Chapter II: Part 2

At his departure from Canton, he left the affairs of the Portuguese so arranged that their trade with the Chinese might be carried on securely and peacefully, and with profit to both parties. His brother, Simon d'Andrade, received from the king a commission to make another voyage to China, and departed in April 1518 from Malacca. Upon his arrival in August in the harbour of Tamu, he found that the Portuguese ambassador, Thomas Pires, had not yet left Canton, as, in spite of three applications, no order had yet been received from the court to escort him thither. At length the order came, and Pires went in the beginning of January 1520 by water as far as the mountain range Malenschwang, thence to Nankin, where the emperor was, who ordered him to Pekin, where he himself usually resided on account of the nearness of the Tartars, with whom he was continually at war. In January 1521, the emperor came there, and immediately dismissed the embassy. He had received unfavourable accounts of the Portuguese from the authorities at Canton and Nankin, whom the King of Bintang had influenced by an emissary; they told the emperor that, under the pretext of trading, the Portuguese explored the country with the view of taking it by force of arms, and that in this way they had made themselves masters of India and Malacca. Pires therefore was admitted no more into the palace. Meanwhile the emperor fell ill and died, and the counsellors of his successor were of opinion that Pires and all his companions should be put to death as spies. The emperor however ordered the ambassador, real or pretended, to be sent back to Canton with the presents, and to be kept in custody there until answer should be received from the Portuguese authorities at Malacca. Until then no Portuguese or Portuguese merchandise was to be admitted into the empire. The emperor further commanded that the king of Malacca, who was an ally of the emperor, and who had been driven out by the Portuguese, should be restored.

The severe conditions imposed upon the Portuguese by the emperor are not to be wondered at, for all the accounts which he had received from his authorities respecting them were prejudicial, and Simon d'Andrade himself gave frequent occasion for complaint by inconsiderate or unjust regulations, contrary both to the laws and to the received opinions of the country, and provoked the Chinese against the Portuguese; and even his personal behaviour seems to have been calculated to provoke animosity.[5] At last a hot encounter took place between the Portuguese and Chinese ships, during which, fortunately for the Portuguese, a storm arose, which scattered the Chinese fleet and favoured the flight of the Portuguese, so that they happily reached Malacca at the end of October.

Thomas Pires meanwhile was, upon his arrival in Canton, thrown into prison with all his companions, and died in chains; the presents which he had brought with him were stolen. The letters, which two or three years afterwards arrived from the prisoners, contained lamentable descriptions of the oppressions they had to endure, and of the robberies which were committed in foreign ships, upon the pretence that they had Portuguese on board. The great stores of valuable merchandize, gold and silver from India, were entirely lost. Mendoza does not complete the tale of Pires's adventures, but some interesting details are given by Remusat in his _Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques_, page 205, tom. ii.

The next Portuguese adventurer who comes within the range of our special notice, is Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, who from the apparent extravagance of his accounts became proverbial as an accomplished romancer. Congreve, in his _Love for Love_, makes Foresight thus address Sir Sampson Legend: "Ferdinand Mendez Pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude." Like most of his predecessors, however, in early travel, he has by this time recovered much of his forfeited reputation, and, as in their case, some of his most remarkable statements have been confirmed by more recent explorations. Being compelled to leave his country from some accident, which he describes as casting "him into manifest peril of his life", he took to the sea. The chances of his life led him to Abyssinia, and subsequently along the coast of Arabia to India. With his adventures in these countries we have here nothing to do, but pass at once to the circumstances under which he was thrown upon the coast of China. At Goa, Pinto hired himself as a soldier to Pedro de Faria, who was proceeding as governor to Malacca. In this employ he was selected as Portuguese agent in the company of the ambassador of the Battas, on the return of the latter to Sumatra from his complimentary visit to Faria, at Malacca, the seat of government. Here he fell in with one Antonio de Faria, with whom he joined in a great commercial expedition to be sent up the Gulf of Siam.

We pass over various romantic adventures with pirates, described in his narrative, especially those with one Coja Acem, a native of Guzerat, and an implacable enemy of the Portuguese, whom Faria at length overcame in a desperate encounter. The adventurers then sailed to Liampoo (Ning-po), where Faria gained intelligence of an island called Calempluy, in which were the tombs of seventeen kings of China, all of gold, and containing great treasure of various descriptions. This place they sought and reached, and having plundered, loaded their ships with the treasure. About a month after they had put to sea, they were wrecked in a furious gale in the Gulf of Nanking, and fourteen of the Portuguese alone escaped with their lives. The Chinese gave the shipwrecked pirates but a harsh reception; they were first thrust into a pond where they were almost devoured by leeches, and were afterwards sent with other criminals to Nanking, where they were punished with a severe whipping. They were subsequently sent to Peking, also chained together in parties of three, and on their arrival received thirty lashes apiece by way of welcome. Pinto gives an animated account of the magnificence of these two great capitals, but splendid as the objects he observed in them were, they would scarcely bear comparison with those which presented themselves along the great rivers and canals. The multitude of cities, together with the abundance which here prevailed, was almost incredible. The immense concourse of boats at the time of the great fairs, the mode of rearing water-fowl, their plan of hatching eggs by artificial heat, the industry and regularity of populace, and their fashion of eating with chop-sticks, are detailed with great exactness. Upon the whole, his remarks leave no doubt, we think, of the truth of his having been an eye-witness of what he records. Upon the subsequent occurrences of his eventful life, and his final return to Lisbon in 1558, we shall not here dwell, but proceed to the consideration of the next in order on our list of European travellers to China.

