One Of These
Englishmen, Mr John Newbery, Had Been Once Before In The Said Town Of
Ormus, And Had There
Taken good information of the trade; and on his
advice the others were then come hither along with him, bringing
Great
store of merchandise; such as cloths, saffron, all kinds of drinking
glasses and haberdashery wares, as looking-glasses, knives, and such
like stuff; and to conclude, they brought with them every kind of small
wares that can be thought of.
Although these wares amounted to great sums of money, they were yet only
as a shadow or colour, to give no occasion of mistrust or suspicion, as
their principal intention was to purchase great quantities of precious
stones, as diamonds, pearls, rubies, &c. to which end they brought with
them a great sum of money in silver and gold, and that very secretly,
that they might not be robbed of it, or run into danger on its
account[439]. On their arrival at Ormus, they hired a shop and began to
sell their wares; which being noticed by the Italians, whose factors
reside there as I said before, and fearing if these Englishmen got good
vent for their commodities, that they would become residents and so
daily increase, which would be no small loss and hindrance to them, they
presently set about to invent subtle devices to hinder them. To which
end, they went immediately to the captain of Ormus, who was then Don
Gonzalo de Menezes[440], saying that these Englishmen were heretics come
to spy the country, and that they ought to be examined and punished as
enemies, for a warning to others. Being friendly to these Englishmen, as
one of them had been there before and had given him presents, the
captain could not be prevailed upon to injure them, but shipped them
with all their wares for Goa, sending them to the viceroy, that he might
examine and deal with them as he thought good.
[Footnote 439: This seems a mere adoption of the rumours of the
Italians; as Newbery distinctly complains of the want of cash, by which
he might have made very profitable purchases in Aleppo, Bagdat, and
Basora. - E.]
[Footnote 440: The captain of the castle of Ormus is named Don Mathias
de Albuquerque by Fitch. - E.]
Upon their arrival at Goa, they were cast into prison, and were in the
first place examined whether or not they were good Christians. As they
could only speak very bad Portuguese, while two of them spoke good
Dutch, having resided several years in the low countries, a Dutch Jesuit
who was born at Bruges in Flanders, and had resided thirty years in
India, was sent to them, to undermine and examine them; in which they
behaved so well, that they were holden and esteemed for good and
Catholic Christians; yet were they still suspected, as being strangers
and Englishmen. The Jesuits told them that they would be sent prisoners
into Portugal, and advised them to leave off their trade in merchandise,
and to become Jesuits; promising in return to defend them from all their
troubles.
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