xt morning the
customers came and tumbled about our trunks to our great displeasure,
though we had only brought our necessaries on shore. We were invited to
dinner by a merchant, who gave us good chear, but we had sour sauce to
our banquet, for he was the person who had sustained almost the whole
loss in the ship taken by Sir Edward Michelburne. The captain also of
that ship dined with us. When that affair was told us, our captain said
he had never heard of any such matter, and supposed it must have been
done by a Hollander; but they affirmed it was to their certain knowledge
an English ship, and deplored their hard fortunes, affirming there were
thieves of all nations, yet they were not disposed to impute that fault
to honest merchants. This liberal sentiment somewhat revived us; and we
were invited the day after to supper by _Mede Colee_, the captain of
that ship.

The 2d October we embarked our goods and provisions, gave a present to
_Schekh Abdel-reheime_, and got a dispatch for our departure; but the
customers refused a licence till they should search our ship, yet
meeting with some frigates in their own river, which they supposed to be
Malabars, they durst not venture down to our ship. These frigates
[grabs] were Portuguese, who desired that no one should come to talk
with them; yet Mr Buck rashly went on board and was detained.[218]

[Footnote 218: At this place is given a confused relation of several
incidents at Surat, obviously garbled and abbreviated by Purchas, so as
to be difficultly intelligible. As these are already contained in the
journal of Hawkins, they are here omitted.--E.]

At this time I was ill of the bloody flux, of which Mr Dorchester died,
but I was cured under God by an Englishman, named Careless.[219] From
him I learnt many things respecting India; and particularly of the great
spoil done by the Hollanders to the Portugals at Malacca the last year.
The Hollanders were lying before Malacca with sixteen ships, besieging
that place by sea and land, in conjunction with several native kings,
when news were sent to the Portuguese viceroy, then before Acheen with
all the gallants of India, having with him a very great fleet of ships,
gallies, and frigates, with 4000 soldiers, having been commanded to
conquer Acheen and to build a castle there, and afterwards to plunder
Johor, and to chastise the Moluccas for trading with the Hollanders.
Upon notice from Andrea Hurtado, who then commanded at Malac