Having haled them and made them come to leeward, and sending my boat on board, I found their men and equipment very disproportionate for so small a junk, being only about seventy tons, yet they were ninety men, most of them in too gallant habits for sailors, and had so much equality of behaviour among them that they seemed all comrades.  One among them indeed was called captain, but he seemed to be held in very little respect.  I made them come to anchor, and on examining their lading, found nothing but rice, and that mostly spoilt with wet, for their vessel was leaky both in her bottom and upper works.  Questioning them, I understood they were pirates, who had been making pillage on the coast of China and Cambodia, and had lost their own ship on the shoals of Borneo, as already related.  We rode by them at anchor under a small island near the isle of Bintang for two days, giving them good usage, and not taking any thing out of them, thinking to have gathered from them the place and passage of certain ships from the coast of China, so as to have made something of our voyage:  But these rogues, being desperate in minds and fortunes, and hopeless of ever being able to return to their own country in that paltry junk, had resolved among themselves either to gain my ship or lose their own lives.

During mutual courtesy and feastings, sometimes five or six and twenty of the principal persons among them came aboard my ship, of whom I would never allow more than six to have weapons; but there never was so many of our men on board their junk at one time.  I wished Captain John Davis, in the morning, to possess himself of their weapons, putting the company before the mast, and to leave a guard over their weapons, while they searched among the rice; doubting that by searching, and perhaps finding something that might displease them, they might suddenly set upon my men and put them to the sword, as actually happened in the sequel.  But, beguiled by their pretended humility, Captain Davis would not take possession of their weapons, though I sent two messages to him from my ship, expressly to desire him.  During the whole day my men were searching among the rice, and the Japanese looking on.  After a long search, nothing was found except a little storax and benzoin.  At sun-set, seeking opportunity, and talking to their comrades who were in my ship, which was very near, they agreed to set upon us in both ships at once, on a concerted signal.  This being given, they suddenly killed and drove overboard all of my men that were in their ship.  At the same time, those who were on board my ship sallied out of my cabin, with such weapons as they could find, meeting with some targets there, and other things which they used as weapons.  Being then aloft on the deck, and seeing what was likely to follow, I leapt into the waste, where, with the boatswains, carpenter, and some few more, we kept them under the half-deck.  At first coming from the cabin, they met Captain Davis coming out of the gun-room, whom they pulled into the cabin, and giving him six or seven mortal wounds, they pushed him before them out of the cabin.  He was so sore wounded, that he died immediately on getting to the waste.