The fourth gate is to the river, called the Dersane, leading to a fair court extending along the river, where the king looks out every morning at sun-rising, which he salutes, and then his nobles resort to their tessilam. Right under the place where he looks out, is a kind of scaffold on which the nobles stand, but the addees and others wait in the court below. Here likewise the king comes every day at noon to see the tamashan, or fighting with elephants, lions, and buffaloes, and killing of deer by leopards. This is the custom every day of the week except Sunday,[260] on which there is no fighting. Tuesdays are peculiarly the days of blood both for fighting beasts and killing men; as on that day the king sits in judgment, and sees it put in execution. Within the third gate, formerly mentioned, you enter a spacious court, with atescannas all arched round, like shops or open stalls, in which the king's captains, according to their several degrees keep their seventh day chockees.[261] A little farther on you enter through a rail into an inner court, into which none are admitted except the king's addees, and men of some quality, under pain of a hearty thwacking from the porter's cudgels, which they lay on load without respect of persons.

[Footnote 260: Probably Friday is here meant, being the Sabbath of the Mahometans.—E.]

[Footnote 261: Mr Finch perpetually forgets that his readers in England were not acquainted with the language of India, and leaves these eastern terms unexplained; in which he has been inconveniently copied by most subsequent travellers in the East. Chockees in the text, probably means turns of duty on guard.—E.]

Being entered, you approach the king's durbar, or royal seat, before which is a small court inclosed with rails, and covered over head with rich semianes, or awnings, to keep away the sun. Here aloft in a gallery sits the king in his chair of state, accompanied by his sons and chief vizier, who go up by a short ladder from the court, none other being allowed to go up unless called, except two punkaws to fan him, and right before him is a third punkaw on a scaffold, who makes havock of the poor flies with a horse's tail. On the wall behind the king, on his right hand, is a picture of our Saviour, and on his left, of the Virgin. On the farther side of the court of presence hang golden bells, by ringing which, if any one be oppressed, and is refused justice by the king's officers, he is called in and the matter discussed before the king. But let them be sure their cause is good, lest they be punished for presuming to trouble the king. The king comes to his durbar every day between three and four o'clock, when thousands resort to shew their duty, every one taking place according to his rank. He remains here till the evening, hearing various matters, receiving news or letters, which are read by his viziers, granting suits, and so forth: All which time the royal drum continually beats, and many instruments of music are sounded from a gallery on the opposite building. His elephants and horses in the mean time are led past, in brave order, doing their tessilam, or obeisance, and are examined by proper officers to see that they are properly cared for, and in a thriving condition.

Some add[262] that Agra has no walls, and is only surrounded by a dry ditch, beyond which are extensive suburbs, the city and suburbs being seven miles long and three broad. The houses of the nobility and merchants are built of brick and stone, with flat roofs, but those of the common people have only mud walls and thatched roofs, owing to which there are often terrible fires. The city has six gates. The river Jumna is broader than the Thames at London, and has many boats and barges, some of them of 100 tons burden; but these cannot return against the stream. From Agra to Lahore, a distance of 600 miles, the road is set on both sides with mulberry trees.

[Footnote 262: At this place, Purchas remarks, "that this addition is from a written book, entitled, A Discourse of Agra and the Four principal Ways to it. I know not by what author, unless it be Nicholas Ufflet."—Purch.]

The tomb of the late emperor Akbar is three coss from Agra, on the road to Lahore, in the middle of a large and beautiful garden, surrounded with brick walls, near two miles in circuit. It is to have four gates, only one of which is yet in hand, each of which, if answerable to their foundations, will be able to receive a great prince with a reasonable train. On the way-side is a spacious moholl, intended by the king for his father's women to remain and end their days, deploring for their deceased lord, each enjoying the lands they formerly held, the chief having the pay or rents of 5000 horse. In the centre of this garden is the tomb, a square of about three quarters of a mile in circuit. The first inclosure is a curious rail, to which you ascend by six steps into a small square garden, divided into quarters, having fine tanks; the whole garden being planted with a variety of sweet-smelling flowers and shrubs. Adjoining to this is the tomb, likewise square, all of hewn stone, with spacious galleries on each side, having a small beautiful turret at each corner, arched over head, and covered with fine marble. Between corner and corner are four other turrets at equal distances. Here, within a golden coffin, reposes the body of the late monarch, who sometimes thought the world too small for him. It is nothing near finished, after ten years labour, although there are continually employed on the mausoleum and other buildings, as the moholl and gates, more than 3000 men. The stone is brought from an excellent quarry near Futtipoor, formerly mentioned, and may be cut like timber by means of saws, so that planks for ceilings are made from it, almost of any size.

SECTION VII.

Voyage of Captain David Middleton, in 1607, to Bantam and the Moluccas.[263]

INTRODUCTION.

Captain David Middleton in the Consent, appears to have been intended to accompany the fleet under Captain Keeling. But, setting out on the 12th March, 1607, from Tilbury Hope, while Captain Keeling did not reach the Downs till the 1st April, Middleton either missed the other ships at the appointed rendezvous, or purposely went on alone. The latter is more probable, as Purchas observes that the Consent kept no concent with her consorts. By the title in Purchas, we learn that the Consent was a vessel of 115 tons burden. This short narrative appears to have been written by some person on board, but his name is not mentioned. It has evidently suffered the pruning knife of Purchas, as it commences abruptly at Saldanha bay, and breaks off in a similar manner at Bantam. Yet, in the present version, it has been a little farther curtailed, by omitting several uninteresting circumstances of weather and other log-book notices.—E.

[Footnote 263: Purch. Pilgr. I. 226. Astl. I. 332.]

* * * * *

We anchored in Saldanha roads on the 16th July, 1607, with all our men in good health; only that Peter Lambert fell from the top-mast head the day before, of which he died. The 21st, the captain and master went to Penguin island, three leagues from the road. This island does not exceed three miles long by two in breadth; yet, in my opinion, no island in the world is more frequented by seals and fowls than this, which abounds with penguins, wild-geese, ducks, pelicans, and various other fowls. You may drive 500 penguins together in a flock, and the seals are in thousands together on the shore. Having well refreshed our men, and bought some cattle, we weighed anchor about four in the morning of the 29th July, and came out of the roads with very little wind, all our men in perfect health, yet loth to depart without the company of our other two ships. But all our business being ended, and being quite uncertain as to their arrival,[264] we made no farther stay, and directed our course for the island of St Lawrence or Madagascar.

[Footnote 264: The other two ships under Keeling did not arrive at Saldanha bay till the 17th December, five months afterwards.—E.]

The 30th was calm all day, till three in the afternoon, when we had a fresh gale at S.W. with which we passed the Cape of Good Hope by ten at night. The 1st August we were off Cape Aguillas; and on the 27th we saw the island of Madagascar, some six leagues off. In the afternoon of the 30th we anchored in the bay of St Augustine, in six and a half fathoms on coarse gravel. In consequence of a great ledge of rocks off the mouth of the bay, we fell to room-wards, [leeward,] of the road, and had to get in upon a tack, having seven, six and a half, and five fathoms all the way, and on coming to anchor had the ledge and two islands to windward of us.

The 31st, our captain and Mr Davis went in the longboat to view the islands, and I myself as we went sounded close by the ledge, and had six fathoms. One of the islands is very small, as it were a mere bank of sand with nothing on it. The other is about a mile long, and half a mile broad, and has nothing upon it but some small store of wood. The 1st September, we weighed from our first anchorage, the ground being foul, so that our cable broke, and we lost an anchor in weighing, and came within two miles of the mouth of the river, where we anchored in five and a half fathoms fast ground, about three leagues from oar former anchorage. We got here plenty of sheep and beeves for little money, and having taken in wood and water, we weighed anchor on the 7th, taking to sea with us four goats, three sheep, and a heifer. We had an observation three miles from the island, before the bay of St Augustine, which we made to be in lat. 23 deg. 48' S.[265]

[Footnote 265: The tropic of Capricorn runs through the bay of St Augustine, being 23 deg. 30' S. rather nearer the south point of the bay; so that the latitude in the text must err at least 16' in excess.—E.]

The 12th November in the morning we saw an island, which we found to be Engano, or the Isle of Deceit, and came to its north side. This island is about five leagues in length, trending E. by S. and W. by N. the easter end is the highest, and the wester is full of trees. It is in lat. 5 deg. 30' S. and the variation is 4 deg. 13'. Having the wind at W.N.W. we steered away for the main of Sumatra E. by S. and E.S.E. with a pleasant gale but much rain, and next day had sight of Sumatra about four leagues from us. We anchored on the 14th in Bantam roads about four p.m. when we found all the merchants in good health, and all things in good order. Next day our captain went on shore to speak with Mr Towerson, respecting the business of the ship, and it was agreed to send ashore the lead and iron we brought with us. This being effected, and having fitted our ship in good order, and taken in our merchants and goods for the Moluccas, we took leave of the factory, and set sail for these islands on the 6th December.

"In the beginning of January, 1608, they arrived at the Moluccas. The rest of that month and the whole of February, was spent in compliments between them and the Spaniards and the Moluccan princes: the Spaniards not daring to allow them to trade without leave from their camp-master; and as he was embroiled with the Hollanders, he refused, unless they would aid him, or at least accompany their ships for shew of service against the Hollanders; which Captain Middleton refused, as contrary to his commission and instructions. In the mean time, they traded privately with the natives by night, and were jovial with the Spaniards by day, who both gave and received hearty welcome. In the beginning of March they had leave to trade, but this licence was revoked again in a few days, and they were commanded to be gone. Thus they spent their time till the 14th March, when they weighed anchor and set sail, having some little trade by the way. This part of the journal is long, and I have omitted it, as also in some other parts where I thought it might be tedious."[266]

[Footnote 266: This paragraph is by Purchas, by whom it is placed as here in the text.—E.]

