Accordingly The Master Sent For The Skiff, In Which The Coffin
Was Transported By Water To The Place Appointed, While
We went there by
land, and carried it thence to the burial-place; the purser walking
before, and all the
Rest following after the coffin, which was covered
by a Holland sheet, above which was a silk quilt. We were attended by a
vast number of the natives, both young and old, curious to see our
manner of burial. After the corpse was interred, we all returned to the
factory, where we had a collation, and then our people returned to the
ship. I had almost forgotten to remark, that we had much ado to get any
native to dig the grave in which a Christian was to be buried, neither
would they permit the body to be conveyed by water in any of their
boats.
At this time the king commanded that all the streets in Firando should
be cleaned, and that gutters should be made on each side to convey the
water from them, all the streets to be new gravelled, and the
water-channels to be covered with flat stones. This work was all done in
one day, every one performing so much of it as was in front of his own
house, and it was admirable to see the diligence every person used on
this occasion. Our house was not the last in having this task performed,
as our landlord, the Chinese captain, set a sufficient number of men to
do the work.
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