Accordingly, The Hector And Thomas Were
Directed To Ply Between The North End Of The Island Of Bab-Al-Mondub
And
the Habesh shore, to intercept all ships that came that way, but with
strict charges that no one should
Take from them the value of a penny,
or offer them the slightest violence or injury.
The 18th I set sail for Mokha, where we arrived in five hours. The 20th
the governor desired a list of our commodities, which Mr Cockes carried
him. He picked several colours of our broad-cloth, promising to purchase
to the extent of 1000 dollars, besides some quantity of lead and tin.
Many others desired to have lead and iron, wherefore the governor
requested some quantity might be brought ashore next morning, saying,
that when he once began to trade with us, the merchants would certainly
follow. He sent three samples of indigo, but none of the Lahore kind,
which is round, and the best. The price asked was 100 dollars the
churle, or 127 rotulas of Mokha, or about 150 pounds English. This
price was quite unreasonable, as we estimated the three sorts to be only
worth respectively thirty, forty, and forty-five dollars the churle.
The 21st, we sent ashore eight pieces of cloth, one ton of iron, a ton
of lead, and two chests of tin, of six cwt. For four of the best cloths
they offered one and a half dollar the pike, which ought to be
twenty-seven inches, but proposed to measure by a pike of thirty-one
inches. They likewise offered 120 dollars for the bahar of tin, twelve
for the bahar of iron, and fifteen for the lead, prices which we could
not accept, and therefore our merchants returned aboard with their
commodities at night.
The 25th we went for Assab, where, on the 27th, we found the
Trades-increase and the Hector, with eleven sail of junks, or India
ships, from various parts. On coming into the road, or harbour of Assab,
it is proper to keep the northern shore aboard, leaving a little rock or
hummock on the starboard side, when we have twelve, eleven, ten, nine,
eight, and seven fathoms, on a sandy bottom. We anchored in seven
fathoms, about half a mile from the shore. The 30th, the nakhadas, or
Indian ship-masters, requested that such of their goods as we wanted
might be sorted immediately, that they might not lose the monsoon for
returning to India, offering to bring aboard our ships any packages we
pleased, to be there examined, and to carry back what we refused. The
9th May, I caused two large India ships to be measured, which were of
the following scantlings: - The Rhemi from stem to stern-port, was 153
feet long, her rake aft from the post being seventeen feet, the top of
her sides in breadth forty-two, and her depth thirty-one feet. The
Mahamudi was 136 feet long, her rake aft twenty, her breadth forty-one,
her depth twenty-nine and a half, and her main-yard 132 feet.
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