to God for this good fortune,
which had eased him of a heavy care, as it not only supplied his
necessities, to enable him to load his ships, but gave him sufficient
funds for loading as many more; so that now his care was not about
money, but how he should leave these goods, having so much more than
enough, till the arrival of other ships from England.

The 21st October, we began our voyage from the straits of Malacca to
return to Acheen; and by the way there came a great spout of water,
pouring from the heavens, and fell not far from our ship, to our extreme
terror. These spouts come pouring down like a river of water; so that,
if they were to fall upon a ship, she would be in imminent danger of
sinking downright; as the water falls all at once like one vast drop, or
as a prodigious stream poured from a vessel, and with extreme violence,
sometimes enduring for an hour together, so that the sea boils and foams
to a great height.

Sec. 5. _Presents to and from the King of Acheen, and his Letters to Queen
Elizabeth. Their Departure to Priaman and Bantam, and Settlement of
Trade at these Places._

We again cast anchor in the road of Acheen, on the 24th of October, when
the general went immediately on shore, and found all our merchants well
and in safety, giving great commendations of the kind entertainment they
had from the king in the absence of the general. On this account, the
general, willing to gratify the king with some of the most valuable
articles taken in the prize, selected a present of such things as he
thought might be most to his liking, and presented them to him on his
first going to court. The king received the present very graciously, and
welcomed the general on his return, seeming to be much pleased with his
success against the Portuguese; but jestingly added, that the general
had forgotten his most important commission, which was to bring back
with him a fair Portuguese maid. To this the general replied, that there
were none worthy of being offered. The king smiled, and said, if there
were any thing in his dominions that could gratify the general, he
should be most welcome to have it.

The merchants were now directed to ship in the Ascension, all the
pepper, cinnamon, and cloves they had bought in the absence of the
ships, which was scarcely enough to complete her loading; but there was
no more to be had at the time, nor could any more be expected that year.
The general, therefore, ordered every thi