When Winter Was Past, And Our Ship Fitted For Going
To Sea, We Had Only Now Remaining Thirty-Three Men And One Boy,
Twenty-Two Only Of Whom Were Sound And Fit For Labour, And Not Above A
Third Even Of These Were Mariners.
Being under the necessity of seeking
some place for refreshments, we went over to the main-land of Malacca,
and came next day to anchor in a bay two leagues from the shore.
Then
our captain, Mr James Lancaster, with his lieutenant, Mr Edmund Barker,
the author of this narrative, having manned the boat, went on shore, to
see if we could fall in with any inhabitants. On landing, we could see
the tracks of some barefooted people, who had been there not long
before, for their foe was still burning; yet we could see no people,
nor any living creature, except a fowl called oxbird, being a grey
sea-bird, in colour like a snipe, but different in the beak. Being by
no means shy, we killed about eight dozen of them with small shot, and
having spent the day fruitlessly, we went on board in the evening.
About two o'clock next day we saw a canoe, in which were about sixteen
naked Indians, who came near us, but would not come on board; yet, going
afterwards on shore, we had some friendly converse with them, and they
promised to bring us victuals. Next morning we espied three ships, all
of them about sixty or seventy tons burden, one of which surrendered
even to our boat; and understanding that they were of the city of
Martaban, a chief sea-port of the great city of Pegu, and that the goods
belonged to some Portuguese jesuits, and a biscuit-baker of that nation,
we took that ship; but as the other two were laden on account of
merchants of Pegu, we let them go. Having this other along with us, we
came to anchor together at night; and in the night time all her men,
being mostly natives of Pegu, fled away in their boat, except twelve,
whom we had taken on board our ship. Next day we weighed anchor, and
went to leeward of an island hard by, where we took out her lading of
pepper, which they had taken on board at Pera, a place on the main-land,
thirty leagues to the south. We likewise stopt another ship of Pegu,
laden with pepper; but finding her cargo to belong to native merchants
of Pegu, we dismissed her untouched.
Having employed about ten days in removing the goods from the prize into
our own ship, and our sick men being greatly refreshed, and strengthened
by the relief we had found in the prize, we weighed anchor about the
beginning of September, determining to run into the straits of Malacca,
to the islands called Pulo Sambilam, about forty-five leagues north from
the city of Molucca, past which islands the Portuguese ships must
necessarily pass on their voyages from Goa, or San Thome, for the
Moluccas, China, or Japan.
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