i
M a >b e .
officer *, fent: from Bombay by General Goddard, with a detachment
of the army for its relief. The army was defeated, the
camp taken, and the General wounded and made prifoner. He
foon died of a broken heart, and was buried near the fort with
due honors. A tomb was ere died over his grave; lamps are continually
burning, and the Mujj'elmen in numbers pay refpeftful
viiits to the place t . Ayder had a itrong fortrefs near the. Eng-
li/h limits; but i f the lines were forced Tellicherry muft fall.
T h e fituation o f the town is extremely beautiful; backed b y
hills finely broken, and wooded, interfperfed with valleys, and
watered by a fine river; but its extreme healthinefs is a recommendation
beyond all other beauties: it is equal to that of
England, and is, on that account, the great refort of invalids.
Pepper is the great article o f commerce ; but coffee is alfo cultivated
there.
Tellicherry once belonged to the French, but we made our-'
Pelves matters of it, I believe, in KingWilliam's time. Hamilton
fpeaks of the punch-houfes: this reminds'tne of a pleafant
miftake of M. Bernier, iii. i 54> who taking the veffel for the
contents, fpeaks of a fatal liquor much drank by the EngliJJj,
called Boule-ponge.
Mahe, a French fettlement, is contiguous to ‘Fellicberry, feated
among moft delicious wooded hills, and near the mouth of a
river. The French fettled here about the year 1722; we took
it in 1760, and, before we evacuated it, completely difmantled
the town, but did no other damages. To this day we prevent
» War in Alia, i. 263. 4 Franklin’s Travels, 1 3 .
them
them from reftoring the fortifications, or augmenting their
forces.
T H E great fquirrel o í Malabar, Sonnerat,n. tab, Ixxxvii, is
found near Mahe; it is as large as a cat, the ears Ihort and
tufted, the tail longer than the body, the upper part of the body
reddiih. It frequents the coco-trees, is fond o f the liquor of
the nut,-which it will pierce to get at; has a moft ihrill and
lharp cry.
T he great ftaple o f this country is, as it Was in the days of
Arrian, pepper. They cultivate here, and indeed far inland,
the Piper nigrum and album; alfo the P. longum, or long pepper,
Rumph. Amboin. v .” 333, tab. t i 6. All thefe are climbing
plants, and require fupport. The white is only the fruit in an
unripe ftate. Raynal fays, we draw annually from this neighborhood"
fifteen hundred thoufand pounds weight.
- T he interior o f the Malabar coaft is filled with forefts o f
trees, many of which are of majeftic fizes, and what the author
ftyles vafice magnitudinis. I have formed a colleffion o f the
fpecies, moft of whichLinnaus was unable to afcertain. In thofe
cafés I refer to our "great R a t, and give the Malabar names,
with references to the Mor tus. The trees that are not to be
found in this catalogue, may be met with in that o f the Cey-
lonefe. The name o f Rheede prefixed, will evince them to be
common to both countries.
Katon Maragam Rheede Mateb. p. iv. tab. 13, Rati hiß, fi. 1463
Idon Moulfi - - . .. , Re» hiß. ii. I48a
Kara Nagelam—- iv . tab. 18. - - - . » I4g3
'^01" H _ T Commotti
N e w S q u i r r e i ,,
P e p p e r ,
G r e a t T r e e s
o f t h e M a l a b
a r C o a s t ,-