These Spouts Come Pouring Down Like A River Of Water; So That,
If They Were To Fall Upon A Ship,
She would be in imminent danger of
sinking downright; as the water falls all at once like one vast drop,
Or
as a prodigious stream poured from a vessel, and with extreme violence,
sometimes enduring for an hour together, so that the sea boils and foams
to a great height.
Sec. 5. Presents to and from the King of Acheen, and his Letters to Queen
Elizabeth. Their Departure to Priaman and Bantam, and Settlement of
Trade at these Places.
We again cast anchor in the road of Acheen, on the 24th of October, when
the general went immediately on shore, and found all our merchants well
and in safety, giving great commendations of the kind entertainment they
had from the king in the absence of the general. On this account, the
general, willing to gratify the king with some of the most valuable
articles taken in the prize, selected a present of such things as he
thought might be most to his liking, and presented them to him on his
first going to court. The king received the present very graciously, and
welcomed the general on his return, seeming to be much pleased with his
success against the Portuguese; but jestingly added, that the general
had forgotten his most important commission, which was to bring back
with him a fair Portuguese maid. To this the general replied, that there
were none worthy of being offered. The king smiled, and said, if there
were any thing in his dominions that could gratify the general, he
should be most welcome to have it.
The merchants were now directed to ship in the Ascension, all the
pepper, cinnamon, and cloves they had bought in the absence of the
ships, which was scarcely enough to complete her loading; but there was
no more to be had at the time, nor could any more be expected that year.
The general, therefore, ordered every thing to be conveyed on board the
ships, as he was resolved to depart from Acheen, and to sail for Bantam
in Java Major, where he understood good sale might be procured for his
commodities, and a great return of pepper at a much more reasonable
price than at Acheen. Upon this order being promulgated, every person
made haste to get their things embarked.
The general went to court, and communicated to the king his intentions
of departing, and had a long conference with his majesty, who delivered
to him a complimentary letter for the Queen of England.[114] A present
was likewise delivered to him for the queen, consisting of three fine
vestments, richly woven and embroidered with gold of exquisite
workmanship, and a fine ruby set in a gold ring, the whole enclosed in a
red box of Tzin.[115] He likewise presented the general with another
ruby set in a ring, and when about to take leave, he asked the general
if we had the Psalms of David extant among us. On being told that we
had, and sang them daily, he said, that he and his nobles would sing a
psalm to God for our prosperous voyage, which they did very reverently.
He then desired that we might sing another psalm in our own language;
and being about twelve of us present, we sang a psalm. That being ended,
the general took leave of the king, who shewed him much kindness at his
departure, desiring God to bless us during our voyage, and to guide us
safely to our country; adding, that if any of our ships should come
hereafter to his ports, they might depend on receiving as kind treatment
as we had got.
[Footnote 114: Purchas gives a copy of this letter, as translated from
the Arabic by William Bedwell. It is long, tedious, and merely composed
of hyperbolical compliment; and therefore omitted. - E.]
[Footnote 115: This was probably a casket of red Chinese lacker or
varnish, usually denominated Japanned. - E.]
All our goods and men being shipped, we departed from Acheen on the 9th
November, 1602, with three ships, the Dragon, Hector, and Ascension, the
Susan having been long before sent to Priaman. We kept company for two
days, in which time the general prepared his letters for England,
sending them away in the Ascension, which now directed her course by the
Cape of Good Hope for England; while we steered along the south-western
coast of Sumatra, in our way to Bantam, meaning to look for the Susan,
which had been sent formerly to endeavour to procure a loading on that
coast. While in this course we suddenly fell in among a number of
islands in the night, and when the morning dawned were astonished how we
had got in among them, without seeing or running upon any of them. They
were all low land, environed with rocks and shoals, so that we were in
great danger; but thanks be to God, who had delivered us from many
dangers, and enabled us to extricate ourselves from the present
difficulty. Continuing our course, we passed the equinoctial line for
the third time, and coming to Priaman, the 26th November, we rejoined
the Susan, which the general had sent there from Acheen to load with
pepper.
The people of the Susan were rejoiced at our arrival, having already
provided 600 bahars of pepper, and sixty-six bahars of cloves. Pepper
was cheaper here than at Acheen, though none grows in the neighbourhood
of this port, being all brought from a place called Manangcabo, eight
or ten leagues within the country; which place has no other merchandise,
except a considerable store of gold in dust and small grains, which is
washed out of the sands of rivers after the great floods of the rainy
season, by which it is brought down from the mountains. Priaman is a
good place of refreshment, and is very pleasant and healthy, though it
lies within 15' of the line.
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