Memoirs and diary of Henry Abbott (1764-1819), recording his upbringing in the Middle East, his life in Bengal 1784-1802, first as an employee of the Government and then as a merchant, and his voyage to England in 1802/3 when his diary ends; also a copy of his genealogy. 2 volumes; 2 folios 1764-1802 (The British Library - India Office Select Materials - Mss Eur B412)


Brief Notes taken:

born 16 October 1764 in Constantinople, then family moved to Angora (modern day Ankara) with 2 younger brothers, William and Peter. He was one 10 children. His father was Joseph Abbott who died when Henry was 10 years old.

There were two uncles in Aleppo, Syria, one being George Abbott (who is described as affluent but avaricious), and one uncle in Constantinople.

Henry travelled with his maternal uncle to the house of George Abbott, ‘with as much hospitality as the sordid man was capable of showing’. Then to Aleppo where eldest uncle John Abbott was British Consul & his brother Robert Abbott, merchant & factor for the Levant Company. They travelled via French ships to Latackia on the Syrian Coast, they docked at Tripoli (Syria) where they received the kindest hospitality from Thomas Philips Vernon, British Consul, & brother of the admiral of the same name.

William lived with Uncle John; Henry lived with Uncle Robert. William was sent to school in England; Robert (described as a ‘gay [single and happy] and dissipated character’) remained in Aleppo, educated privately by Rev. Robert Forster (Chaplain of the British Establishment at Aleppo). He was apprenticed in to his uncle’s ‘counting house’.

Uncle John died 1783, leaving his wife & 4 sons. His brother William escorted the sons back to England & William and Henry (the author) did not meet again.

In 20 December 1802, Cousin George Abbott is in Calcutta, India.

Henry marries Margaret Welsh in Calcutta 5 April 1794. Her father died the same year. Their first child, Wilhelmina b. Nov. 1794, dies 9 days later. Other children: [also cross-referenced with the India Office Family history online seach]

Henry, b. 26 May 1796, he later had his own black man-servant.
Clementina, b. 20 May 1797
Margaret, b. 1st March 1801, baptised 4 April 1801 (parents shown as Henry Alexus & Margaret Abbott, born Calcutta) - N/1/6f.9
Augustus, b. 7 Jan. 1804, London, m. Charlotte Becher, she died June 1839, 2nd marriage Sophia Frances Garstin. Augustus died 25 Feb. 1867, Cheltenham - N/1/42f.86
Frederick, b. 13 June 1805, d. Littlecourt, nr. Huntington, Herts.
James, b. 12 March 1807 at ‘The Paragon’, Blackheath, Kent. Became an army cadet in the India Army on 14 Mar 1821, the surety for this posting being given by William Abbott (an uncle presumably) and Henry Abbott (presumably his father).
Saunders Alexius, 9 July 1811 - 7 Feb. 1894, 4th son of Henry Alexius of Blackheath and Margaret Welsh of Monksilver, Somerset - N/1/54f.2

Henry sells his business in India to 2 cousins - Robert (8 years his junior so born c. 1770) and his younger cousin George. However he remains a director of the firm for the first year, trading as Henry, Robert & John Abbott until Sept. 1802. He travelled back to England under Captain Logan with his wife & 3 children & niece Margaret (daughter of Henry’s brother-in-law Captain James Welsh), December 1802.

George [the cousin mentioned above?] writes a letter to Henry on 20th Dec 1802, ‘a thousand kisses’ to the admiral-clan, Margaret [wife] & Peggy [the daughter aka Margaret]- wishing the party a good voyage.

Volume I: (176 pages + map of Europe and South Asia folded in the rear of volume titled ‘to the officers of the East India Company’s Service, this outline chart is intended for their use to prick off a ship’s track’ - and hand written in the top corner: The red dotted lines show the travels of Henry Abbott from the year 1774 to the year 1803 - Angora, Constantinople, Tripoli, Aleppo, Basorah, Anjin [South India], Calcutta, Patna, homebound 1802-3: Table Bay [South Africa], Island of St. Helena, Dover, England.

In my Journal over the Great Desert of Arabia printed in Calcutta some years ago, I have traced my route to Bengal where, it will be remembered, I landed from the Neptune Packet [type of ship] on the 1st of November 1784; I entered now to record a short stretch of my life in India; for although nothing very extraordinary has occurred to render it interesting to strangers, my Children may not think it unworthy of perusal, were it only out of respect to a Father, whose happiness so much depends on their virtue & well doing; and the example I shall here exhibit to them, though faulty in many instances, & in some parts tinctured with imprudence, yet will not I hope upon the whole be found such as to disgrace me in their eyes.

I lament that I kept no memoranda of the events attending the earlier part of my life, but I was too young to foresee the utility of it, not so much to others as to myself, for I know nothing so likely to conduce to our safety in the rugged paths of life, as a retrospect of the works we have split upon through inexperience, and juvenile rashness or impetituosity; as far as however my memory will offset me at this distance of time, I am willing to take up the subject from my infancy and give a sketch of my youthful adventures.

I was born at Pera, which is one of the suburbs of the City of Constantinople, where all Europeans reside, on the 16th of October 1764 new style. At the age of four years, I went with my father & mother and two younger brothers to Angora [Ankara] in Anatolia where my father had established a mercantile house of business.

My father Joseph Abbott was a most upright, conscientious & religious man, a good Classical scholar, of much reading & sound judgement, & as Turkey does not afford seminaries of learning for European children, he devoted much of his time to our instruction in reading, writing, grammar & arithmetic & incubating into our young minds those principles of religion and probity which are of the utmost consequence of our happiness in after life. He seemed to have the particular art of conveying these salutary instructions in easy & familiar conversations with us; by occasionally reading to us choice passages out of the Old & New Testaments, explaining and commenting as he read, upon the moral to be derived from those holy records; the purposes for which Man was created so much more perfect than other animals, his duty to God, to his parents, and to the rest of Mankind: And he performed this task with such easy grace, & with such patience introducing now and then some pleasing anecdotes from memory calculated to fix our attention, thus we were always impatient for his hours of business to be ours, when we flocked about him as our oracle, petitioning for fresh instruction - and I am now persuaded, that more advantage is to be derived from this system of education than from all the severity of scholastic discipline, at least as far as regards impression on the men for our attention at the time was so fascinated and fixed that we could even after a lapse of some days, generally repeat to others very circumstantially the interesting stories we had heard, nor has the substance or the moral, ever been obliterated from my mind since.

We lived in this state of retirement, I call it retirement because there being no European Society & the Natives’ manner of living being very different from ours, we never sought for, nor felt the want of entertainment out of our own family, in simple innocence & true contentment, for my father would at his leisure hours enter into our juvenile plays & plans of amusement, invest a variety of little games, train us to riding, shooting & other manly exercises, which we had all the conveniences to practice, as we passed all the summer months at my father’s country seat called Efset, a few miles from Town, consisting of a most elegant house, extensive gardens, orchards & vineyards, abounding with all the choicest fruits of Europe & Asia in perfection. In a word, I have never since witnessed any scene, or situation that more nearly approached the description of the original paradise; but it was more of happiness than falls to the lot of humanity, & could not be expected to be permanent.

In the summer of 1774 while we resided at Efset, my father was seized with a violent dysentery supposed to have been occasioned by cold water after exercise, & there being no proper medical assistance in the country, the disease increased rapidly, & he died fourteen days after his first confinement. I was then ten years of age, the eldest of six children, (the youngest being a boy of two months old): The attachment between my father and mother was so great that I did not think she could have survived him long, she became insensible for a time, lost her milk, and not withstanding all the tender attentions of her family & domestics, my infant brother languished & died in a few days, increasing her misery & our own. My brothers & sisters were perhaps too young to recollect the scene that immediately followed my father’s death, but my fondness for him was next to adoration, it made so deep an impression in my memory that it appears to me even now in the liveliest colours. I was in the nursery when I heard the lamentations, indicating the sad event, I became almost frantic, I ran out in spite of opposition, I pushed down a little old maid servant who was attempting to stop me at the door of my father’s chamber, I rushed to his bedside & succeeded in the purpose of imprinting a last kiss on his cold hand before he should be committed to the earth, & young as I was, this insignificant act seemed more to compose my mind than any other consolation offered to me before by the good people about us.

