Anx-
iety, too, on the subject was heightened when it was found, that a reme-
dy which had been prescribed was converted into a poison, and a man who
professed to be a protector of Commerce had become its most dangerous enemy.

The Company having represented to the King of England that they were
in constant fear lest the Mogul Emperor should make reprisals upon them
for losses which pirates had inflicted on Natives of India, William the
Third wished to send some men-of-war that they might attack and destroy
the haunts of the buccaneers. As there would have been great difficulty
in procuring a grant of public money for this purpose, it was proposed
that the undertaking should be private. The Earls of Bellamont, Oxford,
Romney, Lord Somers, Colonel Livingstone and others therefore agreed to
form an association. Lord Bellamont had been just appointed Governor
of New York and New England, and before he left for his seat of Govern-
ment, Colonel Livingstone recommended to him Captain Kidd, a brave
dashing fellow, who was said to have become remarkably well acquainted
with the pirates' lairs a circumstance which, strange to say, seems to
have awakened no suspicions.

* Eruce'&Annals, 1098-1700.

142

St. Augustine's Bay at Madagascar, and the neighbouring island of St.
Mary, were chiefly looked to. Here the rovers had thrown up fortifica-
tions, and were supplied with stores from New York, and the West Indies.
Six thousand pounds having been raised, a share of which Kidd himself
contributed, he was placed in command of the Adventure, a galley with
thirty guns and two hundred men, and in the year 1695 sailed to attack
the robbers at Madagascar. He left that place, however, immediately af-
ter he had arrived at it, and went to cruize at the entrance of the Red
/ Sea. There also he met with no success and again failed for Calicot.

These failures were mortifying. Kidd sought for remuneration ; but at
this rate he and his association would never make their fortunes. So we
may suppose that he reasoned like the shepherd's dog, which, according
to an old proverb, considered that his watchfulness gave him a better claim
than any one else to good mutton, and moreover that it was both easier
and pleasanter to kill sheep than wolves. The policeman became thief ;
Captain Kidd appeared in the character of a most daring and successful
pirate.

This change was suggested at Calicot, where he was tempted by a small
bark, the master and three or four sailors of which were Dutchmen, the
rest Mussulmans. This sweet morsel he seized and took away to Mada-
gascar, and four or five weeks after gorged his appetite with the Qaedak
Merchant, a ship of four hundred tons, having a cargo valued at four lakhs
of rupees, and a crew of Mussulmans, commanded by an Englishman.
His fame was soon spread far and wide, so that he was joined by other
ships, including the Mocha, and Josiah, the crews of which had mutinied
and renounced the Company's service. His whole force is said to have
been composed of two frigates, each mounting thirty guns, which constant-
ly cruized oft* Cape Comorin, and three of fifty, forty, and thirty guns res-
pectively, which cruized off the Malabar Coast.* The Mocha frigate took
or sank seven or eight ships belonging to Surat. A Portuguese ship enga-
ged in the China trade was also taken. When the annual fleet of Mogul
vessels arrived at Surat from the lied Sea, under convoy of a Dutch and
English squadron, they learned that Kidd had been hovering near them,
and had left them for Kajapur, where he plundered a vessel belonging to
Bombay. He then careened at the Laccadive islands, sailed to Calicot,
where he espied three armed vessels in the Company's service, escaped to
Cochin, took three Dutch prizes of great value, and retired with his prey
to his eyrie at St. Mary's.

The short, and brilliant career of this freebooter was now drawing to a
close. He partitioned his gains amongst his crew, first appropriating forty
shares to himself. Ninety of his men then took service in the Mocha, and
he himself sailed with the rest to the West Indies. Going from thence to
America he was seized by Lord Bellamont and sent to take his trial in
England.

His reputation had arrived there long before him, and public indigna-
tion had been excited not only against him, but also against the noblemen
and gentlemen who had sent him out, and who were charged with coun-

* Hamilton's Hindustan vol. ii. Letter from the Fieaident and Council i dated 2"]i\L
Julv 1/00.

143

tenancing his piracies. However, his patrons seem to have been innocent,
and to have acted only from good motives. Kidd was brought to the bar
of the House of Commons, where he did not maintain his character ; for Sir
Edward Seymour remarked that " the fellow was not more a knave than
a fool.'* \ethe at least observed a generous silence, and made no attempt
to criminate others. The Court of Directors announced to the Governor
of Surat that he was about to be tried at the Old Bailey, and the hope that
he would be hung, drawn and quartered was a sustaining cordial to their
harrassed minds. He and some of his companions in crime, having been
convicted, were hung in chains at Tilbury. His property, to the value of
six thousand four hundred and seventy-two pounds, was confiscated, and
presented by Queen Anne to Greenwich Hospital.*

Another of these dreaded rovers was styled by the Deputy Governor of
Bombay " that grand villain Sivers, commonly called Chivers." Having
seized a vessel belonging to Hassan Amadan, he probably contributed more
than any other individual to the troubles in which the Factors were involv-
ed. His luck, like Kidd's, failed him at the last moment. With fifteen
others, who had followed the same courses, he had taken his passage on a
small ship the Margaret, bound for New York. At the Cape of Good
Hope they were so unfortunate as to meet with Captain Louth, who being
in a large and well armed Indiaman, took their little vessel, with crew,
passengers, negroes, goods and money to Bombay. The Mogul Governor
of Surat demanded that all should be delivered to him ; but this was re-
fused, and Louth made about six thousand pounds by his prize, his crew
getting as much more. Of course the gallant Captain thought that he had
performed a meritorious service ; but Bombay was full to repletion of Euro-
pean blackguards, and the Government was annoyed with him for bringing
more. Sir John Gayer 's grumbling letter lifts up the veil from a frightful
state of Society. He plainly states, that he would have been better pleased
if Louth had not been so officious, and had allowed the Margaret to proceed
" rather than have filled our prison with twenty-one criminals in a place
where we had before a sufficient number of such as would willingly side
with such sparks. "f

But now we approach the catastrophe. The owners of such vessels as
had fallen into the hands of pirates, complained that they had been robb-
ed by Englishmen, and insisted that the English ought to make them com-
pensation. Without inquiring into the justice of these complaints, the Go-
vernor of Surat ordered the Factors to pay a million of rupees on account
<jf one merchant's loss, and two hundred on account of another's. An-
nesley, the President, before replying to this unreasonable demand, con-
sulted Sir John Gayer, who declared that not one rupee should be forth-
coming. As the Governor had before succeeded by threatening that he
would flog the Dutch and French brokers to death, if they did not grant
the indemnity which lie required, he now had the brokers of the English
Factory seized, and when ropes had been fastened to their necks, they
were led away, as though to be hung upon the green. At their earnest

* Bruce's Annals, 1697-98 and 1701-2. Em-net's History of his own Times. Naval
History of Great Britain ; by Dr. -John Campbell, vol iii.
t Letter to the Court \ dated Bombay Castle, 20th September, 1700.

144

request, they were permitted to beg that the English would satisfy the
Governor, and Annesley, being by this time intimidated, agreed to pay
thirty thousand rupees. The General and his Council were so displeased
with the Presidents pusillanimity and other offences, that they deprived him
of his appointment, and made Stephen Colt President in his room. *

The Governor's partial success by no means abated his insolence. He
demanded and obtained from the President a convoy for the Mocha fleet,
and when it had returned in safety, dishonestly refused to pay the stipulat-
ed amount. The President had too hastily assured him that a force would
be sent from England to clear the Indian seas of pirates, and when this
was not done, the Governor affected to treat the English with profound
contempt. As the mob followed his example, the Factors were spurned by
all, and the poor President wrote that they were " as despicable as the
Portuguese in India, and as odious as the Jews in Spain." f

At such a moment, when the aflairs of the English in India were more
depressed than they had ever been since prosperity first dawned upon them ;
when they had lost credit with the Natives, and were victims of a local
oppressor, they commenced an internecine strife amongst themselves, and
two Companies engaged in a contest of commercial life and death. This
war was waged with extraordinary animosity, each attributing blame en-
tirely to the other. Fortunately the memoirs of both parties, written by
themselves, are preserved in their diaries and official letters. The impres-
sion, which they leave on the reader's mind, is not favorable to the agents
of either Company. It was of course to be expected that the old Factors,
or the " veterans" as their master's style them, would look with envious
eyes upon intruders, and would have rejoiced to see them discomfited.
But they went much further than this. The old Company treated with
utter contempt the privileges, which had been conferred upon their rivals
by the English Government. They would not understand that they
themselves were only continuing for three years on sufferance. And they
carried faction to the highest point, when they prepared themselves not
indeed openly to injure, but secretly to undermine the influence of an Am-
bassador, who came with Royal credentials, because he was in the pay and
interest of others. On the other hand, the Ambassador, President, and
Agents of the New Company were overbearing and insolent, ever active in
endeavouring to exalt themselves, and little scrupulous about means,
provided they could attain their end and degrade the servants of the old
Company.

For some time a Mr. Lucas, who had come in an interloping ship called
the Mary, resided at Surat as agent of the new Company, and in April
1699 the Shrewsbury galley, which was consigned to him, arrived with
the intelligence that his Company was established by Act of Parliament.
Interlopers were in extacies of delight. The days of monopoly, they
trusted, were ended ; in the worst case, the new Company could not be
more severe exclusionists than the old. Lucas communicated a copy of the
Act to the President, and then with Bourchier and Dr. Leckie waited

* Letters from Sir Jolm Gayer and Council to tlic President of Surat 5 dated Decem-
ber 1698 and January 1699,
f Brace's Annals, 1099. -IJOO.

145

upon the Governor, who sent for the old Company's broker, to ascertain
tho truth of the matter. The President and Council informed the Go-
vernor that they had no information on the subject, but being obliged to
appear before him, admitted the genuineness and authority of the Act of
Parliament, only repeating that they had received no orders. The first
idea which entered his mind was, that the Factors would disown their pe-
cuniary engagements. He therefore desired their broker to find security
that the President and Council would not leave the city, and ordered that
they should be confined to their Factory until such security should be given.
He also had their shroffs beaten to make them disclose the state of the
Company's accounts. It should be observed, that the Governor's temper
had been severely tried by the loss of two lakhs of rupees which he had
on board the Qaedah Merchant, when it was plundered by Kidd.

All this time Lucas was industriously spreading reports amongst the
natives, that the King of England and his Parliament had deprived the
old Company of their Charter, in consequence of their misdemeanours:
By these means such a hostile spirit was aroused, that Sir John Gayer and
his Council could scarcely write of him or his friends with decency, but
in Scriptural language denounced them as their " Rabshaka adversaries."*
The disordered state of the old Company's affairs, the crimes and de-
linquencies of their Factors, and the intemperate use which their Presi-
dents and Governors had made of their authority, these circumstances
combined had led to the dismissal of so many of their servants, that the
new Company found ready to their hands a body of men, whose integrity
was in some instances certainly not unsullied, but whose experience and
local knowledge were of the highest value, and whom revenge, g,s the
Directors shrewdly but unamiably remarked, would stimulate to exertion.
Such were Waite, Pitt, Master, Annesley, Bourchier, and others, all of
horn had been originally servants of the old Company, and were now

;ed with the utmost zeal in the cause of their opponents.!
On the 16th November 1699, fresh invaders of the Factory's peace
rived. Mewse and Brooke announced themselves as Factors of the new
Company, and prepared Sir John Gayer for what was to follow. At last
Sir Nicholas Waite made his appearance on the ship Montague, He had
formerly been the London Company's Agent at Bantam, where he received
the order for his dismissal. He was now President for the new Company,
and in order that he rmjit be superior to Sir John Gayer, the King had
not only conferred upon him the honour of Knighthood, but had also de-
clared him his Consul, thus placing him in a position which the Presi-
dent of the London Company could not occupy. He also styled himself
his Majesty's minister, and by his subordinates was styled General.

We have letters from Sir Nicholas written after he had left the shores
of England, one dated from Deal, and another from the Bay of Cadiz, in
which he informs his masters, that he had devoutly asked God to vouch-
safe His blessing to their undertaking, and for that purpose had, with the
rest of the Company's servants, attended church on the day of sailing. J

* Letter of Sir John Gayer &c. to Stephen Colt., &c., dated 23rd June 1G99. Brace's

Annals, 1G99-1/00.

t Bruce's Annals, 1098-1700-

j Records of the English Company's Factory at Surat.

146

He reached Bombay on the eleventh of January 1 700. Sir John Gayer
refused to recognize him in any way, so he left immediately, and arrived
at Surat on the nineteenth of the same month. Here his rights and pre-
tensions were alike slighted by the old Factors, who in their addresses to
him scarcely used ordinary courtesy, and in their correspondence with one
another wrote of him in a style of the most vulgar insolence and contempt.

Sir Nicholas Waite commenced operations at Swally by insisting that
his flag should be saluted as a Vice Admiral's, and that the old Company
should strike theirs as a mark of respect for his Majesty's representative.
Of course this modest demand met with a prompt refusal, on which the
newly arrived dignitary sent two Commanders of ships and forty seamen
to haul down the old Company's standard. This commission was speedily
executed, and the captors were making off with their prize, when they
were assailed by some of their rival's peons, supported by a party whom
the Governor of the city, indignant at Waite's exercise of authority, had
despatched to the scene of action. The flag was soon rescued and restored
to its staff, where it waived, as in scorn of chartered interlopers, and thus
led the Natives to infer, that the new Company were trading without the
countenance of authority.

Waite being satisfied by this defeat that it was necessary to desist from
open violence, hoisted the King's flag upon a house which he had hired,
and endeavoured to injure his rivals by artifice and intrigue. Without
waiting for the Ambassador, who was daily expected, he addressed a letter
to the Emperor, accusing the old Company of being " thieves and confe-
derates with the pirates." He took the opportunity also to intimate his
own rank, and added, that he was expecting four men-of-war who would
act under his authority and endeavour to destroy all pirates. His next
step was to post notices about the city warning all persons against taking
the London Company's passes for their ships ; but these were torn down
by the Governor's orders. Afterwards he applied for and obtained pe$->"
mission to make a public entry. Accordingly he marched into Surat wfth g
an imposing procession, on which the servants of the old Company looked-*** 1
with silent sadness, feeling as they did that natives would augur from
such a solemnity the approaching decline of the old Factory. These
measures, and the disputes in which the members of the two establish-
ments were incessantly engaged, had such a disheartening effect upon Sir
John Gayer and Colt, that the former asked tfee Court's permission to
resign their service, and the latter gave notice of his intention to resign in
two years' time.*

The new Factory was established on the scale of the old one ; but
Waite complained that his salary was inferior to that of the old Compa-
ny's General, who now received five hundred pounds per annum, and had
an allowance of five hundred more for the maintenance of his table. The
second in Council received a hundred pounds per annum. The Chief
Factors, including Benjamin Mewse " Chief for China," Jeremiah Bon-
nell, " Europe Warehousekeeper," John Lock, Secretary, and two mer-
chants, received sixty pounds per annum ; the other five Factors forty

* Records of the London Company's Factory at Surat. Brace's Annals, 1G99-1700.

147

pounds each ; fourteen Writers twenty pounds each ; Lawrence Hackett,
Chaplain, a hundred pounds ; John Maxwell, Surgeon, thirty ; and a
Genoese cook twenty. These, and ten soldiers, who received four pounds
each and a suit of clothes, and a trumpeter, were all the Europeans on the
establishment.* All the servants of the Company were permitted to carry
on private trade from port to port in India ; but were prohibited renting
farms or intermarrying with the natives. Diamonds only they might
send to England for sale on paying a duty to the Company of five per
cent, and five per cent to his Majesty.")"

But now that the operators were on the spot, and all their apparatus
prepared, they found a difficulty in beginning their experiment. Nothing
could be done so long as the native Government supported their rivals,
which they did not from any regard for them, as they took every oppor-
tunity of oppressing them but simply because they knew that they were
not dangerous persons, whilst they were in the dark regarding the plans of
the new comers. Waite, therefore, soon perceived that it was necessary to
undermine the characters of the old Company's servants, and render them
objects of suspicion.

In this design he succeeded, by turning the London Company's weapons
against themselves, and also pointing a lance of his own. He contrived to
represent them not only as interlopers ; he also renewed the old insinua-
tions of piracy, and, as it could be proved that there was some truth in
his statement, no great address was required to make the Natives believe
the whole. It was quite true as maintained by him, that the old Compa-
ny's Charter was to terminate with the year 1702, and to this fact he
cunningly pinned the suggestion that, unless they were sharply looked
after, they would remove with all their goods and chattels, leaving no
security for the payment of their debts. Thus were the native powers
urged to seek reparation for the past, and to take precautions for the
future. A false step taken by Sir John Gayer aided Waite's intrigues
more than he could have anticipated. With a view of opposing his
enemy on the spot and adjusting some affairs which Annesley had mis-
managed, Sir John left the fortifications of Bombay and went to Swally-
a measure as ill-timed as it was calamitous in its results.

Both parties now waited anxiously the arrival of Sir William Norris,
a member of Parliament, who had been sent out with royal sanction at
the English Company's expense, as Ambassador to the Great Mogul, in
order that he might procure for them a firman permitting them to trade
in the Imperial dominions. The President of the new Factory of course
felt that Norris would add great weight to his cause. On the other hand,
the inmates of the old Factory were filled with apprehensions. They could
scarcely make up their minds whether they should recognize the Am-
bassador as really accredited by their sovereign, or treat him as an enemy.
On applying to Sir John Gayer to know how he was to be received, the
answer was, that they and the commanders of European vessels were to
shew him all marks of respect, so long as he conducted himself with
impartiality, and did not exclusively favour the new Company. It is to
be observed, that the President and his Council thus began by constituting

* Records of the English Company's Factory. f Brace's Aunals,

148

themselves judges of the Ambassador's behaviour, and determining be-
i'orchand to resist all his measures in favour of the new Company to which
the Parliament of England had granted exclusive privileges. The re-
solution was unjustifiable, but it was more than acted upon at Masuli-
patam and Fort St. George, where the Ambassador first proceeded ;
there he was not recognized at all. At Masulipatam in particular the
old Company's Factors treated him with mortifying indifference, and
withheld from him all assistance, so that he was compelled to alter his
intention of travelling from thence by Golconda to the camp of the Great
Mogul.

