fore them, that they would fcarce enquire after any more; as first, That the Ship was certainly the fame, and that fome of the Seamen among them knew her, and had been on board her; and fecondly, That when we had Intelligence at the River of Cambodia, that they were coming down to examine us, we fought their Boat and fled; fo that we made no doubt but they were fully fatisfy'd of our being Pirates, as we were fatisfy'd of the contrary; and as I often faid, I know not, but I fhould have been apt to have taken thofe Circumstances for Evidence, if the Tables were turn'd, and my Cafe was theirs, and have made no Scruple of cutting all the Crew to Pieces, without believing, or perhaps confidering, what they might have to offer in their Defence.

But let that be how it will, thofe were our Apprehenfions; and both my Partner and I too, fcarce flept a Night, without dreaming of Halters, and Yard-Arms; that is to fay, Gibbets, of fighting, and being taken, of killing, and being kill'd; and one Night, I was in fuch a Fury in my Dream, fancying the Dutch Men had boarded us,and I was knocking one of their Seamen down, that I ftruck my double Fift against the Side of the Cabin I lay in, with fuch a Force, as: wounded my Hand moft grievously, broke my Knuckles, and cut and bruifed the Flesh; fo that it not only wak'd me out of my Sleep, but I was once afraid, I should have loft two of my Fingers.

Another Apprehenfion I had, was of the cruel Ufage we might meet with from them, if we fell into their Hands; then the Story of Am- · boyna came into my Head, and how the Dutch,

might perhaps torture us, as they did our Coun try Men there; and make fome of our Men, by Extremity of Torture, confefs thofe Crimes they never were guilty of; own themselves, and all of us to be Pirates, and fo they would put us to death, with a formal Appearance of Justice; and that they might be tempted to do this, for the Gain of our Ship and Cargo, which was worth four or five thousand Pound, put altoge ther.

Thefe Things tormented me and my Partner too, Night and Day; nor did we confider that the Captains of Ships, have no Authority to ac rhus; and if we had furrender'd Prifoners to them, they could not anfwer the deftroying us, or torturing us, but would be accountable for it, when they came into their own Couutry; this I fay, gave me no Satisfaction; for if they will a thus with us, what Advantage would it be to us, that they would be call'd to an Account for it; or if we were first to be murthered, what Satisfaction would it be to us to have them punish'd when they came Home?

I cannot refrain taking Notice here, what Reflections I now had upon the past Variety of mv particular Circumftances; how hard I thought it was, that I who had fpent forty Years in a Life of continued Difficulties, and was at laft come as it were to the Port or Haven, which all Men drive at, (viz.) to have Reft and Plenty, thould be a Voluntier in new Sorrows, by my own unhappy Choice; and that I, who had efcaped fo many Dangers in my Youth, fhould now come to be hang'd in my old Age, and in fo remote a Place, for a Crime I was not in the least inclin'd

to

to, much lefs, really guilty of; and in a Place and Circumstance, where Innocence was not like to be any Protection at all to me.

After thefe Thoughts, fomething of Religion would come in; and I fhould be confidering, that this feem'd to me to be a Difpofition of immediate Providence, and I ought to look upon it, and fubmit to it as fuch; that altho' I was innocent as to Men, I was far from being innocent as to my Maker; and I ought to look in and examine, what other Crimes in my Life, were most obvious to me; and for which, Providence might justly inflict this Punishment, as a Retribution; and that I ought to fubmit to this, juft as I would to a Shipwreck, if it had pleafed God, to have brought fuch a Difafter upon me.

;

In its Turn, natural Courage would fome Times take its Place; and then I would be talking my felf up to vigorous Refolutions, that I would not be taken, to be barbaroufly used by a Parcel of merciless Wretches, in cold Blood that it were much better to have fallen into the Hands of the Savages, who were Man-Eaters, and who, I was fure, would feaft upon me, when they had taken me; than by thofe, who' would perhaps glut their Rage upon me, by inhuman Tortures and Barbarities; that in the Cafe of the Savages, always refolv'd to die fighting, to the laft Gafp; and why should I not do fo, feeing it was much more dreadful to me at leaft, to think of falling into thefe Mens Hands, than ever it was to think of being eaten by Men; for the Savages, give them their due, would not eat a Man till he was dead, and kill'd them first, as we do a Bullock; but that thefe Men had

many

many Arts beyond the cruelty of Death: When ever thefe Thoughts prevail'd, I was fure to put my felf in a Kind of Fever, with the Agitations of a fuppofed Fight, my Blood would boil, and my Eyes fparkle, as if I was engag'd; and I always refolv'd that I would take no Quarter at their Hands; but even at laft, if I could refift no longer, I would blow up the Ship and all that was in her, and leave them but little Booty to

boast of.

By how much the greater Weight, the Anxieties and Perplexities of thefe Things were to our Thoughts while we were at Sea, by fo much the greater was our Satisfaction, when we faw our felves on Shore; and my Partner told me he dream'd, that he had a very heavy Load upon his Back, which he was to carry up a Hill, and found that he was not able to ftand long under it, but that the Portugueze Pilot came and took it off of his Back, and the Hill difappear'd, the Ground before him fhewing all smooth and plain, and truly it was fo, we were all like Men, who had a Load taken off of their Backs.

For my Part, I had a Weight taken off from my Heart, that it was not able any longer to bears and as I faid above, we refolv'd to go no more to Sea in that Ship; when we came on Shore, the old Pilot who was now our Friend, got us a Lodging and a Ware-house for our Goods, which by the Way, was much the fame; it was a little House or Hut, with a larger Houfe joyning to it, all built with Canes, and pallifadoed round with large Canes, to keep out pilfering Thieves, of which, it seems there were not a few in that Country; however, the Magiftrates allowed us.

alfo

alfo a little Guard, and we had a Sentinel with a Kind of Halberd, or Half-pike, who flood Sentinel at our Door; to whom we allow'd a Pint of Rice, and a little Piece of Money, about the Value of three Pence per Day, fo that our Goods were kept very fafe.

The Fair or Mart, ufually kept in this Place, had been over fome Time; however, we found that there were three or four Jonks in the River, and two Japanners, I mean, Ships from Japan, with Goods which they had bought in China, and were not gone away, having fome Japonese Merchants on Shore.

The first Thing our old Portugueze Pilot did for us, was to bring us acquainted with three mif. fionary Romih Priests who were in Town, and who had been there fome Time, converting the People to Chriftianity; but we thought, they made but poor Work of it, and made them but forry Chriftians when they had done; however, that was none of our Bufinefs: One of these was a French Man, who they call'd Father Simon; he was a jolly well condition'd Man, very free in his Converfation, not feeming to ferious and grave, as the other two did; one of whom was a Portugueze, and the other a Genoefe; but Father Simon, was courteous, eafy in his Manner, and very agreeable Company, the other two were more referv'd, feem'd rigid and auftere, and ap ply'd seriously to the Work they came about, (viz.) to talk with, and infinuate them felves among the Inhabitants, wherever they had Opportunity; we often eat and drank with thofe Men, and tho' I must confefs, the Converfion as they call it, of the Chineses, to Chriftianity,