The 23d March, we entered the Straits of Bangaya,[267] where the captain proposed to seek for water. While uncertain where to seek it, there came off a praw from the island, by which we learnt that good water might be had on the east shore, where we anchored in 60 fathoms in a most cruel current. Our long-boat was then sent for water, conducted by the Indian who came in the praw, from whom our people procured some fresh fish at a cheap rate in exchange for china dishes. In the morning of the 24th we went for another boat-load of water; and this morning by daybreak the natives came off to us in above 100 praws, carrying men, women, and children, and brought us great quantities of fish, both dried and fresh, which they sold very cheap. They brought us also hogs, both great and small, with plenty of poultry, which they sold very reasonably for coarse white cloth and china dishes; likewise plantains, cassathoe roots, and various kinds of fruit. The natives remained on board the whole day in such numbers, that we could sometimes hardly get from one part of the deck to another for them. In the afternoon the King of Bottone, or Booton, sent some plantains to our captain, and a kind of liquor for drinking called Irea-pote, in return for which the captain sent back a rich painted calico. About ten at night we weighed anchor, in doing which we broke the flukes of both our starboard anchors, for which reason we had to man our long-boat, and tow the ship all night against the current, which otherwise would have carried us farther to leewards than we could have made up again in three days, unless we had got a fresh gale of wind, so strong is the current at this place.

[Footnote 267: From circumstances in the sequel, these Straits of Bangaya appear to have been between the island of Booton, in about lat. 5 deg. S. and long. 123 deg. 20' E., and the south-east leg or peninsula of the island of Celebes.—E.]

The 19th April the King of Booton sent one of his brothers again on board,[268] to know if he might come to see the ship, of which he was very desirous, having often heard of Englishmen, but had never seen any; on which our captain sent him word that he should think himself much honoured by a visit. The king came immediately off in his caracol, rowed by at least an hundred oars or paddles, having in her besides about 400 armed men, and six pieces of brass cannon; being attended by five other caracols, which had at the least 1000 armed men in them. On coming up, our captain sent our surgeon, Francis Kelly, as an hostage for the king's safety; when he came on board, and was kindly welcomed by our captain, who invited him to partake of a banquet of sweetmeats, which he readily accepted. Captain Middleton then made enquiry as to what commodities the king had for sale in his dominions. He made answer, that they had pearls, tortoise-shell, and some cloth of their own manufacture, which we supposed might be of striped cotton. The king said farther, as we were unacquainted with the place, he would send a pilot to conduct us. Captain Middleton then requested to see some of the pearls; but he said he had not brought any with him, meaning only a jaunt of pleasure, but if we would come to Booton, which was only a day and night's sail from thence, we should see great store of pearls, and such other things as he had for sale. The captain and factor, considering that this was very little out of the way to Bantam, thought best to agree to this offer, and presented the king with a musket, a sword, and a pintado, thanking him for his kindness. The king replied, that he had not now any thing worth giving, but promised to repay these civilities before we left Booton, giving at the same time two pieces of their country cloth.

[Footnote 268: Something has probably been here omitted by Purchas, as we hear nothing of their transactions between the 24th March and 19th April.—E.]

About three p.m. the king took his leave, promising to send a pilot in all speed to carry us to the town of Booton, and by the time we weighed anchor the pilot came on board. At night the king sent one of his caracols to us, to see if we wanted any thing, and to accompany us to Booton; sending at the same time a goat to the captain. We stood for Booton with a small gale, which at night died away, so that we had to drop anchor in 22 fathoms, not willing to drift to leeward with the current; and next morning we again weighed and stood for Booton.

The 22d, about ten a.m. our purser came on board, having been sent on shore the night before, and brought with him some cocks and hens. He told us that the Indians had carried him to a king, who was glad to see him, having never before seen any Englishmen.[269] At his first coming to the king's house, he was carousing and drinking with his nobles, all round where he sat being hung with human heads, whom he had recently slain in war. After some little stay, the purser took his leave, and lay all night on board the caracol. This night we anchored in 20 fathoms, in a strait or passage not half a mile wide. The 23d, in the morning, we again weighed, and, having very little wind, our long-boat towed us through the straits, and as the tide was with us we went a-head a-main; so that by eleven o'clock a.m. we were in sight of the town of Booton, and came to anchor in 25 fathoms, about a mile and a half from the town, where we waited for the king to come on board, but he came not that night. We sent, however, our boat on shore, and bought fresh fish for our company.

[Footnote 269: There is some strange obscurity in the text about this new king, called in the margin by Purchas the king of Cobina.—E.]

The king came up under our stern about one p.m. of the 24th, having with him some forty caracols, and rowed round us very gallantly, hoisting his colours and pendants; after which they rowed back to the town, and our captain saluted them with a volley of small arms and all his great guns. He then caused man our long-boat, and went ashore to the town of Booton, accompanied by Mr Siddal and others. The king saluted our captain on landing, both with small arms and ordnance, saying that his heart was now contented, as he had seen the English nation, promising to shew our captain all the kindness in his power. The captain humbly thanked him, and took his leave for the present, coming again on board.

Next morning, the 25th April, we weighed anchor and stood farther into the road, anchoring again in 27 fathoms within half a mile of the shore. This morning there came on board a Javan nakhada, or ship-master, who had a junk in the roads laden with cloves, which he had brought from Amboina, with whom Mr Siddal our factor talked, as the Javan offered to sell all his cloves to our captain.

This day the king invited our captain to dine with him, begging him to excuse the homely fashion of their country. The meat was served up in great wooden chargers, closely covered up with cloths, and the king with our captain and Mr Siddal dined together, where we had great cheer, our drink being Irea-pote, which was sweet-tasted and very pleasant, the king being very merry. After dinner we had some talk about the cloves which we proposed to purchase; and the king promised to come next day on board himself or to send some of his attendants, to examine our cloth. The captain then gave the king great thanks for his kindness, and went on board.

The 26th, the king's uncle came off to see our ship, and was kindly entertained by the captain. The king's brother came afterwards on board, and remained to dinner with the captain, and after took leave. We expected the king, but he came not that day, sending his son and the pilot to view our cloth, which they liked very well. The king and his son came on board on the 27th, and dined with the captain, who gave them good cheer; and the king being very merry, wished to see some of our people dance, which several of them did before him, when he was much pleased both with our dancing and music. At night the king's uncle sent our captain four fat hogs.

The 28th, the king of another island near Booton came in his caracol, accompanied by his wife, to view our ship, but could not be prevailed on to come aboard. Our ship being now laden with cloves bought of the Javans, our captain bought some slaves from the king; and while we were very busy this night, one of them stole out from the cabin and leapt into the sea to swim ashore, so that we never heard of him more. Next morning the captain sent Augustine Spalding, our Jurabossa, to inform the king of the slave having made his escape, who presently gave him another.

May 3d, we proceeded for Bantam, saluting the town of Booton at our departure with three guns. The 3d, we had sight of the Straits of Celebes, for which we made all sail, but could not get into them that night. The 23d May, we anchored in the road of Bantam, where we did not find a single Christian ship, and only four junks from China, having taffaties, damasks, satins, and various other commodities. Having finished all our business here, the captain and merchants took leave on the 15th July, 1608, when we presently made sail from the road of Bantam, bound home for our native England.

* * * * *

Note.—At this place Purchas observes, "To avoid tiring the readers, the rest of this voyage homewards is omitted; instead of which we have set down a table of the journal of this ship from the Lizard to Bantam, as set forth by John Davis."—On this paragraph of Purchas, the editor of Astley's Collection remarks, I. 335. c. "But we meet with no such table in Purchas, neither is any reason assigned why it is omitted, so that many may believe these copies of Purchas imperfect. This Davis was probably the same who went with Sir Edward Michelburne, and who published some nautical directions, as already observed."

It is singular that the editor of Astley's Collection, with Purchas his Pilgrims before him, and perfectly aware of the Directions by John Davis "For ready sailing to the East Indies, digested into a plain Method, upon Experience of Five Voyages thither and Home again," should not have discovered or conjectured, that the promised table is actually published by Purchas in the first volume of his Pilgrims, p. 444—455.—E.

SECTION VIII.

Fourth Voyage of the English East India Company, in 1608, by Captain Alexander Sharpey.[270]

INTRODUCTION.

The relation of this fourth voyage fitted out by the English East India Company, and of various circumstances arising out of it, as given by Purchas, consists of four different narratives, to which the editor of Astley's Collection adds a fifth, here adopted from him. The following are the remarks in Astley, respecting this voyage and its several narratives.

[Footnote 270: Purch. Pilgr. I. 228, Astley, I. 336.]

In this voyage there were employed two good ships; the Ascension admiral, commanded by Captain Alexander Sharpey, general of the adventure; and the Union vice-admiral, under the command of Captain Richard Rowles, lieutenant-general. As these vessels separated at the Cape of Good Hope, and the Ascension was cast away in the bay of Cambaya, they may be considered as separate voyages, of which we have distinct relations.

There are two accounts extant of the voyage of the Ascension; one written by Captain Robert Coverte, and the other by Thomas Jones. There was a third, written by Henry Moris at Bantam, from the mouth of William Nichols, one of the sailors belonging to the Ascension; but as the voyage part was the same in substance as that given by Jones, Purchas omitted that part, and only inserted the journey of Nichols by land from Surat to Masulipatam; which requires to be inserted, although his remarks on the road to Masulipatam, and his voyage from thence to Bantam, are comprised in very few words.

The relation of Captain Coverte is not inserted in the Pilgrims of Purchas, who omitted it, because, as he tells us, it was already in print. Its title runs thus: A true and almost incredible Report of an Englishman, that, being cast away in the good Ship called the Ascension, in Cambaya, the furthest Part of the East Indies, travelled by Land through many unknown Kingdoms and great Cities. With a particular Description of all these Kingdoms, Cities, and People. As also a Relation of their Commodities and Manner of Traffic, &c. With the Discovery of a great Empire, called the Great Mogul, a Prince not till now known to the English Nation. By Captain Coverte. London, printed by William Hall, for Thomas Archer and Richard Redmer, 1612.