In a few days the funeral took place, the family removed to the town house, and my two uncles at Aleppo & one at Constantinople were written to for their advice & assistance. My Uncle George Abbott of Constantinople who was a very affluent man but very avaricious, appointed his Agents to take charge of my father’s effects & having represented to his other two brothers that the Estate was insolvent (note added in small script: notwithstanding this report of the insolvency of my father’s estate of which my uncle George Abbott has the charge, ten years after this upright man was forced to acknowledge that having during that period... of my Mother & Sisters & My Brother Peter’s ... there was still at ... remaining from the Estate of several Hundred Pounds which was obliged to divide amongst us - My Brother and I gave up our shares to our Mother); they agreed each to take one of us boys to support & educate, leaving the two girls under the care of our Mother. Thus in a few short months after my father’s decease, my brothers William, Peter and I took leave of our dear Mother & Sisters and left the once happy seat of our infancy perhaps for ever; this is a simple tale, but to a reflecting mind it will afford much useful reflection on the sudden fluctuations to which all mankind is subject, and which none of us can either foresee or prevent; let no man therefore say I am happy today & therefore shall continue so for a month to fulfil the multifarious projects I have formed in my head, let us make the best use we can of the present moment while it is our own and be thankful if we are spared to do the like tomorrow to the end of the Chapter.

We travelled by easy journeys, on horses, with our baggage on mules, under the protection of our maternal Uncle & in (I think) about 16 days we arrived in Constantinople, without any material occurrence that I can recollect. We were received at the house of my Uncle George Abbott with just as much hospitality as the sordid man was capable of showing to any one, from whom he did not expect some return. We lived with him about a fortnight, when a French Brig being ready to sail for Cyprus, my brother William & I embarked on our way to Aleppo [later period archive view] where my eldest Uncle John Abbott was British Consul & his brother Robert Abbott merchant & factor for the Levant Company. On our voyage we touched at most of the delightful islands of the archipelago, but at so tender an age I was incapable of making those observations, which the varieties and beauties of the scenery presented to our view, & which are I believe very worthy of description, we stopped but a very few hours at each of these islands, the object of halting at all being to deliver and receive packages from port to port something on the plan of the Stage Coaches in England. After a passage of about 25 days we landed on the Island of Cyprus, & were received with much hospitality by Mr. Boddington then British Consul at Cyprus & a friend of my Uncles. No conveyance offering immediately for the Coast of Syria, we lived with Mr. Boddington for three months & an half experiencing every civility both from his Lady & himself.

The Island of Cyprus has afforded so much subject matter for the pens of both Ancient & Modern Historians, that any observations from a Boy of my age can no way be worthy of record; as far however as my unripe faculties enabled me to judge, most parts of it are highly picturesque and richly abounding, in orange, lemon, lime, citron and other fruit trees in perfection. The inhabitants are -?- partly Greeks & Mohametans, but the modern Greek is the most prevalent language spoken all over the Island, the men are comely & well made, but I fear the Goddess who is said in early ages to have presided over & delighted in this Island has long since forsaken it, for excepting Mrs Boddington, who was certainly a pretty little woman & a native of Smyrna, I did not see a female that had the smallest pretention to beauty, which is more remarkable as most of the Archipelago Islands abound in fine women.

Cyprus if famous for fine mules & hardly any other animal is used for riding & driving. The produce in stable articles in not great, some cotton & tobacco are cultivated, much land is laid out in vineyards & a considerable quantity of wine made annually. The Cyprus white wine which is so much esteemed as a cordial all over the world, is peculiar to this Island & drank there in very great perfection & very old; I have tasted some more than 60 years of age, very rich and luscious. It is a custom in most of the affluent families, on the birth of a child to lay up in a vaulted cellar a pipe of this wine with directions written upon it that, “it shall not be tapped, but at the wedding of the eldest grandchild of the infant then born” & these instructions being always most scrupulously observed, it is not uncommon to meet with very old wine.

I have seen here specimens of mineral flux, the asbestos, which were in ancient times, according to tradition, spun into tread, wove & worn for garments, which when soiled were purified by fire instead of being washed with water, but the art of spinning it is now lost. Isingloss [?] stone talk are found in abundance & substituted in the room of past of glass for windows; they have also a soft white polished stone which they call alabaster, much used in ornamental work for benches, window seats etc., takes a beautiful polish, and though not very durable, it being very cheap, the inhabitants can afford to have it often renewed.

After watching the length of time I have already mentioned a French vessel having put in to water at Cyprus, we embarked for Latachia (the ancient Laodecea) on the Coast of Syria; we touched at Tripoly of Syria where we received the kindest of hospitality from Thomas Philips Vernon Esq. British Consul & brother to the late Admiral of that name; after spending two days with him we proceeded in the same vessel & soon arrived in Latachia at the house of Mr. Sciperas who had been clerk to my uncle but was then acting as Factor Marine for the English Merchants of Aleppo. He provided us with mules, horses & all other necessities for our journey of between 80 & 90 miles to Aleppo which city we reached in three days. It being so settled that my Uncle John should take charge of my Brother William & his Brother Robert to have the care of my education, we were accordingly separated for the first time in our lives.

