to him at the Kings Palace for a Ticket to receive my Allowance out of the King's Store-houses Hereby I was brought into a great danger out of which I had much ado to escape and that with the loss of my Allowance for ever after I shall relate the manner of it in the next Chapter CHAP. VIII How the Author had like to have been received into the Kings Service and what means be used to avoid it He meditates and attempts an escape but is often prevented THis frequent Appearance at the Court and waiting there for my Tickets brought me to be taken notice of by the Great men inâ—omuch that they wondered I had been all this while forgotten and never been brought before the King being so fit as they would suppose me for his use and service saying That from henceforward I should fare better than that Allowance amounted to as soon as the King was made acquainted with me Which words of theirs served instead of a Ticket Whereupon fearing I should suddainly be brought in to the King which thing I most of all feared and least desired and hoping that out of â—ight might prove out of mind I resolved to forsake the Court and never more to ask for Tickets especially seeing God had dealt so bountifully with me as to give me ability to live well enough without them As when Israel had eaten of the Corn of the Land of Canaan the Manna ceased so when I was driven to forego my Allowance that had all this while sustained me in this wilderness God otherways provided for me From this time forward to the time of my Flight out of the Land which was five years I neither had nor demanded any more Allowance and glad I was that I could escape so But I must have more trouble first For some four or five days after my last coming from Court there came a Soldier to me sent from the Adigar with an Order in writing under his hand that upon sight thereof I should immediatly dispatch and come to the Court to make my personal appearance before the King and in case of any delay the Officers of the Countrey were thereby Autâ—orized and Commanded to assist the Bearer and to see the same Order speedily performed The chief occasion of this had been a Person not long before my near Neighbour and Acquaintance Oua Matteral by name who knew my manner of Life and had often been at my House but now was taken in and employed at Court and he out of friendship and good will to me was one of the chief Actors in this business that he might bring me to Preferment at Court Upon the abovesaid summons there was no Remedy but to Court I must go Where I first applyed my self to my said old Neighbour Oua Motteral who was the occasion of sending for me I signified to him that I was come in obedience to the Warrant and I desired to know the reason why I was sent for To which he answered Here is good news for you you are to appear in the Kings Presence where you will find great Favour and Honourable entertainment far more than any of your Countrey men yet here found Which the great man thought would be a strong Inducement to persuade me joyfully to accept of the Kings Employments But this was the thing I always most dreaded and endeavoured to shun knowing that being taken into Court would be a means to cut of all hopes of Liberty from me which was the thing I esteemed equal unto life it self Seeing my self brought unto this pass wherein I had no earthly helper I recommended my cause to God desiring him in whose hands are the hearts of Kings and Princes to divert the business And my cause being just and right I was resolved to persist in a denial My case seemed to me to be like that of the four Lepers at the Gate of Samaria No avoiding of Death for me If out of Ambition and Honour I should have embraced the Kings Service besides the depriving my self of all hopes of Liberty in the end I must be put to death as happens to all that serve him and to deny his service could be but Death And it seemed to me to be the better Death of the two For if I should be put to Death only because I refused his service I should be pitied as one that dyed innocently but if I should be executed in his Service however innocent I was I should be certainly reckon'd a Rebel and a Traytor as they all are whom he commands to be cut off Upon these considerations having thus set my resolutions as God enabled me I returned him this answer First That the English Nation to whom I belonged had never done any violence or wrong to their King either in word or deed Secondly That the causes of my coming on their Land was not like to that of other Nations who were either Enemies taken in War or such as by reason of poverty or distress were driven to sue for relief out of the Kings bountiful liberality or such as fled for the fear of deserved punishment Whereas as they all well knew I came not upon any of these causes but upon account of Trade and came ashore to receive the Kings Orders which by notice we understood were come concerning us and to render an account to the Dissauva of the Reasons and Occasions of our coming into the Kings Port. And that by the grief and sorrow I had undergone by being so long detained from my Native Countrey but for which I thanked the Kings Majesty without want of any thing I