The Travels of Mendes PintoThis text, ostensibly the autobiography of Portugese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto, came second only to Marco Polo's work in exciting Europe's imagination of the Orient. Chronicling adventures from Ethiopia to Japan, Travels covers twenty years of Mendes Pinto's odyssey as a soldier, a merchant, a diplomat, a slave, a pirate, and a missionary, and continues to overwhelm questions about its source with the sheer enjoyment of its narrative. "[T]here is plenty here for the modern reader. . . . The vivid descriptions of swashbuckling military campaigns and exotic locations make this a great adventure story. . . . Mendes Pinto may have been a sensitive eyewitness, or a great liar, or a brilliant satirist, but he was certainly more than a simple storyteller."—Stuart Schwartz, The New York Times |
Contents
List of Illustrations | ix |
Acknowledgments | xi |
Introduction | xv |
Europe under Charles V | xvi |
Flowering of the Renaissance | xvii |
Spain under Philip II | xix |
Portugal under Manuel I and John III | xxi |
Publication History of the Book | xxiii |
The Great Wall of China | 185 |
The Submerged City | 187 |
Business and Trade Practices in China | 191 |
The Floating Cities of China | 194 |
More about the Wonders of China | 197 |
Arrival in Peking | 200 |
IOI A Favorable Ruling | 202 |
Of Judges and Influence | 204 |
Translations | xxviii |
Summary of the Text | xxx |
Influences | xxxiv |
The Historical Author | xxxvi |
Satire and the Fictive Author | xxxix |
A Note on the Translation | xlv |
The Early Years I | 1 |
The Passage to India | 3 |
A Renegade in the Red Sea | 4 |
The Land of Prester John | 6 |
Captive in Mocha | 8 |
On the Slave Block | 9 |
The Siege of Diu | 12 |
Impressment at Sea | 13 |
The Queen of Honowar | 14 |
Defeat at Honowar | 15 |
The Queens Treachery | 17 |
Departure for Malacca | 18 |
The Battak Envoy | 20 |
Through the Jungles of Sumatra | 22 |
At the Court of the Battak | 24 |
Observing the Battak at War | 26 |
The Battak Army in Retreat | 27 |
The Battaks Warning | 29 |
A Malay Tyrant | 31 |
The Elusive Isle of Gold | 34 |
The Ambassador from Aaru | 36 |
The Aaru on the Eve of War | 38 |
Shipwrecked off the Island of Sumatra | 40 |
Captive in Siak | 42 |
Back in Malacca | 44 |
The Achinese Threat to Portuguese Power | 45 |
The Death of the King of Aaru | 47 |
The Queen of Aaru Seeks Revenge | 49 |
The Queen of Aaru in Malacca | 50 |
The Queen of Aaru Departs in Anger | 51 |
Jantana Lays Claim to Aaru | 53 |
Jantana and Achin at War | 55 |
Rescue at Sea | 57 |
Tomé Lobo in Danger | 59 |
Murder of the King of Pahang | 60 |
Disaster in the Harbor of Lugor | 62 |
Lady of the Swamp | 65 |
Antonio de Faria Swears Vengeance | 66 |
In Search of Khoja Hassim | 68 |
Pirates off the Coast of Champa | 69 |
Exploring Champa | 72 |
Night Raid off Hainan Island | 74 |
The Armenians Story | 76 |
Gathering Information in Hainan | 80 |
Encounter with a Chinese Pirate | 81 |
The Unlucky Bride | 85 |
No Word of the Lord | 87 |
Problems Unloading the Cargo | 90 |
Victory in the Madel River | 91 |
The Corsairs Confession | 93 |
King of the Sea | 95 |
Shipwreck off the Isle of Thieves | 98 |
Marooned | 99 |
A Precocious Child | 101 |
Partners in Piracy | 104 |
News of Khoja Hassim | 106 |
Preparations for the Attack | 109 |
A Glorious Victory III | 111 |
After the Battle | 113 |
The Storms Ravages | 117 |
The Prisoners of Nouday | 119 |
The Mandarins Reply | 121 |
The Sack of Nouday | 123 |
Pirates at the Gates of Ningpo | 125 |
A Message from Ningpo | 127 |
Antonio de Farias Reception in Ningpo | 129 |
The Vicar of Ningpo | 132 |
A Banquet in Honor of Antonio de Faria | 133 |
The Voyage to Calempluy | 135 |
A Doubtful Course | 138 |
Of Men and Beasts | 140 |
Similau Disappears | 142 |
The Fabulous Isle of Calempluy | 144 |
Desecration of the Tombs | 146 |
The Old Hermit of Calempluy | 148 |
The Hermit Spreads the Alarm | 150 |
Antonio de Faria Meets His | 152 |
Castaways in China | 153 |
The Wayside Shelter | 155 |
Thrown to the Leeches | 157 |
Arrested in Taypor | 162 |
Transferred to Nanking | 163 |
Legal Aid for the Poor | 165 |
A Letter of Recommendation | 167 |
The City of Nanking | 169 |
The Pagoda of Pocasser | 171 |
The Great Albuquerque Defamed | 175 |
Inez de Leiria | 177 |
The Legend of Nancá | 180 |
The Child Prophet | 182 |
The Founding of Peking | 183 |
