Читать книгу A History of Geographical Discovery in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries - Edward Heawood - Страница 8

Although little positive geographical discovery resulted from the early trading voyages of the Dutch and English to the Eastern seas, it will be necessary briefly to refer to them, as they were of considerable importance in familiarising the navigators of those nations with voyages to the newly discovered regions, and so leading the way to a future extension of knowledge.

After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the English were the first to make the voyage by the route opened by the Portuguese, but the first enterprise resulted in failure, although one of the three ships engaged in it reached the Eastern seas. The fleet was commanded by Captains Raymond and Lancaster, and set sail on April 10, 1591. Raymond's ship was lost on the voyage, but Lancaster in the Edward Bonaventure, after touching at Zanzibar, doubled Cape Comorin in May 1592, and after sighting the coast of Sumatra reached Penang in June. After touching at St Helena on the return voyage the ship encountered baffling winds and was forced to run for the West Indies. Here the crew met with many adventures, and, after losing his ship, Lancaster returned home in a ship of Dieppe, over three years having been spent on the voyage. In 1594 Lancaster undertook a voyage to Pernambuco, but no further effort to open an intercourse with the East was made by the English until the closing year of the century, before which the Dutch had already secured a share in the Indian trade.

Like the English, the Dutch had begun by attempting the discovery of a route to the East by way of the Arctic seas, and it was only after the first unsuccessful voyage of Barents for this end that the voyage to India by the Cape was determined on. In February 1594-5 the first fleet, consisting of four ships, sailed from the Texel under the command of Cornelis Houtman and reached Bantam in Java in 1596. Here a long time was spent in negotiations for a cargo of spices, but, owing apparently to the machinations of the Portuguese, difficulties arose with the governor, leading to Houtman's temporary imprisonment, and eventually to open hostilities. The fleet sailed along the coast of Java eastward, and again became involved in hostilities, but was able finally to refresh on the east coast between Java and Bali. The return was made along the south coast of Java, this being the first recorded occasion on which any European vessel had taken this course.^[1] The voyage was therefore useful as giving a more correct idea of the width of the island than had before prevailed. Among the curiosities brought home to Holland was a specimen of the cassowary, presented to one of the captains while on the north coast of Java, which must have been brought from Ceram or the Papuan group.

[1 The avoidance of the south coast of Java is attributed by the Portuguese historian João de Barros to the violent currents to which ships are there exposed. This fact accounts for the exaggerated notions which had prevailed as to the extent of the island. The sea south of Java had been traversed, out of sight of land, by the remnant of Magellan's expedition, which steered for the Cape of Good Hope from the west end of Timor. According to Hondius's map, both Drake and Cavendish traversed the same sea, passing between Java and Bali, and this is confirmed by the accounts received by Houtman of the arrival of European ships at the south-east end of Java at dates corresponding to those of Drake's and Cavendish's voyages.]

Linschoten's Map of Eastern Asia. (Outline sketch, reduced.) Click on the map to enlarge it.

Fleets now sailed in quick succession from the various Dutch ports, whose merchants vied with each other in their efforts to secure a share in the new trade. In 1598 a number of expeditions sailed under different commanders. The merchants of Amsterdam and Rotterdam despatched a fleet of eight ships under J. van Neck and W. van Warwijck, which reached Banda, Amboina, and the Moluccas, besides visiting Java. A part of the fleet, including van Warwijck's vessel, touched on the voyage at Mauritius, which then first received that name. No inhabitants were seen, but the island proved a convenient halting-place, and a garden was fenced in and planted for the benefit of future voyagers. The merchants of Middelburg and Veere, headed by the family of the Moucherons, fitted out two ships (the Lion and Lioness), which they placed under the command of the brothers Cornelis and Frederik Houtman. This expedition is of interest from the fact that the great Arctic navigator, John Davis, was engaged to act as chief pilot, and the account of the voyage written by him is the only one extant. Ill-luck attended the expedition, which reached Atjeh in Sumatra after touching at Fernando Noronha, Table Bay (then called Saldanha Bay), Madagascar, the Comoros, Maldivhs, and the coast of India near Cochin. Davis's narrative contains interesting particulars respecting the countries visited, mentioning among other points the peculiar clicking sounds of the Hottentot language, which are likened to the clucking of a brood-hen. It appears that the fame of Queen Elizabeth as the successful rival of Spain had already reached the East, and the Raja of Atjeh was particularly anxious to see Davis and to learn about the English nation, but the Dutch commander did all he could to keep him in the background. During the stay there a treacherous attack was made upon the expedition, during which Cornelis Houtman was killed and the ship only saved by the gallantry of Davis and two comrades, one of them an Englishman named Tomkins, who successfully defended the poop.^[1] After a vain attempt to make the port of Tennasserim, which Davis speaks of as a place of much trade, a course was shaped for the Nicobars and the homeward voyage soon afterwards commenced. In July 1600 Middelburg was reached and Davis returned to England, where his services were soon secured by the English East India Company for their first voyage.

