great officers of the court, was coming out to receive me. I advanced a
hundred yards. The emperor and his train alighted from their horses; the
empress and ladies from their coaches; and I did not perceive they were
in any fright or concern. I lay on the ground to kiss his majesty's and
the empress' hand. I told his majesty that I was come, according to my
promise, and with the license of the emperor my master, to have the
honor of seeing so mighty a monarch, and to offer him any service in my
power, consistent with my duty to my own prince; not mentioning a word
of my disgrace, because I had hitherto no regular information of it, and
might suppose myself wholly ignorant of any such design; neither could I
reasonably conceive that the emperor would discover the secret while I
was out of his power.

Three days after my arrival, walking out of curiosity to the northeast
coast of the island, I observed, about half a league off in the sea,
somewhat that looked like a boat overturned. I pulled off my shoes and
stockings, and, wading two or three hundred yards, I found the object to
approach nearer by force of the tide; and then plainly saw it to be a
real boat, which I supposed might by some tempest have been driven from
a ship: whereupon I returned immediately toward the city, and desired
his imperial majesty to lend me twenty of the tallest vessels he had
left, after the loss of his fleet, and three thousand seamen under the
command of the vice-admiral.

This fleet sailed round, while I went back the shortest way to the
coast, where I first discovered the boat. I found the tide had driven it
still nearer. The seamen were all provided with cordage, which I had
beforehand twisted to a sufficient strength. When the ships came up, I
stripped myself, and waded till I came within an hundred yards of the
boat, after which I was forced to swim till I got up to it. The seamen