The voyages and adventures of Fernand Mendez Pinto, a Portugal, during his travels for the space of one and twenty years in the Kingdoms of Ethiopia, China, Tartaria, Cauchinchina, Calaminham, Siam, Pegu, Japan, and a great part of the East-Indiaes with a relation and description of most of the places thereof, their religion, laws, riches, customs, and government in time of peace and war : where he five times suffered shipwrack, was sixteen times sold, and thirteen times made a slave / written originally by himself in the Portugal tongue and dedicated to the Majesty of Philip King of Spain ; done into English by H.C. Gent.

CHAP. VI. What passed till such time as Pedro de Faria arrived at Malaca; his receiving an Embassador from the King of Batas; with his sending me to that King, and that which arrived to me in that Voyage. (Book 6)

* 1.1THe next day our General Gonçallo vaz Coutinho arrived at Goa, with so many of us as remained alive; There he was exceedingly welcomed by the Vice-roy, unto whom he rendred an accompt of his Voyage, as also of that which he had concluded with the Queen of Onor, who had promised to burn the Galley within four days, and to chace the Turks out of all the Confines of her Kingdom, wherewith the Vice-roy was very well satisfied. In the mean time after I had remained three and twenty days in the said Town of Goa, where I was cured of two hurts which I had received in fight at the Turks Trenches, the necessity whereunto I saw my self reduced, and the counsel of a Fryer, my Friend, perswaded me to offer my service unto a Gentleman, named Pedro de Faria, that was then newly preferred to the Charge of Captain of Malaca, who upon the first motion was very willing to entertain me for a Soldier, and promised me withall to give me something over and above the rest of his Company during the Voyage which he was going to make with the Vice-roy. For it was at that very time when as the Vice-roy Dom Garcia de Noronha was preparing to go to the succor of the Fortress of Diu, which he certainly knew was besieged, and in great danger to be taken, by reason of the great Forces wherewithall it was invested by the Turk, and to relieve it the Vice-roy had as∣sembled a mighty Fleet at Goa, consisting of about two hundred and twenty five Vessels, whereof fourscore and three were great ones, namely Ships, Gallions, Carvels, and the rest Brigantins, Foists, and Galleys, wherein it was said there were ten thousand Land-men, and thirty thousand Mariners, besides a great number of Slaves. The time of setting sail being come, and the Foists provided of all things necessary, the Vice-roy imbarqued himself on Saturday the fourteenth of November, 1538. Howbeit five days past away before he put out of the Haven, in regard he stayed for his men that were not all ready to imbarque, the mean while a Catur ar∣rived from the Town of Diu with a Letter from Antonio de Silveyra, Captain of the Fortress, whereby he advertised the Vice-roy, that the Turks had raised the siege, and were retired. Now though these were good news, yet was the whole Fleet grieved thereat for the great de∣sire every one had to fight with the Enemies of our Faith. Hereupon the Vice-roy abode there five days longer, during the which he took order for all things necessary to the conservation of his Government of the Indiaes, and then commanding to hoist sail he departed from Goa on a Thursday morning the sixteenth of December: The four••eenth of his Navigation he went and cast anchor at Chaul, where he remained three days, during the which he entred into confer∣ence with Inezamuluco, a Mahometan Prince, and took order for certain affairs very much importing the surety of the Fortress: After that he cau••ed some of the Vessels of the Fleet to be rigged, which he furnished with Soldiers and Victuals, and then d••parted for to go to Diu; But it was his ill fortune, as he was crossing the Gulph, to be suddenly overtaken by such a furious Tempest, that it not only separated his Fleet, but was the loss of many Vessels, chiefly of the Bastard Galley, which was cast away at the mouth of the River Dabul, whereof Dom Alvaro de Noronha, the Vice-roys son, and General of the Sea-forces, was Captain; In the same Gulph also perished the Galley named Espinheyro, commanded by Iovan de Sousa, how∣beit the most part of their men were saved by Christophilo de Gama, who came most oppor∣tunely to their succor. During this Tempest there were seven other ships likewise cast away, the names of which I have forgotten, in so much that it was a month before the Vice-roy could recover himself of the loss he had sustained, and re-assemble his Fleet again which this storm had scattered in divers places: At length the sixteenth of Ianuary, 1539. he arrived at the Town of Diu, where he caused the Fortress to be re-built, the greater part whereof had been demo∣lished by the Turks, so as it seemed that it had been defended by the besieged, rather by mi∣racle, then force: Now to effect it the better he made proclamation, that all the Captains with their Soldiers should each of them take in charge to re-build that quarter, which should be al∣lotted