[1 There appears to be no foundation for the story that the elder Houtman escaped with his life and lived some years among the natives.]

During the year 1598 various Dutch ships were also sent out to attempt the passage to India viâ the Strait of Magellan. On June 27 a fleet of five ships set sail from Rotterdam under the command of Admiral James Mahu. Several Englishmen accompanied the fleet—among them the pilot, William Adams. From the outset the expedition was unfortunate, for soon after leaving the Cape Verde Islands the Admiral died of fever, by which a large proportion of the crews were disabled, while scurvy soon added to their distress. A landing was effected on the coast of Lower Guinea and a camp formed for the sick; but few supplies were available and the fleet sailed for Annobom. Here the Dutch came into collision with the Portuguese and also suffered severely from fever, so it was resolved to steer for the Strait of Magellan. Here the ships encountered very severe weather and, after reaching the Pacific, soon became scattered. Two were forced to re-enter the straits, and of these one eventually crossed the Pacific to the Moluccas, where she fell into the hands of the Portuguese. The other, under Sebald de Weert, fell in with the outward-bound fleet of Olivier van Noort, but returned home after visiting some small islands, probably outliers of the Falklands. A single unsupported document has it that a third ship—that commanded by Dirck Gerritsz—was driven south to 64°, where a snow-clad mountainous land was sighted; and on this insufficient basis some have claimed for her commander the discovery of the South Shetlands. This ship was taken by the Spaniards after reaching Peru.

Meanwhile the rest of the fleet, under the command of Simon de Cordes, and with the English pilot, William Adams, on board, proceeded up the coast of Chile. No full account of the voyage is in existence, but we are able to gather some details as to its occurrences from the letters of Adams, written some years later from Japan, and from the facts gleaned by Van Noort's squadron. Misfortune still attended the voyagers. Landing at the island of La Mocha, de Cordes and a number of his men were slain by the natives,^[1] while the same fate befel the other captain and a portion of his crew at Punta de Lavapie, opposite Santa Maria Island. Not venturing to meet the Spaniards in their weakened condition, and having on board a large supply of woollen cloth which they hoped to dispose of in Japan, the newly elected captains resolved to steer for that country (November 1599). After crossing the Line some islands were met with, inhabited by cannibals. They are placed by Adams in 16° N., or three degrees south of the Sandwich group, which might otherwise seem to be indicated. They were no doubt units of the Ladrone or Marianne group, though in this case the length of time occupied by the further voyage to Japan—almost equal to that taken up by the voyage from Chile to the islands—is only to be accounted for by the storms encountered in the Western Pacific. These led to a parting of the ships, and only that in which Adams sailed reached Bungo (the modern Oita) in Japan, the crew being then at the last extremity. Adams was imprisoned for a time, but afterwards rose high in the Emperor's favour, and was largely instrumental in throwing open the trade with Japan to the Dutch. He was never allowed to return to Europe, but died at Firando (Hirado Island) about 1620.

[1 In the account given to Van Noort it was said that Simon de Cordes was slain at the Punta de Lavapie, but Adams gives Mocha Island as the scene of his death.]

The four ships of Van Noort already alluded to sailed from Goeree only three months after the Rotterdam fleet (September 1598). Like the latter they touched at the coast of Lower Guinea and then twice visited the coast of Brazil before proceeding to the Strait of Magellan. Arrived in the South Sea, Van Noort was attended with better success than his predecessors, taking a Spanish ship on the coast of Chile, and then crossing over to the Ladrones and Philippines by a route apparently diverging little from Magellan's. Off the Philippines a Spanish ship was defeated after a hot encounter, and a course was then shaped for Borneo, where a halt was made at Brunei. Van Noort then proceeded to the north coast of Java, and passing through the strait between that island and Sumatra, steered for the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived in Holland with one ship on August 26, 1601, being thus the first Dutch captain to complete the circumnavigation of the globe—a feat which it had taken full three years, to accomplish. Although Van Noort had not passed out of the tracks of previous navigators, his voyage was of service to his countrymen, as much information was collected about countries of the East, including Japan, not visited by his squadron.

