A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
On the 6th of January, 1613, the _Firmaun_ from the Great Mogul, in
confirmation of peace and settlement of a factory for trade, came to
Swally as a private letter; wherefore I refused to receive it, lest it
might be a counterfeit, requiring that the chief men of Surat should
come down and deliver it to me, with the proper ceremonials.
Accordingly, on the 11th, the sabandar, his father-in-law Medigoffar,
and several others, came to Swally, and delivered the Firmaun to me in
form, making great professions of respect for our nation in the name of
their king. The 14th we landed all our cloth, with 310 elephants teeth,
and all our quicksilver. This day likewise the Portuguese galleons came
within three or four miles of us. The 16th, I landed Anthony Starkey,
with orders to travel over land for England, carrying letters to give
notice of our good success.[87]
[Footnote 87: Mr Starkey and his Indian companion or guide were poisoned
on the way by two friars.--Purch.]
The 17th, having received all my goods from Surat, I set sail at night,
leaving these coasts. The 18th we passed the four galleons, which all
weighed and followed us for two or three hours; but we finally separated
without exchanging shots. The 19th, when abreast of Basseen, we stopt
three Malabar barks, which had nothing in them, and from one of which we
took a boat. The 20th at night we were abreast of Chaul, both town and
castle being full in sight. In the afternoon of the 21st we were abreast
of Dabul, where we boarded three junks belonging to Calicut, laden with
cocoanuts. The 22d in the morning, the Hosiander sent her boat aboard
two junks, and at noon we were at the rocks, which are ten or eleven
leagues N. of Goa, and six or eight miles from the main. Two or three of
these rocks are higher than the hull of a large ship. At six p.m. we
were abreast of Goa, which is easily known by the island at the month of
the river, on which island there is a castle. All the way from Damann to
Goa, the coast trends nearly N. and S. with a slight inclination to N.W.
and S.E. the whole being very fair and without danger, having fair
shoaling and sixteen or seventeen fathoms some three or four leagues off
shore, with good-anchorage every where.
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