My Brother’s Guardian thought it best to send him to an academy in England for instruction & he was despatched accordingly in the first ship the Royal George, Captained by Peter Young. My guardian was of a different opinion & he preferred a private education for me. The Revd. Mr. Robert Foster who was then Chaplain of the British Establishment at Aleppo a man of education & talents & an excellent scholar, undertook the arduous task of becoming my instructor, and although he has now been dead many years, I owe it to his memory to acknowledge with gratitude, that while he was strict & severe, he was steady & indefatigable in discharging trust reposed to him to the best of his abilities, both on my literary studies & on my moral principles, & if it shall appear that I have not made better use of his instructions, it has been principally my own fault. I studied under Mr. Foster until the age of 15 years when my uncle took me into his counting house that I might learn merchants accounts & the general routine of commerce. And had he been as able & steady as he was anxious to promote my welfare, it certainly would have been the plan he could have adopted; but unfortunately my Uncle Robert, a single man of a gay & disputed character, though of good natural abilities, totally neglected that personal attention which every man who expects to prosper must pay to his business & left the counting house & the correspondence to be managed by the clerks, to whom I was to look for every instruction; I was willing to learn & I will do justice to the good nature of the clerks, by saying that they never refused me any information I required during the hours of business, but as they were mostly young men, who had their own amusements to call them away at leisure hours, they were always anxious for the moment to shut up the office, & I was left at home to amuse myself as well as I could. This solitary life on the evenings gave me a relish for reading - but as the library was at my commission & no one to direct my choice, I of course read many romances, novels & plays, while my time might have been much better employed. There was another serious inconvenience attending my lonely situation, namely, that when I was tired reading, I must have either associated with servants, which I was early taught to avoid, or I must have got myself into mischiefs, for every boy’s time will be employed one way or another, & if it is not directed & filled up properly, it will in all probability lead to ruin. This was exemplified by a circumstance that happened one evening that I was thus left to my solitary discretions. I had taken up an Italian book, which amused me till it became too dark to read, & being too tired of that amusement to call for the aid of light, I threw down the book & walked towards the sideboard, upon which some person had imprudently left a bottle of rum. Now, my Uncle had an aversion to all kinds of wine & spirits, and as he never tasted any himself, a youth like me cannot be supposed to indulge alone at table in those articles of luxury, I was consequently as unused to drinking anything stronger than water as an infant. Approaching the bottle & finding what it contained I thought it no harm to taste it, the first gulps exhilarated my spirits & made me bold for another, a third & perhaps a fourth, thus far I can recollect the circumstance myself, but what happened afterwards. I have only from the report of servants & others, whence it appeared that I had taken more than half a pint of raw rum, that I had gone into my room loaded a pistol with a ball, & fired it up the chimney, after which I had fallen down senseless on the floor where they found & put me to bed, & though I awoke the next morning, I was so unwell that I did not recover the effects of this debauch for several days. Young as I then was I felt sensible of the great danger I had escaped, for in a state of intoxication, having loaded a pistol it was likely that I should do mischief with it to myself or to some other person, as to discharge it harmlessly into the chimney. I do not at present recollect what kind of reproof I received on this occasion, or whether I was at all corrected for it; but it was evident, that my uncle saw the impropriety of leaving me thus forlorn every evening, but as he could neither give up his evening parties abroad, nor yet let me accompany him, he permitted me after office hours to go out & pass my time with such families of our acquaintances as I thought proper; thus if I did not go wrong, that thanks were not due to him, for he never enquired where I spent my time, it was quite sufficient for him if I returned home by nine o’clock to supper. Fortunately for me however, I had taken a great fancy to gain a proficiency in the Italian language, I being intimate with the family of a Roman physician Doctor Salina, a very respectable man who had two daughters & three sons grown up all of whom were fond of me, & as I generally met good company there, I passed my evenings very agreeably with them when I was not otherwise engaged. The language we spoke was always Italian & the young ladies with great good will corrected my errors. We often read together & frequently got up plays from Mitastasio & Goldoni in which I always had a part, & whenever we were sufficiently perfect, my uncle the Consul generally invited a party of select friends to form the audience which we exhibited upon a neat little theatre he had built for the purpose at his own house. The characters in general well supported, & the whole together formed at once, a pleasing, innocent & instructive amusement, much to be desired amongst a circle of friends in any part of the world, but no where more than in Turkey where there is so little variety of diversions, beyond those of the card table & the field. In field sports I also indulged, as my uncle allowed me to keep my own horse, guns & dogs, but I never absented myself from the Counting house excepting on Saturdays & such other days as did not interfere in the least with business & even then I always paid my uncle the compliment of asking his permission lest I should be wanted, these relaxations were absolutely necessary for the preservation of health. Frequently it fell to my lot to make excursions upon business to distant parts, sometimes to escort a messenger with East India Despatches part of the way into the desert lest they should be intercepted by French intrigues in time of war, at other times, I was sent to Latachia & Scanderoon on the arrival of any ship from England, to attend to the landing & transmit of the goods to Aleppo. On some of these excursions I have sometimes met with little adventures which tho’ trifling in themselves may serve to give some idea to those who have never visited those parts, of the tempers, dispositions and customs of the different people who inhabit both the tame and wild parts of Turkey, and if such narratives tend to remove prejudices from the mind, and guide a stranger in his conduct so as to ensure safety, the digression may be excused rather than condemned as mal apropos.

In one of my journeys to Scanderoon [later period archive view] a young friend of mine, expressed a wish to accompany me thro’ mere curiosity, & as I had no objection to it, we fixed our day for departure which arriving we two with my Armenian servant mounted our horses & took the road to Scanderoon over the mountains by the way of Antioch. These mountains are frequently infested with Turkmen robbers, who having no fixed habitations, move like the Arabs in large tribes, with their families pitching their camps whenever they find pasture and conveniences, & where they are least likely to be disturbed by the Government troops; whence they send out their marauding parties to plunder all passengers & caravans which they can overpower, they seldom kill unless resistance is made & a battle ensues. Aware of this tho’ we had not much property to lose, it was our object to avoid these parties, by travelling only during broad day, & by so contriving as to reach some inhabited village before sunset. It so happened however that on our second days march we mistook the road to the village we intended to sleep at, and in getting to the top of a hill, we perceived the Turkomen camp within three quarters of a mile on the other side; we stopped to consider what would be the most prudent steps to adopt on this critical occasion. My young friend was greatly alarmed & proposed galloping back; my servant said he would do whatever I pleased. I saw there was little chance of our getting away unperceived, & if we were pursued we knew not where to take refuge, I therefore resolved at once to ride with apparent confidence into the camp & my companions were constrained to follow me. The people turned out of their tents, staring at us, as in wonder at such uncommon visitors. On approaching them I gave the usual salutation which they returned and asked them to show us the tent of their chief, which they readily did, at the entrance of the tent I dismounted & made my friend & servant do the same, the former with much hesitation, for he did not seem to like our situation; I told him it was not a very pleasant one but I had no doubt I should get him out of every scrape, if he would but try to conceal his fears. We left our horses with the servant & I was ushered into the Great Man’s tent with my friend close to my elbow ready to drop. The chief was surly looking old man, sitting on a carpet with his back reclined on a pillow from which posture he scarcely deigned to move at our entrance. I offered him the salutation, which is by placing the right hand open upon the left breast (as the seal of the heart) & wishing him a happy evening. This he returned in a peevish tone with words imposting a welcome. He desired us to be seated on a dirty carpet opposite to him, when I began my address, by saying that we were English merchants going to Scanderoon upon business; that we had no expectation offending him encamped there, otherwise we should not have come empty handed (meaning we should have brought him some presents of value), that being benighted, perceiving his camp from a distance & recollecting at the same time the fame of the hospitality which we had heard from many quarters, we had made bold to ask him for a nights accommodation, as there were no villages at hand; but that we should never forget his kindness, & would, the next time we came that way, endeavour to make amends for our present neglect. He stroked his beard two or three times, and answered in his usual tone, that all presents fell to the lot of his neighbours (meaning another tribe of these marauders) & all the trouble of strangers on himself however, he added “be under no apprehension, since you have placed confidence in me, I will entertain and give you every protection for the night”. He immediately ordered a suckling lamb to be killed, stuffed & dressed in the usual way for supper & while that was getting ready we had pipes & coffee & became by degrees less shy of each other than we had been. We talked upon indifferent subjects, but in the middle of our conversation he suddenly recollecting himself, exclaimed “by my faith, it just occurs to me that you may render me a very essential service at the place to which you are going”, (imagining that he meant to give me a hint to bring him something he had taken a fancy to) I assured him we should be happy to have it in our power to return his kindness; but I was somewhat surprised & mortified when he continued “I have a son, he is an only son & the finest youth you ever beheld, a few weeks ago I had sent him at the head of a chosen party to intercept and plunder a small rich caravan, but he unfortunately fell in with a strong body of cavalry belonging to the Pashau of Bylan who attacked him; my son & his party fought like lions but being overpowered, he, with some of his people were made prisoners, and are now in goal under sentence of death; now I know that the English have considerable influence with the Pashau of Bylan, who can refuse you nothing, I therefore expect that on your arrival at Scanderoon you will by every means in your power obtain my son’s release & return him to me for his mother is almost distracted; as to his attendants if they can also be released it is well, otherwise it is not of much consequence but beware, remember my hospitality towards you and that I can admit of no excuse for your neglecting my requests, if you do not obtain his liberty, you had better not fall in my way again; but if you bring him back, I shall not be ungrateful for so great a favour”. From the firmness and earnestness with which he spoke, I perceived he had such an opinion of the English influence over the Pashau, that by any hesitation of a promise on my part, we should gain nothing, and knowing as I did that there was no crime however great which could not be bought off for money, I thought of precedent to assure him, we should do everything in our power (if his son was still alive) to extricate him from his perilous situation. He claimed again & again, by the sacred bond of bread & salt eaten together (which they consider as the most inviolable pledge) a promise that I would not neglect his suit, & I as often gave him the same assurances I had done before. Now the supper being ready, a nice tender lamb, stuffed with almonds, raisins & various spices and roasted whole was placed on the ground in a large copper trencher, with flat cakes of their own baking & we were invited by the old gentleman to approach & partake with him. The ceremony of carving is more simple with them than with us, as knives & forks never form a part of their table equipage. He tore the limbs of the lamb with his two hands, helping a good portion to each of us upon our flat cakes which served as plates, & for the stuffing each person dipped his wooden spoon into the general ... as he felt inclined. We found this a very fine savoury dish, & perhaps the appetites we brought with us did not tend to lessen its merits. Having made a hearty supper, soap & water were brought to wash our hands & pipes and coffee as usual brought up the rear till near ten o’clock, when the old chief took leave of us (as we were to depart by daylight) and retired to his family tent, whence he sent out for our use two greasy pillows, and as many dirty quilts, which with the carpets we were sitting upon completed our beds for the night. Being myself accustomed to travelling, where conveniences are not much better, I slept pretty well; but the novelty of the scene to my young friend, this apprehension of treachery from such a lawless set of men, prevented him from closing his eyes all night, as he afterwards told me, and he called me up earlier than it was necessary to beg we would be off. As soon as the light began to dawn, our horses were brought & we proceeded without the least trouble or molestation, nor did the attendants appear to expect any reward for the trouble we occasioned them.

