where the Cloves grow giving them in exchange Rice and other necessaries for the support of life without which they would starve being very sadly provided for When the Natives of Macassar are thus furnish'd of Cloves they barter them in Exchange for such Commodities as are brought them sometimes they give Tortoise-Shells in exchange and Gold Dust by which the Merchant gains six or seven in the hundred being better than the Money of the Island though it be Gold by reason the King oft-times enhances the value of it The places where Cloves grow are Amboyna Ellias Seram and Bouro The Islands of Banda also in number six viz. Nero Lontour Poulcay Roseguin and Grenapuis bear Nutmegs in great abundance The Island of Grenapuis is about six Leagues in compass and ends in a sharp point where there is a continual fire burning out of the earth The Island Damme where there grows great store of Nutmegs and very big was discover'd in the year 1647 by Abel Tasman a Dutch Commander The Price of Cloves and Nutmegs as I have known them sold to the Hollanders at Surat was as follows The Mein of Surat contains forty Serres which make thirty-four of our Pounds at sixteen Ounces to the Pound A Mein of Cloves was sold for a hundred and three Mamoudi's and a half A Mein of Mace was sold for a hundred and fifty-seven Mamoudi's and a half Nutmegs for fifty-six Mamoudi's and a half Cinnamon comes at present from the Island of Ceylan The Tree that bears it is very much like the Willow and has three Barks They never take off but the first and second which is accounted the best They never meddle with the third for should the Knife enter that the Tree would dye So that it is an art to take off the Cinnamon which they learn from their youth The Cinnamon Spice is much dearer to the Hollanders then people think for the King of Ceylan otherwise call'd King of Candy from the name of his principal City being a sworn Enemy to the Hollanders sends his Forces with an intention to surprize them when they gather their Cinnamon so that they are forc'd to bring seven or eight hundred men together to defend as many more that are at work Which great expence of theirs very much enhances the price of the Cinnamon There grows upon the Cinnamon Tree a certain fruit like an Olive though not to be eaten This the Portugals were wont to put into a Caldron of Water together with the tops of the Branches and boil'd it till the Water was all consum'd When it was cold the upper part became a Paste like white Wax of which they made Tapers to set up in their Churches for no sooner were the Tapers lighted but all the Church was perfum'd Formerly the Portugals brought Cinnamon out of other Countries belonging to the Raja's about Cochin But the Hollanders have destroy'd all those places so that the Cinnamon is now in their hands When the Portugals had that Coast the English bought their Cinnamon of them and usually paid for it by the Mein fifty Mamoudi's Drugs that are brought to Surat and brought from other Countries with the price of every one by the Mein Salt Armoniack according to the usual price costs by the Mein twenty Mamoudi's Borax comes unrefin'd from Amadabat as does Salt Armoniack and costs by the Mein thirty-five Mamoudi's Gum-Lack seven Mamoudi's and a half Gum-Lack wash'd ten Mamoudi's Gum-Lack in sticks of Wax forty Mamoudi's There are some of these Sticks that cost fifty or sixty Mamoudi's the Mein and more when they mix Musk in the Gum. Saffron of Surat which is good for nothing but for colouring four Mamoudi's and a half Cumin White eight Mamoudi's Cumin Black three Mamoudi's Arlet small three Mamoudi's Frankincense that comes from the Coast of Arabia three Mamoudi's Myrrh that which is good call'd Mirra Gilet thirty Mamoudi's Myrrh Bolti which comes from Arabia fifteen Mamoudi's Cassia two Mamoudi's Sugar Candy eighteen Mamoudi's Asutinat a sort of Grain very hot one Mamoudi Annise-seed gross three Mamoudi's and a half Annise-seed small and hot one Mamoudi and a half Oupelote a Root fourteen Mamoudi's Cointre five Mamoudi's Auzerout from Persia a hundred and twenty Mamoudi's Alloes Succotrine from Arabia twenty eight Mamoudi's Licorice four Mamoudi's Lignum Aloes in great pieces two hundred Mamoudi's Lignum Aloes in small pieces four hundred Mamoudi's Vez-Cabouli a certain Root twelve Mamoudi's There is a sort of Lignum Aloes very Gummy which comes to by the Mein four thousand Mamoudi's Gum-Lake for the most part comes from Pegu yet there is some also brought from Bengala where it is very dear by reason the Natives fetch that lively Scarlet colour out of it with which they paint their Calicuts Nevertheless the Hollanders buy it and carry it into Persia for the same use of painting That which remains after the colour is drawn off is only fit to make sealing Wax That which comes from Pegu is not so dear though as good for other Countries The difference is only this that it is not so clean in Pegu where the Pismires foul it as in Bengala where it grows in a heathy place full of Shrubs where those Animals cannot so well come at it The Inhabitants of Pegu never make any use of it in painting being a dull sort of people that are in nothing at all industrious The Women of Surat get their livings by cleansing the Lake after the Scarlet colour is drawn from it After that they give it what colour they please and make it up into Sticks for sealing Wax The English and Holland Company carry away every year a hundred and fifty Chests The price is about ten Pence the pound Powder'd Sugar is brought in great quantities out of the Kingdom of Bengala it causes also a very great Trade at Ougeli Patna Daca and other places I have been told it for a very great certainty by several ancient people in Bengala that Sugar being kept thirty years becomes absolute poison and that there is no