r, upon which we all felt as men reprieved
from immediate death, as the sea was calm and the water smooth. Casting
the lead we found twelve fathoms water, and bye and bye we had only six
fathoms, when we let go a small anchor which still hung at the stern,
all the others having been lost during the storm. Our anchor parted next
night, and our ship again grounded, when we shored her up the best we
could, to prevent her from over-setting at the side of ebb.

When it was day, we found our ship high and dry on a sand-bank, a full
mile from the sea. When the _tyffon_ entirely ceased, we discovered an
island not far from us, to which we walked on the sand, that we might
learn where we were. We found it inhabited, and in my opinion the most
fertile island I had ever seen. It is divided into two parts by a
channel or water-course, which is full at high tides. With much ado we
brought our ship into that channel; and when the people of the island
saw our ship, and that we were coming to land, they immediately erected
a bazar or market-place with shops right over-against the ship, to which
they brought every kind of provisions for our supply, and sold them at
wonderfully reasonable rates. I bought many salted kine as provision for
the ship at half a _larine_ each, being all excellent meat and very fat,
and four wild hogs ready dressed for a larine. The larine is worth about
twelve shillings and sixpence. Good fat hens were bought for a _byza_
each, which does not exceed a penny; and yet some of our people said
that we were imposed upon, as we ought to have got every thing for half
the money. We got excellent rice at an excessively low price, and indeed
every article of food was at this place in the most wonderful abundance.
The name of this island is _Sondiva_ or Sundeep, and belongs to the
kingdom of Bengal, being 120 miles from Chittagong, to which place we
were bound. The people are Moors or Mahometans, and the king or chief
was a very good kind of man for a Mahometan; for if he had been a tyrant
like others, he might have robbed us of all we had, as the Portuguese
captain at Chittagong was in arms against the native chief of that
place, and every day there were some persons slain. On receiving this
intelligence, we were in no small fear for our safety, keeping good
watch and ward every night, according to the custom of the sea; but the
governor of the town gave us assurance that we had nothing to fear, for
although the Portugue