The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 09: Asia, Part IIHakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 09: Asia, Part II
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
The Rubies, Saphyres, and the Spinels be gotten in the kingdome of Pegu.
The Diamants come from diuers places; and I know but three sorts of them.
That sort of Diamants that is called Chiappe, commeth from Bezeneger. Those
that be pointed naturally come from the land of Delly, and from Iaua, but
the Diamants of Iaua are more waightie then the other. I could neuer
vnderstand from whence they that are called Balassi come. [Sidenote: The
Balassi grow in Zeilan.]
Pearles they fish in diuers places, as before in this booke is showne.
From Cambaza commeth the Spodiom which congeleth in certaine canes, whereof
I found many in Pegu, when I made my house there, because that (as I haue
sayd before) they make their houses there of wouen canes like to mats. From
Chaul they trade alongst the coast of Melinde in Ethiopia, [Marginal note:
On the coast of Melynde in Ethiopia, in the land of Cafraria, the great
trade that the Portugals haue.] within the land of Cafraria: on that coast
are many good harbors kept by the Moores. Thither the Portugals bring a
kinde of Bombast cloth of a low price, and great store of Paternosters or
beads made of paltrie glasse, which they make in Chaul according to the vse
of the Countrey: and from thence they cary Elephants teeth for India,
slaues called Cafari, and some Amber and Gold. On this coast the king of
Portugall hath his castle called Mozambique, which is of as great
importance as any castle that hee hath in all his Indies vnder his
protection, and the Captaine of this castle hath certaine voyages to this
Cafraria, to which places no Marchants may goe, but by the Agent of this
Captaine: [Sidenote: Buying and selling without words one to another.] and
they vse to goe in small shippes, and trade with the Cafars, and their
trade in buying and selling is without any speach one to the other. In this
wise the Portugals bring their goods by litle and litle alongst the Sea
coast, and lay them downe: and so depart, and the Cafar Marchants come and
see the goods, and there they put downe as much gold as they thinke the
goods are worth, and so goe their way and leaue their golde and the goods
together, then commeth the Portugal, and finding the golde to his content,
hee taketh it and goeth his way into his ship, and then commeth the Cafar,
and taketh the goods and carieth them away: and if he finde the golde there
still, it is a signe that the Portugals are not contented, and if the Cafar
thinke he hath put too little, he addeth more, as he thinketh the thing is
worth: and the Portugales must not stand with them too strickt; for if they
doe, then they will haue no more trade with them: For they disdaine to be
refused, when they thinke that they haue offered ynough, for they bee a
peeuish people, and haue dealt so of a long time: [Sidenote: Golden trades
that the Portugals haue.] and by this trade the Portugals change their
commodities into gold, and cary it to the Castle of Mozambique, which is an
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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