I was very glad to see my nephew I must confess, for I was not without apprehensions that they would confine him by violence, set sail, and run away with the ship; and then I had been stripped naked, in a remote country, and nothing to help myself:  in short, I had been in a worse case than when I was all alone in the island.

But they had not come to that length, it seems, to my great satisfaction; and when my nephew told me what they had said to him, and how they had sworn, and shook hands, that they would one and all leave the ship, if I was suffered to come on board, I told him he should not be concerned at it at all, for I would stay onshore; I only desired he would take care and send me all my necessary things on shore, and leave me a sufficient sum of money, and I would find my way to England as well as I could.

This was a heavy piece of news to my nephew; but there was no way to help it, but to comply with it.  So, in short, he went on board the ship again, and satisfied the men that his uncle had yielded to their importunity, and had sent for his goods from on board the ship.  So the matter was over in a very few hours; the men returned to their duty, and I begun to consider what course I should steer.

I was now alone in the remotest part of the world, as I think I may call it, for I was near three thousand leagues, by sea, farther off from England than I was at my island; only, it is true, I might travel here by land, over the Great Mogul’s country to Surat, might go from thence to Bassora by sea, up the Gulf of Persia, and from thence might take the way of the caravans, over the deserts of Arabia, to Aleppo and Scanderoon, and from thence by sea again to Italy, and so overland into France; and this, put together, might be, at least, a full diameter of the globe; but, if it were to be measured, I suppose it would appear to be a great deal more.

I had another way before me, which was to wait for some English ships, which were coming to Bengal, from Achin, on the island of Sumatra, and get passage on board them for England:  but as I came hither without any concern with the English East India Company, so it would be difficult to go from hence without their licence, unless with great favour of the captains of the ships, or of the Company’s factors; and to both I was an utter stranger.

Here I had the particular pleasure, speaking by contrarieties, to see the ship set sail without me; a treatment, I think, a man in my circumstances scarce ever met with, except from pirates running away with a ship, and setting those that would not agree with their villany on shore:  indeed this was the next door to it both ways.  However, my nephew left me two servants, or rather, one companion and one servant:  the first was clerk to the purser, whom he engaged to go with me; and the other was his own servant.  I took me also a good lodging in the house of an English woman, where several merchants lodged, some French,