ing their risk of
instant death. Afraid that the vessel would fill, they took their
bulky goods and threw them into the water. Fa-Hsien also took his
pitcher(4) and washing-basin, with some other articles, and cast them
into the sea; but fearing that the merchants would cast overboard
his books and images, he could only think with all his heart of
Kwan-she-yin,(5) and commit his life to (the protection of) the church
of the land of Han,(6) (saying in effect), "I have travelled far in
search of our Law. Let me, by your dread and supernatural (power),
return from my wanderings, and reach my resting-place!"

In this way the tempest(7) continued day and night, till on the
thirteenth day the ship was carried to the side of an island, where,
on the ebbing of the tide, the place of the leak was discovered,
and it was stopped, on which the voyage was resumed. On the sea
(hereabouts) there are many pirates, to meet with whom is speedy
death. The great ocean spreads out, a boundless expanse. There is no
knowing east or west; only by observing the sun, moon, and stars was
it possible to go forward. If the weather were dark and rainy, (the
ship) went as she was carried by the wind, without any definite
course. In the darkness of the night, only the great waves were to be
seen, breaking on one another, and emitting a brightness like that of
fire, with huge turtles and other monsters of the deep (all about).
The merchants were full of terror, not knowing where they were going.
The sea was deep and bottomless, and there was no place where they
could drop anchor and stop. But when the sky became clear, they could
tell east and west, and (the ship) again went forward in the right
direction. If she had come on any hidden rock, there would have been
no way of escape.

After proceeding in this way for rather more than ninety days, they
arrived at a country called Java-dvipa, where various forms of error
and Brahmanism are flourishing, while Buddhism in it is not worth
speaking of. After staying there for five months, (Fa-Hsien) again
embarked in another large merchantman, which also had on board more
than 200 men. They carried provisions for fifty days, and commenced
the voyage on the sixteenth day of the fourth month.

Fa-Hsien kept his retreat on board the ship. They took a course to the
north-east, intending to fetch Kwang-chow. After more than a month,
when the night-drum had sounded the second watch, they encountered
a black wind