On our arrival at Scanderoon, this adventure being the uppermost in my thoughts, I communicated it to our Vice-Consul Mr Sholl, who was on a friendly footing with the Pashau of Bylan, & he readily admitted the necessity of doing all that laid in our power to attach the object, but he thought it would be prudent to wait till I had settled all my other business there so as to be ready to return, that no impediments might be thrown in the way, after we obtained the Prayer of our petition, either thro’ the fickleness of the Pashau himself or the intrigues of his people. Having in a few days finished the landing & clearing the cargo or ship, I got ready for my departure; and attended Mr. Sholl to wait upon the Pashau of Bylan, with some suitable presents such as a watch and case, of silver mounted pistols & some other articles. We were received with kindness & pomp & after being treated with pipes & coffee we begged for the emancipation of the young robber. The Pashau at first appeared inflexible, commenting on the evil consequences of letting loose so formidable an offender; but at the sight of the peace offerings he became less austere & began by degrees to yield to our humble solicitations; finding him in this disposition we redoubled our importunity till at length he said “To convince you of my friendship & regard for the English Nation, I make you a present of the boy as your slave”. He accordingly ordered the youth to be taken out of prison & delivered to us. We then took our leave of him with thanks, and as my horses were ready waiting in the yard, we mounted, put the young robber upon the baggage horse & proceeded without delay on our return. He was a handsome youth about nineteen years of age, of a lively enterprising address. When it was explained to him by the goaler that he owed his life to us, his countenance beamed with a mixture of joy & gratitude, but devoid of any symptoms of cringing pusillanimity; he did not say much but assured me his father & family would not forget us. We retracted the road by which we had come. It was early in the morning when we arrived on sight of camp. We perceived his mother with her attendants on the top of an eminence, eagerly watching our approach; they moved towards us & as we drew near the young man, alighting from his horse flew into his mother’s arms who received him with tears of pleasure. It was I think a most affecting & a most interesting scene, & I did at that moment feel perhaps the most gratifying sensation of my life, from which, even the idea of his being a public robber worthy of a halter, did not in the least detract. We were once more led to the tent of the old chief, who now received us with a countenance far different from that I have described at our first interview. He rose to embrace me, seated me at his right hand, asked me a thousand questions, & would pain have made me promise to spend some days with him. I told him that would be impossible, as we had pressing business which required our speedy return home & that I must set off that same afternoon, but I would with pleasure partake of his hospitality so far as to dine with him, as their dinner hour is about twelve o’clock. He then asked me what he could offer as a recompense for my having rendered him so great a piece of service. I told him that the pleasure I received from my success in a business so near his heart was the greatest reward which could be offered me, at the same time, to show my respect for his generosity, as he insisted upon my boon; I would with his permission request of him to give orders throughout his tribe & dependants that any traveller or goods belonging to the English passing and repassing between Aleppo & the Sea Coast should not be plundered or molested by any of his parties, whether he or his son are at the head of them or not. To this he exclaimed with some astonishment “And is this all you ask! Then I swear by the sacred tie of bread & salt, that not only they shall go unmolested, but let them only mention your name & come to me direct without fear and if any of my people shall dare to hurt one hair of their head, by my Faith, the man that does it shall be impaled”. I thanked him kindly, & at his request gave him my name written in Arabic characters, which he pronounced several times to get it correct. We spent the remainder of the morning in smoking & going about the camp to look at his stud of horses & mares (for the finest & most esteemed horses in Syria are bred by the Turkmens) it was certainly a gratifying sight, for they are fed, groomed & kept in the highest order. The horses are mostly reared for sale, but they always keep the mares for their own riding & to breed from. Having admired what we saw, we returned to the tent & had a sumptuous dinner of various dishes of meat dressed in different ways, eggs fried, pillaws, clotted cream & sweet milk & having smoked the afternoon’s pipe, we prepared for our departure, the chief accompanying us to the entrance of the tent, where in addition to our own horses I found a beautiful young grey horse, completely caparisoned in their style, which he desired I would accept as a trifling present for his sake. I knew that refuse such a gift would not only be deemed the height of ill manners but a personal insult to him of which I was by no means inclined to be guilty, I therefore told him I was quite ashamed not to have it in my power then to make a suitable return to his generosity, but that I should hold the horse in high esteem as his gift. After mutual compliments I mounted my newly acquired steed & we returned to Aleppo without meeting anything more worth relating.

I have been rather prolific in the narrative of this adventure from a wish to show, that as these roving tribes, destitute of any fixed habitation are obliged to subsist in a great measure on plunder; their sales of cattle, horses & the produce of their dairies being precarious & insufficient for many of the comforts of life; they have from long habit ceased to consider robbery a moral crime; so that they talk of these their exploits with the same case that we should of our successful or unfortunate adventures in the course of honest trade. But that, in many of the other social virtues, such as gratitude, bravery, magnanimity, hospitality, & an inviolable observance of promises, they need not yield the palm to the most civilized nations in the world. The characters of the inhabitants of great towns & of the Turkish soldiery are very different, they are an enthuscastic, tyrannic and a dastardly set, insolent & oppressive where they can be so with impunity, but if they meet with steady resolution to resist, their arrogance is very soon checked. Of this also I shall give one or two instances from personal observation.

