fleet to be that of Marcar coming to his assistance; but hearing of the
destruction of his ally, he raised the siege and made peace.

It is proper that we should give some account of the rich and fertile
kingdom of Bengal on the bay of that name, which receives the waters of
the famous river Ganges by two principal mouths and many subordinate
creeks. This river has its source in the mountains of Great Tartary,
whence it runs southwards near 600 leagues, dividing India into two
parts _infra et extra Gangem_, or on this side and the other side of the
Ganges. On the great eastern mouth of the Ganges stands the city of
_Chatigam_ or _Chittagong_, and on the western mouth the city of
_Satigam_[208]. On the east of the Ganges, which runs through the middle
of Bengal, _Caor, Camatii, Sirote, Codovascam, Cou,_ and _Tipora_ were
subject to that kingdom, but the two last uniting together had thrown
off the yoke. On the west of the river, the country of _Cospetir_, whose
plain is overflowed annually by the Ganges as the land of Egypt by the
Nile, had been conquered by the Patans. According to the Pagans, God
hath granted to the kingdom of Bengal an infinite multitude of infantry,
to Orixa abundance of elephants, to Bisnagar a people well skilled in
using the sword and buckler, to Delhi a prodigious number of towns, and
to _Cou_ innumerable horses. The kingdom of Bengal, reaching between the
latitudes of 22° and 26° 30' N. is well watered and exceedingly fertile,
producing abundance of fruit, with sugar and long pepper, great
quantities of cotton, which the inhabitants manufacture with much skill,
and has great abundance of cattle and poultry. The natives are heathens
of a pusillanimous character, yet false and treacherous; for it ally the
case that cowardice and treachery go together.

[Footnote 208: It is impossible even to guess what place is meant in the
text by Satigam, unless it may have some reference to the river