city and adjacent country. It is a circumstance that has always been observed, and very justly, that the Portuguese have ever chosen the spots for their convents and churches in the most delightful situations. I have observed it in the Brazils, and the inhabitants of Goa have by no means failed in attention to this point, all their public buildings being well situated. The body of this church is spacious, and the grand altarpiece finished in the most elegant style. The building of the choir is of Gothic architecture, and therefore of antiquity. This church has a convent adjoining to it, in which live a set of religious monks of the order of St. Augustine. Some of the brothers of this convent have given Popes and cardinals to the Roman See, as appears by their portraits which are hung up in a neat chapel dedicated to St. Augustine, the patron of the order. Adjoining to this church is a convent of religious women, who have taken the veil and are therefore prohibited from all kind of intercourse with the world. These chiefly consist of the daughters and nieces of the Portuguese inhabitants of the place, and a sum of money is generally given with them on their entrance into the convent.
A little lower, on the declivity of the hill, stands another church, dedicated to the Bon Jesus, in which is the chapel of Saint Francisco de Xaviere, whose tomb it contains. This chapel is a most superb and magnificent place; the tomb of the saint is entirely of fine black marble, brought from Lisbon. On the four sides of it the principal actions of the life of the saint are
