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Bernier’s Voyage to the east indies.

be raifed, and that confequently the fea and the air, b^ing two fluid and heavy bodies,run down in this inclination : fo that it would be true to fay, that the fun advancingtowards one pole, caufeth on that fide two great regular currents, viz. that of the fea,and that of the air which maketh the monfon wind, as he caufeth two oppoflte ones,when he returns towards the other pole.

Upon this ground, raethinks, it might be faid, that there are no other but two mainoppoflte fluxes of the fea, one from the fide of the pole Arftic, the other from that ofthe Antartic ; that if there were a fea from one pole to the other, that palled throughour Europe , we fhould fee, that thefe two currents would there be regular every where,as they are in the Indies, and that that which hinders this regularity of the flux frombeing general, is, that the feas are intercepted by lands, which impede, break, and varytheir courfe ; in like manner as fome fay, that the ordinary flux and reflux of the fea ishindered in thofe feas that lie in length, as the Mediterranean doth from eaft to weft.And fo likewife might it be faid upon the fame foundation, that there are but two princi-pal oppoflte winds or fluxes of the air, and that they would be univerfally regular, if theearth were perfectly fmooth and equal, and one part like another every where.

An anfwer to the fourth queJlion } concerning the fertility, riches , • and beauty of the king-dom of Bengal.

All ages have fpoken of Egypt , as of the beft and fruitfuleft part of the world ; andwriters will not grant, there is any country comparable to it: but as far as I can fee bythe two voyages I have made in the kingdom of Bengal, I am of opinion, that that ad-vantage belongs rather to it, than to Egypt . It bears rice in that abundance, that itnot only fumifhes its neighbours, but many very remote parts. ’Tis carried up the riverGanges to Patna ; and ’tis tranfported by fea to Maflipatan, and to many other portsof the coaft of Cormandel. Befides, ’tis fent away into foreign kingdoms, and prin-cipally into Ceilon and the Maldives . Further, it alfo abounds in fugar, fo that itfurnifhes with it the kingdoms of Golkonda and Karnates, where there grows but verylittle. Arabia alfo and Mefopotamia are thence provided with it, by the way of Mokaand Baffora; and Perfia itfelf, by Bander-Abaffy. Moreover, Bengal is alfo the coun-try of good comfits, efpecially in thofe places where the Portugueze are, who, are dex-trous in making them, and drive a great trade with them. They ordinarily make ftoreof thofe big pome-citrons, as we have in Europe ; and a certain root, which is Iong-ifh, like farfaparilla, and very delicate ; and of that common fruit of the Indies calledamba, and of ananas, and the fmall miribolans, which are excellent; as alfo of lemonsand ginger.

’Tis true, that the country of Bengal yields not fo much corn as Egypt ; but if thatbe a defied, it is imputed to its inhabitants that eat very little bread, and much morerice than the Egyptians: yet it always bears what is fufficient for the country, and toafford excellent bifcuit?, very cheap, for the provifion of our European fhips, Englifh,Dutch, and Portugueze. You may there have, almoft for nothing, thofe three or fourkinds of legumes, which together with rice and butter, are the moft ufual food ofthe meaner people. And for a rupy, which is about half a crown, you may have-twenty good pullets or more ; geefe and ducks in proportion. There are alfo kids andfiheep in abundance, and fuch ftore of Pork , that the Portugueze, fettled there and ac-cuftomed to the country, live almoft on nothing elfe but that; and the Englifh andDutch vidual their fhips with it. There is alfo plenty of many forts of fifh, both frefkand fait: and in a word, Bengal is a country abounding in all things j and ’tis for this

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