For eight days we were favoured by a wind which carried us straight in this direction. So we soon found ourselves in the midst of the archipelago of the Philippines, spite of the want of agreement prevailing among the crew, which was composed of eight Chinese, eight Malays, and eight Portuguese, three nations holding each other in the greatest possible aversion, detesting one another as much as the Genoese formerly detested the Corsicans, and the Corsicans the Genoese, and settling all disputes by the arbitration of the knife.
While passing the Island of Mindanao, and at the moment of entering the Sea of Celebes, we sprung a leak, and as if to make up for the fine weather we had already enjoyed, the sky became overcast, and squalls began to blow from every point of the compass.
Throughout ten entire days we endeavoured to pass the Straits of Mindanao. The wind and currents, however, always drove us towards the west, and the greater the efforts which we made to resist this deviation from our course the more the leak in the junk increased.
To aggravate our position in the midst of a sea of itself sufficiently dangerous, the crew refused to work at pumping out the water which was gaining on us every hour. Chinese, Malays, and Portuguese alike refused to perform this task as being too laborious for them; laborious it may have been, but on it, nevertheless, the safety of all depended.
Captain Ming-Ming, I could only too plainly see, had no power whatever over his incongruous crew; I even suspected him of having formerly exercised the profession of pirate in company with the eight Malays, who placed him on a footing of such perfect equality as unmistakably indicated the bonds of an old and equivocal fraternity, and deprived him of any kind of authority over them. The discovery was not very assuring for me, who knew so well, as I have already explained, the utterly savage character of these untamable brigands. This revelation, I confess, startled me; I nevertheless dissembled my fears, but took the precaution of loading a couple of pistols, and placing one in each of my two side pockets.
The crew would not work at the pumps, and the water was continually rising in the hold. Not by any means such good sailors as the Chinese and Malays, the Portuguese portion of the crew became alarmed at the fate which evidently threatened us, and proposed to make for some port. This the Malays and Chinese opposed, and their will carried the question, which only helped to confirm me in my suspicions of their former character, as they evidently did not wish to show themselves in any port which boasted of a regular police.
Moreover, what port should we make for? In the first place, where were we? Were we above or below the Equator? Were we sailing along the Strait of the Moluccas or of Macassar?
Master Ming-Ming, more learned in the art of smoking opium than in that of navigating a vessel, was not the man to have informed us. The sky was black, the wind blew our great bamboo sails into shreds, and the waves seemed as though they would engulf us.
When it was no longer possible to overcome the danger which had now become most imminent, this confused medley crew began one and all to change their minds. The instinct of preservation awoke within them when it was too late. They attempted to clear the water out of the junk; but the pumps would no longer act. Fear then took possession of these bandits, every one of whom, Malays, Portuguese, and Chinese, greedily sought land on the horizon, although the chance was that they would be hung as pirates as soon as they set foot on shore. During this anxious time I could do nothing beyond looking to the preservation from sea water of my good arms, my nets, and the various traps with which I had left Macao, in the hope of replenishing my menagerie. Alas! what was the use of all these precautions? Was I destined to escape myself from my present critical position?
On the twenty-eighth day of our voyage, there was no other course left us but to abandon ourselves to the discretion of the tempest. Master Ming-Ming therefore left the junk to itself. I don’t think, although I have seen many hurricanes on the coasts of Japan, whilst sailing with my father, that the winds and waves were ever so frightfully disturbed as they were on this occasion. The old junk bounded on the crest of the sea like an elastic ball on the ground.