CiiAP. I.l THIRD VOYAGE TO THE EAST. 245
] 607, and encountering very tempestuous weather, during which many of the a.d. 1609.
crew became diseased, took shelter in Sierra Leone, doubtful whether to prose- cute the voyage or retrace their steps to England. The bolder course was ultimately adopted ; and, after doubling the Cape, the voyage was continued north- wards along the east coast of Africa as far as the island of Socotra, where 24!00 lbs. of aloes were purchased at the rate of 5 lbs. for a dollar. The two ships afterw.ards separated. Captain Hawkins , , ,. v 1 r
i ' I ■'^ Java Junk. — Krom Nieuhof.
proceeding directly to Surat
with the Hector, which was thus the first vessel of the Company that anchored in ^^'^^ ^'sit of
'■ *^ tho Com-
a port of the continent of India; while Captain Keeling, in the Dragon, pvu'sued i)aiiy'8 siiipa the track taken by his predecessors, and after calling at Priaman in Sumatra, tineiitof
India.
and taking in some pepper, passed the Straits of Sunda, and anchored in the road of Bantam on the 5th of October. It had been resolved that the Dragon, in consequence of her unsatisfactory condition, should forthwith be despatched to England with the cargo which had been procured ; but before she sailed a vessel hove in sight, and proved to be the Hector. She had been rather unfor- tunate, for the Portuguese had attacked her, captmred eighteen of her crew, including some of the factors, and seized her goods to the value of 9000 dollars. Captain Hawkins, however, had found the prospect of opening a trade at Surat so promising that he had preferred to remain ashore, and send forward the vessel under the command oi his first officer. The arrangement wtis so far opportune that Captain Keeling, who, by the departure of the Dragon, might liave been left without a command, immediately assmned the command of the Hector, and proceeded with her, on the 1st of January, 1609, for the Moluccas.
The Dutch were now carrying on their trade with great spirit, and made no Dutch secret of their determination, as soon as they should establish their su})remacy hostiutV. in the Spice Islands, to exclude all others from trading to them. Captain Keeling, in his single vessel, found it impossible to resist their arbitrary pro- ceedings, and was obliged to carry on a precarious trade under a kind of ignominious sufferance. He succeeded, however, in obtaining a cargo of pepper, cloves, and nutmegs, and, returning to Bantam, prepared for the homeward voyage. Before departing, he placed the factory there upon a more regular footing than before. The salaries allowed strikingly illustrate the economical and even sordid spirit in which the Company made their fii-st arrangementa Augustine Spalding, the factor, received £50 a-year. The other officials were paid monthly, as follows: — Francis Kelly, surgeon, £2, 5s.; John Parsons, 30s.;
