_Observations of William Finch, Merchant, who accompanied Captain
Hawkins to Surat, and returned overland to Europe_.[208]
INTRODUCTION.
This article is said by Purchas to have been abbreviated out of the
larger journal kept by Finch during his voyage to India and residence
there, and seems a most useful supplement to the preceding section,
being in many circumstances more full and satisfactory than the relation
of Hawkins. In the Pilgrims of Purchas it does not follow the former
relation, but that was owing to its not reaching him in time, as is
stated in the following note, which is both characteristic of that early
collector of voyages and travels, and of the observations of William
Finch.
[Footnote 208: Purch. Pilg. I. 414.]
"This should have followed next after Master Hawkins, with whom William
Finch went into the _Mogolls_ country, if I then had had it. But better
a good dish, though not in duest place of service, than not at all:
Neither is he altogether born out of due time, which comes in due place,
while we are yet in India, and in time also, before the _Mogoll_ affairs
received any latter access or better maturity: And for that circumstance
failing, you shall find it supplied in substance, with more accurate
observations of men, beasts, plants, cities, deserts, castles,
buildings, regions, religions, than almost any other; as also of ways,
wares, and wars."--_Purchas_.
* * * * *
§ 1. _Remembrances respecting Sierra Leona, in August 1607, the Bay,
Country, Inhabitants, Rites, Fruits, and Commodities_.
The island, which we fell in with some ten leagues south from the bay of
Sierra Leona, in lat. 8° N. has no inhabitants; neither did I learn its
name. It has some plantains, and, by report, good watering and wooding
for ships; but about a league from the shore there is a dangerous ledge
of rock, scarcely visible at high water. The bay of Sierra Leona is
about three leagues broad, being high land on the south side, full of
trees to the very edge of the water, and having several coves, in which
we caught plenty and variety of fish. On the farther side of the fourth
cove is the watering place, having excellent water continually running.
Here on the rocks we found the names of various Englishmen who had been
there. Among these was Sir Francis Drake, who had been there
twenty-seven years before; Thomas Candish, Captain Lister, and others.
About the middle of the bay, right out from the third cove, lieth a
sand, near about which there are not above two or three fathoms, but in
most other parts eight or ten close in shore. The tide flows E.S.E. the
highest water being six or eight feet, and the tide is very strong. The
latitude is 8° 30' N.
The king of Sierra Leona resides at the bottom of the bay, and is called
by the Moors _Borea_, or Captain _Caran_, _caran_, _caran_, having other
petty kings or chiefs under him; one of whom, called Captain _Pinto_, a
wretched old man, dwells at a town within the second cove; and on the
other side of the bay is Captain _Boloone_. The dominions of _Borea_
stretch 40 leagues inland, from which he receives a tribute in
cotton-cloth, elephants teeth, and gold; and has the power of selling
his people as slaves, some of whom he offered to us. Some of them have
been converted to Christianity by the Portuguese priests and Jesuits,
who have a chapel, in which is a table inscribed with the days that are
to be observed as holy. The king and a few of his principal attendants
are decently clothed in jackets and breeches; but the common people have
only a slight cotton-cloth round their waists, while the women have a
kind of short petticoat or apron down to their knees; all the rest of
their bodies, both men and women, being quite naked; the young people of
both sexes having no dress whatever. All the people, both men and women,
have all parts of their bodies very curiously and ingeniously _traced
and pinked_ [tatooed], and have their teeth filed very sharp. They pull
off all the hair from their eye-lids. The men have their beards short,
black, and cropped, and the hair on their heads strangely cut into
crisped paths or cross alleys; while others wear theirs in strange
jagged tufts, or other foolish forms; the women's heads being all close
shaved.
Their town contains not more than thirty or forty houses, all
irregularly clustered together, all thatched with reeds; yet each has a
kind of yard inclosed with mud walls, like our hovels or hog-styles in
England. Instead of a locked and bolted door, the entrance is only
closed by a mat, having nothing to be stolen; and for bedsteads they
have only a few billets covered by a mat; yet some have hangings of
mats, especially about their beds. Their furniture consists of two or
three earthen pots to hold water, and to boil such provisions as they
can get; a gourd or two for palm-wine; half a gourd to serve as a
drinking cup; a few earthen dishes for their _loblolly_ or pottage; a
basket for the _maria_ [wife], to gather cockles; and a knapsack for the
man, made of bark, to carry his provisions, with his pipe and tobacco.
When a negro man goes from home, he has always his knapsack on his back,
in which he has his provisions and tobacco, his pipe being seldom from
his mouth; besides which, he has always his _do-little_ sword by his
side, made by themselves of such iron as they get from the Europeans;
his bow also, and quiver full of poisoned arrows, pointed with iron like
a snake's-tongue, or else a case of javelins or darts, having iron heads
of good breadth and made sharp, sometimes both.
The men of this country are large and well-made, strong and courageous,
and of civilized manners for heathens; as they keep most faithfully to
their wives, of whom they are not a little jealous. I could not learn
their religion; for though they have some idols, they seem to know that
there is a God in heaven, as, when we asked them about their wooden
puppets, they used to lift up their hands to heaven. All their children
are circumcised, but I could not learn the reason why. They are very
just and true in their dealings, and theft is punished with instant
death. When any one dies, a small thatched roof is erected over his
bier, under which are set earthen pots kept always full of water, and
some earthen plates with different kinds of food, a few bones being
stuck up around the body. To the south of this bay, some thirty or forty
leagues into the interior country, there are very fierce people, who are
cannibals, and sometimes infest the natives of Sierra Leona.
[Illustration: map]
The inhabitants of Sierra Leona feed on rice, of which they only
cultivate what is indispensibly needful for their subsistence, in small
patches near their dwellings, which they clear by burning the woods.
They likewise sow another very small grain, called _pene_, of which they
make bread, not much unlike winter savory. They rear a few poultry about
their houses, using no other animal food, except when they sometimes get
a fawn of the wild deer, a few of which are found in the mountains, or
some wild fowl. They feed also on cockles and oysters, of which there
are vast quantities on the rocks and trees by the sea-side, but these
have rather an insipid taste; and they catch plenty of excellent fish,
by means of wears and other devices. They also feed on herbs and roots,
cultivating about their dwellings many plantains, gourds, pumpkins,
potatoes, and guinea pepper. Tobacco likewise is planted by every one,
and seems to constitute half their food. The hole of their tobacco pipe
is very large, and made of clay well burnt into the lower end of which
they thrust a small hollow cane eighteen inches long, through which they
suck the smoke, both men and women swallowing most of it. Every man
carries a small bag called a _tuffio_, in his knapsack, in which is his
pipe and tobacco, and the women have their _tuffio_ in their wrappers,
carrying their pipes in their hands. They prepare their tobacco for
smoking by straining out its juice while quite green, and they informed
us by signs that it would otherwise make them drunk. They afterwards
shred it very small, and dry it on an earthen dish over the embers. On
an island in the bay we saw about half a dozen goats, and no where else
in this country.
