The Travels of Mendes Pinto
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The Travels of Mendes Pinto
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Overview
This work by Fernão Mendes Pinto, presented as his incredible-yet-true autobiography, came second only to Marco Polo’s work in exciting Europe’s imagination of the Orient. Chronicling adventures from Ethiopia to Japan, Travels covers twenty years of Mendes Pinto’s odyssey as a soldier, a merchant, a diplomat, a slave, a pirate, and a missionary. It continues to fascinate readers today with the baffling mysteries surrounding it and the sheer enjoyment of its narrative.
“[T]here is plenty here for the modern reader. . . . The vivid descriptions of swashbuckling military campaigns and exotic locations make this a great adventure story. . . . Mendes Pinto may have been a sensitive eyewitness, or a great liar, or a brilliant satirist, but he was certainly more than a simple storyteller.” —Stuart Schwartz, The New York Times
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780226923239 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Chicago Press |
| Publication date: | 12/22/2022 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 752 |
| Sales rank: | 590,931 |
| File size: | 16 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
Read an Excerpt
The Travels of Mendes Pinto
By Fernão Mendes Pinto, Rebecca D. Catz
The University of Chicago Press
Copyright © 1989 The University of ChicagoAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-226-92323-9
CHAPTER 1
The Early Years
Whenever I look back at all the hardship and misfortune I suffered throughout most of my life, I can't help thinking I have good reason to complain of my bad luck, which started about the time I was born and continued through the best years of my life. It seems that misfortune had singled me out above all others for no purpose but to hound me and abuse me, as though it were something to be proud of. As I grew up in my native land, my life was a constant struggle against poverty and misery, and not without its moments of terror when we barely escaped with our lives. If that were not enough, Fortune saw fit to carry me off to the Indies, where, instead of my lot improving as I had hoped, the hardship and hazards only increased with the passing years.
But on the other hand, when I consider that God always watched over me and brought me safely through all those hazards and hardships, then I find that there is not as much reason to complain about my past misfortune as there is reason to give thanks to the Lord for my present blessings, for he saw fit to preserve my life, so that I could write this awkward, unpolished tale, which I leave as a legacy for my children—because it is intended only for them. I want them to know all about the twenty-one years of difficulty and danger I lived through, in the course of which I was captured thirteen times and sold into slavery seventeen times, in various parts of India, Ethiopia, Arabia Felix, China, Tartary, Macassar, Sumatra, and many other provinces of the archipelago located in the easternmost corner of Asia, which is referred to as "the outer edge of the world" in the geographical works of the Chinese, Siamese, Gueos, and Ryukyu, about which I expect to have a lot more to say later on, and in much greater detail. And this may serve, on the one hand, as an example for all men, not to let the misfortunes of life discourage them from doing what has to be done, for there are no misfortunes so great that human nature, with God's help, cannot overcome. On the other hand, it may inspire them to join with me in giving thanks to the almighty Lord for the infinite mercy he has shown me, in spite of all my sins, which I confess—and I believe it sincerely—were the source of all my troubles, for his mercy gave me the strength and courage to endure them, and to survive.
I'll begin this tale of my wanderings with what happened to me during my early years in Portugal, where I lived in abject misery and poverty until the age of ten or twelve, in my father's humble house in the village of Montemor-o-Velho. An uncle of mine, apparently anxious to see me get a good start in life, brought me to the city of Lisbon and placed me in the service of a lady of very high birth, who was related to some of the noblest families in the kingdom, hoping that her influence as well as the connections of her powerful relatives would help me reach the goals he had set for me. This was at the time when they were breaking the escutcheons in the city of Lisbon at the funeral of King Manuel of glorious memory, which took place on Saint Lucy's Day, 13 December 1521, an event I remember quite vividly, though I have no recollection of anything else that happened to me in Portugal prior to that time.
My uncle's plans for me did not turn out as well as he expected. On the contrary, for after more or less a year and a half in the employ of this noblewoman, something happened that placed me in such great jeopardy that I was forced to leave the house at a moment's notice and run for my life. And I kept on running, so crazed with fear that I didn't know where I was going, for I thought I saw death staring me in the eyes, keeping pace with me every step of the way. I finally reached the Stone Wharf, where I found an Alfama caravel loading the horses and household goods of some nobleman bound for Setúbal, where King John III, may he rest in peace, had moved with his entire court to escape from an epidemic then raging in many parts of the kingdom.