Unable to reach the interior from the Eastern coast, and urgently
invited by Waite to visit Surat, Sir William Norris arrived there on the
tenth of December 1700. His presence was the signal for a commence-
ment of squabbles, and a mutual infliction of injuries, the blame of which
historians, who have only looked at one side of the facts, have thrown on
the new Company. This, however, is not the true state of the case. If
Sir William Norris, Sir Nicholas Waite, and all engaged in their cause,
had been much better men than they were, and had shewn Christian
forbearance, they could scarcely have helped resenting the insolent and
factious behaviour of the old Company's servants.

Sir William Norris was convoyed by four ships of the Royal Navy, and
his style was in every respect befitting his rank. His dignity as an Am-
bassador being superior to that of Sir John Gayer, he immediately oidered
the Captain of the old Company's ship Tavistock to strike his Union Jack
in token of respect. This was done ; yet Sir John Gayer fearing that the
old Factory would sink in the estimation of the Natives, ordered it to be
re-hoisted. Norris then applied for permission to make a public entry into
Surat ; but the Governor had now learnt how to profit by the divisions
of the English, and could not think of favouring either party gratuitously.
For conceding this privilege he charged eighteen hundred gold mohars.
One thousand he appropriated to himself, five hundred were given to his
son, and three hundred to two principal officers. Then the embassy made
its solemn entry.

Pleased with this little triumph, the Ambassador notified to Sir John
Gayer that his diplomatic commission would be publicly read on the
twenty-eighth of the month, and that it would be the duty of all the Eng-
lish to attend. Gayer in reply plainly disavowed his authority. Nor was
he content with words ; for he despatched an Armenian to Court as his
Envoy, with orders to frustrate all the Ambassador's efforts. Enraged by
this opposition, Sir Nicholas Waite brought a complaint before the Gover-
nor on the twenty-second of January 1701, and demanded that the Fac-
tors of the old Company should be placed in irons, as an atonement for
the insults which they had offered to an Ambassador. Not feeling much
interested in the matter, the Governor did not interfere, upon which Sir
William Norris caused Wyche and Garnett, two members of Council in
the old Factory, and Richardson their Secretary, to be seized. He then
delivered them with their hands bound to the Governor, who detained
them until they found security for their appearance when required.

This was a charming quarrel for the Mogul officers, and they saw that

149

it was their interest to foment it in every way. Some notion of the
golden harvest reaped by them may be formed by reading the following
items, which I have collected. The entrance fee which Sir William
Norris had paid, whetted the Governor's appetite for gold, and he took
measures to sound the disposition of both parties. He first asked President
Colt and then Sir Nicholas Waite whether each would give three lakhs of
rupees to the Great Mogul. His son also intimated to Colt, that Waite
had given him a written promise for four lakhs of rupees, but in conse-
quence of his regard for the old Company's Factors he would be satisfied
to receive three from them, in consideration of which he would write to
Court on their behalf. The Armenian Envoy was allowed by Sir John
Gayer and his party a credit of two lakhs to be spent in bribes at Court.
Sir William Norris afterwards agreed to pay a lakh to the Mogul, and a
lakh and a half to his ministers. To Gazedi Khan he gave two thousand
three hundred gold mohars, and promised that he should have a lakh and
a half of rupees on procuring the firman. To the Khan's brother he also
gave twenty thousand rupees. Lastly, he could only obtain permission to
leave India by feeing the Governor with three thousand, and his officers
with two thousand rupees.

As the new Company found the old Company burdened with debt, they
gained a victory in this contest of bribes, and induced the Governor to
strike a blow which it was hoped would be fatal to the old Factory. We
have seen that Sir John Gayer had unwisely come to Swally, where he
was unprotected. Taking advantage of this weakness the Governor's son
marched in February 1701 from Surat with fifty horse and foot soldiers,
seized him, his wife, and several Factors, conveyed them all to Surat and
there closely confined them in the Governor's house. " This was done by
an order from Court," wrote the servants of the old Company, "procured
by SirNicholas Waite, the Hurcarra of Suratt, and others of that hellish
crew." Sir William Norris had no concern in it, and demanded to know
by what authority it was done. Indeed, Waite in the advices which
he sent to England, admitted that the seizure was made at his solicitation,
because the London Company's servants had spoken treasonably of the
King, and had made use of their interest to oppose the privileges which
Sir William Norris was endeavouring to obtain from the Emperor.^

After fourteen days Sir John Gayer and his friends were removed to
their Factory, where in spite of their earnest remonstrances and moving
appeals all remained confined for three years, and some much longer. We
have a return of those who were in durance, made in January 1702. It
includes the names of Sir John Gayer, General, Stephen Colt, President, six
Senior Factors, six Junior Factors, seven Writers, six ladies, two children,
two Surgeons, William Stephens, Captain Rayner and fifteen seamen, a
Serjeant, thirty one soldiers, twenty four slaves, and three cooks besides a
Factor and Writer who were at Baroch, in all a hundred and nine persons.

The Ambassador had left Surat on the twenty-seventh of January

* The facts regarding these disputes are collected from diaries and a mass of official
correspondence, copies of which are preserved in the books of the two Factorioy,
Most of i he facts are stated and repeated ill different places, and I Lave not thought ij
necessary to give all the references.

150

1701, attended by a suite of sixty Europeans and three hundred Natives.
His intention was to visit the Mogul's camp, and his easiest route would
have been by Bombay ; but he had already trusted too much to the
hospitality of the old Company's servants, and prudently avoided their
petty kingdom. If any had judged from the superior value of the pre-
sents which he took with him, they would have concluded that his pros-
pects were fairer than Sir Thomas Roe's had been, but his personal quali-
fications were very inferior, and by no means fitted him for his delicate
mission. After many alarms caused by the neighbourhood of Mogul and
Maratha armies, which, we are told, the discipline of his followers kept
in awe and serious dissensions amongst his peons, he arrived at Birma-
pdri near Panderpur on the Birna, where Aurangzib had established a
permanent cantonment. The Emperor himself was encamped at Panala,
but his minister Gazedi Khan was here, and Sir William requested per-
mission to visit him in state with drums and trumpets. This was refused,
on which the Ambassador being offended took his first false step, and
proceeded without further ceremony, thus converting into an enemy one
of the most influential men in the empire.

He reached Panala on the seventh of April, and demanded an audience
of the Emperor, which was granted. There it became his study to make
an imposing appearace, and to approach the Imperial presence in such a
manner that an impression might be made both on the Court and people.
A long procession was carefully arranged. First were drawn twelve brass
guns, then came packages of glassware, and splendidly caparisoned steeds,
all of which were designed as presents for the Emperor and his chief
nobility. His Excellency next appeared in a palanquin, ornamented with
embroidery, preceded and followed by heraldic insignia, flags, drums,
trumpets, guards, servants in gorgeous liveries, all under the directions
of a treasurer, secretary, master of the horse, and other officers of state.
The whole was certainly calculated to strike with wonder a people like
those of India, and it seems to have had for the time an effect upon the
Imperial Court, as the firmans, which the Ambassador demanded, were
granted.* In gratitude he then paid his Majesty another visit, and pre-
sented him with two hundred gold mohars, which were graciouslyaccepted .

* The Ambassador's procession on the 28th April 1701 :

*' SJr. Christor, Commander of His Excellency's Artillery, on horseback.

Twelve carts, wherein were carried the twelve brass guiis for presents.

Five Hackerees, with the cloth &c. for presents.

One hundred cohors and messures, (coolies and gentlemen) carrying the glass ware,
and looking glasses, for presents.

Two fine Arabian horses richly caparisoned, for presents.

Two ditto, without caparisons, for presents.

Four English soldiers, on horseback, guarding the presents.

The Union Flag.

The Red, White and Blue Flags.

Seven state horses, richly caparisoned, two with English furniture, and five with
Indian.

The King's and His Excellency's crest

One state Palanquin, with English furniture of silver tissue brocaded.

Two other crests.

The Music, with rich liveries, on horseback.

Mr. Basset, Lieut, of His Excellency's foot guards, on horseback.

Ten servants iu rich liveries, ou horseback.

151

The event, however, proved that the Ambassador's success was unsub-
stantial. The Emperor required him to give security that his subjects
should be protected from both European and Native pirates, to which
Norris reasonably objected, saying that he could not undertake to keep
in order the rovers of Malabar, and other inhabitants of the Mogul domi-
nions ; but if the ever-ready resource of cash would be considered an equi-
valent, he would be glad to pay a lakh of rupees, and thus escape from the
dilemma. In this instance money had no charm, and Sir William was
curtly told that the " English best knew if it was their interest to trade, and
if the Ambassador refused to give an obligation, he knew the same way
back to England that he came." Norris made no further attempt at nego-
tiation, but demanded his passports, and published a notice in the Persian,
Hindustani, and English languages, requiring all persons to send in any
claims which they might have upon the Embassy, as in five days he should
commence his journey.

On the fifth of November, having received his passports, he set off on
his return. After travelling three days he was overtaken by an Officer
from Court, who declared that he must go back, as his papers were infor-
mal. This he refused, but agreed to halt for two days until the Emperor's
pleasure should be known. Not hearing anything further he continued
his march after the time specified had elapsed, and on the fourteenth reach-
ed Birmapuri, where his old enemy Gazedi Khan was on the look-out for
him. With imprudent obstinacy he refused to pay the Khan a visit, al-
though urgently pressed to do so, and on the twenty-second recommenced
his journey. He had not advanced four miles before he and his suite
were surrounded by a cloud of troops. His guard shewed courage and de-
termination, so that he was not attacked ; but as his tents and baggage had
been seized and resistance would have been hopeless, he was forced to com-
ply with the demand that he should return to Birmapuri. When there, he
protested against the outrage which had been offered to the representative
of a great king, and was quietly told that he must wait till the Emperor's
pleasure should be known. At last, on the fifth of February, the Khan
informed him, that he had received from his Master a letter and sword
for the King of England, and that the firman would be forwarded in a
short time. On the fifth the liberated Ambassador started again, and
reached Surat on the twelfth of April, thus having occupied six months and

The King's and my Lord's Arms.

One Kettle Drum, in livery, on horseback.

Three Trnmpetts, in liveries, on horseback.

Capt. Symons, Commander of II. E. guards.

Twelve troopers, every way armed and a centred after the English mode.

Mr. Beverley, Lieut, of H. E. horse guards.

The King's and my Lord's arms richly gilt, and very large, the first being borne by
sixteen men.

Mr. John Mill, and Mr. Whitaker, on horseback, in rich laced coats.

ft'r 1 !ale, Master of the Horse, richly drest, carrying the sword of state, pointed up.

His Excellency, in a rich Palanquin, Indian embroidered furniture.

Jour pajres, two on each side of His Excellency's Palanquin, richly drest.

Edward Norris, Esq Secretary to the Embassy, in a rich Palanquin, carrying His
Majesty's letter to the Emperor, on each side Mr. Wingate, and Air. Shettleworth, in
rich laced coats on horseback.

Mr. Harlewyn, Treasurer, wearing a gold key, and Mr, Adiel Mill, Secretary to His
Excellency, in a coach." Uruce's Annuls, 1701-2.

152

seven days in the journey from Panala. The distance is less than four
hundred miles, and might have been easily accomplished by regular
marches in a month. Vexatious indeed must have been the delays, pain-
ful the insults, to which he was subjected. Who, even after a century and
a half have elapsed, does not feel some commiseration for the trials which
the impatient and petulant, but yet highminded Norris had to brook ?
Who does not feel angry with the servants of the old Company, whose gold
was the moving spring of all his troubles ? Who is not disgusted with
the sage Aurangzib, the imperial persecutor of a stranger depen-
dent on his generosity Aurangzib whose name stands high amongst the
monarchs of India, but yet would not deserve the lowest place in a cata-
logue either of the heroes or the benefactors of the world ?

When we consider the great expectations which were entertained of
this embassy, the pomp for which it was distinguished, and the vast sums
of money expended upon it, we are surprised to find that it has attracted
so little the notice of historians. No account is given of it in the standard
histories of India or England. Burnet, who tried to cull all the gossip of
his day, has not alluded to it. There are certainly reasons why it deserv-
ed to sink into oblivion. It was really an abortive effort of one trading
Company to ruin another. It was ill-conceived, worse planned, and still
worse executed.

Although Sir William Norris was deficient in the coolness, astuteness,
and decision which are necessary to render diplomacy successful, yet the
failure of his embassy must not be altogether laid at his door. His position
was one of extraordinary difficulty. The London Company left no stone
unturned in their efforts to disgrace him. The advice which he received
from the Presidents of the English Company in Bengal, Fort St. George,
and Surat, could only confuse and perplex him. When he went to Ma-
sulipatam, Sir Nicholas Waite was jealous of Consul Pitt, who was there,
and found that it was necessary for Norris to go to Surat, and Consul Pitt
maintained, on the other hand, that he should not go to Surat as it would
be derogatory for an Ambassador to be flitting from port to port instead of
proceeding at once to Court. Then, when his expenses increased and he
wanted money, Waite referred him to Consul Pitt, and Consul Pitt to
Consul Sir Edward Littleton in Bengal. He consulted these troublesome
Presidents as to the sort of firman which he should procure, and each made
a, different proposition. When he had broken off negotiations wit'i the Mo-
gul, all complained of him, but each had a reason different from the others.
Waite and his Council said he had no right to do so without their consent.
From Masulipatam they plainly wrote and told him, that he had been
rash, imprudent, and an absurd stickler for forms. At Hughli they charg-
ed him with being dilatory. In fact he had bitter enemies, false friends,
and divided counsellors. It was no marvel that he fell a victim to a com-
bination of adverse circumstances, to which many a wiser and more reso-
lute man than he was would have succumbed.

He left Surat on the eighteenth of April 1702, after being on the worst
terms with Waite, of whose violence he had always disapproved, and
\vhose proposition that he should not negotiate the release of Sir John
Gayer and his Factors he had repelled with indignation. Waite on the

153

other hand accused him and his Secretary of being too favourably disposed
towards the London Company. Having left his elephants, camels, horses,
and oxen to be sold on the Company's account, and paid ten thousand
rupees for his passage, he sailed on the Scipio, and reached the Mauritius
on the eleventh of July, where the ship remained until the seventh of Sep-
tember. A few days after leaving that island he was seized with dysen-
tery. Feeling that his end was approaching, he dictated to Ilarlwyn, the
Treasurer of the Embassy, a vindication of his conduct, and pathetically
expressed a hope, that notwithstanding his misfortunes his memory would
be respected. With an unselfish and tender regard for a deceased friend,
he called to mind the accusations which had been brought against Mill,
his private Secretary, and declared that they were unfounded. He con-
cluded by commending all persons who had been engaged in the Embassy
to the Court's favour and protection, A few days later the poor sufferer
expired,

154

CHAPTER X

1G98 1701.

CONTENTS. Continued rivalry of the two Companies The Emperor refers tlis
question to a Mula Liberal conduct of the English Company Terms of union
arranged Illustrative anecdotes The new Company's Chaplain dies ; interred
in the Armenian cemetery ; succeeded by Hackelt ; his martial commission
The Reverend Pratt Physon Surgeon Maxwell Dispute;? between the mem-
bers of Council Lock strikes the President Mewse breaks Proby's head
The old Company's Surgeon Statistics of crime for six months Fight between
Charles Peachey Esq and the President; the President goes in and wins ;
Peadiey severely punished Offences of Walsh, Hartley, and Woodford Cap-
tain \Yyatt murders a sepoy Provost Marshal Hall Serjeant Bazett and
other scabby sheep Disease in Bombay State of Bombay ; frugality The
Moguls Marathus Portuguese ; dispute with them ; their threats ; ridicu-
lous termination of the affair ; they send an Envoy to Bombay ; his proposals
rejected An Embassy from Abyssinia The British Squadron Queeu Aime
proclaimed.

THE departure of Sir William Norris did not in any way remove the
bone of contention from the two Companies. Nor was either party so suc-
cessful in petting and bribing the Great Mogul as to obtain any decided
advantage over the other. So long as they continued to quarrel, they
teed his Imperial Majesty and his officers so well, that it was impossible
for him to say which ought to have the preference. If one party had paid
for justice, and the other had not, the case would have been simple. But
when both seemed to have inexhaustible treasures, and opened their coffers
freely, the question of right became a knotty point.

Moreover, Aurangzib was a religious Prince, and wanted to have the
opinion of a Priest. So, after getting all he could for himself out of the
English, and failing to discover the truth, he was willing to let a descend-
ant of the prophet take his turn, and for that purpose commissioned a
Mul i at Surat to find out which was " the real English Company." Saiyid
Sedula, the Priest who was thus appealed to, began his inquiry in earnest,
and was too shrewd a man to think that he could find his way through
the maze without a golden clue. Sir Nicholas Waite calculated that a
payment of ten thousand rupees would enable him to see quite clearly,
and at this price he would draw up a report in the English Company's
favour.

I may be thought presumptuous in going directly contrary to the opi-
nion of all good writers on this subject, but yet I must say, that the new
or English Company appeared throughout far more liberal and tolerant
than the London Company. The Directors of the English Company were-

155

always inclined to peace, although their servants in India were far from
carrying out their good intentions. No sooner did they hear of the dis-
turbances and animosities at Surat, than they wrote out expressing their
regret at such proceedings, which they feared might be destructive to both
Companies. With prudent forbearance they desired that the system of
competition should be changed, and that their servants should only en-
deavour " to out-trade" their rivals, at the same time treating all English-
men with civility and respect. They were of opinion that Sir Nicholas
Waite had no authority to remove the London Company's flag from their
Factory at Swally, and that it was reasonable to expect the Mogul Go-
vernor would resent such an act. They condemned his malicious applica-
tion to the Governor, leading, as it did, to the oppression under which Sir
John Gayer and his friends suffered. They told Waite that his business
was simply to procure for his Company the privileges which the others
enjoyed, not to assail or injure them. In the same spirit they treated free
traders. It really seemed their object to increase the commerce of Eng-
land as well as their own, and with that view they permitted a certain De
Paz to trade as a free merchant in India an innovation of which the old
Company had never dreamed.*

In 1700 the English Company made the first advances, and proposed
that the two Companies should arrange terms of union ; but to the factious
Directors of the London Company this appeared only an evidence of
weakness, and led them to suppose that by holding out a little longer they
would bring their adversaries to unconditional surrender.")" Losses and
afflictions were still required to subdue their pride and rancour. Happily
both parties were at last taught wisdom by their trials, and not driven to-
despair. Both took warning just in time, and made serious attempts to
end their differences. If they had not, speedy ruin would have been the
inevitable consequence. On the twenty -seventh of April 1702 the two
Companies approved an instrument of union, and wrote to their servants
desiring that their mutual disputes should be buried in oblivion. It was
agreed that after the twenty-second of July all opposition should cease ;
that trade, with the exception of such as was afloat and contracted for,
should be conducted on a general stock ; that the servants of the two Com-
panies should strive to forward each other's views, so as to assist each other
in disposing of their European goods, and lowering the prices of Indian
commodities. It was long before the Union was completed, but the work
of reconciliation was now undertaken in earnest, and from this time we may
date the commencement of a career which, after a necessary period of ex-
haustion, led the East India Company to wealth and power.

