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nawk. The name of potatoe was therefore evidently applied to it here from its similarity to the battata, or sweet potatoe, and was distinguished by the appellation of Virginia potatoes till the year 1640, if not longer. Some authors have asserted that sir Francis Drake first discovered potatoes in the South Seas, and others that they were introduced into England by sir John Hawkins: but, in both instances, the plant alluded to is evidently the sweet potatoe, which was used in England as a delicacy long before the introduction of our potatoes: the sweet potatoe was imported in considerable quantities from Spain and the Canaries, and was supposed to possess the power of restoring decayed vigour. The kissing comfits which Shakspeare mentions in the Merry Wives of Windsor, and other confections of similar imaginary qualities, with which our ancestors were duped, were principally made of these and eringo roots.

The sweet potatoes themselves were sold by itinerant dealers, chief ly in the neighbourhood of the Royal Exchange, to those who had faith in their alleged properties. The allusions to this opinion are very frequent in the plays of that age, of which there is a remarkable instance in Shakspeare's Troilus and Cressida. To this we shall add, that as there was an early and frequent intercourse between Spain and Galway, in Ireland, there is some reasons to conjecture that the potatoe might have been introduced into Ireland, directly from Spain, at a very early period.

For the Literary Magazine.

DESCRIPTION OF MADRAS, OR FORT ST. GEORGE, AND ITS ENVIRONS.

dy country; and about Madras the country rises so little and so gradually from the sea, that the spectator is scarcely able to mark the distinction, till he is assisted by the appearance of the different objects which present themselves upon the shore.

The

The English town, rising from within Fort St. George, has from the sea a rich and beautiful appearance; the houses being covered with a stucco called chunam, which in itself is nearly as compact as the finest marble, and, as it bears as high a polish, is equally splendid with that elegant material. style of the buildings is in general handsome. They consist of long colonades, with open porticoes, and flat roofs, and offer to the eye an appearance similar to what we may conceive of a Grecian city in the age of Alexander. The clear, blue, cloudless sky, the polished white buildings, the bright sandy beach, and the dark green sea, present a combination totally new to the eye of an Englishman, just arrived from London, who, accustomed to the sight of rolling masses of clouds floating in a damp atmosphere, cannot but contemplate the difference with delight: and the eye being thus gratified, the mind soon assumes a gay and tranquil habit, analogous to the pleasing objects with which it is surrounded.

Some time before the ship arrives at her anchoring ground, she is hailed by the boats of the country, filled with people of business, who come in crowds on board. This is the moment in which a European feels the great distinction between Asia and his own country. The rustling of fine linen, and the general hum of unusual conversation, presents to his mind for a moment the idea of an assembly of females. When he ascends upon the deck, he is struck with the long muslin dresses and black faces adorned with very large

From Hodges' Travels in 1780-3. gold ear-rings and white turbans.

THE whole extent of the coast of Coromandel is an even, low, san

The first salutation he receives from these strangers is by bending their bodies very low, touching the deck

with the back of the hand, and the forehead three times.

The natives first seen in India by a European voyager, are Hindoos, the original inhabitants of the peninsula. In this part of India they are delicately framed; their hands, in particular, are more like those of tender females; and do not appear to be what is considered a proper proportion to the rest of the person, which is usually above the middle size. Correspondent to this delicacy of appearance are their manners, mild, tranquil, and sedulously attentive in this last respect they are indeed remarkable, as they never interrupt any person who is speaking, but wait patiently till he has concluded; and then answer with the most perfect respect and composure. From the ship a stranger is conveyed on shore in a boat of the country, called a massoolah boat: a work of curious construction, and well calculated to elude the violent shocks of the surf, that breaks here with great violence: they are formed without a keel, flat-bottomed, with the sides raised high, and sowed together with the fibres of the cocoanut tree, and caulked with the same material: they are remarkably light, and are managed with great dexterity by the natives; they are usually attended by two kattamarans (rafts), paddled by one man each, the intention of which is, that, should the boat be overset by the violence of the surf, the persons in it may be preserved. The boat is driven, as the sailors say, high and dry; and the passengers are landed on a fine, sandy beach, and immediately enter the fort of Madras.

The appearance of the natives is exceedingly varied; some are wholly naked, and others so clothed, that nothing but the face and neck is to be discovered; beside this, the European is struck at first with many other objects, such as women carried on men's shoulders on palanquins, and men riding on horseback clothed in linen dresses like women: which, united with the very different face of the country from all he had ever

seen or conceived of, excite the strongest emotions of surprise.

