When I Went On Shore To Release Villanova, Pedro Gonzalves Confessed To
Thomas Dassel, That He Had Concerted With Some
Negroes and Portuguese
about detaining Dassel and the goods on shore; but that he had acted
nothing on this subject
Without authority from his king, contained in
certain letters he had received at Dartmouth from London, after our
departure from the Thames, occasioned by our presuming to trade to
Guinea without a servant of the king of Portugal; and declared likewise
that he had power or authority from Francisco de Costa, a Portuguese,
remaining in England, to detain the goods of Anthony Dassel in Guinea.
By consent of Francis Tucker, John Browbeare, and the other factors of
Richard Kelley, with whom this Pedro Gonzalves came from England, it was
agreed that we should detain Gonzalves in our ships until their
departure, to avoid any other mischief that he might contrive.
Therefore, on 9th January 1592, he was delivered to go for England in
the same ship that brought him, being all the time he remained in our
ship, well and courteously treated by me, though much against the will
of our mariners, who were much disgusted at seeing one who had been
nourished and relieved in our country, seeking, by villanous means, to
procure the destruction of us all.
Although the Spaniards and Portuguese are dissemblers and not to be
trusted, yet when they saw how the subjects of Amar Malek befriended and
favoured us, and that it would be prejudicial to their trade if we were
any way injured, they renounced their evil intentions against us,
shewing detestation of him who had been the cause of it, and promised to
defend us and our affairs in all faithfulness for the future; desiring
us, as the negro king had done already, to bring no more Portuguese with
us from England, for they esteemed one bar of iron as more valuable than
twenty Portuguese, and more serviceable towards the profitable trade
which had been of late carried on by us and the French; whereas the
Portuguese, whom we were in use to bring with us, endeavoured all they
could to do us injury, and even to hurt all parties concerned in the
trade.
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