alter their opinion, were at last transported beyond the boundaries of _Tovala_. In the year 1786 the civil magistrate at _Parur_ sent a party of six soldiers to bring me before him, in order that he might be informed why I had baptised a Pagan family, consisting of eleven persons. I, however, got rid of the soldiers, by making oath, and immediately writing to the king, that these persons had come to me of their own free will, and offered to embrace the Christian religion, and that consequently it was impossible for me to reject them. The king had already honoured me with the _Viraciangala_, by which the magistrate perceived that the business might involve him in more trouble than he expected; and for that reason he let it drop. These newly-converted Christians had by this time been sent away from _Verapole_, and therefore they were beyond his reach. From this it appears that too much precaution cannot be employed when attempts are made to convert the Indians to the Christian religion: and incidents of this kind give an able missionary a sufficient opportunity of displaying his talents. CHAPTER IX. _Quadrupeds, Birds, and amphibious Animals on the Coast of Malabar._ That there is no want of oxen and cows in India appears from the second chapter of this work. Horses were brought hither from Arabia and Persia. They are of small size, but strong, exceedingly swift, and capable of enduring long fatigue[113]. I am of opinion, that all the horses here are of Arabian or Persian extraction; because there are none in the southern parts, and because horses of the like kind are still brought to Malabar in Arabian ships.