Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society New Series 1952

In his letters to the Portuguese Crown the Governor and his 1 In his letter to the Portuguese Crown dated 28th December 1662 the Governor gives among the reasons which prevented him from ceding the Island to the English the fact that they had not fulfilled the terms of the capitulations. [...] But to-day thanks to the patronage of the Hollanders and the English it is the richest city and the most celebrated emporium in the whole of the Orient. [...] In a hollow which the sea has made a league to the north of the river called Soali 5 the ships of the English and the Hollanders that come to Surat ride at anchor and are so close to the land that they can cover the landing place of their sloops with the artillery from their ships. [...] Nevertheless save for the fact that he is lord of that fortress he cannot set his foot outside its limits without the express permission of the king.° The captain is also the treasurer of many millions; for in the fortress are deposited the revenues of the province " the customs dues and most of the coins that are struck in this city continuously. [...] Finding in the aversion of the Hindus to the beeeating and wine-drinking European missioner the true cause of the tardy progress of Christianity in the interior of India beyond the pale of the political influence of the Portuguese De Nobili tried a new method by adopting the ways of the Hindu Sanyasins and thus after the example of St.