I embarked on this caravel, which departed shortly afterwards, and the following morning, when we had sailed about as far as Sesimbra, we were attacked by a French pirate. After he had gotten the grappling hooks into us, he rushed fifteen or twenty of his men on board, and without the slightest opposition or resistance on our part, they soon took command of the ship. Once they had stripped her of everything they could find—a plunder that netted them over six thousand cruzados —they sent her to the bottom. Seventeen of us who escaped with our lives were transferred to their ship, bound hand and foot, to be sold as slaves in Larache, where they were said to be heading with a cargo of arms for trading with the Moors.
They proceeded on this course for thirteen more days, treating us to liberal doses of the lash at every opportunity, when at sundown of the thirteenth day, it was their good fortune to sight a sailing vessel. After a whole night spent following in her wake, like old hands at the game, they finally caught up with her before the end of the midwatch. After firing three broadsides they got their grappling hooks into her with a fine show of bravery, and even though they encountered some resistance on the part of our men, it was not enough to prevent them from boarding her and killing six Portuguese, along with ten or twelve slaves. This ship was a beautiful nao that belonged to a merchant from Vila do Conde by the name of Sylvester Godinho, and she had been chartered by some Lisbon traders at São Tomé for a heavy cargo of sugar and slaves, which the poor merchants, bewailing their misfortune, valued at 40,000 cruzados. As soon as the corsairs found themselves with such a rich prize on their hands, they changed their minds and decided to head back to France, taking some of our people with them to man the captured vessel. The rest were put ashore one night on the beach at Melides, naked, barefoot, and some with their flesh still raw from the floggings they had received. And in this condition, we reached Santiago de Cacem the next day, where we were generously supplied with everything we needed by the local inhabitants, especially a lady there by the name of Dona Brites, who was the daughter of the count of Vilanova and wife of Alonso Perez Pantoja, commander and mayor of the town.
As the sick and wounded began to recover, they all went their separate ways in search of a living. As for poor me, I joined up with a group of six or seven others equally forlorn, and we made our way to Setúbal, where it was my luck to be hired by a nobleman by the name of Francisco de Faria, who was attached to the household of the grand master of the Order of Saint James. I served him for four years, and at the end of that time, in recognition of my years of good service, he recommended me to the grand master himself, whom I served in turn as a valet for a year and a half.
But since the salary paid by princes in those days was not enough for me to live on, I decided to leave for India, meager as my resources were, and I was perfectly willing to accept, for better or worse, whatever fate had in store for me.
CHAPTER 2The Passage to India
On 11 March 1537, I left Portugal with a squadron of five naos. There was no flagship in this fleet, which was commanded respectively by the following captains: the Rainha, by Dom Pedro da Silva, or the "Rooster," as he was nicknamed, son of the admiral, Count Dom Vasco da Gama, who was commanding the same ship on which he had brought his father's remains back to Lisbon, where King John, then in residence, arranged for him to be given the most elaborate funeral that has ever been seen to this day for a lesser man than a king; the São Roque, by Dom Fernando de Lima, son of Diogo Lopez de Lima, lord mayor of Guimarães, who died in Hormuz a year later, in 1538, while serving as captain of the fortress there; the Santa Barbara, by his cousin, Jorge de Lima, who had just been appointed captain of the fortress of Chaul and was on his way to take up his duties there; the Flor de la Mar, by Lopo Vaz Vogado, who was a master seaman in his own right; and the Galega —on which Pero Lopez de Sousa was shipwrecked afterwards—by Martim de Freitas, a native of the island of Madeira, who died later that year in Daman, along with thirty-five of his men.
Proceeding on its course, the entire fleet, with God's help, made port safely at Mozambique, where we found the nao São Miguel laid up for the winter. She was owned and operated by a merchant named Duarte Tristão, and on the way back to Portugal this richly laden vessel disappeared at sea and has never been heard from since. But then, that was the same fate that befell a number of other ships on the East India run—a price we paid for our sins.
As soon as the fleet was provisioned and made ready to sail from Mozambique, Vicente Pegado, who was in command of the fortress there, presented the five captains with an order from Governor Nuno da Cunha to the effect that all ships arriving from Portugal that year were to proceed directly to Diu and to leave the men there to garrison the fortress, for there was good reason to fear that the Turks would send an armada against them in reprisal for the death of Sultan Bahadur of Cambay the previous summer, for which the governor had been responsible. A meeting was then called to discuss the matter, and it was unanimously agreed that the three naos belonging to the crown should proceed directly to Diu, in compliance with the governor's order, but that the two merchantmen in our fleet should go on to Goato discharge their cargo, mainly because of a number of complaints and protests that had already been lodged by their agents over the expropriation of private property that had taken place recently.