My uncle was expecting some friends from India who had taken the route of the great desert of Arabia; and as I had been working hard at my desk for some time, I obtained his permission to go for a short time into the desert to meet them, by way of a little shooting recreation. I took with me my Armenian servant, both of us being armed with pistols, a rifle carbine, a fowling piece & our swords. We carried no provision, as I intended keeping near some village where money would procure all that was necessary for subsistence. We travelled for about twelve miles and stopped at the village of Hagluk, not far from the Salt Lakes on the skirts of the desert. The house of the sheikh or primate of the village is always considered the quarters for accommodating strangers & it is an advantage to the man when these strangers are of the proper look. The sheikh, a very respectable looking old man came out and very civilly invited me as usual to his house whither we repaised & were received in a room about 15 feet square detached from his own family apartments, which room is the only public one, serving both as Parlour, a Council room & at night for strangers to sleep in, for every guest is expected to bring his own carpet & pillow, & takes proposition of the first vacant corner he finds, which he keeps as long as he chooses to remain there. The room was vacant at the time & I chose the snuggest part of it for myself & placed my servant’s bed close to mine, our arms hanging close by our pillows, and feeling very comforable in this situation I resolved to make it my fixed quarters, and to go about in the day in search of game and amusement. As everyting was very cheap, & as I paid my reckoning every morning, with whatever the place could afford, I was sure to be supplied abundantly & of the best, such as poultry eggs, clotted cream, sweet milk, barley & fine grass for my horses etc. After I had lived there some days, on my return from the field one afternoon, I observed to Dellybashes, these are horse Grenadiers in service of the Pashaus, they are occasionally sent about to different villages to collect revenue, or raise contributions under a plea of state necessity; but it often happens that some of these troops are disbanded & discharged for their misconduct, but as their uniform is not taken from them they travel about the country as Copisees or disbanded soldiers, committing robberies, cruelties & excesses beyond belief, often pretending they are the emissaries of some Pashau, & when these are taken they are invariably either impaled, hung, strangled or beheaded according to their rank. These two Dellybashes were I suspect of the latter description. They had just arrived on horseback, were well armed & accocitred-?- & stopped at the Sheikh’s house just as I entered it. They called the people of the house to take their horses & walked into the room where I lodged. They sent for the venerable old primate & with abusive language and the most insolent authority ordered him instantly to kill & dress a lamb for their supper with plenty of milk & cream; obedience being promised in the humblest tone they began to disencumber themselves of their heavy arms, got carpets spread for themselves & took proposition of the corner opposite to mine, then one of them getting up went without ceremony in the yard to a heap of grass that I had bought for my horses, took up as much of it as he could embrace in his arms & was moving away with it when I, who had been already shocked at the indecency of their conduct, could govern my patience no more, but ran out of the room with my carbine in my hand I called to him “Friend where are you going with that grass?” he turned round in a surly tone & said, “To feed my horse to be sure” I told him that grass way mine; “And what then?” was the answer; I said I had paid for that grass to feed my horses, & that I was not inclined to let him have it, for that if he chose to pay for the grass or anything else, I was sure the people would be glad to bring it him, but it was no wonder, if after his insolence to the people of the village they were not so ready or quick in serving him; I added “I am an Englishman & not afraid of Pashaus & Dellybashes nor will I be treated as you treat these poor people, I desire you will instantly carry back that grass to where you found it, or I must compel you to do so” upon which he returned to the heap, and as he put back the grass, I heard him mumble, “Here it is, was it a matter of much value that I took from you?” “Much or little” I told him, “it is my property, & you shall not touch it at your peril, without my permission, for I mean to convince you & these people, that your conduct is improper, unjust & offensive”. He made no reply and I imagine they got the poor peasants to bring grass for their horses by the same means they procured every thing else i.e. by violence & compulsion; for in the evening when the articles they had ordered for supper were brought before them some fault was found with everything, & abuse was the substitute for thanks. They slept there that night, but my mind was so filled with the adventures of the day & my altercation with them, that I had very little rest & rose earlier than usual, but did not think it prudent to go out that morning while they remained, lest they should carry off some of my things in my absence. Not wishing to muddle with them as long as they did nothing to molest me & mine, I sat quiet in my corner to witness the most repugnant scene I ever beheld. The first thing they did on rising, was to call for everything the village could afford for their breakfast, using the same indecent language to those that served them. Having done eating they called for the old Sheik, & on his entering they addressed him by the title of Infidel, told him they were now ready to go, but that he must pay them a sum of twenty piastres. The old man humbly pleaded poverty & said it was utterly impossible for him to raise such a sum in any reasonable time for them at that village, upon which one of them flew with such violence at him, seized the venerable old man by his long white beard, shook him in an unmerciful manner & threatened to break his bones if he did not immediately comply; seeing me at this time a good deal aggitated & preparing to speak the Sheikh’s son whispered to me “for God’s sake, do not interfere if you have any regard for us, the reason I shall tell you afterwards”. The poor Primate begged for mercy & for a little time to try what he could do. He sent for the heads of the families in the village, & having assembled them in our room, he in a pathetic manner stated to them the demand that had been made, & how his life was in danger if they failed to raise the sum. They consulted amongst themselves for some time & then each man went to his house & brought his share of the contribution, which the Sheikh collected & having made up the 20 piastres paid it into the hands of the bandits who without further ceremony mounted their horses & rode off. When they were completely gone, I expressed my indignation at the conduct of these oppressives upstarts, & wondered at the tame submission of the inhabitants to two such vagabonds, whom I thought I could myself have tamed. “Ah!” said the Sheik, “you little know our situation, it was not our inability to subdue these two men, however well armed, that made us submit, but had we punished them as they deserved, or had you interfered to prevent their extortion, they would have returned some days hence with large reinforcement, burnt & plundered the village & perhaps put my family and others to the sword, therefore it was that my son cautioned you not to interfere”. There was no denying the soundness of this argument; and pity for the sufferers under such a government was all the consolation in my power to offer them.

Some months after this adventure, we received over-land despatches from the East India Company of a political urgent nature (England being then at war with France) to be forwarded to India by way of Bussora [Basra] with Arab messangers; on such occasions both the English & the French Consuls employed every intrigue & machination, both thro’ the government of the country & thro’ private emissaries, to intercept or obstruct as much as they could each others’ communications between India and the Mother Country; to prevent which, my Uncle generally sent me with a servant both well armed to accompany the messangers 15 or 20 miles into the desert, for after being put on their way thus far, we considered them safe in the rest of the journey. It was a very hot day in the month of August that it fell to my lot to accompany this messanger, and I was returning home at a slow pace, with a green silk umbrella over my head, my servant following behind. When I had got within about three miles of town, I met a man on horseback completely accoutred and armed, whom I guessed to be one the soldiers in Pashau’s Guard, or perhaps a disbanded soldie such as I have before described; he seemed to look hard at me, but as he passed by without saying anything I took no notice of him, till he rode up to my servant behind me, & turning his horse the same way, entered into a conversation with him, rather interesting to me; I therefore slackened my pace to let them come near enough to hear all they said. With a tone of authority he asked the servant, “By what right does your Master, who is a Christian, wear that green tent over his head, which is the sacred colour of the Prophet, & which no Christian must profane by his touch?” The servant said, “My Master is an Englishman, not a Christian Rayah or subject of this government & according to conventions between the Sultan & the King of England, all the subjects of the latter are permitted & have a right to wear whatever colour they please”. “That may be true” (answered the pompous Turk) “they may from Court politics & state intrigues enjoy such priviliges in towns, but that cannot be a protection to them in the country; and if we were a little further from town I should take upon myself to avenge this insult offered to our holy Prophet, by breaking this green tent about your master’s head”. This was quite enough to determine me to make a trial of this gentleman’s courage, I accordingly stopped my horse till they both rode up to me; then turning to this Bravo, I said “Friend, I think I heard some conversation between you & my servant, pray, what was the subject”. The man seemed astonished at hearing me address him so fluently in Turkish, for he had imagined I was totally ignorant of the language as few Europeans can speak it, & thought he might without much hazard indulge in his boast to an Armenian servant, who being a tributary subject, could not have dared to retort unless it was in my personal defence. Finding him unable or unwilling to reply I continued, “Be not ashamed to repeat what you said to my servant; which if I heard right was, that had we been somewhat further from town, you would have broken this green tent about my head. Now to afford you the satisfaction of avenging the Prophet’s cause, I am ready to ride back with you as far as you may think convinient, when you shall be welcome to try the experiment. I think it however fair to apprise you, before we proceed, that these pistols in my holsters are loaded, each with a brace of balls, & you must lay your account to having them both lodged in your body before you dare to touch a thread of this green tent.” He stared in silence, & looked mortified & ashamed. When I found that he was neither inclined to accept the challenge, nor show any more for his sins, I told him, he might now go about his business from this one, but that I advised him to be more circumspect in his language & conduct, when next he met an Englishman who would never submit to insolence from any man, no not from his master the Pashaw, upon this he turned his horse’s head and rode away while I returned to town.

