A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Vi Part 5

_Canada_, a town.

_Agogasy_, the sea.

_Coda_, the waves.

_Cohena_, an island.

_Agacha_, a hill.

_Hounesca_, ice.

_Camsa_, snow.

_Athau_, cold.

_Odazani_, hot.

_Azista_, fire.

_Quea_, smoke.

_Canoca_, a house.

_Addathy_, my father.

_Adauahoe_, my mother.

_Addagrim_, my brother.

_Adhoa.s.seue_, my sister.

_Quaza hoa quea_, Give me some drink.

_Quaza hoa quascaboa_, Give me my breakfast.

_Quaza hoa quatfriam_, Give me my supper.

_Casigno agnydahoa_, Let us go to bed.

_Casigno donnascat_, Let us go a hunting.

_Casigno caudy_, Let us go to play.

_Casigno casnouy_, Let us go in the boat.

_a.s.signi quaddadia_, Come speak with me.

_Quagathoma_, Look at me.

_Aignag_, Good morrow.

_Aista_, Hold your peace.

_Buazahca agoheda_, Give me a knife.

A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

PART II. CONTINUED.

BOOK III.

CONTINUATION OF THE DISCOVERIES AND CONQUESTS OF THE PORTUGUESE IN THE EAST; TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY VOYAGES OF OTHER EUROPEAN NATIONS TO INDIA.

CHAPTER I.

DISCOVERIES, NAVIGATIONS, AND CONQUESTS OF THE PORTUGUESE IN INDIA, FROM 1505 TO 1539, BOTH INCLUSIVE: RESUMED FROM BOOK I. OF THIS PART[63].

We have formerly in the _First_ BOOK of this _Second_ PART of our general arrangement, given a historical account of the Portuguese Discoveries along the Coast of Africa, with their Discovery of and early Conquests in India, from the glorious era of DON HENRY prince of Portugal in 1412, down to the year 1505. Necessarily called off from that interesting subject, to attend to the memorable Discovery of the _NEW WORLD_ by the immortal COLUMBUS, we have detailed at considerable, yet we hope not inconvenient length, in the III. IV. and V. Volumes of our Collection, the great and important Discovery of America, and the establishment of the princ.i.p.al Spanish colonies in that grand division of the world, with some short notices of the earliest American Discoveries by the Portuguese, English, and French nations. We now return to a continuation of the early Discoveries and Conquests in India, taking that word in its most extensive signification as comprehending the whole of southern Asia, from the Persian Gulf to j.a.pan and Eastern China. In the present portion of our Collection, we propose chiefly to direct our attention to the transactions of the Portuguese; adding however such accounts as we may be able to procure of the early Voyages to India made by other European nations.

[Footnote 63: Portuguese Asia, by Manuel de Faria y Sousa-Astleys Collection of Voyages and Travels, I. 58. et sequ.]

It is not necessary to particularize the various sources from which the different articles to be contained in this _Book_ or division of our work has been collected, as these will be all referred to in the several chapters and sections of which it is composed. Indeed as the introductions we prefix, on the present and other similar occasions, are necessarily written _previous_ to the composition of the articles to which they refer, contrary to the usual practice, it would be improper to tie ourselves too strictly on such occasions, so as to preclude the availment of any additional materials that may occur during our progress, and therefore we here beg leave to notify that we reserve a power of including the earliest voyages of other European nations to the Atlantic and eastern coasts of Africa, together with Arabia and Persia, among the _early voyages to India_, if hereafter deemed necessary; which is strictly conformable to what has been already done in PART II. BOOK I, and what must necessarily be the case on the present occasion. It may be proper however to mention, that the present chapter, containing a continuation of the early Discoveries, Navigations, and Conquests of the Portuguese in India, is taken from the PORTUGUESE ASIA, of _Manuel de Faria y Sousa_, taking that author up in 1505, where we had to lay down _Castaneda_ at the end of our _Second BOOK_. _Faria_[64], who is designated as a member of the Portuguese military order of Christ, was a celebrated historian among his countrymen, and his work, ent.i.tled ASIA PORTUGUEZA, contains an account somewhat in the form of Annals, of the Transactions of his countrymen in _India_, from their first going there in 1497, to the year 1646. This work contains all the Portuguese Voyages and Discoveries, from their first attempt to extend along the western coast of _Africa_, to their final discovery of the farthest parts of _China_ and _j.a.pan_: All their battles by sea and land, with their expeditions, sieges, and other memorable actions: The whole interspersed with descriptions of the places and countries they discovered, visited, or conquered; including accounts of the manners, customs, government, and religion of the natives. This author is remarkable for a concise and clear narrative, and for judicious reflections on the conduct of the Portuguese kings, ministers, governors, and commanders, as well as for his remarks on many other occasions. These are always just, and have often an air of freedom that might not have been expected under an arbitrary government: But in matters regarding religion, he often discovers a surprising reverse of character, full of weak and puerile credulity, the never-failing consequence of education and publication under the influence of that eternal and abominable stain of the peninsula, the _Inquisition_.

