the best part of my crew being long absent in the Diligence.  We presently unladed her, and I that night set sail in her myself,[315] to see if I could come before Mr Davis came from thence, for I was told the junk was very leaky, and I wished to have her accompanied by the Hopewell, whatsoever might befall; as she had not a nail in her, but such as we had driven, and as we had none of ourselves, we caused the simple native smiths to make some iron pins, for they can make no nails,[316] and bestowed these in the most needful places.  While striving in the Hopewell to reach Pulo-way, I was put past it in a mighty storm by the current; for the more the wind, the current is always the stronger:  being put to leeward, and long before we could fetch the ship, and fain to take shelter on the Ceram shore, or else be blown away.  After many trips, and still falling to leeward of the ship, I desired Mr Davis to look out for some harbour for our ship, to which we might come over direct from Pulo-way, without being obliged to ply to windward with our craft when deeply laden, which was effected.

[Footnote 315:  This paragraph is utterly inexplicable, at least with any certainty, the abbreviation by Purchas having reduced it almost to absolute nonsense.  Conjectural amendment being inadmissible, the subject is of so little moment as not to warrant any commentary.—­E.]

[Footnote 316:  Even to the present times, the boasted empire of China is unable to make a head to a nail.  All their smiths can do for a substitute, is to bend the head of a small piece of iron like the letter z, which flattened, but not welded, serves as a substitute for the nail-head.  Every chest of tea affords numerous examples of this clumsy qui pro quo.—­E.]

In my long stay from Pulo-way and Banda on this occasion, the islanders had intelligence that our ship had weighed; and they were persuaded I had gone away for fear of the Hollanders.  Upon this the islanders would not deal with my people whom I had left among them, neither even would they sell them provisions.  They even began to rail at them and abuse them, saying that I had gone away with the ship, as the Hollanders did formerly, and would come back with a fleet, as they had done, and take their country from them.  In this disposition of mind towards us, they had come to a determination to seize our house, and to send all our people prisoners to the top of a high rock, the consent only of the sabandar being a-wanting for taking possession of our goods, though some even began to take our goods forcibly.  On the arrival of the sabandar, Mr Spalding waited upon him, and remonstrated upon the unjust conduct of the islanders in taking away our goods, craving his protection.  The sabandar then said, that the islanders were resolved we should not do as the Hollanders had done, and were therefore resolved to make all the English prisoners; for the ship was gone, and our intentions seemed bad towards them.  All that Mr Spalding could say, they would not be persuaded but that I was gone away in the ship, and that my people were left behind at Pulo-way for a sinister purpose.