These two last anectodes will I trust confirm the comparison I drew between the character of a Turkmen robber & what are deemed the civilized Turks, nor need I labour at a comment on their respective intrinsic merits; further than that it strengthens the opinion I have always entertained, that the greatest tyrants use in general the greatest cowards, & that mildness & magnanimity usually distinguish the truly brave.

But, to turn from this long digression. As I became conversant with the duties of Office, my uncle discharged his head clerk, and another, so that the whole weight of the correspondence, in the English, French and Italian languages, as well as the accounts, devolved upon me and a very old man who had been clerk for upwards of 50 years in the house, but who could only copy letters & that very slowly as age & infirmity had nearly disabled him. As I said before, my uncle would seldom trouble his head with anything more than reading letters when received, reading the answers I had prepared & fixing his signature to them. It may hence be readily believed that my time was completely filled up, & tho’ the correspondence was more extensive than profitable as it comprised England, France, Italy, the East Indies & all over Turkey, I was most frequently obliged to labour at my desk all night, till eight in the morning to get dispatches ready for posts & messangers. It is true that my sight was considerably injured by this sort of work, but in other respects it was of infinite service to me in after life as it habituated me to that anxiety for my duty & gave me such a relish for business, that an idle life would have been a severe punishment to me. For five successive years I continued the same course without any other emoluement than my board, lodging, clothes, a horse & dogs with a servant to attend me, nor did I claim any pecuniary consideration, deeming the expense my Uncle had been at in my early education equivalent to my services. I had now become so necessary for my Uncle, that although I had attained the age of nineteen without any prospect of bettering myself in that country as the trade between Europe and Turkey had for some time gradually declined and was still very much declining, I could not find it in my heart to propose leaving him; I thought it would have savoured of ingratitude, than which nothing could have been more repugnant to my feelings.

My Uncle John Abbott the Consul died early in 1783 leaving a wife & four sons from the ages of 4 to 10 years to whom he bequeathed a decent competency, and soon after his death my Brother William escorted the widow & children to England and thus we were once more separated & have never met since. My guardian Uncle now found his main prop fail from under him, for his late Brother had always been most kind to him, & the principal spring to the support of the credit to his house, as his public situation of British Consul gave him great influence & his purse strings were never closed against his Brother’s wants. The loss was therefore great to Robert, and as it increased his difficulties, it brought him in some degree to that reflection, in which it had been better for him had he indulged much sooner while his credit was good. It appears that in those meditations my situation did not altogether escape him; but this situated himself, what could he do? He had neither the power nor the interest by which to serve me. He spoke to me one day on the subject & lamented that he could no way recompense my services. I told him that to the best of his judgement he had endeavored to supply the place of a father I had lost, that I owed my education to him, with the assistance of which, together with youth, health, & sound limbs, it would be unpardonable if I continued any longer a burden to him, unless he thought I could be essentially servicable to him, in which case I would cheerfully forego every selfish consideration & remain with him. He was pleased with my declaration, but said he saw no prospect of bettering my fortune with him, and that if I was not afraid not afraid of launching out in the world, he would by all means advise me to choose that course which appeared best for myself, that altho’ I had become very neccessary to him for several years, yet he should deem it injustice to keep me there, besides he thought that when deprived of my assistance, he would be obliged to collect his dissipated thoughts & pay more personal attention to his own business.

I had for several years felt an inclination to try my fortune in the East Indies, but had never mentioned it to my uncle from motives I have already arrived; but as he had now given me an opening for it, I submitted my ideas to his better judgement, he said it was exactly what he would himself have advised, but being unable to procure me an appointment either Civil or Military in the East India Company’s service he was unwilling to point out a measure which might ultimately involve me in difficulties & distress. I was not discouraged by this argument for I held it as my creed that a single young man with health, integrity, a resolution to perservere and a moderate share of abilities ought not to starve in any country, much less in the East Indies. At length we agreed upon this plan, and having shortly, thro’ the assistance of Sir Robert Ainslie the English Ambassador at Constantinople and some other friends, procured for me several respectable letters of recommendation, and a small credit upon Bengal, in the summer of 1784. I left my uncle, and travelled in company with Captain William Rochford over the great Desert of Arabia on my way to Bengal, but as the occurences on this journey have been detailed in my printed journal which my children are already possessed of, I shall not repeat them here but take up my adventures from the time of my arrival in India - The Journal of overland to be abridged & analysed.

My life having hitherto been spent in the drudgeries of a mercantile counting house, where nothing but plain dealing fell in my way, I never thought of putting any construction upon professions or promises made to me beyond what the words themselves literally conveyed, nor did I suppose I was to qualify my expectation by any possible future contingencies; and so little did I, in those days, know of the ways of the world, that the strong letters of recommendation I was furnished with to Governor Hastings, to most of the Members of the Councila and men in power, both in Bengal & other parts of India, added to the assurances I had been flattered with of the efficacy of such letters, completely lulled my anxiety, nor had I a doubt but that under these brilliant auspices my fortune would speedily be made; so that having a credit upon Bengal for about one hundred pounds (which I considered as more than sufficient to defray my expenses on landing) financial considerations never once throughout the voyage gave me the least uneasiness, nor did I trouble my head in forming any plans of pursuit, trusting that those who were to procure the End, would point out to me the means. How far my hopes & prospects were realized will be seen in the sequel.

On entering the River Hoogly our Commander Captn Thomas & my fellow traveller Captn Rochfork being impatient to land took a small boat & left us; but as from the size of the Neptune (being only 70 tons Burther) I imagined she would reach town nearly as soon as the boat I preferred remaining on board, and reached town about 5 pm. Landing at Chaumpaul Gaut, I was surrounded (as all strangers are) by black servants of all descriptions out of place. To take their own words for it, they were all honest men, not one rogue in the whole throng, but as my object at that time was not to scrutinize in the character of Blackey, but to find out the residence of at least one of the many friends I had in Calcutta which I could not do without assistance, I addressed myself to one of the most decent looking men in the crowd of candidates who spoke English tolerably, his name was the very common one Ramzanny, whom I adopted as my guide but he proved a very indifferent pilot, for when I desired him to lead me to the house of my friend Jeermiah Church, he knew no such person, I next named Mr Edward Maxwell but with no better success, nor did he know Mr McAuley, Mr Luard, Mr Dunkin (now Sir William) nor Mr Holford. These were all gentlemen with whom I was personally acquainted, and as they had all been received with hospitality at my Uncle’s house in Syria while I was there I was certain any one of them would have accomodated me with a nights lodging, and most cheerfully given me every advice necessary for my conduct & future proceedings in a country where I was an utter stranger & where of the languages & manners were very different from what I had been accustomed to. I now began to get late & I was desirous of securing an asylum before night, but as my guide could not assist me to my friends, I asked him whether he knew any public house of entertainment or tavern. He grinned satisfaction at being able to answer in the affermative and told me there were two very capital taverns, one called the Harmonic, the other the London Tavern, and as he described the latter to be the nearest I desired to be conducted thither. This was a large commodious house kept by Martin, Lacy & Parr, elegantly furnished with every comfort that the most luxurious stranger could desire. I here found my friends, Captain Thomas & Rochfort, who had dined together some time before. Being very hungry myself I called for a hot beef steak & a bottle of wine, which being both excellent & my apetite pretty keen, I dined much to my satisfaction, and then wrote a note to my friend Jeremiah Church to announce my arrival, as the people of the house knew Mr Church well, they soon brought me an answer couched in the kindest terms, with a pressing invitation that I would immediately get into my Palankin & come to him as he was most anxious to see & confer with me on matters essential to his happiness; forgetting that a man just landed at that late hour was not likely to be possessed of a Palankin or bearers, but as poor Church had very recently met with a severe disappointment, his susceptible mind was not sufficiently at ease to be more particular. As his house was not more than half a mile from the tavern, & the evening cool I walked there, & was received by him with open arms & with the warmest demonstration of joy at seeing me, that his distress of mind occasioned by his late misfortune could admit of. He insisted upon my taking up my quarters with him at least till I should be perfectly settled to my satisfaction, for he said he had much to impart to me, and that unbosoming his grievances to a friend like me would lighten the burden of them if it did no other good. As I convinced from the nature of his sorrow that my interference might possibly remove it, I readily acceded to his wishes, but I wish I could add that my hopes were realized; I employed every means that I could devise to procure the only remedy likely to effect his cure but without success - his disease was of a tender nature and as the recital of the particulars could answer no other end than that of indulging idle curiosity; which is not my aim; I will not expose the partial weaknesses of human nature in a friend whose memory must still be endeared by many other social virtues.

