The
voyages and adventures, of Fernand Mendez Pinto, a
Portugal: during his travels for the space of one
and twenty years in the kingdons of Ethiopia, China,
Tartaria, Cauchinchina, Calaminham, Siam, Pegu, Japan
and a great part of the East-Indiaes. With a
Relation and Description of most of the Places thereof;
their Religion, Laws, Riches, Customs, and Government in
time of Peace and War. Where he five times suffered
Shipwrack, was sixteen times sold, and thirteen times
made a Slave. Written Originally by himself in the
Portugal Tongue, and Dedicated to the Majesty of Philip
King of Spain. Done into English by H C. [Henry Cogan]
Gent. London, Printed by F. Macock, for Henry Cripps,
and Lodowick Lloyd , and are to be sold at their shop in
Popes head Alley neer Lumbar Street. 1653 Two extracts from the English abbreviated
English version, the first about the introduction of
the arquebus into Japan. Upon
the twelfth of January we departed from the City of
Uzamguee exceedingly
rejoycing at our escape from so many labours and
crosses, which we before had
sustained, and imbarqued ourselves upon a river, that
was above a league broad,
down the which we went seven dayes together, beholding
in the meantime on
either side thereof many fair Towns, and goodly
Boroughs, which by the outward
appearance we believed were inhabited by very rich
people, in regard of the
somptuousness of the buildings, not only of particular
houses, but much more of
the Temples, whose steeples were all covered over with
gold, as likewise in regard
of the great number of Barques and Vessels, that were
on this river, abundantly
fraught with all sorts of provisions and merchandise.
Now when we were come to
a very fair Town, called Quangeparun, containing some
eighteen or twenty
thousand sires, the Naudelum, who was he that
conducted us by the express
commandment from the King, stayed there twelve dayes
to trade in exchange of
silver and pearl; whereby he confessed to us that he
had gained fourteen for
one, and that if he had been so advised as to have
brought salt thither, he had
doubled his mony above thirty times: we were assured
that in this Town the King
had yearly out of the silver Mines above fifteen
hundred Picas, which are forty
thousand Quintal, of our weight, besides the huge
revenue, that he drew out of
many other different things: This Town hath no other
fortification then a weak
brick wall, eight foot high, and a shallow ditch some
thirty foot broad; The
inhabitants are weak and unarmed, having neither
Artillery, nor any thing for
their defence, so that five hundred resolute souldiers
might easily take it. We parted from
this place on Tuesday morning, and
continued our course thirteen dayes, at the end
whereof we got to the fort of Sancban,
in the Kingdom of China. Now because there was no
shipping of Malaca there, for
they were gone from thence nine dayes before, we went
seven leagues further to
another Port, named Lantpacau, where we found two
Juncks of Malaya, one of
Patana, and another of Lugor; And whereas it is the
quality of us Portugals to
abound in our own sence, and to be obstinate in our
opinions, there arose
amongst us eight so great a contrariety of judgment
about a thing, wherein
nothing was so necessary for us, as to maintain our
selves in peace and unity,
that we were even upon the point of killing one
another; But because the matter
would be too shamefull to recount in the manner as it
past, I will say no more
but that the Necoda of the Lorche, which had brought
us thither from Uzamguee,
amazed at this so great barbarousness of ours,
seperated himself from us in
such displeasure, that he would not charge himself
either with our messages or
letters, saying, that he had rather the King should
command his head to be cut
off, then to offend God in carrying with him anything
whatsoever that belonged
to us. Thus different
as we were in opinion, and in very
bad terms amongst ourselves, we lingered above nine
dayes in this little
Island, during which time the three Juncks departed
without vouchsafing to take
us in, so that we were constrained to remain in these
solitudes, exposed to
many great dangers, out of which I did not think that
ever we could have
escaped, if God had not been extraordinarily merciful
unto us; for having been
there seventeen dayes in great misery and want, it
hapened that a Pyrat, named
Samipocheca, arrived in this place, who having been
defeated, went flying from
the Fleet of Aytao of Chincheo, that of eight and
twenty sayl, which this Pyrat
had, had taken six and twenty of them from him, so
that he had with much ado
escaped with those only two remaining, wherein the
most part of his men were
hurt, for which cause he was constrained to stay there
seven dayes to have them
cured: Now the present necessity inforcing us to take
some course whatsoever it
were, we were glad to agree for to serve under him
until such time as we might
meet with some good opportunity to get unto Malaca.
