AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF ALL THE VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD, PERFORMED BY ENGLISH NAVIGATORS; INCLUDING THOSE LATELY UNDERTAKEN By ORDER of his PRESENT MAJESTY.
THE WHOLE Faithfully Extracted from the JOURNALS of the VOYAGERS.
DRAKE, undertaken in 157
▪ 80
CAVENDISH, 1586▪ 88
COWLEY, 1683-86
DAMPIER, 1689▪ 9
COOKE, 1708-11
ROGERS, 1708-11
CLIPPERTON And SHELVOCKE, 1719-22
ANSON, undertaken in 1740-44
BYRON, 1764-66
WALLIS, 1766▪ 68
CARTERET, 1766-68
And COOK, 1768-71
TOGETHER WITH That of SYDNEY PARKINSON, Draftsman to JOSEPH BANKS,
Esq
who circumnavigated the Globe with Capt. COOK, in his Majesty's Ship the ENDEAVOUR.
AND The Voyage of Mons. BOUGAINVILLE round the World, Performed by Order of the French King. Illustrated with Maps, Charts, and Historical Prints.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
To which is added, An APPENDIX. Containing the JOURNAL of a VOYAGE to the NORTH POLE, by the Hon. Commodore PHIPPS. and Captain LUTWIDGE.
VOLUME THE FIRST.
LONDON: Printed for F. NEWBERY, the Corner of St. Paul's Church-Yard. MDCCLXXIV.
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
A.
MR. Thomas Adams, Tower
Ralph Adye,
Esq
Swallow-street
Roger Ap-Williams,
Esq
ditto
Mr. Luke Adlington
Mr. Michael Angelo
Mr. John Ainsworth
Mr. Aldwinckle
Mr. Anderson
John Ayscough,
Esq
Mr. Francis Armstrong, Bow
Mr. Matth. Akenside, Kensington
Mr. Peter Ambler
Mr. Jeremiah Alcock
Mr. Ralph Andrew, Holborn
Mr. Christopher, Appleby
Mr. John Atkinson
Mr. Allen
B.
Sir George Booth
Mr. Bristow, Lewes
Mr. John Bruckshaw, Royal Exchange
Mr. James Blackburn, ditto
Mr. Wm.Benson Teddington
Mr. Denham Berry, Victualling office
Mr. Richard Barwick
Mr. Banks
Mr. Thomas Buchanan
William Blackwell,
Esq
Thomas Broxholm,
Esq
Mr. Wm. Brooke, St. John's lane
Mr. Richard Butler
Mr. Wm. Barnes, Nightingale lane
Mr. James Bicknell, Hackney
Mr. Andrew Brockleshy
Mr. Philip Bristow
Mr. Richard Bennet, West Smithfield
Mr. Nicholas Bond, Lambeth
Robert Birchall
Mr. Beard, Limby
Mr. Broad, Nottingham
C.
Mr. C
bby, Lewes
Mr. Joseph Cox, Chelsea
Mr. Edw Chandler, Knightsbridge
Mr. Coolston, Cavendish-squ.
Mr Cadell
Capt. Cookson, Crown-street
Mr John Coventry, RedCross street
Mr. John Collinson, Gravellane
Mr.Coleman, Clare-market
Mr. Wm. Cu
,
Mr. A
Clarke, Shoreditch
Mr. Ezek
el
Mr.
C
meron
Mr
Mr.
Mr. Coc
Mr.
D.
Mr. Edward Fly
Mr. Joseph Foreman
Mr. Peter Fen
ck
Mr. Henry Freeman
Mr. Char
es Featherstone
Mr.
, Swallow-street
, M.D. Gloucester
G.
Mr J
es Gadge, North Pickenham
Mr. John Greenwell, Red
on-street
Mr.
Gamidge
Mr. Timothy Green
M
George Giles
Mr Franc
G
tree
Mr.
Gunston
Mr
M
Geo. Gil
on, New-street
Mr.
G
es
Griff
ths
the Archbishop
art, Cecil-st
et
, Fleet-street
Haggard
Haynes
Mr
Harvest
James Harsh, Temple
Harrison, St. John's
Hatton, Salisbury-court
Capt. Robert Hinde, Bruton-street
Mr. Thos. Hatford, Wapping
Mr. John Hemsted
Mr. H
tton
Mr. Horne
Mr. Hincks
Mr. Holbrook, Bristol
I.
Mr. Jones, Silv
-street, Golden-square
Mr. James Innes, Cheyney-row, Chelsea
Judah Jacobs,
Esq
Mr Joseph Jackson, Shoe-lane
Mr. David Jefferies
Mr. William Jenkins
n
Mr. Arthur Jame
Mr. John Jones
Mr. Joseph Isaacs
Mr. Inman, Burring-
, Somerset
— Jenkins,
Esq
do.
K.
Mr. Kennedy, at Litcham
Mr. Christopher Kay, Silver-street
Mr. Charles Kingman, New-street
Mr. Stephen K
, Charles-street
Mr William Kenworthy
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Mr. James Kempson
Mr. William Kirkland
L.
M
Manuel Lima, Abchurch
Mr. Le
jun, Wrexham
Mr. William Lewis, Bow
Mr Sampson Luker, New
gton
Mr. Geoffrey Larkworthy, Clerkenwell
Theophilus Lane,
Esq
Mr. Thomas Lancaster
Rev. Mr. Long, Spixworth, Nortfolk
Mrs. Eliz. Levi, Portsmouth
Mr. Lewellin, Dartmouth-str.
Capt. Lawson, Temple
Mr. Isaac Lamb
Mr. Stephen Lumley
Mr. Miles Large
s
Mr. Peter Laughton, Wapping
Mr Richard Leviston
Mr. Lambert
Mr. Leach
Dr. Lowthe
James Laming, Margate
M.
Mons. Juan Manuel de Urion
o, Consul General & Trevaurier Extraordnaire de sa Majestè Catholique, a Amsterdam
Mons. Jean Francais Michel, a Amsterdam
Mr. Robert Main, Swaffham
Mr. George Mytton
Mr. Thomas Milnet
Mr. Henry Martyn
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Mr. John Miers
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Mr. Molineux
Mr. Maude
Mr. Mayne
N.
John Norton, Esq, Golden-square
— Nicol.
Esq
Arg
-street
Mr. Ma
Newby, South
ton street
Mr. Nevill N
e
Mr. N
gent
Mr.
No
Mr. Peter Norris
Mr
N
Mr. W
iam Ne
O.
Mr Og
e,
Mr Will
O
M
. Peter
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr
P.
Mr. Rich Privat. Pe
nce
Mr
Mr
M
Perkit.
M
Mr
Pre
on
Mr W
m Pr
ose
Mr
Mr
Mr Joseph
Mr.
Mr.
Long
ane
Mr. Rob
rt
ter-str.
Mr. P
eg
Mr Pric
Mr. Pigg
t
R.
M
. Joseph Richard, Lambeth-Marsh.
Mr. S
. Ra
sworth,
Mr. Peter Rooker, Islington
Mr. William Robinson
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Mr. Richard Rowe
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Mr. John Robertson
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ander Reid
Mr R
d
Mr Richards
S.
Mr. H
nry Sch
tz, Rose-street
James Spencer,
Esq
Mr
John St
ton
M
John Severn
Mr.
Maddox-street
Mr.
Simmonds
Mr He
y S
art
Mr. John Arthur Smith Vic
ing-office
William St. John
Willi
m Stevenson
M
.
Sta
Mr
ward Spoo
, Bow
Mr. Wm Su
, Radclif
e
Mr
Sim
son Sch
bury court
Mr. Senhouse, Piccadilly
Mr. S
, Oxford-road
M
. Jeremiah Smith
Mr. William Henry S
Mr Sam
e Parker Southw
Mr. Willia
Stockham, W
dour street
Mr. Edward Stope
Mr. John Simpson
Mr Frederick Stark
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Mr Moses StricklaNd
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Mr. Smith
Mr. Smith, Swan-lane
Mr. Strahan
John Smith, Borough
Mr. William Setree, Chandois-street
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T.
Rev. Mr. Trancker
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Mr. Tuckett, Bristol
U.
Mr. James Thomas Upton, Wapping
Mr. Francis Unwin, ditto
W.
Mr. Edward Warner, Royal Exchange
Mr. John Wilson
— Waiters,
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Mrs. Williams, Fleet-street
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Mr Charles Walker
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John Wood,
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Old Belton-street
James Wall,
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Stratford
Mr. Robert Wight
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Mr. John Wenman
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Mr. Westgarth
Mr. Weale
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Mr. Wells
Robert Walter, Godalming
Y.
Mr. Joseph Young
Mr. William Yeraway
Mr. John Yeats
Mr. George York
Directions
to the
Bookbinder
for placing the
Plates.
In VOL. I.
MAP of Mex
co and South Am
rica to be placed at the beginning.
Horn Island (
)
to face page
xxxviii
Head of Sir Francis Drake 1
Drake
off to Sea on a
41
Beheading
Capt. Doughty 88
Drake
the Caraf
ego, a
S
a
sh sh
p 113
Drake
veying
the Spanish J
and
riminal savages 118
Drake r
ce
ving the Crown from the
of New A
son 123
Cave
h plundering and b
ing Paita 191
The K
of Ja
a s Wives destroying
mse
ves 226
Caven
sh s Cre
in g
eat distress,
250
Capt. Dav
s's men taken of a rock 304
Dampier s men s
ng oxen, mul
s, &c. at a farm-house 340
Capt. Swan enterta
ned by Rajah Laut 370
Dampier and
a storm 412
Cowley
men taking
Juan Fernandez 440
I
VOL II
Alexander Selkirk making his
dance 24
Mis
Pl
of fish
48
Mr Hatley and crew whipped 89
D
stressed situation of the Suc
ess 120
Sea-
181
in a deer's skin 229
from fishing, and another in his bark-log 280
Lawn where Commodore Anson pitched his tent at Juan Fernandez 289
In VOL III.
The
, Tamar, Swallow, Endeavour, and M
joined, and placed at
he beg
Patagonia
to face page
11
18
22
Q
of
of Capt. Wallis 9
the island of Terra del Fuego 19
M
the new
218
Mr
visit from the King of the D. York s Island 238
25
2
0
A
of his
28
N
Zea
nd
N
Zea
N
w Zeala
d
enemies
I
V
IV.
PREFACE.
PERHAPS there never was brought together, in so small a compass, in any language, a more copious collection of rational entertainment, than will be met with in the following sheets. To trace the progress of the discoveries that have successively been made in passing round the globe, must fill the reader's mind with such a variety of new objects, as cannot fail to raise his wonder, and entertain him with infinite delight.
He will, in this work, be safely conducted through regions that were once thought inaccessible, and be made acquainted with countries altogether different from that in which he dwells. Every page he reads will furnish him with novelties, and every Voyage will bring him nearer to that unknown count
y, in ear
h of which so many
comman
er have been sent in vain.
The discovery of the western continent, by Co
umbu
, gave geographers reason to believe, that a like con
existed somewhere in the south. Without such
qu
poise they could not conceive how the globe could preserve its balance.
Magell
a
n, a Portuguese mariner, was the first who attempted to immortalize his
by the disco
He pa
the S
, that to this day bear
, and entered the Pacific Oc
an, where no Eu
pean vessel had ever sailed before. He d
scovered the
and Phillippine Isles, and returned by the Cape
Good Hope, having surrounded the whole earth, and proved,
d
monstration, the spherical figure of the globe.
He was followed by navigators of different nations, who, emulous of his glory, sought to pursue the track,
had pointed out, with better success; but the
gers they encountered, and the disasters they met
, rendered the difficulties that attended the prose
tion
nsurmountable; many perished, and those who
ved wer
glad to return home after a fruitless search.
The ill success which attended these first attempts
a damp upon the enterprize, and
remained
unnoticed, except in the writings of the learned.
side the globe? Did not the little Phoenician state reap a more glorious harvest from the discoveries of its merchants, than Alexander could boast from all his conquests? Was it not the perseverance of the Princes Henry, John, and Emanuel, in supporting the charges of prosecuting new discoveries in the fifteenth century, that laid the foundation of the Portuguese greatness, whose territories in Europe are of no considerable extent?
If the glory of aggrandizing a state, and perpetuating a name to posterity be the first object of human ambition, where, among all the tyrants who have depopulated the earth, can be produced a conqueror, whose name will be remembered, when that of Christopher Columbus is forgotten? Or where shall we look for a monarch, who, after having spread murder and desolation throughout the world, descended to the grave with that heart-felt satisfaction that attended the Florentine merchant Americus Vespucius, when he saw all Europe agreeing, with one consent, to transfer his name to more than a third part of th
terr
strial globe?
The success which has attended our grac
ous Monarch's first essays in the Voyages we are
about to relate, though
has yet produced no
advantages to compensate the sums expen
d
the pros
cution of them, yet it has been such as to open the way to new islands, from whose inhabitants new arts may be learnt, and from whose productions new acquisitions may be made, both to the vegetable and fossil kingdom, by which the regions of science may be enlarged, and the gardens of the curious enriched and beautiful.
It is no small satisfaction to an inquisitive mind (were there no other advantage to be gained from these Voyages) to be made acquainted with the genius, the arts, the various pursuits, the customs, the manners, the religious nations, the distin
tions of rank, and the subordination that is to be met with among the people of various islands and countries, distinct from each other, and from
language, habits, learning, and ways of living. Who is it that can read of the poverty and misery of the wretched inhabitants of
Terra del Fuego,
who have nothing but the skins of beasts loosely thrown over them, to defend them from the severity
meaner sort, with which their benefactors were requited?
The variety of incidents that happened in the course of these Voyages, when they come to be historically recited, unencumbered with the jargon of sea-phrases, will afford a fund of entertainment, seldom to be met with in the productions of the press. The many singular adventures, unforeseen dangers, and providential escapes, that every ship experienced in passing round the globe, can only be conceived by those who read, and believed by those who have seen the wonders of the deep.
Nothing can excite or gratify curiosity more than relations of marvellous events that happen in succession, and in circumstances equally critical and important. The moment a ship launches into the ocean to proceed on new discoveries, every man on board demands his share of attention as well as the commanding officer. The story of the black, who, with his two companions, perished on the mountains of
Terra del Fuego,
is no less affecting than that of the murder of the poor Indians, who set the Endeavour at defiance, and bravely opposed the landing of the crew.
There is not an object that presents itself either by sea or land, but affords some degree of use or speculation. The fish that swarm about the ship, and the fowls that present themselves in the ocean, are indications by which the skilful ma
er avails himself, eithe
to guard against the storm, or to prepare for land; and the reader, as circumstances arise, either shares h
s danger, or partakes of hi
refreshment.
When the Endeavour is encircled in the wide ocean with rocks of co
, her sheathing beaten off, and her
floating by her side, a
her bottom,
fainting at the pumps, what heart is so callous, as not to sympathize with the de
ing crew
and, anxious fo
their safety, drop a
for their deliverance?
And what
be the
of every
ling heart,
, after
hundred leagues, and arriving
Batavia, at
her planks
the keel, and
in the ship's bottom, were, for six
together, rubbed thinner, by
er
THE INTRODUCTION.
PREVIOUS to our entering upon the detail of the discoveries and adventures of the English navigators who have surrounded the globe, it may, perhaps, afford some entertainment to the curious reader, to be made acquainted with the first steps that led to so bold an undertaking, and with the characters of those happy geniuses, who not only conceived the plan, but contributed not a little by their example to facilitate the execution.
We are told that the shadow seen in the moon in the time of her eclipse, first pointed out to the early navigators the true figure of the earth; and that, from this simple observation, Columbus, by revolving it in his mind, deduced the possibility of passing round its surface, or, to speak with more precision, of sailing from one side of the continent to the other; for as yet one great continent, and one great ocean, with their appendages, were thought to compose the whole material world.
Full of this idea, he was naturally led to conclude, that, by sailing in a direct course from any given point of land on one side, he must of necessity arrive at another point of land in the same parallel on the opposite side, provided his provisions were proportioned to the voyage, and no accident from tempests or shipwreck intervened to interrupt his progress. It was on this obvious principle that Columbus founded the certainty of his discovery; the infallibility of which served to support his hopes, when absolute despair had seized the greatest part of his followers.
It is true, that, though the figure of the earth was in effect conceived, yet its dimensions were wholly unknown: but as the road over-land to the eastern coasts of the continent was no secret, Columbus was persuaded that a passage by sea by a western course, if no intermediate lands prevented, would assuredly bring him to the same coasts. From his knowledge, therefore, of the position of those countries, from whence the rich productions of the East were circulated through all the kingdoms of the West, he was led to steer, first, a south-west, and then a direct west course, which brought him among those broken fragments of the western continent, which he at first mistook for the islands of the Indian Ocean, and to the richest of which he imagined another voyage would certainly open a passage.
The discovery being once made, the principle upon which it was grounded could no longer be concealed. Those belonging to the naval department about the Court of Spain, who had been most violent in opposing the undertaking, as appearing to them in no better light than as the visionary conceit of some crack brained projector, now assumed another tone, and affected to speak of it as a discovery that required no extraordinary talents to accomplish; that it was not the result of science, but a thing that must follow of course to the first adventurer; and that it was fortunate for Columbus that he could prevail upon their Majesties to furnish the means to undertake it, as with such encouragemen
there were not wanting officers in the royal navy much better qualified to have conducted the enterprize, tho' by his unparalleled assurance he had obtained the preference. In this slight and contemptuous manner it was the humour at court to speak of the new discovery; and though Columbus, after his return, was for a while caressed by the Royal Family, yet the frequent repetition of these indignities could not fail in time to lessen the idea of the merit of a man who had no advocate to support his credit but the evidence of his own superior abilities. At a court-entertainment, however, to which he was invited, an incident happened that contributed not a little to heighten his character, and mortify his enemies. The conversation at table turned, as was usual, upon the importance of the new discoveries; and though all seemed to agree, that the advantages would be immense that must inevitably result to Spain, yet little they thought was due to the first discoverer, because any ordinary seaman, by keeping his ship's head to the westward, must have fallen in with the same countries. Columbus, without seeming to regard their discourse, when dinner was over, and the table uncovered, called for an egg, and twirling it about with his hand, as if by way of amusement, asked if any of the company could make that egg stand upon its little end without additional support. The company, after trying their skill, pronounced
the thing impossible
; when Columbus, taking it again in his hand, and bruising the shell a little at bottom with his nail, produced it upon the table standing upright. The company all fell a-laughing, and one cried out, that any fool could do as much as that. I doubt not, replied Columbus, but any of you may do it, now you have seen it done; and so may any miserable pilot in the navy sail to the Indies, now that I have pointed out the track; but till the issue had shewn it practicable, addressing himself to the naval gentlemen, that, too, you pronounced an
impossible thing.
The King and his royal consort, particularly the latter, were highly pleased when they were told this story, admiring the promptness of a mind whi
h, ever collected, neither malice nor envy could disconcert.
Other navigators equally enterprizing, tho' less sagacious, were now inflamed with the desire of immortalizing their names by new undertakings; so that it is no wonder that the business of discovery went rapidly on for a succeeding century.
It was in 1492 that Columbus made his first expedition to the Bahama Islands; and in 1496, John Cabbot, in the service of England, discovered the continent of North America.
Columbus, in his first voyage, had not yet conceived the idea of a double continent, but believed, as we have already noted, that he had discovered a passage by sea to those islands in the East that were already known by the name of the East Indies; in conformity to which he gave to the islands that he discovered the appellation of the
West Indies,
which they retain to this day.
In 1493, having made a second voyage, and carried his discoveries considerably farther to the South, it is said, he received some faint notions of a sea beyond a great land, by which the islands he had first discovered were bounded; but it was not till after his third voyage in 1497, that he attained a sight of that continent which Cabbot had discovered the year before.
It may seem, from what has just been said, that the eastern passage to the Indian Ocean had been discovered by the Portuguese; and that the East Indies were known to that people before this western discovery by Columbus: but, though several journies by land had been made, with a view to the opening an advantageous commerce with the eastern countries, by Portuguese Ambassadors well instructed in the Arabian language, by whose address some progress had been made in that business, yet it was not till 1495 that Bartholomew Diaz doubled the Cape of Good Hope, nor till the year 1497 (the same year that the American continent was discovered by Cabbot), that Don Vasquez de Gama, by steering the nearest course, passed the Cape, which Diaz had discovered, and sailed into the Indian Ocean, where he afterwards made considerable conquests, and by his prudent management very suddenly diverted the current of Indian commerce into an entire new channel. The notion, therefore, that Columbus borrowed his idea of a western passage from the discoveries made by the Portuguese towards the East, is ill founded. These last had, indeed, made a considerable progress in their discoveries by land; but the passages to the Eastern and Western Indies by sea were discovered about the same time, without the least connection or intelligence between the respective discoverers. And here we cannot help entering our protest against the honour ascribed to Columbus by Mr. Campbell, and other judicious naval historians, as being the first circumnavigator, because, as Mr. Campbell observes,
"it was his [Columbus's] opinion, that there was a passage from the North Sea into the South, and from thence it might be very possible to sail to the East Indies."—
That it was the opinion of Columbus, that there was a western passage to the East Indies is readily granted; it was his original idea: but that there was a passage from the East Indies to Europe, without returning the same way he went, he could have no conception of, till after the passage by the Cape of Good Hope was discovered by the Portuguese. Had he dreamt of an eastern passage
by sea
to the East Indies, he would most certainly have preferred it to a western passage, because it might have been performed without losing sight of land; and therefore, with much less risque than by launching into an immense unknown ocean, of which no one could tell the extent. But his notion was, that the earth, like a bowl, inclosed the sea, and that it could only be traversed from side to side by water, and then from shore to shore by land. Many irrefragable proofs of his having no conception of
sailing
round the globe might be adduced; but that of his returning the same way back a second time, without his
knowing
for certainty, or
believing
there was any other sea to sail upon, or having even determined the extent of that sea on which he had already ventured so far, may serve without farther proof to convince the intelligent reader, that Columbus had never thought of but one sea when he undertook his discovery, and that that sea was only to be crossed from West to East, and
vice versâ.
But to proceed:—Soon after the eastern passage to the Indies was laid open, the coast of Brazil, opposite to the Cape of Good Hope, was discovered by Cabral, a Portuguese pilot, who was driven out of his course by stress of weather. The same coast was likewise discovered the same year by Yannez Pinçon, who commanded a carvel that accompanied Columbus in his first expedition to the West Indies. This man contested the honour of the first discovery with Columbus, and insisted that it was through his perseverance alone that land was descried, the crew of Columbus having absolutely determined to steer back before the discovery took place. Be that as it may, this able mariner afterwards examined the coast from the Bay of Mexico to the Equinoctial Line, and, in the year 1500, discovered the great river of Amazons, which it was thought would have opened a passage to the South Sea.
In 1502, Columbus made his fourth and last expedition, when he fully satisfied himself, that the islands he had discovered were totally disconnected from those he went in quest of, and that another continent existed besides that which was known to Europeans. He was still, however, of opinion, that a western passage to the old continent from the new would be practicable, whenever a way was found to the Great Sea by which it was surrounded: and now it is not at all improbable but that he might fortel what afterwards came to pass, that one day or other the whole globe might be circumnavigated, though he did not live to see it executed.
In 1509, the Portuguese first found the way to Sumatra, and from thence extended their discoveries to the Moluccas.
About this time a contest arose between the Spaniards and Portuguese, concerning the right of possessing countries, to which neither of them had any other claim than that of being the first Europeans who happened to land upon their coasts: a claim of the same kind his Otaheitean Majesty may pretend to the western part of Europe, his subject Aotourou being the first Tropical inhabitant from the S. Sea that ever set foot on that continent. This contest, however, the Pope took upon him to decide; and, to prevent the bloody consequences that might ensue between two such powerful competitors, he published a bull, which, at that time of blind obedience, was held decisive, decreeing, that whatever discoveries were made to the westward should belong to Spain, and such as were made to the eastward, to Portugal. This seemed for a while to content both parties; but, in 1520, Ferdinand Magellan, or Magellhanes, as Mr. Dalrymple affects to call him, having made his famous discovery to the Molucca Islands by a new passage, the contest was again revived, and the competitors claimed a second time the Pope's interposition to settle the limits of their respective claims by more precise and determinate boundaries. The claims of the Spaniards were now extended to near three parts of the globe; and those of the Portuguese, which by a false representation had been much diminished, were now to be restored, or rather regulated by a more exact standard. The two contending powers were to divide the globe between them, by what was then stiled a line of demarkacion. This
line
was to cut the globe into two hemispheres, and was to be acknowledged a
first
meridian: all the discoveries in the western hemisphere were to belong to Spain; and all in the eastern to Portugal. But still there arose a dispute about the precise spot where this meridian line should be fixed. By the Pope's bull it had been placed 100 leagues to the westward of St. Antonio, one of the islands of Cape Verde; but, by this new regulation, it was removed 270 leagues farther to the west. This alteration was intended to deprive Portugal of the possession of the Moluccas; but the Portuguese pilots were not to be thus deceived: they suffered the line of demarkacion to be fixed; but, when it was finally determined, they insisted on their right to the Moluccas, as still within their limits, and future observations have since confirmed their claims. But, notwithstanding the justice of their claims (if justice can at all be admitted to exist in cases of usurpation), the Spaniards held the Moluccas till 1529, when the Portuguese purchased an exclusive right of trading to them by a loan of 350,000 ducats.—But to return from this digression:
We have already observed, that the coast of Brazil, and the river of Amazons, was first discovered by Yannez Pinçon, in 1500; but it was not till twelve years afterwards that John de Solis discovered the river Plate.
In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Bilboa got sight of the Great South Sea, from the mountains of Pancas in the province of Panama; and from that time Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese officer, conceived the design of surrounding the globe, by finding a passage by which he might enter that sea. He now began to consider the earth as divided into two continents, with their concomitant seas; and, as a promontory was found, by the doubling of which one continent might be visited on both sides, he made no doubt but that another promontory existed, by which the other might be visited in like manner. Perhaps the idea of a strait might not at first strike his mind, till the opening at Cape Virgin suggested it. His original thought was to coast along to the southward, as the land trended; and by perseverance, he persuaded himself, that a boundary would be found, by which the land of the new continent would be terminated, though he did not, nor could not then ascertain to what height it might reach. He had in view a nearer way to the Moluccas than that by the Cape of Good Hope; and he at first imparted his views to the Ministers of his Court, who, probably suspecting that by such a passage the right to the Moluccas might be brought in question by Spain, treated his project with a contemptuous neglect. To a man full of the importance of such a discovery, nothing could be more mortifying. He determined, since he was so coolly received at home, to try his fortune abroad. For this purpose he repaired to the court of Spain, where, after making himself known to the leading Minister, he undertook to prove the Moluccas, and other rich islands then reputed in the East, to be within the Spanish line of demarkacion to the West, and by a new passage to them he engaged to confirm the truth of what he advanced incontestibly.
These propositions, after being properly examined, and approved by the ablest astronomers and geographers at that time in Spain, was eagerly embraced by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, an enterprizing Prince, who then held the kingdom, and who gave him audience in the council-chamber at Saragossa, and conferred upon him, and his companion Ruy Falero, the order of St. Jago, both of whom his Imperial Majesty honoured with the title of
his Captains.
This encouragement, and these honours, could not fail to alarm the Court of Portugal: but all the interest and opposition which Alvaro de Acasto, the Portuguese Ambassador, could make, had no effect; the preparations for the voyage were prosecuted with more than ordinary diligence, and five ships were soon got in readiness to put to sea.
But, previous to their setting sail, a difference
concerning the necessary forms of commons, which had well nigh ruined the voyage before it was undertaken; the honour of carrying the royal st
ndard was contested by Ruy Falero, and some other indignities were offered to Magellan on account of his country. These, however, were redressed by the interposition of the imperial authority; Ruy Falero was persuaded to suspend his departure on account of his health, and Magellan was declared General of the squadron, which was now committed to his sole direction.
On the 10th of August, 1519, this little fleet, consisting of the Admiral's ship; the St. Antonio, Capt. Juan de Cartagena, Vice-Admiral; the Victoria, Capt. Luys de Mendoça, Rear-Admiral; the St. Jago, Capt. Juan Rodriguez Serrano; and the Conception, of which Gasper de Quezada was Master; left Cadiz, and proceeded to Teneriff, from whence they took their departure, on the 2d of September, and on the 13th of December arrived at Rio de Janeiro, on the coast of Brazil, where they staid till the 27th; and, after being plentifully supplied with all necessary refreshments at a very moderate price, they weighed anchor, and continued their voyage, in the course of which much discontent arose concerning the track they were to steer; but on Easter evening they entered St. Julian river, and were next day ordered on shore by the General to hear mass. Three of the Captains refused to obey; namely, Luys de Mendoça, Gasper de Quezada, and Juan de Cartagena, this last being already in arrest for disrespect to his General.
Their disobedience put Magellan on his guard. He perceived that the majority both of officers and men were averse to the undertaking, and that a general murmuring prevailed throughout the whole squadron. Only a few trusty friends were ready to support their General, and willing to follow wherever he should lead. The weather was now set in very severe, and the Spaniards, unused to the rigour of such a climate, were hardly to be restrained. They represented the inutility of proceeding, as they were already in a climate too boisterous and inclement to be navigated by Spaniards; that it could never be the Emperor's intention to sacrifice the lives of his subjects, without the least prospect of advantage to the State; and that now it was manifest, though the discovery were certain, the navigation would be impracticable, and therefore useless. To these representations and others more full of asperity, Magellan coolly made answer,
"that he was determined to die rather than return back; that he should pass the winter where he then was; and that neither provisions nor wine should be wanting to those who would be contented with a moderate allowance; but that if any persisted, in spreading discontents, and encouraging disobedience, he knew how to punish as well as to reward."
Barros says, that the three Captains
Cartogena, Quezada,
and
Mendoça,
conspired together to kill Magellan, and to return and make their report of the usage they had met with, and the hardships they had endured in the voyage; but Magellan, considering the danger, and that in certain circumstances
temerity
is better than
caution,
ordered the people of his own ship to arms; and, manning his boat with thirty trusty friends, he clapt the Victoria aboard; and while Mendoça was reading a letter directed to him from the General, the messenger that delivered it stabbed him to the heart.—The moment the order was executed, the thirty men entered to the assistance of the assassin, and quietly took possession of the ship. This done a council of war was called, and a conspiracy was detected, in which more than forty of the principal people on board the several ships were found to be deeply concerned; but Magellan, that he might not appear too sanguinary or vindictive, sentenced
Quezada
only to be executed, and
Cartagena
to be left on shore, accompanied by a French Priest; a punishment that probably was worse than immediate death, as it subjected the criminals to hardships, which instant execution would have prevented. Mendoça and Quezada, he ordered to be quartered as traitors, to strike the disaffected with the greater terror. This put an end to all opposition for the present.
When the winter months drew towards a conclusion, Magellan was vigilant to hasten the departure of his fleet; and, as soon as the cold abated, he dispatched Serrano to coast along the shore to make observations. Serrano, at about twenty leagues distance, found a river a league broad at the entrance, which he named St. Cruz, because he fell in with it on that Saint's day. In examining this river, and in fishing for seals, he spent six days, at the end of which a furious storm arose, which split his sails, and drove his ship on shore, where she bulged, and was beaten to pieces. The crew, however, were saved, but reduced to the last extremity for want of food. Two of the company undertook to travel over land, to give the General notice of the miserable situation of their fellow-sufferers; and, after 11 days fatigue, they at length surmounted every difficulty, and accomplished their purpose. Magellan, pitying their distresses, sent a vessel with provisions, which came seasonably to their relief.
The time for sailing being now come, and the ships in readiness, they left the bay of St. Julian on the 24th of August, 1520, after setting Juan de Cartagena, and Pedro Sanchez de Revora, the Priest, who was also found deep in the plot, ashore on that desolate coast. They supplied them plentifully with bread and wine; but as they were never afterwards heard of, there can be no doubt of their perishing miserably.
The squadron, consisting now of four ships, kept coasting along to the southward, with imminent danger of shipwreck, till towards the latter end of October, when they fell in with a promontory, which the General named Cape Virgin, because it was discovered on St. Ursula's-day. This Cape opened an inlet, which Magellan judged favourable to his design. He cast anchor at the entrance of the inlet, and ordered two ships to examine its course. In five days these ships returned, and one of them affirmed it was a strait, because the flood was greater than the ebb; the other reported that they saw nothing but inlets and breakers. The General, on these different relations, determined to sail into the opening, in order to be more precisely informed. He accordingly weighed, and came to an anchor in a commodious bay, where he first sent his skiff with 10 men to reconnoitre the shore, and then the St. Antonio to trace out the inlet to a certain distance. When the men returned from the shore, they said, they had found a burying-place with more than 200 graves, and had seen the skeleton of a whale in a cove upon the beach, but had seen neither house nor inhabitant. The Captain of the St. Antonio on his return gave a more flattering account. He said, he had followed the inlet for more than 50 leagues; that its course was due east and west; and that he made not the least doubt but that it was the passage so much desired. This news was received with repeated acclamations. A council was called of the chief officers and pilots, in which a very warm debate arose, whether, in the circumstances the ships were then in, it were better to return to Spain, having obtained the main object of the voyage, or to proceed to complete what the General had undertaken to perform, namely, to trace out a western passage to the Molucca Islands. Estevan Gomez, the pilot of the St. Antonio, a man of excellent parts and sound judgment, insisted on returning back, and bringing another squadron to complete the discovery, alledging, that they had still a great and unknown sea to pass, and that, if either tempests or calms intervened to retard their passage over it, the whole fleet must inevitably perish. His opinion was supported by the whole council, Magellan only excepted, who declared, that, if he were sure to be reduced to the necessity of eating the hides that covered the yards, he would persevere in the discovery. He accordingly gave orders for weighing anchor immediately; and, proceeding down the strait, sent the Antonio to examine some inlets that promised a nearer passage to the main ocean than that they were pursuing; but the pilot Gomez, and the purser Guerra, seized and stabbed Alvara de Mesquita, the Commander, and carried home the ship. In the mean time, Magellan supposing some disaster had befallen her, went himself in pursuit of her; but after six days fruitless search, he determined to continue his voyage;
"and it pleased God, says my author, that, at the end of twenty days, he entered into the Great South Sea, and was the first who had found the passage so much sought after, whereby the memory of this excellent Captain shall be eternally celebrated."
Finding that the land trended northwards, Magellan directed his course accordingly, that he might as soon as possible clear those cold and dreary coasts that had caused so much murmuring among the mariners, and so much caballing among the officers; but before he reached the Tropic he met with most tempestuous
weather, by which the three remaining ships were very much shattered in their sails and rigging. In this passage they discovered two uninhabited islands, St. Pedro and Tiburon, about the situation of which mariners are still divided; and it has been questioned, whether either of them have since been seen.
As they approached the Line, they found the wind to stand fair. Magellan then ordered the ships to change their course, and steer N. W. and W. N. W. till he reached the Line.
Harris takes notice that it was on the 28th of December when Magellan entered the Great South Sea, and that in this wide ocean the ships that accompanied him sailed three months and twenty days without seeing any other land than the two islands just mentioned, which afforded them no refreshment. At length, when they had undergone all the miseries that human nature is capable of sustaining, from hunger, thirst, and sickness, they fell in with the Ladrone islands, where they landed; but where the inhabitants were such thieves that they were in fear left their ships should be pulled to pieces and carried away before their faces, the crews not having strength enough left to defend either their lives or their properties. They therefore shortened their stay among these plunderers; and were more fortunate in their next attempt.
On the 10th of March, landing on the island of Zamal, they found springs of delicate water, which to them were more precious than fountains of the choicest wines; fruit in abundance, that surpassed any they had till then tasted; and inhabitants humane and civil, who pitying their distresses, brought their richest productions to relieve them. From this island they continued to steer between the west and south-west, till they arrived at Buthuan, or, as it has since been called, Buton, the King of which gave them honourable entertainment. They visited several other isles, and in all of them were well received; till at length coming to the Isle of Mathan, they were attacked by an army of Indians, against whom the General himself being engaged was shot with a poisoned arrow, and afterwards pierced in the head with a lance; and thus ended the life and actions of this gallant Commander, whose name will be perpetuated with honour to latest posterity. After his death, a company of his followers being invited to an entertainment on shore, were treacherously murdered by a pretended friendly King, and only Don Juan Serrano, of all who landed, was reserved alive, in order to procure a large supply of fire-arms and ammunition by way of ransom; but those who remained on board, fearful of being trepanned, would have no farther intercourse with the perfidious infidels; so that poor Serrano was left to their mercy. Those on board the ships, 80 in number, directed their course towards the Moluccas, and arrived at Teridore, one of the principal of those islands, on the 8th of November, 1521. Here they were hospitably received, and here they staid till the middle of January, 1522; and, being now come into well-known seas, we shall accompany them no farther; only remarking, that, of the whole squadron only one ship, namely the Victoria, had the good fortune to return to Spain; and of 234 officers and seamen, the complement at first setting out, if we except those who returned in the St. Antonio, of whom we have no account, only 13 Spaniards survived to return to Seville. Their Commander John Sebastian Cano was received with extraordinary marks of favour by the Emperor, who gave him for arms the Terrestrial Globe, with this motto,
Primus me circumdedistis,
and otherwise liberally rewarded him. The voyage he lived to make took up three years and thirty-seven days, and is, perhaps, the most remarkable that ever was performed.
This voyage opened a new field for discovery: the Spaniards, who were already settled on the western coasts of America, were very curious to examine what countries might be situated along that vast space which divided the new continent from the old; and accordingly Cortez, the celebrated conqueror of Peru, fitted out two ships for the purpose, the command of one of which he gave to Ferdinand Grijalva, the other to Don Alvarado.
Grijalva departed from Pageta, in 6 deg. N. lat. about the beginning of April, 1537, and steered W. and S. W. into 29 deg. S. lat. where his ship springing her mast, he stood again to the Line, in which tract a mutiny happening among the crew, Grijalva and his nephew were both assassinated; and the ship, after a passage of four months, was carried to Papua, where falling to pieces, the crew, reduced by famine and fatigue to seven men, took to their boat and coasted along the shore, till being boarded by a number of Indians, it was sunk. The Spaniards, however, were saved by the humanity of the captors, and sold for slaves. This ship, it is affirmed, sailed 1000 leagues on both sides the Line without seeing land. Among the islands, however, which they afterwards fell in with before they came to Papua, was that called Isla de los Pescadores, called in the late voyages BYRON's ISLAND, and supposed to be a new discovery.
Alvarado was instructed to pursue his discoveries along the Line, without deviating either to the right or left, farther than the most advantageous method of navigating his ship required; and in that direction he discovered the islands of Papua. He also discovered other islands, named the Guelles, in 1 deg. N. lat. east and west from Teronate, and 125 leagues from that of Moro, with Hamei, 170 leagues from Tidore, and many others that have since been thought new discoveries. After his return, he was again employed upon services of the like kind, and was instrumental in establishing the trade of Manilla.
But of all the Spanish discoveries that have been made, or pretended to have been made, in the South Seas, that of Juan Fernandez, who first pointed out the way from Lima to Chili by sailing to the westward,
if real,
is by far the most important. This pilot, (the same who discovered the island which still bears his name) in the latitude of 40 deg. S. was brought, as it is said, in courses between west and south-west, upon the coast of a continent, from what he could judge, very fertile and delightful, inhabited by white people, hospitable, and well-disposed, of a middle stature, dressed in very fine cloaths, and so peaceable and civil, that, in every way they could express, they endeavoured to gratify the strangers, and to accommodate them with the best things their country afforded, the fruits whereof were excellent and abounding in the greatest profusion. It is added, that, being over-joyed with having discovered the coast of that great continent so much talked of, and so ardently sought after, he returned to Chili, intending to make a second voyage properly fitted out to improve this fortunate discovery to his own and his country's enrichment; but before he could persuade his friends to give entire credit to his report, he died, and the secret of the precise situation of his new continent perished with him, for it has never since been found; though Mr. Alexander Dalrymple, author of an Historical Collection of Voyages to the South Pacific Ocean, whose opinion is of no small weight, is persuaded that Fernandez did discover the SOUTHERN CONTINENT, and that, whenever it is again visited, it will be no new discovery, but a confirmation of the existence of that land which has already been found.
But, besides this dubious discovery, there is still another, which has not yet been clearly ascertained, and about which geographers are much divided. This discovery is attributed to Alvaro Mendana, who, in 1567, is said to have fallen in with a cluster of islands abounding with gold and pearl, which were named by him the Isles of Salomon; and for the settling of which an unsuccessful attempt was made by Mendana himself; and a second strongly solicited by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, the chief pilot who accompanied that General, and who afterwards made a voyage thither on his own account, in which he made many discoveries.
It was in April, 1595, that Mendana left Callao, in Peru, to settle the Salomon Isles. He had with him two large ships, a galleasta, and a frigate, on board of which were embarked from Lima 400 followers, including women and children. Of this embarkation Lope de la Vega, his brother-in-law, was Admiral; Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, chief pilot; and Pedro Merino Manriquez, Maitre de Campo. According to Figueroa, who wrote an account of this voyage, the Admiral's ship was named the St. Isabella; Mendana's ship, the St. Jerome; the galleasta, St. Philippe; and the frigate, St. Catalina: of the two last the Commanders were Capt. Philip Corço, and Lieut. Alonzo de Leyla. In this expedition Mendana was accompanied by his Lady Donna Isabella Barretos, with her three brothers; and, after parting company with the Admiral's ship the very night they came in sight of the island on which they settled, Mendana cast anchor in a bay which he called
la Graciosa,
and the island he named Santa Cruz. Here, on the 8th of October, the Maitre de Campo, and Thomas de Ampuero, were hanged, and Ensign Jean de Buy beheaded, for mutinous behaviour; and here Mendana himself died the 18th of the same month. Don Lorenzo, brother to Donna Isabella, who, by the loss of the Admiral, had succeeded as Captain-General, died also on the 2d of November; and, in less than seven days after, Father Antonio de Serra, Chief Priest, and Juan de Espinosa, his Vicar. In short, from change of climate, food, and customs; from labour, going in the sun, being wet without having wherewithal to shift themselves, sleeping on the ground, and from other disorders and sufferings, dangerous diseases attacked the whole company; they began to die a-pace, it being lamentable to see them in their distress creeping into huts, some delirious, and others at the last gasp; some going to the ships to seek health; others shifting from the ships to the shore; but no remedy, nor any physician to apply to for relief. In this calamitous state things were, when Donna Isabella, on the 18th of October, broke up the settlement; and embarking the few people that remained alive, on board the St. Jerome, the frigate, and the galleasta, they set sail, intending to pursue their course to Manilla: but the frigate soon lost company, and, it is said, was afterwards found on a defart coast with all her sails set, and the people on board dead and rotten; and the galleasta put into an island near the coast of Mindanao. The St. Jerome, however, after suffering unspeakable hardships, got to Manilla, where Donna Isabella married Don Ferdinando de Castro, and returned in his ship to New Spain the very next year. The Admiral's ship was never heard of.—Thus ended this unfortunate expedition.
The island of Santa Cruz, in which this settlement was attempted, is said to be 100 leagues in circumference, and to lie E. S. E. and W. N. W. in lat. 10 deg. 20 min. S. distant from Lima 1800 leagues. They cast anchor on the north side of it, in a harbour, to the north of which is a volcano, or burning mountain, that from its top frequently casts forth fire, and from the inside of which proceeds a noise sometimes louder than thunder. To the west of the harbour is a small island about four leagues in compass, separated from the great island by sunken rocks and banks of sand. The port is formed at the bottom of the bay by a great river, and the country round it is fine and plentiful. A more exact description than this, one would think, could not have been given.
Quiros, who navigated Donna Isabella, first to Manilla, and afterwards accompanied her to New Spain, was so charmed with the beautiful appearance of these enchanting islands, that he continued for the space of ten years incessantly to weary the Court of Spain with memorial after memorial to renew the settlement of them; and at length he prevailed.—Previous to his voyage, he spent several months in building two ships and a zebra, the stourest and best equipped with men, provisions, and warlike stores, of any that had ever been fitted out in New Spain. He was accompanied by six Franciscan Fathers, with whom he took his departure on the 21st of December, 1605; and sailing without any material incident till the 26th of January 1606, he on that day fell in with an island to the south-west, just 1000 leagues from the coast of Peru, in lat. 25 deg. S. which island he unluckily found uninhabited. From this island he sailed on different courses, passing several inaccessible islands, till the 10th of February, on which day a sailor joyfully cried out,
Land a-head!
Here, on their landing, they surprized a woman, but so old in appearance, that it was matter of astonishment that she could stand upright. In her youthful days it was easy to perceive that she had been of a graceful mien, and she still retained a dignity about her that shewed she was of quality. Being asked by signs to go on board, she complied without hesitation; and when there, she eat of whatever was given her, and received presents with a becoming ease. After cloathing this lady very fine, they set her on shore; and, on her landing, the people flocked about her, and among them a tall, stout, well-made man, who had on his head a plume of feathers, and by his deportment appeared to be a Chief. Him they endeavoured to entice on board; but, when he came to the ship's side, fearing treachery, he refused to enter. Quiros directed that no force might be used, made him some presents, and dismissed him. This island by observation was in 17 deg. 40 min. S. and was named by Quiros Sagitaria. They left it on the 12th, after some skirmishes with the inhabitants, and, passing by several other islands, in which they could procure no refreshment, on the 2d of March they fell in with an island which promised fair to supply their wants. Here on their attempting to land they were accosted by about 100 Indians, the tallest, genteelest, whitest, and strongest-made people they had ever yet seen; but, though they shewed fair in countenance, they were in fact the cruellest enemies they had to encounter in the whole voyage. One of them in a swift canoe approached the ship singly, and, brandishing his lance, made those kind of contortions with his face, arms, and legs, by which Parkinson has remarked the South-Sea Indians provoke their enemies to battle; he even mounted the balcony of the Admiral's ship, and with his lance made a thrust at one of the officers on the quarterdeck, with an intent to kill him, and instantly leaping into his canoe rowed off at a great rate. He repeated his visits and his insolence; but it was not long before they shot him dead. While this was passing on board the Admiral, the zebra, that had cast anchor near the shore, was still in a worse situation, surrounded by a multitude of fierce barbarians, who, having fastened a rope to her head, were endeavouring to drag her on shore; but perceiving that the people on board were preparing to cut the rope, they pushed a little off, and were fastening it to the cable, when a volley of small arms was discharged among them, by which some were killed, some wounded, and all terribly frightened: this, however, failed of the desired effect; for neither kindness nor chastisement could prevail upon them to furnish the ships with water or provisions; so that they were obliged to set sail without a supply of either. This island lies north and south, and was called by Quiros the Island of Handsome People.
They now pursued their course for the island of Santa Cruz without interruption till the 7th of April, when they discovered land bearing W. N. W. high, and black like a volcano; but night coming on, they stood off till next morning, and then sent the zebra to look out for a safe harbour for the ships to cast anchor. On the 9th she returned, having succeeded; and about noon the same day the ships were moored in 25 fathom water, to the great joy of the desponding crew. The boats were instantly dispatched to make peace with the natives; and before night, they returned with water, plantains, cocoa-nuts, potatoes, palmetos, and sugar-canes, than which the riches of Potosi could not have been more welcome. They next day discovered a fort, constructed by art, the materials of coral stone, in which were about 70 houses surrounded by the sea, and designed as a refuge from enemies, whenever an invasion was threatened by the warlike inhabitants of the adjoining country. To this fort they made their next approach, and, lest they should meet with opposition, they took care to be properly armed; but the inhabitants were desirous of nothing so much as peace, and received them hospitably: so different are the dispositions of people inhabiting the same climate, and separated only by a portion of the sea. Here they were supplied at an easy rate with wood and water, in the shipping of which they were assisted by the friendly natives; and here they had plenty of the fruits and provisions which the country produced; in return for which, the grateful Spaniards seized four of the natives, with a view to carry them off; but in spite of their vigilance three made their escape, and only one c
ntinued with them, who, being a slave where he
, cared but little what master he served in that capacity.
At the end of seven days, the people being pretty well refreshed, Quiros again set sail, and on the 21st of April passed an island in lat. 12 degrees S. which the Indians called Tuoopia. They now approached the islands of which they were in quest; and on the 25th a consultation was held on board the Admiral, to consider which of the lands in sight they would chuse to settle, when it was concluded not to return to Santa Cruz, but to stand to the southward in search of that great land, of which they had heard so much. This they did, passing many islands, some of considerable extent, some small but very populous, and all of them exhibiting a most delightful prospect of woods, lawns, inclosures, and water-falls, till at length in lat. 14 deg. 50 min. S. they came to a land stretching from east to west, to the extent of which they could see no end. On the zebra's approaching this land, the people on board were not a little surprized to see an Indian come down from the mountains, and without invitation throw himself into the sea, and make towards the ship. A boat was immediately hoisted out, in order to take him up; but as he appeared spirited and strong, and made the usual contortions by way of defiance, it was judged proper to confine him, by clapping a chain upon his legs to prevent mischief. In this manner they purposed to have carried him on board the Admiral, who wanted to get some native in his power to use with kindness, in order to facilitate a peace; but, perceiving their intent, and concluding that his imprisonment was a prelude to his death, he seized in his passage a favourable opportunity, and snapping his chains with his hands, leapt suddenly into the sea. Night coming on, it was in vain to pursue him, and accordingly they continued their course to acquaint the Admiral with what had happened. They had scarce been an hour on board, when the watch on the forecastle called out,
A voice!
and knowing it to be that of a native, they instantly handed him up, when, to the great surprize of the boat's crew, who had just come on board, they perceived, by the remains of the chain about his leg, that it was the man who had made his escape. He was quite exhausted with swimming, and chose rather to surrender to the strangers than perish in the sea. He was kindly received, had wine and sweet-meats given him, put to bed, and in the morning was richly cloathed in taffety, and sent on shore: in return for which civilities, he caused a number of hogs to be sent on board, with plantains and other fruits; but at the same time he gave his benefactors to understand, that he was not to be diverted from the defence of his country, by the dissembled kindness of pretended friends. When, therefore, the Spaniards attempted to land, a few Indians, headed by this gallant Chief, appeared upon the shore, and, feigning to conduct them to an open beach, led them along the skirts of a wood, where a numerous body of natives lay concealed, who watching their opportunity, let fly a volley of poisoned arrows, by which, however, one Spaniard only was wounded in the face. The Spaniards returned the compliment, by a discharge of musquetry; but the opposition they expected from these
uncivilized barbarians
(for so they are called for defending their country) deterred them from prosecuting their design. They returned to their ships without setting foot on shore; and, on their return, finding themselves mistaken, it was thought proper again to put to sea, in search of that great country and that friendly people, of whose happy situation they had heard so much.
On the 30th of April, about three in the afternoon, steering south-west, they discovered land right a-head, and before night came up with it. In the morning the zebra was sent along shore to examine the soundings, and after twelve hours absence returned, and made report, that they had found a spacious bay, and had exchanged some trifles with a people of an enormous size, who, nevertheless, appeared to be good natured, and desirous of peace. This news gave universal satisfaction. The ships followed their pilot; and it being the day of St. Philip and St. James when they arrived, they called the bay by that name. Here they found a most delightful port, situated between two noble rivers (the one they named the Jordan, and the other Salvador); the people numerous and friendly; the climate mild and serene; and the air so wholesome, that in a few days all the sick recovered. The soil they afterwards found fruitful to a degree of luxuriance; the woods and plains abounding with herds and beasts of various kinds, and the seas well stored with fish. In short, nothing was wanting to complete their wishes, but a more numerous company to secure possession. On their first landing the Spaniards were hospitably received; but when it was perceived, by their overtures for peace, that they intended to prolong their stay, a jealousy arose that they came with no good design; and they were treated afterwards as enemies and invaders. All friendly intercourse very soon ceased; the market for provisions was stopt; and nothing was to be obtained to subsist upon but by force or stratagem. While they were on these terms, an incident happened that it was thought would at once have put an end to their fears and their hopes. Among the vegetables which grew wild, and on which they were obliged chiefly to live, they had gathered some poisonous plants, of which the people in general had eaten, and all who had eaten soon began to feel the direful effects. The symptoms were the more alarming, as all parts of the flesh seemed to partake of the noxious quality of the plants. The ships were like the hospitals of a city infected with the plague, where the numbers of the healthy were not sufficient to administer to the infirmities of the sick. Nothing, in short, was to be heard but lamentations and supplications; all expected to die without remedy. But their fears, as it fell out, were greater than their danger; for, after a certain time, the violence of the poison abated, and the sick were restored to a more vigorous state of health than they enjoyed before. But they were scarce relieved from this misfortune, when another succeeded. Despairing of ever being able to reconcile themselves to the natives at this port, they set sail, after having founded a city between the
Jordan
and the
Salvador,
to which they had given the name of
New Jerusalem.
Coasting towards the south with a view to find a more fortunate settlement, they were overtaken by a most dreadful storm, in which the ships were separated. The Admiral was driven off the coast, and never again returned; but the other ship, and the zebra, with difficulty returned to port. What afterwards became of them we are not told. Quiros, after attempting in vain to rejoin them, made the best of his way to New Spain; and on his arrival undertook a voyage to Old Spain, where he continued to solicit the Court for a new embarkation; but he died before he could obtain it.
From this time the Spaniards seem to have given over all thoughts of a settlement in those islands, to the true situation of which they appear at this day to be strangers. Neither have other nations been more successful in their attempts to discover them; for unless (as Mr. Alexander Dalrymple has endeavoured to prove in his Historical Collection of Voyages to the South Pacific Ocean) they are the same with those which Dampier has dignified with the name of New Britain, no others have yet been found that answer to their description. To Mr. Dalrymple's data there can be only one objection, and that is this: Quiros, in his memorial to the Court of Spain, reporting the voyage of Mendana, says, that, in prosecuting his discoveries, he fell in with four islands [the Marquessas], inhabited by so good a people, that there is no account of any other having ever been found equal to them; and that these islands were 1000 leagues from Lima, 650 from the nearest coast of New Spain, and 1000 leagues from New Guinea. Here the distance from Lima to New Guinea is precisely fixed by Quiros; but at the same time it is to be noted, that the distance from Lima to the isles in question are as precisely fixed; and in the same memorial they are said to be between the 7th and 12th degrees of south latitude, 1500 leagues from the city of Lima. Thus they are placed by Quiros, precisely in the midway between the Marquessas and New Guinea; whereas the isles called New Britain are divided by Dampier from New Guinea to the eastward only by a strait.
But this by the bye.—We shall now proceed to relate what other material discoveries have been made by other nations in the southern hemisphere, particularly by the Dutch:—Le Maire and Schouten left the Texel on June the 14th, 1615; and passing Strait Le Maire January 25, 1616, on the 10th of April the same year fell in with an island in latitude 15 deg. 12 min. S. 3700 miles from the coast of Peru, to which they gave the name of DOG ISLAND. Pursuing their coast to the isles of Salomon, on the 16th they came to another island, in lat. 14 deg. 46 min. S. to which they gave the name of WATERLAND, because in this island, tho' uninhabited, they found a supply of fresh water, and some herbs, of which they gathered sackfuls to make pottage to refresh the men, who were now much afflicted with the scurvy.
On the 3d of May they saw many dolphins, the first they had seen in the South-Seas.
On the 11th, after passing several uninhabited islots, they discovered an island in lat. 16 deg. 10 min. S. where they had an engagement with the natives, whom they found to be great thieves; they were, however, very handsome; their limbs well-proportioned, of large stature, quite naked, excellent swimmers, and very active. This island they called Cocos Island, because they were here plentifully supplied with that fruit. A league from it lay another, which they named Traitors Island, because the inhabitants had formed a design to cut them off.
On the 18th, having sailed near 5000 miles from the coast of Peru, without discovering the least appearance of a southern land, or falling in with the so much celebrated Isles of Salomon, and being in lat. 16 deg. 5 min. S. it was there considered in full council what course to steer next; when it was determined to return home by the well known track to the northward of New Guinea. In pursuit of this resolution they changed their course to the N. N. W. and on the 22d, being in lat 14 deg. 56 min S. they fell in with an island which, by its beautiful appearance, promised fair to afford refreshment. Sending the shallop to sound, they found 50 fathom, sand and shells, in a kind of bason over-against a small river issuing from a valley edged with trees. This gave unspeakable pleasure to the whole company.
On the 23d they moored the ship; and, while they were yet busy, they were visited by whole troops of the natives, who expressed their admiration a thousand different ways. At length, a venerable old man approached the ship, and with great gravity made an oration, at the conclusion of which, the people who surrounded him expressed their approbation by general acclamations. A traffic for provisions now commenced; and, after a pretty sharp skirmish, in which half a dozen natives were killed by the musquetry, the same was continued till their departure with great civility and honesty. The Chiefs of the island, after an exchange of hostages, came on board, and were magnificently entertained. They were given to understand, that the ships were in want of water, and they made their people assist in supplying their wants. They caused hogs, dogs, fowls, and fruits, to be sent in plenty, which were exchanged for nails, beads, dolls, and looking-glasses. As a present, when the Chiefs returned to shore, they sent to
Horn-Island.
the Commander two hogs ready drest; they had taken out the entrails, and put in the place of them burning stones, to roast them in the inside, and sweet herbs to make them savoury. In short, their manners, their desires, their behaviour, their customs, their habitations, and their arts, so exactly correspond with what has lately been reported of the inhabitants of the supposed newly discovered islands in the South Seas, that there does not remain a doubt, but that this island which the Dutch named Hoorne Island, together with the adjoining island which they called the Island of Good Hope, are two of those that lie between the 10th and 17th degrees of south latitude, of which our late voyagers have given so flattering an account. One particular reported by the Dutch is strikingly characteristic: The men, say they, were valiant, and large in stature, the tallest among them surpassing very much in height the tallest of ours;
their women were not handsome, but so totally destitute of shame, that what modesty requires to be done in privacy, they performed with their men in public, by way of entertainment, before their Kings.
In the new map accompanying Hawkesworth's Voyages, King George's Island is placed in the latitude of 14 deg. 29 min. S. long. 148 deg. 50 min. W. In the Dutch maps Hoorne Island is placed in lat. 14 deg. 56 min. S. long. 83 deg. 30 min. W. from Arica, on the coast of Peru, which answers to long. 153 deg. 30 min. W. from London, being only 2 deg. 40 min. more to the west, and 27 min. more to the south than King George's Island; a difference very inconsiderable indeed! allowing for the difference of time from 1616 to 1765, and for the improvement that has been made in the instruments of navigation during that period, particularly in those for ascertaining longitude.
On the 1st of June, as has been already observed, they took their departure from Hoorne Island, highly pleased with their kind reception, and on the 25th came in sight of the coast of New Guinea.
We should have mentioned, that Schouten was of opinion, that Hoorne Island was one of the Salomon Isles, mentioned by Quiros, none other they had met with having answered so well to the Spanish description of them.
The next remarkable voyage, undertaken professedly with a view to discovery in the southern hemisphere, is that of Abel Jansan Tasman, who, in 1642, sailed from Batavia in the East Indies, and touched at the Isles of Mauritius, in latitude 20 deg. 20 min. South; long. 78 deg. 47 min. East. On the 8th of October, the same year, he left the Mauritius, and, keeping a southerly course, on the 24th of September fell in with the land, to which he gave the name of Anthony Van Diemen's land, in 42 deg. 25 min. S. long. 163 deg. 50 min. E. Here they met with much bad weather, which obliged them to steer eastward; and on the 1st of December they anchored in lat. 43 deg. 10 min. S. long. 167 deg. 55 min. E. in a bay to which they gave the name of Frederic Henry's bay. Their whole force consisted only of a small ship about 300 tons, named the Hemskirk, and the Zee Haan pink for examining the coast. Here they landed, but could discover no human being, though they had reason to believe the country was inhabited. They gathered plenty of good pot-herbs that grew wild, and saw trees full two fathom and an half in the girt, and from 60 to 75 feet high, in which steps had been cut for the purpose of climbing them, five feet distant from each other; and from this circumstance they concluded that the inhabitants must be men of gigantic stature.
On the 5th of December, Tasman pursued his course in search of the Salomon Isles, and on the 13th had sight of a very high and mountainous country, now well known by the name of New Zealand. By its lofty appearance, he judged it to be the southern continent, and coasted it along to the north eastward, till on the 18th of December, he came to a spacious bay, three or four miles in breadth, in lat. 40 deg. 49 min. S. long. 191 deg. 41 min. from whence he could discern on the shore men of a strong robust make, partly clothed, and partly naked, to whom he made signals, inviting them on board, but none of them would venture to approach within the reach of a peteraro. It was therefore resolved to go to them; but before that resolution could be carried into execution, the barbarians made an attack upon the Zee Haan's boat, and murdered most of the crew, in the manner related in the course of the work.
Not caring to sacrifice any more of his people against a barbarous race of manslayers, he weighed anchor, and pursued his voyage along the coast till he came to an island in latitude 34 deg. 25 min. S. which he named THREE KING'S ISLAND, where some of his people landed, and where they saw at a distance about 40 men of an uncommon stature, who called to them in a very gruff tone of voice, and approached them hastily with prodigious strides. The Dutchmen, being few in number thought fit to retreat. Their business being that of discovery, not of war, the Captain thought fit to quit that inhospitable coast, and direct his course to the islands of Cocos or Hoorne, where he was sure of refreshing his men, and supplying their wants without danger of bloodshed, happy that he could find a passage into an open sea. On this coast, however, he observed many fair plantations, handsomely laid out, and to all appearance well cultivated.
