A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
At this part of the coast, not venturing to come near the castle of St
George del Mina belonging to the king of Portugal, they made sale of
their goods only on this side and beyond that place, receiving the gold
of the country in exchange to the extent of 150 pounds weight[196], and
they might have bartered all their merchandise for gold at that place,
if the pride of Windham had allowed him to listen to the counsel and
experience of Pinteado: but not satisfied with what he had got or might
still have procured, if he had remained in the neighbourhood of Mina, he
commanded Pinteado to navigate the ships to Benin under the equinoctial,
150 leagues beyond the Mina, where he expected to have laden the ships
with pepper. When Pinteado urged the lateness of the season, and advised
that instead of going farther they should continue to dispose of their
wares for gold, by which great profit would have been gained, Windham
flew into a passion, called Pinteado a Jew, and gave him much
opprobrious language, saying, "This rascally Jew promised to conduct us
to places that either do not exist or to which he knows not the way, but
if he does not I will cut off his ears and nail them to the mast." The
advice given by Pinteado, not to go farther, was for the safety of the
mens lives, which would have been in great danger at that late season,
during their winter or _rossia_, not so called on account of cold, but
from the heat accompanied with close and cloudy air, alternating with
great tempests, during which the air was of so putrifying a quality as
to rot the clothes on their backs. He had formerly lingered by the way,
to prevent them arriving too soon on the coast, when the heat of the sun
is scorching and unbearable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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