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prieft that I had left in the Brafils; but this father Simon did not come up to his character by a great deal; for though father Simon had no appearance of a criminal levity in him neither, yet he had not that fund of Christian zeal, strict piety, and fincere affection to religion, that my other good ecclefiaftic had, of whom I have faid so much.

But to leave him a little, though he never left us, nor foliciting us to go with him, but we had fomething else before us at that time; for we had, all this while, our fhip and our merchandize to dispose of; and we began to be very doubtful what we should do, for we were now in a place of very little business; and once I was about to venture to fail for the river of Kilam, and the city of Nanquin: But Providence feemed now more vifibly, as I thought, than ever, to concern itself in our affairs; and I was encouraged from this very time to think I fhould, one way or other, get out of this entangled circumstance, and be brought home to my own country again; though I had not the leaft view of the manner; and when I began sometimes to think of it, could not imagine by what method it was to be done. Providence, I fay, began here to clear up our way a little; and the first thing that offered was, that our old Portuguefe pilot brought a Japan merchant to us, who began to enquire what goods we had; and, in the first place, he bought all our opium, and gave us a very good price for it, paying us in gold by weight, fome in fimall pieces of their own coin, and fome in fmall wedges, of about ten or eleven ounces each. While we were dealing with him for our opium, it came into my head that he might, perhaps, deal with us for the fhip

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too; and I ordered the interpreter to propofe it to him. He fhrunk up his fhoulders at it, when it was first proposed to him; but, in a few days after, he came to me, with one of the miffionary priefts for his interpreter, and told me, he had a propofal to make to me, and that was this: He had bought a great quantity of goods of us when he had no thoughts (or propofals made to him) of buying the fhip; and that, therefore, he had not money enough to pay for the fhip; but if I would let the fame men who were in the fhip navigate her, he would hire the fhip to go to Japan, and would fend them from thence to the Philippine islands with another loading, which he would pay the freight of, before they went from Japan; and that, at their return, he would buy the fhip. I began to liften to this propofal; and fo eager did my head still run upon rambling, that I could not but begin to entertain a notion myfelf of going with him, and fo to fail from the Philippine islands away to the South Scas; and accordingly I asked the Japanese merchant, if he would not hire us to the Philippine islands, and difcharge us there. He said, he could not do that; for then he could not have the return of his cargo; but he would discharge us in Japan, he faid, at the fhip's return. Well, ftill I was for taking him at that propofal, and going myfelf; but my partner, wifer than myself, perfuaded me from it, reprefenting the dangers, as well of the feas, as of the Japanese, who are a false, cruel, and treacherous people; and then of the Spaniards at the Philippines; more falfe, more cruel, more treacherous than they.

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But, to bring this long turn of our affairs to a conclufion the first thing we had to do, was to confult with the captain of the fhip, and with the men, and know if they were willing to go to Japan; and, while I was doing this, the young man, whom, as I faid, my nephew had left with me as my companion for my travels, came to me and told me, that he thought that voyage promised very fair, and that there was a great profpect of advantage, and he would be very glad if I undertook it; but that if I would not, and would give him leave, he would go as a merchant, or how I pleafed to order him; that if ever he came to England, and I was there, and alive, he would render me a faithful account of his fuccefs, and it fhould be as much mine as I pleased.

I was really loth to part with him; but, considering the profpect of advantage, which was really confiderable, and that he was a young fellow as likely to do well in it as any I knew, I inclined to let him go; but first I told him I would confult my partner, and give him an answer the next day. My partner and I difcourfed about it; and my partner made a most generous offer: he told me, you know it has been an unlucky fhip, and we both refolve not to go to fea in it again; if your steward (fo he called my man) will venture the voyage, I'll leave my fhare of the veffel to him, and let him make the best of it; and if we live to meet in England, and he meets with fuccefs abroad, he fhall account for one half of the profits of the fhip's freight to us, the other fhall be his own.

If my partner, who was no way concerned with my young man, made him fuch an offer, I could do no

less than offer him the fame; and all the fhip's company being willing to go with him, we made over half the ship to him in property, and took a writing from him, obliging him to account for the other; and away he went to Japan. The Japan merchant proved a very punctual honeft man to him, protected him at Japan, and got him a licence to come on fhore, which the Europeans in general have not lately obtained; paid him his freight very punctually, fent him to the Philippines, loaded him with Japan and China wares, and a fupercargo of their own, who trafficking with the Spaniards, brought back European goods again, and a great quantity of cloves, and other fpice; and there he was not only paid his freight very well, and at a very good price, but being not willing to fell the ship then, the merchant furnished him with goods on his own account; that, for fome money, and fome fpices of his own, which he brought with him, he went back to the Manillas, to the Spaniards, where he fold his cargo very well. Here, having gotten a good acquaintance at Manilla, he got his fhip made a free ship; and the governor of Manilla hired him to go to Acapulco in America, on the coast of Mexico; and gave him a licence to land there, and travel to Mexico; and to pass in any Spanish fhip to Europe, with all his men.

He made the voyage to Acapulco very happily, and there he fold his ship; and having there also obtained allowance to travel by land to Porto Bello, he found means, fome how or other, to go to Jamaica with all his treasure; and about eight years after came to England, exceeding rich; of which I fhall take notice in

its place; in the mean time, I return to our particular affairs.

Being now to part with the ship, and fhip's com pany, it came before us, of courfe, to confider what recompence we fhould give to the two men, that gave us fuch timely notice of the design against us in the river of Cambodia. The truth was, they had done us a confiderable fervice, and deferved well at our hands; though, by the way, they were a couple of rogues too: for, as they believed the story of our being pirates, and that we had really run away with the ship, they came down to us, not only to betray the defign that was formed against us, but to go to fea with us as pirates; and one of them confeffed afterwards, that nothing else but the hopes of going a roguing brought him to do it. However, the fer. vice they did us was not the lefs; and therefore, as I had promised to be grateful to them, I first ordered the money to be paid to them, which they faid was due to them on board their respective fhips; that is to fay, the Englishman nineteen months pay, and to the Dutchman seven; and, over and above that, I gave each of them a fmall fum of money in gold, which contented them very well: then I made the Englishman gunner of the ship, the gunner being now made second mate and purfer; the Dutchman I made boatfwain: fo they were both very well pleafed, and proved very ferviceable, being both able feamen, and very ftout fellows.

We were now on fhore in China. If I thought myself banished, and remote from my own country at Bengal, where I had many ways to get home for my money, what could I think of myfelf now, when VOL. II.

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