[Brought up to the King.] These men thus seized were carried up before the King.  Of whom he demanded, whether the English had Wars with the Hollanders.  They answered, No.  Or, if the English could beat them.  They answered, They could and had done it lately.  Then he gave order to give them all some Cloths, and to Mr. William Vassal, being the chief of them, a double Portion.  And out of them made choice of two Lads; whom afterwards he sent and took into his Court.  Their honours and their ends we shall see by and by.  They were all placed in the City of Cande, and each of them had a new Mat given them to sleep on, and their Diet was Victuals dressed and brought them twice a day from the King’s own Palace.  They had Cloths also distributed to them another time.

So that these men had the advantage of us.  For we neither had Mats nor Cloths, nor had the honour of being ever brought into the King’s Presence.

[They hoped to obtain Liberty, but were mistaken.] This civil Reception upon their first coming up into the City, put these Persia Merchant-men in hope, that the King would give them their Liberty.  There was at that time an old Portugueze Father, Padre Vergonse by name, Living in the City.  With him they discoursed concerning the probability of their Liberty, and that the favours the King had shewn them seemed to be good signs of it:  but he told them the plain truth, that it was not customary there to release white Men.  For saying which, they railed at him, calling him Popish Dog, and Jesuitical Rogue, supposing he spoke as he wished it might be.  But afterward to their grief they found it to be true as he told them.

[A ridiculous action of these Men.] Their entertainment was excellently good according to the poor condition of the Countrey, but they thought it otherwise, very mean and not according to the King’s order.  Therefore that the King might be informed how they were abused, each man took the Limb of an Hen in his hand, and marched rank and file in order thro the Streets with it in their hands to the Court, as a sign to the great Men whereby they might see, how illy they were served; thinking hereby the King might come to hear of their misusage, and so they might have order to be fed better afterwards.  But this proved Sport to the Noblemen who well knew the fare of the Countrey, laughing at their ignorance, to complain where they had so little cause.  And indeed afterwards they themselves laughed at this action of theirs, and were half ashamed of it, when they came to a better understanding of the Nature of the Countreys Diet.