Among a series of letters in Spanish, received in 1555 from various Jesuits in the East, and appended to the 1561 edition of Francisco Alvarez's _Historia de Ethiopia_, occurs an account of some matters regarding the customs and laws of the kingdom of China, which a man (who was a captive there for six years) related at Malacca, in the college of the Jesuits. This valuable account, we believe, has never before appeared in English, and is here translated.

"The Chinese build their towns in the strongest situations, near
rapid rivers, and chiefly at the curves, in order that they may
serve in part for enclosures; and if the towns are half a league in
circuit, they build walls of a league in extent, so that in case of
war they may hold a considerable number of defenders. The towns are
walled with stone built in mortar, for the most part; some,
especially the large towns, have very strong brick walls. They
contain very large buildings, and bridges of half a league, all of
stone excellently wrought, and there are blocks in them so large
that it appears impossible for men to have raised and set them by
any contrivance. One of the things that surprised us much, was to
see eight columns, upon which the government palace is built, in a
town where we were for three years. We measured these columns, and
two men stretching their arms round them did not touch each other;
they appeared to us to be sixty feet high, little more or less; and
it is very strange that men should have been able to raise them and
place them where they are. The houses which are upon them are very
high, all of wood, painted and gilded. An officer resides there who
collects the revenue of the province, and there are similar ones in
the other provinces. Each of these houses is separately enclosed by
walls, within which they are accustomed to plant trees and make
very pleasant gardens, with all kinds of fruit, which the Chinese
are exceedingly fond of, and also of having ponds at their houses
in which they breed fish for their amusement.

"What is generally considered by the nobility and principal men as
the greatest distinction, is to erect edifices in front of their
gates, in way of an arch going from one side of the street to the
other, so that the people pass underneath; some build them of
stone, others of wood, with all kinds of painting, colours of gold
and blue, with pictures of various birds and other things that may
gratify the sight of the passers by. And they are so curious and
vain in this particular, that he who goes to the greatest expense
therein, is thought most of amongst them. On the border of the
arches are the name and arms of him who caused them to be erected,
in letters of gold and blue.

"The houses are covered with glazed tiles of many colours, and the
woodwork is much wrought. The streets are very well made and paved
with stone, and the highways are all raised. I say this because
they took us from that town (where we had been prisoners for three
years), and we went one hundred and twenty days' journey, without
going out of the kingdom, and found all the roads raised and even;
and several times when we passed rivers and inquired if most of the
roads that ran forward were similar, we were told that they were,
and that it was a four months' journey to reach the court of the
king, and the roads were all alike. They treated us very well on
the journey, giving us sumpter beasts and every thing necessary.

"In all the towns there is a street of very noble houses built by
order of the king, in which the officers who perform the service of
visitation lodge. These officers are commissioned with the royal
authority over the governing presidents (who are called in their
language Taquoan). The governors of provinces and those who hold
any command, are chosen for their learning and great prudence,
without regard to anything else, and if the sons are as able as
their fathers they succeed them in their offices, otherwise they
are not admitted by the king into his service. The special
governors of the towns are obliged to sit to hear and do justice to
all, every morning until midday, and after having dined till
sunset.

"Officers of the court come twice every year, by command of the
king, to make a stay in all the towns, principally to see if the
governors do their duty well, and to remove them at once and put
others in their place, if they are tyrannical, or oppress the
people, or perform their functions ill. These officers examine all
the walls, and if they are in bad condition, order them to be
repaired. They afterwards inquire concerning the royal revenues and
the expenses of the towns, moderating them if they are excessive.
He who gives out money at usury loses it (if proved), and,
moreover, incurs further punishment. In the towns where these
officers come, they cause public notice to be given, in order that
those who are aggrieved by any injustice may come before them.

"In the town I was speaking of there are six governors, one of whom
takes precedence; and there are also six others whose business it
is to collect the revenues, and one of them is obliged to watch the
town every night with his men, that thieves may not disturb the
people. Others take care to close the gates, which are very strong
and fortified with iron. The governors and magistrates of every
town are charged to write every moon, to the court of the king, an
account of what takes place; and each has to write separately, that
it may be seen if they concert what they write, and whether they
speak truth; for those who lie to the king incur the punishment of
death; wherefore they dread much to state anything false in their
accounts. No man governs in his native place, where he has
relations, that he may do justice to all without respect of
persons.

"In the principal towns are many strong gaols; we being prisoners
were distributed in six of them. There are prisoners for various
crimes; the most serious with them is murder. The prisoners are
numerous, because the towns are populous; in every gaol there are
three, four, or five hundred of them. A native of the town, where
we were, told us, that in it alone there might be at that time more
than eight thousand prisoners; and that was because it was a
principal town, where those of the neighbouring places were
assembled together. In every gaol there is a book of the prisoners
therein, whom the gaoler counts every night. In that where I was,
sometimes there were three hundred prisoners, at others four
hundred; and although I did not see the other gaols, it appears to
me from this, that there might be as many prisoners as they told
me.