scarcely enjoyed my self For my heart was alwayes absent from my body Hereunto adding my insufficiency and inability for such honourable Employment being subject to many Infirmities and Diseases of Body To this he replied Cannot you read and write English Servile Labour the King requireth not of you I answered When I came ashore I was but young and that which then I knew now I had forgot for want of practice having had neither ink nor paper ever since I came ashore I urged moreover That it was contrary to the Custome and Practice of all Kings and Princes upon the Earth to keep and detain men that came into their Countreys upon such peaceable accounts as we did much less to compel them to serve them beyond their power and ability At my fiâ—st coming before him he looked very pleasingly and spake with a smiling countenance to me but now his smiles were turned into frowns and his pleasing looks into bended brows and in rough Language he bad me be gone and tell my tale to the Adigar Which immediatly I did but he being busie did not much regard me and I was glad of it that I might absent the Court But I durst not go out of the City Sore afraid I was that evil would befall me and the best I could expect was to be put in Chains All
certainly we would have attempted it had they not removed us There was a small Moors Vessel which lay in the River which they had seized on about this time as we supposed they would have done by our Ship if they could have catched her there This Vessel had some forty men belonging to her who were not made Prisoners as we were but yet lay in the same Town with those we had concluded that they should furnish us with Arms and in the night altogether to march down and get on board of their Vessel and so make our escape But being prevented in this design by our departure we were fain to lay at their mercy In our new quarters our entertainment proved as good as formerly And indeed there was this to mitigate our misery that the People were courteous to us and seemed to pity us For there is a great difference between the People inhabiting the high-lands or the mountains of Cande and those of the low-lands where we now are placed who are of a kinder nature by far than the other For these Countreys beneath the mountains formerly were in subjection unto the Portugueze Whereby they have been exercised and acquainted with the customs and manners of Christian People Which pleasing them far better than their own have begot and bred in them a kind of love and affection towards Strangers being apt to shew Pity and Compassion on them in their distress And you shall hear them oftentimes upbraiding the High-landers for their insolent and rude behavior It was a very sad Condition whilst we were all together yet hitherto each others company lessened our sufferings and was some comfort that we might condole one another But now it came to pass that we must be separated and placed asunder one in a Village where we could have none to confer withall or look upon but the horrible black faces of our heathen enemies and not understand one word of their Language neither this was a great addition to our grief Yet God was so merciful to us as not to suffer them to part my Father and I. For it was some sixteen days after our last remove the King was pleased to send a Captain with Soldiers to bring us up into the Country Who brought us and the other men taken in the Long boat together Which was an heavy meeting Being then as we well saw to be carried Captives into the mountains That night we supped together and the next morning changed our condition into real Captivity Howbeit they gave us many comfortable promises which we believed not as that the Kings intent was not to keep us any longer than till another Ship came to carry us away Altho we had but very little to carry God knows yet they appointed men to carry the cloths that belonged to the Captain and Officers We still expected they would plunder us of our cloths having nothing else to be plundered of but the Chingulay Captain told us that the King had given order that none should take the value of a thread from us Which indeed they did not As they brought us up they were very tender of us as not to tyre us with Travelling bidding us go no faster than we would our selves This kindness did somewhat comfort us The way was plain and easie to Travail through great Woods so that we walked as in an Arbour but desolate of Inhabitants So that for four or five nights we lay on the Ground with Boughs of Trees only over our heads And of Victuals twice a Day they gave us as much as we could eat that is of Rice Salt-fish dryed Flesh And sometimes they would shoot Deer and find Hony in the Trees good part of which they always brought unto us And drink we could not want there being Rivers and Puddles full of Water as we Travelled along But when we came out of the Woods among Inhabitants and were led into their Towns they brought us Victuals ready dressed after their fashion viz. Rice boiled in Water and three other sorts of Food whereof one Flesh and the other two Herbs or such like things that grow in their Countrey and all kinds of ripe Fruit which we liked very well and