Part-2
Chapter-1
I faced innumerable difficulties in my adventures, but this did not stop me from going back to the sea. Once again, I left my country on the 20th of June, 1702, in the ship called Adventure, which was to sail for Surat. The journey was good and the wind was very favourable up to the Cape of Good Hope. We halted there in search of fresh water. One of our members discovered a leakage in the ship. It took quite some time for the ship to be repaired. Meanwhile, the captain fell sick and we had to stay there throughout winter. Finally, we left the place towards the end of March.
We started sailing and had a good voyage and reached the northern side of the Straits of Madagascar. The sea in those parts is known to be violent from the beginning of December to the beginning of May. On the 19th of April, it became very rough and much more violent than usual. The storm continued for twenty days. We were driven away from our course and it was a tough time for all of us. We were quite relieved when the storm ceased on the 2nd of May. Our captain was very experienced, and he warned us that the storm had not ceased but simply subsided. He asked us to be prepared for the worse. His words proved to be very true. Next day itself, a southern wind, called the southern monsoon, had begun to set in. It was a very violent storm. The sea became weird and hazardous. The ship faced it bravely but we were driven in such a direction that even the most experienced sailor on board could not tell in which part of the world we had reached. Luckily, we had a good stock of food and all the members of the crew were in a healthy condition. Gradually, the storm subsided.
We decided to sail in the same direction in which we were going to avoid hitting the frozen sea. On the 16th of June, 1703, a boy on the top-mast discovered land.
On the 17th, we could clearly see some land but we were not sure whether it was a great island or a continent. We dropped our anchor and the captain sent a dozen of his men with vessels in search of water in a long boat. After seeking permission from the captain, I accompanied them to the land, because of my urge to see new countries and make whatever discoveries I could. To our surprise, when we reached the land, we saw neither a river nor a spring, nor any sign of inhabitants. While other men wandered on the shore near the sea in search of water, I walked alone on the other side for a mile or so. The country was all deserted and stony and there was nothing adventurous. I moved back towards the place where we had halted the boat. To my great misfortune, I saw all the men, already in the boat, rowing towards the ship. As I was about to shout after them, I saw a huge creature following them in the sea. He was taking great strides but the boat was already a mile or so away from him. I ran back as fast as I could and climbed a steep hill. I didn’t even wait to see what was going to happen. As I stood on the top of the hill, on the other side, I saw a fully cultivated land. The height of the grass amazed me. It was more than twenty feet high.
I climbed down the other side of the hill and started moving. I walked on a road which was like a highway for me. Afterwards, I learnt that it was not a highway but just a small path for the people who lived in that country. I walked on it for some time, but could not see anything around as it was the harvest time and the corn was at least forty feet high.
