The Voyage of Francois Pyrard of Laval to the East Indies, the Maldives,
the Moluccas and Brazil
Francois Pyrard de Laval
1611
translated into English in 1887 from the third French edition of 1619 by Albert Gray assisted by H.C.P. Bell
Vol.1 Chapter
9
Grievous sickness of the author, which left him in evil plight.
- Escape of four Dutch, and the ill-favour of the king towards those who remained.
I was for about four or five months in fairly good health, and, except for the
want of the free exercise of my religion and liberty, was comfortable, well housed,
fed, and treated by the lord who had brought me, my lodging being in a little
apartment within the enclosure of his house. One of his servants waited upon me
at all hours, and brought me my food with separate utensils, for they never eat
with one who is not of their religion. He loved me as one of his own sons, of
whom he had three, of nearly the same age as myself, and they loved me as their
brother.
This lord was in favour with the king, who placed all confidence
in him; they had been attached to each other from the time they were four or five
years old, and each was now fifty.
Malaria
Such
being my condition, I fell ill of a severe burning fever, very common there and
very dangerous, especially to strangers, so much so that few get over it; still
less the christians, for whom there is no sort of cure, for they are not disposed
to obey the sorcerers and get cured by charms and enchantments, as the islanders
use. I was ill and in great danger for more than two months, and it was ten months
before I was quite well. Not a day passed but the king and the queens sent to
get news of me and my condition; he sent at all hours the choicest dishes and
the most delicious morsels from his own table; and in order that I might be treated
more at my ease, and might the better ask for what I wanted, he sent one of my
own comrades, whom he charged with the care of me, in addition to the house servants.
The sickness was severe and very troublesome; it is known through all the Indies
under the name of Maldive fever: they call it Male' hun. It is the sickness of
which most of my companions died, as all strangers fail not to be soon attacked;
and when one gets over it, one may be sure he will recover from the other maladies
to which the climate will subject him; for a man changes by habit with the climate
and manner of living, and this malady, as it were, makes him a new body, and he
feels quite inured. And, indeed, if a stranger, whom in their language they call
'furadhi meeha' (voyage man), recovers from it, they say that he is Dives (Dhivehin),
as who should say naturalised and no longer a stranger. For this kingdom in their
language is called 'Male' rajje', the kingdom of Male'; but by the other Indians
it is called Male' islands, and the people 'Dives'.
To return to my
illness. I was eight days without swallowing anything but water, and that too
is a bad thing. The country people refrain from drinking anything but lukewarm
water, with a little powdered pepper in it; this prevents the inflammation, which
would otherwise ensue when the fever passes off. I could not, however, take this
beverage, which does nothing to quench the thirst. After the fever left me my
legs and thighs swelled greatly, as if I had the dropsy. All foreigners suffer
in the same way. Besides, I could not see for more than ten or a dozen paces before
me, and I was afraid I should become blind.
The fever also left me
an obstruction and inflammation of the spleen, which caused me great difficulty
of breathing. This spleen disease is very common among them, and they all have
it rather large; they call the disease 'hun korhi'; and, in fact, it so remained
with me all the time I was at the Maldives.
About the same time, the
king fell sick, and on this account I could not see him when I was on my feet
again - until, on his recovery, as he was going to the mosque, I saluted him.
He was much surprised to see the state to which I was reduced by this inflammation,
and said that his illness had prevented him doing more for me. He at once bade
his attendants see to it, and sent to find men who were skilled in curing this
ailment and told them to take the unguents from his own stock; for the king always
keeps a quantity of drugs, medicines, and recipes of all sorts for the sick, even
charms. The people would go and ask for them, and he was well enough pleased to
do this kindness to all corners; and by this means also to know who were ill,
who recovering, and who dying, and so to provide for the burial of those who died.
It was his wont to do this for the poor and for such as were without means, in
manner suitable to the degree of each.
Thus did many busy themselves
with my illness; but I did not get well until my legs burst and the water which
caused the swelling escaped; my eyes then recovered their former power. But the
mischief was that the ulcers in my legs became very large and deep, and so painful
that I got no rest by day or night, and the humours taking their course by this
channel, it was difficult to close the wounds up. In this condition I remained
for four months; the king causing me to be attended to and cared for to the best
of his power.
Cured on Bandos
There
was a little island within sight of Male' called Bandos, where dwelt a man esteemed
expert in that line. The king sent for him, and bade him cure me if he knew how,
and he would reward him handsomely. The man promised to do so; but he added that
if it should please the king to permit him to take me with him he could cure me
much sooner, for the air was much better and more bracing, and the water better
at that island than at Male'. The king permitted him, and gave word to his officers
to serve out to him everything he asked for my support; so I was indeed well treated
and cared for by this man.
Dutch sailors
escape from Male'
But meanwhile happened an accident to my
comrades, which grieved me much and entailed much discomfort to me. This was,
that of the five Dutch that were at Male', four made resolve to escape from the
islands by stealing a boat, seeing the desperate position to which we were reduced
by being unable to depart with the king's permission. Two of the Dutch had arrived
at Male' with our captain and the others brought with him; and having been with
these men when they died, they succeeded to the money which they had kept concealed;
thus they had every means of procuring the requisites for embarking.