At the Union the affiliated Factories of Bombay were Surat, Baroch,
Ahmedabad, Agra, and Lacknow ; on the Coast of Malabar, the Forts and
Factories of Car war, Talichari, Anjengo and Calicot ; in Persia, the Fac-
tories of Gombroon, Shiraz arid Ispahan.

We will now attempt to collect some facts which will give us a little
further insight into the history of these three eventful years.

The new Company were very careful to provide their servants with

'fc Annals, 1700 1702. f Ibid 1699-1700

156

ministers of religion, but did not always make a happy selection. Mr. Ed-
wards, their first Chaplain, contracted a disease of the country, and died
on the twenty-fifth of March 1700, after an illness of thirty days.
Nothing can shew more painfully the bitterness we may say the ferocity
of the spirit with which the two Companies were animated in their ri-
valry, than the fact that on this occasion Sir Nicholas Waite could not
bury his dead in the ground where other bodies of his countrymen rested.
There was the spacious cemetery of the old Company with the grand
mausolea of its Chiefs, and a few generations of Factors sleeping around
them ; but interlopers and competitors in trade might not rot there. Per-
sons professing not only to hold the same religion but also observing the
same forms, had been driven by commercial antagonism to set up altar
against altar, and to hinder their clergy from associating even in death.
They imitated the odious jealousy of the blindest superstition.

" That mouru'd the dead ; aud this denied a grave."

Probably Waite had as bitter feelings against the old Company's Factors
as Young had, under similar circumstances, against Roman Catholics, and
with a humanity denied to poor Edwards " wished them all a graved

It must be recorded to their credit that the Armenians came forward
and offered the use of their burial ground. Their liberal proposal was
gratefully accepted, and the Chaplain's body found a resting place with
strangers.

Looking round to supply the place of the clergyman whom he had lost,
Waite lighted upon Hackett, Chaplain of the ship Norris. The induce-
ments which the President offered, and the consideration by which he was
guided, shew us the value set at that time upon the services of sea-faring
clergy. The owners of the Norris had arranged with Hackett that on his
return to England he should receive a hundred pounds. When then he was
invited to take duty at Surat, it became necessary to engage that he should
be indemnified for the loss which he would suffer on account of only ful-
filling half his agreement. The President writes that he had stipulated for
this, and adds, " I hope that he will by his piety and diligence in his sta-
tion be such an example of virtue as may deserve this favour from your
honours."*

Hackett was soon after employed on an errand for which his calling
scarcely fitted him. He was sent to Birmapuri in charge of the brass gims
which had arrived at Surat after the Ambassador had left, and this Priest
of the Church militant marched at the head of ten soldiers, six writers,
and two surgeons. However, he had episcopal authority for what he did,
as eleven years previously Compton, Bishop of London, in buff-coat, jack-
boots, with a sword at his side and pistols in his holsters the dress of a
Colonel of militia had escorted the Princess Anne in her flight from the
metropolis. f

On his return to Surat, Hackett, as we conclude from official letters, was
engaged in instructing young persons ; but he soon left India. On this

* Letter from Sir N= Waite and Council to the Englkjh Company , dated 9th
.April 1700.

T Macaulay's History ot England.

157

occasion Sir Nicholas Waite, after making to the Court a modest applica-
tion for one Bible and two Prayer Books, added in language which was
fashionable even with disreputable men at that time : " We shall be
without a Chaplain for reading prayers and instruction of your youth, until
your Honours please to send a pious and ingenious man, whose learning
and behaviour may be exemplary to all your servants, and inform the world
of the glorious mysteries as yet unknown amongst these people."

During Hacketf s temporary absence, the Reverend Pratt Physon un-
dertook the duties of the Chaplaincy for six months, but his example was
by no means edifying to the gentlemen of the Factory. On the contrary,
he did his utmost to bring them into disgrace by purchasing goods of con-
siderable value, for which he had not the means of paying. And so passes
off the scene this acting Chaplain, leaving a smell of brimstone behind him.

Nor was the Medical department of the new Factory better superintend-
ed than the Ecclesiastical. For some time Dr. John Maxwell, Surgeon,
was in attendance on the Ambassador, but was dismissed for ill-behaviour.
Returning thus disgraced to Surat, he there continued " his lewd debauch-
ed life," and was in consequence expelled the service. This reprobate
then removed to Cochin, where he placed himself in communication with
pirates, to whom, through means of correspondents, he gave information
as to when and where vessels might be expected. He made no secret of
these transactions, but with the utmost audacity boasted of the large sums
which he had received in return for his treachery.*

But after all, the vices of subordinates were countenanced by the irre-
gularity and indecency of their superiors. The Council Board was an arena
of continual squabbles, which, in one instance at least, ended in blows.
Jeremiah Bonnell was declared to be suspended from Council by his fellow
members Benjamin Mewse and Callow Carey, and, as they were a majori-
ty, the President concurred. Soon afterwards John Lock, the fifth in Coun-
cil, was suspended for the heinous offence of striking Sir Nicholas Waite,
" her Majesty's publick minister and Consull," and he could not be brought
to acknowledge his error, but steadily maintained that he had acted right-
ly. By this time Mewse had altered his opinion in Bonnell's case, and re-
fused to attend Council till both he and Lock should be restored. He also
complained that business was not transacted by a majority in Council, but
merely according to the orders of Waite and Proby. He therefore ab-
sented himself from the Board, f

We shall meet with this Mewse again, when his turbulence brings him
into notoriety, but we may now look at the sketch which Sir Nicholas
Waite gave of his character, as we thus gain an idea of what the third
member of Council could be. The President informs the Court that Mewse
had the reputation amongst all the Company's servants, and indeed all
Europeans at Surat, of being addicted to hard drinking, seldom sober, and
above all reproof. The true reason of his absence from Council was not
any well-grounded complaint ; but that his intellect was disordered by li-
quor, and he was " unfit for virtuous conversation." He compelled his

* Letter as above, and one dated 15th February 1 703 4.

i Diary of the English Company's Factory at Smut j 1/th Felnuary aiid 14th
May 1/02.

158

subordinates to follow his example, and " would have nobody under him
who would not drink." At last even in that society such dissipation be-
came insufferable. One Sunday after dinner he invited Proby, the second
in Council, to drink a glass of wine at his lodgings. He soon got very
quarrelsome, began by flinging the glasses about, and concluded by break-
ing his senior's head with a bottle. Callow Carey, who was present at the
time, deposed to this fact upon oath, and John Frost, and Thomas Moore,
two writers, set their hands to a declaration that they had heard Mevvse
swear " he would pistole Mr. Proby." Such was a wine party of Coun-
cillors in the olden time. Number three gets drunk and breaks number
two's head ; at which number four looks on and takes notes. They only
wanted number five, the pugnacious Lock, and number one, the intem-
perate Waite ; they would then have formed a full Council. Truly " most
potent, grave and reverend signors !"

Disgraceful as these intestine disorders were, they were not worse than
those which preyed upon the inner life of the old Company. They, too,
had a troublesome and unmanageable Doctor. Placing the same reliance
as other Natives upon the medical skill of European practitioners, the Sid-
di had requested that the Government of Bombay would send a Surgeon
to attend his wounded men. Dr. Thompson volunteered for the duty, and
only desired as the Deputy Governor wrote in the undignified style of the
day that he might take with him " that black fellow," who was an As-
sistant in the Hospital. As there were only three sick- persons in all the
Hospital, the Deputy Governor in Council concluded that Dr. Skinner, the
Surgeon in charge, would not object to the temporary loss of the " black
fellow's" services. The Secretary was therefore ordered to apply to Dr.
Skinner, which he did in a polite note. The reply was simply a shower of
abuse. This the Government bore with exemplary patience, merely sta-
ting in their official report that this " most scurrilous answer shews the
pride and factiousness of that vain man."*

Possibly it will occur to the reader, as it has occurred to the writer
that the dramatis personce in this Chapter are all men of bad character ;
that I only present offensive details which are relieved by no examples of
goodness and honour. I can only say that I represent the matter faith-
fully as recorded by the best authorities of the age. Vices were then tri-
fles ; to be corrupt and to corrupt others was the fashion. f I do not find
a word of any thing good in the local annals either written or printed. As
soon as I do, it will be a pleasure to serve up what must be more agree-
able to " the gentle reader" than depreciatory strictures. In the meanwhile
it is not my fault, if nausea is created by a surteit of disgraceful anecdotes.

Judge patiently, reader. Imagine yourself on the Bench for six months ;
see what culprits we shall bring before you, and then say whether you pan-

* The Deputy Governor and Council to Sir John Gayer : March 1701.

f " Nemo illic vitia ridet ; nee corrumpereac corrumpi seculuin vocatur." Thus
Tacitus (De Mor. German. ) writes of the ancient Germans, and of course hits Roman
society. He is referring in the first place to adultery, but applies what he says
generally. Might the special or general application be made to Anglo-Indian Society
now ? Persons in England who are interested in that society, would say that both
might.

159

not form an opinion as to the statistics of folly and crime amongst Anglo-
Indians in the Bombay Presidency at the opening of the eighteenth cen-
tury. You will probably conclude that, sad as have been the delinquen-
cies of which we have heard in late years, yet when we consider the vast
number of persons employed now by the Indian Government, the cases are
few indeed as compared with those which occurred in the year 1701-2, and
between the months of October and March inclusive.

It will be remembered that President Annesley having been dismissed,
was succeeded by Stephen Colt, who seems to have managed the Com-
pany's affairs at Surat with prudence. At least, I know of no charge
brought against him, except the one I am now about to relate.

Mr. Charles Peachey was at this time lying in durance, to which he hud
been committed by the English authorities. He appears to have passed
his many idle hours in giving vent to his indignation and writing letters,
which are apparently the productions of a rational man, and, as such, were
thought worthy of a place in the records of Government. Yet they expose
a state of affairs which is calculated to awaken incredulity. The prisoner
addresses, " The Right Honourable the President and Council for the
affairs of the Right Honorable the East India Company," and then begins
unceremoniously with telling them, that it is no use for them to think that
by locking him up they can conceal their guilt. Complainant then pro-
ceeds to state that the Right Honorable President had broken his head,
and lest that distinguished person should suppose the mischief had stopped
there he further enters into details, pointing out that lie had been in all
respects punished very considerably, in the language of the ring, "re-
gularly doubled up." I am really afraid of being charged with exaggera-
tion, and therefore quote the words of Peachey 's extraordinary letter ;

" I have received from you two cuts on my head, the one very long and
deep, the other a slight thing in comparison to that ; then a great blow on
my left arme which has enflamed the shoulder, and deprives me (at pre-
sent) the use of that limb ; on my right side a blow, on my ribs just be-
neath my pap, which is a stoppage to my breath, and makes me incapable
of helping myself; on my left hipp another, nothing inferior to the first ;
but, above all, a cut on the brow of my left eye. The anguish thereof has
caused a swelling, and that swelling destroyed my eyesight, which I should
perfectly receive. There is a statute (which assuredly you shall take your
triall upon) ; the sense thereof is, that whosoever shall mame another shall
be thought culpable, and be punished with death."

It must be admitted that the Right Honorable pugilist had shewn con-
siderable science, and planted his blows to some purpose. Imagine Charles
Peachey Esquire in his prison house, with a deep gash on his head ; his
eye bunged up, his arm in a sling, stiff and wheezy from a blow beneath
his fifth rib, and limping with a sprained hip joint. We must allow that
although some Governors at the present time may have administrative a-
bilities, none can have studied the noble art of selt^-defence with more suc-
cess than had the gallant Stephen Colt.

Well, although Peachey cuts a sad figure and is certainly not fit to be
seen, yet we must summon him to give evidence as to the cause of this
singular outbreak. He admits that he had laughed at the President, but

ICO

lets up as a plea of justification, that that high functionary had entirely
forgotten his own dignity. For instance, the President had "cuffed" him,
and when he took to his heels, flung his slipper after him. But the climax
in this sanctimonious gentleman's estimation was, that the President had
shewn no respect for the Sabbath, but ordered his victim's property to be
removed from Mr. Wyche's lodgings on Sunday.

After receiving this severe punishment, and being expelled the Factory,
Peachey was kept in prison " to plague" him, as the President express-
ed it. What follows shews that the President consiiered he had a good
cause, and at least was not implacable. " I said," proceeds Peachey,
" I would write to his Excellency. Your answer was, I might ; but you
would pass your word it should prove ineffectual, and thereupon offered
me your hand."

After this, according to Peachey *s account, the President saw him
beaten by Mr. Robinson on the terrace, and when he was talking too
loud in dispute with Mr. Deane, mocked and reviled him. From what
follows it would appear that this unfortunate man was not without sup-
porters :

" When I returned with a sword, 'twas for no evil, but to rescue my
companions, and had you assaulted me afresh, I should have killed you
(as you pretend was my intent). I don't at all question but the law
should have found it no otherwise than se deffendendo"

Four days later we have another letter from Mr. Peachey, who quotes
the twenty-ninth article of Magna Charta, with observations by " Jus-
tice Cooke," to shew that no free man could be arrested or detained in
prison without first resort being had to legal process.

On the whole, in the absence of evidence on the other side, we cannot
find Stephen Colt guilty from this cx-parte statement. However, the ex-
istence of this paper on official records proves that there had been a dis-
graceful affray ; that Mr. Peachey had lost his temper, soundness of
limbs, and liberty, and that the President had at least lost a portion of his
dignity.*

The next month we have an account of a duel fought at Bombay by
Mr. Enoch Walsh on the one side and Mr. Ralph Hartley on the other.
The former gentleman had for long been a bad subject, notorious for idle-
ness, deeply involved in debt, and generally of dissolute habits. The
latter, as will be seen, was not much better. On this occasion he was the
sufferer, being severely wounded. At first it was feared that his wound
would prove mortal ; but eventually he recovered.

The same month Mr. Thomas Woodford was guilty of embezzlement,
having appropriated to himself the Right Honorable Company's cash to a
considerable amount. He made his escape, but was taken and kept a
prisoner. A few months later the Bombay Government report to the
Directors that they should have sent this gentleman home in a ship, which
was then sailing, " but that there were too many such order'd on her."

The above mentioned Hartley was concerned in fraud with Woodford.

* Diary of the London Company's Factory at Surat, containing copies of letter*
dated 4th and 8th October 1700,

161

Mr. William Howson, also, who had charge of the Custom House at
Mahim, had appropriated to himself two thousand three hundred and two
rupees from the public chest. When detected he made the usual excuse
that he was driven by his exigencies to take the money, but that he had
intended to return it in three or four days.* Such were the events of two
months October and November.

In December occurred a still more disgraceful and most tragical affair.
On the twenty-third ot that month Captain John Wyatt had command of
the guards for the day, and about eleven o'clock at night left the apart-
ments of Mr. Demetrius and Mr. Wright for his own quarters. At this
time he was much intoxicated, although quite sober and rational when
brought before the Council at live the next morning. After leaving his
friends when he came near his own door, the sentry challenged him, upon
which the Captain became extremely angry, drew his sword, and made
a thrust at him. The sentry fled, and one who was stationed at Wood-
ford's door followed his example. Both made for the main guard, pressed
hard by their persecutor. Just at that moment the sand of the hour
glass had run out, and the sepoy in whose charge it was, called to another
to strike the gong. This seemed to add fuel to Wyatt's rage ; he in-
stantly ordered the Corporal of the guard to relieve and bring the sentry
before him. He then commenced to beat the poor fellow, asking him
how he dared to have the gong struck without waiting for his orders.
The other meekly replied that he was merely acting according to esta-
blished rule, but for the future he would only act as the Captain should
think proper, and begged that he would cease beating him. Wyatt then
took the man by the arm, deliberately turned him round, and run Ins
sword through his side. The sepoy dropped down dead upon the spot.
This savage madman added to the barbarity of his crime by kicking
and otherwise abusing the corpse of his murdered victim. The Deputy
Governor was immediately summoned from his bed, and had the mur-
derer secured. The decision of the Governor in Council was, that Captain
Wyatt should be deprived of his commission, confined in irons, and sent
to England. The tragic issue of this affair made probably some impres-
sion even upon this turbulent community ; for we do not find that any
cases of a serious character were brought before Government during the
following months of January and February.

In March 1701 we find John Hall, Provost Marshall, confined to the
Fort of Dongari.f There was once an intention of giving him an ensign-
cy ; but he was then charged with being an infamous drunkard, and
in other respects a bad character. When required to clear himself of
these charges, he only cursed and swore at every one, from the highest
to the lowest, expressing a hope that the time might come when he would
have his revenge. The Government were obliged to put him in confine-
ment at Dongari, although, as they significantly remarked, " having too
many such v as he is in that or one fort or other, and with submission

* Letters to the Hon'ble Court from the Governor and Council of Bombay, dated
28th November 1700, and March 1701.

f Deputy Governor and Council of Bombay to Sir John Gayer and Council ; dated
28th December 1700.

