Hamilton’s account of the east indies.

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with a pair of tweezers, and pulls it very gently out, about an inch or two at a time, in24 hours, and rolls it round an hen’s quill, or fome other thing of-that thicknefs. Itis no thicker than the treble firing of a violin ; and I have feen of them, after theyhave been pulled out, about two foot and an half long. While it is in the leg, it isdaily covered with a plaifter, and if it chance to break in the operation, the patient willbe troubled with intolerable pains for a lortg time; and fometimes they are crippledby it. But the Mofa water coming from fprings amongft the mountains is very Tweetand wholefome.

Mocha is a place of good trade, notwithftanding its bad fituation ; for befides thecommerce with Sues and Judda, the Englifh and Dutch companies have their factoriesthere, befides a trade from India , carried on by Englifh free merchants, Portugueze,Banyans and Moors, and by veffels from Boflorah, Perfia and Mufkat in Arabia Petrea.The country, of itfelf, affords or produces very few valuable commodities, befidescoffee, and fome drugs, fuch as myrrh, olibanum or frakincenfe from Caflin,and aloes foccatrina from Soccotra, liquid florax, white and yellow arfenick, fomegum Arabick and mummy ; with fome balm of Gilead, that comes down the Red Sea .The coffee trade brings in a continual fupply of filver and gold from Europe , Spanifhmoney, German crowns, and other European coins of filver; alfo zequins, German and Hungarian ducats of European gold 5 and from Turkey, ebramies and mograbies,gold of low matt.

The pirates, for many years, infefled the mouth of the Red Sea , committing frequentrobberies and barbarities. Captain Evory was the firfl that led the w T ay, in anno 1695,and the pirates finding great booties, purchafed with fmall danger, from the traders intothe Red Sea , had a projedl to be mafters of the key of that door, fo they found theifland Prim, which lies within gun-fhot of Babelmandel, to have a good commodiousbay for the fecurity of their Ihipping ; upon which confideration, they began to buildregular fortifications, and dig for frefli water, and with much labour, they dug throughan hard rock, 15 fathoms deep, but found none, but brackifh water; wherefore theydefifted, and removed to St. Mary’s illand, on the, eaft fide of Madagafcar, as I ob-ferved before, and are fince removed, for more fecurity, over to the main ifland, andthere they fortify themfelves by marriages into the noble families of that great ifland,from whence they come into India , and cruize in thofe Seas. In anno 1696, theymet with a fhip from Bombay, commanded by one Sawbridge, who was carryingArabian horfes for Surat . After they took the fhip, Sawbridge began to expoflulatewith them about their way of life. They ordered him to hold his tongue, but he con-tinuing his difcourfe, they took a fail-needle and twine, fewed his lips together, and fokept him feveral hours, with his hands tied behind him. At length they unloofedboth his hands and lips, and carried him on board their fhip, and after they had plun-dered Sawbridge’s fhip, they fet her on fire, and burned her and the horfes together.Sawbridge and his people were fet afhore near Aden, where he died prefently after.

Captain Evory was not fo inhumane ; for the year before, he took a large fhip be-longing to the Mogul, and got a booty of 2,600,000 rupees, which amount to, in fterl-ing money, about 325,000k He freed the fhip, and let her go, without torturing thepeople ; but carried a young Mogul lady with him, and fome of her female fervants,who had been at Mecca to perform a vow, laid on her by her mother on her death-bed.

But, to return again to Mocha, from my long digreffion: the town is large, butmeanly fortified ; and, from the fea, it has a fine afpect. The buildings are lofty, andmake a much better appearance without than within. The fteeples of five or fix

mofques