Venom more dangerous or that sooner works its effect Loaf-Sugar is also made at Amadabat where they are perfectly skill'd in refining it for which reason it is call'd Sugar Royal. These Sugar-Loaves usually weigh from eight to ten pound Opium is brought from Brampour a Town of good Trade between Agra and Surat The Hollanders buy great quantities which they truck for their Pepper Tobacco also grows in abundance round about Brampour sometimes there has been so much that the Natives have let vast quantities rot upon the ground for want of gathering Coffee grows neither in Persia nor in India where it is in no request but the Hollanders drive a great Trade in it transporting it from Ormus into Persia as far as Great Tartary from Balsara into Chaldea Arabia Mesopotamia and the other Provinces of Turky It was first found out by a Hermite whose name was Sheck-Siadeli about twenty years ago
their Knowledge it being here that Man and Knowledge it self had their first beginning So that wise Travellers are not unlike those rich laden Vessels which through many dangers bring wholesom and profitable Cargo's Drugs and other Conveniences to be dispers'd among the several Societies of their own Countrey They are like those diligent Master-Bees who run divers miles to extract out of many bitter Herbs that sweet Liquor which they afterwards kindly refund to be enjoyed at home in common in the hardest Seasons of the Year by their Fellows What costs them dear others have it cheap And there 's scarce any Private Persons in the Common-wealth to whom we owe greater Honour and Thanks than to Worthy Travellers and Discoverers of Forâ—â—â—… Countries Yet it may be truly said That Ancient Travellers and Geographers have but as course Limners and Coast-Drivers drawn a very rough Draught in their Relations of those Countries they describ'd unto us in comparison of some later Writers who also sometimes do but copy their Predecessors Stories and Merchants with most other Travellers are weather-driven by their private Occasions or Misfortunes to take but a Cursory Survey of Places and so give but an answerable account of the same to the World But among all the Ancient and Modern Travellers none had such fair Opportunities and Advantages as the Illustrious Monsieur Tavernier had to make a true profitable and exact Relation of the Singularities of those Remote Parts of Asia where he past so many Years in great Splendour as shall appear by the ensuing Considerations and Qualifications of a good Traveller 1. He from his Youth had a strong Inclination to Travel which secret Instinct is certainly a Preordination of God for an Undertaking and this unseen Impulsion carries such extraordinary Instruments chearfully and prosperously through all the Difficulties others of a contrary disposition would never wade thorough for whom it would be in vain to strive against the current of Nature 2. This Travelling Genius made him begin early to fit himself for his design and soon to go about it He was therefore sufficiently imbued in his Intellectuals with all due knowledge of Sciences Language and Geography and precedent Travellers Maps and Books without all which common Travellers cannot conceive so soon and so orderly nor reap so much benefit for themselves or others 3. But Speculations without Experience are but unprofitable Notions and the Experiments of this kind are not to be had without great Means and Expence for want of which many a good Undertaking is Still-born Haud facilè emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi is an old and true Saying But our noble Tavernier had an ample Estate drove a great Trade had Money in abundance and a Prince's or Embassador-like Retinue without which and great Presents none is scarce look'd upon in Luxurious Asia fit for admittance into great and worthy Companies where Knowledge may be attained so that he thereby soon got into the Presence Familiarity and Closets of the Emperours the Ministers of State and the Philosophers of Persia Mogol c. and got into the Acquaintance and Conversations of the leading and common Merchants Traffiquers and People and knew their Languages very well for it is in vain to have Eyes if one have not also a Tongue in such cases 4. And whereas Learning and Riches do sometimes render narrow Souls of a more proud and unsociable temper Monsieur Tavernier is by Nature and Education an obliging cheerful and insinuating Traveller and of a graceful Countenance Comely Personages are beloved almost as soon as they are seen and those that have but fair Souls are not so till after they are known Now Monsieur Tavernier having both these Advantages had a free entrance into the Friendship and Notions the Indians great or small had concerning the Natural Mechanical Political Religious and Trading State of their own Countrey which he made more his business to know than to grow more rich And at some times he would reckon Thousands of Pounds as nothing to attain his ends in this point of Knowledge and further Experience as the perusal of this his own Work and Persons now in London that knew him in and after his Travels can fully testifie 5. Moreover Mutual Help of Persons equally understanding and curious is a great advantage in such Researches and Observations as these Now John Baptista Tavernier besides many other Heads and Hands had herein the Assistance of a Brother as complete a Traveller as himself in those furthest Parts of Asia and had no less the foregoing Qualifications in Person and Estate than this his Brother John Baptista had as the Reader may well perceive by this Volum of Travels 6. And as for the Time Six Voyages and about Forty Years Abode in those Countries they do describe did render these Brethrens Knowledge vast their Experiments tried over and over and this their Account more sure and exact