[Footnote 414:  Probably the person called formerly Mahomet bey, captain of the town-E.  This person seems to have been the person styled Lord of the Sea, or Amir al Bahr, in the voyage of Sir Henry Middleton, a different officer from the Shah bandar.—­Astl. 1.460. a.]

The governor now bid us heartily welcome, desiring that what had formerly taken place with Sir Henry Middleton might be forgotten for that quarrel had originated between two drunken men, and had been improperly followed up by the former aga, for which he had now been five months displaced.  In regard to trade, he could not permit any great matter till he received directions from his master, Jaffar Pacha, to whom he had written, and expected an answer in ten or twelve days; desiring me to allow my people in the meantime to come ashore freely, to buy what they wanted, and to sell small matters, that the inhabitants might see we were in peace and amity, and that the past was forgotten.  These speeches made good what I had formerly suspected, concerning the doubts the India ships might entertain of our being here, unless they understood we were friends; and their staying away would prove a great injury to every officer of the port.  Besides, we were purposely so placed at anchor, that no laden ship could come into the port but must ride under our guns; by which I reckoned we were sure of trade, either ashore or aboard, and by thus holding the town in awe, I might venture our boats and people the more freely on shore, to procure any thing our ships might need.

We were royally feasted by the governor, the dinner consisting of all sorts of wild fowl, poultry, goat’s-flesh, mutton, cream, custards, various made dishes, and sundry confections, all served in vessels of tin, different from our pewter, made goblet-fashion, with feet, and so placed in piles, one above the other, that they reached a yard high, yet each dish could be served from without removing the others.  All these meats were served up at once, before we sat down.  Our drink was simple water, or boiled with an herb called Cauhaw,[415] giving it a somewhat bitter taste.  Dinner being over, the governor led me into an inner room, where he was attended by four little boys, who were his catamites.  Being here seated on a crimson velvet carpet, all the rest of the room covered with rich carpets, one of these boys, having in his hand a linen napkin, ushered in two other boys, one of whom carried a silver chaffing-dish, with burning coals, and the other a dish with sundry rich perfumes, as ambergris, lignum aloes, and others.  The governor desired me to permit the boy to cover my head close with the napkin, after which the other boy held the chaffing-dish with perfumes under my head, that I might receive the perfume, which was very pleasant.  The governor, and two principal persons who were with him, then did the like, which seemed a ceremony much used among them.

[Footnote 415:  It ought to be called Kahwah, that is, coffee, which every one knows is a berry; but perhaps it was made of the husk, which the French say is most delicious, and never exported.  See Voy. de l’Arabie Heureuse, p. 243, et seq.—­Astl.  I.461. d.]