son of the emperor of the Moors, the Shariffe, the Haceny,
whose honour and estate may God long increase and advance. This our
imperial commandment is delivered into the hands of the English
merchants who reside under the protection of our high court, that all
men who see these presents may understand that our high councils will
defend them, by the aid of God, from all that may injure or oppress them
in any way or manner in which they shall be wronged; and that which way
soever they may travel, no man shall take them captives in these our
kingdoms, ports, or other places belonging to us; and that no one shall
injure or hinder them, by laying violent hands upon them, or shall give
occasion that they be aggrieved in any manner of way. And we charge and
command all the officers of our ports, havens, and fortresses, and all
who bear authority of any sort in our dominions, and likewise all our
subjects generally of all ranks and conditions, that they shall in no
way molest, offend, wrong, or injure them. And this our commandment
shall remain inviolable, being registered on the middle day of the month
Rabel of the year 996.

The date of this letter agrees with the 20th of March 1587, which I,
Abdel Rahman el Catun, interpreter for his majesty, have translated out
of Arabic into Spanish, word for word as contained therein.[306]

[Footnote 306: Besides this, Hakluyt gives copies in Spanish and English
of a letter from Mulley Hamet to the Earl of Leicester, and of a letter
from Queen Elizabeth to Mulley Hamet, both of which are merely
complimentary, or relate to unexplained circumstances respecting one
John Herman an English rebel, whose punishment is required from the
emperor of Morocco. He had probably contraveened the exclusive
privileges of the Barbary company, by trading in Morocco.--E.]

SECTION XV.

_Voyage to Benin beyond Guinea in 1588, by James Welsh_[307].

This and the subsequent voyage to Benin were fitted out by Messrs Bird
and Newton, merchants of London, in which a ship of 100 tons called the
Richard of Arundel and a pinnace were employed, under the chief command
of James Welsh, who wrote the account of both voyages--_Astley_.

[Footnote 307: Hakluyt, II. 613. Astley, I. 199.]

It seems not improbable that these voyages were intended as an evasion
of an exclusive privilege granted in May 1588 by Queen Elizabeth, for
trade to the rivers Senegal and Gambia, called Senega and Gambra in
Hakluyt. The bounda