When the people of the country saw so many men in two boats, they beat their drums and ran to arms, taking us for Portuguese coming to plunder some of their towns.  Observing their alarm, and having a native of Guzerat among us, we set him on shore to undeceive the inhabitants; and as soon as they knew who we were, they directed us to the city of Gundavee, of which a great man was governor, who seemed sorry for our misfortunes, and gave us a kind welcome; and here ended our unfortunate voyage.

Sec.2. Supplement to the foregoing Narrative, from the Account of the same unfortunate Voyage, by Thomas Jones.[293]

Thus was our tall ship lost, to the great detriment of the worshipful company, and the utter ruin of all us poor mariners, our voyage being altogether overthrown, with the loss of all the treasure and goods both of the merchants and all of us, who were now far from our native country.  We took to our boats on the night of the 5th September, it being almost miraculous that in two so small boats so many men should be saved, being at the least eighteen leagues from the shore.[294] We remained at sea in our boats till about four p.m. of the 6th, when we discovered land, which we made towards by all the means in our power, endeavouring to get into the river of Surat.  But Providence, which had already saved us from the shipwreck, would not now suffer us to fall into the hands of our enemies the Portuguese, who then lay off the bar of Surat with five frigates to take us and our boats, as they had intelligence of the intended coming of our ill-fated ship; for, contrary to our wish and intention, we fell in with the river of Gundavee, about five leagues to the southward of the bar of Surat, where we were kindly entertained by the governor of the town.  We here learnt that our pinnace had come into the same river, and had been taken possession of by the Portugueze, but all her men got ashore, and were gone by land to Surat.

[Footnote 293:  Purch.  Pilgr.  I.228.  Astl.  I.344.  We have here given only so much of the narrative of Jones as supplies additional circumstances after the end of that by Coverte.—­E.]

[Footnote 294:  This surely is a gross error, as they could hardly exceed the distance of a league or two from shore, though the shore is said in the former narrative to have been twenty leagues from where the ship was lost.—­E.]

The governor of this town of Gundavee is a Banian, and one of those people who observe the law of Pythagoras.  They hold it a great sin to eat of any thing that hath life, but live on that which the earth naturally produces.  They likewise hold the cow in great honour and reverence, and also observe the ancient custom of burning their dead.  It has also been an ancient custom among them, for the women to burn themselves alive along with the bodies of their deceased husbands; but of late years they have learnt more wisdom, and do not use this custom so commonly; yet those women who do not, have their hair cut out, and are ever afterwards held as dishonoured, for refusing to accompany their husbands into the other world.