he
Pagans?"--"Why truly," said I, "my friend, I think it is; and I begin to
be a convert to the principles of merchandising. But I must tell you,"
said I, "by the way, you do not know what I am doing; for if once I
conquer my backwardness, and embark heartily, as old as I am, I shall
harass you up and down the world till I tire you; for I shall pursue it
so eagerly, I shall never let you lie still."

But to be short with my speculations: a little while after this there
came in a Dutch ship from Batavia; she was a coaster, not an European
trader, and of about two hundred tons burden: the men, as they
pretended, having been so sickly, that the captain had not men enough to
go to sea with, he lay by at Bengal; and, as if having got money enough,
or being willing, for other reasons, to go for Europe, he gave public
notice, that he would sell his ship; this came to my ears before my new
partner heard of it; and I had a great mind to buy it. So I went home to
him, and told him of it: he considered awhile, for he was no rash man
neither; but musing some time, he replied, "She is a little too big;
but, however, we will have her." Accordingly we bought the ship; and,
agreeing with the master, we paid for her, and took possession; when we
had done so, we resolved to entertain the men, if we could, to join them
with those we had, for the pursuing our business; but on a sudden, they
not having received their wages, but their share of the money, as we
afterwards learnt, not one of them was to be found. We inquired much
about them, and at length were told, that they were all gone together,
by land, to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's residence; and from
thence were to travel to Surat, and so by sea to the Gulf of Persia.

Nothing had so heartily troubled me a good while, as that I missed the
opportunity of going with them; for such a ramble, I thought, and in
such company as would both have guarded me and diverted me, would have
suited mightily with my great design; and I should both have seen the
world, and gone homewards too; but I was much better satisfied a few
days after, when I came to know what sort of fellows they were; for, in
short, their history was, that this man they called captain was the
gunner only, not the commander; that they had been a trading voyage, in
which they were attacked on shore by some of the Malaccans, who had
killed the captain and three of his men; and that after the captain was
killed, these men,