They have innumerable kinds of fruits growing wild in the woods, in
which are whole groves of lemon trees, especially near the town and
watering-place, and some few orange trees. Their drink is mostly water,
yet the men use great quantities of _palmito_ wine, which they call
_moy_, giving little or none to the women. It is strange to see their
manner of climbing the palmito trees, which are of great size and
height, having neither boughs nor branches except near the top.
Surrounding the tree and his own, body by means of a _withe_, or band of
twisted twigs, on which he leans his back, and jerking up his withe
before him, he foots it up with wonderful speed and certainty, and comes
down again in the same manner, bringing his gourd full of liquor on his
arm. Among their fruits are many kinds of plumbs; one like a _wheaten_
plumb is wholesome and savoury; likewise a black one, as large as a
horse plumb, which is much esteemed, and has an aromatic flavour. A
kind called _mansamilbas_, resembling a wheaten plumb, is very
dangerous, as is likewise the sap of the boughs, which is perilous for
the sight, if it should chance to get into the eyes.[209] Among their
fruits is one called _beninganion_, about the size of a lemon, with a
reddish rind, and very wholesome; also another called _bequill_, as
large as an apple, with a rough knotty skin, which is pared off, when
the pulp below eats like a strawberry, which likewise it resembles in
colour and grain, and of which we eat many. There are abundance of wild
grapes in the woods, but having a woody and bitterish taste. The nuts of
the palmito are eaten roasted. They use but little pepper and _grains_,
the one in surgery and the other in cooking. There is a singular fruit,
growing six or eight together in a bunch, each as long and thick as
one's finger, the skin being of a brownish yellow colour, and somewhat
downy, and within the rind is a pulp of a pleasant taste; but I know not
if it be wholesome.
[Footnote 209: Probably the Manchencel--E.]
[Illustration: map]
I observed in the woods certain trees like beeches, bearing fruit
resembling beans, of which I noticed three kinds. One of these was a
great tall tree, bearing cods like those of beans, in each of which was
four or five squarish beans, resembling tamarind seeds, having hard
shells, within which is a yellow kernel, which is a virulent poison,
employed by the negroes to envenom their arrows. This they call _Ogon_.
The second is smaller, having a crooked pod with a thick rind, six or
seven inches long, and half that breadth, containing each five large
beans an inch long. The third, called _quenda_, has short leaves like
the former, and much bigger fruit, growing on a strong thick woody
stalk, indented on the sides, nine inches long and five broad, within
which are five long beans, which are also said to be dangerous. I
likewise saw trees resembling willows, bearing fruit like pease-cods.
There is a fruit called _Gola_, which grows in the interior. This fruit,
which is inclosed in a shell, is hard, reddish, bitter, and about the
size of a walnut, with many angles and corners. The negroes are much
given to chew this fruit along with the bark of a certain tree. After
one person has chewed it a while, he gives it to his neighbour, and so
from one to another, chewing it long before they cast it away; but
swallowing none of its substance. They attribute great virtues to this
for the teeth and gums; and indeed the negroes have usually excellent
teeth. This fruit passes also among them for money.[210] Higher within
the land they cultivate cotton, which they call _innumma_, and of which
they spin very good yarn with spindles, and afterwards very ingeniously
weave into cloths, three quarters of a yard broad, to make their girdles
or clouts formerly mentioned; and when sewed together it is made into
jackets and breeches for their great men. By means of a wood called
_cambe_, they dye their purses and mats of a red colour.
[Footnote 210: In a side-note; Purchas calls this the fruit of the
_carob tree_.--E.]
The tree on which the _plantains_ grow is of considerable height, its
body being about the thickness of a man's thigh. It seems to be an
annual plant, and, in my opinion, ought rather to be reckoned among
reeds than trees; for the stem is not of a woody substance, but is
compacted of many leaves wrapped close upon each other, adorned with
leaves from the very ground instead of boughs, which are mostly two
yards long and a yard broad, having a very large rib in the middle. The
fruit is a bunch of ten or twelve plantains, each a span long, and as
thick as a man's wrist, somewhat crooked or bending inwards. These grow
on a leafy stalk on the middle of the plant, being at first green, but
grow yellow and tender as they ripen. When the rind is stripped off, the
inner pulp is also yellowish and pleasant to the taste. Beneath the
fruit hangs down, from the same stalk, a leafy sharp-pointed tuft, which
seems to have been the flower. This fruit they call _bannana_, which
they have in reasonable abundance. They are ripe in September and
October. We carried some with us green to sea, which, were six weeks in
ripening. Guinea pepper grows wild in the woods on a small plant like
_privet_, having small slender leaves, the fruit being like our barberry
in form and colour. It is green at first, turning red as it ripens. It
does not grow in bunches like our barberry, but here and there two or
three together about the stalk. They call it _bangue_. The _pene_, of
which their bread is made, grows on a small tender herb resembling
grass, the stalk being all full of small seeds, not inclosed in any
bask. I think it is the same which the Turks call _cuscus_, and the
Portuguese _yfunde_.
The _palmito_ tree is high and straight, its bark being knotty, and the
wood of a soft substance, having no boughs except at the top, and these
also seem rather reeds than boughs, being all pith within, inclosed by a
hard rind. The leaf is long and slender, like that of a sword lilly, or
flag. The boughs stand out from the top of the tree on all sides, rather
more than a yard long, beset on both sides with strong sharp prickles,
like saw-teeth, but longer. It bears a fruit like a small cocoa-nut, the
size of a chesnut, inclosed in a hard shell, streaked with threads on
the outside, and containing a kernel of a hard horny substance, quite
tasteless; yet they are eaten roasted. The tree is called _tobell_, and
the fruit _bell_. For procuring the palmito wine, they cut off one of
the branches within a span of the head, to which they fasten a gourd
shell by the mouth, which in twenty-four hours is filled by a clear
whitish sap, of a good and strong relish, with which the natives get
drunk. The oysters formerly mentioned grow on trees resembling willows
in form, but having broader leaves, which are thick like leather, and
bearing small knobs like those of the cypress. From these trees hang
down many branches into the water, each about the thickness of a
walking-stick, smooth, limber, and pithy within, which are overflowed by
every tide, and hang as thick as they can stick of oysters, being the
only fruit of this tree.
