The country is beautified by many woods, in which are a great variety of goodly trees; but I never saw any there of the kinds we have in England. In general their trees are full of sap, which I ascribe to the fatness of the soil. Some have leaves as broad as bucklers; others are much divided into small portions, like the leaves of ferns. Such are those of the tamarind tree, which bears an acid fruit in a pod somewhat like our beans, and is most wholesome to cool and purify the blood. One of their trees is worthy of being particularly noticed: Out of its branches there grow certain sprigs or fibres, which hang downwards, and extend till they touch the ground, in which they strike roots, and become afterwards new trunks and firm supporters to the boughs and arms; whence these trees come in time to grow to a great height, and extend to an incredible breadth.[231] All trees in the southern parts of India are perpetually clothed in verdure Their flowers rather delight the eye than please the sense of smelling, having beautiful colours, but few of them, except roses and one or two other kinds, are any way fragrant.
[Footnote 231: The Banian tree, a species of Indian fig.--E.]
India is watered by many goodly rivers, the two chief of which are the Indus and the Ganges. There is this remarkable in the water of the Ganges, that a pint of it weighs less by an ounce than that of any other river in the empire; and therefore, wherever the Mogul happens to reside, it is brought to him for his drinking. Besides rivers, there are abundance of well-fed springs, on which they bestow great cost in many places, constructing many stone-buildings in the form of ponds, which they call tanks, some of which exceed a mile or two in circuit, made round or square or polygonal, girt all round with handsome stone-walls, within which are steps of well-dressed stone encompassing the water, for people to go down on every aide to procure supplies. These tanks are filled during the rainy season, and contain water for the supply of those who dwell far from springs or rivers, till the wet season again returns. Water, the most ancient beverage in the world, is the common drink of India, being more sweet and pleasant than ours, and agrees better with the constitution in this hot country than any other liquor. Some small quantity of wine is made among them, which they call arrack, but is not common, being distilled from sugar, and the spicy rind of a tree, which they call jagra. This is very wholesome, if used in moderation. Many of the people, who are strict in their religion, use no wine at all. They use a liquor which is more wholesome than pleasant, called cohha; being a black seed boiled in water, which does not much alter the taste of the water, but is an excellent helper of digestion, serving to quicken the spirits, and to purify the blood.[232] There is also another help for digestion and to comfort the stomach, used by those who refrain from wine. This is an herb called betel, or paune, its leaf resembling that of our ivy. They chew this leaf along with a hard nut, called areka, somewhat like a nutmeg, mixing a little pure white lime among the leaves; and when they have extracted the juice, they throw away the remains. This has many rare qualities: It preserves the teeth, comforts the brain, strengthens the stomach, and prevents a bad breath.
[Footnote 232: The author here describes coffee, now so universally known in Europe.--E.]
Their houses are generally very mean, except in the cities, where I have seen many fair buildings. Many of the houses in these are high, with flat roofs, where, in the cool of the mornings and evenings, they enjoy the fresh air. Their houses have no chimneys, as they use no fires, except for dressing their victuals. In their upper rooms, they have many windows and doors, for admitting light and air, but use no glass. The materials of their best houses are bricks and stone, well squared and built, as I have observed in Ahmedabad, which may serve as an instance for all. This is an extensive and rich city, compassed about with a strong stone-wall, and entered by twelve handsome gates. Both in their towns and villages, they have usually many fair trees among the houses, being a great defence against the violence of the sun. These trees are commonly so numerous and thick, that a city or town, when seen at a distance from some commanding eminence, seems a wood or thicket.
The staple commodities of this empire are indigo and cotton. To produce cotton, they sow seeds, which grow up into bushes like our rose-trees. These produce first a yellow blossom, which falls off, and leaves a pod about the size of a man's thumb, in which the substance at first is moist and yellow. As this ripens, it swells larger, till at length it bursts the covering, the cotton being then as white as snow. It is then gathered. These shrubs continue to bear for three or four years, when they have to be rooted out, and new ones substituted. Of this vegetable wool, or cotton, they fabricate various kinds of pure white cloth, some of which I have seen as fine as our best lawns, if not finer. Some of the coarser sorts they dye in various colours, or stain with a variety of curious figures.