"The serious crimes go to the court; and for those who come from
thence sentenced to death, the king gives power to the governors of
the towns--if, upon a re-examination of the case, from being nearer
where the offence was committed, they should find them less
guilty--to spare their lives, and condemn them to banishment, or to
the king's service, for so many years, or for their whole life.
They take all possible pains to avoid condemning any to death. It
can scarcely be expressed how much the king is feared by his
subjects: they call him god and king for the strict government and
justice that he maintains in his kingdom, which is necessary from
the people being bad and malicious.

"In their ancient books they find that at a certain time, white men
with long beards are to take their kingdom of China; on this
account they are so careful of the walls and of fortifying the
towns; and the officers make a muster of the soldiers, they receive
and examine them to see if they are good soldiers; they do the same
with the cavalry; and to those who excel they give rewards
according to their personal qualities, putting also in their heads
a branch with gold and silver leaves, as a sign of honour; but
those who do not satisfy them they dismiss, paying them their hire
and giving them the money with reproachful words.

"The people of China are, in general, neither brave nor skilful,
nor have they any natural inclination for warlike affairs; if they
maintain themselves it is by the multitude of the people, the
strength of the walls and towns, and the provision of ammunition.
At the boundary of the kingdom of China, where it borders on the
Tartars, there is a wall of wondrous strength, of a month's journey
in extent, where the king keeps a great military force in the
bulwarks. Where this walls comes upon mountains, they cut them in
such a manner that they remain and serve as a wall; for the Tartars
are very brave and skilful in war. At the time we were prisoners,
they broke through a part of the wall and entered into the
territory within for a month and a half's journey; but as the king
prepared great armies of men provided with artful contrivances (in
which the Chinese are very crafty), he kept back the Tartars, who
fight on horse-back. As their horses had become weak and were dying
of hunger, one of the Chinese officers commanded a large quantity
of peas to be placed in the fields, and thus it was that the horses
(being so hungry as they were) set themselves to eat against the
will of their masters; and in this manner the army of the king of
China put them in disorder and turned to drive them out. And now a
strict watch is kept on the wall.

"They make great feasts in the provinces of the kingdom of China,
every year on the king's birthday; and in the government palaces of
every town, in a hall covered with an awning, and having the walls
and the floor ornamented with very rich coloured cloths, they place
a seat painted of the same colour. This hall has three doors, and
it is the custom of the officers of the towns to enter by any one
of them, on foot like any other man, without taking anything with
him, and without a sunshade before him; in passing they make
obeisance by seven or eight genuflexions, as if the king were
sitting on the seat. Having finished, they go to their houses, and
at this time enter on foot and by any door; for except on this day
they only enter by the middle door and in very rich litters, in
which their servants carry them. They hold it for greater dignity
to go in these litters than on horseback, taking one or two persons
on the right for state, and a sunshade on foot before them, like
those which they use in India.

"They make another very great feast on the first day of the year,
which is the day upon which we celebrate the feast of the
Circumcision. These feasts last three days; on every one of which
they represent scenes by day and night, for they are much addicted
to the performance of farces. On these three days the gates of the
town are closed, because from much eating and drinking the people
are at times beside themselves. They make other very great feasts
when the king nominates his son for his heir; upon which day, they
declared to me, they release all the prisoners, even those
sentenced to death. At the time that we were prisoners, there came
news that the king intended to make his son a king, upon which the
prisoners in all the gaols rejoiced much.

"These great kingdoms of China are divided by the same king into
fifteen provinces, and in every one of them there is a chief town,
where there is a governor, who is changed every three years; in
these chief towns the treasure of the king, from the revenue of all
the province, is collected. The privilege for those who shall
betake themselves to the chief town is, that for crimes which they
have committed elsewhere they cannot be taken; and the reason of
this privilege is, that as they are continually carrying on war
with the Tartars and with other kings, if they did not afford this
security these persons would pass over to the enemy.

"It has been, and still is, the custom to write everything
remarkable and worthy of remembrance on large stones on the
highways, and in the same places where they occurred, principally
in the towns at the government palaces, where the officers reside.
These antiquities are written in the open courts, many of them in
letters of gold; and the noblemen and men of quality are very
curious to read them, and fond of talking of remarkable actions,
and of the dignity and achievements of the former kings.

"I have heard much of the grandeur of these kingdoms, and seen
somewhat (although little), which to those who have no knowledge of
China would scarcely appear true; wherefore I only speak of those
things that are most common among the people, leaving the rest to
time, which will discover them. The noblest and most populous town
is one where the king resides, which is called Paquin; the natives
(for I did not see it) say that it takes seven days to traverse it
by a direct road, and thirteen to go round it. It is surrounded by
three enclosures and a very copious river, which entirely
encompasses it, forming, as it were, the interior enclosure.
Marvellous things are reported of the riches and structure of the
royal residence; the designs are taken from many provinces of the
same kingdom, none being allowed to go out of it. Before entering
the palaces seven or eight very strong gates have to be passed,
where there are very tall and stout men for guards. The king
(according to what they say) never goes out of that town, and
everything he eats is produced within the walls; he does not go to
the outer enclosures; and they say he is never seen except by those
who attend upon him, who are all eunuchs, sons of noblemen, and who
when once they enter there into the residence, never more depart
from it until death. The king has noblemen about him, very learned
and of great prudence, with whom he transacts all the business of
the kingdom. And these also never go without the enclosure on any
account; they are called Vlaos. The manner of choosing them for
that dignity is this: when there is a vacancy, the king inquires
for some one distinguished in learning and for discretion, and
inclined to justice; if there be one who is commonly held of this
reputation, he orders him to be summoned from any province of the
kingdom where he may be, and invests him with the office of Vlaos.

