certain goods sent by him into Christendom in a ship of his own, and by his own brother, and himself remained in Tripolis as pledge until his said brother's return; and, as the report went there, he came among lewd company, and lost his brother's said ship and goods at dice, and never returned unto him again.

The said Patrone Norado, being void of all hope and finding now opportunity, consulted with the said Sonnings for to swim a-seaboard the islands, and the ship, being then out of danger, should take him in (as was afterwards confessed), and so go to Tallowne, in the province of Marseilles, with this Patrone Norado, and there to take in the rest of his lading.

The ship being ready the first day of May, and having her sails all abroad, our said factors did take their leave of the king, who very courteously bid them farewell, and when they came aboard they commanded the master and the company hastily to get out the ship. The master answered that it was impossible, for that the wind was contrary and overblowed. And he required us, upon forfeiture of our bands, that we should do our endeavour to get her forth. Then went we to warp out the ship, and presently the king sent a boat aboard of us, with three men in her, commanding the said Sonnings to come ashore, at whose coming the king demanded of him custom for the oils. Sonnings answered him that his highness had promised to deliver them customs free. But, notwithstanding, the king weighed not his said promise, and as an infidel that hath not the fear of God before his eyes, nor regard of his word, albeit he was a king, he caused the said Sonnings to pay the custom to the uttermost penny; and afterwards ordered him to make haste away, saying that the janisaries would have the oil ashore again.

These janisaries are soldiers there under the Great Turk, and their power is above the king's. And so the said factor departed from the king, and came to the waterside, and called for a boat to come aboard, and he brought with him the foresaid Patrone Norado. The company, inquisitive to know what man that was, Sonnings answered that he was his countryman, a passenger. "I pray God," said the company, "that we come not into trouble by this man." Then said Sonnings angrily, "What have you to do with any matters of mine? If anything chance otherwise than well, I must answer for all."

Now the Turk unto whom this Patrone Norado was indebted, missing him, supposed him to be aboard of our ship, presently went unto the king and told him that he thought that his pledge, Patrone Norado, was aboard on the English ship. Whereupon the king presently sent a boat aboard of us, with three men in her, commanding the said Sonnings to come ashore; and, not speaking anything as touching the man, he said that he would come presently in his own boat; but as soon as they were gone he willed us to warp forth the ship, and said that he would see the knaves hanged before he would go ashore. And when the king saw that he came not ashore, but still continued warping away the ship, he straight commanded the gunner of the bulwark next unto us to shoot three shots without ball. Then we came all to the said Sonnings, and asked him what the matter was that we were shot at; he said that it was the janisaries who would have the oil ashore again, and willed us to make haste away. And after that he had discharged three shots without ball he commanded all the gunners in the town to do their endeavour to sink us; but the Turkish gunners could not once strike us, wherefore the king sent presently to the Banio (this Banio is the prison whereas all the captives lay at night), and promised that if there were any that could either sink us or else cause us to come in again, he should have a hundred crown, and his liberty. With that came forth a Spaniard called Sebastian, which had been an old servitor in Flanders, and he said that, upon the performance of that promise, he would undertake either to sink us or to cause us to come in again, and thereto he would gage his life; and at the first shot he split our rudder's head in pieces, and the second shot he struck us under water, and the third shot he shot us through our foremast with a culverin shot, and thus, he having rent both our rudder and mast and shot us under water, we were enforced to go in again.

This Sebastian for all his diligence herein had neither his liberty nor a hundred crowns, so promised by the said king; but, after his service done, was committed again to prison, whereby may appear the regard that a Turk or infidel hath of his work, although he be able to perform it—yea, more, though he be a king.

Then our merchants, seeing no remedy, they, together with five of our company, went ashore; and they then ceased shooting. They shot unto us in the whole nine-and-thirty shots without the hurt of any man.

And when our merchants came ashore the king commanded presently that they, with the rest of our company that were with them, should be chained four and four to a hundredweight of iron, and when we came in with the ship there came presently above a hundred Turks aboard of us, and they searched us and stripped our very clothes from our backs, and broke open our chests, and made a spoil of all that we had; and the Christian caitiffs likewise that came aboard of us made spoil of our goods, and used us as ill as the Turks did. And our master's mate, having a Geneva Bible in his hand, there came the king's chief gunner and took it out from him, who showed me of it; and I, having the language, went presently to the king's treasurer, and told him of it, saying that since it was the will of God that we should fall into their hands, yet that they should grant us to use our consciences to our own discretion, as they suffered the Spaniards and other nations to use theirs; and he granted us. Then I told him that the master gunner had taken away a Bible from one of our men: the treasurer went presently and commanded him to deliver up the Bible again, which he did. And within a little after he took it from the man again, and I showed the treasurer of it, and presently he commanded him to deliver it again, saying, "Thou villain! wilt thou turn to Christianity again?" for he was a relagado, which is one that was first a Christian and afterwards becometh a Turk; and so he delivered me the Bible the second time. And then I, having it in my hand, the gunner came to me, and spake these words, saying, "Thou dog! I will have the book in despite of thee!" and took it from me, saying, "If you tell the king's treasurer of it any more, by Mahomet I will be revenged of thee!" Notwithstanding I went the third time unto the king's treasurer, and told him of it; and he came with me, saying thus unto the gunner: "By the head of the Great Turk if thou take it from him again thou shalt have a hundred bastinadoes." And forthwith he delivered me the book, saying he had not the value of a pin of the spoil of the ship—which was the better for him, as hereafter you shall hear; for there was none, either Christian or Turk, that took the value of a pennyworth of our goods from us but perished both body and goods within seventeen months following, as hereafter shall plainly appear.

Then came the guardian Basha, who is the keeper of the king's captives, to fetch us all ashore; and then I, remembering the miserable estate of poor distressed captives in the time of their bondage to those infidels, went to mine own chest, and took out thereof a jar of oil, and filled a basket full of white ruske, to carry ashore with me. But before I came to the Banio the Turkish boys had taken away almost all my bread, and the keeper said, "Deliver me the jar of oil, and when thou comest to the Banio thou shalt have it again;" but I never had it of him any more.

But when I came to the Banio and saw our merchants and all the rest of our company in chains, and we all ready to receive the same reward, what heart is there so hard but would have pitied our cause, hearing or seeing the lamentable greeting there was betwixt us. All this happened the first of May, 1584.

And the