them; and because never a Commander there had more then Pedro de Faria, he thought fit to appoint him the Bulwark, which looked to the Sea, for his quarter, together with the out-wall that was on the Lands side; wherein he bestowed such care and diligence, that in six and twenty days space, both the one and the other were restored to a better state then before, by the means of three hundred Soldiers that were employed about it. This done, for that it was the fourteenth of March, and a fit time for Navigation to Malaca, Pedro de Faria set sail for Goa, where by vertue of a Pattent granted him by the Vice-roy he furnished himself with all things necessary for his Voyage; Departing then from Goa on the thirteenth of April with a Fleet of eight Ships, four Foists, and one Galley, wherein there were five hundred men, he had so favorable a wind, that he arrived at Malaca the fifth day of Iune in the same year, 1539.

Pedro de Faria succeeding Dons Estevano de Gama in the Charge of Captain of Malaca,* 1.2 arrived there safely with his Fleet, nothing hapning in his Voyage worthy of writing. Now because at his arrival, Estevan de Gama had not yet ended the time of his Commission, he was not put into the possession of that Government until the day that he was to enter upon his Charge. Howbeit, in regard Pedro de Faria was ere long to be Governor of the Fortress, the neighboring Kings sent their Embassadors to congratulate with him, and to make a tender of their amity, and of a mutual conservation of Peace with the King of Portugal. Amongst these Embassadors there was one from the King of Batas, who raigned in the Isle of Samatra, where it is held for a surety that the Island of Gold is, which the King of Portugal, Dom Ioana the Third, had resolved should have been discovered by the advice of certain Captains of the Country. This Embassador, that was Brother-in-law to the King of Batas, named Aqua∣rem Dabolay, brought him a rich Present of Wood of Aloes, Calambaa, and five quintals of Benjamon in flowers, with a Letter written on the bark of a Palm tree, where these words were inserted.

More ambitious then all men of the service of the crowned Lyon, seated in the dreadful Throne of the Sea, the rich and mighty Prince of Portugal, thy Master and mine, to whom, in thee Pedro de Faria, I do now render obedience with a sincere and true amity, to the end I may become his Subject with all the purity and affection which a Vassal is obliged to carry unto his Master; I Angeessiry Timorraia, King of Batas, desiring to insinuate my self into thy friend∣ship, that thy Subjects may be inriched with the fruits of this my Country, I do offer by a new Treaty to replenish the Magazins of thy King, who is also mine, with Gold, Pepper, Cam∣fire, Benjamon, and Aloes, upon condition that with an entire confidence thou shalt send me a safe conduct, written and assigned with thine own hand, by means whereof all my Lanchares and Jurupanges may navigate in safety. Furthermore, in favor of this new amity, I do again beseech thee to succor me with some Powder and great Shot, whereof thou hast but too much in thy Store-houses, and therefore mayst well spare them; for I had never so great need of all kind of warlike munitions as at this present. This granted, I shall be much indebted to thee if by thy means I may once chastise those perjured Achems, the mortal and eminent Enemies of thy Malaca, with whom, I swear to thee, I will never have peace as long as I live, until such time as I have had satisfaction for the blood of my three children, which call upon me for vengeance, and that therewith I may asswage the sorrow of their noble Mother, who having given them suck, and brought them up, hath seen them since miserably butchered by that cruel Tyrant of Achem in the Towns of Jacur and Lingua, as thou shalt be more particularly informed by Aquarem Dabolay, the Brother of those childrens desolate Mother, whom I have sent unto thee for a confirmation of our new amity, to the end, Signior, that he may treat with thee about such things as shall seem good unto thee, as well for the service of God, as for the good of thy people. From Paniau the fifth day of the eighth Moon.

This Embassador received from Pedro de Faria all the honor that he could do him after their manner, and as soon as he had delivered him the Letter it was translated into the Por∣tugal out of the Malayan Tongue wherein it was written. Whereupon the Embassador by his Interpreter declared the occasion of the discord, which was between the Tyrant of Achem, and the King of Batas, proceeding from this, that the Tyrant had not long before propounded unto this King of Batas, who was a Gentile, the imbracing of Mahomet•• Law, conditionally that he would wed him to a Sister of his, for which purpose he should quit his wife, that was also a Gentile, and married to him six and twenty years; Now because the King of Batas would by no means condescend thereunto, the Tyrant, incited by a Cacis of his, immediately