fed heartily upon Our entertainment all along was at the Charge of the Countrey So we fed like Soldiers upon free Quarter Yet I think we gave them good content for all the Charge we put them to Which was to have the satisfaction of seeing us eat sitting on Mats upon the Ground in their yards to the Publick view of all Beholders Who greatly admired us having never seen nor scarce heard of English-men before It was also great entertainment to them to observe our manner of eating with Spoons which some of us had and that we could not take the Rice up in our hands and put it to our mouths without spilling as they do nor gaped and powred the Water into our Mouths out of Pots according to their Countreys custom Thus at every Town where we came they used both young and old in great Companies to stare upon us Being thus brought up all together somewhat near to the City of Cande Now came an Order from the King to separate us and to place us one in a Town Which then seemed to us to be very hard but it was for the convenience of getting Food being quartered upon the Countrey at their Charge The Captain Mr. Iohn Loveland my self and Iohn Gregory were parted from the rest and brought nearer to the City to be ready when the King should send for us All the Rest were placed one in a Town according to the aforesaid Order Special Command also was given from the King that we all should be well entertained and according to the Countrey fare we had no cause to complain We four were thus kept together some two Months faring well all the while But the King minding us not Order came from the great Men in Court to place us in Towns as the rest were only my Father and I were still permitted to be together and a great Charge given to use us well And indeed twice a Day we had brought unto us as good fare as the Countrey affordedâ— All the rest had not their Provisions brought to them as we had but went to eat from house te house each house taking its turn On the Sixteenth of September 1660. My Father and I were placed in a Town called Bonder Coos-wat the situation was very pleasing and commodious lying about Thirty Miles to the Northward of the City of Cande in the Countrey called Hotcurly and distant from the rest of our People a full days journey We were removed hither from another Town nearer to the City where the Nobles at Court supposing that the King would call for vs had placed us to have us ready Being thus brought to Bonder Cooswat the People put it to our choice which House we would have
it but he told them the plain truth that it was not customary there to release white Men. For saying which they railed at him calling him Popish Dog and Iesuitical Rogue supposing he spoke as he wished it might be But afterward to their grief they found it to be true as he told them Their entertainment was excellently good according to the poor condition of the Countrey but they thought it otherwise very mean and not according to the King's order Therefore that the King might be informed how they were abused each man took the Limb of an Hen in his hand and marched rank and file in order thro the Streets with it in their hands to the Court as a sign to the great Men whereby they might see how illy they were served thinking hereby the King might come to hear of their misusage and so they might have order to be fed better afterwards But this proved Sport to the Noblemen who well knew the fare of the Countrey laughing at their ignorance to complain where they had so little cause And indeed afterwards they themselves laughed at this action of theirs and were half ashamed of it when they came to a better understanding of the Nature of the Countreys Diet. Yet notwithstanding being not used to such short Commons of Flesh tho they had Rice in abundance and having no Money to buy more they had a desire to kill some Cows that they might eat their Bellies full of Beef but made it somewhat a point of Conscience whether it might be lawful or not to take them without leave Upon which they apply themselves to the old Father abovesaid desiring him to solve this Case of Conscience Who was very ready to give them a Dispensation And told them That forasmuch as the Chingulayes were their Enemies and had taken their Bodies it was very lawful for them to satisfie their Bodies with their Goods And the better to animate them in this design bid them bring him a piece that he might partake with them So being encouraged by the old Father they wen ton boldly in their intended Business Now if you would have an account of the Metal and Manfulness of these men as you have already had a tast of ours take this passage The Iack Fruit the Kings Officers often gather wheresoever it grows and give to the Kings Elephants and they may gather it in any mans grounds without the Owners leave being for the Kings use Now these English men were appointed to dwell in an house that formerly belonged unto a Noble man whom the King had cut off and seized upon it In the ground belonging to this House stood a Iack Tree full of Fruit. Some of the Kings men came thither to gather some of them to feed the Elephants But altho the English had free liberty to gather what they could eat or desire