For, If It Had Not Pleased
God To Influence The Minds Of The Archbishop, And Two Padres Or Jesuits
Of The College Of St Paul, To Stand Our Friends, We Might Have Rotted In
Prison.
The archbishop is a very good man, who has two young men in his
service, one called Bernard Borgers born in Hamburgh, and the other
named John Linscot[434], a native of Enkhuysen, who did us especial
service; for by them the archbishop was often reminded of our case.
The
two good fathers who laboured so much for us were padre Mark, a native
of Bruges in Flanders, and padre Thomas Stevens[435], born in Wiltshire
in England. I chanced likewise to fall in with here a young man, Francis
de Rea, who was born in Antwerp, but was mostly brought up in London,
with whom I became acquainted in Aleppo, who also has done me much
service.
[Footnote 434: John Huighen van Linschoten, the author of the book
respecting the East Indies, formerly quoted, and from which a second
quotation will be given in this supplement. - E.]
[Footnote 435: This is he whose letter to his father from Goa has been
already inserted, and who was sometime of New College in
Oxford. - Hakluyt.]
We remained many days in prison at Ormus, and were a long while at sea
coming hither. Immediately on our arrival at this place we were sent to
prison, whence next day we were brought before the chief justice or
veedor, to be examined, after which we were remanded to prison. When we
had been thirteen days in prison, James Storie, the painter who
accompanied us, went into the monastery of St Paul, where he remains,
being made one of the company, which life he seems to like[436]. Upon St
Thomas day, 12th December, 22 days after our arrival here, I was
liberated from prison, and the next day Ralph Fitch and William
Bets[437] came out.
[Footnote 436: It will appear afterwards that he did not continue. - E.]
[Footnote 437: In the narrative of Fitch no such name occurs, but
William Leedes jeweller, is named as one of the party. Perhaps he ought
to have been named by Fitch, William Bets of Leeds. - E.]
If these troubles had not occurred, I think I was in a fair way of
making as good a voyage as was ever made with such a sum of money. Many
of our things I sold very well, both here and at Ormus while in prison,
although the captain of Ormus wished me to have sold all I had before I
embarked; so, by his permission, I went sundry times from the castle in
the mornings, accompanied by officers, and sold things, and returned
again at night to prison. They wrote down every thing that I sold; and
at my embarking, the captain directed me to deliver all my money and
goods into the hands of the _scrivano_ or purser of the ship, which I
did, and the scrivano left an acknowledgement with the captain, that
myself with the money and goods should be delivered up to the veedor
general in India. But on our arrival here, the veedor would not meddle
with either money or goods, seeing that no crime was substantiated
against us: Wherefore the goods remained in the ship nine or ten days
after our arrival; and then, as the ship was to sail from thence, the
scrivano sent the goods on shore, where they remained a day and a night
without any one to receive them. In the end, they permitted the bearer
of this letter to receive them, who put them into a house which he hired
for me, in which they remained four or five days. When afterwards they
ought to have delivered the money, it was ordered by the _veedor_, that
both the money and goods should be given into the custody of the
_positor_, where they remained for fourteen days after I was liberated
from prison.
When in Aleppo, I bought a fountain of silver gilt, six knives, six
spoons, and one fork, all trimmed with coral, for 25 chekins, which the
captain of Ormus took to himself and only paid 20 pardaos, or 100
larines, though they were worth there or here at Goa 100 chekins. Also
he had five emeralds set in gold, worth five or six hundred crowns, for
which he only paid 100 pardaos. He likewise took 19-1/2 pikes of cloth,
which cost 20 shillings the pike at London, and was worth 9 or 10 crowns
the pike at Ormus, for which he only paid 12 larines. He also had two
pieces of green kersie, worth 24 pardaos each; besides divers other more
trifling articles which he and the officers took at similar inferior
prices, and some for nothing at all. But the real cause of all was
Michal Stropene, who came to Ormus without a penny, and is now worth
thirty or forty thousand crowns, and is grieved that any stranger should
trade there but himself. But that shall not avail him; for I trust yet
to go both hither and thither, and to buy and sell as freely as he or
any other.
There is a great deal of good to be done here in divers of our
commodities; and likewise there is much profit to be made with the
commodities of this country, when carried to Aleppo. It were long for me
to write, and tedious for you to read, all the incidents which have
occurred to me since we parted; but the bearer is able to inform you of
every thing that has befallen me since my arrival in Ormus. It is my
intention to remain here in Goa; wherefore, if you write me, you may
send your letters to some friend in Lisbon, to be forwarded from thence
by the India ships. Let your direction, therefore be in Portuguese or
Spanish, by which they will the more readily reach me.
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