The voyage and trauaile of M. Cæsar Frederick, merchant of Venice, into the East India, the Indies, and beyond the Indies. Wherein are contained very pleasant and rare matters, with the customes and rites of those countries. Also, heerein are discovered the merchandises and commodities of those countreyes, aswell the aboundaunce of goulde and siluer, as spices, drugges, pearles, and other jewelles. Written at sea in the Hercules of London: comming from Turkie, the 25. of March. 1588. For the profitabvle instruction of merchants and all other trauellers for their better direction and knowledge of those countreyes. Out of Italian, by T H.

Federici, Cesare., Hickock, Thomas.

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¶ A voyage to the East Indies, and beyond the Indies. &c.

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Goa.

GOa is the principallest citie that the portingales haue in the Indies, where in the Vizeroye with his royall * court is resident, and is in an Iland which may be in circuit 25. or 30. miles: and the citie with his boroughs is resonable bigge, and for a cittie of the Indies it is resona∣ble fayre, but the Iland is farre more fayrer: for it is as it were full of goodly gardens, replenished with diuers trées & Page 8 with the Palmer trées as is aforesaid. This citie is of great trafique for all sorts of marchandize which they trade with∣all in those parts: & the fléete which cōmeth euery yeare from Portingale which are 5. or 6. great ships that come directly for Goa, and they arriue there ordinarily the 6. or 10 of Sep∣tember,* & there they remaine 40. or 50. daies, & from thence they goe to Cochin, where they lade for Portingale, and of∣ten times they lade one ship at Goa and the other at Cochin for portingale, Cochin is distante from Goa 300. miles, the cittie Goa is sciuate in the kingdome of Dialcam a king of the Mores, whose chiefe citie is op in the countrey 8. dayes iorney and is called Bisapor: this kinge is of great power, for when I was in Goa in the yeere of our Lord 1570. this king came to giue assault to Goa, being encamped néere vn∣to it by a Riuer side with an armie of 2 hundreth thousande men of war, and he lay at this seige 14. moneths: in which time there was peace concluded, & as report went amongst his people, there was great calamitie and mortality which bred amongst them in the time of winter and also killed ve∣ry many Elephants. Then in the yeare of our Lord 1567. I went from Goa to Bezeneger, the chiefe citie of the king∣dome of Marsinga 8. daies iorney from Goa, within the land in the company of two other Marchants which carried with them 300 Arabian Horses to that king: because the Horses of that countrey are of a small stature, and they paye well for the Arabian Horses: & it is requisite that the Marchants sell them well, for that they stand them in great charges to bring them out of Persia to Ormus, & from Ormus to Goa, where the ship that bringeth 20 Horses and vpwardes, pay∣eth no custome neither ship nor goods whatsoeuer, whereas if they bring no Horses, they pay 8. per cento of all their goods: and at the going out of Goa the Horses pay custome, 42. Pagodies for euery Horse which Pagody may be of star∣ling * money 6 shillings 8 pence: they be peeces of gold •f that valew: so that the Arabian Horses are of greate valew in those countries as 300. 400. 500. Duckets a horse, and to a thousand Duckets a horse.

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