As Mr Church was a Barrister, he was obliged to attend the pleadings at the Court house every morning during terms & sessions; and as dessepation was recommended to him in the melancholy state of his mind, he was generally engaged out the latter part of the day, so that I had but little of his company excepting at breakfast hours when he was so taken up with law papers, and so interrupted by crowds of clamorous creditors, the he became, impatient fretful and peevish, perfectly disqualified for social converse, it was not therefore likely that I should receive from him any salutary advice in regulating my operations & plans of conduct, while he was so little able to manage his own, this however only rendered me uneasy for him, not for myself, as I found most of my other friends in Calcutta very ready to assist me with their advice and having a general invitation from many of them I was never at a loss for good company and soon got introduced to most of the respectable families in the settlement. But if I felt so much obliged by the attentions of these old friends what must my feeling be at the recollections of benefits heaped upon me by an utter stranger whose name even I had not heard before, & that such kindness should have been persevered in unremittingly from my first landing for many years till the time of his death, but Edward Hay was the friend of man & hundreds besides myself have experienced his benevolence, and would, I am certain, cheerfully join in this tribute to his memory.

The day after my arrival at Calcutta Mr Church received a note from Mr Hay (then Secretary to the Government) saying that Mr Manesty of Bussora had mentioned me kindly to him, that he, Mr Hay had made many enquiries for me & pending I lived with Mr Church, he would, if agreable breakfast with us the next morning as he wished to see me. Till I saw his card I never knew that Manesty had been at the trouble of introducing me to any person, I was therefore doubly gratified by these marks of attention, which seemed also to enhance any hopes of success, for if so slight an introduction had the power to render a stranger of consequence so solituous about me, what might I not expect from those warm & prosing letters I brought to Mr Hastings, to the members of the Supreme Government etc. etc.! but however plausible such arguments may appear to an inexperienced youth like myself the sequel proved them to be the grossest sophistry.

Mr Hay came to breakfast the next morning according to appointment, and a man of more prepossesing or pleasing manners I had never met before. He assured me that if I had not made choice of so comfortable an asylum as Mr Church’s house it was his intention I should have lived with him altogether; as matters were, he hoped I should consider his house as my second home, to dine & sleep there whenever I was not otherwise engaged, & should my stay with Mr Church at any time prove inconvinient to that Gentelman or to myself, a bed should always be ready for me at his house, in the mean time he begged I would call upon him the next morning, as he had something to communicate to me which would require time and reflection, with this he took his leave.

When I ..(?).. upon him, he very cordially introduced me to his lady & several friends of both sexes who were then living at his house; and this he did with as much warm affability as if I had been his own brother; and from that time they all treated me so like one of the family, that I was almost compelled to think myself so. After the visit he took me into his study and addressed me nearly as follows “By all I can gather, Mr Abbott from my friend Manesty’s letter, it does not appear that you have fixed upon any particular plan for pushing your fortune in India, but that you lay much stress upon the efficacy of letters you have brought to the Governor General and others in power. If so let me set you right: Mr Hastings is preparing to leave India immediately, which affords him an excellent plea of inability to serve you and he will perhaps refer you to his successor, and as to the other Members of Government, they are very agreable, polite men but complete Courtiers, from whom hardly any thing need be expected beyond sweet words and some good dinners. This however is only a conjecture of mine, I sincerely hope you may upon a trial find it otherwise, but at all events how much ..(?).. they might even be inclined to serve you, it may be some time before any opening presents itself, & you will find Bengal a very expensive place, admitting even that you have the use of a friends House and Table; if therefore you feel inclined to amuse yourself a few hours every morning at my Office and your task shall not be very heavy, I can put you down in my Establishment at 200 Rupees a month, which will pay for your cloths & servants until you can embrace something more worthy of your acceptance, and you will be at liberty to leave me whenever you please.” He added: “I am moreover expecting a friend from the upper provinces with whom I am in ..(?).. of arranging something more advantageous for you, but that is as yet in embrio and I would not advise you to build too much upon it.” The soundness of his arguments I could not deny, & I must have been a savage had I not felt and sought this his generous, friendly & desentercited offer in its fullest force. His short speech seemed to dispel the chimeras that had been clouding my brain, while it showed me the propriety as well as the necessity of accepting Mr Hay’s offer which I did without any hesitation or reference to any friend.

The Duty allotted to me at first in the Secretary’s office was so trifling, that it hardly afforded sufficient amusement to a man like me who had been accustomed to close business, but as I had many visits to pay, and get more generally introduced into Society I filled up my time pretty usefully.

To Mr Hastings I was presented at his public breakfast, the handsome style of in which I was received & the polite invitations which followed, almost awakened a suspicion in my breast that my friend Hay’s conjectures might be ill founded, but this was a shortlived doubt for Mr Hastings soon after took an opportunity to assure me, that nothing was nearer his heart than the wish of serving me, not only out of regard to the writers of the letters I had delivered to him, who were entitled to his best intentions, but from respect he bore to my family & a regard which my own merits appeared to claim. But having unfortunately settled to embark for Europe by the ships of the season, he had already made his arrangements to resign the Government to Mr McPherson now Sir John, to whom he would recommend me in the strongest terms, & I might be certain of that Gentleman’s best offices. I told him I had already recommendations to Mr McPherson from some of his most intimate friends & relations, but when those were backed by so powerful an advocate as Mr Hastings I could have no doubt of success. Whether he took this as real compliment or as irony, was perhaps of little consequence as I plainly perceived that I had little or nothing to expect from any of them beyond what my friend had predicted. Nevertheless I must confess that Mr Hasting’s affability, politeness and hospitality to me were uniform & pleasing, for the few months he remained in Government, for he embarked in February 1785. On his departure he assured me afresh that he had said everything in my behalf to his successor, who had promised him his good offices for me, whenever an opportunity should present itself, & I have no doubt he literally told truth. I had now been some time known to Mr McPherson & he had shown me every polite attention both at his table and in public, but the main object of my solicitude he never hinted at. One evening as I was setting with my friends McAuley and Maxwell, who both lived at his house, Mr McPherson came in and entered into conversation with us; in the course of which I told him I was still unsettled, that I understood Mr Hastings had mentioned me kindly to him, which induced me to hope I should not be forgotten; he said it was very true, that he had it much at heart to serve me but did not know how & begged I would point out to him any line in which he could forward my views. I told him I was but a young stranger in Bengal, and as they were many older strangers all looking out for vacancies, it was not likely I should ever be early enough in my applications & must therefore trust in a great measure to the considerations of friends. He then turned to McAuley & Maxwell & thus addressed them: “Gentlemen, you have been long enough in India & know what from time to time occurs in the settlement, many opportunities may offer of serving Mr Abbott which may escape my notice. If you will at any time ...(?)... out an eligible one, I shall be most happy to attend to it.” This appeared a speech fraught with plausibility, candour & philanthropy, yet meant nothing nor was any more intended by it, than by the words “your most obedient humble servant” at the conclusion of a challenge and the gentlemen to whom it was addressed did not seem to lay more stress upon it. (p.44)



