in
that of the captain my bouccha was quietly drawn out, and from it the
packet of letters was taken, and another well sealed and of similar
form and size, which contained only white paper was put in its place.
The bag which they had purposely allowed to fall into the sea in order
to accomplish this wicked coup having been pulled up, we made sail, and
arrived at the port of Surat on the 5th of May of the same year. The
Dutch Commander did me the honour to send a barque 2 or 3 leagues out
to sea to fetch me, and immediately on landing, which was about
midnight, as I specially desired to pay my respects to him, I asked two
Capuchin Fathers, who were at the port on our arrival, to deliver to
the English President the packet which I had taken out of my bouccha, a
service they willingly undertook. But they told me that, as it was an
unseasonable hour, and that the President, who was gouty, might be then
asleep, they did not consider it proper to awake him, and would wait
till the morrow to accompany me, when I should be able to deliver the
packet to the President myself. But the gout from which he suffered not
permitting him to sleep much, it was delivered to him the same hour.
The President opened the packet in presence of the chief officers of
his staff, but they found only white paper folded like letters inside
it. When this was reported to me, I realized at once the bad turn which
Van-Wiick and his accomplices had played me. What confirmed me further
as to this perfidy was, that on going to examine my bouccha I found
that a jewel which I had tried to sell to the Governor of Gombroon had
also disappeared. As I was unable to agree with him as to the price, he
returned it to me some hours before I embarked for Surat, and I had
placed it in haste with the packet of letters in my bouccha, where I
did not find it on my arrival at Surat.
The
theft of this packet of letters, thus accomplished, incensed the
President against me so much that he refused to allow me to justify
myself, and I was moreover subjected to the displeasure of many private
Englishmen affected by the loss of the letters in the packet, which
were addressed to them. They went so far on different occasions as to
attempt my life, as I am able to prove by the evidence and affidavits
K2
