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Sec. 1. Incidents of the Voyage from England to Socotora.

We sailed from the Downs on the 18th April, 1611, passed the equator on the 6th June, and arrived at Saldanha bay on the 1st of August.  Having well refreshed ourselves there for eight days, we set sail on the 9th August.  The 3d September we made the land of Madagascar, near the bay of St Augustine.  The 10th we made the island of Primeiras; and the 17th we made the islands of Angoza to the southwards of Mosambique.  Finding a dangerous shoal and bad anchoring ground, with a lee shore and westerly current, we stood off on the 21st for Madagascar.  In the chart we found these islands of Angoza laid down in lat. 15 deg. 40’ S. but by our observation they are in 16 deg. 20’ S.[398] The 24th, in lat. 16 deg. 16’, our course being N.E. we unexpectedly saw land bearing N. by W. five leagues off, while expecting the island of Juan de Nova to the eastwards, and being becalmed, we feared the current might set us upon it in the night.  When day-light appeared next morning, we found it to be the northernmost island of Angoza, whence we had departed on the 21st, to the great amazement and discouragement of our mariners.

[Footnote 398:  The town of Angoza is in lat. 15 deg. 50’, and the most southerly island in the bay of that name is in 16 deg. 30’ S.—­E.]

The 3d October, after much trouble by currents, we came to anchor between Mosambique and Sofala, in lat. 16 deg. 32’ S. and long. 76 deg. 10’ E.[399] Our anchorage was in thirteen and fourteen fathoms, under an island near the main, upon which were no people, neither could we find fresh water, though we dug very deep for it in the sand.  We weighed on the 10th, and stood over E. by N. for Madagascar, in hopes of getting out of the currents, and on the 26th came to anchor under Moyella, [Mohilla] one of the Comoro islands, in lat. 12 deg. 13’ S.[400] We here refreshed for eight days, procuring bullocks, goats, poultry, lemons, cocoas, pine-apples, passaws, plantains, pomgranates, sugar-canes, tamarinds, rice, milk, roots, eggs, and fish, in exchange for small haberdashery wares and some money, and had kind usage and plenty of fresh water, yet stood much on our guard for fear of any treachery.  I invited the king of Moyella, being a Mahometan, aboard the Clove, and entertained him with a banquet, and with trumpets and other music; but he refused to eat, as it was then their Lent or Rammadan, yet he carried off the best part of the banquet for the queen his mother, saying that they would eat it after sunset.  The name of the queen was Sultana Mannungalla, and the king’s was Sharif Abubekr.[401] He requested me to give him a letter of recommendation for those who might come afterwards to his island, having formerly procured one to that effect from Stephen Verhagen, the admiral of twelve Dutch ships, in 1604, which he shewed me.  I complied with his desire, yet left this caution at the end, that they ought not to repose too much confidence in this people, but stand well on their guard, as oft-times weapons preserve peace.