so secured as no approach could bee made againe to the doore of his great house or any passage to the warehouse, but what must come vnder dainger of our shott. In the afternoone on Friday, Sevagee sends Mr. Smith as his messenger to our house with propositions and threats, haueing first made him oblige himselfe to returne, and with all obliging himselfe when he did returne, that hee would doe him noe hurt, what soeuer mesage hee should bring, his message was to send him 3 lacks of rupees; (every lack is 100,000, and every rupee is worth 2s. 3d.) or elss let his men freely to doe their pleasure to Hogee Said Begs house, if not threatening to come and force vs, and vowed to kill euery person in the house, and to dig vp the houses foundation. To this it was answered by the messenger that came with Mr. Smith, that as for his tow propositions he desired tyme to mak answer to them till the morrow, they being of soe great moment, and as for Mr. Smith that hee would and did keep him by force, and hee should not returne till than, when if hee could consent to either proposition hee would send him. Mr. Smith being thus returned to vs, youe may bee sure each man was inquisitive to know news; whoe told vs for their number, they did giue themselues out to bee 10,000, and they were now at least a very considerable armey, since the coming of tow rayers with their men whose names hee knew not: that their horse were very good, and soe indeed, those wich we saw were that when hee came away, hee could not guess by the mony heaped vp in tow great heapes before Sevagee his tent, than that he had plundered 20 or 25 lack of rup. that the day when hee came away in the morning, there was brought in neere vpon 300 porters laden each with tow baggs of rupees, and some hee guessed to bee gold, that thay brought in 28 sere of large pearle, with many other jewels, great diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, (40 sere make 37 pound weight) and these with an increedable quantety of mony, they found at the house of the reputed richest marchant in the world, his name is Verge Vora, his estate haueing beene esteemed to bee 80 lack of rup.

That they were still every hower, while hee was there, bringing in loods of mony from his house; his desire of mony

is soe great, that he spares noe barbours cruelty to extort confessions from his prisoners, whip them most cruely, threatens death, and often executeth it, [if] thay doe not produce soe much as hee thinks they may, or desires they should, at least cutts of one hand, some tymes both; a very great many there were, who hearing of his coming went forth to him, thinking to fare the better, but found there fault to there cost; as one whoe come to our house for cure, hee went forth to meete him and told him he was come from about Agra with cloth, and had brought 40 oxen loaded with it, and that hee came to present him with it all, or elss what part hee should please to command. Sevagee asked him if he had no mony, hee answered that he had not as yet sold any cloth since hee came to towne, and that he had no mony: the villaine made his right hand to bee cutt of imediately, and than bid him begone, he had noe need of his cloth; the poore old man returns, findes his cloth burnt, and himselfe destetute of other harbor, comes to the English house where hee is dresed and fed.

But to proceed, Mr. Smith farther tells vs, that on Thursday their came a young fellow with some condition from the govenor, wich pleased Sevagee not at all, soe that hee asked the fellow whether his marster, being now by him cooped up in his chamber, thought him a woman to accept such conditions. The fellow imediately returns, "and we are not women; I have somewhat more to say to youe;" drawes his dagger, and runs full at Sevagee breast; a fellow that stood by with a sword redy drawne, strikes between him and Sevagee, and strikes his hand almost of, soe that [it] hung but by a pece of flesh; the fellow haueing made his thrust at Sevagee with all his might, did not stop, but ran his bloody stumpp against Sevagee breast, and with force both Sevagee and hee fell together, the blood being seen upon Sevagee the noise run through the camp that hee was killed, and the crye went, kill the prisoners, where upon some were miserably hacked; but Sevagee haueing quitted himselfe, and hee that stood by haueing clouen the fellows scull, comand was given to stay the execution, and to bring the prisoners before him, wich was imediately done, and Sevagee according as it came in his

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minde caused them to cutt of this mans head, that mans right hand, both the hands of a third. It comes to Mr. Smith turne, and his right hand being comanded to bee cutt of, hee cryed out in Indostan to Sevagee, rather to cutt of his head, vnto wich end his hatt was taken of, but Sevagee stopt execution and soe praised be God hee escaped.

There were than about four heads and 24 hands cutt of after that Mr. Smith was come away, and retayned by the president, and they heard the answer hee sends the embassador of Ethiopea, whome hee had sett free upon delivery of 12 horses and some other things, sent by his king to Oron Zeb, to tell the English that hee did intend to visitt vs, and to raise the house and kill every man of vs.