The circumstance of this narrative having been before printed, is a very insufficient reason for its omission, since Purchas inserted many others which were before in print, and few tracts had a better title for insertion, than this of Coverte. De Bry, however, knew its value, and gave a translation of it with cuts, in his Ind. Orient. part xi. p. 11. but divided into chapters, the original being in one continued narrative. It is true that Purchas has given an extract from it in his Pilgrimage, book V. chap. vii. sect. 5. a work on general geography entirely different from his Pilgrims, or Collection of Voyages and Travels; but this is very imperfect, and only refers to his land journey.

This voyage of Coverte contains sixty-eight pages in quarto, black letter, besides the dedication and title, which occupy four pages more. It is dedicated to Robert Earl of Salisbury, Lord High Treasurer of England; but there is nothing in the dedication worth notice, except that he says, after the wreck of the Ascension, and getting on shore with seventy-four others, he was the only one among them who would venture upon so desperate an undertaking as to travel home by land. He likewise asserts that every thing he relates is true, protesting that he speaks of nothing but what he had seen and suffered.

In this place, we shall only abstract the author's voyage to Cambaya; and, instead of his journey home through India, Persia, and Turkey, [which will be inserted among the Travels,[271]] shall give the account of Jones of his own return from Cambaya by sea to England. This voyage lays claim to two discoveries, that of the Moguls country, as appears in the tide, though Captain Hawkins had got the start of him there; and the discovery of the Bed Sea by the Ascension, as mentioned in the title of the relation by Jones in Purchas.—Astley.

[Footnote 271: This promise is not however performed in Astley's Collection. In the Pilgrims, I. 235, Purchas has inserted the peregrination of Mr Joseph Salbank through India, Persia, part of Turkey, the Persian Gulf, and Arabia, in 1609, written to Sir Thomas Smith; and tells us in a sidenote, that Robert Coverte was his companion in the journey all the way through India and Persia, to Bagdat. We meant to have inserted these peregrinations as a substitute for those of Coverte, but found the names of places so inexplicably corrupted, as to render the whole entirely useless.—E.]

In Astley's Collection, copying from Purchas, a brief account of the same voyage is given, as written by Thomas Jones, who seems to have been carpenter or boatswain of the Ascension, and whose narrative differs in some particulars from that of Coverte, though they agree in general. Instead of augmenting our pages by the insertion of this additional narrative, we have only remarked in notes the material circumstances in which they differ. Neither can be supposed very accurate in dates, as both would probably lose their journals when shipwrecked near Surat.

We have likewise added, in supplement to the narrative of Coverte, such additional circumstances as are supplied by Jones, after the loss of the ship.—E.

Sec. 1. Relation of this Voyage, as written by Robert Coverte.[272]

We weighed anchor from Woolwich on the 14th of March, 1608, and came to the Downs over against Deal, three miles from Sandwich, where we remained till the 25th, when we sailed for Plymouth. Leaving that place with a fair gale on the 31st, we arrived at the Salvages, 500 leagues from thence, on the 10th of April, and came next morning in sight of the Grand Canary. Casting anchor there at midnight, we fired a gun for a boat to come off: But the Spaniards, fearing we were part of a squadron of twelve Hollanders, expected in these seas, instead of sending any one on board, sent into the country for a body of 150 horse and foot to defend the town; neither were their fears abated till two of our factors went ashore, and acquainted them that we were two English ships in want of some necessaries. Next morning we fired another gun, when the governor sent off a boat to know what we wanted. Having acquainted him, he made answer, that it was not in his power to relieve our wants, unless we came into the roads. Yet, having examined our factors upon oath, they had a warrant for a boat at their pleasure, to go between the shore and the ships with whatever was wanted. What we most wondered at, was the behaviour of two ships then in the roads, known by their colours to be English, the people of which had not the kindness to apprize us of the customs of the subtile currish Spaniards. It is the custom here, when any foreign ship comes into the roads, that no person of the same nation even, or any other, must go on board without leave from the governor and council.

[Footnote 272: Astley, I. 336.—In Astley's Collection, this person is named captain; but it does not appear wherefore he had this title.—E.]

During five days that we remained here, some of the Spaniards came on board every day, and eat and drank with us in an insatiable manner. The general also made a present to the governor of two cheeses, a gammon of bacon, and five or six barrels of pickled oysters, which he accepted very thankfully, and sent in return two or three goats and sheep, and plenty of onions. We there took in fresh water, Canary wine, marmalade of quinces at twelve-pence a pound, little barrels of suckets, or sweetmeats, at three shillings a barrel, oranges, lemons, pame citrons, and excellent white bread baked with aniseeds, called nuns-bread.

We set sail on the 18th April in the morning, with a fair wind, which fell calm in three hours, which obliged us to hover till the 21st, when a brisk gale sprung up, with which we reached Mayo, one of the Cape Verd islands, in the afternoon of the 27th, 300 leagues from the Canaries, where we came to anchor, determining to take in water at Bonavista; but finding the water not clear, and two or three miles inland, we took the less, but had other good commodities. At our arrival we were told by two negroes, that we might have as many goats as we pleased for nothing; and accordingly we got about 200 for both ships. They told us also, that there were only twelve men on the island, and that there was plenty of white salt growing out of the ground,[273] so that we might have loaded both ships. It was excellent white salt, as clear as any that I ever saw in England. Eight leagues from Mayo is the island of St Jago.

[Footnote 273: This must be understood as formed naturally by evaporation, owing to the heat of the sun, in some places where the sea-water stagnates after storms or high tide.—E.]

We left Mayo on the 4th May at six in the morning, and passed the equinoctial line at the same hour on the 20th.[274] The 14th July, we came to Saldanha bay, having all our men in health except two, who were a little touched, with the scurvy, but soon recovered on shore. That day we had sight of the Cape of Good Hope, 15 or 16 leagues from hence. We refreshed ourselves excellently at Saldanha bay, where we took in about 400 cattle, as oxen, steers, sheep, and lambs; with fowls, plenty of fish of various kinds, and fresh water. At Penguin island, five or six leagues from the land, there are abundance of the birds of that name, and infinite numbers of seals. With these latter animals we filled our boat twice, and made train-oil for our lamps. From this island we took off six fat sheep, left there by the Hollanders for a pinnace which we met 200 leagues from the Cape, and left six bullocks in their stead. On our first arrival at Saldanha bay, we set up our pinnace, which we launched on the 5th September, and in six or eight days after she was rigged and fit for sea.

[Footnote 274: Jones observes, that after passing the line, they fell in with the trade-wind, which blows continually between S.E. and S.E. by E. the farther one goes to the southwards, finding it still more easterly, all the way between the line and the tropic of Capricorn. This almost intolerable obstacle to the outward-bound India voyage, was afterwards found easy to be avoided, by keeping a course to the westward, near the coast of Brazil.

Jones likewise mentions, that on the 11th June, when in lat. 26 deg. S. they overtook a carak, called the Nave Palma, bound for India; which was afterwards lost on the coast of Sofala, within twelve leagues of Mozambique.—E.]

The natives of the country about Saldanha bay are a very beastly people, especially in their feeding; for I have seen them eat the guts and garbage, dung and all. They even eat the seals which we had cast into the river, after they had lain fourteen days, being then full of maggots, and stinking most intolerably. We saw here several signs of wild beasts, some so fierce, that when we found their dens, we durst neither enter nor come near them. The natives brought down to us ostrich eggs, some of the shells being empty, with a small hole at one end; also feathers of the same bird, and porcupine quills, which they bartered for our commodities, being especially desirous of iron, esteeming old pieces of that metal far beyond gold or silver.

Early on the 20th September,[275] we came out of the bay and set sail; and that night, being very dark and windy, we lost sight of the Union and our pinnace, called the Good Hope. The Union put out her ensign about five o'clock p.m. for what reason we never knew, and lay too all that night. We proceeded next day, and having various changes of wind, with frequent calms, we came on the 27th October to the latitude of 26 deg. S. nearly in the parallel of St Lawrence. Continuing our course with similar weather, we descried two or three small islands on the 22d November in the morning, and that afternoon came to another off a very high land, called Comoro.[276] Sending our boat ashore on the 24th, the people met five or six of the natives, from whom they bought plantains. The 25th, by the aid of our boat towing the ship between two islands, as the wind would not serve, we came to anchor in the evening near the shore of Comoro, in between 17 and 20 fathoms water.

[Footnote 275: Jones says the 25th, and that the subsequent storm, on the 26th, in which they lost sight of the Union and the pinnace, was so violent as to split their fore-course.—E.]

[Footnote 276: According to Jones, they wished to have passed to the south of Madagascar, making what is now called the outer and usual passage, but could not, and were forced to take the channel of Mozambique.—E.]

The boat was sent ashore on the 26th with a present for the king, in charge of our factor, Mr Jordan, consisting of two knives, a sash or turban, a looking-glass and a comb, the whole about 15s. value. The king received these things very scornfully, and gave them to one of his attendants, hardly deigning them a look: Yet he told Mr Jordan, that if our general would come ashore, he might have any thing the country afforded, and he bowed to him very courteously on taking leave. It appears the king had examined the present afterwards, and been better pleased with it, for he sent off a bullock to our general in the afternoon, when the messenger seemed highly gratified by receiving two penny knives. Next day, the general went ashore with twelve attendants, carrying a small banquet as a present to the king, consisting of a box of marmalade, a barrel of suckets, and some wine. These were all tasted by the English in the king's presence, who touched nothing, but his nobles both eat and drank. The general had some discourse with the king, by means of an interpreter, concerning our wants; and understood that he had some dealings with the Portuguese, which language the king could speak a little. The king had determined on the 28th to have gone aboard the Ascension, but we were told by the interpreter, that his council and the common people would not allow him.

