The 28th They Came To Jortan In The Island Of Java, Where They Had
News Of Several Dutch Ships Being At Bantam.
The city of Jortan consists
of about 1000 houses built of timber, and its king commands over a
considerable portion of that end of the island, and had lately conquered
Balambuan, a small island S.E. from Jortan.
The people in these parts
are said to be Mahometans; yet, as pagods are still in use, they seem to
retain some mixture of the old Indian superstitions, or at least some
remnant of paganism is tolerated among the common people. Their chief
priest at this time was an old man, said to be an hundred and twenty
years of age, who had a large household of wives, who fed the old man
with their milk.
Sailing past Jortan, they saw a large Portuguese ship of 600 tons,
sticking fast among the shoals. She was bound for Amboina, on purpose to
have engrossed all the trade of that place; at least such was the report
of the Portuguese; but Van Noort strongly suspected she had been sent
out to cruize for the purpose of intercepting him. He was, therefore,
the less concerned for her misfortune, and the less careful in assisting
her crew, originally of between six and seven hundred men, many of whom
were still on board, and in great danger of perishing. The 5th of
February, they passed the straits between Balambuan and Bally,
leaving Java on the N.E.[81] On the 11th, finding themselves in lat 13 deg.
S. they directed their course for the Cape of Good Hope.
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