Page:Annals of the Honorable East-India Company Vol 1.djvu/222

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206
ANNALS OF THE HONORABLE

Chap. I

1618-19.

Sir Thomas Roe returns to England; - his agreement with the Dutch Admiral, Hoffman, at Saldanha Bay, on his homeward voyage.

This appears to have been the last transaction of Sir Thomas Roe in the East-Indies; but, in his voyage home, he touched at Saldanha Bay, in May 1619, where he met and held a conference with the Dutch Admiral, Hoffman, who commanded the outward-bound fleet. From this officer he learned, that the respective governments in Europe, alarmed at the consequences of the commercial jealousies and animosities, between their subjects in the East-Indies, had appointed Commissioners to take the subject into consideration; and it was, with a becoming sense of duty, agreed between them, that each should address a letter to the chiefs of their respective factories in India, recommending to them to abstain from any opposition, or violence against each other, till each should receive specific instructions from their superiors, or be informed of the result of the conferences, between the Commissioners of the two nations, in Europe. [1]

Phirmaunds obtained for English trade in Persia.

At the close of the preceding season, Sir Thomas Roe had given authority to the Company's again at ISPAHAN, to negotiate a treaty between the English and Persian courts, which Mr. Barker, who had succeeded to be agent, effected this season. As preliminaries to this treaty, three Phirmaunds, in favour of the English, were issued:-by the first, they were to be paid, in money, for their good; by the second, the Sultan of Mynaw was

  1. -Letters addressed by Sir Thomas Roe, and the Dutch Admiral, Hoffman, to their respective Factories in India, dated Saldanha Bay, Cape of Good Hope, 11th May 1619. (East-India Papers in the State Paper Office, No. 14).