Letters From Malabar

Front matter

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Contents

LETTER VII.

Page.

Trade of the English in Malabar, and the disasters they have experienced

Letter I

Situation of Malabar— Signification of the name — First colonization according to the Native legends —Difference between the Highlands and Lowlands — The stone found in Highlands — Cheapness of provisions— Neither volcanoes to be found nor earthquakes ever experienced here.

Though the broad ocean, which rolls between the Netherlands and Malabar, presents a barrier to my personal enjoyment of your delightful society, it can neither extinguish my affection nor prevent me from holding communication with you by letter. I therefore dispatch this, as the first tribute of our constant friendship, in which I propose to relate the origin of Malabar according to the tradition of the natives.

This country of Malabar is situated about 10 degrees north of the Equator, stretching from Cape Comorin in the south to Mount Delli in the north. The inhabitants are called by us Malabar 8, by the Portuguese, Malavares, and by themselves M allealler.* This word properly signifies Mountaineers, not that they dwell amid lofty mountains, for the greater part of the country, stretching along the sea coast, is flat and marshy ; bub the name must be derived from the original colonists, who were a mountain race.

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Their legend, doubtless embellished by fiction, is as follows : — In by -gone ages, the sea washed the foot of a mountain range, which now lies 7 or 8 miles inland. The men who dwelt in the neighbourhood gained their subsistence by fishing along the mountain shores. Now it happened that there dwelt at Gocarna near Goa, a certain prophet universally ranowned for sanctity, whose name was Paroese Hainan. He, discovering to his sorrow that his aged mother had acquired an evil notoriety in the neighbourhood for her misdeeds, felt unable to endure the public shame she had brought upon him. At length, inspired by a divine impulse, he seized a rice winnow, and hurled it with tre-

* Mala , signifies a mountain, and alam, a district or country.— H. D.

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LETTERS FROM MALABAR.

menrlous force from Gocarna right over the sea : by a wonderful miracle it was carried forward as far as Cape Comorin, upon which all the sea between the two places immediately dried up, and was transformed into that tract of level land, to which we now give the name of Malabar. The prophet resolved to take up his abode with his mother in this strange land, hoping here to find a hiding place for her disgrace. Meantime, the fishermen of the mountains, hearing of the miracle, flocked into these lowlands to seek for the seashore. The prophet met them, and, knowing that a land without inhabitants is waste and desolate, persuaded them to remain and settle there ; and in order the more to attract them, he invested them with the dignity of Brahmins, promising at the same time to support them after his old custom, by which he was pledged to provide food daily for 8,000 of that caste. He then took the fishing nets with which they were laden, and tore them into strands, which he twisted together, to make the three cords which the Brahmins wear as a sign of their dignity tied in a knot on the shoulder, and falling down below the waist. These Brahmins of Malabar are called Namboories and are reproached by the other Brahmins, for their descent from fishermen.*

You will agree with me in treating this story as a meie fiction, but there is probably some foundation in fact for it, as there is for most fables : and any one who carefully examines these lowlands, will giant that formerly they must have been submerged under the sea. Not only do they lie so low, that like the coast of Holland they are under water in the rainy season, but they are in many parts broken up

* Another account of this tradition is as follows : — When Parashuramen was performing penance on the mountain Mahandra, where, after having gained twenty-one victories over the Kchebtries, he had laid up all his arms, the chief munees or saints came to see him, and, having saluted him, advised him to cause the sea to recede, and to bring to light the laud of Kerala, which had been sulmierged under the ocean in a former age. Parashuramen immediately went to the neighbourhood of Gokarnam aud hurling ail axe, recovered the land from the sea as far as to where the weapon fell. The limit* are Cape Comorin on one side, and Gokarnam on the other. There are three divisions, that of Kerala, Tula, and Heiga. From Cape Comorin to the river Kanyirota is the Kerala division. The middle portion from thence is the Tulu division. The last part is the Heiga division, the boundary of which is the river Bashpasetu. These three divisions embrace what is now called Malayalim. Parashuramen having thus created the land of Kerala, summoned the Brahmins from a foreign country, and made over the country to them, and giving chief authority to them over the employments and occupations of the four castes, namely, the Brahmin, the Kchetfcry, Veishya and the Sudva, he rested from his work. — H. D.

