Note 20 — Chapter IV

Not only was the commerce with China, Cantón, and Macán set free in the time of the fortunate governor Don Manuel de León, but another was begun—indeed, almost discovered—which was very large and profitable, which has greatly increased the wealth of the citizens of Manila. This is the trade and traffic of the coast of Coromandel or Malabar20 in Eastern India. This is the coast which extends from the mouths of the river Ganges, at the beginning of the large kingdom of Bengal, as far as the cape of Comorin; it is inhabited by Malabars, a people very shrewd and intelligent, and fond of work, and so crafty that when it is worth their while they deceive [even] the Chinese, who excel in the ability to cheat. The Malabar and Bengal people are unsurpassed in the art of spinning and weaving cotton cloth; for they weave pieces more delicate than the finest cambrics and Dutch linens, and gauzes so fine that when they are spread upon a table, the thread can hardly be discerned, it is so thin and delicate. But that in which they most excel, and have been alone and inimitable, is in their very fine cotton cloth dyed exquisitely with the finest colors; and this has another quality most excellent and admirable, which is that the more it is washed, the finer and more lustrous the colors appear, and they never are washed out or become dull. Without doubt these so rare colors are those which Job mentions in the twenty-eighth chapter, when making comparisons with Wisdom, he says: Non conferetur tinctis Indiæ coloribus.21 On this coast of Coromandel the English, Dutch, French, and Danes maintain their factories, and possess an extensive commerce in cotton cloth, which is consumed throughout Europa—and much more in the regions of the north, because cotton is so good for protecting them [from the cold]. But the largest settlement, and the one most frequented for commerce, is that which the English have, named Madrastapán, or Fort St. George;22 it is peopled with innumerable dwellers of all nationalities, not only those of India but Europeans. This is greatly favored by the policy that is in use in this great town, very different from that which obtains in Inglaterra, which is to permit the exercise not only of the apostolic Roman Catholic faith, but of all the heathen doctrines and ceremonies; and thus the Catholics have their churches, and so do the schismatic Armenians, with schismatic Basilian monks.23 The heretics have their meeting-houses,24 according to their sects; the Moors [i.e., Mahometans] their mosques, and the heathen their pagodas; nor even is their synagogue denied to the Jews; and all live peaceably, exercising the occupations of trade, as harmoniously as if they all had but one faith and religion. About two leguas distant is the city of Santo Tomé, a noted colony of the Portuguese, which in former times enjoyed [the distinction of] being the emporium of all Eastern India; and the cause of its destruction was its enormous wealth and the lack of harmony among the Portuguese, a people who are naturally inclined to disagree. On a lofty height near the city there is an ancient church, in which is venerated an image of Our Lady, which is said to have been painted by St. Luke and deposited in that place (called Meliapor) by the apostle St. Thomas, who preached to the Malabars our holy faith and suffered martyrdom in this place—where is guarded a stone cross near which he was put to death; and the lance with which they pierced him, stained with his holy blood, is displayed, with other memorials of this glorious apostle. [Diaz here mentions the great probability, fortified by citations from Juan de Barros, that the remains of the apostle repose there.]25