Forts on the Townes sides besides the great Fort of Saint Philip on the other when I might haue speedily haue consumed it all with fire I willingly abstained from the same knowing that though I could haue done the King of Spaine exceeding great hurt and haue vndone a number of the Inhabitants yet the good that I should haue done my selfe and mine thereby should haue beene very small in comparison of their damage Only certaine out houses wherein their Negros dwelt I caused to be burned to amaze and put them in feare I also tooke two Frigats of theirs which roade far vp within the Riuer the one of them hauing in her three pieces of Ordnance the which I likewise tooke and brought away from thence with mee with the which Ordnance we beate vpon the enemy marching vnto vs from the Wester Fort. The day being spent at the beginning of the night I embarked my men enriched with the chiefe spoile of the Towne and set saile to depart with my owne two Pinnasses and two shallops and the foresaid two Spanish Frigats which I had wonne but in going out I was shot in at the elbow and out at the wrist with a Musket shot which came from the Wester shoare whereof there were many shot ouer vs besides eight and twentie great shot from the chiefe and Easter Fort which did endanger vs often But God so wrought for vs that we safely got forth againe contrarie to all our enemies expectation who made full account to sinke vs in going forth Being safely come forth wee rode with our Pinnasses and shallops behind a small Iland which lay betwixt vs and the Wester most Fort of Saint Iago vntill my Vice-admirall Captaine Rawlins brought two ships thither which rode somewhat to the Eastward of the Castile of Saint Philip vnder the Rocke where Sir Francis Drake his Coffin was throwne ouer-boord all the while that we were busied in gaining sacking and possessing the Towne Our whole fleet beeing assembled together in the place aforesaid I set the Kings Scriuanâ— and the rest of my prisoners on shore suffering them to depart without paying any kind of ransome And the next day being the ninth of February I set saile and stood off to Sea leauing the goodly Hauen and beautifull Towne of Porto bello which standeth in ten degrees of Northerly latitude and directed my course backe againe toward Cartagena and about twelue leagues to the Eastward thereof I came into a good Bay called Sambo where I watered and staied some twelue or thirteene daies and riding there tooke certaine Frigats which were bound for Cartagena Whereupon the Gouernour Don Pedro de Coronna armed out two Gallies and a Brigandine with some two or three Frigats with a purpose to assault vs but beeing better aduised they would neuer come neere vs. When he heard that I had taken Porto bello one of the chiefest places of the West Indies with so small forces he pulled his beard and sware that he would giue his Mules lade of siluer but to haue a sight of mee and my companie From this Bay of Sambo wee stood ouer for the Iland of Iamaica and so doubled the Cape of Saint Antonio beeing the most Westerly part of Cuba and disimboked through the Gulfe of Bahama the last of March 1602 and came with good weather to the Iles of the Açores where victualling my Vice-admirall and two Pinnasses ouâ— of mine owne ship for two moneths and leauing them at Sea to take some farther purchase with mine owne ship I tooke my course for â—limmouth and arriued there in safetie the sixt of May 1602. CHAP. X. Certaine Notes of a Voyage made by mee DAVID MIDDLETON into the West Indies with Captaine MICHAEL GEARE An. Dom. 1601. THe fiue and twentieth day of May wee set saile from the Lyzard and the tenth day of Iune we fell with the Grand Canarie the Towne standeth on the North-east point of the Iland and the Road is one league to the Northward of it That night we stood of South South-west And the fiue and twentieth day of Iune we were in the latitude of twentie two degrees thirtie minutes The sixe and twentieth day of Iune wee came in companie of seuen saile of Hollanders that were bound for the West Indies to Punta delaraya to lode Salt and the seuen and twentieth day we lost sight of them The second day of Iulie we fell with Saint Vincent When you came from Saint Uincent to the Testogos you must make the way South-west by West or else you shall not fetch it for the Current sets North and by West from them Being to leeward from Caracus two leagues we stood ouer North North-west the wind being at East North-east we fell twelue leagues to the Eastward of Boinara beeing the twelfth of Iulie If you stand ouer from Boinara to Qurasao minded to goe to the South ward of the Iland you must stand South and by West or else you cannot get about because there is a Current that sets North-west and may set you vpon the Iland The three and twentieth day of Iulie wee anchored to the Westward of Qurasao and there the Land lies North and South The nine and twentieth of Iulie we landed vpon Aruba for to get fresh water and there we had seuen men slaine by the Indians of the Iland and we rid with our ship in fiue fathomes water halfe a mile from the shoare One point of the Land bare North the other South-east and by South and there is an high Hill in the midâ—le of the Iland and that bare East and by South Betwixt Coque and the Maine the course is East and West The shoale of Puntall lieth two leagues off the best of the Channell betwixt that Point and Coque is in eight nine and ten fathomes From Bracheo to the Parretaes is fiue leagues course West and by South From the Parretaes to Cape Caldera is twentie fiue leagues course North-west and by West and betwixt the Parretaes and the Maine you shall haue foure fiue six and seuen fathoms water The Road of Morecapana lieth betwixt the Maine and Boracheo within the Ilands The eight day of August we set saile from Aruba and we stood ouer South for the Maine the wind being at East and by South wee fell with Mecola being nine leagues from Aruba Saine Ann is an high Hill vpon the Maine neere vnto Mecola The seuen and twentieth day of August we came to anchor at Portete that is to the Eastward of Cape La uela foure leagues The Cape bare West a little to the Southwards at the going to Portete And on your Larboord side going into Portete there is a round Hill being in the offing it sheweth verie blacke The going into this Harbour is verie narrow but within it is a verie broad Sound and two thousand saile of ships may ride there in verie good ground
and women goe naked as they came into the world when they were first borne so that they couer not their body so much as with a thred no not their priuie parts They make warre with the Macuerendas the flesh they eate is the flesh of Stagges Boares Estridges Conies which excepting the taile are not much vnlike a Dor-mouse or Rere-mouse They aâ—e sixteene leagues distant from the Macuerendas which distance we sailed in foure daies and abode one onely day with them Departing hence we came vnto another Nation called Mepenes who are 10000. strong These people dwell scattered here and there euery where in that Countrie extendiâ—g it selfe fortie leagues in length and breadth yet within two daies both by water and land they may all come together The multitude of the Boates they haue exceedeth the number of themselues as we saw when we were with them and in such a Boate or Canoa about twentie persons are carried This people receiued vs in hostile and warlike manner with fiue hundred Canoas vpon the Riuer but with little profit for themselues for we slew many of them with our shot for they had neuer before seene either Gunnes or Christians But comming to their houses wee could preuaile nothing against them seeing they were a whole league distant from the Riuer of Parana where our Ships lay The waters also about their Towne were very deepe which ran out of a Lake so that we could performe nothing against them that was of any worth saue that we burned and destroyed two hundred and fiftie Canoas which we had taken Neither did we thinke it good also for vs to depart so farre from our Shippes seeing it was to be feared least they would affaile vs from the other side We returned therefore to our Shippes This people of Mepenes fight onely vpon the water and is distant from the former Countrie of Zemais Saluaisco from whence we departed ninetie fiue leagues 19. Sailing vp higher from thence and in eight daies space arriuing at a certaine Riuer we light on a Nation that was very populous called Cueremagbas which also liueth onely with fish and flesh They haue Cherrie trees of the which they make wine This people bestowed their best affections vpon vs and curteously imparted those things vnto vs whereof we stood in neede The people are of a huge and tall stature both men and women The men haue a little hole in their nose into the which for ornament they put a Parrats feather The women paint their faces with long blew streakes which all the time of their life are neuer put out They couer their priuities with Cotten cloath from the nauell to the knees from the foresaid people of Mepenes to these Cueremagbas are fortie leagues so we staied in this place three daies Departing thence we came to another Nation called Aygais which also liueth with fish and flesh The men and women are of a tall stature the women like the former paint their faces and couer their priuities after the same manner When therefore we arriued on their coast taking armes in hostile manner they resisted vs and would haue stopped our passage We ordered our battaile both by land and water and fighting with them slew many of them fifteene also of our men were slaine These Aygais are stout warriers on the water but not so by land Being ready to fight against vs they had conueighed away their wiues and children to another place before and had hidden whatsoeuer prouision of meate or other like things they had so that we could get nothing from them Their Village is scituate neere the Riner called Iepidus hauing the Riuer called Paraboll on the other side descending from the Montainous Countries of Peru neere the Citie Fuech Kamin These Aygais are distant from the foresaid Cueremagbas thirtie fiue leagues 20. Departing from these people we came to a Nation called Carios fiftie leagues distant from the Aygais with whom by Gods grace we found as was told vs plentie of Mais Potatoes and Mandiochpobier hauing the taste of a Chestnut of which they make wine They haue also fish flesh wilde Bore Estridges Indian Sheepe as big as our Mules also Conies Hens Goates and such like sufficient plenty of Honie whereof by boiling it they make a kinde of Coine This Country also aboundeth with Çotten These people of Carios inhabit a large Countrie extending it selfe three hundred leagues in length and breadth they are men of a short stature and thicke and more able to indure worke and labour then the rest The men haue a little hole in their lippes and yellow Christall therein which in their language they call Parabol of two spannes long and of the thicknesse of a quill or reede The men and women both in this Countrie goe all naked as they were created of God Amongst these Indians the Father sels the Daughter the Husband the wife Sometimes also the Brother doth either sell or change the Sister They value a Woman at a Shirt a Knife a Hatchet or some other thing of this kinde These Carios also eate mans flesh if they can get it For when they take any in the warres whether they be men or women yong or old they fatten them no otherwise then wee doe Hogges But they keepe a woman some yeeres if she be yong and of a commendable beautie but if in the meane time she apply not her selfe to all their desires they kill and eate her making a solemne banquet as marriages are wont to be celebrated with vs. But they keepe an old woman till she dye of her owne accord These Carios vndertake longer iournies then any of these Nations vpon the Riuer of Plate They are couragious and fierce in battaile and their Villages and Townes are situate vpon the Riuer Parana on an high and mounting land 21. The Citie of these people which the Inhabitants call Lampere was compassed with a double bulwarke cunningly made of timber as with a hedge or inclosure euery trench being of the bredth and thicknesse of a man and one bulwarke or trench was twelue paces distant from the other The trenches being digged a fathome deepe into the earth were so high aboue the ground as a man might reach with the length of a Sword They had also Pits and Caues fifteene paces distant from the walls cast vp the height of three men in the middest whereof pikes were stucke yet not appearing aboue ground as sharpe pointed as a Pinne They made these Pits so couered with straw putting twigs and branches therein with a little earth strowed betweene that we Christians pursuing them or being readie to assault their Towne might fall into them But they cast these pits for them selues and at length they fell into them for when our Generall Iohn Eyollas gathering all his Souldiers together who were not aboue three hundred for they left sixtie to guard the Brigantines ordering and ranging the companies went against their Citie
new Authors may teach beating off and on sometimes to the Westwards sometimes to the Eastwards with a fairegale of winde Being betwixt three and foure degrees of the Equinoctiall line my Company within a few daies began to fall sicke of a disease which Sea-men are wont to call the Scuruie and seemeth to be a kinde of dropsie and raigneth most in this climate of any that I haue heard or read of in the world though in all Seas it is wont to helpe and increase the miserie of man it possesseth all those of which it taketh hold with a loathsome sloathfulnesse that euen to eate they would be content to change with sleepe and rest which is the most pernicious enemie in this sicknesse that is knowne It bringeth with it a great desire to drinke and causeth a generall swelling of all parts of the body especially of the legges and gummes and many times the teeth fall out of the iawes without paine The signes to know this disease in the beginning are diuers by the swelling of the gummes by denting of the flesh of the legges with a mans finger the pit remaining without filling vp in a good space others show it with their lasinesse others complaine of the cricke of the backe c. all which are for the most part certaine tokens of infection The cause is thought to be the stomacks feeblenesse by change of aire in vntemperate climates of diet in salt meates boiled also in Salt water and corrupted sometimes the want of exercise also either in persons or elements as in calmes And were it not for the mouing of the Sea by the force of windes tydes and currants it would corrupt all the world The experience I saw in Anno 1590. lying with a Fleete of her Maiesties Ships about the Ilands of the Azores almost six moneths the greatest part of the time we were becalmed with which all the Sea became so replenished with seuerall sorts of gellyes and formes of Serpents Adders and Snakes as seemed wonderfull some greene some blacke some yellow some white some of diuers colours and many of them had life and some there were a yard and halfe and two yards long which had I not seene I could hardly haue beleeued And hereof are witnesses all the Companies of the Shippes which were then present so that hardly a man could draw a Bucket of water cleere of some corruption In which Voyage towards the end thereof many of euery Ship sauing of the Nonpereli which was vnder my charge and had onely one man sicke in all the Voyage fell sicke of this disease and began to die apace but that the speedie passage into our Countrie was remedy to the crazed and a preseruatiue for those that were not touched The best preuention for this disease in my iudgement is to keepe cleane the Shippe to besprinkle her ordinarily with Uinegar or to burne Tarre and some sweet sauours to feede vpon as few salt Meats in the hot Country as may be and especially to shun all kindes of salt Fish and to reserue them for the cold Climates and not to dresse any meate with salt water nor to suffer the companie to wash their Shirts nor Cloathes in it nor to sleepe in their Cloathes when they are wet For this cause it is necessarily required that prouision be made of apparell for the Company that they may haue wherewith to shift themselues Being a common calamitie amongst the ordinary sort of Mariners to spend their thrift on the shore and to bring to Sea no more Cloathes then they haue backes for the body of man is not refreshed with any thing more then with shifting cleane Cloathes a great preseruatine of health in hot Countries The second Antidote is to keepe the company occupied in some bodily exercise of worke of agilitie of pastimes of dancing of vse of Armes these helpe much to banish this infirmitie Thirdly In the morning at discharge of the watch to giue euery man a bit of bread and a draught of drinke either Beere or Wine mingled with water at the least the one halfe or a quantitie mingled with Beere that the poores of the bodie may be full when the vapours of the Sea ascend vp The morning draught should bee euer of the best and choisest of that in the ship Pure wine I hold to be more hurtfull then the other is profitable In this others will be of a contrary opinion but I thinke partiall If not then leaue I the remedies thereof to those Phisicions and Surgeons who haue experience And I wish that some learned man would write of it for it is the plague of the Sea and the spoyle of Mariners doubtlesse it would bee a Worke worthy of a worthy man and most beneficiall for our Countrie for in twentie yeeres since I haue vsed the Sea I dare take vpon me to giue account of ten thousand men consumed with this disease That which I haue seene most fruitfull for this sicknesse is sowre Oranges and Lemmons and a water which amongst others for my particular prouision I carried to the Sea called Doctor Steuens water of which for that his vertue was not then well knowne vnto me I carried but little and it took end quickly but gaue health to those that vsed it The Oyle of Vitry is beneficiall for this disease taking two drops of it and mingled in a draught of water with a little Sugar It taketh away the thirst and helpeth to clense and comfort the stomacke But the principall of all is the Ayre of the Land for the Sea is naturall for Fishes and the Land for men And the oftner a man can haue his people to Land not hindering his Voyage the better it is and the profitablest course that he can take to refresh them Hauing stood to the Westwards some hundred leagues and more the winde continuing with vs contrary and the sicknesse so feruent that euery day there died more or lesse my company in generall began to be dismayed and to desire to returne homewards which I hindered by good reasons and perswasions As that to the West Indies we had not aboue eight hundred leagues to the Ilands of Azores little lesse and before wee come to the Ilands of Cape de Verde that wee should meete with the Breze for euery night we might see the reach goe contrary to the winde which we sayled by verifying the old Prouerbe amongst Mariners That hee hath need of a long Mast that will sayle by the Reach and that the neerest Land and speediest refreshing wee could looke for was the Coast of Brasill c. As wee approached neerer and neerer the Coast of Brasill the winde beganne to vere to the Eastwardes and about the middle of October to bee large and good for vs and about the eighteenth of October wee were thwart of Cape Saint Augustine which lieth in sixe degrees to the Southwards of the Line and the one
yet rich of Gold The nineteenth of Aprill being Easter-euen we anchored vnder the Iland Mocha It lyeth in thirty nine degrees it may bee some foure leagues ouer and is a high mountaynous Hill but round about the foot thereof some halfe league from the Sea-shore it is Champaine ground wel inhabited and manured From the Straits to this Iland we found that either the Coast is set out more Westerâ—y then it is or that we had a great current which put vs to the Westwards for wee had not sight of Land in three dayes after our reckoning was to see it but for that wee coasted not the Land I cannot determine whether it was caused by the current or lying of the Land But Spaniards which haue sayled alongst it haue told me that it is a bold and safe Coast and reasonable sounding of it In this Iland of Mocha we had communication and contractation with the Inhabitants but with great vigilancie and care for they and all the people of Chily are mortall enemies to the Spaniards and held vs to bee of them and so esteemed Sir Francis Drake when hee was in this Iland whâ—ch was the first Land also that hee touched on this Coast. They vsed him with so fine a treachery that they possessed themselues of all the Oares in his Boat sauing two and in striuing to get them also they slue and hurt all his men himselfe who had fewest wounds had three and two of them in the head Two of his company which liued long after had the one seuenteene his name was Iohn Bruer who afterward was Pilot with Master Candish and the other aboue twentie a Negro Seruant to Sir Francis Drake And with me they vsed a policie which amongst barbarous people was not to be imagined although I wrought sure for I suffered none to treate with me nor with my people with Armes Wee were armed and met vpon a Rocke compassed with water whether they came to parley and negotiate Beeing in communication with the Casiques and others many of the Indians came to the heads of our Boates and some went into them Certaine of my people standing to defend the Boats with their Oares for that there went a bad sege were forced to lay downe their Muskets which the Indians perceiuing endeauoured to fill the barrels with water taking it out of the Sea in the hollow of their hands By chance casting mine eye aside I discouered their flynesse and with a Truncheon which I had in mine hand gaue the Indians three or foure good Lambeskinnes The sheepe of this Iland are great good and fat I haue not tasted better Mutton any where They were as ours and doubtlesse of the breed of those which the Spaniards brought into the Countrey Of the sheepe of the Countrey wee could by no meanes procure any one although we saw of them and vsed meanes to haue had of them This Iland is situate in the Prouince of Arawea and is held to bee peopled with the most valiant Nation in all Chily though generally the Inhabitants of that Kingdome are very couragious They are clothed after the manner of antiquitie all of woollen their Cassockes made like a Sacke square with two holes for the two armes and one for the head all open below without lining or other art but of them some are most curiously wouen and in colours and on both sides alike Their houses are made round in fashion like vnto our Pidgeon houses with a louer in the top to euacuate the smoake when they make fire They brought vs a strange kinde of Tobacco made into little cakes like Pitch of a bad smell with holes through the middle and so laced many vpon a string The people of this Iland as of all Chily are of good stature and well made and of better countenance then those Indians which I haue seene in many parts They are of good vnderstanding and agilitie and of great strength Their weapons are Bowes and Arrowes and Macanas their Bowes short and strong and their Arrowes of a small Reed or Cane three quarters of a yard long with two Feathers and headed with a flint-stone which is loose and hurting the head remaineth in the wound some are headed with bone and some with hard wood halfe burnt in the fire We came betwixt the Iland and the Mayne On the South-west part of the Iland lieth a great ledge of Rockes which are dangerous and it is good to be carefull how to come too neere the Iland on all parts Immediatly when they discouered vs both vpon the Iland and the Mayne wee might see them make sundry great fires which were to giue aduice to the rest of the people to bee in a readinesse for they haue continuall and mortall warre with the Spaniards and the shippes they see they beleeue to be their Enemies The Citie Imperiall lyeth ouer against this Iland but eight or ten leagues into the Countrey for all the Sea-coast from Baldiuia till thirtie sixe Degrees the Indians haue now in a manner in their hands free from any Spaniards Hauing refreshed our selues well in this Iland for that little time we stayed which was some three dayes we set sayle with great ioy and with a faire winde sayled alongst the Coast and some eight leagues to the North-wards wee anchored againe in a goodly Bay and sent our Boats ashoare with desire to speake with some of the Indians of Arawca and to see if they would be content to entertaine amitie or to chop and change with vs. But all that night and the next morning appeared not one person and so we set saile againe and towards the Euening the wind began to change and to blow contrary and that so much and the Sea to rise so suddenly that wee could not take in our Boats without spoyling of them This storme continued with vs tenne dayes beyond expectation for that wee thought our selues out of the Climate of fowle weather but truely it was one of the sharpest stormes that euer I felt to endure so long The storme tooke end and we shaped our course for the Iland of Saint Maries which lyeth in thirtie seuen degrees and fortie minutes and before you come vnto the Iland some two leagues in the Trade way lieth a Rocke which afarre off seemeth to be a ship vnder sayle This Iland is little and low but fertill and well peopled with Indians and some few Spaniards in it Some ten leagues to the Northwards of this Iland lieth the Citie Conception with a good Port from this wee coasted alongst till wee came in thirtie three degrees and forty minutes In which height lay the Ilands of Iuan Fernandes betwixt threescore and fourescore leagues from the shoare plentifull of fiâ—h and good for refreshing I purposed for many reasons not to discouer my selfe vpon this Coast till we were past Lyma otherwise called Ciuidad de los Reyes for that it
him on the face and tooke the Cazique But he hauing his men so neere escaped away and left a Mantle of his of the skinnes of the Martinet Sables which in my iudgement are the best of all the World and haue a scent whereunto the scent of Ambergrise and Muske is not comparable and the scent thereof was smelt very farre off We saw also other but none like vnto that Now seeing the Gouernour wounded we set him aboord and caused him to bring with him the greater part of the men vnto the Boats and fifty of our men only remayned on land to fight with the Indians who that night assaulted vs three times and with so great violence that euery time they made vs retyre a stones cast so that there was not one of our men that was not wounded After this we returned to imbarke our selues and sayled three dayes and hauing taken a little water as much as the few vesiels we had were able to carrie wee returned to fall into the same necessitie wherein we were first And going on our Voyage we entred into a Strait where abiding we saw a Canow of the Indians comming and as we called vnto them they came and the Gouernour to whose Boat they were neerest demanded water of them who offered it him if he would giue them vessels wherein to carrie it so a Greeke Christian called Theodoro of whom mention is made before said that he would goe with them And although the Gouernour and many other laboured to disswade him yet he would needs goe thither and carried a Negro with him and the Indians left for hostages two of their men Those Indians returned in the Euening and brought vs our vessels without water but brought not our two Christians againe and those two men of theirs who remayned for pledges as soone as they spake vnto them would haue cast themselues into the water but our men who had them in the Boat held them and so the other Indians fled and left vs much confounded and sorrowful for the two Christians which we had lost The morning following many other Canoas of the Indians came vnto vs demanding their two companions which they left vs for hostages The Gouernour answered that he would giue them vnto them so that they would restore vs our two Christians Fiue or sixe Lords came with those people and it seemed to vs that they were of a very good disposition and of greater authority and retinue then all the rest wee had found hitherto although they were not of so tall a stature as the other before mentioned They wore their haire loose and very long and were couered with mantles of Martinets of the same sort whereof we spake before and some of them were made of a very strange fashion hauing certaine laces of the worke of Lions skinnes which seemed very faire They prayed vs that we would goe with them and they would giue vs our two Christians and water and many other things and many Canoas came continually vpon vs endeauouring to take the mouth of that passage and so therefore because the place was very dangerous we went out to Sea where we stayed with them vntill noone But not being willing to restore our Christians and therefore we also would not restore their two hostages they began to cast stones at vs with slings making shew also that they would shoot at vs although we saw not aboue three or foure Bowes among them And while wee continued thus a fresh gale of winde beganne to blowe and they went their way So we sayled all that day vntill the euening at what time my Boat that went before discouered a point which the Land made and at the other end I saw a Riuer then I anchored at a small Iland which maketh that point to stay for the other Boats The Gouernour would not come neere it but put into a flat shoare very neere thereunto where many small Ilands were and there wee all met together and tooke fresh water within the Sea because the Riuer ranne into the Sea continually and with great violence And that wee might bee able to bake a little Maiz which wee brought because for two dayes before we had eaten it raw we went aland on that Iland but finding no wood there we agreed to goe vnto the Riuer which was behind the Point one league from thence And as wee went the current of the Riuer was so great that by no meanes it suffered vs to arriue but droue vs backe from the Land §. II. Misery pursues them at Sea and betrayes them to the Indians their miserable liues and death WEe sayled foure dayes euery one eating halfe a handfull of raw Maiz a day by ratement At the end of these foure dayes a tempest tooke vs which made vs recouer the Boat of Captaine Telles and through the great mercy which God shewed to some of vs we were not wholly drowned And being Winter and exceeding cold and so many dayes wherein we had sustained hunger with many blowes which wee receiued from the Sea the day following the men began very much to faint in such manner that when the Sunne went downe all those that were in my Boat were fallen one vpon the other so neere vnto death that few of them had any sense and among all them there were not fiue that could stand on their feete and when night came there remained no more but the Master and my selfe that could mannage the Boat and two houres within night the Master said vnto mee that I should take charge of my Boat because he was in such case that he held it for certainty that hee should die that night And so I tooke the rudder and midnight being past I went to see if the Master were dead who said vnto me that suddenly he was better and that hee would guide the Boat vntill day Then surely I found my selfe in such state that much more willingly I would haue receiued death then see so many men before me in that manner wherein they were and after the Master tooke charge of the Boat I rested my selfe a little but very vnquietly because at that time nothing was further from me then sleepe And about the morning me thought that I heard the noise and roaring of the Sea because being a very lowe Coast it raged much whereupon when I heard this I called to the Master who answered me that he supposed we were now neere vnto the Land and sounding we found our selues in seuen fathome and he thought it fit that we should abide at Sea vntill the day appeared And so I tooke an Oare and rowed to the Lands side which we found one league distant and put the stearne to the Sea And being neere to the Land a waue tooke vs which cast the Boat backe againe into the Sea as farre as a man might well fling a stone and with the great blowe which it gaue almost all the men who remained there as dead
but we could not descrie the same through the thicknesse of the fogge whereunto these coasts are subiect which was the cause that we put farther certaine leagues into the Sea vntill the next day in the morning when we descried land the weather being very cleere which was the Cape of Saint Marie The twelfth day following we were ouertaken with a great flaw of winde which lasted two dayes The fifteenth of the said moneth wee descried the Isles of Saint Peter The seuenteenth following we met with a banke of Ice neere Cape de Raie sixe leagues in length which caused vs to strike saile all the night to auoide the danger we might incurre The next day we set saile and descried Cape de Raie and the Isles of Saint Paul and Cape de Saint Laurence which is on the South side And from the said Cape of Saint Laurence vnto Cape de Raie is eighteene leagues which is the breadth of the entrance of the great Gulfe of Canada The same day about ten of the clocke in the morning we met with another Iland of Ice which was aboue eight leagues long The twentieth of the said moneth we discried an Isle which containeth some fiue and twenty or thirty leagues in length which is called the Isle of Assumption which is the entrance of the Riuer of Canada The next day we descried Gachepe which is a very high land and began to enter into the said Riuer of Canuda ranging the South coast vnto the Riuer of Mantanne which is from the said Gachepe sixtie fiue leagues from the said Riuer of Mantanne we sailed as farre as the Pike which is twenty leagues which is on the South side also from the said Pike we sailed ouer the Riuer vnto the port of Tadousac which is fifteene leagues All these Countries are very high and barren yeelding no commoditie The foure and twentieth of the said moneth we cast anker before Tadousac and the six and twentieth we entred into the said Port which is made like to a creeke in the entrance of the Riuer of Saguenay where there is a very strange currant and tide for the swiftnesse and depth thereof where sometimes strong windes do blow because of the cold which they bring with them it is thought that the said Riuer is fiue and forty or fiftie leagues vnto the first fall and it commeth from the North North-west The said Port of Tadousac is little wherein there cannot ride aboue ten or twelue Ships but there is water enough toward the East toward the opening of the said Riuer of Sagenay along by a little hill which is almost cut off from the maine by the Sea The rest of the Countrie are very high Mountaines whereon there is little mould but rockes and sands full of woods of Pines Cypresses Fir-trees Burch and some other sorts of trees of small price There is a little Poole neere vnto the said Port enclosed with Mountaines couered with woods At the entrance of the said Port there are two points the one on the West side running a league into the Sea which is called Saint Matthewes point and the other on the South-east side containing a quarter of a league which is called the point of all the Diuels The South and South South-east and South South-west windes doe strike into the said hauen But from Saint Matthewes Point to the said Point of all the Diuels is very neere a league Both these Points are dry at a low water THe seuen and twentieth day we sought the Sauages at the Point of Saint Matthew which is a league from Tadousac with the two Sauages whom Monsieur du Pout brought with him to make report of that which they had seene in France and of the good entertainement which the King had giuen them As soone as we were landed we went to the Caban of their great Sagamo which is called Anadabijou where we found him with some eightie or a hundred of his companions which were making Tabagie that is to say a Feast Hee receiued vs very well according to the custome of the Countrey and made vs sit downe by him and all the Sauages sat along one by another on both sides of the said Cabine One of the Sauages which we had brought with vs began to make his Oration of the good entertainement which the King had giuen them and of the good vsage that they had receiued in France and that they might assure themselues that his said Maiestie wished them well and desired to people their Countrey and to make peace with their enemies which are the Irocois or to send them forces to vanquish them He also reckoned vp the faire Castels Palaces Houses and people which they had seene and our manner of liuing He was heard with so great silence as more cannot be vttered Now when he had ended his Oration the said grand Sagamo Anadabijon hauing heard him attentiuely began to take Tobacco and gaue to the said Monsieur du Pont Grane of Saint Malo and to mee and to certaine other Sagamos which were by him after he had taken store of Tobacco he began to make his Oration to all speaking distinctly resting sometimes a little and then speaking againe saying that doubtlesse they ought to be very glad to haue his Maiestie for their great friend they answered all with one voyce ho ho ho which is to say yea yea yea He proceeding forward in his speech said That he was very well content that his said Maiestie should people their Countrey and make warre against their enemies and that there was no Nation in the world to which they wished more good then to the French In fine hee gaue them all to vnderstand what good and prefit they might receiue of his said Maiestie When hee had ended his speech we went out of his Cabine and they began to make their Tabagie or Feast which they make with the flesh of Orignac which is like an Oxe of Beares of Seales and Beuers which are the most ordinary victuals which they haue with great store of wilde Fowle They had eight or ten Kettels full of meate in the middest of the said Cabine and they were set one from another some six paces and each one vpon a seuerall fire The men sat on both sides the house as I said before with his dish made of the barke of a tree and when the meate is sodden there is one which deuideth to euery man his part in the same dishes wherein they feede very filthily for when their hands be fattie they rub them on their haire or else on the haire of their dogs whereof they haue store to hunt with Before their meate was sodden one of them rose vp and took a dog danced about the said Kettels from the one end of the Cabin to theother when he came before the great Sagamo he cast his dog perforce vpon the ground and then all of them with one voice cried ho ho ho
Pinnasse All this Riuer is some three hundred or foure hundred paces broad and very wholsome Wee saw fiue Ilands in it distant one from the other a quarter or halfe a league or a league at the most one of which is a league long which is the neerest to the mouth and the others are very small All these Countries are couered with Trees and low Lands like those which I had seene before but here are more Firres and Cypresses then in other places Neuerthelesse the soile is good although it bee somewhat sandy This Riuer runneth in a manner South-west The Sauages say that some fifteene leagues from the place where we were vp the Riuer there is a Sault which falleth downe from a very steepe place where they carry their Canowes to passe the same some quarter of a league and come into a Lake at the mouth whereof are three Ilands and being within the same they meete with more Iles This Lake may containe some fortie or fiftie leagues in 〈…〉 gth and some fiue and twentie leagues in breadth into which many Riuers fall to the number of ten which carrie Canowes very far vp When they are come to the end of this Lake there is another fall and they enter againe into another Lake which is as great as the former at the head whereof the Irocois are lodged They say moreouer that there is a Riuer which runneth vnto the Coast of Florida whether it is from the said last Lake some hundred or an hundred and fortie leagues All the Countrey of the Irocois is somewhat Mountaynous yet notwithstanding exceeding good temperate without much Winter which is very short there AFter our departure from the Riuer of the Irocois wee anchored three leagues beyond the same on the North side All this Countrie is a lowe Land replenished with all sorts of trees which I haue spoken of before The first day of Iuly we coasted the North side where the wood is very thinne and more thinne then wee had seene in any place before and all good land for tillage I went in a Canoa to the South shoare where I saw a number of Iles which haue many fruitfull trees as Vines Wal-nuts Hasel-nuts and a kinde of fruit like Chest-nuts Cheries Oskes Aspe Hoppes Ashe Beech Cypresses very few Pines and Firre-trees There are also other trees which I knew not which are very pleasant Wee found there store of Strawberries Rasp-berries Goos-berries red greene and blue with many small fruits which growe there among great abundance of grasse There are also many wilde beasts as Orignas Stagges Does Buckes Beares Porkepickes Conies Foxes Beauers Otters Muske-rats and certaine other kindes of beasts which I doe not knowe which are good to eate and whereof the Sauages liue Wee passed by an I le which is very pleasant and containeth some foure leagues in length and halfe a league in breadth I saw toward the South two high Mountaines which shewed some twentie leagues within the Land The Sauages told mee that here beganne the first fall of the foresaid Riuer of the Irocois The Wednesday following wee departed from this place and sayled some fiue or sixe leagues Wee saw many Ilands the Land is there very lowe and these Iles are couered with trees as those of the Riuer of the Irocais were The day following being the third of Iuly we ranne certaine leagues and passed likewise by many other Ilands which are excellent good and pleasant through the great store of Medowes which are thereabout as well on the shoare of the maine Land as of the other Ilands and all the Woods are of very small growth in comparison of those which wee had passed At length we came this very day to the entrance of the Sault or Fall of the great Riuer of Canada with fauourable wind and wee met with an I le which is almost in the middest of the said entrance which is a quarter of a league long and passed on the South side of the said I le where there was not past three foure or fiue foot water and sometimes a fathome or two and straight on the sudden wee found againe not past three or foure foot There are many Rockes and small Ilands whereon there is no wood and they are euen with the water From the beginning of the foresaid I le which is in the middest of the said entrance the water beginneth to runne with a great force Although we had the wind very good yet wee could not with all our might make any great way neuerthelesse wee passed the said Ile which is at the entrance of the Sault or Fall When wee perceiued that wee could goe no further wee came to an anchor on the North shoare ouer against a small Iland which aboundeth for the most part with those kinde of fruits which I haue spoken of before Without all delay wee made ready our skiffe which wee had made of purpose to passe the said Sault whereinto the said Monsieur de Pont and my selfe entred with certaine Sauages which we had brought with vs to shew vs the way Departing from our Pinnace we were scarse gone three hundred paces but we were forced to come out and cause certain Mariners to goe into the water to free our Skiffe The Canoa of the Sauages passed easily Wee met with an infinite number of small Rockes which were euen with the water on which wee touched oftentimes There he two great Ilands one on the North side which containeth some fifteene leagues in length and almost as much in breadth beginning some twelue leagues vp within the Riuer of Canada going toward the Riuer of the Irocois and endeth beyond the Sault The Iland which is on the South side is some foure leagues long and some halfe league broad There is also another Iland which is neere to that on the North side which may bee some halfe league long and some quarter broad and another small Iland which is betweene that on the North side and another neerer to the South shoare whereby wee passed the entrance of the Sault This entrance being passed there is a kinde of Lake wherein all these Ilands are some fiue leagues long and almost as broad wherein are many small Ilands which are Rockes There is a Mountaine neere the said Sault which discouereth farre into the Countrie and a little Riuer which falleth from the said Mountaine into the Lake On the South side are some three or foure Mountaines which seeme to be about fifteene or sixteene leagues within the Land There are also two Riuers one which goeth to the first Lake of the Riuer of the Irocois by which sometimes the Algoumequins inuade them and another which is neere vnto the Sault which runneth not farre into the Countrey At our comming neere to the said Sault with our Skiffe and Canoa I assure you I neuer saw any streame of water to fall downe with such force as this doth although it
anchored at the three Riuers This day wee sayled some foure leagues beyond the said three Riuers The Tuesday following we came to Quebec and the next day wee were at the end of this I le of Orleans where the Sauages came to vs which were lodged in the maine Land on the North side Wee examined two or three Algoumequins to see whether they would agree with those that wee had examined touching the end and the beginning of the said Riuer of Canada They said as they had drawne out the shape thereof that hauing passed the Sault which wee had seene some two or three leagues there goeth a Riuer into their dwelling which is on the North side So going on forward in the said great Riuer they passe a Sault where they carrie their Canoas and they come to passe fiue other Saults which may containe from the first to the last some nine or ten leagues and that the said Saults are not hard to passe and they doe but draw their Canoas in the most part of the said Saults or Falls sauing at two where they carrie them from thence they enter into a Riuer which is as it were a kinde of Lake which may containe some sixe or seuen leagues and then they passe fiue other Falls where they draw their Canoas as in the first mentioned sauing in two where they carrie them as in the former and that from the first to the last there are some twenty or fiue and twenty leagues Then they come into a Lake contayning some hundred and fifty leagues in length and foure or fiue leagues within the entrance of that Lake there is a Riuer which goeth to the Algoumequins toward the North and another Riuer which goeth to the Irocois whereby the said Algoumequins and Irocois make warre the one against the other Then comming to the end of the said Lake they meete with another Fall where they carrie their Canoas From thence they enter into another exceeding great Lake which may containe as much as the former They haue beene but a very little way in this last Lake and haue heard say that at the end of the said Lake there is a Sea the end whereof they haue not seene neither haue heard that any haue seene it But that where they haue beene the water is not salt because they haue not entred farre into it and that the course of the water commeth from the Sun-setting toward the East and they knowe not whether beyond the Lake that they haue seene there be any other course of water that goeth Westward That the Sunne setteth on the right hand of this Lake which is according to my iudgement at the North-west little more or lesse and that in the first great Lake the water freezeth not which maketh mee iudge that the climate is there temperate and that all the Territories of the Algoumequins are lowe grounds furnished with small store of wood And that the coast of the Irocois is Mountainous neuerthelesse they are excellent good and fertile soyles and better then they haue seene any where else That the said Irocois reside some fifty or sixty leagues from the said great Lake And this assuredly is all which they haue told mee that they haue seene which differeth very little from the report of the first Sauages This day wee came within some three leagues of the I le of Coudres or Filberds On Thursday the tenth of the said moneth wee came within a league and an halfe of the I le Du Lieure or Of the Hare on the North side where other Sauages came into our Pinnace among whom there was a young man an Algoumequin which had trauelled much in the said great Lake Wee examined him very particularly as wee had done the other Sauages Hee told vs that hauing passed the said Fall which wee had seene within two or three leagues there is a Riuer which goeth to the said Algoumequins where they be lodged and that passing vp the great Riuer of Canada there are fiue Falls which may containe from the first to the last some eight or nine leagues whereof there bee three where they carrie their Canoas and two others wherein they draw them that each of the said Falls may be a quarter of a league long then they come into a Lake which may containe some fifteene leagues Then they passe fiue other Falls which may containe from the the first to the last some twenty or fiue and twenty leagues where there are not past two of the said Falls which they passe with their Canoas in the other three they doe but draw them From thence they enter into an exceeding great Lake which may containe some three hundred leagues in length when they are passed some hundred leagues into the said Lake they meet with an Iland which is very great and beyond the said Iland the water is brackish But when they haue passed some hundred leagues farther the water is yet falter and comming to the end of the said Lake the water is wholly salt Farther he said that there is a Fall that is a league broad from whence an exceeding current of water descendeth into the said Lake That after a man is passed this Fall no more land can be seene neither on the one side nor on the other but so great a Sea that they neuer haue seene the end thereof nor haue heard tell that any other haue seene the same That the Sunne setteth on the right hand of the said Lake and that at the entrance thereof there is a Riuer which goeth to the Algoumequins and another Riuer to the Irocois whereby they warre the one against the other That the Countrie of the Irocois is somewhat mountainous yet very fertile where there is store of Indian Wheat and other fruits which they haue not in their Countrie That the Countrie of the Algoumequins is lowe and fruitfull I enquired of them whether they had any knowledge of any Mines They told vs that there is a Nation which are called the good Irocois which come to exchange for merchanâ—â—ses which the French ships doe giue to the Algoumequins which say that there is toward the North a Mine of fine Copper whereof they shewed vs certaine Bracelets which they had receiued of the said Good Irocois and that if any of vs would goe thither they would bring them to the place which should bee appointed for that businesse And this is all which I could learne of the one and the other differing but very little saue that the second which were examined said that they had not tasted of the salt water for they had not beene so farre within the said Lake as the others and they differ some small deale in the length of the way the one sort making it more short and the other more long So that according to their report from the Sault or Fall where wee were is the space of some foure hundred leagues vnto the
our Ship with Furres and Tobacco This we perceiued to be onely a meere deuice to get possession of any of our men to ransome all those we had taken which their naturall pollicy could not so shaddow but we did easily discouer and preuent These meanes were by this Sauage practised because we had one of his kinsmen prisoner as we iudged by his most kinde vsage of him being aboord vs together Thursday the thirteenth of Iune by two a clocke in the morning because our Captain would take the helpe and aduantage of the Tide in the Pinnace with our Company well prouided and furnished with Armour and Shot both to defend and offend we went from our Ship vp to that part of the Riuer which trended West into the Maine to search that and wee carried with vs a Crosse to erect at that point which because it was not day-light we left on shoare vntill our returne backe when we set it vp in manner as the former And this we deligently obserued that in no place either about the Ilands or vp in the Maine or along the Riuer wee could discerne any token or signe that euer any Christian had beene before which either by cutting wood digging for water or setting vp Crosses a thing neuer omitted by any Christian trauailours wee should haue perceiued some mention left But to returne to our Riuer vp into which we then rowed by estimation twenty miles What profit or pleasure is described and truely verified in the former part of the Riuer is wholly doubled in this for the breadth and depth is such that any Ship drawing seuenteene or eighteene foote water might haue passed as farre as we went with our Shallop and by all our iudgements much further because we left it in so good depth which is so much the more to be esteemed of greater worth by how much it trendeth further vp into the Maine for from the place of our Ships riding in the Harbour at the entrance into the Sound to the furthest point wee were in this Riuer by our estimation was not much lesse then threescore miles From each Banke of this Riuer are diuers branching streames running into the Maine whereby is afforded an vnspeakeable profit by the conueniency of easie transportation from place to place which in some Countries is both very chargeable and not so fit by Carriages on Wane or Horsebacke Here wee saw store of Fish some leaping aboue water which we iudged to be Salmon for they were great All along is an excellent mould of ground the wood in most places especially on the Easterne side very thin chiefely Oake and small Birch bordering low vpon the Riuer all fit for Meddow and pleasant Pasture ground And in that space wee went wee had on both sides the Riuer many plaine places of cleere Meddow some of three or foure acres some eight or nine so as we iudged in the whole to be betweene thirty and forty acres of good grasse and where the Armes runne into the Maine there likewise went a space on both sides of the cleare grasse how farre we knew not In many places we might see pathes Beasts had made to come downe to watering And we all concluded as I verily thinke we might rightly that we should neuer see the like Riuer in euery degree equall vntill it pleased God we beheld the same againe for the further we went the more pleasing it was to euery man alluring vs still with expectation of better so as our men although they had with great labour rowed long and eate nothing for we carried with vs no victuall but a little Cheese and Bread yet they were so refreshed with the pleasant beholding thereof and so loath to forsake it as some of them affirmed they would haue continued willingly with that onely fare and labour two dayes but the Tide not suffering vs to make any longer stay because we were to come backe with the ebbe and our Captaine better knowing what was fit then we and better what they in labour were able to endure being very loath to make any desperate hazard where so little necessitie required thought it best to make returne because whether we had discouered was sufficient to conceiue that the Riuer ranne very farre into the Land for we passed sixe or seuen miles altogether fresh water whereof we all dranke forced vp by the flowing of the Salt which after a great while ebbe where we left it by bredth and depth of Channell was likely to runne by estimation of our whole companie an vnknowne way further And as our Captaine verily thought although hee then concealed it might possibly make a passage into or very nigh the South Sea which hee neither had commission nor time now to search but hath left that till his next returne if it shall so please God to dispose of him and vs. Friday the fourteenth of Iune early by foure a clocke in the morning with the Tide our two Boats and a little helpe of the winde we warped our shippe downe to the Riuers mouth and there came to an anchor about about eleuen a clocke Afterward our Captaine in the Pinnace searched the sounding all about the mouth and comming into the Riuer for his certaine instruction of a perfect description The next day being Saturday we weighed anchor and with a briese from the Land we sayled vp to our watering place and there stopped went ashoare and filled all our empty caske with fresh water Our Captaine vpon the Rocke in the middest of the Harbour made his certaine obseruation by the Sunne of the height latitude and variation exactly vpon all his Instruments 1. Astrolabe 2. Semisphere 3. Ring-instrument 4. Crosse staffe 5. And an excellent Compas made for the variation The latitude he found to be 43. degrees 20. minutes North. The variation 11. degrees 15. minutes viz. one point of the Compas Westward And it is so much in England at Lime-house by London Eastward The temperature affoorded to vs no speciall alteration from our disposition in England somewhat hotter vp into the Maine because it lieth open to the South but scarse yeelding a sensible difference to any of vs. The aire so wholsome as I suppose not any of vs found our selues at any time more healthfull more able to labour nor with better stomachs to such good fare as we partly brought and partly found Sunday the sixteenth of Iune the winde being faire and because wee had set out of England vpon a Sunday descried the Ilands vpon a Sunday and as we doubted not by Gods appointment happily fallen into our Harbour vpon a Sunday so now beseeching him with like prosperitie to blesse our returne into England and from thence with his good-will and pleasure to hasten and fortunate our next arriuall here Wee set sayle and quit the Land vpon a Sunday Tuesday the eighteenth day of Iune being not runne aboue fiue and thirty leagues from Land and our Captaine for his
septentrionem per directam lineam introitum siue oâ—tium magnae illius stationis nauium traijcientem quae excurrit in terrae orientalem plagam inter Regionis Suriquorum Etechemmorum vulgo Suriquois Etechemines ad fluuium vulgo nomine Santae Crucis appellatum Et ad scaturiginem remotissimam siue fontem ex occidentali parte eiusdem qui se primum praedicto fluâ—io immiscet vnde per imaginariam directam lineam quae pergere per terram seu currere versus septentrionem concipietur ad proximam nauium stationem fluuium vel scaturiginem in magno flunio de Cannada sese exonerantem Et ab co pergendo versus orientem per maris oras littorales eiusdem fluuij de Cannada ad fluuium stationem nauium portum aut littus communiter nomine de Gachepe vel Gaspie notum appellatuÌ„ Et deinceps versus Euronotum ad insulas Bacalaos vel Cap. Briton vocatas Relinquendo casdem Insulas à dextra voraginem dicti magni fluuij de Cannada siue magne stationis naâ—ium terras de New-found-land cum insulis ad easdem terras pertinentibus à sinistra Et deinceps ad Caput siue promentorum de Cap. Briton praedictum iacens prope latitudinem quadraginta quinque gradnum aut eo circa Et à dicto promentorio de Cap. Briton versus meridiem Occidentem ad praedictum Cap. Sable vbi incipit per ambulatio includenda comprehenda intra dictas maris oras littorales ac carum circumferentias à mari ad omnes terras continentis cum fluminibus torrentibus sinubus littoribus insulis aut maribus iacentibus prope infra sex lucas ad aliquam earundem partem ex occidentali boreali vel orientali partibus ororum litteralium praecinctuum earundem Et ab Euronoto vti iacet Cap. Britton ex australi parte eiusdem vbi est Cap. de Sable omnia maria ac insulas versus meridiem intra quadraginta leucas dictarum orarum littoralium earundem magnam insulam vulgariter appellatam Ile de Sable vel Sablon includen iacen versus carban vulgo South South-east circa triginta leucas à dicto Cap. Britton in mari existen in latitudine quadraginta quatuor graduum aut eo circa Quae quidem terrae praedictae omni tempore affuturo nomine Noua Scotia in America gauâ—lebunt Quas etiam praefatus Dominus Willelmus in partes portiones sicut et visum fuerit diuidet ijsdemque nemiâ—â— pro beneplacito imponet Vua cum omnibus fodinis tum regalibus auri argenti quam alijs fodinis ferri plumbi cupri stanni aeris c. In cuius rei testimonium huic praesenti Chartae nostrae magnum Sigillum nostrum apponipraecepimus Testibus praedict is nostris consanguineis Confiliarijs Iacobo Marchione de Hamilton Comite Arraniae Cambridge Domino Auen Innerdail Georgio Mariscalli comite Domino Keith alt regni nostri Mariscallo Alexandro Comite de Dunfermling Domino Fyviae vrquhant nostro Cancellaris Thoma Comite de Melâ—os Domino Byres Bynning nostro Secretario Dilectis nostris familiaribus Consiliarijs Domino Richardo Ko Kburne Iuniore de Clerkington nostri Secreti Sigills custode Georgio Hay de Knifarunis nostrorum Rotulorum Registrorum ac Concilij Clerico Ioanne Cockburne de Ormestoun nostrae lustitiariae Clerico Ioanne Scot de Scottistaruet nostrae Cancellariae Directore Militibus Apud Castellum nostrum de Winsore decimo die mensis sebtembris Anno Domini milesimo sex entesimâ— vigesimo primo Regnorumque nostrorum annis quinquagesimo quinto decimo nonâ— This Scale conteineth 150 English Leagues The three and twentieth of Iune they loosed from Saint Iohns Harbour in New-found-Land and sayled towardes New Scotland where for the space of fourteene dayes they were by Fogges and contrarie Windes kept backe from spying Land till the eight of Iuly thereafter that they saw the West part of Cape Breton and so till the thirteenth day they sayled to and fro alongst the Coast till they came the length of Port de Muton where they discouered three very pleasant Harbours and went a shoare in one of them which they called Lukes Bay where they found a great way vp to a very pleasant Riuer being three fathoms deepe at low water at the entry thereof and on euery side of the same they did see very delicate Meadowes hauing Roses white and red growing thereon with a kind of wild Lilly which had a very daintie smell The next day they resolued to coast alongst to discouer the next Harbour which was but two leagues distant from the other where they found a more pleasant Riuer being foure fathom water at a low water with Meadowes on both sides thereof hauing Roses and Lillies growing thereon as the other had They found within this Riuer a very fit place for a Plantation both in regard that it was naturally apt to bee fortified and that all the ground beweene the two Riuers was without Wood and was good fat earth hauing seuerall sorts of Berries growing thereon as Gooseberry Strawberry Hyndberry Rasberry and a kinde of Red-wineberry As also some sorts of Graine as Pease some eares of Wheat Barley and Rye growing there wild the Pease grow euery where in abundance very big and good to eate but taste of the Fitch This Riuer is called Port Iolly from whence they coasted alongst to Port Negro being 12. leagues distant where all the way as they sailed alongst they found a very pleasant Countrey hauing growing euery where such things as they did see in the two Harbours where they had beene They found like wise in euery Riuer abundance of Lobsters and Cockles and other small fishes and also they found not onely in the Riuers but all the Coast alongst numbers of seuerall sorts of Wild-fowle as Wild-goose Black-Duck Woodcock Herron Pigeon and many other sorts of Fowle which they knew not They found likewise as they sailed alongst the Coast abundance of great God with seuerall other sorts of great fishes The Countrey is full of Woods not very thick and the most part Oake the rest Fir-tree Spruce Birch and many other sorts of wood which they had not seene before Hauing discouered this part of the Countrey in regard of the voyage their Ship was to make to the Straits with fishes they resolued to coast alongst from Lukes Bay to Port de Muton being foure leagues to the East thereof where they encountred with a Frenchman that in a very short time had a great voyage hauing furnished one Ship away with fishes and had neere so many ready as to load his owne Ship and others And hauing taken a view of this Port which to their iudgement they found no wayes inferiour to the rest they had seene before they resolued to retire backe to New-found-land where their Ship was to receiue her loading of fishes the twentieth of Iuly they
aide 5000. foote and 1000. horse at her owne charge to be by them after repayed the first yeares charges in the first yeare of peace the rest in the foure following Flushing and the Ramekins and Brill to remaine â—ers in caution c. Her Maiestie set forth a Booke also for her iustification by the ancient leagues with the Belgian Prouinces for mutuall defence the Spanish crueltie on the poore Belgians and their nefarious deuises against her neither had she any intent in administring these aides but that the Low-Countries might enioy their ancient liberty she and her subiects their securitie and both Nations peaceable commerce And to the end that warre might not first be brought home to her owne doores she set forth a Fleete to finde the Spaniard worke abroad Hereupon Anâ—o 1585. Sir Francis Drake with a Fleete of fiue and twenty saile and 2300. Souldiers and Sailers was set forth from Plimmouth Sep. 12. Christopher Carlile his Lieutenent Generall Anthonie Powell Sergeant Maior Captaine Matthew Morgan and Iohn Samson Corporall of the field Land Captaines Anthonie Plat Edward Winter Iohn Goring Robert Pen George Barton Iohn Merchant William Ceuill Walter Bigs Iohn Haman Richard Stanton Captaine Martin Frobisher Viceadmirall in the Primrose Captaine Francis Knolles Rereadmirall in the Gallion Leicester Captaine Thomas Vennâ—r in the Eliz. Bonaduenture vnder the Generall Captaine Edward Winter in the Aide Christopher Carlile in the Tigre Henry White Captain of the Sea Dragon Thomas Drake Captaine of the Thomas Thomas Seely Captaine of the Minion Captaine Bayly of the Barke Talbot Robert Crosse of the Barke Bond George Fortescue of the Barke Boner Edward Carelesse of the Hope Iames Erizo of the White Lyon Thomas Moone of the Fancis Iohn Riuers of the Vantage Iohn Vaughan of the Drake Iohn Varney of the George Iohn Martin of the Beniamin Richard Gilman of the Scout Richard Hawkins of the Ducke Captaine Bitfield of the Swallow They tooke a Shippe of Saint Sebastians laden with fish entred the Iles of Bayon and sent to the Citie to know whether there were warres betwixt England and Spaine and why the English Merchants and their goods in Spaine were embarged or arrested The Gouernour professed his ignorance in both and that this later was the Kings pleasure After some spoiles done about Vigo they fell with Hierro but the Iland being poore departed without harme Thence they went to the Iles of Cape Verde and at Saint Iago entred betwixt the Towne called Playa or Praya and Saint Iago landed 1000. men and the men being fled entred the Towne and shot off all their Ordnance being 50. peeces answered from the Ships to honour the Queenes day the 17. of Nouember No Treasure was found but Wine Oyle Meale c. They possessed it foureteene dayes Nouember the foure and twentieth they marched to Saint Domingo twelue miles within land and found the people fled After foureteene dayes they departed hauing burned the Towne of Playa none of the inhabitants hauing offered to intercede which seemed to happen from their guiltinesse towards old Master William Hawkins whose men perfidiously they had murthered foure or fiue yeares before against their promise putting off to the West Indies they could not put off the effects of the aire of that Iland which by a Calentura killed two or three hundred of their men The first Iland which they fell with was Dominica the next Saint Christophers and hauing there spent their Christmas they resolued for Hispaniola and hauing receiued intelligence by a Frigot which they tooke in the way they landed nine or ten miles to the Westward of Saint Domingo on New yeares day About noone they approached the Towne vnder the conduct of Master Carlile and 150. horsemen presenting themselues from the Citie being retired they diuided their forces to assault both the Westerne gates at once The Ordnance being discharged on them they ran in to preuent a second charge and entred with them pell mell into the Gates the enemy altering their fight into flight which they made by the North gate Both troopes met in the Market-place and there barricadoed themselues The Castle was abandoned the next night They held the Towne a whole moneth They burned many houses before they could bring the Spaniards to a price for the ransome of the rest for which at last they paid after much spoile 25000. Duckets The pray was not much In the Towne-house were the Kings armes and in the lower part of the scutchion was painted a globe of the Sea and Land a horse standing thereon with his hinder legges the forepart without the globe with this motto ascribed to his mouth Non sufficit Orbis From Saint Domingo they set saile for Carthagena on the Continent landing some Companies with Captaine Carlile fiue miles of which were led on by night the Generall with this Fleete presenting themselues before the chained Port and hauing gotten the Citie held the same six weekes They tooke Alonso Brauo the Gouernour After many houses burned 11000. Duckets were paid for ransome of the rest from burning The Calentura continued killing some being a pestilent spotted Feuer and spoyling others of their strength and memory for a long time The Serena or Euening ayre is said to cause it to them which are then abroad if not of that Countrey so that by holding their watch the English were thus infected This forced them to giue ouer their intended voyage to Nombre de Dios and Panama sailing therefore alongst the coast of Florida they tooke and fired two garrison Townes of the Spaniards Saint Anthonie and Saint Helena and the Fort of Saint Iohn Then passing alongst the Virginian shore they tooke home the English Colonie there remaining with Master Lane their Gouernour sent by Sir Walter Raleigh These are said by Master Camden to haue beene the first bringers in of the vse of Tobacco since so frequently abused by our Nation They arriued at Portsmouth the 28. of Iuly 1586. They got Ordnance of Brasse aboue 200. peeces and about 40. of Iron They prey was valued at 60000. li. English There dyed most of the Calentura 700. persons The industry of the Generall in all places is remakeable whose vigilance and bodily presence and labour in all businesse was much that had he beene in the meanest he had merited the highest place To this is fittest in next place to adde his Cadiz exploit Anno 1587. and the taking of the rich Caracke called Saint Philip. HEr Maiestie being informed of that inuincible Armadas preparing in Spaine which did come and was ouercome the yeare after sent a fleete of 30. saile vnder the command of Sir Francis Drake the Bonaduenture the Lyon the Dread-naught and the Rainbow were out of her Nauy Royall chosen to this seruice The 16. of Aprill two Shippes of Midleborough which came from Cadiz with whom we met in 40. degrees gaue him to vnderstand that there was great
benefit of eight oares in the night time by foule weather suddenly arising we lost the sight of our ship and though our ship sought vs and we them for a fortnight together yet could we neuer meet together againe Howbeit within two dâ—â—es after we lost them we recouered the shoare and releeued our selues with Muscels Oysters Grabs and some sorts of Roots in the Woods and within a fortnight after the losse of our con 〈…〉 s wee returned backe into the Straites of Magellan and in two places came on land on the mayne of America to relieue our selues in certaine Bayes where wee found Oysters Muscels and Crabs as before and filled our Barricos with fresh water and in one of these places we found Sauages but they fled from vs. Afterward we came to Penguin Iland in the Straites and there wee salted and dryed many of the Penguins for our sustenance Thence we shaped our course for Port Saint Iulian where Sir Francis Drake not many moneths before had beheaded Captayne Doutie In this Port we stayed a day or two and tooke fish like Breames and Mackerils with hookes and lines Then costing the land for some fortnight some hundred leagues beyond the Riuer of Plate wee found a small Iland three leagues from the mayne full of Seales whereof wee killed good store to our sustenance the young ones we found best and eate them roast Then passing ouer the Riuer of Plate to the North side we put into a small Riuer and went vp into the Woods sixe of vs other two remayning on the shore to looke to the Boat While we were thus seeking food in the Woods the people of the Countrey called Tapines some sixtie or seuentie armed with Bowes and Arrowes shot fiercely at vs and wounded vs all very grieuously and foure of vs were taken by them and neuer recouered the rest of vs they pursued to our Pinnasse and wounded vs all but in the end we put them to flight Thence we went to an Iland some three leagues of in the Sea not aboue a league in compasse Where wee cured our selues as well as we might yet so that two of vs died of our late wounds and that which was worse for want of helpe Through foule weather our Pinnasse was dasht against the Rockie shoare and broken and now there remayned aliue of vs eight no more but my selfe Peter Carder and William Pitcher Here we remayned the space of two moneths in all which time for our victuals wee had a fruit somewhat like vnto Oranges growing vpon a high Tree the leafe whereof was somewhat like the Aspen leafe and small white Crabs creeping vpon the sand and little Eeles which we found vnder the sands but in all this Iland we could not find any fresh water in the World insomuch that we were driuen to drinke our owne vrine which we saued in some sheards of certaine Iarres which we had out of our Pinnasse and set our vrine all night to coole therein to drinke it the next morning which thus being drunke often and often auoyded became in a while exceeding red in all this time wee had no raine nor any good meanes to saue it if it had fallen whereupon seeing our selues in so great extremitie wee deuised how we might get vnto the Mayne and by good fortune found a planke of some ten foot in length which of likelihood had driuen from the Riuer of Plate whereunto with withes wee bound some other wood and furnishing our selues with the foresaid fruit Eeles and Crabs wee committed our selues to God hoping with the setting in of the tyde and with the helpe of two poles which we vsed in stead of Oares to attayne vnto the Mayne which was some three leagues off but wee made it three dayes and two nights before we could come to the Mayne At our comming first on land we found a little Riuer of very sweet and pleasant water where William Pitcher my onely comfort and companion although I diswaded him to the contrary ouer dranke himselfe being pinched before with extreame thirst and to my vnspeakeable griefe and discomfort within halfe an houre after dyed in my presence whom I buried aswell as I could in the sand The next day following as I trauelled along the shoare towards Brasill hauing mine Arming Sword and Target with me I met with some thirtie of the Sauages of the Countrey called Tuppan Basse which being armed with Bowes and Arrowes and hauing two or three great Rattles with stones in them and a kind of Tabrets that they vsed in stead of Drummes they went dancing before me about a Musket shot off and then they stayed and hanged vp a piece of a white Net of Cotton-wooll vpon a sticks end of foure foote high and went from it about a Musket shot off then I comming vnto it tooke it in my hand viewed it and hung it vp againe then many of them beckning and weauing with their hands cryed vnto mee Iyorie Iyorie which as afterward I vnderstood by liuing long among them was as much as Come hither Then I came to them and they friendly led me a long some halfe a mile all the way dancing aswell men as women whereof there were some eight in the company vntill we came to another Riuer side where they hanged vp their Beds tying them fast to a couple of Trees being a kinde of white Cotton Netting which hanged two foot from the ground and kindled fire of two sticks which they made on both sides of their Beds for warmth and for driuing away of wilde beasts and hauing fed me with such as they had we tooke our rest for that night The next day earely in the morning they tooke downe and trussed vp their beds crying tiasso tiasso which is to say away away and marched that day towards Brasill some twentie miles and came to their Towne where their chiefe Gouernour was This Towne was built foure square with foure houses onely euery house containing aboue two Bowe shot in length and the houses made with small trees like an Arbour being thatched ouer downe to the ground with Palme tree leaues they haue no windowes but some thirtie or fortie doores on euery side of this squadron by which each Familie passeth in and out their chiefe Lord whose name was Catou being a man of some forty yeares old had nine wiues but the rest haue onely one wife except such as are counted more valiant then the rest which are permitted two wiues one to looke to their children at home and the other to goe to the warres with them This Towne contained very neere 4000. persons of all sorts The next day the Gouernour sent diuers of his people abroad to bring in all sorts of victuall which the Countrie yeelded and offered them vnto me to see which of them I liked best among which there was great store of fish as well Sea-fish as fresh water-fishes many sorts of Fowles
Schoutens Ship and men attached and be and his had a seruile returne Cano came or rather â—â—â—d homes like Magalianes ghost hardly and with a few escaping Noort scarsly escaped taking drowning firing trechery and hostilitie Spilbergen got blowes in the South Sea where Drake and Candish were made rich and returned an Indian Merchant Three Dutch worthies but all lighted their candles at these two English Torches Thus may we magnifie Drakes swimming and can die the memorie of our Candish But where it is said ye are Gods it is added ye shall dye like men The Sea is a â—aâ—ing wauering foundation the windes theatre both for Comedies and Tragedies You haue seene Drake acting both and in both you here finde Candish Christ is yesterday to day the same for euer God is without shadow without passibilitie or possibilitie of change a light in whom is no darkenesse but sublunarie things are like the Moone their neerest Planet which neuer viewes the earth two dayes together with one face God hath made our way to him so full of chances and changes that our vnstedie slippery way on this earth and calme-storme-voyage in these Seas may make vs more to meditate and thirst after that hauen of instabilitie and heauen of eternity Some passionate speeches of Master Candish against some priuate persons not employed in this action I haue suppressed some others I haue let passe not that I charge Captaine Dauis or others but that it may appeare what the Generall thought of them Master Hakluyt hath published Master Ianes report of this Voyage which makes more fauourable on Captaine Dauis his side If hee did deale treacherously treacherie found him out as in his last Voyage before is declared If any thinke the Captaine here to conceiue amisse I shall be willing to haue the most charitable conceit and therefore remit the Reader to Master Hakluyts Relation afore said for his apologie the sum whereof and of that Voyage is this Master Iane there relateth that Aug. 26. 1591. Captaine Candish set forth from Plimmouth with three tall Shippes the blacke Pinnace and a Barke Nouemb. 29. they fell with the coast of Brasile They tooke the Towne of Santos and burnt Saint Vincent After a cruell storme they arriued at Port Desire and after fell with the Magellan straites Occasionally saith Iane they lost Captaine Candish and went backe to Port Desire to seeke him and whiles Captaine Dauis further intended to seeke out the Generall a dangerous conspiracie was plotted to murther him by Parker and Smith There is also a testimoniall subscribed by fortie men Thence they returned to the Straits and had sight of the people which were very strong nimble and naked Sep. 13. they came in sight of the South Sea and being forced backe the next day put forth againe and being eight or ten leagues free from land were repelled into the Straits Octob. 2. they put into the South Sea againe and were free of all land and there in a storme lost the blacke Pinnace The Shippes company were in despaire of life but by Gods grace recouered the Straits and a third time came to Port Desire and there lost nine of their men of which Parker and Smith were two being on Land for Wood and Water they knew not what became of them but guessed that the Saluages had deuoured them For the eleuenth of Nouember while most of the men were at the I le of Pengwins onely the Captaine and Master with sixe others left in the Shippe there came a great multitude of Sauages to the Shippe there on ground on the oaze throwing dust in the ayre leaping and running like bruite Beasts hauing vizors on their faces like Dogges faces or else their faces are Dogges faces indeede We feared they would set our Shippes on fire for they would suddenly make fire whereat wee maruelled setting the bushes on fire but scared with Peeces they fled Here they found much Scuruie-grasse which recouered them and dried 20000. Pengwins making some salt by laying the salt water on rockes in holes The sixt of February many reported to each other their dreames of killing and the like and that day they lost 13. men at Placentia Their dried Pengwins when they came neerer the Sun began to corrupt and there bred in them a most loathsome and vgly worme which deuoured their victuals cloathes timbers and all but Iron not sparing their flesh when they were asleepe so that they could scarcely sleepe Their multitude was such that they could not destroy them Another disease tooke them with swelling in their anckles two daies after which shortnesse of breath then falling into their cods and yards so tormenting them that diuers fell mad and died on fiue onely did the labour of the Ship relye and Iune 11. 1593. without victuals sailes or men God guided them to Beare-hauen in Ireland But let vs heare Master Candish himselfe more then acting his owne part Discite justitiam moniti Let not prosperitie poyson the soule with the sting of the old Serpent swelling in pride ingratitude or contempt of God or Man let not any magnifie himselfe in whatsoeuer exploits or trust in vncertaine riches or promise to himselfe the perpetuall smiles of the world and then it shall seeme no new thing nor cause of despaire if shee hites in stead of kissing Shee is a Witch which transformeth men into Swine with her Cyrcaean cups if the minde learne not by Religion to fasten it selfe to God to account him her treasure and make her selfe the treasurie as a Pilgrime pressing toward the prize of our high calling that inheritance of the Saints in light for which Robes to bee stripped of these Rags is a blessed purchase meanwhile knowing that nothing doth shall can happen but by his providence which is a Father most wise louing bountifull and mercifull which alreadie hath giuen vs his Sonne doth now giue his Spirit and will giue vs himselfe No Rocks can wrack that Soule no stormes oppresse no Seas can sinke no fortunes can either puffe vp with successe or sinke and make to shrinke in it selfe by any pressures to despaire which hath thus made God her portion yea the worst of aduersities by a holy Antiperistasis doe contract and more vnite the soules forces to greater acts of fortitude in doing and suffering his Will to whos 's ours ought alway to be subordinated It is the voice of a Pagen but the vertue of a Christian Omnia mea mecum porto and with Iob to say The Lord hath giuen the Lord hath taken blessed bee the Name of the Lord. I haue giuen Master Kniuets Relation after this of Master Candish as before Peter Carder after Sir Francis Drake that at both serued vnder them in their Discoueries so they may in this our Discouerie of those Discoueries as Pages to those Worthies the one a Mariner wayting on a Mariner the other a Gentleman following a Gentleman both vnmatchable by any English for the rare aduentures
many small peeces of Gold that we found in many places where the water washed away the Earth the Gouernour Generall tooke it paying vs for it more then it was worth and sent it to the King with a Sey for to consider whether it should be wrought or not the Gouernor Generall sent likewise 40000. pounds worth of Plate that he had wrought out of the Myne of Saint Paul which is twelue leagues from San Vincents In the time that I went to Etapusicke my Master was gone home then I serued as a Souldier for the space of three moneths that shipping went to the Riuer of Ienero then the Gouernour Generall requited my paines very honourably and sent me backe againe to my Master After that my Master sent to a place called the Organs which Hill is to bee seene from the Riuer of Ienero where we found a little Myne of Gold and many good stones There came a Hulke out of Spaine that brought a Bishop and a Spanish Gouernor to goe from thence in small shipping to the Riuer of Plate and from thence to Somma A little after that this Hulke arriued at the Riuer of Ienero where fell a disease in the Countrey like the meazels but as bad as the plague for in three moneths their dyed in the Riuer of Ienero aboue three thousand Indians and Portugals this disease was generally in all parts of the Countrey At this time going vp and downe from the Sugar-mill to the ship in the night with a Barke lading of Brasill for the Hulke with the Ayre one of my legges swelled that I could not stirre it is common and very dangerous in those Countries when a man is hot to come in the Ayre especially in the night for being a hot Countrey it hath a piercing ayre and suddenly striketh in any part of the bodie I was very ill for the space of a moneth The fourteenth of August 1601. Saluador Corea de Sasa Gouernour of the Riuer of Ianuary embarked himselfe in the aforesaid Hulke with his Wife Donenes de Soso determining to make his Voyage to Fernambuquo we sayled East to Seaward The fifteenth day wee kept still Eastward to the Sea The sixteenth day we kept North-east and about tenne of the clocke we had sight of the Cape The seuenteenth eighteenth and nineteenth hauing the wind North-west we kept stil Eastward for feare of the sands and cliffes called Aborollas they lye betweene the Cape and Spirito Santo The twentieth day hauing the winde South wee sayled our course North-east This course we kept till the fiue and twentieth of the moneth then the winde turned Northward we made East to Sea this course we were faine to keepe till the last day of the moneth the first of February the winde being at South-west wee sayled North-east along the Coast till the seuenth day of the moneth The eight day the Master and the Pilot tooke the height of the Sun and were ten degrees and an halfe Southward of the Line As the Master and the Pilot were talking together concerning the Voyage there came a Sea-foule and sitting vpon the backe stay cast out two or three little fishes with that a Spaniard called Iasper Conquero who had some experience of the Coast said to the Master take heed for I am afraid you are neerer the shoate then you take your selfe to bee for you know not how the current driueth you Westward vpon the Coast the Flemmings bade him meddle with his owne businesse and that they knew what to do without his counsell the Pilot made himselfe forty leagues from the shore directed his course North. The ninth day at midnight wee descried Land the Pilot presently cast his Lead and found but eight fathomes water then he commanded the Saylers to cast about the which they did the wind being at North-east and wee being neere the shore could not beare vp to Sea for wee saw Clifts both on the starboord and larboord side of vs and before wee could get out our Anchor we were driuen so neere the Clifts on the lee side of vs that wee had no other remedie but to runne vpon the Rockes where we had beene all cast away but that it was the pleasure of God to deliuer vs for wee lay with the Prow of our ship vpon one of the Rockes for the space of halfe an houre and we were faine to cut off both our Masts and to cast many chists ouer-boord thinking it had beene impossible to saue any thing but it was the will of God when wee least thought of it that a great Sea brake ouer the Rocke and put vs into eight fathomes water betweene the Rockes and the Cliffes so by the prouidence of God wee were deliuered out of the aforesaid danger The next day we saw Canibals along the shore then the Gouernour commanded mee to be set on shore to talke with the wilde people and to know of them vpon what Coast wee were or if we might goe to Fernambuquo by land the Captaine commanded a Mamaluke called Antonio Fernandes to goe with me ashore but when we came to land this Mamaluke durst not goe on shore for feare of the wilde Canibals so I went alone and saluted them according to the fashion of the Countrey then I enquired of them how they called the place where they were they told me that it was called Cororeyespe which is the Riuer of Toades likewise they said that we were very neere the Riuer of Saint Francis and Northward we had the Riuer called Saint Michell and that they were slaues to the Portugals of Fernambucke hauing driuen cattle to Baya and now they returned home againe One of these bond-slaues went aboord the shippe with mee and talked with the Gouernour the next day the Gouernours Wife entreated her husband that hee would leaue the Hulke and goe by land the which he did at his wifes request so commanding all his Treasure to be set on shore we left our ship the Gouernour commanded the Master to take Fernambuquo if it were possible if not that he should goe to Baya and from thence into Portugall with any ships that should depart from thence this Hulke had nine tunnes of Siluer in her the which incharged to Diego de Guadro by the Gouernour Generall Don Francisco de Sasa and at Fernambuquo the charge of it was giuen to my Master Saluador Corea de Sasa from the place where we were driuen on shore to Fernambucke is fortie leagues In this iourney from the Riuer of Toades or from the Clifts called Bayshas Deamrobrio did I and Domingos Gomes alway carrie a Boxe of pure Gold of my Masters some twelue leagues from the aforesaid Riuer of Toades to a place called by the Indians Vpauasou are three leagues this Vpauasou is a very singular good place to take flesh water from Vpauasou to another Riuer called Casuays is one league from the Casuayes to the Riuer of Saint Michell are foure leagues at
found it nothing so Some bad fresh-water pearles I found there which were nothing round Orient nor very great I brought of them with me to the Spaniards and they said they were no Pearles but Topasses Camalaha is a place where they sell Women at certaine times in the manner of a Faire And there you shall buy colours such as the Saluages paint themselues with In this Faire which is called Camalaha which is to the South of Orenoco I bought eight young Women the eldest whereof I thinke neuer saw eighteene yeeres for one red-hafted knife which in England cost mee one halfe-peny I gaue these Women away to certaine Saluages which were my friends at the request of Warituc the Kings Daughter of Murrequito Tar or Taroo is an Iland which is to the South South-west of Orenoco To which place I went because they said there was neuer any that inhabited in this Iland but that it was in the manner of a bayting place for the Caribes when they had stollen people which they meant to eate One Captaine Caramatoij was my guide to this place whither we went somewhat strong with intent if wee could finde any Caribes on this Iland to kill them but wee found none Many houses wee found there couered with straw which wee set on fire And there I found close by the water side going about the Iland which was but small many stones of diuers colours To the West of this Riuer and Iland which is called Tar or Taroo is a Riuer which is called Habuc There are about this Riuer in most places eight ten seuenteene and thirtie fathomes water This Riuer of Habuc commeth from the Sea The entrance of this Riuer at the mouth is barred but at a full Sea you shall haue fourteene and fifteene foot water but in the Channell in which the Canoas enter which is but narrow there is more then sixe fathoms but I doubt that ships cannot enter there This Riuer Habuc is the best and surest harbour that I could finde for our ships and freest from the danger of the enemie and is not full eight dayes iourney from Orenoco The Riuer Europa lyeth to the East of Orenoco as you come from Trinidad you may as I certainly know going some twentie leagues in the Riuer of great Amana discouer the great and high Mountaine which is called Oecopa being there you shall plainly see the Playnes or Downes of Samia through which Playnes you may safely march ouer the Land within ten or twelue leagues of Cumana or to the Caracas From Orenoco also it is very easie to goe to the Towne of Santo Domingo which beareth North North-west directly but you must passe of force the Riuer Amapaia leauing the Iland called Amazones South and beare your course as neere as you can North-west or North North-west By this course you shall passe and escape the force and danger of the Towne and land some sixe dayes iourney from Santo Domingo The Riuer Wiaumli is to the North of Orenoco To goe into this Riuer which is little worth you may goe in the Land till you come to another small Riuer which is called Maccah directing your course South you shall within two dayes if your Canoa bee good enter the Riuer of Wiaumli The Land taketh the name of the Riuer The Gouernours name is Woripur Worrok Halaha Carrabouca is in the firme Land of the great Iland called Murrequito it is the common trade to goe to the rich Guiana or Manoa Drano is a faire Riuer but it is dangerous to goe farre in it by reason it lyeth due South-east from Orenoco and the Southermost part of the Moores of Anebas is very low so that the tanie waters issue in great abundance into this Riuer of Drano The danger for entring this Riuer is nothing but the doubt is onely of the bad water and most terrible dewes which fall from the Moores which are vnhealthfull and kill the Indians daily for that continually when they trauell they lie in the open aire The Eastermost part of Dorado is called Emeria There is a small Riuer which lyeth farre East in Emeria and beareth North North-west Through this Riuer called Capurisol is a sure a perfect and most safe way to goe to Peru but the iourney will aske eight or ten weekes to finish it Through these Riuers of force wee must passe with Canoas or Ship-boats or such like for there is alway very little water The Riuer of Capurisol lyeth in eight degrees and two terces to the North of the Equinoctiall Line But the North starre keepeth his degree and altitude 11. degrees and two terces In this Riuer is still a fine small brise of winde which lightly bloweth at West but at noone you shall hardly finde any winde CHAP. XII Captaine CHARLES LEIGH his voyage to Guiana and plantation there THe one and twentieth of March 1604. Captaine Charles Leigh in the Oliue Plant a proper Barke of some fiftie Tunnes accompanied with six and fortie men and boyes departed from Wolwich with intention to discouer and inhabit some part of the Countrie of Guiana where he had beene in a former voyage they stayed in the Downes vntill the eight and twentieth of the said moneth and passing thence they touched in the I le of Mogador on the coast of Barbarie in the moneth of Aprill where we stayed about some fiue dayes and watered on the mayne land in despite of the rebell Moores which would haue had money for our watering Thence with prosperous winde coasting the Iles of Cape Verde we passed ouer to the West Indies and vpon the tenth of May comming in change of water which shewed thicke and white by the next day we were in fresh water and the next day following about fiue in the morning wee saw two Ilands in the mouth of the Riuer of Amazones making account that we were fortie leagues vp the Riuer and came to an anchor in three fathoms vnder them which wee found low land couered with high Trees Then the Captaine with some eight of the best men of the ship went toward the shoare and finding many Indians comming toward them they returned aboard and found the ship almost aground but sounding the Bay brought their ship into the Channell which they found very narrow Within awhile after foure Indians in a small Canoa shewed themselues vnto vs to whom we sent our Boat with some of our commodities as Hatchets Kniues Glasses Beades they had nothing but Maiz and small blue-headed Parrots for which we gaue them some of our triffles Not long after another Canoa comming out our Boat clapt betweene them and the shoare to take some of them to learne the state of the Riuer by them but they freed themselues all saue one youth which was brought aboard which next day after escaped leaping into the Sea twelue leagues as we iudged from land Thus we tooke our leaue of the Riuer of Amazones
too great for so few shâ—ps of no greater burden was in all fourscore and seuenteene whereof threescore were Land-men Being thus imbarked wee set saile from the Rainge at Dartmouth the said three and twentieth of March but the winde altering vpon a sudden put vs backe againe that euening and about two of the clocke the next morning it comming better for vs we weighed anchor and put to Sea the euening following we lost sight of the Lizzard and steered away for the Canaries The seuenth day of Aprill we fell with Alegranza and Lancerote two Ilands of the Canaries we stood in with Alegranza and came to anchor on the South-west side thereof that euening and the next day I landed my companie to exercise their limmes on shoare in this Iland wee found no Inhabitants nor fresh water neither fruitfull Tree Plant Herbe Grasse nor any thing growing that was good onely an abundance of vnwholsome Sea-fowle which after one meale were vnsauourie and distastefull and a few wilde Capritos or wilde Goats which the craggy Rocks defended from our hands and hungrie mouthes The eighth of Aprill we departed from Alegranza and directed our course for Tenerife another of the Ilands The eleuenth day I sent the Pinnasse and the Shallop to water at the Calmes and there to attend my comming but with my ship I held my course for Orotauo a Towne on the other side of the Iland in hope to get some wine amongst the Merchants there but not being able by reason of a contrarie winde to double Punta de Nega wee altered our course from Wine to Water And the twelfth day wee passed by Santa Cruz and watered that euening at the Calmes This watering place is very conuenient for all such as passe by those Ilands and is thus to bee found there is a woodden Crosse neere vnto it the high Pike of Tenerife beareth due North from it There is also a ledge of Rocks to the Eastward of the landing place which is a short Sandie Bay When you are landed you shall finde the place about fortie or fiftie yards from the Sea side Then we stood on our course for the Riuer of Wiapoco in Guiana hauing a prosperous winde faire weather and a smooth Sea The ninth day of May wee fell into the Current of the great and famous Riuer of Amazones which putteth out into the Sea such a violent and mightie streame of fresh water that being thirtie leagues from land we drunke thereof and found it as fresh and good as in a Spring or Poole This Riuer for the great and wonderfull breadth contayning at the mouth neere sixtie leagues is rightly termed by Iosephus Acosta the Empresse and Queene of all Flouds and by Hiâ—ronymus Giraua Tarraconensis it is said to bee the greatest not onely of all India but also of the whole world and for the greatnesse is called of many the Sweet Sea It riseth and floweth from the Mountaines of Peru and draweth out her streames in many windings and turnings vnder the Equinoctiall for the space of one thousand and fiue hundred leagues and more although from her Fountaines and Springs vnto the Sea it is but sixe hundred When we entred into the aforesaid Current we sounded and had fortie foure fathome water sandie sounding The tenth day the colour of the water changed and became muddie whitish and thicke then we sounded againe at noone and had thirtie fathome and seuenteene at foure in the afternoone The eleuenth day at eight of the clocke in the morning wee made land the vttermost Point thereof bearing West from vs and came to anchor in fiue fathom water At night the Patience putting in to neere the shoare came to anchor in two fathome and a halfe water vpon the floud which fell from her vpon the ebbe and left her drie vpon the Oaze and the next floud comming in did so shake and beate her against the ground that before shee could get off her rudder was beaten away and her ribs so rent and crased that if Almightie God had not preserued her shee had beene wrackt but God be thanked with much adoe shee came off into deeper water and mended her Rudder as well as the time and place would afford means Then we followed on our course coasting along to the North North-west the Land so trending It is very shoale all along this Coast the ground soft oaze but no danger to be feared keeping our ship in fiue fathom water When we came to the latitude of two degrees and a halfe wee anchored in a goodly Bay by certaine Ilands called Carripapoory I did at that time forbeare to make particular discouerie of this Coast intending if God spare me life to make a perfect discouerie of the famous Riuer of Amazones and of her seuerall branches and Countries bordering vpon it and of all this tract of land from the Amazones vnto the Riuer of Wiapoco which contayneth many goodly Prouinces and Signiories which are in this discourse but briefly mentioned For at this time I purposed onely to prosecute my first proiect which hastened me vnto another place From hence I stood along the Coast and the seuenteenth of May I came to anchor in the Bay of Wiopoco where the Indians came off vnto vs in two or three Canoes as well to learne of what Nation we were as also to trade with vs who vnderstanding that we were English men boldly came aboard vs one of them could speake our language well and was knowne to some of my companie to be an Indian that sometime had beene in England and serued Sir Iohn Gilbert many yeeres they brought with them such dainties as their Countrie yeeldeth as Hens Fish Pinas Platanaes Potatoes bread of Cassaui and such like cates which were heartily welcome to my hungrie companie In recompence whereof I gaue them Kniues Beades Iewes trumps and such toyes which well contented them But when I had awhile entertayned them and made known vnto them the rerurne of the Indian Martin their Countriman whom I brought with mee out of England they seemed exceeding ioyfull supposing that he had beene dead being aboue foure yeeres since he departed from them The Indian before mentioned to haue serued Sir Iohn Gilbert whose name was Iohn whilest he liued for he is now dead and dyed a Christian was a great helpe vnto vs because hee spake our language much better then either of those that I brought with mee and was euer firme and faithfull to vs vntill his death By him I vnderstood that their Towne was situate vpon the East side of the Hill in the mouth of Wiapoco and was called Caripo that the Indian Martin was Lord thereof and that in his absence his brother was chiefe Moreouer hee certified mee that the principall Indian of that Riuer was called Carasana who by good fortune was then at Caripo and so hauing spent some time in other conference and friendly entertainment they tooke their
we first crept into the world my chiefe companion both in Armes and trauels I tooke also with mee his Brother Unton Fisher Master Cradle the Masters mate of my ship and about sixe more I followed the Coast to the Westward steering during West and passing by the Riuer of Meccooria I lodged that night in the mouth of the Riuer Courwo which hath a narrow deepe entrance and within affoordeth a good Harbour which may in time to come for some speciall purpose be of great vse The next day and the night following I proceeded Westward with full saile and passing the Riuers of Manmanury Sâ—nammara Oorassowini Coonannonia Vracco and Amanna I arriued the twentie fiue day at the Riuer of Marrawini which openeth a faire Riuer but is shoale vpon the Barre which lieth two or three leagues off at Sea hauing but two fathome water within the Barre the Channell is three foure fiue and sixe fathome deepe Fiue leagues within the riuer we passed by certaine Ilands called Curowapory not inhabited for at the rising of the waters they are alwayes ouer-flowne of which sort the Riuer hath very many we lodged that night a little beyond these first Ilands at a Village called Moyemon on the left hand the Captaine thereof is called Maperitaka of the Nation of the Paragotos a man very louing and faithull to our Nation whereof we haue had good proofe The next day wee proceeded vp the Riuer three leagues and stayedat a Towne called Coewynay on the right hand at the house of Minapa the chiefe Charib of that Signiorie to pouide two Canoes to prosecute our iourney for the Discouerie of this Riuer The twentie eight day we went forward passing many Villages any Townes which I forbeare to name and hauing gone about twentie leagues from the Sea wee found the Riuer in a manner barred vp with Rockes ouer which the water falleth with great violence yet notwithstanding we aduentured to proceed and the further wee went the more dangerous wee found the ouer-fals and more in number but when wee had passed the first Mountaine towards the high Countrey of Guiana called Sapparow and discouered farre off before vs other high Mountaines called Matawere Moupanana and had proceeded sixe dayes iourney vp the Riuer which was more then fortie leagues we met with such shoale rockie streame and great ouer-fals that there to our griefe our iourney ended Being thus for that time debarred from our intended Discouerie we prepared our selues with patience to returne towards our ships and the third day of September we turned downe the Riuer shooting the ouer-fals with more celeritie then when we came vp dispatching three dayes iourney in one and the fifth day returned safe to Moyemon but before I departed thence Captaine Fisher told me of certaine Plants which hee had then found much like vnto Rose-trees growing about halfe a yard in height whereof for the strangenesse of them I cannot forbeare to adde a word or two These Plants or little trees had assuredly the sence of feeling as plainly appeared by touching them for if you did but touch a leafe of the tree with your finger that leafe would presently shrinke and close vp it selfe and hang downe as if it were dead and if you did cut off a leafe with a paire of Cizzers then all the other leaues growing vpon the same tree would instantly shrinke and close vp themselues and hang downe as if they were dead and withered and within halfe a quarter of an houre would by degrees open themselues againe and flourish as before and as often as you did either touch or cut off any of them they would doe the like which did euidently shew a restriction of the Spirits inuincibly arguing a Sense Howsoeuer this may seeme strange and incredible to your Highnesse and to them that haue not seene it yet forasmuch as Scaliger and Bartas make mention of the like I dare be bold to affirme it vpon my credit hauing seene and shewed it to fortie others I gathered two of the Plants and did set them in pots in their owne earth and carried them aboord my ship where I kept them fairely growing almost a fortnight vntill they were destroyed by certaine Monkeyes that brake loose and pulled them in pieces which might haue beene preuented but that I was constrained to set them in the open aire the better to preserue them The seuenth day I went to Wiawia a great Towne of Paragotos and Yaios foure leagues to the West of Marrawini whereof Maperitaka aboue mentioned and Arapawaka are chiefe Captaines At this Towne I left my Cousin Vnton Fisher and Humfrey Croxton an Apothecary to beare him company and one seruant to attend him called Christopher Fisher hauing first taken order with Maperitaka for their diet and other necessaries both for trauell and other wise who euer since according to his promise hath performed the part of an honest man and faithfull friend I gaue directions to my Cousin Fisher to prosecute the Discouerie of Marrawini and the inland parts bordering vpon it when the time of the yeere and the waters better serued and if it were possible to goe vp into the high Countrey of Guiana and to finde out the Citie of Manoa mentioned by Sir Walter Raleigh in his Discouerie He followed my directions to the vttermost of his abilitie being of a good wit and very industrious and enabled to vndergoe those imployments by obtaining the loue and gaining the Languages of the people without which helpes there is little or no good to be done in those parts When the waters of Marrawini were risen and the Riuer passable much differing from the Riuer of Wiapoco which is not to be trauelled but in the lowest waters Hee began his iourney for the Discouerie thereof in company of the Apothecarie his seruant Fisher the Indian Maperitaka and eighteene others and proceeded eleuen dayes iourney vp the Riuer to a Towne of Charibes called Taupuramune distant from the Sea aboue an hundred leagues but was foure dayes iourney short of Moreshego which is also a Towne of Charibes situate vpon the Riuer side in the Prouince of Moreshegoro the chiefe Captaine thereof is called Areminta who is a proud and bold Indian much feared of all those that dwell within his Territories hauing a rough skin like vnto Buffe Leather of which kind there be many in those parts and I suppose proceedeth of some infirmitie of the bodie He vnderstood by relation of the Indians of Taupuramune and also of Areminta that six dayes iourney beyond Moreshego there are diuers mightie Nations of Indians hauing holes through their Eares Cheekes Nostrils and neather Lips which were called Craweanna Pawmeeanna Quikeanna Peewattere Arameeso Acawreanno Acooreo Tareepeeanna Corecorickado Peeauncado Cocoanno Itsura and Waremisso and were of strength and stature farre exceeding other Indians hauing Bowes and Arrowes foure times as bigge what the Indians also report of the greatnesse of
Starboord side we dissembogued through the broken Ilands on the North side of Anguilla vpon S. Lukes day where I thinke neuer Englishman dissembogued before vs for we found all our Sea-charts false concerning that place those broken Ilands being placed therein to the Southward of Anguilla betweene it and Saint Martins and we found them scituate to the Northward thereof On the eleuenth day of Nouember wee had sight of Fayal one of the Ilands of the Terceras which we left on our starboord side and fleeted away for England the winde continuing faire vntill the twenty foure day But then it changed first to the East by North and then to the East South-east and became so violent and furious that for three dayes space we were not able to beare our saile but did driue before the winde at the least three leagues a watch out of our course and the first land we made was Cape Cleere in the South-west part of Ireland where against our wils we arriued at Crooke Hauen the twenty nine of Nouember During the time of my Voyage we lost but one Land-man who died in Guiana and one Sailer and an Indian Boy who died at Sea in our returne and during the space of these three yeares last past since the voyage of all the men which I left in the Countrey being in number about thirty there died but six whereof one was drowned another was an old man of threescore years of age and another tooke his death by his owne disorder the rest died of sicknesse as pleased God the giuer of life for such small losse his holy name be blessed now and euer The names of the Riuers falling into the Sea from Amazones to Dessequebe and of the seuerall Nations inhabiting those Riuers RIVERS NATIONS 1 Amazones 2 Arrapoco a branch of Amazones 3 Arrawary Charibs 4 Maicary 5 Connawini Yaios and Charibes 6 Cassipurogh 7 Arracow Arracoories 8 Wiapoco 9 Wianary a creeke or inlet of thesea Yaios and Arwaccas 10 Cowo not inhabited 11 Apurwacca 12 Wio 13 Caiane 14 Meccooria 15 Courwo 16 Manmanury 17 Sinammara Charibs 18 Oorassowini not inhabited 19 Coonannoma 20 Uracco Arwaccas 21 Marrawini Paragotos Yaios Charibs Arwas 22 Amanna 23 Camoâ—re or Comawin a branch of Selinama 24 Selinama or Surennamo 25 Surammo 26 Coopannomy 27 Eneccare Charibs 28 Coretine 29 Berebisse Arwaccas and Charibs 30 Manhica 31 Wapary 32 Micowine 33 Demeerare Arwaccas 34 Motooronnes 35 Quiowinne branches of Dessequebe Charibs 36 Dessequebe Arwaccas and Charibs Euery house hath Cocks Hennes and Chickens as in England and the variety of fish is wonderfull without compare but the chiefest comfort of our Country-men is this that the Beast called Maypury and the fish called the Sea-Cow being seuerally as bigge as a Heifer of two years old and of which kinde there are very many are in eating so like vnto our English Beefe that hardly in taste we can distinguish them and may as well as Beefe be salted and kept for our prouision There is also a Beast in colour like a Fawne but fuller of white spots in stature somewhat lesse then a small Sheepe and in taste like Mutton but is rather better meate the Baremo is also of the same taste I haue the Copie of Master Harcourt his Patent and he published also certaine Articles for the Aduenturers c. which for breuity are omitted CHAP. XVII A Relation of the habitations and other Obseruations of the Riuer of Marwin and the adioyning Regions Townes in the Riuer of Marwin INprimis Marracomwin a little Village so called where the Arwaccas dwell whose chiefe Captaine is Coretan and is at the foot of the Riuer of Marwin in a creake on the left hand going vp the Riuer Secondly Russia a little Village so called where likewise Arwaccas dwell being likewise at the foote of the Riuer on the right hand going vp the Riuer Thirdly Moyyemon a large Towne where are some twentie houses all builded very lately inhabited by Parawagotos and Yaios whose chiefe Captaine is Maperitacca being the Captaine with whom the Generall left vs and with whom we continue being on the left hand of the Riuer Fourthly Kiawarie a Towne inhabited by Careebees almost right against Moyyemon whose Chiefetaine is Fiftly Tonorima a little Village aboue Kiawary inhabited by Careebees being on the same side of the Riuer who be gouerned by the Captaine of Quuenow Sixtly Quuenou a Towne some quarter of a mile distant from Tonorima inhabited by Careebees whose Chiefetaine is Vcapea hauing a lame hand Seuenthly Arowatta a Towne situate on the same side of the Riuer whose inhabitants be Careebees but a good prettie way beyond whose Chiefetaine is Seepane Eightly Comurraty a Towne situate beyond Arowatta on the other side of the Riuer whose Inhabitants be Careebees and Chiefetaine is Parapane Ninthly Pasim a Towne situate beyond Comurratiâ— on the same side of the Riuer whose Inhabitants bee Careeb and Chiefetaine is Tanatweya Tenthly Paramaree a Towne situate beyond Pasim on the other side of the Riuer inhabited by Careabees whose Chiefetaine is Iuara There is beyond Paramaree a lone house beeing situate some dayes iourney from Paramaree on the same side of the Riuer being inhabited by Careebees Eleuenthly about some eleuen daies iourney beyond the lone house there is a towne called Tauparamunni whose Inhabitants be Careebees Twelfthly a daies iourney from thence is another Towne called Moreesheego whose Inhabitants be Careebees About some twentie daies iourney beyond Moreesheego is a Towne called Aretonenne whose Inhabitants bee Careebees hauing verie long eares hanging to their shoulders and they are reported to bee a very gentle and louing uing people Some twentie daies farther is the head of the Riuer Marwin where dwell Parawagatos Arwaccas and Suppay and after a daies iourney in the Land they report the way to be very faire and Champian ground with long grasse Townes from the foot of Marwin on the Northside along the Sea FIrst Equiwibone a Towne inhabited by Arwaccas and Parawagotos Secondly Caycooseooâ—ooro inhabited by Arwaccas whose Chiefetaine is Woaccomo Thirdly Amypea inhabited by Arwaccas Fourthly about six mile within Land is Careebee inhabited by Arwaccas whose Chiefetaine is Aramea Fiftly Wia Wiam about two miles from the Sea a Towne inhabited by Yaios Parrawagotos and Arwaccas whose Chiefetaine is Araponaca Sixtly Soorry Soorry some two mile directly farther toward the Sea side inhabited by Parawagotos whose Chiefetaine is Resurrima Seuenthly Amiebas a little distant from Soory Soory inhabited by Parawagotos Eightly Uieguano some sixe mile beyond Soory Soory inhabited by Yaos and Parawagotos Ninthly Vrarinno adioyning to Vicguano inhabited by Arwaccas and Parawagotos Tenthly Surarer a daies iourney beyond Wia Wiam vp into the Land inhabited by Arwaccas Eleuenthly Simarra some sixe miles distant from Wia Wiam inhabited by Arwaccas Twelfthly Caâ—ri a Towne adioyning to Simarra inhabited by Arwaccas Thirteenthly Conâ—oere a Towne adioyning to Cauri inhabited by Parawagotos and
Cap a Hatchet and certaine other things Which presents beeing receiued the said Zchara Wassu brought vs into their Towne setting before vs fish and flesh plentifully and sufficient food so that we were exceeding well contented For if this Voyage of ours had continued yet but ten daies longer we should all haue died with famine as euen now in this Voyage of foure hundred men who came together in the ships fiftie were dead These people of Tiembus weare on either nostrill a blue starre artificially made of a white and blue stone they are large men and of a tall stature but the women aswell young as old are very deformed with torne faces and alwaies bloudie from the Nauell to the knees they are couered with Cotton-cloth the rest is naked This people hath no other meate saue fish and flesh nor euer liued with any other thing The strength of this Nation is thought to be fifâ—eene thousand men or more The Skiffes or Boates which they vse are made of a Tree eightie foote long and three broad which as the Fishermens Boats of Germanie are rowed with Oares saue that their Oares are not bound with Iron 14. We abode foure whole yeeres in the foresaid Village or Towne but our Generall or Admirall Petro Mendoza by reason of his extreame and continuall sicknesse in that hee was able neither to stirre hand nor foote and had spent in this iourney of his owne about fortie thousand Ducates of ready money would no longer stay with vs in this Towne but returneth in two Brigantines to Buenos Aeres to the foure greater Shippes and there taking two of them and fiftie Souldiers he intended to returne into Spaine but scarce halfe the iourney performed the hand of almightie God so smote him that he miserably died But before his departure he certainly promised vs that he would doe his best as soone as he or the Ships returned into Spaine that two other Shippes should be sent backe to the Riuer of Plate which by his will he had so ordained and was faithfully also performed furnished with Souldiers prouision of victuals Merchandise and other things necessary for such a voyage 15. The name of the Commander of these two Shippes was Alfonso Gabrero who also brought with him two hundred Spaniards and prouision for two yeares He arriued at the Towne of Buenas Aeres in the yeare 1539. where we left the other two Shippes when wee departed together with one hundred and sixtie men They presently sent away a Shippe into Spaine prouided for this purpose for so the Counsell of the Emperours Maiestie commanded and deliuered orderly and at large to the said Counsell the state and condition of these Countries and people and other circumstances After this our Generall Iohn Eyollas consulting with Alfonso Gabrero Martino Don Eyollas and the rest of the Captaines iudgeth it to be most conuenient to muster the Souldiers which being done together with ours and those who came first from Spaine fiue hundred and fiftie men were found of these they choose vnto them foure hundred men leauing one hundred and fiftie in Tiembus 16. By this order of the Captains we saile vp the riuer Parana with these foure hundred men shipped in eight Brigantines seeking another Riuer whereof we were told called Parabol at the which the Carios dwell for these were reported to abound with Turkish graine and roots of the which they make wine and also fish and flesh and Sheepe as bigge as Mules and Harts Hogges Estridges Hennes and Geese Departing therefore from the Hauen of Bona Speranza with our eight Brigantines sailing foure leagues the first day we came to a Nation called Curenda which liue with flesh and fish This Iland is 12000. strong of men fit for warre and hath great store of Canoes This Nation is like the former Tiembus with little stones hanging dangling in their noses The men also are of a tall stature but the women as well yong as old deformed with rugged and bloudy faces And are no otherwise apparelled then they of Tiembus to wit couered with a Cotten cloath from the nauell to the knees as is before said These Indians haue great plenty of other skinnes These men did liberally communicate vnto vs of their pouerty or of that little they had Fish Flesh Skinnes to whom contrariwise wee gaue Glasses Beades Looking-glasses Combes Kniues and Fish-hookes and abode with them two dayes They gaue vs also two men of Carios who were their captiues to be our Guides and Interpreters 17. Sailing further hence we came to another Nation called Gulgaisi which is able to bring 40000. men for warre into the field This Nation also hath two stones at their nose it was thirty leagues distant from the Island Curenda and they and the inhabitants of Tiembus haue the same language They dwell vpon a Lake sixe leagues long and foure broaâ— situate on the left side of the Riuer Parana We staied here foure daies and these men imparted to vs of their pouertie and we did the like to them proceeding further thence for the whole space of eighteene daies we light on no men but afterward we came to a Riuer flowing into the Countrie it selfe In that Country we found a great number of men come together which they call Macuerendas These haue nothing to eate saue fish and a little flesh and are 18000. strong of warlike men and haue a great number of Boates. These men after their manner intertained vs courteously enough they dwell on the other side of the Riuer Parana towards the right hand haue a differing tongue from the former and are tall men and of a good proportion but their women also are very deformed They are distant from those whom they call Gulgaisi sixtie foure leagues While we remained idell among these people foure daies we found an huge monstrous Serpent fiue and twenty foote long lying on the land not farre from the shoare which was as bigge as a man of a blacke colour spotted with a deepe yellow This Serpent we killed with a Gunne which when the Indians saw they wondered thereat with great astonishment for they themselues had neuer seene any so great before This Serpent as the Indians themselues said had done much hurt vnto them for when they washed themselues in the water the Serpents finding men there wound their tailes about them and hauing drawne them vnder water deuoured them so that the Indians knew not oftentimes what became of many of them Idiligently measured the length and thicknesse of this Serpent which the Indians cutting in peeces euery one carried part home vnto their houses and being sod and roasted did after eate thereof 18. From hence sailing further vp the Riuer of Parana in foure daies iourney we came to a Nation called Zemais Saluaisco The men of this Countrie are of a short stature and of a grosse body They liue with nothing else saue fish flesh and hony Both men
Indies vnder my Fathers charge and the principall cause of taking the great Carack brought to Dartmouth by Sir Iohn Borrow and the Earle of Cumberlands ships Anno 1592. with others of moment in her other Voyages To vs shee neuer brought but cost trouble and care Hauing made an estimate of the charge of Victuals Munition Imprests Sea-store and necessaries for the said ship consorting another of an hundred tunnes which I waited for daily from the Straites of Giberalter with a Pinnace of sixtie tunnes all mine owne And for a competent number of men for them as also of all sorts of merchandises for trade and traffâ—cke in all places where we should come I began to wage men to buy all manner of victuals prouisions and to lade her with them and with all sorts of commodities which I could call to minde fitting and dispatched order to my seruant in Pilmouth to put in a readinesse my Pinnace as also to take vp certaine prouisions which are better cheape in those parts then in London as Beefe Porke Bisket and Sider The eight of Aprill 1593. I caused the Pilot to set sayle from Black-wall and to vaile downe to Graues-end whither that night I purposed to come And for that shee was very deepe loden and her Ports open the water beganne to enter in at them which no bodie hauing regard vnto thinking themselues safe in the Riuer it augmented in such manner as the weight of the water began to presse downe the side more then the winde At length when it was seene and the sheete flowne she could hardly be brought vpright But God was pleased that with the diligence and trauell of the Companie shee was freed of that danger whiâ—h may be a gentle warning to all such as take charge of shipping euen before they set sayle either in Riuer or Harbour or other part to haue an eye to their Ports and to see those shut and calked which may cause danger for auoiding the many mishaps which daily chance for the neglect thereof and haue beene most lamentable spectacles and examples vnto vs Experiments in the Great Harrie Admirall of England which was ouer-set and sunke at Portsmouth with her Captaine Carew and the most part of his companie drowned in a goodly Summers day with a little flaw of winde for that her Ports were all open and making a small hele by them entred their destruction where if they had beene shut no winde could â—aue hurt her especially in that place In the Riuer of Thames Master Thomas Candish had a small ship ouer-set through the same negligence And one of the Fleet of Sir Francis Drake in Santo Domingo Harbour turned her keele vpward likewise vpon the same occasion with many others which we neuer haue knowledge of Comming neere the South fore-land the winde began to vere to the South-east and by South so as we could not double the point of the Land and being close aboord the shoare and putting our ship to stay what with the chapping Sea and what with the Tide vpon the Bowe she mist staying and put vs in some danger before we could flat about therefore for doubling the Point of any Land better is euer a short boord then to put all in perill Being cleere of the race of Portland the winde began to suffle with fogge and misling raine and forced vs to a short sayle which continued with vs three dayes the winde neuer vering one point nor the fogge suffering vs to see the Coast. The third day in the fogge we met with a Barke of Dartmouth which came from Rochell and demanding of them if they had made any land answered that they had onely seene the Ediestone that morning which lieth thwart of the Sound of Plimouth and that Dartmouth as they thought bare off vs North North-east which seemed strange vnto vs for we made account that wee were thwart of Exmouth within two houres after the weather beganne to cleere vp and wee found our selues thwart of the Berry and might see the small Barque bearing into Torbay hauing ouer-shot her Port which errour often happeneth to those that make the land in foggie weather and vse not good diligence by sound by lying off the land and other circumstances to search the truth and is cause of the losse of many a ship and the sweete liues of multitudes of men That euening wee anchored in the range of Dartmouth till the floud was spent and the ebbe come wee set sayle againe And the next morning early being the sixe and twentieth of Aprill we harboured our selues in Plimouth And in this occasion I found by experience that one of the principall parts required in a Mariner that frequenteth our coastes of England is to cast his Tides and to knowe how they set from point to point with the difference of those in the Channell from those of the shoare After the hurts by a cruell storme in which the Pinnace was sunke and the Daiaties Mast cut ouer-boord repaired I beganne to gather my companie aboord which occupied my good friends and the Iustices of the Towne two dayes and forced vs to search all lodgings Tauerns and Ale-houses For some would euer bee taking their leaue and neuer depart some drinke themselues so drunke that except they were carried aboord they of themselues were not able to goe one steppe others knowing the necessitie of the time faigned themselues sicke others to bee indebted to their Hosts and forced mee to ransome them one his Chest another his Sword another his Shirts another his Carde and Instruments for Sea And others to benefit themselues of the Imprest giuen them absented themselues making a lewd liuing in deceiuing all whose money they could lay hold of which is a scandall too rife amongst our Sea-men by it they committing three great offences First Robberie of the goods of another person Secondly Breach of their faith and promise Thirdly Hinderance with losse of time vnto the Voyage all being a common iniurie to the owners victuallers and companie which many times hath beene an vtter ouerthrow and vndoing to all in generall An abuse in our Common-wealth necessarily to be reformed Master Thomas Candish in his last Voyage in the Sound of Plimouth being readie to set sayle complained vnto mee that persons which had absented themselues in Imprests had cost him aboue a thousand and fiue hundred pounds These Varlets within a few dayes after his departure I saw walking the streetes of Plimouth whom the Iustice had before sought for with great diligence and without punishment And therefore it is no wonder that others presume to doe the like Impunitas peccandi illecebra The like complaint made Master George Reymond and in what sort they dealt with mee is notorious and was such that if I had not beene prouident to haue had a third part more of men then I had need of I had beene forced to goe to the Sea vnmanned or to giue ouer my
which ouer-top it and as it seemeth were planted by the Diuine prouidence to preserue it from Sunne and winde Out of this Valley ordinarily rise euery day great vapours and exhalations which by reason that the Sunne is hindered to worke his operation with the height of the Mountaine towards the South-east conuert themselues into moisture and so bedew all the trees of the Valley and from those which ouer-top this Tree drops downe the dew vpon his leaues and so from his leaues into a round Well of stone which the Naturals of the Land haue made to receiue the water of which the people and cattell haue great reliefe but sometimes it raineth and then the Inhabitants doe reserue water for many dayes to come in their Cisternes and Tynaxes which is that they drinke of and wherewith they principally sustaine themselues The Citie of the Grand Canaria and chiefe Port is on the West side of the Iland the head Towne and Port of Tenerifa is towards the South part and the Port and Towne of the Palma and Gomera on the East side In Gomera some three leagues Southward from the Towne is a great Riuer of water but all these Ilands are perilous to land in for the siege caused by the Ocean Sea which alwaies is forcible and requireth great circumspection whosoeuer hath not vrgent cause is either to goe to the Eastwards or to the Westwards of all these Ilands as well to auoide the calmes which hinder some times eight or ten dayes sayling as the contagion which their distemperature is wont to cause and with it to breede Calenturas which wee call burning Feuers These Ilands are said to be first discouered by a Frenchman called Iohn de Betancourt about the yeere 1405. They are now a Kingdome subiect to Spaine Being cleare of the Ilands and seeing my selfe past hope of returning backe without some extraordinarie accident I began to set order in my Companie and victuals And for that to the Southwards of the Canaries is for the most part an idle Nauigation I deuised to keepe my people occupied as well to continue them in health for that too much ease in hot Countries is neither profitable nor healthful as also to diuert them from remembrance of their home from play which breedeth many inconueniences and other bad thoughts and workes which idlenesse is cause of and so shifting my companie as the custome is into Starboord and Larboord men the halfe to watch and worke whilest the others slept and take rest I limited the three dayes of the weeke which appertained to each to be employed in this manner the one for the vse and cleansing of their Armes the other for roomaging making of Sayles Nettings Decking and defenses of our Ships and the third for cleansing their bodies mending and making their apparell and necessaries which though it came to be practised but once in seuen dayes for that the Sabboth is euer to be reserued for God alone with the ordinarie obligation which each person had besides was many times of force to be omitted and thus wee directed our course betwixt the Ilands of Cape de Verde and the Maine These Ilands are held to bee scituate in one of the most vnhealthiest Climates of the world and therefore it is wisedome to shunne the sight of them how much more to make abode in them In two times that I haue beene in them either cost vs the one halfe of our people with Feuers and Fluxes of sundrie kindes some shaking some burning some partaking of both some possest with frensie others with slouth and in one of them it cost mee sixe moneths sicknesse with no small hazard of life which I attribute to the distemperature of the aire for being within fourteene degrees of the Equinoctiall Line the Sunne hath great force all the yeere and the more for that often they passe two three and foure yeeres without raine and many times the earth burneth in that manner as a man well shod cannot indure to goe where the Sunne shineth With which extreme heate the bodie fatigated greedily desireth refreshing and longeth for the comming of the Breze which is the North-east winde that seldome fayleth in the afternoone at foure of the clocke or sooner which comming cold and fresh and finding the pores of the bodie open and for the most part naked penetrateth the very bones and so causeth sudden distemperature and sundrie manners of sicknesse as the Subiects are diuers whereupon they worke Departing out of the Calmes of the Ilands and comming into the fresh Breze it causeth the like and I haue seene within two dayes after that wee haue partaked of the fresh aire of two thousand men aboue an hundred and fiftie haue beene crazed in their health The Inhabitants of these Ilands vse a remedie for this which at my first being amongst them seemed vnto mee ridiculous but since time and experience hath taught to bee grounded vpon reason And is that vpon their heads they weare a Night-cap vpon it a Moutero and a Hat ouer that and on their bodies a sute of thicke Cloth and vpon it a Gowne furr'd or lined with Cotton or Bayes to defend them from the heate in that manner as the Inhabitants of cold Countries to guard themselues from the extremitie of the cold Which doubtlesse is the best diligence that any man can vse and whosoeuer proueth it shall finde himselfe lesse annoyed with the heate then if he were thinly cloathed for that where the cold aire commeth it pierceth not so subtilly The Moone also in this climate as in the coast of Guynne and in all hot Countries hath forcible operation in the body of man and therefore as the Plannet most preiudiciall to his health is to he shunned as also not to sleepe in the open Ayre or with any Scuttle or Window open whereby the one or the other may enter to hurt For a person of credit told me that one night in a Riuer of Guynne leauing his window open in the side of his Cabin the Moone shining vpon his shoulder left him with such an extraordinary paine and furious burning in it as in aboue twenty houres he was like to run mad but in fine with force of Medicines and cures after long torment he was eased Of these Ilands are two pyles the one of them lyeth out of the way of Trade more Westerly and so little frequented the other lyeth some fourescore leagues from the Maine and containeth sixe in number to wit Saint Iago Fuego Mayo Bonavisto Sal and Brano They are belonging to the Kingdome of Portugall and inhabited by people of that Nation and are of great trade by reason of the neighbourhood they haue with Guynne and Bynne but the principall is the buying and selling of Negros They haue store of Sugar Salt Rice Cotten-wooll and Cotton-cloth Ambergreece Cyuit Olyphants teeth Brimstone Pummy stone Spunge and some Gold but little and that from the mayne Saint Iago is the head
For any man that putteth himselfe into the enemies Port had neede of Argus eyes and the winde in a bagge especially where the enemy is strong and the tydes of any force For with either ebbe or flood those who are on the shore may thrust vpon him inuentions of fire and with swimming or other deuises may cut his cables A common practise in all hot Countries The like may be effected with Raffes Canoas Boates or Pinnaces to annoy and assault him and if this had beene practised against vs or taken effect our Ships must of force haue yeelded themselues for they had no other people in them but sick men many times opinion feare preserueth the Ships and not the people in them Wherefore it is the part of a prouident Gouernor to consider well the dangers that may befall him before he put himself into such places so shall he euer be prouided for preuention In Saint Iohn de Vlua in the New-Spain when the Spaniards dishonoured their Nation with that foule act of periury and breach of faith giuen to my Father Sir Iohn Hawkins notorious to the whole world the Spâ—niards fired two great Ships with intention to burne my Fathers Admirall which he preuented by towing them with his Boates another way The great Armado of Spaine sent to conquer England Anno 1588. was with that selfe-same industry ouerthrowne for the setting on fire six or seuen Ships whereof two were mine and letting them driue with the floud forced them to cut their Cables and to put to Sea to seeke a new way to Spain In which the greatest part of their best Ships and men were lost and perished The next night the winde comming off the shore we set saile and with our Boates and Barkes sounded as we went It flowed vpon the Barre not aboue foure foote water and once in foure and twenty houres as in some parts of the West Indies at full Sea there is not vpon the barre aboue seuenteene or eighteene foote water The harbour runneth to the South-westwards he that will come into it is to open the harbours mouth a good quarter of a league before he beare with it and be bolder of the Wester-side for of the Easterland lyeth a great ledge of Rockes for the most part vnder water which sometimes breake not but with small shipping a man may goe betwixt them and the point Comming aboord of our Ships there was great ioy amongst my company and many with 〈◊〉 sight of the Oranges and Lemmons seemed to recouer heart This is a wonderfull secret of the power and wisedome of God that hath hidden so great and vnknowne vertue in this fruit to be a certaine remedy for this infirmity I presently caused them all to be reparted amongst our sicke men which were so many that there came not aboue three or foure to a share but God was pleased to send vs a prosperous winde the next day so much to our comfort that not any one died before we came to the Ilands where we pretended to refresh our selues And although our fresh water had failed vs many dayes before we saw the shore by reason of our long Nauigation without touching any land and the excessiue drinking of the sicke and diseased which could not be excused yet with an inuention I had in my Ship I easily drew out of the water of the Sea sufficient quantitie of fresh water to sustaine my people with little expence of fewell for with foure billets I stilled a hogshead of water and therewith dressed the meate for the sicke and whole The water so distilled we found to be wholesome and nourishing The coast from Santos to Cape Frio lyeth West and by South Southerly So wee directed our course West South-west The night comming on and directions giuen to our other Ships wee set the waâ—ch hauing a faire fresh gale of winde and large My selfe with the Master of our Ship hauing watched the night past thought now to gâ—ue nature that which she had beene depriued of and so commended the care of Steeridge to one of his Mates who with the like trauell past being drowsie or with the confidence which he had of him at the Helme had not that watchfull care which was required he at the Helme steered West and West by South brought vs in a little time close vpon the shore doubtlesse he had cast vs all away had not God extraordinarily deliuered vs for the Master being in his dead sleepe was suddenly awaked and with such a fright that he could not be in quiet whereupon waking his youth which ordinarily 〈…〉 pt in his Cabin by him asked him how the watch went on who answered that it could not be an houre since he laid himselfe to rest He replyed that his heart was so vnquiet that he could not by any meanes sleepe and so taking his Gowne came forth vpon the Decke and presently discouered the land hard by vs. And for that it was sandie and low those who had their eyes continually fixed on it were dazeled with the reflection of the Starres being a faire night and so was hindered from the true discouery thereof But he comming out of the drake had his sight more forcible to discerne the difference of the Sea and the shoare So that forthwith hee commanded him at the Helme to put it close a starbourd and taking our Ship we edged off and sounding found scant three fathome water whereby we saw euidently the miraculous mercy of God that if hee watched ouer vs as he doth continually ouer his doubtlesse wee had perished without remedie to whom be all glory and praise euerlasting world without end In this point of Steeridge the Spaniards Portugals doe exceede all that I haue seene I meane for their care which is chiefest in Nauigation And I wish in this and in all their workes of Discipline and reformation we should follow their examples as also those of any other Nation In euery Shippe of moment vpon the halfe decke or quarter decke they haue a chaire or feate out of which whilst they Nauigate the Pilot or his Adiutants which are the same officers which in our Ships wee terme the Master and his Mates neuer depart day nor night from the sight of the Compasse and haue another before them whereby they see what they doe and are euer witnesses of the good or bad Steeridge of all men that take the Helme The next day about ten of the clocke we were thwart of Cape Blanco which is low sandie land and perilous for foure leagues into the Sea thwart it lye bankes of sand which haue little water on them on a sudden we found our selues amongst them in lesse then three fathome water but with our Boate and Shallop we went sounding and so got cleare of them The next day following we discouered the Ilands where we purposed to refresh our selues they are two and some call them Saint
torment and paine which is such that he who hath beene throughly punished with the Collique can quickly decipher or demonstrate The Antidote for this pernicious worme is Garlique and this was discouered by a Phisitian to a Religious person §. III. THARLTONS treacherie Discouerie of Land vnknowne Entrance of the Straits accidents therein and description thereof diuers occasionall discourses for the furtherance of Marine and Naturall knowledge IN our Nauigation towards the Straits by our obseruation we found that our Compasse varied a point and better to the Eastwards In the height of the Riuer of Plate we being some fiftie leagues off the coast a storme tooke vs Southerly which endured fortie eight houres In the first day about the going downe of the Sunne Robert Tharlton Master of the Francie bare vp before the winde without giuing vs any token or signe that she was in distresse We seeing her to continue her course bare vp after her and the night comming on we carried our light but she neuer answered vs for they kept their course directly for England which was the ouerthrow of the Voyage as well for that we had no Pinnace to goe before vs to discouer any danger to seeke out roades and anchoring to helpe our watering and refreshing as also for the victuals necessaries and men which they carried away with them which though they were not many yet with their helpe in our fight we had taken the Vice-admirall the first time shee bourded with vs as shall be hereafter manifested For once we cleered her Decke and had wee beene able to haue spared but a dozen men doubtlesse we had done with her what we would for she had no close fights Moreouer if she had beene with me I had not beene discouered vpon the coast of Peâ—ew But I was worthy to be deceiued that trusted my Ship in the hands of on hypocrite and a man which had left his Generall before in the like occasion and in the selfe same place for being with Master Thomas Candish Master of a small Shippe in the Voyage wherein hee died this Captaine being aboord the Admirall in the night time forsocke his Fleete his Generall and Captaine and returned home Pitie it is that such perfidious persons are not more seuerely punished These absentings and escapes are made most times onely to pâ—lâ—er and steale as well by taking of some prize when they are alone and without command to hinder or order their bad proceedings as to appropriate that which is in their intrusted shippe casting the fault if they bee called to account vpon some poore and vnknowne MarineÌ„rs whom they suffer with a little pillage to absent themselues the cunninglier to colour their greatest disorders and Robberies The storme ceasing and being out of all hope wee set saile and went on our course During this storme certaine great Fowles as bigge as Swannes soared about vs and the winde calming setled themselues in the Sea and fed vpon the sweepings of our ship which I perceiuing and desirous to see of them because they seemed farre greater then in truth they were I caused a Hook and Line to be brought me and with a piece of a Pilehard I baâ—ted the Hooke and a foot from it tied a piece of Corke that it might not sinke deepe and threw it into the Sâ—a which our ship driuing with the Sea in a little time was a good space from vs and one of the Fowles beeing hungry presently seized vpon it and the Hooke in his vpper beake It is like to a Faulcons bill but that the point is moore crooked in that manner as by no meanes hee could cleere himselfe except that the Line brake or the Hooke righted Plucking him towards the ship with the wauing of his wings he eased the weight of his body and being brought to the sterne of our ship two of our company went downe by the ladder of the Poope and seized on his neck and wings but such were the blowes he gaue them with his Pinnions as both left their hand fast beeing beaten blacke and blue we cast a snare about his necke and so triced him into the ship By the same manner of fishing we caught so many of them as refreshed and recreated all my people for that day Their bodies were great but of little flesh and tender in taste answerable to the food whereon they feed They were of two colours some white some grey they had three ioynts in each wing and from the point of one wing to the point of the other both stretched out was aboue two fathomes The wind continued good with vs till we came to 49. degrees and 30. minutes where it took vs Westerly being as we made our account some fifty leagues from the shoare Betwixâ— 49. and 48. degrees is Port Saint Iulian a good Harbour and in which a man may graue his shippe though she draw fifteene or sixteene foot water But care is to bee had of the people called Patagones They are treacherous and of great stature most giue them the name of Gâ—ants The second of February about nine of the clocke in the morning wee descried land which bare South-west of vs which we looked not for so timely and comming neerer and neerer vnto it by the lying wee could not coniecture what Land it should be for wee were next of any thing in 48. degrees and no Plat nor Sea-card which we had made mention of any Land which lay in that manner neere about that height In fine wee brought our Lar-boord tacke aboord and stood to the North-east-wards all that day and night and the winde continuing Westerly and a faire gale we continued our course alongst the Coast the day and night following In which time we made account we discouered well neere threescore leagues off the Coast. It is bold and made small shew of dangers The land is a goodly Champion Countrey and peopled wee saw many fires but could not come to speake with the people for the time of the yeere was farre spent to shoote the Straits and the want of our Pinnasse disabled vs for finding a Port or Road not being discretion with a ship of charge and in an vnknowne Coast to come neere the shoare before it was founded which were causes together with the change of the winde good for vs to passe the Strait that hindered the further Discouery of this Land with its secrets This I haue sorrowed for many times since for that it had likelihood to bee an excellent Countrey It hath great Riuers of fresh waters for the out-shoot of them colours the Sea in many places as we ranne alongst it It is not Moâ—ntaynous but much of the disposition of England and as temperate The things we noted principally on the Coast are these following the Westermost point of the Land with which wee first fell is the end of the Land to the Westwards as wee found afterwards If a man bring this
