We Had Wood And Water Enough, And Could Only Row
Along With The Flood Tide, As When It Ebbed We Had To Make Fast Our Boat
To One Of The Desert Islands.
On one of these days, it pleased God that
we discovered a nest or hole, in which were 144 tortoise eggs, which
proved a wonderful help to us, as they were as large as hens eggs,
covered only by a tender skin, instead of a shell.
Every day we boiled a
kettle full of these eggs, mixing a handful of rice among the broth. At
the end of nine days, it pleased God that we discovered some fishermen
in small barks, employed in catching fish. We rowed immediately towards
them with much delight and thankfulness, for never were men more glad
than we, being so much reduced by famine that we could hardly stand on
our legs; yet, according to the allotment we had made of our rice, we
still had as much as would have served four days. The first village we
came to was in the gulf of _Tavay_, on the coast of Tanasserim, in the
dominions of Pegu, where we found plenty of provisions; yet for two or
three days after our arrival none of us could eat much, and most of us
were at the point of death. From Tavay to _Martaban_, in the kingdom of
Pegu, the distance is 72 miles[164]. We loaded our boat at Tavay with
provisions sufficient for six months, and then went in our boat to the
city and port of Martaban, in the kingdom of Pegu, and arrived there in
a short time. But not finding our ship there as we hoped, we dispatched
two barks in search of her. They found her in great calamity at an
anchor, with a contrary wind, which was exceedingly unfortunate for the
people, especially as they had been a whole month without a boat, which
prevented them from making any provision of wood and water. The ship,
however, arrived safe, by the blessing of God, in the harbour of
Martaban.
[Footnote 164: On the coast of Tanasserim, in lat. 13 deg. N. is an island
called _Tavay_, so that the gulf of Tavay in the text was probably in
that neighbourhood. Martaban is in lat. 16 deg. 40' N. So that the
difference of latitude is 8 deg. 40', and the distance cannot be less than
250 miles. - E.]
SECTION XVIII
_Of Martaban and the Kingdom of Pegu._
On our arrival at Martaban we found about ninety Portuguese there,
including merchants and lower people, who had fallen at variance with
the governor of the city, because certain vagabond Portuguese had slain
five _falchines,_ or porters, belonging to the king of Pegu. According
to the custom of that country, when the king of Pegu happens to be at a
distance from his capital, a caravan, or company of _falchines_, is
dispatched every fifteen days, each of them having a basket on his head
full of fruit or some other delicacy, or clean clothes for the king's
use. It accordingly happened, about a month after the king of Pegu had
gone against Siam, with 1,400,000 men, that one of these caravans stopt
at Martaban, to rest for the night. On this occasion a quarrel ensued
between them and some Portuguese, which ended in blows, and the
Portuguese being worsted, returned upon the _falchines_ in the night,
while they were asleep, and cut off five of their heads. There is a law
in Pegu, that whosoever sheds the blood of a man, shall pay the price of
blood according to the rank of the person slain: but as these
_falchines_ were the servants of the king, the governor of Martaban
durst not do any thing in the matter without the king's orders. The king
was accordingly informed of the affair, and gave orders that the
malefactors should be kept in custody till his return, when he would
duly administer justice, but the captain of the Portuguese refused to
deliver up these men to the governor, and even armed himself and the
other Portuguese, marching every day about the city, with drums beating
and displayed colours, as in despite of the governor, who was unable to
enforce his authority, as the city was almost empty of men, all who were
fit for war having gone with the vast army against Siam.
We arrived at Martaban in the midst of this difference, and I thought it
a very strange thing to see the Portuguese behave themselves with such
insolence in the city of a sovereign prince. Being very doubtful of the
consequences, I did not think proper to land my goods, which I
considered in greater safety on board ship than on shore. Most part of
the goods on board belonged to the owner, who was at Malacca; but there
were several merchants in the ship who had goods, though none of them
had to any great value, and all of them declared they would not land any
of their goods unless I landed mine; yet they afterwards neglected my
advice and example, and landed their goods, all of which were
accordingly lost. The governor and intendant of the custom-house sent
for me, and demanded to know why I did not land my goods, and pay the
duties like the rest; on which I said that I was a stranger, only new to
the country, and observing so much disorder among the Portuguese, I was
afraid to lose my goods, which I was determined not to bring on shore,
unless the governor would promise me in the king's name that no harm
should come to me or my goods, whatever might happen to the Portuguese,
with whom I had taken no part in the late tumult. As what I said seemed
reasonable, the governor sent for the _Bargits_, who are the councillors
of the city, who engaged, in the name of the king, that neither I nor my
goods should meet with any injury, and of which they made a notarial
entry or memorandum.
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