[Footnote 123:  From this singular term, what is now called the jollyboat has probably derived its name.—­E.]

I sent my purser on shore in the pinnace, early of the 16th, to purchase such necessaries as I thought might easily have been got; but he returned about ten o’clock a.m. without buying any thing for our purpose, bringing with him Mr Aldword, the chief merchant of our factory at Surat, along with whom was one Richard Steel, who had come over-land to Surat from Aleppo.[124] Mr Aldworth endeavoured to persuade me that Mucrob Khan was our friend, and that we had now an excellent opportunity to obtain good trade and satisfactory privileges while the Moguls were engaged in war with the Portuguese; and as both the Nabob and all the natives were rejoiced at hearing of our arrival, they would assuredly give us a most favourable reception.  Pleased with these hopeful circumstances, I yet still wished some other person here in command instead of Mucrob Khan, of whom I remained doubtful, and that we should have no free trade from him, but in his accustomed manner, which I believed to have been, of his own accord to cross us, and not as so constrained by direction of his king; and the event turned out accordingly, though we were wise behind the band, as will appear in the sequel.  Even the name he bore ought to have opened our eyes as to his influence with the Great Mogul:  as Mocrub signifies as much as his own bowels, Khan meaning great lord.  Yet I was deluded to believe that his favour with the king was tottering, and that he might easily be brought into disgrace, by complaint of any thing done contrary to the will or humour of the king; so that we were too bold, and injured our business when we found him opposing us, as we thought unreasonably.  On enquiring into the state of our business, and the health of our factory, Mr Aldworth informed me that Paul Canning and several others had died; that Thomas Kerridge had long since been agent in his room at the court of the Mogul, and that the factory at Surat now only contained himself and William Bidulph.

[Footnote 124:  Mr Richard Stell, or Steel, had gone to Aleppo, to recover a debt from a merchant of that city, who had fled to India; and, following him through Persia, Mr Steel had arrived at Surat.  On his report, the factors at Surat made an experiment to open a trade with Persia, which will form the subject of a future section of this chapter.—­E.]

In the morning of the 17th, I called a council to advise upon the best manner of conducting our affairs here, and to consider who might be the best person to send to Agraas resident.  Then entering upon the six interrogatories, inserted in the second article of our commission, I required Mr Aldworth to give direct answers to every question.—­1.  In what favour was Paul Canning with the emperor and his council, and how did he conduct himself at court in the business entrusted to him?  He answered,