stand off to Sea close by The Admirall of the Spaniards with the other two were a sterne of vs some foure leagues the Vice-admirall a mile right to lee-wards of vs the Reare-admirall in a manner right a head some culuering shot and one vpon our loofe within shot also the Moone was to rise within two houres After much debating it was concluded that we should beare vp before the winde and seeke to escape betwixt the Admirall and the Vice-admirall which we put in execution not knowing of any other disgrace befallen them but that of the Reare-admirall till after our surrender when they recounted vnto vs all that had past In the morning at breake of day we were cleare of all our Enemies and so shaped our course alongst the Coast for the Bay of Atacames where we purposed to trim our Pinnace and to renew our wood and water and so to depart vpon our Voyage with all possible speede The Spanish Armado returned presently to Callao which is the Port of Lyma or of the Citie of the Kings It was first named Lyma and retaineth also that name of the Riuer which passeth by the Citie called Lyma the Spanish Armado being entred the Port the people began to goe ashore where they were so mocked and scorned by the women as scarce any one by day would shew his face they reuiled them with the name of cowards and golnias and craued licence of the Vice-roy to be admitted into their roomes and to vndertake the surrendry of the English Shippe I haue beene certified for truth that some of them affronted their Souldiers with Daggers and Pistols by their sides This wrought such effects in the hearts of the disgraced as they vowed either to recouer their reputation lost or to follow vs into England and so with expedition the Vice-roy commanded two Shippes and a Pinnace to be put in order and in them placed the chiefe Souldiers and Marriners of the rest and furnished them with victuals and munition The foresaid Generall is once againe dispatched to seeke vs who ranged the Coasts and Ports enforming himselfe what he could Some fiftie leagues to the North-wards of Lyma in sight of Mongon we tooke a Ship halfe loaden with Wheate Sugar Miell de Canas and Cordouan skins which for that she was leake and sailed badly and tackled in such manner as the Marriners would not willingly put themselues into her we tooke what was necessary for our prouision and fired her Thwart of Truxillo wee set the company of her ashoare with the Pilot which we had taken in Balparizo reseruing the Pilot of the burnt Shippe and a Greeke who chose rather to continue with vs then to hazard their liues in going ashore for that they had departed out of the Port of Santa which is in eight degrees being required by the Iustice not to weigh anchor before the Coast was knowne to be cleare It is a thing worthy to be noted and almost incredible with how few men they vse to saile a Shippe in the South Sea for in this prise which was aboue an hundred tunnes were but eight persons and in a Ship of three hundreth tuns they vse not to put aboue foureteene or fifteene persons yea I haue beene credibly enformed that with foureteene persons a Ship of fiue hundred tuns hath beene carried from Guayaquil to Lyma deepe loaden which is aboue two hundred leagues They are forced euer to gaine their Voyage by turning to wind-wards which is the greatest toyle and labour that the Marriners haue and slow sometimes in this Voyage foure or fiue moneths which is generall in all the Nauigations of this coast but the security from stormes and certainty of the Brese with the desire to make their gaine the greater is the cause that euery man forceth himselfe to the vttermost to doe the labour of two men In the height of the Port of Santa some seuen hundred and fiftie leagues to the West-wards lye the Ilands of Salomon of late yeares discouered At my being in Lyma a Fleete of foure saile was sent from thence to people them which through the emulation and discord that arose amongst them being landed and setled in the Countrey was vtterly ouerthrowne onely one Shippe with some few of the people after much misery got to the Philippines This I came to the knowledge of by a large relation written from a person of credit and sent from the Philippines to Panama I saw it at my being there in my voyage towards Spaine Hauing edged neere the coast to put the Spaniards on shore a thicke fogge tooke vs so that we could not see the land but recouering our Pinnace and Boate we sailed on our course till wee came thwart of the Port called Malabrigo It lieth in seuen degrees In all this Coast the currant runneth with great force but neuer keepeth any certaine course sauing that it runneth alongst the coast sometimes to the South-wards sometimes to the North-wards which now runneth to the North-wards forced vs so farre into the Bay which a point of the land causeth that they call Punta de Augussa as thinking to cleare our selues by rouing North-west we could not double this point making our way North North-west Therefore speciall care is euer to be had of the current and doubtlesse if the prouidence of Almighty God had not Freede vs we had runne ashore vpon the Land without seeing or suspecting any such danger his name be euer exalted and magnified for deliuering vs from the vnknowne danger by calming the winde all night the Suns rising manifested vnto vs our errour and perill by discouering vnto vs the land within two leagues right a head The current had carried vs without any winde at the least foure leagues which seene and the winde beginning to blow we brought our tackes aboord and in short time cleared our selues Thwart of this point of Angussa lye two desert Ilands they call them Illas de Lobos for the multitude of Seales which accustome to haunt the shore In the bigger is very good harbour and secure they lye in six degrees and thirty minutes The next day after we lost sight of those Ilands being thwart of Payta which lyeth in fiue degrees and hauing manned our Pinnace and Boate to search the Port we had sight of a tall Ship which hauing knowledge of our being on the coast and thinking her selfe to be more safe at Sea then in the harbour put her selfe then vnder saile to her we gaue chase all that night and the next day but in fine being better of saile then we she freed her selfe Thus being to lee-ward of the Harbour and discouered we continued our course alongst the shore That euening wee were thwart of the Riuer of Guyayaquill which hath in the mouth of it two Ilands the Souther-most and biggest called Puma in three degrees and the other to the North-wards Santa clara Puma is inhabited and is the place where they
build their principall shipping from this Riuer Lima and all the valleyes are furnished with Timber for they haue none but that which is brought from hence or from the Kingdome of Chile By this Riuer passeth the principall trade of the Kingdome of Quito it is Nauigable some leagues into the Land and hath great abundance of Timber Those of the Peru vse to ground and trim their Shippes in Puma or in Panama and in all other parts they are forced to carene their Shippes In Puma it higheth and falleth fifteene or sixteene foote water and from this Iland till a man come to Panama in all the coast it ebbeth and floweth more or lesse keeping the ordinary course which the Tides doe in all Seas The water of this Riuer by experience is medicinable for all aches of the bones for the stone and strangurie the reason which is giuen is because all the bankes and low land adioyning to this Riuer are replenished with Salsaperillia which lying for the most part soaking in the water it participateth of this vertue and giueth it this force In this Riuer and all the Riuers of this coast are great abundance of Alagartoes and it is said that this exceedeth the rest for persons of credit haue certified me that as small fishes in other Riuers abound in scoales so the Alagartoes in this they doe much hurt to the Indians and Spaniards and are dreadfull to all whom they catch within their clutches Some fiue or six leagues to the North-wards of Puma is la Punta de Santa Elena vnder which is good anchoring cleane ground and reasonable succour Being thwart of this point wee had sight of a Shippe which wee chased but being of better saile then wee and the night comming on we lost sight of her and so anchored vnder the Isla de Plata to recouer our Pinnace and Boate which had gone about the other point of the Iland which lyeth in two degrees and fortie minutes The next day we past in sight of Puerto Vicjo in two degrees ten minutes which lying without shipping we directed our course for Cape Passaos It lyeth directly vnder the Equinoctiall line some fourescore leagues to the West-wards of this Cape lyeth a heape of Ilands the Spaniards call Illas de los Galapagos they are desert and beare no fruite from Cape Passaos we directed our course to Cape Saint Francisco which lyeth in one degree to the North-wards of the line and being thwart of it we descried a small Shippe which we chased all that day and night and the next morning our Pinnace came to bourd her but being a Ship of aduise and full of passengers and our Ship not able to fetch her vp they entreated our people badly and freed themselues though the feare they conceiued caused them to cast all the dispatches of the King as also of particulars into the Sea with a great part of their loading to be lighter and better of saile for the Ships of the South Sea loade themselues like lighters or sand barges presuming vpon the securitie from stormes Being out of hope to fetch vp this Shippe we stood in with the Cape where the Land beginneth to trend about to the East-wards The Cape is high land and all couered ouer with trees and so is the land ouer the Cape and all the coast from this Cape to Panama is full of wood from the Straits of Magelan to this Cape of San Francisco In all the coast from head-land to head-land the courses lye betwixt the North and North and by West and sometimes more Westerly and that but seldome It is a bold coast and subiect to little foule weather or alteration of windes for the Brese which is the Southerly winde bloweth continually from Balparizo to Cape San Francisco except it be a great chance Trending about the Cape wee haled in East North-east to fetch the Bay of Atacames which lyeth some seuen leagues from the Cape In the mid way some three leagues from the shore lyeth a banke of sand whereof a man must haue a care for in some parts of it there is but little water The tenth of Iune we came to an anchor in the Bay of Atacames which on the Wester part hath a round hammock It seemeth an Iland in high Springs I iudge that the Sea goeth round about it To the Eastwards it hath a high sandie Cliffe and in the middest of the Bay a faire birth from the shoare lieth a bigge blacke Rocke aboue water from this Rocke to the sandy Cliffe is a drowned Marsh ground caused by his lownesse And a great Riuer which is broad but of no depth Manning our Boate and running to the shoare wee found presently in the Westerne bight of the Bay a deepe Riuer whose Indraught was so great that we could not benefit our selues of it being brackish except at a low water which hindred our dispatch yet in fiue dayes wee filled all our emptie Caske supplied ouâ— want of wood and grounded and put in order our Pinnasse Here for that our Indians serued vs to no other vse but to consume our victuals we eased our selues of them gaue them Hookes and Lines which they craued and some bread for a few dayes and replanted them in a rarre better Countrey then their owne which fell out luckily for the Spaniards of the Shippe which wee chased thwart of Cape San Francisco for victuals growing short with her hauing many mouthes shee was forced to put ashoare fifty of her passengers neere the Cape whereof more then the one halfe died with famine and continuall wading through Riuers and waters the rest by chance meeting with the Indians which we had put ashore with their fishing guide and industry were refreshed sustained and brought to habitation Our necessary businesse being ended we purposed the fifteenth day of May in the morning to setsaile but the foureteenth in the euâ—ning we had sight of a Shippe some three leagues to Sea-wards and through the importunitie of my Captaine and Companie I condiscended that our Pinnace should giue her chase which I should not haue done for it was our destruction I gaue them precise order that if they stood not in againe at night they should seeke me at Cape San Francisco for the next morning I purposed to set sayle without delay and so seeing that our Pinnace slowed her comming at nine of the clocke in the morning we waied our Anchors and stood for the Cape where we beate off and on two dayes and our Pinnace not appearing wee stood againe into the Bay where we descried heâ— turning in without a maine Mast which standing off to the Sea close by with much winde and a ch 〈…〉 ng Seâ— bearing a taut-sayle where a little was too much being to small purpose sodainely tâ—ey bare it by the bourd and standing in with the shore the winde or rather God blinding thâ—m for our punishment they knew not the
would giue vs his word and oath as the Generall of the King and some pledge for confirmation to receiue vs a buena querra and to giue vs our liues and liberty and present passage into our owne Countrey that wee would surrender our selues and Ship into his hands Otherwise that he should neuer enioy of vs nor ours any thing but a resolution euery man to dye fighting With this Message I dispatched him and called vnto me all my Company and encouraged them to sacrifice their liues fighting and killing the enemy if hee gaue but a fillip to any of our companions The Spaniards willed vs to hoise out our boate which was shot all to peeces and so was theirs Seeing that he called to vs to amaine our sailes which wee could not well doe for that they were slung and we had not men enough to hand them In this parley the Vice-admirall comming vpon our quarter not knowing of what had past discharged her two chase peeces at vs and hurt our Captaine very sore in the thigh and maimed one of our Masters Mates called Hugh Maires in one of his Armes but after knowing vs to be rendred he secured vs And we satisfied them that we could not hoise out our boate nor strike our sayles the Admirall laid vs abourd but before any man entred Iohn Gomes went vnto the Generall who receiued him with great curtesie and asked him what we required whereunto hee made answere that my demand was that in the Kings name he should giue vs his faith and promise to giue vs our liues to keepe the Lawes of faire warres and quarter and to send vs presently into our Countrey and in confirmation hereof that I required some pledge whereunto the Generall made answere that in the Kings Maiesties name his Master he receiued vs a buena querra and swore by God Almighty and by the habit of Alcautara whereof he had receiued Knight hood and in token whereof he wore in his breast a greene crosse which is the ensigne of that Order that hee would giue vs our liues with good entreatie and send vs as speedily as he could into our owne Countrey In confirmation whereof he tooke off his gloue and sent it to me as a pledge With this message Iohn Gomes returned and the Spaniards entred and tooke possession of our Ship euery one crying buena querra buena querra â—y por immaniana por ti with which our Company began to secure themselues The Generall was a principall Gentleman of the ancient Nobilitie of Spaine and brother to the Conde de Lemos whose intention no doubt was according to his promise and therefore considering that some bad intreaty and insolency might be offered vnto me in my Ship by the common Souldiers who seldome haue respect to any person in such occasions especially in the case I was whereof he had enformed himselfe for preuention he sent a principall Captain brought vp long time in Flanders called Pedro Alueres de Pulgar to take care of me and whilest the Ship were one abourd the other to bring me into his Ship which he accomplished with great humanity and courtesie despising the barres of Gold which were shared before his face which hee might alone haue enioyed if he would And truely he was as after I found by triall a true Captaine a man worthy of any charge and of the noblest condition that I haue knowne any Spaniard The Generall receiued me with great courtesie and compassion euen with teares in his eyes and words of great consolation and commanded mee to bee accommodated in his owne Cabbine where hee sought to cure and comfort mee the best hee could the like hee vsed with all our hurt men sixe and thirtie at least And doubtlesse as true courage valour and resolution it requisite in a Generall in the time of battell So humanitie mildnesse and courtesie after victorie Whilest the ships were together the Maine-mast of the Daintie fell by the boord and the people being occupied in ransacking and seeking for spoile and pillage neglected the principall whereof ensued that within a short space the Daintie grew so deepe with water which increased for want of preuention that all who were in her desired to forsake her and weaued and cried for succour to be saued being out of hope of her recouerie Whereupon the Generall calling together the best experimented men hee had and consulting with them what was best to bee done it was resolued that Generall Michael Angel should goe aboord the Daintie and with him threescore Mariners as many Souldiers and with them the English men who were able to labour to free her from water and to put her in order if it were possible and then to recouer Perico the Port of Panama for that of those to wind-wards it was impossible to turne vp to any of them and neerer then to â—eward was not any that could supply our necessities and wants which lay from vs East North-east aboue two hundred leagues Michael Angel being a man of experience and care accomplished that hee tooke in hand although in cleering and bayling the water in placing a pumpe and in fitting and mending her Fore-saile he spent aboue six and thirtie houres During which time the Ships lay all a hull but this worke ended they set saile and directed their course for the Iles of Pearles And for that the Daintie sailed badly what for want of her Maine-saile and with the aduantage which all the South Sea ships haue of all those built in our North Sea The Admirall gaue her a taw which notwithstanding the wind calming with vs as wee approached neerer to the Land twelue daies were spent before wee could fetch sight of the Ilands which lie alongst the Coast beginning some eight leagues West South-west from Panama and run to the Southwards neere thirtie leagues They are many and most inhabited and those which haue people haue some Negros slaues vnto the Spaniards which occupie themselues in labour of the Land or in fishing for Pearles In times past many enriched themselues with that trade but now it is growne to decay The manner of fishing for Pearles is with certaine long Pinnasses or small Barkes in which there goe foure fiue six or eight Negros expert swimmers and great dieuers whom the Spaniards call Busos with tract of time vse and continuall practise hauing learned to hold their breath long vnder water for the better atchieuing their worke These throwing themselues into the Sea with certaine instruments of their Art goe to the bottome and seeke the Bankes of the Oysters in which the Pearles are ingendred and with their force and Art remoue from their foundation in which they spend more or lesse time according to the resistance the firmnesse of the ground affordeth Once losed they put them into a bag vnder their armes and after bring them vp into their Boats hauing loaden it they goe to the shoare there they open
these Rites they say they pray for the dead They neuer make an end till they haue spent all and then they returne to their labours They are very expert in the Arts which they learne although it be writing or reading which yet is not granted them to learne They pay yeerely to their Gouernours a certaine tribute of Siluer and other things after they are eighteene yeeres old till fiftie The Commendator receiueth these things conditionally to maintaine a Priest and a Corrigidor and to pay the tenths to the Church This and other places are there giuen for two liues the sonne or eldest daughter succeeding The Corrigidors amongst the Indians are prohibited merchandise A Visitor is appointed in euery Court to goe to the places of that Precinct to enquire of affaires and to decide controuersies The number of Mesticos is great which wander vp and downe poore and beggarly nor giue their minds to learne any handicrafts It were good they were forced to labour A Councell celebrated at Lima 1583. in the third Session Chap. 22. approued of the Pope and our King decreed that wheresoeuer one thousand Indians are found together a Teacher and Priest should be set ouer them The Indians Priests vse at the Kings charges to carrie with them many religious men and the Iesuites by the supreme Councell of India with aduise of the BB. are commanded to send many thither for the Bishops assistance The Rents and Tenths of Bishoprickes are deuided into foure parts one of which goeth to the Bishop a second to the Deane and Chapiter so as the Deanes proportion is 150. the dignities 130. the Canons 100. The third and fourth part are diuided into nine shares called Ninths of which two returne to the King and are bestowed on the buildings of Cathedrall Churches another ninth and halfe on the Fabrickes another ninth and halfe on the Hospitall buildings the fourth remayning are paid to the Vicars Singers Organists and other Church Officers What remayneth is spent on the Fabrickes All are laid out by the Bishops order In my iudgement it were very good if euery Bishoprick had Seminaries and Colledges wherein the children of their Caciques and chiefe men might be educated to be maintayned by the Caciques The Bishopricke of Cusco is 200. leagues long and 70. broad that of Lima is greater by the one halfe as is that also of Quito Whereupon the Bishops of the New World writ to the King that it were better to make them more Bishoprickes each of which shall yet retaine 20000. Pezos Euery seuenth yeere ordinarily is a Prouinciall Synod in Peru to which the Bishoppes come some by Sea some by Land 400. or 600. leagues the wayes not admitting Coaches Some haue sought for Vniuersities in some places to bee erected as those of Quito at least for Diuinitie and the liberall Arts and Indian Tongue the Professors to haue foure or 5000. Duckets a piece yeerely There is no question but of the Indians many learned men may adorne the Schooles and Pulpits The Kings Reuenue out of the West Indies is twelue Millions yeerely growing out of the fifth of Gold and Siluer great Meltings Customes of Ports Indian Tributes sale of Offices the Cruzada Tribute of Rents Quicksiluer Fines of Courts and the ninth part of Ecclesiasticall Rents Popes Buls and Collations of Benefices Ecclesiasticall and Secular are subiect to the King and ordered by his supreame Councell of the Indies CHAP. X. Relation of the new Discouerie in the South Sea made by PEDRO FERNANDEZ GIROS Portugez 1609. with his Petitions to the King one Englished another in Spanish THis man being a famous Pilot was sent with two ships from Peru to discouer the Ilands of Salomon After hee had taken his course in the height of the Straits of Magellanuâ— little more or lesse he did discouer a mayne Land and sayled eight hundred leagues vpon the Coast vntill he came to the height of fifteene degrees to the Southward of the Equinoctiall Line where hee found a very fruitfull and pleasant Countrey and well peopled abounding with Pearles Gold and Siluer great store of Limons Orenges and other Fruites excellent good and in great quantitie great store of Goats Hogges Geese Partridges Conies and Fowle Pepper and Spices The Countrey is very temperate and healthfull great store of fish of many different sorts full of wood and goodly high Trees for shipping very good pasture ground for Corne and Cattell The men of the Countrey are some tawnie and some white of good disposition more ciuill and politike then the Indians of Peru and Noua Hispania There is in the Coast a Bay of some twentie leagues into which there fals two great Riuers out of the Countrey which is the place where they purpose to settle their first Plantations There are many Ilands in the same Coast both great and little plentifull they are all and well inhabited This Captaine Giroz shall be presently sent vnto Peru with order and Commission to take vp twelue hundred men and shipping with other necessaries for the Voyage to inhabit and as many more shall be sent the yeere following from Noua Hispania and for the whole businesse he is to receiue fiue hundred thousand Duckets Walsingham Gresley The Copie of a Petition presented to the King of Spaine by Captaine PETER FERDINAND de Quir touching the Discouerie of the fourth part of the World called Terra Australis incognita and of the great riches and fertilite of the same Printed with license in Siuill An. 1610. SIR I Captaine Fernandez de Quiros shew vnto you that this is the eighth Petition which by mee hath beene presented to your Maiesties view to perswade the conduction of some Colonies vnto the Land which your Maiestie hath commanded to bee discouered in the parts of Australia incognita And yet to this houre no resolution is taken neither haue I receiued any answere or hope whereby I might rest assured to obtaine my dispatch although I haue attended fourteene moneths in your Court and haue imployed fourteene yeeres in this Discouery without any profit or other respect but the benefit thereof with which notwithstanding infinite contradictions I haue gone 20000. leagues by Land and by Sea and haue diminished and sunke my estate I haue trauelled with many afflictions in my person and suffered such strange and extraordinary crosses that they seeme almost incredible to my selfe and all that so Religious an vndertake should not vnworthily be abandoned In regard whereof I do most humbly beseech your Maiestie in the bowels of the diuine charitie that you would be pleased to take order that I be not depriued of the fruits of this Designe which with such instance I doe desire and which with so much iustice are due vnto my continuall paines and trauell nor that I bee debarred from the effects of so considerable and well grounded a request whose principall scope is the glory of God and of your Maiestie and from
whence infinite benefits are likely to issue forth which will liue as long as the fabrick of the World shall subsist and after the dissolution thereof will remaine to all Eternitie 1. Touching the extent of these Regions newly discouered grounding my iudgement on that which I haue seene with mine owne eyes and vpon that which Captaine Lewes Paez de Torres Admirall of my Fleet hath represented vnto your Maiestie the length thereof is as great as all Europe and Asia the lesse vnto the Sea of Bachu Persia and all the Iles aswell of the Ocean as of the Mediterranean Sea taking England and Island into this account This vnknowne Countrey is the fourth part of the Terrestriall Globe and extendeth it selfe to such length that in probabilitie it is twice greater in Kingdomes and Seignories then all that which at this day doth acknowledge subiection and obedience vnto your Maiestie and that without neighbourhood either of Turkes or Moores or of any other Nation which attempteth warre vpon confining Countreyes The Land which we haue discouered is all seated within the Torrid Zone and a great tract thereof reacheth vnto the Equinoctiall Circle the breath may be of 90. degrees and in some places a little lesse And if the successe proue answerable vnto the hopes they will be found Antipodes vnto the better part of Africke vnto all Europe and to the greater portion of Asia But you must obserue that as the Contreyes which we haue discouered in 15. degrees of latitude are better then Spaine so the other which are opposed to their eleuation must by proportion and analogie prooue some terrestriall Paradise 2. All those quarters swarme with an incredible multitude of Inhabitants whereof some are white others blacke and in colour like Mulatos or halfe Moores and others of a mingled complexion Some weare their haire long blacke and scattered others haue their haire cripsed and thicke and others very yellow and bright Which diuersitie is an apparant argmument that there is an apparant argument that there is commerce and communication amongst them And this consideration together with the bountie which Nature hath bestowed on the soile their inexperience of Artillery and Guns and their vnskilfulnesse in labouring in Mynes with other semblable circumstances doth induce mee to inferre that all the Countrey is well peopled They know little what belongeth to artificiall Trades for they haue neither fortifications nor walles and liue without the awe of Kings or Lawes They are a simple people cantoned into partialities and exercise much disagreement amongst themselues The Armes which they vse are Bowes and Arrowes which are not poisoned or steeped in the iuice of venemous herbes as the custome is of many other Countreyes They doe also carrie Clubs Truncheons Pikes Dartes to hurle with the arme all which are framed only of wood They doe couer themselues from the waste or girdling place down to the halfe of their thighs they are very studious of cleanlinesse tractable cheerefull and wonderously addicted to bee gratefull vnto those that doe them a courtesie as I haue experienced many times The which doth build in me a beliefe that with the assistance of God if they may be gently and amiably intreated they will bee found very docible and easie of mannage and that we shall without much worke accommodate our selues vnto them And it is most necessary to obserue this way of sweetnesse especially in the beginning that the Inhabitants may be drawne along to this so holy and sauing an end whereof we ought to take a particular care and zeale aswell in small things as in matters of more importance Their houses are built of wood couered with Palme-tree leaues they haue Pitchers and Vessels made of earth they are not without the mysterie of weauing and other curiosities of that kind They worke on Marble they haue Flutes Drummes and wooden Spoones they set apart certaine places for Oratories and Prayers and for buriall places Their Gardens are artificially seuered into beds bordered and paled Mother of Pearle and the shels which containe Pearle they haue in much vse and estimation of which they make Wedges Rasors Sawes Culters and such like Instruments They also doe make thereof Pearles and great Beads to weare about their neckes They that doe dwell in the Ilands haue Boats very artificially made and exceedingly commodious for sayling which is a certaine argument that they confine vpon other Nations that are of a more polished and elegant behauiour And this also they haue of our husbandry that they cut Cocks and geld Boares 3. Their bread is vsually made of three sorts of Roots which grow there in great abundance Neither doe they imploy much labour in making this bread for they do onely rost the Roots vntill they are soft and tender They are very pleasant to the taste wholsome and nourishing they are of a good lengâ—h there being of them of an Ell long and the halfe of that in bignesse There is great store of excellent fruits in these Countreyes There are sixe kinds of Plane Trees Almond Trees of foure sorts and other Trees called Obi resembling almost in fruit and greatnesse the Melacatones store of Nuts Orenges and Limonds They haue moreouer Sugar-canes large in size and in great plentie they haue knowledge of our ordinarie Apples they haue Palme-trees without number out of which there may easily bee drawne a iuyce which will make a liquor alluding much to Wine as also Whey Vineger and Honey the kernels thereof are exceeding sweet And they haue fruits which the Indians call Cocos which being greene doe make a kinde of twine and the pith is almost like in taste vnto the Creame of Milke When they are ripe they serue for meate and drinke both by Land and Sea And when they wither and fall from the Tree there sweateth out an Oyle from them which is very good to burne in Lampes and is medicinable for wounds and not vnpleasant to be eaten Of their rindes or barks there are made Bottles and other like Vessels and the inner skin doth serue for calking of ships Men doe make Cables and other Cordage of them which are of sufficient strength to draw a Canon and are fit for other domesticke vses But that which is more speciall they do there vse the leaues of Palme-trees which they a masse together to make sayles of them for Vessels of small bulke and burthen They make likewise fine thinne Mats of them and they do serue to couer the house without and for hangings within And of them they doe likewise make Pikes and other sorts of weapons as also Oares to row with and Vtensils for the house You are to note that these Palme-trees are their Vines from whence they gather their Wine all the yeere long which they make without much cost or labour Amongst their herbage and Garden fruites Wee haue seene Melons Peares great and little and sundry sorts of pot-herbes And they haue also Beanes For flesh they are stored
the Southwards Pedro Sarmiento entred the Straits where his men were in a mutinie and would haue returned for Lima but he hanged one of them and so went on his Voyage for Spaine and told the King that there were two narrow points in the Straits where he might build a Fort and that the Straits was a very good Countrey and had great store of Riches and other necessaries and very well inhabited with Indians Vpon whose words and for that there were more ships making readie in England to passe the Straits The King sent Diego Floris de Valdes with three and twentie ships and three thousand fiue hundred men as also the Gouernour of Chili with fiue hundred old Souldiers new come out of Flanders These ships had the hardest hap of any ships that went out of Spaine since the Indies were found for that before they came from the Coast of Spaine a storme tooke them and cast away fiue of the shippes and lost in them aboue eight hundred men and the rest put into Calls notwithstanding the King sent them word that yet they should proceed and so did with sixteene saile of ships for that other two ships were so shaken with the storme that they could not goe and in the sixteenth saile Pedro Sarmiento was sent to bee Gouernour in the Straits and had committed vnto him fiue hundred men for to stay in the Straits he had also all kind of Artificers to make his Forts and other necessaries with great store of Ordnance and other Munition This fleet because it was late did winter on the Coast of Brasill in the Riuer of Ienero and from hence they went where the Winter was past and about the height of fortie two degrees they had a storme so that Diego Flores beat vp and downe about two and twentie dayes in which time he had one of his best ships sunke in the Sea and in her three hundred men and twentie women that went to inhabit the Straits and also most part of the munition that should bee left in the Straits In the end the storme grew so great that the ships might not indure it any longer but were put back againe vnto an Iland called Saint Catalina and there he found a Barke wherein were certaine Friers going for the Riuer of Plate which Friers told him of two great ships of England and a Pinnasse that had taken them but tooke nothing from them nor did them any harme but only asked them for the King of Spaines shippes Now Diego Flores knowing that these English shippes would goe to the Straits hee also was determined to goe to the Straits although it was the moneth of February and choosing ten ships of the fifteene that were left hee sent three ships that were old and shaken with the storme he put in them all the women and sick men that were in the fleet and sent them to the Riuer of Ienero and left two other ships which were not for the Sea at the Iland and he with the other ten ships returned againe for the Straits Now the three ships in which the sicke men and women were came to the Port of Saint Uincent where they found the two English ships so they would haue the Englishmen gone out of the Harbour and hereupon they fell at fight and because that these three ships were weake with the foule weather that they had as also the men were the refuse of all the fleet the Englishmen easily put them to the worst and sunke one of them and might haue sunke another if they would but they minded not the destruction of any man for it is the greatest vertue that can be in any man that when he may doe hurt he will not doe it Vpon this the Englishmen went from this Port to Spirito Sancto where they had victuals for their Merchandize and so returned home to England without doing any harme in the Country Iohn Drake went from them in the Pinnasse the cause why I know not but the Pinnasse came into the Riuer of Plato and within fiue leagues of Seale Iland not far from the place where the Earle of Cumberlands ships tooke in fresh water this said Pinnasse was cast away vpon a ledge of Rockes but the men were all saued in the Boate. They were eighteene men and went ashoare vpon the North shoare and went a dayes iourney into the Land where they met with the Sauage people these people are no man-eaters but take all the Christians that they can and make them there slaues but the Englishmen fought with them and the Sauages slâ—e fiue Englishmen and tooke the other thirteene aliue which were with the Sauages about fifteene monethes But the Master of the Pinnasse which was Richard Faireweather beeing not able to indure this misery that hee was in and hauing knowledge that there was a Towne of Christians on the other side of the Riuer he in the night called Iohn Drake and another young man which was with them and tooke a Canoa which was very little and had but two Oares and so passed to the other side of the Riuer which is aboue nine leagues broad and were three dayes before they could get ouer and in this time they had no meate and comming to land they hit vpon a high way that went towards the Christians and seeing the footing of Horses they follow it and at last came to a House where as there was Corne sowed and there they met with Indians which were Seruants vnto the Spaniards which gaue them to eate and clothes to couer them for they were all naked and one of the Indians went to the Towne and told them of the Englishmen so the Captaine sent foure Horsemen which brought them to the Towne behind them then the Captayne clothed them and prouided for them lodging and Iohn Drake sate at the Captaines Table and so intreated them very well thinking to send them for Spaine But the Vice-roy of Peru hearing of this sent for them so they sent him Iohn Drake but the other two they kept because that they were married in the Countrey Thus I know no more of their affaires But vpon this newes there were prepared fiftie Horsemen to goe ouer the Riuer to seeke the rest of the Englishmen and Spaniards that were also among these Sauage people but I am not certaine where they went forward or not But now let vs returne to Diego Flores who passed from the Iland of Santa Catalina towards the Straits in the middle of February and comming in the height of the Riuer of Plate hee sent the Gouernour of Chili with three ships vp the Riuer Bonas Ayres and so to go ouer land to Chili Of these three ships they lost two but saued the men and the other prouision and the third returned for Spaine Then Diego Flores with the other seuen ships came as high as fiftie two degrees which is the mouth of the Straits and because it was the end
fauour to seeke and discouer new Countries But the greatest and most notable discouery that hath beene from those parts now of late was that of the Isles of Salomon which were found in manner following The Licenciate Castro being gouernour of Peru sent forth a Fleete of Ships to discouer certaine Islands in the South Sea vpon the coast of Peru appointing as Generall of the same Fleete a kinsman of his called Aluares de Mendanio and Pedro Sarmiento as Lieutenant and in the Viceadmirall went Pedro de Ortega This Fleete departing forth of the hauen of Lima and sailing 800. leagues Westward off the coast of Peru found certaine Islands in eleuen degrees to the South of the Equinoctiall inhabited with a kinde of people of a yellowish complexion and all naked whose weapons are Bowes and Arrowes and Darts The Beasts that they saw here were Hogs and little Dogs and they found some Hens Here also they found a muster of Cloues Ginger and Sinamon although the Sinamon were not of the best and here appeared vnto them likewise some shew of Gold The first Island that the Spaniards discouered they named Santa Izabella and here they built a small Pinnace with the which and with their Ships Boate they found out betweene nine and fifteene degrees of Southerly latitude eleuen great Islands being one with another of eightie leagues in compasse The greatest Island that they discouered was according vnto the first finder called Guadalcanal on the coast whereof they sailed 150. leagues before they could know whether it were an Island or part of the maine land and yet they know not perfectly what to make of it but thinke that it may be part of that continent which stretcheth to the Streights of Magellan for they coasted it to eighteene degrees and could not finde the end thereof The Gold that they found was vpon this Island or maine land of Guadalcanal whereas they landed and tooke a towne finding small graines of Gold hanged vp in the houses thereof But because the Spaniards vnderstood not the language of the Countrey and also for that the Indians were very stout men and fought continually against them they could neuer learne from whence that Gold came nor yet what store was in the Land These Indians vse to goe to Sea in great Canoas that will carrie one hundred men a piece wherein they haue many conflicts one against another howbeit vnto the Christians they could doe no great hurt for that with a small Pinnace and two Falcons a few may ouercome one hundred of them At this place foureteene men mistrusting nothing rowed to land to take in fresh water whom on the sodaine certaine Indians in foure Canoas set vpon tooke the Ships Boate and slew all the men therein wherefore a man cannot goe on shore too strong nor yet be too warie in a strange land Hereupon the Spaniards went on shore in their Pinnace and burnt the Towne and in this towne they found the small graines of Gold before mentioned They were discouering of these Islands from one to another about foureteene moneths at the end of which time because that vpon the coast where they were the winde continuing still in one place might be an occasion of longer tarrying they consulted which way to returne Southward they durst not goe for feare of great tempests which are that way vsuall wherefore sayling to the North of the line they fell with the coast of Nueua Espanna on which coast they met with such terrible stormes that they were forced to cut their maine masts ouer-boord and to lye nine moneths beating it vp and downe in the Sea before they could get into any harbour of the Christians In which time by reason of euill gouernment and for lacke of victuals and fresh water most of the men in their Admirall dyed for fiue whole dayes together they had neither water nor meate but in the other Ships they behaued themselues so well that the greater part of them came safe vnto the land He that passeth the Straits of Magellan or saileth from the coast of Chili directly for the Malucos must needes runne in sight of some of these Islands before spoken of At which Islands lying so conueniently in the way to the Malucos you may furnish your selfe with plenty of victuals as Hogs Hennes excellent Almonds Potatos Sugar-canes with diuers other sorts fit for the sustenance of man in great abundance Also among these Islands you shall haue some quantity of Gold which the Indians will giue you in trucke for other commodities For the Spaniards in their discouery of these Islands not seeking nor being desirous of Gold brought home notwithstanding 40000. pezos with them besides great store of Cloues and Ginger and some Sinamon also which is not so good as in other places The discouerer of these Islands named them the Isles of Salomon to the end that the Spaniards supposing them to be those Isles from whence Salomon fetched Gold to adorne the Temple at Ierusalem might be the more desirous to goe and inhabit the same Now the same time when they thought to haue sent colonies vnto these Islands Captaine Drake entered the South Sea whereupon commandement was giuen that they should not be inhabited to the end that such Englishmen and of other Nations as passed the Straits of Magellan to goe to the Malucos might haue no succour there but such as they got of the Indian people CHAP. XII Briefe extracts translated out of IEROM BENZOS three Bookes of the New World touching the Spaniards cruell handling of the Indians and the effects thereof ANno 1641. Ierom Benzo went from Millaine to Siuill in Spaine and thence to the New World where he was entertained of the Spaniards and practised with them the huntings of the Indians which they did by lurking in couerts till some of the Natiues came within their reach by bribing the Cacikes with trifles to procure captiues and other meanes Peter Chalice came while we were there to Amaracan with aboue 4000. slaues and had brought many more but with labour wearinesse hunger and griefe for losse of their Countrie and friends many had perished in the way Many also not able to follow in the Spaniards swift march were by them killed to preuent their taking armes A miserable spectacle to see those troopes of slaues naked with their bodies rent maimed starued the mothers dragging or carrying on their shoulders their children howling the neckes of all armes and hands chained not any growne Maide amongst them which the spoilers had not rauished with so profuse lust that thence grew contagion and pernicious diseases The Spanish horsemen in those warres vsed quilted Iackes with Launces and Swords the footemen Sword Shield and Crosse-bow with lighter Iackes The moisture and great dewes made Peeces vnseruiceable in those parts The Islanders in Hispaniola seeing no hope of better or place for worse killed their children and then hanged themselues The women
him and twelue other with the horse Two dayes after the Gouernour came vnto vs wee imbarked our selues and were in the whole foure hundred men and fourescore horses in foure Ships and one Brigantine The Pilot which we had newly taken brought the Ships through the quicke sands which they call Canerreo so that the day following we found our selues on dry land and so remained fiue dayes the keele of the Ships oftentimes striking vpon the ground At the end of those fiue dayes a storme from the South brought so much water vpon the sands that wee might come out although not without much danger Departing thence we arriued at Guanignanico where another tempest assailed vs so fiercely that we stood in great danger to be lost at the head of the currents we had another where we staid three dayes And these being ouerpassed we went about the Cape of Saint Anthony and with a contrary winde we went till wee came within twelue leagues of the Hauana and standing the day following to put in there a Southerne gale of winde tooke vs which droue vs farre from the land so that wee crossed ouer by the coast of Florida and arriued the twelfth of Aprill at the land of Martes so coasting the way of Florida vpon holy Thursday in the same coast we ancored in the mouth of an open roade at the head whereof we saw certaine houses and habitations of the Indians The same day Alonso Euriquez the Auditor went out of the Ship and landed vpon an Iland which is in the same open roade and called to those Indians who came and abode with vs a good space and by way of ransome gaue him fish and certaine peeces of Deeres flesh The day following which was good Friday the Gouernour imbarked himselfe with as many men as the Boates could carry and we went to the Villages or houses of the Indians which wee had seene which we found all emptie and desolate because that night the people were gone in their Canoes One of those houses was very great and able to containe more then three hundred persons the other were much lesser and there we found a little Bell of Gold within the Nets The next day the Gouernour aduanced the Ensigne for your Maiesty and tooke possession of the Village in your royall name and presented the Commissions and was receiued and obayed as Gouernour according to your Maiesties appointment And so in like manner we presented our other prouisoes vnto him which he accepted and obeyed according to the contents thereof and presently caused the rest of the men to be shipped and the horses which were not aboue two and fortie because the other through the many tempests and beating of the Sea and length of time were dead And these few that remained were so weake and wearied as at that time we could doe little seruice The day following the Indians of those places came vnto vs and although they spoke vnto vs yet notwithstanding we vnderstood them not The Gouernour commanded that the Brigantine should goe coasting the way of Florida and search for the hauen which the Pilot Miruelo said he knew but was now astonished and knew not in what part we were nor where the hauen was and the Brigantine was appointed that if they found not the hauen to crosse ouer to the Hauana and finde the Ship wherein Aluaro della Querda was and hauing taken in some victuall to returne to finde it The Brigantine being deing departed we returned to enter into the Village of the same people where we had bin before with some other more and we coasted the gulfe which wee had found and hauing gone about foure leagues we tooke foure Indians and shewed them Maiz because vntill that day wee had not yet seene any token thereof they said they would bring vs where it grew and so they brought vs to their Village which was not farre from thence at the head of the gulfe and there they shewed vs a little Maiz which was not yet ripe to be gathered There wee found many chests of the Merchants of Castile and in euery one of them was the body of a dead man all which were couered with Deeres skins painted The Commissary thought that it was a kinde of Idolatry so he burned the chests with all the bodies We also found peeces of webs of cloath and Pennacchi which they had gotten out of Noua Hispaniola and certaine mosters of Gold Whereupon we demanded of those Indians by signes from whence they had such things They by signes shewed vs that very farre from thence there was a Prouince called Apalachen wherein there was great quantity of Gold Departing from thence wee went further carrying for guides those foure Indians which we had first taken and so ten or twelue leagues off from that place wee found another people of fifteene houses where was a goodly Plaine sowed with Maiz which now was ready to be gathered and we found some also dry There we abode two dayes and after returned May the first the Gouernour caused two pound of Biscuit and halfe a pound of Porke to be giuen to euery one of them who were to goe with vs and so we departed to enter within the land The summe of all them who went was three hundred men in all among whom was the Commissary Frier Iohn Sciuarez and another Frier called Frier Iohn de Palis and three Clarkes and the Officers Forty of vs were on horsebacke and so with that prouision which wee had brought wee went fifteene dayes without finding any other things to eate except Dates like those of Andaluzia In all this time we found not any Indian nor saw any house nor place inhabited and in the end we found a Riuer which wee passed with much danger and trouble by swimming and vpon rafts and staied a day to passe ouer it because it ranne with much fury Hauing passed to the other side of the Riuer two hundred Indians came against vs and the Gouernour went before and after he had spoken to them by signes they made much signes againe vnto vs that we should ioyne our selues with them taking fiue or sixe who brought vs vnto their houses which were about halfe a league off and there wee found great quantity of Maiz which staod now ready to be gathered After some search of the Countrey to the Sea wee departed from that place alwayes as we went inquiring for that Prouince which the Indians said was called Apalachen and brought for guides them that we had taken and so went forward vntill the seuenteenth of Iune and found no Indians that durst abide our comming There a y Cacique came vnto vs whom an Indian carried vpon his necke and hee was couered with a Deeres skinne painted and brought with him many people who went before him playing vpon certaine Flutes made of canes and so came vnto the Gouernour and abode with him an houre and we gaue him to vnderstand by
such wise as that since the first entring into New Spaine which was on the eight day of Aprill in the eighteenth yeere vnto the thirtieth yeere which make twelue yeeres complete the slaughters and the destructions haue neuer ceassed which the bloudie and cruell hands of the Spaniards haue continually executed in foure hundred and fiftie leagues of Land or thereabout in compasse round about Mexico and the Neighbour Regions round about such as the which might containe foure or fiue great Realmes as great and a great deale farre fertiler then is Spaine All this Countrie was more peopled with Inhabitants then Toledo and Siuill and Vallodolid and Sauagoce with Barcelona For that there hath not beene commonly in those Cities nor neuer were such a world of people when they haue beene peopled with the most as there was then in the said Country which containeth in the whole compasse more then 1800. leagues during the time of the aboue mentioned twelue yeeres the Spaniards haue slaine and done to death in the said 450. leagues of Land what men what women what young and little children more then foure Millions of soules with the dint of the Sword and Speare and by fire during I say the Conquests as they call them Neither yet doe I here comprize those whom they haue slaine and doe slay as yet euery day in the aforesaid slauerie and oppression ordinarie Amongst other Murders and Massacres they committed this one which I am now to speake of in a great Citie more then of a thirtie thousand housholds which is called Cholula that is that comming before them the Lords of the Countrie and places neere adioyning and first and formost the Priests with their chiefe high Priest in procession to receiue the Spaniards with great solemnitie and reuerence so conducting them in the middest of them towards their Lodgings in the Citie in the houses and place of the Lord or other principall Lords of the Citie the Spaniards aduised with themselues to make a massacre or a chastise as they speake to the end to raise and plant a dread of their cruelties in euery corner of all that Countrie Now this hath beene alwaies their customary manner of doing in euery the Regions which they haue entred into to execute incontinent vpon their first arriuall some notable cruell butcherie to the end that those poore and innocent Lambes should tremble for feare which they should haue of them in this wise they sent first to summon all the Lords and Noblemen of the Citie and of all the places subiect vnto the same Citie who so soone as they came to speake with the Captaine of the Spaniards were incontinent apprehended before that any body might perceiue the matter to be able thereupon to beare tidings thereof vnto others Then were demanded of them fiue or sixe thousand Indians to carry the lodings and carriages of the Spaniards which Indians came forthwith and were bestowed into the base Courts of the Houses It was a pitifull case to see these poore folke what time they made them ready to beare the carriages of the Spaniard They come all naked only their secret parts couered hauing euery one vpon their shoulder a Net with a small deale of victuall they bow themselues euery one and hold their backes cowred downe like a sort of â—llie Lambes presenting themselues to the Swords and thus being all assembled in the base Court together with others one part of the Spanish all armed bestowe themselues at the gates to hemme them in whiles the rest put these poore Sheepe to the edge of the Sword and the Speares in such sort that there could not escape away one onely person but that he was cruelly put to death sauing that after a two or three dayes you might haue seene come forth sundry all couered with bloud which had hid and saued themselues vnder the dead bodies of their fellowes and now presenting themselues before the Spaniards asking them mercy and the sauing of their liues they found in them no pitie nor compassion any whit at all but were all hewed in pieces All the Lords which were aboue and vnderneath were all bound the Captaine commanding them to be brent quicke being bound vnto stakes pitched into the ground Howbeit one Lord which might be peraduenture the principall and King of the Countrie saued himselfe and cast himselfe with thirtie or fortie other men into a Temple thereby which was as good vnto them as a Fort which they call in their Language Qewe and there he defended himselfe a good part of the day But the Spaniards whose hands nothing can escape specially armed for the warre cast fire on the Temple and burned all those which were within From Cholula they went to Mexico The King Motensuma sent to meet them a thousand of presents and Lords and people making ioy and mirth by the way After great and abhominable tyrannies committed in the Citie of Mexico and in other Cities and the Countrey ten fifteene and twenty leagues compasse of Mexico this tyrannie and pestilence aduanced it selfe forward to waste also infect and lay desolate the Prouince of Panuco It was a thing to be wondred at of the world of people that there were and the spoyles and slaughters there done Afterward they wasted also after the selfe manner all the Prouince of Tuttepeke and the Prouince of Ipelingo and the Prouince of Columa each Prouince contayning more ground then the Realme of Leon and Castile This Captaine tyrant with this gorgeous and pretended title dispatched two other Captaines as very tyrants and farre more cruell and lesse pitifull then himselfe into great Realmes most flourishing and most fertile and full of people to wit the Realme of Guatimala which lieth to the Seaward on the South side and the same of Naco and Honduras otherwise called Guaymura which coasteth on the Sea on the North side confronting and confining the one with the other three hundred leagues distance from Mexico He sent the one by Land and the other by Sea both the one and the other carried with them a many of troopes to serue on horsebacke and a foot He which went by Sea committed exceeding pillings cruelties and disorders amongst the people on the Sea-coast The Prouinces and Realmes of Naco and Honduras which resembled a Paradise of pleasures and were more peopled frequented and inhabited then any Countrey in the world now of late wee comming along thereby haue seene them so dispeopled and destroyed that who so should see them his heart would cleaue for sorrow ware hee neuer so flinty They haue slaine within these eleuen yeeres more then two millions of soules hauing not left in more then an hundred leagues of the Countrey square but two thousand persons whom they slay as yet daily in the said ordinary bondage The great tyrant and Captaine which went to Guatimala as hath beene said exceeded all from the Prouinces neere to Mexico according as himselfe wrote in a Letter to the principall
they should catechise them whom they loue as the Apple of their eye They made for them also Churches and Temples and houses Moreouer some other Prouinces sent and inuited them to the end that they might come to them also to preach and giue them the vnderstanding of God and of him whom they said to bee the great King of Castile And being perswaded and induced by the Religious and did a thing which neuer yet before hath beene done in the Indies Twelue or fifteene Lords which had very many subiects and great dominion assembling euery one for his owne part his people and taking their aduise and consent of their owne voluntarie motion yeelded themselues to the subiection and to be vnder the domination of the Kings of Castile admitting the Emperour as King of Spaine for their Liege Souereigne Whereof also they made certaine Instruments by them consigned which I keepe in my charge together with the Testimonies thereunto of the said Religious The Indians being thus onward in the way of the faith with the great ioy and good hope of the Religious Brethren that they should be able to winne vnto Iesus Christ all the people of the Realme that were the residue being but a small number of the slaughters and wicked wars passed There entred at a certaine Coast eighteene Spaniards Tyrants on horsebacke and twelue on foot driuing with them great loades of Idols which they had taken in the other Prouinces of the Indians The Captaine of those thirtie Spaniards called vnto him a Lord of the Countrie therabouts as they were entred and commandeth him to take those Idols and to disperse them throughout all his Countrie selling euery Idoll for an Indian man or an Indian woman to make slaues of them with threatning them that if he did not doe it he would bid them battaile That said Lord being forced by feare distributed those Idols throughout all the Countrie and commanded all his subiects that they should take them to adore them and that they should returne in exchange of that ware Indies and Indisses tomake slaues of The Indians beeing affraid those which had two chldren gaue him one and hee that had three gaue him two This was the end of this Sacrilegious Trafficke and thus was this Lord or Cacique faine to content these Spaniards I say not Christians One of these abominable Chafferers named Iohn Garcia being sicke and neere his death had vnder his bed to packs of Idols and commanded his Indish Maid that serued him to looke to it that she made not away his Idols that there were for Murlimeus for they were good stuffe and that making vent of them shee should not take lesse then a slaue a piece for one of them with another and in fine with this his Testament and last Will thus deuised the Catiffe died The Indians perceiuing that that which the Religious had promised them was as good as nothing namely that the Spaniards should not enter those Prouinces and seeing the Spaniards which had laded thither Idols from other places there to make vent of them they hauing put all their Idols afore into the hands of the Friars to the end they should bee burned and to the end the true God should be by them adored all the Country was in a mutinie and a rage against the Religious Friars and the Indians comming vnto them say Why haue you lied vnto vs in promising vs by deceits that there should not enter any Spaniards into these Countries And why haue you burnt our gods seeing the Spaniards doe bring vs other Gods from other Nations Were not our Gods as good as the Gods of other Prouinces The Friars pacified them in the best manner that they could not knowing what to answere them and went to seeke out those thirty Spaniards to whom they declared the euill which they had done praying them to get them thence which the Spaniards would not doe but said to the Indians that those Religious men had caused them to come thither themselues of their owne accord which was rightly an extreme maliciousnesse In the end the Indians deliberated to kill the Religious men By occasion whereof the Friers fled away in a night hauing aduertisement of the case by some of the Indians Of the Prouince of Saint Martha THe Prouince of Saint Martha was a Countrie where the Spaniards gathered Gold in all plentie the Land being with the Regions adiacent very rich and the people industrious to draw out the Gold Wherefore also infinite Tyrants haue made thither continually with their ships ouer-running and ranging along the Country killing and spoyling those the Inhabitants and ramping from them that gold that they had with speedie returne euer to their ships which went and came oftentimes And so wrought they in those Prouinces great wasts and slaughters and cruelties horrible and that most commonly on the Sea-coast and certaine leagues within the Country At what time there went Spanish Tyrants to inhabite there And for as much as the Country was exceeding rich as hath beene said there euer succeeded Captaines one in anothers roome euery one more cruell then other in such sort that it seemed that euery one inforced himselfe for the masterie in doing of euils The yeere 1529. there went a great Tyrant very resolute with great troupes but without any feare of God or compassion of the nature of man who wrought such wastes and slaughters so great that he exceeded all others that had gone before him himselfe robbing for the space of sixe or seuen yeeres that he liued great Treasures after being deceassed without confession and fled from the place of his residence there succeeded him other murdering Tyrants and Theeues which made an end of the rest of the people that from the yeere 1529. vnto this day they haue reduced into a Wildernesse in those same quarters more then 400. leagues of Land which was no lesse peopled then the other Countries which we haue spoken of Verily if I had to make a bed-roll of the Vngraciousnesses of the Slaughters of the Desolations of the Iniquities of the Violencies of the Massacres and other great Insolencies which the Spaniards haue done and committed in those Prouinces of Saint Martha against God the King and against those innocent Nations I should write an Historie very ample But that may be done if God spare me life hereafter in his good time onely I will set downe a few words of that which was written in a Letter by a Bishop of this Prouince to the King our Souereigne and the Letter beareth date the twentieth of May 1541. The which Bishop amongst other words speaketh thus I say sacred Maiestie that the way to redresse this Countrie is that his Maiestie deliuer her out of the power of Stepfathers and giue vnto her an husband which may intreate her as is reason and aâ—cording as shee deserueth otherwise I am sure hereafter as the Tyrants which now haue the gouernment doe torment and tormoyle her she
bare sway and ruled that was nine yeares there was no more care of teaching or bringing the Indians to saluation neither was there any more labor employed or once thought of to that purpose then if they had beene Trees Stones Dogs or Cats He wasted great townes and fortresses he gaue to one Spaniard a hundred Indians to another fiftie to another more or lesse as euery man was in liking or fauour and as it pleased him to grant He gaue children and old men women with childe and in childebed men of countenance and commons the naturall Lords of the Townes and Countries he parted them among those to whom hee wished most wealth and commoditie vsing in his Letters of command this speech following To you such a man are giuen so many Indians with their Cacique them to vse in their Mines and affaires So as all great and small yong and old that could stand on their feete men women with childe or in childebed one or other trauailed and wrought so long as they had any breath in their bodies He gaue leaue to take away married men and to make them draw Gold tenne twenty thirtie fortie or eightie leagues or farther The women remained in farme houses and granges in great labours So that the man and wife should not see one another in eight or ten moneths or a whole yeare And at their meeting they were so worne with labour and hunger that they had no minde of cohabitation whereby their generation ceased and their poore children perâ—â—hed because the mothers through hunger and trauaile had no milke wherewith to nourish them This was a cause that in the I le of Cuba one of vs being there there perished in the space of three moneths for hunger 7000. children some desperate women strangled and killed their owne children others finding themselues with childe did eate certaine hearbes thereby to loose their fruit so that the men died in the Mines the women perished in the farme houses their whole generation in a short space decayed and all the Countrey lay desolate The said Gouernour to the end without release to keepe them in continuall labour still gaue them away and yet besides their great labors he suffered them rigorously and very austerely to be misused For the Spaniards that had them in command appointed certaine hangmen ouer them some in the Mines whom they tearmed Miniero others in the Farmes that were called Estanciero vnnaturall and pittilesse persons that beate them with staues and cords boxing them pricking them with needles and still calling them dogges neither did they euer shew any signe of humanity or clemencie but all their dealings did consist of extreame seueritie riot and bitternesse The Gouernour had also in the Spanish Townes and Forts certaine of the most honorable and principall persons about him whom he called Visitors vnto whom also besides their other ordinary portions that he had giuen them he gaue in respect of their offices one hundred Indians to serue them These in the Townes were the greatest executioners as being more cruell then the rest before whom Athuaziles del camoo brought all such as had bin taken in this chase The accuser he that had them in command was present and accused them saying This Indian or those Indians are dogs and will doe no seruice but doe daily run to the Mountaines there to become loyterers and vagabonds and therefore required that they might be punished Then the Visitor with his owne hands bound them to a Pale and taking a pitched cord in the Gallies called an Eele which is as it were an iron rod gaue them so many stripes and beate them so cruelly that the bloud running downe diuers pâ—rts of their bodies they were left for dead God is witnesse of the cruelties committed among those lambs Throughout the yeare they neuer knew holiday neither might be suffered from labour little or much Besides that during all this toyle they neuer had sufficient food no not of Caçabi Some therâ— were that through niggardlinesse wanting meate to giue them would send them two or three dayes abroad into the fields and Mountaines to feede where they might satisfie themselues with such fruite as hang on the trees and then vpon the force of that which they brought in their guts would force them to labour two or three dayes more without giuing them any one morsell to eate The Gouernour commanded they should be paid their day wages and expences for any labour or seruice that they should doe to the Spaniard and their wages was three blankes euery two dayes which in the yeare amounted to halfe a Castelin Thus grew they into sickenesse through long and grieuous trauailes and that was soone caught among them When the Spaniards perceiued the sickenesse increase so as there was no profit or seruice to be looked for at their hands then would they send them home to their houses giuing them to spend in some thirty forty or eightie leagues trauaile some halfe dozen of Radish or Refortes that is a kinde of nauet roote and a little Caçabi wherewith the poore men trauailed not farre before they should desperately dye some went two or three leagues some ten or twenty so desirous to get to their owne home there to finish their hellish life that they suffered that they euen fell downe dead by the wayes so as many times we found some dead others at deaths doore others groning and pittifully to their powers pronouncing this word hunger hunger Then the Gouernour seeing that the Spaniard had in this wise slaine halfe or two third parts of these Indians whom hee had giuen them in command he came a fresh to draw new lots and make a new distribution of Indians still supplying the number of his first gift and this did hee almost euery yeare Pedrarias entred into the firme land as a Wolfe that had long beene starued doth into a flocke of quiet and innocent Sheepe and Lambs and as Gods wrath and scourge committing infinite slaughters robberies oppressions and cruelties together with those Spaniards whom he had leuied and laid waste so many Townes and Villages which before had bin replenished with people as it were Ant hils as the like was neuer seene heard of or written by any that in our daies haue dealt in Histories He robbed his Maiestie Subiects with those whom he tooke with him and the harme that he did amounted to aboue foure yea six Millions of Gold hee laid aboue fortie leagues of land desart namely from Darien where he first arriued vnto the Prouince of Nicaraga one of the fruitfullest richest and best inhabited lands in the world From this cursed wretch sprang first the pestilence of giuing the Indians in command which afterward hath infected all those Indies where any Spaniards doe inhabit and by whom all these Nations are consumed so that from him his commands haue proceeded the certaine waste and desolation that your Maiestie haue sustained in these so great lands and dominions
he approued that which I said I asked him what ceremony they vsed in praying to their God He told me that they vsed none other ceremonies but that euery one praied in his heart as he thought good This is the cause why I beleeue they haue no law among them neither doe they know how to worship or pray to God and liue for the most part like brute beasts and I thinke in short space they would be brought to be good Christians if their Countrie were planten which they desire for the most part They haue among them certaine Sauages which they call Pilotoua which speak visibly with the Diuell which telleth them what they must doe as well for the warre as for other things and if he should command them to put any enterprise in execution either to kill a French man or any other of their Nation they would immediately obey his commandement Also they beleeue that all the dreames which they dreame are true and indeede there are many of them which say that they haue seene and dreamed things which doe happen or shall happen But to speake truely of these things they are visions of the Diuell which doth deceiue and seduce them Loe this is all their beliefe that I could learne of them which is brutish and bestiall All these people are well proportioned of their bodies without any deformitie they are well set and the women are well shapen fat and full of a tawnie colour by abundance of a certaine painting wherewith they rubbe themselues which maketh them to be of an Oliue colour They are apparelled with skins one part of their bodies is couered and the other part vncouered but in the winter they couer all for they are clad with good Furres namely with the skins of Orignac Otters Beuers Lea-boores Stagges and Deere whereof they haue store In the winter when the Snowes are great they make a kinde of racket which is twice or thrice as bigge as one of ours in France which they fasten to their feete and so goe on the Snow without sinking for otherwise they could not hunt nor trauaile in many places They haue also a kinde of Marriage which is that when a Maide is foureteene or fifteene yeares old shee shall haue many seruants and friends and she may haue carnall company with all those which she liketh then after fiue or six yeares she may take which of them she will for her husband and so they shall liue together all their life time except that after they haue liued a certaine time together and haue no children the man may forsake her and take another wife saying that his old wife is nothing worth so that the Maides are more free then the married Women After they be married they be chaste and their husbands for the most part are iealous which giue presents to the Father or Parents of the Maide which they haue married loe this is the ceremonie and fashion which they vse in their marriages Touching their burials when a man or woman dieth they make a pit wherein they put all the goods which they haue as Kettels Furres Hatchets Bowes and Arrowes Apparell and other things and then they put the corps into the graue and couer it with earth and set store of great peeces of wood ouer it and one stake they set vp on end which they paint with red on the top They beleeue the immortality of the Soule and say that when they be dead they goe into other Countries to reioyce with their parents and friends THe eleuenth day of Iune I went some twelue or fifteene leagues vp Saguenay which is a faire Riuer and of incredible depth for I beleeue as farrâ— as I could learne by conference whence it should come that it is from a very high place from whence there descendeth a fall of water with great impetuositie but the water that proceedeth thereof is not able to make such a Riuer as this which neuerthelesse holdeth not but from the said course of water where the first fall is vnto the Port of Tadousac which is the mouth of the said Riuer of Saguenay in which space are fortie fiue or fiftie leagues and it is a good league and a halfe broad at the most and a quarter of a league where it is narrowest which causeth a great currant of water All the Countrie which I saw was nothing but Mountaines the most part of rockes couered with woods of Fâ—r-trees Cypresses and Birch-trees the soyle very vnpleasant where I found not a league of plaine Countrey neither on the one side nor on the other There are certaine hils of Sand and Isles in the said Riuer which are very high aboue the water In fine they are very Desarts voide of Beasts and Birds for I assure you as I went on hunting through places which seemed most pleasant vnto mee I found nothing at all but small Birds which are like Nightingales and Swallowes which come thither in the Summer for at other times I thinke there are none because of the excessiue cold which is there this Riuer commeth from the North-west They reported vnto me that hauing passed the first fall from whence the currant of water commeth they passe eight other sants or fals and then they trauaile one dayes iourney without finding any then they passe ten other sants and come into a Lake which they passe in two dayes euery day they trauaile at their ease some twelue or fifteene leagues at the end of the Lake there are people lodged then they enter into three other Riuers three or foure dayes in each of them at the end of which Riuers there are two or three kinde of Lakes where the head of Saguenay beginneth from the which head or spring vnto the said Port of Tadousac is ten dayes iournee with their Canowes On the side of the said Riuers are many lodgingings whither other Nacions come from the North to trucke with the said Mountainers for skins of Beuers and Marterns for other Merchandises which the French Ships bring to the said Mountainers The said Sauages of the North say that they see a Sea which is salt I hold if this be so that it is some gulfe of this our Sea which disgorgeth it selfe by the North part between the lands and in very deede it can be nothing else This is that which I haue learned of the Riuer of Saguenay ON Wednesday the eighteenth day of Iune we departed from Tadousac to go to the Sault we passed by an I le which is called the Ile dulieure or the I le of the Hare which may be some two leagues from the Land on the North side and some seuen leagues from the said Tadousac and fiue leagues from the South Coast. From the I le of the Hare we ranged the North Coast about halfe a league vnto a point that runneth into the Sea where a man must keepe farther off The said point
me that they beare Fruit like ours In passing further we met an Ile which is called Saint Eloy and another little Ile which is hard by the North shoare we passed betweene the said Ile and the North shore where betweene the one and the other are some hundred and fiftie paces From the said Ile we passed a league and an halfe on the South side neere vnto a Riuer whereon Canowes might goe All this Coast on the North side is very good one may passe freely there yet with the Lead in the hand to auoid certaine points All this Coast which we ranged is mouing Sand but after you be entred a little into the Woods the soile is good The Friday following we departed from this I le coasting still the North side hard by the shoare which is low and full of good Trees and in great number as farre as the three Riuers where it beginneth to haue another temperature of the season somewhat differing from that of Saint Croix because the Trees are there more forward then in any place that hitherto I had seene From the three Riuers to Saint Croix are fifteene leagues In this Riuer are sixe Ilands three of which are very small and the others some fiue or sixe hundred paces long very pleasant and fertile for the little quantitie of ground that they containe There is one Iland in the middest of the said Riuer which looketh directly vpon the passage of the Riuer of Canada and commandeth the other Ilands which lye further from the shoare aswell on the one side as on the other of foure or fiue hundred paces it riseth on the South side and falleth somewhat on the North side This in my iudgement would be a very fit place to inhabit and it might bee quickly fortified for the situation is strong of it selfe and neere vnto a great Lake which is aboue foure leagues distant which is almost ioyned to the Riuer of Saguenay by the report of the Sauages which trauell almost an hundred leagues Northward and passe many Saults and then goe by Land some fiue or sixe leagues and enter into a Lake whence the said Riuer of Saguenay receiueth the best part of his Spring and the said Sauages come from the said Lake to Tadousac Moreouer the planting of The three Riuers would be a benefit for the liberty of certaine Nations which dare not come that way for feare of the said Irocois their enemies which border vpon all the said Riuer of Canada But this place being inhabited we might make the Irocois and the other Sauages friends or at least wise vnder the fauour of the said Plantation the said Sauages might passe freely without feare or danger because the said place of The three Riuers is a passage All the soyle which I saw on the North shoare is sandy Wee went vp aboue a league into the said Riuer and could passe no further by reason of the great current of water We took a Boate to search vp further but we went not past a league but we met a very Strait full of water of some twelue paces which caused vs that we could not passe no further All the ground which I saw on the bankes of the said Riuer riseth more and more and is full of Firre-trees and Cypresse Trees and hath very few other Trees ON the Saturday following we departed from The three Riuers and anchored at a Lake which is foure leagues distant All this Countrey from The three Riuers to the entrance of the said Lake is low ground euen with the water on the North side and on the South side it is somewhat higher The said Countrey is exceeding good and the most pleasant that hitherto we had seene the Woods are very thinne so that a man may trauell easily through them The next day being the nine and twentieth of Iune we entred into the Lake which is some fifteene leagues in length and some seuen or eight leagues broad At the entrance thereof on the South-side within a league there is a Riuer which is very great and entreth into the Countrey some sixtie or eightie leagues and continuing along the same Coast there is another little Riuer which pierceth about two leagues into the Land and commeth out of another small Lake which may containe some three or foure leagues On the North side where the Land sheweth very high a man may see some twentie leagues off but by little and little the Mountaynes beginne to fall toward the West as it were into a flat Countrey The Sauages say that the greatest part of these Mountaynes are bad soyle The said Lake hath some three fathoms water whereas we passed which was almost in the middest the length lieth East and West and the breadth from North to the South I thinke it hath good fish in it of such kinds as we haue in our owne Countrey Wee passed it the very same day and anchored about two leagues within the great Riuer which goeth vp to the Sault In the mouth whereof are thirtie small Ilands as farre as I could discerne some of them are of two leagues others a league and an halfe some lesse which are full of Walnut-trees which are not much different from ours and I thinke their Walnuts are good when they bee ripe I saw many of them vnder the Trees which were of two sorts the one small and the others as long as a mans Thumbe but they were rotten There are also store of Vines vpon the bankes of the said Ilands But when the waters be great the most part of them is couered with water And this Countrey is yet better then any other which I had seene before The last day of Iune wee departed from thence and passed by the mouth of the Riuer of the Irocois where the Sauages which came to make warre against them were lodged and fortified Their Fortresse was made with a number of posts set very close one to another which ioyned on the one side on the banke of the great Riuer of Canada and the other on the banke of the Riuer of the Irocois and their Boates were ranged the one by the other neere the shoare that they might flie away with speed if by chance they should bee surprised by the Irocois For their Fort is couered with the barke of Okes and serueth them for nothing else but to haue time to embarke themselues We went vp the Riuer of the Irocois some fiue or sixe leagues and could passe no farther with our Pinnasse by reason of the great course of water which descendeth and also because we cannot goe on Land and draw the Pinnasse for the multitude of Trees which are vpon the bankes Seeing we could not passe any further we tooke our Skiffe to see whether the current were more gentle but going vp some two leagues it was yet stronger and wee could goe no higher Being able to doe no more we returned to our
Salt Sea which may be the South Sea the Sunne setting where they say it doth On Friday the tenth of the said moneth we returned to Tadousac where our ship lay ASsoone as wee were come to Tadousac wee embarqued our selues againe to goe to Gachepay which is distant from the said Tadousac about some hundred leagues The thirteenth day of the said moneth we met with a companie of Sauages which were lodged on the South side almost in the mid-way betweene Tadousac and Gachepay Their Sagamo or Captaine which led them is called Armouchides which is held to be one of the wâ—sest and most hardy among all the Sauages Hee was going to Tadousac to exchange Arrowes and the flesh of Orignars which they haue for Beauers and Marterns of the other Sauages the Mountainers Estechemaâ—ns and Algoumequins The fifteenth day of the said moneth we came to Gachepay which is in a Bay about a league and a halfe on the North side The said Bay containeth some seuen or eight leagues in length and at the mouth thereof foure leagues in breadth There is a Riuer which runneth some thirty leagues vp into the Countrie Then we saw another Bay which is called the Bay des Mollues or the Bay of Cods which may be some three leagues long and as much in bredth at the mouth From thence we come to the I le Percee which is like a Rocke very steepe rising on both sides wherein there is a hole through which Shalops and Boats may passe at an high water and at a lowe water one may goe from the maine Land to the said Ile which is not past foure or fiue hundred paces off Moreouer there is another Iland in a manner South-east from the I le Percee about a league which is called the Ile de Bonne-aduenture and it may bee some halfe a league long All these places of Gachepay the Bay of Cods and the I le Percee are places where they make dry and greene Fish When you are passed the I le Percee there is a Bay which is called they Bay of Heate which runneth as it were West South-west some foure and twenty leagues into the land containing some fifteene leagues in breadth at the mouth thereof The Sauages of Canada say that vp the great Riuer of Canada about some sixtie leagues ranging the South coast there is a small Riuer called Mautanne which runneth some eighteene leagues vp into the Countreys and being at the head thereof they carrie their Canowes about a league by land and they come into the said Bay of Heate by which they goe sometimes to the Isle Percee Also they goe from the said Bay to Tregate and Misamichy Running along the said coast we passe by many Riuers and come to a place where there is a Riuer which is called Souricoua where Monsieur Preuert was to discouer a Mine of Copper They goe with their Conowes vp this Riuer three or foure dayes then they passe three or foure leagues by land to the said Mine which is hard vpon the Sea shoare on the South side At the mouth of the said Riuer there is an Iland lying a league into the Sea from the said Island vnto the Isle Perçee is some sixtie or seuentie leagues Still following the said coast which trendeth toward the East you meete with a Strait which is two leagues broad and fiue and twenty leagues long On the East side is an Isle which is called the Isle of Saint Laurence where Cape Breton is and in this place a Nation of Sauages called the Souricois doe winter Passing the Strait of the Iles of Saint Lawrence and ranging the South-west Coast you come to a Bay which ioyneth hard vpon the Myne of Copper Passing farther there is a Riuer which runneth threescore or fourescore leagues into the Countrey which reacheth neere to the Lake of the Irocois whereby the said Sauages of the South-west Coast make warre vpon them I would be an exceeding great benefit if there might be found a passage on the Coâ—â—â— of Florida neere to the said great Lake where the winter is salt aswell for the Naâ—igation of ships which should not bee subiect to so many perâ—ls as they are in Canada as for the shortning of the way about three hundred leagues And at is most certaine that there are Riuers on the Goaâ—â— of Florida which are not yet discouered which â—â—erce vp into the Countries where the soile is exceeding good and fertile and very good Hauens The Countrey and Coast of Florida may haue another temperature of the season and may be 〈◊〉 more fertile in abundance of fruites and other things then that which I haue seene But it cannot haue more euen not better sayles then those which we haue seene The Sauages say that in the foresaid great Bay of Hete there is a Riuer which runneth vp vp some twentie leagues into the Countrey at the head whereof there is a Lake which may be about twentie leagues in compasse wherein is little store of water and the Summer it is dried vp wherein they find about a foot or a foot and an halfe vnder the ground a kind of Metall like to â—â—luer which I shewed them and that in another place neere the said Lake there is a Myne of Copper And this is that which I learned of the foresand Sauages WE departed from the I le 〈◊〉 the ninteenth day of the said moneth to returne to Tadousâ—c When we wâ—â—e within three leagues of Cape le Vesque or the Bishops Cape we were encountred with a storme which lasted two dayes which forced vs to put roomer with a great creake and to stay for faire weather The day following we departed and were encountred with another storme Being loth to pâ—â— roome and thinking to gaine way wee touched on the North shore the eight and twentieth day of Iuly 〈◊〉 creeke which is very bad because of the edges of Rockes which lie there This creeke is in 〈◊〉 degrees and certaine minutes The next day we anchored neere a Riuer which is called Saint Margarites Riuer where at a full Sea is some three fathomes water and a fathome and an halfe at a low water this Riuer goeth farre vp into the Land As farre as I could see within the Land on â—he East shoare there is a fall of water which entreth into the said Riuer and falleth some fiftie or sixtie â—athomes downe from whence commeth the greatest part of the water which descendeth downe At the mouth thereof there is a banke of Sand whereon at the ebbe is but halfe a faâ—home water All the Coast toward the East is mouing Sande there is a point some halfe league from the said Riuer which stretcheth halfe a league into the Sea and toward the West there is a small Iland this place is in fiftie degrees All these Countries are exceeding bad full of Firre-trees The Land here is somewhat high but not so high as that on the Southside
to maintaine keepe and conserue the said places vnder our Power and Authoritie by the formes wayes and meanes prescribed by our Lawes And for to haue there a care of the same with you to appoint establish and constitute all Officers as well in the affaires of Warre as for Iustice and Policie for the first time and from thence forward to name and present them vnto vs for to be disposed by vs and to giue Letters Titles and such Prouisoes as shall be necessarie c. Giuen at Fountain-Bleau the eight day of Nouember in the yeere our Lord 1603. And of our Reigne the fifteenth Signed Henry and vnderneath by the King Potier And sealed vpon single labell with yellow Waxe The Voyage of Monsieur de MONTS into New France written by MARKE LESCARBOT MOnsieur de Monts hauing made the Commissions and Prohibitions before said to bee proclaimed thorow the Realme of France and especially thorow the Ports and maritine Townes thereof caused two shippes to bee rigged and furnished the one vnder the conduct of Captaine Timothy of New-hauen the other of Captaine Morell of Honfleur In the first hee shipped himselfe with good number of men of account as well Gentlemen as others And for as much as Monsieur de Poutrincourt was and had beene of a long time desirous to see those Countries of New France and there to finde out and choose some fit place to retire himselfe into with his Family Wife and Children not meaning to be the last that should follow and participate in the glorie of so faire and generous an enterprize would needs goe thither and shipped himselfe with the said Monsieur de Monts carrying with him some quantitie of Armours and Munitions of Warre and so weighed Anchors from New-hauen the seuenth day of March 1604. But being departed some what too soone before the Winter had yet left off her frozen Weed they found store of Icie bankes against the which they were in danger to strike and so to be cast away The Voyage was long by reason of contrarie winds which seldome hapneth to them that set out in March for the New-found lands which are ordinarily carried with an East or Northerne winde fit to goe to those Lands And hauing taken their course to the South of the I le of Sand or Sablon or Sand for to shunne the said Ices they almost fell from Caribdis into Scylla going to strike towards the said Ile during the thicke mists that are frequent in that Sea In the end the sixt of May they came to a certaine Port where they found Captaine Rossignol of New-hauen who did trucke for skinnes with the Sauages contrary to the Kings Inhibitions which was the cause that his ship was confilcated This Port was called Le Port du Rossignol hauing in this his hard fortune this onely good that a good and fit Harborough or Port in those Coasts be areth his name From thence coasting and discouering the Lands they arriued at another Port very faire which they named Le Port de Moutton by reason that a Mutton or Weather hauing leaped ouer-board and drowned himselfe came aboard againe and was taken and eaten as good prize Neere the said Moutton Port there is a place so replenished with Rabbets and Conies that they almost did eate nothing else During that time Monsieur Champlein was sent with a shallop to seeke farther off a fitter place to retire themselues at which Exploit he carried so long that deliberating vpon the returne they thought to leaue him behind for there was no more victuals and they serued themselues with that that was found in the said Rossignols ship without which they had beene forced to returne into France and so to breake a faire enterprize at the very birth and beginning thereof or to starue hauing ended the hunting of Conies which could not still continue All New France in the end being contained in two ships they weighed Anchors from Port du Moutton for to imploy their time and to discouer Lands as much as might before Winter Wee came to Cape de Sable or the Sandie Cape and from thence we sailed to the Bay of Saint Marie where our men lay at Anchor fifteene dayes whilest the Lands and passages as well by Sea as by Riuer might be descried and knowne This Bay is a very faire place to inhabit because that one is readily carried thither without doubling There are Mynes of Iron and Siluer but in no great abundance according to the triall made thereof in France A Priest losing his way in the Woods was missing sixteene dayes Whereupon a Protestant was charged to haue killed him because they quarrelled sometimes for matters of Religion Finally they sounded a Trumpet thorow the Forrest they shot off the Canon diuers times but in vaine for the roaring of the Sea stronger then all that did expell backe the sound of the said Canons and Trumpets Two three and foure dayes passed he appeareth not In the meane-while the time hastens to depart so hauing tarried so long that hee was then held for dead they weighed Anchors to goe further and to see the depth of a Bay that hath some fortie leagues length and fourteene yea eighteene of breadth which was named La Baye Francoise or the French Bay In this Bay is the passage to come into a Port whereinto our men entred and made some abode during the which they had the pleasure to hunt an Elian or Stagge that crossed a great Lake of the Sea which maketh this Port and did swimme but easily This Port is enuironed with Mountaines on the North side Towards the South bee small Hills which with the said Mountaines doe powre out a thousand Brookes which make that place pleasanter then any other place in the World there are very faire falles of waters fit to make Milles of all sorts At the East is a Riuer betweene the said Mountaines and Hilles in the shippes may saile fifteene leagues and more and in all this distance is nothing of both sides the Riuer but faire Medowes which Riuer was named L' Equille because that the first fish taken therein was an Equille But the said Port for the beautie thereof was called Port Royall Monsieur de Poutrincourt hauing found this place to bee to his â—â—king demanded it with the Lands thereunto adioyning of Monsieur de Monts to whom the King had by Commission before inserted granted the distribution of the Lands of New France from the fortieth degree to the sixe and fortieth Which place was granted to the said Monsieur de Poutrincourt who since hath had Letters of confirmation for the same of his Maiestie intending to retire himselfe thither with his Family and there to establish the Christian and French Name as much as his power shall stretch and God grant him the meanes to accomplish it The Port contayneth eight leagues of circuit besides the Riuer of L' Equille There is within it two Iles very faire and pleasant the one
for we are not able of our selues to make those Voyages without the assistance of the Sauages These Countries are not the Plaines of Champaigne nor of Vatan nor the ingratefull wood of Limosin All is there couered with woods that seeme to threaten the clouds And at that time his company of men was but weake as well by reason of the former mortality as of the infirmities of sicknesses which were yet continuing Notwithstanding being a man who is astonished with nothing and of a gentle conuersation knowing wisely how to acquaint and accommodate himselfe with those people after hauing promised them that when the land of the Iroquois and other Countries should be discouered the great French Sagamos meaning our King would giue them great rewards he inuited them to goe to warre against the said Iroquois promising for himselfe that he would take part with them They in whom the desire of reuenge dieth not and who delight in nothing more then in warre passe their word vnto him and arme themselues about one hundred men for that effect with whom the said Champlein ventures himselfe accompanied with one man and one of Monsieur de Monts his footemen So they began their voyage in the Sauages Barkes and Canoes alongst the great Riuer as farre as the entring into the Riuer of the Iroquois wherein being entred within certaine dayes they went vp vnto the Lake of the said Iroquois But one may demand with what did so many people liue in a Countrie where no Innes are I wonder as much at that as others doe for with them there is not any meanes of liuing but by hunting and in that they doe exercise themselues through the woods in their trauailes Champlein and his men were forced to liue after their manner For although they had made prouision of Bread Wine and Meate out of the storehouse the same could not haue serued them to make accompt of Finally being come into the said Lake they were many dayes a crossing of it for it is about sixtie leagues of length without giuing knowledge of their being there and so the said Champlein had time to view their Tillage and the faire Ilands that serue for an ornament to their great extension of water These people are much like to the Armouchiquois in their fashion of liuing They sowe Indian Maiz and Beanes and haue quantity of faire Grapes whereof they make no vse and very good rootes Euery Family haue their ground round about their dwellings Forts also yet no Townes made with buildings of three or foure stories high such as they haue in new Mexico a Countrie situated much farther within the lands In the end our men being discouered the alarum was giuen among the Iroquois who assembled themselues And as the Iroquois did approach Champlein who was armed with a Musket charged with two bullets would haue set himselfe forward to aime to make at one of the forwardest of the Iroquois who did braue it challenging his enemies to the combat But the Sauages of Kebec told him in their language no doe not so for if they once discouer you not being accustomed to see such folkes they will forthwith runne away and make no stand so shall we loose the glory which we expect of this charge withdraw your selfe therefore behinde our formost ranke and when we shall be neere you shall aduance your selfe and shoote at those two feathered fellowes whom you see the formost in the middest of the troope which was found good and executed by the said Champlein who with one shot laid them both to the ground as he hath related vnto vs. He who assisted him did also his duetie But on a sodaine all was in disorder astonished at such a noise and death so vnexpected Vpon this feare the men of Kebec loosing no occasion followed earnestly their enemies and killed about fiftie of them whose heads they brought backe to make therewith merry feasts and dances at their returne according to their custome These things so passed Champlein tooke againe his course towards ancient France where he arriued in October 1609. hauing left the gouernment of New France to a good reuerent old man called Captaine Pierre And for as much as the accidents of the former sicknesse were feared to come the winter following Captaine du Pont of Honfleure a man very well worthy to hold ranke among the Heroes of the said Prouince for hauing bin the first that came to the Fals of the great Riuer after Iacques Quartier hauing also wintered in Port Royall and almost euery yeare made voyages to those parts for the reliefe of them that were there gaue aduise that wood should be ready cut downe for those that should tarry there all the winter and thereby to free them from painfull toyles That helpe hath bin of such force that besides this hauing their buildings made they haue left no infirmitie nor mortality So he returned and with him the said Champlein and those that would returne In the meane while preparations were made for another voyage against the returne of the said Champlein to the end to prosecute his discoueries and consequently to relieue the said Captaine Pierre He tooke againe for the second time the Lieutenancy of the said Monsieur de Monts for the gouernment of Kebec and setting out in the beginning of March was forced diuers times to turne backe by reason of contrary windes which made him to arriue late as did also Monsieur de Poutrincourt of his part And neuerthelesse in that small time which hee had in those parts he exploited a great peece of worke hauing gone this yeare as farre as a great Lake of an hundred leagues in length which is beyond the Fals of the great Riuer of Canada eighty leagues Hauing then reuiewed the state of all things at Kebec and learned what occurrences had passed there since his departure he made an agreement with the Captaines of the said place and with them of Tadoussac to goe on warfare aboue the Fall of the said Riuer promising them to procure an hundred Frenchmen to assist them in the extirping of all their enemies and that they should haue as many of their owne men of their side which they liked very well But the day appointed being come and the Frenchmen not come he excused the matter vpon the weather which had beene boistrous for Sailers and for want of whom hee told them that himselfe would goe with them and follow their fortunes They seeing they could doe no better accepted of his offer and went together with some other Frenchmen more along the same faire Riuer the Sauages still hunting for prouision for the kitchin And they trauailed so farre that after hauing passed the Fals they crossed some Lakes and in the space of eighty leagues came to that other Lake which we haue said to be of an hundred leagues in length where as the said Champlein hath recited
Master THOMAS CANNER a Gentleman of Bernards Inne his companion in the same Voyage VPon Wednesday in Easter weeke the seuenteenth of Aprill after I had taken my leaue of some few of my louing and deere friends in Bernards Inne I rode toward Southampton there to be speake Bisket and some other prouision for our Barke wherein Master Bartholomew Gilbert went as Captaine which had beene in Virginia the yeere before with Captaine Bartholomew Gosnold After our businesse was dispatched here wee came into Plimmouth from whence wee put forth the tenth of May. And the six and twentieth of the same we were in the latitude of 32. degrees hoping to haue had sight of the I le of Madera whereof we missed in which course we met with two or three English men of warre The first of Iune we were in the latitude of 27. degrees and haled ouer toward the Ilands of the West Indies and the fifteenth of this moneth toward night wee saw Land Master Gilbert and the Master Henrie Suite dwelling within the Iron Gate of the Towre of London tooke it to be the Bermudas being very neere the shore they sounded many times and had no ground at the last they found good ground in fourteene or fifteene fathomes There wee cast Anchor In the morning we weighed and sounded still as we trended by the shoare but after wee were past a Cables length from our Road we had no Land againe in forty or fifty fathomes we kept still by the shore not yet being certaine what Iland it was The sixteenth in the morning wee spied the people comming from the shore who when they came neere cried out for barter or trade when they came close aboord they made signes and cried out to see our colours which we presently put forth in the maine top and told them we were Ingleses Amigos and Hermanos that is Englishmen their friends and brothers Assoone as they vnderstood we were Englishmen they were bolder to come neere we threw them a Rope and one came aboord vs wee traded with them for some Tobacco Pine-apples Piantanes Pompions and such things as they had wee gaue them Bugles Kniues Whistles and such toyes Here we kept close by the shore When this Canoa had traded with vs and vttered all they had and drunke of our Beere beeing kindly vsed they departed and then presently after diuers Canoas came we traded and vsed them as the first One of them told vs that Iland was Santa Lucia We bestowed all that forenoone shaking in the wind for we had no ground to Anchor neere the shore to trade with them Then wee set our course for Saint Vincent but finding a current against vs and the wind very scant we doubted we should not fetch it and that if we did peraduenture we might bee put to the leeward of Dominica and so consequently of Meuis or Nieues for which Iland we were specially bound for to out Lignum vitae in the same Therefore Master Gilbert thought good to let Saint Vincent alone although in it is the best Tobacco of all the Ilands yet in the end hee put roomer for Dominica whereof we had sight the seuenteenth of Iune and came close to the shore and presently one Canoa came aboord as at Santa Lucia being sent with two men belike to discouer vs and to see what entertainment they should haue we vsed them kindly and so dismissed them There came more full of men with diuers of their commodities The nineteenth in the morning being Sunday we anchored in a good Road at Meuis and after went on shore to seeke Lignum vitae Master Gilbert with the Master and diuers of the company sought farre into the Woods but found none but one little Tree and here and there where one had bin cut so we were in doubt to find enough heere to load our ship a iust plague vnto vs for prophaning the Sabbath in trauelling about our worldly businesse when there was no necessitie This day in the Euening some went out with the Boate vnto the shore and brought on boord a Tortoyse so big that foure men could not get her into the Boate but tied her fast by one legge vnto the Boat and so towed her to the ship when they had her by the ship it was no easie matter to get her on boord The next day we went on shore againe to search another part of the wood for Lignum vitae and then God be thanked we found enough This day at night we opened our Tortoyse which had in her about 500. Egges excellent sweet meate and so is all the whole fish Vpon Tuesday in the morning we went all on shore sauing the Carpenter and Thomas and Master Gilberts man to fell wood and this day we felled good store All the rest of this moneth and three dayes more we continued here euery day labouring sore first in sawing downe the great trees and sawing them againe into logs portable out of the thicke wood to the Sea-shoare so in the Boates and so to the ship where M. Gilbert his paines profited double as well in example as in worke for hee was neuer idle but either searching out more trees or fetching drinke for the Labourers or doing one thing or other so that in this iust fortnight that wee stayed here wee had gotten on boord some twenty tuns Within a few dayes after the Tortoyse was eaten God sent vs another One of these fishes were sufficient meat for twentie men for three or foure dayes if it could bee preserued but in that Climate no salting can preserue it aboue two dayes hardly so long Now the wood growing thinne and hardly to be found on this Iland he thought it best to stay no longer here but to goe for Uirginia to search for better store And so vpon Sunday the third of Iuly in the afternoone we weighed Anchor and sailed North-west and by North and that night passed by Saint Christopher and another little Iland Munday the fourth in the morning we had sight of the Iland we went into the Woods to search for Lignum vitae but found none but one tree which he cut and went on boord we fought also for fresh water but found none At Euening went on shore into the bottome of the Bay to dray the Net and there we gat good store of fine fresh fish and much more enough to haue laden our Boat we should haue gotten if at euery draught we had not had in the Net a Tortoyse which stil brak through and so carried away the fish with them At one draught among the rest we had two in the Net a yong one and an old on the Net held the young one Wee weighed and went through betweene the two Ilands into the mayne Ocean toward our long desired Countrey Uirginia distant three hundred and fiftie leagues from vs. Wee sayled North North-west The seuenth we ran still North-west and North and
by West The eight wee kept the same course The ninth we kept still the same course The winde beganne to vere some thing to the Southward which had beene constant still from the Ilands of the Canaries vnto the Ilands of the West Indies And now began the winde to draw towards the West and then is it as constant there The reason I deferre to longer consideration The current setteth out of the Gulfe of Mexico and from the mayne shore Sunday the tenth we kept still the same course and had now but a small gale almost becalmed The eleuenth we continued the same course with the same small gale we went North. Tuesday the twelfth we kept the same course if any at all for for the most part we were becalmed Wednesday the thirteenth the calme continued the Sunne being extremely hot in the calme Thursday the fourteenth the calme continued as hot as before These dayes we ayred our Newland fish called Poore Iohn which proued ill done For after it was ayred it rotted the sooner being burnt in the same On Friday the fifteenth God sent vs a reasonable gale The sixteenth and seuenteenth the calme came againe Munday we had a good gale and went North and by West and North North-west The nineteenth twentieth and one and twentieth we had an excellent gale and ranne North North-west Then we cast out the Lead and looked out for land but found no ground nor saw no land and therefore we much doubted that the current had set vs very farre to the leeward of the place which wee were bound for being the Chesepian Bay but that could not be knowne till it pleased God to bring vs to land In the afternoone about sixe of the clocke we cast out the Lead againe and had ground in thirtie fathomes whereof we were glad and thanked God knowing we could not be farre from land Saturday the three and twentieth in the morning about eight of the clocke wee saw land in the height of 40. degrees and odde minutes very fine low land appearing farre off to bee full of tall Trees and a fine sandie shoare but a great siege we saw no Harbour and therefore coasted along to seeke one to the Northward the wind being at West Sunday the foure and twentieth the wind being about the North-east we beat hard to fetch an Head-land where we thought we saw an Harbour but when we came vp with it wee perceiued it was none and all our labour lost And therefore the wind beeing now more full in our teeth at the North-east wee considered it were better to put roome so that if the winde should stand then we should fetch the Bay of Chesepian which Master Gilbert so much thirsted after to seeke out the people for Sir Walter Raleigh left neere those parts in the yeere 1587. if not perhaps we might find some Road or Harbour in the way to take in some fresh water for now wee had none aboord On Munday the fiue and twentieth of Iuly at night wee came neere the mouth of the Bay but the wind blew so sore and the Sea was so high that the Master durst not put in that night into the Sea and so continued next day On Wednesday the seuen and twentieth at night the winde came faire againe and wee bare againe for it all night and the wind presently turned againe Thursday the eight and twentieth considering our extremitie for water and wood victuals and beere likewise consuming very fast we could no longer beate for it and therefore ran roomer determining for this time to seeke it no more Friday the nine and twentieth being not farre from the shoare which appeared vnto vs exceeding pleasant and full of goodly Trees and with some shew of the entrance of a Riuer our Captaine Baxtholomew Gilbert accompanied with Master Thomas Canner a Gentleman of Bernards Inne Richard Harison the Masters Mate Henry Kenton our Chirurgion and one Derricke a Dutchman went on shore in the Boate from the ship which lay aboue a mile from the land and with their weapons marched vp into the Countrey leauing two youths to keepe the Boate but shortly after the Indians set vpon them and one or two of them fell downe wounded in sight of our yong men that kept the Boat which had much a doe to saue themselues and it For some of the Indians roming downe to them would haue haled it on shore which notwithstanding they saued and with heauie hearts gat vnto the ship with the losse of their Captain and foure of their principall men Thus being but eleuen men and Boyes in all in the ship though our want of water and wood were great yet wee durst not aduenture the losse of any more of our small company in this place Therefore our Master Henry Sute tooke his course home for England by the Iâ—es of the Açores and fell first with the Pike and afterward entring into our Chanell had first sight of Portland and thence came vp the Riuer of Thames vnto Rateliffe about the end of September 1603. finding the Citie most grieuously infected with a terrible plague CHAP. XIII Extracts of a Virginian Voyage made An. 1605. by Captaine GEORGE WAYMOVTH in the Arch-angell Set forth by the Right Honorable HENRY Earle of South-hampton and the Lord TMOMAS ARVNDEL written by IAMES ROSIER VPon Easter day the last of March the winde comming at North North-east about fiue of the clocke after noone we weighed anchor and put to Sea from the Downes in the Name of God being very well victualled and furnished with Munition and all necessaries our whole companie being nine and twenty persons of whom I dare boldly say few Voyages haue beene manned forth with better Sea-men generally in respect of our small number Munday the thirteenth of May about eleuen of the clocke in the fore-noone our Captaine iudging we were not farre from Land sounded and we had soft oze in an hundred and sixty fathome at foure of the clocke after noone wee sounded againe and had the like oze in an hundred fathome From ten a clocke that night till three a clocke in the morning our Captain tooke in all Sayles and lay at hull being desirous to fall with the Land in the day time because it was an vnknown Coast which it pleased God in his mercy to grant vs otherwise surely we had runne our Shippe vpon the hidden Rockes and perished all for when we set sayle we sounded in an hundred fathom and by eight a clocke hauing not made aboue fiue or sixe leagues our Captaine vpon a sudden change of water supposing verily he saw the sand presently sounded and had but fiue fathome much maruelling because we saw no Land he sent one to the top who descried a whitish sandy Clisse which bare West North-west about sixe leagues off but comming neerer within three or foure leagues we saw many breaches still neerer the Land At last we espied a great
he came whereupon the Gouernor of Tercera did him great honor and betweene them it was concluded perceiuing the weaknesse of their Ships and the danger of the Englishmen that they would send the Ships empty with Soldiers to conuey them either to Siuil or Lisbone where they could first arriue with aduise vnto his Maiesty of all that had past and that he would giue order to fetch the Siluer with good and safe conuoy Wherepuon the said Aluaro Flores staied there vnder colour of keeping the Siluer but specially because of his disease and for that they were afraid of the Englishmen This Aluaro Flores had alone for his owne part aboue fifty thousand Ducats in Pearles which he shewed vnto vs and sought to sell them or barter them with vs for Spices or bils of exchange The said two Ships set saile with three or foure hundred men as well Soldiers as others that came with them and not one man saued Tke Vice-admirall cut downe her Mast and ranne the Ship on ground out of India and being at Sea had a storme wherewith the Admirall burst and sunke in thâ— Sea hard by Sentuual where it burst in peeces some of the men sauing themselues by swimming that brought the newes but the rest were drowned In the same moneth there came two great ships out of the Spanish Indies and being within halfe a mile of the Road of Tercera they met with an English shippe that after they had fought long together tooke them both About seuen or eight moneths before there had beene an English ship in Tercera that vnder the name of a Frenchman came to traffique in the Iland there to lade wood and being discouered was both ship and goods confiscated to the Kings vse and all the men kept prisoners yet went they vp and downe the streets to get their liuings by labouring like slaues being in deed as safe in that Iland as if they had beene in prison But in the end vpon a Sunday all the Sailers went downe behind the Hils called Bresill where they found a Fisher-boat whereinto they got and rowed into the Sea to the Earle of Cumberlands ship which to their great fortune chanced at that time to come by the Iland and anchored with his ships about halfe a mile from the Road of Angra hard by two small Ilands which lye about a Bases shot from the Iland and are full of Goats Buckes and Sheepe belonging to the Inhabitants of the Iland of Tercera Those Saylers knew it well and thereupon they rowed vnto them with their Boats and lying at Anchor that day they fetched as many Goats and Sheepe as they had neede of which those of the Towne and of the Iland well saw and beheld yet durst not once go forth so there remayned no more on Land but the Master and the Merchant of the said English ship This Master had a Brother in Law dwelling in England who hauing newes of his brothers imprisonment in Tercera got licence of the Queene of England to set forth a ship therewith to see if he could recouer his losses of the Spaniards by taking some of them and so to redeeme his brother that lay prisoner in Tercera and he it was that tooke the two Spanish shippes before the Towne The Master of the ship aforesaid standing on the shore by me and looking vpon them for he was my great acquaintance the shipss being taken that were worth three hundred thousand Duckets he sent all the men on Land sauing only two of the principall Gentlemen which he kept aboord thereby to ransome his brother and sent the Pilot of one of the Indian ships that were taken with a Letter to the Gouernour of Tercera wherein he wrote that hee should deliuer him his brother and he would send the two Gentlemen on Land if not he would saile with them into England as indeed he did because the Gouernour would not doe it saying that the Gentleman might make that suite to the King of Spaine him selfe This Spanish Pilot we bid to supper with vs and the Englishmen likewise where hee shewed vs all the manner of their fight much commending the order and manner of the Englishmens fighting as also for their courteous vsing of him but in the end the English Pilot likewise stole away in a French ship without paying any ransome as yet In the moneth of Ianuary 1590 there arriued one ship alone in Tercera that came from the Spanish Indies and brought newes that there was a fleet of a hundred ships which put out from the Firme Land of the Spanish Indies and by a storme were driuen vpon the Coast called Florida where they were all cast away she hauing only escaped wherein there were great riches and many men lost as it may well be thought so that they made their account that of two hundred and twentie ships that for certaine were knowne to haue put out of Noua Spaigna Santo Domingo Hauana Capo verde Brasilia Guinea c. In the yeere 1989. to sayle for Spaine in Portugall there were not aboue fourteene or fifteene of them arriued there in safetie all the rest being either drowned burst or taken In the same Moneth of Ianuary there arriued in Tercera fifteen or sixteene ships that came from Siuilia which were most Flie-boats of the low Countries and some Brittons that were arrested in Spaine these came full of Souldiers and well appointed with munition to lade the siluer that lay in Tercera and to fetch Aluares de Flores by the Kings commandement into Spaine And because that time of the yeere there is alwayes stormes about those Ilands therefore they durst not enter into the Road of Tercera for that as then it blew so great a storme that some of their ships that had anchored were forced to cut downe their Masts and were in danger to bee lost and among the rest a ship of Biscay ranne against the Land and was stricken in pieces but all the men saued themselues The other ships were forced to keepe the Sea and separate themselues one from the other where winde and weather would driue them vntill the fifteenth of March for that in all that time they could not haue one day of faire weather to anchor in whereby they indured much miserie cursing both the siluer and the Iland This storme being past they chanced to meete with small English ship of about fortie tunnes in bignesse which by reason of the great wind could not beare all her sailes so they set vpon her and tooke her and with the English flagge in their Admirals sterne they came as proudly into the Hauen as if they had conquered all the Realme of England but as the Admirall that bare the English flagge vpon her sterne was entring into the Road there came by chance two English ships by the Iland that paid her so well for her paines that they were forced to cry Misericordia and without all doubt had taken her if she had beene but a mile further
intelligence They came purposely to watch for the fleet of the Spanish Indies and for the Indian ships and the shippes of the Countries in the West which put the Ilanders in great feare specially those of Fayael for that the Englishmen sent a Trumpet to the Gouernour to aske certaine wine flesh and other victuals for their money and good friendship They of Fayael did not onely refuse to giue eare vnto them but with a shot killed their Messenger or Trumpetter which the Englishmen tooke in euill part sending them word that they were best to looke to themselues and stand vpon their guard for they meant to come and visit them whether they would or no. The Gouernour made them answere that he was there in the behalfe of his Maiestie of Spaine and that he would doe his best to keepe them out as he was bound but no thing was done although they of Fayael were in no little feare sending to Tercera for aide from whence they had certaine Barkes with Powder and Munition for warre with some Bisket and other necessary prouision The thirtieth of August we receiued very certaine newes out of Portugall that there were eightie ships put out of the Carunho laden with Victuals Munition Money and Souldiers to goe for Britaine to aide the Catholikes and Leaguers of France against the King of Nauarre At the same time two Netherland Hulkes comming out of Portugall to Tercera beeing halfe the Seas ouer met with foure of the Queenes shippes their Generall beeing Sir Iohn Hawkins that stayed them but let them goe againe without doing them any harme The Netherlanders reported that each of the Queenes ships had eightie Peeces of Ordnance and that Captaine Drake lay with fortie ships in the English Channell watching for the Armie of Carunho and likewise that there lay at the Cape Saint Vincent tenne other English ships that if any ships escaped from the Ilands they might take them Those tidings put the Ilanders in great feare lest if they failed of the Spanish fleete and got nothing by them that then they would fall vpon the Ilands because they would not returne emptie home whereupon they held straight watch sending aduise vnto the King what newes they heard The first of September there came to the Iland of Saint Michael a Portugall ship out of the Hauen of Pernanbuco in Brasilia which brought newes that the Admirall of the Portugall fleet that came from India hauing missed the Iland of Saint Helena was of necessitie constrained to put in at Pernanbuco although the King had expresly vnder a great penaltie forbidden him so to doe because of the Wormes that there doe spoile the ships The same ship wherein Bernaldine Rybero was Admirall the yeere before 1589. sayled out of Lisbone into the Indies with fiue ships in her company whereof but foure got into India the fift was neuer heard of so that it was thought to be cast away The other foure returned safe againe into Portugall though the Admirall was much spoiled because he met with two English ships that fought long with him and slue many of his men but yet he escaped from them The fift of the same moneth there arriued in Tercera a Caruell of the Iland of Coruo and brought with her fiftie men that had beene spoyled by the Englishmen who had set them on shore in the Iland of Coruo being taken out of a shippe that came from the Spanish Indies they brought tydings that the Englishmen had taken foure more of the Indian ships and a Caruell with the King of Spaines Letters of aduise for the ships comming out of the Portugall Indies and that with those which they had taken they were at the least forty English ships together so that not one Barke escaped them but fell into their hands and that therefore the Portugall ships comming out of India durst not put into the Ilands but tooke their course vnder fortie and fortie two degrees and from thence sailed to Lisbon shunning likewise the Cape Saint Vincent otherwise they could not haue had a prosperous iourney of it for that as then the Sea was full of English ships Wherupon the King aduised the fleet lying in Hauana in the Spanish Indies ready to come for Spaine that they should stay there all that yeere till the next yeere because of the great danger they might fall into by the Englishmen which was no small charge and hinderance to the fleet for that the ships that lie there doe consume themselues and in a manner eate vp one another by reason of the great number of people together with the scarcitie of all things so that many ships chose rather one by one to aduenture themselues alone to get home then to stay there all which fell into the Englishmens hands whereof diuers of the men were brought into Tercera for that a whole day we could see nothing else but spoyled men set on shore some out of one ship some out of another that pittie it was to see all of them cursing the Englishmen and their owne fortunes with those that had beene the causes to prouoke the Englishmen to fight and complayning of the small remedie and order taken therein by the King of Spaines Officers The nineteenth of the same moneth there came to Tercera a Caruel of Lisbon with one of the Kings Officers to cause the goods that were saued out of the ship which came from Malacca for the which we stayed there to be laden and sent to Lisbon And at the same time there put out of the Carunha one Don Alonso de Bassan with fortie great ships of warre to come vnto the Ilands there to watch for the fleet of the Spanish and Portugall Indies and the goods of the Malacca ship being laden they were to conuoy them all together into the Riuer of Lisbon but being certaine dayes at Sea alwayes hauing a contrary wind they could not get vnto the Ilands only two of them that were scattered from the fleet they presently returned backe to seeke them in the meane time the King changed his minde and caused the fleet to stay in India as I said before and therefore he sent word vnto Don Alonso de Bassan that hee should returne againe to the Carunha which he presently did without doing any thing nor once approching neere the Ilands sauing only the two foresaid ships for he well knew that the Englishmen lay by the Iland of Coruo but he would not visit them and so he returned to the Hauen of Carunha whereby our goods that came from Malacca were yet to ship and crussed vp againe forced to stay a more fortunate time with patience perforce The three and twentieth of October there arriued in Tercera a Caruell with aduise out of Portingall that of fiue ships which in the yeere 1590. were laden in Lisbon for the Indies foure of them were turned againe to Portingall after they had beene foure moneths abroad and that the Admirall wherein the Vice-roy
Iland we saw a Whale chased by a Thresher and a Sword-fish they fought for the space of two houres we might see the Thresher with his flayle layon the monstrous blowes which was strange to behold in the end these two fishes brought the Whale to her end The sixe and twentieth day we had sight of Marâ—galanta and the next day wee sailed with a slacke saile alongst the I le of Guadalupa where we went ashore and found a Bath which was so hot that no man was able to stand long by it our Admirall Captaine Newport caused a piece of Porke to be put in it which boyled it so in the space of halfe an houre as no fire could mend it Then we went aboord and sailed by many Ilands as Mounserot and an Iland called Saint Christopher both vnhabited about about two a clocke in the afternoone wee anchored at the I le of Meuis There the Captaine landed all his men being well fitted with Muskets and other conuenient Armes marched a mile into the Woods being commanded to stand vpon their guard fearing the treacherie of the Indians which is an ordinary vse amongst them and all other Sauages on this I le we came to a Bath standing in a Valley betwixt two Hils where wee bathed our selues and found it to be of the nature of the Bathes in England some places hot and some colder and men may refresh themselues as they please finding this place to be so conuenient for our men to auoid diseases which will breed in so long a Voyage wee incamped our selues on this Ile sixe dayes and spent none of our ships victuall by reason our men some went a hunting some a fouling and some a fishing where we got great store of Conies sundry kinds of fowles and great plentie of fish We kept Centinels and Courts de gard at euery Captaines quarter fearing wee should be assaulted by the Indians that were on the other side of the Iland wee saw none nor were molested by any but some few we saw as we were a hunting on the Iland They would not come to vs by any meanes but ranne swiftly through the Woods to the Mountaine tops so we lost the sight of them whereupon we made all the haste wee could to our quarter thinking there had beene a great ambush of Indians there abouts We past into the thickest of the Woods where we had almost lost our selues we had not gone aboue halfe a mile amongst the thicke but we came into a most pleasant Garden being a hundred paces square on euery side hauing many Cotton-trees growing in it with abundance of Cotton-wooll and many Guiacum trees wee saw the goodliest tall trees growing so thicke about the Garden as though they had beene set by Art which made vs maruell very much to see it The third day wee set saile from Meuis the fourth day we sailed along by Castutia and by Saba This day we anchored at the I le of Virgines in an excellent Bay able to harbour a hundred Ships if this Bay stood in England it would be a great profit and commoditie to the Land On this Iland wee caught great store of Fresh-fish and abundance of Sea Tortoises which serued all our Fleet three daies which were in number eight score persons We also killed great store of wilde Fowle wee cut the Barkes of certaine Trees which tasted much like Cinnamon and very hot in the mouth This Iland in some places hath very good gâ—â—â—nd straight and tall Timber But the greatest discommoditie that wee haue seene on this Isand is that it hath no Fresh-water which makes the place void of any Inhabitants Vpon the sixt day we set saile and passed by Becam and by Saint Iohn deportorico The seuenth day we arriued at Mona where wee watered which we stood in great need of seeing that our water did smell so vildly that none of our men was able to indure it Whilst some of the Saylers were a filling the Caskes with water the Captaine and the rest of the Gentlemen and other Soldiers marched vp in the I le sixe myles thinking to find some other prouision to maintaine our victualling as wee marched we killed two wild Bores and saw a huge wild Bull his hornes was an ell betweene the two tops Wee also killed Guanas in fashion of a Serpent and specklâ—d like a Toade vnder the belly These wayes that wee went being so trouble some and vilde going vpon the sharpe Rockes that many of our men fainted in the march but by good fortune wee lost none but one Edward Brookes Gentleman whose fat melted within him by the great heate and drought of the Countrey we were not able to relieue him nor our selues so he died in that great extreamitie The ninth day in the afternoone we went off with our Boat to the I le of Moneta some three leagues from Mona where we had a terrible landing and a troublesome getting vp to the top of the Mountaine or I le being a high firme Rocke step with many terrible sharpe stones After wee got to the top of the I le we found it to bee a fertill and a plaine ground full of goodly grasse and abundance of Fowles of all kindes they flew ouer our heads as thicke as drops of Hale besides they made such a noise that wee were not able to heare one another speake Furthermore wee were not able to set our feet on the ground but either on Fowles or Egges which lay so thicke in the grasse Wee laded two Boats full in the space of three houres to our great refreshing The tenth day we set saile and disimboged out of the West Indies and bare our course Northerly The fourteenth day we passed the Tropicke of Cancer The one and twentieth day about fiue a clocke at night there began a vehement tempest which lasted all the night with winds raine and thunders in a terrible manner Wee were forced to lie at Hull that night because we thought wee had beene neerer land then wee were The next morning being the two and twentieth day wee sounded and the three and twentieth and foure and twenteth day but we could find no ground The fiue and twentieth day we sounded and had no ground at an hundred fathom The six and twentieth day of Aprill about foure a clocke in the morning wee descried the Land of Virginia the same day wee entred into the Bay of Chesupioc directly without any let or hinderance there wee landed and discouered a little way but wee could find nothing worth the speaking of but faire meddowes and goodly tall Trees with such Fresh-waters running through the woods as I was almost rauished at the first sight thereof At night when wee were going aboard there came the Sauages creeping vpon all foure from the Hills like Beares with their Bowes in their mouthes charged vs very desperately in the faces hurt Captaine Gabrill Archer in both his hands
of his Crowne His body was painted all with Crimson with a Chaine of Beads about his necke his face painted blew besprinkled with siluer Ore as wee thought his eares all behung with Braslets of Pearle and in either eare a Birds Claw through it beset with fine Copper or Gold he entertained vs in so modest a proud fashion as though he had beene a Prince of ciuill gouernment holding his countenance without laughter or any such ill behauiour he caused his Mat to be spred on the ground where hee sate downe with a great Maiestie taking a pipe of Tabacco the rest of his company standing about him After he had rested a while he rose and made signes to vs to come to his Towne Hee went formost and all the rest of his people and ourselues followed him vp a steepe Hill where his Palace was settled Wee passed through the Woods in fine paths hauing most pleasant Springs which issued from the Mountaines Wee also went through the goodliest Corne fieldes that euer was seene in any Countrey When wee came to Rapahannos Towne hee entertained vs in good humanitie The eight day of May we discouered vp the Riuer We landed in the Countrey of Apamatica at our landing there came many stout and able Sauages to resist vs with their Bowes and Arrowes in a most warlike manner with the swords at their backes beset with sharpe stones and pieces of yron able to cleaue a man in sunder Amongst the rest one of the chiefest standing before them crosse-legged with his Arrow readie in his Bow in one hand and taking a Pipe of Tobacco in the other with a bold vttering of his speech demanded of vs our being there willing vs to bee gone Wee made signes of peace which they perceiued in the end and let vs land in quietnesse The twelfth day we went backe to our ships and discouered a point of Land called Archers Hope which was sufficient with a little labour to defend our selues against any Enemy The soile was good and fruitfull with excellent good Timber There are also great store of Vines in bignesse of a mans thigh running vp to the tops of the Trees in great abundance We also did see many Squirels Conies Black Birds with crimson wings and diuers other Fowles and Birds of diuers and sundrie collours of crimson Watchet Yellow Greene Murry and of diuers other hewes naturally without any art vsing We found store of Turkie nests and many Egges if it had not beene disliked because the ship could not ride neere the shoare we had setled there to all the Collonies contentment The thirteenth day we came to our seating place in Paspihas Countrey some eight miles from the point of Land which I made mention before where our shippes doe lie so neere the shoare that they are moored to the Trees in six fathom water The fourteenth day we landed all our men which were set to worke about the fortification and others some to watch and ward as it was conuenient The first night of our landing about midnight there came some Sauages sayling close to our quarter presently there was an alarum giuen vpon that the Sauages ran away and we not troubled any more by them that night Not long after there came two Sauages that seemed to be Commanders brauely drest with Crownes of coloured haire vpon their heads which came as Messengers from the Werowance of Paspihae telling vs that their Werowance was comming and would be merry with vs with a fat Deare The eighteenth day the Werowance of Paspihae came himselfe to our quarter with one hundred Sauages armed which garded him in a very warlike manner with Bowes and Arrowes thinking at that time to execute their villany Paspihae made great signes to vs to lay our Armes away But we would not trust him so far he seeing he could not haue conuenient time to worke his will at length made signes that he would giue vs as much land as we would desire to take As the Sauages were in a throng in the Fort one of them stole a Hatcket from one of our company which spied him doing the deed whereupon he tooke it from him by force and also strooke him ouer the arme presently another Sauage seeing that came fiercely at our man with a wooden sword thinking to beat out his braines The Werowance of Paspiha saw vs take to our Armes weat suddenly away with all his company in great anger The nineteenth day my selfe and three or foure more walking into the Woods by chance wee espied a path-way like to an Irish pace wee were desirous to knowe whither it would bring vs wee traced along some foure miles all the way as wee went hauing the pleasantest Suckles the ground all flowing ouer with faire flowers of sundry colours and kindes as though it had beene in any Garden or Orchard in England There be many Strawberries and other fruits vnknowne wee saw the Woods full of Cedar and Cypresse trees with other trees which issues out sweet Gummes like to Balsam wee kept on our way in this Paradise at length wee came to a Sauage Towne where wee found but few people they told vs the rest were gone a hunting with the Werowance of Paspiha we stayed there a while and had of them Strawberries and other things in the meane time one of the Sauages came running out of his house with a Bowe and Arrowes and ranne mainly through the Woods then I beganne to mistrust some villanie that he went to call some companie and so betray vs wee made all the haste away wee could one of the Sauages brought vs on the way to the Wood side where there was a Garden of Tobacco and other fruits and herbes he gathered Tobacco and distributed to euery one of vs so wee departed The twentieth day the Werowance of Paspiha sent fortie of his men with a Deere to our quarter but they came more in villanie than any loue they bare vs they faine would haue layne in our Fort all night but wee would not suffer them for feare of their treachery One of our Gentlemen hauing a Target which hee trusted in thinking it would beare out a slight shot hee set it vp against a tree willing one of the Sauages to shoot who tooke from his backe an Arrow of an elle long drew it strongly in his Bowe shoots the Target a foote thorow or better which was strange being that a Pistoll could not pierce it Wee seeing the force of his Bowe afterwards set him vp a steele Target he shot again and burst his arrow all to pieces he presently pulled out another Arrow and bit it in his teeth and seemed to bee in a great rage so hee went away in great anger Their Bowes are made of tough Hasell their strings of Leather their Arrowes of Canes or Hasell headed with very sharpe stones and are made artificially like a broad Arrow other some of their Arrowes are headed with the ends of Deeres
did thinke that we did heare a Peece of Ordnance to windward which made me suppose our Admirall had set saile and that it was a warning piece from him So I set sayle and stood close by the wind and kept an hollowing and a noise to try whether I could find him againe the wind was at South-west and I stood away West North-west From the sixe and twentieth at two of the clocke in the afternoone to eight of the clocke at night I had sayled nine leagues North-west The seuen and twentieth at noone I heaued the Lead in one hundred and twenty fathoms and had no ground Then I stirred away North-west till foure of the clocke at night then I heaued the Lead againe one hundred and twenty fathoms and had no ground Then I tooke all my sailes and lay at Hull and I had sayled seuen leagues North-west The eight and twentieth at seuen of the clocke in the morning I did sound in one hundred and twenty fathoms and had no ground Then I set sayle againe and steered away North and North by West At noone I heaued in one hundred and twenty fathoms againe and had no ground So I steered on my course still the wind shifted betweene South and South-west and the fog continued At foure of the clocke in the afternoone I heaued one hundred twenty fathoms againe and had no ground so I stood on vntill eight of the clocke by which time I had sailed twelue leagues then I heaued the Lead againe and had blacke Oâ—e and one hundred thirty fiue fathoms water Then I tooke in all my sayles and lay at hull vntill the nine and twentieth at fiue of the clocke in the morning Then I set saile againe and steered away North and North by West At eight of the clocke I heaued the Lead againe and had blacke Ose in one hundred and thirty fathoms water Betweene eleuen and twelue of the clocke it began to thunder but the fogge continued not still About two of the clocke in the afternoone I went out with my Boat my selfe and heaued the Lead and had blacke Ose in ninety fathoms water by which time I had sailed six leagues North by West more Then I tooke in all my sayles sauing my Fore-course and Bonnet and stood in with those sailes onely About sixe of the clocke I founded againe and then I had sixty fiue fathoms water Assoone as I came aboord it cleered vp and then I saw a small 〈◊〉 which bare North about two leagues off whereupon I stood in vntill eight of the clocke And then I stood off againe vntill two of the clocke in the morning the thirtieth day Then I stood in againe and aboue eight of the clocke I was faire aboord the Iland Then I manned my Boat and went on shoare where I found great store of Seales And I killed three Seales with my hanger This Iland is not halfe a mile about and nothing but a Rocke which seemed to be very rich Marble stone And a South South-west Moon maketh a full Sea About ten of the clocke I came aboord againe with some Wood tha I had found vpon the Iland for there had beene some folkes that had made fiers there Then I stood ouer to another Iland that did beare North off me about three leagues this small rockie Iland lyeth in forty foure degrees About seuen of the clocke that night I came to an anchor among many Ilands in eight fathoms water and vpon one of these Ilands I fitted my selfe with Wood and Water and Balast The third day of August being fitted to put to Set againe I caused the Master of the ship to open the boxe wherein my Commission was to see what directions I had and for what place I was bound to shape my course Then I tried whether there were any fis 〈…〉 herâ— or not and I found reasonable good store there so I stayed there fishing till the twelfth of August and then finding that the fishing did faile I thought good to returne to the Iland where I had killed the Seales to see whether I could get any store of them or not for I did find that they were very nourishing meate and a great reliefe to my men and that they would be very well saued with â—alâ— to keepe a long time But when I came thither I could not by any meanes catch any The fourteenth day at noone I obserued the Sun and found the Iland to lie in forty three degrees forty minutes Then I shaped my course for Cape Cod to see whether I could get any fish there or not â—so by the fifteenth that noone I had sailed thirty two leagues South-west the wind for the most part was betweene North-west and North. From the fifteenth at noone to the sixteenth at noone I ran twenty leagues South the wind shifting betweene West and South-west And then I sounded and had ground in eighteene fathoms water full of shels and peble stâ—â—es of diuers colours some greene and some blewish some like diamants and some speckled Theâ— I 〈…〉 oke in all my sayles and set all my company to fishing and fished till eight of the clocke â—hat â—â—ght and finding but little fish there I set sayle againe and by the 〈◊〉 that noone I had sâ—yâ—ed ten leagues West by North the wind shifting betweene South and South-west From noone till sixe of the clocke at night foure leagues North-west the wind shifting betweene West and South-west Then it did blow so hard that I tooke in all my sayles and lay at hull all that night vntill fiue of the clock the eighteenth day in the morning and then I set saile againe and by noone I had sailed foure leagues North-west the wind betweene West and South-west From the eighteenth at noone to the nineteenth at noone ten leagues West by West the wind shifting betweene South and South-west and the weather very thick and foggy About seuen of the clocke at night the fogge began to breake away and the wind did shift westerly and by midnight it was shifted to the North and there it did blow very hard vntill the twenty at noone but the weather was very cleere and then by my obseruation I found the ship to bee in the latitude of forty one degrees forty foure minutes and I had sailed twenty leagues South-west by West From the nineteenth at noone to the twentieth at noone about two of the clocke in the afternoone I did see an Hed-Ta 〈…〉 d which did beare off me South-west about foure leagues so I steered with it taking it to bee Cape Cod and by foure of the clocke I was fallen among so many shoales that it was fiue of the clocke the next day in the morning before I could get cleere of them it is a â—â—ry dangerous place to fall withall to the 〈◊〉 â—â—e at the least-ten leagues off from the Land and I had vpon one of them but one â—ath 〈◊〉 and an
