W>
tn^ a-.
RALPH FITCH
QUEEN ELIZABETH AND HER
COUNSELLORS
RALPH FITCH flMoneet; to Snfcta
anD 3Burma
HIS COMPANIONS AND
CONTEMPORARIES WITH HIS REMARKABLE NARRATIVE TOLD IN HIS OWN WORDS +
-i-
BY J.
HORTON RYLEY Member of the Hnkhiyt Society
LONDON T.
FISHER UNWIN PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1899
reserved.'}
PREFACE much has been written of recent years of the history of what is generally known as the East India Company, and so much interesting matter has
SO
of late been brought to light from its earliest records,
seems strange that the first successful English expedition to discover the Indian trade should have that
it
been, comparatively speaking, overlooked. Before the first East India Company was formed the Levant Com-
pany lived and flourished, largely through the efforts of two London citizens. Sir Edward Osborne, sometime Lord Mayor, and Master Richard Staper, merchant. To these men and their colleagues we owe the incep-
To the fact of our great Eastern enterprise. that among them there were those who were daring
tion
enough, and intelligent enough, to carry their extraordinary programme into effect we owe our appear-
ance as
competitors in the Indian seas almost simultaneously with the Dutch. The beginning of our trade with the East Indies is generally dated from the first voyage of James Lancaster, who sailed from
Plymouth in 1591.
But, great as his achievement was,
,
****
513241
PREFACE
vi
and immediately pregnant with consequences of a permanent character, he was not the first Englishman to reach India, nor even the
first
to return with a
valuable store of commercial information.
To keep
to the chronological order of events, the Rev. Thomas
Stevens, S.J., went out in 1579 to join the Jesuit establishment founded at Goa under the Portuguese,
doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and ended his days /
in the neighbourhood of the
Indian settlement.
The
honour of "Pioneer
Englishman," however, justly belongs to Ralph Fitch, who, as the survivor of a small party of men who carried with them Royal missives to
India and China, returned with some diplomatic, results of the mission.
practical, if not
Sailing from the Thames on board the historic ship Tyger^ in 1583, and arriving in India as the prisoner
of the united crowns of Portugal and Spain, Fitch eventually crossed the Peninsula, pursued his investi-
Burma and Malacca, and, after spending some time in Asia Minor, returned home within a gations to
month of Lancaster's first departure. The wide public interest in the world's pioneer voyagers and empire builders to make no further reference to the literature of the subject, more or less cognate
has been sufficiently exemplified during the
last two years.
France, in 1897, celebrated the two
hundredth anniversary of the birth of Dupleix, as "the Conqueror of India"; in April, 1898, Florence was en fete in honour of the fifth centenary of Paolo the four hunToscanelli and Amerigo Vespucci ;
dredth anniversary of the passage of the Cape by Vasco da Gama was commemorated in May, both in
PREFACE
vii
London and Lisbon and in September, the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of North America was marked by the opening of a tower erected at Bristol in memory of John and Sebastian Cabot. Under these circumstances it is remarkable ;
that the story of Ralph Fitch,
embodying as it does,
English account of the great resources of India and the Further East, should have escaped adequate attention. Passing references to his adven-~1
the
first
turous journey are made by all the ties ;
modern authori-
Professor Monier Williams, in the Contemporary
Review of April, 1878, writing of the narrative and, assumedly, of the letters sent home by Fitch and his companions, says,
"The account they published
of
their travels (preserved by Hakluyt) would well repay
republication in a modern form, especially if illustrated " and annotated like Colonel Yule's Marco Polo.' '
The account of the voyage is here presented in full, with one small excision, which
is
duly indicated, for
the first time since Hakluyt gave it to the world three centuries ago.
_j
Whether the ideal set forth above has even been approached in this work the reader must judge the ;
writer puts forward no claim in regard to it, except that which may be founded on the love of his task.
The
plan of the book has been to introduce the account of the arduous journey by an historical sum-
mary, drawn from authoritative sources, designed to illustrate the circumstances under which it was entered
upon
;
either
to borrow every additional light obtainable, from the letters of Fitch and his companions,
or the statements of those who came in contact with
PREFACE
viii
them
;
to furnish a series of pen-portraits of the men
concerned
and, finally, to give a very brief account of the preliminary proceedings of the first East India
Company,
;
in
which Ralph Fitch himself took no
small part. Some deviation from this procedure occurs in reference to Burma, the most interesting British possession in the East and one which, without '
any doubt, will occupy a most conspicuous place in the history of the future. The notes and references, the author ventures to suggest, have not been unduly amplified, the object of this book being less to offer aid to the student than to present a popular and yet reliable
account of a
fundamental,
phase
in
somewhat the
obscure,
history
of
though
England's
expansion.
Lord
Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India, has described the origin of our power in that empire in a single sentence. In an eloquent sympathic speech, delivered at a farewell banquet given to him by the Royal Societies' Club on November " The casual stone which was 7, 1 898, he said that, thrown into the sea of chance by a handful of merchant adventurers two hundred years ago had produced an ever-extending circle of ripples, until at the present moment they embraced the limits and affected the destinies of the entire Asiatic continent."
of the handful of men, and of the
"
The story
casual stone," is
told in the following pages, but it has been necessary to
add a century and more
to
his
lordship's
re-
trospect.
The author has many grateful acknowledgments to make for the generous, and in some cases spontaneous,
PREFACE assistance rendered
ix
him during the progress of his
undertaking. First, to Mr. William Foster, B.A., of the India Office, Hon. Secretary of the Hakluyt Society, for numerous most valuable suggestions, and also to the for advice readily and freely given ;
President and Council of the Society for permission to copy several of the rare illustrations contained in their various publications, which
was most cordially
To Sir Owen Roberts, D.C.L., who placed
granted. the resources of the Clothworkers' Hall at his disposal
;
the Rev. J. A. L. Airey, M.A., Rector of St. the Rev. A. Keble White, M.A.,
Helen's, Bishopsgate
;
Rector of Great Saxham, Suffolk Mr. W. Griggs, publisher of the Journal of Indian Art and Industry ;
r
,
"
The Rulers of India and Chiefs of Rajputana," and
many other luxurious works in relation to our great Empire
;
Mr.
S. Colvin,
M.A., of the Print Room,
Museum and the officials of the British Museum Reading Room, the Record Office, and the
British
;
Guildhall Library, whose willingness
to
assist
the
literary inquirer is beyond all praise. The engravings in the Museum were photographed, by permission, by
Mr. Dossetter, of Acton
;
Messrs. Walker and Boutall,
of Clifford's Inn, kindly consented to the reproduction of Coello's fine painting of the Portrait Gallery National the Philip II. Osborne and Staper photographs were specially taken
of
their
photograph in
;
by the London Stereoscopic Company and that of the Eldred bust was furnished by Mr. Spanton, of ;
Bury St. Edmunds. References to the various works drawn upon for information will be found in the footnotes and, generally, in the
body of the volume,
PREFACE
x
but particular mention is due to Hakluyt's "Principal! Navigations," 1599-1600, which is the -foundation of this
book, Sir W. W. Hunter's
of India," and to Sir Arthur " History of Burma." unique
London^ 1899.
"
Imperial Gazetteer Phayre's small but
CONTENTS BOOK I. BEGINNINGS OF ENGLAND'S EXPANSION.
CHAPTER I. FREEDOM AND TRADE,
POLITICS, RELIGION,
1570-83PAGE
Excommunication and
counterplot
princes
;
The Bull and the reply
its effects
Commerce
Industrial refugees
.
and
industry
Merchant .
.
.
Plot
.3
CHAPTER II. ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY. Pirates and the Royal
To N.W.
;
supremacy
Navy To N.E. Ivan the Terrible The Spanish Main fight for sea ;
colonisation
Drake's circumnavigation
tionTo the East Indies
;
Its
results
Aspira21
CONTENTS
xii
BOOK II. ENGLAND'S PIONEERS TO INDIA.
CHAPTER I. PAGK
LETTERS TO INDIA AND CHINA. REMARKABLE RELATION OF RALPH FITCH. VOYAGE TO GOA. IMPRISONED.
QUEEN'S
The Levant or Turkey Company Great Mogul
To
the
"King
Ralph Fitch (first part)
.
Elizabeth to
Akbar the
China "Narrative
of .
.
.
of
.41
CHAPTER II. DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE. IN NEED. NEWBERIE'S LAST LETTER. GOA." PORTUGUESE IN INDIA.
A FRIEND "GOLDEN
Ralph Fitch to Leonard Poore Linschoten's story Master His letter to Leonard Poore Goa
John Newberie's story
in the sixteenth century
Portuguese rule
.
64
.
CHAPTER III. HINDUSTAN UNDER
AKBAR.
FITCH'S NARRATIVE ENGLISHMEN AT AGRA. TRAVELLERS SEPARATE. A LONELY JOURNEY.
CONTINUED.
Akbar
the
THREE An
reformer
Journey (second park)
.
opportune .
.
moment .
India, .
the
.88
CONTENTS
xiii
BOOK III. IN THE FURTHER EAST.
CHAPTER I PAGE
BURMA
AND
RISE OF AN MALACCA. PORTUGUESE ADVENTURERS.
Capture of Malacca
A
Burma
with
First
traffic
trade
centre ;
Burma
EMPIRE.
Siam, China, and
"A pious fraud " A
;
glimpse of Burmese history Fall of Pegu j first Portuguese mercenaries Sack of Martaban Fall of Prome ; death of
Tabeng
Branginoco's
Branginoco
.
empire
.
.
Last .
conquest ; .
death .
of
.123
CHAPTER II. NARRATIVE CONTINUED. THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN IN PEGU. His PREDECESSORS. THE "VERY GREAT, STRONG AND VERY FAIRE" CITY. Burma; the Journey (third part)
.
.
.
.150
CHAPTER III. NARRATIVE CONCLUDED. MALACCA, THE EMPORIUM. TRADE WITH CHINA AND JAPAN. CHINESE SUSPICIONS. THE RETURN.
.......
The Journey (fourth part) bound
List of commodities
Homeward 175
CONTENTS
xiv
BOOK IV. BIOGRAPHIES, SIDELIGHTS, AND CONCLUSIONS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
RALPH
FITCH
:
HIS
Ralph Fitch and the East India Company Albert
Fytche
John
Thomas
Stevens,
traveller
and
traveller
AND
COMPANIONS, CORRESPONDENTS. FAMILY,
Newberie,
S. J. ,
.
John .
merchant
Eldred, .
trader
Linschoten,
missionary-pioneer
geographer .
William and
and
pioneer
.
and
-197
.
CHAPTER II. THREE MEN OF THE TIME. The Osborne romance
Richard
Staper,
Hakluyt, father of modern geography
merchant .
Richard .
.
220
CHAPTER III. DECLINE OF SUMMARY, 1583-91. IN THE EAST. SPAIN AND THE PHILIPPINES. BECOMING OF THE DUTCH.
HISTORICAL
PORTUGAL
GINNINGS OF BRITAIN'S EMPIRE. "
"
Virginia
Portuguese in the East, past and presentThe Dutch in the East Lancaster's
Spain as an interloper
first voyage to India Foundation of our Indian Empire Another glimpse of Burma Comparison and conclusion
.
235
ILLUSTRATIONS QUEEN ELIZABETH AND HER COUNSELLORS A
Frontispiece
.
"
The Cotnplcat Ambassador," by Sir Dudley Digges, 1655. similar group appears in an engraving representing the Queen
(From
enthroned, used as a frontispiece to Sir SymondsD'Ewes' s "Journals of All the Parliaments during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth" 1682.)
" PHILIPS
FACING PAGE
DE II."
.
.
.
(From an old engraving marked "Dutch," in British Museum.)
IVAN THE TERRIBLE (By permission from
.
the
.
-9
.
the Print
.
Room,
Travels in Russia and Persia," by Messrs. E. Delmar Morgan C.
.21
.
Hakluyt Society's "Early Voyages and
and
H. Coote.)
FACSIMILE OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S SIGNATURE (From the Society's
"
.
38
World Encompassed," by Mr. W. S. W. Vaitx,
M.A., who states that he is indebted for it to "Sir Trayton Drake, of Nuhvell Court, Devon, the lineal descendant of Sir Francis Drake.")
PHILIP
II.
.
.
.
.
.41
.
.
.64
(Coello's painting, National Portrait Gallery.)
MARKET SCENE AT GOA (From Linschoten's
"
.
Itinerario," Amsterdam, 1595-6.)
PORTUGUESE GENTLEMEN AT GOA (From the
.
81
.
" Itinerario.")
AKBAR, THE GREAT
MOGHUL
.
.
.
"
.88
Ritlers of (By permission, from the magnificent and authoritative India antlChiefs of Rajputana" by Brigade Surgeon Lieut. -Colonel T. Holbein Hendley, CI.E., V.D., Griggs, 1897.)
ILLUSTRATIONS
xvi
FACING PAGE
THE GREAT ALBUQUERQUE
.
.
.
.
12$
(The "Lendas" portrait, from the Hakltiyt Society's "Commentaries," Vol. iv., by Mr. Walter de Gray Birch.)
THE SHWE-MAW-DAW PAGODA AT PEGU
J
.
S2
(From Lieut. -Colon el Symes's "Embassy to Ava," 1800.)
PLAN OF PORTUGUESE FORT AT MALACCA
.
.
175
(From the Ha kitty t Society's "Commentaries," Vol. Hi.)
JOHN HUYGHEN VAN LINSCHOTEN (From the
"
JOHN ELDRED
.
.
.
(Portrait of the
.
.
.
J
97
memorial
bust,
.
21 7
now in Great Sa.vliam Church.
......
Sn/olk.)
SIR
.
Itinerario")
EDWARD OSBORNE, SOMETIME LORD MAYOR OF 220 LONDON (Photograph of a painting in Clotlncorkers' Hall.)
DESIGN TO REPRESENT YOUNG OSBORNE'S OF THE DAUGHTER OF SIR W. HEWET
RESCUE
.222
.
(From the Drawing Room, Clothworkcrs' Hall.)
MURAL MONUMENT TO RICHARD ST.
STAPER,
HELEN'S, BISHOPSGATE
.
NOW
IN
.228
.
(From an engraving at Clothworkers' Hall.)
....
THE SPANISH ARMADA ATTACKED BY FIRE SHIPS OFF CALAIS .235 (From Pine's engravings of the Tapestries in the old House ofLoi'ds, 1 739-)
MIGUEL
LOPEZ
DE
FILIPINAS" (From the Hakluyt
... LEGAZPI, "
Society's
"
CONQUISTADOR
DE
.240
The Philippine Islands," by Lord
Stanley ofAlderley.)
THE RED DRAGON
.
.
" I'i.>v<;&V of Sir Henry Middle(Also by permission from the Society's ton to Bantam and the Malnco Islands," by Mr. Bolton Corney, who
borrowed the illustration from the Dutch collection of East Indian " The Red Dragon, Captain Voyages, 1645-6. It is thus described : Lancaster, in the Straits of Malacca, 1602." Lancaster sailed in this famous vessel, formerly known as the "Malice Scnrge" in his first voyage on
behalf of the first East India Company.)
-259
BOOK I BEGINNINGS OF ENGLAND'S EXPANSION
CHAPTER POLITICS, RELIGION,
I
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
(1570-83) story of the perilous adventures of Master
THE Ralph
<(
Marchant of London," in his endeavour to open up the Golden East to his countrymen, is in an eminent degree typical of the period, and of the Elizabethan Englishman. But in order to Fitch,
grasp the full meaning of the narrative, to realise the dangers of the journey, and to appreciate the great service thus rendered to this country, it
is
necessary
to give a brief sketch of affairs as they appeared at
home immediately before
commencement. For this purpose the Excommunication Year has been taken as marking a distinct departure in the policy of England and the sentiments of the people. At the same time, too much importance should not be its
attached to the issue of the Bull as regards its relations to English travellers abroad.
There were two
parties in this country when Fitch began his journey,
and even in Spain and the Spanish possessions there was some sympathy, however small, for co-religionists who were supposed to desire the overthrow of the
RALPH FITCH
4
Heretic
Queen. Probably Ralph Fitch and his whether companions, they were all Roman Catholics or not, were not unwilling to be considered members of that communion till they were safe beyond the reach of Spaniard and Portuguese. But although
news spread slowly in those days, the effect of the Papal anathema was practically instantaneous in Europe. In England itself it served as an incentive it fired the spirit of independence which had already ;
surprised surrounding nations. So far as it is possible to reduce the iCati0n
i"eSr
'
forei gn
P lic y of Elizabeth, as a whole,
to any definite plan, it maybe described in the political language of the present day as both opportunist and adventurous. Moreover, we cannot separate even in the imaginary fashion now in vogue
the direction of her foreign affairs from her domestic
Religion was the dividing force of the two great parties at home, and at the same time dominated policy.
To begin every transaction with foreign Powers. with, the Queen's title to the crown she was now wearing had been called into question by the titular head of Christendom (Paul IV.), one of whose predecessors (Alexander VI,) had -shared the wonderful new worlds, East and West, between the Kings of Portugal and
Spain.
It
only required the Bull of
Excommunication of Pius V. to define the
position
of England, to herself as well as to the rest of Europe, as a distinct politico-religious Power
the stronghold
home and starting-place of a new and more daring order of adventurers, who cared
of Protestantism, the
no more for Papal edicts and bans abroad than they
POLITICS, RELIGION,
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
5
feared the strange seas they were so well fitted to The language of the Bull was sufficiently navigate.
Von Ranke says contemptuous and provocative. " In the name of Him who had raised him to the :
supreme throne of Right, he (the Pope) declared Elizabeth to have forfeited the realm of which she claimed to be Queen he not merely released her subjects from the oath they had taken to her, 'we likewise forbid/ he adds, her barons and peoples henceforth to obey this woman's commands and laws, under pain of excommunication.' " The personality " of the author of the ban is thus described Pope Pius V., Michele Ghislieri, had been a Dominican ;
*
:
inquisitor before his election to the Papacy.
zealous, and determined, he devoted
all
Austere,
his energies
the suppression of heresy. Under his rule the Inquisition crushed out Protestantism in Italy. Though a man of fervent piety and blameless
to
he shrank from no measures which were likely to put down the schism. He rejoiced over Alva's cruelties in the Netherlands, and sent him a sword life,
and cap which he had blessed, as a token of favour." *
his
With regard to the gift to the Duke of
Alva, whose tortures and mutilations amongst the Protestants of the Low Countries drenched that un-
happy land in blood for seven long years, Motley says his
Holiness sent an autograph letter in which the was requested " to remember, when he put
recipient
the hat upon his head, that he was guarded with it as with a helmet of righteousness, and with the shield 1
Dr. Creighton (Bishop of London) in "Age of Elizabeth,"
p. 105.
RALPH FITCH
6
of God's help, indicating the heavenly crown which was ready for all princes who support the Holy Church and the Roman Catholic faith." 1 The Bull was issued on February 25, "
I57
'
Several copies were sent to the
Duke of Alva, with a request that he would make them known in the seaports of the Netherlands and by the Duke some of these were ;
forwarded to the Spanish ambassador
in
England.
Early in the morning of the fifteenth of May, one was seen affixed to the gates of the bishop of London's residence in the capital. The Council was surprised
and irritated
;
a rigorous search was made through and another copy of the Bull was
the Inns of law
;
found in the chamber of a student in Lincoln's Inn, who acknowledged, on the rack, that he had received it
from a person of the name of Felton.
Felton
resided near Southwark, a gentleman of large property and considerable acquirements but his temper :
was ungovernable, and his attachment to the creed of his fathers approached to enthusiasm. On his apprehension he boldly confessed that he had set up the " Bull." refused, even Lingard adds that Felton
under torture, to disclose the names of his accomplices, and abettors," but points out that the Government account of the execution, as preserved in "
Howell's
State Trials," represents him as repenting.
" obtained the copies of the Bull Felton, it appears, from the chaplain of the Spanish ambassador, who
immediately left the kingdom."
The Papal denunciation was warmly resented both 1
"
Rise of the Dutch Republic,'' vol. ii. p. 243.
POLITICS, RELIGION,
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
7
people, and in the complicated condition of affairs abroad there seems to have been
by sovereign and
some doubt at first whether to regard the document as merely an act of spiritual aggression or a declaration of war by one or both of those eminently Catholic countries, Spain and France.
the statesman to
Cecil (Lord Burleigh)
whom, with
Nicholas Bacon
Sir
(father of the great Francis) and Sir Francis Walsing-
ham (the Puritan), England owed at that much, and
still
time so
fulminated a reply which by terms must have considerably
owes
the vigour of its astonished the Papal party. The manifesto is preserved in the original at the Record Office (Dom., vol. Ixxiii., No. 49), and consists
of thirteen pages of
MS. with interlinings and marginal interpolations, all in Cecil's own hand. He begins " An Advertise:
me n t of mete for all uses/'' and addresses himself to " subjects to know their errors and by repentance " to receive mercy," and lastly, for all strangers great
all
or small to be well informed of truth."
There is a
general statement to the effect that in all ages and in all
countries it has been a common usage for offenders
to make defence of their real designs by untruths and
by colouring their deeds (" war they never so vile "), "
w
h
pretences of soe other courses of contrary operation," in order not merely to avoid punishment or
blame but that they might prosecute their " malechoos purposes."
He deals with the plottings against the e
e
Queen, "styrred upp by y Devill y father of rebells," and says that some have been punished and others pardoned, while special mention is made, amongst others, of
Thomas Stukley, " a faythless best rather
RALPH FITCH
8
" Bishop of suggests that the Rome was urged by these men to publish the Bull, and thus sow the seeds of sedition he challenges the
than a man."
Cecil
"
;
Pope's authority on historical and other grounds, and concludes "by God's grace no collor nor occasion shall be given to shed the blood of any of the Queen's subjects." * The fleet in the Channel was immediately and Lord Clinton, who was in command, reinforced, was instructed to attack without question any French transports he might meet taking troops to Scotland.
The following year Parliament passed Bills to secure Conformity from Catholic and Puritan alike (the arbitrary Court of High Commission was made per-
manent in 1583), declaring it high treason to call the
Queen a heretic, or to publish a Papal Bull. The new crisis was to elevate Eliza-
natural result of the
beth to the position of the Protestant champion, an honour, be it observed, which was forced upon her, but which was soon to be emphasised by the
whole course of events on the Continent, including Day (1572) and the
the massacre of Bartholomew's
Spanish Fury at Antwerp (1576).
Still
she did not
venture to take up the cause of the Netherlanders or the Huguenots. Her hands were too full of the plottings
at
home
the
letters
Pope's message had been of encouragement to the
accompanied by Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland and the troubles in Scotland. So long as Spain was engaged u
Marques of Ireland," was killed in 1578 whilst serving under Sebastian, King of Portugal, in an expeThe adventurer was in command of an dition to Barbary. 1
Sir T. Stukley, the
Italian contingent sent by the Pope (Hakluyt, vol. ii. part ii.).
FROM AN OLD ENGRAVING MARKED "DUTCH."
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
POLITICS, RELIGION,
9
in pouring the treasures of the Indies into the dykes and dunes of the Low Countries, so long as France was the scene of the varying fortunes of Huguenot and Leaguer, she felt comparatively safe, at any rate from temporal interference.
The Queen throughout
the
period
was personally in a perilous position, and the story of the Ridolfi conspiracy, in which the most powerful monarch in Europe lent himself to a scheme for the assassination of a sovereign with whom he was under
review
in diplomatic relations, is sufficiently characteristic of the general position of affairs. 1 But she extended
her sympathy to her co-religionists abroad although she gave them no systematic material assistance, resisting even the touching appeals of William the ;
was an asylum offered to the refugees in Elizabeth lived in an atmosphere of plot and counterplot, and did not hesitate to stake in the game the prospect of marriage and a share of her throne. She trifled with one foreign prince or party Silent, there
this country.
or the other in order to secure her
own inviolability,
where she would, she found no country for, willing enough to defy the Pope, or which was not more or less under the influence of her great enemy and rival, Spain. Whilst her enemies were busy conspiring, she dallied with the Duke of Anjou and turn
the
repulsive
Alengon
(" the
Frog ")
;
whilst
the
adventurous charlatan Sir Thomas Stukley (referred to in 1
Cecil's
manifesto),
was scheming
at
Madrid
Motley gives extracts from Philip's correspondence with Alva on the subject. Vol. ii. p. 286.
RALPH FITCH
io
for the conquest of Ireland, the redoubtable
Hawkins,
1571, actually succeeded in so befooling Philip with offers to betray his country and his queen that
in
the king
handed over two months' pay
for
1,600
men, who were to man a fleet to co-operate with Alva throne
in
an of
effort
to place
England.
Mary of Scots on
Froude
suggests
that
the the
principal object that Hawkins had in view was to save the remnants of his force captured by the
Spaniards after the treachery of San Juan de Ulloa. Such of the wretches who did not perish in Mexico, or fall victims to the Inquisition, now lay in Spanish
dungeons, and Sir John, in negotiating for their release, found a daring and astute agent in one This man carried messages between Fitzwilliam. Philip and Mary of Scots, all of which were carefully inspected by Cecil en route ; he obtained the order for the payment of the sum mentioned above, and " for Hawkins, who was made a a " free pardon of for his "treachery." Another of Spain grandee the striking incidents of this exciting time, which
may be referred to
in passing,
was the capture of
Dr. Story, an arch-conspirator, who had sought A spy was sent over and refuge at Antwerp. induced the doctor to come aboard an English ship
He was at once thrown into lying in the Scheldt. the hold, and his captor was similarly treated on the pretence that he was his fellow-prisoner, and in the hope that he might retain the doctor's confidence
The Public and obtain information from him. a Dr. contain Records piteous complaint by Story, who was executed, that the irons he wore galled his legs.
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
POLITICS, RELIGION,
The
generally
popularity,
of
speaking,
11
Tudor
In the been much discussed. that case there can be no loyalty present question to the queen, and to her cause as they understood
has
government
it,
amongst the people as the reign With regard to the condition of religion
deepened
lengthened. in the country,
is
it
difficult
always
to
gauge a
national faith, and in this reign it is impossible to dissociate, on the one hand, the Papacy from the foreign element or, on the other, Patriotism from In an effort to arrive at some Protestantism. ;
estimate of the forces of the two great
religious
Macaulay quotes several historians, including The result he reaches is Lingard and Hallam.
sects,
the
bulk of the people, while holding firmly doctrines which were common to both
sections,
had no fixed opinion upon the matters
that to
the
This conclusion he strengthens by dispute. he adds, howreference to the drama of the reign in
;
"
the policy of the ever, people Court of Rome. Their spirit rose against the interference of a foreign priest with their national that the
Froude
concerns." I
disliked
"
says,
Walsingham believed
(1579) the establishment of the a Protestant would extinguish the the most part extreme Catholic party altogether
that
at this time
succession
in
'
;
of the Papists of this realm being rather of State than of conscience, in respect of the hope they
have of the succession.' "
Opposition
to
the
necessary safeguard 1
Essay on
"
"
Dr.
Creighton remarks to be a :
papacy was shown
of the national independence. Burleigh and His Times."
RALPH FITCH
12
The stirring events of Elizabeth's reign bound her people together, and demanded that they should offer a united front to their foes." One of our most who claim the metropolis as popular authors, may his own peculiar ground, suggests that the only way to get at the people of the time is through those who behind the poets and dramatists, the chief glory of this age, " were the turbulent youth, prodigal of life, eager for joy,
wrote about them
;
who were delighting
in
feast
fight, extravagant in
their freedom
further states
:
and song, always ready for a speech and thought, jubilant in
from the tyranny of the Church." He " If the London of the Third Edward
was a city of palaces, that of Queen Elizabeth was a city of ruins," and adds, in effect, that the approor
priation
of
destruction
many
Catholic estab-
lishments was witnessed with indifference. 1 "
When Queen
Elizabeth
ascended
tne throne, the commercial centre of when she the world was Antwerp ;
world was Another one authority. " is the The of Elizabeth says epoch from reign which dates the naval and commercial greatness of England, and the queen's care and attention conWe tributed in no slight degree to this result." 3 have here, as it were, the conception and realisation But of a brilliant vision placed in juxtaposition. died
the
London." 2
commercial
Thus
of
centre
the
writes
:
what comes between ? It is impossible to peruse the most dramatic page of England's history without 1
Sir Walter Besant in
2
Sir W. Besant.
"
London." 3
Dr. Creighton.
POLITICS, RELIGION,
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
13
being almost overpowered by a sense of Opportunity.
The programme of Elizabeth and her courageous Ministers from the beginning was one of freedom, from the power of the Pope. But to all intents
first
and purposes this meant isolation.
The English be-
came the Ishmaelites of Europe, with enemies whose resources were only outnumbered by their vulnerable The defensive struggle for religious freedom points. soon developed into a contest for Commercial Equality
and subsequently first
as the courage which prompted the
defiance of Catholic
more daring
Europe became more and
into an aggressive spirit of Expansion. 1
The conditions under which the world's trade was carried on were peculiarly favourable to the enterprise,
and with a prescience which, looked at from a distance, appears altogether remarkable, the queen prepared for coming events in a substantial, honest manner.
One of the first acts of her reign was the restoration of the coinage, which had been debased to one-third of its face value.
The worst debasements were made Edward VI., so that in 1551 no
by Henry VIII. and less
than seventy-two shillings were coined out of a
A thorough change was made by Elizabeth,
pound. 1
Prof. Seeley in his collected lectures
England
"
deals in a searching
influences of the Reformation
World
influences which
on the " Expansion of
manner with the revolutionary and the discovery of the New
made themselves
felt
within thirty
years of each other. The former, he holds, was the more rapid in its operation on the Old World, but the effects died sooner
than those of the latter
;
it
was not till near the end of the six-
teenth century, after the repeated raids upon the Spanish settlements in Central America, that Spain decided upon her great enterprise against England.
i
RALPH FITCH
4
who coined only sixty shillings at first out of a pound of silver
;
but afterwards in 1601 she coined sixty-two
shillings, and so it remained till 1816, when sixty-six 1 But apart from the semishillings were coined. romantic which are referred to and schemes political below, the whole of her commercial policy was directed to the encouragement of the native merchant
the expense, it might be, of his foreign rivals. Those were the days of Merchant Guilds, and it is an
at
open question whether the England of the present day does not owe quite as much to the energy and enterprise of the traders of that age as to its politicians " and explorers " trade follows the flag is now a trite saying, but it did not apply under Elizabeth. At the head of all the European Merchant princes. ... TT T guilds was the great Hanseatic League. The League, whose history is a veritable romance of commerce, negotiated with monarchs and threatened 2 The chief depot in England was in princes. and the mercantile colony, enclosed in walls London, and gates, came to be known as the Steelyard, probably from the fact that on this spot stood the great balance of the city, on which all imported and exported merchandise had to be officially weighed. The great power and widespread influence of the Hansards, as they were called, who appear to have ;
.
first
1
sprung into prominence
.
the northern
in
Gibbins's "History of Commerce in
seas
Europe" (Macmillan,
1891).
For a history of the great Hanseatic League, probably unique in its completeness, see Helen Zimmern's "The Hansa 2
Towns" (Story of the Nations Series.
Fisher Unwin).
POLITICS, RELIGION,
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
15
about the end of the twelfth century, may be traced on a map which shows that in the middle of the sixteenth
century
extended
from
their
London
Bergen to Krakow.
depots to
Their
and
possessions
Novgorod, and from privileges were syste-
matically attacked in this country in the reign of Edward VI., but they recovered their entire liberties
All this was changed under Elizabeth, the labours of Cecil and Sir Thomas Gresham, by financier and merchant. In 1597 the Emperor
under Mary.
Rudolph, much to the delight of the Hansards in Lubeck, ordered all English traders to leave the empire within three months. In
their headquarters at
reply Elizabeth gave the League notice to quit the Steelyard within fourteen days, a mandate which the
Mayor and
Sheriffs
saw
carried
duly
out
;
but
eventually the property was restored to the Germans
minus the trade privileges.
It is interesting to add the 1853 Steelyard was sold to an English company for building purposes, for the sum
that as late as
72,500, by the cities of Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the present Cannon Street railway
of
station stands
on part of the site.
On the suppression of these home-made
combinations
foreign monopolists into life and
sprung
and particular mention may be made of the development of the guilds of the Merchants of the Staple and the Merchant Ad-
flourished amazingly,
Both seem to have arisen towards the end of the thirteenth century the Staplers first and were known under the same title of the Brotherhood of St. Thomas & Becket. Most of their business was
venturers.
RALPH FITCH
16
cloth, and
they were probably offof Mercers, whose patron Company " " saint was the same. established or staples They in
manufactured
shoots of the
depots abroad, and it is stated that in 1550 the Adventurers employed no less than 20,000 persons at
Antwerp alone, and 30,000 elsewhere in the NetherIn 1568 Alva seized their merchandise at Antwerp, and Elizabeth promptly retaliated on the lands.
Spanish shipping. It is not difficult to understand that both bodies were in constant conflict, at home and abroad, with the Hanseatic League. The
were
Adventurers Spanish
troubles,
invited
but
to
they
Bruges
during the
replied
that
"
until
religious freedom is granted and taxation reduced it " impossible they finally settled at Hamburg till
is
;
was done. The Corporation of Staplers continued till the eighteenth century and their work in the world
held meetings, though their trade and importance had
long since passed away.
1
"
At the beginning of the
reign," writes Sir Walter Besant,
"
there were no more
whom the Company of
than 317 merchants
in all, of
Mercers formed 96.
Before her reign it was next to
impossible for the city to raise a loan of ; 10,000. Before she died the city was advancing to the Queen loans of ;6o,ooo."
"In
burden of all vessels 1
in
1572,"
the
says Froude, "the
kingdom which were
An historical account of these earlier English trade guilds " in Two Thousand Years of Gild Life," by the Rev. J.
is given
See also Malet Lambert, M.A. (Simpkin, Marshall, 1891). Early Chartered Companies," by Messrs. George Cawston and A. H. Keene, F.R.G.S. (Edward Arnold, 1896), in which the origin of Staple Inn, Holborn, is traced to the merchant company of that name. " The
POLITICS, RELIGION,
engaged
in
50,000 tons
"
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
17
ordinary commerce scarcely exceeded (actual 50,926 tons), while the largest
from the port of London was of only tons burden. 240 An epoch in the history of English commerce was the opening of the first London Royal Exchange by
sailing vessel
1571, a "bourse" after the fashion of that at Antwerp, which was presented to the City by
the
Queen in
Sir Thomas Gresham.
So much has been said and
of this typical London merchant typical, that is, of his time that little need be added here.
written
His official relations as financial agent or broker of the English Government at home and abroad continued off and on from 1553 to 1574, and were concluded in a manner which bears testimony to his ingenuity, to say nothing more.
The Commissioners
Treasury, it appears, made some startling discoveries in the details of his final account and of the
docked a variety of counter claims. But Gresham was equal to the emergency. He paid a visit to the official auditor, who was on the point of going for his summer holiday, and solicited a copy of the official account on the plea that all his own papers had been lodged with the authentic account. This was supplied, and the official left for his vacation. " Immediately Gresham caused the usual concessary footnote to be added to this imperfect document, setting forth the statement and allowance of his claim for interest and exchange on the surplus, already rejected, and posted off to Kenilworth, where the Queen was now being royally entertained by Leicester.'' By some means he gained the royal sanction for this copy, and armed 3
3
&ALPH FITCti
i8
with such authority he obtained the signatures of the
Commissioners, who were apparently in attendance at Court. When the astonished auditor was presented with his own duplicate, signed and with footnote complete,
was
he
compelled
to
treat
it
as
the
authoritative record, though it involved the disposition
of six millions (present value). 1 But on the whole it is difficult to estimate the services of this man to his
He fought the battle of the day and generation. native merchants against the Hansards, and kept the State Loans in the country by his means a mart, become the greatest in the world, was ;
destined to
established here. Industrial refugees.
illustrating
Meanwhile a series of circumstances had been in operation which, whilst
the
.
permeating influences of the
rival
religions of the time, reveals another of the beginnings of England's industrial as well as commercial greatness.
Up to the accession of Elizabeth our most
important export had been home-grown wool, which went to the manufacturers of Flanders. But during the growing uneasiness consequent upon the policy of Philip in the Low Countries emigration had set in, chiefly, of
In 1566 matters course, to England. reached a climax, and the famous Compromise was
presented to the Regent, the Duchess Margaret, as
From " Society in the Elizabethan Age, by Mr. Hubert Hall of the Record Office. " It is not too much to say," con1
1
'
tinues Mr. Hall, "that Gresham was ^10,000 (^60,000) to the good by the successful issue of his mission. He had received this sum, and had not accounted for it. ... In sober truth, however, Gresham was neither better nor worse than the age
made him."
POLITICS, RELIGION,
FREEDOM, AND TRADE
19
a protest against the Spanish Inquisition. By this time it is computed that no less than 50,000 wretched
Netherlanders had been put to death under Philip's edicts, while 30,000 had left the country and settled at Norwich, Sandwich, and other places. Elizabeth, with her usual shrewdness to suggest no higher
motive gave all these expert artisans a cordial welcome, but made it a condition that each industrial house should employ at least one English apprentice.
The refugees and the English lads between them soon established such a cloth and silk making and dyeing business as to completely turn the tide of Instead of the raw material going to the Scheldt to come back in the shape of manufactured
trade.
goods, they sent the finished article. How much the spirit of Protestantism in England owed eventually to these circumstances it would be
impossible to estimate. Froude suggests, by way of accounting for the strange admixture of religion and
marauding, persecution and piracy, witnessed in the English Channel and elsewhere during a nominal time of peace between England and Spain, that the ideas of the Reformation
had taken the deepest root
amongst the sea-going portion of Elizabeth's subjects. But
can be no question that a generous with the industrious Netherland refugees, sympathy with the hatred of the power which was felt coupled there
to be the common
enemy, spread rapidly among the increasing artisan class in this country, and, ascending higher in the social scale, reached the merchant
and
"The
the
courtier,
merchant,"
not
to
says
the
say the Queen historian
just
herself.
quoted,
20
RALPH FITCH
could change his character for that of buccaneer with the approval of his conscience When as well as to the advantage of his purse.
"therefore
driven from legitimate trade the English merchants, instead of flying at the Government as the Spanish
ambassador had hoped, flew upon the spoils of those who forced them to abandon it." Thus Philip's policy, carried out as it was in the Low Countries with all the ferocity of Alva, and perfectly understood, especially so far as the plottings were concerned, by Cecil and Walsingham, was made in the long run to recoil upon itself.
PORTRAIT OF THE TSAR IVAN (IV.) VASILIV1TCH.
CHAPTER II ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
N endeavouring to realise something of the comi mencement of England's dominion over the sea before the fatal blow had been struck at Pirates and the
Royal Navy.
we
.
...
.
<
tne greatest existing ocean power, in the
defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), encounter a set of circumstances which it is diffi-
The reaction from
cult to understand in these days.
the Papal Bull accounts for much of the predatory although we were spirit of the English at this time ;
not at war with any country in Europe, the Channel swarmed with freebooters, who found a ready refuge
on our coasts. The " Water Beggars" of the Netherlands, under Brederode, and the wild and savage William de la Marck harried the Spaniards with conspicuous impunity. fleet
In the spring of 1571 their
came into Dover Roads and, being joined by
several English rovers, they held the Straits, raided
the Spanish coasts, and plundered the king's ships. Markets were held at Dover, where the proceeds of
RALPH FITCH
22
the operations were openly disposed of and captives were sold for the ransom they would bring, being 1
consigned to the court-house in irons. Alva sent a squadron to rid the Channel of
actually
When
these hornets Brederode drew in under the cliffs, and
the English batteries beat off the Spaniards.
In reply to a protest, the Spanish ambassador was informed that " English waters were a sanctuary." In 1572, a on remonstrance from however, Alva, Elizabeth, " " wishing," as Dr. Creighton puts it, to be concilia" tory in a little matter," gave orders that the Water
Beggars" should not be supplied with provisions. De la Marck thereupon set sail with his four-andtwenty ships, and his total force of not more than 250 men, and, being driven by stress of weather into the mouth of the Meuse, succeeded by a bold stroke in capturing the town of Brill for Prince William of Orange. This was the period of renaissance for the Royal Navy, in which the Queen from the first exhibited the liveliest interest, though her subsequent niggardliness imperilled the safety of her realm.
At the death
of Henry VIII. the navy consisted of 53 vessels, with
an aggregate burden of 6,255 tons, and a total complement officers, soldiers, sailors, and gunners of about 8,000 men. The largest vessel was the Great
Harry of 1,000 tons. At the death of Edward VI. the number of ships had come down to 45, of which only 24 were effective. Matters became worse under Mary, and almost at the commencement of her reign " the Great Harry was burnt at Woolwich by the 1
Froude.
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
23
z Miserably depleted negligence of the mariners." as it had been during the two previous reigns, Eliza-
beth followed a systematic plan of restoring the arm to a nucleus of effective strength, and at the period
under notice she had a small but well-formed force to The fleet was not large cruise around the coasts. to maintain enough, however, peace in the Channel, so far as English subjects were concerned, even if this
had been the consistent intention of the Government indeed on more than one occasion royal ships were actually allowed to be used for very different purposes. By 1578 she had succeeded in forming a fleet of 24 ;
complement of 7,000 men, the the Triumph, 1,000 tons, while there largest being were two of 900 tons, two of 800 tons, five of 600 tons
vessels, with a total
and so on down to 60 tons.
John Hawkins
The redoubtable Sir
who, although there is some suspicion
of his financial practices, was at least a practical sea-
man troller,
succeeded his father-in-law, Gonson, as Compand Sir William Winter was the Master of
Naval Ordnance. Meanwhile enterprise and adventure had been carried on far beyond these shores, till at last the fortitude, endurance, and courage displayed in various parts of the globe opened out permanent avenues to commerce, and laid the foundations of the
British Empire. It need
not be a matter of surprise that the begin-
nings of expansion were left to individual adventurers and small combinations of merchants surely such a 1
See Mr. Fox Bourne's "English Seamen under the Tudors"
for these figures and a graphic account of the maritime history
of the period (Bentley, 1 868).
RALPH FITCH
24
commencement should be rather a matter of conTroubled with the most gratulation than otherwise. affairs of the State, complicated Queen could do little
more than watch with a kindly eye, and sanction by charter and missive, the efforts of her subjects in distant regions. At first she was cautious in what she did sanction, and the records afford ample evidence that the more daring of her navigators found it necessary to make public explanations, more or less lame as they appear to us, of what they had done and why they had done it. But Elizabeth never forgot that she was a proscribed person, that her kingdom was in a state of incipient antagonism to the leading European Powers, and, secretly to begin with, then openly and defiantly, she furthered the projects of her vigorous, almost unruly adventurers, thus reaping a rich reward for herself and leaving a greater one for posterity. Up to the time of the
departure of Master Ralph Fitch for India and the Far East (1583) various of his countrymen had within
comparatively recent years penetrated to other distant 1 lands, but a summary of their doings will suffice. 1 Mention should be made here of an attempt to reach the Far East which, although futile in its results, deserves a place
as the
first
organised expedition in this direction.
(vol. iii. p. 754) thus describes it
:
" The
Hakluyt voyage of M. Edward
Fenton and M. Luke Ward, his vice-admirall, with 4 ships, intended for China, but performed onely to the coast of Brazil as farre as 33. degrees of southerly latitude begunne in the :
yeare
1582.''
The account is written by Ward, who was in
of the Edward Bonaventura^ 300 tons, a sturdy ship which afterwards figured in the attack on the Spanish Armada, and carried Lancaster to India on his first voyage in
command
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY 11
fee Te^ibiJ*
25
To deal first with what may be deBribed as the purely English efforts to a
discover
north-east
or
north-west
passage to Far Cathay, and without going so far back as the voyages of the Cabots, we come primarily to the setting forth of an expedition which resulted in the opening up of a
result at least as
seaborne trade with Russia, a important to that country as our
The voyage is attributed to the suggestion of Sebastian Cabot, now an old man, who had returned to England from service with Spain, and it was " for own.
the search and discovery of the northern part of the world." Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancelor, in
command of three vessels, set out in 1553, the route,
roughly planned, being to sail northerly as far as possible, then easterly and southward. Beyond the
North Cape they became separated in a fog, and two years afterwards the remains of Willoughby and the crews of two of his ships were found in a small
Lapland bay.
Chancelor, being unable to discover
his companions, continued the journey and found his
way into the White Sea.
Here he met with a hospitable reception, was invited to Moscow and, quite in modern fashion, secured a commercial treaty from Ivan the Terrible.
This commencement of inter-
course between two nations destined in the future
become rivals in the heritage of the East and Far East, is one of the most fascinarightly or wrongly
to
Ivan IV., who was ting incidents of a moving epoch. the first to assume the title of Tsar, was now twentythree years of age, and had already demonstrated, in his own fashion, his power to rule.
He granted per-
RALPH FITCH
26
mission to Richard Chancelor " and the guests arrived
from the English land with wares brought in their ships from beyond the seas, to come and go in safety his
in
Russian dominions and to buy and build
houses without
let or
idea of continuing
hindrance."
Abandoning all
the search for the North-East
passage, Chancelor returned home, and soon afterwards the relations of the two countries became sufficiently
advanced to enter upon the diplomatic
The first Russian ambassador was sent to stage. this country (to Mary and Philip) on the occasion of Chancelor's second voyage journey,
however,
proved
in
most
The return 1556. disastrous the ;
English navigator and all the three ships were lost, but the ambassador was saved, and eventually
London in state. An adventurous Englishone man, Anthony Jenkinson, visited the country in 1557 and was employed on various expeditions; he was sent back to Moscow as Elizabeth's ambassador in I566. 1 The next voyage was undertaken in 1580, for the Muscovy Company, by Jackman and Pet. They reached the Kara Sea, the former by Burrough's Straits and the latter by the entered
channel now known as Pet's Straits.
See Prof. Men-fill's " Russia " (Story of the Nations Series). Thejourneyings of Anthony Jenkinson will be found in Hakluyt's " Collection, and also in Early Voyages and Travels in Russia 1
and Persia," edited for the Hakluyt Society by Messrs. E. Delmar Morgan and C. H. Coote. The earliest account of Muscovy, by Baron Sigismund von Hebrerstein, German ambassador 1517-26, has been translated and edited for the society by Mr. R. H. Major.
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
27
About the year 1574 systematic steps were taken to revive the quest for the colonisation North- West passage. As the result of the written and other efforts of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Martin Frobisher, the Queen wrote to the Muscovy Company, which had been formed, suggesting that if they did not intend to pursue the exploration
of a northerly route to Cathay they should transfer their privileges to other adventurers. As the Com-
pany were
with their profitable
satisfied
Russian
granted a licence in 1575 to Frobisher, three voyages to the North- West (1575-9),
traffic they
whose
after the formation of the
whose reward
of
matters of history. 1
a
Company of Cathay, and
knighthood
are
well-known
Humphrey Gilbert in 1578 obtained a charter for the discovery and possession Sir
of any barbarous lands not yet claimed by a Christian prince, and he was joined, though not accompanied, in this somewhat wide venture by his stepbrother,
Walter Raleigh, so soon to become famous.
Gilbert,
unfortunate as he was, may be fittingly described as the father of British colonisation. His first expedi-
which was to found a colony somewhere in North America, left England in 1578, but was beaten back by the Spaniards, and returned in 1579. In 1583 he started again, steering for Newfoundland, where the English had for some time enjoyed a share of the fisheries, his idea being to sail southward afterwards to find a suitable spot to found a permanent
tion,
The Hakluyt Society have published the three voyages in volume form, with selections from State papers, edited by RearAdmiral Collinson, C.B. 1
RALPH FITCH
28
home.