"The Chinese observe much exactness in their courtesies and great
neatness in their apparel, both men and women; they generally go
very well dressed, from the quantity of silk there is in the
kingdom.

"The soil is very productive of necessaries, fruits, and very
singular waters; there are very pleasant gardens, and all kinds of
game and hunting. The Chinese touch no food with their hands, but
all, both small and great, eat with two little sticks for
cleanliness.

"Their temples are very large edifices, richly wrought, which they
call Valeras, and which cost a great deal, for the statues, which
are of large size, are all covered with beaten gold. The roof of
the temples is gilded, and the walls ornamented with boards well
wrought and painted in pictures. They are skilful workmen in
carpentry. In these temples there are priests (who are obliged to
remain in them always), with an appointed income. They eat neither
flesh nor fish, only herbs, principally beledas, and some fruits;
on certain days they fast. If they do anything that they ought not,
they are driven out and allowed to be priests no longer, and others
are put in their place.

"No man can go from one province to another without taking a
licence of the governor, and he who is found without one is
punished; and no traveller can be (by law of the kingdom) more than
three or four days in a town where he has not business; there is a
man whose office it is to go about looking to this, and if any such
is found, he is taken up, for they presume him to be a thief and a
man of bad life. And so every one is accustomed to have some
occupation, and to hold some office, even the sons of the officers
and nobles. All employ their sons, of whatever condition they may
be, setting them to read and write, which they vnderstand
generally. Others put them to trade, and they are also in the habit
of placing their sons with officers and noblemen, that they may
learn how to serve. The officers are waited on with much
veneration; all who speak to them do so with genuflexions, and
whatever they have to ask for must be done in writing.

"The sentences which the officers pronounce are conformable to the
laws of the kingdom; they judge according to the truth of the
matter, which they inquire into themselves, without taking account
of what the parties say; and so they are very correct in affairs of
justice, for fear of the visitation, which, they say, is made every
six months. Their years have twelve moons, and every three years
they add to the year one moon, and thus it has thirteen.

"The people of any consequence wear black silk for their dress,
because coloured is held dishonourable for clothing; so much so,
that no one dares to go before any officer or person of quality
without a black dress; and if he has gone away from home with a
coloured cloak, and he happens to have to speak to any officer, he
takes a black cloak from some acquaintance whom he meets, and
leaves him his own while he transacts his business. The common
people always speak to the nobles cap in hand, and they may not
wear black cloaks, but only very short coloured ones. The officers
wear a kind of cap, different from other people, for a certain
dignity is kept up amongst them as with us. In these caps they have
tufts made of horsehair, stuck on every part. The king wears the
same, except that they say he has two points cross-wise at the top.

"They praise and extol the richness of the king's dress, which they
say is always of the colour of heaven. The officers, on the
principal feasts, on the first day of January and at the beginning
of the moon, dress themselves richly in coloured damask, and on the
breast and back of the vesture they bear a stag and an eagle, very
naturally embroidered, for they are clever designers. These
garments look very well; they reach within a hand's breadth of the
ground, and have very long, large, and wide sleeves. They wear
boots of a blackish colour, with soles of white cloth strong as
boards.

"The officers and nobles, at the death of father or mother or a
very near relation, wear white dresses, very cross and rough; and
they gird themselves with a girdle as thick as the leg, which
reaches to the ground, as does the dress also. Attached to the cap,
they wear another thinner cord. When the deceased are less nearly
related, they also clothe themselves all in white, from the shoes
to the cap, but not so coarse and rough.

"These are the matters that are most commonly seen and known in
China, where we were prisoners six years; other very remarkable
things that we heard tell of I omit, because I did not see them,
and because it appears to me that every day will discover more and
more."

The next account of China is by Gaspar da Cruz, a native of Evora, and one of the order of Friars Preachers; he is thus described by Barbosa Machado, in his _Biblioteca Lusitana_.

"Inflamed with an holy ardour of announcing the gospel to distant
barbarians, who were given to idolatry, he set sail in the year 1548
with twelve companions, of whom the Friar Diego Bernardo was
vicar-general, to the East Indies; and after building a convent at
Goa, and another at Malacca, he penetrated as far as the kingdom of
Camboya; but as the fruits of his labours did not correspond with
his desires, he resolved upon passing on to China in the year 1556,
being the first missionary who illuminated its inhabitants with the
light of the faith, and had the glory of being the precursor of all
those gospel labourers, who with so much labour and expenditure of
blood cultivated that wild but extensive vineyard. He spent many
years in this laborous undertaking, and several times incurred the
risk of his life, especially on one occasion when, in a sumptuous
pagoda, he threw down a multitude of idols, but at the same time
confounded and silenced by the vehement efficacy of his preaching
the greatest masters of Paganism. He returned to his country in
1569, and was nominated by King Sebastian, bishop of Malacca, but
this dignity he did not accept. He died in 1570, through exposing
himself in charitable exertions to assist the sufferers in a plague
which then raged at Lisbon."