abroad our Colours and went toward the Admirall before wee came vnto him he likewise strooke downe our Sayle and came vnder his lee demanding his pleasure the other ship which first shot vs all our Sayles being downe and shot our mayne Sayle in pieces lying on the Decke And forthwith the Admirall came on boord of vs with two and twentie men in their ships Boate with Rapiers Swords and halfe-pikes We being all in peace stood readie to entertayne them in peace But assoone as they were entred on boord of vs they did most cruelly beate vs all and wounded two of our Company in the heads with their Swords not sparing our Captayne nor any Also they wounded Assacomoit one of the Sauages aforesaid most cruelly in seuerall places in the bodie and thrust quite through the arme the poore creature creeping vnder a Cabbin for feare of their rigour and as they thrust at him wounding him he cried still King Iames King Iames King Iames his ship King Iames his ship Thus hauing beaten vs all downe vnder the Deckes presently they beat vs vp againe and thrust vs ouer-boord into their Boate and so sent vs on boord of the Admirall ship Neither would they suffer any of vs to speake a word to shew the cause of our passing the Seas in these parts Neyther regarded they any thing our Commission which the Captayne held forth vnto them in his hand vntill that the Admirall with the Company of foure other of the ships had rifled spoyled and deliuered all the Merchandize and goods of the ship among them which beeing done they also diuided vs beeing thirtie persons in all into the said fiue ships by seuen six fiue and foure to a ship Three of the former eight Sayle made Sayle away and neuer came neere vs neither were partakers of our spoyle Then they also repayred our Maine Sayle which was torne with the shot aforesaid and put their men into her And after because they could not make her to sayle well they tooke two of our men and put into her to helpe them the other fiue ships and our ship kept company two or three dayes together After this they separated themselues either from other not through any tempest or storme but through wilfull negligence or simple Ignorance by shaping contrary courses the one from the other So as not two of them kept company together My selfe and sixe more of our company in the Vice-Admirall of the burthen of one hundred and eightie tunnes called the Peter of Siuill the Captaynes name was Andreas Barbear beeing alone and hauing lost the company of the Fleet continued our course vntill the middle of December at which time being about twentie leagues off from the I le of Santa Maria one of the Iles of the Azores the Vice-Admiral and the whole company disliking the great Ignorance of the Pilot because he had told them ten dayes before that he was very neere the Ilands and had waited all this time and could find any of them entreated me very earnestly to shew my skill And the Pilot himselfe brought mee his Instruments and be sought mee most earnestly to assist him and to appease the company Whereunto by there much importunitie I yeelded And by Gods assistance on Christmasse Eeue after our English account I brought them safe to the Barre of Saint Lucas being the first ship of the whole Fleet that arriued there One of the ships of this Fleet by the great Ignorance of the Spanish Masters Pilots and Mariners was driuen beyond all the Coast of Spaine into Burdeaux in Gascayne In which shippe the Officers of the Admiraltie of France finding foure of our Englishmen prisoners vnder the Deckes in hold to wit Master Daniell Tucker who was our Cape Merchant Pierce Gliddon and two others did very friendly set them at libertie and the said Daniel Tucker presently arrested the Spanish ship and goods beeing of great value which of long time remayneth vnder arrest The good Duke of Medina hearing of the arriuall of certaine English prisoners taken here the Coast of the West Indies sent command to the Captaynes of the Spanish ships to bring foure of the chiefest to be brought before him Whereupon my selfe Master Thomas Saint Iohn Iohn Walrond our Steward and William Stone our Carpenter were brought before him The ship wherein Master Challous was was not yet come Master Dauid Neuill an Englishman dwelling in Saint Lucas was appointed our Interpretor And then the Duke required me vpon my oath to yeeld a true and faithfull answere according to the whole state and manner of our Voyage and proceedings which I did according to the former Relation afore written wherevpon his Excellencie replyed vnto the Spanish Captaynes which had brought vs saying it this bee true which this Englishman affirmeth you haue greatly wronged these men And so commanded them to prouide meate drinke and fit lodging for vs and to bring vs againe the next day before him They sent vs neuerthelesse to Siuill where wee were brought to a Dutchmans house called Signior Petro where we were reasonably lodged and entertayned that night The next morning being New yeeres day we were brought before the President of Siuill at the Contractation who hearing of our comming and not vouchsafing to speake with vs sent foure O 〈…〉 ers to vs and cast vs into Prison Where for the space of fiue dayes wee had publike allowance but such as poore men which were there Prisoners also did of their mereie bestow on vs. At length after many humble Sutes and earnest Petitions exhibited to the President we had a Riall of Plate allowed to each man a day which is sixe pence English whâ—ch by reason of the dearth of all sorts of victuall in those parts will not goe so far as three pence in England And so at seuerall times within one moneth after eleuen more of our Company were commi 〈…〉 to Prison as they came home whereof our Captaine was one Notwithstanding that the good Duke of Medina had discharged both him and all those of his Company which came into Spaine with him and willed him to goe home to the Court of England or to the Court of Spaine where he thought to haue best reliefe for his poore imprisoned Company Whereupon Nicholas Hine our Master and two more of our men wisely foreseeing what was like to bee the Issue made haste away out of the Citie and so got passage and escaped into England Before the comming of our Captaine to Siuill my selfe and eleuen more of my Company were examined before the President of the Contractation who finding no iust cause of offence in vs did often earnestly examine me of the manner and situation of the Countrie of Virginia together with the Commodities and benefit thereof And after the comming of our Captaine they likewise examined him to the same purpose We answered both to one purpose according to our Commission in writing which the Spaniards at our taking at
made three or foure thousand pounds worth of Oyle they preferred it before Greenland Whale-fishing and purpose the next winter to fish for Whale here for Cod we assaied but found none there is good store no doubt in their season Neither got we anie fish all the time we lay there but some few little ones on the shoare We found great Mussles and verie fat and full of Sea Pearle but we could not eate them for they made vs all sicke that did eate as well sailers as passengers they caused to cast and scoure but they were soone well againe The Baie is so round and circling that before we could come to anchor we went round all the points of the Compasse We could not come neere the shoare by three quarters of an English mile because of shallow water which was a great preiudice to vs for our people going on shoare were forced to wade a Bow shoote or two in going aland which caused manie to get colds and coughs for it was manie times freezing cold weather This day before we came to harbour obseruing some not well affected to vnitie and concord but gaue some appearance of faction it was thought good there should be an association and agreement that we should combine together in one bodie and to submit to such gouernment and Gouernours as we should by common consent agree to make and choose and set our hands to this that followes word for word IN the name of God Amen We whose names are vnderwritten the loyall Subiects of our dread Soueraigne Lord King Iames by the grace of God of Great Britaine France and Ireland King Defender of the Faith c. Hauing vndertaken for the glorie of God and aduancement of the Christian faith and honor of our King and Countrie a Voiage to plant the first Colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia doe by these presents solemnely and matually in the presence of GOD and one of another couenant and combine our selues together in a ciuill bodie politike for our better ordering and preseruation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid and by vertue hereof to enact constitute and frame such iust and equall Lawes Ordinances acts constitutions offices from time to time as shall be thought most meete and conuenient for the generall good of the Colonie vnto which wee promise all due submission and obedience In witnesse whereof we haue here vnder suscribed our names Cape Cod eleuenth of Nouember in the yeare of the raigne of our Soueraigne Lord King IAMES of England France and Ireland 18. and of Scotland 54. Anno Domino 1620. The same day so soone as we could we set ashoare fifteene or sixteene men well armed with some to fetch Wood for we had none left as also to see what the Land was and what Inhabitants they could meete with they found it to be a small necke of Land on this side where we lay is the Bay and the furthest side the Sea the ground or earth sand hils much like the Downes in Holland but much better the crust of the earth a Spits depth excellent blacke earth all woodded with Oakes Pines Saffafras Iuniper Birch Holly Vines some Ash Walnut the Wood for the most part open and without vnder-wood fit either to goe or ride in at night our people returned but found not anie person nor habitation and laded their Boate with Iuniper which smelled verie sweete and strong and of which wee burnt the most part of the time we lay there Munday the thirteenth of Nouember we vnshipped our Shallop and drew her on land to mend and repaire her hauing bin forced to cut her downe in bestowing her betwixt the decks and she was much opened with the peoples lying in her which kept vs long ther for it was sixteene or seuenteene daies before the Carpenter had finished her our people went on shoare to refresh themselues and our women to wash as they had great neede but whilest wee lay thus still hoping our Shallop would be readie in fiue or six daies at the furthest but our Carpenter made slow worke of it so that some of our people impatient of delay desired for our better furtherance to trauaile by Land into the Countrie which was not without appearance of danger not hauing the Shallop with them nor meanes to carrie prouision but on their backes to see whether it might be fit for vs to seate in or no and the rather because as we sailed into the Harbour there seemed to be a Riuer opening it selfe into the maine Land the willingnesse of the persons was liked but the thing it selfe in regard of the danger was rather permitted then approued and so with cautions directions and instructions sixteene men were set out with euery man his Musket Sword and Corslet vnder the conduct of Captaine Miles Standish vnto whom was adioyned for counsell and aduise William Bradford Stephen Hopkins and Edward Tilley Wednesday the fifteenth of Nouember they were set a shoare and when they had ordered themselues in order of a single File and marched about the space of a mile by the Sea they espied fiue or six people with a Dogge comming towards them who were Sauages who when they saw them ran into the Woods and whistled the Dogge after them c. First they supposed them to be Master Iones the Master and some of his men for they were a shoare and knew of their comming but after they knew them to be Indians they marched after them into the Woods least other of the Indians should lye in Ambush but when the Indians saw our men following them they ran away with might and maine and our men turned out of the Wood after them for it was the way they intended to goe but they could not come neere them They followed them that night about ten miles by the trace of their footings saw how they had come the same way they went and at a turning perceiued how they raune vp an hill to see whether they followed them At length night came vpon them and they were constrained to take vp their lodging so they set forth three Sentinels and the rest some kindled a fire and others fetched Woods there held our Randeuous that night In the morning so soone as we could see the trace we proceeded on our iournie and had the tracke vntill wee had compassed the head of a long creake and there they tooke into another Wood and we after them supposing to finde some of their dwellings but we marched thorow Boughes and Bushes and vnder Hils and Vallies which tore our verie Armour in peeces and yet could meete with none of them nor their houses nor finde any fresh water which we greatly desired and stood in neede off for we brought neither Beere nor Water with vs and our victuals was onely Bisket and Holland Cheese and a little Bottell of Aquauite so as we were sore a thirst About ten a clocke we came into a deepe Valley full of
loosed from thence and the seuen and twentieth thereof they arriued at Saint Iohns Harbour in New-found-land and from thence sailed alongst the Bay of Conception where they left the Ship and dispatched themselues home in seuerall Ships that belonged to the West part of England and doe intend this next Spring to set forth a Colony to plant there The description of the Countrey of Mawooshen discouered by the English in the yeere 1602. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. and 9. MAwooshen is a Countrey lying to the North and by East of Uirginia betweene the degrees of 43. and 45. It is fortie leagues broad and fiftie in length lying in breadth East and West and in length North and South It is bordered on the East side with a Countrey the people whereof they call Tarrantines on the West with Epistoman on the North with a great Wood called Senaglecoune and on the South with the mayne Ocean Sea and many Ilands In Mawooshen it seemeth there are nine Riuers whereof the first to the East is called Quibiquesson on which there is one Towne wherein dwell two Sagamos or Lords the one called Asticon the other Abermot In this Towne are fiftie houses and 150. men The name of which Towne is Precante this Riuer runneth farre vp into the Mayne at the head thereof there is a Lake of a great length and breadth it is at the fall into the Sea tenne fathoms deepe and halfe a mile ouer The next is Pemaquid a goodly Riuer and very commodious all things considered it is ten fathoms water at the entrance and fortie miles vp there are two fathoms and a halfe at low water it is halfe a mile broad and runneth into the Land North many daies iourney where is a great Lake of 18. leagues long and foure broad In this Lake are seuen great Ilands toward the farthest end there falleeh in a Riuer which they call Acaconstomed where they passe with their Boates thirtie daies iourney vp and from thence they goe ouer Land twentie daies iourney more and then come to another Riuer where they haue a trade with Anadabis or Anadabijon with whom the Frenchmen haue had commerce for a long time Neere to the North of this Riuer of Pemaquid are three Townes the first is Upsegon where Bashabes their chiefe Lord doth dwell And in this Towne are sixtie houses and 250. men it is three daies iourney within the Land The second is Caiocame the third Shasheekeing These two last Townes are opposite one to the other the Riuer diuiding them both and they are two daies iourney from the Towne of Bashabes In Caioc 〈…〉 dwelleth Maiesquis and in Shasheokeing Bowant two Sagamos subiects to Bashabes Vpon both sides of this Riuer vp to the very Lake for a good distance the ground is plaine without Trees or Bushes but full of long Grasse like vnto a pleasant meadow which the Inhabitants doe burne once a yeere to haue fresh feed for their Deere Beyond this Meadow are great Woods whereof more shall bee spoken hereafter The Riuer of Pemaquid is foure dayes iourney from the mouth of Quibiquesson The third Riuer is called Ramassoc and is distant from the mouth of Pemaquid foure daies iourney it is twentie fathoms at the entrance and hath a mile ouer it runneth into the Land three daies iourney and within lesse then a daies iourney of the dwelling of Bashabes vpon this Riuer there is a Towne named Panobscot the Lord whereof is called Sibatahood who hath in his Town fiftie houses and eightie men The fourth Riuer Apanawapeske lying West and by South of Ramassoc at the entrance whereof there is twentie fathoms water and it is a mile broad it runneth vp into the Countrey fiue daies iourney and within three daies of the mouth are two Townes the one called Meecombe where dwelleth Aramasoga who hath in his Towne fiftie houses and eightie men The other is Chebegnadose whose Lord is Skanke and hath thirtie houses and ninetie men The mouth of Apanawapeske is distant from Ramassoc three daies iourney To the South-west foure daies iourney there is another excellent Riuer in the entranc◠whereof is twentie fathoms water and it is a quarter of a mile broad it runneth into the Land two daies iourney and then there is a great fall at the head wherof there is a Lake of a daies iourney long and as much in breadth On the side of this Lake there is a Strait and at the end of that Strait there is another Lake of foure daies iourney long and two daies iourney broad wherin there are two Ilands one at the one end and another at the other end I should haue told you that both these Lakes as also the rest formerly spoken of doe infinitely abound with fresh water fish of all sorts◠as also with diuers sorts of Creatures as Otters Beeues sweete Rats and such like The sixt Riuer is called Apponick on which there are three Townes the first is called Appisham where dwelleth Abochigishic The second is Mesaqueegamic where dwelleth Amniquin in which there is seuentie houses and eightie men the third is Matammiscowte in which are eightie houses and ninetie men and there dwelleth Narracommique To the Westward of this there is another Riuer called Aponeg it hath at the entrance ten fathoms water and is a mile broad it runneth vp into a great Sound of fresh water Vpon the East side of this Riuer there are two Townes the one called Nebamocago the other called Ashawe In the first dwelleth Mentavrmet and hath in his Towne 160. housholds and some 300. men In the second dwelleth Hamerhaw and hath in his Towne eightie housholds and seuentie men On the West side there is another Towne called Neredoshan where are 120. housholds and 100. men There is a Sagamo or Lord called Sabenaw Three daies iourney from Aponeg to the Westward there is a goodly Riuer called Sagadohoc the entrance whereof is a mile and an halfe ouer holding that breadth a daies iourney and then it maketh a great Sound of three daies iourney broad in which Sound are six Ilands foure great and full of Woods and two lesse without Woods The greater are called Sowaghcoc Neguiwo Neiwoc And in the verie entrance of this Riuer there is another small Iland from the West of which Iland to the Maine there is a Sand that maketh as it were a bar so that that way is not passable for shipping but to the Eastward there is two fathoms water This Sound diuideth it selfe into two branches or armes the one running North-east twentie foure daies iourney the other North-west thirtie daies iourney into the Maine At the heads whereof there are two Lakes the Westermost being eight daies iourney long and foure daies iourney broad and the Eastermost foure daies iourney long and two daies broad The Riuer of Aponeg runneth vp into this Sound and so maketh as it were a great Iland
eye of men did behold The list of whose names I did seriously inquire after thereby to doe them right but could by no meanes compasse it The end and purpose of this great Preparation was to the taking in of most of those Ilands and especially of the winning of the Tercera it selfe the which was resolued to haue beene attempted by vs with the other Ilands and Holds of importance and in some of them to haue placed strong Garrisons if it had pleased God to haue prospered the iourney with happy successe But in the very beginning with long contrary winds and extremitie of foule weather the maine plot and ground of this enterprise was hindred and maimed as hereafter more at large shall be related in his due place But this intended iourney for the surprising and holding of the Tercera alone if it had taken effect without any further respect to the other Ilands then onely to haue sacked them and rased those Fortresses they haue had beene a seruice of great consequence for vs and as preiudiciall to the King of Spaine as any action that was euer vndertaken against him since the reuolt of the Low-Countries The which to set downe in particular would require more ample discourse then either my leasure or my memory can suddenly afford But what great vse and benefit both the Portugues did and the Spaniards doe make of these Ilands is in daily experience And as for that bare Allegation how difficult and inconuenient it would bee for vs to hold a peece so farre off men of Warre in their true iudgements would easily answere For as well it might be demanded how the Forts are held in the East Indies by the poore Portugues against mightie Nations and yet so farre remote from Christendome And how Rhodes and Cyprus were heretofore long kept in despite of the Turke in his very bosome And how the Spaniards of late haue kept certaine places in Britaine and Amyens and Callice in Picardie â—angâ—â— the force of France and neuer quitted them but by composition And God knowes how long Don Iohn D'Lag 〈…〉 would haue kept Kinsale and Beare Castle if these had bin places halfe sâ— terrible as those of the Tercera or but the fouth part so remote from vs as the Tercera is from Spaine Undoubtedly their industry and patience is far beyond ours both in getting and holding matters of more difficultie But vaine it is to set a price of the Beares skin before hee be slaine although I am verily perswaded that the contrary winds onely lost vs both that and all the King of Spaine his treasure that came that yeere to the Tercera For the iourney was carried with as great secrecie expedition and Royall preparation as euer was any these many yeeres â—â—d they on the contrary as slenderly prouided and little doubting any such attempt When all things were thus ordered and wee furnished of our necessaries after some few daies abode in Sandwich for the meeting mustering and imbarking of our Land Army about the fiue and twentieth of Iune in the yeere 1597. we set saile from the Downes and within threedayes with skant winds recouered Portland Rhode where we ancored and staied some six or seuen dayes taking in men and victualls at Waymouth and thence we made for Plimouth where wee were to take in our freshwater much of our prouisions and most of our Mariners besides that this place was appointed the very randeuous for the knitting vp and dispatch of this Voyage whether in a day and a nights sayle wee came but with very extreme foule weather Insomuch that euen in the entrance of the very Harbour many of our Ships falling foule one of another were sorely distressed The Lord Mountioy his Ship the Defiance had her Beake head stricken cleane off and the Saint Mathew being a Spanish Ship of great charge very leeward and drawing much water had like in the tempest to haue runne her selfe vpon the Rocks had not her Captaine Sir George Carew Master of the Ordnance beene very resolute and carefull in that extremitie when a great part of his Souldiers and Saylers would haue abandoned her and betaken themselues to their Ship-boats to shun the iminent perill that threatned them which he staied to the preseruation of the Ship and the company Moreouer a Flee-boat of our Traine who had in her fortie Last of Powder was likewise bulged and all the store had beene vtterly lost had not the Master of the Ordnance with like care and diligence bestirred himselfe to saue all that hee might who with the aid of many Ship-boats as the Flee-boat was sinking saued the greatest part of her lading Yet notwithstanding seuenteen Lasts of Powder was vtterly spoiled with the Salt-water as I heard the Master of the Ordnance himselfe affirme Thus with great difficultie wee arriued at Plimouth where within six or seuen daies our whole Army and Nauie met and withall the shipping of the Low-Countries came to vs. And soone after hauing watered and taken in all our prouisions and Marinrs and mustered our men we imbarked our Army and set sayle about the ninth of Iuly and for two dayes space were accompanied with a faire leading North-easterly wind In which time we receiued a ship-board all our directions throughout the Nauie with such orders and instructions as are vsually set downe by an Admirall and a Counsell of Warre together with the places of meeting from time to time vpon any occasions of separations by stormes by fight by giuing chase or any other accidents This order of deliuering directions when a Fleet is a Sea-boord and not before is an vse grounded vpon many good reasons as to auoid the reuealing of secret plots and the preuention of sudden execution As also to shun the discouraging of diuers that doe often expose themselues and their aduentures to Sea actions either for loue to the Commanders or out of hope of Purchase or for many other respects which perhaps they would not doe if they knew indeed either the danger or the true ends of some preparations And this secret manner of proceeding hath bin often vsed by Philip the late king of Spain in diuers great expeditions who hath beene sâ— precise and seuere therein as that oftentimes the Admiralls of his Fleet themselues haue not knowne their instructions nor beene suffered to open them vntill they haue beene thirtie or fortie leagues on their way Wee now being in this faire course some sixtie leagues onwards our iourney with our whole Fleet together there suddenly arose a fierce and tempestuous storme full in our teeths continuing for foure dayes with so great violence as that now euery one was inforced rather to looke to his owne safetie and with a low saile to serue the Seas then to beat it vp against the stormy winds to keepe together or to follow the directions for the places of meeting And here some began to taste the inconuenience and perill of high Cargued Ships
eate a greene one it will stay a scouring Probagum En quo diseâ—â—dia Ciues Perduxit miseros Roagues Bay Cape Knaue Riuer of Rascals Saint Vincâ—â—ts Testigos Granados Current Margarita Sword-fish Cap. Leighs death Comana Seuen saile of Hollanders 23. March 1608. The Rose The Patience The Lilly Land-men sixtie They set saile the 23. of March They arriue at Alegranza Tenerise An excellent watering place The Riuer of Amazones Fresh water in the Sea 30. leagues from land Ioseph Acosta Hicron Gâ—raua Tarraconensis The eleuenth of May they made land in Guiana The Patience in danger of wrack Ilands called Carripapoory The Bay of Wiapoco Indian boats A village called Caripo A messenger sent to the Indians The Indians came aboard The chief men of the Nation of the Yaios couer their priuities The women generally goe all naked Their conference with the Indians Sir W. Raleighâ— acts in these parts See Hak. 〈◊〉 3. The Orenoqueponi rendred themselues subiects to Queen Elizabeth Cap. Keymis his voyage to Guiana Possession of the Countrie taken at Wiapoco by Captaine Lee to his Maiesties vse The Indians go to counsell Their answere * By Sir Walter Raleigh and Captaine Lee. The Indian Martyn goeth ashoare The English take land The English feasted by the Indians The gratefull offer of Martyn The English setled at Caripo in Wiapoco The strength of the place continuall raines The bounds and limits of Guiana Arrapoco a branch of Amazones Arrawary Maicary Anaky-v-ry chiefe of the Yaios Morooga Conâ—â—ini Cooshebery Leonard Rapago Lord of Coâ—shebery A Mountaine called Cowob Topases in Cooshebery The quality of the Prouince of Cooshebery Arracoory and Morrownia An exceeding high Hill called Callipuny Norrak Anaki-v-ry Riuers falling into the Sea betweene Amazones and Wiapoco Wianary a creek The Prouince of Wiapocoory â—rasana Aâ—riquona Câ—suriao Riuers faâ—â—ing into the Sea tâ— the North-west of Wiapoco Muccumbro an Iland Mattoory an Iland Arrawicary chiefe Captaine of the Caiane Foure or fiue men placed at Caiane The manner of their gouernment Murder and Adultery punished â—y death The Indianâ— by nature iealous ouer their wiues The Indians haue many wiues Diuers languages in Guiana The Charibes most ancient vpon the Sea coast The Indians make war for their women The Charibes warre vpon Leonard The vsual weapons of the Indians Leonard desireth aide of the English The manner of ordering then men in the warres The Charibes amazed at the sight of the English Leonard speaketh to the Charibes The Charibes agree to peace for feare of the English The season of the yeare in Guiana The Summer beginneth in August The winter beginneth in February Their account of times and numbers Religion They vse no sacrifice not religious worship to any thing The manner of their drinking feast at the death of their Captaines Their Peeaios or Priests haue conference with the diuel Their opinion of the dead At the death of a Cassique they kill an Indian to serue him in the other world The quality of the Land The prouisions for victuals The roote of Cassaui maketh their bread and drinke Maix or Guinea wheate Their diuers kinds of drinke An excellent drinke made of Cassaui Store of hony The soyle excellent for Vines Sundry kindes of Beasts in Guiana Swine which haue the Nauile in the back Great variety of Fowles Diuers kindeâ— of fish Oysters hang vpon trees A fish hauing foure eyes and the â—iâ—s and backe like a man The Sea cow like beefe Sundrie kinde a of fruits Pina Platana Potato Mâ—dler Plummes Nuts The varietie of commodities Sugar Canes Cotton wooll Naturall hemp or flaxe Diuers commodities for Dyers Annoto A gum which dyeth a yelloâ— in graine Sweet gums The vertues of Colliman or Carriman The Colliman helpeth the gowt Barratta a rare Ballamum A perfume like sweet Margerum Drugges and simples for physicke An apple which prouoketh sleepe to death A berry curing the bloudie fluxe A leafe curing the wounds of the poysoned arrowes A leafe curing the head-ache A wood that maketh fish drunke Tobacco 60000. worth of Tabacco in a yeere The comodities most esteemed by the Indians Leaden minds minde nothing but golden Mynes Disorders by mutiny Good to bee doing somewhat to preuent the deuil The high Countroy of Guiana aboundeth with images of Gold The Rocks of the purest white Sparre are Mynes of gold or siluer Many ouer-falâ— in Wiapoco People hauing great eares perhaps these eares are made large by art as diuers East Indians vse The proportion of their Idoll Possession taken for the King at Gomeribo The like possession taken at Arrawary Point Perilow A great argument of plentie in the Countrey A dangerous Boore at Carvipapoory Gomeribo deliuered to an Indian as the Kings tenant The only cause of losse by the voyage Cap. Michael Harecourt left Commander of the company Possession continued 3. yeeres Twentie men left with Captaine Harcourt at Wiapoco The Pinnasse receiued a leake at Caiane R. Meccooria R. Courwo Riuers to the West pf Courwo Ilands called Curowapory They proceed in discouery of Marrawini The Riuer full of ouerfals They went sixe daies iourney vp the Riuer Moyemon Trees which had the sense of feeling These grow both in the East Indies in Guinne See 10. Gomâ—â— 1. l. 9. Scaliger Exercit. 181. sect 28. Bartas Eden 1. day 2. weeke Viawia a Towne of 20. houses M. Vnton Fisher and two others left at Wiawia M. Fisher trauelled eleuen daies iourney vp the Riuer of Morra viz. 100. leagues The Prouince of Moreshegoro Indians with rough skinnes like Buffe Diuers mighty Nations of Indians far vp in Marrawini towards the high Land Riuers falling into Marrawini Twentie daies iourney from Taupuramune to the head of Marraw The Countrie aboue the head of Mar. is plaine and Champian ground The tenth of September they left Guiana They were in danger to bee cast away They finde 3. English ships at Punta de Galea Pitch gotten in the earth which melteth not with the Sunne They arriue at Port de Hispania Don Sanches de Mendosa commeth aboord their ship The Spaniards much molested by the Charibes They depart from Triaidadâ— They arriue at Meues An excellent hot Bath at Meues An extrâ—ame cough cured by the Bath A mans hand burned with Gunpowder and by the Bath cured in 24. houres Swellings in the legges cured in a day They depart from Meues They fell with Fayal They are driuen bya storme into Ireland The number of those that died A beast and a fish like Beefe A beast like Mutton * I found this fairely written amongst M. Hak. papers but know not who was the Author Long eares perhaps made by art with hanging weights thereon as is vsed in the East Indies Waters ouerflowing Great Bats Darke and dangerous passage Stones transparant See A. Kniuet Spaniards killed Spanish deuises of torruâ—es Sir Fr Drakes at Guatulco on the South Sea found a Negro in iron chains 20. yards long senced to be whipped till al his flesh was
made to Gold Hathuey burned His choise to goe to hell and why 3000. slaine Out of the frying-pan into the fire 6000. Infants lost God and King abused 800000. Indians slaine Cause and extremitie of famine Tribute slaues 500000. Indians transported 50000. slaine In the former discourse of Herera you may find the names of all these first planters or as this Author reckoneth supplanters which did rather depopulate then people whole Prouinces I could haue added their names but was loth to doe more then the Author had donethen whiles mâ—ny of them liued yea his most passiâ—nate and bitter inuectiues I haue taken out only minding the Storie therein also mollifying many things Foure Millions slaine Of New Spainâ— in particul 〈…〉 The Mexican cruelties are before related and therefore here omitted Two millions slaine Pretence of rebellion against that Prince to which â—hey neuer had beene subiect Guatimala destroyed wiâ—h Earth-quakes Foure or fiue millions slaine Shambles of mans flesh 800. Indians giuen for a Mare Xalisco 800. Townes destroyed Bishop of S. Marthas Letter to Charles the fiâ—th Spanish Frierâ— killed for others faults Two Millions of stolne Indians Manner of vsage at Sea Manner of landing and sharing Manner of Pearle-fishing * Sharkes Foure or fiue millions slaine in Venesuela A million of slaues Iuan Ponâ—e de Leon with 80. men were all lost there After him Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon with 220. Pamphilo de Noruaez with 400. And â—â—urthly Ferdinando de Soto with 1000. as some say and they which say least 600. entâ—ed Florida whose stories you haue before Of Soto was no newes An. 1542. when this was written See before in Schmidel Fifteene Millions paid for Atabalipas ransome Testimony of Frier Marke touching Pizarro and the Spaniards which first entred Peru * A people of those parts good warriors not of the Caâ—â—â—y Ilands Bishop of Mexicos testimony Foure Millions slaine in Peru c. King Bugata tentenced executed What conuersions knowledge of God are in the Indies Ciuill warres in Peru betwixt the Spaniards Tâ—â— thousand perish Cruell famine Extract out of the second reason Out of the third reason Out of the fourth reason Out of the fifth reason Out of the sixth reason Out of the seauenth reason Out of the eight reason Out of the tenth reason Note Out of the eleuenth reason Out of the 13. reason Note the Popes Bull is pretended which and our answere to it see To. 1. l2 c. 1. Twenty Millions destroied before he saith 12. or 15. Millions which is to be vnderstood of some greater part not of all the Indies Yea only in New Spaine Honduras Guatimala Venesuela Peru and the Coast of Paria he reckoneth aboue 20. Milions besides three Millions in Hispaniola halfe a Million in the Lucayos 600000 or rather a Million in Iamaica and Saint Iohns Ilands 800000 in Terra Firma in Nicaragua 550000. that I mention not the innumerable multitudes in Cuba Panuco Florida Xalâ—sco Yucatan Saint Martha Carthagena New Granado Riuer of Plata c. As out of Ouiedo Benzo c. is before obserued Sir Seb Cabot Cap. Ribalt Silke-wormes store in Florida Port Royall in 32. degrees Mutinie Cap. Albert slaine The second Golonie Stone Pillar worshipped Men nigh 300. yeeres old The Vassals are petty Werâ—â—nces or Lords of Villages Mutinies The Virginians a 〈…〉 such a custome Cruell famine Sir Iohn Hawkâ—ns his great kindnesse Thâ—rd Floridan Voyage by C. Ribalt Gold Mynes of Apalatci Spaniards kill the French and plant in Florida Massacre Reuenge by Cap. Dom 〈…〉 Gaurgues Three Forts Spanish Why the Sauages haue their goods interred with them Iust requit all Iaques Cartier his three Voyages Iland of Birds in 49. deg 〈…〉 s 40. minutes Margaulx seeme to be Pengwins L. of Robewall Saualets 42. Voyages to Newfoundland Their Voyage to Tadousac Chap. 1. A banke of Ice aboue 8. leagus long in 45. degrees and two third parts The Banke in 44. degr one third part These coasts subiect to fogs The Cape of S. Marie The Isles of S. Peter A banke of Ice 6. leagues long Cape de Raie Cape de S. Laurence An Iland of Ice aboue eight leagues long The I le of Assumption Gachepe The Riuer Mantanne The Pike Tadousac from Gachepe 100. leg The description of the hauen of Tadousac The Riuer of Sagenay falleâ—h into Camada That of Sagenay is in Lescarbots Map expressed to enter on the North side of Canada about 51. or 40. from thence to the Sea shoare of Canada is aboue sixtie miles which entring into the Sea hath 100. miles and vp to the fals which Voyage followeth continueth a maruellous breadth so that it may be for greatnesse reputed greater then any other Riuer in our world or in the Northerne parts of the New full also of Lakes and Ilands for greater magnificence The great Sagamo their feasts wars The Irocois Cap. 2. Two Sauages brought out of France Anadabijon The Oration of one of the sauages which we brought with vs. The Irocois enemies to Anadabijon The Oration of Anadabijon A feast of this Sauages Orignac a Beast like an Oxe A victorie gotten of the Irocois Estechemins Algoumequins and Mountainers The Riuer of the Irocois The Irocois are in great number Two hundred Canowes The fashion of their Canowes Their Cabins made like tents and couered with the barke of trees Cypresse trees The â—â—triumphs humors famin superstitions rites Chap. 3. Matachia or cord 〈…〉 s of the haire of the Porke-pike Their manner of dancing Besouat the Sagamo of the Algoumequins These Sauages endure great famine Their had qualities The beliefe of the Sauages They beleeue one God one Son one Mother and the Sunne Great famine sometimes among the Sauages Sauages which speake with the Diuell They paint themselues with an Oliue colour Their apparell of skins A deuice to go on the snow with a Racket The marriage of the Sauages Their burials after the Tartars manner They beleeue the immortality of the soule The Riuer of Saguenay his originall Chap 4. A violent fall of water A Mountainous Country The report of the beginning of the Riuer of Saguenay A Lake two daies iournie long Three other Riuers Two or three Lakes where â—n the head of Saguenay beginneth * That is 120. leagues People of the North. A salt sea Iourney to the fall and to certaine Ilands arriual at Quebec Chap. 5. The Isle of the Hare The Isle of Filberds 12. leagues The I le of Orleance Quebec Diamants 29. leagues Of the point of S. Croix of the Riuer of Batiscon of the Riuers Rocks Iles Lands Trees Fruits Vines faire Countries which are from Quebec vnto The 3. Riuers Chap. 6. Saint Croix 15. leagues Ground Nuts The Riuer Batiscan Another Riuer A goodly Countrie An I le full of Vines Sixe small Riuers The Ile S. Eloy Another small Riuer A better temperaâ—ute 15. leagues â—n Iland 〈◊〉 to be planted A great Lake The head of Saguenay 106. leagues off A great
or fiue Friars one an Irishman Their Bookes Beades and Pictures cost aboue 1000. Duckets The Bishop of Tuccaman had sent for them to take possession of a Monasterie They learned of Master Iohn Drake who went in consort with Captaine Fenton cast away neere the Riuer of Plate his companie taken or slaine by the Saluages of which Iohn Drake and Richard Fairweather escaped with two or three others in a Canoa to the Spaniards and liued in those parts Here also they tooke Miles Philips left in the Countrey by Sir Iohn Hawkins After counsell taken they fell Aprill 3. with the Land of Brasil in 16. degrees and a Terse and watered in the Road of Camana They proceeded and anchored before the Towne of Baya and found in the Harbour eight Ships and one Caruell The next day they forced the Portugals to abandon foure of the best of those ships and towed them forth in despight of infinite store of great and small shot from the shoare and ships one Hulke hauing in her foure and twentie pieces of Ordnance The least of these prizes was 130. Tunnes After this they haled the Hulke and commanded the Master to follow them which he did together with a Caruell with fiftie Butts of wine They fetched reliefe from the shoare also in despite of innumerable Indians and all the enemies forces May 24. they tooke a ship of 120. Tunnes laden with Meale and Sugar But the voyage to the South Sea was defeated by some mens desire to returne in which Captaine Delamour tooke a small Pinnace The Fleâ—â—â—sish Hulke taken into the Fleet in stead of the George cast off furnished with her men suddenly tooke fire and perished Ship Men and Goods Septemb. 29. the residue reached the Coast of England after an vnprofitable and vnfortunate voyage IN the yeare 1587. when the Towne of Slewse was beseeged by the Duke of Parma Sir Roger Williams being Gouernour there the Earle put himselfe in person to make proofe of his valour in that seruice but at his arriuall found the Towne surrendred vnto the Duke the said Sir Roger being not able to hold out longer Anno 1588. amongst many of the Nobility which distributed themselues into diuers of her Maiesties Shippes vpon the approach of the Spanish Armada the Earle put himselfe aboord the Bonaduenture commanded by Captaine George Raymond when they wanne that honour that no Sea can drowne no age can weare out The Queene so accepted this Noble Earles resolution that she gaue him leaue the same yeare to goe as Generall and for his greater honour and ability was pleased to lend him the Golden Lion one of the Shippes Royall to be the Admirall which he victualled and furnished at his owne charge and aduenture hauing Commission to pursue his intended voyage towards the Spanish coasts vnder the broad Seale of England bearing date the fourth of October 1588. Attended with many braue Gentlemen he set forth about the end of October and in the Narrow Seas met with a Shippe of Dunkerke called the Hare laden with Merchandise for Spaine which after some fight he tooke and sent home But contrary windes first suspended and after that a storme which forced them to cut the maine Maste ouerboord depriued him of further hopes and ability to prosecute his true designes HIs spirit remaining neuerthelesse higher then the windes and more resolutely by stormes compact vnited in it selfe he procured a new of her Maiestie the Victory one of the Royal Nauie accompanied with the Meg and Margaret two small Ships and one Caruell which were set forth at his charges and manned with 400. Mariners and Souldiers the Admirall commanded by his Lordship and vnder him Captaine Christopher Lyster the Meg by Captaine William Mounson Viceadmirall the Margaret by Captaine Edward Careles alias Write Rereadmirall the Caruell by Captaine Pigeon The eighteenth of Iune they set forth from Plimmouth and within three dayes met with three French Ships Leaguers of New Hauen and Saint Maloes laden with New-found land fish two of them with the Margaret not able to endure the Sea were sent for England The thirteenth of Iuly his Lordship met with eleuen Dutch Ships which at first made shew to abide a fight and after a few shot yeelded and sent their Masters aboord shewing their Pasports from Hamborough Lubecke Bream Pomerland and Callice who confessed that they had goods aboord to the value of foure thousand fiue hundred pounds of a Iew of Lisbone which being deliuered and distributed his Lordship set saile for the Asores The first of August he had sight of Saint Michael and to disguise himselfe put forth a Spanish Flagge Espying foure Shippes in the Roade he resolued that night to cut their Cables and to bring them away which he accordingly performed before he was descried The Spaniards in three of them leaping into the Sea with much noise and outcry gaue the alarme to the Town which made many vaine shots at his Boate in the darke The fourth was the Falcon of London vnder the name of a Scottish Ship hauing a Scottish Pilot. The three Spaniards were laden from Siuill with Wine and Sallet Oyle The Pinnace tooke a small Shippe wherein was thirty tunnes of Madera wines same Wollen Cloath Silke and Taffata The Carracks were departed from Tercera eight dayes before He manned his Boates and obtained refreshing at Flores professing himselfe a friend to their King Don Antonio From thence rowing a shipboord the Boate was pursued two miles together by a monstrous Fish whose Finnes many times appeared about the gils aboue water foure or fiue yards a sunder and his iawes gaping a yard and a halfe wide not without great danger of ouerturning the Pinnace and deuouring some of the company but at the last they all escaped Here his Lordshippe met and accepted into consort Captaine Dauies with his Shippe and Pinnace a Shippe of Sir Walter Raleighs commanded by Captaine Markesbury and the Barke Lime Hauing intelligence that the Carracks were at Tercera he came vp to the road of Fyall the seuen and twentieth of August and descrying certaine Shippes at anchor close aboord the shoare he sent his Boates which boorded a Ship of 250. tunne armed with foureteene cast Peeces and continued fight till a supply of Boates came from the Fleete to second them and then recouered the prize The Spaniards except Iohn de Palma leapt all ouer-boord to swimme to the shoare which was so neere that the Ship was moored to the Castle from whence the great Ordinance plaied all the time of the fight onely it was not a play to the Master of the Caruell whose calfe of his legge was shot away This Shippe came laden from Port-Racco with Sugar Ginger and Hides The Ship-boates fetched also out of the Roade some other small Ships laden from Guinâ—ee with Elephants teeth Graines Coca nuts and Goate Skinnes most of which prizes he sent for England The
fine Sand. Not twenty paces from the wash of the Sea digging a hole and setting therein a Hogshead the head knocked out water is plentifully taken seeming to be no other then the Sea water losing the saltnesse in that passage Thence they went to the Riuer of Socko about 5. l. Eastward of Saint Domingo and went in the night 4. l. vp and suddenly surprised an Estanca that is a Farme place where slaues keepe the great mens cattle make their Cassaui bread dresse their Ginger and Fruites and doe other offices of Husbandry Being thereof possessed they came to parlie for ransome of their Houses and for their Negros for which they gaue them the flesh of thirtie Beeues with Cassaui and Fruites Beefe will not keepe in those parts aboue foure and twenty houres vnlesse first salted and then dried in the Sunne being first cut into two sides like Bacon without any bone left in it nor any peece of flesh thicker then a mans hand It must first be searched with a Knife then rubbed ouer with Salt and hauing so remained twelue houres must be dried in the Sunne and foure hot dayes drying will saue it sufficiently Other Estanças being likewise taken yeelded like contributions From thence they went vpon another Riuer called Marracaua where there was an Ingenio of Sugars which they tooke for their prouisions and caused the owner to ransome it from burning Thence they went to the mouth of the harbour of Saint Domingo and rid there at the East side of the same at Point Torrosilio to intercept any Shipping comming forth The Sergeant Mayor came hither to treat for ransome of some prisoners and with him an Englishman of Captaine Lancaesters company of Captain Raymunds fleete whose Ship was newly cast away comming out of the East Indres into those parts a little to the West of Saint Domingo at Acoa The Spaniards set forth two Caruels to intercept the Boates which they did but the Ships recouered the taken and takers together They brought foure brasse Falcons of Captaine Lancasters Ship ten others of Iron they left for the heauinesse being somewhat farre from the water They tooke also a fine Friggot hidden vnder the trees which they brought for England Thence they went for Iamaica and there found two Barkes laden with Hides and Cannafistula one of which they manned and sent for England taken by a French man of warre by the way Thence they went to Cuba to Cape Corientes and Cape Saint Antonio to expect shipping comming for the Hauana but in vaine Thus after eight moneths spent in the Countrey the Antonie and the Frigot went to the Bay of Honduras the Pilgrime at Hauana spent some few dayes and then set saile for England where they arriued in Plimmouth May 14. 1594. The Antonie and the Frigot within foure leagues of Porto cauallo descried seuen Shippes in the Road the least of ninescore tun They anchored within Caliuar shot of the Spanish Shippes and moored their Ships a head and sterne and bent their broad sides vnto them and there fought all that day with those seuen Shippes and all night now and then a shot Captaine Langton sent the Boate and Shallop to the shore from whence they brought a Frigot of twenty tunne The next morning they fired the Frigot and with their Boates purposed to bring her crosse the Admirals halfe But when they saw them comming they all ranne into the Boates and got ashore The Admirall let slippe the other sixe vnhanged their Rudders and carried them ashore that none should saile away with the Shippes if they were taken They laded the Admirall with the best out of all the Shippes and sent ashore to know if they would ransome the rest which they delaying they fired one of them laden with Hides and Logwood and then another laden with Susaparill But the King of Spaine had forbidden them any ransoming and they came not All their Ordnance was heaued ouerboord sauing two or three Brasse peeces in hope some Englishmen might be the better for them afterward One of them was a Shippe of fiue hundred tunnes They brought away the Admirall of 250. and came into Plimmouth the fifteenth of May the next day after the Pilgrims arriuall ANno 1594. The Earle of Cumberland on his owne charge with the helpe of some aduenturers set forth for the Tercera Ilands the Royall Exchange Admirall of 250. tunnes commanded by Captaine George Caue the May Floure Viceadmirall of like burden commanded by Captaine William Antonie the Samson Rereadmirall commanded by Captaine Nicholas Downton a Caruell and a small Pinnace They set forth from Plimmouth April 6. In the way they tooke a small Barke laden with Galicia wines c. Iune the second they had sight of Saint Michael After ten dayes they descried the great Carricke of 2000. tuns called the Cinque LLagas or Fiue Wounds The May Floure first got vp to her and receiued an vnwelcome salutation In the night the Samson came in and continued the fight and at last the Admirall They agreed that the Admirall should lay the Carrake aboord in the Prow the Viceadmirall in the Waste and the Rereadmirall in the Quarter But it fell out that the Admirall laying her aboord at the looffe recoiled a sterne the Viceadmirall being so neere that she was faine to runne with her bolt sprit betweene the two quarters which forced the Rereadmirall to lay her aboord on the Bowe After many bickerings fire-workes flew about interchangeably At last the Vice-admiral with a Culuering-shot at hand fired the Carrick in her Sterne and the Reare-admirall her Fore-castle by a shot that gaue fire to the Mat on the Beake-head from thence burning to the Mat on the Bolt-sprit and so ran vp to the Top-saile-yard they plying and maintayning their fires so well with their small shot that many of those which came to quench them were slaine These fires encreased so sore that the Vice-admiralls fore-saile and fore-top-saile were both burnt the Reare-admirall being in like predicament whiles the Admirall with much danger and difficultie quenched the fires throwne into her from the Carrick To saue themselues in this heat and furie the Admirall and Vice-admirall fell off leauing the Reare-admirall foule of the Carricks sprit-saile-yard in great danger to haue beene consumed with her had they not helped her off with their Boats In this distresse the companie brought the Commander Don Francisco de Melo to put forth a flagge of truce but the Carricks Carpenter more desperate comforted him with hope of quenching the fire whereupon he cryed Coragio I will neuer yeeld notwithstanding the protestations contestations and obtestations of the lamenting out-crying companie One ran â—â—raged on him charging him with this foule vncharitablenesse threatning vengeance on him and his for this obstinacy in suffering so many soules to perish rather then to accept the English assistance Some of their chiefest rich in chaines and
seuere course to remedie those things he assured himselfe it would be the ruine of our voyage Whereupon the next day I went on shoare to see my men trayned and calling all the Commanders before me rebuked them for those faults and gaue Articles both for their courses at Land and Sea reading to them my Commissions that they might know I had full power to execute those punishments I set downe for euery offence and assuring them I would not be slow in doing it if they offended The next day being the one and twentieth of Aprill I set saile and betwixt the Grand Canarie and Tenerife met with the Royall Defence a ship which should haue comne with mee out of England but being not readie followed me and thwart the Rocke after I was comne from thence met with a Caruell which by ten English men that were prisoners in Lisbone was stollen forth in the night They assured me word being brought thither that I was gone off the Coast they resolued to send forth the Carracks and that within a few dayes they would come forth Which I making knowne to all my Commanders they agreed with me that it was fit to spend some few dayes and looke for their comming so did we but not seeing them the yeere was so farre spent that I assured my selfe they were either gone by or would not goe this yeere their time for doubling the Cape of Buona Speranza being now past for they neuer went out so late but once and then were all forced to returne Though many would imagine the missing of this faire fortune should much haue troubled me I assure you it did not the reason I will let you know hereafter Now againe calling all the Captaines and Masters aboard me I first asked them whether they thought it was fit to tarry any longer vpon that hope telling them mine opinion how little reason there was in it and that longer stay might much hurt our other purposes to which all agreeing we resolued to proceede Then I asked whether they thought the time was not too farre spent to get Farnanbuco to which many answered No. And though I well knew what it was I would not reply till I had called two Portugall Pilots which I brought with me out of England old men that had at the least beene twentie times a piece there out of Portugall And asking their opinions they told vs that they had gone it at that time of the yeere but diuers times put backe and at their best passage beene sixe or seuen weekes in getting one degree To which there were that answered though sometimes it happened so yet it might fall out otherwise and if not though we should be long in getting thither yet there was assurance to win that place with ease and getting it to haue wealth enough Till this I kept secret what now euery occasion gaue mee fit time to vtter Hauing dispatched from mee a ship that was in Trade at the Canaries and bound for England and being so farre shot to the Southwards as I was sure not to meet with any going to the Northwards so as not any newes where I was could come into Spaine till it came out of the Indies which winning of time would giue me so good leisure to fortifie my selfe in the place whither I meant to goe as hardly I would bee supplanted till either wee honorably quitted the place or had supply you may see too griedie desire is a dangerous enemie for where I should haue but lightly touched this as yet I was almost entring into the bowels of my intention the time ripe I saw to speake more freely then I had done I told them I had aduisedly considered of all these things now pleaded and could as I thought before their speech haue giuen them so sufficient reasons for the shaping of some other course then Brasil as would haue stayed all these pleadings But I thought it better first to heare euery one speake his minde and then to vtter my conceit Which though I assured my selfe was the best for vs yet if any amongst them could giue reason against it I would not onely take it well but be drawne to them Then layed I before them how our men were alreadie many of them sicke and that vndoubtedly the crossing the Line would keepe those from recouering although the passage were as good as man could wish Besides I remembred them of intelligence giuen vs both vpon the Coast of Spaine and the Iland that the King had sent thither to defend the place against me six hundred Souldiers and also it was likely that he had giuen order that if they saw not themselues strong enough to resist that with their portable goods they should fleâ— into the Mountaines and set their Sugar and Brasill wood on fire then were we sure to haue nothing and lastly if wee beat long vnder the Line vndoubtedly the most of our men would fall sicke and then should we be forced to returne without doing any thing for to no other place could we goe once bearing vp vpon that occasion With this I pawsed to heare if there would be any thing said by them but not any speaking I told them I well perceiued by their silence the doubts my wordes had driuen into their mindes but not to conceale any longer from them that which hitherto I had for all their goods done the truth was I neuer had intention after I found I could not get out of England before Christmas to goe for Brasil but onely for the west Indies where there were many possibilities to make a voyage by as first the sacking of Margarita which they knew was rich then Porto Rico after that Saint Domingo then in Iuly the outward bound fleet would be in the Acoa where we could not misse them and if these gaue vs not content in the end of Iuly or August wee should meete the fleet at Cape Saint Antonio Many of these reasons I vttered more to carry my men with good liking thither then for any thought I had of diuers of them And my speech had desired successe for they all went with greedie desire and hopefull expectation I appointing them to make what haste they could to Dominica where we would stay one for another thinking it better to goe straggling thither then to goe togither there being possibilitie to meete some purchase by the way which we were in most likelihood of when we spred furthest Therefore we spred thus till we met at Dominica wee straggled all sauing the Alcedon the Centurian and two Flemmings laden with Corne which I tooke vpon the coast of Spaine and still carried alongst with me as chiefe meanes to effect my most desired purpose These with all the rest came safely to Dominica where wee carried our sicke people ashoare the three and twentieth of May and tarried till the first of Iune This Iland is onely inhabited by Indians that
â—arme to the Towne or Castle then borrowing some necessaries There is in the Towne a Church of old and a Frierie not yet finished Their Church hath no windowes nor admitâ—eth light otherwise then by the doores it hath no Chancell but is one vndeuided roome stone seates along the sides and in the one end an Altar with the appurtenants for the people seemeth full of ignorant Superstition many Buls and Pardons being found in diuers houses The Friery is a prettie square with more commodities of fresh water and Gardens then any other place of the Towne euen the Marquesse his house They came that night to the waters side yet thought it better to lodge abroade then aboord though there were Boates to receiue them The next day being Easter day his Lordship hauing something recouered his strength after dinner went ashore to the Companies hauing seene them trained knowing that the enemy watched for aduantage of scatterers saw all his men shipt first and then himselfe tooke Boate. The next day being Munday all the Captaines dined aboord the Admirall and after dinner his Lordship caused his Commission which was exceeding large in many points to be openly reade and Articles of gouernment were giuen for Sea-matters to the Captaine of euery Ship and for seruice by Land to the Captaine of euery company besides which Articles to the Sea Captaines was deliuered a sealed letter which they should open if vpon any accident they lost the Fleete and thereby learne direction where to seeke his Lordship But withall it was expresly articled that in no other case they should aduenture to open it and that if they came into any danger of being taken by the enemy they should not faile to cast the Letter ouer-boord sealed as it was deliuered for in no sort would his Lordship haue his purpose disclosed no not by examination nor torture While his Lordship was coasting neere Teneriffa the breathes rather then windes were so diuers that it was doubled on euery side almost and came so close aboord the shore that we did easily see into Santa Cruz and some other coasting Townes and might discerne the men vpon the hils the rather by coniâ—cture by reason of the eminencie and height thereof among which there is one aboue the rest incomprable generally held to be much higher then the Pyke of the Açores being then couered with Snow when the bottome was as hot as at Midsummer it is in England The Iland though to the Sea a very high land yet is full of many very fruitfull Plaines and Vineyards yeelding to the King yearely by credible mens report 28000. Buts of Canary-Sacke Certaine it is that in common reputation it is held richer not onely then the rest but euen then the grand Canaria it selfe though it seeme not so goodly a champion Countrie for we had that also in very neere kenning And that the King esteemeth it more no man can doubt seeing he keepeth a farre greater Garrison there then in the Canaria Captaine Charles Leigh which hitherto had commanded of the Alcedo on the fourth of May last the Fleete and in his owne Barke called the Blacke Lee runne himselfe alone for the Riuer of Orenoque His Lordship after diuers consultations determined that the Fleete should goe for Dominico His speeches Captaine Slingsbies employment and other particulars are here for breuity omitted An old Portugall Pilot told his Lordship that he had beene in eight and twentie voyages into Brasil but at this time of the yeere onely in one wherein hee saith the windes were so contrarie and they had so many other difficulties that they were forced to put in againe and loose that yeeres voyage so that the windes being in these parts at set times of the yeere themselues also constantly set we might well thinke wee should bee encountred with the same difficulties All this while we held on our course for the West Indies running West and by South and West South-west but bearing still to the Westward both because we are likelier to keepe the fresher gale that way though some were of contrarie opinion and because the later wee entred within the Tropick we should bee the likelier to meet with the Brasil fleet whose course homewards must of necessitie be much to the North. By Wednesday the tenth of May for till then wee met not with any memorable accident seeing to tell of the flocks of flying fishes might iustly seeme triuiall we were come so directly vnder the Sunne that none could see euidently the shadow of a stile set perpendicularly but if there were any it inclined rather to the due South For by obseruation by the Astrolabe the vse of the staffe now fayling we were found to haue passed our Tropick three degrees and a halfe and the Sunnes declination that day was precisely twentie degrees This was more cleerly perceiued at night by taking the height of the Crosier a starre which of all other distinctly to be perceiued neere the Antartick Pole serueth for those Southerly parts as the lesser Beare doth to the Northerly countries It is a long step from the Canaries to the West Indies which first of all wee had in our kenning vpon Sunday being the one and twentieth of May. But to lay if it be but a handfull of peeble stones in this gap Vpon Saturday being the thirteenth of May we had the first gust and it had many followers for few dayes passed without raine When this raine began immediately wee all felt a very noysome sauour it was very sulphurous and lasted so long as the raine did Whether this proceeded of the nature of the water that fell from so neere the Sunne or from the ship being very drie as on land after a great drought there will rise a hot sauour it is not cleerly knowne nor yet determined but that others may the better this obseruation is expressed This sauour was not felt vpon the decks or any where else besides the Cabbin or at least not any where so much The reason whereof may happily bee that the aire being suddenly beaten in and that by narrow passages came the more violently and by consequent the more sensibly into the Cabbin then into other parts of the ship and therefore whatsoeuer qualitie it bore with it it was there the strongliest felt In the following of as great gusts as that which came first there was no such sauour felt the fleet going still farther and farther from the Sunne And which may be most to the purpose not any of them that felt it found any distemper after it onely the sense was much displeased therewithall his Lordship had at this time aken much physick but still rather to preuent sicknesse then for to recouer health for God be thanked his body was very able to obey his minde finding no difference in the world in the working of physick there and in England Nauigators may helpe themselues by his Lordships obseruation That vpon Friday being
the ninteenth of May the colour of the Sea began sensibly to alter that whereas before it was of a cleere azure it then began to incline to a deepe blacke We were that day a hundreth and sixtie leagues or thereabouts from the West Indies and held our selues so certainly in the height of Dominica that wee runne a due Westerly course It is not vnlikely but this colour will be found in the same place at another time And in such a course wherein besides the great difference of Cardes a man must bee forced to trust to a dead reckoning this may bee some helpe to a heedfull man Vpon Sunday in the euening his Lordship directed the Master to runne that night with an easie saile because he tooke himselfe neerer land then most of the Mariners would consent to being himselfe the first that both spyed and cryed land they were but few that did assent at the first some desired it so much that they durst not let themselues be ouer credulous others happily would haue had themselues the first discryers but his Lordship still made it land Wee set saile for the land and within two houres it was made to bee Matinino Leauing it therefore on the larboard side wee stood for Dominica and within an houre or thereabouts had it in kenning §. II. Description of Dominica and the Virgines Their landing on Port Ricco march fights and taking the Towne BY two in the afternoone wee were come so neere aboard the shoare that wee were met with many Canoes manned with men wholly naked sauing that they had chaines and bracelets and some bodkins in their eares or some strap in their nostrils or lips the cause of their comming was to exchange their Tabacco Pinos Plantins Potatoes and Pepper with any trifle if it were gawdie They were at the first suspicious that wee were Spaniards or Frenchmen but being assured that wee were English they came willingly aboard They are men of good proportion strong and straight limmed but few of them tall their wits able to direct them to things bodily profitable Their Canoes are of one Tree commonly in breadth but containing one man yet in some are seene two yonkers sit shoulder to shoulder They are of diuers length some for three or foure men that sit in reasonable distance and in some of them eight or nine persons a rowe Besides their Merchandise for exchange euery one hath commonly his Bowe and Arrowes they speake some Spanish words they haue Wickers platted something like a broad shield to defend the raine they that want these vse a very broad leafe to that purpose they prouide shelter against the raine because it washeth of their red painting laid so on that if you touch it you shall finde it on your fingers That night hauing with much a doe found land within a quarter of a mile of the shore we ankored for that night onely for though there were a good watering place and a very sweete riueret fast by vs yet his Lordship ment to way ankor the next morning and to beare in to another watering place wherewithall we certainly looked for a hot Bathe Their Oares wherewith they rowe are not laid in bankes as Ship-boates haue but are made like a long Battledoore sauing that their palmes are much longer then broade growing into a sharpe point with a rising in the middest of them a good way very like they are to blades of bigge Westerne Daggers that are now made with grauing The shankes of these Oares are of equall bignesse and at the top crosset like a lame mans crutch These they vse alwayes with both their hands but indifferently as they finde cause to steere this way or that way The next morning wee bore in to the North-west end of the Iland where we found a goodly Bay able to receiue a greater Nauie then hath beene together in the memorie of this age There his Lordship found the hote Bathe fast by the side of a very fine Riuer The Bathe is as hot as either the Crosse-bathe or Kingsbathe at the Citie of Bathe in England and within three or foure yards runneth into the Riuer which within a stones cast disburdeneth it selfe into the Sea Here our sicke men specially found good refreshing In this place his Lordship staied some six dayes in watering the whole Fleete which in that time was all come sauing the Frigat one of the blacke Pinnaces and one of the Flemmings which we hoped to be before vs for they haue directions It was held conuenient here to take a Muster of our companies and something better to acqâ—aint euery one with his owne colours but the weather was so extreamely foule that in three or foure dayes spent to this purpose there could be nothing done Vpon Wednesday therefore being the last of May it was resolued to stay no longer there but to come againe to ankor at the Uirgines and there bestow one day in training our men For that was our way to Saint Iohn de Puertorico whether his Lordship now declared it was his purpose to goe first of all By this time for his Lordship would not haue any thing done in that foule weather the other blacke Pinnace was taken down for a long Boate to serue for the more conuenient landing of our men That euening and the next morning all our men were brought aboord and on thursday night our sailes were cut for the Virgines To describe this Iland it heth North-west and South-east the soile is very fat euen in the most neglected places matching the Garden-plats in England for a rich blacke molde so Mountainous certaine in the places where we came neere the Sea-coasts that the Vallies may better be called Pits then Plaines and withall so vnpassably wooddie that it is maruailous how those naked soules can be able to pull themselues through them without renting their naturall cloathes Some speake of more easie passages in the Inland of the Iland which make it probable that they leaue those skirts and edges of their Countrie thus of purpose for a wall of defence These Hils are apparelled with very goodly greene Trees of many sorts The tallnesse of these vnrequested Trees make the hils seeme more hilly then of themselues happily they are for they grow so like good children of some happy ciuill body without enuie or oppression as that they looke like a proud meddow about Oxford when after some irruption Tems is againe cooched low within his owne banks leauing the earths Mantle more ruggie and flakie then otherwise it would haue bin yea so much seeme these natural children delighted with equalitie and withall with multiplication that hauing growne to a definite stature without desire of ouertopping others they willingly let downe their boughes which being come to the earth againe take roote as it were to continue the succession of their decaying progenitors and yet they doe continually maintaine themselues in a greene-good liking
to yeelde her increase then that hillocke for you may take with your hands onely as much as you will to the filling of Bushels and Quarters That euening we cut sailes and ranne through the Passages in the night time Vpon Monday afternoone we made our selues to be not farre from Puerto rico and our desire was to beare in with it in the morning before day that by that meanes we might least of all be discouered For this cause therefore the Scout and the Anthony were sent before to make our landing place and that done to returne which was about midnight His Lordships greatest care was and had bin some dayes to set his men safely and well on land for he doubted not to make them a way if once they were landed without impeachment Himselfe therefore hauing commanded that Sir Iohn Barkley should come aboord with him tooke a Boate and wâ—nt himselfe no otherwise accompanied then with Sir Iohn and the Cocksons gyng to discouer a landing place Without long stay he returned againe so wet that he was forced to change his apparell but withall gaue present commandement that euery Captaine and Ship should put their men into Boates and that they should follow his bloudy colours which he would haue presently landed By eight of the clocke that tuesday being the sixt of Iune his Lordships regiment and most part of Sir Iohn Barkleys were landed which amounted neere to the number of a thousand men We began to march as soone as we could be brought into any order the forlorne hope drawne out which was led by Captaine Andrewes the Commander of his Lordships priuate Company which that day was brought vp in the the Battell by Captaine Powell Lieutenant Colonell of his Lordships regiment The way we marched was along the Sea side commonly on firme sometime on loose sand but yet it was a faire march for three leagues at the least till we met with a blacke-Moore who we hoped should haue bin our Guide and so he was willing to be but he neither spake good English nor good Spanish and besides was affrighted so that a great while he did mislead vs for through most vnpassable rocks and clifts he brought vs for betwixt the clifts where we stood and the Iland wherein the Towne stood there we saw an arme of the Sea in breadth not Calieuer shot but on the other side was a fort with fiue peece of great Ordnance and some though not many Musketeers for both the euening before they had discouered our Nauie and this morning our landing as we were sure by diuers Horsemen whom we saw come forth to view our strength Here there was offer made by some so to plant a number of Musketeers in these rockes as that they might beate them in the fort from their Ordnance this was thought possible and afterwards was done but now deferred because though we had no annoyance of the fort yet we knew not how to get ouer for the depth of the passage meerly vnknown and our Boats yet had not found any landing place neere the fort And while here we were at a flat bay euen at our wits end what course we might take to come to the Towne there was sent a Peece or two of great Ordnance but without any hurt from another fort which standeth vpon the narrowest part of the same arme of the Sea and was the onely passage that was vsed from the maine Iland where we were to the Iland where the Towne is Here the Nigro was so nething comforted and brought to the little wit he had at length with much adoe being made to vnderstand we tooke our selues to be out of the way because wee could not passe that way partly with threatning and partly with promises if he brought vs into a better way to the Town he began againe to leade and we to follow with as nimble mindes as weary bodies for we had marched from morning till now that it was euen in the edge of the euening but we would not be weary At length through many vntroden pathes or rather no pathes but such wodden holes as would haue taught the most proud body to stoope very humbly he brought vs into a beaten sandy way But for all this we were not neere the Bridge which must be passed and diuers euen of our leaders began after so long and troublesome a march to faint so that order was giuen to stay the Vantgard when it pleased God to helpe by one meane or other to as many Horses as kept vs from staying our march There might be seene a poore tyred Iade without Saddle or Bridle onely with a match in his mouth very welcome to them that commanded the best Horses of England But at length we ouercame the length of the way and euen to the Bridge were come but it was so late that that night we were out of hope to passe it being as we had great reason to thinke fortified against vs. Onely the Companies were commanded to keepe their guard till his Lordship in person with Sir Iohn Barkley went as quietly as they could to take view of the place which they found to be narrow and a long Cawse-way leading to a Bridge reaching from the one Iland to the other The Bridge they perceiued to be pulled vp and on the other banke was there a strong Barricado a little beyond which was a Fort with Ordnance But how much or what we could not learne nor by how many men it was held yet perceiued they it absolutely not to be passed but at a low water Our Mariners and Sea-men could say little to the ebbing and flowing in this Countrie and therefore the onely way to know the fit time of assault was to set a continuall watch to giue present information of the ebbe The meane time the Armie was led backe to repose themselues a while In a great Lawne we all sat or lay downe and with fresh water which the first Negro and another that was afterwards taken in this wood led our men to they refreshed themselues some had some Bread his Lordship was no niggard of that he had His lodging that night was his Target I lay at his head and to my remembrance neuer slept better In the morning two houres at least before day the allarum was giuen very quietly and was readily taken for we needed not but to shake our eares The Companies were streight ranged and euery man had forgotten how weary he had bin the last night so forward they were to be in seruice Euen betwixt his Lordship and Sir Iohn Barkeley there grew a little question whether of them should haue the point that day Sir Iohns answer was that his Lordship might command them all and therefore it was at his pleasure to haue or leaue the point but since it had pleased him to diuide the Armie into two Regiments and his Lordshippes Leaders had all the last day had the Point he
looke into their present abilitie and accordingly would send his Lordship assurance that within seuen dayes it should be sent to him to be receiued at the Point where hee held continuall guard Concluding that in these sendings they sought nothing but delaies his Lordship determined not to send them any more but withall speed to make himselfe and the fleet readie for a happy and by many much desired returne since it was cleere that it was not Gods pleasure that yet this Iland should bee inhabited by the English All the Hides therefore and Ginger and Sugar which either was alreadie readie or in time could be gotten was forthwith shipped and so was all the munition in the Towne all the Ordnance in any place of that Iland which amounted in all and of all sorts very neere the full number of fourscore cast peeces some of them the goodliest that euer I saw But when they saw his Lordship resolute to send no more to them for negotiating touching the ransome of their Citie they now begin to send againe and againe to him His Lordship neuer meant to deface their Citie or to make it vnfit to be inhabited But withall he tooke the likeliest wayes to conceale this from the knowledge of the enemie whom hee could not so well rule with any other bit our owne strength being now growne so weake His Lordship therefore entertayned their offers and so farre granted their desires that some in the name of them all might with his Lordships Passe come to the Citie to goe through with his Excellencie There came two Immaâ—â—el Corderâ— and Don Pedro de Pantoia who without the Bishops consent they said offered fiue hundred kintals of Ginger at whose returne which should bee within three or foure dayes they did thinke that thrice so much would be giuen The fleet was not yet altogether readie and Sir Iohn Barkley not yet so well recouered of his the common disease as that it was deemed fit hee should presently commit himselfe to the Sea being to bee so long without a bayting place and hee by his Lordships directions left him might dispatch the matter These two therefore were licensed to returne to Luisa to their friends vpon Saturday being the twelfth of August with promise to be againe with vs on the Tuesday following But before their appointed day his Lordship set saile yet it is not vnlikely his returne was something hastened by an accident that fell out The old man Pedro Suarez had a countenance that promised an honest minde and in regard of his age and weaknesse he was not so narrowly looked to as for sometime hee had beene This old sicke man found a meanes to escape the Sunday-night after they were gone to Luisa certainly not without practice with his Countrimen and it is thought with the priuitie of his Keeper Now this mans departure onely therefore misliked because it was traiterous and without leaue did more and more confirme his Lordship in his opinion that the Spaniards dealing with vs was traiterous and for some other end then was pretended And therefore seeing his owne stay should not be needfull for he knew Sir Iohn very sufficient to dispatch any thing that was to bee done he presently commanded that his owne ship should weigh and with her of great ships onely the Samson of the lesser the Royall Defence the Frigat the Scout the Elizabeth the Guiana and two little ones that were found in the Harbour one a Frenchman and the other a Spanish Frigat which were rigged during our aboad there So that his Lordship left with Sir Iohn the strength of the Nauie the Ascention the Gallion the Alcedo the Consent the Pegasus the Centurion two strong flie-boats and the Anthonie The true reason of his Lordships desire to be gone from Puerto Rico quickly was indeed a longing he had to be quickly at the Ilands For hee had so plotted the voyage that still hee would haue a string left in store for his Bow And now hee had intelligence that the fleet of Mexico which hee knew was to goe this yeere was euen now vpon their dispatch For vpon very good aduertisements he was giuen to vnderstand that the fleet meant to disimbogge the first light Moone in their September which falleth out to bee the seuen and twentieth of our August and his desire was to be at the Ilands before them which he might well hope for being in the height of the Bermuda by that time they should put forth of the Bay Besides this he had reason to looke for the meeting of a Carack if by the middest of September hee were at the Ilands For though they which are homewards bound hauing made their voyage in the East Indies ordinarily haue timelier passage and are at home by August yet if any of them which this yeere were to goe from Lisbon should be put backe againe September is the moneth wherein they were to bee expected at the Açores And for their more certaine meeting againe with his Lordship that so all the fleet might come home together his Lordship left them this direction which was giuen to euery ship vnder his hand You shall steere in with the Southward part of Flores if you finde me not in that course then seeke me betwixt ten and fourteene leâ—gues of Fayal West South-west If there you finde mee not then come through betwixt Fayal and the Pike and seeke me in the Road at Graâ—iosa if you finde me in none of these places you may be assured I am gone from the Ilands for England And for the Towne Sir Iohn had order giuen to leaue it vndefaced sauing that the Fort Mora should bee razed to the landward Thus wee left Puerto Rico and steered as directly to the Ilands as the windes would suffer vs which are there continually Easterly yet serued vs so fauourably that blowing much at East South-east wee tooke our selues to hold a North North-east course allowing our ships to driue one point to the leeward which course it we could hold we hoped to weather the infamous Iland of Bermuda notorious with vnmercifull and incredible stormes of fearfull thunder and lightning It was the sixt day after our departure from Puerto Rico being Saturday the nineteenth of August when I writ out this note then were wee a great way from the height of the Bermuda which lyeth in thirtie three degrees Now we are in the way from Puerto Rico to the Ilands of Açores which must needes be found a long passage and the way being not much beaten with resort of the Passengers puts me in hope that this may be a leisurefull place to pay a piece of a promise that I made before to say something more of the nature and qualitie and largenesse of the mayne Iland of Puerto Rico. The meanes which I did most wish and hope for to enable mee the better for the payment of this debt I could neuer with conueniency come by For I alwayes waited if
and rage as none could say it stole vpon vs vnawares For I am out of doubt that I had neuer heard any winde so high One of our Bonnets had beene taken in in the euening and the other was rent off with the furie of the storme And thus for our mayne-top saile was taken in and the top-mast taken downe bearing onely a bare corse of each if the ship had not beene exceeding strongly sided shee could not haue indured so rough weather For oftentimes the Sea would ship in waues into her of three or foure Tunne of water which the ship being leakie within board falling often was as much as both the pumps were able to cast out againe though they went continually all night and till noone the next day were neuer throughly suckt so that if any leake had sprung vpon vs vnder water it could not haue beene chosen but shee must haue foundered seeing the pumpes were hardly able to rid the water that was cast in aboue hatches The Missen-saile had beene in the euening well furled for the winde came vpon the starboard quarter and yet the storme had caught it and with such violence and furie rent it that with much adoe the Misseâ— yard was halled downe and so the quarter decke and poope saued from danger of renting vp All this was in the night which made it much more hidious specially in the fore-end of the night before the Moone got vp The winde continued in this excesse of violence till midnight and then abated hee something but then began the effect of his blowing to shew it selfe for then the Sea began to worke and swell farre higher then before His Lordships ship is a very goodly one and yet would shee bee as it were in a pit and round about vast mountaines of water so that a man might leaue out the rest of the verse and say onely vndique pontus For I protest besides that which was ouer our heads our prospect any other way was quickly determined with waues in my conscience higher then our mayne-top And that which is strangest round about vs for the Sea came vpon euery point of the Compasse so that the poore ship nor they that directed and cunned her could not tell how to cunne her to bee safe from the breaking of these vast waues vpon her This continued all night and though the winde fell by little and little yet the Sea was so light that all Saturday it was not quieted so that though out of a storme yet were wee still in a stormy Sea insomuch that our mayne-top mast was broken By Sanday we were come to haue reasonable weather and rather too little then too much wind And vpon Monday being the eleuenth of September wee were not much from a new calme which wee could not with much more patience haue endured then a good storme for then wee began to looke out for land and now to come so neere what so long wee had longed for After the storme the Admirall found himselfe all alone and so were we the most part of the next day but towards euening came the new Frigat to vs. And a sterne her there was a ship seene which within a day or two afterward the Samson came and told vs was her selfe With day the fifteenth of September we had the South-west side of it in sight and bore in therewith till noone His Lordship had no meaning to make any forcible attempt against it nor to stay longer then to take in some fresh victuals for which purpose hee sent the Boat off with an old Portugall and an African of Mozambique who bearing a flagge of truce should giue the Ilanders to vnderstand what his Lordships pleasure was that if they would let him haue things for his money he would not vse them worse then in former times they had had experience of him Withall he gaue the Boat commandement that shee should bring him answere to the East North-east side of the Iland where he meant to come to anchor and tarry for the newes they could learne either English or Spanish This stay in hoysing the Boat out gaue the Samson time to get a head vs and within awhile shee was at anchor When behold at the opening of the Point first there came one saile then two and then three sailes and within a little the fourth was seene it was not at first knowne what these might be yet because the Samson being much neerer made no haste to weigh we thought shee made them to be friends And within awhile we perceiued them to haue pendents in their fore-top-mast heads this put vs out of doubt that they were of our owne fleet For his Lordship at his departure from Puerto Rico had giuen them direction that euery ship should so beare a pendent for a marke to be knowne of their friends and which would make straâ—gers neuer a whit the wiâ—er These foure were the Merchant the Ascention the Consent and the Pegasus which by and by came to an anchor with vs. Now were wee growne a prettie strong fleet againe either part receiuing new strength of other each hauing formerly lost their owne For the storme had scattered Sir Iohns companie as well as ours though it should seeme not to haue beene altogether so great with them as vs. Of Sir Iohns we had not yet the Gallion the Alcedo the Centurion the Anthonie the Kesar and the Doue which were the Flemmings The first newes that the Boat brought vs made these though friends yet more welcome if that might be For the Boat hauing told his Lordship that they could not be suffered to land yet had promise that his Lordship should haue any thing that the Iland would affoord Mary said they we are ill prouided by reason of the Kings men of warre nine and twentie of them haue within these few dayes beene here and taken almost all our prouisions for they were great ships and full of gallants fiue of them being the fiue Caracks that should this yeere haue gone for the East Indies but being by the Condes lying on the Coast kept in till it was too late for them to haue any hopefull passage they were of Merchants made men of Warre and with the rest or rather the rest with them were sent to these Ilands to waft the Caracks which were looked for at home this yeere But the Caracks said they of Flores were gone by before their comming hither for the safetie whereof they had commandement to stay if need were till the end of this moneth Whither this Armada was gone they said they knew not nor whither it would returne but the very last day a great Gallion was within kenning These newes as they gaue great cause of circumspection and care not to meet with them whom we could not doubt to be too strong for vs and therefore made vs wish they were finally gone from the Ilands so on the other side if knowing that the Caracks were passed if yet
subiect to raine and very vnhealthfull the roade faire hauing on each side as you come a ledge of rocks The nine and twentieth Sir Thomas Baskeruile with 750. Land-soldiors went for Panama a sore march thorow the woods the way cut out of the woods and rocks very mirie the Spaniards playing on them out of the woods After ten leauges march they came to a fort on the top of a hill two such more were betwixt that and Panama that also strongly fortified the enemy hauing knowledge before of this designe Hereby was he forced to returne Ianuary the eight and twentieth Sir Francis Drake died of a fluxe He made his brother Thomas Drakes sonne his heire Sir Thomas Baskeruill succeeded The six and twentieth of February the Spaniards fleete of twenty sailes and the English met a fight followed continued two houres and then they parted A great Ship of the Spaniards that night was burned In Aprill following they arriued at Plimmouth In this Voyage I haue followed the printed Relation but because another hath comne to my hands written as it seemes by one offended therein I haue to thy other eare permitted him to speake that freedome of iudgement may remayne to euery Reader THe seuen and twentieth of August hauing our dispatch from her Maiestie wee brought all our fleet into the Sound of Plimmouth and the eight and twentieth day wee set sayle for our pretended Uoyage Iâ—â— our course alongst the Coasts of Spaine was diuers meetings with our Generals where passed many â—â—nkind speeches and such as Sir Iohn Hawkins neuer put off till death In this tract was put on a resolution with Sir Francis Drake and Sir Thomas Baskeruile to take the Grand Canaria wherevpon a counsall was held and therein propounded by Sir Francis how great a benefit much honour and good refreshing was offered vs and therefore would stand on most voyces Sir Iohn Hawkins to whom hee spake this vtterly refused with these reasons following First there could bee no need considering our small time out Secondly not possible to carrie it without hazarding all and Thirdly not good to lose time which would neuer be recouered To this last reason Sir Thomas Baskeruile answered First for time hee would require but foure dayes in this manner In foure houres he would take it and in the rest would hee burne it downe except they would compound thus the fourth day would he be shipped readie for our Voyage In this controuersie Sir Francis would goe for the Canaria with such as would follow him and Sir Iohn Hawkins with the rest for the Indies yet after this hard debating at the earnest request of some friends Sir Iohn Hawkins vpon the confessing of need was content to assist them yet in his iudgement labour lost with much hazard of all Thus altogether standing alongst the sixe and twentieth of September we came to anchor afore the Fort that guards the landing place at Grand Canaria where were put into our Boates and Pinnasses all our land men vnder the conduct of Sir Thomas Baskeruile Colonell Generall who drew head neere the middest of the Beatche Betwixt the Fort and the Towne as most safely for our landing To this place euen then did the Spaniards draw two or three very small Peeces of Ordnance with which and with some companies of Souldiers made some shew of resistance wherevpon notwithstanding most of our smaller shipping who accompanied our Boats with their Artillery Sir Thomas made his retraite without putting foot on land and then to know as it was reported if our Generals would put their Voyage thereon or no. With this better consideration were all our men shipped againe and stood alongst to the Westermost end thereof Here went many ashoare some for water some for pleasure amongst whom the eight and twentieth day was Captayne Grimstone with two more in his company slaine and by Peasants as was thought with this euill beginning this night wee weighed and stood alongst for the Indies The eight and twentieth of October wee came faire by the Southermost end of Dominica and the thirtieth day we came all to safe anchoring at Guardalupa onely the Delight and the Francis two of our smallest Pinnasses who being to leewards out of fight was there chased by fiue Spanish ships in which chase the Francis was taken the other escaped with this newes The last of this moneth Sir Iohn Hawkins not able to beare his griefes out longer sickned Here we built seuen Pinnasses The fourth of Nouember were they lanched and we stood of for Porto rico the eight day in the way we anchored among the Ilands Virgins where all our Souldiers were appointed to their land Captaines The twelfth day we came to anchor afore the Harbour at Porto rico where dyed Sir Nicholas Clifford by a shot from a platforme sitting at supper in the Defiance with this shot was likewise Master Brewt Browne hurt who liued but few dayes after and this day also died Sir Iohn Hawkins whose death of many was much lamented In this Harbour rid those fiue Frigats of the Kings which came for the treasure This place beeing well viewed by our Generall and Colonell Generall a counsell was held and therein agreed That first and most necessariest these Frigats should bee burned and for that seruice was named out the next night thirtie of our Boates and Pinnasses with fire-workes and with warlike weapons these Frigats were so well defended aboard and with the Ordnance ashore that our men returned with consuming onely one of them out of which were saued some of the Spaniards who reported certainly that there the Treasure of two Millions was and so were our men taken in the Francis Notwithstanding all these quickning newes after some few dayes we weighed and stood alongst to the Westermost end of this Iland where we contented vs with some refreshing of water Oranges and Plantanes here were built foure Pinnasses more At this place sent hee aboord me with his Warrant fortie Souldiers out of the Defiance The foure and twentieth day we weighed and stood alongst for one Iland called Knaw-saw with which wee fell the nine and twentieth day but stayed not thus standing alongst The first of December we arriued at Cape dela Vela the second in the morning was put into our Boats and Pinnasses all our Souldiers for Rio dela Hatcha This was taken the people being all fled yet here with search in the Woods and intelligence of some Negros was found great store of Pearle Plate Iewels Rials of Plate Bolts of Silke rich apparell with much other luggage The sixt of this moneth brought in Sir Francis from one other Towne called Rancharia great quantitie of Pearle and luggage The ninth day came in some Spaniards with intent to ransome their houses Negros and some Spaniards Prisoners and concluded for 24000. Pezos euery Pezo worth fiue shillings sixe pence The thirteenth day came in the
the best sort had taken an oath vpon a Bible to die rather then euer to yeeld their consents to goe backe that way againe I knowing this seemed to speake nothing of that course but comforting their despairing mindes as well as I might seeing their greatest griefe was for the wants of the small ships without which they all affirmed and that truly wee were able to doe nothing For the Ports where their Townes stand were all barred Harbours and that it was not possâ—ble to get any of these ships ouer them whereby we could releeue our selues of such wants as we were in These things being alleaged I seemed to passe ouer as slightly as might be but yet comforted them that we would presently seeke some place of reliefe with all speede There was a Portugall aboord me who tooke vpon him to be a Pilot who came vnto me and told me vpon his life that he would take vpon him to carry both my Shippes ouer the barre at Spiritus Sanctus a place indeede of great reliefe and the onely place in Brasile for victuall and all other wants that we were in I knowing very well that if I could bring my Shippes within shot of the Towne I should land my men and further it could not be in them to make resistance The whole company desired this course affirming that there was no way left to relieue all our wants but this and that there they were in hope to finde some Shippes to repaire the Roe-bucke againe I finding their willingnesse and charging the Portugall vpon his life to tell me truely whither the Ships might passe ouer the barre without danger he willed me to take his life if euer the Shippes came in lesse water then fiue fathome with such constant affirmations as he desired not to liue if he should not performe this I considering the greatnesse of our wants and knowing right well the place to be the onely wished Towne on all the coast to relieue vs forthwith gaue my consent and thither we went leauing all other intentions We anchored before the barre and sent my Boate to sound the barre and found the deepest water to be but fifteene and seuenteene foote the Portugall himselfe going with them all ouer the bar the most water to be but three fathome They comming aboord brought me word of the truth I called for the Portugall â—nd demanded of him why he had so lied vnto me who affirmed that he neuer sounded the barre before and that he had brought in Ships of 100. tuns and that he made accompt there had not bin lesse water then fiue fathome This mis-hap was no small amazement to me and all the company considering our distresse for water and other necessaries and that the roade was so ill as we were scant able to ride there so as we could neither take in water nor doe any other businesse In this meane time while wee were scanning of these matters the Roe-buckes Boate rowing further into the Baye saw where three Shippes were at an anker not farre from â—he Towne and came aboord and brought mee word thereof at which newes the Companie seemed much to reioyce and all affirmed that they would goe with our Boates and bring them out of the harbour I shewed them how much the taking of them imported vs and told them that although the day was spent yet I thought the night not to be altogether inconuenient if they would put on mindes to performe it Resolutely my reasons were these first they were not so sufficiently prouided to defend themselues at that instant as they would be in the morning and further I told them that if they were not able to defend them they would take the principall and best things out of them being so neere the shoare and that if they had where with to defend themselues it would be lesse offensiue to vs in the night then in the day and we in greatest securitie and more offensiue to the enemy especially this exploit being to be done on the water not landing These perswasions seemed a little to moue them for they all desired to stay till morning yet some of them prepared themselues Comming amongst them I found them all or for the most part vtterly vnwilling to goe that night vpon which occasion I confesse I was much moued and gaue them some bitter words and shewed them our case was not to make detractions but to take that opportunitie which was offered vs and not to feare a night more then a day and told them plainely that in refusing of this I could stay there no longer for ouer the barre we could not goe and the roade so dangerous as neuer Shippes rid in a worse And further we saw all the Countrey to be fired round about and that to land we could not without vtter spoile to vs all for our Boates were naught and further we could by no meanes be succoured by our Shippes so as I intended to depart The next morning there was almost an vproare amongst them the most of them swearing that if I would not giue them leaue they would take the Boats and bring away those Shippes of themselues I comming among them beganne to reprehend them for their rashnesse and told them that now all opportunity was past and that they must be contented for goe they should not They much importuned me and some of the chiefest of them desired me with teares in their eyes that they might goe affirming that there was no danger to be feared at all for if they were not able to take them they would returne againe and that to depart without attempting to doe this was a thing that most greatly grieued them I knowing right well that if they landed not they could receiue no preiudice for if their Ships had beene able to withstood them it was in their power to goe from them being starke calme And further I knew that no Shippes vse Brasile that be able to defend themselues from a Cock-boate much lesse that they should be of force to offend those Boates wherein there were so many Musketteeres as could sit one by another I seeing their great importunitie was contented to giue them leaue to goe and this was my charge to Captaine Morgaine to whom at that present I left my directions that first vpon paine of his life he should not land at all what opportunitie soeuer was offered and that if he saw any danger in comming to these Shippes he should attempt no further but returne aboord againe but contrariwise if he saw that the place was such as we might land without too much disaduantage and if we might land on plain ground free from woods or bâ—shes hard before the Towne that then he would presently repaire vnto me againe and I and so many as these bad Boates would carrie would presently land vpon them Thus my Boates departed from me hauing some eightie men as well furnished with weapons as it is possible
from the Coast of England we met with nineteene saile of Flemmings in the night Not regarding what they were our Vice-admirall tooke one of them and all the rest escaped In the morning the Master of our Flemmish prize was brought before the Generall and of him wee had newes of a fleet of ships that was departed out of Lisâ—one for Brasile the which newes we were very glad of The Flemmish shâ—p was laden with Salt whereof the Generall tooke three â—unne for his prouision This Flemming also shewed vs a licence that hee had to passe the Seas vnâ—er her Maj stâ—es hand and seale the which as our Generall had seene he presently commanded that euery man should returne all such things as they had taken from the Flemming and hee himselfe payed for the Salt that he had taken and so we departed from them with a saâ—e winde holding our courâ—â— from the Coast of Portugall to the Ilands of Canaria Thus in twenâ—ie dayes we had sight of the said Ilands which when our Generall knew of â—roth to be the same he coâ—mâ—nded his two smallest ships the Daintie and the Blacke Pinnasse to be sent along the shoare to see if they could espie any Caruels fishing or any ships betweene the Ilands and not discrying any thing the next morning they returned backe vnto vs. Vnder the Equinoctiall â—â—ne we lay seuen and twentie dayes driuing too and fro without puffe of winde In which time most of our men fell sicke of the Scuruie by reason of the extreme heat of the Sunne and the vapours of the night notwithstanding our great danger of sicknesse did not appause the hardnesse of our hearts being in as great extremitie as euer men were it happened that two men of Iapon which the Generall had taken in his first voyage beâ—ring enuie to a poore Portugall that went with vs from Plimmouth accused him to the Generall hauing before conspired his death in this sort The Generall being at dinner these two Iaponers came to his Cabbâ—n telling their tale so loud that euery one might heare the report which was thus that the Portugall of the ship was a Traytor and that he had often giuen them counsell to run away wiâ—h him at Brasil moreouer quoth he if it so had pleased God wee had taken the Towne of Santos as our Generall had pretended from thence that hee would guide them to the South Sea where they should be well rewarded for their intelligence vpon the which accusations the poore Portugall was hanged And as for his going from Santos by land through America to the South Sea had beene a thing impossible for the Countrie is all Wildernesse and full of Sauagâ—s After we had beene so long becalmed vnder the Line we had a faire North-west winde and in twentie dayes saile we had sight of Land on the coast of Brasile but no man knew certainly what part it should be At length comming neere the shoare we espied two small ships the one of them we tooke the other escaped that wee tooke was laden with Blackamores and some merchandise they came from Fernambaquo and were determined to â—aue gone to the Riuer of Plate By the Pilot of this ship we knew we were at Cape Frio that is Cold Cape This Cape lyeth twelue leagues from the Riuer of Ienero and thirtie leagues from Santos which was the Towne we meant to take In this ship we tooke a Friar that hid himselfe in a Chist of meale the night following by the directions of our new taken Pilot wee came to a place called Ilha Grande twelue leagues from Santos at this place we tooke fiue or sixe houses with Portugals and Sauages of the Countrie Here wee had good store of Potatoes and Plantons diuers kindes of good rootes with some Hogs and Hennes which was very good and comfortable for the refreshing of our men Here we had such disorder amongst our selues that if the Portugals had beene of any courage they might haue killed many of vs for our men would fight for their victuals as if they had beene nâ— Christians but Iewes and they that got the best would get them into some hole or into the Wildernesse vnder some Tree and there they would remaine as long as they had meat For mine owne part there was such shaâ—king I could in that place get neither meat nor mony and pure hunger compelled me to goe into the Woods to see if wee could kill any thing with our pâ—eces or if we could finde some Potatoes And as wee went wee encountred with seuen or eight of our coâ—panie that were together by the 〈…〉 es abouâ— a Hogge they had killed and the stâ—ife was who should haue the best share we comming in at that time when euery one vsed their fists stole away a quarter and went a good way into the Wildernesse where we were merry for that night the next day wee came backe â—gâ—ine with good store of Potato rootes and going into the house where the Generals musicians were wee found them dressing of eight yong Whelpes for their dinner wee giuing them of our rootes they were contented that wee should dine with them In the afternoone we set fire on a new ship and burned all the houses leauing the Merchant and all his Moores ashoare we departed from thence and hauing a faire winde about sixe of the clocke we came to the Iland of San Sebastian where wee anchored being fiue leagues from Santos As soone as the ships were in the 〈◊〉 euery Master and Captaine came aboard of the Generall to know how hee pretended to take the Towne of Santos and they all resolued that our long Boat and our Shallop onely with one hundred men was enough for the taking of it Fâ—â— the Portugall Pilot told vs that it was of no strength On Christmas-eue about ten a clocke in the night when the Boats were to goe ashoare there were so many that would haâ—e gone that wee began to fight and cast one another ouer-board into the Sea but as soone as our Generall heard the noise he commanded euery man to come aboard the ship againe I fearing the General and being desirous to goe ashoare with the first for I had seene before that they which came last got nothing crept vnder the seate of our Shallop where I was for the space of two houres and the Boat being full of men I could not get out but there had beene smothered if it had not beene for William Waldren that was our Boatsman and steered the Boat who hearing me crie vnder him tore vp the boords and saued my life About three a clocke in the morning wee met with a Canoa which is a Boat that they make of a whole Tree in which wee tooke foure Portugals and two Women the one of them was going to be married that morning After we had taken this Boat we went close to the shoare and hauing tarried for our Boat
an houre we heard the Portugals ring a Bell presently Iasper Iorge the Portugall Pilot told vs that now was the time to land for he knew by that Bell that they were in the middle of their Masse and at that instant the Friar was holding vp the Bread of Sacrament before the people to worship it He had no sooner spoke but we were all on shoare and so marching to the Church we tooke euery mans sword without resistance and there we remayned till it was seuen of the clocke for the comming of our long Boat and the rest of our companie for we were but twentie three in all and we durst not take sack of the Towne with so few By that meanes some of the Portugals that were in their houses escaped with their persons and mony Here was good store of victuall and great store of Succats Sugars and Cassauie meale of the which wee made very good bread In the Church there were three hundred men beside women and children Assoone as wee had taken the sack of the Towne and placed all our men in order word was sent to our Generall of all that had beene done After the Generall had sent answere againe to the Towne all the Portugals were set at libertie and we fortified our selues in the Towne keeping onely seuen or eight of the chiefest and principall prisoners Master Cooke Captaine of the Vice-admirall went Captaine of all the companie that went aâ—hoare he fauoured me very much and commanded mee to take a Friars Cell to lodge in in the Colledge of Iesus where hee himselfe lodged with many Captaines and young Gentlemen It was my chance going vp and downe from Cell to Cell that I looked vnder a bed standing in a darke hole where I found a little chist fast nayled and the seames thereof were white with wheat flower I drew it forth and finding it of great waight broke it in pieces wherein I found 1700. Râ—als of eight each whereof contayneth foure shillings English This hole I tooke for my lodging and no man knew of my good purchase cloth shirts blankets and beds and such stuffe no man regarded The next day following being S. Steuens day the Portugals gaue vs a false alarum the Generall came also with all the ships into the Road and presently landed with two hundred men and commanded all the outward part of the Towne to bee burned Then hee gaue order for the building of a Pinnasse to row with twentie Oares and commanded all the ships that were in the Harbour to be set on fire At this Towne we tooke an English man called Iohn King which had beene there fifteene yeeres Our Generall lay in the Colledge of Iesus all the time that we were at Santos This Colledge had many back-wayes to the Sea-side and it happened one night that two Sauages being abused by the Portugals ran away and knowing the passages of the Colledge came in the night to the Generals bed-side and brought with them Turkies and Hennes The Generall being awaked by them cryed out for helpe One of them that could speake Portugall fell downe on his knees and said that hee came to craâ—â—e his fauour and not to offend him The morning following the Generall had discourse with these two Sauages and by them he knew of what strength the Portugals campe was and how that at his going out of the Towne they were determined to giue battaile likewise they told him of three great bags of mony and a jarre that was hid vnder the roote of a Fig tree and guided vs where we had three hundred head of Cattel which serued vs all the time we were there The Daintie being a small ship made a good voyage to Santos for shee came in before any of our fleet by the which meanes they laded her with Sugar and good commodities of the Portugals ships that were in the Harbour this ship went voluntarily with vs and hauing made a good voyage the Captaine told the Generall that he would returne for England the Generall answered that he was determined to send him into the Riuer of Plate and then with all his heart hee should returne We continued two moneths at Santos which was the ouerthrow of our voyage In the time that we were there many Canibals came vnto vs desiring the General that he would destroy the Portugals and keepe the Countrie to himselfe protesting to bee all on his side the Generall thanked them for their kindnesse and told them that at that time he had a farther pretence We found store of gold in this Towne that the Indians had brought from a place called by the Indians Mutinga and now the Portugals haue mynes there Many of our companie counselled the Generall to winter at this Towne but he would not by any meanes From our first setting forth from England till we came to Santos I had great loue to Christopher the Iapon because I found his experience to bee good in many things This Indian and I grew into such friendship one with another that wee had nothing betwixt vs vnknowne together I a long time hauing found him true I told him of the money I had found vnder the Friers bed with that hee told mee of some money that hee had got and wee swore to part halfe from thenceforth whatsoeuer God should permit vs to obtaine some foure dayes after that when we were ready to depart he told me that that time of the yeare was past wherefore it was best to hide our money in the ground and remaine in the Countrey I beleeuing his perswasions agreed to doe what he thought best thus we determined both that the same day we were to goe a shipboord that then he should take all the money in a Canoa and hide it by a Riuer side in the morning I deliuered all the money into his hands and he swore that in lesse then two houres he would returne but I staied aboue fiue houres and might haue tarried all my life for he was gone aboord the Ship afterward by good meanes I got mine owne againe and so our former friendship was parted Our men marched by Land from Santos to another Towne called San Uincent and in the way our men burned fiue Engenios or Sugar-mils the disorder of our men was such at their imbarking that if the Portugals had beene of any courage they might easily haue cut our throates the two Indians which came at night to the Generals chamber went with vs to the Straits We departed from Santos with a faire winde for the Straites of Magellan fourteene dayes we had faire weather the fifteenth day all the Masters and Captaines of the fleete comming aboord the Admirall wonne a great summe of money Two dayes after wee were becalmed and the Pilotes taking their height found it to be in the altitude with the Riuer of Plate And we being farre from the shoare did beare roome for Land determining to send the Daintie the
Blacke Pinnasse and the into the aforesaid Riuer of Plate but it was not the will of God that we should execute our pretence For the same day wee thought to haue descried Land the winde beganne to blow South-west and the Seas were very darke swelling in waues so high that we could not perceiue any of our accompanied ships although we were very neere one to another the Seas brake ouer the Poope of our shippe and washed our men astonisht with feare into the Skippers the Roe-bucke in this storme ranne her against our Poope and brake downe all our Gallerie all things were cast into the Sea that stood aboue Hatches heere miserable Fortune began to frowne on vs all especially on mee for all that I had both in clothes and money were cast into the Sea all our ship with the Seas that brake ouer her sides Here our Generall shewed himselfe to bee of a noble courage for hee did nothing but runne vp and downe encouraging his men which were all amazed thinking that to bee their last houre this storme continued three dayes in which time wee lost most of our sayles blowne away from the yards It was the will of God that after we had been three dayes in the storme the wind ceased but the Seas continued so great that wee were not able to beare any sayle We lying thus tost with Seas without sight of any of our fleet the company murmured and wished themselues againe at Santos and indeed we al thought that the rest of our company were driuen back with the storme to the Coast thinking it best for vs to returne againe The Generall hearing what speeches passed in the shippe came forth vpon the halfe decke and commanded all the company to come before him and after he had heard them speake he answered that he had giuen directions to all the Masters and Captaines of the fleete that what weather soeuer should part them that they should vse their indeuour to take Port Desire and that they should tarry a fortnight so if none of the company came they should leaue some marke on the shoare and goe on their Voyage with that euery man was satisfied the Generall promising twentie pounds to whomsoeuer could first spie a sayle we made our course to Port Desire and in ten dayes we safely arriued at our desired Port where we found all our fleet but the Daintie which was no little comfort to vs all because the time of our yeere was almost past we stayed here but two dayes taking a few Penguins from an Iland right before Port Desire When we came to the mouth of the Straits wee found the winde contrary and were forced to lye beating before the Harbour of Port Famine three dayes ere wee could double that Cape for many times we did cast anchor without the Cape in twentie fathomes water but on a sudden the current would carrie away the ships with Cables and Anchors afloat in the night in this current the Roe-bucke driuen with the current fell crosse ouer the haze there wee had no other remedy but were forced to cut our cables and so lose our Anchors In the end with much adoe we doubled the Cape and got into Port Famine where wee lay a seuennight for want of winde and weather to goe forward It the time that wee were at Port Famine euery day our men went on shoáre to get Muscles and Fruits of the Countrey to eate and the barke of a tree that was like Sinamon One day the Boate being ashoare there came to vs aboue a thousand Canibals naked with feathers in their hands but they would not come so neere vs as we could touch them If we offered them any thing they would reach to vs with a long Pole and whatsoeuer we gaue them they would returne vs feathers for it wee made our signes to them for victuals and they would shew vs by signes that they had none but what they could kill with their Darts I haue told you how my chist and all my clothes were cast ouer-boord now comming to this cold Climates and wanting clothes my hope of life was little for here men were well at morning and by night frozen to death It was my fortune to goe ashoare to get some food for the allowance of our ship was little and comming aboord againe with my feete wette and wanting shift of clothes the next morning I was nummed that I could not stirre my legs and pulling off my stockings my toes came with them and all my feete were as blacke as soote and I had no feeling of them Then was I not able to stirre Thus I continued for the space of a fortnight till wee came into a faire Bay where there were many faire Ilands and on the rockes of some of these Ilands wee found Scouts made of the barkes of trees and afterwards wee found many Indians but none of them would come to vs. On the South-west side of the Mayne we found a Riuer which wee thought had gone to the South Sea Our long Boate was sent vp this Riuer and found it to be very straite and deepe On the sides thereof they found great Muscles and in them good store of Pearles and we named it the Riuer of Pearles the Bay had the name of the Master of our Pinnasse because he first found it and did discouer it called it Tobias Bay From this place wee went further into the Straites hauing the winde against vs and with the cold there died euery day out of our ship eight or nine men Here one Harris a Gold-smith lost his Nose for going to blow it with his fingers cast it into the fire This Iohn Chambers Caesar Ricasen and many that are now in England can testifie The Generall hauing experience that the wind would tarry at the least two moneths his men died so fast that hee thought best to returne for the Coast of Brasill and there to separate our fleete to the Hauens of Santos that lye on the Coast Riuer of Iennary Spirito Santo determining by this meanes to furnish himselfe with Ropes Sayles and Victuals of such prices as hee did not doubt but to take and likewise determining to take Santos againe The Generall came backe with this pretence for Brasill came to Port Famine where wee anchored two dayes and there tooke a note of all his men that were liuing and finding some of them very sicke commanded them to be set on shoare I was so ill in the Straites that no man thought I would haue liued and twice I was brought vpon the Hatches to bee cast into the Sea but it was the will of God that when they had said Prayers as they accustomed when any man died and that they laid hands on me to cast me ouer-boord I spake desiring them not to cast me ouer-boord till I was dead At this Port Famine comming backe the Generall would haue set me on shoare but Captaine
to traffick with them entreating vs to goe to then Towne the which we did where wee were receiued with dancing and singing of great and small and in euery house I was receiued with great ceremonies and long speeches of the chiefest that were in the Towne The next day I began to traffiâ—k with them for slaues and I bought ninetie all which I brought to Martin de Saa who remayned at Ilha Grande till I returned â—gaine Assoone as I came vnto him I deliuered all vnto him desiring him to stand my friend and to giue mee leaue to taâ—rie among the Canibals till such time as hee had spoken with his fatâ—er in my behalfe Laughing hee answered that I neede to feare to goe home for the man was recouered and gone to the Râ—uer of Plate and that his father was very sorry thinking I had beene eaten by some Serpent Leopard or Lion When I came before the Gouernour he blessed himselfe to see mee meruailing where I had beene so long and sent me againe to his Sugar mill where I continued a twelue-moneth and I had the charge to châ—stall the Sugar in which time I got two hundred crownes I determined to goe to Angola in Aethiopia and the Gouernour gaue me his word that I shoulâ— and that what fauour he could-shew me I should bee sure to haue but when the ship was readie to depart the Gouernour sent mee out of Towne on a sleeuelesse errand and I remayned ashoare and lost all that I had scraped together for my voyage A monetâ— or two after this it happened that the Wayanasses were set on by a kind of Canibals called Taymayas the Wayanasses haue traffâ—ck and friendship with the Portugals and the most mortall enemies that the Portugals haue in all America are the Taymayas The Wayanasses hauing lost a great many men in a battell not being able to make any head againe of themselues craued succour againe of the Portugals My Master being Gouernour of the Towne sent his sonne Martin de Saa with seuen hundred Portugals and two thousand Indians The Wayanasses certified vnto vs that the most that wee should bee before wee come to the Taymayas would bee a moneth Thus the fourteenth day of October 1597. we departed on our way with sixe Canoas by Sea some thirtie miles from the Riuer of Ianuarie for a Port called Paratee The first day that we departed we had a great storme where we thought we should all haue beene drowned but it was the will of God to saue our liues with the generall losse of all we had the Canoas turned vpside downe with the storme wee holding fast on the bottom of them were driuen on shoare with great hazard of our liues From the place where we droue on shoare to the Riuer of Wareteena it was three miles which we went by land and sent the Canoas to the Riuer of Ianuarie for victuals We tarried two dayes at Wareteena till the aforesaid Canoas returned the third day wee went to a place of Great Iland called Ippoa where there dwelt two or three Portugals Here we had great store of Poâ—atoâ—s Plantons to eat At this place we remayned fiue dayes for fiue hundred Canibals that were to come from an Iland called Iawaripipo When these Indians were come we depâ—rted in our Canoas for our desired Port called Paratee As we went in the night wee cut a great Bay of the Sea where a Whale did ouerturne one of our Canoas notwithstanding wee tooke the men that were in the Sea and went on for the Harbour aforesaid The next day the Captaine commanded all the Canoas to be pulled out of the water and to couer them well with boughes determining immediately to depart by land That night that we came to Paratee there came a Caniball to vs called Alecio from a Towne called Iequerequere this Town lyeth by the Sea-side right ouer against the Iland of San Sebastian This Inâ—ian brought eightie Bow-men with him offering himselfe with all his companie to goe with our Captaine The next day we departed on our voyage through the Mountaines at night the Captaine seeing Alecio the Caniball lying on the ground tooke away the Net that I had to sleepe in and gaue it to the Caniball I being faine to lie vpon the earth I complayned to some of the Portugals of the wrong that the Captaine did vse vnto mee they answered that his father sent me in that voyage onely to be made away I replyed Gods will be done After wee had gone on our iourney three dayes we came to the bottom of a great Mountaine called by the Indians Paranapeacano that is in our language The sight of the Sea this Mountaine is so high that wee were three dayes going vp and three dayes also going downe Two dayes after wee were descended we came into a faire champaine Countrie like meadow ground with long grasse and great store of Pine trees where we lodged that night in a bottom in which we killed aboue sixe hundred Snakes it was the will of God that one Indian called Ieronimo was bit by them and not any more This Indian presently swelled and his bloud sprung out of his eyes and his nailes and so he died After that we came to trauell againe through the Mountaynes some forty dayes then wee came to a great Riuer called Paracuona which Riuer wee passed with things made of Canes tyed together with withes which the Portugals call Iangathas We were foure dayes before we passed ouer this Riuer it was so great and ranne so swift After that wee trâ—uelled againe some 20. dayes till we came to a great Mountayne called Panaç◠yâ—awâ—â—paconâ— we were foure dayes going vp this Mountayne by reason of the great showres of raine that we had besides wee were very weake and all our victuals were done But hoping to find our enemies very soone we did our best â—o hold out comming vp this hill from sixe of the clocke in the morning till it was two of the clocke in the afternoone on a rainie day the Captaine commanded euery man to make his abode for that night whereupon I set downe my burthen and went into the Mountaynes to cut some boughes of a Tree called Saâ—â—ambaya to couer vs from the raine the weather was so cold and I hauing trauelled all day without meate was so feeble that going to cut a bough my sword fell out of my hand and I sate vnder a Tree where I had made mine end if it had not bin for my deere friend Henry Barrawell who seeing that I tarried long came to seeke me and found me in such case that I was not able neither to speake nor stand After he had brought me to the Campe he layed me by the fire I recouered and was very well After we had passed this Mountayne of Pareena wee trauelled in a kind of low wash ground there were great store of Canibals called Pories Vpon
day of Iune 1597 I embarked my selfe vnknowne to my Master in a small ship of one Emanuell Andrea for to come for Angola In this Voyage wee were driuen so neere the Cape of Good Hope that we thought all of vs should haue beene cast away the Seas are there so great and by reason of the current they brake in such sort that no shippe is able to endure There we brake both our mayne mast and our Mesen Iâ— pleased God to send vs the wind Eastward which brought vs to our desired Harbour Angola Wee had beene fiue monethes in our Voyage and by that meanes other shippes that departed two monethes after vs were there before vs when I heard that there were ships of the Riuer of Ienero I durst not goe ashoare for feare of being knowne of some of the Portugals the next day after that wee came into the Harbour there came a great Boate aboord vs to aske if wee would sell any Cassaui meale wee told them we would and asked them whether they went with their Boate they answered that they tarried for the tyde to goe vp to the Riuer of Guansa Tomasongano then I thought it a fit time for my purpose and so embarked my selfe in the Barke the Portugals maruelled to see mee goe willingly to Masangono for there men dye like Chickens and no man will goe thither if he can choose Nine dayes we were going vp the Riuer of Guansa in which time two Portugall Souldiers dyed the Countrey is so hot that it pierceth their hearts three dayes after I had beene in Masangano Don Francisco de Mendosa Fortado the Gouernour of the Citie of Congo hauing receiued a Letter from Saluador Coria de Sasa who was his great friend sent a Pursuiuant for me who brought me by Land through the King of Congos Countrey and in sixe dayes we came to a Towne called Saint Francis where the Gouernour was hard by the Kingdome of Manicongo when I came before the Gouernour hee vsed mee very kindly in wordes and asked mee what I meant to cast my selfe away wilfully in Masangano then I told him how long I had serued Saluador Coria de Sasa and in how many dangers I had beene for him and his Sonne without euer hauing any recompence of any of them and therefore I thought it better to venture my life in the Kings seruice then to liue his Bond-slaue The Gouernour commanded me to be carried to Angola and charged a paire of bolts to bee put vpon my legges because I should not runne away About a fortnight after I was sent backe againe in a Carâ—ell of Francis Lewes and in two moneths we arriued in the Riuer of Ienero and I was carried with my bolts on my legges before the Gouernour when he saw me hee beganne to laugh and to ieast with mee saying that I was welcome out of England So after many ieasts hee spake hee bade pull off my bolts from my legges and gaue mee cloth and vsed mee verie well After I had beene with the Gouernour againe some two monethes then came a small man of Warre to great Iland the Captaines name was Abram Cocke he lay in waite for the ships of the Riuer of Plate and had taken them if it had not beene for fiue of his men that ranne away with his Boate that discouered his beeing there for within a seuennight after hee was gone three Caruels came into the same Road where he was These fiue men were taken by a Frier that came from San Uincents and were brought to the Riuer of Ienero I being at this time in some account with the Gouernour fauoured them aswell as I could especially one of them by name Richard Heixt because that they all said that hee was a Gentleman after that wee had beene in the Towne together about some three moneths one of them called Thomas Cooper being married had his house by the Sea side where he vsed his Trade we were then nine Englishmen and three Dutchmen and wee determined when the shipping came from the Riuer of Plate that wee would take one of them comming into the Harbour this Heixt alwayes went with me to a Portugals house where I was very well beloued One night hee comes into the house and steales away a boxe that had sixtie Rialls of eight in it and two or three pieces of Holland I desired him to restore the same but this Heixt being a swaggering companion vsed me most vilely in words and went and told the Gouernour what wee all had determined and said that wee were Heretickes and that he himselfe was a Catholicke that day at night I should haue stolne the Key of the Kings Store-house to haue taken Muskets and Powder and haue carried it to Thomas Coopers house but it was Gods will that he had accused vs before I had done it or else we had beene all hanged for it We being all before the Gouernour and denying that we had euer meant any such matter Heixt said Sir send to Thomas Coopers house and you shall find 20. Muskets and powder that Anthony hath stolne out of the Kings Score-house for that purpose if your Worship find it not so say that I am a lier and a false dealer Then the Gouernour sent vs all to Prison himselfe and Heixt went to T. Coopers house where they found no such matter He went to the Kings Store-house and saw that nothing was stirred whereupon hee was some what angry with Heixt because he had taken him with an vntruth and said that he neuer saw men of so peruerse and vile condition as we were to seeke the destruction of each other Vpon occasion of this Heixt his ill demeanure not long after the Gouernour sent him to Angola and from thence Don Francisco sent him to Masangano where he dyed in a miserable esâ—â—te Presently after that Andrew Towres was accused for eating flesh on the Friday and for that was put in prison and paid 100. Rials of eight and was set at libertie within a moneth afâ—er he had bin out of prison he ran away to Fernambucke the Gouernour being informed of it sent two small Caruels after him to bring him back againe in one of the small Caruels went his sonne Gonsalo Coreade Safa and the High Priests Nephew and a great many more young Gentlemen After they were out on the Mayne and almost aboord of the ship that Andrew Towers was in on a sudden there came a great storme that the small Caruell that the Gouernours sunne was in could not endure the Sea but was fain to run on shore on the Coast where three of their company were cast away one of them beeing the High Priests Nephew and I thinke that they had bin all drowned if it had not bin for Martin de Safa that was at that place with 100. slaues making Brasill ready for a ship of his Fathers the other Caruell followed him to Fernambuquo and brought him backe againe to the Riuer
of Ienero where hee was put in prison and should haue bin hanged but that all the Towne begged him he was sent to Masongona where he dyed Anno Dom. 1598. there came two Dutch ships being Captaine of them Iasper Fernandes a Dutchman and leaue of the Gouernour after he had shewed his Licence out of Portugall set all his goods on shore and had bought and sold for the space of three monethes in the Towne and made great store of money At the time of his going away the Kings Officers said that his Licence was not good and would haue stopped his ships then the Gouernour said why looked you not to that before seeing I gaue them leaue to come in vpon your words saying that his dispatch was good answere it how you can for seeing he came in with leaue and vpon my word he shall goe out without any hearing and so he departed for Angola After that the Gouernor General of all the Coast of Brasil Don Francisco de Sasa came to the Riuer of Ienero with two Hulkes and being enformed that Iasper Fernandes was at Angola hee sent a Caruell thither that his ships should bee kept for the King hee hearing of it went aboord his ships and went away in spight of the Portugals the same yeere there came Francisco de mondunsa de vesconsales for Gouernour to my Masters place that day the Hulke which the new Gouernour was in came to the mouth of the Hauen the Gouernour Saluador Corea de Safa was at a Sugar-mil that he had newly finished The aforesaid when she came to the mouth of the Hauen beganne to shoot off her Ordnance the Gouernour not knowing what it should bee presently caused a great Canoa to bee made readie for immediately hee would goe to the Towne to see what was the matter within halfe an houre after we had 〈◊〉 out at Sea to come to the Towne a great tempest rose and ouerturned the Canoa there my Master had bin cast away if God first and I had not laid hands on him for all his slaues swamme away to the shore and Henry Barraway with them only I and Domingos Gomes a Molato slaue that my Master carried with him in the Sea and betweene vs we got him to the Canoa where he held fast till wee drew neere the shore where the Sea brake like Mountaynes there we had like to haue bin all cast away for the Sea would cast vs against the Hils of sand and carrie vs backe againe to the Sea after I had got my selfe ashore I looked towards the Sea and saw my Master come in a great waue and as the waue brake I and my deere friend Domingos Gomes tooke hold of him and dragged him out of the Sea but we both thought that hee would haue dyed for hee could not speake then wee tooke him betweene vs by the legges vpon our shoulders and made him vomit a great deale of water and so recouered him when I saw him well I told him that the Sea knew no Gouernours better then other men the next day the Gouernour went home by land and found the other Gouernour in the Towne for whose comming I did not a little reioyce for then I thought the time was come that I long had desired hoping shortly to come into my Countrey In the same yeere there came foure Hollanders and anchored before the Citie in the mouth of the Hauen then all the Towne rose vp in Armes my Master was at his Sugar-mill and I remayned in the Towne to wayte on my Mistris When shee saw the Portugals runne vp and downe with their Armes she commanded me to take a Musket and bade mee goe to one of the Forts the which I did according to her command the new Gouernour came to the Fort where I was and viewed the men that were in the Fort and commanded one of his men to giue vs Powder and shot After I had spoken with the new Gouernour who liked mee very well because he said I was ready with my Peece and praysed the English Nation to be very good Souldiers One Iohn de Seluera told him that he were best take heed of me that I ranne not away to the Hollanders for I had done greater matters then that and that he knew I made no account to swim aboord of them in the night vpon any piece of wood and rehearsed many things that I had aduentured in the time that my Master was Gouernour The new Gouernour came and tooke me by the hand and carried mee to Prison where I lay 27. dayes till the Hulkes were departed from the mouth of the Hauen and went to Great Iland then I was set at libertie After that the Gouernour Generall had beene at San Uincents some two moneths there came a great Hulke of Amsterdam called the Golden World and a Captaine that was called Lawrence Bitter the Hulke had beene at Saint Thomas Iland and an Iland called the Prince and from thence to the Straits of Magellan where many of her men dyed and by contrary wind they were compelled to returne to the Coast of Brasill this Hulke comming to San Vincent sent her Boate to tell the Gouernour that they were Merchants and that if they would giue them leaue they would traffique with them the Gouernour Generall made them a Certificate vnder his hand and Seale that they should haue no wrong but pay the Kings Custome and goe their wayes when they would and whether they would with that the Captaine of the Hulke put into the Harbour commanded his goods to be set on shore Euery day he was visited by the Gouernour Generall aboord his ship and promised him great courtesie After that the Captayne had landed all his goods and most of all the Hollanders were ashore a great many Portugals went aboord the Hulke with Gitternes singing and playing When the Flemmings saw them come in that sort they mistrusted nothing the Portugals danced in the ship and dranke with the Flemmings and vpon a sudden when the Flemmings thought least of them they drew their Swords and killed two of them and possest themselues of the Hulke for the King In the beginning of the yeere of the Lord 1599. there came nine Hulkes before the Citie of Bacia but they could do no good After the Gouernour Generall had been some foure moneths at San Vincents my Master had some businesse thither and I went with him when we came to San Uincents the Gouernour Generall was departed fiftie leagues within the land at a place where he was enformed of some Mynes of Gold but when he came thither he found that they were not worth the working then he determined to send farther into the Land to a place called Etapusick I being there and knowing the place was commanded by the Gouernour Generall to goe thither when we came to the aforesaid place we found very singular good Mynes and wee brought of the soyle to the Gouernour Generall and