And they departed on their separate ways, the three crown ships setting a course for Diu and the two merchantmen for Goa, and with God's help, they all made port safely. The arrival of those three naos in the harbor of Diu, on the fifth of September in that same year of 1538, was a joyful occasion for Antonio da Silveira, brother of the Count of Sortelha, Luis de Silveira. He greeted them with a great deal of fuss and fanfare and saw to it that everyone was well taken care of at his expense, for he not only provided food for over seven hundred men, he also showered them continuously with gifts of money and other kind favors. Impressed by this show of generosity and the abundance of things they saw all around them, on top of which they were offered salary and sustenance, practically all of the soldiers in the fleet voluntarily agreed to remain, so there was no need to apply any pressure or coercion, as was always the practice when a fortress was under threat of siege.
After disposing of their cargo at a good profit, the three naos proceeded on their way to Goa with just the crew and the ship's officers aboard, where they remained for a few days, until they received permission from the governor to depart for Cochin. And from there, after loading new cargo, all five of the original ships in the fleet returned safely to Portugal, in consort with another nao that had been built in India, called the São Pedro, which joined them for the homeward voyage. Her captain's name was Manuel de Macedo, and it was this ship that carried the famous basilisk, that huge piece of ordnance which is known in Portugal as the "cannon of Diu," for the name of the place where it was captured with two other matching pieces, at the time that Sultan Bahadur, king of Cambay, was slain. These guns were part of the original fifteen pieces of artillery that Rumi-Khan, admiral of the Turkish fleet, had brought with him from Suez in 1534, when Dom Pedro de Castelbranco came to our aid with the twelve caravels that sailed from Portugal in November.
CHAPTER 3A Renegade in the Red Sea
Only seventeen days after my arrival at the fortress of Diu, I embarked on one of the two foists that were being made ready in the harbor for a reconnaissance mission to the Straits of Mecca, for the purpose of gathering accurate information about the Turkish armada, which was a matter of growing concern in India. The captain was a friend of mine, who led me to believe, by promising to look out for my interests on the voyage, that I would soon be rich, which was all that I cared about at the time. Taken in by his promises and letting my imagination run away with me, I embarked with this friend of mine on a foist called the Silveira, without ever stopping to consider that most get-rich schemes end up costing dearly, or that I was risking my life by venturing out to sea at the wrong time of year, or that we might run into the things that actually happened to us later—because of my sins and those of my companions.
After their departure from the fortress of Diu, the two foists were navigating in consort—under a hard gale, at the end of winter, in a heavy downpour, against the monsoon when they sighted the islands of Kuria-Muria and Abd al-Kuri, where we came close to total disaster and nearly lost our lives. We turned about, proceeding on a southwesterly course, and with God's help, we anchored off the tip of the island of Socotra, a league below the site where the first viceroy of India, Dom Francisco de Almeida, built a fortress on his outward voyage from Portugal in the year 1507. Wetook on water and traded for provisions with the natives, who are descendants of the early Christians converted in ancient times by the apostle Saint Thomas in that part of India and along the coast of Coromandel.
We departed from this island, setting a course for the mouth of the straits, and in nine days under a fair wind we reached the latitude of Massawa where, shortly before sunset, we sighted a sailing ship. We gave chase and made such good time that we caught up with her before the end of the first watch. And when we tried to engage the captain in a friendly conversation, for the purpose of finding out what we wanted to know about the armada of the Grand Turk—whether or not it had already left Suez, or what news there was of it—the answer we got from the company on board the nao was far from what we expected; for without a word in reply they surprised us by firing a dozen cannonballs at us—five of which came from falcons and stone throwers, and seven from culverins—to say nothing of the many arquebuses they also fired, treating us as if we were child's play for them. And every now and then they let out wild jeers and catcalls, waving their banners and turbans contemptuously, while from the top of the poop deck they were jabbing the air with naked swords as though challenging us to approach.