APPEARANCE OF THE LOW COUNTRY.

into islets by the waters of the sea, which flow in channels between them, and into which the rivers from the mountains empty themselves. May we not then suppose that this low and broken land is washed over entirely from time to time? We know that in some European countries the sea encroaches on the land, and in other places recedes. It is true, no doubt, that many parts of the shore are elevated. Nearly the whole coast from Kully Quilon to Ponany is low and broken up by numerous watercourses, but tire coast of Quilon is steep and rocky, or rather it is merely a rock covered with a stratum of soil ; so that here it would seem the land can never have been under water. While I am on the subject of this rocky district, I must add that the stone is very well adapted for building. There are quarries here from which the stones are hewn; and I have seen the stone when well cut from the rock, split like wood under the stroke of the axe. The stoneis reddish yellow nnd spotted,* very porous and full of holes, in which the lime used in building, gets mixed up, and the whole becomes so well consolidated, that old stone is often preferred to new.

The East India Company find this stone very serviceable for erecting their fortresses and factories, and the inhabitants use it in building their houses.

But to return from this digression. I must inform } r ou that the variety of soil here causes a marked difference in its fertility. It is true, generally speaking, that the pleasant champaigns and sweet clover fields with which Holland abounds, are not to be found here, nor is it the case that the fields are clothed with many coloured flowers, breathing sweet fragrance, as the poet Antonides has it, in his poem on the river Y*h

“ The fruitful Cochin, where sweet blossoming May,

“ For ever decks the earth with livery gay.”

This is poetical license deviating far from the real truth, as, commonly, the vegetation is but thin and scanty, and the fields are any thing but rich in flowers. It is true, indeed, that the low sandy tracts are more fertile than the more elevated and rocky districts, for while these yield nothing but trees, and tree fruits, the former contain vast expanses

* Laterite, below which is found limestone and lignite. The olifFs rise to nearly 250 feet in some places. — H. D.

t Antonides van der Goes, a Dutch poet who flourished in the seventeenth century. His principal work was a poem on the river Y, or the “ Ystroom.” See Foreign Quarterly Review, Yol. iv. p. 57.

LETTERS FROM MALABAR.

of rice fields, which are so productive that they suffice to furnish rice not only for the whole of Malabar, but also for exportation. It is curious that so dry a plant as rice grows in the water. In fact, the natives sow the nely in the low lying meadows, at the time when they are a foot or two under water, scattering the seed in the water, through which it sinks to the earth, and there takes root; when about a foot high the seedlings must be transplanted.

Provisions are all cheap here, especially rice and meat. A pig can be bought for a dollar, a good calf for half a dollar, a fowl for 10 cents. This must be attributed to the habits of the natives, among whom it would be considered a sacrilege to eat beef — merely to kill a cow being a crime punished by death without mercy. Some castes are permitted to eat other meats, but it is little done ; the Brahmins have a mortal abhorrence of animal food, and make use of nothing that has had life.

Upper Malabar is very elevated, and contains many mountain ranges rising one behind the other. It boasts few mineral productions, except iron, which is beat out in small bars and exported to Mocha. There are no volcanoes in this part of the world, nor are any serious convulsions of the earth known. Indeed there has never been an earthquake within the memory of man, while, in the countries lying further to the East, both volcanoes and earthquakes are most common.

LETT UR II.

On some disorders indigenous to the country and the causes of them — The

distinction of seasons, and the effects thence arising.

