THE IMPORTANCE OF WORDS (2)

IN FEBRUARY 1614, a Khoikhoi man named Coree (aka Xhore) left London aboard the English East India Company ship, Hector, bound for his homeland at the Cape. He had been kidnapped eight months previously and taken to London to learn enough English to fit him for the position of interpreter and agent when English ships called for refreshments.

He had lived well at the house of Sir Thomas Smythe during his enforced sojourn in London, but he had been exposed to curiosity, mockery and loneliness. His senses had been bombarded with terrifying sights, raucous noises, evil smells, revolting flavours and the uncomfortable pressure of elaborate garments against his skin. And, of course, he hated the winter cold with its rain and snow.

Some of the little we know about Coree comes from a book written by Edward Terry (15901660), chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador to the court of the Mughal emperor Jahangir in India. It appeared in expanded form as A Voyage to East-India in 1655.

Terry’s ship called at the Cape during his voyage out in 1616, giving him the opportunity to observe the Peninsula Khoikhoi, but the young cleric was arrogant and highly prejudiced. He equated them with beasts and condemned their language, habits, diet and everything about their way of life.

His story about Coree, inserted as an aside, should therefore be approached with caution.

According to Terry, he was an ungrateful wretch who refused to be contented, even though his hosts indulged him by making him a suit of armour in his favourite metal, which was “bright brass”. Instead, he would lie upon the ground daily and cry very often to go home.

When he eventually set foot on his own shore in June 1614, Coree is said to have thrown away his fine clothes, his linen undergarments and all other coverings and dressed once more in sheepskins, in accordance with his brutish preferences.

Terry says that Coree’s experience made the Khoikhoi shy, and although they would gather in great numbers when ships first came to anchor, they would watch carefully for signs of departure and would disappear three or four days in advance, fearing another abduction.

His return didn’t make things easier for other mariners. He had been astonished to see the quantity and variety of metal available to his captors and realised that his people had been duped when they exchanged a fine beast for a small piece of iron or copper. Visiting mariners never obtained cattle as cheaply again.

Coree’s knowledge of the world translated into wealth and influence at home, but he made enemies among his neighbours. He is said to have died in the mid-1620s at the hands of some Dutch sailors who were aggrieved because he would not give them food.

Back on home soil again, Coree threw away his fine clothes for his sheepskins