yet they would permit none but themselves to meddle with them but took the Officers by the shoulders and turned them out of the Garden altho there were more a great many than they could tell what to do with The Great men were so Civil that notwithstanding this Affront they laid no Punishment upon them But the Event of this was that a few days after they were removed from this house to another where was a Garden but no Trees in it And because they would not allow the King a few they lost all themselves I mentioned before two Lads of this Company whom the King chose out for his own service their Names were Hugh Smart and Henry Man These being taken into his Court obtained great Favour and Honour from him as to be always in his presence and very often he would kindly and familiarly talk with them concerning their Country what it afforded and of their King and his Strength for War Thus they lived in his Favour for some time Till at length Hugh Smart having a desire to hear news concerning England privatly got to the Speech of a Dutch Embassadour Of which the King had notice but would not believe it supposing the information was given him out of Envy to his Favorite but commanded privately to watch him and if he went again to catch him there Which he not being aware of went again and was catched At which the King was very angry For he allows none to come to the speech of Ambassodours much less one that served in his presence and heard and saw all that passed in Court But yet the King dealt very favourably with him For had it been a Chingulay there is nothing more sure than that he should have dyed for it But this English mans Punishment was only to be sent away and kept a Prisoner in the Mountains without Chains and ordered him to be well used there Where indeed he lived better content than in the Kings Palace He took a Wife here and had one Son by her and afterwards dyed by a mischance which was thus As he was gathering a Iack from the Tree by a Crock it fell down upon his side and bruised him so that it killed him Henry Man the other yet remained in Favour and was promoted to be Chief over all the Kings Servants that attended on him in his Palace It happened one Day that he broke one of the Kings China Dishes Which made him so sore afraid that he fled for Sanctuary into a Vehar a Temple where the Chief Priests always dwel and hold their consultations This did not a little displease the King this Act of his supposing him to be of Opinion that those Priests were able to secure him against the Kings displeasure However he shewing Reverence to their Order would not violently fetch him from thence bâ—t sent a kind Message to the English man bidding him not to be afraid for so small a matter as a Dish And it is probable had he not added this fault he might have escaped without Punishment and that he should come and Act in his place as formerly At which Message he came forth and immediatly as the King had given order they took hold of him and bound his Arms above the Elbows behind which is their fashion of binding men In which manner he lay all that Night being bound so hard that his Arms swelled and the Ropes cut throw the Flesh into the Bones The next day the King Commanded a Nobleâ—man to loose the Ropes off his Arms and put Chains on his Legs and keep him in his House and there feed him and cure him Thus he lay some Six Months and was cured but had no Strength in his Armes and then was taken into his Office again and had as much Favour from the King as before Who seemed much to lament him for his folly thus to procure his own ruine Not long after he again offended the King Which as it is reported was thus A Portugueze had been sent for to the City to be employed in the Kings Service to which Service
trusty than his own People With these he often discourses concerning the Affairs of their Countreys and promotes them to places far above their Ability and sometimes their Degree or Desert And indeed all over the Land they do bear as it were a natural respect and reverence to White Men in as much as Black they hold to be inferior to White And they say the Gods are White and that the Souls of the Blessed after the Resurrection shall be White and therefore that Black is a rejected and accursed colour And as further signs of the King's favour to them there are many Privileges which White Men have and enjoy as tolerated or allowed them from the King which I suppose may proceed from the aforesaid Consideration as to wear any manner of Apparel either Gold Silver or Silk Shoes and Stockings a shoulder Belt and Sword their Houses may be whitened with Lime and many such like things all which the Chingulayes are not permitted to do He will also sometimes send â—or them into his Presence and discourse familiarly with them and entertain them with great Civilities especially white Ambassadors They are greatly chargeable unto his Countrey but he regards it not in the least So that the People are more like Slaves unto us than we unto the King In as much as they are inforced by his Command to bring us maintenance Whose Poverty is so great oftentimes that for want of what they supply us with themselves their Wives and Children