Their King, They Said, Was Extremely Sorry For The Former
Murder Of Our People, And Would Never Consent To Any
Such thing in
future, holding the Portuguese and Spaniards in utter abhorrence ever
since, and having a much better opinion
Of us and our nation than these
our enemies wished them to entertain. I gave them hearty thanks for
their good opinion, assuring them that they should always find a great
difference between our honour, and the dishonourable words and actions
of our enemies, and then paid them the customary duties. As this was a
chief place for trade, I told them that I intended to wait upon their
king that I might give him certain presents which I had brought out of
England, on purpose to strengthen the friendship between their nation
and ours.
[Footnote 331: From this and other passages of the present journal, it
appears that the English used to carry a Portuguese along with them in
their first voyages to the coast of Africa, whether from choice or by
agreement with the government of Portugal does not clearly appear: and
that, finding the inconvenience of this custom, they began now to lay it
aside. This seems to have provoked the king of Portugal, who proposed to
ruin the English trade by means of these agents or spies. - _Astl_. I.
214. b.]
All this time, Thomas Dassel was with our large pinnace at the town of
Joala, in the dominions of king Jocoel Lamiockeric, trading with the
Spaniards and Portuguese at that place. The before-mentioned Pedro
Gonzalves, who had come out of England, was there also along with some
English merchants, employed in the service of Richard Kelley. As
Gonzalves had not been able to accomplish his treacherous purposes
against Dassel at Porto d'Ally, where I remained, he attempted, along
with other Portuguese who were made privy to his design, to betray
Dassel at this town of Joala, and had seduced the chiefs among the
negroes, by means of bribes, to concur in his wicked and most
treacherous intentions. These, by the good providence of God, were
revealed to Thomas Dassel by Richard Cape, an Englishman, in the service
of Richard Kelley; on which Thomas Dassel went on board a small English
bark called the Cherubim of Lyme, where a Portuguese named Joam Payva, a
servant of Don Antonio, declared that Thomas Dassel would have been
betrayed long before, if he and one Garcia, a Portuguese, who lived at
Joala, would have concurred with Pedro Gonzalves. Upon this warning,
Thomas Dassel contrived next day to get three Portuguese on board the
pinnace, two of whom he sent on shore, and detained the third named
Villanova as an hostage, sending a message that if they would bring
Gonzalves on board next day by eight o'clock, he would release
Villanova; but they did not. Dassel likewise got intelligence, that
certain Portuguese and negroes were gone post by land from Joala to
Porto d'Ally, with the view of having me, Richard Rainolds, and my
company detained on shore; and, being doubtful of the negro friendship,
who were often wavering, especially when overcome by wine, he came with
his pinnace and the Portuguese hostage to Porto d'Ally on the 24th
December, for our greater security, and to prevent any treacherous plan
that might have been attempted against us in the roads by the
Portuguese.
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