Cochin.
COCHIN is, next unto Goa, the chiefest place that the
Portugales have in the Indies, and there is great trade
of Spices, drugges, and all other sortes of merchandize
for the kingdome of Portugale, and there within the land
is the kingdome of Pepper, which Pepper the Portugales
lade in their shippes by bulke, and not in sackes: the
Pepper that goeth for Portugale is not so good as that
which goeth for Mecca
, because that in times past the
officers of the king of Portugale made a contract with
the king of Cochin, in the name of the king of Portugale,
for the prizes of Pepper, and by reason of that agreement
betweene them at that time made, the price can neither
rise nor fall, which is a very lowe and base price, and
for this cause the villaines bring it to the Portugales,
greene and full of filthe. The Moores of Mecca
that give
a better price, have it cleane and drie, and better conditioned. All the Spices and drugs that are brought to
Mecca
, are stollen from thence as Contrabanda. Cochin
is two cities, one of the Portugales, and another of the
king of Cochin: that of the Portugales is situate neerest
unto the Sea, and that of the king of Cochin is a mile and
a halfe up higher in the land, but they are both set on the
bankes of one river which is very great and of a good
depth of water which river commeth out of the mountaines of the king of the Pepper, which is a king of the
Gentiles, in whose kingdome are many Christians of saint
Thomas order: the king of Cochin is also a king of the
Gentiles and a great faithfull friend to the king of Portugale, and to those Portugales which are married, and
are Citizens in the Citie Cochin of the Portugales. And
by this name of Portugales throughout all the Indies,
they call all the Christians that come out of the West,
whether they bee Italians, Frenchmen, or Almaines, and
all they that marrie in Cochin do get an office according
to the trade he is of: this they have by the great privileges which the Citizens have of that city, because there
are two principal commodities that they deale withal in
that place, which are these. The great store of Silke
that commeth from China
, and the great store of Sugar
which commeth from Bengala: the married Citizens pay
not any custome for these two commodities: for all other
commodities they pay 4. per cento custome to the king
of Cochin, rating their goods at their owne pleasure.
Those which are not married and strangers, pay in
Cochin to the king of Portugale eight per cento of all
maner of merchandise. I was in Cochin when the Viceroy of the king of Portugale wrought what hee coulde to
breake the privilege of the Citizens, and to make them
to pay custome as other did: at which time the Citizens
were glad to waigh their Pepper in the night that they
laded the ships withall that went to Portugale and stole
the custome in the night. The king of Cochin having
understanding of this, would not suffer any more Pepper
to bee weighed. Then presently after this, the marchants
were licensed to doe as they did before, and there was
no more speach of this matter, nor any wrong done.
This king of Cochin is of a small power in respect of the
other kings of the Indies, for hee can make but seventie
thousand men of armes in his campe: hee hath a great
number of Gentlemen which hee calleth Amochi, and
some are called Nairi
: these two sorts of men esteeme
not their lives any thing, so that it may be for the honour
of their king, they will thrust themselves forward in every
danger, although they know they shall die. These men
goe naked from the girdle upwardes, with a clothe rolled
about their thighs, going barefooted, and having their
haire very long and rolled up together on the toppe of
their heads, and alwayes they carrie their Bucklers or
Targets with them and their swordes naked, these Nairi
have their wives common amongst themselves, and when
any of them goe into the house of any of these women,
hee leaveth his sworde and target at the doore, and the
time that hee is there, there dare not any bee so hardie
as to come into that house. The kings children shall not
inherite the kingdome after their father, because they
hold this opinion, that perchance they were not begotten
of the king their father, but of some other man, therefore
they accept for their king, one of the sonnes of the kings
sisters, or of some other woman of the blood roial, for
that they be sure they are of the blood roiall.
The Nairi
and their wives use for a braverie to make
great holes in their eares, and so bigge and wide, that it
is incredible, holding this opinion, that the greater the
holes bee, the more noble they esteeme themselves. I
had leave of one of them to measure the circumference of
one of them with a threed, and within that circumference
I put my arme up to the shoulder, clothed as it was, so
that in effect they are monstrous great. Thus they doe
make them when they be litle, for then they open the eare,
& hang a piece of gold or lead thereat, & within the
opening, in the hole they put a certaine leafe that they
have for that purpose, which maketh the hole so great.
They lade ships in Cochin for Portugale and for Ormus,
but they that goe for Ormus carrie no Pepper but by
Contrabanda, as for Sinamome they easilie get leave to
carrie that away, for all other Spices and drugs they may
liberally carie them to Ormus or Cambaia, and so all
other merchandize which come from other places, but out
of the kingdom of Cochin properly they cary away with
them into Portugale great abundance of Pepper, great
quantitie of Ginger dried and conserved, wild Sinamom,
good quantitie of Arecca, great store of Cordage of Cairo,
made of the barke of the tree of the great Nut, and
better then that of Hempe, of which they carrie great
store into Portugale.
The shippes every yeere depart from Cochin to goe for
Portugall, on the fift day of December, or the fift day of
January. Nowe to follow my voyage for the Indies:
from Cochin I went to Coulam, distant from Cochin
seventie and two miles, which Coulam is a small Fort of
the king of Portugales, situate in the kingdom of Coulam,
which is a king of the Gentiles, and of small trade: at
that place they lade onely halfe a ship of Pepper, and
then she goeth to Cochin to take in the rest, and from
thence to Cao Comori is seventie and two miles, and there
endeth the coast of the Indies: and alongst this coast,
neere to the water side, and also to Cao Comori, downe
to the lowe land of Chialo, which is about two hundred
miles, the people there are as it were all turned to the
Christian faith: there are also Churches of the Friers of
S. Pauls order, which Friers doe very much good in those
places in turning the people, and in converting them,
and take great paines in instructing them in the law of
Christ.