as I said than that of any other Traveller heretofore 7. And finally to confirm the undoubted Credit that 's to be given to this Nobleman and his Relation who is above all design of Flattering or Deceiving the Reader you may meet with several Worthy Persons in this City and the Court of England and I my self who was at Paris some few years ago at Monsieur Tavernier's Arrival and who can witness the grand Esteem the solemn Honours and Thanks that were then given him by Persons of all Ranks and Degrees the French East India Company 's Admiration and Recommendation of him that he had done his King and Countrey more Credit in those proud Eastern Courts than ever any did before him the French King 's imploying of him there the Rarities he brought home to the Learned the vast Riches and Memoirs he gained for himself and the incomparable Jewels and Singularities he brought to the French King the Titles of Lord and Baron conferred upon him extraordinarily though he were a Merchant and a strict Protestant These I say Public and Private Testimonials do shew what Credit other Nations and his own which is Singular had given to him But in a word his own Observations herein gathered will prove it better But if any desire to have some Account of the Work it self the Newness Profit and Satisfaction the very Subject must needs yield to all Persons and Professions cannot but be acceptable The Naturalist shall have Plants Minerals Animals and Phoenomena's never seen in our Climate And about Physic the Law Music and Poetry more Time and Tryals are required in those Countries than here and you shall accordingly read of Cures done that draw near to natural Miracles The Divine will see things worth his Observation in their Religion and Morals wherein they may confound the very Christians whereof I 'le onely touch but thus much That by the Light of Nature those Heathens own a Supreme Deity and a Future State of Happiness and Torments and do in view of the same most
longest being accounted the fairest Their Habit is grave and modest being a long Robe that reaches down to their heels much like that of the Japonneses without any distinction of Sex This Habit is bound about at the wast with a Girdle of Silk interwoven with Gold and Silver the Workmanship whereof is alike on both sides As for the Souldiers their upper Garments reach no farther then their Knees only their Breeches reach down to the mid Leg without either Hose or Shoes The vulger sort of People are altogether slaves for one part of the year For unless they be the Citizens of the Capital City where the King keeps his Court all the other Handicrafts of what Trade soever as Joyners Carpenters Locksmiths Masons and the like are oblig'd every year to work three Months at the King's Palace and two Months or Moons more For the Tunquineses reckon their Months by the Moon for the Mandarins or great Lords The rest of the year is for themselves all which time they have liberty to work for the support of their own Family This Service in their Language is callâ—d Viecquan or the Condition of a Slave But they are liable to other drudgeries worse then those before mention'd as to lop Trees with which they chiefly feed their Elephants This is a severe days work to which they were condemn'd by the great Grandfather of the King that now reigns after he had put an end to the Civil Wars that turmoil'd his Kingdom and that he had brought his rebellious Subjects to submit themselves They had occasion'd him a great deal of trouble and in regard he could not subdue them without a great hazard of his Army his Council advis'd him to famish them but he rather chose to give them their Lives and to condemn them and their Posterity to this laborious Service of which he might in time reap the benefit I have told you elsewhere that the Tunquineses take great delight to live upon the Rivers which are there free from Crocodiles and all other dangerous Animals which haunt the Waters of Nile and Ganges Where we are to observe that these Rivers overflow their Banks every year after the Rains are fall'n with that terrible violence that many times they carry away whole Towns and Villages at what time a good part of the Kingdom looks like a Sea resembling the lower Egypt under Water upon the Inundation of Nile CHAP. VII Of the Marriages of the Tunquineses and their severity toward Adulteresses THE Tunquineses cannot Marry without the consent of the Father and Mother or if they be dead without the allowance of their nearest Kindred They must also have the permission of the Judge or Governour of the place where the Marriage is to be made for the obtaining of which they must give him some Present But in regard they were wont to exact upon the poor people more then they were able to give them so that many Marriages were disappointed to the great damage of the Public the King who reign'd in the year 1639 being inform'd of these Extortions and their ill Consequences set forth a Law to regulate those Abuses and to curb the Authority of the Governours He order'd that the young Man who was desirous to Marry should pay no more then such a Sum according to the proportion of his Estate amounting to one or two fourths per Cent. and that they were not worth above a hundred Crowns should pay nothing Now in regard the Common People both Men and Women are naturally laborious all that the Maids can get they preserve for their Portions and to buy them two or three handsom Garments with a Neck-lace of Coral or yellow Amber and a certain number of Beads to garnish their Locks which they suffer to hang down upon their Backs accounting the beauty of their Hair to consist in the length There is no Wedding kept without a great Feast and they must be very poor when the Feast lasts not above three days for sometimes they junket for nine days together