248 1IIST(JJIY OF INDIA. [liooK IF.
A.D. iGii. considerable time in captivity, he obtained his release, reajvered his ships, and
sailed for Surat, the road of which was refiched on the 26th of Septemh»er,
1611. Here he found a Portuguese squadron, cfjrLsLsting of .seven frigates
lying outside, and of thirteen smaller vessels inside the bar. They had heard
Arrogant of liis arrival in the lied !Sea, and, though the English were not then at war
claima of _
the Porta with Portugal, now made him aware that they disputed his right to trade at Surat, and would not even allow him to communicate with the Englishmen who had been left there by Captain Hawkiu.s. This arbitrary proceeding the Portugue.se admiral justified on the ground that he was invested with the office of captain-major, an ofiice which made him guardian of all the ports in the north of India, and warranted him in seizing aU ve&sels which presumed to trade with any of them without his carta or permit. Arrogant as this claim appears, it is not to be denied that the possession of it by the Poi-tugue.se had long been recognized even by the native courts ; and that therefore the captain- major, whose income was chiefly derived from the fees paid for these permits, had, if not justice, at least prescription on his side, when he insisted that the English vessels should retire if they coiild not produce a letter jfrom the King of Spain, or his viceroy at Goa, authorizing them to trade. The peace existing at this time between Spain, Portugal, and England, so far from weakening rather strengthened the captain -major's claim, because the charter of the Company expressly prohibited them from encroaching on the rights actually possessed by friendly European powers. On the other hand, it may be argued that the prohibitory clause in the charter applied only to the actual possession of places, and never could have been meant to recognize a right which, pvLshed to its extreme, would have warranted the Portuguese in excluding aU other nations from traffic with any part of the continent of India. Such a right would have made the Company's charter little better than waste paper; and we cannot therefore wonder that Sii' Henry Middleton at once declared his determination not to recognize it. Reply to the In the correspondeucc which ensued he told the captain-major that he had
major.' been sent by the King of England with a letter and rich present to the Great Mogul, in order to establish the trade which his countrymen had already com- menced ; and that, as India was a country free to aU nations, and neither the Mogul nor his people were under vassalage, he was determined to persevere, at all hazards, and, if necessary, to repel force by force. When he gave this answer he was in the belief that an extensive and lucrative trade had been, or was about to be established by the Company at Surat, but the information which he shortly after received convinced him that, for the present, all idea of establishing such a trade must be abandoned.
Captain "
Hawkin.s It has bccu ah-eady mentioned that Captain Hawkins, who commanded the
court of the Hcctor in the Company's third voyage, had, on arriving at Sm-at, foimd the 'ni prospect so flattering that he gave up the command to his first officer, and,
Great
1,..),