They have many kinds of ordinary fishes, and some which seemed to us
extraordinary; as mullets, rays, thornbacks, old-wives with prominent
brows, fishes like pikes, gar-fish, _cavallios_ like mackerel,
swordfishes, having snouts a yard long, toothed on each side like a saw,
sharks, dogfish, _sharkers_, resembling sharks, but having a broad flat
snout like a shovel, shoe-makers, having pendents at each side of their
mouths like barbels, and which grunt like hogs, with many others. We
once caught in an hour 6000 fishes like bleaks. Of birds, there are
pelicans as large as swans, of a white colour, with long and large
bills. Herons, curlews, boobies, ox-eyes, and various other kinds of
waterfowl. On land, great numbers of grey parrots, and abundance of
pintados or Guinea fowls, which are very hurtful to their rice crops.
There are many other kinds of strange birds in the woods, of which I
knew not the names; and I saw among the negroes many porcupine quills.
There are also great numbers of monkeys leaping about the trees, and on
the mountains there are lions, tigers, and ounces. There are but few
elephants, of which we only saw three, but they abound farther inland.
The negroes told us of a strange beast, which our interpreter called a
carbuncle, which is said to be often seen, but only in the night. This
animal is said to carry a stone in his forehead, wonderfully luminous,
giving him light by which to feed in the night; and on hearing the
slightest noise he presently conceals it with a skin or film naturally
provided for the purpose. The commodities here are few, more being got
farther to the eastwards. At certain times of the year, the Portuguese
get gold and elephants teeth in exchange for rice, salt, beads, bells,
garlick, French bottles, copper kettles, low-priced knives, hats, linen
like barber's aprons, latten basins, edge-tools, bars of iron, and
sundry kinds of specious trinkets; but they will not give gold for toys,
only exchanging victuals for such things.
* * * * *
"This diligent observer hath taken like pains touching Saldanha bay: But
as we touch there often, and have already given many notices of that
place, we shall now double the Cape, and take a view along with him of
Cape St Augustine."--_Purch_.
* * * * *
§ 2. _Observations made at St Augustine in Madagascar, and at the Island
of Socotora_.
St Augustine, in the great island of St Lawrence or Madagascar, is
rather a bay than a cape or point, as it has no land much bearing out
beyond the rest of the coast. It is in 23° 30' S. latitude, the
variation here being 15° 40, and may be easily found, as it has
breaches[211] on either side some leagues off to the W.S.W. Right from
the bay to seaward the water is very deep; but within the bay the ground
is so very shelvy, that you may have one anchor to the north in 22
fathoms, and your other anchor in more than 60; while in some places
nearer shore you will not have two feet at low water, and deep water
still farther in; the whole ground a soft ooze. Within a mile or two of
the bay the land is high, barren, and full of rocks and stones, with
many small woods. Two rivers run into the bottom of the bay, the land
about them being low, sandy, and overflowed; and these rivers pour in so
much water into the bay that their currents are never stemmed by the
tide, which yet rises two fathoms, by which the water in the bay is very
thick and muddy. Great quantities of canes are brought down by these
rivers, insomuch that we have seen abundance of them twenty or thirty
leagues out at sea. This bay is open to a north-west wind, yet the force
of the sea is broken by means of a ledge of rocks. We caught here smelts
of a foot long, and shrimps ten inches: The best fishing is near the
sandy shore off the low land, where the natives catch many with strong
nets. Within the woods we found infinite numbers of water-melons growing
on the low lands, which yielded us good refreshment. But we had nothing
from the rivers, except that one of our men was hurt by an alligator.
The water also was none of the best; but we got wood in plenty.
[Footnote 211: Probably meaning breakers.--E.]
This place did not seem populous, as we never saw above twenty natives
at any one time. The men were comely, stout, tall, and well-made, of a
tawny colour, wearing no cloathing excepting a girdle or short apron
made of rind of trees. Their beards were black and reasonably long; and
the hair of their heads likewise black and long, plaited and frizzled
very curiously; neither had their bodies any bad smell. They carry many
trinkets fastened to their girdles, adorned with alligators teeth, some
of them being hollow, in which they carry tallow to keep their darts
bright, which are their chief weapons, and of which each man carries a
small bundle, together with a fair lance, artificially headed with iron,
and kept as bright as silver. Their darts are of a very formidable and
dangerous shape, barbed on both sides; and each man carries a dagger
like a butcher's knife, very well made. They therefore showed no regard
for iron, and would not barter their commodities for any thing but
silver, in which we paid twelve-pence for a sheep, and 3s. 6d. for a
cow. They asked beads into the bargain, for which alone they would give
nothing except a little milk, which they brought down very sweet and
good in gourds.
Their cattle have great bunches on their fore-shoulders, in size and
shape like sugar-loaves, which are of a gristly substance and excellent
eating. Their beef is not loose and flabby like that at Saldhana, but
firm and good, little differing from that of England. Their mutton also
is excellent, their sheep having tails weighing 28 pounds each, which
therefore are mostly cut off from the ewes, not to obstruct propagation.
In the woods near the river there are great numbers of monkeys of an
ash-colour with a small head, having a long tail like a fox, ringed or
barred with black and white, the fur being very fine.[212] We shot some
of these, not being able to take any of them alive. There are bats also,
as large almost in the bodies as rabbits, headed like a fox, having a
close fur, and in other respects resembling bats, having a loud shrill
cry. We killed one whose wings extended a full yard. There are plenty of
herons, white, black, blue, and divers mixed colours; with many
_bastard_ hawks, and other birds of an infinite variety of kinds and
colours, most having crests on their heads like peacocks. There are
great store of lizards and camelions also, which agree in the
description given by Pliny, only it is not true that they live on air
without other food; for having kept one on board for only a day, we
could perceive him to catch flies in a very strange manner. On
perceiving a fly sitting, he suddenly darts out something from his
mouth, perhaps his tongue, very loathsome to behold, and almost like a
bird-bolt, with which he catches and eats the flies with such speed,
even in the twinkling of an eye, that one can hardly discern the action.
In the hills there are many spiders on the trees, which spin webs from
tree to tree of very strong and excellent silk of a yellow colour, as if
dyed by art. I found also hanging on the trees, great worms like our
grubs with many legs, inclosed within a double cod of white silk.
[Footnote 212: Called the _beautiful beast_ in Keeling's
voyage.--_Purch._]
There grows here great store of the herb producing aloes, and also
tamarind trees by the water side. Here also is great abundance of a
strange plant which I deem a wild species of cocoa-nut, seldom growing
to the height of a tree, but of a shrubby nature, with many long prickly
stalks some two yards long. At the end of each foot-stalk is a leaf
about the size of a great cabbage-leaf, snipt half round like a
sword-grass. From the tops of this plant, among the leaves, there spring
out many woody branches, as thick set with fruit as they can stand,
sometimes forty of them clustering together on one branch. These are
about the size of a great katharine pear; at the first greenish, and
shaped almost like a sheep's bell, with a smooth rind flat at top;
within which rind is a hard substance almost like a cocoa-nut shell, and
within that is a white round hollow kernel of a gristly consistence, yet
eatable, and in the central hollow about a spoonful of cool sweet
liquor, like cocoa-nut milk. There is another tree, as big as a
pear-tree, thick set with boughs and leaves resembling those of the bay,
bearing a large globular fruit like a great foot-ball, hanging by a
strong stalk; The rind is divided by seams into four quarters, and being
cut green, yields a clammy substance like turpentine. The rind is very
thick, consisting of divers, layers of a brown substance like agaric,
but harder, and contains thirteen cells, in each of which is contained a
large kernel of a dirty white colour, hard, bitter, and ill tasted.