The next day after the Wedding the Bridgroom calls the Bride his Sister and she calls the Bridegroom Brother The Law of the Land permits the Man to divorce his wife when he pleases which they do many times for very slight causes But the Woman has not the same Priviledge or at least if she desire a separation it is much more difficult to obtain and the occasion must be very notorious The Tunquineses say that this Law was made to keep the Women in subjection and to oblige them to be respectful to their Husbands When the Husband desires this separation the Ceremony is this You must know that many of the Eastern People never touch their Victuals with their hands but make use of two little sticks about six inches long gilt and varnish'd which serve them instead of Forks The Husband then when he goes about to repudiate his Wife takes one of his own sticks and one of his Wife 's and having broken them they take each one half and sow it up in a piece of Silk in which they keep it Then the Man is bound to restore the Woman what she brought with her and to keep the Children which they had between them But these Divorces are not half so frequent as formerly The Laws are also very rigorous against Adulteresses So that if a woman accus'd of this crime be convicted thereof she is cast to an Elephant bred up to this purpose who presently throws her up into the Air with his Trunk and when she comes to the ground tramples her under his feet till he can perceive no life in her While my Brother was at the Court at Tunquin he was a witness of the severe Punishment to which a Princess was condemn'd for being taken in the Act with a certain Prince It is the Custom in the East when a Prince dies to shut up in the most private and retir'd part of all his Palace all the women which he made use of in his life time There they are allow'd two Maids to attend them they eat alone and see no person living any more to the very day of their deaths I cannot tell by what means one of the Princes of the blood had got a view of one of the deceased King his Uncle's wives but being desirous to see her again and to overcome all difficulties that oppos'd him and to deceive the Guards that watch'd the Dores he made use of a slight not easily discover'd For you must know that in the Kingdom Tunquin as in all the Kingdoms of Asia in the Houses of the Kings and other great Lords the Kitchin is usually separated from the House and that the Garden is between them so that for the better carrying the Meat from one place to another the Servants make use of a kind of Flasket or rather Iron Chest And to keep the Meat warm the Dishes are supported by little sticks laid athwart about an inch distant one from another
or two after the Captain renewed his Charge but then in a Majestic Fury she utterly forbid him the Fort. He taking little notice of her rage goes to the General and after some Discourse makes the same Proposal and receives the same Answer But then the Captain gave the Husband such a Bone to pick that he would not give the Wife Sir said he twice already have I demanded your Niece in Marriage this is now the third time that I make the same demand if you refuse me you shall ask me four times before I accept of her and so saying briskly left him The General reflecting upon the Captain 's words went to his Wife and told her the Story who guessing at the effects of a long Voyage Familiarity call'd Madam Niece into examination She not being us'd to Dissimulation confess'd the whole matter and without any more to do was married to the Captain to the great wonder of the whole City till the birth of a Boy at the end of six moneths unfolded the Riddle But this lying in was her ruin for about five or six days after the Mother and the Nurse being ill the chief Chirurgeon of the Fort order'd them to take a little Cremor Tartar and to that purpose sent a young man to the Master Chirurgeon of the Town to send him two quantities of Cremor Tartar in two Papers He being drinking with his Friends sends a young Barber newly come from Holland to put up the two quantities according to direction But the Barber mistook the Glass and put up Sublimate instead of Cremor Tartar So the two Women taking their Doses dissolved in two Silver Cups of fair Water died in 24 hours after CHAP. IV. Of General Vanderbroug and of the Original of the City of Batavia GEneral Vanderbroug was of Anverse and having studied in the Jesuits College retained some tincture of Learning which he endeavoured to improve as much as his business would give him leave While he was General he caus'd the Alcoran to be translated out of Arabic into Dutch He was also a man of courage and several times expos'd himself to great hazards for the Service of the Company as you shall see by the following Relation After the Hollanders had taken several Prizes from the Portuguezes by Sea they wanted a place of Retreat where they might repair their endamaged Ships and repose after the toils of the Sea At first they cast their eyes upon the Island of Java in that place where the English had built a small Convenience for their Trade There is a Road in that part where Vessels ride securely all the year into which a River discharges it self that will receive Shallops of good burthen for above a thousand Paces The Water of this River is most excellent for being carried never so far to Sea it never stinks nor engenders Worms which can only be said of the Thames and Ganges besides The Hollanders therefore came and lay upon the point of a River over against the place where the English had their small House They had with them then the greatest part of the Ships which they had in the Indies laden with those great Bales of Cloth which come from Bengale and the Coast of Surat so big that a dozen men can hardly manage them These Bales they landed and