[Footnote 278: Jones says he was informed afterwards by a Portuguese, that Churchman afterwards died at Mombaza. He tells us likewise, that the Portuguese of Mombaza intended to have manned a Dutch hulk which had wintered there, on purpose to take the Ascension; but learning her force they laid that design aside, and endeavoured to circumvent them by means of the natives of Pemba, who are very cowardly, and dare not venture on any enterprize, unless instigated by the Portuguese.--E.]
In the morning of the 26th, the boat and pinnace went ashore well armed to fetch in our davy, which is a piece of timber by which the anchor is hauled up; and a little beyond it, they found the body of Harrington stark naked, which they buried in an island near Pemba. The natives of this island seemed well disposed towards us; for, at our first coming, they made signs to us, as if warning us to take care of having our throats cut, which we then paid no attention to.[279]
[Footnote 279: This circumstance is not easily understood, unless by the natives are here meant negroes, as distinguished from the Moors, who endeavoured to murder the English, probably at the instigation of the Portuguese.--E.]
We set sail that same day from Pemba, being the 20th December, and by midnight our ship got aground on the shoals of Melinda, or Pemba, which we were not aware of, but got off again, by backing our sails, as the wind was very moderate. Next morning we pursued and took three small boats, called pangaias, which had their planks very slightly connected together, while another boat was endeavouring to come off from the land to give them notice to avoid us. In these boats there were above forty persons, six or eight of whom being comparatively pale and fair, much differing from the Moors, we thought to have been Portuguese; but being asked, they shewed their backs all over with written characters; and when we still insisted they were Portuguese, they said the Portuguese were not circumcised as they were.[280] As we could not be satisfied of their not being Portuguese, some of our mariners spoke to them about the murder of our men, which seemed to put them in fear, and they talked with each other in their own language, which made us suspect they were meditating some desperate attempt. For this reason, I remained watchful on the poop of our ship, looking carefully after our swords, which lay naked in the master's cabin, which they too seemed to have their eyes upon. They seemed likewise to notice the place where I and Mr Glascock had laid our swords, and anxiously waiting for the place being clear. They even beckoned several times for me to come down upon the spar-deck, which I refused, lest they might have taken that opportunity to seize our weapons, which would have enabled them to do much more mischief than they afterwards did.
[Footnote 280: These men were probably tawny Moors, or Arabs of pure descent; whereas many of the Mahometans along the eastern shore of Africa; and in its islands, are of mixed blood, partly negro,--E.]
Our master, Philip de Grove, came soon afterwards on the spar-deck, and asking for their pilot, took him down into his cabin to shew him his plat or chart, which he examined very attentively; but on leaving the others to go with the master, he spoke something to them in the Moors language which we did not understand, but which we afterwards supposed was warning them to be on their guard to assault us as soon as he gave the signal. It was reported that the pilot had a concealed knife, for which he was searched; but he very adroitly contrived to shift it, and therewith stabbed our master in the belly, and then cried out. This probably was the signal for the rest, for they immediately began the attack on our people on the spar-deck. The general, with Messrs Glascock and Tindal, and one or two more, happened to be there at the time, and had the good fortune to kill four or five of the white rogues, and made such havoc among the rest that at length they slew near forty of them, and brought the rest under subjection. A little before this, our master had proposed to the general to buy from them some garavances, or pease, the ordinary food of the country, if they had any for sale, and then to set them at liberty with their boats and goods. To this the general had agreed, and the master, as before mentioned, had called the Moorish pilot, to see if he had any skill in charts. But as they had treacherously attacked us, we certainly could do no otherwise now than slay them in our own defence. Five or six of them, however, leapt overboard, and recovered a pangaia by their astonishing swiftness in swimming, and escaped on shore, as they swam to windward faster than our pinnace could row.
In this skirmish only three of our men were hurt, namely, Mr Glascock, Mr Tindal, and our master.[281] The first had two wounds, one of which was very deep in the back. When they commenced the attack, Mr Tindal had no weapon in his hand, and one of them aimed to stab him in the breast; but as he turned suddenly round, he received the wound on his arm. They all recovered perfectly.
[Footnote 281: According to Jones, he personally slew the Moorish pilot in this affray. One of the persons wounded on this occasion was the chaplain, but his name is not mentioned. Great lamentation was made by the Moors on the coast of Africa for their loss in this affair, as Jones was told afterwards by the Portuguese, as some of them, probably those mentioned as white rogues by Coverte, were of the blood royal.--E.]
The 19th of January, 1609, we espied many islands, which the Portuguese call Almirante,[282] being nine in number, and all without inhabitants, as the Portuguese affirm. Next morning we sent our pinnace to one of them in search of fresh water, which could not be found, but our people saw many land tortoises, and brought six on board. We then went to another of these islands, where we came to anchor in twelve or thirteen fathoms in a tolerably good birth, and here we refreshed ourselves with water, cocoa-nuts, fish, palmitos, and turtle-doves,[283] which last were in great plenty. The 1st of February we set sail with a fair wind, and passed the line on the 19th, having previously on the 15th come within ken of the land on the coast of Melinda. We came to anchor next day on the coast of the continent, in 12 fathoms, about two leagues from shore, and sent our pinnace to seek refreshments; but they were unable to land, and the natives could not be induced to adventure within hearing, wherefore our ship departed in the afternoon. About this time, William Acton, one of the ship boys, confessed being guilty of a foul and detestable crime;[284] and being tried and found guilty by a jury, was condemned and executed on the morning of the 3rd March.
[Footnote 282: Called by Jones the Desolate Islands, because not inhabited.--E.]