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Toad fecured toward the fea by fome iflands, is without difpute the beft in all theIndies, being capable of receiving above a thoufand fhips at once, and having excellentgood anchor ground. It is a place of very great trade, and much reforted to,efpecially by the Chinefe, who come thither yearly, with a vail many junks laden withall forts of China merchandife, as tea, quickfilver, vermillion in cakes, fticklack,camphire, copper bars, tutenague, fans, pictures, all manner of china, and lackeredware, foye, gumbodge, fago, and benjamin, with fundry other drugs and merchan-flifes too tedious to name. A certain annual toll is impofed on the Chinefe here forthe liberty of wearing their hair, which brings in no fmall income to the government,they being much more numerous than the Dutch themfelves. This liberty of wearingtheir hair is denied them in their own country (as I am informed) by the Tartars , whoin the year 1643, having paffed that prodigious wall four hundred leagues long, builtbetween China and Tartary, conquered the whole empire in lefs than feven years.The Chinefe are very proud of having this liberty, and many leave their own country,to live where they may be allowed it: the cutting it off being a mark of fubje&ion,which the Tartars impofe upon them.
The country is very flat all round the city, but exceeding pleafant, adorned withmany curious feats, fine gardens, fountains, and large canals, which are let in, andrun through feveral ftreets of the city, whereby it is rendered both neat and cool:on each fide of thefe canals, are planted rows of fine trees, that are always green,which, with the beauty and regularity of the buildings, make the ftreets look veryagreeable, fo that I think this city, for the bignefs, one of the neateft and moft beau-tiful in the whole world. There are alfo two large piers, that run out about half amile into the fea, and ferve to drain all the canals and inland water that run throughthe city. They are likewife very ufeful for fmall veffels that lie along the piles, wherethey load or unload their cargoes. Above one hundred flaves are employed in takingup the mud, and in fcouring the fpace between thefe peers, which otherwife wouldfoon be choaked up with what is walhed out of the city and country. • At the mouthof this place are many alligators or crocodiles ; and if a dead dog, or any other carcafecomes down the ftream, it goes not far to fea, but is immediately devoured by them.Yet, which is very ftrange, I have feen the natives naked up to the middle in the waternetting for fhrimps among thofe monftrous creatures, and they are feldom hurt by them.
I cannot omit mentioning here, how narrowly we efcaped a hellifh plot, formedby fome of our own {hip’s crew. On the 29th of May following, my gunner, andabout twenty-two of the feamen, went in the long boat to Father Smith’s ifland to dofome bufinefs for the fhip : in the interim, I fent the gunner’s mate down into thepowder room for a gun-cafe ; where, to his great furprife, he found both the doorsopen, (the ftaple of the outer door being drawn) and difcovered a lighted match,laid on a dried horfe hide (doubtlefs by fome of thofe that were gone alhore, as fhallappear more fully hereafter) to a large train, and thetrain continued to fix barrels of powderwhich if he had not then by good fortune gone down, muft have taken in lefs than aquarter of an hour, anddeftroyed us all. He had prefence of mind enough to Aide one ofhis hands gently under, holding the other over to hinder the powder duft from rifing,and withdrew the match from the train, which was fo large that he could take thepower up by handfuls. This unaccountable piece of villainy (neither the author orcaufe being known) did greatly aftonifh us. I ufed my utmoft endeavours to find outthe bottom of it: after fecuring the powder room, I took the key myfelf, and impa-tiently waited the long boat’s return, which did not come back till evening : in themean time I loaded fome piftols and blunderbuffes, and lodged them that night in the
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