The subsequent trading voyages of the Dutch to the East, while of importance as tending to establish the supremacy of that nation in the Archipelago, and so paving the way for the discovery of Australia, lack the interest of novelty which attaches to their earlier efforts. In pursuance of their object the merchant adventurers showed no abatement of energy. Trading companies had been formed at the various Dutch ports, whence fleet after fleet was despatched to the East. In 1602 the various companies were united to form the Dutch East India Company, with an exclusive charter prohibiting other Dutch subjects from trading to the East, either by the Cape or by the Strait of Magellan. The company's fleets engaged in open hostilities with the Portuguese, while trading stations were rapidly established in Java and Ceylon, as well as on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts. By 1607 the Dutch had gained possession of the Spice Islands and had factories in all the countries of the East from Persia to Japan. In 1611 Pieter Both, the first Governor-General, established a post at Jacatra in Java, some distance east of Bantam, giving it the name Batavia; and in 1619 the Residence was transferred by the fourth governor, Jans Pieterszoon Coen, to this site, which thenceforth became the capital of the Dutch possessions. Some of the voyages thus undertaken were of interest from the point of view of geographical discovery, but before speaking of them we must resume the thread of English adventure.

In spite of the ill-success of the first English voyage to the East, the wish to establish a direct trade with India still animated the English merchants, but nothing was done until 1599 when, the Dutch having raised the price of pepper from 3s. to 6s. and 8s. a pound, a memorial was addressed to Queen Elizabeth on the subject of the formation of an association for the object in view. The Queen favoured the proposal, and on December 31, 1600, granted a charter of incorporation to the English East India Company as "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies." She also sent Sir J. Mildenhall to the court of the Great Mogul to solicit his favour for the company. Before the signing of the charter preparations for an expedition had been pushed forward, Captain James Lancaster being again placed at its head. Four "tall" ships—the Dragon, Hector, Ascension, and Susan, besides a victualler, the Guest—were employed. As before mentioned, the services of John Davis were secured for the expedition, which left Woolwich on February 13, and Tor Bay on April 18, 1601. After touching at the Canaries and suffering much from scurvy and from adverse winds during the passage across the Atlantic, it put in at Saldanha Bay (Table Bay) on September 9. The great use of lemon-juice as a preventive of scurvy was fully demonstrated on this voyage, as the crew of Lancaster's ship, who were provided with it, suffered far less than those of the others. After a stay at Table Bay, and another on the coast of Madagascar, the ships set sail for India on March 6, 1602, and fell in with an island called Roquepiz, the identification of which is a matter of some difficulty. Then, after passing amongst the Chagos Islands and banks, where the ships were in much danger from sunken reefs, the Nicobar Islands were reached on May 9, and Atjeh on May 29. A letter from the Queen was presented to the King of Atjeh, who gave the voyagers a cordial reception. Some pepper was obtained, but owing to the bad season it was very scarce. More, however, was obtained at Priaman, and at Bantam, whither the ships afterwards proceeded, having first taken a merchant ship, sailing under Portuguese colours, in the straits of Malacca. Agents were left at Bantam and others despatched to the Moluccas, to establish a factory there in readiness for the next arrival of ships from England. On February 20, 1603, the homeward voyage commenced, the ships passing through the Sunda Strait. Before rounding the Cape great storms were encountered, in which the rudder of Lancaster's ship was lost, and the voyagers were driven southwards into the hail and snow of the South Atlantic; but after great exertions a temporary rudder was arranged, and St Helena sighted on June 16, the ships having been three months out of sight of land. Finally they anchored in the Downs on September 11, and the voyage was brought to a successful termination, two and a half years from its commencement.

The second expedition was placed under the command of Captain Henry Middleton, who had accompanied Lancaster in 1601, and the same four ships were again sent out. Again the crews suffered severely from scurvy, and on this account the General put in, contrary to his instructions, at Table Bay, afterwards crossing the Indian Ocean without touching anywhere until the island of Engano, off the south coast of Sumatra, was sighted. From Bantam, where the merchants left on the preceding voyage were established, the Hector and Susan were sent home after loading with a cargo of pepper, while Middleton proceeded (Jan. 1605) with the other two ships to the more eastern parts of the Archipelago. During this time great mortality prevailed among the crews owing to an outbreak of dysentery brought on by drinking the Bantam water. A large Dutch fleet under Van der Hagen had arrived at Bantam two days before the English, and it soon followed them on their eastward voyage. At Amboina, where, owing to the peace lately concluded (1604) between England and Spain, Middleton had established friendly relations with the Portuguese governor, all hope of trade was removed by the arrival of this fleet and the surrender of the Portuguese fort. Middleton therefore resolved, much against the views of his associates, to send the Ascension to Banda, while he himself proceeded to the Moluccas proper, to try for a cargo of cloves. Here too the arrival of the Dutch, followed by the destruction of the Portuguese fort at Tidor, and the surrender of the survivors of its garrison, put many difficulties in his way, but a certain amount of trade was done, and in spite of some rather high-handed proceedings on the part of the Dutch, the English commander was able to remain on fairly friendly terms with both factions. On the return voyage the Hector was found in a disabled condition off the Cape, having lost the greater part of her crew, which it had been necessary to reinforce with a number of Chinamen before leaving Bantam. The Susan had been lost during the passage. The three remaining ships continued the voyage in company, and reached the Downs on May 6, 1606.

