Purch. Pilg.

I. 884, Astl I. 451.]

The full title of this voyage in the Pilgrims is, "The Eighth Voyage set forth by the East Indian Society, wherein were employed three Ships, the Clove, the Hector, and the Thomas, under the Command of Captain John Saris: His Course and Acts to and in the Red Sea, Java, the Moluccas, and Japan, by the Inhabitants called Neffoon, where also he first began and settled an English Trade and Factory; with other remarkable Rarities: The whole collected out of his own Journal." In the preface to the 4th book of his Pilgrims, Purchas makes the following observations respecting this voyage: "We here present the East Indies made westerly, by the illustrious voyage of Captain John Saris; who, having spent some years before in the Indies, by observations to rectify experience, and by experience to prepare for higher attempts, hath here left the known coasts of Europe, compassed those more unknown coasts of Africa from the Atlantic to the Erithrean Sea, and after commerce there, tum Marte quam Merurio, compasseth the shores, and pierceth the seas, to and beyond all just names of India and Asia, penetrating by a long journey, the islands, cities, and court of the Japonian empire, there settleth an English factory; and after safe return, is ready to render to the readers the pleasure of his pain, and [why stay I thee any longer?] by a more pleasant discoursive way, to discover to thee the rarities of that discovery, and by hand, by the eyes, to lead thee along with him all the way: and then leave thee to those that shall tell thee of after accidents and later occurrences in the Japonian, Indian, and Asian affairs." - Purch.

"What Purchas has called collected out of the Journal of Captain Saris, means probably abbreviated by himself from that source. Saris was factor at Bantam in 1608, at the time of the third voyage of the East India Company, and has given an account of occurrences there from the time Scott left off, as contained in Section II. of this chapter of our Collection. In this voyage, he went farther eastwards than any English navigator had gone before, being the first of our nation that sailed to Japan in an English ship. William Adams indeed had been there some years earlier, having been carried there in a Dutch ship, by a western course. The remarks of Captain Saris are generally curious, judicious, and full of variety. As already noticed in the extended title by Purchas, Captain Saris had three ships under his command, the Clove, in which he sailed as general, the Hector, and the Thomas." - Astl.

This journal occupies fifty pages in the Pilgrims of Purchas, besides eleven pages more of observations on various occurrences at Bantam, during the residence of Saris there from October 1605 to October 1609, and other circumstances respecting the English affairs in the East, which will be noticed in the sequel. In the present edition, while we scrupulously adhere to that of Purchas, we have used the freedom of abridging even his abridgement, particularly respecting the nautical remarks, courses, distances, winds, currents, &c. which are now much better understood by navigators, and which would be quite uninteresting and tedious to most of our readers. - E.

* * * * *

Sec. 1. Incidents of the Voyage from England to Socotora.

We sailed from the Downs on the 18th April, 1611, passed the equator on the 6th June, and arrived at Saldanha bay on the 1st of August. Having well refreshed ourselves there for eight days, we set sail on the 9th August. The 3d September we made the land of Madagascar, near the bay of St Augustine. The 10th we made the island of Primeiras; and the 17th we made the islands of Angoza to the southwards of Mosambique. Finding a dangerous shoal and bad anchoring ground, with a lee shore and westerly current, we stood off on the 21st for Madagascar. In the chart we found these islands of Angoza laid down in lat. 15 deg. 40' S. but by our observation they are in 16 deg. 20' S.[398] The 24th, in lat. 16 deg. 16', our course being N.E. we unexpectedly saw land bearing N. by W. five leagues off, while expecting the island of Juan de Nova to the eastwards, and being becalmed, we feared the current might set us upon it in the night. When day-light appeared next morning, we found it to be the northernmost island of Angoza, whence we had departed on the 21st, to the great amazement and discouragement of our mariners.

[Footnote 398: The town of Angoza is in lat. 15 deg. 50', and the most southerly island in the bay of that name is in 16 deg. 30' S. - E.]

The 3d October, after much trouble by currents, we came to anchor between Mosambique and Sofala, in lat. 16 deg. 32' S. and long. 76 deg. 10' E.[399] Our anchorage was in thirteen and fourteen fathoms, under an island near the main, upon which were no people, neither could we find fresh water, though we dug very deep for it in the sand. We weighed on the 10th, and stood over E. by N. for Madagascar, in hopes of getting out of the currents, and on the 26th came to anchor under Moyella, [Mohilla] one of the Comoro islands, in lat. 12 deg. 13' S.[400] We here refreshed for eight days, procuring bullocks, goats, poultry, lemons, cocoas, pine-apples, passaws, plantains, pomgranates, sugar-canes, tamarinds, rice, milk, roots, eggs, and fish, in exchange for small haberdashery wares and some money, and had kind usage and plenty of fresh water, yet stood much on our guard for fear of any treachery. I invited the king of Moyella, being a Mahometan, aboard the Clove, and entertained him with a banquet, and with trumpets and other music; but he refused to eat, as it was then their Lent or Rammadan, yet he carried off the best part of the banquet for the queen his mother, saying that they would eat it after sunset.

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