Those twenty dayes ended,
wherein yet there was no manner of reconciliation
between us, but still
continuing in discord we imbarqued ourselves with this
Pyrat, namely three in
the Junk where he himself was, and five in the other,
whereof he had made a
Nephew of his Captain. Having left this Island with an
intent to sail unto a
Port, called Lailoo, some seven leagues from Chincheo,
we continued our voyage
with a good wind all along the Coast of Lamao for the
space of nine dayes,
until that one morning when we were near to the river
of Salt, which is about five
leagues from Chabaquea, it was our ill fortune to be
assailed by a Pirate, who
with seven great Juncks fell to fighting with us from
six in the morning till
ten of the clock before noon, in which conflict we
were so entertained with shot,
and pots full of artificial fire, that at last there
were three Sail burnt, to
wit, two of the Pirats, and one of ours, which was the
Junck wherein the five
Portugals were, whom we could by no means succour, for
that then most of our men
were hurt; But at length towards night being well
refreshed by the afternoons
gale, it pleased our Lord that we escaped out of this
Pirats hands. In this ill
equipage wherein we were we continued
our course for three dayes together, at the end
whereof we were invironed by so
great and impetuous a Tempest, that the same night in
which it seized us we
lost the Coast, and because the violence of the Storm
would never suffer us
after to recover it again, we were forced to make with
full Sail towards the
Islands of the Lequios, where the Pirate, with whom we
went, was well known,
both to the King, and those of the Country; with this
resolution we set our
selves to sail through the Archipelage of these
Islands, where notwithstanding
we could not make land, as well for that we wanted a
Pilot to steer the vessel,
ours being slain in the last fight, as also because
the wind and tide was
against us, Amidst so many crosses we beat up and down
with labour enough from
one rhomb to another for three and twenty dayes
together, at the end whereof it
pleased God that we discovered land, whereunto
approaching to see if we could
descry any appearance of a Port, or good anchorage, we
perceived on the South
coast near to the Horizon of the Sea a great fire,
which perswaded us that
there we might peradventure find some Borough, where
we might furnish ourselves
with fresh water, whereof we had very great need. So we went and
rode just before the lsland in
seventy fathom, and presently we beheld two Almedias
come towards us from the
Land with six men in them, who being come close to the
side of our Junck, and
having complemented with us according to their manner,
demanded of us from
whence we came? whereunto having answered, that we
came from China with
merchandise intending to trade in this place if we
might be suffered, one of
the six replyed; That the Nautaquim, Lord of that
Island, called Tanixumaa,
would very willingly permit it upon payment or such
customs as are usual in
Japan, which is, continued he, this great Country that
you see here before you;
At these news and many other things, which they told
us, we were exceeding
glad, so that after they had shewed us the Port, we
weighed anchor, and went
and put ourselves under the lee-shoar of a creek,
which was on the South-side,
and where stood a great Town, named Miay-gimaa, from
whence there came
instantly abord of us divers persons with
refreshments, which we bought. We had not been
two hours in this Creek of Miaygimaa,
when as the Nautaquim, Prince of this Island of
Tanixumaa came directly to our
Junck, attended by divers Gentlemen and Merchants, who
had brought with them many
Chests full of silver Ingots, therewith to barter for
our commodities; so after
ordinary complements past on either side, and that we
had given our word for
his easiest coming aboard of us; he no sooner
perceived us three Portugals, but
he demanded what people we were, saying, that by our
beards and faces we could
not be Chineses: Hereunto the Pirate answered, That we
were of a Country called
Malaca, whither many years before we were come from
another Land, named Portugal,
which was at the further end of the world; At these
words the Nautaquim remained
much amazed, and turning . himself to his followers;
Let me not live, said he
unto them, if these men here be not the Chenchicogis,
of Whom it is Written in
our books, that flying on the top of the waters they
shall from thence subdue
the inhabitants, of the earth, where God hath created
the riches of the worlds
wherefore it will be a good fortune for us if they
come into our Country as
good friends. Thereupon having
called a woman of Lequia, whom he
had brought to serve as an interpreter between him and
the Chinese, Captain of
the junck; Ask the Necoda, said he unto her, where he
met with these men, and
upon what occasion he hath brought them hither with
him unto our Country of
Jappon? The Captain thereunto replied, That we were
honest men and Merchants,
and that having found us at Lampacau, where we had
been cast away, he had out
of charity taken us in, as he used to do unto all such
as He met withall in the
like case, to the end that God might out of his
gracious goodness be thereby
moved, to deliver him from the danger of such violent
Tempests, as commonly
they that fail on the Sea are subject to perish in.