He, however, fixed upon St. John's, but after a brief spell ashore, which was long enough to exhibit the inherent weakness of
the whole
scheme, the
expedition set off on the return journey, Gilbert's vessel he chose the smallest of his little fleet-
foundering at The Spanish Main. Fight for sea
sea.
The next portion of the moving story of storm and stress carries us through
strange seas to unknown coast-lines it of results which of plundered treasure-ships :
tells
;
of
Englishmen as the as well as the most skilful bravest to say no more of navigators. It has been urged, specially in refer-
established
the reputation
ence to Drake's greatest exploit, that, in the encour-
agement she gave to the questionable doings of her seamen in these expeditions, Elizabeth made a most valuable contribution to the war in the Low Countries, and that it was more effective " in bringing Spain upon her knees than if she had emptied her treasury the lap of Orange." But, whatever were the Queen's motives, there can be no doubt of the en-
into
couragement, intermittent though it seems to have been, nor of the peculiar opportunities which had been growing up for its exercise. As far back as
1530-2 William
Hawkins of Plymouth,
the more famous John, had
sailed
to
father
the
of
Guinea
Coast, and appears to have been our pioneer in a trade in which Martin Frobisher and Francis Drake
subsequently served their deep-sea apprenticeship. Hawkins's plan was to make a round voyage from
England to Guinea, thence to Brazil where, after Sebastian Cabot, now in the Spanish service, he was
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
29
and then home. The Guinea route was soon pursued by others, and
the
first
we
find
English
representative
Captain Windham, under the guidance of
Pinteado, a Portuguese, sailing in 1553 and trading with Benin. In 1 562 John Hawkins whose name is so unhappily associated with the slave traffic, the enormities of which, it is only fair to suggest, were
not at
work
to
set himself to
understood at the time
all
trade
between Africa
and the Spanish
In 1563 he returned from San Domingo with his three English ships, sending two Spanish colonies.
vessels which he had chartered to Cadiz. ever,
Philip
II.,
Here, how-
who looked upon the whole affair
with jealous eyes, seized the vessels and prohibited
For the next trading expedition to the Spanish Main, 1564, Elizabeth allowed Hawkins to hire one of her largest vessels several of her nobles the enterprise.
;
shared in the venture, which proved highly successful,
and on his return the navigator was honoured with a In 1 567, in company with crest and coat of arms. Drake, Hawkins set sail on the memorable voyage to the West Indies and the Mexican coast, which ended in the treachery of San Juan de Ulloa and a declaration of open enmity to Spain from the two English seamen who were destined to do probably more than any others to damage irretrievably her naval supremacy.
Soon
afterwards
matters in England Froude says " In the spring of 1571, when the Spanish ambassador had been political
reached an acute stage.
:
discovered to be a party to the Norfolk conspiracy (the Ridolfi plot), a hint was given to the Western
RALPH FITCH
so privateers,
Plymouth
and a young adventurer sailed out of harbour more enterprising and more
audacious than the dreaded Hawkins himself."
This
was Drake's expedition to Nombre de Dios, and although its intention and character were well known, the Queen appears to have made no secret of her "
The young the enterprise. adventurer" returned with an enormous amount of personal
interest
in
booty from the Isthmus of Panama, and, what was of more importance, with a considerably widened view as a navigator for he had seen the Pacific Ocean, and had come to the determination to find his way thither, and to solve the problem of the NorthVVest passage from
American continent.
the other
side
of
the
North
About four years afterwards
Oxenham the rover crossed the isthmus, and, having built a pinnace, made prizes
amongst the coasters of
the Pacific which brought bullion from Lima, but he
was eventually captured and hanged. 1 Drake's circumnavigation.
Drake's next voyage, which was to hand his name down to history as the first circumnavigator, which was to dis-
pose of the fictions
designedly circulated by the concerning the almost
sailors of Spain and Portugal
insurmountable
difficulties
to be
met with
in
the
Straits of .Magellan on the one hand, and on the other in the passage of the Cape of Good Hope which was, in short, to lay the foundation of England's claim of empire over the sea, was commenced in the ;
winter of 1577, and, again, at a 1
crisis
in
the history
" Hakluyt gives a short account of the doings of John
Oxnam of Plimmouth," vol. iii. p. 526.
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY of his country.
3*
Don John of Austria, the hero of
Lepanto, who had become the new governor of the Netherlands, undertook his charge with the deliberate intention of utilising his Spanish veterans for an invasion of England. The " Spanish Fury" at Antwerp in
1576, and the united demand from both Catholic
and Protestants
for the
withdrawal of the Spanish
troops from the Low Countries, Denied to further his purpose admirably. But, designedly or otherwise,
probably the truth of the matter will never be known, the Netherland States insisted on the departure by land, and this was effected at the beginning of the year.
Under these circumstances it need hardly be
a matter
of
surprise
that
Elizabeth should have
countenanced another scheme, the success of which, as she must have foreseen, could only be to the detriment of Spain. Possibly another reason for her action may be found in the mission of the Marquis of Havre from the struggling Netherlander, who feared a rapprochement between Don John and the Catholics of France.
A short time before the departure of Drake a remarkable letter was sent to the Queen, which may be taken as representing the curious mixture of daring
and diplomacy of the Englishmen of the time. It is dated November 6th, and in the original, which is preserved among the Domestic MSS. at the Public Record Office, the signature is erased. "
The writer says
:
Your Majesty must first seek the kingdom of heaven, and make no league with those whom God has divided from you. Your Majesty must endeavour to make yourself strong and to make them weak, and at sea you can either
RALPH FITCH
32
make war on them openly or by colourable means
:
by
giving licence, under letters patent, to discover and inhabit strange places, with special proviso for their safeties whom policy requires to have most annoyed by which means the the shall be to the executors' fault doing contrary imputed :
your Highness's letters patent being a manifest show that :t was not your AfterMajesty's pleasure so to have it. wards, if it seem well, you can avow the fact, or else you can disavow the fact and those that did it as league-breakers, leaving them to pretend I will
it
was done without your privity.
undertake, if you will permit me, to
fit
out ships,
well armed, for Newfoundland, where they will meet with all the great shipping of France, Spain, and The Portugal.
best I will bring away and I will
bum the rest.
Commit
us afterwards as pirates if you will, but I shall ruin their sea force, for they depend on their fishermen for their It may be objected that this will be against your navies. league; but I hold it as lawful in Christian policy to prevent a mischief betimes as to revenge it too late ; espe-
cially seeing that God himself is a party to the quarrel
now
on foot, and His enemy maliciously disposed towards your Highness. You may be told it will ruin our commerce.
Do not believe it riority at sea.
:
you
will
but establish your
If you will let us first
take the West Indies from Spain.
own supe-
do this, we will next
You will have the gold
and silver mines and the profit of the soil. You will be monarch of the seas and out of danger from everyone. I will do it if you will allow me only you must resolve and :
not delay or dally The wings of man's with the feathers of death."
life
are
plumed
Froude, who has been quoted, further states that the fleet was "equipped by a company of adventurers,
among whom largest
the
Queen and
shareholders,"
while,
as
Leicester were the to
the
ostensible
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
33
"
object of the expedition, it was to search the waste of the Pacific and find openings for English com-
merce but with private instructions from the Queen, which might be shown or withheld, acted upon or not ;
acted upon, as convenience might afterwards dictate."
Drake sailed Its results.
in
December, 1577, in .
.
.
r command ofr four vessels and a pinnace,
the largest ship of the squadron being the Pelican (afterwards called the Golden Hind, in honour, it is
supposed, of Sir Christopher Hatton) of only 120 tons, the total complement of the fleet being 164 men. It is not necessary here to follow the navi1 gator in detail in his ever-to-be-remembered voyage.
There was tragedy enough and adventure enough in conscience. At Port St. Julian, on the Patagonian
all
coast,
Thomas Doughty, the second in command
and, it has been suggested, a secret agent of the Catholic party was executed for mutiny and his "
Leaving the pinnace at this port," the Pelican Elizabeth, and the 3o-ton cutter successfully passed Magellan's Straits. Meeting violent weather on entering the Pacific the cutter was lost, and Winter in the Elizabeth, having lost sight of Drake, succeeded in making the return passage through the Straits, and arrived in England in June, 1578. The Pelican, or Golden Hind as the vessel was now called, with a ship's company of between eighty and ninety men, commenced a career of exploration and
vessel burnt. ,
"
1 The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake," collated with an unpublished manuscript of Francis Fletcher, chaplain
to the expedition, has been edited for the
Mr. W. S. W. Vaux, M.A. 4
Hakluyt Society by
RALPH FITCH
34
warfare which is unique in history. We have given one reference to the records of the voyage, others may be found in Hakluyt's collection and in the State papers. Apart from the financial results, it is of considerable interest to note that Drake, in pursuit of the north-west passage, sailed northward to the coast. He met with hospitable treatment from the natives, who saw Europeans for the first time, and took formal possession of the region, which he dubbed " New Albion." But, anxious to preserve his questionably gotten treasure, and leaving
Californian
behind the snow-capped mountains of the north, he pursued his way by the Pelew and Philippine Islands, threaded the Moluccas, doubled the Cape of Good
Hope, and eventually reached Plymouth in October, 1580, after an absence of two years and ten months. His arrival caused immense sensation, the results of the voyage, so far as the treasure was concerned, more than confirming the rumours that had preceded him, which were chiefly based on the reports sent across the Isthmus of Panama to Spain by the
The queen shuffled in reply to the indignant protests of the Spanish ambassador, Mendoza, and knighted Drake. 1 Possibly the delay
Viceroy of Callao.
1
Various calculations have been
made of the value of the
tons of silver and the large sums of gold and jewels seized either ashore or afloat on the South American coast by this single vessel, which contained a mere handful of men.
In the case of the plundering of the treasure-ship Our Lady of the Conception (the Cacafuego the English sailors called her) alone, the Spanish Government reckoned their loss at a million and a half of ducats (worth about 95. 6d. each), an amount which, adds Froude, was never questioned.
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
35
the action of Spain in reply to this deliberate attack upon the sources of her wealth abroad may in
the fact that Philip's attention was Portugal on the one hand, and in the Netherlands on the other. It was in 1580 that he
be found
in
absorbed
in
seized upon the crown of the former country, his claim being based upon the fact that his mother was
the
daughter of King Manuel
;
Dom Antonio, a
natural son of the royal house, and also a claimant, was driven out of Portugal, eventually finding an in this country. In the same year Philip published his infamous Ban, which set a price upon the head of William of Orange.
asylum
There can be no question that Drake's Aspiration.
.
.
.
as
of
....
it
(
did
circumnavigation, disposing fictions, opened the eyes of his
many sailors'
countrymen to the possibilities of a vast foreign trade, and at the same time exposed the weak side of the much-dreaded power of Spain. It is true, as we have to some extent shown, that there was no lack of adventurers, some of whom had met with no meagre measure of success. But Drake had sailed round the whole world, had fought the Spaniards on their own high seas, and had come back, loaded with
To suggest that the Armada was in 1588 merely to launched Spanish
untold wealth, to reap honours.
punish these plunderings of 1577-80 would be absurd. Philip after repeated raids on his colonies it is true simply attacked England in her turn, and at
time most convenient to himself.
But in the had been growing up for which he never calculated, and such men as Drake and John
a
interval a spirit
j
RALPH FITCH
36
Hawkins, Frobisher, Raleigh, and Gilbert were inThe love of adventure the hope of spired by it. afar off; the stretching forth, as it were, something of unshackled limbs the drinking in of purer and unaccustomed air these affected the whole mass of ;
;
a constitutionally vigorous people, who, almost intoxicated as they were by their new-found aspirations, could approach their Sovereign with a certainty
of finding sentiments peculiarly
in harmony with own wisdom, better trained and wider than their own courage and rough-and-ready daring, equal
their
;
;
[^
to their own.
In his graphic picture of the time Sir Walter Besant tells of
the bronzed and scarred veterans
who sat in
the tavern and told, between their cups of sack, of the wonders that lay beyond the ocean, to an audience
who had
not yet got
beyond
believing in
"the
Ethiopian with four eyes, the Arimaspi with one eye, the Hippopodes or Centaurs, the Monopoli, or
men
who have no
their
head, but carry their faces breasts and their eyes in their shoulders.
in
None of
these monsters, it is true, had ever been caught and
brought
home
;
but
many an honest fellow, if hard
pressed by his hearers, would reluctantly confess to
having seen them." Of the adventurers of the humbler sort we have Miles Philips, who sailed with Hawkins to the West Indies and, after the episode of San Juan de Ulloa, was put ashore with others near Panuco in This man spent many miserable years as a 1568. His stirring story was prisoner of the Spaniards. in and is 1582, preserved in Hakluyt's published Collection (vol. iii.), along with that of a fellow-
ADVENTURE AND DISCOVERY
37
Peter Carder, the only mariner, one Job Hortop. survivor of the crew of Drake's pinnace, also returned
England after an extraordinary series of experiences in 1586, and told his tale to the Queen.
to
These were the circumstances and To the East Indies,
these the times in which Master Ralph
Fitch and his companions began their memorable India and the Far East. Despite the
journey to
relentless cruelties of the Spanish inquisitors, even to
castaways like Philips, Englishmen could be found in any number to join any expedition even to unknown
But in this case a systematic attempt was regions. to be made to study on the spot the nature of a trade which had so much enriched the two great monarchies of Spain and Portugal. The undertaking cannot be described altogether as an exploration, for the It mainly followed well-beaten tracks. was mainly intended to get at the sources of a most and whether the profitable system of commerce ultimate end was to be a diversion of some of it to the benefit of the already growing Levant trade with England, or to establish over-sea communications vid the Cape which ultimately proved to be the case were matters probably left for consideration till after the results of the venture were made known. A superior class of man was obviously required for such an enterprise. Newberie was an experienced traveller and merchant, Fitch was eminently fitted for the task by education, native shrewdness, and the
travellers
;
power of clear, concise description, as the reader will Leedes and shortly have an opportunity of judging. were at least far as the clever tradesmen. So Story
RALPH FITCH
38
records go, the little party had only been preceded in the journey to India by one Englishman, Stevens the Jesuit,
whom they found at Goa and who had reached
that emporium as early as 1579 their journey at a
They began
by a different route. most critical period
and voluntarily placed thempower of their country's most bigoted and bitter enemy, whose wrath had just been excited For by the depredations of a fellow-countryman. cool and deliberate daring the journey of Fitch and in
European
history,
selves in the
his
fellow-travellers hardly finds a parallel even in its ultimate results will be found
Elizabethan history in a modern
;
map of India.
.
BOOK II
ENGLAND'S PIONEERS TO INDIA
[Walker & Boutall, London.
Photo]
PHILIP
II.
(COELLO).
CHAPTER
I
QUEEN'S LETTERS TO INDIA AND CHINA REMARKABLE RELATION OF RALPH FITCH VOYAGE TO GOA IMPRISONED
T
HE setting forth of Master Ralph Fitch and his
companions appears to have had its origin in the enterprise of the newly formed Levant ~ The Levant or r ,
Turkey company.
,
Company, afterwards known as the Turkey Company. Records are pre-
served of voyages made early in the sixteenth century to various Mediterranean ports in Sicily, Crete, Cyprus,
and to Tripoli and Beyrout in Syria, while we had a Consul stationed at Chios as early as 1 5 1 3. In Hakluyt's Collection we find an account of the perilous voyage of the Holy Cross and the Matthew Gonson to Crete
and Chios in 1534. In 1550 Captain Bodenham, in "the great Barke Aucher" went the same journey, and states that " Richard Chancellor, who first discovered Russia, was with me in that voyage." Three years later Anthony Jenkinson, already referred to, who was then at Aleppo, obtained " a safe conduct "
from Sultan Solyman, which has been described as the actual foundation of our future capitulations and 41
RALPH FITCH
42
the
commencement
In Levant Company. Harebone (or Hareborne), Edward Ellis, and Richard Staple (apparently the Richard Staper mentioned below), were sent to Constantinople to obtain for English merchants the of the
1579 three merchants, William
by other nations. 1 In 1581 Elizabeth entered into a treaty with Amurath (Murad) III. for five years, and granted letters patent to a small privileges enjoyed
" company entitled, The Company of Merchants of the Levant." The charter was issued to Sir Edward Osborne, Thomas Smith, Richard Staper, and William " Her Majesty therefore grants unto those Garret.
four merchants and to such other Englishmen, not exceeding twelve in number, as the said Sir E. Osborn and Staper shall appoint to be joined to them and their factors, servants, and deputies, for the space of seven years to trade to Turkey." The exclusive right 1
"
Early Voyages and Travels in the Levant," edited for the Hakluyt Society by the late Mr. J. Theodore Bent, F.S.A., F.R.G.S. The author further points out that the carrying trade between England and the Levant had hitherto been chiefly in the hands of the Venetians. Their ships were called "argosies," and Sir Paul Ricaut, some time Consul at Smyrna, gives an unexpected explanation of the name by stating that they were " so called because they were built at Ragusa, z'.., Ragosies." In 1575, after one of their vessels had been wrecked on the Isle of Wight, the Venetian merchants hesitated to navigate such dangerous seas, and in the same year a dispute arose concerning duties. Still another cause which tended to promote our independent intercourse with Turkey was that Elizabeth entered upon her vital contest with Philip II. in fact, in 1587, in view ;
of the Armada preparations, her agent at Constantinople was actually instructed to appeal to the Sultan for aid against
"the idolater the King of Spain," happily without practical result.
QUEEN'S LETTERS TO INDIA
AND CHINA
43
was given on three clauses subject to revocation on a year's notice that the Queen might add two members to the number of patentees and
to trade
;
;
renewal for another seven years might be granted, provided that the said exclusive trade should
that a
Such was the original charter, and what happened soon afterwards was distinctly characteristic of a period when the highest in the land felt, and did not hesitate
not appear to be unprofitable to the kingdom.
to show, a warm personal interest in the development
of the commerce of the country. in the early days of the enterprise,
the association attending on the
It is recorded that "
the
members of
Queen and Council
received great thanks and high commendation for the ships they then built of so great burthen/ with *
'
many encouragements also to go forward for the " The first vessel despatched by kingdom's sake.' *
the
new organisation of merchants was
1582.
It
William
was
called the
Hareborne, our
sent out in
Great Susan, and carried first
plenipotentiary
(or
ambassador as Hakluyt describes him) to the Sultan.
"The Early Chartered Companies," q.v. It is hardly necessary to add that by the natural operations of time and change the Turkey Company at last entered upon a period of disintegration and decay, but it did not cease to exist till 1825. 1
Chesney (" Survey of Euphrates and Tigris ") states that NewHe also refers berie and Fitch were sent out by the Company. from the Company to the Queen, given in the It Cotton Collection (Nero B. viii. 47), requesting a loan. is dated 1583, and states that they have already laid out "45,000 Ibs.," and that this was not sufficient to defray their
to a petition
great charges. vol. ii.
The text of the charter is preserved in Hakluyt,
'
RALPH FITCH
44
He was an active trade organiser, and we find him the following year appointing Richard Elliott as Consul at Tripoli. In 1586 a charter was granted to fifty-three
individuals
trade in the Levant, the
to
principal mart being Aleppo, where Michael Lock had been established as Consul. The leadership in the enterprise of which Master Fitch has left us so graphic an account, was entrusted to Master John Newberie whose adventures will be described later on to whom the Queen, as a mark of her cognisance and encouragement, granted
the following letters missive to the
and " the King of China " "Elizabeth
Emperor Akbar
:
by the grace
of God,
&c.
To the most inuincible and most mightie >
prince,
lord
Zelabdim
Echebar king
of
Cambaya. Inuincible Emperor, &c. The great affection which our Subiects haue to visit the most distant places of the world, not without good will and intention to introduce the trade of marchandize of al nations whatsoeuer they can,
by which
meanes the mutual
and
friendly
trafique
of
marchandize on both sides may came, is the cause that the bearer of this letter lohn Newbery, ioyntly with those that be in his company, with a curteous and honest boldnesse,
doe repaire to the borders and countreys of your Empire,
we doubt not but that your imperial Maiestie through your
And royal grace, will fauourably and friendly accept him. that you would doe it the rather for our sake, to make vs greatly
beholding to your Maiestie;
wee should more
earnestly, and with more wordes require it, if wee did think But by the singular report that is of your it needful.
imperial Maiesties humanitie in these vttermost parts of the world, we are greatly eased of that burden, and therefore
QUEEN'S LETTERS TO INDIA wee vse the fewer and lesse words because they are
:
AND CHINA
45
onely we request that
our subiects,
they may be honestly and receiued. And that in respect of the hard iourney which they haue vndertaken to places so far distant, it would please your Maiesty with some libertie and securitie intreated
of voiage to gratifie it, with such priuileges as to you shall which curtesie if your Imperiall maiestie shal
seeme good
:
to our subiects at our requests performe, wee, according to our royall honour, wil recompence the same with as many
deserts as
we can.
And herewith we bid your Imperial
Maiestie to farewel."
" Elizabeth
by the grace of God Queene of
England, &c. Most Imperial and inuincible prince, our honest subiect lohn Newbery the bringer hereof, who with our fauour hath taken in hand the voyage which nowe hee pursueth to the parts and countreys
of your Empire, not trusting vpon any other ground then vpon the fauour of your Imperiall clemencie and humanitie,
mooued to vndertake a thing of so much difficultie, being perswaded that hee hauing entred into so many perils, your Maiestie will not dislike the same, especially, if it may
is
appeare that it be not damageable vnto your royall Maiestie, and that to your people it will bring some profite of both which things he not doubting, with more willing minde :
hath prepared himselfe for his destinated voyage vnto us
For by this meanes we perceiue, that the which the mutual trade on both sides, al the by profit e princes our neighbors in y West do receiue, your Imperial maiestie & those that be subiect vnder your dominion, to their great ioy and benefit shal haue the same, which consisteth in the transporting outward of such things whereof we haue plenty, & in bringing in such things as we It cannot otherwise be, but that stand in need of. seeing we are borne and made need one of another, & that wee well liked of.
RALPH FITCH
46 are
bound
to
aide one another, but that your imperial it, by your subiects w like
Maiestie wil wel like of
&
1
For the increase whereof, if your imperial Maiestie shall adde the securitie of passage, with other priuileges most necessary to vse the trade with your
indeuor wil be accepted.
men, your maiestie shall doe that which belongeth to a most honorable & liberal prince, and deserue so much of vs, as by no cotinuance or length of time shal be forgotten. Which request of ours we do most instantly desire to be take in good part of your maiestie, and so great a benefit towards vs & our men, we shall endeuor by diligence to requite when time shal serue thereunto.
The God Almighty long pre-
serue your Imperial maiestie." l
Sundry letters written during the journey will be given in their due order, but of all the party Fitch In the introduction alone appears to have returned. of his second volume, and in dedicating the book to " Sir Robert Cecil, principall Secretarie to her "
like another Hakluyt says that Fitch, Paulus Venetus returned home to the place of his
Maiestie,"
departure,
with
ample
relation
of
his
wonderful
trauailes, which he presented in writing to my Lord your father, of honourable memorie," and further on he describes the traveller as " now liuing in London." 2 1
s
Both the letters are given in Hakluyt, vol. ii. part i. Sir Robert Cecil, son of the great Lord Burleigh, first came
into prominence toward the end of 1 592, when he was appointed
one of the commissioners for the disposal of the contents of a prize carrack which had been captured from the " He is the subject of Spaniards and brought into Dartmouth. an anecdote which Anthony Bacon, with a spice of malice, relates Lord Wemyss from Scotland, coming out to the Earl of Essex. from the Privy Chamber after an interview with the Queen,
valuable
HIS NARRATIVE
47
The following is the story of the journey which was to lead to such pregnant results, given in the quaint English in which it was written three centuries ago,
and with Hakluyt's marginal notes and comments. To some extent it must be admitted as Mr. W. secretary of the Hakluyt suggested that Fitch's relation is Foster,
Society,
has
based on the
framework of that of Caesar Frederick, the Venetian merchant, which was Englished before his return in Caesar Frederick left Venice twenty years 1591. in earlier, 1563, pursuing the same course to the Far East. There is certainly much similarity in the two accounts of the first portion of the common journey,
from Tripoli to Aleppo and down the Euphrates and But at this point our traveller Tigris to Ormuz. begins an entirely new story, relates a new set of adventures, and even where the Venetian and the Englishman come to describe the same cities and
we
scenes
have, in the following narrative, the of looking at them for the first time
advantage through English eyes
:
NARRATIVE OF RALPH FITCH.' "The voyage of M. Ralph Fitch marchant of London by the way of Tripolis in Syria, to Ormus, '
asked the Lord Chamberlain for Sir Robert. Why, Sir,' said he, he was within.' By my soul,' saith the Lord Wemyss, I No marvel,' said Sir George Carey, could not see him.' being so little,' whereat the Lord Wemyss confessed he burst '
'
'
'
*
(Calendar of MS. preserved at Hatfield, MSS. Commission, 1892, 1894). Hakluyt's "Principall Navigations," 1599-1600,
out of laughing" parts 1
vol.
iv.
and v.
From ii.
part
i.
Hist.
RALPH FITCH
48
and so to Goa in the East India, to Cambaia, and all the kingdome of Zelabdim Echebar the great Mogor, to the mighty riuer Ganges, and downe to Bengala, to Bacola, and Chonderi, to Pegu, to lamahay in the kingdome of Siam, and backe to Pegu, and from thence to Malacca, Zeilan, Cochin, and all the coast of the East India begunne in the yeere of our Lord 1583, and ended 1591, wherein the strange rites, maners, and customes of those people, and the exceeding rich trade and commodities of those countries are faithfully set downe and diligently described, by the aforesaid M. Ralph Fitch. "In the yeere of our Lord 1583, I Ralph Fitch of London marchant being :
desirous to see the countreys of the East India, in the company of M. lohn New-
berie
marchant (which had
beene
at
Ormus once before) of William Leedes leweller, and
lames Story Painter, being
chiefly set foorth by the right worshipfull
Sir
Edward Osborne
knight,
and M.
Richard Staper citizens and marchants of London, did ship my selfe in a ship of
London called the Tyger, wherein we went
for
Tripolis
in
Syria
:
&
from
we tooke the way for Aleppo, which we went in seuen dayes with the thence
Carouan. 1
Being in Aleppo, and finding
A member of the party who sailed in the Tyger was Master John Eldred, another London merchant and pioneer of note, of whom more anon. The following extract from Purchas (1625, book ix. chap, ix.) will be read with interest 1
:
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
49
good company, we went from thence to Birra, which is two dayes and an halfe trauaile with Camels. " Bjrra
.
Birra
a
is
towne, but
little
plentifull of victuals
:
very
and neere to the
wall of the towne runneth the riuer of
Here we bought a boate and agreed with a master and bargemen, for to go to Babylon. These boats be but for one voiage for the streame doth runne so fast downewardes that they Euphrates.
1
;
cannot returne.
They carie you to a towne which they call Felugia, and there you sell the boate for a litle money, for that which cost you fiftie at Birra you sell
there
Birra
to
iourney, it
seuen
for
is
or eight. sixteene
From
Felugia dayes is not good that one boate
"Aleppo is called of the inhabitants Haleb, the chief Mart of all the East, frequented by Persians, Indians, Armenians and all
Europeans.
The Port is Scanderone, called by the InhabiThe soyle is very fertile, & nourisheth
tants Escanderuneh.
And besides other wealth abundance of Silke-wormes. innumerable, it hath eight Armories well furnished. It now flourisheth in the next 'place to Constantinople and Cairo, and Here are store of Gems may be called, Queen of the East .
.
.
:
Muske." The Italian word Ambar, Bengeoin, Lignum, Aloes Aleppo dates from the time when the Venetians dominated the Eastern trade, and it is stated that many Venetian families still survive and carry on characteristic industries. Commerce with Europe continues to pass chiefly through Scanderoon now better known as Alexandretta.
(Iskanderun),
Evidently Birejik or Bir, on the left bank of the Euphrates and at the head of the navigation on that river. 1
5
RALPH FITCH
50
goe alone, for if it should chance to breake, you should haue much a doe to saue your goods from the Arabians, which be alwayes there abouts robbing and in the night when your boates be made fast, it is necessarie that you keepe good watch. For the Arabians that bee theeues, will come swimming and steale your goods and flee away, against which a gunne is very good, for they doe feare In the riuer of Euphrates it very much. from Birra to Felugia there be certaine places where you pay custome, so many Medines x for a some or Camels lading, and certaine raysons and sope, which is for the sonnes of Aborise, which is Lord of the Arabians and all that great desert, and hath some villages vpon the riuer. Felugia where you vnlade your goods which come from Birra is a little village: from whence you goe to Babylon in a :
-
Feiugia.
day.
2
"
Babylon,
Babylon is a towne not very great but very populous, and of great traffike of strangers, for that is the way to Persia,
and from thence Turkia and Arabia doe goe Carouans for these and other :
places.
Here are great store of victuals,
which come from Armenia downe the 1
A Turkish coin of small value.
Feluja stands on the Euphrates W. by N. of Bagdad, with which city it is connected by the Sarsar Canal. 3
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
51
riuer of Tygris.
They are brought vpon made of goates skinnes blowne
raftes full
of winde and hordes layde vpon and thereupon they lade their
them
:
which are brought downe to Babylon, which being discharged they goods
open their skinnes, and carry them backe by Camels, to serue another time.
Babylon in times past did belong to the kingdome of Persia, but nowe is subiect to the Turke. Ouer against Babylon there is a very faire village from whence
you passe to Babylon vpon a long bridge made of boats, and tyed to a great chaine of yron, which is made fast on either
side
of the
riuer.
When any
boates are to passe vp or downe the riuer, they take away certaine of the The Tower of
boates vntill they be past. 1 " The Tower of Babel is built on this side the riuer Tygris, towardes Arabia from the towne about seuen or eight
1
Master Fitch refers to Bagdad.
Purchas (book x. chap, vi.) a marginal note, " Babilon (so vulgarly but is called), the true name is Bagdet;" he adds: "It
testily observes in
falsely it is the Citie Royall of Mesopotamia, now called Diarbecr, which
the said Almansur, placed in a large Plaine upon Tigris, and divided by the River into two Cities, joyned by a bridge of "
"
Caesar Frederick gives a similar account of Babylon on the Tigris, and a recent description of Bagdad states that a boat bridge still connects the two portions of the city. It " is only when we come to the story of the Tower of Babel " in Master Fitch's interesting narrative that some confusion
boats."
arises.
RALPH FITCH
52
which tower is ruinated on all sides, and with the fall thereof hath made as it were a little mountaine, so it was that it hath no shape at all made of brickes dried in the sonne, and certaine canes and leaues of the palme tree layed betwixt the brickes. There is no entrance to be scene to goe into it. It doth stand vpon a great plaine betwixt the riuers of Euphrates and Tygris. 1 " By the riuer Euphrates two dayes Journey from Babylon at a place called Ait, in a fielde neere vnto it, is a strange miles,
:
S&L* out of the earth.
1 From this location, which accords with that of Caesar " the Tower Frederick, who, however, designates the remains of Nimrod or Babel," Master Fitch may refer to the mound
marking the great temple of Bel, the Babil or Mujellibe. A similar temple known as the Birs Nimroud, and generally believed by old travellers to be the veritable remains of the Tower of Babel, was built at the Babylonian suburb of Borsippa on the western side of Euphrates and is described by Layard in his " Discoveries in Nineveh and Babylon." It stands about six miles to the south-west of Hillah.
Consisting of a great heap " The dry nitrous earth of the parched plain, driven before the furious south wind, has thrown over the huge mass a thin covering of soil in which of bricks, slag, and broken pottery,
no herb or green thing can
find
nourishment or take root.
Nimroud is ever a bare and yellow heap. It rises to the height of 198 feet, and has on its summit a compact mass of brickwork, 37 feet high by 28 broad (these dimen-
Thus
.
.
.
the Birs
sions are from Mr. Rich), the whole being thus 235 feet in perpendicular height." As Fitch was seized with sickness at Bagdad and afterwards continued his journey down the Tigris (see his letter from Goa), it is not likely that he crossed the
Babylonian plain to view the Birs Nimroud.
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
53
thing to see: a mouth that doth continually throwe foorth against the ayre
boyling
pitch
with
a
filthy
smoke
:
which pitch doth runne abroad into a great fielde which is alwayes full thereof. The Moores say that it is the mouth of hell. By reason of the great quantitie of it, the men of that countrey doe pitch
two or three inches thicke on the outside, so that no water doth their boates
enter into them. 1
Their boates be called
Danec. When there is great store of water in Tygris you may goe from
Babylon to Basora in 8 or 9 dayes if you the :
there be small store it will cost
more dayes. "
Basora in times past was vnder the
Arabians, but now is subiect to the Turke. 2 But some of them the Turke
cannot subdue, for that they holde certaine Ilandes in the riuer Euphrates which the Turke cannot winne of them. They be theeues all and haue no setled dwelling, but remoue from place to place with their Camels, goates, and horses, wiues and children and all. They have large blew gownes, their wiues eares and noses are ringed very full of rings of copper and siluer, and 1
-
The bituminous fountains of Hit (Chesney, vol. ii. p. 636).
Busra, or Bussorah, is the principal Turkish port on the Persian Gulf.
RALPH FITCH
54
they weare rings of copper about their legs.
"Basora standeth neere the gulfe of Persia, and is a towne of great trade of spices and drugges which come from Ormus. Also there is great store of wheate, ryce, and dates growing thereabout, wherewith they serue Babylon and all the countrey, Ormus, and all the I went from Basora partes of India. to Ormus downe the gulfe of Persia in a certaine shippe made of boordes, and
sowed together with cayro, which is threede made of the huske of Cocoes, and certaine canes or strawe leaues sowed vpon the seames of the bordes which is the cause that they leake very And so hauing Persia alwayes much. on the left hande, and the coast of Arabia on the right hande we passed many Ilandes, and among others the famous Hande Baharim from whence come the best pearles which be round and Orient. 1 "
Ormus is an Island in circuit about
fiue
and twentie or thirtie miles, and is
the driest Island in the world
:
for there
in it but onely salt
is
nothing growing wood, or victuals, and all things necessary come out of Persia, for their water,
Bahrein, or Aval Island
:
still
noted for its pearl fisheries.
:
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
55
which is about twelue miles from thence. 1 All the Hands thereabout be very fruit-
whence all kinds of victuals are The Portugales haue a castle here which standeth neere vnto full, from
sent vnto Ormus.
the sea, wherein there is a Captaine for the
king of Portugale hauing vnder
him a conuenient number of souldiers, whereof some parte remaine in the In this castle, and some in the towne. towne are marchants of all Nations, and many Moores and Gentiles. Here is very great trade
of all sortes of spices,
The island of Ormuz, Hormuz, or Jerun, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman, is thirteen miles in 1
circumference, and presents an extraordinary appearance from the sea, the mountains in the southern half being of variegated colours,
from extensive impregnations of salt, sulphur, and
other minerals.
From the fourteenth to the seventeenth cen-
formed one of the richest trade depots in the East. The great Albuquerque captured the place in 1 507-8 in pursuit of his policy of destroying the commerce carried on by the tury
it
Muhammadans with India.
Professor Morse Stephens, in his (Rulers of India Series, Clarendon Press, 1892), states that the future viceroy, having taken part in the seizure of Socotra, intended to penetrate the Red Sea, but, having obtained a chart of the Persian Gulf made by a Muham-
"Albuquerque"
madan pilot, he went thither instead. " The wealth and prosperity of Ormuz is described in glowing terms by all early travellers in Asia, and it is called in ancient
books
*
the richest
The British and Persians gained possession of the island in 1622, and Ormuz now belongs
jewel set in the ring of the world.'
:3
to Persia ; the trade, however, has been transferred to Bandar Abbas, the harbour has silted up, and there are but few inhabi-
tantsfishermen and salt-diggers.
RALPH FITCH
56
drugs, silke, cloth of silke, fine tapestrie of Persia, great store of pearles which
come from the Isle of Baharim, and are the best pearles of all others, and many horses of Persia, which serue
all
India.
They haue a Moore to their king which is chosen and gouerned by the PortuTheir women are very strangely gales. attyred, wearing on their noses, eares, neckes, armes and legges many rings set with Jewels, and lockes of siluer and golde in their eares, and a long barre of golde vpon the side of their noses. Their eares with the weight of their iewels be worne
may
thrust
so wide, that a of his fingers
three
man into
them. "
Here very shortly after our arriuall wee were put in prison, and had part of our goods taken from vs by the Captaine of the castle, whose
name was Don
Mathias de Albuquerque and from hence the eleuenth of October he shipped vs and sent vs for Goa vnto the Viceroy, which at that time was Don Francisco de Mascarenhas. The shippe wherein we were imbarked for ;
Goa belonged to the Captaine, and carried
one hundred
horses in
it.
twentie and foure
All marchandise carried
Goa in a shippe wherein are horses pay no custome in Goa. The horses to
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
57
pay custome, the goods pay nothing but if you come in a ship which bringeth no horses, you are then to pay eight in ;
the hundred for your goods.
"The
first
arriued at
citie
of
India that
we
vpon the fift of Nouember, 1
after we had passed the coast of Zindi, called Diu, 2 which standeth in an is
.
Hand in the kingdome of Cambaia, and is
the strongest towne that the Portu-
It is but gales haue in those partes. marchandise with well stored but litle,
;
for here
they lade
many great shippes with diuerse commodities for the streits of Mecca, for Ormus, and other places, and these be shippes of the Moores and But the Moores cannot of Christians. passe, except they haue a passeport Cambaiettas is from the Portugales. the chiefe citie of that prouince, which is great and very populous, and fairely builded for a towne of the Gentiles :
but if there happen any famine, the people will sell their children for very
The last king of Cambaia was Sultan Badu, which was killed at the siege of Diu, and shortly after his
little.
was taken by the great Mogor, which is the king of Agra and of Belli,
citie
'
Sind.
2
The island of Diu is still in possession of the Portuguese.
3
Cambay.
RALPH FITCH
58
which are fortie dayes iourney from the country of Cambaia. Here the women weare vpon their armes infinite numbers of rings made of Elepsants teeth, wherein
they take so
much delight, that they
had
be
rather
then without Daman.
without
their
their
bracelets.
meate
Going
from Diu we come to Daman the second towne of the Portugales in the countrey of Cambaia which
Diu no trade but of corne and rice. They haue many villages vnder them which they quietly fortie leagues. 1
is
distant from
Here
is
possesse in time of peace, but in time of warre the enemie is maister of
them.
*^
m
chaui.
1
'
"
From thence we passed by Basaim, and from Basaim to Tana, at both which places is small trade but only of corne and rice. The tenth of Nouember we arriued at Chaul which standeth in the firme land. There be two townes, the one belonging to the Portugales, and the other to the Moores. That of the Portugales is neerest to the sea, and commaundeth the bay, and is walled round about. A little aboue that is the towne of the Moores which is gouerned
Daman in Guzerat also remains a Portuguese possession,
and consists of a town and settlement covering an area of 82 square miles (Hunter's
"
Imperial Gazetteer of India ").
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
59
1 by a Moore king called Xa-Maluco. Here is great traffike for all sortes of spices and drugges, silke, and cloth of silke, sandales, Elephants teeth, and much China worke, and much sugar
which
made
is
of
the
nutte
called
Gagara the tree is called the palmer which is the profitablest tree in the :
worlde
and
:
:
doth alwayes beare
it
fruit,
doth
yeeld wine, oyle, sugar, vineger, cordes, coles, of the leaues are
made thatch for the houses, sayles for shippes,
mats to sit or
lie
on
:
of the
make their houses, and sweepe, of the tree wood The wine doeth issue out
branches they
broomes
to
for shippes.
The travellers apparently passed into the Bassein inlet, separating the island of Salsette from the mainland where the chief town of the Tanna district, Bassein, now stands. It is 1
recorded that the situation early attracted the notice of the
Portuguese as affording a convenient rendezvous for shipping, and the town and land adjoining were ceded to them in 1534 by
Shah Bahadur, King of Guzerat.
The place grew to a position now forms portion of the John Huyghen van Linschoten (of whom more hereafter) in his "Voyage" (Hakluyt Society, of considerable
importance Bombay Presidency (Hunter).
;
it
1885, vol. i.) thus describes this portion of the coast where the "
first Daman from thence Portuguese had established forts fifteene miles under 19 degrees and a halfe the town of Basaiin, from Basaiin ten miles under 19 degrees the Towne and fort of Chaul, from Chaul to Dabul are tenne miles, and lyeth under 1 8 degrees from Dabul to the town and Island of Goa are 30 It will be miles, which lyeth under 15 degrees and a halfe." noticed that in the account of his return voyage Fitch gives the distance between Goa and Chaul as threescore leagues. :
:
RALPH FITCH
60
of the toppe of the tree. They cut a branch of a bowe and binde it hard,
and hange an earthen pot vpon it, which they emptie euery morning and euery euening, and still it and put in certaine dried raysins, and it becommeth Hither strong wine in short time.
many shippes come from all partes of India, Ormus, and many from Mecca :
heere be manie
Moores and Gentiles.
They haue a very strange order among them, they worshippe a cowe, and esteeme much of the cowes doung to
They paint the walles of their houses. will kill nothing not so much as a louse
:
for they holde
anything.
it
a sinne to kille
They eate no flesh, but Hue
by rootes, and ryce, and milke. And when the husbande dieth his wife is burned with him,
if
shee be aliue
if
:
she will not, her head is shauen, and then is neuer any account made of her after.
They say
if
they
be
should
were a great sinne, for of their bodies there would come many wormes and other vermine, and when their bodies were consumed, those wormes would lacke sustenance, which were a sinne, therefore they will be
buried,
burned.
it
In
Cambaia they
will
kill
in nothing, nor haue anything killed the towne they haue hospitals to keepe :
HIS NARRATIVE, FIRST PART
and
lame dogs
cats,
and
61
for
birds.
They will giue meat to the Ants. Goa
"
-
the
Goa is the most principal citie which Portugals haue in
India, wherein
the Viceroy remaineth with his court. It standeth in an Hand, which may be 25, or 30, miles about.
and
for
It is a fine citie,
an Indian towne very
faire.
The Hand is very faire, full of orchards and gardens, and many palmer trees, and hath some villages. Here bee many And the marchants of all nations. Fleete which commeth euery yeere from Portugal, which be foure, fiue, or sixe great shippes, commeth first hither.
And they come for the most part in September, and remaine there fortie or dayes and then goe to Cochin,
fiftie
where
;
lade
they
their
Pepper
for
Oftentimes they lade one Portugall. in Goa, the rest goe to Cochin which is from Goa an hundred leagues southward.
Goa standeth in the countrey
of Hidalcan, who lieth in the countrey sixe or seuen dayes iourney. His chiefe citie
1
is
"
called Bisapor. 1
Hidalcan" is probably a corruption of the title of the ruler Mussulman state of Bijapur, the Adil Shah, or Khan. Ibrahim Adil II., then an infant, succeeded his uncle Ali Adil Shah in 1579, and on assuming the government ruled with
of the
ability, dying in
1626 (Hunter).
RALPH FITCH
62
^ our comming we were
This was the 20 1 of Nouemoer.
cast into
and examined before the and demanded for letters, and Justice, were charged to be spies, but they
the prison,
We prooue nothing by vs. continued in prison vntill the two and could
twentie of December, and then we were set at
libertie,
putting in sureties for
two thousand duckats not to depart the towne which sureties father Steuens an English lesuite which we found ;
there, & another religious ma a friend of his procured for vs. Our sureties
name was Andreas Taborer, to whom we paid 2150. duckats, and still he demaunded more where vpon we made :
sute to the Viceroy and Justice to haue our money againe, considering that
they had had fiue
it in their hands neere moneths and could prooue nothing
against
vs.
The Viceroy made vs a
very sharpe answere, and sayde wee should be better sifted before it were long, and that they
against vs.
had further matter
Wherevpon we
presently
determined rather to seeke our liberties, then to bee in danger for euer to be slaues in the country, for it was told vs
we should haue y
e
Wherestrapado. of the fift day vpon presently, April 1585. in the morning we ranne from 1
Fitch himself gives the date November 29, see page 65.
HIS XARRATIVR, FIRST PART thence.
63
And being set ouer the riuer,
we went two dayes on
foote not with-
out feare, not knowing the way nor hauing any guide, for we durst trust none."
[Some
curious details of the
imprisonment and
escape of the adventurers will be found in the following chapter.
The narrative is continued on page 92.]
CHAPTER II DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE A FRIEND NEED IN NEWBERIE'S LAST LETTER "GOLDEN GOA" PORTUGUESE IN INDIA I
T'URTHER particulars of the experiences of the
1
Goa are given in the correhome and happily preserved in
four travellers at
spondence they sent Hakluyt's
Collection
(vol.
ii.).
But
more
even
interest attaches to the independent account of their arrival, detention, and escape given by John
Huyghen
van Linschoten, the Netherlander, who, as a pioneer of discovery and commerce, stands to his own
countrymen at least in quite as prominent a position as Fitch occupies in regard to the East India
pany.
This was the most
voyage, and
critical
Com-
episode in
the
may be suggested that Fitch's and Newberie's letters reproduced in this chapter were written with due caution. it
The following is the text of a letter Ralph Fitch to Leonard Poore.
written,
during his arrest, by Fitch to his friend
Ralph Leonard Foore of London
:
Master Master
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
65
"
Louing friend Master Poore, &c. Since my departure from Aleppo, I haue not written vnto you any letters, by reason that at Babylon, I was sicke of the fluxe, and being sicke, I went from thence for Balsara, which was twelue dayes iourney downe the riuer Tygris, where we had extreme hot weather, which was good for my disease, ill fare, and worse
In lodging, by reason our boat was pestered with people. eight daies, that which I did eate was very small, so that if
we had stayed two dayes longer vpon the water, I thinke I had died
but
comming to Balsara, presently I mended, I There we stayed 14 dayes, and then we imbarked our selues for Ormuz, where we arriued the fifth of September, and were put in prison the ninth of the same moneth, where we continued vntill the 1 1 of October, and then were shipt for this citie of Goa in the captaines and passing ship, with an 114 horses, and about 200 men Diu the 20 of & water where we went on land to Chaul, by :
thanke God.
:
Nouember, we arriued at Goa the 29 of the said moneth, where for our better intertainment we were presently put into a faire strong prison, were we continued vntil the 22 of December. It was the will of God that we found there 2
Padres, the one an Englishman, the other a Flemming. the is Padre Thomas Steuens,
The Englishmans name
others Padre Marco, of the order of S. Paul. These did sue for vs vnto the Viceroy and other officers, and stood vs in as much stead, as our
Hues and goods were woorth for had not stucke to they vs, if we had escaped with our Hues, yet we had had long imprisonment. :
if
"
After 14 dayes imprisonment they offered vs, if we could put in suerties for 2000 duckats, we should goe abroad in the towne which when we could not doe, the said Padres :
found suerties for vs, that we should not depart the countrey without the licence of the Viceroy. Italians
deliuery.
to
see
vs
abroad
It
doth spite the at our
and many maruell
:
The painter is in the cloister of S. Paul, and is 6
RALPH FITCH
66 of their order,
While we were
and liketh there very well.
in prison both at Ormuz and here, there was a great deale of our goods pilfered and lost, and we haue beene at great
charges in gifts and otherwise, so that a great deale of our goods is consumed. There is much of our things which
&
wil sell very well, some we shall get nothing for. I hope in God that at the returne of the Viceroy, which is gone to
Chaul and to Diu, they say, to winne a castle of the Moores, whose returne is thought will be about Easter, then we Then I shall get our libertie, and our suerties discharged. thinke it wil be our best way, either one or both to returne, because our troubles haue bene so great, & so much of our goods spoyled and lost. But if it please God that I come into England, by Gods helpe, I will returne hither againe. The It is a braue and pleasant countrey, and very fruitfull.
summer is almost all the yeere long, but
the chiefest at
Christmas. " The
day and the night are all of one length, very little For all our
difference, and marueilous great store of fruits.
great troubles yet are we fat and well liking, for victuals are
And here I will passe ouer of you strange things, vntil our meeting, for it would be too long to write thereof. And thus I commit
here plentie and good cheape. to certifie
you to God, who euer preserue you and vs all. in the East
Indies the 25 of Januarie
command, Ralph
1584.