bigger then their middle others brake in the sides with a draught of water O if you did know the intollerable heate of the Countrie you would thinke your selfe better a thousand times dead then to liue there a weeke There you shall see poore Souldiers lie in troupes gaping like Camelians for a puffe of winde Here liued I three moneths not as the Portugals did taking of Physicke and euerie weeke letting of bloud and keeping close in their houses when they had any raine obseruing houres and times to goe abroad morning and Euening and neuer to to eate but at such and such times I was glad when I had got any thing at morning noone or night I thanke God I did worke all day from morning till night had it beene raine or neuer so great heate I had alwaies my health as well as I haue in England This Countrie is verie rich the King had great store of Gold sent him from this place the time that I was there the King of Angica had a great Citie at Masangana which Citie Paulas Dias gouernour of Angola tooke and scituated there and finding hard by it great store of Gold fortified it with foure Forts and walled a great circuit of ground round about it and within that wall now the Portugals doe build a Citie and from this Citie euerie day they doe warre against the King of Angica and haue burnt a great part of his Kingdome The Angicaâ— are men of goodly stature they file their teeth before on their vpper Iawe and on their vnder Iawe making a distance betweene them like the teeth of a Dogge they doe eate mans flesh they are the stubbornest Nation that liues vnder the Sunne and the resolutest in the field that euer man saw for they will rather kill themselues then yeelde to the Portugals they inhabit right vnder the line and of all kinde of Moores these are the blackest they doe liue in the Law of the Turkes and honour Mahomet they keepe manie Concubines as the Turkes doe they wash themselues euerie morning vpwards falling flat on their faces towards the East They weare their haire all made in plaits on their heads as well men as women they haue good store of Wheate and a kinde of graine like Fetches of the which they make Bread they haue great store of Hennes like Partridges and Turkies and all their feathers curle on their backes their houses are like the other houses of the Kingdomes aforenamed And thus I end shewing you as briefe as I can all the Nations and Kingdomes that with great danger of my life I trauelled through in twelue yeares of my best age getting no more then my trauell for my paine From this Kingdome Angica was I brought in Irons againe to my Master Saluador Corea de sa sa to the Citie of Saint Sebastian in Brasil as you haue heard Now you haue seene the discourse of my trauels and the fashions of all the Countries and Nations where I haue beene I will by the helpe of God make you a short discourse in the language of the Petiwares which language all the Inhabitants of Brasil doe vnderstand especially all the coast from Fernambucquo to the Riuer of Plate the which I hope will be profitable to all trauellers and of them I trust my paines shall be well accepted of First you must tell them of what Nation you are and that you come not as the Portugals doe for their wiues and children to make them bondslaues We are Englishmen as you all know that in times past had peace with you Now knowing the neede and want that you haue of all such things as before your Fathers had for the loue that both your ancestours and ours did beare one to another and for the loue and pittie that we haue of your want we are come to renew our ancieÌ„t amity Ore aqureiuua que se neering peramoya werisco Catadoro wareuy orenysbe beresoy Coeu pecoteue Cowauere pipope pewseua baresey opacatu baye berua oweryco coen pecoteue sou se-Core mandoare peramoya waysouba ore ranoya waysonua reseij eteguena rescij pecoteue pararaua oro in ibewith ore ramoya pereri socatumoyn go pacum §. V. The description of diuers Riuers Ports Harbours Ilands of Brasil for instruction of Nauigators RIo Grande is called by vs the great Riuer lately was conquered by a Portugall called Manuell Masquarenhas It is aboue two leagues broad in the mouth and on the South-east side standeth a great Fort made by the foresaid Manuell Masquarenhas that Countrie is plaine and sandy in many places especially neere the Sea and yeeldeth Sugar Canes in abundance On the coast are many great Bayes where the Indians doe oftentimes finde great store of Ambergreese within this place there is also store of Wood Pepper Ginger and Waxe Here inhabit a kinde of Canibals called Petywares these Canibals haue had trafficke a long time with France and amongst them there are many that can speake French which are Bastards begotten of Frenchmen On the coast of Brasil there are three Riuers of Paraeyua one is this that lieth next to Rio Gande the other is a great Riuer that runneth through the Countrie almost as farre as Lymo and commeth out betweene Cape Frio and Spirito Sancto the third is a faire Riuer that lieth betweene the Riuer of Plate and Saint Vincents This Pareyua whereof we speake is a faire great Bay where shipping being neuer so great may enter within this Bay vpon a hill you shall see a faire Citie and on the Sea side standeth two small Forts You may anker neere the shoare at the entrie of this Bay you shall see three hils of red earth on either side of the harbour which the Portugals call Barer as Mermethâ—es Guyana is a small Riuer that lieth by Paracua it belongeth to Iasper Desiquerd who was chiefe Iustice of all Brasil In the mouth of this Riuer standeth a great rocke which is continually couered with Sea Foules This Riuer hath two fadome water in the mouth a quarter of a mile within this Riuer on the South-west side you may take fresh water and great store of Cattell vpon this Riuer there are great store of Sugar Mils and continually you shall haue in this Riuer small Caruels that fish and carry Sugar from thence to Fernambuquo likewise here is great store of Brasil Pepper Ginger and Cotten Cocos Indian Nuts here likewise inhabit Petywares Etamariqua in the Indian language is a bed it is a point of the land like a Cape the point runneth halfe a mile into the Sea and vpon it the Portugals haue built a Towne you may anker very neere the shoare both on the South-west and on the North-east side of the Towne in seuen and eight fadome water All the Countrie till you come to Cape Augustin is low land and to saile from thence to Fernambuquo is no danger but the clifts which lye along the coast as
and you may ride from fiue fathomes to twentie but wee ridde in three a little within the point on our Larboord side going in The eighteenth of Ianuary wee parted from our Man of Warre at Cape Saint Anthony and set saile for England in a Prize a ship of some one hundred and fortie tunnes laden with Campeche Wood and Hides the Master of the Prize was William Goobreath and from Cape Saint Anthony we stood off North-west and by North. The nine and twentieth day at noone we had sight of the Westermost Land of the Organes being East South-east from vs and then we stood North-east and the twentieth day we were in latitude 23. degrees 15. minutes the winde being at East North-east we stood off North and from the twentieth day to the one and twentieth day wee made our way West and by North and this day we were in latitude 23. degrees 20. minutes then we stood to the Eastward The two and twentieth day we were North-west and by North from the Crowne in Cuba fourteene leagues then we stood to the North-ward these fourteene leagues we turned vp and downe with the winde Easterly The three and twentieth day wee were in laâ—itude of 24. degrees no minutes the wind being at East North-east and we lay North with the stemme and this night we came in twelue fathomes being then in latitude of 24. degrees 35. minutes the winde being at East and by South we stood to the Southward The fiue and twentieth day wee fell with Cobey twelue leagues to the Eastward of the Hauana and this day about foure of the clocke in the afternoone we had the Pam of the Matanças South-east and by South from vs some sixe leagues the winde being at East and we stood North North-east three Watches and brought the Pan vpon the Matanzas South of vs the winde being at East North-east we stood to the Northward for so we made the ships way The seuen and twentieth day at foure of the clocke in the afternoone wee fell with the South-east part of the Martyrs then wee stood off South-east and by South three watches with a low saile and so cast about and stood North-east and by North three watches and then obserued and found the ship to bee in the latitude of 24. degrees and 55. minuts being then South-west and by South of the Cape of Florida about three leagues the winde being at South-east and by East we stood off South and by West three watches and then cast about and stood North-east two watches and then obserued and found the ship to be in 25. degrees 36. minutes being the nine and twentieth day of Ianuarie 1602. and then two watches North and by East and foure North North-east and the thirtieth day at noone wee had the Cape Canaueral West and by North from vs sixe and twentie leagues by supposition being now in latitude 28. degrees 14. minutes the winde being at South wee stood North-east and by East into the Sea The eighteenth day of March at noone being Thursday wee fell with Silley and wee were South from it three leagues or ten miles the winde being at West South-west wee stood for the Lizzard and the twentieth day of this moneth we came to winde being at anchor in Dartmouth this was my first voyage which I haue to the West Indies CHAP. XI The description of the I le of Trinidad the rich Countrie of Guiana and the mightie Riuer of Orenoco written by FRANCIS SPARREY left there by Sir WALTER RALEIGH 1595. and in the end taken by the Spaniards and sent prisoner into Spaine and after long captiuitie got into England by great sute 1602. The description of the I le of Trinidad POrta la Spaniola lyeth North-east The Spaniards name themselues Conquerabians Anapâ—rima is the name of the Riuer which goeth to Corona the Spanish Towne The North part is very mountainous The Indians of Trinidad haue foure names 1. Those of Parico are called Iaios 2. Those of Punta Carao Aruacas 3. Those of Curiadan are called Saluages 4. Those betweene Punta Carao and Punta de la Galera Nepoios But those which are seruants to the Spaniards name themselues Carinapagâ—tos The chiefest of the Indians I meane the Kings and Lords of the Ilands in times past named themselues Acarewanas but now Captaines The description of Guiana and of the great Riuer Orenoco GViana beareth directly East from Peru and lyeth almost vnder the Equinoctiall Line The entrance to the Riuer Orenoco through the Riuer Capuri at the mouth at a full Sea hath nine foot water and at the ebbe but fiue foot The water floweth but a small time but increaseth much and the ebbe goeth but slowly for it continueth sixe houres In the bottome of the Gulfe of Guanipa there is the Riuer of Amana which leadeth into Orenoco also In this Riuer which wee named the Riuer of the Red Crosse wee tooke an old Tinitiuan for our Pilot to Orenoco The Riuer of Orenoco or Barequan hath nine mouthes which lye on the North-side of the mayne land but I could heare but of seuen mouthes vpon the South-side So that betweene Ilands and broken Lands it hath some sixteene mouthes in all The Ilands are somewhat bigge so as I can hardly ghesse how many leagues it is from the North-side to the South-side At the entrance of this Riuer are two great Lords Tiuitiuans which hold warre one with the other continually The one Nation are called the Tiuitiuans of Pallamos and the other of Hororotomaca He that entreth the Riuer of Amana from Curiapan cannot possibly returne the same way hee came by reason of the Easterly windes and the great Currents but must of force goe in a Riuer within the Land which is called Macurio To goe from the I le of Trinidad to the great Riuer Orenoco the Riuer of Amana beareth South But parting from that Riuer by a branch which beareth to the West we entred Orenoco Toparimaca is the chiefe Gouernour vnder Topiawari of the entrance of the Eastermost part of the Riuer Orenoco The Towne of this Gouernour is called Arwacan These are friends to the Carapanans Tiuitiuans and all Nations the Caribes excepted Carapana lyeth in the Prouince of Emeria and the Eastermost part of Dorado is called Emeria Assapana is the first Iland in Orenoco it is but small The second Iland is called Iwana There is another entrance into Orenoco which I discouered not but the Indians name it Arraroopana Europa is a Riuer which commeth into Orenoco but the head of it I know not In the middest of Orenoco there is a pretie bigge Iland which is somewhat mountainous and the name of it is Ocawita One Putima commandeth vnder Topiawari in the Confines of Morrequito which lyeth in the Prouince of Arromaia The Iland of Putapaima is farre vp within the Riuer of Orenoco and standeth right against the high Mountaine called Oecope Ouer this
and hauing vncertaine shoaldings all the way in our way about ten a clocke in the night wee strooke vpon a sand before we could let fall our anchor where wee beat off a piece of our false keele before wee could get off Being gotten off wee came to an anchor in foure fathom and a halfe water and rode there vntill the next morning where wee descryed the land sixe leagues from vs with the entrance of a Riuer The two and twentieth of May wee arriued in the Riuer of Wiapogo in the latitude of three degrees and a halfe to the North of the Line where wee found the people readie to giue vs the best entertainment they could bringing vs Hony Pines Plantons Potatoes Cassaui whereof they make their bread and wine Fish of many sorts Hennes Conies Hogs and such like This day he tooke an oath of all his people to be true to him as long as he abode in the Countrie Then after diuers conferences with the chiefe Indians and namely with two of their Countrie which had beene before in England and could speake some English he found them very willing to haue him and his people abide in their Countrie who pretending want of many necessaries whereof indeed he stood in need and especially of victuals hee went vp the Riuer in his Boat with some fourteene men to take perfect view of a fit place to inhabit in and to sound the depth of the Riuer as they went At his returne he caused his ship to be brought vp hard vnto the falls of the Riuer but after they had stayed there one day finding sundrie inconueniences they came backe againe to their first road with a determination to plant and seate themselues vpon the first Mount or high ground at the entrance of the North side of the Riuer But the Iayos and Sapayos seeing him and his company come downe the Riuer againe entreated him earnestly to stay among them offering him their owne dwelling Houses and Gardens alreadie planted to their hands whereof he accepted to wit of two Houses and of as many Gardens as they thought conuenient to serue his turne with condition that he should ayde and defend them against their enemies the Caribes and others Hereupon they made a great Feast desiring our Captaine to bee at it and they demand of their generalitie of the staying of our men in the Countrey or no. Whereunto they gaue their free consent and desired him withall to send into England for men to teach them to pray This done the next day he brought all his furniture on shoare and bestowed it in the aforesaid houses And for the better assurance of the performance of the Saluages promise he demanded pledges of them to be sent into England whereunto they willingly condescended which where in number fiue whereof two were of good account Hee retayned thirtie fiue Englishmen and Boyes with him sending the rest home in Iune with the fiue Saluages which were plentifully furnished with their Country victuals with Letters to the right Worshipfull Sir Olaue Leigh his brother of his successe and desire to supply his wants which he most kindly twice supplied to his great charge within short time after The Caribes in eight warlike Canowes came to surprize them as farre as the Mount Comaribo whereof the Indians being aduertised by our fishers desired Captaine Leigh to aide them which he did with some foure and twentie of his men in eight Canowes But the battell being begun after they had heard the sound of our Trumpet and Musket they fled to Sea-ward our Canowes chasing them but the enemy being swifter escaped with casting of one of their Canowes which are able to carry twentie men and victuals for ten dayes which Canowe they brought home Within a sennight after our Captaines returne hee made a Voyage in an Indian Canowe hauing Indians to rowe him accompanied only with Thomas Richardson his Refiner of Metals and Iohn Burt his Chirurgion 90. miles by water vp the Riuer of Aracawa to a Nation called the Maurauuas where he traded for Tabacco and Cotton yarne and Cotton-wooll There he left his Chirurgian being sicke and with his Refiner and three Indians whereof one William was his Interpretour went vp to a Nation called Marraias the space of thirtie miles where they passed thorough a goodly Plaine foure miles broad of much stonie ground wherein they saw Deere At length meeting with the people they were kindly entertayned and fed with such as they had as dried Tygres flesh dried Hogges flesh and small fish Then after some discourse they enquired for Gold shewing a Ring An old man spake vnto him and pointed vp into the Countrey and the Captaine asking the Interpreter what he said he told him that he said there was no such that way The Captaine perceiuing the falshood of his Interpretor would goe no further and so returned home where he found vs for the most part sicke and the Indians not so kind vnto vs as they had promised which he much maruelled and grieued at Within three dayes after his returne his shipwright Richard Haward died before hee could make an end of his shallop And in September our Captaine himselfe began to droope partly of griefe to see the weake estate of his people and the ill performance of the Indians promises yet neuerthelesse he ceased not to take order for the Indians bringing in of victuals and such Merchandize as could be gotten as Waxe fine white long Feathers Flaxe Tabacco Parrots Monkeyes greene and blacke Cotton-yarne and Cotton-wooll sweet Gummes red Pepper Vrapo and Apriepo woods Spleene stones matiate stones Roots and Berries which we thought to be medicinable Anato a Berrie or Cod such as the Indians paint themselues red withall mingled with Oyle Vrapo which is the heauie wood whereof they make their Swords and Bowes Apriepo a wood that the Frenchmen and Hollanders fetch away a wood which they call Ayard which they kill fish withall The fishers beate this wood with another piece of wood till it shiuer into flakes which smelleth exceeding strong like Garlicke wherewith in sundry places of the creekes going in according to the depth of the water they beate it vp and downe often in the Riuer which the fish tasting are intoxicated and so distempered with all that they flote and tumble vpon the vpper part of the water and then with Bats and Poles they knocke them on the heads Their bread they make of Cassauia a white Roble commonly a span long and almost so thicke which the women grate in an earthen panne against certaine grates of stone and grate three or foure busshels in a day The iuyce thereof they crush out most carefully beeing ranke poyson raw in a hose of withe which they hang vp vpon an hooke and afterward with a weightie logge which they hang at the other end they squeeze out the water into an earthen pan or piece of a Gourd and then
them which caused diuers of our companie to flie into the Sea vp to their necks and some along the sands as amazed seeing such a huge companie against so small a number vntill young Saint Iohn recouering againe encouraged vs to make a stand at a point of Land which went corner wise into the Sea But all was in vaine for before wee could make our peeces readie there came another companie on the back of vs and filled our bodies full with arrowes and then wee betooke vs to our swords and so runne through them but still they encreased out of the woods shooting their arrowes in great abundance not daring to come neere vs vntill they saw vs fall and then with their great Brasill swords they strooke out our mens braines I my selfe being all this time running with young Saint Iohn and Master Kettleby who behaued themselues most gallantly hauing at the least one hundred arrowes a piece before they fell came at the last into the entrance of a narrow path where fiue of my fellowes were gotten before I came and thinking to haue passed through there was another ambush who killed them all I onely with three arrowes in me by running into the wood and swimming ouer a standing Lake escaped home giuing them warning before they came to assault them and vpon my comming they all came in sight vpon the Sands whom we soone sent away by shooting off our great Peece so they came not in three dayes after Vpon Monday there came to the number of thirteene or fourteene hundreth both by Sea and Land and there beset vs round wee hauing nothing but our Chists to defend vs from their arrowes thus for the space of seuen or eight dayes we fought with them and of nineteene men which were left of all our companie twelue were sore wounded with their arrowes And the first day at twelue a clocke they shot fire in their arrowes and burned our houses thinking then to haue entred in vpon vs but with our Falcon wee droue them backe with most horrible cryes After that our houses were burned and all our Chists which before were our Fort wee fortified our selues with the remnants of the stakes and thatch which we had saued from burning setting them in the ground slopewise couering it with sand and earth which saued vs euer after from their arrowes The next day after they all departed in their Periaguas And the Lord seeing what need wee had of food contrarie to our expectation mooued the hearts of our very enemies to bring vs food For when all the rest were out of sight one returned very well prouided of victuall and three or foure comming out of their Piragua with asmuch as they were able to carry of Cassaui Potatoes and Plantans cryed vnto vs to exchange with them first holding vp their bowes and arrowes and after laying them on the ground againe in signe of peace Which wee perceiuing sent out three likewise to bargaine without weapons with Kniues and Beades and other trifles which traffick being done they departed and we returned giuing praise to God for this miraculous feeding of vs. For we had no meanes of our selues to get any food for they had bereft vs of our Net with which we had wont to catch as much fish of many sorts as would suffice vs for a whole day Thus they continued daily for the space of seuen dayes and then our victuals began to faile againe which caused vs to hold out a flagge of truce which they perceiuing came in peaceable manner vnto vs. Then one Francis Brace which could speake French made them vnderstand that our desire was to giue them all that we had if they would let vs haue a Piragua to carry vs away Which one Captaine Antonie willingly consented vnto contrarie to the will of his brother Augramert Captaine of Saint Vincent and the next day brought it drawing it on shoare within the compasse of our Fort for which we gaue them Hatchets Kniues and Beades vntill they were contented and to please them the more we gaue them euery one a Shouell or a Spade wherewith they were fully contented and so departed Then with all speede we went all to worke some vpon the Saile which we made of very good Roan-cloth and some to make the Mast and euery one did labour all he could to be readie against night For Captaine Antonie which was Captaine of Santa Lucia told vs that his brother Augramert would come the next day from Saint Vincent with twelue Periaguas all laden with arrowes whose words we alwayes found true Thus on a thursday the sixe and twentieth of September at one of the clocke after midnight hauing amongst vs all but one Barrico of fresh water to drinke and one small Firkin of Rice we embarked our selues being nineteene in the whole number not one hauing skill in the Mariners art and without Carde or Compasse to direct vs wee sayled by the Sunne in the day-time and by the Starres in the night going alwayes betwixt South-west and by West The victuals that wee had were not sufficient to serue that companie for three dayes For wee had not aboue twentie Biscuits three Cassaui cakes a dosen Plantans and some thirtie Potatoes and some foure or fiue gallons of water and a little barrell halfe full of Rice And as it pleased the Lord he had saued it vntill this our great necessitie for the preseruation of our liues for all our other victuall was gone in two dayes and our water in three dayes And then Master Garret gaue to euery two of vs a pottage dish of his Rice twice a day which wee washed in salt water and so eate it raw Thus we continued at Sea seeking for Land for the space of ten dayes where wee endured one great tempest although to our great perill looking alwayes when wee should be drenched The raine which then fell was vnto vs in the middest of our danger a great comfort for we saued it with great ioy and dranke it thanking God for that good refreshing who likewise did send the very Fowles of the aire to feed vs. For being wearie of their flight they would rest them vpon the side of our Boat so that we tooke them and dryed them in the Sunne with a little gun-powder and eate them Our Boats brimme was so neere the water that euery waue came ouer it readie to sinke vs but that foure of vs continually did lade the water forth by courses Now on the tenth day one Thomas Morgan dyed not being able to liue of that small allowance and at noone we threw him ouer board Within an houre after it pleased God to glad vs who were likewise readie to follow our fellow with a ioyfull sight of Land vnto the neerest part whereof we made as fast as we could But the winde being calme we were benighted before we could come to it And so wanting the light of the day we were vpon the shoare before
wee were aware and there split our Boat to the middest and all our men were turned out saue my selfe which held the helme thinking the next waue would set her off againe not knowing her to be split But the breach was so great that it turned me vnder putting me in great danger to be grinded to pieces with her weight lying vpon me against the great Rocks yet at the last wee all recouered our selues some sitting vpon the Rocks others on the rootes of great Trees thinking there to saue our selues vntill the morning William Picks and my selfe went and haled the Boat on shoare which was split to the very middest and so farre with our Swords we cut off and put in an head in the middest and fastened it with our Daggers Kniues and Bodkins stopping all the leakes with our shirts and sent fiue of our companie ouer to the mayne land which were Miles Pet William Picks Francis Brace William Kettleby and William Butcher They haled their Boat foure or fiue dayes along the shoare crossing diuers Riuers with their Boat being sometimes pursued by Alligatos or Crocodiles and Sharkes God pittying their poore estate guided them to a place where they found a great earthen Iarre full of wheat flower set in a little Caue which they boyled in the Iarre with fresh water and satisfied their hungrie appetites with thanks vnto God for the same And within two dayes after they met with three Spaniards with halfe a dosen Indians and Negroes trauelling from Caracas to Coro driuing Horses and Mules laden with merchandise who seeing their weaknesse for want of victuals vnloded their Horses to feede on the grasse while they refreshed our hungrie men with plentie of their good cheere and shewed themselues very courteous suffering them to ride and went themselues on foot two or three dayes till they came to a Towne of ciuill Indians called Tocoya where they stayed to refresh them for they were very weake And there they let the Spaniards know in what miserable case they left vs in a desolate Iland where we endured the greatest miserie that euer men did with life For wee continued fifteene dayes hauing no kinde of meat but Wilks falt Water and Tabacco which did nothing at all nourish vs yet neuerthelesse it tooke away the desire of hunger and saued vs from eating one another In those fifteene dayes fiue of our companie pined to death because they could not take Tabacco Iohn Parkins Edward Greene Thomas Siubbes Andrew Swash and an old man called Iohn By noting two or three of our men to die we knew by those tokens when we drew neere our death which were these first they would swell very bigge and shortly after fall to the very bones and wanting strength to hold vp their heads they would fall downe and droope into their bosomes and in twelue houres after yeeld vp the Ghost At the fifteene dayes end Francis Brace hauing more strength then the rest guided the three Spaniards with sixe Indians to the Iland where we were and they brought victuals with them which when we had eaten had almost killed vs by reason of the weaknesse of our stomacks being so farre spent that we could not digest it although we fed thereof very sparingly The next day they carried vs to the mayne land where wee had horses brought vs to carry vs and the goods wee had they tooke all to the King of Spaines vse and so conueyed vs to Tocoya where wee which were weake remayned fifteene dayes and those which were strong went with the three Spaniards to Coro which is some fiftie leagues from Tocoya and at the fifteene dayes end one of the Spaniards whose name was Sennor Coraianal came for vs with horses who shewed himselfe as carefull of vs as if we had beene his owne Countrimen and friends and brought vs to Coro to our fellowes where we were brought before the Gouernour and by a Flemming which could speake a little English which had beene a prisoner there sixteene yeeres we were examined of the cause of our comming thither who excused vs very well For hee knew that if we had confessed whether we were determined to goe they would haue either put vs to death or condemned vs to the Gallies But he told them that we neuer purposed to come thither but were by misfortune and tempest of winde and weather driuen on that Coast and told them of all the dangers which we had endured which draue them into such great admiration that some said verily wee were Deuils and not Men others that we deserued to bee canonized but that wee were Lutherans All the chiefe Sennors of the Towne beeing there euery man was desirous to take one of vs. After we were deuided among them they did not vse vs like prisoners but were as carefull of vs as of their owne children not suffering vs to want any thing necessarie for the procuring of our healths My lot fell out to bee entertained by one whose name was Sentor Francisco Lopez and being extreamely sicke of a Calenture or hot Feuer one Captaine Peroso which had married his daughter hauing good skill in Phisicke came daily to my Chamber and there let me bloud dieted me and purged me giuing his owne Wife in charge not to let me want any thing that was there to be had Thus by the will of God and their tender care ouer vs wee recouered our healths and strengths againe only two dyed there which were Thomas Fletcher and Fulke Iones a shoomaker In Coro eleuen of vs remayned aliue being all that were left of sixtie seuen which were put on shore in the Iland of Santa Luzia for the space of fiue moneths euery day going to one another when wee pleased and wee rid often into the Countrey where the Indians tooke great delight in our company For against our comming they would prouide all kind of delicious fruits which were in most abundance in that Countrey and would kill Deere and wild Hogs for vs and would bring vs Apes Monkeyes Parrots and any thing that they thought wee delighted in The Countrey about Coro doth yeeld abundance of Sugar Honey Ginger and Pitch Also they haue very good Wheate growing there but the bread is for the most part made of Maiz whereof they haue great plentie for they reape it three times in one yeere This Maiz they do mingle with the iuyce of the Sugar-cane which maketh an excellent kinde of bread and it will keepe like Bisket Also they make their drinke of this Maiz and of Potatoes which is very sweet and strong for the Indians will be quickly drunke with it While we were there a Spaniard rode to a Farme of his in the Countrey with his brother where he had many Indians dwelling to make Tabacco One of his chiefe Indians which vsed to be familiar with him tooke vp a new Hatchet which his Master had brought him asking him
About the third of October the Indians did request vs for to accompany them in their warres against the Caribes whereunto wee willingly did agree They prouided seuen Canoas furnishing them with men and bread and drinke and their victuals for the most part Crabs and fish of diuers sorts which they take euery day fresh and fresh as they trauell in the Riuers We went into the Riuer of Caliane which is some thirtie leagues from Wiapoco where wee rowed vp and downe but we could not find any of the Caribes in the Riuer we perswaded them to land which they did and marched vp some two miles vnto the Caribes houses as wee marched to their houses the Caribes came to the water side where our Canoas did lye but finding my selfe therewith my Caliuer they had no great desire to come very neere vnto vs and so after wee had burned some of their houses and killed diuers of them our company returned to our Canoas hauing lost one of the Indian Captaines named Macato others of the Indians were shot with three of our company whom they healed as they did themselues with a leafe very speedily They are armed in their warres with naked skins and their Artillery are Bowes and Arrowes their Weapons woodden Swords and Bucklers They choose their Captaines at their drunken Feasts he is placed in the middest of the whole company holding his hands on his head After they haue made an Oration vnto him to be valiant and not to be treacherous vnto them with such like speeches they whip him with a Whip which maketh the bloud spring out of his bodie at euery stroke and he neuer once mooueth thereat By these meanes they try his patience and courage After we had shipped our selues into our Canoas wee rowed vp and downe the riuer of Caliane some eight or ten dayes which wee noted for to be a very faire Riuer and nauigable It runneth diuers wayes from the mayne Land and great store of such commodities hereafter specified which the Countrey yeeldeth is to be had in the said Riuer We returned vnto our houses at Wiapoco about the first of Nouember In this Iourney we were kindly vsed of our consorts our Indians and highly respected of them for our seruice which we did After a few dayes rest at Wiapoco the Indians aduertised vs of three Ships which were in the Riuer of Amasons and that one of them would come vnto vs to the Riuer of Wiapoco some two moneths after which proued to be true but by what meanes they knew it I could not imagine except it were by their diuels meanes which they call their Peyar with whom the men haue often conference and it will answere them but the women neuer that I could perceiue when the men will conferre with their Peyar they suffer not a childe to be in the house and when any of them are sicke they know by him whether they shall liue or dye if he saith they shall dye they will giue the sicke person no physicke but if he say that he shall liue then they will giue him any thing they haue for his comfort After our company was aduertised of a Shippes comming vnto vs we went with the Indians in their Canoas some into the Riuer of Wiapoco and some into the Riuer of Arocow to make away such commodities as we had left which were not many reseruing some of them to giue to our Indians for our victuals although their kindenesse towards vs was such that if we had not had any commodities they would not haue suffered vs to haue wanted In which our iourney we noted the Riuer of Aracow to be a very pleasant Riuer and yeeldeth such commodities as other Riuers doe also the Riuer of Wiapoco is a very faire Riuer and nauigable which entreth the maine more then fortie miles And at the end thereof there is a very great fall of water which commeth ouer great hils and mountaines some of our company were on the tops of them for some moneths in the yeare the Mountaines are drie and we were informed that on the other side of those great hils there is a Riuer which is inhabited with many Indians and hath the like commodities that Wiapoco hath and that there is Gold in that place which the Indians calleth Carocorâ—e but we neuer went to see the same Riuer by reason we had very small store of commodities At our returne to Wyapoco we gaue to the Indians for their paines and prouiding of vs victuals in our iourney an Axe for which they would haue trauelled with vs two or three moneths time if occasion had required And for an Axe they found vs victuals two moneths time at our houses as Bread and Drinke and Crabbes and Fish and all such kinde of flesh as they killed for themselues for the same price but if we desired any Hennes or Cockes of them then we were to haue giuen them some small trifles as Beades so likewise if they brought vs in our trauell to any of their friend Indians houses we must doe the like as at our departure to giue them some trifles as Kniues and Beades So that we liued very good cheape There are of the Indians three sorts which inhabit at Wyapoco with whom wee were whose houses be scituated as neere the Riuers mouth as they well may be they are named the Yayes the Arwalkes and the Suppayes The Yayes are a people very proud and vse much flouting and mocking of others much giuen vnto dansing and are full of merriment very ingenious and very kinde of nature The Arwackes are a people of better carriage and did vse our company with better respect then the Yayes These two kindes of Indians come out of the West wherefore they doe know all those Coasts and they hate the Spaniards as deadly as they doe the Caribes The Suppayes are a people more craftie in their dealings for they will not part with any thing but will haue commodities for commodities They are not many of them and wee could not learne from whence they are come The men and women goe all naked without any couerture at all they are very well limmed and proportioned of body They neuer company together all the day time but as the women doe bring them their victuals they doe eate vsually euery day they haue doores at each end of their houses the men remaine at the one end of the house the women at the other The women are very neate in making of their Bread which they call Aripo and their drinke Passhe they make their Bread and Drinke of a roote which they call Cassaui which maketh good Bread and very strong drink very pleasant to drinke after one is vsed to it Their houses are built after the manner of our barnes in England but much longer for we haue measured some of them which were one hundred and fiftie paces long and some twenty
where the Spaniards entertained him and his companie very kindely for they gaue them Tobacco for all such commodities as they had and suffered them to lade Pitch which goeth out of the ground there for that our Master durst not goe to Point de Ree to lade Sault there as he determined because hee heard that the Spaniard did lye there with their men of warre and had taken certaine Holland Shippes and had flung ouer boord all the men that were in them our Master tooke his course from Trinidado to Amsterdam where he arriued on the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 and were in number of vs eight besides my selfe named Owen Goâ—ldwell Robert Gardner William Crandall Robert Becke Richard Pren William Frier Gilbert Browne and Richard Bonocke Since my being here I vnderstand that one of our company which we left at Vlishinge named William Crandall is gone in a Shippe of Holland for Wyapoco which voyage they would haue hired my selfe and others to haue gone with them by reason we haue the Indians languages such is the diligence of that Nation vnto whom I wish well for the great kindenesse they shewed my selfe and others of our Nation CHAP. XV. Part of a Treatise written by Master WILLIAM TVRNER Sonne to Doctor TVRNER of London a Phisitian touching the former Voyage THe foureteenth of August about two in the afternoone we had sight of the Barbados which bore of vs South South-west The Land hath two points bearing East and West one from another and from the middle of it it riseth like Tenerife and is tenne leagues broad and is barbarous without any inhabitants hauing great store of Hogges Piggeons and Parrats We bore for the Westermost part of this Iland and so wee steered away West North-west and North-west and by West amongst for Saint Lucia The fifteenth day being thursday we had sight of Saint Lucia bearing West North-west of vs. This Iland of Saint Lucia is a very fertile I le bearing many sorts of fruites as Plantons Potatoes Pinos Guanos Pompins Cassado and many other fruites It hath also great store of Cotten wooll and Tobacco but their Tobacco is not very good It hath also many wilde Beasts in it as Tygars Guanes Alagartos and other Beasts which time would not permit vs to see It hath also great store of Pigeons Parrats Pellicans Cats and Dogges The people goe naked hauing very long haire and are very honest kinde hearted people In this Iland wee set our passengers ashoare and furnished them with all things necessary that our distressed Shippe could afford them But they like treacherous idle disposed people not regarding our kindenesse nor pittying our necessitie betraied our Boate from vs one morning as wee went ashoare my selfe and three or foure other Gentlemen being in her and then they detained three Saylers which were drawing in the Boate keeping them for their owne vse and afterward sent vs aboord in a Canoa which we were faine to buy of them for Kniues The Master and the Captaine seeing this their treacherous dealing and being out of all hope to get their Boate againe about thursday in the euening being the three and twentieth of August gaue them a Peece of Ordnance with intent to beate downe their houses We had no sooner let flye at them but presently they shot at vs againe the bullet whereof came betweene our maine Mast and our Poope but it hurt no body So that night we waied and went to a Baye some two leagues to leeward of this roade where we first ankored In this Bay there are halfe a dosen of Indian houses very pleasantly scituated vpon the top of a hill with a fresh water Riuer at the foote of the same hill and in this Baye we had very good trafficke of linnen cloath and many pleasant fruites for our Hatchets and Kniues After we had roade here some sixe houres we might plainly discerne our Boate vndersaile whereupon we presently fitted our small shot hoping that their intent was to come aboord and betray our Shippe but they tacked in and rowed alongst the shoare till they came to the very Bay where we roade and there they stopped and we were in good hope to recouer our Boate againe but they tarried there trading for their commodities in the face of our Ordnance whereupon we seeing their daring boldnesse to be so great that they presumed to trafficke in our owne Boate before our noses and to goe about as it were to stop vs from trafficke we let flye at them sixe peeces of Ordnance and a vallie of small shot but what harme we did amongst them we know not for they rowed away and got out of sight of vs. We tearmed the Baye where we put these men a shoare Rogues Baye the Cape we called Cape Knaue and the Riuer Riuer of Rascols This very same day being the foure and twentieth of August we waied anchor and steered away South South-east and South-east and by South amongst for Saint Uincents And vpon Saturday the fiue and twentieth day in the afternoone we arriued at the Iland of Saint Vincents where we came within a Ships length very nigh the shoare which put vs all in great feare for if God had not sent vs a gale from the shoare we had runne a ground and we had had all our throates cut by the Indians of that Iland So that night we tried it off at Sea with our fore-top-saile and fore-saile intending next day being Sunday to stand it in againe for the shoare because we had good hope of good trafficke there But the current had driuen vs so farre off at Sea by the next morning and the winde blew so vehemently from the shoare that we could by no meanes fetch the land whereupon being foure leaues from the shoare of Saint Vincents we steered away South South-west and South-west and by South amongst for the Testigoes And the next morning being monday we had sight of the Granados bearing of vs South-east but we could not fetch the Testigos The nine and twentieth being Wednesday morning we had sight of fiue small Rocks which bore of vs West and by North some fiue leagues off wee had also sight of the Iland of Blanco whereby wee found that the Current had set vs and doth set to the North-east and therefore your best course to goe from the Granados to the Testigos is to steere away South-west The first of September being Friday morning wee had sight of Margarita and at night wee cast anchor at the Westermost Point of this Iland called Point Macanao The second day the next morning wee went ashoare with our Canoa to see if wee could meete with any Spaniards with whom wee might bargaine for some Beeues But wee could neither see Spaniards Beeues nor fresh-water onely we found the dung of Beeues In this Iland of Margarita also there are great store of Pelicans This morning wee weighed and as soone as wee had doubled
aboue two houres which time they spent in debating the matter after their manner and drinking Aquauitae and in the end desired my presence and made me this answere That they were contented and well pleased we should liue amongst them that they would furnish vs with houses to lodge in and prouide all necessaries for vs in the best manner they could But whereas I said our King would permit his people to liue and abide amongst them and defend them against their enemies they answered it was a thing they greatly desired and had expected long and now they made much doubt thereof and said they were but words hauing heretofore beene promised the like but nothing performed To resolue that doubt and make good my speeches I told them what I had spoken should certainely be performed and to that end I would leaue my brother in their Country and some of my company with him to dwell amongst them vntill a greater supply might be sent from England for their better defence Then they seemed to giue credit to my words And so after much talke and many complements to please the naked people I gaue to Cara sana a Sword and to the rest some other things which pleased them well and then after their manner taking their leaue they departed The next day the Indian Martyn went ashoare and seemed ioyfull that he had againe recouered his owne home The day following I tooke land with my companies in armes and colours displayed and went vp vnto the Towne where I found all the women and children standing at their doores to behold vs. The principall Indians came out vnto me and inuited me into the Captaines house which vntill the returne of Martyn belonged vnto his brother as chiefe Lord in his absence I went vp with them and was friendly feasted with many kindes of their Countrie cates when I had well eaten and refreshed my selfe Martyn tooke me by the hand and said that he had not any thing wherewith to requite my kindenesse towards him in such manner as he desired neither had he such delicate fare and good lodging for vs as in England heretofore we had beene vsed vnto but humbly intreated me to accept of his house in good part for my selfe and the Gentlemen of my company and the rest should be lodged in other Indian houses adioyning and that such prouision as the Country yeeldeth should be prouided for vs. His speech was approued by the rest of the Indians present who tooke me by the hand one after another and after their manner bad me welcome I gaue them many thankes and some rewards for their kinde entertainment and then disposed my company in conuenient lodgings but yet I kept a continuall guard as in time of warre When I had thus setled my company at this village I went out to view the scituation of the place and the aduantages for defence thereof It is a great rockie Mountaine not accessable by reason of fast woods and steepe rockes but onely in certaine places which are narrow foote-paths very steepe and easie to be defended whereby we were lodged as in a Fort and most conueniently in respect the harbour was so neere for our Ships did ride at anchor vnderneath vs ouer against the foote of the hill Being thus arriued vpon the Coast I found the time of the yeare so vnseasonable for our purpose that by reason of continuall raines we were constrained to lye still and doe nothing for the space of three weekes or a moneth in which idle time I conferred with the Indians sometime with one sometime with another and by helpe of my Indian Anthony Canabre and the Indian Iohn aboue mentioned whom I vsed for my interpreters I gathered from them as well as I could the State of their Countrie the manner of their gouernment and liuing how they stood with their neighbours in tearmes of peace and warre and of what power and strength they were I inquired also of the seasons of the yeare in those parts of their diuision and account of times and numbers of the prouisions of their Countrie for victuals and other necessaries and made a diligent inquiry of all the commodities their Country yeeldeth and what things were of most estimation amongst them all which I haue briefely declared vnto your Highnesse in this following discourse THis goodly Countrie and spacious Empire is on the North part bounded with the Sea and the great Riuer of Orenoque wherein Sir Walter Raleigh performed his worthy and memorable discouery on the East and South parts with the famous Riuer of Amazones and on the West part with the Mountaines of Peru. The westermost branch of the Riuer of Amazones that falleth into the Sea is called Arrapoco vpon which Riuer are seated many goodly Signiories well deseruing a particular discouery which shall by Gods permission be performed hereafter To the North of Arrapoco is the Riuer of Arrawary which is a goodly Riuer discouering a gallant Countrie From Arrawary vnto the Riuer of Cassipurogh extendeth the Prouince of Arricary containing the Signiories of Arrawary Maicary and Cooshebery of which Anakyury is principall who by Nation is a Yaio and fled from the borders of Orenoque for feare of the Spaniards to whom he is a mortall enemy He hath seated himselfe in the Prouince of Arricary and now dwelleth at Morooga in the Signiory of Maicari To the North North-west of which there falleth into the Sea a Riuer called Conawini whereupon the Signiory of Cooshebery bordereth whereof an Indian named Leonard Ragapo is Chiefe vnder the subiection of Anaki-v-ry This Indian is christened and hath beene heretofore in England with Sir Walter Raleigh to whom he beareth great affection he can a little vnderstand and speake our language and loueth our Nation with all his heart During my aboad at Wiapoco hauing intelligence of him and of his Country and that certaine stones were found therein supposed to be Diamonds I sent my Cozen Captaine Fisher to discouer the same and fetch some of those stones to be resolued of the truth At his comming thither Leonard entertained him with all kindenesse not after the ordinary rude manner of the Indians but in more ciuill fashion and with much respect and loue he furnished him with guides to conduct him through the Country to the place where the Stones were found being fifty miles Southward vp into the Land beyond which place there is an high Mountaine appearing in sight called Cowob and on the top thereof as the Indians report a great Lake or Poole full of excellent fish of diuers kindes The Countrey was as pleasant and delightfull as euer any man beheld but the Stones not Diamonds yet they were Topases which being well cut and set in Gold by a cunning workman doe make as faire a shew and giue as good a lustre as any Diamond whatsoeuer which yeelde good hopes of better to be found
hereafter For where the Topas is found on the Mountaines of Tenaseren in the East Indies the greatest store of Diamonds are also found When my kinsman returned Daptaine Leonard came with him to Wiapoco being aboue an hundred miles from his owne Country onely to visite me and my company for the great loue he did beare to Sir Walter Raleigh and our Nation I much maruelled to see him for assuredly he is the brauest Indian of all those parts After he had beene with me a day or two he earnestly requested me to send some of my company into his Countrey which he greatly commended for the wholesome ayre and plenty of victuals alleading that the place where then wee liued by his owne experience was very vnhealthfull that our men would there be subiect to sickenesse and die and for an instance he named Captaine Lee and his company who formerly were planted there and almost all dyed by sicknesse in the same place But he assured me that his own Country Cooshebery was of a good ayre pleasant and healthfull that there they might haue roome sufficient to build English houses in for those were the words hee vsed that thither they should be welcome and should want nothing Much he perswaded to draw me to his desire which by his importunity I granted and accordingly performed it finding his Country answerable to his report being for the most part champian ground naturally intermixt of plaine fields fruitefull meadowes and goodly woods in such admirable order as if they had beene planted artificially by handy labour The fields appearing aboue the meadowes in pleasant and delightfull manner presenting here and there vnto the eye from stately Mounts most beautifull and liuely prospects the meadowes bordering on euery side betweene the fields and woods the woods growing in the lowest valleys betwixt the meadowes and commonly are â—watered with sweete and pleasant fresh streames running through them which strange and rare mixture of Mounts Valleyes Meadowes Fields and Woods afford as excellent and healthfull habitations as can be wished or desired but is not greatly peopled From the Riuer of Cassipurogh N. Westward to the Riuer of Arracow and vp further into the Land towards the West and South-west as farre as the Riuer of Arwy which falleth into Wiapoco aboue the ouerfalles extend the Prouinces of Arracoory and Morownia which also to the landward by the relation of my Brother Captaine Michael Harcourt and Captaine Haruey who haue trauelled and discouered those parts are pleasant and delightfull plaine Countries like vnto Cooshebery The Arracoory Countrie is well pleopled and their chiefe Captaine is called Ipero Betwixt the Wiapocoories and Arracoories there is no hearty loue and friendship yet in outward shew they hold good quarter In Morrownia there is also store of people which are friendly Indians In that Prouince there is a very high Hill called Callipuny fashioned like a Sugerloafe or a Pyramis which oueruieweth and discouereth all the Territories adioyning aboue an hundred miles Beyond the Country of Morrowni to the Southward bordering the Riuer of Arwy is the Prouince of Norrak the people thereof are Charibes and enemies both to the Morrowinnes the inhabitants of Morrownia and to the Wiapopoories who are also vnder the subiection of Anaky-v-ry the principall and greatest Lord or Cassique of all the Yaios in those Prouinces bordering vpon the Sea betwixt the Amazones South-eastward and Dessequebe North-westward From the Riuer of Amazones to the Bay of Wiapoco there fall into the Sea these Riuers following Arrapoco a branch of Amazones Arrawary Micary Conawini and Cassipuroph In the Bay of Wiapooco to the East of the said Riuer there falleth into the Sea the Riuer of Arracow and into Arracow falleth the Riuer of VVatts To the North of VViapoco there is a small creeke called Wianary which letteth into the Sea a dayes iourney Westward vp into the land some take this creeke to be a Riuer but they doe erre in that opinion it hauing neither Spring nor Fountaine from whence it falleth To the North and North-west of the said creeke there is a ridge of high Mountaines running towards the Riuer of Apurwaca the soile whereof is excellent and fertile for Tobacco and beareth the best of all those parts so are the Sugar-canes there growing the best and fairest that are found vpon the Coast and all the tract of Land betwixt the Riuer of VViapoco and Apurwaca is accounted the Prouince of VViapocoory containing the Signiories of VViapoco and VVianary Beneath the ouerfals in VViapoco which are forty miles distant from the Sea there is much people both of Yaios and Arwaccas of the Yaios in this Riuer Carasana is chiefe Of the Arwaccas Arriquona is principall In Wianary there are few Indians and Casurino is their chiefetaine To the North-west of the Bay of Wiapoco there fall into the Sea the Riuer of Apurwaca Cowo Wio and Caiane Apurwaca is a goodly Riuer and well inhabited Cowo is voide of inhabitants Wio is a faire Riuer and leadeth many dayes iourney into the high land â—and discouereth a fertile and hopefull Countrey At Caiane there is an excellent harbour for shipping of any burden which heretofore by Captaine Lawrence Keymis was called Port Howard On the Starbood side as you enter this harbour there is an Iland of low land called Muccumbro scituate betwixt the Riuer of Caiane and Meccoria containing in circuit about sixteene leaues In this Iland there are two hils the one called Muccumbro whereof the Iland taketh the name the other called Cillicedemo from these hils the greatest part of the Iland may be oueruiewed which containeth many goodly Pastures and Meadowes intermixt with some Woods and is full of Deere both red and fallow On the Larboord side as you enter Caiane there is another Iland of high Land called Mattoory in quantitie much like vnto the first this Iland for the commodious scituation is of great effâ—ct for the defence of the harbour affording naturally two such notable conuenient places for the planting of Ordnance for that purpose as no industry of art could deuise better or more auaileable The Inhabitants of this Prouince of Caiane are Charibes their principall commander is called Arrawicary who dwelleth at Cillicedemo before mentioned we haue found him trusty and faithfull to our Nation but to our friend Leonard of Cooshebery he is a mortall enemy At this mans house I left foure or fiue of my company thereby to hold amity and friendship with the Charibes to learne their language and to keepe peace betweene them and the Yaios Arwaccas and other Narions their allies To the South-westward of these Prouinces aboue mentioned towards the high land there be many others which hereafter shall be more exactly described by a second discouery These Prouinces Signiories to the landward are not plentifully inhabited the greatest numbers of people are seated neare vnto the Riuers trauell from place to place in
the Sunne returneth towards the Tropicke of Cancer then doe the raines begin increase and decrease from Frbruary to Iuly but sometimes they begin to fall and the Riuers to rise swell and ouerflow sooner or later by a moneth and the yeare is sometimes more or lesse windie and wet according to the disposition of the heauens and of the Planets and as the Sun approacheth or declineth little or much euen so the earth wanteth or aboundeth with water and moisture They haue no diuision or account of times or numbers they onely reckon by the Moones as one two three foure or fiue Moones or by dayes in like manner Their numbers they reckon thus one two three and so to ten then they say ten and one ten and two ten and three c. And to shew their meaning more certainly they will hold vp one two three or more of their fingers expressing the numbers still making signes as they speake the better to declare their meaning when they will reckon twenty they will hold downe both their hands to their feete shewing all their fingers and toes and as the number is greater so will they double the signe When they appoint or promise any thing to be done by a time limited they will deliuer a little bundle of sticks equall to the number of dayes or Moones that they appoint and will themselues keepe another bundle of the like number and to obserue their appointed time they will euery day or Moone take away a sticke and when they haue taken away all then they know that the time of their appointment is come and will accordingly performe their promise As touching Religion they haue none amongst them that I could perceiue more then a certaine obseruance of the Sunne and Moone supposing them to be aliue but vsing no religious worship towards them nor offer sacrifice to any thing vnlesse they vse a superstition in their drinking feasts by sacrificing Iarres of drinke for at the death of any of their Cassiques Captaines or great friends whom they esteeme they will make a solemne feast their chiefest prouision being of their best and strongest drinke which they call Parranow which feast shall continue three or foure dayes or as long as their liquor lasteth spending their time in dancing singing and drinking excessiuely in which vice they exceede all other Nations whatsoener accounting him that will be drunke first the brauest fellow during this solemnitie of their drinking some women being neerest of their kin vnto the party dead doth stand by and cry extreamely thus their manner is vntill their drinke be spent and then the feast is ended Whether they vse any superstition in this custome I know not time will reueale and also reforme it It is most certaine that their Peeaios as they call them Priests or Southsayers at some speciall times haue conference with the Diuell the common deceiuer of mankinde whom they call Wattipa and are by him deluded yet not withstanding their often conference with him they feare and hate him much and say that he is nought and not without great reason for hee will oftentimes to their great terror beate them blacke and blew They beleeue that the good Indians when they dye goe vp and will point towards the heauens which they call Caupo and that the bad Indians goe downe pointing to the earth which they call Soy When any Cassique Captaine or chiefe man dieth amongst them if he haue a slaue or prisoner taken from their enemies they will kill him and if he haue none such then will they kill one of his other seruants that he may haue one to attend him in the other world The qualitie of the Land in those Countries is of diuers kindes by the Sea side the Land is low where the heate would be most vehement if it were not qualified and tempered by a fresh Easterly winde or Brieze most forcibly blowing in the heate of the day in many places this low land is very vnhealthfull and little inhabited by reason of the ouer-flowing of the waters but for the most part it hath goodly nauigable Riuers a fertile soyle much people and is a healthfull habitation Vpon the Mountaines there is a high land where the ayre is coldest in some places it is fruitfull in others not but generall is full of Minerals and mines of mettals and yeeldeth as many as any part either of the East or West Indies both of the best and of the basest whereof we shall by Gods permission giue good testimony to the benefit of our Countrey and honour of our Nation in time conuenient and in most places vpon the Mountaines there is sound and healthfull dwelling There is also a middle sort of land which is of a meane height and is most temperate healthfull fertile and most inhabited of all other it aboundeth in Meadowes Pastures and pleasant streames of fresh water in goodly woods and most delightfull Plaines for profit pleasure sport and recreation and also is not void of Minerals The prouisions of this Countrey for victuals are many First of the roote of a tree called Cassaui they make their Bread in manner following they grate the roote vpon a stone and presse out the iuice thereof which being rawe is poyson but boiled with Guinea Pepper whereof they haue abundance it maketh an excellent and wholesome sawce then they drie the grated roote and bake it vpon a stone as we bake our Oaten cakes in England This Bread is very excellent much like but farre better then our great Oaten cakes a finger thicke which are vsed in the Moorelands and the Peake in Staffordshire and Darbyshire There is a kinde of great Wheat called Maix of some it is called Guinea Wheat which graine is a singular prouision in those Countries and yeeldeth admirable increase euen a thousand or fifteene hundred for one and many times much more It maketh excellent meale or flower for Bread and very good Malt for Beere or Ale and serueth well for sundry other necessary vses for the reliefe of man Of the aforesaid Cassaui bread and this Wheate the Indians make drinke which they call Passiaw it will not keepe long but must be spent within foure or fiue dayes they make another kinde of drinke of Cassaui called Parranow very good and strong much like vnto our best March beere in England and that kinde of drinke will keepe ten dayes many sorts they haue which I haue tasted some strong some small some thicke some thin but all good being well made as commonly they were amongst the Yaios and Arwaccas which are the clenliest people of all those Nations There is great store of hony in the Country and although it be wilde being taken out of trees and buries in the earth yet is it as good as any in the world of which may be made an excellent drinke much vsed in Wales called Meath The hony and the waxe are also good commodities for
great occasion by way of gift to speciall persons When the raines ceased which was in Iuly I beganne to trauell abroad in search of those golden Mountaines promised vnto vs before the beginning of our Voyage by one that vndertooke to guide vs to them which filled my company so full of vaine expectation and golden hopes that their insatiable and couetous mindes being wholy set thereon could not bee satisfied with any thing but only Gold Our guide that vainly made those great promises beeing come vnto the wished place to make performance was then possessed with a shamelesse spirit of ignorance for hee knew little and could performe nothing What other intelligences of Mynes alreadie found I had from other men in England and from the Master of my ship who had beene heretofore in those parts I found them by experience false and nothing true concerning Mynes that was in England reported vnto me Our greedie desire of Gold being thus made frustrate diuers vnconstant persons of my vnruly company began to murmure to bee discontented to kindle discords and dissentions and to stir vp mutinie euen almost to the confusion and ruine of vs all and were vpon the point to shake off all obedience to their commanders to abandon patience peace and vnitie and wilfully to breake out into all mischiese and wretched disorder onely because they were deceiued of their golden hopes and expectations but with good words and comfortable perswasions I pacified them for the time and made them acquainted with my better hopes conceiued of the commodities aboue mentioned I perswaded them in generall from idlenesse to trauell abroad to search and seeke out amongst the Indians what other nouelties they could though Gold were wanting whereby we might hereafter benefit our selues and still I employed them some one way and some another to occupie their minds by doing something the better to preuent dissention which commonly is bred of idlenesse the slouthfull Mother of all filthy viees As I daily conuersed amongst the Indians it chanced one day that one of them presented me with a halfe Moone of Metall which held somewhat more then a third part Gold the rest Copper another also gaue me a little Image of the same Metall and of another I bought a plate of the same which he called a spread Eagle for an Axe All which things they assured mee were made in the high Countrey of Guiana which they said did abound with Images of Gold by them called Carrecoory These things I shewed to my company to settle their troubled minds which gaue much contentment to the greater part of them and satisfied vs all that there was Gold in Guiana Shortly after that my Indian Anthony Canabre brought me a piece of a Rocke of white Sparre whereof the high Countrey is full And if the white Sparres of this kinde which are the purest white of all others for euery sort of Myne hath a Sparre and for the most part white be in a maine Rocke they are certainly Mynes of Gold or Siluer or of both I made triall of a piece of Sparre which the same Indian discouered vnto mee and I found that it held both Gold and Siluer which although it was in small quantitie gaue me satisfction that there be richer Mynes in the Countrey to be found but the best lie deeper in the earth and wee had not time nor power to make search for them I trauelled vp the Riuer of Wiapoco to view the ouer-fals but the waters being high and strong I could not passe them In August when they are fallen with some labour they may bee passed This Riuer hath very many ouer-falls lying one a good distance beyond another euen to the head thereof Aboue some of the first falls there dwelleth an Indian called Comarian who is an old man of a free disposition by him I learned that a certaine distance aboue the first falls the Riuer Arwy falleth into Wiapoco moreouer that certaine dayes iourney beyond him towards the high Land vpon the borders of Wiapoco there is a Nation of Charibes hauing great eares of an extraordinarie bignesse hard to bee beleeued whom hee called Marashewaccas amongst these people as Comarian reporteth there is an Idoll of stone which they worship as their God they haue placed it in a house made of purpose for the greater honour of it which they keepe very cleane and handsome This Idoll is fashioned like a man sitting vpon his heeles holding open his knees and resting his elbowes vpon them holding vp his hands with the palmes forwards looking vpwards and gaping with his mouth wide open The meaning of this proportion hee could dot declare although he hath beene many times amongst them and hath often seene it What other Nations were beyond these he did not know hauing neuer trauelled so farre but he saith they be Charibes and also enemies vnto them It seemeth there bee many Nations of those great eared people for in the Riuer of Marrawini I heard also the like who dwell farre vp towards the high Land as hereafter you shall heare and I suppose by the trending of the Riuers of Wiapoco and Marrawini are all one people Vpon the fourteenth day of August I went vnto a Mountaine called Gomeribo beeing the vttermost point of Land to the North-ward in the Bay of Wiapoco I found the soile of it most excellent for Tabacco Maix Cotton-trees Annoto-trees Vines and for any other thing that should bee planted there When I had taken good view of the place and found it commodious for many purposes then in the presence of Captaine Fisher diuers Gentlemen and others of my company and of the Indians also I tooke possession of the Land by Turfe and Twigge in the behalfe of our Souereigne Lord King Iames I tooke the said possession of a part in name of the whole Continent of Guiana lying betwixt the Riuers of Amazones and Orenoque not beeing actually possessed and inhabited by any other Christian Prince or State wherewith the Indians seemed to be well content and pleased In like manner my Brother Captaine Michael Harecourt and Captaine Haruey whom I left as his associate and he esteemed as an inward friend in a notable iourney which to their great honour they performed to discouer the Riuer of Arrawary and the Countrey bordering vpon it neere adioyning to the Riuer of Amazones did take the like possession of the Land there to his Maiesties vse The dangers and great difficulties which they in that attempt incountred were memorable and such as hardly any of our Nation in such small Canoes being onely some-what longer but not so broad as our Thames Wherries and flat-bottomed euer ouercame the like First the number of their owne attendants besides themselues was onely one man and a Boy Their troope of Indians sixtie persons Their iourney by Sea vnto the Riuer of Arrawary was neere one hundred leagues wherein by the way they met with many dreadfull
their eares I forbeare to mention vntill by experience wee shall discouer the truth thereof Moreouer hee learned that there fall into Marrawini diuers great Riuers called Arrenne Topannawin Errewin Cowomma Poorakette Arroua Arretowenne Waoune Anape Aunime and Carapio whereof some he hath seene himselfe That it was twentie dayes iourney from Taupuramune to the head of Marrawini which is inhabited by Arwaccas Sappaios Paragotos and some Yaios and that a dayes iourney from thence to the Land-ward the Countrey is plaine and Champian ground with long grasse Hee passed in this iourney aboue eightie ouerfals of water and many of them very dangerous of some of them I had experience the yeere before He proceeded no further at that present being vnprouided for so long a iourney supposing that it had beene neerer then he found it to the head of the Riuer by a fortnights trauell and so returned backe in sixe dayes space intending better preparation for a second iourney but his purpose was preuented by an vntimely death for shortly after hee was drowned by misfortune whereby we see that man determineth but God disposeth THe tenth day of September being Sunday I left the maine of Guiana and in my ship-boat stood off into the Sea to seeke my ships which were forced to ride foure leagues from shore by reason of the shoales but as we passed ouer them we were in danger to bee cast away by the breach of a Sea which verily had sunke our Boat if with great celeritie wee had not lightned her by heauing ouer-boord many baskets of bread of Cassain Maix Pinas Platanas Potatoes and such like prouision wherewith our Boat was loden by which means it pleased God to deliuer vs from present destruction and to bring vs safe vnto our ships When I came aboord we weighed anchor and steered away from the Iland of Trinidado and vpon the eighteenth day in the morning we arriued at Punta de Galea where wee found three English ships at anchor which was no small comfort vnto vs considering our great defects and wants One of these shippes was called the Diana belonging to Master Lâ—l a Dutch Merchant dwelling in London The other two the Penelope and the Indeuour belonging to Master Hall a Merchant also of London We stayed at this place sixe daies to mend our bad Caske and to take fresh water during which time I was kindly intreated and feasted by the Merchants and had supply of all such things as I stood in neede of which courtesie I requited in the best manner I could for the present Vpon Sunday the twentie foure of September we weighed anchor so likewise did the Diana the other two shippes beeing gone two or three daies before vs but the winde shifting to the North-east inforced vs backe againe almost to the same place from whence wee departed The twentie fiue we weighed againe and plied along the shoare towards Cape Brea about three leagues This Cape is so called of the Pitch which is there gotten in the earth whereof there is such abundance that all places on this side of the World may bee stored there with It is a most excellent Pitch for trimming of shippes that passe into these Regions and hot Countries for it melteth not with the Sunne as other Pitch doth The twentie sixe day we stood along againe the winde being still contrarie and variable intermixt with many calmes and so continued vntill the second of October when we arriued at Port de Hispania Within two daies after our arriuall there Don Sanches de Mendosa the Teniente for that yeere with certaine other Spaniards came aboord vs wee gaue them the best entertainment that our meanes the time and place would affoord and had much friendly conference together They told me that they lately had a conflict with the Charibes where in they had lost seuen or eight of their men and had many others hurt and wounded whereof some came to my Chirurgion to haue their wounds dressed during our abode there And they plainly confessed that they are very much molested by the Charibes and knew not how by any meanes to suppresse them We staied at Porte de Hispania vntill the seuenth day in hope to get some good Tobacco amongst the Spaniards who daily fed vs with delaies and faire words but in truth they had none good at that present for vs which we perceiuing departed thence vpon the seuenth day about one of the clocke in the morning leauing the other ships to attend their trade and stood away for the passages called Les sciot boccas de Drago and disembogued about eight of the clocke the same morning Then wee steered away for an Iland called Meues and leauing the Ilands of Granado Saint Vincent Guadalupa and Monserate in our starboord side wee arriued there the twelfth day where we stopped to take in ballast and more water for our ships were very light In this Iland there is an hot Bath which as well for the reports that I haue heard as also for that I haue seene and found by experience I doe hold for one of the best and most souereigne in the World I haue heard that diuers of our Nation haue there beene cured of the Leprosie and that one of the same persons now or lately dwelt at Woolwich neere the Riuer of Thames by whom the truth may be knowne if any man desire to bee further satisfied therein As for my owne experience although it was not much yet the effects that I found it worke both in my selfe and others of my company in two daies space doe cause mee to conceiue the best of it For at my comming thither I was grieuously vexed with an extreame cough which I much feared would turne me to great harme but by bathing in the Bath and drinking of the water I was speedily cured and euer since that time I haue found the state of my body I giue God thankes for it farre exceeding what it was before in strength and health Moreouer one of my company named Iohn Huntbatch seruant to my brother as he was making a fire burned his hand with Gunpowder and was in doubt thereby to loose the vse of one or two of his fingers which were shrunke vp with the fire but he went presently to the Bath and washed and bathed his hand a good space therein which soopled his fingers in such manner that with great ease he could stir and stretch them out and the fire was so washed out of his hand that within the space of twenty foure houres by twice or thrice washing and bathing it the sorenesse thereof was cured onely the eye-sore for the time remained Furthermore two or three other of my company hauing swellings in their legs were by the Bath cured in a day Hence we departed the sixteenth day of October in the afternoone and leauing the Ilands of Saint Christopher Saint Martin and Anguilla on the
Arwaccas To most of these places there can be no passage but by Canoas in the Winter being marsh-medowy grounds ouerflowne with swelling Tides But in the Summer it is faire and then they hide their Canoas in the Woods by the Sea-side As for the Riuer of Marwin there are no other Riuers which fall into it but there be many Ilands and some very great The passage to the head thereof from the men with long eares is very dangerous by reason of the passage through hollow and concaue Rockes wherein harbour Bat-mise of an vnreasonable bignesse which with their clawes and wings doe wound the Passengers shrewdly yea and oftentimes depriue them of life During which passage which is some quarter of a mile and very darke for the Rockes are close aboue and in fashion like an Indian house they are inforced to make great fires in their Canoas and put ouer their heads some of their Crab-baskets â—o defend them from the force of their clawes and wings and so they safely passe There is a Chareebee with whom I am very well acquainted whose name is Carouree who assured me of certaine transparent stones both of a greene and red colour which hee described by a greene eare-ring which I shewed him affirming they were somewhat bigger and that they lay in a little gutter at the head of the Riuer which ran in a Valley betweene two Hills I was further informed by a Yaio an ancient man who came downe from the head of the Riuer Selinama in a little Canoa with foure other and a boy three of which were Arwaccas and one Yaio who was borne in Orenoque and as I iudge about the age of foure score yeeres or little lesse who reported to mee that hee was one of them which with Morequito and Putimay was at the killing of nine Spaniards and a Spanish Pedas and how Morequito was put to death and a greatmany of his Indians hanged himselfe was taken prisoner and pinched with Pinsers for his punishment and his eares nailed to wood which I coniecture was a Pillourie Besides they rubbed his body ouer with salt mixt with Vrine after they had pinched him and fetcht bloud and after tyed him vp in chaines The reason why they put him not to death was because hee had beene a great Traueller and knew the Countries well and so they kept him for a Guide It so chanced that the Spaniards vpon his informing them of the Cassipagotos Countrie and how rich they were and how he would be their guide went with some companie to conquer it the Captaine of the Spaniards was called Alexander as he saith But the Cassipagotos knowing his crueltie thought it better to fight it out then trust to his clemency and so ouerthrew him and his companie driuing them to their Canoas in which fight he escaped But yet afterward it was his mishap to be againe in the hands of his aduersarie by the meanes of Caripana King of Emeria and put in chaines and handled cruelly His body was besmeared as he said with a yellow stone for so he called it which I take to be Brimstone and so set on fire on his body and after that he was well and his skinne smooth and faire they anointed him with honie from top to toe and so scattered dust vpon him in which which were millions of Pismires tying him in chaines to a great tree where Muskitos flockt about him like moates in the Sunne and did pitifully sting him then which death had beene better as hee said Within some small space hee with another Yaio and three Arwaccas were chosen to goe a fishing some two dayes iourney from the Towne Likewise there went as ouerseers ouer them foure Spaniards three of which while they were a fishing went into the Wood a fowling and the fourth which was left for the ouerseer by chance fell asleepe which they espying agreed to release themselues and to slip from the shoare with their Canoa and went vp Selinama seuen dayes iourney within land from the head thereof to a Towne of the Arwaccas called Cooroopon where he now dwelleth whose name is Weepackea and the chiefe Arwacca which came with him is called Edaddeawa and the Captaine of Cooroopon is called Naushickeban This Yaio told mee of a Mountaine at the head of Dissikeebee which is called Oraddoo where is a great Rocke of white Spar which hath streams of Gold in it about the breadth of a Goose-quill and this he affirmeth very earnestly Also he speaketh of a Plaine which is some seuen or eight dayes iourney from the Mountaine where is great store of Gold in graines so big as the top of a mans finger and after the flouds be fallen they finde them which Plaine is called Mumpara Further he spake of a Valley not farre distant from thence which is called Wancoobanona which hath the like and he said they gather them the space of two moneths together which two moneths are presently after the great raines which wash away the sand and grauell from the grasse which groweth in turfets and then they may perceiue the Gold lie glistering on the ground And of these they are very charie And the Captaines and Priests or Pâ—â—ays doe charge the Indians very strictly yea with punishment of the whip that they be secret and not reueale it to the Spaniard But it seemeth they are willing the English should haue it or else hee would neuer haue related so much of the state of his Countrie He spake very much of Sir Walter Raleigh he likewise knew Francis Sparrow and the boy which Sir Walter left behind him at Topiawary his house He further said that Topiawary wondred that he heard not from Sir Walter according to his promise and how Topiâ—wary did verily thinke that the Spaniard had met with him and so had slaine him Further hee saith how Topiawary is dead and how one Roponoyegrippo succeeded in his roome Likewise he sayth Caripana the King of Emeria who was very subiect to the Spaniard and did once betray him to the Spaniard is now dead at which he seemed not a little to reioyce and how one Dothronias is in his place and is a good King holding Armes against the Spaniard with the Cassipagotos and and giuing him many ouerthrowes so that now hee hath cleare left Dissikeebee and not a Spaniard there He likewise said how Topiawary had drawne in the Indians of Wariwackeri Amariocupana Aromaya Wickery and all the people that belonged to Wanuritone Captaine of Canuria and Wacariopea Captaine of Sayma against Sir Walter Raleigh his comming to haue warred against the Yeanderpuremei And as yet Wanuritone and Wacariopea doe expect his comming He addeth further how he knew the two Nations of Tiuitiuas called Ciawana and Warawitty who are forced in the flouds to build their houses on the top of trees And now he saith the Spaniard hath for the most part destroyed them keeping diuers of them to make and mend
his Canoas Further hee knew Toparimacca and sayth hee is yet liuing and Captaine of Arawaca a Napoy who likewise doth expect Sir Walter his comming and had drawne a companie of Indians for the aide and assistance of Sir Waltor Likewise how Putimay is yet liuing and how the Spaniards haue layd great waite for him but could neuer finger him to bee reuenged for his part of killing the nine Spaniards Further he addeth how the Spaniards were killed at a Mountaine called Riconeri in Putimay's Countrie and how Putimay expected long for Sir Walter Raleigh Likewise he saith how the Epeuremei haue now two very faire Townes one called Aruburguary and the other Corburrimore and saith they are not good people yet they dare not warre with them He further affirmeth of the men whose shoulders are higher then their heads which he called Wywaypanamy and offereth to goe with me thither if I come vp in their high Countrie For since the death of Topiawary they are friends and bend their forces against the Spaniards He further spake of a white cleare high and huge Rocke vnder a Mountaines side which is called Mattuick that on a Sun-shine day if a man looked on it it would dazle his eyes exceedingly Hee shewed mee before his departure from me a piece of metall fashioned like an Eagle and as I ghesse it was about the weight of eight or nine ounces troy weight it seemed to be Gold or at leastwise two parts Gold and one Copper I offered him an Axe which he refused to which I added foure Kniues but could not get it of him but I imagine the Dutch at Selinama haue bought it of him for their only comming was for Axes as he said hearing that the Dutch were at Selinama I demanded where hee had that Eagle his answere was hee had it of his Vncle who dwelt among the Weearaapoyns in the Countrie called Sherumerrimary neere the Cassipagotos Countrie where is great store of these Images Further he said that at the head of Selinama and Marwin there were great store of the halfe Moones which hee called by the name of Vnnaton He likewise spake of a very faire and large Citie in Guiana which hee called Monooan which I take to be that which Sir Walter calleth Manoa which standeth by a salt Lake which he called Parroowan Parrocare Monoan in the Prouince of Asaccona the chiefe Captaine or Acariwanuora as he called him was called Pepodallapa He further said that after that a man is vp at the head of the Riuer and some ten dayes iourney within the Land euery childe can tell of the riches of Monooan Further he addeth how that once in euery third yeere all the Cassiques or Lords and Captaines some seuen dayes iourney from Manooan doe come to a great drinking which continueth for the space of ten dayes together in which time they goe sometimes a fishing fowling and hunting their fishing is in the salt Lake where is abundance of Canoas and those very great They haue many fish-pooles of standing water wherein they haue aboundance of Fish They haue store of wilde Porkes and Deere and other beasts which are very good meate Their Houses be made with many lofts and partitions in them but not boorded but with barres of wood onely the lower floore on the ground is spread with clay very smooth and with fires hardned as they doe their pots then presently they build their houses as is before spoken of Also he affirmeth that within the Citie at the entring in of their houses they hang Carocoore on the posts which I take to be Images of gold Directions to the Towne of Cooropan from Marrawin FRom the head of Marrawin to Itshuerwa a Chareeb Towne from thence to Caperocca a Chareeb Towne from thence to a Mountaine called Payen from thence to Una a Mountaine from thence to Youwalprenay a Charech Towne from thence to Tetatttecoomoyneto a Chareeb Towne from thence to Tunstoorito a Chareeb Towne from thence to Soynoon a Parawag Towne from thence to Crooroorere a Suppay Towne from thence to Macatana a Suppay Towne from thence to Pipicorwarra a Mountaine from thence to Shadden an Arwacca Towne from thence to Lonnoo an Arwacca Towne from thence to Horurra a Mountaine from thence to Habittebin a Plaine from thence to Warooca an Arwac Towne from thence to Hardoo an Arwacca and from thence to Coorepon where he dwelleth which he saith is but ten dayes iourney from the head of Marrawin Directions from the head of Selinama to Cooropan which is but seuen dayes iourney FRom the head of Selinama to Kiarno a Chareeb Towne from thence to Pommaro a Chareeb Towne from thence to Scooadoddepon an Arwac Towne from thence to Sickene a Mountaine from thence to Shuhurway an Arwac Towne from thence to Hadarinner a Suppay Towne from thence to Weeatoopona Arwac from thence to Ruttrahar Arwac from thence to Caboyetitte Arwac from thence to Heeanannerre Suppay from thence to Wabockeyaway Arwac from thence to Hanamob Arwac from thence to Muttuggabee a Mountaine and so to Cooropon which is but seuen dayes iourney from the head of Selinama He likewise saith it is but a moneths iourney by land from the head of Marrawin to the head of Dissikeebee and from the head of Dissikeebee to the head of Orenoque a moneths trauell Riuers from Brabisse to the Amazones RIVERS NATIONS Brabisse Chareebees Winniepa Chareebes Arew Napoys Mannapoo Napoys Mucca 〈…〉 reu not inhabited Morecoose Napoys Arawon not inhabited Orenoco Yaios Arwac Emataccoo Chareebes Eparramoo Chareebes Aratooree Chareebes Amockooroo Chareeb Pareema Chareeb Wine Chareeb Moroka Yaios Paurooma Arwaccas Wacapwhou Arwaccas Dissikeebee Arwac Quiowinne Matooronee Chareeb Marrawin Para. Ya Cha. Arwa Amanna Chareeb Vraco Arwac Coonannoma Arwac Oorassowinni not inhabited Sinomarra Chareeb Mannomanury Chareeb Ecaurwa Chareeb Canrooroo Chareeb Muccurrie Chareeb Kiam Chareeb Wia. Chareeb Kowo not inhabited Apoorwacca Chareeb Wannase Yaios Wiapoco Yaios Aroocona Areecola Casippooroo Areecoole Connawin Yaio Miocaree Areecool Demeerare Arwac Miconine Arwac Wapary Arwac Mauhica Arwac Keribisse Arwac Coretine Chareeb Arw Eneecare Chareeb Coopanomi Chareeb Soorammo Chareeb Surennamo alias Selinama Chareeb Camouree alias Commawin  Arowaree Chareeb Arapoco  Amazone  Topaniwinni a Branch of Marwin at the head thereof going toward Oronoque in which dwell a wilde People called Vrokere which are swift in running The Chareebees with long eares are called Nooraco Ekinnicke a kinde of worme which poisoneth the water And thus much of Guianian affaires Some other Voyages thither haue beene at large published by by Sir W. R. and Master Keymis recorded by Master Hakl A later also with great noise preparation and expectation hath happened written alreadie in bloud therefore and for the latenesse needlesse and vnworthie that I say not too dismall and fatall for our Relations CHAP. XVIII A Description and Discouery of the Riuer of Amazons by WILLIAM DAVIES Barber Surgeon
when the Christians began to fall to their meate their friends and consorts and other Tiembus gathered together amongst them with those also who hide themselues in the field and houses fall vpon these fiftie men and so consecate the Banquet with them that no man escaped aliue except one Boy only called Caldero who got out of their hands Afterwards they set vpon vs with 10000. strong and besieged the Village which we held continually for fourteene daies intending wholly this that being brought vnder they might vtterly destroy vs but God in mercie defeated their purposes and ouerthrew their enterprizes They had made themselues long Speares or Iauelings of the Swords which they had gotten from the slaine Christians wherewith they fought against 〈◊〉 〈…〉 th with the edge and point 〈…〉 ting our Village day and night Our Captaine Anthony Mendoza armed with a two hand Sword went out of the Port neere which some Indians lay in ambush so that they could not bee seene Being gone therefore out of the Port the Indians thrust him through with their Iauelings so that hee presently fell downe dead vpon the ground But because the Indians wanted victuals they could sustaine themselues no longer heere but were compelled to leaue the siege and bee gone After this two Brigantines laden with prouision of victuall and other necessaries arriued at our Port which our Generall sent vnto vs from the Towne of Buenas Aeres to maintaine our selues therewith till his comming As therefore wee were cheered at the comming of them so they who arriued with the Brigantines incredibly sorrowed and lamented for the slaughter of the Christians Wee therefore determined by a common Councell which thing also seemed to bee best for vs to stay no longer in this Village of Corpus Christi abiding with these Tiembus but that being carried downe the Riuer gathering all our forces together we returne to Buenas Acres to our Generall Martin Dominicke Eyollas Who beeing frighted at our comming was vehemently grieued for the slaughter of the people doubtfull how to consult what he should first doe seeing also victuall and other necessarie things failed vs. 29. While therefore we continued fiue dayes at Buenas Aeres a Carauell came to vs out of Spaine and brought vs newes that a ship was arriued at Saint Katharine whose Captaine Allunzo Gabrero brought with him 200. Souldiers out of Spaine which when our Captaine certainly knew he commanded one of the lesser ships which they call a Galley to bee made readie that he might send her as soone as possibly he could to Saint Katharines into Brasill which was 300. leagues distant from Buenas Aeres making Gonzallo Mendoza Captaine thereof to gouerne the ship giuing him charge also that if arriuing at Saint Katharines he found the ship there they should lade one of the ships with Rice Mandeoch and other victuals as seemed good vnto him Gonzallus Mendoza therefore receiuing this commandement requested the Generall Martin D. Eyollas to giue him seuen of the Souldiers whom hee might trust for this Voyage which hee promised Hee therefore chose mee and sixe Spaniards to himselfe with twentie other Souldiers Setting saile from Buenas Aeres in the space of a moneth we arriued at Saint Katharines and finding the ship there which came out of Spaine together with Captaine Allunzo Gabrero and all the Souldiers wee greatly reioyced Abiding with them two moneths wee laded our ship with Rice Mandeoch and Turkish Corne as full as it could hold so that no more could bee put in both the ships to carrie with vs. And the day before All Saints wee arriued at the Riuer Parana twentie leagues yet distant from Buenas Aeres Both the ships met together that night whose Pilots asked one another whether wee were now in the Riuer of Parana when our Pilot affirmed we were the other said the contrarie that we were yet almost twentie leagues of For when twentie or more ships saile together in the Euening at the going downe of the Sunne they meete together and one of the Masters asketh the other what way he had made that day and with what wind hee would saile by night lest they should bee diuided one from the other The Riuer of Parana Vuassu at the Bay or mouth thereof is thirtie leagues broad which breadth continueth for fiftie whole leagues together vnto the Port of Saint Gabriell where the Riuer Parana is eighteene leagues broad After this our Pilot asketh the Master of the other ship whether hee would saile after to him the other made answere that night was now at hand and therefore he would continue still at Sea till the rising of the Sunne and that he would not make to the Land in the vnseasonable night And this Pilot in guiding his ship was more circumspect then ours was as the euent afterward declared Therefore our Master held on his intended course leauing the other 30. Sayling by night a mighty storme troubled the Sea so that about twelue or one of the clocke before Sunne rising before we had cast our Anchors in the Sea we descried Land and our ship was much bruised when wee were yet a league or more from the Land Wee could finde no other remedie for this mischiefe then making our Prayers vnto God to intreate him to be mercifull vnto vs. The same houre our ship being split was broken in more then a thousand pieces and fifteene of our men and sixe of the Indians perished being drowned in the waters Some taking hold of great pieces of Timber swamme out I with fiue of my companions escaped by the helpe of a Mast. But of fifteene persons we found not so much as one carkasse Afterward we were to trauell fiftie leagues on foot when we had lost all our clothes with all the victuals in the ship so that we were constrained to sustaine our selues only with Rootes and other Fruites which we could find heere and there in the fields while wee came to the Port of Saint Gabriell where we found the foresaid ship with her Captaine who arriued there thirtie dayes before vs. But our Generall Martin D. Eyollas had heard before by intelligence of this our mishap and thinking that we were all dead commanded some Masses to be read for our soules health When we were brought to Buenas Acres our Generall commandeth the Captaine of our ship and the Master thereof to be cited an◠stand to their triall who without doubt had hanged the Pilot if so great and earnest intreaties had not beene vsed yet hee was condemned for foure yeeres to the Gally Gathering together all our companies to Buenas Aeres our Generall commandeth the Brigantines to be made ready and all the Souldiers to bee shipped therein and commandeth the rest of the shippes to be burned yet preseruing the Iron Vessels and Instruments Wee therefore once more saile vp the Riuer of Parana againe and arriuing at our foresaid Citie of the Assumption of Marie
wee spoke before The women make them gownes or vpper garments of thinne Cotton almost like our clothes which are some part silke which we call Arras or Burschet They weaue in these diuers shapes of Stags Estridges and Indian sheepe according as euery of them is more skilfull in the art of weauing In these garments they sleepe if the Aire happen to be somewhat cold or putting them vnder them they sit vpon them or vse them at their pleasure for other seruices These women are very faire and venerous When we had stayed there foure dayes this pettie King demanded of our Captaine what our puâ—pose was and whether we would goe to whom he made this answere that he sought Gold and Siluer Therefore he gaue him a Crowne of Siluer weighing a pound and an halfe He gaue him also a plate of Gold of a spanne and an halfe long and halfe a spanbroad and certaine other things made cunningly wrought of Siluer and told our Captaine that he had no more Siluer nor Gold And that these thingâ— wherewith he presented him were the spoiles which in time past he had gotten in war against the Amazones That he made mention of the Amazones and of their riches was very pleasing to vs to heare Our Captaine therefore presently demandeth of the King whether we might come to them by Sea or by the Riuer and how much further we had to goe when wee were to take our journey towards them whereunto he answered that we could not goe to them by water but by land and that in two whole moneths journey 37. These women the Amazones haue only one of their pappes their Husbands come vnto them three or foure times in the yeere And if the woman beeing with child by her Husband bring forth a Male child she sendeth him home again to his Father but if it be a Female she keepeth it with her and seareth the right pap of it that it may grow no more which she doth for this purpose that they may be more fit to handle their Weapons and Bowes For they are warlike women making continuall war with their Enemies These women inhabit an Iland that is very large on euery side compassed with water to whom there is no accesse but by Canoas or Boats The Amazones haue neither Gold not Siluer in this Iland but they are reported to haue great Treasures in the firme land which the men inhabit It is a very populous Nation and is said to haue a King called Iegues and the King of Scherues told vs the name of the place Therefore the Captaine Ernandus Riâ—ffiere desired the King of Scherues to ioyne certaine of his men with vs to carry our bagge and baggage for vs and then we would enter the heart of the Country to seeke those Amazones He willingly assenteth thereunto yet in the meane time admonishing vs that the whole Countrie was now ouerflowed with waters and therefore we should haue a very difficult and vneasiy Iourney vnto them and that wee could not easily at this time come vnto them But we would not giue credite to his words but were instant to haue the Indians ioyned with vs. He therefore gaue twentie men to our Captaine for his owne person to carrie his prouision and necessaries and to euery one of vs he gaue fiue Indians to serue vs and carrie that little which we had For wee were to goe eight dayes Iourney wherein wee should not see any Indian But afterward we came to a certaine Nation called Siberis who in their language and other things were like the Scherues Wee were to goe for these eight whole dayes day and night in the water vp to the knees and sometimes reaching as high as the waste nor could we by any meanes get out of them And if we would make fire we were of necessitie to put it vpon a pile or stacke made of great blockes or pieces of wood and it fell out often that when wee were about to boile our meate both the pot and the fire fell into the water so that after that wee were faine to be without our meate And Gnats also troubled and vexed vs day and night so that we could not doe our necessarie worke or businesse Wee therefore demanded of those Siberis whether wee should yet haue any more waters who answered that wee were yet foure dayes to walke in the waters and afterward were to trauell fiue dayes by Land and at length wee should come to a Nation called Orethuisâ—n They signified also vnto vs that wee were too few in number and therefore that wee should returne But the Scherues would not doe this for wee thought rather to send them backe vnto their Towne who had hitherto accompanied vs but they refused to doe it saying they were enioyned by their King not to leaue vs but should continue with vs vntill wee came out of the Countrie againe These Siberis ioyned ten men with vs who together with the Scherues should shew vs the way to the fore-said Orethuisen Wee were yet seuen dayes more to trauell in the waters which were so hot as if they had beene heat vpon the fire which water also hauing no other wee were compelled to drinke But some might peraduenture thinke that it was Riuer water but at that time showres of raine were so common and vsuall that they filled the whole Countrie with water which is altogether very plaine and euen The ninth day we came vnto a certaine Village of the Nation Orethuisen betweene ten and eleuen of the clocke And at twelue of the clocke being come into the middest of the Towne we came vnto the Princes house At that time a cruell and mightie Plague was very hot whereof Famine was the cause for two yeeres together the Gras-hoppers had so eaten and corrupted all manner of Corne and the fruits of trees that almost nothing was left them which they might eate But our Captaine asked the Petie-King of this Nation how many dayes Iourney we yet had to the Amazones from whence he receiueth answere That wee must yet trauell one whole moneth besides that all the Countrie was full of water The King of these Orethuisen gaue our Captaine foure Plates of gold and foure siluer Rings which they put about their armes but the Indians weare the Plates of gold on their foreheads for ornament as our Nobles doe their Chaines or Câ—llars of Esses hanged about their neckes For these things our Captaine gaue the King of the Indians an Hatchet Kniues and Beades or Pater-nosters Barbers Scizzars and such lâ—ke Wee would willingly haâ—e craued more of them but wee durst not attempt it because wee were but few in number so that wee were forced to stand in feare of them For the multitude of these Indians was very great and the Towne huge in so much as I haue not seene any greater or more populous throughout all India For the Towne was very long
Iames his Ilands and others Saint Annes They lye in two and twentie degrees and a halfe to the Southwards of the line and towards the euening being the fift of Nouember we anchored betwixt them and the maine in six fathome water where we found our other Ships All which being well Moored we presently began to set vp Tents Booths for our sick men to carry them ashore and to vse our best diligence to cure them For which intent our three Surgeans with their seruants and adherents had two Boates to waite continually vpon them to fetch whatsoeuer was needefull from the Ships to procure refreshing and to Fish either with Nets or Hooks and Lines Of these implements we had in abundance and it yeelded vs some refreshing For the first daies the most of those which had health occupied themselues in romeging our Ship in bringing ashore of emptie Caske in filling of them and in felling and cutting of wood which being many workes and few hands went slowly forwards Neere these Ilands are two great Rocks or small Ilands adioyning In them wee found great store of yong Gannets in their nests which we reserued for the sick and being boyled with pickled Porke well watered and mingled with Oatmeale made reasonable Pottage was good refreshing and sustenance for them This prouision failed vs not till our departure from them Vpon one of these Rocks also we found great store of the hearbe Purslane which boyled and made into Sallets with oyle and vineger refreshed the sicke stomackes and gaue appetite With the ayre of the shore and good cherishing many recouered speedily some died away quickly and others continued at a stand We found here some store of Fruits a kinde of Cherry that groweth vpon a tree like a Plum-tree red of colour with a stone in it but different in making to ours fot it is not altogether round and dented about they haue a pleasing taste In one of the Ilands we found Palmito trees great and high and in the top a certaine fruite like Cocos but no bigger then a Wal-nut We found also a fruit growing vpon trees in cods like Beanes both in the cod and the fruite Some of my Company proued of them and they caused vomits and purging One other fruit we found very pleasant in taste in fashion of an Artechoque but lesse on the outside of colour red within white and compassed about with prickles our people called them Prick-peares no Conserue is better They grow vpon the leaues of a certaine roote that is like vnto that which we call semper viua and many are wont to hang them vp in their houses but their leaues are longer and narrower and full of prickes on either side The Fruite groweth vpon the side of the leafe and is one of the best fruites that I haue eaten in the Indies In ripening presently the Birds or Vermine are feeding on them a generall rule to know what fruite is wholesome and good in the Indies and other parts Finding them to be eaten of the Beasts or Fowles a man may boldly eate of them The water of these Ilands is not good the one for being a standing water and full of venemous wormes and Serpents which is neere a Butt-shot from the Sea-shore where wee found a great Tree fallen and in the roote of it the names of sundry Portugals French-men and others and amongst them Abraham Cockes with the time of their being in this Island The other though a running water yet passing by the rootes of certaine trees which haue a smell as that of Garlique taketh a certaine contagious sent of them Here two of our men died with swelling of their bellies the accident we could not attribute to any other cause then to this suspicious water It is little and falleth into the sand and soketh through it into the Sea and therefore we made a well of a Pipe and placed it vnder the rocke from which it falleth and out of it filled our Caske but we could not fill aboue two tuns in a night and a day After our people began to gather their strength we manned our Boates and went ouer to the Maine where presently we found a great Riuer of fresh and sweete water and a mightie Marish Country which in the winter seemeth to be continually ouer-flowne with this Riuer and others which fall from the mountainous Country adiacent We rowed some leagues vp the Riuer and found that the further vp we went the deeper was the Riuer but no fruit more then the sweate of our bodies for the labour of our hands At our returne we loaded our Boate with water and afterwards from hence we made our Store The sicknesse hauing wasted more then the one halfe of my people we determined to take out the victuals of the Hawke and to burne her which we put in execution And being occupied in this worke we saw a Ship turning to windwards to succour her selfe of the Ilands but hauing descried vs put off to Sea-wards Two daies after the winde changing we saw her againe running alongst the coast and the Daintie not being in case to goe after her for many reasons wee manned the Fancie and sent her after her who about setting of the Sunne fetched her vp and spake with her when finding her to be a great Fly-boate of at least three or foure hundreth tuns with eighteene Peeces of Artillery would haue returned but the winde freshing in put her to Leewards and standing in to succour her selfe of the land had sight of another small Bark which after a short chase she tooke but had nothing of moment in her for that she had bin vpon the great Sholes of Abreoios in 18. degrees and there throwne all they had by the boord to saue their liues This and the other chase were the cause that the Fancie could not beate it vp in many dayes but before wee had put all in a readinesse the winde changing shee came vnto vs and made Relation of that which had past and how they had giuen the small Barke to the Portugals and brought with them onely her Pilot and a Merchant called Pedro de escalante of Potosi In this Coast the Portugals by industry of the Indians haue wrought many feates At Cape Frio they tooke a great French Shippe in the night the most of her company being on the shore with Canoas which they haue in this Coast so great that they carrie seuentie and eightie men in one of them And in Isla Grand I saw one that was aboue threescore foote long of one tree as are all I haue seene in Brasil with prouisions in them for twenty or thirty daies At the Iland of San-sebastian neere Saint Vincent the Indians killed about eightie of Master Candish his men and tooke his Boate which was the ouerthrow of his Voyage There commeth not any Ship vpon this Coast whereof these Canoas giue not notice presently
point South-west it riseth in three Mounts or round Hillockes bringing it more Westerly they shoot themselues all into one and bringing it Easterly it riseth in two Hillockes This we called Point Tremountaine Some twelue or fourteene leagues from this point to the Eastwards faire by the shoare lyeth a low flat Iland of some two leagues long we named it Faire Iland for it was all ouer as greene and smooth as any Meddow in the Sping of the yeare Some three or foure leagues Easterly from this Iland is a goodly opening as of a great Riuer or an arme of the Sea with a goodly low Countrey adjacent And eight or tenne leagues from this opening some three leagues from the shoare lyeth a bigge Rocke which at the first we had thought to be a ship vnder all her sayles but after as we came neere it discouered it selfe to bee a Rocke which we called Conduit-head for that howsoeuer a man commeth with it it is like to the Conduit-heads about the Citie of London All this Coast so farre as we discouered lyeth next of any thing East and by North and West and by South The Land for that it was discouered in the Reigne of Qâ—eene Elizabeth my Souereigne Lady and Mistris and a Mayden Queene and at my cost and aduenture in a perpetuall memory of her chastitie and remembrance of my endeuours I gaue it the name of Hawkins Maiden-land Before a man fall with this Land some twenâ—y or thirty leagues he shall meet with beds of Oreweed driuing to and fro in that Sea with white flowres growing vpon them and sometimes farther off which is a good shew and signe the Land is neere whereof the Westermost part lyeth some threescore leagues from the neerest Land of America With our faire and large wind wee shaped our course for the Straits and the tenth of February wee had sight of Land and it was the head-land of the Straits to the Northwards which agreed with our height wherein wee found our selues to bee which was in 52. degrees and 40. minutes Within a few houres we had the mouth of the Straits open which lieth in 52. degrees and 50. minutes It riseth like the North foreland in Kent and is much like the Land of Margates It is not good to borrow neere the shoare but to giue it a faire birth within a few houres we entred the mouth of the Straits which is some sixe leagues broad and lieth in 52. degrees and 50. minutes doubling the Point on the starbood which is also flat of a good birth we opened a faire Bay in which we might descry the Hull of a ship beaten vpon the Beach It was of the Spanish Fleet that went to inhabit there in Anno 1582. vnder the charge of Pedro Sarmiento who at his returne was taken Prisoner and brought into England In this Bay the Spaniards made their principall habitation and called it the Citie of Saint Philip and left it peopled But the cold barrennesse of the Countrey and the malice of the Indians with whom they badly agreed made speedy end of them as also of those whom they left in the middle of the Straits three leagues from Cape Forward to the Eastwards in another habitation We continued our course alongst this Reaâ—h for all the Straits is as a Riuer altering his course sometimes vpon one point sometimes vpon another which is some eight leagues long and lieth West North-west From this we entred into a goodly Bay which runneth vp into the Land Northerly many leagues and at first entrance a man may see no other thing but as it were a maine Sea From the end of this first Reach you must direct your course West South-west and some fourteene or fifteene leagues lyeth one of the narrowest places of all the Straits This leadeth vnto another Reach that lyeth West and by North some six leagues Here in the middle of the Reach the wind tooke vs by the North-west and so we were forced to anchor some two or three dayes In which time we went ashoare with our Boats and found neere the middle of this Reach on the starboord side a reasonable good place to ground and trimme a small ship where it higheth some nine or ten foot water Here we saw certaine Hogs but they were so farre from vs that we could not discerne whether they were of those of the Countrey or brought by the Spaniards these were all the beasts which we saw in all the time we were in the Straits In two tides we turned through this reach and so recouered the Ilands of Pengwins they lye from this reach foure leagues South-west and by West Till you come to this place care is to be taken of not comming too neere to any point of the land for being for the most part sandy they haue sholding off them and are somewhat dangerous These Ilands haue beene set forth by some to be three we could discouer but two And they are no more except that part of the Mayne which lyeth ouer against them be an Iland which carrieth little likelihood and I cannot determine it A man may saile betwixt the two Ilands or betwixt them and the Land on the Larboord side from which Land to the bigger Iland is as it were a bridge or ledge on which is foure or fiue fathom water and to him that commeth neere it not knowing thereof may justly cause feare for it sheweth to be shold water with his ripling like vnto a Race Betwixt the former Reach and these Ilands runneth vp a goodly Bay into the Countrey to the North-wards It causeth a great Indraughty and aboue these Ilands runneth a great tide from the mouth of the Straits to these Ilands the Land on the Larboord-side is low Land and sandy for the most part and without doubt Ilands for it hath many openings into the Sea and forcible Indraughts by them and that on the Starboord side is all high Mountaynous Land from end to end but no wood on either side Before we passed these Ilands vnder the Lee of the bigger Iland we anchored the winde beeing at North-east with intent to refresh our selues with the Fowles of these Ilands they are of diuers sorts and in great plentie as Pengwins wild Ducks Guls and Gannets of the principall we purposed to make prouision and those were the Pengwins The Pengwin is in all proportion like a Goose and hath no feathers but a certaine downe vpon all parts of his bodie and therefore canot flee but auayleth himselfe in all occasions with his feet running as fast as most men He liueth in the Sea and on the Land feedeth on fish in the Sea and as a Goose on the shore vpon grasse They harbour themselues vnder the ground in Burrowes as the Conies and in them hatch their young All parts of the Iland where they haunted were vndermined saue onely one Valley which it seemeth they reserued for their food for it
was as greene as any Medow in the moneth of Aprill with a most fine short grasse The flesh of these Pengwins is much of the sauour of a certaine Fowle taken in the Ilands of Lundey and Silley which we call Puffins by the taste it is easily discerned that they feed on fish They are very fat and in dressing must be flead as the Byter they are reasonable meate rosted baked or sodden but best rosted We salted some doozen or sixteene Hogsheads which serued vs whilest they lasted insteed of powdred Beefe The hunting of them as wee may well terme it was a great recreation to my company and worth the sight for in determining to catch them necessarily was required good store of people euery one with a cudgell in his hand to compasse them round about to bring them as it were into a Ring if they chanced to breake out then was the sport for the ground beeing vndermined at vnawares it failed and as they ranne after them one fell here another there another offering to strike at one lifting vp his hand sunke vp to the arme-pits in the earth another leaping to auoid one hole fell into another And after the first slaughter in seeing vs on the shoare they shunned vs and procured to recouer the Sea yea many times seeing themselues persecuted they would tumble downe from such high Rocks and Mountaines as it seemed impossible to escape with life Yet as soone as they came to the Beach presently we should see them runne into the Sea as though they had no hurt Where one goeth the other followeth like sheepe after the Bel-weather but in getting them once within the Ring close together few escaped saue such as by chance hid themselues in the borrowes and ordinarily there was no Droue which yeelded vs not a thousand and more the manner of killing them which the Hunters vsed beeing in a cluster together was with their cudgels to knocke them on the head for though a man gaue them many blowes on the body they dyed not Besides the flesh bruized is not good to keepe The massacre ended presently they cut of their heads that they might bleed well such as we determined to keepe for store we saued in this manner First wee split them and then washed them well in Sea-water then salted them hauing laine some sixe houres in Salt we put them in presse eight houres and the bloud being soaked out wee salted them againe in our other caske as is the custome to salt Beefe after this manner they continued good some two moneths and serued vs in steed of Beefe The Guls and Gannets were not in so great quantitie yet we wanted not young Guls to eate all the time of our stay about these Ilands It was one of the delicatest foods that I haue eaten in all my life The Duckes are different to ours and nothing so good meate yet they may serue for necessitie They were many and had a part of the Iland to themselues seuerall which was the highest Hill and more then a Musket shot ouer In all the dayes of my life I haue not seene greater arte and curiositie in creatures voide of reason then in the placing and making of their Nests all the Hill being so full of them that the greatest Mathematician of the World could not deuise how to place one more then there was vpon the Hill leauing onely one path-way for a Fowle to passe betwixt The Hill was all leuell as if it had beene smoothed by arte the Nests made onely of earth and seeming to be of the selfe-same mould for the Nests and the soile is all one which with water that they bring in their Beakes they make into Clay or a certaine dawbe and after fashion them round as with a compasse In the bottome they containe the measure of a foot in the height about eight inches and in the top the same quantitie ouer there they are hollowed in somwhat deep wherein they lay their Egges without other preuention And I am of opinion that the Sun helpeth them to hatch their young their Nests are for many yeares and of one proportion not one exceeding another in bignesse in height nor circumference and in proportionable distance one from another In all this Hill nor in any of their Nests was to be found a blade of grasse a straw a sticke a feather a moat no nor the filing of any Fowle but all the Nests and passages betwixt them were so smooth and cleane as if they had bin newly swept washed One day hauing ended our hunting of Pengwins one of our Mariners walking about the Iland discouered a great company of Seales or Sea-wolues so called for that they are in the Sea as the Wolues on the Land aduising vs that he left them sleeping with their bellies toasting against the Sunne we prouided our selues with staues and other weapons and sought to steale vpon them at vnawares to surprize some of them and comming downe the side of a Hill we were not discouered till wee were close vpon them notwithstanding their Sentinell before wee could approach with a great howle waked them we got betwixt the Sea and some of them but they shunned vs not for they came directly vpon vs and though we dealt heere and there a blow yet not a man that withstood them escaped the ouerthrow They reckon not of a Musket shot a sword pierceth not theirskinne and to giue a blowe with a staffe is as to smite vpon a stone only in giuing the blowe vpon his snout presently he falleth downe dead After they had recouered the water they did as it were scorne vs defie vs and daunced before vs vntill we had shot some Musket shot through them and so they appeared no more This fish is like vnto a Calfe with foure legs but not aboue a spanne long his skinne is hairy like a Calte but these were different to all that euer I haue seene yet I haue seēne of them in many parts for these wee greater and in their former parts like vnto Lions with shagge haire and mostaches They liue in the Sea and come to sheepe on the Land and they euer haue one that watcheth who aduiseth them of any accident They are beneficiall to man in their skinnes for many purposes In their mostaches for Pick-tooths and in their fatte to make Traine-oyle Wee embarqued our selues and set sayle with the winde at NOrth-west which could serue vs but to an end of that reach some dozen leagues long and some three or foure leagues broad It lieth next of any thing till you come to Cape Agreda South-west from this Cape to Cape Froward the coast lieth West South-west Some foure leagues betwixt them was the second peopling of the Spaniards and this Cape lieth in 55. degrees and better Thwart Cape Froward the winde larged with vs and we continued our course towards the Iland of Elizabeth which lieth from
powder with which if the ship be pitched it is said the worme that toucheth it dieth but I haue not heard that it hath been vsefull But the most approued of all is the manner of sheathing vsed now adayes in England with thinne boords halfe inch thicke the thinner the better and Elme better then Oake for it riueth not it indureth better vnder water and yeeldeth better to the ships side The inuention of the materials incorporated betwixt the planke and the sheathing is that indeed which anayleth for without it many plankes were not sufficient to hinder the entrance of this worme this manner is thus Before the sheathing boord is nayled on vpon the innner side of it they smere it ouer with Tarre halfe a finger thicke and vpon the Tarre another halfe thicke of haire such as the whitelymers vse and so nayle it on the nayles not aboue a spanne distance one from another the thicker they are driuen the better some hold opinion that the Tarre killeth the worme others that the worme passing the sheathing and seeking a way through the haire and the Tarre so innolue that bee is choaked therewith which mee thinkes is most probable this manner of sheathing was innented by my Father and experience hath taught it to be the best and of least cost Such was the diligence we vsed for our dispatch to shoot the Straits that at foure dayes end we had our water and wood stowed in our ship all our Copper-worke finished and our ship calked from Post to Stemme the first day in the morning the winde being faire we brought our selues into the channell and sayled towards the mouth of the Straites praising God and beginning our course with little winde wee described a fire vpon the shoare made by the Indians for a signe to call vs which seene I caused a Boat to bee man'd and wee rowed ashoare to see what their meaning was and approaching neere the shoare we saw a Canoa made fast vnder a Rocke with a Wyth most artificially made with the rindes of trees and sewed together with the finnes of Whales at both ends sharpe and turning vp with a greene bough in either end and ribbes for strengthening it After a little while we might discerne on the fall of the Mountaine which was full of trees and shrubs two or three Indians naked which came out of certaine Caues or Cotes They spake vnto vs and made diuers signes now pointing to the Harbour out of which we were come and then to the mouth of the Straites but we vnderstood nothing of their meaning Yet left they vs with many imaginations suspecting it might bee to aduise vs of our Pinnace or some other thing of moment but for that they were vnder couert and might worke vs some treacherie for all the people of the Straits and the Land neere them vse all the villanie they can towards white people taking them for Spaniards in reuenge of the deceit that Nation hath vsed towards them vpon sundry occasions as also for that by our stay wee could reape nothing but hinderance of our Nauigation wee hasted to our ship and sayled on our course From Blanches Bay to long Reach which is some foure leagues the course lieth West South-west entring into the long Reach which is the last of the Straits and longest For it is some thirtie two leagues and the course lieth next of any thing North-west Before the setting of the Sunne wee had the mouth of the Straites open and were in great hope the next day to be in the South Sea but about seuen of the clocke that night we saw a great cloude arise out of the North-east which began to cast forth great flashes of lightnings and suddenly sayling with a fresh gale of winde at North-east another more forcible tooke vs astayes which put vs in danger for all our sayles being a taut it had like to haue ouerset our ship before we could take in our sayles And therefore in all such semblances it is great wisedome to carrie a short sayle or to take in all sayles Here we found what the Indians fore-warned vs of for they haue great insight in the change of weather and besides haue secret dealing with the Prince of Darknesse who many times declareth vnto them things to come By this meanes and other witch-crafts which he teacheth them he possesseth them and causeth them to doe what pleaseth him Within halfe an houre it began to thunder and raine with so much winde as wee were forced to lie a hull and so darke that we saw nothing but when the lightning came This being one of the narrowest Reaches of all the Straites we were forced euery glasse to open a little of our fore-sayle to cast about our ships head any man may conceiue if the night seemed long vnto vs what desire we had to see the day In fine Phabus with his beautifull face lightned our Hemisphere and reioyced our hearts hauing driuen aboue twentie foure leagues in twelue houres lying a hull whereby is to be imagined the force of the winde and current Wee set our fore-sayle and returned to our former Harbour from whence within three or foure dayes we set sayle againe with a faire winde which continued with vs till we came within a league of the mouth of the Strait here the winde tooke vs againe contrarie and forced vs to returne againe to our former Port where being ready to anchor the winde scanted with vs in such manner as we were forced to make aboord In which time the winde and tide put vs so farre to lee-wards that we could by no meanes seize it So wee determined to goe to Elizabeth Bay but before we came at it the night ouertooke vs and this Reach being dangerous and narrow we durst neither hull nor trie or turne to and againe with a short sayle and therefore bare alongst in the middest of the channell till we were come into the broad Reach then lay a hull till the morning When we set sayle and ran alongst the coast seeking with our Boate some place to anchor in some foure leagues to the West wards of Cape Forward we found a goodly Bay which we named English Bay where anchored wee presently went ashoare and found a goodly Riuer of fresh water and an old Canoa broken to pieces and some two or three of the houses of the Indians with pieces of Seale stinking ripe These houses are made in fashion of an Ouen seuen or eight foot broad with boughs of trees and couered with other boughes as our Summer houses and doubtlesse doe serue them but for the Summer time when they come to fish and profite themselues of the Sea For they retire themselues in the Winter into the Countrie where it is more temperate and yeeldeth better sustenance for on the Mayne of tht Straites we neither saw beast nor fowle Sea-fowle excepted and a kinde of Black-bird and two Hogs towards the
the East for they are as well found in the West and no way inferiour to those of the East Indies Other fish besides Seales and Crabbes like Shrimpes and one Whale with two or three Porpusses we saw not in all the Seraits Heere wee made also a suruay of our victuals and opening certaine Barrels of Oatten meale wee found a great part of some of them as also of our Pipes and Fat 's of bread eaten and consumed by the Rats doubtlesse a fift part my company did not eate so much as these deuoured as we found daily in comming to spend any of our prouisions When I came to the Sea it was not suspected that I had a Rat in my ship but with the bread in Caske which wee transported out of the Hawke and the going to and againe of our Boats vnto our prize though wee had diuers Cats and vsed other preuentions in a small time they multiplyed in such a manner is incredible It is one of the generall calamities of all long Voyages and would bee carefully preuented as much as may be For besides that which they consume of the best victuals they eate the sayles and neither packe nor chest is free from their surprizes I haue knowne them to make a hole in a Pipe of water and seying the Pumpe haue put all in feare doubting lest some leak had bin sprung vpon the ship Moreouer I haue heard credible persons report that ships haue beene put in danger by them to be sunke by a hole made in the bulge All which is easily remedied at the first but if once they be somewhat increased with difficultie they are to be destroied And although I propounded a reward for euery Rat which was taken and sought meanes by poison and other inuentions to consume them yet their increase being so ordinary and many wee were not able to cleare our selues from them At the end of fourteene dayes one euening being calme and a goodly cleare in the Easter-boord I willed our Anchor to be weyed and determined to goe into the Channell being gotten into the Channell within an houre the wind came good and we failed merrily on our Voyage and by the breake of the day we had the mouth of the Straits open and about foure of the clock in the afternoone we were thwart of Cape Desire which is the Westermost part of the Land on the Souther side of the Straits §. IIII. Entrance into the South Sea discouery of the South parts of the Straits to bee but Ilands by Sir FRANCIS DRAKE which the Hollanders ascribe to MAIRE and SCHOVTEN Of the Iland Mocha and the parts adioyning FRom Cape Desire some foure leagues Northwest lie foure Ilands which are very small and the middlemost of them is of the fashion of a Sugar-loafe Wee were no sooner cleere of Cape Desire and his ledge of Rockes which lie a great way off into the Sea but the wind tooke vs contrary by the North-west and so wee stood off into the Sea two dayes and two nights to the Westwards In all the Straits it ebbeth and floweth more or lesse and in many places it hieth very little water but in some Bayes where are great Indraughts it higheth eight or ten foot and doubtlesse further in more If a man be furnished with wood and water and the winde good hee may keepe the Mayne Sea and goe round about the Straits to the Southwards and it is the shorter way for besides the experience which we made that all the South part of the Straits is but Ilands many times hauing the Sea open I remember that Sir Francis Dâ—â—ke told mee that hauing shot the Straits a storme tooke him first at North-west and â—â—â—er vered about to the South-west which continued with him many dayes with that â—xtremitie that he could not open any sayle and that at the end of the storme he found himselfe in fiftie degrees which was sufficient testimony and proofe that he was beaten round about the Straits for the least height of the Straits is in fiftie two degrees and fiftie minutes in which stand the two entrances or mouthes And moreouer hee said that standing about when the winde changed hee was not well able to double the Southermost Iland and so anchored vnder the lee of it and going ashoare carried a Compasse with him and seeking out the Southermost part of the Iland cast himselfe downe vpon the vttermost point groueling and so reached out his bodie ouer it Presently he imbarked and then recounted vnto his people that he had beene vpon the Southermost knowne Land in the World and more further to the Southwards vpon it then any of them yea or any man as yet knowne These testimonies may suffice for this truth vnto all but such as are incredulous and will beleeue nothing but what they see for my part I am of opinion that the Straite is nauigable all the yeere long although the best time bee in Nouember December and Ianuary and then the windes more fauourable which other times are variable as in all narrow Seas Being some fiftie leagues a Sea-boord the Straits the winde vering to the West-wards wee cast about to the Northwards and lying the Coast along shaped our course for the Iland Mocha About the fifteenth of Aprill we were thwart of Baldiuia which was then in the hands of the Spaniards but since the Indians in Anno 1599. dispossessed them of it and the Conception which are two of the most principall places they had in that Kingdome and both Ports Baldiuia had its name of a Spanish Captaine so called whom afterwards the Indians tooke Prisoner and it is said they required of him the reason why hee came to molest them and to take their Countrey from them hauing no title nor right thereunto he answered to get Gold which the barbarous vnderstanding caused Gold to bee molten and powred downe his throate saying Gold was thy thy desire glut thee with it It standeth in forty degrees hath a pleasant Riuer and Nauigable for a Ship of good burthen may goe as high vp as the Citie and is a goodly Wood Countrey Heere our Beefe began to take end and was then as good as the day wee departed from England it was preserued in Pickell which though it bee more chargeable yet the profit payeth the charge in that it is made durable contrary to the opinion of many which hold it impossible that Beefe should be kept good passing the Equinoctiall Line And of our Porke I eate in the house of Don Beltran de Castro in Lyma neere foure yeeres olde very good preserued after the same manner notwithstanding it had lost his Pickle long before Some degrees before a man come to Baldiuia to the Southwards as Spaniards haue told mee lyeth the Iland Chule not easily to be discerned from the Mayne for he that passeth by it cannot but thinke it to bee the Mayne It is said to bee inhabited by the Spaniards but badly
powder correspondent to the waight of the bullet and this being granted I see no reason why any man should require to proue his peece with more then is belonging to it of right for I haue seene many goodly peeces broken with such trials being cleane without hony combes cracke flawe or other perceauable blemish which no doubt wiâ—h their ordinary allowance would haue serued many yeares If I should make choice for my selfe I would not willingly that any peece should come into Fort or ship vnder my charge which had borne at any time more then his ordinary allowance misdoubting least through the violence of the double charge the Peece may be crased within or so forced as at another occasion with his ordinary allowance he might breake in peeces how many men so many mindes for to others this may seeme harsh for that the contrary custome hath so long time beene receiued and therefore I submit to better experience and contradict not but that in a demy culuering a man may put two Saker or Minion shots or many of smaller waight and so in a Musket two Calieuer shot or many smaller so they exceede not the ordinary waight prescribed by proportion art and experience Hauing visited our prizes and finding in them nothing but fish we tooke a small portion for our victualling and gaue the bigger Ship to the Spaniards againe and the lesser wee kept with purpose to make her our Pinnace The Indians which we tooke in her would by no meanes depart from vs but desired to goe with vs for England saying that the Indian and English were brothers and in all places where wee came they shewed them selues much affectionated vnto vs. These were Natiues of Moremoreno and the most brutish of all that euer I had seene and except it were in forme of men and speech they seemed altogether voide of that which appertained to reasonable men They were expert swimmers but after the manner of Spaniels they diue and abide vnder water a long time and swallow the water of the Sea as if it were of a fresh Riuer except a man see them he would hardly beleeue how they continue in the Sea as if they were Mermaides and the water their naturall Element Their Countrie is most barren and poore of foode if they take a fish aliue out of the Sea or meete with a peece of salted fish they will deuoure it without any dressing as sauourly as if it had beene most curiously sodden or dressed all which makes me beleeue that they sustaine themselues of that which they catch in the Sea The Spaniards profit themselues of their labour and trauell and recompence them badly they are in worse condition then their slaues for to those they giue sustenance house-roome and clothing and teach them the knowledge of God but the other they vse as beasts to doe their labour without wages or care of their bodies or soules §. V. The Viceroy sends an Armado against the English which vieweth them and returneth is againe set forth their fight the English yeelde vpon composition Diuers martiall discourses BY generall accord we eased our selues of a leake prise and continued our course alongst the coast till we came thwart of the Bay of Pisco which lyeth within 15. degrees and 15. minutes Presently after we were cleare of Cape Sangalean and his Ilands we ranged this Bay with our Boate and Pinnace It hath two small Ilands in it but without fruite and being becalmed we anchored two dayes thwart of Chilca By Sea and by Land those of Clyly had giuen aduise to Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoca Marquis of Cauete Vice-roy of Peru resident in Lima of our being on the Coast. He presently with all possible diligence put out six Ships in warlike order with well neere two thousand men and dispatched them to seeke vs and to fight with vs vnder the conduct of Don Beâ—â—rian de Castro Ydelaluca his wiues brother who departing out of the Port of Callao turned to wind-ward in sight ouer the shore from whence they had daily intelligence where wee had beene discouered And the next day after our departure out of Chilca about the middle of May at breake of day we had sight each of other thwart of Cauete we being to wind-wards of the Spanish Armado some two leagues and all with little or no winde Our Pinnace or prize being furnished with Oares came vnto vs out of which we thought to haue taken our men and so to leaue her but being able to come vnto vs at all times it was held for better to keepe her till necessitie forced vs to leaue her and so it was determined that if we came to likelihood of boording she should lay our Boate aboord and enter all her men and from thence to enter our Ship and â—o to forsake her Although by the euent in that occasion this proued good notwithstanding I hold it to be reproued where the enemy is farre superiour in multitude and force and able to come and boord if he list and that the surest course is to fortifie the principall and the best that may be and to cut off all impediments where a man is forced to defence for that no man is assured to haue time answerable to his purpose and will and vpon doubt whether the others in hope to saue themselues will not leaue him in greatest extremitie We presently put our selues in the best order we could to fight and to defend our selues our prayers we made vnto the Lord God of battels for his helpe and our deliuerance putting our selues wholly into his hands About nine of the clocke the Brese began to blow and wee to stand off into the Sea the Spaniards cheeke by iole with vs euer getting to the wind-wards vpon vs for that the shipping of the South Sea is euer moulded sharpe vnder water and long all their voyages depending vpon turning to wind-wards and the Brese blowing euer Southerly As the Sunne began to mount aloft the winde began to fresh which together with the rowling Sea that euer beateth vpon this coast comming out of the westerne-bourd caused a chapping Sea wherewith the Admirall of the Spaniards snapt his maine Mast asunder and so began to lagge a sterne and with him other two Ships The Vice-admirall split her maine-saile being come within shot of vs vpon our broad side but to lee-wards the Reare-admirall cracked her maine-yard asunder in the middest being a head of vs one of the Armado which had gotten vpon the broad side of vs to wind-wards durst not assault vs. With these disgraces vpon them and the hand of God helping and deliuering vs night comming we began to consult what course was best to be taken to free our selues wherein were diuers opinions some said it was best to stand off to the Sea close by all the night others to lye it a hull others to cast about to the shoare-wards two glasses and after all the night to
their Daggers as also they sloe all the Captains friends and they made a great crie saying Liue the King liue the King wherwith all the Campe was in an vprore Then Lope de Agira made vnto the Souldiers a long Oration got them all to consent with him some by force some because they durst not say to the contrarie and others with their good will in the end they all agreed vnto his determined purpose So they made the gentleman their head and Lope de Agire was made Captaine this done and because the people should the better hold their opinion hee did as great a villanie as euer any Spaniard did for hee made an Altar on which hee and all the Souldiers did denie their seruice vnto the King of Spaine and so as people without a King they chose the said Don Fernando to be their King and did vnto him homage These matters being finished they agreed among themselues which should be the best way for them to goe to Peru for they could not goe vp the Riuer from whence they came for the great currant and also if they should goe thorough the land they should be very weake for want of Horsemen therefore they determined to goe downe the Riuer Then said this Lope de Agire that they would carry nothing with them but the Pinnaces and Souldiers which should fight and that it were best to leaue behinde them all the Indians that they brought from Peru with the women and sicke men vnto which their Generall Don Fernando would not agree for that he knew that when they were gone the people of the Countrie would kill them all Lope de Agire hearing this and longing to be chiefe Gouernour himselfe ouer all and taking vnto him thirtie of his owne Countrie men of his own disposition he sodainly killed Don Fernando whom not twentie daies before hee had sworne to obey But now by his subtile working and being withall eloquent in his talke he caused the people to make himselfe Gouernour and made the people beleeue that all these cruelties were done to saue themselues but the tyrannie of this man did not end here he was of the Countrie of Bisca a land ioyning vnto France therefore I rather beleeue that he was a Frenchman then a Spaniard for that in the heart of a Spaniard there is not so much crueltie as this man had Now he being ready to goe his way he determined not to carrie with him any Gentleman or other of high degree and therefore hee slew all those which hee did know to be of high degree or Gentlemen and then departed onely with the common Souldiers and left behinde him all the Spanish women and sicke men with all other creatures If I should rehearse all the cruell murders of this wicked man one by one I should be ouer much tedious vnto you onely I say in as few words as I may that this man proceeded downe the Riuer and had with him onely foure hundred men but before he passed this Riuer and came to Margareta he had no more left but two hundred and thirtie men for the rest hee had done to death and left ashore among the people of the Countrie he vsed this tirannie because hee alwaies stood in feare of his life for that if he had seene but two Souldiers talke together hee thought that he had alwaies consulted on his death and therefore hee vsed the order aboue said now he neuer went any way but that they had in his companie thirtie Biscains of his owne will and minde for to execute his cruell desire As these Souldiers with their Captaine came downe the Riuer they saw many Canoas with Gold in them going to and fro and people on both sides the Riuer where in their passage many times they landed and got good store of Gold and victuals Now did they see also that which Oryllana had reported which was that there were Amazones women that fight in the warre with Bowes and Arrowes but these women fight to helpe their husbands and not by them selues as Orillana reported from the company of men there were of these women in diuers parts of the Riuer and saw the Spaniards fight with their husbands and came and helped them and shewed themselues more valiant then their husbands and therefore is named the Riuer of the Amazones the Spaniards intent onely was to passe downe the Riuer and therefore neuer sought to know the Countrie within the land yet tooke they good store of Gold and put it into one of the Pinnaces where he went himselfe which Pinnace at the mouth of the Riuer was cast away but he himselfe escaped because as yet he had not made an end of his bloudie minde But comming to the Iland of Margareta the Gouernour thereof thought he had beene one of the Kings Captaines receiued him with Pinnaces and brought to him good store of victuals but he put him to death presently and landed on the Ilands and tooke it and two Shippes that were in the Ilands and tooke perforce one hundred and fiftie men to goe with him and others that went willingly with good store of victuals and many Horses and then returned to the maine land saying that with his small force hee would subdue the whole Indies thinking that all the old Souldiers and poore people in seeing of him would all turne to his side and take his part and so hee went deceiued in his owne conceit for he had not gone two dayes Iourney vp in the Land when the Captaine of new Granado came against him with a power of men but Lope de Agire hoping that the other Souldiers would haue come all vnto him whereby his strength might bee the more but hee was deceiued for his owne men left him and tooke the Kings Captaines part Now seeing himselfe destitute of his Souldiers and voide of all helpe he then shewed himselfe more cruell then did the tyrant Nero for this man killed his owne daughter being but sixteene yeeres of age which he brought with him from Peru for that she should not be made the bed of Villains nor be called the daughter of a Traitor these words he vsed vnto her after he had giuen her her deaths wound but before hee could finish this cruell deed the Souldiers came vpon him and cuchim in pieces yet his daughter did die of her wound in that place and thus you haue heard the euill end of this cruell man for hee was the cause likewise that the King would neuer suffer to haue this Riuer discouered so that the riches resteth to this day vnknowne that is in this Riuer Now hauing ended with this Riuer of Marannon all the Coast between this Riuer and the Riuer of Plate is called the Coast of Brasill taking the name of the wood in the Countrie which is called Brasill wood for there is great store of it Brasill was first found by Pedro Arnales Cabrall in the second time that
