s a good league in length along the shore, and that there
were many merchant vessels there from Calicut, Aden, Mecca, Java, and
Pegu, and other places." This splendid trade, however, began to decline
in the time of the Dutch, and shortly after we had opened Penang in 1785
it had almost entirely vanished.

[Illustration: OLD MALACCA

(From Godinho de Eredia's Work).

_Plate IV._]

[Illustration: ALBUQUERQUE

(From Godinho de Eredia's Work).

_Plate V._]

The Portuguese must have attached great value to this their first
settlement in what was then known as the "Golden Chersonese," for they
spent vast sums of money in fortifying it, and enclosed a considerable
enceinte by a wall of great height and thickness, and crowned the small
hill of St. Paul's within by the erection of a fine cathedral dedicated
to our Lady Del-Monte, with a monastery annexed to it. These
fortifications were afterwards razed to the ground, and some of the old
foundations may still be seen; but we left the buildings standing and
the greater part of the cathedral to go to ruins. Some of the tombstones
in the old nave bear the date 1515, and there is a tomb to the two
Bishops of Japan, but there is nothing to indicate that the saintly St.
Francis Xavier laboured here beyond a small tablet; but the memory of
his deeds is yet fresh amongst the traditions of the Portuguese
descendants still resident there.

Seen from the sea in these days, Malacca looks an antiquated old place,
with all the signs of desertion about it. The old ruins on the hill form
the most prominent feature in the landscape, and the once busy river
(see Plate VI.) is now almost closed even to boat traffic by the silt
which has been brought down from the interior. It is difficult indeed to
realize that this strange, dim old place was once the centre of a
thriving trade from so many distant countries, though it still carries
on its cultivation of rice and other grain, and this is yearly being
more developed.

As far as we can gather, the first batch of convicts were sent to this
place from Penang shortly after we took possession, and that they were
employed in filling up the moat to suit it and the glacis for a parade
ground. These convicts were confined first of all in the town jail,
which was situated on the steep or eastern side of St. Paul's Hill, and
was in point of fact the old Portuguese soldiers' barrack, and was
constructed on a terrace excavated from the hillside; and