Indian Antiquary Vol 31

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

Page 32

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[JANUARY 1902.
a league up this river northwards. In fine, no one could come who would not be seized, and especially as all navigate in the day and not at night, because the rivers in places are shallow and in places are stony; and if they came they would all lie at our mercy, even though they brought more Language than I have said.
Cantão has mandarins besides these, 06 — the cheuhi and the pochácy and amchacy and tocy, whom they call camoy, who reside permanently in this city. The ceuhy comes every year. The latter is afraid of nobody; all are afraid of him. He comes, in order to dispatch all cases and to see what mandarin does evil. If the mandarin thnt does evil is a petty one he at once deprives him of his ears, and gives information of this to the king; if the mandarin is a higher one he writes to the king regarding his crime. Thence comes the order that he be no longer a mandarin; because the king gives entire credit to him, as also to the tu tão and the comquão. The campyn I do not describe, who has charge of war. The tutão commands in everything. If any letter is to be written let it be to the ecuhi,67 because he comes each year and knows nothing of the robberies that have been committed on the Portuguese. These are only expedients according as they may serve. They also make presents to them in the case of every dispatch, without taking into account the tutão nor any mandarin.
(f. 121] Martim Afonso de Melo came in the year 1522. At the entrance of the port be did well.es Of his entry and of some people that were killed there by artillery the news came to Cantão; they said also that he had written a letter, which, they said, was well-spoken. The mandarins who had plundered the goods the previons year were angry at his coming, and began to make a disturbance : they asked the ouhy what he thought, - whether they should carry on trade or not. The obuhy said, that trade should be carried on as before. They replied that it should not; that they were afraid that with this trade there would come some harm later on; that they would lay hands on some place. The couhy answered them nothing, and they departed in ill humor. They asked the same of the aytao, who has charge of the sea and of foreigners; he replied in like manner. These two mandarins who asked were, one the chãoy and the other the anchagy, who were the head-men of Cantão. These ordered the oytao to go and fight the Portuguese. This aytao was newly come, and did not know of the past. He said that he could not, and pretended to be ill. They then sent there the tiquos, who has charge of foreigners under the aytao : I do not know what he did there. These two mandarins, viz., the pochancy and the anchacy, they say that they bribed the pio of Nanto and the pachain of the fleet that they shonld strive to capture some ship and exert themselves so that peace should not be made: this took place secretly. It happened that by ill-lock and by the captains' having & poor opinion of the Chinese and not having their artillery loaded or ready, and as each captain fired on his own account, and Diogo de Melo having been first wounded by a stone-shot so that he was stunned; and they say that all the people betook themselves ander the castle of the ships on account of the shower of stones. Thus they captured Pedro Homem; being ready for the fight, no one came to his help, and he was killed by showers of stones and blows. The boatswain, boatswain's mate and several sailors fought; but the other people did not come to their assistance and the junks were lofty. Finally, when they were captured in the ship of Diogo de Mello, three hundred Chinese leaped into it to plunder it. After the people had been taken to the junks they set fire to the powder magazine; the ship was burned, and all the Chinese perished, not one escaping. News of this came to the aytao, of how two ships had been captured and the others had gone. He at once set out, and came accompanied by pipers. He wrote that those people that had perished in the fire bad been killed by the Portuguese. He wrote to the tutão, and the tutão to the king; and there came the sentence that I have already mentioned. The aytao with this victory, and with the bribe that the 'two mandarins
Bee note nipra regarding langile. Read chihi.
Regarding these officials see Introd.. Or, "He made a good entrance into the port."