The president resolutly answers that we were redy for him and resolued not to stire, but let him come when hee pleased, and since hee had as hee saide resolued to come, hee bid him come one pore, that is about the tyme of a watch, sooner than hee intended. With this answer the ambassador went his way, and wee heard no farther from him any more but in the terrible noise of the fier and the hideous smoke wich wee saw, but by Gods mercy came not soe neere vs as to take hold of vs, ever blessed be his name. Thursday and Friday nights were the most terrible nights for fier: on Friday after hee had ransaked and dug vp Vege Voras house, hee fiered it and a great vast number more towards the Dutch house, a fier soe great as turnd the night into day; as before the smoke in the day tyme had almost turnd day into night; rising soe thicke as it darkened the sun like a great cloud. On Sunday morning about 10 a clocke as thay tell vs hee went his way. And that night lay six courss of, and next day at noone was passed over Brooch river, there is a credable information that he hath shipt his treasure to carry into his own country, and Sr George Oxenden hath sent a fregate to see if hee can light of them, wich God grant. Wee kept our watch still till Tuesday.

I had forgote to writte you the manner of their cutting of mens hands, which was thuss; the person to suffer is pinioned as streight as possibly they can, and then when the nod is giuen, a soldier come with a whitle or blunt knife and throws

the poore patient downe vpon his face, than draws his hand backwards and setts his knee upon the prisoners backe, and begins to hacke and cutt on one side and other about the wrest, in the meane tyme the poore man roareth exceedingly, kicking and bitting the ground for very anguish, when the villiane perceiues the bone to bee laid bare on all sides, hee setteth the wrest to his knee and giues it a snap and proceeds till he hath hacked the hand quite of, which done thay force him to rise, and make him run soe long till through paine and loss of blood he falls downe, they then vnpinion him and the blood stops.

I now proceede in my relation of our voyage. I told youe last that wee met with noe considerable accedent from the tyme of our departure from the lands end till wee were come to lat. 44 degrees N. where vpon the 9th of April, easterday, early in the morninge wee sprang our maine topmast, (to speake in the sea phrase) that is, by force of wind our topmast split a little above the capp wich sustaines him, we made a shift by lowering him about a yarde into the capp, and woulding or binding him with a strong rope to the head of the maine mast, to make the mast screw till wee gott into a calmer sea then the troublesome and daingerous bay of Biscay; at eight that night wee had a very great storme with suddan gusts lightening and raine, soe that all that night wee were faine to saile only with our low sayles. Munday the 27th wee had faire wether and, got up a new topmast and about four afternoone wee came up and spake with Captaine Parker, a ship belonging to the royall company and bound for Seralone in Guinea, whoe next day came abord vs with his marchant and staied late. That day wee discouered the Ile Sancto about eight or nine leagues from vs, and about seven that night discouered the Madera Island. Satturday May the 2nd wee made the Island of Palme, some eleven or twelve leauges of, and that night wee saw the Island Terro bearing S. about 13 or 14 leauges distant, with wich wee bore vp till midnight, but fearing we should not bee able to weather the Island at midnight, wee tacked and lay N. W. and next day Sunday, at noone we were vnder the Island, and passed between that Gomera; Captaine Parker sent his boat on shore to Terro for

wine and provision, and there wee lost his company, hee not being able againe to fetch vs vp: for these two days togather wee haue seene the Peake of Tenerif, and on Munday morning I saw the top of it farr aboue the clouds, and by estimation was from it 34 leauges or 102 miles. Wedensday 6th, about four in the morning, wee passed vnder the tropick of Cancer, and tow dayes after had the [sun] in our zenith. Thursday the 14th being in lat. N. eight degrees 23, and being in expectation of the turnados and raines, in the afternoone wee had our first shower of stinking raine very violent, after wich wee lay almost beecalmd, and about seven that night, our calme in an instant almost was turnd into a strong gust of wind and a violent raine, which came soe suddanly vpon vs that wee were not able, before it ouertooke vs, to gett in our sayles, and was soe violent that our men were faine to labor hard in the midst of the storme to gitt them in, had they been let standing till the violence of the storme, they would vndoubtedly haue beene blowne away, but God be thanked, wee saued them and soe went on without any saile abord but the main saile.

These turnados are a strange meeting together of winds, and soe vncertaine that you shall in the space of one hower, have the wind blow in all quarters of the heaven, but wee had (praised bee God) a quick passage through them, and in the beginning of June we crossed the line; the 14th of June wee met at sea with the Shipp Coast fregat, commanded by Captaine Risby, bound for Bantam, wee had then south lat. 16 degrees. The next day wee had their Capt. and some of their marchants abord vs; wee indured a troublesome sea for many dayes together, and when we came within some hundreds of leagues of the Cape, I then saw the workes of the Lord and his wounders in the deepe, our fellow ship not aboue halfe a quarter of a mile from vs vpon rise of euery waue, was hid from our sight, not only her hull but her topmasts, and with such weather wee passed many dayes, cold raine and stormes that scarce could wee stirr for cold in the morning, or stand because [of] the rowling of the ship all the day long, but at last, after much beating about, and being driven from 39 degrees S. lattitude into 341, wee passed about mid. July