Qr>() 



cook's 



FIRST VOYAGE 



SEPT. 



take it. A messenger was immediately dispatched 

 to his majesty, who soon returned, and said, that the 

 buffalo would not be sold for any thing less than five 

 guineas. This price I absolutely refused to give ; 

 and another messenger was sent away with an account 

 of my refusal : this messenger was longer absent than 

 the other, and while I was waiting for his return, I 

 saw, to my great astonishment, Dr. Solander coming 

 from the town, followed by above a hundred men, 

 some armed with muskets, and some with lances. 

 When I enquired the meaning of this hostile appear- 

 ance, the Doctor told me, that Mr. Lange had inter- 

 preted to him a message from the King, purporting 

 that the people would not trade with us, because we 

 had refused to give them more than half the value of 

 what they had to sell ; and that we should not be 

 permitted to trade upon any terms longer than this 

 day. Besides the officers who commanded the party, 

 there came with it a man who was born at Timor, of 

 Portuguese parents, and who, as we afterwards disco- 

 vered, was a kind of colleague to the Dutch factor ; 

 by this man, what they pretended to be the King's 

 order, was delivered to me, of the same purport with 

 that which Dr. Solander had received from Lange. 

 We were all clearly of opinion that this was a mere 

 artifice of the factors to extort money from us, for 

 which we had been prepared by the account of a let- 

 ter from Concordia ; and while we were hesitating 

 what step to take, the Portuguese, that he might the 

 sooner accomplish his purpose, began to drive away 

 the people who had brought down poultry and syrup, 

 and others that were now coming in with buffaloes 

 and sheep. At this time, I glanced my eye upon the 

 old man whom I had complimented in the morning 

 with the spying-glass, and I thought, by his looks, 

 that he did not heartily approve of what was doing ; 

 I therefore took him by the hand, and presented him 

 with an old broad sword. This instantly turned the 

 scale in our favour , he received the sword with a 



