The king’s brother was then on the sands, and gave orders to a negro to gather cocoa-nuts to send to our general, and desired Edward Churchman to go and fetch them, who went accordingly, but was never seen or heard of more.[278] Finding that the English refused to land, and stood on their guard, the word was given for assault, and a horn was sounded, upon which our men at the watering-place were immediately assaulted.  John Harrington, the boat-swain’s mate, was slain, and Robert Backer, Mr Ellanor’s man, was sore wounded in eight or ten places, and had certainly been killed, but that a musket or two were fired from the boat, by which it would seem that some of them were hurt, as they retired crying out.  Bucker, though weak and faint, made a shift to get to the boat, and two or three other men, who were at the watering-place, got safe into the boat.

[Footnote 278:  Jones says he was informed afterwards by a Portuguese, that Churchman afterwards died at Mombaza.  He tells us likewise, that the Portuguese of Mombaza intended to have manned a Dutch hulk which had wintered there, on purpose to take the Ascension; but learning her force they laid that design aside, and endeavoured to circumvent them by means of the natives of Pemba, who are very cowardly, and dare not venture on any enterprize, unless instigated by the Portuguese.—­E.]

In the morning of the 26th, the boat and pinnace went ashore well armed to fetch in our davy, which is a piece of timber by which the anchor is hauled up; and a little beyond it, they found the body of Harrington stark naked, which they buried in an island near Pemba.  The natives of this island seemed well disposed towards us; for, at our first coming, they made signs to us, as if warning us to take care of having our throats cut, which we then paid no attention to.[279]

[Footnote 279:  This circumstance is not easily understood, unless by the natives are here meant negroes, as distinguished from the Moors, who endeavoured to murder the English, probably at the instigation of the Portuguese.—­E.]

We set sail that same day from Pemba, being the 20th December, and by midnight our ship got aground on the shoals of Melinda, or Pemba, which we were not aware of, but got off again, by backing our sails, as the wind was very moderate.  Next morning we pursued and took three small boats, called pangaias, which had their planks very slightly connected together, while another boat was endeavouring to come off from the land to give them notice to avoid us.  In these boats there were above forty persons, six or eight of whom being comparatively pale and fair, much differing from the Moors, we thought to have been Portuguese; but being asked, they shewed their backs all over with written characters; and when we still insisted they were Portuguese, they said the Portuguese were not circumcised as they were.[280] As we could not be satisfied of their not being Portuguese, some of