We arrived on the 19th December at Masulipatam, where we found an English ship and two Holland ships. We were told that Mir Sadardi was now out of place, and that the government was in the hands of Atma Khan and Busebulleran. The English ship was the James, which was sent expressly to second us in our voyage, and brought us letters, with which Messrs. Marlow, Davis, Gumey, and Cob came aboard the Globe. The 21st I went ashore with the others, when we were met by Wentacadra, the son of Busebulleran, together with the sabandar, and other Moors, and were well received. They presented us with several tesseriffes, and gave to director Warner and me a fine horse each, which at first I refused, suspecting some treachery, but was compelled to accept. I took a caul, or licence for trade, the customs being settled at four per centum, and immediately landed goods.
The 25th January, 1614, the James departed for Pattapilly and sailed from thence on the 7th February, for Bantam. On the 18th February I went to Narsipoor, and on the 19th the ship was brought into the river, drawing nine three-fourths feet, and having ten and a half feet water, contrary to the reports of some who wished us no good. I returned to Masulipatam on the 23d, whence I dispatched a peon with letters to Mr Aldworth at Surat. That day there arrived a navette from Pegu, in which came Cornelius Franke, by whom we were informed that the king of Ava had certainly taken the fort of Serian, and slain all the Portuguese, and that Xenga, or Philip Britto de Nicole, was either spitted or soulathed, [391] this event having taken place in March last. The king, of Ava had given orders for rebuilding the town, to which he had invited the Peguers with many fair promises. He had gone from thence Tanasserim, where he was joined by Banga Dela, and 50,000 Peguers, who had been before under the king of Siam. The Moors in Masulipatam were greatly rejoiced at this news, hoping by its means to recover the trade of Pegu, and immediately made preparations for sending two ships there in September. In March there came news of eleven ships having arrived at Goa, eight of them from China, and three from Malacca, by which the market price of goods was much reduced; but, fortunately for me, I had almost finished my business before.
[Footnote 391: This strange word is unintelligible; but we have formerly given the history of Nicote from de Faria, by whom he is said to have been impaled.--E.]
In April, Atma Khan departed for Golconda, to render up his accounts, the year coming then to a close. It was well for him that the king had deposed his great treasurer, giving the office to Malek Tusar, who was the friend of Atma Khan; and well for us likewise, as the debts due by these governors are good while they continue in place, but otherwise doubtful.
The 18th of May, at five p.m. Captain Essington died of a sudden heat, having eaten his dinner at the table. He had some boils about him, which are very common at that season; one of which, on his shoulder, was very large, and would not break, which was supposed the cause of his death. I went immediately on board, and put the ship into the best order I could. The people all refused to submit to any other commander but me: yet I thought it a debasement to tread in the steps of my under-merchant, wherefore I committed the charge to Mr Skinner, in hopes that he and the rest would do every thing for the best, and returned myself to Masulipatam. I here found three persons, who said they were sent with letters from Obiana, queen of Pullicatt, Jaga Rajah, the governor of that place, and of St Thome, and Apa Condaia, secretary to the great king Wencatad Rajah, in which they promised, if I would come thither, that they would give me a place opposite the fort at Pullicatt, with all the privileges I could wish, and many other fair promises. But remembering how I and the James had been entertained there, I could give little credit to these assurances; yet, at length, it was agreed, that one of the messengers should remain with me while the other two went back with one of my people, by whom I sent letters to the before-mentioned persons, as also to the king, in which, after recapitulating the bad entertainment we had formerly received at Pullicatt, I offered that we would return to trade in the country, if they would send us the king's caul, or safe conduct, in due form.
The 29th of July, four persons arrived as ambassadors, accompanied by my man Wengali. These men came from Wencatad Rajah, the great king of Narsiaga or Velore,[392] bringing me a caul, or safe conduct and licence, with an Abestiam, which is a white cloth on which the king's own hand is printed in sandal or saffron; as also a caul from the queen of Pullicatt, together with letters from Jaga Rajah, Tima Rajah, Assa Condaia, and others. The king's letter was written on a leaf of gold, in which, after apologising for the former faults committed against us in Pullicatt, he desired us to return into his country, and chuse a place to our own liking, where we might build a house or castle according to our own pleasure, with other privileges. He even gave me a town of about 400 pounds of yearly revenue, with a promise to do more for me at my arrival. The Hollanders had wrought much against this; but their words had not now so much force, and the inhabitants grieved to see the English ships passing by every year without any profit to them, and therefore, making their complaints to the king, had occasioned these friendly offers. My man Wengali had been in the presence of the king, and even had spoken with him, the king having laid his hand on his head, and presented him with a tesseriffe.[393] I kept the ambassadors with me, allowing their daily charges, till the ship might come into the road, and that I had time to consider the proposals.
[Footnote 392: Narsinga appears at this place equivalent to the Carnatic, and Velore seems to have been the residence of the king.--E.]
[Footnote 393: In all probability a dress, the ordinary mark of honour given by princes in the east.--E.]
In August there was a greater flood at Narsipoor than had ever been known, at least for the last twenty-nine years. So much so, that whole hills of salt, many towns, and vast quantities of rice, were swept away, and many thousands of men and cattle drowned. In this great inundation, the water was three yards deep on the common highways. In Golconda, which has a branch of this river that is dry in summer, above 4000 houses were washed away. Two stone bridges, one of nineteen and the other of fifteen arches, as artificially built in my judgment as any in Europe, which are ordinarily at least three fathoms above the water, were three feet under water on this occasion, and six arches of the nineteen were washed away. This bridge might well compare with the one at Rochester in England.
The 4th October, our ship having been new sheathed, came over the bar without hurt, being hitherto detained by foul weather. I now called loudly for payment of the debts due me, and wrote on the subject the third time to the court, insisting to be paid both principal and interest. Upon this they wrote to Mir Mahmud Rasa and the Sabandar to satisfy me. The 23d the ship came into the road of Masulipatam, and I took order for having our goods shipped. On the 25th, news came of the death of Wencatad Rajah, king of Narsinga, after having reigned fifty years, and that his three wives, of whom Obyama, queen of Pullicatt, was one, had burned themselves alive along with his body. Great troubles were dreaded on this occasion, and the Hollanders were much afraid of their new-built castle at Pullicatt; but soon afterwards there came a reinforcement to its garrison of sixty-six soldiers, by a ship named the Lion. She arrived from Bantam on the 1st November, bringing news that the Dutch ship called the Bantam had been cast away in the Texel, as likewise the White Lion at St Helena. She brought us likewise intelligence that our ship, the James, had arrived at Bantam, whence she had sailed for Patane.