In Socotora[213] the natives of Guzerat and the English build themselves
slight stone-houses, with pieces of wood laid across and covered with
reeds and branches of the date palm, merely to keep out the sun, as they
fear no rain during the season of residing here. The stones are easily
procured for this purpose, as the whole island seems almost nothing but
stones; yet about the head of the river, and a mile farther inland,
there is a pleasant valley replenished with date trees. On the east side
of this vale is a small town called _Dibnee_, very little inhabited
except in the date harvest. In the months of June and July the wind
blows in this valley with astonishing violence; yet only a short
gun-shot off towards the town of _Delisha_, over against the road where
the ships ride, there is hardly there a breath of wind. About 100 years
ago [1500] this island was conquered by the King of _Caixem_, or
_Cushem_, as the Arabs pronounce it, a sovereign of no great force, as
his army does not exceed two or three thousand soldiers. Besides
Socotora, this king has likewise the two _Irmanas_ and _Abba del Curia_.
The _Irmanas_, or Two Brethren, are small uninhabited stony and barren
isles, having nothing but turtles. _Abba del Curia_ is large, having
great abundance of goats, and some fresh water, but not above three or
four inhabitants, as we were told. Amer Benzaid, son to the King of
Kissem, resides at Socotora, which he rules under his father. He trades
to the Comora islands and to Melinda, for which he has two good
frigates,[214] in which rice and _mello_ [millet] are brought from the
main, being their chief food.
[Footnote 213: In his abbreviation of Finch's observations Purchas has
not clearly distinguished where those respecting Madagascar end, and
those made at Socotora begin.--E.]
[Footnote 214: It has been formerly noticed, that, _frigates_, in these
early navigators, were only small barks, in opposition to tall ships,
galleons, and caraks: These frigates, and those frequently mentioned as
belonging to the Portuguese and Moors in India at this time, could only
be _grabs_, or open sewed vessels, already frequently mentioned in the
course of this collection.--E.]
All the Arabs in this island are soldiers, being in a manner slaves to
the _snakee_ or prince, whom they attend and obey all his commands, some
few of them having fire-arms. Every one of them wears a crooked dagger
at his left side, like a wood-cutter's knife, without which they must
not be seen abroad. They have also thin broad targets, painted. The
dagger-handles and sheaths of the better sort are ornamented with
silver, and those of the ordinary people with copper or red latten.
These Arabs are tawny, industrious, and civil, of good stature, and
well-proportioned in their limbs, having their hair long, and covered
with turbans like the Turks, and a cloth round their waist hanging to
their knees; having seldom any other apparel, except sometimes sandals
on their feet fastened with thongs. They either carry their sword naked
on their shoulder, or hanging at their side in a sheath. They are fond
of tobacco, yet are unwilling to give any thing for it. Some of them
wear a cloth of painted calico, or some other kind, over their
shoulders, after the fashion of an Irish mantle or plaid; while others
have shirts and surplices, or wide gowns, of white calico, and a few
have linen breeches like the Guzerats. Some of their women are tolerably
fair and handsome, like our sun-burnt country girls in England; and they
are all dressed in long wide smocks down to the ground, made of red,
blue, or black calico, having a cloth over their heads, with which they
usually hide their faces, being very dainty to let themselves be seen,
yet are scarcely honest. Though the men be very poor, and have, hardly
enough to serve their needs, yet their women, of whom some men have
four, five, or six, are much laden with silver ornaments, and some with
gold. I have seen one, not of the best, who had in each ear at least a
dozen great silver rings, almost like curtain rings, with as many of a
smaller kind; two _carkanets_ or chains of silver about her neck, and
one of gold bosses; ten or twelve silver _manillias_ or bracelets on
each arm, each as thick as a little-finger, but hollow; almost every
finger covered with rings, and the small of her legs covered with silver
rings like horse-fetters. In all these ornaments they jingle like
morrice-dancers on the slightest motion. They are, however, seldom seen,
being kept very close by their jealous husbands. They delight in beads
of amber, crystal, and coral; but, having little wherewith to buy them,
they either beg them, or deal for them privately. The children, except
those of the better sort, usually, go entirely naked till of some age.
They are married at ten or twelve years old.
They call themselves _mussulmen_, that is, true believers in the faith
of Mahomet; and they alledge this reason for themselves, that all the
world are of their religion, and only a handful of ours. They eat their
meat on mats spread on the ground, using their hands in a very
unmannerly fashion, having neither spoons, knives, nor forks. Their
usual drink is water, yet do they drink wine in private when they can
get it; and they make at the proper season some wine of dates which is
strong and pleasant.
So much for the Arab conquerors of Socotora. They call the native
inhabitants, whom they have conquered, _cafrs_, or misbelievers, or
heretics, if you will, who are subjected to slavery, except some who
live in the mountains in a kind of savage liberty like wild beasts;
those who live under subjection to the Arabs not being allowed to carry
weapons of any kind. These are well-shaped, but much darker than the
Arabs, wearing nothing on their heads but their long hair, which seems
to be never cut, and staring all round as if frightened. They have a
coarse cloth of goats hair woven by themselves about their middles, and
slight sandals on their feet. The women are all dressed in smocks of
coloured calico or other coarse stuff, hanging to their feet, having
seldom any thing on their heads; but, in imitation of the Arab women,
they have manillias of iron or painted earthen ware about their legs and
arms, and strings of beads instead of carkanets about their necks,
painting their faces with yellow and black spots in a frightful manner.
According to the report of the Arabs, they are all mere heathens,
observing no marriage rites, but have their women in common. Their
native language is quite different from Arabic, which however most of
them understand. They live very miserably, many of them being famished
with hunger. They are not permitted to kill any flesh, so that they are
forced to live on such fish as they can catch in the sea, and what dates
they may procure, having no means to purchase rice, except by means of
their women prostituting themselves to the Guzerats when they reside
here. Such as are employed to keep the cattle belonging to the Arabs
maintain themselves on milk.
