Saint Thomas or San Tome.
FROM Negapatan following my voyage towards the East
an hundred and fiftie miles, I found the house of blessed
Saint Thomas, which is a Church of great devotion, and
greatly regarded of the Gentiles for the great miracles
they have heard to have bene done by that blessed
Apostle: neere unto this Church the Portugals have
builded them a Citie in the countrey subject to the king
of Bezeneger, which citie although it bee not very great,
yet in my judgement it is the fairest in all that part of
the Indies : and it hath very faire houses and faire gardens
in vacant places very well accommodated: it hath streetes
large and streight, with many Churches of great devotion,
their houses be set close one unto another, with little
doores, every house hath his defence, so that by that
meanes it is of force sufficient to defend ye Portugals
against the people of that countrey. The Portugals there
have no other possession but their gardens and houses
that are within the citie: the customes belong to the
king of Bezeneger, which are very small and easie, for
that it is a countrey of great riches and great trade:
there come every yeere two or three great ships very
rich, besides many other small ships: one of the two
great ships goeth for Pegu
, and the other for Malacca,
laden with fine Bumbast cloth of every sort, painted,
which is a rare thing, because those kinde of clothes
shew as they were gilded with divers colours, and the
more they be washed, the livelier the colours will shew.
Also there is other cloth of Bumbast which is woven
with divers colours, and is of great value: also they
make in Sant Tome great store of red Yarne, which
they die with a roote called Saia, and this colour will
never waste, but the more it is washed, the more redder
it will shew: they lade this yarne the greatest part of it
for Pegu
, because that there they worke and weave it
to make cloth according to their owne fashion, and with
lesser charges. It is a marvelous thing to them which
have not seene the lading and unlading of men and
merchandize in S. Tome as they do: it is a place so
dangerous, that a man cannot bee served with small
barkes, neither can they doe their businesse with the
boates of the shippes, because they would be beaten in
a thousand pieces, but they make certaine barkes (of
purpose) high, which they call Masadie, they be made
of litle boards; one board being sowed to another with
small cordes, and in this order are they made. And
when they are thus made, and the owners will embarke
any thing in them, either men or goods, they lade them
on land, and when they are laden, the Barke-men thrust
the boate with her lading into the streame, and with
great speed they make haste all that they are able to
rowe out against the huge waves of the sea that are on
that shore, untill that they carie them to the ships: and
in like maner they lade these Masadies at the shippes
with merchandise and men. When they come neere the
shore, the Barke-men leap out of the Barke into the Sea
to keepe the Barke right that she cast not thwart the
shore, and being kept right, the
Suffe of the Sea setteth
her lading dry on land without any hurt or danger, and
sometimes there are some of them that are overthrowen,
but there can be no great losse, because they lade but
a litle at a time. All the marchandize they lade outwards, they emball it well with Oxe hides, so that if it
take wet, it can have no great harme.
In my voyage, returning in the yeere of our Lord God
one thousand, five hundred, sixtie and sixe, I went from
Goa unto Malacca, in a shippe or Gallion of the king of
Portugal
, which went unto Banda for to lade Nutmegs &
Maces: from Goa to Malacca are one thousand eight
hundred miles, we passed without the
Iland Zeilan, and
went through the chanell of Nicubar, or els through the
chanell of Sombrero
, which is by the middle of the
Iland
of Sumatra, called in olde time Taprobana: and from
Nicubar to Pegu
is as it were a rowe or chaine of an
infinite number of Ilands, of which many are inhabited
with wilde people, and they call those Ilands the
Ilands
of Andemaon, and they call their people savage of wilde,
because they eate one another: also these Ilands have
warre one with another, for they have small Barkes,
and with them they take one another, and so eate one
another: and if by evil chance any ship be lost on those
Ilands, as many have bene, there is not one man of those
ships lost there that escapeth uneaten or unslaine. These
people have not any acquaintance with any other people,
neither have they trade with any, but live onely of such
fruites as those Ilands yeeld : and if any ship come neere
unto that place or coast as they passe that way, as in my
voyage it happened as I came from Malacca through the
chanell of Sombrero
, there came two of their Barkes
neere unto our ship laden with fruite, as with Mouces
which wee call Adams apples, with fresh Nuts, and with
a fruite called Inani, which fruite is like to our Turneps,
but is very sweete and good to eate: they would not
come into the shippe for any thing that wee could doe:
neither would they take any money for their fruite, but
they would trucke for olde shirtes or pieces of olde linnen
breeches, these ragges they let downe with a rope into
their Barke unto them, and looke what they thought those
things to bee woorth, so much fruite they would make
fast to the rope and let us hale it in: and it was told me
that at sometimes a man shall have for an old shirt a
good piece of Amber.
