ay out that and a great deal
more to good advantage. Thence down to Greenwich to the office, and
there wrote several letters, and so to my Lord Sandwich, and mighty
merry and he mighty kind to me in the face of all, saying much in my
favour, and after supper I took leave and with Captain Cocke set out
in the yacht about ten o'clock at night, and after some discourse, and
drinking a little, my mind full of what we are going about and jealous
of Cocke's outdoing me. So to sleep upon beds brought by Cocke on board
mighty handsome, and never slept better than upon this bed upon the
floor in the Cabbin.

24th (Lord's day). Waked, and up and drank, and then to discourse; and
then being about Grayes, and a very calme, curious morning, we took our
wherry, and to the fishermen, and bought a great deal of fine fish,
and to Gravesend to White's, and had part of it dressed; and, in the
meantime, we to walk about a mile from the towne, and so back again; and
there, after breakfast, one of our watermen told us he had heard of a
bargain of cloves for us, and we went to a blind alehouse at the
further end wretched dirty seamen, who, of the towne to a couple of poor
wretches, had got together about 37 lb. of cloves and to 10 of nutmeggs,
and we bought them of them, the first at 5s. 6d. per lb. and the latter
at 4s.; and paid them in gold; but, Lord! to see how silly these men
are in the selling of it, and easily to be persuaded almost to anything,
offering a bag to us to pass as 20 lbs. of cloves, which upon weighing
proved 25 lbs. But it would never have been allowed by my conscience to
have wronged the poor wretches, who told us how dangerously they had got
some, and dearly paid for the rest of these goods. This being done we
with great content herein on board again and there Captain Cocke and I
to discourse of our business, but he will not yet be open to me, nor am
I to him till I hear what he will say and do with Sir Roger Cuttance.
However, this discourse did do me good, and got me a copy of the
agreement made the other day on board for the parcel of Mr. Pierce and
Sir Roger Cuttance, but this great parcel is of my Lord Sandwich's. By
and by to dinner about 3 o'clock and then I in the cabbin to writing
down my journall for these last seven days to my great content, it
having pleased God that in this sad time of the plague every thing else
has conspired to my happiness and pleasure more for these last three
months than in all my lif