Volume Ix Part 17 (1/2)
We sailed from Mohelia on the 2d August, and on the 17th got sight of cape Guardafui, where the natives seemed afraid of us. The 20th we anch.o.r.ed in the road of _Galencia_ in Socotora, where the fierceness of the wind raised the sea into a continual surf all round about us, and by the spray, blown about us like continual rain, our masts, yards, and tackle were made white all over by the salt, like so much h.o.a.r-frost; The 23d we anch.o.r.ed at _Tamara_, the town where the king resides, and on the 24th at _Delisha_. They here demanded thirty dollars for the quintal of aloes, which made us buy the less. The _Faiking_ told us that Captain Downton had bought 100 quintals, and it was still so liquid, either from newness, or because of the heat, that it was ready to run out of the skins. The quintal of this place, as tried by our beam, weighed 103 1/2 pounds English. Aloes is made from the leaves of a plant resembling our sempervivum, or house-leek, the roots and stalk being cut away, the rest strongly pressed, and the juice boiled up to a certain height, after which it is put into earthen pots, closely stopped for eight months, and is then put into skins for sale. The north part of Socotora is in 12 30', and the body in 120 25'.[166] It is fourteen leagues from this island to _Abdul Curia_, and as much more from thence to cape Guardafui. Such as mean to sail for Socotora, should touch at that cape, and sail from thence next morning a little before day-break, to lose no part of the day-light, the nights here being dark and obscure, with fogs and boisterous winds, during the months of August and September. On getting into _Abdul Curia_, they may anchor on the west side in seven or eight fathoms, under the low land; or, if they cannot get to anchor, should keep close hauled in the night to the southward, lest the wind and northerly current put them too much to leeward before day.
Notwithstanding the monsoon, the winds do not blow steadily, being sometimes S. by W. and S.S.W. but seldom to the east of south.
[Footnote 166: These two numbers unquestionably relate to the longitude and lat.i.tude respectively, though strangely expressed. The true lat. is 13 20'N. and long. 53 E. from Greenwich.--E.]
”Socotora is an island not far from the mouth of the Red Sea, being the _Dioscuria_ or _Disoscordia_ of the ancients, in lat. 13 20' N. It was governed when we were there by a sultan, named Amir Ben-said, son of the king of Fartaque, in Arabia Felix, which lies between the lat.i.tudes of 15 and 18 N. on the coast of Arabia. This king was in peace with the Turks, on condition of a.s.sisting them with 5000 men when required, and then these troops to be paid and maintained by the Turks, to whom he paid no other acknowledgement. Near to the sea about Dofar, there is another petty Arab sovereign, whom he of Fartaque dare not meddle with, because he is under the protection of the Grand Signior.
”The sultan of Socotora came down to meet us at the sh.o.r.e, accompanied by 300 men, and had a tent set up for his accommodation. He was on horseback, as were two of his princ.i.p.al attendants, and a third on a camel, the people running before and behind him shouting. He had two companies of guards, one composed of his own subjects, and the other consisting of twelve hired Guzerates, some armed with Turkish bows, some with pistols, and some with muskets, but all having good swords. He had also a few kettle-drums, and one trumpet. He received the general in a courteous manner, and was so absolute, that no person could sell any thing except himself. His people sat about him very respectfully; his clothes were of Surat cloths, made in the Arabian fas.h.i.+on, with a ca.s.sock of red and white wrought velvet, and a robe of which the ground was cloth of gold. He wore a handsome turban, but his legs and feet were bare.
”Every night these people all stand or kneel towards the setting sun, the _zerife_ throwing water on their heads, being all Mahomedans. The king's town, named Tamara, is built of stone and lime, all whited over, the houses built with battlements and pinnacles, and all flat-roofed. At a distance it looks well, but within is very poor. Mr Boughton had leave to see the king's house, and found it such as might serve an ordinary gentleman in England. The lower rooms were used as warehouses and wardrobe, a few changes of robes hanging about the walls, and along with them were some twenty-five books of their law, religion, history, and saints lives. No person could be permitted to go up stairs to see his three wives, or the other women; but the ordinary sort might be seen in the town, their ears all full of silver rings. In the mosque the priest was seen at service. Mr Boughton had for his dinner three hens, with rice, his drink being water, and a black liquor called _cahu_, [coffee]
drank as hot as could be endured.