The great respect I entertain for your judgment causes me to take up my pen with diffidence, being aware that my letters are not worthy to meet your eye ; but I trust to your kindness to overlook their deficiencies, and to be satisfied with my desire to inform you of all that I have observed in these distant lands.

I remember to have read in certain books of travels that there are rnen to be met with in the Alps whose necks are covered with swellings, and that the inhabitants look upon them as ornamental.* Similar swellings are often to be seen on persons in this country ; but here the disorder generally attacks the legs, and other parts of the body besides, f The disorder always begins with a fever, which they here call the raging fever, which sometimes causes delirium, and as the strength of the malady increases, great pain is felt in the legs or in other parts attacked : the fever then settling in the suffering part, causes it to swell in a frightful manner. In the commencement of the disorder, the swellings subside again, but as the fever returns, at intervals of one or two months, or a longer period, the}* reappear and become per-

* The author alludes to the goitre or bronchocele. The classical reader will recollect the line in Juvenal (Sat. xiii. 162.) Quis tumiduni guttur miratur in Alpibus ? The sufferers were called ‘ Gutturosi/ It was formerly supposed that this glandular swelling only appeared in certain countries, such as Switzerland and Savoy, and that its origin arose from drinking snow water. It is however found in certain districts of South America, Sumatra, and even in Great Britain, especially in Derbyshire, from whence it has been called the “ Derbyshire -Neck.” Its origin is very obscure, but as it prevails in countries, both where snow exists and where it does not, drinking snowwater can no longer be asserted as the cause of its appearance. — H. D.

+ Elephantiasis or Cochin Leg. This prevails to a great extent among the inhabitants of the Western Coast ; nor has any certain remedy hitherto been discovered for the diseased part, short of amputation. It is more than probable that bad water and bad diet, are the remote causes of it. — H. D,

L K TT E R S F li l ) M M A L A 11 A U .

xnanenb; so that men have been found with logs as thick as my waist and other frightful swellings.

This malady cannot be ascribed to any particular nation or race of men. 1 remember to have read that it attacks only the St. Thomas’ Christians, and that they may be known bv this mark ; but nothing can be more absurd than such a notion, for we see every day people of all kinds, men and women, Mahometans, Heathens, and Christians, and even Europeans who reside here, attacked by it. You, who have given your mind to the investigation of nature, will no doubt be able to give a sufficient reason for these facts : but I trust you will have the goodness to weigh my opinion, which may possibly assist in the explanation.

I believe that the cause of the disorder is in the water and the soil, and partly also in the air, which is filled with vapour drawn up from the water. It appears that in the low lying parts of Malabar in the neighbourhood of Cochin, the earth is full of saltpetre or some other substances, which mingle with the water of the pools or rivers near the sea coast; and the people who constantly drink this water acquire a disorder and fever which causes at first shivering, and then drives the particles which occasion the fever into a certain part of the system. These particles being sharp and pungent, cause great pain, and at last distend the small vessels in the afflicted region, which after the first access of the complaint, subside again, but after fresh particles have been driven in by fresh fevers, the enlargements not only remain fixed but increase in size. On the legs thus deformed, the flesh becomes loose and spongy ; but this makes them light also, so that however enlarged they may be in size, the patients can walk with great ease.

These remarks of mine seem to be strengthened not only by the taste of the water of these lowlands, which is brackish and unpleasant, but by actual experience ; for the people who are in better circumstances, and can get their water higher up, from the river Mangatti, are seldom visited by this disease, while on the other hand those who drink the water of the neighbourhood suffer from it much. On this account the E. I. Company has wisely ordered that this water should no longer be given out to the garrison, but water from the Mangatti instead ; and it has been observed that the malady has been much less prevalent among the troops since that time. I must add that the juice of the young cocoanuts is also very deleterious ; and my neighbour

DISEASES, AND THEIR CAUSES. THE SEASONS. 1 5

said that he himself had caught the disorder from that cause. The reason is plain : for we know that the vessels of the cocoanub palm are of great width, so that it imbibes water- from the earth just as it is, without detaching it from the particles of saltpetre ; and in this state the fluid enters the young nut, the interior of which contains nothing but a sort of water rather sweet in taste, and consequently it gives rise to the same disorder as the water of the wells.

