After we had agreed, the Hopewell was loaded with mace, or filled rather; for she was only nine tons burden, and could carry very little of that commodity. So, after sending away the Hopewell, I hired a large praw, which I proposed to build upon, which we loaded with nutmegs, and sent to the ship, where she was built higher, so as to be of 25 tons burden; but she made only one voyage, and then we heard no tidings of her in three months. The Hopewell making two voyages, and hearing no news of the praw, I verily thought she had sunk; for I came in company with her myself in the Hopewell, and had so great a storm that I gave her up as lost, having twelve of my stoutest men in her. It was no small grief to me to see the season thus wear away, and could not get my loading to the ship, neither durst I bring over my ship to Pulo-way, as there was no safe anchorage for her. I made enquiry for some other vessel, and heard of a junk belonging to Lantor, but she was old and lay near the Dutch ships; yet I went and bought her, and got such help as I could to trim her.
The want of my twelve men in the praw put me to much trouble, as they would have shortened our labour much: For most of our men were laid up with sore legs, and whenever any one was reasonable well, he had to go in the Hopewell, in the room of another poor lame fellow, some being three several times well and down again. I was thus driven to my wits end, not knowing which way to turn me, being every hour in danger that the Hollanders would come and take the island. By intelligence at sundry times, I learnt that they endeavoured by various contrivances to get me made away with, offering large bribes for rogues to kill me, by poison or otherwise; but, God be praised, I had some friends on the island, who gave me secret warnings, and put me on my guard against such men-slaves, who would do me some mischief, and came for the purpose.
I prevailed on the islanders to combine and fit out their caracols, to keep the Dutch pinnaces from coming to assail us, after which the pinnaces durst not stir; and the islanders often landed secretly on Nera, and cut off sundry of the Hollanders, so that they durst not stir from the castle, except in numerous parties, well armed. The islanders even built a fort on the side of a hill, whence they fired into the castle, and troubled the Hollanders much. By this we were secured against the Dutch pinnaces coming out, to attempt intercepting our intercourse with Pulo-way. I made nine voyages myself in our small pinnace, and could never spare above seven seamen to go in her, leaving five at Pulo-way, all the rest being sick or lame with sore legs. This was a most villainous country, every article of food being excessively dear, and only sometimes to be had, which troubled us exceedingly; and we were so continually vexed with violent rains, that we thought to have all perished. I was forced to fetch away the junk I bought at Lantor unfitted for sea, as the Dutch, on seeing men at work upon her, sent out one of their ships to batter her to pieces. So that night I got the help of two tonies to launch her, having to carry her a great way on rollers, which we did under night, and got her out of sight before day. We brought her to Pulo-way, where we had to buy sails and every thing else for her, she being only a bare hulk; so I set the native carpenters to work upon her, who did her little good, as it was afterwards found. I likewise sent orders by the Hopewell to the ship, to send some rigging, and that Mr Davis should come to carry her over.
On this occasion the Hopewell did not appear again for three weeks, so that we were doubtful of some mischance; and it might have been long before they at the ship could have hired any one to bring us word, as the Hollanders have often used them very ill for carrying provisions to the Bandanese. The weather being tolerably good, and having our skiff at Pulo-way, I resolved to go over to the ship in her myself; for I could not hire men to carry over the junk, if I would have loaded her with silver, and I had not a man with me sound enough to stand on his legs; so I hired three natives, and put to sea in the skiff. When out of sight of Pulo-way, it came on to blow a heavy storm, so that I had to scud before the wind and sea to save our lives; yet, thank God, we got sight of Ceram, and kept her right afore the sea, but clean from the place where our ship lay, and on nearing the shore the sea did break so aloft, that we had no hope of getting safe on shore. Night being at hand, we strove all we could to keep the sea till day; but as the storm increased, we had no remedy for our lives but attempting to get through the surf over a ledge of rocks. This we did, but durst not leave the boat, lest we had been dashed in pieces on the rocks. Next morning we got her on shore, being brim-full of water, and every thing we had washed out.
