taken and bound into chains, to be hanged at their arrival in
Constantinople. And, as the Lord's will was, about two days after,
passing through the Gulf of Venice, at an island called Cephalonia,
they met with two of the Duke of Venice, his galleys, which took that
galley, and killed the king's son and his mother, and all the Turks
that were there, in number 150, and they saved the Christian captives;
and would have killed the two Englishmen, because they were circumcised
and become Turks, had not the other Christian captives excused them,
saying that they were enforced to be Turks by the king's son, and
showed the Venetians how they did enterprise at sea to fight against
all the Turks, and that their two fellows were slain in that fight.
Then the Venetians saved them, and they, with all the residue of the
said captives, had their liberty, which were in number 150 or
thereabouts, and the said galley and all the Turks' treasure was
confiscated to the use of the State of Venice. And from thence our two
Englishmen travelled homeward by land, and in this meantime we had one
more of our company which died in Zante, and afterwards the other eight
shipped themselves at Zante in a ship of the said Marcus Segoorus which
was bound for England. And before we departed thence, there arrived
the Ascension and the George Bonaventure of London, in Cephalonia, in a
harbour there called Arrogostoria, whose merchants agreed with the
merchants of our ship, and so laded all the merchandise of our ship
into the said ships of London, who took us eight also in as passengers,
and so we came home. And within two months after our arrival at London
our said purser Richard Burges, and his fellow, came home also, for the
which we are bound to praise Almighty God during our lives, and, as
duty bindeth us, to pray for the preservation of our most gracious
Queen, for the great care her Majesty had over us, her poor subjects,
in seeking and procuring of our deliverance aforesaid, and also for her
Honourable Privy Council; and I especially for the prosperity and good