of them made a kind of Fortification planting a good number of great Guns between them For they never wanted great Guns ever since they traded alone to Japon the onely Kingdom of the World abounding in Copper from whence they brought prodigious quantities to Macao and Goa where they cast their Artillery Thus the Hollanders thought that by Sea no body could endamage their small Fortification made of Bales of cloth which was defended by their Vessels which they had in the Road But by Land they were afraid that the King of the Island viz. either of Materan or Bantam might disturb them Observing therefore the Situation of the Island which on that side was all covered with Woods which reached on that side within a League of the Sea and that where they ended to the Shoar there was no other way but a Bank which separated the Marsh from the River So that the Hollanders the better to secure themselves against the two Kings resolved to raise a Tower upon the Bank In this Tower they planted several Culverins and small Pieces cramm'd with artificial Wildfire and every evening relieved their Guards The King of Materan perceiving this and believing that the Hollanders would not stop here advanced a powerful Army to pull down the Tower To which purpose he brought with him great Chains of Iron and Cables made of the Coco Flax believing that by the favour of the Night having got his Chains and Ropes about the Tower by the strength of his Men and Elephants he might easily pull it down But having fail'd in his Enterprize and for that the Hollanders Artillery kill'd him abundance of Men he retreated with his Army But it was not long before he return'd again with a more powerful Force by Land and also a great Fleet of small Vessels to assist him by Sea With these Forces he gave a furious Onset a second time which the Hollanders with no less vigour sustained and beat him off But nothing discouraged with his loss he resolved to give a third Onset onely he staid some few days in expectation of more Forces In the mean while one of the most considerable Captains of his Army was accus'd to the King not to have done his Duty though seasonably advertiz'd that the King was resolv'd to seize upon his person and cut him to pieces For you must know that among the Javans when any person has merited Death they tie the Offender all along upon a great piece of Timber and the next Lord or great person that has a mind to try the goodness of his Scimitar comes and cuts the Body into four pieces the first stroak being made upon the Brest the second upon the Pit of the Stomach the third upon the lower part of the Belly The four pieces if they be Men are burnt if Women thrown to the Dogs which they keep for that purpose For the Javans never burn any person This Javanese Lord therefore knowing what he was to trust to made his escape to the Hollanders and was kindly received by Vanderbroug To ingratiate himself he told the Dutch General all the King's Designs in reference to the carrying the place where he would make his Onset and what number of men he had This however did not sufficiently chear up the General who knew his own weakness So that the Javanese perceiving him still pensive I find said he that thou art afraid of the King's strength and reason thou hast but be rul'd by me Thou art not ignorant that the Javanners are rigid Observers of the Law of Mahomet and that if any Uncleanness from a Christian hand falls upon their Clothes they fling them away and
never sent any of his own to them again Nevertheless it is affirm'd that several Lords of these Islands newly converted to the Faith in the year 1585 sent their Children to Rome to render their acknowledgments to Gregory the Thirteenth and that being return'd back in the year 1587 to Goa they were afterwards receiv'd and welcom'd again into their own Country with great marks of joy The little inclination which they have to Navigation and Traffick proceeds in part from the great abundance of all things necessary for Human support which their own Country produces and then in the next place from the jealousies of the Emperour who is afraid of the alterations which new Religions may make in his Government for they are very fickle and easily seduc'd after Novelties which has been the occasion of many Revolts and Civil Wars till Quabacondon wrested the Empire out of the hands of the Dairy and reunited all the Provinces They are so fiery and revengeful that upon the least affront given them if they cannot have an opportunity of a present revenge they will rip up their own Bellies and kill themselves I was told a Story to confirm this Two young Lords that serv'd the Emperour met in the Palace and jostl'd one the other by accident the most furious of the two was immediately for drawing his Sword The other told him the place was not convenient that he was going to wait but that if he would stay for him in such a place he would give him satisfaction Accordingly the party that thought himself affronted went and stay'd but his impatience was such that after he had stay'd a while not finding the other to come he ripp'd up his own Bowels for very vexation Upon which the people crowding about him ask'd him the reason of his killing himself to which they could draw no other answer but this A cowardly Raskal has affronted me By and by the other comes makes way through the throng and surpriz'd with what he beheld Poor Creature said he thou need'st not have doubted my being as good as my word this Dagger shall assure thee of it And so saying he kill'd himself upon the place and fell by the others side There is no Nation under Heaven that fears Death less than this or that is more enclin'd to cruelty If any Prince or great Lord makes a Feast for his Friends at the end of the Feast he calls his principal Officers and asks 'em if