This saying of the Pirate
seemed so reasonable to the Nautaquim, that be
presently came abord of us, and
because those of his Train were very many, he,
commanded that none but such as
he named should enter in. After he had seen all the
commodities in the Junck,
he sate him down in a Chair upon the Deck, and began
to question us about
certain things which be desired to know, to the which
we answered him in such
sort, as we thought would be most agreeable to his
humour, so that he seemed to
be exceedingly satisfied therewith; In this manner he
entertained us a good
while together, making it apparent by his demands that
he was a man Very
curious, and much inclined to hear of novelties, and
rare things. That done he
took his leave of us, and the Necoda,
little regarding the reft, saying, Come and see me at
my house tomorrow, and
for a present bring me an ample relation of the
strange things of that great
world through which you have travelled, as also of the
Countries that you have
seen, and withall remember to tell me how they are
called, for I swear unto you
that I would far more willingly buy this commodity
than any that you can sell
me. This said, he returned to Land, and the next
morning as soon as it was day
he sent out to our Junck a great Parao, full of divers
sorts of refreshments,
as Reasons, Pears, Melons, and other kinds of fruits
of that Country; In
exchange of this present the Necoda returned him by
the same messenger divers
rich pieces of stuff, together with certain knacks and
rarities of China, and
withall sent him word, that as soon as his Junck
should be at anchor, and out
of danger of the weather, he would come and wait on
him ashore, and bring him
some patterns of the commodities which we had to sell;
as indeed the next
morning he went on land, and carried us three along
with him, as also some ten
or eleven of the chiefest of the Chineses of his
Company, to the end that at
this first sight he might settle a good opinion of
himself in this people for
the better satisfaction of that vanity whereunto they
are naturally inclined;
we went then to the Nautaquims house, where we were
very well entertained, and
the Necoda having given him a rich present, shewed him
the patterns of all the
commodities he had, wherewith he rested so contented,
that he sent presently
for the principal Merchants of the place, with whom
the Necoda having agreed up
on a price for his commodities, he was resolved that
the next day they should
be transported from the Junck unto a certain house,
which was appointed for the
Necoda and his people to remain in till such time as
he should set sail for
China. After all this
was concluded, the Nautaquim fell
again to questioning of us about many several matters,
whereunto we rendred him
such answers as might rather sit his humour, then
agree with the truth indeed,
which yet we did not observe but in some certain
demands that he made us, where
we thought it necessary to make use of certain
particulars altogether fained by
us, that so we might not derogate from the great
opinion he had conceived of
our Country. The first thing he propounded was, how he
had learned from the Chineses
and Lequios, that Portugal was far richer, and of a
larger extent, then the
whole Empire of China, which we confirmed unto him.
The second, how he had
likewise been assured, that our King had upon the Sea
conquered the greatest
part of the world, which also we averred to be so; The
third, that our King was
so rich in gold and silver, as it was held for most
certain, that he had above
two thouand houses full of it even to the very tops;
but thereunto we answered,
that we could not truly say the number of the houses,
because the Kingdom of
Portugal was so spacious, so abounding with treasure,
and so populous, as it
was impossible to specifie the same. So after the
Nautaquim had entertained us
above two hours with such and the like discourse, he
turned him to those of his
Train, and said, Assuredly not one of those Kings,
'which at this present we
know to be on the earth, is to be esteemed happy, if
he be not the vassal of so
great a Monarch as the Emperour of this people here. Whereupon having
dismissed the Necoda and his
Company, he intreated us to passe that night on shore
with him, for to satisfie
the extream desire that he had to be informed from us
of many things of the
world, whereunto he was exceedingly carried by his own
inclination; withall he
told us, that the next day he would assigne us a
lodging next to his own Pallace,
which was in the most commodious place of the Town,
and for that instant he
sent us to lie at a very rich Merchants house, who
entertained us very
bountifully that night. Chap.
