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166 utter their complaints, as if in the presence of his spirit, and to call upon God to deliver them from the tyranny of his successors.

Downfall of the Portuguese in India.—In 1580, the Portuguese crown was united with that of Spain under Philip II. The interests of Portugal in Asia were henceforth subordinated to the European interests of Spain. In 1640, Portugal again became a separate kingdom. But in the meanwhile two hardier rivals, the Dutch and English, had appeared in the Eastern seas, and the Portuguese empire of the Indies was withering away as rapidly as it had sprung up.

The Portuguese Possessions in 1892.—The only possessions in India now remaining to the Portuguese are Goa, Damán, and Diu, all on the west coast, with an area of 1100 square miles, and a population of under 500,000 souls. There are also about 500 Portuguese in British India, besides a larger number of mixed descent. Over 30,000 of mingled blood are found in Bombay ('Portuguese' half-castes), and 20,000 in Bengal, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Dacca and Chittagong. The latter are known as Firinghis; and, excepting that they retain the Roman Catholic faith and European surnames, are scarcely to be distinguished, either by colour, language, or habits of life, from the natives among whom they live.

The Dutch in India.—The Dutch were the first European nation who broke through the Portuguese monopoly. During the 16th century, Bruges. Antwei p. and Amsterdam became the great emporia whence Indian produce, imported by the Portuguese, was distributed to Germany, and even to England. At first the Dutch, following in the track of the English, attempted to find their way to India by sailing round the north coasts of Europe and Asia. William Barents is honourably known as the leader of three of these Dutch arctic expeditions, in the last of which he perished. The first Dutchman" to double the Cape of Good Hope was Cornelius Houtman, who reached Sumatra and Bantam in 1596. Forthwith private companies for trade with the East were formed in many parts of Holland or the United Provinces; but in 1602 they were all