of March which is the latter end of Summer so that the Countrey was full of snow and withall a sudden storme came that he could not see Sarmiento and his men ashoare but returned the second time to the Coast of Brasill to the Riuer of Ienero where he heard newes of the English ships by the two ships that escaped from the Englishmen whereupon hee left his Lieutenant Diego de Ribera and Sarmiento that they might the next yeere returne for the Straits So Diego de Flores with foure ships which hee had left and other foure which the King had sent to succour him went all along the Coast to seeke for the Englishmen but could not find them for they were gone directly for England so he went vnto a Port called Parayna where he found fiue French ships and burnt three and tooke two and also the Fort that the Frenchmen had and put in Spaniards and the Frenchmen runne into the Mountaynes to the Sauages this done he returned for Spaine And his Lieutenant Diego de Ribera and Sarmiento had the next yeere such good fortune that they arriued safely into the Straits with all their ships and so set ashore foure hundred men and because the ships Boat could not land being once laden the ship that had all the victuals and munition that ship they runne ashoare in a Bay and as the water did ebbe they tooke all things out of her this beeing done Diego de Ribera left Sarmiento with foure hundred men thirtie women and a ship with victuals for eight moneths and with the other three returned being in the Straits but eight dayes Now Pedro Sarmiento made a Towne at the mouth of the Straits on the Northside and put therein a hundred and fiftie men and from hence hee went by Land and sent the ship further into the Straits and fiftie leagues within the Straits at the narrowest place of all where is a very good Port here he made another Towne which he named the Towne of King Philip and also would haue made a Fort and planted Ordnance for the defence of the Straits but the Snow and the Winter was so great that hee could not proceed in it but hee tooke aboue fiue and twentie Mariners into the ship with him and said hee would goe see how the other people did and so came to the Straits mouth to the Towne and after hee had beene there a day or two with them he said that a storme put him from the Straits by force and broke his Cables but his men said to the contrary that he himselfe cut his Cables God knoweth the truth and so he came to the Riuer of Ienero and not finding any succour there came from the King hee went to Fernambocke asking aide of the Captaine for victuals the Captaine incontinent laded his ship with victuals and clothes for the men so that hauing these things hee tooke his way for the Straites but betweene the Cape of Saint Augustine and the Baya the wind came out of the Sea with such violence that it forced the ship to runne ashore where Sarmiento had three of his men drowned and he with the rest hardly escaped the ship was lost and all that was in her And then he came by Land to the Baya and the Gouernour of Brasill bought a Barke that was there in the Harbour and lading her with victuals and clothes for the men hee hauing this prouision with diuers other more that were needfull for his men he tooke his Voyage for the Straits and comming as high as fortie foure degrees he met with a sudden storme and was forced to throw all ouer-boord that he carried and was yet in the end compelled to returne for the Riuer of Ienero where hee stayed for succour from the King a whole yeere but there came not so much as a Letter for him for the King was sore grieued at Pedro Sarmiento because he told him that in the narrowest place of the Straits it was but a mile ouer but Diego de Ribera and others told the King that it was aboue a league broad that if a ship came with wind and current all the Ordnance in the World could not hurt them whereby the King thought that Pedro Sarmiento had deceiued him in making him to lose so many men and to be at so great a charges to no effect Also the Gouernour of Baya seeing the King wrote not to him would giue Sarmiento no more succour wherefore Sarmiento went in his ship for Spaine which he came last in from the Straits and it is said that he was taken by Englishmen and so carried for England It is reported that this Sarmiento is the best Manner in all Spainè and hath say led farthest After all this the Captaine of the Riuer Ienero â—ent a small ship with victuals for the Straits but was also put backe in fortie degrees This is all the Discouery that hath beene of the Straits of Magelanes as well by the Spaniards as other Nations vnto this yeere 1586. It is fâ—ure yeeres since these poore and miserable Spaniards were 〈◊〉 in the Straits from which time there hath no succour gone vnto them so God he knoweth whether they be dead or aliue The Land that heth from the Straits to the Coast of Chili no man hath trauelled it by land because of the great Mountaines of Snow that lye in that Countrey as also I may well say that it hath not often beene done by Sea for that all the ships that haue passed that way haue at the least gone thirtie leagues of the shore because of the shoalds and many little Ilands that lie of the mayne land and therefore there is nothing knowne what is in that Countrey The first Inhabitance that you haue after you passe the Straits is on the Coast of Chili and is called Castro it is the worst place of all the Coast for that in it there is small store of Gold and little victuall and very cold this place is compassed with many shoalds so that it is a Port but for small Barkes The next to this is Baldiuia but before I passe any further I will declare vnto you the situation of Chili This Coast lieth North and South and is in length aboue a hundred leagues and it is not in breadth aboue fiue and twentie leagues at the most there runne from the great Mountaines into the Sea great store of Riuers which maketh many Valleyes and is the fruitfullest land in the World for that it hath bread wine and other victuals great store These Riuers bee very rich of Gold and for to shew you in few words all that this Prouince hath I say that this land lacketh nothing but might be called Paradise but for that it lacketh only one thing and that is peace This land was first discouered in this order after the Spaniards had conquered the Kingdome of Peru as hereafter I will shew vnto you they found in this Kingdome
affaires one of Sotos expedition into Florida in sixe Bookes both the other of his owne Countrie of Peru the one contayning in nine Bookes the Historie of things done by the Incas before the Spanish Conquest the later those later Spanish-Peruan occurrents Of his Floridan Historie wee haue onely borrowed a few notes bringing on our Stage a Portugall eye-witnesse of that Voyage to act his owne part in our next Act or Bookeâ— out of the other I purposed more liberalitie that thou mightst â—eare a Peruan speake of Peru but the Worke growing so great and wee hauing out of Acosta and so many others presented so much before fearing to 〈◊〉 the Reader with fulnesse which may if not here satisfied goe to the Authour haue principally collected such things aâ— either they had not or had by false information receiued and deceiued their Readers whom this Authour correcteth out of better intelligence Besides hee seemes to hold counterpoise as drawing things from their originall with our Mexican Pictureantiquities THe Language generall of Peru hath three manner of pronunciations of some syllables much different from the Spanish in which variety of pronunciation lieth the different significations of the same word One way in the lips another in the palate and the third in the throat The accent is almost alway in the last syllable but one sildome in the syllable before that and neuer in the last of all as some ignorant of the Tongue haue affirmed That Language of Cuzco doth also want these letters following b d f g i consonant the single l they vse the double ll as on the other side they pronounce not the double rr in the beginning or midst of a word but alway single and x so that of the Spanish Alphabet they want eight letters accounting the single l and double rr Hence they hardly pronounce Spanish words in which these letters are Neither is there any plurall number but certaine particles which signifie pluralitie otherwise the singular serues for both numbers In my time about 1560. and twentie yeeres after in my Countrie there was no money coyned but they reckoned by weight the marke or ounce as in Spaine they reckon by Duckets so in Peru by Pezos or Castellans euery Pezo of Siluer being foure hundred and fiftie Marauedies and reduced to Spanish Duckets euery fiue Pezos are sixe Duckets ANno 1484. Alonso Sanchez of Huelua in the Countie of Niebla traded in a small ship from Spaine to the Canaries and thence to Madera In this his triangular trade hee was one day taken with a tempest which carried him twentie and eight or nine dayes hee knew not whence nor whither and then the tempest ending hee arriued at an Ile which some thinke to bee Hispaniola where he went on land and tooke the height Hee wrote all occurrents and after a tedious voyage arriued at Tercera but fiue of seuenteene being left which all died there spent with their ill passage at Christopher Colon or Columbus his house which gaue him that heart and courage to the discouery of the New World Blasco Nunnez de Balboa An. 1513. discouered the South Sea was thereof made Adelantado and the conquest of those Regions granted him by the Catholike Kings He made three or foure Ships for discouery one of which passed the line to the South sailing along the coast and seeing an Indian Fisherman at the mouth of a Riuer foure of the Spaniards went ashore farre from the place where he was being good runners and swimmers to take him The Indian maruailing what kinde of creature the Ship vnder saile might be was taken in the mids of his muse and carried a shipboord They asked him by signes and words being somewhat refreshed after that dreadfull surprize and bearded sight what Countrie that was and how called The Indian not vnderstanding what they demanded answered and told them his proper name saying Beru and added another word saying Pelu as if he should haue said if yee aske me what I am my name is Beru and if you aske me whence I was in the Riuer Pelu being the common name of a Riuer in that language The Christians conceiued that hee had vnderstood them and answered to the purpose and from that time Anno 1515. or 1516. they called by the name of Peru that great and rich Empire corrupting both names as they vse in Indian words Some later authors call it Piru After the discouery of the Incas Kingdome the name still continued howsoeuer the Natiues to this day seuentie two yeares since the conquest will not take it in their mouthes although they speake with Spaniards and vnderstand them neither haue they one generall name for all those Prouinces as Spaine Italy France with vs but call each by its proper name and the whole Kingdome they called Tauantinsuyu that is to say the fourth part of the World That Riuer also where they tooke the Indian was after by the Spaniards called Peru. Yucatan receiued the name from like accident the first discouerers asking the place the Indian answering tectetan tectetan that is I vnderstand you not which they vnderstood of the proper appellation and corruptly called the place Yucatan From Panama to the Citie of Kings the sailing is very troublesome by reason of Southerne windes which alway ranne on that coast as also of many currents these forced the Shippes in that voyage to make large boords of fortie or fiftie leagues into the Sea and then againe to landward vntill Fraâ—cis Drake an Englishman which entred by the Magellan strait 1579. taught them a better course of sailing two or three hundred leagues into the Sea which the Pilots before durst not doe being fearefull of calmes if they were once one hundred leagues from land otherwise also vncertaine and ignorant Touching the originall of the Incas Kings of Peru this author affirmeth that when hee was a childe his mother residing in Câ—sco her Countrie euery weeke there came to visite her some of her kindred which had escaped the tyrannies of Atauhuallpa at which time their ordinary discourse was alway of the originall of their Kings of their Maiestie and great Empire Conquests and Gouernment such discourses the Incas and Pallas hold in their visitations bewailing their losses Whiles I was a boy I reioyced to heare them as children delight to heare tales but being growne to sixteene or seuenteene yeares of age when they were one day at my Mothers in this discourse I spake to the ancientest my Mothers Vncle desiring him to tell me what he knew of their first Kings seeing they kept not memory of their antiquities as the Spaniards vse in writing which by their Bookes can tell all their antiquities and changes which haue happened since God made the World I desired him to tell me what traditionary memorials he had of their Originals He willing to satisfie my request recounted to me in manner following aduising mee to lay vp these
to burne him aliue by the command of the Gouernour but he said he would be a Christian whereupon after Baptisme thâ—y strangled him that night and the Countrey was quiet The Gouernour made the eldest Sonne of old Cusco Lord of the Countrey which caused great ioy to the Natiues Wee arriued in Siuil Ianuary the fifteenth 1534. CHAP. XVL. The Conquest of Peru and Cusco called New Castile and directed to the Emperour by FRANCISCO de XERES Secretary to Captaine FRANCIS PIZARRO which conquered them FRancis Pizarro liued in Panama which the Gouernor Pedrarias de Auila had peopled He was Sonne of Captaine Gonzalo Pizarro of Trugillo hee obtained licence of Pedrarias to goe vpon new discoueries and hauing bestowed a good part of his estate in a Ship and necessaries he departed from Panama Nouember the foureteenth 1524. with one hundred and twelue Spaniards and some Indians seuentie daies after they went on land which after they named Of Hunger with eightie men the rest being dead and sent the Ship to the Iland of Pearles neere Panama for victuals hoping of their returne in twelue dayes which continued forty seuen they liuing on the Seas wilde prouisions meane whiles whereby twenty dyed and the rest were very weake A Cow hide which they had for seruice of the Ship they had shared amongst them and eaten before the Ship returned Then did they proceede on the Voyege and came to a Towne which the inhabitants had forsaken where they found store of prouisions and the next day the Countrie people set on them easily ouerthrew ours being weake gaue the Captaine seuen wounds very dangerous and left him for dead slew fiue and wounded seuenteene of the rest whereupon they returned for Panama and he staied at Chuchama to refresh and cure himselfe A little before Diego de Almagro his companion was gone for his succour with a Ship and seuenty men and landing at the place where Pizarro was beaten was there assaulted and lost one of his eyes many Christians were wounded but for all that they fired the towne and put the enemy to flight sailing thence they came to a great Riuer which they called Saint Iohns and found there some shew of Gold and returned and found Pizarro in Chuchama Almagro was sent to Panama where Pedrarias misliked and crossed this designe which had proued hitherto so vaine but he with much adoe returned with one hundred and ten men to Pizarro with whom fiftie of the former remained of both companies one hundred thirty being dead In two Ships they set forth and spent three yeares in great trauell hunger killed the most of them that fiftie onely remained not finding neuerthelesse any good Countrie Then it was their hap to finde great hopes of Gold and riches comming to Cancebi and tooke six men to learne their language Almagro was sent for more men to Panama whiles Pizarro staied at Cock-Iland But some had written to the Gouernour to be freed from thence The Gouernour sent licence to those which would onely sixteene staied there with Pizarro fiue moneths till the Ship returned and then on the last day of the time granted them hauing made better discouery ariued at Panama Pizarro was sent into Spaine to get graunt of the Countrey which in large Commission hee obtained and after his returne departed from Panama with three Ships and 180. men and 37. Horse In thirteene dayes he arriued at the Port of Saint Matthew which was as much as before he could doe in two yeares and landing there found all the Country in armes They marched till they came to a great towne called Coache which they suddenly assaulted and there got in Gold to the value of 15000. Castellines and 750. pounds of Siluer and many Emeralds which they then knew not and therefore for small trifles exchanged them with the Indians Thence the Gouernour sent backe for men and horse to Panama and Nicaragua He went with his Spaniards to the Isle Puna rich and populous which subiected themselues and because it was winter staid there Those Indians rebelled and raised forces Hee tooke the Cacique hauing vnderstanding hereof and made great slaughter of the Ilanders and hauing beheaded ten principall men he set free the Cacique to call together the Ilanders which had fled to Tumbez Pizarro went thence to Tumbez where he found the Indians in armes Three which had gone in the Boates were robbed and slaine but Tumbez and many other places rued it May 16. 1532. he departed from Tumbez and was well receiued in many places to which he gaue notice that he came to bring them in subiection to the Emperor and to the knowledge of the holy Catholik faiâ—h to which many of the Caciques yeelded Comming to a good Riuer which he found to haue a good Port he planted a Colonie sixe leagues from the Sea and called it Saint Michaels At Chira he found that the Cacique of that Towne and another of Almotaxe had conspired to kill certaine Christians hee tooke them both with their chiefe men and burned them aliue sparing the Cacique himselfe of Chira whose fault was left and giuing him Almotaxe also This execution was dreadfull to the whole Country There he shared the Gold which the Caciques and the men of Tumbez had giuen them and paid the Marriners their fraight He departed thence the foure and twentieth of September 1532. hauing newes of Atabalipa at Caxamalca 55. abode at Saint Michaels and with the Gouernor remained 62. horsemen and 102. footmen As he marched he receiued better intelligence of Atabalipa and of Cusco in which old Cusco lay interred in a place which had the roofe and wals couered with Gold and Siluer Hee sent a Captaine to Caxas and Gâ—â—camba with certaine horse and foote He learned of the way which he passed betwixt these two townes the latter of which had a faire stone Castle that it reacheth from Cusco to Quito aboue 300 leagues so broad that six hâ—rsemen may ride abrest with water passages all alongst for trauellers to drinke and houses for their lodging euery dayes iournie with this Captaine returned an Indian with a present from Atabalipa of two Fountaines of stone and two bâ—rtnens of dried Ducks which is the fashion of that Country signifying his great desire to see the Gouernour at Caxamalca All the way from the Riuer of Saint Michaels to Chineha is a Vallie well peopled hath the way made by hands walled on both sides with trees in many places set for shadow made by old Cusco The people liue much after one manner They sacrifice their children and sprinkle the bloud on their Sepulchers and daube their Idols faces therewith Their sacrifices goe dancing and singing to their death The Temples are compassed with stone wals and seated in the highest part of the Citie He sent an Indian messenger to Atabalipa with words of greatest kindenesse Leauing the Chincha way he tooke that which goeth
Caxamalca to Xauxa where Snow lyeth all the yeere The people are more ciuill and better Souldiers On the other side the Mountayne Eastward they are Sauage people feeding on fruites hauing small store of Maiz. All their Tribute was Feathers From Xauxa to Cusco the Countrey enlargeth it selfe from the Sea Collao is a plaine Countrey and cold and hath many Riuers where gold is taken The Mountaynes continue from Tumbez to Xauxa and thence to Cusco if the way bee not made by hands footmen could not passe much lesse horsemen and they haue many houses full of Brasse to worke vp the same All the rough Mountaynes are wrought like staires of stone There are some places where foure or fiue mens heights the way is wrought and made vp with stone worke in others it is cut out of the stone There are places of entertainment in euery Countrey and by the way one within two or three leagues of another made for the Lords which visit the Countrey and euery twenty leagues principall Prouinciall Cities where the tributes of smaller places are kept All those great Townes haue store-houses full of the Countrey Commodities There are store of cattle and pastures with their Pastors The Citie of Cusco might be worthy the sight if it were in Spaine full of great mens houses all Lords and Caciques hauing houses there The most of those houses are of stone and some are halfe of stone the streets are straight in right crosses and narrow in the midst runneth a Conduit of water inclosed with stone on each side of which a horseman may passe and no more The Citie is situate on the top of a Hill and many houses are built on the side of it and others below on the Plaine The Market place is square paued with small stones About it are foure houses of Lords of stone painted and wrought the best of which was Guainacabas the gate is of white and red Marble and of other colours and hath faire Terrasses On the sides of the City ranne two Riuers which rise a league higher ouer which are Bridges Vpon a Hill hard and rough is a very faire Fortresse of earth and stone with great windowes towards the City Within it are many Roomes and one principall Towre in the midst of foure or fiue circuits one higher then another the Lodgings within are small the stone very fairely wrought and so close ioyned that there is no shew of morter and as smooth as planed boords It hath so many Roomes and Towres that a man is not able to view them all in a day Many Spaniards which haue beene in Lumbardie and other strange Kingdomes say that they haue neuer seene such a building as this Fortresse nor Castle more strong There may abide within fiue thousand Spaniards It cannot be vndermined being seated on a Rocke On the City side which is a ragged Hill is but one wall on the other side three one higher then another the inmost being highest The goodliest spectacle are these encompassing circuits being of stones so great that no man would imagine them layd there by the hands of men as great as pieces of stonie Mountaynes and Rockes some being of the height of thirty spannes and and as much in length and none is so little but it is more then three Cart-â—odes The Spaniards preferre them before the buildings of Hercules or of the Romanes They are reuersed that they cannot be battered in plano but in the slipping turnagaines which goe outwards made of the selfe-same stone Betwixt wall and wall is earth laid so broad that three Carts may goe abreast They are made like three steps the second beginning on the height of the first and the third on that of the second All this Fortresse was a Store-house of Armes Clubs Launces Bowes Arrowes Axes Shields Cotton Mandilions quilted and other armes and garments for Souldiers gathered from all parts of the Empire colours of diuers sorts and Metals From this Fortresse may bee seene many houses In the Valwhich is compassed about with Hils are aboue 100000. houses many of them houses of pleasure of the Souereignes Lords and Caciques others are Store-houses full of Wooll Armes Mettals Clothes and such things as the Countrey yeeldeth there are Horses where the Tributes are kept and there is one where are aboue 100000. dried Birds of whose Feathers they make garments And there are many houses for that purpose There are Shields Targets Plates of Brasse to couer houses and incredible store of prouisions for Warre Euery Souereigne Lord deceassed hath his owne house of these goods and Tributes which they had in their life for by their Law the Successor may not inherit it their Gold Siluer and Clothes apart They worship the Sunne and haue made him many Temples and of all things they offer somewhat to the Sunne Two Spaniards were sent to Colao and were forty dayes in the iourney They say it is well peopled mountaynous and out of measure cold so subiect that hauing many cattle no man dares kill any without license though neuer so great There is a great Lake Titicaca in the midst of the Prouince in which are two Ilands in one of which is a Temple of the Sun in great veneration where they offer Gold and Siluer and other things There are aboue sixe hundred Indians which serue there and a thousand women The Mynes of Gold are beyond this place some of ten some twenty and that of Guarnacabo is forty fathome deepe darke and narrow in which one alone at once entreth none following till he be comme forth Other Mynes they pursue no further then a mans height that he may reach the earth to another which made some say that all the fields were Gold Mynes Guainacapa is honoured as if hee were aliue and his bodie is brought forth into the street with Musicke and Dances and there are some day and night attending him to chase away the flyes The Lords that come to the Citie goe first and salute him and then the King To these Feasts 100000. soules assembled Had it not beene for the quarrels betwixt those of Quito and those of Cusco the Spaniards could not haue entred into Cusco nor haue it And the Mountaynes are such that ten men may defend ten thousand Many Horses fell downe and brake their neckes The Spaniards themselues maruell at what they haue done and how they are still aliue It hath falâ—e out well that this Sonne of Guainacaba was made their Lord for whose loue other Lords haue giuen their obedience to the Emperour He is very friendly to the Christians Iuly 15. 1534. in Xauxa Subscribed Francisco Piçarro c. The end of the seuenth Booke VOYAGES TO AND LAND-TRAVELS IN FLORIDA VIRGINIA AND OTHER PARTS OF THE NORTHERNE AMERICA FRENCH Plantings Spanish Supplantings English VIRGINIAN Colonies and to the Ilands Azores THE EIGHTH BOOKE CHAP. I. A Relation of ALVARO NVNEZ called Capo di Vaua
concerning that which happened to the Fleet in India whereof PAMPHILO NARVAEZ was Gouernour from the yeere 1527. vntill the yeere 1536. who returned vnto Siuill with three of his companions only translated out of RAMVSIO and abbreuiated §. I. Their Fleet and admirable and vnheard of tempest their entrance into Florida the Lakes troublesome passages incounters disastrous successe building Boats for returne THE sixteenth day of Iune in the yeare 1527. the Gouernour Pamphilo di Naruaez departed from the hauen of Saint Lucar of Barrameda with power and commandement from your Maiestie to conquer and gouerne the Prouinces which lye from the Riuer of Palmes vnto the Cape of Florida all in the firme land And the Fleete which the Gouernour brought with him were fiue Ships wherein six hundred men went The Officers because I am to make particular mention of them in this Booke were these Capo di Vaua Treasurer Agozino Prouost Martiall Alonso Eurriquez Auditor and Alonso de Solis Factor and ouerseer for his Maiestie And besides there was for Commissary a Frier of the order of Saint Francis called Frier Giouanni Iohn Gottierrez and with him foure other Friers of the same Order We arriued first at the Iland of San Dominica where we stayed but fortie fiue dayes to prouide our selues of certaine necessary things and principally of Horses There we left more then an hundred and forty of our men which would stay by promise and agreement which they of the Village made with them Departing thence we arriued at Saint Iago or Giacomo which is an hauen in the Iland of Cuba and reposing our selues there certaine dayes the Captaine furnished himselfe with men munition and horses It hapned in that place that a Gentleman called Uasques Parcalle neete vnto the towne of the Trinitie which is in the same Iland offered the Gouernour to giue him certaine victuall which he had in the said towne of the Trinitie which is an hundred leagues off from the said port of Saint Iago Whereupon the Gouernour departed with all the Fleete towards that towne But arriuing halfe the way at an hauen which they call the Cape of Santa Cruz it seemed good vnto the Gouernor to abide there and send one Ship onely to receiue those victuals and so he appointed one Captaine Pantoxa to goe thither with his Ship and that for the greater security I also should goe with him and he remained still there with the foure Ships we hauing now gotten another in the Iland of Saint Domenica Being arriued with our fiue Ships at the hauen of the Trinitie the Captaine Pantoxa went with Vasquez Porcalle to receiue the victuals at the towne which was one league distant from the hauen One houre after I was landed the Sea began to be outragious and the Northwinde was so strong that the Boates durst not goe aland nor could they with the Shippes in any sort put to the contrary side the winde being in the prowe whereupon with very great trauaile with two contrary seasons and with much raine they continued all that day and the Sunday The night approaching the Sea and tempest began so much to increase that it no lesse tormented those on the land then them at Sea for all the houses fell downe and all the Churches and wee were enforced to goe seuen or eight men embracing one another arme in arme together to be able to resist the winde that it might not carry vs away and to auoide the ruine of the houses flying vnto the Forrest the trees gaue vs no lesse cause of feare then the houses had giuen vs because they falling held vs in continuall feare that they would kill vs. In this tempest and danger wee passed all the night without finding any part or place where for one halfe houre onely wee might stand secure but principally the midnight before wee heard noyses and great crying and the sound of Belles Flutes and Drummes and other instruments which continued vntill the morning that the tempest ceased In those Countries so fearefull a thing had neuer beene seene whereof I caused a testimoniall and true certificate to be made which I haue sent vnto your Maiestie On Munday morning we went downe to the hauen and found not the Ships there but saw some of their furniture in the water whereby we knew that they were cast away And so we purposed to goe along the coast searching if we might finde any thing but finding nothing we determined to search by the Mountaines and hauing gone about a quarter of a league of from the water side wee found the Boate of a Ship set vpon certaine trees and further beyond ten leagues along the coast they found two persons of my Ship and certaine couerings and roofes of houses And those two men were so actually transfigured and changed with weatherbeating both of the shore and of the Sea that they could not know who they were we found also a Friers habit and a Couerlet torne in peeces and found no other person or thing any more Threescore men were lost in those two Ships and twenty horses and those that remained aliue were thirty persons onely who the same day we arriued in that hauen went aland together with the Captaine Pantoxa Wee remained in such manner for certaine dayes with much trouble and great necessitie because the sustenance and prouision of that people was all lost and destroyed with certaine wilde Beasts and the Countrey remained in such sort that it moued great compassion in the beholders the trees being falne the mountaines burned and remaining without leaues or grasse and so we passed vntill the fift day of Nouember that the Gouernour of our Fleete came thither to vs with his other foure Ships who also themselues had passed great dangers and torments and were escaped because in good time they had retired themselues vnto some place of safety The men which he had brought with him and those that he found there were so much affrighted and terrified with the losses and dangers past that they resolued to imbarke themselues no more in the winter and besought the Gouernour that he would suffer them to repose and rest themselues in those places he perceiuing their mindes and the desire of the inhabitants did so and gaue me the charge of the Ships and the men which should goe with me to winter at the hauen of Xaqua which is twelue leagues distant from that place and so going thither we staied vntill the twentieth of February following At this time the Gouernour came thither vnto vs with a Brigantine which he had gotten at the Trinitie and brought with him a Pilot called Miruelo who as they said was a man very well practised and an excellent Pilot for all the coast of the North. Besides that the Gouernour left on the coast of the Lissart Captaine Aluaro della Querda with a Ship which the Gouernour had procured there and left forty men with
signes how that we went to Apalachen and by those signes which he made vs it seemed he ment to signifie that hee was an enemy to them of Apalachen and would aide vs against them We gaue him Crownes Bels and such other things and he gaue the Gouernour the skin which he wore vpon him and so turned backe againe and we followed presently after him That euening we came vnto a Riuer which was very deepe and very broad and ran very furiously and not presuming to passe ouer it vpon rafts we made a Canoa and staied one whole day to passe ouer it so that if the Indians would haue iniured vs they might easily haue disturbed our passage and yet although they holped vs the best they could wee had much trouble One of our Horsemen called Iohn Velasquez a natiue of Cuellar because he would not stay tooke the Riuer with his Horse and the current of the Riuer being very strong cast him from his Horse who catching hold on the raines of the bridle drowned himselfe together with the Horse And those Indians of that Lord called Dulcancellin found the Horse and told vs where we should finde him in the Riuer below and so they went to search for him whose death much discontented vs because vntill that time there was not one man of our company wanting The Horse gaue many their suppers that night And so hauing passed that Riuer the day following we came vnto the people of that Lord who sent vs some of their Maiz. The next day we departed the Indians being fled The Gouernour left by the way an ambuscado of certaine Horsemen which as those Indians passed by issued out vpon them and tooke three or foure who before serued vs for guides and they brought vs through a very troublesome Countrey to trauaile and maruelous to behold where were huge Mountaines and very high Trees whereof so many were fallen to the ground that they intangled and stopped the way in such sort that we could not passe without going farre about to our great trouble and of those trees that were fallen the greater part were cleft from one end to the other through the thunderbolts that fall there great tempests being alwayes in that place with this trouble wee marched vntill the six and twentieth day of Iune at which day we came within the sight of Apalachen before they of the Towne perceiued vs. We rendered great thankes vnto God seeing our selues so neere vnto that place and supposing that to be true which had been spoken and hoping we should there end our great trauailes which wee had passed as well for the long and euill iourney as for the great famine which we had sustained Because although we sometimes found Maiz yet for the most part we went six or eight leagues without finding any And there were many amongst vs that through hunger and wearinesse had wounded their shoulders with continuall wearing of their armes besides the other calamities they daily incountered The Gouernour commanded me to take with me nine horse and fiftie foote and enter the towne which the Controler and I did and found none but little children and women because at that time the men were not there but going a little way from those places the Indians came and began to fight and shoot at vs and slew the Controulers horse but in the end they fled and left vs There we found great quantity of Maiz which stood ready to be gathered and had sufficient of which was dry romeining We found there many skinnes of wilde beasts taken by hunting and some garments of thred little and nought worth wherewith the women couer some parts of their person They had many Mils to grinde Maiz. Among these people there were forty little houses low built and in close places for feare of the great tempests to which that Countrey continually is accustomed The houses are made of straw of stubble and compassed about with Mountaynes standing thicke together and great Trees and many Seas of water where so many and so great Trees are falne that they trouble euery thing and cause that no man is able to trauell there without great incumberance The land from the place where we di barked vnto this people of Apalachen for the most part is plaine and the soyle consisteth of hard and solid sand and throughout all the same many great Trees and famous Mountaines are found where Nut trees are and Labrani and other which they call Laquidambares there are also Cedars Sauine-trees Holme-trees Pines Okes and low Palme-trees like those of Castile Throughout all that Countrey there are many great and little Lakes and some are very troublesome to passe as well for the great depth thereof as also by reason of the many trees which are fallen there The ground or bottome of them is sand and those Lakes which we found in the Prouince of Apalachen are much greater then all the other which we had found vntill then There are many fields of their Maiz in this Prouince and the houses are scattered through the Plaine like those of Gerbe The beasts which we saw there are Deere of three sorts Conies Hares Beares and Lions and other among which we saw one that carrieth her young in a bagge which shee hath in her belly where shee carrieth them all the time that they are little vntill they be able to goe and seeke their meate themselues And if by chance the young stand seeking food without the damme and people come vpon them shee flyeth not before she haue gathered them into her bagge The Countrey is very cold there and there are many good pastures for flockes There are also many sorts of Fowle Goâ—â—ings in great abundance Geese Duckes Herons Black-birds and others of diuers sorts and there we saw many Falcons Ger-falcons Sparrow-hawkes and many other sorts of Birds Two dayes after we came to Apalachen the Indians that were fled returned vnto vs in peace demanding their children and we gaue them all except one Cazique of theirs whom the Gouernour retayned which was the occasion to cause them to depart offended who the day following returned as enemies and assailed vs with such fury and suddennesse that they came to set fire to the house where we were but so soone as wee came forth they fled and retired themselues vnto the Lakes which were very neere thereunto Whereupon by reason of them and the Corne which was very thicke there we could not doe them any hurt saue that we killed one man only The day following other Indians of another people which was on the other side came to vs and assailed vs after the same manner that the other had done before and fled likewise and one of them also was slaine We abode there fiue and twentie dayes in the which we caused three to enter within the Land and found it very poorely peopled and hard trauelling in respect of the troublesome passages
stead of Ockam for the Boats And we vsed so great diligence therein that beginning the fourth of August the twentieth of September next fiue Boates were finished of two and twenty Cubits a piece and we stopped the chinkes and calking with Ockam of the Palmiti and pitched them with a certaine Gumme which a Grecian called Don Theodoro brought from certaine Pine-trees and with the same barke of the Palmiti and of the traines and haire of Horses we made cordage and tackling and made sayles of out shirts and of the Sauine trees which were there we made such Oares as we thought necessary and such was that Countrey whereinto our sinnes conducted vs that no stones were found there to ballast the Boates nor saw wee any throughout all that Countrey Wee likewise flayed the whole legges of horses and sewed the skinne together to make bottles to carrie water In this meane time some of our men went to gather Tamarindi in the strond of the Sea where the Indiâ—â—s at two seuerall times wherein they incountred them slue ten Christians so neere to our Tents that we saw them and could not helpe them and found them shot through from side to side with Arrowes so that although our men had excellent Armour they were not able to resist their strokes those Indians shooting with such dexteritie and force as aforesaid And our Pilots said and swore that from the flat shoare which we called by the name of the Crosse vnto this place we had gone about two hundred and fourescore leagues little more or lesse and in all that Countrey we saw no Mountaines nor had any notice by any meanes that there were any and before that we imbarked besides those which the Indians had slaine there were more then forty other men dead through sicknesse and famine The two and twentieth day of September they ceased to eate horses so that only one remayned and on that day wee imbarked in this order In the Gouernours Boate went nine and fortie men and in the other which hee gaue to the Auditour and Commissary went as many more The third he gaue to Captaine Alonzo del Castiglio and Andrea Durante with eight and forty men and another he gaue vnto two other Captaines the one called Telles and the other Pigualosa with seuen and forty men and the fift he gaue to the Controuler and mee with nine and forty men And after the victuals and furniture and other things were shipped they arose no more then a fourth part aboue the water and beside this we were so streighted that we could not guide nor turne in the Boats Necessitie was so powerfull that it made vs aduenture to goe in this manner and commit our selues vnto so dangerous a Sea without hauing any one among vs who knew the art of Nauigation That flat shoare from whence we departed is called the shoare of the Horses and we went seuen dayes through those gulfes with the water vp to the girdle without seeing any signe of the Coast and at the end of those seuen dayes we arriued at an Iland which standeth neere vnto the Land My Boat went before and we saw fiue Canowes of Indians comming who forsooke them all and left them in our hands seeing vs come towards them Our other Boates went before and lighted vpon certane houses in the same Iland where they found many of their Egges and Thorn-back were dry and greatly releeued vs in the necessitie wherein we were After this we went further and two leagues from thence we passed a Strait which that Iland maketh with the Land and called it the Strait of Saint Michael because we passed it vpon that holy day Being gotten out of that Strait wee arriued at the Coast where with the fiue Canowes which I had taken from the Indians we remooued some things out of our Boats making them fast and ioyning them to ours so that they arose two handfuls aboue water and therewithall we turned to goe along the Coast by the way of the Riuer of Palmes thirst and famine alwayes increasing because the victuals were very scant and almost at an end and we wanted water because the bottles which we had made of the skinnes of horses became suddenly putrified and mustie and were good for nothing and many times wee entred into certaine gulfes and flat shoares which went farre within the Land and found them all shallow and dangerous And so we went thirty dayes and sometimes found some Indian fishers a poore and miserable people and at the end of these thirty dayes when our necessitie for want of water was extreame going to the Coast one night we perceiued a Canow comming and seeing her wee expected that she would haue arriued but although we called vnto her she would not come nor behold vs and because it was night we followed her not but held on our course When day began to appeare we saw a small Iland and went thither to see if wee could find any water there but wee laboured in vaine because there was none While wee stayed there a mightie tempest arose vpon vs whereupon we abode there sixe dayes not daring to put out to Sea againe and hauing passed fiue dayes without drinking our thirst was so great that we were forced to drinke the Sea-water and some dranke so largely that fiue of our men dyed suddenly We went out the same way which we had seene the Canow goe the night before we departed thence This day we saw our selues many times drowned and so cast away that there was none of vs who did not assure himselfe of death But it pleased our Lord God who in the greatest necessities vseth to shew his fauour that about Sunne set we weathered a point which the Land maketh where wee found it very calme and quiet Heere many Canowes came towards vs and the Indians that were in them spake vnto vs and without wondring at vs returned They were a people of a great bodie and well set and carried neither Bowes nor Arrowes Some of vs followed them vnto their houses which stood neere vnto the water side and leaped aland and before the entrance of the houses we found many pots of water and great quantitie of fish and the Lord of that Countrey offered it all vnto the Gouernour and taking him by the hand brought him to his house their houses are of Mats very well made And after we entred into the house of their Cazique or Lord he gaue vs much fish and we gaue them bread of Corne which we brought and they eat it in our presence and demanded more which we gaue them and the Gouernour gaue the Cazique many small trifles and abiding with him in his house about halfe an houre within night the Indians assaulted vs and the rest of our men who road very ill beeing cast vpon that Coast they assaulted also the house of the Cazique where the Gouernour was and with a stone smote
sometimes after they haue receiued it they depart without speaking a word After Dorante and Castiglio returned to the Iland they gathered together all the Christians who were somewhat dispersed and found them fourteene in all I as I said abode on the other side in the mayne Land whither my Indians had brought me and where a great sicknesse tooke me Now when the Christians knew that they gaue the Mantle of Martinets which wee had taken from the Cazique as aforesaid vnto an Indian that he might bring them where I was to see me and so twelue of them came because the other two were so weake that they feared to bring them with them And when they were come to the firme Land they found another of our men called Francesco del Leon. All these thirteene went along the Coast and as soone as the Indians who kept me were gone they aduised mee and told mee that Ieronimo d' Alaniz and Lope d' Ouiedo were yet remayning in that Iland My infirmitie hindered mee that I could not follow them and so I saw them not otherwise and I was of necessitie to stay with those same Indians of the Iland more then a yeere But by reason of the great trauell and paines whereunto they put me as also their euill vsage of me I determined to flye from thence and passe ouer vnto them who abide in the Mountaines and firme Land whom they call the Indians of Carrâ—co because I could not indure the life which I led with the other For among many other painfull labours I was compelled to digge Roots vnder the water and among the Canes where they grew vnder the ground And herewith I had my fingers so spoyled that a straw that should haue touched me would haue drawne bloud and the Canes being full of splinters tare mee in diuers parts among which I was to goe with the Garment aforesaid which I wore Whereupon I endeuoured to goe from thence vnto those other and with them I continued somewhat better And because I made my selfe a Merehant I was carefull to performe that office with the best knowledge I had And for this cause they gaue mee food and vsed mee well and prayed mee to goe from place to place for such things as they needed because in respect of the Warres which they continually make among themselues there is neither trauelling nor much trading among them so that now with my trafficke and Merchandise I went throughout the whole Countrie as farre as I would and trauelled along the Coast fortie or fiftie leagues The principall trafficke I had were pieces of shels of the Sea and their hides and shels wherewith they knit a certaine fruit like vnto Beech mast with the which they prouide for their dancings and festiuall sports and this is the greatest thing of price among them and crownes of the Sea and such other like things And this is that which I carried within Land I afterward carried hides in exchange and red Ocre with the which they anoint and die their faces and their haire I also carried flint stones to make Arrow heads and Glue and stiffe Canes to make Arrowes and certaine flockes which they make of Deeres haire so died that it remayneth coloured And this office greatly auailed me because I had libertie to goe whither I would and was not bound to doe any thing for I was not a slaue and whithersoeuer I went they vsed mee well and gaue mee somewhat to eate in respect of my Merchandize but that which most imported mee was that going thus I searched and saw how I might goe further and among them I was very well knowne And such as knew mee not desired my company and procured meanes to know mee for the fame which I had among them I continued about six yeeres with them in that Countrie alone and naked as they all goe I got Lope de Ouiedo to trauell with me to seeke out the Christians but hearing by the Indians that only three were left of our company he left me and I remained alone with those Indians who were called Queuenes and they with whom Lope went were called Dragnanes Two daies after Lope de Ouiedo was gone the Indians who kept Alonso del Castiglio and Andrea Dorante came vnto the place as those other Indians had foretold vs to eate of certaine Nuts wherewith they maintaine themselues grinding certaine graines with them two monethes in the yeere without eating any other thing although they haue them not euery yeere because some yeeres they grow and some not They are of the bignesse of those of Galicia and the trees are very great and are there in great number Being now neere vnto the place where they lodged Andrea Dorante came forth to see who it was because the Indians had now told him that a Christian was come And as soone as he saw me he remained much astonished because they supposed I had beene long since dead for so the Indians told them Wee gaue God heartie thankes to see one another and that day was one of them wherein wee had the greatest ioy and pleasure in our liues And after comming where Castiglio was they asked mee whether I would goe I answered that my purpose was to passe into the Land of the Christians and that I went seeking and searching how I might doe it Andrea Dorante answered that long since hee intreated Castiglio and Esteuamico that we might go further but they durst not venter to do it because they could not swimme and greatly feared the Riuers and Gulfes which they were to passe ouer there being many in those Countries Wherefore seeing it had pleased our Lord God to preserue mee among so many dangers and diseases and in the end to bring mee into their company they determined to flie and that I should carrie them ouer the Riuers and Gulfes which wee found And they aduertized mee that by no meanes I should let the Indians know that I would goe further because they would presently kill me and that for this cause I was of necessitie to stay with them sixe monethes which was the time in the which those Indians went into another Countrie to eate Tune These Tune are certaine Fruits of the bignesse of an Egge red and blacke and of a very good taste They eate them three monethes in the yeere wherein they eate no other thing and because at the time when they gathered them other Indians beyond would come with Bowes to contract and barter with them we when they returned might escape from our Indians and goe with them With this determination I remained there and yeelded my selfe a slaue vnto an Indian with whom Dâ—rante abode These Indians are called Mariane and Castiglio remained with other of their Neighbours called Iguales And while we continued there they reported vnto mee that after they were come out of the Iland of Malhado vpon the Sea Coast they found the Boat wherein the Auditor and the Friers crossed
he went for Gouernour to the Riuer of Plate His kinsmen Christopher de Spindola and Baltasar de Gallegos went with Soto Those passed and were counted and enroled which Soto liked and accepted of and did accompany him into Florida which were in all six hundred men He had already bought seuen Ships and had all necessary prouision aboord them In the yeare of our Lord 1538. in the moneth of Aprill the Adelantado deliuered his Shippes to the Captaines which were to goe in them They arriued at Saint Iago in Cuba on Whitsunday The Citie of Iago hath eightie houses which are great and well contriued The most part haue the wals made of boords and are couered with thatch it hath some houses builded with lime and stone and couered with tiles It hath great Orchards and many trees in them differing from those of Spaine there be Figge-trees which beare Figges as big as ones fist yellow within and of small taste and other trees which beare fruite which they call Ananes in making and bignesse like to a small Pineapple it is a fruit very sweete in taste the shel being taken away the kernell is like a peece of fresh cheese In the granges abroad in the Countrie there are other great Pineapples which grow on low trees and are like the Aloetree they are of a very good smell and exceeding good taste Other trees doe beare a fruite which they call Mameis of the bignesse of Peaches This the Islanders doe hold for the best fruit of the countrey There is another fruit which they call Guayabas like Filberds as bigge as figges There are other trees as high as a iaueline hauing one onely stocke without any bough and the leaues as long as a casting dart and the fruit is of the bignesse and fashion of a Cucumber one bunch beareth twenty or thirty and as they ripen the tree bendeth downwards with them they are called in this Countrie Plantanos and are of a good taste and ripen after they be gatherod but those are the better which ripen vpon the tree it selfe they beare fruit but once and the tree being cut downe there spring vp others out of the but which beare fruit the next yeare There is another fruit whereby many people are sustained and chiefly the slaues which are called Batatas These grow now in the Isle of Terzera belonging to the Kingdome of Portugall and they grow within the earth and are like a fruit called lname they haue almost the taste of a Chestnut The Bread of this countrie is also made of rootes which are like the Batatas And the stocke whereon those rootes doe grow is like an Elder tree they make their ground in little hillocks and in each of them they thrust foure or fiue stakes and they gather the rootes a yeare and an halfe after they set them If any one thinking it is a Batata or Potato root chance to eate of it neuer so little he is in great danger of death which was seene by experience in a Soldier which as soone as he had eaten a very little of one of those roots be died quickly They peare these roots and stampe them and squese them in a thing like a presse the iuyce that commeth from them is of an euill smell The Bread is of little taste and lesse substance Of the fruits of Spaine there are Figs and Oranges they beare fruit all the yeare because the soile is very ranke and fruitfull In this Countrie are many good Horses and there is greene grasse all the yeare There be many wilde Oxen and Hogs whereby the people of the Island is well furnished with flesh Without the townes abroad in the Countrie are many fruits And it happeneth sometimes that a Christian goeth on t of the way and is lost fifteene or twenty daies because of the many paths in the thicke groues that crosse to fro made by the Oxen and being thus lost they sustaine themselues with fruits and palmitos for there be many great groues of Palme trees through all the Island they yeelde no other fruite that is of any profit The Isle of Cuba is 300. leagues long from the East to the West and is in some places 30. in others 40. leagues from North to South It hath six towns of Christians to wit S. Iago Baracôa Bayamo Puerto de Principes S. Espirito and Hauana Euery one hath betweene thirty and forty housholds except S. Iago and Hauana which haue about sixtie or eightie houses They haue Churches in each of them and a Chaplen which confesseth them and saith Masse In S. Iago is a Monasterie of Franciscan Friers it hath but few Friers and is well prouided of almes because the Countrie is rich The Church of S. Iago hath honest reuenew and there is a Curat and Prebends and many Priests as the Church of that Citie which is the chiefe of all the Island There is in this Countrie much Gold and few slaues to get it For many haue made away themselues because of the Christians euill vsage of them in the Mines A Steward of Vasques Porcallo which was an inhabitour in that Island vnderstanding that his slaues would make away themselues staied for them with a cudgell in his hand at the place where they were to meete and told them that they could neither doe nor thinke any thing that hee did not know before and that hee came thither to kill himselfe with them to the end that if he had vsed them badly in this World hee might vse them worse in the World to come And this was a meane that they changed their purpose and turned home againe to doe that which he commanded them CHAP. II. FERDINANDO de SOTO his Voyage to Florida and Discouerie of the Regions in that Continent with the Trauels of the Spaniards foure yeeres together therein and the accidents which befell them written by a Portugall of the Company and here contracted §. I. SOTOS entrance into Florida taking of IOHN ORTIZ one of Naruaz his company comming to Paracossy and diuers other Caciques with accidents in the way ON Sunday the eighteenth of May in the yeere of our Lord 1539. the Adelantado or President departed from Hauana in Cuba with his fleet which were nine vessels fiue great shippes two Carauels and two Brigantines They sayled seuen dayes with a prosperous wind The fiue and twentieth day of May the day de Pasca de Spirito Santo which we call Whitson Sunday they saw the Land of Florida and because of the shoalds they came to an anchor a league from the shoare On Friday the thirtieth of May they landed in Florida two leagues from a Towne of an Indian Lord called Vcita They set on Land two hundred and thirteene Horses which they brought with them to vnburden the ships that they might draw the lesse water He landed all his men and only the Seamen remained in the ships which in eight
fished for afterward would haue beene of more value for those which they had because they burned them in the fire did leese their colour The Gouernour answered them that vrged him to inhabit That in all the Countrie there were not victuals to sustaine his men one moneth and that it was needefull to resort to the Port of Ocus where Maldanado was to stay for them and that if no richer Countrie were found they might returne againe to that whensoeuer they would and in the meane time the Indians would sow their fields and it would be better furnished with Maiz. He inquired of the Indians whether they had notice of any great Lord farther into the land They told him that twelue daies iourney from thence there was a Prouince called Chiaha subiect to the Lord of Coça Presently the Gouernour determined to seeke that land And being a sterne man and of few words though he was glad to sift and know the opinion of all men yet after he had deliuered his owne hee would not be contraried and alwayes did what liked himselfe and so all men did condescend vnto his will §. II. SOTOS further Discoueries in Florida and manifold various Aduentures till hee came to Tulla THe Gouernour departed from Cutifa Chiqui the third day of May. And because the Indians had reuolted and the will of the Ladie was perceiued that if shee could shee would depart without giuing any Guides or men for burdens for the wrongs which the Christians had done to the Indians for there neuer want some among many of a base sort that for a little gaine doe put themselues and others in danger of vndoing The Gouernour commanded her to be kept in safegard and carried with him not with so good vsage as shee deserued for the good will she shewed And he carried her on foot with his bond-women to looke vnto her In all the Townes where the Gouernour passed the Lady commanded the Indians to come and carrie the burdens from one Towne to another Wee passed through her Countrie an hundred leagues in which as wee saw shee was much obeyed For the Indians did all that shee commanded them with great efficacie and diligence In seuen dayes space the Gouernour came to a Prouince called Chalaque the poorest Countrie of Maiz that was seene in Florida The Indians fed vpon Roots and Herbes which they seeke in the fields and vpon wilde beasts which they kill with their Bowes and Arrowes and it is a very gentle people All of them goe naked and are very leane There was a Lord which for a great Present brought the Gouernour two Deeres skinnes and there were in that Countrie many wilde Hens In one Towne they made him a Present of seuen hundred Hens and so in other Townes they sent him those which they had or could get From this Prouince to another which is called Xualla hee spent fiue dayes here he found very little Maiz and for this cause though the people were wearied and the horses very weake hee stayed no more but two dayes From Ocute to Cutifa-chiqui may bee some hundred and thirtie leagues whereof eightie are Wildernesse From Cutifa-chiqui to Xualla two hundred and fiftie and it is an Hilly Countrie The Gouernour departed from Xualla toward Guaxule he passed very rough and high hils In that iourney the Lady of Cutifa-chiqui whom the Gouernour carried with him as is aforesaid with purpose to carrie her to Guaxule because her Territorie reached thither going on a day with the bond-women which lead her went out of the way and entred into a Wood saying shee went to ease her selfe and so shee deceiued them and hid her selfe in the Wood and though they sought her they could not find her She carried away with her a little chest made of Canes in manner of a Coffer which they call Petaca full of vnbored Pearles Some which could iudge of them said that they were of great value An Indian woman that waited on her did carrie them The Gouernour not to discontent her altogether left them with her making account that in Guaxule he would aske them of her when he giue her leaue to returne which Coffer shee carried away and went to Xualla with three slaues which fled from the Campe and one Horseman which remained behind who falling sicke of an Ague went out of the way and was lost This man whose name was Alimamos dealt with the slaues to change their euill purpose and returne with him to the Christians which two of them did and Alimamos and they ouertooke the Gouernour fiftie leagues from thence in a Prouince called Chiaha and reported how the Lady remayned in Xualla with a slaue of Andrew de Vasconcellos which would not come backe with them and that of a certaintie they liued as man and wife together and meant to goe both to Cutifa-chiqui Within fiue dayes the Gouernour came to Guaxule The Indians there gaue him a Present of three hundred Dogges because they saw the Christians esteeme them and sought them to feed on them for among them they are not eaten In Guaxule and all that way was very little Maiz. The Gouernour sent from thence an Indian with a message to the Cacique of Chiaha to desire him to gather some Maiz thither that he might rest a few dayes in Chiaha The Gouernour departed from Guaxule and in two dayes iourney came to a Towne called Canasagua There met him on the way twentie Indians euery one loaden with a basket full of Mulberies for there be many and those very good from Cutifa-chiqui thither and so forward in other Prouinces and also Nuts and Plums And the trees grow in the fields without planting or dressing them and are as bigge and as ranke as though they grew in Gardens digged and watered From the time that the Gouernour departed from Canasagua he iournied fiue dayes through a Desert and two leagues before he came to Chiaha there met him fifteene Indians loaden with Maiz which the Cacique had sent and they told him on his behalfe that he waited his comming with twentie Barnes full of it and farther that himselfe his Countrie and subiects and all things else were at his seruice On the fift day of Iune the Gouernour entred into Chiaha The Cacique voided his owne houses in which hee lodged and receiued him with much ioy There was in this Towne much Butter in Gourds melted like Oyle they said it was the fat of Beares There was found also great store of Oyle of Walnuts which was cleere as Butter and of a good taste and a pot full of Honie of Bees which neither before nor afterward was seene in all the Countrie The Towne was in an Iland betweene two armes of a Riuer and was seated nigh one of them The Riuer diuideth it selfe into those two branches two Crosse-bow shot aboue the Towne and meeteth againe a league beneath the same The plaine betweene both the branches is
purpose was to see if with dissimulation he might doe some hurt when they saw that the Gouernour and his men were in readinesse they beganne to goe from the shoare and with a great cry the Crossebowmen which were ready shot at them and slue fiue or sixe of them They retired with great order none did leaue his Oare though the next to him were slaine and shielding themselues they went farther off Afterward they came many times and landed and when any of vs came toward them they fled vnto their Canoes which were very pleasant to behold for they were very great and well made and had their Tilts Plumes Paueses and Flagges and with the multitude of people that were in them they seemed to be a faire Armie of Gallies In thirtie dayes space while the Gouernour remayned there they made foure Barges Assoone as those that passed first were on Land on the other side the Barges returned to the place where the Gouernour was and within two houres after Sunne rising all the people were ouer The Riuer was almost halfe a league broad If a man stood still on the other side it could not bee discerned whether hee were a man or no. The Riuer was of great depth and of a strong current the water was alwayes muddie there came downe the Riuer continually many trees and timber which the force of the water and streame brought downe There was great store of fish in it of sundry sorts and most of it differing from the fresh water fish of Spaine as hereafter shall bee shewed Hauing passed Rio Grande the Gouernour trauelled a league and an halfe and came to a great Towne of Aquixo which was dispeopled before hee came thither They espied thirtie Indians comming ouer a plaine which the Cacique sent to discouer the Christians determination and assoone as they had sight of them they tooke themselues to flight The Horsemen pursued them and slue tenne and tooke fifteene And because the Towne whither the Gouernour went was neere vnto the Riuer hee sent a Captaine with as many men as hee thought sufficient to carrie the Barges vp the Riuer And because in his trauelling by land many times hee went farre from the Riuer to compasse the creekes that came from it the Indians tooke occasion to set vpon them of the Barges and put them in great danger because that by reason of the great current they durst not leaue the shoare and from the banke they shot at them Assoone as the Gouernour was come to the Towne hee presently sent Crosse-bowmen downe the Riuer which came to rescue them and vpon the comming of the Barges to the Towne hee commanded them to be broken and to saue the Iron for others when it should be needfull He lay there one night and the day following he set forward to seeke a Prouince called Pacaha which he was informed to bee neere vnto Chisca where the Indians told him there was gold Hee passed through great Townes of Aquixo which were all abandoned for feare of the Christians Hee vnderstood by certaine Indians that were taken that three dayes iournie from thence dwelt a great Cacique whose name was Casqui He came to a small Riuer where a Bridge was made by which they passed that day till Sun-set they went all in water which in some places came to the waste and in some to the knees When they saw themselues on dry land they were very glad because they feared they should wander vp and downe as forlorne men all night in the water At noone they came to the first Towne of Casqui they found the Indians carelesse because they had no knowledge of them There were many men and women taken and store of goods as Mantles and skinnes as well in the first Towne as in another which stood in a field halfe a league from thence in sight of it whither the Horsemen ranne This Countrie is higher drier and more champaine then any part bordering neere the Riuer that vntill then they had seene There were in the fields many Walnut-trees bearing soft shelled Walnuts in fashion like bullets and in the houses they found many of them which the Indians had laid vp in store The trees diffâ—red in nothing else from those of Spaine nor from those which we had seene before but onely that they haue a smaller leafe There were many Mulberie trees and Plum trees which bare red Plums like those of Spaine and other gray somewhat differing but farre better And all the trees are all the yeere so fruitfull as if they were planted in Orchards and the Woods were very thinne The Gouernour trauelled two dayes through the Countrie of Casqui before he came to the Towne where the Cacique was and the most of the way was alway by Champaine ground which was full of great Townes so that from one Towne you might see two or three Hee sent an Indian to certifie the Cacique that hee was comming to the place where hee was with intent to procure his friendship and to hold him as his brother Whereunto hee answered That he should be welcome and that he would receiue him with speciall good will and accomplish all that his Lordship would command him He sent him a Present vpon the way to wit skinnes Mantles and fish And after these complements the Gouernour found all the Townes as he passed inhabited with people which peaceably attended his comming and offered him skinnes Mantles and fish The Cacique accompanied with many Indians came out of the Towne and stayed halfe a league on the way to receiue the Gouernour Within a while after both of them vsed words of great offers and courtesie the one to the other and the Cacique requested him to lodge in his houses The Gouernour to preserue the peace the better excused himselfe saying that hee would lodge in the fields And because it was very hot they camped neere certaine trees a quarter of a league from the Towne The Cacique went to his Towne and came againe with many Indians singing Assoone as they came to the Gouernour all of them prostrated themselues vpon the ground Among these came two Indians that were blind The Cacique made a speech that seeing the Gouernour was the Sonne of the Sunne and a great Lord he besought him to doe him the fauour to giue sight to those two blind men The blind men rose vp presently and very earnestly requested the same of the Gouernour He answered That in the high Heauens was hee that had power to giue them health and whatsoeuer they could aske of him whose seruant he was And that this Lord made the Heauens and the Earth and man after his owne likenesse and that hee suffered vpon the Crosse to saue Mankind and rose againe the third day and that he died as he was man and as touching his Diuinitie he was and is immortall and that he ascended into Heauen where hee standeth with his armes open to
the Territorie of Nilco called Tianto There they tooke thirtie Indians and among them two principall men of this Towne The Gouernour sent a Captaine with Horsemen and Footmen before to Nilco because the Indians might haue no time to carrie away the prouision They passed through 3. or 4. great Towns and in the Towne where the Cacique was resident which was two leagues from the place where the Gouernour remained they found many Indians with their Bowes and Arrowes in manner as though they would haue stayed to fight which did compasse the Towne and as soone as they saw the Christians come neere them without misdoubting them they set the Caciques house on fire and fled ouer a Lake that passed neere the Towne through which the Horses could not passe The next day being Wednesday the nine and twentieth of March the Gouernour came to Nilco he lodged with all his men in the Caciques Towne which stood in a plaine field which was inhabited for the space of a quarter of a league and with in a league and halfe a league were other very great Townes wherein was great store of Maiz of French Beanes of Walnuts and Prunes This was the best inhabited Countrie that was seene in Florida and had most store of Maiz except Coca and Apalache There came to the Campe an Indian accompanied with others and in the Caciques name gaue the Gouernour a Mantle of Marterns skinnes and a Cordon of Pearles The Gouernour gaue him a few small Margarites which are certaine Beades much esteemed in Peru and other things wherewith he was very well contented He promised to returne within two dayes but neuer came againe but on the contrary the Indians came by night in Canoas and carried away all the Maiz they could and made them Cabins on the other side of the Riuer This Riuer which passed by Nilco was that which passed by Cayas and Autiamque and fell into Rio grande or the Great Riuer which passed by Pachaha and Aquixo neere vnto the Prouince of Guachoya Within few dayes the Gouernour determined to goe to Guachoya to learne there whether the Sea were neere or whether there were any habitation neere where he might relieue his companie while the Brigantines were making which he meant to send to the Land of the Christians He came to Guachoya vpon Sunday the seuenteenth of Aprill hee lodged in the Towne of the Cacique which was inclosed about and seated a Cros-bow shot distant from the Riuer Here the Riuer is called Tamaliseu and in Nilco Tapatu and in Coça Mico and in the Port or Mouth Ri. The Cacique of Guachoya brought with him many Indians with great store of Fish Dogges Deeres skinnes and Mantles Hee asked him whether he had any notice of the Sea Hee answered no nor of any Townes downe the Riuer on that side The Gouernour thought that the Cacique lyed vnto him to rid him out of his owne Townes and sent Iohn Danusco with eight Horsemen downe the Riuer to see what habitation there was and to informe himselfe if there were any notice of the Sea He trauelled eight dayes and at his returne he said that in all that time he was not able to goe aboue fourteene or fifteene leagues because of the great creekes that came out of the Riuer and groues of Canes and thicke Woods that were along the bankes of the Riuer and that he had found no habitation The Gouernour fell into great dumpes to see how hard it was to get to the Sea and worse because his Men and Horses euery day diminished being without succour to sustaine themselues in the Countrie and with that thought hee fell sicke But before he tooke his bed he sent an Indian to the Cacique of Quigalta to tell him that he was the Child of the Sunne and that all the way that he came all men obeyed and serued him that he requested him to accept of his friendship and come vnto him for he would be very glad to see him and in signe of loue and obedience to bring something with him of that which in his Councrie was most esteemed The Cacique answered by the same Indian That whereas he said that he was the Childe of the Sunne if he would drie vp the Riuer hee would beleeue him and touching the rest that he was wont to visit none but rather that all those of whom hee had notice did visit him serued obeyed and paid him tributes willingly or perforce therefore if hee desired to see him it were best he should come thither that if he came in peace hee would receiue him with speciall goodwill and if in warre in like manner he would attend him in the Towne where he was and that for him or any other he would not shrinke one foote backe By that time the Indian returned with this answere the Gouernour had be taken himselfe to bed being euill handled with Feuers and was much aggrieued that hee was not in case to passe presently the Riuer and to seek him to see if he could abate that pride of his considering the Riuer went now very strongly in those parts for it was neere halfe a league broad and 16. fathoms deepe very furious and ran with a great current and on both sides were many Indians and his power was not now so great but that he had need to helpe himselfe rather by slights then force The Gouernour felt in himselfe that the houre approached wherein he was to leaue this present life and called for the Kings Officers Captaines and principall persons Hee named Lâ—ys de Moscoso de Aluarado his Captaine generall And presently he was sworne by all that were present and elected for Gouernour The next day being the one and twentieth of May 1542. departed out of this life the valorous virtuous and valiant Captaine Don Fernando de Soto Gouernour of Cuba and Adelantado of Florida whom fortune aduanced as it vseth to doe others that he might haue the higher fall Hee departed in such a place and at such a time as in his sicknesse he had but little comfort and the danger wherein all his people were of perishing in that Countrie which appeared before their eyes was cause sufficient why euery one of them had neede of comfort and why they did not visite nor accompanie him as they ought to haue done Luys de Moscoso determined to conceale his death from the Indians because Ferdinando de Soto had made them beleeue That the Christians were immortall and also because they tooke him to be hardy wise and valiant and if they should knowe that hee was dead they would be bold to set vpon the Christians though they liued peaceably by them In regard of their disposition and because they were nothing constant and beleeued all that was told them the Adelantado made them beleeue that he knew some things that passed in secret among themselues without their knowledge how or in what manner he came
that if it were so it was in their owne hands to goe out of Florida if they found nothing of profit for they feared they should lose themselues in some wildernesse This Indian led him two dayes out of the way The Gouernour commanded to torture him He said that the Cacique of Nondacao his Lord commanded him to guide them so because they were his enemies and that he was to doe as his Lord commanded him The Gouernour commanded him to be cast to the dogs and another guided him to Soacatino whither he came the day following It was a very poore Country there was great want of Maiz in that place He asked the Indians whether they knew of any other Christians They said that a little from thence toward the South they heard they were He trauelled twentie dayes through a Country euill inhabited where they suffered great scarsitie and trouble For that little Maiz which the Indians had they had hidden and buried in the woods where the Christians after they were well wearied with trauell at the end of their iourney went to seeke by digging what they should eate At last comming to a Prouince that was called Guasco they found Maiz wherewith they loaded their horses and the Indians that they had The Indians told them there that ten daies journie from thence toward the West was a Riuer called Daycao whither they went sometimes a hunting and killing of Deere and that they had seene people on the other side but knew not what habitation was there There the Christians tooke such Maiz as they found and could carry and going ten daies iournie through a wildernesse they came to the Riuer which the Indians had told them of Ten horsemen which the Gouernour had sent before passed ouer the same and went in a way that led to the Riuer and lighted vpon a company of Indians that dwelt in very little cabins who as soone as they saw them tooke themselues to flight leauing that which they had all which was nothing but miserie and pouertie The Countrie was so poore that among them all there was not found halfe a pecke of Maiz. The horsemen tooke too Indians and returned with them to the Riuer where the Gouernour staied for them He sought to learne of them what habitation was toward the West There was none in the Campe that could vnderstand their language The Gouernour assembled the Captaines and principall persons to determine with their aduice what they should doe And the most part said that they thought it best to returne backe to Rio grande or the great Riuer of Guachoya because that id Nilco and thereabout was store of Maiz saying that they would make Pinnaces that winter and the next Summer passe downe the Riuer to the Seaward in them and comming to the Sea they would goe along the coast to Nuena Espanna For though it seemed a doubtfull thing and difficult by that which they had already alleadged yet it was the last remedy they had For by land they could not goe for want of an Interpreter And they held that the Countrie beyond the Riuer of Dayaco where they were was that which Cabeça de Uaca mentioned in his relation that he passed of the Indians which liued like the Alarbes hauing no setled place and fed vpon Tunas and rootes of the fields and wilde beasts that they killed Which if it were so if they should enter into it and finde no victuals to passe the winter they could not choose but perish For they were entred already into the beginning of October and if they staied any longer they were not able to returne for raine and snowes nor to sustaine themselues in so poore a Countrie The Gouernour that desired long to see himselfe in a place where hee might sleepe his full sleepe rather then to conquer and gouerne a Countrie where so many troubles presented themselues presently returned backe that same way that he came When that which was determined was published to the Campe there were many that were greatly grieued at it for they held the Sea voyage as doubtfull for the euill meanes they had and as great danger as the trauelling by land and they hoped to finde some rich Countrey before they came to the land of the Christians by that which Cabeça de Vaca had told the Emperour and that was this That after he had found cloathes made of Cotten wooll hee saw Gold and Siluer and stones of great value And they had not yet come where hee had beene For vntill that place he alwayes trauelled by the Sea coast and they trauelled farre within the land and that going toward the West of necessitie they should come where he had beene For he said That in a certaine place he trauelled many dayes and entred into the land toward the North. And in Guasco they had already found some Turkie stones and Mantles of Cotten wooll which the Indians signified by signes that they had from the West and that holding that course they should draw neere to the land of the Christians From Daycao where now they were to Rio grando or the great Riuer was one hundred and fiftie leagues which vnto that place they had gone Westward They departed from Nilco in the beginning of December and all that way and before from Chilano they endured much trouble for they passed through many waters and many times it rained with a Northren winde and was exceeding colde so that they were in open field with water ouer and vnderneath them and when at the end of their dayes iourney they found dry ground to rest vpon they gaue great thankes to God With this trouble almost all the Indians that serued them died And after they were in Minoya many Christians also died and the most part were sicke of great and dangerous diseases which had a spice of the lethargie As soone as they came to Minoya the Gouernour commanded them to gather all the chaines together which euery one had to lead Indians in and to gather all the Iron which they had for their prouision and all the rest that was in the Campe and to set vp a forge to make nailes and commanded them to cut downe timber for the Brigandines And a Portugall of Ceuta who hauing bin a prisoner in Fez had learned to saw timber with a long Saw which for such purposes they had carried with them did teach others which helped them to saw timber And a Genowis whom it pleased God to preserue for without him they had neuer come out of the Countrie for there was neuer another that could make Ships but he with foure or fiue other Biscaine Carpenters which hewed his plankes and other timbers made the Brigandines And two calkers the one of Genua the other of Sardinia did calke them with the tow of an hearbe like Hempe whereof before I haue made mention which there is named Enequen And because there was not enough of it
they calked them with the flaxe of the Countrie and with the Mantles which they rauelled for that purpose A Cooper made for euery Brigandine two halfe hogs heads which the Mariners call quarterers because foure of them hold a Pipe of water In the moneth of March when it had not rained a moneth before the Riuer grew so big that it came to Nilco which was nine leagues off and on the other side the Indians said that it reached other nine leagues into the land In the towne where the Christians were which was somewhat high ground where they could best goe the water reached to the stirrops They made certaine rafts of timber and laid many boughes vpon them whereon they set their horses and in the houses they did the like But seeing that nothing preuailed they went vp to the lofts and if they went out of the houses it was in Canoes or on horseback in those places where the ground was highest So they were two moneths and could doe nothing during which time the Riuer decreased not The Indians ceased not to come vnto the Brigantines as they were wont and came in Canoes At that time the Gouernour feared they would set vpon him He commanded his men to take an Indian secretly of those that came to the Towne and stay him till the rest were gone and they tooke one The Gouernour commanded him to be put to torture to make him confesse whether the Indians did practise any treason or no. Hee confessed that the Caciques of Nilco Guachoya and Taguanate and others which in all were about twenty Caciques with a great number of people determined to come vpon him and that three dayes before they would send a great present of fish to colour their great treason and malice and on the very day they would send some Indians before with another present And these with those which were our slaues which were of their conspiracie also should set the houses on fire and first of all possesse themselues of the lances which stood at the doores of the houses and the Caciques with all their men should be neere the Towne in ambush in the wood and when they saw the fire kindled should come and make an end of the conquest The Gouernour commanded the Indian to be kept in a chaine and the selfe same day that he spake of there came thirty Indians with fish Hee commanded their right hands to be cut off and sent them so backe to the Cacique of Guachaya whose men they were He sent him word that he and the rest should come when they would for he desired nothing more and that he should know that they taught not any thing which he knew not before they thought of it Hereupon they all were put in a very great feare And the Caciques of Nilco and Taguanate came to excuse themselues and a few dayes after came he of Guachoya The Brigandines being finished in the moneth of Iune the Indians hauing told vs That the Riuer increased but once a yeare when the Snowes did melt in the time wherein I mentioned it had already increased being now in Summer and hauing not rained a long time it pleased God that the flood came vp to the Towne to seeke the Brigandines from whence they carried them by water to the Riuer Which if they had gone by land had beene in danger of breaking and splitting their keeles and to be all vndone because that for want of Iron the spikes were short and the plankes and timber were very weake They shipped two and twenty of the best Horses that were in the Campe the rest they made dried flesh of and dressed the Hogges which they had in like manner They departed from Minoya the second day of Iuly 1543. There went from Minoya three hundred twenty and two Spaniards in seuen Brigandines well made saue that the plankes were thin because the nailes were short and were not pitched nor had any decks to keepe the water from comming in In stead of deckes they laid plankes whereon the Marriners might run to trim their sailes and the people might refresh themselues aboue and below They sailed downe the Riuer seuenteene dayes which may be two hundred and fiftie leagues iourney little more or lesse and neere vnto the Sea the Riuer is diuided into two armes each of them is a league and a halfe broad By the way the Indians set on them slew some and wounded many The eighteenth of Iuly they went forth to Sea with faire and prosperous weather for their voyage They sailed with a reasonable good winde that day and the night following and the next day till euening song alwaies in fresh water whereat they wondred much for they were very farre from land But the force of the current of the Riuer is so great and the coast there is so shallow and gentle that the fresh water entreth farre into the Sea They indured an intolerable storme first and after that the torment of an infinite swarme of Moskitos which fell vpon them which as soone as they had stung the flesh it so infected it as though they had beene venomous For the sayles which were white seemed blacke with them Those which rowed vnlesse others kept them away were not able to rowe Hauing passed the feare and danger of the storme beholding the deformities of their faces and the blowes which they gaue themselues to driue them away one of them laughed at another They met all together in the creeke where the two Brigandines were which outwent their fellowes There was found a skumme which they call Copee which the Sea casteth vp and it is like Pitch wherewith in some places where Pitch is wanting they pitch their ships there they pitched their Brigandines They rested two dayes and then eftsoones proceeded on their Voyage They sailed two dayes more and landed in a Bay or arme of the Sea where they stayed two dayes From the time that they put out of Rio Grande to the Sea at their departure from Florida vntill they arriued in the Riuer of Panuco were two and fiftie dayes They came into the Riuer of Panuco the tenth of September 1543. There arriued there of those that came out of Florida three hundred and eleuen Christians From the Port de Spiritu Santo where they landed when they entred into Florida to the Prouince of Ocute which may be foure hundred leagues little more or lesse is a very plaine Countrie and hath many Lakes and thicke Woods and in some places they are of wilde Pine-trees and is a weake soyle There is in it neither Mountaine nor Hill The Countrie of Ocute is more fat and fruitfull it hath thinner Woods and very goodly Medowes vpon the Riuers From Ocute to Cutifachiqui may be an hundred and thirty leagues eightie leagues thereof are Desart and haue many Groues of wilde Pine-trees Through the Wildernesse great Riuers doe passe From Cutifachiqui to Xuala may bee two hundred and fifty leagues it is
fore-parts then behind which is like wooll a mane like a Horses on their backe bone and long haire from the knees downward with store of long haire at the chinne and throat a long flocke also at the end of the males tailes The Horses fled from them of which they slue some being enraged They are 〈…〉 eat drinke shooes houses fire vessels and their Masters whole substance Other creatures as big as Horses the Spaniards for their fiue wooll called Sheepe one of their hornes ordinarily weighed fiftie pounds There are also great Dogs which will fight with a Bull able to carrie fiftie pounds weight in their huntings and remouals A N 〈…〉 1581. Frier Augustine Ruiz with two other Friers and eight Souldiers trauelled from the Mines of Saint Barbara to Los Tiguas two hundred and fifty leagues Northwards where vpon occasion of one of the Friers being slaine the Souldiers returned The two Friers and a Mestizo stayed Whereupon the Franciscans carefull of their two Brethren procured Antonio de Espeio a rich Mexican with Frier Bernardine Beltran and others licensed to follow him to set â—orth on the said Discouerie in Nouember An. 1582. with an hundred and fifteene Horses and store of prouisions Hee passed the Conchos and the Passaguates and Tobâ—sos and Iumanos finding many Siluer Mines in the way and then came to people which for want of Language they could not name and heard by one of the Conchos of a great Lake and Townes neere it with houses of three or foure stories but went not thither Fifteene dayes they trauelled thorow Woods of Pine-trees and two thorow Woods of Poplars and Walâ—uts still keeping by the Riuer of the North as they called it till they came to a Countrie which they called New Mexico They came to ten Townes situate on both sides the Riuer which vsed them kindly Their houses are of foure stories well built with Stoues for Winter their apparel of Cotton and Deeres skinnes both men and women ware Boots and Shooes with soles of Neats leather Each house had an Oratorie for the Deuill where they set him meate for whose ease as they say they erect Chappels also in the high-way Thence they came to Tiguas in which were sixteene Townes in Poala they had slaine the two Friers and now therefore fled to the Mountaines They fouâ—d many Hennes in the Countrey and many metals Hearing that there were rich Townes Eastwards they trauelled two dayes and found eleuen Townes and as they thought fortie thousand people There are signes of rich Mines They heard of a Prouince Quires sixe leagues higher vp the Riuer which they visited and found fiue Townes They saw there a Pie in a Cage and certaine tirasols or shadowes such as they vse in China in which were painted the Sunne Moone and Starres They found themselues in 37. degrees and a halfe Fourteene leagues more to the North they came to the Cunames which had fiue Townes the greatest was Câ—a with eight Market places the houses plaistered and painted with diuers colours the people many and more ciuill then any they had seene They trauelled thence North-westward to a Countrie which had seuen great Townes and in them thirtie thousand soules Fifteene leagues further Westward they came to Acoma a Towne of sixe thousand persons seated on a Rocke fifty paces high without any passage to it but by staires hewen in the Rocke all their water was kept in Cisternes They trauelled hence foure and twentie leagues Westward to Zuny or Cibola where Vasquez had beene and erected Crosses still standing Three Indians of his Armie were still aliue here which told Espeio of a great Lake sixtie dayes iourney thence vpon the bankes whereof were many Townes which had store of Gold Whereupon the rest returning hee with nine companions determined to goe thither and came to a populous Prouince called Mohotze and being well entertained hee perswaded the Indians to build a Fort to secure them from the Horses which hee said would otherwise eate them which they did Here he left some of his companie and went to discouer certaine rich Mines whereof he had heard fiue and fortie leagues Westward which hee found rich of Siluer He had further intelligence also of that great Lake and hauing trauelled twelue leagues to the Hubates and Tamos populous Prouinces being so few they returned in Iuly 1583. by another way downe a Riuer called De las Vaccas or Of Kine an hundred and twenty leagues still meeting with store of those cattell and thence to Conchos and so to the Valley of Saint Bartholmew in New Biscay Bartholmew Canâ— writ from Mexico in May 1590. that Rodrigo del Rio Gouernour of New Biscay was sent by the Vice-roy with fiue hundred Spansards to the conquest of Cibola NOw for Cortez his three ships they set forth from Acapulco the eighth of Iuly 1539. and sayled alongst the coast Northwards to Cape Roxo as they stiled it and so to the Riuer of Saint Crosses which coast some thought to bee part of the Continent others to bee but broken Lands or Ilands and sayled so farre in the same that I am loth to follow them the particulars being both in Ramusio and Master Hakluyt Fernando Alarchon Anno 1540. was sent by Mendoza the Vice-roy with two ships who sayth hee went to the bottome of the Bay of California and sayled vp the Riuer farre into the Countrie I remit the desirous Reader to the Authours aforesaid To mee Ullua the Marquesses Generall seemes to make California nothing but Ilands and to haue sayled within a great way and after out of them this other aemulous Discouerer would seeme to finde it a Bay and therefore goeth vp the Riuer later Maps make it an Iland as wee haue said a Letter 1595. from Los Angelos calleth them Ilands and sayth they are rich and that the Vice-roy sent to conquer them But I am Sea-sicke and therefore returne to our Land-discouerers In which wee haue a Iesuite first to entertaine you and after that a Letter of later Newes of Onnates Discoueries in those Northerne parts of America All which may be of vse one day when our Virginian Plantation which blusheth to see so little done after eighteene yeeres continued habitation with so much cost and so many liues and liuelihoods spent thereon shall lift vp her head with more viue alacritie and shake her glorious lockes and disparkle her triumphant lookes thorow the inland Countries to the Westerne Ocean And indeed for Uirginias sake wee haue so long held you in Spanish discourses of whose Acts this Chapter had beene the last but that the leauen which leaueneth in so great part the Spanish lumpe may be knowne to awaken English vigilance to preuent it in themselues they had a faire caueat 1588. and to auoide the like with others I shall adde to these their Discoueries a Spanish Traueller Frier Bishop to discouer their Discouerers which shall cast vp
they entred to inhabite was the great and most fertile I le of Hispaniola which containeth sixe hundred leagues in compasse There are other great and infinite Iles round about and in the Confines on all sides which we haue seene the most peopled and the fullest of their owne natiue people as any other Countrie in the World may be The firme Land lying off from this Iland two hundred and fiftie leagues and somewhat ouer at the most containeth in length on the Sea Coast more then ten thousand leagues which are alreadie discouered and daily be discouered more and more all full of people as an Emmote hill of Emmots Insomuch as by that which since vnto the yeere the fortieth and one hath beene discouered It seemeth that God hath bestowed in that same Countrie the gulfe or the greatest portion of Mankind God created all these innumerable multitudes in euery sort very simple without subtletie or craft without malice very obedient and very faithfull to their naturall Liege Lords and to the Spaniards whom they serue very humble very patient very desirous of peace making and peacefull without brawles and strugglings without quarrels without strife without rancour or hatred by no meanes desirous of reuengement They are also people very gentle and very tender and of an easie complexion and which can sustaine no trauell and doe die very soone of any disease whatsoeuer in such sort as the very children of Princes and Noblemen brought vp amongst vs in all commodities ease and delicatenesse are not more soft then those of that Countrie yea although they bee the children of Labourers They are also very poore folke which possesse little neither yet doe so much as desire to haue much worldly goods and therefore neither are they proud ambitious nor couetous Their diet is such as it seemeth that of the holy Fathers in the Desert hath not bin more scarce nor more straight nor lesse daintie nor lesse sumptuous Their apparelling is commonly to goe naked all saue their shamefast parts alone couered And when they be clothed at the most it is but a of a Mantle of Bombacie of an ell and a halfe or two ells of linnen square Their lodging is vpon a Mat and those which haue the best sleepe as it were vpon a Net fastened at the foure corners which they call in the Language of the I le of Hispaniola Hamasas They haue their vnderstanding very pure and quicke being teachable and capeable of all good Learning very apt to receiue our holy Catholike Faith and to be instructed in good and vertuous manners hauing lesse incumberances and disturbances to the attaining thereunto then all the folfe of the world besides and are so enflamed ardent and importune to know and vnderstand the matters of the faith after they haue but begunne once to taste them as likewise the exercise of the Sacraments of the Church and the diuine Seruice that in truth the religious men haue need of a singular patience to support them And to make an end I haue heard many Spaniards many times hold this as assured and that which they could not denie concerning the good nature which they saw in them Vndoubtedly these folkes should bee the happiest in the World if onely they knew God Vpon these Lambes so meeke so qualified and endued of their Maker and Creator as hath bin said entred the Spanish incontinent as they knew them as Wolues as Lions and as Tigres most cruell of long time famished and haue not done in those quarters these fortie yeeres past neither yet doe at this present ought else saue teare them in pieces kill them martyr them afflict them torment them and destroy them by strange sorts of cruelties neuer neither seene nor read nor heard of the like of the which some shall be set downe hereafter so far forth that of aboue three Millions of soules that were in the I le of Hispaniola and that we haue seene there are not now two hundred natiues of the Countrey The I le of Cuba the which is in length as farre as from Vallodolid vntill Rome is at this day as it were all waste Saint Iohns Ile and that of Iamayca both of them very great very fertill and very faire are desolate Likewise the Iles of Lucayos neere to the I le of Hispaniola and of the North side vnto that of Cuba in number being aboue threescore Ilands together with those which they call the Iles of Geante one with another great and little whereof the very worst is fertiler then the Kings Garden at Siuill and the Countrie the healthsomest in the World there were in these same Iles more then fiue hundred thousand soules and at this day there is not one only creature For they haue beene all of them slaine after that they had drawne them out from thence to labour in their Minerals in the I le of Hispaniola where there were no more left of the Natiues of that Iland A ship riding for the space of three yeeres betwixt all these Ilands to the end after the inning of this kind of Vintage to gleane and cull the remainder of these folke for there was a good Christian moued with pittie and compassion to conuert and win vnto Christ such as might be found there were not found but eleuen persons which I saw other Iles more then thirty neere to the I le of Saint Iohn haue likewise bin dispeopled and marred All these Iles containe aboue two thousand leagues of land and are all dispeopled and laid waste As touching the maine firme land we are certaine that our Spaniards by their cruelties and cursed doings haue dispeopled and made desolate more then ten Realmes greater then all Spaine comprising also therewith Aragon Portugall and twise as much or more land then there is from Seuill to Ierusalem which are aboue a thousand leagues which Realmes as yet vnto this present day remaine in a wildernesse and vtter desolation hauing bin before time as well pâ—opled as 〈◊〉 possible We are able to yeelde a good and certaine accompt that there is within the space of 〈◊〉 said fortie yeares by those said tyrannies and diuellish doings of the Spaniards doen 〈◊〉 death 〈◊〉 iustly and tyrannously more then twelue Milions of soules men women and children And I doe verily beleeue and thinke not to mistake therein that there are dead more then fifteene Millions of soules The cause why the Spanish haue destroyed such an infinite of soules hath beene onely that they haue held it for their last scope and marke to get Gold and to enrich themselues in a short time and to mount at one leape to very high estates in no wise agreeable to their persons or to say in a word the cause hereof hath beene their auarice and ambition And by this meanes haue died so many Millions without faith and without Sacraments Of the I le of Hispaniola In the I le Hispaniola which was the first as we haue said where
or so much as one man alone borne of woman within thirtie leagues of the Land which was before notably peopled and gouerned by diuers Lords There is no reckoning able to be made of the murders which this Caitiffe with his companie committed in these Realmes which he so dispeopled Of the Prouince of Nicaragua THe yeere 1522. or twentie three this Tyrant went farther into the Land to bring vnder his yoke the most fertile Prouince of Nicaragua and so in thither he entred in an euill houre There is no man which is able worthily and sufficiently to speake of the fertiltie healthsomenesse prosperitie and frequencie of those Nations that there were He sent fiftie Horsemen and caused to slay all the people of this Prouince which is greater then the Countie of Rossillon with the Sword in such sort as that hee left aliue nor man nor woman nor old nor young for the least cause in the World as if they came not incontinent at his command or if they did not bring him so many load of Maiz which signifieth in that Countrie bread Corne or if they did not bring him so many Indians to serue him and others of his company for the Countrie lay leuell as was said and no creature could escape his horses and deuillish rage He sent Spaniards to make out rodes that is to say to go a theeuing into other Prouinces and gaue leaue to those Rouers to carrie with them as many Indians of this peaceable people as they listed and that they should serue them whom they put to the chaine to the end they should not giue ouer the burdens of three or fourescore pounds weight wherewith they loaded them whereof it came to passe oftentimes that of foure thousand Indians there returned not home to their houses six aliue but euen fell downe starke dead in the high way and when any were so wearie that they could march no farther for the weight of their burdens or that some of them fell sicke or fainted for hunger or thirst because it should not need to stand so long as to vnlocke the chaine and to make the speedier dispatch hee cut off the head from the shoulders and so the head tumbled downe one way and the bodie another Now consider with your selues what the other poore soules might thinke the whiles He was the cause that the Indians sowed not their grounds one whole yeeres continuance So as now when they wanted bread the Spaniards tooke away from the Indians their Maiz which they had in store for prouision to nourish them and their children whereby there died of famine more then twentie or thirtie thousand soules And it came to passe that a woman falne mad with the famine slue her Sonne to eate him They haue discomfited and oppressed in this Prouince a great number of people and hastened their death in causing them to beare boords and timber vnto the Hauen thirty leagues distance to make ships with and sent them to go seeke Honie and Wax amiddest the Mountaines where the Tigres deuoured them Yea they haue laden women with childe and women new deliuered or lying in with burdens enough for beasts The greatest plague which hath most dispeopled this Prouince hath beene the licence which the Gouernour gaue to the Spaniards to demand or exact of the Cacicks and Lords of the countrie slaues They did giue them euery foure or fiue moneths or as oftentimes as euery one could obtaine licence of the Gouernour fiftie slaues with threatnings that if they gaue them not they would burne them aliue or cause them to be eaten with Dogges Now ordinarily the Indians doe not keepe slaues and it is much if one Cacike doe keepe two three or foure Wherefore to serue this turne they went to their subiects and tooke first all the Orphelins and afterwards they exacted of him that had two children one and of him that had three two and in this manner was the Cacicke faine to furnish still to the number that the Tyrant imposed with the great weeping and crying of the people for they are people that doe loue as it seemeth tenderly their children And for because that this was done continually they dispeopled from the yeere 23. vnto the yeere 33. all this Realme For there went for sixe or seuen yeeres space fiue or sixe ships at a time carryiâ—g forth great numbers of those Indians for to sell them for slaues at Ioanama and Peru where they all died not long after For it is a thing proued and experimented a thousand times that when the Indians are transported from their naturall Countrey they soone end their liues besides that these giue them not their sustenance neither yet diminish they of their toile as neither doe they buy them for ought else but to toile They haue by this manner of doing drawne out of this Prouince of the Indies whom they haue made slaues being as free borne as I am more then fiue hundred thousand soules And by the Deuillish warres which the Spanish haue made on them and the hideous thraldome that they haue laid vpon them they haue broughâ— to their deaths other fiftie or threescore thousand persons and do yet daily make hauocke of them at this present All these slaughters haue beene accomplished within the space of fourteene yeeres There may be left at this day in all this Prouinces of Nicaragua the number of about foure or fiue thousand persons which they also cause to die as yet euery day through bondages and oppressious ordinarily and personall hauing beene the Countrey the most peopled in the World as I haue alreadie said Of New Spaine IN the yeere 1517. was New Spaine discouered at the Discouerie whereof were committed great disorders and slaughters of the Indians by those which had the doing of that Exploite The yeere 1518. there went Spanish Christians as they terme themselues to rob and slay notwithstanding that they said they went to people the Countrie Sithence that yeere 1518. vnto this present yeere 1542. the vniust dealings the violencie and the Tyrannies which the Spaniards haue wrought against the Indians are mounted to the highest degree of extremitie those selfe-same Spaniards hauing thorowly lost the feare of God and of the King and forgotten themselues For the discomfitures cruelties slaughters spoiles the destructions of Cities pillages violences and Tyrannies which they haue made in so many Realmes and so great haue been such and so horrible that all the things which we haue spoken of are nothing in comparison of those which haue beene done and executed from the yeere 1518. vnto the yeere 1542. and as yet at this time this moneth current of September are in doing and committing the most grieuousest and the most abominablest of all in such sort that the rule which wee set downe before is verified That is That from the beginning they haue alwaies proceeded from euill to worse and haue gone beyond themselues in the most greatest disorders and deuillish doings In
indeede they haue robbed in those Realmes from this King and other seuerall Lords infinite As touching the innumerable cruelties and notable for the mischiefes and enormities withall committed in the rooting out of those peoples by them who call themselues Christians I will here rehearse some certaine the which a Frier of Saint Francis order saw at the beginning and the same certified vnder his name and signe sending them into all those quarters and amongst others in to this Realme of Castile whereof I retaine a Copie in my keeping in the which it is thus written I Frier Marke of the order of Saint Francis commissarie ouer the other Friors of the same Order in the Prouinces of Peru and who was one of the first religious men which entred into the said Prouinces with the Spaniards doe say bearing true testimonie of certaine things the which I haue seene with mine eyes in that Countrie namely concerning the entreatie and conquests made ouer the naturall inhabitants of the Countrie first of all I am an eye witnesse and haue certaine knowledge that those Indians of Peru are a people the most kinde hearted that hath beene seene among all the Indians being courteous in conuersation and friendly vnto the Spaniards And I saw them giue to the Spanish in abundance Gold Siluer precious stones and all that was asked them and that they had doing them all kinde of seruice lawfull And the Indians neuer yeelded forth to warre but kept them in peace so long time as they gaue them not occasion by their euill entreating of them and their cruelties but contrariwise receiued them with all amitie and honour in their boroughes in giuing them to eate and as many slaues mankinde and womenkinde as they demanded for their seruice Item I am witnesse that without that the Indians gaue occasion the Spanish as soone as they were entred the land after that the great Cacique Atabalipa had giuen to the Spanish more then two millions of Gold and had put into their power the whole Countrie without resistance incontinent they burned the said Atabalipa which was Lord of the whole Countrie And after him they burnt his captaine generall Cochilimaca who had come to the Gouernour in peace with other Lords In the like manner also a few dayes after they burned a great Lord named Chamba of the Prouince of Quito without any fault at all and without hauing giuen the least occasion that might be In like manner they burned vniustly Schappera Lord of the Canaries Also they burnt the feete of Aluis a great Lord amongst all those which were in Quito and caused him to endure sundry other torments to make him tell where was the Gold of Atabalipa of the which treasure as it appeared he knew nothing Also they burnt in Quito Cosopanga who was Gouernour of all the Prouinces of Quito which vpon the request to him first made by Sebastian of Bernalcasar Captaine vnder the Gouernour was come to them in peace and onely because he gaue them not Gold so much as he demanded of him they burned him with very many other Caciques and principall Lords And for ought that I can vnderstand the intent of the Spaniards was that there should not be left aliue one Lord in the whole Countrey Item I certifie that the Spaniards caused to assemble a great number of Indians and locked them vp in three great houses as many as could be pored in and setting to fire they burned them all without that they had done the least thing that might be or had giuen to the Spanish the least occasion thereof whatsoeuer And it came to passe that a Priest who is named Ocanna drew a yong Boy out of the fire in the which he burned which perceiuing another Spaniard tooke from out of his hands the Boy and flung him into the middest of the flames where he was resolued into ashes together with others The which Spaniard returning the same day to the Campe fell downe dead suddenly and mine aduice was he should not be buried Item I affirme to haue seene with mine owne eyes that the Spanish haue cut the hands the noses and the eares of the Indians and of their women without any other cause or purpose saue onely that so it came into their fantasie and that in so many places and quarters that it should be too tedious to rehearse And I haue seene that the Spanish haue made their Mastiues runne vpon the Indians to rent them in pieces And moreouer I haue seene by them burnt so many houses and whole boroughes or townships that I am not able to tell the number Also it is true that they violently plucked the little infants from the Mothers dugges and taking them by the armes did throw them from them as farre as they could Together with other enormities and cruelties without any cause which gaue me astonishment to behold them and would be to long to rehearse them Item I saw when they sent for the Caciques and other principall Indians to come see them in peace and assurancâ— to them made promising them safe conduct and incontinent as they were arriued they burned them They burned two whiles I was present the one in Andon and the other in Tumbala and I could neuer preuaile with them to haue them deliuered from burning preached I vnto them neuer so much And in God and my conscience for ought that euer I could perceiue the Indians of Peru neuer lift themselues vp nor neuer rebelled for any other cause but for the euill entreating of the other side as is manifest vnto euery one and for iust cause the Spaniards destroying them tyrannously against all reason and iustice with all their Countrie working vpon them so many outrages that they were determined to die rather then to suffer much another time Item I say that by the report of the Indians themselues there is yet more Gold hidden then is come to light the which because of the vniustices and cruelties of the Spaniards they would not discouer neither euer will discouer so long as they shall be so euill entreated but will choose rather to dye with their fellowes Wherein God our Lord hath beene highly trespassed against and the Kings Maiestie euill serued hauing beene defrauded in that that his highnesse hath â—â—st such a Countrie as hath beene able to yeelde sustenance to all Castile for the recouerie of which Countrie it will be a matter of great difficultie dispence and charges All these hitherto are the formall words of the said religious person the which are also ratified by the Bishop of Mexico which witnesseth that the reuerend Father hath to his knowledge affirmed all the aboue said It is here to be considered that the good Father saith that he saw those things For thaâ— that he hath beene fiftie or an hundred leagues vp into the Countrie for the space of nine or ten yeares and at the very beginning when there were not as yet but very few
Garonne Gironde Belle Grande and after that Belle a Voire and Port Royal. In this last they anchored the Riuer at the mouth is three French leagues broad hee sayled vp many leagues and erected another like Pillar of stone Ribalt hauing built a Fort and furnished it with prouisions called it Charles Fort and left a Golonie there vnder Captaine Albert. These found great kindnesse with their Indian Neighbours till dissention happened amongst themselues the Captaine for a small fault hanging a Souldier and exercising seueritie ouer the rest which thereupon in a mutinie slue him and hauing chosen a new Captaine they built a Pinnasse and furnished it as well as they could to returne for France but surprized in the way with calmes and expence of their prouision they first did eare their shooes and Buffe Ierkins and yet continuing famished they killed one of their fellowes called La Chere and made cheere of him and after met with an English Barke which releeued them and setting some on Land brought the rest to Queene Elizabeth The cause of their not releeuing according to promise was the Ciuill warres which beeing compounded the Admirall procured the King to send three ships to Florida vnder the command of the Author Rene Landonniere which see saile in Aprill 1564. He went on shoare at Dommica in which Iland his men killed two Serpents nine foote long and as bigge as 〈◊〉 legge The two and twentieth of Iune they landed in Florida ten leagues aboue Capo Francois and after in the Riuer of May where the Indians very ioyfully welcommed them and the stone Piller 〈…〉 rected by Ribalt was crowned with bayes and baskets of Mill or Moiz set at the foot and they kissed the same with great reuerence One of Parâ—coussy or the King his Sonnes presented 〈◊〉 Captain with a wedge of siluer With another Parcâ—ussy they saw one old Father blind with age but liuing and of his lomes sixe generations descended all present so that the Sonne of the eldest was supposed two hundred and fiftie yeeres old They planted themselues on this Riuer of May and there built a Fort which they called Carolina of their King Charles Landonniere sent Outigni his Lieutenant to search out the people called Thimogoa whence that siluer wedge had comne and there heard of a great King Olata Ouae Utina to whom fortie Kings were vassals Saturioua was said to haue thirtie and to be enemie to Vtina A fearefull lightning happened which burned fiue hundred acres of ground and all the fowles after which followed such a heat that as many fish were dead therewith at the mouth of the Riuer as would haue laden fiftie Carts and of their putrifaction grieuous diseases The Sauages had thought the French had done it with their Ordnance He got some prisoners of Vtinas subiects which Saturioua had taken and sent them to him some of his men assisting Vtina in his warres against Potanou one of his enemies and returning with some quantitie of Siluer and Gold Whiles things continued in good termes with the Sauages Mutinies and Conspiracies fell out amongst the French some conspiring to kill the Captaine others running away with the Barks one of which robbed by Sea and after was driuen by famine to seeke to the Spaniards at Hauana and when two other Barkes were a building a third Conspiracie seized on the Captaine detained him Prisoner and forced him to subscribe their passe with these two Barkes Away they went and the next diuision was amongst themselues one Barke departing from the others One of them after diuers Piracies came backe and the chiefe mutinies were executed Francis Iean one of the other Barke was he which after brought the Spaniards thither to destroy them The Indians vse to keepe in the Woods Ianuarie Februarie and March and liue on what they take in hunting so that the French neither receiuing their expected reliefe from France nor from the Sauages which had no Corne hauing before sold them what they had suffered grieuous famine they resolued to build a vessell able to carrie them into France the Sauages making aduantages of their necessities according to the wonted perfidiousnesse of those wilde people whereupon they tooke King Vtina Prisoner with his Sonne to get food for his ransome The famine was so sharpe that it made the bones to grow thorow the skinne and when the Maiz by the end of May came to some ripenesse food it selfe ouercame their weake stomacks Some reliefe they had by Sir Iohn Hawkins who came thither with foure ships guided by a man of Deepe which had been there in Ribalts Voyage who also offered to transport him and set them all on land in France This he refused but made good aduantage hereof with the Sauages telling them that this was his brother which brought him great reliefe and plentie whereupon all sought his friendship His men at last generally fearing to continue in that misery wanting both apparell and victuall and meanes to returne so wrought with him that not daring to giue the Siluer and such things as he had gotten in the Countrie which might bring an English Plantation into those parts he bought a ship of Sir Iohn Hawkins who partly sold and partly gaue them prouisions also of apparell and victuall for their returne and as Laudonniere acknowledgeth like a charitable man saued their liues Whiles thus they were preparing to set saile Captaine Ribalt came into the Riuer with seuen saile foure greater and three lesse whom the Admirall had sent hearing that Laudonniere lorded and domineered in tyrannicall and insolent manner and was solemnely welcommed in the end of August 1565. A while after when as the Indians had filled Captaine Ribalt with golden hopes of the Mynes at Apalatci some proofes whereof were found to be perfect gold sixe great ships of Spaniards came into the Riuer on the fourth of September and made faire shew to the French which trusted them neuer the more but let slip their Anchors and fled being no way matchable but in swiftnesse of saile whereby they escaped the pursuite of the Spaniards and obserued their course sending word thereof to Captaine Ribalt The High Admirall Chastillon also had in his last Letters written to Ribalt that he had intelligence out of Spaine of Don Pedro Melendes his Expedition to Florida iust before his comming from France Captaine Ribalt embarkes himselfe the eight of September pretending to goe seeke the Spaniards which soone after came to seeke the French at their Fort guided by Francis Iean before a Mutiner now also a Traytour who shewed the Captaine to the Spaniards Notwithstanding their assault Laudonniere made an escape with some others ouer the Marishes into the ships and so returned first into England and after into France Captaine Ribalt was surprized with a Tempest which wracked him vpon the Coast and all his ships were castaway himselfe hardly escaping drowning but not escaping the
more then Rockie Spaniards which massacred him and all his companie This butcherie was reuenged in a fourth Floridan Voyage made from France by Captaine Gaurgues Anna 1567. who borrowed and sold to set forth three ships and entring the Riuer Tacaâ—acourn which the French called Seine he made league with eight Sauage Kings which had beene much dispighted by the Spaniards and were growne as dispightfull to them The Spaniards were accounted foure hundred strong and had diuided themselues into three Forts vpon the Riuer of May the greatest begun by the French two smaller neerer the Riuers mouth to fortifie each thereof with twelue hundred Souldiers in them well prouided for Munition In Aprill 1568. he tooke these two Forts and slue all the Spaniards the vindicatiue Sauages giuing him vehement and eager assistance especially Olotocara Nephew to Saturioua As they went to the Fort he said that he should die there and therefore desired Gourgues to giue that to his wife which he would haue giuen himselfe that it might bee buried with him for his better welcome to the Village of the Soules departed This Fort was taken the Spaniards some slaine others taken and hanged on the same trees on which the French hung fiue of which on of these Spaniards confessed he had hanged and now acknowledged the Diuine Iustice. In steed of the Writings which Melendes had hanged ouer them I doe not this as to Frenchmen but as to Lutherans Gourgues set vp another I doe not this as to Spaniards or Mariners but as to Traitors Robbers and Murtherers The Forts he razed not hauing men to keepe them and in Iune following arriued in Rochel Comming to the King with expectation of reward the Spanish King had so possessed him that he was faine to hide himselfe This Dominicke de Gourgues had beene an old Souldier once imprisoned and of a Captaine made a Gally-slaue by the Spaniards and grew for his seruice in reputation with the Queene of England he died Anno 1582. And thus much of the French Voyages in Florida for Virginias sake worthy to be knowne of the English Now for their more Northerne Voyages and Plantations Master Hakluyt hath published the Voyages of Iaques Cartier who in Aprill 1534. departed from Saint Malo with two ships and in May arriued at Newfoundland On the one and twentieth of May they came to the Iland of Birds a league about so full of Birds as if they were sowed there and a hundred times as many houering about it some as bigge as Iayes blacke and white with beakes like Crowes lying alway on the Sea their wings not bigger then halfe ones hand which makes that they cannot flie high In lesse then halfe an houre they filled two Boat with them These they named Aporatz another lesse Port which put themselues vnder the wings of others greater they called Godetz a third bigger and white byting like Dogges they called Margaulx Though the Iland be fourteene leagues from the Continent Beares come thither to feed on those Birds One white one as bigge as a Kow they killed in her swimming and found her good meate Three such Bird Ilands they also discouered the fiue and twentieth of Iune which they called the Ilands of Margaulx There also they found Morses Beares and Wolues But these Northerne Coasts are better knowne to our Countrymen then that I should mention his French names which from Cabots time almost forty yeeres before had beene knowne to the English The next yeere Cartier set forth with three ships to Saint Lawrence his Bay and so to the Riuer of Hochelaga They went to Canada and to the Towne of Hochelaga They saw the great and swift fall of the Riuer and were told of three more therein The Scorbute that Winter killed fiue and twentie of their men in their Fort the rest recouered by the vse the sap and leaues of a tree called Hameda which was thought to be Sassafras These reports of Canada Saguenay and Hochelaga caused King Francis to send him againe Anno 1540. purposing also to send Iohn Francis de la Roche Lord of Robewall to be his Lieutenant in the Countries of Canada Saguenay and Hochelaga Hee went Anno 1542. his chiefe Pilot was Iohn Alphouso of Xantoigne whose Notes as also the Relation of that Voyage with three shippes and two hundred persons men women and children Master Hakluyt hath recorded He built a Fort and wintered there and then returned These were the French beginnings who haue continued their Trading in those parts by yeerly Voyages to that Coast to these times for fishing and sometimes for Beauers skinnes and other Commodities One Saualet is said to haue made two and forty Voyages to those parts Marke Lescarbot hath published a large Booke called Noua Francia and additions thereto part of which we haue here for better intelligence of those parts added with Champleins Discoueries CHAP. VI. The Voyage of SAMVEL CHAMPLAINE of Brouage made vnto Canada in the yeere 1603. dedicated to CHARLES de Montmorencie c. High Admirall of France WE departed from Houfleur the fifteenth day of March 1603. This day we put into the Roade of New Hauen because the winde was contrary The Sunday following being the sixteenth of the said moneth we set saile to proceed on our Voyage The seuenteenth day following we had sight of Iersey and Yarnsey which are Iles betweene the Coast of Normandie and England The eighteenth of the said moneth wee discryed the Coast of Britaine The nineteenth at seuen of the clocke at night we made account that we were thwart of Ushent The one and twentieth at seuen of clocke in the morning we met with seuen ships of Hollanders which to our iudgement came from the Indies On Easter day the thirtieth of the said moneth wee were encountred with a great storme which seemed rather to be thunder then winde which lasted the space of seuenteene dayes but not so great as it was the two first dayes and during the said time we rather lost way then gained The sixteenth day of Aprill the storme began to cease and the Sea became more calme then before to the contentment of all the Company in such sort as continuing our said course vntill the eighteenth of the said moneth we met with a very high Mountaine of Ice The morrow after we discried a banke of Ice which continued aboue eight leagues in length with an infinite number of other smaller peeces of Ice which hindred our passage And by the iudgement of our Pilot the said flakes or Ice were one hundred or one hundred twenty leagues from the Country of Canada and we were in 45. degrees and two third parts we found passage in 44. deg The second of May at eleuen of clocke of the day we came vpon The Banke in 44. degrees one third part The sixt of the said moneth we came so neere the land that we heard the Sea beate against the shore
Some three leagues beyond we passed neere vnto another Riuer which seemed to be very great yet barred for the most part with Rockes some eight leagues farther there is a Point which runneth a league and an halfe into the Sea where there is not past a fathome and an halfe of water When you are passed this Point there is another about foure leagues off where is water enough All this Coast is low and sandie Foure leagues beyond this there is a creeke where a Riuer entreth many ships may passe heere on the West side this is a low point which runneth about a league into the Sea you must runne along the Easterne shoare some three hundred paces to enter into the same This is the best Hauen which is all along the North shoare but it is very dangerous in going thither because of the flats and sholds of sand which lye for the most part all along the shoare almost two leagues into the Sea About six leagues from thence there is a Bay where there is an Isle of sand all this Bay is very shallow except on the East side where it hath about foure fathoms water within the channell which entreth into the said Bay some foure leagues up there is a faire creeke where a Riuer entreth All this coast is low and sandie there descendeth a fall of water which is great About fiue leagues farther is a Point which stretcheth about halfe a league into the Sea where there is a creeke and from the one point to the other are three leagues but all are shoald where is little water About two leagues off there is a strand where there is a good hauen and a small Riuer wherein are three Islands and where Ships may harbour themselues from the weather Three leagues beyond this is a sandie point which runneth out about a league at the end whereof there is a small Islet Going forward to Lesqueuim you meete with two little low Islands and a little rocke neere the shoare these said Ilands are about halfe a league from Lesqueuim which is a very bad Port compassed with rockes and dry at a low water and you must fetch about a little point of a rocke to enter in where one Ship onely can passe at a time A little higher there is a Riuer which runneth a little way into the land This is the place where the Basks kill the Whales to say the truth the hauen is starke naught Wee came from thence to the foresaid hauen of Tadousac the third day of August All these Countries before mentioned are low toward the shoare and within the land very high They are neither so pleasant nor fruitfull as those on the South although they be lower And this for a certaintie is all which I haue seene of this Northerne coast AT our comming to Tadousac we found the Saâ—ages which wee met in the Riuer of the Irâ—cois who met with three Canowes of the Irocois in the first Lake which fought against tenne others of the Mountayners and they brought the heads of the Irocois to Tadousac and there was but one Mountayner wounded in the arme with the shot of an Arrow who dreaming of something all the other tenne must seeke to content him thinking also that his wound thereby would mend if this Sauage die his Parents will reuenge his death either vpon their Nation or vpon others or at least wise the Captaines must giue Presents to the Parents of the dead to content them otherwise as I haue said they would be reuenged which is a great fault among them Before the said Mountayners set forth to the Warre they assembled all with their richest apparell of Furres Beauers and other Skinnes adorned with Pater-nosters and Chaines of diuers colours and assembled in a great publike place where there was before them a Sagaue whose name was Begâ—â—rat which led them to the Warre and they marched one behind another with their Bowes and Arrowes Mases and Targets wherewith they furnish themselues to fight and they went leaping one after another in making many gestures of their bodies they made many turnings like a Snaile afterward they began to dance after their accustomed manner as I haue said before then they made their Peast and after they had ended it the women stripped themselues starke naked being decked with their fairest Cordons and went into their Canowes thus naked and there danced and then they went into the water and strooke at one another with their Oares and beate water one vpon another yet they did no hurt for they warded the blowes which they strooke one at the other After they had ended all these Ceremonies they retired themselues into their Cabines and the Sauages went to warre against the Irocois The sixt day of August we departed from Tadousac and the eighteenth of the said moneth we arriued at the I le Perçee where wee found Mon 〈…〉 r Preuert of Saint Malo which came from the Myne where he had beene with much trouble for the feare which the Sauages had to meet with their enemies which are the Ar 〈…〉 cois which are Sauages very monstrous for the shape that they haue For their head is little and their body short their armes small like a bone and their thigh like their legges great and long which are all of one proportion and when they sit vpon their heeles their knees are higher by halfe a foot then their head which is a strange thing and they seeme to be out of the course of Nature Neuerthelesse they be very valiant and resolute and are planted in the best Countries of all the South Coast And the Souricois do greatly feare them But by the incouragement which the said Mon 〈…〉 r de Preuert gaue them hee brought them to the said Myne to which the Sauages guided him It is a very high Mountaine rising somewhat ouer the Sea which glistereth very much against the Sunne and there is great store of Verde-grease issuing out of the said Myne of Copper He saith that at the foot of the said Mountayne at a low water there were many morsels of Copper as was otherwise declared vnto vs which fall downe from the top of the Mountaine Passing three or foure leagues further toward the South there is another Myne and a small Riuer which runneth a little way vp into the Land running toward the South where there is a Mountaine which is of a blacke painting wherewith the Sauages paint themselues Some sixe leagues beyond the second Myne toward the Sea about a league from the South Coast there is an I le wherein is found another kind of Metall which is like a darke browne if you cut it it is white which they vsed in old time for their Arrowes and Kniues and did beate it with stones Which maketh me beleeue that it is not Tinne nor Lead being so hard as it is and hauing shewed them siluer they said that the Myne of
constrained to take heed not from the people we call Sauages but from them that tearme themselues Christians and yet haue but the name of it cursed and abhominable people worse then Wolues enemies to God and humane nature This attempt then being broken Monsieur du Pont knew not what to doe but to attend the succour and supply that Monsieur de Monts promised parting from Port Royall at his return into France to send him the yeare following Yet for all euents he built another Barke and a Shallop for to seeke French Ships in the places where they vse to dry fish such as Campsean Port English Port Misamichis Port the Bay of Chaleur or Heat the Bay of Morues or Coddes and others in great number according as Monsieur de Monts had done the former yeare to the end to Ship himselfe in them and to returne into France in case that no Shippe should come to succour him ABout the time of the before mentioned Shipwracke Monsieur de Monts being in France knowing Monsieur de Poutrincourt his desire he wrote vnto him and sent a man of purpose to giue him notice of the Voyage that was in hand Which the said Monsieur de Poutrincourt accepted of He was no sooner come to Paris but that he was forced to depart not hauing scarse time to prouide for things necessary And I hauing had that good hap to be acquainted with him some yeares before he asked me if I would take part in that businesse Being come to Rochell we found there Monsieur de Monts and Monsieur de Poutrincourt that were come in Poste and our Ship called the Ionas of the burthen of one hundred and fiftie tuns ready to passe out of the chaines of the Towne to tarry for winde and tide The tyde I say because that a great Ship laden cannot come to sea from Rochell but in spring tydes vpon the new and full Moone by reason that in the Towne roade there is no sufficient depth I beleeue that after so many trials none would haue ventured to goe plant Colonies in those parts that Countrey being so ill spoken of that euery one did pittie vs considering the accidents happened to them that had beene there before Notwithstanding Monsieur de Monts and his associates did beare manfully this losse The Saturday Whitson eue the thirteenth of May we weied our anckers and sailed in open Sea so that by little and little we lost the sight of the great Towers and Towne of Rochell then of the Iles of Rez and Oleron bidding France fare-well It was a thing fearefull for them that were not vsed to such a dance to see them carried vpon so moueable an element and to be at euery monent as it were within two fingers breadth to death We had not long sailed but that many did their endeuour to yeelde vp the tribute to Neptune In the meane while we went still forward for there was no more going backe the planke being once taken vp The sixteenth of May we met with thirteene Holanders going for Spaine which did inquire of our voiage and so held their course About the eighteenth day of Iune we found the Sea-water during three dayes space very warme and by the same warmth our Wine also was warme in the bottome of our Ship yet the ayre was not hotter then before And the one and twentieth of the said Moneth quite contrary we were two or three dayes so much compassed with Mistes and Coldes that wee thought our selues to be in the moneth of Ianuary and the water of the Sea was extreame cold Which continued with vs vntill we came vpon the said Banke by reason of the said Mists which outwardly did procure this cold vnto vs. When I seeke out the cause of this Antiperistase I attribute it to the Ices of the North which come floting downe vpon the Coast and Sea adioyning to New-sound-Land and Labrador which we haue said elsewhere is brought thither with the Sea by her naturall motion which is greater there then elsewhere because of the great space it hath to run as in a gulfe in the depth of America where the natuee and situation of the vniuersall earth doth beare it easily Now these Ices which sometimes are seene in bankes of ten leagues length and as high as Mountaines and hils and thrice as deepe in the waters holding as it were an Empire in this Sea driue out farre from them that which is contrary to their coldnesse and consequently doe binde and close on this side that small quantity of milde temperature that the Summer may bring to that part where they come to seate and place themselues Before we come to the Banke which is the great Banke where the fishing of greene Cod-fishes is made so are they called when they are not dry for one must goealand for the drying of them the Sea-faring-men besides the computation they make of their course haue warnings when they come neere to it by Birds which are knowne euen as one doth them of these our parts returning backe into France when one is within one hundred or one hundred and twenty leagues neere it The most frequent of these Birds towards the said Bankes be Godes Fouquets and other called Happe-foyes The Banke whereof we speake are Mountaines grounded in the depth of the waters which are raised vp to thirty six and thirty and forty fathams neere to the vpper face of the Sea This Banke is holden to be of two hundred leagues in length and is eighteene twenty and twenty foure leagues broad which being passed there is no more bottome found out then in these parts vntill one come to the land The Ships being there arriued the sailes are rowled vp and there fishing is made for the greene-fish There is farther off other Bankes as I haue marked in the said Map vpon the which good fishing may be made and many goe thither that know the places When that we parted from Rochel there was as it were a Forrest of Ships lying at Chef de Bois whereof that place hath taken his name which went all in a company to that Country preuenting vs in their going but onely of two daies Hauing seene and noted the Banke we hoisted vp sailes and bare all night keeping still our Coast to the West But the dawne of day being come which was Saint Iohn Baptists Eue ' in Gods name we pulled downe the sailes passing that day a fishing of Cod-fish with a thousand mirths and contentments by reason of fresh meates whereof we had as much as we would hauing long before wished for them Monsieur de Poutrincourt and a yong man of Retel named Le Fleure who by reason of the Sea-sicknesse were not come out from their beds nor Cabines from the beginning of the Nauigation came vpon the hatches that day and had the pleasure not onely of fishing of Cod but also of those Birds that be called by the French
Marriners Hap-foyes that is to say Liuer-catchers because of their greedinesse to deuoure to liuers of the Cod-fishes that are cast into the Sea after their bellies be opened whereof they are so couetous that though they see a great Powle ouer their heads ready to strike them downe yet they aduenture themselues to come neere to the Ship to catch some of them at what price soeuer And they which were not occupied in fishing did passe their time in that sport And so did they by their diligence that we tooke some thirty of them In this fishing we sometimes did take Sea-dogs whose skins our Ioyners did keepe carefully to smooth their worke withall Item fishes called by Frenchmen Merlus which be better then Cod and sometimes another kinde of fish called Bars which diuersity did augment our delight They which were not busie in taking neither Fishes nor Birds did passe their time in gathering the hearts guts and other inward parts most delicate of the Cod-fish which they did mince with lard and spices and with those things did make as good Bolonia Sausiges as any can be made in Paris and we did eate of them with a very good stomacke From the eighteenth of Iune vntill we did arriue at Port Royal we haue found the weather quite otherwise to that we had before For as we haue already said we had cold mists or fogs before our comming to the Banke where we came in faire sunshine but the next day we fell to the fogs againe which a farre off we might perceiue to come and wrap vs about holding vs continually prisoners three whole dayes for two dayes of faire weather that they permitted vs which was alwayes accompanied with cold by reason of the Summers absence Yea euen diuers we haue seene our selues a whole sennight continually in thicke fogges twice without any shew of Sunne but very little as I will recite hereafter And I will bring forth a reason for such effects which seemeth vnto me probable As wee see the fire to draw the moistnesse of a wet cloth opposite vnto it likewise the Sunne draweth moistnesse and vapours both from the Sea and from the land But for the dissoluing of them there is here one vertue and beyond those parts another according to the accidents and circumstances that are found In these our Countries it raiseth vp vapours onely from the ground and from our Riuers which earthly vapours grosse and waighty and participating lesse of the moist ellement doe cause vs a hot aire and the earth discharged of those vapours becomes thereby more hot and parching From thence it commeth that the said vapours hauing the earth on the one pâ—rt and the Sunne on the other which heateth them they are easily dissolued not remaining long in the ayre vnlesse it be in winter when the earth is waxen cold and the Sunne beyond the Equinoctiall line farre off from vâ— From the same reason proceedeth the cause why Mists and Fogs be not so frequent nor so long in the French Seas as the New-found-land because that the Sunne passing from his rising aboue the grounds this Sea at the comming thereof receiueth almost but earthly vapours and by a long space retaineth this vertue to dissolue very soone the exhalation it draweth to it selfe But when it commeth to the middest of the Ocean and to the said New-found-land hauing eleuated and assumed in so long a course a great abundance of vapours from this moist wide Ocean it doth not so easily dissolue them as well because those vapours be cold of themselues and of their nature as because the element which is neerest vnder them doth simpathize with them and preserueth them and the Sunne beames being not holpen in the dissoluing of them as they are vpon the earth Which is euen seene in the land of that Countrie which although it hath but small heate by reason of the abundance of woods notwithstanding it helpeth to disperse the Mists and Fogges which be ordinarily there in the morning during Summer but not as at Sea for about eight a clocke in the morning they begin to vanish away and serue as a dew to the ground The eight and twentieth day of Iune we found our selues vpon a small banke other then the great Banke whereof we haue spoken at forty fathams From that time forward we began to descry land-markes it was New-found-land by hearbes mosses flowers and peeces of wood that we alwaies met abounding the more by so much wee drew neere to it The fourth day of Iuly our sailers which were appointed for the last quarter watch descried in the morning very early euery one being yet in bed the Iles of Saint Peter And the Friday the seuenth of the said Moneth we discouered on the Larboord a Coast of land high raised vp Euen our Dogs did â—hrust their noses out of the Ship better to draw and smell the sweet ayre of the land not being able to containe themselues from witnessing by their gestures the ioy they had of it We dre 〈…〉 within a league neere vnto it and the sailes being let downe we fell a fishing of Cod the fi 〈…〉 g of the Banke beginning to faile They which had before vs made voyages in those parts did â—udge vs to be at Cape Breton The night drawing on we stood off to the Sea-ward the next day following being the eight of the said moneth of Iuly as we drew neere to the Bay of Campseau came about the euening mists which did continue eight whole dayes during the which we kept vs at Sea hulling still not being able to goe forward being resisted by West and South-west windes During these eight dayes which were from one Saturday to another God who hath alwayes guided these voyages in the which not one man hath been lost by Sea shewed vs his speciall fauour in sending vnto vs among the thicke fogges a clearing of the Sunne which continued but halfe an houre And then had we sight of the firme land and knew that we were ready to be cast away vpon the rockes if wee had not speedily stood off to Sea-ward Finally vpon Saturday the fifteenth of Iuly about two a clocke in the afterdoone the skie began to salute vs as it were with Cannon shots shedding teares as being sorry to haue kept vs so long in paine So that faire weather being come againe we saw comming straight to vs we being foure leagues off from the land two Shallops with open sailes in a Sea yet wrathed This thing gaue vs much concent But whilst we followed on our course there came from the land odâ—rs vncomparable for sweetnesse brought with a warme winde so abundantly that all the Orient parts could not procure greater abundance We did stretch out our hands as it were to take them so palpable were they which I haue admired a thousand times since Then the two Shallops did approach the one manned with Sauages who had a
