DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70266#0459
THE BLACK-HOLE AT CALCUTTA.
409
with the rest, notwithstanding the offence he had given to
the Viceroy by defending the fort, and the notion that pre-
vailed of his being privy to the concealment of money; and
in this opinion he was confirmed by the confinement of the
three gentlemen who were detained with him, who were all
of them persons against whom Omychund was known to have
conceived a particular resentment.
Mr. Holwell, and his associates in captivity were con-
veyed in a kind of coach drawn by oxen, called a hackery,
to the camp, where they were loaded with fetters, and
lodged in the tent of a Moorish soldier, which being not
more than four feet by three, they were obliged to lie, sick
as they were, half in and half out the whole night, which
happened to be very rainy; yet the next day their fever hap-
pily came to a crisis, and boils broke out on every part of
their bodies, which, though they were extremely painful,
were the certain presages of their perfect recovery. The
next day they were removed to the coast, and by order of
General Mhir Muddon, were soon after sent by sea to Maxa-
davad, the metropolis of Bengal, to wait the Viceroy’s
return, and be disposed of as he should farther determine.
At Maxadavad they arrived after a voyage of 13 days, in
a large boat, in which they had no better provision than
rice and water, and no softer bed than some bamboos laid
on the bottom timber of the vessel; they were, besides,
exposed alternately to excessive heat and violent rains, with-
out any covering but a bit of old mat and some scraps of
sacking. The boils that covered them were become run-
ning soreS, and the irons on their legs had consumed the
flesh almost to the bone.
When they arrived at Maxadavad, Mr. Holwell sent a
letter to Mr. Law, the chief of the French factory, with an
account of their distress; and Mr. Law, with great polite-
ness and humanity, sent them not only clothes, linen, pro-
vision, and liquors, in great plenty, but. money.
vol. v. 3 g
409
with the rest, notwithstanding the offence he had given to
the Viceroy by defending the fort, and the notion that pre-
vailed of his being privy to the concealment of money; and
in this opinion he was confirmed by the confinement of the
three gentlemen who were detained with him, who were all
of them persons against whom Omychund was known to have
conceived a particular resentment.
Mr. Holwell, and his associates in captivity were con-
veyed in a kind of coach drawn by oxen, called a hackery,
to the camp, where they were loaded with fetters, and
lodged in the tent of a Moorish soldier, which being not
more than four feet by three, they were obliged to lie, sick
as they were, half in and half out the whole night, which
happened to be very rainy; yet the next day their fever hap-
pily came to a crisis, and boils broke out on every part of
their bodies, which, though they were extremely painful,
were the certain presages of their perfect recovery. The
next day they were removed to the coast, and by order of
General Mhir Muddon, were soon after sent by sea to Maxa-
davad, the metropolis of Bengal, to wait the Viceroy’s
return, and be disposed of as he should farther determine.
At Maxadavad they arrived after a voyage of 13 days, in
a large boat, in which they had no better provision than
rice and water, and no softer bed than some bamboos laid
on the bottom timber of the vessel; they were, besides,
exposed alternately to excessive heat and violent rains, with-
out any covering but a bit of old mat and some scraps of
sacking. The boils that covered them were become run-
ning soreS, and the irons on their legs had consumed the
flesh almost to the bone.
When they arrived at Maxadavad, Mr. Holwell sent a
letter to Mr. Law, the chief of the French factory, with an
account of their distress; and Mr. Law, with great polite-
ness and humanity, sent them not only clothes, linen, pro-
vision, and liquors, in great plenty, but. money.
vol. v. 3 g