These Documents Will Be Found In The Sequel To
The Narrative Of Mr Fitch.
It must not however be concealed, that the present journal has a very
questionable appearance in regard to its entire authenticity, as it has
obviously borrowed liberally from that of Cesar Frederick, already
inserted in this work, Vol.
VII. p. 142-244. It seems therefore highly
probable, that the journal or narrative of Fitch may have fallen into
the hand of some ingenious _book-maker_, who wished to increase its
interest by this unjustifiable art. Under these circumstances, we would
have been led to reject this article from our collection, were not its
general authenticity corroborated by these other documents, and by the
journal of John Eldred, who accompanied Newbery and Fitch to Basora. A
part of the striking coincidence between the journals of Cesar Frederick
and Ralph Fitch might have arisen from their having visited the same
places, and nearly by the same route, only at the distance of 20 years;
Frederick having commenced his journey in 1563, and Newbery and Fitch
theirs in 1588. Some of the resemblances however could only have been
occasioned by plagiarism.
It is very difficult to conceive how Fitch, after his imprisonment at
Goa, and escape from thence under surety to the Portuguese viceroy,
should have ventured in the sequel to visit the Portuguese settlements
in Ceylon, Cochin, Calicut, Goa even, Chaul, and Ormuz, on his way home
again by Basora, Bagdat, Mosul, &c. to Aleppo and Tripoli. These parts
of his journal, and his excursions to the north of Pegu, certainly have
a suspicious appearance.
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