Si The V O Y 
Sail, of Tartar Veflels, laden with Chinefe Plunder, confin- 
ing of the richeft Goods in the Eajl Indies ; But this would 
not tempt Captain Eaton's Men ; they were for nothing but 
Gold and Silver, and could not bear the Thoughts of being 
Pedlers ; neither could their Commander, by fair Words 
or foul, prevail upon them to alter their Refolution, which 
was not to fight for Silks. The Tartars therefore quietly 
purfued their Affairs at Canton , without having the leaft 
Knowledge of their Danger. When they had put their Ship 
in the. belt Condition poffible, they continued their Voyage 
from Canton to the City of Manilla in the Ifland of Luco - 
nia, in order to wait there for a T artar Ship, which, accord- 
ing to their Information, was half-laden with Silver ; but, 
tho* they once faw her, they were not able to come up with 
her, becaufe fhe was a clean Ship, and they as foul as they 
well could be. They chafed her, however, for a whole 
Day, but to no Purpofe ; and then flood away for a fmall 
Ifland to the North of Luconia , to wait for a proper Wind 
to carry them to Bantam in the Ifland of Java. Inftead of 
one, they found feveral Iflands, where they refrefhed them- 
felves very conveniently •, and, having Information from 
an Indian of an Ifland abounding with Beeves, they fent 
their Boat thither, with thirty Men, who took, by Force, 
what they wanted, though the Ifland was well inhabited. 
About the Middle of September they failed from thence, and 
fleered South South-weft, till they came into the Latitude 
of i o°, when they fell in with the Banks of Peragoa , thro* 
which they failed three Days in the utmoft Danger. At 
length they reached an Ifland fomewhat to the North of 
Borneo , where, finding a convenient Bay, they haled their 
Ship afhore, fet up a Tent, and planted ten fmall Guns for 
their Defence, in cafe the Natives fhould attack them ; but 
they, having never feen white Men before, avoided them 
all they could. It was not long, however, before they came 
up with a Canoe, on board of which was the Queen of that 
Country, with her Retinue, who all leaped into the Sea to 
avoid them. They took them up without much Difficulty, 
and entertained them afterwards fo kindly, that they were 
very good Friends during the Time they ftaid there, which 
was about two Months. At this Time, the Spaniards were 
at Peace with the Monarch who governed Borneo , and 
carried on a very advantageous Trade there from the Ma- 
nillas ; of which Captain Eaton's People were no fooner 
informed, than they declared themfelves Spaniards , and 
palTed for fuch all the Time they ftaid. 
13. It was towards the End of the Month of December 
1685. that they left this Ifland, in order to go to a Chain 
of Iflands, called the Iflands of Naturah , in 4 0 North Lati- 
tude. They did not flay there long ; but proceeded from 
thence to the Ifland of Timor , where the Crew growing ex- 
tremely mutinous, paying little or no Regard to Captain 
Eaton's Orders, our Author refolved to quit the Ship, and 
find fome Way or other to get his Paflage home from Ba- 
tavia. Accordingly, himfelf, one Mr. Hill , and eighteen 
more of the Men, who were the fame way inclined, pur- 
chafed a large Boat, in which they defigned to have gone 
to Batavia ; but, the Wind proving contrary, they were 
obliged to put in at Cheribon , a Factory belonging to the 
Dutch upon the fame Me of Java , where they found they 
had loft both a Day in the Month, and a Day in the Week. 
They met here with feveral Pieces of bad News ; fuch as, 
that Kmg Charles II. was dead ; and the Dutch had deprived 
the EngUJh of their Factory at Bantam, which was the 
fecond Place of Trade we, at that time, poffeffed in the 
Eafi Indies ; and one can never fufficiently wonder, that 
Care was not taken, after the Revolution, that we ffiould 
have it again, the Lofs of it having been extremely preju- 
dicial to our Eafi India Company, as will appear in another 
Place, when we come to relate this Story at large. At pre- 
fent we fhall content ourfelves with obferving, that, while 
Captain Cowley was here, the Dutch were forming other 
Schemes to the Prejudice of our Trade; whereupon Cap- 
tain Cowley , Mr. Hill , and a third Perfon, refolved to make 
all the Haile they could to Batavia , that they might not be 
involved in any Difputes. They got, with little Trouble, 
their Paflage to Batavia , where they were very kindly re- 
ceived by the Dutch Governor General, who promifed them 
their Paflage home in a Dutch Ship •, which he afterwards 
complied with : But there being, at that time, about twenty 
'4 
AGES of Book I, 
Englishmen at Batavia , they purchafed a Sloop, with which 
they intended to have gone to Sillibar , an EngUJh Factory 
on the Coaft of Sumatra ; but fo far were the Dutch from 
permitting of this, that they took the Sloop from them, 
paying, however, what it cofl ; and put the Dutchman in 
Prifon, who fold it. To juftify this, they made ufe of 
many Pretences ; but the true Reafon was, that they had 
formed a Defign upon Sillibar , which tho* they were forced 
to poftpone, yet they were unwilling to let People go thi- 
ther, for fear the EngUJh fhould prove too ftrong for them. 
