At Last He Took Occasion To Commune With This Indian, Asking Whence He Came And What He Was, Saying To Him Pleasantly, That A Young Man Of His Appearance Deserved A Better Employment Than Buying And Selling Hens.

To this he answered, "I serve this Portuguese captain, yet am neither bound nor free; for, though free-born,

I have been with him so long that he considers me as his property, and he is so great a man that I cannot strive with him." Then, said the general, "If thy liberty be precious to thee, thy person, seems to merit it; but what wouldst thou do for him who should give thee thy liberty, without pleading to thy master for it?" "Sir," said the Indian, "freedom is as precious as life, and I would venture my life for him that would procure it for me: Try me, therefore, in any service that I can perform for you, and my willingness shall make good my words." "Then," said the general, "thou desirest me to try thee? What says the ambassador of me and my shipping, and what are his purposes?" The Indian told him, that the Portuguese had a spy employed over his ships, being a Chinese who was intimate with the men, so that he has procured drawings of the ships, and of every piece of ordnance in them, and how they are placed, with a list of all the men in each: That he thought the ships strong and well equipped, but being weak in men, believed they might easily be taken, if any force could be had to attack them suddenly; and intended in a few days to send his draughts to Malacca, to induce the Portuguese to send a force from thence to attack them as they lay at anchor.

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