I am so fortunate as never to have suffered from this disease ; though I could not escape another, which the natives term Mal-de-terre, which attacked me almost every month, beginning with great uneasim ss and pain in the bowels, and ending with violent sickness and diarrhoea. The Indians have a curious remedy for it, which is to take a hot iron and bum the soles of the feet with it. This often has a good effect.

Not to detain you any longer with these painful topics, I shall now turn to descriptions of other natural phenomena, and proceed to relate briefly the courses of the seasons in this part of the world.

One hardly finds here that difference of seasons which is experienced in Europe : for neither are heavy hailstorms,* nor thick falls of snow, nor hard frosts, ever seen or felt in these parts. One must divide the year into two Monsoons ,*for seasons, the one being the period of dry weather, the other the period of rain. The dry season may be divided again, first into a temperate season, when the air is tolerably cool : this begins in November, when the atmosphere is bright and clear; the S. E. land winds then begin to blow, attaining their greatest force in January and subsiding again in February. They blow every morning during this period,

* Hailstorms have occasionally occurred in these districts, though they are of very rare occurrence. One of unusual severity occurred only last month (April 1862) in the town of Cochin itself.— H. D.

•f* A knowledge of the monsoons may be traced from very early ages. Humboldt says that Alexander’s companions were not ignorant of the existence of the monsoons, by which navigation was so greatly favoured between the Eastern Coasts of Africa and the North and Western parts of India. After having spent ten months in navigating the Indus between Nicsea on the Hydaspes and Pattala, with a view of opening the river to a universal traffic, Nearchus hastened to sail from Stura, at the mouth of the Indus at the beginning of October ; since he knew that his passage would be favoured by the N. E. and Eastern Monsoons in the same parallel of latitude. The knowledge of this remarkable local direction of the winds, subsequently emboldened navigators to attempt to sail from Ocelis on the Straits of Babel mandeb, cross the open sea to Muziris (south of Mangalore) the great Malabar emporium of trade, to which products from the Eastern shores of the Indian peninsula, and even gold from the distant Chryse (Borneo ?) were brought by inland trade. — (Cosmos.')

and are found by experience to be prejudicial. After this follows the but season, when, the wind ceasing, the air becomes exceedingly sultry, especially in the forenoon and at night, because there is not the slightest breeze to cool it ; whereas, in the afternoon, there is often a wind from the sea. ] u the month of May the season begins to change. The heavens become overspread with heavy clouds, and violent storms of thunder and lightning occur. I cannot find that these storms cause so much damage as among us in Holland, the cause of which 1 take to be the rarefaction of the air through the continued heat of the sun, so that the thunder and lightning finding less obstruction, become more easily diffused aud fall to the earth with diminished force. The rainy season sets in at the end of May or beginning of June, and lasts till October, bringing perpetual storms of rain, often accompanied by violent winds. It would be well worth the trouble of any philosopher to enquire into the cause of this rainy season ; and I consider it my duty to speculate upon it, because tlie phenomena afford some clue to the decision of the question.

In the hot season we find that the wind blows entirely from the North and West : on which account ships then coming from Persia and Surat have a speedy voyage. It is also certain that as, during that time, the powerful action of the sun causes a quantity of vapours to accumulate in those regions, and rain falls there as little as it does here, therefore the N. W. wind must drive those vapours in a southeasterly direction, till they meet the mountain ranges which are a barrier to their further progress. These mountains ave the same which stretch from Cape Comorin through Asia. Now the vapours, as they approach these mountains, get more and more condensed : till at length, in the month of May, they are forced down by violent winds, then rebound again, and finally descend in rain on all places situated west of the chain. That these mountains are the true cause of the rainy season appears from the circumstance that when tlie rainy season sets in on this side of the chain, on the other side, just at the same time, the dry season begins. Hence we are frequently astonished to find that in two places on opposite slopes of the same mountain, one lias the rainy and the other the dry weather at the same time : and when, on our side, the rains leave off and the S. E. winds begin to blow, just, then the rains commence on the Coromandel Coast.