From Goa Yours
to
Fitch."
The following account of the arrival Lhischoten's
ancj secret departure of the Englishmen is
given by John
Huyghen van Lin-
schoten, the young Dutchman who was in the train of the Archbishop of Goa. He may be accepted as
His animadversions an entirely unbiassed witness. and their the Jesuits designs contrast concerning
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
67
strangely with the terms of respect, not to say affection, in which he refers here and elsewhere to his master, the archbishop, who exerted a beneficent The influence on behalf of the English prisoners. "
The Voyage of John Huyghen van reprint is from Linschoten to the East Indies, from the old English of 1598, the first book containing his description of the East," in two volumes, published by the Hakluyt Society. The first volume was edited translation
by the late Dr. A.
C.
Burnell,
and the second by
Mr. P. A. Tiele, of Utrecht. the opinion
Dr. Burnell expresses that the original English version was
poorly done, and he has adopted the method of bracketing the redundancies in the text and giving important corrections in footnotes, a plan followed by
Mr. Tiele. The late Sir Henry Yule and Dr. Kern have also added explanatory notes. In the following extract most of the disputed passages are ignored
and only the most important footnotes are repro-
A brief biographical sketch of Linschoten, with some account of the great service he rendered in
duced.
the opening up of the East, will be found in a latter portion of this work (page 213) "
:
In the moneth of December, 1 Anno, 1583, there arived
in the towne and Island of Ormus foure Englishmen, which
came from Aleppo in the countrie of Suria, having sayled out of England, and passed through the straightes of Gibraltar, to Tripoli a towne and Haven, lying on the sea coast of Suria, where
all
the shippes discharge their mar-
chandises, and from thence are caryed by land unto Aleppo, 1
September.
See Newberie and Fitch's letters.
RALPH FITCH
68
which is nyne dayes iourney. In Aleppo there are resident marchants of all Nations, as Italians, Frenchemen, Englishmen, Armenians, Turkes, & Mores, everie man having his Religion apart, paying tribute unto the great Turke. In that towne there is great trafficke, for that from 1 thence, everie yeare there travelleth two Caffylen, that is,
companies of people and Camelles, which India, Persia, Arabia,
travell
unto
and all the countries bordering on
the same, and deale in all sorts of marchandise, both to and from those Countries, as I in an other place have Three of the said Englishmen aforealreadie declared. saide were sent by the Companie of Englishmen, in Aleppo, to see
if
in
Ormus they might keepe any Factors, and so
trafficke in that place, like as also the Italians doe, that is
to say, the Venetians, which in Ormus, Goa and Malacca have their Factors, and trafficke there, as well for stones and pearles, as for other wares
and spices of those countries,
which are caryed over land into Venice. One of these Englishmen had beene once before in Ormus, and there had taken good information of the trade, and upon his advise the other were come thether, bringing great store of marchandises with them, as Clothes, Saffron, all kindes of like stuffe, to conclude, all kinde glasses, knives, and such
And although those of small wares that may be devised. wares amounted unto great summes of money, notwithstanding it was but onlie a shadow or colour, thereby to give no occasion
to
be mistrusted
:
for
intent was to
that
their
principall
buy great quantities of precious Stones, as Diamantes, Pearles, Rubies, &c., to the which ende they brought with them a great summe of money and Gold, and that verie secretly [not to be decyved or robbed thereof], or to runne into anie danger for the same. They being thus in Ormus, hyred a Shop, and began to sell their wares which the Italians perceyving, whose Factors con:
1
Caravans.
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
69
tinue there (as I sayd before) and fearing that those English-
men, finding good vent for their commodities in that place wold be resident therein, and so daylie increase, which would be no small losse and hinderance unto them, did presently invent all the subtile meanes they could, to hinder them and to that end they went unto the Captaine of Ormus, as then called Don Gonsalo de Meneses, telling him that there were certaine Englishmen come unto Ormus, that were sent only to spy the Country, and said further, that they were Heretickes and therefore they sayd it was convenient they should not be suffered to depart, without :
:
beeing examined, and punished to the example of others. " The Captaine being a friend unto the Englishmen, by reason that one of them which had bene there before, had given him certaine presents, would not be perswaded to trouble them, but shipped them with all their wares in a
Shippe that was to sayle for Goa, and sent them to the examine and trye them, as hee
Viceroy, that he might
thought good
:
where when they were aryved, they were
cast into prison, and first examined whether they were good
Christians
:
and because
they
could
speake
but
bad
Portugale, onlie two of them spake good Dutche, as having
bene certaine yeares
in the lowe Countries, and there Dutch lesuite borne in the towne of Brigges in Flaunders, that had bin resident in the Indies for the space of thirty yeares, sent unto them, to examine them wherein they had behaved themselves so wel, that they were holden for good and Catholick Romish Christians
traniqued, there was a
1
:
:
suspected, because they were strangers, specially Englishmen. The lesuites stil told them that they shuld
yet
still
be sent prisoners into Portingal, wishing them to become lesuites, promising them thereby to defend them from all "
Padre Bruges. Fitch, it will be observed, calls this man " Padre Marke." It is curious to comMarco," and Newberie pare their statements regarding him with that of Linschoten. 1
RALPH FITCH
70
the cause why they pers waded them in that earnest manner was, for that the Dutch lesuite had secretlie bene
trouble
:
Advertised of great summes of money which they had about them, and sought to get the same into their fingers, for that
the first vowe and promise (of) their order, is, to procure the welfare of their said order, by what means soever it be, but although the Englishmen denyed them, and refused the order, saying, that they were unfit for such places, neverthelesse they proceed so farre that one of them, being a painter,
came with the other three for company to see the countries, and to seeke his fortune, and was not sent thether by the English marchants) partly for feare, and partlie for want of meanes, promised them to become a lesuite and although they knew he was not any of those that had the treasure, yet because he was a Painter, whereof they are but few in India, and that they had great need of him to paint their church, which otherwise would cost them (that
:
great charges, to bring one from Portingal, they were glad, hoping in time to get the rest of them with all their money
:
so yt. to conclude, they made this Painter a lesuite, where he continued certain daies giving him good store of worke to doe, and entertayning him with all the favour and friend-
ship they could devise, and all to win the rest, to be a pray for them ; but the other three continued still in prison, being
no man that came man almost knew what they said till in the end it was told them that certaine Dutch men dwelt in
in great feare, because they understood
to them, nor anie
:
the Archbishops house, & counsell given them to send unto
them, whereat they much reioiced, and sent to me and an other Dutch man, 1 desiring us once to come and speake with them, which we presentlie did, and they with teares in their eyes made complaint unto us of their hard usage, from
point to point (as it is said before) desiring us, if we might 1
Bernard Burcherts, of Hamburg, who was a member of the Linschoten says he returned home in 1585.
archbishop's suite.
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE to helpe them,
that
71
they might be set at liberty upon
Sureties, being readie to indure what Justice should ordaine
them, saying that if it were found contrarie, and that they were other then travelling marchants, and sought to
for
find out [further] benefite
by their wares, they would be
content to be punished. " With that wee departed from them promising them to do our best and in the ende we obtained so much of the Archbishoppe, that he went unto the Vice-roy to delyver our petition, and perswaded him so well, that hee was content to set them at libertie and that their goods shuld be delivered unto them again, upon condition they should put :
in sureties for 2000. Pardawes, not to depart the countrie
before other order should bee taken with them.
Therupon
they presently found a Citizen of the towne, yt. was their suretie for 2000. Pardawes, where they paide him in hand 1300. Pardawes, and because they say they had no more ready monie, he gave them credite, seeing what store of marchandise they had, whereby at all times if neede were,
hee might bee
satisfied and by that meanes they were delivered out of prison, and hyred a house, and began to set open shoppe So that they uttered much ware, and were :
:
presently
well
knowne because they
alwaies
respected
x
Gentlemen, specially such as brought their wares, shewing great curtesie and honor unto them, whereby they wonne much credite, and were beloved of all men, so that everie
man favoured them, and was willing to doe them pleasure. To us they shewed great friendship, for whose sake, the Archbishop favoured them much, and shewed them verie good countenance, which they knew wel how to increase, by offering him many presents, although hee would not receive them, neither would ever take gift or present at any mans hands. Likewise they behaved themselves verie Catholikely and devoute, everie day hearing Masse with 1
Bought.
RALPH FITCH
72
Beades in their hands, so that they fel into so great favour, no man caried an evill eye, no nor an evill thought towards them. Which liked not the lesuites, because it hindered them from that they hoped for, so that they ceased that
not
still
by this Dutch lesuite to put them in feare, that
they should bee sent into Portingall to the King, counselling
them to yeeld them selves into their Cloyster, which if they did, he said they would defend them from all saying further, that he counselled them therein as friend, and one that knew for certaine that it was determined by the Viceroyes privie Counsell which to effect he saide they stayed but for shipping that should sayle for Portingall, with divers other perswasions, to put them in some feare, & :
so to effect their purpose. " The English men durst not say any thing to them, but answered, that as yet they would stay a while, and consider
good comfort, as one among them, being the principal of them (called John
thereof, thereby putting the lesuites in
Nuberye) complained unto
me
often
hee
times, saying
knew not which way he might be rid of those troubles but :
ende they determined with themselves, to depart from thence, and secretly by means of contrarie friends, they imployed their money in precious stones, which the better to effect, one of them was a Jeweller, 1 and for the same purpose came with them. Which being concluded in the
among them, they durst not make knowne to any man, neither did they credite us so much, although they tolde us
But on a Whitsunday they went abroad to sport themselves about three miles from Goa, in
all whatsoever they knew.
the mouth of the ryver in a countrie called Bardes, having And because with them good store of meate and drinke.
they should not be suspected, they left their house and shop,
1 Mr. Tiele gives the original Dutch, Steen-slyper (polisher of precious stones).
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
73
with some wares therein unsolde, in custodie of a Dutch Boy, by us provided for them, that looked unto it. This
Boye was in the house not knowing their intent, and being had with them a Patamar, 1 which is one of the Indian postes, which in winter times caryeth letters from one place to the other, whom they had hyred to guide them & because that betweene Bardes and the Firm land there is but a little ryver, halfe drie, they passed over it on foote, and so travelled by land, being never heard of againe but it is thought they arrived in Aleppo, as some say, but
in Bardes, they
:
:
Their greatest hope was, that they knew not certainely. John Newbery could speake the Arabian tongue, which is
used in al those countries, or at the least understoode, for it is
very common in all places there abouts, as French with
us.
" Newes
being come to Goa, there was a great stirre and
murmuring among the people, and we much wondered at it for many were of opinion, that wee had given them counsel so to doe, and presently their suertie seased upon the goods remaining, which might amount unto above 200. Pardawes, and with that and the money he had received of the English men, he went unto the Viceroye, and delivered :
it
unto him, which the Viceroy having received, forgave This flight of the English men grieved the
him the rest.
lesuites most,
because they had
lost
such a pray, which
they made sure account of, whereupon the Dutch lesuite came to us to aske us if we knew thereof, saying, that if he
had suspected so much, he would have dealt otherwise, for hands of theirs a bagge wherein was fortie thousand Veneseanders (each Veneseander being two Pardawes) which was when they were in that he said, hee once had in his
1
"
Patamar, or Pattimar, in modern usage is a kind of But in all the writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it is a foot-runner or courier, from Konkani, pathmar^ a courier" (Yule). vessel on the west coast.
RALPH FITCH
74 1
prison.
And that they had alwayes put him in comfort, to
accomplish his desire, upon the which promise hee gave them their money againe, which otherwise they shoulde not so lightly have
come by,
or peradventure never, as hee
openly said and in the ende he called them hereticks, and spies, with a thousand other rayling speeches, which he :
uttered against them.
"The Englishman that was become a lesuite, hearing that his
companions were gone, and perceiving that the
lesuites shewed him not so great favour, as they did at the first, repented himselfe, and seeing he had not as then
made any solemne promise, & being counselled to leave the house [& told] that he could not want a living in the towne, as also that the lesuites could not keepe him there without he were willing to stay, for they could not accuse him of any " Venetseanders," i.e., ducats of Venice Original Dutch, " The partab (pratap) was a gold coin found current (Tiele). in India, and adopted by the Portuguese ; but the latter coined silver pardaos of much smaller value, and the determination of 1
a pardao at different periods is difficult. If the Venetseander was a zecchin, those here in question must have been gold " (Yule). pardaos, which were worth half a gold pagoda Linschoten (vol. i.) devotes a chapter to "money, weight, In an editorial footnote and measure of India, and Goa." Dr. Burnell
calls
attention
to
the
that
fact
translation of Caesar Frederick a pagoda
is
in
Hakluyt's
said to be a gold
coin, worth 6s. 8d. sterling (at Goa) ; while the original Italian puts a pagoda at eight lira "of our money" (i.e., Venetian).
By the above calculation a venetseander was equal in value to a gold pagoda, which was worth 6s. 8d. sterling at that Therefore the worthy Dutch Jesuit told his countrymen, time. in effect, that the English travellers, notwithstanding their in possession of a "bagge" 1 3,000, containing cash equivalent in those days to over or about ^78,000 in these times John Eldred, a fellow traveller for part of the journey, tells a very different story
untoward experiences, were still
!
(see p. 218).
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
75
thing he told them flatly, that he had no desire to stay within the Cloyster, and although they used all the meanes :
they could to keepe him there, yet hee would not stay, but hyred a house without the Cloyster, and opened shop,
where he had good store of worke, and in the end married a Mesticos daughter of the towne, so that hee made his account, to stay there while he lived. By this Englishman I was instructed of al the waies, trades, and viages of the countrie,
betweene Aleppo and Ormus, and of
all
the
ordinances and common customes, which they usually hold
during their Viage over land, as also of the places and townes wher they passed. And since those Englishmens
from Goa, there never arrived any strangers English or others by land in the sayde countries, but onely Italyans which day lye traffique over land, and
departures either
use continuall trade going and
Ne^berietstory
comming that way."
The appended letters are given here becaus e they deal chiefly with the arrest
and imprisonment The first two from Ormuz are addressed to John Eldred and William Shals (or Shales) at Bassorah
"Right welbeloued and
my assured good
heartily comend me vnto you,
&c.
friends,
I
hoping of your good healths,
To certifie you of my voiage, after I departed fro you,
time wil not permit here,
:
:
but the 4 of this present we arriued
& the 10 day I with the rest were committed to
prison,
and about the middle of the next moneth, the
all in his ship for Goa. The cause why we are taken, as they say, is, for that I brought letters
Captaine wil send vs
from Don Antonio. 1
But the trueth is, Michael Stropene,
The Portuguese Pretender, and in some sort the protege of England. 1
RALPH FITCH
76
was the onely cause, vpon letters that his brother wrote him from Aleppo. God knoweth how we shall be delt withall
and therefore if you can procure our masters to send the king of Spaine his letters for our releasement, you should doe vs great good for they cannot with iustice put in Goa,
:
vs to death.
It
may be that they will cut our throtes, or
keepe vs long in prison Gods will be done. All those commodities that I brought hither, had beene very well You shall do well sold, if this trouble had not chanced. to send with all speed a messenger by land from Balsara to :
of this mischance, although it cost crownes, for that we may be the sooner released, and I shalbe the better able to recouer this againe
Aleppo, for to
certifie
thirtie or forty
which is now like to be lost
commendations, &c. this
"
21 of September,
I pray you make my hearty From out of the prison in Ormuz, :
1583."
The barke of the lewes is arriued here two daies past,
by whom I know you did write, but your letters are not This bringer hath shewed me like to come to my handes. here very great courtesie, wherefore I pray you shew him what fauor you may. About the middle of the next moneth I thinke we shall depart from hence, God be our guide. I thinke Andrew will goe by land to Aleppo, wherein I pray you further him what you may but if he should not goe, :
then I pray you dispatch away a messenger with as much
speede as possible you may. I can say no more, but do should do for you in the like cause,
for me as you would I
and so with my very hearty commendations, &c. From out of the prison in Ormuz, this 24 day of September, 1583."
The next Hisietterto Leonard Poore
earlier
letter, dated a few days than that of Master Fitch's (see
pp. 65-6), but doubtless despatched at the same time, is possessed of pathetic interest from
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE the fact that
it
77
appears to be the last communica-
tion from this enterprising traveller received in this
country
:
"
My last I sent you was from Ormuz, whereby I certified what had happened there vnto me, and the rest of my you company, which was, that foure dayes after our arriuall there, we were all committed to prison, except one Italian which came with me from Aleppo, whom the Captaine neuer examined, onely demaunded what countryman he was, but I make account Michael Stropene, who accused The first day vs, had informed the Captaine of him. we arriued there, this Stropene accused vs that we were spies sent
from
Don Antonio,
besides diuers other
lies ;
notwithstanding if we had beene of any other countrey then of England, we might freely haue traded with them. 1 And
although we be Englishmen, I know no reason to the contrary, but that we may trade hither and thither as well as other nations, for
all
nations doe, and
may come freely to
Ormuz, as Frenchmen, Flemmings, Almains, Hungarians, and Italians, Greekes, Armenians, Nazaranies, Turkes lewes & and there Gentiles, Persians, Moscouites, Moores, is no nation that they seeke for to trouble, except ours wherefore it were contrary to all iustice and reason that they should suffer all nations to trade with them, and to But now I haue as great libertie as any other forbid vs. nation, except it be to go out of the countrey, which thing as yet I desire not. But I thinke hereafter, and before it be long, if I shall be desirous to go from hence, that they :
wil not deny me licence.
Before we might be suffered to come out of prison, I was forced to put in suerties for 2000 pardaus, not to depart from hence without licence of the viceroy otherwise except this, we haue as much libertie as :
1
A suggestive passage which shows that Newberie, at least,
realised the political dangers of the journey.
RALPH FITCH
78
any other nation, for I haue our goods againe, & haue taken an house in the chiefest streete in the towne, called the Rue drette, where we sell our goods. "There were two causes which moued the captaine of Ormus to imprison vs, & afterwards to send vs hither. The first was, because Michael Stropene had accused vs of many matters, which were most false. And the second was for that M. Drake at his being at Maluco, caused two pieces of his ordinance to be shot at a gallion of the kings But of these things I did not of Portugall, as they say. know at Ormus and in the ship that we were sent in came the chiefest iustice in Ormus, who was called Aueador generall of that place, he had beene there three yeeres, so which Aueador is a great that now his time was expired :
:
friend of the captaine of Ormus, who, certain days after our
comming from thence, sent for mee into his chamber, and there beganne to demaund of me many things, to the which answered and amongst the rest, he said, that Master Drake was sent out of England with many ships, and came to Maluco, and there laded cloues, and finding a gallion I
:
there of the kings of Portugall, hee caused two pieces of his and so pergreatest ordinance to be shot at the same ceiuing that this did greatly grieue them, I asked, if they :
would be reuenged of me for that which M. Drake had done To the which he answered, No although his meaning was to the contrary. :
:
" He said moreouer, that the cause why the captaine of Ormus did send me for Goa, was, for that the Viceroy
would vnderstand of mee, what newes there was of Don Antonio, and whether he were in England, yea or no, and that it might be all for the best that I was sent hither, the which I trust in God wil so fall out, although contrary to for had it not pleased God to put into the his expectation minds of the archbishop and other two Padres or Jesuits of S. Pauls colledge to stand our friends, we might haue rotted :
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
79
The archbishop is a very good man, who hath two yong men to his seruantes, the one of them was borne at Hamborough, and is called Bernard Borgers and the other was borne at Enchuysen, whose name is lohn Linscot, who did vs great pleasure for by them the archbishop was
in prison.
:
:
And the two good fathers many times put in minde of vs. of S. Paul, who trauelled very much for us, the one of them is called Padre Marke, who was borne in Bruges in Flanders, 1
and the other was borne in Wilshire in England, and is called Padre Thomas Steuens. "Also I chanced to finde here a young man, who was" borne in Antwerpe, but the most part of his bringing vp hath beene in London, his name is Francis de Rea, and with him it was my hap to be acquainted in Aleppo, who also hath done me great pleasure here. " In the prison at Ormus we remained many dayes, also we lay a long time at sea comming hither, and forthwithe at our arriuall here were carried to prison, and the next day after were sent for before the Aueador,
be examined
iustice, to
:
who is the chiefest
and when we were examined, he
presently sent vs backe againe to prison.
"And after our being here in prison 13 daies, lames Storie
went
into
remaineth, and is
the
monastery of
S.
Paul,
where he
made one of the company, which life
he liketh very well.
"And vpon S. Thomas day (which was 22 dayes after our arriuall here) I came out of prison, and the next day after came out Ralph Fitch and William Bets. 2 " If
these troubles had not chanced, I had beene in made as good a voyage as euer any man
possibility to haue
made with so much money.
Many of our things I haue solde very well, both here and at Ormus in prison, notwithstanding the captaine willed
me (if I would) to sell what
1
Burcheits and Linschoten.
-
No doubt William Leedes is referred to.
RALPH FITCH
8o I
could before we imbarked
:
& so with officers I went
diuers times out of the castle in the morning, and solde things, and at night returned againe to the prison, and all things that I solde they did write, and at our imbarking from thence, the captain gaue order that I should deliuer
my mony with the goods into the hands of the scriuano, or purser of the ship, which I did, and the scriuano made a
all
remembrance, which he left there with the captaine, that the rest with money & goods he should deliuer into the hands of the Aueador generall of India
myselfe and
:
but at our arriuall here, the Aueador would neither meddle with goods nor money, for that he could not proue anything against vs wherefore the goods remained in the ship 9 or 10 daies after our arriuall, and then, for that the ship :
was
to saile
from thence, the scriuano sent the goods on
shore, and here they remained a day and a night, and no body to receiue them. In the end they suffered this
bringer to receiue them, who came with me from Ormus, and put them into an house which he had hired for me,
where they remained foure or flue daies. But afterward when they should deliuer the money, it was concluded by the iustice, that both the money and goods should be deliuered
where they remained fourteene my comming out of prison. At my being in
into the positors hands,
dayes
after
Aleppo, I bought a fountaine of siluer and gilt, sixe kniues, sixe spoones, and one forke trimmed with corall for flue and twentie chekins, which the captaine of Ormus did take, and
payed for the same twentie pardaos, which is one hundred larines, and was worth there or here one hundred chekins. Also he had fiue emrauds set in golde, which were woorth flue hundred or sixe hundred crownes, and payed for the same an hundred pardaos. Also he had nineteene and a halfe pikes of cloth, which cost in London twentie shillings the pike, and was worth 9 or 10 crownes the pike, and he payed for the same twelue larines a pike. Also he had two
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
81
pieces of greene Kersies, which were worth foure and twentie pardaos the piece, and payd for them sixteene besides diuers other trifles, that the pardaos a piece :
officers and others had in the like order, and some for nothing all. But the cause of all this was Michael Stropene, which came to Ormus not woorth a penie, and now hath
at
thirtie or fortie thousand crownes, and he grieueth that any other stranger should trade thither but himselfe. But that shall not skill, for I trust in God to goe both thither and hither, and to buy and sell as freely as he
Here is very great good to be done in diuers of our commodities, and in like manner there is great profite or any other.
to be made with commodities of this countrey, to be carried to Aleppo.
" It
were long for me to write, and tedious for you to read
of all things that haue passed since my parting from you. But of all the troubles that haue chanced since mine arriuall in
is able to certifie you. I wherefore if you will write vnto me, you
Ormus, this bringer
mind to stay here
:
may send your letters to some friend at Lisbone, & fro thence by the ships they may be conueyed hither. Let the direction of your letters be either in Portuguise or Spanish,
whereby they may come the better to my hands. Goa this 20 day of Januarie, 1584."
Sth
From
We have already seen what were Master Fitch's impressions of " Golden
he oe n tu^".
Goa," that gate to the opulent and East the fame of which had already mysterious over Europe
spread
reception
somewhat
description.
Caesar
;
possibly the nature of damped the ardour of
Frederick,
who
visited
his his
Goa in
1567, and again in 1570 when it was besieged by the Bijapur, states that there was great traffic
King of
7
RALPH FITCH
82
but that the island was fairer than the city, being full In Linschoten's interesting of goodly gardens. work, however, we find probably the most complete picture of this great emporium in the heyday of its prosperity.
Goa he
describes
as
well
built,
with
houses and streets interspersed with gardens and orchards, but of the widespread immorality of the place he
tells
us more than enough.
He gives an
amusing account of the punctiliousness of the Portuguese residents, many of whom lived "
On
in considerable
the other hand
the soldiery, a term which appears to have included all the single men of style."
little
or no means or without civil employment, fared
very poorly, except on occasions when volunteers were called up for an expedition. The daily life of Goa was stimulated by a morning market, or fair, to which all classes and kindreds flocked, except on holy days, which were observed with considerable pomp. He adds a statement which is of no little importance coming as it does from a member of the Archbishop's household, to the effect that the laws observed were those of Portugal and that the people of all nations dwelling there Indians, Moors, Jews, Armenians, &c. were allowed to practise their own the only prohibitions being in regard to The fact that one of the suttee and similar rites. religions,
charges upon which the Englishmen had been " detained was that they were Heretickes," does not detract from the value of his general assertion of Protestantism, in the eyes of all religious freedom. means something more than at least, Spanish subjects
a difference in religious faith.
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
83
A very brief sketch of the rise and dePortuguese
development of Portuguese power
in
the East up to .this time will not be out of place here, some notes on their operations
East
Further
the
in
being
reserved
for
a
later
Bartholomew Dias, sailing at the command of John II. of Portugal, 1486, was the first navigator chapter.
to double the
Cape of Good Hope, reaching Algoa
He was followed by Vasco de Gama who,
Bay.
anchoring his three ships off Calicut, 1498, proved to be the pioneer of Portuguese power in India. The
new
negotiations with the of the various the suzerain Calicut, kings or rajas on the Malabar coast, but in the beginning discovered that they had formidable arrivals
Zamorin
first
opened
of
rivals in the
Muhammadan Arabs, or Moors as they
These traders had long enjoyed the Indian monopoly, sending their goods either to the Persian Gulf or, via Suez and Alexandria, to the Mediterranean. But by common consent the great called them.
Albuquerque, governor and captain-general, 1509-15, was the real founder of the Portuguese dominion in the East. Whatever may now be thought of his methods, his hectoring and his savagery, he followed a consistent policy. He broke down the Moorish and monopoly, actually threatened the Turkish Sultan 1
in
his
own dominions.
1
Establishing his
Stephens (q.v.} repeats the extraordinary story that plans contemplated by Albuquerque for the destruction of Muhammadan rivalry was one for the diversion Prof.
among the
of the course of the Nile, through Abyssinia to the Red Sea, in
order to ruin Egypt
Muhammad.
;
while another was to seize the body of
RALPH FITCH
84
capital in the island of Goa, which long flourished as a monument to his genius, his personal conquests
extended from Ormuz to Malacca. At the time of his death, which took place on the bar of Goa in 1515, peace, so called, was universal from Ormuz to Ceylon and from Cape Comorin eastward the King of Portugal was on terms of friendship with the kings of Pegu, Bengal, Pedir, Siam, Pacem, Java and 1 WithChina, the King of Maluco and the Gores. out attempting even a chronological summary of events in India between the year of Albuquerque's death and the period under notice, it is interesting to quote what may be described as the official view, and ;
thus to trace the commencement of decay.
Faria y
Sousa, the well-known Portuguese poet and historian (1590-1649), who was sometime secretary to the
Marquis of Castel Rodrigo, ambassador at Rome, thus signalises the preferment of Lopo Soarez de " Till this time the Albegaria, the next governor :
Gentlemen had followed the Dictates of true Honor, from esteeming their Arms the greatest Riches this time forwards they so wholly gave up them;
selves to trading, that those who had been Captains became Merchants, so that what had been Command
became a Shame, Honor was a Scandal, and Reputation a Reproach." During the same Viceroyalty 1
Mr. F. C. Danvers in his "Portuguese in India" (W. H.
Allen & Co., 1894), quoted above, gives an interesting account of the last days of Albuquerque and of his work. He summarises the results of his labours in India from the Viceroy's famous " Commentaries," which have been edited for the
Hakluyt Society by Mr. Walter de Gray Birch.
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE
85
(1517) the chronicler records the arrival of Alcacova (or Alcaceva) as surveyor of the royal revenues, and his return in disgust to Portugal.
He adds, " Hence
began the hearing Complaints against the Governors and Commanders of India, and hence it was that
many took more care to heap Riches than Honor, knowing
them
Crimes." z
Linschoten himself at a later date speaks
to
be
a
protection
against
all
pretty plainly on the evils of the government of the " There is not one of them," he says, Viceroys :
"
that esteemeth the profit of the commonwealth, or the furtherance of the king's service, but rather their
own
particular commodities," and he adds that the in all the stations in
same rotten system existed India.
Still, although the principal figure had departed, the great work of Portuguese exploitation went on. " Dom Francisco Mascarenhas, Count of Santa
Cruz," who received our travellers in the manner described in this volume, " was the first Viceroy sent
India after the subjugation of the kingdom of He had already Portugal by the King of Spain. had considerable experience in India, where he had to
greatly distinguished himself by the gallant defence of the city of Chaul with a few men, and no wall,
against the power of Nizamaluco, who had besieged
with 150,000 men. 2
it
1
"Portuguese
Asia,"
Dom Francisco was accom-
Stevens's
translation,
1695, vol.
ii.,
pp. 210, 216. 2
Nizamaluco appears to have been derived by the earlier from the name Nizam-al-Mulk (see note to Lin-
voyagers
schoten, vol.
i.
p.
1
68).
RALPH FITCH
86
panied by a fleet of five ships, and on arrival at Goa on the 1 6th of September, 1581, he found all India had already proclaimed King Philip, in accordance with the instructions that had previously been sent to the * Governor, Fernao Telles de Menezes." succeeded by Dom Duarte de Menezes,
Lisbon
He was who
left
the spring of 1584.
During this viceto when which extended Menezes died, 1588, royalty, in the methods of were important changes attempted in
Indian trade.
In order to raise funds to prosecute
his designs in the Netherlands, Philip in 1587 handed
over the monopoly to the " Companha Portugueza das Indias Orientas," but such was the ferment
caused at Goa by this transaction that the Company
soon ceased to exist. The next viceroy was Mathias de Albuquerque, who returned from Portugal in 1591, in which year Fitch reached home.
As already stated, the influence of the Portuguese, and
also
regions
their
further
trading stations, extended to other east, but a characteristic of their
enterprise in these parts appears in the fact that the adventurers rarely established themselves beyond the
coast
line.
Perhaps the most conspicuous exception
to this rule is presented in the district of St. Thome,
Southern India. Here the Portuguese discovered a branch of the Christian Church actually established, the question as to who founded it being still a matter of discussion, the honour being variously attributed to the apostles SS. Thomas and Bartholomew and others.
Sir W.
deals with this
Hunter (" Gazetteer," vol. vi. ch. xi.) fascinating subject, and points out 1
Danvers, vol. ii. p. 40.
DETAILS OF THE ARREST AND ESCAPE that
"
87
from their first clear emergence into history
"
Christians of Southern India belonged to the " Syrian or Nestorian rite. Mr. Milne Rae's Syrian Church in India" (1892) is a further valuable con-
the
tribution,
and
the
Rev.
curiously interesting work,
Alex. "
D'Orsay,
in
his
Portuguese Discoveries,
"
Dependencies, and Missions (1893), gives a detailed account of the early relations of the Portuguese with the
Christians
peninsula.
they found
Prof.
in
this
dates
Stephens
of
the
decline
of
corner the
Portuguese political influence from the death of the Viceroy Dom Joao de Castro at Goa in the arms of
He adds: St. Francis Xavier in 1548. But at the time when the political interest in the career of the Portuguese in Asia diminishes, the These (missionaries) religious interest increases. were the men who made their way into the interior of India, and who penetrated the farthest East." The Inquisition was established at Goa in 1560, but it was not till the seventeenth century that the periodical auto-da-fe was commenced. It is of interest to note that the doctrines and ritual of the Nestorians were condemned by the Synod of Diamper his friend
"
.
(Udayampura) in
1599.
.
.
CHAPTER III HINDUSTAN UNDER AKBAR FITCH'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED THREE ENGLISHMEN AT AGRA TRAVELLERS SEPARATE A LONELY JOURNEY
AT
the time
when Master Ralph Fitch and his
companions arrived on the shores of India the its zenith. Akbar, son of Humayun and grandson of Baber, the founder of
Moghul Empire was at
the dynasty, succeeded his father in 1556, being then but fourteen years of age. He came into a heritage
of anarchy, and under the tutelage of his guardian, Bairam Khan, the first years of his reign were spent a desperate struggle with the Afghan power in Hindustan. At the age of eighteen Akbar declared
in
himself Padishah, and set to work systematically to recover such fortresses as remained in the hands of the Afghans, and to subdue the various sultans who ruled over the independent kingdoms which had been
carved out of the ruins of the old Delhi Empire. Conquest, rebellion, and reconquest followed till the
Great Moghul's dominions extended from Guzerat on the west to Bengal on the east, and included Kabul and Kashmir on the north, and the northern half of the Dekhan in the south.
AKBAR, THE GREAT MOGHUL.
HINDUSTAN UNDER AKBAR
89
But besides being a warrior from his youth up, Akbar was a statesman of the It has been suggested highest rank. that he soon discovered how much the Muhammadan religion
had
force as a
lost its
power
to bind the
Imbued with the religious toleration of his ancestor Chenghiz Khan, he decided upon
empire together.
the revolutionary policy of equality of race and religion as the only possible means of consolidation.
With this object in view, we find him, for example, winning over the warlike princes of Rajputana, partly by force, partly by diplomatic marriages and other concessions, till at last he had succeeded in establishing two aristocracies and two armies one Moghul and Mussulman, the other Rajput and Hindu, either of which was ready to fight rebellious partisans of the opposite race and creed.
During all this period a Muhammadan, but his professedly wives were allowed to introduce idols into the zenana
Akbar was
and
to listen to the
Brahmin priests.
Encouraged by a young and ambitious scholar, one Abul Fazl, whose singular history rise, prosperity, and death breathes
the
true
spirit
of
Eastern
legend,
the
emperor resolved that he alone should be considered the authority in all religious matters. Probably this idea found
its
root in the fact that all pious
Muham-
madans were looking for the appearance of a new prophet A.D. 1591-2, being a thousand years from the At any rate Akbar broke the power of the Hejira. ulemas and welcomed the teachers of other religions to his court, inviting priests from Goa, and permitting the establishment of a Roman Catholic church
RALPH FITCH
90
Agra. In view of these magnanimous impulses, amid an ocean of fanaticism and exotic religions, it
3.t
is
pitiable to record the fact that such a potentate, under the influence of Abul Fazl, decided to
still
found a new religious system called the Divine Faith,
and permitted himself to be worshipped as a type of royalty emanating from God. But his ideas of equality were not limited to these matters, much as they moved the masses.
Akbar sought
to better
by various methods of reform he permitted the use of wine, Muhammadanism notwithhis subjects
;
he endeavoured standing, but punished intoxication to put an end to suttee he raised the age of ;
;
he intromarriage, and tried to check polygamy duced a land settlement. His latter years were marred by the rebellion of his son Selim, afterwards known as Jehangir, the outbreak, which involved the ;
assassination of Abul Fazl, being ostensibly a
hammadan
rising against Akbar's apostasy.
MuAfter
suppression the emperor became a changed man and returned to the observances of the faith. He died its
in 1605, aged sixty-four years, not without suspicion that he had been poisoned at the instigation of his
son, who reigned in his stead.
1
1 The late Mr. J. Talboys Wheeler's "Short History of India" (Macmillan, 1880). The Rev. Francis Goldie, S.J., in " " his First Christian Mission to the Great Mogul (Dublin,
1897), states that the Akbar in
1579 applied to the Viceroy, the
" Archbishop of Goa, and the Provincial of the Jesuits for two learned Fathers and the books of the Law," and that the choice fell upon Fathers Acquaviva and Anthony Montserrat, with Father Henriquez, a Muhammadan convert of Ormuz, as interthey started from Surat in January, 1580. Seven years preter ;
HINDUSTAN UNDER AKBAR
91
Fitch and his companions could not have penetrated to the heart of India at a more opportune time, for by 15855 when the Great Moghul had been some thirty years on the throne, the central power had been more or
There is something striking was during the reign of and liberal the most intellectually brilliant perhaps of Hindustan, on the throne personality ever seen and at a period of our own history which all Englishless firmly established.
in
the reflection that
it
men are proud to recall, that our first embassy
as
represented by Fitch and his fellow travellers, armed with the Queen's letter to the chief potentate in all
India should have reached its destination.
Elizabeth
died in 1603 an d Akbar in 1605, but before either of these dates the systematic attempt to open up trade by the establishment of the East India Company
had been launched.
Further,
at
the end
of
the
sixteenth century, history tells us, Akbar, in a spirit not the less magnanimous because it was crude, was trying to rule his empire on principles founded on the welfare of the vast aggregate of his peoples at the ;
end of the nineteenth century the Queen-Empress of England and India, in more enlightened because more modern fashion, is engaged in the same task, but over a still wider area, in the same land. earlier (1573), the Viceroy, Antony Moronha, had sent Antony Cabral to Akbar to obtain a treaty for the security of Daman,
consequent upon the Emperor's successes in Guzerat.
It is
further stated, adds Hunter, that one of Akbar's wives was a Christian, and that he ordered his son Murad, when a child, to
take
"
lessons
"
in Christianity.
RALPH FITCH
92
Unfortunately we have no details of the reception accorded by Akbar to his English visitors in the narrative which
is here continued. Probably Fitch, even after his return to England, still hoped that something would be heard of Newberie, whose
privilege and duty it was, as leader of the expedition, to report to the highest authority in the land on
the reception of the Queen's letter. Still he tells us enough to show that he and his associates were well '
treated and enjoyed perfect liberty.
In the endeavour
to trace each stage
the author again
of the journey through India, acknowledges with gratitude the
invaluable assistance he has obtained from Sir
Hunter's unparalleled "Gazetteer" (H.).
W.
The line of
by the travellers after leaving Golconda is somewhat uncertain probably they joined various trading caravans and pursued well-defined trade routes. We have had one or two glimpses of their traffickings en route, and no doubt they adopted the methods of the old merchant-venturers and, at least, met their current expenses in this manner. But after the hurry of the escape their first objective was the court of Akbar, at Agra or Fatehpur Sikri. In the attempts to identify the places mentioned by Fitch under the old names the latitude and longitude route followed
;
are given to assist the judgment of the reader
:
INDIATHE JOURNEY (SECOND PART). "
Bellergan a towne.
townes which we came vnto, is called Bellergan, 1 where there is a great market kept of Dia-
One
of the
1
first
Belgaum.
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
93
mants, Rubies, Saphires, and many other soft stones. From Bellergan we Bisapor.
went to Bisapor 1 which is a very great towne where the king doeth keepe his court.
Hee hath many Gentiles in his
court
and
they bee
great
idolaters.
And they haue their idols standing in Woods, which they call Pagodes. bee like a Cowe, some like a Monkie, some like Buffles, some like peacockes, and some like the deuill. Here be very many elephants which they goe to warre withall. Here they haue good store of gold and siluer their houses are of stone very faire and From hence wee went for Gulhigh.
the
Some
:
Guiconda.
conda, the king whereof is called Cutup de lashach. 2 Here and in the king-
dome of Hidalcan, and in the countrey of the king of Decan bee the Diamants
found of the olde water.3
It is
a very
1
Bijapur. 2
Possibly (as Mr.
W. Foster suggests), Muhammad Kuli
Kutb Shah, who reigned from 1580. Golconda, now a fortress and ruined city of the Nizam's dominions, seven miles west of " The diamonds of Golconda have obtained great Hyderabad. but they were merely cut and celebrity throughout the world ;
polished here, being generally found at Partial" (H.). 3 See Linschoten's statement that the " principall intent " of the English travellers was to purchase precious stones.
It will
have been noted that Fitch also makes special reference to the " round and Orient " pearls of Bahrein island but it cannot be doubted that far larger motives prompted and sustained the ;
adventurers.
RALPH FITCH
94
faire towne, pleasant, with faire houses of bricke and timber, it aboundeth with
great store of fruites and fresh water. Here the men and the women do go
with a cloth bound round their middles
without any more apparell. it here very hote. "
The winter beginneth
the last of May. Masulipatan.
porte
or
hauen
We found here
about
In these partes called
is
a
Masulipatan,
which standeth eight dayes iourney from hence toward the gulfe of Bengala, whether come many shippes out of India, Pegu, and Sumatra, very Pepper, spices, and commodities. 1 The countrie is
richly laden with
other
Seruidore.
very good and fruitful!. From thence I went to Seruidore which is a fine countrey, and the king is called, the king of Bread. The houses here bee
made of lome. Here many Moores and Gentiles, but there is small religion among them. From thence I went to Bellapore, 2 all
thatched and
be
r Bellapore.
1 Masulipatam was the earliest British settlement on the Coromandel coast. An agency was established in 1611 byCapt.
Hippon, who commanded the Globe in the East India Comseventh voyage. In 1632 the English were granted a farman by the Muhammadan King of Golconda, which is known as the " Golden Firman (H.). 2 Balapur, in the Akola District, Berar, lat. 20 40' N., pany's
''
long. 76 49' 15" E.
A great fair was formerly held here. The
Jama Masjid, now a ruin, bears date 1032 A. H. (Ibid.).
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
and the
95
Barrampore, which is in Echebar. country of Zelabdim so
1
to
In this place their money is made of of siluer round and thicke, to
kind
the value of twentie pence, which It
siluer.
is
marueilous
is
good and a populous countrey. In their winter which is in lune, luly, and August, there is no passing in the very
great
but be so high. streetes
lome
and
with
horses,
waters
the
The houses are made of thatched.
Here
is
great
store of cotton cloth made, and painted here groweth clothes of cotton wooll :
great store strange manages,
of corne
We
and Rice.
found mariages great store both in townes and villages in many places where wee passed, of boyes of eight or ten yeeres,
and
girls
of flue or
six
They both do ride vpon yeeres one horse very trimly decked, and are caried through the towne with great old.
piping arid
playing,
and
so
returne
Burhanpur, a town in the Nimar District, Central Provinces. 1 8' Founded in 1400 33" N., long. 76 16' 26" E. by Nasir Khan eleven princes of the Farukhi dynasty of Khandesh held Burhanpur till the kingdom was annexed by Akbar, which did not take place, however, till 1600. The Ain-i-Akbari, which describes the place as a large city, " In the summer the town is covered with dust, and says, 1
Lat. 21
:
during the rains (Ibid.).
the
streets
are
full
of
mud and
stone
"
RALPH FITCH
96
home and
eate of a banket
made of
Rice and
fruits, and there they daimce the most part of the night and so make an ende of the marriage. They
not
lie
together
vntill
they
be
ten
yeeres old. They say they marry their children so yoong, because it is an order that
when the man dieth, the woman
must be burned with him
:
so
that
if
the father die, yet they may haue a father in lawe to helpe to bring vp the children which bee maried
they will wiues,
:
and also that
not leaue their sonnes without
nor
their
From
husbands.
daughters without thence we went to
Mandoway,which is a very strong towne. was besieged twelue yeeres by Ze-
Mandoway a very
It
labdim Echebar before hee could winne standeth vpon a very great as the most part of their rocke high castles doe, and was of a very great It
it.
From hence wee went
circuite. 1
1
to
Mandoway, Mandogarh (Mandu), which would lie on the
route followed, assumedly, by the three travellers, is now a deserted town in Dhar State, Central India, but was formerly the capital of the Muhammadan kingdom of Malwa. Lat.
22
21'
N.,
from Mhow. eight
miles of
long.
The
city,
75
26'
1,944
E., ft.
ground, extending
and thirty miles S.W. above sea-level, occupies along
the
crest
of
the
Vindhyas and is separated from the tableland, with which it is on a level, by a valley which is 300 to 400 yds. broad and about 300 ft. deep. Akbar captured the city in 1570 ;
(H.).
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
and Vgini ouertooke the x
97
where wee ambassadour of ZelabSerringe,
2
dim Echebar with a marueilous great company of men, elephants, and camels. Here is great trade of cotton and cloth made of cotton, and great store of drugs. Agra a great citie,
From thence we went to Agra passing many riuers, which by reason of the wee waded and swamme oftentimes for our Hues. Agra is a very great citie and populous, built with stone, hauing faire and large raine were so swollen, that
The great Mogor.
1
streetes, with a faire riuer running by it, which falleth into the gulfe of Bengala. It hath a faire castle and a strong with a very faire ditch. Here bee many Moores and Gentiles, the king is called Zelabdim Echebar: the people for the most part call him The great Mogor. From thence wee went for Fatepore, which is the place where the king
Ujjain (Ujjaiyini), a town in the native state of Gwalior, lat.
n' 10" N., and long. 75 51' 45" E. in ancient times the famous capital of Malwa, one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus, and the spot which marked the first meridian of Hindu In 1571 the whole of this part of India was geographers. conquered by Akbar. The ruins of the ancient city are about 23
;
a mile to the northward of the present site (H.). 2 lat. 24 6' 23" N., long. Sironji in Tonk State, Rajputana It was once 77 43' 30" E., about 140 miles N.E. of Ujjain. a large town famed for its muslins and chintzes (Ibid.). ;
RALPH FITCH
98
The towne is greater kept his court. than Agra, but the houses and streetes 1
Jbe not so faire. Here dwell many people both Moores and Gentiles. The king hath in Agra and Fatepore as they doe credibly report 1,000. elephants,
thousand horses, 1,400. tame such store of Deere, 800. concubines Cocks & Ounces, Buffles, Tigers,
thirtie
:
I
Haukes, that is very strange to see. He keepeth a great court, which they call Dericcan. 2 Agra and Fatepore are two very great cities, either of them much greater than London and very populous. The like is reported of the cities of China.
Bctwecne Agra and Fatepore are 12. miles, and all the way J is a market of victuals
& other things, as full as though
man were still in a towne, and so many people as if a man were in a market. They haue many fine cartes, a
1 Agra, lat. 27 10' 6" N., long. 78 5' 4" E. Akbar had fixed his seat of government at the present Agra, which he
founded on the right bank of the Jumna in 1 566, in preference In 1570 to Delhi, where his father Humayun held hisicourt. he laid the foundations of Fatehpur Sikri with the intention ot constituting that town the capital of his empire, but was dissuaded, it is suggested, by the better situation of Agra on the
Fatehpur Sikri, says \hs Ain-i-Akbari, was in 1596 a rendezvous of merchants from all the known quarters of the globe at the present day it chiefly consists of an expanse of ruins, enclosed in a high stone wall about five miles in circumference (H.). Fitch draws a lively picture of this busy centre of Moghul river.
