Notable Voyagers, From Columbus to NordenskioldKingston, William Henry Giles
History
Notable Voyagers, From Columbus to Nordenskiold
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Explorers; Voyages and travels
During the night the Castilian came and warned him not to grow angry
with these delays, as he was thus treated in order to make him lose his
temper. Following this advice, he the next morning pretended to be
quite at his ease.
At length, when the overseer appeared, Nicolas Coelho requested that a
boat might be prepared to take him back to the ship. Seeing that he was
not to be put out of temper, the overseer at last consented to introduce
him to the King, whom he found seated in a summer-house on a low couch
covered with white cloth, one of his priests attending near him.
Coelho kept silence until the King bade him speak. He then, Joab Nunez
acting as interpreter, delivered the message he had brought from the
Captain-Major.
After hearing it, the King bade him retire, saying that the overseer of
the treasury would bring him an answer; but Nicolas replied that he
could receive no answer but from the King himself. After he had waited
for some time, the priest brought him out an agreement signed on the dry
leaf of a palm-tree, granting all the requests of the Captain-Major, the
priest swearing that it was the King's signature.
When Nicolas Coelho returned on board and gave an account of his
interview with the King, Vasco da Gama was highly pleased, and ordered
flags to be hoisted, trumpets to be sounded, and salutes to be fired.
Having appointed Digo Diaz to act as factor, and Pedro da Braga as
clerk, to be assisted by Joao Nunez, Davane, and one of the pilots from
Melinda, he sent on shore for the purpose of trading, a chest of
unwrought branch coral, the same quantity of vermilion, a barrel of
quicksilver, fifty pigs of copper, twenty strings of large cut coral,
and as many of amber, five Portugueses of gold, fifty cruzados, and a
hundred testoons in silver; as also a table with a green cloth, and a
pair of wooden scales. He directed his people to accept the prices
offered, and to verify the weight of everything with the scales. The
clerk was ordered likewise to write down in a book which he carried the
particulars of all transactions.
On arriving on shore, the factor hired a large house in two
compartments, one for trade and the other for living in.
The overseer of the treasury soon made his appearance, and sending for a
money-changer, weighed all the money, and proved it with his
touchstones, setting a value on each coin which the clerk wrote down.
It was found to be higher than in Portugal. A price was then set upon
each article of merchandise separately, on which a large profit was
made.
The overseer of the treasury then inquired whether they wished to begin
weighing at once, and on their replying "Yes," he ordered a large number
of sacks of pepper to be brought. These were weighed, and sent off to
the ships.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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