Title
A Voyage to the East Indies: Page 72
Description
depriv’d of Rain a few Days it droops, withers, & dies. How wisely then has providence provided for its Creatures. Tho’ the Rains deny all Intercourse, and Traffick, yet they come periodically & afford I may say an agreeable Cessation to recruit Strength, adjust past Occurences & adopt future plans. Tho’ they forbid Exercise abroad they come follow’d by a Train of Blessings, Vegetation, Verdure, Strength Plenty & Delight. The Beasts as well for Food, as burden, find wherewithal in this comparatively short vacation, to be again useful in the Service of Man. The Air loaded with unsalutary Particles and Clouds with electrical Fire, might produce dreadful Havock on the Earth were it not thus defended. The Sources of the Springs and Rivers would be dried up, Wells exhausted, seeds in the Earth become lifeless, & depriv’d of those essential articles, how could the Inhabitants of the Earth exist. . . Bombay, tho not the Principal Settlement the Company possess in India, is of as great Importance to Navigation & of course to Commerce, as any of the other Places if not more so. It commands the whole Malabar Coast. The Fortifications are very good, and the Town well garrison’d would be able to sustain a long Seige. The Island is about Nine Miles long, and three broad, but unable to support its Inhabitants. Provisions are brought from Surat, & the Adjacent Island of Salsett where the Company have a Garrison. It is very rocky Yet in some Parts, innumerable Quantities of Cocoa Nut Trees grow, [end page 72]
