She Had Likewise Much Rice And Other Goods, Of Which We
Made Small Account:
And as a storm now began to blow, all their men were
put on board, and we left her riding at anchor.
She came from San Thome,
[or Meliapour near Madras,] in the bay of Bengal, and was going to
Malacca, being of the burden of about 900 tons. When we intercepted her,
there were on board 600 persons, including men, women, and children.
The general would never go on board to see her, that there might be no
suspicion, either among our mariners, or the merchants in London, of any
dishonest dealing on his part, by helping himself to any part of her
goods. He was exceeding glad and thankful to God for this good fortune,
which had eased him of a heavy care, as it not only supplied his
necessities, to enable him to load his ships, but gave him sufficient
funds for loading as many more; so that now his care was not about
money, but how he should leave these goods, having so much more than
enough, till the arrival of other ships from England.
The 21st October, we began our voyage from the straits of Malacca to
return to Acheen; and by the way there came a great spout of water,
pouring from the heavens, and fell not far from our ship, to our extreme
terror. These spouts come pouring down like a river of water; so that,
if they were to fall upon a ship, she would be in imminent danger of
sinking downright; as the water falls all at once like one vast drop, or
as a prodigious stream poured from a vessel, and with extreme violence,
sometimes enduring for an hour together, so that the sea boils and foams
to a great height.
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