1693 - Memorable Accidents

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This passage describes a shipwreck that occurred during a voyage from Goa to Portugal in 1686. The story is related in graphic and theatrical terms: the sounds of the 'cracking' structure as the vessel is 'lifted...up to the clouds'; the 'astonishment, terror and consternation that seiz'd upon every Heart of the Ship'; 'the cries, sighs and groans'.

Memorable Accidents and Unheard of Transactions was published in 1693. As the title page outlines, the book contains 'an Account of Several Strange Events: As the Deposing of Tyrants, Lamentable Shipwrecks, Dismal misfortunes, Strategems of War, Perilous Adventures...and Select Historical Events.'

About East India Office Trading Documents

The East India Company and its trading activities provide a fascinating backdrop for many accounts of shipwrecks and smuggling. This selection of documents from the British Library's India Office gives a flavour of the great range of ephemeral texts involved in the many aspects of international trade. In particular we can see how goods from India and China became an integral part of British culture, and sense the stranglehold on commerce that the monopolistic East India Company strove to maintain.