1G2

to your Excellency and Council, If they were all sent home, there would be
a happy riddance of them." Hall was accordingly shipped off, but Sir
John Gayer, the General, and his Council, thought that his masters had
acted too precipitately. The reply to their advice was as follows :

" As to Hall, had there been any hope of reclaiming him, by being
reduced, as your Excellency and Council are pleased to direct, should
have done it ; but, as he is a restless, factious, and turbulent spirited
man, ever promoting and carrying on his rascally designs, would be
always reducing others to be confederates with him ; therefore, as you
were pleased to leave it to us, we thought it with submission much better
to be rid of such a scabby sheep, that he might not infect the flock ; so
have sent him home."

However, by the shepherd's own admission, the flock were already
infected. They seem to have been all " scabby." There was no sound-
ness from head to foot. Amongst others, we find mentioned a Serjeant
Bazett who had absconded. He must have been a stylish non-commis-
sioned officer, for his wife disposed of her plate and jewels to satisfy
his creditors. Besides these, a man named Scott, and several others who
had formerly run away and become renegades, were sent back this month
by the Siddi.*

It is some relief, after these numerous reports of crime and misde-
meanours, to find it stated that Horbin, who had been one of the culprits,
had been reclaimed, and was diligent in business, promising never again
to be guilty of such errors. As Enoch Walsh and a number of other
factious persons had been removed, the Government hoped to enjoy a
season of quietness and moral decency.

When we would go on to inquire what punishment was inflicted on
these grand offenders, and whether they met their deserts, we find our-
selves in the dark. The Government would not venture to pass any more
severe sentence than fine or dismissal, and so prisoners were shipped off
in large numbers to England.

The thought occurs, what times those would have been for newspa-
pers ! They would indeed have had but a limited circulation ; but their
intelligence, how strongly spiced and exciting ! Bombay is, it is true,
still fertile in scandals and offences, and the fragrance from it, which
steam and the public press carry with them, is not so sweet as that of
" the perfumed isles ;" but then consider how large our society is. Yet
racy facts are comparatively rare. Governors conduct themselves with
dignity ; they won't fight, and are decorously dull. If a desire to punch
their heads is sometimes expressed by disappointed candidates for their
patronage, it is never put into execution. Heads of departments do not
often take a felonious dip into their treasure chests, and we hope that
there is but a solitary instance of a European murdering an unresisting
native. But the first year of the eighteenth century was a stirring one.
There are two Companies fighting with the Native Government, fighting
with one another, and their servants fighting amongst themselves. The
President of one is struck by a member of his Council, and the head of

* Letters as above."

163

the second member is broken in a drunken row by the third. As regards
the other Company, lovers of gossip heard in six months how a Right Ho-
norable President had been jeered at by one of his subordinates, to whom
in return he gave a terrible drubbing ; how a Collector of Customs had
embezzled money, and other Factors had imitated him ; how a Captain
in the little army had stabbed to death a poor, defenceless, supplicating
victim, and then spurned his lifeless corpse ; how, after so many had
committed crimes, it was hoped that one sinner had been reclaimed to
honour. Those were stirring times in Bombay ; and so are these. Then
the sensation was often caused by the triumphs of vice, now, we trust,
chiefly by its exposure and degradation.

As is usually the case, the weird sisters, crime and disease, appeared
in company. A fearful mortality prevailed in Bombay. The Natives
Buffered much, and only seventy-six Europeans were left. Following
this calamity was a violent storm, which destroyed the produce of the
island, and wrecked the greater part of the shipping.*"

Little was seen at this period of the pomp and grandeur for which the
Factory had been distinguished in the days of Oxenden and Aungier. In
Bombay people were compelled to be pedestrians, for Sir John Gayer
wrote that there was only one horse on the island fit to be ridden, and
but one pair of oxen to draw a coach. At Surat the public table was kept
with the most wretched parsimony ; so much so, that the Factors were
almost driven to seek their meals at taverns and public houses. The
members of Council sat down to an ordinary supper ; but at the same
time one joint of meat was all that was placed before the rest of the
Company's servants. Here was another temptation to riotous living, for
when so little comfort was to be found in their common home, the Factors
and Writers naturally sallied out in search of good cheer. So little were
they to be trusted, that it was feared they would fall into all kinds of mis-
chief. Sir John Gayer attempted to remedy the evil, and remove all
grounds of just complaint, by ordering that proper suppers should be pro-
vided for all at the public table ; at the same time he was cautious in re-
commending frugality .-(

These were " scambling and unquiet times" all over India ; but so
engrossed were the two Companies with their private feuds, and intrigues
with the Mogul authorities, that they could turn little attention to other
nations. Yet one or two transactions with foreign powers were not with-
out interest. Great alarm was created in Bombay when the inhabitants
heard that a Mussulman force was laying siege to Singhar, which was
only five marches distant. The Mussulman powers of the whole peninsula
were breaking up into parties, and anxiously expecting a dissolution of
the Empire at Aurangzib's death. The Marathas were every year adding
to their strength, and laying the country under contributions. Between
Agra and Surat the districts had been kept in such alarm, that the Fac-
tors had not been able to procure from them a single bale of indigo. J

* Bruce's Annals, 1702-3.

t Letters from Sir John Gayer aud Council to Stephen Colt, Esq. and Council in

J bruce's Aaaals, 1699-1700.

164

The fleet of the Marathas, through the activity of Kanhoji Angria, its
-commander, had considerable success, and took many prizes from its
native enemies. It was a troublesome and dangerous neighbour to Bom-
bay, as the place now called Angria's Colaba was its rendezvous.*

The Portuguese, too, continued to cause much embarrassment, by in-
triguing with the Marathas against the English, and also obstructing the
transport of provisions. A serious dispute with them was opened, when
the assault of a more cruel enemy than the English drove them to Bom-
bay, not as invaders which they had foolishly threatened that they would
be but as suppliants for protection. The story is as follows.

As a Portuguese manchua was firing guns off the harbour of Bombay,
and the Commodore suspected her of being a pirate, he sent his boats to
ascertain the real state of the case. The Portuguese, on their part, seeing
the English giving them chase, as it were, may have supposed that they
came with hostile intent. At all events, the English were fired upon, and
in revenge they boarded the manchua, claimed her as their prize, and
conveyed her to Bombay. Seeing that a mistake had been made, the
English Commodore sent the captured vessel to the Portuguese Captain
General of the North, who was furious at the insult offered to his nation,
and threatened to attack the aggressors. The importation of provisions
to Bombay from Salsette was prohibited, and a fleet of fifty manchuas was
assembled off Mahim, as if with the view of invasion. The conclusion of
this affair would have been simply ridiculous, if it had not brought suffer-
ing to others besides the boasters. Whilst the Portuguese were indulging
their gasconade, an Arab fleet suddenly made its appearance, burned the
shipping at Salsette, and landed an armed force, which took the Fort of
Versova, putting all that they found of both sexes to the sword. A panic
spread like wildfire. The Padre Superior and thousands of others came
for refuge to Bombay. The Captain General's pride was brought down,
and his tone softened. Instead of breathing out slaughter against the
English, he humbly craved their assistance, remaining for some time in
security at Bandora. The Arabs professed friendship for the English.
However, they were not to be trusted. After a time they began to with-
draw, and the re-embarkation of their whole force except three hundred
men having been effected, they were about to set fire to the Church at
Bandora when this residue was attacked by an overwhelming force of
Portuguese. Three hundred more Arabs were speedily landed from the
fleet, and a skirmish followed. Night only saved the Portuguese from an
inglorious defeat, and the Arabs withdrew before morning, fearing lest
they should be attacked by the English.

After this a Portuguese with the high sounding title of " Envoy for
the Royal State of India" came to form a treaty with the Government of
Bombay. His draft contained five articles, all of which were rejected.
By the first it was to be engaged that such conditions should be observed
as had been accepted by Captain Humphry Cook when he took possession
of the island. This was refused because the conditions had been made
by Cook under compulsion, and were subsequently disallowed by Charles

* Grant Duff's Hibtory, Chapter xi.

165

the Second. By the second article an offensive and defensive alliance was
to be established between the English and Portuguese, such as had been
arranged between the two Crowns in the original articles of capitulation ;
but it was declared that those articles were cancelled, when the King of
Portugal had refused to assist the King of England in his war with the
French and Dutch. The third declared that the lands of Portuguese
residents in Bombay which had been confiscated should be restored : this
was refused on the ground that the proprietors had run away and assisted
the Siddi in making war against the English. The fourth proposed that
the English should cease to demand customs from such subjects of the
King of Portugal as imported goods from Bandora. This was refused,
because the English claimed the customs as one of the royalties ceded to
them by the Crown of Portugal. According to the fifth, all coolies and
other natives who should run away from Salsette or Bombay were mutu-
ally to be given up by the contracting parties ; but as the English did not
see why they should send back to a state of slavery such as were discon-
tented with the evils of Portuguese rule, this article was also rejected.*

Expectations were formed at this time of opening a lucrative trade with
Abyssinia, an Ambassador from which country came to Bombay. In
return for this visit, and the handsome presents which he had brought,
the General provided him with the means of transport, and on sending
him back to his country, delivered to him letters and presents for his
master King Thoran. It is a matter of regret that we have only a gleam
of light thrown upon these interesting communications, and have no means
of obtaining further information about them.f

The British squadron which had accompanied the Ambassador effected
little towards assisting the English in suppressing piracy. The Com-
modore, Littleton, was perplexed by the discordant claims of the rival
Companies. Sir Nicholas Waite required his attendance when he made
his public entry into Surat, but this was refused. Yet the Commodore
recognized all the rights of the English Company, to the old Company's
mortification. On the other hand, he disgusted Waite by holding commu-
nications with President Colt, and informing him that he would protect
all vessels sailing under the old Company's license.J

In Oct. 1702 Queen Anne was proclaimed in the room called the Chapel,
at Surat, by the Secretary, after the minister had finished his sermon.

* Letter from Sir John Gayer and Council to the Court ; dated 1st February 1700.

f The following is a copy of the letter delivered to the Ambassador.

" John Gayer, General for affaires of the Right Honorable East India Company in
India, residing at Bombay, sendeth greeting to his most excellent Majesty I horan.
King of Abissine, and Worshipper of Jesus, the Son of AJary, according to the laws of
the Blessed Messias.

"Your Majesty's royal letters and present of seven horses, twenty slaves, and three
horns of civit I was honored with in behalf of the Right Honorable East India Com-
pany, by your noble Embassador, Dumontre, whome received with all possible de-
monstration of honor, love, and affection, and have continued the same to him all the
time of his abode in these parts, and now have taken care to transport him back to your
territories with the President of the Right Honorable East India Company to your
most sacred Majesty, an account of which comes with this. That your most Excellent
Majesty will graciously be pleased to accept thereof, and to lay your royal commands
on me for the future, as in your movst serenely and princely wisdome shall seem meet,
is most humbly desired " Diary of the London Company's Factory at Surat 1701 1704.
\ Brace's Annals, 1/01-2. Diary of the London Company's Factory at Surat.

166

CHAPTER XL

17031708.

CONTENTS. Continued disputes in IndiaHeavy liabilities of the London Com-
panyArrangements for the Government of Bombay Factors still in con-
finement Sir Nicholas Waite's malicious and selfish behaviour ; he offends
all parties ; is dismissed ; impartial view of his character Mewse causes dis-
putes between the two Companies' servants Eustace Needham State of the
two Factories Fresh acts of piracy, and consequent injuries inflicted upon tho
old Factory Wretched state of Bombay ; the revenues and garrison Disease ;
the European population dwindles away Dr. Alexander Orme Oppressions
of the Mogul Ollicers ; Sir John Gayer's allegory The Marathas threaten
fresh assaults Contest at Sea The Muscat Arabs The Gennims The
Dutch successfully resist the oppression of the Moguls Captain Green ; his
piratical transactions Suppression of European piracy Union of the two
Companies completed New arrangements ; the Government The state and
system of trade : chartered ships ; import and export trade ; how conducted ;
alarm at competition Infringement of monopoly Conclusion ; remarks on
the East India Company ; on the Company's servants ; ou their relations
with the people of India.

ALTHOUGH the London and English Companies had arranged terms of
union in England, and each had instructed its servants to treat the servants
of the other with courtesy and respect, it was a long time before ainmosity
was laid aside in India. A treaty of peace could not at once allay all hos-
tile feelings, and during five years there were occasional skirmishes at
the outposts, which sometimes grew so warm that there was danger lest
the war should be renewed. As the instructions from home to live in
peace and quietness were positive, neither party ventured at first to dis-
obey them. Sir Nicholas Waite had pertinaciously endeavoured to pre-
vent a union, and to persuade the Directors of his own Company that
it would be to their detriment, but as soon as he heard that his remons-
trances were unheeded and that a union would certainly take place, he
wrote and assured the Directors of his resolution to " obliterate all past
heats," and to hold friendly intercourse with Sir John Gayer and his
Council.* The communication, however, between the two Chiefs and
their Councils never went beyond formal civility. There was constraint
on both sides ; nor did either place any reliance upon the good dispositions
of the other.

Although the Directors of the English Company have been blamed for
their conduct in these affairs, I think that they acted with prudent and

* Diary of the English Company's Factory at Surat, 7th February 1702-3.

167

consistent fairness. They found the London Company burdened with
enormous debts estimated at a hundred and forty lacks of rupees, chiefly
incurred in Sir John Child's war, and other responsibilities which they
took care should not fall upon their own shoulders. When both Com-
panies appealed to Godolphin, Lord Treasurer of England, and he deliver-
ed an award which is admitted to have been as wise and solid a decision
as is to be found in the political or commercial annals of England, he
declared that the estate and effects of the London Company would not
be sufficient to pay their debts, although when the stock of the English
Company was joined to them, there would be a considerable balance in
favour of the United Company, after paying all foreign demands. More-
over, the home debts of the London Company were very large, and alto-
gether they were not, as their rivals were, in a solvent condition. The
value of their stock had in consequence become so depreciated, that it
had fallen from three hundred to thirty-seven per cent.

But there were also certain documents called Security Bonds, which
were a heavy clog on the operations of the London Company at Surat, and
for which the other Company prudently resolved not to be responsible.
These had been extorted from the President and Council of the Factory by
the Governor of Surat, in consequence of the piracies from which the na-
tive shipping had suffered so much, and they were intended as a guaran-
tee to him that all future losses should be made good. It was not to be ex-
pected that the English Company would be ready to share with their new
allies these serious responsibilities, and they of course cordially approved
Sir Nicholas Waite's conduct, when he prevented their separate interests
from being " embroiled in the Security Bonds, and in any demands which
could be made on the London Company." They also urged him, but in
consequence of superior management on the other side unsuccessfully, to
see that in making the new appointments to official situations their own
servants were taken as good care of as the other Company's. In these re-
spects they looked vigilantly to the interests both of their constituents and
dependents. But they also steadily required conciliatory behaviour on the
part of their servants, regretted when old wounds were opened afresh,
and, as we shall see, visited Sir Nicholas Waite with their severe dis-
pleasure, when he obstinately persisted in keeping alive the flame of discord.
In arranging the Government, it was settled that Sir John Gayer should
be General and Governor of Bombay, Mr. Burniston Deputy Governor
both London Company's Servants and Sir Nicholas Waite President at
Surat. To all other appointments the servants of the two Companies
were to be nominated according to their respective ranks. Such as were
not so fortunate as to obtain any appointment had the option of returning
to England or remaining as free merchants in India.. Burniston died
in 1704, and Sir Nicholas Waite appointed Mr. Aislabie to succeed him,
but the Court's orders were that Brabourne, Chief of Anjengo, should
be Second in Council at Bombay, and Aislabie Third.

During all this time the General and Council of the old Factory were
suffering a long and tedious confinement. They were not permitted to pass
the gate of their own buildings, and could only receive a daily allowance
of provisions. To Sir John Gayer this restraint must have been particu-

168

lavly irksome, as he was most anxious to visit his seat of Government,
where he would be able to act independently. Moreover, an order had
come from the Court, that unless he was liberated within three months
after its arrival in India, Sir Nicholas Waite should act for him as Ge-
neral, and this order was highly objectionable to him, in consequence of
the other's violent, restless, and saturnine disposition.

Although Sir Nicholas Waite had many provocations, yet his conduct was
unjustifiable and injurious to all with whom he was concerned. He not
only refused to be responsible for the Security Bonds of the London Com-
pany, but gave the Governor of Surat to understand that Sir John Gayer
would be displaced, and he himself made General in his stead ; and that
if the Governor wished to recover money for damages done by pirates, he
had better place a strong guard over the Factory. Supporting these re-
presentations by a bribe of twenty-seven thousand rupees, he contrived
that the three months specified in the Courts order should elapse, and he
himself be installed as General. Burniston, and Harland, the new Com-
modore, in vain remonstrated with him for this ungenerous conduct, and
declared to the Governor that he was acting in opposition to directions
received from home. Harland, indeed, refused him a passage to Bombay ;
80 indignant was he at his selfishness.

Waite excused himself by declaring that Gayer owed his calamities to
his own rashness, and that if instead of precipitately making known the
union of the two Companies, he had concealed it for a time, their separate
interests would have been adjusted, and he himself set at liberty. But cer-
tainly this spiteful Sir Nicholas gave no heed to his masters' positive orders
that he should use every effort to procure Sir John Gayer's release. Indeed,
when he had gone to Bombay, his broker assured Bonnell and Proby, the
English Company's servants at Surat, that Waite had promised him fifty
thousand rupees, if he would use his influence with the Governor to keep Sir
John Gayer confined.

Waite was so unfortunate as to offend every person with whom he was
in any way connected. He accused the two last named members of Coun-
cil of embezzling eleven thousand rupees, and they in reply maintained that
he had himself been guilty of fraud in overcharging thirty-five thousand
rupees on the purchase of goods. Brabourne, who had gone to Fort St.
George, when offered the Deputy Governorship of Bombay, refused it,
because he would not serve under a man whose behaviour was so absurd
that civilians on the other side of India said <c they would rather be private
centinels at Fort St. George than serve as Second in Council under Sir
Nicholas Waite."