;
power as he saw it. 2
Probably Dera-i-Khan, house of the prince.
HIS NARRATIVE, SECO\ D PART 7
99
and many of them carued and gilded with gold, with two wheeles which be drawen with two litle Buls about the bignesse of our great dogs in England,
and they will runne with any horse, and carie two or three men in one of these cartes
:
they are couered with silke or here as our
very fine cloth, and be vsed
Coches be in England. Hither is great of marchants from Persia and out of India, and very much marchandise of silke and cloth, and of precious stones, both Rubies, Diamants, and resort
Pearles. The king is apparelled in a white Cabie made like a shirt tied with
strings on the one side, and a litle cloth his head coloured oftentimes with
on
red or yealow. None come into his house but his eunuches which keepe his
women. "Here
in
Fatepore
we
staled
all
three vntill the 28. of September 1585,
and then master lohn Newberie tooke his journey toward the citie of Lahor, determining from thence to goe for Persia and then for Aleppo or Constantinople, whether hee could get soonest passage vnto, and directed me to goe for Bengala and for Pegu, and did promise me, if it pleased God, to meete me in Bengala within two yeeres with a shippe out of England.
I
left William
RALPH FITCH
TOO
wa Leades serued Leades the iewcller in seruice with the king Zelabdim Echebar in Fatepore, who did entertaine him very well, and gaue him an house and fiue slaues, an horse, and euery day sixe S. S. in
the king of
1
money. " I went from Agra to Satagam in Bengala, in the companie of one hundred and fourescore boates laden with Salt, Opium, Hinge, Lead, Carpets,
and diuers other commodities downe lemena. 2 The chiefe marchants are Moores and Gentiles. In these countries they haue many strange ceremonies. The Bramanes which are their priests, come to the water and haue a string about their necks made with great ceremonies, and lade vp water with both their hands, and turne the string first with both their hands within, and then one arme after the the riuer
The superstitious ceremonies of the
Bramanes.
other out.
Though it be neuer so cold,
they will wash
themselues in cold water
These Gentiles will eate no flesh nor kill any thing. They Hue with rice, butter, milke, and fruits. or in warme.
1 As already stated Newberie was never heard of again, nor does Leedes appear to have found his way home.
2
Down
the
Jumna and Ganges
to Satgaon (or Hugli District, but sometime the mercantile capital of Bengal. Lat. 22 38' 20" N., long. 88 25' 10" E. (H.).
Saptagram),
rivers
now a ruined town
in
the
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND-' t'AR>f
'^6i
:
the water naked, and meat & eate it naked, and
in
They pray dresse their
penance they lie flat vpon the and rise vp and turne themselues earth, about 30. or 40. times, and vse to heaue vp their hands to the sunne, & to kisse the earth, with their armes and legs stretched along out, and their right leg for their
always before the left. Euery time they lie downe, they make a score on the ground with their finger to know
when
their
Bramanes
stint
marke
The
finished.
is
themselues
the
in
foreheads, eares and throates with a kind of yellow geare which they grind,
& euery morning they do haue some old men
it.
And they
which go
the
in
streetes with a boxe of yellow pouder, and marke men on their heads necks
&
as they
meet them.
And their wiues
10. 20. & 30. together to the water side singing, & there do wash themselues, & then vse their ceremonies,
do come by
& marke themselues in their foreheds and faces, and cary some with them, and so depart singing. Their daughters be maried, at, or before the age of 10. Their men may haue 7. wiues.
yeres.
They be a kind worse
then the
of
Jewes.
craftie
salute one another, they heaue
hands to
their
people,
When
they
vp their and heads, say Rame,
f
'
'RALPH FITCH
102
Fr5 Agra I came to Prage, where the riuer lemena entreth into the mightie riuer Ganges, and lemena looseth his name. 2 Ganges cometh out of the & runneth East into the Northwest,
Rame. 1
Ganges.
gulfe of Bengala. are many Tigers
In those parts there
and many partriges
& turtle doues, and much other foule. Here be many beggers in these countries which goe naked, and the people make great account of them they call them Here I sawe one which was Schesche. He would a monster among the rest. was his beard haue nothing vpon him, :
|
very long, and with the haire of his head he couered his priuities. The nailes of
some of his fingers were two
inches long, for he would cut nothing from him, neither would he speake. He
was accompanied with eight or tenne, and they spake for him. When any man spake to him, he would lay his hand upon his brest and bowe himselfe, but would not speake. Hee would not We went from "speake to the king. Prage downe Ganges, the which is here very broad. Here is great store of fish " 1 Ram-Ram The commonest salutation between two Hindus meeting on the road an invocation of the Divinity " !
;
(Yule & Burrell's Anglo-Indian Glossary). 2 Prage=Prayag, ancient name for Allahabad, by which the city is still known amongst the Hindu population (H.).
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART of sundry
103
& of wild foule, as of
sorts,
swannes, geese, cranes, and
many other is The countrey very fruitfull things. and populous. The men for the most part haue their faces shauen, and their
heads very long, except some which bee all
shauen saue the crowne
:
and some
of them are as though a man should set a dish on their heads, and shaue
them this
round, riuer of
but the crowne. In Ganges are many Hands. all
His water is very sweete and pleasant, and the countrey adioyning very fruitfull.
"
Bannaras.
From thence wee went to Bannaras which is a great towne, and great store of cloth is made there of cotton, and Shashes for the Moores. 1 In this place they be all Gentiles, and be the greatest
A pilgrimage of
towne come the Gentiles on pilgrimage out of farre countreys. Here alongst
idolaters the Gentiles.
that
euer
I
sawe.
To this
the waters side bee very many faire houses, and in all of them, or for the
most part they haue their images standing, which be euill fauoured, made of stone and wood, some some like lions, leopards, and monkeis, some like men & women, and pecocks, and some like 1
Benares, the sacred city of Hinduism, situated on the its junction with the Jumna
Ganges about 120 miles below (H.).
RALPH FITCH
104
the deuil with foure armes and 4. hands.
They sit crosse legged, some with one thing in their hands, & some another,
& by breake of day and before, there are men & women which come out of the towne and wash theselues
in
Ganges.
And there are diuers old men which vpon places of earth made for the purpose, sit praying, and they giue the people three or foure strawes, which they take & hold them betweene their
when they wash themselues and some sit to marke them in the foreheads, and they haue in a cloth a little fingers
:
Rice, Barlie,
or
money, which, when
they haue washed themselues, they giue to the old men
which sit there praying.
Afterwards they go to diuers of their images, & giue them of their sacrifices. And when they giue, the old men say certaine prayers,
and then
is
all
holy.
And in diuers places there standeth a kind of image which in their language they call Ada.
And they haue diuers
great stones carued, whereon they poure water,
& throw thereupon some rice,
wheate, barly, and some other things. This Ada hath foure hands with clawes.
Moreouer, they haue a great place made of stone like to a well with steppes to
goe downe very foule
;
wherein the water standeth
and stinketh
:
for the great
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND
PART
105
quantitie of flowers, which continually they throwe into it, doe make it stinke.
There be alwayes many people in it
:
for they say when they wash themselues in
it,
that their shines be forgiuen them,
because God, as they
say,
did
wash
himselfe in that place.
They gather vp the sand in the bottome of it, and say it is
holy.
They neuer pray but in the
water, and they wash themselues ouerhead, and lade vp water with both their
handes, and turne themselues about, and then they drinke a litle of the water three times, and so goe to their gods which stand in those houses. Some of them will wash a place which is their length, and then will pray vpon the earth with their armes and legs at length out, and will rise vp and lie downe, and kisse the ground twentie or thirtie
times, but they
will
not stirre
their right foote. And some of them will make their ceremonies with fifteene
or
sixteene
ring a
litle
pots bel
litle
and great, and
when they make their
mixtures tenne or twelue times and they make a circle of water round about their :
pots and pray, and diuers sit by them, and one that reacheth them their pots and they say diuers things ouer their pots many times, and when they haue done, they goe to their gods, and strowe :
RALPH FITCH
io6
their
sacrifices
which they thinke are
very holy, and marke
which
many of them
by, in the foreheads, which they take as a great gift. There come fiftie
sit
and sometime an hundred together, them in this well, and to offer
to wash
to these idols. "
They haue in some of these houses
their idoles standing, and
one sitteth by
warme weather with a fanne to blowe winde vpon them. And when they see any company comming, they ring a litle bell which hangeth by them, and many giue them their almes, but especially those which come out of the them in
Many of them are blacke and haue clawes of brasse with long nayles, and some ride vpon peacockes and other foules which be euill fauoured, with long haukes bils, and some like one thing and some another, but none countrey.
with a good face.
Among the rest there
one which they make great account of: for they say hee giueth them all things both foode and apparell, and one
is
alwayes by him with a fanne to wind towards him. Here some make bee burned to ashes, some scorched in the fire and throwen into the water, and dogges and foxes doe presently eate them. The wiues here doe burne with their husbands when they die, if they
sitteth
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART will
not,
their
107
heads be shauen, and
neuer any account is made of them afterward. The people goe all naked saue a litle
bound about
cloth
Their
their
middle.
women haue their necks, armes
and eares decked with rings of siluer, copper, tinne, and with round hoopes made of luorie, adorned with amber stones, and with many agats, and they are marked with a great spot of red in their foreheads, and a stroke of red vp to the crowne, and so it runneth three maner of wayes. In their Winter, which is our May, the men weare quilted
gownes of cotton like to our mattraces and quilted caps like to our great Grocers morters, with a slit to looke out at,
and so
eares.
If
tied
downe beneath
their
a man or a woman be sicke
and like to die, they will lay him before their idols all night, and that shall helpe
him or make an ende of him. And if he do not mend that night, his friends will come and sit with him a litle and cry, and afterwards will cary him to the waters side and set him vpon a litle raft made of reeds, and so let him goe downe the riuer.
When
they be maried the
man and the woman come to the water side, and there is an olde man which they call a Bramane, that is, a priest, a cowe, and a calfe, or a cowe with calfe.
RALPH FITCH
io8
Then the man and the woman, cowe and and the olde man goe into the water together, and they giue the olde man a white cloth of foure yards long, calfe,
and a basket crosse bound with diuers things in it the cloth hee laieth vpon the backe of the cowe, and then he :
taketh the cowe by the ende of the and she taile, and saieth certain wordes :
hath a copper or a brasse pot full of water, and the man doeth hold his hand
by the olde mans hand, and the wiues hand by her husbands, and all haue the cowe by the taile and they poure water out of the pot vpon the cowes and it runneth through all their
taile,
hands, and they lade vp water with their handes, and then the olde man doeth This tying of new maried folks to-
tie him _ T71
-
.
and her together by J their clothes. ,
by the Mexicans
Which done, they goe round about the cowe and calfe, and then they giue some
in old time.
what
getherbythe clothes, was vsed
the poore which be alwayes and to the Bramane or priest they give the cowe and calfe, and afterward goe to diuers of their idoles and offer money, and lie downe flat vpon the ground and kisse it diuers times, and to
there,
then goe their way.
be
blacke
and
Their chiefe idoles
euill
fauoured, their
mouthes monstrous, their eares gilded, and full of iewels, their teeth and eyes of gold, siluer and glasse, some hauing
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
109
one thing in their handes, and some You may not come into the another. house where they stand, with your shooes on. They haue continually lampes burning before them. " Patenaw.
From Bannaras I went to Patenaw J
downe the riuer of Ganges where in the way we passed many faire townes, and a :
and many very countrey very fruitfull riuers doe enter into Ganges great :
;
and some of them as great as Ganges, which cause Ganges to bee of a great breadth, and so broad that in the time of raine you cannot see from one side to the other. These Indians when they bee scorched and throwen into the water, the men
swim me with their faces
downewards, the women with their faces vpwards, I thought they tied something to them to cause them to doe so but :
they say
no.
There
be
very
many
thieues in this countrey, which be like to the Arabians for they have no cer:
taine abode, but are
sometime
in
one
Here place and sometime in another. the women bee so decked with siluer and copper, that it is strange to see, they vse no shooes by reason of the rings of siluer
and copper which they weare on Here at Patanaw they finde
their toes.
1
Patna, still one of the largest cities in India (H.).
RALPH FITCH
i io
gold in this maner. They digge deepe pits in the earth, and wash the earth
Gold found.
great holies, and therein they finde the gold, and they make the pits round
in
about with bricke, that the earth fall not in. Patenaw is a very long and a great In times past it was a kingdom,
towne.
but now it
is
vnder Zelabdim, Echebar The men are tall and
the great Mogor.
slender, and haue many old folks among
them
the houses are simple, made of and couered with strawe, the
:
earth
streetes are very large.
there
is
In this towne
a trade of cotton,
much
& cloth of
which they cary from hence to Bengala and India, very
cotton,
sugar,
much Opium & other commodities. He that
is
chiefe here vnder the
king
is
called Tipperdas, and is of great account
among the people.
J }
Here in Patenau
I
saw a dissembling prophet which sate vpon an horse in the market place, and made as though he slept, and many of the people came and touched his feete with their hands, and then kissed their hands. They tooke him for a sure he was a lasie but great man, The I left him there sleeping. lubber.
vi
people
of
these
countries
be
much
giuen to such prating and dissembling i
T*nda in Gouren,
hypocrites. "
From Patanaw
I
went
to
Tanda
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
in
which is in the land of Gouren. 1 It hath in times past bene a kingdom, but now is subdued by Zelabdim Echebar. Great trade and traffique is here of The cotton, and of cloth of cotton. cloth with a litle naked people goe bound about their waste. It standeth in the countrey of Bengala. Here be many Tigers, wild Bufs, and great store of wilde foule ters.
:
they are very great idola-
Tanda standeth from the riuer
Ganges a league, because in times past the riuer flowing over the bankes, in time of raine did drowne the countrey and many villages, and so they do remaine. And the old way which the riuer Ganges was woont to run, remaineth drie, which is the occasion that the citie doeth stand so farre from the water. From Agra down the riuer lemena, and downe the riuer Ganges, I was flue moneths comming to Bengala, but it Couche this seemeth to be :
duichen, accorted
by some among the provinces of China.
1
may be sailed in much shorter time. "
I
went from Bengala into the country
of Couche, which lieth 25. dayes iourny
Northwards from Tanda. 2
The king is
Tanda, Tandan, or Tanra, is a petty village in Maldah
District, Bengal, but even the site of the ancient town, which became the capital of Bengal after the decadence of Gaur, has
not been accurately determined (H.). 2
is
Kuch Behar. From the point of view of the explorer this the most interesting part of the journey. Fitch evidently had
RALPH FITCH
ii2
a Gentile, his name is Suckel Counse
x :
great, and lieth not countrey far from Cauchin China for they haue from thence. say they pepper his
is
:
The the
called
port is countrie
is
set
All Cacchegate. with Bambos or
Canes made sharpe at both endes & driuen into the earth, and they can let in the water & drowne the ground aboue knee deepe, so that me nor horses can
They poison
passe.
all
the waters
if
any wars be. Here they haue much silke & muske, and cloth made of cotton. The people haue eares which be marueilous great of a span long, which Pure Gentmsins.
they draw out in length by deuises when they be yong. Here they be all Gentiles, and they will kil nothing. They haue hospitals for sheepe, goates, dogs,
& for all other liuing creaWhen they be old & lame, they
cats, birds,
tures.
keepe them
vntil
they die.
If a
man
catch or buy any quicke thing in other places & bring
it
thither, they will giue
an afterthought on the subject, for he refers to it in a subsequent passage in his narrative. 1 Lieut.-Gen. Fytche in " Burma Past and Present," vol. i. "Col. Haughton, late Commisp. 7 (Kegan Paul, 1878), says sioner of the Cooch Behar Division, has kindly furnished me with a Coorsinamah, or genealogical table of the Cooch Behar family, in which this prince appears under the name of :
Sukladuge or Seela Roy branch of the family."
;
he was the progenitor of the Durrung
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
him mony
for
or other victuals,
it
&
In Mexico they vse likes wise for
keepe
small money the
They will giue meat to the Ants. Their
fruit Cacao which
in their hospitals or let
it
it
go,
are like almonds.
smal mony is almonds, which oftentimes
Hugely.
they vse to eat. " From thence
I
standeth in
degrees of
returned to Hugeli, which is the place where the Portugals keep in the country of Bengala which 23.
Northerly
and standeth a league from
latitude,
1
Satagan they cal it Porto Piqueno. We went through the wildernes, because the right way was full of thieues, where we passed the countrey of Gouren, where we found but few villages, but almost :
wildernes, & saw many buffes, swine & deere, grasse longer then a ma, and all
very many Tigers. Not far from Porto Piqueno southwestward, standeth an Porto Angeli.
hauen which
is called Angeli, in the of It was a kingdom Orixa. countrey of it selfe, & the king was a great friend
to strangers. Afterwards it was taken by the king of Patan which was their
neighbour, but he did not enjoy
it
long,
Hugli, now the chief town and administrative headquarters of Hugli District, Bengal, is situated on the east bank of the 1
river of the same name.
Lat. 22 54' 44" N., long. 88 26' 28" E. said to have been founded by the Portuguese in 1537 on the decay of Satgaon (Fitch's Satagam or Satagan already It is
identified), the royal port of Bengal, caused by the silting up of the Saraswati river (H.).
9
j
RALPH FITCH but was taken by Zelabdim Echebar is king of Agra, Belli, & Cambaia.
^which
The like cloth
may be made of the long grasae in Virginia.
Orixa standeth 6 daies Journey from 1 In this place Satagan southwestward. is very much Rice, and cloth made of cotton, & great store of cloth which is made of grasse, which they call Yerua, it is
like a silke.
They make good cloth
of it which they send for India & diuers other places. To this hauen of Angeli
come euery yere many India,
ships
Negapatan, Sumatra,
and diuers other places
;
&
out
of
Malacca, lade from
thence great store of Rice, & much cloth of cotton wooll, much sugar, & Satagam.
long pepper, great store of butter & other victuals for India. Satagam is a faire citie for a citie of the
very plentifull of
all
Moores, and
things.
Here in
Bengala they haue euery day in one place or other a great market which they call Chandeau,and they haue many great boats which they cal pericose, wherewithall they go from place to 1 Orissa, the Holy Land of the Hindus. In 1567-8 Sulaiman, the Afghan king of Bengal, overran Orissa and captured the city of Puri where stands the famous shrine of Jagannath
(Vishnu).
His second son, Daud Khan, who succeeded to the
governorship of Bengal, threw off his allegiance to the Moghul Emperor at Delhi with the result that in 1578 a battle took place in which Daud was killed. Orissa became a province of
Akbar's empire, and remained so till 1751, when the Marathas obtained it (H.).
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
115
place and buy Rice and many other things these boates haue 24. or 26. oares :
to rowe them, they be great of burthen, but haue no couerture. Here the Gentiles haue the water
of Ganges in great estimation, for hauing good water neere
them, yet they will fetch the water of Ganges a great way off, and if they
haue not sufficient to drinke, they will sprinkle a litle on them, and then they thinke themselues well. I
Tippara or porto
From Satagam
trauelled by the countrey of the king
of Tippara or porto Grande, with whom the Mogores or Mogen haue almost continuall warres.
The Mogen which be of
kingdom of Recon and Rame, be
the
stronger then the king of Tippara, so that Chatigan or porto Grande is often-
times vnder the king of Recon. 1 1
At this
time, says Sir Arthur
Phayre
in his
i(
History of
Burma," p. 270 (Triibner, 1883), Chittagaon, or Chittagong, was " The name of Ramu is applied to the subject to Arakan :
country of Chittagaon in a general description of Bengal which These instances probably is found in Purchas (vol. v. p. 508). explain the name of Ruhmi, Rahma, or Rahmaa given to a kingdom on the sea coast of the Bay of Bengal by the Arabian voyagers in the ninth and tenth centuries of the Christian era. It has been supposed to refer to Ramri in Arakan, or to Ramanya, the classic name of Pegu. There is now a village called
Ramu in the southern part of the Chittagaon district,
which is a police station. It probably represents the name by which the territory in question was known to the Arabs, and which we may now conclude extended from the north bank of the river Naf to the confines of Bengal. Fitch heard the name
n6
RALPH FITCH
Bottanter a great
Northren country. Marchants of China, Moscouia and Tartarie.
"There is a country 4. dales iournie from Couche or Quickeu before mentioned, which is called Bottanter and the citie Bottia, the king is called
Dermain
;
the people whereof are very tall and strong, and there are marchants which
come out of China, & they say out of Muscouia or Tartarie. And they come to
muske, cambals, agats, silke, and saffron like the saffron of pepper
buy
The countrey is very great, 3.
Persia.
These seeme to be the mountains of
Imaus, called by the people Cumao.
moneths iourney. There are very high mountains in this countrey, & one of. them so steep that when a man is 6. daies iourney off it, he fectly.
may see it perVpon these mountains are people
if which haue eares of a spanne long their eares be not long, they call them apes. They say that when they be vpon :
the mountaines, they see ships in the
Sea sayling to and fro
;
but they know
when in Chittagaon, and the king of Arakan then held the country north of the Naf."
Hunter further states that the dis-
trict was probably first conquered by the
Muhammadans during
the period of Afghan supremacy in Bengal, between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. During the struggle between
the
Moghuls and Afghans, towards the close of the sixteenth
century, Chittagong seems to have been reconquered by the Raja of Arakan, but the reconquest was ignored by the Moghuls after the final expulsion of the
Afghans from Bengal.
Todar
Mall, Akbar's finance minister in 1582, assessed the place although it was a province of Arakan and remained so till 1666,
when it was reannexed to the Moghul empire.
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
117
from whence they come, nor whether they go. There are marchants which come out of the East, they say, from vnder the sunne, which is from China, which haue no beards, and they say there it is something warme. But those which come from the other side of the mountains which is from the North, not
The apparel of theTartarie marchants,
These"' say there it is very cold. Northren merchants are apparelled with
woollen cloth and hats, white hosen close, and bootes which be of Moscouia
They report that in their
or Tartarie.
countrey they haue very good horses, but they be litle some men haue foure, fiue, or six hundred horses and kine they Hue with milke and fleshe. They cut the tailes of their kine, and sell them very deere, for they bee in great request, and much esteemed in those partes. :
:
Cowe tailes in great request.
The hair of them is a yard long, the rumpe is aboue a spanne long they vse to hang them for brauerie vpon the :
heades of their Elephants they bee much vsed in Pegu and China they :
:
buie and selle by scores vpon the ground.
The people be very swift on foote. 1 1
This account of Bhutan and the
traffic from beyond the which, confessedly, is all hearsay gives rise to the suggestion that if Fitch had continued the journey northward
Himalaya
from Kuch Behar he would have found no difficulty in entering Tibet. He might even have penetrated to Lhasa, and estab-
\
RALPH FITCH
n8 "
to
From Chatigan in Bengala, I came Bacola
;
the
king
whereof
is
a
man very well disposed and much to shoot in a gun. His delighted Gentile, a
countrey is very great and fruitful, and hath store of Rice, much cotton cloth,
and cloth of silke. The houses be very faire and high builded, the streetes large, the people naked, except a litle cloth about their waste. The women weare great store of siluer hoopes about their neckes and armes, and their legs are ringed with siluer and copper, and rings
made of elephants teeth. 1 " From Bacola I went
to
Serrepore
which standeth vpon the riuer of Ganges, the king is called Chondery. They be all hereabouts rebels against their king lished the record of the first British visitor to that semimysterious city which even to this day has only been trodden by one Englishman (Manning, about 181 1). The description he gives of the Bhutias as an athletic, vigorous race still holds
good, according to Hunter, but they are degraded by misgovernment, "their morals are extremely low, and their numbers reduced by the unnatural system of polyandry and the excessive
prevalence of monastic institutions."
Nominally,
there are two supreme authorities, the Dharm Raja, the spiritual
head, and the Deb Raja, the temporal ruler. 1 Probably Barisal, the present headquarters of the Bakarganj district, which is described as "a typical part of the alluvial delta formed by the three great river systems of Bengal." It is further suggested that Bakarganj formed part of Todar Mall's (1582) Sirkar of Sonargaon. The town is situated in lat. 22
41' 40" N., long. 90 24' 30" E. (H.).
HIS NARRATIVE, SECOND PART
Zebaldim
119
for here are so Echebar and Hands, that they flee :
riuers
many
from one to another, whereby his horsemen cannot preuaile against them. Great store of cotton cloth
is
made
here. 1 "
sinnerg&n.
Sinnergan is a towne sixe leagues from Serrepore, where there is the best
and finest cloth made of cotton that is in
India.
all
The
chiefe
king of
all
these countries is called Isacan, and he is chiefe of all the other kings, and is
a great friend to all Christians. The houses here, as they be in the most part of India, are very litle, and couered with strawe,
and haue a fewe mats round
about the wals, and the doore to keepe out the Tygers and the Foxes. Many of the people are very rich. Here they will eate no flesh, nor kill no beast :
They Hue of Rice, milke, and fruits, they goe with a litle cloth before them, and all the rest of their bodies is naked. Great store of Cotton cloth goeth from hence, and much Rice, wherewith they serue
1
all
India, Ceilon, Pegu, Malacca,
Serampur, chief town of a sub-division of the same name in
the Hugli District, Bengal, lat. 22 45' 26" N., and long. 88 23" 10" E. Formerly a Danish Settlement, but ceded to the East India Co. in 1845 famous as the scene of the labours of the ;
Baptist Missionaries
Carey, Marshman, and Ward (H.).
RALPH FITCH
120
and many other (Continued on page 153.)
A
Sumatra,
*
places."
Sonargaon, the ancient Muhammadan capital of East Bengal, now an insignificant village called Painam in the 1
Dacca District, lat. 23 39' 45" N., long. 90 38' 20" E. Azim Shah, son of Sikandar, proclaimed his independence here and invited the poet Hafiz to his court. It lies hidden in a grove of palms and bush, and is surrounded by a deep muddy ditch, once a moat (H.). Isa Khan, who was in power when Fitch visited the city, maintained his independent rule for several years, but at his death the district became part of the Moghul
Empire.
The cloth referred to was the famous Dacca muslin
(Cunningham P- 135).
" :
India, Archaeological Survey Reports," vol. xv.
BOOK III IN THE FURTHER EAST
I^^S^!5?*sSpi
-^SSoi^^^^ ALBUQUERQUE.
CHAPTER BURMA AND MALACCA
RISE
I
OF AN
EMPIRE
PORTUGUESE ADVENTURERS
THE
third
and
final
stage of
Ralph
Fitch's
journey ings before he set his face homeward was to the confines of Portuguese authority. Possibly if Newberie had continued eastward some attempt
would have been made to carry the Queen's letter to the Chinese Emperor Fitch, however, not only proceeded to Pegu but went on to Malacca and thus reached the furthest centre, but one, under European ;
The risks he ran in this unsettled government. region, where the Western adventurers were already not too favourably known, were perhaps less on the whole than on the Malabar Coast, where Portu-
guese jealousy was added to native suspicion and
Mussulman rivalry. It is possible in these days somewhat of the attractions which would have tempted him to brave even greater dangers. to realise
The reports of the glories of Pegu rivalled those of Golden Goa, and as Fitch came nearer to the city he must have heard still more of them. This was the heyday of the Burmese renaissance, and the great 123
RALPH FITCH
124
wealth accumulated in the sea-ports was overflowing
seems to have Even where commerce became hampered by the wars of the local kings along the coast-line from Arakan on the west to Siam on the east, the services of the European visitors were eagerly enlisted. The Portuguese utterly for the benefit of all comers, for there
been considerable freedom
to
failed
obtain
in
trade.
anything approaching permanent
influence
of
importance
anywhere
beyond
their
emporium
at
on
the coasts
Malacca, and
do
not
appear to have attempted seriously to secure it. The following is a short account of the rise of their dominion, such as it was, in these distant seas, and an historical summary of events in the adjoining empire,
immediately prior to and including the period of the visit
of the
first
which is rich in
SStaST'
Englishman
Burma
to
stirring episodes
a record
:
Albuquerque having established him(November, 1510) threw his
self at Goa
powerful energies into the task of ex-
tending his country's influence further east.
Malacca, the gate to the Spice Islands, was his first objective, the ostensible reason for his attack on the flourishing city being the treachery of the Muhammadan Sultan. to visit this important first European fleet
The
emporium arrived in 1509 under Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, who came with five ships, one of his companions being Ruy de Araujo, a friend and supporter of Albuquerque, who had not yet succeeded to the Governorship of India. Hearing of a plot to murder the Portuguese and destroy their vessels
organised
BURMA AND MALACCA
125
by their old rivals the Muhammadan traders Sequeira burnt two of his ships and sailed away with the other three, leaving Araujo, who had been landed as factor, and his staff of about twenty Portuguese to their fate. To wreak vengeance on the Sultan of Malacca a squadron of four sail was despatched from Portugal in 1510 under the command of Diogo Mendes de Vasconcellos, but was detained by Albuquerque to These having been assist in the operations at Goa. carried out with distinguished success the latter, who
was now Governor, determined to plant Portuguese power once for all in the Eastern gate. At this time it is recorded that Malacca had 100,000 inhabitants, and such was the representation of the various races that four special Captains of the Port were appointed rule the chief nationalities, Chinese, Javanese, Guzeratis and Bengalis respectively the Sultan was
to
;
of Javanese extraction. Sailing with a force of eighteen vessels and 1,400
men, Albuquerque touched at Pedir in Sumatra in May, 1511, having lost one galley in the run from Goa. Here he found nine of the Portuguese prisoners who had effected their escape, and who no doubt were of great assistance to him in his design upon the populous city. On arriving at Malacca some time was spent in fruitless negotiations with the Sultan for the release of Araujo and his remaining companions, till at last a letter was received from the imprisoned factor, who, with rare fidelity to the cause of his country, urged Albuquerque to disregard his To bring matters fate and to attack the city at once. to a crisis boats were sent from the fleet to fire the
RALPH FITCH
126
ships in the harbour and also the waterside houses, with the result that the Sultan immediately released
Araujo and his fellow prisoners and sealed his own Acting under a plan devised by the newly
fate.
liberated
who, it will be remembered, had two spent nearly years in the city, the first attack was delivered on July 25th, with such success that a second attack, which promptly followed, resulted in the capture of the great city and the expulsion factor,
of the Sultan.
A trade centre. siam, china, and
,
Besides setting to work at once to ., r a permanent fort at Malacca, 1
build
Burma.
Albuquerque, with the statesmanlike which distinguished the whole of his career sagacity as Governor, took steps to preserve the reputation of Certain Chinese traders the city as a great entrepot.
and
sailors, who
assaults, returned
were protected by him during the
home in their own junks, full of
prowess and magnanimity, with the result that the deposed Sultan could obtain no help A Hindu merchant, who had from that quarter. befriended Araujo during his captivity, found that his property was respected, a fact which won over stories of his
the representatives of that section of the polyglot The Burmese and other foreign traders were city. also encouraged, but, on the other hand, the
Malay Mussulmans were given no mercy, and were cowed to
begin with by the public execution of a leading Javanese merchant for an act of treachery. In carrying out his great ideal Albuquerque sent emissaries in various directions to reach the sources of trade supplies.
One
of these was
Duarte Fer-
BURMA AND MALACCA
127
nandes, who proceeded to Siam with the Chinese junks and established very cordial relations with the Messages were also received by the new conking. queror from the King of Campar (? Champa, Cochin China), the son-in-law of the late
King of Malacca,
and the King of Java, while a trading mission in the shape of
three large rowing-boats came in from at the southern point of Sumatra.
Menecambo
Albuquerque responded amicably to all these advances, and the messengers were sent back loaded with gifts in exchange for the presents they brought Antonia de Miranda de Azevedo being despatched as One of the most imspecial ambassador to Siam.
;
portant of his missions, intended to consolidate the trade relations of the new eastern metropolis, was that of Antonio de Abreu, who, in command of three ships, was ordered to explore the Moluccas
region of the Spice Islands generally.
and the
In this ex-
pedition, it is interesting to note, there sailed a young
Portuguese gentleman, Fernao de Magalhaes, who, as Magellan, has left his name on the map of the Duarte Coelho was sent to Cochin China world. 1
and Tongking, and Ruy Nunez d'Acunha to Pegu. Having made these arrangements and provided for the administration of Malacca during his absence, the Governor returned to Goa, narrowly escaping death from shipwreck on the way. He found his Indian metropolis again invested by an army from Bijapur, Danvers (vol i. chap, viii.) gives the Stephens, p. 109. names of de Abreu's companions as Francisco Serrao and Simao Affonso probably they had command of two of the 1
;
vessels.
RALPH FITCH
128
strengthened by deserters from his own garrison, for even thus early Portuguese freebooters and renegades
began to figure prominently in these parts. The relief of Goa was carried through in brilliant fashion (1512), and Rasul Khan, having been in turn invested in the fortress of Benasterim,
at length capitulated.
The
terms of surrender were that the deserters should be given up, on condition that their lives were spared, and that the rest of the forces should be allowed to
march out minus their stores, horses, and artillery. Albuquerque, with all the savagery of his time, kept his word as regards sparing the lives of the renegades, but mutilated them in a shocking manner. After cutting off their ears and
hands and thumbs of
noses, their
their left hands,
right
he shipped
them to Portugal as a warning to other adventurers
who were crowding
the
Indian
fleets.
The
old
chronicler (Sousa) tells us that one of these maimed
and disfigured wretches, Ferdinando Lopez, voluntarily stayed "with a black" in the Island of St. Helena, where he afterwards proved serviceable to passing caravels.
The first systematic attempt to dominate the trade of the Further East from its principal centre, Malacca, proved more or less successful for many years. Thus King Sebastian of Portugal divided the eastern governorship into three parts, and in 1571 the next Viceroy, Don Antonio de Noronha, found that he
was
to be
supreme only from the coasts of Arabia capital at Goa, to control the Persian trade. Another Governor, with
to Ceylon, with his
Indian and
headquarters at Malacca, was appointed for the spice
BURMA AND MALACCA
129
Bengal to the Furthest all the Portuguese settlements on the south-east coast of Africa, with trade, with jurisdiction from
East
and
;
a
his capital at Firit traffic with Burma. "
A pious
third
to
rule
Mozambique.
Up to the time of Fitch's wanderings .
in
these regions, the
Portuguese had
only succeeded in founding one or two
temporary settlements upon what we now know as the Burmese coasts.
Indeed, with the exception of an occasional friendly trade treaty, their political connection with this rich country was in the main limited, even
subsequent years, to the doubtful advantages arising from the exploits of their own The rich metropolitan unruly soldiers of fortune.
city
in
and port of Pegu was well known, at least by
repute, in Albuquerque's time, and we are told that in his operations at Malacca he was assisted by three
hundred men belonging to the merchants of the city. 1 No account appears to have been preserved of the mission of Ruy Nunez d'Acunha to the capital. In de who had been sent to the Silveira, 1517 John Maldives to obtain permission to build a fort, returned
He had accomplished his task, but during the voyage seized two vessels belonging to to Goa with four sail.
Cambay and sent them to Cochin as prizes. This high-handed act did not pass unnoticed by a member of
described
"
a young Bengalian." was next despatched to Chittagong, but as the event proved the Portuguese could hardly have chosen a worse representative to obtain for them a his
crew,
as
Silveira
footing in a
new country. 1
The " young Bengalian "
Sousa, vol. i. p. 181. 10
RALPH FITCH
130
his story and denounced Silveira as a pirate. "It had been worse with him," says Sousa, " had not John Coello arrived there with his ship from Pacem,
told
being sent on the same errand by Ferdinando Perez de Andrade to the King of Bengala." Silveira passed the winter with great hardship, for the people of the country would have nothing to do with him.
Chittagong at this time was subject to Arakan, and, on the baffled treaty-maker preparing to leave the king sent him a present and invited him ashore. Silveira, however, shrewdly guessed what was in store for him, and continued his return voyage till he reached Ceylon, where he eventually became Governor of the settlement. Thus inauspiciously ended the first recorded story of Portuguese communication with the western portion of the Burmese coast, the nature of it being but a type of what was to follow, for the Sunderbunds in after years became a nest of pirates.
In 1518 Lopo Soarez de Albergaria
was succeeded in the Governorship by Diogo Lopes de Sequiera, to whom we are told " the King gave the Government of India as a reward of his good service in Africk, his discovery of Malaca and worthy Qualities."
x
1
Sousa, vol. i. p. 224, states that Sequiera left Lisbon with " nine ships and 1,500 fighting-men, adding At the Cape of :
Good Hope, one Ship was in danger of perishing by means of a great fish, which running against her, stuck the length of two spans of a long Beak it has into her side ; this was afterwards
found to be the Fish called the Needle.' " We have already " " witnessed an exhibition of Sequeira's at worthy qualities Malacca in 1509, when he appears to have made no effort to *
rescue Araujo and his companions.
BURMA AND MALACCA
131
In the following year (15 19) Andrea Correa arrived at Malacca, having been more successful in establish-
ing relations with another portion of Burma than Silveira had proved with the potentate of Arakan. Correa's
expedition
was
to
Martaban, which had
become a great port, especially since the Cape trade had been opened. A populous city (though in recent times only the size of a village) seated at the mouth of the Salwin
river,
it
was governed by a Viceroy
who had control of a large extent of territory, and Correa reported that he had concluded a treaty with the King of Pegu's Viceroy, and the following amusing account of the ceremony is held great state. 1
given by Sousa " At
:
the swearing of the Peace assisted with the King's the Priests of both Nations, Catholick and
Ministers, Gentiles.
The Heathen was called the Great Raulim, who made in the Golden Mine, as is the
after the Capitulations
Custom of those People were publickly read, began to read Book, and then taking some yellow Paper (a colour dedicated to their holy uses) with some sweet Leaves of in a
Trees, whereon were certain Characters, set Fire to it all, and then taking the Hands of the King's Minister and holding them over the ashes, said some words, which rendered the Oath inviolable. Anthony Correa, to answer this Solemnity, ordered his Priest to put on a Surplice and bring his Breviary, which was so tottered and torn, that it was scandalous those Heathens should see how little respect
was paid to our sacred Books. Correa observing this, ordered to be brought instead of it a Book of Church1
Phayre, p. 96, says the Viceroy was styled Soabinya, that he was the brother-in-law of the King of Pegu.
and
RALPH FITCH
32
[usick, which was more creditable, being bigger and better
ound, and opening it the first Verse he met was, Vanity of r This passed among those People as well as if it anities.
ad been the Gospel."
The
chronicler adds
for
the information of his
waders
"The Metropolis of the Kingdom is Bagou, corruptly illed Pegu.
On the West of it is the Bay of Bengala, on
Kingdom of Siam, on the South that of on the North that of Arracam. The length [most a 100 Leagues, and is some places the same bredth, le
East the
lalaca, and
ot
including
'atered,
its
Conquests.
and therefore
fruitful,
The Land
is
plain,
well
producing several Plants
nd plentiful of Provisions, as well as of Cattle as Grain, n it many Temples with multiplicity of Idols and much ariety of Ceremonies."
He further refers to a current tradition to account men and the comparative beauty As the outcome of the treaty the
3r the ugliness of the
f the
women. 1
'ortuguese built a fort at Martaban, which they held :>r a number of years as their chief trading depot in
Jurma, until in fact the whole of this portion of the Lmpire, after many vicissitudes, had become devasated by war and famine.
As the result of the Mongol invasion glimpse of unnese history.
at t jie encj O f t h e thirteenth century J the old Burmese Empire was split up into
:ingdoms, and eventually, whilst a Shan reigned in Vva, different potentates held sway in Prome, Taungu, Vrakan, and, greatest of all, a Talaing king reigned 1
Vol. i. p. 227.
BURMA AND MALACCA
133
Pegu. Taungu was the least of all these domains, but its history from the time it could gain a separate in
government
is
romantic
in
the extreme. 1
At
the
close of the fifteenth century Taungu consisted of a
tiny territory seated
in
the middle course of the
Sitang river, being eighty miles long from north to south, with a breadth, including the adjacent moun-
Enclosed on the mountainous districts nhabited by by of Karens, with broken country to the
tain-sides, of less than thirty miles.
east and west
wild tribes
north and south,
it
is
not
difficult
to picture the
secluded situation of the population in the valley where the capital city was eventually built. Colonised
from the north by Burmese and from the south by Talaings from Pegu, in 1470 a governor, who ruled the small province for the Shan King of Ava, declared
himself independent and founded a dynasty. He was succeeded by his son, Meng Sithu, who, however,
was assassinated about 1485 by his nephew Meng Kyinyo. During the long reign of the usurper, some forty-five years, the independence of Taungu was acknowledged by Ava, alliances were made with Prome, Pegu, and Siam, and a new city was built. Meanwhile, the secluded monarchy became a centre of national feeling. There were many in those days 1
In 1279, says the sons of the King of Martaban built a town on one of the hills which they called Taung-ngu, from Taung a hill, and ngu a projecting spur. The seat of government was (1299) transferred to a town in the valley, and to the present site in
Taungu (Phayre), Taung-ngu (Hunter).
latter, two
1485.
The summary of Burmese history given in the text is
based mainly upon the results of Sir Arthur Phayre's researches deviations from his dates and sequences are duly quoted.
;
RALPH FITCH
134
who treasured the memories of the old empire the Burmese nobles who resented the rule of the Shans found an asylum among the hills of Taungu, and persecution drove Buddhist monks thither from Ava. ;
That Kyinyo cherished some design to restore the Burmese dynasty, in name at least, appears to be reflected in the fact that the Burmese chronicles trace his descent from the last King of Pagan. In 1530 he was succeeded by his son Mengtara, or Tabeng
Shwehti, who entered upon his father's great project with all the ardour of a youth of sixteen at a time, too,
when surrounding circumstances appeared
to
afford every opportunity for a scheme of restoration. In Pegu a king known as Binya Ran had concluded
a long and comparatively peaceful reign of thirty-five
recorded as remarkable that he only marched out of his dominions at the head of an army
years.
It
is
on two occasions, and one of these is described as a pilgrimage. The other expedition, however, which was an unsuccessful attempt to crush the rising state of Taungu the home of the refugee sowed the seeds of retaliation in fruitful ground. Binya Ran, whose glories are recorded by early European travellers, died in 1526, and was succeeded in his possessions,
which included the Viceroyalty of Martaban under Soabinya, by his son Takarwutbi, who was then fifteen years of age.
As to the other neighbouring
kingdoms, Prome had become involved in the disputes of the Shan chiefs who rapidly followed each other on the throne of Ava, and about the time that
Tabeng succeeded his father in Taungu, the government of Prome had just been seized by one Narabadi.
BURMA AND MALACCA
135
In Arakan a young king of considerable ability, and known as Meng Beng, was reigning, his territories including Chittagong. As to the shattered kingdom of Ava, Thohanbwa, son of a Shan chief of Monyin,
was at last placed on the throne by his father, and appears to have been mainly distinguished for his hatred to the Burmese race. Such were Tabeng's neighbours, and, potentially, his rivals and opponents. From the first the young king acted with extraordinary forethought, and from the time he came to the throne he was guided by the wise counsels of his brother-in-law, a very remarkable
man whose title, Bureng Naung, subsequently became celebrated in the Portuguese annals, and among the adventurers who served under or against him, as Four or more years were spent in Branginoco. preparing a plan of campaign, and at last it was decided to commence operations by an attack upon the most formidable neighbour of all, the great king-
dom of the delta, Pegu. When the Burmese forces, with prob1
large contingent of Karen auxiliaries from the mountains, marched
Faii of Pegu.
a
ably
Uei
^rceniS
upon the capital city of Pegu (1534-5), Tabeng Shwehti was not more than twenty-one years of age.
unwonted
He had thus early given promise of
ability,
and now appeared as the
fitting
On the other representative of a hopeful cause. of the hand, Pegu, Takarwutbi, during young king his reign of eight or nine years had given himself up to the pleasures
and vices of a rich oriental court. 1
Phayre, pp. 93-4.
RALPH FITCH
136
The
of such a conflict, in the days when leaders of armies, was a foregone conwere princes In the first attack Tabeng was beaten back clusion. by the Talaings, who were under the generalship not of their king, but of two Shan nobles. Undaunted by this reverse, and unpunished by a counter attack, as they certainly would have been by the late king, result
Binya
Ran,
the
invaders
reappeared
before
the
By this time, it seems, capital the following year. Takarwutbi had secured other foreign aid, for the walls were successfully defended by Indian Mussulman gunners. For a third time (1539) Tabeng invested the city, coming with an enormous force by
the Sitang river and by land. How long the siege lasted does not appear, but that the Peguan king was sorely pressed is shown by the eagerness with which he hailed the first recorded appearance of the Portu-
guese at his capital. He knew something of the white strangers, at all events by repute, for it will be
remembered that Soabinya, who was still Viceroy of Martaban, had made a treaty with them some twenty years before, and probably trading relations had been opened up with the greater port. Indeed it was for commercial purposes, ostensibly at least, that they now appeared on the scene. The following is the Portuguese account of what happened
:
" The
Viceroy sent Ferdinand de Morales with a great Galeon, laden on the King's account, to Trade at Pegu. As soon as arrived at that Port, the King won him with
Promises and Favours, to aid him against the King of Brama, who invaded that Country with such a Power, that the two Armies consisted of two Millions of Men and
BURMA AND MALACCA
137
Morales went into a Galliot, and Elephants. Fleet of Pegu, made great havock among the Commanding 10,000
the Enemies Ships. Brama came on by Land like a Torrent, carrying all before him, and his Fleet covering the River, though as great as Ganges. With this Power he easily gained the City and
Kingdom of Pegu.
Morales met the Fleet with scarce
visible,
at
the
Ferdinand
his, in respect of the other
Point Ginamarreca,
where was a
bloody and desperate Fight. But the Pegu's overpowered by the Brama's deserted Morales, who alone in furious,
Galeot maintained himself against the Enemies, performing Wonders with vast slaughter of them, till oppressed his
by the Multitude he was killed.
But the memory of his
Bravery still lives among those People."
Another more authoritative record attributes the of Pegu as due largely to the desertion of
fall
Takarwutbi's chief officers. 1 1 Phayre, p. 94. Sousa, whose story of the fate of Morales is quoted above (vol. ii. p. 10), may be presumed to have learnt something official of his countryman's death, but he gives the following quaint account of the outbreak between Taungu and Pegu which does not synchronise with Sir Arthur Phayre's " The cause of this Revolt of Brama, who historical resume : was Tributary to Pegu, was this Above 30000 Brama's laboured in the King of Pegu's Works, this being one Condition of their Vassalage. The King used to Visit them with his Women, because they delighted to see Foreigners and notable Works, and never carried any other Company. The Labourers (what Wickedness would not they in Idleness invent, who thought so much in their Labour) resolved to rob the Queens or Concu:
bines, and suddenly fled to their Country.
murdered the King, stripped them and Dacha Rupi, Heir to the deceased, was
not only deprived of Means of Revenging this Villany, but even of maintaining himself, for many of his Subjexts rebelled." He
then goes on to say that the Burmese king, taking advantage
RALPH FITCH
138
But whatever may have been the final stage of the conflict, this signal victory for
the ambitious
young
king, who was thus transferred from a mountain fastness to an ancient throne, was in the main due to the
capacity of his general Bureng
Naung (Branginoco), who at once pursued Takarwutbi, the fugitive fleeing up the Irawadi to Prome, where he found an asylum with Narabadi. Having thus got rid of his rival, Tabeng again displayed his kingly qualities, and, instead of plundering the rich city and the delta generally, as a typical marauder of the time would have done, he set to work to conciliate the people and to bury the recollections of past feuds. But the presence of Takarwutbi at Prome constituted a danger, and it was determined to oust him. Meanwhile the neighbouring potentates had taken alarm the Shan king of Ava and several chiefs combined to help Narabadi in what they felt to be a common cause and by the time that Tabeng and his vic;
;
torious general appeared before the city they were
confronted by a formidable array.
