The Portuguese ship Nossa Senhora da Guia runs aground on rocks in the South China Sea. It had misjudged its longitude after departing the port of Manila, bound for Macau. On board was the Jesuit Adriano de las Cortes. They were immediately spotted by local Chinese fishermen. The Chinese called the foreigners Aoyi, the Japanese Wokou (dwarf pirates), the terrifying Dutch Hongmao (red hair), and the terrifying black slaves Heigui (black ghosts). The black slaves were truly something completely different from anything the Chinese had ever seen. In an official description to the emperor, it was said that these individuals, even when they washed, remained black… Then the Chinese soldiers arrived. One opened fire with his arquebus, but the shot was so weak that it was absorbed by a Portuguese man’s clothing. Another Portuguese, Francesco, was stabbed and then beheaded. Shortly thereafter, the Macanese Miguel Xuarez was impaled by a spear. They ordered the others to hand over their treasures. Faced with the refusal of two Indians, one, Ismael, a Muslim, was beheaded immediately, and the other, Budo, shortly thereafter. The owner Goncalo Ferreira’s slave, named Masmamuth Ganpti, reached land unharmed, but had his hands and feet amputated and then beheaded, perhaps due to a misunderstanding. On board were 91 Portuguese and dozens of others from the Canary Islands to Goa, including 69 Japanese (used to trade with the Chinese and to infiltrate the Chinese interior), 34 Goan Muslims, and also Jews, Moors, Africans, and Filipinos. The Portuguese ships were not Portuguese passengers at all, but they contained an incredible microcosm of cultures from around the world. The Chinese describe Spaniards (any Westerner was often referred to as a Spaniard) as “having long bodies, high noses, cat-like eyes, large mouths, curly hair, and red whiskers. They love to do business, and when they do so, they raise several fingers of their hands in the air… They distinguish between the Great West (Europe) and the Little West (India). They are impressed by blacks and their obedience to their masters and their ability as swimmers, but also by their cost.
