A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Ix Part 18

_Malacca_ is a strong city and castle belonging to the Portuguese, and the centre of a great trade in those parts of India. From this place the king of Acheen has long sought to root them out, and has burnt and plundered some of their s.h.i.+ps this year, 1619. At _Macao_, an island on the coast of China, they have a city with a castle, where they are said to carry on much trade with the Chinese. They have a factory in j.a.pan, but neither town nor fort; and trade thence with the coast of China. The Dutch are said to make much spoil of the vessels employed on this trade, Portuguese, Chinese, and others, accounting all fish that fall into their net.

SECTION V.

_Notes, concerning the Proceedings of the Factory at Cranganore, from the Journal of Roger Hawes.[179]_

[Footnote 179: Parch. Pilgr. I. 608.--Hawes sailed in the fleet under Keeling, in 1615, which carried out Sir Thomas Roe, already related in Sect. IV. of this chapter; and the present short article almost exclusively relates to the new factory at Cranganore on the Malabar coast, in which Hawes was left as one of the factors. This is a very imperfect and inconclusive article, yet gives some idea of the manners and customs of the Malabars.--E.]

On the 4th of March 1615, we chased a Portuguese frigate, which ran into a creek and escaped. While on our way towards Cape Comorin, a Tony came aboard of us, with messengers from the Zamorin to our general, Captain William Keeling. Next day, the governor sent a present, and entreated the general to proceed to Cranganore, which we did next day, taking with us the messengers sent from the Zamorin, who requested the general to come on sh.o.r.e to speak with him. But, while he was doing so, some frigates came and anch.o.r.ed near the sh.o.r.e, by which he was constrained to go on board the Expedition, Captain Walter Peyton. On this occasion some shots were exchanged, but little harm was done. The general went ash.o.r.e on the 8th, accompanied by Mr Barclay, the cape merchant, and several others. They were well used, and agreed to settle a factory in the dominions of the Zamorin, the following being the articles agreed upon:--

_"UNDERECON CHEETE, Great Zamorin, &c. to JAMES, King of Britain, &c._ Whereas your servant and subject, William Keeling, arrived in my kingdom at the port of Cranganore, in March 1615, with three s.h.i.+ps, and at my earnest solicitation came ash.o.r.e to see me; there was concluded by me for my part, and by him for the English nation, as followeth.

"As I have ever been at enmity with the Portuguese, and propose always so to continue, I do hereby faithfully promise to be and to continue in friends.h.i.+p with the English, both for myself and my successors: And, if I succeed in taking the fort of Cranganore, I engage to give it to the English, to possess as their own, together with the island belonging to it, which is in length along the sea-coast nine miles, and three in breadth; and I propose to build therein a house for my own people, to the number of one hundred persons.

"I shall hereafter endeavour, with the aid of the English, to conquer the town and fort of Cochin, which formerly belonged, to my crown and kingdom, and shall then deliver it to the English as their own. Provided that the charges of its capture be equally borne by both parties, one half by me, and the other half by the English nation; and in that case, the benefit of the plunder thereof, of whatsoever kind, shall belong half to me, and half to the English. And thereafter, I shall claim no right, t.i.tle, or interest in the said town, precincts, or appurtenances whatsoever."

"I also covenant for myself, my heirs and successors, that the whole trade of the English, in whatsoever commodities, brought in or carried out, shall be entirely free from all custom, imposition, tax, toll, or any other duty, of any quality or description."

"To these covenants, which the shortness of time did not permit to extend in more ample form, I, the Zamorin, have sworn to perform, by the great G.o.d whom I serve, and not only for myself but for my successors; and in witness thereof have laid my hand upon this writing.[180] And the said William Keeling promises to acquaint the king his master with the premises, and to endeavour to procure his majesty's consent thereto."

[Footnote 180: This probably alludes to a custom mentioned in one of our earlier volumes, of imprinting the form of the hand, smeared with ink, on the paper, instead of signature or seal.--E.]

This being agreed upon, a stock was made out for a factory, such as the shortness of time would permit, and three factors were appointed. These were, George Woolman, chief, Peter Needham, second, who was one of the general's servants, and I, Roger Hawes, third; together with a youth, named Edward Peake, as our attendant, who was to learn the language.