I went ashore on the 29th with the master, Mr Tindall and Mr Jordan, and all the trumpeters. We were kindly received at the water-side by the interpreter, who conducted us to the king, who was then near his residence, and bowed very courteously on our approach. His guard consisted of six or eight men, with sharp knives a foot long, and as broad as hatchets, who went next his person. Besides these, several persons went before and many behind, for his defence. The natives seem very civil, kind, and honest; for one of our sailors having left his sword, one of the natives found it and brought it to the king, who, perceiving that it belonged to one of the English, told him he should be assuredly put to death, if he had come by it otherwise than he declared. Next day, on going ashore, the interpreter returned the sword, and told us what the king had said on the occasion.

The natives likewise have much urbanity among themselves, as we observed them, in the mornings when they met, shaking hands and conversing, as if in friendly salutation. Their manners are very modest, and both men and women are straight, well-limbed, and comely. Their religion is Mahometism, and they go almost naked, having only turbans on their heads, and a piece of cloth round their middles. The women have a piece of cloth before, covering their breasts and reaching to the waist, with another piece from thence to a little below their knees, having a kind of apron of sedges hanging down from a girdle, very becomingly. They go all barefooted, except the king, who wears sandals. His dress was as follows: A white net cap on his head; a scarlet vest with sleeves, but open before; a piece of cloth round his middle; and another which hung from his shoulders to the ground.

When at the town, the natives brought us cocoa-nuts for sale, of various sizes, some as big as a man's head, each having within a quantity of liquor proportioned to its size, and as much kernel as would suffice for a man's dinner. They brought us also goats, hens, chickens, lemons, rice, milk, fish, and the like, which we bought very cheap for commodities; as two hens for a penny knife; lemons, cocoa-nuts, and oranges for nails, broken pikes, and pieces of old iron. Fresh water is scarce, being procured from holes made in the sands, which they lade out in cocoa-nut shells as fast as it springs, and so drink. They brought some of it to us, which we could not drink, it looked so thick and muddy.

We sailed from Comoro on the 29th November, and on the 10th December, at three a.m. we suddenly descried a low land, about a league a-head, having high trees growing close to the shore. We took this at first to be the island of Zanjibar, till one of the natives told us it was Pemba.[277] We immediately stood off till day-break, when we again made sail for the shore, along which we veered in search of a harbour or anchoring place, and sent Mr Elmore in the boat to look out for a convenient watering-place. On landing, some of the inhabitants demanded in Portuguese who we were; and being told we were English, they asked again what we had to do there, as the island belonged to the King of Portugal? Answer was made that we knew not this, and only wanted a supply of water. The ship came next day to anchor, near two or three broken islands, close by Pemba, in lat. 5 deg. 20' S. The 12th, Mr Jordan went ashore, and conversed with some of the people in Portuguese, but they seemed not the same who had been seen before, as they said the king of the island was a Malabar. Mr Jordan told them, though the ship was English, that he was a Portuguese merchant, and the goods were belonging to Portugal. They then said he should have every thing he wanted, and sent a Moor to shew them the watering-place, which was a small hole at the bottom of a hill, more like a ditch than a well. Having filled their borachios, or goat-skins, they carried the Moor aboard, and going again next day for water, set him ashore. The report he made of his good usage, brought down another Moor who could speak a little Portuguese, and said he was one of the king's gentlemen.

[Footnote 277: Jones says they overshot Zanjibar by the fault of their master, so that all their misfortunes seem attributable to his ignorance.—E.]

This man went also on board and was well treated, and on landing next day, he promised to bring hens, cocoa-nuts, and oranges, which he did. I went this day on shore along with the master, Mr Revet, and some others, and dined on shore. When we had done dinner, there came two head men and a Moor slave to the watering-place, who asked if the chief men belonging to the ship were ashore, and where they were. Edward Churchman told them that the master and one of the merchants were ashore, and he would bring us to them if they pleased. At our meeting they saluted us after the Portuguese fashion, and told us that we were welcome, and that every thing in the island was at our command: But all these sugared words were only a cloak to their treacherous designs. We asked who the chief person among them was, and were told he was the king's brother; who immediately produced a plate of silver, on which were engraven the names of all the villages and houses in the island, telling us that he was governor of all these. On asking if there were any Portuguese on the island, they said no, for they were all banished, because they would have refreshments there by force, and endeavoured to make slaves of the people; wherefore they had made war upon them ever since their first appearance.

In the mean time our pinnace joined us, having been sent to another part of the island for cattle according to appointment, but the people had postponed supplying them, till they could find an opportunity of executing their intended treachery. The people of the pinnace told us, they had been informed that fifteen sail of Hollanders had lately taken Mozambique, and put all the Portuguese to the sword. At this news, which came from Zanjibar, the head Moors seemed overjoyed, being another subtle contrivance to lead us on to our ruin. On the approach of night, we entreated them to go on board with us, which they declined, but promised they would next day. Accordingly, he who called himself the king's brother came with two others on board, having Thomas Cave, Gabriel Brooke, and Lawrence Pigot, our surgeon, as their pledges. They were handsomely entertained, and next morning our general gave the chief two goats and a cartridge of gunpowder, with some trifles to the two others. Messrs Revet, Jordan, Glascock, and I, went ashore with them for the pledges, and on landing went unadvisedly along with them to some houses, where we found the pledges guarded by some fifty or sixty men, armed with bows and arrows, swords, bucklers, and darts; yet were they delivered to us. We then returned to the pinnace, accompanied by the king's brother, most of the Moors following us, and six or seven of them going up to the pinnace to examine it, after which they returned to the rest. We went all into the boat, and the king's brother readily came along with us, and was courteously entertained as usual. Towards night the master offered him a knife, which he scornfully refused, and immediately went ashore in an almadia.

The long-boat went ashore very early of the 14th for water, and when the casks were filled the ship was seen with her sails set down to dry; but the natives believing she was going away, the companion of the king's brother came and asked our boatswain if it were so. The boatswain, as well as he could by signs, made him understand that it was only to dry the sails. While thus talking, our pinnace was observed coming ashore well armed, on which the natives went away. Had not the pinnace made her appearance so very opportunely, I believe they intended at this time to have cut off our men, and seized the long-boat, for two or more of the rogues were seen lurking about the watering-place, as if waiting for the signal of attack. When our pinnace came on shore, and the men were standing near on the sands under arms, the master sent Nicholas White to the town, to tell the islanders that our merchants were landed, and as White was passing a house full of people, he observed six Portuguese in long branched or flowered damask gowns, lined with blue taffeta, under which they wore white calico breeches. Presently after, the attendant on the king's brother came and told Mr Revet that the native merchants were weary, and requested therefore that the English would come up to look at the cattle. Now White saw only one bullock and no more. Mr Revet desired to be excused, and pressed him to send down the bullock, saying, there were enough of goods in the boat to pay for it; with which answer he went away.

The king's brother was then on the sands, and gave orders to a negro to gather cocoa-nuts to send to our general, and desired Edward Churchman to go and fetch them, who went accordingly, but was never seen or heard of more.[278] Finding that the English refused to land, and stood on their guard, the word was given for assault, and a horn was sounded, upon which our men at the watering-place were immediately assaulted. John Harrington, the boat-swain's mate, was slain, and Robert Backer, Mr Ellanor's man, was sore wounded in eight or ten places, and had certainly been killed, but that a musket or two were fired from the boat, by which it would seem that some of them were hurt, as they retired crying out. Bucker, though weak and faint, made a shift to get to the boat, and two or three other men, who were at the watering-place, got safe into the boat.

[Footnote 278: Jones says he was informed afterwards by a Portuguese, that Churchman afterwards died at Mombaza. He tells us likewise, that the Portuguese of Mombaza intended to have manned a Dutch hulk which had wintered there, on purpose to take the Ascension; but learning her force they laid that design aside, and endeavoured to circumvent them by means of the natives of Pemba, who are very cowardly, and dare not venture on any enterprize, unless instigated by the Portuguese.—E.]

In the morning of the 26th, the boat and pinnace went ashore well armed to fetch in our davy, which is a piece of timber by which the anchor is hauled up; and a little beyond it, they found the body of Harrington stark naked, which they buried in an island near Pemba. The natives of this island seemed well disposed towards us; for, at our first coming, they made signs to us, as if warning us to take care of having our throats cut, which we then paid no attention to.[279]

[Footnote 279: This circumstance is not easily understood, unless by the natives are here meant negroes, as distinguished from the Moors, who endeavoured to murder the English, probably at the instigation of the Portuguese.—E.]

We set sail that same day from Pemba, being the 20th December, and by midnight our ship got aground on the shoals of Melinda, or Pemba, which we were not aware of, but got off again, by backing our sails, as the wind was very moderate. Next morning we pursued and took three small boats, called pangaias, which had their planks very slightly connected together, while another boat was endeavouring to come off from the land to give them notice to avoid us. In these boats there were above forty persons, six or eight of whom being comparatively pale and fair, much differing from the Moors, we thought to have been Portuguese; but being asked, they shewed their backs all over with written characters; and when we still insisted they were Portuguese, they said the Portuguese were not circumcised as they were.[280] As we could not be satisfied of their not being Portuguese, some of our mariners spoke to them about the murder of our men, which seemed to put them in fear, and they talked with each other in their own language, which made us suspect they were meditating some desperate attempt. For this reason, I remained watchful on the poop of our ship, looking carefully after our swords, which lay naked in the master's cabin, which they too seemed to have their eyes upon. They seemed likewise to notice the place where I and Mr Glascock had laid our swords, and anxiously waiting for the place being clear. They even beckoned several times for me to come down upon the spar-deck, which I refused, lest they might have taken that opportunity to seize our weapons, which would have enabled them to do much more mischief than they afterwards did.