By opening a trade with the Moluccas, which had not been visited by Englishmen since Drake's time, Middleton had done more than the company had ventured to expect, and he was knighted for his services immediately on his return. The company now determined to extend their operations, and turned their eyes to the mainland of India, whither one of the ships of the next voyage was commissioned to proceed. The three vessels sent out in 1607 were under the command of Captain Keeling, who had accompanied Sir Henry Middleton in 1604. In the new voyage he sailed in the Dragon, while the Hector and Consent were commanded respectively by Captains Hawkins and David Middleton, the latter of whom, as it turned out, made the voyage independently. The course taken by the Dragon and Hector differed from that followed in previous voyages, for they put in at Sierra Leone for the purpose of watering, and here a stone was set up, engraved with the names of Captains Keeling and Hawkins, near another which bore the names of Drake and Cavendish. After refreshing at Saldanha, and again touching at St Augustine's Bay, Madagascar, they proceeded to Abd-el-Kuri and Sokotra, where valuable information was collected as to the system of the monsoons and currents, and the navigation to Aden, Surat, and Cambay. After leaving Sokotra, the ships parted company, the Hector proceeding to Surat, whence Hawkins sent his ship on to Bantam, and travelled overland to the court of Jehangir; his journey resulting in the acquisition of information, of much value to the company, regarding the state of affairs in India. Keeling proceeded to Priaman and Bantam, and afterwards to Banda; some useful hydrographical observations being made during the voyage. Trade was again hampered by the arbitrary proceedings of the Dutch, who were then at war with the natives. Since Middleton's voyage they had been driven out of Ternate and Tidor (1606), and their admiral, Paul van Caerden, was in 1608 taken prisoner there, remaining in captivity over a year.

The fourth voyage, under Captains Sharpeigh and Rowles, was unfortunate. After visiting Aden, and Mokha on the Red Sea, Sharpeigh proceeded to India, where his ship was wrecked in the Gulf of Cambay. Sharpeigh visited Agra, while others of his crew travelled in various directions, a sailor named Nichols making his way across the peninsula to Masulipatam, while Captain Robert Coverte returned to Europe through India, Persia, and Turkey. The latter wrote an account both of the voyage and of his own travels. The fifth voyage sent out by the East India Company was under the command of Captain David Middleton, who in 1610 obtained a cargo of spice at Pulo Way, being, like Keeling, hindered by the Dutch from loading at Banda. In the sixth voyage Sir Henry Middleton was general, the second in command being Captain Nicholas Downton. The ships proceeded to Aden, which was found to have lost much of its former importance, and to Mokha, where Middleton was made a prisoner, and taken inland to Sanâ. Having at length effected his escape, he sailed for Surat, where many impediments were put in his way by the Portuguese. Subsequently reaching the Archipelago, his ship, the Trade's Increase, the largest English merchant vessel of the time, capsized while being repaired, and Middleton soon afterwards died of grief at the partial failure of the voyage. It was, however, important as leading the way to the English intercourse with Western India, which subsequently attained such great proportions.

Of the subsequent voyages only those can be spoken of which were especially noteworthy as leading in new directions. During the seventh, which sailed in 1611 under Captain Hippon, the Globe visited the Coromandel coast and Siam, where factories were established both at Patani—then an important trade centre—and at Ayuthia, the capital. Two of the factors were even sent inland to Chieng-mai or Zimmé, which had been visited in the previous century by Fernão Mendez Pinto and by Ralph Fitch, and which has come into prominence in modern times in connection with railway projects in Siam. One of these agents, Thomas Samuel, was a year or two later (1615) taken prisoner to Pegu on the capture of Chieng-mai by the king of that country, and died there.

The eighth voyage (1611-13), under Captain John Saris in the Clove, was important as leading further afield than any of the previous ventures, Japan being for the first time reached by an English vessel. After visiting Sokotra and cruising for some time in the Red Sea, where Saris met Sir Henry Middleton, the Clove sailed for Bantam, and thence for the Moluccas, where, after touching at various points, anchor was finally cast in the road of Pelebere (or Poliweri) off Makian. Here, as usual, some opposition was met with from the Dutch, who at the time had forts on Ternate, Tidor, and Makian, though the Spaniards still maintained a footing in Tidor. Continuing his voyage towards the north, and touching to refresh on the northern portion of Jilolo, Saris set sail for Japan, and passing among the Liu-kiu Islands, reached Firando (Hirado) after a month's voyage. Here Saris received a visit from William Adams, and leaving Richard Cocks, the principal merchant of the voyage, to establish a factory, proceeded viâ Osaka and the overland route to Yedo (Tokio) to hand over the presents sent by the Company to the Emperor. His journal gives interesting particulars respecting the Japanese cities, of which Kioto or Miako was then the largest. On Saris's departure Cocks was left at Firando to superintend the factory, which he did for seven years. During this time the establishment of trade between Japan and Siam was kept constantly in view, and Adams more than once sailed for the latter country, but the efforts of the merchants met with slight success. Saris's voyage resulted in a considerable improvement in the knowledge of the navigation of the Eastern seas, and his journal contains instructive remarks on the currents, monsoons, etc., as observed by him. He was able to introduce many corrections into the charts, his latitudes for Cape Comorin, the island of Batjan, and other places, being nearer the truth than those previously accepted. Between Sokotra and Bantam he sailed through the 8° channel between the Maldivhs and Minicoy, and was thus able to define correctly the termination of the Maldivh group towards the north, while Firando in Japan, the terminus of his voyage, is given within 8' of its true latitude.