On the 19th of January, 1643, he discovered three islands, to which he gave names. The southernmost he called Pylstaart's Island, the middlemost Amsterdam, and the most northerly Middleburgh. This last lay in lat. 21 deg. 20 min. S. long. 205 deg. 20 minutes. At these islands, which seemed remote from any other land, they trafficked for provisions; and the inhabitants, who were of a tawney complexion, and somewhat above the common size, behaved very civilly, and shewed no signs of a hostile disposition. Among the natives of these islands came a lusty man with a St. Thomas's arm, and a woman with a natural beard. A venerable old man came also among the rest, and made an oration; after which a croud of men and women, young and old, came on board with all kinds of provisions. It is remarkable, that, among all the islands in the South Seas, the only tame four-footed animals are hogs and dogs, and of these the inhabitants here had plenty. They found another island at no great distance, equally abounding in the usual productions, besides being plentifully supplied with water. It appears strange to us, that the people in those hot climates can subsist without fresh water; yet nature seems in part to have supplied that defect by furnishing a fruit that both allays thirst and assuages hunger, and that too without either art or labour. By vegetables suited to their subsistence, it should seem that the animals, indigenous to the climate, are nourished and made fat. Indeed, where springs, brooks, and lakes are wanting, the forests have few, if any, inhabitants; but if we may credit the relations of voyagers, the people have hogs and dogs, where they have neither river, well, or lake; for though in Amsterdam Island, the strangers might have purchased 100 hogs a day for a few baubles, yet a can of fresh water was not to be procured at any rate. In an island, called by the natives Annamokka, but by the Dutch Rotterdam, water was found in plenty, yet it was no better inhabited than the islands before mentioned, which seemed to be wholly without. Rotterdam Island is placed in lat. 20 deg. 15 min. S. long 206 deg. 19 min. To this island they repaired to take in water, and there they compleated their stock, of fresh provisions, finding the people courteous and civil, though somewhat inclined to be thievish, Being now fully refreshed and provided, without making any further discoveries worth relating, they returned to Java, by the way of New Guinea.
Jacob Roggewein was the next Dutchman who sailed professedly on the business of discovery. He was furnished by their East-India Company with three ships, namely, the Eagle, the Tienh
n, and the African Galley: with these he set sail from Amsterdam, July the 16th, 1721, and towards the latter end of November came in sight of the coast of Brazil. After a few days stay in the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, he weighed, and went in quest of Hawkins's Maiden Land, which is said to lie in 30 deg. S. but not being able to find it, he pursued his course towards the straits, till on the 21st of December, in lat. 40 deg. S. the ships met with a violent storm, in which the Tienhoven lost company. About the beginning of January, Roggewein discovered a large island 200 leagues in circuit, in lat. 52 deg. S. long. 95. deg. W. about 80 leagues from the coast of America. He named this island BELCIA AUSTRALIS, and it is the same now known by the name of Falkland's Island. Leaving this island to windward, he passed the strait of Le Maire, and on the 24th of February came in sight of Juan Fernandez, where he fortunately found the Tienhoven, that island having been he place appointed to rendezvous in case of separation.
There the ships continued three weeks, and sailed from thence about the middle of March, steering W. N. W. in search of Davis's Land, which, however, they could not find. Neither has that or Hawkins's Maiden Land ever been seen by any other navigator except the first discoverers. Being in lat. 28 deg. S. long. 268 deg. they saw many birds and other tokens of high land, but to the astonishment of the Admiral came in sight of none till they had sailed 12 leagues farther west. They then discovered an island, which they called EASTER-ISLAND, because they came in sight of it on Easter-day. They found this island well inhabited. The
an that came on board was painted with various kinds of figures, was of a brown complexion, with large ears, so long that they hung down to his shoulders. He was tall, robust, active, of an agreeable countenance, and lively diposition. They offered him wine, but he threw it in his eyes. They gave him meat, cloathed him, and sent him on shore, but afterwards killed him in a skirmish with his countrymen. On this island they observed many idols, and saw one man quite white, whom they took to be a priest. He had pendents in his ears a pound weight each. On landing 150 in number, the natives crouded so close upon them, that they were forced to fire upon them to keep them off. By this discharge several were killed, and many wounded. These poor people, seeing their friends bleed, and fall dead, filled the air with doleful cries and lamentations; and brought offerings of fruits, roots, and fowls, to appease the wrath of the invaders. To implore the bodies of their murdered friends, they cast themselves on the earth, and made other signs of supplication. They were indulged in their timidity, and it was held a crime to approach a Dutchman without reverence; when they brought them presents, they laid them at their feet.
This country was full of inclosures, and seemed neatly cultivated. The people had coverings of a manufacture that felt soft like silk. The women in general were painted with a rouge far surpassing in brightness any thing of that colour known in Europe; they were very obliging, and enticed the strangers to every kind of familiarity both by their looks and gestures. Their idols were chiefly of stone, well-proportioned, and wrought with exquisite workmanship. While they lay at anchor at this delightful island, a storm arose, which prevented the Admiral's design of extending his researches to the remoter parts of it, as it appeared diversified with woods, forests, lawns, gardens, and cultivated fields; and in every respect well supplied with necessaries for the refreshment of ships bound to the southern lands; but the fury of the storm increased so fast, that those on shore were glad to recover their ships. They were scarce embarked when the billows rose to such a height, as to make it dangerous to hazard their security to the anchors with which they were moored; they, therefore, instantly weighed and put to sea, and, as the wind blew fair, they proceeded at a great rate towards the bad sea of Schouten, to which they were bound. After a run of 800 leagues from
Easter-Island,
they got sight of an island in latitude 15 deg. 45 min. S. which they took to be
Dog-Island,
discovered by Schouten, and therefore did not stay to examine it.
The trade-wind began now to shift, and to veer about to the south-west, by which the ships in the night were driven among a cluster of islands, and the African galley being a head was jammed between the rocks, of which a more particular account will be found in the course of the Work.
These islands were situated between the 15th and 16th degrees of south latitude; and Roggewein's
Pernicious Island
is no doubt the same with that where Commodore Byron found the carved head of a rudder that had belonged to a Dutch long-boat, and where he also found a piece of hammered iron, a piece of brass, and some small iron tools, which the ancestors of the present race of inhabitants had obtained from this ship after her shipwreck.
Here the crews of the remaining ships grew troublesome and unruly. They had already been out ten months, and had experienced nothing but hardships, without the least prospect of advantage, either to themselves or country. A council was therefore called, and it was determined to return home by way of the East-Indies. On quitting Pernicious Island they fell in with a small island, which they called Aurora, because it was discovered at break of day; and soon after with another small island, which they called Vesper, because they came in sight of it in the evening. About twenty-five leagues to the westward of Pernicious Island, they found themselves entangled among a cluster of islands, which they called the Labyrinth, because it was some time before they could disengage the ships from the rocks and shoals with which they were surrounded. Having providentially escaped this imminent danger, they continued their course to the westward; and, after some days sail, fell in with an island, which by its beautiful appearance promised some refreshment. They saw many natives with lances and long pikes passing and repassing along the shore, and they sent two boats well manned to speak with them, and to encourage them to trade. Their endeavours, however, were ineffectual, till, by killing some, and dispersing the rest, they made good their landing. When they had gained the shore, the savages seemed more tractable; they even assisted them in gathering herbs, and bringing them water; the women, in particular, appeared enamoured with them, and by many alluring ways endeavoured to gain their confidence; but they were to the last degree deceitful. Being decoyed into an ambuscade, the savages surrounded them on all sides, and, notwithstanding a brisk fire was kept up, which killed many, and wounded more, not a Dutchman that fell into the snare escaped unwounded. After this misfortune it was with reluctance that any one ventured ashore to look for refreshments. This island they called Recreation, on account of its salutary herbs, and it is placed in lat. 16 deg. S. and in long. 285 deg. The natives were of the middle size, but strong and well made, lively, and of a bold undaunted spirit. Their bodies were painted, and covered with a kind of net, which they wrapt about them decently enough. The women were covered from head to foot with a very pretty stuff that felt soft like silk; their complexion was dark, with shining black hair, very white teeth, and brilliant eyes; and to sailors who had long been at sea they were not a little inviting. The third day after they left this island, they fell in with several islands at once, to which they gave the name of Bauman's Islands, where the inhabitants were altogether as courteous and civil as those they had left had been treacherous and cruel. They came and trafficked with great good nature and honesty, and were to appearance as fair and beautiful as those in the most celebrated parts of Europe. They now thought themselves near the islands which Dampier has named New Britain; but it was many days sail before they came in sight of them, in which interval the scurvy made dreadful havock. The sailors were very desirous of staying in these islands to refresh, and to recover their strength; but the Commander, who had other views, pursued his course to the East Indies with all imaginable dispatch.
Thus, all this grand expedition, by which the expectations of the Commander in Chief and his employers had been raised to a very high pitch, came to nothing. The men were dissatisfied with their officers for going so far, and the officers with their Commander for not going farther. The existence of a southern continent still remained as doubtful as ever; and so it continues at this period, June 22, 1774.
Since the above was written, the Adventure, who accompanied Capt. Cook in the Resolution on a new voyage, is arrived, and reports, that they had sailed between the 55th and 67th degrees of south latitude, but had found no land; so that if any land lies farther to the southward, it must be uninhabitable.
SR . FRANCIS DRAKE.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE's VOYAGES, PARTICULARLY THAT ROUND THE WORLD, In 1577, 1578, 1579, and 1580.
BEFORE we proceed to the relation of the particular Voyages that characterize the navigators who first surrounded the globe, and who immortalized their names by their skill and their courage, it may be expected, that we should give some account of their families and first setting out, the distinguishing marks of genius that led them to prefer the fatigues and dangers of a sea-faring life to learned ease, or the calm pursuit of less hazardous employments; and that we should trace the steps by which they rose to eminence by their bravery and their conduct.
The bare narration of the incidents recorded in a single voyage, however memorable, would convey but a very imperfect knowledge of the general character of those renowned heroes, who carried the glory of their country to the remotest regions of the earth. We shall, therefore, endeavour to follow them as they advance to fame, and accompany them from their highest elevation to that period when all distinctions are levelled.
The celebrated mariner, of whom we are now to give an account, was son to Edmund Drake, a gentleman of Tavistoke, in Devonshire, who, being inclined to the doctrine of the Protestants, at that time much opposed by Q. Mary, was obliged to quit his place of residence, and retire to Medway, in Kent; where, after that Queen's death, he was first appointed Chaplain in the royal navy, and afterwards Vicar of Upnor. In these employments, his income being small, and his family large, he owed the education of several of his children to the kindness of his relations, and that, in particular of Francis, the eldest of twelve, to Sir John Hawkins; under whom, as it appears, he very early distinguished himself, and laid the foundation both of his fame and his fortune.
The learned Camden, indeed, informs us, that he was put apprentice to the master of a small trading vessel, in whose service he behaved so well, that his master, dying a batchelor, left him his vessel as a reward for his diligence: but Stowe, who seems better informed, represents him in a superior light; tells us, that Francis Russel, afterwards Duke of Bedford, was his godfather; and that Sir John Hawkins was his near relation. What Camden relates of Francis may, however, be true of his brother; for there were no less than four who were bred to the sea.
Be this as it may, the first enterprize of consequence, in which we find him engaged, was in a voyage to the West Indies, as Captain of the Judith, under his relation already mentioned. Those islands, having but lately been discovered, and very little frequented by the English, were thought so much to abound in wealth, that no voyager thither could fail of being recompensed with great advantages. Nothing was talked of among the mercantile or adventurous part of mankind but the beauty and riches of the new world. Fresh discoveries were frequently made; new countries and nations, never heard of before, were daily described; and it may easily be concluded, that the relators did not lessen the merit of their discoveries, by suppressing or diminishing any circumstance that might produce wonder, or excite curiosity.
This was the age of enterprize and discovery; and her Majesty encouraged the ardour of her subjects, by furnishing ships and commissions to such officers of distinction in her royal navy as were willing to engage in hazardous pursuits.
The projects, however, that were formed, were not always successfully carried into execution; they were frequently defeated by the ignorance of the adventurers, but more often by the malice of the Spaniards, who, from the first discovery of America, considered every other nation that attempted to follow them, as invaders of their rights, and incroachers upon
their
territories. At that time, however, as now, it was no uncommon thing for those who went in search of new discoveries, to carry on a kind of contraband trade with the new settlers; which, tho' prohibited by the Crown of Spain, was yet countenanced by the Viceroys and Governors: but even these would sometimes take advantage of the power lodged in their hands, and make prize of the profits which they themselves had been the means of enhancing, under pretence that those profits had been obtained by an illicit trade.
Among those who suffered most by the injustice of the Viceroys, was Sir John Hawkins; who, having struck out a new trade, highly advantageous to the parties concerned, though disgraceful to humanity, supplied the Mexican Spaniards with slaves from Africa, and received from them, in return, large remittances in gold and silver. This was connived at, though we do not find that it was absolutely tolerated, by the Spanish court.
It was, however, after one of those successful voyages, in which we find two of the Queen's ships engaged (namely, the Jesus, commanded by Hawkins, as Admiral; and the Minion, of which Captain John Hampton was Commander; with four other armed trading ships, among which was the Judith, Captain Drake), that, being driven by stress of weather into the port of St. John d'Ulloa, in the bay of Mexico, they were there waiting for a supply of provisions, when the Spanish fleet from Europe arrived, consisting of 12 sail, richly laden with European merchandize, and on board of which was a new Viceroy.
As the port was then absolutely in the power of the English, it was debated, among the principal officers, whether the Spanish fleet should be suffered to enter; as Admiral Hawkins suspected, that, if they were admitted, they would contrive some means of distressing him; and yet if they were not, they must perish at sea; an event that would certainly bring on a war, which he, as a private trader, could by no means justify.
Upon mature deliberation, it was, therefore, judged safest to propose an agreement with the Viceroy, to which he consented, and by which it was stipulated, that the English should hold one side of the harbour, and the Spaniards the other; and that hostages should be given on both sides, that no injury should be done to either. But it was soon discovered, that, though on the part of the English, six gentlemen were sent, yet, on that of the Spaniards, the hostages were only common men, finely dressed. This gave cause of distrust; yet the English, naturally honest, were not sufficiently on their guard.
The Spaniards for some weeks behaved with seeming cordiality; mutual civilities passed between the officers of both nations; and the English, having supplied their wants, were preparing to depart, when, all of a sudden, at a signal given, the Spaniards assaulted their ships as the officers were at dinner, boarded the Minion by a concealed ambuscade, which, however, was repulsed with loss, and then a general massacre ensued. The English who were on shore were all put to death; three of the four trading ships were presently sunk; and the Minion and Jesus were so embarrassed by their moorings, that it was almost a whole hour before they could be placed in a posture of defence; which, however, was at last effected. They then returned the attack with so much fury, that the Spanish Vice-Admiral was soon blown up, and in her perished 300 men; and not long after the Spanish Admiral himself was sunk. The Spaniards, in revenge, set two of their ships on fire to burn the Minion and Jesus, the first of which set sail and escaped; but the Jesus, after shifting the Admiral with his crew on board the Judith, fell a victim with the rest to Spanish treachery.
In the night, the Judith having made her escape, endeavoured, but in vain, to join the Minion; and being only a bark of 50 tons, alone, on a hostile coast, crouded with men, and having barely provisions on board for her own slender company, a mutiny arose among the mariners, and by far the greatest number insisted on being put on shore, chusing rather to take their chance among the savages than to remain on board to starve at sea, or again to fall into the power of the merciless Spaniards.
Accordingly, Capt. Hawkins gave every man his choice, either to land on the continent, or sail with him, and share his fate. About 100 of the stoutest seamen chose the former; of whom five only lived to return to England. These gave an account, that, on their landing, the natives, mistaking them for Spaniards, fell upon them suddenly, and killed eight of their number; that, after they were known to be enemies to the Spaniards, they were used with kindness; that, however, being tired of living among savages, they agreed to part, and to seek the means of returning home. Some directed their course to the northward, and these watching the opportunity, seized a small vessel, and, crossing the Gulph, traversed an immense tract of land, till they arrived at a French settlement on the northern continent. Others travelled westward; and of these, which were by far the greatest part, sixty-five fell into the hands of the Spaniards, and suffered various torments from the Inquisition, three were burnt alive, and two only survived to reach their own country. Of those who followed the northern course, five found means, after enduring incredible hardships, to get to Nova Scotia, of whom three were brought safe to England in French merchants ships.
It was in the above engagement that Captain Drake first distinguished himself; and to his judicious conduct, that those who escaped from the Jesus owed their preservation. The Judith had the good fortune to arrive safe in England, having purchased some provisions on the Island of Cuba; but what became of the Minion we have not been able to learn.
In this expedition Sir John Hawkins lost an immense sum. It was in vain to make complaint to his sovereign of the infraction of the peace. The Spanish minister vindicated the injustice of the Viceroy; and the Queen, tho' she secretly resented the loss of her ships, could not openly abett the illicit trade carried on by her servants.
Drake, who shared in the misfortune of his relation, possessed both his spirit and his industry. He did not sit down to lament the loss he had sustained; but, having acquired some degree of credit by his gallant behaviour, and some knowledge of the weakness and wealth of his plunderers, he determined to profit by his losses, and to make reprisals whenever a fair opportunity should offer.
It was no difficult matter to engage new adventurers in new projects in those early days of Mexican commerce, and Drake was not long before he raised a fund to begin trade on a new footing. In 1570, he made his first expedition, chiefly on his own account, with two ships, the Dragon and the Swan; and the next year in the Swan alone; in both which voyages he enlarged his experience, but it does not appear that he repaired his loss.
In 1572 he found means, however, to fit out a much greater force, in order to carry into execution an enterprise which he had meditated, not only to reinstate his fortune, but to revenge the treachery of his enemies.
About this time war was agitating between England and Spain, to which it must be confessed the illicit trade carried on to the Spanish settlements not a little contributed. He, therefore, set sail from Plymouth in the Pascha, a letter of marque ship, of 70 tons, accompanied by the Swan, of 50 tons, the command of which he entrusted to his brother John; in both which ships he had embarked 73 choice men, with a year's provisions, and such warlike stores and ammunition as he judged necessary for the enterprize he had in view. He had, likewise, the precaution to take with him the frames of two or three small pinnaces, that, if any accident should befal either of his larger ships, he might have it in his power to preserve the crew without being driven to the necessity of leaving any of them behind; a precaution which experience had taught him in the unfortunate expedition of his kinsman Sir John. But this was not the only use for which he foresaw these small vessels would be wanted, as will appear in the sequel.
With this warlike force, inconsiderable as it may now appear, he cleared the land of England on the 12th of May, 1572; and, the weather continuing fair, and the wind favourable, on the 29th of June he passed between Dominica and Guadaloupe, and on the 6th of July came in sight of the high land of Santa Martha; then continuing his course to the southward, on the 15th of the same month both ships arrived at Port Pheasant, which lay at a convenient distance from Nombre de Dios, the place of their destination.
Here he proposed to build his pinnaces, and was going a-shore with a few men unarmed; when, discovering a smoke at a distance, he made the signal for another boat to follow him w
th an armed force. Being joined by this reinforcement, he matched towards the fire, where he found a plate of lead nailed to a tree, with an ins
ription engraven upon it by one Garret, an Englishman, who had left that place a day or two before, and had taken that method of informing him that the Spaniards had been advertized of his intended visit, and of his rendezvous at that port; and that, therefore, it would be prudent for him to make but a very short stay.
Drake, surprized, no doubt, at the news, but at the same time knowing how convenient this place was for his designs, and considering that the hazard, and waste of time, which could not be avoided in seeking another station, was equivalent to any other danger which was to be apprehended from the Spaniards, determined to follow his first resolution; only, for his greater security, he ordered a kind of fort to be made, by felling a number of large trees, and laying the trunks and branches one across another, on an elevated spot that commanded the river, which, in case of an attack, might enable him to repel any ordinary force which the Spaniards were likely to order out against him. This done, he set the carpenters to work; and while they were employed in putting the frames of the pinnaces together, one Captain Rause happened to touch at the same port, with a bark of 50 men. To Rause Drake imparted his design, and sollicited his concurrence, to which he consented; and, when the pinnaces were ready, both set sail together, shaping their course to Nombre de Dios. They touch'd at the Island of Pines, where they were informed, by the negroes they found there, that the inhabitants of that place were in daily expectation of some soldiers, which the Governor of Panama had promised to send, to defend them from the Symerons, or fugitive negroes, who, having escaped from the tyranny of their masters, had settled themselves under two kings, or leaders, on each side the neck of land which parted Nombre de Dios from Panama; and not only asserted their natural right to liberty and independance, but endeavoured to revenge the cruelties they had suffered, and had lately put the inhabitants of Nombre de Dios into the utmost consternation. These negroes the Captain
on shore on the main land, so that they might, by joining the Symerons, recover their liberty; or, if they preferred slavery to independance, they might not have it in their power to apprize the people of Nombre de Dios of his intention to invade them, as by their distance, and their want of every means of communication, it must be long before they could convey them intelligence. Then, selecting 53 men from his own company, and 20 from the crew of his new associate Captain Rause, he embarked with them in his new pinnaces, and set sail for Nombre de Dios.
On July the 28th, at night, he approached the town undiscovered, and dropt his anchors under the shore, intending, after his men were refreshed, to begin the attack; but, finding that they were terrifying each other with formidable accounts of the strength of the place, and the multitude of the inhabitants, he determined to hinder the panic from spreading, by leading them immediately to action; and, therefore, ordering them to their oars, he landed without any opposition, there being only one gunner upon the key, though it was fortified by six brass cannon of the largest size. But the gunner, while they were employed in throwing the cannon from their carriages, alarmed the town, as they soon discovered by the bells, the drums, and the noise of the people.
Drake, leaving twelve men to guard the pinnaces, marched into the town with little or no opposition. The forces that the alarm had hastily drawn together were soon dispersed, except a few whom he detained as prisoners, in order to shew him the Governor's house, and also the store-house, where the mules that bring the silver from Panama were usually unloaded.
Being now in full possession of the town, he posted the main of his small body, under the command of his brother, in the market-place; and then followed the guides, with the rest, to the store-house; where, forcing the door, and entering the room where the silver was deposited, they found it heaped up in bars, in such quantities, as almost exceed belief, the pile being, as they conjectured, seventy feet in length, ten in breadth, and twelve in height, each bar weighing between thirty and forty-five pounds. It is easy to imagine, that, at the sight of this treasure, nothing was thought of, by the English sailors, but by what means it might best be conveyed to their boats; and, doubtless, it was not easy for Drake (who, considering their distance from the shore, and the number of their enemies, was afraid of being intercepted in their retreat) to hinder his men from encumbering themselves with so much silver as might have retarded their march, and obstructed the use of their weapons: however, by promising to lead them to the King's treasury, where there were gold and jewels to a far greater value, and where the plunder was not only more portable, but nearer the shore, he persuaded them to follow him (not, however, without every man his bar), and rejoin the main body in the market-place. Here he found his little troop much discouraged by the apprehension, that if they stayed any longer, the enemy might gain possession of their pinnaces, and that they should then, without any means of retreat, be left to stand alone against the whole force of that country. Drake, not indeed easily terrified, but sufficiently cautious, sent to the harbour to examine the ground of their fears, and to learn if the same panic had taken possession of the men whom he had left to guard his boats; but, finding no foundation for these dreadful apprehensions, he persisted in his first design, and led the troop forward to the royal treasury. In their way there fell a violent shower of rain, which wet some of their bow-strings, and extinguished many of their matches (spring-locks for muskets not being then invented); a misfortune which might soon have been repaired, and which, perhaps, the enemy might suffer in common with them; but which, however, on this occasion, very much embarrassed them, as the delay produced by it repressed that ardour which, sometimes, is only to be kept up by continued action.
It was in vain for Drake to expostulate, or to represent the disgrace of returning in rags, after having the chief treasure of the world within their power; he therefore reproached their cowardice, set before their eyes the imminent danger to which they would inevitably be exposed, if they failed to behave like men anxious for glory, and zealous for the honour of their country. Animated by these incentives, they resumed their former spirit, and, pushing briskly forward, the whole company followed till they arrived at the treasury, which they instantly forced. Having thus far succeeded, Drake committed the care of the riches to his brother, and Oxenham, of Plymouth
This man made himself remarkable by one of the boldest undertakings that ever was devised▪ As soon as he arrived in England, with the pr
ze-money acquired in this expedition, he purchased a bark of 14
tons, and manned it with 70 brave seamen; with these he sailed to the Isthmus of Darien, and, laying his bark up in a creek, marched cross the neck of land which separates the North Sea from the great Pacific Ocean, where he arrived, with his companions, without being discovered; and, having there seized a ship for their purpose, they ranged the coast, and made themselves masters of an immense treasure; but, falling out among themselves, they separated; and, thus weakened, they became an easy prey to the Spaniards, who recovered their treasure; and Oxenham being taken, with those that continued with him, and having no commission to produce, both he and his companions were executed as pirates. When they parted, they had in their possession two ships laden with gold, to the amount of half a million sterling.
, (a man known afterwards for his bold adventures in the same parts) while he, with the main body, should again return and reconnoitre the market-place, and disperse any parties of the Spaniards that might be forming into a body to oppose their progress. With this view, as he was advancing, his strength suddenly failed him, and he fell down speechless.
Then it was that his companions perceived a wound in his leg, that he received in entering the town, but had hitherto concealed, lest his men, easily discouraged, should make their concern for his life a pretence for returning to their boats. Such, however, had been his loss of blood, as was discovered upon nearer observation, that it had filled the prints of his footsteps; and it appeared scarce credible, that, after such an effusion, life should remain. The bravest were now willing to retire; neither desire of honour, or of riches, was thought to prevail in any man over the regard for his life, that of Drake being already given over for lost.
But Drake, whom cordials had restored to his senses, was the only man who could not be prevailed on to leave the enterprize unfinished. It was to no purpose that they advised him to go on board to have his wound dressed. He well knew how impracticable it was to regain the opportunity when it was once lost, and could easily foresee, that a respite of but a few hours would enable the Spaniards to recover from their consternation, to assemble their forces, refit their batteries, and remove their treasure. What he had undergone so much danger to obtain, was now in his hands, and the thoughts of leaving it untouched was too mortifying to be patiently borne; however, as there was little time for consultation, and the same danger attended their stay in that perplexity and confusion, as their return, they bound up his wound with his scarf, and, partly by force, partly by intreaty, they carried him back to the boats, in which, with what treasure they were able to bring off, they all embarked by break of day. Then taking with them, out of the harbour, a sloop laden with wines, they went to the Bastimento's, an island about a league from the town, where they staid two days, to recover the wounded men who had been hurt in the first rencounter, and to regale themseves with the wines they had taken, and with the fruits that grew in great plenty in the gardens of that island.
During their stay here, there came over to that island a Spanish gentleman, sent by the Governor with instructions to inquire, whether the Captain was that Drake who had before been on their coast; whether the arrows with which many of their men were wounded were not poisoned; and whether they wanted provisions or other necessaries? The messenger, likewise, extolled their courage with the highest encomiums, and expressed his admiration of their daring undertaking. Drake, though he knew the civilities of an enemy are always to be suspected, and that the messenger, amidst all his professions of regard, was no other than a spy, yet knowing that he had nothing to apprehend, treated him with the highest honours that his condition admitted of. In answer to his inquiries, he assured him, that he was the same Drake with whose character they were before acquainted; that he was a rigid observer of the laws of war, and that he never permitted the arrows discharged by his followers to be poisoned. He dismissed him with considerable presents; and told him, that, though he had in part failed in this attempt, he would never desist from his design of revenging the treachery of the Viceroy of Mexico, till he had shared with Spain the treasures of America.
He then resolved to return to the Isle of Pines, where they had left their ships, and to consult about the measures they were now to take; and, having arrived on the 1st of August at their former station, they dismissed Captain Rause, who, judging it unsafe to stay any longer on the coast, desired to be no farther engaged in their designs. But Drake, not to be diverted from his purpose, after being cured of his wound, inquired of a negroe, whom he took on board at Nombre de Dios, the most wealthy settlements, and weakest parts of the coast. This man recommended Carthagena as the most wealthy, and, being the most powerful, the least upon its guard. The Admiral seemed to approve the man's notion, and, setting sail without loss of time, came to anchor, Aug. 13, between Charecha (since called Boca Chica) and St. Barnard's, two islands at a little distance from the harbour of Carthagena. Then passing with his boats round the island, he entered the harbour, and in the mouth of it found a frigate with only an old man in it, who voluntarily informed him, that, about an hour before a pinnace had passed by, with sails and oars, and all the appearance of expedition and importance; that, as she passed, the crew on board her bid him take care of himself; and that, as soon as she touched the shore, he heard the noise of cannon, fired as a warning, and saw the shipping of the port drawn up under the guns of the castle. The Captain, who had himself heard the discharge of the artillery, was soon convinced that he was discovered; and that, therefore, nothing could be attempted there with any probability of success. He therefore contented himself with taking a ship of Seville, of 240 tons (which the relator of this voyage mentions as a very large ship), and two small frigates, in which he found letters of advice from Nombre de Dios, intended to alarm that part of the coast.
Drake, now finding his pinnaces of great use, and not having a sufficient number of sailors for all his vessels, was desirous of destroying the Swan, the ship commanded by his brother, that the others might be better manned. This, necessary as it was, could not easily be effected without disgusting the officers on board her, who, losing their commissions, would naturally be averse to her destruction.
Drake knew that nothing but the love of their leaders could animate his followers to encounter such hardships as he was about to expose them to; and, therefore, rather chose to bring his designs to pass by artifice than by authority. He sent for the carpenter of the Swan, took him into his cabin, and, having first engaged him to secrecy, ordered him, in the middle of the night, to go down into the well, and bore five holes through the bottom, laying something against them that might hinder the bubbling of the water from being heard. To this the carpenter, after some expostulation, consented, and the next night performed his promise. In the morning, August the 15th, Drake, going out with his pinnace a-fishing, rowed up to the Swan; and, having invited his brother to partake of his diversion, inquired, with a negligent air, why the Swan was so deep in the water? Upon which, his brother, being alarmed, sent down his steward to learn the cause, who returned immediately, with an account that the ship was leaky, and in danger of sinking in a very little time. They had instantly recourse to the pump; but, having laboured for five hours, and gained very little upon the water, they willingly, according to Drake's advice, set the vessel on fire, and went on board the Pascha.
Finding it now necessary to lie concealed for some time, till the Spaniards should forget their danger, and remit their vigilance, they set sail for the sound of Darien, and, without approaching the coast, that their course might not be observed, they arrived there in six days.
This being a convenient place for their reception, both on account of privacy, it being out of the road of all trade, and as it was well supplied with wood, water, wild-fowl, hogs, deer, and all kind of provisions, he stayed here fifteen days, to careen his vessels, and refresh his men, who worked interchangeably, on one day the one half, and on the next day the other half.
On the 5th of September, Drake left his brother with the ship at Darien, and set out with two small vessels towards the Rio Grand, which they reached in three days, and on the 9th of the same month were discovered by a Spaniard from the land, who, believing them to be his countrymen, made a signal for them to come on shore, with which they very readily complied; but he, soon finding his mistake, abandoned his plantation, where they found great plenty of provisions, with which, having laden their vessels, they departed.
In the mean time, his brother, Captain John Drake, went, according to the directions that had been left him, in search of the Symerons, or fugitive negroes, from whose assistance they now entertained hopes of completing the success of their voyage: and, touching upon the main land, by means of the negroes whom they had taken from Nombre de Dios, engaged two of the Symerons to come on board his ship, leaving two of his own men as hostages for their safe return. Those men, having assured him of the affection of their nation, appointed an interview between Drake and their leaders. With this appointment Drake being made acquainted, he immediately quitted Port Plenty, so named by the English from the great store of provisions they had amassed at that place, and came, by the direction of the Symerons, into a secret bay, among beautiful islands covered with trees, which concealed their ships from observation, and where the channel was so narrow and rocky that it was impossible to enter it by night; so that there was no danger of a sudden surprize. Here they met, and entered into engagements, which common enemies and common dangers preserved from violation. But the first conversation informed the English, that their expectations were not immediately to be gratified: for, upon their enquiries after the most probable means of acquiring gold and silver, the Symerons told them, that, had they known sooner the chief end of their expedition, they could easily have gratified them; but that during the rainy season, which was now begun, they could not recover the treasure they had taken from the Spaniards, out of the rivers in which they had concealed it. Drake, therefore, proposing to wait in this place till the rains were passed, built, with the assistance of the Symerons, a fort of earth and timber; and, leaving his brother and part of his company to guard it, set out with three pinnaces towards Rio de la Hacha, being of a spirit too active to he still patiently, even in a state of plenty and security, and with the most probable expectations of immense riches.
In their way thither, they anchored within sight of Carthagena without landing, and on the 17th of October took a Spanish bark, with which they entered the harbour in disguise; but were soon accosted by a Spanish gentleman whom they had some time before taken and set at liberty; who coming to them in a boat, as he pretended, without the knowledge of the Governor, made them great promises of friendship, and professions of esteem. But Drake, having waited till next morning without receiving the great things he had been encouraged to expect, found that all this pretended kindness was no more than a stratagem to amuse him, while the Governor was raising forces for his destruction.
This appeared more clearly on the 20th, when two frigates, well armed and manned, came out in the night with a view to surprize the pinnaces, and make prisoner of Drake: but these being discovered, and their design frustrated, Drake, when day-light approached, leapt intrepidly ashore single, in defiance of their troops, which hovered at a distance in the woods and on the hills, without ever venturing to advance within reach of the shot from the pinnaces. To leap, however, upon an enemy's coast, in sight of a superior force, only to shew how little they were feared, was an act that in these times would meet with little applause: but motives of policy might influence the conduct of Drake, and make that necessary then which now appears a ridiculous bravado. Finding the whole country advertised of his attempts, and in arms to oppose him, he might make a feint only of landing to increase their fears, and encourage their alarms, that they might keep together till he should assault them in their deserted posts; a stratagem which there is reason to think he put in practice, as he continued upon the coast till one of his vessels had only a gammon of bacon and a small quantity of bread on board for seventeen men, and till there was on board his own vessel even a greater scarcity. But resolution and success reciprocally produce each other. They had not sailed more than three leagues on their return to their ships before they fell in with and attacked a coasting vessel, which after some resistance they took, and happily found it laden with excellent provisions. He now determined to return to the Symerons, with whom, as has been said, he left his brother, and part of his force. In conjunction with them, he had meditated an attempt to make his way over the Isthmus, and invade the Spaniards in the inland parts, where they probably never dreamt of an enemy.
When they arrived at Port Diego, so named from the negroe who had procured them their intercourse with the Symerons, they found Captain John Drake and one of his company dead, being killed in an attempt, almost unarmed, to board a frigate, of which they had received intelligence, well provided with all things necessary for its defence. The Captain was unwilling to make the attack, and represented to his company the madness of their proposal; but, being over-borne by their clamours and importunities, to avoid the imputation of cowardice, complied to his destruction.
But this was not the only misfortune that befel this little company; for soon after many of them fell ill of the calenture, a malignant fever, very frequent in the hot climates, which carried off, among several others, Joseph Drake, another brother of the Commander.
While Drake was employed in the recovery of the sick, the Symerons, who ranged the country for intelligence, brought him an account, that the Spanish fleet was arrived at Nombre de Dios, the truth of which was confirmed by a pinnace which he sent out to make observations. This, therefore, was the time for their journey, when the treasures of the Peruvian mines were to be transported from Panama, over land, to Nombre de Dios. He therefore communicated his design to the Symerons, requested their advice and assistance, and having obtained the promise of both, by their direction he procured all things necessary for their subsistance; and, on the third of February in the following year, set out from Port Diego. Having already lost twenty-eight of his company, and being under the necessity of leaving some to guard his ship, he took with him only 18 English and 30 Symerons, who not only served as guards to shew the way, but as carriers to convey the provisions.
They carried with them, besides, arrows for war, and arrows for hunting and fowling, the heads of which are proportioned in size to the game they pursue. For oxen, stags, or wild boars, they have arrows or javelins with heads weighing a pound and a half, which they discharge near hand, and which scarcely ever fail of being mortal. Their second sort are about half as heavy as the other, and are generally shot from their bows; these are intended for smaller beasts. With the third sort, of which the heads are an ounce in weight, they kill birds. As this nation is in a state which does not set them above continual cares for the immediate necessaries of life, he that can temper iron best is among them most esteemed; and, perhaps, it would be happy for every nation, if honours and applauses were as justly distributed, and he were most distinguished whose talents were most useful to society.
Every day by sun-rising they began to march, and having travelled till ten, rested near some river till twelve; then travelling again till four, they reposed all night in huts, or wigwams, which the Symerons had either left standing in their former marches, or very readily erected for them, by setting up three or four posts in the ground, and laying poles from one to another, in the form of a roof, which they covered with palmetto boughs and plantain leaves. In the vallies, where they were sheltered from the winds, they left three or four feet next the ground open; but, on the hills, where they were more exposed to the chill blasts of the night, they thatched them close to the ground, leaving only a door for entrance, and a vent a-top in the middle for the smoke of the fire to escape.
In their march, they met not only with plenty of fruits upon the banks of the rivers, but with wild swine in abundance, of which the Symerons without difficulty killed, for the most part, as many as were wanted. One day, however, they found only an otter, and were about to dress it; at which Drake expressing his wonder, was asked by Pedro, the chief Symeron,
"Are you a man of war, and in want, and yet doubt whether this be meat that hath blood in it?"
For which Drake in private rebuked him, says the relator; whether justly or not, it is not very important to determine; only it shews the genius of the times when superstition prevailed, and when the greatest men were not wholly exempt from its influences.
On the third day of their march, and the 6th of February, they came to a town of the Symerons, situated on the side of a hill, and encompassed with a ditch and a mud wall, to secure it from any sudden surprize. Here the inhabitants lived with great neatness, and in plenty; and with some observation of religion, paying great reverence to the cross; a practice which, the relator says, Drake prevailed upon them to change for the use of the Lord's Prayer; which, we cannot help remarking, is very unlikely in so short a stay. Indeed, it is added, that here they strongly importuned Drake to prolong his abode, promising to double his force; but he, either thinking greater numbers unnecessary, or fearing, that, if any difference should arise between them and his own men, he should be overborne by numbers, he prudently declined both their invitation, and their offer of additional assistance, and that in such terms as expressed his eagerness to engage, and his confidence of success from the bravery of his followers.
The Symerons continued to conduct him on his journey, and led him through rural shades and lofty woods, which sheltered his people so effectually from the sun, that their march was less toilsome than if they had travelled in England during the heat of summer. Four of the Symerons that were acquainted with the way, went about a mile before the main body, and cut off branches as marks to direct them, for there was no beaten track; then followed twelve Symerons, after whom came the English, with the two leaders; and the other Symerons closed the rear. In this order, on the 11th of Feruary, they arrived at the top of a very high hill, on the summit of which grew a tree of a wonderful height and magnitude, in which they had cut steps for the more easy ascent to the top, where there was a kind of alcove, to which they invited Drake, and from thence shewed him not only the North Sea, from whence they came, but the great Pacific Ocean, on which no English vessel had ever yet sailed. This prospect exciting his natural curiosity and ardour for adventures and discoveries, he lifted up his hands to God, and implored his blessing upon the resolution which he that instant formed, of sailing in an English ship on that immense sea.
From this stupendous mountain they descended, after having feasted their eyes with the grandest prospect the earth can furnish; and in two days came into an open level country, where their march was incommoded with the grass, which is of a peculiar kind, consisting of a stalk like that of a bull-rush, and a blade on which the oxen and other cattle feed till it grows too high for them to reach: then it is that the natives set the whole on fire; and it is no uncommon thing to behold vallies of immense extent in a blaze at once; from whence the cattle fly in the utmost terror, and many perish by the sudden conflagration. It might be supposed, that this burning of the soil, would, in a hot climate, check the powers of vegetation, and that it would be years before the earth could recover its fertility; but it is just the contrary; the ashes or the reeds are hardly extinguished before a new verdu
e begins to appear; and before a month is elapsed, the whole valley, beheld at a distance, looks as green as ever; so astonishingly wonderful are the powers of Nature on this happy soil!
When they had arrived within a convenient distance of the road from Panama, they posted themselves in a grove or wood, near which the treasure was to be conveyed from thence to Nombre de Dios. They then dispatched a trusty Symeron, in the habit of a slave, properly instructed, to learn on what day the mules, on whose backs the treasure is carried, were to set out. The man was so well qualified for the service, and so industrious in the prosecution of it, that he soon returned with an account, that the treasurer of Lima, intending to embark for Europe, would pass the night following with eight mules laden with gold, and one with jewels; that it was their custom to travel by night, and to rest in the day, to avoid the heat; and that Venta Cruz was to be their first stage.
On this intelligence, they changed their to it, and immediately directed their march towards Venta Cruz, sending, for security, two Symerons, habited as before, to examine the way, who, as they passed along, perceived, by the scent of a match, that some Spaniard was before them; and creeping silently forward, surprized a soldier asleep upon the ground. They bound him, without offering any other violence, and brought him to Drake, who, upon enquiry, found that their spy had not deceived them in his intelligence. The soldier, having informed himself of the Captain's name, conceived such a dread of the vengeance he had threatened, that, after having made an ample discovery of the treasure that was now at hand, cautioned them likewise against being deceived by the recoes, or carriers, from Nombre de Dios, who met the others by the way, and who were hourly expected, with merchandize and provisions, but without any gold. He closed his examination with an humble petition to Drake, to consider his situation, as liable to punishment by his countrymen for his treachery; and to immediate death by the enemy, if he had refused to make full confession of the secrets with which he was entrusted. He therefore requested to be taken into his protection, and that, when the expected treasure should fall into his hands, he would be graciously pleased to allow him as much of it as would maintain himself and his children during the remainder of their lives, since there would abundantly more arrive than he and his company could carry away. Drake agreed to his request, upon condition that he led him to a place of secrecy, where he could conceal his men till the time of action, and where there was no danger of the mules passing by without being perceived. This the man did; and Drake placed his ambush accordingly.
Before the time expected, the whole company were properly refreshed and instructed. Oxenham was appointed to head the Symerons, assisted by Pedro their leader; and Drake was to command the English. The parties were then divided; the English took the right of the way in front, and the Symerons the left at a small distance in the rear. In this manner they were posted, that one company might be in readiness to seize the hindmost mule at the same time that the other had seized the foremost; for the mules, it seems, being tied together, travel in a line, and are all guided by leading the first.
Every thing being now as well concerted as human prudence could foresee, and the critical moment of action being soon expected, they lay down and covered themselves in the grass at about eighty or ninety paces distance from the road, that the noise of their breathing might not be heard by the guard that convoy'd the treasure.
They had not been more than an hour in this situation, when the bells of the mules on the left, coming from Venta Cruz, began to be heard: but previous orders having been given to meddle only with those from Panama, those from Venta Cruz were suffered to pass unmolested. Unfortunately, however, it happened, that one Robert Pike, being heated with liquor, prevailed upon the man that was next him to creep forward with him, in order to be in readiness to signalize themselves, by being the first to seize the mules from Panama. At that instant, an officer, who accompanied the recoes from Venta Cruz, perceiving something white moving in the grass (for Drake had ordered all h
s company to put their shirts over their clothes, to distinguish them in the night,) took the alarm, and, from a walk, was observed to push his horse forward on a smart trot; and, before he had passed the hindmost ambuscade, he was heard to ride along in a full gallop; but neither Drake, who commanded the English, nor Ox
n
m, who headed the Symerons, being apprized of the reason, had any thought of taking measures to intercept his journey.
It was not, however, long before the recoes from Panama came up, and were eagerly seized by the English in front, and secured by the Symerons, as had been agreed upon, in the rear; but, to their great mortification, they found two of them only loaded with silver, and the rest with provisions, six of those from Panama, which carried the valuable burdens of gold and jewels, being ordered back, and the like number that came from Venta Cruz sent forward in their room. The drivers were brought immediately to the Captain, and examined, who informed him, that a horseman, riding in haste, had met them, and had talked with the treasurer, and advised him to send back his gold and jewels, and suffer those only to proceed that were now in his [Drake's] power, that he might, by that cheap experiment, discover whether there were not (as he had reason to suspect) some ambush in the way; or, whether his apprehensions might not betray him into visionary fears, for which there was no real ground.
That Drake was not less enraged than his followers at this disappointment cannot be doubted; but there was now no time to be spent in complaints. The whole country, he knew, would soon be alarmed, and all the force of the Spaniards assembled to overwhelm him; he had no fortress to retire to; every man was his enemy, and every road better known to the Spaniards than to himself. This was an occasion that demanded all the qualities of an hero, an intrepidity never to be shaken, and a judgment never to be perplexed. He immediately considered all the circumstances of his present situation, and found that it afforded him only the choice of marching back by the same way through which he came, or forcing his passage through Venta Cruz. He foresaw many difficulties in marching back, besides the hazard of having his ships seized before his return; he, therefore, determined to pass forwards to Venta Cruz, before the enemy could be prepared to oppose him. He asked Pedro, the leader of the Symerons, whether he would dare to follow him? and, having received from him the strongest assurance that nothing should separate them, he commanded his men to set forwards. When they came to the gates of the town, they dismissed the mules they had made use of to carry their prize, and continued their march with as little noise as possible; yet they discovered, that notwithstanding the utmost precaution had been used, the alarm had been spread, and the forces of the town hastily drawn together, to oppose their entrance. Drake, who was not unacquainted with the behaviour of that kind of town militia, received their first onset, and then breaking in upon them, drove them before him without farther opposition, and was seconded by the Symerons, who could not be restrained from making plunder of the town: but Drake hastened in person to the Spanish ladies, and assured them that no injuries should be offered to them, nor was there the least indecency permitted; and the forces of the Spaniards being dispersed, he continued his march to the ships without any apprehension of danger, yet with great speed, being very solicitous about the state of the crew; so that he allowed his men, harrassed as they were, but little time for sleep or refreshment. By kind exhortations, gentle authority, and a chearful participation of all their hardships, he prevailed upon them to bear without murmur, not only the toil of travelling, but, on some days, the pain of hunger. In this march, he owed much of his expedition to the assistance of the Symerons, who, being accustomed to the climate, and naturally robust, when any of the English fainted by the way, two of them would carry him between them for miles together. Nor was their valour less than their humanity, after they had learned from their English companions to despise the firearms of the Spaniards.
When they were within five leagues of the ships, they found a town built in their absence by the Symerons, at which Drake consented to halt, sending a Symeron to the ships with his gold toothpick as a token, which, though the master knew it, was not sufficient to gain the messenger credit, till, upon examination, he found that the Captain, having ordered him to regard no message without his hand-writing, had engraven his name upon it with the point of his knife; the master then sent the pinnace up the river to meet the Captain, and afterwards sent to the town for those whose weariness had made them unable to march farther.
On February the 23d, the whole company was re-united; and Drake, whose good or ill success never prevailed over his shew of piety, celebrated their meeting with thanks to God.
Drake, not yet discouraged, soon turned his thoughts to new projects; and, without languishing in melancholy reflections upon past miscarriages, employed himself in forming schemes for repairing them. Eager of action, and acquainted with man's nature, he never suffered idleness to infect his followers with cowardice; but kept them from sinking under any disappointment, by directing their attention to some new enterprize.
Upon consultation with his own men, and the Symerons, he found them divided in their opinions; some declaring, that, before they engaged in any new attempt, it was necessary to increase their stores of provisions; and others urging that the ships, in which the Spanish treasure was embarked, should be immediately attempted. The Symerons proposed a third plan, and advised them to undertake another journey over-land, to the house of one Pezaro, near Veragua, whose slaves brought him every day more than 200 pounds sterling from the mines, which he heaped together in a strong stone house, that might, by the help of the English, be easily forced. But Drake, being unwilling to fatigue his followers with another journey over-land, determined to steer a middle course between these variable opinions; and, manning his two pinnaces, the Bear and the Minion, he sent John Oxenham in the Bear towards Tolu, to seek provisions; and went himself in the Minion to the Cabezes, to endeavour to intercept the treasure that was to be transported from Veragua and that coast, to the fleet at Nombre de Dios; first dismissing with presents those Symerons who desired to return to their wives, and ordering those that chose to remain with him to be kindly entertained. Drake took at the Cabezes a frigate of Veragua, the pilot of which informed him, that there was in the harbour of Veragua a ship freighted with more than a million of gold; to which he offered to conduct him, being well acquainted with the soundings, if he might be allowed his share of the prize; so much was his avarice superior to his honesty.
Drake, after some deliberation, complying with the pilot's conditions, sailed towards the harbour; but had no sooner entered the mouth of it than he heard the report of artillery, which was answered by others at a greater distance; upon which the pilot told them that they were discovered, this being the signal appointed by the Governor to alarm the coast.
Drake now thought it convenient to return to the ships, that he might enquire the success of the other pinnance, which he found with a frigate that she had taken with twenty-eight fat hogs, 200 hens, and a great store of maize or Indian corn. The vessel itself was so strong and well-built, that he fitted it for war, determining to make a second attempt on Nombre de Dios.
On March the 21st, he set sail with the new frigate and the Bear towards the Cabezes, at which he arrived in little more than two days, and found there one Totu, a Frenchman, with a ship of war. Having supplied Totu with water, and other articles of which he was in want, he desired to join the Admiral in his new attempt, to which Drake consented, and admitted him to accompany him with 20 of his men, stipulating to allow them a proportionable share of whatever booty they should acquire: yet Drake was not without some suspicions of danger from this new ally, he having eighty men, and the English reduced to thirty-one. Manning, however, the pinnaces, they set sail for Rio Francisco, at which place they arrived on the 29th of March. Here they landed; and, having dismissed their pinnaces for fear of discovery, and ordered them to repair to the same place on the fourth day following, they began their march through the woods towards Nombre de Dios, and continued it with such silence and regularity as surprized the French, who did not imagine the Symerons so discreet and obedient to command as they appeared to be, and were therefore in perpetual anxiety about the fidelity of their guides: nor did the Symerons treat the Frenchmen with that submission and regard which they paid to the English, whose bravery and conduct they had already tried. At length, after a laborious march of more than seven leagues, they began to hear the hammers of the carpenters in the bay, it being the custom in that hot season to work in the night, and to rest in the day; and, in a short time, they perceived the approach of the recoes, or droves of mules, from Panama. They now no longer doubted that their labour would be rewarded, and every man imagined himself secure from poverty for the remaining part of his life; they, therefore, when the mules came up, rushed out, and seized them with an alacrity proportioned to their expectations. The three droves consisted of one hundred and nine mules, each of which carried 300 pounds weight of silver. It was to little purpose that the soldiers, ordered to convoy the treasure, attempted resistance. After a short combat, in which the French Captain and one of the Symerons were wounded, it appeared with how much greater ardour men are animated by interest than fidelity.
As it was possible for them to carry away but a small part of this treasure, after having wearied themselves with hiding it in the thickets, they determined to return by the same way they came; and, without being pursued, they traversed the woods, where the French Captain, being disabled by his wound, was obliged to stay, two of his company continuing with him. When they had gone forward about two leagues, the Frenchmen missed another of their company, who, upon enquiry, was known to be intoxicated with wine, and supposed to have lost himself in the woods by neglecting to observe the guides; but common prudence not allowing them to hazard the whole company by too much solicitude for a single life, they travelled on towards Rio Francisco, at which they arrived on the 3d of April; and, looking out for their pinnaces, were surprised with the sight of seven Spanish sloops, and immediately concluded, that some intelligence of their motions had been carried to Nombre de Dios, and that these vessels had been fitted out to pursue them, which might undoubtedly have overpowered the pinnaces and their feeble crews. Nor did their suspicions stop here; but immediately it occurred to them, that their men might be compelled by torture to discover where their frigate and ship were stationed, which being weakly manned, and without the presence of the chief Commander, would fall into their hands almost without resistance, and all possibility of escaping be entirely cut off. These reflections sunk the whole company into despair; and every one, instead of endeavouring to break through the difficulties that surrounded him, resigned himself up to his ill fortune; when Drake, whose intrepidity was never to be shaken, represented to them, that, though the Spaniards should have made themselves masters of the pinnaces, they might yet be hindered from discovering the ships. He put them in mind, that the pinnaces could not be taken, the men examined, their examinations compared, their resolutions formed, their vessels sent out, and the ships taken, in an instant. Some time must necessarily be spent before the last blow could be struck; and, if that time were not neglectfully lost, it might be possible for some of them to reach the ships before the enemy, and direct them to change their station.
They were animated with this discourse, by which they observed that their leader was not without hope; but, when they came to look more narrowly into their situation, they were unable to conceive upon what it was founded. To pass by land was impossible, as the way lay
off to Sea on a R
in Quest of his
over high mountains, thick woods, and deep rivers; they had not a single boat in their power, so that passage by water seemed equally impracticable. But Drake determined upon the only means of success which their condition afforded them; and, ordering his men to make a raft out of the trees that were then floating in the river, offered himself to put out to sea upon it, and chearfully asked, who would accompany him. John Owen, John Smith, and two Frenchmen, who were willing to share his fortune, embarked with him on the raft, which was fitted out with a sail made of the biscuit sacks in which they had carried their provisions, and formed a kind of oar to direct its course instead of a rudder. Then, having comforted the rest with assurances of his regard for them, and resolution to leave nothing unattempted for their deliverance, he put off; and, after having with much difficulty failed three leagues, descried two pinnaces hasting towards him, which; upon a nearer approach, he discovered to be his own; and, hailing them, proposed that they should anchor behind a point that jutted out into the sea, while he put to shore; and, crossing the land on foot, was received by his company with that satisfaction, which is only known to those who have been acquainted with dangers and distresses.
The same night they rowed silently to Rio Francisco, where they embarked the whole company, with what treasure they had been able to bring with them through the woods; then sailing back with the utmost expedition, they returned to their frigate, and soon after to their ship, where Drake divided the gold and silver equitably between the French and English.
Here they spent fourteen days in fitting out their frigate more completely; during which time, the Frenchmen, with their ship, lay among the Cabezes, while twelve English and sixteen Symerons travelled once more into the country, as well to recover the French Captain, whom they had left wounded, as to bring away the treasure which they had hid in the woods. Drake, whom his company would not suffer to hazard his person in another land expedition, went with them to Rio Francisco, where he found one of the Frenchmen who had staid to attend their Captain, and was informed by him, upon his enquiries after his fortune, that, half an hour after their separation, the Spaniards came upon them, and easily seized upon the wounded Captain; but that his companion might have escaped with him, had he not preferred money to life; for seeing him throw down a box of jewels that retarded him, he could not forbear taking it up, and, with that and the gold which he had already, was so loaded that he could not escape. With regard to the bars of gold and silver which they had concealed in the ground, he informed them that 200 men had been employed in searching for them. The people, however, either mistrusting the informer's veracity, or confident that what they had hidden could not be found, pursued their journey; but upon their arrival at the place, found the ground turned up for two miles round, and were able to recover no more than 13 bars of silver, and small quantity of gold. They discovered afterwards, that the Frenchman who was left drunk in the woods, falling into the hands of the Spaniards, was tortured by them till he confessed where Drake and his company had concealed their plunder; so fatal to Drake's expedition was the drunkenness of his followers.
Then, dismissing the French, they passed by Carthagena with their colours flying, and soon after took a frigate laden with provisions and honey, which they valued as a great restorative, and then sailed away to the Cabezes. Here they staid about a week to careen their vessels, and fit them for a long voyage, determining to set sail for England; and that the faithful Symerons might not go away unrewarded, broke up their pinnaces, and gave them the iron, the most valuable present in the world to a nation whose only employments were war and hunting, and amongst whom show and luxury had no place. Pedro, their Captain, being desired by Drake to go through the ships, and to chuse what he most desired, fixed his eye upon a scymetar set with jewels, which the French Captain had presented to Drake for the provisions with which he had supplied him, and, being unwilling to ask for so valuable a present, offered for it four large quoits, or thick plates of gold, which he had formerly concealed in the waters; but Drake, desirous to shew him, that fidelity seldom is without a recompence, gave it him with the highest professions of satisfaction and esteem. Pedro, receiving it with the utmost gratitude, informed him, that by bestowing it he had conferred greatness and honour upon him; for, by presenting it to his King, he doubted not of obtaining the highest rank among the Symerons. He then persisted in his resolution of giving him the gold, which was ostentateously thrown by Drake into the common stock; pretending, that those at whose expences he had been sent out, ought to share in all the gain of the expedition. Thus was Drake's character consistent with itself; he was equally vain and avaricious; and by this specious shew of honesty, his view was to engage his followers to do the like; yet whatever lengths he might go to save appearances, he had scarce cunning enough to disguise the artifice.
They now forsook the coast of America, which for many months they had kept in perpetual alarms, having taken more than 100 vessels of all sizes between Carthagena and Nombre de Dios, of which, however, they never destroyed any, unless they were fitted out against them, nor ever detained the prisoners longer than was necessary for their own security or concealment; a behaviour which humanity dictates, and which even policy cannot disapprove. He must, certainly, meet with obstinate opposition who makes it equally dangerous to yield as to resist, and who leaves his enemies no hopes but from victory.
What riches they acquired is not particularly related; but, it is not to be doubted, that the plunder of so many vessels, together with the silver seized at Nombre de Dios, must have amounted to a very great sum, though the share that was allotted to Drake was not sufficient to lull him into effeminacy, or to repress his natural inclination to adventures. They arrived at Plymouth on the 9th of August, 1573, on Sunday in the afternoon; and so much were the people elated with the news of their arrival, that they left the preacher, and ran in crouds to the key with shouts and congratulations.
Drake having, in the voyage just mentioned, had a view of the South Sea, as has already been related, and formed a resolution to sail upon it, did not suffer himself to be diverted from his design by the prospect of any difficulties that might obstruct the attempt, nor any danger that might attend the execution. His reputation was sufficiently established to remove all obstacles (for obstacles he met with,) and to obviate the motives that produced them; but it was not till the year 1577, that he was able to assemble a force proportioned to his design, and to obtain a commission from the Queen
This commission, which was always questioned, is now upon the strongest presumptive evidence denied, as will be seen in the sequel.
, by which he was constituted Captain-General of a squadron, consisting of five vessels, of which the Pelican, of 100 tons, was commanded by himself as Admiral; the Elizabeth, of 80 tons, Vice-Admiral, commanded by John Winter; the Marygold, of 30 tons, by John Thomas; the Swan, of 50 tons, by John Chester; and the Christopher, of 15 tons, by Thomas Moon, the honest carpenter, who, on the former voyage, destroyed the Swan by Drake's direction.
These ships, equipped partly by himself, and partly by other private adventurers, he manned with 164 stout sailors, and furnished with such provisions, as he thought necessary for so long and hazardous a voyage: nor did he confine his concern to the ordinary equipment of his ships with naval stores and military preparations, but carried with him whatever he thought might contribute to raise, in those nations with which he should have intercourse, the highest ideas of the arts and grandeur of his native country. He, therefore, not only procured a complete service of silver-plate for his own table, and furnished the cook-room with many vessels of the same metal, but engaged several musicians to accompany him; rightly judging, that nothing would more excite the admiration of savages, or uncivilized people, than the powers of music. On this occasion, however, it must not be concealed, that he engaged his men on the false pretence of sailing to Alexandria; and that it was not till after he arrived on the coast of Brazil, that he acquainted them with his design of passing the Straits, and entering the South Seas.
On the 15th of Nov. 1577, about three in the afternoon, he sailed from Plymouth; but a heavy storm (such as no man on board had ever seen the like,) taking him almost as soon as out of port, forced him into Falmouth, where he staid till the 13th of December to refit. He then took his departure, and on the 25th of the same month fell in with the coast of Barbary, and on the 27th cast anchor at the island of Mogadore, about one mile distant from the main, between which and the isle they found a very convenient harbour. Here he began to build the pinnaces, the frames of which he brought ready from Plymouth to be put together, as in his former voyage. While the carpenters were employed in this service, they were discovered by the Moors that inhabit those coasts, who sent two of their Chiefs on board Drake's ship, receiving at the same time two of his company as hostages. These men he not only treated in the most hospitable manner, but presented them with such things as they appeared most to admire; it being with him an established maxim, to endeavour to secure in every country a kind reception to such Englishmen as should come after him, by treating the inhabitants with a shew of kindness and generosity.
But this friendly intercourse was in appearance soon broken; for, on the next day, observing the Moors making signals from the land, they sent out their boat, as before, to fetch them to the ship; and one John Frye leapt ashore, intending to become an hostage, as on the former day, when immediately he was seized by the Moors; and the crew, observing great numbers start from behind a rock with weapons in their hands, thought it next to madness to attempt his rescue, and, therefore, provided for their own security by returning to the ship. Frye was mounted on horseback, and immediately carried up into the country to their King, who being then in continual expectation of an invasion from Portugal, suspected that these ships were sent only to reconnoitre the coast, and discover a proper harbour for a more formidable fleet; but, being informed who they were, and whither they were bound, not only dismissed the captive, but made large offers of friendship and assistance; which Drake, however, did not stay to receive; but being disgusted at this breach of the laws of commerce, and apprehending further treachery, he quitted the coast on December 31, and on the 17th of January arrived at Cape Blanco, having in their passage taken several Spanish vessels, and found one in the harbour with no men.
