d to give an order for the transmission of the presents without
being searched, and for the good usage of our people. He answered, that
the port belonged to his son, but sent for him, and publicly gave orders
for what I required; that the presents should not be searched, nor pay
any custom, but should be sent up safe to me with all expedition, that I
might distribute them at my discretion. He likewise commanded the prince
to give orders for the good usage of our people, and that I should be
satisfied in all my demands. This order did not extend to the grant of a
fort, as Asaph Khan had absolutely refused to deliver in that clause.
This charge was very round and hearty on the part of the king, and a
great grace to me. The prince called Asaph Khan forwards in my presence,
and promised, before his father and the whole court, to give me all
reasonable satisfaction. All this was on the strength of the new
presents.

That same day I sent for the Portuguese jesuit who resided at court, and
gave him an account of the engagement between our ships and the carrack,
offering to make peace between our nation and the Portuguese upon equal
terms. He promised to acquaint the viceroy of Goa with my offer, and so
departed. The 15th I received accounts from Masulipatan that Captain
Keeling had taken a Portuguese ship and two barks; one on the coast of
Cochin, laden with tin, and the other freighted from Bengal, both of
which were carried to Bantam. I was also informed that Sir Robert
Shirley had been dismissed with disgrace from Goa, and was on his way
overland to Masulipatan, to procure a passage; but am apt to believe
this intelligence is untrue.

The 16th, being with the prince's secretary about the dispatch of our
affairs, he proposed to me, by his master's orders, to procure him two
gunners from our fleet to serve him in the Deccan war, offering good pay
and good usage. This I undertook to perform, knowing that indifferent
artists might serve there. While at the prince's palace, Abdala Khan
came to visit him, so magnificently attended, that I have not before
seen the like. He was preceded by about twenty drums, and other martial
music, on horseback, who made abundant noise. After them followed fifty
persons bearing white flags, and two hundred well-mounted soldiers, all
richly clothed in cloth of gold, velvet, and rich silks, who all entered
the gate with him in regular array. Next his person were forty
targeteers, in the richest li