I could not learn of any merchandize produced in this island, except
aloes and dragon's blood; and some black ambergris is said to be got on
the shores of _Abba del Curia_. They could make, in my opinion, more
aloes than could be used in all Christendom, as the plant from which it
is procured grows every where in great abundance, being no other than
the _semper vivum_ of Dioscorides, with whose description it agrees in
seed, stalk, &c. It is all of the red prickly sort, much chamferred in
the leaves, and so full of resinous juice as to be ready to burst. The
chief time of preparing the aloes is in September, when the north winds
blow, after the fall of some rain. Being gathered, it is cut in small
pieces, and cast into a pit in the ground, which is paved and cleaned
from all filth. It lies here to ferment in the heat of the sun, which
causes the juice to flow out; which is put into skins that are hung up
in the wind to dry and grow hard. They sold it to us for twenty ryals
the quintal, or 103 pounds English; but we were told afterwards that
they sold it to others for twelve, which may very well be, considering
its abundance, and the ease with which it is made. The date tree
produces ripe fruit twice a-year, one harvest being in July while we
were there. Dates are a principal part of their sustenance, being very
pleasant in taste. When thoroughly ripe, the dates are laid in a heap on
a sloping skin, whence runs a liquor into earthen pots set in the earth
to receive it. This is their date wine, with which they sometimes get
drunk. When thus drained, the stones are taken out, and the dates are
packed up very hard in skins, in which they will keep a long time. They
sometimes gather them before they are completely ripe, and dry them
after taking out the stones. These are the best of all, and eat as if
they were candied. They will not keep whole. In every valley where dates
grow, the king has a deputy during the harvest, who sees all gathered
and brought to an appointed place, no one daring to touch a date on pain
of death without order, or other severe punishment. After all are
gathered, the deputy divides the produce in three equal parts; one for
the king, one for the Arabs, and one for the _cafrs_; which are
distributed, but not alike to each.
Socotora has abundance of civet cats,[215] which are taken in traps in
the mountains by the cafrs, who sell them for twelve-pence each. Flesh
is dear in this island; a cow costing ten dollars, and one goat or two
sheep a dollar. Their cattle have good firm and fat beef, like those in
England. The goats are large, and have good flesh; and the sheep are
small with coarse wool. The goats and sheep are very abundant. They make
very good butter, but it is always soft like cream, and is sold for
four-pence or six-pence a pound. Goat's milk may be bought for
three-pence the quart. Plenty of hens may be had, at the rate of five
for a dollar, or about twelve-pence each. In the whole island there are
not above two or three small horses of the Arab breed, and a few camels.
At _Delisha_ they take great quantities of lobsters and other good fish.
A few cotton plants are found growing on the strand; where likewise
there grows among the stones a shrubby plant, having large thick round
green leaves, as big as a shilling, with a fruit like capers, of which
it is a kind, called _eschuc_, and is eaten in sallads. Oranges are
scarce and dear. There is very fine sweet bazil. On the shore, many fine
shells are found, mixed with cuttle-fish bones, and vast quantities of
pearl-oyster shells, which the people say are driven thither by the
winds and waves, as no pearl-oysters are to be found here-about. The
people are very poor, and rank beggars, who buy what they are able and
beg all they can get, yet are honest and give civil usage. Their best
entertainment is a china dish of _coho_, a black bitterish drink, made
of a berry like that of the bay tree, which is brought from Mecca. This
drink is sipped hot, and is good for the head and stomach.[216]
[Footnote 215: The Civet, or Vierra Civetta of naturalists, is an animal
somewhat allied to the weazel; but the genus is peculiarly distinguished
by an orifice or folicle beneath the anus, containing an unctuous
odorant matter, highly fetid in most of the species; but in this and the
_Zibet_ the produce is a rich perfume, much esteemed in the east.--E.]
[Footnote 216: This _Coho_ of Finch is evidently coffee.--E.]
At our first landing in Socotora, the people all fled from us for fear
into the mountains, having formerly received injurious treatment from
the Portuguese, who they said had carried off some of them forcibly.
Their town which they left, is all built of stone covered with spars and
palm branches, with wooden doors, and very ingenious wooden locks. Near
the sea-side stands their church, enclosed by a wall like that of a
church-yard, having within a couple of crosses and an altar, on which
lay frankincense, with sweet wood and gums. When we first got speech of
them, they pretended this was _Abba del Curia_, and not Socotora, which
we afterwards found to be false. We walked up two or three miles into
the country, not seeing a single pile of green grass, but many date
trees. We saw one other very strange tree or plant, something more than
the height of a man, very thick at the root, and tapering upwards almost
to a point. The trunk was very smooth and without bark, and near the top
some long branches without leaves, bearing reddish flowers, which change
afterwards to a fruit not unlike the date in form and size, which is at
first green. It contains many small whitish kernels, which as well as
the branches are very bitter, and full of a resinous substance. We also
saw another church having a cross on its top.[217]
[Footnote 217: Of this church and the whole island, see the voyage of
Juan de Castro. For, in times past, the natives were Christians; which,
as all others not of their faith, the Mahometans call _cafrs_. Being
rude and brutish, they were the easier prey to the Arabs.--_Purch_.]
§ 3. _Occurrences in India, respecting the English, Dutch, Portuguese,
and Moguls_.
The 28th August, 1608, Captain Hawkins with the merchants and some
others landed at Surat. He was received into a coach and carried before
the _dawne,_ [or dewan.] We had very poor lodgings allotted to us, being
only the porter's lodge of the custom-house; where next morning the
customers came and tumbled about our trunks to our great displeasure,
though we had only brought our necessaries on shore. We were invited to
dinner by a merchant, who gave us good chear, but we had sour sauce to
our banquet, for he was the person who had sustained almost the whole
loss in the ship taken by Sir Edward Michelburne. The captain also of
that ship dined with us. When that affair was told us, our captain said
he had never heard of any such matter, and supposed it must have been
done by a Hollander; but they affirmed it was to their certain knowledge
an English ship, and deplored their hard fortunes, affirming there were
thieves of all nations, yet they were not disposed to impute that fault
to honest merchants. This liberal sentiment somewhat revived us; and we
were invited the day after to supper by _Mede Colee_, the captain of
that ship.
The 2d October we embarked our goods and provisions, gave a present to
_Schekh Abdel-reheime_, and got a dispatch for our departure; but the
customers refused a licence till they should search our ship, yet
meeting with some frigates in their own river, which they supposed to be
Malabars, they durst not venture down to our ship. These frigates
[grabs] were Portuguese, who desired that no one should come to talk
with them; yet Mr Buck rashly went on board and was detained.[218]
[Footnote 218: At this place is given a confused relation of several
incidents at Surat, obviously garbled and abbreviated by Purchas, so as
to be difficultly intelligible. As these are already contained in the
journal of Hawkins, they are here omitted.--E.]