The Scheme they intended to make ufe of for driving the 
EngUJh thence, was Angular enough : They had lent the 
King of Sillibar a confiderable Sum of Money fome Years 
before, which they now propofed to demand, and to oblige 
the King to pay them in Pepper ; by which Agreement 
they would have fecured all the Trade in his Dominions, 
and then the EngUJh mull have withdrawn their Factory of 
courfe. But, juft as they were fitting out a Squadron," in 
order to have put this Defigp in Execution, a War broke 
out with the Emperor of Java ; which diverted the Storm 
for that Time, becaufe they were obliged to employ thofe 
Ships againft their new Enemy. 
14. As there was no other Way left of getting home, but 
in a Dutch Ship, Captain Cowley and his Friends embarqued 
in Batavia Road in the Beginning of March ; but it was the 
latter End of the Month before they failed, and had a very 
indifferent Paflage to the Cape, being reduced to Short- 
allowance, and even to a Pint of Water a Day. On May 
27. their Captain died; which occafioned a good deal of 
Confufion : For a Council of War being called, compofed 
of the Officers of the two Ships Salida and Critfman , there- 
in it was refolved, that Captain Tominall , Commander of 
the Critfman , ffiould command the Salida ; and Captain 
T ominall's chief Mate command the Critfman. The Pilot 
alfo of the Salida , whofe Name was Houdin , was ordered 
on board the Critfman ; which he refufed, and the Crew 
of the Salida mutinied in favour of their Pilot, and he re- 
mained where he was. On June 1. they entered the Road 
before the Cape of Good Hope. The next Day, he went 
on ffiore with his Companions, and took a View of the 
Dutch Settlement there, which I chufe to give the Reader 
in his own Words, as a good Defcription of the Situation 
of Things at the Cape of Good Hope in the Year 1686. and 
fhall hereafter afford him an Opportunity of comparing it 
with the State of that Settlement at prefent : “ The Town, 
which is inhabited by the Dutch , is but fmall, and the 
tc Houfes are built very low, by reafon that, in the Months 
c< of December , January , and February , they are vifited by 
cc great Gales of Wind. There are not above 100 of thofe 
“ Houfes in all the Town ; but they have a very ftrong 
“ Caftle, with about eighty good Guns mounted therein. 
“ There is alfo a very fpacious Garden, with moft pleafant 
“ Walks, which is maintained by the Dutch Eafi India 
ct Company, and in which are planted almoft all manner of 
“ Fruit-trees, and incomparable good Herbs. This Garden 
“ is about one Mile in Length, and a Furlong in Breadth. 
“ This is the greateft Rarity, that I faw at the Cape; for 
tc it far exceeded the Eafi India Company*s Garden that is 
te at Batavia. They have alfo Abundance of very good 
“ Sheep here ; but very few black Cattle, and not many 
tc Fowls. We walked, moreover, without the Town 
“ to the Village inhabited by the Hodmandods ( Hottentots ) 9 
“ to view their nafty Bodies, and the Nature of their Dwell- 
“ ings, which we found to be.as followeth : When we came 
44 thither, we were fcarce able to endure the Stench of them, 
44 and their Habitations. They built their Houfes round, 
44 (with their Fire-place in the Middle of them) almoft like 
44 the Huts, that are built in Ireland by the wild Irijh , the 
“ People lying in the Affies, and having nothing under 
44 them but a Sheep-fkin, The Men have but one Stone 
44 in Appearance ; which is very ftrange. But the Women 
44 are more to be admired, who have a Flap of Skin, 
44 that covers their Nakednefs ; but are fo ignorant, or, I 
44 may fay, brutiffi, that they will not flick to proftitute 
44 themfelves, or do whatever elfe you would have, for 
44 the leaft Recompence imaginable ; and of this I am an 
44 Eye-witnefs. Their Apparel is a Sheep-fkin (as I have 
44 already faid) over their Shoulders, with a Leathern Cap 
44 upon their Heads, as full of Greafe as it can hold. Their 
“ Legs 
