Chao. If. through feveral Countries of the I N D I ES. 71 j 
’ Where the EngUJh and Dutch are lodged, which are fo near 
the Sea- fide, that at High-Tide the Water comes up to 
the very Walls of them. The lower Rooms being em- 
ployed for the laying up of their Merchandize, and the upper 
for Lodgings, being the moll convenient for the free Paf- 
fage of the Air, The poorer fort cover their Houles only 
with the Sprigs . and Leaves of Date- Trees. 
The Streets of this City are very narrow, irregular, and 
not kept clean, which, together with the exceffive Heat of 
the Climate, and the Cliangeablenefs of the Winds, ren- 
ders the Air very pernicious here: For, in the Morning 
they are fufficiently fenfible of a cold Eaft Wind, which to- 
wards Noon changes to the other Extream, viz. a . very hot 
. South Wind. . The wafte Wind, which blows towards 
. Night from th& Sides of Arabia , continues the Headof the 
. Day till Midnight, when a cold North Wind corning from 
the Mountains, introduces a fudden Alteration. Befides 
this, it rains fo feldom here, that in 1632 they ordered a 
■ publick Thank fgiving for a plentiful Shower of Rain, after 
• a. continual Drought for three Years. 
This is the Reafon that all about the City you fee no 
Grafs, or- other Herbs, except what is produced with in- 
credible Labour in fome Gardens, where they have Gar- 
lick, Onions, Chibols, Radifoes, and Cucumbers ; but 
thefe mu it be watered twice or thrice a Day. It is the IQe 
..o.f .Kifmifcb .which chiefly furnilhes this City with Pulfe 
and Fruits 1 it lies three Leagues from Gambron , being fif- 
teen Leagues in Length, and three in Breadth. , In June , 
and the reft of the Summer Months, this Hand produces 
Grapes, Damfins, Peaches, Mangoes, Quinces, Oranges, 
Lemons, and Pomegranates, both red and white : And in 
October, Melons, Citrons, Cucumbers, Radifhes, Onions, 
Turnips, Almonds, Piftachoes, Apples, Pears, and divers 
other Fruits, and that in fuch Quantities, that they are fold 
here at an eafier rate than at any other Place in Perjia ; 
whence it comes, that the Inhabitants feed for the moft part 
on Pulfe, Fruits, and what Fifh the neighbouring Sea fur- 
niihes them with, the Meat hereabouts being, by reafon of 
the exceffive Heat, not very well tailed, and of little Nou- 
rifliment, though otherwife they have fufficie.nt Store of 
Cattle, fuch as Oxen, Cows, Sheep, but efpecially of 
Goats, which are fold at the rate of fix or eight Shillings 
apiece. They have here alfo a kind of Rams with four 
Horns, but no wild Fowl. Amongft other Fifh, Pilchards, 
Smelts, Oyfters and Crabs are catched here in vafc, Quan- 
tities. Their ordinary Drink is fair Water, which being 
brought to the City two Leagues Diftance, is very dear 
fometimes; they drink alfo Arrack, or ftrong Water, made 
of Rice or Dates. 
Perfons of Note, and the beft Merchants, have their 
Cloaths made after the Perfian Mode, but the common 
People take no more Care than to cover their Privities. 
The Women look upon it as their chief Ornament to have 
many Rings of Silver, Brafs, or Iron, according to their 
refpeblive Abilities, about their Arms and Legs. To their 
Hair, which hangs down over their Foreheads, they fallen 
a kind of Bodkin of Silver, gilt, or Brafs, and wear in 
the left Noftril of their Nofe a gold Ring, with a Tur- 
quoife, a Granate, or perhaps only a gold Knob enamelled 
or plain. Their Pendants are fo weighty, as to draw their 
Ears down almoft to their Shoulders. Their winter Sea- 
Pen being from October to May , when the Heats are lefs 
violent, .this is their chief Time for trading, when the Per- 
Jjans, Arabians , Banyans , Armenians, Turks, and 1 Tartars , 
come hither with the Caravans, which fet out at certain 
, Times from Aleppo , Bagdat , Ifpahan , Shir as. Labor, He- 
rat , and Bajfora, under the Convoy of certain Guards. 
The Englifh and Dutch commonly come hither by Sea, 
and befides their ready Money, bring diverfe Commodi- 
fies both out of Europe and the Indies , which they ex- 
change for Perfian Tapeftry, raw Silk, Cotton, Rhubarb, 
Saffron, and Rofe- water, which is made in vaft Quantities 
about Shir as, either by Infufion, which they call Gullab, 
and look upon it as the beft, or by Diftillation, and this 
they call Areka-gull, j. e. the Sweat of Rofes : Both Kinds 
are much ufed all over the Indies-, where they mix it with per- 
fumes, and they ufe it to fweeten their Rooms with it. Here 
are alfo Abundance of Callicoes made in portable Looms, 
which the Weavers fatten to a Tree, or fome other Place 
Numb. 51. 