And while we are on the subject of the weather, I must

ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA.

observe that, in these countries, storms do not last so long as with us in Holland ; for, while, there, we often know them continue without intermission for two or three days, here, on the contrary, high winds never maintain their violence beyond an hour or two, when a calm ensues, after which the wind rises again : resembling in this circumstance the sudden whirlwinds ( Tra vades) which navigators encounter in the tropics, and chiefly near the Equator. These storms come on very quickly, and generally end as suddenly. First, a small cloud is seen, which increases rapidly, and then, whirled onwards by a strong wind, bursts in heavy rain. It is very curious to observe how suddenly the clouds gather in the midst of a clear and hot atmosphere. It would seem that some vapours in the lower portion of the atmosphere are prevented by the powerful action of the sun’s rays from collecting together ; then, driven up higher than usual, they encounter a cooler stratum of air, by which they are condensed together with all the other vapours that meet them by the way (like the steam condensed on the lid of a tea-kettle) ; then, urged forward like an everincreasing snowball, by the force of the wind and the heat of the sun, they become overcharged with weight, and finally precipitate themselves to the earth. A description of this kind of storm or something like it seems to be given us in 1st Kings xviii. 44, 45 : — ‘‘Behold a little cloud no

bigger than a man’s hand rose out of the sea.... and it

came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens were black with clouds and wind, and there came a great rain.”

In conclusion, I will note the effects of the rainy season on our roadstead. This it closes up entirely and chokes with sandbanks, on which the repelled waves break with violence. These sandbanks begin to form in the month of May, and are washed away in September and October. Their formation and their destruction are owing partly to the action of the river, and partly to that of the sea ; for, at the commencement of the season the river empties itself with great impetuosity into the sea, dragging with it a quantity of sand : on the other hand, the waves of the sea acting in the opposite direction, stop the progress of the sand just where the two bodies of water break upon each other. This is the reason why the sandbanks at that time are constantly augmenting ; but, when the force of the sea subsides, and the river has still a vast weight of water to cany down, then the sandbanks are washed away again.

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Letter III

Description of Cochin and Calicut — Conduct of the English there;

I must now give yon a description of Cochin* ** the place 1 where I am settled. It was wrested, as you are no doubt aware, together with other forts, from the Portuguese, by the arms of our East India Company. During the war with that nation, in the year 1662, the Admiral Ryklof van Reede was despatched from Batavia with a fleet to besiege this town ; but the Governor defended it with so much resolution that the attempts of the Admiral were foiled, and the mortality among his men compelled him to retreat. The courage of the gallant sailor was not cooled by this failure. At the close of the same year he returned with a fleet,. and after some conflicts a captain named Pierre du Pont succeeded in making himself master of one of the gates; upon which the Governor Ignatio Sarmento capitulated, being allowed to march out with his troops and baggage, and with all the Portuguese inhabitants with their false gods and images. This conquest took place on the 8th of January 1663 ; and the anniversary is still celebrated by a sermon in the morning, and in the evening by the display of banners and discharge of guns from the walls.

The principal founders of Cochinf were Francisco and

* In John NieuhofTs “ Remarkable Voyages and Travels into the best provinces of the West and East Indies,” we find the following description of Cochin, under the date 1 662. — “ Some authors make mention of two different Cochins, “ viz. : the old Cochin, lying about a league and a half from the sea-shore. The “ Portuguese call it Cochin Dctfima, or Higher Cochin, because it lies higher “ U p the river ; by the Dutch it is called Cochin Malabar, where the king keeps “ his residence, being situated upon the banks of a liver, and pretty well peopled “ and adorned with several goodly structures and pagodas. The other, called “ New Cochin, is scarcely a league from the sea, and was in the possession of ‘ the Portuguese.” — (Trans.)

t Cochin is a sea- coast town, the capital of the principality of that name. In the Malayala language it is called Cocci ; deriving its name from a small river which formerly emptied itself there into the sea. In the year 134 1, the se?v

DESCRIPTION OF COCHIN.