John Stamford, a gunner, was likewise left to a.s.sist the Zamorin in his wars. On the 10th the s.h.i.+ps departed, leaving us and our goods in a _shrambe_ at the water side, together with a present for the Zamorin. We continued there till the 13th, at which time the last of our goods were carried to the Zamorin's castle; whose integrity we much suspected, after having thus got possession of our goods. On the 20th, he insisted to see Mr Woolman's trunk, supposing we had plenty of money. Needham had told him we had 500 rials; but finding little more than fifty, he demanded the loan of that sum, which we could not refuse. He offered us a p.a.w.n not worth half; which we refused to accept, hoping he would now allow us to proceed to Calicut, but he put us off with delays. He likewise urged us to give his brother a present.

On the 28th, the Zamorin came into the apartment where we were, and gave Mr Woolman two gold rings, and one to each of the rest; and next day he invited us to come to his tumbling sports. That same night, Stamford went out with his sword in his hand, telling the boy that he would return presently. The next news we had of him was, that he was in the hands of the Cochin nayres. He had lost His way while drunk, and meeting with some of them, they asked where he wished to go; he said to the Zamorin, to whom they undertook to conduct him, and he knew not that he was a prisoner, till he got to Cochin. This incident put us in great fear, but the Zamorin gave us good words, saying he was better pleased to find him a knave now, than after he had put trust in him.

We had leave in April to depart with our goods to Calicut, where we arrived on the 22d of that month, and were well received; but had to remain in the custom-house, till we could get a more convenient house, which was made ready for us on the 6th of May, with promise of a better after the rains. We were very desirous, according to our orders from the general, to have sent a messenger with his and our letters to Surat, to acquaint our countrymen that we were here; but the governor would not consent till we had sold all our goods. On the 18th of June, one was sent. On the 26th, part of our goods were sold to the merchants of Calicut, by the governor's procurement, with fair promises of part payment shortly. But it is not the custom of the best or the worst in this country to keep their words, being certain only in dissembling. Mr Woolman was desirous of going to Na.s.sapore to make sales, but the governor put him off with divers s.h.i.+fts from time to time. The 3d July, our messenger for Surat returned, reporting that he had been set upon when well forwards on his way, and had his money and letters taken from him, after being well beaten. Among his letters was one from Captain Keeling to the next general, the loss of which gave us much concern; yet we strongly suspected that our messenger had been robbed by his own consent, and had lost nothing but his honesty. A broker of Na.s.sapore told Mr Needham, that our dispatches had been sold to the Portuguese, and when the governor heard of this, he hung down his head, as guilty.

We here sold some goods to merchants of Na.s.sapore.

Mr Woolman died on the 17th of August. We could not procure payment of our promised money, and were told by our broker, that some one of our debtors would procure a respite from the governor, by means of a bribe, on which the rest would refuse till they all paid. On the 24th, the Zamorin's sister sent us word, that she would both cause our debtors to pay us, and to lend us any money we needed; but we found her as false as the rest The queen mother also made us fair promises, and several others made offers to get letters conveyed for us to Surat; but all their words were equally false. Thus wronged, Mr Needham farther wronged himself by his indiscretion, threatening, in presence of a nayre who attended us, and who revealed his threats, that he would go to the king of Cochin, making shew of violent revenge to put the governor in fear. He behaved outrageously likewise to a _scrivano_,[181] who is the same as a justice with us, taking him by the throat, and making as if he would have cut him down with his sword, for detaining some of our money which he had received. Our broker also told Mr Needham, that it was not becoming to go up and down the streets with a sword and buckler; and indeed his whole conduct and behaviour more resembled those we call _roaring-boys_,[182] than what became the character of a merchant. For my admonitions, he requited me with ill language, disgracing himself and injuring the affairs of the company.

[Footnote 181: This term is obviously Portuguese, and cannot be the proper appellation for a judge on the Malabar coast.--E.]

[Footnote 182: This character is now only to be met with in some of our old plays such as Captain Bobadil in Every Man in his Humour.--E.]