Stagge painted at their sailes the other with Frenchmen of Saint Maloes which made their fishing at the Port of Camseau but the Sauages were more diligent for they arriued first Hauing neuer seene any before I did admire at the first sight their faire shape and forme of visage One of them did excuse himselfe for that he had not brought his faire beuer gowne because the weather had beene foule He had but one red peece of Frize vpon his backe and Matachiaz about his necke at his wrists aboue the elbow and at his girdle We made them to eate and drinke During that time they told vs all that had passed a yeare before at Port Royal whither we were bound In the meane while they of Saint Maloe came and told vs as much as the Sauages had Adding that the wednesday when that we did shun the rockes they had seene vs and would haue come to vs with the said Sauages but that they left off by reason we put to the Sea and more ouer that it had beene alwayes faire weather on the land which made vs much to maruell but the cause thereof hath beene shewed before These Frenchmen of Saint Maloe were men that did deale for the associates of Monsieur de Monts and did complaine that the Baskes or men of Saint Iohn de Lus against the King his Inhibitions had trucked with the Sauages and carried away aboue six thousand Beauers skins They gaue vs sundry sorts of their fishes as Bars Marl 〈…〉 s and great Fletans At the parting some number of ours went aland at the Port of Campseau as well to fetch vs some wood and fresh water whereof we had neede as for to follow the Coast from that place to Port Royall in a Shallop for we did feare least Monsieur de Pont should be at our comming thither already gone from thence The Sauages made â—ffâ—r to goe to him thorow the woods with promise to be there within six dayes to aduertise him of our comming to the end to cause his stay for as much as word was left with him to depart vnlesse hee were succoured within the sixteenth day of that moneth which he failed not to doe notwithstanding our men desirous to see the Land neerer did hinder the same which promised vs to bring vnto vs the next day the said wood and water if wee would approach neere the Land which wee did not but followed on our course Tuesday the seuenteenth of Iuly wee were according to our accustomed manner surprized with mists and contrarie wind But the Thursday wee had calme weather so that whether it were mist or faire weather wee went nothing forward After this calme wee had two dayes of fogges The Sunday the three and twentieth of the said moneth wee had knowledge of the Port Du Rossignoll and the same day in the afternoone the Sunne shining faire we cast Anchor at the mouth of Port du Mouton and we were in danger to fall vpon a shoald being come to two fathomes and a halfe depth We went aland seuenteene of vs in number to fetch the wood and water whereof we had need There we found the Cabins and Lodgings yet whole and vnbroken that Monsieur de Monts made two yeeres before who had soiourned there by the space of one moneth as we haue said in his place We saw there being a sandy Land store of Okes bearing Acornes Cypresse-trees Firre-trees Bay-trees Muske-roses Goose-berries Purslen Raspies Fernes Lysimachia a kind of Sammonee Calamus odoratus Angelica and other Simples in the space of two houres that wee tarried there Wee brought backe in our ship wilde Peaze which we found good We had not the leisure to hunt after Rabets that be there in great number not farre from the Port but we returned aboord as soone as we had laden our selues with water and wood and so hoised vp sailes Tuesday the fiue and twentieth day we were about the Cap de Sable in faire weather and made a good iourney for about the euening we came to sight of Long I le and the Bay of Saint Marie but because of the night we put back to the Seaward And the next day we cast Anchor at the mouth of Port Royall where wee could not enter by reason it was ebbing water but we gaue two Canon shot from our ship to salute the said Port and to aduertize the Frenchmen that we were there Thursday the seuen and twentieth of Iuly we came in with the floud which was not without much difficultie for that we had the wind contrarie and gusts of wind from the Mountains which made vs almost to strike vpon the Rockes And in these troubles our ship bare still contrarie the Poope before and sometimes turned round not being able to do any other thing else Finally being in the Port it was vnto vs a thing maruellous to see the faire distance and largenesse of it and the Mountaines and Hils that inuâ—roned it and I wondred how so faire a place did remayne desert being all filled with Woods seeing that so many pine away in the World which might make good of this Land if onely they had a chiefe Gouernour to conduct them thither We knew not yet if Monsieur du Pont was gone or no and therefore wee did expect that hee should send some men to meete vs but it was in vaine for hee was gone from thence twelue dayes before And whilest we did hull in the middest of the Port Membertou the greatest Sagamos of the Souriquois so are the people called with whom we were came to the French Fort to them that were left there being only two crying as a mad man saying in his Language What! You stand here a dining for it was about noone and doe not see a great ship that commeth here and we know not what men they are Suddenly these two men ranne vpon the Bulwarke and with diligence made readie the Canons which they furnished with Pellets and touch Powder Membertou without delay came in a Canow made of barkes of trees with a Daughter of his to view vs And hauing found but friendship and knowing vs to be Frenchmen made no alarme Notwithstanding one of the two Frenchmen left there called La Taille came to the shoare of the Port his match on the cocke to know what we were though he knew it well enough for we had the white Banner displayed at the top of the Mast and on the sudden foure volley of Canons were shot off which made innumerable echoes And from our part the Fort was saluted with three Canon shots and many Musket shots at which time our Trumpeter was not slacke of his dutie Then we landed viewed the house and we passed that day in giuing God thankes in seeing the Sauages Cabins and walking thorow the Medowes But I cannot but praise the gentle courage of these two men one of them I haue alreadie named the other
it into their mouthes they spitted it out so ignorant is this people of the best thing that God hath giuen to Man next to Bread Yet notwithstanding they haue no want of wit and might be brought to doe some good things if they were ciuilized and had the vse of Handy-craâ—â—s But they are subtile theeuish traiterous and though they bee naked yet one cannot take heed of their fingers for if one turne neuer so little his eyes aside and that they spie â—â—e opportunitie to steale any Knife Hatchet or any thing else they will not misse nor fayl 〈…〉 it and wâ—ll put the theft betweene their buttockes or will hidâ— it within the sand with their foot so cu 〈…〉 gly that one shall not perceiue it Indeed I doe not wonder if a people poore and naked be t 〈…〉 uish but when the heart is malicious it is vnexcusable This people is such that they must bee hâ—ndled with terrour for if through loue and gentlenesse one giue them too free accessâ— they will practise some surprize as it hath beene knowne in diuers occasions heretofore and will yet here-after be seene And without deferring any longer the second day after our comming thither as they saw our people busie awashing Linnen they came some fitty one following another with Bowes Arrowes and Quiuers intending to play some bad part as it was conâ—ectâ—red vpon theiâ— manâ—er of proceeding but they were preuented some of our men going to meet them with their Muskets and Matches at the cocke which made some of them runne away and the others being compassed in hauing put downe their weapons came to a Peninsule or small head of an Iland where our men were and making a friendly shew demanded to trucke the Tabacco they had for our merchandises The next day the Captaine of the said place and Port came into Monsieur de Pontrincourts Barke to see him wee did maruell to see him accompanied with Olmechin seeing the way was maruellous long to come thither by Land and much shorter by Sea That gaue cause of bad suspicion albeit hee had promised his loue to the Frenchmen Notwithstanding they were gently receiued And Monsieur de Poutrincourt gaue to the said Olmechin a complete garment wherewith being clothed hee viewed himselfe in a Glasse and did laugh to see himselfe in that order But a little while after feeling that the same hindred him although it was in October when hee was returned vnto his Cabins he distributed it to sundry of his men to the end that one alone should not be ouerpestered with it Now during the time of the said Monsieur de Poutrincourt was there being in doubt whether Monsieur de Monts would come to make an habitation on that Coast as hee wished it hee made there a piece of ground to be tilled for to sowe Corne and to plant Vines As they were a deliberating to passe farther Olmechin came to the Barke to see Monsieur de Poutrincourt where hauing carried certaine houres either in talking or eating hee said that the next day an hundred Boates should come contayning euery one sixe men but the comming of such a number of men being but troublesome Monsieur de Poutrincourt would not tarrie for them but went away the same day to Malebarre not without much difficultie by reason of the great streames and shoalds that are there So that the Barke hauing touched at three foot of water onely we thought to be cast away and wee beganne to vnlade her and put victuals into the Shalop which was behind for to saue vs on Land but being no full Sea the Barke came aflote within an houre All this Sea is a Land ouerflowed as that of Mount Saint Michaels a sanday ground in which all that resteth is a plaine flat Countrey as farre as the Mountaines which are seene fifteene leagues off from that place And I am of opinion that as farre as Virginia it is all alike Moreouer there is here great quantity of Grapes as before and a Country very full of people Mousieur de Monts being come to Malebarre in an other season of the yeare gathered onely greene Grapes which he made to be preserued and brought some to the King But it was our good hap to come thither in October for to see the maturity thereof I haue here before shewed the difficulty that is found in entering into Malebarre This is the cause why Monsieur de Poutrincourt came not in with his Barke but went thither with a Shallop onely which thirty or forty Sauages did helpe to draw in and when it was full tide but the tide doth not mount here but two fathams high which is seldome seene he went out and retired himselfe into his said Barke to passe further in the morning as soone as he should ordaine it THe night beginning to giue place to the dawning of the day the sailes are hoised vp but it was but a very perilous nauigation For with this small Vessell they were forced to coast the land where they found no depth going backe to Sea it was yet worse in such wise that they did strike twice or thrice being raised vp againe onely by the waues and the rudder was broken which was a dreadfull thing In this extremity they were constrained to cast anker in the Sea at two fathams deepe and three leagues off from the land Which being done Daniel Hay a man which taketh pleasure in shewing forth his vertue in the perils of the Sea was sent towards the Coast to view it and see if there were any Port. And as he was neere land he saw a Sauage which did dance singing yo yo yo he called to him to come neerer and by signes asked him if there were any place to retire Ships in and where any fresh water was The Sauage hauing made signe there was hee tooke him into his Shallop and brought him to the Barke wherein was Chkoudun Captaine of the Riuer of Oigoudi otherwise Saint Iohns Riuer who being brought before this Sauage he vnderstood him no more than did our owne people true it is that hy signes he comprehended better then they what he would say This Sauage shewed the places where no depth was and where was any and did so well indenting and winding here and there alway the led in hand that in the end they came to the Port shewed by him where small depth is wherein the Barke being arriued diligence was vsed to make a forge for to mend her with her rudder and an Ouen to bake Bread because there was no more Bisket left Fifteene dayes were imployed in this worke during the which Monsieur de Poutrincourt according to the laudable custome of Christians made a Crosse to be framed and set vp vpon a greene Banke as Monsieur de Mont had done two yeeres before at Kinibeki and Malebarre Now among these painefull exercises they gaue not ouer making good cheere with
healthfulnesse of the place First for our selues thankes be to God we had not a man sicke two dayes together in all our Voyage whereas others that went out with vs or about that time on other Voyages especially such as went vpon reprâ—sall were most of them infected with sicknesse whereof they lost some of theâ—r men and brought home a many sicke returning notwithstanding long before vs. But Verazzano and others as I take it you may reade in the Booke of Discoueries doe more particularly intreate of the Age of the people in that coast The Sassafras which we brought we had vpon the Ilands where though we bad little disturbance and reasonable plenty yet for that the greatest part of our people were imployed about the fitting of our house and such like affaires and a few and those but easie labourers vndertooke this worke the rather because we were informed before our going forth that a tunne was sufficient to cloy England and further for that we had resolued vpon our returne and taken view of our victuall we iudged it then needefull to vse expedition which afterward we had more certaine proofe of for when we came to an anker before Portsmouth which was some foure dayes after we made the land we had not one Cake of Bread nor any drinke but a little Vinegar left fâ—r these and other reasons we returned no otherwise laden then you haue heard And thus much I hope shall suffice till I can my selfe come to giue you further notice which though it be not so soone as I could haue wisht yet I hope it shall be in conuenient time In the meane time crauing your pardon for which the vrgent occasions of my stay will pleade I humbly take my leaue 7. Septemb. 1602. Your dutifull Sonne BARTH GOSNOLD CHAP. XI The Relation of Captaine GOSNOLS Voyage to the North part of Virginia begunne the sixe and twentieth of March Anno 42. ELIZABETHAE Reginae 1602. and deliuered by GABRIEL ARCHER a Gentleman in the said Voyage THe said Captaine did set sayle from Famouth the day and yeere aboue written accompanied with thirtie two persons whereof eight Mariners and Saylers twelue purposing vpon the Discouery to returne with the ship for England the rest remayne there for population The fourteenth of Aprill following wee had sight of Saint Maries an Iland of the Assoris The three and twentieth of the same beeing two hundred leagues Westwards from the said Iland in the latitude of 37. degrees The water in the mayne Ocean appeared yellow the space of two leagues North and South where sounding with thirtie fadome Line wee found no ground and taking vp some of the said water in a bucket it altered not either in colour or taste from the Sea Azure The seuenth of May following we first saw many Birds in bignesse of Cliffe Pidgeons and after diuers other as Pettrels Cootes Hagbuts Pengwins Murres Gannets Cormorants Guls with many else in our English Tongue of no name The eight of the same the water changed to a yellowish greene where at seuentie fadome we had ground The ninth wee had two and twentie fadome in faire sandie ground hauing vpon our Lead many glittering Stones somewhat heauie which might promise some Minerall matter in the bottome we held our selues by computation well neere the latitude of 43. degrees The tenth wee sonnded in 27. 30. 37. 43. fadome and then came to 108. some thought it to be the sounding of the Westermost end of Saint Iohns Iland vpon this banke we saw sculs of fish in great numbers The twelfth we hoysed out halfe of our shallop and sounding had then eightie fadome without any current perceiued by William Strete the Master one hundred leagues Westward from Saint Maries til we came to the foresaid soundings continually passed fleeting by vs Sea-oare which seemed to haue their moueable course towards the North-east a matter to set some subtle inuention on worke for comprehending the true cause thereof The thirteenth wee sounded in seuentie fadome and obserued great beds of weedes much woode and diuers things else floating by vs when as we had smelling of the shoare such as from the Southerne Cape and Andulazia in Spaine The fourteenth about six in the morning we descried Land that lay North c. the Northerly part we called the North Land which to another Rocke vpon the same lying twelue leagues West that wee called Sauage Rocke because the Sauages first shewed themselues there fiue leagues towards the said Rocke is an out Point of woodie ground the Trees thereof very high and straight from the Rocke East North-east From the said Rocke came towards vs a Biscay shallop with saile and Oares hauing eight persons in it whom we supposed at first to bee Christians distressed But approching vs neere wee perceiued them to bee Sauages These comming within call hayled vs and wee answered Then after signes of peace and a long speech by one of them made they came boldly aboord vs being all naked sauing about their shoulders certaine loose Deere-skinnes and neere their wastes Seale-skinnes tyed fast like to Irish Dimmie Trouses One that seeemed to be their Commander wore a Wastecoate of blacke worke a paire of Breeches cloth Stockings Shooes Hat and Band one or two more had also a few things made by some Christians these with a piece of Chalke described the Coast thereabouts and could name Placentia of the New-found-land they spake diuers Christian words and seemed to vnderstand much more then we for want of Language could comprehend These people are in colour swart their haire long vp tyed with a knot in the part of behind the head They paint their bodies which are strong and well proportioned These much desired our longer stay but finding our selues short of our purposed place we set saile Westwards leauing them and their Coast. About sixteene leagues South-west from thence wee perceiued in that course two small Ilands the one lying Eastward from Sauage Rock the other to the Southwards of it the Coast we left was full of goodly Woods faire Plaines with little greene round Hils aboue the Cliffes appearing vnto vs which are indifferently raised but all Rockie and of shining stones which might haue perswaded vs a longer stay there The fifteenth day we â—ad againe sight of the Land which made a head being as wee thought an Iland by reason of a large sound that appeared Westward betweene it and the Mayne for comming â—o the Well end thereof we did perceiue a large opening we called it Shole-hope Neere this Cape we came to Anchor in fifteene fadome where wee tooke great store of Cod-fish for which we altâ—red the name and called it Cape Cod. Here wee saw sculs of Herrings Mackerels and other small 〈◊〉 in great abundance This is a low sandie shoare but without danger also wee came to Anchor againe in sixteene fadome faire by the Land in the latitude of 42. degrees This
Cape is well neere a mile broad and lieth North-east by East The Captaine went here ashoare and found the ground to be full of Pease Strawberies Hurtberies c. as then vnripe the sand also by the shoare somewhat deepe the fire-wood there by vs taken in was of Cypresse Birch Wich-hazell and Beech. A young Indian came here to the Captaine armed with his Bow and Arrowes and had certaine plates of Copper hanging at his Eares hee shewed a willingnesse to helpe vs in our occasions The sixteenth we trended the Coast Southerly which was all champaine and full of grasse but the Ilands somewhat wooddie Twelue leagues from Cape Cod we descried a point with some breach a good distance off and keeping our losse to double it wee came on the sudden into shoale water yet well quitted our selues thereof This breach wee called Tuckers Terror vpon his expressed feare The Point we named Point Care hauing passed it wee bore vp againe with the Land and in the night came with it anchoring in eight fadome the ground good The seuenteenth appeared many breaches round about vs so as wee continued that day without remooue The eighteenth being faire we sent forth the Boat to sound ouer a Breach that in our course lay of another Point by vs called Gilberts Point who returned vs foure fiue sixe and seuen fadome ouer Also a Discouery of diuers Ilands which after prooued to bee Hils and Hummocks distinct within the Land This day there came vnto the ships side diuers Canoas the Indians apparelled as aforesaid with Tobacco and Pipes steeled with Copper Skins artificiall strings and other trifles to barter one had hanging about his necke a plate of â—â—ch Copper in length a foot in breadth halfe a foot for a brest-plate the Eares of all the rest had Pendants of Copper Also one of them had his face ouer painted and his head stucke with feathers in manner of a Turkey Cocks traine These are more timerous then those of the Sauâ—ge Rocke yet very theeuish The nineteenth we passed ouer the breach of Gilberts Point in foure or fiue fadome and anchored a league or somewhat more beyond it betweene the last two Points are two leagues the interim along shoale water the latitude here is 41. degrees two third parts The twentieth by the ships side we there killed Pengwins and saw many sculs of fish The Coast from Gilberts Point to the supposed Iles lyeth East and by South Here also we discouered two Inlets which might promise fresh water inwardly whereof we perceiued much smoake as though some population had there beene This Coast is very full of people for that as we trended the same Sauages still runne along the shoare as men much admiring at vs. The one and twentieth we went coasting from Gilberts Point to the supposed Iles in tenne nine eight seuen and sixe fadome close aboord the shoare and that depth lyeth a league off A little from the supposed Iles appeared vnto vs an opening with which we stood iudging it to bee the end of that which Captaine Gosnoll descrieth from Cape Cod and as hee thought to extend some thirtie or more miles in length and finding there but three fadome a league off we omitted to make further discouerie of the same calling it Shole-hope From this opening the Mayne lyeth South-west which coasting along we saw a disinhabited Iland which so afterwards appeared vnto vs we bore with it and named it Marthaes Vineyard from Shole-hope it is eight leagues in circuit the Iland is fiue miles and hath 41. degrees and one quarter of latitude the place most pleasant for the two and twentieth we went a shoare and found it full of Wood Vines Gooseberie bushes Hurtberies Raspices Eglentine c. Heere we had Cranes Hearnes Shoulers Geese and diuers other Birds which there at that time vpon the Cliffes being sandie with some Rockie stones did breed and had young In this place we saw Deere heere we rode in eight fathome neere the shoare where wee tooke great store of Cod as before at Cape Cod but much better The three and twentieth wee weyed and towards night came to Anchor at the Northwest part of this Iland where the next morning offâ—red vnto vs fast running thirteene Sauages apparelled as aforesaid and armed with Bowes and Arrowes without any feare They brought Iobacco Deere skins and some sodden fish These offered themselues vnto vs in great familiaritie who seemed to be well conditioned They came more rich in Copper then any before This Iland is sound and hath no danger about it The foure and twentieth we set saile and doubled the Cape of another Iland next vnto it which wee called Douer Cliffe and then came into a faire Sound where wee roade all night the next morning wee sent off our Boate to discouer another Cape that lay betweene vs and the Mayne from which were a ledge of Rockes a mile into the Sea but all aboue water and without danger we went about them and came to Anchor in eight fadome a quarter of a mile from the shoare in one of the stateliest Sounds that euer I was in This called wee Gosnolls Hope the North banke whereof is the Mayne which stretcheth East and West This Iland Captaine Gosnoll called Elizabeths Ile where we determined our abode the distance betweene euery of these Ilands is viz. from Marthaes Vineyard to Douer Cliffe halfe a league ouer the Sound thence to Elizabeths Ile one league distant From Elizabeths Ile vnto the Mayne is foure leagues On the North side neere adioyning vnto the Iland Elizabeth is an Ilet in compasse halfe a myle full of Cedars by me called Hills Hap to the Northward of which in the mouth of an opening on the Mayne appeareth another the like that I called Haps Hill for that I hope much hap may be expected from it The fiue and twentieth it was that we came from Gosnolls Hope The six and twentieth we trimmed and fitted vp our Shallop The seuen and twentieth there came vnto vs an Indian and two women the one we supposed to be his Wife the other his Daughter both cleane and straite bodied with countenance sweet and pleasant To these the Indian gaue heedfull attendance for that they shewed them in much familiaritie with our men although they would not admit of any immodest touch The eight and twentieth we entred counsell about our abode and plantation which was concluded to be in the West part of Elizabeths Iland The North-east thereof running from out our ken The South and North standeth in an equall Parallel This Iland in the Westerâ—de admitteth some Increekes or sandie Coues so girded as the water in some places of each side meeteth to which the Indians from the Mayne doe oftentimes resort for fishing of Crabs There is eight fadome very neere the shoare and the latitude here is 41. degrees 10. minutes the breadth from Sound to Sound in the
breach ahead vs right along the shoare into which before we entred our Captaine thought best to hoise out his Ship-boat and sound it which if hee had not done wee had there ended our Voyage together with our liues for he bare vp the Ship as neere as he could after the Boate vntill Master Cam his Mate being in the Boat weffed and called to him to winde about and stand off for in this breach he had very shoald water two fathome vpon Rockes and sometime they supposed they saw the Rocke within three or foure foot whereon the Sea made a very high strong breach which we might discerne from the top to runne along as wee sayled by it sixe or seuen leagues to the Southward and we saw no end thereof Wherefore we were constrained to put backe againe from the Land and sounding the weather being faire wee found our selues embayed with continuall Shoalds and Rocks in a most vncertaine ground as by iudgement of our Captaine and whole companie they had neuer knowne the like from fiue and sixe fathome at the next cast of the Lead wee should haue fifteene and eighteene fathome all hard Rocke ouer many which by the vnspeakable goodnesse and mercy of God towards vs wee passed For if we had bare in with it but the day before which was exceeding tempestuous or in the night we could by no meanes haue escaped the danger But God so blessed vs that we had weather and winde as faire as poore men could wish in this distresse whereby we both perfectly discerned euery breach and with the winde were able to turne where wee saw most hope of safest passage Thus we parted from the Land which wee had not so much before desired and at the first sight reioyced as now wee all ioyfully praised God that it had pleased him so miraculously to deliuer vs from so imminent danger of death before our eyes Our Captaine found himselfe in the latitude of 41. degrees and an halfe Here we found great store of fish and saw many Whales as we had done two or three dayes before Wee stood off that night and all the next day being Wednesday but the winde still continuing for many dayes betweene the points of South South-west and West South-west so as we could not by any possible meanes make any way to the Southward in regard of our great want of water and Wood which was now spent wee much desired Land and therefore sought for it where the winde would best suffer vs to refresh our selues Thursday the sixteenth day of May we stood directly in with the Land and we much maruelled that we descried it not wherein wee found our Sea Charts very false laying out Land where none was for though we bare in directly with it according to them yet in almost fifty leagues running we found none Friday the seuenteenth of May about sixe a clocke at night wee descried Land which bare from vs North North-east but because it blew a great gale of winde the Sea very high and neere night not fit to come vpon an vnknowne coâ—st our Captaine stood off till two of the clocke in the morning being Saturday and Whitson Eâ—e then standing with it againe wee descried it by eight a clocke in morning bearing North-east from vs. It appeared a meane high Land as we after found it being but an Iland of no great compasse but I hope the most fortunate that euer men discouered as shall appeare by the sequell About twelue a clocke that day wee came to an anchor on the North side of this Iland in forty fathome water about a league from shoare This Iland is woody growne ouer with Firre Birch and Beech as farre as we saw along the shoare and so likely to be within On the Verge growe Gosseberries Strawberries wilde Pease and wilde Rose bushes The fresh water issued down the rocky Cliffes in many places and much fowle of sundry kindes breed vpon the shoare and Rockes While wee were at shoare our men aboord with a few hookes got aboue thirty great Cod and Haddocke which gaue vs a taste of the great plenty of fish which we found afterward wheresoeuer we went vpon the coast FRom hence we might discerne many Ilands and the maine Land from the West South-west to the East North-east and North North-east from vs a great way as it then seemed and as we after found it vp into the Maine we might discerne very high Mountaines although the Maine seemed but lowe Land which gaue vs a hope that it might please God to direct vs to the Discouery of some good although wee were driuen by windes farre from that place whether both by our direction and desire we euer intended to shape the course of our Voyage The next day being Whitsunday because we rode too much open to the Sea and windes wee wayed anchor about twelue a clocke and came along to the other Ilands more adioyning to the Maine and in the Road directly with the Mountaines about three leagues from the first Iland where we anchored When we came neere vnto them sounding all along in a good depth our Captaine manned his Ship-boat and sent her before with Thomas Cam one of his Mates whom he knew to be of good experience to search and sound about and between the Ilands for a place safe for our ship to ride in In the meane while we kept aloofe at Sea hauing giuen order to them in the Boat by a token to weffe in the ship if he found a conuenient Harbour which it pleased God to send vs farre beyond our expectation in a most safe birth defended from all windes in an excellent depth of water for ships of any burthens in six seuen eight nine and ten fathome vpon a clay oze very tough where is good moring euen on the Rocks vpon the Cliffe side We all with great admiration praised God who had from so apparent danger miraculously deliuered vs and directed vs vpon this day vpon which he sent the chiefe promised Director of all goodnesse vnto his Apostles and Disciples into such a place wherof here before we reade none to haue made either description or relation and then which neither our selues could wish or Nature affoord more secure In remembrance whereof our Captaine named it Pentecost Harbour Whitsun Munday the twentieth day of May by three a clocke in the morning our Captaine caused the Shalop to be carried ashoare where while some were busied about her himselfe set others to worke in digging Wels to receiue the water which we found issuing downe out of the Land in many places and rising amidst the rocky Cliffes In digging amongst other things we found in some places and not deepe clay ground blue red and white to make Bricke or Tile fit for building This day our Pinnace was fitted together and lanched in small time with two or three hookes were fished sufficiently for our whole companie three
certaine knowledge how to fall with the Coast hauing sounded euery watch and from fifty fathom had come in good deeping to seuenty and so to an hundred This day the weather being faire after the foure a clocke watch when he thought not to haue found ground before sounding in aboue a hundred fathom we had ground in foure and twenty fathom Wherefore our Sayles being downe one of our men presently cast out a hooke and before hee iudged it at ground was fished and haled vp an exceeding great and well fed Cod then there were cast out three or foure hookes more the fish was so plentifull and so great as when our Captaine would haue set sayle we desired him to suffer them to take fish a while because wee were so delighted to see them catch fish so great so fast as the hooke came downe some playing with the hooke they tooke by the backe And one of the Mates with two hookes at a Lead at fiue draughts together haled vp ten fishes all were generally very great some were measured This caused our Captaine not to maruell at the shoalding for he perceiued it was a fish-banke which for our farewell from the Land it pleased God in the continuance of his blessings to giue vs knowledge of Sunday the fourteenth of Iuly about six a clocke at night we were come into sounding in our Channell but for want of sight of the Sunne and Starre to make a true obseruation and with contrary windes we were constrained to beate vp and downe till Tuesday the sixteenth of Iuly when by fiue a clocke in the morning wee made Sylly from whence hindred with calmes and small windes Vpon Thursday the eighteenth of Iuly about foure a clocke wee came to anchor safâ—ly in Dartmouth which Hauen haply with Gods assistance wee made the last and first Harbour in England as the Termini of our Voyage A briefe Note of what profits we found the Countrie yeeld in the small time of our stay there Trees Oake of an excellent graine staight and great timber Elme Beech Birch very tall and great of whose Barque they make their Canoas Nut-hasle Hasle Alder Cherry tree Ash Mâ—ple Ewe Spruce Asp Fir in great abundance many other fruit trees which we know not Fowles Eagles Hernshawes Cranes Duks great Geese Swans Penguins Shark Crow Rauen Kite Soga Mewes Doues Turtles birds of sundry colours and many other fowles vnknown Beasts Deere red and fallow Beare Wolfe Beauer Otter Hare Conie Marterns Sables Hogs Porkespines Polcats Cats wilde great Dogs some like Foxes some like our other beasts the Sauages signe vnto vs with hornes and broad eares which we take to be Olkes or Loshes Fishes Whales Porpoise Seales Cod very great Haddocke great Herring Plaise Thornbacke Rock-fish Lobster great Crabbe Mussels Cockles Wilks Cunner-fish Lumpe-fish Whiting the Sauages signe vnto vs that they haue Tortoise very great Plants Fruits Herbs Tobacco excellent sweet and strong Vine wilde Strawberries Raspberries Gooseberries Hurtleberries Corant trees in abundance Rose bushes Pease which the Sauages signe to be very great in the Maine Ground-nuts Angelica a most soueraigne herbe and an herbe that spreadeth like Camomell and smelleth like sweet Marjoram great plenty Good Dies which appeare by their painting which they carrie with them in bladders Words which I learned of the Sauages in their Language Sunne or Moone Kesus Cod-fish Biskeiore A fish with hornes Manedo Lobster Shoggah Rock-fish Shagatocke Cockle-fish Hesucke Muskell Shoorocke Cunner-fish Tattaucke Crabbe Wussorasha Porpoise Muscopeiuck Plaise Anego Tortoise Romcaneeke Pease Ushcomono Tobacco Tomoch A leafe Mebeere A weed Cashterush A Firre tree Seteock A stone Nabscurr A Bowe Shoanor An Arrow Tobood Barke of a tree Mashquere Water Shamogoon Sand Cheemuck Crowe Cagagoose Haire Messer or Meris A beard Nicowur A Beare Rogsoo Beauer Paneah Otter Nymemano Rat Sanuke Polcat Pocamka Cat Pushuck Fallow Deere Coribo Hogge Madoso Red Deere Moosurr They tell vs of other beasts which they call Tasquus Pisho Narsim Teeth Ibider A hand and finger Breecke A Naile of the hand Cushe A legge Codd A foot Musseete Plum-tree Epsegan Strawberry Pishoa Gooseberry Shewanor Cherry tree Espegononino Corant tree Asheemena Rashberrie Kiskeemy A lippe Metoan Fire Squida The maine Land Bemoquiducke Sea Shoubbe Father Wado Sonne Usto Wane of the Sea Toboogg Pitch and Tallow Poco Wilde Rose Minusheck Birch Pasquar Sword Edagawancke Mountaine Machoucke Winde Puckchawsen Bloud Pagâgocun Red Paint Woroman Blacke Paint Cogosho A Dogge Remâ—ose A Ship or Boat Quiden An Oare Wuttohogauor A Garnepo Fly Chussuah Bread Paune Raine Soogoran A nose Peech-ten An Axe or Hatchet Tomaheegon A Knife Quodogon Oake Askabesse White Bone whereof they haue Chaines Girdles Bracelets Speesone The Cheeke Canoah A Shirt or Coat Tenoganuke The Chinne Queh An Eye Sheesuck Eylid Momon Forehead Scottoquah An Eare Fawwucke A fish-hooke Makeecon A Rainbow Shomogon The Names of their chiefe Gouernours whom they call Sagomoh 1. Bashabez 2. Abatuckquishe 3. Bdahanedo one of them we haue 4. Abokeesussick 5. Shurokinit 6. Psaheno 7. Mentoelmet 8. Ageemohuck 9. Mawermet 10. Chanacoboin 11. Amilquin 12. Muasacoromoneete These dwell vpon the Maine and weare an ornament of white bone vpon their head and Chaines and Bracelets and Girdles and haue their skinne garments laced with them The Names of our Virginians Bdahanedo Brother to the Bashabes Amocret his Brother Satacomoah Maneduck Scikaworrowse Thus haue I giuen thee the proceedings of Virginia and New Englands Discouerie for the originall beginning of the Discouerie Sir Sebastian Cabot was the first Discouerer both of it and the rest of the Continent of America The first Plantation was more Southerly by the charges of Sir Walter Raleigh as before is shewed The next yeere New Patents were obtained of his Maiestie for a double Plantation in these parts I trouble not the Reader with the whole Patent both because it hath sustained diuersified alteration diuision and subdiuision and because I more minde things there done than here for which cause I haue also omitted the Articles and instruction two dayes after dated signed and sealed with the Priuie Seale for the gouernment of the said Plantation of both which I haue the Copies by mee I onely here giue thee the beginning of the first Patent Aprill 10. 1606. CHAP. XIIII The description of the Ilands of Açores or the Flemish Ilands taken out of Linschoten with certaine occurrents and English acts THe Iles of Açores or the Flemish Ilands are seuen that is Tercera Saint Mary Saint George Gratiosa Pico and Faiael There are yet two Ilands called Flores and Coruo which are not contained vnder the name of Açores but yet at this day are vnder the gouernment of the same Ilands so that they are in all accounted nine Ilands They are called Açores that is to say Sparhawkes or Hawkes because that in their first discouery they found many Sparhawks in them wherof they hold the name although at this day there is not any there
best in all those Ilands and it hath the sauorest pleasantest Oranges that are throughout all Portugall so that they are brought into Tercera for a present as being there very much esteemed and in my iudgement they are the best that euer I tasted in any place Angra in the Iland of Tercera is the chiefe Towne and Ruler ouer all the Flemish Ilands From Tercera Westward to the Iland named Flores are seuenty miles it is about seuen miles compasse it is also inhabited by Portugals hath no speciall merchandise but onely some wood it is full of Cattle and other necessary prouisions and lyeth open to all the world to whosoeuer will come thither as well Englishmen as others for that the inhabitants haue not the power to resist them A mile from thence Northward lyeth a little Iland of two or three miles in compasse called DeCoruo The inhabitants are of the same people that dwell in Flores Between those two Ilands and round about them the Englishmen doe commonly stay to watch the Ships that come out of the West for those are the first Ilands that the Ships looke out for and descry when they saile vnto Tercera wherby the inhabitants dobut little prosper because they are at the pleasure commandment of all that will come vnto them and take their goods from them as oftentimes it hapneth Yet for all their pouerty not to loose both lands and goods they must content themselues and saile with euery winde The I le of Tercera lyeth vnder thirty nine degrees in the same height that Lisbone lyeth and is distant from Lisbone lying right East and West two hundred and fifty Spanish miles Of certaine notable and memorable accidents that happened during my continuance in Tercera in which are related many English fleetes Sea-fights and Prizes THe second of October Anno 1589. at the Towne of Villa daâ— Praya in the Iland of Tercera two men being in a field hard without the towne were killed with lightning The ninth of the same month there arriued in Tercera 14. Ships that came from the Spanish Indies laden with Cochenile Hides Gold Siluer Pearles and other rich wares They were fifty in company when they departed out of the Iland of Hauana whereof in their comming out of the Channell eleuen sunk in the same Channell by foule weather the rest by a storme were scattered seperated one from the other The next day there came another Ship of the same company that sailed close vnder the Iland so to get into the Road where she met with an English Ship that had not aboue three cast Peeces the Spaniard twelue They sought a long time together which we being in the Iland might stand behold wherupon the Gouernor of Tercera sent two Boats of Musketiers to helpe the Ship but before they could come at her the English Ship had shot her vnder water and we saw her sinke into the Sea with all her sailes vp and not any thing seene of her about the water The Englishmen with their Boate saued the Captaine and about thirty others with him but not one peny worth of the goods yet in the Ship there was at the least to the value of 200000. Ducats in Gold Siluer and Pearles the rest of the men were drowned which might be about 50. persons among the which were some Friers and women which the Englishmen would not saue Those that they had saued they set on land then they sailed away The 27. of the same month the said 14. Ships hauing refreshed theselues in the Iland departed from Tercera towards Siuil and comming vpon the coast of Spaine they were taken by the English Ships that lay there to watch for them two onely excepted which escaped away the rest were wholly carried into England About the same time the Earle of Cumberland with one of the Queenes Ships and fiue or six more kept about those Ilands and came oftentimes so close vnder the Iland and to the Road of Angra that the people on land might easily tell all his men that he had aboord and knew such as walked on the Hatches they of the Iland not once shooting at them although they might easily haue done it for they were within Musket shot both of the Towne and Fort. In these places he continued for the space of two Moneths and sailed round about the Ilands and landed in Gratiosa and Fayael as in the description of those Ilands I haue already declared Here he tooke diuers Ships and Caruels which he sent into England so that those of the Iland durst not once put forth their heads At the same time about three or foure dayes after the Earle of Cumberland had beene in the Iland of Fayael and was departed from thence there arriued in the said Iland of Fayael six Indian Ships whose Generall was one Iuan Doryâ—s and there they discharged in the Iland fortie Millions of Gold and Siluer And hauing with all speede refreshed their Ships fearing the comming of the Englishmen they set saile and arriued safely in Saint Lucas not meeting with the enemy to the great good lucke of the Spaniards and hard fortune of the Englishmen for that within lesse then two daies after the Gold and Siluer was laden again into the Spanish Ships the Earle of Cumberland sailed againe by that Iland so that it appeared that God would not let them haue it for if they had once had fight thereof without doubt it had beene theirs as the Spaniards themselues confessed In the moneth of Nouember there arriued in Tercera two great Ships which were the Admirall and Viceadmirall of the Fleete laden with Siluer who with stormy weather were seperated from the Fleete and had beene in great torment and distresse and ready to sinke for they were forced to vse all their Pumps so that they wished a thousand times to haue met with the Englishmen to whom they would willingly haue giuen their Siluer and all that euer they brought with them onely to saue their liues And although the Earle of Cumberland lay still about those Ilands yet they met not with him so that after much paine and labor they got into the Road before Angra where with all speed they vnladed discharged aboue 5. Millions of Siluer all in peeces of 8. and 10. pound great so that the whole Ray lay couered with plates Chests of Siluer full of Ryals of eight most wonderfull to behold each Million being ten hundred thousand Ducats besides Pearles Gold and other stones which were not registred The Admiral chief commander of those Ships and Fleete called Aluuro Flores de Quiniones was sicke of the Neapolitan disease and was brought to land whereof not long after he dyed in Syuilia He brought with him the Kings broad Seale and full authority to be Generall chiefe commander vpon the Seas and of all Fleets or Ships and of all places Ilands or Lands wheresoeuer
for they had lost in fighting and by drowning aboue foure hundred men and of the English were slaine about a hundred Sir Richard Greenfield himselfe being wounded in his braine whereof afterwards he died He was borne into the Sâ—ip called the Saint Paul wherein was the Admirall of the Fleete Don Alonso de Barsan there his wounds were drest by the Spanish Surgeons but Don Alonso himselfe would neither see him nor speake with him all the rest of the Captaines and Gentlemen went to visite him and to comfort him in his hard fortune wondring at his courage and stout heart for that he shewed not any signe of faintnesse nor changing of coloâ—r But feeling the houre of death to approach he spake these words in Spanish and said Here dye I Richard Greenfield with a ioyfull and quiet minde for that I haue ended my life as a true Souldier ought to doe that hath fought for his Countrey Queene Religion and honour whereby my Soule most ioyfull departeth out of this body and shall alwayes leaue behinde it an euerlasting fame of a valiant and true Soldier that hath done his duetie as hee was bound to doe When he had finished these or such other like words he gaue vp the Ghost with great and stout courage and no man could perceiue any true signe of heauinesse in him This Sir Richard Greenfield was a great and a rich Gentleman in England and had great yearely reuenewes of his owne inheritance but he was a man very vnquiet in his minde and greatly affected to warre in so much as of his owne priuate motion he offered his seruice to the Qâ—eene He had performed many valiant acts and was greatly feared in these Ilands and knowne of euery man but of nature very seuere so that his owne people hated him for his fiercenesse and spake very hardly of him for when they first entred into the Fleete or Armado they had their great saile in a readinesse and might possibly enough haue sailed away for it was one of the best Ships for saile in England and the Master perceiuing that the other Ships had left them and followed not after commanded the great saile to be cut that they might make away but Sir Richard Greenfield threatned both him and all the rest that were in the Ship that if any man laid hand vpon it he would cause him to be hanged and so by that occasion they were compelled to fight and in the end were taken He was of so hard a complexion that as hee continued among the Spanish Captaines while they were at dinner or supper with him hee would carouse three or foure Glasses of Wine and in a brauery take the Glasses betweene his teeth and crash them in peeces and swallow them downe so that often times the bloud ran out of his mouth without any harme at all vnto him and this was told me by diuers credible persons that many times stood and beheld him The Englishmen that were left in the Ship as the Captaine of the Souldiers the Master and others were dispersed into diuers of the Spanish Ships that had taken them where there had almost a new fight arisen betweene the Biscaines and the Portugals while each of them would haue the honour to haue first boorded her so that there grew a great noise and quarrell among them one taking the chiefe Ancient and the other the Flagge and the Captaine and euery one held his owne The ships that had boorded her were altogether out of order and broken and many of their men hurt whereby they were compelled to come into the Iland of Tercera there to repaire themselues where being arriued I and my chamber-fellow to heare some newes went aboord one of the Ships being a great Biscaine and one of the twelue Apostles whose Captaine was called Bertandono that had bin Generall of the Biscaines in the fleete that went for England He seeing vs called vs vp into the Gallery where with great curtesie he receiued vs being as then set at dinner with the English Captaine that sat by him and had on a sute of blacke Veluet but he could not tell vs any thing for that he could speake no other language but English and Latine which Bartandono also could a little speake The English Captaine that he might come on land with his weapon by his side and was in our lodging with the Englishman that was kept prisoner in the Iland being of that ship whereof the sailers got away as I said before The Gouernour of Tercera bad him to dinner and shewed him great curtesie The Master likewise with licence of Bartandono came on land and was in our lodging and had at the least ten or twelue wounds as well in his head as on his body whereof after that being at Sea betweene Lisbone and the Ilands he died The Captaine wrote a Letter wherein he declared all the manner of the fight and left it with the English Merchant that lay in our lodging to send it to the Lord Admirall of England The English Captaine comming to Lisbone was there well receiued and not any hurt done vnto him but with good conuoy sent to Sentuual and from thence sayled into England with all the rest of the Englishmen that were taken prysoners The Spanish Armie staied at the Iland of Corus till the last of September to assemble the rest of the Fleete together which in the end were to the number of one hundred and forty sayle of Ships partly comming from India and partly of the Army and being altogether ready vnto saile to Tercera in good company there sodainly rose so hard and cruell a storme that those of the Iland did affirme that in mans memory there was neuer any such seene or heard of before for it seemed the Sea would haue swallowed vp the Ilands the water mounting higher then the Cliffes which are so high that it amaseth a man to behold them but the Sea reached aboue them and liuing fishes were throwne vpon the land This storme continued not onely a day or two with one winde but seuen or eight dayes continually the winde turning round about in all places of the compasse at the least twice or thrice during that time and all alike with a continuall storme and tempest most terrible to behold euen to vs that were on shore much more then to such as were at Sea so that onely on the Coasts and Clifts of the Iland of Tercera there were aboue twelue Ships cast away and not onely vpon the one side but round about it in euery corner whereby nothing else was heard but complaining crying lamenting and telling here is a ship broken in peeces against the Cliffes and there another and all the men drowned so that for the space of twenty dayes after the storme they did nothing else but fish for dead men that continually came driding on the shore Among the rest was the English ship called the Reuenge that was cast away vpon
a Cliffe neere to the Iland of Tercera where it brake in a hundred peeces and sunke to the ground hauing in her seuenty men Gallegos Biscaines and others with some of the captiue Englishmen whereof but one was saued that got vp vpon the Cliffes aliue and had his body and head all wounded and he being on shore brought vs the newes desiring to be shriuen and thereupon presently died The Reuenge had in her diuers faire Brasse Peeces that were all sunke in the Sea which they of the Iland were in good hope to weigh vp againe the next Summer following Among these Ships that were cast away about Tercera was likewise a Flie-boate one of those that had bin arested in Portugall to serue the King called the White Doue The Master of her was one Cornelius Martenson of Schiedam in Holland and there were in her one hundred Souldies as in euery one of the rest there was He being ouer ruled by the Captaine that he could not be Master of his owne sayling here and there at the mercy of God as the storme droue him in the end came within the sight of Tercera which the Spaniards perceiuing thought all their safety onely to consist in putting into the Road compelling the Master and the Pilot to make towards the Iland although the Master refused to doe it saying that they were most sure there to be cast away and vtterly spoiled but the Captain called him drunkard Heretick and striking him with a staffe commanded him to do as he would haue him The Master seeing this and being compelled to doe it said well then my Masters seeing it is the desire of you all to be cast away I can but loose one life and therewith desperately he sailed towards the shoare and was on that side of the Iland where there was nothing else but hard stones and Rockes as high as Mountaines most terrible to behold where some of the Inhabitants stood with long ropes and corke bound at the end thereof to throw them downe vnto the men that they might lay hold vpon them and saue their liues but few of them got so neere most of them being cast away and smitten in peeces before they could get to the wall The Ship sailed in this manner as I said before towards the Iland and approaching to the shoare the Master being an old man and full of yeares called his Sonne that was in the ship with him and hauing imbraced one another and taken their last farewell the good old father willed his Sonne not to take care for him but seeke to saue himselfe for said he sonne thou art yong and may haue some hope to saue thy life but as for me it is no great matter I am old what become of me and therewith each of these shedding many teares as euery louing father and kinde childe may well consider the ship fell vpon the Cliffes and brake in peeces the Father on the one side the sonne on the other side falling into the sea each laying hold vpon that which came next to hand but to no purpose for the sea was so high and furious that they were all drowned and onely foureteene or fifteene saued themselues by swimming with their legges and armes halfe broken and out of ioynt among the which was the Masters sonne and foure other Dutch Boyes the rest of the Spaniards and sailers with the Captaine and Master were drowned whose heart would not melt with teares to behold so grieuous a sight specially considering with himselfe that the greatest cause thereof was the beastlinesse and insolency of the Spaniards as in this onely example may well be seene whereby may be considered how the other ships sped as we our selues did in part behold and by the men that were saued did heare more at large as also some others of our Countrimen that as then were in the like danger can well witnesse On the other Ilands the losse was no lesse then in Tercera for on the Iland of Saint George there were two Ships cast away on the Iland of Pico two Ships on the Iland of Gratiosa three ships besides those there came euerywhere round about diuers peeces of broken ships other things fleeting towards the Ilands wherewith the Sea was all couered most pittifull to behold On the Iland of Saint Michael there were foure Ships cast away and betweene Tercera and Saint Michaels three more were sunke which were seene and heard to crie out whereof not one man was saued The rest put into the Sea without Masts all torne and rent so that of the whole Fleete and Armado being one hundred and forty ships in all there were but thirty two or thirty three ariued in Spaine and Portugall yea and those few with so great misery paine and labour that not two of them arriued there together but this day one and to morrow another next day the third so one after the other to the number aforesaid All the rest were cast away vpon the Ilands and ouerwhelmed in the sea whereby may be considered what great losse and hinderance they receiued at that time for by many mens iudgements it was esteemed to be much more then was leftby their Armie that came for England and it may well be thought and presumed that it was no other but a iust plague purposely sent by God vpon the Spaniards and that it might truely be said the taking of the Reuenge was iustly reuenged vpon them and not by the might or force of man but by the power of God as some of them openly said in the Isle of Tercera that they beleeued verily God would consume them and that he tooke part with Lutherans and Heretickes saying further that so soone as they had throwne the dead body of the Viceadmirall Sir Richard Greenfield ouer-boord they verily thought that as he had a diuellish Faith and Relion and therefore the Diuels loued him so he presently sunke into the bottome of the Sea and downe into Hell where he raised vp all the Diuels to the reuenge of his death and that they brought so great stormes and torments vpon the Spaniards because they onely maintained the Catholike and Romish Religion such and the like blasphemies against God they ceased not openly to vtter without that any man reproued them therein nor for their false opinions but the most part of them rather said and affirmed that of truth it must needes be so As one of those Indian Fleetes put out of Noua Spaigna there were fiue and thirty of them by storme and tempest cast away and drowned in the Sea being fiftie in all so that but fifteene escaped Of the Fleete that came from Santo Domingo there were foureteene cast away comming out of the Channell of Hauana whereof the Admirall and Viceadmirall were two of them and from Terra Firma in India there came two ships laden with Gold and Siluer that were taken by the Englishmen and before the Spanish Armie came
and a sayler in two places of the body very dangerous After they had spent their Arrowes and felt the sharpnesse of our shot they retired into the Woods with a great noise and so left vs. The seuen and twentieth day we began to build vp our Shallop the Gentlemen and Souldiers marched eight miles vp into the Land we could not see a Sauage in all that march we came to a place where they had made a great fire and had beene newly a rosting Oysters when they perceiued our comming they fled away to the Mountaines and left many of the Oysters in the fire we eat some of the Oysters which were very large and delicate in taste The eighteenth day we lanched our Shallop the Captaine and some Gentlemen went in her and discouered vp the Bay we found a Riuer on the Southside running into the Maine we entered it and found it very shoald water not for any Boats to swim Wee went further into the Bay and saw a plaine plot of ground where we went on Land and found the place fiue mile in compasse without either Bush or Tree we saw nothing there but a Cannow which was made out of the whole tree which was fiue and fortie foot long by the Rule Vpon this plot of ground we got good store of Mussels and Oysters which lay on the ground as thicke as stones wee opened some and found in many of them Pearles Wee marched some three or foure miles further into the Woods where we saw great smoakes of fire Wee marched to those smoakes and found that the Sauages had beene there burning downe the grasse as wee thought either to make their plantation there or else to giue signes to bring their forces together and so to giue vs battell We past through excellent ground full of Flowers of diuers kinds and colours and as goodly trees as I haue seene as Cedar Cipresse and other kindes going a little further we came into a little plat of ground full of fine and beautifull Strawberries foure times bigger and better then ours in England All this march we could neither see Sauage nor Towne When it grew to be towards night we stood backe to our Ships we sounded and found it shallow water for a great way which put vs out of all hopes for getting any higher with our Ships which road at the mouth of the Riuer Wee rowed ouer to a point of Land where wee found a channell and sounded six eight ten or twelue fathom which put vs in good comfort Therefore wee named that point of Land Cape Comfort The nine and twentieth day we set vp a Crosse at Chesupioc Bay and named that place Cape Henry Thirtieth day we came with our ships to Cape Comfort where wee saw fiue Sauages running on the shoare presently the Captaine caused the shallop to be manned so rowing to the shoare the Captaine called to them in signe of friendship but they were at first very timersome vntil they saw the Captain lay his hand on his heart vpon that they laid down their Bowes and Arrowes and came very boldly to vs making signes to come a shoare to their Towne which is called by the Sauages Kecoughtan Wee coasted to their Towne rowing ouer a Riuer running into the Maine where these Sauages swam ouer with their Bowes and Arrowes in their mo 〈…〉 When we came ouer to the other side there was a many of other Sauages which directed vs to their Towne where we were entertained by them very kindly When we came first a Land they made a dolefull noise laying their faces to the ground scratching the earth with their nailes We did thinke that they had beene at their Idolatry When they had ended their Ceremonies they went into their houses and brought out mats and laid vpon the ground the chiefest of thē sate all in a rank the meanest sort brought vs such dainties as they had of their bread which they make of their Maiz or Gennea wheat they would not suffer vs to eat vnlesse we sate down which we did on a Mat right against them After we were well satisfied they gaue vs of their Tabacco which they tooke in a pipe made artificially of earth as ours are but far bigger with the bowle fashioned together with a piece of fine copper After they had feasted vs they shewed vs in welcome their manner of dancing which was in this fashion one of the Sauages standing in the midst singing beating one hand against another all the rest dancing about him shouting howling and stamping against the ground with many Anticke tricks and faces making noise like so many Wolues or Deuils One thing of them I obserued when they were in their dance they kept stroke with their feet iust one with another but with their hands heads faces and bodies euery one of them had a seuerall gesture so they continued for the space of halfe an houre When they had ended their dance the Captaine gaue them Beades and other trifling Iewells They hang through their eares Fowles legs they shaue the right side of their heads with a shell the left side they weare of an ell long tied vp with an artificiall knot with a many of Foules feathers sticking in it They goe altogether naked but their priuities are couered with Beasts skinnes beset commonly with little bones or beasts teeth some paint their bodies balcke some red with artificiall knots of sundry liuely colours very beautifull and pleasing to the eye in a brauer fashion then they in the West Indies The fourth day of May we came to the King or Werowance of Paspihe where they entertained vs with much welcome an old Sauage made a long Oration making a foule noise vttering his speech with a vehement action but we knew little what they meant Whilst we were in company with the Paspihes the Werowance of Rapahanna came from the other side of the Riuer in his Cannoa he seemed to take displeasure of our being with the Paspihes he would faine haue had vs come to his Towne the Captaine was vnwilling seeing that the day was so far spent he returned backe to his ships for that night The next day being the fift of May the Werowance of Rapahanna sent a Messenger to haue vs come to him We entertained the said Messenger and gaue him trifles which pleased him Wee manned our shallop with Muskets and Targatiers sufficiently this said Messenger guided vs where our determination was to goe When wee landed the Werowance of Rapahanna came downe to the water side with all his traine as goodly men as any I haue seene of Sauages or Christians the Werowance comming before them playing on a Flute made of a Reed with a Crown of Deares haire colloured red in fashion of a Rose fastened about his knot of haire and a great Plate of Copper on the other side of his head with two long Feathers in fashion of a paire of Hornes placed in the midst
Captaine Gosnols death the Councell could hardly agree by the dissention of Captaine Kendall which afterward was committed about hainous matters which was proued against him The foure and twentieth day died Edward Harington and George Walker and were buried the same day The sixe and twentieth day died Kenelme Throgmortine The seuen and twentieth day died William Roods The eight and twentieth day died Thomas Stoodie Cape Merchant The fourth day of September died Thomas Iacob Sergeant The fift day there died Beniamin Beast Our men were destroyed with cruell diseases as Swellings Flixes Burning Feuers and by warres and some departed suddenly but for the most part they died of meere famine There were neuer Englishmen left in a forreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were in this new discouered Virginia Wee watched euery three nights lying on the bare cold ground what weather soeuer came warded all the next day which brought our men to bee most feeble wretches our food was but a small Can of Barlie sod in water to fiue men a day our drinke cold water taken out of the Riuer which was at a floud verie salt at a low tide full of slime and filth which was the destruction of many of our men Thus we liued for the space of fiue moneths in this miserable distresse not hauing fiue able men to man our Bulwarkes vpon any occasion If it had not pleased God to haue put a terrour in the Sauages hearts we had all perished by those vild and cruell Pagans being in that weake estate as we were our men night and day groaning in euery corner of the Fort most pittifull to heare if there were any conscience in men it would make their harts to bleed to heare the pittiful murmurings out-cries of our sick men without reliefe euery night and day for the space of sixe weekes some departing out of the World many times three or foure in a night in the morning their bodies trailed out of their Cabines like Dogges to be buried in this sort did I see the mortalitie of diuers of our people It pleased God after a while to send those people which were our mortall enemies to releeue vs with victuals as Bread Corne Fish and Flesh in great plentie which was the setting vp of our feeble men otherwise wee had all perished Also we were frequented by diuers Kings in the Countrie bringing vs store of prouision to our great comfort The eleuenth day there was certaine Articles laid against Master Wing fiield which was then President thereupon he was not only displaced out of his President ship but also from being of the Councell Afterwards Captaine Iohn Ratcliffe was chosen President The eighteenth day died oue Ellis Kinistone which was starued to death with cold The same day at night died one Richard Simmons The nineteenth day there died one Thomas Mouton William White hauing liued with the Natiues reported to vs of their customes in the morning by breake of day before they eate or drinke both men women and children that be aboue tenne yeeres of age runnes into the water there washes themselues a good while till the Sunne riseth then offer Sacrifice to it strewing Tobacco on the water or Land honouring the Sunne as their God likewise they doe at the setting of the Sunne CHAP. III. The description of Virginia by Captaine IOHN SMITH inlarged out of his written Notes VIrginia is a Countrie in America that lieth betweene the degrees of 34. and 44. of the North Latitude The bounds thereof on the East side are the great Ocean On the South lieth Florida on the North Noua Francia As for the West thereof the limits are vnknowne Of all this Countrie we purpose not to speake but only of that part which was planted by the Englishmen in the yeere of our Lord 1606. And this is vnder the degrees 37. 38. and 39. The temperature of this Countrie doth agree wel with English constitutions being once seasoned to the Countrie Which appeared by this that though by many occasions our people fell sicke yet did they recouer by verie small meanes and continued in health though there were other great causes not only to haue made them sicke but euen to end their dayes c. The Summer is hot as in Spaine the Winter cold as in France or England The heate of Summer is in Iune Iuly and August but commonly the coole Breeses asswage the vehemencie of the heate The chiefe of Winter is halfe December Ianuary February and halfe March The cold is extreme sharpe but heere the Prouerbe is true That no extreme continueth long In the yeere 1607. was an extraordinary Frost in most of Europe and this Frost was found as extreme in Uirginia But the next yeere for eight or ten daies of ill weather other fourteene daies would be as Summer The winds here are variable but the like Thunder and Lightning to purifie the Aire I haue seldome either seene or heard in Europe From the South-west came the greatest gusts with Thunder and heate The North-west winde is commonly coole and bringeth faire weather with it From the North is the greatest cold and from the East and South-east as from the Barmadas fogges and raines Sometimes there are great droughts other times much raine yet great necessitie of neither by reason we see not but that all the varietie of needfull Fruits in Europe may bee there in great plentie by the industry of men as appeareth by those we there planted There is but one entrance by Sea into this Countrey and that is at the mouth of a verie goodly Bay the widenesse whereof is neere eighteene or twenâ—ie miles The Cape on the South side is called Cape Henrie in honour of our most Noble Prince The shew of the Land there is a white Hilly Sand like vnto the Downes and along the shoares great plentie of Pines and Firres The North Cape is called Cape Charles in honour of the worthy Duke of Yorke Thelles before it are named Smiths Iles because he first of ours set foot on them Within is a Countrey that may haue the prerogatiue ouer the most pleasant places of Europe Asia Africa or America for large and pleasant nauigable Riuers Heauen and Earth neuer agreed better to frame a place for mans habitation being of our constitutions were it fully mannured and inhabited by industrious people Here are Mountaynes Hils Plaines Vallies Riuers and Brookes all running most pleasantly into a faire Bay compassed but for the mouth with fruitful delightsome Land In the Bay and Riuers are many Iles both great and small some woodie some plaine most of them low and not inhabited This Bay lieth North an South in which the water floweth neere two hundred miles and hath a Channell for one hundred and fortie miles of depth betwixt seuen and fifteene fadome holding in breadth for the most part ten or fourteene miles From the head of the Bay at
RICHARD WIFFIN THO. ABBAY THO. HOPE and since enlarged out of the Writings of Capt. IOHN SMITH principall Agent and Patient in these Virginian Occurrents from the beginning of the Plantation 1606. till Ann. 1610. somewhat abridged CAptaine Bartholomew Gosnold the first mouer of this Plantation hauing many yeeres solicited many of his friends but found small assistants at last preuailed with some Gentlemen as M. Edward-Maria Wingfield Captaine Iohn Smith and diuers others who depended a yeere vpon his proiects but nothing could be effected till by their great charge and industrie it came to bee apprehended by certaine of the Nobilitie Gentrie and Merchants so that his Maiestie by his Letters Patents gaue Commission for establishing Councels to direct here and to gouerne and to execute there to effect this was spent another yeere and by that time three Ships were prouided one of one hundred Tuns another of fortie and a Pinnace of twentie The transportation of the Company was committed to Captaine Christopher Newport a Mariner well practised for the Westerne parts of America But their orders for gouernment were put in a Box not to bee opened nor the Gouernours knowne vntill they arriued in Virginia On the ninteenth of December 1606. wee set saile but by vnprosperous winds were kept six weekes in the sight of England all which time M. Hunt our Preacher was so weake and sicke that few expected his recouerie Yet although hee were but ten or twelue miles from his habitation the time we were in the Downes and notwithstanding the stormy weather nor the scandalous imputation of some few little better then Atheists of the greatest ranke amongst vs suggested against him all this could neuer force from him so much as a seeming desire to leaue the businesse but preferred the Seruice of God in so good a Voyage before any affection to contest with his godlesse foes whose disasterous designes could they haue preuailed had euen then ouerthrowne the businesse so many discontents did then arise had he not with the water of patience and his godly exhortations but briefly by his true deuouted examples quenched those flames of enuy and dissention Wee watred at the Canaries we traded with the Sauages at Dominica three weekes we spent in refreshing our selues amongst these West India Iles in Gwardalupa wee found a Bath so hot as in it we boiled Porck as well as ouer the fire And at a little I le called Monica wee tooke from the Bushes with our hands neere two Hogsheads of Birds in three or foure houres In Mevis Mona and the Virgin Iles we spent some time wherewith a loathsome beast like a Crocadil called a Gwayn Tortoses Pellicans Parrots and Fishes wee daily feasted Gone from thence in search of Virginia the Company was not a little discomforted seeing the Mariners had three daies passed their reckoning and found no Land so that Captaine Ratcliffe Captaine of the Pinnace rather desired to beare vp the Helme to returne for England then make further search But God the guider of all good actions forcing them by an extreame storme to Hull all night did driue them by his prouidence to their desired Port beyond all their expectations for neuer any of them had seene that Coast. The first Land they made they called Cape Henry where anchoring M. Wingfield Gosnoll and Newport with thirtie others recreating themselues on shoare Were assaulted by fiue Sauages who hurt two of the English very dangerously That night was the Box opened and the orders read in which Bartholomew Gosnoll Edward Wingfield Christopher Newport Iohn Smith Iohn Ratliffe Iohn Martin and George Kendall were named to be the Councell and to chuse a President amongst them for a yeere who with the Councell should gouerne Matters of moment were to be examined by a Iury but determined by the Maior part of the Councell in which the President had two voices Vntill the thirteenth of May they sought a place to plant in then the Councell was sworne M. Wingfield was chosen President and an Oration made why Captaine Smith was not admitted to the Councell as the rest Now falleth euery man to worke the Councell contriue the Fort the rest cut downe Trees to make place to pitch their Tents some prouide Clap-board to relade the Ships some make Gardens some Nets c. The Sauages often visited vs kindly The Presidents ouerweening iealousie would admit no exercise at Armes or Fortification but the Boughs of Trees cast together in the forme of a halfe Moone by the extraordinary paine and diligence of Captaine Kendall Newport with Smith and twentie others were sent to discouer the head of the Riuer by diuers small habitations they passed in sixe dayes they arriued at a Towne called Powhatan consisting of some twelue houses pleasantly seated on a Hill before it three fertill Iles about it many of their Cornfields the place is very pleasant and strong by nature of this place the Prince is called Powhatan and his people Powhatans to this place the Riuer is Nauigable but higher within a mile by reason of the Rockes and Iles there is not passage for a small Boat this they call the Falls the people in all parts kindly intreated them till being returned within twentie miles of Iames Towne they gaue iust cause of iealousie but had God not blessed the discouerers otherwise then those at the Fort there had then beene an end of that Plantation for at the Fort where they arriued the next day they found seuenteene men hurt and a boy slaine by the Sauages and had it not chanced a crosse Bar shot from the Ships strooke downe a Bough from a Tree amongst them that caused them to retire our men had all beene slaine being securely all at worke and their Armes in Dry-fats Heereupon the President was contented the Fort should be pallisadoed the Ordnance mounted his men armed and exercised for many were the assaults and Ambuscadoes of the Sauages and our men by their disorderly stragling were often hurt when the Sauages by the nimblenesse of their heeles well escaped What toile we had with so small a power to guard our workemen adayes watch all night resist our enemies and effect our businesse to relade the Ships cut downe Trees and prepare the ground to plant our Corne c. I refer to the Readers consideration Six weekes being spent in this manner Captaine Newport who was hired onely for our transportation was to returne with the Ships Now Captaine Smith who all this time from their departure from the Canaries was restrained as a prisoner vpon the scandalous suggestions of some of the chiefe enuying his repute who fained he intended to vsurpe the gouernment murder the Councell and make himselfe King that his confederates were dispersed in all the three Ships and that diuers of his confederates that reuealed it would affirme it for this he was committed thirteene weekes hee remained thus suspected and by that time the Ships should returne they
man and he sometimes my Master One hundred and twentie were landed in the last supply Thomas Studly Anas Todkill THe prodigalitie of the Presidents state went so deepe in the store that Smith and Scriuener had a while tyed both Martin and him to the Rules of Proportion but now Smith being to depart the Presidents authority so ouerswayed Master Scriueners discretion as our store our time our strength and labours were idlely consumed to fulfill his phantasies The second of Iune 1608. Smith left the Fort to performe his Discouery with this company Walter Russell Doctor of Physicke Ralph Morton Thomas Momford William Cantrill Richard Fetherstone Iames Bourne Michael Sicklemore Anas Todkill Robert Small Iames Watkins Iohn Powell Iames Read black Smith Richard Keale Fishmonger Ionas Profit fisher These being in an open Barge of two tunnes burthen leauing the Phoenix at Cape Henrie we crossed the Bay to the Easterne shoare and fell with the Iles called Smiths Iles the first people we saw there were two grimme and stout Sauages vpon Cape Charles with long Poles like Iauelings headed with bone they boldly demanded what we were and what we would but after many circumstances they in time seemed very kind and directed vs to Acawmacke the habitation of the Weroans where we were kindly intreated this King was the comeliest proper ciuill Sauage we incountred his Country is a pleasant fertile clay soyle He told vs of a strange accident lately happened him and it was Two dead children by the extreme passions of their Parents or some dreaming Visions Phantasie or affection mooued them againe to reuisit their dead carkasses whose benummed bodies reflected to the eyes of the beholders such pleasant delightfull countenances as though they had regained their vitall spirts This is a Miracle drew many to behold them all which being a great part of his people not long after died and not any one escaped They spake the Language of Powhatan wherein they made such descriptions of the Bay Iles and Riuers that often did vs exceeding pleasure Passing alongst the Coast searching euery Inlet and Bay fit for Harbours and Habitations seeing many Iles in the midst of the Bay we bore vp for them but ere we could attaine them such an extreame gust of Winde Raine Thunder and Lightning happened that with great danger wee escaped the vnmercifull raging of that Ocean-like water The next day searching those inhabitable Iles which wee called Russells Iles to prouide fresh water the defect whereof forced vs to follow the next Easterne Channell which brought vs to the Riuer Wighcocomoco the people at first with great furie seemed to assault vs yet at last with Songs Dances and much mâ—rth became very tractable but searching their habitations for water we could fill but three and that such puddle that neuer till then we knew the want of good water We digged and searched many places but ere the end of two dayes wee would haue refused two Barricoes of Gold for one of that puddle water of Wighcocomoco Being past these Iles falling with a high Land vpon the Mayne we found a great pond of fresh water but so exceeding hot that we supposed it some Bath that place we called Point-ployer in honour of that Honourable House of Mousaye that in an extreame extremitie once robbed our Captaine Beeing thus refreshed in crossing ouer from the Mayne to other Iles the winde and waters so much increased with Thunder Lightning and Raine that our fore-mast blew ouer-boord and such mightie waues ouer-wrought vs in that small Barge that with great labour wee kept her from siâ—king by freeing out the water two dayes wee were inforced to inhabit these vninhabited Iles which for the extremitie of Gusts Thunder Raine Stormes and ill weather we called Limbo Repairing our fore-sayle with our shirts we set sayle for the Mayne and fell with a faire Riuer on the East called Kuskaranaocke The people ran as amazed in troupes from place to place and diuers got into the tops of Trees they were not sparing of their Arrowes nor the greatest passion they could expresse of anger long they shot we still riding at an Anchor out of their reach making all the signes of friendship wee could The next day they came vnarmed with euery one a Bisket dancing in a ring to draw vs on shore but seeing there was nothing in them but villanie we discharged a volley of Muskets charged with Pestoll shot whereat they all lay tumbling on the ground creeping some on way some another into a great cluster of Reeds hard by where there companions lay in Ambuscado Towards the Euening wee weighed and approached the shore discharging fiue or sixe shot amongst the Reeds we landed where they laid a many of baskets but saw not a Sauage a smoke appearing on the other side the Riuer we went thither where wee found two or three little Houses in each a fire there we left some pieces of Copper Beads Bels and Looking-glasses and then went into the Bay When it was darke we came to an Anchor againe Earely in the morning foure Sauages came to vs in their Canoa whom we vsed with such courtesie nor knew what we were nor had done hauing beene in the Bay a fishing â—ad vs stay and ere long they would returne which they did and some twentie more with them with whom after a little conference two or three hundred men women and children came clustering about vs euery one presenting vs somewhat which a little Bead would so well requite we became such friends they would contend who should fetch vs water stay with vs for hostage conduct our men any whether and giue vs the best content By it inhabit the people of Soraphanigh Nause Arsek and Nautaquake that much extolled a great Nation called Massawomekes in search of whom wee returned by Limbo but finding this Easterne shore shallow broken Iles and the Mayne for most part without fresh water we passed by the Straits of Limbo for the Westerne shore So broad is the Bay here that we could scarce perceiue the great high Cliffes on the other side by them wee anchored that night and called them Richards Cliffes Thirtie leagues we sayled more Northwards not finding any Inhabitants yet the Coast well watered the Mountaines very barren the Valleyes very fertile but the Woods extreme thicke full of Wolues Beares Deere and other wild Beasts The first Inlet we found we called Bolus for that the clay in many places was like if not Bole-Armoniacke when we first set saile some of our Gallants doubted nothing but that our Captaine would make too much hast home but hauing lien not aboue twelue dayes in this small Barge oft tyred at their Oares their Bread spoyled with wet so much that it was rotten yet so good were their stomackes that they could digest it did it with continuall complaints so importune him now to returne as caused him be speake them in this manner Gentlemen if
that there had bin a generall determination to haue shut vp hatches and commending our sinfull soules to God committed the Shippe to the mercy of the Sea surely that night we must haue done it and that night had we then perished but see the goodnesse and sweet introduction of better hope by our mercifull God giuen vnto vs. Sir George Summers when no man dreamed of such happinesse had discouered and cried Land Indeede the morning now three quarters spent had wonne a little cleerenesse from the dayes before and it being better surueyed the very trees were seene to moue with the winde vpon the shoare side whereupon our Gouernour commanded the Helme-man to beare vp the Boateswaine sounding at the first found it thirteene fathome when we stood a little in seuen fatham and presently heauing his lead the third time had ground at foure fathome and by this we had got her within a mile vnder the South-east point of the land where we had somewhat smooth water But hauing no hope to saue her by comming to an anker in the same we were inforced to runne her ashoare as neere the land as we could which brought vs within three quarters of a mile of shoare and by the mercy of God vnto vs making out our Boates we had ere night brought all our men women and children about the number of one hundred and fifty safe into the Iland We found it to be the dangerous and dreaded Iland or rather Ilands of the Bermuda whereof let mee giue your Ladyship a briefe description before I proceed to my narration And that the rather because they be so terrible to all that euer touched on them and such tempests thunders and other fearefull obiects are seene and heard about them that they be called commonly The Deuils Ilands and are feared and auoyded of all sea trauellers aliue aboue any other place in the world Yet it pleased our mercifull God to make euen this hideous and hated place both the place of our safetie and meanes of our deliuerance And hereby also I hope to deliuer the world from a foule and generall errour it being counted of most that they can be no habitation for Men but rather giuen ouer to Deuils and wicked Spirits whereas indeed wee find them now by experience to bee as habitable and commodious as most Countries of the same climate and situation insomuch as if the entrance into them were as easie as the place it selfe is contenting it had long ere this beene inhabited as well as other Ilands Thus shall we make it appeare That Truth is the daughter of Time and that men ought not to deny euery thing which is not subiect to their owne sense The Bermudas bee broken Ilands fiue hundred of them in manner of an Archipelagus at least if you may call them all Ilands that lie how little soeuer into the Sea and by themselues of small compasse some larger yet then other as time and the Sea hath wonne from them and eaten his passage through and all now lying in the figure of a Croissant within the circuit of sixe or seuen leagues at the most albeit at first it is said of them that they were thirteene or fourteene leagues and more in longitude as I haue heard For no greater distance is it from the Northwest Point to Gates his Bay as by this Map your Ladyship may see in which Sir George Summers who coasted in his Boat about them all tooke great care to expresse the same exactly and full and made his draught perfect for all good occasions and the benefit of such who either in distresse might be brought vpon them or make saile this way It should seeme by the testimony of Gonzalus Ferdinandus Ouiedus in his Booke intituled The Summary or Abridgement of his generall History of the West Indies written to the Emperor Charles the Fift that they haue beene indeed of greater compasse and I easily beleeue it then they are now who thus saith In the yeere 1515. when I came first to informe your Maiesty of the state of the things in India and was the yeere following in Flanders in the time of your most fortunate successe in these your kingdomes of Aragony and Casteel whereas at that voyage I sayled aboue the Iland Bermudas otherwise called Gorza being the farthest of all the Ilands that are yet found at this day in the world and arriuing there at the depth of eight yards of water and distant from the Land as farre as the shot of a Peece of Ordnance I determined to send some of the ship to Land as well to make search of such things as were there as also to leaue in the Iland certaine Hogges for increase but the time not seruing my purpose by reason of contrary winde I could bring my Ships no neerer the Iland being twelue leagues in length and sixteene in breadth and about thirtie in circuit lying in the thirtie three degrees of the North side Thus farre hee True it is the maine Iland or greatest of them now may bee some sixteene miles in length East North-east and West South-west the longest part of it standing in thirtie two degrees and twentie minutes in which is a great Bay on the North side in the North-west end and many broken Ilands in that Sound or Bay and a little round Iland at the South-west end As occasions were offered so we gaue titles and names to certaine places These Ilands are often afflicted and rent with tempests great strokes of thunder lightning and raine in the extreamity of violence which and it may well bee hath so sundred and torne downe the Rockes and whurried whole quarters of Ilands into the maine Sea some sixe some seuen leagues and is like in time to swallow them all so as euen in that distance from the shoare there is no small danger of them and with them of the stormes continually raging from them which once in the full and change commonly of euery Moone Winter or Summer keepe their vnchangeable round and rather thunder then blow from euery corner about them sometimes fortie eight houres together especially if the circle which the Philosophers call Halo were in our being there seene about the Moone at any season which bow indeed appeared there often and would bee of a mightie compasse and breadth I haue not obserued it any where one quarter so great especially about the twentieth of March I saw the greatest when followed vpon the eues eue of the Annuntiation of our Ladie the mightiest blast of lightning and most terrible rap of thunder that euer astonied mortall men I thinke In August September and vntill the end of October wee had very hot and pleasant weather onely as I say thunder lightning and many scattering showers of Raine which would passe swiftly ouer and yet fall with such force and darknesse for the time as if it would neuer bee cleere againe wee wanted not any and of raine more in
Beame sixe foote floore her Rake forward was fourteene foot her Rake aft from the top of her Post which was twelue foot long was three foot shee was eight foot deepe vnder her Beame betweene her Deckes she was foure foot and an halfe with a rising of halfe a foot more vnder her fore Castle of purpose to scowre the Decke with small shot if at any time wee should bee borded by the Enemie Shee had a fall of eighteene inches aft to make her sterage and her great Cabbin the more large her sterage was fiue foote long and sixe foote high with a close Gallerie right aft with a window on each side and two right aft The most part of her timber was Cedar which we found to be bad for shipping for that it is wonderous false inward and besides iâ— is so spault or brickle that it will make no good plankes her Beames were all Oke of our ruine ship and some plankes in her Bow of Oke and all the rest as is aforesaid When shee began to swimme vpon her launching our Gouernour called her The Deliuerance and shee might be some eighty tunnes of burthen Before we quitted our old quarter and dislodged to the fresh water with our Pinnasse our Gouernour set vp in Sir George Summers Garden a faire Muemosynon in figure of a Crosse made of some of the timber of our ruined shippe which was serued in with strong and great trunnels to a mightie Cedar which grew in the middest of the said Garden and whose top and vpper branches he caused to be lopped that the violence of the winde and weather might haue the lesse power ouer her In the middest of the Crosse our Gouernour fastened the Picture of his Maiestie in a piece of Siluer of twelue pence and on each side of the Crosse hee set an Inscription grauen in Copper in the Latine and English to this purpose In memory of our great Deliuerance both from a mightie storme and leake wee haue set vp this to the honour of God It is the spoyle of an English ship of three hundred tunne called the Sea Venture bound with seuen ships more from which the storme diuided vs to Virginia or Noua Britania in America In it were two Knights Sir Thomas Gates Knight Gouernour of the English Forces and Colonie there and Sir George Summers Knight Admirall of the Seas Her Captaine was Christopher Newport Passengers and Mariners shee had beside which came all safe to Land one hundred and fiftie We were forced to runne her ashore by reason of her leake vnder a Point that bore Southeast from the Northerne Point of the Iland which wee discouered first the eight and twentieth of Iuly 1609. About the last of Aprill Sir George Summers launched his Pinnasse and brought her from his building Bay in the Mayne Iland into the Chanuell where ours did ride and shee was by the Keele nine and twentie foot at the Beame fifteene foot and an halfe at the Loofe fourteene at the Trausam nine and she was eight foot deepe and drew sixe foote water and hee called heâ— the Patience §. III. Their departure from Bermuda and arriuall in Virginia miseries there departure and returne vpon the Lord LA WARRES arriuing IAMES Towne described FRom this time we only awaited a fauourable Westerly wind to carrie vs forth which longer then vsuall now kept at the East and South-east the way which wee were to goe The tenth of May early Sir George Summers and Captaine Newport went off with their long Boates and with two Canoaes boyed the Channell which wee were to leade it out in and which was no broader from Shoales on the one side and Rockes on the other then about three times the length of our Pinnasse About ten of the clocke that day being Thursday we set sayle an easie gale the wind at South and by reason no more winde blew we were faine to towe her with our long Boate yet neither with the helpe of that were we able to fit our Bowyes but euen when we came iust vpon them we strucke a Rocke on the starboord side ouer which the Bowye rid and had it not beene a soft Rocke by which meanes she bore it before her and crushed it to pieces God knowes we might haue beene like enough to haue returned anew and dwelt there after tenne monethes of carefulnesse and great labour a longer time but God was more mercifull vnto vs. When shee strucke vpon the Rocke the Cock-â—wayne one Walsingham beeing in the Boate with a quicke spirit when wee were all amazed and our hearts failed and so by Gods goodnesse wee led it out at three fadome and three fadome and an halfe water The wind serued vs easily all that day and the next when God be euer praysed for it to the no little ioy of vs all we got cleere of the Ilands After which holding a Southerly course for seuen dayes wee had the winde sometimes faire and sometimes scarce and contrarie in whâ—ch time we lost Sir George Summers twice albeit we still spared him our mayne top-sayle and sometimes our fore course too The seuenteenth of May we saw change of water and had much Rubbish swimme by our ship side whereby wee knew wee were not farre from Land The eighteenth â—bout midnight wee founded with the Dipsing Lead and found thirtie seuen fadome The nineteenth in the morning we sounded and â—ad nineteene and an halfe fadome stonie and sandie ground The twentieth about midnight we had a maruellous sweet smell from the shoare as from the Coast of Spaine short of the Straits strong and pleasant which did not a little glad vs. In the morning by day breake so soone as one might well see from the fore-top one of the Saylers descryed Land about an houre after I went vp and might discouer two Hummockes to the Southward from which Northward all along lay the Land which wee were to Coast to Cape Henrie About seuen of the clocke we cast forth an Anchor because the tyde by reason of the Freshet that set into the Bay make a strong Ebbe there and the winde was but easie so as not beeing able to stemme the Tyde we purposed to lye at an Anchor vntill the next flood but the wind comming South-west a loome gale about eleuen we set sayle againe and hauing got ouer the Barre bore in for the Cape This is the famous Chesipiacke Bay which wee haue called in honour of our young Prince Cape Henrie ouer against which within the Bay lyeth another Head-land which wee called in honour of our Princely Duke of Yorke Cape Charles and these lye North-east and by East and South-west and by West and they may bee distant each from the other in breadth seuen leagues betweene which the Sea runnes in as broad as betweene Queeneburrough and Lee. Indeed it is a goodly Bay and a fairer not easily to be found The one and twentieth beeing Munday in the morning wee came vp within
stored with abundance and plentie in England continuall wasting no Husbandry the old store still spent on no order for new prouisions what better could befall vnto the Inhabitants Land-lords and Tenants of that corner then necessarily following cleannesse of teeth famine and death Is it not the sentence and doome of the Wiseman Yet a little sleepe a little slumber and a little folding of the hands to sleepe so thy pouerty commeth as one that trauelleth by the way and thy necessitie like an armed man And with this Idlenesse when some thing was in store all wastfull courses exercised to the heigth and the headlesse multitude some neither of qualitie nor Religion not imployed to the end for which they were sent hither no not compelled since in themselues vnwilling to sowe Corne for their owne bellies nor to put a Roote Herbe c. for their owne particular good in their Gardens or elsewhere I say in this neglect and sensuall Surfet all things suffered to runne on to lie sicke and languish must it be expected that health plentie and all the goodnesse of a well ordered State of necessitie for all this to flow in this Countrey You haue a right and noble heart worthy Lady bee iudge of the truth herein Then suffer it not bee concluded vnto you nor beleeue I beseech you that the wants and wretchednesse which they haue indured ascend out of the pouertie and vilenesse of the Countrey whether bee respected the Land or Riuers the one and the other hauing not only promised but powred enough in their veines to conuince them in such calumnies and to quit those common calamities which as the shadow accompanies the body the precedent neglects touched at if truely followed and wrought vpon What England may boast of hauing the faire hand of husbandry to manure and dresse it God and Nature haue fauourably bestowed vpon this Country and as it hath giuen vnto it both by situation height and soyle all those past hopes assurances which follow our well planted natiue Countrie and others lying vnder the same influence if as ours the Countrey and soyle might be improued and drawne forth so hath it indowed it as is most certaine with many more which England fetcheth farre vnto her from elsewhere For first wee haue experience and euen our eyes witnesse how yong so euer wee are to the Countrie that no Countrey yeeldeth goodlier Corne nor more manifold increase large Fields wee haue as prospects of the same and not farre from our Pallisado Besides wee haue thousands of goodly Vines in euery hedge and Boske running along the ground which yeelde a plentifull Grape in their kinde Let mee appeale then to knowledge if these naturall Vines were planted dressed and ordered by skilfull Vinearoones whether wee might not make a perfect Grape and fruitefull vintage in short time And we haue made triall of our owne English seedes kitchen 〈◊〉 and Rootes and finde them to prosper as speedily as in England Onely let me truely acknowledge they are not an hundreâ— or two of deboist hands dropt forth by yeare after yeare with penury and leisure ill prouâ—ed for before they come and worse to be gouerned when they are here men of such distempeâ—â—d bodies and infected mindes whom no examples daily before their eyes either of goodnesse 〈◊〉 punishment can deterre from their habituall impieties or terrifie from a shamefull death â—hat must be the Carpenters and workemen in this so glorious a building Then let no rumour of the pouerty of the Couâ—â—ry as if in the wombe thereof there lay not those elementall seedes which could produce 〈◊〉 many faire births of plenty and increase and better hopes then any land vnder the heaueâ— to which the Sunne is no neerer a neighbour I say let no imposture rumour nor any fame of â—ome one or a few more changeable actions interposing by the way or at home waue any â—â—ns faire purposes hitherward or wrest them to a declining and falling off from the businesse I will acknowledge deere Lady I haue seene much propensnesse already towards the vnity and generall endeauours how câ—â—tentedly doe such as labour with vs goe forth when men of ranke and quality assist anâ—â—et on their labours I haue seene it and I protest it I haue heard the inferiour people with alacrity of spirit professe that they should neuer refuse to doe their best in the prâ—â—tise of their sciences and knowledges when such worthy and Noble Gentlemen goe â—n and out before them and not onely so but as the occasion shall be offered no â—â—â—e helpe them with their hand then defend them with their Sword And it is to be vnderstood that such as labour are not yet so taxed but that easily they performe the same and e 〈…〉 by tenne of the clocke haue done their Mornings worke at what time they haue theâ— allowances set out ready for them and vntill it be three of the clocke againe they take their owne pleasure and afterwards with the Sunne set their dayes labour is finished In all which courses if the businesse be continued I doubt nothing with Gods fauour towards vs but to see it in time a Countrie an Hauen and a Staple fitted for such a trade as shall aduance assureder increase both to the Aduenturers and free Burgers thereof then any Trade in Christendome or then that euen in her earely dayes when Michael Cauacco the Greeke did first discouer it to our English Factor in Poland which extenus it selfe now from Calpe and Abila to the bottome of Sidon and so wide as Alexandria and all the Ports and Hauens North and South through the Arches to Cio Smyrna Troy the Hellespont and vp to Pompeys Pillar which as a Pharos or watch Tower stands vpon the wondrous opening into the Euxine Sea From the three and twentieth of May vnto the seuenth of Iune our Gouernour attempted and made triall of all the wayes that both his owne iudgement could prompe him in and the aduise of Captaine George Percy and those Gentlemen whom hee found of the Counsell when hee came in as of others whom hee caused to deliuer their knowledges concerning the State and Condition of the Countrey but after much debating it could not appeare how possibly they might preserue themselues reseruing that little which wee brought from the Bermudas in our Shippes and was vpon all occasions to stand good by vs tenne dayes from staruing For besides that the Indians were of themselues poore they were forbidden likewise by their subtile King Powhatan at all to trade with vs and not onely so but to indanger and assault any Boate vpon the Riuer or stragler out of the Fort by Land by which not long before our arriuall our people had a large Boate cut off and diuers of our men killed euen within command of our Blocke-house as likewise they shot two of our people to death after we had bin foure and fiue dayes come in and yet would
taking effect our Gouernor hauing caused to be carried aboord all the Armes and all the best things in the store which might to the Aduenturers make some commodity vpon the sale thereof at home and burying our Ordnances before the Fort gate which looked into the Riuer The seuenth of Iune hauing appointed to euery Pinnace likewise his complement and number also deliuered thereunto a proportionable rate of prouision hee commanded euery man at the beating of the Drum to repaire aboord And because hee would preserue the Towne albeit now to be quitted vnburned which some intemperate and malicious people threatned his owne Company he caused to be last ashoare and was himselfe the last of them when about noone giuing a farewell with a peale of small shot wee set saile and that night with the tide fell downe to an Iland in the Riuer which our people haue called Hogge Iland and the morning tide brought vs to another Iland which we haue called Mulberry Iland where lying at an ancor in the afternoone stemming the tide wee discouered a long Boate making towards vs from Point Comfort much descant we made thereof about an houre it came vp by which to our no little ioyes we had intelligence of the honorable my Lord La Warr his arriuall before Algarnoone Fort the sixt of Iune at what time true it is his Lordship hauing vnderstood of our Gouâ—rnours resolution to depart the Country with all expedition caused his Skiffe to be manned and in it dispatched his letters by Captain Edward Bruster who commandeth his Lordships Company to our Gouernour which preuenting vs before the aforesaid Mulberry Iland the eight of Iune aforesaid vpon the receipt of his honours letters our Gouernour bore vp the helme with the winde comming Easterly and that night the winde so fauourable relanded all his men at the Fort againe before which the tenth of Iune being Sunday his Lordship had likewise brought his Ships and in the afternoone came a shoare with Sir Ferdinando Weinman and all his Lordships followers Here worthy Lady let mee haue a little your pardon for hauing now a better heart then when I first landed I will briefely describe vnto you the situation and forme of our Fort. When Captain Newport in his first Voyage did not like to inhabit vpon so open a roade as Cape Henry nor Point Comfort he plied it vp to the Riuer still looking out for the most apt and securest place as well for his Company to sit downe in as which might giue the least cause of offence or distast in his iudgement to the Inhabitants At length after much and weary search with their Barge coasting still before as Virgill writeth Aeneas did arriuing in the region of Italy called Latium vpon the bankes of the Riuer Tyber in the Country of a Werowance talled Wowinchapuncke aditionary to Powhatan within this faire Riuer of Paspiheigh which wee haue called the Kings Riuer a Country least inhabited by the Indian as they all the way obserued and threescore miles better vp the fresh Channell from Cape Henry they had sight of an extended plaine spot of earth which thrust out into the depth middest of the channell making a kinde of Chersonesus or Peninsula for it was fastened onely to the Land with a slender necke no broader then a man may well quaite a tile shard no inhabitants by seuen or six miles neere it The Trumpets sounding the Admirall strooke saile and before the same the rest of the Fleete came to an ancor and here as the best yet offered vnto their view supposed so much the more conuenient by how much with their small Company they were like inough the better to assure it to loose no further time the Colony disimbarked and euery man brought his particular store and furniture together with the generall prouision ashoare for the safety of which as likewise for their owne security ease and better accommodating a certaine Canton and quantity of that little halfe Iland of ground was measured which they began to fortifie and thereon in the name of God to raise a Fortresse with the ablest and speediest meanes they could which Fort growing since to more perfection is now at this present in this manner A low leuell of ground about halfe an Acre or so much as Queene Dido might buy of King Hyarbas which she compassed about with the thongs cut out of one Bull hide and therein built her Castle of Byrza on the North side of the Riuer is cast almost into the forme of a Triangle and so Pallizadoed The South side next the Riuer howbeit extended in a line or Curtaine six score foote more in length then the other two by reason the aduantage of the ground doth so require containes one hundred and forty yards the West and East sides a hundred onely At euery Angle or corner where the lines meete a Bulwarke or Watchtower is raised and in each Bulwarke a peece of Ordnance or two well mounted To euery side a proportioned distance from the Pallisado is a setled streete of houses that runs along so as each line of the Angle hath his streete In the middest is a market place a Store house and a Corps du guard as likewise a pretty Chappell though at this time when wee came in as ruined and vnfrequented but the Lord Gouernour and Captaine Generall hath giuen order for the repairing of it and at this instant many hands are about it It is in length threescore foote in breadth twenty foure and shall haue a Chancell in it of Cedar and a Communion Table of the Blake Walnut and all the Pewes of Cedar with faire broad windowes to shut and open as the weather shall occasion of the same wood a Pulpet of the same with a Font hewen hollow like a Canoa with two Bels at the West end It is so cast as it be very light within and the Lord Gouernour and Captaine Generall doth cause it to be kept passing sweete and trimmed vp with diuers flowers with a Sexton belonging to it and in it euery Sonday wee haue Sermons twice a day and euery Thursday a Sermon hauing true preachers which take their weekely turnes and euery morning at the ringing of a Bell about ten of the clocke each man addressèth himselfe to prayers and so at foure of the clocke before Supper Euery Sunday when the Lord Gouernour and Captaine Generall goeth to Church hee is accompanied with all the Counsailers Captaines other Officers and all the Gentlemen and with a Guard of Holberdiers in his Lordships Liuery faire red cloakes to the number of fifty both on each side and behinde him and being in the Church his Lordship hath his seate in the Quier in a greene Veluet Chaire with a Cloath with a Veluet Cushion spread on a Table before him on which he kneeleth and on each side sit the Counsell Captaines and Officers each in their place and when he returneth home againe he is
then I found the ship in thirtie three degrees ten minutes From the thirteenth at noone to the fourteenth at noone twenty leagues South-east by East the wind shifting betweene the South-west and West South-west then I found the ship to be in thirtie two degrees thirtie fiue minutes From the fourteenth at noone to the fifteenth at noone twentie leagues South-east then I found the ship to be in thirty two degrees the wind as before then we tacked about and lay North-west by West From the fifteenth at noone to the sixteenth at noone twelue leagues North by West the wind shifting betweene South-west and West and the weather very stormy with many sudden gusts of wind and rayne And about sixe of the clocke in the afternoone being to windward of our Admirall I bare vp vnder his lee who when I hayled him told me that he would tack it vp no longer because hee was not able to keepe the sea any longer for lacke of a road and water but that hee would presently steere away North North-west to see if he could fetch Cape Cod. Which without delay he put in execution His directions I followed so from the sixteenth day at noone to the seuenteenth at noone I had sailed thirtie eight leagues North North-west then I found my ship to be in thirtie foure degrees ten minutes The seuenteenth and eighteenth dayes were very wet and stormy and the winds shifting all points of the Compasse The nineteenth day abâ—ut foure of the clocke in the morning it began to cleere vp and then we had a very stiffe gale betweene East and North-east From the seuenteenth at noone to the nineteenth at noone I had sayled fiftie fiue leagues North North-west then I found the ship to be thirtie sixe degrees thirty minutes From the nineteenth at noone to the twentieth at noone thirty fiue leagues North-west then I was in thirty seuen degrees fifty two minutes the weather now was fairer and the wind all easterly From the twentieth at noone to the twentie one at noone we sayled twenty leagues North by West the wind betweene East and South-east and the weather very faire At the sunne setting I obserued and found thirteene degrees and an halfe of westerly variation and vntill midnight we had a reasonable fresh gale of wind all southerly and then it fell c 〈…〉 e a 〈…〉 a 〈…〉 d and â—o continued very little wind vntill the two and twentieth at no 〈…〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 g a 〈…〉 p 〈…〉 t s of the Compasse yet by mine obseruation that I maâ—e then I 〈…〉 leagues North for I found her to be in forty degrees one m 〈…〉 there was some tide or current that did set Northward Again◠〈…〉 did say That in their watch they did see a race and that ship did 〈…〉 when she had not a breath of wind From the two and twentieth at noone vntill ten of the clocke at night we had a fresh gale of wind betweene East and South-east and then it shifted all westerly and so continued vntill two of the clocke the twenty three in the morning and then it began to be very foggy and but little wind yet shifting all the points of the Compasse and so continued vntill ten of the clocke and then it began to cleere vp At twelue of the clocke I obserued and then I found the ship to be in fortie degrees fiftie minutes so from the twenty two at noone to the twenty three at noone I had sayled twenty leagues Northward From the twenty three at noone to the twenty foure at three of the clocke in the morning it was calme and then we had a reasonable fresh gale of wind all southerly and so it continued vntill noon southerly in which time I had sailed twelue leagues North. And about foure of the clocke in the afternoone we had forty seuen fathoms of water which water we did find to be changed into a grasse green in the morning yet we would not heaue a lead because our Admirall was so farre on head of vs who about three of the clocke in the afternoone lay by the lee and fished till I came vp to him and then I fitted my selfe and my boat and fished vntill sixe of the clocke And then the Admirall fitted his sailes and stirred away North whom I followed with all the speed I could But before seuen of the clocke there fell such a myst that I was faine to shoot off a Peece which he answered with a Cornet that he had aboord So with hallowing and making a noyse one to another all the night we kept company About two of the clocke the twenty fiue day in the morning we tooke in all our sailes and lay at Hull vntill fiue of the clocke and then finding but small store of fish we set faile and stirred away North-west to fetch the mayne land to relieue our selues with wood and water which we stood in great need of About two of the clocke in the afternoone we tooke in all our sailes and lay at Hull aâ— which time I heaued the lead three times together and had three sundry kindes of soundings The first a blacke peppery sand full of peble stones The second blacke peppery and no stones The third blacke peppery and two or three stones From the fourth at noone to the twentie fiue at two of the clocke in the afternoone I sayled thirteene leagues West North-west and the weather continuing very foggy thicke and rainy about fiue of the clocke it began to cease and then we began to fish and so continued vntill seuen of the clocke in betweene thirty and forty fathoms and then we could fish no longer So hauing gotten betweene twentie and thirty Cods we left for that night and at fiue of the clocke the twenty sixe in the morning we began to fish againe and so continued vntill ten of the clocke and then it would fish no longer in which time we had taken neere one hundred Cods and a couple of Hollybuts All this while wee had betweene thirty and forty fathoms water before one of the clocke in the afternoone we found the ship driuen into one hundred and twenty fathoms and soft blacke Ose. Then Sir George Somers sent me word that he would set faile and stand in for the Riuer of Sagadahoc whose directions I followed Before two of the clocke we set saile and stirred away North-west by North the wind South South-west and the weather continued very foggy About eight of the clocke wee tooke in all our sailes and lay at Hull at that night The seuen and twentieth about seuen of the clocke in the morning we heaued the lead and had no ground in one hundred and twentie fathoms Then I shot off a Peece but could not heare none answere from our Admirall and the weather was so thicke that we could not see a Cables length from our ship Betweene nine and ten of the clock we
houres together flockes in the Aire so thicke that euen they haue shadowed the Skie from vs Turkeyes Buzzards Partridge Snipes Owles Swannes Geese Brants Ducke and Mallard Droeis Shel-drakes Cormorants Teale Widgeon Curlewes Puits besides other small birds as Black-birds Hedge-Sparrowes Oxe-eyes Wood-peckers and in Winter about Christmasse many flockes of Parakertoths For fish the Riuers are plentifully stored with Sturgeon Porpasse Base Rockfish Carpe Shad Herring Ele Catfish Perch Flat-fish Trout Sheepes-head Drummers Iarfish Creuises Crabbes Oysters and diuers other kindes of all which my selfe hath seene great quantitie taken especially the last Summer at Smiths Iland at one hale a Frigots lading of Sturgion Base and other great fish in Captaine Argals Saine and euen at the very place which is not aboue fifteene miles from Point-Comfort if we had beene furnished with salt to haue saued it wee might haue taken as much fish as would haue serued vs that whole yeere To goe yet a little further I my selfe know no one Countrey yeelding without Art or industry so many fruits Grapes Strawberries Mulberries Maricocks of fashion of a Lemmon whose blossome may admit comparison with our most delightsome and beautifull Flowers and the fruit exceeding pleasant and tastfull Chesnut-trees towardes the Falls as many as Oakes and as fertill many goodly Groues of Chincomen-trees with a huske like vnto a Chesnut raw or boiled lusâ—ious and heartie meat Walnuts of three or foure sorts whereof there might bee yeerely made great quantitie of Oyles as vsefull and good as that of Oliues Some Filberds haue I seene Crabs great store lesse but not so sower as ours which grafted with the Siens of English Apple-trees without question would beare very good fruit In May 1611. Sir Thomas Dale with a prosperous passage not full eight weekes arriued there with him about three hundred people such as for the present speed and dispatch could then bee prouided of worse condition then those formerly there who I sorrow to speake it were not so prouident though once before bitten with hunger and penury as to put Corne into the ground for their Winters bread but trusted to the store then furnished but with eight months prouision His first care therefore was to imploy all hands about setting of Corne at the two Forts seated vpon Kecoughtan Henry and Charles whereby the season then not fully past though about the end of May we had there an indifferent Crop of good Corne. This businesse taken order for and the care and trust of it committed to his vnder Officers to Iames Towne hee hastened where the most company were and their daily and vsuall workes bowling in the streets these he imployed about necessary workes as felling of Timber repairing their houses ready to fall vpon their heads and prouiding Pailes Posts and Railes to impaile his purposed new Towne which by reason of his ignorance in those parts but newly arriued there he had not resolued where to seat For his better knowledge therefore of those parts himselfe with an hundreth men spent some time in the discouery first of Nansamund Riuer which in despight of the Indians then our enemies hee discouered to the Head after that our owne Riuer to the Falls where vpon a high Land inuironed with the maine Riuer some sixteene or twentie miles from the Head or the Falls neere to an Indian Towne called Arsahattocke hee resolued to plant his new Towne and so did whereof in his due place I shall make a briefe relation It was no meane trouble to him to reduce his people so timely to good order being of so ill a condition as may well witnesse his seuere and strict imprinted booke of Articles then needfull with all seueritie and extremitie to bee executed now much mitigated for more deserued death in those dayes then doe now the least punishment so as if the law should not haue restrained by execution I see not how the vtter subuersion and ruine of the Colony should haue beene preuented witnesse Webbes and Prises designe in the first yeere since that Abbots and others more dangerous then the former and euen in this Summer Coles and Kitchins Plot with three more bending their course towards the Southward to a Spanish plantation reported to be there who had trauelled it being now a time of peace some fiue daies iourney to Ocanahoen there cut off by certaine Indians hired by vs to hunt them home to receiue their deserts Thus much obuiously I proceed in his indeuours vntill Sir Thomas Gates his happy arriuall which was onely in preparing Timber Pales Posts and Railes for the present impailing this new Towne to secure himselfe and men from the malice and treacherie of the Indians in the midst and heart of whom he was resolued to set downe But before he could make himselfe readie for that businesse Sir Thomas Gates happily arriued about the second of August with sixe good Ships men prouisions and cattle The worthies being met after salutation and welcome giuen and receiued Sir Thomas Dale acquainted Sir Thomas Gates both with such businesses as he had affected since his arriuall and also of his resolution to build a new Towne at the Fales which designe and purpose of his Sir Thomas Gates then principall Gouernour in Virginia well approuing furnished him with three hundred ond fiftie men such as himselfe made choice of and in the beginning of September 1â—â—1 hee 〈◊〉 from Iames Towne and in a day and a halfe landed at a place where hee purpoâ—â—d to 〈◊〉 at and build where hee had beene ten daies before hee had verie strongly impaled seuen 〈…〉 of ground for a Towne which in honour of the Noble Prince Henry of euer happy and b 〈…〉 memory whose Royall heart was strongly affected to that action hee called by the name of Henrico In foure moneths space he had made Henrico much better and of more worth then all the worke euer since the Colony began therein done I should bee too tedious if I should giue vp the account of euery daies labour which therefore I purposely omit and will onely describe the Towne in the very state and perfection which I left it and first for the situation it stands vpon a necke of a very high Land three parts thereof inuironed with the maine Riuer and cut out between two Riuers with a strong Pale which maketh the neck of Land an Iland There are in this Town three streets of well framed houses a handsome Church the foundation of a more stately one laid of Brick in length an hundred foot and fiftie foot wide besides Store-houses Watch-houses and such like there are also as ornaments belonging to this Towne vpon the Verge of this Riuer fiue faire Block-houses or Commanders wherein liue the honester sort of people as in Farmes in England and there keepe continuall centinell for the Townes securitie and about two miles from the Towne into the Main a Pale of two miles in length
in houses sequestred from the common course of men neither may any man be suffered to come into their house or to speake with them but when this Priest doth call him He taketh no care for his victuals for all such kinde of things both Bread and Water c. are brought vnto a place neere vnto his cottage and there are left which hee fetcheth for 〈◊〉 proper neede If they would haue raine or haue lost any thing they haue their recourse to him who coniureth for them and many times preuaileth If they be sicke he is their Physician if they be wounded he sucketh them At his command they make warre and peace neither doe they any thing of moment without him I will not be tedious in these strange Narrations when I haue more perfectly entered into their secrets you shall know all Finally there is a ciuill gouernment amongst them which they strictly obserue and shew thereby that the law of Nature dwellâ—th in them for they haue a rude kinde of Common-wealth and rough gouernment wherein they both honour and obey their Kings Parents and Gouernours both greater and lesse they obserue the limits of their owne possessions Murther is scarsly heard of Adultery and other offences seuerely punished The whole Continent of Uirginia situate within the degrees of 34. and 47. is a place beautified by God with all the ornaments of nature and enriched with his earthly treasures that part of it which we already possesse beginning at the Bay of Chaesapheac and stretching it selfe in Northerly latitude to the degrees of 39. and 40. is interlined with seuen most goodly Riuers the least whereof is equall to our Riuer of Thames and all these Riuers are so neerely ioyned as that there is not very much distance of dry ground betweene either of them and those seuâ—rall maine lands are euery where watered with many veines or creekes of water which sundry waies doe ouerthwart the land and make it almost nauigable from one Riuer to the other The commodity whereof to those that shall inhabite this land is infinite in respect of the speedy and easie transportance of goods from one Riuer to the other I cannot better manifest it vnto you but in aduising you to consider whether the water or land hath beene more beneficiall to the Low-Countries To the Riuer which we inhabit commonly called Powhatans Riuer ebbeth and floweth one hundred and forty miles into the maine at the mouth whereof are the two Forts of Henrico and Charles two and forty miles vpward is the first and Mother-Christian Towne seated called Iames-Towne and seuenty miles beyond that vpward is the new Towne of Henricâ— built and so named in the memory of Noble Prince Henry of lasting and blessed memory tenne miles beyond this is a place called the Fals because the Riuer hath there a great descent falling downe between many minerall Rockes which be there twelue miles farther beyond this place is there a Christall Rocke wherewith the Indians doe head many of their Arrowes three dayes iourney from thence is there a Rock or stony hill found which is in the top couered all ouer with a perfect and most rich Siluer oare Our men that went to discouer those parts had but two Iron Pickaxes with them and those so ill tempered that the points of them turned againe and bowed at euery stroake so that we could not search the entrailes of the place yet some triall was made of that oare with good successe and argument of much hope Six dayes iourney beyond this Mine a great ridge of high hils doe runne along the maine land not farre from whom the Indians report a great Sea doth runne which we commonly call a South Sea but in respect of our habitation is a West Sea for there the Sun setteth from vs. The higher ground is much like vnto the molde of France clay and sand being proportionably mixed together at the top but if we digge any depth as we haue done for out Bricks we finde it to be red clay full of glistering spangles There be many rockie places in all quarters more then probable likelihoods of rich Mines of all sorts though I knew all yet it were not conuenient at this time that I should vtter all neither haue wee had meanes to search for any thing as we ought thorough present want of men and former wants of prouision for the belly As for Iron Steele Antimonium and Terra sigillata they haue rather offered themselues to our eyes and hands then bin sought for of vs. The Ayre of the Countrey especially about Henrico and vpward is very temperate and agreeth well with our bodies The extremity of Summer is not so hot as Spaine nor the cold of Winter so sharpe as the frosts of England The Spring and Haruest are the two longest seasons and most pleasant the Summer and Winter are both but short The Winter is for the most part dry and faire but the Summer watered often with many great and sodaine showers of raine whereby the cold of Winter is warmed and the heate of Summer cooled Many haue died with vs heretofore thorough their owne filthinesse and want of bodily comforts for sicke men but now very few are sicke among vs not aboue three persons amongst all the inhabitants of Henrico I would to God our soules were no sicker then our bodies The naturall people of the Land are generally such as you heard of before A people to be feared of those that come vpon them without defensiue Armor but otherwise faint-hearted if they see their Arrowes cannot pierce and easie to be subdued Shirts of Male or quilted cotten coates are the best defence against them There is but one or two of their petty Kings that for feare of vs haue desired our friendship and those keepe good quarter with vs being very pleasant amongst vs and if occasion be seruiceable vnto vs. Our eldest friends be Pipisco and Choapoke who are our ouerthwart neighbours at Iames-Towne and haue beene friendly to vs in our great want The other is the Werowance of Chescheak who but lately traded with vs peaceably If we were once the masters of their Country and they stood in feare of vs which might with few hands imployed about nothing else be in short time brought to passe it were an easie matter to make them willingly to forsake the Diuell to embrace the faith of Iesus Christ and to be baptized Besides you cannot easily iudge how much they would be auaileable to vs in our Discoueries of the Countrey in our Buildings and Plantings and quiet prouision for our selues when we may peaceably passe from place to place without neede of Armes or Guard The meanes for our people to liue and subsist here of themselues are many and most certaine both for Beasts Birds and Hearbes The Beasts of the Countrey are for the most part wilde as Lyons Beares Wolues and Deere Foxes blacke and red Rakowns Beuers Possowns
scarce passable for shoalds perillous currents the other no question to be made of Hauing receiued these directions I hasten to the place of greatest hope where I purposed to make triall of Gods goodnesse towards vs and vse my best endeuour te bring the truth to light but wee were but onely shewed the entrance where in seeking to passe wee were forced backe with contrary and ouerblowing windes hardly escaping both our liues Being thus ouercharged with weather I stood alongst the coast to seeke harbours to attend a fauourable gale to recouer the streight but being a harbourlesse Coast for ought we could then perceiue wee found no succour till wee arriued betwixt Cape Charles and the Maine on the East side the Bay Chestapeak where in a wilde Roade wee anchored and the next day the eight of September crossed the Bay to Kecoughtan where the first newes strooke cold to our hearts the generall sickenesse ouer the Land Here I resolued with all possible speede to returne in pursuite of this businesse so that after a little refreshing wee recouered vp the Riuer to Iames Citie and from thence to Cape Warde his Plantacon where immediately wee fell to hewing of Boords for a close Decke hauing found it a most desired course to attempt as before As wee were thus labouring to effect our purposes it pleased almighty God who onely disposeth of the times and seasons wherein all workes shall be accomplished to visite vs with his heauie hand so that at one time there were but two of vs able to helpe the rest my selfe so sore shaken with a burning feauer that I was brought euen vnto deaths doore but at length by Gods assistance escaped and haue now with the rest almost recouered my former strength The Winter hauing ouertaken vs a time on these Coasts especially subiect to gusts and fearefull stormes I haue now resolued to choose a more temperate season both for the generall good and our owne safeties And thus I haue sent you a broken discourse though indeede very vnwilling to haue giuen any notice at all till it had pleased God to haue blessed mee with a thorow search that our eyes might haue witnessed the truth I haue drawne a Plot of the Coast which I dare not yet part with for feare of danger let this therefore serue for confirmation of your hopes till I can better performe my promise and your desire for what I haue spoken I can produce at least mille testes farre separate of the Sea behinde them and of Ships which come many dayes iourney from the West and of the great extent of this Sea to the North and South not knowing any bounds thereof Westward I cease to trouble you till a better opportunity offer it selfe remembring my best lone c. I rest From Captaine MARTYN his Plantation 27. Decemb. 1619. Yours to command THO. DERMER To Sir Edwin Sands in the Treasurership succeeded the right Honorable Henry Earle of Southampton whose industry together with that of those two brethren Iohn and Nicolas Farrars the successiue Deputies haue giuen much content to many but to diuers others matter of complaint wherein I am an vnfit Iudge onely as a reasonable man and Christian Minister that I say not Historian I am much grieued that Virginias prosperity cannot answer mens hopes nor can any man meruaile if diuisions minde-massacres here with the massacring Sauages and diseases there haue hindred there the expected effects of honorable and carefull indeuours Master Stockam a Minister writ thence May the eight and twentieth that which deserueth iust consideration that he found no probability by faire meanes alone to draw the Sauages to goodnesse and if Mars and Minerua went hand in hand they would effect more good in one houre then these verball Mercurians in their liues and till their Priests and Ancients haue their throats cut there is no hope to bring them to conuersion CHAP. XIIII A true Relation of a Sea Fight betweene two great and well appointed Spanish Ships or Men of Warre and an English Ship called thy Margaret and Iohn or the Blacke Hodge going for Virginia HAuing taken our iourney toward Virginia in the beginning of February last past in a Ship called the Blacke Hodge her burthen one hundred and sixtie tunne manned onely with eight Iron Peeces and a poore Faulcon we soone ouer-passed both the tedious endurances and fearefull dangers of such a Voyage and came at last by the foureteenth of March vnder 13. and halfe Latitude within twenty leagues of Matalina Falling with Meuis by the twentieth of March and compassing the furthest point to stand in the hand sommer with the shore wee perceiued two tall Ships at anchor right ouer against the watring place with their top sayles loose and their Boates going ashoare for their men At first we supposed them Hollanders in respect of their building and the Hollanders colours borne by their Admirall in the maine top the vice Admirall hauing his fore top mast downe and no colors displayed which encreased our former opinion adding withall that it must needes be prise or some other Ship subiect to the misfortune of a fight But driuing by necessity of water and willing to refresh our selues a shoare wee trimmed our Ship and came to anchor fairely by them sending our Boate in friendly manner to hale them both vnprouided and vnarmed which returned with certificate that they were Spaniards wherein not fully satisfied by reason of our former apprehension that it was otherwise the better to be resolued we sent out our Boate againe as well to be assured what to trust vnto as to gaine sometime to prepare our Shippe and trim her more commodiously being pestered with goods and fardels betweene the deckes and altogether vnprouided for any fight either offensiue or defensiue The Boate approached the hindmost Ship which I call the vice-Admirall and haled her demanding who they were but instead of resoluing vs she commanded them to come aboord and would answere no otherwise whereupon the Boate rowed from them as resoluing all was not well and so made haste vnto vs againe yet could not preuent a volley of small shot powred very dangerously amongst them insomuch that they had their cloathes shot through their Oares shiuered and the sides battered with Bullets yet thankes be to God neither was a man hurt nor any thing lost which as if they had had notice of the same escape rated their rage so much the more For by that time the Boate was out of reach of their small shot they followed it to the Ship with great Ordnance and when they perceiued they were safely come aboord they tooke it so ill that they thundred against our Ship with the soarer rage and most violent vollies which we could not answer hauing no Peece in our gunner roome nor indeede any other well mounted for such a Sea fight By this time their vice Admirall heaued vp her anchor to her warpe and
vniforme agreement as was meete both shewed his gracious bountie in the gift of diuers Armes out of the Towre with further promises of his assistance and appointed Commissioners to examine the Causes of Virginias not answering to the care and cost in so long time bestowed on her I am no fit Relater of things ensuing and farre-vnfitter Vmpire in such differences I will now speake to God rather then men Quid enim nisi vota supersunt My Prayers shall be to the Almightie for Virginias prosperitie whose Dwarfish growth after so many yeeres convulsions by dissentions there and heere lamentations in the complaints of both sides a Plurisie Stich in her sides continuing after so much bloud taken from her weaknesse Sinne armes after such successions of armes and forces Tantalean staruings amidst both Magazines and fertilitie subuersions here and selfe-euersions there peruersnesse I mention not rather then conuersions of Sauages after so many learned and holy Dinines sent thither pouertie sicknesse deaths in so rich a Soyle and healthfull a Climate what should I say I can deplore I doe not much admire that we haue had so much in Virginia and haue so little the promises as probable as large and yet the premisses yeelding in the conclusion this Virginian sterilitie and meagrenesse rather then the multiplied issue and thrift of a worthy Matron and Mother of a Family answerable to her great Inheritance there and Iointer from hence But what doe I in plaints where some perhaps will complaine of my complayning I will expect better from God and his Maiestie and while my selfe meane-while in the better thriuing of the English Colonie in Bermudas or Summer Ilands CHAP. XVI English Voyges to the Summer Ilands HENRY MAYS shipwracke there 1593. The first Colonie sent 1612. IT is now time to leaue the Continent and visit Bermudas of Sir George Summers called Summer Ilands The occasion you had before related by Master Strachie and that some of their Company tooke vp their abode there This was not the first time that English eyes had seene those Ilands For in the yeere 1593. Henry May had beene there one of Captaine Lancasters Company which had beene in the East Indies and in returning had put ouer to Trinidad and thence to Puerto Rico and Hispaniola for refreshing where Captaine Lancaster desired a Frenchman Monsieur de Barbotiere to giue this Henry May passage home with him They departed from Laguna the last of Nouember and December the seuenteenth were wracked on the North-west part of Bermuda about midnight The Pilots making themselues at noone to be twelue leagues to the Southwards of the Iland certified the Captaine that they were from all danger and demanded their wine of height which they had thought they had beene cast away by the shore but were seuen leagues off by the helpe of their Boat and a Raft sixe and twentie of aboue fiftie were saued I saith May durst not presse in but stayed in the ship almost full of water till the Captaine being entred the Boat called me to him and I entred leauing the better halfe of our company to the mercie of the Sea We rowed all day till an houre or two before night yer we could come on Land towing the Raft with the Boat Hauing beene all day without drinke wee sought long and at last one digging among weeds found fresh water being only raine water which was all we found It pleased God that we had saued our Carpenters tooles and going roundly to worke we built a Barke of some eighteene tun for the most part with trunnels and a few nailes For tacklings we made a Voyage to our ship and cut downe her shrouds in stead of Pitch wee made Lime and mixed it with the Oyle of Tortoises assoone as the Carpenters had calked spreading it on with a sticke which was soone dried by the heat being in Aprill wee hasted away for feare of water failing vs. We made two great chists and calked them and stowed them on each side our maine Mast and so put in our prouisions of raine water and thirteene liuing Tortoyses for our food The Hogs were leane and there was store of Fowle Fish and Tortoyses There is also good fishing for Pearles The eleuenth of May we were cleere of the Land for our Voyage to New-found-land and on the twentieth fell with the Land neere to Cape Briton and thence to the Banke of New-found-land where a Barke of Falmouth tooke vs in wherein I had passage home and arriued at Falmouth in August 1594. Thus much for May. Let vs now heare the Relation sent from an English Colonie planted there vnder the gouernment of Master Richard Moore This following Discourse hath beene printed and was added to a Tractate of Master Siluester Iordan touching the wracke of Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Summers on the Bermudas which beeing deliuered more fully by Master Strachie sup cap. 6. I haue here omitted and proceed to the English proceedings in those Ilands Being bound for the Sommer Ilands in the Ship called the Plough wee imbarked the eight and twentieth of Aprill 1612. So passing downe to Grauesend wee anchored at Tilbery-hope vntill the fifth of May. The wind comming taire wee put forth and came to the Downes the sixth of May where we staied till the ninth And then setting forward wee had a faire and comfortable passage and by Gods blessing found so direct a course that on the eleuenth of Iuly in the morning betwixt nine and ten of the clocke wee descried our hoped and desired Ilands and in the afternoone of the same day about three a clocke wee arriued in a verie safe harbour neere S. Georges Iland there wee landed all our men and women and had beene at anchor aboue an houre before wee could heare of our three men which had beene left there As soone as wee had landed all our company we went all to praier and gaue thankes vnto the Lord for our safe arriuall and whilest wee were at praier wee saw our three men come rowing downe to vs the sight of whom did much reioyce vs so they welcomming vs and wee the like to them againe we sung a Psalme and praised the Lord for our safe meeting and went to supper The next day being the Sabbath day which wee dedicated to God in the best manner wee could wee abode still in the foresaid Iland with all the rest of our company till Munday morning being the thirteenth of Iuly Then we went vp with our Ship and company higher into the harbour to the place where these three men had planted themselues They had planted Corne great store of Wheat Beanes Tobacco and Mellons with many other good things for the vse of man Besides they had wrought vpon Timber in squaring and sawing of Cedar Trees for they intended to build a small Pinnace to carrie them into Virginia being almost out of hope and comfort of our comming because Cap. Dauies time was to haue beene with
them long before we came Wee were no sooner come withing a league of the Land but a company of Fish as it were met vs and neuer left vs till wee were come to an ankor within the harbour and as soone as we had passed ouer our businesse and all things safe and in order with a Hooke and Line wee tooke more then our whole company was able to eate so that there was enough to feed many more The next day after the Sabbath wee went with our Net and Boat and if we would haue loaded two Boats wee might and so may you do day by day Fishes doe so abound and there be of these sorts Mullets Breames Hog-fish Rock-fish and Lobstars with more sorts of other Fish which I cannot name Turkles there be of a mightie bignesse one Turkle will serue or suffice three or foure score at a meale especially if it be a shee Turkle for shee will haue as many Egges as will suffice fiftie or threescore at a meale This I can assure you they are verie good and wholsome meat none of it bad no not so much as the verie Guts and Maw of it for they are exceeding fat and make as good Tripes as your beasts bellies in England And for Fowle we went the third day of our arriuall vnto the Bird Ilands as wee call them and vsing neither Stick nor Stone-bow nor Gun we tooke them vp with our hands so many as wee would that euerie one of the company were to haue some three some foure a piece three for a child boy or girle for a man foure then reckon what those that serued some fourescore people did amount vnto But this is for certaine if wee would haue brought awaie twice so many more we might Some sixe daies after our comming wee sent out for Hogges so the company which went out brought home some for the meate of them I hold your Mutton of England not of so sweet and pleasant a taste For the inclination of the weather considering in what climate it lies wee haue had for the space of some fortie daies no raine but verie coole and fresh gales of wind yet in the day time verie hot but wee agree with it verie well and not a man that had lien sicke or diseased but all likes well and followes and imploies themselues to one businesse or other For the fruites which the Land yeelds thâ—y bee the Mulberrie great store and Peares which haue in them a red liquor as the Pomgranat hat or somewhat redder but verie wholsome if you eate an hundred at one time you shall neuer surfet of them if you eate some proportion of them they will bind but if you exceed in eating of them then are they of the contrarie operation yet neuer any that hurt themselues by them eate they neuer so many It is certaine that one man eate aboue a peck of them in some ten houres and was neuer the worse We haue a kind of Berrie vpon the Cedar Tree verie pleasant to eate and for the Palmito Tree the top of it is a great deale sweeter and wholsomer then any Cabedge In some of our Ilands there growes Pepper but not so good as our Indian Pepper diuers sorts of other good things there is which the seuerall times of the yeere bring forth one after another but the top of the Palmito Tree is in season and good all the yeere Take a Hatchet and cut him or an Augar and bore him and it yeelds a very pleasant liquor much like vnto your sweet Wines it beares likewise a Berrie in bignesse of a Prune and in taste much like Also wee haue Oliues grow with vs but no great store many other good excellent things wee haue grow with vs which this short time will not permit mee to write of so largely as I might but this is of truth that Hogs Turkles Fish and Fowle doe abound as dust of the earth for Amber-greece and Pearle wee haue not had leasure in so few daies since our arriuall to goe looke out for the one or to fish for the other but the three men which were left there haue found of them both Also they haue made a great deale of Tobacco and if some would come that haue kill in making it it would be verie commodious both to the Merchant and to the maker of it And for the Silk-worme if any were brought ouer and some of skill to vse them there would bee very much good done with them for the verie Spider in these our Ilands doth weaue perfect fine Silke both Yellow and White The Timber of the Countrey consisteth of three sorts the one is the Cedar verie fine Timber to worke vpon of colour red and verie sweet the other sorts we haue no name for for there is none in the company hath seene the like in other Countries before we came c. A Copie of the Articles which Master R. MORE Gouernour Deputie of the Sommer Ilands propounded to the Company that were there with him to be subscribed vnto which both he and they subscribed the second of August in his house Anno 1612. which about the same time he sent into England to the Worshipfull Company of the Aduenturors WEe who haue here vnder subscribed our names being by the great goodnesse of God safely arriued at the Sommer Ilands with purpose here to inhabite doe hereby promise and bind our selues to the performance of the seuerall Articles hereafter following and that in the presence of the most glorious God who hath in mercy brought vs hither First We doe faithfully promise and by these presents solemnly binde our selues euer-more to worshâ—p that aforesaid only true and euerliuing God who hath made the Heauens and the Earth the Sea and all that therein is and that according to those rules that are prescribed in his most holy Word and euer to continue in that faith into the which wee were baptised in the Church of England and to stand in defence of the same against all Atheists Papists Anabaptists Brownists and all other Heretikes and Sectaries whatsoeuer dissenting from the said Word and Faith Secondly because the keeping of the Sabboth day holy is that wherein a principall part of Gods worship doth consist and is as it were the Key of all the other parts thereof wee do therefore in the presence aforesaid promise That wee will set apart all our owne labours and imployments on that day vnlesse it be those that be of meere necessitie much more vaine and vnfruitfull practises and apply our selues to the hearing of Gods Word Prayer and all other exercises of Religion in his Word required to the vttermost of our power Thirdly Seeing the true worship of God and holy life cannot be seuered we doe therefore promise in the presence aforesaid That to the vttermost of our power we will liue together in doing that which is iust both towards God and Man and in particular
