Travels in India (Tavernier) 85.1.3

85.1.3

The Dutch Commander at Surat asked me to go to Goa, in order to ascertain what the Portuguese had learnt from these two negroes ; but a French engineer named Saint Amand, who had the supervision of the forts at Goa, told me that they had not been able to teach them a single word of the language, and had only guessed from their signs that they knew ambergris and elephant’s tusks. The Portuguese, nevertheless, did not doubt that they would find gold if they were able to trade with the interior. The revolution in Portugal and the wars with Spain have prevented them from examining this coast more particularly, and it is to be desired that the Company should examine it carefully without giving offence to the Dutch, or allowing them to suspect its object. It is, moreover, necessary that the Company should have a port near Surat to withdraw and refit its vessels, in case they are delayed by the rainy season. The reason is, that during this bad weather, when it is almost impossible to withstand (the violence of) the sea, the Mogul, for fear of danger to his fortress at Surat, does not allow any foreign vessel into the river, where otherwise, when unladen, they might remain protected from the destructive storms which last for nearly five months.