[Footnote 306: Besides this, Hakluyt gives copies in Spanish and English
of a letter from Mulley Hamet to the Earl of Leicester, and of a letter
from Queen Elizabeth to Mulley Hamet, both of which are merely
complimentary, or relate to unexplained circumstances respecting one
John Herman an English rebel, whose punishment is required from the
emperor of Morocco. He had probably contraveened the exclusive
privileges of the Barbary company, by trading in Morocco. - E.]
SECTION XV.
_Voyage to Benin beyond Guinea in 1588, by James Welsh_[307].
This and the subsequent voyage to Benin were fitted out by Messrs Bird
and Newton, merchants of London, in which a ship of 100 tons called the
Richard of Arundel and a pinnace were employed, under the chief command
of James Welsh, who wrote the account of both voyages - _Astley_.
[Footnote 307: Hakluyt, II. 613. Astley, I. 199.]
It seems not improbable that these voyages were intended as an evasion
of an exclusive privilege granted in May 1588 by Queen Elizabeth, for
trade to the rivers Senegal and Gambia, called Senega and Gambra in
Hakluyt. The boundaries of this exclusive trade are described as
beginning at the northermost part of the river Senegal, and from and
within that river all along the coast of Guinea into the southermost
part of the river Gambia, and within that river also; and the reason
assigned for this exclusive grant is, that the patentees had already
made one voyage to these parts, and that the enterprizing a new trade
must be attended with considerable hazard and expence.