A Dutch s.h.i.+p, which had been trading in the Red Sea, arrived here on the 23d of September, with the intention of settling a factory, and they were referred by the governor to the Zamorin, promising to carry a letter for us, but went without it; so that our delays continued. Mr Needham went himself to the Zamorin on the 4th November, and returned on the 25th, having got a present of a gold chain, a jewel, and a gold armlet, with orders also from the king to further our purposes; but the performance was as slow as before. The 20th December, a Malabar captain brought in a prize he had taken from the Portuguese, and would have traded with us; but we could not get in any of our money, due long before. We also heard that day of four English s.h.i.+ps being at Surat. The governor and people continued their wonted perfidiousness; the former being more careful in taking, and the latter in giving bribes, than in paying our debts. We used a strange contrivance of policy to get in some of these; for, when we went to their houses, demanding payment, and could get none, we threatened not to leave their house till they paid us. We had heard it reported, that, according to their customs, they could neither eat nor wash while we were in their houses; and by this device we sometimes got fifty _fanos_ from one, and an hundred from another. They would on no account permit us to sleep in their houses, except one person, with whom we remained three days and nights, with three or four nayres. They were paid for watching him, but we got nothing. The nayre, who had been appointed by the king to gather in our debts, came to demand a gratuity from us, though he had not recovered any of our money. He would go to the debtor's houses, taking three or four _fanos_, and then depart without any of our money.

On the 9th of January, 1616, Mr Needham went to demand payment of a debt, and being refused permission to pa.s.s by a nayre who struck him, as he says, he gave the nayre a dangerous wound in the head with his sword, of which it is thought he cannot recover, and others of the natives were hurt in the fray. Word was presently brought to us to shut up our doors, lest the nayres should a.s.semble to do us some mischief, as feuds or kindred-quarrels and murders are common among them, having no other law or means of vengeance. Our nayre with his kindred, to the number of thirty or more, with pikes, swords, and bucklers, guarded Mr Needham home, on which occasion we had to give a gratuity. Our house had to be guarded for three or four days and nights, none of us daring to go out into the streets for money or other business for a week, though before we used to go about in safety. After that, our broker advised us never to go out, unless attended by a nayre, as they had sworn to put one of us to death, in revenge for him who was slain.

The 20th, the Portuguese armado of thirty-four sail, pa.s.sed by from the south, of which fourteen were s.h.i.+ps, and the rest frigates or grabs.

They put into the harbour, in which three Malabar frigates lay at anchor, and a hot fight ensued, in which the Portuguese were forced to retreat with disgrace, having only cut the hawser of one of the frigates, which drove on sh.o.r.e and was stove in pieces. This belonged to the governor, who was well served, for he remained like a coward in the country, keeping four or five great guns that were in the town locked up, except one, and for it they had only powder and shot for two discharges. Before the fight ended, some 4000 nayres were come in from the country, and several were slain on both sides. Nine or ten Portuguese were driven ash.o.r.e, and two or three of the chiefs of these were immediately hung up by the heels, and being taken down after two days, were thrown to be devoured by wild beasts.

On the 28th of January, we were told by a Pattemar, that the governor was only our friend outwardly, wis.h.i.+ng rather to have the Portuguese in our room, as we did no good in the country, bringing only goods to sell, whereas the Portuguese did good by making purchases. The 8th of February we had letters from Surat; and on the 4th of March, the Zamorin wrote to us, that if our s.h.i.+ps came, he wished them to come to Paniany, and that we need not be anxious for our money, as he would pay us, even if he were forced to sell his rings.

SECTION VI.

_Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, Amba.s.sador from King James I, to Shah Jehanguiro, Mogul Emperor of Hindoostan_.[183]

INTRODUCTION.

There are two editions of this journal in our older Collections of Voyages and Travels, but both exceeding defective and imperfect. The _first_ of these is in the Pilgrims of Purchas, which is said to have been "_Collected out_ of the Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, Knight, Lord Amba.s.sador from his Majesty of Great Britain, to the Great Mogul." It is evidently to be considered as an _abridgement_ made by Purchas, which, indeed, he fully acknowledges in a postscript, in the following terms:--"Some readers may perhaps wish they had the whole journal, and not thus contracted into _extracts_ of those things out of it which I conceived more fit for the public. And for the whole, myself would have wished it; but neither with the honourable Company, nor elsewhere, could I learn of it, the worthy knight himself being now employed in like honourable emba.s.sage from his majesty to the _Great Turk_." Besides that it is a mere abridgement, often most confusedly, and almost unintelligibly tacked together, this article in The Pilgrims breaks off abruptly in a most interesting part of the narrative, which we have now no means to supply. The full t.i.tle of this article in The Pilgrims is as follows:--"Observations collected out of the Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, Knight, Lord Amba.s.sador from his Majesty the King of Great Britain, to the Great Mogul. Consisting of Occurrences worthy of Memory, in the way, and at the Court of the Mogul; together with an Account of his Customs, Cities, Countries, Subjects, and other Circ.u.mstances relating to India."

