as been due to dogged British enterprise and
placid Indian co-operation, not to natural advantages, and that Madras
has prospered in spite of Madras. We must bear in mind, however, the
limited geographical knowledge of the times and the limitations to Mr.
Francis Day's choice; and, whatever the verdict may be, the fact
remains that the Madraspatnam of Mr. Francis Day's selection is now a
vast city, and that the Empire of India which was born at Chandragiri
is now a mighty institution.

CHAPTER III

FORT ST. GEORGE

When the tract of land at Madras had been formally acquired, the
European colony at Armagaum was forthwith shipped thereto (February,
1640). According to accounts, the colony, with Mr. Andrew Cogan at the
head, assisted by Mr. Francis Day and perhaps another chief official,
included some three or four British 'writers,' a gunner, a surgeon, a
garrison of some twenty-five British soldiers under a lieutenant and a
sergeant, a certain number of English carpenters, blacksmiths and
coopers, and a small staff of English servants for kitchen and general
work.

'Madras was a sandy beach ... where the English began by erecting
straw huts.' So says an old-time chronicle,[1] the work of an early
resident of Madras; and, if we take the word 'straw' in a broad sense,
we can easily conceive the scene. In Madras the bamboo and the palmyra
grow in abundance, furnishing materials for the quick provision of
cheap and commodious accommodation; and we can picture the pilgrim
fathers of Madras camped in palmyra-thatched mat-sheds on the north
bank of the Cooum river, near the bar, the while that the houses
within the plan of the fort are being built.

[Footnote 1: The chronicle was written by Manucci, an Italian doctor
of an adventurous disposition, who, after varied and surprising
experiences in northern India, settled down in Madras in 1686, and
married a Eurasian widow. 'Manucci's Garden,' where he lived, covered
a large area which is now occupied by a number of the houses at the
Law College end of Popham's Broadway, on the side that is nearest the
sea. The garden was watered by a stream that used to flow where the
Broadway tram-lines now hold their course. _Vide_ map, p. 10.]

[Illustration: MADRAS about 1710, A.D.]

[Illustration: Modern map (approximate) corresponding to the foregoing
map. (1) Old black Town is no more. (2) the Fort was extended about
1750. To provide ground, the Cooum was diverted. (3) Th