The ships that go usually from Surat to Mokha, are of exceeding great burden, some of them, as I believe, exceeding 1400 or 1600 tons; but they are ill built, and though they have good ordnance, they are unable for any defence. In these ships there are yearly a vast number of passengers: As, for instance, in that year in which we left India, there came 1700 persons, most of whom went not for profit, but out of devotion, to visit the sepulchre of Mahomet at Medina near Mecca, about 150 leagues from Mokha. Those who have been upon this pilgrimage are ever after called hoggeis, [hajim] or holy men. This ship, from Surat for the Red Sea, begins her voyage about the 20th of March and returns to Surat about the end of September following. The voyage is short, and might easily be made in two months; but during the long season of the rains, and a little before and after, the winds are mostly so violent that there is no putting to sea without extreme hazard. The cargo of this ship, on its return, is usually worth £200,000 sterling, mostly in gold and silver. Besides this, and the quantities of money which come yearly out of Europe, which I do not pretend to calculate, many streams of silver flow continually thither, and there abide. It is lawful for all to bring in silver, and to carry away commodities, but it is a capital crime to carry away any great sums.
All the coin or bullion that comes to this country is presently melted down and refined, and coined with the stamp of the Mogul, being his name and title in Persian characters. This coin is purer silver than any other that I know, being of virgin silver without alloy, so that in the Spanish dollar, the purest money in Europe, there is some loss. Their money is called rupees, which are of divers values, the meanest being worth two shillings, and the best about two shillings and nine-pence. This is their general money of account. There is in Guzerat a coin of inferior value, called mamoodies, worth about twelve-pence each. Both these and the rupees are likewise coined in halves and quarters; so that three-pence is the smallest piece of current silver in the country. That which passes current for small change is brass money, which they call pices, of which three, or thereabout, are worth an English penny. These are made so massy, that the brass in them, when put to other uses, is well worth the quantity of silver at which they are rated. Their silver money is made both square and round; but so thick, that it never breaks or wears out.
For farther commodities; India yields great store of silk, which they weave very ingeniously, sometimes mixed with gold or silver. They make velvets, sattins, and taffetas, but not so rich as those of Italy. This country also produces many drugs and gums, and particularly the gum-lac, from which hard sealing-wax is made. The earth also yields abundant minerals, as lead, iron, copper, and brass, and, as they say, silver; yet, though this be true, they need not work their silver mines, being already so abundantly supplied with that metal from other nations. They have spices from other countries, and especially from Sumatra, Java, and the Molucca islands. They have curious pleasure gardens, planted with fruit-trees and delightful flowers, to which nature lends daily such ample supply, that they seem never to fade. In these places they have pleasant fountains, in which to bathe, and other delights by various conveyances of water, whose silent murmurs sooth their senses to sleep, in the hot season of the day.
Lest this remote country might seem an earthly paradise, without any inconveniences, I must notice that it contains many lions, tigers, wolves, and jackals, which are a kind of wild dogs, besides many other noxious and hurtful animals. In their rivers they have many crocodiles, and on the land many overgrown snakes and serpents, with other venomous and pernicious creatures. In the houses we often meet with scorpions, whose stinging is most painful and even deadly, unless the part be immediately anointed with an oil made of scorpions.[233] The abundance of flies in those parts is likewise an extreme annoyance; as, in the heat of the day, their numbers are so prodigious, that we cannot have peace or rest for them in any part. They cover our meat the moment it is set on the table, wherefore we are obliged to have men standing ready to drive them away with napkins, while we are eating. In the night, likewise, we are much disquieted with musquetos, like our gnats, but somewhat less; and, in the cities, there are such numbers of large hungry rats, that they often bite people as they sleep in their beds.