[Footnote 183: Purch. Pilgr. I. 535. Churchill's Collect. I. 617.]

The _other_ edition of this journal is in the collection published by the Churchills, of which we quote from the third edition of 1744, reprinted by Lintot and Osburn, booksellers in London. Of this edition the editor of that collection gives the following account:--"Sir Thomas Roe has before appeared in print, in part at least, in the collection of Purchas, since translated into French, and published in the first volume of the collection by Thevenot. He now comes again abroad with considerable additions, not foisted in, but taken from his own original ma.n.u.script, of which it would appear that Purchas only had an imperfect copy. These additions, it is true, are not great in bulk, but they are valuable for the subject; and several matters, which in the other collection are brought in abruptly, are here continued in a more methodical manner."

After an attentive comparison of these two former editions, it obviously appears that the edition by Purchas, in 1625, is in general more circ.u.mstantial and more satisfactory than that of Churchill, in 1744, notwithstanding its superior pretensions, as above stated. Yet, on several occasions, the edition in Churchill gives a more intelligible account of particulars, and has enabled us, on these occasions, to restore what Purchas, by careless abbreviation, had left an obscure and almost unintelligible jumble of words. The present edition, therefore, is formed upon a careful collation of these two former, supplying from each what was defective in the other. On the present occasion, the nautical and other observations made by Sir Thomas Roe during the voyage from England to Surat, are omitted, having been already inserted into the account of that voyage by Captain Peyton.

It were much to be desired that this first account of the political intercourse between Britain and Hindoostan could have been given at full length, more especially as that extensive, rich, populous, and fertile country is now almost entirely reduced under the dominion of the British crown; and as Sir Thomas Roe, even in the garbled state in which we are forced to present his observations, clearly shews the inherent vices of the Mogul government, through which it so rapidly fell into anarchy, and was torn in pieces by its own c.u.mbrous and ill-managed strength. Perhaps the archives of the East India Company are still able to supply this deficiency in the history of its original establishment; and it were surely worthy of the more than princely grandeur of that great commercial company, to patronise the publication of a collection of the voyages, travels, negotiations, and events which have conduced to raise it to a degree of splendour unexampled in the history of the world. The importance of this first emba.s.sy from Great Britain to the Great Mogul, and the vast consequences, both commercial and political, which have since arisen from that early intercourse, have induced us to give the following additional information respecting the mission of Sir Thomas Roe, from the Annals of the East India Company, vol. I. p. 174, _et sequ._, which will in some measure supply the defects in this journal, as published by Purchas and Churchill.--E.

"The information which the Court [of Committees or Directors of the East India Company] had received, in the preceding season, [1613-14]

induced them to apply to the king to grant his royal authority that an amba.s.sador should proceed in his name to the Great Mogul. King James, in compliance with the wishes of the Company, on the 14th January, 1614-15, granted his commission to the celebrated Sir Thomas Roe, "to be amba.s.sador to the Great Mogul, or king of India," the company agreeing to defray the expence, in consideration, that, under their exclusive privileges, they were to acquire such benefits as might result from this mission.

"Sir Thomas Roe sailed from England in March 1615, on board the Lion, Captain Newport, and arrived at Surat, whence he proceeded to the Mogul's court at Agimere, which he reached in December, 1615; and on the 10th January, 1616, was presented to the Mogul as amba.s.sador from the king of England, when he delivered the king's letter and presents. Of these, an English coach was the chief article, and with it the Mogul was pleased to express his satisfaction, and to give the amba.s.sador a gracious reception. From the company's agents having already been too profuse in their presents to the ministers and favourites, Sir Thomas found that the articles which he carried out as presents were not so highly estimated as he expected; he therefore informed the court that nothing less than valuable jewels would be deemed worthy of acceptance; and at the same time he advised that 'four or five cases of red wine'

should be sent as presents to the king and prince, as, in his own words, 'never were men more enamoured of that drinke as these two, and which they would more highly esteem than all the jewels in Chepeside.'

"In describing his own situation, he stated that the natives could not comprehend what was meant in Europe by the rank or quality of an amba.s.sador, and that in future it would be preferable to employ an agent only, who could bear these affronts without dishonour, which an amba.s.sador, from, his rank, could not encounter. He complains also, that, from want of an interpreter, he had experienced much difficulty in explaining to the Mogul, and to his ministers, the object of his mission; in particular, the grievances which the English had suffered from the governor of Ahmedabad, because the native brokers, whom he was obliged to employ, were afraid to interpret literally, lest they should either incur the king's displeasure, or be disgraced by his ministers.