[Footnote 280: These men were probably tawny Moors, or Arabs of pure descent; whereas many of the Mahometans along the eastern shore of Africa; and in its islands, are of mixed blood, partly negro,—E.]

Our master, Philip de Grove, came soon afterwards on the spar-deck, and asking for their pilot, took him down into his cabin to shew him his plat or chart, which he examined very attentively; but on leaving the others to go with the master, he spoke something to them in the Moors language which we did not understand, but which we afterwards supposed was warning them to be on their guard to assault us as soon as he gave the signal. It was reported that the pilot had a concealed knife, for which he was searched; but he very adroitly contrived to shift it, and therewith stabbed our master in the belly, and then cried out. This probably was the signal for the rest, for they immediately began the attack on our people on the spar-deck. The general, with Messrs Glascock and Tindal, and one or two more, happened to be there at the time, and had the good fortune to kill four or five of the white rogues, and made such havoc among the rest that at length they slew near forty of them, and brought the rest under subjection. A little before this, our master had proposed to the general to buy from them some garavances, or pease, the ordinary food of the country, if they had any for sale, and then to set them at liberty with their boats and goods. To this the general had agreed, and the master, as before mentioned, had called the Moorish pilot, to see if he had any skill in charts. But as they had treacherously attacked us, we certainly could do no otherwise now than slay them in our own defence. Five or six of them, however, leapt overboard, and recovered a pangaia by their astonishing swiftness in swimming, and escaped on shore, as they swam to windward faster than our pinnace could row.

In this skirmish only three of our men were hurt, namely, Mr Glascock, Mr Tindal, and our master.[281] The first had two wounds, one of which was very deep in the back. When they commenced the attack, Mr Tindal had no weapon in his hand, and one of them aimed to stab him in the breast; but as he turned suddenly round, he received the wound on his arm. They all recovered perfectly.

[Footnote 281: According to Jones, he personally slew the Moorish pilot in this affray. One of the persons wounded on this occasion was the chaplain, but his name is not mentioned. Great lamentation was made by the Moors on the coast of Africa for their loss in this affair, as Jones was told afterwards by the Portuguese, as some of them, probably those mentioned as white rogues by Coverte, were of the blood royal.—E.]

The 19th of January, 1609, we espied many islands, which the Portuguese call Almirante,[282] being nine in number, and all without inhabitants, as the Portuguese affirm. Next morning we sent our pinnace to one of them in search of fresh water, which could not be found, but our people saw many land tortoises, and brought six on board. We then went to another of these islands, where we came to anchor in twelve or thirteen fathoms in a tolerably good birth, and here we refreshed ourselves with water, cocoa-nuts, fish, palmitos, and turtle-doves,[283] which last were in great plenty. The 1st of February we set sail with a fair wind, and passed the line on the 19th, having previously on the 15th come within ken of the land on the coast of Melinda. We came to anchor next day on the coast of the continent, in 12 fathoms, about two leagues from shore, and sent our pinnace to seek refreshments; but they were unable to land, and the natives could not be induced to adventure within hearing, wherefore our ship departed in the afternoon. About this time, William Acton, one of the ship boys, confessed being guilty of a foul and detestable crime;[284] and being tried and found guilty by a jury, was condemned and executed on the morning of the 3rd March.

[Footnote 282: Called by Jones the Desolate Islands, because not inhabited.—E.]

[Footnote 283: Jones says these turtle-doves were so tame that one man might have taken twenty dozen in a day with his hands.—E.]

[Footnote 284: In the last paragraph but one of his book, Mr Coverte explains the nature of this crime: "Philip de Grove, our master, was a Fleming, and an arch villain, for this boy confessed to myself that he was a detestable sodomite. Hence, had not the mercy of God been great, it was a wonder our ship did not sink in the ocean."—For any thing that appears, the boy was put to death to save the master.—Astl. I. 342. c.

In Jones's Narrative no notice is taken of this crime and punishment.—E.]

The 21st betimes, we espied an island in lat. 12 deg. 17' N. with four rocks or hills about three leagues from it. We had beaten up a whole day and night to get to this island; but finding it barren and unpeopled, we passed on, and got sight of three other islands that same day about sun-set, in lat. 12 deg. 29' N. Two were about a league asunder, and we found the third to be Socotora, which is in lat. 12 deg. 24' N. We arrived here the 29th March, and came to anchor next day in a fine bay. As the islanders lighted a fire on seeing us, we sent the skiff on shore, but the people fled in all haste, having possibly been injured by some who had passed that way. Finding no prospect of any relief here, our men returned on board, when we again made sail to find the chief harbour.

Standing out to sea next day, we met a ship from Guzerat, laden with cotton, calico, and pintados or chintz, and bound for Acheen.[285] As they told us it was a place of great trade, we went there along with her, but we found it quite otherwise, being merely a garrison town with many soldiers. There is a castle at the entrance cut out of the main land, and surrounded by the sea, having thirty-two pieces of ordnance, and there were fifty in the town. Arriving there the 10th April, the people of the Guzerat ship landed, and told the governor that an English ship had come to trade there. The governor sent his admiral to invite our general, who went very unadvisedly on shore, where he and his attendants were received with much courtesy, three or four horses waiting for his use, and was brought in great pomp to the governor. Finding our general but a simple man, the governor put him into a house with a chiaus, or keeper, and a strong guard of janissaries, and kept him and his attendants prisoners for six weeks, I being of the number. The governor then obliged him to send aboard for iron, tin, and cloth, to the value of 2500 dollars, pretending that he meant to purchase the goods; but when once on shore, he seized them under pretence of customs. Seeing he could get no more, he sent the general aboard on the 27th May, but detained two of our merchants as pledges for payment of 2000 dollars, which he said was for anchorage: but as we all declared against submitting to pay this arbitrary exaction, the governor sent our two merchants to the Pacha at Sanaa, about eight days journey up the country.

[Footnote 285: Jones says she belonged to Diu, but told the English she was from Surat, and gave them an account of the arrival of Captain Hawkins at that place.—E.]

The 28th of May, we were joined by our pinnace, the Good Hope, the master of which, John Luffkin, had been knocked in the head with a mallet by Thomas Clarke, with the consent of Francis Driver, master's mate,[286] together with Andrew Evans and Edward Hilles. Being asked the reason for this murder, they could only allege being refused some aqua vitae and rosa solis, which Luffkin wished to preserve for the crew in case of sickness. A jury was called on the 31st May, when the murderers were convicted; of whom Driver and Clarke were hanged in the pinnace. The other two met their deserts, for Hilles was eaten by canibals,[287] and Evans rotted where he lay.

[Footnote 286: Jones calls Clarke master's-mate, and Driver gunner.—E.]

[Footnote 287: Hilles was left at Madagascar, where perhaps he might be eaten.—Astl. 343. c.]

The 3d June, we departed from Aden and sailed into the Red Sea through the Straits of Mecca.[288] This strait is about a league in breadth, and three leagues in length, with an island in the middle, and 18 fathoms water close to the island. Within the straits there is a shoal some two leagues off shore, which it is necessary to keep clear from. From the straits it is about six leagues to Mokha, where is a good road and fair ground for vessels to ride in 14 fathoms. This port is never without shipping, being a place of great trade, and frequented by caravans from Sanaa, Mecca, Cairo, and Alexandria. There is good vent here for tin, iron, lead, cloth, sword-blades, and all kinds of English commodities. It has a great bazar, or market, every day in the week; and has plenty of apricots, quinces, dates, grapes, peaches, lemons, and plantains, which I much wondered at, as the inhabitants told me they had no rain for seven years before, and yet there was abundance of good corn to be had at 18d. a bushel. There is such abundance of cattle, sheep, and goats, that we got an ox for three dollars, and a goat for half a dollar. Of dolphins, mow-fish, basse, mullets, and other good fish, there was such plenty, that we could buy as much for 3d. as would suffice ten men for a meal. The town is under the government of the Turks, who punish the Arabians severely for any offence, having gallies for that purpose, otherwise they would be unable to keep them in awe and under subjection.

[Footnote 288: In the original it is Mockoo, and on the margin Moha, but these are not the Straits of Mokha, but of Mecca—Astl. I. 348 b.

The proper name of the entrance into the Red Sea is Bab-al-Mondub, usually called Babelmandel, signifying the gates of lamentation, owing to the dangers of the navigation outwards to India.—E.]

We departed from Mokha on the 18th July, repassing the straits, where we lost two anchors. From thence we sailed to Socotora, and about the 5th August cast anchor opposite the town of Saiob, or Sawb, where the king resides. One of our merchants went ashore, desiring leave to purchase water, goats, and other provisions, which he refused, alleging that the women were much afraid of us; but if we would remove to another anchorage about five leagues off, we might have every thing his country afforded. We accordingly went there, where we bought water, goats, aloes, dragon's blood, &c. We set sail from Socotora on the 18th.[289] [August?], and on the 28th came to Moa,[290] where one of the natives told us we might have a pilot for 20 dollars to bring us to the road of Surat, but our wilful master refused, saying that he had no need of a pilot.

[Footnote 289: This date is inexplicable, but was probably the 18th of August; the month being omitted by the editor of Astley's Collection, in the hurry of abbreviation.—E.]

[Footnote 290: Jones says they fell in with the coast of Diu about eight leagues to the eastward of that place, and steering seven leagues more along the coast, came to anchor at a head-land, where they sent the skiff ashore, and bought sheep and other things, and were here offered a pilot to Surat for seven dollars. Fifteen leagues east from Diu would bring them to near Wagnagur, almost directly west from Surat river, on the opposite coast of the Gulf of Cambay. Moa was probably a village on the coast.—E.]

