quickly and the new quarter received the name of San Thome de Mylapore. They fortified themselves and built a wall round their property, and the moribund trade of the town revived.
There was no such thing as going to the hills then; the heat of the summer must have been well-nigh insupportable when the breeze from off the sea died away and the hot land-wind blew. The merchants sought relief inland, and built garden-houses among the luxuriant trees of the Luz. The Luz lies between Teynampet and the sea, and is within easy reach of St. Thome. The large airy houses with their thick walls and massive pillars were more suited to the taste of the proud old dons than the crowded fort. They laid out gardens, cultivated the sweet Persian rose, the oleander, and the double jasmin ; they lived in princely fashion with a number of slaves to do their bidding. The road between the Luz and St. Thome, as well as the streets of Mylapore, presented a gay and busy scene. Palanquins, bright with scarlet silk and lacquered woodwork, bore the dark-eyed Portuguese ladies to the market in the city, while a bevy of gaily dressed slaves followed close upon the heels of the chanting bearers. There was as much rivalry among the ladies over the brave show made by their household as there was over their own silken skirts and lace mantillas. The gentlemen, with flowing plumes and satin cloaks, rode to their warehouses on the restless little Persian horses, brought down from the north by the Afghans. Strings of pack bullocks carrying bales of cotton goods to the seaport, and lines of porters bending beneath their loads of strange treasures that were sent in exchange for the cotton and other Indian products, passed to and fro in a never ending stream. They have all vanished; the Luz Road and the streets of Mylapore are deserted save for a chance pedestrian who turns to gaze in idle curiosity