Here, while Drake was employing his men in catching fish, and training them for land as well as sea service, the natives came down to the sea side with ambergrease and other gums, to traffic for such commodities as they then stood most in need of, and with which Drake very copiously supplied them.
Having rifled and discharged the Spanish ships which they had taken, they sailed on the 22d of January towards the isles of Cape Verd, and on the 27th came to anchor before Mayo, hoping to furnish themselves with fresh water; but, having landed, they found the chief town deserted; and, marching farther up the country, saw the vallies extremely fruitful, and abounding with ripe figs, cocoes, and plantains, but could by no means prevail upon the inhabitants to converse or traffic with them. However, they were suffered by them to range the country without molestation, but found no water, except at such a distance from the sea, that the labour of carrying it to their ships was greater than it was at that time necessary for them to undergo. Salt, had they wanted it, might have been obtained with less trouble, being left by the sea upon the sands, and hardened by the sun during the ebb, in such quantities, that the chief traffic of this island is carried on by means of it. Thus, though the island abounded with goats, poultry, and delicious fruits of various kinds, they could procure none of any consequence, because the Portuguese, who were then in possession of it, were prohibited all commerce with strangers on very severe penalties.
On the 31st of January they made St. Iago, an island at that time divided between the natives and the Portuguese, who, first entering these islands under the shew of traffic, by degrees established themselves, claimed a superiority over the natives, and harrassed them with such cruelty, that they obliged them either to fly to the woods and mountains, where many of them perished with hunger, or to take arms against their oppressors, and, under the insuperable disadvantages with which they contended, to die almost without a battle. Such treatment had the natives of St. Iago received, which had driven them into the rocky parts of the island, from whence they made incursions into the plantations of the Portuguese, sometimes with loss, but generally with that success which desperation produces; so that the Portuguese were in continual alarms, and lived with the natural consequences of guilt, terror, and anxiety. They were wealthy but not happy, and possessed the island, but did not enjoy it.
In passing this island, the garrison of the fort discharged three pieces of cannon at them, but without effect. For this insult they took a Portuguese ship laden with wines, the pilot of which they retained, but set the rest of the crew on shore. This man, Nuno da Silva by name, was very useful to them in traversing the coast of Brazil, being acquainted with the bays and harbours where fresh water and provisions were to be obtained. Him they continued to detain captive, though they broke up his ship before they entered the Straits, till they were about to leave the coasts of Peru, when finding him no longer serviceable, they set him on shore in the Spanish settlements, from whence he afterwards returned home, and wrote an account of the voyage as far as he went, which is thought by many to be very authentic.
It was soon after the capture of this ship that a difference arose between Drake and his friend, Mr. Thomas Doughty, which gradually increasing, grew into inveteracy, and terminated at last in the death of the latter. Doughty was a gentleman and a scholar, whom Drake had persuaded to embark in this expedition to better his fortune; and to whom, till the incident happened which we are about to relate, he had shewn particular marks of favour and friendship; but trivial beginnings are often productive of the most important events.
The ground of the malevolence with which Drake pursued Doughty, under the colour of justice, has hitherto lain concealed from the public eye; but we shall now trace it, step by step, till the fatal period when the unhappy victim was brought to the block, and when Drake, by suffering revenge to triumph over virtue, left an indelible blot upon his character, which no panegyric can wipe away.
Among the Harleian manuscripts there is a written account of this voyage, in which the author has particularly had his eye on this transaction. As he was an eye-witness of all that passed, his relation will best appear in his own words:
"Captain Drake, says he, having boarded the ship of Nuno da Sylva, and feasted his eyes with the view of the commodities, he committed the custody and well-ordering of this prize unto Master Thomas Doughty, as his good and esteemed friend, praying him in any case to see good order kept, and whoso should be the breaker thereof, to give him to understand of any such without exception of any.
"It thus chanced that General Drake had a brother (not the wisest man in Christendom), whom he put into this said prize, as also divers others. This Thomas Drake, as one more greedy of prey than covetous of honesty or credit, offered himself the first and only man to break the General his brother's commandment; for he, contrary to his strict prohibition, did not only break open a chest, but did dive suddenly into the same, that Master Doughty knew not how to discharge himself against the General but by revealing it unto him; yet first Master Doughty called Thomas Drake unto him, and shewed him his great folly in this behalf, who, yielding unto his fault, prayed Master Doughty to be good unto him, and keep it from the General; but he briefly told him he could not keep it, but he would deliver it with what favour he might. So at the General's next coming on board the prize, Master Doughty opened the same unto him, who presently falling into a rage, not without some great oaths, seemed to wonder what Thomas Doughty should mean to touch his brother; and did, as it were, assure himself that he had some farther meaning in this, and that he meant to strike at his credit, and he would not, or could not, by God's life (as he phrased it,) suffer it. From this time forth grudges did seem to grow between them from day to day, to the no small admiration of the rest of the company, although some envying his former favour and friendship with the General, and some, I think, doubting that his capacity would reach too far to the aggrandizing his credit in the country, talked variously of the matter; however, Master Doughty was put again into the Pelican. Thus grudges, although they had not long rested, yet were they grown to great extremities, such and so great as a man of any judgment would verily think that his love towards him in England was more in brave words than hearty good will or friendly love."
So writes our author.
In proceeding on their voyage, they came within sight of Fogo, an island so called from a mountain about the middle of it continually burning, and like the rest inhabited by the Portuguese. Two leagues to the south of Fogo lies Brava, which has received its name from its fertility, abounding with all kinds of fruits, and watered with great numbers of springs and brooks, but, having neither harbour nor anchorage, was at that time uninhabited.
Drake, having sent out his boats with plummets to sound, was not able to find any ground about it; and it is reported, that many experiments of the like kind have been made without success. However, he took in water sufficient; and on the 2d of Feb. set sail for the coast of Brazil.
On February the 17th, he passed the equator, after being becalmed near three weeks, during which time they had dreadful storms of thunder with lightning, but without any memorable accident, till, continuing their voyage, on March 28, one of their vessels with 28 men, and the greatest part of the fresh water on board, was, to their great discouragement, separated from them; but their perplexity lasted not long, for on the next day they discovered her, and she again joined her associates. In their long course, which gave them opportunities of observing several animals, both in the air and water, at that time very little known, nothing entertained or surprized them more than the flying-fish, which is nearly of the same size with a herring, and has fins of the length of his whole body, by the help of which, when he is pursued by the benito (a large kind of mackarel,) as soon as he finds himself upon the point of being taken, he springs up into the air, and flies forward as long as his wings continue wet, moisture being, as it seems, necessary to make them pliant and moveable; and, when they become dry and stiff, he falls down into the water, unless some vessel intercepts him, and dips them again for a second flight. This unhappy animal is not only pursued by fishes in his natural element, but attacked in the air, where he hopes for security, by the don or spar kite, a great bird that preys upon fish; and their species must certainly be destroyed, were not their increase so great, that the young fry, in one part of the year, covers that part of the sea.
There is another fish, named the cuttle, of which whole shoals will sometimes rise at once out of the water, and of which a great multitude fell into their ship.
At length, having sailed without sight of land for 54 days, they arrived April the 5th on the coast of Brazil.
"In the mean while, you shall hear, says our author, what befel: Master Drake, never leaving to seek and force upon Master Doughty, found, in the end, this opportunity to degrade him. Whether of purpose, or his own voluntary, it chanced John Brown the trumpet to go aboard the Pelican, where, for that he had been long absent, the company offered him a hobbey, among the which, Master Doughty putting in his hand, said, Fellow John, you shall have in my hand, although it be but light amongst the rest; and so laying his hand on his buttock, which perceived of John Trumpet, he began to swear wounds and blood to the company to let him loose, for they are not all (said he) the General's friends that be here; and with that turned him to Master Doughty, and said unto him, (as himself presently after told me in the prize) God's wounds, Doughty, what dost thou mean to use this familiarity with me, considering thou art not the General's friend; who answered him, What, fellow John! what moves you to this, and to use these words to me, that am as good and as sure a friend to my good General as any in this place, and I defy him that shall say the contrary. But is the matter thus? why yet, fellow John, I pray thee let me live until I come into England. Thus, John Brown coming again presently aboard the prize, had not talked any long time with the General, but the boat went aboard and rested not, but presently brought Master Doughty to the prize's side, General Drake sitting in the midst of his men, who hearing the boat at the ship's side stood up, and Master Doughty offering to take hold of the ship to have entered, said the General, Stay there, Thomas Doughty, for I must send you to another place, and with that commanded the mariners to row him on board the fly-boat, saying unto him, it was a place more fit for him than that from whence he came: but Master Doughty, although he craved to speak with the General, could not be permitted, neither would he hear him."
Soon after this, the fly-boat here mentioned, (called the Swan,) was separated from them by a violent storm,
"in all whose absence, says our author, the General never ceased to inveigh against Master Doughty, terming him a conjurer and a witch; and, at any time when we had foul weather, he would say that Tom. Doughty was the occasion thereof, and that it came out of Tom. Doughty's capcase, and would avouch the same with oaths."
After the storm above-mentioned, they steered near the land to the southward; and on the 14th anchored under a cape, which they afterwards called Cape Joy, because in two days the vessel that was missing returned to them. Here they refreshed their weary crews, and took in fresh water; but, finding the country, though pleasant, without inhabitants, they weighed anchor, and, by running a little farther to the southward, found a small harbour between a rock and the main, where the rock breaking the force of the sea, the ships rode at anchor with the greatest security. On this rock they killed several seals, keeping them for food, and found them wholesome, though not palatable.
Their next course was directed to the great river of Plate, in 36 deg. of south latitude; but, not finding anchorage in that river, they sailed in quest of a more convenient harbour, when they were surprized by a sudden storm, in which they again lost sight of the fly-boat. This accident determined Drake to contract the number of his ships, that he might not only avoid the inconvenience of such frequent separations, but ease the labour of his men, by having more hands in each vessel. For this purpose he sailed along the coast; and on May the 13th discovered a bay, which, though it promised fair, he durst not enter before it was examined: he, therefore, ordered his boat to be hoisted out, and, taking the line into his own hand, went on sounding the passage till he was three leagues from his ship, when on a sudden the weather changed, the skies blackened, the wind rose, and all the usual forerunners of a storm began to threaten them. Nothing was now thought of but the means of returning to the ship; but the thickness of the fog intercepting it from their sight, made the attempt almost impracticable. In this perplexity, which Drake was not more sensible of than those whom he had left in the ships, nothing was to be omitted, however dangerous, that might tend to extricate them from it. Captain Thomas, therefore, having the lightest vessel, steered boldly into the bay, and, taking the Admiral on board, dropt anchor, and lay out of danger; while the rest that were in the open sea suffered much from the tempest, and the Mary, (the Portuguese prize) was driven before the wind. The others, as soon as the tempest was over, discovering by the fires that were made on shore where Drake was, repaired to him.
Here they met with no inhabitants, though there were several wigwams or huts standing, in which they found some dried fowls, and among them ostriches, of which the thighs were as large as those of a sheep. These birds are too unwieldy to rise from the ground; but with the help of their wings, or rather stumps, they run so swiftly, that the English could never come near enough to shoot any of them.
Not finding this harbour convenient, or well stored with wood and water, they left it on the 15th of May, and on the 18th entered another much safer and more commodious, which they no sooner arrived at, than Drake sent Winter to the southward in search of those ships that were absent, and immediately after sailed himself to the northward, and happily meeting with the Swan, conducted her to the rest of the fleet; after which, in pursuance of his former resolution, he ordered her to be broken up, preserving the iron work for a future supply. The other vessel which was separated in the late storm, could not be discovered. While they were thus employed upon an island about a mile from the main land, to which, at low water, there was a passage on foot, they were discovered by the natives, who appeared upon a hill at a distance, dancing, and holding up their hands, as beckoning to the English to come to them, which Drake observing, sent out a boat with knives, bells, and bugles, and such things as by their usefulness or novelty he imagined would be agreeable. As soon as the English landed, they observed two men running towards them as deputed by the company, who came within a little distance, and then standing still, could not be prevailed upon to come nearer. The English, therefore, tied their presents to a pole, which they fixed in the ground, and then retiring, saw the Indians advance, who taking what they found upon the pole, left in return such feathers as they wore upon their heads, with a small bone about six inches in length, carved round the top, and burnished. Drake observing their inclination to friendship and traffic, advanced with some of his company towards the hill, upon sight of whom the Indians ranged themselves in a line from east to west, and one of them running from one end of the rank to the other, backwards and forwards, bowed himself towards the rising and setting of the sun, holding his hands over his head, and, frequently stopping in the middle of the rank, leaped up towards the moon, which then shone directly over their heads; thus calling the sun and moon, the deities they worship, to witness to the sincerity of their professions of peace and friendship. While this ceremony was performing, Drake and his company ascended the hill, to the apparent terror of the Indians, whose apprehensions when the English perceived, they peaceably retired, which gave the natives so much encouragement, that they came forward immediately, and exchanged their arrows, feathers, and bones, for such trifles as were offered them. Thus they traded for some time; but by frequent intercourse, finding that no violence was intended, they became familiar, and mingled with the English without the least distrust. They go quite naked, except the skin of some animals, which they throw over their shoulders when they walk or lie in the open air. They roll up their hair, which is very long, with a plume of ostrich's feathers, and usually stick their arrows in it, that they may not encumber them, they being made with reeds headed with flint, and therefore not heavy. Their bows are about an ell long. Their chief ornament is paint, which they use of several kinds, delineating generally upon their bodies the figures of the sun and moon in honour of their deities.
It is observable, that the inhabitants of most nations amongst whom the use of cl
aths is unknown, paint their bodies. Such was the practice of the inhabitants of our own country. To this custom did our earliest enemies, the Picts, owe their denomination. As it is not probable that caprice or fancy should be uniform, there must be doubtless some reason for a practice so general, and prevailing in distant parts of the world which have no communication with each other. The original end of painting their bodies was probably to exclude the cold; an end, which, if we believe some relations, is so effectually produced by it, that the men thus painted never shiver at the most piercing blasts: but, doubtless, any people so hardened by continual severities, would, even without paint, be less sensible of the cold than the civilized inhabitants of the same climate. However, this practice may contribute in some degree to defend them from the injuries of winter, and, in those climates where little evaporates by the pores, may be used with no great inconvenience: but in hot countries, where perspiration in a greater degree is necessary, the natives only use unction to preserve them from the other extreme of weather, or, more probably, from the inconvenience of the flies, which, were it not for that or some such defence, would be intolerable.
These savages had no canoes, like the other Indians, nor any method of crossing the water; which was probably the reason why the birds in the adjacent islands were so tame that they might be taken with the hand, having never been before frighted or molested. The birds here spoken of are, without doubt, the penguins, of which so ample a description is given in the Voyages of Byron and Wallis. The great plenty of these fowls, and of the seals that were found every-where on the shores of this coast, contributed much to the refreshment of the English, who named the bay where they then lay, Seal-bay, from the number they there killed of those animals.
These seals seem to be the chief food of the natives; for the English often found raw pieces of their flesh half eaten, and left, as they supposed, after a full meal, by the savages, whom they never knew to make use of fire, or any art in dressing or preparing their victuals. Nor were their other customs less wild or uncouth than their way of feeding. One of them, having received a cap off the General's head, and being extremely pleased as well with the honour as the gift, to express his gratitude, retired to a little distance, and thrusting an arrow into his leg, let the blood run upon the ground, testifying, as it is probable, that he was ready to shed his blood in his defence.
When the Swan fly-boat was separated from the fleet in the storm off the coast of Brazil, the crew, despairing of ever being able to rejoin it, began to be in fear for provisions. They were on a desart coast, had no place of rendezvous, and were ignorant even of their place of destination. In this untoward situation a dispute arose among the officers, of which the author of the manuscript before cited, gives the following relation:—He had already taken notice, that Master Thomas Doughty had been sent on board this vessel as a kind of punishment, and in truth so it proved; for the master of the vessel, who seems also to have been the purser, knowing upon what terms he stood with Drake, took every occasion to insult, or, as our author's phrase is, to discredit him; for those were always ranked among Drake's friends who were enemies to Master Doughty.
"This man, foreseeing that provisions might run short, put himself from the mess of Master Doughty, Captain Chester, and the rest of the gentlemen, and did set himself amongst the sailors, nothing at all sparing, but rather augmenting his own diet; but how scantily those gentlemen did fare, there be some come home, that, except they will deny their own words, can make relation thereof.
"Master Doughty, with Master Chester, whom the General had made Captain of the fly-boat, found themselves so ill used, that Master Doughty accosted his friend one day in these words: I marvel, Master Chester, that you will take it at his hands to be thus used, considering that you were here authorized by the General to be our Commander. And, at the same time, he spoke to the Master, and told him, that he used so much partiality in the distribution of his provisions, that the same could not be borne, considering the extremity they were like to fall into for want of victuals; and that it was against reason that he and his messmates should be so plentifully fed, while others were at the point to starve. The Master hereat putting himself in a rage, swore that such rascals as he was should be glad to eat the shoals (husks) when he would have them. Master Doughty answered him again, that reason would will that he should be used as well as other men, considering his advantages. Thou any advantage here! replied the Master, I would not give a point for thee nor thy advantages; and if ever thou comest home to enjoy any advantages, I will be trussed up. Then in multiplying words, and as I heard a blow or two passing between them, the Master, in the spleen of his heart, looking at him with an evil eye. Thou! will thou have victuals! thou shalt be glad, if we do not meet with the General, the rather to eat that falls from my tail on the anchor-fluke ere thou gettest home again. Then Master Doughty, turning to Master Chester, said unto him, Master Chester, let us not be thus used at this knave's hands. Lose nothing of that authority that the General committed unto you. If you will, we will put the sword into your hands again, and you shall have the government. This case I will aver to be true, for there were two or three witnesses sworn to these articles, as some of the special matter that he had to lose his head for."
It was not many days after this quarrel before the Swan fell in again with the fleet; when Drake, as has been said, caused her to be hauled on shore, set on fire, and burnt; or, as others say, broke up and converted into fire-wood for the use of the fleet.
Mr. Doughty, being here delivered from the fly-boat, was again restored to the Pelican, where the master with whom he had the dispute appears to have preferred a complaint against him, and with such aggravations as he thought proper to add; all which were favourably heard, and credit given to the whole relation by the General, who wanted only a pretence to persevere in his severity to the man who, being once his favourite, was now become the object of his aversion.
Doughty, provoked, no doubt, by the misrepresentations of the master, and the partiality with which they were heard, gave the General some opprobrious language, adding,
"that the lightest word that came out of his (Doughty's) mouth was to be believed as soon as the General's oath. Whereupon the General did not only strike him, but commanded him to be bound to the mast; for the accomplishment of which, the master of the fly-boat took no little pains. This happened as the two ships (the Pelican and the Canter) lay together; and as soon as Doughty was released, he was put into the Canter, although greatly against his will, for that he said he knew them to be there that sought his life, as namely the master of the fly-boat, and some other desperate and unhonest people; but would he or no, thither he must, or else the General swore he would lift him out with the tackle, and for that purpose commanded the tackle to be loosed. Thus aboard the Canter he went, and his brother John Doughty with him."
The Canter was a vessel taken from the Spaniards on the coast of Africa.
While they lay in this harbour, there is one remarkable incident related by this author that deserves particular notice, as it tends to illustrate the previous steps that were pursued to accomplish the ruin of this unfortunate gentleman.
"On board the fly boat, says he, was one Thomas Cuttle, who some time had been Captain of the Pelican under Drake, with whom the General had been tampering. This man came out from him in great wrath, and offering to go over to the main, between the which, and the island where they then lay, was (as has been said) but a shallow water. He, standing well nigh up to the middle in the water with his piece, uttered these words, Well, my Masters, quoth he, I find I am heavily borne with here, because I will not accuse this gentleman (meaning Doughty) of that, as I take God to witness, I know not by him; and, therefore, I declare before you all, that, whatsoever becomes of me, I never knew any thing by him but to be the General's friend; and, rather than I will bide this hard countenance at the General's hands, I will yield myself into cannibal's hands; and so I pray you all to pray for me."
After this public declaration the man departed; and, having reached the opposite shore, he went up into the country, where firing his piece to bring the natives to him, Drake taking it for a signal that he wanted to return, sent a boat over to the main, and brought him back.
Just before their departure from this harbour, which lay in a bay a little to the southward of Cape Hope,
"Captain Drake himself came on board the Elizabeth, and calling all the company together, told them, that he was to send thither a couple of men, the which he did not know how to carry along with him this voyage, and go thro' therewithal, as namely, quoth he, Thomas Doughty, who is a commotioner and a seditious fellow, and a very bad and lewd fellow, and one that I have made that reckoning of as of my left hand; and his brother the young Doughty, a witch, a poisoner, and such a one as the world cannot judge of, having his knowledge from the devil; and so warning the company that none should speak to them, nor use any conference with them; if they did, he would hold them as his enemies, and enemies to the voyage. And he willed that great care should be taken that they should neither write nor read; and then he declared what wealth the worst boy in the fleet should get by this voyage, and how the worst boy should never need to go again to sea, but should be able to live in England with a right good gentleman; for, quoth he, you shall see that we will have gold come as plentiful as wood into the ships. Having finished his speech, he departed, and shortly after sent the said Thomas Doughty and his brother aboard the Elizabeth, commanding them, as they would answer it with their lives, not to set pen to paper, nor yet to read but what every man might understand and see. And sure, adds our author, their entertainment there was accordingly; for men durst not speak to them, although willingly perhaps they would; and as their fare was with the simplest in the ship, so was their lodging. But he, Thomas Doughty, having agreed with the boatswain of the ship for a cabin which stood, God knows, in an uncomfortable room, yet must he pay 31. for the same in England. But what came of this to the poor fellow! he was fain for his friendly using him to lose his office, and continue in heavy displeasure."
Having staid fifteen days in the harbour, during which time they continued their friendly intercourse with the savages, on June the 3d they set sail towards the South Sea, and six days afterwards stopt at a little bay to break up the Christopher, which from the smallness of its size was found incapable of living in those boisterous seas, of which, before they entered them, they had conceived no adequate idea. Then passing on, they found it necessary to cast anchor in another bay, with a view to recover the Portuguese prize, which was separated from them in the storm of the 27th of April, and had not yet rejoined them. To return in search of it was sufficiently mortifying; to proceed without it, was not only to deprive themselves of a considerable part of their force, but to expose their friends and companions, who had voluntarily embarked on board her, to certain death or certain captivity. This consideration prevailed; and, therefore, on the 18th, after prayers to God, with which Drake (for example's sake) never forgot to begin an enterprize, he put to sea, and the next day near Port Julian discovered their associates, whose ship was now grown leaky, having suffered much in the first storm by which they were separated, and afterwards in the fruitless attempts to regain the fleet. Drake, therefore, being desirous to relieve their fatigues, entered Port Julian. They no sooner landed than they were accosted by two of the natives, of whom Magellan left a very terrible account, having described them as a nation of giants and monsters: nor did they find his narrative entirely without foundation; for the least of those they saw was larger and taller than the largest of their company. The two who accosted the English appeared much pleased with their new guests, received willingly whatever was given them, and very exactly observed every thing that passed, seeming more particularly delighted with seeing Oliver, the master-gunner, shoot an English arrow. They shot themselves likewise in emulation, but their arrows always fell to the ground far short of his.
Soon after this friendly contest came another, who, observing the familiarity of his countrymen with the strangers, appeared much displeased; and, as the Englishmen perceived, endeavoured to persuade them from such an intercourse. What effect his arguments had was soon after apparent; for another of Drake's companions, being desirous to shew the third Indian a specimen of the English valour and dexterity, attempted likewise to shoot an arrow; but, drawing it with his full force, burst the bow-string: upon which, the Indians, who were unacquainted with their other weapons, imagining them disarmed, followed the company as they were walking negligently down towards their boat, and let fly their arrows, aiming particularly at Winter, who had the bow in his hand. He, finding himself wounded in the shoulder, endeavoured to refit his bow; and, turning about, was pierced with a second arrow in the breast. Oliver, the gunner, immediately presented his piece at the insidious assailants, which failing to take fire, gave them time to level another flight of arrows, by which he was killed; nor, perhaps, had any of them escaped, surprized and unprepared as they were, had not Drake animated their courage, and directed their motions, ordering them, by perpetually changing their places, to elude as much as might be the aim of their enemies, and to defend their bodies with their targets; and instructing them by his own example to pick up and break the arrows as they fell, which they did with so much diligence that the Indians were soon in danger of being disarmed. Then Drake himself taking the gun, which Oliver had so unsuccessfully attempted to make use of, discharged it at the Indian that first began the fray and had killed the gunner, aiming it so happily that the hail-shot, with which it was loaded, tore open his belly, and forced him to such terrible outcries, that the Indians, though their numbers increased, and many of them shewed themselves from different parts of an adjoining wood, were too much terrified to renew the assault; and suffered Drake without molestation to withdraw his wounded friend, who, being hurt in his lungs, languished two days, and then dying, was interred with his companion with the usual ceremony of a military funeral.
They staid here two months after this quarrel, without receiving any other injury from the natives, in which time they discovered the gibbet on which Magellan had formerly executed some of his mutinous company, and where
"Drake, according to the writers of the Biographia Britannica, did the least commendable action of his life, in executing Mr. John Doughty, a man next in authority to himself; in which, however, he preserved a great appearance of justice."
To clear this matter fully, it will be necessary to bring together the substance of what these authors have said on the subject, and then to add the plain relation from the manuscript already quoted.
'Here it was (at Port St. Julian,) say these writers, that on a sudden, having carried the principal persons engaged in the service to a desart island lying in the bay, he called a kind of council of war, or rather court-martial, where he exposed his commission, by which the Queen granted him the power of life and death, which was delivered him with this remarkable expression from her own mouth;
We do account that he, Drake, who strikes at thee, does strike at us.
He then laid open, with great eloquence, (for, though his education was but indifferent, he had a wonderful power of speech) the cause of this assembly. He proceeded next to charge Mr. John Doughty,
who had been second in command during the whole voyage,
when Drake was present, and first in his absence, with plotting the destruction of the undertaking, and the murder of his person. He said he had the first notice of this gentleman's bad intentions before he left England; but that he was in hopes his behaviour towards him would have extinguished such disposition, if there had been any truth in the information. He then appealed for his behaviour to the whole assembly, and to the gentleman accused. He next exposed his practices from the time that he left England, while he lived towards him with all the kindness and cordiality of a brother; which charge he supported by producing papers under his own hand, to which Mr. Doughty added a full and free confession. After this, the Captain, or, as in the language of those times he is called, the General, quitted the place, telling the assembly he expected that they should pass a verdict upon him, for he would be no judge in his own cause. Camden, as the reader will see, says, that he tried him by a jury; but, other accounts affirm, that the whole forty persons of which the court was composed, had judged him to death, and gave this in writing under their hands and seals, leaving the time and manner of it to the General. Mr. Doughty himself said, that he desired rather to die by the hands or justice than to be his own executioner. Upon this, Captain Drake, having maturely weighed the whole matter, presented three points to Mr. Doughty's choice: first, to be executed upon the island where they were; next, to be set on shore on the main land; or, lastly, to be sent home to abide the justice of his country. He desired he might have till the next day to consider of these, which was allowed him, and then, giving his reasons for rejecting the two last, he declared that he made the first his choice; and, having received the sacrament with the General, from the hands of Mr. Francis Fletcher, Chaplain to the fleet, and made a full confession, his head was cut off with an axe by the Provost-Marshal, July the 2d, 1578.
'As to the imputation which this matter brought upon Drake, we will first cite what Camden says of this transaction:
"On the 26th of April, entering into the mouth of the river of Plate, he saw an infinite number of sea-calves; from thence sailing into the haven of St. Julian he found a gibbet, set up, as it was thought, by Magellan for the punishment of certain mutineers. In this very place John Doughty, an industrious and stout man, and the next unto Drake, was called to his trial for raising a mutiny in the fleet, found guilty by twelve men after the English manner, and condemned to death, which he suffered undauntedly, being beheaded, having first received the holy communion with Drake. And, indeed, the most impartial persons in the fleet were of opinion, that he had acted seditiously, and that Drake cut him off as an emulator of his glory, and one that regarded not so much who he himself excelled in commendation for sea matters, as who he thought might equal him; yet wanted there not some who, pretending to understand things better than others, gave out that Drake had in charge from Leicester to take off Doughty upon any pretence whatever, because he had reported that the Earl of Essex was made away by the cunning practices of that Earl."
'We find this matter, add the writers just cited, touched in several other books, and particularly in two, which were written on purpose to expose the Earl of Leicester, and, perhaps, deserving the less credit for that reason.
'It may be offered in defence of Sir Francis Drake, that this man was openly put to death, after as fair a trial as the circumstances of time and place would permit; that he submitted patiently to his sentence, and received the sacrament with Drake, whom he embraced immediately before his execution. Besides these, there are two points that deserve particular consideration: first, that, in such expeditions, strict discipline, and legal severity, are often absolutely necessary; secondly, that, as to the Earl of Essex, for whose death Doughty had expressed concern, he was Drake's first patron, and it is, therefore, very improbable he should destroy a man for endeavouring to detect his murderer. We may add to all this, if liberty may be indulged to conjectures, that this man, presuming upon the Earl of Leicester's favour (who very probably imposed him upon Drake to be rid of him,) was from thence encouraged to form designs against Drake; and this might also be the reason which hindered him from inclining to an absolute pardon, as doubting whether it was possible to trust one who had so far abused his confidence already, and whose known interest with so great a man might always enable him to find instruments, in case he was wicked enough to enter upon fresh intrigues.'
We shall just remark upon what is above quoted, that the authors do not seem to have been well informed; for they have all along imputed to John Doughty what related to his brother Thomas; and, if credit may be given to the author of the manuscript (John Cook by name), this unfortunate Thomas fell a sacrifice to Drake's resentment.
"On this island in Port St. Julian, says he, passed many matters, which, I think, God would not have to be concealed, especially for that they tended to murder; for he (Drake) spewed out against Thomas Doughty his venom. Here he ended all his conceived hatred, not by courtesy and friendly reconcilement, but by most tyrannical blood-spilling; for he was never quiet while he lived, who in wisdom and honest government as far surpassed him, as he in tyranny surpassed all men. The world never committed a fact like unto this; for here he murdered him that, if he had well looked unto himself, had been a more sure and stedfast friend unto him than ever was Pythias to his friend Damon, as I think the sequel of this case will shew.
"The last day of June, the General himself, being set in place of judgment, and having the whole company brought on shore, and having Captain John Thomas set close by him, who opened a bundle of papers that were rolled up together, wherein was written divers and sundry articles, the which, before they were read, the General spoke unto the purport of them, and turning himself to Thomas Doughty, who was there present, being before brought thither more like a thief than a gentleman of honest conversation, he began his charge thus: Thomas Doughty, you have here sought by divers means, in as much as you may, to discredit me, to the great hinderance and overthrow of this voyage; besides other great matters with which I have to charge you, the which, if you can clear yourself of, you and I shall be very good friends; whereof if you cannot, you have deserved death. Master Doughty answered, It should never be approved that he had merited ill by undertaking any villainy towards him, By whom, quoth the General, will you be tried? Why, good General, said he, let me live to come unto my country, and I will there be tried by her Majesty's laws. Nay, Thomas Doughty, said he, I will here impannel a jury on you, to enquire into those matters that I have to charge you withal. Why, General, replied Doughty, I hope you will see your commission be good. I'll warrant you, answered the General, my Commission is good enough. I pray you then let us see it, said Master Doughty; it is necessary that it should be here shewn. Well, quoth he, you shall
not
see it. Then, addressing himself to the company, You see, my Masters, how this fellow is full of prating, bind me his arms, for I will be safe of my life. My Masters, you that be my good friends, Thomas Good, Gregory—, you there, my friends, bind him; so they took and bound his arms behind him. Then he uttered divers furious words unto Thomas Doughty, as charging him to be the man that poisoned my Lord of Essex; whereas Master Doughty avouched it to his face, that he was the man that brought the General first to the presence of my Lord in England. Thou bring ME, quoth the General, to my Lord! See, my Masters, see here how he goeth about to discredit me. This fellow with my Lord was never of any estimation. I think he never came about him as a gentleman; for I that was daily with my Lord never saw him there above once, and that was long after my entertainment with my Lord.
"Then, in fine, was there a jury called, whereof Master John Winter was foreman. Then by John Thomas were the articles read unto them,
even once over for a last farewel,
for fear that men should have carried them away by memory; all which appeared to consist of words of unkindness, and to proceed of some choler when the prisoner was provoked, all which Doughty did not greatly deny; until at length came in one Edward Bright, whose honesty of life I have nothing to do with, who said, Nay, Thomas Doughty, we have other matter for you yet, that will a little nearer touch you. It will i'faith bite you to the girskin. I pray thee, Ned Bright, said the prisoner, charge me with nothing but truth, and spare me not. Then John Thomas read further for his last article to conclude the whole withal, That Thomas Doughty should say to Edward Bright, in Master Drake's garden, that the Queen's Majesty and Council would be corrupted. So Bright holding up his finger, said, How like ye this gare, sirrah? Why, Ned Bright, said Master Doughty, what should induce thee thus to belye me? thou knowest that such familiarity was never between thee and me: but it may be, that I have said, if we brought home gold, we should be the better welcome; but yet this is more than I do remember. Then it came out, on farther evidence, that Master Doughty should say, that my Lord Treasurer had a plot of the present voyage. No, that he hath not, quoth General Drake. The other replied, that he had, and had it of him. See, my Masters, said Drake, what this fellow hath done, God will have his treachery all known; for her Majesty gave me special commandment, that of all men my Lord Treasurer should not know it; but you see his own mouth hath betrayed him: so this was a special article against him to hurt his throat, and greatly he seemed to rejoice at this advantage.
"Then Master Doughty offered him, if he would permit him to live, and to answer these objections in England, he would set his hand to whatso was there written, or to any thing else that he would set down. Well, once let these men, quoth the General, first find whether you are guilty in this or no, and then we will talk further of the matter. And then he delivered (after they had all taken their oaths given by John Thomas) the bills of indictment, as I may term them, unto Mr. John Winter, who was foreman of this inquest. Then Master Leonard Vicary, a very assured friend of Master Thomas Doughty's, said unto him, General, this is not law, nor agreeable to justice, that you offer. I have not to do with you crafty lawyers, neither do I care for the law; but I know what I will do. Why, quoth Master Vicary, who was one of his jury, I know not how we may answer his life. Well, Master Vicary, quoth he, you shall not have to do with his life; let me alone with that; you are but to find whether he be guilty in these articles that here are objected against him, or no. Why, very well, said Master Vicary, then there is, I trust, no matter of death. No, no, Master Vicary, quoth he; so with this the jury went together, finding all to be true, without any doubt or stop made, but only to that article that Edward Bright had objected against him; for it was doubted of some whether Bright were sufficient with his only word to cast away the life of a man. And truly it did argue small honesty in a man to conceal such a matter if it had been spoken in England, and to utter it in this place where will was law, and reason put in exile; for, an honest subject would not have concealed such matter, which made some doubt of an honest dealing. But, to be brief, answer was made, that Bright was a very honest man; and so the verdict being given in, it was told to the General, that there was doubt made of Bright's honesty. Why, quoth Master Drake, I dare to swear that what Ned Bright has said is very true (yet within a fortnight after, the same Bright was in such disliking with him, as he seemed to doubt his life; and having displaced him of the Pelican, and put him into the Marygold, he gave for reason, that himself would be safe, and he would put him far enough from him.) Thus having received in the verdict, he rose off the place, and departed towards the water-side, where, calling all the company with him, except Master Thomas Doughty and his brother, he there opened a certain bundle of letters and bills, and, looking on them, said, God's will! I have left in my cabin that I should especially have had (as if he had there forgotten his Commission:) but, whether he forgot his Commission or no, he much forgot himself, to sit as Judge without shewing that he had any; but, truly, I think he shewed to the uttermost what he had: for here he shewed forth, first, letters that were written, as he said, by Master Hankins to my Lord of Essex for his entertainment; secondly, he shewed letters of thanks from my Lord of Essex unto Master Hankins, for preferring so good a servitor unto him, and how much he had pleasured him; then read the letters that past from my Lord of Essex unto Secretary Walsingham in his great commendation; then shewed he letters of Master Hatton's unto himself, tending for the acceptance of his men John Thomas and John Brewer, for their well usage in this voyage; and, lastly, he read a bill of her Majesty's adventure of a thousand crowns (but I most marvelled that so many noblemen and gentlemen did leave their letters in his hands, except it were to shew in this place for his credit.) So when he had all done, he said, Now, my Masters, you may see whether this fellow hath sought my discredit or no, and what should hereby be meant but the very overthrow of the voyage; as, first, by taking away of my good name, and altogether discrediting me, and then my life, which I being bereaved of, what then will you do? You will fain one to drink another's blood, and so to return again unto your own country; you will never be able to find the way thither. And now, my Masters, consider what a great voyage we are like to make, the like was never made out of England; for by the same the worst in this fleet shall become a gentleman; and, if this voyage go not forward, which I cannot see how possibly it should, if this man live, what a reproach it will be, not only unto our country, but especially unto us, the very simplest here may consider of. Therefore, my Masters, they that think this man worthy to die, let them with me hold up their hands; and, they that think him not worthy to die, hold down their hands; at the which, divers that envied his former felicity, held up their hands; some others, again, for fear of his favouritry, sticked not to lift their hands, although against their hearts; but some, again, lifted up their hands and very hearts unto the Lord, to deliver us of this tyrannous and cruel tyrant; who upon the same, coming to his former judgment-seat, pronouned him the child of death, and persuaded him withal, that he would by this means make him the servant of God: and said farther, if any man could, between this and next meeting, devise any way that might save his life, he would hear it; and wished himself to devise some way for his own safeguard. Well, General, quoth he, seeing it is come to this pass,
that I see you would have me made away,
I pray you carry me with you to Peru, and there set me ashore. No, truly, Master Doughty, I cannot answer it to her Majesty, if I should so do; but, how say you, Thomas Doughty, if any man will warrant me to be safe from your hands, and will undertake to keep you sure, you shall see what I will say unto you. Master Doughty then calling on Master Winter, said unto him, Master Winter, will you be so good as to undertake this for me? Then Master Winter said unto Master Drake, that he should be safe of his person, and he would warrant him, if he did commit him to his custody. Then Drake, a little pausing, said, See then, my Masters, we must thus do; we must nail him close under the hatches, and return home again without making any voyage, and if you will do so, then speak your minds. Then a company of desperate bankrupts that could not live in their own country without the spoil of that as others had got by the sweat of their brows, cried, God forbid, good General! which voice was no less attentively heard, for there needed no spur to a willing horse. Thus, telling Master Doughty to prepare for his death, and having given him one whole day's respite to set all things in order, he rose and departed, promising that his continual prayers to God should not cease, that it would please God to put it into his head how he might do him good: but he had so often before sworn that he would hang him, that I think at this present he meant to do him little good. Thus Master Doughty continuing all this night, the next day, and the second night in his prayers, except some small time that he used in setting his wordly business in some way, and distributing to such as he thought good, such things as he then had with him, was the 2d day of July commanded to prepare himself, and to make ready to die. Then master Doughty, with a more chearful countenance then ever he had in all his life, to the show, as one that did altogether contemn life, prayed him, that, ere he died, he might receive the sacrament; which was not only granted, but Drake himself offered to accompany him to the Lord's Table, for the which Master Doughty gave him hearty thanks, never worse terming him than my good Captain. Master Drake offered him withal to make choice of his own death, and for that he said he was a gentleman be should but lose his head, the which kind of death was most agreeable to his mind, in as much as he must needs die. And, truly, I heard say, that Master Drake offered him, if he would, that he should be shotten to death with a piece, and that he himself would do that exploit, and so he should die by the hands of a gentleman. But, in fine, they together received the Lord's Supper; the which, I do ever assure myself, that he did take with as uncorrupted a mind as ever did any innocent of the world; for he, sure, shewed himself to have all his affiance and only trust in God; he shewed himself so valiant in this extremity as the world might wonder at it; he seemed to have conquered death itself, and it was not seen, that on all this day before his death, that ever he altered one jot of his countenance, but kept it as staid and firm as if he had some message to deliver to some nobleman. They having thus received the sacrament, there was a banquet made, such as the place might yield, and there they dined together, in which time, the place of execution being made ready, after dinner, as one not willing any longer to delay the time, he told the General, that he was ready as soon as pleased him; but prayed him, that he might speak alone with him a few words, with the which they talked a-part the space of half a quarter of an hour, and then with bills and staves he was brought to the place of execution, where he shewed himself no less valiant than all the time before; for, first, here kneeling on his knees, he first prayed for the Queen's Majesty of England his Sovereign lady and mistress; he then prayed to God for the happy succcess of this voyage, and prayed to God to turn it to the profit of his country: he remembered also therein divers his good friends, and especially Sir William Winter, praying Master John Winter to commend him to that good Knight; all which he did with so chearful a countenance, as if he had gone to some great prepared banquet, the which, I sure think, that he was fully resolved that God had provided for him; so, at the last, turning to the General, he prayed him that he might make water ere he died, for, quoth he, the flesh is frail, and withal turned him about and did so; and, coming again, said, Now, truly, I may say as said Sir Thomas More, that he that cuts off my head shall have little honesty, my neck is so short: So turning him, and looking about on the whole company, he desired them all to forgive him, and especially some that he did perceive to have displeasure borne them for his sake, whereof Thomas Cuttle was one, Hugh Smith was another, and divers others: whereupon, Smith prayed him to say before the General then, whether ever they had any conference together that might redound to his (the General's) prejudice or detriment. He declared it at his death, that neither he, nor any man else, ever practised any treachery towards the General with him; neither did he himself ever think any villainous thought against him. Then he prayed the General to be good unto the same Hugh Smith, and to forgive him for his sake. So the General said, Well, Smith, for Master Doughty's sake, and at his request, I forgive thee; but become an honest man hereafter. So then, Master Doughty embracing the General, naming him his good Captain, bid him farewel; and so bidding the whole company farewel, he laid his head to the block, the which being stricken off, Drake most despitefully made the head to be taken up and shewed to the whole company, himself saying, See, this is the end of traitors! So he being buried, and those things finished, the whole company being together, Master Drake protested before God, that whosoever he was who should offend but the eighth part that Thomas Doughty had done, should die
The beheading of Capn . Doughty by Drake.
for it. He also protested, and swore by the life of God, and the blessed sacrament which he that day had received, that whosoever he were within the fleet that did give another a blow, should lose his hand, without exception of any; and yet, the next day, it fortuned that Master Doughty's younger brother, walking both silently and mournfully, as well for remembrance of his brother's late death, as also weighing the imminent peril over his own head, (as what has been already said and the present consequence may purport), there comes unto him this Edward Bright, the chief instrument of his Brother's death, saying unto him, God's wounds! thou villain, what knowest thou by my wife? and withal struck at him with his ruler, as of purpose to pick a quarrel, to hasten his end also. Why, Ned Bright, quoth he, thou seest in what case I am, I pray thee let me alone; and withal bore off the blow with his arm, wherewith the ruler broke: but Bright, seeming very furious, thrust him in the face with the piece that remained in his hand, the splinters whereof entered an inch into his face; presently upon the which, he went unto the General to complain of Bright. Why, John Doughty, quoth he, without having any regard of his oath the day before made, Ned Bright will be open to your revenge in England; for, I dare say, thy brother did belye her, when he said that she had an ill name in Cambridge. Then might every man perceive the little-meant honesty."
From this plain narrative of the trial and execution of Doughty, of the genuineness of which there cannot be the least doubt, as the concomitant little circumstances all concur to confirm the author both an eye and ear witness of what he has related, there is reason to believe, that the success of the voyage covered the iniquity of the undertaker; and that the immense booty which Drake brought to England, enabled him to stifle the complaints of individuals; and, by a proper address, to convert the acts of oppression, murder and pyracy, of which he was guilty, into so many deeds of necessary duty, in order to the accomplishment of the main object, the acquisition of wealth at the expence of honesty.
That Drake never had a Commission from the Queen, as his friends would suggest, appears not only from his not producing it at the trial of Doughty (which can hardly be justified, in contempt to the prisoner), but from his not producing it upon another occasion, when, as shall be shewn immediately, he vauntingly produced other credentials of far less moment, in order to justify his conduct, and give him credit with his company. The story, then, of the remarkable words foisted into the mouth of his Sovereign, and recited by his biographer, is as false as inconsistent with the character of that wise Princess, who, though there is reason from her after-conduct to conclude that she was privy to the voyage, yet never openly countenanced it, till after it was compleated, and the issue of it determined; as appears from the account of the conversation which Drake himself gave to his followers, a few days before he left Port St. Julian to seek a passage into the South Seas.
"On the 6th of August, says our Author, he commanded his whole company to be ashore, and, placing himself in a tent, one side of which was open, and calling Master Winter on one side of him, and John Thomas on the other side, his man laid before him a great paper book, and withal Master Fletcher offered himself to make a sermon. Nay soft, Master Fletcher, said he, I must preach this day myself, although I have small skill in preaching. Well, all ye the company, here are ye, or not? Answer was made, that they were all here. Then commanded he every ships company severally to stand together; which was also done. Then, said he, My Masters, I am a very bad orator, for my bringing up hath not been in learning; but what so I shall here speak, let every man take good notice of, and let him write it down, for I will speak nothing but what I will answer it in England, yea, and before her Majesty, as I have it here already set down [but whether it were in his book or not, that I know not, but this was the effect of it, and very near the words]: Thus it is, my Masters, that we're very far from our country and friends; we are compassed in on every side with our enemies; wherefore we are not to make small reckoning of a man, for we cannot have a man if we would give for him ten thousand pounds; wherefore we must have these mutinies and discontents that are grown amongst us redressed; for, by the life of God, it doth even take my wits from me to think on it. Here is such controversy between the sailors and the gentlemen, and such stomaching between the gentlemen and sailors, that it doth even make me mad to hear it. But, my Masters, I must have it cease; for I must have the gentlemen to haul and draw with the mariners, and the mariners with the gentlemen: and let us shew ou
selves to be all of a company; and let us not give occasion to the enemy to rejoice at our decay and overthrow. I would know him that would refuse to set his hand to a rope; but I trust there is not any such here; and, as gentlemen are very necessary for government sake on the voyage, so have I shipt them for that purpose, and to some further intent; and yet, though I know sailors to be the most envious people of the world, and so unruly without government, yet may not I be without them. Also, if there be any here willing to return home, let me understand of them; and here is the Marygold, a ship that I can very well spare, I will furnish her to such as will return with the most credit that I can give them, either by my letters or any way else; but let them take care that they go homeward; for, if I find them in my way, I will surely sink them; therefore, you shall have time to consider hereof until to-morrow, for, by my troth I must needs be plain with you;
I have taken that in hand that I know not in the world how to go through withal
; it passeth my capacity; it hath even bereaved me of my wits to think on it. [Well, yet the voice was, that none would return; they would all take such part as he did.] Well, then, my Masters, quoth he, Came ye all forth with your own good wills, or no? They answered, All, willingly. At whose hands, my Masters, take ye to receive your wages? At yours, answered the company. Then, said he, how say you, will you take wages, or stand to my courtesy? To your courtesy, good Captain, was the reply. Then he commanded the steward to the Elizabeth to bring him the key of the stores, the which he did; then, turning him unto Master Winter, he said, Master Winter, I do here discharge you of your Captainship; and so in brief he said to all the Officers. Then Master Winter and John Thomas asked him what should move him to displace them? He asked in return, whether they could give any reason why he should not do so? So willing them to content themselves, he willed silence in those matters, saying, Ye see here the great disorders we are entangled into; and, altho' some have already received condign punishment, as by death, who, I take God to witness, as you all know, was to me as my other hand, yet you see, over and besides the rest, his own mouth did bewray his treacherous dealings: and see, how trusting to the singularity of his own wit, he over-reacht himself at unawares. But see what God would have to be done; for her Majesty commanded, that of all men my Lord Treasurer should have no knowledge of this voyage, and to see that his own mouth hath declared that he had given him a plot thereof. But, truly, my Masters, and as I am a gentleman, there shall no more die; I will lay my hand on no more, although there be here who have deserved as much as he; and so charging one Worrall that was present, that his case was worse than Doughty's, who, in Master Doughty's extremities, was one of Drake's chief confellows, who, humbling himself to Drake, even upon his knees, prayed him to be good unto him. Well, well, Worrall, said he, you and I shall talk well enough of this matter hereafter. Then he charged one John Audley with some ill dealings towards him, but opened no matter, but said, he would talk with him alone after dinner. Here is some again, my Masters, not knowing how else to discredit me, say and affirm, that I was set forth on this voyage by Master Hatton; some by Sir William Winter; and some by Master Hankins; but these are a company of idle heads that have nothing else to talk of. And, my Masters, I must tell you, I do know them as my very good friends; but to say that they were the fitters forth of this voyage, or that it was by their means, I tell you it was nothing so. But, indeed, thus it was, My Lord of Essex wrote in my commendation unto Secretary Walsingham more than I was worthy; but by like I had deserved somewhat at his hands, and he thought me in his letters a fit man to serve against the Spaniards for my practice and experience that I had in that trade; whereupon, indeed, Secretary Walsingham did come to consult with his Lordship, and declared unto him, that for that her Majesty had received divers injuries of the King of Spain, for the which, she desired to have some revenge; and withal, he shewed me a plot, willing me to set my hand, and to write down where I thought he might most be annoyed; but I told him some part of my mind, but refused to set my hand to any thing, affirming, that her Majesty was mortal, and that, if it should please God to take her Majesty away, it might so be that some person might reign that might be in league with the king of Spain, and then will mine own Hand be a witness against myself. Then was I very shortly after, and on an evening, sent for unto her Majesty by Secretary Walsingham; and, the next day, coming to her Majesty, these, or the like words, she said, Drake, so it is that I would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that I have received: and said further, that he was the only man that might do this exploit, and withal craved his advice therein, who told her Majesty of the small good that was to be done in Spain, but the only way was to annoy him by his Indies. Then, with many more words, he shewed forth a bill of her Majesty's adventure of 1000 crowns, which, however, he said at some time before, that her Majesty did give him towards his charges. He shewed also a bill of Master Hatton's adventure, and divers letters of credit that had passed in his behalf; but he never let them come out of his own hands. He said also, that her Majesty did swear by her crown,
That, if any within her realm did give the King of Spain hereof to understand (as she suspected but two), they should lose their heads therefore.
And now, Masters, said he, let us consider what we have done:
We have now set together by the ears three mighty Princes, namely, her Majesty, the Kings of Spain and Portugal; and, if this voyage should not have good success, we should not only be a scorning, or a reproachful scoffing stock unto our enemies, but also a great
BLOT
to our whole country for ever; and, what triumph would it be to Spain and Portugal; and again, the like would never be attempted.
And now, restoring every man again to his former office, he ended: thus shewing the company that he would satisfy every man, or else he would sell all that he ever had even unto his plate; for, quoth he, I have good reason to promise, and am best able to perform it; for, I have somewhat of mine own in England; and, besides that, I have as much adventure in this voyage as three of the best whatsoever; and, if it so be, that I never come home, yet will her Majesty pay every man his wages, whom indeed you and I all came to serve; and, for to say you came to serve me, I will not give you thanks; for it is only her Majesty that you serve; and this voyage is only her fitting forth: so willing all men to be friends, he willed them to depart about their business. The 8th of August, they weighed anchor and departed; but, the day before, he came on board the Elizabeth, and swore very vehemently, I know not upon what occasion, that he would hang to the number of 30 in the fleet that had deserved it: and then again charged Worrall that his case was worse than Doughty's, and that by God's wounds he had deserved to be hanged. And, Master Winter, said he, where is your man Ulysses? By God's life, if he were my man, I would cut off his ears: nay, by God's wounds, I would hang him; but wherefore truly I do not know."
Nothing can be a clearer proof that Drake had no Government Commission than the above account. In his speech, which the writer says is nearly in his own words, he does not so much as pretend to have received any Commission, only a private intimation from the Queen and Walsingham, that her Majesty wanted to be revenged of divers injuries received from the King of Spain, but was countenancing four or five piratical plunderers to rob innocent people, a princely way for one Sovereign to take revenge of another, in times of profound peace? It was, indeed, a pitiful connivance in Queen Elizabeh to engage 1000 crowns in a piratical adventure of this kind, and what could never have been credited of that magnanimous Princess, had she not afterwards approved of his piracy, by going aboard his ship, and openly approving what, it was even then said, least became a trading nation to encourage, the breach of treaties, and piratical practices. But, it is remarkable, that five months elapsed after his return to England before her Majesty's pleasure was publicly known; during which time men talked var
ously of the expedition, and the fate of Drake seemed to hang in suspence; so true proved Doughty's prediction, that
"the Queen's Majesty and Council might be corrupted."
That Drake bore no naval Commission appears still more clearly, from his displacing the Captains and Officers of all his ships without demanding from them their Commissions; from his listing his men, not for any hostile expedition, but for a trading voyage to Alexandria; and from his asking them, before his setting sail from the Port of St. Julian to enter the South Seas, from whom they expected their wages. From these circumstances it follows incontestibly, that, it he had a naval Commission, he was the only Officer in the fleet possessed of one;—Doughty, whom he beheaded, and who, before their falling out, was second in command, bore no naval Commission; and, it is more than probable, that this gentleman's questioning the Commission of Drake was the real cause of his death, as Drake more than once charges him with the overthrow of the voyage, which he could no otherwise effect than by discrediting a Commission, on the authority of which both Officers and men were to be persuaded to plunder a people at peace with their nation, and without which every man was liable to be executed for piracy, whenever he should be overpowered.
It were needless for us to enlarge our remarks; every reader has now the subject before him, and every reader will form a judgment for himself.
What we have said, in consequence of having traced this transaction from beginning to end, may seem to clash with the opinion we previously entertained of Drake's humanity, courage, and kindness to his followers, but will not seem strange to those who are acquainted with the nature of periodical writings, where one part of the work is necessarily printed off before the other is written. In pursuing the course of this voyage, new authors have been consulted, and new lights collected, which have enabled us to detect not only the errors of other writers, but also to correct our own; and, from the sequel of this voyage, we may venture to foretel, that the reader will concur in sentiment with us, that, though Drake was bold, he was not honest; that, though he did not kill those he plundered and had no motive to destroy, he spared none who opposed his designs, or who did not pay implicit obedience to his arbitrary will; that, though he was an able seaman, he was a jealous rival; and that, though he was a gallant leader, he was a most tyrannical Commander. We shall now accompany him to the South Seas, where the Spaniards, not suspecting an enemy, were in no condition to defend themselves against his attacks.
Drake having reduced the number of his ships to three, they left the port, and on August the 20th entered the Straits of Magellan, in which they struggled with contrary winds, and the various dangers which the intricacy of that winding passage exposed them to, till night, when they had passed the first narrow, and had entered a wider sea, where they discovered an island, to which they gave the name of Elizabeth, in honour of their sovereign. On the 24th they came to an island, in which they found such an infinite number of birds, since called penguins, that they killed 3000 of them in one day. This bird, of which they then knew not the name, they describe as somewhat less than a wild goose, without feathers, and covered with a kind of down, unable to fly or rise from the ground, but capable of running and swimming with amazing celerity. They feed on fishes in the sea, and come to land only to rest in the day, and lay their eggs, which, according to later voyagers, they deposit in holes, as regularly dispersed and as numerous as the cells in a bee-hive.
From these islands to the South Sea the strait becomes very crooked and narrow; so that sometimes by the interposition of head-lands the passage seems entirely shut up. To double these capes they found it very difficult, on account of the frequent variations to be made in the course. Here are, indeed, as Magellan observes, many harbours; but in most of them no bottom is to be found, which, however, does not seem verified by experience; the harbours being in general good, though the tides and blasts continually rushing in from various directions create the danger. The land on both sides rises into innumerable mountains; the tops of them were encircled with clouds and vapours, which, being congealed, fall down in snow, and increase their height by hardening into ice; an observation which might naturally occur to Drake, who passed the strait in their winter before the snows were dissolved. However, even at that season, which answers to our February, they found the vallies, in some places, green, fruitful, and pleasant. Anchoring in a bay near Cape Forward, Drake, imagining the strait quite shut up, went in his boat to endeavour to find some other passage out; and, having found an inlet towards the North, was returning to his ships; but curiosity soon prevailed upon him to stop for the sake of observing a canoe or boat with several natives of the country in it. He could not at a distance help admiring the form of this little vessel, which seemed inclining to a semicircle, the stern and prow standing up, and the body sinking inward; but much greater was his wonder, when, upon a nearer inspection, he found it made only with the barks of trees, sewed together with thongs of seal-skins, so artificially, that scarcely any water entered the seams.
The people were well shaped, and painted like those who have been already described. On the land they had a hut built with poles, and covered with skins, in which they had water-vessels and other utensils, made likewise with the barks of trees. Among these people they had an opportunity of remarking, what is frequently observable in savage countries, how natural sagacity and unwearied industry may supply the want of such manufactures or natutural productions, as appear to us absolutely necessary for the support of life. Though the inhabitants were wholly strangers to iron and to the use we make of it, yet, instead of it, they substituted the shell of a muscle, of prodigious size, found upon their coasts. This they ground upon a stone to an edge, which was so firm and solid, that neither wood nor stone were able to resist it. With instruments made of shells, these simple people were able to perform all their mechanic operations; nor do they seem so deformed and ugly as our late voyagers represent them, who being, perhaps, more refined than those who sailed with Captain Drake, might fancy a greater difference between themselves and these savages than in nature there really is.
On this occasion we cannot forbear remarking, that, though Drake entered the strait in what is accounted the most unfavourable season, yet he passed it in sixteen days, though, at that time, wholly unknown; a passage the more extraordinary, as none of our late voyagers made it in less than thirty-six days in the middle of summer, and Captain Wallis was at least four months in making it.
Drake, as has been said, having taken a survey of the country from Cape Forward, continued his course to the North-west-ward, and, on the sixth of September, entered the great South Sea, on which no English vessel had ever been navigated before; and proposed to have directed his course towards the Line, that his men, who had suffered by the severity of the climate, might recover their strength in a warmer latitude. But his design was scarce formed, before it was frustrated; for on September the seventh, after an eclipse of the moon, a storm arose so violent that it left them little hopes of surviving it: nor was its fury so dreadful as its continuance; for it lasted, with little intermission, thirty-two days, in which time they were driven more than 200 leagues out of their course, without being able either to avail themselves of their sails, or make use of their anchors.
In this storm, on the 30th of September, the Marigold, Captain Thomas, was separated from them; and on the 7th of October, having entered a harbour, where they hoped for some intermission of their fatigues, they were in a few hours forced out to sea again by a violent gust, at which time they lost sight of the Elizabeth, Captain Winter, whose crew, as was afterwards discovered, wearied with labour, and discouraged with the prospect of future dangers, recovered the straits the day following, and, returning by the same passage through which they came, sailed along the coast of Brazil, and, in the year following, arrived in England.
They were now driven southward 55 degrees, where they discovered a cluster of islands, in one of which they anchored and staid two days, to the great refreshment of the crew, having met with excellent water, and plenty of greens. Not far distant from this bay they entered another, where they beheld some naked inhabitants ranging along the coast in their canoes in search of provisions. With these they exchanged some toys for such refreshments as they had to spare.
And now, being furnished with wood and water, they again set sail, and were, by a new storm, driven to the latitude of 57 degrees, when they beheld the extremities of the American coast, and the confluence of the Atlantic and Southern oceans. Here they arrived on the 28th of October, and at last were blest with the sight of a calm sea, having, for almost two months, endured such a storm, as no voyager has given an account of, and such as in that part of the world, though accustomed to hurricanes, the inhabitants were unacquainted with.
On the 30th of October, they steered towards the place appointed for the rendezvouz of the fleet, in case of separation, which was in 30 degrees south; and, on the next day, discovered two islands, so well stocked with fowls, that they victualled their ships with them. After this supply, they sailed northward, along the coast of Peru, till they came to 30 degrees, where, finding neither ships, nor any convenient port, they came to anchor Nov. the 29th, at Macao, an island inhabited by such Indians as the cruelty of their Spanish conquerors had driven from the continent, to whom they applied for water and provisions, offering them in return such things as they imagined most likely to please them. The Indians seemed willing to traffic; and, having presented them with fruits and two fat sheep, shewed them a place where they might come for water.
