The son of Cojah Nassan, the principal India merchant of the town, whom we waited upon at his house, promised us all kindness, and regaled us with tobacco and coffee, as is usual among these people. We went afterwards to wait upon the governor before we returned on board. He rose up at our entry to meet us, causing us to sit down by him, and repeated all the fair promises of free trade he had given the day before, declaring that he would deny us nothing that was reasonable. He then told us there was another governor shortly to succeed him, who was as his brother, and honester even than himself, who would faithfully perform every thing he had promised. At our request, the governor ordered the water-bailiff to furnish us at all times with boats, either for our conveyance, or to carry water to the ship. From the governor, we again went to visit the scrivano, who received us with much civility, promising to come aboard to visit our ship, and compliment our captain. After treating us with coffee, we took leave, and returned to the ship, when the pledges were dismissed, acknowledging the good treatment they had received, and were saluted on going ashore with five guns.
On the 17th, the scrivano, with our two pledges, our Jew friend, and twenty other persons, came aboard, bringing a bullock, with bread, quinces, and other fruits, a great round cake or pasty, like puff-paste, in which were several fowls and chickens, well seasoned and baked, and most excellent eating. We also, with a large quince pye, and many crabs, together with sack and cordials, added our best welcome. The scrivano was so well pleased with his reception, that he insisted upon becoming the sworn brother of our captain, which was accordingly celebrated with a cup of sack; and, after much mirth, and having taken a view of our ship, he departed highly gratified.
We were well supplied with water by several poor people of Mokha, who brought it off to the ship at a reasonable rate. Also, with the concurrence of the governor and scrivano, we made every junk that arrived anchor under our guns, and to ride in that situation till they discharged their cargo; which indeed the governor wished us to do, because some junks passed by that port to trade at others, to the injury of Mokha At six in the evening of the 21st of April, we had a violent storm of wind off the land, accompanied by much thunder and lightning, but no rain, which continued for half an hour, all the rest of the night being extremely hot. Although we rode above a league from the shore, this tempest brought great quantities of dust, and even sand on board. The 25th, we had a message from the scrivano, saying that the governor and he had received letters from the pacha at Sinan, commanding them to entertain us with all manner of kindness, and to give us free trade, with liberty to reside among them in all quietness and security.
On the 27th the new governor arrived, when the ordnance of the town, and of our ship and the several junks in the road, all fired to welcome his arrival. He sent the former pledges on board to return thanks for our salute, accompanied by a present of plantains, limes, mangoes, melons, and bread, with one bullock, promising, in the name of the pacha, as free trade as our nation had in Constantinople. The pledges remained all night aboard, and went ashore with us next day, when we found the new and the old governors sitting together at the end of a large room, much in the same way as we had found the old one at our first arrival. The new governor was named Regib Aga, and was accompanied by several principal Turks, and by all the principal merchants from Surat, Diu, Dabul, Scindy, Calicut, and Cananore. On our approach, he and the other Turks only moved their bodies, but all the merchants rose up to salute us. He made us sit down beside him, and told us that the pacha had commanded him to give us satisfaction in all things; and that he knew besides, we were of a nation in friendship with the Grand Signior, and had free trade in Constantinople, Aleppo, and other parts of the Turkish empire, being a nation of a friendly and honest disposition, and we should therefore always find him disposed to give us free trade, and every other courtesy In reply, we told him we proposed, at our next coming to Mokha, if our reasonable requests of a free trade were granted, to settle a permanent factory at this place, and to come yearly to the port, with plenty of English and India goods, and should defend the trade against pirates. We even distantly hinted, that it was needless to deny us a free trade, being in a condition to force it if refused, and to hinder all others from coming hither, the fear of which had already caused some junks to pass by Mokha to Jidda, the port of Mecca, a town of great trade, 150 leagues farther up the Red Sea, and to other places.
The new governor replied, that we should be made as welcome as in any place of our own country; and swore by God, and Mahomet, and by his own beard, that we should live as free from all injury as in our own land. We asked what security he would give us besides his word, when he said we should have his phirmaun under his chop, or seal, and would procure us the same from the pacha. With this we seemed satisfied, and gave him many thanks; and indeed they all seemed perfectly willing to give us every satisfaction, yet, in my opinion, not from good-will or justice, but from fear, as they knew we were able to intercept their whole trade. After some conversation about our ambassador, who now resided at Constantinople, and about the Portuguese and Spaniards, whom Rajib said were proud and faithless nations, we spoke of Sir Henry Middleton, asking the cause of their treacherous conduct to him and his people. He answered, that the then Vizier was a bloody, cruel, and ill-minded man, and made worse by the instigation of the Turks and Arabs of Mokha, who were enraged by the uncivil behaviour of our people, who made water at the gates of their mosques, forced their way into the houses after the citizens wives, and being daily drunk in the streets, would fight and quarrel with the people,[290] things hateful in their eyes. These were only in part the cause, for the covetousness of the governor, hoping to have got their ship and goods, was the main cause of that scandalous conduct, for which he was soon afterwards sent to Constantinople to answer for his crimes.
[Footnote 290: Let English Christians read, blush, and amend--Purch.]
We dined that day with the scrivano, and hired a house of Hassan Aga, one of our pledges, at seventy dollars the monsoon, or yearly rent, it being all the same. The scrivano insisted to swear himself our friend on his Koran, yet denied the present governor to be the person who captured Sir Henry Middleton, which we afterwards found to be Turkish faith, or absolute falsehood. We now agreed to pay at the rate of three in the hundred, ad valorem, both inwards and outwards, though the scrivano swore that all others paid five; all money, with silver and gold in bullion, to pass free of duty. We remained this night with the scrivano to supper, and gave him a present.
On the 29th of April we expected to have had our phirmaun publicly read before all the merchants, and proclaimed to the people; but most part of the day was spent in ceremony by the governor and other chiefs at the mosque, on account of the death of Sultan Achmet, the Grand signior, and the accession of his brother to the throne. They came riding past our house while we were sitting at a window which opened to the street, whence we made our obeisance to them, and they bowed in return. They were all in grand gala, having their horses richly caparisoned. At four in the afternoon we were sent for, but our linguist had got to a Jew house and was drunk with arrack, so we sent an apology, under pretence that Mr Salbank was indisposed, and promised attendance next day. On the 31st, the governor sent for us, and made our welcome known to all the merchants, causing his scrivano draw up a phirmaun as full as we could have wished, which he signed with his chop or seal in the afternoon at the house of the principal scrivano, entirely according to what was before agreed upon, by which we were to pay three per cent. for all we landed, excepting money, and the same for all we took on board, except victuals. We got afterwards a similar phirmaun from Mahomet, the pacha of Sinan: and Rejib Aga gave us a particular safe conduct for Mr Salbank and the rest.[291]
[Footnote 291: Copies, or translations rather, from the Arabic, are given in the Pilgrims of all these three phirmauns, which it was not thought necessary to insert.--E]
It was now agreed among ourselves that Mr Salbank and I were to remain ashore to conduct the business of sales and purchases, while Mr Barber staid on board to prepare and send such goods as we required. The 5th of May we went to the scrivano to get leave to make arrack for the use of our sick men; because, since our linguist and several of our people had got drunk in the house of a Jew, we had complained, and procured an order prohibiting the Jews from selling them any, and the governor had even strictly enjoined the Jews and Turks not to sell any more arrack or wine in the town. At our request through the scrivano, the governor granted leave for a Jew, nominated for the purpose to brew arrack at our house, but forbid any to be made elsewhere.