The narrative of his travels was published in black letter at Evora in 1569-70, 4to., under the title of "Tractado em que se contam muito por estenso as cousas de China con suas particularidades y assi do Regno dormuz." In the preface reference is made to a narrative of China by a fellow-countryman, one Francisco Henriques, but he appears merely to refer to him as having presented this relation to Sebastian I, King of Portugal, which seems to have been an unpublished manuscript. An abbreviated translation of the narrative of his travels is given by Purchas, in which he mentions "the storie of certaine Portugals, prisoners in China," one of which he nameth Galotti Perera, from whom he received great part of his Chinese intelligence. He is also referred to by Mendoza, in the first chapter of the second book, as one from whom he "follows many things in the process of his historie." This person is mentioned by Barbosa Machado under the name of Galeoti Pereyra, brother of Ruy Pereira I, first Count of Feyra, and as being captive in Funchien in China. His account appears to have been first printed in Italian at Venice, from the original Portuguese MS., and an English translation by R. Willes was given by Richard Eden in his _Historye of Travaile in the West and East Indies._ As this, though comparatively short, preceded the narrative of Mendoza now reprinted, and formed the main basis of the account of Gaspar da Cruz, we think it right to supply the reader with copious extracts from it, as being for these reasons a highly important and interesting document. They are as follows:

"This land of China is parted into 13 shyres, the which sometymes
were eche one a kyngdome by it selfe, but these many years they
haue been all subject unto one kyng. Fuquien is made by the
Portugalles the first shyre, bycause there their troubles bygan,
and had occasion thereby to know the rest. In this shyre be viii
cities, but one principally more famous than others, called
Fuquico, the other seuen are reasonably great, the best known
whereof unto the Portugalles is Cinceo, in respect of a certain
hauen ioyning thereunto, whyther in tyme past they were wont for
merchandyse to resort.

"Cantan is the second shyre, not so great in quantitie, as well
accoumpted of, both by the kyng thereof and also by the
Portugalles, for that it lyeth nearer vnto Malacca than any other
part of China, and was first discryed by the Portugalles before any
other shyre in that prouince: this shyre hath in it seuen cities.

"Chequeam is the third shyre, the chiefest citie therein is
Donchion, therein also standeth Liampo, with other thirtiene or
fourtiene boroughes: countrey townes therein to many to be spoken
of.

"The fourth shyre is called Xutiamfu, the principall citie therof
is great Pachin, where the kyng is alwayes resident. In it are
fyftiene other very great cities: of other townes therein, and
boroughes well walled and trenched about, I will say nothing.

"The fyft shyre hath name Chelim: the great citie Nanquin, chiefe
of other fyftiene cities, was herein of auncient tyme the royall
seate of the Chinish kynges. From this shyre, and from the
aforesayde Chequeam forwarde, bare rule the other kynges, untyll
the whole region became one kyngdome.

"The sixt shyre beareth name Quianci, as also the principall citie
thereof, wherein the fyne claye to make vessels is wrought. The
Portugalles beyng ignorant of this countrey, and fyndyng great
abundaunce of that fyne claye to be solde at Liampo, and that very
good cheape, thought at the first that it had been made there;
howbeit, in fine, they perceiued that the standing of Quinzi, more
neare unto Liampo than to Cinceo or Cantan, was the cause of so
muche fine clay at Liampo: within the compasse of Quinci shyre be
other 12 cities.

"The seuenth shyre is Quicini, the eight Quansi, the nienth Confu,
the tenth Vrnan, the eleuenth Sichiua. In the first hereof there be
16 cities, in the next fyftiene: howe many townes the other three
haue we are ignorant as yet, as also of the proper names of the 12
and 13 shyres and the townes therein.

"This, finally, may be generally sayde heereof, that the greater
shyres in China prouince may be compared with mightie kyngdomes.

"In eche one of these shyres be set Ponchiassini and Anchiassini,
before whom are handled the matters of other cities. There is also
placed in eche one a Tutan, as you would say a gouernor, and a
Chian, that is a visitor, as it were, whose office is to goe in
circuit and to see iustice exactly done. By these meanes so
upryghtly thinges are ordered there, that it may bee worthely
accompted one of the best gouerned prouinces in all the world.

"The king maketh alwayes his abode in the great citie Pachin, as
muche as to say in our language, as by the name thereof I am
aduertised, the towne of the kyngdome. This kyngdome is so large,
that vnder fyue monethes you are not able to traueyle from the
townes by the sea syde to the court and backe agayne, no not vnder
three monethes in poste at your vrgent businesse. The posthorses in
this countrey are litle of bodie, but swyfte of foote. Many doe
traueyle the greater parte of this iourney by water in certayne
lyght barkes, for the multitude of ryuers commodious for passage
from one citie to another.

