A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 754 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 754 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08.

[Footnote 74:  This should rather be, perhaps, Pau-hang, being the same place called by other writers Pahaung, Pahang, or Pahan, often called Pam in the Portuguese accounts, and pronounced by them Pang.—­Astl.  I. 310. c.]

We parted from her on the 13th, steering for Pulo Timaon, adjoining to the country of the King of Pan-Hange, [Pahan,] and were much vexed with contrary winds and adverse currents:  For, from the beginning of November to the beginning of April, the sea runs always to the southwards, and from April to November back again towards the north.  The wind also in these first five months is most commonly northerly, and in the other seven months southerly.  All the ships, therefore, of China, Patane, Johor, Pahan, and other places, going to the northward, come to Bantam, or Palimbangan, when the northern monsoon is set in, and return back again when the southern monsoon begins, as before stated, by observing which rule they have the wind and current along with them; but by following the opposite course, we found such violent contrary winds and currents, that in three weeks we did not get one league forwards.  The country of Pahan is very plentiful, being full of gentry according to the fashion of that country, having great store of victuals, which are very cheap, and many ships.  It lies between Johor and Patane, stretching along the eastern coast of Malacca, and reaches to Cape Tingeron, which is a very high cape, and the first land made by the caraks of Macao, junks of China, or praws of Cambodia, on coming from China for Malacca, Java, Jumbe, Johor Palimbangan, Grisi, or any other parts to the southwards.

Here, as I stood for Patane, about the 27th December, I met with a Japanese junk, which had been pirating along the coasts of China and Cambodia.  Their pilot dying, what with ignorance and foul weather, they had lost their own ship on certain shoals of the great island of Borneo; and not daring to land there, as the Japanese are not allowed to come a-shore in any part of India with their weapons, being a desperate people, and so daring that they are feared in all places; wherefore, by means of their boats, they had entered this junk, which belonged to Patane, and slew all the people except one old pilot.  This junk was laden with rice; and having furnished her with such weapons and other things as they had saved from their sunken ship, they shaped their course for Japan; but owing to the badness of their junk, contrary winds, and the unseasonable time of the year, they were forced to leeward, which was the cause of my unfortunately meeting them.

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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.