It is impossible to describe the enthusiasm with which I felt myself actuated on this occasion; all that I saw filled my mind with expectations of what was yet unseen. I prepared therefore eagerly for a tour through the country; but my route was scarcely fixed, when I was interrupted by the great scourge of human nature, the great enemy of the arts, war, which, with horrors perhaps unknown to the civilized regions of Europe, descended like a torrent over the whole face of the country, driving the peaceful husbandman from his plough, and the manufacturer from his loom. Оп the 18th of July, 1780, I was a melancholy witness to its effects, the multitude coming in from all quarters to Madras as a place of refuge, bearing on their shoulders the small remains of their little property, mothers with infants at their breasts, fathers leading their horses burthened with their young families, others sitting on the miserable remains of their fortunes on a hackery, and dragged through the dust by weary bullocks: every object was marked by confusion and dismay, from the 18th to the 21st, the numbers daily increasing; and it was supposed that within the space of three days not less than two hundred thousand of the country people were received within the black town of Madras. The government behaved on this melancholy occasion with their usual humanity and liberality; and not only public but private relief was afforded them to a considerable amount.

Those poor people were soon afterwards distributed to the northward, and into the sircars; which are lands that lie to the northward of Madras, and but of late years ceded to the English government.

Mr. Smith was at this period at the head of the government of Madras: and the solicitous attention of his lady, to relieve the private inconvenience of many English families, who were also obliged to take

shelter within the walls of the fort, must ever be remembered with respect.

Every object that now presented itself to the imagination bore the same threatening and calamitous aspect: the country houses of the English, within one mile of the fort, were stripped of their furniture, by the owners, even to the doors and window-blinds; this, indeed, was no more than necessary, as the enemy extended their depredations even to the walls of Madras; and no security could be found without the fort, until the camp was formed at the Mount, a place about ten English miles west of Madras. Every one now possessing a house within the fort, was happy in accomodating the family of his friend, who before had resided on Choultry plain.

The troops being collected from different quarters, with provisions and a proper train of artillery, the vanquished spirits of the people appeared to revive; and the reyot was again seen cultivating his rice fields, or collecting the fruits. Nothing less was expected when the army took the field, but that Hyder Ally would very soon be escorted by a party of our troops into Fort St. George, and there make a public atonement for the miseries he had occasioned. This vision soon vanished, in the unhappy fate of colonel Baillie's detachment, and the return of the army from a three weeks' campaign, reduced in its numbers and dispirited by its losses. These circumstances are too strongly marked in the page of history to make it necessary to recount their particulars in a descriptive work like this. The arrival of sir Eyre Coote from Bengal, with money and other supplies, in September, and the active measures pursued by that gallant officer, restored confidence to the troops; and the most sanguine hopes of the inhabitants from his exertions were not disappointed.

The opportunities that offer to a painter are few, in a country which

VOL. VIII, NO. LI.

is over-run by an active enemy. I made, however, among others, a drawing of Marmalong bridge, which is a very modern work, built, as I am informed, at the pri vate expence of an Armenian merchant. It is over a small river that runs near the mount, and falls into the sea at a little distance before the village of St. Thomas, four miles to the southward of Madras. The Portuguese had formerly a considerable settlement at this village. The church and the dwelling-houses of a few Portuguese families yet remain here. The legendary tale of the Roman catholic church is, that St. Thomas the apostle, in the course of his mission to India, suffered martyrdom on the spot where the church is built.

The settlement of Madras was formed by the English at or about the middle of the last century, and was a place of no real consequence, but for its trade, until the war so ably carried on by general Stringer Lawrence, from the years 1748 to 1752; and which originated from the claims of Chunda Saib, in opposition to our ally, Mahomed Ally Cawn, the present nabob of Arcot; from which period the English may be considered as sovereigns. In the school of this able officer the lord Clive received his military education.

It

Fort St. George, or Madras, rises, as has been already intimated, from the margin of the sea, and is allowed by the ablest engineers to be a place of considerable strength. was planned by the ingenious Mr. Robins, author of lord Anson's voyages, who was eminent for his general and philosophical, as well as for his mathematical knowledge. Since his time, many works have been added.