At this time I was ill of the bloody flux, of which Mr Dorchester died,
but I was cured under God by an Englishman, named Careless.[219] From
him I learnt many things respecting India; and particularly of the great
spoil done by the Hollanders to the Portugals at Malacca the last year.
The Hollanders were lying before Malacca with sixteen ships, besieging
that place by sea and land, in conjunction with several native kings,
when news were sent to the Portuguese viceroy, then before Acheen with
all the gallants of India, having with him a very great fleet of ships,
gallies, and frigates, with 4000 soldiers, having been commanded to
conquer Acheen and to build a castle there, and afterwards to plunder
Johor, and to chastise the Moluccas for trading with the Hollanders.
Upon notice from Andrea Hurtado, who then commanded at Malacca, of the
distress to which that place was reduced, the viceroy set sail from
Acheen to attack the Hollanders. The Dutch general got timely notice of
his motions, and having re-embarked his men and artillery, went forth to
meet the viceroy. After a long and bloody fight, the Dutch had to draw
off to stop the leaks of their admiral; on which the Portuguese let slip
the opportunity, and fell to rioting and merriment, with great boasts of
their victory, not looking any more for the Hollanders. But they, having
stopped their leaks and refitted at Johor, came unexpectedly on the
Portuguese, most of whom were feasting ashore, and sunk and burnt all
their ships; insomuch, if the viceroy had not previously detached six
ships on some other service, the Portuguese naval power in India had
been all utterly destroyed. After this, the Portuguese in Malacca were
infected by a heavy sickness, in which most of them died, among whom was
the viceroy, and the governor of Manilla, who had brought a
reinforcement of 2000 Spanish troops, so that their power was laid in
the dust.
[Footnote 219: He seems to have been resident in Surat; but the
particulars are omitted by Purchas.--E.]
This year a new viceroy was expected from Portugal with a strong fleet,
to drive the Hollanders out of India. This fleet consisted of nine ships
of war, and six others for trade; which were all separated in the gulf
of Guinea, and never met again afterwards. Two of them came to
Mosambique, where they were fired by the Hollanders, who likewise much
distressed the castle, but could not take it; and the season, requiring
their departure, they set sail for Goa, being fifteen ships and a
pinnace, where they rode at the bar, defying the great Captain Hurtado,
who durst not meet them. Another of the Portuguese commercial ships,
having advice that the Dutch lay off Goa, went to the northwards, where
they landed their money and goods, and set their ship on fire, and the
soldiers fell together by the ears for sharing the money. The Dutch
fleet, leaving Goa, sailed all along the Malabar coast, plundering and
burning every thing, they could meet, and it was reported they had leave
from the Samorin to build a castle at Chaul.[220]
[Footnote 220: This must be an error, as the country of the Samorin, at
Calicut, is in the south of Malabar, and Chaul is far to the north in
the Concan.--E.]
The 1st of February, 1609, our captain, Mr Hawkins, departed from
Surat, with an escort of fifty peons and some horse. About this time
there was a great stir about the queen mother's ship, which was to be
laden for Mocha.[221] The Portuguese fleet of twenty-two frigates then
rode off the bar of Surat, and demanded 100,000 mamudies for her pass,
and at last agreed to take somewhat more than 1000 dollars, with sundry
presents, which the Moguls were forced to give them. At this time Mucrob
Khan gave me fair words, but the devil was in his heart, for he minded
nothing less than payment of his debts, striking off 17,000 from 41,000
to which our accounts extended. At last he gave me his _cheet_ for a
part, though with great abatements, which I was glad to get, esteeming
it better to secure some than lose all. In the beginning of April I was
seized with a burning fever, of which I recovered by losing a great deal
of blood, and ten days fasting, and on the fever, leaving me I was
tormented with miserable stitches. Next month also I had another severe
fever.
[Footnote 221: Mecca is probably here meant; this ship being destined to
carry the Mogul pilgrims. The queen mother of the Moguls, mother to the
reigning emperor.--E.]
The 12th May, news came that _Malek Amber_, King of the Deccan, had
besieged _Aurdanagur_[222] with 22,000 horse; which place had been the
metropolis of the Deccan, formerly conquered by Akbar; and that, after
several assaults, the Moguls had offered to surrender the city, on
condition that he would withdraw his army four or five _coss_[223] from
the city, that they might remove with bag and baggage in security. This
being done, they issued out with all their forces, and making an
unexpected assault on the unprovided enemy, gave them a total defeat
with great slaughter. As it was feared that Malek Amber might revenge
this defeat upon the other parts of the country, the Khan-Khana raised
numerous forces, and demanded 300,000 mamudies[224] towards the charges,
sending also an experienced Deccan leader to govern the city.
[Footnote 222: Probably a corruption of Aurungabad.--E.]
[Footnote 223: In this and other early voyages, the _coss_ is always
named _course_. It is rated by Purchas at a mile and a half English.
There are two cosses, the Hindoostanee, and the Rajeput, the former
being 44-4/9 to a degree, and the latter 32. The Hindoostanee is equal
to 1.56, and the Rajeput coss to 2.18 English miles.--E.]
[Footnote 224: This demand is inexplicable, as it is no where stated of
whom it was demanded: Besides, the sum, only £15,000, is quite
inadequate for the maintenance of numerous forces.--E.]
The 20th July, Shah Selim, the great Mogul, commanded his generals,
Khan-Khana and Rajah Mansing, two great commanders, to invade and
conquer all the kingdoms of the south to Cape Comorin, for which purpose
a prodigious army was assembled. In order to resist this invasion, the
three great kings of the south combined their troops, making head near
_Bramport_, (Burhampoor or Boorhanpoor,) on the Mogul frontiers, where
both armies were in camp, waiting the end of winter. These three kings,
Malek Amber, King of the Deccan, whose chief city is _Genefro_;[225] the
King of Visiapour; and the King of Golconda, whose chief city is
_Braganadar_.[226]
[Footnote 225: This name is so inexplicably corrupt as not even to admit
of conjectural amendment--E.]
[Footnote 226: This name is in the same unintelligible predicament with
Genefro.--E.]