Rocks in the bottome of the Sea in forme of a Vine-leafe but farre more spread with veines of a palish red strangely interlaced and weaued into each other the vertue vnknowne There are besides fruits thither carried which thriue and multiply White Red Yellow Potatoes Sugar-canes Indicoes Parsnips exceeding large Radishes Cassaui the American root for bread the Indian Pompeon the water Melon the Muske Melon the most delicate Pine-apple Plantans and Papawes the English Artichoke Pease c. Master Moore applied himselfe to fortifying and to traine his men hee laid the foundation of eight or nine Forts called the Kings Castle Charles Fort Pembrokes Fort Smiths Fort Gates Fort Warwickes Castle Saint Katherines Fort c. mounting therein all such Ordnance as he had Being busied in these and other necessaries which held the men hard at worke Master Keath the Minister a Scot taxed him in the Pulpit for grinding the faces of the poore oppressing his Christian brethren with Pharoos taxes for which being conuented and by the generality contraried he fell on his knees and asked pardon which was easily with good admonition granted Two other malecontents were condemned to be hanged one of which for feare fell into a dead palsie the other was freed and after proued a good labourer He got two peeces of Ordnance out of the Sea-Venture Sir George Summers wracke framed a Church of Timber which was blowne downe and reedified and another built in a closer place with Palmito leaues Before the yeare expired an Aduiso with thirtie passengers were sent to prepare for Spaniards which made them fall so hard to worke that many fell sicke The Martha followed with sixtie passengers and in it Master George Barklie who tooke good notice of those Ilands The Elizabeth was sent the second time with fortie passengers These carried the first Potatos which being all lost but two castaway rootes haue yeelded increase there to admiration and are great reliefe to the Inhabitants Two Spanish Ships were seene soone after this Ship was gone to sound with their Boate attempting to come in but from the Kings Castle Master Moore made two shot which caused them to depart to the ioy of the Plantation which then had but three quarters of a barrell of Powder and but one shot more the Powder also by carelesnesse tumbled vnder the Muffels of the two Peeces which were discharged and yet not touched with fire The like mercifull prouidence appeared in certaine cartrages of Paper filled with Powder a negligent fellow leauing his Match burning vpon one of them all the while they were at Prayer so that the cole touched the Paper and fired it not A worse thing happened by a caruell of Meale which Daniel Elfred brought thither so stored with Rats that had neere ruined all the Plantation Two yeeres after came in the Blessing with one hundred passengers and the Starre with one hundred and eightie and soone after the Margaret and two Frigats with one hundred and sixtie Master Barkley also came to diuide the Countrie into Tribes and the Tribes into shares but Moore seeing his share and the Colonies to be none gaue him so cold entertainment that he returned as he came This bred Moore more dislike in England and his minding fortification so much with neglect of Corne bred a famin that attended with diseases specially one called the Feagues which without sense of paine swallowed vp all their strength at once whereof without succour they died some by foode and rest recouered The Rauens continued this mortality and then departed William Millinton was drawne into the Sea by a Fish and neuer seene more The Famine gaue a supersedeas to the workes and Moore sent them to seeke reliefe At Coupers I le with a contrary extremity of the abundance of Cahows and Fish many surfeited and died Some killed the Cattell and one stole away to the Woods and there franked himselfe feeding on land Crabbes and Wilkes For fishing the Smith was faine to make Hookes of Swords and Lines of old Ropes till a Frigat being sent with aduice into England the Welcome was sent with prouision Master Moore returned in this Ship and left the Gouernment to a Councell of sixe which should succeede each other monethly viz. Captaine Miles Kendall Captaine Iohn Mansfield Thomas Knight Charles Caldicot Edward Waters and Christopher Carter with twelue Assistants Moore arriuing here after much quarrell obtained eight shares of Land Hee died after in Sir Walter Raleighs Guiana voyage He was a man very pragmaticall and had before vndertaken much in Foulenesse for Rapes seede c. A man fitter for such a Plantation as this in the beginning was then some silken Citizen or stalking Gentleman or talking Traueller or sowre Humorist or grim Martialist might haply haue proued Caldicots Lot was first whose moneth being ended with Knight and Waters in a small Frigot he went to Virginia Mansfield succeeded in the new triumuirate and a plot not to surrender the Gouernment to such as from England should be appointed was disappointed Master Hughes was imprisoned and soone set at liberty but Master Keath his Symmystes fell to strange disputes and Hughes was againe conuented and by the Iury acquitted Mansfields moneth being passed in braules the two next were quiet yet those contestings after reuiued The Edwin arriued with good supplies Diuers Boates were lost at Sea about this time But one memorable accident was this In March a season most tempestuous on a faire Friday morning seuen men went in a Boate of two or three tuns to fish some of them fasting neither had they any prouision in the Boat with them but a few Palmeto berries some foure leagues from shoare a tempest tooke them and carried them quite out of sight of land their strength being spent the strength also of the tempest abated on sunday and a calme followed Too weake for Oares they lay adrife that night the next morning Andrew Hillyard the rest not able to helpe themselues spred the saile On tuesday one died on wednesday three which were cast ouer-boord on thursday night the sixth whom he was not able to turne ouer but stripped him ripped his belly with his Knife threw his bowels into Sea spred his body abroad tilted open with a sticke and so let it lye as a Cesterne to receiue some luckie raine water which God sent presently after so that in a small shower he recouered about foure spoonefuls of raine to his vnspeakable refreshment He also preserued neere halfe a pint of blood in a shooe which hee did sparingly drinke to moisten his mouth Two dayes he fed on his flesh to the quantity of a pound the eleuenth day after his losse of Land two flying Fishes fell into his Boate whose warme iucie bloud he sucked to his great comfort and within an houre after with greater comfort espied land which within foure houres he attained on a Rocke neere
vngodly and inhumane also to deny the world to men or like Manger-dogges neither to eat hay themselues nor to suffer the hungry Oxe to prohibite that for others habitation whereof themselues can make no vse or for merchandise whereby much benefit accreweth to both parts They which doe this Tollunt è vita vitae societatem to vse Tullies phrase hominem ex homine tollunt to borrow Saint Ieroms in another matter The Barbarians themselues by light of nature saw this and gaue Ours kind entertainment in mutuall cohabitation and commerce and they hauing not the Law were a Law to themselues practically acknowledging this Law of Nature written by him which is Natura naturans in their hearts from which if they since haue declined they haue lost their owne Naturall and giuen vs another Nationall right their transgression of the Law of Nature which tieth Men to Men in the rights of Natures commons exposing them as a forfeited bond to the chastisement of that common Law of mankind and also on our parts to the seueritie of the Law of Nations which tyeth Nation to Nation And if they bee not worthy of the name of a Nation being wilde and Sauage yet as Slaues bordering rebells excommunicates and out-lawes are lyeble to the punishments of Law and not to the priuiledges So is it with these Barbarians Borderers and Outlawes of Humanity Armatenenti Omnia dat qui iusta negat If the Armes bee iust as in this case of vindicating vnnaturall inhumane wrongs to a louing and profitable Nation entertained voluntarily in time of greatest pretended amity On this quarrell Dauid conquered all the Kingdome of the Ammonites and leâ—â— it to his 〈◊〉 in many generations notwithstanding Moses had otherwise left a speciall caution for their security testifying that God had giuen it the sonnes of Lot and prohibiting inuasion to Israel That natural right of cohabitation and commerce we had with others this of iust inuasion and conquest and many others praeuious to this we haue aboue others so that England may both by Law of Nature and Nations challenge Virginia for her owne peculiar propriety and that by all right and rites vsuall amongst men not those mentioned alone but by others also first discouery first actuall possession prescription gift cession and liuery of seisin sale for price that I mention not the naturall Inheritance of the English their naturally borne and the vnnaturall outcries of so many vnnaturally murthered for iust vengeance of rooting out the authors and actors of so prodigious iniustice And first for discouery the English Spaniard and Portugall seeme the Triumuiri of the Worlds first discoueries the Spaniard and Portugall first opening the Eastern Western and Southern parts the English the Northern America and all known parts thence to the North Northeast I could bring authority for King Arthurs conquests aboue 1000. yeers since in Island Gronland Estotiland but I feare this would seeme too weake a foundation and which lyers get by lying discredit our other authorities lesse suspicious howsoeuer Authors of best note in Geography alledge those which reuerence of the truth makes me let passe And so I doe King Malgo soone after him and Saint Brandon and the Friar of Oxford which A. 1360. is said to discouer to the Pole and Owen Gwined Prince of North Wales his sonne Madock A. 1170. which conueyed a Colony as learned men thinke into the West Indies In all Antiquities as Uarro obserued there are somethings fabulous so I deeme the former something vncertaine as this last and somethings Historicall as that which we shall deliuer Robert Thorne in a Booke to Doctor Leigh writeth that his father with another Merchant of Bristol Hugh Eliot were the first discouerers of the New-found-lands and if the Mariners would haue beene ruled by their Pilot the Lands of the West Indies from whence the Gold commeth had beene ours What yeere this happened he expresseth not but the words import that it was before Columbus his discouery And before Columbus his discouery of the continent Sir Sebastian Cabot at the charges of K. Henry the seuenth with two Caruels in the yeere 1496. so him selfe in Ramusio the Map with his picture in the Priuy Gallery hath 1497. sailed to the New-found land which he called Prima Vista and the Iland S. Iohns because it was discouered on the Feast of S. Iohn Baptist from whence he sailed Northerly to 67. deg and a halfe hoping by that way to passe to Cathay but his mutinous company terrified haply with Ice and cold forced his returne which hee made along the Coast toward the Equinoctiall to the part of the firme land now called Florida and then his victualls failing he returned into England where by occasion of warres with Scotland the imploiment was laid aside Afterwards the same Sir Sebastian Cabot was sent A. 1516. by King Henry the eight together with Sir Thomas Pert Viceadmirall of England which after coasting this Continent the second time as I haue read discouered the Coast of Brasil and returned from thence to S. Domingo and Puerto Rico. Now Columbus his first discouery of the Ilands was in 1492. of the Continent in his third voyage in August 1497. or as others 1498. so that counting most fauourably for Columbus Cabot had discouered the Continent in Iune next before by one reckoning aboue a yeere by another aboue two yeeres before And indeed that New World might more fitly haue borne his name then America of Americus vesputius or of Columbus Cabot hauing discouered farre more of that Continent then they both or any man else in those Seas to wit from 67. degrees and an halfe to the Line and from thence Southerly to the Riuer of Plate Hee also was the principall mouer in the setting forth of Sir Hugh Willoughby in King Edwards time vnder whom he was constituted Grand Pilot of England with the annuall stipend of one hundred sixtie sixe pound thirteene shillings foure pence in which voyage Greeneland was discouered neither is there any other Willoughbys Land to be found but in erroneous Maps and the Russian Empire by the North Cape and the Bay of Saint Nicolas But for Uirginia as it was then discouered by Sir Seb. Cabot so it receiued that name from our Virgin-Mother Great Elizabeth in whose time formal actual possession was taken for her Maiesty the thirteenth of Iuly 1584. by Captain Philip Amadas and Captain Barlow whom Sir Walter Raleigh had sent thither with two Barkes furnished who also the next yeere 1585. sent Sir Richard Greenevile with seuen sayle which there left an English Colony vnder the gouernment of M. Ralph Lane A. 1586. hee sent another Ship of one hundred Tuns thither for their reliefe but the Colony being returned in Sir Francis Drakes Fleet shee returned also Sir Richard Greenevile also about a fortnight after their departure arriued with three Ships and not finding the Colonie
Capawuck where Epenew should haue fraughted them with Gold Ore that his fault could be no cause of their bad successe howeuer it is alledged for an excuse I speake not this out of vain glory as it may be some gleaners or some was neuer there may censure mee but to let all men be assured by those examples what those Sauages are that thus strangely doe murder and betray our Coâ—ntrie men But to the purpose What is already writ of the healthfulnesse of the ayre the richnesse of the soyle the goodnesse of the Woods the abundance of Fruits Fish and Fowle in their season they still affirme that haue beene there now neer two yeeres and at one draught they haue taken one thousand Basses and in one night twelue hogsheads of Herring They are building a strong Fort they hope shortly to finish in the interim they are well prouided their number is about a hundred persons all in health and well neere sixtie Acres of ground well planted with Corne besides their Gardens well replenished with vsefull fruits and if their Aduenturers would but furnish them with necessaries for fishing their wants would quickly bee supplied To supply them this sixteenth of October is going the Paragon with sixtie seuen persons and all this is done by priuate mens purses And to conclude in their owne words should they write of all plenties they haue found they thinke they should not be beleeued For the twentie sixe sayle of Ships the most I can yet vnderstand is M. Ambrose Iennens of London and Master Abraham Iennens of Plimmoth sent their Abraham a Ship of two hundred and twentie Tuns and the Nightingale of Porchmouth of a hundred whose Fish at the first penie came to 3150 pounds in all they were fiue and thirty saile and wherein New found Land they shared sixe or seuen pounds for a common man in New England they shared foureteene pounds besides six Dutch and French Ships made wonderfull returnes in Furres Thus you may see plainely the yearely successe from New England by Virginia which hath bin so costly to this Kingdome and so deare to me which either to see perish or but bleede pardon me though it passionate me beyond the bounds of modesty to haue bin sufficiently able to foresee it and had neither power nor meanes how to preuent it By that acquaintance I haue with them I may call them my children for they haue bin my Wife my Hawkes my Hounds my Cards my Dice and in totall my best content as indifferent to my heart as my left hand to my right and notwithstanding all those miracles of disasters haue crossed both them and me yet were there not one Englishman remaining as God be thanked there is some thousands I would yet begin againe with as small meanes as I did at the first not for that I haue any secret encouragement from any I protest more then lamentable experiences for all their Discoueries I can yet heare of are but Pigs of my owne Sowe nor more strange to me then to heare one tell mee he hath gone from Billings gate and discouered Greenwich Grauesend Tilberry Quinborow Lee and Margit which to those did neuer heare of them though they dwell in England might be made seeme some rare secrets and great Countries vnknowne except the Relation of Master Dirmer But to returne It is certaine from Cannada and New England within these sixe yeares hath come neere 20000. Beuer Skins Now had each of those Ships transported but some small quantitie of the most increasing Beasts Fowles Fruites Plants and Seedes as I proiected by this time their increase might haue bin sufficient for a thousand men But the desire of present gaine in many is so violent and the endeuours of many vndertakers so negligent euery one so regarding their priuate gaine that it is hard to effect any publicke good and impossible to bring them into a body rule or order vnlesse both authority and money assist experiences It is not a worke for euery one to plant a Colony but when a House is built it is no hard matter to dwell in it This requireth all the best parts of art iudgement courage honesty constancy diligence and experience to doe but neere well your home-bred ingrossing proiectors shall finde there a great difference betwixt saying and doing But to conclude the Fishing will goe forward if you plant it or no whereby a Colonie may be transported with no great charge that in a short time might prouide such fraughts to buy of vs there dwelling as I would hope no Ship should goe or come empty from New England The charge of this is onely Salt Nets Hookes Lines Kniues Irish Rugs course Cloath Beades Glasse and such like trash onely for fishing and trade with the Sauages beside our owne necessary prouisions whose endeuours will quickly defray all this charge and the Sauages haue intreated me to inhabite where I will Now all these Ships till this last yeare haue bin fished within a square of two or three leagues and not one of them all would aduenture any further where questionlesse fiue hundred saile may haue their fraught better then in Island New found Land or elsewhere and be in their markets before the other can haue their fish in their Ships because New Englands fishing begins with February the other not till mid May the progression hereof tends much to the aduancement of Virginia and the Bermudas whose emptie Ships may take in their fraught there and would be a good friend in time of neede to the Inhabitants of New found Land c. CHAP. IIII. A Relation or Iournall of a Plantation setled at Plimoth in New England and proceedings thereof Printed 1622. and here abbreuiated WEdnesday the sixt of September the Winde comming East North-east a fine small gale we loosed from Plimoth hauing bin kindely entertained and curteously vsed by diuers friends there dwelling and after many difficulties in boisterous stormes at length by Gods prouidence vpon the ninth of Nouember following by breake of the day we espied Land which we deemed to be Cape Cod and so afterward it proued Vpon the eleuenth of Nouember we came to an anchor in the Bay which is a good harbour and pleasant Bay circled round except in the entrance which is about foure miles ouer from land to land compassed about to the verie Sea with Oakes Pines Iuniper Saffafras and other sweete Wood it is a harbour wherein 1000. saile of Ships may safely ride there wee relieued our selues with Wood and Water and refreshed our people while our Shallop was fitted to coast the Bay to search for an habitation there was the greatest store of Fowle that euer we saw And euerie day we saw Whales playing hard by vs of which in that place if wee had instruments and meanes to take them we might haue made a verie rich returne which to our great griefe we wanted Our Master and his Mate and others experienced in fishing professed wee might haue
as the safest refuge though that would proue an intollerable cold lodging They stood at the Trees root that when the Lions came they might take their opportunitie of climbing vp the Bitch they were faine to hold by the necke for shee would haue beene gone to the Lion but it pleased God so to dispose that the wild Beasts came not so they walked vp and downe vnder the Tree all night it was an extreame cold night so soone as it was light they trauelled againe passing by many Lakes and Brookes and Woods and in one place where the Sauages had burnt the space of fiue miles in length which is a fine Champion Countrey and euen In the afternoon it pleased God from an high Hill they discouered the two Iles in the Bay and so that night got to the Plantation being ready to faint with trauell and want of victualls and almost famished with cold Iohn Goodman was faine to haue his shooes cut off his feet they were so swelled with cold and it was a long while after ere hee was able to goe The house was fired occasionally by a sparke that flew into the thatch which instantly burnt it all vp but the roofe stood and little hurt the most losse was Master Caruers and William Bradfords who then lay sicke in bed and if they had not risen with good speed had beene blowne vp with powder but through Gods mercy they had no harme the house was as full of beds as they could lie one by another and their Muskets charged but blessed be God there was no harme done Munday the fifteenth day it rained much all day that they on ship-boord could not goe on shoare nor they on shoare doe any labour but were all wet Tuesday Wednesday Thursday were very faire Sun-shiny daies as if it had beene in April and our people so many as were in health wrought chearefully The ninteenth day wee resolued to make a Shed to put our common prouision in of which some were already set on shoare but at noone it rained that wee could not worke This day in the euening Iohn Goodman went abroad to vse his lame feet that were pittyfully ill with the cold hee had got hauing a little Spannell with him a little way from the Plantation two great Wolues ran after the Dog the Dog ran to him and betwixt his legs for succour he had nothing in his hand but tooke vp a sticke and threw at one of them and hit him and they presently ran both away but came againe he got a Paile boord in his hand and they sate both on their tailes grinning at him a good while and went their way and left him Saturday the seuenteenth day in the morning we called a meeting for the establishing of Military Orders amongst our selues and we chose Miles Standish our Captaine and gaue him authoritie of command in affayres Saturday the third of March the wind was South the morning mystie but towards noone warme and faire weather the Birds sang in the Woods most pleasantly at one of the clocke it thundred which was the first we heard in that Countrey it was strong and great claps but short but after an houre it rayned very sadly till midnight Wednesday the seuenth of March the wind was full East cold but faire Friday the sixteenth there presented himselfe a Sauage which caused an Alarum he very boldly came all alone and along the houses straight to the Randeuous where we intercepted him not suffering him to goe in as vndoubtedly he would out of his boldnesse hee saluted vs in English and bad vs welcome for he had learned some broken English amongst the Englishmen that came to fish at Monhiggon and knew by name the most of the Captaines Commanders and Masters that vsually come he was a man free in speech so farre as he could expresse his minde and of a seemly carriage we questioned him of many things he was the first Sauage we could meet withall hee said he was not of those parts but of Morattiggon and one of the Sagamores or Lords thereof had beene eight moneths in these parts it lying hence a daies saile with a great wind and fiue dayes by Land he discoursed of the whole Countrey and of euery Prouince and of their Sagamores and their number of men and strength The wind beginning to rise a little wee cast a Horsemans Coat about him for he was starke naked only a leather about his wast with a fringe about a span long or little more he had a Bow and two Arrowes the one headed and the other vnheaded he was a tall straight man the haire of his head blacke long behind only short before none on his face at all he aâ—ked some Beere but we gaue him Strong-water and Bisket and Butter and Cheese and Pudding and a piece of a Mallerd all which he liked wel and had bin acquainted with such amongst the English he told vs the place where we now liue is called Patuxet and that about foure yeeres agoe all the Inhabitants died of an extraordinary plague and there is neither man woman nor child remaining as indeed we haue round none so as there is none to hinder our possession or to lay claime vnto it All the afternoone we spent in communication with him we would gladly haue been rid of him at night but he was not willing to goe this night then we thought to carry him on ship-boord wherwith hee was wel content and went into the Shallop but the wind was high and water scant that it could not returne backe We lodged that night at Steuen Hopkins house and watched him the next day he went away back to the Masasoyts from whence he said he came who are our next bordering neighbours they are sixtie strong as he saith The Nausites are as neere South-east of them and are a hundred strong and those were they of whom our people were encountered as we before related They are much incensed and prouoked against the English and about eight moneths agoe slew three Englishmen and two more hardly escaped by flight to Monhiggon they were Sir Ferdinando Gorge his men as this Sauage told vs as he did likewise of the Huggery that is Fight that our discouerers had with the Nausites and of our Tooles they were taken out of the Woods which we willed him should be brought againe otherwise we would right our selues These people are ill affected towards the English by reason of one Hunt a Master of a Ship who deceiued the people and got them vnder colour of trucking with them twentie out of this very place where we inhabite and seuen men from the Nausites and carried them away and sold them for Slaues like a wretched man for twentie pound a man that care not what mischiefe he doth for his profit Saturday in the morning we dismissed the Sauage and gaue him a Knife a Bracelet and a Ring he promised within a night or two
tedious to relate yet was no lesse delightfull to them then comfortable to vs. Here we remained onely that night but neuer had better entertainment amongst any of them The day following in our iourney Hobbamocke told me of the priuate conference he had with Massassowat and how he charged him perfectly to acquaint me there with as I shewed before which hauing done he vsed many arguments himselfe to moue vs thereunto That night we lodged at Namasket and the day following about the mid-way betweene it and home we met two Indians who told vs that Captaine Standish was that day gone to the Massachusets but contrary windes againe draue him backe so that we found him at home where the Indian of Paomet still was being very importunate that the Captaine should take the first opportunitie of a faire winde to goe with him but their secret and villanous purposes being through Gods mercy now made knowne the Gouernour caused Captaine Standish to send him away without any distaste or manifestation of anger that we might the better effect and bring to passe that which should be thought most necessary Before this iourney we heard many complaints both by the Indians and some others of best desert amongst Master Westons Colony how exceedingly their Company abased themselues by vndirect meanes to get victuals from the Indians who dwelt not farre from them fetching them wood water c and all for a meales meate whereas in the meane time they might with diligence haue gotten enough to haue serued them three or foure times Other by night brake the earth and robbed the Indians store for which they had beene publiquely stocked and whipt and yet was there small amendment This was about the end of February at which time they had spent all their Bread and Corne not leauing any for Seede neither would the Indians lend or sell them any more vpon any tearmes Hereupon they had thought to take it by violence and to that spiked vp euery entrance into their Towne being well impaled saue one with a full resolution to proceede But some more honestly minded aduised Iohn Sanders their Ouer-seer first to write to Plimoth and if the Gouernor aduised him thereunto he might the better doe it They sent and our Gouernour writ diuers reasons of dislike With these Letters wee dispatched the Messenger Vpon the receipt whereof they altered their determination resoluing to shift as they could till the returne of Iohn Sanders from Munhiggen who first comming to Plimoth notwithstanding our owne necessities the Gouernour spared him some Corne to carrie them to Munhiggen But not hauing sufficient for the Ships store he tooke a Shallop and leauing others with instructions to ouer-see things till his returne set forward about the end of February so that he knew not of this conspiracie of the Indians before his going neither was it knowne to any of vs till our returne from Sawaams or Puckanakick at which time also another Sachim called Wassapinewat brother to Obtakiest the Sachim of the Massachusets who had formerly smarted for partaking with Coubatant and fearing the like againe to purge himselfe reuealed the same thing The three and twentieth of March being now come which is a yearely Court day the Gouernour hauing a double testimony and many circumstances agreeing with the truth thereof not being to vndertake warre without the consent of the body of the Company made knowne the same in publique Court We came to this conclusion That Captaine Standish should take so many men as he thought sufficient to make his party good against all the Indians in the Massachuset Bay because as all men know that haue had to doe in that kinde it is impossible to deale with them vpon open defiance but to take them in such traps as they lay for others therfore he should pretend trade as at other times but first goe to the English acquaint them with the plot the end of his owne comming that comparing it with their carriages towards them he might better iudge of the certainty of it and more fitly take opportunity to reuenge the same but should forbeare if it were possible till such time as he could make sure Wituwamat that bloudy bold villain before spoken of whose head he had order to bring with him that hee might be a warning and terrour to all that disposition Vpon this Captaine Standish made choice of eight men and would not take more because he would preuentiealousie knowing their guilty consciences would soone be prouoked thereunto but on the next day before he could goe came one of Master Westons Company by land vnto vs with his packe at his backe who made a pittifull narration of their lamentable and weake estate and of the Indians carriages whose boldnesse increased abundantly insomuch as the victuals they got they would take it out of their Pots and eate before their faces yea if in any thing they gaine-said them they were ready to hold a Knife at their breasts that to giue them content since Iohn Sanders went to Munhiggen they had hanged one of them that stole their Corne and yet they regarded it not that another of their Company was turned Sauage that their people had most forsaken the Towne and made their randeuous where they got their victuals because they would not take paines to bring it home that they had sold their cloathes for Corne and were ready to starue both with cold and hunger also because they could not indure to get victuals by reason of their nakednesse and that they were dispersed into three Companies scarce hauing any Powder and Shot left As this Relation was grieuous to vs so it gaue vs good encouragement to proceede in our intendments for which Captaine Standish was now fitted and the winde comming faire the next day set forth for the Massachusets The Indians at the Massachusets missed this man and suspecting his comming to vs as wee conceiue sent one after him and gaue out there that he would neuer come to Patuxet but that some Wolues or Beares would eate him but we know not by our owne experience and the report of others that though they finde a man sleeping yet so soone as there is life discerned they feare and shun him This Indian missed him but very little and missing him passed by the towne and went to Manomet whom we hoped to take at his returne as afterward we did Now was our Fort made fit for seruice and Iome Ordnance mounted and though it may seeme long worke it being ten moneths since it begun yet we must note that where so great a worke is begun with such small meanes a little time cannot bring to perfection beside those workes which tend to the preseruation of man the enemy of mankinde will hinder what in him lieth sometimes blind 〈…〉 iudgement and causing reasonable men to reason against their own safety The Indian last mentioned in his returne from Monomet came through the Towne pretending
between Sagadahoc and it From the Iland vpward the water is fresh abounding in Salmons and other fresh-water fish Some thirteene or fourteen daies iourney from the entrance in the North-east branch there is a little arme of a Riuer that runneth East some daies iourney which hath at the entrance foure fathoms water Vpon this arme there is one ouer fail which standeth halfe a daies iourney aboue this braneh vpon this arme there are foure Townes The first is called Kenebeke which hath eightie houses and one hundred men The Lord whereof is Apombamen The second is Ketangheanycke and the Sagamos name is Octoworthe who hath in his Towne ninetie housholds and three hundred and thirtie men This Towne is foure dayes iourney from Kenebeke and eight dayes iourney from To the Northward is the third Towne which they call Naragooc where there are fiftie housholds and one hundred and fiftie men The chiefe Sagamo of that place is Cocockohamas And on the small branch that runneth East standeth the fourth Towne named by Mâ—ssakiga where there are but eight housholds and fortie men Vpon the Northwest branch of this Sound stand two Townes more The first is called Amereangan and is distant from Kenebeke sixe dayes iourney In this place are ninetie housholdes and two hundred and sixtie men with two Sagamoes the one called Sasuâ—a the other Scawas Seuen daies iourney hence there is another Sagamo whose name is Octoworâ—kin and his Townes name Namercante wherein are fortie housholds and one hundred and twentie men A dayes iourney aboue Namercante there is a downefall where they cannot passe with their Cannoes but are inforced to carrie them by Land for the space of a quarter of a mile and then they put them into the Riuer againe And twelue dayes iourney aboue this Downfall there is another where they carrie their Boates as at the first and sixe dayes iourney more to the North is the head of this Riuer where is the Lake that is of eight dayes iourney long and foure dayes broad before mentioned In this Lake there is one Iland and three dayes iourney from this Lake there is a Towne which is called Buccawganecants wherein are threescore housholds and foure hundred men And the Sagamo thereof is called Baccatusshe This man and his people are subiects to the Bashabez of Mawooshen and in his Countrey is the farthest limit of his Dominion where he hath any that doe him homage To the Westward of Sagadahoc foure dayes iourney there is another Riuer called Ashamabaga which hath at the entrance sixe fathoms water and is halfe a quarter of a mile broad it runneth into the Land two dayes iourney and on the East side there is one Towne called Agnagebcoc wherein are seuentie houses and two hundred and fortie men with two Sagames the one called Maurmet the other Casherokenit Seuen dayes iourney to the South-west of Ashamabaga there is another Riuer that is sixe fathoms to the entrance This Riuer is named Shawakotoc and is halfe a myle broad it runneth into the Land fiftie dayes iourney but foure dayes from the entrance it is so narrow that the Trees growing on each side doe so crosse with their boughes and bodies on the other as it permitteth not any meanes to passe with Boates that way for which cause the Inhabitants that on any occasion are to trauell to the head are forced to goe by Land taking their way vpon the West side At the end of this Riuer there is a Lake of foure dayes iourney long and two dayes broad wherein are two Ilands To the North-West foure daies iourney from this Lake at the head of this Riuer Shawakatoc there is a small Prouince which they call Crokemago wherein is one Towne This is the Westermost Riuer of the Dominions of Bashabez and Quibiquisson the Westermost To the Reader I Haue thought good to adde to the English Plantations in New England those in the neighbour Countrey of New-found-land This was first discouered Ann. 1497. by S. Sebastian Cabot set forth by King Henry the seuenth the Voyages followed of M. Rut Albert de Prato M. Hore and others Ann. 1583. actuall and formall possession was taken in the right of Queene Elizabeth of glorious memory and her Successours by that memorable Knight Sir Humfrey Gilbert see sup lib. 4. ca. 13. And in the yeere 1609. M. Iohn Guy of Bristoll did write a Treatise to animate the English to plant there a written Copy whereof I haue A. 1610. It pleased his most excellent Maiestie to grant a Patent for a Plantation part whereof the whole might seeme too long for our purpose we haue inserted CHAP. VII The beginning of the Patent for New-found-land and the Plantation there made by the English 1610. deliuered in a Letter dated thence from M. GVY to M. SLANY Also of the weather the three first Winters and of Captaine WESTON with other remarkable Occurrents IAMES by the Grace of GOD of Great Brittaine France and Ireland King Defendour of the Faith c. To all people to whom these Presents shall come greeting Know yee whereas diuers Our louing and well disposed Subiects are desirous to make Plantation to inhabite and to establish a Colony or Colonies in the Southerne and Easterne parts of the Countrey and I le or Ilands commonly called New-found-land vnto the Coast and Harbour whereof the Subiects of this our Realme of England haue for the space of fiftie yeeres and vpwards yeerely vsed to resort in no small numbers to fish intending by such Plantation and inhabiting both to secure and make safe the said Trade of Fishing to Our Subiects for euer And also to make some commendable benefit for the vse of mankind by the lands and profits thereof which hitherto from the beginning as it seemeth manifest hath remained vnprofitable And for better performance of such their purpose and intentions haue humbly besought Our Regall Authoritie and assistance Wee being well assured that the same Land or Countrey adioyning to the foresaid Coasts where Our Subiects vse to fish remaineth so destitute and desolate of inhabitance that scarce any one Sauage person hath in many yeeres beene seene in the most parts thereof And well knowing that the same lying and being so vacant is as well for the reasons aforesaid as for many other reasons very commodious for Vt and Our Dominions And that by the Law of Nature and Nations We may of Our Royall Authoritie possesse our selues and make graunt thereof without doing wrong to any other Prince or State considering they cannot iustly pretend any Soueraigntie or Right thereunto in respect that the same remaineth so vacant and not actually possessed and inhabited by any Christian or other whomsoeuer And therefore thinking it a matter and action well beseeming a Christian King to make true vse of that which God from the beginning created for mankind And therefore intending not onely to worke and procure the benefit and good of many of Our Subiects
night to the harbour that we were in at our entring which we call Flag-staffe Harbour because we found there the Flag-staffe throwne by the Sauages away These Sauages by all likelihood were animated to come vnto vs by reason that wee tooke nothing from them at Sauage Bay and some of them may be of those which dwell there For in no other place where we were could we perceiue any tokens of any aboade of them c. CHAP. VIII Captaine RICHARD WHITBOVRNES Voyages to New-found-land and obseruations there and thereof taken out of his Printed Booke IT it well knowne that my breeding and course of life hath beene such as that I haue long time set many people on worke and spent most of my daies in trauell specially in Merchandizing and Sea-Voyages I haue beene often in France Spain Italy Portugall Sauoy Denmarke Norway Spruceland the Canaries and Soris Ilands and for the New-found-land it is almost so familiarly knowne to me as my owne Countrey In the yeere 1588. I serued vnder the then Lord Admirall as Captaine in a Ship of my owne set forth at my charge against the Spanish Armado and after such time as that seruice was ended taking my leaue of his Honour I had his fauourable Letters to one Sir Robert Denuis in the Countie of Deuon Knight whereby there might be some course taken that the charge as well of my owne Ship as also of two other and a Pinnace with the victuals and men therein imploied should not be any way burthensome to me Wherein there was such order giuen by the then right Honorable Lords of the priuie Counsell that the same was well satisfied which seruice is to be seene recorded in the Booke at White-Hall Now to expresse some of my Voyages to the New-found-land which make most for the present purpose My first Voyage thither was about fortie yeeres since in a worthie Shippe of the burthen of three hundred â—un set forth by one Master Cotton of South-hampton wee were bound to the Grand Bay which lieth on the Northside of that Land purposing there to trade then with the Sauage people for whom we carried sundry commodities and to kill Whales and to make Traine Oyle as the Biscaines doe there yeerely in great abundance But this our intended Voyage was ouerthrowne by the indiscretion of our Captaine and faint-hartednesse of some Gentlemen of our Companie whereupon we set faile from thence and bare with Trinity Harbour in New-found-land where we killed great store of Fish Deere Beares Beauers Seales Otters and such like with abundance of Sea-fowle and so returning for England wee arriued safe at South-hampton In a Voyage to that Countrie about six and thirtie yeeres since I had then the command of a worthy Ship of two hundred and twenty tun set forth by one Master Crooke of South-hampton At that time Sir Humfrey Gilbert a Deuonshire Knight came thither with two good Ships and a Pinnace and brought with him a large Patent from the late most renowned Queene Elizabeth and in her name tooke possession of that Countrie in the Harbour of Saint Iohns whereof I was an eye-witnesse He failed from thence towards Virginia and by reason of some vnhappy direction in his course the greatest Ship he had strucke vpon Shelues on the Coast of Canadie and was there lost with most part of the company in her And he himselfe being then in a small Pinnace of twenty tun in the company of his Vice-Admirall one Captaine Hayes returning towards England in a great storme was ouerwhelmed with the Seas and so perished In another Voyage I made thither about foure and thirty yeeres past wherein I had the command of a good Ship partly mine one at that time own Sir Bernard Drake of Deuonshire Knight came thither with a Commission and hauing diuers good Ships vnder his command hee there took many Portugall Ships laden with Fish and brought them into England as Prizes Omitting to speak of other Voyages I made thither during the late Queens raign I will descend to later times In the yeere 1611. being in New-found-land at which time that famous Arch-Pirate Peter Easton came there and had with him ten saile of good Ships well furnished and very rich I was kept eleuen weekes vnder his command and had from him many golden promises and much wealth offered to be put into my hands as it is well knowne I did perswade him much to desist from his euill course his intreaties then to me being that I would come for England to some friends of his and sollicite them to become humble petitioners to your Maiestie for his pardon but hauing no warrant to touch such goods I gaue him thinkes for his offer onely I requested him to release a Ship that he had taken vpon the Coast of Guinnie belonging to one Captaine Rashly of Foy in Cornewall a man whom I knew but onely by report which he accordingly released Whereupon I prouided men victuals and a fraught for the said Ship and so sent her home to Dartmouth in Donen though I neuer had so much as thankes for my kindenesse therein And so leauing Easton I came for England and gaue notice of his intention letting passe my Voyage I intended for Naples and lost both my labour and charges for before my arriuall there was a pardon granted and sent him from Ireland But Easton houering with those ships and riches vpon the Coast of Barbary as he promised with a longing desire and full expectation to be called home lost that hope by a too much delaying of time by him who carried the Pardon Whereupon he failed to the Straights of Gibraltar and was afterwards entertained by the Duke of Sauoy vnder whom he liued rich I was there also in the yeere 1614. when Sir Henry Manwaring was vpon that Coast with fiue good Ships strongly prouided he caused me to spend much time in his company and from him I returned into England although I was bound from thence to Marsseâ—â—is to make sale of such goods as I then had and other imploiments c. In the yeere 1615. I returned againe to New-found-land carrying with mee a Commission out of the high Court of Admiraltie vnder the great Seale thereof authorising me to empannell Iuries and to make inquirie vpon Oath of sundry abuses and disorders committed amongst Fishermen yeerly vpon that Coast and of the fittest means to redâ—esse the same with some other points hauing a more particular relation to the Office of the Lord Admirall What was then there done by vertue of that Commission which was wholly executed at my owne charge hath bin at large by me already certified into the high Court of Admâ—â—altie Neuerthelesse seeing the same hath beene ouer slipt euer since not produced those good effects which were expected I will in some conuenient place of this Discourse set downe a briefe collection of some part of my endeuours spent in that seruice not doubting but it will be as auaileable for the
reasonable weather both to anchor in and from thence to saile towards either the East West or South It hath three Armes or Riuers long and large enough for many hundred fayle of Ships to moare fast at Anchor neere asmile from the Harbours mouest close adioyning to the Riuers side and within the Harbour is much open land well stored with Grasse suffcient Winter and Summer to maintaine great store of ordinary Cattell besides Hogges and Geats if such beasts were carried thither and it standeth North most of any Harbour in the Land where our Nation practiseth Fishing It is neere vnto a great Bay lying on the North side of it called the Bay of Flowers to which place no Ships repaire to fish partly in regard of sundry Rockes and Ledges lying euen with the water and full of danger but â—niefly as I coniecture because the Sauage people of that Countrey doe there inhabite many of then secretly euery yeere come into Trinitie Bay and Harbour in the night time purposely to steale Sailes Lines Hatchets Hookes Kniues and such like And this Bay is not three English miles ouer Land from Trinitie Bay in many places which people if they might bee reduced to the knowledge of the true Trinitie indeed no doubt but it would bee a most sweâ—â— and acceptable sacrifice to God an euerlasting honour to your Maiesty and the heauenliest blessing to those poore Creatures who are buried in their own superstious ignorance The taske thereof would proue easie if it were but well begun and constantly seconded by industrious spirits and no doubt but God himselfe would set his hand to reare vp and aduance so noble so pious and so Christian a building The bottome of the Bay of Trinity lieth within foure leagues through the land South-west Southerly from Trinity as by experience is found and it comes neere vnto the Bay of Trepassey and the bottome of some other Bayes as I haue alreadie touched before Trepassey in like manner is as commodious a Harbour lying in a more temperate climate almost in 46. degrees the like latitude and is both faire and pleasant and a wholesome Coast free from Rockes and Shelues so that of all other Harbours it lies the South-most of any Harbour in the Land and most conueniently to receiue our Shipping to and from Uirginia and the Bermuda Ilands and also any other Shipping that shall passe to and from the Riuer of Canady and the Coast thereof because they vsually passe and returne in the sight of the Land of Trepasse and also for some other purposes as shall be partly declared in the following discourse The soile of this Countrie in the Vallies and sides of the Mountaines is so fruitfull as that in diuers places there the Summer naturally produceth out of the fruitfull wombe of the earth without the labour of mans hand great plentie of greene Pease and Fitches faire round full and wholesome as our Fitches are in England of which I haue there fed on many times the hawmes of them are good fodder for Cattell and other Beasts in the winter with the helpe of Hay of which there may be made great store with little labour in diuers places of the Countrie Then haue you there faire Strawberries red and white and as faire Raspasse berrie and Gooseberries as there be in England as also multitudes of Bilberries which are called by some Whortes and many other delicate Berries which I cannot name in great abundance There are also many other fruites as small Peares sowre Cherries Filberds c. And of these Berries and Fruits the store is there so great that the Marriners of my Ship and Barkes Companie haue often gathered at once more then halfe an Hogshead would hold of which diuers times eating their fill I neuer heard of any man whose health was thereby any way impaired There are also Herbes for Sallets and Broth as Parslie Alexander Sorrell c. And also Flowers as the red and white Damaske Rose with other kindes which are most beautifull and delightfull both to the sight and smell And questionlesse the Countrie is stored with many Physicall herbs and roots albeit their vertues are not knowne because not sought after yet within these few yeeres many of our Nation finding themselues ill haue bruised some of the herbs and streined some of the iuice into Beere Wine or Aquauite and so by Gods assistance after a few drinkings it hath restored them to their former health The like vertue it hath to cure a wound or any swelling either by washing the grieued places with some of the herbes boiled or by applying them so thereunto plaister-wise which I haue seene by often experience This being the naturall fruitfulnesse of the earth producing such varietie of things fit for foode without the labour of man I might in reason hence inferre that if the same were manured and husbanded in some places as our grounds are it would be apt to beare Corne and no lesse fertill then the English soile But I neede not confine my selfe to probabilities seeing our men that haue wintred there diuers yeeres did for a triall and experiment thereof sowe some small quantitie of Corne which I saw growing verie faire and they found the increase to be great and the graine very good and it is well knowne to me and diuers that trade there yeerely how that Cabbage Carrets Turneps Lettice and such like proue well there In diuers parts of the Countrie there is great store of Deere some Hares manie Foxes Squirrels Beuers Wolues and Beares with other sorts of Beasts seruing as well for necessitie as for profit and delight Neither let me seeme ridiculous to annex a matter of noueltie rather then weight to this discourse In the yeere 1615. it was well knowne to eight and fortie persons of my Companie and diuers other men that three seuerall times the Wolues Beasts of the Countrie came downe neere them to the Sea-side where they were labouring about their Fish howling and making a noise so that at each time my Mastiffe Dogge went vnto them as the like in that Countrie hath not been seene the one began to fawne and play with the other and so went together into the Woods and continued with them euerie of these times nine or ten daies and did returne vnto vs without any hurt The Land Fowle besides great number of small Birds flying vp and downe some without name that liue by scraping their food from the earth in the hardest winter that is there are also Hawkes great and small Partridges Thrush and Thrussels abundance very fat As also Filladies Nightingales and such like that sing most pleasantly There are also Birds that liue by prey as Rauens Gripes Crowes c. For Water-fowle there is certainly so good and as much varietie as in any part of the world as Geese Dâ—cks Pidgeons Gulls Penguins and many other sorts These Penguins are as bigge
with Stafford to kill the Queene making great promises to that purpose And he and Moody were further treated with on that point by Trappius his Secretary which by Stafford was reuealed and preuented But whiles all pretended the freeing of the Queen of Scots by this meanes they shortned her dayes and freed her of her life The story is knowne and I shall not need to insist vpon these later things nor on Tyrones Tragicall rebellion the death of so many thousands English Irish Spanish noâ— Lopez his plot to poison the Queene c. I but propound these things to excite English thankfulnesse to God and hatred to that Whoore drunken with bloud which hath thus enchanted the Kings of the earth yea like the Legion Deuill hath broken all chaines of allegeance and hath initiated in hellish mysteries naturall sworne subiects to inuasion and mutuall massacres yea to account it tolerable lawfull commendable meritorious and in ordine ad deum necessary ô times ô monsters to kill and murther and hath made it a compendious way to win the Kingdome of Heauen by killing the Kings of the Earth And if the bloud of so many Saints from Abel to Zacharias were threatned to fall on Ierusalem sometimes the holy Citie what may be said of Rome whose Temporall Monarchy first founded in the bloud of Rhemus brother of Romulus proceeded in exiling their owne Kings and in exterminating worlds of men out of the world Caesar alone is said in fiftie battells to haue slaine 1192000. men besides what was slaine in his Ciuill Warres in a world of time together exceeded in the sanctitie of the bloud of so many thousand Saints and Martyrs in ten dismall persecutions and yet fell short of the pretended Catholike Rome that mysticall Woman drunken with bloud I dare boldly auer and by History make it good yea in great part to a iudicious obseruer the former parts of this Worke haue shewed that since the Papall challenge of Monarchy ouer Monarkes by Gregory the seuenth the Deuills thousand yeeres of imprisonment being expired Antichristian Rome hath by Sword Fire Warres Ciuill and Forraine and other inhumane immane diuellish furies procured the shedding of more humane bloud then euer Heathen Rome in farre longer time had shed to erect their Heathenish Empire from the dayes of Romulus which founded the Citie to Augustus which grounded and stablished the Empire and Tiberius vnder whom Christ was crucified Yea if you adde the persecutions of the succeeding Emperors till Iulian the Apostata yet haue the later Antichristian exceeded in numbers as much as the executions of Warres are vsually beyond all comparison of the Iudiciall and Legall I adde that as the Ethnike Romans spilt none except in persecutions but Ethnike bloud so the pretended Christan Romists except in the Indies and the Holy Land Wars shed none in this account but Christian. This may seem a prodigal speech prodigious paradox to those which know not the millions which perished in the Holy Land Wars set kept on foot about 200. yeers together by Papall ambition so many hundreths of thousands which perished in the same times by open warres made by the Popes Crusados against the Albigenses Waldenses and what other names it pleased them to giue to better men then themselues in almost eightie yeeres continued warres So many Ciuill Warres in Germany the subiects and competitors armed by Crusados against the Emperours till that Eagle was plucked where one Henry whom Hildebrand first deposed fought sixtie battells In England France Italy and other parts in the daies of King Iohn Fredericke the second Coâ—radâ— Memfred Phillip and others and after that the long Bohemian broiles drenched in bloud after Husses fire and lately so innumerable millions pauperis est numerare in America and the Ilands which these bookes plainly euince to haue beene written in bloud by Roman authoritie and pretence not to make mention of the Philippinas the East Indies the Wars in Sicile and Naples and the Greeke Empire first weakned and after by Roman ambition lost how many hundreth thousands hath France lost of Christians within these last hundreth yeeres how many more haue taken their fatall farewells in the Belgian quarrell How doe those Low-countries and Germany still flow in bloud That I speake not of our England and Ireland But I hate the thoughts of those things and therefore come to the 88. businesse that also set on worke from Rome the widest and openest passage from hell for his ingresse and egresse that was a Murtherer from the beginning and in the last ages turning himselfe into an Angell of light hath there established his principall Vicar vnder pretended titles and seemings of Christ and Christianitie Yea this is also remarkable that in the treasons against Queene Elizabeth and in those against our present Souereigne King Iames whom God long preserue by Watson Clerke Cobham c. at first and in the Master and Monster-peece which was now ready to breake forth with violence and virulence from Hell and to blow vp all other Treasons that of the Gun-powder Traitors still the busiest part of the Tragedie is committed to some Romish Priest or Iesuite who should fit and frame the resolute dissolutenesse of wild spirits to the execution of it or themselues The Master Workman I say not Beelzebub is the Pope as appeareth in those before mentioned and in this of 88. whose Bull declaratory against that Worthy of women followeth as the contents thereof are deliuered by Meteranus to whose labours in this Story wee are principally indetted It was to be published in the Popes name by Cardinall Allen after the Nauie had arriued in England to command the English to yeeld their obedience to the Duke of Parma From the Pope therefore wee will begin our 88 Story touching the preparation and successe of that Armada sirnamed inuincible CHAP. XI Octagesimus Octauus mirabilis Annus The Popes Bull the King of Spaines preparations the Duke of Medinas Expedition the Duke of Parmas Forces for the inuasion of England diuers Sea-fights twixt the English and Spanish Fleets the Sea flight of the Spanish and miserable disasters in their returne Their lies The Queens Religious Triumph SIxtus Quintus by diuine prouidence vniuersall Pastor of the Flock of Christ to whom by continued and lawfull succession the administration and charge of the Catholike Church pertaineth taking into consideration the miseries and calamities whereinto the famous Kingdomes of England and Ireland had falne which in times past were commended so much for Vertues Religion and Christian Pietie and Obedience and now by the impious and vniust Empire of Elizabeth pretended Queene and a few adhering to her not onely to haue come to a dissolute estate and dangerous to it selfe but also as infected and venemous members are wont to cause infection and disease to the whole body of Christians and wanting there the due remedies which elswhere by help of
which he honestly performed There was taken out of the Castle some hundred Shot and Pikes which Dâ—n Emanuel furnished his Portugalls withall and twentie Barrells of Powder so as possessing both the Town and the Castle we rested there one day wherin some Friars and other poore men came vnto their new King promising in the name of their Countrey next adioyning that within two dayes hee should haue a good supply of Horse and Foot for his assistance That day wee remained there the Generals company of horses were vnshipped The Generalls there fully resolued that the Armie should march ouer Land to Lisbâ—â— vnder the conduct of Generall Norris and that Generall Drake should meet him in the Riuer thereof with the Fleet that there should bee one Company of Foot left in guard of the Castle and six in the Ships also that the sicke and hurt should remaine there with prouisions for their cures In this march Captaine Crispe the Prouest Marshall caused one who contrary to the Proclamation published at our arriuall in Portugall had broken vp an house for pillage to bee hanged with the cause of his death vpon his breast in the place where the act was committed which good example prouidently giuen in the beginning of our march caused the commandement to be more respectiuely regarded all the iourney after by them whom feare of punishment doth only hold within compasse The Campe lodged that night at Loriâ—â—â— the next day we had intelligence all the way that the enemy had made head of Horse and Foot against vs at Tâ—rres Uedras which wee thought they would haue held but comming thither the second day of our march not two houres before our Vantgard came in they left the Towne and Castle to the possession of Don Antonio There began the greatest want we had of victuals especially of bread vpon a commandement giuen from the Generall that no man should spoile the Country or take any thing from any Portugall which was more respectiuely obserued then I thinke would haue bin in our owne Countrey amongst our owne friends and kindred but the Countrey contrary to promise wholly neglected the prouision of victuals for vs wherby we were driuen for that time into a great scarsity Which moued the Colonell Generall to call all the Colonells together and with them to aduise of some better course for our people who thought it best first to aduertise the King what necessitie we were in before we should of our selues alter the first institution of abstinence The Colonell generall hauing acquainted the Generall herewith with his very good allowance thereof went to the King who after some expostulations vsed tooke the more carefull order for our men and after that our Armie was more plentifully relieued The third day we lodged our Armie in three sundry Villages the one Battalion lying in Exarama de los Caualleres another in Exar 〈…〉 de Obispo and the third in Sâ—â— Saâ—astian Captain Yâ—rke who commanded the Generalls Horse Company in this march made triall of the valour of the Horsemen of the enemy who by one of his Corporal 's charged with eight Horses thorow fortie of them and himselfe thorow more then two hundred with some fortie Horses who would abide him no longer then they could make way from him The next day we marched to Loves and had diuers Intelligences that the enemy would tarry vs there for the Cardinall had made publike promise to them of Lisâ—on that he would fight with vs in that place which he might haue done aduantageously for we had a Bridge to passe ouer in the same place but before our comming he dislodged notwithstanding it appeared vnto vs that hee had in purpose to incampe here for wee found the ground staked out where their trenches should haue bin made and their Horsemen with some few Shot shewed themselues vpon an Hill at our comming into that Village whom Sir Henry Norris whose Regiment had the point of the Vantgard thought to draw vnto some fight and therefore marched without sound of Drum and somewhat faster then ordinary thereby to get neere them before he were discouered for hee was shadowed from them by an Hill that was betweene him and them but before he could draw his Companies any thing neete they retired Generall Drakes Regiment that night for the commoditie of good lodging drew themselues into a Village more then one English mile from thence and neere the enemy who not daring to doe any thing against vs in foure dayes before tooke that occasion and in the next morning fell downe vpon that Regiment crying Uiua el Rey Don Antonio which was a generall salutation thorow all the Countrey as they came whom our young Souldiers though it were vpon their guard and before the watch were discharged began to entertaine kindly but hauing got within their guard they fell to cut their throats but the alarme being taken inwards the Officers of the two next Companies whose Captaines Captain Sydnam and Captain Young were lately dead at the Groine brought downe their Colours and Pikes vpon them in so resolute manner as they presently draue them to retire with losse they killed of ours at the first entrance fourteene and hurt six or seuen The next day we lodged at Alâ—elana within three miles of Lisbon where many of our Souldiers drinking in two places of standing waters by the way were poysoned and thereon presently dyed Some doe thinke it came rather by eating of Hony which they found in the houses plentifully But whether it were by Water or by Hony the poore men were poisoned That night the Earle of Essex and Sir Roger Williams went out about eleuen of the clocke with 1000. men to lie in ambuscade neere the Town and hauing laied the same very neere sent some to giue the alarme vnto the enemy which was well performed by them that had the charge thereof but the enemy refused to issue after them so that the Earlâ— returned as soone as it was light without doing any thing though he had in purpose and was ready to haue giuen an honourable charge on them The 25. of May in the euening we came to the Suburbs of Lisbon at the very entrance whereof Sir Roger Williams calling Captaine Anthomy Wingfield with him tooke thirtie Shot or thereabouts and first scowred all the Streets till they came very neere the Towne where they found none but old folkes and beggars crying V 〈…〉 el Rey Dâ—â— Antonio and the houses shut vp for they had carried much of their wealth into the Towne and had fired some houses by the waterside full of Corne and other prouisions of victualls least wee should be benefited thereby but yet left behind them great riches in many houses The foure Regiments that had the vantguard that day which were Colonell Deuâ—reux Sir Edward Norris Colonell Sidneys and Generall Drâ—kes whom I name as they marched the Colonell generall caused to hold guard in the
from the Generall â—lowne vp by mine the company was drawne away During the time we lay in the Road our Fleet began the second of Iune and so continued six dayes after to fetch in some Hulks to the number of threescore of Dansik Stetin Rostock Lubeck and Hamburgh laden with Spanish goods and as it seemed for the Kings prouision and going for Lisbâ—â— their principall lading was Corne Masts Cables Copper and Waxe amongst which were some of great burthen wonderfull well builded for sailing which had no great lading in them and therefore it was thought they were brought for the Kings prouision to reinforce his decaied Nauie whereof there was the greater likelihood in that the owner of the greatest of them which carried two misnes was knowne to be very inward with the Cardinall who rather then he would be taken with his ships committed himselfe vnto his small Boate wherein he recouered Saint Sebastians into the which our men that before were in flie-boates were shipped and the Flie-boates sent home with an offer of Corne to the value of their hire But the winde being good for them for Rochel they chose rather to loose their Corne then the winde and so departed The Generall also sent his Horses with them and from thence shipped them into England The third of Iune Colonell Deuereux and Colonell Sidney being both very sicke departed for England who in the whole iourney had shewed themselues very forward to all seruices and in their departure very vnwilling to leaue vs that day we embarked all our Army but lay in the road vntill the eight thereof The sixt-day the Earle of Essex vpon receit of Letters from her Maiesty by them that brought in the victuals presently departed towards England with whom Sir Roger Williams was very desirous to goe but found the Generals very vnwilling he should do so in that he bare the next place vnto them and if they should miscarry was to command the Army And the same day there came vnto vs two small â—â—arkes that brought tidings of some other ships come out of England with victuals which were passed vpwards to the Cape for meeting with whom the second day after we set saile for that place in purpose after our meeting with them to goe with the Iles of Azores the second day which was the ninth we met with them comming backe againe towards vs whose prouision little answered our expectation Notwithstanding we resolued to continue our course for the Ilands About this time wâ—â— the Marchant Royall with three or foure other ships sent to Peniche to fetch away the companies that were leâ—â— chere but Captain Barton hauing receiued Letters from the Generalâ— that were 〈◊〉 ouerland was departed before not being able by reason of the enemies speedy marching thither either to bring away the artillery or all his men according to the direction those letters gaue him for he was no sooner gone then the enemy possessed the Towne and Castle and shot at out ships as they came into the road At this time also was the Ambassadoor from the Emperor of Marocco called Reys Hamet Bencasamp returned and with him M. Ciprian a Gentleman of good place and desert who sent from Don Autoniâ— and Captaine O 〈…〉 y from the Generals to the Emperour The next morning the nine Gallâ—â—â— which were sent not fiue daies before out of Andaluzia for the strengthening of the Ruer or Lisbâ—â— which being ioyned with the other twelue that were there before though we lay hard by them at Saâ—nt Iulians durst neuer make any attempt against vs vpon our departure from thence 〈◊〉 returning home and in the morning being a very dead calme in the dawning thereof fell in the winde of our fleet in the vttermost part whereof they assailed one stragling Barke of Plimmouth of the which Captaine Cauerley being Captaine of the land company with his Lientenant the Master and some of the Marriners abandoned the ship and betooke them to the ship-boats whereof one in which the Master and the Captaine were was ouer 〈…〉 with the Gallies and they drowned There were also two Hulkes stragled far from the strength of the other ships which were so calmed as neither they could get to vs nor we to them though all the great ships towed with their Boats to haue relieued them but could not be recouered in one of which was Captaine Miâ—shaw with his company who fought with them to the last yea after his ship was on fire which whither it was fired by himselfe or by them we could not well discerne but might easily iudge by his long and good fight that the enemy could not but sustain much losse who setting also vpon one other Hulke wherein was but a Lieutenant and he very sicke wereby the valour of the Lieutenant put off although they had first beaten her with their artillery and attempted to boord her And seeing also one other Hulke a league off a sterne of vs they made towards her but finding that she made ready to fight with them they durst not further attempt her whereby it seemed their losse being great in the other fights they were loath to proceede any further From 〈◊〉 day till the nineteenth of Iune our direction from the Generall was that if the winde were Northerly we should plie for the Azores but if Southerly for the Iles of Bayon We lay with contrary windes about that place and the Rocke till the Southerly winde preuailing carried vs to Bayon among whom was Sir Henry Norris in the Ayde who had a purpose if the Admirals had not come in with some 500 men out of them all to haue landed and attempted the taking of Vigo The rest of the fleet held with generall Drake who though he were two dayes before put vpon those Ilands cast off againe to Sea for the Azores but remembring how vnprouided he was for that iourney and seeing that he had lost company of his great ships returned for Bayon and came in there that night in the euening where hee passed vp the Riuer more then a mile aboue Uigo The next morning wee landed as many as were able to fight which were not in the whole aboue two thousand men for in the seuenteene dayes we continued on boord wee had cast many of our men ouer-boord with which number the Colonell generall marched to the Towne of Uigo neere the which when hee approached he sent Captaine Anthony Wingfield with a troupe of shot to enter one side of the same who found vpon euery streâ—tes end a strong barricade but altogether abandoned for hauing entred the Towne he found but one man therein but might see them making way before him to Bayon On the other side the Towne entred Generall Drake with Captaine Richard Wingfield whose approach on that side I thinke made them leaue the places they had so artificially made for defence there were also certaine ships sent with the Vice-admirall to lye close before
the Towne to beate vpon the same with their artillery In the afternoone were sent three hundred vnder the conduct of Captaine Petuiâ— and Captain Henry Poure to burne another Village betwixt that and Bayon called Borsis and as much of the Countrie as the day would giue them leaue to doe which was a very pleasant rich Valley but they burnt it all houses and corne as did others on the other side of the Town both that and the next day so as the Countrey was spoiled seuen or eight miles in length There was found great store of Wine in the Town but not any thing else for the other daies warning of the ships that came first in gaue them a respit to carry all away The next morning by breake of the day the Colonell generall who in the absence of the Generals that were on boord their ships commanded that night on shoare caused all our Companies to be drawne out of the Towne and sent in two troupes to put fire in euery house of the same which done we imbarked againe This day there were certaine Mariners which without any direction put themselues on shoare on the contrary side of the Riuer from vs for pillage The same day the Generals seeing what weake estate our Army was drawne into by sicknes determined to man and victuall twenty of the best ships for the Ilands of Azâ—res with Generall Drake to see if he could meete with the Indian Fleet and Generall Norris to returne home with the rest And for the shirting of men and victuals accordingly purposed the next morning to fall downe to the Ilands of Bayon againe and to remaine there that day But Generall Drake according to their appointment being vnder saile neuer strooke at the Ilands but put straight to Sea whom all the Fleet followed sauing three and thirty which being in the Riuer further then he and at the entrance of the same finding the winde and tide too hard against them were inforced to cast ancre there for that night amongst whom by good fortune was the Foresight and in her Sir Edward Norris And the night following Generall Norris being driuen from the rest of the Fleet by a great storme for all that day was the greatest storme we had all the time we were out came againe into the Ilands but not without great perill he being forced to turst to a Spanish Fisher-man who was taken two dayes before at Sea to bring him in The next morning he called a counsell of as many as he found there holding the purpose hee had concluded with Sir Francis Drake the day before and directed all their courses for England tarrying there all that day to water and helpe such with victuall as were left in wonderfull distresse by hauing the victuals that came last carried away the day before to Sea The next day he set saile and the tenth day after which was the second of Iuly came into Plimmouth where he found Sir Francis Drake and all the Queenes ships with many of the others but not all for the Fleete was dispersed into other harbours some led by a desire of returning from whence they came and some being possessed of the hulkes sought other Ports from their Generals eye where they might make their priuate commoditie of them as they haue done to their great aduantage Presently vpon their arriuall there the Generals dissolued all the armie sauing eight companies which are yet held together giuing euery Souldier fiue shillings in money and the armes he bare to make money of which was more then could by any meanes be due vnto them for they were not in seruice three moneths in which time they had their victuals which no man will value at lesse then halfe their pay for such is the allowance in her Maiesties ships to her Mariners so as there remained but ten shillings a moneth to be paid for which there was not any priuate man but had apparell and furniture to his owne vse so as euery common Souldier discharged receiued more in money victuals apparell and furniture then his pay did amount vnto CHAP. XIII A briefe and true report of the Honorable Voyage vnto Cadiz 1596. of the ouerthrow of the Kings Fleete and of the winning of the Citie with other accidents gathered out of METERANVS Master HACKLVYT and others AFter that Callis had beene taken by Cardinall Albert Archduke of Austria which afterwards by Papall dispensation married the Lady Isabella EugeniaClara Infanta who yet gouerneth the Belgians which acknowledge the Spaniard Queene Elizabeth thought it fitter to inuade the Spaniard at home then to expect his forces here The said Cardinall and Archduke of Austria had planted his vnexpected siedge before Callis and begun his vnwelcome battery on Wednesday the 17. of April 1596. and the Towne desired truce for foure and twenty houres which was reiected whereupon they yeelded themselues presently vpon condition of life and goods saued and sixe dayes cruce to be giuen them with liberty either to stay in the Citie or to goe to the Castle and if the King of Nauarre Henry the fourth the French King did not in that space relieue them they were to yeelde the Castle Most of them betooke themselues to the Castle and left their empty houses to the Conquerours The night before the truce expired they began to shoot at the Spaniards who had now made so fatall preparations that the next day Aprill 24. before noone they had beaten downe the wals and entered the Gouernour of the Towne and diuers others being slaine Queene Elizabeth meane while had prepared aide and the Souldiers and Ships at Leigh in Essex were detained by the windes which then were Easterly and instead of carrying the English thither brought hither the terrible thunders of the Spanish Ordnance insomuch that I haue heard that they shooke the looser glasse out of the windowes in Douer and filled the shoares of Essex Kent with the hideous reports of Calis her vnauoidable ruine And thus in so short time the Cardinall won that ancient Port by Strabo called Itium by Piolorâ—ey Gessoriacum as Meteranus collecteth which had cost the English eleuen moneths siedge before they vnder Edward the third tooke it An. 1346. They held it 202. yeers at which time Francis Duke of Gâ—â—se in the vnhappy daies of Queen Mary and by reason of her vnluckie ioyning with the Spaniards in their warres against the French recouered it in a few dayes vnlooked for battery to the French and therewith tooke not that Towne alone but the ioy of life also from that vnfortunate Queene both which seeming disasters were the price of Englands faire purchases both gaine and liberty in the dispersing of that Spanish cloud which from the time of the match had houered ouer vs and of the concomitant Antichristian Papall Mists which was a smoake from the bottomlesse pit to them which receiued it and a fire to them which refused it of what degree soeuer and in
seuen miles in circuit at the foot fashioned it is vpward like an Hiue and the top therof most commonly to be discerned within and aboue the clouds This Mountaine hath in it by report many great hollow Caues and deepe Vaults and it is credibly reported that oftentimes it breathes out flames and sparkes of fire as doth the Mountaine Aetna Also at the bottome of this Mountain towards the East there is a great Spring of Fresh-water which is seen many times to issue out flakes and stones of fire with great violence and of the number and bignesse of the stones that are throwne out by the force and source of this Spring and what huge workes they make of the multitudes of them they confidently doe tell strange wonders which I will neither affirme nor deny but leaue indifferent to credit as men list Fayall is so called of Faya which in the Portugues signifieth a Beech Tree wherewith that Iland is said to abound But yet I saw there more store of Iuniper and Cedar then of any other Wood or Timber For Aire and Soyle it is as pleasant and fruitfull as any of the other Ilands and in it are some fiue Townes with many pretie Villages and in this Iland there are yet remaining certaine families of the Flemish race Gratiosa is so called of the exceeding fruitfulnesse of the Soyle and pleasant temper of the Ayre Flores of the abundance of Flowers that grow in it Cueruo of the multitude of Rauens and Crowes breeding therein And that Iland doth also breed Horses Saint Maries Saint Georges and Saint Michaels were so called of those Saints names vpon whose dayes they were first discouered for such is the custome of many Nauigators and especially of the Spaniards and Portugues so to call those Landes that they first make by the Saints day and name wherein they are discouered And these three Ilands for temper and fruitfulnesse are suteable with the others But Saint Michael is the greatest of them all Tercera the strongest and Saint Maries the neerest to the Coast of Spaine But now as wee come neerer to our intended purpose for the better vnderstanding thereof I thinke it very necessary and pertinent somewhat to speake of the chiefe Commanders as well by Sea as by Land and also of the number of our Ships and Souldiers together with the proiect and designe of that iourney then vndertaken for the seruice of her late Maiestie and the Honour of our Nation It is therefore to be vnderstood that Robert Deuereux late Earle of Essex Master of the Horse and Ordnance and Knight of the Garter First commanded in chiefe as well Admirall of the Nauie by Sea as Generall of the Armie by Land His Vice-Admirall was the Lord Thomas Howard Knight of the same Order and second Sonne to the last Thomas Duke of Norfolke a Nobleman much honoured and beloued and of great experience in Sea seruice His Reare-Admirall was Sir Walter Raleigh Knight Captaine of her Maiesties Guard Lord Warden of the Stanneries and Lieftenant of Cornwall For the Land seruice his Leiftenant Generall was Sir Charles Blunt Lord Mountioy Knight of the Garter Gouernour of Portsmouth and a man in high fauour with her late Maiestie His Marshall of the Field was Sir Frauncis Vere Knight a great Souldier and Coronell Generall of the English Forces in the Low-Countries The Master of the Ordnance Sir George Carew Knight Leiftenant of the Ordnance of the Kingdome of England His Sergeant Maior Sir Ferdinando Gorges Knight Gouernour of the Forts of Plimouth The Coronell Generall of the Foot Sir Christopher Blunt Knight The Treasurer of the Armie Sir Hugh Biston Knight one of her Maiesties Receiuers Generall in the Principalities of Walles with all other Officers designed to places requisite that were needful by Land or Sea now too long to rehearse And yet of all the Noblemen I will as neere as I can record their names particularly but craue pardon if I faile in the precedencie of their places The Earles of Essex Rutland and Southampton the Lord Howard the Lord Audley the Lord Gray the Lord Mountioy the Lord Rich and the Lord Cromwell But the particular names of all the Land Captains that had charge I could neuer come to the knowledge of much lesse can I marshall them orderly in this discourse And therefore I will passe to the number of the Ships in generall and therein name some particulars of the chiefe and principall Vessells of the Royall Nauie with their Captaines The whole Nauie which was diuided into three Squadrons viz. The Admirall his Squadron The Vice-Admirall his Squadron and the Reare-Admirall his Squadron consisted of 120. sayle or thereabout whereof sixtie were good men of Warre and gallant Ships the rest Victuallers and Ships of Transportation Of her Maiesties owne Ships the number was eighteene or nineteene and these were their names The Merhoneur Admirall whereof Sir Robert Mansfield was Captaine The Due Repulse Vice-Admirall whereof Master Middleton was Captaine The Wast Spite Reare-Admirall whereof my selfe was Captaine The Garland the Earle of Southampton commanded The Defiance wherein the Lord Mountioy was shipped had for Captaine Sir Amias Preston The Saint Mathew to Sir George Carew Master of the Ordnance The Mary Rose to Sir Francis Vere Marshall whose Captaine was M. Iohn Winter The Dread-nought Sir William Brooke was Captaine of The Nonparellia Sir Richard Luson was Captaine of The Bonouenture Sir William Haruey was Captaine of The Antelope Sir Thomas Vauisâ—r was Captain of The Rainbow Sir William Mounson was Captaine of The Swiftsure Sir Gilly Mericke was Captain of The Golden Lion was sent after for a supply The Hope whereof was Captain The Foresight whereof Sir Carew Reignall was Captaine The Saint Andrew whereof Master Marcellus Throckmorton was Captain The Tramontana whereof young Master Fenner was Captain The Moone whereof Sir Edward Michelboorne was Captaine Besides that there were some other of her Maiesties small Pinnaces that attended the Fleet. The residue or the Fleet aforenamed consisted of the best shipping of London and other Port-Townes of the Kingdome with sundry stout Vestells belonging to some Lords and Gentlemen that were Aduenturers in this Voyage There were also added to this Nauie tenne sayle of good men of Warre sent from the States of the Low-Countries to attend her Maiesties Fleet in this seruice vnder the conduct of one Mounsier de Duneincorde well manned and furnished The Land Army besides Saylers that might be afforded and spared vpon occasion of landing consisted of six thousand able men well appointed with ten Peeces of Artillery for the Field and Battery with all necessary Vtensils fit for them The proportion of victuals was for four months at large allowance double apparell both for Souldier's and Mariners In this Armie there went Knights Captaines and Gentlemen voluntaries fiue hundred at the least as gallant parsonages and as brauely furnished as euer the
before day in a storme the Ship was driuen vpon the lee shoare within Beachy in Sussex and not being able to double that head-head-land in the endeauouring wherof all the Sayles being by violence of weather rent from the yards to auoid running vpon the Rockes they came to an anchor euery Billow ouerwashing the Ships head that neither by pumping nor lading out of the water they were able to free her and the men in her so tired with labour as no hope of safetie was left The last remedy was to cut all the Masts and Tackle ouerbooâ—d which lightened the Ship and by that meanes shee was preserued After thirtie houres of this extreame perill the storme ceased and so by Gods fauour with a Iury Mast which was made of the Boat Mast and the Boat Sayle hauing no Mast nor anchor left but one he arriued vpon Allhollenday in the Downes beyond all expectation of the Masters and Mariners who made no other reckoning then to be lost And these were the accidents that separated Sir George Carew from the Fleet in the huge stormes on Bartholmew day in the Bay of Alchasher as aforesaid In which storme the Saint Andrew at that time spent her mayne top Mast and lost vs for three or foure dayes but all the rest of the Fleet except our Ships which carried the Low-Country Souldiers kept together in the Bay And so many as came to vs after at the Rocke were beaten also from the Admiral in that Bay and so were many other Ships which found vs after at the Rocke to the number of thirty and odde sayle Whereupon a rumour was afterward raised that the Reare-Admirall was gone away with thirty sayle from the Fleet to the ouerthrow of the intended seruice Our Admirall still bare in with the Land the most part of the Fleet followed the same course The next day we made the high Land of Portugall and within some three houres after Cape Prior where our Admirall with diuers other of the Fleet did beare in so close aboord the shore as that all the Country ouer began to kindle fires The which manner of discouering our selues as I do remember was much noted by diuers good Souldiers as well by Sea as Land for indeed it was reputed no great policie nor discretion in vs to run in so close aboard the shoare if we had any secret or sudden exploit to performe on that Coast as it was pretended For that Brauado of ours did but giue them more warning to prouide for themselues and to preuent vs. And I haue obserued that those brauing humours haue of late yeeres been the hindrance and losse of many good fortunes as well in Sir Francis Drake his two last Voyages to the Indies and Sir Iohn Norris in his to Lisbon by staying at the Groyne as also in others c. Towards the euening we put roome againe from the Coast and beat vp and downe in the Bay to free vs from thence expecting a wind where with to double the North Cape which within two or three dayes wee had and so passed along within ten leagues of the Coast by Ferrall the Groyne and Cape Bealim and so weathered the North Cape And as the Fleet together was passing along towards the South almost as farre as the Iles of Bayon our Ship the Wastspite being then a middest them all on the seuen and twentieth of August broke her mayne Yard in sunder in the very middest by the Parrell Whereupon we presently discharged a Peece of Ordnance and made our misfortune knowne to our Admirall who himselfe spake with vs and also at that time had a great leake broken out vpon his owne Ship And there by his order and permission we were willed to repaire our mayne Yard the best wee could and vntill it were finished in that birth to goe on with our Fore-sayle towardes the Rocke before the winde whiles hee with the Fleet would in towardes the Coast and so wee there to ply vp and downe about the height of the Rocke vntill his Lordship came vnto vs or during the dayes limited in the generall instructions and thence to passe onwards to the South Cape and there to remaine according to the said directions And yet wee did not for two dayes after depart though to our great disease for wee wallowed in the trough of the Sea and rowled so extreamely as that wee had like to haue lost our mayne Mast also After this order giuen wee presently tooke aduice the best wee could and set our hands together for the repayring and finishing of our mayne Yard being broken in the Parrell a very euill place to amend wherein that night wee could doe little good more then to free the Sayles and Tackle from it Notwithstanding the very next morning the Admirall sent a commandement to vs that wee should presently attend him with all speed for that hee meant to put in with the Land The which wee were altogether vnable to performe our mayne Yard being in sunder and impossible it was so suddenly in one night to repayre it and without it wee were not able to worke vpon a wind as all Mariners know hauing but our Fore-sayle and Mizen and the winde almost of the Land so as it had beene but an idle labour for the more we striued the faster wee fell off Besides if wee could haue layd the Land with that sayle it had beene a madnesse to put our selues vpon the Enemies Coast in that estate for if the wind had then changed to the West we wanting all our mayne Sayles must haue yeelded or perished So as in regard of this necessitie we did for two daies as aforesaid ply vp and down vntill wee had repaired our Yard and fitted our sayles vnto it being now fiue foot shorter then it was before Whilest wee were thus distressed on our Enemies Coast Sir William Brooke Captaine of the Dread-nought came vnto vs and tarried with vs out of his owne charitie and friendly disposition for there were no directions that wee heard of giuen to any to accompany vs in that distresse Onely the Vice-Admirall of his owne noble care very kindly and honourably hayled vs and offered what comfort and helpe hee could giue vs some others afterwards did the like But we hauing yeelded due thankes to the Vice-Admirall for such his noble care and curtesie desired no more company but wished all others of our Squadron to repaire vnto the Admirall contenting our selues with Sir William Brooke in the Dread-naught and two or three other small men of our owne Squadron which of their owne accord followed vs. Neither did we in all this time intreat the company of any one Ship more to stay with vs albeit the contrary was very falsly suggested and reported in a strange manner of phrase which was that the Reare-Admirall vpon the breaking of his Mayne-yard willed all his Squadron and those that loued him to keepe him company and not
the company that the Captaine that had taken this Indian Prize had already sent the Admirall a Letter to the same effect Yet the Reare-Admirall for the more suretie doubting that a Letter might miscarry or that no such Letter might bee sent being but an excuse of this Man to put off the trouble of seeking out our Fleet being a matter of great importance commanded one of his small Men that at that time followed vs to deliuer the same aduertisement to our Admirall as hee had receiued it by word of mouth and to vse all diligence to seeke him and the Fleet and to deliuer the report truly in manner as it was related and withall to signifie vnto his Lordship that wee there attended him in that height according to the directions and so would obserue all places and times appointed and that in such sort his Lordship should be sure to heare of vs vpon any occasion to wait on him This message and Messenger could sufficiently witnesse that we had no intent nor desire to abandon the Fleet or to sequester our selues being at the place set downe in the generall instructions This small Man that had this message in charge to deliuer to his Lordship the next day by good hap found out the Fleet and vpon deliuery of this newes within two dayes after our Reare-Admirall receiued two seuerall Letters to one effect from the Admirall one after another First somewhat taxing him for not writing then for his absence and withal requiring him presently to follow him to the Ilands whether he said he would by Gods helpe hasten to find the Adelantado not doubting but to giue his Mistresse a better account of that seruice then the Adelantado should yeeld his Master so or much to that effect the Letters went for I my selfe read them with the Reare-Admirall his permission and therefore can truly report their contents Vpon this suddaine and strict message we presently altered our determination from going to the South-Cape to hast to the Ilands and therfore we presently gaue notice to Sir William Brooke and the rest of our consorts of our Admirall his Letters and what way he meant to take and so instantly without any further delay we shaped our course for the Ilands But in this passage of ours towards the Ilands as wee had a franke wind so met wee with other lets For our Maine-yard began againe to cracke insomuch that wee were inforced to strengthen it with more fishing And as commonly misfortunes neuer come alone so in the necke of this trouble our Mayn-mast began to shrinke also springing great flawes in diuers places in so much that at last we greatly doubted with euery high blast or wind that it would haue beene blowne ouer-boord This sudden disaster much troubled vs and the more to thinke what vnequall constructions would bee made thereof Wee acquainted all the rest of our consorts with this late befallne mischiefe and desired Sir William Brooke in the Dread naught to carry the light for all the company seeing that our ship was so defectiue that we must needs stay to see if we could make the Mast seruiceable but would vse all our best means to come speedily after desiring him and all the rest to hast to our Admiral and to signifie our misfortunes and withal to make the more speed for that if the Adelantado were at the Ilands our Admirals Forces would be wel helped by their companies so for a few hours we and our consorts parted only we retained two little small Men with vs for our better comfort Yet notwithstanding this order and direction giuen so great were our desires to go on our labor such as that the same night wee had new fished our crased Maine-mast with a spare Maine top Mast that lay by vs and then so plied our sayles as that the next day towards the euening wee ouertooke Sir William Brooke againe and the rest of our consorts hasting towards the Ilands as was directed And on the eight of September in the yeere 1597. being Thursday wee made the I le called the Tercera and weathered it to the North-west where we met with an English Merchant that came from Saint Michaels and had layen trading about those Ilands some six weekes together but could not tell vs any newes of our Admirall and the Fleet albeit they were passed by but two dayes before Which shewes how easie a matter it is for shipping to passe by amongst those Ilands vnseene and how difficult it is to find out such Ships among those Ilands as would shelter themselues from men of Warre and couet not to bee met withall seeing that so great a Fleet could passe by vnseene or vnheard of by one that came iust from the Ilands at the same time that our Generall came thither And therefore it is a necessary obseruation for all such men of Warre as would meet or intercept any shipping that doth touch at those Ilands or do come from thence to keep in the maine sea and so to attend their comming forth and not to puzzle themselues with running in amongst those Ilands to seeke for purchase except they haue others of their consorts lying in the Sea at the receite if they chance to slip by which is easily done This Merchant informed vs of certaine West Indian men and two Carracks that a month before had touched there bound for Spaine And by this Merchant wee wrote into England how affaires went In passing thus onwards we discouered Saint Georges Ilands and there we dispatched two of our small men with charge to search about the Islands for our Fleete and to enforme our Admirail that we were going for Flores and Cueruos in hope to meete him there withall willing those small men to come thither vnto vs. And yet I remember many in our Ship were doubtfull and laid great wagers that our Fleet was not yet come to the Islands for that this Merchant could make no report thereof Whilest we were before Saint Georges we were very much becalmed for a day or two and the weather extreamely hot insomuch as the winde could not beare the sailes from the mastes but were faine to hull in the Sea to our great discontentment that before had vsed such great diligence and haste to meete with our Admirall and the rest of the Fleete Notwithstanding the winde began againe to be fauourable and so setting forwards the next of the Ilands that we made were Gratiosa Pyke and Fayall And as we ranged by Gratiosa on the tenth of September about twelue a clocke at night we saw a large and perfect Rainbow by the Moone light in the bignesse and forme of all other Rainbowes but â—n colour much differing for it was more whitish but chiefly inclining to the colour of the flame of fire This made vs expect some extraordinary tempestuous weather but indeede it fell out afterward to be very calme and hot This Rainbow by the Moone light I
time before they had carried all away Besides a great scorne and disgrace wee should doe our selues to enterprise nothing vpon them that had begun the warres shooting first at vs as we roade at ancor and then after their bringing downe to the water side so many Auncients did proudly as it were inuite vs to assaile them if we durst hauing withall hung out a red Flagge of defiance from the top of the high Fort. The hope of the wealth of this good Towne and the ransoming of Houses and Prisoners together with those brauadoes which they shewed did so set on fire all our Mariners and Souldiers as that they began to mutine and raile on the Reare Admirall and at all the Commanders there taxing them for these delaies as not daring to attempt the taking thereof Besides they were the more eagerly set vpon the spoile and gaining of this Towne and Fort for that they saw no great likelihood of benefit by this Voyage but what was gotten ashoare in the Islands In conclusion albeit we heard no newes of our Generall in two dayes more expectation yet at the counsell of Captaines which our Reare Admirall had assembled some of them varied much from the common desire and would by no meanes assent to the landing without my Lord Generall his knowledge And of this opinion was Sir Guilly Mericke Sir Nicholas Parker and some other Captaines Our Reare Admirall with Sir William Brooke my selfe Sir William Haruey and other Gentlemen and Commanders of our Reare Admirall his Squadron called to this consulation were of a contrary opinion iudging that my Lord Generall would repute vs but Idlers and Cowards to lye so long before so good a Towne with so many Ships and men and to doe nothing in his absence seeing them hourely before our eyes so fast to carry and packe away their goods and wealth And this was also 〈…〉 e common opinion and b 〈…〉 te as well of the multitude as of the Low Countrie Captaines But yet the violent and earnest perswasions of Sir Guillie Merricke did so preuaile with vs vrging our obedience and duetie to our Generall as that we staied from the Enterprise at that time and expected our Generals comming one day longer especially for that they perswaded vs if his Lordship came not the next day then themselues would also land with vs. Which when we had also expected in vain and the winde changing somewhat vnfit for that Roade our Reare Admirall and diuers of his Squadron and many other of the Ships following him weied and coasted about the point to the North-west side of the Island some foure miles further from the Towne then we were before and there let fall our ancors being then a better Roade then the first as the winde was changed But Sir Guillie Merricke with some fiue or sixe Ships of his consorts staied still in the first Roade and would not budge When we had in this sort changed our Roade and being now the fourth day of our arriuall before Fayall which was not aboue a daies sailing from the place from whence our Generall sent for vs wee might see before vs a very fine and pleasant Countrie full of little Villages and fruitfull fields and therefore we much desired to refresh our selues aland there with victuals and water as our Generall had promised we should doe when we came to Fayall and as diuers others had done before vs at Flores and as we had then but that we were called away to Fayall by Captaine Champernownes sodaine message from the Generall as was aforesaid And in truth we were in great want of fresh water which we had not renued since our setting out from Plimouth All these occasions considered and we being now retired from the Towne and Forts we all resolued that wee might without offence with a few of our owne men goe ashoare and refresh our selues and seeke for water whereupon we manned a Barge a long Boate and a Pinnace with threescore Muskets and forty Pikes rather to guard our selues in our landing and watering with discretion then expecting any encounter or resistance from the Towne or Forts on the other side of the Island But our men were no sooner placed in our Boates and all things ordered and we ready to put off from the Ships side but we might discouer sixe Auncients of foote and some dosen Horsemen comming on a speedy march from the Towne and Forts directly towards the place where wee were to make our discent for from one side of the high Fort on the Mountaine they might also ouerlooke vs where our ships roade and discouer all our preparation When we had a while aduised of this new Brauado that they went about and saw them still to come on faster with so many strong companies of men or at the least the bodies of men furnished with womens hearts and had made such haste as that they possessed themselues of the Trenches and Flankers where we were to land and there had placed their Companies and Collors attending our approach as they made shew by wauing their Swords and displaying their Auncients in great brauery for doubtlesse they thought we feard to land in their faces because we lay so long before the Town and neuer attempted any thing and were so shrunke aside off after they had prouoked vs so with great shot and many other affronts we seeing that pâ—â—portion of an hundred men prouided onely to guard our watering to be too few to assault and win a landing vpon so many in a place of so great disaduantage and yet disdaining to goe backe or make any shew of feare our Reare Admirall in his Barge rowed to Sir William Brookes Ship and to Sir William Harueyes and desired them and some other Sea Captaines to accompany him in landing with such men as conueniently they could furnish For said he seeing these Spaniards and Portugals are so gallant to seeke and follow vs and to keepe vs from watering wee will try our fortunes with them and either win our landing or gaine a beating Sir William Brooke Sir William Haruey and some others very willingly assented and presently there were made ready with shot and Pike one hundred and sixtie men more in Boates. And after this our Reare Admirall rowing by Captaine Bret Sidney White Berry and other Captaines of the Low Countrie Souldiers that were there abrood in other Ships they all cried out to take them and their companies with them assuring him that if he aduentured to land with Mariners and with his owne attendants without some Companies of Land Souldiers hee would receiue a disgrace He answered that he durst not take any of my Lord Generall his company of the Low Countries no knowing in what seruice he ment to vse them but he was resolued with the Gentlemen and company of his owne Squadron first to make a discent and then to call them and send Boates for them if he proceeded any further and that neither my Lord Generall nor
the benefit of the spoyle which they had carried out of the Towne for safty to that place And at this grosse errour there was much muttering But now diuers of the land officers to colour and excuse their owne default laid this blame also on vs alleadging that we should haue left a good guard vpon the Fort if we had done like men of warre vpon our first landing and then all had bin sure And although this excuse passed at first for some paiment for the common and more ignorant sort yet all men of iudgement could easily perceiue how impossible a matter it was for vs out of foure hundred and sixtie to spare so many as should sufficiently guard two hundred souldiers from sallying out of such a Fort and yet proceede with the recouering of the other Fort and Towne that was before vs. For the defence of both which the Island was able and had in readinesse as our spies and guides assured vs aboue one thousand able men well furnished vpon whom we were to haue a vigilant eye and to keepe a conuenient strength after we had once possessed the Towne But after the Generall was come this might easily haue bin performed or if he had not come they had not fled so suddainly and the same morning wee our selues had attempted the Fort and made no doubt to carry it But then with the presence of our Generall vpon his arriuall all our determinations and authorities were conciuded Afterwards when our men entred this Fort which the Spaniards had abandoned there they found diuers peeces of Artillery and an English Gentleman whose name was Hart and a Flemming with both their throates cut Then were there certaine companies sent abroad the Country to trace those Spaniards and Portugals and to make waste of all that lay in their way But of the Garrison they could neuer recouer one man Now after three or foure dayes the anger and dislikes of our Generall towards vs were well pacified and vpon further consideration and conference with the Reare Admirall of his doings hee grew againe into very kinde tearmes with him and at his suite released and restored all the disgraced Captaines that landed and were in this seruice and so hauing taken all the benefit and refreshing of this Towne and Island that we could come by our time being so short on the foureteenth of September we were all commanded to goe aboord And so for a farewell and for the funerals of our lost men and those two that were so dispitefully murthered in the high Fort the Towne was brauely set on fire and all the Ordnance of the Towne and Forts brought away with vs. And I am perswaded that if the warres had not bin by chance so began before by vs vpon that Island by their owne seeking and foolish brauery and afterwards aggrauated by their cruelty in murthering so despitefully two of our company in the high Fort Fayall had escaped as scotfree as did Cuorâ—o Flores Gratiosa Saint Michaels or any of the other For surely they were all at our mercy the Fort of Tercera onely excepted But in all these Actions I obserued and well saw that our Generall in his true disposition affected rather to be renowned for bounty clemency and valour then for the glory of a dreadfull Conquerour All this while the Flemmings were playing their parts in the Isle of Pike which was about a league from Fayall where I leaue them ransacking the Wines and burning all that was within their power The six and twentieth of September we made towards Gratiosa where wee cast ancor and presently whilest we roade before it there came aboord our Generall the chiefe men of the Island submitting themselues and crauing mercy of our Generall alleadging as they of Flores had done that the inhabitants thereof were Portugals and friends and naturall Enemies to the Spaniards though they wanted meanes and force to show it being held vnder them by strong hand To this Island our Generall shewed his accustomed mercy and required of them some prouisions of Wine Fruites and fresh victuals for the relieuing of the Fleete but of any other composition we heard not although it was supposed they did or might haue yeelded a better ransome but this was very willingly sent by the inhabitants vnto vs. Here some of the Commandets went aboord the Generall and besought him to goe a land and somewhat better to suruey this Island and for one day to let his Fleete ancor in that Roade which his Lordship shewed great willingnesse vnto But the Master of the Generals Ship whose name was Groue a dull and vnluckie fellow was vtterly against that counsell and alleadged that the yeere was farre spent and the place of anchoring there not good for the ground tackle protesting that it would be dangerous for the whole Fleete and put it in hazard and therefore very earnestly perswaded and vrged the leauing of that Roade which aduise of his our Generall then followed to our great lâ—sse and hinderance as afterwards it fell out But Grâ—ue the Master must pardon mee to say in mâ—ne opinion that it was an vndiscreete aduise so to diuert our Fleete in such haste from that Island considering the long aboade he made afterwards before Saint Michaels and at Villa Franca to lesse purpose in as ill Roades as this and later in the yeere Hereupon wee wayed leauing Gratiosa vpon Saint Michaels Eue and made for Saint Michaels Island and on Saint Michaels day early in the morning we made that land and bare in with the shoare And as wee came very neere vnto it two of the Sterne-most Ships of our Fleete shot off twice or thrice and bare vp with all sailes they could packe on towards the Admirals ship These brought newes of the Indian Fleete then by them discouered comming directly from the Roade of Gratiosa that the Generall had so vnwillingly left but the Euening before by the vnluckie aduice of Groue the Master of his ship Vpon the Intelligence giuen by these two ships our Admirall shot off a peece and presently cast about and there withall wee in the other ships perceiued casting vp of Hats and great shootes aboord the Admirall for ioy of this newes And the like afterwards was done in the Vice-Admirals ship and so passed throughout all the Fleete Within some few houres after we incountered and tooke three Spanish ships comming from the Hauana the greatest of them being about foure hundred tunnes and esteemed to be a very rich ship as well for the lading as for the passengers that were in her To this Spaniard our ship called the Wastspight being neerest gaue Chase and caused her to stricke and yeelde but yet my Lord Generall hasting after would suffer none but his owne Boate to goe aboord her being full of good prisoners and pillage besides her lading which was Cochynella and other such rich Wares This ship and the other two that were in her company
could when wee saw her a ground tottering and reeling with those few Boats wee had left to haue entred her But before wee could make vs readie or come neere her being three miles off shee was on light fire in many places her Ordnance thundring off apace and too hot to bee approached much lesse to bee entred at that time without ineuitable destruction And yet such hast was made to haue preuented this mischiefe that diuers had like by ouercharging Boates and Pinnaces to to haue foundred in the Seas the Billowes going very high And in that case was our Reare-Admirall amongst others who for hast to this banquet tooke his Row Barge and was so ill able in her to indure the Seas that were rough and went high at that time as that I by chance seeing him so ill bested in danger was faine to clap him aboord with a good stout shipboat that I was in hauing made hast also to that feast as fast as I could But in conclusion wee came all too late for the broth was growne to hot for our supping To behold her thus flaming was a grieuous sight to vs but a most wretched spectacle for the Portugalls so to see their goods by their owne deedes and fury to perish with fire and water in a goodly vessell iudged to bee 1800. Tunnes at the least Shee was a whole night and all the next day in burning and in beholding her you might haue seene the very shape Cordage Masts and Furniture of a Ship so perfectly in fire as no Painter could haue halfe so well resembled it with Art or Colours And when she was cleane consumed to the water there arose still a great smoake out of the Sea for many houres after by reason of some close Decks full of Spices and Sugar vnder water which the fire had taken hold of This Tragedy ouerpast wee then fell againe to looke out for our Army comming but all in vaine For if in any time for sixe dayes together after their landing they had come forwards from Villa Franca the Towne of Saint Michaels and the Carack also had beene our owne safe without question For if our forces had in all that time inuested themselues of the Towne which they might haue done there being 〈◊〉 her Walles nor Bulwarkes to hold them out the Carack would 〈◊〉 runne her selfe a ground vnder the Towne as shee did 〈…〉 f shee had then had shee fallen into the hande of our Generall and his T 〈…〉 f shee had 〈◊〉 Sea-boord then had shee fallen into the mercy of our Fleet which by no meanes she could haue escaped But it was a losse them as inexcusable as lamentable for that no good reason could bee yeelded as was thought nor durst bee demanded why so gallant a Company so easily landed for so good a purpose should so long linger in a little Towne f 〈…〉 g themselues and the whole Army vpon Fruits and Wine to the neglecting of the seruice determined But it was manifest that besides their pleasure and good cheer the great store of Oade Corne and Salt did intice some Land men of good credite who had Ships there of their owne rather to take the penceable and priuate benefit thereof then to vndergoe some paine and perill for the winning of Saint Michaels Towne for the publike good And this was a piece of seruice very unfortunately neglected but vpon what good reason I could neuer learne And I am perswaded that if his Lordship had built lesse vpon some mens violent counsells and vaine conceits hee might haue done many things better and long haue liued in great prosperitie But all his care was to content and winne vnto him certaine Polititians and Marshall men whom not withstanding according to the custome of the world hee found many times vngratefully to deale with him to serue their owne turnes drawing him withall into ambitious humours and affect at ion of popularitie which with our Great men rarely succeeds well And very strange it was to see so many great fortunes lost in this one iourney but that the very Heauens did in them like Commets foreshew the heauy and lamentable destiny that traced our Generall towards his end whose bright shining felicitie was some after eclipsed and admirably metamorphosed into ruine and destruction Onely this comfort remained to his friends that hee ended his life with as great resolution pietie and penetencie as was possible to bee expressed in the countenance or words of a man vtterly diuorced from the world and wholly deuoted to celestiall Contemplation to the vndoubted comfort of his Soule We from the ships looking thus stil in vaine for those that neither came nor sent vnto vs wherby we lost all opportunitie of watering and refreshing our selues for we in the Wastspite and diuers of our Conforts had not watered since our setting out from Plimouth began to resolue to goe to our Generall seeing wee could neuer heare from him in all that time And as we were entring into this deliberation wee might perceiue the Admiralls Ship by her Flag turning out from the point of Villa Franca And two dayes before many of our great Ships had left the Reare-Admirall contrary to the Generall his order which wee durst not breake in the Wastspite by a late caueat because it was flat contrarie to that which was appointed by a Councell and the Generall his command But as soone as wee had descried the Admirall by his Flag putting roome our Reare-Admirall tooke his Barge and Captaine Morgan with him and rowed to him and the same night sent Captaine Morgan backe againe with directions in the Generalls name to command all the Fleet to weigh and to come for Villa Franca This was no little griefe to vs all that had so long and diligently waited on Saint Michaels Towne and looked to haue had a better account of that place then so barely and abruptly to leaue it after all these offers And to say the truth it was either a grosse ouersight or a wilfull fault vnexcusable to the State that it was not in better sort mannaged For no doubt they would willingly haue ransomed their Towne rather then haue abidden the fortune of the Warres by Sword and Fire and wee had amongst vs men of sufficient experience to deale in such compositions which for ought I know they might doe Thus with griefe and discontent we left Saint Michaels good Towne the Inhabitants whereof wauing their Auncients and shooting off their Ordnance in great ioy triumphed to see this vnexpected modest departure of the whole Fleet on a sudden without any further trouble And to mee it was strange to see the Coronells and Captaines that a little before were so forward and violent to haue landed at the Tercera being a place so difficult to attempt and of so great strength to bee now so slow to come forwards to Saint Michaels Towne that had neither Ditch nor Wall about it they being already landed for that purpose But now
Voyage Herein was Gods fauour and mercy mightily shewed towards all sides For by this Storme which so furiously for the time afflicted vs were wee and that Spanish Fleet vnder the Adelantado seuered and kept from incountring which had cost much blood and mischiese and to say a truth in all likelihood the worst might haue fallen to our shares For when wee had left the Ilands and were once crosse sayled for England I obserued that before the Storme diuers of our best Ships made all the haste they could homewards neuer following nor attending the Admirals course nor light Which is an Errour too much vsed amongst vs and very disorderly and dangerous as would haue beene well found if the Adelantado had then met with any of those straglers or with the Admirall himselfe homewards bound so stenderly accompanied Which manner of disorder and scattering in the Conduct of a Royall Nauie especially in so long a Voyage is very fit to bee straightly reformed These Spanish Flee-boates and Carauels had made many landings by stealth on that side of Cornewall and put the Countrey in great frights and amazements especially vpon the report of a great Fleet that was comming after them for England Whereupon our Reere Admirall from before the Saint Iues left the Seas and went a Land to take some order for the Countrey of Cornewall whereof hee was then her Maiesties Lieutenant seeing it then in much amazement and feare and so meant to goe ouer land to Plimouth there to meet with our Generall From the Road of Saint Iues the next morning wee in the Wast-spight set sayle for Kingroad and met with such foule weather as that ouer against the flat Holmes shee brake againe her Maine yard which was before broken and new fished in the beginning of this Voyage But at last with much adoe wee brought her about to Kingroad and within a few dayes after moored her safe in Hungread where I tooke speedie order for the paying and discharging of her men at the Spaniards cost and also for the repayring of her decayes By this time wee also had newes that our Admirall and the rest of our Fleet were safely met and arriued at Plimouth And at the same instant also wee had intelligence by a small man of Brasill but newly come from Corke in Ireland that Sir Iohn Norris President of Munster and the Lord Burgh Deputie of Ireland were both lately deceased Of which two men her Maiestie and the Realme had no small losse being both Martiall men of as great worth and seruice as England bred in many yeeres before And although it be no part of this matter to speake of them yet their Deathes being diuulged to vs at the same time cannot be thought vnfit or vnworthy by the way heere to be remembred and lamented After I had thus taken order with the Officers of the Ship at Bristoll I receiued Letters from the Lord Treasurer and the Lord Admirall for the accomplishing of that which I had already out of due consideration gone in hand withall I meane the discharging and paying of the Marriners and Souldiers being to the number of foure hundred men which would haue growne to a great and needlesse expense to haue kept them in pay and victuals vntill such time as I could haue sent vnto the Court to receiue directions backe againe for the same And therefore did first take vp monies vpon credit and then by the Drum make knowne in Bristow that there were Sugars Brasil wood and Fernanbuck aboord o r Ships which I would presently make sale of to those that would giue most for it and not merchand it vnder hand nor in secret to the preiudice and deceiuing of her Maiestie And therefore with the knowledge and aduice of the Master the Purser and Boatswaine of the Ship and the Customer and Searcher of Bâ—â—stow I landed those Wares in safe Cellers and sold them to the best Chapmen in publique testified vnder the hands of these Officers of the Citie and of the Ship for my discharge in that behaâ—â—e and made thereof fiue hundred pounds The which summe I deliuered to one Askew then Purser of the Wast-spight to the end that hee by his Booke might pay the Marriners and the Souldiers by the Powle as a care of mine for those poore-men vnder my Charge which was duely performed The which I haue beene the more precise to remember and notifie for that I tooke no small paines and care in getting those Sugars and Brasill wood aboard vs out of a torne Brasill 〈◊〉 that was ready to founder in the Seaâ— before Saint Michaels and abandoned to any that would aduenture to goe abâ—ord her to fetch away the lading Which businesse in that vacant time that the Ar 〈…〉 e lay at Villa Franca and we before S. Michaels Towne 〈◊〉 put my selfe and my Marriners vnto And I had not so much paines and trauell in the getting as trouble and vexation afterwards to preserue it whilest it was aboord when we came to Kingroad from the purloyning and stealing of the Marriners and Officers of the Ship And to say no more but a truth I dare thus much anouch and iustifie that if there had beene in some other of her Maiesties ships the like regard for these goods that were gotten and of the Prizes taken in this Iourney and as faithfully answered as were these that then for all the crosses and errours that had happened it had fully returned to her Maiestie the double value of all the Charges she had beene at for this Voyage But it was strange to see what carelesse courses were held in all such actions as were set out by the State and what poore returnes were made againe into the Exchequer And therefore more strange that the Prince could subsist so often to set out such chargeable Voyages without any manner of getting more then to particuler persons For so fell it out before in the Indian Voyage when Sancto Domingo and Cartagena were taken and sackâ— by Sir Francis Drake and when Cades in Spaine was surprised and sackt by the English Armie where was infinite wealth But that of Lisbona in Portugall vndertaken by Sir Iohn Norris where the Suburbes did so abound with Merchandize and Spicerie being wholly at the mercy and disposition of our Armie was to be excused for that our Shops kept not promise with him in comming vp the Riuer that should haue both assisted the land Armie with Munition and Victuals and also carried away those Spiceries and rich Merchandize wherein the Sea-men were greatly wanting and taxed by the generall voyce But in this Voyage wee all saw and knew that there were besides Brasill men three good Prizes taken that came from the Hauana laden with Cochynella and other rich Merchandize besides the Siluer Gold Pearle Ciuet Muske Amber-greece which was amongst the Passengers And those three Prizes whereof one was about 400. Tunnes by the report of those Merchants that came in them were
wherewith our countrie Witches are I once saw Tomocomo a Virginian dance with such â—xta icall visages and diabolicall behauiour as if the Deuill had beene in him The forme of the American Cottages The gesture of the Barbarians dansing in a round circle The Caraibes consecrating Maraca * Petum by the Authour is thought to differ from Tobacco because it hath a pleasing sent c. I thinke it the same The Caraibes blowing vpon the Barbarians The confused opinion of the Barbarians concerning the floud Feast following The decking of Maraca A grosse Superstition A most grosse Errour 1. Reg. 18. 19. Truth putteth falshood to flight How the ancient Barbarians entertaine the Frenchmen The occasion of declaring the true God vnto the Barbariaus The Barbarians hearing speech of the true God were astonished A relation of a Barbarian most worthy to bee noted The Barbarians promise to embrace the worship of God are present at Prayers The Barbarians acknowledge their owne ignorance and blindnesse The degrees of Consanguinâ—tie Polygamie The wonderfull agreement betweene the American women The Sauageâ— abhorre adulterâ—e Single women loose How the American women great with child bâ—haue themselues Child-birth The American men performe the office of Midwiues The little Infants Gugawes to play withal What the maÌ„ner is of giuing American names The food of Inâ—ants The American Infants are very clean without the vse of linnen clothes In what thingâ— the Barbarians busie themselues Naturall shâ—mefastnesse is obserued in the American Marriages The purgation of the American women The Barbarians liue peaceably together The punishment oâ— murtherers among the Barbarians Leuiâ— 24. 19. 20 After what manner the villages and American families are ordered The transporting of the American Villages What grounds the Americans peculiarly possesse How the American women spin the cotten Inis Cotton Beds How the Beds of the Barbariâ—â—s are prepaâ—ed and spred Fome whicâ— among the Americans supplieth the vsâ— of Sope. The American women make huge meane and little earthâ—â— vessels Potâ— and othâ—â— vessels of fruits pan 〈…〉 and baskets The Barbarianâ— curteously entertain guests A pleasant discourse of thosâ— things which befell the Authour when he first went vnto the 〈◊〉 The Authorâ— name in the American language Their memorie The American women bewayle the comming of Guests The gesture of the Guest among the Americans How Mâ—â—ssacâ—t entertaineâ—h his Guest How strangers requite their Host. The Barbarians carrie Strangers vpon their shoulders Two legged amblers The Barbarians practisâ— charitie euen by the direction of nature A notable example of the curtesie of the Barbarians How much the Barbarians esteeme kniues and other merchandises Pages the Barbarians Physicians How the Barbarians handle the sicke The Graues and rites of buriall of the Americans A very deuillish errour Dan. 14. Toâ—pin Mendozaâ— crueltie R. Parana Vrassa R. of Plate Lechuruas Buenos Aeres built Carendies Gipsies The fight or â—â—irmish with the Indian Carendies Of the buildings of the Citie of Bonos Aâ—res and of the famine which they indured there Miserable famine How some sailed vp the Riuer of Parana or the Riuer of Plate How the town of Buenas Aeres was befieged assaulted and burnt Foure Nations of Indians Their fights weapons Foure ships burned They muster their Souldiers and build ships to goe further The most of 2000. died of famine They goe vp the Riuer Tiembus Don Petro Meâ—doza being about to returâ— into Spaine dieth in tâ—â— waâ— Alfonso Gabrâ—â—o is sent away from Spaine towards the riuer of Plâ—te They saile further vp the Riuer of Paranâ— toward C 〈…〉 nda R. 〈◊〉 abol Carios Shâ—ep of Peru. Curenda Description of these Sauageâ— We came to Gulgaisi Macuerendas Gulgaisi Macuerendas Huge Serpent We came to Zemais Saluaisco and Nepenes Zemias Saluaisco Mep 〈…〉 Of the Riuer Parabol and the peopleâ— â—ueremagbas and Aygais Cueremagbas Men oâ— tall stature Their gallantry Aygais Of the people Carios Carios custome Of the Citie Lampere how it was besieged and won by assault Their fortifications Stratagem The Spaniards in foure yeeres had not seene a morsell of bread A Castle is built in Lampere and is called the Assumption Aygais destroyed Piembâ—s Parabol well peopled Mount Fernando Weibingo Paiembos trechery Carcariso Amte beasts called Sheepe of Peru and it seemeth bigger and stronger in these paâ—ts then t 〈…〉 For the Author rode on one which in Peru beareth a smal burthen Naperus Peisennos Wickednesse of some 〈◊〉 â—iftie Spâ—â—iards slaine by Tiem 〈…〉 treacherie â—p 〈…〉 ards besieged Captain Mendoza slaine Gabreros comming out of Spaine with 200. Souldiers thither S. Katharines Custome of Marinersâ— Greatnesse of Parana They are wracked Iustice on the negligent Pâ—lot Aluarez Nunnez Note Franciscus Lopez â—hap 89. writeth of this Aluarez Nunnez that in the yeere 1541. he was sent from Caesars Mâ—iestie with 400. men and 46. horses to the Riuer of Plate And he was 8. whole moneths in this Voyage And therefore first in the yeere 1542. hee arriued at the Assumption Ship wracke trauel by land 100. men lost Sauage nation of Surucusis Village of Carios Achkeres hanged Indian fottificaâ—ions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dabero commeth in Paiembos Bascherepos Surucusis Carchararis Generall not beloued Hee returneth Ernandus Rieâ—fiere sayleth vp the Riuer to the Guebuecusis and Achkeres Guebuecusis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Riuer Achkeres Men of tall stature They are callâ—d Achkerâ—s which signifieth Crocodiles oâ— the store 〈…〉 meth of â—hosâ— creatureâ—â—n those parâ—â— Scherues Priâ—sts and wooâ—den Earings Cunning painters Wild pompe of the King Stags and Estridges Musicke Weauers Gold and Siluer The Amazones described Iland of Amazones Siberis Wading Iouâ—ney Bellie-shifts Gnats Trauels in hoâ— waters Orethuisen Locusts The Amazons are still further off I doubt beyond the region of Tâ—uth 〈◊〉 the title be properly meane of such as arâ— here described For wa 〈…〉 ke wiues liuing in societie with men are many Gold and siluer Thirtie dayes wading Profitable tricke Vnhealthfull Countrie Wicked precept The Authours sicknesse Fight with the Carios Fraemidiere Siege and conquest Carieba Fortification and Engines Iuberic Sabaie 46. leagues from Assumption R. Stuefiâ— 44. Naperus Mapais Two kindes of Amidas one able to beare men Acosta mentions those of Peru to bear fiftie pounds or little more Zemie Fields of Mais c. Tobanâ—â— Peionas Mayegory Marronos Paronios Symanos Wall of bushes Barconos Leyhannos Grashoppers Carchconos Suboris They dye of thirst Roote holding water No â—â—ine in 3. moneths Drinke of a roote Peisennos Maigenes Quickset wall Fight betwixt Carios and Maigenos Carookies Salt Country Samdela Machcasies Spanish tongue They ariue in the Kingdome of Peru. Pedro Ansuetes Strang worms A Letter on of Peru. Potosi Hony in trees Bees without stings Ciuill contentions Gaberetho Barâ—â—y Barede Gingie Biesaie Riuer Vrquam Huge Water-snakes Scheuetveba He arriued at Antwerpe whence he had set forth at first in Ianuarie 1554. This ship was named the Repentance an ominous nâ—me and vnfortunate as vsually those celestiall
daye â—ournie from Tulla Guahate Anoixi Catamaya Autiamque sixe dayes iournie from Quipana A Riuer Three months abode in Atiamque Frost and snoâ— A moneth of snow Conies of two sorts March 6. 1542. The death of Iohn Ortiz and the great misse of him being their Interpreter Ayays A Riuer Great snow about the twentieth of March. Tutelpinco A great Lake Rafts wherewith they passed the Lake Tianto 3. or 4. great Townes March 29. Nilco Very great Townes The best Countrie of Florida Marterns skinnes A cordon of Pearles A Riuer falling into 〈◊〉 graâ—â—â— Guachoya Foure names of Rio grande The Gouernor falleth sicke of thought A most wittie and stout answer of the Cacique of Quigalta The death of Don Ferdinando de Soto the 21. of May 1542. at Gâ—acoya A wittie stratagem This is also the custome of the old Tartars Their generall resolution to trauell by land Westward Iune 〈◊〉 Catalte Chaguate Aguacay Knowledge of the South Sea Pato Amaye Iuly 20. Naguatex The Riuer growne vnpassable in August at Naguatex Coniectures of a Sea to the Northward Nissoone Lacana Nondacao Aays Soacatino Twenty daies trauell toward the South Guasco here they found some Turkie stones mantles of Cotten wooll The Riuer of Daycaâ— which seemeth to be Rio del oro No trauelling by land without an Inter. preter Gold Siluer and precious stones in Florida Turkie stones and Mantles of Cotten wooll found in Guasco 150. leagues betweene the Riuer of Daycao and Rio grande The beginning of December Raine with Northren winde exceeding cold Enequen is an heâ—rbe like Hempe Flaxe of the Countrie The mighty increasing of the Riuer for two moneths space to wit all March and Aprill The grand conspiracie of the Indians against the Christians Note well Thirty Indians of the Cacique of Guacboya haue their right hands cut off The Riuer increaseth but once a yeare wheÌ„ the snows doe melt in March April A miraculous accident They saile downe Rio Grande from Minoya 17. daies before they came to the mouth thereof This Author accounteth but 300. lost but Ynca l. 6. reckoneth 700. saying that he car ried with him from Cuba 1000 Hee addeth that Iuan Ponce de Leon the first discouerer of Florida lost himselfe and 80 men Lucas Uasques was also slaine there with aboue 220 Pamphila de Naruacz went with 400 Spaniards of which not aboue foure escaped c. Donna Isabella Sotos wife died also with griefe So fatall hath Florida beene to Spaine that I hope Uirginia may haue the greater dowry for her English husband They sailed 17. daies down the Riuer which is about 252. leagues Fresh water almost two daies sailing in the Sea A swarme of grieuous Moskitoes Ascum of the Sea like Pitch called Copee Another deep Bay They arriued in the Riuer of Paâ—nucâ— 1543. Septemb. 10. 311 Christians arriued at Paâ— nuco Port de Spiritu Santo is in 29. degrees and a hâ—â—â—e on the West side of Florida Ocute Cuâ—ifachiqui Xuala Chiaha Cozo and Talise Tascaluka Rio Grande Aquixo Coligâ—â— Aâ—tiaâ—que Aguacay * Ant de Mendoza writeth to the Emperour that hee had 14000. Indians and 400. horsemen Mechuacan Croiles erected * Alle quari to or at the which Caconci Lord of Mechuacan burned Cuinao Cuinquiro Wretched hospitality Couragious Indian Spanish preaching to conuers Infidels Indian simplicitie Cuiseo Sodomite professed Note well this Diuinitie Preaching by the Sword a worthie holy meritorious satisfactory worke Guanzebi Tonola a free State Cuinaccaro Coiula and Coiutla Valiant Indians Zapatula Aximocuntla Indian Christianitie but in name and names Christians for feare Xalpa Bâ—oudy Idoll Bloudy Procession Teulinchan Xaltenango Mechuacan on the South Sea Xalisco Tepique a new Prouince Amazo 〈…〉 Dreames Pet. Aluaradoâ— Letters to Coâ—â— tesâ— which had sent him on this Discouery and Conquest Two most terrible Vulcans Lâ—p Gâ—mâ—ra bist gen c. 212. Topira Impious pieties F. Marco de Niâ—as Voyage to Cebola An vnknowne kinde of Vnicorne Expedition of Don Francisco Vasquez Ill wayes Cibâ—la Sheepe as big â—s Horses with huge hornes Indian embroiderie * I haue a Map made in Mexico 1585. which placeth Ciâ—ola in 30. and an halfe and describeâ—â— in New Mexico on Rio del Norte about 50. Townes with Spanish names standing neere each other from 32. to 33. and a little more But the Prouince of 〈◊〉 he maketh to be another Strange Kine * Melangole Great baile Quiuira described out of Gomara Ships seene The bunch-backed Oxen described Sheepe with hornes of fiftie pounds Great Dogs Such the Sauages had in Frâ—bushers voyage Ruiz his Voyage to Tiguaâ— Ant. de Espâ—io his New Mexico Neats leather Shooes Friers slaine Henues many Quires Painted Vâ—brelas Note the neetnesse of Virginia Acoâ—a Mohotze Pretie policy Caâ—os Letter is in Mast. Hakl Francis de Ullâ—as Voyage in the South Sea California F. Alarchons Voyage Letter in Master Hâ—kl Tautecâ— Iuly 〈◊〉 1590. Tepesâ—an a mightie high Mountaine Cuimechi warlike Indians The towne of Saint Philip and Iacob on the second Riuer of Ginolâ—a It is but 190. leagues indeed from Mexico Often writing of new Mexico Cotten wooll Their apparel Their heire Their great Stature Their yalour Their weapoÌ„â— Eight Spaniard liuing in Ciâ—â—loa Readinesse to heare the Gospell Foure hundred baptized by Franciscans slaine there twelue yeares before Difference of language Instruction in the Catechism And why doe you teach Babylon or to babble in a strange tongue here instead of praying Sixteene hundred newly Christened Concubines Familiarity with the Diuel 240. children Christened Thirteene Churches in three Riuers Culhuacan Petatlan in 25. degrees and a halfe The Christianity there taught Their houses Their plurality and incests in marriages The bad education of their children Forme of Marriages Their forme of making Knights Adoption Their quietnesse and kind play Their burials Their burials Don Iuan de Onate his first relation 5000. â—ent 1599 500. leagues trauell Treacherous peopâ—e Their Towne taken Acoma is in 32. degrees and two third parts A mighty city Another greater Citie Cibola is in 33. degrees The Towne of Saint Iohn Sundry Mynes of gold and siluer newly found A second Discouerie 1602. The most famous Riuer of the North discouered Antonie de Espio vno Rio mas que ocho leguas de ancho The Lake of Conibas Auia vnalagnuao lago nuy guade Anten de Espeio A faire and goodly Citie Westerne coast of America discouered neere Cape California which it seemes at this time was more perfectly discouered to be an Iland as you see in M. â—rigs his Map Three Millions perished in Hispaniola Ouiedo hath but 1600000. 500000 lost in the Lucayos 12. or 15. miles See the end of this discourse Ambition Cruelty Tortures Dogges The Realmes which were in this I le of Hispaniola Great Riuers in Spaine 25000. Riuers rich in Gold Cibao The greatest peece of Gold which euer was found naturall lost Marien Maguana Xaragua Higney Gens sine generatione perit 600000. or a Million in S. Iohn and Iamaica Dances
hundrâ—ds haue hereby perished The number of the dead and sicke Dangerous mâ—neths The opening of a dead body What food causeth the land diseaâ—e Bad waters Plin. li. 25. c. 3. Stomaccacè Scelotyrbè Britannica or Scuruy grasse an herbe Strabo Monsieur de Ioâ—nuille The Gouitres of Sauore What aire is against health Windes Seasons Bad food and di commodities of the Sea Aduice for the sicknesses of New France Good Wine Herbes in the Spring time Stoues Stoues in Gardens Such I haue seene at Beddington in Surrie at Sir Nicolas Carews The sweatings of the Sauages A merry heart a principall preseruatiue against the Scuruie Eccles. 3. 12 22. Meanes of mirth Necessitiâ— of hauing women into the Countrey Tree of life Sasafras Monsieur Champlain is now this present yeere 1609. in Canada The discoueric of new Lands by Monsieur de Monts fabulous tales and reports of the Riuer and fained Towne of Norombega Kinibeki sâ—xty leagues from S. Croix Fabulous â—ales of the Riuer Norombega Pemptegoet Obiection Answer Kinibeki The Bay of Marchin 1607. Ch 〈…〉 koet The ground manured Vines Malebarre Etechemins The Armouchiquois traitours and theeues Thâ— swiftnesse of the Armouchiquois The arriuall of Monsieur du Point 1605. Transmigration from S. Croix to Port Royal. New buildings Trafficke with the Sauages Beuers Otters and Stags Tabaguia is a sauage tearme signifying banket Hand Mils The number of the dead Fault in their buildings The furniture of Monsieur du Pont to goe to the discouery of new lands The wracke of their Barke Causes of delay in establish ing the dwelling place of the Frenchmen The third voyage made by Monsieur de Poutrincourt Rochel The courage of Monsieur de Monts and his associates 13. of May 1606. Meetings of Ships Great cold The reason of this Antiperistâ—sâ— and the cause oâ— the Ices of New-sound land Warnings neerethe great Banke Birds called by Frenchmen Godes Fouquets Hapfoies The fishing of Cod. Hap-foyes why so called Sea dogs skins Excellent sawsiges made with the inwards of Cod. The weather in those Seâ—s contrary then in ours The causes of Mists on the West Seas Land makes The discouery of S. Peters Ilands Plaine discouery of the Land Cap. Breton The Bay of Campseau Eight daies Gods fauour in danger Calm weather Morueilous odours comming from the land The boording of two Shallops The Sauages goodly men Matachiaz be carkanets neklaces bracelets and wrought girdles During the mists at Sea it is faire wether on land The departing of some of our company going alâ—nd The Sauages do traueli much way in small time Mists Calmes Portâ—u â—u Rossignoll Port au Mouton â—hat growes 〈◊〉 the Land at Port â—u Mouton Le Cap de Sable Long Iland The Bay S. Mary The arriuing to Port Royall Difficulties in comming in The beautie of the Port. Sagamos signifieth Captaine Praises of the two Frenchmen leâ—t alone in Fort of Port Royall The tilling of the ground The meeting with Monsieur du Pont. The forme of a Rain-bow vnder a Caue Greatnesse of Canada 400. leagues from the mouth It springs from a Lake Which is the first mine Sowing of Corne. August 20. Cause of the Voyage made into the country of the Armouchiquois Parting from Port Royall Faire Rie found at S. Croix Their meaning is to plant beyond Malebarre to the southward A ditch profitably made What store of workmen and lab 〈…〉 rers in N 〈…〉 France Their exercise and manner of life Mussels Lobsters Crabs Good prouision of wilde fowle What quantity of Bread and Wine * A kinde of Stag or red Deere The liberall nature of the Sauages What earth is in the Medowes Ellans in the Medowes Poutrincourts discouery Pemptegoet the true name of the fabulous Norombega Kinibeki The Bay of Marchin Confederacy Orignac or Ellan Champlein saith they are like Oxen. The Riuer of Olmechin Port De Chouakoet An Iland of Vines The Riuer of Olmechin The galantnesse of the Sauages Port De la Heue The Sâ—uages doe paint their faces The Oration of Messamoet Messamoets affection to the Frenchmen The largesse and liberality of Messamoet The Sauages be liberall A Corn-countrie Beanes Pumpions and Grapes Bessabes Englishmen Asticou Canoas A very good Port. The agilitie of the Arm 〈…〉 quois Fifes A Sauage wounded Their mouthes and mops about him that was hurt 〈◊〉 The Presents of a Sauage woman Hempe very faire Beanes Quantitie of Grapes The simplicity and ignorance of people Thâ— bad natuâ—eo the Armouchiquois Noâ—e how the Armouchiquois must be dealt withall This the only way to ciuilize Sauages Trust them and hang them nay trust them and they will cut your throat as in the Virginian massacre appeaâ—â—th Suspicion for the comming of Olmechin The trouble of garments Corne sowed and Vines planted 100. Boats of Sauages Malebarre Peril of sholds Note Great antiquity of Grapes Hereupon chap. 7. Two fathames tide onely Danger Oigoudi or S. Iohns Riuer Sauages of sundry Nationâ— vnderstand not one another A forge and an ouen 〈…〉 de A croâ—e set vp Abundance of Larkes fishes Shel-fish Grapes Rush-baskets The triall of Trench weapons before the Sauages Good instruction Port Fortune Râ—solution for the returne Their returne Perill The arriuall of Monsieur de Poutrincourt The state of Corne. How they speÌ„t their winter Câ—ales The vse of the Compasse in land voiages The institution of the Order Bon temps La Rue aux Ours or Beare street is as Pie-corner or such a Cooke place in London Store of Sturgions Before in chap. 113. The vsage of the Sauages The Sauages haue care of the Frenchmen Preseruatiue against Scuruy Bad winde The state of Winâ—er weather Why Raines and Mists be scarse in winter Snow is profitable Frosts when they are The state of Ianuary Conformity of weather in East and West Fraâ—ce The great Frost 1607. Wherefore is the season late Dressing of Gardens Good crop from the ground Abundance of fishes The care of Monsieur de Pouirincourt in prouiding for theÌ„ that should come after him The building of a water-mil Abundance of Herrings Pilchers Preparation for the return Great ouersight Monsieur de Poutrincourt his inuention Bricke made in New France Why the Saâ—â—ges call all French men Noâ—mands Newes out of France and their returne The contents of the Letters written to Monsieur de Poutrincourt The societie of Monsieur de Monts broken and why rincourtâ—is â—is resolution The English Nation going to Virginia with a zealous intent to plant true religion so to increase Christs blessed flock no doubt he will bee their leader Monsieur de Monts is enuied Robbing from the dead The Sauages go to the wars Voyages vpon the Coast of the French Bay Salmons Assembly of Sauages a feasting Filthy trading The subtiltie of an Autmoiâ— or Sauage Southsayer A Myne of Steele Menane Good watch Seales voices The arriuall in the I le of Saint Croix The state of the same Turtles The Sauages of better nature then many Christians A number of Iles.
