[Footnote 312:  This afterwards appears to have been the praw, formerly mentioned, so named after being raised upon for carrying spice from Pulo-way to Ceram; but this circumstance is left here unexplained, possibly by the negligence of Purchas in abbreviating, by which he leaves matters often obscure, sometimes unintelligible.—­E.]

Finding no help could be had except from the ship, which was twelve miles off by land, I hired guides to follow Mr Herniman, taking one of my own men to bear me company.  Half-way we came to a large river, which it was necessary to swim across, and as my man could not swim, I sent him back with my clothes, except a scarlet mandilion,[313] which one of my guides engaged to carry over for me.  He told me the river was full of alligators, and if I saw any I must fight with him, or he would kill me, and for that purpose my guide carried a knife in his mouth.  Being very weary, as I had not slept for two nights, I took the water before the Indians, knowing they would be over before me.  The river being very broad, and the stream swift, occasioned by late great rains, the Indians would have had me return when half way, to which I would not consent.  While swimming, the Indian who carried my mandilion touched my side with a cane he carried in his hand; suspecting this had been an alligator, I immediately dived, when the current got such hold of me that I was carried out to sea, which threw me on the beach, and bruised me so on the back and shoulder that I could not get a-land, till the Indian came and gave me hold of one end of his cane, and pulled me out almost drowned, as every surf drove me against the beach and washed me out again.  I praised God, and got on board, where my company was amazed to see me.  So that night I sent all that were able to crawl to save the bark, which they did with much toil and small help of the natives; the country not permitting any one to assist in saving her,[314] expecting us to forsake her, that they might enjoy the spoil.

[Footnote 313:  This word is explained by lexicographers as a loose garment, a sleeveless jacket, or a soldiers coat.—­E.]

[Footnote 314:  It will be seen in other voyages, that the Malays, who are widely diffused over the Indian archipelago, often live under a kind of aristocratical republican government; even where they are subjected to kings, partaking much of the feudal semblance.  This observation seemed necessary as an attempt to explain the meaning in the text of the country not permitting, &c.—­E.]

The Hopewell arrived next morning laden with spice, having been a-missing, as mentioned before.  She had been driven thirty leagues to the east of Banda in a cruel storm, which gave them much ado to get again to windward.  I returned to Pulo-way in the pinnace, which I again loaded without delay; and Mr Davis was taking in his loading in the junk, and making all the dispatch he could with his poor lame crew,