Next morning, according to agreement, the English landed with their water-vessels, and sent two men forward towards the place appointed, who, about the middle of the way, were suddenly attacked by the Indians and immediately slain. Nor were the rest of the company out of danger; for behind the rocks was lodged an ambush of 500 men, who, starting up from their retreat, discharged their arrows into the boat with such dexterity, that every one of the crew was wounded by them. The sea being then high, and hindering them from either retiring or making use of their weapons, Drake himself received an arrow under his eye, which pierced him almost to the brain; and another in his breast. The danger of these wounds was much increased by the absence of their surgeon, who was in the Elizabeth, so that they had none to assist them but a boy, whose age did not admit of much skill or experience; yet so much were they favoured by Providence, that they all recovered. No reason could be assigned for which the Indians should attack them with so furious a spirit of malignity, but that they mistook them for Spaniards, whose cruelties might very reasonably incite those to revenge, whom they had driven, by incessant persecution, from their country, wasting immense tracts of land by massacre and devastation. Nuno da Sylva adds, that none of the Indians were hurt by the English, though they came so near the boat, as to seize and carry off four of the oars.
On the afternoon of the same day they set sail, and on the 30th of November dropt anchor in Phillip's bay, where their boat, having been sent out to discover the country, returned with an Indian in his canoe whom they had intercepted. He was of a graceful stature, drest in a white coat or gown, reaching almost to his knees, very mild, humble, and docile; such as perhaps were all the Indians, till the Spaniards taught them revenge, treachery, and cruelty. This Indian, having been kindly treated, was dismissed with presents; and informed, as far as the English could make him understand, what they chiefly wanted, and what they were willing to give in return: Drake ordered his boat to attend him, and set him safe on shore.
When he was landed, he made signs for the boat to wait till his return, and meeting some of his countrymen, gave them such an account of his reception, that, within a few hours, several of them repaired with him to the boat, with fowls, eggs, and a hog; and with them one of their captains, who willingly came into the boat, and desired to be conveyed by the English to their ship.
By this man Drake was informed that no supplies were to be expected here; but that Southward, in a place to which he offered to be his pilot, there was great plenty. This proposal was accepted, and on the 5th of December, under the direction of the good-natured Indian, they came to anchor in the harbour called by the Spaniards Val Parizo, in 33 deg. 40 min. S. latitude, near the little town of St. Jago, where they met not only with sufficient stores of provisions, and with storehouses full of the wines of Chili, but with a ship called the Captain of Morial, richly laden, having, together with large quantities of the same wine, some of the fine gold of Baldivia to the amount of threescore thousand pezoes, each pezo of the value of eight shillings, and a great cross of gold set with emeralds. The Spaniards at first, mistaking the English for friends, invited them to feast with them; but soon being undeceived, one of the crew jumped overboard, and alarmed the town; but the inhabitants, instead of making opposition, fled hastily, and left whatever was in the town a prize to the enemy. In the chapel Drake and his men found the most valuable booty.
Having spent three days here in storing their ships, and loading the money and effects, they departed, and landed their Indian pilot where they first received him, after having rewarded him much above his expectations or desires. They had now little other anxiety than for their friends, who had been separated from them, and whom they now determined to seek. But considering that, by entering every creek and harbour with their ships, they exposed themselves to unnecessary dangers, and that their boat could not contain such a number as might defend themselves against the Spaniards, they determined to station their ship at some place where they might commodiously build a pinnace, which, being of light burden, might safely sail where the ship would be in danger of being stranded; and, at the same time, carry a sufficient force to resist the enemy, and afford better accommodation than it was possible to obtain in the boat. To this end, on the 19th of December, they entered a bay near Coquimbo, a town inhabited by the Spaniards, who, discovering them immediately, issued out to the number of 100 horsemen, with about 200 naked Indians running by their sides. The English, observing their approach, retired to their boat without any loss, except of one man, whom no persuasions or intreaties could move to retire with the rest, and who was therefore overtaken by the Spaniards, who thought to have taken him prisoner, but, having an halbert in his hand, he manfully defended himself, till, being overpowered by numbers, he was run through the body with a lance. The Spaniards, exulting at the victory, ordered the Indians to draw the dead carcase from the rock on which he fell, and in the sight of the English beheaded it, and then cut off the right hand, and tore out the heart, which they carried away in triumph.
Leaving this place, they soon found a harbour more secure and convenient, where they built their pinnace, in which Drake went to seek his companions; but, finding the wind contrary, he was obliged to return in two days.
From hence they came to a port called Sarcipaxa, where, being landed, they found a Spaniard asleep with silver bars lying by him to the value of 4000 Spanish ducats; notwithstanding the insults which they had received from his countrymen, they did not think fit to disturb this harmless man's repose, but, taking the silver, left him quietly to sleep out his nap.
Coasting along the shore, they observed a Spaniard driving eight Peruvian sheep, which on landing they found to be laden with silver, each sheep having 100lb weight in two leather bags across his back. They delivered the poor animals of their heavy burdens, and lodged the bags in their own ships.
Farther on lay some Indian towns, from which the inhabitants repaired to the ship on floats made of seal-skin blown full of wind, two of which they fasten together, and, sitting between them, row with great swiftness, and carry considerable burdens. They very readily traded for glass and such trifles, with which the old and the young seemed equally delighted.
Arriving at Marmarena on the 26th of January, Drake invited the Spaniards to traffic with him, which they accepted; and supplied him with necessaries, selling to him, among other provisions, some of those sheep which have been mentioned, whose bulk is equal to that of a cow, and whose strength is such, that one of them can carry three tall men upon his back; their necks are like a camel's, and their heads like those of our sheep. They are the most useful animals of this country, not only affording excellent fleeces and wholesome flesh, but serving as carriers over rocks and mountains, where no other beast can travel; for their feet are of a particular form, which enables them to tread firm on the steepest and most slippery places.
On all this coast, it is said, the mountains are so impregnated with silver, that from one hundred weight of common earth five ounces of fine silver may be separated.
They continued their course towards the North, and on the 7th of February arrived at Arica, in 8 deg. 30 min. S. latitude, and in this port found three small barks, in which they found 57 slabs of silver, each of the size and shape of an ordinary brick, and weighing about 20lb. They took no prisoners; for the crews, fearing no interlopers, were all on shore carousing with one another. At this port the Spaniards were wont to land their merchandize, and to embark the silver, which was transported from thence to Panama; but, since Drake's incursion, they carry their silver over land to Lima, and load no more treasure here, except what they pay for the purchase of such merchandize as is brought from Europe to supply their market. Wanting numbers to assault the town, they proceeded in their course, and falling in with a small coasting-vessel, laden with linen and other cloaths, Drake supplied his crew with what quantity of those articles they stood in need of, and dismissed the Spaniards with the remainder.
From hence they sailed to Chuli; in which port there was a ship that had 300,000 pezoes of silver in bars; but the Spaniards had sent an express from Arica, to acquaint the Governor that Drake was upon the coast. This express arrived at Chuli, just two hours before Drake entered the port; in which time the master of the ship had thrown his treasure overboard, and had secured himself and crew on shore, leaving only one Indian on board to make the report. Drake, fearing the alarm would spread faster than he could sail, lost no time in hazardous searches, but instantly departed, and steered for Lima, where they arrived on the 15th of February, and entered the harbour without resistance, in which, according to some writers, there were thirty sail of ships; others say, twelve; but all agree, that several of them were of considerable force; so that Drake's security consisted not in his strength, but in his reputation, which had so intimidated the Spaniards, that the sight of their own superiority could not rouse them to opposition. Instances of such panic terrors are to be met with in other relations; but as they are, for the most part, quickly dissipated by reason and resolution, a wise
Sir Francis Drake engaging the Cacafuego a
Spanish Ship
Commander will rarely ground his hopes of success on them; and, perhaps, on this occasion, the Spaniards scarcely deserve a severer censure for their cowardice, than Drake for his temerity. A writer of good authority, to reconcile the matter, tells us, that Drake took them at unawares, and that the crews, as is usual in times of perfect security, were with their families on shore; and many of those who were ready to sail, were taking leave of their friends. Be this as it may, all seem to agree, that Drake made here a considerable booty, having taken from one ship a chest full of rials of plate, which he found concealed under the steerage, and, from other ships, silks and linen cloth to a considerable value. He did not, however, remain long in this harbour, but hastened in pursuit of the Cacafuego, which ship had sailed but three days before, and which, they were here informed, was bound to Paita. In the pursuit, they fell in with another ship, out of which they took a large quantity of gold, together with a crucifix of the same metal, richly adorned with emeralds. They continued the pursuit; but, having gained intelligence, that, instead of Paita, she was gone to Panama, Drake crouded all the sail he could, and, to encourage the pursuers, promised, that whoever first descried the prize should have his gold chain as a reward; which fell to the lot of his brother John. On the 1st of March they came up with her, and, after exchanging a few shot, they boarded her, and found not only a quantity of jewels, and thirteen chests of money, but eighty pounds weight of gold, and twenty-six tons of uncoined silver, with services of wrought plate to a great value. In unlading this prize they spent six days; and then dismissing the Spaniards, stood off again to sea.
Lopez Vaz, a Spanish writer, tells us, that in less than 24 hours after their departure from Lima in pursuit of the Cacafuego, news was brought that Drake was upon the coast, but that the Governor had already assembled the force of the country to oppose his landing; and that, finding he had left the harbour, he ordered three ships with six pieces of cannon (being all he could collect), and 250 men, to pursue him: but, the equipment of these vessels necessarily requiring time, Drake had gained the advantage of them: and, coming within sight of the prize off Cape Francisco, the Captain of which, Juan de Anton, a Biscayan, seeing at a distance a ship crouded with sails, and imagining the Viceroy of Peru had dispatched her on some message to him, struck his sails, and lay to till Drake approaching nearer, he discovered his mistake. He would then have made his escape, but Drake nearing him fast with his great ordnance, against which the Captain could make no defence, he was constrained to yield.
"There was in this ship, adds the Spaniard, eight hundred and fifty thousand pezoes of silver, and forty thousand pezoes of gold, all which silver and gold was customed: but what treasure they had uncustomed, I know not; for many times they carry almost as much more as they pay custom for; otherwise the King would take it from them, if they should be known to have any great sum; wherefore every ship carries a bill of custom, that the King may see it. All the treasure which Drake took was merchants and other mens goods, saving 180,000 pezoes of the king's. He had also out of this ship good store of victuals, with other necessaries, which were to be carried from Panama, and was five days in taking out such things as he needed.
"This done, he sailed to the coast of New Spain, without going to Panama. The ships that were sent by the viceroy of Peru from Lima, arrived off Cape St. Francisco 20 days after Drake had taken the Cacafuego, and had intelligence by a ship coming from Panama, which they met at the said Cape, that Francis Drake had taken the ship with silver, and was not gone for Panama; whereupon the Commander of the three ships, thinking that Captain Drake had been gone for the Straits of Magellan, directed his course that way to seek him."
Thus Drake, changing his course to the west, escaped his enemies, and fell in with a ship from the East Indies laden with silks, China ware, and cotton. The owner, a Spaniard, was on board, who presented Drake with a falcon wrought in massy gold, with an emerald set in the breast of it, the largest he had ever beheld. With this present, and a golden cup from the pilot, Drake was contented, and dismissed the ship, taking only four chests of China ware, which at that time was of great value in Europe.
On the 13th of March they came in sight of land, which happened to be a small island about, two leagues from the main continent. There they found a harbour, and anchored in five fathom water, where they staid till the 20th, on which day, a little coasting frigate passing by, was pursued by the pinnace, boarded, and taken. Being laden with sasaparilla, honey, butter, and other country goods, Drake unloaded the sasaparilla, and in the room of it put the gold and silver from his own ship, in order to heave her up, to new caulk her sides, and stop her leaks; in which service the crew were employed till the 26th of the same month, when having reloaded the cargo, and taken in a sufficient quantity of wood and water, they continued their course westward along the coast, taking the Spanish frigate with them to bear them company.
On April 6, a little before sun-set, they discovered a ship, that held on her course about two leagues to seaward from the main land. To this ship they gave chace, and before morning they neared her, and suddenly boarded her while the men slept. Being masters of this prize without resistance, they ordered the prisoners on board their own ship, among whom was one Don Francisco Xarate, who meant to sail to Panama, and from thence to China, with the letters and patents that were found in his possession (among which were the letters of the King of Spain to the Governor of the Philippines); as also the sea charts wherewith they were to be directed in their voyage, which were of admirable use to Drake in his return home. From this ship they took great quantities of bale goods, and other valuable merchandize, and then dismissed her. They also took a young negro girl, whom Drake or some of his companions having got with child, they afterwards inhumanly set her on shore on an island in their way home, just as she was ready to lie in; of which notice will be taken in its proper place. Having retained a Spanish pilot from this ship, they obliged him to direct them to a safe harbour, where they might supply themselves with provisions for their intended voyage. This man brought them to the harbour of Anguatulco, or, as others write, Guatalco, where arriving on the 13th of April, they staid till the 26th of the same month, and then set sail, having first dismissed all their Spanish prisoners, together with Nuno da Sylva, the Portugueze pilot, whom they brought from the Canaries, and who had served them faithfully in all their trials and dangers; in reward for which he was now abandoned by Drake to the mercy of the enemy. This man, when he landed on the continent, was first carried to Mexico, and there put to the torture to make discoveries. He was afterwards sent prisoner into Old Spain, and there examined; and, having given a faithful relation of all he knew, was released, and returned home to his own country, where he published, as has already been said, an account of the voyage as far as he went, which was afterwards translated into all the European language; and universally read.
On their arrival at Anguatulco, they had no sooner landed than Drake with part of his men marched up to the town, where they found the chief magistrate sitting in judgment upon a parcel of poor savages, and ready to pass sentence of death upon almost all of them, they being charged with a conspiracy to kill their masters, and set fire to the town. Drake changed the scene, and made judges and criminals, without distinction, his prisoners, conducting them all in procession to his ship. Here he made the judge write an order to the Commanding Officer to deliver up the town, in which they found a great pot, says my author, as big as a bushel, full of rials of plate, a gold chain, and a few jewels. The gold chain was taken from a gentleman who was making his escape from the town, but was intercepted by an English sailor, who rifled him of all the valuables he had about him, of which the gold chain was thought to be of the least value.
Being now sufficiently enriched, and having given over all hopes of finding their associates, and, perhaps, beginning to be infected with that desire of ease and pleasure which is the natural
Drake Conveying the Spanish Judges and Criminal Savages, of Anguatulco, in Procession on Board his own Ship.
consequence of wealth obtained by successful villainy, or, what is still more probable, being in fear of a surprize before they had secured their booty, they began to consult about their return home; and, in pursuance of Drake's advice, resolved first to find out some convenient harbour where they might more safely lie and equip themselves for the voyage, and then endeavour to discover a nearer passage from the South Seas into the Atlantic Ocean; a passage that would not only enable them to return home with full security, and in a shorter time, but would much facilitate the navigation into those parts, and of course immortalize their names.
For this purpose they had recourse to a port in the island of Canes, where they met with fish, wood, and fresh water; and, being sufficiently stored with other provisions, with which they had supplied themselves from their prizes and at Anguatulco, they set sail first with a resolution of seeking a passage by the north-west, and, if that failed, by the Moluccas, and thence, following the course of the Portugueze, to return by the Cape of Good Hope.
In pursuance of the first resolution, they sailed about 600 leagues, till coming into the latitude of 43 deg. north, they found the air so excessive cold, that the men could no longer bear to handle the ropes to navigate the ship: they, therefore, changed their course till they came into the latitude of 38 deg. and 30 min. under which height they discovered a very good harbour, and, fortunately, had a favourable wind to enable them to enter it.
Here, on the 17th of June, they cast anchor, and, in a short time, had opportunities of observing that the natives of that country were not less sensible than themselves; for, the next day, there came a man rowing in his canoe towards the ship, and, at a distance from it, made a long oration with very extraordinary gesticulations, and great appearance of vehemence; and, a little time afterwards, made a second visit in the same manner; and then returning a third time, he presented them, after his harangue was finished, with a kind of crown of black feathers, such as their kings wear upon their heads, and a basket of rushes filled with a particular herb, both which he fastened to a short stick, and threw into the boat: nor could he be prevailed upon to receive any thing in return, though pushed towards him upon a board, only he took up a hat that was flung in the water.
Three days afterwards, the ship, having received some damage at sea, was brought nearer to land, that her lading might be taken out; in order to which, the English, who had now learned not to commit their lives too negligently to the mercy of savage nations, raised a kind of fortification with earth and palissades, and erected their tents within it. All this was not beheld by the inhabitants without the utmost astonishment, which incited them to come down in crouds to the coast, with no other view, as it afterwards appeared, but to compliment the beautiful strangers that had condescended to touch upon their country.
Drake, neither confiding too much in appearances, nor wholly distrusting the friendly disposition of the inhabitants, directed them to lay aside their bows and arrows, and, on their approach, presented them with linen and other necessaries, of which he shewed them the use. They then returned to their habitations, about three quarters of a mile from the English camp, where they made such loud and violent noises, that they were heard by the English, who had vanity enough to believe that they were paying them a kind of melancholy adoration.
Two days afterwards, they perceived the approach of a far more numerous company, who stopt at the top of a hill which over-looked the English settlement, while one of them made a long oration, at the end of which all the assembly bowed their bodies, and pronounced the syllable
Oh
with a solemn tone, as by way of confirmation of what had been said by the orator. Then the men laying down their bows, and leaving their women and children on the top of the hill, came down towards the tents, and seemed transported in the highest degree at the kindness of Drake, who received their gifts, and admitted them to his presence. The women at a distance appeared seized with a kind of phrenzy, such as that of old among the Pagans in some of their religious ceremonies, and in honour as it seemed of their guests, tore their cheeks and bosoms with their nails, and threw themselves upon the stones with their naked bodies.
Three days after this, on June 25, 1579, Drake received two Ambassadors from the Hioh, or King, of the country, who, intending to visit the camp, required that some token might be sent him of friendship and peace. This request was readily complied with; and soon after came the King, attended by a guard of about an hundred tall men, and preceded by an Officer of State, who carried a sceptre made of black wood, adorned with chains made of a kind of bone or horn, which are marks of the highest honour among them. Behind him was the King himself, dressed in a coat of beasts skins, with a crown woven with feathers upon his head. His attendants followed, dressed nearly in the same manner all but the crown; and after them came the common people, with baskets platted so artificially that they held water, in which, by way of present, they brought roots and fish.
Drake, not lulled into security, ranged his men in order of battle, and waited their approach, who coming nearer stood still, while the scepter-bearer made an oration; at the conclusion of which, they came again forward at the foot of the hill, and then the scepter-bearer began a song, which he accompanied with a dance, in both which the men joined, but the women
danced without singing. Drake now distrusting them no longer, admitted them into his fortification, where they continued their song and dance a short time; and then both the King and some others of the company made a long harangue, in which it appeared, by the rest of their behaviour, that they entreated them to accept of the government of their country; and the King, with the concurrence of the rest, placed the Crown upon Drake's head, graced him with the chains and other signs of authority, and saluted him with the title of
Hioh.
The kingdom thus offered, though of no farther value to him than that it furnished him with present necessaries, Drake thought it not prudent for him to refuse; and, therefore, took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth, not without ardent wishes that this acquisition might be of use to his native country. The kingdom being thus consigned, and the grand affair at an end, the common people left their King and his Nobles with Drake, and dispersed themselves over the camp; and when they saw any one that pleased them more than the rest, they tore their flesh and vented their outcries, as before, in token of reverence and respect. They then proceeded to shew them their wounds and diseases, in hopes, perhaps, of a miraculous cure; to which the English, to benefit and undeceive them at the same time, applied such remedies as they used on like occasions.
They were now grown confident and familiar, and came down to the camp every day, repeating their ceremonies, till they were more fully informed how disagreeable they were to those whose favour they were so studious of obtaining. They then visited them without ceremony, indeed, but with a curiosity so ardent, that it left them no leisure to provide the necessaries of life, with which the English were, therefore, obliged to supply them. They had, then, sufficient opportunity to remark the custom and disposition of these new allies, whom they found tractable and benevolent, strong of body far beyond the English, yet unfurnished with weapons either for assault or defence, their bows being too weak for any thing but sport. Their dexterity in taking fish was such, that, if they saw them so near the shore that they could come to them without swimming, they never missed them.
The same curiosity that had brought them in such crouds to the shore, now induced Drake and some of his companions to travel up into their country, which they found at some distance from the coast very fruitful, filled with large deer, and abounding with a peculiar kind of cunnies smaller than ours, with tails like rats, paws such as those of a mole, and bags under their chins, in which they carry provisions to their young.
The houses of the inhabitants were round holes dug in the ground, from the brink of which they raise rafters, or poles, shelving towards the middle, where they all met in a ridge, and are crampt together; the people lie upon rushes, and make the fire in the middle of the house, letting the smoke fly out at the door. The men are generally naked; but the women make a kind of petticoat of bulrushes, which they comb like hemp, and throw the skin of a deer over their shoulders. They are very modest, tractable, and obedient to their husbands. The soil is but badly cultivated; but contentment seems to prevail in a very eminent degree among all ranks of this happy people.
The land was named by Drake New Albion, from its white cliffs, in which it bore some resemblance to his native country, and the whole history of the resignation of it to the English was engraven on a piece of brass, then nailed on a post, and fixed up before their departure, which being now discovered by the people to be near at hand, they could not forbear perpetual lamentations.
When the English on the 23d of July weighed anchor, they saw them climbing to the tops of hills, that they might keep them in sight, and observed fires lighted up in many parts of the country, on which, as they supposed, sacrifices were offered.
Near to this harbour, they touched at some islands where they found abundance of seals; and, despairing now to find any passage through the northern regions, they, after a general consultation, determined to steer away to the Moluccas; and, setting sail July 25, they held a western course for 68 days without sight of land; and, on September 30, arrived within view of some islands, about 20 deg. northward from the Line, from whence the inhabitants resorted to them in canoes hollowed in the middle, and raised at both ends so high above the water, that they seemed almost a semi-circle; they were burnished in such a manner, that they shone like ebony, and were kept steady by a piece of timber fixed on each side of them. The first company that came brought fruits, bananas, and other things of no great value, with an appearance of traffic, and exchanged their lading for other commodities with great show of honesty and friendship. But having, as they imagined, laid all suspicion asleep, they sent another fleet of canoes, of which the crews behaved with all the insolence of savages, and all the rapacity of thieves; for, whatever was suffered to come into their hands, they seemed to consider as their own, and would neither pay for it nor restore it: and, at length, finding the English resolved to admit them no longer, they discharged a shower of stones from their boats, which insult Drake prudently and generously returned, by firing his great guns without hurting them; at which they were so terrified, that they leaped into the water, and hid themselves under their canoes.
Here we cannot help remarking how nearly this description agrees with the accounts given by the late navigators, of the temper and disposition of the inhabitants of the islands lately discovered between the Tropics. Drake, indeed, found the firing of his guns without hurting them, sufficient to intimidate these ignorant people; but our later voyagers have thought their vengeance not complete for any slight insult, without murdering them by wholesale to strike them with terror. The writer of the late voyages says,
"Our men shewed as much impatience to destroy them as a sportsman to kill his game."
Having for some time but little wind, they did not arrive at the Moluccas till the 3d of November; and then, designing to touch at Tidore, as they coasted along the island Mutua, belonging to the King of Ternate, they were visited by his Viceroy, who informed them, that it would be more advantageous for them to have recourse to his master for supplies, than to the Portuguese, with whom he was at enmity. Drake was, by the arguments of the Viceroy, prevailed upon to alter his resolution; and, on November the 5th, cast anchor before Ternate. Scarce was he arrived, before the Viceroy, with others of the chief nobility, came out in three large barges rowed by forty men on each side, to conduct the ship into a safe harbour; and, soon after, the King himself, having received a velvet cloak by a messenger from Drake, as a token of peace, came with such a retinue and dignity of appearance, as was not expected in those remote parts of the world. He was received with discharges of cannon, and every kind of music, with which he was so much delighted, that he invited the performers on board his barge.
The King was of a graceful stature and royal carriage, of a mild aspect and low voice. His attendants were dressed in white cotton or callico, of whom some, whose age gave them a venerable appearance, seemed as counsellors, and the rest officers or nobles. His guards were not ignorant of fire-arms, but had not many among them, being equipped for the most part with bows and darts. The King, having spent some time in admiring the new objects that presented themselves, retired as soon as the ship was brought to anchor, and promised to return on the day following; and in the mean time the inhabitants, having leave to traffic, brought down provisions in great abundance. The King came not aboard, according to his promise, but sent his brother to excuse him, and withal to invite Drake ashore, proposing to stay himself as an hostage for his return. Drake declined going himself, but sent some gentlemen of his retinue in company with the King's brother, and kept the Viceroy till their return.
These gentlemen were received by another of the King's brothers, and conducted in great state to the castle, where there was a court of, at least 1000 persons, among whom were threescore ancient men, privy counsellors to the King; and on each side of the gate without, stood four old men of foreign countries, who served as interpreters in commerce. In a short time appeared the King himself, drest in Cloth of gold, with his hair woven into gold ringlets, a chain of gold upon his neck, and on his fingers rings very artificially set with diamonds and jewels of great value. Over his head was borne a rich canopy; and by his chair of state stood a page with a fan set with sapphires, to moderate the excess of the heat. Here he received the compliments of the English, and then honourably dismissed them. The castle, which they had some opportunity of observing, seemed of no great force. It was built by the Portuguese, who, attempting to reduce this kingdom into absolute subjection, murdered the King, and intended to pursue their plot by the destruction of all his sons. But the general abhorrence which cruelty and perfidy naturally excite, armed the whole nation against them, and procured their total expulsion from all the dominions of Ternate, which, from that time, increasing in power, continued to make new conquests, and to deprive them of other acquisitions.
Here they shipt between four and five tons of cloves, intending to bring them to Europe. While they lay before Ternate, a gentleman came on board attended by his Portuguese interpreter. He was dressed somewhat in the European manner, and soon distinguished himself from the natives of Ternate, or any country they had ever yet seen, by his civility and quick comprehension. Such a visitant may easily be imagined to excite their curiosity, which he gratified by informing them that he was a native of China, of the family of the King then upon the throne; and that being accused of a capital crime, of which, though he was innocent, he had not sufficient evidence to clear himself, he had petitioned the Emperor that he might not be exposed to a trial; but that his cause might be referred to Divine Providence; and that he might be allowed to leave his country, with a prohibition against returning, unless heaven, in attestation of his innocence, should enable him to bring back to the King some intelligence that might be to the honour and advantage of the Empire of China. In search of such information he had now spent three years, and left Tidore for the sake of conversing with the English General, from whom he hoped to receive such accounts as would enable him to return with honour and safety. Drake, whether he credited or disbelieved his story, caused a recital to be made by one of the company, who talked the language of the interpreter, of such adventures and observations as he judged would be most pleasing to his visitor, to all which the Chinese Exile gave the utmost attention; and, having caused them to be repeated a second time, to impress them in his mind, thanked the Creator of the World for the knowledge he had gained. He then proposed to the General to sail to his country, to which he willingly undertook to be his pilot, but Drake could not be induced to prolong his voyage.
He therefore set sail, on Nov. the 9th, in quest of a more convenient harbour, where he might clean and refit his ship, which, by the length of the voyage, and the heat of the climate, was now become foul and leaky. Directing his course southward, he soon fell in with an uninhabited island, which, by its appearance, promised fair to answer his purpose. At a distance it looked like a beautiful grove; the trees were large, strait, and lofty; but, what was more extraordinary, they were interspersed with such an astonishing number of shining flies, that the whole island in the night seemed to glow with fire. Here they found a convenient haven, and here they landed and continued 26 days. They found upon this island tortoise, but of a monstrous size, and various sorts of fruits of a delicious flavour.
Leaving this place on the 12th of December, they cruelly deserted the unhappy mulatto girl, whom they had taken for their pleasure from a ship that fell into their hands on the coast of New Spain. They had, at the same time, taken on board a negroe youth, who they thought might be serviceable to them in conversing with his nation in their way home; but, finding him of little or no use on board, and provisions beginning to fail, they pretended to send this simple couple far into the country to gather fruits, and, in the mean time, unmoored the ship, and hoisted sail; and, before the return of the victims, were out of sight of their tears, and out of hearing of their cries: a melancholy instance this of the depravity of man's heart, and of the relentless cruelty of minds addicted to rapine and lust. The poor girl, not yet fifteen, was ready to be delivered of an innocent babe; and the youth, not twenty, was the only resource in the midst of her distress. What befel them cannot be known: but Providence seemed to punish the perfidy of the crew by a severe trial of their fortitude soon after.
Having a wind not very favourable, they happened to be intangled among a multitude of islands, interspersed with dangerous shallows, till January the 9th, 1580. When they thought themselves clear, and were sailing along with a brisk gale; they were, at the beginning of the night, suddenly surprized in their course by a sudden shock, the cause of which was instantly discovered, for they were thrown upon a concealed rock, and, by the speed of their course, fixed too fast for any hope of escaping.
Here the intrepidity of Drake was shaken, and his dexterity baffled: here all the horrors of mind, attendant on conscious guilt, concurred to aggravate the distress of those who were instrumental in abandoning the harmless slaves. Those who were innocent reproached the guilty with being the authors of their present distress; and, among the rest, Mr. Fletcher, the Chaplain, exclaimed against the Captain, as one whose crimes of murder and lust had brought down divine vengeance on all the company. Drake, who knew well how to dissemble his resentment, judging this an improper time to encourage disputes, endeavoured, by every means in his power, to appease the increasing animosity. To preserve, therefore, the minds of the company at rest, he found it necessary to keep their hands employed, and, for that purpose, ordered the pumps to be constantly plied. Convinced by this experiment that the water did not gain upon them in the hold, he conceived hopes, that, by lightening the ship, they might possibly be able to heave her off. He knew it would be in vain to persuade them to part with their treasure, and, therefore, he first caused the guns to be thrown overboard, and then the spices; and, afterwards, the water-casks to be bulged, being in hopes, that, if they could be released, water might again be supplied from the neighbouring islands, some of which were at no great distance. His next attempt was to discover about the shallows some place where they might six an anchor, in order to bring their ship to, and, by that means, clear her from the rock: but, upon examination, it was found that the rock on which they had struck, rose, as many others in those seas do, almost perpendicular, and that there was no anchorage, nor any bottom to be fathomed a boat's length from the ship. But this discovery was by Drake wisely concealed from the common sailors, lest they should abandon themselves to despair, for which there was, indeed, much cause, there being no prospect left, but that they must there sink along with the ship.
In this deplorable situation they had remained for four and twenty hours, when Drake, finding all human efforts vain, addressed himself to his companions in distress, and exhorted them to lay aside all animosities, and prepare themselves, by forgiving each other, for obtaining that mercy through Christ, which they could not hope to receive on any other terms.
"On this occasion," says my author, "every thief reconciled himself to his fellow-thief, and Fletcher administered the sacrament to them all."
At length, when their hopes had forsaken them, and no new struggles could be made, they were, on a sudden, relieved by the wind's shifting, and a fresh breeze springing up, which taking the ship on the leeward quarter, she reeled off the rock, without receiving any very dangerous hurt, to the unspeakable joy of every soul on board.
This was the greatest and most inextricable distress which they had suffered, and made such an impression upon their minds, that for some time afterwards they durst not adventure to spread their sails, but went slowly forward with the utmost circumspection, till, arriving at the fruitful island of Baretene, they entered the port to repair what damage the ship had received upon the rock. They found the people of this island of an amiable and obliging disposition, courteous in their manners, and honest in their dealings. They are finely proportioned, tall of stature, and of comely features, The men, in general, go naked; but the women cover themselves from the waist downwards, are modest, yet not insensible of love and pleasure. They found the island abounding with every necessary, and not a few of the comforts of life.
Having repaired the ship and refreshed the men, they continued their course without any material occurrence till the 11th of March, when they came to anchor before the island of Java, and sending to the King a present of cloth and silks, received from him in return a present supply of refreshments; and on the day following Drake went himself on shore, and entertained the King with music, and obtained leave to store his ship with provisions. This island was governed by a great number of petty Kings or Rayas, subordinate to one Chief. Of these princes three came on board together a few days after their arrival, and having, upon their return, recounted the wonders they had seen, and the civilities with which they had been treated, incited others to satisfy their curiosity in the same manner; and Raya Denan, the chief King, came himself to view the ship, with the warlike armaments and instruments of navigation. This intercourse of civilities somewhat retarded the business for which they came; but, at length, they not only victualled their ship, but payed the bottom, which was the more necessary frequently to be repeated, as, at that time, sheathing of ships was not in practice.
The Javans were at this time a warlike people, well armed, with swords, targets, and daggers, forged by themselves, and exquisitely wrought. They were sociable, full of vivacity, and beyond description happy. They were likewise hospitable to strangers, and not at all addicted to thievery, the general characteristic of the islanders in the Pacific Sea.
From Java Drake intended to have visited the Malaccas, but his company became troublesome, being desirous of returning home. On this occasion he called to mind the speech of Master Fletcher, while they remained hopeless upon the rock, and, under pretence of his spiriting up the people to oppose him, he caused him, says my author,
"to be made fast by one of his legs with a chain, and a staple knocked fast into the hatches, in the forecastle of the ship. He called all the company together, and then put a lock about one of his legs; and Drake, sitting cross-legged on a chest, and a pair of pantofles in his hand, he said, Francis Fletcher, I do here excommunicate thee out of the Church of God, and from all the benefits and graces thereof, and I renounce thee to the devil and all his angels; and then he charged him, upon pain of death, not once to come before the must; for, if he did, he swore he should be hanged, and Drake caused a posey to be written, and bound about Fletcher's arm, with charge, that if he took it off he should then be hanged; the posey was, FRANCIS FLETCHER, THE FALSEST KNAVE THAT LIVETH."
It does not, however, appear how long he was obliged to wear this posey, as it is called. But Drake was obliged to alter his resolution, and comply with the company's desires.
On the 25th of March, 1580, he, therefore, took his departure, and, on the 15th of June, they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, having then on board his ship fifty-seven men, and but three casks of water.
On the 12th of July they passed the Line, reached the coast of Guinea on the 16th, and on July the 22d arrived at Sierra Leona, after a most delightful passage, in which they discovered how much the Portuguse had abused the world in their false representations of the horrors and dangers that attended the navigation round the Cape. At Sierra Leona they staid two days to refresh the men, and, having furnished themselves with wood and water for the remainder of the voyage, they set sail for England in high expectation of enjoying in their own country the spoils they had taken from the Spaniards.
On the 11th of September they made the island of Ferara, and, on the third of November, they entered the harbour of Plymouth. in this voyage Drake surrounded the world, which no Commander in Chief had ever done before; and what, at that time appeared a thing extraordinary, by steering a western course they had lost a day in their account.
Their success in this voyage, and the immense wealth
Lopez Vaz, a Spanish writer, says, that Drake carried from the coast of Peru, 866,000 pezoes of silver, equal to 866 quintals, equal to 100 pound weight each quintal, amounting to 1,139,200 ducats. He also carried away 100,000 pezoes of gold, equal to 10 quintals, each quintal value: at 1500 Spanish ducats; and all this over and above the treasure in the ship, which was not entered, consisting of gold, silver, pearls, precious stones, coined money, and other things of great value. He also rifled the ships from the Philippines, laden with spices, silks, velvets, and other rich merchandize, the value not known.—By the above account, the silver only, at 5 s. per oz. amounts to 259,800l. and the gold to 48,000l. sterl. But we have seen a manuscript that makes the value of the whole cargo brought home by the Golden Hnrd (for that was the name that Drake chose his ship, the Pelican, should be known by) amount to 800,000l. though that which was divided among the crew was only 80,000l.
reasonable then to conclude, that the Queen
a considerable share of the remainder?
they brought home, raised much discourse throughout the kingdom; some highly commending, and some as loudly decrying the principles upon which it was acquired. The former alledged, that this enterprize was not only honourable to the Commander who conducted, and the crew who assisted in the performance of it, but to their country; that it would establish our reputation for maritime skill in foreign nations, and raise a laudable spirit of emulation at home; and that, as to the money, our merchants having suffered deeply by the treachery and villainy of the Spaniards in the new discovered country, there was nothing more just than that the nation should receive an equivalent by the reprisals which Drake and his company, at the hazard of their lives, had bravely extorted.
The other party argued, that Drake, in fact, was no better than a pirate; that, of all others, it least became a trading nation to countenance such depredations; that the expedition was not only a breach of all our treaties with Spain, but likewise of our old leagues with the House of Burgundy; and that the consequences would infallibly involve the Queen in a war, by which the nation would suffer infinitely more than the riches acquired by a single ship could counter-balance.
These were the sentiments, and these the speculations with which the different parties amused themselves for some time after the arrival of Drake in his native country. At length, the approbation of the Queen determined the dispute; for all acquiesced in the wisdom of their Sovereign.
On the 4th of April, 1581, her Majesty went to Deptford, and dined on board the ship in which so many Kings had been entertained before; and, after dinner, she conferred the honour of knighthood on her Commander; an honour not to be obtained in those days on trivial occasions, but as a reward for signal services. This mark of distinction was a full declaration of her Majesty's approbation, silenced Drake's enemies, and gave joy to his friends. She likewise gave directions for the preservation of the ship, that it might remain a monument of his own and his country's glory.
What contributed the more to render the fame of Drake illustrious, was the frequent attempts that had been made by navigators, the most renowned in their time, to atchieve the same; but without success. In 1527 the Spaniards sent Gracca de Loaisa, a Knight of Malta, with a squadron of seven ships to follow the rout of Magellan, who, though his ship returned to Spain, yet he himself lost his life, before he arrived at the Malaccas, the promised islands. Loaisa passed the straits, indeed, lost some of his ships in the South Seas, others put into the ports of New Spain, and only his own vessel and one more reached the East Indies, where himself and all his people perished.
In 1526, the Genoese sent two ships to pass the straits, of which one was cast away, and the other returned home without effecting any thing.
Sebastian Cabot, in the service of the crown of Portugal, made the like trial; but, not being able to find the straits, returned into the river of Plate.
Americus Vespusius, a Florentine, from whom the new world received its name, undertook to perform, in the service of the crown of Portugal, what Cabot had promised without effect; but that vain man was still more unfortunate; for he could neither find the straits, nor the river of Plate.
Some years after this, the Spaniards equipped a stout squadron, under the command of Simon de Alcasara; but, before they reached the height of the straits, the crews mutinied, and obliged their Commander to return.
Such repeated miscarriages, discouraged even the ablest and boldest seamen; so that from this time both Spaniards and others dropped all thoughts of emulating Magellan, till Drake conceiving his designs, as has already been said, concealed it in his breast till ripe for execution.
Being now advanced to eminence, in 1585 he was employed in the Queen's service, and sent on an expedition to the West Indies as Commander in Chief; and having under him Captain Martin Forbisher, Captain Knollys, and other experienced Officers of the royal navy, he took St. Jago, St. Domingo, Carthagena, and St. Augustin. He returned elated with his success; but, as my author says, not much enriched by the plunder.
In 1587, he was again employed in an expedition to Lisbon, in which Captain Forbisher also bore a part. Here they gained intelligence that a considerable fleet was assembled in the bay of Cadiz, with a view to the forming an armament for the invasion of England; he immediately repaired to their place of rendezvouz, and fell upon them at unawares; and, as it is said, burnt 10,000 tons of shipping, with all the stores which they were amassing for the intended invasion.
In their return they fell in with a carrack from the East Indies, richly laden, of which they likewise got intelligence in the port of Lisbon. This was the St. Philip, of which Linschoten gives the following account, when this Dutchman was at Goa, the chief settlement of the Portuguese in the East Indies:
"There came in, he says, from the island of Japan certain Jesuits, and with them three Princes, being the children of so many Kings of that country, wholly apparelled like Jesuits, not one of them above the age of 15 years, being minded by the persuasion of the Jesuits to visit Portingall, and from thence to go to Rome to see the Pope, thereby to procure great profit, privileges, and liberties for the missionaries in that island.
"In 1584, they set sail for Portingallo, and from thence travelled into Spain, where, by the King and all the Spanish nobility, they were with honour received, and presented with many gifts, which the Jesuits kept for themselves.
"Out of Spain, they rode to see the Pope; that done, they travelled throughout Italy, where they were much honoured, and presented with many rich presents, by means of the great report the Jesuits made of them.
"To conclude, they returned to Madrid, where with great honour they took their leave of the King, who furnished them with letters of recommendation to the Viceroy, and all the Portingall Governors of India; so they went to Lisbon, and there took shipping in 1586, and came to Goa in the ship called St. Philip, which ship, in her return to Portingall, was taken by Captain Drake, being the first that was taken coming from the East Indies; which the Portugueze took for an evil sign, because the ship bore the King's own name;" both Spain and Portugal being at that time governed by the same sovereign.
"When the Princes and Jesuits of Japan arrived at Goa on their return from Europe, they were received, adds Linschoten, with great rejoicings; for it was verily thought they had all been dead. On their landing they were all three apparelled in cloth of gold and silver after the Italian manner, being the same the Italian noblemen and gentlemen had given them. They came to Goa very lively and in high spirits; and the Jesuits were not a little proud, that through their means the voyage had heen successfully performed. In Goa they staid till the monsoon or time of the winds setting in to sail for China, and thence to Japan, where, with great triumph and wondering of all the people, they were received and welcomed home, to the great furtherance of the Jesuits."
The St. Philip, in her voyage to Goa, had been driven by stress of weather into Masambique, where she met with the St. Laurence, homeward bound, that had likewise been driven into the same port disabled, having lost her masts, and received other considerable damage, by which she was rendered unserviceable. The St. Philip, therefore, as soon as she had landed her passengers at Goa, returned to Masambique, and took in the lading of the St. Laurence, which enabled her to make her voyage to Europe about the usual time; a circumstance fortunate for Drake, as it increased both his fame and his fortune.
In 1588, Drake was appointed Vice-Admiral under Charles Lord Effingham Howard, High-Admiral of England, to oppose the formidable armada that had for three years before been secretly preparing in Spain for the invasion of England. In Drake's letter to Lord Treasurer Burleigh, acquainting him with the approach of the Spaniards, he concludes with this elegant compliment to his superior:
"That, though the strength of the enemy out went report, yet the chearfulness and courage which the Lord Admiral expressed, gave all who had the honour to serve under him assurance of victory;"
a compliment which was the more admired in Drake, as in a former letter to the same Minister, in which he tells him of his gallant atchievement in the port of Cadiz,
"Not resting, said he, at Lisbon, we sailed so close to the Spanish King,
that we signed his beard
;"
a coarse metaphor, it must be owned, but strongly characteristic.
Drake's good fortune still accompanied him; for in the engagement which afterwards happened on the arrival of the armada, though he committed the greatest error that ever Commander was guilty of, by pursuing some hulks belonging to the Hans Towns for plunder, when he was entrusted to carry lights in the night for the direction of the English fleet, he misled the Admiral; yet he was the only Commander who profited most by the destruction of the enemy. Lord Howard, supposing the lights of the Spanish Admiral to be the lights which Drake was ordered to carry, was entangled in the very centre of the Spanish fleet, before he found his mistake; but, fortunately, night favouring his escape, he disengaged himself before he was discovered. This blunder was afterwards effaced by the gallant behaviour of Drake, than whom no man was ever bolder, or more determined. We do not, however, find his name among the Commanders whom the Lord High Admiral thought proper to thank for their services on that occasion. On the 2d of July, says Strype, Sir Francis, observing a large Spanish galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was the reputed projector of the invasion, floating at a distance from both fleets, sent his pinnace to summon the Captain to surrender, who at first vauntingly set him at defiance; but being told it was Drake that required him to yield, he immediately struck his colours, and, with 46 of his crew, came on board the conqueror. In this ship he found 50,000 ducats, with other effects to a much greater amount.
The next year he was appointed Admiral of a squadron sent to place Don Antonio on the throne of Portugual, to which that Prince pretended to have a right.
"But, says Rapin, (whose account of this expedition we shall follow) as the Queen was extremely frugal, and an undertaking against Spain could not but be very expensive, she so ordered it, that Drake and Norris took upon them to be at the charge, in hopes of making themselves amends by the booty they should meet with. So she only found them six ships of war, with a present of 60,000l. with leave to raise soldiers and sailors for the expedition. Drake had already tried the Spaniards in America and in the channel, and was convinced they were more formidable in common opinion than in reality; wherefore, joining with Sir John Norris, and some other private persons, they equipped a fleet, and embarked 11,000 soldiers and 1500 marines. The Hollanders having also added some ships, the fleet consisted, according to Stow, of 146 sail, transports and victuallers included. Drake commanded at sea, and Norris was General of the land forces. They took with them Don Antonio, who hoped by the assistance of the English, to be put in possession of his kingdom, where he pretended to have many friends.
"They sailed from Plymouth on the 18th of April, and soon after arrived at the Groyne, where landing their troops, they assaulted the lower town, and carried it by storm. Then they besieged the upper town. But Norris, having advice that the Conde di Andrada was approaching with a body of troops to relieve the place, suddenly raised the siege to march against him; and, overtaking him, slew 3000 of his men. This done, he burnt several villages; and, without returning to the siege, re-embarked his troops, their principal design being against Portugal.
"Whilst they were sailing towards the coasts of that kingdom, they were joined by the Earl of Essex, with some ships he had armed at his own charge, unknown to the Queen. Some days after, they arrived at Panicha, a little town in Portugal, and, taking it, restored it to Don Antonio; from thence Norris marched by land to Lisbon, Drake promising to follow with the fleet up the Yagus. The army marched 40 miles without opposition; and encamping before Lisbon, took the suburbs of St. Catharine: but, as Drake performed not his promise, and the army wanted cannon and ammunition, it was resolved in a council of war to retire. This resolution was taken, because there was no appearance that the Portuguese were inclined to revolt, as Don Antonio had expected; and also, because there was no news of the succours he had boasted of from the King of Morocco. The army marching towards the mouth of the Tagus, met Drake, who had taken the town of Cascaes, and excused himself upon the impossibility of performing his promise, Some days after, the castle of Cascaes surrendering, it was blown up; and, to make themselves amends for the charges of the expedition, the English seized sixty vessels laden with corn, and all manner of naval stores to equip a new fleet against England, belonging to the Hans Towns. Then they went and took Vigo, which was abandoned by the inhabitants; and, firing the town, returned to England. This expedition did some damage to the King of Spain, but was of no benefit to Elizabeth; and the booty was not sufficient to pay for equipping the fleet, though Camden says, they brought home 150 pieces of heavy cannon, and a great booty. Above six thousand men perished in this expedition by sickness."
The writers of Drake's life say, that Norris grievously reproached Drake with breach of his promise, and charged the miscarriage of the expedition to his timidity. Indeed, Drake's good genius seems now to have forsaken him; and happy, say the same writers, if, having received this first check at play, he had withdrawn his stake.
As the war with Spain continued, Hawkins and Drake, who, as it should seem, wanted to continue their old game, where the profits were more, and the danger less, united their interest to persuade the Queen and Council to undertake an effectual expedition to the West Indies, by which the nation might be enriched, and the enemy deprived of those resources by which they were enabled to carry on the war.
For this purpose they procured, according to Rapin, twenty-six of the queen's ships, the equipment of which, like the former, seems to have been supplied by private adventure; a practice at that time very common, where plunder was to be the reward. The preparations for this expedition, however, as it far exceeded all former enterprizes to the American Indies, could not be made so privately, or conducted so secretly, but that the Spaniards found means to discover both its strength and destination, and prepared themselves accordingly.
As the places that were to be attacked lay at a great distance, it was necessary to gain time, in order to fortify them. It was, therefore, found necessary to devise some expedient to prevent the sailing of that formidable armament, till every thing was in readiness to oppose it. Accordingly, it was given out, that a second invasion was intended against England; and when the Spanish fleet was ready to sail for America, that had been equipping under pretence of an invasion, a sham attack was made upon Cornwall, in order to spread an alarm, and give it countenance.
This had the desired effect. It was thought improper to part with so many stout ships while the nation was threatened; and the expedition was therefore retarded, till the panic had subsided.
It was therefore the 28th of August, in 1595, before the Commanders obtained permission to sail; and in the mean time the Queen having received advice that the plate fleet was safe arrived in Eorope, and that only one ship, which had sprung her mast, remained behind, her Majesty acquainted them with the intelligence, and advised them to attack Porto Rico, before they pursued their grand enterprize, by which they might make themselves masters of the galleon without losing much time in the conquest.
Sir Francis Drake, who was not formed to act in conjunct expeditions, had not been long at sea before he differed in opinion from his fellow Commander, and pursued a project totally different from the first object of the voyage, in which, however, he was seconded by Sir Thomas Baskerville, Commander of the land forces. This scheme was to attack the Canaries in the way to America; in which, however, they failed; and spending necessarily much time in the island of Dominica in landing and refreshing the men, who, being unused to long voyages in hot climates, were many of them unfit to proceed, the Spaniards had so effectually prepared themselves, that, when the Generals came to action, they found an opposition very different from what they expected; and were soon sensible, that what they had formerly effected by surprize with a handful of sailors, was not now to be accomplished with a whole army of disciplined troops.
In their course to Porto Rico, one of the sternmost ships of the English fleet fell into the hands of five Spanish frigates that had been sent from Spain to convoy home the galleon from that port. From this ship they gained the intelligence of the intended attack, the consequences of which being foreseen by Sir John Hawkins, it threw him into a sudden disorder, of which in a few days he died—some say, of a broken heart.
They were now, Nov. 12, 1595, before Porto, Rico, and the same Evening that Sir John Hawkins died, as the principal officers were at supper, a cannon-shot from the port pierced the cabin, killed Sir Nicholas Clifford, wounded Captain Stratford, mortally wounded Sir Brute Browne, and struck the stool from under Sir Francis Drake, as he was drinking success to the attack.
The next day, pursuant to a resolution of a council of war, a general attack was made upon the shipping in the harbour, but without effect. The Spaniards suffered much, but the English more; who, finding it impossible to make an impression upon the fortifications of the town, weighed anchor, and steered to Rio de la Hacha, set fire to the town and burned it to the ground: they likewise performed some other exploits of the like kind; but having landed the troops destined to cross the isthmus to attack Panama, after a fatiguing march in which they were great sufferers, they returned, without being able to reach the place. This disappointment materially affected Drake, who having, as he thought, provided a sufficient force to carry into execution the enterprize which he had well-nigh effected with a few sailors and Symerons some years before, could not bear the thought of surviving his disgrace.
"Now, says Fuller, began the discontent of Sir Francis Drake to feed upon him. He conceived, that expectation, a merciless usurer, computing each day since his departure, exacted an interest and return of honour and profit proportionable to his great preparations, and transcending his former atchievements. He saw that all the good which he had done in his voyage, consisted in the evil he had done the Spaniards afar off, whereof he could present but small visible fruits in England. These apprehensions, accompanying, if not causing, the disease of the flux, wrought his sudden death; and sickness did not so much untie his cloaths, as sorrow did rend at once the robe of his mortality asunder. He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it."
This account of the manner of Sir Francis Drake's death seems to be authentic, though some have not scrupled to insinuate, that sickness had no part in that catastrophe. Be that as it may, Fuller's reflections upon it deserve to be remembered.
"Thus, says he, we see how great spirits, having mounted to the highest pitch of performance, afterwards strain and break their credit in striving to go beyond it. Or, it may be, God oftentimes leaves the brightest men in an eclipse, to shew that they do but borrow their lustre from his reflection."
Thus we have endeavoured to trace the actions of this celebrated navigator from beginning to end. If we have withdrawn the veil, which has hitherto covered his infirmities, it has been in the pursuit of truth; not with a design to detract from his real merit, but to shew his character in the true light. In the current of success, crimes of the deepest die are sometimes even patronized by the public. The actions which gave rise to Drake's popularity, are such as a courageous leader, with an hundred armed followers, might in these peaceable times easily perform, by entering the cities or towns on the coast of Britain, in the dead of night, cutting the throats of the watch, and all who happen to be awake in the streets, breaking open and plundering houses, and churches, seizing every thing valuable that should fall into their hands, and before the people could recover from their consternation, making their escape with their booty. Were such a company masters of an armed vessel, if there were no ship of force to oppose them, what should hinder their sailing from place to place, and,
provided they could out-run report,
performing the like exploits in every town they came to? Would there be anything truly great in this? Or would the man who should undertake and execute an enterprize of such a horrid nature, be justly entitled to the name of Hero? If not, what shall we say of Drake's nocturnal enterprize on Nombre de Dios; of his way-laying the treasure in the road from Panama; of his ranging the unarmed coasts of Chili and Peru; and of his plundering villages, towns, and ships belonging to a peaceable unsuspecting people, with whom his nation was at peace, and from whom opposition was not to be dreaded? What, indeed, did the people at that time say? Those who were the sufferers cried out loudly against the plunderer; and Bernardine de Mendoza, the Spanish Ambassador at the court of Queen Elizabeth, insisted that he should be punished for his robberies, and that all the money and effects he had seized should be restored; but, if the Queen was a private adventurer, as, from Drake's declaration to his followers, and from other instances of the womanish littlenesses of that Princess, there is reason to suspect, What hope was there of justice or restitution from remonstrance? Indeed, it served that avaricious Queen for a pretence to sequester the treasure which Drake brought home, and to convert, it is probable, the greatest part of it to her own use; for, as we have already shewn from good authority in a note, though the whole booty was valued at 800,000 l. yet only 80,000 l. was divided among the plunderers; and Rapin tells us, that some part of the treasure was afterwards repaid by the Queen to Spain. If she had not retained enough in her hands, no one will suppose, that the Sovereign, who could cause the goods of her favourite Leicester to be set to public sale after his death, for the payment of money she had lent him, would have repaid to Spain from her own coffers the plunder that had been unjustly taken by one of her meaner subjects.
To dignify actions, therefore, of the most infamous piracy with the name of great, is to exalt vice, and to substitute successful villainy in the place of substantial virtue. If we view Drake in the light of a courageous plunderer, he may vie with the De la Poles, the Blackbeards, or any of those daring disturbers of the times in which they lived, who struck a panic wherever they roved to commit their ravages: but, consider him as a Commander, employed in the defence of his country, and we shall see nothing to admire, except his courage. In the first enterprize in which he was engaged, he was indeed successful. The Queen, suspecting an intention in Philip of Spain to revenge the injuries his subjects had received, pitched upon Drake, who had given the offence, as the fittest man to prevent the consequences. He, therefore, as he had done before, attacked the enemy by surprize, and set fire to a defenceless number of transports assembled in the harbour of Cadiz, without a ship of war to protect them, or a gun fired by way of opposition. The accident which afterwards threw the rich India ship in his way, on his return home, did him no honour as a Commander, though it gave him credit as a fortunate adventurer: nor did his behaviour in the Channel, when, instead of maintaining his post, he pursued the Hans merchant ships, add at all to his reputation as a Vice-Admiral. His American enterprize with Lord Carlisle was attended with no laurels; and the only two enterprizes in which he was employed in a joint command, he ruined by his perfidy and self-conceit.
It may, indeed, be urged in Drake's defence, that it was the policy of the Queen, his Sovereign, to countenance her subjects in distressing Spain, and in mortifying the haughty monarch who sat upon the throne; and that almost all the heroes of her active reign, acquired their glory by practices founded on the same prevailing principle.
This argument in his favour cannot be denied its due weight. The expeditions of Sir John Hawkins; of Sir Walter Raleigh; of Lord Carlisle; of Sir John Norris; of the earl of Essex; of Cavendish; and, indeed, of most others undertaken against Spain; were professedly with a view to plunder; and the charges of fitting them out were chiefly borne by those who were to be sharers in the booty: yet, surely, there is a material difference between the glory that is purchased by valour in the field, and fame that is acquired by compacts to surprize the innocent, and invade the property of the peaceable.
Having now seen Drake in two distinct points of view, as a leader of a company of plunderers, and as a Commander in the royal navy, let us do justice to his character by viewing him as a mariner, and in that light he will hardly have his equal. To project a voyage round the globe, and to conduct it without the assistance of a single mariner on board who had ever crossed the Line, Nuno da Silva, the Portuguese pilot, excepted, was, perhaps, one of the boldest exploits that ever man performed. His navigating his ships along the coast of Brazil; his carrying them through the straits of Magellan in a shorter time than any mariner has ever done since; his keeping the sea in a storm for thirty days together in a small vessel; his skill in navigating the coasts of Chili, Peru, and New Spain, where no English ship had ever sailed; his accuracy in discovering the track of the Spanish ship from the East Indies, and his consummate sagacity in pursuing a new course home to avoid pursuers; cannot be enough admired or applauded. His knowledge of the globe is manifest from the first attempt he made to return home by a northern passage; a passage which he knew would not only secure him from the danger of pursuers, but, were it practicable, would open a free intercourse between his nation and the rich inhabitants of that opulent country in which he was then situated. Finding himself, however, disappointed in this design, how great was his sagacity in the discovery of an unknown country, wherein to repair his ship, refresh his followers, take in wood and water, and to supply himself with every necessary for the vast voyage by sea he was to encounter; and yet, such was his knowledge in making provision against every contingency that might happen, that he lost but one man by sickness during the long run from the coast of New Spain to the Ladrones, in which Commodore Anson lost near half his crew. Nor is his skill less to be admired in his return from the Ladrones, the most dangerous navigation of any part of the known world; for, except the accident upon the rock, as has already been related, he sailed from the Ladrones to Java unembarrassed; from Java to Sierra Leona, on the coast of Africa, without touching at any port, or encountering any difficulty, save from a scarcity of water; a thing hardly to be credited, and which was never performed by any mariner before his time, or since.
THE VOYAGES OF CAPT. THOMAS CAVENDISH, THE SECOND ENGLISH NAVIGATOR WHO SAILED ROUND THE WORLD.
THIS Gentleman was descended from an antient family in Suffolk, whose ancestors came into England with William the Conqueror. His father, William Cavendish, of Trimley St. Martin, near Ipswich, dying young, left his son Thomas a minor, and heir to the manors of Trimley, Stratton, and Grimston, with other lands of inheritance to a very considerable amount: but this youth, whose atchievements we are about to relate, being of a high spirited disposition, and, as soon as he came of age, subject to no controul, fell early into the fashionable gallantries and vices of the times, and dissipated the best part of his ample fortune before he entertained any thoughts of applying to business, or, perhaps, was sensible how deeply his affairs were embarrassed.
But he no sooner began to reflect, and to perceive, that, without application to some kind of employment, he must be undone, than he made choice of a sea-faring life, not only as most suitable to his unsettled turn of mind, but also as the most likely means of restoring his fortune, and establishing his credit.
The kingdom was now involved in war with the Spaniards, the then most powerful, and consequently the haughtiest and most formidable people in Europe, who, drawing immense riches from their new acquisitions in America, not only raised the envy but the enmity of other powers, by their pride and their perfidy.
Gentlemen of fortune, and gentlemen of no fortune, were about this time equally encouraged to distress the enemy. The war laid open an immense field for enterprize; and every one was at liberty to share the harvest, who was willing to bestow the pains of gathering the produce and bringing it home.
Among the most active and the most indefatigable was Sir Walter Raleigh, who not only was the most experienced, but the most successful leader of his time. With him our adventurer first determined to embark; and, as Sir Walter had just projected a new Voyage to America at his own charge, he was ready enough to admit associates, who were able and willing to bear a part of the expence. Unfortunately for our new adventurer, all the advantage he derived from this project was only in the knowledge he obtained of sea affairs, and of the temper and genius of the people with whom he had to deal; for the profits that accrued from the voyage by no means answered the sums employed in pursuing it. He observed, that, by means of their great riches, the Spaniards could command intelligence of all that was in agitation against them on this side the globe; but that, if they were to be taken off their guard, the southern hemisphere must be the place of action. He had already an example, in Sir Francis Drake, of the immense wealth that was to be acquired on the coast of Peru, if secrecy could be preserved, and he determined to be upon his guard, and to keep his design solely within his own breast.
With this view he sold a part of the remains of his estate, and set about building two ships proper for his enterprize at Harwich, at that time an obscure port, namely, one called the
Desire,
of 120 tons; and another of 60, called the
Content
; to these he added the
Hugh Gallant,
a bark of 40 tons. In the equipment of this little squadron, he purchased many articles of commerce to cover his design, and then privately laid in guns, ammunition and stores, with a moderate quantity of provisions, intending to purchase the rest at some other convenient port, when he was just ready to depart.
He likewise enlisted but half his complement of men; and when he arrived at Plymouth he supplied the rest. In the whole conduct of what has been already related, he was his own sole director, and none of those who sailed with him knew whither he was bound, till after their embarkation at Plymouth. It is even uncertain whether Lord Hounsdon, who procured his commission, knew the place of his destination.
An enterprize so well concerted cannot fail to excite curiosity; and as it was excellently written by Mr. Pretty, brother to Sir William, who accompanied Cavendish throughout the voyage, it will best appear in its ancient dress.
"We departed, says Mr. Pretty, out of Plymouth on Thursday the 21st of July, 1586, with three sails (to wit, the Desire, a ship of 120 tons, the Content of 60 tons, and the Hugh Gallant, a bark of 40 tons); in which small fleet were 123 persons of all sorts, with all kind of furniture, and victuals sufficient for the space of two years. On Tuesday the 26th of the same month, we were forty-five leagues from Cape Finis Terrae, where we met with five sails of Biscayers, coming from the Grand Bay in Newfoundland, as we supposed, which our Admiral shot at, and fought with them three hours; but we took none of them, by reason the night grew on.
The 1st of August we came in sight of Fort Ventura, one of the isles of the Canaries, about ten o'clock in the morning.
On Sunday, being the 7th of August, we were gotten as high as Rio del Oro, on the coast of Barbary.
