hat these last three months,
for joy, health, and profit, have been much the greatest that ever I
received in all my life in any twelve months almost in my life, having
nothing upon me but the consideration of the sicklinesse of the season
during this great plague to mortify mee. For all which the Lord God be
praised!

OCTOBER 1665

October 1st (Lord's day). Called up about 4 of the clock and so dressed
myself and so on board the Bezan, and there finding all my company
asleep I would not wake them, but it beginning to be break of day I
did stay upon the decke walking, and then into the Maister's cabbin
and there laid and slept a little, and so at last was waked by Captain
Cocke's calling of me, and so I turned out, and then to chat and talk
and laugh, and mighty merry. We spent most of the morning talking and
reading of "The Siege of Rhodes," which is certainly (the more I read it
the more I think so) the best poem that ever was wrote. We breakfasted
betimes and come to the fleete about two of the clock in the afternoon,
having a fine day and a fine winde. My Lord received us mighty kindly,
and after discourse with us in general left us to our business, and he
to his officers, having called a council of wary, we in the meantime
settling of papers with Mr. Pierce and everybody else, and by and by
with Captain Cuttance. Anon called down to my Lord, and there with him
till supper talking and discourse; among other things, to my great joy,
he did assure me that he had wrote to the King and Duke about these
prize-goods, and told me that they did approve of what he had done, and
that he would owne what he had done, and would have me to tell all the
world so, and did, under his hand, give Cocke and me his certificate of
our bargains, and giving us full power of disposal of what we have so
bought. This do ease my mind of all my fear, and makes my heart lighter
by L100 than it was before. He did discourse to us of the Dutch fleete
being abroad, eighty-five of them still, and are now at the Texell, he
believes, in expectation of our Eastland ships coming home with masts
and hempe, and our loaden Hambrough ships going to Hambrough. He
discoursed against them that would have us yield to no conditions but
conquest over the Dutch, and seems to believe that the Dutch will call
for the protection of the King of France and come under his power, which
were to be wished they might be brought to do under ours by fair means,
and to