AD. THE ENGLISH VOYAGES 



1563-81. 



some other thing, and it was not so much but that 



three or foure men would have eaten it at a meale : I 



Great ex- tooke the government of this Ryce, promising that by 



tremitieatsea. ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^d be nourishment 



for us until it pleased God to send us to some place 

 that was inhabited : & when I slept I put the ryce into 

 my bosome because they should not rob it from me : 

 we were nine daies rowing alongst the coast, without 

 finding any thing but countreys uninhabited, & desert 

 Hands, where if we had found but grasse it would have 

 [II. i. 232.] seemed sugar unto us, but wee could not finde any, 

 yet we found a fewe leaves of a tree, and they were so 

 hard that we could not chewe them, we had water and 

 wood sufficient, and as wee rowed, we could goe but by 

 flowing water, for when it was ebbing water, wee made 

 fast our boat to the banke of one of those Ilandes, 

 and in these nine dayes that we rowed, we found a cave 

 or nest of Tortoises egges, wherein were one hundred 

 fortie and foure egges, the which was a great helpe unto 

 us : these egges are as bigge as a hennes tgg^^ and 

 have no shell about them but a tender skinne, every 

 day we sodde a kettle full of those egges, with an hand- 

 full of rice in the broth thereof: it pleased God that 

 at the ende of nine dayes we discovered certaine nsher 

 men, a fishing with small barkes, and we rowed towardes 

 them, with a good cheare, for I thinke there were never 

 men more glad then we were, for wee were so sore 

 afflicted with penurie, that we could scarce stande on 

 our legges. Yet according to the order that we set 

 for our ryce, when we sawe those fisher men, there 

 Tavay under ^^s left sufficient for foure dayes. The first village that 

 ^^ ''^gy ^Q came to was in the gulfe of Tavay, under the king 

 of Pegu, whereas we found great store of victuals : then 

 for two or three dayes after our arrivall there, we would 

 eate but litle meate any of us, and yet for all this, we 

 were at the point of death the most part of us. From 

 Tavay to Martavan, in the kingdome of Pegu, are 

 seventie two miles. We laded our bote with victuals 



414 