The 29th [August?] we proceeded, thinking to hit the channel for the bar of Surat, getting first from ten fathoms into seven, and afterwards into six and a half. We now tacked westwards, and deepened our water to fifteen fathoms; but the next tack brought us into five. When some of the company asked the master where he proposed going? he answered, the vessel must go over the height. The ship immediately struck, which I told him of. On hearing this he cried out, who dares to say the ship has struck and had scarcely spoken these words when she struck again with such violence that the rudder broke off and was lost.[291] We then came to anchor, and rode there for two days; after which our skiff was split in pieces, so that we now only had our long-boat to help us in our utmost need. But our people made a shift to get the pieces of the skiff into the ship, which our carpenter contrived to bind together with waldings, so that, in the extremity of our distress, she brought sixteen people on shore.

[Footnote 291: According to Jones they attempted the shoals of Surat river at the last quarter of the ebb; whereas if they had taken the first quarter of the flood tide, they would have had sufficient water to carry them clear over the shoals.—E.]

The 2d September, about six p.m. the ship again struck and began to founder, having presently two feet water in the well. We plied our pumps till eleven; but the water increased so fast that we could continue no longer on board, and took to our boats. About L10,000 in money lay between the main-mast and steerage, of which the general desired the people to take what they would; and I think they took among them about L3000; some having L50, some L40, and others more or less. We now quitted our ill-fated and ill-managed ship, without taking a morsel of meat or a single drop of drink along with us; putting off for the shore, which lay about twenty leagues to the eastward, between midnight and one in the morning. We sailed and rowed all night and next day till five or six in the evening, without any sustenance, when we reached a small island on the bar. But just then, a sudden squall of wind broke the middle thwart of our long-boat, in which were fifty-five persons. But we saved our mast, and when the gust ceased we got over the bar into the river of _Gundewee.[292]

[Footnote 292: Gundavee, a small river, on which is a town of the same name, five leagues south from the river of Surat.—E.]

When the people of the country saw so many men in two boats, they beat their drums and ran to arms, taking us for Portuguese coming to plunder some of their towns. Observing their alarm, and having a native of Guzerat among us, we set him on shore to undeceive the inhabitants; and as soon as they knew who we were, they directed us to the city of Gundavee, of which a great man was governor, who seemed sorry for our misfortunes, and gave us a kind welcome; and here ended our unfortunate voyage.

Sec.2. Supplement to the foregoing Narrative, from the Account of the same unfortunate Voyage, by Thomas Jones.[293]

Thus was our tall ship lost, to the great detriment of the worshipful company, and the utter ruin of all us poor mariners, our voyage being altogether overthrown, with the loss of all the treasure and goods both of the merchants and all of us, who were now far from our native country. We took to our boats on the night of the 5th September, it being almost miraculous that in two so small boats so many men should be saved, being at the least eighteen leagues from the shore.[294] We remained at sea in our boats till about four p.m. of the 6th, when we discovered land, which we made towards by all the means in our power, endeavouring to get into the river of Surat. But Providence, which had already saved us from the shipwreck, would not now suffer us to fall into the hands of our enemies the Portuguese, who then lay off the bar of Surat with five frigates to take us and our boats, as they had intelligence of the intended coming of our ill-fated ship; for, contrary to our wish and intention, we fell in with the river of Gundavee, about five leagues to the southward of the bar of Surat, where we were kindly entertained by the governor of the town. We here learnt that our pinnace had come into the same river, and had been taken possession of by the Portugueze, but all her men got ashore, and were gone by land to Surat.

[Footnote 293: Purch. Pilgr. I.228. Astl. I.344. We have here given only so much of the narrative of Jones as supplies additional circumstances after the end of that by Coverte.—E.]

[Footnote 294: This surely is a gross error, as they could hardly exceed the distance of a league or two from shore, though the shore is said in the former narrative to have been twenty leagues from where the ship was lost.—E.]

The governor of this town of Gundavee is a Banian, and one of those people who observe the law of Pythagoras. They hold it a great sin to eat of any thing that hath life, but live on that which the earth naturally produces. They likewise hold the cow in great honour and reverence, and also observe the ancient custom of burning their dead. It has also been an ancient custom among them, for the women to burn themselves alive along with the bodies of their deceased husbands; but of late years they have learnt more wisdom, and do not use this custom so commonly; yet those women who do not, have their hair cut out, and are ever afterwards held as dishonoured, for refusing to accompany their husbands into the other world.

On the 7th of September, we left Gundavee to travel by land to Surat, which might be some thirty or forty miles distant, and we arrived there on the 9th, where we were met by William Finch, who kept the English factory at that place. Captain Hawkins had gone up to Agra, which is about thirty days journey up into the interior country from Surat, and at which place the King, or Emperor of the Moguls, resides. Our general, Captain Alexander Sharpey, remained at Surat with his company till the end of September, when he and the rest of our people went from Surat to Agra, intending to go by land through Persia in the way to England. But I, holding this to be no fit course for me, determined to try some other method of endeavouring to get home. While I was in much uncertainty how to proceed, it pleased God of his infinite goodness to send a father of the order of St Paul, who was a Portuguese, who came from Cambaya to Surat by land, and with whom I became acquainted. He offered, if I would commit myself to his guidance, to procure me a passage home, or at least to Portugal, and which promise he most faithfully performed.

In company with this father, myself and three more of our company left Surat on the 7th of October: these were Richard Mellis, who died afterwards in the carak during our voyage to Europe, John Elmor, who was master of the pinnace Good Hope, and one Robert Fox. We arrived at the strong town and fortress of Daman, where I again saw our pinnace, the Good Hope, which we built at Saldanha Bay, near the Cape of Bona Esperanza. From Daman we went to Chaul, and thence to Goa, where we arrived on the 18th November, 1609.

We embarked on the 9th January, 1610, in a carak called Our Lady of Pity, being admiral of a fleet of four sail bound for Lisbon, and immediately sailed. The 28th, we crossed the equinoctial line on the eastern coast of Africa.[295] The 21st March, we fell in with the land in lat. 33 deg. 30' S. about five leagues east of Cape Aguillas, where we lay with contrary winds till the second of April, when we had a terrible storm at W.S.W. so that we were forced to bear up six hours before the sea,[296] and then it pleased God to send us fair weather. The 4th April, we again fell in with the land in lat. 34 deg. 40' S. We continued driving about in sight of land with contrary winds, having twice sight of the Cape of Good Hope, yet could not possibly get beyond it, till the 19th April, when, by the blessing of God, we doubled the Cape to our no small comfort, being almost in despair, and feared we must have wintered at Mosambique, which is usual with the Portuguese. The 27th April, we crossed the tropic of Capricorn, and came to anchor at St Helena on the 9th May, in lat. 15 deg. S. We remained here watering till the 15th, when we weighed anchor, and crossed the equator on the 2d June.

[Footnote 295: In Purchas it is called the coast of India, an obvious error.—E.]

[Footnote 296: The meaning of this is not clear. Perhaps they had to drive with the storm, being unable to ply to windward.—E.]

We crossed the tropic of Cancer on the 26th June, having the wind at N.E. which the Portuguese call the general wind. By the judgment of our pilot in the carak, we passed the Western Islands, or Azores, on the 16th July, being in latitude forty degrees and odd minutes, but we saw no land after leaving St Helena, till the 3d of August, when we got sight of the coast of Portugal not above two leagues from the rock of Lisbon, to our no small comfort, for which we gave thanks to God. We came that same day to anchor in the road of Caskalles [Cascais]; and the same day I got ashore in a boat, and so escaped from the hands of the Portuguese. I remained secretly in Lisbon till the 13th of that same month, when I embarked in a ship belonging to London, commanded by one Mr Steed, and bound for that place. We weighed anchor that day from the Bay of Wayers, where a boat full of Portuguese meant to have taken the ship and carried us all on shore, having intelligence of our intended departure; but by putting out to sea we escaped the danger, and, God be praised, arrived at our long-desired home on the 17th September, 1610, having been two years and six months absent from England.

Sec.3. Additional Supplement, from the Report of William Nichols.[297]

At Bramport, or Boorhanpoor, most of our company departed from the general, Captain Sharpey, who was unable to provide for them, except some who were sick and were obliged to remain. Some went to one place, and some to another, and some back again to Surat. I told my companions, being one of those who were willing to take the best course we could, that I would travel, God willing, to Masulipatam, where I had learnt at Surat that there was a factory of the Hollanders. Not being able to prevail on any Christian to accompany me, I made enquiry at Boorhanpoor if there were any persons going thence for Masulipatam, and found one, but it was such a company as few Englishmen would have ventured to travel with, as it contained three Jews; but necessity has no law. After agreeing to travel with them, I thought if I had any money, the dogs would cut my throat, wherefore I made away with all my money, and attired myself in a Turkish habit, and set off along with these dogs without a penny in my purse.

[Footnote 297: Purch. Pilgr. I. 232.—William Nichols, according to Purchas, was a mariner in the Ascension, who travelled by land from Boorhanpoor to Masulipatam. His account of the unfortunate voyage was written at Bantam, 12th September, 1612, by Henry Moris; but being the same in substance with those already given, Purchas has only retained the following brief narrative of the route of Nichols to Masulipatam and Bantam.—E.]

Travelling along with them for four months, I had nothing to eat but what the Jews gave me; and many times they refused to give me any food, so that I was reduced to the necessity of eating such food as they gave their camels, and was glad to get even that, for which I had often to make interest with the camel-keepers. In this miserable case I travelled with these dogs four months. Sometimes they would say to each other, "Come, let us cut the throat of this dog, and then open his belly, for he has certainly swallowed his gold." Two of them would have cut my throat, but the third was an honest dog, and would not consent.

So at length, with many a weary days journey, and many a hungry belly, after long and dangerous travel, we came safe to Masulipatam, where I immediately quitted these cruel dogs, and betook myself to the Dutch factory, where the chief used me very kindly, and gave me clothes and meat and drink for five months, before any shipping came there. At last there came to Masulipatam three ships belonging to the Hollanders, one called the Hay, and another the Sun; the third was a frigate which they had taken in the Straits of Malacca. The Sun and the frigate being bound for Bantam, I entreated the master of the Sun to allow me to work my passage to Bantam, when he told me very kindly, he would not only grant me a passage for my work, but would give me wages, for which I gave him my hearty thanks, and so went on board. We set sail not long after from Masulipatam, and arrived safe at Bantam on Thursday the 6th September, 1610, when I immediately went with a joyful heart to the English house.