For some reason
a battle was avoided, and Tabeng, after capturing the
King of Ava's boats, retired. In vain the unfortunate Takarwutbi urged his allies to fall upon the retreating In his despair he followed his enemies into the delta at the head of a small band of devoted
army.
of this opportunity, swept over the city and then the adjoining
Dacha Rupi, no doubt, is intended for Takarwutbi, and we have already seen that he had been on the throne some thirteen years when his capital fell. Lieutenant-General Fytche, states.
in his
"
Burma," adopts this story, and confuses Branginoco,
the general, with Tabeng Shwehti, the king (vol. i. p. 42).
BURMA AND MALACCA followers, and was seen no more.
139
Thus, about 1 540,
disappeared the last of the line of Talaing kings
founded by Wareru, circa 1300.
Having secured the first great prize _, scheme of conquest, Tabeng cast '
Sack of Martaban.
.
in his
his eyes upon the flourishing Viceroyalty of Martaban.
He sent a summons to Soabinya, demanding his allegiance to the
new order of things at the capital,
and probably if the Viceroy had acknowledged the conqueror he would have been treated with consideration. But he had a large native force at his disposal, and doubtless many fugitives had found their way to Martaban, full of resentment and not yet rid of their national contempt for the hill prince, whose audacity was to them as much a matter of wonder as of fear. Moreover, Soabinya, who had doubtless heard of the gallant part taken by the Portuguese under Morales in
his
defence of the capital, trusted to the prowess of European allies. He refused the summons, and
Tabeng, with his able general Bureng Naung, at once advanced. The defences of Martaban were on an elaborate scale. Earthworks and a deep ditch protected the town on the land side, a number of European vessels, heavily armed and manned by Portuguese and Mussulmans, were on the sea front, and on the opposite side of the Salwin River (near the site of the present Maulmain) was a stockaded fort. The Burmese mobilised an immense army and collected a numerous fleet, enlisting at the same time a large
number
of
mercenaries, including several
hundred Portuguese, who, under the command of John Cayero (or Caeyro), do not appear to have
RALPH FITCH
140
hesitated to fight their
commercial
faithful
ally.
own countrymen and their The Commander of the
Portuguese contingent in the city was Paulo de Seixas of Obidos, and he seems to have held a
The spectacle thus presented responsible position. two bands of the mercenaries, in whom each of by the rival potentates reposed the utmost confidence, whilst
flattering
adventurers,
tells
to
the
personal prowess of the tale of the relations of
own
its
Portugal with Burma the men were under no sort of control from either Malacca or Goa, either at this ;
period or at any time.
The city held out for no less
than seven months, despite repeated assaults, till at last famine compelled Soabinya to sue for peace and accept the conqueror's terms these were merely that be spared a promise which was not ;
his life should fulfilled.
The flourishing city was sacked and burnt
the ground, the unfortunate inhabitants being slaughtered in thousands. Phayre, who states that to
army numbered 130,000 men, fixes the date of the siege, according to the Burmese history, the Portuguese account gives the date at 1540-1
the Burmese
;
1544-5-
Ferdinand Mendes Pinto supplies us with some curious details in
connection with the siege. 1
He
Phayre, p. 265, has a good word to say for this extraordinary adventurer, whose reputation as chronicler and traveller has borne the weight of two centuries of obloquy. After quoting " Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a teh well-known sentence, 1
" Love remarks that " his name
type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude" (Congreve's for Love," act ii. scene v.)> Sir Arthur
has become, though unjustly, a byword for untruth fulness." He points out that Pinto does not make himself a hero, nor
BURMA AND MALACCA
141
Martaban as a messenger from Pedro de Faria, Governor of 'Malacca, to the Viceroy, with presents and letters to confirm the Soabinya (whom he treaty and league of peace.
asserts that he arrived at
describes
as
the
Chaubainhaa, a
name, or
title,
by his adopted by in command who was impending fate, offered Cayero, of 700 Portuguese, a great bribe to assist him and his family to escape. Seixas undertook the mission, Sousa), driven to desperation
penetrating the Burmese camp in disguise.
He quite
satisfied his countrymen as to the Viceroy's
immense
wealth, but personal jealousy appears to have prevented the plot. The spoil of the city, it seems, had
been promised to the foreign leaguers, but Tabeng ordered the twenty-four gates to be strictly guarded for two days, during which the palace treasures were removed, and then by the firing of a signal gun the rapine and outrage commenced. Such was the rush
of the motley crew from the
Burmese camp that 300
of the soldiery were crushed to death at the city gates, and during the three days of indescribable horrors Tabeng, or his general, was obliged to enter and interfere several times to appease the mercenaries, who
began to fall upon each other. By some means Seixas got out of the city with a native woman,
does he exaggerate the wealth of the kings of Indo-China, and the strength of their armies, more than other sixteenth-century " The historical events he narrates, which travellers, and adds can be compared with the native and other accounts, are :
"
Cogan's translation of Pinto's Voyages and Travels" (1653, ch. 49 et seq.) has been utilised for these correctly told." events.
RALPH FITCH
142
whom he married at Coromandel.
The unfortunate
Viceroy had presented him with two valuable bracein recognition of faithful service, says Pinto with characteristic detail, he disposed of for 36,000 ducats, the dealers afterwards selling them to a native Governor of Narsinga for
assumedly
lets,
these,
80,000 ducats.
Soabinya's fate was a sad one. Dressed in black velvet, with head and eyebrows shaven, and mounted
on a small elephant, the Viceroy, who was followed
by a weeping procession consisting of his wife and small children, the ladies of his court, and native priests, was brought out of the city After the sack, through a double line of soldiers. four
several
the wretched wife and and no less than children, 140 of the ladies, hanging them by the feet to gallows erected on the summit of a hill. But this villainy proved too much for even the mercenaries, and caused such a commotion in camp as to have the effect of preserving the wretched Soabinya from some nameless torture the following night he and a number of his nobles were thrown into
Tabeng promptly executed
;
the sea with stones attached to their necks.
In celebration of his victory Tabeng, on ^ s return was solemnly consecrated as king, and he ordered new Htis to be on the two national pagodas. Prome was the placed next kingdom to fall into his hands. After driving the >
forces of the city,
Tabeng
capital,
national
King of Ava to the very gates of the fell back upon the ancient Burmese
Pagan, where, enterprise, he
in
pursuance of his
was
again
declared
great king,
BURMA AND MALACCA
143
now being recognised as heirPinto, who tells his story with sundry
Naung
Bureng apparent.
quaint expressions of disgust at what he witnessed, went on the expedition to Prome, having been sent a prisoner to Pegu through the treachery of one Gonzalo Falcan, a fellow-countryman, at Martaban.
He again supplies a catalogue of horrors occurring during the siege and at the fall of the city. The Queen, a woman of thirty-six years, was flogged to
husband (and nephew), a boy of thirteen years, being tied to her body and thrown into the river. Such were the experiences of the Portuguese mercenaries in these parts, and yet there appears to have been no lack of readiness to take service on one death, her
side or the other.
After an insignificant and unsuccessful expedition In 1 548 against Arakan, a quarrel arose with Siam.
an immense army, including a company of about 180 Portuguese under James Soarez de Melo, marched against Odia (Ayudha), the then capital, which is described as being no less than eight leagues in circumference. Here the Burmese met with a decided check.
About fifty Portuguese, commanded by James
Pereira, formed part of the garrison, and the walls were mounted with many guns of unusually heavy The siege dragged on it is stated that the calibre. invaders endeavoured to induce Pereira to desert his post but without effect, and at last they were com;
pelled
to
country.
1
make a
disastrous retreat out of the This signal reverse had the worst effect
Phayre, who calculates that the operations lasted five months, points out that the besiegers were in the end glad to 1
RALPH FITCH
144
upon
Tabeng, who,
although
he
had enjoyed a
brilliant reign of eighteen years, was still
only about himself up to all Giving kinds of dissipation, he made a boon companion of a thirty- four years of age.
nephew of Soarez
till
the general, Bureng
faithful to his master, expelled the
still
from the country.
Naung, young man
In this state of affairs a scion of
the Talaing Royal House, Thaminhtoa, who is known in the
Portuguese chronicles as Xemindoo, raised a
rebellion in the city of Pegu, but it was soon crushed.
The career of Tabeng Shwehti, however, was now nearing its close, and it is singular that the end was brought about by a member of the deposed race to
whom, in his better days, he himself had allowed some measure of power, which had been continued. He was invited by the Governor of Sitang to witness the capture of an elephant in the jungle, when he was set upon and assassinated. 1 Bureng Naung'8 empire.
The object of this somewhat lengthy rev j ew o f Burmese history has been to
illustrate the foundation of an empire which was near the height of its power when the first Englishman visited it, and also to afford a passing
glance at the position of the Portuguese who claimed treat with the Siamese, which they were the better able to do He states that as they had captured the king's son-in-law.
the invasion was provoked by an incursion of a Siamese force in Tavoy (p. 101). 1
The name or title of the Governor, according to Phayre
(p. 102), was
Sousa (vol. ii. p. 136) calls him
Thaminsoadwut. "
the Ximi de Zatan, and adds, Ximi is equivalent to a Duke, and he really was one of Satan's creating."
BURMA AND MALACCA supremacy will
in
therefore
all
A
very brief outline of the long and prosperous
these seas.
suffice
145
reign of Bureng Naung (Branginoco), who, although he was undoubtedly the chief means of Tabeng's successes in his scheme of conquest, only completed, as king,
the work of Burmese supremacy already
begun.
The city of Pegu having fallen into the hands of the Governor of Sitang through the cowardice of his brother, Bureng Naung retired to Taungu to prepare for what proved to be another brilliant series of con-
Meantime the other Talaing pretender, Thaminhtoa (Xemindoo), captured the usurper of Sitang and beheaded him, assuming royal honours in quests.
Bureng Naung lost no time in vindicating Having secured Taungu, Prome, and all the country up to Pagan, he marched on Pegu (1551) and, encountering his rival outside the walls, defeated him. Thaminhtoa fled for his life, reaching Martaban in an open boat, but eventually fell into the hands of his enemy, who treated him with contumely. Pinto, in an account of his execution, says Xemindoo was mounted on a sorry jade with the executioner riding behind him, a straw crown decorated with mussel shells was placed on his head, and he wore an iron collar trimmed with onions. Sousa adds a touch of pathos to the story " Xemindoo fled to the Mountains, where he his stead. his
claim to the throne.
:
married a poor Fellows Daughter. He discovered himself to her, and she revealed it to her Father, at such time as great Rewards were proposed to such as should discover him. The Father-in-Law delivered ii
RALPH FITCH
146
him up to the King, who cut off his Head." J The new conqueror, having had himself consecrated "
King of Kings," with his eldest son as heirapparent, sent one of his brothers as king tributary to Martaban. His next great exploit was to rid the old
Burmese throne of Ava of its Shan occupant,
the city being taken by assault in 1555.
It is remark-
able that in this expedition, which was undertaken, ostensibly, to help the Shan king to suppress a rebel
have had " a bodyguard of 400 Portuguese, dressed in uniform and armed with arquebuses." With characteristic pride Sousa (vol. ii. p. 237) retails another story to show the high esteem in which his fellow-countrymen were held. During the absence of the King of Kings a rebellion broke out in Pegu city, and the Queen was obliged to fly to the castle, where she was protected by thirty-nine Portuat Monyin, he is said to
guese.
On his return, Bureng Naung sent for the
men who defended
the Queen, and the officer brought him some Moors of Note but the King, knowing the Portuguese were the men, said in Anger,
"
;
Go " me Men.' The were rewarded then Portuguese bring sent you for Men, and you bring me Cowards
1
I
"
;
with riches, Praises, and Honour."
of a campaign in Zimme in which resulted that country being placed (1558), under tribute, the whole empire remained at peace In the meantime Bureng Naung had till 1562.
With the exception
1
Vol. ii. p. 137.
Phayre (p. 105) states that Thaminhtoa, or
Xemindoo (" Shemindoo," as Fitch calls him), is recognised in the Talaing chronicles as Zaggali
reigning Peguan Prince.
Meng
;
he was the
last
BURMA AND MALACCA beautified his capital so that tion of all European visitors.
barbarous
rites
it
147
became the admira-
He prohibited certain
among the Shans, forbade his own
people to worship Nats or familiars, and endeavoured generally to re-establish a higher form of Buddhism Caesar Frederick, who throughout the country. the capital a few years later (1569), gives enthusiastic of the sovereign's description
visited
an
"
He states, This king power and magnificence. of Pegu hath not any army or power by sea, but in the land, for people, dominions, golde and silver, he farre exceeds the power of the great Turke in It was, however, his great treasure and strength." desire to acquire one of the four sacred white elephants in possession of the King of Siam which led him, in spite of the disastrous experience of the previous reign, to launch an expedition against that
kingdom valley of
in
1563.
the
A huge force swept down the
Menam
in
four
divisions,
and
by
March, 1564, the capital had fallen, Bramahin, son of the deposed potentate, being placed on the throne
Another expedition against Zimme followed in the same year, but during Bureng Naung's
as tributary king.
absence two rebellious outbreaks occurred in the city of Pegu, the second and more serious one being led by a Shan captive. The King of Kings, who had by
subdued Zimme, returned and was so enraged against the Peguan rebels that he ordered al the prisoners and their families to be placed in a huge wicker-work building and burnt to death. But, so far as one can judge from the records of his reign Bureng Naung, personally, had no predilection for
this time again
RALPH FITCH
148
torture and outrage, and in this instance he
eventually forgave all the rebels but their leaders. Another period of peace followed, Last Conquest. Death of Branginoco, and was only broken as the result of '
,
,
,
Bureng Naung's
.
magnanimity.
The
ex-king of Siam, having become a devotee, was allowed to return home to worship, taking with him the
widow and
children of his younger son. Brathe conqueror now held no
that
mahin, finding hostages, threw off the suzerainty, with the result that in 1 568 another great Burmese force came down
upon Odia (Ayudha) and invested it. After a siege fell, and this time was One account states that the victory was sacked.
of four months the city again
won by a trick. A Siamese noble of high rank, who was in the invading army, pretended to desert and appeared before Bramahin with chains on his legs. He was warmly received and given an important command, which he, of course, betrayed. The King of Kings returned to Pegu after this, his final, conquest in
1 570.
The empire, which extended from the Shan
country in the north to the capital of Siam in the south-east, was at peace, with the exception of insignificant enterprises, for the next ten years, for Bureng Naung now occupied an impregnable position.
hill
There was only one country left unconquered which This had formerly acknowledged Burmese sway. was Arakan, which lay beyond the western hills, and to complete the task begun by Tabeng he determined
0579) to subdue it, commencing operations by de-
On the way to the spatching a formidable fleet. western coast the Burmese force beat off several
BURMA AND MALACCA
149
Portuguese vessels which tried to bar its progress, and the invaders landed at Sandoway in readiness for Bureng Naung's arrival. But, after waiting more than a year, the expedition so auspiciously begun was suddenly interrupted by the news of the king's
death, in November, 1581.
Thus ended the
thirty
years'
reign
of Bureng
Naung (Branginoco), who died at the zenith of his glory,
and whose
capital city of
Pegu had become
one of the greatest centres of wealth and commerce
His characteristics, exhibited throughout a career which began in the obscure Taungu valley and reached its object, the throne of an empire, have been but faintly indicated in this in the Further East.
necessarily condensed account of a phase of Eastern history which is not well known even in our own time.
As to its romance and astonishing results, we
may find some- parallel to the story of Bureng
Naung
of Alaunghpra (Alompra), with whom we Britishers came into contact at a later period but
in
that
;
for the solid qualities of the conquering and adminis-
trative
ruler
Burmese
Bureng Naung stands alone in the With regard to the mysterious
annals.
Portuguese strangers, he succeeded in a line of policy which, so far as he could comprehend it, was the best for his country.
He welcomed them as general and
sovereign, but it was only to make use of them, and to him they were hirelings nothing more.
CHAPTER II NARRATIVE CONTINUED THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN IN PEGU (BURMA) HIS PREDECESSORS THE " VERY GREAT, STRONG AND VERY FAIRE " CITY continuing his adventurous journey still further
INeast, Master Ralph Fitch won for himself the an honour title of the first Englishman in Burma which we in these days are better able to appreciate than were his contemporaries. Sailing from the Sunderbunds down the coast of Arakan, he tells us he crossed the bar of Negrais and, visiting several places in the Irawadi delta en route, he appears to have spent some time in the city both in 1587 and on his return from Malacca in 1588. At this time
Nanda Bureng, who succeeded his father, the powerwas on the throne, and, had just commenced the series of ill-directed attempts upon Siam which led ful
Branginoco, in
1581,
according to the records,
to the ruin of the glorious capital described by Fitch, the eventual devastation of the whole surrounding
region and his own captivity and death at Taungu The early 1 599, after a reign of eighteen years.
in
150
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART
151
European predecessors of the British traveller who left any record of their impressions of Burma or Pegu are but few in number. They come in the following order as to date, namely, Marco Polo, at the end of the thirteenth century Nicolo di Conti, ;
a Venetian, at the beginning of the fifteenth nasius Nikitin of Twer, a Russian, 1468-74
;
AthaHiero-
;
nimo di Santo Stefano, a Genoese, 1496 Lewes Vertomannus (Varthema), of Rome, who speaks of Armenians and Nestorians as being in Pegu, 1 503-4. After the opening up of the Cape route and the ;
trafficking with the Portuguese, referred
to
in
the
preceding chapter, comes Caesar Frederick, the Venetian, about 1 567-9, whose account of the great city as he saw it in Branginoco's days (preserved by both Hakluyt and Purchas) is full of interest. Fitch's immediate predecessor was Gasparo Balbi, a Venetian jeweller, who arrived in 1583, and who
As to the ruin of the soon after the return of our traveller, Nicolas country has also left a graphic record.
Pimenta, a Portuguese priest gives
some account.
who came in
1598,
1
For the various references see Phayre, chap. xxii. Major's India in the Fifteenth Century" (Hakluyt Society) for Conti and Nikitin " The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema," by Mr. 1
;
"
;
Winter Jones and the Rev. G. Percy Badger (Hakluyt Society). Balbi states that he left Aleppo in December, 1579, and, following the usual route to Goa, continued his journey via Cochin, Cananor, Ceylon, Negapatan, and St. Thomas. He crossed the bar of Negrais in September, 1583, and gives an interesting
account of his voyage through the delta and a description of the capital (Purchas, 1625, vol. ii. book x., which also contains the narrative of Pimenta).
RALPH FITCH
152
The modern town of Pegu, which lies close to the bank of the river of the same name, is forty-six miles north-east of Rangoon. It occupies portion of the site of the old city, and in 1881 had a population of "
only 5,891. In his Embassy to Ava" Symes states that the extent of ancient Pegu could be accurately traced by the ditch and wall
"
from these it appears been a quadrangle, each side measuring He estimated the breadth nearly a mile and a half." of the ditch at 60 yards, and the depth 10 or 12 feet the height of the wall he conjectured at 30 feet at least, and the breadth at the base not less than 40 feet it was built of brick with bastions about 300 yards :
to have
;
;
The Great Pagoda, apart, and a parapet of masonry. founded according to tradition more than two thousand years ago, is still a conspicuous object, and according to Hunter, the Shwe-maw-daw at Pegu is held in greater veneration by the Talaings than the
Shwe-Dagon "
at
Rangoon.
Symes
writes
of
it
:
This extraordinary pile of buildings is erected on a
double terrace, one raised upon another the lower greater terrace is about 10 feet above the ;
and
natural level of the ground, forming an exact parallelogram the upper and lesser terrace is similar in ;
shape, and
rises
about
20
feet
above
the lower
I terrace, or 30 above the level of the country. a of the lower to be side terrace 1,391 feet; judged
The temple .he describes as of of the upper, 684." and brick mortar, octagonal at the base and spiral at the top, each side of the base measuring 162 feet.
Fifty-seven small spires are placed on a ledge near the base, and fifty-three more on a higher ledge.
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART The whole is surmounted by a gilt " tee
153 " (hti),
or
umbrella, which is to be seen on every sacred buildextreme height of the edifice from the
ing, and the
"
The title Shoemadoo," or ground is 361 feet. Golden Supreme, he suggests comes from " Shoe," or " "Shce," golden, and Madoo," a corruption of "
Mahadeva," or deo. 1 It is scarcely necessary to add that the present centre of government and national life on this coast is the flourishing modern city of Rangoon, which was also founded by a native conqueror under circumstances not less stirring than those
recorded
in
the
Master
preceding pages.
Fitch's journal of this portion of his travels
of
life
and
and
movement,
panoramic
is
full
in
its
minuteness.
BURMA
THE JOURNEY (THIRD PART). "
I
went from Serrepore the
Nouember
1586. for
Pegu
in
28.
of
a small
ship or foist of one Albert Carauallos, and so passing downe Ganges, and Sundiua island.
passing by the Island of Sundiua, porto Grande, or the countrie of Tippera, the
kingdom of Recon and Mogen, leaning them on our left side with a faire wind at Northwest our course was South & :
by East, which brought vs to the barre of Negrais in Pegu if any contrary wind had come, we had throwen many :
of our things ouer-boord 1
"Embassy to Ava," by Lieut.-Col. mission took place in 1795.
:
for
we were
Symes (1800).
The
RALPH FITCH
154
so pestered with people & goods, that there was scant place to lie in. From
Bengala to Pegu
is
We
90. leagues.
the barre of Negrais, which is braue barre & hath 4. fadomes of
entred
Negrais,
a
Three dayes
water where it hath least. after
Cosmin.
we came to Cosmin, which is
a
very pretie towne, and standeth very pleasantly, very well furnished with all
The people be very tall & well disposed the women white, round faced, 1
things.
;
with little eies
:
the houses are high built,
vpon great high postes, & they go vp to them with long ladders for feare of the Tygers which be very many. set
Ladders vsed to auoycl the danger of wild beasts.
The countrey things.
Here
is
very
are
fruitful
very
great
of
all
Figs,
Orenges, Cocoes, and other fruits. The land is very high that we fall withall, but after we be entred the barre, it is very lowe and
goe Dwelling in boats,
all
full
of riuers, for they
too and fro in
boates, which
they call paroes, and keepe their houses with wife and children in them. "
From the barre of Nigrais
to the
Cosmin, a corruption of Kusimanagara, now the important town and port of Bassein, Burma, situated on both banks of the Bassein river in the Irawadi delta, seventy-five miles from the It is said to have been founded by a Talaing or Peguan sea. 1
It is difficult, if not impossible, to identify princess in 1249. the places Fitch mentions in the delta. The changes in
all
the district have been great ; as Hunter puts travellers
"
found Rangoon a village."
it,
he and other
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART citie
of Pegu
the riuers.
is
155
ten dayes iourney
by
Wee went from Cosmin to
Pegu in Paroes or boates, and passing vp the riuers wee came to Medon, which is a prety towne, where there be a wonderfull number of Paroes, for they keepe their houses and their markets in them all vpon the water. They rowe too and fro, and haue all their marchandizes in their boates with
a great Sombrero or shadow ouer their heads to keepe the sunne from them,
which is as broad as a great cart wheele made of the leaues of the Coco trees and fig trees, and is very light. " From Medon we went to Dela, which is a very faire towne, and hath a faire port into the sea, from whence go many ships to Malacca, Mecca, and many other places. Here are 18. or 20. very great and long houses, where they tame and keep many elephants of the kings for there about in the wildernesse :
they catch the wilde elephants.
It is a
From Dela we went to Cirion, which is a good towne, and hath a faire porte into the sea, whither come many ships from Mecca, Malacca, Sumatra, and from diuers other
very fruitfull countrey. cirion.
places. 1
1
And
there
the
ships
staie
Cirion, Syriam, or Than-Lyin, on the left bank of the Pegu river and about three miles from its mouth (H.). This was the
RALPH FITCH
156
and discharge, & send vp their goods in
From Cirion we went Macao, 1 which is a pretie towne, where we left our boats or Faroes, Faroes to Pegu.
Macao.
to
& in the morning taking Delingeges, which are a kind of Coches made of
coches carried on
mens shoulders.
cords & cloth quilted,
stang
2
& caned vpon a betweene 3. or 4. men we came :
to Pegu the same day.s "
Pegu. !
Pegu is a citie very great, strong, and very faire, with walles of stone, and There great ditches round about it. are two townes, the old towne and the In the old towne are all the newe. marchants strangers, and very many marchants of the countrey. All the are sold in the olde towne which goods is very great, and hath many suburbes round about it, and all the houses are made of Canes which they call Bambos
scene of the exploits of Philip de Brito, a Portuguese adventurer,
who for a time dominated the whole delta. 2 Or pole. Meh-Kay (?). 1
3
Referring to the journey through the delta, Lieut. -General " in his Burma," vol. i. p. 1 1, makes the following
Fytche
" interesting comment Singular enough, I traversed myself probably the very same route through these creeks while in :
pursuit of some marauding bands, during the second Burmese war, and was the second Englishman that had done so. At
no record of any other having gone this route The passage had become much blocked up from disuse and the banks overgrown with trees, which had to be cleared in many parts before the gunboats could pass least,
there
is
during the interval.
through."
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART
157
and bee couered with strawe. In your house you haue a Warehouse which 1 they call Godon, which is made of bricke to put your goods in, for oftentimes they take fire and burne in an
houre foure or fiue hundred houses so that if the Godon were not, you should bee in danger to haue all burned, if any :
winde should rise, at a trice. In the newe towne is the king, and all his It is a citie Nobilitie and Gentrie. very great and populous, and is made square and with very faire walles, and a great ditch round about it full of water, with
many
in it it hath and they bee made of
crocodiles
twenty gates, for euery There are also
stone,
square
:
fiue
gates.
Turrets
for many Centinels to watch, made of wood, and The gilded with golde very faire. streets are the fairest that euer
I
saw,
as straight as a line from one gate to the other, and so broad that tenne or
men may ride a front thorow On both sides of them at euery
twelue
them.
mans doore is set a palmer tree which the nut tree, which make a very faire shew and a very commodious shadow,
is
so that a man may walke in the shade all
The houses be made of wood, with tiles. The kings
day.
and
couered
house is in the middle of the city, and 1
Or godown.
RALPH FITCH
158 is
walled and ditched round about
and
:
the buildings within are made of wood
sumptuously gilded, and great workemanship is vpon the forefront, which is likewise very costly gilded. And the house wherein his Pagode or very
idole standeth
is
couered with tiles of
siluer, and all the walles are gilded with Within the first gate of the golde. is a great large roome, on house kings
both sides whereof are houses made for the kings elephants, which be maruellous great and faire, and are brought up to warres Foure white elephants.
and
And among
in seruice
the
rest
he
of the king. hath foure
white elephants, which are very strange and rare for there is none other king which hath them but he if any other king hath one, hee will send vnto him :
:
for
it.
When any
of
these
elephants is brought vnto the merchants in the all
commanded
the
white king,
city are to see them, and to giue
him a present of halfe a ducat, which doth come to a great summe for that :
many merchants in the city. After that you haue giuen your present you may come and see them at your there are
pleasure, although they stand in the kings house. This king in his title is The king of the white elephants.
called the king of the white elephants. If any other
king haue one, and
will
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART not send
it
with him for
159
make warre
him, he will
he had rather lose a great part of his kingdome, then not to conquere him. They do very great seruice vnto these white elephants euery one of them standeth in an house gilded with golde, and they doe feede in vessels of siluer and gilt. One of it
:
for
;
them when he doth go to the riuer to be washed, as euery day they do, goeth vnder a canopy of cloth of golde or of
him by sixe or eight or and ten men goe before men, eight him playing on drummes, shawmes, or other instruments and when he is washed and commeth out of the riuer, there is a gentleman which doth wash his feet in a siluer basin which is his office giuen him by the king. There is no such account made of any blacke silke carried ouer
:
:
And elephant, be he neuer so great. there be woonderfull faire and surely and some be nine cubites in And they do report that the king hath aboue flue thousand elephants of warre, besides many other which be great,
height.
not taught to fight. "
This king hath a very large place wherein he taketh the wilde elephants. It standeth about a mile from Pegu, builded with a faire court within, and is
in a great groue or
wood
:
and there be
RALPH FITCH
160
many huntsmen, which go wildernesse
with
without the she
the
for elephants they are not to be :
And they be taught for that
taken.
purpose
into
the
:
and euery hunter hath flue or and they say that they
sixe of them
:
anoint the she elephants with a certaine
ointment, which when the wild elephant smell, he will not leaue her.
doth
When
they haue brought the wilde elephant neere vnto the place, they
send word vnto the towne, and many horsemen and footmen come out and cause the she elephant to enter into a strait way which doeth go to the palace,
and the she and he do runne in for it is like a wood and when they be in, the gate doth shut. Afterward they out and when the male the female get seeth that he is left alone, he weepeth and crieth, and runneth against the walles, which be made of so strong trees, that some of them doe break their teeth :
:
:
Then they him with & cause canes, pricke sharpe him to go into a strait house, and there they put a rope about his middle and about his feet, and let him stand there with running against them.
three or foure dayes without eating or drinking and then they bring a female :
to him, with meat and drinke, and within few dayes he becommeth tame.
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART
161
The chiefe force of the king is in these And when they go into the elephants. vvarres they set a frame of wood vpon their backes, bound with great cordes, within sit foure or sixe men, which fight
with gunnes, bowes and arrowes, darts
and other weapons.
And they say that
their skinnes are so thicke that a pellet
of
an
harquebush will scarce pearce them, except it be in some tender Their weapons be very badde. place. They haue gunnes, but shoot very badly in them, darts and swordes short without points.
"The king keepeth a very great state when he sitteth abroad as he doth :
euery day twise, all his noble men which they call Shemines sit on ech side, a good distance off, and a great guard without them.
The Court yard is very
If any man will
great.
speake with the
king, he is to kneele downe, to heaue vp his hands to his head, and to put his
head to the ground three times, when he entreth, in the middle way, and when he commeth neere to the king and then he sitteth downe and talketh with the :
the king like well of him, he sitteth neere him within three or foure
king
if
:
paces
:
if
he thinke not well of him, he When he goeth to
sitteth further off.
warre,
he goeth very strong. 12
At my
RALPH FITCH
162 odia a city in siam.
being there he went to Odia in the countrey of Siam with three hundred
thousand men, and fiue thousand elephants. Thirty thousand men were his
These
guard.
people
do eate
roots,
herbs, leaues, dogs, cats, rats, serpents, and snakes; they refuse almost nothing.
When the king rideth abroad, he rideth with a great guard, and many noblemen, oftentimes vpon an elephant with a fine
him very fairly gilded with and sometimes vpon a great frame an horsliter, which hath a little
castle vpon
gold
;
like
house vpon it couered ouer head, but open on the sides, which is all gilded with golde, hires, This maner of cariage on mens shoulders is vsed in Peru, and in Florida.
& set with many rubies and sapwhereof he hath infinite store in
his country, and is caried vpon sixteene or eighteene mens shoulders. This coach in their language is called Serrion.
Very
great feasting and triumphing is many times before the king both of men and
women. ships.
and
This king hath
little
force by
hee hath but very few hath houses full of golde
because
Sea,
He
and bringeth in often, but spendeth very little, and hath the mines of rubies and saphires, and spinelles. " Neere vnto the palace of the king, siluer,
there is a treasure woonderfull rich
;
the
which because it is so neere, he doth not account of it and it standeth open for :
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART all
163
men to see in a great walled court
with two gates, which be alwayes open. There are foure houses gilded very in and couered with leade one of them are Pagodes or images of huge stature and great value. :
richly,
euery
first is the picture of a king in a crowne of golde on his with golde head full of great rubies and saphires,
In the
and about him there stand foure dren of golde.
chil-
In the second house
is
the picture of a man in siluer woonderfull great, as high as an house
;
his foot is as
long as a man, and he is made sitting, with a crowne on his head very rich
with stones.
In the third house is the
picture of a man greater then the other,
made of brasse, with a rich crowne on his head.
In the fourth and last house
doth stand another, made of brasse greater then the other, with a crowne also on his head very rich with stones. In another court not farre from this
stand
foure
other
Pagodes or
idoles,
maruellous great, of copper, made in the
same place where they do stand
;
for
they be so great that they be not to be
remooued
they stand in foure houses very faire, and are themselues gilded all ouer saue their heads, and they shew like a blacke Morian. Their :
gilded
expences
in
gilding of their images are
RALPH FITCH
164
The king hath one wife and aboue three hundred concubines, by which they say he hath fourescore or fourescore and ten children. He sitteth wonderfull. 1
Paperoftheieaues
in iudgment almost euery day. They vse no speech, but giue vp their supplications written in the leaues of a tree
"""with the point of an yron bigger then a
These leaues are an elle long, and about two inches broad they are also double. He which giueth in his
bodkin.
;
supplication, doth stand in
a place a
little distance off with a present.
If his
matter be liked of, the king accepteth of if his present, and granteth his request his sute be not liked of, he returneth :
with his present take it.
;
for the
king will not
"
In India there are few commodities which serue for Pegu, except Opium of
Cambaia, painted cloth of S. Thome, or of
and
Masulipatan,
Bengala, which
is
white
cloth
of
spent there in great
quantity. They bring thither also much An excellent colour cotton yame red coloured with a root with a root called Saia<
.
.
.
, .
n
1-1
r*
-11
which they call Saia, which will neuer lose
his
colour
:
it
is
very wel solde
here, and very much of it commeth yerely to Pegu. By your mony you The ships which come from lose much. Bengala, S. Thome, and Masulipatan, 1
Possibly Fitch refers to the national Pagoda at Pegu.
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART come to
the bar of
Nigrais
165
and
to
To Martauan a port of the sea in the kingdome of Pegu come many Cosmin.
ships from Malacca laden with Sandall, Porcelanes? and other wares of China,
and with Camphora of Borneo, and Pepper from Achen in Sumatra. To Cirion a port of Pegu come ships from Woollen cloth and scarlets soldo in
Pegu.
Mecca
woollen
with
cloth,
Scarlets,
Veluets, Opium, and such like. There are in Pegu eight Brokers, whom they call
Tareghe, which are bound to
sell
your goods at the price which they be woorth, and you giue them for their
and they be bound to make your debt good, because
labour two in the hundred
:
you sell your marchandises vpon their word. If the Broker pay you not at his day, you may take him home, and keepe him in your house which is a And if he pay great shame for him. not you presently, you may take his wife and children and his slaues, and binde them at your doore, and set them in the Sunne for that is the law of the :
;
The money of
countrey.
Pegu.
parts call
Their current money in these
a kinde of brasse which they Gansa, wherewith you may buy
golde,
is
siluer,
other things.
rubies,
muske,
and
all
The golde and siluer is
marchandise, and
is
worth sometimes
more, and sometimes lesse, as other wares
RALPH FITCH
i66
This brasen money doeth goe by
be.
a weight which they- call a biza; and commonly this biza after our account is '
The seueraii merchandises of Pegu.
worth about halfe a crowne or somewhat The marchandise which be in
lesse.
^
i
i
M
i
i
Pegu, are golde, siluer, rubies, saphires,
muske, beniamim or franck-
spinelles,
pepper, tinne, leade, copper, lacca whereof they make hard ware, rice, and wine made of rice, and incense,
long
some sugar. The elephants doe eate the sugar canes, or els they would make very much. And they consume many canes likewise in making of their Varellaes
Vare'iiaes.
or
I dole
temples, which are
number both great and small.
in great
some
are as high as a Church, very broad beneath, some a quarter of a mile
compasse within they be all earth done about with stone. They consume
in
in
:
these Varellaes
golde
;
great
quantity of
for that they be all gilded aloft
:
and many of them from the top to the bottome and euery ten or twelue yeeres they must be new gilded, because the rain consumeth off the golde for :
:
they stand open abroad. If they did not consume their golde in these vanities,
would be very plentifull and good cheape in Pegu. " About two dayes iourney from
it
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART
167
Pegu there is a Varelle or Pagode, which is the pilgrimage of the Pegues it is called Dogonne, and is of a woonderfull bignesse, and all gilded from And there is an the foot to the toppe. :
1
The Taiiipoies or Pegu>
house by it wherein the Tallipoies which are their Priests doe preach. This house is fiue and fifty paces in length, and hath three pawnes or walks in it, and forty great pillars gilded, which stand betweene the walks and ;
open on all sides with a number of small pillars, which be likewise gilded is it gilded with golde within and it is
:
without. There are houses very faire round about for the pilgrims to lie in :
and many goodly houses for the Tallipoies to preach in, which are full of images both of men and women, which are all gilded ouer with golde.
world
It is the
suppose, that is in the it standeth very high, and there
fairest place, as :
I
are foure wayes to it, which all along are set with trees of fruits, in such wise that a man man goe in the shade aboue
two miles in feast day is, a
And when their man can hardly passe by
length.
water or by land for the great presse of people for they come from all places of the kingdome of Pegu thither at their ;
feast. 1
The great Shwe-Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon.
RALPH FITCH
168 "
In Pegu they haue many Tallipoies or priests, which preach against all abuses. Many men resort vnto them.
When they enter into their kiack, that is to say, their holy place or temple, at the
doore there is a great iarre of water with a cocke or a ladle in it, and there they
wash their feet and then they enter in, and lift vp their hands to their heads first to their preacher, and then to the The TalliSunne, and so sit downe. ;
Theappareii their priests,
..
.
.
.
.
.
poies go very strangely apparelled with one camboline or thinne cloth next to their
body of a browne colour, another
of yellow doubled many times vpon their shoulder and those two be girded :
to them with a
broad girdle and they haue a skinne of leather hanging on a string about their necks, whereupon they sit, bare headed & bare footed for none of them weareth shooes with their right armes bare and a great broad sombrero or shadow in their hands to defend them in the Summer from the Sunne, and in the Winter from the :
;
;
When the Tallipoies or priests
raine.
take
their
schoole olde
or
before a
they go to be they twenty yeres more, and then they come Orders,
first
vntill
Tallipoie appointed
for that
purpose, whom they call Rowli he is of the chiefest and most learned, and :
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART
169
he opposeth them, and afterward examineth them many times, whether they will leaue their friends, and the company of all women, and take vpon them the habit of a Tallipoie. If any be content, then he rideth vpon an horse
about
the
streets
very
richly
apparelled, with drummes and pipes, to shew that he leaueth the riches of the
world to be a Tallipoie. after, he is caried
horstliter,
which
In few daies
vpon a thing like an they
call
a
serion,
vpon ten or twelue mens shoulders in the apparell of a Tallipoie, with pipes
and drummes, and many Tallipoies with him, and al his friends, and so they go with him to his house, which standeth without the towne, and there they leaue him. Euery one of them hath his house, which is very little, set vpon six or eight posts, and they go vp to them with a ladder of twelue or foureteene staues.
Their houses be for the
most part by the hie wayes side, and among the trees, and in the woods.
And they go with a great pot made of wood or fine earth, and
couered, tied
with a broad girdle vpon their shoulder,
which commeth vnder their arme, wherewith they go to begge their victuals which they eate, which is rice, fish, and herbs. They demand nothing,
RALPH FITCH
170
but come to the doore, and the people
doe giue them, some one and another and they put some thing presently
:
together in their potte
all
for
:
they say
they must eate of their almes, and therewith content themselues. Obieruation of new moones.
their feasts by the Moone is
They keepe :
and when it
new Moone they keepe their greatest
feast
:
and then the people send
rice
and other things to that kiack or church of which they be and there all the Tallipoies doe meete which be of that Church, and eate the victuals which are When the Tallipoies do sent them. preach, many of the people cary them gifts into the pulpit where they sit and And there is one which sitteth preach. by them to take that which the people ;
bring.
It is diuided among them.
They
haue none other ceremonies nor seruice that "
lamahey fiue & twenty dayes iourney North-
eastward from Pegu,
I
I
which
could see, but onely preaching.
went is
from
in the
geiannes,
Pegu
to
lamahey,
countrey of the Lan-
whom we call langomes
;
it
flue and
twenty dayes iourney northIn which iourney I east from Pegu. 1
is
many fruitfull and pleasant The countrey is very lowe, countreys. and hath many faire riuers. The houses are very bad, made of canes, and couered Heere are many wilde with straw. passed
Zimme in the Siamese Shan states.
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART
171
and elephants. lamahey very faire and great towne, with buffes
is
a
faire
houses of stone, well peopled, the streets are very large, the
men very well set
and strong, with a cloth about them, bare headed and bare footed for in all these countreys they weare no shooes. The women be much fairer then those of Pegu. Heere in all these countreys they haue no wheat. They make some :
Hither to lamahey come marchants out of China, and bring many of store muske, great golde, siluer, and cakes of rice.
of China
worke.
many
other
Here
they great store of victuals such plenty that they will not
things
is
haue milke the
:
they doe in
buffles, as
all
other places. Here is great store of copper and beniamin. In these coun-
when the people be sicke they a vow to offer meat vnto the and when they diuell, if they escape be recouered they make a banket with many pipes & drummes and other treys
make
:
instruments, and dansing
all
the night
and their friends come and bring gifts, cocos, figges, arracaes, and other fruits, and with great dauncing and reioycing they offer to the diuell, and say, they giue the diuel to eat, and driue him out. When they be dancing and playing they will cry & hallow very loud and in this ;
RALPH FITCH
172
sort
they say they driue
him away,
And when they be sicke a Tallipoy or two euery night doth
sit
by them
&
sing, to please the diuell that he should
And if any die he is
not hurt them.
vpon a great frame made like a tower, with a couering all gilded with caried
golde
made
foureteene
of
or
canes
caried
with
sixteene
men,
with
drummes and pipes and other instruThey burne their dead.
ments playing before him to a place out of the towne and there is burned.
He is accompanied with all his friends and neighbours, all men
and they giue to the tallipoies or priests many mats and cloth and then they returne to the house and there make a feast for two dayes: and then the wife with all the :
:
& her friends go to he was burned, and where place there they sit a certaine time add cry and gather the pieces of bones which be left unburned and bury them, and then returne to their houses and make an end of all mourning. And the men and women which be neere of kin do shaue their heads, which they do not vse except it be for the death of a friend for they much esteeme their haire. " Caplan is the place where they finde it the rubies, saphires, and spinelles Aua from standeth sixe dayes iourney neighbours wiues the
:
Caplan is the place where the rubies and other
:
precious stones are found.
THE NARRATIVE, THIRD PART in the
kingdome of Pegu. hilles
many great high
173
There are
out of which
None may go
they digge them.
to
the pits but onely those which digge
them. 1 "
......
The Bramas which be of the kings
countrey (for the king is a Brama) haue their legs or bellies, or some part of their body, as they thinke good themselues,
made black with certaine things which they haue
:
they vse to pricke the skinne,
and to put on it a kinde of anile or blacking, which doth continue alwayes. And this is counted an honour among them but none may haue it but the Bramas which are of the kings kindred. 2 These people wcsiYQ no beards they .. ,1 ^1 r ^t pull out the haire on their faces with :
The people of
Peguweareno beardu.
:
i
the purpose. little pinsons made for Some of them will let 16 or 20 haires
grow together, some in one place of his face and some in another, and pulleth out
all
the rest
:
for
he carieth
his
pinsons alwayes with him to pull the haires out as soone as they appeare. If
they see
a
man
with a beard
they
wonder at him.
They haue their teeth blacked both men and women, for they
1
The ruby mines of the Mogok district are now worked by a
British company under a concession from the Government.
The practice of tattooing the upper half of the leg is still in vogue among the male population of Burma. 2
RALPH FITCH
174
say a dogge hath his teeth white, therefore they will blacke theirs. "
The Pegues if they haue a sute in
the law which is so doubtfull that they it, put two long canes into the water where it is very deepe and both the parties go into the
cannot well determine
:
water by the poles, and there sit men to iudge, and they both do diue vnder the
water, and he which remaineth longest vnder the water doth winne the sute."
CHAPTER III NARRATIVE CONCLUDED MALACCA, THE EMPORIUM TRADE WITH CHINA AND JAPAN CHINESE SUSPICIONS THE RETURN story of the last stages of Master Fitch's
presents two notable features, of ease the traveller's movements in the namely, remote and turbulent regions, secondly, his immunity JL
wanderings
from the caprices of the native tyrant, or the jealousy and rapacity of the official or filibustering Portuguese. He travelled as a trader and paid his dues as a matter of course at the various ports he visited indeed he had no other means of support, for there is not the slightest suggestion that he took either part or interest in any of the plundering expeditions he must have seen going on around him. ;
Malacca, just before the undergone a terrible
had
first
Englishman saw it,
experience.
Linschoten
states that early in 1587 news reached Goa that the emporium was in great danger, the kings of Achem
and
(Johore) having closed the Straits, thus blocking the spice trade and preventing traffic to China and Japan. The news caused a
(Acheen)
Jor
175
RALPH FITCH
176
great sensation, and in September Dom Paulo de Lima Pereira was despatched thither with a strong force.
Dom Paulo carried out the expedition with
after relieving the city, which
opposition, and,
was on the verge of
Goa in
returned to
starvation,
all
success, crushing
distinguished
April,
The
1588.
Dutch narrator, in his usual entertaining fashion, tells us that the
belonging
Dom captured in
to
the
King
of
the
straits
a ship
Achem, who was
the
principal cause of the disturbance, in which was his daughter on her way to be married to the King of Jor, who carried with her a large piece of ordnance as
a wedding present. The Portuguese landed and, after a desperate resistance, plundered and burnt the capital of
Jor,
afterwards
which they entered
proceeding
to
Malacca,
triumph, the King of Achem
in
being glad to come to terms for his daughter's sake. The great gun was sent as a trophy to the King of Portugal, but sunk in the wreck of the vessel off Tercera in the Azores it was afterwards raised and ;
placed on the fortifications of that island. Apparently the ship in question was that which Linschoten met
on his own return home (isSp). 1 On board of her he tells us was a factor " Gerrit van Afhuysen borne in Antwarpe, and dwelling in Lis-
at St. Helena
bone," who had sailed in the vessel from Lisbon two years before. Fitch, who reached the city immediately after its relief by 1
Dom Paulo, was there at the
Linschoten's " Discours," English ed., 1598, pp. 151-4 and Sousa gives a graphic account of the relief of Malacca
172.
and the rivalry of the Portuguese commanders, vol. iii. chap, v. ;
also see Danvers, vol. ii. chap. iii.
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED
177
same time as the Dutchman, but the presence of the Englishman was evidently unnoticed, otherwise Afhuysen would have mentioned the circumstance to Linschoten, who with equal certainty would have left us the gossip in full detail.
After being captured by the Dutch in 1641, and by the British in 1795, the city was again held by the
former from 1818 to 1825, when British
Owing
possession.
it
to the
became a
finally
shallowness
of
the harbour, among other causes, the port has long
been outrivalled by both Singapore and Penang.
A
recent traveller thus tersely describes its present con"
Malacca is reposing after its varied history and its former prosperity as the outlet of the products dition
:
of the Peninsula, in a condition of peaceful stagnation. Its colourless condition
well typified
is
by its
sole
in
product tapioca, produced large quantities by Chinese labour and capital." He recalls that Camoens
was wrecked off this coast on his voyage home and
swam
ashore with the manuscript of the Lusiad, The poet wrote of its losing everything else.
prosperous days
:
" Malacca's market
grand and opulent, Whither each Province of the long seaboard Shall send of merchantry rich varied hoard." T
THE JOURNEY (FOURTH PART). " Malacca.