[Footnote 64: Astley, I. 87.]

This work of De Faria has gone through various impressions in Portugal, where it is esteemed a curious and accurate performance, though on some occasions it is alleged that he has placed too much reliance on _Mendez Pinto_, a dealer in bare-faced fiction. The first impression of the Portuguese Asia was printed at Lisbon in 1666, in 3 vols. small folio, and it has been often reprinted, and translated into Spanish, Italian, French, and English.

The English translation used on the present occasion, and we know of no other or later edition, was made by Captain John _Stevens_, and published at London in 1695, in 3 vols. 8vo. dedicated to Catherine of Portugal, Queen Dowager of England. In his Preface, Mr Stevens informs the reader, that he had reduced the work to considerably less size than the _Spanish original_, yet without omitting any part of the history, or even abridging any material circ.u.mstances; having cut off long speeches, which were only added by the author as rhetorical flourishes, and omitted many tedious lists of the names of officers who were present at the princ.i.p.al actions, and extended reflections of the author which were only useful to increase the size of the work. In this account of the work by the translator, the _Spanish_ is mentioned as the original.

Indeed the Portuguese and Spanish original editions appear to have both appeared contemporaneously in 1666.[65]

[Footnote 65: Bibl. Univ. des Voy. IV. 576.]

In the employment of Faria we have followed the example of Astleys Collection of Voyages and Travels, of which Mr John Green is said to have been the Editor. But although in that former Collection, published at London in 1745, an absolutely verbal and literal transcript is used so far as the Editor has been pleased to follow the translation of Stevens, many very curious and important particulars contained in that author are omitted, or slurred over by a hasty and careless abridgement.

From where we take up Faria, in consequence of the loss of Castaneda, _we have given his work nearly entire_, only endeavouring to reduce the language of Captain Stevens to the modern standard, and occasionally using the freedom to arrange incidents a little more intelligibly, and to curtail a few trifling matters that seemed to possess no interest for modern readers. We have however availed ourselves of many valuable notes and ill.u.s.trations of the text by the Editor of Astleys Collection, all of which will be found acknowledged and referred to in their proper places. And we have adopted from the same source some valuable additions to the text of Faria, intimately connected with the subject, which are likewise carefully acknowledged. Thus, like many former articles in this Collection, we trust that the present, as being greatly fuller, will be found more satisfactory and informing than any similar account in former Collections of Voyages and Travels.

After so considerable an interval employed on the Discoveries in America, it may be proper to remark that the former Account of the Discovery of the maritime route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and the commencement of the Portuguese Conquests in the East, as contained in the _Second_ Volume of this Work, Part II. Chap. VI. _Sections I. to IX_. pp. 292-505, comprises only a period of _nine_ years, from the setting out of _Vasco de Gama_ in July 1497, on his adventurous Voyage, by which he completed the discovery of the way by sea to India from Europe, projected by Prince Henry in 1412, _eighty-five_ years before.

On that former occasion, following the narrative of Hernan Lopez de Castaneda, we brought down the Transactions of the Portuguese in India to the year 1505; including the almost incredible defence of Cochin by the intrepid Pacheco against the immensely more numerous forces of the Zamorin of Calicut; the relief of the chivalric besieged, by the arrival of Lope Suarez de Menezes in September 1505; and the voyage of Suarez back to Portugal in 1505, leaving Manuel Telez de Vasconcelles as captain-general of the Portuguese possessions in India. It has been formerly mentioned, Vol. II. p.500, note 5, that Castaneda names this person Lope Mendez de Vasconcelles, and that he is named Manuel Telez de Barreto by the editor of Astleys Collection, in which we now find that he had followed the author of the Portuguese Asia. The difference between these authorities is irreconcileable, but is quite immaterial to the English reader.--E.

SECTION I.

_Course of the Indian Trade before the Discovery of the Route by the Cape of Good Hope, with some account of the settlement of the Arabs on the East Coast of Africa_[66].

Before the Discovery of the Route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, formerly related in PART II. CHAPTER VI. the spices and other productions of India were brought to Europe with vast trouble and at great expence, so that they were necessarily sold at very high prices.

The cloves of the Moluccas, the nutmegs and mace of Banda, the sandal-wood of Timor, the camphor of Borneo, the gold and silver of Luconia, with all the other and various rich commodities, spices, gums, perfumes, and curiosities of China, j.a.pan, Siam, and other kingdoms of the continent and islands of India, were carried to the great mart of Malacca, a city in the peninsula of that name, which is supposed to have been the _Aurea Chersonesus_ of the ancients. From that place the inhabitants of the more western countries between Malacca and the Red Sea procured all these commodities, dealing by way of barter, no money being used in this trade, as silver and gold were in much less request in these eastern parts of India than foreign commodities. By this trade, Calicut, Cambaya, Ormuz, Aden, and other cities were much enriched. The merchants of these cities, besides what they procured at Malacca as before mentioned, brought rubies from Pegu, rich stuffs from Bengal, pearls from _Calicare_[67], diamonds from _Narsinga[68]_, cinnamon and rich rubies from Ceylon, pepper, ginger, and other spices, from the coast of Malabar and other places where these are produced. From Ormuz these commodities were conveyed up the Persian gulf to Basorah at the mouth of the Euphrates, and were thence distributed by caravans through Armenia, Trebisond, Tartary, Aleppo, and Damascus; and from these latter cities, by means of the port of Barat in Syria, the Venetians, Genoese, and Catalonians carried them to their respective countries, and to other parts of Europe. Such of these commodities as went up the Red Sea, were landed at Tor or Suez at the bottom of that gulf, whence they were conveyed over land to Cairo in Egypt, and thence down the Nile to Alexandria, where they were shipped for Europe.

[Footnote 66: De Faria, Portuguese Asia, I. 82.]

[Footnote 67: Named Kalekare by Astley; and probably alluding to some place in the neighbourhood of the great pearl fishery in the Gulf of Manar, between Ceylon and the Carnatic.--E.]

[Footnote 68: Now called Golconda. But the dominions of Narsinga seem then to have included the whole southern peninsula of India, except the coasts of Canara and Malabar, from Visiapour and the Deccan to Cape Comorin.--E.]

Many princes apprehending vast loss to their revenues, by this new course which the Portuguese had discovered for carrying on a direct trade by sea between Europe and India, used their endeavours to drive them from that country. For this purpose, the Soldan of Egypt[69], who was princ.i.p.ally affected by this new trade, gave out that he would destroy the holy places in Jerusalem, if the Portuguese persisted in trading to Malabar. Believing him in earnest, Maurus, a monk of Mount Sinai, went to Rome with a letter from the Soldan to the pope, signifying his intention to destroy those places, sacred in the estimation of the Christians, in revenge for the injury done to his trade by the Portuguese. The pope sent Maurus into Portugal, where the purport of his message was known before his arrival, and such preparations made for driving the Moors from the trade of India, that Maurus returned to Cairo with more alarming intelligence than he had brought. The king of Portugal informed his holiness by letter, that his intentions in prosecuting these eastern discoveries were to propagate the holy faith, and to extend the papal jurisdiction over the countries of the heathen, by which the pope was entirely reconciled to his proceedings.

[Footnote 69: This last mameluke Soldan of Egypt was Almalec al Ashraf Abul Nasr Sayf oddin Kansu al Gauri, commonly called Campson Gauri, the 24th of the Circa.s.sian dynasty, who reigned from 1500 to 1516, when he was slain in battle near Aleppo by Selim Emperor of the Turks.--Astley, I. 58. b.]

Along the eastern coast of Africa, the Moors or Arabs had several settlements. From Cape Guardafu, the most eastern point of Africa, to Mozambique, is a hollow coast like a bent bow, extending 550 leagues.

From Cape Mozambique to Cape Corrientes is 170 leagues, and thence to the Cape of Good Hope 340 leagues. Hence turning again to the northwards and a little towards the west, the western coast of Africa reaches to Congo. Drawing a line east across the continent, there remains a large peninsula or promontory, to which the Arabs have given the name of Kafraria, naming the inhabitants Kafrs or unbelievers; an appellation bestowed by the Mahometans on all who are not of their religion, but chiefly those who worship images, whence they call most of the Christians by the opprobrious name of Kafrs. To the north of this line on the east coast of Africa is the maritime country of Zanguebar, or more properly Zenjibar, so named from a Negro nation called the Zenji, who had formerly conquered all that coast before the settlement of the Arabs. From Zanguebar all the way to Cape Guardafu and the mouth of the Red Sea, the coast is called Ajam or Ajen, signifying in Arabic the country of the barbarians; the maritime parts being occupied by the Arabs, and the inland country by heathen Negroes. Most of this coast is very low, covered by impenetrable woods, and subject to inundations, so that it is excessively hot and unwholesome. The Negroes of this country are black with crisp curled hair, and are wonderfully addicted to superst.i.tion, being all idolaters; insomuch that upon the most frivolous motives they will give over the most important enterprises: Thus the king of Quiloa failed to meet Don Francisco de Almeyda, because a black cat crossed his way when going out. The cattle, fruit, and grain are answerable to the wildness of the country. The Moors or Arabs, who inhabit this coast and the adjacent islands, seldom cultivate the ground, and mostly subsist on wild beasts and several loathsome things.

Such as live more towards the interior, and have intercourse with the barbarous Kafrs, use milk as a part of their diet.

As this country has been endowed by nature with much gold, an eager desire to procure that precious metal has induced, first the Arabs, and afterwards the Europeans, to possess themselves of various parts along the coast. The first of the Arabs who came here were called Emozadi, which signifies subjects of Zayde, who built two inconsiderable towers, merely sufficient to defend them against the barbarous Kafrs. Afterwards still greater numbers came from the ports about the city of Lazah, forty leagues from the island of Baharem[70] in the Persian gulf, who settled first Magadoxa and afterwards Brava. The first Arabs separated from these, new comers, and mixing with the Kafrs became Bedouins, or Badwis, signifying people of the desert. Those Arabs who first possessed themselves of the gold trade of Sofala were from Magadoxa, and discovered the gold mines by accident. From thence they spread themselves farther towards the south, but durst never venture to navigate beyond Cape Corrientes, which is opposite to the south-wester-most part of the Island of St Lawrence or Madagascar. Along this coast the Arabs had possessed themselves of Quiloa, Mombaza, Melinda, and the islands, of Pemba, Zanzibar, Monfia, Comoro, and others; Quiloa being the princ.i.p.al of their settlements, from whence many others had been formed, particularly on the coast of Madagascar.

Quiloa had been originally a peninsula, but by the encroachments of the sea it had become an island. The soil produces many palms and thorn trees, and various herbs and plants; and the wild beasts, cattle, and birds resemble those of Spain. The buildings in the places possessed by the Arabs resemble those in Spain, having flat roofs, with gardens and orchards behind.