On Monday the 19th, we fell in with Cape Blanco, but the wind blew so much at the North, that we could not get up where the Canters do use to ride and fish; therefore we lay off six hours west-south-west, because of the sand which lieth off the Cape south-west and by south.
The 15th day of the same month we were in the height of Cape Verd, by estimation fifty leagues off the same. The 18th, Sierra Leona did bear east of us, being forty leagues from us; and the same day the wind shifted to the north-west; so that, by the 20th day of the said month, we were in six degrees thirty minutes to the northward of the Equinoctial Line.
The 23d, we set sail for Sierra Leona, and on the 25th day we fell in with the point on the south side of Sierra Leona, which Mr. Brewer knew very well, and went in before with the Content, which was Vice-admiral: and we had no less than five fathoms water when we had least, and had, for fourteen leagues in south-west, all the way running into the harbour of Sierra Leona, sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten, and eight fathoms of water.
The 26th of the said month, we put into the harbour; and, in going in, we had by the southmost point at least five fathoms water by the rock, which lieth at the said point: and after we came within two or three cables length of the said rock, we never had less than ten fathoms water until we came up to the road, which is about a league from the point, bordering always on the south-side until you come up to the watering-place, in which bay is the best road: but you must ride far into the bay, because there runs prodigious great tides in the offing, and it commonly floweth into the road at a south-east and by east moon.
It is from England to this place 930 leagues; which we ran from the 21st of July to the 26th of this month of August. On Saturday, being the 27th day, there came two negroes from the shore aboard our Admiral, and made signs unto our General that there was a Portuguese ship within the harbour; so the Hugh Gallant, being the Rear-admiral, went up three or four leagues, but, for want of a pilot, they went no farther, for the harbour runneth up three or four leagues more, and is of a prodigious breadth, and very dangerous, as we were afterwards informed by a Portuguese.
On Sunday the 28th, the General sent some of his company on shore, and there, as they played and danced all the forenoon among the negroes, to the end that they might hear some good news of the Portuguese ship, and as they were returning to go on board, they spied a Portuguese, which lay hid among the bushes, whom we took and brought away with us the same night: and he told us it was very dangerous going up with our boats in search of the ship that was at the town. Wherupon we went not to seek her, because we knew he told us the truth; for we bound him and made him fast, and so examined him. He told us also, that his ship was there cast away, and that there were two more of his company among the negroes. The Portuguese's name was Emmanuel, and was by his occupation a chalker, belonging to the port of Portugal.
On Monday morning, being the 29th day, our General landed with 70 men, or thereabouts, and went up to their town, where we burnt two or three houses, and took what spoil we could, which was but little; but all the people fled: and, in our retiring on board, in a very little plain, at their town's end, they shot their arrows at us out of the woods, and hurt three or four of our men. Their arrows were poisoned; but yet none of our men miscarried at that time. Their town is very artificially built with mud walls; their houses built round, with their yards paled in, and kept very clean, as are their streets. These negroes used great obedience to their king, as one of our men said, which was an hostage for the negroes which came first. There were in their town, by estimation, about one hundred houses.
The first of September, there went many of our men on shore at the watering-place, and did wash shirts very quietly all the day. And the second day they went again, and the negroes were in ambush round about the place; and the carpenter of the Admiral going into the wood, to do some special business, espied them by good fortune. But the negroes rushed out upon our men so suddenly, that, in retiring to our boats, many of them were hurt; among whom Wm. Pickman, a soldier, was shot in the thigh; who, plucking the arrow out, broke it, and left the head behind; and he told the chirurgeons that he plucked out all the arrow, because he would not have them lance his thigh: whereupon the poison wrought so that night, that he was prodigiously swolen, and the next morning he died; the piece of the arrow with the poison being afterwards plucked out of his thigh.
The 3d day of the said month, divers of our fleet went up four miles within the harbour with our boat, and caught great store of fish, and went on shore, and took lemons from the trees; and, coming on board again, saw two buffaloes.
The 6th day we departed from Sierra Leona, and went out of the harbour, and staid one tide three leagues from the point of the mouth of the harbour, in six fathoms, and it flowed south-south-west.
On Wednesday, being the 7th of the same month, we departed for one of the isles of Cape Verd, which is ten leagues distant from the point of Sierra Leona; and about five o'clock the same night we anchored about two miles off the island, in six fathoms water, and landed the same night, and found plantains only upon the island.
The 8th day, one of our boats went out, and sounded about the island, and they passed through a Sound at the west end of the island, where they found five fathoms water round about the island, until they came to the very gut of the Sound, and then for a cast or two they had but two fathoms water, and presently after six fathoms, and so deeper and deeper. And, at the east end of the island, there was a town where negroes resorted at some times, as we perceived by their provision.
There is no fresh water on all the south-side that we could perceive; but, on the north-side, three or four very good places of fresh water: and all the whole island is a wood, save certain little places where the houses stand, which are environed round about with plantain trees, whereof the fruit is excellent meat. This place is subject very much to thunder, rain, and lightning, in this month: I think the reason is, because the sun is near the Line Equinoctial. On Saturday the 10th, we departed from the said island about three o'clock in the afternoon, the wind being at the south-west.
The last of October, running west-south-west, about twenty-four leagues from Cape Frio in Brazil, we fell in with a great mountain, which had an high round knob on the top of it, standing like a tower.
The first of November, we went in between the island of St. Sebastian and the main land, carried several things on shore, set up a forge, and had our casks on shore; our cooper made hoops; and so we remained there until the 23d day of the same month; in which time we fitted our things, built our pinnace, and filled our fresh water. And while our pinnace was building, there came a canoe from the river of Janeiro, meaning to go to St. Vincent, wherein were six naked slaves of the country, which did row the canoe, and one Portuguese; and the Portuguese knew Christopher Hare, Master of the Admiral; for that Mr. Hare had been at St. Vincent, in the Minion of London, in the year 1581: and, thinking to have John Whithal, the Englishman, which dwelleth at St. Vincent, come unto us, which is twenty leagues from this harbour, with some others, thereby to have had some fresh victuals, we suffered the Portuguese to go with a letter unto him, who promised to return, or send some answer within ten days, for that we told him we were merchants, and would traffic with them; but we never received any answer from him; and seeing that he came not according to appointment, our business being dispatched, we weighed anchor, and set sail from St. Sebastian on the 23d of November.
The 16th day of December we fell in with the coast of America, in 47 deg. and 20 min. the land bearing west from us about six leagues off; from which place we ran along the shore until we came into 48 deg. It is a steep beach all along.
The 17th of December, in the afternoon, we entered into an harbour, where our Admiral went in first; wherefore our General named the said harbour Port Desire; in which harbour is an island or two, where there is a wonderful great store of seals, and another island of birds, called grey gulls. These seals are of a wonderful bigness, huge and monstrous of shape; and, for the fore part of their bodies, cannot be compared to any thing better than to a lion: their head, neck, and fore-part of their bodies, are full of rough hair; their feet are in the manner of a fin, and in form like unto a man's hand; they breed and cast every month, giving their young milk, yet continually get they their living in the sea, and live altogether upon fish: their young are extraordinary good meat; and being boiled or roasted, are hardly to be known from lamb or mutton. The old ones are of such bigness and force, that it is as much as four men are able to do to kill one of them with great staves; and he must be beaten down with striking on the head of him; for his body is of that bigness, that four men could never kill him, but only on the head; for being shot through the body with an harquebuss, or a musket, yet he will go his way into the sea, and never care for it at the present. Also the fowls that were there were very good meat, and great plenty of them; they have burrows in the ground like conies, for they cannot fly; they have nothing but down upon their pinions; they also fish and feed in the sea for their living, and breed on shore.
This harbour is a very good place to trim ships in, and to bring them on ground and grave them in, for there ebbeth and floweth much water; therefore we graved and trimmed all our ships there.
The 24th of December, being Christmas-eve, a man and a boy of the Rear-admiral went some forty scores from our ships, unto a very fair green valley at the foot of a mountain, where was a little pit or well which our men had digged and made some two or three days before, to get fresh water; for there was none in all the harbour; and this was but brackish; therefore this man and boy went thither to wash their linen; and being in washing at the said well, there were great numbers of Indians which were come down, and found the said man and boy in washing. These Indians being divided on each side of the rocks, shot at them with their arrows, and hurt them both; but they fled presently, being about fifty or threescore, though our General followed them but with sixteen or twenty men. The man was shot quite through the knee, the boy into the shoulder; either of them having very sore wounds. Their arrows are made of little canes, and their heads are of a flint stone, set into the cane very artificially. They are as wild as ever was a buck, or any other wild beast; for we followed them, and they ran from us as we had been the wildest things in the world. We took the measure of one of their feet, and it was eighteen inches long. Their custom is, when any of them die, to bring him or them to the cliffs by the sea-side, and upon the top of them they bury them; and in their graves are buried with them their bows and arrows, and all their jewels which they had in their life-time, which are fine shells that they find by the sea-side, which they cut and square after an artificial manner; and all are laid under their heads. The grave is made with large stones of great length and bigness, being set all along full of the dead man's darts, which he used when he was living. And they colour both their darts and their graves of a red colour, which they use in colouring themselves.
The 28th of December, we departed out of the port of Desire, and went to an island which lieth three leagues to the southward of it; where we trimmed our saved penguins with salt, for victuals, all that and the next day, and departed along the coast south-west and by-south.
The 31st we fell in with a rock, which lieth about five leagues from the land, much like unto Edistone, which lieth off the sound of Plymouth; and we sounded, and had eight fathoms rocky ground, within a mile thereof; the rock bearing west-south-west. We went coasting along south-south-west, and found great store of seals. This rock standeth in 48 deg. 30 min. to the southward of the Line.
The 2d day of January, we fell in with a very fair white cape, which standeth in 51 degrees, and had seven fathoms water a league off the land.
The 3d, we fell in with another great white cape, which standeth in 52 deg. 45 min. from which cape there runneth a low beach about a league to the southward; and this beach reacheth to the opening of the dangerous strait of Magellan, which is in divers places five or six leagues wide, and in two several places more narrow. Under this cape we anchored, and lost an anchor; for it was a great storm, and lasted three days very dangerous.
The 6th day we put in for the straits.
The 7th day, between the mouth of the straits and the narrowest place thereof we took a Spaniard, whose name was Hernando, who was there with 23 Spaniards more, which were all that remained of four hundred left there three years before, all the rest being dead with famine. And the same day we passed through the narrowest of the straits, where the aforesaid Spaniard shewed us the hull of a small bark, which we judged to be a bark called the John Thomas, one of Drake's fleet. It is from the mouth of the straits unto the narrowest of the straits fourteen leagues, and the course lieth west and by-north. The mouth of the straits lieth in 52 degrees.
From the narrowest of the straits unto Penguin island is ten leagues, and lieth west-south-west, somewhat to the southward, where we anchored the 8th day, and killed and salted plenty of penguins for victuals.
The 9th day we departed from Penguin island, and ran south-south-west to King Philip's city, which the Spaniards had built; which town or city had four forts, and every fort had in it one cast piece, which pieces were buried in the ground; the carriages were standing in their places unburied; we digged for them and had them all. They had contrived their city very well, and seated it in the best place of the straits for wood and water: they had built up their churches by themselves: they had laws very severe among them, for they had erected a gibbet, whereon they had done execution on some of their company. It seemed unto us, that their whole living for a great space was altogether upon muscles and limpets; for there was not any thing else to be had, except some deer which came out of the mountains down to the fresh rivers to drink. These Spaniards came to fortify the straits, to the end that no nation should have passage through into the South Sea, saving their own only: but, as it appeared, it was not God's will so to have it; for during the time that they were there, which was two years at the least, they could never have any thing to grow, or in any ways prosper; and, on the other side, the Indians often preyed upon them, until their victuals grew so short, (their store being spent which they had brought with them out of Spain, and having no means to renew the same) that they died like dogs in their houses, and in their clothes, wherein we found some of them still at our coming, until that in the end the town being wonderfully tainted with the smell and favour of the dead people, the rest which remained alive were driven to bury such things as they had there in their town, and so to forsake the town, and to go along the sea-side to seek their victuals to preserve them from starving, taking nothing with them, but every man his harquebuss, and his furniture, that was able to do it (for some of them were not able to carry them for weakness), and so lived, for the space of a year and more, on roots, leaves, and sometimes a fowl which they might kill with their piece. To conclude, they set forwards, determined to travel towards the river of Plate, there being only twenty-three persons left alive, whereof two were women, which were the remainder of four hundred. In this place we watered and wooded well and quietly. Our General named this town Port Famine: it standeth in 53 degrees by observation to the southward.
The 14th day we departed from this place, and ran south south-west, and from thence south-west: unto Cape Froward, five leagues west-south-west, which cape is the southermost part of all the straits, and standeth in the latitude of 54 degrees. From which cape we ran west and by north five leagues, and put into a bay or cove on the south-side, which we called Muscle-cove, because there was great plenty of them: we rode therein six days, the wind being still westerly.
The 21st day of January we departed from Muscle-cove, and went north-west and by-west ten leagues, to a very fair sandy bay on the north-side, which our General called Elizabeth-bay: and, as we rode there that night, one of our men died which went in the Hugh Gallant, whose name was Grey, a carpenter by his occupation, and was buried there in that bay.
The 22d we departed from Elizabeth-bay in the afternoon, and went about two leagues from that place, where there was a fresh water river, up which our General went with the ship's boat about three miles; which river hath very good and pleasant ground about it. It is low and champaign soil, and we saw no other ground in all the straits, but what was craggy rocks, and monstrous high hills and mountains. In this river are a great many savages, which we saw, and had conference with them. They were men-eaters, and fed altogether upon raw flesh, and other filthy food: which people had lately preyed upon some of the Spaniards before spoken of; for they had gotten knives, and some pieces of rapiers to make darts of. They used all the means they could possibly to have enticed us farther up the river, on purpose to have betrayed us; which being perceived by our General, he caused us to shoot at them with our harquebusses, whereby we killed many of them. So we sailed from this river, to the channel of St. Jerome, which is two leagues off.
From the river of St. Jerome, about three or four leagues, we ran west into a cape which is on the north-side; and from that cape unto the mouth of the straits the course lieth north-west and by-west, and north-west; between which place and the mouth of the straits, to the southward, we lay in harbour until the 23d of February, by reason of contrary winds; and most vile and foul weather, with such rain and violent stormy winds which came down from the mountains and high hills, that they hazarded the best cables and anchors that we had for to hold; which, if they had failed, we had been in great danger to have been cast away, or at least to have been famished: for, during this time, which was a full month, we fed almost altogether on muscles, limpets, and birds, or such as we could get on shore, seeking every day for them, as the fowls of the air do where they can find food in continual rainy weather.
There is, at every one or two miles end, an harbour on both sides of the land. And there are, between the river of St. Jerome and the mouth of the straits, going into the South Sea, about 34 leagues, by estimation; so that the whole length of the straits is about 90 leagues: and the mouth of the said straits standeth nearly in the same height that the entrance standeth in when we pass out of the North Sea, which is about 52 deg. and 40 min. to the southward of the Line.
The 24th day of February, we entered into the South Sea; and on the south side in going out of the straits is a fair high cape, with a low point adjoining to it; and on the north-side are four or five islands which lie six leagues off the main, and much broken and sunken ground about them. By noon, the same day, we had brought these islands east of us five leagues off; the wind being southerly.
The first of March, a storm took us at north, which night the ships lost the company of the Hugh Gallant, being in 49 degrees 30 min. and 45 leagues from land. This storm continued three or four days; and for that time we in the Hugh Gallant, being separated from the other two ships, looked every hour to sink, our bark was so leaky, and ourselves so fatigued and weakened with freeing it of water, that we slept not during three days and three nights.
The 15th of March, in the morning, the Hugh Gallant came in between the island of St. Mary and the Main, where she met with the Admiral and the Content, who had rid at the island of La Mocha two days, which island standeth in south latitude 38 deg. at which place some of our men went on shore with the Vice-Admiral's boat, where the Indians fought with them with their bows and arrows, and were very wary of their calivers. These Indians were enemies to the Spaniards, and belonged to a great place called Arauco, and took us for Spaniards, as we afterwards learned.
The above-mentioned place, Arauco, is very rich, and full of gold mines; and yet could it not be subdued at any time by the Spaniards; but they always returned with the greatest loss of men: for these Indians are quite desperate, and careless of their lives, living at their own liberty and freedom.
The 15th day aforesaid, in the afternoon, we weighed anchor, and ran under the west side of St. Mary's Island, where we rid very well in six fathoms water, and very fair ground, all that night.
The 16th day, our General went on shore himself, with 70 or 80 men, every one with his furniture. There came down to us certain Indians, with two which were the Chiefs of the island, to welcome us on shore, thinking we had been Spaniards, for it is subdued by them; who brought us up to a place where the Spaniards had erected a church, with crosses and altars in it; and there were about this church two or three store-houses, which were full of wheat and barley ready threshed, and made up in cades of straw, to the quantity of a bushel of corn in every cade. The wheat and barley was as fair, as clear, and every way as good as any we have in England. There were also the like cades full of potatoe-roots, which were very good to eat, ready made up in the store-houses, for the Spaniards when they should come for their tribute This island also yielded many sorts of fruits, hogs and hens. These Indians are held in such slavery by their masters, that they dare not eat a hen or hog themselves: but the Spaniards have made them all in that island christians. Thus we filled ourselves here with corn as much as we would have, and as many hogs as we had salt to sal
them with, and great plenty of hens, with
number of bags of potatoe-roots, and about 50
dried dog-fishes, and Guinea wheat, which is called maiz. And having taken as much as we would, yet we left a prodigious great store behind us. Our General had the two Chiefs of the island on board our ship, and provided great cheer for them, and made them merry with wine: and they, in the end, perceiving that we were not Spaniards, made signs, as near as our General could perceive, that, if we would go over unto the main land to Arauco, there was much gold; making us signs, that we should have great store of riches. But, because we could not understand them, our General made haste, and within two or three days we furnished ourselves, and departed.
The 18th day, in the morning, we departed from this place; and ran all that day north-north-east about ten leagues, and at night lay with a short sail off and on the coast.
The 19th, we ran in east-north-east with the land, and bore in with a place called the Conception, where we anchored under an island, and departed the next morning without going on land.
The 20th, we departed from the Conception, and went into a little bay, which was sandy, where we saw fresh water and cattle; but we staid not there.
The 30th day, we came into the bay of Quintero, which standeth in 33 deg. and 50 min.
The said day, presently after we were come to an anchor in the bay, there was a herdsman, that kept cattle, lying upon the point of the hill asleep; who, when he awaked, and had espied three ships which were come into the bay, before we could get on shore, he had mounted a horse which was feeding by, and rode his way as fast as ever he was able; and our General, with thirty shot with him, went on shore. He had not been on land an hour when there came three horsemen with bright swords towards us, so hard as they could ride, till within a quarter of a mile of us, and then stopt, and would come no nearer unto us: so our General sent unto them a couple of our men with their shot, and Hernando, who was the Spaniard that we had taken up at the mouth of the straits. But the Spaniards would not suffer our men to come near with their shot, but made signs that one of our men should come alone unto them: so the said Hernando, the Spaniard, went unto them, and our two men stood not far from them. They had some conference; and, in the end, Hernando came back from them, and told our General that he had parlied with them for some victuals, and they had promised as much as we would have. Our General sent him back again with another message, and another shot with him; and being come near unto them, they would not suffer any more than one to approach them: whereupon our men let the Spaniard go unto them alone; who being at some good distance from them, they staid but a small time together, before the said Hernando leaped up behind one of them, and rode away with them, notwithstanding the damnable oaths which he had made continually to our General, never to forsake him, but to die on his side before he would be false. Our General, seeing how he was dealt with, filled water all that day with good watch, and carried it on board: and night being come, he determined next day to send into the country to find their town, and to have taken the spoil of it, and to have fired it, if they could have found it.
The last of March, Captain Havers went up into the country, with 50 or 60 men, with their shot and furniture with them, and we travelled seven or eight miles into the land: and, as we were marching along, we espied a number of herds of cattle, of kine and bullocks, which were wonderfully wild: we saw also great plenty of horses, mares, and colts, which were very wild and unhandled: there is also great store of hares and conies, and plenty of partridges, and other wild fowls. The country is very fruitful, with fair fresh rivers all along, full of wild-fowl of all sorts. Having travelled so far, that we could go no farther for the monstrous high mountains, we rested ourselves at a very fair fresh river, running in and along fair low meadows, at the foot of the mountains, where every man drank of the river, and refreshed himself. Having so done, we returned to our ships, the likeliest way we thought their town would be; so we travelled all the day long, not seeing any man, but we met with many wild dogs; yet there were two hundred horsemen abroad that same day, by means of the Spaniard which they had taken from us the day before, who had told them that our force was but small, and that we were wonderfully weak; and, though they did espy us that day, yet durst they not give the onset upon us; for we marched along in array, and observed good order, whereby we seemed a greater number than we were, until we came unto our ships that night again.
The next day, being the first of April, 1587, our men went on shore to fill water at a pit which was a quarter of a mile from the waterside; and, being early hard at their business, were in no readiness: mean while, there came pouring down from the hills almost two hundred horsemen, and before our people could return to the rocks from the watering-place, twelve of them were cut off, part killed, and part taken prisoners; the rest were rescued by our soldiers who came from the rocks to meet with them; for though only fifteen of us had any weapons on shore, yet we made the enemy retire in the end, with the loss of twenty-four of their men, after we had skirmished with them an hour.
After the loss of these men, we rode at anchor, and watered in despite of them, with good watch and ward, until the 5th of the said month.
The 5th day, we departed out of this bay of Quintero; and off from the bay there lieth a little island, about a league distant, whereon there are great store of penguins, and other fowls, whereof we took to serve our turns, and sailed away north, and north-by-west; for so lieth the coast along this place.
The 15th, we came thwart of a place, which is called Morro-Moreno, which standeth in twenty-three degrees thirty minutes, and is an excellent good harbour: and there is an island which maketh it an harbour; for a ship may go in at either end of the island. Here we went with our General on shore, to the number of thirty men; and as soon as we had effected our landing, the Indians of the place came down from the rocks to meet us, with fresh-water and wood on their backs. They are in great awe of the Spaniards, and very simple people, living most savagely: for they brought us to their dwellings, about two miles from the harbour, where we saw their women and bedding, which is nothing but the skin of some beast laid upon the ground; and over them, instead of houses, is nothing but five or six sticks laid across, which stand upon forked sticks stuck in the ground, and a few boughs laid over them. Their diet is raw fish, which stinketh most vilely: and when any of them die, they bury their bows and arrows with them, and all that they have; for we opened one of their graves, and saw the order of them. Their canoes or boats are very artificially made of two skins resembling bladders, and are blown full at one end with quills: they have two of these bladders blown full, which are sewed together, and made fast with a sinew of some wild beast; which, when they are in the water, swell, so that they are as tight as may be. They go to sea in these boats, and catch plenty of fish, but they use it in a beastly manner.
On the 23d, in the morning, we took a small bark, which came out of Arica road, which we kept and called the George. The men forsook it, and went hastily away with their boat. Our Admiral's pinnace followed the boat, and the Hugh Gallant's boat took the bark: our Admiral's pinnace could not recover the boat before it got on shore, but went along into the road of Arica, and laid aboard a great ship of one hundred tons, riding in the road right before the town, but all the men and goods were gone out of her, only the bare ship was left alone. They made three or four very fair shots at the pinnace as she was coming in, but missed her very narrowly with a minion-shot which they had in the fort. Whereupon we came into the road with the Admiral and the Hugh Gallant: but the Content, which was the Vice-Admiral, was behind out of sight; by means whereof, and for want of her boat to land men withal, we landed not: otherwise, if we had been together, our General with the company would resolutely have landed to take the town, whatsoever should have come of it. The cause why the Content staid behind, was, that she had found, about fourteen leagues to the southward of Arica, in a place where the Spaniards had landed a whole ship's lading of botigas of wine of Castile, whereof the said Content took into her as many as she could conveniently carry, and came after us into the road of Arica the same day. By this time we perceived that the town had gathered all their power together, and also conveyed all their treasure away, and buried it, for they had heard of us. Now, because it was very populous with the aid of one or two neighbouring places, our General saw there was no landing without loss of many men; wherefore he gave over that enterprize. While we rode at anchor they shot at us, and our ships shot at them again for every shot two. Moreover, our pinnace went in close almost to the shore, and fetched out another bark which rode there, in despite of all their forts, though they shot still at the pinnace, which they could never hit. After these things our General sent a boat on shore with a flag of truce, to know if they would redeem their great ship or no: but they would not; for they had received special commandment from the Viceroy at Lima, not to buy any ship, or ransom any man, upon pain of death. Our General did this, in hopes to have redeemed some of our men, which were taken prisoners on shore by the horsemen at Quintero, otherwise he would have made them no offer of parley.
The 25th, riding still in the road, we spied a sail coming from the southward, and our General sent out his pinnace to meet her, with all our boats; but the town made such signs from the hill with fires and tokens out of the watch-house, that before our pinnace could get to them, they ran the bark on shore two miles to the southward of the town; but they had little leisure to carry any thing with them, but all the men escaped, among whom there were certain friars, for we saw them in their friar's weeds as they ran on shore. Many horsemen came from the town to rescue them and to carry them away, otherwise we had landed and taken or killed them: so we went on board the bark as she lay sunk, and fetched out the pillage; but there was nothing in it of any value: and we came on board our ships again the same night, and the next morning we set the great ship on fire in the road, and sunk one of the barks, carrying the other along with us, and so departed from thence, and went away north-west.
The 27th, we took a small bark which came from St. Jago; near unto Quintero, where we lost our men first. In this bark was one George, a Greek, an intelligent pilot for all the coast of Chili. They were sent to the city of Lima with letters of advice of us, and of the loss of our men: there were also in the said bark one Fleming and three Spaniards, and they were all sworn, and received the sacrament, before they came to sea, by three or four friars, that, if we should chance to meet them they should throw those letters overboard; which as we were giving them chace with our pinnace, before we could reach them, they had accordingly thrown away. Yet our General wrought so with them, that they did confess their errand; but he was fain to cause them to be tormented with their thumbs in a winch, and to repeat it several times with extreme pain: also he made the old Fleming believe that he would hang him, and the rope being about his neck, he was pulled up a little from the hatches; and yet he would not confess, chusing rather to die than he would be perjured.
The 3d of May, we came into a bay where are three little towns, which are called Paracca, Chincha, and Pisca; where some of us landed, and took certain houses wherein was bread, wine, figs, and hens: but the sea went so high that we could not land at the best of the towns, without sinking of our boats, and great hazard of us all. This place standeth in thirteen degrees and forty minutes to the southward of the Line.
The 5th of May, we departed from this harbour, leaving the Content, our Vice-Admiral, at the island of Seals, by which means at that time we lost her company.
The 9th, we gave chace to a sail, but we could not reach it.
The 10th day, the Hugh Gallant, in which bark I Francis Pretie was, lost company of our Admiral.
The 11th, we who were in the Hugh Gallant put into a bay which standeth in twelve degrees forty minutes, in which bay we found a river of fresh water about eight o'clock at night; and though we were but of small force, no more than one bark and eighteen men in it, yet we went on shore to fill water; where, having filled one boat's lading, while our crew were going on board, two or three of our company which were on shore, as they were going a little from the watering-place with their furniture about them, spied where there were four or five hundred bags of meal on an heap covered with a few reeds; so that night we filled water, and took as much meal as we thought good, which fell out well for us who were then lost, and stood in need of victuals: and, by break of day in the morning, we came on board, and there staid and rode until the afternoon; in which time the town, seeing us ride there still, brought down much cattle to the sea side to have enticed us to come on shore; but we saw their intent, and weighed anchor, and departed the 12th day.
The 13th day at night, we put into a bay which standeth in nine degrees twenty minutes, where we saw horsemen. And that night we landed, namely, Mr. Bruer, captain; myself; Arthur Warford; John Way, preacher; John Newman; Andrew Wight; William Gargefield; and Henry Hilliard; and we eight only, having every man his harquebuss and his furniture about him, marched three quarters of a mile along the sea-side, where we found a boat of five or six tons hauled up dry on the shore, about a cable's length from the water; and with extreme labour we launched the bark. When it was on float, Captain Bruer and I went in, while the rest were fetching their things; but suddenly it was ready to sink, and the Captain and I stood up to the knees, laving out the water with our targets; but it sunk down faster than we were able to free it, insomuch that in the end we had much ado to save ourselves from drowning. When we were out, we stood in great fear that our own boat, wherein we came on shore, was sunk; for we could no where see it. Howbeit, the Captain commanded them to keep it off for fear of the great surge that went by the shore, yet in the end we spied it, and went on board by two and two, and were forced to wade up to the arm-pits sixty paces into the sea, before we could get into the boat, by reason of the shoalness; and then departed the fourteenth day in the morning.
The 16th, we took with the Hugh Gallant, being but sixteen men of us in it, a large ship which came from Guaianil, which was called the Lewis, and was of the burthen of three hundred tons, having twenty-four men in it, wherein was a pilot, one Gonsalvo de Ribas, whom we carried along with us, and a negroe called Emmanuel. The ship was laden with nothing but timber and victuals, wherefore we left her seven or eight leagues from the land very leaky and ready to sink: we sunk her boat, and took away her foresail and some provisions.
The 17th of May, we met with our Admiral again, and all the rest of our fleet: they had taken two ships, the one laden with sugar, melasses, maize, skins, many packs of pintadoes, some marmalade, and a thousand hens. The other ship was laden with wheat-meal, and boxes of marmalade. One of these ships, which had the chief merchandize in it, was worth twenty thousand pounds, if it had been in England, or in any other part of Christendom, where we might have sold it. We filled all our ships with as much as we could of these goods; the rest we burnt and the ships also, and set the men and women that were not killed on shore.
The 20th day in the morning, we came into the road of Paita; and, being at an anchor, our General landed with sixty or seventy men, skirmished with some of the town, and drove them all to flight to the top of the hill which is over the town; except a few slaves and some others who were of the meaner sort, who were commanded by the Governor to stay below in the town at a place which was building for a fort, having with them a bloody ensign, being in number about an hundred men. Now, as we were rowing between the ships and the shore, our gunner shot off a great piece out of one of the barks, and the shot fell among them, and made them to fly from the fort, as fast as they could run; but, having got up upon the hill,
Cavendish plunders & burns Paita.
they, in their cum, shot among us with their small-shot. After we were landed, and had taken the town, we ran upon them and chaced them so fiercely for the space of an hour, that we drove them in the end away by force; and, being got up the hills, we found where they had hid what they had brought out of the town. We also found the quantity of twenty-five pounds weight of silver in pieces of eight, and abundance of houshold stuff, and storehouses full of all kinds of wares. But our General would not suffer the men to carry much cloth or apparel away, because they should not clog themselves with burdens; for he knew not whether our enemies were provided with fire-arms according to the number of their men, for they were five men to one of us, and we had an English mile and an half to our ships. Being come down in safety to the town, which was very well built, and kept very clean in every street, with a town-house or guildhall in the midst of it, and had to the number of two or three hundred houses at least in it; we set it on fire, and burnt it to the ground, and goods to the value of five or six thousand pounds. There was also a bark riding at anchor in the road, which we set on fire and departed, directing our course to the island of Puna.
The 25th of May, we arrived at the island of Puna, where is a very good harbour. There we found a great ship of 250 tons riding at anchor with all her furniture, which was ready to be hauled on ground, for there is a special good place for that purpose. We sunk it and went on shore, where the Lord of the island dwelt, who had a sumptuous dwelling, which was by the water side, exceedingly well contrived, with many very singular good rooms and chambers in it, and out of every chamber was framed a gallery, with a stately prospect towards the sea on one side, and into the island on the other side, with a magnificent hall below, and a very great storehouse at one end of the hall, which was filled with botigas of pitch and bast to make cables with; for the most part of the cables in the South Sea are made upon that island. This great Casique obliged all the Indians on the island to work and trudge for him: he is an Indian born, but is married to a beautiful woman who is a Spaniard, by reason of his pleasant habitation and his great wealth.
This Spanish woman, his wife, is honoured as a Queen in the island, and never walketh upon the ground on foot, but accounteth it too base a thing for her; but when her pleasure is to take the air, or to go abroad, she is always carried in a sedan upon four men's shoulders, with a veil or canopy over her, to shade her from the sun or the wind, having her gentlewoman still attending about her, with a great troop of the best men in the island with her. But both she and the lord of the island, with all the Indians in the town, were nearly fled out of the island before we could get to an anchor, by reason we were becalmed before we could get in, and were gone over unto the main land, having carried with them 100,000 crowns, which we knew by a Captain of the island, an Indian, whom we had taken at sea as we were coming into the road, being in a balsa or a canoe for a spy to see what we were.
The 27th, our General himself, with certain shot and some targetliers, went over to the main unto the place where this Indian Captain told us the Casique, who was Lord of all the island, was gone unto, and had carried all his treasure with him: but, at our coming to the place where we went to land, we found newly arrived there four or five great balsas laden with plantains, bags of meal, and many other kinds of victuals. Our General marvelled what they were, and what they meant, asking the Indian guide, and commanding him to speak the truth upon his life. Being then bound fast, he answered, being very much abashed, as well as our company were, that he neither knew from whence they should come, nor who they should be, for never a man was in either of the balsas; yet he had told our General before, that it was an easy matter to take the said Casique and all his treasure; and that, there were but three or four houses standing in a desart place, and no resistance; and that if he found it not so, he might hang him. Again being demanded to speak upon his life what he thought these balsas should be? he answered, that he could not say what they were, nor from whence they should come, except it was to carry sixty soldiers, who he did hear were to go to a place called Guaiaquil, which was about six leagues from the said island, where two or three of the King's ships were on the stocks in building, and where there were continually an hundred soldiers in garrison, who had heard of us, and had sent for sixty more, for fear of burning of the ships and town. Our General, not any whit discouraged, either at the sight of the balsas unlooked for, or at hearing of the sixty soldiers not until then spoken of, bravely animated his company to the exploit, went presently forward, being in the night in a most desart path through the woods, until he came to the place; where, as it seemed, they had kept watch either at the water-side, or at the houses, or at both, and were newly gone out of the houses, having so short warning that they left the meat both boiling and roasting at the fire, and were fled with their treasure with them, or else buried it where it could not be sound. Our company took hens, and such things as we thought good, and came away.
The 29th, our General went in the ship's boat unto a little island adjoining, whither the Casique, who was Lord of Rena, had caused all the hangings of his chambers, which were Cordovan leather, all gilded over, and painted very fair and rich, with all his houshold stuff, and all the ship's tackling which were riding in the road at our coming in, with great store of nails, spikes of iron, and very many other things, to be conveyed; all which we found, and brought away what our General thought requisite for the ships.
This island is very pleasant for all the delights of life, and fruitful; but there are no mines of gold or silver in it. There are, at least, 200 houses in the town about the Casique's palace, and as many in one or two towns more upon the island, which is almost as big as the Isle of Wight, in England. There is planted, on the one side of the Casique's house, a fair garden with all herbs growing in it, and at the lower end a well of fresh water, and round about it are trees set, whereon bombazine cotton groweth after this manner: The tops of the trees grow full of cods, out of which the cotton groweth, and in the cotton is a seed of the bigness of a pea, and in every cod there are seven or eight of these seeds; and if the cotton be not gathered when it is ripe, then these seeds fall from it and spring again.
There are also in this garden fig trees, which bear continually; also pompions, melons, cucumbers, raddishes, rosemary, and thyme, with many other herbs and roots. At the other end of the house there is also another orchard, where grow oranges, sweet and sour lemons, pomegranates, and limes, with divers other fruits. There is very good pasture ground in this island; and there are many horses, oxen, bullocks, sheep very fat and fair, a great many goats, which are very tame, and are used continually to be milked. They have also abundance of pigeons, turkies, and ducks of prodigious bigness.
There was also a very large and great church near to the Casique's house, whither he caused all the Indians in the island to come and hear mass, for he himself was made a christian when married to the Spanish woman before spoken of; and upon his conversion he caused the rest of his subjects to be christened. In this church was an high altar, with a crucifix, and five bells hanging in one end thereof. We burnt the church, and brought the bells away.
By this time we had hauled on ground our Admiral, and made her clean, burnt her keel, pitched and tarred her, and had hauled her on float again; and, in the mean time, kept watch in the great house both night and day.
The 2d of June, in the morning, by day-break, every one of the watch having gone abroad to seek provisions, some one way and some another, some for hens, some for sheep, some for goats; upon a sudden there came down upon us an hundred soldiers, with musquets, and an ensign, which were landed on the other side of the island that night, and all the Indians of the island along with them, every one with weapons, and their baggage after them; which happened by means of a negroe, whose name was Emmanuel, who fled from us at our first landing there. Thus, being taken at a disadvantage, we had the worst, for our company did not exceed sixteen or twenty, whereof they had slain one or two before they were come to the houses; yet we skirmished with them an hour and a half. At last, being greatly overcharged with multitudes, we were driven down from the hill to the water-side, and there we kept them in play a while, until in the end our halberdier, who had kept the way of the hill, and had slain a couple of them as he breathed himself, had an honourable death, for a shot struck him to the heart; who, feeling himself mortally wounded, cried to God for mercy, and fell down dead. But, soon after, the enemy was driven back from the bank side to the green; and, in the end, our boat came, and carried as many of our men as could go in her without hazard of sinking; but one of our men was shot through the head with his own piece, being a snap-hand, as he was getting into the boat. Four of us were left behind, which the boat could not carry, of whom myself was one, who had our shot ready, and retired into a cliff until the boat came again, which was presently after they had carried the rest on board. There were forty-six of the enemy slain by us, whereof they dragged some into bushes, and some into old houses, which we found afterwards. We lost only 12 of our men.
The same day we went on shore again with 70 men, and had a fresh skirmish with the enemy, and made them retire. This done, we set fire to the town, and burnt it to the ground; and, shortly after, made havock of their fields, orchards, and gardens, and burnt four great ships more, which were building on the stocks.
The 3d of June, the Content, which was our Vice-Admiral, was hauled on ground to grave at the same place, in spite of the Spaniards; and also our pinnace was new trimmed.
The 5th, we departed out of the road of Puna, where we remained eleven days, and turned up to a place which is called Rio Dolce, where we watered; at which place also we sunk our Rear-Admiral, called the Hugh Gallant, for want of men, being a bark of 40 tons.
The 10th, we set the Indians on shore, which we had taken before as we were coming into the road of Puna.
The 11th, we departed from Rio Dolce.
The 12th, we doubled the Equinoctial Line, and continued our course northwards all that month.
The 1st of July, we had sight of the coast of Nueva Espanna, being four leagues distant from land, in the latitude of 10 degrees to the northward of the Line.
The 9th, we took a new ship of 120 tons burthen, wherein was one Michael Sancius, whom our General took to serve his turn to water along the coast; for he was one of the best coasters in the South Sea. This Michael Sancius was a provincial born in Marseilles, and was the first man that told us news of the great ship called the Santa Anna, which we afterwards took coming from the Philippines.
There were six men more in this new ship. We took her sails, ropes, and fire-wood, to serve our turns, set her on fire, and kept the men.
The 10th, we took another bark, which was going with advice of us and our ships all along the coast, as Michael Sancius told us; but all company that were in the bark were fled on shore. Neither of these ships had any goods in them; for they came both from Sonsonate, in the province of Guatimala; the new ship, for fear we should have taken her in the road; and the bark, to carry news along the coast, which bark we also set on fire.
The 26th, we came to anchor in ten fathoms, in the river of Copalita, where we intended to water; and that same night we departed with thirty-two men in the pinnace, and rowed to Aguatulco, which is but two leagues from the aforesaid river, and standeth in 15 deg. 40 min. to the northward of the Equinoctial Line.
The 27th day, in the morning, by break of day, we came into the road of Aguatulco, where we found a bark of 50 tons, which was come from Sonsonate, laden with cocoas and anil, which they had there landed; and the men were all sled on shore. We landed there, and burnt the town, with the church and custom-house, which was very fair and large, in which house were 600 bags of anil to dye cloth, every bag whereof was worth 40 crowns; and 400 bags of cocoas, every bag whereof is worth 10 crowns. These cocoas go among them for meat and money; for 150 of them are in value one rial of plate in ready payment. They are very like an almond, but are not so pleasant in taste. They eat them, and make drink of them: this the owner of the ship told us. I found in this town, before we burnt it, a flasket full of boxes of balm. After we had spoiled and burned the town, wherein there were some hundred houses, the owner of the ship came down out of the hills with a flag of truce unto us, who before with all the rest of the townsmen run away, and at length came on board our pinnace upon Captain Havers' word of safe return. We carried him to the river of Copalita, where out ships rode. When we came to our General, he caused him to be set on shore in safety the same night, because he came upon the Captain's word.
The 28th, we set sail from Copalita, because the sea was so great that we could not fill water, and ran the same night into the road of Aguatulco.
The 29th, our General landed, and took with him thirty men two miles into the woods, where we took a Mestizo, whose name was Michael de Truxillo, who was customer of that town, and we found with him two chambers full of his stuff; we brought him and his stuff on board: and whereas I say he was a Mestizo, it is to be understood, that a Mestizo is one who hath a Spaniard to his father, and an Indian to his mother.
The 2d day of August, having watered, and examined the said Mestizo and set him on shore again, we departed from the port of Aguatulco the same night; which standeth, as I said before, in 15 deg. and 40 min. to the northward of the Line. Here we overslipped the haven of Acapulco, from whence the ships are fitted out for the Philippines.
The 24th, our General with thirty of us went with the pinnace to an haven called Puerto de Natividad, where we had intelligence by Michael Sancius that there should be a pinnace; but, before we could get thither, the said pinnace was gone to fish for pearls twelve leaves farther, as we were informed by certain Indians whom we found there. We took a mullatto in this place in his bed, who was sent with letters of advice concerning us along the coast of Nueva Galicia, whose horse we killed. We took his letters, left him behind, set fire to the houses, and burnt two new ships of 200 tons each which were building there on the stocks, and came on board of our ships again.
The 26th, we came into the bay of St. Jago, where we watered at a fresh river, along which river many plantains were growing. Here is abundance of fresh fish; here also some of our company dragged for pearls, and caught some quantity.
The 2d of September, we departed from St. Jago, at four o'clock in the evening. The bay of St. Jago standeth in nineteen degrees and eighteen minutes to the northward of the Line.
The 3d, we arrived in a little bay a league to the westward of Port de Natividad, called Malacca, which is a very good place to ride in; and this day, about twelve o'clock, our General landed with thirty men, and went up to a town of Indians which was two leagues from the road, which town is called Acatlan: there were in it about 20 or 30 houses, and a church which we defaced, and came on board the same night. All the people fled out of the town at the sight of us.
The 4th, we departed from the road of Malacca, and sailed along the coast. The 8th we came to the road of Chacalla, in which bay there are two little houses by the water-side. This bay is 18 leagues from the Cape de los Corientes.
The 9th, in the morning, our General sent up Captain Havers with forty men of us before day, and, Michael Sancius being our guide, we went unto a place about two leagues up into the country, in a most obscure desart path, through the woods and wilderness, and in the end we came to a place where we took three housholders with their wives and children, and some Indians, one carpenter (who was a Spaniard), and a Portuguese. We bound them all, and made them come to the sea-side with us: our General made their wives fetch us plantains, lemons, oranges, pine-apples, and other fruits, whereof they had abundance, and so let their husbands depart, except Sembrano, the Spanish carpenter, and Diego, the Portuguese, and the tenth day we departed from the road.
The 12th, we arrived at a little island called the isle of St. Andrew, on which there is great store of fowl and wood; where we dried and salted as many of the fowls as we thought good. We also killed there abundance of seals and oguanos, which are a kind of serpents with four feet, and a long sharp tail, strange to them who have not seen them, but they are very good meat. We rode here until the 17th, at which time we departed.
The 24th, we arrived in the road of Massatlan, in twenty-three degrees thirty minutes, just under the Tropic of Cancer. It is a very great river within, but is barred at the mouth; and upon the north side of the bar without is good fresh water, but there is much difficulty in filling it, because at low water it is shoal half a mile off the shore. There is great store of fresh fish in this bay, and good fruits up in the country, whereof we had some, though not without danger.
The 27th, we departed from the road of Massatlan, and ran to an island which is a league to the northward of the said Massatlan, where we trimmed our ships, and new-built our pinnace. There is a little island a quarter of a league from it, on which are seals; where a Spanish prisoner, whose name was Domingo, being sent to wash shirts, with one of our men to keep him, made his escape and swam to the main, which was an English mile distant; at which place we had seen thirty or forty Spaniards and Indians, who were horsemen and kept watch there, and came from a town called Chiametla, which was eleven leagues up into the country, as Michael Sancius told us. We found upon the island where we trimmed our pinnace, fresh water, by digging two or three feet deep into the sand, where no water nor sign of water was before to be perceived; otherwise we must have gone back 20 or 30 leagues to water, which might have occasioned our missing the prey we had long waited for: but one Flores, a Spaniard, who was also a prisoner with us, made a motion to dig in the sands. Now, our General, having had experience before of the like, commanded to put his motion in practice, and, digging three feet deep, we found very good and fresh water: so we watered our ships, and might have filled a thousand tons more if we had pleased.
We staid in this island until the ninth day of October, and then departed at night for the Cape of St. Lucar, which is on the west side of the point of California.
The 14th, we fell in with the Cape of St. Lucar, which cape is very like the Needles at the Isle of Wight, and within the said cape is a great bay, called by the Spaniards Aguada Segura, into which bay falleth a fair fresh river, about which many Indians use to keep. We watered in the river, and lay off and on with the said cape of St. Lucar, until the 4th of November, and had the winds hanging still westerly.
The 4th of November, beating up and down upon the head-land of California, in 23 degrees 40 minutes to the northward, between seven and eight o'clock in the morning, one of the company of our Admiral, who was the trumpeter of the ship, going up unto the top, espied a sail bearing in from the sea with the cape; whereupon he cried, with no small joy to himself and all the company, A sail! a sail! With which chearful word, the Master of the ship, and divers others of the company, went also up to the main-top, who, perceiving his speech to be very true, gave information unto our General of this happy news, who was no less glad than the cause required: whereupon he gave in charge presently unto the whole company, to put all things in readiness; which being performed, he gave them chace for three or four hours, standing with our best advantage, and working for the wind. In the afternoon we got up to them, giving them a broadside with our great ordnance, and a volley of small shot, and presently laid the ship aboard, whereof the King of Spain was owner, which was Admiral of the South Sea, called St. Anna, and thought to be seven hundred tons in burthen. Now, as we were ready on the ship's side to enter her, there not being above fifty or sixty men at most in our ship, we perceived that the Captain of the Santa Anna had made sights fore and aft, and laid their sails close on their poop, their midship, with their forecastle, and not one man to be seen, they standing so close under their sights, with lances, javelins, rapiers, targets, and an innumerable quantity of large stones, which they threw overboard upon our heads, and into our ships so fast, and being so many of them, that they put us off the ship again, with the loss of two of our men, who were slain, and four or five wounded. But for all this, we new trimmed our sails, and fitted every man his furniture, and gave them a fresh encounter with our great ordnance, and also with our small shot, raking them through and through, to the killing and wounding of many of their men. Their Captain, still like a valiant man, with his company, stood very stoutly unto his close fights, not yielding as yet. Our General encouraging his men afresh, with the whole noise of trumpets, gave them the other encounter with our great ordnance, and all our small shot, to the great discouragement of our enemies, raking them through in divers places, killing and wounding many of their men. They being thus discouraged and spoiled, and their ship being in hazard of sinking, by reason of the great shot which were made, whereof some were under water, after five or six hours fight, set out a flag of truce, and parlied for mercy, desiring our General to save their lives, and to take their goods, and that they would presently yield. Our General promised them mercy, and willed them to strike their sails, and to hoist out their boat, and to come on board: which news they were full glad to hear, and presently struck their sails, hoisted out their boat, and one of their chief merchants came on board unto our General, and, falling down upon his knees, offered to have kissed our General's feet, and craved mercy. Our General pardoned both him and the rest, upon promise of their true dealing with him and his company, concerning such riches as were in the ship; and sent for their Captain and pilot, who, at their coming, used the like duty and reverence as the former did. Our General promised their lives, and good usage. The said Captain and pilot presently certified the General what goods they had on board, viz. 122,000 pezoes of gold; and the rest of the riches that the ship was laden with, were silks, sattins, damasks, with musk, and divers other merchandize, and great plenty of all manner of provisions, with the choice of many conserves, and several sorts of very good wines. These things being made known to the General by the aforesaid Captain and pilot, they were commanded to stay on board the Desire; and on the 6th day of November following we went into an harbour, which is called by the Spaniards Aguada Segura, or Puerto Seguro.
Here the whole company of Spaniards, both men and women, to the number of 190 persons, were set on shore; where they had a fair river of fresh water, with great plenty of fresh fish, fowl, and wood, and also many hares and conies upon the main land. Our General also gave them plenty of provisions, garvances, peason, and some wine. Also they had all the sails of their ship to make them tents on shore, with licence to take such store of planks as should be sufficient to make them a bark. Then we fell to heaving in of our goods, sharing of the treasure, and allotting to every man his portion; in division whereof, the 8th of this month, many of the company fell into a mutiny against our General, especially those who were in the Content, which were nevertheless pacified for the time.
On the 17th day of November, which is the day of the happy coronation of her Majesty, our General commanded all his ordnance to be shot off, with the small shot, both in his own ship, and in the Content, which was our Vice-Admiral. This being done, the same night we had many fire-works, and more ordnance discharged, to the great admiration of all the Spaniards who were there, for the most of them had never seen the like before.
This ended, our General discharged the Captain, and gave him a royal reward, with provision for his own and company's defence against the Indians, both of swords, targets, pieces, shot, and powder, to his great contentment. But before his departure, he took out of this great ship two young lads born in Japan, who could both read and write their own language; the eldest, being about twenty years old, was named Christopher; the other was called Cosmus, about seventeen years of age; both of very good capacity. He took also with him, out of their ship, three boys born in the isles of Manilla; the one about fifteen, the other about thirteen, the youngest about nine years of age: the name of the eldest was Alphonso, the second Anthony de Dasi, the third remaineth with the Right Honourable the Countess of Essex. He also took from them one Nicholas Roderigo, a Portuguese, who had not only been in Canton, and other parts of China, but had also been in the islands of Japan, being a country most rich in silver mines, and had also been in the Philippines. He took also from them a Spaniard, whose name was Thomas de Ersola, who was a very good pilot from Acapulco, and the coast of Nueva Espanna, unto the islands of Ladrones, where the Spaniards put in to water, sailing between Acapulco, and the Philippines; in which isles of Ladrones they found fresh-water plantains, and potatoe roots: howbeit, the people are very rude, and heathens.
The 19th day of November aforesaid, about three o'clok in the afternoon, our General caused the King's ship to be set on fire, which, having to the quantity of 500 tons of goods in her, we saw burnt unto the water, and then gave them a piece of ordnance, and set sail joyfully homewards towards England, with a fair wind, which by this time was come about to east-north-east; and, night growing near, we left the Content a stern of us, which was not as yet come out of the road: and here, thinking she would have overtaken us, we lost her company, and never saw her after.
We were sailing from this haven of Aguada Segura, in California, unto the isles of Ladrones, the rest of November, and all December, and so forth until the 3d of January, 1588, with a fair wind, for the space of forty-five days; and we esteemed it to be between seventeen and eighteen hundred leagues.
The 3d of January, by six o'clock in the morning, we had sight of one of the islands of Ladrones, called the island of Guarsa, standing in 13 deg. 40 min. towards the north; and, sailing with a gentle gale before the wind, by one or two o'clock in the afternoon we were come within two leagues of the island, where we met with sixty or seventy sail of canoes, full of savages, who came off to sea unto us, and brought with them in their canoes, plantains, cocoas, potatoe-roots, and fresh fish, which they had caught at sea, and held them up unto us for to truck, or exchange with us; which, when we perceived, we made fast little pieces of old iron upon small cords and fishing lines, and so veered the iron into their canoes; and they caught hold of them, and took off the iron, and in exchange of it they would make fast unto the line, either a potatoe-root, or a bundle of plantains, which we hauled in: and thus our company exchanged with them, until they had satisfied themselves with as much as did content them; yet we could not be rid of them; for, afterwards, they were so thick about the ship, that it stemmed and broke one or two of their canoes; but the men saved themselves, being in every canoe four, six, or eight persons, all naked, and excellent swimmers and divers. They are of a tawny colour, marvellously fat, and ordinarily bigger of stature than the most of our men in England, wearing their hair very long, yet some of them have it made up and tied with a knot on the crown, and some with two knots, much like unto their images, which we saw them have carved in wood, and standing in the head of their boats, like unto the images of the devil. Their canoes were as artificially made as any that ever we had seen, considering they were made and contrived without any edged tool: they are not above half a fathom in breadth, and in length some seven or eight fathoms, and their heads and sterns are both alike: they are made out with rafts of canes and reeds on the starboard-side, with mast and sail: their sail is made of mats of sedges square or triangle ways; and they sail as well right against the wind as before it. These savages followed us so long that we could not be rid of them; until in the end our General commanded our harquebusses to be made ready, and he himself fired one of them, and the rest shot at them; but they were so nimble, that we could not discern whether they were killed or not, because they could fall backward into the sea and prevent us by diving.
The 14th, by break of day, we fell in with an head-land of the Philippines, which is called Cabo del Spirito Santo, which is of very great bigness and length; high land in the midst of it, and very low land, as the cape lieth east and west, trending far into the sea to the westward. This cape or island is distant from the isle of Guana 310 leagues. We were in sailing of this course eleven days, with scant winds and foul weather, bearing no sail two or three nights. This island standeth in thirteen degrees, and is inhabited for the most part by heathens, and very woody through the whole island. It is short of the chiefest island of the Philippines, called Manilla, about sixty leagues. Manilla is well planted, and inhabited by Spaniards to the number of six or seven hundred persons, who dwell in a town unwalled, which hath three or four small blockhouses, part made of wood and part of stone, being indeed of no great strength. They have one or two small gallies belonging to the town. It is a very rich place in gold and many other commodities; and they have yearly traffic from Acapulco, in Nueva Espanna, and also twenty or thirty ships from China, and from the Sanguelos, which bringeth them many sorts of merchandize. The merchants of China, and the Sanguelos are part Moors and part heathens; they bring great quantities of gold with them, which they traffic and exchange for silver, and give weight for weight. These Sanguelos are men of great genius for inventing and making all manner of things, especially in all handicrafts and sciences; and every one is so expert, perfect, and skilful in his faculty, that few or no Christians are able to go beyond them in that which they take in hand. For drawing and embroidering upon sattin, silk, or lawn, either beast, fowl, fish, or worm, for liveliness and perfectness both in silk, silver, gold, and pearl, they excel.
The 14th, at night, we entered the straits between the island of Lucon and the island of Camlaia.
The 15th day, we fell in with an island called Capul, and had, betwixt that and another island, a very narrow passage, occasioned by a ledge of rocks, lying off the point of the island of Capul, and no danger, but water enough a good way off. Within the point there is a fine bay, and a very good harbour in four fathoms water, within a cable's length of the shore. Our ship was no sooner come to an anchor, than presently there came a canoe rowing on board us, in which was one of the chief Casiques of the island, whereof there are seven, who, supposing that we were Spaniards, brought us potatoe-roots, which they call camotas, and green cocoas, in exchange for which we gave his company linnen to the quantity of a yard for four cocoas, and as much linnen for a basket of potatoe-roots, of a quart in quantity, which roots are very good eating, and very sweet either roasted or boiled.
This Casique's skin was carved and cut with various coloured strakes and devices all over his body; we kept him still on board, and caused him to send those men who brought him on board back to the island, to invite the rest of the principal men to come on board: who were no sooner gone on shore, than presently the people of the island came down with their cocoas and potatoe-roots, and the rest of the Casiques likewise came on board, and brought with them hens and hogs. They used the same order with us which they do with the Spaniards; for they took for every hog, which they call balboye, eight rials of plate, and for every hen or cock one rial of plate. Thus we rode at anchor all that day, doing nothing but buying roots, cocoas, hens, hogs, and such things as they brought, refreshing ourselves very much.
The same day, at night, Nicholas Roderigo, the Portuguese whom we had taken out of the great Santa Anna, at the Cape of California, desired to speak with our General in secret; which, when our General understood, he sent for him, and asked him what he had to say to him. The Portuguese made him answer, That, altho' he had offended his worship heretofore, yet now he had vowed his faith and true service to him; and, in respect whereof, he neither could nor would conceal such treason as was plotting against him and his company; which was this, that the Spaniard who was taken out of the great Santa Anna for a pilot, whose name was Thomas de Ersola, had written a letter secretly, sealed it, and locked it up in his chest, meaning to convey it, by the inhabitants of this island, to Manilla; the contents whereof were, that there had been two English ships along the coast of Chili, Peru, Nueva Espanna, and Nueva Galicia, and that they had taken many ships and merchandize in them, and burnt divers towns, and spoiled all that ever they could come unto; and that they had taken the king's ship which came from Manilla, and all his treasure, and all the merchandize that was therein, and had set all the people on shore, taking himself away by force; therefore he willed them that they should make strong their bulwarks, with their two galleys, and all such provision as they could possibly make. He further signified, that we were riding at an island called Capul, which was at the end of the island of Manilla; being but one ship with small force in it; and that the other ship, as he supposed, was gone for the north-west passage, standing in fifty-five degrees; and that, if they could use any means to surprize us, being there at anchor, they should dispatch it, for our force was but small, and our men but weak; and that the place where we rode was but fifty leagues from them: otherwise, if they let us escape, within a few years they must make account to have their town besieged and sacked by an army of English. This information being given, our General called for him, and charged him with these things, which, at the first, he utterly denied; but, in the end, the matter being made manifest and known of certainty by special trial and proofs, the next morning, our General gave orders that he should be hanged, which was accordingly performed the 16th of January.
We rode for the space of nine days about this island of Capul, where we had divers kinds of fresh victuals, with excellent fresh water in every bay, and great plenty of wood. The people of this island go almost naked, and are of a tawny colour. The men wear only a girdle about their waists, of a kind of linnen of their own weaving, which is made of plantain leaves, and an apron, which, coming from their back and covering their nakedness, is made fast to their girdles at their navels.
These people use a strange kind of order among them, which is this: every man and man-child among them hath a little peg-nail thrust through the head of his privy parts, being split in the lower end, and rivetted, and on the head of the nail is as it were a crown; which they take out and in as they have occasion: and for the truth thereof we ourselves have taken one of these nails from a son of one or their kings, who was of the age of ten years.
On the 23d of January, our General, Mr. Thomas Cavendish, caused all the chiefs of this island and of an hundred islands more, whom he had made to pay tribute to him, which tribute was in hogs, hens, potatoes and cocoas, to appear before him, and made himself and his company known unto them, that they were Englishmen, and enemies to the Spaniards; and thereupon spread his ensign, sounded his trumpets, and beat his drums; which they much wondered at. To conclude, they promised both themselves and all the islands thereabout, to aid him whensoever he should come again to overcome the Spaniards. Also our General gave them, in token that we were enemies to the Spaniards, money back again for all their tribute which they had paid, which they took very friendly, and rowed about our ship to give us pleasure. At last our General ordered a sacre to be shot off, whereat they wondered, and, with great contentment, took their leave of us.
The next day, being the 26th of January, we set sail, about six o'clock in the morning, and ran along the coast of the island of Manilla, shaping our course north west, between Manilla and the isle of Masbat.
The 28th in the morning, about seven o'clock, riding at an anchor between two islands, we spied a frigate under her courses, coming out between two other islands, which, as we imagined, came from Manilla, sailing close by the shore along the main island of Panama. We chaced this frigate along the shore, and gained fast upon her, until in the end we came so near that she stood in for the shore, close by a wind, and being becalmed, banked up with her oars; whereupon we came to an anchor with our ship a league and a half from the place where the frigate rowed in, and manned our boat with half a dozen shot, and as many men with swords, who did row the boat. Thus we made after the frigate, which had run into a river where we could not reach her; but as we rowed along the shore, our boat came into very shallow water, where many marks were set up in divers places in the sea, from whence two or three canoes came forth, whereof one made somewhat near unto us with three or four Indians in it. We called unto them, but they would not come nearer unto us, but rowed from us, whom we durst not follow too far, for fear of bringing ourselves too much to the leeward of our ship. Here, as we looked about us, we spied another balsa or canoe of a great bigness, which they who were in her did set along, as we usually set a barge, with long staves or poles, which was builded up with great canes, and below near the water made to row with oars, wherein were about five or six Indians and one Spaniard. Now, as we were come almost at the balsa, we ran a-ground with our boat, but one or two of our men leapt overboard and freed it again presently, and keeping thwart her head, we laid her aboard, and took into us the Spaniard, but the Indians leaped into the sea, and dived and rose again far off from us. Presently, upon the taking of this canoe,
e appeared upon the sands a band of soldiers, marching with an ensign having a red cross like the flag of England, who were about fifty or sixty Spaniards, lately come from Manilla to that town, which is called Reguan, in a bark to fetch a new ship of the king's, which was building in a river within the bay, and staid there only for certain irons to serve for the rudder of the said ship, which they looked for every day.