At first, all their bluster and bravado caught us off guard, but after a hurried conference between the two captains and the men, it was decided by majority voice not to let the enemy get away with it, but to try as hard as we could to wear them down with our artillery until daylight, when it would be easier and less risky for us to grapple them. And that is exactly what we did, chasing them for the rest of the night until, as God willed, just before dawn, they gave up, after sixty-four of the eighty men on board lay dead. As for those still alive, practically all of them jumped overboard, no doubt preferring a watery grave to a fiery death from the powder pans we tossed at them. Thus, out of the original company of eighty, only five survived, and they were badly wounded. One of them was the captain of the nao, who confessed under torture that he was coming from Jidda, his native town, and that the armada of the Grand Turk had already departed from Suez and was on its way to take Aden and build a fortress there before launching its attack on India, in compliance with the orders the pasha of Cairo had received from the Grand Turk in Constantinople, who had appointed him admiral of the fleet.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Travels of Mendes Pinto by Fernão Mendes Pinto, Rebecca D. Catz. Copyright © 1989 The University of Chicago. Excerpted by permission of The University of Chicago Press.
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Table of Contents
List of IllustrationsAcknowledgments
Introduction Europe under Charles Flowering of the Renaissance Spain under Philip II Portugal under Manuel I and John III
Publication History of the Book
Translations
Summary of the Text
Influences
The Historical Author
Satire and the Fictive Author A Note on the Translation
1. The Early Years
2. The Passage to India
3. A Renegade in the Red Sea
4. The Land of Prester John
5. Captive in Mocha
6. On the Slave Block
7. The Siege of Diu
8. Impressment at Sea
9. The Queen of Honowar
10. Defeat at Honowar
11. The Queen's Treachery
12. Departure for Malacca
13. The Battak Envoy
14. Through the Jungles of Sumatra
15. At the Court of the Battak
16. Observing the Battak at War
17. The Battak Army in Retreat
18. The Battak's Warning
19. A Malay Tyrant
20. The Elusive Isle of Gold
21. The Ambassador from Aaru
22. The Aaru on the Eve of War
23. Shipwrecked off the Island of Sumatra
24. Captive in Siak
25. Back in Malacca
26. The Achinese Threat to Portuguese Power
27. The Death of the King of Aaru
28. The Queen of Aaru Seeks Revenge
29. The Queen of Aaru in Malacca
30. The Queen of Aaru Departs in Anger
31. Jantana Lays Claim to Aaru
32. Jantana and Achin at War
33. Rescue at Sea
34. Tome Lobo in Danger
35. Murder of the King of Pahang
36. Disaster in the Harbor of Lugor
37. Lady of the Swamp
38. Antonio de Faria Swears Vengeance
39. In Search of Khoja Hassim
40. Pirates off the Coast of Champa
41. Exploring Champa
42. Night Raid off Hainan Island
43. The Armenian's Story
44. The Pearl Fishers of Quemoy
45. Gathering Information in Hainan
46. Encounter with a Chinese Pirate
47- The Unlucky Bride
48. No Word of the Lord
49. Problems Unloading the Cargo
50. Victory in the Madel River
51. The Corsair's Confession
52. King of the Sea
53. Shipwreck off the Isle of Thieves
54. Marooned
55. A Precocious Child
56. Partners in Piracy
57. News of Khoja Hassim
58. Preparations for the Attack
59. A Glorious Victory
60. After the Battle
61. Grounded on the Coast of China
62. The Storm's Ravages
63. The Prisoners of Nouday
64. The Mandarin's Reply
65. The Sack of Nouday
66. Pirates at the Gates of Ning-po
67. A Message from Ning-po
68. Antonio de Faria's Reception in Ning-po
69. The Vicar of Ning-po
70. A Banquet in Honor of Antonio de Faria
71. The Voyage to Calempluy
72. A Doubtful Course
73. Of Men and Beasts
74. Similau Disappears
75. The Fabulous Isle of Calempluy
76. Desecration of the Tombs
77. The Old Hermit of Calempluy
78. The Hermit Spreads the Alarm
79. Antonio de Faria Meets His End
80. Castaways in China
81. The Wayside Shelter
82. Thrown to the Leeches
83. An Upper-Class Chinese Family
84. Arrested in Taypor
85. Transferred to Nanking
86. Legal Aid for the Poor
87. A Letter of Recommendation
88. The City of Nanking
89. The Pagoda of Pocasser
90. The Great Albuquerque Defamed
91. Inez de Leiria
92. The Legend of Nancá
93. The Child Prophet