At last in 1708 this strange President was dismissed the service, or, as
the Court mildly expressed it, " discontinued." They were fain to ac-
knowledge that amidst all his follies and extravagancies he had shewn zeal
for their interests, and therefore formally thanked him for his services.
And in estimating his conduct, we must remember that although there is
certainly much evidence against him which cannot be gainsayed, yet, to
use his own strong language, the servants of the old Company took every
opportunity of blackening his character with calumnious aspersions " as if

169

Hell were at liberty, and no God to be found."* Quaint as is the follow-
ing defence of himself and his Council, showing too as it does, and all his
writings do, that he was a man of imperfect education, it is not without
truth :

" We have hitherto governed all our actions in the whole managery of
your affairs with soe much caution and a little expense, when your rivalls
has been unlimited, and given away those emense and incredible sumines
for extinguishing your virtuous settlement, and vilely aspersing in your
President and Councell that value ourselves upon our frugall and faithful
services."*)*

Disputes between the servants of the two Companies were so warm, and
at times carried to such a height on both sides, that it is difficult to say
which were the most culpable. Sir John Gayer and his friends maintained
that their opponents, instead of endeavouring to soften the rigours of their
confinement, took advantage of it to embitter against them the native Gover-
nor, and on one occasion even went so far as to rob their messengers of the
letters which they were conveying from Bombay. J

An internal squabble amongst the servants of the English Company be-
came in time a quarrel between the two Factories. We have seen that
Benjamin Mewse, who was the Third in Council, complained that Waite and
Proby managed affairs without caring for the maj ority, and from that date
Mewse absented himself, refusing all invitations to attend the Council.
At length he was ordered to be dismissed the English Company's service,
and to give up his warehouse. This latter demand he met with a refusal.
In consequence, the President and Council summoned him to appear before
them and give an account of himself, but they " received no other reply
than language unbecoming rationall creatures. " A year afterwards Mewse
meeting with no satisfaction in India proposed returning to England, and
applied for a passage on board the old Company's ship Regard. Sir John
Gayer and his Council therefore requested by messenger to know whether
Sir Nicholas Waite and Council had any demands upon Mr. Mewse. Then
followed a specimen of those singular communications which more than
anything else mark the state of feeling prevailing between the two esta-
blishments.

To Mildmay, Gayer 's messenger, Waite declared that his Company had
been injured by Mewse to the extent of four thousand rupees, and, what
appeared to him still worse, he had heard that Mewse had been frequently
entertained in the old Company's Factory. Mildmay admitted the latter
charge, but with regard to the former, inquired why Mewse's account had
not been made up before, if he were really indebted so much to the new
Company. Waite had other complaints to make against Gayer, but after-
wards sent to him a Factor, named Crowe, with orders to say that Mewse
would not be prevented from going home. By this time Sir John Gayer
was waxing wroth, and told Crowe to inform Sir Nicholas that he need
not make such ado about his power ; he (Sir John Gayer) was intrusted

* Diary of the English Company's Factory at Surat, 5th October 1705,
7 Id. 1st November 1705.

J Diary of the London Company's Factory at Surat, June 1704,
I Id. 7th February 1702-3.

170

with greater powers, yet had " never used any of the Company's servants
so barbarously as he had done Mr. Mewse, to turn him out of the Factory
in a violent manner, and to send to all Europeans not to assist and
help him, that he might hereby perish." Mr. Mewse, he added, had cer-
tainly been made welcome to the Company's table, and so at any time
should any gentleman who belonged to the new Company. Then he con-
cluded with recrimination, and opening an old sore asked, " if Sir Nicholas
Waite thought so much of that, why did he entertain Bassett, a rascally
fellow that ran away from his colours, when he was serjeant of his guard."*

Another troublesome subject in the new Factory was Eustace Needham,
whom the Directors having taken into their service, had sent out as "a
Factor experienced in business," and one who might be expected to prove
useful in his vocation. No sooner, however, had he arrived than he was
found to be a drunken sot, who could not safely be entrusted with any
important business, and who, although there were so many to keep him
in countenance, was yet declared to be a reproach to the Factory. Whole-
some advice and instruction had been offered him in vain ; he would have
none of them. He had become so habituated, we are told, to his detesta-
ble vice, that he was irreclaimable, and therefore dismissed the Company's
service.^

The immorality of the times seems not to have interfered with devotional
forms. In fact, attendance at Divine Service was regarded by the Govern-
ment as a public duty, although it was often reluctantly complied with.
In the English Factory every member was required by a Minute in Coun-
cil to attend at prayers eight times in the week, exclusive of Sundays.
The eight times might be arranged as they pleased, and if the duty was
thought a painful one, it might be discharged in four days, as there was
service morning and evening. The clergyman was ordered to write down
the names of such as did not attend, and a fine was inflicted upon them,
which was deducted from their salaries.};

The state of the two Factories at Surat was as follows. In the Eng-
lish Company's Factory were Sir Nicholas Waite the President, William
Proby, and Jeremy Bonnell, Members of Council ; one merchant, the
minister, two Factors, nine writers, a Surgeon, and his mate, a trumpeter
and an English cook. Between the thirtieth of November 1700 and the
twenty-first of February 1704, no fewer than eight persons had died,
and seven had been dismissed or suspended from the service. The
monthly expenses of the Factory, including the Steward's disburse-
ments, peons' wages, stationery, and other small charges, varied from
fifteen hundred to two thousand rupees. ||

The servants of the old Company who were confined within the walls
of their Factory were the Right Hon'ble Sir John Gayer, General, the
Hon'ble Stephen Colt, President, the worshipful Ephraim Bendell, Ber-

* Diary of the London Company's Factory at Surat, 20th April 1/04. See the ac-
count of the serjeant in the last chapter.

f Diary of the English Company's Factory at Surat, 7th February 1702-3.
J Diary of the English Company's Factory at S'urat, 10th February 1703.
& Diary of the English Company's Factory at Surat, 21st February 17Q3-4.
| Monthly statement* iu the Diary.

171

nardWyche the accountant, and Purser Marine, the Chaplain, four
senior and five junior Factors, six writers and one Surgeon.*

Instead of being encouraged to hope for a speedy release, these
unfortunate persons were almost reduced to despair by hearing that some
Europeans had committed fresh acts of piracy. Two piratical vessels
had sighted five vessels belonging to Mussulmans, and immediately
given them chase. Under cover of the night two of these merchant
men proceeded on their voyage without molestation, a third had been
compelled to alter her course, a fourth had been driven ashore at Swally,
and the fifth captured. Great sensation was caused at Surat when
these facts were known, and the Governor asserted that the pirates came
from Bombay. Alarmed at his threats the Factors prepared to defend
themselves within their walls. In anticipation that their usual sup-
plies of provisions would be withheld, they had ordered a stock to be
laid in, but sufficient time was not allowed them, and they were soon
reduced to extremities. An ox, which they used for drawing water, was
with great difficulty kept alive by feeding it with the straw in which
wine had been packed, and at last was killed for food. Meanwhile the
infuriated Governor had seized the brokers of both the Dutch and Lon-
don Companies, hung them up by their heels, and flogged them until he
extorted from them a promise to indemnify the losses of the native mer-
chants with a payment of seven lakhs of rupees. He then resolved to lay
hold of the Factors, and that he might starve them out the sooner, drove
into their Factory three English strangers whom he had apprehended,
and who he trusted would help to consume their provisions. Nor did he
spare threats, but vowed that he would have them alive or dead. They
in reply declared they would never give themselves up, and would rather
die than suffer again such misery as had been inflicted on them in their
former confinement. At last after twelve days the Governor moderat-
ed his fury, and consented to allow them a small supply of provisions.
As an aggravation of their sufferings they not only knew that their
rivals, Waite and his friends, were at liberty, but could see that they had
hoisted their Union Jack as if to flout at their misery. The perseverance
which fhey manifested when their circumstances were almost despe-
rate, was highly honorable to them, and their fortitude was a credit to
the English name.f

The state of Bombay was described by Sir Nicholas Waite, when he
had arrived there to assume the appointment of Governor, as wretch-
ed in the extreme, and he called it "this beggarly, ruined, but fertile is-
land ;" and this was in a measure true, although he clearly desired to
enhance the value of his own reforms, by undervaluing the acts of his
predecessors. In the year 1705 he let the tobacco farm for 26,500
xeraphims, which was more by two thousand xeraphims than it had
yielded in the preceding year, six or seven thousand more than it had
been twenty eight years, and seventeen thousand more than it had been
thirty years before. The arak farm he let for five thousand xeraphims.

* Diary of the London Company's Factory at Surat, January 1703.
t Diary of the London Company's Factory at {jurat from 30th August to llth
October.

172

But in 1707 both the tobacco and arak farms fell in value, and as no one
would take them at a fair price, agents were employed instead of contractors.
The garrison was very weak, and the three companies of Gentoos had been
discharged for neglect of duty and disobedience of orders. Great alarm
therefore was created, when in December 1705 the Mogul army came
within three days march of the Coast, opposite Bombay ; so that money
and goods which had been brought in the Josiah from Persia were hastily
landed and lodged in the Castle. As the Mogul had refused his consent
to the establishment of a Mint, money was coined in the Castle, where
only security was felt. The ill condition of the whole place may be con-
cluded from the fact that the Deputy Governor was most anxious to pre-
vent the visit of a merchant, who was expected on a mission from the
King of Persia, because he feared to expose its weakness.*

Disease was, as usual, prevalent at Bombay, and when Commodore
Harland, finding that he could not agree with Sir Nicholas Waite,
was about to sail for England, he was obliged to impress sixty men, as
his crew had suffered so much from sickness, "j" There were living but
eight covenanted servants, including Members of Council, two persons
more who could write, and two raw youths who had been taken out of
3nglish ships. Most of the survivors were in various stages of illness, so
sad was the condition of what they called that year " the unhealthful,
depopulated, and ruined island." In the following April the Civilians
were reduced to seven, and some of those were invalids. There were
but six commissioned officers, two of whom were frequently ill, and not
quite forty English soldiers. In May the seven Civilians had dwindled
to six, and these poor creatures deeply depressed by a sense of their
desolation wrote : "It will be morally impossible to continue much
longer from going under ground, if we have not a large assistance out
before October." In the next January Henry Coster of the accountant's
office was " wholly disabled by his unaccountable sottishness to hold a
pen," and, although he could ill be spared, was dismissed. The Governor
himself complains of his continued indisposition and want of assistance in
that " very unhealthfull island ;" yet he magnanimously assures the
Directors that he feels bound in gratitude to exert himself, and inform
them of all important matters, until he leaves the world or that place. J

At such a time, the advent of Dr. Alexander Orme, the historian's
father, must have been hailed with pleasure. He seems first to have
come to India as an adventurer about the year 1706, and to have acted
as Surgeon at Anjengo, where on his own application, backed by the
Factors at Calicot, he was received into the Company's service. The
Factors when appealing in his favour say that he is "a very capable and
ingenious person that would be extraordinarily serviceable to our masters
and us in sickness." He was afterwards appointed Chief of Anjengo,
where his second son the historian was born.

* Bruce's Annals, 1701-8.

f Sir Nicholas Waite's letter to the Court, dated 3rd March 1706-7-
J Letters from Sir Nicholas Waite to the Court ; dated Bombay Castle the 31st
January 1705-6 ; 18th April 1706 ; 9th M;iy 1J06 ; and 23rd January 1706-?.
$ Memoir of Robert Orm, prefixed to his Historical frtf ments.

173

In spite of the oppressions which the English suffered from the Mogul,
and their own feebleness, the conviction that their only safety was in
armed resistance acquired intensity. This, however, was impracticable
so long as the Company's servants and their property remained within
the reach and under the power of the Mogul Governor at Surat. They
were compelled to endure the insolence or civility of natives in their
various degrees, according as success made these tyrants overbearing
or their fears brought them to be courteous and yielding. The Moham-
medan force at Surat was quite insufficient for its protection, but strong
enough to annoy the English. At one time an order came from Court
to stop the trade of all topiwalas or batmen ; at another the guards were
removed from the London Company's Factory, although the Factors
were not permitted to pass the gates. An idea of the continual fear
under which they lived may be gathered from the fact, that when Au-
rangzib died, and Sir John Gayer had heard the report of his demise,
he felt that it would be dangerous to promulgate it, so communicated it
to the Court of Directors in an allegory. He represented on the first of
March 1 707, " that the sun of this Hemisphere had set, and that the
Star of the second magnitude, being under his meridian, had taken
his place ; but that it was feared the star of the first magnitude, though
under a remoter meridian, would struggle to exalt itself" in other
words, that the Emperor had died, that Prince Azim, his second son,
had assumed the Imperial title, and marched towards Delhi, and that
Prince Alain or Moazim, the eldest son, was marching to dispute
the throne with him. This actually occurred, and a great battle was
fought near Agra in June, in which Prince Azim was killed. Moazim
then became Emperor, with the title of Bahadur Shah.*

The Marathas were almost as much to be feared as the Moguls.
Although Siva] i was dead, yet the terror of his name survired. f When
Kanhoji Angria was harassing the English with his ships, he was de-
scribed as "a Sevagee or Maratha pirate." In 1703 the Factors of the
English Company wrote that Sivaji was expected at Surat, and that
his army had actually fired the suburbs. The Factory was consequently
placed in a state of defence. William Proby, Second in Council, was
appointed first Captain, William Beawes, a seafaring man, second Cap-
tain, Jeremy Bonnell, Captain Lieutenant, John Lock, Lieutenant, Callow
Carey and William Martin, Ensigns. The Writers were ordered to
stand as sentinels, but they were so unpatriotic as to refuse, and leave
the whole of this duty to sixteen sailors. They were all put under

* Bruce's Annals, 1703-8. Elphinstone's History, Book xii. chap. i.

f Indeed the Factors at Bengal seemed to doubt whether he could die. On the
thirteenth of December 1680, having heard of his death from the Governor and Coun-
cil of Bombay, they wrote thus : " Sevagee has died so often, that some begin to
think him immortal. Tis certain little belief can be given to any report of his
death, until experience tell the waining of his hitherto prosperous affairs, since when
he dies indeed, it is thought he has none to leave behind him that is capacitated
to carry on things at the rate and fortune he has all along done." Orme's Frag-
ments. By the by, it is rather surprising that this hero has not yet had his apo-
theosis. His success was greater than Kama's, and his conquests more perma-
nent. The ancestor of the JNitara JRajas would moke quite as respectable a god us
the founder of the Saturniai'egna.

174

arrest. Two, who continued refractory, were dismissed the service, and
the rest then returned to their duty. Happily the Marathas retired.*

Three years afterwards, on the third of May 1706, having defeated
the Mogul army near Ahmedabad, they invested Surat for nine days, but
as they had no cannon, and only a small proportion of fire arms, were
unable to carry the entrenchments, which the Governor had thrown up.
In their retreat they plundered the villages, and destroyed all kinds of
provision, so that the prices of the necessaries of life were raised "from
two to three hundred per cent." A year after Sahuji,f or as he is called
in the English records, " the Sow Rajah," made a formal application to
the General at Bombay for a supply of arms, ammunition, European
troops and money.

The Marathas were becoming more formidable at sea, and Kanhoji
Angria's force increased. Having equipped sixty vessels, they pretended
to no nice discernment of friend or foe, but attacked all who could not
make a fair show of resistance. They also sometimes took roving
Arabs into their pay. Captain Hide, commanding the ship President,
was attacked on his passage to Bombay off the Malabar coast by two
ships and four grabs from Muscat. Three of the grabs grappled with
the President, and the crew of one boarded her ; but they were beaten
off, and their vessel sank. One of the others was blown up, so that
several of the English crew were scorched, and their ship set on fire in
sixteen places. The third grab was sunk. The rest of the enemy's
fleet then made off, leaving eleven of the President's men killed and
thirty-five wounded. It was afterwards discovered that the Arab fleet
had been hired by the Marathas. J

These pirates from Muscat were added to the long established ene-
mies of trade, and, cruizing as they did constantly on the Indian coasts,
caused great annoyance to the English. The Court therefore declared
that armed ships must be equipped " to root out that nest of pirates, the
Muscat Arabs." Instead of contenting themselves with arming only
one or two vessels at a time, and cruizing off the coast of Malabar, these
people were now forming a regular system of aggression, having obtain-
ed permission from the King of Pegu to build ships in his ports, and
spreading their fleets over the Indian Seas. Some of their ships car-
ried from thirty to fifty guns, and with these they had made several
descents on towns and villages.

Various tribes of plunderers also now found their opportunity in the
weakness* of the Mogul Empire, and became more formidable on ac-
count of their numbers. From this time we find the Gennims fre-
quently mentioned in the Records, as a continual source of uneasiness

* Diary of the English Company's Factory at Surat, 10th February 1702-3.

f Grant Duff calls this Prince Shao. The \vordis the Hindustani sdh, which is
from the Sanskrit sddhu, and becomes the Marathi sdv. It means the opposite of
thief, and was originally given by Aurangzib, who designed to signify by it in a
coarse joke his opinion of Sahuji's father and grandfather. So English officials im-
proved upon the joke and called him the " Sow."

t Orme's Fragments.

| Bruce's Auuals, 1704-8.

