CHAPTER XXIII

Summary

NINE or ten days after leaving port we sighted three sail coming from the direction of Arabia towards the Maldives; we were then in the latitude of the head of these islands, which is about 8 degrees this side the line toward the north. The Portuguese, at sight of these vessels, took fright, believing them to be Hollanders. Nor were we ourselves without grave qualms, being in the company of these fellows, some of whom said that if the sail proved to be Hollanders they should throw us overboard; others, however, with more pity, said that it was no fault of ours. Those who had been in the Hollanders' hands, and had been badly treated, as the majority had, were so much the more incensed against us, and were with difficulty appeased. In the event, we failed to make out what the ships were, though I judged they belonged to the Maldives, and were coming from Arabia, or perhaps were Arabs going to Sunda, Sumatra, and Java. And so the Portuguese were again at ease, and we also.

On the 15th March 1610 we sighted the island of Diego Rodrigue, which is at the altitude of 20 degrees south of the equinoctial line, and about 40 leagues east from the island of St. Lawrence. We sighted it at break of day; it is uninhabited.