Alplionso Albuquerque, who visited this country in 1504*, in the reign of King Emanuel of Portugal. It was afterwards much enlarged and beautified under Vasco, so that it became one of the wealthiest commercial towns in the Indies, and was erected into an Episcopal See by the Roman Pontiff. The Portuguese have still a titular Bishop of Cochin, whose residence is at Goa or near Quilon ; but he does not possess the slightest authority here. This town formerly contained handsome churches, but they have been either demolished, or converted into magazines. The Church of St. Francisco alone remains, and is used for our reformed service ; while the Roman Catholics perform their services outside the city, having several churches scattered over the country. Before it fell into the hands of the East India Company, Cochin must have been a considerable town, as is proved by the remains of buildings which are everywhere to be seen ; but, since that time, it has become much less prosperous, in consequence of the restrictions imposed by the Company upon its commerce, which, under the Portuguese, had been entirely free, with the exception of the titles due to the Rajah. The town is situated at the mouth of a noble river abounding in fish, with pleasant well wooded banks, and studded with many islets which are planted with cocoanut palms. If wealthy persons ever settled here, as they do in Batavia, they might lay out very pretty villa residences and gardens upon these shores.

threw up the small island of Vaipeen on the north side of Cochin. The waters breaking through the hanks of the river Cocci, swept away the village, and formed a large river and back-water, and so spacious a harbour, that large ships can lie safely at anchor in the river on the North-east side of the town of Cochin. Vaipeen is thirteen miles long, and one broad. The natives date their era, from the period of its origin. It is called the Poodooveypa : from two Malayalum words poodvo, new, and veypa, foundation.

Bartolomeo says, “ Cochin is a beautiful city, built by the Portuguese, in the tenth year after the arrival of Vasco-de-Gama at Calicut. In 1663, it was besieged by a Dutch fleet under the command of Peter Van Bitter, and C. Valkenberg, who made themselves masters of it, and who carried off from it a great deal of riches. After that period the beautiful cathedral was converted into a warehouse for the Duch East India Company. It is intersected by beautiful streets : the arsenal is well provided with all kinds of military stores, and the citadel is strongly fortified. The latter in the year 1778, was supplied with new ditches, bridges, batteries and bastions, under the direction of the Governor Adrien Moens.”

This Adrien Van Moens has left a MS. account of Cochin including its history, trade, manufactures, the customs and religion of the people, &c. It •forms a large volume and is now among the Government Records of Malabar, and is undoubtedly, a document full of interest and information. — II. D.

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LETTERS FROM MALABAR.

As regards the fortifications, they are sufficient to protect the town against the natives, who do not understand the science of besieging, the methods of bombarding, &c. ; but they would not be strong enough to resist a large European force, especially as the garrison, consisting of only 300 men, is inadequate to man the walls.

The circumference of the town is tolerably extensive. It would take a man a good half hour to walk round the walls; but the space enclosed by them contains several unoccupied portions. The streets are regular enough, but the houses are quaint, and built after the old Portuguese fashion. Each apartment has a separate roof. The dwelling rooms are not level with the ground, but you mount several steps to reach the hall, which is the first apartment of the house : underneath are empty chambers, in which probably the Portuguese lodged their slaves, or stowed away their goods. Most of the rooms in the common houses are plastered, after the Hindoo custom, with cow dung, which serves for paA r ing, and is renewed every week. They say here that such floors are much more wholesome than stone ones ; it is certain at least that they retain the dampness in the rainy season.