The only other voyage to which separate allusion can be made is that of Captain Best, which was begun in 1612, and by the victory gained over an overwhelming Portuguese fleet at Swally, the port of Surat, opened up Western India to British enterprise. A result of this victory was the despatch of Sir Thomas Roe, in 1615, as ambassador to Jehangir. To his travels reference will be made presently. A few years later trade was opened with the Persian Gulf, but Bantam in Java still remained the Company's principal factory in the East, until, between 1618 and 1623, the British merchants were expelled from all their posts in the Archipelago by the Dutch, who thus became supreme in that quarter, and were for a long time practically alone in carrying on the work of exploration in the regions beyond.

It remains to speak of the attempts—insignificant compared with those of the Dutch and English—made by the French at this time to open up intercourse with the East. Although this nation was the first to encroach upon the grounds occupied by the Portuguese, the early enterprises of Gonneville, Parmentier, and others, in the first half of the sixteenth century, led to no practical result, and not till the next century had commenced did the French merchants again bestir themselves to secure a share in the eastern trade. A company was then formed by some citizens of St Malo, Laval, and Vitré, and two vessels were fitted out and placed under the command of Michel Frotet de la Bardelière, who sailed in the Croissant. The other ship, the Corbin, was commanded by François Grout, and an Englishman was included among the crew as pilot. The expedition sailed in 1601, but was unfortunate from the first owing to severe attacks of scurvy and want of discipline. The Croissant reached Atjeh in July 1602, but left again without doing much trade. The General died on December 1, and after reaching the Azores the enfeebled remnant of the crew were rescued from their sinking ship by some Dutch vessels. The voyage is principally remarkable for the adventures of François Pyrard, who sailed in the Corbin, and after his return wrote a full account of his experiences, together with valuable information on the countries visited. The Corbin was wrecked on one of the Maldivhs, and the crew made prisoners. Pyrard soon acquired the language and gained favour with the king, but had not obtained leave to depart when at length, after five years, a hostile expedition arrived from Chittagong. The king was slain, and Pyrard with three companions, the sole remnant of the crew, was taken to India. He gives a most valuable account of the Maldivhs, and of the manners and customs of the people; and so few have been European visitors to the islands that this remained practically the standard authority on the subject down to our own times.

Pyrard's stay at Chittagong was brief, but it enabled him to collect a few particulars respecting Bengal and its productions, the river Ganges, etc. On the Malabar coast, whither he then proceeded, he went through many adventures and was for some time kept a prisoner by the Portuguese. After his release he collected much information respecting Western India and its inhabitants, and particularly about Goa and the Portuguese government in India—then hopelessly corrupt—and the growing encroachments of the Dutch. His account is of special value from the fact that this period is little touched upon by Portuguese historians. He accompanied Portuguese expeditions to Cambay and the Moluccas, and gives a full account of the trade of south-eastern Asia, which still centred in the great emporium of Malacca; describing also the Portuguese possessions on the African coasts. At last, in the winter of 1609-10, Pyrard, with other foreigners, whose numbers had become inconvenient to the authorities, was placed on board the homeward-bound fleet, and reached Europe, not without further adventures, after an absence of ten years. The ship in which Pyrard sailed was wrecked on the coast of Brazil, and his sojourn at Bahia, whilst waiting for an opportunity to return to Europe, gave him the means of gathering some information on the Portuguese possessions in that part of the globe.

Two other French travellers, mentioned by Pyrard in his book, may be briefly referred to here. Jean Mocquet, apothecary to Henry IV of France, travelled extensively both in the East and West (West Africa, Guiana, Morocco, India, and the Holy Land) between 1601 and 1611—exactly the period occupied by Pyrard's voyage—and in 1617 published in Paris an account of his travels. He had sailed to Goa as apothecary to the Conde de Feira, and returned in that capacity, in the same fleet as Pyrard, with the great captain Furtado de Mendoça. The other traveller was the Sieur de Feynes, Comte de Montfart, who in 1604 had reached Goa by the overland route via Aleppo, Isfahan, and Ormuz. The first account of his journeys was published in English in 1615 by a French resident in London. Doubt has been thrown on the genuineness of his travels, but the references of Pyrard and Mocquet confirm the general truth of his account.

