In The Same
Ship Which Brought Us To Goa, Came The Chief Justice Of Ormus, Called
The Veedor General Of That Place, Who Had Been There Three Years, So
That His Time Was Expired.
This veedor is a great friend to the captain
of Ormus, and sent for me into his chamber, one
Day after coming here to
Goa, and began to demand many things at me, to which I made answers.
Among other things, he said that Mr Drake had been sent out of England
with many ships, and had gone to Molucca where he loaded cloves, and
finding a Portuguese galeon there belonging to the king, had shot two
pieces of his great ordnance against her. Perceiving this grieved them
much, I asked if they meant to be revenged on me for what had been done
by Mr Drake: To which he answered no; though his meaning was yes.
He said moreover, that the captain of Ormus had sent me to Goa, that the
viceroy might learn the news from me respecting Don Antonio, and whether
he were in England or not; and that it might possibly be all for the
best my being sent hither; which I trust in God may so fall out, though
contrary to his expectation and intention: 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.
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