The Ship In Which We Were Embarked Belonged To
The Captain, Who Carried In It 124 Horses For Sale.
All goods carried to
Goa in a ship wherein there are horses pay no duties; but if there are
no horses, you then pay eight in the hundred for your goods.
The first
city of India at which we arrived on the 5th November, after passing the
coast of _Zindi_, [Sindi] was named Diu, which stands in an island on
the coast of the kingdom of Cambaia, or Gujrat, and is the strongest
town belonging to the Portuguese in those parts. It is but small, yet
abounds in merchandise, as they here load many ships with different
kinds of goods for the straits of Mecca or the Red Sea, Ormus, and other
places; these ships belong both to Christians and Moors, but the latter
are not permitted to pass unless they have a Portuguese licence.
Cambaietta, or Cambay, is the chief city of that province, being great
and populous and well built for a city of the gentiles. When there
happens a famine the natives sell their children for a low price. The
last king of Cambaia was sultan Badur, who was slain at the siege of
Diu, and shortly after the capital city was reduced by the great
_Mogor_, [Mogul] who is king of Agra and Delhi, forty days journey from
thence. Here the women wear upon their arms, a vast number of ivory
rings, in which they take so much pride that they would rather go
without their meat than want their bracelets.
Going from Diu, we came to _Damaun_, the second town of the Portuguese
in the country of Cambaia, forty leagues from Diu. This place, which has
no trade but in corn and rice, has many villages under its jurisdiction,
which the Portuguese possess quietly during peace, but in time of war
they are all occupied by the enemy. From Damaun we passed to _Basaim_,
[Baseen] and from thence to _Tanna_ in the island of Salsette, at both
which places the only trade is in rice and corn. The 10th November we
arrived at _Chaul_ on the firm land, at which place there are two towns,
one belonging to the Portuguese and the other to the Moors. That of the
Portuguese is nearest the sea, commanding the bay, and is walled round;
and a little above it is the Moors town, subject to a king called
_Xa-Maluco_. At this place is a great trade for all Kinds of spices,
drugs, silk, raw and manufactured, sandal-wood, elephants teeth, much
China work, and a great deal of sugar made from the nut called _gagara_,
[coco]. The tree on which it grows is called the _palmer_, and is the
most profitable tree in the world. It always bears fruit, and yields
wine, oil, sugar, vinegar, cordage, coals, or fuel; of the leaves are
made thatch for houses, sails for ships, and mats to sit or lie on; of
the branches are made houses, and brooms wherewith they sweep them; of
the wood ships. The wine issues from the top of the tree, and is
procured thus: They cut a branch, binding it hard, and hang an earthen
pot under the cut end, which they empty every evening and morning; and
still[403] the juice, putting raisins into it, by which it becometh
strong wine in a short time. Many ships come here from all parts of
India, and from Ormus and Mecca, so that there are many Moors and
Gentiles at this place. The natives have a strange superstition,
worshipping a cow, and having cows dung in great veneration, insomuch
that they paint or daub the walls of their houses with it. They kill no
animal whatever, not so much as a louse, holding it a crime to take away
life. They eat no flesh, living entirely on roots, rice, and milk. When
a man dies, his living wife is burnt along with his body, if she be
alive; and if she will not, her head is shaven, and she is ever after
held in low esteem. They consider it a great sin to bury dead bodies, as
they would engender many worms and other vermin, and when the bodies
were consumed these worms would lack sustenance; wherefore they burn
their dead. In all Guzerat they kill nothing; and in the town of Cambay
they have hospitals for lame dogs and cats, and for birds, and they even
provide food for the ants.
[Footnote 403: I am apt to suspect the word _still_ here used, is only
meant to imply fermentation, not distillation - E.]
Goa is the chief city of the Portuguese in India, in which their viceroy
resides and holds his court. It stands in an island about 25 or 30 miles
in circumference, being a fine city and very handsome for an Indian
town. The island is fertile and full of gardens and orchards, with many
palmer trees, and several villages. Here are many merchants of all
nations. The fleet which sails every year from Portugal, consisting of
four, five, or six great ships, comes first here, arriving mostly in
September, and remaining there forty or fifty days. It then goes to
Cochin, where the ships take in pepper for Portugal. Often one ship
loads entirely at Goa, and the rest go to Cochin, which is 100 leagues
to the south. Goa stands in the country of Adel Khan, which is six or
seven days journey inland, the chief city being Bisapor. [Bejapoor.]
On our arrival in Goa we were thrown into prison, and examined before
the justice, who demanded us to produce letters, [of licence?] and
charged us with being spies; but they could prove nothing against us. We
continued in prison till the 22d December, when we were set at liberty,
putting in surety for 2000 ducats not to depart from the town. Our
surety was one Andreas Taborer, who was procured for us by father
Stevens, an English Jesuit whom we found there, and another religious
man, a friend of his.
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