“I am sorry to hear that you have been unwell. Should your indisposition increase, or continue, so as to render you unable to pursue your journey with the necessary expedition, I beg that you will forward the Letters to Anjengo by a boat, with directions to Mr. Hutchinson to send them per tappy[[9]] to Palamcotah, and so on to Madras.
“I shall hope to hear of your recovery, and that you’ll have gone to sea.
“Your’s very truly,
Richard Mathews.”
[9]. Post, or express.
The receipt of this Letter induced me, bad as I was, to make one other exertion; and I resolved, though I should die on the way, not to leave any thing which, even by malicious construction, could be made a set-off against my claims: I therefore hired an open boat to carry me along the coast to Anjengo, and set out with every prospect of having the virulence of my disorder increased, by being exposed in an uncovered vessel to the damp of the night air, and the raging heat of the sun in the day, and of being arrested by the hand of death in my way. By the time I had got down the coast as far as Mangalore, my complaints increased to an alarming height; and I became speechless, and unable to stand. Fortunately there happened to be a Company’s vessel then lying at anchor off that place, the Captain of which had the goodness to invite me to remain on board with him, strenuously advising that I should give up the thoughts of proceeding immediately on my voyage to Anjengo, which I could not possibly survive, and to forward my dispatches by another hand. The Surgeon of the ship joining the Captain in opinion that I could not survive if I attempted it, and my own judgment coinciding with their’s, I at length consented, and remained there.
Tranquillity, kind treatment, and good medical assistance, produced, in the space of two or three weeks, so material a change in my health, I was in a condition to avail myself, at the expiration of that time, of a ship bound to Anjengo, and which offering the additional inducement of touching at Tellicherry, determined me to take my passage in her. When I arrived at Tellicherry, and during my stay there, the great attention shewn[shewn] me by Mr. Freeman, the Chief of that place, and the comforts of his house, restored me to a great share of health and spirits——And here a very singular circumstance occurred.
One day a vessel arrived; and perceiving a boat coming on shore from her, Mr. Freeman and I walked down to the beach, to make the usual inquiries——such as, where she came from? what news she brought? &c. &c. As soon as the boat touched the shore, a Gentleman leaped out of it, whose person seemed familiar to me: upon his nearer approach, I discovered that it was Mr. Brodey, a Gentleman who had been kind enough to take upon him the office of my Attorney, upon my leaving India some years before——not my Attorney in the ordinary acceptation of that word, but a liberal and disinterested friend, who obligingly undertook the management of my affairs in my absence, without the smallest hope of advantage, or rather under circumstances which served as preludes to further obligations. I was certainly pleased and surprised to see him; but his astonishment to see me amounted almost to a distrust of his eye-sight: he had received such indubitable proofs of my death, that my sudden appearance on his landing, at the first rush of thought, impressed him with the notion of a deceptio visus. My identity, however, was too positive for resistance; and his wonder melted down into cordial satisfaction, and congratulations on my safety. He then took out a pocket account-book, in which, for security against accidents, he kept accounts-current, written in a brief manner——and shewed me mine, settled almost to the very day, upon which was transcribed a copy of a letter he had received, and which he thought was a testimony of my death. So, cutting out the account, and presenting it to me, he expressed, in the most cordial and handsome manner, his joy that it was into my own hands he had at last had an opportunity to deliver it. This Gentleman is now in this Kingdom, and too well known for me to describe him. Suffice it to say, that in England, as well as in India, he has always enjoyed the esteem and respect of all his acquaintances, to as great an extent as any other person I know.
I again embarked to proceed on my voyage, and had hardly got on board when a ship dropped anchor along side of us, in which Captain Campbell of Comby, a very near connection of mine, was passenger. On hailing one another, he heard that I was on board, and immediately was with me. Those who sincerely love each other, and whose hearts confess the fond ties of consanguinity, can alone conceive what our mutual pleasure was at meeting so unexpectedly in so remote a corner of the world. He was then on his way to join the army. This amiable young man now reposes in the Bed of Honour at Mangalore! He fell, after having distinguished himself in the very gallant defence made by that place against the whole force of Tippoo. With regret we parted; and in due time I arrived at Anjengo without any accident befalling me, which was rather extraordinary.
Leaving Anjengo, I set out for Madras, designing to go all the way by land——a journey of near eight hundred miles. I accordingly struck through the Kingdom of Travancore, whose Sovereign is in alliance with the English; and had not long entered the territories of the Nabob of Arcot, before Major Macneal, an old friend of mine, and Commandant of a fort in that district, met me, preceded by a troop of dancing girls, who encircled my palanquin, dancing around me until I entered the Major’s house.