In the name of the most merciful God, &c. The servant of the Supreme God, the conqueror in his cause, the successor appointed by God, emperor of the Moors, son of the emperor of the Moors, the Shariffe, the Haceny, whose honour and estate may God long increase and advance. This our imperial commandment is delivered into the hands of the English merchants who reside under the protection of our high court, that all men who see these presents may understand that our high councils will defend them, by the aid of God, from all that may injure or oppress them in any way or manner in which they shall be wronged; and that which way soever they may travel, no man shall take them captives in these our kingdoms, ports, or other places belonging to us; and that no one shall injure or hinder them, by laying violent hands upon them, or shall give occasion that they be aggrieved in any manner of way. And we charge and command all the officers of our ports, havens, and fortresses, and all who bear authority of any sort in our dominions, and likewise all our subjects generally of all ranks and conditions, that they shall in no way molest, offend, wrong, or injure them. And this our commandment shall remain inviolable, being registered on the middle day of the month Rabel of the year 996.
The date of this letter agrees with the 20th of March 1587, which I, Abdel Rahman el Catun, interpreter for his majesty, have translated out of Arabic into Spanish, word for word as contained therein.[306]
[Footnote 306: Besides this, Hakluyt gives copies in Spanish and English of a letter from Mulley Hamet to the Earl of Leicester, and of a letter from Queen Elizabeth to Mulley Hamet, both of which are merely complimentary, or relate to unexplained circumstances respecting one John Herman an English rebel, whose punishment is required from the emperor of Morocco. He had probably contraveened the exclusive privileges of the Barbary company, by trading in Morocco.--E.]
SECTION XV.
Voyage to Benin beyond Guinea in 1588, by James Welsh[307].
This and the subsequent voyage to Benin were fitted out by Messrs Bird and Newton, merchants of London, in which a ship of 100 tons called the Richard of Arundel and a pinnace were employed, under the chief command of James Welsh, who wrote the account of both voyages--Astley.
[Footnote 307: Hakluyt, II. 613. Astley, I. 199.]
It seems not improbable that these voyages were intended as an evasion of an exclusive privilege granted in May 1588 by Queen Elizabeth, for trade to the rivers Senegal and Gambia, called Senega and Gambra in Hakluyt. The boundaries of this exclusive trade are described as beginning at the northermost part of the river Senegal, and from and within that river all along the coast of Guinea into the southermost part of the river Gambia, and within that river also; and the reason assigned for this exclusive grant is, that the patentees had already made one voyage to these parts, and that the enterprizing a new trade must be attended with considerable hazard and expence. The patentees were several merchants of Exeter and other parts of Devonshire, and one merchant of London, who had been instigated by certain Portuguese resident in England to engage in that trade, and the privilege is extended to ten years.[308]--E.
[Footnote 308: See the patent at large in Hakluyt, II. 610. London edition, 1810.]