175

to the Factory at Surat. Under this name were included numerous
tribes of freebooters, such as Vadavals, Kolis, Rajputs, and Pathans.*

The Dutch Factors had, like the English, been required by the Gover-
nor of Surat to deposit security against piracy, and their brokers had
been seized. But as they themselves contrived to escape his clutches,
they acted a bolder part, and sought redress by more decided measures.
Retiring to Swally, they blockaded the river with six large vessels, and
demanded two millions of rupees as a compensation for the sums which
had been extorted from their agents, or eight lakhs, and permission to
form a settlement at " Roan" near Surat. They also insisted that they
should be liable in future to pay only two and a half per cent, for
customs, and should have a firman granting them free trade. As they
could not obtain what they demanded, they continued the blockade,
and in March 1705 made prizes of Mogul Ships to the value of two mil-
lions of rupees. Things were in this state when a new Director of their
trade and a new Council having arrived off Surat, opened on the sixth
of January 1707 a negotiation with the Governor for the adjustment of
disputes. In this they met with considerable success, for the Governor
agreed to pay them eight hundred and eleven thousand rupees, on con-
dition that they should deliver up the ships and other property which
they had seized. He engaged also that one per cent on the customs
should be abated, and that they should be free from payment of customs
at Baroch. If the Emperor refused to ratify this agreement, the
Dutch had the option of leaving the port, and taking such measures
as they thought proper to obtain redress. "j~

Great as were the efforts made to suppress piracy, it was still com-
mitted, and even by persons who professed to be lawful traders. When
Captain Alexander Hamilton was at Calicot in February 1703, he
found there the ship of a Captain Green, who was afterwards hanged
in Scotland. This worthy having a fellow feeling for the interloping
Hamilton, came on board his ship with several others all in a state of
intoxication. In the course of conversation he said that he had dispos-
ed of a large quantity of arms and ammunition to the pirates at Mada-
gascar, and when warned that his candour might bring him into
trouble, showed that he despised all such advice. At night his chief
mate Mather came to Hamilton in a melancholy mood, and wished to
exchange situations with one of the mates on board his ship. On
meeting with an indirect refusal, he burst into tears, saying . that he
was undone, for Green and his crew had perpetrated acts which if
brought to light would end in their shame and punishment, and, what
was worse, the crew were such a drunken set that they could keep no
secret, but would divulge every thing although their ruin would be the
consequence. Hamilton sympathized with him, and drew from him an
admission that they had plundered some Moor's ships, and sunk a
sloop with ten or twelve Europeans on board. Next day Hamilton
met Green and his supercargo. It was before dinner time, but both

* The word is from tlie Arabic gkanlm a plunderer. Hamilton refers to them ;
" New Account," chap xiii.
j Brace's Aunals, 1/04-1707.

176

were drunk, and the supercargo boasted that lie would make the best
voyage ever made from England on a small stock. Hamilton wished
him joy, and quietly remarks, "We Indians understood none of those
profitable voyages, but were well content with thirty or forty per cent."
After this he prudently resolved to shun their society, and his account
of them concludes thus : " Whether Captain Green and Mr. Mather
had justice impartially allowed them in their process and sentence I
know not. I have heard of as great innocents condemned to death as
they were.*"

A proclamation sent from England and published as far and wide as
possible by Commodore Littleton had more effect in suppressing piracy
than any other measure. By this a pardon was offered to all pirates
who surrendered themselves, and a reward to all such as would secure
and deliver up their commanders. Suspicions and divisions were by
these means sown amongst the buccaneers. Some were bought off;
others were destroyed, and at last security was given to navigation. f

All this time the union between the English and London Companies
had been only partial. Probably, each did not understand its own circum-
stances, and certainly not the circumstances of the other ; so that it was
impossible to arrive at a complete agreement as to terms, and in India
their servants had rival interests, which gave rise to incessant bickerings.
At last they consented to appeal to the Earl of Godolphin, Lord High
Treasurer of England, who, after a most patient investigation of the ques-
tions in dispute, published on the twenty-ninth of September 1708 his
famous award. From that date the two Companies were made one,
which assumed the title of THE UNITED COMPANY OF MERCHANTS OP
ENGLAND TRADING TO THE EAST INDIES.

It was arranged that there were to be three Presidencies in India at
Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. A new Governor, with the title of Ge-
neral, and a Council, were appointed for Bombay. The Members of
Council were all selected from the class of Civilians, who continued to dis-
charge other duties, and of course took care that they held the most lucra-
tive offices. The number was not fixed by law, and varied at different
times, the Members being appointed to the government of subordinate
Factories, and yet nominally holding their seats in Council. All important
business was transacted by the Governor and Council. Where a differ-
ence of opinion arose, the question was decided by a majority of votes.
Aislabie was the new General, Proby second in Council, Kendall third,
Goodshaw fourth, Wyche fifth, Mildrnay sixth, Boone seventh, and Oakley
eighth. These were to select four of their number to be a President and
Council at Surat, and to nominate such Factors and Writers as they might
think the service required. Poor Sir John Gayer still languished in con-
finemewt. The only comfort he received was, to be assured by the Court
that the General, by whom he had been superseded, had been instruct-
ed by them to use every effort for his liberation. J

# Hamilton's " New Account," chap. xxv.
t Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, vol. ii.
J Bruce's Annals, 1707-tf.

177

As the trade was now very different from what it had been when the
English first came to India, we may endeavour to explain the system on
which it was conducted. An important change was made at this time in
the shipping. The Company's goods were chiefly conveyed in hired or
chartered vessels, and not, as formerly, in vessels which they built and
owned. A ship-owner's was gradually becoming a separate branch of
business. The Company possessed only some swift sailing packets, and a
Very few trading vessels.

The Import Trade chiefly consisted of Bullion, Lead, Quicksilver, Wool-
len Cloths, and Hardware. It had long been the custom for European
adventurers to carry their goods up the country for sale, but soon after the
union, travelling had become more insecure than ever, and no European
was permitted to go into the interior without special leave obtained from
the Governor and Council. The disposal of goods, therefore, was for the
most part left to native dealers.

The Export Trade consisted chiefly of Calicoes and other woven manufac-
tures of India, Diamonds, Pepper, Drugs and Saltpetre. As there were no
manufacturers in the country to whom the English could give large orders
for goods, and who would deliver them, when required, at the ships,
agents were employed, who collected the different articles and brought
them to the warehouses, called Factories, which in time became Forts
mounting heavy guns and defended by garrisons. For the purchase of
Cloths a complicated system had been devised. As the weavers lived for
the most part in poverty, before they could be set to work at their looms,
it was necessary to advance them money for the raw material and their
own subsistence. For this purpose the Company's brokers were sent into
the districts, where they employed a second class of agents called gumash-
tas, on a monthly salary. These men established a kachari, or house
of business, in the various towns, where they were attended by peons and
other servants, who summoned to their presence dalals or small brokers.
These again employed inferior agents to transact business with the
weavers. Thus, it would appear, that four agents stood according to a
regular system of gradation between the English Factor and the native
operative. Each of these deducted, as a matter of course, a certain per-
centage for commission from the money advanced by the Company, and
consequently whilst the weaver was ill remunerated for his labour, the
price of his fabric was considerably raised even before it left the shores
of India.*

It is curious to observe the different effects which have been produced
by an increase of trale in the nineteenth century, and at the beginning
of the seventeenth century. No one can now read the encouraging re-
turns of imports and exports between India and England without being
satisfied that they shew the flourishing condition of both countries. The
conclusion drawn from similar returns a hundred and fifty years ago was
diametrically opposite. Through the competition of the two Companies,
and the efforts of private traders, sixty ships were employed in the Indian
trade. This was a large number as compared with former years ; but

* Mill's History, vol. iii chap. i.

178

was the advance hailed as a national benefit ? Far from it. Complaints
were made that the exportation both of bullion and merchandise was
excessive. European goods were transported to India in such large quan-
tities, that they sold much too cheaply. Then by a singular inconsis-
tency, it was urged on one side that the merchants had been led by
their rivalries to pay too highly for goods in India, and yet on the other
side it was declared that they had glutted the English market with them,
and sold them at rates which were unreasonably cheap. There was per-
plexity on all sides. The manufacturers of London, Norwich, and Co-
ventry were being ruined by the introduction of Silks and Calicoes. The
industrious Huguenots, who having been expelled from France by the
bigotry of Louis the Fourteenth, had effected vast improvements in the
Silk and Linen Manufactures of England, found now that their trade was
falling into neglect. The retail dealer went to market and was delighted
to lay in a stock of Indian goods at a low price, but no sooner had he re-
turned home than he found that a neighbour had been yet more fortu-
nate, and in the rival shop Oriental manufactures were still cheaper.
What could he do? He must sell at par with his neighbours, and either
sacrifice part of his capital, or be altogether ruined. Interested parties
were thrown into the greatest alarm. Competition, which is often a public
benefit, was looked upon as a national calamity. Government was ap-
pealed to, and Parliament supposed that it was alleviating the general
distress by enforcing sumptuary laws, and prohibiting the subject from
wearing the silks and calicoes of India.*

However, there is no doubt that on the whole improved liberality in
trade resulted from the disputes of the two Companies, and monopoly
was never again shut up so closely as it had been in preceding years.
The United Company made a remarkable concession in permitting super-
numeraries to remain in India as free merchants. Whilst the animosities
of the two Companies had been raging, there had been organized a
separate stock apparently unobserved by them with which independent
adventurers engaged in trade. Sometimes it suited the Company's ser-
vants to connive at this innovation, and such as were discontented with
their masters embarked their persons and effects in vessels belonging to
the separate stock. It is worthy of notice, that Sir William Norris, when
leaving India, took his passage in such a vessel, the Sclpio, preferring it
to the English Company's. Three of these ships, the Great London,
Little London and Windsor were at the close of this period trading on
the Western side of India.f

The Union of the two Companies is an epoch which properly closes
the Early History of the English in India. From this time the United

# By tho Act 11, 12 Gul. III. chap. 10, which states in the premises that "It is
most evident that the continuance of the trade to the East Indies, in the same manner
and proportions as it hath been for two years last past, must inevitably be to the
great detriment of this kingdom, by exhausting the treasure thereof, and melting
down the coin, and taking away the labour of the people, whereby very many of
the manufacturers of this nation are become excessively burdensom and chargeable
to their respective parishes, and others are thereby compelled to seek for employment
in foreign parts." Macpherson's History of Commerce, p 160. This writer does not
doubt the validity of all the arguments then urged against competition.

t iiruce's Annals, 1702-1J08.

179

Company commenced a new and more wonderful career. Past struggles
had left it in a state of exhaustion ; so its advance was at first feeble and
tardy. But it never receded a step ; never even halted. Movement im-
parted fresh health, and it acquired strength by progress. Whilst yet an
infant of days it walked timidly ; but with increasing size assumed a
bolder front, and at last in a gigantic form strode fearlessly across the
whole continent of India.*

And now I crave the reader's favour whilst I draw his attention to
three matters in conclusion.

First, with regard to the East India Company. It is a singular fact
that as yet no writer who has analyzed their records, and drawn from
them the materials of his history, has ventured to express an impartial
opinion respecting their affairs. Bruce is the only author who has
composed a connected narrative derived solely from these sources. His
diligence has been great, and his accuracy, as to the facts which he
records, unquestioned. But he wrote for the Company, and as their
humble servant, at a time when they would have considered it perilous
to admit the whole truth regarding themselves. Hence, throughout his
three quarto volumes, but one or at most two adverse criticisms on their
conduct of affairs are to be met with ; and many circumstances which
reflect discredit upon them are omitted. The result has been the opposite
of what was anticipated. People would not believe in the spotless virtues
of a dynastic oligarchy, and they felt sure that the Directorial succession
could not have preserved themselves quite free from vice for a whole
century. Facts oozed out. The prejudiced narratives of foreigners and
interlopers were seized greedily and swallowed entire. The enemies of
the Company then attacked them violently, misrepresented them unscru-
pulously, and suffered imagination to supply the place of truths which
the Company had themselves unwisely concealed.

The Court of Directors were neither much better nor much worse than
the age in which they lived. Be it remembered that the Company be-
gan to trade in a reign during which the Lord Chancellor of England was
accessible to bribes, and a false judgment could be purchased from " the
most exquisitely constructed intellect that has ever been bestowed on any
of the children of men."f They struggled for existence at a time when
Charles the Second supported himself in extravagance and debauchery by
receiving secret service money from France. And a little before the crisis
of their affairs which we have just related, they had purchased the good
will of William the Third with ten thousand pounds, and of the Duke
of Leeds with five thousand guineas. J So that the immorality of the age
may be urged as an excuse for many charges of corruption brought against
them ; but, on the other hand, to represent their career as altogether
honorable and highly creditable, is to palm upon the public a prodigious
imposture.

* " Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo ;

Parva metu priino ; mox sese attollit in auras." /En. iv. 175.
t Macaulay's Essay on Lord Bacon,
j Buruet's History of His Own Times, Book vi.

180

In their corporate capacity the Company never laid any claim to the
higher order of virtues. They professed to be honest and enterprising ; but
their aims were limited by their own interests. Sometimes, indeed,
they made use, but very awkwardly, of ethical phrases. When they had
reduced the size of a bale of cotton, and saved themselves a charge for
freight, they called it patriotism ;* and before each renewal of their
Charter they magnified the advantages which the country derived from
their commerce. But gain was their one object. To advance a people's
happiness, to encourage the growth of their knowledge and intelligence,
to sow the seeds of moral greatness, to provide for the security of future
generations-r-all these objects of good government came not within the
scope of the Company's efforts, and evoked no disinterested and sublime
virtues. Yet in the hands of Providence their mercenary project has
been made an instrument for the civilization, and we trust for the moral
elevation of two hundred millions of people. God has sent the Company
to import the energies and virtues of the North to the enervated and
barbaric East. Let them be satisfied with this. Let their advocates
boast of His goodness, which has selected them to be His servants in
such a cause, and not falsely ascribe to them transcendental purity.
There are, it is true, periods of their early history when their conduct
was almost magnanimous. The Court of Directors lived and laboured for
themselves ; but when they resisted so stoutly the open assaults of
doughty adversaries, countermined the concealed approaches of secret
foes, rallied their fainting troops, and from their own unfailing fires
rekindled the extinguished energies of their servants such an indomita-
ble spirit claims our admiration, for the vulgar instinct of self-preserva-
tion appears then in an imposing dress as heroic glory.

With regard to the Company's servants in India, during this first
century, is it not singular that so little has been known of them ? When
I attempted to form an idea of the first Englishmen who lived in India,
it seemed to me impracticable. The learning of Europe had blown away
much of the mist which obscured Hindu and Mussulman annals. We
have caught glimpses of As'oka, Sandracottus or Chandragupta, and the
Grseco-Bactrian Kings. Our authors have given laborious and faithful
narratives of Mogul and Maratha dynasties. But what sort of people
were they who first quarried out and prepared for others to chisel into
shape an Anglo-Indian Government ? I could not answer this question.
Our standard histories say little, in many cases literally nothing about
them. They in no way enable us to comprehend their characters or
appreciate their efforts. They only condescend to enter into details of
times when heroes and Governor Generals flourished, when Clive con-
quered or Warren Hastings ruled.

But what sort of persons were dive's and Hastings' forerunners ?
" All, all honourable men," says printed history. There was a Captain
named Best, who fought like a bull-dog ; an Ambassador, Sir Thomas
Roe, " a man of discernment and temper," Boughton, a generous Doctor ;
Oxenden, Child, and a few others of whom particulars not known, But

* See page 71 of this book.

181

what of the rejst ? What of their employments, manners, and characters ?
There was no regular account of them. The ordinary reader had no
means of making their acquaintance.

We have tried to lift the veil, to see them in their hours of business
and recreation, and have been sorry to find that they were not all
honourable. We gladly indeed seized and brought to light the virtues of
a few, but generally found it our duty to deprive vice of an immunity
which truth should not permit it to enjoy, and remove from it the cover-
ing under which it had lain concealed. Here again, writers who enjoyed
the Honorable Company's patronage, had collected from their records
certain wise and chivalrous deeds of Oxenden, exaggerated the abilities of
Child, disparaged Norris and Waite, because they were zealous rivals ;
but they never hinted at the piracies which their Captains were proved to
have committed, the follies of some, and the enormous vices of others.

In particular, the preceding work will probably remove one mistake
into which many writers have fallen. It will show that the English did
not leave their forms of Religion behind them. Like the ancient colonists
of Greece, who carried with them the unquenchable fire of their Pryta-
neum, and the Priests who ministered to their Gods ; so the English
imported their Bibles and Liturgies, their Gospellers and Chaplains.
Twice each day did they meet at the throne of grace, and on Sundays the
President and Senior Factors repaired thrice to their pews, where they
and their dames sat in burgher dignity whilst writers and apprentices
listened, prayed, or dozed at a respectful distance.*

Bat, then, candour requires the painful admission that religion was
without a soul. The larger portion of these Chapel-goers were dissolute
or dishonest Anglo-Indian Society was, as it has ever been, one degree
worse than English. Now that the world bears itself more morally,
there is still rather a lower standard of principle, together with more
shamelessness and disregard of propriety in Bombay than in England.
There seems to have been a similar ratio of morality, when after the re-
straint which the Puritans had placed upon them, the evil passions of
Englishmen broke forth with ungovernable fury ; when public opinion
was no longer a check, lor there could not be wit and fashion without a
violation of decorum, when ridicule did not raise a blush on the forehead
of guilt, but only aimed its shafts at innocence. When such was the
state of things in England, a fortiori was it so in Bombay .f

With regard to the people of India, it must be confessed that Europeans
had up to the period which this narrative has reached, only exercised
an evil influence upon them. A man who was highly esteemed in his
generation and had much experience of Indian life President Pitt of
Madras declared this, tracing the cunning, suspicion, and disobliging
behaviour for which the natives whom he had observed were distin-

# Sir John Gayer in a letter to President Annesley, dated 16th September 1698, set-
tles a question of precedence which had been referred to him, and which had evidently
given rise to heart-burnings. Mrs. Colt had been excluded from her seat in Chapel
by Mrs. Vaux, on the ground that the rank of the latter's husband wa3 inferior to
the former's. Gayer, without fearing the consequences of Mrs. Yaiu's displeasure,
decided that she must give way.

t See Macaulay's History of England, Chapter ii.

182

guished, to the example of Europeans.* But in other respects the people
of the country gained much by European connexion. Encouragement
was given to the labour and skill of their operatives. The Manufactures of
England could not compete with those of India. Woollens from the former
country were not in sufficient demand to pay for the calicoes of the latter,
and consequently so much bullion was exported, that Pollexfen on that
ground alone built his arguments against the East India Company, and
attempted to prove that they were inflicting an injury on the British
nation.

It would be well if discontented Natives could be brought to compare
their position under British rule with that of the English under Native rule.
There is now at least security for life and property. The tax which the
s ibject pays for the support of Government is small when we consider
that really it is the rent of his land and its rate is being fixed. He
has the most absolute control over his own movements. He may tra-
vel North, South, East, or West, and be safe from injury and insult. If
his journey be on land, the tribes, such as Bhils and Kulis, which formerly
would have plundered him, are now the Police which protect him ; if his
course be over the sea, he no longer fears lest behind each headland there
should lurk some ferocious rover, and that to double it will be his death or
ruin. His religion is tolerated, and his person respected. The oppres-
sions of petty tyrants are restrained by equitable laws, and he meets with
consideration and politeness from that dominant people, whom he still re-
gards as outcastes and unfit to share his social enjoyments.