This band of men shot at us from the shore with their musquets, but hit none of us, and we shot at them again. They also manned a frigate, and sent it out after our boat to have taken us, but we with our oars went from them; and whether they perceived they could not overtake us, but that they must come within danger of the ordnance of our ship, they stood in with the shore again, and landed their men; and presently sent their frigate about the point, but whither we knew not: so we came on board with this one Spaniard, who was neither soldier nor sailor, but one who was come among the rest from Manilla, and had been in the hospital there a long time before, and was a very simple fellow, and such a one as could answer to very little that was enquired of him concerning the state of the country. Here we rode at anchor all that night, and perceived that the Spaniards had dispersed their band into two or three parties, and kept great watch in several places with fires and shooting off of their pieces.
This island hath much plain ground in it in many places, and many fair and straight trees grow upon it, fit to make excellent masts for all sorts of ships. There are also mines of very fine gold in it, which are in the custody of the Indians. And, to the southward of this place, there is another very great island, which is not subdued by the Spaniards, nor any other nation. The people who inhabit it are all negroes; and the island is called the Island of Negroes. It is almost as big as England, standing in nine degrees. The most part of it seemeth to be very low land, and, by all likelihood, is very fruitful.
The 29th day of January, about six o'clock in the morning, we set sail, sending our boat before, until it was two o'clock in the afternoon, passing all this time as it were through a strait, betwixt the said two islands of Panama and the island of Negroes; and, about 16 leagues off, we espied a fair opening, trending south-west and by south; at which time our boat came on board, and our General sent commendations to the Spanish Captain, whom we came from the evening before, by the Spaniard we had taken, and desired him to provide good store of gold, for he intended to see him with his company at Manilla within a few years, and that he did but want a bigger boat to have landed his men, or else he would have seen him then; and so caused him to be set on shore.
The 8th day of February, by eight o'clock in the morning, we espied an island near Gilolo, called Batochina, which standeth in one degree from the Equinoctial Line, northward.
The 14th day of February, we fell in with eleven or twelve very small islands, lying very low and flat, full of trees; and passed by some islands which are sunk, and have the dry sands lying in the main sea. These islands, near the Moluccas, stand in three degrees ten minutes to the southward of the Line.
On the 17th day, one John Gameford, a cooper, died, who had been sick of an old disease a long time.
The 20th day, we fell in with certain other islands, which had many small islands among them, standing four degrees to the southward of the Line.
On the 21st day of February, being Ash-Wednesday, Captain Havers died of a most violent and pestilent ague, which held him furiously for seven or eight days, to the no small grief of our General, and of all the rest of the company, who caused two falcons and one sacre to be shot off, with all the small shot in the ship; who, after he was shrouded in a sheet, was thrown over-board, with great lamentation of us all. Moreover, presently after his death, myself, with divers others in the ship, fell very sick, and so continued in very great pain for the space of three weeks, or a month, by reason of the extreme heat and intemperateness of the climate.
The 1st day of March, having passed through the straits of Java Minor and Java Major, we came to an anchor, under the south-west parts of Java Major; where we espied certain of the inhabitants, who were fishing by the sea-side in a bay which was under the island. Then our General taking into the ship-boat certain of his company, and a negroe who could speak the Morisco tongue, whom he had, taken out of the Santa Anna, made towards those fishers; who, having espied our boat, ran on shore into the woods, for fear of our men. But our General caused his negroe to call unto them; who had no sooner heard him call, than presently one of them came to the shore side, and made answer. Our General, by the negroe, enquired of him for fresh water; which they found; and caused the fisher to go to the King, and to acquaint him of a ship that was come to have traffic for victuals, and for diamonds, pearls, or any other rich jewels that he had; for which, he should have either gold, or other merchandize in exchange. The fisher answered, that we should have all manner of victuals that we would request. Thus our boat came on board again. Within a while after, we went about to furnish our ship thoroughly with wood and water.
About the 8th of March, two or three canoes came from the town unto us, with eggs, hens, fresh fish, oranges, and limes, and brought word we should have had victuals more plentifully, but that they were so far to be brought to us where we rode. Which when our General heard, he weighed anchor, and stood in nearer for the town; and, as we were under sail, we met with one of the King's canoes coming towards us: whereupon we dropt some of our sails, and staid for the canoe until it came aboard us, then stood into the bay, which was hard by, and came to an anchor. In this canoe was the King's Secretary, who had on his head a piece of died linen, folded up like unto a Turkish turban. He was all naked, except about his waist; his breast was carved with the broad arrow upon it; he went bare-footed. He had an interpreter with him, who was a Mestizo, that is, half an Indian and half a Portuguese, who could speak very good Portuguese. This Secretary signified unto our General, that he had brought him an hog, hens, eggs, fresh fish, sugar-canes, and wine, which wine was as strong as aqua-vitae, and as clear as any rock-water. He told him farther, that he would bring victuals so sufficiently for him as he and his company would request, and that within the space of four days. Our General used him singularly well, banquetted him most royally with the choice of many and sundry conserves, wines both sweet and otherwise; and caused his musicians to make him music. This done, our General told him, that he and his company were Englishmen; that we had been at China, and had trafficked in that country; that we were come thither to make enquiries, and purposed to go to Molucca. The people told our General, that there were certain Portuguese in the island, who staid there as factors continually, to traffic with them, to buy negroes, cloves, pepper, sugar, and many other commodities. This Secretary of the King, with his interpreter, lay one night on board our ship. The same night, because they lay on board, in the evening at the setting of the watch, our General commanded every man in the ship to provide his harquebuss, and his shot; and so with shooting off forty or fifty small shot, and a sacre, himself set the watch. This was no small wonder to these heathen people, who had not commonly seen any ship so furnished with men and ordnance. The next morning we dismissed the Secretary and his interpreter, with all humanity.
The fourth day after, which was the 12th of March, according to their appointment, came the King's canoes: but the wind being somewhat scant, they could not get on board that night, but put into a bay under the island until the next day; and, presently after the break of day, there came to the number of nine or ten of the King's canoes, so deeply laden with provisions as they could swim, with two live oxen, half a score of large fat hogs, a number of live hens, ducks, and geese, with eggs, plantains, sugar-canes, sugar in plates, cocoas, sweet oranges, and bitter limes, great store of wine and aqua-vitae, salt to season meat with, and almost all manner of provisions besides, accompanied with divers of the King's officers who were there. Among all the rest of the people, in one of these canoes, came two Portuguese, who were men of middle stature, and very proper personage: they were each of them in a loose jerkin and hose, which came down from the waist to the ancle, according to the fashion of the country, and partly because it was Lent, and a time for doing of their penance. They account it as a thing of great dishonour among these heathens, to wear either hose or shoes on their feet. The Portuguese had on each of them a very fair and a white lawn shirt, with falling bands on the same, very decent, their bare legs excepted. These Portuguese were no small joy unto our General, and all the rest of our company; for we had not seen any Christian that was our friend for a year and an half before. Our General used and treated them singularly well with banquets and music. They told us, that they were no less glad to see us than we were to see them, and enquired into the estate of their country, and what was become of Don Antonio, their King, and whether he were living or not; for that they had not been in Portugal for a long time, and that the Spaniards had always brought them word that he was dead? Then our General satisfied them in every demand, assuring them that their King was alive and in England, and had honourable allowance from our Queen; and that there was war betwixt Spain and England, and that we were come under the King of Portugal into the South Sea, and had warred upon the Spaniards there, and had fired, spoiled, and sunk all the ships along the coast that we could meet with, to the number of eighteen or twenty sail. With this report they were abundantly satisfied.
On the other side, they declared unto us the state of the island of Java: First, the plentifulness, great choice, and store of provisions of all sorts, and of all manner of fruits, as before set down; then the great and rich merchanchizes which are there to be had. Then they described the nature and properties of the people, as followeth: The name of the King of that part of the island was Raya Bolamboam, who was a man had in great majesty and fear among them. The common people may not bargain, sell, or exchange any thing with any other nation, without special licence from their King; and, if any so do, it is present death for him. The King himself is a man of great years, and hath an hundred wives; his son hath fifty. The custom of the country is, that, whensoever the King doth die, they take the dead body and burn it, and preserve the ashes of him; and, within five days next after, the wives of the said King so dead, according to the custom and use of their country, every one of them go together to a place appointed; and, the chief of the women, who was nearest to him in account, hath a ball in her hand, and throweth it from her; and to the place where the ball resteth, thither they go all, and turn their faces to the eastward, and every one, with a dagger in her hand (which dagger they call a crise, and is as sharp as a razor,) stab themselves to the heart, and, with their own hands,
The KING of JAVA's Wives destroying themselves at his Death.
bathe themselves in their blood, and falling flat on their faces, so end their days. This thing is as true as it may seem to any hearer to be strange.
The men of themselves are very politic and subtle, and singularly valiant (being naked men) in any action they undertake, and very submissive and obedient to their king: for example, if their king command them to undertake any exploit, be it ever so dangerous or desperate, they dare not nor will not refuse, though they should die every man of them in executing the same; for he will cut off the heads of every one of them who return alive, without bringing their purpose to pass; which is such a thing amongst them, as maketh them the most valiant people in all the south-east parts of the world; for they never fear any death; for being in fight with any nation, if any of them feeleth himself hurt with lance or sword, he will willingly run himself upon the weapon quite through the body to procure his death the more speedily, and in this desperate manner end his days, or overcome his enemy. Moreover, although the men be tawny of colour, and go continually naked, yet their women are fair of complexion, and go more apparelled.
After they had thus described the state of the island, and the order and fashion of the people, they told us further, that, if their king, Don Antonio, would come unto them, they would warrant him to have all the Moluccas at command, besides China-Sanglos and the isles of the Philippines; and that he might be assured to have all the Indians on his side that were in the country. After we had fully contented these Portuguese, and the people of Java who had brought us provisions in their canoes, they took their leave of us with promise of all good entertainment at our return; and our General gave them three great pieces of ordnance at their departing.
Thus, the next day, being the 16th of March, we set sail towards the Cape of Good Hope, called by the Portuguese Cabo de Buena Esperanca, on the most southern coast of Africa.
The rest of March, and all the month of April, we spent in traversing that mighty and vast sea, between the island of Java and the main of Africa, observing the heavens, the Crosiers, or the South-pole, the other stars, the fowls which are marks unto seamen of fair weather and foul weather, approaching of lands or islands, the winds, the tempests, the rains and thunder, with the alterations of tides and currents.
The 10th day of May, we had a storm from the west, and it blew so hard, that it was as much as the ship could steer close by under the wind; and the storm continued all that day and all that night.
The next day, being the 11th of May, in the morning, one of the company went up to the top, and espied land bearing north and north-by-west of us; and about noon we espied land to bear west of us, which we imagined to be the Cape of Buena Esperanca, whereof indeed we were short about forty, or fifty leagues; and, by reason of the scantness of the wind, we stood along to the south-east until midnight, at which time the wind came fair, and we hauled along westward.
The 12th and 13th days we were becalmed, and the sky was very hazy and thick until the 14th day at three o'clock in the afternoon, at which time the sky cleared, and we spied land again, which was that called Cabo Falso, which is short of Cabo de Buena Esperanca forty or fifty leagues.
This cape is very easy to be known, for there are right over it three very high hills, standing but a small way one off another, and the highest standeth in the midst, and the ground is much lower by the sea-side. The Cape of Good Hope beareth west and by-south from the said Cabo Falso.
The 16th day of May, about four o'clock in the afternoon, the wind came up at east a very brisk gale, which continued till Saturday, with as much wind as ever the ship could go before. At which time, by six o'clock in the morning, we espied the promontory or headland called the Cabo de Buena Esperanca, which is a pretty high-land; and at the westernmost point, a little off the main, appear two hummocks, the one upon the other, and three other hummocks, lying further off into the sea, yet low-land between and adjoining unto the sea.
This Cape of Buena Esperanca is set down and accounted 2000 leagues from the island of Java in the Portuguese sea charts, but it is not so much by almost 150 leagues, as we found by the running of our ship. We were in running of these 1850 leagues just nine weeks.
The 8th day of June, by break of day, we fell in sight of the island of St. Helena, seven or eight leagues short of it, having but a small gale of wind, or almost none at all, insomuch as we could not get into it that day, but stood off and on all that night.
The next day, being the ninth of June, having a pretty easy gale of wind, we stood in with the shore, our boat being sent away before to make the harbour; and, about one o'clock in the afternoon, we came to an anchor in twelve fathoms water, two or three cables length from the shore, in a very fair and smooth bay under the north-west side of the island.
This island is very high land, and lieth in the main sea; standing, as it were, in the midst of the sea, between the main land of Africa, the main of Brazilia, and the coast of Guinea; and is in fifteen degrees forty-eight minutes to the southward of the Equinoctial Line, and is distant from the Cape of Buena Esperanca between five and six hundred leagues.
The same day, about two or three o'clock in the afternoon, we went on shore, where we found an exceeding fair and pleasant valley, wherein divers handsome buildings and houses were set up; and one particularly, which was a church, was tiled and whitened on the outside very fair, and made with a porch; and within the church, at the upper end, was set an altar, whereon stood a very large table, set in a frame, having in it the picture of our Saviour Christ upon the cross, and the image of our Lady praying, with divers other histories curiously painted in the same. The sides of the church were hung round with stained cloths, having many devices drawn on them.
There are two houses adjoining to the church, on each side one, which serve for kitchens to dress meat in, with necessary rooms and houses of office. The coverings of the said houses are made flat, where is planted a very fair vine, and through both the said houses runneth a very good and wholesome stream of fresh water.
There is also over against the church a very fair causeway, made up with stones reaching unto a valley by the sea-side, in which valley is planted a garden, wherein grow great store of pompions and melons; and upon the said causeway is a frame erected, whereon hang two bells, wherewith they ring to mass; and near to it a cross is set up, which is squared, framed, and made very artificially of free-stone, whereon is carved in cyphers what time it was built, which was in the year of our Lord 1571.
This valley is the fairest and largest low plot in all the island, and is exceeding sweet and pleasant, and planted in every place, either with fruit or with herbs.
There are fig-trees which bear fruit continually and very plentifully; for on every tree you may see blossoms, green figs, and ripe figs all at once, and it is so all the year long. The reason is, that the island standeth so near the sun. There is also great store of lemon-trees, orange-trees, pomegranate trees, pomecitron-trees, and date-trees, which bear fruit as the fig-trees do, and are planted carefully and very artificially, with pleasant walks under and between them; and the said walks are overshadowed with the leaves of the trees; and in every void place is planted parsley, sorrel, basil, fennel, anniseed, mustard-seed, radishes, and many very good herbs. The fresh-water brook runneth through divers places in this orchard, and may, with very small pains, be made to water any one tree in the valley.
This fresh water stream cometh from the tops of the mountains, and falleth from the cliff into the valley the height of a cable; and hath many arms issuing out of it, that refresh the whole island, and almost every tree in it. The island is altogether high mountains and steep vallies, except it be on the tops of some hills, and down below in some of the vallies, where great plenty of all those fruits before spoken of do grow. There are much more growing on the tops of the mountains than below in the vallies; but it is very toilsome and dangerous travelling up unto them and down again, by reason of the height and steepness of the hills.
There are also upon this island great store of partridges, which are very tame, not making any great haste to fly away, though one come very near them, but only to run away and get up into the steep cliffs; we killed some of them with a fowling-piece; they differ very much from our partridges which are in England both in bigness and also in colour, for they are almost as big as hens, and are of an ash colour, and live in covies, twelve, sixteen, and twenty together; you cannot go ten or twelve score paces but you shall see or spring one or two covies at the least.
There are likewise no less plenty of pheasants in the island, which are also very big and fat, surpassing those which are in our country in bigness and in numbers in a company; they differ not very much in colour from the partridges before spoken of. We found, moreover, on this island, plenty of Guinea-cocks, which we call turkies, of colour black and white, with red heads; they are much the same in bigness with ours in England; their eggs are white, and as big as a turkey's egg.
There are in this island thousands of goats, which the Spaniards call cabritos, which are very wild; you shall see one or two hundred of them together, and sometimes you may see them go in a flock almost a mile long; some of them (whether it be the nature of the breed of them or of the country I know not) are as big as an ass, with a mane like a horse, and a beard hanging down to the very ground; they will climb up the cliffs, which are so steep that a man would think it a thing impossible that any living creature could go there. We took and killed many of them for all their swiftness, for there are thousands of them upon the mountains.
Here are in like manner great store of swine, which are very wild and fat, and of great bigness; they keep altogether upon the mountains, and will very seldom abide any man to come near them, except it be by mere chance, when they are found asleep, or otherwise, according to their kind, are taken lying in the mire.
We found in the houses, at our coming, three slaves who were negroes, and one who was born in the island of Java, who told us, that the East-Indian fleet, which were in number five sail, the least whereof was in burden eight or nine hundred tons, all laden with spices and Calicut cloth, with store of treasure, and very rich stones and pearls were gone from the said island, St. Helena, but twenty days before we came thither.
This island hath been found long ago by the Portuguese, and hath been altogether planted by them for their refreshment, as they come from the East-Indies; and, when they come, they have all things in plenty for their relief, by reason that they suffer none to inhabit there, that might eat up the produce of the island, except some very few sick persons of their company, whom they suspect will not live until they come home; these they leave there to refresh themselves, and take them away the year following, with the other fleet, if they live so long. They touch here rather in their coming home from the East Indies, than at their going thither, because they are thoroughly furnished with corn when they set out of Portugal; but are meanly victualled at their coming from the Indies, where there groweth but little corn.
The 20th day of June, having taken in wood and water, and refreshed ourselves with such things as we found there, and made clean our ship, we set sail about eight o'clock at night towards England. At our setting sail we had the wind at south east, and we hauled north-west and by-west. The wind is commonly off the shore at this island of St. Helena.
On Wednesday the 3d day of July, we went away north-west, the wind being still at south-east; at which time we were in one degree and forty-eight minutes to the southward of the Equinoctial Line.
The 12th day of the said month of July there was very little wind; and, towards night, it was calm, and blew no wind at all, and so continued till Monday, being the 15th day of July.
On Wednesday the 17th day of the said month, we had a small gale at west-north-west. We found the wind continually to blow at east and north-east, and east-north-east, after we were in three or four degrees to the northward; and it altered not until we came between thirty and forty degrees to the northward of the Equinoctial Line.
On Wednesday the 21st day of August, the wind came up at south-west a fair gale; by which day at noon we were in thirty-eight degrees of north latitude.
On Friday, in the morning, being the 23d of August, at four o'clock we hauled east and east-by-south, for the most northern islands of the Azores.
On Saturday the 24th day of the said month, by five o'clock in the morning, we fell in sight of the two islands of Flores and Cervo, standing thirty nine degrees thirty minutes; and sailed away north-east.
The 3d of September, we met with a Flemish hulk that came from Lisbon, and declared unto us the overthrowing of the Spanish fleet, to the singular rejoicing and comfort of us all.
The 9th of September, after a terrible tempest, which carried away most part of our sails, by the merciful favour of the Almighty, we recovered our long-wished-for port of Plymouth, in England, from whence we set forth at the beginning of our voyage."
[The wealth acquired in this voyage, though very considerable, was soon dissipated; and, in less than three years, Cavendish again found himself under the necessity of preparing for a second, in which, however, he was very unfortunate. He had, indeed, increased his preparations; and, it is not to be doubted, but that the certainty he had conceived of acquiring a more ample fortune by a second enterprize, made him the more careless in the management of the treasure he had acquired by the first.
The ships fitted out on this occasion were the Leicester, commanded by himself as Admiral; the Roebuck, Captain Cocke, Vice-Admiral; the Desire, Captain Davis, Rear-Admiral; the Dainty, Captain Coffen; and the Black Pinnace, whose Commander's name is not mentioned. The Commanders in this expedition were some of the ablest navigators the nation produced, and the highest expectations were formed from their fortitude and approved experience.
Of the accounts that have been given of this expedition, that published by John Jane, a gentleman who accompanied Captain Davis in the Desire, is the most complete; for which reason, we shall give it in the writer's own words, as it is but in few hands, and full of interesting events:
"The 26th of Aug. 1591, we departed from Plymouth, says Mr. Jane, with three large ships and two barks.
The 29th of November, we fell in with the bay of Salvador, upon the coast of Brasil, twelve leagues on this side Cape Frio, where we were becalmed until the 2d of December: at which time we took a small bark bound for the river of Plate, with sugar, haberdash-wares, and negroes. The master of this bark brought us to an isle called Placentia, thirty leagues west from Cape Frio, where we arrived the 5th of December, and rifled six or seven houses inhabited by the Portuguese. The 11th, we departed from this place, and, the 14th, arrived at the island of St. Sebastian; from whence Mr. Cocke and Captain Davis presently departed with the Desire and Black Pinnace, for taking the town of Santos. The 16th, at evening, we anchored at the bar of Santos, from whence we departed, with our boats, to the town; by which expedition, we took all the people at mass, both men and women, whom we kept all that day in the church a prisoners. The cause why Mr Cavendish desired to take this town, was to supply his great wants; and, having it now in quiet possession, we stood in assurance of having provisions in great abundance. But such was the negligence of Captain Cocke, that the Indians were suffered to carry out whatsoever they would in open view, and no man did controul them: and the next day, after we had won the town, our prisoners were all set at liberty; only four poor old men were kept as pledges to supply our wants. Thus, in three days, the town, which was able to furnish such another fleet with all kinds of necessaries, was left unto us nakedly bare, without people and provisions.
Eight or ten days after, Mr. Cavendish himself came hither, where he remained until the 22d of January, seeking by entreaty to have that whereof we were once possessed. But, in conclusion, we departed worse furnished from the town, than when we came unto it. The 22d, we burnt St. Vincent's to the ground. The 24th, we set sail, shaping our course for the straits of Magellan.
The 7th of February, we had a very great storm; and, the 8th, our fleet was separated by the fury of the tempest. Then our Captain called unto him the master of our ship, a very honest and sufficient man; and, conferring with him, he concluded to go for Port Desire, hoping that the General would come thither, because that in his first voyage he had found great relief there; for our Captain could never get any direction what course to take in any such extremities, though many times he had entreated for it, as often I have heard him with grief report. In sailing to this port, by good chance, we met with the Roebuck, wherein Mr. Cocke had endured great extremities, and lost his boat, and therefore desired our Captain to keep him company, for he was in a very desperate situation. Our Captain hoisted out his boat, and went on board him to know his estate, and, returning, told us the hardness thereof, and desired the Master and all the company to be careful in all their watches not to lose the Roebuck, and so we both arrived at Port Desire the sixth of March.
The 16th of March, the Black Pinnace came to us; but the Dainty came not, but returned back to England, leaving their Captain on board the Roebuck, without any provision more than the apparel that he wore. The 18th the Leicester came into the road, and Mr. Cavendish came into the harbour in a boat which he had made at sea; for his long boat and pinnace were lost at sea: and being on board the Desire, he told our Captain of all his extremities, and spoke most hardly of his company, and of divers gentlemen that were with him, purposing no more to go on board his own ship, but to stay in the Desire. We all sorrowed to hear such hard speeches of our good friends; but having spoken with the gentlemen of the Leicester, we found them faithful, honest, and resolute in proceeding, although it pleased our General otherwise to conceive of them.
The 20th of March, we departed from Port Desire, Mr. Cavendish being in the Desire with us. The 8th of April, we fell in with the straits of Magellan, enduring many furious storms between Port Desire and the strait. The 14th, we passed through the first strait. The 16th, we passed the second strait, being ten leagues distant from the first. The 18th, we doubled Cape Froward, which cape lieth in 53 degrees 30 minutes. The 21st we were forced, through the fury of the weather, to put into a small cove with our ships, four leagues from the said cape, upon the south shore, where we remained until the 15th of May, in the which time we endured extreme storms, with perpetual snow, where many of our men died with cursed famine, and miserable cold, not having wherewith to cover their bodies, nor to fill their bellies, but living by muscles, water, and weeds of the sea, with a small relief, from the ship's store, in meal, sometimes. And all the sick men in the Leicester were most uncharitably put on shore into the woods, in the snow, rain, and cold, when men of good health could scarcely endure it, where they ended their lives in the highest degree of misery. Mr. Cavendish all the while being on board the Desire. In these great extremities of snow and cold, doubting what the end would be, he asked our captain's opinion, because he was a man that had good experience of the north-west parts, in his three several discoveries that way, employed by the merchants of London. Our captain told him, that this snow was a matter of no long continuance, and gave him sufficient reason for it, and that thereby he could not much be prejudiced or hindered in his proceeding. Notwithstanding, he called together all the company, and told them, that he purposed not to stay in the straits, but to depart upon some other voyage, or else to return again for Brazil: but his resolution was to go for the Cape of Good Hope. The company answered, that, if it pleased him, they did desire to stay God's favour for a wind, and to endure all hardness whatsoever, rather than to give over the voyage, considering they had been here but a small time, and because they were within forty leagues of the South Sea, it grieved them now to return: notwithstanding, whatever he ordered, that they would perform. So he concluded to go for the Cape of Good Hope, and to give over this voyage. Then our captain, after Mr. Cavendish was come on board the Desire from talking with the company, told him, that, if it pleased him to consider the great extremity of his situation, the slenderness of his provisions, with the weakness of his men, it was no course for him to proceed in that new enterprize: for if the rest of your ships (said he) be furnished answerable to this, it is impossible to perform your determination; for we have no more sails than masts, no victuals, no ground-tackling, no cordage more than is over-head, and, among seventy-five persons, there is but the master alone that can order the ship, and but fourteen sailors: the rest are gentlemen, serving-men, and artificers. Therefore it will be a desperate case to take so hard an enterprize in hand. These persuasions did our captain not only use to Mr. Cavendish, but also to Mr. Cocke. In fine, upon a petition delivered in writing by the chief of the whole company, the General determined to depart out of the straits of Magellan, and to return again for Santos in Brazil.
So the 15th of May, we set sail, our General being then in the Leicester. The 18th, we were free of the straits, but at Cape Froward it was our hard hap to have our boat sunk at our stern in the night, and to lose all our oars.
On the 20th, being thwart of Port Desire, in the night the General altered his course, as we suppose, by which occasion we lost him; for, in the evening, he stood close by a wind to seaward, having the wind at north-north-east, and we standing the same way, the wind not altering, could not the next day see him: so that we then persuaded ourselves, that he was gone for Port Desire to relieve himself, or that he had sustained some mischance at sea, and was gone thither to remedy it. Whereupon our captain called the General's men unto him, with the rest, and asked their opinion what was to be done. Every one conjectured that the General was gone for Port Desire. Then the Master, being the General's man, and careful of his master's service, as also of good judgment in sea-matters, told the company how dangerous it was to go for Port Desire, if we should there miss the General: for (said he) we have no boat to land ourselves, nor any anchors or cables that I dare trust in so quick streams as are there: yet, in all likelihood, concluding that the General was gone thither, we steered our course for Port Desire, and by chance met with the Black Pinnace, which had likewise lost the fleet, being in a very miserable case: so we both concluded to seek the General at Port Desire.
The 26th day of May, we came to Port Desire, where not finding our General as we hoped, being most slenderly victualled, without sails, boat, oars, nails, cordage, and all other necessaries for our relief, we were struck into a deadly sorrow. But, referring all to Providence, we entered the harbour, and found a place of quiet road, which before we knew not. Having moored our ship with the Pinnace's boat, we landed upon the south shore, where we found a standing pool of fresh water, which by estimation might hold about ten tons, whereby we were greatly comforted. From this pool we fetched more than forty tons of water, and yet we left the pool as full as we found it. And, because at our first being at this harbour we were at this place and found no water, we persuaded ourselves that God had sent it for our relief Also there were such extraordinary low ebbs as we had never seen, whereby we got muscles in plenty and great abundance of smelts, so that, with hooks made of pins, every man caught as many as he could eat: by which means we preserved our ships victuals, and spent not any during the time of our abode here.
Our Captain and Master, considering our ability to go to the General, found our wants so great, as that in a month we could not fit our ship to set sail; for we must needs set up a smith's forge to make bolts, spikes, and nails, besides the repairing of our other wants. Whereupon they concluded it to be their best course, to take the pinnace, and to furnish her, and to go to the General with all expedition, leaving the ship and the rest of the company until the General's return; for he had vowed to our Captain, that he would return again to the straits, as he had told us. The Captain and Master of the pinnace, being the General's men, were well contented with the motion.
But the General having in our ship two most pestilent fellows, when they heard of this determination, they utterly misliked it, and, in secret, dealt with the company of both ships, vehemently persuaded them that our Captain and Master would leave them in the country to be devoured by the cannibals, and that they were merciless and without charity: whereupon the whole company joined in secret with them, in a night, to murder our Captain and Master, with myself and all those they thought were their friends. There were marks taken in his cabin, how to kill him with musquets through the ship's side, and bullets made of silver for the execution, if their other purposes should fail. All agreed hereunto except the boatswain of our ship, who, when he knew the matter, revealed it to the Master, and so to the Captain. Then the matter being called in question, those two murderous fellows were found out, whose names were Charles Parker and Edward Smith.
The Captain, being thus hardly beset, in peril of famine, and in danger of being murdered, was constrained to use lenity, and by courteous means to pacify this fury: shewing, that, to do the General service, unto whom he had vowed faith in this action, was the cause why he purposed to go unto him in the pinnace, considering that the pinnace was so necessary a thing for him, as that he could not be without her, because he was fearful of the shore in so great ships. Whereupon all cried, with cursing and swearing, that the pinnace should not go unless the ship went. Then the Captain desired them to shew themselves christians, and not so blasphemously to behave themselves, without regard and thanksgiving to God for their great deliverance. By which gentle speeches, the matter was pacified, and the Captain and Master, at the request of the company, were content to forgive this great treachery of Parker and Smith, who, after many admonitions, concluded in these words:
"The Lord judge between you and me:"
which after came to a most sharp revenge, even by the punishment of the Almighty. Thus, by a general consent, it was concluded not to depart, but to stay there for the General's return. Then our Captain and Master, seeing that they could not do the General that service which they desired, made a motion to the company, that they would lay down under their hands the losing of the General, with the extremities wherein we then stood: whereunto they consented, and wrote under their hands what followeth:
The Testimonial of the Company of the
Desire,
touching the losing of their General, which appeareth to have been utterly against their meanings.
"THE 26th of August 1591, we whose names are here underwritten, with divers others, departed from Plymouth, under Mr. Thomas Cavendish our General, with four ships of his, viz. the Leicester, the Roebuck, the Desire, and the Black Pinnace, for the performance of a voyage into the South Sea. The 19th of November, we fell in with the bay of Salvador, in Brazil. The 16th of December we took the town of Santos, hoping there to revictual ourselves, but it fell not out to our contentment. The 24th of January we set sail from Santos, shaping our course for the straits of Magellan. The 8th of February, by violent storms, the said fleet being parted, the Roebuck and the Desire arrived at Port Desire the sixth of March. The sixteenth of March, the Black Pinnace arrived there also: and the 18th of the same, our Admiral came into the road, with whom we departed the 20th of March in poor and weak estate. The 8th of April 1592, we entered the straits of Magellan. The 21st of April we anchored beyond Cape Froward, within 40 leagues of the South Sea, where we rode until the 15th of May. In which time we had great store of snow, with some gusty weather, the wind continuing still west-north-west against us. In this time we were inforced, for the preserving of our victuals, to live the most part upon muscles, our provision was so slender; so that many of our men died in this hard extremity. Then our General returned for Brazil, there to winter, and to procure victuals for this voyage against the next year. So we departed the straits, the 15th of May. The 21st, being thwart of Port Desire, 36 leagues off the shore, the wind then at north-east and by-north, at five of the clock at night, lying north-east, we suddenly cast about, lying south east and by-south, and sometimes south-east: the whole fleet following the Admiral, our ship coming under his lee, shot a-head of him, and so framed sail fit to keep company. This night we were severed, by what occasion we protest we know not, whether we lost them or they us. In the morning we only saw the Black Pinnace, then supposing the Admiral had overshot us. All this day we stood to the eastwards, hoping to find him; because it was not likely that he would stand to the shore again so suddenly. But missing him towards night, we stood to the shoreward, hoping by that course to find him. The 22d of May, at night, we had a violent storm, with the wind at north-west, and we were inforced to hull, not being able to bear sail; and this night we perished our main tressle-trees, so that we could no more use our main-top-sail, lying most dangerously in the sea. The pinnace likewise received a great leak, so that we were inforced to seek the next shore for our relief. And, because famine was like to be the best end, we desired to go for Port Desire, hoping, with seals and penguins, to relieve ourselves, and so to make shift to follow the General, or there to stay his coming from Brasil. The 24th of May we had much wind at north. The 25th was calm, and the sea very lofty, so that our ship had dangerous foul weather. The 26th, our fore-shrouds broke, so that, if we had not been near the shore, it had been impossible for us to get out of the sea. And now, being here moored in Port Desire, our shrouds are all rotten, not having a running rope whereto we may trust, and being provided of only one shift of sails, all worn, our top-sails not able to abide any stress of weather; neither have we any pitch, tar, or nails, nor any store for the supplying of these wants; and we live only upon seals and muscles, having but five hogsheads of pork within board, and meal three ounces for a man a day, with water for to drink. And for as much as it hath pleased God to separate our fleet, and to bring us into such hard extremities, that only now by his mere mercy we expect relief, though otherwise we are hopeless of comfort; yet, because the wonderful works of God, in his exceeding great favour towards us his creatures, are far beyond the scope of man's capacity, therefore by him we hope to have deliverance in this our deep distress. Also, for as much as those upon whom God will bestow the favour of life, with return home to their country, may not only remain blameless, but also manifest the truth of our actions, we have thought good, in christian charity, to lay down under our hands the truth of all our proceedings, even till the time of this our distress.
Given in Port Desire, the 2d of June, 1592," &c.
After they had delivered this under their hands, then we began to labour to preserve our lives; and we built up a smith's forge, and made nails, bolts, and spikes; others made ropes of a piece of our cable; and the rest gathered muscles, and took smelts, for the whole company. Three leagues from this harbour there is an isle with four small isles about it, where there are abundance of seals; and, at that time of the year, the penguins came thither, in great plenty, to breed. We concluded with the pinnace, that she should sometimes go thither to catch seals for us; upon which condition we would share victuals with her man for man; whereunto the whole company agreed. So we parted our poor store, and she laboured to fetch us seals to eat, wherewith we lived when smelts and muscles failed; for in the nep-tides we could get no muscles. Thus, in the most miserable calamity, we remained until the 6th of August, still keeping watch upon the hills to look for our General; and so great was our vexation and anguish of soul, as I think never flesh and blood endured more. Our misery daily increasing, time passing,
Cavendishes Crew
in Great distress at Port desire, Setup a Forge & repair their shatterd Vessels.
and our hope of the General being very cold, our Captain and Master were fully persuaded that the General might, perhaps, go directly for the straits, and not come to this harbour: whereupon, they thought no course more convenient, than to go presently for the straits, and there to stay his coming; for, in that place he could not pass, but of course we must see him: Whereunto the company most willingly consented, as also the Captain and Master of the pinnace, so that upon this determination we made all possible speed to depart.
The 6th of August, we set sail, and went to Penguin Isle; and, the next day, we salted 20 hogsheads of seals, which was as much as our salt could do. The 7th, towards night, we departed from Penguin Isle. The 9th, we had a sore storm, so that we were constrained to hull, for our sails were not fit to endure any force. The 14th, we were driven in among certain isles never before discovered by any known relation, lying fifty leagues, or better, off the shore, east and northerly from the straits; in which place, had not the wind ceased, we must of necessity have perished. But, the wind shifting, we directed our course for the straits; and, the 18th of August, we fell in with the Cape in a very thick fog; and, the same night, we anchored ten leagues within the Cape. The 19th, we passed the first and second straits. The 21st, we doubled Cape Froward. The 22d, we anchored in Salvage Cove, so called because we saw many savages there. Notwithstanding the extreme cold of this place, yet do all these people go naked, and live in the woods like satyrs, painted and disguised, and flee from you like wild deer. They are very strong, and threw stones at us of three or four pounds weight, an incredible distance. The 24th, in the morning, we departed from this cove, and the same day we came into the north-west reach, which is the last reach of the straits. The 25th, we anchored in a good cove, within 14 leagues of the South Sea: in this place we purposed to stay for the General; for the strait at this place, is scarce three miles broad, so that he could not pass but we must see him. After we had staid here a fortnight in the depth of winter, our victuals consuming (for our seals stunk most vilely, and our men died pitifully through cold and famine, for the greatest part of them had not cloaths to defend them from the extremity of the winter's cold); being in this heavy distress, our Captain and Master thought it the best course to depart from the straits into the South Sea, and to go for the isle of Santa Maria, which is to the northward of Baldivia, in 37 deg. 15 min. where we might have relief, and be in a temperate clime, and there stay for the General, for of necessity he must come by that isle. So we departed the 13th of September, and came in sight of the South Sea. On the 14th, we were forced back again, and recovered a cove, three leagues within the straits from the South Sea. Again we put forth, and being eight or ten leagues free of the land, the wind rising furiously at west-north-west, we were forced back again into the straits for want of sails; for we never durst bear sail in any stress of weather, they were so weak: so again we recovered the cove three leagues within the straits, where we endured most furious weather; so that one of our two cables brake, whereby we were hopeless of life: yet it pleased God to calm the storm, and we unreev'd our sheets, tacks, halliards, and other ropes, and moored our ship to the trees, close by the rocks. We laboured to recover our anchor again, but could not, it lay so deep in the water, and, as we think, covered with oaze. Now had we but one anchor, which had but one whole fluke, a cable spliced in two places, and a piece of an old one. In the midst of these our troubles, the wind came fair the first of October; whereupon, with all expedition, we loosed our moorings, and weighed our anchor, and so towed off into the channel; for we had mended our boat in Port Desire, and had five oars of the pinnace. When we had weighed our anchor, we found our cable broken; only one strand held. Being in the channel, we reeved our ropes, and again rigged our ship; no man's hand was idle, but all laboured even for the last gasp of life. Here our company was divided; some desired to go again for Port Desire, and there to be set on shore, where they might travel for their lives; and some stood with the Captain and Master to proceed. Whereupon the Captain said to the Master,
"Master, you see the wonderful extremity of our estate, and the great doubts among our company of the truth of your reports, as touching relief to be had in the South Sea. Now, good Master, for as much as you have been in this voyage once before with your Master the General, satisfy the company of such truths as are to you best known; and, you the rest of the General's men, who likewise have been with him in his first voyage, if you hear any thing contrary to the truth, spare not to reprove it, I pray you."
Then the Master said,
"If you think good to return, I will not gainsay it: but this I think, if life may be preserved by any means, it is in proceeding; for at the isle of Santa Maria I do assure you of wheat, pork, and roots enough. Also, I will bring you to an isle where pelicans be in great abundance, and we shall have meal in great plenty, besides a possibility of intercepting some ships upon the coast of Chili and Peru. But, if we return, there is nothing but death to be hoped for: therefore, do as you like, I am ready; but my desire is to proceed."
These his speeches, being confirmed by others that were in the former voyage, there was a general consent for proceeding; and so, the 2d of October, we put into the South Sea, and were free of all land. This night the wind began to blow very much at west-north-west, and still increased in fury, so that we were in great doubt what course to take. To put into the straits we durst not, for lack of ground-tackle: to bear sail we doubted, the tempest was so furious, and our sails so bad. The pinnace came round with us, and told us that she had received many grievous seas, and that her ropes did every hour fail her, so as they could not tell what shift to make. We, being unable in any sort to help her, stood under our courses in view of the lee-shore, still expecting our ruinous end.
The 4th of October, the storm growing beyond measure furious, the pinnace, being in the wind of us, struck suddenly a hull, so that we thought she had received some grievous sea, or sprung a leak, or that her sails failed her, because she came not with us; but we durst not hull in that unmerciful storm, but sometimes tried under our main course, sometimes with a haddock of our sail, for our ship was very leeward, and most laboursome in the sea. This night we lost the pinnace, and never saw her again.
The 5th, our fore-sail was split and all torn: then our Master took the mizzen, and brought it to the fore-mast, to make our ship work, and with our sprit-sail we mended our fore-sail, the storm continuing beyond all description in fury, with hail, snow, rain, and wind, such and so mighty, as that in nature it could not possibly be more, the sea such and so lofty, with continual breach, that many times we were doubtful whether our ship did sink or swim.
The 10th of October, being, by the account of our Captain and Master, very near the shore, the weather dark, the storm furious, and most of our men having given over to labour, we yielded ourselves to death without further hope of succour. Our Captain sitting in the gallery very pensive, I came and brought him some
rosa solis,
to comfort him; for he was so cold, that he was scarce able to move a joint. After he had drank, and was comforted in heart, he began, for the ease of his conscience, to make a large repetition of his forepassed time, and with many grievous sighs, he concluded with a short prayer for our preservation. Having ended, he desired me not to make known to any of the company his intolerable grief and anguish of mind, because they should not thereby be dismayed. And so suddenly, before I went from him, the sun shined clear; so that he and the Master both observed the true elevation of the Pole, whereby they knew by what course to recover the straits. Wherewithal our Captain and Master were so revived, and gave such comfortable speeches to the company, that every man rejoiced, as though we had received a present deliverance. The next day, being the 11th of October, we saw Cape Deseado, being the cape on the south shore (the north shore being nothing but a company of dangerous rocks, isles, and shoals). This cape being within two leagues to the leeward of us, our Master greatly doubted that we could not double the same: nevertheless, being a man of good spirit, he resolutely made quick dispatch, and set sail. Our sails had not been half an hour on board, but the foot-rope of our fore-sail brake, so that nothing held but the oylet-holes. The seas continually brake over the ship's poop, and flew into the sails with such violence, that we still expected the tearing of our sails, or oversetting of the ship; and, besides, to our utter discomfort, we perceived that we fell still more and more to lee-ward, so that we could not double the cape. We were now come within half a mile of the cape, and so near the shore, that the counter surf of the sea would rebound against the ship's side, so that we were much dismayed with the horror of our present end. Being thus at the very point of our death, the wind and the seas raging beyond measure, our Master veered some of the main sheet; and whether it was by that occasion, or by some current, or by the wonderful power of God, as we verily think it was, the ship quickened her way, and shot past that rock, where we thought we should have shored. Then between the cape and the point there was a little bay; so that we were somewhat farther from the shore: and, when we came so far as the cape, we yielded to death; yet the Father of all mercies delivered us, and we doubled the cape about the length of our ship, or very little more. Being shot past the cape, we presently took in our sails, which only God had preserved unto us; and when we were shot in between the high lands, the wind blowing trade, without an inch of sail, we spooned before the sea, three men being not able to guide the helm, and in six hours we were put twenty-five leagues within the straits, where we found a sea answerable to the ocean.
In this time we freed our ship from water, and after we had rested a little, our men were not able to move; their sinews were stiff, and their flesh dead, and many of them (which is most lamentable to be reported) were so eaten with lice, as that in their flesh did lie clusters of them, as big as pease, yea and some as big as beans. Being in this misery, we were constrained to put into a cove, for the refreshing of our men. Our Master knowing the shore, and every cove very perfectly, put in with the shore, and moored to the trees, as before time we had done, laying our anchor to the sea-ward. Here we continued until the 20th of October; but not being able any longer to stay, through extremity of famine, the 21st we put off into the channel, the weather being reasonably calm: but before night it blew most extremely at west-north-west. The storm growing outrageous, our men could scarcely stand by their labour; and, the straits being full of turning reaches, we were constrained by the discretion of the Captain and Master in their accounts, to guide the ship in the hell-dark night, when we could not see any shore, the channel being in some places scarce three miles broad. But our Captain, as we first passed through the straits, drew such an exquisite plan of the same, as I am assured it cannot in any sort be bettered: which plan he and the Master so often perused, and so carefully regarded, as that in memory they had every turn and creek, and in the deep-dark night, without any doubting, they conveyed the ship through that crooked channel; so that I conclude, the world hath not any so skilful pilots for that place, as they are; for otherwise we could never have passed in such sort as we did.
The 25th, we came to an island in the straits, named Penguin Isle, whither we sent our boat to seek relief, for there were great abundance of birds, and the weather was very calm; so we came to an anchor by the island in seven fathoms. While our boat was on shore, and we had great store of penguins, there arose a sudden storm, so that our ship did drive over a breach, and our boat sunk at the shore. Captain Cotton and the Lieutenant, being on shore, leapt into the boat and freed the same, and threw away all the birds, and with great difficulty recovered the ship: myself also was in the boat at the same time, where for my life I laboured to the best of my power. The ship, all this while driving upon the lee-shore, when we came on board we helped to set sail, and weighed the anchor; for before our coming they could scarce hoist up their yards, yet with much ado they set their fore-course. Thus in a mighty fret of weather, the 27th day of October we were free of the straits, and the 30th of October we came to Penguin Isle, being three leagues from Port Desire, the place where we purposed to seek for our relief.
When we were come to this isle we sent our boat on shore, which returned laden with birds and eggs; and our men said the penguins were so thick upon the isle, that ships might be laden with them; for they could not go without trampling upon the birds, whereat we greatly rejoiced. Then the captain appointed Charles Parker and Edward Smith, with twenty others, to go on shore, and to stay upon the isle, for the killing and drying of these penguins, and promised, after the ship was in harbour, to send the rest, not only for expedition, but also to save the small store of victuals in the ship. But Parker, Smith, and the rest of their faction, suspected that this was a device of the captain's to leave his men on shore, that, by these means, there might be victuals for the rest to recover their country: and when they remembered that this was the place where they would have slain their captain and master, surely (thought they) for revenge hereof will they leave us on shore. Which, when our captain understood, he called God to witness, that revenge was no part of his thoughts; they gave him thanks, desiring to go into the harbour with the ship, which he granted. So there were only ten left upon the isle, and the last of October we entered the harbour. Our master, at our last being here, having taken careful notice of every creek in the river, in a very convenient place, upon sandy oaze, ran the ship a-ground, laying our anchor to seaward, and with our running ropes moored her to stakes upon the shore, which he had fastened for that purpose; where the ship remained till our departure.
The 3d of November, our boat with water, wood, and as many as she could carry, went for the isle of Penguins; but being deep she durst not proceed, but returned again the same night. Then Parker, Smith, Townshend, Purpet, with five others, desired that they might go by land, and that the boat might fetch them when they were against the isle, it being scarce a mile from the shore. The captain bade them do what they thought best, advising them to take weapons with them:
"For, (saith he) although we have not at any time seen people in this place, yet in the country there may be savages."
They answered:
"That here were great store of deer, and ostriches: but if there were savages, they would devour them."
Notwithstanding, the captain caused them to take weapons with them, carlivers, swords, and targets: so the 6th of November, they departed by land, and the boat by sea; but from that day to this day we never heard of our men. The 11th, while most of our men were at the isle, only the captain and master, with six others, being left in the ship, there came a great multitude of savages to the ship, throwing dust in the air, leaping and running like brute beasts, having vizards on their faces like dogs faces, or else their faces are dogs faces indeed. We greatly feared lest they would set our ship on fire, for they would suddenly make fire, whereat we much marvelled: they came to windward of our ship, and set the bushes on fire, so that we were in a very stinking smoak; but as soon as they came within our shot, we shot at them, and striking one of them in the thigh, they all presently fled; so that we never saw more of them. Hereby we judged, that these cannibals had slain our nine men. When we considered who they were that were thus murdered, and found that they were the principal men who would have murdered the captain and master, with their friends, we saw the just judgment of God, and made supplication to his Divine Majesty to be merciful unto us. While we were in this harbour, our captain and master went with the boat to discover how far this river did run, that if need should enforce us to leave our ship, we might know how far we might go by water: so they found, that, farther than twenty miles, they could not go with the boat. At their return they sent the boat to the isle of penguins: whereby we understood that the penguins dried to our hearts content, and that the multitude of them was infinite. All the time that we were in this place, we fared passing well with eggs, penguins, young seals, young gulls, and other birds, such as I know not, of all which we had abundance. In this place we found an herb called Scurvy-grass, which we fried with eggs, using train-oil instead of butter. This herb did so purge the blood, that it took away all kinds of swellings, of which many had died, and restored us to perfect health of body; so that we were in as good case as when we came first out of England. We staid in this harbour until the 22d of December, in which time we had dried 20,000 penguins; and the captain, the master, and myself, had made some salt, by laying salt-water upon the rocks in holes, which, in six days would be kerned. Thus God did feed us, even as it were with manna from heaven.
The 22d of December, we departed with our ship for the isle, where, with great difficulty, by the skilful industry of our master, we got 14,000 of our birds, and had almost lost our captain in labouring to bring the birds on board: and, had not our master been very expert in the set of those tides, which run after many fashions, we had also lost our ship in the same place. The 22d at night we departed with 14,000 dried penguins, not being able to fetch the rest, and shaped our course for Brazil. Now, our captain rated our victuals, and brought us to such allowance, as that our victuals might last six months; for our hope was, that within six months we might recover our country, though our sails were very bad. So our allowance was two ounces and an half of meal for a man a-day, and to have so twice a-week; so that five ounces did serve for a week. Three days a week we had oil, three spoonfuls for a man a-day; and two days in a week pease, a pint among four men a-day, and every day five penguins for four men, and six quarts of water for four men a-day. This was our allowance; wherewith we lived, though weakly, and very feeble. The 30th of January, we arrived at the isle of Placentia in Brazil, the first place that, outward-bound, we were at: and having made the shoal, our ship lying off at sea, the captain, with twenty-four of the company, went with the boat on shore, being a whole night before they could recover it. The last of January, at sunrising, they suddenly landed, hoping to take the Portuguese in their houses, and by that means to recover some Casavi meal, or other victuals for our relief; but when they looked for the houses, they were all razed and burnt to the ground, so that we thought no man had remained on the island. Then the captain went to the gardens, and brought from thence fruits and roots for the company, and came on board the ship, and brought her into a fine creek which we had found out, where we might moor her by the trees, and where there was water, and hoops to trim our casks. Our case being very desperate, we presently laboured for dispatch away; some cut hoops, which the coopers made, others laboured upon the sails and ship, every man travailing for his life; and still a guard was kept on shore to defend those that laboured, every man having likewise his weapon by him. The 3d of February, our men, with twenty-three shot, went again to the gardens, being three miles from us upon the north shore, and fetched Casavi-roots out of the ground, to relieve our company, instead of bread; for we spent not of our meal while we staid here. The 5th of February, being Monday, our captain and master hastened the company to their labour; so some went with the coopers to gather hoops, and the rest laboured on board. This night many of our men in the ship dreamed of murder and slaughter: in the morning they reported their dreams: one saying to another,
"This night I dreamed that thou wert slain."
Another answered,
"And I dreamed that thou wert slain."
And this was general through the ship. The Captain hearing this, who likewise had dreamed very strangely himself, gave very strict charge, that those who went on shore should take weapons with them, and saw them himself delivered into the boat, and sent some on purpose to guard the labourers. All the forenoon they laboured in quietness, and when it was ten o'clock, the heat being extreme, they came to a rock near the wood's side (for all this country is nothing but thick woods), and there they boiled Casavi-roots, and dined. After dinner some slept, others washed themselves in the sea, all being stripped to their shirts, and no man keeping watch, no match lighted, and not a piece charged. Suddenly, as they were thus sleeping and sporting, having got themselves into a corner, out of sight of the ship, there came a multitude of Indians and Portuguese upon them, and slew them sleeping: only two escaped, one very sore hurt, the other not touched, by whom we understood of this miserable massacre. With all speed we manned our boat, and landed to succour our men; but we found them slain, and laid naked in rank one by another, with their faces upward, and a cross set by them: and withal we saw two very great pinnaces come from the river of Janeiro very full of men; who we suspected came from thence to take us; because there came from Janeiro soldiers to Santos, when the General had taken the town, and was strong in it. Of seventy-six persons who departed in our ship out of England, we were now left but twenty-seven, having lost thirteen in this place, with their chief furniture, as muskets, calivers, powder, and shot. Our casks were all in decay, so that we could not take in more water than was in our ship, for want of casks, and that which we had was marvellous ill-conditioned. And being there moored by trees, for want of cables and anchors, we still expected the cutting of our moorings, to be beaten from our decks with our own furniture, and to be assailed by them of Janeiro. What distress we were now driven into, I am not able to express. To depart with eight tons of water in such bad casks, was to starve at sea, and in staying our case was ruinous. These were hard choices; but, being thus perplexed, we made choice rather to fall into the hands of the Lord than into the hands of men. So, concluding to depart, the 6th of February we were off in the channel, with our ordnance, and small shot, in readiness for any assault that should come; and, having a small gale of wind, we recovered the sea in most deep distress. Then bemoaning our estate one to another, and recounting over all our extremities, nothing grieved us more than the loss of our men twice, first being slaughtered by the cannibals at Port Desire, and at this isle of Placentia by the Indians and Portuguese. And considering what they were who were lost, we found that all those who conspired the murdering of our Captain and Master were now slain by savages, the gunner only excepted. Being thus at sea, when we came to Cape Frio the wind was contrary; so that three weeks we were grievously vexed with cross winds; and, our water consuming, our hope of life was very small. Some desired to go to Baya, and to submit themselves to the Portuguese, rather than to die for thirst: but the Captain, with fair persuasions altered their purpose of yielding to the Portuguse. In this distress it pleased God to send us rain in such plenty, as that we were well watered, and in good comfort to return. But after we came near unto the sun, our dried penguins began to corrupt, and there bred in them a most loathsome and ugly worm, of an inch long. This worm did so mightily increase, and devour our victuals, that there was in reason no hope how we should avoid famine, but he devoured of these wicked creatures; there was nothing that they did not devour, iron only excepted; our cloaths, hats, boots, shoes, shirts, and stockings: and for the ship, they did so eat the timbers, as that we greatly feared they would undo us, by gnawing through the ship's side. Great was the care of our Captain, Master, and company, to consume these vermin, but the more we laboured to kill them, the more they increased; so that at the last we could not sleep for them, but they would eat our flesh, and bite like musquetos. In this woeful case, after we had passed the Equinoctial Line towards the north, our men began to
sick of such a monstrous disease, as I think the like was never heard of: for in their ancles it began to swell; from thence in two days it would be in their breasts, so that they could not draw their breath; and then fell into their lower parts, and there did swell most grievously, and most dreadful to behold, so that they could neither stand,
, nor go; whereupon our men grew big with grief. Our Captain, with extreme anguish of his soul, was in such woeful distress, that he desired only a speedy end; for divers grew raging mad, and some died in most loathsome and furious pain. It were incredible to write our misery as it was. There was no man in perfect h
alth, but the Captain and one boy; the Master being a man of good spirit, with extreme labour, bore out his grief, so that it grew not upon him. To be short, all our men died, except sixteen, of which there were but five able to move. The Captain was in good health, the Master indifferent, Captain Cotton and myself swolen and short-winded, yet better than the rest who were sick, and one boy in health: upon us five only the labour of the ship did stand: The Captain and Master as occasion served, would take in and heave out the top-sails; the Master only attended on the sprit-sail; and all of us at the capstan without sheets and tacks. In fine, our misery and weakness was so great, that we could not take in or heave out a sail: so our top-sail and sprit-sail were torn all in pieces by the weather. The Master and Captain taking their turns at the helm, were mightily distressed, and monstrously grieved with the woeful lamentation of our sick men. Thus, as lost wanderers upon the sea, the 11th of June 1593, it pleased God that we arrived at Bear Haven in Ireland, and there ran the ship on shore; where the Irishmen helped us to take in our sails, and to moor our ship for floating; which slender pains of theirs cost our Captain ten pounds, before he could have the ship in safety. Thus, without victuals, sails, men, or any furniture, God only guided us into Ireland, where the Captain left the Master and three or four of the company to keep the ship; and, within five days after, he and certain others had passage in an English fisher-boat to Padstow, in Cornwall. In this manner our small remnant, by God's mercy only, were preserved and restored to our country, to whom be all honour and glory world within end."
We have already observed, that the above relation is the only complete account of this voyage which has hitherto appeared; by which we would be understood to mean, that it is the only complete account of the proceedings of any one of the ships engaged in this second expedition of Cavendish, from her first setting out till her return home. There are other accounts of the distresses attending this voyage, but they refer to parts only, and do not contain a regular series of events from beginning to end, as we shall endeavour to shew, in pursuance of our plan of tracing the great out-lines of the lives of our celebrated circum-navigators, from their first entering upon action till the period of their retreat.
When the impartial reader revolves in his mind the effects of distresses like those already described in the foregoing account, upon a company of ungovernable sailors, not under that subordination, which regular discipline always establishes to officers properly commissioned, he will then be prepared to determine, whether Cavendish complains with reason against Davis, as being the death of him, and to use his own words,
"the decay of the whole action:"
or, whether the miscarriage did not arise partly from unavoidable accidents, and partly from the impetuosity of his own temper, and his own misconduct.
The misfortunes that attended the progress of this most distressful voyage, appear to us to have taken their rise from the accident of being becalmed for seven-and-twenty days under the Line; during which time they not only consumed a considerable proportion of their provisions, but the men became sick; and the scurvy, which seldom makes its approaches on this side the Equator, had already infected near half the crews.
This reduced them to the necessity, not only of seeking land, where fresh provisions might be procured, but of wasting more time with a view to the recovery of the sick, than was consistent with the navigation of those boisterous seas through which they were to pass.
We have already seen that when they were masters of Santos, they were in the utmost distress for want of provisions, and yet the opportunity was suffered to pass without obtaining any effectual relief; and that this distress is not aggravated by the writer of the above voyage, appears from the testimony of Knivet, in Purchas's Pilgrams, who says,
"that here they had such disorders among themselves, that if the Portuguese had been of any courage, they might have destroyed the whole fleet; for our men, says he, would fight for their victuals, as if they had been no Christians but Jews" (which by the way shews the strange notions which the multitude in those days entertained of the uncharitable disposition of the Jews to one another; a characteristic not at all applicable to that people); "and they that got the best would get them into some hole, or into the wilderness under some tree, and there they would remain as long as they had meat."
From this early beginning of distress, very little hope could be reasonably entertained of the issue. The season was advancing fast, when the severity of the weather would render their proceeding into the South Seas by the straits of Magellan very dangerous; and, being already in want of provisions, they could have no means of an effectual supply till they could reach the fertile countries on the opposite side of those straits; the General's prolonging his stay therefore on the eastermost coasts of Brazil till the 22d of January, was not only an imprudent but a fatal delay; and, as it was foreseen, proved the actual ruin of the voyage.
At the time when they should have passed the straits of Magellan, they were in consultation, if not worse employed, at Santos; and after they set sail they were attacked by a storm, of which Cavendish himself says,
"a
worser
might not be endured. Such was the fury of the west-south-west winds, as we were driven from the shore four hundred leagues, and constrained to beat from 50 deg. to the southward into 40 degrees to the northward again, before we could come near the shore; in which time we had a new shift of sails clean blown away, and our ship in danger to sink in the sea three times; which with extremity of men's labour we recovered."
Here the reason that prevented Cavendish's arrival at Port Desire till the 18th of March, 12 days after the Desire and Roebuck, is fully explained. And And after he had refitted his ship and refreshed his men, and was ready to sail, he goes on in the same letter, which is directed to Sir Tristriam Gorges,
"And now," says he, "we were almost four months beating between the coast of Brazil and the straits, being in distance not above 600 leagues, which is commonly run in twenty or thirty days; but such was the adverseness of our fortune, that in coming thither we spent the summer, and found in the straits the beginning of a most extreme winter, not durable for Christians."
After this concession, compared with what the writer of Davis's voyage has related of the sufferings of his people, let the reader determine with what justice Cavendish arraigns Davis, when he attributes to the villainy of that officer his own death, and the ruin of the voyage.
But to pursue the narrative of the General's proceedings from the time of his parting with the Desire and Black Pinnace in the night of the 20th of May, as already related in the preceding voyage. It appears indeed, that he continued his course to the coast of Brazil accompanied by the Roebuck, which, however, was parted from him in lat. 36
S. in one of the most grievous storms, as he himself confesses, that any Christians ever endured upon the seas to live, in which the Roebuck sprung her masts, and was otherwise so much damaged, as to arrive in the bay of St. Vincent in the greatest distress, being little better than a mere wreck.
The General himself suffered considerably, and was forced to take shelter likewise in the same bay, though the little town of St. Vincent they had burnt on their leaving Santos the summer before. Here twenty-five of his men, getting drunk on shore, were suddenly set upon by the Portuguese, in revenge for their former treatment, and every man of them slaughtered. To revenge this treachery, as it is called, Cavendish determined to attack Santos, and to level it with the ground; and now, being joined by the crew of the Roebuck, he landed above the town, but was most shamefully repulsed, after having plundered a few farm-houses, and, as it should seem the custom was, set them on fire.
Here being disappointed of his revenge, he departed with a view to attack a small inhabited island about twenty leagues to the westward; from whence, when he had provided himself with such necessaries as the island could afford, he intended, according to his promise, and agreeable to the expectations of Davis, to have returned to the straits of Magellan, and to have proceeded to the South Seas, in prosecution of his first design. But there seemed a fatality attending every measure he devised.