See now how they pursued their enterprise. The factor of the christian king of
the Maldives kept a banquesalle, or storehouse, on the seashore at Male'. He was
an Indian of Cochin, of the race of Canarins, and a christian, though a bad one,
as I afterwards came to understand. These Dutch made friends with him, and so
plied him with money that he let them put and keep in his store the provisions
and baggage which they required. It remained only to await an opportunity for
seizing a boat, which was a long time in coming.
At length it happened
that one of the followers of the lord who brought me to Male' left his boat near
the place on account of the rain; and as he was hour by hour expecting the fine
weather, he did not take out the rudder as usual. The boat was all equipped for
the fishing, but very small, being no more than eight times the length of an arm,
which is the most common measure used (it is called 'riyan'; another smaller measure
is used for cloth, namely, from the elbow to the tips of the fingers, this is
called 'muh').
The boat was called Dhooni i.e. 'bird' because it was
a quick sailer, and it was equipped with provisions and water for several days.
Our people having made this discovery, embarked at nightfall with their goods
and made off; but bad luck had it that this night and the day following there
raged the most violent storm imaginable, no less than that we came through off
the coast of Natal (off south eastern Africa). Even the islanders said they had
never seen so many coconut trees blown down in twenty-four hours. I leave you
to imagine whether it be possible that our poor fellows could have saved themselves
in such a storm, in a little frail bark, not knowing the channels and passages
which they ought to take in the midst of so many rocks and reefs.
So it was that afterwards there were found upon the beach some pieces of the boat's
equipment, which led to the belief that they had perished - as, in fact, they
had; for nothing was ever heard of them again, neither at the islands nor on the
mainland. The king was greatly incensed at this third escape, as well on the account
already stated, that it is high treason to steal a boat and depart without leave,
as because one of the four Dutch was a good gunner and he liked him for that.
This gunner was engaged at S. Malo (in Europe) for the voyage. Having received
some money as an advance, he married, and was no longer willing to come and offered
to return what he had received. This our captain would not agree to; on the contrary,
he had him seized and carried on board, neck and heels, by four men, on account
whereof he was never afterwards well disposed, and even on several occasions when
some of the ship's crew were offended at the captain for some punishment, conspired
with them to make a wrong course, and to wreck the ship, and so get ashore. This
he confessed to us at the Maldives. He also behaved with barbarous inhumanity
towards our captain while he lay at the point of death at Male', for he took off
him by force a night shirt which he was wearing; nor was he dissuaded from the
act by all the prayers of the poor sick captain, only saying that he wanted it,
and that he no longer recognised the captain after the loss of the ship.
This disaster happened to these poor Dutch about eighteen months after our shipwreck.
I reflected that by God's assistance, amid so many tribulations, I had never engaged
in these attempts at escape, which all turned out ill, as I have related. (The
mate and his eleven friends did indeed reach the coast of India, but were there
consigned to the Portuguese galleys.)
Two days afterwards, my comrade
with whom I had vowed so warm a friendship died after a long illness. This was
to me an intolerable affliction. He was from Vitré (in France), and in our vessel
had the office of clerk. I believe that he was at length brought down with vexation
and melancholy, having left a wife and children to make this voyage, and now saw
no hope of return.
To come back to the Dutch who had gone off. When
it was discovered, and the king was informed, messengers were sent to our people's
lodgings to see for a fact who were left. They found two Frenchmen, one Dutch,
and the man who was dying, as I have said. The six elders assembled at the king's
palace, the accustomed place, and summoned our three men, whom they kept there
by the space of four or five hours, telling them that they were accomplices in
the others' treason, and threatening them with death.
At length, seeing
that they were not guilty, they let them go; but the king gave orders not to give
them any more rice as provision from his store, - not however, preventing those
who would from giving them victuals: for his part, he would never again believe
a Frenchman. And, in fact, they did not by reason of that order fail to get a
livelihood. All these things grieved me excessively: my long and tedious illness,
the loss of our men, the death of my friend, and the anger of the king, which
waxed against those of us who were left.
On my recovery, which was
at the end of two months after I was taken to the little island of Bandos, I desired
to tarry there, thinking thus to avoid the wrath of the king, which by this delay
might be appeased; but at length I was advised not to add by contumacy to my transgression
(for so they referred to our friends' mishap), and to return at once to the king.
I took the advice, and on arrival, as the custom is, I put myself in the way of
the king before going to my lodging. He happened to be going out at one of the
lower courts, next to his sleeping apartments. I saluted him in the usual way,
without any difference. Then he spoke to me, and asked if I had been well treated,
and was quite well, and even wished to see the place of my sore. This gave me
good hope that I was again in his favour as before; hut I was greatly deceived,
for he forbade them to give me anything from his house, any more than to my comrades.
