Forbes, James, 1749-1819, James Forbes letter, Tellicherry, 1772 February 10, copied between 1794 and 1800
- CallNumber:
- Folio A 2023 69
- Creator:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819
- Title(s):
- James Forbes letter, Tellicherry, 1772 February 10
- Date:
- copied between 1794 and 1800
- Classification:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Series:
- Series I: A voyage from England to Bombay with descriptions in Asia, Africa, and South America
- ContainerGrouping:
- volume 5, page 97-103
- Provenance:
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
- AccessRestrict:
- The materials are open for research.
- UseRestrict:
- The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
- ScopeContent:
- Letter twenty-five finds Forbes arriving at the town of Tellicherry (now Thalassery). Forbes recalls his initial visit to the town, on his voyage to Bombay from England, though regrets that, “I could not from my short stay give you many particulars about it.” Then again: “nor indeed does it afford much subject for description.” Nevertheless, Forbes proceeds to offer a brief description of the area and its economic and cultural peculiarities. The East India Company fort is excellently situated, with plentiful access to fish and trade in a number of goods. Chief among these is cardamom, a spice which Forbes describes at length. It is used in cooking, or is chewed, or “is used medicinally as a stomatic, and a promoter of digestion.” Coffee, too, represents a chief product of the area, with plantations growing plants from seeds originally brought from Mocha. The fruit, however, “is inferior to the Coffee from Arabia, its native soil; it wants that peculiar flavor and refreshing quality of that delightful beverage.” Forbes follows his description of spices and fruits with a passage on several strange creatures. First is a tiger, shot near the town, whose coat was entirely black, yet with darker stripes and “glossed with purple.” Forbes also describes several smaller oddities, including the “flying-frog” and “flying-lizard,” the latter of which he takes as the “Draco-Volans, or Flying-Dragon of the ancients…still depicted in modern heraldry.” The final portion of Forbes’s letter is one he introduces with reluctance. He says, “It is a subject which I confess I mention with diffidence, being so contrary to the general received opinions of philosophers in this enlightened age.” He is speaking of the practice of ordeals, or situations in which a person accused of a crime will submit to some form of extreme ordeal as proof of their innocence. Forbes gives the example of a man who, convinced of his innocence, agrees to plunge his arm into a vat of boiling oil to retrieve a coin. If his arm is unscathed, he is considered vindicated. Forbes relates a recent incident as well: “two persons being accused of a capital crime, and submitting to the fiery trial, one of them took up the coin unhurt, the other was burnt in a shocking manner.” In closing, Forbes asks that the reader not judge these practices too quickly, given the violent past of Europe itself. This past was only superseded by “introducing the holy Eucharist, and the sacred cross of our Savoir.” Forbes concludes with a brief account of a pleasant stay at a French settlement. Portions of this text are included in <title>Oriental Memoirs</title>, volume 1, pp. 315-21. Bibliography: Brick, David. “The Court of Public Opinion and the Practice of Restorative Ordeals in Pre-Modern India.” <title>Journal of Indian Philosophy</title> vol. 38 no. 1 (February 2010): 25-38.
- PhysicalDescription:
- 7 pages
- Genre:
- Correspondence , Botanical illustrations, Ornithological illustrations, Travel sketches, Maps, Watercolors (paintings), Drawings (visual works), Engravings (prints), and Portraits
- Subject Terms:
- Forbes, James, 1749-1819. Descriptive letters and drawingsForbes, James, 1749-1819. Oriental memoirs
- Associated Places:
- EnglandItalyScotlandWales
- Associated People/Groups:
- East India CompanyForbes, James, 1749-1819
- FindingAidTitle:
- James Forbes archive
- Archival Object:
- https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199569
- Metadata Cloud URL:
- https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/3199569?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1