He was diverted from the prosecution of this enterprize by the persuasions of a Portuguese pilot on board, who advised the attack of Spirito Santo, as the only place that could supply his wants, and enable him to refit his ships. In this undertaking he lost fourscore of his men killed, and forty wounded. And now, having no alternative, but either to return home, or to burn one of his ships for want of hands, and proceed with the other to the straits; the crew of the Roebuck, fearing, as they well might, that theirs was the ship destined for the flames, watched their opportunity when their Captain was sick on board the General, to make their escape in the night, taking with them both the surgeons, and, as Cavendish says, double the proportion of provisions for their number of men,
"having with them at their departure but six and forty men, and carrying away with them the proportion for six months victual of 120 men at large."
Yet it is not easy to reconcile the truth of this assertion with the distresses for want of provisions, which are all along complained of from their first arrival on the coast of Brazil in the summer to the present time. In the straits of Magellan, it is asserted, that, to save their victuals, they were forced in a great measure to live upon sea-weeds, muscles, periwincles, and the fruits of the country; for, says Knivet, the allowance from the ship was but little.—But to proceed:
Cavendish, finding himself thus forsaken, every where disappointed, betrayed, as he complains, and distressed to the last extremity, his ship full of sick and wounded, and himself with a wounded spirit, directed his course to the island of St. Sebastian, 200 leagues to the westward of Spirito Santo, where he arrived when he had but just one cask of water left. Here he set 20 of his sick men ashore; and, having refitted his ship, and refreshed his people, he wanted very much to have sailed back to the straits:
"But, says his biographer, his mutinous crew obliged him to sail for England;"
and he died before his return.
In his letter to Sir Tristriam Gorges, which appears to have been written a little before his death, he discovers the utmost; perturbation of mind.
"And now, says he, what with grief for the loss of my most dear cousin [John Lock], and the continual trouble I endured among such hell-hounds [his ship's crew], wishing myself upon any desart place in the world, there to die, rather than thus basely to return home again; which course I had put in execution, had I found an island which the charts make to be in eight degrees to the southward of the Line. I swear to you I sought it with all diligence, meaning (if I had found it) there to have ended my unfortunate life. But God suffered not such happiness to light upon me; for I could by no means find it; so was forced to come towards England"
The bitterness which he expresses against his crew might, and did, probably, arise from their determined resolution not to expose themselves to the like hardships they had already undergone, and in which the major part of their companions were suffered to perish without pity, and to languish without relief: for, if we may believe Jane, the sick men on board the General were most uncharitably put on shore into the woods in the straits of Magellan; where, according to Cavendish's own account,
"there was nothing but such flights of snow, and extremities of frosts, as in his life he had never beheld or felt the like. The men, adds he, were well in the morning, and by night frozen to death."
In this miserable manner, in seven or eight days, 40 of his crew actually perished, and 70 more sickened.
Of the ships that sailed in this expedition, consisting of five sail, we can trace only three that returned to England, namely, the Galleon, otherwise named the Leicester, of which the General was Commander; the Dainty, commanded by Captain Cotton, who went a volunteer, and whose ship, having parted company on her first arrival on the coast of Brazil, instead of pursuing her voyage to the South Seas, returned back to England with very little damage.
The Roebuck, in which sailed from Plymouth 170 brave seamen, after stealing away from the General in the night, as already related, was never more heard of; the Black Pinnace foundered in a violent storm in the South Sea, and in her about 70 men. Of the crews of the Desire, only 26 out of 150 lived to see their native country; and, of the General's ship, though the number that perished cannot be exactly ascertained, yet there could not more than 50 at most survive their General.
Now, if the gallant actions and glorious exploits that entitle men to fame and immortality, involve in their atchievement so many of their fellow-creatures in misery, let the benevolent and humane unite with us in depreciating such murderous practices; and, instead of holding forth a Drake, or a Cavendish, as examples worthy of imitation, let us hold in detestation all those false worthies, whose actions have their rise in
"a ravenous appetite for robbery, and in an insatiable desire of acquiring wealth without industry, and greatness without virtue."
THE VOYAGES OF CAPT. WILLIAM DAMPIER.
AMONG the Navigators who first surrounded the globe, Captain William Dampier, considered as a Mariner and Naturalist, will ever be held in the foremost rank. From his Voyages the world received the earliest and best information of remote countries, and their genuine productions; and it is on his plan that future navigators have thought fit to proceed in giving an account of new discoveries. His history will afford a notable instance of the power of genius and application unassisted by learning, when the mind is wholly bent upon the pursuit and improvement of one art.
He was the son of parents who lived in the parish of East Coker, in Somersetshire, reputable, but not rich. While they lived they gave him an education very ill suited to a sea-faring life; but they both dying when he was yet young, those to whose care he was entrusted removed him from the grammar-school, and put him to an English school to learn writing and accompts. Here he did not remain long before an opportunity offered of placing him with the master of a ship at Weymouth, agreeable to the inclinations which he had very early discovered of going to sea; a lesson to parents and guardians to consult the genius of children, if they would wish them to rise to eminence in the profession to which they are bred.
With this master he made a short voyage to France, and was highly gratified: but, his next voyage being to Newfoundland, where he was employed a whole summer in the fishery, the rigour of the climate and the nature of the servi
so cooled his ardour for sea-adventures, that he
termined to relinquish the employment, and return to his friends.
He was now eighteen years of age; and, after leading for some time an idle life, finding his friends begin to look cool upon him, he formed a resolution to leave the country, and to try his fortune in town. His course of life, and the natural bent of his inclination, led him to seek the company of sea-faring companions, who, being pleased with his jovial humour, encouraged him to resume his old employment, to which, having an opportunity to enter on board an Indiaman, he was easily persuaded.
In this ship, the John and Martha, Captain Earning, he sailed to Bantam, in quality of a foremastman; and in little more than a year returned to England, perfectly reconciled to the business of a mariner, which, by the severity of the service he was first employed in, he had determined never to follow.
In this voyage, by favour of the master of the ship, he learned the rudiments of the art of navigation, in which he afterwards became a great proficient; but he had not yet learned to keep a journal. It should seem that he employed the following year, after his Indian voyage, in improving those hints which he received from the master, and in qualifying himself for an easier and more advantageous birth, than that of going before the mast for the future. With this view he retired again into the country, and spent the summer with his brother. But, tired of a studious life, he embraced the occasion of the Dutch war, to enter on board the Royal Prince, commanded by Sir Edward Sprague, but in what station does not appear. He tells us, indeed, that he was in two engagements; but that, falling sick, he was put on board the hospital ship, and saw the third only at a distance, in which his Commander was unfortunately killed; so that he does not seem to have risen higher at this period than the ordinary rank of an able seaman.
Being soon after removed to Harwich among the rest of the sick and wounded, he there languished till the conclusion of the Dutch war, when he received his discharge; and then returned again to Somersetshire for the recovery of his health; which was no sooner restored man he prepared again to go to sea.
But Colonel Hellier, a neighbouring Gentleman, having a large plantation in Jamaica, being acquainted with his resolution, made him an offer of going there as a superintendant, with a handsome appointment; which he very readily accepted; and, about the beginning of the year 1674, embarked for Jamaica. But he soon grew tired of land service; his roving disposition still inclining him to seek the sea. The road, he says, to take possession of his new office, when he arrived at Jamaica, was formerly a great way round: but Mr. Hellier, the Colonel's brother, being desirous of shortening the way, coasted along the river with some companions, till they found it run between rocks that rose perpendicular on both sides: they endeavoured to climb that which intercepted the way to the plantation: but, while they with the utmost danger and difficulty were surmounting the rock, a dog they had with them found a more convenient passage through a hole. This suggested to Mr. Hellier a new track: so by blowing up some fragments of the rock in one part, and levelling some hollows in others, a passage was obtained wide enough for a loaded horse. By this accidental discovery the road was shortened near one half.
He was now in his 22d year. In six months after his arrival at Jamaica he was tired of his superintendency, and quitted it; and soon after engaged in a trade with the logwood-cutters in Campeachy bay; which trade he followed near three years, and then commenced logwood-cutter himself. Unsettled in his mind, and still eager in pursuit of new adventures, in less than a year he quitted the logwood-cutters; and about the beginning of 1678, returned to England.
In 1679, we find him again returned to Jamaica, with a cargo of merchandize, which being sold at Port Royal, he furnished himself with other goods, such as he knew he could carry to a good market at Campeachy; and by this advantageous traffic, he so inriched himself, as to be able to purchase an estate in his own country, of one whom he knew had a good title to it. And now, sufficiently happy, he was preparing to return home; when one Mr. Hobby invited him to make a short trading voyage to the Moskito-shore, a part of the world he had not yet seen. This invitation to embark in a new adventure he could not resist; and, therefore, sent home the writings of his late purchase to his brother, with the same friends whom he purposed to have accompanied to England himself, and then went on board with Mr. Hobby.
The Moskitos, he says, are Indians that inhabit the main, between the Honduras and Nicaragua. They are tall, well-made, raw-boned, lusty, strong, and nimble of foot, long visaged, have lank black hair, look stern, are hard favoured, and of a dark copper-coloured complexion. They are but a small nation; the same, perhaps, that Drake calls Symerons. They are very dexterous at throwing the lance, fisgig, harpoon, or any manner of dart, being bred to it from their infancy; for the children, imitating their parents, never go abroad without a lance, which they throw indifferently at almost every object that falls in their way, till by constant practice they become masters of the art. They next learn to parry a lance, arrow, or dart; and the training of them to this exercise is in this manner: Two boys place themselves at a small distance, and throw light blunt lances at each other; one throws the lance, and the other parries, alternately. He that parries holds a small stick in his right hand, with which he turns aside the lance that is darted at him: and, by constantly practising in this manner, they at last become so dexterous, that they will shoot arrows at each other, and parry them as fast as they are shot. This they will do with a small stick no bigger than the rammer of an ordinary fowling-piece.
Before they arrive at manhood, they become so dexterous, that they disregard the arrows of their enemies; and, unless they are poured thick upon them, and come more than one at a time, they will suffer not one in a thousand to hit them.
They are no less expert at strinking of fish: and two or three of them will in those seas maintain a ship's company of 100 men. Turtle and manatee are their principal pursuit: the former will commonly weigh 600 weight; and two Moskito men will strike two of them a-day, while the season lasts, for many days together. The manatee is known also by the name of the sea-cow, and is struck with a harpoon, so contrived by the Moskito-men as to be thrown with a long stick; but they are very cautious of discovering their art even to the English—the Spaniards they hate mortally. The turtle they strike with a different instrument, of which our author has given a cut.
About this time the aera of buccaneering commences. The buccaneers were a set of low men, who, in humble imitation of their betters, first began with fitting out small vessels in some of the islands in the West Indies, and then cruising in them till they were able to make themselves masters of better ships. This being accomplished, they went in formidable companies as occasion offered, and declared open war against all the Spanish settlements. These free-booters had generally two or three Moskito-men on board each of their vessels, whom they found serviceable in many other respects besides supplying them with fish. By their situation they had opportunities of being well acquainted with the strength and riches of the Spanish settlements, and by their inclination they were their avowed enemies. They therefore served the buccaneers for guides, and at the same time assisted in their most hazardous attacks.
This being premised, let us now return to Dampier, who, as has just been said, had agreed to make a voyage with Captain Hobby; and having set sail from Port Royal, either by accident or design, they fell in with Coxen, Sawkings, Sharp, and other buccaneers, who were riding at anchor on the west side of the island of Jamaica, and were then meditating an enterprize over the isthmus of Darien, in order to fall suddenly upon the Spaniards in the South Seas. This expedition, it was given out, would enrich the undertakers; and as all who engaged in it, according to the law of buccaneers, were to be proportionable sharers, all Captain Hobby's men deserted him to join the buccaneers, Dampier only excepted, who, after three or four days consideration, was easily persuaded to make one among the rest.
Shortly after Christmas, 1680, they all set sail, and steering to Porto Bello, on the 5th of April, they landed near Golden Island, to the number of between three and four hundred men, and began their march guided by chiefs of the Muskito Indians, and headed by Captain Sawkings, who, by general consent, was chosen their leader.
After a fatiguing journey of nine days, in which many of them suffered great hardships, they arrived at Santa Martha, a Spanish settlement on a river of that name that empties itself into the Southern ocean; which after some opposition they took. They were made to believe, before they approached it, that it was a place of considerable strength, abounding in riches, and inhabited by merchants of considerable property; but upon entering it, they were greatly disappointed, and therefore, as might be expected from such a lawless crew, they were as ready to fall upon those who had projected the enterprize, as upon those whom they accounted the enemy.
They now, much discontented with one another, parted company. One party, continuing their march to the Southern ocean, and there embarking, some in canoes, some in periagos, and some in small barks which they found in the river, continued their course to the bay of Panama, and in their way attempted the little town of Puebla Novo, before which their commander in chief Captain Sawkings was killed, and his followers defeated. In what manner this undisplined crew procured ships, guns, and ammunition, we are not told; yet ships, guns, and ammunition to pursue their ravages they did procure, as appears by the sequel.
Captain Coxen, with his company, foreseeing many difficulties in this Southern project, after the taking of Santa Martha, returned to the North Seas, where he continued his piracies with various success.
Dampier, however, followed the views of those who persevered in their first resolution of prosecuting their fortune in the South Seas; and he continued to accompany them during the year 1680; but, after the death of Sawkings, Captain Sharpe being chosen commander in chief in his room, Dampier with many of his companions, suspecting both the courage and honesty of their new leader, entered into a confederacy to displace him, and to choose Capt. Watling in his room, which they soon found means to accomplish by general consent. Under Captain Sharpe, the only enterprize of consequence was the taking of Ylo, a small island on the Peruvian coast, from whence they sailed to Juan Fernandez, where, as has been said, Captain Sharpe was displaced.
It happened, however, that Captain Watling, soon after his advancement, having planned an attack upon Arica, sell a victim to his own project; for he was killed in the first onset, and his party defeated. The confederates, after this misfortune, remaining some time without a leader, fell again into party divisions; one party declaring themselves in favour of their former Commander, the other opposing his re-election. To put an end to these dissentions, it was at last agreed to part companies, and to cast lots which company should keep possession of the ship. It happened that the party in opposition to Dampier proved the fortunate party; so that Dampier and his companions were reduced to the necessity of returning either to the N. Sea over the same isthmus by which they came into the South, or submitting themselves to the mercy of the Spaniards. Nor does it appear that any of them carried more riches back than they brought with them, notwithstanding the vast promises with which they had been flattered at their first setting out: for it has been generally observed, that the confederacies of the wicked are defeated by their own deceit; and that they themselves are, for the most part, the instruments of their own misfortunes.
The company with which Dampier chose to associate, consisted of 44 men who bore arms, a Spanish Indian who bore arms also, two Moskito Indians, already described, with five slaves taken in the South Seas, whom they kept to carry their luggage. The vessels they had to carry this company were, the long-boat belonging to the ship, and two canoes, one of which had been sawn asunder, and joined again; and these were furnished for their defence with two patararoes, the companies small arms, and, a very scanty proportion of provisions and ammunition: and, thus equipped, they had to sail more than 200 leagues before they reached the river of Santa Martha, from whence they were to set out on their march by land for the North Sea. Such an enterprize, one would imagine, could hardly have been undertaken with any hope of succeeding by reasonable men.
On April the 17th, 1681, they parted with Captain Sharpe, 12 leagues to the north-west of the island of Plate; and, on May the 1st, they landed, after many strange adventures, in the bay of Panama, in order to pursue their journey. Here they found the river Santa Martha, of which they meant to avail themselves, blocked up by a ship of considerable force, that had been stationed there for more than six months to intercept their passage. This obliged them to seek a new tract, through which, however, the greatest part of the company, with incredible difficulty, passed safe to the opposite shore, among whom was Dampier, whose hardiness enabled him to undergo the severest trials, and whose well-judged precautions exempted him from many unnecessary sufferings, to which others by their imprudence frequently exposed themselves.
On the 1st of May, about three in the afternoon, they began their march; and, on the 23d, they completed their journey; in which time they travelled 110 miles, crossing some lofty mountains, but chiefly keeping along the vallies among deep and dangerous rivers, some of which they forded, some they passed by felling large trees upon the banks, and some they were obliged to swim over in their cloaths and accoutrements. Those who could not swim were dragged through by means of ropes. Their first landing-place upon the south coast was very disadvantageous to them, and forced them to a circuit of 50 miles more than was necessary. Could they have landed in the bay of Santa Martha, or navigated the river Chepoa, by either of which the Indians pass from one shore to the other, in three days, they might have shortened their journey more than one half.
Those, however, who arrived on the north coast first, among whom was Dampier, embarked immediately on board a French buccaneer, Captain Tristrian, Commander, who, in two days after they arrived, joined eight sail of buccaneers more, who were planning another expedition over-land to Panama: but, when they were told of the ill success of the first, the fatigues they must undergo, the risks they must run, and at length the uncertainty of the event, they unanimously concurred in relinquishing that design, and held a consultation what other enterprize was fit for such a formidable body of them to undertake. At length, they concluded to attack a Spanish town up Carpenter's river, and for that purpose set sail one after another, in order to preserve secresy, having previously appointed a place of rendezvous. When the ship in which our navigator sailed arrived at the place appointed, they found Captain Wright there before them, who had taken a Spanish Tartan with 30 men, well furnished with small arms, and four patararoes, who with 12 armadillos had been fitted out to seek the buccaneers, and to sink them. This, they that came over-land, who were heartily tired with living among the French, thought a good opportunity to set up for themselves; they therefore applied to Captain Wright, requesting him to fit up the Tartan for them; to which, after some hesitation, he consented, on condition that they should be under his command as one and the same ship; to which they made no objection.
The rest of th
fleet not arriving at the general rendezvous, according to agreement, it was soon discovered, that the Spanish armadillos [or small men of war] had fallen in with and dispersed them. Every one, therefore, was at liberty to pursue his own enterprize; and Captain Wright with his new associates chose the coast of Carthagena to try their fortune. Here they were joined by Captain Yankey; and, falling in with a stout ship, they fought and took her. She proved to be a prize of 14 guns and 40 men, laden with sugar and tobacco, and had eight or ten tons of marmalet on board. The Captains differed about the right to the ship. Yankey, however, took possession by vote of the crews; and Captain Wright took Yankey's ship, which was better than his own. The cargo, after a great deal of difficulty, they disposed of at a Dutch settlement for less than one-fourth of its value.
However, the goods being now converted into ready money, the produce was shared, and the Captains parted. Captain Wright stood for the Caracca coast, with his men drunk, and quarrelling every day; and Captain Yankey pursued a quite different course. On the coast of the Caraccas, Captain Wright took three barks, one laden with hides, one with European commodities, and a third with earthen-wares and brandy. With these barks he went to the island Rocu; and, having divided the cargoes into three equal parts, he gave to every 20 men (for they were 60 in all) one part and a bark, and so dismissed them. That in which our navigator had an interest was brought to Virginia on July 16, 1682, where we shall leave both him and the ship, to give some account of Captain Yankey.
On board of Yankey sailed one Mr. Cook, as quarter-master, the second in command, according to buccaneer law; and, they having taken a prize from the Spaniards, the command of the prize was claimed by Mr. Cook, on board of which all who chose to sail under the new Captain had liberty so to do: among others there were several who came over-land with him from the South Seas (for he too had left Captain Sharpe, and had followed the example of Dampier). All these chose to follow the fortune of their old acquaintance: but the Frenchmen grudging the English the possession of so fine a vessel, together with their share of the goods on board her, combined together; and, after plundering them of ship, goods, arms, and money, turned them all a-drift on the island of Vacca. In this destitute condition, Captain Tristrian, of whom mention has already been made, shewed some compassion, by taking on board about eight or nine of them, among whom were Capt. Cook and Captain Davis, formerly masters of buccaneers, who, being carried into Petit Guavres, found means, when the French crews were carousing on shore, to make themselves masters of their benefactor's ship, to slip her cable, and to steer with all the sail they could spread to Vacca to the relief of their starving countrymen, who, overjoyed to be released, instantly came on board; and, soon after they set sail, had the good fortune to make prize of a ship laden with wine, which was newly come from France. They afterwards fell in with a ship of good force, of which they likewise made prize; and in her they came to the resolution of sailing into the South Seas, and ranging the coasts of Chili and Peru. But, first, it was necessary for them to sail to Virginia to dispose of their spare ships and cargoes, and to fit their capital prize for war. This they did by mounting her with 28 guns, and furnishing her with stores, provisions, and other necessaries for the prosecution of so long a voyage. When these ships arrived at Virginia, Dampier, and all those who came over-land with him, happened to be there; and, being made acquainted with Captain Cook's intention, they very readily agreed to join in his adventure.
And now, having followed Dampier through all the busy scenes of action in which he was engaged, till his 30th year, we come at length to that period, at which the more notable adventures of his life commence.
On the 18th of August, 1683, he set sail from Achamack river, in Virginia, in the prize under the command of Captain Cook; and, on the 23d, they met with a violent tempest, which lasted without intermission till the 28th, during which time they shipt some of the heaviest seas that ever ship endured. But as soon as the storm abated, they had fine weather, and a brisk gale, till they arrived at the islands of Cape Verd, where they staid to careen their ship, to refresh themselves, and to take in fresh water. This they did at the little island of Sal: but, being told that the island of Mayo abounded most with cattle, they left Sal, and went to Mayo to purchase provisions. Here they met with a cold reception; the inhabitants absolutely refusing to have any traffic with them, or to suffer them to land: the reason was, that about a week before, an English ship pretending friendship had cast anchor, and by a shew of kindness had invited the Governor with his train on board; but, as soon as they had them in their power, they caused them to write for cattle and other provisions, by way of ransom, to regain their liberty; and, what was still more base, after they were furnished with what they required, they carried off their prisoners, who had not then been heard of. Dampier afterwards learnt, that the Englishman who was guilty of this treachery was Captain Bond, who afterwards surrendering himself to the Spaniards, entered into their service, and taught them to fit out fire-ships, of which they were before totally ignorant in the South Seas.
From Mayo they sailed to Sherboro, on the coast of Africa, where they staid a few days, and purchased rice, palm-wines, sugar, honey, and fowls, and then made sail for the straits of Magellan. On the 6th of February, 1684, they came in sight of the straits mouth; but the wind being contrary, they continued their course to the south, and doubled Cape Horn. In latitude 57, when they thought themselves clear of the cape, they encountered a storm on the 14th of February, which lasted without abatement till the 3d of March, during which time the rain poured down immoderately for many days; by which, however, they were plentifully supplied with fresh water.
When the storm abated, the wind changed to the south, and proved very favourable; for at this time they found themselves in lat. 60 deg. S. But, the gale continuing brisk, by the 17th of March they had run to the height of Baldivia, in 48 deg. S. On the 19th, in the morning, they saw a ship to the southward coming after them with all the sail she could croud. Supposing her to be a Spanish ship from Baldivia and Lima, they lay by for her; but, on her nearer approach, they saw she was an English ship; and, upon hailing her, was told that her Captain's name was Eaton, that she came from London, and was bound for a cruise in the South Seas.
Rogues are always good friends till they come to share their booty; so these free-booters agreed to sail together; and accordingly kept company to the island of Juan Fernandez, where they both prepared to refresh and refit.
March 22, 1684, they anchored in the south bay, in 25 fathoms water, not a cable's length from the shore; and as soon as Captain Cook's ship was moored, Dampier was eager to go ashore to look for a
Moskito-man,
whom they had left in this island, when they were driven from it in the year 1681, by three Spanish men of war, Dampier being at that time in the ship commanded by Captain Watling, just after Captain Sharpe was displaced. This man, when Captain Watling drew off his crew, happened to be in the woods hunting for goats; and the ship was under sail before he came back. Dampier was curious to know whether this Moskito-man was yet alive; and, if he was, how it had fared with him; and it seemed that the Indian was no less anxious to enquire after his friends, when he saw that the ships that were approaching were English ships. The poor fellow had observed them the day before, when first they came in sight, and, judging about what time they would come to an anchor, he had killed three goats, and gathered greens, ready to dress as soon as the company should be at liberty to come on shore. He was already upon the beach before the ships could be well secured, and was first seen by one of his countrymen who happened to be on board, and it was no small pleasure to mark the excessive joy of these two Indians at their meeting. The Moskito-man belonging to the ship was named
Robin:
he on the island
Will.
Robin was the first who leapt on shore; and, running to Will, threw himself flat on his face at his feet, who, helping him up, and embracing him, fell flat in like manner with his face at Robin's feet, and was by him taken up and embraced as before. The surprize, the tenderness, the solemnity of the interview, which was exceedingly affectionate on both sides, was admired even by the crews of buccaneers, who were spectators from the ships of what passed on shore. When Dampier, who was his old friend, came up,
Will
was no less transported with joy to see him than to meet his countryman, but he expressed it in quite another manner: other friends too he met with among the crew who knew him, and they were all over-joyed at meeting so unexpectedly; for these men are very much beloved on board the ships wherever they sail, for their readiness to assist in whatever service they are put upon. When the ceremonies of congratulation were over, and they had time to make enquiries, he told them, that he was several times sought after by the Spaniards, who knew that he was left upon the island; because when the ship set sail he was in sight of the shore, and was seen by them before he could secrete himself: but as he was continually upon the watch, and had discovered a safe retreat, they never had been able to find him. He had with him, he said, his gun and his knife, a small horn of powder, and a few shot. These being soon spent, he contrived a way, by notching his knife, to saw the barrel of his gun in small pieces, with which he made harpoons, lance-heads, hooks, and a long knife; heating the pieces first in the fire, which he lighted after the English manner, by striking his gun-flint against the back of his knife. The iron when it was hot he hammered with stones, and formed it into the various shapes he had occasion to apply it. By continued labour and perseverance, he had worked himself such a complete set of instruments, for killing and catching his provisions by land and water, as surprized the people when they were brought out for their inspection. But, says Dampier, it is no more than these Moskito-men are accustomed to do in their own country, where they make their own fishing and striking instruments, without either forge or anvil: and other Indians are still more ingenious; for they make hatchets of a very hard stone, with which they cut down trees, make canoes, and frame their houses.
Poor Will had built himself a little house about a mile and a half from the shore, which he had made warm and convenient, by lining it with goat-skins. He had likewise raised himself a couch about two feet above the ground, which he had also made soft with the fur of the animals he caught, and with the down of the young birds (for he could catch no other) which he occasionally met with and pluckt. Cloaths he had none; for he had worn them to rags among the bushes and brambles through which he was often obliged to pursue his prey. He had been on the island about three years; and in all that time had never conversed with any human being. He had seen Spaniards; but he always took care, after the first, that none of them should ever see him.
At this island these free booters staid sixteen days; and, on the 8th of April, the two ships set sail together, and pursued their course northwards towards the Line, at the distance of 12 or 14 leagues from the shore, for fear of being seen. The land from 24 deg. to 10 deg. S. is of a most prodigious height, with ridges of such lofty mountains from one end of Peru and Chili to the other, that their summits seem to rise above the clouds; and from the sea they appear for ever blue. Dampier attributes to the excessive height of these mountains, the want of great rivers in all this tract; and says, there seldom falls any rain from 30 deg. to 4 deg. S. He adds, that the limits of the Pacific Ocean ought to be confined within that space extended westward indefinitely; for, in all this tract of water, says he, there are no dark rainy clouds, nor any winds, but trade winds, no tempests, no tornadoes, or hurricanes, though north of the Line, they are met with in this Ocean as well as the Atlantic. There is, however, often a thick horizon, so as to hinder an observation of the sun with the quadrant; and, sometimes, hazy mornings, and thick mists, but not such as will wet one. The rivers in all this tract, he says, run small; sometimes they run at one season of the year, and at others are quite dry. These observations, if just, are truly wonderful.
They coasted along the Pacific Ocean from Juan Fernandez to lat. 9 deg. 40 min. S. without meeting with any thing worthy of note; but, on the 3d of May, they fell in with a ship laden with timber, which they instantly took without resistance. From this ship they learnt, that the Spaniards were apprized of their being upon their coasts, and that the Viceroy had sent expresses to all the sea-ports to put the inhabitants upon their guard against any sudden attack.
On this intelligence they immediately altered their course, and steered for Lobos de la Mer, in lat. 6 deg. 24 min. S. Here they cleared their ships bottoms; and strictly questioned their prisoners concerning the state of the country, and which were the towns of greatest note. Several towns were mentioned; but Truxillo appeared to be that which, if conquered, would yield the most profit: Truxillo was therefore the place agreed upon to make a descent. In their passage they descried three sail: Eaton pursued two of those to seaward; and Cook presently made prize of that which was nearest the land. They were ships laden with flour for Panama; in one of which was found a letter from the Viceroy of Lima to the President of Panama, acquainting him with enemies being upon the coast, and with the supposed strength of their forces. They also found an image of the Blessed Virgin in wood, and a stately mule, being a present to the President, with seven or eight tons of marmalate of quinces, which is eaten as a great delicacy in that country. From the prisoners taken in these prizes they learned, that the Spaniards were fortifying Truxillo, and that a garrison was already established. The attack of that town was therefore judged impracticable; and it was resolved to retire to the Gallapagos with the prizes, and there to consult what next was best to be undertaken. The Gallapagos are a cluster of islands lying on the Equator, very little known or frequented, till the buccaneers found their way into the South Seas; the nearest of them lies 110 leagues to the westward of the main, in long. 70 deg. W. from England. For these islands they set sail on the 29th of May, and reached them on the 31st. Here they found plenty of turtle, which they feasted upon fresh every day. They staid about ten or twelve days; and laid up about 500 packs of meal from their prizes to serve as a future supply in case of necessity.
Being told by an Indian prisoner that was born at Rio Lexa, that there were great riches in his city, and that he would shew them the way to the place, they concluded to set sail, and to trust to the fidelity of their Indian guide; intending, however, to anchor by the way at the island of Cocos, in lat. 5 deg. 40 min. S. to lodge some of their meal, as more convenient to have recourse to on ordinary occasions than the islands of Gallapagos. With this intent their stoutest meal-ship was taken with them; but, not being able to make the island, they steered to the continent.
It happened, however, in the course of this short run, that Captain Cook, who had been taken ill at Juan Fernandez, as soon as he came within a few leagues of Cape Blanco, in latitude 9 deg. 56 min. S. suddenly died,
"though in the morning, says Dampier, he was as likely to live as he had been for a long time before;" but, he adds, "it is usual for sick men coming from the sea, to die off as soon as they come within sight of land."
The death of Captain Cook occasioned a general consultation, when it was agreed to come to an anchor in Caldera-bay, within a league of Cape Blanco, and there to give him christian burial. While the men were employed in digging the grave, three Indians came up to see what they were about, and entered into conversation with the diggers, at the same time appearing very shy; but, notwithstanding their caution, as soon as the corps was decently interred, they were all three seized at once by the company, and very strictly examined. They at first pretended to know nothing of the Spaniards; but at length they acknowledged that they were sent from Nicoya, a town about 12 leagues off, to learn what they could concerning any strangers that should touch upon the coast, the people of that town having advice that enemies were in the adjoining seas, and that therefore it behoved them to be upon their guard. They learnt likewise from these Indians, that the inhabitants in that neighbourhood were chiefly husbandmen, and bred cattle; that they traded in hides, corn, and other provisions, for which they received in return, shoes, hats, linen, and other cloth; and that, at no great distance, there were some very large cattle-pens, where they might furnish themselves with as many buffaloes as would fill their ships. This was welcome news to sailors, none of whom had tasted any fresh meat for many weeks; and a company of 24 of them set out immediately with an Indian for their guide, to look for the cattle-pens.
After a short march of between three and four miles, they came in sight of a savannah, where a great number of cattle were grazing; of which, some were for instantly killing as many as they could carry away, while others were for staying all night, and driving them into the pens to supply the ships at once, before the owners were apprized of their design. This resolution prevailed; but Dampier, who was of the party, and who never chose to run unnecessary hazards, returned to the ships with about half the company, together with the Indian guide, while the rest chose to stay where they were. In the morning, when these voluntary drovers were expected to return with their cattle, none came: it was therefore feared that some disaster had befallen them; and boats were manned, and sent out to look for them.
As the boats were rowing along, some of the company happened to spy a number of people upon a rock up to their middles in water; and, upon nearing them, they soon saw that they were the very people they were in search of; and, therefore, hastened to take them on board. Lucky it was, that the boatmen happened to spy them just as they did, for in an hour more they had been all swallowed up by the tide. They had been suffered to sleep all night unmolested;
Captn Daviss's Men taken off the Rock by their Comrades.
and in the morning when they were scattered about among the cattle, and driving them into the pens, they were surprized by the sudden appearance of about 60 Spanish soldiers well armed, who placed themselves in a convenient situation to cut off their retreat. Alarmed at this unexpected discovery, they hastened to join in a body, resolving to sell their lives dear, if they found it impossible to make their escape. Accordingly, they looked well round them in order to discover an opening to some other part of the shore, than that against which their ships rode, marching at the same time in as good order as their situation would admit, and giving the Spaniards now-and-then a volley of shot, to keep them at a proper distance. The Spaniards, who are not over eager to come to a close engagement, kept themselves sheltered behind the bushes, whistling some random shot at the fugitives, by way of return; which, however, did them no harm. In this cautious manner they advanced slowly towards the beach where Captain Cook was buried; and, looking for their boat, saw her in flames by the water-side, near the spot where they had grounded her the night before. All hope of retreat being now cut off; and the Spaniards, to make sure of their surrender, having posted themselves in such a manner as to prevent all communication with the ships, they were at length reduced to the last extremity; when, fortunately, spying a rock just above water, about 100 yards from the shore, they all determined to commit themselves to the mercy of the ocean, rather than fall into the hands of the Spaniards. With this resolution they rushed together into the tide, holding fast by one another, and determining that if one perished all should perish. In this manner they made good their landing upon the rock, where they had continued seven hours, when they happened to be discovered by their comrades, who were suffered by the Spaniards to release them without firing a gun.
After this disappointment it was thought adviseable not to hazard a second attempt; they therefore weighed anchor, and continued their course to Ria Lexa, having first chosen Mr. Edward Davis, the next in command to Captain Cook, Commander in his room. On the 20th of July they set sail, and in three days they were a-breast of their intended port.
Ria Lexa is known by a high-peaked volcano, which smokes all the day, and in the night sometimes sends forth flames of fire. It lies a considerable distance from the main, and before you approach the town there is a small island on which the Spaniards had placed a guard. This guard the buccaneers surprized; but from them they learnt, that the town was strongly fortified; that the Governor was informed of their being upon the coast; and that the garrison was well provided for defence. This news discouraged the adventurers, who did not come to fight but to plunder: they therefore instantly withdrew from Ria Lexa, and steering for the gulph of Amapalla, they there careened their ships, and parted company. This gulph is a large arm of the sea running ten leagues up into the country. On the south point lies Cape Cawina, and on the N. W. St. Michael's Mount, in lat. 12 deg. 40 min. N. But before they came to the gulph, it was agreed that Captain Davis should go before with two canoes well-manned, in order, by surprising some of the natives, to gain intelligence. Accordingly, as soon as they approached the gulph, the canoes departed, and Captain Davis, the first night, arrived at a small island on which there was a town called Mangera, which, for want of a guide, he could not find. In the morning he found it; but the Indian inhabitants had all fled, and left the place deserted; only the padre, with two boys to attend him, were left to take their fate. As all that Captain Davis wanted was a prisoner for the sake of information, one more intelligent than the friar could not have fallen into his hands. From him they learnt, that there were several Indian villages in the gulph; but that there were only three towns that had churches; that, he served all the three; that there was only another white man, besides himself, in the whole gulph, who was a kind of secretary to the Spanish government, and who collected the revenues and kept the accompts.
Captain Davis, upon receiving this intelligence, taking with him the friar and his two boys, ventured to approach Amapalla, which stands upon an eminence. As Davis with his men gained the ascent, the Secretary, attended by the Casique or Indian Chief, demanding, in Spanish, who they were, and from whence they came, was answered by Davis, that they were Biscayers, and that they were sent thither by the King of Spain to clear the seas from enemies; that their ships were foul, and were coming there to clean; and that he was come before to prepare a convenient station, and to demand assistance from his Majesty's Indian subjects. The Secretary bid him welcome; said he loved an Old Spain man; and gave him and his followers a kind invitation to come and take their residence in the town. Captain Davis ascended the hill, placing the friar in the front. They were received with every possible mark of respect both by the Secretary and the Indian inhabitants, and after the first salutations were past, they were conducted to the church, where all business of a public nature is transacted. Accordingly, the friar entered first and was followed by Captain Davis and most of the by-standers; but one or two or the Indians loitering behind were pushed in by Davis's men, who then, suspecting some mischief, sprung back again, and all the rest of the Indians taking the alarm, followed their example, leaving Davis and the friar, looking at one another in high consternation, ignorant as posts of the cause that had occasioned the desertion, while, at the same time, the brutes who had caused the revolt were firing upon the poor Indians for flying, and in the skirmish the Secretary was kill'd upon the spot, the only person in all the gulph that could speak Spanish, the friar and his two boys excepted.
Davis's design was, when they were all in the church, to have shut them in, and made his own terms with them: but, poor wretches! there was no need to practice farther treachery with them; for, notwithstanding the brutality of these pretended Biscayers, the Indians shewed them every kind of civility, helped them to repair their ships, hewed down timber for them, and brought it to the docks; furnished them with cattle and fresh provisions from the main; and assisted them in filling water, and carrying wood aboard. All this while the friar with his two lads were kept prisoners, and it was feared, when they were ready to sail, that they would have carried them off; for the Indians had a great veneration for their priest. He had learned their language, and was very useful to them both by his kind offices and admonitions.
They remained here from the latter end of July till the 3d of September, when they set the friar and his youths on shore; and, the two Captains, or more properly the two crews, having quarrelled, they parted, as has already been said, and each of them pursued a different course. Davis steered along the main of Peru, till having ranged the whole coast of South America, they came to the island of Plata, in lat. 1 deg. 10 min. S. so called by the Spaniards, after Drake had shared the plunder of the Cacafuego upon it. Captain Eaton steered a contrary course, till being in want of water, he chose the island of Plate to supply his necessities. Here the two ships came unexpectedly to the same harbour, when Captain Eaton proposed a reconciliation, which Davis, or rather his crew, rejected. Capt. Eaton's men reported, that they had met in their course with dreadful tornadoes, with thunder and lightning frightful to the last degree; that the air smelt of sulphur; and that they every moment expected to be involved in smoke and flame. Captain Eaton's terms being rejected, he staid but one night, and the day following Davis left the island, and attempted the little town of Manta, about seven or eight leagues from Plata. They found the place deserted, and brought away an old woman, the only living creature they found in the place. She informed them, that a great many strangers were come over-land from the north seas; that they were yet in canoes and periagoes; and that the Viceroy had commanded all the Spanish trading ships on the coast to be burnt, to prevent their falling into the enemies hands. On this news, Davis retired again to the island of Plata, to wait the event, where soon after an English ship arrived, called the Cygnet, commanded by Captain Swan. This ship had been fitted out by some merchants of London, with a view to trade; but all trade being effectually at a stop, Swan was easily persuaded to put his goods up to auction among the adventurers with whom he accidentally fell in; to man his ship with them; and to turn buccaneer himself. The new comers were headed by a Captain Harris, who contented himself for the present to command a small bark under Captain Swan. There was great joy at this meeting; and Captain Davis and Captain Swan were, like other rogues, very fond of each other for their own villainous purposes. They now wished for Captain Eaton again, that having men enough they might all unite, and undertake some place of consequence. With this view they fitted up a small bark, and dispatched her in pursuit of him, appointing a place of rendezvous, if the bark should be fortunate enough to meet with him. In the mean time they set sail, directing their course to Payta, a small town in lat. 5 deg. 15 min. S. built under a rock near the sea-side. In their way they fell in with a large ship of 400 tons, laden with timber, by whom they received intelligence, that the Viceroy had ordered 10 frigates to be fitted up with all expedition, in order to drive them out of those seas.
"Captain Davis's unsettled crew, says Dampier, began now heartily to repent their not accepting of Captain Eaton's terms."
However, they pursued their course, and on the 3d of November landed in the road of Payta, and next morning attempted the town, which they found deserted, and not so much as one day's provisions left in the whole place. Here they got intelligence, that Captain Eaton had burnt a ship in that road the week before, and was sailed to the westward; by which they judged that he had taken his departure for the East Indies, by which course it was always his intention to return home. They, therefore, began to prepare for their defence, in case of being attacked by the Spanish frigates. They burnt Captain Harris's bark, because she was a heavy sailor, and fitted up another small bark for a fire-ship; and, having examined their powder and ammunition, and overhauled their rigging, and put every thing in the best order they could, they made sail for the isles of Lobos. At Lobos they found a letter left by the bark that was sent in quest of Captain Eaton, acquainting them that he had been there, but had sailed some days before the arrival of the bark; and that the bark was gone to Plata, the place of rendezvous. Here it was concerted to attempt the town of Guaiaquil, before they returned to Plata. Accordingly, on the 29th in the morning, they set sail from Lobos, steering directly for the bay of Guaiaquil. This bay runs in between Cape Blanco on the south side, and Point Shanday on the north, 25 leagues from Cape Blanco. In the bottom of this bay lies the island of Santa Clara, in the form of a corpse laid out in a shroud, of which the east end represents the head, and the west end the feet. Ships that are bound to the port of Guaiaquil keep to the southward of this isle, to avoid the shoals on the north side, where, it is reported, a very rich wreck lies sunk, and that a person, who came from the King of Spain with a patent to fish for wrecks, had taken up some of the plate, but he dying, the patent expired without much effect. The Indians, however, have taken some by stealth, and would probably have got much more but for the swarms of cat-fish that hover round this island, the prick of whose fins is so poisonous. that whenever they draw blood the wound proves mortal. From Santa Clara to Puna Arona is about seven leagues, on which island the inhabitants, who are all seamen or fishermen, are obliged to keep constant watch, and to give notice to the Governor of Guiaquil of the approach of all shipping, whether friends or foes. The houses in the town of Puna stand upon posts 10 or 12 feet high, with ladders on the outsides to ascend the rooms. Dampier says, he never saw any such in any other part of the world, except among the Malayans in the East Indies. They are thatched with palmeto leaves, and their chambers well boarded, in which they exceed the Malayans. From Puna to Guiaquil is seven leagues, and at the distance of one league from the entrance of the river, which rises about two miles on the other side Guiaquil, it is divided into two streams, one stream leading to Leon, the other to Guiaquil. Guiaquil, according to Dampier, is one of the principal sea-ports in the South Seas. The commodities exported from that city are cocoa, hides, tallow, sarsaparilla and other drugs, and woollen-cloth, commonly called Quito-cloth. This cloth, which is made at the rich inland town of Quito, is worn by all the common people throughout the kingdom of Peru. But, besides cloth, Quito abounds with gold, wash'd down from the mountains that surround it, which the Indians make a trade of gathering in the adjacent brooks, where it is sometimes found in solid lumps, but generally in small dust mix'd with sand.
As soon as the ships entered the bay they cast anchor off Cape Blanco; and the crews manned their boats and small barks to advance with the more secresy towards the town. In their way they made prize of a small vessel, laden with Quito-cloth, the master of which told them of the watch at Puna; and at the same time acquainted them that three ships were expected to sail from Guiaquil next tide with 1000 negro slaves. They had not rowed far before they fell in with one of the ships laden with negroes, and took her. They cut her main-mast down, and left her at anchor. The next day they made prize of the other two; but in taking them they alarmed the town: and, there being no discipline observed, no Commander in Chief to lead them on in a body, one party counteracted the other party; so that none of their attacks took place. Captain Davis advanced with a party of his men till they were quite exhausted in marching thro' swamps and mangroves. Captain Swan and most of his men were for retreating, seeing the town alarmed; but, being upbraided with cowardice, agreed to proceed. They had two Indian guides; and one of them undertook to lead the way into the town, and was followed by a Davis's man, who was fastened to him by a rope, to prevent his making his escape. But, a little before they came within musket-shot, Davis's man, who had boasted of his courage, and sought the post of honour, to be next man to the guide, cut the string, and let the guide loose; who, finding himself at liberty, took to his heels, and made his escape. The other, when he saw him out of reach, cried out, that somebody had cut the string, and that the guide was gone. This spread a general panic; so the design was all at once defeated; for, after that, not a man would advance a step farther, but all retired to their boats and embarked without either firing a gun, or having a gun fired at them. After looking at the town for half an hour, they departed: and, having drest a cow, and filled their bellies, they fell down the bay with the tide, rifled the negro-ships, and took about forty of the stoutest men along with them, and turned the rest adrift. Dampier remarks upon this miscarriage, that there never was a fairer opportunity for men to enrich themselves than they had, but all their golden dreams vanished at once; and they returned as they went, directing their course to Plata, to meet the bark sent in search of Captain Eaton.
When they arrived, they found her with her crew almost famished; for having sought the ships at Lobos, and from Lobos to Plata, and from Plata to Lobos again, without finding them, and having scarce 14 days provisions on board when they set out, they were constrained to make a descent upon the village of Santa Helena, where they succeeded, and got a small quantity of maize, with which and the turtle they happened to strike, and some boobies and penguins they killed, they had made shift to subsist, though with the utmost difficulty. Such was the regard these plunderers bore for each other, when projects of robbery were in view. Here the cargo of the cloth-bark, the only booty they had made, was shared by lots, and Captain Swan had the bark to serve him as a tender. Here also, according to custom, they quarrelled; Captain Davis's men placing the miscarriage to the cowardice of Captain Swan's; and Captain Swan's to the over-forwardness of Captain Davis's. At length the matter was compromised by the mediation of the two Commanders; and they agreed in the next place to attack Lavelia, a pretty large town in the bay of Panama, about seven leagues from the sea-side, on the banks of a river on the north-side of the bay.
On this expedition they set sail the 23d of December, 1684. On the 28th, they arrived at a small village called Tomaco, which they surprized and took, and in it a Spanish Knight, Don Diego de Pinas, who came in a Ship from Lima to load timber, in which ship there were only eight Spaniards, and twelve or thirteen jars of good old wine. The wine they seized, but let the ship go.
On the 1st of January, 1685, in passing from Tomaco to Gallo they took a packet boat from Panama to Lima with letters. The Spaniards threw the letters over-board; but there being a string and a small buoy to the box in which they were inclosed, the box was seen and taken up. The contents of the public dispatches were, that the armada from Old Spain were arrived at Porto Bello, and that the President of Panama had received orders to hasten the Plate fleet from Lima.
This was joyful news for the buccaneers, who now thought of nothing but sharing the treasures of Peru. They laid aside their pitiful project upon Lavelia, and concluded to careen their ships at the King's Isles, near the entrance of the gulph of Panama, to which gulph no ships could sail without being seen from these isles. There were now two ships and three barks in company, a fire-ship, and two small tenders. They all changed their course, and steered for the isles, in their way to which they took a ship of 90 tons, laden with flour. On the 23d of January they arrived at the place appointed; and on the 25th, they cast anchor in the harbour of Galleria, setting all hands to work to clean the barks, in order to cruise in the channel till the next spring-tide, when the large ships might be laid up to be cleaned also.
On the 27th, the barks, being finished, were sent to cruise in the entrance of the gulph; and on the 4th day after, they brought in a prize laden with corn, salt-beef, and fowls. The beef and fowls came in good time. The 14th of February, they made an end of careening their large ships, took in wood and water, and, on the 15th, sailed into the channel, to cruise for the plate-fleet. When they came a-breast of Old Panama, they sent their Knight upon his parole with a letter to the President, to treat for the exchange of prisoners; but by some accident, says Dampier, he was killed. The next day they sent another letter to the President by a
Mestiso
(a mixed breed, half Indian half Spaniard). This letter produced the desired effect. The English prisoners were released, and about 40 Spaniards were returned in their room.
Leaving Panama, they cast anchor before Tobago; and, while they lay in that road, a stratagem was played upon them that was near proving fatal to men and ships. A pretended merchant from Panama came by stealth to trade with them for such merchandize as they might have on board (a thing not uncommon on those coasts), and was well received. It was agreed, that in the night he should send his bark out with such commodities as they wanted, and take back such as they had to return. Accordingly, the bargain was made, and the bark came out as was expected, hailing the ships with the watch-word that was to be her security. Being cautious, however, lest some mischief should be intended, they called to the people on board the bark to cast anchor; which they not regarding, were instantly fired at; upon which the crew took to their canoes, and set fire to the pretended smuggling ship, which had been prepared as a fire-ship by that Capt. Bond who carried off the officers from Mayo, as has been already related in the beginning of the voyage. This was aimed chiefly at Captain Davis's ship; but at the same time, Captain Swan's people observed a small float on the water with something like a man in it, making towards their ship; the man, seeing he was discovered, dived, and the float disappeared: this, they apprehended, when they saw the fire-ship blow up, was some combustible matter intended to be struck to the rudder of Swan's ship, as was formerly attempted upon that of Captain Sharpe's in the harbour of Coquimbo. Both ships, however, were glad to cut their cables, and it was with difficulty that Davis's escaped. The fire-ship drove burning towards Tobago, but after the first explosion she did not burn clear, only made a smother, not being properly contrived.
This Bond, who instructed the Spaniards in making her, after he left the Cape de Verd isles, as has already been related, steered for the South Seas, and in his passage meeting with Captain Eaton, Bond's pilot, Richard Morton by name, persuaded him to join with Eaton and to make the voyage conjointly; but after they had sailed in company two days, Morton took an opportunity to slip on board Eaton, and persuaded him to drop Bond, which he did in the night, Morton still continuing on board with Eaton. Bond being thus deserted, and having no navigator with him who had ever been in the South Seas, and having been scouted for mal-practices in the North Seas, had no other resource but that of betraying his countrymen's designs to ingratiate himself with the Spaniards. With this view he steered directly for Porto Bello, surrendered himself and crew to the Governor, informing him of the buccaneer's designs in the South Seas, and offering to remain himself as surety for the truth of what he said. The Governor, not doubting the fact, entertained him, and sent him over to the Viceroy of Lima to be employed by him as he should think fit; and he proved a very useful instrument in defeating the enterprizes of his old companions.
But to proceed. In the morning when it was light, the ships returned to their buoys to fish up their anchors; and while they were thus employed, they were alarmed by a multitude of canoes and periagoes that were in motion all round the island. They seemed to make directly towards the ships, and when they came within call, the people on board learnt that they were a new company of English and French invaders, just arrived from the North Seas to try their fortune along with the old, and were headed by two captains, one Grenet, the other Lequie; that they consisted of 200 French and the rest English; and that 180 English more were still on the isthmus, under the command of Captain Townley, and were daily expected to arrive in order to join the rest. All the Englishmen were immediately taken on board Captain Davis and Captain Swan; and the French were accommodated with the flour prizes, of which mention has already been made, and Captain Grenet, as the eldest officer, was made choice of to command his countrymen. In a few days, Captain Townley arrived, having already made himself master of two ships, one laden with flour, the other with wine, brandy, and oil: the prisoners they took in these ships declared, that the fleet from Lima was ready to sail. Soon after the arrival of Capt. Townley, there came a canoe out of the river of Santa Martha, who said there were 300 men more on the isthmus of Darien in their way to these seas. On the 15th, they fell in with a bark with five or six Englishmen in her that belonged to Captain Knight, who had been six months in the South Seas, and was now upon the coast of Mexico, where he came in sight of this bark, but not being able to come up with her in his ship, had sent the men that were found in her in a canoe to make prize of her; who, having succeeded, had lost company in the night, and could not recover their ship again. This bark Captain Swan took under his care, on pretence that the men had run away and left their Commander, and gave her to Captain Harris, who presently manned her.
The time approached when the Lima fleet was expected, and some letters were intercepted that contained the instructions to the commanders which course to steer. In consequence whereof the captains of the buccaneers held a consultation in what manner to steer in order to intercept them; but, while they were yet undetermined, word was brought that the Spanish fleet was advancing, and, as it should seem, to give them battle. This news was by no means agreeable. Such a motley crew of common plunderers were but ill suited to stand a regular engagement. However, there was now no alternative, either they must fight or run away; in which case, being taken singly, they probably would all be destroyed; but by fighting some might chance to escape. The Spaniards were 14 in number; of which the Admiral carried 40 guns and 540 men; the Vice-admiral 40 guns, 400 men; the Rear-admiral 36 guns, 360 men; one ship of 24 guns, 300 men; one of 18 guns, 250 men; and one of eight guns, 200 men; two fire-ships; six ships with only small arms, some periagoes and tenders, having eight hundred men among them all.
The English, who were to engage this formidable squadron, consisted of ten sail; Captain Davis's ship, of 36 guns, 156 men, mostly English; Captain Swan, 16 guns. 140 men, all English; these were the only ships of force; the others being furnished with none but small arms; Captain Townley had 110 men, all English; Captain Grenet 308 men, all French; Captain Harris 100 men, most English; Captain Branley 36 men, some English, some French; Davis's tender, eight men; Swan's tender, eight men; Townley's bark, eighty men; and a small bark of thirty tons made into a fire-ship, with a canoe's crew in her; in all 960 men. The English, notwithstanding the superiority of the enemy, resolved to begin the attack, having the advantage of the weather gage, which gave them the choice either to fight or run. Accordingly, about three in the afternoon, they bore down right before the wind on the enemy, who kept close upon a wind to meet them; but night came on without any thing material being done on either side.
When it grew dark, the Spanish Admiral put forth a light as a signal for the fleet to cast anchor, and presently hoisted a light on his top, which after continuing there an hour was taken down, and in a little time hoisted again. The English, being still to windward, were not aware of this stratagem; for the Spaniard, knowing of what consequence it was to gain the weather gage, hoisted the second light upon the topmast of one of his barks, and edged away silently himself, followed by his capital ships, and, as soon as it was day-light, appeared to windward of the English. This was an unexpected stroke, and left them no other course to take but to fly.
Captain Townley being hard pressed by the enemy, made a bold push through a narrow gut that parted the isles, and was followed by several of the smaller ships, by which they escaped. Captain Harris was chaced to the westward, and returned no more. And Captain Davis maintained a running fight all day round the bay of Panama, with the loss only of a single man. At night the Spaniards gave over the pursuit, and suffered the English to rendezvous at the same islands from whence they sailed the day before to begin the attack.
The 30th, the Spaniards, without pursuing their victory, continued their course to Panama; and the English having lost Captain Harris in the engagement, as has just now been mentioned, set sail to the keys of Quibo in search of him, that being the place appointed to rendezvous in case of being dispersed. Here they cashiered their cowardly French Captain, who never came into the engagement at all; and, having found Captain Harris, they held a consultation about their futu
e operations.
All their hopes being now frustrated of effecting any thing considerable by sea, they turned their thoughts on making their fortunes by land; and for that purpose their prisoners were all strictly examined, with regard to the strength and riches of the principal cities along the sea-coast, and within 20 or 30 miles within land.
On the 5th of July they were joined by Captain Knight, of whom mention has already been made. He had been cruising more than six months, and had got nothing except a good ship. He expected to have found the fleet at King's Islands, enriched with the treasures of the Spanish fleet: but when he came there, he was informed by the master of a bark-log, which he took, that they were worsted, and had fled to the westward, where he had now come to join them.
In order more effectually to pursue their inland enterprizes, they set about providing canoes for navigating the rivers that led to the chief cities, against which they had formed designs, and on the 20th of July they sailed from Quibo, bending their course for Ria Lexa, the nearest port to Leon, the city they determined first to attack. Their whole force consisted of 640 men in eight ships, commanded by the Captains Davis, Swan, Townley, and Knight, with a fire-ship and three tenders.
Being arrived within eight leagues of the shore, they quitted their ships, and embarked to the number of 520 men in 31 canoes; and after a dangerous passage, in which they met with two dreadful tornadoes, and in which the large canoes were very near sinking, they arrived at length at the creek that leads to Leon, and advancing within five miles of the city without the loss of a man, they landed to the number of 470, leaving the remainder under the command of Dampier to guard the canoes.
They marched from the boats in three divisions. Captain Townley with 80 of the briskest men led the van; Captain Swan with 100 men followed next, to support him; Captain Davis headed the main body, consisting of 170 men, and Captain Knight with the remainder, composed the rear. Captain Townley, who had advanced more than two miles a-head of the rest, met a party of Spanish horsemen, and defeated them. Encouraged by this success, his men pushed briskly on, and entered the town, driving all before them. When they had gained the high-street they were opposed by the main body of the Spaniards, drawn up on the parade in order of battle; but, on two or three of their principal officers being killed, they were soon dispersed; and Captain Townley had made himself master of the city before the foremost division that was to support him had entered the suburbs. About six in the evening the rearguard came straggling in; many of the men who composed it, being tired and unable to keep pace with the rest, came dropping in all night; and one old man was killed next morning by the Spaniards, from whom he refused to accept of quarter. He fired his piece among them, reserving his pistols to defend himself when he should come to close engagement; but they returned his fire, and shot him dead at a distance. He was a stout grey-headed old man, aged about 84, and had served under Oliver in the time of the Irish Rebellion; after which, he entered on board a ship, and sailed to Jamaica, where he had followed buccaneering for many years. He could not be prevailed on to tarry with the canoes, but said he would venture as far as the boldest man among them. He was much regretted, being a cheerful old man, and never dispirited.
The Spaniards likewise picked up another straggler, one Mr. Smith, a merchant, who had accompanied Capt. Swan with an intent to trade, when that gentleman took in his cargo at London for the South Seas. This gentleman was carried before the Governor of Leon, who was encamped at some distance from the town, and was examined by him concerning the number of the invaders. Being known to a Mulatto servant that attended the Governor, he was the more easily credited; when he told him, that they were 1000 strong in the town, and that 500 were left to guard the canoes. This information had its effect; for the Governor, who was assembling the force of the country to fall upon the assailants, sent next day a flag of truce, with an offer to ransom the city. They demanded 300,000 pieces of eight, and provisions for 1000 men for four months. The demand, it is probable, exceeded the Governor's abilities; so that he was obliged to suffer the city to be set on fire, because he could not comply with their exorbitant demands. In the mean time, Mr. Smith being exchanged for a lady that had fallen into the hands of the invaders, and a Spanish gentleman released, upon promise of sending them 150 oxen to Ria Lexa, the next town they intended to assault, they left Leon in flames, and returned to their canoes. It does not appear that the plunder of Leon answered the expectations of the assailants. Be that as it may, they prowled down the river, stealing cattle, or any thing that fell in their way; and, on the 16th of June, reached Ria Lexa, in the harbour of which the ships were already arrived. The Spaniards, for their better defence, had thrown up an intrenchment at the mouth of a narrow creek leading to the town, and had placed 110 soldiers to defend it; they had besides thrown a boom across the river, to prevent either ships or boats from advancing up the channel: so that these men might have maintained their posts against an army of 500 regulars. But when the English came in sight of the breast-work, they fired but two guns before the Spaniards run away. They were about half an hour in cutting the boom; and, the channel being now clear, they entered the town without farther opposition. Here they found nothing but empty houses, except such things as the inhabitants could not, or would not carry away; these were about 500 sacks of flour, some pitch, tar, and cordage, all which, though things of little value to the Spaniards, were notwithstanding of great use to them. They therefore conveyed them aboard the ships; and having here received the 150 beeves (the ransom of the gentleman released on his parole at Leon), some were employed in killing and salting, while others made excursions to the neighbouring farms and sugar-works, from whence they rarely returned empty handed.
They staid here from the 17th to the 24th,
"when some of our destructive crew (to use Dampier's own words) set fire to the houses, I know not by whose order, but we marched away, and left them burning."
The 25th, the Captains Davis and Swan agreed to part company. They had hitherto been unsuccessful in concert; they therefore determined to try their fortunes separately. Knight and Harris accompanied Davis; and Townley with his two barks followed Captain Swan.
In a few days Davis set sail for the coasts of Peru; but Capt. Swan, after staying to take in wood and water, and to recover his men, pursued his course to the westward, intending first to examine the country of Mexico towards the north, and then to steer for the East-Indies, and by that course to return home. This was a very flattering voyage for Dampier, who was no less earnest to store his mind with the knowledge of new countries, than to enlarge his fortune by the riches they contained: he therefore quitted Davis, and entered on board with Captain Swan.
On the 3d of September they set their prisoners and pilots on shore; the latter being of no farther use, and the former only an incumbrance. A malignant fever continued to rage on board, which carried off many of their men. As the same distemper broke out in the fleet of Captain Davis, it was concluded that they had taken the infection at Ria Lexa, where, a few months before their arrival, the inhabitants had been visited by a kind of plague, which had almost depopulated the town. They had still, however, about 340 men in tolerable health in four ships.
In their course to the north-westward, they met with most tempestuous weather, violent tornadoes from the north-east almost every day, with such flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, as no man on board had ever heard.
On the 14th they came in sight of the well-known volcano of Guatimala, which appears at first with a double peak. Between these peaks fire and smoke with dreadful roarings frequently break forth, and spread the alarm far and wide; yet the inhabitants of Guatimala continue to reside near the foot of the mountain, and are not so much intimidated upon those occasions as those who live at a greater distance. This city is famous for many rich commodities, the produce of the neighbouring hills and savannas among which it is situated. It lies about eight leagues from the South Sea, and by report not above 40 or fifty leagues from the north, to which it sends annually great quantities of indico, anatta, silvester, and cochineal. The indico plant grows wild about Guatimala, and has lately been introduced and cultivated in Georgia and Carolina. The anatta is a red dye, and is made from the flowers of a shrub which grows in many of the southern provinces of America. Silvester is the seeds of a fruit not unlike the prickly pear of England; and cochineal is a collection of insects bred in fruit of the same shape and size. Both the trees grow wild about Guatimala; and both the silvester and cochineal yield the same kind of dye, and are sometimes substituted one for the other, though the cochineal is generally accounted the most valuable.
