Storia do Mogor 291.9

291.9

Up to this time this last town (Madras), where I have made my abode, had not been troubled by war on any considerable scale, and had enjoyed pleasant enough repose [88]. But now, in the midst of the troubles which have agitated the other settlements on this coast, we have seen the appearance in the heavens, early in the year 1702, of a long tail, which at first led us to the belief that it was a comet, and yet no head to it was visible. At length, after some days the two ends of this tail showed without any star. This celestial sign was visible from February 23 to March 6 following. The point was directed to the south, and it issued from the west ; the head continued to advance towards the east. Such signs have ever been the harbingers of approaching calamity or some revolution among men. God only knows what may come of it, but we have already begun to feel the effects of a war, the details of which I will give. To be still more clear, it is necessary to begin somewhat farther back and tell you what brought it upon us.