In his application for redress from the governor of Ahmedabad, he discovered that this officer was supported by sultan Churrum, the Mogul's eldest-son,[184] and Asaph Khan, the favourite. By perseverance and firmness, however, the amba.s.sador at length obtained the relief he solicited.

[Footnote 184: Sultan Chesuro appears to have been the eldest son of Jehanguire, but held in confinement for having endeavoured to supplant his father in the succession, and Churrum seems only to have been the third son.--E.]

"On the 24th January, 1616, Sir Thomas had a second audience of the Mogul, at which he complained of the injuries the English had sustained from the arbitrary conduct of the governor of Surat, and so effectual were his remonstrances, that this officer was dismissed. The amba.s.sador then proposed to renew the articles of the _phirmaund_, or treaty between the Mogul and the English nation, and solicited to have the treaty ratified by the signatures[185] of the Mogul and Sultan Churrum, which being procured, the treaty was concluded.[186]

[Footnote 185: This expression is rather ambiguous, as the ratifications of such papers in India were by the seals of the princes, and not what we understand by the term used in the text--E.]

[Footnote 186: It has not been thought necessary to insert the substance of this treaty as contained in the Annals, as it is given in the Journal.--E.] "The dispatches of Sir Thomas, of this year, concluded with recommending to the company, as a commercial speculation, to send out annually a large a.s.sortment of all kinds of toys, which would find a ready sale at the great festival of _Noroose_, [the new year] in the month of March.

"In 1616 we discover a jealousy in the factory at Surat, of Sir Thomas Roe, notwithstanding his efforts and success in obtaining phirmaunds from the Mogul favourable to the factories at Surat and Ahmedabad, and in general for the encouragement of English trade in the Mogul dominions; for the factors represented to the court that a merchant or agent would be better qualified for a commercial negociator than a king's amba.s.sador; and, in support of this opinion, referred to the practice of the king of Spain, who on no occasion would send an amba.s.sador, but always a commercial agent; and stated that Sir Thomas Roe, besides, considered himself to be vested with the exercise of a controlling power over the commercial speculations of the Surat factory, and held himself to be better qualified to judge of the English interests by combining the political relations which he wished to introduce between the Mogul and the king of England, than by forwarding any projects for trade which the factory might devise as applicable to the Mogul dominions.

"In this year he reported that he had returned thanks to Sultan Churrum for the protection which he had afforded to the English in relieving them from the extortions of Zulfeccar Khan, the late governor of Surat, and had remonstrated against the partiality which had been shown to the Portuguese; representing to the Mogul that the king of Portugal had a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of king of India, and that the Portuguese trade could never be so beneficial as that of England, as the English annually exported from India calicoes and indigo to the amount of 50,000 rials.

To strengthen this remonstrance, Sir Thomas offered to pay to the sultan 12,000 rupees yearly, on condition that the English should be exempted from the payment of customs at the port of Surat; and then gave it as his opinion, that the plan of the agency at Surat, of keeping permanent factories at Surat, and other parts of the Mogul dominions, ought to be abandoned, as it would be preferable to make the purchases of goods inland, by the natives, [particularly the indigo from Agra, and the Bengal goods] who could obtain them at reasonable rates. But if the court were of opinion that English factors ought to be stationed at Agra, he recommended sending the goods in carts rather than on camels.

He concludes this part of his report by advising that agents should reside at Cambay and Baroach, because the best cloths in India could be procured at these towns.

"Though Sir Thomas Roe appears to have procured a phirmaund through the means of Noor-Mahal, the favourite sultana or empress, for the general good treatment of the English at Surat, and had desired that an a.s.sortment of English goods, perfumes, &c. should be forwarded to him as presents to her and to her brother, Asaph Khan, he yet describes, in 1618, the governor of Surat as reluctant to shew that favour to the English which the phirmaund had enjoined. It therefore became a question with him, as the governor of Surat would not allow the English to strengthen or fortify their factory for the protection of their goods and servants, whether it might not be expedient to remove to some other station, where the means of self-defence might be more practicable. At one time he thought of Goga, and subsequently of Scindy; but, after a review of the whole, decided that it would be more expedient to remain at Surat, though, from the character of the natives, and the instability of the Mogul government, all grants of privileges must be considered as temporary, and any agreement or capitulation which might be procured, ought not to be depended on as permanent. He concludes, that, though a general phirmaund for trade in the Mogul dominions had been obtained, and of course a foundation laid for the English intercourse with the rich provinces of Bengal, yet the attempt to enter on that trade would be unwise, from being in the exclusive possession of the Portuguese.