How widely different was the life of an Englishman under a Native
Government ! There was no power sufficient to protect the merchant
either by land or sea. If he wished to convey his goods from Surat to
Agra, he could only hope to defend them against plunderers by mustering
a strong party, and setting regular guards at each camping place, as though
he were in an enemy's country. Even then he might be overpowered by
the free lances of Hindustan. Still more dangerous were the paths of the
ocean. There he must entirely depend upon his own resources, for it would
be vain to seek protection from the law. Nay, the proud Emperor appeal-
ed to the despised strangers that his shipping might be protected, and they
were expected not only to defend themselves, but also the mariners and
traders of a vast Empire. Yet he and his subjects, helpless haughty barba-
rians, affected to despise the English, wronged them incessantly, impri-
soned their Chiefs, insulted their envoys, fleeced their merchants, and
drove them to turn upon their oppressors in despair. Thus the evils of
native rule compelled English merchants to protect their warehouses with
battlements, and all the muniments of war. Then, as they still suffered
injuries, the facility with which they managed to defend them-
selves suggested offensive operations, and these led to territorial aggran-

* This President Pitt was grandfather of the great Earl of Chatham, and owner of
the celebrated Pitt diamond. He wrote thus : " When the Europeans first settled
in India, they were mightily admired by the natives, believing they were as innocent
as themselves ; but since by their example they are grown very crafty and cautious,
and no people better understand their own interest, so that it was easier to effect that
in one year which you shant do now in a century, and the more obliging your manage-
ment, the more jealous they are of you." Bruee's Anuals, 1707-8,

183

dizement. Some politicians now think, or rather say, that because it is
an age of commerce it cannot be an age of conquest. But the fact is, the
necessities of commerce throw open the door to conquest, and the defence
of their trade first suggested to the English {^policy which ended in the
subjugation of India.

Short as this history is, it yet seems a labyrinth of human follies and
errors. Religion, however, which is the only solid basis of all knowledge,
enables us to trace through it all a mysterious clue of Divine Providence
and Divine direction. European vices and native vices bear an overwhelm-
ing proportion on the record, and the catalogue is relieved by few items of
virtue. But as two negations make an affirmative, so the vices of Euro-
peans and Natives have produced a positive good. The thirst for riches,
the unscrupulous efforts of ambition, the reckless violence which often
struck Hindus with terror all these were the disgrace of the English,
but yet they hurried them on to Empire. The perfidy, the cunning which
overreached itself, the cowardice, the exclusive bigotry, which disgraced
the natives, smoothed the way to their subjection ; and surely these two
results are being directed by the Universal Benefactor to good. We know
of no other way in which India could have been regenerated. Had the
English in India been a set of peaceful saintly emigrants, what impres-
sion would they have made upon the country ? Had the natives placed
confidence in each other, and been united under a common faith, how could
they have given way to the encroachments of a few foreigners ?

But, although Providence has thus brought good out of evil, we have
certain indications that for the future they who sow vices will not reap a
harvest of blessings. Moreover, all history teaches one certain truth, which
is this, that between conquering and conquered peoples there must be
mutual forbearance, frankness, and liberality, or there is no hope of per-
manence, much less of progress and improvement. Where these are
wanting, good policy, energy, and courage cannot long be of any avail.
We may take a lesson from Sparta in ancient, and Spain in modern times.
The Spartans would admit no conquered people to the rights of naturali-
zation, and the consequence was, that as their power spread, the boughs
soon became too heavy for the trunk, and it was uprooted by a tempest.
The Spaniards treated most illiberally the natives of South America, and
consequently their conquered territories were wrested from them. Widely
different was the manner in which the Romans discharged their duties
towards the people which they subdued. Whole families, cities, even na-
tions, were admitted to all the rights of Roman citizenship ;* so that,
as has been said, " it was not the Romans that spread upon the world,
but it was the world that spread upon the Romans." Her.ce conquerors
and conquered rose in company to greatness. Amalgamation like theirs
cannot indeed take place between European and Oriental races. The ex-
ample of the Portuguese has satisfied us that it is not desirable. But
there can be no reason why there should not be mutual esteem and regard.
These, however, can never be built up securely unless they have for a

* i. e. Not only to the jus comraercii, jus connubii and jus hereditatis, but also to
the jussufiragii, aud jus houovuin.

184

foundation growing intelligence, a more fervent and disinterested love of
truth, a nobler morality, a juster appreciation of immutable principles than
formerly distinguished Natives or Europeans. When truth is represented
on both sides with intellectual vigour as a living principle, Natives will
have a claim to receive, and Europeans will have a disposition to give,
both political and social privileges. Then indeed, we shall plant, and
posterity shall gather greatness and happiness for both the English and the
Native multitudes of Hindustan.

THE END.

INDEX.

Abyssinia, an ambassador from, 165 and

note

Adams, a commissioner, 56
Africa, communications with, 35
Agra visited by Mildenhall, 5 Hawkins,

6 Finch, 7 Canning, ib ; YVithing-

ton, 8 Shirley, 9 Edwards, ib Ker-

ridge, 19 the palace at, 38 road to,

39 Chief of the Factory there, 90 at

the Union, 155
Ahmedabad visited, 8 Kerridge at, 19

the Governor's ndch, 40 wine at, 48

the Factory closed, 75 the Chief,

90 Factory at, 155
Aislabie, appointed to succeed Burniston,

107 General, 176
Ajmfr, the Emperor's Court at, 10
Akbar, his account of Europeans, 29
Alderton, 104 reward offered for, 105
Aldworth, a Factor, 7 his travels and

death, 8, 40
Ambassador, Persian, 9 title assumed by

many, 10

Ambrose, a Capuchin father, 87
Amoy, Factory at, 71, 135
Andrews, President, 41, 89
Andrews, a Captain, 113
Angria,fleetof, 164, 174
Anjengo haunted by sentiment, 108

Factory there, 135, 155
Anjfdeva, English troops at, 53
Anne, Queen, proclaimed, 165
Annesley, President, 119, 124 deprived,

144 in the new Company's service,

145

Apostacy, instances of, 134, 135
Apprentices in the Factory, 90
Arab pirates, 164, 174
Arabia, communications with, 35
Arak, 48, 126, 131
Armenians at Goa, 4 a bride, 22 wine,

29 at Surat, 137, 156 an Envoy,

148, 149
Asof Khan, Prime Minister, 9 dines with

Roe, 11 favours Uoe, 12
Assada merchants, 42
Attinga, the Rani of, in love with an

Englishman, 108
Aungier President, 56, 68, 70, 80, 93, 163

his gallantry, 59, 85 character, 95

to 97 Protestant zeal, 101, 102
Aurangzib, his army overruns Carwar,

45 compliments Oxenden, 75 his
anger, 112, 114 negotiations with,
115, 116, 119, 150, 154-jealousofhis

sons, 135 shrewdness, 136 treat-
ment of Norris, 150 to 152 death ex-
pected, 163 announced in an allegory,
173
Avory, a famous pirate, 122, 123

Back Bay, situation of, 51, 52

Badham, a Chaplain, 104 note, 107

Bahadur Shah Emperor, 173

Bake, Surveyor General, 58 his death,
62,96

Bandora, 86, 165 Jesuit College of, 55
description of, 68 attacked, 164

Bantam, Factory at, 7 Downton dies
there, 9 allusions to, 87, 90

Banya"s, account of, 24,33, 125, 126 at
Swally, 37 treaty with, 60 banished
from Surat, 73

Baroch visited, 8, 40 Factory at, 12,
122,135, 155 not Barigaza, 31

Baroda visited, 8, 40

Baron, history of the son of a, 29

Baroon, his misrepresentations, 136

Barthema, his account of Gujarat, 38, 39

Bassein, 3 a Portuguese settlement, 15,
81, 86 description of, 69

Bathurst, Sir Benjamin, 105

Batticolo, Factory at, 42

Bazett, a Serjeant, runs away, 162, 170

Bendell Ephraim, the worshipful, 170

Bengal, trade opened in, 47

Bernier, his obligations to Lord, 24 his
account of the country, 41 of arak
and wine, 48

Best, Captain, defeats the Portuguese,
leaves Factors at Surat, 7 result of
his efforts, 19 opinion of him, 32, 34,
180

Best, John, rmirdered, 108

Bhandaris, what, 53 employed as sol-
diers, 59 and note

Bhils rob an English caravan, 107

Bijapur, the king of, 44, 45 conquered
by Aurangzib, 114

Blackman President, 41

Boharas at Surat, 35

Bombay a Portuguese settlement, 15 its
importance and origin of name, 50 de-
scription of, 51 attempts to obtain it,
52 ceded to the English, 53 state at
the time, 54 transferred to the Com-
pany, 55 who resolve to improve it,
56 their measures, 57 to 67, 127 un ~
healthiness of the climate, 61, 62, 116,

180

INDEX.

] 28, 1 29,1 63, 1 72 view of, 67 to 09 po -
pulation of 67 expenses of, 69 not ap-
preciated^ Chiefs of, 90 Rebellion,
103 made a Regency, 110 ordered to
be fortified 111, 115 invaded, Ha-
state of, 127, 134, 143, 163, 171, 172
Bonnell, a Factor, 113 in the new Com-
pany's service, 146, 168, 170, 173 sus-
pended, 157

Boone seventh in Council, 176
Boughton, a Surgeon, his services, 46,180
Bourchier acting as Deputy Governor,
84 dismissed, and engaged in private
trade, 118 in the new Company's ser-
vice, 145
Brabourne, his contract, 135 Chief of

Anjengo, 167 opinion of Waite, 168
Brahmans contribute for the defence of
Bombay, 57 kidnapped, 80, 81 es-
cape to Bombay, 86 instigate to mur-
der English, 107
Breton, President, 41- i -his speculation,

Brinjan, Factory at, 108, 135
Broeck, Van den, account of, 16 his in-
genuity, 23

Bruce the Company's annalist, 110, 112
Bullock carts, 89, 91 and note
Burgess, a Commissioner, 56
Burhampur, Sir Thomas Hoe at, 10
Burniston, Deputy Governor, 167, 168
Batcher's island in the harbour, 68
Byng, Sir George, is wounded, 1^3

Caddalor, Factory at, 105

Calicot, a Portuguese settlement at, 3, 15
Keeling at, 13 Factory at, 14, 90,
155 piracy at, 142 Hamilton at, 175

Cambai, 3 the Prince of, 39

Canning, a Factor, proceeds to Agra, 7
40 his death, 8 title, 10

Capuchins at Surat, 87

Carey, a Factor of the new Company, 157,
173

Caron, a Frenchman at Surat, 87

Carr insults the Deputy Governor, 132

Carwar, Factory at, 42, 90, 155 history
of, 45 attacked by Sivaji, 76 danger
of, 108 sporting at, 135, 136

Chaplain, Sir Thomas Uoe's, 1 1 , 22, 24
on merchant vessels, 24, 140 in the
Factory, 24, 32 his position, 47 and
note, 125, 127 at Surat and Bombay,
05, 91, 95, 104 note, 107, 133, 156, 187,
181 ordered to learn the Native lan-
guages, 140

Charles the Second's marriage treaty and
character, 52, 72, 94, 97, 179

Charter of the Company, 44, 140

Child, Sir John, refuses to go to Bombay,
C2 said to have applied to his use the
funds of the Church, 66 created a
baronet, 70 President at Surat ; fails
to suppress the rebellion at liombay,
105 Admiral and Captain General,
105 treatment of Thorburn, 106, 107

early history and character, 110, 117
disinterested conduct, 112 hostile
measures 112 to 118, 123 presented
with 1000 guineas, 1 14 humiliation,
1 14 to 1 16 persecutes Petit and Bour-
chier, 118, 119 death, 119 his niece,
130 establishes Factories, 135 allu-
sions to, 167, 180, 181

Child, Sir Josiah, his character, 109 and
note, 120 his influence, 110

China, trade with, 20

Cholera, four kinds of, their cure, 62
and note

Christianity, native opinion of, 26 his-
tory of, 63 to 65

Church, proposal for building, 65, 95

Clifton commands troops, 1 1 1

Cochin, Portuguese settlement at, 3
promised to the English, 13 Factory
closed, 45

Coins, value of, 48 note, 67 note ex-
change, 77

Colaba, account of, 51, 52, 68

Coleman seduces Gayer's ward, 131

Colt President, 124, 144, 146, 165, 170
his fight, 159, 160

Commodores, 165, 168, 172, 1/6

Companies, bitter hostilities of, 156, 169
Union of, 155, 166, 167, '76, 178

Company (see Court of Directors) fail -
ure in their first war, 117 complaints
against, 138, 139 styled the London
Company. 140 their struggles, 140 to
144 condition, 167 general review
of their proceedings, 179,180

Company, new, 42, 88 established by
Act of Parliament, 139 styled the
English Company, 140, 144 their for-
bearance, 154, 155 their servants,
155 to 158 prudence, 166, 167

Conversion, interest taken in, 25, 65, 66,
96

Cook, anecdote of an English, 29 Ge-
noese, 47

Cook, Humphrey, commands the troops ;
his treaty with the Portuguese, 53
charged with crimes, 54, 97 threatens
invasion, 55

Cook, Deputy Governor of Bombay, 124,
129,164

Cooke, Sir Thomas, a Director, 139

Copeland, a Clergyman, 25

Corlahs, certain districts, 68

Corporal, a freak of a, 99

Coryat, Tom, meets Roe, 10 his travels
and death, 27, 28 -his grave, 28

Cotes sent to Bombay, 55 a Commis-
sioner, 56

Cotton, Trade in ; first screw, 71, 180

Council Board, squabbles of, 157, 162,
163

Court of Directors, their crooked policy,
83, 86, 88, 92, 99, 100 subjection to
Child, 109, 111 present Sir John
Child with 1000 guineas, 1 14 their
order against immorality, 131 mode
of increasing their revenues, 134

INDEX.

187

high spirit, 137, 141, bribery, 139
their character, 179, 180

Corn-ten, Sir William, his association,
42, 43

Cranganor, attempt to establish a Fac-
tory at, 13

Cromwell, his protectorate, 41 sanc-
tions the Company, 44 suggestion
made to, 52 his example, 104

Customs, account of, 60, 73, 74, 86

Cutteen at Carwar, 45

Dabbol taken by the Portuguese, 15

outrage there, 32

Daman a Portuguese settlement, 3, 15
Dara Milt&u protects Davidge, 47
Davidge, his Mission to the Emperor, 47
Day, a Commissioner, li'5
De Faria, the Portuguese histor an, 15
Delhi visited by Bough ton, 46 by

Davidge, 47
Delia Valle describes Broeck, 16 his

romantic history, 30
De Alenezes, his gallant conduct, 14
De Saldauha, the Portuguese General,

Dharaingam, Factory at, 107
Diamonds, trade in, 42, Jl. U7> 177
Diu a Portuguese settlement, 3 medi-
tated attack upon, 49
Diul on the Indus, 9

Divine- Service iu the Factory, 47, 170,
181 and note in Bombay 65, 97, 98
DongariHill and Fort, 54, 115, 161
Downton, General of four ^hips ; his
acts, 8 death, 9 fame, 13, 19, 32, 34
Duke, remarks on the death of, 48
Dutch Factors at Surat, 16, 127 supe-
riority in trade, 17, 86 manners,
17 example, 21, llo Factory, 22,
130 encourage matrimony, 22, 23
rival the English, 48, 75, 92 war with,
49, 86, 87 make reprisals on the
Mogul, 49, 175 threaten Bombay,
59 soldiers at Bombay, 128 intri-
gues, 136, 137

Ecclesiastical Establishment not in the
first Charters, 24 regulations for,
140

Edgecomb shot by his crew, 123

Edwards, a Factor, his mission and pre-
sents, 9, 46 suggestions, &c, 10

Edwards, the English Company's Chap-
lain, death and burial, 156

Elephanta, description of, 68

Emperor attempts to drive the Portu-
guese from India, 8 negotiation with,
25 his wealth 37, 38 his conces-
sions to the Dutch, 49 war with,
111 a liberal landlord, 125 treat-
ment of the English, 182 See Acbar,
Jehangir, Shah Jehan, Aurangzib,
Bahadur Shah

Empire, rise and progress of, 1,2 rise
of Anglo-Indian, 33 state of the Mo-
gul, 39

Engineers, Company object I o, 58

English, a Commissioner, 106

English in Western India, live periods
of history of, 1 their first establish-
ment, 3 at Goa, 4 at Surat, 5
Native opinion of, 26, 32,33, 82 their
influence on the Natives, 181- 184

Esplanade at Bombay, 51, 54, 68 and
note

Europeans, a regiment of, Preface, and 57
desert, 114, 116 oarly travels OT,
3 dress of, 22 prohibiiious against,
124 (See English)

Factors at Surat (see Sura*), 6, 7, 126
study the Mogul's caprices, 10 op-
posed to Roe, 12 at. Cranganor, 3
business of, 2.O. rank and station of,
21,45, 9(J persecute interlopers, 44
mal practices of, 45, 46, 91, 100, 156
to 162 troubles of,43, 44, 73, 75, 76, 8-S,
167, 169, 171 diet of, 23, 48,78, 136,
163-rta,unted, 82 style of and sa-
laries, 89, 90, 125 are watched, 113
imprisoned, 114, 124 released, 116,
12 1 confined, 122 carousal of, 129
threatened and despised, 143, 144

Factory (tee Surat)

Ferdinand a Jew, his speculations, 42

Finch returns to England. 6

Finch, a Lieut, converted to Romanism,
133

Fitch, his adventures ; returns to Eng-
land, 4

Fletcher commands a Company, 58,
104 reward offered for, 105 restor-
ed, 106

Frederick, his travels* 3,

Fremlen President, 41 his speculation,
42

French, at Goa, 4 canoniers, 15 -at
Bombay, 57 Factory of, 87 soldiers,
128. take the Company's ships, 137

Fryer, his costume, 22 quoted, 37, 89
91 and note, 103 his account of
Bonibay, 54 contest with pirates, 84
opinion of French, 87 history, 93,
94

Gary, Governor, 54, 97 delivers over
Bombay, 56 member of Council and
Judge, ib his shrewdness, 104 mis.-
sion, 105

Gayer, his. severity, 123 General, 124,
127, 128, 167 his ward, 130 his let-
ters, 143, 145, 147 goes to Swally,
147 the result, 149 confinement
caused and prolonged by Waite, 155,
167, 168, 169 allusions to, 163, 166,
170, 173, 170

Gazecli Khan, 1 19 his treatment of
Norris, 150, 151

188

INDEX.

