[Footnote 436:

It will appear afterwards that he did not continue.

- E.]

[Footnote 437: In the narrative of Fitch no such name occurs, but William Leedes jeweller, is named as one of the party. Perhaps he ought to have been named by Fitch, William Bets of Leeds. - E.]

If these troubles had not occurred, I think I was in a fair way of making as good a voyage as was ever made with such a sum of money. Many of our things I sold very well, both here and at Ormus while in prison, although the captain of Ormus wished me to have sold all I had before I embarked; so, by his permission, I went sundry times from the castle in the mornings, accompanied by officers, and sold things, and returned again at night to prison. They wrote down every thing that I sold; and at my embarking, the captain directed me to deliver all my money and goods into the hands of the _scrivano_ or purser of the ship, which I did, and the scrivano left an acknowledgement with the captain, that myself with the money and goods should be delivered up to the veedor general in India. But on our arrival here, the veedor would not meddle with either money or goods, seeing that no crime was substantiated against us: Wherefore the goods remained in the ship nine or ten days after our arrival; and then, as the ship was to sail from thence, the scrivano sent the goods on shore, where they remained a day and a night without any one to receive them. In the end, they permitted the bearer of this letter to receive them, who put them into a house which he hired for me, in which they remained four or five days. When afterwards they ought to have delivered the money, it was ordered by the _veedor_, that both the money and goods should be given into the custody of the _positor_, where they remained for fourteen days after I was liberated from prison.

When in Aleppo, I bought a fountain of silver gilt, six knives, six spoons, and one fork, all trimmed with coral, for 25 chekins, which the captain of Ormus took to himself and only paid 20 pardaos, or 100 larines, though they were worth there or here at Goa 100 chekins. Also he had five emeralds set in gold, worth five or six hundred crowns, for which he only paid 100 pardaos. He likewise took 19-1/2 pikes of cloth, which cost 20 shillings the pike at London, and was worth 9 or 10 crowns the pike at Ormus, for which he only paid 12 larines. He also had two pieces of green kersie, worth 24 pardaos each; besides divers other more trifling articles which he and the officers took at similar inferior prices, and some for nothing at all. But the real cause of all was Michal Stropene, who came to Ormus without a penny, and is now worth thirty or forty thousand crowns, and is grieved that any stranger should trade there but himself.

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