The
Pegu
10
of
January
to Malacca, passing
"
I
went from
by many of-
The Peoples and Politics of the Far East," by Mr. Henry Norman, p. 44 (Fisher Unwin, 1895). 1
13
178
RALPH FITCH the ports of Pegu, as Martauan, the Hand of Taui, from whence commeth all great store of tinne which serueth of Hands the lunsalaon, Tanaseri, India,
and so came to and many others of Malacca the 8 February, where the Portugals haue a castle which standeth :
And the countrey fast
nere the sea. 1
towne belongeth to the is a kinde of proud peowhich Malayos, with a cloth about naked They go ple. their middle, and a litle roll of cloth
without the
about their heads.
Hither come many
ships from China & from the Malucos, Banda, Timor, and from many other
Hands of the
lauas, which bring great
store of spices and drugs, and diamants and other iewels. The voyages into
many of these Hands belong vnto the captaine of Malacca so that none may ;
goe thither without his licence
summes
yeeld him
great
euery yeere. often times
warres with
:
which
of
money The Portugals heere haue the king of
Achem which standeth in the Hand of Sumatra
:
from whence commeth great
store of pepper
and other spices euery
The chief export of the island of Tavoy during recent years has consisted of edible birds'-nests. The old town of Tenasserim was built on a neck of land at the confluence of the Great and Little Tenasserim rivers it is now a mere hamlet (H.). Island 1
;
of Junkseylon.
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED
179
yeere to Pegu and Mecca within the Red sea, and other places.
"When the Portugals go from Macao
The voyage to
China to lapan, they carry much white silke, golde, muske, and porcelanes:
in
and they bring from thence nothing but siluer. They haue a great caracke which goeth thither euery yere, and she bringeth from thence euery yere aboue Eight hundred sixe hundred thousand crusadoes and thousand crusadoes ,,,.., all this siluer of lapan, and two hundred in siluer impioyed thousand crusadoes more in siluer which :
they bring yeerely out of India, they imploy to their great aduantage in China and they bring from thence golde, :
muske,
silke,
many
other
copper, porcelanes, and things
very
costly
and
When the Portugals come to
gilded.
Canton in China to traffike, they must remaine there but certaine dayes and :
when they come in at the gate of the city, they must enter their names in a booke, and when they goe out at night they must put out their names. They may not lie in the towne all night, but
must if any
vsed
their
in
lie
towne.
boats without
the
And their dayes being expired, man remaine there, they are euill imprisoned. The Chinians
and
and doe not trust thought that the king
are very suspitious, strangers.
It
is
doth not know that any strangers come
RALPH FITCH
i8o
And further it is into his countrey. credibly reported that the common people see their king very seldome or not at all, nor may not looke vp to that
And when he place where he sitteth. rideth abroad he is caried vpon a great or
chaire
serrion
wherein there
gilded a
made
is
with a latise to looke out at
very
faire,
little
house
so that he
;
may see them, but they may not looke vp at him and all the time that he passeth by them, they heaue vp their hands to their heads, & lay their heads on the ground, and looke not vp vntill he be passed. The order of China is when they mourne, that they weare white thread shoes, and hats of straw. The man doth mourne for his wife two yeeres, the wife for her husband three :
the sonne for his father a yeere, and for his mother two yeres. And all the time which they mourne they keepe the dead in the house, the bowels being taken out and filled with chownam or and when the time lime, and coffined is expired they carry them out playing and piping, and burne them. And
yeeres
:
:
when they returne they pull
off their
mourning weeds, and marry
at
concubines onely.
their
A man may keepe as many
pleasure.
as
he
All the
but
one wife
Chineans,
laponians,
will,
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED The writing of the people of china, &c.
Laban.
181
and Cauchin Chineans do write right Downwards, and they do write with a fine pensill made of dogs or cats haire. "
Laban is an Hand among the lauas
from whence come the diamants of the
New water. And they finde them in the riuers
:
for the king will
not suffer them
to digge the rocke. "
lamba is an Hand among the lauas And also, from whence come diamants. the king hath a masse of earth which it groweth in the middle of a is golde ;
and when the king doth lacke gold, they cut part of the earth and melt This masse it, whereof commeth golde.
riuer
:
of earth doth appeare but once in a yere which is when the water is low ;
:
and this is in the moneth of April. "
Bima is another Hand among
the
lauas, where the women trauell and labour as our men do in England, and the men keepe house and go where they will. 1
Fitch, who probably heard these accounts of China and Japan and the other places he mentions during his sojourn at Malacca, may here refer to Bima, a seaport town on the island of Sumbawa, Dutch East Indies, now chiefly noted for its export of timber, other produce, and ponies. lamba, or, in modern spelling, Jamba, possibly represents the present Jambi on the 1
right bank of the river of the same name in the auriferous island of Sumatra. The Dutch founded a factory at Jambi in i6i6,and in and around the town many Hindu sculptures have been discovered. If "Laban" represents the island of Labuan on the
1
RALPH FITCH
82
He returneth from Malacca.
"The 29 of March 1588, I returned from Malacca to Martauan, and so to Pegu, where I remained the second time vntill the 17 of September, and then I went to Cosmin, and there tooke shipping and in passing many dangers by ;
of contrary windes, it pleased that we arriued in Bengala in
reason Bengala.
God Nouember
where I stayed following want of passage vntill the third of February 1589, and then I shipped my In which voyage we selfe for Cochin. :
for
endured great extremity for lacke of the weather was for fresh water extreme hote, and we were many marchants and passengers, and we had very many calmes, and hote weather. :
Oey on.
Yet it pleased God that we arriued in Ceylon the sixth of March, where we stayed flue dayes to water, and to furnish our selues with other necessary prouision.
This
Ceylon
fruitfull
a
is
& faire
braue but by
Hand, very reason of continuall warre with the king ;
thereof, all things are very deare will not suffer any thing to
:
he
for
be
brought to the castle where the Portunorth-west coast of Borneo, our traveller's statement will be of interest to the British
North Borneo Company, to whom the
then a Crown colony, was transferred by the British Government about 1890; sago is one of its chief products, and coal mining is carried on with success.
island,
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED gals
haue
183
wherefore often times they Their great want of victuals.
be
:
prouision of victuals
commeth out of The king is called
Bengala euery yere. Raia, and is of great force for he commeth to Columbo, which is the place where the Portugals haue their fort, with an hundred thousand men, and many elephants. But they be naked ;
people all of them yet many of them be good with their pieces which be muskets. When the king talketh with any man, he standeth vpon one legge, ;
and setteth the other foot vpon his knee with his sword in his hand it is not their order for the king to sit but His apparell is a fine painted to stand. cloth made of cotton wooll about his middle his haire is long and bound vp with a little fine cloth about his head all the rest of his body is naked. His are a thousand which stand men, guard round about him, and he in the middle and when he marcheth, many of them goe before him, and the rest :
:
:
;
come after him.
They are of the race
of the Chingalayes, which they say are best kinde of all the Malabars.
Their
are very large for the greater the honourable more are, they they are eares
;
Some of them are a spanne The wood which they burne is
accounted. long.
RALPH FITCH
184
Cinamom wood, and it
smelleth very
There is great store of rubies, saphires, and spinelles in this Hand the best kinde of all be here but the king sweet.
:
;
not suffer the inhabitants to digge for them, lest his enemies should know
will
make warres against him,
of them, and
and so driue him out of his countrey for them. They haue no horses in all the
The elephants be not so countrey. great as those of Pegu, which be monstrous huge but they say all other :
elephants do feare them, and none dare
them, though they be very Their women haue a cloth bound
fight with
small.
about them from their middle to their knee and all the rest is bare. All of :
Blacke people.
them be blacke and but little, both men and women. Their houses are very little,
or
made of the branches of the palmer
coco-tree,
and
couered
with
the
leaues of the same tree. "
Cape de Oomori.
The
eleuenth of
March we sailed
from Ceylon, and so doubled the cape of Comori. Not far from thence, betweene Ceylon and the maine land of Negapatan, they fish for pearles. And is fished euery yere very much which doth serue all India, Cambaia, there
;
and Bengala, it is not so orient as the pearle of Baharim in the gulfe of Persia. From cape de Comori we passed by
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED couiam.
185
Coulam, which is a fort of the Portugals from whence commeth great store of :
pepper, which commeth from Portugall ladeth one of the :
for oftentimes there
Thus passing Portugall. the coast we arriued in Cochin the 22 of caracks of
cochin,
1
March, where we found the weather warme, but scarsity of victuals for here groweth neither corne nor rice and the greatest part commeth from Bengala. They haue here very bad water, for the riuer is farre off. This bad water causeth many of the people to be like lepers, People with swollen and many of them haue their legs :
:
legges mentioned also by loh.
Huygen.
..
.
.
swollen as bigge as a man in the waste,
& many of them are scant able to go. These people here be Malabars, and of the race of the Naires of Calicut
they
differ
:
and
much from the other Mala-
These haue their heads very full of haire, and bound vp with a string and there doth appeare a bush without bars.
:
the band wherewith
it is bound. The men be tall and strong, and good archers with a long bow and a long arrow,
1
state), one of the oldest towns on the going back to the records of the primitive
Quilon (Travancore coast, its history
Syrian Church in India. One of the greatest ports of Malabar, mentioned as Coilon in a letter of the Nestorian Patriarch Jesujabus who died A.D. 660, and is the Coilum of Marco Polo and the Columbum of several ecclesiastical writers. The it is
Portuguese established a factory and fort here in 1503.
1
RALPH FITCH
86
which is their best weapon
some
caliuers
yet there be
:
among them, but they
handle them badly. "
How pepper groweth,
Heere groweth the pepper
;
and it
springeth vp by a tree or a pole, and is like our iuy berry, but something
longer like the wheat eare and at the and as first the bunches are greene, :
they waxe ripe they cut them off and dry them. The leafe is much lesser then the iuy leafe and thinner. All the inhabitants here haue very little houses couered with the leaues of the coco-
The men be of reasonable stature women litle all blacke, with a
trees. Blacke people.
the
;
;
cloth bound about their middle hanging
down to their hammes be
bodies
their
horrible great set
:
all
naked with
eares
:
the rest of
they
haue
many
rings
with pearles and stones in them.
The king goeth incached, as they do all he doth not remaine
in a
:
place aboue
sixe dayes he hath many but his guard be but little houses, they flue
or
:
:
is
he remooueth from one another according to their
but small
house to
:
All the pepper of Calicut and course cinamom groweth here in this order.
The best cinamom doth come from Ceylon, and is pilled from fine yoong trees. Here are very many
countrey.
palmer or coco-trees,
which
is
their
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED
or Calicut or
187
for it is their meat and and yeeldeth many other necessary things, as I haue declared before. " The Naires which be vnder the king of Samorin, which be Malabars, haue
chiefe
food
drinke
:
:
alwayes wars with the Portugals. The king has alwayes peace with them but his people goe to the sea to robbe & :
steale.
Their chief captaine is called he hath three castles vnder
Cogi Alii
;
When the
him.
Portugals complaine
to the king, he sayeth he doth not send
them out
but he consenteth that they They range all the coast from
go.
:
Ceylon to Goa, and go by foure or flue parowes or boats together and haue in euery one of them fifty or threescore men, and boord presently. They do much harme on that coast and take euery yere many foists and boats of the Portugals. Many of these people be Moores. This kings countrey beginneth twelue leagues from Cochin, and reacheth neere vnto Goa. I remained in Cochin vntill the second of Nouember which was eight moneths for that there was no passage that went away in all that time if I had come two dayes sooner I had found a passage presently. From Cochin I went to Goa, where I remained three dayes. From Cochin to Goa is an hundred leagues. From Goa I went ;
;
:
ooa.
RALPH FITCH
i88 Chaul.
which is threescore leagues, remained three and twenty dayes and there making my prouision of things necessary for the shippe, from where thence I departed to Ormus to Chaul,
where
I
:
Ormus.
;
I
stayed for a passage to Balsora
From Goa to Ormus is
dayes.
fifty
foure
hundred leagues. Here I thought good, before I make an end of this my booke, to declare some things which India and the countrey farther Eastward do bring forth. The pepper tree,
The pepper groweth in many parts and of India, especially about Cochin much of it doeth grow in the fields :
among the bushes without any labour and when it is ripe they go and gather it. The shrubbe is like vnto our iuy :
tree
and
:
if it
tree or pole, rot.
When
greene
;
it
did not run about some
would
they
first
fall
downe and
gather
it
it,
is
and then they lay it in the Sun,
and it becommeth blacke. Ginger,
The
ginger groweth like
vnto
our
it garlike, and the root is the ginger to be found in many parts of India. :
Cloues.
is
The cloues doe come from the lies of the Moluccoes, which be diuers Hands
:
their tree is like our bay tree. Nutmegs & maces.
The nutmegs and maces grow together, and come from the He of Banda,
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED the tree
is
like to
189
our walnut tree but
somewhat lesser.
The white sandol is wood very sweet
& in great request among the Indians for
they grinde
it
with a
little
:
water,
and anoynt their bodies therewith
:
it
commeth from the isle of Timor. G amphora,
Camphora is a precious thing among the Indians, and is solde dearer then I thinke none of it commeth golde. for Christendome.
That which is com-
commeth from China:
pounded
that which groweth in canes
commeth from
best
but
and is the
the great Isle of
Borneo.
Lignum Aloes commeth from Cau-
Lignum Aloes.
chinchina.
The beniamin commeth out of the countreys of Siam and langomes.
The long pepper groweth in Bengala,
Long pepper.
in Musks,
Pegu, and in the Hands of the lauas. The muske commeth out of Tartarie,
and is made after this order, by report of
the
Pegu
marchants which bring
to sell
;
little beast like
In
Tartarie there
it
to
a vnto a yong roe, which is
they take in snares, and beat him to death with the blood: after that they cut out the bones, and beat the flesh with the blood very small, and fill the skin
with
muske.
it:
and hereof cometh the
RALPH FITCH
190 Amber.
Of the amber they hold diuers opinions men say it commeth out of ;
but most
the sea, and that they finde
it
vpon the
shores side. Rubies, saphires
The
rubies,
and spinelles
saphires,
and spinels.
are found in Pegu.
Diamante.
The diamants
are
found
in
diuers
places, as in Bisnagar, in Agra, in Belli, and in the Hands of the lauas.
The best pearles come from Hand of Baharim in the Persian
the sea,
the woorser from the Piscaria neere the
of
Isle
Ceylon, and
from
Aynam
a
Hand on the Southermost coast
great of China. Spodium.
Spodium and many other kindes of drugs come from Cambaia. "
Basora.
Babylon.
Mosul.
Now to returne to my voyage
from
Ormus I went to Balsara or Basora, and from Basora to Babylon and we passed the most part of the way by the strength of men by hailing the boat vp the riuer with a long cord. From Babylon I came :
by land to Mosul, which standeth nere to Niniue, which is all ruinated and destroyed of Tigris.
;
Merdin.
;
it
standeth fast by the riuer
From
Mosul I went to which is in the Merdin, countrey of the
Armenians
;
but
now
there
dwell in
that place a people which they call From Merdin I Cordies, or Curdi.
went
to
Orfa,
which
is
a very faire
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED towne, and ful of fish
I9 1
hath a goodly fountaine where the Moores hold many great ceremonies and opinions concerning Abraham for they say he it
;
:
did once dwell there. sir Aleppo.
Tripoiis.
From thence I
went to Bir, and so passed the riuer of Euphrates. From Bir I went to Aleppo, where I stayed certaine moneths for company and then I went to Tripolis where finding English shipping, I came ;
;
with a prosperous voyage to London,
Gods
where
by
arriued
the 29 of April
bene eight yeeres
assistance
I
safely
1591, hauing out of my native
countrey."
The voyage home from Malacca to London occupied no less a period than three years and one month (March 29, 1588, to April 29, 1591), and the uninterrupted ease with which it was
accomplished
after allowing for the inevitable diffi-
culties of travel
experienced in those days
affords
a marked contrast to the leading incident of the outward journey. Ralph Fitch again joined the increasing crowd of merchants who sailed from one mercantile port to another. From Malacca to Martaban, and
thence to Pegu, he pursued
his
way
through the delta to a port in Bengal, probably "Serrepore" (Serampur, see pages 119 and 153);
whence he was able to ship to Ceylon. Following the current of commerce he doubled Cape Comorin and, after a call at the famous port of Quilon, he
I
RALPH FITCH
92
passed several months at Cochin under the very eyes of the Hispano-Portuguese authorities, who were
now at open war with his countrymen, and actually stayed a few days at Goa, the scene of his former imprisonment. The journey was continued via Chaul,
Ormuz,
Bussorah
ground
and then, probably
Fitch,
and
Bagdad
familiar
for
trading purposes, finding the shortest way home, to visit one or two of the commercial
instead
proceeded
(Busra),
of
centres of Asia Minor, taking in succession Mosul, Merdin (or Mardeen), and Urfa, which city, by the
way, is supposed to be on or near one of the traditional sites of the Ur of the Chaldees. Thence he journeyed, via Bir (Birejik), across the Euphrates to
Aleppo. Travel-worn, tanned by strange suns, and coming back as one from the dead, Master Fitch must have
met with a warm welcome from his fellow Englishmen
who were already well-established at Aleppo. Of this he tells us nothing, only stating that he waited here
months for travelling company to Tripolis, where he found English shipping to take him home. It is typical of his modesty that he summarises,
several
in
the briefest possible fashion, the
details
of the
later portion of his return journey to the exclusion of all
incident.
The narrative would have been even
more
It is interesting for a few personal touches. that at the merchant hard-headed arrived possible
the conclusion that his contemporaries would have
doubted
his
whole story had he enlarged upon his and he
own individual adventures and experiences
must have seen a good deal of the rough side of
NARRATIVE CONCLUDED Eastern
life
in
this
adventurous epoch.
193
As it is,
he has at least left us an unvarnished tale, which bears the indelible stamp of truth, and posterity is grateful to one who is proved to
have been the sole pioneer
of British Empire in the East and Further East.
BOOK IV BIOGRAPHIES, SIDELIGHTS, AND
CONCLUSIONS
JOHN HUYGHEN VAN LINSCHOTEN.
CHAPTER RALPH FITCH
:
HIS
I
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND
CORRESPONDENCE little or
UNFORTUNATELY
nothing of Ralph have been
Fitch's personal history appears to
.
preserved, though of the lasting results of his great achievement there is ample evidence. Moreover, to those who are
interested in the complex question of heredity, there is
members of his family, their country well in distin-
the striking fact that two
after intervals, served
guished positions in the distant lands he visited, namely, in India and Burma. Judging by many
surrounding circumstances, he appears to have been a retiring man, one who, while fully alive to the work, was not given to His name does not appear on self-advertisement. the roll of subscribers to the first East India Comprobable outcome of
his
pany even for a moderate sum, and although he was willing to assist the Adventurers by his advice, which must have been most valuable, he does not seem to have been among those chosen to represent them 197
RALPH FITCH
I 98
There is nothing not incompatible
in the negotiations with the Court.
derogatory in all this ;
modesty
is
with fixity of purpose and long endurance, nor is an unknown characteristic of men of action.
it
A
curious sidelight is thrown on Fitch's adventure by the following quotation, which exhibits in a few
words the interest which was aroused far beyond the of merchants and their representatives who were in those lively days making the history of their country: "In 1606 was produced Shakespeare's 'Macbeth': there we read (Act i. scene iii.) 'Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master of the Tiger.' This
circle
:
line,
when compared with
the opening passage of
Fitch's narrative, is too striking to be regarded as a mere coincidence, and is also one of the clearest
pieces of evidence known to us of Shakespeare's use
of the text of Hakluyt." *
As to the active part Master Fitch took in
the
opening up of the Indian trade, and the esteem in which he was held by the influential men who were determined upon the stupendous enterprise, we have only two recorded instances, but they are eloquent enough. At a meeting of Adventurers, which Mr. Richard Staper and Mr. John Eld red attended, held
on the
ist
(2)
Charter, the
of October, 1600, the year of the
appended resolution was adopted
:
m Aid" Bannyng Capm Allabaster together w m Eldred and mr. ffitche shall in ther meeting to morrowe morning at m " It
is
alsoe orderid that the said
tain Lancaster
th
Allabasters house conferre of the merchaundize 1
"
Dictionary of National Biography."
fitt
to
be
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
199
for the viage and to (make) sett downe their opinions of the said merchaundize that the same may be presentid to these Comittees at ther next meeting to be
pvided
further resolved vponn." l
The following, dated December 31, 1606, is the known incident in the history of Master Ralph
last
shows that he survived his pioneering journey for at least fifteen years, and took part in the affairs of the East India Company down to the Fitch
third
;
it
voyage
:
"
Court Minutes of the East India Company. Present William Romney, Governor, Sir Thos. Smythe, Sir Thos. Cambell, Wm. Harrison, Robt. Johnson, Reynold Greene, Robert Bucke, Humphrey Smyth, Sir Jas. Lancaster, Geo. Boles, John Highlord, John Eldred, Robert :
Sir
Coxe, Robt. Sandye, and Hugh Hamersley. Victuals to be provided for the third voyage. Letters to be obtained
from King James to the King of Cambaya, the Governors of Aden, and two more places not far from Aden ; their titles to be inquired of Ralph Fitch ; also letters to be sent as from His Majesty to those Kings who sent him The destination of each ship to be decided presents. upon.
Names of factors appointed to the Dragon, Hector,
and Consent. Fras. Bucke promised to adventure ^100. Bonds to be given by each factor ; their request to employ stock in the voyage." 2 " 1 The Dawn of British Trade to the East Indies as recorded in the Court Minutes of the East India Company, 1599-1603," by Henry Stevens of Vermont, with an introduction
by Sir George Birdwood, p. 26.
" Calendar of State Papers, East Indies, 1513Sainsbury's 1616." No. 356.
RALPH FITCH
200
The Fitch attained
interesting
circumstance
that
two members of a family which Ralph have should distinguished already
had eminence
in
widely separate portions of
enhanced by the fact that one of them, the late Lieut-Gen. Albert Fytche, has left the story on record. 1 He us that William Fytche, who was in the tells service of the East India Company, was appointed a member of the Council of Merchants at Calcutta in 1746, and in 1749 became Chief of the English factory at Cossimbazaar, the fort and mart of Moorthe British-Indian
Empire
is
further
sherabad, at that time the native capital of Bengal. In January, 1752, he was appointed President of
Fort William, but died on August loth from dysen" It is a strange circum-
tery, aged thirty-five years.
same year of 1752 Warren Hastings was sent from Calcutta to fill a subordinate post at Cossimbazaar. He must have stance," he adds, "that during the
arrived
there
a few weeks after the departure of for Calcutta." The soldier-author
William Fytche
publishes a fine portrait of the President of Fort he describes it as follows, with an accom-
William
:
panying diatribe which, to say the least, is pardon" able A portrait of William Fytche was painted by Hogarth it has been preserved in the family. It was not taken from life, but was painted from a :
;
1
"Burma, Past and Present," by Lieut.-Gen. Albert Fytche,
C.S.I., late Chief Commissioner of British Burma and Agent to the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, 2 vols (Kegan
Paul, 1878). The book is dedicated to Tennyson, Poet Laureate."
"My Cousin Alfred
AND CORRESPONDENCE
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
201
sketch taken in Bengal, and a portrait by a native artist.
The picture is suggestive.
look at
it
It is difficult to
without thinking what a part William
Fytche might have played in the subsequent history of India had he not been cut off by that cruel He was sucdysentery, which is the curse of Bengal. ceeded by Roger Drake. When Suraj-ood-dowlah invested Calcutta, Roger Drake declared he was a quaker, and escaped on board a ship with the ladies. The costume of William Fytche shows that he was no quaker. I may be permitted to believe that had William Fytche been President of Calcutta in 1756 Suraj-ood-dowlah would have returned to Moorshe-
much earlier date than
rabad at a I
history.
am
also inclined
is
recorded in
to believe that
there
'
would have been no Black Hole tragedy, although possibly there might have been a battle of Plassey." '
We are further assured that it is a good likeness, as it strongly resembles
a larger picture of his brother
Thomas painted by Hudson about the same time. The following note will speak for itself: " In those days the rate of exchange was very different from From family papers I present lamentable state. William that Fytche used to send remitperceive its
tances
home
Danbury
to
Place,
his
brother
Essex,
Thomas Fytche
by Government
Bills
of of
Exchange, drawn at ninety days after sight, at two shillings and fourpence each rupee." In
his
Burmese tells
in
us
1839;
he "landed I
left
it
interesting contribution to history Lieut. -Gen. Fytche in
as
India as a young Ensign Chief Commissioner of
RALPH FITCH
202
British
Burma in 1871.
years at starting,
With the exception of two
and a few occasional
intervals, I
spent the whole of this period of thirty-two years in the province of British Burma." Dilating on the differences of the Indian journey in 1839 from what they are in later times, the author says that em-
barkation was regarded almost as a lifelong separation, adding as an illustration a set of four verses
on his departure by his youthful cousin Charles Tennyson (who afterwards took the name of
written
Turner), brother of the poet laureate, and addressed his mother. Fytche, who was then barely of eighteen years age, had as a fellow-passenger to
on the
ship Marquis Camden^ the famous John He was appointed Nicholson, a lad of sixteen.
Chief Commissioner of British Burma and Agent to the Viceroy in
1867, in succession to Major-Gen. Sir Arthur Phayre, who was the first Commissioner, and served the term of four years. John Newberie, pioneer and
The leader of the Fitch expedition * its setting forth from London in
on
1583 was an experienced traveller and courageous pioneer. This much we can gather from the records of the three voyages he undertook, including the last one to India, but, as in the case of
Ralph Fitch himself, we know little more about him.
When the three English adventurers separated at Fatehpur Sikri in September, 1585, it will be remembered Newberie set off for Lahore, announcing his intention of returning through Persia to England,
whence he would send a ship to Pegu. From this we may gather that he was highly satisfied with the
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
203
and saw great possibilities in his countrymen and coEastern trade There is one suggestion of doubt as to partners. his return home, which is dealt with below. The first of his journeys of which we have an account was to the Holy Land, and this is all that Purchas give us. It contains in the opening senresult of the mission,
the
for
tences a very interesting hint of the Protestantism of the writer that is, assuming that the few words
question are not an interpolation by the Rev. Samuel Purchas himself
in
:
"I lohn Newberie Citizen and Merchant of London, desirous to see the World, the eighth of March, 1578, according to the computation of the Church of England,
began a Voyage from the Citie of London to Tripolie in Syria, and thence to loppe and Hierusalem, and the Countrey round about adioyning, which I performed in passing through France to Marceils, where I embarqued my selfe, and passing through the Leuant or Mediterranne Sea, arriued in Tripolie the thirteenth day of May; and within few dayes after at loppe, and thence at Hierusalem,
and the chiefe places thereabout
:
And spending a moneth
in visiting the Monuments of those Countries, I returned to
loppe the tenth of lune, 1579. said
moneth arriued after
I
visited
againe
in
And the fifteenth of the Tripolie ;
from whence
Mount Libanus, and
returning speedily to the said Port of Tripolie, I embarqued my selfe in a ship of Marceils, the first of lulie, and the three shortly
and twentieth of the said moneth, I put in at Candia ; and the seuenth day of September, arriued safely in Marceils, Paris, Roan and The tenth of Nouember of the aforesaid yeere 1579 by Gods helpe arriued safely in London."
and passing through France by Lions, Diepe.
RALPH FITCH
204
Appended is the introduction to the second voyage, the success of which accounts
introductory statement that
been at Ormuz
"I
for Master Fitch's Newberie had already
:
lohn Newbery being incouraged by the prosperous my former Voyage to Tripoly, Hierusalem, and Mount Lybanus, vndertooke a farre more long and dangerous voyage, by the Straights of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, the aforesaid Tripoly, and downe the said
successe of
the River of Euphrates, as farre as the Citie of Ormus in the Gulfe of Persia, and from thence through the Countrey
of Lar, and the most Easterne parts of Persia to Media,
Armenia, Georgia, Carmania, Natolia, and so to Constantinople, and from thence by the Blacke Sea, called in the old time PontusEuxinus, into the Mouth of the River Danubius
by shipping, and so a great way vp the said River, passing by the parts of Bugdania and Valachia, at length landing, I came to Caminetz, the first Frontier Towne of Poland ; and passing through that Kingdome, arriued in Prussia, and came to Elbing, and Dantzk, and Quinsborow, where imbarquing my selfe, I passed through the Sound of Denmark, and arriued at Hull in England and so ouer land trauelled to London, whither I came the last day of August,
1582, making my voyage in the space of two yeeres, lacking nineteene days." I
As evidence of Newberie's. energy it will be noticed that although he only returned from his " farre more
long and dangerous voyage" in August, 1582, he set off again to India in 1583. One cannot forego the in conclusion that fact he was an instigator as well 1
Both voyages are from Purchas, book ix. chap. iii.
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
205
In as the personal director of the Indian scheme. second of the his interesting detailed narrative
voyage he says he left London in the good ship White Hinde, on September 19, 1580, and, in relating his experiences at Ormuz, tells a curious tale and introduces the rival trader Michael Stropene, who, during the Fitch voyage, did so much to hinder or
baulk the English expedition.
For
some reason
which he does not explain, his travelling companions, about a score in number and of various nationalities (not including English), all made oath that Newberie was a Christian of Aleppo, "and had wife and
He adds, " The seuenth
children and a house there."
day of lulie, my man lacomo, which was a Greeke, went from me to one Michael Stropene a Venetian, being as I suspect, entised thereunto by him, to Purchas here vnderstand my secret purposes." " and in very deed, in prints the following passage in the year 1583, this last Voyage to these parts, :
my
Michael Stropene betrayed me and my companie to of Ormus." For the moment the sentence raises the curious question as to the time
the Gouernor
when Newberie wrote
the account of
his
second
voyage. There is every reason to believe that he never returned from the expedition to India, Purchas himself assumes as much, and it is inconceivable that he wrote the long detailed narrative of the second voyage amid the arduous trials of the third in order to send it home. 1 The only possible conclusion is 1
Purchas, book x. chap, vi., in a marginal note to Fitch's nar-
rative of the Indian journey, says of Newberie,
seemeth he died, vnknown how or where."
"
in
which he
A less direct refer-
206
RALPH FITCH
that the sentence
was added by another hand, and
that the editor, in his desire to give point to Newberie's own story, was not scrupulous as to the means
he adopted. Further light is thrown upon the character of this remarkable man, who was of the best type of the Elizabethan Englishman, by the letters he sent home. His last missive, to Master Leonard Poore, of London, appears in an earlier chapter (pages 71 to 81). Others written during the last journey are 1 The first discloses in a highly interesting here. give
manner the intimate
which the Rev. Richard Hakluyt stood to the leading explorers and travellers among his countrymen, and how he availed himself of their services in the work he loved and it also fills in one or two details carried out so well relations
in
;
of the voyage "
:
Right welbeloued, and my assured good friend, I heartily
commend me vnto you, hoping of your good health, &c. After we set saile from Grauesend, which was the 13. day of ence, but one which does not disturb the theory that Newberie never returned to England from Fatehpur Sikri, appears in " the 1626 edition, p. 579 (" Pilgrimage") John Newbury which :
sayled downe Euphrates to this Sea (Persian Gulf) and so to Ormuz (visiting Bagdet by the way, which he saith is twentie or five and twentie miles, Southward from old Babylon) testifieth of the women in Ormuz, that they slit the lower part of
more than two inches, which hangeth downe to This our Countreyman dyed in his Trauels, having trauelled to Constantinople, into the blacke Sea, and Danubius, and through the Kingdomes of Poland and Persia, the Indies, and other parts of the World." their eares
their chin.
1
Hakluyt, vol. ii. part i.
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
207
February last, we remained vpon our coast vntill the u. day of March, and that day we set saile from Falmouth, an neuer ankered till we arriued in the road of Tripolie in Syria, which was the last day of Aprill last past, where wee stayed 14 days ; and the twentie of this present we came hither to Alepo, and with Gods helpe, within flue or sixe
dayes goe from
hence
towards the Indies.
Since
my
haue made very earnest inquirie both there and (here, for the booke of Cosmographie of Some Abilfada Ismael, but by no meanes can heare of it. say that possibly it may be had in Persia, but notwithstanding I will not faile to make inquirie for it, both in Babylon, and in Balsara, and if I can finde it in any of The letter these places, I wil send it you from thence. which you deliuered me for to copy out, that came from
comming to Tripolis
I
M. Thomas Steuens in Goa, as also the note you gaue mee of Francis Fernandes the Portugal, I brought thence
me among other writings vnawares, the which I haue sent you here inclosed. Here is great preparation for the warres in Persia, and from hence is gone the Bassa of a towne
with
Rahemet, and shortly after goeth the Bassa of Triand the Bassa of Damasco, but they haue not all with them aboue 6000. men from hence, and they goe to a towne called Asmerome, which is three dayes iourney from Trapezunde, where they shal meete with diuers captaines and souldiers that come from Constantinople, and other places thereabout, which goe altogether into Persia. This yeere many men goe into the warres, and so hath there euery yeere since the beginning thereof, which is eight yeeres or thereabouts, but very fewe of them returne againe. Nothwithstanding, they get of the Persians, and make castles and holds in their countrey. I pray you make my hearty commendations to master Peter Guillame, and master Philip lones, and to M. Walter Warner, and to all Master Fitch hath him heartily the rest of our friends. called
polis,
RALPH FITCH
208
commended vnto you
:
and so I commit you to the tuition and keepe you, and send vs a
of the Almightie, who blesse ioyfull meeting.
"
From Alepo, the 28. of May 1583.
Your louing friend to command in all that I may, " IOHN NEWBERIE."
The two following letters, sent to Master Poore, breathe the true spirit of the merchant-adventurer of the age
:
"
Right welbeloued, my very heartie commendations vnto last I you, and the rest of my friends remembered. sent you was the 25. of February last, from Dele out of the
My
Downes, after which time with contrary windes wee remained upon our owne coast, vntill the 1 1 day of March, and then wee set saile from Falmouth, and the thirteenth day the winde came contrary with a very great storme, which continued eight days, and in this great storme wee had some of our goods wette, but God bee thanked no great hurt done. After which time we sailed with a faire wind within the Streights, and so remained at Sea, and ankered at no place vntil our comming into the roade of Tripolis in Syria, which was the last day of April. This was a very good passage. .
God make vs thankfull for it.
The foureteenth day of this
present wee came from Tripolis, and the twentieth day arriued here in Alepo, and with the helpe of God to morrowe or next day, wee beginne our voyage towards Babylon and Balsara, and so into India. Our friend Master Barret hath him commended to you, who hath sent you in the Emanuel a ball of Nutmegs for the small trifles you sent him, which I hope long since you haue receiued. Also hee hath by his letter certified you in what order hee solde
those things, whereof I can say nothing, because I have not seene the accompt thereof, neither haue demaunded it
:
for euer since our comming hither hee hath bene
still
busie
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
209
about the dispatch of the shippe, and our voyage, and I likewise in buying of things here to cary to Balsara, and
Wee haue bought in currall for 1200. and odde and amber for foure hundreth ducates and some ducats, and broken sope glasse, with all other small trifles, all which things I hope will serue very wel for those places that wee shall goe vnto. All the rest of the accompt of the Barke Reinolds was sent home in the Emanuel, which was 3600. ducats, which is 200. pound more then it was rated. For master Staper rated it but noo. li. and it is the Indies.
Besides such 1300. pound, so that our part is 200. pound. it shall please God to sende thereof: wherefore
profit as
you
doe very well to speake to M. Staper
shall
for
the
trauell
for
accompt.
"And
if
you would content your
selfe
to
three or foure yeeres, I would wish you to come hither or
goe to Cairo, if any goe thither. For wee doubt not if you had remained there but three or foure moneths, you would so well of the place, that I thinke you would not desire to returne againe in three or foure yeeres. And, if it .should be to in chance remaine my any place out of like
England, I would choose this before all other that I know.
My reason
is,
the place is healthfull and pleasant, and the
gaines very good, and no doubt the profit will bee hereafter for there should better, things being vsed in good order :
come
of her
in euery ship the fourth part
Cargason in which to our would commodities at money, helpe put away a very good price. Also to haue two very good ships to come together, would doe very well for in so doing, the danger of the voyage might be accompted as little as from London to Antwerpe. Master Giles Porter and master Edmund Porter, went from Tripolis in a small barke to laffa, the same day that we came from thence, which was the 14 day of this present, so that no doubt but long since God send them and vs safe returne. they are in Jerusalem :
:
15
RALPH FITCH
210
At this instant I haue receiued the account of M. Barret, and the rest of the rings, with two and twentie duckats, two medines in readie money. So there is nothing remaining in his hands but a few bookes, and with Thomas Bostocke I left certaine small trifles, which I pray you demaund. And so once againe with my hearty commendations I commit you to the tuition of the almightie, who alwayes preserue vs.
From Aleppo the 29 of May 1583. "
Yours assured,
"IOHN NEWBERIE."
"My last I sent you, was the 29 of May last past from Aleppo, by George Gill the purser of the Tiger, which the last day of the same moneth came from thence, & arriued
Feluge the 19 day of lune, which Feluge is one dayes Notwithstanding some of our comiourney from hence. at
pany came not hither till the last day of the last moneth which was for want of Camels to cary our goods for at :
by reason of the great heate that is to be gotten. scant And since our are Camels here, very small but diuers we haue found hither sales, very comming will be very well our commodities the winter in that say I thinke sold, I pray God their words may prooue true. cloth, kersies & tinne haue neuer bene here at so low Notwithstanding, if I had here so prices as they are now. much readie money as the commodities are woorth, I would not doubt to make a very good profite of this voiage hither, and to Balsara, and so by Gods helpe there will be But with halfe reasonable profite made of the voiage. money & halfe commoditie may be bought here the best sort of spices, and other commodities that are brought from the Indies, and without money there is here at this instant small good to be done. With Gods helpe two dayes hence, I minde to goe from hence to Balsara, and from thence of force I must goe to Ormus for want of a man that speaketh this time of the yeere,
FAMILY, COMPANIONS, the Indian tongue.
AND CORRESPONDENCE
At my being in Aleppo
I
211
hired two
Nazaranies, and one of them hath bene twise in the Indies, and hath the language very well, but he is a very lewde
and therefore I will not take him with me. Here follow the prices of wares as they are worth here
fellow,
"
at this instant.
"
From Babylon the 20 day of luly 1583, "
Yours,
"IOHN NEWBERIE."
Two more letters from Newberie have been prewho says they were found among the papers of "M. William Hareborne, Her Maiesties served by Purchas,
Embassador to the Grand Signior at Constantinople," a statement which opens up a wide field of conjecture as to the relations of our pioneer Eastern travellers
diplomatic representatives we were then establishing abroad. They are dated respectively
with the
Babylon, July 15, 1583, and Balsara, August 15, 1583, and give some details of the progress of the journey and the prospects of trade. In taking leave of Master John Newberie no excuse is needed for again expressing regret that he did not survive to tell his complete story for the benefit of his countrymen, not
only of his own time, but of ours. It will be remembered that when the four English1
men
Newberie, Fitch, Leedes, and Storie arrived as P r i son e rs at Goa they found a country-
Thomas Stevens,
man who had preceded them. This was Thomas Stevens, or Stephens, a member of the Jesuit Order the first Englishman (of
s.j.,
missionary
whom there is a record) to double the Cape of Good Purchas, vol. ii. p. 1642-3.
RALPH FITCH
212
Hope, and the
first
to reach India
by any
route.
Father Stevens was born at Buston (? Boscombe), in In early life he
the diocese of Salisbury, about 1550.
was associated with Thomas Pounde imprisonments, extending
over
whose various thirty years, as an
English recusant, fill an eloquent page in Roman Catholic martyrology and proceeding to Rome was admitted among the novices of St. Andrea, in 1575. Four years later, in April, 1579, Stevens sailed with a of five ships from Lisbon, arriving at Goa on October 24th. lively account of the voyage, in a
fleet
A
letter written by the young Jesuit to his father shortly
after his arrival, is preserved in ii.).
Hakluyt (vol. ii. part
He tells how an " English shippe " set upon his
vessel, which had become separated from the rest of
the fleet off Madeira, but, after firing a few shots, drew off when the Portuguese had got ready their
As
to the hardships of the journey, which he says was prolonged to nearly seven
"greatest ordinance."
months, instead of the usual
five,
because they had
started late in the season, scurvy appears to
have
become prevalent in the fleet they had one hundred and fifty sick, of whom twenty-seven died, "which ;
losse they esteemed not much in respect of other His missionary labours extended over a times."
period of more than
forty years, during which he of Salsette. He died at time Rector was for some
Goa in 1619 in the seventieth year of his age. It has been suggested that the letters sent home by Thomas Stevens first drew the attention of his countrymen to the great possibilities of trade with India ;
there is, however, no hint of the kind in the one re-
FAMILY, COMPANIONS, ferred to above. 1
AND CORRESPONDENCE
213
But he interested himself in the lot
of wandering Englishmen and other foreigners, who met with anything but a welcome from the Portuguese authorities at Goa. Two or three accounts of what he did, or suggestions of the influence he exercised, in
the case of Fitch and his companions have been given in a
former chapter. Pyrard of Laval, the French who found himself cast into prison with
traveller,
Goa about 1609, speaks with of the action of several Jesuit Fathers, ingratitude " Thomas Estienne, rector of a college in the cluding other unfortunates at
Salsete territory." Personally, Father Stevens appears to have been an ideal missionary in relation to both Europeans and natives, and his life and character
stand out in strong contrast to his general surroundIt is stated that he was the first to make a ings. scientific
study of Canarese.
"
His familiarity with
the dialects of the country is proved by his having a Konkani Grammar, an published three works
Account of Christian Doctrine, and a History of 2 Christ, which he called a Purana." n J^ Huyghen van Linschoten, the Linachoten traveller ana famous Dutch traveller and geographer, was born at Haarlem about 1 563, in the 1
2
See Newberie's reference, p. 207. "
The Voyage of Francois Pyrard of Laval," vol. ii. p. 269, by Messrs. Albert Gray and H. C. P. Bell (Hakluyt Society). " Records of the English Province of the Society of Foley's Prof. Monier Williams, ConJesus," vol. iii. p. 573 et seq. " I find temporary Review, April, 1878. The latter adds that one Thomas Stevyns took his degree at St. John's College, Oxford, in June, 1577." Hakluyt describes Father Stevens as :
formerly of Oxford.
RALPH FITCH
214
midst of the troublous period of the Spanish occupation of the Low Countries.
Some ten years later, about
the date of the siege and sack of
Haarlem
one of
the most striking episodes in the history of the Netherlands the family removed to the seaport of Enkhuizen, which had early declared for William of
Orange. The lad thus cradled, as it were, in the din of battle, was able in after years to do yeoman's service for the cause of freedom, at any rate from a
commercial standpoint, and to take a leading part in that revolution which eventually wrested the glorious East from the hold of Spain. He was of that methodical, courageous, and withal stubborn stock which could persistently and successfully resist oppression
;
which sent forth explorers and navigators who
rivalled those of Spain, Portugal, and
England in the which has at the present time its representatives in distant lands, both East and West, who are being shouldered, perhaps, by more modernearly days
;
spirited competitors, but who
still preserve qualities of due and honourable acknowledgworthy regard ment. When he was about fourteen years of age,
John, who was of a roving disposition, went to join his two brothers, who
traders in Spain
;
were apparently established as
for, notwithstanding the political and
religious disturbances, commercial relations were maintained between the two countries, which, nominally at least, were under the same crown.
Here the young whose and keenness of adventurer, bright intelligence observation were ere long to place his contemporaries, as well as posterity, under a deep debt of gratitude, learnt the Spanish language, and eventually one of his
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
215
brothers, who was engaged as clerk or purser in the
Indian fleet, obtained for him an appointment in the suite of Fonseca, the new Archbishop of
Goa.
The
two brothers sailed with the Archbishop from Lisbon year of departure), arriving in where Goa, John remained five years. September his Fitch and his companions were sojourn During to the Eastern brought prisoners emporium, and the
in April, 1583 (Fitch's
at
them has already been
part he
took
related.
The Archbishop died on his way to Europe
in
assisting
and on the news reaching India in 1588 Linschoten, who found himself out of employment, determined to return home. Leaving Goa at the end
in
1587,
of 1588 or beginning of 1589, the Portuguese fleet of
Azores in July, and, the English cruisers, was obliged escape to anchor before Tecera, with disastrous results, for at five or six vessels arrived in the
in order to
time of the year it was dangerous to lie there. Linschoten remained here two years or more, and He took became very friendly with the Governor.
this
advantage of the opportunities thus afforded him to explore the island and write a description of it he was further enabled to add an account of the occur;
rences in the Azores to the end of 1591, including the
In 1592 he returned to whence he Lisbon, proceeded to his home at Enkhuizen the same year. If John Huyghen Van Linschoten had been satisfied
death of Richard Grenville.
with the role of an adventurer
we should probably
have heard little or nothing about him, but he commenced at once to put to some practical and enduring service the results of his wanderings and his personal
RALPH FITCH
216 inquiries. "
By the beginning of
1
596 he had completed
Itinerario," but portion of it
appeared in 1595, and is said to have been in use on board the ships forming the first Dutch expedition to India. The whole work proved of immense value to the seafarers and explorers of that adventurous epoch. The first part consisted of the description of the East and his his
own itinerary
the second part (published first) dealt with routes to the East, Far East, and the American coasts, compiled from the best existing sources, be;
sides an account of the domains, tributes, &c., of the
King of Spain the African
;
the third went into descriptions of
coasts,
concerning America.
and further details were given There were no less than six
the original edition, besides many plates and plans, and the ready recognition of the " " high importance of the Itinerario may be gauged by large
maps
in
the fact that translations in English and German were
published in 1 598, two in Latin in 1 599, and one in French in 1610, to say nothing of reprints. Linschoten at this time showed the liveliest interest in the search for
a north-east passage to India and China, in which he was a firm believer, and he took part in two Dutch He afterwards became expeditions in that direction. treasurer of the town of Enkhuizen, where, among
other literary labours, he assisted his friend Wagenhaer in the production of what have been described as "
the best sailing directions of that time."
In 1610 he
applied to the States-General for a pension in view of the services he had rendered his country, but the application was refused on the ground that he received sufficient emolument from the patents
JOHN ELDRED.
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
217
granted him for his own books which were renewed that year. He died on February 8, 1611, at the comparatively early age of forty-eight years.
1
This famous London merchant, the merchant and
friend, travelling
companion, and correNewberie, was
spondent of Fitch and
New Buckenham, Norfolk, in 1552. The was of Suffolk origin, and John, having made family his fortune in Eastern trade, returned thither and born at
purchased the manor of Great Saxham, near Bury St. Edmunds. Here he built a large house, which came to be known in the locality as " Nutmeg Hall," doubtless in allusion to the foundation of its proprietor's wealth.
The first occasion on which he comes into prominence as
merchant-adventurer
is
in
connection with his
journey to Tripoli, Bagdad, and Bussorah, his trading experiences at Aleppo, and his visit to the Holy Land. Eldred set out with Fitch and Newberie and other
merchants in the Tiger> 1583, and reached the Thames on his return in 1588, "in the Hercules of London,
which was the richest ship of English marchants goods that euer was knowen to come into this realme." Eldred supplied Hakluyt with a graphic account of his five years' experiences abroad, in which he refers to the calamity to those of the party who continued the journey to India. Purchas also gives three letters
of Eldred's, which (as in the case of the two from
Newberie, see ante) he says were found among Hareborne's papers at Constantinople. The first, dated Bagdet, July 14, 1583, deals with the arrival and plans 1
A biographical sketch of Linschotenis given in the Hakluyt
Society's edition of his travels-
RALPH FITCH
2i8 for the future.
