Mir Adul Hassan, and Pulot Beg, had been sent for to the ship, where some persons had embezzled a portion of treasure, as we now wished them to be present at the conference on the part of the Khan. They came accordingly to the English house, when one of them made a long speech, saying how kindly the Khan esteemed the services and assistance given by the English in this war, which he should never forget, nor allow to pass unrewarded. They next declared that the Khan intended to proceed, after the surrender of Ormus, to besiege both Muskat and Sware, and therefore that the Portuguese ought on no account to be allowed to go to either of these places. Lastly, they insinuated basely and dishonourably, that we should betray the Portuguese captain, and five or six more of his principal officers, into their hands, as this would tend greatly to the honour and satisfaction of the Khan, by enabling him to present them to Shah Abas. On hearing this vile and dishonourable proposal, I left the room, that my ears might not be contaminated by such abominable conditions; saying, at my departure, to these Persians, that I would not be guilty of consenting to so infamous a business for a whole houseful of gold.
The Portuguese being reduced to such extremity as to be under the necessity of surrendering on any terms that might save their lives from the cruelty of the Persians, sent on the morning of the 23d, offering to put themselves into our hands, on condition that we furnished them with the means of being conveyed either to Muskat or India. We agreed to this proposal, on which Captain Blithe and I went as hostages into the castle, to see them safely set out; the Persian general promising that not one of his soldiers or men should enter the castle till all the Portuguese were gone out, and that only three of his people and three of ours should sit at the gate, to see that they did not carry away any thing of value. This the Persians watched so narrowly, that they most basely searched and abused the women. But the king of Ormus with his rich vizier, together with their women, treasure, and servants, were all conveyed over the breach in the wall, and not a single Englishman called or allowed to see what they carried out with them. Not only they, but all other Mahometans and Banyans, with their treasure and best things, were conveyed out of the castle in the same manner; whole bales of goods, with boxes and caskets full of treasure, to an unknown amount, were carried at the same time over the breaches. No sooner were the gates opened for letting out the Portuguese, but at least forty Persians got in and spread themselves about the castle, besides whom, some of the ruder sort among the English got in likewise, whose coming in I fear was the cause of the Persians doing the same, judging themselves as worthy of this liberty as our people.
Before mid-day of the 24th, both the Persians and English began to pillage in a most shameful manner, so that I was both grieved and ashamed, yet could see no means of remedy. The Persians drove out the poor sick, wounded, and scorched Christians, who were not able to help themselves, so that my heart yearned with compassion to see their woeful plight. In the evening, the Khan of Shiras came over, as if in triumph, to view the castle and its great ordnance, of which there were near three hundred pieces,[311] part of which belonged to the galleons, and the rest to the castle. This evening, the commanders and I, wishing to retain possession of the church in which we had placed a quantity of plate and treasure, for its better security against being embezzled, our design was utterly denied by Pulot Beg, who told our commanders, in plain terms, that they might lie out of doors. Being justly incensed at this, we all three left the castle, the two captains going on board their ships, while I went to the city; but, as the tide was up, and I could not get a boat, I had to remain at the castle wall till near midnight. At this time there came about sixty Persians, by their own report, sent by the Khan to prevent the Arabs from conveying away any of the ordnance which lay by the shore, but I suspect their real object was to cut the throats of the poor Christians who lay at the shore, for want of boats to carry them on board; but fortunately they were protected by an English guard. Our chief business the whole of this day was to see the poor Portuguese sent safely out of the castle, most of them so weakened by divers maladies, but chiefly by famine, and many of them so noisome by their putrified wounds, and scorchings with gunpowder, that their pitiful cries and complaints might have moved pity in a heart of stone; yet such was the cruel disposition of the Persians, that they drove them out of the castle like so many dogs, stripping many of them even of their shirts.
[Footnote 311: In a shorter relation of this siege, by Mr W. Pinder, the ordnance in the castle of Ormus are thus enumerated:--Fifty-three pieces mounted, of the following descriptions,--four brass cannons, six brass demi-cannons, sixteen brass cannons-pedro, nine brass culverins, two brass demi-culverins, three iron demi-culverins, ten brass basses, one iron minion, one iron culverin, one iron cannon-pedro. Besides ninety-two brass pieces not mounted, and seven brass bastels which they had landed from the ships that were sunk. In all, 152 pieces.--E.]
On the evening of the 27th, we allowed the Portuguese to depart for Goa, to the number of 2500 persons, including men, women, and children, to whom we gave our two prizes, the Robert and Shilling, for their transport, with victuals and water necessary for the voyage, and a pass to free them from any molestation, in case they met with any of our ships at sea. Besides these, there were upwards of an hundred persons, so maimed or sick as to be incapable of being sent off at this time, for want of room in these two ships.
The king of Ormus was very poor, and lived chiefly on a pension or allowance of 140,000 rees, allowed him by the king of Spain, with some small reserved petty customs. In rummaging among his papers, we found the copy of a letter from him to the king of Spain, complaining loudly of the injustice of the Portuguese, and charging them with the entire overthrow of the kingdom of Ormus.[312]
[Footnote 312: Besides this letter, too long and uninteresting for insertion, there are several other letters and documents in the Pilgrims at this place, so much in the same predicament as to be here omitted.--E.]
When we expected to have received 1200 tomans[313] from Pulot Beg, who was chief commissioner under the Khan of Shiras, as our pay for the time occupied in this enterprize, he contrived to make us a larger sum in their debt, under pretence of embezzling the plunder in the castle; while we, on the other hand, made counter demands of a much larger sum due to us from the Persians, in the same manner. At length, three months pay were allowed, and our other demands were shifted off, as he pretended to have no power to liquidate them without an order from the Khan. After business was ended, our misery began, occasioned by the insufferable heat of Ormus, and the disorders of our own people in drinking arrack, and other excesses no less injurious; through which such diseases arose among our people, that three-fourths of them were dangerously sick, and many died so suddenly, that the plague was feared to have got among them, although no symptoms of that dreadful malady as yet appeared. This extremity lasted for fourteen days, during which time, six or seven of our men died every day; but after this, it pleased God to stay the mortality, and the rest recovered. Ten pieces of ordnance belonging to the Portuguese, were taken into our ships, to replace that number of our own which had been broken or otherwise spoiled during the siege. Our fleet was detained till the 1st September, owing to the shifting of the monsoon, and waiting its return. Leaving Ormus on that day, we arrived in Swally roads on the 24th of that month, where the London, Jonas, and Lion, loaded for England, and sailed homewards bound on the 30th December. Before setting sail, news was brought of sinking three Portuguese carracks off the port of Masulipatam, by the English and Dutch in conjunction.
[Footnote 313: This must be a gross error, as by the value of the toman formerly given, the sum in the text very little exceeds £400. Purchas mentions, in a side-note, that he had heard the English received £20,000 for this service from the Persians.--E.]