The loue of the Sauages towards their children Arriuall into Poâ—t Royall Vse of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mâ—ll The de 〈…〉 on of the 〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Abundance of faire Cod. Port dela Heue The Rain-bow appearing in the water Port Saualet 42. Voyages made in New-found-land Good fishing Exceeding faire Corne. Faire Wheate The Sauages returne from the warres The Sauages teares at the going away of the Frenchmen Meale left behinde Monsieur de Poutrincourt his going away The departing from New France The sight of the Sorlingues Haâ—uest of New France shewed to the King Outards or wild Geese presâ—nted to the King Priuiledge of Beuers confirmed to Monsieur de Monts Three ships sent 1608. Newes from New France since our comming from thence It is very dangerous to teach the Sauages the vse of Guns Eagles The Sauages wisdome Monsieur Champlein is now in the Riuer of Canada Cattell Fruit trees Vines Hempe Monsieur de Poutrincourt his resolution 1609. Monsi de Mont his sending of Ships Note the intention of the French Kebec 40. leag aboue Saguenay Champlein A conspiracy Exemplary punishment The naturall fruite of the land Blacke Foxes Scuruie Lib. 3. cap. 22. Champleins counsell Their Voiage to the Iroquois Their arriual at the Lake which is sixtie leagues long Faire Ilands in the Lake The Iroquois and their exercise Houses of foure stories The alarum among the Iroquois The Prudence of the Sauages Flight Fiftie of the Iroquois slaine 1609. Capt. Pierre Capt. du Pont. None died noâ— were sicke 1610. Champlein his new Voyage A Lake of an hundred leag in length discouered Agreement to goe to war towards the great Lake A Battell 1611. 〈◊〉 A faire Countrey Beuers burnt Horses Merueilous industry Forts towns Houses with stories Strong bowes Hope for the passage to China Some great Riuer running Westward into the Westerne Sea The Northern Sea 1610. A tedious Nauigation A conspiracy Their arriuall at Port Royall Buildings and housholdstuffe preserued Pillage of the ground The first Christenings made in New France Sagamos doth siâ—nifie a Prince Ruler or Captaine The King was thâ—n slaiâ—e which they knew not A returne into France The first Voyage to Virginia and possession taken Virginia named so by Q. Elizabeth Second Voyage Sir R. Greenuile Spanish Prise First Colony Sir F. Drake Third Voyage Fourth Voyage Second Colonie Master Thomas Hariot Fifth Voyage and third Colonie Bay of Chesepiok Enâ—lish borne there Si 〈…〉 Voyage Ocean seeming yellow Sea-oare Smell of the shoare Sauage Rocke Sauages Their behauiour Shole-hope Cape Cod. Tucke 〈…〉 Terror Poinâ— Care Gilberts Point Diuers Ilands Sauages Pengwins Marthaes Vineyard Douer-cliffesound Gosnolls Hope Elizabeths Ile Hills Hap. Haps Hill Elizabeths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. 〈◊〉 10. minutâ—s 〈◊〉 Fort began The pâ— Goodly Countrey in Their purpose of stay broken off Sauage assault Returne Oakes Cedars Beech. Elme Hollie Walnut trees Cherrie trees Sassafras trees Diuers other trees A Lake three miles about Smal Tortoises Abundance of fowles much bigger than ours in England Ground-nuts Shell fish The exceeding beauty of the maine Land Great Lakes Large Medows Seuen Indians A broad Riuer A good Harbour The English House 11. Canoas with â—0 Indians in them Their Captain Seuerall sorts Furres Red Copper in abundance Chaines Collars Drinking cups of Copper Mines of Copper Mineral stones Emerie stones Flaxe Indians apt for service Saffafras A goodly people and of good conditions Their apparell Their women The goodnesse of the Climat Their returne M. Salterne yet liueth neither is his zeale dead to this action He is now a Minister and hath both by word and writing to mee testified his affection to Virginia M. Pring whose Voyage to the East Indies are in the former Tome April 10. 1603. They discouer many Ilands Good fishing place Foxe Iland Sauage Rocke People Great Gulfe Whitson Bay M. Aldworth The people visit them The Sauages take great delight in mus 〈…〉 Dances Weapons The great vse of Mastiues Ornaments The fashion of their Boats Excellent sweet Rozen and Turpentine Their Gardenâ— Corne and plants Barke sent home Danger of the Sauages They trade aâ— Santa Lucia Dominica Meuis Great Tortoyse Lignum vitae S. Christopher Abundance of Tortoyses They disem boke The Westerne winds begin Poore Iohn Ground in 30. fathomes An Headland The mouth of the Chesepian Bay They departed Eastward from the mouth of the Chesepioc Bay A shew of entrance of a Riuer Captaine Gilbert and foure more slaine by the Indians March Easter day wee put to See Sounding wee found ground May 14. Land descried A dangerous place of rocks and shoalds Latitude 41. degrees and an halâ—e Sea-charts false Land descried Saturday wee made the land Our Captaine named this S. Georges Iland Great plenty of fish Wee descried the Mâ—ine and Mountaines Vpon Waitsunday wee came into an excellent Harbour Pentecost Harbour Clay Our Pinnace Lanched Varietie of fishes Wee fished The fruits of the Ilands Trees Turpentine plentifull for Tarre and Pitch Pearle Their shape of body Their cloathing Very thankful Of good capacity and vnderstanding Their Canoaâ— very artificiall Trifles left on shoare Wee traded with the Sauages They wondred at the effect of the Loadstone Their Bowes and Arroweâ— Darts Tobacco excellent the Sauages gaue vs. We saw theiâ— Women We brought them home againe Ceremonies of the Sauages Idolatry They lye with their wiues secretly Their Tobacco Pipe They gaue vs Tobacco in a Pipe of a Lobsters Claw Master Booles lay a shoare and Griffin Their Cà noa out-rowed vs. 283. Sauages assembled in a trecherie Disposition of Sauages in the Virginian Masacre other their dealings found too true We caught fiue Sauages two Canoas and Bowes Arrows Our Captaine sounded about the Ilands Rockes and mouth of the Harbour Two Canoas came aboord vs from the Bashabe Their Ornaments of gallantnesse We went vp into the Riuer with our Ship The profits of the Riuer Saint Georges Iland the Land fall The breadth of the Riuer for almost 40. miles The ground is Oaze Clay What it floweth Docks to graue and Carine Ships Salmons and store of fish The Land The Wood. This Riuer preferred before Orienoque Before the Riuer Rio Grande Nescio qua Natale solum c. We marched vp into the land aboue three miles Good Pasture Timber trees vpon the Hils Deere Hares Hogges A plot of the Sauages We searched the Westerne part of the Riuer We set vp another Crosse. Wee saw no signe that euer Christian had beene here before Conueniency of transportation Salmon and great plenty of fish We were all loath to forsak this Riuer The Iland where we watered is named Insula Sanc 〈…〉 Crucis because there wee set our first Crosse Our Capcaine made his perfect obseruation on the Rocke Temperature of climate A fishy banke Linscot c. 97. nine Ilands W 〈…〉 y called Açores Tercera Angra Angra descried Wines small Commodities Fruits Batatas â—â—â—ssas A roote fit to be wouen Woad Canary birds Winter Stones Corne will
fellow Aâ— 14. or 〈◊〉 miles Christall Rock Ayre and Seasons Note well Feare is the beginning of piety ciuility What vse may be made of the Natiues Possown a strange beast Flying Squirrels Fowle Fish Nets The Lottery * To 100. 200. 300. 1000. 2000. and the highest 4500. crownes Spanish Ships aâ— Virginia English Pilatâ— oâ— Iudas rather suspended and exalted together according to his meâ—â—â— Cap Y 〈…〉 〈◊〉 ◠〈◊〉 Hitherto from Capt. Smith See my Pil. l. 8. c. 5. See my Pilg. vbi sup Powhatans remoue Virginian yeers which perhaps occasioned the conceits of their longevity A. 1617. Cap. Argolls gouernment 1618. Great drought L. De-la-Wars last voyages and death Plowing and Corne in Virginia Killingbeck slain Powhatans death Sir Edwin Sands Treasurer Sir George Yerdley Gouernour Profit to be made in Virginia Seuerall Burroughs Patent three times renewed Ships People Commodities Gifts Patents Cap. I. Smith Sir Edw. Sands was Treasurer from Ap. 1619. till Iun. 16â—0 Master Stockams Letter to Master Whitaker before 1620. Hollanders colours The Spaniards shot at the boat They shot at the Ship English vnprepared for fight Spanish aduantages Spanish colors Their conference Insolence of the Spaniards The English fight Spaniards seeke to enter Their repulse Second charge Third charge Their Captain slaine Lucas his braue act The case altered Omnium reâ—urâ— vicissitudo The English could 〈◊〉 but foure Ordnance Spaniards fall off Brauado turned English Next dayes fight The Vice-Admirall seeketh to recouer the Iland and the qualitie Sana Doctor Bohune and seuen others slaine out-right Spanish losse Spanish ships described Beads Maids Magazine Furre-trade Boat-builders East Indie Schoole Iron Cotton Indico Vines Silke and Mulberies Plum-drinke Salt-workes New Discoueties by M. Pory Copper Mine Summer Iland Plants 3570. people sent to Virginia in the three last yeeres 42. Saile of ships 1200. Mariners imployed 1500. To the Summer Ilands Nine ships 240. Mariners imployed Forrest of Pines M. Hariot in his Booke of Virginia A. 1585. Vines planted Note A China Boxe seene with the Sauages M. Berkley M. G. Sandys French Vignerous Mulberies The Booke is printed containing many good rules both for Silk works Vines othâ—r husbandry but too long here to be inserted Hasty security Opachankanoes dissimulation occasioned by English security 347. slaine and basely murthered some think more He had written letters the year before May 17 testifying the plentiful comming vp of the Cotten seede c. attributing the ill successe of things to the not seeking of Gods glory in conuerting the Natiues which he said were peace able wanted but meanes indeed to murther them which this conceit procured Sure binde sure find Pitty such an Abel should be so Kaiâ— deceiued Conuerted Indian Manner of the Sauages life Gunpowder sowne practised before in Captain Smiths time Cap. Ioh Smith M. Pâ—rie Naked breast concealed beast Prouident Sauages Iack of the Feather Câ—uâ—e of the Massacre M. Gookins M. Iordan Mistris Procter Sup. cap. 6. Saint Georges Iland Three men had staied behind and went not to Virginia Harter Water and Chard Commodites of the Countrie Fishes Tortoises great and of great vse Fowle Hogs by reason of their food there and our mens stomackes extraordinarily sweet The weather Fruits Peares not hurtfull Cedar Berries Palmitos Pepper Palme-liquor Ambergreece and Pearle Tobacco Silk-spider Timber Trees * I haue omitted the rest of this discourse as being better knowne to later Writers Ambergreece Rat-plague How vaine a thing is man whose best wits and industry are triumphed ouer by silly Rats Great God giue vs grace to feare thee that we may feare nothing else else shall we feare with Pharao Frogs Lice Flies Grashopper or with others Fleas Sparrowes â— Yea a few Rats in despite of Cats Dogs Traps poisons shall starue vs. The Feagâ— Cap. Tucker Whales Shares Wels. The Aire TeÌ„perature of the Countrey Spiders Inueniuntur opes irritamenta malorum Flies Ants. Wormes Lizards Spiders Fowles Moores Forts Master Keath Church built Supplies sent An. 1613. M. Barklie Increase of Potatos Spanish Ships Escapes from dangers Rats M. Barklies second coming 1614. Famine and sicknesse Rauens Contrary extreme Gouernment by a Counsell Caldicots lot M. Keath and M. Hughes Strange accident Andrew Hilliaras aduentures M. Tucker 1616. Tribes laid oâ—â— Assises The Gouernours Admirable voyage His course was neerer shoare with all prouisions fitting Small Boat from Bermudas commeth to Ireland Sanders his fortunes Cap. Powell 1617. Hurt by Rats filling all the Iland Gallowes clappers fate 1618. Magazines not so profitable as intended Escapers not escaping Two ships sent Cap. Butler Gouernour 1619. Great stormes Ambergreece New platforme Ministers scruples Sir George Summers memorial Their first Parliament Spanish Wrack These made false reports in England the Spanish Embasadoâ—r also vrging the same till the contraâ—ie was manifested Weauells cure Forts Ordnance in Bermudas M. Bernard Gouernour 1622. M. Harrison Gouernour 1623. Wormes noysome He mentions in other letters 3. s. a pound of Butter 6. d. rea dy monie for a pinte of Milke 10 s. or 12. s. a day for a workman Carpenter besides meate and lodging Corteregalis made a voiage to thosâ— parts An. 1500. and another 1501. After that his brother but both lost Gomes another Portugal sought straits ther. An. 1525. The land was called Terra Corteregalis from 60. deg to S. Laurence Iesuites * I haue heard that Sir T. Dale was the Gouernor of Virginia and â—â—â—t him Iesuite killed The South Sea suspected as before in Dermers l 〈…〉 ter by Sauages relations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aâ—at Of God and the image of God in Man Gen. 1. 1. Eph. 4. 24. Gen 1. 28. Gen. 9. 2. Gen. 2. Esay 53. 1. Cor. 3. Apoc. 21. 〈◊〉 Cor. 15. Of the right of Christians and that of Heathens to the world See these things more fully handled in To. 1. l. 1. c. 1. §. 3 4. 5. Ioh. 8. 35. 36. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Tim. 1. 6. Christians may not spoile Heathens Gal. 3. 17. Tit. 1. Matth. 5. Iohn 19. 36. 2. Cor. 10. 4. Matth. 16. Iud. 8. 2. Pet. 2. 19. Iohn 19. 11. Rom. 13. 1. Gen. 11. Acts 17. 27. Deut. 2. 9 19. 1. Cor. 3. 1. Cor. 13. Matth. 5. 1. Pet. 3. Mans naturall right in places either wholly or in great part not inhabited Abraham Lot Iacob c. I haue heard by one which I thinke hath more searched the Countrie then any other Cap. Smith that in â—eere so much as all England they haue not aboue 5000. men able to bear armes which manured and ciuilly planted might well nourish 1500000. and many many more as appeareth by this oâ—â— câ—untrie not hauing so rich a naturall Inheritance Right of Merchandise 1. Cor 11. 21. Securitie of Ports Gen. 10. Rom. 2. 14. Right Nationall Ius gentium Lucan Right by righâ— conquest 2. Sam. 10. Deut. 2. 19. Englands ma 〈…〉 〈…〉 hts to Virginia First discouery Mercator D. d ee Ortel c. M. Thorne
of Iuly Guisians fearâ—d Taâ—â— conqâ—â—st The 27 of Iuly The Spaniards ancre before Caleis Prince of Ascoli his good fortune The 28. of Iuly The 29. of Iuly The 30. of Iuly States Fleete Enâ—lish Hispaniolâ—zed traitors The Spaniards vaine opinion concerning their own fleet Sea-stratagem The 28. of Iuly The Galliasse of Hugo de Mon cada cast vpon the shoalds before Caleis M. Amias Preston 〈…〉 antly boordeth the Galliasse Moncada slain 50000. duckets The great fight before Greueling the 29. of Iuly Englishs ships aduantage Gods prouident mercies to the English Three Spanish ships sunke in the fight Two Galeons taken and carried into Zeland A small ship cast awaâ— abâ—ut Blankenberg The dishonorable flâ—gh of the Spanish nauy the prudent â—duiâ—e of the L. Admiral Our want of Powder Bullets pâ—â—clâ—ime th 〈…〉 u 〈…〉 of Gods present power merciful both deliuerance and victory Thâ— Enâ—lish return home 〈◊〉 the pursuit of the Spaniards the 4. of Aug. The Spaniards consult to saile round about Scotland Ireland and so to returne home Horses cast ouer-boord The ship wrack of the Spaniards vpon the Irish coast Of 134. ships of the Spanish fleet there returned home but 53. D. of Medina Ricaldes death Spaniards pittied Spaines general losse New coines stamped for the memory of the Spaniards ouerthrow The people of England and of the vnited prouinces pray fast and giue thankes vnto God The Kings wise speech Epinitian or triumph all verses Ad serenissimam Elizabetham Anglia Reginam Theodor. Beza * Like lips like lettuce A blind Balladmaker fit Homer for Achillian conquests By a Letter of Diego Peres chiefe Post-master of Logrono dated the second of September 1588. Copie of a letter that Iohn Gamarra wrote from Rean the 31. of August of the same yeere Copie of a Letter that Pèdro de Aluâ— did write from Roan the first of September of the same yeere Aduise from London which the Embassador of our Souereigne Lord the King resident in Parris had from thence By a Letter of the chiefe Post master of Burdeux written to the French Embassadour the 2. of Sept. 1588. Relation of that which haâ—h passed till this day the fifth of Sept. 1588. till three of the clock in the aâ—ternoon knowne by the relations and aduice come to his Maiestie from the happy Fleet wherof is Generall the Duke of Medina in the conquest of England A briefe rehearsall of the English exploits in this voyage Generall Noâ—râ—â— and Generall Drake Genâ—rall Norris his Martiall eduâ—ation and employments Earle of Essex his worthy Acts. Our men land within a mile of the Gâ—â—ine the 20. of April Intemperate drinking cause of sicknesse Nâ—â— voyage to England intended Gallion burnt Dangerous fire Vndermining Prouisions brought in Tower falleth Conde de Andrada his Armie The notable ouerthrow giuen to the Spaniards at Puente de Burgos Earle of Essex comes to them They land at Peniche Peniche taken They march towards Li 〈…〉 Good discipline Want of 〈◊〉 Some died with drinking water Earle of Essex his attempt They come to the suburbs of Lisbon Houses burnt by the Portugallâ— Colonell Bret flâ—ine Their retrait and chase by E. Essex Gen. Drakes comming Cascaiâ— forsaken Ships taken Consultation Don Antonies promises frustrate They mâ—â—h frpm Lisban The riches that they might haue gotten at Lisbon Desire of the English to fight Feare of the enemies Castle of Cascais yeelded Sixtie Hulkes brought Cardinall Albert after married to the Infanta and Ruler of the Spanish Port of the Low Countries Morocco Embassadour Bayon Vigo taken Borsis burned Vigâ— burned Their returne to Plimmouth * M. Hackluit had published the large report of this Voyage written byone emploied therin out of which I haue taken that which serued our purpose * Q. Mary said before her death that if they opened her they should finde Callis in her heart French and Flemming takeÌ„ and dismissed Hamburgers taken Letters taken Irishmans intelligence They arriue at Cadiz Some which professe martiall knowledg blame the not landing thâ— first day and sâ—y the weather serued but the scruple oâ— sunday and other pretences lost a million of wealth Doues lighting The Spanish Fleete The fight betwixt the two Fleetes Spanish losse Two Apostles forced to preach English Flemmish mischance The English land Bad way The English enter the town * I haue bin told by some of great worth then in this action that they heard the Lord Admirall affirme that he was 68. yeers old or between that and 70. who yet liueth 1624. crowned with siluer haires and golden raies of glorious acts The Castle deliuered Spaniards E 〈…〉 their ships Cadiz described My Sexton T. Rowly yet liuing hath often told me that he had the rifling of a Iewellers or Goldsmiths house and in his returne gaue and sold for toâ—es many Stones which by his description seemed Rubies of great bignes whereof he had his hatfull which proued not worth an angel to his ignorant simplicity neuer ordained to be rich Sir Iohn Winkfield buried Iune 21. 22. 27. Cadiz 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the L Admirall his letters Faraon burnt Crossed with windes and stormes Danger of the Admirallship They put in to Plimmouth Sicknesse Order to discharge land forces Their 〈◊〉 â—oâ—th the second 〈◊〉 Leake remedies Cape Finisterre Enterprise of Feroll uerthrowne The Rocke South Cape Tercera Victuals sent after them False aduise of a smal Pinnace comming from the Indies Note Mistaking The Indian Fleet rec 〈…〉 uer the Rode of Tercera Three Spanish Ships taken Want of prouisions Punta delgada in S. Michael Punta de la Galera They land nee Villa Franca October the fifteenth Their returne A Carack ran her selfe on the Rocks A Ship of Brasil taken * Charles * Of these Ilands see before Linschotens obseruations to which I haue added this Authors description as containing somwhat therin omitted This booke was written A. 1607. and dedicated to that great hope of Great Britaine Prince Henry the Epistle to him and the Preface I haue omitted in regard of our long volume I haue not added a word of mine but the Title and Marginall Notes nor defalked any of the Authors after my wont in others not to make their writings mine but â—hine the tediousnesse in so often repetitions by often relators and the superfluities being such as would deterre the Reader The Discourses I haue vsually put in another letter to distinguish them from the History the one the Eyes obseruations the other the Minds and both worthy both thine eyes and minds best obseruation Hee added also Notes touching the Naâ—â—e Royall which are worthy the noting but perhaps not to be permitted to euery vulgar and notelesse eye Sometim 〈…〉 veritas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paines may cause paines and busie labour may reap the reward of a busie body I am loth to buy repentance Fayall Gratiosa Flores Cueruo S. Maries c. Commanders names and chiefe officers Noblemen imployed in this seruice The Nauie consisting of three Squadrons and
last we came to a Riuer that passed vnder it here we determined to make some shift to get through some of our company said that they thought it best to goe still along by the foote of the Mountaine rather then to venture to goe through for they said if this water goe not through we are all cast away for it is impossible to returne againe against this current Then I answered friends we may as well aduenture our liues now as we haue done heretofore in many places if not we must make accompt to liue here like wilde Beasts where we shall haue life as long as pleaseth God without credit name or Religion wherefore I thinke that our best way is to goe through if we can for no doubt but God that hath hitherto deliuered vs from dangers infinite at this time will not forsake vs and questionlesse if it be our fortunes to passe on the other side we shall finde either Spaniards or Indiaâ—â— for I am sure that each of you haue heard that on a faire day it is to be discerned from the top of Potasin to this Mountaine After I had thus spoken the Portugals determined to venture to goe through we made a great thing of great Canes three yards and a halfe broad and six yards long that we might lye downe and sleepe vpon it we killed good store of Tamandroes and rosted them very dry for our prouision for we knew not how long we should be in the vaute After we had made all ready taking good store of wood with vs commending our selues to God we put our selues into the vaut which made such a noise with the running of the water that we thought it had beene some inchantment We went in on munday morning and we came out on a morning whether we were two dayes or one in the vault I know not As soone as we perceiued light we were very glad but when we came out we saw on euery side houses then we tooke counsell what was the best for vs to doe to hide ourselues and see if we could passe the Townes in the night or to goe and submit ourselues to the Indians we all agreed that the best was to goe to them then I said well friends sithence we haue agreed let vs fully determine here what we shall doe and say for questionlesse they will examine vs what we are and from whence we came then the Portugals said we will tell them that we are Portugals then I answered I will tell them that I am a French man We went towards their houses who as soone as they had perceiued vs came out hooping and hollowing with their Bowes and Arrows and when they came vnto vs they bound our hands and tied cords about our middles and so led vs to their houses presently there came two or three old men and asked what we were then the Portugals answered that they were Portugals and I that I was a French man Within two houres after they had examined vs they tooke one of the Portugals and tied a new roape about his middle and carried him into a yard with three Indians holding a cord on the one side and three on the other side and the Portugall in the middest there came an old man and bid him looke on all things that he liked and told him that he should bid them farewell for hee should see them no more then there came a lustie yong man with his armes and face died red and said vnto him doest thou see me I am he that hath killed many of thy Nation and will kill thee After he had spake all this he came behinde the Portugall and strooke him on the nape of the necke that he felled him to the ground and after hee was downe gaue him another that hee killed him then they tooke the tooth of a Conie and opened all the vpper skinne so they tooke him by the head and the feete and held him in the flame of the fire after that rubbing him with their hands all the vpper skin came of and the flesh remained white then they cut off his head and gaue it to him they tooke the guts and gaue them to the women after which they iointed him ioint by ioint first hands then elbowes and so all the body After which they sent to euery house a peece then they fell a dancing and all the women made great store of Wine the next day they boiled euery ioint in a great pot of water because their wiues and children might eate of the broth for the space of three dayes they did nothing but dance and drinke day and night after that they killed another in the same manner as you haue heard and so serued all but my selfe When I saw all the Portugals dead I looked for the same but after the Indians had done with the Feasts they came vnto me and said Feare not for your ancestors haue beene our friends and we theirs but the Portugals are our enemies and make vs slanes wherefore we haue done with them as you haue seene After I had heard what they said I told them I had no reason to feare for I knew they were my friends and not mine enemies and that I had bin a long time prisoner to the Portugals When I had bin two moneths with these Indians called the Tamoyes they went to warre against Tomominos and comming to fight we had almost lost the field for the Tamominos were a great many more so that we were faine to take the Mountaine when I saw the rusticall manner of their fight that without any order they would set vpon their enemies like Buls I taught them how to set themselues in Battaile and to lye in ambush and how to retire and draw their enemies into a snare by this meanes we had alwayes the vpper hand of our enemies and I was held in great accompt amongst them for they would neuer goe to the field except I went with them in a short time we gaue so many battailes to the Tomominos that we made them leaue their Countrey and flye further from vs so wee liued in peace The Tamoyes offered mee many wiues but I refused saying it was not our custome to take wines out of our Countrey After wee had conquered the Tomominos wee liued in peace for the space of foure moneths and then there came another kinde of Canibals called Topinaques These made their Towne very neere vs at a Mountaine called by the Indians Tamiuua that is the Mountaine of Gold When we heard of them we prepared to make warre against them wee went fiue thousand strong in fiue dayes iourney we came before the Towne but we being espied they left their Towne and fled we followed them tenne daies taking many old men and women which as we tooke them we killed we followed them till we came to a great Riuer side where we durst not passe for feare lest the enemy
should ouercome vs at the landing so we returned home againe from the Riuer called Morgege where we remayned still in peace for the space of eight moneths till we remoued our selues At this place I went all naked with out any thing onely a few leaues I tied before mee for shame One day going all alone a fishing for pleasures sake I sat downe remembring my selfe in what state I was and thinking what I had beene I began to curse the time that euer I heard the name of the Sea and grieued to thinke how fond I was to forsake my naturall Countrey where I wanted nothing then was I out of all hope either to see Countrey or Christian againe sitting by the Riuer in these passionate thoughts there came on old Indian one of the chiefest of them and beganne to talke with me saying It was a good time with them when they dwelt at Cape Frio for then they had trade with the Frenchmen and wanted nothing but now they had neyther Kniues nor Hatchets nor nothing else but liued in great necessitie with that I answered I did heartily wish that he and his company would goe and dwell by the Sea-coast without danger of Portugals whereupon hee and I went home together and the Indian reported in the Towne what I had said vnto him the next morning there came at the least twenty of the chiefest of them into the house where I lay and asked me if I knew my Place certaine where they might finde any French Ships I told them that I was sure betwixt the Riuer of Plate and a Riuer called by the Portugals Dos Patos we should finde French men and if we did not that here the Portugals could not hurt vs. Moreouer it were better to dwell by the Sea side where we should haue plenty of al things then where we did where we had nothing to liue vpon but roots These old men went and told the people which all desired to see the coast so they resolued and making prouision we departed from our abode being thirty thousand of vs. After we had passed many a Hill all Wildernesse and Riuers where wee found many precious stones we came to a faire sandie Countrie through which we trauelled some twentie dayes and we went Northward for feare of comming into the Countrie where there are great store of Spaniards and this Countrie is it selfe very populous and are friends with the Spaniards Therefore we changed our course and trauelled all Northward till we came into the Countrie of the Amasons which the Indians call Mandiocusyanas then we tooke our course Southward againe I would haue perswaded the Tamoyes to haue warred against the Amasons but they durst not for they said we know that their Countrie is very populous and we shall be all killed After wee came to the head of the Riuer called Patos there we found Canoas of barkes of trees that came downe the Riuer some eight dayes then wee found the Riuer very broad and many trees cut by the Riuers side whereby we suspected that we were neere the Sea side or some Town of the Waanasses for the Waanasses neuer inhabit far from the coast When the Indians saw these tokens of abidance they asked me what I thought was best to doe I answerd I thought it best to hide our selues and to send some nine or ten yong men to see if they could spie any Towne so we to circle them in their houses in the night to that they all agreed and ten of them were sent they returned again at night without sight of any Towne but they said there went a great path by the Riuer side and brought peeces of Cords that they found in the way with them Hence we iudged that we should finde some Towne by the Riuer side and determined to goe downe the Riuer in the night with our Canoas to see if we could finde the Towne About foure of the clocke we came to a faire Bay and saw the Sea and doubling a point of the shoare we espied a Towne then as fast as we could we landed our men and the day began to be cleare and one of the Town comming out to the Sea side espied vs whereupon all the Town rose vp in armes and we had a great skirmish We were many more in number and had farre better order so we put them to flight killing a great many of them wee tooke three hundred prisoners men and women which the Tamoyes killed and did eate afterwards These Indians are called Carijos After we had put them to flight they went to Saint Vincents by land and craued succour of the Portugals At this Towne of the Carijos we found great store of prouision Cassaui Ginnie Wheate Potatoes Plantons Pumpions and all other such like that the Countrie yeeldeth and in great plenty there likewise we found great store of Ryals of eight for there had beene a Caruell cast away in that place not long before and the Spaniards were gone before by land to Bonas Ayres in the Riuer of Plate with these Indians the Portugals had peace but now they are in warre with them againe Some of the Carijos went to the Riuer of Plate to craue succour others as I said before came to the Town of Saint Vincents from Saint Uincents newes was sent to the Riuer of Ianero from thence the Portugals made a Nauie of Canoas and Caruels of the which the Gouernours sonne Marten de Sasa which was come home from the Riuer of Iauary where I departed from him was come againe as Captaine of all the Portugals and comming vpon vs in the night they seized our Towne about three of the clocks an Indian that came with the Portugals beganne to speake very loud to the men of the Towne that they should not stirre for if they stirred they should be all put to the sword When the Tamoyes heard the Indian speake they began to russell with their Bowes and Arrowes making a great noise with that the Portugals shot of a Peece then they all lay downe in their beds like men without liues or soules when the day was cleare and my Masters Sonne saw me aliue he blest himselfe and asked me what was become of my companions I told him that the Indians had killed them and eaten them After that about ten of the clocke all the Indians were brought out of their houses and being examined some of them said that I bid them kill them if many of them had not been I had died for it but it was Gods will to discouer the truth by their own mouthes then the Portugals killed all the old men and women and all those that had beene particuler actors of the Portugals deaths which were in all 10000. and 20000. were parted amongst them for their slaues I came againe to my old Master and was sent with the Tamoyes to a Sugar Mill that my Master had newly made There I went still to
and twentieth in the height of Farnambuca but some fourescore leagues from the Coast the twentie foure in the height of Bayea de Todos Santos neere the end of October betwixt seuenteene and eighteene degrees wee were in sixteene fathomes sounding of the great Scoles which lye alongst the Coast betwixt the Bay of Todos Santos and the Port of Santos alias nuestra sâ—nora de Vitoria which are very perillous But the diuine Prouidence hath ordained great flockes of small Birds like Snites to liue vpon the Rockes and broken lands of these Sholes which are met with ordinarily twentie leagues before a man come in danger of them It shall not be amisse here to recount the Accidents which befell vs during this contrary wind and the curiosities to be obserued in all this time Day and night we had continually a faire gale of wind and a smooth Sea without any alteration one day the Carpenters hauing Calked the Decke of our ship which the Sunne with his extreame heate had opened craued license to heate a little Pitch in the Cooke roome which I would not consent vnto by any meanes for that my Cooke roomes were vnder the Decke knowing the danger vntill the Master vndertooke that no danger should come thereof But hee recommended the charge to another who had a better name then experience He suffered the Pitch to rise and to runne into the fire which caused so furious a flame as amazed him and forced all to flee his heate one of my company with a double paire of Gloues tooke off the Pitch-pot but the fire forced him to let flip his hold-fast before he could set it on the Hearth and so ouerturned it and as the Pitch began to runne so the fire to enlarge it selfe that in a moment a great part of the ship was on a light fire I being in my Cabbin presently imagined what the matter was and for all the haste I could make before I came the fire was aboue the Decke for remedie whereof I commanded all my company to cast their Rugge Gownes into the Sea with Ropes fastened vnto them These I had prouided for my people to watch in for in many hot Countreyes the nights are fresh and cold and deuided one Gowne to two men a Starboord and a Larboord man so that hee which watched had euer the Gowne for they which watched not were either in their Cabbins or vnder the Decke and so needed them not The Gownes being well soaked euery man that could took one and assaulted the fire and although some were sindged others scalded and many burned God was pleased that the fire was quenched which I thought impossible and doubtlesse I neuer saw my selfe in greater perill in all the dayes of my life Let all men take example by vs not to suffer in any case Pitch to be heate in the ship except it be with a shot heate in the fire which cannot breed danger nor to permit fire to be kindled but vpon meere necessitie for the inconuenience thereof is for the most part remedilesse Great care is to be had also in cleaning of Wood in Hooping or Scutling of Caske and in any businesse where violence is to be vsed with Instruments of Iron Steele or Stone and especially in opening of Powder these are not to be vsed but Mallets of Wood for many mischances happen beyond all expectation I haue beene credibly enformed by diuers persons that comming out of the Indies with Scutling a But of water the water hath taken fire and flamed vp and put all in hazard And a Seruant of mine Thomas Gray told me that in the ship wherein he came out of the Indies Anno 1600. there happened the like and that if with Mantles they had not smoothered the fire they had beene all burned with a Pipe of Water which in Scutling tooke fire Master Iohn Hazlelocke reported that in the Arsenall of Venice happened the like he being present For mine owne part I am of opinion that some waters haue this propertie and especially such as haue their passage by Mines of Brimstone or other Minerals which as all men know giue extraordinary properties vnto the waters which runne by them Or it may be that the water being in Wine Caske and kept close may retaine an extraordinary propertie of the Wine Yea I haue drunke Fountaine and Riuer waters many times which haue had a fauour as that of B 〈…〉 stone Three leagues from Bayon in France I haue prooued of a Fountaine that hath this sauour and 〈◊〉 medicinable for many Diseases In the South Sea in a Riuer some fiue leagues from Cape 〈◊〉 Francisco in one degree and an halfe to the Northwards of the Line in the Bay of Atacames is a Riuer of fresh water which hath the like sauour We had no small cause to giue God thankes and tooke an occasion hereby to banish swearing out of our ships which amongst the common sort of Mariners and Sea-faring men is too ordinarily abused So with a generall consent of all our company it was ordained that in euery shippe there should be a Palmer or Ferula which should be in the keeping of him who was taken with an Oath and that hee who had the Palmer should giue to euery other that hee tooke swearing in the Palme of the hand a Palmada with it and the Ferula And whosoeuer at the time of Euening or Morning Prayer was found to haue the Palmer should haue three blowes giuen him by the Captaine or Master and that he should be still bound to free himselfe by taking another or else to runne in danger of continuing the penaltie which executed few dayes reformed the Vice so that in three dayes together was not one Oath heard to be sworne This brought both Ferulaes and swearing out of vse Ordinarily such ships as Nauigate betweene the Tropickes are accompanied with three sorts of fish The Dolphin which the Spaniards call Dozado the Bonito or Spanish Makeâ—ill and the Sharke alias Tiberune The Dolphin I hold to be one of the swiftest fishes in the Sea He is like vnto a Breame but that he is longer and thinner and his scales very small Hee is of the colour of the Rain-bow and his head different to other fishes for from his mouth halfe a span it goeth straite vpright as the head of a Wherry or the Cut-water of a ship He is very good meate if he be in season but the best part of him is his head which is great They are some bigger some lesser the greatest that I haue seene might be some foure foot long I hold it not without some ground that the ancient Philosophers write that they bee enamoured of a man for in meeting with shipping they accompany them till they approach to cold Climates this I haue noted diners times For disembarking out of the West Indies Anno 1583. within three or foure dayes after we met a Scole of them which
left vs not till wee came to the Ilands of Azores neere a thousand leagues At other times I haue noted the like But some may say that in the Sea are many Scoles of this kind of fish and how can a man know if they were the same Who may be thus satisfied that euery day in the morning which is the time that they approach neerest the ship we should see foure fiue and more which had as it were our eare-mark one hurt vpon the backe another neere the taile another about the finnes which is sufficient proof that they were the same For if those which had receiued so bad entertainment of vs would not forsake vs much lesse those which wee had not hurt yet that which makes them most in loue with ships and men are the scraps and refreshing they gather from them The Bonito or Spanish Mackerell is altogether like vnto a Mackerell but that it is somewhat more growne he is reasonable food but drier then a Mackerell Of them there are two sorts the one is this which I haue described the other so great as hardly one man can lift him At such times as we haue taken of these one sufficed for a meale for all my company These from the sinne of the taile forwards haue vpon the chyne seuen small yellow hillockes close one to another The Dolphins and Bonitos are taken with certaine Instruments of Iron which we call Vysgeis in forme of an Eele-speare but that the blades are round and the points like vnto the head of a broad Arrow these are fastned to long staues of ten or twelue foote long with Lines tied vnto them and so shot to the fish from the Beake-head the Poope or other parts of the ship as occasion is ministred They are also caught with Hookes and Lines the Hooke beeing bayted with a red Cloth or with a white Cloth made into the forme of a fish and sowed vpon the Hooke The Sharke or Tiberune is a fish like vnto to those which wee call Dog-fishes but that hee is far greater I haue seene of them eight or nine foot long his head is flat and broad and his mouth in the middle vdderneath as that of the Scate and he cannot bite of the baite before him but by making a halfe turne and then he helpeth himselfe with his taile which serueth him in stead of a Rudder His skinne is rough like to the fish which we call a rough Hound and Russet with reddish spots sauing that vnder the belly hee is all white hee is much hated or Sea-faring men who haue a certaine foolish Superstition with them and say that the ship hath seldome good successe that is much accompanied with them It is the most rauenous fish knowne in the Sea for he swalloweth all that hee findeth In the Puch of them hath beene found Hats Caps Shooes Shirts legges and armes of men ends of Râ—pes and many other things whatsoeuer is hanged by the ships side he sheereth it as though it were with a Razor for he hath three rowes of teeth on either side as sharpe as nailes some say they are good for Pick-tooths They spawne not as the greatest part of fishes doe but Whelpe as the Dogge or Wolfe and for many dayes after that she hath whelped euery night and towardes any storme or any danger which may threaten them hurt the Damme receiueth her Whelpes in her mouth and preserueth them till they be able to shift for themselues I haue seene them go in and out being more then a foot and halfe long and after taking the Dam we haue found her young ones in her belly My company tooke many At the taile of one they tied a great logge of wood at another an emptie Batizia well stopped one they yoked like a Hogge from another they plucked out his eyes and so threw them into the Sea In catching two together they bound them taile to taile and so set them a swimming another with his belly slâ—â— and his bowels hanging out which his fellowes would haue euery one a snatch at with other infinite Inuentions to entertaine the time and to auenge themselues for that they depriued them of swimming and fed on their flesh being dead they are taking with Harping Irâ—ns and with great hookes made of purpose with Swyuels and Chaines for no Line nor small Rope can hold them which they share not asuuder There doth accompany this fish diuers little fishes which are called Pilats fishes and are euer vpon his sinnes his head or his backe and feede of the scraps and superfluities of his preyes They are informe of a Trowte and streaked like a Mackerell but that the streakes are white and blacke and the blacke greater then the white The manner of Hunting and Hawking representeth that which we reasonable creatures vse sauing onely in the disposing of the game For by our industry and abilitie the Hound and Hawke is brought to that obedience that whatsoeuer they seize is for their Master but here it is otherwise For the game is for him that seizeth it The Dolphins and 〈…〉 nitoes are the Hounds and the Alcatraces the Hawkes and the flying fishes the game whose wonderfull making magnifieth the Creator who for their safetie and helpe hath giuen them extraordinary manner of finnes which serue instead of wings like those of the Bat or Rere-mouse of such a delicate skinne interlaced with bones so curiously as may well cause admiration in the beholders They are like vnto Pilchards in colour and making sauing that they are somewhat rounder and for the most part bigger They flee best with a side winde but longer then their wings bee weate they cannot sustaine the weight of their bodies and so the greatest flight that I haue seene them make hath not beene aboue a quarter of a mile They commonly goe in Scoles and serue for food for the greater fishes or for the Foules The Dolphins and Bonitoes doe continually hunt after them and the Alcatraces lie soaring in the Aire to see when they spring or take their flight and ordinarily hee that escapeth the mouth of the Dolphin or Bonito helping himselfe by his wings falleth prisoner into the hands of the Alcatrace and helpeth to fill his gorge The Alcatrace is a Sea-fowle different to all that I haue seene either on the Land or in the Sea His head like vnto the head of a Gull but his bill like vnto a Suites bill somewhat shorter and in all places alike He is almost like to a Heronshaw his legs a good spanne long his wings very long and sharpe towards the points with a long taile like to a Pâ—easant but with three or foure feathers onely and these narrower He is all blacke of the colour of a Crow and of little flesh for hee is almost all skinne and bones Hee soareth the highest of any Fowle that I haue seene and I haue not heard of any that haue seene them
care which they should haue for the conuersion and saluation came to that passe as to command orders to bee set downe vnto the Indians to receiue the faith and render themselues vnto the obedience of the King of Castile or otherwise to bid them battle with fire and Sword and to slay them or make them slaues he commanded or peraduenture the theeues whom he dispatched to doe the execution did it of their heads when they were purposed to goe a rouing and robbing of any place where they knew that there was any gold the Indians being in their Townes and dwelling houses without mistrusting any thing the wicked Spaniards would goe after the guize of Theeues vnto within halfe a league neere some Towne Borough or Village and there by themselues alone and by night make a reading publication or Proclamation of the said Ordinances saying thus Oyes Caciques and Indians of this firme Land of such a place Be it knowne vnto you that there is one God one Pope one King of Castile which is Lord of these Lands make your appearance all delay set aside hereto doe him homage c. Which if you shall not accomplish Be it knowne vnto you that we will make warre vpon you and we will kill you and make you slaues Hereupon at the fourth watch in the morning the poore Innocents sleeping yet with their wiues and children these Tyrants set vpon the place casting fire on the houses which commonly were thatched and so burne vp all quicke men women and children more suddenly then that they could of a great many be perceiued They massacred at the instant those that seemed them good and those whom they tooke prisoners they caused them cruelly to die vpon the Racke to make them to tell in what places there were any more Gold then they found with them and others which remained aliue they made them slaues marking them with a hot Iron so after the fire being out and quenched they goe seeke the gold in their houses This is then the deportment in these affaires of this person with all the bond of his vngodly Christians which he trained from the fourteenth yeere vnto the one and twentie or two and twentieth yeere sending in these Exploits sixe or moe of his Seruants or Souldiers by whom he receiued as many shares ouer and besides his Captaines Generals part which hee leuied of all the Gold of all the Pearles and of all the Iewels which they tooke of those whom they made their slaues The selfe-same did the Kings Officers euerie one sending forth as many seruants as he could The Bishop also which was the chiefe in the Realme he sent his seruants to haue his share in the bootie They spoiled more gold within the time and in this Realme as farre forth as I am able to reckon then would amount to a Million of Ducates yea I beleeue that I make my reckoning with the least Yet will it be found that of all this great theeuing they neuer sent to the King ought saue three thousand Castillans hauing thereabout killed and destroyed aboue eight hundred thousand soules The other Tyrant Gouernours which succeeded after vnto the yeere thirtie and three slue or at least wise consented for all those which remained to slay them in that tyrannicall slauerie Amongst an infinite sort of mischiefes which this Gouernour did nor consented vnto the doing during the time of his gouernment this was one To wit that a Cacike or Lord giuing him either of his good will or which is rather to be thought for feare the weight of nine thousand Ducates the Spaniards not content withall tooke the said Lord and tied him to a stake setting him on the earth his feet stretched vp against the which they set fire to cause him to giue them some more gold The Lord sent to his house whence there were brought yet moreouer three thousand Castillans They goe afresh to giue him new torments And when the Lord gaue them no more either because he had it not or because he would giue them no more they bent his feet against the fire vntill that the verie marrow sprang out and trilled downe the soles of his feete so as hee therewith died They haue oftentimes exercised these kinde of torments towards the Lords to make them giue them gold wherewith they haue also slaine them Another time a certaine companie of Spaniards vsing their thefts and robberies came to a Mountaine where were assembled and hid a number of people hauing shunned those men so pernicious and horrible whom incontinent entring vpon they tooke about three or fourescore as well women as maids hauing killed as many as they could kill The morrow after there assembled a great companie of Indians to pursue the Spaniards warring against them for the great desire they had to recouer their wiues and daughters The Spaniards perceiuing the Indians to approach so neere vpon them would not so forgoe their prey but stabd their Swords thorow the bellies of the wiues and wenches leauing but one alone aliue of all the fourescore The Indians felt their hearts to burst for sorrow and griefe which they suffered yelling out in cries and speaking such words O wicked men O yee the cruell Spaniards doe yee kill Las Iras They terme Iras in that Countrie the women as if they would say to kill women those be acts of abominable men and cruell as beasts There was about ten or fifteene leagues from Ioanama a great Lord named Paris which was very rich of gold The Spaniards went thither whom this Lord receiued as if they had beene his owne brethren and made a Present vnto the Captaine of fiftie thousand Castillans of his owne voluntarie accord It seemed vnto the Captaine and the other Spaniards that he which gaue such a great summe of his owne will should haue a great treasure which should be the end and easing of their trauels They pretend in words to depart but they returne at the fourth watch of the morning setting vpon the Towne which mistrusted nothing set it on fire whereby was burnt and slaine a great number of people and by this meanes they brought away in the spoile fiftie or threescore thousand Castillansmoe The Cacike or Lord escaped without being slaine or taken and leuied incontinent as many of his as he could And at the end of three or foure daies ouertaketh the Spaniards which had taken from him an hundred and thirtie or fortie thousand Castillans and set vpon them valianâ—ly killing fiftie Spaniards and recouering all the gold which they had taken from him The others saued themselues by running away being well charged with blowes and wounded Not long after diuers of the Spanish returne against the said Cacike and discomfite him with an infinite number of his people Those which were not slaine they put them to the ordinarie bondage in such sort as that there is not at this day neither tracke nor token that there hath beene liuing there either people
fully resolued all for England againe There came in this interim aboord vnto vs that stayed all night an Indian whom wee vsed kindly and the next day sent ashoare hee shewed himselfe the most sober of all the rest wee held him sent as a Spie In the morning he filched away our Pot-hookes thinking he had not done any ill therein being ashoare wee bid him strike fire which with an Emerald stone such as the Glasiers vse to cut Glasse he did I take it to be the very same that in Latine is called Smiris for striking therewith vpon Touch-wood that of purpose hee had by meane of a mynerall stone vsed therein sparkles proceeded and forth with kindled with making of flame The ninth wee continued working on our Store-house for as yet remayned in vs a desired resolution of making stay The tenth Captaine Gosnoll fell downe with the ship to the little Ilet of Cedars called Hills happe to take in Cedar wood leauing mee and nine more in the Fort onely with three meales meate vpon promise to returne the next day The eleuenth he came not neither sent whereupon I commanded foure of my companie to seeke out for Crabbes Lobsters Turtles c. for sustayning vs till the ships returne which was gone cleane out of sight and had the winde chopt vp at South-west with much difficulty would shee haue beene able in short time to haue made returne These foure Purveyers whom I counselled to keepe together for their better safety diuided themselues two going one wayes and two another in search as aforesaid One of these petie companies was assaulted by foure Indians who with Arrowes did shoot and hurt one of the two in his side the other a lusty and nimble fellow leapt in and cut their Bow-strings whereupon they fled Being late in the euening they were driuen to lie all night in the Woods not knowing the way home thorow the thicke rubbish as also the weather somewhat stormie The want of these sorrowed vs much as not able to coniecture any thing of them vnlesse very euill The twelfth those two came vnto vs againe whereat our ioy was encreased yet the want of our Captaine that promised to returne as aforesaid strooke vs in a dumpish terrour for that hee performed not the same in the space of almost three dayes In the meane wee sustayned our selues with Alexander and Sorrell pottage Ground-nuts and Tobacco which gaue nature a reasonable content Wee heard at last our Captaine to Iewre vnto vs which made such musike as sweeter neuer came vnto poore men The thirteenth beganne some of our companie that before vowed to stay to make reuolt whereupon the planters diminishing all was giuen ouer The fourteenth fifteenth and sixteenth wee spent in getting Sasafrage and fire-wood of Cedar leauing House and little Fort by ten men in nineteene dayes sufficient made to harbour twenty persons at least with their necessary prouision The seuenteenth we set sayle doubling the Rockes of Elizabeths Iland and passing by Douer Cliffe came to anchor at Marthaes Vineyard being fiue leagues distant from our Fort where we went ashoare and had young Cranes Herneshowes and Geese which now were growne to pretie bignesse The eighteenth we set sayle and bore for England cutting off our Shalop that was well able to land fiue and twenty men or more a Boate very necessary for the like occasions The winds doe raigne most commonly vpon this coast in the Summer time Westerly In our homeward course wee obserued the foresaid fleeting weeds to continue till we came within two hundred leagues of Europe The three and twentieth of Iuly we came to anchor before Exmouth CHAP. XI Notes of the same Voyage taken out of a Tractate written by IAMES ROSIER to Sir WALTER RALEIGH and of MACES Voyage to Virginia ELizabeths Iland is full of high timbred Oakes their leaues thrice so broad as ours Cedars straight and tall Beech Elme Hollie Wal-nut trees in abundance the fruit as bigge as ours as appeared by those wee found vnder the trees which had lien all the yeere vngathered Hasle-nut trees Cherrie trees the leafe barke and bignesse not differing from ours in England but the stalke beareth the blossomes or fruit at the end thereof like a cluster of Grapes fortie or fiftie in a bunch Sassafras trees great plentie all the Iland ouer a tree of high price and profit also diuers other fruit-trees some of them with strange barkes of an Orange colour in feeling soft and smooth like Veluet in the thickest parts of these Woods you may see a furlong or more round about On the North-west side of this Iland neere to the Sea-side is a standing Lake of fresh water almost three English miles in compasse in the miast whereof stands a woody ground an acre in quantitie or not aboue this Lake is full of small Tortoises and exceedingly frequented with all sorts of fowles before rehearsed which breed some lowe on the bankes and others on lowe trees about this Lake in great abundance whose young ones of all sorts wee tooke and eate at our pleasure but all these fowles are much bigger than ours in England Also in euery Iland and almost euery part of euery Iland are great store of Ground-nuts fortie together on a string some of them as bigge as Hennes egges they growe not two inches vnder ground the which Nuts wee found to bee as good as Potatoes Also diuers sorts of shell-fish as Scalops Mussels Cockles Lobsters Crabs Oisters and Wilkes exceeding good and very great But not to cloy you with particular rehearsall of such things as God and Nature hath bestowed on these places in comparison whereof the most fertile part of all England is of it selfe but barren wee went in our Light-horsman from this Iland to the Maine right against this Iland some two miles off where comming ashoare wee stood a while like men ranished at the beautie and delicacy of this sweet soyle for besides diuers cleere Lakes of fresh water whereof wee saw no end Medowes very large and full of greene grasse euen the most wooddy places I speake onely of such as I saw doe growe so distinct and apart one tree from another vpon greene grassie ground somewhat higher than the Plaines as if Nature would shew her selfe aboue her power artificiall Hard by wee espied seuen Indians and comming vp to them at first they expressed some feare but being emboldned by our courteous vsage and some trifles which we gaue them they followed vs to a necke of Land which wee imagined had beene seuered from the Mayne but finding it otherwise wee perceiued abroad Harbour or Riuers mouth which came vp into the Mayne and because the day was farre spent we were forced to returne to the Iland from whence we came leauing the Discouery of this Harbour for a time of better leisure Of the goadnesse of which Harbour as also of many others thereabouts there is small doubt
considering that all the Ilands as also the Maine where wee were is all Rockie Grounds and broken Lands Now the next day wee determined to fortifie our selues in a little plot of ground in the middest of the Lake aboue mentioned where wee built an house and couered it with sedge which grew about this Lake in great abundance in building whereof wee spent three weekes and more but the second day after our comming from the Maine wee espied eleuen Canoas or Boats with fifty Indians in them comming toward vs from this part of the Maine where wee two dayes before landed and being loath they should discouer our fortification wee went out into the Sea side to meete them and comming somewhat neere them they all sate downe vpon the stones calling aloud to vs as wee rightly ghessed to doe the like a little distance from them hauing sate a while in this order Captaine Gosnold willed mee to goe vnto them to see what countenance they would make but as soone as I came vp vnto them one of them to whom I had giuen a Knife two dayes before in the Maine knew mee whom I also very well remembred and smiling vpon me spake somewhat vnto their Lord or Captaine which sate in the midst of them who presently rose vp and tooke a large Beuer skinne from one that stood about him and gaue it vnto me which I requited for that time the best I could but I pointing towards captaine Gosnold made signes vnto him that hee was our Captaine and desirous to bee his friend and enter league with him which as I perceiued he vnderstood and made signes of ioy whereupon Captaine Gosnold with the rest of his companie being twenty in all came vp vnto them and after many signes of gratulations Captaine Gosnold presenting their Lord with certaine trifles which they wondred at and highly esteemed wee became very great friends and sent for meat aboord our Shalop and gaue them such meates as wee had then ready dressed whereof they misliked nothing but our Mustard whereat they made many a sowre face While wee were thus merrie one of them had conueighed a Target of ours into one of their Canoas which wee suffered onely to trie whether they were in subiection to this Lord to whom we made signes by shewing him another of the same likenesse and pointing to the Canoa what one of his companie had done who suddenly expressed some feare and speaking angerly to one about him as wee perceiued by his countenance caused it presently to be brought backe againe So the rest of the day wee spent in trading with them for Furres which are Beauers Luzernes Marterns Otters Wilde-cat skinnes very large and deepe Furre blacke Foxes Conie skinnes of the colour of our Hares but somewhat lesse Deere skinnes very large Seale skinnes and other beasts skinnes to vs vnknowne They haue also great store of Copper some very red and some of a paler colour none of them but haue Chaines Eare-rings or Collars of this metall they head some of their Arrowes herewith much like our broad Arrow heads very workmanly made Their Chaines are many hollow pieces semented together each piece of the bignesse of one of our reeds a finger in length ten or twelue of them together on a string which they weare about their neckes their Collars they weare about their bodies like Bandelieres a handfull broad all hollow pieces like the other but somewhat shorter foure hundred pieces in a Collar very fine and euenly set together Besides these they haue large drinking Cups made like Sculls and other thinne plates of Copper made much like our Boare-speare blades all which they so little esteeme as they offered their fairest Collars and Chaines for a Knife or such like triste but wee seemed little to regard it yet I was desirous to vnderstand where they had such store of this mettall and made signes to one of them with whom I was very familiar who taking a piece of copper in his hand made a hole with his finger in the ground and withall pointed to the Maine from whence they came They strike fire in this manner euery one carrieth about him in a Purse oftewd Leather a Minerall stone which I take to be their Copper and with a flat Emerie stone wherewith Glasiers cut glasse and Cutlers glase blades tied fast to the end of alittle sticke gently hee striketh vpon the Minerall stone and within a stroke or two a sparke falleth vpon a piece of Touch-wood much like our Spunge in England and with the least sparke he maketh a fire presently Wee had also of their Flaxe wherewith they make many strings and cords but it is not so bright of colour as ours in England I am perswaded they haue store growing vpon the Maine as also Mines and many other rich commodities which we wanting both time and meanes could not possibly discouer Thus they continued with vs three dayes euery night retiring themselues to the furthermost part of our Iland two or three miles from our Fort but the fourth day they returned to the Maine pointing fiue or sixe times to the Sunne and once to the Maine which we vnderstood that within fiue or sixe dayes they would come from the Maine to vs againe but being in their Canoas a little from the shoare they made huge cries and shouts of ioy vnto vs and wee with our Trumpet and Cornet and casting vp our caps into the aire made them the best farewell wee could yet sixe or seuen of them remayned with vs behinde bearing vs companie euery day in the Woods and helped vs to cut and carrie our Sassafras and some of them lay aboord our ship These people as they are exceeding curteous gentle of disposition and well conditioned excelling all others that we haue seene so for shape of body and louely fauour I thinke they excell all the people of America of stature much higher than wee of complexion or colour much like a darke Oliue their eye-browes and haire blacke which they weare long tyed vp behinde in knots whereon they pricke feathers of fowles in fashion of a Crownet some of them are blacke thinne bearded they make beards of the haire of beasts and one of them offered a beard of their making to one of our Saylers for his that grew on his face which because it was of a red colour they iudged to be none of his owne They are quicke eyed and stedfast in their lookes fearelesse of others harmes as intending none themselues some of the meaner sort giuen to filching which the very name of Sauages not weighing their ignorance in good or euill may easily excuse their garments are of Deere skinnes and some of them weare Furres round and close about their neckes They pronounce our Language with great facilitie for one of them one day sitting by mee vpon occasion I spake smiling to him these words How now sirrha are you
to bee found They are also called the Flemish Ilands that is of the Netherlanders because the first that inhabited the same were Netherlanders whereof till this time there is a great number and off-spring remayning that in manner and behauiour are altogether like Netherlanders and there is yet in the same Iland a running water that issueth out of a Hill and so runneth into the Sea whereas yet those issues or off-springs of Netherlanders inhabite and is called Aribâ—ra dos Framengos that is the Flemish Riuer The principall Iland of them all is that of Tercera called Insula de Iesus Christus of Tercera It is betweene fifteene or sixteene miles in compasse and is altogether a great Cliffe of Land whereby in it there is little roome for it is as it were walled round about with Cliffes but where any strand or sand is there standeth a Fort. It hath no Hauens nor entrance of waters for the securitie and safety of the shippes but onely before the chiefe Towne called Angra where it hath an open Hauen which in forme is like a Halfe-moone by the Portugals called Angra whereof the Towne hath her name It hath on the one side in manner of an elbow sticking forth two high Hills called Bresyl which stretch into the Sea so that afarre off they seeme to bee diuided from the Iland Those Hills are very high so that being vpon them a man may see at the least tenne or twelue and sometimes fifteene miles into the Sea being cleare weather Vpon these Hills there stand two small stone Pillers where there is a Centinell placed that continually watcheth to see what shippes are at Sea and so to aduertise those of the Iland for that as many shippes as he seeth comming out of the West that is from the Spanish Indies or Brasilia Cabo verde Guinea and the Portugall Indies and all other wayes lying South or West for euery shippe hee setteth a Flagge vpon the Pillar in the West and when the shippes which hee descrieth are more than fiue then hee setteth vp a great ancient betokening a whole Fleete of shippes The like hee doth vpon the other Pillar which standeth in the East for such shippes as come from Portugall or other places out of the East or North parts these Pillars may bee easily seene in all places of the Towne by reason of the highnesse of the Hills so that there is not one shippe or sayle that is at Sea or maketh towards the Iland but it is presently knowne throughout all the Towne and ouer all the whole Iland for the watch is not holden onely vpon those two Hills jutting into the Sea but also vpon all corners Hills and Cliffes throughout the Iland and as soone as they perceiue any shippes the Gouernour and Rulers are presently aduertised thereof that they may take such order therein as neede requireth Vpon the furthest corner into the Sea standeth a Fort right against another Fort that answereth it so that those two Forts doe shut and defend the Mouth or open Hauen of the Towne where the shippes lie in the Road and so no shippe can either goe in or come forth without the licence or permission of those two Forts This Towne of Angra is not onely the chiefe Towne of Tercera but also of all other Townes within the Ilands thereabouts There in is resident the Bishop the Gouernour for the King and the chiefe place of Iudgement or tribunall Seate of all the Ilands of Açores Three miles from this Towne lieth another Towne towards the North called Villa de Praya for Praya is as much to say as Strand because it lieth hard by a great strand and for that cause there is little traffique thither as not hauing any conuenient place for shippes to come at it yet sometimes there commeth some one that by reason of contrary winde cannot get before the Towne of Angra and so by constraint discharge their goods in that Towne which from thence are carried by Land to Angra and yet some part thereof is spent and vsed there It is walled and well housed but not many people in it and such as are in it doe get their liuings most by husbandry for there are very faire Corne lands The Iland is likewise very fruitfull and pleasant it hath much Corne and Wine but the Wine is not very good to carry into other Countries thereabouts because it is small and will not long continue so that it is vsed in the Countrey by the common people but such as are of wealth for the most part drinke Wines of Madera and Canaria It aboundeth in Flesh Fish and all other necessaries and meates for mans bodie wherewith in time of need they might helpe themselues Oyle there is none but it commeth out of Portugall Also Salt Pots Pans and all kind of earthen Vessells Chalke and such like are brought thither out of other places for there they are not to bee found for fruits they haue besides Peaches of diuers kindes and in so great abundance that is is strange Cherries Plums Walnuts Hasle-nuts Chesnuts but those not very good of Apples Peares Oranges and Lemons with all such like fruits there are sufficient Of all sorts of Hearbes and Plants as Coleworts Radishes and such like they haue at their certaine times of the yeere They haue likewise in that Iland a certaine fruit that groweth vnder the earth like Radishes or other roots but the Leaues or Plants are Trees like Vines but different leaues and groweth longwise vpon the ground it beareth a fruit called Batatas that is very good and is so great that it weigheth a pound some more some lesse but little esteemed and yet it is a great sustenance and food for the common sort of people It is of good account in Portugall for thither they vse to bring it for a Present and those of the Iland by reason of the great abundance doe little esteeme it There is also another kind of stuffe that is sowed like Corne and is a fruit it groweth vpon the root of the grasse or leaues and is round and as bigge as a great Pease but not so round in eating it tasteth like Earth-nuts but harder to bite it is likewise a good meate and much esteemed in other places but by reason of the great quantitie thereof it is most vsed to fatten their Hogges and is called Iunssa There is also in the Iland a certaine Plant which is found in all places thereof in the open fieldes it groweth as high as a man and beareth no fruit onely the roote thereof is a substance of the thicknesse of a mans two fists and in shew as if it were naturall golden haire and in handling like soft Silke which is vsed there to stuffe and fill their Beddes in stead of Wooll and Feathers and I doe certainly beleeue if any man of vnderstanding would take it in hand it would well be wouen The principallest traffique of this
from England sixe or seuen weekes before him and spent seuenteen weekes on the voyage which proued so tedious that many both Saylers and Passengers died In the end of Nouember arose such a storme that many great Trees were blown vp by the roots the Warwicke cast away the Garland forced to cut her Masts ouerboord Not long after happened another as fierce in which the Mount built by M. Moore for a Watch-tower was blowne vp by the roots and their winter crop of Corne blasted He began the new yeere with refortifying the Kings Castle and finding the Treasurer rotten tooke nine Peeces of Ordnance out of her Hee sent the Garland for England Hee finished the Church begun by Captain Kendall with great toile got three Peeces out of the wracked Warwick imployed a Dutch Carpenter of the former Dutch wrack to build Boates. A luckie fellow in February found a piece of Ambergreece of eight Ounces as hee had done twice afore and according to order of Court to preuent concealements had therfore thirtie pound an Ounce Two Dutch Frigots arriued conducted by Captaine Powell and much refreshed the Colony with Oyle and Bacon at cheape rates The Gouernour made a new platforme in place of the burned Redoubt and mounted seuen great Peeces on Cariages of Cedar The Ministers not being conformable to the Church of England nor vniforme with themselues in administration of the Sacrament and Matrimony Hee translated the Liturgie Booke of Garnsie and Iarsie void of the pretended scruples which was generally embraced and in his time practised and the Sabbaths obseruation proclaimed They rebuilded the Mount and diuers Boats was indangered with a Hericano one lost Finding a little Crosse erected where Sir George Summers his heart and entrailes were buried he caused a Marble stone brought out of England to bee handsomely wrought and an Epitaph engrauen in memory of that worthy Souldier and laid thereon inuironed with a square wall of hewed stone On the second of Iune began their Assizes in which their Lawes and Gouernment were reduced to the English forme The first of August was a generall Assembly in manner of a Parliament at Saint Georges diuers Articles concluded and being sent hither by the Company confirmed which for breuitie I omit The Magazine Ship soone after came in weake case thither hauing cast ouerboord twentie or thirtie of her people and had they staied at Sea a weeke longer were likely to haue all perished That aire soon mends or ends men in that case and those which died not soone after the landing recouered not without infection of others there 70000. weight of Tobacco was prefixed for her freight Commandement came now to entertaine no Ships but such as were sent from the Company to the Colonies great griefe which now were forced to a Magizane-Monopoly and debarred of occasionall reliefe Cap. Powell soone after came thither imployed by the States desiring admittance for wood and water which was denied with exceeding murmuring and exclaiming of the Colony The Magazine Ship arriued her Master dead and many passengers the rest sicke Then happened also in September a Spanish Wrack which comming from Carthagena with the Spanish Fleet lost their Ship on those Rockes and seuentie persons were saued some of which had beene rifled but their money to the value of one hundred and fortie pound restored them by the Gouernours meanes into whose hands they committed it for disbursment of their charges Some were sent away others forced to stay till their labours had procured meanes for their passage Hee made meanes to get out of the Wrack two Sakers and three Murtherers which were the same which Cap. Kendall had sold to Cap. Kerby who was taken by two men of War of Carthagena most of his men slaine or hanged hee wounded died in the Woods as these Spaniards related Three Bulwarkes were raised at Southampton Fort with two Curtens and two Iauelens Armes were distributed to all such as were able to vse them The Weauells which had at this time much hurt their Corne found a strange remedy For a proclamation being made that all Corne should be gathered by a day because many had lost some for want of gathering stâ—ll haunting the Ships for Aqua-vitae and Beere some bad husbands hastily gathered it and threw it on heapes in their houses vnhusked so letting it lye foure or fiue moneths Now the good husbands husked theirs and hanged it vp with much labour where the Flies did blow it which the others idlenesse as the euent shewed preuented that being thus found to be the best way to saue the corne and labour to let it lye in the huske Diuers places of fresh-water were now also luckily found out Another triall of whale-fishing was vainely attempted by a Ship which came from Uirginia who returned thither fraught with Lime-stone 20000. pound weight of Potatos c. Aprill and May were spent in building a Prison and perfecting some Fortifications and foure Sakers were gotten from the Spanish Wrack and mounted at the Forts One was hanged for buggering a Sow whose Cock in the time of his imprisonment vsed also to tread a Pig as if it had beene a Hen till the Pig languished and died and then the Cock haunted the same Sow About the same time two Chickens were hatched one of which had two heads the other is said to haue crowed loud and Iustily within twelue houres after it was out of the shell Other Peeces were got out of the Spanish Wrack and a Saker also out of that of Sir George Summers By a Barke going to Uirginia Captaine Butler his time expiring conueied himselfe thither leauing the gouernment to C. Felgate C. Stokes c. In the Kings Castle were mounted or sufficient platformes sixteen Peeces of Ordnance In Charles Fort two in Southampton Fort fiue betwixt which the Castle passeth the channel into the Harbor secured by twenty three Peeces of good Ordnance In Coups Ile is Pembrookes Fort with two Peeces Saint Georges channell is guarded by Smiths Fort and Payets Fort in which are eleuen Peeces Saint Georges Towne is commanded by Warwicks Fort with three great Peeces on the Wharfe before the Gouernours house are eight more besides the warning Peece by the Mount and three in Saint Katherines in all tenne Fortresses and fiftie two Peeces of Ordnance sufficient and seruiceable Hee left one thousand fiue hundred persons and neere one hundred Boates the I le replenished with prouisions fruites poultry c. Master Iohn Bernard was sent by the Honourable Company to supply his place who arriued within eight dayes of Captaine Butlers departure with two Ships and one hundred and fortie Passengers with Armes and all sorts of Munition and other prouisions During his life which continued but sixe weekes hee gaue good proofe of his sufficiency in reforming things defectiue He and his wife were both buried in one day and one graue and Master Iohn Harrison
chosen Gouernour till further order came from London The Wormes before mentioned are still troublesome and make them morning workes to kill them Caterpillers are pernicious to their fruits and Land Crabs are as thicke in some places as Conies in a Warren and doe much harme A Ship in which had beene much swearing and blaspheming vsed all the voyage perished the companies negligence iovially frolicking in their cups and Tobacco hauing landed certaine goods by accident the Powder fired and blew vp the great Cabbin some were taken vp in the Sea liuing in miserable torments eighteene were lost with this fatall blast the Ship also sunke with sixtie Barrells of Meale sent for Virginia and her other prouisions lost The Company haue sent Captaine Woodhouse in a Ship called the Tigre for that gouernment a man much commended and hopefull I haue beene told that there are three thousand persons of all sorts liuing there halfe of which number is able to beare Armes and exercised to that seruice CHAP. XIX Briefe intelligence from Virginia by Letters a supplement of French-Virginian Occurrants and their supplantation by Sir SAMVEL ARGAL in right of the English Plantation THe late alteration of Virginia Gouernment is vnknowne to none and most know of the frequent complaints both by priuate Letters and by Petitions to his Maiesty Now least any should hereupon thinke Virginia to be vnworthy of such our care and cost I haue out of one of the Planters priuate Letters transcribed a few words of grieuances and yet a magnifying of the Country that the English may be more blamed for want of Prouidence then the Region for defect of Natures best gifts Other things I could alleadge from others but my meaning is to amend things not to quarrell them and to awaken the care of good men rather then to recite the faults of the bad In one Letter dated Dec. 22. last past he hath these words The intollerable rates we pay here for commodities as ten pound sterling a hogshead of Meale sixteen shillings a gallon of Alligant three pound sterling a Henne and eight Chickens c. and so according to these rates for euery thing else lastly the heauy taxations that are laid vpon vs free men for building of Castles paying of publique debts for the not gathering of Sasafras c. so that it will come to my share with that that is paid and that that is to pay in Corne and Tobacco to at least twenty or fiue and twenty pound sterling this yeere so that when I haue paid this and paid my faithlesse seruants their wages I shal scarse haue good Tobacco enough left to buy my selfe for the next yeer a pint of Aquauitae c. Thus you see I neither warrant nor except against the truth but present the worst quarelled paralelled with the best complaints of great prizes of things not arising from plenty of money as you reade before in the conquest of Peru but from I know not what ill habit and indisposition of that Colony And least any man should withdraw his heart hand or purse therefore from that worthy work I haue out of the same mans Letters deliuered a commendation of the Countrey The Letters were written and dated 22. March 1624. and containe for substance none other then what before you haue read in others yet are more sutable to this time and purpose as later newes and fitter directories to the Phisitians of that Estate that at last the English honour may be vindicated against so base perils from Sauages and baser quarrels from and amongst our owne God prosper his Maiesties care and make those which are therein emploied not to seeke their owne good by hasty returnes much lesse other their fellow aduenturers euill by calumnies and vnderminings but Virginias prosperity of which Natures prosperity is thus related by one querulous of his owne losses and crosses His words are these Now concerning the state of the Country so much as I haue obserued I will relate vnto you First the Countrie it selfe I must confesse is a very pleasant Land rich in Commodities and fertile in soyle to produce all manner of Plants Hearbes and Fruites I haue seene here my selfe both Carrets Turneps Cabages Onyons Leekes Garlicke Tyme Parseley Pompions Muskmilion and Watermilions rare fruits and exceeding wholesome here are also Strawberries I haue lien downe in one place in my Corne field and in the compasse of my reach haue filled my belly in the place and for Mulberries I can when I list goe and gather a bushell at a time here is also a coole Fruite growing wildely on the ground much resembling a great Walnut with the greene rinde on it which reserues in it three admirable good tastes namely of Strawberries Rosewater and Sugar they were an exceeding great comfort to me in my last yeeres sicknesse and are admirable good against the bloudly fluxe English Wheate and Barley will grow here exceeding well I haue seene here growing as good English Wheate as euer I saw in England in all my life For Timber we haue the Oake Ashe Poplar blacke Walnut white Walnut Pines Gumme trees the Pines here afford admirable good Pitch and Tarre and serue split out in small peeces in many places of this Land instead of Candles but it will smeare one worse then a Linke here are also Peare trees which yearely bring forth Peares But there is a tree that passeth all Fruite trees which we call by the names of a Prissurmon tree which beareth a Plum much about the bignesse of a Peare plum I doe thinke it is one of the rarest Fruites in the world when they are ripe they eate naturally of themselues from the tree better then any preserued Plummes I euer tasted in England The Beasts that this Land is plentifully stored withall are Deere Beares in some parts Beauers Otters Foxes Hares Squirrels Roccounes Possucins names strange to you yet are they singular good meate the Roccouns tasting as well as Pigges flesh Indian Dogges here are as good meate with vs as your English Lambe English Cattell here increase and thriue very well as Kine Hogges Goates and Poultry Fowle here are abundance as Swans Brants Geese Turkies Herons Cranes Eagles fishing Hawkes Bussards Ducke and Mallard Sheldrake Dapchicke Partriches Pidgeons Crowes Blacke-birds and all manner of small Birds in abundance Our Riuers here are likewise rich by the abundance of Fish as Herings Shads Perch Eele Pike Carpe Cat-fish Rock-fish Gor-fish and Sturgeon If here were any that would make fishing for Sturgeon an occupation they might take inough to furnish this Land and also plentifully supply England I my selfe haue seene aboue twenty Sturgeon leape aboue water in lesse then two houres As for our Graine I thinke it produceth the plentifullest encrease of any Corne in the World for I haue seene one graine of Corne that by the assistance of growth and time hath yeelded a pint of Corne we haue here also Beanes and Pease I confesse here are
characters sort not to terrestriall fabrikes instanced in the Reuenge Thunderbâ—lt and this Resentance with the Iesus of Sir Io. Hawk Considerations for pretended Voyâ—ges Prouisions bâ—â—ter prouided at Plimoutâ— then at London Note Danger of Porâ—s open Parts requisite in a good Mariner Abuses of some Sea faring men Master Thomas Candish Master George Reymond Note He addes another remedie in taking away imprâ—sts The consequence of Instructs at departure False calking For preuention thereof Example See Cap. â—rings last Voyagâ— in which the Great Iames was oft endangered thereby Aduice for shooting at Sea Two English shâ—ps haue hâ—â—eby much wroâ—ged each other by mistaking The Madera Ilands Canarie Ilands Gorgosho The descâ—iâ—tion of Tenerif and the Pike Of a Tree in Fierro One M. Lewis Iackson now dwelling in Holboâ—â—e told me that A. 1618. he had beene in this Iland and seene this Tree which he thus described It is as big as an Oake of middle size the barke white like Haâ— dbeame sixe or seuen yards high with ragged boughs the leafe like that of the Bay white on the bottome and greene on the other side It beareth neither fruit nor flower It is scituate in the decliuitie of a Hill in the day it is withered dropping â—n the night a cloude hanging thereon yeelding water sufficient for the whole Iland which containeth 8000. soules and aboue 100000. beasts Camels Mules Goats c. It falls into a Pond made of bricke floored with stones very thight by pipes of â—ead conueighed from the Tree to it and thence diuided into seuerall Ponds through all the Iland They which dwell vp-hill fetch â—t in barrels They water therewith also their Corne-grounds The Pond holds 20000. tuns and is filled in a night He added a report perhaps deuised to keepe off busie fingers or with busie tongues to multiplie wonders that the Moores hauing taâ—en that Iland from the Christians went to fell that Tree but each blowe recoyled on the striker Hee affirmed also that hee had beene â—p the Pike of Teneriff two miles He saith the South side is healthfull the North very Aguish and subiect to Calentures and the Inhabitants on one side looke lustie on the other withered The first discouerers of these Ilands Exercises vpon the Southwards of the Canaries â—â—pe de Verde The vnwholsomnesse thereof The heate The Breze Another cause of Feuers is the dâ—wes which fall euery night so that the exceeding moisture and vnsoundnesse thereof causeth men lying or watching in the open aire to fall sicke The remedie The influence of the Moone in hot Countries Saint Iago Sacked by Manuel Serades Sir Francis Drake and Sir Anthony Sherley Fuego Fiery hill Brano good watering The Palmito The Plantan great leaues Placentia The Cocos their kindes Coquillos A third kinde Cyuet-Cats Munkeyes Parrots * Tawt or taught a Sea-terme sig stiffe and fast Morning and euening praier Change of water Error in reckoning Note The lesse of Edward â—otton Current-consideration New found-land Current Leuant Sea Brasil and South Sea Currents of smaller force neere the shore A discourse of the Scuruey or Scorâ—â—â—â— The signes Azores Strange effect of calmes The remedies By Diet. By shift By labour By early eating and drinking Ten thousand English dead of the Scuruie in 20. yeeres By sowre Oranges and Lemmons By Doctor Steuens water By Oyle of Vitry By the Aire of the Land The company sicke and dismayed Prouerbe Brasill Cape Saint Augustine Farnambuca Todos Santos De Vitoria Dangers of fire By heating of Pitch Vse of â—ugge Gownes Preuention Diuers ships as the Primrose Iesus of Lubeck Robuck Blacke Lion c. haue beene burned By hooping scuâ—ling of Caske Note By natures of waters By swearing An excellent order for shipswearing Custome feedâ— vice which seuerity starueth Pi hy discourse of diuers fishes and their description The Dolphin The Bonito The Sharke His mouth Superstition All-deuouring Three rowes of teeth Whelping Pilats â—â—shes Sea hawking and hunting Flying fishes Alcatrace The fight of the Whale with the Sword-fish and Thresher The strokes heard two leagues Of Whales see our Greeneland discourses li. 3. c. 2. 〈◊〉 Amber-greece Amber Corall Best times to passe the line froÌ„ the Northwards to the Southward Port of Santos For preuention of annoyances c. in Harbours S 〈…〉 rds periury Their punishment Note for that harbour The vertue of Oranges Distilling of Salt water Vnskilfulnesse of the Masters Mâ—te Prouidence of God and the caâ—â— of the Master Care of Steeridge Exquisit in the Spaniards and Portugals Cape Blanco Saint Ialmes Ilands alias Saint Annes Gannets Purslane Cherries Palmitos Purgatiues Artechoques or Prick-pears A good note to take or refuse vnknowâ— fruits Contagious water Waste losse of mâ—n Hawke burnt Sholes of Abrcoios Industry of the 〈…〉 ans They surprise 〈◊〉 French G 〈…〉 at Canoa San sebastian Wise stratagem The merry euents of a care full watch 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 Palmito Iland The creatures Cape Frie. Ienero Little Iland Isla Grand Shels of mother of Pearle Price of Negroes Cassaui meale And for Beuerage The manner of planning Iuca With the labour of the women The description of Brasil Its Hauens Strang worme Variation of the Compasse The ouerthrow of the Voyage by a perfidious man The cunning of Runnawayes Birds like Swans Such the Hollanders found in the Straits which they called Mayres Caughâ— with Line Hooke Proue good refreshment Care of the Patagones Land vnknowne A descriâ—tion of the same A caueat for comming suddenly to neâ—re an vnknowne Land Point Tremountaine Faire Iland Conduit-head Hawkins Maidenland Beds of Oreweed with white flowres Our comming to the Straits Description thereof Pedro Sarmiento buildeth San Philip. Hogs Ilands of Pengwins Note Since it hath bin plainly found that all the South part are Ilands Good prouision in the Straits The description of the Pengwin Hunting the Pengwin The keeping for store The Guls. Ducks Cunning Architecture Their neatnes Of Seales or Sea-woolues Description of the Seale Their Sentinel The second peopling of the Spaniards Elizabeths Bay The Riuer of Ieroniâ—â— Another channell Blanches Bay Obiection of waste Answere Warning against wormes which eate througâ—sâ—aps Of sheathing ships In Spaine and Portugall with double plankes With Canuas With burnt plankes In china with Varnish in England Best manner of sheathing The Naturaâ— Long Reach Mouth of the Straits Note Tempest English Bay The natiues houses Sloth cause of imagination Tobias Coue. Setting of the ship vpon a Rocke To the laborious God propitious Crabby Coue. Gods gracious deliuerance Voyage ouerthrowne by giuing way to murderers Edward Fenton and Master Thomas Candish Master William Hawkins The mending of an vnseruiceable Anchor Entertainment of time to auoid idlenesse A kind of hot Spice in the Straits In gathering of Wiâ—ters Barke Of Pearles in the Straits Discourse of Pearles how they breed Preuention of Rats The calamities they bring to a ship Backwardnes in the company Cape Desire South part of the Straits Ilands
The Hollanders challenge the discouery of new Straits by Mayre and Schouten before twice sailed about by Sir F. Drake See sup the Preface to the second Chapter of lib. 3. Sir F. Drake imbraceth the Southermost point of the World Since this in that Voiagâ— wherein W. Adams was Pilot whose voiage and Seb. Werts ye haue in the former Tome Theodore Gerards one of that fleet was caried by tempest as â—hey write to 64. degrees South in which height the country was mountainous couered with snow looking like Norway It seemed to extend towards the Ilands of Salomon Simon de Cordes another of that fleet after prosperous successe in Chili was taken by the Portugâ—ls at the Moluccaâ— and carried to Mala ca prisoner Mocha Baldiuia and Conception wonne from the Spaniards by the Indians Beefe kept most safely in Pickell Iland Chule Iland Mocha Note Treacherie of the Indians Of Sheepe Their apparel and housing Strange Tobacco People of Chily Their weapons Their hate to the Spaniards Imperiall A cruel storme in the Sea of Ladies In it they lost their light horsman Saint Maries City of Conception Iuan Fernandes Good to auoid discouery Wilfulnesse of Mariners They seize vpon foure ships And the Ware-houses They seize vpon another ship and some gold Light Anchors brought from the North Sea And the first Artillerie Sayles of Cotton-cloth They depart from Lyma and conceale their weaknes The noblen's of Alonso de Soto The enemy lâ—ste dâ—ngerous then the Wine Description of â—he Bay Note of tides A new deuise for stopping a leake without boord Sparâ— Rudders and to take off at pleasure Bay of Quintera Ingratitude punished Coquinbo Excellent harbour Arica in Chily much commended For all sorts of fruits Chinchilla a rare beast Litle Cocos And plentie of Gold The Indians forbid the search of gold Euery showre a showre of gold Linnen and woollen cloth made in Coquinbo The valour of the Araweant The mischiefe of corrupt or scantie prouisions Of dâ—tayning and deâ—â—auding oâ— wages Of Mariners by challenge of Pillage The lawes of Oleron concerning Pillage Note or brand rather for taltongued-fingred fellowes Whâ—t ought to be reputed pillage Against the disloyalties of Captaines Concealment of much more value then the Trading The preuention of vndue pillagings Aricâ— Moormereno The 〈◊〉 of Spaine Ouerchaâ—giâ—g of Artilerieâ— The amity of the Indians Their rudé manners and expert swimming Bay of Pisco Cape Sangalean Chilca Aduise giuen by Sea and Land Returne of the Spanish Armado Scoffed at They set forth the second time Few men 〈◊〉 a Ship in the South Sea Port of Santâ— Plantation of the Ilands of Salomon Malabrigâ— Current Punta de Augussa Point of Augussa Illas de Lobos Puma Medicinable Riuer Scoales of Crocodiles P. de S. Elena Puerto vicjo Bay of Atacames They dismisse their Indians Distresse of Spaniards Occasion of their ruine A taut saile is that which proportionably is to high for the vess 〈…〉 Boy of S. Mathew The Indians led by a 〈◊〉 Chase the Spaniards Spanish Armado Pride and vnrulinesse forerunners of ruine The vnaduised courage of the multitude The beginning of the fight The inexperience of the Spaniards and ef the English Gunner And carelesnesse of the English How farre a Commander is to trust his officers Deceit of the Gunner and his extreme carelesnesse and suspicious disloyaltie Who to account a true Marriner His knowledge for Materials For prouisions For NauigatioÌ„ Office of the Master Office of the Pilot. The Boateswaine The Steward The Carpenter The Gunner Directions in secret Why the Spanish Admirall came to leewards Rule for Ordnance Intertainment of Spaniards The English 75. The Spaniards 1300. The Spanish discipline The Souldiers The Gunner The Marriner Officers in a Ship of War Captaine of the Ship Captaine of the Soldiers M. Del Campo Ill order Prying of the Spaniards into our Discipline Their imitation of our Discipline Englishman lost the English and therefore the man The Spaniards pay deerly for their rashnesse And take a new resolution Great Ordnance 〈…〉 e 〈◊〉 ship neere Sâ—râ—nge e 〈…〉 of Th 〈…〉 Policies to auâ—ide boordings Dispute concerning ships of Trade Concerning the Prince his ships Courses for Artillery after boording Disuse of engines of Antiquitie Sir R. H. wounded The Spaniards patley Perfidiousnesse often found in Spanish promises The rest of this conference being long is omitted They resolue to fight out The Enemy breatheth The English repaire their defects Vice-admirals mast shot away Aduantages omitted The difference of shot Their effects Errors in fight Learned from the Flemings Easterlings 1. To fight vnarmed 2. To drinke to excesse Folly of the bold English The Spaniard surpasâ—eth vs onely in temperance The vâ—e profit of arming exactly obserued by the Spanish Armes more necessary by Sea then at Land The Reuenge auenged The third cause Race-ships of Warre disliked Wast-clothes not so vsefâ—ull as other deuiÌ„ses The disaduantage of Ships to lee-ward And the best remedie Crosse-barre and Chainshot misliked The Spaniards Fore-Mast thrice shot through The Company againe importunate to come to composition The English surrender Gloue sent for pledge Braue worthy Spaniard The mildnesse of a Generall after victorie The Daintie in danger of perishing Michael Angel recouereth the ship Many Ilands Fishing for Pearles The places where Pearle are found Great Pearle The Generall continueth his honourable vsage towards the sicke and wounded Spanish Surgions ignorant Misprision of the terme Pirats What a Pirate is Three sorts of defiances The custome of Spaine for warre The custome of England A disputation concerning Buena Querra The Resolution c. The noble vsage of the English But abused in these dayes Don Beltran satisfied and answereth Short arrowes for Muskets Tampkin is a small piece of wood turned fit for the mouth of a Peece Iohn Oxnams Voyage to the South Sea What the Symarons are Their habitation Their assistance Iohn Oxnam capitulateth with them His folly and Breach of promise His pursuit See the Storie before This is added of later intelligence La Pacheta The Generall certifieth the Audiencia of his successe The great ioy of the Spaniards Note English treacherie procured by Spanish Gold I haue this Letter translated into Spanish and printed by them together with the discourse of the whole action much agreeing with this except where they lust to magnifie their Spanish worth The Daintie named the Uisitation Penguin Iland Port Famine The Riuer of Geneuera Mocha Santa Maria. Valparaso Gold Arica Pisco Chincha Sixe of the Kings ships Lima. Paita Atacame Baia de Santâ— Mateo Panama Paita Lima. Gnamanga Cusâ—o Potosi Master Lucas sâ—nne to Master Tho. Lucas This is part of another Letter * I found this paper amongst others of Master Hakl without the name of the Author Lima. Payta Acapulca Zumpanga Mexico Atrizco Angeles Vera Cruz. Saint I. de Vllua Saint Domingo Iamaica Not one naturall in Hispaniola Cartagena Saint Martha Nombre de dios Veragua Costa riâ—ca