there be any that has so much love for him as to kill himself before the Guests for his sake Presently there arises a dispute among them who shall have the Honour and who ever the Prince is pleas'd to name rips up his Belly with a Cric which is a kind of Dagger the poynt whereof is Poyson'd This custom is also practis'd upon the Death of their Masters or when they lay the Foundations of any Palace for they are so superstitious as to believe that these Victims are necessary to render both the Owners of the Building and the Habitation fortunate They punish all manner of Theft with Death 'T is also a capital Crime among them to play for Money Adultery is only punish'd in the Women But Coynage of false Money setting Houses on Fire Deflowring and Ravishing of Virgins are not only punish'd in the persons of the Criminals but also of those who are next of kin to them The Women live retir'd and are very faithful to their Husbands The Emperour having put to Death one of the Lords of his Court out of hopes to enjoy his Wife she fearing violence besought the Emperour to give her time to consider which was granted for some few days At the end whereof she shut her self up in a Room with her Children and after she had delivered a Paper to one of her Servants to carry to the Emperour she set the Chamber a Fire and burnt both her self and her Children The Emperour met with nothing else in the Paper but reproaches of his Tyranny and attestations of joy from the Lady that she had the opportunity to Sacrifice her self to the memory of her Husband Several other stories I have heard which make me believe that this Nation is not uncapable of doing actions worthy a Roman Vertue The Portugals were the first people of Europe that discover'd the Islands of Japon They were thrown upon the Coast by a violent Storm in the year 1542 and understanding that there was great store of Gold and Silver in the Country they return'd with a resolution to settle themselves The first place where they thought to fix was neer Surunga a City which stands about four Leagues from the Sea But because there is but one Road and that not very secure neither for Shipping they remain'd there not above five years At length they took possession of a little forsaken Island call'd Kisma which they peopl'd afterward's but since the last Persecution of the Christians the Portugals were forc'd to abandon it having no more Commerce with the Japonners How the Hollanders came to erect their Factories there I shall tell the Reader in another part of this Relation Seven years after the first coming of the Portugals to Japon St. Francis Xavier made a Voyage thither to Preach the Gospel The first place where he Landed was the Island of Niphon where he stay'd two years and some Months and travel'd several parts of these Islands but his principal design being to go to China he took shipping accordingly The Vessel was no sooner out at Sea but St. Francis fell sick so that the Captain put him ashore again in the Island of Sechen by others call'd Haynan belonging to China where in a few days after he dy'd and never was in China as some have reported and believ'd After his death the Christian Religion spread it self very much in China the people being very docible and apprehensive of the instructions which were given them but the behaviour of the Portugals displeasing the Principal Governours and those who had most Power at Court they did them ill Offices to the Emperour and the Bonzes misliking the new Religion and jealous of the effects thereof were the fomenters of continual persecutions against the new Converts pretending they favour'd the designs of the Portugueses Nevertheless the Christian Religion daily got footing and perhaps the whole Nation would have embrac'd it if the covetousness and wickedness of the Christians themselves had not been the chief impediment of their conversion The Hollanders did all they could to lay the fault upon the Portugals but the truth will easily appear by the Letter written to one Leonard Campen a Hollander wherein it is said that when the Hollanders were ask'd by the Natives what Religion they were of they made this answer We are no Christians we are Hollanders I do not go about to blemish a whole Nation for the fault of a few but only to shew what a dangerous thing it is to make an ill choice of Officers
would be a vanity to question in this particular cannot be read over without Horrour In sixteen years that is from 1613 to 1629 the Christians were so multiply'd that there were above 400000 but in the year 1649 the same Hollander relates that those Japonners who were brought from thence by the Company 's Ships to Amsterdam affirm'd that Christianity was utterly extirpated out of the Island Being at Ogli a large Town upon the fairest Arm of the Ganges I met a Holland Merchant who had serv'd the Company in Japon a long time and had made several Voyages He came thither with two 〈◊〉 laden with Bars of Silver and Copper which he had exchang'd for Silks which the Hollanders buy at Bengale This Merchant knowing I was there came to visit me and I finding him to be a sincere honest Man and well verst in the affairs of Japan especially in reference to the last persecution of the Christians grew covetous of his converse and invited him often to my House In our familiar discourses concerning the settlement of the Hollanders in the East-Indies and of the extraordinary gain which they make by their Trade there and passing thus from one thing to another at length I ask'd him who was the Author and Contriver of a Massacre so horrid as that was reported to be Whereupon he related to me all the particulars of which I have here made a recital and many more which I have forgot or omitted as being either not pertinent to my subject or else already related by others He had his