time, was unable to protect the Portugueze fettlements in India against his own revolted fubjects, the Dutch, who, incited equally by envy of their riches and enmity towards him, had attacked them with a fpirit and vigour which they were ill prepared to refift. Waited both in Arength and refources, by the frequent wars with the native ftares, in which their religious zeal in volved them, the Portugueze felt their power in India on the decline, even before it was attacked by the Dutch; and their fettlements were rendered still more vulnerable, from the rulers of Portugal being at that time unable to give them the fmall eft affiftance, owing to the diftracted tate of her internal affairs, and to the wars in which the was engaged with the crown of Spain after the death of Philip. Hence the Dutch, in the course of forty years, wrefted from the Portugueze their fettlements in Ceylon, and in the Spice Hands, together with many others of lefs vake, which fhall be adverted to in our fubfequent chapters; and their trade, greatly narrowed and depreffed by thefe loffes, fell by degrees into the hands of their rivals. To the caufes we have mentioned there were added others, which, though flower in their operation, were equally certain in their effects, and which counteracted all the endeavours of John the Fourth, after he afcended the throne of his ancef tors in 1641, to avert the fall of his Indian empire. The religious wars neceffarily induced a relaxation of the peaceful arts; and the terrors of the Inquifition which had been fent to India by Philip the Second, kept the Portugueze merchants in flavith bondage to the church. No fpeculations, however conducive to the interefts of commerce, could be embarked in, unlefs they had alfo a direct tendency not only to forward the views, but to increafe the wealth of the clergy. The viceroys of Goa being appointed to that ftation, on account of the fervency of their religious principles, not from the independency of their characters, or the influence of their talents, they readily fubmitted to this ecclefiaftical domination, provided they were not hindered from amaffing riches themfelves. Thus the propagation of the Chriftian religion, and the acquifition of private wealth, became the only objects of the Portugueze government in India. An abandonment of every generous and honourable principle, and a total dereliction of all military difcipline, took place; a general avarice and venality prevailed; and the Portugueze empire in India, which once excited the wonder and envy of Europe, by the combined operation of all these causes, was impoverifhed, degraded, and diffolved. (1) CHRONICLE. ΜΑΥ. CALCUTTA, May 13, 1799. YESTERDAY evening, between five and fix o'clock, we had a violent thunder form, which was attended with fome melancholy accidents. The houfe of Mr. Cumming, of the Calcutta academy, was ftruck by the lightning; by which accident, we are forry to fay, that Matter William Burnet, eldest fon of Brevet Captain John Burnet, aged about twelve years, and Mailer Hector Coote Healy, only fon of the late Lieat. B. W. Healy, of this eftablishment, aged nine years and two months, were unfortunately killed; and Mafter Thomas Cawley Dubois was thrown down and stuned, but not materially hurt.-It is faid that no lefs than 18 perfons were killed by the lightning. At about a quarter paft eight in the evening of the 30th April, a fire fuddenly broke out among the Bungalee huts, at the back of Chunareetolah, in the vicinity of the Bow Bazar; which, after rapidly confuming a few of thefe combuftible habitations, communicated to and deftroyed the venetians, &c. of a pucka-built houfe, the refidence (we believe) of fome native; at which time, the wind blowing strong from the fouth, the flames continued to rage among the thatched huts with unremitting violence and fury, confuming 80 or 100 of them in lefs than half an hour, and exhibiting a foene of devaftation and calamity that must have excited all the feelings correfpondent with humanity VOL. 2. in the breaft of every fpectator. To the circumftance of the fire having begun at fo early an hour in the evening, we probably owe the negative fatisfaction of not having heard that any lives were either loft. or endangered by this accident. Extract of a letter from a Cavalry Officer, dated Camp Mooree Jabara, April 21. "The detachment arrived here on the 11th; and in the evening of that day, a grafs-cutter of the 1ft regiment was feized and devoured by a tigrefs, eight feet ten inches long. A party was formed the next morning, who went out to attack her in the place of her retreat, not 400 yards from our lines. In endeavouring to drive her out of her den, two male tigers darted out fucceffively, and were both fhot before the female made her appearance, when, after three defperate charges, fhe alfo fell, and was cut to pieces with tulwars. The party confifted of the camels of the detachment, and only a few troops on horfeback, whofe ardour the officers found it very difficult to reftrain; and from the number of fhots fired in every direction, it was, upon the whole, a fortunate circumftance, that only one man was wounded by a carbine ball, befides three others whom the tigers fprung upon. The two male tigers did not meafure eight feet. We had every reafon to expect quiet nights, after deftroying our dangerous neighbours; but we found that the country abounds with tigers; for the alarm was given three fuc + B ceffive 1 ceffive nights; but every endeavour to find out the retreat of one of thofe animals proved abortive. At "On the 19th, a man was carried away by a tigrefs; and from our having miffed a dawk (we have reafon to fuppofe it is the dawk hircarrah), the next morning, a party of a few troopers, armed only with piftols, and the camel-riders (troopers) who were only allowed to carry their fwords, was ordered out. fun-rife this morning, at the diftance of five miles from camp, in a thick, fmall jungle, on the borders of a nullah, overgrown with high grafs, the party in fearch of the tigrefs ftarted her, when the commenced the attack; the horfemen immediately returned the charge with a volley, which had no other effect than that of making her retreat. The fize of this animal was fuch, that Major Wharton fent a man to camp to bring a reinforcement of a few men armed with carbines; but, before thefe could arrive, the tigrefs renewed the attack, and made fome furious charges (which the riders avoided by their dexterity in turning their horfes), and retreated into the bed of the nullah, where the horfes could not follow her. In confequence of this, the pistols were given into the hands of the troopers on camels, who advanced boldly into the nullah. The tigrefs, grown defperate, was making a moft furious fpring at one of the troopers, when he, with the greateft fteadiness, fired his piftol just as fhe had fprung, hit her in the head, and brought her to the ground.--On meafuring her, the was found to be nine feet four inches. It is unufual to hunt tigers with camels and horfes; and although the latter went forward with great boldness, yet they were furpaffed by the former, which, I think, from what I have feen, are preferable in this refpect to elephants." It is now pretty generally known that wood oil is of a very com buftible nature; and as it is fre quently ufed on board fhip, we publifh the following circumftances, which occurred on board the ship Ajax, on her paffage from Calcutta to Cannanore, as a caution against the evil effects of not properly fecur ing it :-" While off the Illand of Ceylon, during three days there was a very uncommon fmell of oil in the fore part of the fhip, clofe to the lazaretto; and, towards the clofe of the third day, fire was also fmelt: in this alarming uation f the ftricteft fearch was made, cover from whence it arofe; and upon removing fome gunny-bags that were ftowed close to the lazaretto, it was found that those which were undermoft were on fire, and, upon being exposed to air, burst out into a flame. After a close examination into the canfe, it appeared, that a dubber of wood oil, which ftood near the place, had leaked; and the oil running under the gunnies, thofe in the centre had taken fire, and would in all probability have deftroyed the ship, had not the fmell providentially caused the dif covery." BOMBAY, April 8, 1799. This day arrived here, in the Milford, fix of the unfortunate crew of the fnow Duncan, of this port, which left Calicut on the 27th of January for Bombay, and about the latitude of Pigeon Ifland, two degrees off fhore, on the 1ft of February, fhe overfet. Among the fufferers on this melancholy occafion, it is with very fincere concern we find that Captain Manly, of this eftablishment, was of the number; Mr. Donelan, of this place, and 14 other perfons, alfo perifhed. Cap. tain Leyburn, Mr. Moriarty the gunner, and 25 others, got on the bottom bottom of the veffel, where they re mained two days: they were then providentially taken up by a dingey and a dow, and carried to Mufkat; from whence 20 of them proceeded to Mocha. The Milford alfo brings a fecond officer, and part of the crew, of the Danifh fhip Copenhagen, Captain Jepfon, refpecting which we have been favoured with the following particulars-She came from Batavia, bound to Mufcat, and was loft at 11 o'clock at night on the 17th of laft month, about five or fix miles to the S. E. of the port: every peras faved, although he went entirely to pieces in a few hours af ter getting on fhore. An Account of an Expedition from Surat to the Bunder of Goomter, in the Gulph of Cutch. Our advices from Surat mention, that in confequence of fome of the northern pirates having captured a ketch with cattle on board belong ing to the Honourable Company, Daniel Seton, Efq. cur chief at Surat, early in March difpatched Lieut. Keys in the Princefs Augufta, accompanied by the Princefs Royal, Lieut. Hawkefwell, and afmall boat called a malaffery, to proceed to the Bunder of Goomtee, to demand the reftitution of the property. As no fuch place is laid down or mentioned in any of our charts or failing inftructions, Lieut. Keys judged it expedient to proceed to the Portugueze fettlement of Diu, to obtain fome information: he was received with much politenefs and attention, and was informed that Goomtee was fituated on the eaft fide of the Gulph of Cutch, but that its approach was extremely difficult on account of the many dangerous banks that furround it. The Governor of Diu very obligingly gave Lieut. Keys a letter to the Rajah of Poor Bun. der, who is tributary to the Portu gueze, to furnish him with pilots. This little fleet failed from Diu on the 6th of March; but, owing to blowing weather and adverse winds, did not reach Poor Bunder until the 15th, where, having obtained pilots, they immediately proceeded to Goomtee, and on the 18th anchored in the roads in fifteen fathoms water-the anchorage, small fhells and fand; Jaigat Pagoda, which forms the N. W. fide of Goomtee Creek, bearing N. E. 4 N.; and Jaigat Point, which forms the fouth fide of the creek, bearing N. E. diftant about three miles. On the 19th, at day-light, Lieut. Keys fent Lieut. Conyers on fhore, with a letter directed to the Rajah of Oacka, to demand restoration of the ketch, together with 33 draught oxen belonging to the Honourable Company, or their value, for which purpofe twenty-four hours would be granted; alfo to endeavour to prevail on the, Rajah of Goomtee to come on board the Princess Augufta Lieut. Conyers was particularly directed to obferve how near the vefiels might approach the town in fafety. At 10 a. m. Lieut. Con. yers returned onboard, and reported that he had delivered the letter, addreffed to the Rajah of Oacka, to the Rajah of Goomtee, which he immediately difpatched, accompa nied by a letter from himself; but as Oacka is fituated about thirty miles from Goomtee, they were obliged to extend the time from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. The Rajah, on being questioned, denied that the veffel had been captured by the people of Goomtce; faid, if the had, he would have immediately delivered her up, or any other British property; that, his boats never cruifed against the En glish, but only againit the Arabs; and with apparent fincerity offered + B2 our 7 our veffels any affiftance they might want. Lieut. Conyers carefully founded and examined with what probability of fuccefs the place might be attacked, which he found would be wholly impracticable by the vefels, as they could not approach the there fufficiently near to act with effect: the bot. tom is loofe ftones and fand; the Rajah has from eight to nine hundred in arms; but he conceived the boats in the creek might be destroyed. Whilft Lieut. Conyers was on there, he faw a batilla, which he was informed had belonged to Mucan Dewah, a merchant at Surat, and had been captured twelve months ago. The Rajah promifed that he would pay a visit to Lieut. Keys, on board the Princes Augufta, when the answer should arrive from Oacka. On the 20th, the time being ex-. pired for the return of the anfwer, Lieut. Conyers was again dispatched on thore, with further inftructions, alfo to demand the restoration of the batilia belonging to Surat. On his landing he was met by the Rajh, who informed him he had received an anfwer, and that the Rajah of Oacka had agreed to deliver up the ketch, but neither the bullocks nor their value., On being questioned if the people of Oacka were to bring the ketch round? he anfwered, in a very evafive manner, that he did not know; that he expected two wen from that place, who would inform them more particulusly on the fub. ject; but when they were to arrive, he was ignorant. Refpecting the demand of the refloration of the batille, he faid the belonged to Bownaghar, and that he would not deliver her up, unlefs he received a written demand from Bombay; and immediately left Licut. Conyers.From the whole tenour of his con.. duft, and the difference of his be haviour at the first interview, to his mode at prefent, Lieut. Keys eafily perceived nothing could be done by negotiation, and that coercive meafures alone were likely to fucceed; he accordingly manned and armed the malaffery, and a boat from each veffel, with a party confifting of one midshipman, fix European foldiers, one havildar, one naique, fixteen fepoys, one fyrang, one tindal, and fourteen lafcars, befides the crew of the malaffery; and at half paft ten, they proceeded to Goomtee creek, under the command of Lieut. Conyers, with inftructions to destroy, by fire or otherwife, all the boats and veffels he could come at, and to do as much damage to the town as he could, confiftent with the fafety of the boats and party under his com mand. At one p. m. Lieut. Conyers, with his party, returned to the Princefs Augufta, with the following report:-In purfuance of the orders he had received, he proceeded up Goomtee Creek on his ap proaching the fhore, he perceived the enemy had pofted a strong party on the north fide of the entrance of the creek, and reinforcements were marching from the great pagoda: on getting within mulket-fhot of the point, the malaffery was brought to an anchor immediately without the entrance of the creek, and as near the fhore as fafety would permit; at the fame time commencing a brifk fire from the fwivels and mufketry, which compelled the enemy to give way in that quarter, and take refuge under the cover of a dingey and a fmall pagoda, the boats pushed on to the creek, keeping up their fire at the fame time on the dingey, where the enemy were pofted; they returned a fmart fire on our advancing, fupported by three or four small guns and fome musketry from the great |