No further attempt to open up trade with the East was made until 1616, when some merchants of Paris and Rouen formed a company and fitted out two ships for a voyage to India. The command was given to a captain named De Nets, the smaller ship sailing under Augustin de Beaulieu, who had already in 1612 accompanied a French expedition to the Gambia, and had shown himself a skilful seaman. The expedition met with only partial success, one of the ships being abandoned for want of sufficient hands. In 1619 Beaulieu sailed again with three ships, and though the results from a commercial point of view were not great, the voyage has attained a considerable degree of celebrity by reason of the careful observations on the countries visited made by the commander, and contained in his journal, published in Thévenot's celebrated collection of voyages. The variation of the compass engaged the special attention of Beaulieu, who was able to show that the variations were less regular than had been supposed. An accurate description is given of the narwhal, two of which were seen on the voyage. Some time was spent at the Cape on the way out, and an interesting reconnaissance made of the district behind Table Mountain. The modern Table Bay already receives that name in Beaulieu's narrative, although the old name Saldanha Bay is retained by contemporary, and even by some subsequent writers. During a stay of 15 days at St Augustine's Bay, Madagascar, Beaulieu attempted an exploration of the valley of the river which enters the head of the bay; and though hindered by the thickness of the brushwood, he climbed to a certain height and assured himself of the importance of the river, which, he says, seemed as broad as the Seine a league below Rouen. This must have been the Onilahi, the principal river of south Madagascar. After correcting the position on the chart of the Angoche and other small islands on the African coast, Beaulieu sailed for the Comoro Islands, of which he gives a fuller account than is found in most of the early narratives. This is especially the case of Angasija, or Great Comoro, which on account of its want of good anchorages has down to the present day been less visited than the other islands of the group. Having at length reached Sumatra, a long time was spent at Atjeh in wearisome negotiations for a cargo of pepper. Bantam being inaccessible owing to its investment by the Dutch. One of the ships, which had proceeded to Jacatra (Batavia), was burnt, apparently through Dutch treachery, but Beaulieu at length set sail for France with a fair cargo, passing through the Mentawei ("Montabay") Islands off the south-west coast of Sumatra, and introducing some corrections into the charts of that locality. He reached France in December, 1622.

Before continuing the story of maritime discovery in the far East, we may close this chapter by referring to some of the most famous travellers to southern Asia—chiefly by the overland route—during the seventeenth century, although by so doing it will be necessary to anticipate somewhat the progress of events in other quarters. With the opening of maritime trade to the East by the rivals of the Portuguese, the love of adventure led a host of travellers—Dutch, French, English, and German, as well as some of nationalities previously represented—to visit the famous empires of those regions; and as many of them published narratives of their journeys, the result was a decided spread of knowledge respecting those countries, although strictly geographical discoveries could hardly be expected.

Of all the narratives of eastern travel which appeared during the seventeenth century, the first in point of date of the journeys was that of the French adventurer Vincent le Blanc, who during forty years ranged over most of the eastern world, from Syria, Arabia, and Samarkand, to Pegu, Siam, and Java, and in Africa gained acquaintance with Abyssinia, Egypt, and Morocco. But the greater part of his journeys were made before the end of the sixteenth century, while his narrative—first published, after his death, in 1648—shows much ignorance and want of discrimination, even if it be not—as some have thought—largely fictitious. A Portuguese traveller, Pedro Teixeira, whose wanderings were almost as extensive, published his narrative in 1610, but he too started on his travels before the end of the previous century. Of his first journey nothing is known except that after residing for some time in Persia and Ormuz, he found himself at Malacca in 1600, and returned to Portugal by way of the Archipelago (Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines) and Mexico. He set out again in 1604, and after visiting Maskat and Ormuz returned by Baghdad to Aleppo, and thence through Cyprus, Rhodes, etc., to Venice, and ultimately to Antwerp. The desire of seeing foreign countries led an eccentric Englishman, Thomas Coryat, to the East a few years later. Coryat had held a small post in Prince Henry's establishment, but in 1608 started on a tour through Europe, which he described in a book bearing the quaint title Coryat his Crudities hastily gobled up etc. In spite of the eccentricities of the author, this was of some real value as one of the first detailed descriptions of European countries published in England. In 1612 Coryat started on more extended travels, which took him through Asia Minor, the Holy Land, and Mesopotamia, to Persia and even to Kandahar, whence he reached India in 1616. Here he died the following year, and therefore never wrote a narrative of these journeys, but some of his letters to friends from the East were published, the last being dated from Agra, October, 1616.

