Indian Antiquary Vol 31

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 18

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(JANUARY, 1962.
the junks kept coming, today one, tomorrow another, from Syon, and they were captured by them through their deceit when fighting. They were carried to Nanto, and their slaves and many goods all stolen and themselves wounded. The Father Mergulhão died fighting. They were taken to the prisons at Cantão in irons and fetters: here they were strangled, after carrying boards, [stating] that they should die as ses rubbers. They accused them of wishing to rise with their chains on, this not being so, all the time that Martim Affonso came; and through not seeing the other Portuguese whom they brought from the ships, they all died. 68
The five janks that remained in the port of trade in the year 1621, four of the king of Malaca's and one of the king of Patane's, vie., one of Francisco Rodriguez's, another of Jorge Alvarea's, and two others; and as soon as Diogo Calvo left they were all plundered by the people of the fleet, while they were in full view of Diogo Calvo.69 The greater part was taken by the enchianqi and the ampochico and captains and probl of Nanto and part of the fleet, and the king bad a great part; and from here they withdrew and stole much, and it was seized by the king as the property of robbers. The junks were divided : [f. 108) those of Francisco Rodriguez and Jorge Alvarez were given to the capas, 62 and in them those of the king of Patane went to the Malays and another to the Siamese; of the other I know nothing. All was considered as the property of robbers. From the grest amonnt of goods that the mandarins had from these junks, they ordered that not a Portuguese should escape, so that no one should give an account of these goods that had been plundered.
In the same year there came from Patane other junks in which came Bertholameu Soarez from Syam, and another in which came Lopo de Goes. The Portuguese, as I have already said, were craftily taken by them by force and they came to Nanto, and likewise on account of false messages the people went on shore, and they captured them, because they came separately, today one, tomorrow another, until finally all were taken prisoners. In the same junks they speedily cut off the heads of the captains, masters, pilots, and merchants because they had goods. The rest of the riffraff they carried off to prison, in which, they say, there died above one thousand five hundred persons, besides the heads of the killed, which were a great quantity. In order to plunder them they accused them of bringing Portuguese by land to these prisons in Cantão. Many of them were strangled or died of blows and of hunger in the prisons, so that of all this great number of people, who in all would be two thousand, there escaped only sixty rascals whom they released, and some fifty women and children, of whom the half afterwards died: these went to Siam.
A Siamese named Chicoantão,63 a brother of his and three other Siamese were beheaded in the square and their bodies truncated, hecause they said that they had brought Portuguese on shore by false stories which they lind reported to them. As soon as the mandarins had the greater part of the goods in their hands and the lesser for the king they were not wanting in eagerness (f. 108v) to kill them. The mandarins said that these might escape who were well-known persons, that these Siamese would write letters against the mandarins regarding the goods that they had taken from them, and that it would fare ill with the mandarins; that it would be better to put an end to the whole matter, so that nothing should be known of such a thing. They ordered that no stranger should be received in China; and by this affair of these goods and that of the five junks the mandarins were very rich. These who stole bave not been in Cantão for a long time; they were sent to other provinces according to their customs; now most have gone from the kingdom.
In the year 15214 Martim Affongo de Melo came on a visit with five ships and a junk from Malaca. The poople that remained here are as follows, vis., from the ship of Diogo de Mello: - those who died in the ships : Manoel Chamarro, João Quoresma, Vasco Gil, Rodrigo Alvarez, João Vaz, Lopo Gonçalvez, João Soarez, Pero Bouno, Alvaro Perdigão, Manoel Alvarez, João Pinto, João
# The moaning of the original is somewhat obsoure. See Introd., and infra, 1, 123. Seo Introd. 6! A mistake for pio. Soo Iutrod.
Unboes this be an error for capados, eunucha, Ioannot explain it Changkwantung?
* An error for 1522.