information from such of the Natives that had escap'd out of the Battel and several of the Idolater Merchants in whose memories the fact was then fresh and indeed he was so ingenious in his Story that I could not find any motive to incite me to misdoubt the truth of it For many times he could not forbear shedding tears and to interrupt his discourse with his sighs often imprecating Heav'ns Vengeance upon the President and protesting he wonder'd the Company employ'd him so long But God reserv'd his punishment to himself For the deserts of his crimes always attending him and provoking judgments and misfortunes upon whatever Enterprize he took in hand he miserably perish'd in sight of Lisbon in fair weather All the men in the Ship were sav'd only he returning to recover a certain Cabinet of Jewels which he had there the Ship split and the Portugals had the satisfaction to see him swallow'd up in the Sea who had been the occasion of the Ruin of so many of their Country-men in Japon and immediately they rang their Bells in the City for joy of his Death In my last Voyage to the Indies I was at Bandar-Abassi where the Hollanders have a Factory Thither arriv'd two Vessels from Japon to take in Silks which the Hollanders buy of the Persians to exchange in Japon The Captain of one of the Ships told me that during several trading Voyages which he had made to that Island the Emperour had caus'd two Inquisitions to be made after the Christians in the first of which the Inquisitors met with 247 who were all most exquisitely tormented to Death in the latter they only found 63 among whom were seventeen Children twelve Girls and five Boys of which the eldest were not above thirteen years of Age. Among all the persecutions which the Christians suffer'd there was none comparable to this for extremity of Torments For the Japonners are the most ingenious in cruelty of any people in the World and the most constant in suffering For there have been Children from ten to a dozen years old who for 60 days together have endur'd to have their Bodies fasten'd to the Cross half burnt half torn in pieces while their Executioners forc'd them to eat on purpose to prolong their Lives in misery and yet they would not renounce the Faith which they had embrac'd Neither did this barbarous Inquisition extend only to the Christians but to their Kindred and Relations nay to their very Neighbours For if a Priest were taken in any House all the people in that House and the Houses adjoyning were hall'd to Execution for not having made the discovery At the beginning of every year there is a new Inquisition at which time all that can write are requir'd to subscribe or else the chief of the Family subscribes for all the rest that they neither are Christians nor are acquainted with any Christians and that they abominate Christianity as a Religion dangerous to the State Don John of Braganza being advanc'd to the Crown that sudden change which in one day and without the least Tumult in Lisbon wrested the Crown of Portugal from the King of Spain wrought the same effect at Goa All the Portugals at Goa at the same time acknowledg'd their new Soveraign the Viceroy who was a Spaniard was sent away to Spain by the first Vessels that were homeward bound and Don Philip de Mascarennas a Portugal Governour of Ceylan came to Goa and took upon him the command of Viceroy So soon as he came to the Government his first thoughts were how to Establish the Trade of the Portugals in Japon which when they were expell'd amounted to three Millions of Pardo's yearly one Pardo being worth twenty seven Sous of French Money The hopes therefore of regaining so great a loss made him toward the end of the year 1642 take a resolution to send a solemn Embassy to the Emperour of Japon furnish'd with magnificent Presents For which reason he made choice of what was most rare and most likely to be acceptable to the Emperour and the Grandees of his Court The most costly of these Presents was a piece of Lignum Aloes otherwise call'd Wood of Calambour four Foot in length and two Foot in Diameter a larger piece then which the Indies had never seen having cost 40000 Parao's To this he added a great quantity of fair Coral Beads of an extraordinary bigness This is the most acceptable Present that can be sent to the Lords of Japon which they fasten to the Strings wherewith they draw their Pouches together With these he sent a great number of Carpets and Hangings of Cloth of Gold Silver and Silk and several pieces of Tissue of Gold and Silver 'T is said the whole Present cost the City of Goa above eight hundred thousand Pardo's which amounts to about 86666 l. 13 s. 4 d. of English Money Besides all this the two great Ships which were prepar'd for the Embassador carry'd one of them 50 Peeces of Canon and the other 35 both laden with all sorts of Commodities which are esteem'd and priz'd in Japon amounting to about 83333 l. 6 s. 8 d. Sterling The Equipage of the Embassador was no less sumptuous And because the Viceroy would not be thought to give any occasion of offence to the Emperour he would not suffer one Jesuit in the Train but only four Augustins for the Admiral and four Jacobins for the other