The second, Balsara, November 6, 1583,
It signed by Eldred and Shales, is of great interest. tells us that Newberie's pathetic appeal for help, sent
"
"
in September, had from out the prison at Ormuz been forwarded express to Aleppo moreover, it settles the question of Newberie's capital (as leader of the expedition) in money and goods for the Indian ;
Eldred fixes it at 400 (^"2,400 present is a much less sum than the Dutch which value), Jesuit at Goa said the travellers had in their possession, even assuming that Fitch had a similar amount. In the third letter, also signed by Eldred and Shales, dated voyage.
Balsara, January 22, 1583 (4), the following appears received no Letters from Master Newberie since
:
"
We
the first newes of his trouble
:
but we heare by others
that he and his Companie are sent Prisoners to Goa,
and the remayner of his goods is left in the hands of the Kings Factor."
Eldred took an active part
in the
formation and
subsequent operations of the East India Company. His name appears in the first list of subscribers for 400, and in the roll of the first Court of Directors. His busy life came to a close in 1632, and he was interred in the church of St. Andrew, Great Saxham. The body lies near the altar, and his bust stands in a niche on the south side. " Above are the arms of
Eldred, with a martlet in chief Gules, for difference." In the pavement of the church is a black marble table of an altar tomb, in the centre of which
is
a
bearing an engraved effigy of Eldred in his alderman's gown. Along the verge are brasses bearing the arms of Eldred and Rivet (he married Mary brass
FAMILY, COMPANIONS,
AND CORRESPONDENCE
219
Rivet, or Revet, of Risbroughs, Suffolk), the City of
London, and the Clothworkers and Russia Companies.
A brass plate underneath the bust is inscribed
:
MEMORISE SACRUM. lohn Eldred
New Bvchingam in Norfolke was his first In Babilon hee spent some parte Of his time, and the rest of his earthly
Being.
Pilgrimage hee spent in London, and was
Alderman of that Famous cittie. His age His death
)
LXXX.
)
The holy land so called I have scene,
And in the land of Babilon have bene Bvt in yt land where gloriovs saints doe live My sovle doth crave of Christ a roome to give,
And theire with holy angells Halilviahs singe With loyfvll voyce too God ovr heavenly King
No content bvt in the O Lord.
On the tomb are three plates with inscriptions in Latin and English.
The latter runs as follows
:
Might all my travells mee excvse For being dead and lying here ;
Or if my riches well to vse For life to death might mee endeare ; I had my fate or quite ovtgone
Or pvrchase't death's compassion. But riches can no ransome bvy
Nor travels pass ye destiny.
1
See also For Eldred's voyage, Hakluyt, vol ii. part i. Gage's "History and Antiquities of Suffolk, Thingoe Hundred," and " Dictionary of National Biography." In Page's " Suffolk " " " Traveller it is stated that Nutmeg Hall was burnt down in mansion the being completed in 1798. 1779, present 1
CHAPTER II THREE MEN OF THE TIME posterity is so deeply indebted to the action who ventured their lives in
men of WHILST
opening up the remotest parts of the world to their countrymen, a meed is due to those others whose wealth and wide views of commercial policy enabled them, to a very large extent, to suggest and encourage the various enterprises of the period.
The expedition "
to India, as Fitch frankly tells us, was chiefly set " foorth by Sir Edward Osborne and Master Richard
Staper, citizens and merchants of London. By singular coincidence the journey was undertaken in the same year that Osborne was knighted and elected
Lord Mayor, while Fitch returned in the year that saw the termination of his highly successful career (1591). There seems to be no evidence that Osborne and Staper were actually associated in permanent commercial partnership, but we have proof enough that they had warm sympathies in common, and that they liberally expended their means to develop the Eastern trade. At the present time, after a lapse of
Photo
[London Stereoscopic Co.
SIR
EDWARD OSBORNE.
Lord Mayor, 1583-4.
THREE MEN OF THE TIME
221
nearly three centuries, their visible mementoes are preserved in the City of London, almost within bow-
The copy of the painting of Sir Edward Osborne, now in the possession of the Duke
shot of each other.
of Leeds, hangs in the court-room of the Clothworkers' Hall, his
Mincing Lane, close by the stern lineaments of William Hewet (or Hewitt)
father-in-law, Sir
;
while in the ceiling-arch of a division wall in the drawing-room of the same sumptuous building is Beverley's picturesque design representing the brave
deed by which young Osborne laid the foundations of his fortune, and of a name destined to rank with the proudest in
the
land.
In the church of St.
Helen, Bishopsgate, hard by, is the monument of his friend and associate, Richard Staper, of which an excellent engraving
is
preserved in the
hall.
^ orn a ^ out l 53' t ie son ^
sir Edward
^
Richard
Osborne, Kent, Edward came to London when a mere boy, for of Ashford,
the incident which was the turning-point in his career
would appear
to
have occurred before his formal
apprenticeship to Sir William Hewet (Lord Mayor in 1559). It is recorded that Hewet's infant daughter
was dropped by her nurse from the window of an apartment in his house on London Bridge, when young Osborne plunged into the river and saved the " child. The date of this event," says one authority, " must have been about 1 545, as the lady, who became Osborne's wife, was twenty-three years old at the time
of
her
father's
death
in
January, "
1566-7."
" According to the Gregory Collection among the archives at Clothworkers' Hall, Sir William Hewet,
RALPH FITCH
222
the wealthy merchant, took the lad as an apprentice in May,
1
547
the same series contains the definite
;
that Anne Hewet was born in 1543. Edward Osborne was not only taken into the favour
statement
of his rich and influential employer, but was given the girl he had rescued in marriage when she was about eighteen years of age. She was the sole heir of her father, whose estate, it was estimated, was 6,000 a year. She had many suitors,
then worth
including the Earl of Shrewsbury, but Sir William whose notions of rectitude, though carried to
an extreme
in
this instance,
were amply justified Osborne saved her,
"
by the event curtly replied, and Osborne should enjoy her." note
appears
in
the
collection
The
following
already
referred
to: " The gallant action of Sir Edward Osborne with reference to the daughter of Sir William Hewitt, noticed by Stowe and other historians, has been the subject of a graphical record,
there
is
a small but rather
uncommon engraving
House on London Bridge executed from a drawing by Saml. Wate. As this artist died in the year 1786 it is of course but little of him leaping from the window of Sir William's
authority as a representation of the fact but nevertheless interesting as giving a portraiture of the dwellings on London
Bridge in his time, and with this print may also be mentioned one designed by the same hand and engraved by Charles Grignion, of the
first
Duke of Leeds pointing to a
William Hewet's daughter and relating to the 2nd. the foregoing anecdote of his Charles King It will be found in Guthrie's complete History ancestor. portrait of Sir
of the Peerage of England having vignettes at the conclusion of the history of each family."
THREE MEN OF THE TIME
223
Edward Osborne made rapid progress in commercial and public life. He became a freeman of the Clothworkers' Company, May 8, 1554; Alderman was Sheriff 1575-6; and Lord Mayor 1583-4. He was knighted February 2, 1583, and elected M.P. for London 1586. of Castle Baynard Ward, 1573
;
As a matter of civic interest, it is recorded of him was " the first Lord Mayor who nominated
that he
citizens to the office of Sheriff by drinking to them
" ;
and this touch of originality may be taken as typical of other more solid instances of his lively interest in City affairs, which have been left on record, and which resulted in his being returned to Parliament. The State
Papers contain numerous examples of his both as citizen and merchant or financial
activity,
His various enterprises in the development agent. of foreign trade, when the merchant prince could communicate direct with the sovereign, are repeatedly
by Hakluyt, from whom we learn that Edward had command of at least one foreign
referred to Sir
His interest in the language namely, Spanish. formation of the Levant or Turkey Company has already been mentioned the following concise extract will throw further light upon it ;
:
"
This trade into the Leuant was very vsuall and much
frequented from the yeere of our Lord 1511, till the yeere 1534, and afterwards also, though not so commonly, vntill the yeere 1550, when as the barke Aucher vnder the conduct of M. Roger
Bodenham made a prosperous voyage vnto Candia, Sio, and other places within the Leuant. Since which time the foresaid trade (notwithstanding the Sicilia,
Grand Signiors ample
priuilege granted to
M. Anthony
224
RALPH FITCH
lenkenson 1553, and the strong and weighty reasons of Gaspar Campion for that purpose) was vtterly discontinued, and in maner quite forgotten, as if it had neuer bene, for the space of 20 yeares and more. Hovvbeit the discreete and worthy citizens Sir Edward Osborne and M. Richard Staper seriously considering what benefite might grow to the common wealth by renuing of the foresaid discontinued trade, to the inlarging of her Maiesties Customes, the furthering of nauigation, the venting of diuerse generall commodities
of this Realme, and the inriching of the citie of London, determined to vse some effectuall meanes for the reestablish-
ing and augmenting thereof. "Wherefore about the yeere
1575 the foresaid R. W. marchants at their charges and expenses sent lohn Wight and Joseph Clements by the way of Poland to Constantinople, where the said
Joseph remained 18 monethes to
procure a safe conduct from the grand Signior, for M. William Harborne, then factor for Sir Edward Osborne, to haue free accesse into his Highnes dominions, and obtained the same. " Which businesse after two yeres chargeable trauell and suit being accomplished, the sayd M. Harborne the first of luly 1578 departed from London by the sea to Hamburgh, and thence accompanied with Joseph Clements his guide and seruant, he trauelled to Leopolis in Poland, and then apparelling himselfe, his guide, and his seruant after the Turkish fashion (hauing first obteyned the king of Poland his safe conduct to passe at Camienijeez the frontier towne of his dominions next vnto Turky) by good means he obteined favour of one Acmet Chaus the Turks ambassadour then in Poland, and readie to return to Constantinople, And so to bee received into his companie and carouan. the fourth of September 1578 he departed with the said Acmet from Leopolis in Poland, and trauelling through Moldauia, Valachia, Bulgaria, and Romania, gratifying the Voiauodes with certaine courtesies, he arriued at Constant!-
THREE MEN OF THE TIME nople the 28 of October next insuing.
225
Where he behaued
himselfe so wisely and discreetely, that within few moneths after he obtained not onely the great Turkes large and
ample priuiledge
for
himselfe,
and the two worshipfull
persons aforesaid, but also procured his honourable and 1 friendly letters vnto her Maiestie in maner following:"
As the founder of a distinguished family, Sir Edward Osborne had issue by his wife, Anne Hewet, two sons and three daughters Sir Hewet Osborne, born 1567, and knighted by the Earl of Essex in Ireland Edward, who was a barrister of the Inner ;
Temple and died unmarried, 1625 Anne, wife of Robert Offley of London Alice, married to Sir John ;
;
Peyton of Isleham, Kent, Knight and Baronet and Jane, married to John Webley in the Isle of Ely. Sir Edward was afterwards married, but had no ;
further issue, to Margaret, the daughter of Sir John
Maynard, who survived him and intermarried with Robert Clarke, one of the Barons of the Exchequer. So far as can be judged from the meagre records which have been preserved, Sir Edward Osborne was a typical citizen and Lord Mayor, active and enterprising to a degree in commercial and financial life, jealous of the civic privileges, and morally beyond reproach. He died in February, 1591, and was buried
Backchurch, Fenchurch Street, on the 6th of that month. The following was the monu-
in St. Dionis 1
mental inscription
in the
south aisle of the choir of
Hakluyt, vol. ii. part i. p. 136. The letter of Sultan Murad, dated March 15, 1579, and Queen Elizabeth's reply of October 1
25th, are given in full.
16
RALPH FITCH
226
the church, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1661 :
M. H. I. C. Christe duce,
& ossa resurgent
The Tombe of Sir Edward Osborne, Kt. some time Lord Maior of this Noble Citie, who was buried An. Dom. 1591. and of Dame Margaret his second Wife, Who married
M Baron Clarke, (by whom Tombe was erected) and was Buried
after with this
An. Dom. 1602.
But the romance of the brave boy of London the
Bridge,
'prentice
who married
his
master's
daughter, and eventually succeeded him as Lord Mayor the merchant and financier, who lent his powerful aid and devoted his untiring energies in those ;
distant days to lay the foundations of our
Empire in
His extraordinary and were continued by qualities, courage, enterprise his son, Sir Hewet Osborne, who gained his title for
the East,
is
not yet complete.
The gallantry in the field against the Irish rebels. next in line, Sir Edward Osborne, Bart, rendered conspicuous service to Charles I., and his son Sir Thomas the great-grandson of Sir Edward Osborne the
Lord Mayor
was
raised
to
the
peerage,
by
patent from Charles II., in August, 1673, as Viscount Latimer and Baron of Kiveton in the County of
York, being created Earl of
Dumblane the following year.
Danby and Viscount Lord Danby is one
most prominent figures in the history of this period and during the troublous times when James II. was king. He is credited with taking an active part
the
THREE MEN OF THE TIME
227
in arranging the marriage of the Princess Mary with
William of Orange, and after the Revolution William III. advanced him to the dignity of Marquis of Carmarthen (1689); in 1694 he was created Duke of Leeds.
The title at the present day is not unworthily
borne by George Godolphin Osborne, M.P. for the Brixton Division 1883-96, Assistant Secretary to the Colonial Secretary 1887-8, and Treasurer of her 1 Majesty's Household I895-6. Full of energy and enterprise as he undoubtedly was, there appears to have
been nothing left on record concerning the personality of this successful Elizabethan merchant. That he did not limit his ventures to the
Levant and the East generally appears from a letter written to him by one John Whithal from Santos, The latter explains that he has Brazil, in 1578. "
delayed his return home owing to the fact that it is in this countrey offered me to marry, and to take my choice of three or foure."
Master Whithal eventually
fixed his affections on the daughter and only child of
a Genoese sugar planter,
who made over as dowry
1 The " Gregory Collection," at Clothworkers' Hall, contains several interesting incidents of Sir Edward Osborne's Shrievalty
and Mayoralty, copies of his signature, and quotations from Stow's "Survey"; also an assortment of extracts relating to the family history, and two fine engravings of Sir Thomas Osborne as the Earl of Danby, after Lely, and as the first Duke of Leeds, from Vander Vaart. The National Portrait Gallery contains a print of the great Duke, in Garter robes, drawn and engraved from the life by Robert White. A quaint account of London Bridge story is repeated in Mr. R. Thomson's
the "
Chronicles of London Bridge," pp. 313-16.
RALPH FITCH
228
a share in an
"
Ingenio," which turned out a large of quantity sugar yearly, with the promise of the management of the whole business, including sixty or seventy slaves. 1 It seems strange that none of
the published letters sent
home by Fitch and New-
berie during their voyage were addressed to either Osborne or Staper, the prime movers in the under-
taking; it is possible that these astute merchants received private intelligence which they did not
choose to communicate to Mr. Hakluyt.
who
Plymouth and was a member of the Merchant Taylors' Company, and as early as 1574 was appointed by the Crown on a Commission for the discovery and Staper,
London,
is
described as
of
2
of new settlements in America.3 Mr. Henry N. Stevens, in his preface to the volume of Court Records, makes the interesting statement that a number of letters he reproduces, which are probably
plantation
draft letters of the Company of Levant Merchants, were
found in the manuscript volume containing the first minutes of the East India Company, having been com-
menced at the other end of the book.
From the dates
of the entries he suggests that the book was for a
time used in common by both Companies, and that one Company grew out of the other, for several persons mentioned appear to have been members of both.4 Staper was a vigorous member of both Companies. 1
Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 701.
2
Fox Bourne's "English Merchants," vol.
3
Clode's
"
i.
p. 199.
Early History of the Merchant Taylors' Company,"
vol. i. p. 322. 4
Stevens's
"
Dawn of British Trade to the East Indies."
Photo]
[London Stereoscopic Co.
MONUMENT TO RICHARD STAPER, St.
Helen's, Bishopsgate
THREE MEN OF THE TIME
229
With regard to the larger adventure, and in fact the foundation of the East India Company, Staper's
name appears repeatedly in various forms, from Stap to Stapers, in the volume of minutes which extends from 1599 to 1603. At the beginning, under the
heading
" :
The names of such persones as haue owne handes, to venter in the
writtin withe there
pretended voiage to the East Indias (the whiche it maie please the Lord to psper) and the Somes that they will adventure the xxij September 1 599," Master 500, and the total reached was Staper is down for .30,133 6s. 8d. At an assembly of adventurers two days later it was decided to limit the subscriptions to a minimum of 200 so far as new comers were concerned, but Staper, who was a member of the General Committee, increased his contribution, and by August " " Bill of Adventure was sealed at 800. 28, 1601, his continues the record from the Court Sainsbury
Thus in September, 1607, we find that Mr. Staper is returned as a debtor to the Company minutes.
;
June, 1608, the month and year of the veteran adventurer's death, it is recorded that one John in
Mednoll writes from the Indies " to his master Rich. Staper," offering his services
to the
Company for
In October, 1609, " Hewett, son of Richard Staper, merchant," is admitted to the Company the Christian name of the new member is 1,500 "in hand."
;
suggestive of his father's connection with the Osborne The last time that the name "Stapers" family.
occurs in the calendar, at any rate in the early years
of the history of the East India Company, bears the
date August
19, 1614, when
it
is
stated:
"Newman
RALPH FITCH
230
employed by Mr. Stapers, Abbott and others, to recover goods from John Midnall who died at the King's Court at Adsmere (Ajmere). There is some hope of getting the goods." The Midnall, or Mednoll, referred to was sent out by Richard Staper, as we have already seen, and thus we have evidence that to the end of his days this enterprising merchant was at work, by means of his agents, in developing the Eastern trade. In the church of St. Helen, Bishopsgate, on the north wall of the nave, is an elaborate mural monu-
ment, which was removed from St. Martin's Outwich,
now pulled down, in inscription
1874.
It
bears the following
:
Here Resteth the Bodie of the
Careful of His Private.
A Liberal
Bowntifvl to the Poore:
Worshipfvl Richard Staper Electid
Howsekeeper.
Alderman of this Citye Anno 1594. Hee Was the Greatest Merchant in His
An Vpright Dealer in the World, and A Divovt Aspirer after the World to
Tyme: the Chiefest Actor in Discovere of The Trades of Tvrkey and East India, a man hvmble in Prosperity,
Come, mvch blest in His Posterity, and Happy in His and their Alliances. He
Paynefvl and ever ready in the Affayres Pvbliqve and Discreetly
Intravit vt Exirit
Richard Hakiuyt,
Dyed the last Jvne, Anno Domine 1608
The list of correspondents and per-
sonal associates of Fitch and Newberie would be incomplete without some brief reference to one whose enthusiastic industry has preserved for us the story of their journey. Born in
father of modern
1553 in Herefordshire, of a family supposed to be of
Dutch origin, Hakluyt was educated at Westminster School, and having been elected to a studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, proceeded to his degree and took holy orders. His love of geography is said to have been kindled by a cousin of the same name, a
THREE MEN OF THE TIME
231
member of the Middle Temple, and such was
his
ardour that he mastered no less than six languages in order to be able to peruse all the narratives of travel
and adventure he could procure, afterwards lecturing on these subjects. It is said of him, by one who has every authority to speak on such a topic, that he " began to see two great needs of his country, and set himself to work with patriotic zeal to remedy the evils. The first was caused by the ignorance of our seamen as regards the scientific branch of their proThe second was the absence of records, and fession. the way in which important voyages and travels were allowed to
fall
into oblivion.
He strove, during a
long life, with great ability and untiring perseverance and the measure of success he to remedy these evils ;
attained
worthies
justly places his name among those of who have deserved well of their country."
In 1582 he published "Divers Voyages touching the Discovery of America," which has been described,
not inaptly, as our "first impetus to colonisation."
He proceeded to Paris the following year, as Chaplain Edward Stafford, English Ambassador. Pursuing his inquiries in this new sphere Hakluyt, in 1584, produced "A Particular Discourse concerning to Sir
Western Discoveries," which was followed in 1587 by of Laudonniere's Journal and " De Orbe Novo Petri Martyris Anglerii, Decades Octo,
his translation
illustratse
labore
et
industria
Ricardi
Hakluyti."
Having been given the reversion of a prebendal stall at Bristol by the Queen, to which he succeeded in 1586, he returned to England in 1588, and the next year appeared his
"
Principall Navigations," published
RALPH FITCH
232 in
a single volume and dedicated to Sir Francis
Appointed to the rectory of Wether-
Walsingham.
ingsett, Suffolk, in 1590, Hakluyt devoted himself to the production of his great work in three volumes,
bearing a title almost identical in terms to the one just mentioned. The first appeared in 1 598 (with a corrected title-page in 1 599), and the series was completed in 1600.
He laboured at his task with enthusiastic "
Nothing could stop or daunt him when there was a chance of obtaining new information. He rode 200 miles to have an interview with the last survivor of Master Here's expedition to America in He saved numerous journals and narratives 1536. from destruction and the deeds they record from His work gave a stimulus to colonial and oblivion. maritime enterprise, and it inspired our literature. devotion.
Principal Shakespeare owed much to Hakluyt's Milton owed much more. He declared Navigations geography and chronology to be the sun and the moon, the right eye and the left of all history." In 1602 Hakluyt was appointed prebendary of Westminster, and became archdeacon the following year. In 1604 he was one of the chaplains of the Savoy. The last of his publications was a translation from the Portuguese of the travels of Ferdinand de Soto, which " appeared in 1609 under the title of Virginia Richly '
'
;
Valued."
But besides his untiring energy in collecting and translating materials for his invaluable books, we have ample evidence that Richard Hakluyt continued to put forth every effort in furtherance of the work about which he wrote so much for the benefit of his country-
THREE MEN OF THE TIME
233
That he was on terms of intimacy with the
men.
we have already had one instance, in the letter written to him by Newberie from Aleppo. His wide knowledge and
travellers and explorers themselves
timely advice contributed much to the successful foundation of the East India Company. One or two extracts from the First Minute Book, as reproduced by Stevens, speak for themselves. Hakluyt's name " Hacklett," under date October 16, appears as " Com1 599, when he attended a meeting of the The next mittees," Richard Staper being present
first
entry giving his
name is on January 29, 1600:
" Mr. Hacklett the historiographer of the viages of the
East Indies, beinge here before the Comitties and having read vnto them out of his notes and bookes divers instruccons for provisions of Jewelles, was required to sett
downe in wryting a note of the principall places in the East Indies wher Trade (was) is to be had to thend the same r
may be vsed for the better instruccon of o factors in the said voyage."
The
following interesting minute
February
16,
reference
last
Company
1600, to
and
this
in
Hakluyt
is
recorded on
to be the books of the
appears the
:
"
r
Ther is geaven to Mr. (Ald ) Hackett by thassent of this assemblie for his travelles taken in instruccons and advyses touching the preparing of the voyage and for his former advyses in setting the voyage in hand the Last yere the
somme of ten poundes and xxx for 3 mappes by him pros
d
vided and dd to the companie the same money to be p him
by M Aid. Hollyday." r
RALPH FITCH
234
During the last years of his life his attention appears have been chiefly directed to the Virginian colonisation scheme. He was one of the chief pro-
to
moters of the petition for patents addressed to James I. in 1606 his book on the subject, as already mentioned, was published in 1609, and he was a leading adventurer in the London, or South Virginia, ;
Company. Richard Hakluyt died on November 23, 1616, and was interred at Westminster Abbey he was twice married, in or about 1594 and in 1604. ;
Up to the time of his death Hakluyt appears to have been engaged in the work for which posterity owes him so much gratitude. He left a large collection of manuscripts, most of which came into the hands of the Rev. Samuel Purchas, of St. Martin's, Lud" " was published with gate Hill, whose Pilgrimes " " Hakluytus Posthumus on the title-page, and, notwithstanding sundry faults, have proved a mine of literary wealth. 1
1
For the bibliography of Hakluyt see " Dictionary of National
The quotations are from the address of Sir Clements Markham, F.R.S., President, at the fiftieth anniversary meeting of the Hakluyt Society, December 15, 1896. Biography."
CHAPTER III DECLINE OF PORTUGAL IN THE EAST SPAIN AND THE PHILIPPINES COMING OF THE DUTCH BEGINNING OF BRITAIN'S EMPIRE
HISTORICAL SUMMARY,
1
583-91
J
the eight years' absence of
DURING Ralph Fitch public
affairs in
Master
Europe, and the
work of adventure, exploration, and expansion by his own countrymen, had been making rapid progress. In the year after his departure, 1584, the infamous
ban issued by Philip of Spain against the Prince of Orange took effect, and William the Silent fell by the hand of the assassin Balthasar Gerard. The shock The episode in the long fight with the Spanish Armada which is reproduced on the opposite page is from a volume in large folio, which may be seen in the Print Room of the British 1
" Museum. It is entitled The Tapestry Hangings of the House of Lords representing the several engagements between the English and Spanish Fleets in the ever memorable year MDLXXXVIII., with the portraits of the Lord High Admiral, and a the other Noble Commanders, taken from the Life," &c. series of charts is added, and an account of each day's action "from the most Authentic Manuscripts and Writers." The work was published in 1739 by John Pine, engraver, who was :
;
235
RALPH FITCH
236
caused in England by this outrage was intensified by the discovery of the Throgmorton Conspiracy to murder the Queen and to place Mary of Scots upon
the throne, which was immediately followed by the rupture of diplomatic relations with Spain and the
expulsion of the ambassador Mendoza. last the two countries became open enemies. the great commercial centre to which
Thus
at
Antwerp,
much of the
growing Eastern trade had been attracted, fell before Alexander of Parma in 1585, after a memorable siege, and the Earl of Leicester was sent to the help of the Netherlands on a futile expedition, which is chiefly remembered for the death of his nephew, Sir Philip Sidney, at Zutphen, in 1586. Another elaborate conspiracy against Elizabeth's life, in which Mary of Scots was implicated by the ever-watchful Walsingham, was then made public. It appears to have been hatched at Rheims, and Anthony Babington, who had charge of the scheme in England, was executed in 1586, Mary herself being
1587. left
brought to the block in In 1585 he
Meanwhile Drake had been busy.
Plymouth, with Frobisher as a lieutenant, to
informed that "the Designs of the Tapestry were made by Henry Cornelius Vroom, a famous Painter of Harlem, eminent
and that was Wove by Francis Spiring." The tapestries were involved in the great fire which wrecked the Houses of Parliament in 1834, a circumstance which lends additional interest to Mr.
for his great Skill in drawing of all Sorts of Shipping
:
it
Pine's
fine
collection.
portraits, covers
Each engraving, with
its
two pages of the volume, and as
border of one
to the
now reproduced the compiler quotes Camden to the effect that eight fire-ships were sent among the Spaniards off Calais and caused a panic.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
237
harry the Spanish colonies he set off again in 1587 to carry out his famous exploit against Spain itself, ;
and to " singe the beard " of Philip who was preparing for his great attack on England. The year 1588 witnessed Spain's debacle. set forth in May, 1588
The " Invincible Armada "
to return in broken fragments,
typical alike of the collapse of Philip's worldwide ambitions and the beginning of Britain's claim to the
supremacy of the sea. "
Virginia
It is
"
remarkable that in the interval
of eight years no further attempt was
made by the English to tap the riches of the Golden East, though the final crippling of the Spanish sea power was quickly followed by incursions direct into
the Eastern seas, as is related below. But there was no lack of enterprise in the North and West, and
even an attempt at colonisation.
The Queen in 1584
issued letters patent to Raleigh, similar in terms to the charter granted to Gilbert referred to in an earlier chapter, and in that year he despatched two small ships to explore from the coast of Florida north-
wards.
They returned the same year, and in
1585
Raleigh sent a larger expedition under Richard Grenville, with Ralph Lane as governor of the new colony of Virginia, which was to be established on the shores of North Carolina, one of the party being Thomas Cavendish, who was afterwards to become famous as the
second
English
circumnavigator.
Little
but
and misrule, however, attended the enterprise, and in 1586 Drake, on his return from the West Indies expedition of 1585, brought Lane and his colonists home. Soon afterwards Grenville arrived disaster
RALPH FITCH
238
with supplies, and finding the island of Roanoke deserted by his countrymen, left fifteen men, well provisioned,
to
hold
the
settlement.
A
fourth
expedition was sent out by Raleigh, under Captain
White, in 1587, the latter being again despatched in I S9O, but it was not till the formation of a new
company
in
1606 that the successful colonisation
was actually begun. Concurrently with these efforts John Davis had been pursuing the quest for a
He completed his three northerly route to Cathay. to the North West in 1585-6-7, but years' voyages no further attempt to reach the Far East by steering a northerly course was made during the Queen's reign, with the exception of an abortive expedition in 1602 undertaken by one George mouth at
Way
the joint charge of the newly formed East India In 1588 Company and the Muscovy Company.
Cavendish had completed his voyage round the world. In 1591 he sailed again on his last and unfortunate expedition, during which he died of a broken heart, Davis, the navigator, returning with the remnants of his party in 1593. _
,
...
Portuguese in the
East-past and
"In
1640,"
historical
remarks
Hunter
in "
his
Por-
summing-up (vol. vi.), became a separate country. But in the meanwhile the Dutch and English had appeared in the Eastern seas; and before their tugal again
indomitable competition the Portuguese empire of the Indies withered away as rapidly as it had sprung The period of the highest development of the up.
Portuguese Commerce was probably from 1590 to 1610, on the eve of the subversion of their com-
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
239
mercial power by the Dutch, and when their political dominion in India was at its lowest depth of degradation.
.
.
.
The only remaining Portuguese poses-
sions in India are Goa, Daman,
and Diu, all on the
west coast, with a total area of 2,365 square miles." It is not the purpose here to deal with all the colonial
possessions of Portugal in Africa and elsewhere, but to the Eastern and Far Eastern list we must add
Macao, the only established centre of their commerce which Master Fitch did not visit. This brings up the roll to four places, which affords a miserable comparison with the claims put forward by the historian Faria y Sousa in an addendum to his third volume. "
The Portuguese Empire to the Eastward," he says, "extends from the Cape of Good Hope in Africk, to Cape Liampo in China, distant from one another 4000 Leagues along the Seacoasts, without including the shores of the Red Sea and Persian Golph, which make about 1200 Leagues. Between this space lies half Africk, and all Asia with innumerable Islands He adjoining to those vast Parts of the World." divides the whole region into seven parts, and in each case enumerates the actual Portuguese settlements and bishoprics. As to the last two he states " The sixth Division between Ganges and Cape :
Singapura, contains the vast Kingdoms of Bengala, Here Pegu, Tanazarim, and others of less Note.
we have the City Malaca, a Bishop's Seat, and the last place we possess in the Eastern Continent. The seventh Division between the Capes Singapura and Liampo, contains the Kingdoms of Pam, Lugor,
Siam, Cambodia, Tsiompa, Cochinchina, and vast
RALPH FITCH
240
Empire of China. Here we have no place but the City Macao yet Trade all along those Coasts." At Macao, at present little more than a pleasure resort, and, indeed, a nest of gamblers, the Portuguese were permitted by the Chinese to erect factories as The Jesuits having established themearly as 1557. selves at the settlement, Gregory XIII. constituted
a bishopric of Macao in 1580; a senate was organised in
1583,
and in 1628 Jeronimo de Silveira became
The Chinese suzerainty, royal governor. " One classic however, was not thrown off till 1 849. oblivion. from save Macao memory, however, may the
first
was here that the exiled Camoens composed the On one of the hillsides greater part of his Lusiads. It
overlooking the bay is an extensive old shrubbery, where narrow paths twist in and out among gnarled
and ancient trees, and where half a dozen enormous boulders heaped together form a natural archway or grotto the Gruta de Camdes. Camoens was ausentes e ComProvedor dos appointed defuntos in for the Defunct and the Absent Macao, missary and is supposed to have come here every day to work at his great task." A bronze bust of the poet was erected in I84O. 1 It will
be interesting here to
the fact that the
on
Spaniards
recall
made an
early appearance in the Eastern seas their own account. Magellan, in his circum-
navigation, discovered the Philippines in 1521, and When life there shortly after his arrival.
lost his
the news reached Europe that the celebrated voyager 1
"Peoples and Politics of the Far East," p. 189.
LEGAZPI,
CONQUEROR OF THE PHILIPPINES.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
241
had appeared in the Moluccas, and that conflicts had occurred between the Spanish and Portuguese in that region, a quarrel arose between Spain and Portugal. The Bull of Alexander VI. was produced by both sides, but eventually, by an agreement made at Saragossa, April 22, 1529, Spain sold her claim to her rival for 350,000 ducats of gold, but retained the
of
pre-emption.
But
on
their
the
Portuguese, although they monopoly of the spice trade, never got a firm grip of the group, which right
insisted
In eventually came into the hands of the Spanish. 1543 Villalobos sailed to the islands from Mexico,
and was the
first
Samar
to suggest the present
while
in
name by
1565
Legazpi founded the settlement of San Miguel at Cebu in a calling
Filipina,
;
letter of Legazpi's of 1 567, it is stated, the name Islas
The English first time. Manila in and October, 1762, captured proceeded to the Attacked the subjugate by province. HispanoTagal forces, they were hemmed in at Manila and were nearly reduced by famine, when peace was 1 declared, the town being restored in March, I/64. " The Dutch were the first European T h e D U Chin nation who broke through the Portut h e E a 8t Filipinas appears for the
guese monopoly,"
says
Hunter.
To
endeavoured to begin with, they, a to Asia northern course, and it get by following will be remembered that Linschoten was associated like the English,
1
"
Danvers's " Portuguese in Asia,"
vol.
i.
chap. xiv. ;
also
The Philippine Islands," edited for the Hakluyt Society by
Lord Stanley of Alderley, in which appears the portrait of Legazpi.
RALPH FITCH
242
with their earlier efforts
in
that direction.
But the
rapid developments of this historical period with the disastrous policy of Spain as the primary cause
turned their attention to the bolder course of following the Cape route, with which their indefatigable There was countryman had made them familiar. the further circumstance that their chief ports had become the European centres for the Indian trade. Danvers says that when Antwerp fell before the attacks of the
Duke of Parma in
stance, coupled with
its
1585 this circumexperiences of
disastrous
Spanish occupation and pillage, brought about commercial ruin and the transfer of trade to Amsterdam
and Hamburg, " a fact which the Dutch did not fail to realise." I "
it :
and
Hunter, in his usual terse fashion, puts
During the sixteenth century Bruges, Antwerp,
Amsterdam
became
the
successively
great
emporiums where Indian produce, imported by the Portuguese, was distributed to Germany, and even to England." Thus, while the Dutch were not the first Europeans to send a rival fleet to India via the Cape
we refer to Lancaster's voyage in
1591, dealt with were the first to undernext division in the they take the enterprise on systematic lines.
In 1594 a company, called the Company of Foreign Merchants, was formed in Holland, and Cornelius Houtman, with a fleet of four ships, left the Texel at the beginning of 1 595. This Dutch pioneer-navigator reached Bantam, and returned with three of his vessels, "
Letters Received by the East India Company from its Servants in the East," by Mr. F. C. Danvers introduction 1
;
(Sampson Low,
1896).
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
243
and other produce, in 1 597. Several other companies were set on foot for trade with the East in fact before Houtman's return richly laden with spices
another expedition was sent out under the command of James
Van Neck.
It
a remarkable fact that
is
two celebrated Englishmen took
leading parts in these early efforts of the Hollanders. In 1 598, when
Houtman set forth on his second expedition, in which he lost his life, John Davis accompanied him as chief The same year a fleet of five ships left Rotterdam with William Adams, the first Englishman to visit Japan, on board as pilot-major. By 1602 the States-General had decreed the amalgamation of the various companies in the United Provinces into the Dutch East India Company. The appearance of the Dutch in the Eastern seas bore immediate fruit in the shape of constant conflicts with the Portuguese, which developed into a fierce The manner in which they rivalry with the English. pilot.
pushed their way through the crumbling pretensions of Portugal during the twenty years which followed Houtman's first voyage is a feature of the history of this most active period.
Danvers,
in
the work just
quoted, states "Towards the end of the year 1613 the Dutch already had factories and castles in the :
following ports
cadana,
:
viz.,
Macassar,
Bantam, Jakatra, Grasse, SucSiam,
Patani,
Achin,
Bouton,
Amboyna, Bakean, Makjan, Motir, Tidore, Ternate, The English at this Japan, Bandar, and Solor. .
.
.
time could boast of no other properly established factory than that at Bantam, although they did carry
on an uncertain trade in the Moluccas and
at places
RALPH FITCH
244
On the peninsula of India also the English were prevented from taking advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves owing in Sumatra.
.
.
.
Taking a wider range, Hunter more comprehensive view of the
to a want of means."
us
a
brilliant,
if
gives
still
comparatively short, record of their the East and on the way thither.
in
supremacy "Within fifty
he says, "the Dutch had on the continent of India, in established factories Ceylon, in the Persian Gulf, and in the Red Sea, years,"
besides having obtained exclusive possession of the Moluccas. During the seventeenth century the .
.
.
Dutch were the foremost maritime power in the world. Their memorable massacre of the English at Amboyna in
1623 forced the British company to retire from
the Eastern Archipelago to the continent of India"
a result, it is pointed out, which led to the foundation of that Indian Empire which exists to-day.
As in the case of Portugal, a comparison between the present Eastern possessions of the Netherlands and what they promised to be two centuries or more ago affords ample ground for reflection. The possessions and protectorates of the kingdom of Holland in the archipelago include, among other islands, Java
and Madura, Sumatra, parts of New Guinea, and of But the most Borneo, the Moluccas and Celebes. find it critic would now difficult to become friendly enthusiastic in regard to the administration of these " In India colonies." thickly populated and fertile
and Ceylon the Dutch flag is not seen at all, though there are traces of their settlements at various places for instance, Chinsurah, Negapatam, and Jaffnapatam.
HISTORICAL SUMMARY must
It
not
be
forgotten
that
245
they
discovered
Australia, and that to this day the passage between Ceylon and the Indian peninsula still bears the name of a Dutch governor, Palk. "
The defeat of the Spanish Armada
a PP ears to nave greatly stimulated English maritime enterprise, by inspiring the people with additional confidence in their national
superiority at sea; and in October, 1589, less than one year after that event, a body of English
merchants memorialised the Queen to send ships to trade with India." z apparently, was
the
Raymond
sailed
from Plymouth on April
days
before
Fitch
arrived
own perilous journey. tall
ships
in
for
permission
The outcome,
expedition which nineteen 10, 1591
London
from
his
The fleet consisted of three commanded by Captain
the Penelope,
:
George Raymond, who had charge of the enterprise the Merchant Royal, Captain Abraham Kendal and the Edward Bonaventure, Captain James LanThe story of this voyage, which is of so caster. much interest to the British of the present day, was ;
;
told to
Hakluyt (vol. ii. part ii.) by Edmund Barker
of Ipswich, Lancaster's lieutenant
by
one
Henry May,
"
Pilgrimes." 1
Danvers,
2
"
is
;
another account,
preserved
in
Purchas's
Beaten about by adverse winds, they Letters," introduction.
Both narratives appear in "The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster to the East Indies," edited by Mr. (now Sir) Clements 2
R.
Markham for the Hakluyt
Society.
Barker's version
is
followed in the above summary, but it may be added that May states that Samuel Foxcroft was captain of the Merchant Royal
RALPH FITCH
246
did not come in sight of the Cape till the end of July,
when, in order to refresh the crews, many of whom were " weake and sicke," they put into an adjacent bay on the eastward side, the Agoada (watering1 Here it was decided to send place) de Saldanha.
back the Merchant Royal with fifty men, " whereof there were many pretty well recovered," and continue " " the journey with those who were sound and whole that is, unaffected by the scurvy.
The Penelope, with
one hundred and one men, and the Edward with a
complement of ninety-seven, again set sail in company, On September I4th, when off Cape
but not for long.
Corrientes, they encountered a great storm, in which the Penelope (Captain Raymond) disappeared and was
Thus Captain Lancaster was left on the voyage alone or to return. He chose the former course, and entered upon a series of privateering adventures in the Bay of Bengal and among the Nicobars which rivalled the exploits of Drake in the West Indies. There was one feature of Lancaster's proceedings, however, which acquits him never seen again.
to proceed
of the charge of common piracy. In the account before us it is stated that when a vessel which was
was found to be owned, or laden, by others than the Portuguese it was allowed to go unmolested. seized
In December, 1592, the Edward Bonaventure found
her
way back to the Point de Galle, Ceylon, where
and second in command of the expedition, and that there was a fourth vessel in the shape of a "small pinesse" possibly used for victualling purposes and then abandoned.
Markham (p. 62) states that Saldanha Bay of De Barros and the Early English and Dutch navigators is our Table Bay. 1
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
247
Lancaster intended to
lie in wait for the Bengal Bat he was attacked by sickness, and the crew having become weary of their wanderings, it was determined to sail for home a voyage which was to prove utterly disastrous. A pathetic incident occurred on their arrival at St. Helena. Here they found one John Legar (or Segar) of Bury, Suffolk, who had been left behind by the Merchant Royal to recover from severe illness. The man had become half-demented, and the unexpected appearance of his countrymen appears to have brought about a condition of excitement which proved fatal to him
Fleet.
within a few days.
On leaving the island contrary
winds and unknown currents carried the across the Atlantic, and a course
Edward
was set to find the
Trinidad to re-provision. After a series of arduous adventures among the West Indian islands, Isle of
the Edward, as she lay one night in November, 1593, Island of Mona (between Puerto Rico and San Domingo), either broke away or was cut adrift with five men and a boy aboard. Meanwhile Henry
off the
May appears to have been sent to England on a French ship, and thus there were left on the island Captain Lancaster and eighteen men the miserable remnant of the ninety-seven who sailed eastward from the Cape. Barker accounts for the whole number. Twelve were taken by two French vessels to San Domingo, seven who had wandered into the island Soon afterwards a vessel of being left behind. Newhaven appeared at San Domingo with two of the seven, reporting that three had been killed by the Spaniards, and two had broken their necks in
RALPH FITCH
248
trying to catch fowls on the cliffs. Captain Lancaster and Lieutenant Barker, leaving the rest of their crew,
who seem to have been well treated on the other French
ships,
to
follow,
took passage in a vessel
commanded by a Captain la Noe for Dieppe.
They
then crossed to Rye, where they landed on May 19 Thus 1594, after an absence of over three years.
ended the first English voyage, via the Cape, to India. 1 Another independent venture to the Indian seas took place in 1596, principally at the cost of Sir Robert Dudley, the fleet consisting of three vessels, the Bear, the Beards Whelp, and the Benjamin, under the supreme command of Captain Benjamin Wood.
Sainsbury tells us that Queen Elizabeth entrusted a Emperor of China to two merchants who joined the expedition, Richard Allen and letter for the
Thomas
Bromfield. The last heard of this fleet seems to have been contained in a letter received by Cecil from Lisbon, in September, 1 598, which stated that news had come to hand that two English ships " in the India" had taken two Portuguese ships, rich in the writer treasure, on their way from Goa to China ;
"
supposes it is Captain Wood in Mr. Dudley's ships."
Captain James Lancaster, whose pioneer voyage round the Cape is briefly recorded above, was conspicuous among the maritime adventurers of the time. Little is known of his early days, but he is said to 1
A still earlier attempt is related in " A Forgotten Voyage of
John Davis," contributed by Mr. W. Foster to the Geographical The navigator sailed with one John Sanderson in the Samaritan for India in September, 1590, but got no further than Madeira.
Journal, August, 1893.
OUR INDIAN EMPIRE
249
have been a native of Basingstoke, and to have spent some time in Portugal both as soldier and merchant. Returning to England before the definite outbreak of war with Spain, he commanded the Edward Bonaventure, described as of 300 tons, serving under Drake Soon after his Indian against the Spanish Armada. in fact a month or two of his homewithin adventure, coming without his ship, Lancaster was entrusted with the general command of three vessels, fitted out
by the merchants and aldermen of the City of London for a privateering expedition against Pernambuco, which proved highly successful. His next and last voyage was in command of the first fleet despatched
by the East India Company. On his return in 1603 he was knighted. One of the first directors of the Company, he henceforward took a most active part in its affairs, and appears to have been held in high Baffin gave his name to one of the Sounds esteem. in the frozen north-west.
Sir
James died in
May or
J June, i6i8.
The next, and, as to its permanent results tne last sta g e in laying the foun>
dations of our Indian
formation of the
Empire was the
East India Company.
first
Some
account has been given in preceding chapters of both
men and methods in the earliest days of the association of merchants and navigators for commerce with
the East and Far East.
prompt
Sir
action.
The time had now come for
George Birdwood writes
1 "
Sir
" :
In
First Letter Book of the East India Company," edited by George Birdwood, assisted by Mr. William Foster, p. 2 "
(Quaritch, 1893).
Dictionary of National Biography."
RALPH FITCH
250
1599, the
who had now
firmly established raised the price of having us from Ib. to 6s. and 8s., the pepper against 35. per
Dutch,
their trade in the East,
merchants of London held a meeting on the 24th September 'at Founders' Hall/ under the Lord Mayor, and agreed to form an association for the purpose of establishing direct trade with India. Queen Elizabeth also sent Sir John Mildenhall by way of Constanti-
nople to the Great Mogul to apply for privileges for the English Company, for whom she was then preparing a charter; and on the 3ist December, 1600,
Company was incorporated under Charter the title of the Governor by Royal and Company of Merchants of London trading into the English East India
the
East
Indies." l
An
recorded
suggestive
is
When, in
1592,
incident
by
which
same
the
is
very
authority.
some English
privateers captured the great Portuguese carrack Madre de Dios, and brought her into Dartmouth, they found amongst " The Notable Register or Matricola their plunder
of the whole Government and Trade of the PortuIt was on this unique document that the memorial to the Queen in 1599 " In his " Lancaster was founded. (p. 2) Markham
guese in the East Indies."
gives the following as one of the immediate incentives " In 1599, the full in the formation of the Company :
report of Dr. Thorne, who resided at Seville, on the advantages of a trade with India, and other information, including that obtained by Lancaster during his first
voyage, induced the merchants and adventurers
"Report on the Old Records of the India Office," p. 179 (W. H. Allen and Co., 1891). 1
OUR INDIAN EMPIRE
251
of London to project an expedition, and eventually to form a Company, with the object of establishing a trade with the East Indies."
It
maybe fairly claimed
" that the " other information comprised the fruits of the labours, foresight, and actual travel, of such men
Osborne and Staper, Eldred, and Hakluyt, and last, but not least, Ralph Fitch. The first voyage undertaken by the Company, 1601-3, was under the command of the indomitable as
Lancaster, with John Middleton, who died at Bantam, It consisted of five 1603, as second in command.
Mare (or Malice} Scurge, which was Red Dragon, the Hector, Ascension, Great Susan, and the much smaller vessel Guift, or the
vessels,
re-christened the
Guest,
which was used as a store-ship.
John Davis,
who had already made the voyage to the East Indies under the Dutch pioneer Houtman, embarked as chief pilot. Some interesting figures have been collated in regard to the
fleet.