94. The Founding of Peking
95. The Great Wall of China
96. The Submerged City
97. Business and Trade Practices in China
98. The Floating Cities of China
99. More about the Wonders of China
100. Arrival in Peking
101. A Favorable Ruling
102. Of Judges and Influence
103. Sentenced to Hard Labor
104. The Kindly Captain of Quansy
105. The Splendors of Peking
106. Chinese Banqueting Houses
107. Sightseeing in Peking
108. Prison of the Outcasts
109. Treasure House of the Dead
110. The Shrine of the Queen of Heaven
111. The Shrine of the 113 Kings
112. Social Welfare in China
113. Provisions against Famine
114. Farewell to Peking
115. A Point of Honor
116. A Chance Encounter with Vasco Calvo
117. The Tartar Invasion
118. Jorge Mendes Takes a Chance
119. A Portuguese Hero among the Tartars
120. On to Peking with the Tartars
121. Summoned in Audience
122. The Tartar King
123. The Tartars Lift the Siege
124. At the Tartar Court
125. Jorge Mendes Stays Behind
126. Departure from Tartary
127. A Heathen Pope
128. En Route to Cochinchina
129. Death on the Suicide Pyre
130. The Tartar Ambassador at the Court of Cochin
131. The Cochinese King Returns in Triumph
132. The Discovery of Japan
133. The Inquisitive Prince of Tanegashima
134. How Firearms Came to Japan
135. The King of Bungo
136. A Shooting Accident
137. The Prince's Recovery
138. Shipwreck off the Ryukyu Islands
139. Arrested for Piracy
140. Under Sentence of Death
141. The Compassionate Women of the Ryukyus
142. The Dowager Queen of the Ryukyus
143. A Brief Description of the Ryukyu Islands
144. Mission to Martaban
145. The Pathetic Little King
146. A Throne of Straw
147. Arrival in Martaban
148. The Siege of Martaban
149. Martaban Capitulates
150. The Surrender Ceremony
151. The Sack of Martaban
152. The Burmese Tyrant's Revenge
153. Betrayed by a Portuguese Nobleman
154. The Burmese Attack Prome
155. The Fall of Prome
156. The Fall of Meleitay
157. New Military Alliances
158. Journey to the Land of the Calaminhan
159. The Pagoda of Tinagogo
160. The Festival of Xipatilau
161. The Frightful Penitents of Tinagogo
162. Encounter with a Portuguese Woman
163. At the Palace of the Calaminhan
164. News of the Redeemer
165. A Brief Description of the Calaminhan's Empire
166. Strange Races and Places
167. Funeral Rites for the Holy Rolim
168. Election of the New Rolim
169. The New Rolim Ascends the Holy Throne
170. Escape from Burmese Captivity
171. Back in Goa
172. The Ambassadress from Java
173. The Javanese Lay Siege to Pasuruan
174. The Amucks Sally Forth
175. The Pasuruans Attack Again
176. A Portuguese Renegade
177. A Young Assassin
178. Anarchy in Demak
179. Struggle over a Life Raft
180. Ransomed from Slavery
181. Portuguese Mercenaries in Siam
182. The King of Siam Poisoned by the Queen
183. The Good King of Siam
184. The Queen and Her Lover Usurp the Throne
185. The Burmese Invade Siam
186. The Siege of Ayuthia
187. The Final Burmese Assault
188. Rebellion in Pegu
189. The Marvelous Kingdom of Siam
190. The Burmese Tyrant Assassinated
191. The Abominable Crime of Diogo Soares
192. Stoned by the Mob
193. The Xemindo Proclaimed King of Pegu
194. The Burmese Recapture Pegu
195. Permission to Sack Pegu Denied
196. The Chaumigremh's Triumphant Entry into Pegu
197. The Xemindo Captured and Condemned
198. The Execution of the Xemindo
199. Funeral Rites for the Xemindo
200. The Second Voyage to Japan
201. The Prince Avenges His Father's Death
202. Two Japanese Passengers Taken Aboard
203. With Francis Xavier in Malacca
204. Repairing the Fleet
205. Diogo Soares Saves the Day
206. Victory in the Perlis River
207. Francis Xavier's Revelation
208. Francis Xavier in Japan
209. An Invitation from the King of Bungo
210. At the Court of Bungo
211. Francis Xavier and the Japanese Bonzes
212. Theological Disputations
213. The Disputations Continue
214. The Miracle of the Sloop
215. The Death of Francis Xavier
216. The Miracle of Incorruptibility
217. The Final Resting Place of Francis Xavier
218. A Letter from the King of Bungo
219. Anarchy in Malacca
220. En Route to Japan
221. Arrival in China
222. Earthquake in China
223. The Farce of the Wooden Hands
224. Embassy to the King of Bungo
225. Failure of the Evangelical Mission
226. Return to Portugal
Notes
Glossaries
1. Foreign and Uncommon Words
2. Weights, Measures, and Units of Currency
3. Sixteenth-Century Ships and Other Vessels
Gazetteer
Bibliography