Sentenced to Hard Labor | 206 |
The Kindly Captain of Quansy | 211 |
The Splendors of Peking | 212 |
Chinese Banqueting Houses | 215 |
Sightseeing in Peking | 218 |
Prison of the Outcasts | 220 |
Treasure House of the Dead | 223 |
The Shrine of the Queen of Heaven | 225 |
The Shrine of the 113 Kings | 228 |
Social Welfare in China | 230 |
Provisions against Famine | 232 |
Farewell to Peking | 233 |
IIS A Point of Honor | 236 |
Calvo | 238 |
The Tartar Invasion | 241 |
Jorge Mendes Takes a Chance | 243 |
A Portuguese Hero among the Tartars | 245 |
On to Peking with the Tartars | 248 |
Summoned in Audience | 250 |
The Tartar King | 252 |
The Tartars Lift the Siege | 255 |
At the Tartar Court | 256 |
Jorge Mendes Stays Behind | 257 |
Departure from Tartary | 259 |
A Heathen Pope | 261 |
En Route to Cochinchina | 265 |
Death on the Suicide Pyre | 267 |
The Tartar Ambassador at the Court of Cochin | 268 |
The Cochinese King Returns in Triumph | 271 |
The Discovery of Japan | 272 |
The Inquisitive Prince of Tanegashima | 274 |
How Firearms Came to Japan | 276 |
The King of Bungo | 278 |
A Shooting Accident | 282 |
The Princes Recovery | 285 |
Shipwreck off the Ryukyu Islands | 288 |
Arrested for Piracy | 289 |
Under Sentence of Death | 291 |
The Compassionate Women of the Ryukyus | 294 |
The Dowager Queen of the Ryukyus | 296 |
A Brief Description of the Ryukyu Islands | 299 |
Mission to Martaban | 301 |
The Pathetic Little King | 303 |
A Throne of Straw | 305 |
Arrival in Martaban | 310 |
The Siege of Martaban | 311 |
Martaban Capitulates | 314 |
The Surrender Ceremony | 318 |
The Sack of Martaban | 321 |
The Burmese Tyrants Revenge | 323 |
Betrayed by a Portuguese Nobleman | 325 |
The Burmese Attack Prome | 328 |
The Fall of Prome | 331 |
The Fall of Meleitay | 333 |
New Military Alliances | 335 |
Journey to the Land of the Calaminhan | 337 |
The Pagoda of Tinagogo | 338 |
The Festival of Xipatilau | 341 |
The Frightful Penitents of Tinagogo | 344 |
Encounter with a Portuguese Woman | 348 |
At the Palace of the Calaminhan | 352 |
News of the Redeemer | 356 |
A Brief Description of the Calaminhans Empire | 361 |
Strange Races and Places | 364 |
Funeral Rites for the Holy Rolim | 366 |
Election of the New Rolim | 370 |
The New Rolim Ascends the Holy Throne | 375 |
Escape from Burmese Captivity | 378 |
Back in Goa | 380 |
The Ambassadress from Java | 382 |
The Javanese Lay Siege to Pasuruan | 384 |
The Amucks Sally Forth | 386 |
The Pasuruans Attack Again | 387 |
A Portuguese Renegade | 389 |
A Young Assassin | 391 |
Anarchy in Demak | 393 |
Struggle over a Life Raft | 395 |
Ransomed from Slavery | 397 |
Portuguese Mercenaries in Siam | 399 |
The King of Siam Poisoned by the Queen | 401 |
The Good King of Siam | 404 |
The Queen and Her Lover Usurp the Throne | 408 |
The Burmese Invade Siam | 411 |
Rebellion in Pegu | 417 |
The Abominable Crime of Diogo | 425 |
The Burmese Recapture Pegu | 432 |
The Xemindó Captured | 439 |
The Second Voyage to Japan | 445 |
Two Japanese Passengers Taken | 451 |
Repairing the Fleet | 457 |
Victory in the Perlis River | 463 |
An Invitation from the King | 471 |
Embassy to the King of Bungo | 517 |
Currency | 643 |
SixteenthCentury Ships and Other | 647 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aaru Afonso de Albuquerque ambassador anchored Antonio de Faria armada arms arrived asked Ayuthia Barros and Couto Battak bonzes Burma Burmese Calaminhan called Cambay captain of Malacca carrying chap chapter China Chinese Christian coast Cochinchina command cruzados Dalgado death déc departed Diogo Diogo Pereira Diogo Soares enemy Estêvão da Gama everything father favor fear Fernão Mendes Pinto five fleet fortress four gold governor hand heaven holy honor huge hundred immediately India island Japan Japanese João junk killed king kingdom land large number leagues letter Lisbon lives Lord Malay Martaban meaning merchants night Ning-po Pegu Pinto poor port Portugal Portuguese priests Pulo Quiay reached replied river Ryukyu sail Schurhammer sent ships Siam silver soldiers Sumatra taels Tanegashima tears thee things thou thousand cruzados told Tomé Pires took town twelve viceroy voyage word wounded
Popular passages
Page 653 - RELIGION IN CHINA; containing a brief Account of the Three Religions of the Chinese ; with Observations on the Prospects of Christian Conversion amongst that People.