"The kyng, notwithstandyng the hugenesse of his kyngdome, hath such
a care thereof, that every moone (by the moones they reckon their
monethes) he is aduertised fully of whatsoeuer thing happeneth
therein, by these meanes folowyng.

"The whole prouince beyng diuided into shyres, and eche shyre
hauyng in it one chiefe and principall citie, whereunto the matters
of all the other cities, townes, and boroughes are brought, there
are drawen in euery chiefe citie aforesayde, intelligences of suche
thinges as doe monethely fall out, and be sent in writing to the
court. If happely in one moneth euery post is not able to goe so
long a way, yet doeth there notwithstandyng once euery moneth
arryue one post out of the shyre. Who so commeth before the newe
moone, stayeth for the deliuery of his letters vntyll the moone be
chaunged. Then lykewyse are dispatched other postes backe into all
the 13 shyres agayne.

"Before that we doe come to Cinceo we have to passe through many
places, and some of great importance. For this countrey is so well
inhabited neare the sea syde, that you cannot go one myle but you
shall see some towne, borough, or hostry, the which are so
abundantly provided of all thinges, that in the cities and townes
they liue ciuily. Nevertheles such as dwel abrode are very poore,
for the multitude of them euery where is so great, that out of a
tree you shal see many tymes swarme a number of children where a
man would not haue thought to haue founde any one at all.

"From these places in number infinite, you shall come vnto two
cities very populose, and beyng compared with Cinceo, not possibly
to be discerned which is the greater of them. These cities are as
well walled as any cities in all the worlde. As you come in to
eyther of them, standeth so great and mightie a brydge, that the
lyke thereof I haue neuer seene in Portugall nor els where. I heard
one of my felowes say, that he told in one bridge 40 arches. The
occasion wherefore these bridges are made so great, is for that the
countrey is toward the sea very plaine and low, and ouerwhelmed
euer as ye sea water encreaseth. The breadth of the bridges,
although it bee well proportioned vnto the length therof, yet are
they equally buylt, no higher in the middle than at eyther end, in
such wyse that you may directly see from ye one end to the other,
the sydes are wonderfully well engraved after the maner of Rome
workes. But that we did most marueyle at, was therewithall the
hugenesse of ye stones, the lyke wherof as we came into the citie,
we dyd see many set up in places dishabited by the way, to no small
charges of theyrs, howbeit to little purpose, whereas no body seeth
them but such as doe come bye. The arches are not made after our
fashion, vauted with sundry stones set togeather; but paved, as it
were, whole stones reaching from one piller to an other, in suche
wyse that they lye both for the arches heades and galantly serue
also for the hygh waye. I haue been astunned to beholde the
hugenesse of these aforesayde stones, some of them are XII pases
long and upwarde, the least a XII good pases long, and a halfe.

"The wayes echewhere are galantly paued with foure square stone,
except it be where for want of stone they vse to laye bricke: in
this voyage wee traueyled ouer certayne hilles, where the wayes
were pitched, and in many places no worse paued than in the playne
grounde. This causeth us to thinke, that in all the worlde there be
no better workemen for buildinges than the inhabitantes of China.

"The countrey is so well inhabited, that no one foote of ground is
left untilled; small store of cattell haue we seene this way, we
sawe onely certayne oxen wherewithall the countreymen doe plough
theyr grounde. One oxe draweth the plough alone, not onely in this
shyre, but in other places also wherein is greater store of
cattell. These countrymen by arte doe that in tyllage which we are
constrayned to doe by force. Here be solde the voydinges of close
stooles, although there wanteth not the dunge of beastes; and the
excrements of man are good marchandise throughout all China. The
dungfermers seeke in euery streete by exchange to buye this durtie
ware for hearbes and wood. The custome is very good for keepyng the
citie cleane. There is great aboundance of hennes, geese, duckes,
swyne, and goates; wethers haue they none: the hennes are solde by
weight, and so are all other thinges. Two pounde of hennes fleshe,
goose, or ducke, is worth two Foi of their money, that is, _d. ob._
sterling. Swines flesh is solde at a peny the pounde. Beefe beareth
the same pryce, for the scarcitie thereof; howbeit northwarde from
Fuquieo, and farther of from the sea coast, there is beefe more
plentie and solde better cheape; beefe onely excepted, great
aboundance of all these viandes we haue had in all the cities we
passed through. And if this countrey were lyke vnto India, the
inhabitants whereof eate neyther henne, beefe, nor porke, but keepe
that onely for the Portugalles and Moores, they would be solde here
for nothing. But it so fallyng out that the Chineans are the
greatest eaters in all the world, they doe feede uppon all thinges,
specially on porke, the fatter that is, vnto them the lesse
lothsome. The highest price of these thinges aforesayde I haue set
downe, better cheape shall you sometymes buye them, for the great
plentie thereof in this countrey. Frogges are solde at the same
price that is made of hennes, and are good meate amongst them, as
also dogges, cattes, rattes, snakes, and all other vncleane meates.

"The cities be very gallant, specially near vnto the gates, the
which are marueylously great, and couered with iron. The gatehouses
buylt on hygh with towers, the lower parte thereof is made of
bricke and stone, proportionally with the walles; from the walles
vpward, the buyldyng is of tymber, and many stones in it one aboue
the other. The strength of theyr townes is in the mightie walles
and ditches, artillarie haue they none.