denounced War against him: So each of them having raised a mighty Army, they fought a most bloody Battel, that continued three hours, and better, during the which the Tyrant per∣ceiving the advantage the Bataes had of him, after he had lost a great number of his people, he made his retreat into a Mountain, called Cagerrendan, where the Bataes held him besieged by the space of three and twenty days, but because in that time many of the Kings men fell sick, and that also the Tyrants Camp began to want Victuals, they concluded a Peace, upon condi∣tion that the Tyrant should give the King five bars of Gold (which are in value two hundred thousand crowns of our mony) for to pay his Soldiers, and that the King should marry his eldest son to that sister of the Tyrant, who had been the cause of making that War. This accord be∣ing signed by either part, the King returned into his Country, where he was no sooner arrived, but relying on this Treaty of Peace he dismist his Army, and discharged all his Forces. The tranquillity of this Peace lasted not above two months and an half, in which time there came to the Tyrant three hundred Turks, whom he had long expected from the Straight of Mecqua, and for them had sent four Vessels laden with Pepper, wherein also were brought a great many Cases full of Muskets and Hargebusezes, together with divers Pieces both of Brass and Iron Ordnance. Whereupon the first thing the Tyrant did was to joyn those three hundred Turks to some Forces he had still afoot, then making as though he would go to Pacem for to take in a Captain that was revolted against him, he cunningly fell upon two places, named Iacur and Lingua, that app••rtained to the King of Batas, which he suddenly surprized when they with∣in th••m least thought of it, for the Peace newly made between them took away all the mistrust of such an attempt, so as by that means it was easie for the Tyrant to render himself Master of those Fortresses. Having taken them he put three of the Kings sons to death, and seven hun∣dred Ouroballones, so are the noblest and the valiant••st of the Kingdom called. This while the King of Batas, much resenting, and that with good cause, so great a Treachery, sware by the head of his god Quiay Hocombinor, the principal Idol of the Gentiles sect, who hold him for their god of Justice, never to eat either fruit, salt, or any other thing, that might bring the least gust to his palate, before he had revenged the death of his children, and drawn reason from the Tyrant for this loss; protesting further, that he was resolved to dye in the mainte∣nance of so just a War. To which end, and the better to bring it to pass, the King of Batas straightway assembled an Army of fifteen thousand men, as well natives, as strangers, where∣withall he was assisted by some Princes his friends: and to the same effect he emplored the Forces of us Christians, which was the reason why he sought to contract that new amity, we have spoken of before, with Pedro de Faria, who was very well contented with it, in regard he knew that it greatly imported, both the service of the King of Portugal, and the conserva∣tion of the Fortress, besides that by this means he hoped very much to augment the Revenue of the Customs, together with his own particular, and all the rest of the Portugals profit, in regard of the great Trade they had in those Countries of the South.

* 1.3After that the King of Batas Embassador had been seventeen days with us, Pedro de Faria dismissed him, having first granted whatsoever the King his Master had demanded, and some∣thing over and above, as fire-pots, darts, and murdering Pieces, wherewith the Embassador departed from the Fortress so contented, that he shed tears for joy, nay, it was observed, that passing by the great door of the Church, he turned himself towards it, with his hands and eyes lift up to Heaven, and then as it were praying to God; Almighty Lord, said he openly, that in rest and great joy livest there above seated on the Treasure of thy Riches, which are the spirits formed by thy Will, here I promise thee, if it may be thy good pleasure to give us the victory against this Tyrant of Achem, and to permit us to regain that from him, which with such notable treachery he hath taken from us in those places of Jacur and Lingua, we will al∣ways most faithfully and sincerely acknowledg thee according to the Law of the Portugals, and according to that holy Verity, wherein consists the Salvation of all that are born in the world: Furthermore, in our Country we will build fair Temples unto thee, perfumed with sweet odours, where all living Souls shall on their bended knees adore thee, as it hath been always used to be done unto this present in the Land of Portugal. And hear what besides I promise, and swear unto thee with all the assuredness of a good and faithful servant, that the King my Master shall never acknowledg any other King then the great Portugal, who is now Lord of Malaca.

