And So The King Arose And
Went To Dinner, And Commanded A Jew To Go With Master Barton And The
Other Commissioners To Show Them Their Lodgings, Which Was A House
Provided And Appointed Them By The Said King.
And because I had the
Italian and Spanish tongues, by which there most traffic in that
country is, Master
Barton made me his caterer, to buy his victuals for
him and his company, and he delivered me money needful for the same.
Thus were we set at liberty the 28th day of April, 1585.
Now, to return to the king's plagues and punishments which Almighty God
at his will and pleasure sendeth upon men in the sight of the world,
and likewise of the plagues that befell his children and others
aforesaid. First, when we were made bondmen, being the second day of
May, 1584, the king had 300 captives, and before the month was expired
there died of them of the plague 150. And whereas there were twenty-
six men of our company, of whom two were hanged and one died the same
day as we were made bondslaves, that present month there died nine more
of our company of the plague, and other two were forced to turn Turks
as before rehearsed; and on the 4th day of June next following, the
king lost 150 camels which were taken from him by the wild Moors; and
on the 28th day of the said month of June one Geffrey Malteese, a
renegado of Malta, ran away to his country, and stowed a brigantine
which the king had builded for to take the Christians withal, and
carried with him twelve Christians more which were the king's captives.
Afterwards about the 10th day of July next following, the king rode
forth upon the greatest and fairest mare that might be seen, as white
as any swan; he had not ridden forty paces from his house, but on a
sudden the same mare fell down under him stark dead, and I with six
more were commanded to bury her, skin, shoes, and all, which we did.
And about three months after our delivery, Master Barton, with all the
residue of his company, departed from Tripolis to Zante in a vessel
called a settea, of one Marcus Segoorus, who dwelt in Zante; and, after
our arrival at Zante, we remained fifteen days there aboard our vessel,
before we could have Platego (that is, leave to come ashore), because
the plague was in that place from whence we came, and about three days
after we came ashore, thither came another settea of Marseilles, bound
for Constantinople.
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