They also carry half Pikes with a great company of Tatters fasten'd to the end of them to make a shew of their beggery Beber's Habit very much surpriz'd the Nahab and all others that beheld him so ridiculously accouter'd As he pass'd one morning by my window I bid him good morrow telling him withal that he look'd more spruce and gay than he us'd to do He reply'd that he had reason so to do for that he had receiv'd Letters from Surat by which he had advice that the Country people upon the Coast of Cape St. John had decry'd four Vessels out at Sea which they could not make to be either English or Hollanders from whence he concluded that they were the Companies ships and that he was going to the Nahab with the News But I prevented him at that time telling him that I had often observ'd that rascally sort of people to come both to the English and Hollanders with such kind of Intelligence on purpose to get Money when indeed they had never seen any such sight and admonishing him not to believe Reports upon such slight foundations I ask'd him what date his Letters bore he told me thirty days ago Then said I if the discovery had bin true the Nahab would have had notice of it in fourteen and then he would certainly have told you of it or my self for it is but two days since I took my leave of him Thereupon he took my counsel and resolv'd for Surat in a few days Three days after that the Chirurgeon had given in his Bill for the Chest of Medicaments that he had lost among Beber's Baggage he was so touch'd in Conscience that he fell sick and dy'd in two days Upon his death-bed he ask'd pardon of God for the Cheat which he had consented to to ask 4000 Roupies for that which was really worth but four hundred 200 of which he had receiv'd from the Charity of the Franguis the rest upon the sale of a Horse For my part finding that Beber was resolv'd for Surat I made what hast I could out of Agra to be quit of his company But the second day after my departure having set up my tent by a Rivers side just as I was going to dinner I spy'd Beber coming nor could I get rid of him afterwards till I came to Surat So that we were forc'd to travel together though he committed a thousand Impertinencies by the way Among the rest he put one trick upon the Chief of the Cheraffs or Bankers at Brampour not to be passed over in silence In regard the ways were bad and that he had but one pitiful weak Chariot and four weak Boys which with the help of Oxen were hardly strong enough to help him out when he stuck in the mire he seldom came to his journeys end till two or three hours after me Now upon the report that ran of the French ships being seen out at Sea and the general belief that Beber would be one of the Principal Trustees of the Company several as I said before courted him and sought to engage his Friendship Being arriv'd at Brampour the Chief of the Cheraffs attended by a dozen of his servants came to visit us Upon the first acquaintance Beber told him that he wanted a Pallaquin to go to Surat whereupon the Cheraff civilly offered him his and caus'd it to be trimm'd up for his better accommodation Beber thought that trimming would have bin finisht in one day when indeed it requir'd three or four The next day I order'd my Coach to be got ready and order'd my Pallaquin to be carri'd away Beber who verily believ'd that the Company 's ships were already in the Road of Surat began to curse and bann the Cheraff who presently came to him and endeavour'd to appease him with good words He told him it could be no prejudice to him to stay a day or two for by that time the Roads would be better and he might travel the faster But Beber being transported with passion was so far from taking the Cheraffs reasons for satisfaction that snatching a Cudgel out of his Waggoners hands that stood next to him he gave the Cheraff three or four good Licks cross the shoulders The Merchants and other people that were in the Inn were strangely surpriz'd at such a piece of rudeness and ran out presently some with Stones and others with Cudgels making a hideous noise and crying out that they had never seen the like They took it for a most enormous Crime to strike the Chief of the Cheraffs above fourscore years old whose very age ought to have bin protection enough from such an Affront Good luck it was for Beber after such a rash action committed that I was well known at Brampour having been there ten or twelve times and in some of my Travels having dealt for above 200000 Roupies There were none of the Cheraffs with whom I had not dealt by Letters of Exchange and very few Merchants or Brokers who had not had some business or other upon my accompt They cry'd out speaking of me See there the Monsieur Franqui with whom we have dealt so often yet never heard him give us an ill word Another good chance he had to meet there the Coutevall's Lieutenant and three Merchants of Surat and thus between us having disingag'd Beber out of the Brabble wherein he had so sillily bemir'd himself we made him get into my Coach and so packt him out of the City I follow'd him two hours after for had he staid longer in Brampour I believe the Faquirs and Derviches would have beat out his brains For he was no sooner gone but a great number of that sort of rabble came to the Inn crying out Where was that Dog of a Cafer that had beaten the Cheraff Thereupon seeing the Multitude encrease I stole out of the Town without saying a word and rid on till I got three leagues from Brampour to an old Town call'd Badelpoura where I overtook Beber who had hir'd a Coach made after the fashion of the Country It was but reason that I should have my own Coach to sleep in in the night For though in all places where you come to lye in the night the Indians will offer you a little bed to lye on yet in regard the rains were but just over the bedsteads were so full of Puhies that there was no resting These Punies are ingender'd by the moisture which the rains that fall for four months together cause in those Countries Which being over and the Sun recovering its wonted heat the women carry forth their beds every morning and beating them well with good big sticks never leave till the Punies fall to the ground and there turning up their bellies presently dye These beds consist of four feet and four round stayes as broad and as long as you please To the staves are fasten'd girths about four fingers broad which are much more commodious than the bottoms of