Having made this protestation, he presently imbarqued himself in the same Lanchara, wherein he came thither, being accompanied with eleven or twelve Balons, which are small

Barques, and so went to the Isle of Vpa, distant not above half a league from the Port. There the Bandara of Malaca (who is as it were chief Justicer amongst the Mahometans) was pre∣sent in person by the express commandment of Pedro de Faria for to entertain him; And ac∣cordingly he made him a great Feast, which was celebrated with Hoboys, Drums, Trumpets, and Cymbals, together with an excellent consort of voyces framed to the tune of Harps, Lutes, and Viols after the Portugal manner. Whereat this Embassador did so wonder, that he would often put his finger on his mouth, an usual action with those of that Country when they mar∣vel at any thing. About twenty days after the d••parture of this Embassador, Pedro de Faria being informed, that if he would send some Commodities from the Indiaes to the Kingdom of Batas, he might make great profit thereof, and much more of those which should be returned from thence, he to that effect set forth a Iurupango, of the bigness of a small Carvel, wherein he ventured a matter of some ten thousand duckets; In this Vessel he sent, as his Factor, a cer∣tain Mahometan, born at Malaca, and was desirous to have me to accompany him, telling me that thereby I should not only much oblige him, but that also under pretext of being sent as Embassador thither, I might both see the King of Batas, and going along with him in his jour∣ney against the Tyrant of Achem, which some way or other would questionless redound to my benefit. Now to the end that upon my return out of those Countries I might make him a true relation of all that I had seen, he prayed me carefully to observe whatsoever should pass there, and especially to learn whether the Isle of Gold, so much talked of, was in those parts, for that he was minded, if any discovery of it should be made, to write unto the King of Portugal about it. To speak the truth, I would fain have excused my self from this Voyage, by reason those Countries were unknown to me, and for that the inhabitants were by every one account∣ed faithless and treacherous, having small hope besides to make any gain by it, in regard that all my stock amounted not to above an hundred duckets; But because I durst not oppose the Cap∣tains desire I imbarqued my self, though very unwillingly, with that Infidel who had the charge of the Merchandise. Our Pilot steered his course from Malaca to the Port of Sorotilau, which is in the Kingdom of Aaru, always coasting the Isle of Samatra towards the Mediterranean Sea, till at length we arrived at a certain River, called Hicandure; After we had continued five days sailing in this manner we came to an Harbor, named Minhatoley, distant some ten leagues from the Kingdom of Peedir. In the end finding our selves on the other side of the Ocean we sailed on four days together, and then cast anchor in a little river, called Gaateamgim, that was not above seven fathom deep, up the which we past some seven or eight leagues. Now all the while we sailed in this River with a fair wind, we saw athwart a Wood, which grew on the bank of it, such a many Adders, and other crawling creatures, no less prodigious for their length, then for the strangeness of their forms, that I shall not marvel if they that read this History will not be∣leeve my report of them; especially such as have not travelled, for they that have seen little beleeve not much, whereas they that have seen much beleeve the more. All along this River, that was not very broad, there were a number of Lizards, which might more properly be called Serpents, because some of them were as big as an Almadia, with scales upon their backs, and mouths two foot wide. Those of the Country assured us, that these creatures are so hardy, as there be of them that sometimes will set upon an Almadia, chiefly when they perceive there is not above four or five persons in her, and overturn it with their tails, swallowing up the men whole, without dismembering of them. In this place also we saw strange kind of crea∣tures, which they call Caquesseitan; They are of the bigness of a great Goose, very black, and scaly on their backs, with a row of sharp pricks on their chins, as long as a writing pen: Moreover, they have wings like unto those of Bats, long necks, and a little bone growing on their heads resembling a Cocks spur, with a very long tail spotted black and green, like unto the Lizards of that Country; These creatures hop and fly together, like Grashoppers, and in that manner they hunt Apes, and such other beasts, whom they pursue even to the tops of the highest Trees. Also we saw Adders, that were copped on the crowns of their heads, as big as a mans thigh, and so venomous, as the Negroes of the Country informed us, that if any living thing came within the reach of their breath, it dyed presently, there being no remedy nor antidote against it. We likewise saw others, that were not copped on the crowns, nor so venomous as the former, but far greater and longer, with an head as big as a Calves. We were told that they hunt their prey in this manner: They get up into a tree, and winding their tails about some branch of it, let their bodies hang down to the foot of the tree, and then laying one of their ears close to the ground, they harken whether they can hear any thing stir during the still∣ness

of the night, so that if an Ox, a Boar, or any other beast doth chance to pass by, they pre∣sently seize on it, and so carries it up into the tree where he devours it. In like sort we de∣scryed a number of Baboons, both grey and black, as big as a great Mastiff, of whom the Ne∣groes of the Country are more afraid, then of all the other beasts, because they will set upon them with that hardiness, as they have much ado to resist them.

Notes

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  §. 1.
• * 1.2

  §. 2.
• * 1.3

  §. 3.