In August, I received a flying report of on English pinnace being on the
coast at Gandooe[227] (Gundavee,) which, on departing from thence, was
forced in again by three Portuguese frigates. I supposed this might
belong to some of our shipping, which, standing for Socotora, had not
been able to fetch that place, and had been forced to this coast. This
was actually the case, as the pinnace belonged to the Ascension, manned
by the master, John Elmer, with five men and two boys, and was in want
of wood and water. The master and four of his company came to Surat on
the 28th of August; but I had much ado to get leave to bring them into
the town, as the people pretended we were merely allowed to trade. The
truth was, they stood in fear of the Portuguese, and detained these men
till they should send for instructions to the nabob, who was at the
distance of four coss. What was still worse, five Portuguese frigates or
grabs went into the Gundavee river and captured our pinnace, weighing up
its two falcons,[228] which had been thrown overboard. We received worse
news on the 5th September, the Ascension having been cast away; and next
day about seventy of her company who were saved came to Surat, whom the
people of the town obliged to remain outside of the walls among the
trees and tombs. I was not even able to procure leave for the general
himself to enter the city, though he brought letters of recommendation
from Mocha, besides letters for the great Mogul from the King of
England. Such was their fear of the Portuguese, in whose names two
jesuits threatened fire, faggots, and utter desolation, if any more
English were received. All I could do for them was sending them
necessary provisions, and carrying them to the _tank,_ where they were
more conveniently lodged, yet still among the tombs. At length the
governor appointed them better lodgings, at a small _aldea_ two coss
from Surat; and with much difficulty I obtained leave for Mr Rivet, Mr
Jordan, and the surgeon to come to Surat, to provide necessaries for the
rest. I had other trouble, occasioned by the disorderly and riotous
conduct of some of the Ascension's people; more especially owing to one
William Tucker, who when in liquor killed a calf, a crime held worse
than murdering a man among the Banians. I was therefore glad of their
departure for Agra, except fifteen who were sick and unwilling to go so
far, and some who returned again.
[Footnote 227: Gundavee, a small river about 20 miles south of the
Taptee, or river of Surat.--E.]
[Footnote 228: Small cannon of about two libs, ball--E.]
The 6th of October, came letters from Mr Hawkins, informing us that he
had married an Armenian woman; and other letters at the end of next
month, desiring me to go up to Agra. In December we were in much fear of
Badur, a descendant of the Kings of Cambaya, who lay within two days
march of Surat, with 600 horse and many foot. Owing to this, the
governor cessed all the inhabitants according to their abilities, with
the lodgement and entertainment of soldiers, rating me at ten men. I
went immediately to wait upon him, and told him that I had twenty
English at his service, for which he thanked me, and freed me of all
farther charges. The Banians were forced to labour hard to barricade all
the streets of the city, great guards were stationed at the gates, and
some cannon were drawn from the castle. A reinforcement of fifty horse
was sent from the garrison of _Carode_,[229] which had been very
insufficient to protect the town; but the governor of Ahmedabad sent
1000 horse and 2000 foot to our succour, on which Badur withdrew to his
strong-holds. Two years before our arrival, this chief had sacked
Cambay, of which his grandfather had been king. The 18th January, 1610,
I went from Surat on my way to Agra; but it is proper I should give here
some account of Surat.
[Footnote 229: Currode is a small place about 12 miles S.S.E. from
Surat.--E.]
This city stands about twenty miles from the sea, on the bank of a fair
river, [the _Taptee_,] and is of considerable size, with many good
houses belonging to merchants. About three miles from the mouth of the
river, where on the south side is a small low island overflowed in the
rainy season, is the bar where ships load and unload, having three
fathoms water at spring tides;[230] and above this is a fair channel all
the way to the city, capable of receiving loaded vessels of fifty tons.
This river extends upwards to beyond _Bramport_, [Boorhanpoor;] and from
thence, as some say, all the way to _Mussel Patem_.[231] In coming up
the river, the castle of Surat is on the right hand or south side of the
river, being moderately large, handsome, well walled, and surrounded by
a ditch. The ramparts are provided with many good cannons, some of which
are of vast size. It has one gate on the inland side with a draw-bridge,
and a small postern to the river. The captain of this castle has a
garrison of 200 horse. In front of the castle is the Medon, [Meidan, or
esplanade,] being a pleasant green, having a may-pole in the middle, on
which they hang a light and other decorations on great festivals. On
this side, the city of Surat is open to the green, but is fenced on all
other sides by a ditch and thick hedges, having three gates, one of
which leads to _Variaw_, a small village at the ford of the Taptee
leading to Cambay. Near this village on the left hand is a small
_aldea_, pleasantly situated on the bank of the river, where is a great
pagoda much resorted to by the Indians. A second gate leads to
Boorbanpoor; and a third to _Nonsary_,[232] a town ten coss from Surat,
where much calico is manufactured, standing near a fine stream or small
river. About ten coss farther in the same direction is _Gondoree_,
[Gundavee,] and a little further _Belsaca_, [Bulsaur,] the frontier town
towards Damaun. Just without _Nunsary_ gate is a handsome tank of
sixteen sides, surrounded on all sides by stone steps, three quarters
of an English mile in circuit, and having a small house in the middle.
On the farther side of this tank are several fine tombs with a handsome
paved court, behind which is a small grove of Mango trees, to which the
citizens resort to banquet. About half a coss beyond this, is a great
tree much venerated by the Banians, who alledge that it is under the
protection of a _dew_, or guardian spirit, and that although often cut
down and grubbed up from the roots by order of the Moors, it has yet
constantly sprung up again.
[Footnote 230: This depth probably refers to the anchorage below the
bar.--E.]
[Footnote 231: Masulipatam, or, more correctly, Mutshelipatnam, is at
the mouth of the Kistna, on the opposite coast of India.--E.]
[Footnote 232: Nunsary is a small river, with a town of the same name,
16 or 18 miles south of the Taptee.--E.]
Near the castle of Surat is the _Alphandica_, where are stairs down to
the river for landing and shipping goods, and within the alphandica are
store-rooms for keeping goods till they are cleared; the customs being
two and a half per centum for goods, three for provisions, and two for
money. Without the gate of the alphandica is the great _Gondoree_ or
_Bazar_, being the market-place for all kinds of merchandize. Right
before this gate is a tree with an arbour, where the _fokeers_,
[faquiers,] or Indian holy men, sit in state. Between this and the
castle, at the entrance of the green, or _atmeidan_, is the market for
horses and cattle. A little lower, and on the opposite side of the
river, is a pleasant small town named _Ranele_, inhabited by a people
called _Naites_, who speak a different language, and are mostly seamen.
The streets of this town are narrow, with good houses, each of which has
a high flight of steps to its door. The people are very friendly to the
English, and have many pleasant gardens, which attract many to pass much
of their time there. On the trees round this village there are an
infinite number of those great bats we saw at St Augustine in
Madagascar, which hang by their claws from the boughs, and make a shrill
noise. This bird is said by the people to engender by the ear, and to
give suck to their young.
