The Commodities Of The Ships Which Come From Bengal Are, Fine Pavilions
For Beds, Wrought Quilts, Fine Cotton Cloth, Pintados, (Painted
Chintz,) And Other Fine Goods, Together With Rice; And They Usually Make
This Voyage Twice A Year.
The ships from Pegu bring the most precious
jewels, as rubies and diamonds; but their principal lading is rice and
certain cloths.
Those from Tanaserim are chiefly freighted with rice and
Nipar wine, which is very strong, and as colourless as rock water, with
a somewhat whitish tinge, and very hot in taste, like aqua vitae.[22]
We came to anchor at Punta Galle, in foul ground, so that we lay all
that night a-drift, having only two anchors left, which were in the
hold, and had no stocks. Upon this our men took occasion to insist upon
going home, our captain at that time being very sick, and more likely to
die than recover. In the morning we set our foresail, meaning to bear up
to the northward, standing off and on to keep away from the current,
which otherwise would have set us to the south, away from, all known
land. When the foresail was set, and we were about to hand our other
sails, to accomplish our before-mentioned purpose, our men unanimously
declared that they would stay no longer in this country, and insisted
upon directing our course for England; and as they would listen to no
persuasions, the captain was under the necessity of giving way to their
demand, leaving all hope of the great possibility we had of making some
rich prizes.
[Footnote 22: Most probably what we now call arrack is here meant. - E.]
Accordingly, on the 8th of December, 1592, we made sail for the Cape of
Good Hope, passing the Maldive Islands, and leaving the great island of
St Lawrence to starboard, or on our right hand; we passed its southern
end in lat. 26 deg. S. In our passage from the island of St Lawrence, or
Madagascar, to the main-land of Africa, we found immense quantities of
bonitos and albicores, which, are large fishes, and of which our
captain, who was now recovered from his sickness, took as many with a
hook in two or three hours as would have served forty persons a whole
day. This skole of fish continued with us for five or six weeks, in
all which time we took every day as many as sufficed our whole company,
which was no small refreshment to us.
In February, 1593, we fell in with the eastern coast of Africa, at a
place called Baia de Agoa, something more than 100 leagues to the
north-east of the Cape of Good Hope; and having contrary winds, we spent
a month before we could double the cape. After doubling that cape in
March, we steered for the island of St Helena, where we arrived on the
3d of April, and remained there to our great comfort nineteen days, in
which time several individuals amongst us caught thirty sizeable congers
in a day, with other rock fish, and some bonitos.
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