In Fort St. George are many handsome and spacious streets. The houses may be considered as elegant, and particularly so from the beautiful material with which they are finished, the chunam. The inner apartments are not highly decorated, presenting to the eye only white

6

walls; which, however, from the marble-like appearance of the stucco, give a freshness grateful in so hot a country. Ceilings are very uncommon in the rooms. Indeed, it is impossible to find any which will resist the ravages of that destructive insect, the white ant. These animals are chiefly formidable from the immensity of their numbers, which are such as to destroy, in one night's time, a ceiling of any dimensions. I saw an instance in the ceiling to a portico of the admiralty, or governor's house, which fell in flakes of twenty feet square. It is the woodwork, which serves for the basis of the ceilings, such as the laths, beams, &c., that these insects attack; and this will serve to explain the circumstance I have just mentioned.

The houses on Choultry plain are many of them beautiful pieces of architecture, the apartments spacious and magnificent. I know not that I ever felt more delight than in going on a visit to a family on Choultry plain, soon after my arrival at Madras, in the cool of the evening, after a very hot day. The moon shone in its fullest lustre, not a cloud overcast the sky, and every house on the plain was illuminated. Each family, with their friends, were in the open porticoes, enjoying the breeze. Such a scene appears more like a tale of enchantment than a reality, to the imagination of a stranger just arrived.

There are few objects to be met with here, which serve to illustrate the history or characters of the original inhabitants of India. One, however, is too curious to be omitted, and that is a beautiful Hindoo temple, or pagoda, at Tripplecane, two miles south of Madras. It is of considerable magnitude; and the top of the building rising considerably above the trees, it is seen all over the country. Adjoining to the temple is a large tank, with steps descending to the bottom, filled with water. The whole is of stone, and the masonry excellent. On the surface of the temple are many basso relievos, which I suppose to relate

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the population of this country has increased nearly 3,000,000.

That the dwelling-houses have in the same period increased from 640,000 to 1,225,000.

That the improved lands have risen from 1,120,000 to 2,390,400

acres.

That the average price per acre has risen from two to six dollars.

That the number of horses has increased from 600,000 to 1,200.000, and the horned cattle from 1,200,000 to 2,950,000.

That the merchant vessels have increased from 250,000 to 1,207,000. That the imports have risen from 11 to 80 millions of dollars.

That the exports of domestic produce have increased from 9 to 42 millions.

And the exports of foreign goods from 1 to 36 millions.

That the national revenues have increased, in a period of twelve years, from 8 to nearly 17 millions of dollars, while the expenditures, making an allowance for the extin guishment of the principal of the debt, have been nearly stationary.

That the specie in circulation has risen in the period of twenty years from ten to seventeen millions,

The secretary of war has receiv. ed from New Orleans two grisly bears. They are, as their names indicate, of a grey colour, and in their native woods grow to an immense size, it is said so as to weigh 7 or 800 wt., and are then extremely fierce. The animals sent to gen. Dearborn were caught when very young, and are now perfectly tame. Grisly bears are so fierce and formidable that the Indians never attack them, except in large companies; in which case generally one or more of them become a sacrifice to their temerity. Governor Lewis, when in the Missouri country, was pursued by a grisly bear, and to save himself dashed into the river, where he remained up to his neck in water; while the bear, unable to pursue him (for one of the peculiarities

of this species is an incapability of
taking the water), remained growl-
ing for some time on the bank; at
last it retired to the woods, and left
our distinguished traveller rejoicing
at his ability to rejoin his compa-
nions. These bears are considered
as great curiosities, and are to be
sent to Peale's museum in Philadel-
phia, for the inspection of the curi.

ous.

We learn that an immensely va luable white marble quarry has been discovered at Sing-Sing (Mount Pleasant) on the North River, about 85 miles from New York. It is allowed by judges to be equal to that imported from Philadelphia or from Stockbridge quarry.

The Prince of Peace has just caused to be published, in the Gazette of Madrid, a notice, of which the following is an extract:

The ship La Plata, belonging to the Philippine company, and commanded by D. J. B. Montervede, going from Manilla to Lima, discovered, on the 18th February, 1806, a group of islands, the most southern of which is situated about 3 degrees 27 minutes of north latitude, 162 degrees 5 minutes of longitude to These the eastward of Cadiz. islands, 29 in number, occupy a space of ten leagues from N. E. to S. E., and are separated by channels, one or two leagues wide; they are low, and intersected by forests and rivulets. Their inhabitants are of the most pacific disposition. They are tall and well made, robust and agile; their complexion is of an olive colour; their noses flat, and hair black and curled, but rather long.

The following notice respecting the comet has been given in the Moniteur of the 8th of October. Mr. Pons, belonging to the observatory at Marseilles, was the first astronomer who discovered the comet in France, on the 20th of last

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