The 13th of December I weighed anchor from before Rufisque, and went to Porto d’Ally, which is in another kingdom, the king of which is called Amar Malek, being son to Malek Zamba the other king, and has his residence a days journey and a half inland from Porto d’Ally.  When we had anchored, the governors of the town, who were the kings kinsmen, and all the other officers, came on board to receive the kings duty for anchorage and liberty to trade, all of whom seemed much pleased that we had no Portuguese on board, saying that it was the kings pleasure we should bring none of that nation, whom they considered as a people devoid of truth[331].  They complained of one Francisco de Costa, a servant of Don Antonio, who had often, and particularly the former year, abused their king Amar Malek, promising to bring him certain things out of England which he had never done, and supposed that might be his reason for not coming this voyage.  They said likewise that neither the Portuguese nor Spaniards could abide us, but always spoke to the great defamation and dishonour of England.  They also affirmed that on the arrival of a ship called the Command, belonging to Richard Kelley of Dartmouth, one Pedro Gonzalves, a Portuguese, who came in that ship from Don Antonio, reported to them that we were fled from England, and had come to rob and commit great spoil on the coast, and that Thomas Dassel had murdered Francisco de Acosta since we left England, who was coming in our ship with great presents for their king from Don Antonio, desiring on our arrival that they should seize our goods and ourselves secretly.  They assured us however that they had refused to do this, as they disbelieved the report of Gonzalves, having often before been abused and deceived by such false and slanderous stories by the Portuguese.  Their king, they said, was extremely sorry for the former murder of our people, and would never consent to any such thing in future, holding the Portuguese and Spaniards in utter abhorrence ever since, and having a much better opinion of us and our nation than these our enemies wished them to entertain.  I gave them hearty thanks for their good opinion, assuring them that they should always find a great difference between our honour, and the dishonourable words and actions of our enemies, and then paid them the customary duties.  As this was a chief place for trade, I told them that I intended to wait upon their king that I might give him certain presents which I had brought out of England, on purpose to strengthen the friendship between their nation and ours.

[Footnote 331:  From this and other passages of the present journal, it appears that the English used to carry a Portuguese along with them in their first voyages to the coast of Africa, whether from choice or by agreement with the government of Portugal does not clearly appear:  and that, finding the inconvenience of this custom, they began now to lay it aside.  This seems to have provoked the king of Portugal, who proposed to ruin the English trade by means of these agents or spies.—­Astl.  I. 214. b.]