The second and third directories are established at Hoogly on the Ganges, and at Surat on the western coast of India, both in the territories of the Great Mogul, and the two most important places of trade in all Asia.  The Dutch, English, French, and other European natives trade to both, and have erected forts and magazines for their security and convenience.  The best part of the trade is carried on by black merchants, who deal in all sorts of rich goods; such as opium, diamonds, rich stuffs, and all kinds of cotton cloths.  The empire of the Great Mogul is of prodigious extent, and the countries under his dominion are esteemed the richest in the world.  The air is tolerably pure, yet malignant fevers are common, generally attacking strangers as a kind of seasoning sickness, in which, if the patient escape the third day, he generally recovers.

Most of the inhabitants of this country are tall black robust men, of gay and lively dispositions.  In point of religion, many of them are idolaters, more of them Mahometans,[2] and some of them Christians.  The idolaters are split into numerous sects, some of whom believe firmly in the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls; for which reason they will not take away the life of any living creature, not even daring to kill a fly or a flea.  They have even hospitals for worn-out oxen and old cows, where they are fed and attended till they die of age or disease.  These people are in general very industrious, but covetous, false, and perfidious.  They employ themselves, such as reside in towns, in the manufactures of silk and cotton; and those who live in the country are very diligent cultivators, so that they annually expect from hence vast quantities of grain to Batavia.

[Footnote 2:  This is an obvious mistake, as by far the greater part of the population is idolatrous.—­E.]

The Great Mogul is one of the richest and most powerful princes in the world, having a most magnificent court, and a numerous army always on foot.  The directors at Bengal and Surat know perfectly well how to deal with him, and, by making shewy presents, procure valuable diamonds and other precious stones in return.  Surat is a town of no great antiquity, yet very large and immensely rich.  It is in compass about five miles within the walls, and is computed to contain about 200,000 inhabitants.  The Moorish and even the Indian merchants here are many of them prodigiously rich.  The former chiefly addict themselves to the diamond trade, which is very precarious; for sometimes a small stock produces an immense fortune, while at other times, a man wastes immense sums without finding stones of any great value:  For, at the diamond-mines, the adventurers purchase so many yards square at a certain price, employing slaves to dig and lift the earth, taking whatever stones are found in that spot; which sometimes are of great value, and sometimes so few and small as not to pay costs.  Other Moorish merchants deal largely in foreign trade, and as the