an hundred paces from the city. This place is so pleasantly situated,
that the Portuguese had a common saying, "That China was a good place
to get money in, and Cochin a pleasant place to spend it at." The
great number of islands formed by the rivers and canals, make fishing
and fowling very amusing; and the mountains, which are at no great
distance, are well stored with wild game. On the island of _Baypin_
[Vaypen], there stands an old fort called _Pallapore_, for the purpose
of inspecting all boats that pass between Cranganore and Cochin:
And five leagues up the rivulets, there is a Romish church called
_Varapoli_ [Virapell], served by French and Italian priests, and at
which the bishop takes up his residence when he visits this part of
the country. The _padre_, or superior priest at Virapell can raise
four thousand men on occasion, all Christians of the church of Rome;
but there are many more Christians of the church of St Thomas, who do
not communicate with the Romanists.[1] About two leagues farther
up than Virapell, towards the mountains, there is a place called
_Firdalgo_,[2] on the side of a small but deep river, where the
inhabitants of Cochin annually resort in the hot months of April and
May to refresh themselves. The banks and bottom of the river here are
clean sand, and the water is so clear that a small pebble stone may be
seen at the bottom, in three fathoms water.

[Footnote 1: A very interesting account of the remnant of an ancient
Christian church in the Travancore country, a little to the southward
of Cochin, has been lately published by Dr Buchanan, in a work named
Christian Researches in India, which will be noticed more particularly
in an after division of our Collection.--E.]

[Footnote 2: Perhaps Bardello, about the distance mentioned in the
text.--E.]

All the water along this low flat coast, to the south of Cranganore,
has the very bad quality of occasioning swelled legs to those who
drink it. This disease sometimes only affects one leg, but sometimes
both, and the swelling is often so great as to measure a yard round at
the ancles. It occasions no pain, but great itching, neither does
the swelled leg feel any heavier than that which occasionally remains
unaffected. To avoid this disease, the Dutch who reside at Cochin,
send boats daily to Virapell, from which they bring water in small
casks of about ten or twelve gallons, to serve the city. This water is
given free to the servants of the