I was vexed not, however, for the victuals, for the lords let me not want for
anything; but for this cause, that, there, a man to whom the king does not give
food is of no account, and has no position. And even the great lords accept rice
of the king, and it is a high honour, too; so, on the contrary, is it a kind of
infamy to be deprived of it. My special friends did not, however, cease to favour
me and help me, as they saw that the king did not speak ill of me, and that he
acted thus to inspire me with fear for the future; otherwise, when the king is
in good earnest incensed against anyone, that man would not find a single friend,
and those who had been his friends would abandon him. Two months passed in this
disgrace, but for all that I did not cease to go regularly to the palace to present
myself to the king.
Pyrard becomes a favourite
of the king
I was warned that by the custom of the country one should
not absent oneself when the king is angry, nor cease to go to the palace regularly,
until by long patience the king speaks and again receives you into his favour.
I again fell ill of a fever. The lord with whom I lodged appraised the king of
it, and he bade him treat me well and spare nothing. Nor did he; and to give me
better hope, he assured me that the king was not at all angry with me, but on
the contrary was solicitous for my health: and, indeed, the king bade them give
me the ordinary provision of rice, and to my three companions too. The illness
was short, and I was soon well again.
Six weeks afterwards, I was
fairly astonished to be summoned to the palace by the six elders, and to be told
that they were informed that we had a design to escape. They gave me orders, on
the part of the king, not to have any dealings with my companions, nor to speak
French to them; and that I was to give them the same order. It was very difficult,
lodged so near each other, to obey this order and not to speak or communicate
with one another, which, indeed, we did in secret. For all that, fifteen days
after, it was reported to the king, who was much offended, and commanded that
my three companions were to be taken to an atoll named Suvadiva, which is eighty
leagues to the south of Male'. You have to pass the line (equator) to get there.
That is the place where the king exiles those who displease him; it is an island
far removed from his court, where foreign vessels never touch, whose inhabitants
are very unmannerly, rude and boorish.
This order was given to the
master or intendant of the royal ships, who is called 'Maadadahelu'; this person
had conceived an ill-will towards me, out of jealousy of the lord who had brought
me from Fehendhoo, with whom he was there, for he had made me promise on the journey
that I should lodge with him, and I could not do it, for the king made me lodge
with the lord who had brought me. By way of revenge, he sent word to me by one
of the royal sergeants, who are called 'meeru baharu', that I was to come to him
to be embarked for Suvadiva with the others. I could not refuse nor resist this
order, and in great sorrow went to embark, when one of the sons of the lord with
whom I was, well knowing that the king had given no such order with regard to
me, promptly informed him of it; the king at once ordered that I should be disembarked,
saying that he did not intend that I should be elsewhere than near himself. By
this means I was freed.
Some of the lords begged of the king to let
one of the three others also remain, or that he should go at another time. This
was because they liked the man for being a good tailor and a trumpeter: and this
gave him much custom and acquaintances in all ranks. The king consented, so that
only two were embarked, a Frenchman and a Dutch, and we two remained; for after
the departure of the others there was no word of sending him, as they thought
that we could not effect our escape.
The king sent for me and reprimanded
me for our disobedience; adding that he was annoyed that I had entertained a design
to escape, and that he did not wish me to go and drown myself as the gunner had
done. I humbly excused myself, and assured him that I had not participated in
any such enterprises. It was then that I began to be in the greatest favour with
the king.
Two years afterwards, my two comrades who had been banished
to Suvadhu were recalled on this wise. One of them, the Dutch, was a very clever
cutter of soft wood with the point of a knife; and having more leisure than he
cared for, took it into his head to make a little vessel in the Dutch fashion,
no longer than an arm's length, but so neatly done that it had all its proper
sails, ropes, utensils, and equipment, no less than a big ship of 500 tons. He
sent it to the king, who admired the little work so highly that he sent orders
that the workman should be sent back at once, and out of esteem for him, his companion
too. So we were again all four together for the space of fifteen months.
The king gave me a lodging close to him, and every day I had rice and other provisions
brought from his house. He also supplied me with a servant to wait upon me, besides
some money and other presents; by means of which I became somewhat rich, according
to the notions of the country, to which I conformed in every possible way, as
well as to their habits and customs, so as to be the better received among them.
I trafficked with the foreign ships which arrived there, and with so much address,
that they put entire confidence in me and left large quantities of merchandise
of all kinds for me to sell in their absence or to keep against their return,
and gave me a certain share. I remained also in the king's favour, whom I went
to salute every day, and was consequently well received by the grandees, and treated
with the warm friendship of many. I had a number of coconut trees of my own, which
are there a source of riches. I had them tended by labourers, who give their services
for hire. In a word, I wanted nothing but the exercise of the christian religion,
and I was much grieved to be deprived of that, arid to lose all hope of returning
to France.
So it is that my long sojourn in these islands gave me
a great knowledge of them, of the people who inhabit them, and their manners and
customs, and I am now disposed to leave on record, with some particularity, the
information I thus acquired.
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Presidency of Mohamed Nasheed 