"The streetes in Cinceo, and in all the rest of the cities we haue
seene are very fayre, so large and so streight that it is
wonderfull to beholde. Theyr houses are buylt with tymber, the
foundations onely excepted, the which are layd with stone; in eche
syde of the streetes are paynteles or continuall porches for the
marchantes to walke vnder: the breadth of the streete is
neuerthelesse suche, that in them XV men may ryde commodiously syde
by syde. As they ryde they must needes passe vnder many hygh arches
of triumph that crosse ouer the streetes made of tymber, and carued
diuersely, couered with tyle of fine claye: vnder these arches the
mercers doe vtter theyr small wares, and such as lyst to stande
there, are defended from rayne and the heate of the sunne. The
greater gentlemen haue these arches at their doores, although some
of them be not so myghtyly buylt as the rest.

"I shall haue occasion to speake of a certayne order of gentlemen
that are called Loutea; I will first therefore expound what this
worde signifieth. Loutea is as muche to say in our language as Syr,
and when any of them calleth his name, he answereth Syr: and as we
doe say, that the kyng hath made some gentleman, so say they that
there is made a Loutea. And for that amongst them the degrees are
diuers both in name and office, I will tell you onely of some
principalles, beyng not able to aduertise you of all.

"The maner howe gentlemen are created Louteas, and doe come to that
honour and title, is by the gyuynge of a broad gyrdle not like to
the rest, and a cap, at the commandement of the kyng. The name
Loutea is more generall and common vnto moe, than equalitie of
honour thereby signified, agreeth withall. Such Louteas that doe
serue their prince in weightie matters for iustice, are created
after triall made of their learning; but the other, whiche serue in
smaller affayres, as capitaynes, constables, sergeantes by lande
and sea, receyuers, and such lyke, wherof there be in euery citie,
as also in this, very many, are made for fauour: the chiefe Louteas
are serued kneelyng.

"The Louteas are an idle generation, without all maner of exercises
and pastymes, excepte it be eatyng and drynkyng. Somtymes they
walke abrode in the fieldes to make the souldyers shoot at prickes
with theyr bowes, but theyr eatyng passeth: they wyll stande eatyng
euen when the other do drawe to shoote.

"The inhabitants of China be very great idolaters, all generally do
worshyppe the heauens: and as we are woont to saye, God knoweth it,
so say they at euery worde, Tien Tautee, that is to saye, _the
heauens do knowe it_. Some do worshyp the sonne, and some the
moone, as they thynke good, for none are bounde more to one then to
an other. In their temples, the which they do cal Meani, they haue
a great altar in ye same place as we have; true it is that one may
goe rounde about it. There set they up the image of a certayne
Loutea of that countrey, whom they haue in great reuerence for
certaine notable thinges he dyd. At the ryght hande standeth the
deuyl, muche more vglie paynted then we do vse to set hym out,
whereunto great homage is done by suche as come into the temple to
aske counsell, or to drawe lottes: this opinion they haue of hym,
that he is malitious and able to do euyl. If you aske them what
they do thynke of the soules departed, they will answeare, that
they be immortall, and that as soone as any one departeth out of
this life, he becometh a deuyle if he haue liued well in this
worlde; if otherwyse, that the same deuyl changeth him into a
bufle, oxe, or dogge. Wherfore to this deuyl do they much honour,
to hym do they sacrifice, praying hym that he wyll make them lyke
vnto hym selfe, and not lyke other beastes. They haue moreouer an
other sorte of temples, wherein both uppon the altars and also on
the walles do stande many idoles well proportioned, but bare
headed. These bare name Omithofon, accompted of them spirites, but
suche as in heaven do neither good nor euyll; thought to be suche
men and women as haue chastlye lyued in this worlde in abstinence
from fyshe and fleshe, fedde only with ryse and salates. Of that
deuyl they make some accompte, for these spirites they care litle
or nothyng at all. Agayne, they holde opinion that if a man do well
in this lyfe, the heauens wyll geue hym many temporall blessynges;
but if he do euyll, then shall he haue infirmities, diseases,
troubles, and penurie, and all this without any knowledge of God.

"In the principall cities of the shyres be foure cheefe Louteas,
before whom are brought all matters of the inferiour townes
throughout the whole realme. Diuers other Louteas haue the
maneagyng of iustice and receyuyng of rentes, bounde to yeeld an
accompte thereof vnto the greater officers. Other doo see that
there be no euyll rule keept in the citie: eache one as it behoueth
hym. Generally al these do impryson malefactours, cause them to be
whypped and racked, hoysing them vp and downe by the armes with a
corde, a thyng very vsuall there, and accompted no shame. These
Louteas do vse great diligence in ye apprehending of theeues, so
that it is a wonder to see a theefe escape away in any towne,
citie, or village. Upon the sea neere vnto the shore many are
taken, and looke euen as they are taken, so be they fyrst whypped,
and afterward layd in prison, where shortly after they all dye for
hunger and colde. At that tyme when we were in pryson, there died
of them aboue threescore and ten. Yf happely any one hauyng the
meanes to geat foode do escape, he is set with the condemned
persones, and prouided for as they be by the kyng, in such wyse as
hereafter it shalbe sayde.