The winter begins here about the 1st of June, and continues till the
20th September, but not with continual rains as at Goa; having only
heavy rain for six or seven days every full and change of the moon, with
much wind, thunder and lightning. At the breaking up of the winter,
there is always a cruel storm, called _tuffoon_, fearful even to men on
land. This is not equally severe every year, but once in two or three
years at the most. The monsoons, or periodical winds, serve here for
going to the south in April and September, and for Mocha in February and
March. From the south, ships come here in December, January, and
February, and from Mocha about the 5th September, after the rains. From
Ormus they sail for the coast of India in November: But none dare pass
without a licence of the Portuguese, for which they exact whatever they
think proper, erecting, by their own authority, a custom-house on the
seas, confiscating both ship and goods to the taker, if they do not
produce a regular pass.
§ 4. _Journey to Agra, and Observations by the Way; with some Notices of
the Deccan Wars._
The 18th January, 1610,[233] I departed from _Comuariaw_, or Cumraie, a
small village 3 _coss_ from Surat, to Mutta, a great _aldea_, 7 coss.
The 21st to _Carode_, 8 coss, a large country town, having the Surat
river on the north. This place has a castle, with a garrison of 200
Patan horse, who are good soldiers. The 22d to _Curka_, 12 c. a great
village with a river on its south side. In the way between Carode and
Curka, or Kirkwah, is _Beca_, or Behara, a castle with a great tank and
a pleasant grove. 23d to _Necampore_, a large town under the
_Pectopshaw_, 10 c. In this way begins a great ridge of mountains on the
right hand,[234] reaching towards Ahmedabad, among which Badur occupies
several strong-holds, which all the force of the king of the Moguls has
not been able to reduce. These mountains extend to Boorhanpoor, and on
them breed many wild elephants. The 24th to _Dayta_, 8 c. a great town,
having to pass in the midway a troublesome stony rivulet. This town has
a castle, and is almost encompassed by a river, being situated in a
fertile soil. The 25th to _Badur_, 10 c. a filthy town full of thieves,
where is made a kind of wine of a sweet fruit called _mewa_, but I found
it unwholesome except it be burnt.
[Footnote 233: In this journal, conjectural emendations of names from
Arrowsmith's excellent map of India, are given in the text as synonima,
to avoid perpetual notes; and the distances are always to be understood
as _cosses_, given exactly as in the original, without correction. It
must, however, be noticed that the names in the text are often so
corrupt, or different from those now in use, that it is often impossible
to trace the route.--E.]
[Footnote 234: The Vindhaya mountains are obviously here meant; but they
are on the _left_ hand of the route between Surat and Boorhanpoor.--E.]
This is the last town of note in the land of _Pectopshaw_, who is a
small king or rajah of the Gentiles, keeping on the tops of inaccessible
mountains, which begin at _Curka_, and extend to many cosses distance.
He holds possession of two fair cities, _Salere_ and _Muliere_, where
the mamudies are coined. Each of these towns has two mighty castles, the
roads to which only admit of two men abreast, or an elephant at most;
having also on the way eighty small fortresses dispersed among the
mountains to guard the passage. On the tops of these mountains there is
good pasture and abundance of grain, with numerous fountains or streams,
which run thence into the plains. Akbar besieged him for seven years,
and was in the end obliged to compound with him, giving him Narampore
Dayta and Badur, with several other _aldeas_, for safely conducting his
merchants along this plain; so that he is now in peace with the king, to
whom he sends presents yearly, and leaves one of his sons in Boorhanpoor
as a pledge of his fealty. He is said to have always in readiness 4000
mares of an excellent breed, and 100 elephants.
Leaving Badur on the 26th, I went 7 coss to _Nonderbar_, or Nundabar, a
city, short of which are many tombs and houses of pleasure, with a
castle and a fair tank. The 27th to _Lingull_, 10 c. a beastly town,
with thievish inhabitants, a dirty castle, and a deep sandy road near
the town. 28th 10 c. to _Sindkerry_, or Sindkera, a great dirty town. On
the way, the governor of Lingull, with others as honest as himself,
would have borrowed some money of me; but finding I would only give him
powder and shot, he desisted, and allowed our carts to pass without
farther trouble. Beyond Sindkera runs a small river of brackish water,
by drinking of which I got the bloody flux, which continued with me all
the way to Boorhanpoor. The 29th 10 c. to _Taulneere_, or Talnere, a
thievish road, but a fair town with a castle and river, which is not
passable in the rains without a boat.[235] The 30th 15 c. to _Chupra_,
or Choprah, a great town. I rested here two days on account of the
rains; in which time came the governor of Nundabar with 400 horse,
without whose company I could not have continued my journey without
danger, as Khan-Khana had been defeated and obliged to retire to
Boorhanpoor, after losing the strong and rich town of _Joulnapore_, or
Jalnapoor, on which the Deccaners became so insolent, that they made
inroads as far as the Taptee, plundering many of the passengers.
[Footnote 235: The author seems not to have been aware that this was the
Taptee, or river of Surat.--E.]
The 2d February we went 6 c. to _Rawel_, or Arawul, a country village,
where unseasonable thunder, wind, and rain, combining with my disease,
had nearly made an end of me, so that we made _mukom_, or halted, on the
3d and 4th. The 5th I went to _Beawle_, or Beawull, 10 c. a large town
with a good castle. Next day we were again stopt by bad weather. The
7th, 16 c. to _Ravere_, a great town; and the 8th, 10 c. to Boorhanpoor,
where I pitched my tent in a yard belonging to the Armenians, not being
able to get a house for money, the city being so full of soldiers. About
2 c. short of Boorhanpoor is _Babuderpoor_ a fair city; and between the
two the army of Khan-Khana was encamped on the north side of the road,
consisting of about 15,000 horse, 200 elephants, and 100 cannon of
different sizes, the encampment extending two coss in length. Within
twenty or thirty coss to the south, Amber chapon, an _Abashed_,[236] who
was general of the army of the king of Deccan, lay encamped at the head
of 10,000 of his own cast, all brave soldiers, and about 40,000
Deccaners; so that the Moguls had certainly lost the city of
Boorhanpoor, had not the prince Sultan Parvis with Rajah Mausing come
down with great forces; as Amber chapon had sent to demand the surrender
of Boorhanpoor, deeming that Khan-Khana was unable to hold it against
him.
[Footnote 236: Assuredly meaning an Abyssinian.--E.]
Boorhanpoor is a very large but beastly city, situated in a low damp
place, and consequently very unhealthy, which is farther augmented by
the water being bad. The castle is on the N.E. of the city, on the banks
of the river which runs by Surat. In the river beside the castle, there
is an image of an elephant in stone, so naturally made, that an elephant
one day, coming to the river to drink, ran against it with all his
force, and broke both his teeth. The forehead of this image is painted
red, and many simple Indians worship it. About two coss from the castle
is a garden belonging to Khan-Khana, called the _Loll baug_, all the way
between being pleasantly shaded by rows of trees. The garden has many
fine walks, with a beautiful small tank shaded by trees; and at the
entrance is a fine lofty banqueting-house, likewise among trees.