XLIV. The great honour which the Nautaquim, Lord of
the Isle, did to one of us
for having seen him shoot with an Harquebuse; and his
sending me to the King of
Bungo; and that which passed till my arrival at his
Court. The
next day the Chinese Necoda disimbarqued all his
commodities, as the Nautaquim
had enjoyned him, and put them into sure rooms, which
were given him for that purpose
and in three dayes he sold them all, as well for that
he had not many, as
because his good fortune was such that the Country was
at that time utterly
unfurnished thereof, by which means this Pirate
profited so much that by this
Sale he wholly recovered himself of the losse of the
six & twenty Taels
which the Chinese Pirate had taken from him; for they
gave him any price he
demanded, so that he confessed unto us, that of the
value of some five and
twenty hundred Taels which he might have in goods, he
made above thirty
thousand. Now as for us three Portugals, having
nothing to sell, we employed
our time either in fishing, hunting, or seeing the
Temples of these Gentiles,
which were very sumptuous and rich, whereinto the
Bonzes, who are their
priests, received us very courteously, for indeed it
is the custome of these of
Iappon to be exceding kind and courteous. Thus we having
little to do, one of us, called Diego
Zeimote, went many times a shooting for his pleasure
in an Harquebuse that he
had, wherein he was very expert, so that going one day
by chance to a certain
Marsh, where there was great store of fowl, he killed
at that time about six
and twenty wild Ducks; In the mean time these people
beholding this manner of
shooting, which they had never seen before, were much
amazed at it, insomuch
that it came to the notice of the Nautaquim, who was
at that instant riding of
horses, and not knowing what to think of this novelty
sent presently for
Zeimoto, just as he was shooting in the Marsh, but
when he saw him come with
his Harquebuse on his shoulder and two Chineses with
him carrying the fowl, he
was so mightily taken with the matter, as he could not
sufficiently admire it:
for whereas they had never seen any Gun before in that
Country, they could not
comprehend what it might be, so that for want of
understanding the secret of
the powder, they all concluded that of necessity it
must be some Sorcery;
Thereupon Zeimoto seeing them so astonish'd, and the
Nautaquim so contented,
made three shoots before them, whereof the effect was
such, that he killed one
Kite, and two Turtle Doves; In a word then, and not to
lose time, by endeering
the matter with much Speech, l will say the Nautiquim
caused Zeimoto to get up
on the horses croupper behind him, and so accompanied
with a great croud of
people, and four Hushers, who with Battouns headed
with iron went before him,
crying all along the streets, Know all men, that the
Nautaquim, Prince of this Island
of Tanixumaa, and Lord of our heads, enjoyns and
expresly commands, That all persons
whatsoever, which inhabit the Land that lies between
the two Seas, do honour
this Chenchicogim, of the further end of the World,
for even at this present
and for hereafter he makes him his kinsman, in such
manner as Jacharons are,
who sit next his Person; and whosoever will not do so
willingly, he shall be
sure to lose his head. Whereunto all the people
answered with a great noise; We
will do so for ever. In this pomp
Zeimoto being come to the Pallace gate,
the Nautaquim alighted from his horse, and taking him
by the hand, whilest we
two followed on foot a prety way after, he led him
into his Court, where be
made him sit with him at his own table, and to honour
him the more, be would
needs have him lodg there that night, shewing many
other favours to him
afterwards, and to us also for his sake. Now Zeimoto
conceiving that he could
not better acknowledge the honour which the Nautaquim
did him, then by giving him
his Harquebuse, which he thought would be a most
acceptable present unto him;
on a day when he came home from shooting, he tendred
it unto him with a number
of Pigeons and Turtle-doves, which he received very
kindly, as a thing of great
value, assuring him that he esteemed of it more, then
of all the treasures of
China, and giving him withall in recompence thereof a
thousand Taels in silver,
he desired him to teach him how to make the powder,
saying, that without that
the Harquebuse would be of no use to him, as being but
a piece of unprofitable
iron, which Zeimoto promised him to do, and
accordingly performed the same. Now the
Nautaquim taking pleasure in nothing so much
as shooting in this Harquebuse, and his Subjects
perceiving that they could not
content him better in anything, then in this,
wherewith he was so much
delighted, they took a pattern of the said Harquebuse
to make others by it
& the effect thereof was such that before our
departure (which was five
months & an half after) there was six hundred of
them made in the Country;
nay I will say more, that afterwards, namely the last
time that the Vice-roy
Don Alphonso de Noronha sent me thither with a present
to the King of Bungo,
which happened in the year 1556, those of Jappon
affirmed, that in the City of
Fucheo, being the chief of that Kingdom, there were
above thirty thousand;
whereat finding myself to be much amazed, for that it
seemed impossible unto
me, that this invention should multiply in such sort,
certain Merchants of good
credit assured me that in the whole Island of Jappon
there were above three
hundred thousand Harquebuses, and that they alone had
transported of them in
the way of trade to the Country of the Lequios, at six
several times, to the
number of five and twenty hundred; so that by the
means of that one, which
Zeimoto presented to the Nautaquim in acknowledgment
of the honour and good
offices that he had done him, as I have declared
before, the Country was filled
with such abundance of them, as at this day there is
not so small an hamlet but
hath an hundred at the least; for as for Cities and
great Towns they have them
by thousands, whereby one may perceive what the
inclination of this people is,
and how much they are naturally addicted to the wars,
wherein they take more
delight, than any other Nation that we know. --------
------------ - Later
chapters, from which all the descriptions of Francis
Xavier’s debates with
Japanese Buddhist monks etc have been removed. CHAP.
LXXVI. Our passing from the Town of Fucheo, to the
Port of Hiamangoo; and that
which befell us there; together with my departure from
Malaca, and arrival at
Goa. After
that this revolt had taken an end by the death of so
many men on the one and
the other side, we few Portugals that remained, as
soon as time would permit
us, got to the port of the town, where seeing the
Country desolated, the
merchants fled away, and the King resolved to leave
the town, we lost all hope
of selling our comodities, yea and of being safe in
this harbour, which made us
set sail, and go ninety leagues further to another
Port, called Hiamangoo,
which is in the bay of Canguexumaa; there we sojourned
two months and an half,
not able to sell any thing at all, because the country
was so full of Chinese
comodities, as they fell above half in half in the
price: for there was not a
Port or Read in all this Iland of Japan, where there
were not thirty or forty
Juncks at anchor and in some places above an hundred;
so that in the same very
year, at least two thousand merchants ships came from
China to Japan. Now most
of this merchandise consisted in Silk, which was given
at so cheap a rate, that
the peece of Silk which at that time was worth an
hundred Taies in China, was
sold in Japan for eight and twenty, or thirty at the
most, and that too with
much adoe; besides, the prices of all other
commodities were so low, as holding
our selves utterly undone, we knew not what resolution
or counsell to take. But
whereas the Lord doth dispose of things according to
his good pleasure, by waies
which surpasse our understanding; he permitted, for
reasons only known to
himself, that on the new moon in December, being the
fifth day of the month,
there arose so furious a tempest of wind and rain, as
all those vessels saving
a few perished, in it: so that the losse caused by
this storm, amounted unto a
thousand, nine hundred, and seventy two Juncks;
amongst the which, were six and
twenty Portugals ships, where in five hundred and two
of our nation were
drowned; besides, a thousand Christians of other
Countries, and eight hundred
thousand duckets worth of goods cast away. Of Chinese
vessels, according to
report, there were a thousand, nine hundred, thirty
and six lost, together with
above two millions of gold, and an hundred and
threescore thousand persons. Now
from so miserable a ship-wrack, not above ten or
eleven ships escaped, of which
number, was that wherein I was imbarqued, and that
almost by miracle; by reason
whereof these same sold their commodities at what
price they would. As for us,
after we had uttered all ours, and prepared our selves
for our departure, we
put to sea on a twelfth day in the morning; and
although we were well enough
contented in regard of the profit we had made, yet
were we not a little sad, to
see things fall out so to the cost of so many lives
and riches, both of those
of our nation, and of strangers; But when we had
weighed anchor, and hoisted
our sailes for the prosecution of our course, the ties
of our main sail brake,
by which means, the sail yard falling down upon the of
the ship, brake all to peices; so that
we were constrained by this accident, to recover the
port again, and to send a
shallop on shore to seek for a sail yard, and
shipwrights to fix it for us. To
this effect, we sent a present to the Captain of the
place, that he might
suddenly give us necessary succor, as accordingly he
did; so that the very same
day, the ship was put in to her former estate, and
better then before: Neverthelesse,
as we were weighing anchor again, the cable of our
anchor broke, and because we
had but one more in the ship, we were forced to
indeavor all that:we might for
the recovery thereof, by reason of the great need we
stood in of it; now, to do
this, we sent to land for such as could dive, who in
consideration of ten
duckets that we gave them, fell to diving into the
sea, where they found our
anchor in six and twenty fathome depth, so that: by
the means which
we fastned unto it, we hoysted it
up, though with a great deal of labour, wherein we all
of us bestowed
ourselves, and spent the most part of the night. As
soon as it was day, we set saile,
and parting from this river of Hiamangoo, it pleased
God, that in fourteen
daies with a good wind, we arrived at Chincheo, which
is one of the most
renowned and richest Ports of the King of China; there
we were advertised, that
at the entrance of this river, there lay at that time
a famous Pirate, called Cheopocheca,
with a mighty fleet, which put us into such a fear,
that in all hast we got away
to Lamau, where we made some provision of victuals,
which lasted us untill our
arrivall at Malaca. Having stayed
sometime at Malaca, for the dispatch
of certain affaires that I had there, I imbarqued my
self for Goa, with an
intent at length, to return into Portugal, if I could
meet with shipping ready
to depart from thence at that time; but some few daies
after my arrivall there
it happened, that a Portugal named Antonio Ferreyra,
brought a present of very
rich peeces to the ViceRoy Don Pedro Mascarenhas,
which the King of Bungo sent
him from Japan, together with a letter, whereof the
contents were these, Illustrious
Lord, and of great majesty, Vice-Roy of
the limits of the Indiaes, the dreadfull Lion in the
flouds of the sea, by the
force of thy ships and artillerie: I Yacataaandono
King of Bungo, Facataa, Omangucha,
and the Countries of the two seas, Lord of the petty
Kings of the Ilands of Tosa,
Xemenarequa, Miaygimaa, do give thee to understand by
this my letter, that
Father Francisco Xavier having been not long since in
this Country, preaching
to them of Omangucha the new law of the Creator of all
things, I secretly
promised to him, that at his return into my Kingdome I
would receive from his
hand the name and water of holy Baptism, howsoever the
noveltie of so unexpected
a thing might put me into bad terms with my subjects,
Whereupon, he also promised
me on his side, that if God gave him life, he would
come back again unto me as
speedily as he could. And forasmuch as his return hath
been longer then I
looked for, I have sent thus expresly to know both of
him, and of you, the
cause of this retardment of his. Wherefore my Lord, I
desire you, that he may
hasten away to me with all the speed that the first
season which shall be
proper for navigation, will permit. For besides, that
his arrivall in my
Kingdome is greatly important for the service of God,
it will be also very
profitable to my self, for the contracting of a new
league with the great King
of Portugal, to the end that by this amitie, my
country and his may hereafter
be but one thing, and that his subjects may in all our
ports and rivers be as
free as they are in your Cochim where you are;
wherefore your Lordship shall
exceedingly oblige me by sending one unto me, that may
be witnesse of the
desire I have to serve your King; for I will do it as
willingly, as the Sun is
ready to hasten his course from the morning to the
night. More-over, Antonio Fereyra
will give thee the very same armes wherewith I
vanquished the Kings of Fiangaa
and Xemenarequa, and which I wore in the day of
battel. I am ready in all
things to obey my elder Brother, that invincible King
of the other end of the
world, Lord of the treasures of great Portugal. The Vice-Roy
having read this Letter, sent for one
father Belquior, Rector of the Colledg of the Jesuits,
and having imparted unto
him the King of Bungoes desire, he told him, that in
regard Father Xavier was
dead, he could wish that he would in his stead
undertake this voyage to Japan,
which in all probalitie would very much redound to the
service of God, and the
propagation of the Christian faith. The Rector upon
the hearing hereof,
willingly imbraced the imployment, wherewith the
Vice-Roy was exceedingly well
pleased, and very much commended him for such his good
and pious resolution.
After this, the Vice-Roy consulting with some of his
friends about the chusing
of a man, that in qualitie of his Ambassador, might
accompany the Father in this
expedition; I was nominated unto him, as the fittest
he could fix upon, in
regard of the knowledg I had, both of the Country. and
of the then King
thereof: whereupon, I was immediatly also sent for,
and the Vice-Roy acquainting
me with the great desire he had, that I should take
this negotiation upon me,
which he said, did so much import the honor of God,
and the King our Masters
service; he prest me so earnestly to it, that I knew
not how to refuse him,
although I must confesse, I was very unwilling
thereunto.; So that consenting
to what I could not well avoide, he commanded that all
things necessary for our
voyage should with all convenient speed be prepared. CHAP.
LXXVII Father Belquior's and my departure from the
Indiaes to go to Japan, and
that which befell us till our arrivall at the Island
of Champeiloo. Fourteen
dayes after, namely on the sixteenth of April, One
thousand five hundred fifty
and four, Father Belquior and I set sail for Malaca in
a ship, wherein also was
Don Antonio de Noronha, Son to Don Garcia de Noronha,
who had been Vice-Roy of
the Indiaes, that was going to take possession of the
Government of the
Fortresse there; from the which the Vice-Roy had sent
order to displace Don
Alvaro de Tayda, who was Captain of it, as well for
that he would not obey his
Commands, as for many other misdemeanors which he had
committed, whereof I will
not speak in particular here, because they are
altogether from my purpose at this
time. The fifth day of June following, we and the new
Captain arrived at
Malaca, where the Licentiat Gasper Jorge
Superintendant Generall of the Indiaes,
who was the man that prosecuted this businesse, caused
the people of the Town
to assemble together upon the tolling of a Bell; and
having read unto them the
Vice-Roys Letters Patents, whereby he displaced Don
Alvaro, he examined him
upon divers Interrogatories, whereof two Registers
made a verbal process, which
was signed both by them and the said Superintendent,
and the new Captain. After
all this, Don Alvaro was deposed from his Government,
made a prisoner, and all
his estate confiscated: the like was done to all his
partakers who had favoured
him in the imprisoning of Gamboa, Superintendent of
the Treasure, and in
disobeying the Vice-Roys Commissions, as also in many
other disorders that had
been committed thereupon: which was executed with so
much rigour, as the most
part fled to the Mahometans, whereby the Fortresse
remained so bare of men, as
it was in danger of being undone, had not the new
Captain provided for it with
a great deal of prudence, granting a general Abolition
unto all, although they
returned for all that but with an ill will. These
revolutions, and this excesse
of justice, which put all the Country into an uproar,
were the cause that Father
Belquior and I could not this year pass unto Japan, as
we had resolved; so that
we were constrained to winter at Malaca, until April
following, in the year One
thousand five hundred fifty and five, which was ten
months. During that time,
the Auditor Gaspar Jorge continuing the rigorous
executions which he exercised
day by day, was a subject of great scandal to all the
Country; wherewith not
yet contented, and relying on the large Commission
which the Vice-Roy had given
him, he would needs intermeddle with the Captain Don
Antonio's Jurisdiction;
and indeed, he incroached so far on his Authority, as
Don Antonio had no more
but the name of it, and was no other then as a guard
of the Fortress. Now
though he was very sensible of this affront, yet he
did dissemble and endure it
with a great deal of patience: But these excessive
rigours of this Auditor
continuing for the space of four months; during the
which there were many
discontentments, whereof I will not treat here in
particular, because the
discourse of it would be infinite. One day Don
Antonio, seeing the time proper
for the execution of that which he had formerly
resolved on, caused some, whom
he had destined for it, to seise on him in the
Fortress, and carry him to a
private house; where (according to report) he was
stript stark naked, and his hands
and feet being bound with cords, he was grievously
whipped: After Which, having
drop'd scalding oyl on his bare flesh, (which had
almost killed him) and clapt
irons on his legs, and manacles on his hands, they
pluck'd off all the hair of
his beard, leaving him not so much as one, and did
many other such like things
unto him, as it was publickly spoken: so that the poor
Licentiat Gaspar Jorge,
who termed himself Auditor Generall of the Indiaes,
great Provisor of the
deceased and Orphelins, and Superintendent of the
Treasure of Malaca, and or
the Countries of the South, for the King our Soveraign
Lord, was thus handled
by Don Antonio, if the report of it be true. Finally,
when the season of
Navigation was come, he was sent, so manacled as he
was, to the Indiaes, with
an infamous verball process; which the Parliament of
Goa annulled wards. And
Don Antonio had thereupon an expresse Commandment from
the Vice-Roy Don Pedro
de Mascarenhas, who governed the State of the Indiaes
at that time, to appear
personally before him as a Prisoner, for to be
confronted in Judgment with Gaspar
Jorge, and render an account of his proceeding against
him; as indeed Don Antonio
failed not in making his appearance at Goa
accordingly: where being about to
justifie himself for that which had past, he was
ordered to answer within three
dayes to an ignominious Libel, which Gaspar Jorge had
exhibited agsinst him:
But forasmuch as Don Antonio was naturally an enemy of
Justifications by Answers
and Replyes, whereby it was said, the Councilors of
the Parliament intended to
surprize him, the report went (at least wise such was
the saying of Detractors;
for as for me, I neither saw nor am assured of it)
that instead of imploying
the three dayes which had been given him, in making
answer to this Libell, he,
within four and twenty hours having met accidentally
with Caspar Jorge, sent
him to prosecute his Suit in the other World, laying
him so sure on the ground,
as he never rose again. Howbeit, there are those which
recount this Affair
quite otherwise, and that say, how in a Feast,
whereunto he was invited, hee
was poysoned. By this death of his all this difference
was decided, and this
business: wholly ceased, so that Don Antonio was by
Sentence absolutely
cleared, and sent back to his Government: wherein he
continued not above two
months and a half, at the end whereof he died of a
bloody Flux: and so were all
the storms of envie and discord wherewith the
Fortresse of Malaca had been
beaten, appeased. When the season
was come wherein we might continue
our Voyage, on the first day of April, in the year One
thousand five hundred
fifty and five, wee parted from Malaca, after wee had
imbarqued our selves in a
Carvel belonging to the King our Sovereign Lord, which
Don Antonio, the Captain
of the Fortresse gave us by the expresse command of
the Vice-Roy. Three dayes
after our putting to sea, we arrived at an Island
called Pulho Pisan, at the
entering into the Streight of Sincaapura, where the
Pilot having never
navigated that way before, ran us with full sails so
dangerously on certain
Rocks, as we thought our selves to be utterly lost,
without all hope of
recovery: In regard whereof, by the advice of all the
rest, the Father and I
were constrained to get into a Manchua, for to go and
demand succour of one
Luis Dalmeida, who two hours before had passed by us
in a Vessell of his, and
lay at anchor two leagues off us, by reason the winde
was against him; So the
Father and I made to him with peril enough. For
whereas all that Country, which
appertained to the King of Jantana, Grand-childe to
him that had been King of
Malaca, our mortall Enemy, were at that time in arms,
his Balons and Lanchares,