Gentlemen, the name of, disowned by the

Company, 20, 21 compare, 45
Gennims, account of, 17 i
Germans at Goa, 4 at Bombay, 57
Gibson, agent in Persia, 46
Gladman, a Factor, 114
Goa, a Portuguese settlement, 3, 15
English at, 3, 4, 5 reception of
Menezes at, 14 supposed to be I'ari-
gaza, 31 clergy from, come to Bom-
bay, 85

Goen threatens Bombay, 59
Golconda, King of, 35 wine at, 48

conquered by Aurangzib, 1 14
Goldesborough, Commissary General, 124
Goodshaw is dismissed, 1 10
Goodshaw fourth in Council, 176
Goodyer receives charge of Bombay, 55
Goring, Lord, his son visits Carwar, 136
Gosfright, a Commissioner, 105
Governor of Surat presents Best with a
firman, 7 invites Downton's co-oper-
ation, 8 interference of, 73, 74 does
not resist Sivajf, 75 demands upon,
112 disposed to make terms, 113
seizes the Factors, 114 threats of,
143, 145, 171 golden harvest of, 149
treaty with the Dutch, 175
Grantham, Vice Admiral, 105 arrives at

Bombay, 106 at Surat. 120
Gray, Deputy Governor, 56
Green hung for piracy, 175, 176
Gyfford, Deputy Governor, 56 his
death, 62

Hackett, a Chaplain, 147 his history, 156
Hall, John, a Chaplain, 24
Hall, John, Provost Marshal, 161
Hamilton, Alexander, 95, 96, 110, 115,

117, 120, 175, 176
Haneri and Khaneri, 81, 82
Harland, Commodore, 165, 172
Harhvyn, treasurer of the Embassy, 151,

153

Harris, Agent at Surat, 113, 116 Pre-
sident of Surat, 119, 137
Hartley, duel and character of, 160
Hawkins, his expedition, 4 visits the
Court, 6 marries and returns to
England, ib his title, 10 account of
the Mogul's wealth, 37, 38
Herbert indebted to Lord, 24 travels
of, 31 narrative of, 32, 35 his ac-
count of Christians, 64 of pirates, 83
Hide defends his ship against pirates, 123

a second time, 174
Honawar, fatal catastrophe at, 107
Hornigold, his duel, 100
Houghton, a Commissioner, 56
Ilowson, embezzles, 161
Hublf, Factory at, 90 attacked, 76

Immorality, 23, 97 to 102, 130, 131, 143,

157, 163
India, British, its history peculiar, 1

under Native rule, 37 to 41, 93, 91, 163,

173, 174,compared with English rule*
182, 183.

Indigo, the trade in, 36 and note, 163

Indus visited by English vessels, 8,9
proposals to navigate, 31, 135

Intemperance at Surat, 23, 29 at Bom-
bay, 63, 98 to ICO

Interest on loans, 46

Interlopers persecuted, 43, 44, 88, 105.
120, 121

Jackman a speculator, 31

James the First sends an embassy to

Persia, 9 his portrait, ib
James the Second proclaimed, 88
Jehangir receives Shirley, 9 and Roe ;

his revels, 10 to 12
Jesuits in India, 25 claims in Bombay,

55, 68, 85 supply the Siddi, 115, 134

property confiscated, 134
Jinjira compared with bombay, 79
Jones, a Serjeant, 99
Joseph, General, death of, 14

Kalyan, 86, 93, 128-a Bishop at, 63 and
note

Keeling, General, at Cranganor, 13 his
treatment of Salbank, 20

Keigwin , commandant of European troops,
58 Commodore, 82 his rebellion, 103
to 107 history, 104 relations with
Sambhaji and the Siddi, Iu5 submis-
sion and retirement, IdQ

Kerridge a Factor, 7 President, 9
letter of, 9 title of, 10 history and
character, 19, 24, 32

Khaneri, 81, 82, 105

Kidd, adventures of, 141 to 143

Knight of the Golden Rapier, history of,

Kossim Siddi, 80, 81, 82, 98

Lacknow, Factory at, 155

Ladies, none in the factory, 22, 30

riotous in Bombay, 101, 102 market

for, 130

Langford, Captain, in Bombay, 58
Laval, Pyrard de, at Goa, 4 meets with

English, 5
Law, state of the, 23 Courts of, 61

closed, 128

Leedes, adventures of ; enters the Mo-
gul's service, 4

Lellington tried and executed, 23
Lembourg visits Carwar, 136
Lescke, a Chaplain, 24
Littleton, Commodore, 165, 176
Lloyd, clandestine marriage of, 130
Lock, Factor of the new Company, 146,

173 suspended, 157
Lord, a preacher, 19 his book, 24
Louth seizes pirates, 143
Lucas, birGervase, Governor of Bombay,

INDEX.

189

Lucas, agent for the English Company,

114, 145
Lucia Donna, her history, 22

Maani, wife of Delia Valle, 30
Madagascar, sea fight at, 14 colony at,

42 rendezvous of pirates, 22 142
Blahim, part of Bombay, 50, 58, 68, 164

Jesuits at, 85 Fort of, taken, 1 15
Mahmud Begarra, account of, 39
Malabar Hill, situation of, 51, 52, 68
Malabar, Pirates of, 32, 83, 81, 151

ports of, 35 clergy of, 64, 65
Rlamoudis, coins at Surat, 48 and note
AJandelslo at Surat 47, 48 at Ahme-

dabad, 40
Mandeville, his history, 3 account of

Christians, 64

Rlangalor, a Portuguese settlement, 15
Marathas, 44, 75 to 79, 104, 163, 164

threaten Bombay, 8i contest with,

81, 82 threaten Surat, 135, 173, 174
JJarlboroiigh, the Earl of, comes to

Bombay, 52, 53 and note
Master Streynsham sent to Bombay,

55 defends the Factory, 76 account

of, 96 and note, 145
Mather hung for piracy, 175, 176
Maxwell, a Surgeon, 147, 57
Mazagam, 58, 79, 80, 81, 83, 115, 116
Mendaim's Point, 65, 67 and note
Mo re hunt, a term of contempt, 21 note

a title, 90

Methwold, President, 41
AJewse a supercargo, 121 in the new

Company's service, 145, 146, 157 1M

169

Michelborne, Sir Edward, 21
Middleton comes to Surat, 7
Mildenhall, history of, 6, 82 death of, 8
Mildmay, 169 sixth in Council, 176
Military, arrangement of the, 57, 58

character of, 100 treatment of, 102,

103, 132 arrive from England, 111

pay of, 147 law, 28, 58
Militia at bombay, 57 desert, 114
Mill, Secretary of the Ambassador, 151,

153

Minchin, 82 his duel, 100
Mint in Bombay, 6l, 172
Misri Siddi, death of, 83
Mogul (See Emperor)
Monopoly, arguments for and against, 43,

IMountney, at Surat, 42
AJiimba Devi, temple of, 51

Nandrabad, or Nandarbdr, Factory at,
75, 135

Native character, 2, 112, 181 to 184 sol-
diers, 57

Navarre, a Jew, employed, 116

Navy, the Company's, 78 gallantry of, 82
mutinies, 123

Needhain, u Factor, dismissed, 1 70

Ncwberry, adventure of, 4

Newton becomes a Mussulman, 135

Nichols, mission of, 77

Norris, Sir William, compared with Hoe,
13,21, 150 -expectation of, 147 recep-
tion at Surat and other places, 148 at
Court, 15<) disappointment and death,
150, 153 allusion to, 181

Niir Jehan, or Nourmahal, 11

Oakley, eighth in Council, 176
Odoricus, narrative of, 3 at Thana, 6 1
Orme, Dr. Alexander, the historian's fa-
ther, 172

Ormus, 3 straits of, 9
Ovington, his account of Surat and Bom-
bay, 125129

Oxenden, Christoplier, 92, 94, 95
Oxenden, Sir George ; his dispute with
Lucas, 54 assumes the Government
of Bombay, 55 when appointed, 70
bravery of, J5 family and character
of, 94, 95,97 allusions to, 163, 180,
181

Oxenden, Henry, Deputy Governor, 56
at Sivajf s installation, 77

Painter, an English, becomes a Jesuit,

&c., 4

Parak Ni'ma, treaty with, 60
Parell, Jesuits at, 68, 85, 134
Parviz, interview of, with Roe, 10
Paydhuni, account of, 54
Peachey thrashed by the President, 159,

Pean, Captain, defeated, 115

Peons, wages of, 37, 126

Pep well is wounded, 14

Persia, embassy to, 19 dogs from, 9
government of, ottended, 46 Factory
in, 190, 155 communications with, 35,
119

Petit is dismissed, 118 his death, 119

Pett, a Naval architect, 58

Physon, an acting Chaplain, 157

Piracies, English, 32, 43, 113,121, 123,
141, 143, 151, 171,175 Native, 32, 83,
84, 119, 121, 123, 151, 175 suppress-
ed, 176 Arab, 164, 174

Pitt, President, grandfather of the Earl
of Chatham, 181, 182 and note

Pitts, a troublesome subject, 99

Pollexfen, works of, 138, 182

Ponani, ll>8 Factory at, 45

Portuguese, their settlements &c , 3, 22
treatment of English, 5 intrigue
against Midftleton ; defeated by Best ;
baffle Hawkins, 7 defeated by Down-
ton, 8 bribe the Governor of Diul, 9
gallantry of, 14 early history and
character of, 15, 16 example of, 21
treaty with, 49, 164 refuse to cede
Bombay, 52 their terms, 53 society,
54 threats, 55, 85, Ki5 in the Com-
pany's service, 57 religious zeal, 65

190

INDEX.

stop the supplies, 83, 86 murder a
Serjeant, 85 seizure of their ternto-
tories contemplated, 111, 114 demand
duties, 128 humiliation, 1G4

Powell, ambassador to Persia, 9

Presidents, names of, 91, 41 style, sala-
ries &c., 21, 22, yl, 92, lib, 125
tombs, 92

Presidents, Dutch, hospitality of, 30
style, 91, 92

Proby, a New Company's Factor, 157,
158, 108, 170, 173, 1/6

Punch, l()0 how made, 48 in Bom-
bay, 131

Rajapiir Factory attacked. 45 indemni-
ty, 77 rc-jstablishe I, 77, /8, 90

Rajputs, robbers, 4U, 175 soldiers, 57

Hum Raja threatens Surat, 135

llastell President, 20 his accomplish-
ments, 3d, 32 despatch, 34

Rattcra, Factory at, 108

Raynal, his character of the Portuguese,
16 of Child, 110

Religion, how observed, 24, 47, 40, 97,

127, 132, 133, 157, 160, 181 phrases
of, 47, 48, 95, 96

Revenues of Bombay, 66, 67 and note,

128, 171, 172 their importance, 110
Revington, President, 4 1

Roe, Sir Thomas, visits the great Mogul's
Court, 10 his communications with
him, 10 success, 12 subsequent his-
tory, 13 his opinion of the Portu-
fuese, 15 tries to injure the Dutch,
7 result of his efforts, 19 his ad-
vice, 20, 21, 109 dress, 22 opinion
of the English at Surat, 23 suite,
28, 29 character of him, 32, 34, 180

Romans in Western India, 35, 83, the
Government of their Empire, 183

Roman Catholic religion, conversions to,
133, 134

Sahuji, or the Sow Rajah, 174, and note

Salyid Sedula, a commissioner for Au-
rangzib, 154

Salaries of the Company's servants, 20,
41, 58, 60, 61,9', 91, 100, 1 16

Salbank, a Factor, account of, 20, 32, 33
letter of, 25, 39 his account of the
Mogul's wealth, 38

Salsette near Goa, 4 near Bombay, 52,
68,69,86, 164

Sambhaji succeeds Sivaji, 81 contends
with the Siddi, 82, 83 stops the sup-
plies, 83 treaty with, 104, 105, 113
conquered by Aurangzib, 114, 116

Sambhol Siddi comes to Bombay, 80

Sambrooke, Sir Jeremy, 105

Sangariiaa pirates, 84 and note

Sawbridge tortured by pirates, 122

Schouten (iautier at Surat, 40

bhah Jehan, Ikmghtou visits the Couit
of, 46

Shaxton, Captain, a Factor, 58 charge
brought against him, 103

Shipman, Sir Andrew, comes to India,
52 his death. 53

Shipping, account of, 17 names of Na-
tive vessels, 78 and note of the Ma-
rathas, 79

Shirley, Sir Robert, adventures of, 9

Siam, trade with, 135

Siddis, account of, 79 and note their
visits to Bombay, 79 to 83 insulted,
98 forbidden to remain, 105 threat-
ened by Child, 113. 114 their inva-
sion of Bombay, 115,, 1 16 apply for a
Surgeon, 158 send back deserters, 162

Sindanian pirates, 84

Sindo, ports of, 35 trade with, 135

Sion Fort, 58, 80 a property of Jesuits,
68, 134

Sivaji first comes in contact with the
English, 44 comes to Surat, 75 76, 87
attacks several Factories, 76 com-
munications with, 76, 77, 104 installa-
tion of, 77 fleet o , 7J threatens tlic
Englis' , 80 takes Khaneri, 81 terror
of his name, 173 and note

Sivers, a pirate, is taken, 143

Skinner, a Surgeon, 158

Slaves in the Factory, 22 exported, 72,
80 order for, 7^ offered for sale, 81

Smith seized by Sivaji, 75 an officer,
58 the first Assay-master, 60

Southerland murdered by the Portu-
guese, 85

Spencer, a Chaplain, refuses to marry, 133

Starkey, a Factor, poisoned, 7

Steele a Factor, 8, 28 leaves the Factory,
31

Stephens, a Jesuit at Goa, 3 his letter
to his father, 4

Stirling, a Scotch Minister, 56

St. John, first Judge in Bombay, 61, 106,
120

Surat Factory, permission to establish,
promised, 6 established, 9 descrip-
tion of, 19, 20, 21, 35, 125, 127 mis-
fortunes of, 43 and note, 44, 73, 75, 122
arrangements of, 47, 48, Do, 163, 170
new Factory, 146, 117, 170 at the
Union, 155

Surat city, Finch and others at, 6, 7
Downton at, 8 Roe, 10 pillaged by
tho Portuguese, 15 Dutch there, 16
description of, 35, 73, 7i commotion
there, 122

Surat river, English surprised there, 4
theTapti, 35 Vaux'stombat the mouth
of, 120

Surgeons, 46, 91, 93, 94, 126, 157, 158, 172

Swally, English laurels gained at, 7 mar-
ket, 8 sea fight, 15 description of,
o7, 89 English troops at, 52 I he
roads, 56, 105 Factory confined at,
122 pirates at, 123

Talichari, Factory at, 155

Tauka at burat first suggested, 137

INDEX.

191

Tavernier, his account, 42

Tea, history of the trade in, 30, 37

much drank, 48, 130
Terry, Roe's Chaplain, 14, 35 his work

quoted, 26. 27, 29, 30
Thana. 3, 86, 93, 128 martyrs there,

3 their history, 64
Thompson, a Surgeon, 158
Thorhurn commands a company, 58, 104

miserable death, 106
Thorpe insults the Siddf, 80,98 his son

baptized by a Romanist, 134
Tolderoy, an officer, 58
Tonquin, ships to be sent to, 71
Topasses, explanation of the term, 57 and

note, 59
. Trade of Surat, 36, 71, 73 of Bombay,

59, GO, 71, 75 private, 20 oath

against, 46 and note permitted, 147,

155, 178 system of trade, 177, 178
Turkish admiral at Surat, 15
Tyrrel commands the Phoenix, 105

seizes interlopers, 121 sinks a pirate,

123

Union of the two Companies, 343 and

note, 155, 166, 176 an epoch, 178
Ustick, his mission, 76

Vaux, Judge and Deputy Governor, 119
his history, 120, 121 accused of trea-
son, 137

Vengurla, Dutch Factory at, 84

Vertomannus, Lewes, his account of Gu-
jarat, 38, 39

Viceroy of Goa attacks Downton, 8
treaty with, 41 treatise dedicated
to, 54

Waite, Sir Nicholas, President and Con-
sul for the English Company, 145 to

147, 170 his behaviour, 148, 149 154,
157, 165, 166, 168, 169, 171, 172, 181
condemmed by the Court, lf>5 Presi-
dent for the United Company, 167, 168
discontinued, 168

Walsh fights a duel, 160, 162

War dreaded by the Company, 21, 82
preparations for, 58, 111 first war,
115 cost of, 117, 167

Ward, Deputy Governor, 56 confined by
the rebels, 104 daughter of, 130

Warli, situation of, 51, 58

Watson, a chaplain, 104 note, 107

Weddel, agent for a new Company, 42

Weldon, an envoy, 1 16 Deputy Governor,
117, 124 marries Child's widow, 119

White, an interloper, 121

William the Third, 133, 179

Wine at the Mogul's Court, 11, 12 burnt,
23 in the Factory, 48, 127

Withington, a Factor at Surat, 7 his
adventures, 8, 9, 40

Wood, Dr. John, his pamphlet, 25

Woodford embezzles, 160

Wright, Captain, 1 13 John, keeps a ta-
vern, 131

Writers, 9i), 91 under arrest, 173

Wyatt murders a sepoy, 161

Wyburn, Deputy Governor, 111

Wyche, President, 41 another a Factor,
160, 171, 176

Wyld, President, 20

Yakut Khan the Siddi, 83, 1 15
Young, Deputy Governor, 55 his cha-
racter and dismissal, 97 5 98

Zamorin confers with Keeling, 13
Zinzan a commissioner, 105 Deputy G<
vernor, 106 dismissed, HI

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