[Footnote 186:

He was only viceroy of the projected conquest of the Decan.

- E.]

I told him that the purpose of my coming to Surat was to establish a factory there, and that I had a letter from the king of England to his sovereign for that effect, my sovereign being desirous to form a treaty of peace and amity with his; so that the English might freely come and go, and make sales and purchases, according to the usage of all nations; and finally, that my ship was laden with commodities from our country, which, according to the intelligence of former travellers, were there in request. To this he answered, that he would immediately dispatch an express to his master at Cambaya, as he could do nothing of himself in the premises without his orders. So, taking my leave, I departed to the lodging appointed for me, which was at the custom-house. Next morning I went to visit the governor of the city, to whom I made a present, and who received me with much gravity and outward show of kindness, bidding me heartily welcome, and saying that the country was at my command. After compliments on both sides, I entered upon my main business, when he told me that my affairs were not in his department, as all sea-faring or commercial matters belonged to Mucrob-Khan, to whom at Cambaya he promised to dispatch a footman, and would write a letter in my behalf both for the unloading of my ship and the establishment of a factory. In the meantime he appointed me to lodge with a merchant who understood Turkish, who was my trucheman, or interpreter, being the captain of that ship which was taken by Sir Edward Michelburn.

In consequence of the great rains and heavy floods it was twenty days before the messenger returned from Cambaya; in which interval many of the merchants entertained me in a very friendly manner, when the weather was such that I could get out of doors; for, during almost the whole time of the messenger's absence, it rained almost continually. At the end of twenty days, the messenger came back from Cambaya with the answer of Mucrob Khan, giving licence to land my goods, and to buy and sell for the present voyage; but that he could not grant leave to establish a factory, or for the settlement of future trade, without the commands of his king, which he thought might be procured, if I would take a two months journey to deliver my king's letter to his sovereign. He likewise sent orders to the customer, that all the goods I might land were to be kept in the custom-house till the arrival of his brother Sheck Abder Rachim, who was to make all convenient dispatch, on purpose to chuse such goods as were fit for the king's use. It may be noticed, however, that this pretence of taking some part of the goods of all men for the king, is merely for their own private gain.

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