that were assembled in a Fleet of Warr, continually
gave us chase, with an
intention to take us; but by Gods providence we
escaped them. At length, after
we had got to this ship, with no little fear and
trouble, he that was Captain
of her furnished us with a Boat and Mariners, and so
we returned to our Carvel
as speedily as we could, for to succour and draw her
out of the danger wherein
we had left her. But it pleased the Lord that we found
her the day after
delivered from it; though it is true, that she took in
water abundantly in the
prow's side; but in the end We stanched it at Patana,
where we arrived seven
dayes after. There I went ashore with two others, to
see the King; unto whom I
delivered a Letter from the Captain of Malaca: and
being received very
graciously by him, he read it over, whereby he
understood, that the cause of
our coming thither was to provide our selves of
victuals, and some other things
which we had not taken in at Malaca; as also that we
were resolved to proceed
on in our course directly to China, and from thence to
Japan, where Father Belquior
and others with him were to preach the Christian Law
to the Gentiles, which the
King of Jatana having read, after he had muled a
little, he turned to them that
were about him, and said smiling to them, O how much
better were it for these
men, since they expose themselves to so many travels
to go to China and inrich
themselves there, then to recount tales in strange
Countreys? Whereupon,
calling the Xabandar to him, Be sure, said he unto
him, that thou givest these
men here all that they shall demand of thee, and that
for the love of the Captain
of Malaca, who hath greatly recommended them unto mee:
and above all remember,
That it is not my cteftome to com mand a thing twice.
When we had taken leave
of the King, exceedingly content ed with the good
reception he had given us, we
fell prclemly to buying of Victu als, and other such
things as we stood in need
of; So that in eight dayes we were abundantly
furnished with whatsoever was
necessary for us. Being departed from this Haven of
Patana, we failed two dayes
together with a South-east winde along by the coast of
Lugor and Siam,
traversing the Ban of Cuyt to go to 'pulho Cam- \im.
and from thence to the
Islands of Canton, with an intent there to attend the
conjunction of the new
Moon: But it was our ill fortune to be surprized by
East and South-cast winde,
(which raign in that Coast the most part of the year )
whereof the violence was
so great, that we were in fear to be cast away: so
that tp decline the event
thereof, we were forcd to tack about again to the
Coast of Malaya; and arriving
at an Island, called PulloTimin, we ran into great
danger there, as well by
reason of the tempest which we had upon the sea, as in
regard of the great
treason of the people of the Country. Now after five
dayes that we had continued
there, without having either fresh water or victuals,
because for the easing of
our Vessell we had cast out all into the Sea, it
pleased God that wee
encountred with three Portugal Ships which came from
Sunda, by whose arrivall
we were very much comforted in our travell: Whereupon
Father Belquior and I
began to treat with the Captains of those Vessels
about that which they thought
was requisite we should do; and all were of the
opinion, that we should send back
the Carvel wherein wee were, to Malaca; saying, that
there was no likelihood
wee should be able to Make so long a Voyage in her as
that of Japan. Having
approved of this counsel, we presently imbarqued our
selves in the Ship of one Francisco
Toscano, a Worshipfull and rich man, who defrayed our
charge during all our
Voyage, yea, and most part of the time that we were in
China, not permitting any
of our Company to spend a peny. From this Island
PulloTiman we put to sea on
Friday the seventh of June in the same yeer One
thousand five hundred fifty and
five, and discovering the firm land of the Kingdome of
Champaa, we sailed along
the Coast with a North-West winde, and in twelve dayes
we arrived at an Island called
Pullo Champtitoo, in the Straight of Cauchenchina,
where we took in fresh water
at a River which descended from an high Mountain.
There amongst the Rocks we
perceived a very-fair Cross graven on a great free
Stone, and under it 1513,
with six letters abbreviated, which said, Duan Coilho
We observed also towards
the River, and on the South-side, two flight shot off,
threescore and two men
hanged on trees alongst the Strand, besides others
that lay on the ground half
eaten; a thing which seemed to have been done not
above six or seven dayes
before. Upon another tree there hung a great Banner,
wherein these words were
seen in Chinese letters, Let every Ship or Junk which
shall arrive in this
place, be sure to dislodg quickly from thence after
shee hath furnished her
self with fresh Water ; Whether shee hath time, or
hath it not, on pain of
incurring the same justice as these wretches have
done, whom the fury of the
arm of the son of the Sun hath overwhelmed. Wee were
mightily surprised with so
strange an accident, so that wee could make no other
judgment of it, but that
some Chinese Army had arrived there, and meeting with
those wretches, had (as
Pirats use to do) intreated them as we saw, under the
specious pretext of
Justice. |