Disappointment in a love affair was the cause of the travels, about the same time, of an Italian, Pietro della Valle, who in 1614 left Venice on a pilgrimage to the holy places of the East, taking the title "Il Pellegrino" by which he was afterwards generally known. From Jerusalem he went by Damascus to Aleppo, and on to Baghdad and the ruins of Babylon. At Baghdad he married a beautiful Circassian, who accompanied him on his travels till her death, and whose body was embalmed and taken to Italy. Delia Valle made his way to the court of the Persian Emperor, and in 1621, after a visit to the ruins of Persepolis, reached Shiraz, and Lar on the Persian Gulf, whence he made his way to India. After extensive travels in that country he sailed for Maskat in 1624, and returned to Europe viâ Bassora and Aleppo. His voyages, the publication of which was completed at Rome after his death in 1652, contain many interesting particulars concerning the countries through which he passed.

The above were private adventurers, but others of the number held more or less official positions as envoys to the courts of Eastern monarchs. Such was Sir Thomas Roe, whose embassy to the court of the Great Mogul in the interests of British trade has already been referred to. Roe, who had previously made a voyage up the Amazon and on the coast of Guiana, was one of the most capable agents employed by the East India Company. He arrived at Swally Road in September, 1615, and after much obstruction on the part of the authorities, made his way to the court of Jehangir at Ajmere before the end of the year, passing through Burhanpur, where he suffered a severe attack of fever. He spent nearly three years in wearisome negociations with the Emperor and his ministers, and his journal, first published by Purchas, contains, besides the narrative of his journey, much valuable information as to the events then going forward in India. During Roe's residence in India, Edward Terry, an Oxford graduate—who had sailed in 1616 in one of the East India Company's fleets, and who, after his return to Europe, also wrote an account of his experiences—joined him as chaplain. Another of the Company's servants who travelled in India at this time was William Methold, who in 1622 visited the diamond mines of Golconda, and gave the first account of them ever published by an English writer.

Sir Thomas Roe.

Persia, too, was the goal of various embassies during the early part of the seventeenth century. In 1599 Sir Anthony Shirley, a relative by marriage of the Earl of Essex, had received from the latter an informal mission to that country, whither he proceeded with his brother Robert by the overland route viâ Aleppo so often followed at this time. Sir Anthony soon returned to Europe, where (having fallen into disfavour in England) he wandered from one court to another, sometimes well received but finally discredited.^[1] Robert (afterwards Sir Robert) Shirley stayed longer in Persia, and subsequently undertook various embassies, on behalf of the Shah, to the countries of Europe, including Great Britain, where he was well received by James I. He returned to Persia for the last time in 1627 in company with the English agent Sir Dodmore Cotton, but was coldly received on his arrival at Kasvin, and died shortly afterwards. Cotton had another companion on his mission to Persia, whose account of his travels attained considerable celebrity. This was Sir Thomas Herbert, who after reaching Kasvin (where Cotton too died), made extensive journeys in Persia, afterwards visiting India and Ceylon, whence he returned to Europe in 1627, by Mauritius and St Helena. His narrative contains many curious observations on the countries visited, and the objects of interest observed. Among the latter was the dodo, Herbert's quaint account of which is one of the earliest we possess.

[1 The Emperor Rudolf II, by whom he was well received at Prague, despatched him in 1605 on a mission to the court of Morocco, an account of which appeared in 1609.]

The next embassy to Persia which need detain us was that sent through Russia by the Duke of Holstein in 1633, with a view to opening up a trade with the East for his subjects. The secretary to the ambassadors was the celebrated Adam Olearius, while another of the party was J.A. de Mandelslo, an intimate friend of the former and previously page to the Duke. The ambassadors proceeded no further than Persia, but Mandelslo, who had obtained leave to go on to India, embarked at Ormuz in 1638, and landing at Surat, travelled first to Agra, and afterwards made the voyage to Goa and Ceylon, returning to Europe by the Cape. The account of his journeys was published after his death (1644), from his letters, by Olearius, as a supplement to the latter's own description of Russia and Persia. It contained information collected by Mandelslo respecting countries of the East not visited by him personally, and in a subsequent edition was enlarged by the addition of extraneous matter. Both Olearius and Mandelslo were men of education, and made astronomical observations during their journeys. In the second half of the century a Russian embassy to Persia was accompanied by a Spaniard, Don Pedro Cubero, who likewise visited India but returned to Europe by the Philippines and Mexico, publishing an account of his nine years' travels at Madrid in 1680. The Swedish embassy to the same country in 1683, under Louis Fabricius, may also be mentioned here. It is noteworthy through the part taken in it by the celebrated traveller Engelbrecht Kaempfer, a German physician and naturalist, who after crossing Persia to Gombrun joined a Dutch fleet as surgeon (1688), visited north and south India and Batavia, and thence went to Japan, where he remained three years, collecting valuable material for an account of that country. After his return to Europe in 1693 he published an account of his travels under the title Amoenitates Exoticae, which appeared in 1712. His history of Japan, the best known of his works, was published, after his death, from his MSS.

