He Seemed About Fifty Years Of Age, And His Name Was Mahomet
Aga.
On our approach, and doing reverence, he bowed to us, and desired us to
sit down, demanding who we were, and what was our business.
We answered
that we were Englishmen and merchants from London, who, by command of
the ambassador of the king of England to the Great Mogul, with whom we
had a league of peace and amity, had come to this place to treat for
liberty of trade. That we were in friendship with the Grand Signior, and
had free trade at Constantinople, Aleppo, and other places in the
Turkish dominions, and hoped to enjoy the same here; for which purpose
we were come to desire his and the pacha's phirmauns, giving us such
privileges as we already had in other parts of the dominions of the
Grand Signior, both for the present time and in future, as we meant to
visit his port yearly with plenty of English and Indian commodities. We
said likewise that we were commanded to say by the lord ambassador, that
hearing there were sundry pirates, English, Dutch, French, Portuguese,
Malabars and others, who infested the trade of this port, and
principally that carried on by the Guzerats, who were our friends, we
had his orders to free the seas of all such incumbrances, protecting all
honest merchant ships and junks from injury. These, we said, were the
true causes of our coming here.
The governor then rose up and bid us welcome, applauding our declared
purposes, but asked why we were so fearful as not to come on shore
without pledges.
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