The Mare Scurge,
600 tons, was bought from the Earl of Cumberland for 3,700 (then value) and manned with a complement of 200, the Hector had 100 men, the Great Susan (which cost 1,600*) So men, and the Ascension 80 men
;
voyages down to voyages, 1
1 The first twelve $oo. as the known 1612, "Separate"
while the Guest cost
were undertaken at the risk of the sub-
Markham furnishes slightly different figures as to the ton-
nage and the manning of the vessels (p. iv). He adds the interesting statement that Davis received a "bill of adventure," which was to bring him ^500 if the voyage yielded two for one, ;i,ooo if three for one, ^1,500 if four for one, and ^2,000 if five for one.
RALPH FITCH
252
scribers, but, in view of the increasing competition with the Dutch and Portuguese, the Company then
made as joint-stock The first "joint-stock" fleet of four vessels, Downton in command, was despatched in 1613, and Sir Thomas Roe proceeded on his famous
decided that they should be enterprises.
embassy to Jehangir, the son of Akbar,
in
I6I5.
1
"
"
All the Separate voyages, excepting the fourth, were very prosperous, the clear profits hardly ever being below 100 per cent, and in general yielding an
average of 138. In spite of the opposition of the Dutch, the returns on the four voyages of the first " " account amounted to 87 J per cent, on joint-stock the
"
2
This period of purely commercial operations may be divided into three well-marked sub-periods the first from 1600 to 1623, subscribed
capital.
:
'
Massacre of Amboyna,' during which the Company pushed its trade in the East Indies under the greatest difficulties, but without exciting the date of the
much popular attention
the second from 1623 to 1660, during which, partly in consequence of the national solicitude aroused by the massacre of the ;
Company's agents at Amboyna, a general competition was rapidly developed throughout the country for a participation in the commerce of the East Indies ;
1 See " The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul," by Mr. William Foster (Hakluyt Society, 1899). 2 The figures are from Bird wood's " Report," and Sainsbury in
the "Calendar" furnishes
many interesting details as to the
preparations and proceedings of the Company. Danvers, in his "Letters" (introduction), mentions that the clear profits on the first two voyages amounted to 95 per cent., and on the third to no less than 234 per cent.
OUR INDIAN EMPIRE
253
and the third and last, from 1660 to 1709, during which this disastrous rivalry at length resulted in the amalgamation of the London/ or Old/ and the New/ Companies, in the United English/ or of England trading into the of Merchants Company East Indies/ commonly known as the Honourable East India Company whose great commercial was Empire sequestrated to the British Crown in '
'
'
'
'
;
1858."*
This brief record of how modern England came to possess her
Indian heritage would be incomplete
without one or two personal references.
Two great
maritime pioneers were sacrificed in the opening up of the East. John Davis, who sailed again in 1604 as pilot in an independent venture by Sir Edward Michelbourne, was killed, December 17, 1605, m an '
encounter with a Japanese junk off Bintang in the William Baffin, who set sail in Straits of Malacca. the Company's fleet under Captain Shillinge, February, 1620, died
January 1621, of a wound, received
in
a fight with the Portuguese in the Island of Kishm, south of Ormuz, and was buried there. The
in
romantic story of William Adams has been retold by the aid of documentary evidence recently investigated. Arriving with the remnant of the Dutch fleet, of which, it will be remembered, he was pilot-major, on the coast of Japan in 1600, he first heard of the
appearance of his countrymen in the Eastern Archipelago in 1611. In reply to a communication from him the Company sent an expedition to Japan, and in 1613 their ship Clove, under the command of 1
"
First Letter Book," p. 13.
RALPH FITCH
254
Captain Saris, received a welcome which led to the establishment of the first English factory in the charge of Richard Cox or Cocks.
Thus the English reached
the furthest centre of importance in the far East within three and twenty years of the return of Fitch, the pioneer Englishman to the East to tell his countrymen, from the evidence
Ralph the
;
first
of his personal observation, of the wealth that lay under the rising sun. 1 n tf
UmpSe
B^f
In no part of the British Empire in the East has the chan g e of rule been
more marked, or have the benefits thus Three centuries ago the whole of the fertile delta was laid conferred been more striking, than in Burma.
waste, as the result of many years of war, conquest, The subsequent history of the and reconquest.
country, from the sea, up the river valleys, to the mountains, was to a large extent a repetition of what
had
gone
before,
till
we come
to
the
romantic
story of Alompra (Alaunghpra), the hunter from the
woods, who filled the role of conqueror and king with considerable success and founded a dynasty. Our three Burmese wars of the present century the annexation of the upper and remaining portion of the country by proclamation on
culminated in
January I, 1886, and the deportation of the last monarch, Thibaw, whose reign at Mandalay had been marked by the worst features of an Oriental despotism.
The pacification of Burma, the advancement to its 1
For interesting details concerning Adams, see Danvers's The " Diary of Richard Cocks " has been edited for
" Letters."
the Hakluyt Society by Sir E. Maunde Thompson.
OUR INDIAN EMPIRE
255
present condition of contentment and prosperity, is a marvel of modern annexation. In spite of the dis-
turbed condition of the upper country in 1886, with governing class worthy of the name, with
no
organised dacoity rampant in
all directions, with
ever- threatening and lawless hill-tribes east,
and west, and, above
all,
with
the
on the north, the
crudest
notions of loyalty, confidence, or obedience among the masses of the people notwithstanding this anarchical state of affairs which the monarchy, just removed, encouraged rather than suppressed, it was
found possible
in
ten
short years
to
remove
the
country, as a whole, from under the immediate supervision of the Indian
Government.
On May I, 1897,
Burma was erected into a Lieutenant-Governorship under Sir Frederick Fryer, who, it was pointed out at the time, thus had placed under his direct rule, aided
by a Legislative Council, a country as large as France, including the two Savoy provinces and the island of Corsica. It is not necessary to make more than passing reference to the continued progress of Burma since that time, for the official statistics are easily accessible. It is sufficient to state that, in the returns for
1896-7,
Rangoon (founded by Alompra) stood
list of the six most important ports of our Indian Empire. An interesting and vivid light was thrown upon the subject in a speech recently
third in the
delivered by the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, who was Viceroy of India at the time of the annexation,
and whose title includes a name associated with the ancient glories of the Burmese Empire. He spoke of the Burmese as a people " so attractive, amiable, and
RALPH FITCH
256
intelligent," and described
them as " the only nation
among whom we were not only respected and honoured but obeyed, and whose religion was the x purest outside Christianity." As to the future of Burma,
it
is
well to bear in
mind that she has, as next-door neighbour on the Soon after the East, the vast empire of China. annexation of 1885-6 the Government at Pekin set up, inter alia, an old and shadowy suzerainty, a claim which was met by a continuance of the decennial mission and the giving of presents. How far the final
solution of the problem of the Far East
affect her future prosperity it would
may
be out of place
here to attempt to estimate, even on the basis, which
patent to
is
all
natural resources
the world, of her redundancy of and the ample promise of her
natural character.
Without attributing too much to the ex P edition ma7 c o nTstr at least be claimed that the news that one solitary English traveller had passed and repassed the mysterious portals of the East added fuel to the flame of adventure which burst forth as the C
and
result
of
results of the Fitch
the downfall of
>
Spain as a
it:
sea-power.
Lancaster began his first voyage to India, it has been pointed out, a few weeks before Fitch landed in London, but it is not improbable though we have
no actual evidence
of
the
fact
that
intelligence
of his safety, with some account of his impressions of
commercial prospects in the Indian seas, had reached He lingered awhile in Asia England before him. 1
At the Burma Dinner held in London on June 16, 1898.
COMPARISON AND CONCLUSION.
257
Minor, and Aleppo had been for some years a depot In any case he was in ample time
for English trade.
take an invaluable part in the first systematic movement which resulted in the formation of the
to
first East India Company he came back, in fact, as a practical merchant to point out, for the first time, what were the possibilities and probabilities of a
prosperous trade in the distant Indies. If any single man ever acted successfully in spying out a great and
wealthy region It
is
the benefit of his countrymen,
for
Ralph Fitch did
it.
impossible to forget that the rise of the
English in the East was accompanied by the incipient decay of the power ostensibly in possession. Historical
authorities
generally agree in ascribing the fall of Portuguese influence
sudden
remarkably abroad to the union under the Crown of Spain, and the complications that resulted with other European nations.
But when the rival fleets of the Dutch and
English appeared
in
Eastern waters the thorough
rottenness of the Portuguese colonial system, to which
some reference has been made in the preceding pages, became exposed, and, so far as they were concerned, the fight for supremacy was a short one. The contest for the crown of the East, however, did not end here.
There were the Dutch, whose rise was more brilliant and whose fall was only less rapid and complete than was the case with the nation they displaced. Their disappearance as a potential factor in the East is one of the startling facts of modern history. Possessed of many qualities which go to make a great, progressive nation, sturdy, enterprising, industrious, Holland 18
RALPH FITCH
258
never secured a firm hold upon the immediate results of her conquests in this region, and the most valuable of her acquisitions were soon wrenched, or slipped, from her grasp. Hunter, limiting himself to what
may be described as the local argument, puts the case in
two sentences
" :
The fall of the Dutch colonial
empire resulted from
its
short-sighted
It was deliberately based
policy.
commercial
upon a monopoly
of the trade in spices, and remained from first to last destitute of sound economical principles."
Taking a more general view of the question in a comparative
sense,
Seeley, in the interesting lectures mentioned, urges that both Portugal and
Professor
already
Holland had too small a basis. Moreover, the latter country was involved in European wars, while England, on the other hand, was but slightly connected with the European system.
The fact remains that England, dating, as it were, from the enterprise of one of her typical sons, has become the
heiress
of the East.
To enter upon a
discussion of the question how she has retained and enlarged her hold would be a considerable undertaking.
But of one thing we may boast, and that is, that in spite of one or two serious mistakes, she has solved Knit by ties the problem of colonial government to the Portuguese, for example, and
unknown
flourishing
under a commercial system which the
Dutch never seemed to be able to understand, Great and Greater Britain together, in the East and in all parts of the world, have opened an entirely new volume in the common history of
mankind.
INDEX [
The names quoted are used by Ralph Fitch, ]
ABUL FAZL, 90 Adams, William,
Branginoco navigator,
Burma,
;
Christian
90
mission,
:
Alompra, 149, 254, 255 Alva, Duke of, gift from the Pope, 5 plunders English at Antwerp, ;
16 Pre-
BABEL, TOWER OF, 51
;
modern pean visitors, 151 ; Pegu, 152 ; present and future, 254
Babington conspiracy, 236 Babylon (or Bagdad), 50, 190 Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 7 Baffin, William, navigator, 249, 253 Bahrein (" Baharim ") Island, 54 Balapur (" Bellapore "), 94 Barisal ( 'Bacola"), 118 Bartholomew's Day, 8 Bassein (or Cosmin), Burma, 154,
CABOT,
SEBASTIAN,
and
N.E.
Passage, 25 Cambay (" Cambaietta "), 57 Cash Capital of Fitch's party, 73,
k
218 Cavendish,
Thomas,
circumnavi-
gator, 237, 238 Csesar, Frederick, 47, 81, 147, 151 Cecil, see Burleigh Ceylon, Fitch's description, 182
182 Bassein Island (" Basaim"), 58
Belgaum (" Bellergan "), 92 Benares (" Bannaras "), 103 Bhutan (" Bottanter "), 116
Chancelor, Richard, navigator, 25, 41 Chaul, 58, 188 China, Queen Elizabeth's letter to " King of," 45 ; early trade and customs, 179
Bijapur (" Bisapor "), 61, 93
Bima, 181 ("Birra"),
127,
conquest of Pegu and first Portuguese mercenaries, 135 ; victories of Branginoco as general, 138 ; sack of Martaban, 139 ; fall of Prome, 142 ; attack on Siam, 143 ; death of the King Tabeng, 144 ; Branginoco's conquests, 144 ; Zimme and Siam, 147 ; death, 149 ; decay under Nanda Bureng, 150 ; early Euro-
Aleppo, 48, 191 Allahabad (" Prage"), 102
Birejik
by d'Acunha,
Historical (" Bagou "), 132. summary Rise of Taungu, 133
;
or
visited
;
Albuquerque, Alfonso de, 83 ; far Eastern trade, 1 24 cruelty at Goa, 128
Bir,
see
at Silveira 129 Chittagong, 129 ; Correa's treaty at Martaban, 131 ; old description of Pegu
;
Fitch's story, 97
Anjou, Duke of, 9 Antonio, Dom (Portuguese tender), 75 77, 78
Naung),
Burcherts, Bernard, 70, 79 Burhanpur (" Barrampore "), 95 Burleigh, Lord, reply to Papal Bull, 7 ; commercial enterprise, 15 Busra, or Bussorah, 53, 190
253 Afhuysen, G. van, 176 Agra, Fitch's account, 97 Akbar ("Zelabdim Echebar"), the Great Moghul, letter from Queen Elizabeth, 44 ; his reign, 88 first
(Bureng
Burma
243,
49,
161 261
INDEX
262
(" Chatigan or porto Grande"), 115, 129 Cochin, Fitch's visit and description,
Chittagong
185-7 Coinage, restoration of English, 13 Colonisation, Gilbert in Newfoundland, 27 ; Virginia, 233, 237 ; success of British, 258 Commercial revival, 12 Conformity, Bill of, 8
Cosmin (Bassein, Burma), 154, 182
DAMAN, 58 Davis, John, navigator, 238, 243, 248, 251, 253 De Rea, Francis, 79 Diu, 57 Doughty, Thomas, executed, 33
Drake, Sir Francis, 28 ; at San Juan de Ulloa, 29 ; Nombre de Dios,
30 ; circumnavigation, 30, 33 ; knighted, 34 ; referred to by Newberie, 78 ; other exploits, 236
Dutch in the East, 241
;
decay, 244,
257
EAST
INDIA
minutes,
COMPANY,
first
228 ;
Royal Charter, 250; first voyage, 251; "jointstock," 252 ; Company acquired by the Crown, 253 East Indian enterprise, birth of, 37 Eldred, John, letters from Newberie, 75, 217; interest in East India Company, 198, 199 ; biography, 217 ; monuments, 219 Elizabeth, Queen, foreign policy, 4, 13 ; plots against her, 9 ; industrial policy, 19 ; and adventurers, 24, 28, 29, 34 ; remarkable letter, 31 ; treaty with Murad III., 42 ; letters to Akbar, and " King of
China," 44 Elliot, Richard, Consul at Tripoli, 44 Ellis, Edward, 42 Excommunication, Bull of, 5
FAKIRS, Indian, 102, no Fatehpur Sikri, 97 Felton and the Papal Bull, 6 Feluja (" Felugia "), 49
Narrative : Fitch, Ralph, 37, 46. setting out, 47 ; arrest at Ormuz and sent to Goa, 56 escape, 62 ; letter to Leonard Poore, 64 ; ;
journey in India, 92 ; travels in Burma, 153 trade alone, 99 of delta, 155, 164 ; describes and Pegu city, Pagoda, King's grandeur, 156-64 ; priesthood, 1 68 at Malacca, trade in Far East, 177 goods described, 188 returns home via Ceylon, Goa, Ormuz, Asia Minor, 182-91 ; assists East India Company, 198-9 ; his claim on posterity, 257 (see Newberie's letters) Fitzwilliam, secret agent in Spain, 10 Fonseca, Archbishop of Goa, 71, 79, 215 Frobisher, Sir Martin, 27, 28, 236 Fytche, Lieut. -Gen. Albert, Chief ;
;
;
;
;
Commissioner of British Burma, 20 1 Fytche, William, President of Fort William, 200
GANGES, 102 Garret,
;
religious rites, 103
William,
founder Levant
Company, 42 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 27 Goa, Fitch's account, 61 ; general description, 81 ; return to, 187 ;
archbishop (see Fonseca) Golconda, 93
Gresham,
Sir
Thomas, 15
;
story
17 Guilds of Merchants, 14 of,
HAKLUYT, RICHARD, letter from Newberie, 206; biography, 231 ; East India Company, 233 Hanseatic League, 14 first Hareborne, William, 42 ambassador to the Sultan, 43, 211, 224 Hawkins, Sir John, plotting in Spain, 9 ; as naval controller, 23 ; with Philip II. and dispute ;
results, 29
Hawkins, William, trade, 28
and
Brazil
INDEX summaries (1570-83) 1-38; (1583-91), 235-45 Hit ("Ait"), 52 Hortop, Job, sailor, 37 Houtman, Cornelius, navigator, 242 Porto or (" Hugeli Hugli Historical
Malacca, capture by Albuquerque, 124 ; a trade centre, 126; relief of, 175 ; Fitch's visit, 179 Mandogarh (" Mandoway"), 96 Marke, or Marco, Padre, 65, 69, 73> 79
Mary of Scots, executed, 236
Piqueno"), 113
Martaban, Sack of, 139; visited by
INDUSTRY, growth of textile, 19
Fitch, 178, 182
Inquisition at Goa, 87
Invincible Armada, 237 Ivan the Terrible and first English voyagers, 25
JAMBI ("lamba"), iSl Japan, 179 Jehangir, 90 Jenkinson, Anthony,
263
first
English
Ambassador to the Tsar, 26 Jesuits, scheme against the English
Mascarenhas, Dom F. de, Viceroy, 56, 62, 71, 73, 85 Masulipatam, 94 Meh-Kay ("Macao"), 156 Mendes Pinto, Ferdinand, 140, 143 Mercers, Company of, 16 Merchant Adventurers, 15
Merchant Staplers, 15 Merdin (or Mardeen), 190 Mogok, ruby mines of, 172 Mosul, 190
travellers, 69
of Austria, Don, 31
NAVY, renaissance of, 22
umna (" lemena"), 100
Newberie, John, 37 ; receives royal letters, 44; former travels, 48, 68 ; linguist, 73 ; letters to Eldred,
unkseylon (" lunsalaon"), 178 John
KUCH BEHAR("Couche"), in LABUAN ("Laban"), 181 Lancaster,
and Shales, 75 ; last letter (to Poore), 76 begins journey home, 99 ; biography, 202 ; how the expedition started, 208; appeal for help, 218 ;
Sir
James, navigator, 242 first voyage to India, 245 biography, 248 ; first voyage for East India Company, 251 Leeds, Duke of, first and present, 226 Leedes, William, companion of Fitch, 48, 72, 79 ; remains in Akbar's service, 100 Levant (or Turkey) Company, 41 ; concharter, 42 ; history, 223 nection with East India Company, 228 Linschoten, John Huyghen van, 66 ;
;
;
;
story of Fitch party, 67 ; their escape, 72 ; mentioned by Newberie, 79 ; life at Goa, 82 ; bio-
graphy, 213, 241 Lock, Michael, consul at Aleppo,
44
MACAO, 179, 240 Magellan, exploring Spice Islands, 127
NIZAM-AL-MULK (" Nizamaluco "), 85 North-east passage, 25 North-west passage, 27
ORISSA ("Orixa"), 114 Ormuz, 54, 188 Osborne, Sir Edward, a founder of Levant Co., 42 patron of Fitch's voyage, 48 ; Biography romantic rescue of Anne Hewet, 221 ; and Mayor Knighted, Lord M.P., 223; interest in Levant ;
:
Co.,
223 ;
founder
of
distin-
guished family, 225 Oxenham the Rover, 30
PATNA (" Patenaw "), 109 Pegu, see Burma and Fitch Paul IV. and accession, 4
Queen
Elizabeth's
INDEX
264
Philip II. of Spain, implicated in Ridolfi plot, 9 ; subsidy to Haw10 ; ruinous policy in kins, Netherlands, 18 ; King of Portugal, 35 land, 35 ;
;
policy against
Eng-
Indian policy, 86 Philips, Miles, 36 Pius V., personality of, 5
Spain and Philippines, 240 Spanish Fury at Antwerp, 8,31 Staper, Richard, voyage to Constantinople, and founder of Levant Company, 42 patron of Fitch Expedition, 48 founder of East India Company, 198 ; account with Newberie, 209 Levant Company, 224 ; biography, 227 Stevens, Rev. Thomas, 62, 65, 79 ; letter in Newberie's possession, 207; biography, 21 1 ;
;
;
Poore, Leonard, letters from Fitch,
64 ; from Newberie, 76, 208 Portuguese rule, 83 ; decay, 238, 257
QUILON ("Coulam"), 185
Steelyard in London, 15 Story, Dr., capture and death, 10
RALEIGH, Sir Walter, 27, 237
Story, or Storie, James, companion of Fitch, 48; remains at Goa, 65,
152 Shwe-Dagon Pagoda, 167 ; city founded, 255 Raymond, George, navigator, 245 Religion under Elizabeth, II, 13
Rangoon,
;
70, 74, 79 Stropene, Michael, 75, 77, 78, 81,
205
Ridolfi Plot, 9, 29 Roe, Sir Thomas, mission to India,
Stukley, Sir
252 Royal Exchange, opening of, 17 Rupee, value of, 201
Sukladuge
Thomas,
conspirator,
7,8,9 (" Suckel Counse ruler of Kuch Behar, 112
"),
Syriam ("Cirion"), 155
Russia, first treaty with the English,
25 ;
first
embassy to England, 26
TABORER, Andreas, of Goa, 62, 71, 73
SAN JUAN DE ULLOA, treachery of, 10, St.
29
Francis Xavier, 87
St. Thome, early Christians at,
86
Satgaon ("Satagam"), 100 Sebastian, King of Portugal, divides eastern possessions, 128 Seixas, Paulo de, defends Martaban,
140-2 Sequeira, Diogo L. de, first visit to Malacca, 124; viceroy, 130 Serampur (" Serrepore "), 118, 191 Shales, William, 75, 218 Shipping, English, 16 Sironji (" Serringe "), 97 Smith, Sir Thomas, founder Levant
and East India Companies, 42, 199 Soabinya ("Chaubainhaa"), Peguan Viceroy at Martaban, 131 ; death, 142
Sonargaon (" Sinnergan "), 119 Spain and Low Countries, 5, 8
Tanda, Bengal, no Tanna ("Tana"), Bengal, 59 Tavoy ("Taui"), 178 Tenasserim ("Tanaseri"), 178 Tripoli, in Syria, 48, 191
Tudor Government, 1 1 UJJAIN ("Vgini"), 97 Urfa ("Orfa"), 190
VENETSEANDER, 74
WALSINGHAM, Sir F., 7 of Catholic party, plot,
1 1
;
;
estimate
Babington
236
"Water Beggars," 21 Westmorland, Earl of, 8 William the Silent, appeal to Eliza-
Havre mission, beth, 9 banned by Philip II., 35
31 ;
;
;
as-
sassinated, 235 Willoughby, Sir Hugh, navigator, 25
ZIMME ("lamahey") 146, 147, 170
UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.
BOOKS FOR RECREATION AND STUDY
PUBLISHED BY T.
FISHER UNWIN,
II,
PATERNOSTER
BUILDINGS, LONDON, E,C,,. Jf
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
T.
SOME 3/6 NOVELS Uniform Edition of
MARK RUTHERFORD'S SMAPCOTT.
The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford.
by
REUBEN
The Revolution in Tanner's Lane
Fifth Edition.
Mark Rutherford's Deliverance.
Edited
works.
Crown 8vo., cloth.
New Edition. _
Miriam's Schooling, and other
By MARK RUTHERFORD. Papers. With Frontispiece by WALTER CRANE.
Catharine Furze : A Novel. By MARK RUTHERFORD. Fourth Edition. Clara
Hopgood.
MARK
By
RUTHERFORD.
Second Edition.
"These writings are certainly not to be lightly dismissed, bearing as they do the impress of a mind which, although limited in range and sympathies, is decidedly original" Times.
The" Statement of Stella Maberly. Vice Versa."
"
Crown 8vo, cloth.
It is certainly a strange and striking story."
By F. ANSTEY, Author of
Athenaeum.
Silent Gods and Sun-Steeped Lands.
By
R.
W.
FRAZER.
With 4 full-page Illustrations by A. D. McCORMiCK and a Photogravure Frontispiece. Small crown 8vo., cloth. " Mr. Frazer writes powerfully and well, and seems to have an intimate acquaintance with the sun-steeped land, and the strange beings who people it." Glasgow Herald. Second Edition.
By CORA LYSTER. Grown 8vo., cloth. "This is an extremely clever and altogether admirable, but not altogether unkindly, anatomisation of Teutonic character." Daily Chronicle. Paul Heinslus.
My Bagdad.
By ELLIOTT DICKSON.
Illustrated.
8vo., cloth.
Related with a refreshing simplicity that is certain to approve itself to readers." Bookseller.
Silk of the Klne. "
Amabel
:
By
L.
MCMANUS (C.
MacGuire), Author of
A Military Romance." Crown 8vo., cloth.
"We have read 'The Silk of the Kine,' from the first page to the last, without
missing a single word, and we sighed regretfully when Mr. McManus brought the adventures of Margery MacGuire and Piers Ottley to a close." Literary World.
A Pot of Honey. By SUSAN CHRISTIAN. Crown 8vo., cloth. "The book is the outcome of a clever mind."
Liza of Lambeth.
Athenaeum.
By W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM. Crown 8vo., cloth.
"An interesting story of life and character in the Surrey-tide slums, presented with a great deal of sympathetic humour." Daily Chronicle.
11,
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G.
f
T.
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
THE MERMAID SERIES The Best Plays of the Old Dramatists. Literal Reproductions of the Old Text.
Post Si'O. each Volume containing about 500 pages, and an ttched ,
Frontispiece, cloth, 1.
The Best Plays of Christopher
3s. Gel. each. 12.
The Best Plays of Webster and Introduction by JOHN Tourneur. ADDINGTON SYMONDS.
13
and 14. The Best Plays of Thomas Hiddleton. Introduction
Edited by HAVEI.OCK Marlowe. General ELLIS, and containing a Introduction to the Scries by JOHN
ADDINGTON SYMONDS. 2.
The Best Plays of Thomas OtIntroduction by way. RODEN NOEL.
3.
the
by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE.
Hon. 15.
The Best Plays of John Ford. Edited by HAVELOCK ELLIS.
GOSSE.
4 and 5. The Best Plays of Thomas Massinger.
Essay
16.
and Notes by
ARTHUR SYMONS. 6.
The Best Plays of Thomas Heywood. Edited by A, VV. VERITY.
Ben Jonson.
NICHOLSON and C. H. HERFORD.
The Complete Plays of William Edited by W. C. Wycherley.
18.
The Complete Plays of Richard Etcelo.
Nero, and other Plays. Edited by H. P. HORNE, ARTHUR SYMONS, A. W. VERITY, and H. ELLIS.
9 and 10. The Best Plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. Introduction by J. ST. LOE STRACHEY. ii.
The Best Plays of
Vol. I. edited, with Introduction and Notes, by BRINSLEY
WARD. 8.
The Best Plays of Thomas Dekker. Notes by ERNEST RHYS.
17. 19, and 20.
Introduction by I. A. SYMONDS. 7.
The Best Plays of James ShirEDMUND Introduction by
ley.
Edited, with
Introduction
and Notes, by G. A. AITKKN. 21.
The Best Plays of George ChapEdited by WILLIAM LYON PHELPS, Instructor of English Literature at Yale College. man.
22.
The Complete Plays of William Edited by ALEX C. Congreve.
The Select Plays of Sir John Yanbrugh. duction
and
Edited, with an IntroNotes, by A, E. II.
SWAKS.
EWALD.
PRESS OPINIONS. "Even the professed scholar with a good library at his command will find some
while the humbler student of slender texts here not otherwise easily accessible resources, who knows the bitterness of not being able to possess himself of the treasure of or out folios in stored print, will assuredly rise up and thank quartos long expensive Mr. Unwin." St. James's Gazette. ;
" Resumed under
good auspices."
Saturday Review.
"The issue is as good as it could be."
British Weekly.
At once scholarly and interesting."
Leeds Mercury.
'
11*
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.C,
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
T.
THE STORY OF THE NATIONS A SERIES OF POPULAR HISTORIES. Each Volume is furnished with Maps, Illustrations, and Index. Large Crown Svo., fancy cloth, gold lettered, or Library Edition, dark cloth, burnished red top, SB. each. Or may be h*d in half Persian, cloth sides, gilt tops ; Price on Application.
Rome. By ARTHUR OILMAN, M.A. Jowa, By Professor J. K. 2. The 1.
HOSMER. 3.
Germany
4.
Carthage.
By the Rev. S. BARINO-
GOULD. J.
5.
P. MAHAFFY.
The Moora in Spain.
Switzerland.
LL.D.
LINA HUG.
29.
The Normans. By SARAH ORNE
30.
The Byzantine Empire.
31.
Sicily: Phoenician, Greek
JEWETT. C. W. C. OMAN, M.A.
Ancient Egypt.
By Prof.
Hungary
Prof.
ARMINIUS
32.
By
ARTHUR
33.
the
Hon.
EMILY
By
ZENAIDE
GEORGE RAWLINSON.
8.
By
Saracens.
GILMAN, M.A. to.
Ireland.
By
LAWLESS.
13. 14.
1
Assyria. By ZENAIDE A. RAGOZIN. Turkey. By STANLEY LANE-
Holland.
39.
36.
THEAL.
By S. G. W. BENJAMIN. 18. Phoenicia. By Prof. GEORGE Persia.
RAWLINSON. 19.
Media. By ZENAIDE A. RAGOZIN.
20.
The Hansa Towns. By HELEN
ZlMMERN. Britain. ai. Early ALFRFD J. CHURCH.
By
The Barbary
Corsairs.
Professor
By
24. The Jews under the Roman
Empire. By W. D. MORRISON. 51.
Austria.
By the Hon. ALETHEA
40.
The Crusades:
The Latin King-
dom of Jerusalem. By T. A. ARCHER
and CHARLES L. KINGSFORD. India. By ZENAIDE 41. Yedio RAGOZIN.
A.
West Indies and the 42. The Spanish Main. By JAMES RODWAY, F.L.S.
Bohemia. By C. E. MAURICE. By Dr. BOURINOT. 45. Canada. 43.
STANLEY LANE-POOLE. 13. Russia. By W. R. MORFILL.
49. 50.
Venice. WIEL.
MASSON.
22.
Australian Commonwealth. By GREVILLE TREGAR-
Spain. By H. E. WATTS. 37. Japan. By DAVID MURRAY, Ph.D. 38. South Africa. By GEORGE M.
By Professor I. E. THOROLD ROGERS. 6. Mediaeval France. By GUSTAVB
17.
The
THEN.
The Goths. By HENRY BRADLEY. POOLE.
15.
The Tuscan and Genoa LINSON.
A.
RAGOZIN. 12.
By the late E. A.
Republics. By BELLA DUFFY. Poland. By W. R. MORFILL. By Prof. GEORGE RAW34. Parthia. 35.
Chaldea.
(i.
and Roman.
By
FREEMAN.
VAMBERY.
9. The
By R STEAD and
27. Mexico. By SUSAN HALE. 28. Portugal. By H. MORSE STEPHENS.
By
STANLEY LA.NE-POOLE. 7.
Scotland. By JOHN MACKINTOSH,
26.
Alexander's Empire. By Prof. J.
6.
By Professor ALFRED
CHURCH.
25.
By W. MILLER. 44. The Balkans. 46.
British India.
47.
Modern France.
By R. W. FRAZER,
LL.B.
By ANDR
LE
BON.
The Franks. By LEWIS SERGEANT, B.A.
By SIDNEY WHITMAN.
Modern England before tho Reform Bill. By JUSTIN MCCARTHY, M.P China. By Professor DOUGLAS.
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G.
T.
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
THE CHILDREN'S STUDY LongZvo., elotA,fi&top, with photogrwurt frontispuct, prict
Scotland.
2/6 tack.
By Mrs. OLIPHANT.
Edited by BARRY O'BRIEN. By FRANCES E. COOKE. Germany. By KATE FREILIGRATH KROEKBR, Author Ireland.
England. of
"
Fairy Tales from Brentano," &c.
Old Tales from Greece. By ALICE ZIMMERN. France. By MARY ROWSELL. Spain. By LEONARD WILLIAMS. Rome. By MARY FORD. Canada. By J. R. MC!LWRAITH. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON SCOTLAND." "
For children of the right age this is an excellent little history." Daily News. " Enough of fault-finding with a writer who has otherwise performed his task in a perfectly charming manner." Daily Chronicle. "The best book for the rising Caledonian that has appeared for many a day." " {.Scotsman. Simple, picturesque, and well-proportioned." Glasgow Herald. " A charming book full of lif e and colour." Speaker. "As a stimulator of the imagination and intelligence, it is a long way ahead of books in use in some schools." Sketch. many " The book is attractively produced. Mrs. Oliphant has performed her difficult task Educational Times. "A work which may claim its place upon the shelve* of the young people's library, where re it may prove of not a little service also to their elders." School Beard Chronicle.
well."
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON " IRELAND." "
Many who are children no longer will be glad of this compact but able introduc-
tion to the story of Ireland's woes.
The form of the volume is particularly attractive." British Weekly.
"We heartily congratulate Mr. Barry O'Brien upon thia interesting little volume. The style is intensely interesting." "
It is well that the youth of
Schoolmaster.
England, who have entered into a serious inheritance
and who will soon.be the voters of England, should have some conception of the country with whom they are so closely bound up, and for whose past their fathers are so heavily responsible. We do not know of any work so fitting for imparting to them this knowledge as the present, which, therefore, we heartily commend to all teachers as the best text-book of Irish history for the young."
Daily Chronicle.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON "ENGLAND." "
Terse, vivid, well-informed." Speaker. "Pleasantly written, and well within the capacity of a young child. . . . anticipate with pleasure the appearance of the succeeding volumes of The Children's Study.' "School Guardian. "Admirably done .... always easy of understanding." Scotsman.
We
'
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON " GERMANY." "We have seldom seen a small history so well balanced, and consequently BO as an introduction to the subject." Educational Times. adequate " Painstaking and well written." Daily Chronicle. "Clear as accurate. It is just the sort of book to give to a youngster who has to study Teutonic history." Black and White. " An interesting historical series." Pall Mall Gazette.
11,
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G.
**
T.
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
BUILDERS OF GREATER BRITAIN EDITED BY
H. F. WILSON
A Stt of IO Volumes, each with Photogravure Frontispiece^
5 a. each.
and Map, large crown &vo., cloth,
The completion of the Sixtieth year of the Queen's reign will be the occasion of much of Her retrospect and review, in the course of which the great men who, under the auspices Majesty and her predecessors, have helped to make the British Empire what it is to-day, series. These the the of idea will naturally be brought to mind. Hence biographies, present concise but full, popular but authoritative, have been designed with the view of giving in each case an adequate picture of the builder in relation to his work. The series will be under the general editorship of Mr. H. F. Wilson, formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and now private secretary to the Right Hon. J. Chamberlain Each volume will be placed in competent hands, and will contain *t the Colonial Office. the best portrait obtainable of its subject, and a map showing his special contribution to the Imperial edifice. The first to appear will be a Life of Sir Walter Ralegh, by Major " Hume, the learned author of The Year after the Armada." Others in contemplation will deal with the Cabots, the quarter-centenary of whose sailing from Bristol is has recently been Sir Thomas Maitland, the celebra'ted in that city, as well as in Canada and Newfoundland of the Mediterranean; Rajah Brooke, Sir Stamford Raffles, Lord Clive, "King Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Zachary Macaulay, &c., &c. ;
Tom"
The Series has taken for its motto the Miltonic prayer **
1.
:
ou S?(Jo of $g free grace fctoaf fiuifb up f0ts (grtftcmnicft fo a gforioua arrt> enSta6fe 0et'g$f$+ JlWffl off ^er afiouf 0er+ *fag us in f$t feficifte***
SIR" WALTER RALEGH. of
By MARTIN A. S. HUME, Author The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth," &c.
5IR THOMAS MAITLAND; the Mastery of the Mediterranean. By WALTER FREWEN LORD. CABOT AND HIS SONS; the Discovery of North 3. JOHN 2.
By C. RAYMOND BEAZLEY, M.A.
America. 4.
EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD; the Colonisation of South
5.
LORD CLIVE; the Foundation of British Rule in India.
Australia and New Zealand.
By R. GARNETT, C.B., L.L.D.
By Sir
A. J. ARBUTHNOT, K.C.S.I., C.I.E.
RAJAH BROOKE; State.
the Englishman as Ruler of
an Eastern
By Sir SPENSER ST. JOHN, G C.M.G
ADMIRAL PHILIP; the Founding of New South Wales. Louis BECKE and WALTER JEFFERY.
By
5IR STAMFORD RAFFLES; England in the Far East. By the Editor. 11,
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G 2
bb
T.
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
THE ADVENTURE SERIES POPULAR
RE-ISSUE.
Popular rt-issut, 3s. Scl. of binding, viz,, decorative cover, cut edges ; and plain library style, untouched edges.
Each largi crown %vo., fully illustrated. per vol.
1.
,'
in
two
styles
Adventures
of
a Younger Son.
EDWARD J. TRELAWNEY. GAR NEXT. 2.
Madagascar;
or,
Introduction by
Robert Drury's Journal
during his Captivity on that Island. Notes by Captain S. P. OLIVER, R.A. 3.
By
EDWARD
Preface and
Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp.
4.
The
Buccaneers
America. 5.
and
of
The Log of a Jack Tar: Being the Life of James Choyce, Master Mariner. der V. LOVETT CAMERON.
6.
Marooners
Edited and Illustrated by HOWARD PYLE. Edited by Comman-
Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, the Portuguese Adventurer. New Edition. Annotated by Prof. A. VAMBERY.
7. Adventures of a Blockade Runner.
By
WILLIAM WATSON. Illustrated by ARTHUR BYNG, R.N.
Life and Adventures of James Beckwourth. Mountaineer, Scout, Pioneer, and Chief Edited by CHAS. G. LELAND. of Crow Nation Indians.
8.
The
9.
A Particular Account of the European Military Adventurers of Hindustan.
Compiled by
HENRY COMPTON.
11,
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G.
T.
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
MASTERS OF MEDICINE EDITED BT
ERNEST HART, D.C.L., Editor of " The British Medical Journal."
Large crown 890., cloth,
3s 6cl. tack.
Medical discoveries more directly concern the well-being and happiness of the human race than any victories of science. They appeal to one of the primary instincts of human nature, that of self-preservation. The importance of health as the most valuable of our national assets is coming to be more and more recognised, and the place of the doctor in Society and in the State is becoming one of steadily increasing prominence ; indeed, Mr. Gladstone said not many years ago that the time would surely come when the medical profession would take precedence of all the others in authority as well as in dignity. The development of medicine from an empiric art to an exact science is one of the most important and also one of the most interesting chapters in the history of civilisation. The histories of medicine which exist are for the most part only fitted for the intellectual digestion of Dryasdust and his congeners. Of the men who made the discoveries which have saved incalculable numbers of human lives, and which have lengthened the span of human existence, there is often no record at all accessible to the general reader. Yet the story of these men's lives, of their struggles and of their triumphs, is not only interesting, but in the highest degree stimulating and educative. Many of them could have said with literal truth what Sir Thomas Browne said figuratively, that their lives were a romance. Hitherto there have been no accounts of the lives of medical discoverers in a form at once " " of at
Masters convenient and uniform, and sold a popular price. The Medicine is a " " series of biographies written by intended to supply this want. It is eminent hands intended that the man shall be depicted as he moved and lived and had his being, and that the scope and gist of his work, as well as the steps by which he reached his results, shall be set forth in a clear, readable style.
The following is a condensed list of some of the earlier volumes
AUTHOR.
STEPHEN PAGET D'ARCY POWER H. LAING GORDON
John Hunter
.
.
.
.
.
.
William Harvey
.
.
.
Sir James Simpson
JOHN G. MCKENDRICK SIR WILLIAM STOKES MICHAEL FOSTER TIMOTHY HOLMES PAYNE . ]. F. C. L. TAYLOR
Hermann von Helmholtz
.
.
.
.
William Stokes
.
.
.
Claude Bernard
.
.
.
Sir Benjamin Brodie
....
11,
!
TITLE.
Thomas Sydenham Vesalius
Paternoster Buildings, Lor don, E.G.
T.
FISHER UN-WIN, Publisher,
WORKS BY MARTIN A. S. HUME F.R.H.S., Editor of the "Calendar of Spanish State Papers of Elitabeth"
(Public Record Office).
THE COURTSHIPS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH With Portraits
Fourth Edition.
Large crown %vo.
,
doth> 6s.
"
It is undeniably an important addition to the history of the Elizabethan period, and will rank as the foremost authority on the most interesting aspect of the character of the Tudor Queen." Pall Mall Gazette. " A clear and very interesting account. An excellent book." Times. "A connected and consistent, though assuredly a most extraordinary, story. ... A fascinating picture." Standard. "A delightful book." Daily Telegraph. it
THE YEAR AFTER THE
ARMADA AND OTHER Second Edition.
Illustrated.
HISTORICAL STUDIES
Demy 8vo., cloth gilt, 12s.
"A most valuable and conscientiously written historical work."
Spectator.
"The whole book is extremely interesting, and at once instructive and amusing." Speaker.
"Deserves a wide circulation, and we trust that a proper reward will follow closo Literary World. Major Hume has thrown the most curious and valuable light on the Armada period. Full of delightful sketches of men and things." W. L. COURTNEY in The Daily
its merits." upon "
Telegraph. "
A work which adds many a fresh page to English, and one may say to European
From first to last the volume is excellent reading, while the enter. . . taining style in which the matter is presented and the undeniable authority of the writer . . . render the book of special interest and permanent value." The Morning history.
Pott. " Quite as good as a novel and a good deal better, too. The book is so bright and vivid that readers with the common dislike of history may venture oa its unafraid." ANDREW LANG in Cosmopolis.
SIR WALTER
RALEGH "
Builders of Greater Being Vol. I. of the series entitled Britain," each vol. with photogravure frontispiece and piap.
Large crown 8vo., cloth, 5s. each. "There is not a dull page in it, and, with his skilful telling of it, the story of Raleigh's Pall Mall Gazette.
life and of his times reads like a romance."
11,
Paternoster Buildings, London, E.G.
n
T.
FISHER UNWIN, Publisher,
WORKS BY PROF. PASQUALE VILLARI
AND TIMES OF GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA
THE
LIFE
Translated by LINDA VILLARI
New and Cheaper Edition in one volume. Cloth, large crown, "
Fully Illustrated.
Ts. 6dL,
No more interesting book has been issued during the present season." Pall Mall Gazette.
"The most interesting religious biography that we know of in modern times." Spectator.
"
A book which is not likely to be forgotten."
"
By far the best book on Savonarola available for English readers." Standard.
" Is
Athenaeum.
perhaps tht book of the publishing season."
Star.
"Sincere, complete, and, upon the whole, well-balanced and candid." " A work of very great value." Scotsman.
Yorkshire Post.
" No
more graphic view of the ecclesiastical and social life of ancient Italy has been opened up for us than this of Linda Villari." Morning Leader. "As complete and trustworthy as care, judgment, and the fullest investigation can make it." Dundee Advertiser.
"A credit to the publisher."
Independent.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI New and Cheaper Edition.
Fully Illustrated.
Large crown Svo.,
cloth, 7s. 6d. "
Indispensable to the serious student of Machiavelli, his teaching and his times." Times. most authoritative history of Machiavelli and his times ever given to the British public." Glasgow Herald. " The book is May be regarded as an authority on the times of which it treats. enriched with rare and interesting illustrations, and with some valuable historical documents," Daily Telegraph. " The fullest and
.
.
.
BY FRANK HORRIDGE LIVES
OF GREAT ITALIANS
Illustrated.
Large crown 8v0., cloth, 7s. 6d.
Opinions of the Press. "A
poetical, romantic, and charmingly written book, which will who love their Italy." DOUGLAS SLADEN in Literary World.
"Able, eloquent, and interesting."
be popular with all
Queen.
11, Paternoster Buildings, London, K.G.
gg
CUBA AND PORTO RICO WITH THE OTHER ISLANDS OF
THE WEST INDIES, BY ROBERT T. HILL, Of the United States Geological Survey.
A valuable Work of Reference. A Scientific Presentation.
BAHAMAS, JAMAICA,
An indispensable Guide.
HAITI,
Flora,
SAN DOMINGO ST. THOMAS,
A readable Narrative.
ST, KITTS,
160 Illustrations.
Climate, Soil,
500 Pages.
ANTIGUA,
Products,
Minerals, " His
Agriculture, is
Scenery,
book
a very good of
example
Topography, Sanitation,
Price i6s.
MONTSERRAT, GUADELOUPE, its
X MARTINIQUE,
kind, carefully written, full of the information that is required
\^
ST. LUCIA,
The Times. People,
"
Transportation, Statistics,
History,
Routes of travel, Administration, Accessibility*
He has written the most important book that has been on the subject." published Chicago Tribune.
ST. VINCENT,
X
"His volume of 429 pages, with profuse Illustrations and an index, forms a little condensed library of reference." N. Y. Times.
GRENADA,
> TRINIDAD.
X^
j
"
The book is well and ably written ... is brightened by a truly magnificent series of photobeautifully reproduced on fine paper." graphs . Edinburgh Scotsman. .
Possibilities,
BARBADOS,
.
Tourists to Cuba, Porto Rico and the West Indies will find this a
most reliable and the only General Handbook* T.
FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON.
3 I
OREAT ART BOOKS EDITED BY JOSEPH PENNELL.
Lithography and Lithographers: SOME CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ART.
With Technical Remarks and Suggestions by JOSEPH and ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL. Together with 154 Illustrations, besides a Frontispiece Portrait of Joseph Pennell by JAMES McNziLL WHISTLER, and other original lithographs by A. Legros, W. Strang, C. H. Shannon, A. Lunois, McLure Hamilton and T. R. Way. (13$ x io inches, xiii + 279 pp.) $ 133. 6d. net. Also, a Fine Edition signed by JOSEPH PENNELL on Japan paper, l$ 155. net.
J.
;
"
The selection is done as admirably as the reproduction, which is saying much. . . . The authors .... present, in fact, the first complete and intelligent historical survey of the art in the different countries of the world." St. James's Gazette. " The present volume contains a great number of admirably-reproduced examples by many artists, and these illustrate in a very complete manner, not only the growth of ideas in regard to lithography, but also the varied possibilities of the stone in different hands." Morning Post. il
The Greatest English Artist since Hogarth''
The Work of Charles Keene. With Introduction and Comments
by JOSEPH
PENNELL, and numerous
Pictures illustrative of the artist's method and vein of humour to which added a Bibliography of Selected Works and Notes by W. H. CHESSON. The Edition is limited to 750 copies (250 of these for America) an Ordinary Edition at $ ijs. 6d. net., and 15 copies of a Fine Edition at ;
is
,
1$ IS*, net. "
This work .... will be a revelation even to those who are beginning to estimate this consummate artist at his true merit." Literature, " Mr. Pennell's is the fullest critical appreciation of Keene we have yet had." Daily News. "Extraordinarily good and well worth having .... we thank Mr. Pennell very warmly for the thorough performance of a task that called out to be accomplished." Daily Chronicle. " The bibliography by Mr. W. H. Chesson .... is^a labour of real merit and value, carried out in a thorough and workmanlike manner." Graphic.
" The
Masterpiece of a Great Spanish Artist''
PABLO DE SEGOVIA: The Adventures of a Spanish Sharper. BY FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO. With an Introduction Illustrated with over 100 Drawings by DANIEL VlERGE. " PENNELL and " Critical and his on Vierge Art," by JOSEPH on Quevedo, and his Writings," by H. E. WATTS. ;
parchment, old style (limited edition),
$
A Essay Super royal 4to,
133. 6d. net.
London T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE. :
RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 2 "TT"
TO*
1
1
RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library
or to the
NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date.
DUE AS STAMPED BELOW
JAN 19 2000
12,000(11/95)
YC 38664 U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES
CO 4545flbD5 L
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBFfARY