His D e a th .
R oad of Su r a t .
Encouraged by Sir Paul Pindar, whom he met with at
Confi ant irtople in 1612, he failed for the Levant, vifited Greece
Troy, Smyrna, and Egypt-, made his pilgrimage to Jerufalew,
had his arm tattowed with the mark of the erofs ; faw the Dead
fea ; from thence got to Alexandrette, from thence to Aleppo
arrived at Nineveh and Babylon ; reached IJpaban. From thence
he proceeded to Candahar, Labor, and Agra ; there he entertained
the great Mogul with an eloquent oration, in the Perfian-
language, fo much to the content of that monarch, that lie-
bellowed on him a hundred roupees.. Having a wonderful facility
in languages, he had a trial of fkill with our embaffador’s
laundrefs, the greateft fcold in all Agra. Tom attacked her in
her owrn tongue, the Hindoo, at fun-rife, and lilenced her hy
eight o’clock in the morning. He now haftened to the final,
conclufion o f all his travels : he defcended to Surat, where he
Was feized with a flux, that was increafed by a treat o f fack,,
given him by fome Englijh merchants. He was a very temperate
man, hut could not refill a- favorite liquor, fo unex—
peftedly falling in his way. More of him may be feen in Mr.
Terry’s Voyage, printed io r f a book o f much entertainment.
But here poor Tom fell, in 16x7, and here he lies beneath
an Indian foil, a fecond Archytas..
Quanquam feilinas, non eft mora longa ; lic e b it
In je fto ter polvere, curias.
T h e road of Surat is before the mouth o f the river Tap tee ;
there Ihips anchor two leagues from ihore, in ted fathoms,,
and on a muddy bottom.- The tide rifes about fix yards. The
§ taouthi
mouth and channels of the river are intricate and dangerous ;
the goods which are brought are conveyed to Surat in hoys,
yatchs, and country boats. Thofe from Swalley are carried by
land, and wafted over oppofite to the city.
T h e Taptee arifes far remote, near Maltoy, in Lat. 2 1 ° 45', in T h e T a f t e e ,
the Rajajhip of Goondwaneh.
T h e city o f Surat Hands in N. Lat. 2 1 * 1 1 ' . The Abbe S u r a t .
Raynal fpeaks of it as a paltry filhing village, in the thirteenth
century. I fufpedt it to have been o f far earlier origin, and
am confirmed in my opinion by the Ayeen Akberry, ii. 79, which
informs us, that in antient times it had been a large city.
Raneer, on the oppofite fide, is a port dependent on Surat. The
Portuguefe poflefled Surat foon after their arrival in India.
Thé firft fort was built in 1524, but its increafe and great prosperity
arofe from the fettlements made there in 1603, by the
Englijh and Dutch. The Portuguefe gave them every oppofition
polfible. They once made a vigorous attack on the Englijh,
but were defeated with prodigious flaughter on their part, and
a very trifling lofs on that of our countrymen. It became the
firft trading city in India, and, in confequence o f wealth, the
firft in luxury. In the latter end of the laft century, the inhabitants
were computed at two hundred thoufand.
B e s i d e s the greatnefs o f its commerce, it was celebrated for
being the place at which the Mahometan fubjedls o f the Mogul
embarked, on their pilgrimage to Mecca, for which reafon, in
the archives of the empire, Surat is called the Port o f Mecca *. P o r t o f -M e e c a .
A fix ip, one o f the two which annually fail from Surat to Arabia,
* Orme’s Fragments, p. i6t
L 2 filled