In my travel overland with the three Jews, I passed through the following fair towns, of which only I remember the names, not being able to read or write. First, from Bramport [Boorhanpoor] we came to Jevaport, Huidare, and Goulcaude,[298] and so to Masulipatania.

[Footnote 298: These names are strangely corrupted, and the places on that route which most nearly resemble them are, Jalnapoor, Oudigur, or Oudgir, and Golconda, near Hydrabad.—E.]

SECTION IX.

Voyage of Captain Richard Rowles in the Union, the Consort of the. Ascension.[299]

INTRODUCTION.

"In Purchas this is entitled, 'The unhappy Voyage of the Vice-Admiral, the Union, outward bound, till she arrived at Priaman, reported by a Letter which Mr Samuel Bradshaw sent from Priaman, by Humphry Bidulph, the 11th March, 1610, written by the said Henry Moris at Bantam, September the 14th, 1610.' This account given by Moris, the same who wrote the brief account of the journey of Nichols, relating the voyage of the Union no farther than to Priaman, appears to have been only transcribed by him from the letter of Mr Bradshaw, one of the factors; yet in the preamble to the voyage, Moris says that he had the account from the report of others, without any mention of the letter from Bradshaw. What concerns the return of the Union from Priaman, and her being cast away on the coast of France, contained in the second subdivision of this section, is extracted from two letters, and a kind of postscript by Purchas, which follow this narrative by Moris."—Astley.

[Footnote 299: Purch. Pilgr. 1. 202 Astl. I. 348.]

Sec. 1. Of the Voyage of the Union, after her Separation from the Ascension, to Acheen and Priaman.

You have already had an account of the voyage of the two ships, the Ascension and Union, from England to the Cape of Good Hope, but of the proceedings of the Union after her separation you have not heard; therefore I have thought proper to make some relation thereof, as well as of the other, as I have heard from the report of other men, and thus it was:

The Union and Ascension were separated by a storm in doubling the Cape, during which storm the Union sprung her main-mast, and they were obliged to fish it in the midst of the storm, owing to which they lost company with the admiral; and as the storm continued, and they were hopeless of recovering the company either of the Ascension or pinnace by continuing off the Cape, they shaped their course for the Bay of St Augustine in Madagascar. Being arrived there, they went ashore, and remained twenty days, where they procured good refreshing, being always in hopes of the coming of the Ascension and pinnace, but were disappointed. Then making sail from thence, they directed their course for the island of Zanjibar, in hopes to meet the general there. On their arrival they went ashore, and were at first kindly received; but when they went ashore again, the natives lay in ambush, and sallied out upon them as soon as they landed, killed presently the purser and one mariner, and took one of the merchants prisoner; yet the rest had the good fortune to get off the boat and came on board. The names of those who were slain, were Richard Kenu, purser; I have forgotten the mariner's name, but the merchant, who was taken prisoner, was Richard Wickham.

The Union put now to sea about the month of February, 1609, having the wind at N.E. and north, which was directly contrary for their intended voyage to Socotora. After having been long at sea, and made little or nothing of their way, the men being very much troubled with the scurvy, the captain thought proper to bear up for the north part of the island of Madagascar, meaning to go into the Bay of Antongil; but they came upon the western side of the island, where they proposed to endeavour the recovery of their almost lost men, and to spend the adverse monsoon. On this side of the island, they came into an exceedingly extensive bay, which they afterwards understood was called by the natives, Canquomorra,[300] the country round being very fertile and beautiful. The first view of this place gave much pleasure to all their men, and they soon had conference with the natives, who at the first proffered great kindness, but afterwards treated them very ill.

[Footnote 300: In the margin Purchas gives Boamora as a synonimous name of this bay. Vohemaro, or Boamora, is a province or district at the northern end of Madagascar, in which there are several large bays, but none having any name resembling that in the text. The Bay of Vohemaro is on the east side of the island, in lat. 13 deg. 30' S.—E.]

As all the merchants had been sundry times on shore visiting the king, who treated them kindly, and came aboard again as safe as if they had been in England, the captain, attended by Mr Richard Reve, chief merchant, Jeffrey Castel, and three others, adventured to go ashore to the king. Samuel Bradshaw had been often before employed about business with the king; but it pleased God at this time that the captain had other business for him, and so made him remain on board, which was a happy turn for him: For no sooner was the captain and his attendants on shore, than they were betrayed and made prisoners by the natives; but by the kind providence of the Almighty, the boats escaped, and came presently off to the ship, informing us of all that had happened.

No sooner was this doleful news communicated, than we saw such prodigious numbers of praws and large boats coming out of the river, as were quite wonderful. The master gave immediate orders to the gunner to get the ordnance in readiness, which was done with all speed. The vast fleet of the infidels came rowing up to our ship, as if they would have immediately boarded her; but by the diligence and skill of the gunner and his mates, sinking some half dozen of the boats, they were soon forced to retire like sheep chased by the wolf, faster than they had come on. But before our ordnance made such slaughter among them, they came up with so bold and determined a countenance, and were in such numbers, that we verily thought they would have carried us, for the fight continued at the least two hours, before the effect of our ordnance made them retire, and then he was the happiest fellow that could get fastest off, and we continued to send our shot after them as far as our guns could reach.

We remained after this in the bay for fourteen days, being in hopes of recovering our lost captain and men, in which time we lost seven more men by a sudden disease, which daunted us more than the malice of the infidels; those who died were among those who fought most lustily with the cannon against the savages, yet in two days were they all thrown overboard. These crosses coming upon us, and having no hopes to recover our captain and the others, we thought it folly to remain any longer at this place, and therefore we made haste away. Not being thoroughly supplied with water, we thought good to stop a little time at another place not far off; but before we could dispatch this business, the savages made another attempt with a great multitude of boats, some of them even large vessels, and so thick of men that it was wonderful; but they liked their former reception so ill, that they did not care for coming near a second time, and went all ashore, and placed themselves so as to have a view of the ship. Perceiving their intended purpose, and fearing some mischief in the night, we weighed, and stood in towards the shore where the savages sat, and gave them a whole broadside as a farewell, which fell thick among them, making visibly several lanes through the crowd, on which they all ran out of sight as fast as possible.

We then stood out to sea, leaving fourteen of our men behind us, seven treacherously taken prisoners by the savages, and seven that died of sickness. We then directed our course for Socotora; but by some negligence, by not luffing up in time, the wind took us short, so that we could not fetch that island, but fell over upon the coast of Arabia. This was about the 4th June, and as the winter monsoon was come, we durst not attempt going to Cambaya, neither could we find any place upon that coast to winter in. Wherefore, after being in sight of the coast four days, and several times in danger of getting on shore, we thought it improper to waste time any longer, and determined to consult how we might best promote the advantage of the voyage. The master therefore held a council of all the principal people in the ship, who were best conversant in these affairs, when it was unanimously concluded to go for Acheen, being in hopes to meet there with some of the Guzerat people, to whom we might dispose of our English commodities.

We accordingly directed our course towards Acheen, where we arrived on the 27th July. Within seven days we had admittance to the king, to whom a present was made, which it was necessary to make somewhat large, because the Hollanders endeavoured to cross our trade, aspiring to engross the whole trade of India, to the exclusion of all others. Wherefore, after Mr Bradshaw had waited upon the king, he began to trade with the Guzerat merchants who were at Acheen, bartering our English cloth and lead for black and white baftas, which are Guzerat cloths in much request in those parts. We then went to Priaman, where in a short space we had trade to our full content; and though fortune had hitherto crossed us during all the voyage, we had now a fair opportunity to turn our voyage to sufficient profit. We staid here till we had fully loaded our ship with pepper, which might indeed have been done much sooner, had there not been a mutiny among the people, as the sailors would only do as they themselves pleased. At length they were pacified with fair words, and the business of the ship completed.

Griffin Maurice, the master, died here, and Mr Bradshaw sent Humphry Bidulph to Bantam, with Silvester Smith to bear him company, to carry such remainder of the goods as they could not find a market for at Priaman and Tecu. Mr Bidulph sailed for Bantam in a Chinese hulk, and Mr Bradshaw set sail with the Union, fully laden with pepper, for England.

Sec. 2. Return of the Union from Priaman towards England.[301]

Respecting the disastrous return of the Union from Priaman, instead of a narrative, Purchas gives us only two letters, which relate the miserable condition in which she arrived on the coast of France, and a short supplementary account, probably written by Purchas himself, which here follow.

[Footnote 301: Purch. Pilg. I. 234. Astl. I. 349.]

Laus Deo,[302] in Morlaix, the 1st of March, 1611.

Brother Hide,

This day has come to hand a letter from Odwen,[303] [Audierne,] written by one Bagget, an Irishman, resident at that place, giving us most lamentable news of the ship Union of London, which is ashore upon the coast about two leagues from Audierne: which, when the men of that town perceived, they sent two boats to her, and found she was a ship from the East Indies, richly laden with pepper and other goods, having only four men in her alive, one of whom is an Indian, other three lying dead in the ship, whose bodies the four living men had not been able to throw overboard, through extreme feebleness; indeed they were hardly able to speak. The people in the two boats have brought the ship into the road of Audierne, and they of that town have unloaded most of her goods. The Irishman has directed his letter to some English merchants in this place, desiring them to repair thither with all expedition, to see the proper ordering of the ship and goods, as belonging to the East India Company.

[Footnote 302: This seems to have been the name of a ship, and Mr Bernard Cooper appears to have been an English merchant or ship-master, then on business with this vessel at Morlaix.—E.]

