d
there hard at discourse, and advising him what to do in his business at
Harwich, and then to discourse of our old business of ships and taking
new rules of him to my great pleasure, and he being gone I to my office
a little, and then to see Sir W. Batten, who is sick of a greater cold
than I, and thither comes to me Mr. Holliard, and into the chamber to
me, and, poor man (beyond all I ever saw of him), was a little drunk,
and there sat talking and finding acquaintance with Sir W. Batten and my
Lady by relations on both sides, that there we staid very long. At last
broke up, and he home much overcome with drink, but well enough to get
well home. So I home to supper and to bed.

29th. Up, and it being my Lord Mayor's show, my boy and three mayds went
out; but it being a very foule, rainy day, from morning till night, I
was sorry my wife let them go out. All the morning at the office.
At dinner at home. In the afternoon to the office again, and about 9
o'clock by appointment to the King's Head tavern upon Fish Street Hill,
whither Mr. Wolfe (and Parham by his means) met me to discourse about
the Fishery, and great light I had by Parham, who is a little conceited,
but a very knowing man in his way, and in the general fishing trade of
England. Here I staid three hours, and eat a barrel of very fine oysters
of Wolfe's giving me, and so, it raining hard, home and to my office,
and then home to bed. All the talke is that De Ruyter is come over-land
home with six or eight of his captaines to command here at home, and
their ships kept abroad in the Straights; which sounds as if they had a
mind to do something with us.

30th (Lord's day). Up, and this morning put on my new, fine, coloured
cloth suit, with my cloake lined with plush, which is a dear and noble
suit, costing me about L17. To church, and then home to dinner, and
after dinner to a little musique with my boy, and so to church with my
wife, and so home, and with her all the evening reading and at musique
with my boy with great pleasure, and so to supper, prayers, and to bed.

31st. Very busy all the morning, at noon Creed to me and dined with me,
and then he and I to White Hall, there to a Committee of Tangier, where
it is worth remembering when Mr. Coventry proposed the retrenching
some of the charge of the horse, the first word asked by the Duke of
Albemarle was, "Let us see who commands them," there being three troops.
One of them he calls to mind was by Sir Toby