are forced to suffer hunger this being as a due Tax imposed upon them to pay unto us Neither can they by any Power or Authority refuse the Payment hereof to us For in my own hearing the People once complaining of their Poverty and Inability to give us any longer our Allowance the Magistrate or Governor replied It was the King's special Command and who durst disannul it And if otherwise they could not supply us with our maintenance he bad them sell their Wives and Children rather than we should want of our due Such is the favour that Almighty God hath given Christian People in the sight of this Heathen King whose entertainment and usage of them is thus favourable If any enquire into the Religious exercise and Worship practised among the Christians here I am sorry I must say it I can give but a slender account For they have no Churches nor no Priests and so no meetings together on the Lord's Dayes for Divine Worship but each one Reads or Prays at his own House as he is disposed They Sanctifie the Day chiefly by refraining work and meeting together at Drinking-houses They continue the practice of Baptism and there being no Priests they Baptize their Children themselves with Water and use the words In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and give them Christian Names They have their Friends about them at such a time and make a small Feast according to their Ability and some teach their Children to say their Prayers and to Read and some do not Indeed their Religion at the best is but Negative that is they are not Heathen they do not comply with the Idolatry here practised and they profess themselves Christians in a general manner which appears by their Names and by their Beads and Crosses that some of them wear about their Necks Nor indeed can I wholly clear them from complyance with the Religion of the Countrey For some of them when they are Sick do use the Ceremonies which the Heathen do in the like case as in making Idols of clay and setting them up in their Houses and Offering Rice to them and having Weavers to Dance before them But they are ashamed to be known to do this and I have known none to do it but such as are Indians born Yet I never knew any of them that do inwardly in Heart and Conscience incline to the ways of the Heathen but perfectly abhor them nor have there been any I ever heard of that came to their Temples upon any Religious account but only would stand by and look on without it were one old Priest named Padre Vergonce a Genoez born and of the Iesuits Order who would go to the Temples and eat with the Weavers and other ordinary People of the Sacrifices offered to the Idols but with this Apology for himself that he eat it as common Meat and as God's Creature and that it was never the worse for their Superstition that had past upon it But however this may reflect upon the Father another thing may be related for his Honour There happened two Priests to fall into the hands of the King on whom he conferred great Honours for having laid aside their Habits they kept about his Person and were the greatest Favourites at Court The King one day sent for Vergonse and asked him if it would not be better for him to lay aside his old Coat and Cap and to do as the other two Priests had done and receive Honour from him He replied to the King That he boasted more in that old habit and in the Name of Iesus than in all the honour that he could do him And so refused the King's Honour The King valued the Father for this saying He had a pretty Library about him and died in his Bed of old Age whereas the two other Priests in the King's Service died miserably one of a Canker and the other was slain The old Priest had about Thiâ—ty or Forty Books which the King they say seized on after his Death and keeps These Priests and more lived there but all deceased excepting Vergonse before my time The King allowed them to build a Church which they did and the Portugueze assembled there but they made no better than a Bawdy-house of it for which cause the King commanded to pull it down Although here be Protestants and Papists yet here are no differences kept up among them but they are as good Friends as if there were no such Parties And there is no other Distinctions of Religion there but only Heathens and Christians and we usually say We Christians FINIS Books printed for and sold by Richard Chiswel FOLIO SPEED's Maps and Geography of Great Britain and Ireland and of Foreign Parts Dr. Cave's Lives of the Primitive Fathers Dr. Cary's Chronological Account of Anciâ—â—t time Wanly's Wonders of the little World or History of Man Sir Tho. Herbert's Travels into Persia c. Holyoak's large Dictionary Latin and English Sir Richard Baker's Chronicle of England Causâ—n's Holy Court Wilson's compleat Christian Dictionary Bishop Wilkin's Real Character or Philosophical Language Pharmacopaeia Regalis Collegii Medicorum Londinensis reformata Iudge Ione's Reports in Common â—â—w Iudge Vauâ—han's Reports in Common Law Cave Tabulae Ecclesiasticorum Scriptorum Hobbe's Leviathan Lord Bacon's Advancement of Learning Sir W. Dugdale's Baronage of England in 2 Vol. QUARTO DR Littleton's Dictionary Bishop Nicâ—olson on the Church