"Theyr whyps be certayne peeces of canes, cleft in the middle, in
such sort that they seeme rather playne then sharpe. He that is to
be whipped lieth grouelong on the ground. Upon his thighes the
hangman layeth on blowes myghtely with these canes, that the
standers by tremble at theyr crueltie. Ten strypes drawe a great
deale of blood, twentie or thyrtie spoyle the fleshe altogeather,
fyftie or threescore wyll require long tyme to be healed, and yf
they come to the number of one hundred, then are they incurable.

"Wee are wont to call this countrey China, and the people Chineans;
but as long as we were prisoners, not hearing amongst them at any
tyme that name, I determined to learne howe they were called: and
asked sometymes by them thereof, for that they vnderstoode vs not
when wee called them Chineans, I answered them that all the
inhabitantes of India named them Chineans, wherefore I prayed them
that they would tell mee for what occasion they are so called,
whether peradventure any citie of theyrs bare that name. Heerevnto
they alwayes answered mee, to haue no suche name, nor euer to haue
had. Than dyd I aske them what name the whole countrey beareth, and
what they would answere beyng asked of other nations what
countrymen they were: It was tolde me that of auncient tyme in this
countrey had been many kynges, and though presently it were all
vnder one, eche kyngdome neuertheless enioyed that name it fyrst
had: these kyngdomes are the prouinces I spake of before. In
conclusion they sayde, that the whole countrey is called Tamen, and
the inhabitantes Tamegines, so that this name China or Chineans is
not hearde of in that countrey. I doe thinke that the nearenesse of
an other prouince thereabout called Cochin-China, and the
inhabitantes thereof Cochinesses, fyrst discouered before that
China was, lying not farre from Malacca, dyd gyue occasion both to
the one nation and to the other of that name Chineans, as also the
whole countrey to be named China. But their proper name is that
aforesayde.

"I haue hearde moreouer that in the citie Nanquim remayneth a table
of golde, and in it written a kyng his name, as a memory of that
residence the kynges were wont to keepe there. This table standeth
in a great pallace, couered alwayes except it bee in some of theyr
festiuall dayes, at what tyme they are wont to let it be seene:
couered neuerthelesse as it is, all the nobilitie of the citie
goeth of duetie to doe it euery day reuerence. The lyke is done in
the head cities of all the other shyres in the pallaces of the
Ponchiassini, wherein these aforesayde tables doe stande, with the
kyng his name written in them, although no reuerence be done
therevnto but in solempne feastes.

"I haue lykewyse vnderstoode that the citie Pachin, where the kyng
maketh his abode, is so great, that to goe from one syde to the
other, besydes the subarbes, the which are greater than the citie
it selfe, it requyreth one whole day a horsebacke, going hackney
pase. In the subarbes be many wealthy marchantes of all sortes.
They tolde me furthermore that it was moted about, and in the motes
great store of fyshe, wherof the kyng maketh great gaynes.

"They haue moreouer one thing very good, and that whiche made vs
all to marueyle at them, beyng Gentiles: namely, that there be
hospitalles in all theyr cities, alwayes full of people, we neuer
sawe any poore body begge. We therefore asked the cause of this:
answered it was, that in euery citie there is a great circuit,
wherein be many houses for poore people, for blinde, lame, old
folke, not able to traueyle for age, nor hauyng any other meanes to
lyue. These folke haue in the aforesayde houses, euer plentie of
rice duryng theyr lyues, but nothyng els. Such as be receyued into
these houses, come in after this maner. Whan one is sicke, blinde,
or lame, he maketh a supplication to the Ponchiassi, and prouyng
that to be true he wryteth, he remayneth in the aforesayde great
lodgyng as long as he lyueth: besides this they keepe in these
places swyne and hennes, whereby the poore be releeued without
goyng a beggyng.

"The kyng hath in many ryuers good store of barges full of sea
crowes, that breede, are fedde, and do dye therein, in certayne
cages, allowed monethly a certayne prouision of ryce. These barges
the kyng bestoweth vpon his greatest magistrates, geuyng to some
two, to some three of them, as he thynketh good, to fyshe
therewithall after this maner. At the houre appoynted to fyshe, all
the barges are brought togeather in a circle, where the riuer is
shalowe, and the crowes, tyed togeather vnder the wynges, are let
leape downe into the water, some vnder, some aboue, worth the
lookyng vppon: eche one as he hath filled his bagge, goeth to his
owne barge and emptieth it, which done, he retourneth to fyshe
agayne. Thus hauyng taken good store of fyshe, they set the crowes
at libertie, and do suffer them to fyshe for theyr owne pleasure.
There were in that citie where I was, twentie barges at the least
of these aforesayde crowes; I wente almost euery day to see them,
yet coulde I neuer be thoroughly satisfied to see so straunge a
kynde of fyshyng."

The Spaniards were long behind their neighbours the Portuguese in prosecuting the important task of eastern investigation. The Papal division of the world between the discoverers of the two nations by the boundary of a certain meridian, made them follow the line of exploration to the westward.