"Sir Thomas Roe returned from the emba.s.sy to Surat in the spring of 1618-19, when it appears that the opposition in opinion between him and the factors at that place had subsided, as the efforts of both were united to establish a distinct system for the trade of the English at Surat. It has been already stated that Sir Thomas Roe had procured a phirmaund to the English from the Mogul, for the establishment of a general trade in his extensive dominions, but that the relaxed situation of the government, which always, under the administration of the Moguls, preceded an expected succession to the throne, had rendered the governor of Surat, at this juncture, less obsequious to the orders of his sovereign than the absolute nature of the const.i.tution would otherwise have prescribed. Under these circ.u.mstances, and to improve upon the general treaty already mentioned, Sir Thomas Roe made proposals to Sultan Churrum to enter into an alliance for resisting the pretensions of the Portuguese. After long discussions with that prince, this treaty was concluded, and the following are its leading articles.

"That the governor of Surat should lend s.h.i.+ps to the English, to be employed in the defence of that port. The English, however, to be only allowed to land ten armed men at one time; but the resident merchants to be allowed to wear arms. That the English should be allowed to build a house in the city, but distant from the castle.[187] That the governor of Surat should receive the amba.s.sador and his suite with marks of honour. That the English should enjoy the free exercise of their religion, and be governed by their own laws. That in any dispute between the English and the natives; reference was to be made to the governor and his officers, who should decide speedily and justly; but disputes among themselves were to be decided by their own factory. That liberty of trade was to be allowed the English, in its fullest extent, on payment of the usual duties on landing the goods, from which pearls, jewels, &c. were to be exempted. That freedom of speech was to be allowed to the English linguists and brokers, in all matters regarding the trade of their employers. And, lastly, That all presents intended for the court were to be opened and examined at the customhouse of Surat, and then sealed and given back to the English, and to pa.s.s duty-free; but, in case these presents were not made, then these articles were to become liable to pay duty.

[Footnote 187: Though not so expressed in the Annals, this appears to have been a _fortified_ house; as, on an occasion, when Surat was taken and plundered by an armed force belonging to Sevagee, the first sovereign of the Mahrattas, the English were able to defend their factory from injury.--E.]

"During his residence in India, Sir Thomas Roe had likewise used his best endeavours to promote the trade of the English with the ports of Persia, in which considerable opposition was experienced from the Portuguese, who tried every expedient to engross the Persian trade to themselves, and to exclude the English from any partic.i.p.ation. In this opposition Sir Robert s.h.i.+rley had been implicated, who had gone to Europe in 1615, on a mission from the king of Persia, to form a contract with the king of Spain, then sovereign of Portugal, not only to sell to his subjects the whole of the Persian silk, but to grant them licence to fortify the sea-ports of Persia for the protection of their s.h.i.+pping and factories. Mr Connock, the English agent in Persia, under these circ.u.mstances, recommended the necessity of applying to king James, and submitting to his consideration the danger of allowing the Portuguese to enjoy the exclusive possession of that trade, which would render them the most powerful European nation in the East Indies. In the mean time, he represented to the king of Persia the necessity of seizing the island of Ormus from the Portuguese, under the protection of which the Persian dominions could be supplied by the English with all kinds of Indian commodities.

"In this critical situation of the company's agents at Ispahan, an amba.s.sador arrived from the king of Spain, in June 1617, authorised to adjust and settle the contract which Sir Robert s.h.i.+rley had projected.

The English agent, in consequence, urged the factory at Surat to dispatch the whole of the company's s.h.i.+ps to Jasques for the defence of that port, as the Portuguese fleet had rendezvoused at Muscat, and had determined to blockade the pa.s.sage into the Persian gulf against the English trade. These events induced Sir Thomas Roe to grant a commission, and to give instructions to the company's agent at Ispahan, authorising him to treat with the king of Persia, in the name of the king of England.

"In 1618, Captain s.h.i.+llings, of the company's s.h.i.+p Ann, went to Mokha, and obtained a phirmaund from the governor, by which the English were allowed free trade, and protection to their persons and property, on condition of paying three per cent. on merchandize, and three per cent.