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stulations, and joined with me, not only in making provisionfor my voyage, but also in settling my family affairs for myabsence, and providing for the education of my children. In orderto do this, I made my will, and settled the estate I had in such amanner for my children, and placed in such hands, that I wasperfectly easy and satisfied they would have justice done them,whatever might befall me; and for their education, I left it whollyto the widow, with a sufficient maintenance to herself for hercare: all which she richly deserved; for no mother could havetaken more care in their education, or understood it better; and asshe lived till I came home, I also lived to thank her for it.

　　I carried also a hundred spare arms, muskets, and fusees; besidessome pistols, a considerable quantity of shot of all sizes, threeor four tons of lead, and two pieces of brass cannon; and, becauseI knew not what time and what extremities I was providing for, Icarried a hundred barrels of powder, besides swords, cutlasses, andthe iron part of some pikes and halberds. In short, we had a largemagazine of all sorts of store; and I made my nephew carry twosmall quarter-deck guns more than he wanted for his ship, to leavebehind if there was occasion; so that when we came there we mightbuild a fort and man it against all sorts of enemies. Indeed, I atfirst thought there would be need enough for all, and much more, ifwe hoped to maintain our possession of the island, as shall be seenin the course of that story.

　　But my fellow-traveller and I had different notions: I acknowledgehis were the more suited to the end of a merchant's life: who,when he is abroad upon adventures, is wise to stick to that, as thebest thing for him, which he is likely to get the most money by.On the other hand, mine was the notion of a mad, rambling boy, thatnever cares to see a thing twice over. But this was not all: Ihad a kind of impatience upon me to be nearer home, and yet anunsettled resolution which way to go. In the interval of theseconsultations, my friend, who was always upon the search forbusiness, proposed another voyage among the Spice Islands, to bringhome a loading of cloves from the Manillas, or thereabouts.

　　The first hour that I began to converse with him after he hadagreed to go with me to the East Indies, I found reason to delightexceedingly in his conversation; and he first began with me aboutreligion in the most obliging manner imaginable. "Sir," says he,"you have not only under God" (and at that he crossed his breast)"saved my life, but you have admitted me to go this voyage in yourship, and by your obliging civility have taken me into your family,giving me an opportunity of free conversation. Now, sir, you seeby my habit what my profession is, and I guess by your nation whatyours is; I may think it is my duty, and doubtless it is so, to usemy utmost endeavours, on all occasions, to bring all the souls Ican to the knowledge of the truth, and to embrace the Catholicdoctrine; but as I am here under your permission, and in yourfamily, I am bound, in justice to your kindness as well as indecency and good manners, to be under your government; andtherefore I shall not, without your leave, enter into any debat

　　As brutish and barbarous as these fellows were at home, theirstomachs turned at this sight, and they did not know what to do.To refuse the prisoners would have been the highest affront to thesavage gentry that could be offered them, and what to do with themthey knew not. However, after some debate, they resolved to acceptof them: and, in return, they gave the savages that brought themone of their hatchets, an old key, a knife, and six or seven oftheir bullets; which, though they did not understand their use,they seemed particularly pleased with; and then tying the poorcreatures' hands behind them, they dragged the prisoners into theboat for our men.

rought itto them a great way, on their heads. They continued here for fourdays, and inquired as well as they could of them by signs, whatnations were this way, and that way, and were told of severalfierce and terrible people that lived almost every way, who, asthey made known by signs to them, used to eat men; but, as forthemselves, they said they never ate men or women, except only suchas they took in the wars; and then they owned they made a greatfeast, and ate their prisoners.

　　But the misery of the poor passengers in the cabin was of anothernature, and far beyond the rest; for as, first, the ship's companyhad so little for themselves, it was but too true that they had atfirst kept them very low, and at last totally neglected them: sothat for six or seven days it might be said they had really no foodat all, and for several days before very little. The poor mother,who, as the men reported, was a woman of sense and good breeding,had spared all she could so affectionately for her son, that atlast she entirely sank under it; and when the mate of our ship wentin, she sat upon the floor on deck, with her back up against thesides, between two chairs, which were lashed fast, and her headsunk between her shoulders like a corpse, though not quite dead.My mate said all he could to revive and encourage her, and with aspoon put some broth into her mouth. She opened her lips, andlifted up one hand, but could not speak: yet she understood whathe said, and made signs to him, intimating, that

　　But I had no occasion to urge a winter journey of this kind. I wasbound to England, not to Moscow, and my route lay two ways: eitherI must go on as the caravan went, till I came to Jarislaw, and thengo off west for Narva and the Gulf of Finland, and so on toDantzic, where I might possibly sell my China cargo to goodadvantage; or I must leave the caravan at a little town on theDwina, from whence I had but six days by water to Archangel, andfrom thence might be sure of shipping either to England, Holland,or Hamburg.

ytawny; and two of them, had they been perfect white, would havepassed for very handsome women, even in London, having pleasantcountenances, and of a very modest behaviour; especially when theycame afterwards to be clothed and dressed, though that dress wasvery indifferent, it must be confessed.