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.
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