正文预览

第6章 无耻之法

　　I looked a little surprised at the last of his discourse, andturning a little short, "How, sir," said I, "can it be said that weare not in the way of God's blessing, after such visibleassistances and deliverances as we have seen here, and of which Ihave given you a large account?" "If you had pleased, sir," saidhe, with a world of modesty, and yet great readiness, "to haveheard me, you would have found no room to have been displeased,much less to think so hard of me, that I should suggest that youhave not had wonderful assistances and deliverances; and I hope, onyour behalf, that you are in the way of God's blessing, and yourdesign is exceeding good, and will prosper. But, sir, though itwere more so than is even possible to you, yet there may be someamong you that are not equally right in their actions: and youknow that in the story of the children of Israel, one Achan in thecamp removed God's blessing from them, and turned His hand soagainst them, that six-and-thirty of them, though not concerned inthe

　　It is true, within doors we were warm, the houses being close, thewalls thick, the windows small, and the glass all double. Our foodwas chiefly the flesh of deer, dried and cured in the season; breadgood enough, but baked as biscuits; dried fish of several sorts,and some flesh of mutton, and of buffaloes, which is pretty goodmeat. All the stores of provisions for the winter are laid up inthe summer, and well cured: our drink was water, mixed with aquavitae instead of brandy; and for a treat, mead instead of wine,which, however, they have very good. The hunters, who ventureabroad all weathers, frequently brought us in fine venison, andsometimes bear's flesh, but we did not much care for the last. Wehad a good stock of tea, with which we treated our friends, and welived cheerfully and well, all things considered.

　　I looked a little surprised at the last of his discourse, andturning a little short, "How, sir," said I, "can it be said that weare not in the way of God's blessing, after such visibleassistances and deliverances as we have seen here, and of which Ihave given you a large account?" "If you had pleased, sir," saidhe, with a world of modesty, and yet great readiness, "to haveheard me, you would have found no room to have been displeased,much less to think so hard of me, that I should suggest that youhave not had wonderful assistances and deliverances; and I hope, onyour behalf, that you are in the way of God's blessing, and yourdesign is exceeding good, and will prosper. But, sir, though itwere more so than is even possible to you, yet there may be someamong you that are not equally right in their actions: and youknow that in the story of the children of Israel, one Achan in thecamp removed God's blessing from them, and turned His hand soagainst them, that six-and-thirty of them, though not concerned inthe

　　I was so annoyed at the loss of my old trusty servant andcompanion, that I immediately ordered five guns to be loaded withsmall shot, and four with great, and gave them such a broadside asthey had never heard in their lives before. They were not abovehalf a cable's length off when we fired; and our gunners took theiraim so well, that three or four of their canoes were overset, as wehad reason to believe, by one shot only. The ill manners ofturning up their bare backs to us gave us no great offence; neitherdid I know for certain whether that which would pass for thegreatest contempt among us might be understood so by them or not;therefore, in return, I had only resolved to have fired four orfive guns at them with powder only, which I knew would frightenthem sufficiently: but when they shot at us directly with all thefury they were capable of, and especially as they had killed mypoor Friday, whom I so entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed,so well deserved it, I thought myself not only justifiable befo

　　In about thirteen days' sail we came to an anchor, at the south-west point of the great Gulf of Nankin; where I learned by accidentthat two Dutch ships were gone the length before me, and that Ishould certainly fall into their hands. I consulted my partneragain in this exigency, and he was as much at a loss as I was. Ithen asked the old pilot if there was no creek or harbour which Imight put into and pursue my business with the Chinese privately,and be in no danger of the enemy. He told me if I would sail tothe southward about forty-two leagues, there was a little portcalled Quinchang, where the fathers of the mission usually landedfrom Macao, on their progress to teach the Christian religion tothe Chinese, and where no European ships ever put in; and if Ithought to put in there, I might consider what further course totake when I was on shore. He confessed, he said, it was not aplace for merchants, except that at some certain times they had akind of a fair there, when the merchants from Japan came overt

ld hardlyhave been any need of the fifth commandment.

　　Thus coasting from one island to another, sometimes with the ship,sometimes with the Frenchman's shallop, which we had found aconvenient boat, and therefore kept her with their very good will,at length I came fair on the south side of my island, and presentlyknew the very countenance of the place: so I brought the ship safeto an anchor, broadside with the little creek where my oldhabitation was. As soon as I saw the place I called for Friday,and asked him if he knew where he was? He looked about a little,and presently clapping his hands, cried, "Oh yes, Oh there, Oh yes,Oh there!" pointing to our old habitation, and fell dancing andcapering like a mad fellow; and I had much ado to keep him fromjumping into the sea to swim ashore to the place.

　　We had just entered Europe, having passed the river Kama, which inthese parts is the boundary between Europe and Asia, and the firstcity on the European side was called Soloy Kamaskoy, that is, thegreat city on the river Kama. And here we thought to see someevident alteration in the people; but we were mistaken, for as wehad a vast desert to pass, which is near seven hundred miles longin some places, but not above two hundred miles over where wepassed it, so, till we came past that horrible place, we found verylittle difference between that country and Mogul Tartary. Thepeople are mostly pagans; their houses and towns full of idols; andtheir way of living wholly barbarous, except in the cities andvillages near them, where they are Christians, as they callthemselves, of the Greek Church: but have their religion mingledwith so many relics of superstition, that it is scarce to be knownin some places from mere sorcery and witchcraft.

　　"First, we had for some days fared exceedingly hard, and sufferedvery great hunger; but at last we were wholly without food of anykind except sugar, and a little wine and water. The first dayafter I had received no food at all, I found myself towardsevening, empty and sick at the stomach, and nearer night muchinclined to yawning and sleep. I lay down on the couch in thegreat cabin to sleep, and slept about three hours, and awaked alittle refreshed, having taken a glass of wine when I lay down;after being about three hours awake, it being about five o'clock inthe morning, I found myself empty, and my stomach sickish, and laydown again, but could not sleep at all, being very faint and ill;and thus I continued all the second day with a strange variety -first hungry, then sick again, with retchings to vomit. The secondnight, being obliged to go to bed again without any food more thana draught of fresh water, and being asleep, I dreamed I was atBarbadoes, and that the market was mightily stocked withprovision