The work of missionary travellers to the far East will be spoken of in another chapter, but the journeys of one of their number, as concerned also with western Asia, may be suitably touched upon here. Père Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit, started for the Indies in 1618, and a few years later was sent to labour in Cochin China. Here and in Tongking he maintained an uphill fight for many years against difficulties and persecutions, until finally obliged to abandon the country. After visiting the Archipelago he returned to Europe through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, returning in 1660 to Persia, where he died. He published an account of his travels in 1653.

As time went on, travellers to the East became more and more numerous, and only the most famous can be briefly mentioned. Jean Baptiste Tavernier, the son of a Dutch map-seller settled in Paris, began his extensive travels by visiting most of the countries of Europe, and in 1631 joined a caravan to Persia, where his trading ventures met with such success that he devoted himself for the future to eastern commerce, buying diamonds and other precious stones to dispose of in Europe. After various journeys he fell ill on the Volga and died at Moscow in 1689. His Voyages, published in Paris in 1677-79, are a valuable authority on the trade and trade-routes of the East at the time, and especially on the diamond and other mines of India. Another famous French traveller, François Bernier, started for the East in 1654, and after visiting Syria and Egypt made his way to India, where he resided some years as physician to Aurungzeb. His accounts of the political affairs of the Mogul empire, first published in 1670-71, give a valuable insight into the events of the time, while his description of Kashmir, which he visited himself, is the earliest, in any detail, that we possess.

Jean de Thévenot, nephew of the celebrated collector of travels, Melchisedek Thévenot (himself, too, a traveller of some note), made two extensive tours in the East, and died at Tauris in 1667 on his final return from India through Persia. His travels were afterwards published at Paris in 1684. Sir John Chardin, who, like Tavernier, was interested in the diamond trade, was the son of a Paris jeweller. During two separate visits to the East, he resided many years in Persia, and paid some attention to its antiquities and history. He was knighted by Charles II during a residence in London, where he commenced the publication of his memoirs in 1686. The list may be closed with the name of Dr John Fryer, a Cambridge graduate, who between 1672 and 1682 travelled through India and Persia in the interests of the East India Company, and wrote a New account of East India and Persia (1698), one of the most readable descriptions of India in the seventeenth century that we have.

A word or two must be devoted in conclusion to European travellers in Further India during this period. The establishment of English trade in Siam has already been spoken of. The Dutch too devoted some attention to that country as well as to the neighbouring kingdom of Cambodia, and their agents are said even to have made journeys into the Laos countries on the Mekong. After the early attempts of Père de Rhodes to found a mission in Cochin China, these regions were the scene of much missionary enterprise on the part of the French Jesuits. Between 1660 and 1662, three bishops in turn set out for Siam and the first and third of these, Mgr de la Mothe, bishop of Beirut, and Mgr Pallu, bishop of Persepolis, reached their destination in safety, taking the overland route to the Persian Gulf, crossing India to Masulipatam, and the Malay Peninsula near Tenasserim. The overland passage from the Bay of Bengal to Siam viâ Tenasserim, though involving many difficulties, was often used at the time—among others by the servants of the East India Company. It led up the Tenasserim river to Jelunga, whence it crossed the watershed and debouched near the north-west corner of the Gulf of Siam. An account of the journey of Mgr de la Mothe was written by his companion M. de Bourges in 1666 while Pallu, who after returning to France went out again in 1670-73, published an account of his own journeys in 1682. Other missionaries soon made their way to Siam, but French intercourse with the country was not kept up only by these, for various embassies were about this time exchanged between Louis XIV and the king of Siam. The first French mission was headed (1685) by the Chevalier de Chaumont, in whose company various ecclesiastics sailed, including the Jesuit Tachard, and five others of his order destined for China. Two accounts of the embassy were written, one by the Jesuit just mentioned. In 1687-88 another French embassy reached Siam under M. de la Loubère, whose account of the country, published in 1691, is the best that has come down to us from this period. M. Tachard made the voyage a second time with La Loubère, and again published an account of his experiences. After this second embassy, French interest in the affairs of Siam seems to have declined.

For the neighbouring countries on the east coast of Further India the various missionary reports, beginning with those of Pere de Rhodes, contain the best contemporary information. Many of the later accounts of the Jesuits were included in the Lettres Édifiantes et Curieuses of Legobien and Du Halde.