Without the City, and having finifhed their. Day 's Work, 
carry it Home again, without. any Trouble, being campo- 
fed only of Canes fattened to the Woof of the Cloth. 
They have here a certain copper Coin which they call 
Beforg, fix whereof make a Pays, ten Pays a Chay, which 
is equivalent to Five-pence Englifio \ two Cbays make, a 
Mamoudy , two whereof make an Abas, and three AbasA a 
French Crown •, an hundred Mamoudys make a Tumain, 
which is worth five French Pj.ftol.es j but Spanijh Rials 
and ,Rix-dollars are preferred before all the other Goins in 
Perjia, by reafon of the vaft Advantage they make of 
them in melting them down. As to their Weights, a 
ApHs fix Pounds, a Mancha twelve, and the Man furai s 
thirty Pounds. 
The Pearl Trade is alfo one of the greateft in Gambron , 
and i s carried on near the I fie of Bahram , fix Leagues from, 
the: City. The Fifherman’s Head is inclofed in a Bag of 
oiled Leather, which has a Pipe reaching up above the 
Water to fetch Breath through j he rakes together all the 
Shells he can meet with at the Bottom, and having filled 
-his Bag, which hangs about his Neck, at a certain Signal 
given by him, he is drawn up into the Boat, which is wait- 
ing for that Purpofe. 
The Governor of Gambron has the Dignity of a Suit ail 
annexed to his Office, and has under him a Vizir, or Se- 
cretary, and a Couteval, or Captain of His Guards , be- 
fides thefe, there is a Sabandar, or a Receiver of the Cuff 
toms ; tho’ the Hollanders , purfuant to a Priviledge grant- 
ed them by Shah Abas , pay none, and the Fnglijh are fo 
far from paying any Duty here, that they ought to have 
a Moiety of all that is received, but are forced to be 
contented with about a tenth Part, the Perfians thinking it no 
Crime to defraud Strangers, efpecially if they be Chrifti- 
ans, when their Prince’s Interefl is concerned. As the 
Perfian Horfe are incomparably better than the Indians 3 
the EngUJh, as well as the Dutch, pay fifty Crowns Cuf- 
tom for every Horfe they export. However, the EngUJh 
have the Priviledge of traniporting twelve Horfes yearly,; 
without paying any Cuftom for them, an indifferent Perfia 
an Horfe being worth 400 Crowns in the Indies. The In- 
habitants of Gambron are, generally fpeaking, Perfians , A- 
rabians, and Indians , who all fpeak the Portuguese Lan- 
guage, which was introduced into thofe Parts whilft the 
Portugueze were Matters of Ormuz-, tho’ ever fince the 
Conqueft of it by the Perfians, they are not permitted to 
come to Gambron , which is open to all other Nations, 
Chrijlians , Jews Pagans , and 'Mohammedans, being per- 
mitted to trade here, which is the Occafion they live in 
open Hoftility with the Perfians ; take their Ships as Prizes* 
and frequently land in the neighbouring Hands : Unto one, 
which is about three Leagues off the Continent, the King 
of Spain s Subjects are permitted to come and traffick, 
paying certain Duties to the Governor of the Caftle that 
commands the Hand. 
7. The City of Ormuz was feated in an Hand of the fame 
Name, about two Leagues from the Continent, and fix 
Leagues in Circumference, being compofed of nothing 
but fait Rocks, not producing the leaft frefh Water, but 
it was the Advantage and Goodnefs of its Harbour and Situa- 
tion, which made it fo famous for Commerce, that it was 
a Proverb among the Arabians, that if the World were a 
Ring, Ormuz ought to be confidered as the Diamond, 
According to Texira , Shah Abas, a Native of Arabia , 
having in the tenth Century made himfelf Matter of the 
Provinces bordering upon the Arabian Gulph, patted over 
into the Hand, where he built the City of Ormuz. Sha- 
bedin Mohammed , of the Pofterity of Mohammed the 1 1 th 
King of Ormuz , died 1228, and he who reigned in 1608, 
when it was conquered by the Portugueze , was named Saf- 
fedin, a Tributary to the King of Perjia. 
For Albuquerque having been fent to vifit the Gbafts of 
Arabia , being informed that the People of Ormuz lived 
in no good Underftanding with their King, by reafon of 
the Mifrnanagement of his chief Minitter, came the 25th 
of September before the City ^ and after having defeated 
their Fleet, obliged the King of Ormuz to acknowledge 
the King of Portugal for his Sovereign, to pay a Certain- 
Tribute, and permit Albuquerque to build a Citadel where 
he fliould think it moft proper, which was performed ac~ 
9 F . cordingly. 
