Cochin, which formerly belonged, to my crown and
kingdom, and shall then deliver it to the English as their own. Provided
that the charges of its capture be equally borne by both parties, one
half by me, and the other half by the English nation; and in that case,
the benefit of the plunder thereof, of whatsoever kind, shall belong
half to me, and half to the English. And thereafter, I shall claim no
right, title, or interest in the said town, precincts, or appurtenances
whatsoever."

"I also covenant for myself, my heirs and successors, that the whole
trade of the English, in whatsoever commodities, brought in or carried
out, shall be entirely free from all custom, imposition, tax, toll, or
any other duty, of any quality or description."

"To these covenants, which the shortness of time did not permit to
extend in more ample form, I, the Zamorin, have sworn to perform, by the
great God whom I serve, and not only for myself but for my successors;
and in witness thereof have laid my hand upon this writing.[180] And the
said William Keeling promises to acquaint the king his master with the
premises, and to endeavour to procure his majesty's consent thereto."

[Footnote 180: This probably alludes to a custom mentioned in one of our
earlier volumes, of imprinting the form of the hand, smeared with ink,
on the paper, instead of signature or seal.--E.]

This being agreed upon, a stock was made out for a factory, such as the
shortness of time would permit, and three factors were appointed. These
were, George Woolman, chief, Peter Needham, second, who was one of the
general's servants, and I, Roger Hawes, third; together with a youth,
named Edward Peake, as our attendant, who was to learn the language.
John Stamford, a gunner, was likewise left to assist the Zamorin in his
wars. On the 10th the ships departed, leaving us and our goods in a
_shrambe_ at the water side, together with a present for the Zamorin. We
continued there till the 13th, at which time the last of our goods were
carried to the Zamorin's castle; whose integrity we much suspected,
after having thus got possession of our goods. On the 20th, he insisted
to see Mr Woolman's trunk, supposing we had plenty of money. Needham had
told him we had 500 rials; but finding little more than fifty, he
demanded the loan of that sum, which we could not refuse. He offered us
a pawn not worth half; which we refused to accept, hoping he would now
allow us to proceed to Calicu