156 THE PORTUGUESE POLICY IN THE EAST vate cargo. Certain of the ships sent " to guard the mouth of the Strait " will, the king was informed, " after selling their rice depart full of gold, and will not care a straw for our service." A practice arose of coercing the coast rajas into vending their spices to the officials engaged in private trade, while the king's ships could obtain freights only at enhanced rates. Pressure was put on the native merchants, and several ports were almost deserted by them, as they had to pay heavy dues, which the Portuguese captains corruptly evaded. " The whole [royal] trade is being lost which afforded the revenues of your factory. Your Highness has not nor will have from Malacca any profit as long as the trade is being done by the captains "who would not pay the customs levied from the Gentiles and the Moors. Such is the statement in a letter for the king from Affonso Mexia, dated January 15, 1530. Many other letters tell the same story. It was felt to be irregular, however, to employ as ambassador an officer who had bought up all the merchandise in the town, " and who seems to be going rather to do his own trading." Native vessels, on arriving at a port, were not allowed to sell their cargoes until the factory had bought what it wanted to make up the king's shipment, and this royal privilege the Portuguese officials con- verted into a device for buying on their own terms the commodities for their private trade. The result was thus pithily summed up in a communication from Fer- nando Nunes, September 7, 1527: " The native mer- chants neither will give to, nor have any trade with,