Volume II: (p. 177-258)

as that seen in many parts of Turkey, and the grape which when pressed produces that rich delicious wine universally known by the name Constantia, is but an inspired fruit to eat, but in going through the orchards, I could not help admiring the beauty as well as the fertility of the pear trees which were bending under the weight of the fruit, and indeed superiority of the flavour of all the different kinds of fruit that grew here, over those we had been able to purchase in Town, convinced us of the truth of Mr. Barrow’s assertion respecting the national indolence of the Dutch people who had taken no sort of pains in either in pruning or cultivating their trees but leave to nature to do the whole. By the time we had viewed the garden a message came from Mr. Cleuter inviting us to see the wine caves & presses. These repositories consist of very long, spacious, clean & well aired store-houses built behind the mansion under the shade of the tallest oaks I have seen in this colony, and which Mr Cleuter said were upwards of a hundred years old. Along with the inner walls of these wine caves are ranged a number of tins, lacquers, Hogsheads & barrels & casks of all sizes, clean & well polished with wine presses at each end of the long room, but there is nothing remarkable in the construction of these machines being copied from our oil presses worked by screws. Mr Cleuter asked us to taste some of his wines, which I afterwards found was some more with the hope of selling some than out of mere compliment to strangers. There was no resisting this after the great hospitality that had been shown us, accordingly glasses being called for, we tasted all the different qualities produced at this vineyard, which did not ...(?) ...


The above pedigree of my family is true to the best of my knowledge & belief. Witness my my hand this 29th day of Oct. 1804 - Henry Abbott.


Notes:
1- There are clearly more children of Henry Alexius Abbott, born after this chart was made. Amongst the most prominent was Major-General Saunders Alexius Abbott (1811 - 1894). The online information lists 4 other brothers, but curiously not the eldest brother Henry. Amongst these brothers Augustus Abbott (1804-1867) also rose to the top of the ranks of the Indian Army. Brother Frederick (1805-1892) was also in the Indian Army as well as brother James who rose to the rank of general - portrait: James Abbott published a book with the title ‘Narrative of a Journey from Heraut to Khiva, Moscow, and St. Petersburgh, during the late Russian invasion of Khiva; with some account of the Court of Khiva and the kingdom of Khaurism - London, 1856’. The other brother Keith Edward Abbott (d. 1873), was consul-general at Tabriz and later Odessa - details. All these brothers are mentioned in the two autobiographies of the fellow Indian Army generals; click to view segments of the books of Saunders A. Abbott and Augustus Abbott:

2- The internet is able to provide some examples of descendants from this extensive India Abbott lines, and in the case of Herbert Edward Stacy Abbott (born 1814) is the son of George Edward Abbott and like many of his relatives rose to the top ranks of the Indian Army. The web site is provides additional information including the name of the next generation - obituary.

3- Since Peter Abbott was born in Constantinople it is possible that he had brothers and sisters born there as well, so there maybe other branches of the family, and this may account for why Henri and Elisabeth Abbott viewable in the main family tree as siblings of Bartholomew Edward Abbott are not shown here. In addition although not named B. E. Abbott is mentioned as having 4 sons, yet the main tree only records 1, clearly there is more work to be done.

4- There is another file held at the British Museum Library, yet to be inspected, titled ‘A Journal, with occasional remarks, made on a trip from Aleppo to Bussora, across the Grand Desert of Arabia - Henry Abbott of Calcutta, pub. 1789’, almost certainly written by the same person as above.

5- Grey text in diary transription denotes places where later additions were done and some minor errors in desciphering hand writting remain.

6- In July 2011 the researcher David Wilson was able to shed a bit more light on the early Abbotts outlined in the chart above:
The following extract is from the Constantinople section of the travel diary of Frederik Christian von Haven (1729-1763), a member of the Danish expedition to Arabia which was sponsored by King Frederik V. The manuscript diary remained for many years in the Danish Royal Library. In 2005 it was edited by Anne Haslund Hansen and Stig T. Rasmussen and published under the title Min Sundheds Forliis [The Loss of My Health] by Forlaget Vandkusten of Copenhagen. There is now a copy of the published version in the British Library and the extract is taken from page 202 of this.

11 August [1761] We again visited Mr Abot [sic], another English merchant, whose wife is from Angora and speaks no other language than Turkish; but, on the other hand, her daughter, who is a renowned beauty, speaks all the other languages used in Constantinople. [translated by D.W.]

It seems likely that the Mr Abbott referred to was Peter Abbott (d. 1768), who was treasurer to the Constantinople factory of the Levant Company at about this time. If this is the case, the pedigree prepared by Henry Abbott in 1804 indicates that the daughter may have been either Maria or Dorothy. The pedigree states that Maria married “Alexius Obreskoff, Russian resident at Constantinople; in custody of the Ottoman Port[e]; died and left no issue.”
According to the ‘Russkii Biograficheskii Slovar’ [Russian Biographical Dictionary], Moscow, 1896-1918, vol. 17, pp. 61-64, Aleksei Mikhailovich Obreskov (1718-1787) joined the Russian diplomatic service in 1740 and spent nearly 30 years representing his country in Constantinople, being appointed chargé d’affaires in 1751 and Resident (Ambassador) in 1752. After the outbreak of war between Russia and Turkey in 1768, he was imprisoned in the Fortress of the Seven Towers (Yedikule), where he was held until 1771. He was married twice – the first time, secretly, when he was only eighteen, and the second time in Constantinople “to a Greek lady” [na grechanke] – and had four sons: Petr (1752-1814), Mikhail (1759-1842), Ivan and Nikolai, and two daughters: Ekaterina and Agrippina. The Russian Biographical Dictionary has a separate article about Petr Obreskov on pages 66-67, which does include his dates. He was an important man, a senator and secretary to Tsar Paul I. It doesn’t have the name of their mother, but it seems almost certain that it must have been Maria and that she and Obreskov were married about 1750. It is perhaps worth noting that the two eldest boys were apparently named after their grandfathers – Peter and Mikhail.
[Note: To indicate pronunciation, some systems for transliterating Russian spell Petr as Pyotr and Ekaterina as Yekaterina.]

The fact that “Mr Abot” apparently had a grown-up daughter suggests that he was a man of about the same age as Peter Abbott, so he might possibly have been the George Abbott who appears to have been a business associate of Peter’s, and possibly a previously unrecorded elder brother or cousin.
In the records of cargoes brought to Constantinople by Dutch ships in 1766 [*] are two consignments of cloth for “Georgio & P.ro Abbott” with a total value of Ld. 6625. “P.ro” stands for Petro or Pietro – it is curious that the names are given in a Greek or Italian form. The abbreviation Ld. stands for Leeuwendaalder (‘Lion dollar’), the Dutch silver coin that was the most widely used currency for trade in the Middle East in the early 18th century – before it was superseded by the Austrian ‘Maria Theresa’ dollar. It seems that in the 1760s Ld.1 was roughly equivalent to 4s. 6d. sterling, so the Abbotts’ cloth would have been valued at about £1,490 sterling. The (English) Levant Company records show that licences to trade at Constantinople were granted in 1762 to George Abbott and in 1766 to Peter Abbott.
If this George was Peter’s son of that name, it is strange that he was licensed before his father. Similarly, if Peter were the senior partner one might expect his name to come before George’s on the cargo lists. Another possible reference to George comes in a set of documents in the Radcliffe Collection at Hertfordshire Archives which came from Abbott, Levett & Abbott at Angora in December 1749 (DE/R/B366/1-3). The same collection also has correspondence from Peter Abbott at Angora in 1735 and John Levett at Angora in 1746 (DE/R/B340/1-2 and B162).
* Bronnen tot geschiedenis van den Levantschen handel, 1590-1826 [‘Sources for the history of the Levant trade, 1590-1826’], Deel 6, GS 120, pp. 1410 and 1413. - Levett could be Francis Levett, a representative of the Levant Company in Constantinople.



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