[Footnote 303: This certainly is Audierne, on the southern shore of the peninsula of Britanny, called Olde-yearne in the subsequent letter.—E.]

This letter is confirmed by another in French, written by the bailiff of Quimper to a person in this town, which I have seen. Wherefore we have thought it right to send three several copies of the Irishman's letter, by three different barks, that the merchants may be duly advertised, and may give orders to look after their ship and goods; for it is to be doubted that the rude people will endeavour to make a wreck of her. I think it therefore not amiss, that they send to the court of France, to procure the king's authority, as I fear there may be much trouble about the matter. In the mean time, I and George Robbins will ride down to see in what state all things are, and to do the best we can for the interest of the company, till they send some one with a procuration in good and ample form for conducting the business, as in their discretion may seem fitting. The ship is reported to be of three or four hundred tons, and has three decks; but I doubt we shall find her sadly rifled before we get there. The importunate writing, both of the Irishman and the bailiff of Quimper, has induced us to take this journey; which we do the rather in consideration of the company, presuming that they will consider our charges, as we have both solicited friends, and procured money in this place, that we may satisfy those who have exerted themselves in saving the ship and goods, if that should be necessary. Yet I would wish the company to send some person in all expedition by way of Rouen, with additional provision of money; as you know that this is no place of regular exchange, where money can be had at all times. I had rather have given fifty pounds than taken this journey at the present time, because I have much goods upon my hands, as I partly wrote you in my last. The name of the master of the Union is Edmund White, his mate's name is Thomas Duckmanton, and the other man is Thomas Smith, besides the Indian formerly mentioned. They are in a most piteous condition, and in great want of money, neither can they have any command of their goods. Therefore let the company send men of good experience to conduct this business, and do you lose no time in making this known to the company. Thus, being in haste to take horse, I commit you to the Lord's protection, resting your assured friend always to command,

BERNARD COUPER

To Mr Thomas Hide, Merchant in London.

Second Letter respecting the Union at Audierne.

The 8th day of February, I came over the Pole-head of Bourdeaux, and the 11th I lost my foremast, bolt-sprit, and rudder, and put into Audierne that night for repair. The 13th the Frenchman brought the ship Union of London upon the rocks. The 14th I went in my boat aboard the Union, by which time the Frenchmen had been four days in possession of her. I then brought on shore Samuel Smith, Thomas Duttonton, and Edmund White the master. The 15th I got William Bagget, my merchant, to write a letter to Morlaix; and the 18th the letter was sent off, when I paid two crowns for its carriage. The Indian died on the 20th, and I buried him. The 20th the master died, and I buried him also. The 22d Mr Roberts and Mr Couper came, and then went back to Morlaix on the 26th. Again the 4th of March, William Coarey, the host of Mr Couper and Mr Roberts.[304] The 5th, I and Mr Coarey went in my boat to the Union. At low water I went into her hold, and brought away a sample of the worst pepper. The 6th I left Audierne, and came to Morlaix on the 8th. The 17th Mr Hide came to Morlaix. The 21st I sailed from Morlaix, and got to the Isle of Wight on the 22d at night. The 24th I came to Southampton, and the 28th I arrived in London.

Your loving friend,

WILLIAM WOTTON.

[Footnote 304: This sentence is left unintelligible by Purchas; Coarey probably came at this time to Audierne. Roberts is probably the person named Robbins by Couper in the former letter.—E.]

After the spoil of the Bretons, they saved almost 200 tons of pepper, some benzoin, and some China silks, which had been purchased at Tecu in Sumatra. The Union, after her unfortunate voyage outward-bound, as already briefly related, loaded with pepper at Acheen, Priaman, Passeman, and Tecu, at which last place they bought some silk out of a Chinese junk. On their return voyage, they met Sir Henry Middleton, having then thirty-six men on board in reasonable good health, and they delivered some chests of silver to Sir Henry. They afterwards became very sickly, missed the island of St Helena, and most of their men died on this side of Cape Verd. Ten Englishmen and four Guzerats were taken out of them by a bark belonging to Bristol, and a Scot. The circumstances respecting their landing at Audierne, and other matters there, are before set down in the two preceding letters.

After the pepper and other goods were taken out of the ship, she was inspected by Mr Simonson, a skilful ship-wright, sent thither on purpose to save her if it could be done, but she was found utterly unserviceable. All the ordnance, anchors, and other furniture, were brought away, and the hull was abandoned. Of seventy-five men that went in her from England outward-bound, only nine got home alive. These were Thomas Duckmanton, the master's mate, Mr Bullock, the surgeon, Robert Wilson of Deptford, Jacob Peterson, and five other Englishmen, besides three or four Guzerats.[305]

[Footnote 305: All these must have been brought home in the Bristol vessel and the Scots ships, except Duckmanton, and perhaps Smith. But Purchas seems to have forgot that Mr Bradshaw and Humphry Bidulph were left alive in India.—E.]

SECTION X.

Fifth Voyage of the English East India Company, in 1609, under the Command of Captain David Middleton[306]

INTRODUCTION.

This narrative is said by Purchas to have been extracted from a letter written by Captain David Middleton to the Company, and was probably abbreviated by Purchas, who certainly is not happy on such occasions. This commander is probably the same person who commanded the Consent in a former voyage; and is said by the editor of Astley's Collection, to have been brother to Sir Henry Middleton, who commanded in the sixth voyage. One ship only, the Expedition belonging to London, appears to have been employed in this fifth voyage.

[Footnote 306: Purch. Pilgr. I. 238. Astl. I. 851.]

Sec. 1. Occurrences at Bantam, Booton, and Banda.

We set sail from the Downs the 24th April, 1609, in the Expedition of London, and had sight of Fuerteventura and Lancerota the 19th May; and with the winds sometimes fair, sometimes foul, we arrived at Saldanha bay the 10th August. Making all haste to wood and water, we again sailed the 18th August, and arrived at Bantam on the 7th December, missing Captain Keeling very narrowly, who must have passed us in the night, or we must surely have seen him. I made all possible dispatch, both by day and night, to get the iron ashore, and would not even stop to set up our pinnace. I left Mr Hemsworth in the factory, and was under the necessity of giving a great many more gifts than would otherwise have been requisite, had the country been in the same state as formerly.[307] As Mr Hemsworth was a stranger, unacquainted with any one in the factory, I left Edward Neetles and three more of our people with him. Taking with me such commodities as I thought most vendible in the places to which I proposed going, I took leave of Mr Hemsworth on the 18th December, he being very unwilling to remain behind; but I recommended to him to be of good courage, as it was necessary I should take Mr Spalding with me, as he knew the language, and had no proper person to leave in charge of the factory except himself. I told him, if he were sent for by the governor of Bantam, he must tell him plainly that I had left express orders not to yield to his former unreasonable demands; but, in case of extremity, to let the governor take what he pleased, but on no account to deliver him any thing.

[Footnote 307: Purchas observes here in a side-note, that, by alterations in the state, the debts due to the English factory at Bantam had become almost desperate, and the governor would not allow them, as formerly, to imprison their debtors and distrain. He also exacted most unreasonable sums for rent of the factory; although the ground had been formerly given, and the houses had been built at the expence of the company.]

I set sail that evening, the 18th December, 1609, for the Moluccas, as I proposed, and with a favourable wind. The 27th of that month we passed the straits of Desolam,[308] after which we were becalmed for ten days, which was no small grief to me, in much heat under the line, being doubtful of the western monsoon failing me, which would have entirely disappointed my intended voyage to the Moluccas. The 8th January, 1610, we came before the town of Booton, and sent on shore to enquire the news. Finding very few people in the town, and the king being gone to the wars, I did not anchor, but went through the straits the same day. Next day we saw a great fleet of caracols, which we imagined to belong to the King of Booton, which it actually did. When we drew near, the king sent a small praw to enquire what we were. I sent him word who I was, and being becalmed and in want of water, I requested to know if there were any to be had near. So the people pointed out to me a place where I might have abundance of water, to which I went. The king and all his caracols came sailing after me, and cast anchor near our ship; after which the king sent a messenger on board to welcome me in his name, and desired me to send Mr Spalding to him along with the messenger, to let him know the news.

[Footnote 308: The passage between the Salayr islands and the south-western peninsula of Celebes, is probably here meant: Yet that passage is in lat. 6 deg. S. while the text speaks of being under the line. No other supposition, however, can agree with the circumstance of falling in next day with the fleet of Booton.—E.]

The king likewise sent me word, that he wished I would remain all night at anchor, as he proposed coming next morning aboard to visit me and see the ship. As it remained calm, we continued at anchor, and next day on the king coming aboard, I made a banquet for him and his nobles, making the king a present worthy of his dignity and friendship. A gale of wind springing up, we prepared to make sail, on which the king wept, saying, I might think him a dissembler, as he had no goods for me; but that four months before his house was burnt down, in which he had provided for me somewhat of every thing, as nutmegs, cloves, and mace, with a large quantity of sanders wood, of which he had a whole housefull, as likewise a great warehouse full of his country cloth, which was very vendible in all the islands thereabout. All this great loss, he said, had not formerly grieved him so much as now, when I told him I had got the ship fitted out expressly to come and buy his commodities. He said farther, that he saw I had kept my promise; and swore by the head of Mahomet he would have so done likewise, had not God laid that scourge of fire upon him, by which several of his wives and other women were burnt. He was now, he said, engaged from home in war with all his forces, the event of which could not be foreseen, and could not therefore spare any of his people to make any provision for me; as, if we had not come, he had by this time been in the field against another king who was his enemy. He pointed out the town belonging to the king with whom he was at war, and requested me to fire against it as I went past: I answered that I was a stranger, and had no cause of quarrel with that king, and it would be improper for me to make myself enemies; but if the other king should come while I was there, and offer any injury to him or his subjects, I would do my best to send them away. The king was quite satisfied with this, and took his leave, and we presently made sail.