in the
Adventure, Captain John Nicholas, a Cornish man, commander, bound for
Surat. We had a very prosperous gale, till we arrived at the Cape of
Good Hope, where we landed for fresh water; but discovering a leak, we
unshipped our goods and wintered there; for the captain falling sick of
an ague, we could not leave the Cape till the end of March. We then set
sail, and had a good voyage till we passed the Straits of Madagascar; but
having got northward of that island, and to about five degrees south
latitude, the winds, which in those seas are observed to blow a constant
equal gale between the north and west, from the beginning of December to
the beginning of May, on the 19th of April began to blow with much
greater violence, and more westerly than usual, continuing so for twenty
days together: during which time, we were driven a little to the east of
the Molucca Islands, and about three degrees northward of the line, as
our captain found by an observation he took the 2nd of May, at which time
the wind ceased, and it was a perfect calm, whereat I was not a little
rejoiced. But he, being a man well experienced in the navigation of
those seas, bid us all prepare against a storm, which accordingly
happened the day following: for the southern wind, called the southern
monsoon, began to set in.

Finding it was likely to overblow, we took in our sprit-sail, and stood
by to hand the fore-sail; but making foul weather, we looked the guns
were all fast, and handed the mizen. The ship lay very broad off, so we
thought it better spooning before the sea, than trying or hulling. We
reefed the fore-sail and set him, and hauled aft the fore-sheet; the helm
was hard a-weather. The ship wore bravely. We belayed the fore
down-haul; but the sail was split, and we hauled down the yard, and got
the sail into the ship, and unbound all the things clear of it. It was a
very fierce storm; the sea broke strange and dangerous. We hauled off
upon the laniard of the whip-staff, and helped the man at the helm. We
would not get down our topmast, but let all stand, because she scudded
before the sea very well, and we knew that the top-mast being aloft, the
ship was the wholesomer, and made better way through the sea, seeing we
had sea-room. When the storm was over, we set fore-sail and main-sail,
and brought the ship to. Then we set the mizen, main-top-sail, and the
fore-top-sail. Our course was east-north-east, the wind was at
south-west