”On a hill, a mile from Tamara, there is a square castle, but we could not get leave to see it. The inhabitants are of four sorts. The first are Arabs, who have come in by means of conquest, who dare not speak in presence of the sultan without leave, and kissing his hand. The second sort are slaves, who kiss his foot when they come into his presence, do all his work, and make his aloes. The third sort are the old inhabitants of the country, called Bedouins, though I think these are not the oldest of all, whom I suppose to have been those commonly called Jacobite Christians: For, on Mr Boughton going into a church of theirs, which the Arabs had forced them to abandon, he found some images and a crucifix, which he took away. The Mahomedans would not say much about these people, lest other Christians might relieve or support them. These Bedouins, having had wars with the Arabs, live apart from them in the mountains. The fourth kind of people, or original natives, are very savage, poor lean, naked, and wear their hair long. They eat nothing but roots, ride about on buffaloes, conversing only among themselves, being afraid of all others, having no houses, and live more like wild beasts than men, and these we conjecture to have been the original natives of the place.
”The island is very mountainous and barren, having some beeves, goats, and sheep, a few dates and oranges, a little rice, and nothing else for the food of man. All its commodities consist of aloes, the inspisated juice of a plant having a leaf like our house-leek. The only manufacture is a very poor kind of cloth, used only by slaves. The king had some dragon's blood, and some Lah.o.r.e indigo, as also a few civet cats and civet. The dead are all buried in tombs, and the monuments of their saints are held in much veneration. The chief of these was one _Sidy Hachun_,[167] buried at Tamara, who was slain about an hundred years before we were there, and who, as they pretend, still appears to them, and warns them of approaching dangers. They hold him in wonderful veneration, and impute high winds to his influence.”--T.R.
[Footnote 167: Sidy, or Seid, signifies a descendant or relative of Mahomet, and Hachem, a prophet.--E.]
The 31st of August we sailed from Socotora. The 10th September we had quails, herons, and other land-birds blown from the land, and unable to return. The 14th we had sight of Diu, and the 16th of Damaun, both inhabited by the Portuguese, and strongly fortified. On the 18th we pa.s.sed the bar of Surat, and came to anchor in the road of Swally. Next day we sent a messenger on sh.o.r.e, and our boat returned the same night, bringing off Mr William Bidulph, who told us of all the affairs of the country, and that _Zulphecar Khan_[168] was now governor of Surat. At this place we bought sheep for half a dollar each, and got twenty hens for a dollar. On the 22d Mr Barker and other merchants were sent to Surat to provide furniture for a house to accommodate the lord amba.s.sador, Sir Thomas Roe. They were searched most narrowly, even their pockets, and the most secret parts of their dress, according to the base manner of this country, in which a man has to pay custom for a single dollar in his purse, or a good knife in his pocket; and if one has any thing rare, it is sure to be taken away by the governor, under pretence of purchase.
[Footnote 168: In the Pilgrims this person is named Zuipher-Car-Chan, but we believe the orthography in the text is more correct.--E.]
The lord amba.s.sador landed on the 25th, accompanied by our general, all the captains and merchants, and eighty men under arms, part pikes, and part muskets. Forty-eight guns were fired off from the s.h.i.+ps, which were all dressed out with colours and streamers, flags and pendants. On landing, he was received in a splendid tent by the chief men of Surat, who welcomed him to India. There was much to do about their barbarous search, which they would have executed on all his attendants, which he strenuously resisted, and at length he and three or four of his princ.i.p.al followers were exempted, while the rest were only slightly handled for fas.h.i.+on-sake. A great deal pa.s.sed on this occasion between the governor and the amba.s.sador, about these rude and barbarous exactions, Sir Thomas justly contending for the honour and immunity of an amba.s.sador from an independent king; while they insisted to make no difference between him and others of similar rank in those parts, and of our own likewise, who had formerly a.s.sumed the name of amba.s.sadors.
Their barbarous usage not only perplexed him there, and detained him long till an order came from court, but gave him much plague all the time he remained in the country, as will appear afterwards from his own journal. They could not easily be persuaded to allow of any difference between him and Mr Edwards, who had been considered by them in the same light with Sir Thomas.
Mr Barwick's man, who had been inveigled to run away by a deserter from Captain Best who had turned Mahomedan, was brought back from Surat on the 1st of October. Others afterwards ran away to Damaun, and wrote to their comrades to induce them to do the same. The 2d, two Hollanders came on board, who had travelled by land from Petapulli, on the Coromandel coast. On the 10th, the governor's brother came on board, making many fair speeches, and had a present given him. The governor impudently urged us to give him presents, though he had already received three, but found fault with them, and even named what he would have given him, being beggar and chooser both at once. We had this day news of Mr Aldworth's death; and on the 5th November we received intelligence of the lord amba.s.sador having fallen sick at Burhanpoor, and that Mr Boughton was dead.
The most current coin at Surat is rials of eight, or Spanish dollars, of which the old with the plain cross pa.s.ses for five mahmoodies each. The new dollars, having flower-de-luces at the ends of the cross, if not light, are worth four 3/4 mahmoodies. The _mahmoody_ is a coa.r.s.e silver coin, containing thirty _pice_, and twelve _drams_ make a _pice_. The English s.h.i.+lling, if full weight, will yield thirty 1/2 pice. Larines are worth much the same with mahmoodies.[169] There are sundry kinds of rupees, some of which are worth half a dollar, and others less, by which one may be easily deceived. The trade at Surat is conducted by brokers, who are very subtle, and deceive both buyer and seller, if not carefully looked after. In weights, each city of India differs from another. The commodities are infinite, indigos being the chief, those of Lah.o.r.e the best, and those from Sarkess inferior. Great quant.i.ties of cloths made of cotton, as white and coloured calicoes, containing fourteen yards the book or piece, from 100 to 200 mahmoodies each. Pintadoes, chintzes, chadors, sashes, girdles, cannakens, trekannies, serrabafs, aleias, patollas, sellas, quilts, carpets, green ginger, suckets or confections, lignum aloes, opium, sal amoniac, and abundance of other drugs. Vendible commodities are knives, mirrors, pictures, and such like toys; English cloth, China wares, silk, and porcelain, and all kinds of spices. The Guzerates load their great s.h.i.+ps, of nine, twelve, or fifteen hundred tons, at Gogo, and steal out unknown to the Portuguese.
[Footnote 169: From this explanation, the _mahmoody_ and larine may be a.s.sumed as worth one s.h.i.+lling; the _pice_ as equal to a farthing and a half, and the dram at about 1-10th of a farthing.--E.]
The chief places for trade on the river Sinde, or Indus, are Tatta, _Diul-sinde_, Mooltan, and Lah.o.r.e. The Expedition, on her former voyage, had landed the Persian amba.s.sador, Sir Robert s.h.i.+rley, at _Diul-sinde_; and of him I have thought it right to give the following particulars, as an appendix to my former voyage, having learnt them from some of his followers at Agra. Being weary of _Diul-sinde_, through the evil conduct of the governor, and the attempts of the Portuguese to molest him, who even used their endeavours to cut him off, for which purpose twelve of them had gone there from Ormus, he asked leave to proceed to Tatta; but, being refused permission, he went without leave, and having by the way to pa.s.s a river where none durst ferry him over, because prohibited by the governor on pain of death, he constructed a raft of timber and boards, on which he and Nazerbeg embarked. They were no sooner shoved off than twenty or thirty horse came from the governor in great haste to detain them. And as Nazerbeg was unable to guide the raft against the tide, some men swam to the raft and brought them back, on which occasion they narrowly escaped being drowned. Some of his followers being indignant at this rude dealing, one Mr John Ward shot off his pistol in their faces, and was instantly slain by another shot, and all the rest were carried back prisoners to _Diul-sinde_, being pillaged by the soldiers on their way. After some time in prison, they were permitted to proceed to Tatta, where they were kindly entertained by the governor of that place, who was a Persian. Before leaving Diul-sinde, Sir Thomas Powell and Mr Francis Bub died. Sir Robert s.h.i.+rley remained at Tatta till a fit opportunity offered of proceeding to Agra, where he went at last, finding the way long and tedious, and much infested by thieves. He went there however in safety, going in company with a great man who had a strong escort, and for whom he had to wait two months.
In this time Lady Powell was delivered of a son, but both she and her child died soon after, together with Mr Michael Powell, brother to Sir Thomas, losing their lives in this tedious waiting in boats for the great man. On his arrival at Agra, Sir Robert was favourably entertained by the Great Mogul, who sent for the Banian governor of Diul-sinde to answer at court to the complaint, and promised Sir Robert to have his own revenge if he would stay; but he hasted away to Persia, after receiving many presents from the Mogul, who gave him an escort, and all necessaries for his journey, in which he had not a single English attendant, as John Heriot died at Agra, and Mr Richard Barber, his apothecary, returned to Surat. Of all his company, three only remained with him, his lady and her female attendant, two Persians, the old Arminian, and the Circa.s.sian. His Dutch jeweller came to Surat along with Mr Edwards.
--2. _Occurrences at Calicut and Sumatra, Miscarriage of the English s.h.i.+ps, Abuses of the Dutch, and Factories in India_.
We took a Portuguese prize on the 29th of February, 1616. The 3d March, while at anchor in the road of Calicut, the deputy of the Zamorin came aboard, attended by many boats, signifying the joy of his master at our arrival, and his earnest desire to confer with our nation, and entreated therefore that we would tarry a few days, that he might send to the Zamorin, who was then at Cranganore besieging a castle belonging to the Portuguese. We had here abundance of provisions brought to us on board, and at reasonable rates. That same evening, there came a messenger from the Zamorin, entreating us to anchor for two or three days off Cranganore, which we accordingly did on the 5th, anchoring two leagues off sh.o.r.e. About noon the Zamorin sent to request the general would come ash.o.r.e, to visit him, but this was not deemed right without a pledge, and Mr George Barkley went ash.o.r.e to wait upon him; but the Zamorin refused to reveal his intentions to any one except our general, and seemed much displeased at his not coming ash.o.r.e.
The general accordingly landed on the 8th, and had an audience of the Zamorin, who wished the English to establish a factory in his dominions, for which purpose he offered a good house rent-free, freedom from custom or other exactions, for all goods brought there or carried thence, and made many protestations of affection for our nation. This was for the present declined, because most of our goods had been left at Surat, and because we were now bound for Bantam. To this the Zamorin answered, that it was no matter whether any goods were left for the present, as he only desired we might leave two or three Englishmen there, who should want for nothing, as he only wanted to be a.s.sured of our return next year with a supply of men and goods. He a.s.sured us we might be sure of loading one s.h.i.+p yearly with pepper, and might make sale of our commodities to a considerable extent. Upon this it was agreed to leave a factory at this place, with such goods as we could spare, which went accordingly on sh.o.r.e on the 9th; George Woolman being appointed chief of this new factory at Cranganore, Peter Needham and Roger Hares under-factors, together with Richard Stamford, and a boy named Edward Peake, who was appointed to learn the language. The name of the king is _Pendre Quone[170] Zamorin_, to whom was given, as a present, a minion or small cannon, and a barrel of powder; on which he promised, if he won the fort of Cranganore, to give it up to the English.
[Footnote 170: Named _Underecon Cheete_ in a subsequent article.--E.]
The 10th we received the Zamorin's letter of agreement for our privileges, with many fair protestations of love. We sailed the same day, pa.s.sing before Cochin, which we could see distinctly. Next day we had a view of the town and castle of Coulan, where was a s.h.i.+p riding at anchor under the guns of the castle, which we boarded and brought forth without any hurt from the guns, all the crew having fled ash.o.r.e. This was a Portuguese s.h.i.+p of four or five hundred tons, lately arrived from Bengal and Pegu, laden with rice, grain, Bengal cloths, b.u.t.ter, sugar, gum lack, hard wax, drugs, and other things. The 12th we espied another s.h.i.+p, to which we gave chase, and came up with about midnight, when she surrendered at the first shot.[171] I sent for her chief men on board my s.h.i.+p, the others being three or four miles a-stern, and set some of my people on board the prize, with strict charges to hurt no person. There were in this s.h.i.+p eighteen or twenty Portuguese, and about eighty others, men, women, and children. Her chief loading was rice, b.u.t.ter, sugar, lack, drugs, and Bengal cloths. We offered these people our first prize, with victuals to carry them ash.o.r.e, which they refused, as fearing to be ill-used by the Malabars, having lately escaped with difficulty from a fleet of theirs of fourteen sail. Next day we landed them where they desired, and allowed them to go away unsearched for money or jewels. We had now three English s.h.i.+ps[172] and three prizes.
[Footnote 171: These prizes were taken from the Portuguese in part satisfaction for their unjust vexations and hostilities at Surat and other places.--_Purch._]
[Footnote 172: No notice is taken of the fourth s.h.i.+p, the Lion, probably left at Surat; indeed, the whole of this relation is exceedingly vague and unsatisfactory, the name even of the general never being once mentioned.--E.]
The 14th we arrived at _Brinion_, in lat. 8 30', where we took out of the first prize what we thought useful, and then set her adrift. At _Brinion_ there is a small town in a round bay, which may be known by a long white beach to the north, and to the south is all high land, having a red cliff two leagues to the south, close to the sea. From thence to cape Comorin is sixteen leagues, the course being S.E. by S. along a bold free coast. The inhabitants of Brinion[173] are no way subject to the Portuguese. The 1st of April the island of Ceylon bore E. by S.
seven leagues off. On the 10th the Peak of Adam bore north. I this day took my leave of the general, the Dragon and Pepper-corn being bound for Acheen, while I, in the Expedition, went for Priaman, Tecoo, and Bantam.