A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 8 | Page 7

pass the bar of Goa, as, by these continual rains, all
the sands join together hear a mountain called Oghane, and run into the
shoals of the bar and port of Goa, having no other issue, and remain
there, so that the port is shut up till the 1st of August; but it opens again
on the 10th of August, as the rains are then ceased, and the sea thus
scours away the sand.
[Footnote 5: Hakluyt, II. 413.
It appears, from the journal of John Eldred, in the preceding section,
that William Barret was English consul at Aleppo, and died in 1584.
In the immediately preceding article in Hakluyt, vol. II. p. 406, et seq.,
is a curious account of the money weights and measures of Bagdat,
Basora, Ormus, Goa, Cochin, and Malacca, which we wished to have
inserted, but found no sufficient data by which to institute a comparison
with the money weights and measures of England, without which they
would have been entirely useless.
In the present article, the dates are certainly of the old stile, and, to
accommodate these to the present new stile, it may be perhaps right to
add nine days to each for the sixteenth century, or twelve days to reduce
them to corresponding dates of the present nineteenth century.--E.]
To the northward, as Chaul, Diu, Cambay, Damaun, Basseen, and other
places, the ships depart from Goa between the 10th and 24th of August;
and ships may sail to these places at all times of the year, except in
winter, as already described.
Ships depart for Goa from Chaul, Diu, Cambay, and other parts to the
northward, betwixt the 8th and 15th of January, and come to Goa about
the end of February.
From Diu ships depart for the straits of Mecca, or the Red-Sea, about
the 15th of January, and return from thence to Diu in the month of
August. They likewise depart from Din for the Red-Sea in the second
monsoon, betwixt the 25th of August and 25th of September, and
return to Diu between the 1st and 15th of May following.
From Socotora, which hath only few ships, they depart for Ormus
about the 10th of August.
About the 15th of September the Moors of the firm land begin to come
to Goa from all parts, as from Balagnete, Bezenegar, Sudalcan, and
other places; and they depart from Goa betwixt the 10th and 15th of

November.
It is to be understood, that, by going to the north, is meant departing
from Goa for Chaul, Diu, Cambay, Damaun, Basseen, and other places
as far as Sinde; and, by the south, is meant departing from Goa for
Cochin, and all that coast, as far as Cape Comorin.
In the first monsoon for Ormus, ships depart from Goa in the month of
October, passing with easterly winds along the coast of Persia. In the
second monsoon, the ships depart from Goa about the 20th of January,
passing by a like course, and with a similar wind; this second monsoon
being called by the Portuguese the entremonson. There is likewise a
third monsoon for going from Goa to Ormus, when ships set out from
Goa betwixt the 25th March and 6th April, having easterly winds, when
they set their course for the coast of Arabia, which they fell in with at
Cape Rasalgate and the Straits of Ormus. This monsoon is the most
troublesome of all, for they make two navigations in the latitude of
Ceylon, somewhat lower than six degrees.[6]
[Footnote 6: This is by no means obvious; but means, perhaps, that they
are obliged to bear away so far south, owing to the wind not allowing a
direct passage.--E.]
The first monsoon from Ormus for Chaul and Goa is in the month of
September, with the wind at north or north-east. The second is between
the 25th and 30th of December, with like winds. In the third, ships
leave Ormus between the 1st and 15th of April, with the wind at
south-east, east, or north-east, when they coast along Arabia from Cape
Mosandon to Cape Rasalgate; and after losing sight of Rasalgate, they
have westerly winds which carry them to Chaul and Goa. But if they do
not leave Ormus on or before the 25th of April, they must winter at
Ormus, and wait the first monsoon in September.
The first monsoon from Ormus to Sinde is between the 15th and 20th
of April; the second between the 10th and 20th of October. From
Ormus ships depart for the Red Sea in all January.
From Goa for Calicut, Cochin, Ceylon, and other places to the
southward, the ships depart from the 1st to the 15th of August, and find
these seas navigable all the year, except in winter, that is, from the 15th