The King
Was By The Shore At This Time, Attended By A Vast Many, People; And, On
Learning The Death Of The Sabandar, And The Overthrow Of This Treachery,
The Furious Infidels Murdered All Of Our People Who Were On Shore,
Except Eight, Who Were Put In Irons As Slaves.
In this great calamity we
lost sixty-eight persons, of whom we are not certain how many may be in
captivity, having only knowledge of these eight.
We lost at this time
two fine pinnaces of twenty tons each, and our ship's boat.
We left Acheen that same day, and anchored at Pedier, where we had
sent a small pinnace for rice, but could get no tidings of her. Next
day, the 2d September, there came eleven gallies to take our ships,
having Portuguese in them, as we thought. We sank one of them, and
defeated all the rest, so that they fled amain. That same afternoon, the
son of Lafort, a French merchant, dwelling in Seethinglane, London, came
on board of us, being one of the eight prisoners. He brought the
following message from the king: - "Are you not ashamed to be such
drunken beasts, as, in your drunkenness, to murder my people whom I sent
on board of you in kindness?" He farther required of us, in satisfaction
of his pretended wrong, that we should give up our best ship, on which
he would release our men, telling Lafort, if he could succeed in this,
that he would make him a great nobleman. To this ridiculous proposal we
gave a flat denial; and, being in distress for water, we went over to
Pulo Lotum, on the coast of Queda, or northern part of Malacca, on its
western coast, in lat. 6 deg. 50' N. where we refreshed and watered.
During our stay at Acheen, we received into both our ships 140 tons of
pepper, what precious stones and other merchandize besides I know not.
But, on the day of treason, our merchants lost all the money and goods
they had on shore, which was said to be of great value. On this
occasion, many of our young adventurers were utterly ruined; among whom,
I most grieve at the loss sustained by poor John Davis, having not
only lost my friendly factor, but all my European commodities, with
those things I had provided to shew my love and duty to my best friends;
so that, though India did not receive me rich, she hath sent me back
sufficiently poor.
The island of Sumatra is pleasant and fertile, abounding in many
excellent fruits; but their only grain is rice, which serves them for
bread. They plough the land with buffaloes, which they have in great
numbers, but with small skill, and less industry. The rice grows in all
respects like our barley. They have plenty of pepper, which is grown in
large gardens or plantations, often a mile square. It grows like hops,
from a planted root, winding about a stake set to support it, till it
grows like a great bushy tree, whence the pepper hangs in small
clusters, three inches long, and an inch about, each cluster having
forty pepper-corns; and it yields as great increase as mustard-seed.
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