Immediately afterwards, the blacks came and told us we must go to sea again instantly, if we valued our lives, for we had landed in the country of the canibals, who, if they saw us, would come and eat us. They said, nothing could ransom us from them if once taken, and especially because we were Christians, they would roast us alive, in revenge for the wrongs the Portuguese had done them. Our blacks added, if we would not put immediately to sea, they would go and hide themselves, being sure the canibals would be at the water-side as soon as it was light. On hearing this, and seeing by the moonlight that the sea was more calm, the wind having dulled, we pushed off, and having the tide in our favour, we got quickly a-head, so that by day-light we were beyond the watches of the canibals; and keeping close to the shore, we espied the hull of a bark, on nearing which we knew it to be the Diligence.[312] Coming up to her, I found two Englishmen on board, who told me they had come there to anchor the same night we had the storm in the skiff, and anchoring at this place, their cable broke and she drove on shore, Mr Herniman having gone to the town to get people to assist in weighing her. The sandy beach was covered with people who came to pillage her, and I advised the two Englishmen to fire a shot now and then, which scared them from coming nearer. On coming to the town, Mr Herniman was gone by land to our ship. I offered money to the governor to help to save the bark, when he said he would raise the country in two or three days for that purpose; but I told him, if it came to blow she would be lost in an hour. One of the Pulo-way people being there, plainly told me that the governor only waited to have her bilged, that he might have the planks to build a praw for himself.
[Footnote 312: This afterwards appears to have been the praw, formerly mentioned, so named after being raised upon for carrying spice from Pulo-way to Ceram; but this circumstance is left here unexplained, possibly by the negligence of Purchas in abbreviating, by which he leaves matters often obscure, sometimes unintelligible.--E.]
Finding no help could be had except from the ship, which was twelve miles off by land, I hired guides to follow Mr Herniman, taking one of my own men to bear me company. Half-way we came to a large river, which it was necessary to swim across, and as my man could not swim, I sent him back with my clothes, except a scarlet mandilion,[313] which one of my guides engaged to carry over for me. He told me the river was full of alligators, and if I saw any I must fight with him, or he would kill me, and for that purpose my guide carried a knife in his mouth. Being very weary, as I had not slept for two nights, I took the water before the Indians, knowing they would be over before me. The river being very broad, and the stream swift, occasioned by late great rains, the Indians would have had me return when half way, to which I would not consent. While swimming, the Indian who carried my mandilion touched my side with a cane he carried in his hand; suspecting this had been an alligator, I immediately dived, when the current got such hold of me that I was carried out to sea, which threw me on the beach, and bruised me so on the back and shoulder that I could not get a-land, till the Indian came and gave me hold of one end of his cane, and pulled me out almost drowned, as every surf drove me against the beach and washed me out again. I praised God, and got on board, where my company was amazed to see me. So that night I sent all that were able to crawl to save the bark, which they did with much toil and small help of the natives; the country not permitting any one to assist in saving her,[314] expecting us to forsake her, that they might enjoy the spoil.
[Footnote 313: This word is explained by lexicographers as a loose garment, a sleeveless jacket, or a soldiers coat.--E.]
[Footnote 314: It will be seen in other voyages, that the Malays, who are widely diffused over the Indian archipelago, often live under a kind of aristocratical republican government; even where they are subjected to kings, partaking much of the feudal semblance. This observation seemed necessary as an attempt to explain the meaning in the text of the country not permitting, &c.--E.]
The Hopewell arrived next morning laden with spice, having been a-missing, as mentioned before. She had been driven thirty leagues to the east of Banda in a cruel storm, which gave them much ado to get again to windward. I returned to Pulo-way in the pinnace, which I again loaded without delay; and Mr Davis was taking in his loading in the junk, and making all the dispatch he could with his poor lame crew, the best part of my crew being long absent in the Diligence. We presently unladed her, and I that night set sail in her myself,[315] to see if I could come before Mr Davis came from thence, for I was told the junk was very leaky, and I wished to have her accompanied by the Hopewell, whatsoever might befall; as she had not a nail in her, but such as we had driven, and as we had none of ourselves, we caused the simple native smiths to make some iron pins, for they can make no nails,[316] and bestowed these in the most needful places. While striving in the Hopewell to reach Pulo-way, I was put past it in a mighty storm by the current; for the more the wind, the current is always the stronger: being put to leeward, and long before we could fetch the ship, and fain to take shelter on the Ceram shore, or else be blown away. After many trips, and still falling to leeward of the ship, I desired Mr Davis to look out for some harbour for our ship, to which we might come over direct from Pulo-way, without being obliged to ply to windward with our craft when deeply laden, which was effected.