But to return to my story.  All the while this was doing, my partner and I, who managed the rest of the men on board, had, with great dexterity, brought the ship almost to rights; and, having gotten the guns into their places again, the gunner called to me to bid our boat get out of the way, for he would let fly among them.  I called back again to him, and bid him not offer to fire, for the carpenter would do the work without him; but bade him heat another pitch-kettle, which our cook, who was on board, took care of.  But the enemy was so terrified with what they met with in their first attack, that they would not come on again; and some of them that were farthest off, seeing the ship swim, as it were, upright, began, as we supposed, to see their mistake, and gave over the enterprise, finding it was not as they expected.  Thus we got clear of this merry fight; and having gotten some rice, and some roots and bread, with about sixteen good big hogs on board two days before, we resolved to stay here no longer, out go forward, whatever came of it; for we made no doubt but we should be surrounded the next day with rogues enough, perhaps more than our pitch-kettle would dispose of for us.

We therefore got all our things on board the same evening, and the next morning were ready to sail.  In the meantime, lying at an anchor some distance from the shore, we were not so much concerned, being now in a lighting posture, as well as in a sailing posture, if any enemy had presented.  The next day, having finished our work within board, and finding our ship was perfectly healed of all her leaks, we set sail.  We would have gone into the bay of Tonquin, for we wanted to inform ourselves of what was to be known concerning the Dutch ships that had been there; but we durst not stand in there, because we had seen several ships go in, as we supposed, but a little before; so we kept on N.E. towards the isle of Formosa, as much afraid of being seen by a Dutch or English merchant-ship, as a Dutch or English merchant-ship in the Mediterranean is of an Algerine man of war.

When we were thus got to sea, we kept on N.E. as if we would go to the Manillas or the Philippine islands, and this we did, that we might not fall into the way of any of the European ships; and then we steered north again, till we came to the latitude of 22 degrees 20 minutes, by which means we made the island of Formosa directly, where we came to an anchor, in order to get water and fresh provisions, which the people there, who are very courteous and civil in their manners, supplied us with willingly, and dealt very fairly and punctually with us in all their agreements and bargains, which is what we did not find among other people, and may be owing to the remains of Christianity, which was once planted here by a Dutch mission of Protestants, and is a testimony of what I have often observed, viz. that the Christian religion always civilizes the people and reforms their manners, where it is received, whether it works saving effects upon them or not.