The Hopewell Making Two Voyages, And Hearing No
News Of The Praw, I Verily Thought She Had Sunk; For I Came In Company
With Her Myself In The Hopewell, And Had So Great A Storm That I Gave
Her Up As Lost, Having Twelve Of My Stoutest Men In Her.
It was no small
grief to me to see the season thus wear away, and could not get my
loading to the ship, neither durst I bring over my ship to Pulo-way, as
there was no safe anchorage for her.
I made enquiry for some other
vessel, and heard of a junk belonging to Lantor, but she was old and lay
near the Dutch ships; yet I went and bought her, and got such help as I
could to trim her.
The want of my twelve men in the praw put me to much trouble, as they
would have shortened our labour much: For most of our men were laid up
with sore legs, and whenever any one was reasonable well, he had to go
in the Hopewell, in the room of another poor lame fellow, some being
three several times well and down again. I was thus driven to my wits
end, not knowing which way to turn me, being every hour in danger that
the Hollanders would come and take the island. By intelligence at sundry
times, I learnt that they endeavoured by various contrivances to get me
made away with, offering large bribes for rogues to kill me, by poison
or otherwise; but, God be praised, I had some friends on the island, who
gave me secret warnings, and put me on my guard against such
men-slaves, who would do me some mischief, and came for the purpose.
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