The 14th, we came in with the island of Banda and the main of Sumatra, and went through between them in five 1/2 fathoms. In this passage it is proper to keep nearer the Sumatra shore, though the water is deeper on the Banda side of the strait; as that side is rocky, while the side towards Sumatra is oozy. The 16th we came to Palimbangan point; and the 17th at noon, being in lat, 1° 10' S. we anchored in nine fathoms, on account of it falling calm with a strong current, the isle of Pulo Tino being to seawards. The 30th, we anchored in the road of Patane in three 1/2 fathoms. On the 1st August we sailed to Sangora to trim our ship, being a good place for that purpose under shelter of two islands hard by the main, and fourteen or fifteen leagues from Patane. We anchored in Sangora road, under the eastermost of the two islands, on the 4th; and having put our ship into good trim, we came away on the 9th September, and returned to Patane next day. We remained there a month taking in the goods of the Globe, to carry them to Bantam, for which place we sailed on the 9th October, and arrived at Bantam on the 9th November. We continued there till the 27th January, 1615, to load our ship, and to get all things in readiness for our voyage home to England.
The 29th we set sail from Bantam, homewards bound; and when some hundred leagues from thence, our captain, Mr Edmund Marlow, died. He was an excellent man, and well skilled in the mathematics and the art of navigation. The first place at which we anchored was Saldanha bay, where we arrived on the 29th April, 1615, and next day our consort the Globe came in. Having well refreshed and refitted our ships, we set sail from thence on the 17th May, and arrived at St Helena on the 3d June. Sailing from thence along with our consort, on the 7th of that month, we arrived in England on the 3d of August, giving praise to God for our safety.
SECTION XVII.
Tenth Voyage of the English East India Company, in 1612, written by Mr Thomas Best, chief Commander.[72]
From the full tide of this voyage, in the Pilgrims, we learn that there were two ships employed in this tenth voyage, named the Dragon and the Hosiander, in which were about 380 persons; and these were accompanied by two other ships, the James and the Solomon, which belonged to other voyages, each voyage being then a separate adventure, and conducted by a separate subscription stock, as formerly explained in the introduction to the present chapter. We learn from other parts of the Pilgrims, that the James belonged to the ninth voyage, related immediately before this, and the Solomon to the eleventh, to be afterwards narrated.--E.
[Footnote 72: Purch. Pilgr. I.456.]
S.1. Observations during the Voyage from England to Surat.
We sailed from Gravesend on the 1st of February, 1612. At noon on the 22d March we made the latitude 15° 20' N. and at two p.m. were abreast of Mayo, one of the Cape Verd islands, being S.W. by S. about twelve leagues from Bonavista. To the N. and N.N.W. of Mayo the ground is all foul, and due N. of the high hummocks a great ledge of rocks runs out from the land for five or six miles, a mile without which ledge there are twenty fathoms water. On the west side of the island, you may borrow in twelve or fifteen fathoms, till you come into the road, where we anchored in twenty-four fathoms.
On the morning of the 28th March, we came close by an island in lat. 23° 30', and long. from the meridian of Mayo, 1° 50' E. We did not land upon this island, but came within two or three miles of it, and in my opinion there is hardly any anchorage to be found. It may probably produce some refreshment, as it certainly has wood, which we saw, and it may have water, as we observed a fair plain spot and very green on its southern part; but we could find no ground within two or three miles of its coast. E.N.E. some seven or eight leagues from this, there is another island; and E. by S. or E.S.E. from the first island, about four or five leagues, there are two or three white rocks.[73]
[Footnote 73: In the text it is not said if the latitude be N. or S. yet S. is probably meant. No island is however to be found in the indicated situation. In the eleventh voyage, an island is said to have been discovered in lat. 19° 34'S. certainly known to have been Trinidad, Santa Maria d'Agosto, or Martin Vaz, of which hereafter.--E.]