Thus was our tall ship lost, to the great detriment of the worshipful company, and the utter ruin of all us poor mariners, our voyage being altogether overthrown, with the loss of all the treasure and goods both of the merchants and all of us, who were now far from our native country. We took to our boats on the night of the 5th September, it being almost miraculous that in two so small boats so many men should be saved, being at the least eighteen leagues from the shore.[294] We remained at sea in our boats till about four p.m. of the 6th, when we discovered land, which we made towards by all the means in our power, endeavouring to get into the river of Surat. But Providence, which had already saved us from the shipwreck, would not now suffer us to fall into the hands of our enemies the Portuguese, who then lay off the bar of Surat with five frigates to take us and our boats, as they had intelligence of the intended coming of our ill-fated ship; for, contrary to our wish and intention, we fell in with the river of Gundavee, about five leagues to the southward of the bar of Surat, where we were kindly entertained by the governor of the town. We here learnt that our pinnace had come into the same river, and had been taken possession of by the Portugueze, but all her men got ashore, and were gone by land to Surat.
[Footnote 293: Purch. Pilgr. I.228. Astl. I.344. We have here given only so much of the narrative of Jones as supplies additional circumstances after the end of that by Coverte.--E.]
[Footnote 294: This surely is a gross error, as they could hardly exceed the distance of a league or two from shore, though the shore is said in the former narrative to have been twenty leagues from where the ship was lost.--E.]
The governor of this town of Gundavee is a Banian, and one of those people who observe the law of Pythagoras. They hold it a great sin to eat of any thing that hath life, but live on that which the earth naturally produces. They likewise hold the cow in great honour and reverence, and also observe the ancient custom of burning their dead. It has also been an ancient custom among them, for the women to burn themselves alive along with the bodies of their deceased husbands; but of late years they have learnt more wisdom, and do not use this custom so commonly; yet those women who do not, have their hair cut out, and are ever afterwards held as dishonoured, for refusing to accompany their husbands into the other world.
On the 7th of September, we left Gundavee to travel by land to Surat, which might be some thirty or forty miles distant, and we arrived there on the 9th, where we were met by William Finch, who kept the English factory at that place. Captain Hawkins had gone up to Agra, which is about thirty days journey up into the interior country from Surat, and at which place the King, or Emperor of the Moguls, resides. Our general, Captain Alexander Sharpey, remained at Surat with his company till the end of September, when he and the rest of our people went from Surat to Agra, intending to go by land through Persia in the way to England. But I, holding this to be no fit course for me, determined to try some other method of endeavouring to get home. While I was in much uncertainty how to proceed, it pleased God of his infinite goodness to send a father of the order of St Paul, who was a Portuguese, who came from Cambaya to Surat by land, and with whom I became acquainted. He offered, if I would commit myself to his guidance, to procure me a passage home, or at least to Portugal, and which promise he most faithfully performed.
In company with this father, myself and three more of our company left Surat on the 7th of October: these were Richard Mellis, who died afterwards in the carak during our voyage to Europe, John Elmor, who was master of the pinnace Good Hope, and one Robert Fox. We arrived at the strong town and fortress of Daman, where I again saw our pinnace, the Good Hope, which we built at Saldanha Bay, near the Cape of Bona Esperanza. From Daman we went to Chaul, and thence to Goa, where we arrived on the 18th November, 1609.
We embarked on the 9th January, 1610, in a carak called Our Lady of Pity, being admiral of a fleet of four sail bound for Lisbon, and immediately sailed. The 28th, we crossed the equinoctial line on the eastern coast of Africa.[295] The 21st March, we fell in with the land in lat. 33° 30' S. about five leagues east of Cape Aguillas, where we lay with contrary winds till the second of April, when we had a terrible storm at W.S.W. so that we were forced to bear up six hours before the sea,[296] and then it pleased God to send us fair weather. The 4th April, we again fell in with the land in lat. 34° 40' S. We continued driving about in sight of land with contrary winds, having twice sight of the Cape of Good Hope, yet could not possibly get beyond it, till the 19th April, when, by the blessing of God, we doubled the Cape to our no small comfort, being almost in despair, and feared we must have wintered at Mosambique, which is usual with the Portuguese. The 27th April, we crossed the tropic of Capricorn, and came to anchor at St Helena on the 9th May, in lat. 15° S. We remained here watering till the 15th, when we weighed anchor, and crossed the equator on the 2d June.
[Footnote 295: In Purchas it is called the coast of India, an obvious error.--E.]
[Footnote 296: The meaning of this is not clear. Perhaps they had to drive with the storm, being unable to ply to windward.--E.]
We crossed the tropic of Cancer on the 26th June, having the wind at N.E. which the Portuguese call the general wind. By the judgment of our pilot in the carak, we passed the Western Islands, or Azores, on the 16th July, being in latitude forty degrees and odd minutes, but we saw no land after leaving St Helena, till the 3d of August, when we got sight of the coast of Portugal not above two leagues from the rock of Lisbon, to our no small comfort, for which we gave thanks to God. We came that same day to anchor in the road of Caskalles [Cascais]; and the same day I got ashore in a boat, and so escaped from the hands of the Portuguese. I remained secretly in Lisbon till the 13th of that same month, when I embarked in a ship belonging to London, commanded by one Mr Steed, and bound for that place. We weighed anchor that day from the Bay of Wayers, where a boat full of Portuguese meant to have taken the ship and carried us all on shore, having intelligence of our intended departure; but by putting out to sea we escaped the danger, and, God be praised, arrived at our long-desired home on the 17th September, 1610, having been two years and six months absent from England.