Storia do Mogor 137: Of what happened to Me in Goa, and how I left It.
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 137
- Language
- English
Of what happened to Me in Goa, and how I left It.
137.1
I stopped in Goa a year and three months. It is a place with a climate suited to men from forty up to old age; but it is very unhealthy for young men. Thus a few months after my arrival I fell ill and could never recover my health. Therefore I retired to the convent of the Italian Carmelite priests, where I was well received and attended to for six months, during which I continued unwell. The ordinary diseases of this country are mort-de-chien (cholera)—that is, colic of the bowels with vomiting and laxity—and this complaint is the death of many. The best remedy is to burn with a red-hot iron the middle of the heel until the heat is felt, and by this the pain is allayed and the discharge and vomiting stopped. Other complaints are spleen, the itch, and fevers. This is why the residents of Goa have bad complexions, although they have abundance of food, principally fruits.
137.2
Among these is the mango, the best-flavoured fruit in India, and of it I will speak in the Third Part of my work (III. 228, 229). In Goa the gentlemen are very particular about having good kinds of this fruit. They give them special names, taken from the first person to have good mangoes of that kind. Thus they speak of mangoes of Niculao Afonco, which are the largest and best; Melajassas mangoes, and Carreynas mangoes. Among the other fruits are figs, very sweet, but not of the same composition as those of Europe; they are a palm in length, more or less, and of various kinds. There are a quantity of Jacas (Jack-fruit), like large melons growing on the bark of the tree, with strong sharp thorns on the rind. There are two kinds—the barca Jack and the papa Jack, the nature of which I will state in my Third Part (III. 230). There are other kinds of fruit which I will not mention at present. But I referred to the above because they are better [129] and finer-looking here than elsewhere.
137.3
The viceroy when I arrived was Antonio de Mello de Castro, who died afterwards a prisoner in Portugal, through good works of thieving, et cetera, of which he had been guilty in India. To replace him came Joao Nunes da Cunha, and this new governor as soon as he arrived undertook a great expedition. He kept his object secret, and it would have resulted in great honour to the Portuguese, if those who were envious of his earning this glory had not impeded its execution. There came from Masqat, a fortress on the Arabian coast formerly belonging to the Portuguese, which by their negligence they lost, when it passed into the hands of an Arabian prince — there came (I say) from this fortress to Goa a Portuguese named Andre da Andrada, who was commander of artillery there and passed for a Mahomedan. This man pledged his word to the new viceroy to deliver over the fortress if a strong fleet appeared before it by sea, and to secure that end he would spike the guns.
137.4
The viceroy took up the proposal and hired a strong fleet of good ships and frigates for this service. But he let no one know what he meant to do ; and from this secrecy the Dutch dreaded some sudden blow at them, as they could not find out what such preparations were meant for. By the distribution of copious bribes in all directions they won over several of the officers. The viceroy, being desirous of equipping his ships well, ordered the embarkation by force of every valid man, compelled the better class of the Portuguese from the northern parts to come to Goa, and directed that no one should be allowed to quit the place. Thus, when the ships were well fitted out, he made over sealed instructions to the captains, with the order not to open them until arrival at a certain latitude. Thus the fleet set sail without anyone knowing its destination.
137.5
But the bribed pilots and captains sailed hither and thither with the ships, without overcoming the contrary winds, until they reached the appointed latitude, where the letters of instructions were opened, and some of them managed secretly to tamper with the water-casks, so that all the water was lost. The fault was put upon the viceroy, who, in his desire for haste, had not given time to prepare the ships properly. Thus there put into port only one frigate, which, in obedience to orders, anchored at Bandar Congo on the Arabian coast, a Portuguese territory that now belongs to the King of Persia. There it waited some time for its companions until it was obliged to return to Goa, to avoid capture by those of Masqat, who profited by the treason.