The volcano of Guatimala is seen at 75 miles distance; and the sea, as they approached it, was full of floating pumice stones, washed by the rains from the adjacent hills, and precipitated by the floods into the main ocean, where, by a constant accumulation, they cover an immense space. Driftwood they likewise observed in great abundance; and the trees were large and not much rotted.
When they had reached the latitude of Toguantabeque, in 14 deg. 30 min. N. Capt. Townley, with 106 men in nine canoes, attempted to land; but found the country defended by huge sandy hills, against which the waves beat high with incredible fury. The wind being fair, he coasted along the shore for several days, and the ships continued to follow him with an easy sail: at length, grown desperate, he rushed upon a sandy beach, but the canoes overset before they could reach the land. In this attempt one or two men perished; some had a leg or an arm broke, and others were very much hurt. However, the majority having made good their landing, dragged afterwards their boats on shore; but what gave them the greatest concern was, that all but those who had been provident enough to seal up their cartouch boxes, had wetted their powder, and rendered their fire-arms useless. This gave a damp to their enterprize; yet they prepared to penetrate the country, and to get sight of the town of which they were in search: but either there was no such place, or their fears prevented their discovering it; for all that were alive returned on board the ships without procuring a meal's provisions to refresh the sick.
After this fruitless expedition, they still continued coasting to the westward, with the wind at east-north-east, till they came to Tangola, a small island where there was good anchorage; from thence they sailed to Guatulco, a sea port in lat. 15 deg. 30 min. N. the best in Mexico. On one side of the entrance into this harbour there is a small island, and on the other a hollow rock, through which the billows as they pass produce a horrible roaring, and, being compressed against the sides, are forced through a hole at the top, and rise like the waters of an artificial fountain to an incredible height. In this harbour there is good anchorage. It is about three miles in depth and one in breadth, runs in north-west, and on the west-side small ships may ride land-locked secure from wind or weather. At the bottom of this harbour, Drake found a fine rivulet of water, near a village, of which hardly any traces remained, except the ruins of a small chapel enclosed in a fine grove of trees that gave it a very venerable appearance. Here the sick on board the ships were brought ashore; and here a project was formed to traverse the country, and plunder the inland towns; but, after travelling 14 miles, and seizing two or three Indian guides, they could only find a little village, where some vanellos were drying, the cods of which are held in great esteem by the Spaniards. They grow upon vines that creep like ivy about trees of greater magnitude, and flourish in the bay of Campeachy, as well as in the country of Guatalco; but the Indians keep the method of curing them a secret to themselves. The Indians of this village could speak but little Spanish, appeared to be a poor harmless people, had neither gold nor silver among them, nor could they tell where those precious metals were to be obtained. It was therefore to no purpose to pursue their march through a country, rich, indeed, in natural productions, but destitute of cultivation, and almost without inhabitants; they therefore returned to their ships; and, while the sick were endeavouring to regain their strength, the healthy employed themselves in providing necessaries to continue the voyage.
On the 8th, four canoes well manned set forwards to the port of Angels, with orders to wait there till the arrival of the ships. In the mean time their instructions were to take some prisoners.
On the 12th, the malignity of the distemper with which they had been long afflicted being abated, and the sick in a fair way of recovery, the ships set sail in order to follow the boats. The boats, however, had mistaken the harbour, and two of them, in attempting to land at a place near which they had observed some cattle feeding, were overset in the beach, and with difficulty got out again to sea, with the loss of one man drowned, and some others hurt. They lost likewise four of their guns, and spoiled their ammunition; and, in a very distressed condition, the next day met the ships. The other two canoes parted from them in the night of the 9th, and had not rejoined them since. The harbour of Port Angels lies in latitude 15 deg. N. and is open to all winds, except those from the land. The Spaniards had compared it to that of Guatulco; but there being no similitude, the boats had passed it without knowing it; and the two that were missing had rowed as far as Acapulco before they discovered their mistake. When the ships arrived before the harbour, the missing boats were ready to join them; and there appearing to be plenty of cattle at no great distance from the shore, 100 men were landed to supply the ships with beef.
The country round this harbour exhibited a most delightful prospect; the hills were covered with large and lofty trees, the plains with a most beautiful verdure, and the savannas interspersed with rills and rivers, on the banks of which were innumerable little shrubs, the beauty and variety of whose flowers surpass description. Here they made no doubt of being furnished with whatever their wants required. In less than four miles march, the party that were landed met with a grazing seat belonging to Don Diego de la Rosa, in which they found store of salt, and a considerable quantity of maize, but no inhabitants, the family having fled on the first appearance of a descent. They found also poultry in abundance, and hogs or cabritos without number. Here they feasted for two or three days, and every man brought away as much as he could carry; but the ruggedness of the road, and the weakness of the company, debilitated by sickness, prevented their improving so favourable an opportunity to the best advantage. They relinquished with reluctance many good things which they had in possession, more than sufficient for present enjoyment, but too cumbersome to be conveyed to the ships for future use.
In the harbour of Port Angels there is good riding in 13, 20, and 30 fathom water. The flood rises about five feet, sets to the north-east; and the ebb at souch-west.
The 27th in the morning they set sail from Port Angels, and in the evening came to an anchor in 16 fathom water, under a small rocky island six leagues to the westward of their former station, of which island the Spanish books give no account. The next day they weighed and continued their course; and, being a-breast of a small lagune whence the missing boats had a few days before taken a quantity of fish, they lay to, and sent in a boat with 12 men to bring off a more ample supply. The Spaniards, on marking the trim of the ships, suspected their intent; and, concealing themselves behind a rock at the narrow entrance of the lagune, discharged a volley of small arms at the boat just as it passed the place of their ambuscade, by which five of the crew were dangerously wounded. Alarmed at this sudden attack, and finding it impossible to retreat, because of the narrowness of the channel, they pushed forwards into the lagune, where they could lie out of gun-shot till the enemy dispersed, or till they should be relieved by the vigilance and valour of their own people. In this situation, however, they continued two days and three nights; till at length Captain Townley, fearing some disaster had befallen them, manned his canoes, and, beating the Spaniards from the rocks, opened the sufferers a free passage to the sea. Their joy was the greater, as the pains of the wounded men began to grow intolerable; and, had they not then been relieved, they must in another day, nay, some of them, perhaps, in a few hours, have died in the greatest agonies. This lagune lies in latitude 16 deg. 40 min. N.
On the 2d of November they passed by a remarkable rock, called by the Spaniards the Algatross; five or six miles to the westward of which are seven or eight white cliffs that serve to direct mariners to avoid a dangerous shoal stretching about a league and a half south-by-west. A little farther to the westward the Spaniards have erected a breast-work upon a small island at the mouth of a fair river, which at that time was defended by 200 men. They manned their boats, and being determined to land, the Spaniards, after firing 20 or 30 shot, deserted the island, and left the channel open. They entered on the west side, and found plenty of salt laid up in cabbins for curing the fish which they catch in the lagunes, but in what manner Dampier could not conceive, for he neither saw hook, line, net, boat, or canoe. At the distance of three leagues from the entrance of the river they came to a house in which was a Mulatto servant, who informed them, that at Acapulco there was a stout ship from Lima; and that a little higher up the river, there was maize and cattle in abundance, to which place he offered to be their guide.
On this intelligence a contention arose between the commanders. Captain Townley, who was in want of a better ship, proposed to sail immediately to Acapulco to make himself master of that from Lima; but Captain Swan was first for procuring provisions to enable them to subsist while they were pursuing the grand object they had in view, that of intercepting the Manilla ship which every year comes constantly from the East Indies richly laden, and arrives nearly at a certain season off the southermost point of California in her course to Acapulco. As questions of this kind are always decided by numbers among voluntary adventurers, Captain Townley's proposal was not only seconded by his own crew, but also by the greatest part of Captain Swan's. They accordingly returned to the ships with all expedition, and set sail on the 5th, and on the 7th came in sight of the high land of Acapulco, a port easy to be distinguished from all others, by means of three hills, the middlemost of which rises like a sugar loaf, and the westermost of the other two has on its summit two hillocks which shew in appearance like two paps. When the ships came to the distance of about 12 leagues they brought to, and Captain Townley with 140 men embarked on board canoes with a view to seize the Lima ship by surprize, before his own ships should come in sight.
They had hardly sailed four leagues before there arose so dreadful a tornado, that those on board the ships thought themselves in the utmost peril of their lives, and every one concluded that the boats must perish. Happily, however, they weathered the storm; but were driven in great distress into Port Marquis, a tolerable harbour about a league to the eastward of Acapulco. Here they staid to dry their cloaths, and refit their furniture, and in the night of the following day they rowed softly into Acapulco harbour;
"and, because they would not be heard," says Dampier, "they hauled in their oars, and paddled as softly as if they had been seeking manatee. They paddled close to the castle; then struck over to the town, and found the ship riding between the breastwork and the fort, about 100 yards from each. When they had well viewed her, and considered the danger of the design, they thought it impossible to accomplish it; therefore they paddled softly back again till they were out of command of the forts, and then they attempted to land, but were opposed by a company of Spanish soldiers, who fired at them, and kept them at a distance from the shore till daylight; when, taking a view of the town and castle, and not liking their appearance, they returned on board, tired, hungry, and heartily mortified at their disappointment."
Acapulco lies in 17 deg. N. on the west-side of the continent of America, famous for its trade to the East Indies, and to Lima; in which trade three ships are annually employed; two of them are so regulated, that each has the advantage of the trade-winds that blow between the Tropics, both in going and returning to their respective ports. The third is employed in supplying the other two with Spanish goods from Lima, and in bringing to Lima the Indian merchandize and money brought from Manilla.
On the 11th, the ships sailed from Acapulco, and continued coasting along the shore to the westward. Near the sea-side the land is low, but rises gradually till within land it appears to touch the clouds. Though the ground is clean and the anchorage good at a mile from land, yet it is defended by breakers that render the shore inaccessible, except at the utmost hazard of men's lives. In their passage, observing a cluster of little round hills a little to the westward of the promontory of Petaplan in 17 deg. 20 min. N. they examined the coast narrowly, and discovered a small river, at the entrance of which they landed 170 men, who, after marching about 14 miles up the country, came to a wretched Indian village, in which a Mulatto woman and four children were the only living creatures left. These they brought to the ships; and, by the intelligence they received from the old woman, they proceeded to the harbour of Chequetan, from whence she conducted them, through a pathless wood, to a farm-house, where they found a caravan of sixty mules laden with flour, chocolate, and cheese; all which, together with some oxen, they brought down to their canoes. The cargo of the caravan they instantly conveyed on board the ships; but the oxen, with eighteen cows which they afterwards seized without opposition, they first killed and cured, and, having divided the whole into lots, every ship's crew took their own share on board.
On the 21st they quitted this fortunate harbour, leaving the Mulatto and her four children to their fate. On the 25th, they passed a lofty hill divided into peaks, in lat. 18 deg. 8 min. N.
Dampier's Comrades seizing the Oxen & Mules laden with Flour, Cheese &c. at a Farm House.
near which the Spanish maps place a town called Cupan, which however they could not find; after a short stay in search of it, they proceeded along the coast, till on the 28th they came in sight of the volcano of Colima, in lat. 18 deg. 36 min. N. at the foot of which is situated the rich town of Colima, from whence it takes its name. Of the valley by which this burning mountain is surrounded, the Spaniards give a most luxuriant description; but our navigators found it absolutely inaccessible from the sea; for the surf ran so high, and the breakers appeared so formidable, that the boldest of them durst not attempt it: they therefore very reluctantly quitted the neighbourhood, and proceeded in quest of Sallagua, the bay of which they discovered in lat. 18 deg. 52 min. N. Here they landed 200 of their best men, who were opposed by a body of Spanish foot, supported by a party of horse; but, on the first charge, the foot gave way, and the horse soon followed. In the pursuit the English were led into a broad road, and followed it, through a woody and rocky country, to the distance of four or five leagues, without seeing house or inhabitants. In their way back they met with two straggling Mulattoes, who told them the road led to the city of Oarrah four days journey off, and the soldiers whom they had defeated were sent from thence to escort the passengers from India that were expected to land in Sallagua bay, from on board the Manilla ship that every year touched upon that coast.
Encouraged by this intelligence, they hastened to embark; and, setting sail on the 6th of December, steered directly for Cape Corientes, at the height of which they expected to meet their prize. In this passage, Dampier, who had hitherto by temperance preserved his health, was seized with a fever and ague, which at length terminated in a dropsical disorder that was very near carrying him off, and which carried off many of the men. The dropsy, Dampier says, is a general disorder on this coast, and the natives pretend that the stone of the alligator dried and powdered, and drank in water, is an infallible remedy. The same receipt he found mentioned in a Mexican almanac; but could find no alligator to give it a trial.
On the 11th of December they came in sight of Cape Corientes. It is of a moderate height, flat and even at top, cloathed with woods, and projecting into the sea in steep cliffs. It is laid down in the Spanish maps in latitude 20 deg. 28 min. N. and longitude 230 deg. 56 min. W. from Teneriff, or in 121 deg. 41 min. W. from the Lizard-point in England.
They were now four ships in company; Captain Swan and his tender, and Captain Townley and his tender. These were all properly stationed to gain intelligence; but, provisions growing short, Captain Townley's bark was dispatched with 60 men to traverse the coast to the westward of the Cape, in search of some town or village where their wants might be supplied. On the 17th the bark returned, being unable to weather the cape, or make any useful discovery. She had left, however, four canoes with 46 men, who determined to double the cape, or perish in the attempt.
On the 18th, all the ships quitted their stations, and sailed for the island of Chametley, about 16 or 18 leagues to the eastward of the cape, to take in wood and water. On these islands live the fishermen, who, as the Spaniards say, fish for the inhabitants of the city of Purification. On the 20th, they anchored between the islands and the main in five fathom water, clear sand. Here they caught plenty of rock-fish, but saw no inhabitants. On the 21st Captain Townley with about 60 men went to an Indian village about seven or eight leagues to the westward, to endeavour to procure provisions; and next day Captain Swan returned to his station off the cape. On the 24th, the four canoes who had doubled the cape, returned to the cruisers, and reported, that they had rowed to the bay of the valley of Valderas, or Val d'Iris, and had landed in the garden of the world, where they found fruits of the most delicious flavour growing wild in the plains, and where the cattle were feeding at large among the streams of water that flowed meandering in the savannas, and lost their waters among the finest groves of trees they ever beheld; but when they marched in pursuit of the beeves that were every where straying in the vallies, they were suddenly surrounded by a body of Spaniards, who briskly attacked them, some on foot, and some on horseback. They made a gallant defence, and suddenly retreated into an adjoining wood, where they were followed by the Spanish horse. These were armed each with a case of pistols, and some of them, besides their pistols, had short guns. The English, being covered by the trees, made use of their fire-arms with advantage; and, after killing about 17 of the assailants, and wounding several others, the rest being unsupported by the foot, fled with precipitation. In this skirmish four English were shot dead, besides two desperately wounded; and, not daring again to attempt the valley, they killed a horse, and, having satisfied their hunger, they returned to their canoes.
On the 25th, being Christmas-day, they cruised close to the cape, and sent in three of their strikers to kill fish. In the afternoon they returned with three great jew-fish, which afforded them all a Christmas-dinner. Captain Townley on the 28th came to his station, and brought with him 40 bushels of maize, which he had seized at an Indian village four or five leagues up the country, and which his men were obliged to carry all that way on their backs.
They cruised till the 1st of January, 1686, off Corientes, and then steered towards the valley of Valderas, in order to furnish themselves with beef; and before night they anchored in 60 fathom water a mile from the shore. The next day they landed, dividing themselves into two parties; one party posted themselves on the hills to watch the motions of the Spaniards, while the other party traversed the vallies to kill the cattle. The Spaniards frequently presented themselves in companies, but did not dare to come near enough to engage. They continued here till the 7th, in which time they had killed and salted beef enough for two months allowance for their whole company, and, had not their salt failed them they might have stored themselves with much more.
They now gave over all farther expectation of the Manilla ship, it being the general opinion that she had escaped (as they were afterwards assured she had) while the ships were employed in seeking provisions.
"So this design failed," says Dampier, "through Captain Townley's eagerness after the Lima ship, which he attempted in Acapulco harbour. For though," adds he, "we took a little flour hard by, yet the same guide who told us of the Lima ship, would have conducted us where we might have had store of beef and maize; but instead thereof we lost both our time and the opportunity of providing ourselves, and so were forced to be victualling when we should have been cruizing, to the total ruin of the enterprize."
Being now provided with beef in abundance, and having taken in wood and water in proportionable quantities, the two commanders, Swan and Townley, having separate views, though united in this one grand object of intercepting the Manilla ship, thought proper to part company, Captain Swan intending to steer westward, and Captain Townley to return eastward. Hitherto a Moskito chief with three of his men had sailed with Captain Swan, but being now about to depart never more to return to their country, he was desirous of recommending them to the care of Captain Townley, who being bound to the coast of Peru, might there put them on shore at some convenient place, from whence they might travel over land to the North Sea. This Captain Townley undertook to perform; and the ships being now under sail, they saluted each other, and parted.
Our navigator continued to sail with Captain Swan. Before night they passed Point Pontique, which forms the westernmost point of the bay, distant from Cape Corientes about twenty leagues. This point is in lat. 20 deg. 50 min. N. a league to the westward of which are two barren islands, called the islands of Pontique. Beyond these islands the land trends to the northward, presenting a very rugged unpleasant appearance as far as the eye can extend the prospect. On the 14th, they came in sight of a small white rock in lat. 21 deg. 15 min. N. which at a distance seemed like a ship under sail. From this island the land runs still more northerly, and the sea tumbles in with such violence upon the shore, that for many leagues together there is no landing; there is, however, every where good anchoring as far as the islands of Chametley. These islands are six in number, and different from those of the same name on the east of Cape Corientes, being a little within the Tropic of Cancer, and not above three leagues from the main. On these islands grows a fruit called the penguin, of which there are two sorts, the yellow and the red. The yellow grows on a thick stem about a foot high, the leaves narrow and about half the length of the stem edged with prickles. The fruit grows out from the top of the stem in two or three large clusters, 16 or 20 in a cluster. It is round and in size like a small pullet's egg; the outer coat is thick and tough, and the pulp in the inside is full of little black seeds. The red penguin is in shape like a little nine-pin; grows up on stools from the ground in clusters of 60 or 70 on a stool, standing upright like the leaves of houseleek, and are smaller than the yellow: they are surrounded by leaves a foot and a half long, edged with prickles like the former. They have a sharp pungent taste, are very wholesome; but those who eat of them immoderately find them heating. They grow wild, and in the bay of Campeachy Dampier says they are so plentiful, that one can hardly range the plains for their prickly leaves.
From these islands Captain Swan embarked 100 men in canoes, and went himself in search of Coolican, a river in the province of Cullacan, with a town of considerable trade (probably that marked Pastla in the Spanish maps) upon its banks, the inhabitants whereof pass in boats to the island of California and fish for pearls. They coasted along the shore as far as lat. 24 deg. N. but found no river; and after three or four days absence returned without making any discovery.
A few leagues to the N.N.W. of Chametley is a narrow entrance into a lake, called by the Spaniards Rio de Sal, which runs about 12 leagues easterly, parallel with the shore, forming many low mangrove islands, and having depth of water every where for boats to row along its banks. In this lake Captain Swan entered, accompanied by 150 of his men in 12 canoes. In his progress he observed a grazing farm, and landing some of his men, they found the house deserted, and the cattle driven away. On proceeding further along the lake, two Indians were seen running at some distance, whom they took for spies, and having discharged a volley of small arms, one of them was wounded in the thigh, and not being able to continue his race, was seized by a party landed for that purpose who brought him on board He informed them, that, about four leagues from the place where they then were, an Indian town was situated in a savanna, abounding with cattle. The company were scarcely landed to go in search of this town before they were attacked by a body of Spanish horse, who not being properly armed, made but a faint opposition, and suddenly retired. While the English were in pursuit, the enemy played off a stratagem that greatly annoyed them. We have already mentioned, in the voyages of Captain Sir Francis Drake, the nature of the grass that covers the savannas on the isthmus of Darien between the North and the South Seas. Such was the grass with which the pursuers were surrounded, when the Spaniards set it on fire, and, being dry as stubble, it burnt with astonishing fury, and spread with such rapidity, that it was with the utmost difficulty the whole party escaped being involved in the flames. This disaster not only made them more cautious, but occasioned a delay, which gave the Spaniards time to collect their force and to make a more formidable opposition. When the English arrived the next day at the village of which they had intelligence, they found it occupied by an armed garrison, whom it was necessary to overcome before they could enter; but as the Spaniards were, for the most part, destitute of fire-arms, and the Indians wholly unexperienced in their use, the advantage the English derived from that circumstance soon decided the contest in their favour. The enemy fled after the loss of some of their leaders, and left the conquerors masters of the place, having only one man killed with an arrow, and their surgeon sorely wounded.
They were told by their prisoners, that, about five leagues from the town of which they were now in possession, two rich gold mines were wrought by Indian slaves belonging to the Spaniards of Compostella, the most considerable Spanish city in that district. It was not now a time to search for gold, when they were in want of every kind of food, except the beef they had cured at Valderas. Their chief search was now for maize, and having plundered the village of all they could find, they conveyed it to their boats with great labour; and next day quitted the lake, and returned on board the ships. This lake is laid down in latitude 23 deg. 30 min. N.
On the 2d of February, Captain Swan made another excursion with 80 men in search of the river Rosario, at the entrance of which they landed, and marched to an Indian town of the same name. Here they were told, that the gold mines were not above two leagues from the town; but, like the cock in the fable, they rejected the pearl and chose the barley-corn; about 90 bushels of maize, and the other provisions they found in the place, though insufficient for the purpose of their intended voyage, were yet of more value in their present necessity than all the gold of Compostella.
On the 3d the ships came to an anchor off the river's mouth of Rosario, in seven fathom water, oozy ground, in lat. 22 deg. 51 min. N.
On the 7th, the Captain with his company came on board. The quantity of provisions which he had procured was but trifling for so many men; he therefore sent the next day a party in search of the river Oleta, but they returned without having found it. The river St. Jago was next attempted, and on the 11th they anchored in seven fathom water near the mouth of it, three leagues E. S. E. of the white rock of Maxentelbo, the high hill of Zelisco bearing S. E. This is one of the principal rivers upon the coast, and lies in latitude 22 deg. 15 min. N.
On the 11th, 70 men were sent up the river to make discoveries; they spent two days in examining the creeks and inlets, and at length came to a large field of maize which they had begun to gather, when they spied an Indian who had been sent to watch the corn, whom they seized and carried on board, in hopes of gaining from him some intelligence, by which they might obtain a more effectual and speedy supply. He told them, there was a town called Santa Pecaque, about four leagues from the place where he was taken, in which there was great store of provisions, and to which he undertook to be their guide. Captain Swan, overjoyed at the news, ordered 140 men to be instantly embarked on board the canoes, and to proceed with the Indian as he should direct. After rowing five leagues up the river, they came in sight of the town, when they landed in the night, and next morning set out on their march by land. About 10, they had advanced within musket-shot; and, having dispatched a party to reconnoitre, they found the town deserted, and entered it without opposition.
The town of Santa Pecaque is seated near the side of a wood in a spacious plain, neatly built, with a square in the middle, on each side of which the houses are furnished with balconies, from whence the inhabitants, in general, are spectators of the frequent processions exhibited by the Spanish priests, in order to convert the Indians, who are now almost all become christians in the Spanish settlements. The town, though small, has two churches; and they were told, that about 70 white families constantly resided in it, besides those who occasionally came there as carriers from the mines, and as merchants from Compostella. These carriers furnish the adjacent miners with maize, sugar, salt, and salt-fish, of all which there was great plenty in Santa Pecaque.
Captain Swan being acquainted by an express with the success of this expedition, and with the opportunity that now offered to supply his wants, hastened to the town to give the necessary orders. When he arrived, he divided his men into two parties; one party he employed in conveying the provisions to the boats; the other in plundering and packing up. These he relieved alternately; and when both parties were wearied out with this laborious service, they caught horses, and, having laden them with maize, dispatched them under a strong escort down to the canoes.
On the 17th, when they arrived, they found the men who guarded the canoes in high spirits, though they had been attacked by the Spaniards, and had one man desperately wounded. The party that escorted the horses thought it adviseable, however, to reinforce the canoe-guard, left the Spaniards should renew the attack. Next day they returned to the town, and the party left therein were preparing to convoy more maize to the canoes; but, before they set out, Captain Swan understood by an Indian whom they had made prisoner, that 1000 men were in arms in order to attack them, and that they were already advanced within three leagues of the place. Upon this intelligence, the Captain advised all his men to load as much maize as they could altogether bear away, and instantly to depart in a body. With this advice they absolutely refused to comply, being determined not to leave Santa Pecaque, while a load of provisions remained within it. It was in vain to endeavour to persuade those whom he could not punish for disobeying orders; and, therefore, on the 19th, he suffered 50 of them to depart with as many loaded horses; exhorting them, however, to march in a body, that they might be the better able to defend themselves against any sudden surprize. They were equally deaf to advice and instruction; they pursued their old course, marching in a line, and every one leading a single horse. The Spaniards had remarked their manner of marching, and had placed themselves in ambush the preceding night. They had scarce travelled half a league before they were suddenly set upon, and every man cut to pieces before they could assemble to prepare for their defence. Captain Swan, who had heard the firing, hastened with his party to the place of action; but on his approach he was struck with horror at the sight of such a number of his followers weltering in their blood, stript of their arms, and divested of their charge. The Spaniards, after the slaughter, having possest themselves of their musquets, &c. seized also the loaded horses, and instantly fled. Though the party commanded by Captain Swan did not exceed the number of those already slain, yet they were suffered to pass unmolested to the canoes, on board of which they embarked, and, with the provisions they had already secured, returned to the ships. Among the slain on this occasion was Mr. Ringrose, who wrote that part of the history of the buccaneers that relates to Captain Sharpe.
The slaughter of this unfortunate party dampt the spirits of the survivors, and discouraged them from attempting any farther descents upon this coast. Is was therefore determined to steer directly for Cape St. Lucas on the island of California, where they might lie secure from the attacks of the Spaniards, till the men were refreshed, and the ships put in a condition to undertake a new voyage.
The lake of California (for so it is called in the Spanish charts) is either very little known to the Spaniards, or very carefully concealed. Though they have mines open already more than they can work, in Mexico, Chili, and Peru, yet they are very unwilling to allow other European powers to share the treasures of those countries, though they themselves cannot exhaust them; nor is it at all likely that any considerable advantages will ever be made by others, till by some lucky chance a nearer passage into those seas is discovered.
"Were I," says Dampier, "to attempt a north-west passage, I would go first to the South Seas, bend my course from thence along by California, and that way seek a passage into the Western Seas. If I succeeded in my attempt, I should then be without that dread which others must have had of passing from a known to an unknown region; and which, it is not improbable, obliged them to relinquish the pursuit just as they were on the point of accomplishing their designs. In like manner," he adds, "were I to be employed in search of a north-east passage, I would winter about Japan, Conca, or the north-east part of China; and taking the spring and summer before me, I would make my first trial on the coast of Tartary, wherein if I succeeded, I should come into some known part, and have a great deal of time before me to reach Archangel or some other European harbour."
On the 21st they set sail, directing their course for California; but, being opposed by contrary winds, were unable to reach their destined port, and obliged to put in at the Maria islands, in latitude 21 deg. 40 min. N. distant about 40 leagues from Cape St. Lucas, and 20 from Cape Corientes. These islands are three in number, and they came to an anchor at the east end of the middlemost in five fathom water, clear sand; where, as soon as they moored their ships, they instantly began to unrig them, in order to careen.
Here Captain Swan proposed to his company to return home by way of the East Indies, which was highly approved by some, and as violently opposed by others, who, being ignorant, imagined, as Dampier says, that he would carry them out of the world. At first coming they lived upon nothing but seal; but in two or three days their strikers furnished them plentifully with turtle; and they likewise killed guanicoes, conies, and large pigeons; so that they consumed none of their ship provisions, during their stay. While the sailors were working upon the ships, the officers employed themselves in surveying the stores and measuring the maize; which they divided into three parts, and allotted two parts to the ship, and one part to the bark, the ship carrying one hundred men, the bark only fifty.
Here Dampier, who had been long ill of the dropsy, tried a very uncommon remedy. He stripped himself stark naked, laid himself down upon the hot sand, and caused the surgeon to cover him all but his head; in this manner he lay near half an hour; but being unable to endure it any longer, he was carried to his tent and put to bed. While he was in the sand he sweat immoderately, and to that operation he ascribes the recovery of his health.
They staid till the 26th, when their ships being clean, they sailed to the valley of Valderas, in order to take in fresh water. Here they came to an anchor at the mouth of the river where they had anchored before; but, now that the dry season prevailed, they found the water brackish, and unfit for use. They then weighed, and, coming to a fine fresh-water brook at the foot of a little round hill about four leagues from Cape Corientes, they filled on the 29th 32 tons of excellent water, a quantity sufficient to serve their voyage.
Being provided with every thing they had reason to expect in this country, they now began seriously to consider of the possibility of performing their intended voyage. Upon a nice calculation, they found they had only 60 days provisions on board, at a little more than half a pint of maize a-day for each man; they had a great many rats on board, which they could not prevent from consuming a part of the maize; they had, according to the Spanish account, more than 7000 miles to run from Cape Corientes to Guam, the nearest land; and, that island being subject to the Spaniards, they had no certainty of a supply when they came there. All these discouragements staggered the most forward of them; and nothing could prevail with the majority but a promise from Captain Swan to cruise off Manilla, to intercept the register ship, as soon as they should arrive in the proper station. To this condition Captain Swan was forced to submit, though much against his inclination; for he had no mind to commence plunderer at first; and now he was heartily tired of the trade.
On the 31st of March, 1686, they took their departure from Cape Corientes, the Cygnet, Captain Swan, with 100 men; and the bark, Captain Teat, with 50. At first they steered with a small land breeze at E. N. E. which carried them three or four leagues; then the sea-wind came on at W. N. W. and changed their course S. W. By six o'clock in the evening they were nine leagues S. W. from the cape. About 10 the next morning they had the sea-breeze at N. N. E. so that at noon they were 30 leagues from the cape. It then blew a fresh gale, which carried them into the true trade-wind. At first they had it at N. N. E. and then northerly. At 250 leagues from the shore it settled at E. N. E. and there stood till they came within 40 leagues of Guam.
After the second day of their departure, having fine clear weather, and a fresh trade-wind, they crouded all the sail they could spread, and had frequently observations of the sun, moon, and stars; so that they could calculate their longitudinal distance by way of amusement almost every day. At their first setting out they steered into the latitude of 13 deg. N. and it is remarkable, that in a run of more than 6700 miles in this latitude, they saw none of those small islands that are so plentifully interspersed in the same latitude on the opposite side of the Line; nor did Commodore Anson, who afterwards pursued the same track from Acapulco, see land till he arrived at the island of Tinian. As they run at a great rate, and the wind had every appearance of continuing, after being at sea about 20 days, the men began to grow clamorous to have their allowance enlarged; with which the Captain was forced to comply, tho' he endeavoured to persuade them to patience, and represented to them the danger of being becalmed, of missing their intended port, or of being refused a supply when they arrived. But none of these could prevail. The cry was for an augmentation, and an augmentation they had. Till the 20th of April their allowance was eight spoonfuls of boiled maize a man; but after that it was enlarged to ten. Dampier, who, as has been before noticed, had long been troubled with a dropsical disorder, gathered strength by this spare regimen; but those who were in full health it very much weakened. He says, he constantly drank three times a-day; but there were many on board who did not drink once in nine or ten days, and some not in twelve; one in particular did not drink in 17 days, and then said he was not a-dry, though he made water every day. Amidst these hardships one poor fellow was found guilty of theft, and sentenced to receive three stripes with a two-inch rope on his bare back from every man in the ship. Captain Swan, Dampier says, began first, and struck with a hearty good will, and his example was followed by all the rest; a punishment that must make every feeling mind shudder.
Though by the Spanish account the distance from Cape Corientes to Guam is said to be 2400 leagues, or 7200 English miles, yet Captain Swan had persuaded his men, that, by the English account the distance was only 1900 leagues; and that, as Drake and Cavendish had run it in less than 50 days each, they with better built ships might run it even in less than either of them: when, therefore, they had run the 1900 leagues, and the 50 days were nearly expired, they began to grow very mutinous; and those who had declared against the voyage from the beginning, exclaimed bitterly against the Captain, and against all those who had persuaded them to undertake it. They had, during this long run of 6000 miles, seen neither fish, fowl, bird, or insect, except once when, at the distance of 4975 miles from Cape Corientes, they spied some ruabies, which they apprehended had come from islands or cliffs at no great distance, though they never came in sight of any. The Captain in the midst of these tumults gave them fair words; told them, that it was probable, the Spanish accounts might be the best, and encouraged them by giving them hopes, that, as the breeze continued, a few days patience would put an end to their troubles. On the 18th of May they met with some rain, and the clouds settling in the west foretold their near approach to land. On the 20th, the bark being near three leagues a-head, ran over a rocky shoal, on which there was only four fathom water. On the shoal they observed abundance of fish swimming every where about; and Captain Teat imagining that land was near, clapt upon a wind with the bark's head to the north, and lay by to speak with the ship. When the ship came up, Captain Teat went on board, and related what he had seen; on which, being then in lat. 12 deg. 55 min. N. and Guam being laid down in 13 deg. N. they clapt on a wind, and steered to the northward, very doubtful, however, of being right, as no shoals near Guam are noticed in the Spanish charts. They pursued this course, however, till four in the afternoon; when, to their unspeakable joy, they saw the island of Guam at eight leagues distance.
"And happy it was, says Dampier, that we got sight of it before our provisions were gone, of which we had but enough for three days more; for, as I was afterwards informed, the crew had combined first to kill Captain Swan, and eat him, when the victuals were gone; and, after him, all of us who were accessary in promoting the voyage."
Nothing can exhibit a more striking indication of the ferocity of man's nature, than the resolution formed by this abandoned crew. After a long series of enormities, robberies, murders, burning of houses and towns, exposing their fellow-creatures to want of food and shelter, and spreading terror and devastation where-ever they set their feet, they at length, distressed and half-famished themselves, begin to murmur against their leaders, and the greater number combine to murder the lesser number, and to make food of their flesh. Need we, after reading this, have recourse to those we call barbarous nations for instances of the savage nature of man! The most uncultivated of those eat only the flesh of enemies killed in war; but these wretches, who call themselves christians, exceeded in their intention every horrid example we read of; they conspired to kill and eat their own Chiefs!
On the 21st of May they came to an anchor about the middle of the island of Guam on the west side. This is one of the Ladrone islands. Dampier places it in 13 deg. 21 min. N. and computes the meridian distance of Guam from Cape Corientes to be about 7302 miles; and supposes the South Sea to be of greater breadth by 25 degrees than is commonly allowed by hydrographers. It is about twelve leagues in length and four in breadth; on it the Spaniards have a small fort of six guns, garrisoned by 20 or 30 soldiers, and commanded by a Governor, and one or two subordinate Officers. The climate is healthy, and the natives active, docile, and ingenious, and are the best boat-builders throughout the Indian seas. Dampier believes their boats sail the best of any in the world. He tried one of them by the log; and, by the rate she ran in half a minute, computes her course at 24 miles within the hour. These Indians are no less dexterous in navigating than in building their boats. By report they will pass to other islands at 30 leagues distance, do business, and return again in 12 hours.
They had no sooner cast anchor than a Spanish friar came on board, with three Indians: Captain Swan received the priest with great civility; told him they came with no hostile intention, but as friends to purchase with their money provisions to continue their voyage. The priest replied, that provisions were now scarce upon the island, but would engage the Governor to do his utmost to supply their wants. They thought proper, however, to detain the padre till his promise was fulfilled.
Next day a messenger was sent with letters and a present to the Governor, and in the mean time two boats were manned, one to fish, and another to purchase cocoa-nuts; the former returned empty, but the latter came back laden. The Governor, on the receipt of the letters and present, in token of friendship complimented the Captain with six hogs, 12 musk-melons, and as many water-melons; and at the same time sent an order to the Indians in the nearest town to bake every day as much bread-fruit as the ships should require, and to assist the mariners in gathering cocoa-nuts and other fruits; with which order the Indians very readily complied. During this friendly intercourse the Manilla ship came in sight; but, being first seen from the fort, the Governor found means to apprize her of her danger, and she stood off, and escaped without being discerned by the ships. But in steering to the southward to avoid them, she was very near sharing a worse fate; for she struck upon the shoal already mentioned, and, after three days incessant labour, floated off with the loss of her rudder. During her distress the men got intelligence of her situation; but Captain Swan, who had determined no longer to follow the infamous employment of plundering, found means to divert them from their purpose of attacking her.
On the 30th of May the Governor sent his last present to Captain Swan, consisting of some hogs, a jar of pickled mangoes, a jar of excellent pickled fish, a jar of rusk or bread made of fine flour, and six or seven packs of rice. In return, at his own request, he was furnished with powder and shot of which he was in want; but what he coveted most was a fine English dog which they had on board, with which he was likewise gratified. The friar's civility was rewarded with a brass clock, an astrolabe, and a large telescope; in return for which he sent the Captain six hogs, some bushels of potatoes, a roasting pig, and half a hundred weight of fina Manilla tobacco. The ships were plentifully supplied, besides, with every thing the island afforded; cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit as many as the ships could stow, and upwards of 50 hogs in pickle. Captain Swan was desirous of the Governor's letter to the merchants of Manilla, having a private view to trade, which he concealed from his villainous crew.
On the 2d of June, they departed from Guam, directing their course to Mindanao, one of the Philippines; a range of islands extending in length from the 5th to the 19th degree of North latitude, and occupying in breadth about six degrees of longitude. The principal island in this range is Luconia on the north, where Magellan, in his voyage round the world, was slain with a poisoned arrow, and where the Spaniards made their first settlement, and established at Manilla a mart of traffic with the richest kingdoms of the east.
On the south, Mindanao is the principal island. It is in length about 60 leagues, and in breadth fifty. It is diversified with hills and vallies. The hills abound with gold, and the vallies are covered with perpetual verdure. It is finely watered with rivers and springs; and the plains and lawns are interspersed with groves of lofty trees, some of which are formed for shade, and some afford food for the inhabitants.
Of the pith of one they make their bread, and of the sap of others they make a pleasant drink. The marshy grounds abound with rice, and on the dry hilly land they cultivate yams, potatoes, melons, and a variety of vegetables unknown to Europeans. Their chief fruits are plantains, bonanoes, nutmegs, cloves, beetel-nuts, durians, jaccas, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, and oranges.
The plantain Dampier calls the king of fruit, and prefers it to every other. The tree that bears it is between three and four feet in circumference, and rises about ten or twelve feet high. When at its height, there springs from the top a stem about the size of a man's arm, round which the fruit grows in clusters, in shape not unlike the Turkey cucumber, the coat of which is of a yellow colour when ripe. The inclosed fruit is of a delicate flavour, and melts in the mouth like mamalet. It is highly esteemed by all Europeans, and all their settlements are furnished with plantain walks, some families subsisting wholly upon that fruit.
The bonanoe differs but little from the plantain, except in size, being small and less luscious.
The nutmeg and clove trees are rare in this island, but those that grow are large and fine. The natives discourage their growth for fear of exciting the jealousy of the Dutch, who have monopolized the whole trade for spices, and who keep in pay a company of armed soldiers to cut down the spice-trees in the uninhabited islands, lest other European nations should avail themselves of their plenty. Dampier says, that he has been assured that, in some of the eastern islands, it is usual to see, at the shedding time, cloves three or four inches deep under the trees.
Of the beetel-nut all the Eastern people are immoderately fond. It is the fruit of a tree that grows like the cabbage-tree to the height of ten or twelve feet, without either leaf or branch, and then sends forth shoots on every side, among which the fruit is found in clusters, on tough stalks about the bigness of a man's finger. It is larger than a nutmeg, and rounder; they cut it, when green, in quarters, wrapping each quarter up in an arek-leaf, and chewing both together. It tastes rough, dyes the lips red, and makes the teeth black.
The durian grows on trees like apple-trees, and are in size as large as pumpkins, covered with a thick rind, which, when ripe, opens and sends forth a strong scent, not unlike that of roasted onions. It divides into chives, each about the size of a pullet's egg, the inside of which is of the consistence of cream, and must be eaten in its prime, or there is no enduring its rankness.
The jacca differs very little from the durian; only the inside of the former is yellow, and that of the latter white.
The island of Mindanao abounds likewise with animals of various kinds; and, according to Dampier, is one of the most plentiful islands in the world; and, though so near the Equator, being in 7 deg. N. the air is temperate, enjoying gentle sea-breezes in the day, and cooling land-winds in the night.
Though they arrived on this coast about the middle of June, yet it was the middle of July before they could come to an anchor. They were ignorant of the situation of the chief town; and, arriving first on the opposite side, had been all that time playing about the island in search of it. At length they cast anchor near the river that bears the name of the island, and leads to the chief city. They fired seven guns, and were answered from the shore by three. They were presently after invited by a Raja and one of the Emperor's sons, who demanded in Spanish, who they were, and from whence they came? They were answered by Mr. Smith (the gentleman made prisoner at Leon), that they were English, and had been long from their country. They were told, they were welcome; and asked if they were come to settle a factory, and to open trade? They said, they came only to purchase provisions. At which the Mindaneians appeared disconcerted. Captain Swan was some time at a loss to account for this circumstance; but he afterwards understood, that a Captain Goodluck had been there some time before, with some proposals from the East-India Company; and that, when he went away, he had given them some reason shortly to expect an Ambassador from England, to complete the treaty.
The Raja and Prince sat in their canoes; and, after half an hour's conversation, took their leave, having invited Captain Swan ashore, and promised to assist him in procuring provisions.
There are three small islands called Meangis, within 20 leagues of Mindanao, that abound with gold and cloves; and, while Captain Swan was beating along the coast, in his passage from Guam to the river where the ships now were at anchor, they were observed by the Princes of that country, and known to be English. The Prince of those islands, having heard a good report of the English, and fearing a visit from the Dutch, sent secretly his nephew to Captain Swan, to invite him and his company to come and settle in his territories, offering every advantage in point of trade and security that he should require. Nothing could have been more advantageous, both to the nation and the settlers than this offer; but Captain Swan paid no regard to it.
As the season was now approaching when the westerly monsoon was about to set in, which would necessarily oblige the ships to stay a considerable time in the port of Mindanao, Captain Swan judged it his interest to cultivate a good understanding with the reigning Sultan. With this view he caused a magnificent present to be prepared for the Sovereign, consisting of scarlet-cloth, gold lace, a Turkish scymetar enriched with jewels, and a case of pistols, together with presents of less value to his chief Ministers; and, being in readiness, he sent them on shore by Mr. More, who sailed with him from London as chief supercargo, when his design was to trade in the South Seas. These presents were graciously received. The Sultan made Mr. More sit down by him, and asked him many questions concerning England, by means of a Spanish interpreter; and, after an hour's conversation, dismissed him with marks of the highest esteem. Next day Captain Swan was invited on shore, and admitted to an audience in form; when the Sultan shewed him letters from the East-India Company, and desired to know if he came to settle in consequence of those letters? He talked with him much concerning the produce of his country, and the nature of carrying on commerce; and seemed highly entertained with the accounts he gave of it, and of the countries through which he had passed, and the novelties he had seen. He was three hours in close conversation; and, when he was dismissed, was entertained by Raja Laut, the King's uncle, with a sumptuous banquet, after their manner, consisting of boiled rice, fish, and fowls.
On this occasion, Captain Swan was given to understand, that, while Mr. Goodluck resided in that city, he had been robbed by a servant belonging to Raja Laut, and that the fellow absconded till Mr. Goodluck took his leave; but that he was now returned, and was ready to be delivered up to be punished, in such manner, and with such severity, as crimes of the like nature are punished by the laws of England. But
Captain Swan Entertaind by the Raja Laut, Uncle to the King of Mandanao.
Captain Swan told him, that in his country none but the injured party could prosecute the criminal; and, as the man had committed no offence against him, he could take no cognisance of his crime. The Raja heard him with astonishment; and, to shew that the Princes of Mindanao were far from countenancing such practices, he caused the fellow to be stript naked, tied to a post, and exposed a whole day with his face to the burning sun; while at the same time the Moskitos continually tormented him without a possibility of being able to brush them off; a kind of torture that few have hardiness enough to survive. This condescension, in offering to deliver up the criminal to be punished by the Captain, was followed by a like offer from the Captain, with respect to any of his men who should offend against the laws of the Mindaneians; but the Minister returned the compliment, and left the punishment to the Captain himself, who, upon the least complaint, punished his men with a severity that shewed more of revenge than of justice, and which they afterwards took occasion to resent. Among those who felt the effects of his indignation was Captain Teat, his chief mate, who commanded the bark that accompanied him in his run across the Southern Ocean; and others, who had offended him on board, he remembered, now he had the countenance of the court on shore.
Captain Swan was highly caressed by the Chiefs of Mindanao, and pressed to stay and secure his ships from the approaching tempests, which always attend the change of the monsoons; and, as the river before the rainy season generally runs low, finding it difficult to float his ship over the bar, fifty or sixty Mindaneian fishermen were immediately sent with their canoes, to assist him in lightening his ship, and floating her up the river. She was no sooner moored than a free intercourse with the natives commenced. They expressed their regard for the English by signs that were easily understood. When the Dutch were mentioned to them, they would spread their fore-fingers half a foot apart, saying
Bujeto,
they are so far distant in friendship: when speaking of the Spaniards, they would spread their fingers still wider; but when the English were spoken of, they would bring their fingers quite close, saying
Samo,
we are all one. They were very fond of getting the men to their houses, where they kindly entertained them, after their manner, with tobacco, and beetel-nut; and where those who had money, and were decently dressed, were pressed to connections with the best families, and courted by the young females to the most familiar intimacy. To men who have long been at sea, such inducements are irresistible; and many of them made themselves poor, by being too easily drawn in by these allurements to spend their money lavishly. Some who accompanied Harris from the North Seas had gold in abundance; and the Mindaneian misses, when they knew their power, very soon found the way to ease them of it. In Mindanao they had goldsmiths and other artificers, who charged double their value for such baubles as these prodigals were for ever bespeaking to present to their favourites; besides, some of them bought houses, and hired servants, and lived as profusely as the Raja himself, imitating the custom of the country, and having a pagelly or principal companion, and half a dozen mistresses. It was not long before the town's people discovered the true humour of English sailors, and they likewise took care to make their advantage of it. As they had no other but gold in lumps, when they wanted change, they gave them at the rate of 11 or 12 dollars an ounce. To others the same gold was exchanged for 18 dollars. The price of provisions and common necessaries was in like manner enhanced by those spendthrifts; and thus, says Dampier, the poor were made to suffer by the folly of the rich, and a foundation was laid for imposing upon all Englishmen who should hereafter have occasion to take up their residence in that port.
Captain Swan himself was seldom seen at any other house but Raja Laut's or the royal palace. At the latter he made frequent visits, and at the former dined every day, attended by such of his men as had no money to spend, who had rice in plenty provided for them, and sometimes the remains of fowls or pieces of buffalo, drest in a course, and served in a hoggish manner. The Mindaneians use neither knives nor forks in eating, and they cram their mouths with lumps as large as they can take in, those being accounted the genteelest who can open their mouths the widest.
The religion of Mindanao is the Mahometan, and when the ships first cast anchor, it was their
Ramadam,
which answers to our Lent, when all sports and pastimes are suspended; on this account the Raja made an apology for not entertaining the Captain with the usual diversions of the country. The wet season too came on, which caused a general suspension of all out-door business.
During the month of August the weather became tempestuous, and the rains excessive. The river swelled and overflowed its banks; and it was with the utmost difficulty the ships were prevented from driving on the main land, or into the open sea; for trees of vast magnitude came floating down with the torrent, and frequently pressed against their bows with such weight, that they were in continual fear lest their cables should give way. During the time of these inundations the city stands, as it were, in a pond, and there is no communication between house and house till the floods abate. It was probably this circumstance that suggested to them the manner of constructing their houses. They are all built upon posts from 12 to 20 feet high. These posts are larger or smaller according to the height or magnitude of the superstructure. The Sultan's palace has but one floor, on which, however, there are many rooms, to which they ascend by stairs from the street. It stands upon 180 posts, and is twenty feet above the level of the ground. The ordinary houses are also of one floor, and ascended by ladders. The roofs are all covered with palmeto leaves. The area beneath their houses is usually fenced in, and there the poorer sort keep their poultry; and there also is received the common draught of their sculleries; and, were it not for the frequent inundations that carry off the soil, the nastiness of the meaner people would render living in Mindanao impossible: but every crevice is scoured clean by the violence of the currents, which frequently overset the houses; though the posts on which they stand are sunk deep in the ground.
The inhabitants of Mindanao are, like all the Eastern people, very clean in their persons; they constantly bathe every day once, and sometimes oftener; they wash after every meal: and, if they happen to touch by accident any unclean thing, they have their times of purification allotted, before the expiration of which they are not permitted to leave their chambers. Swine are held with them in abomination, and though they run wild in the woods, yet they are never eaten. The chief food of the people is rice, sago, plantains, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and other nutritious fruits; among the better sort, fowls and beef are used rather by way of relish, than as solid subsistance; for they are boiled to rags in their strange messes.
The Mindaneians are of low stature, small limbs, straight bodies, little heads, and are of a brown copper colour. The women are fairer than the men, and their hair is black and long, and generally well dressed. Their visage too is rounder and better featured than that of the men; only their noses are small, and so flat between their eyes that the rising is scarce discernible. At a distance they look tolerable, but on a nearer approach these imperfections are rather disgusting. Their dress consists of a petticoat and a loose jacket. The sleeves of the jacket are long and wide at the shoulders, but sloping down to their wrists, where they are so tight, that it is with difficulty they get their hands through in putting them on. They then rise in folds about the arm, and in that lies their pride. The better sort of people wear fine callico or silks; the meaner sort, an ordinary cloth made of the plantain-tree, which they call saggen. The women, in general, (as has been noted) love the company of strangers, especially of white men; and Dampier adds, that the men belonging to the ships could scarce walk the streets without being pulled into their houses.
The chief artists among them are goldsmiths, ship-builders, carpenters, and smiths; all of whom are excellent in their way, allowing for the badness of their tools. Dampier gives a description of their smith's bellows, which is simple and ingenious. It is composed of two hollow cylinders, like the large wooden pipes used by us for the conveyance of water; they are cut flat at both ends, in length about four feet, and placed upright at the distance of two feet from each other upon a stone hearth before the fire. Within two inches of the bottom of each a pipe is placed, projecting like a cock towards the fire, but bending so as that the pipes from both cylinders meet and terminate in one before they reach it. Thus constructed, and fixed firm, a man with two light brushes made of feathers, which he works alternately like two pistons, keeps up a continual blast; and with this simple contrivance, without either vice or anvil, other than a large stone or the butt-end of an old cannon, they fabricate their work to admiration. Their carpenters have neither saws nor planes, and yet they split and smooth their boards with great neatness. This requires time, but their work is the more durable for it, because the grain being unbroken the timber remains the tougher.
In Mindanao there is only one mosque, or place of worship, and that but little frequented by the meaner people. In this mosque they have a contrivance for striking the time. A drum of vast dimensions, shaped in form of a bell, is placed over a large hollow cavity, the head of which drum is covered with brass, and called a gong. A certain number of men are appointed to attend this gong, who relieve each other alternately night and day, and with a stick as large as a man's arm, with a ball at the end of it, at certain intervals, they strike the gong, the sound of which is heard from one extremity of the town to the other, and supplies the place of a clock.
The Mindaneians use circumcision, and that operation is performed with great ceremony. The usual time among the common people is about the age of twelve; but the Princes of the blood are circumcised, like the Jews, at the end of eight days. On this occasion, the warriors all appear in arms, and, like Europeans at a review, make a sham fight, for the diversion of the spectators, in which both the Sultan and his General are principal performers.
When the waters were subsided, and the Ramadam over, Raja Laut, the Sultan's brother, and General of his forces, to entertain Captain Swan, assembled the dancers, who are women bred from their infancy, like those in Europe, to that art. On this occasion, more than 50 of them were assembled, who, being ranged in a ring, danced to their own music. In these dances their feet and legs are but little employed. Having no other than vocal music, they sing at first solo parts in slow time; but their chorusses are brisk; and then their hands, arms, heads, and bodies, are all employed in such contortions, that one would think they were made without bones.
Dancing and processions were the favourite diversions among the Chiefs of this island; and, Captain Swan, in conformity to the prevailing taste, resolving to give an English entertainment, ordered his music ashore, and such of his men as could dance were likewise ordered to attend. Accordingly, having hired a convenient house, he invited the Sultan, and Chiefs of the place, with their women, to be spectators of the splendor of the European dances. He had caused the house to be hung round with the richest silks, of which he had store on board; and decorated it with gold and silver-lace, which, when illuminated with a profusion of wax-candles, made a most brilliant appearance. When the company assembled, they were struck with amazement, and thought all they beheld was the effect of enchantment. Among the dancers, there was one Jack Thacker, a common sailor, who at the music-houses at Wapping had learned to dance a horn-pipe. This man attracted the notice of the Mindaneians more than all the rest, because more in the antic manner to which they were accustomed. Him, therefore, they fixed their eyes upon, and considered as a man of consequence. When they had spent the best part of the night in feasting their eyes and their appetites (for Captain Swan had ordered his cook to prepare a cold collation of sweet-meats, and other savoury dishes), they were still unwilling to retire; and it was almost day-break before the Sultan retired, and, very unwillingly, was accompanied by his female train. Raja Laut and his women staid longer; and, it is said, notwithstanding his devotion to his prophet, drank plentifully of wine.
Nothing was talked of so much among the Mindaneians, during the stay of the ships, as the comic English dancer, of whom Raja Laut was willing to know the history; and, having enquired, was told by one of his companions, that he was an English nobleman who travelled for his diversion, and that all those who wore fine cloaths were gentlemen of inferior quality, who left their own country out of curiosity to see the countries abroad.
This harmless imposition, being told by the General to Captain Swan, who was of a morose unsociable disposition, cost the poor fellow a hearty drubbing, though he was wholly ignorant of what had been told. He was first stript of his fine cloaths, in the presence of the Raja, by his Captain's orders, and then stript of his nobility by flogging his back. It was not long, however, before the man was revenged.
About the middle of November they began to prepare for their departure, and for that purpose their first business was to examine the ships bottoms, the sheathing of which they found eaten by the worm like a honey-comb; and the bottom of the bark not being sheathed, was eaten to the timbers, and the vessel thereby rendered unserviceable: application was therefore made to the Raja for planks to new sheathe the ship. The Raja's sincerity was never suspected, till this incident gave reason for jealousy. When he came down to the river, and saw the carpenters ripping off the sheathing, he shook his head, and seemed much disconcerted, declaring he had never before seen a ship with two bottoms. His hope was, that the ship, like the bark, would have been eaten through, and that he should have had all her guns. A like accident had formerly entitled him to a like advantage, when a Dutch ship, by anchoring in the same river during the westerly monsoon, was entirely disabled, and never again put to sea. He was sensible enough of the mischief that would infallibly ensue to the ships by lying so long among those destructive vermin; for, whenever the natives disuse their vessels, they haul them up on the dry beach, burn their bottoms, and there let them lie, till they want again to use them.
While some were employed in ripping off the old worm-eaten planks, others were busy in preparing new; and, by the beginning of December, the sheathing was repaired and tallowed. The latter part of the month was taken up in putting the ballast, stores, and guns aboard: this was a work of the greater labour, as it was first necessary to carry the ship out to sea before it was undertaken. About the beginning of January they began to fill water, and to take in rice; and application was made to Raja Laut to furnish buffaloes, as he had all along promised to do. He now began to form excuses, and pretended to take men out every day a-hunting (for those creatures always run wild); but always came home empty, and pleaded ill success. The Captain too began to act very mysteriously. By the help of the government on shore, he had got the absolute ascendancy over his men, and was as implicitly obeyed as if he had been Captain of a king's ship. When he was importuned to declare when he intended to sail, he chose to be silent; and when the men wanted to know upon what enterprize they were next to be employed, he reproached them with their eagerness for piracy. He had sold Raja Laut some tons of iron and lead, and was to have had in return rice and beef; as to the first, the Raja had failed in furnishing the stipulated quantity, and the latter he had hitherto in no shape fulfilled. The Raja had besides borrowed of him 20 ounces of gold; and, when he required payment, the Raja demanded a much larger sum for his own board, and the board of his men. This treatment, and these disappointments, served to discompose a mind naturally sour, and to put him out of humour with every body about him.
All this while the westerly monsoon was wasting that was to carry them on to India. The men began again to murmur, and grow unruly: some, weary of rambling about, and who had formed connections with the natives, were for staying at Mindanao: some, who had husbanded their money, of whom indeed there were but few, were eager to get home; and others, who were poor (by far the majority), were for continuing their ravages, and were impatient to be in action.
While matters were in this situation, strong representations were made to the Captain to come on board, and to declare himself; and, after many delays, a day was at length fixed for a determination.
In the mean time, those who were bent on returning home, foreseeing that continued extravagancies would necessarily create new wants, and that new wants would require new means of supply, took occasion secretly to purchase a canoe, and formed a design to depart in the night for Borneo, where, by a letter just received from thence by a Mindaneian vessel, they hoped to meet with an English factory, and from thence find a passage home; but Captain Swan getting intelligence of their design, seized their canoe, and threatened to punish for deserters all those concerned in the plot.
Another party about the same time, hearing that the ship was about to sail, retired into the country, to conceal themselves till after her departure.
The party on board, who had nothing but the ship's allowance to subsist on, became unruly, and sent ashore to the merchants iron to sell for arrack and honey, with which they made themselves drunk, and grew quarrelsome. All these disorders, Dampier says, might easily have been redressed, had Captain Swan exerted his authority in time, and established proper discipline on board the ship; but he living with his merchants constantly on shore, and leaving every one to do as he pleased on board, they encouraged one another in their villainies, and at length grew mutinous.
When these things were come to extremity, he gave orders that the whole crew should attend him on board the ship, on the 13th of January [1687]; but, unluckily for him, two days before this meeting was to take place, Captain Swan sent his gunner to fetch something he had occasion for out of the locker of his cabin. This man, in rummaging for what he wanted, among other things happened to take out the Captain's journal, which, being laid carelesly by, was taken up by one John Read, (an ingenious young man, who likewise kept a journal) out of mere curiosity to peep in it, to see how nearly his and the other agreed.
At the first opening of the book he cast his eye on a part, in which the Captain had made a memorandum of the mutinous behaviour of his men in their passage from Cape Corientes to Guam, and had particularly noted that of one John Read, a Jamaica-man, a namesake of the Read who took the journal, but no relation. This naturally excited his curiosity to look farther, and he found means, while the gunner was busy, to convey the journal away to examine it at his leisure. As soon as the gunner was gone ashore, John Read, the artist, shewed the book to John Read, the Jamaica-man, and both of them held a consultation with their comrages on the contents. These men, who were before ripe for mischief, now grew outrageous, and it was unanimously agreed to consult Captain Teat, who, as has been before noted, had received unworthy treatment from Captain Swan on shore, which, they knew, he only wanted an opportunity to resent. Teat left nothing unsaid to aggravate the failings of his superior, and to incense the company against him. He represented him as proud, ignorant, avaricious, cruel, and vindictive, and withal cowardly, and unfit to command upon any bold and manly enterprize; called to their minds the opposition he made to the attacking the Manilla ship off Guam, by the conquest of which they would all have been enriched; and which, he said, Swan did not oppose out of a principle of honesty or gratitude, but from the fear of engaging a ship so much superior to his own in weight of metal and in numbers, though he, Teat, would have pawned his head to have been master of her in a few hours close attack. Men whose expectations have been raised to an unreasonable pitch, give easy credit to unfavourable suggestions against the authors of their disappointment. The crew took lire, and instantly bound themselves by an oath to deprive Captain Swan of the command, without naming any officer to substitute in his room; nay, so precipitate was their resolution, that the majority were for setting sail immediately, and leaving all that were on shore behind: and this hasty resolve would certainly have taken place, had either of the surgeons been on board; but, as their cry was for war, it was judged too desperate to go to sea without one skilful person on board to assist the wounded.
As all this passed in the night, it was agreed to stay till morning, and then to send a trusty messenger on shore, speedily to request the surgeons to come to the assistance of a man who had broken his leg. The chief surgeon said he should see the man the next day, and in the mean time sent his mate, Mr. Herman Coppinger, to his immediate relief. This man, a few days before, was sleeping at his mistresses, when a snake twisted itself round his neck, but quietly went away upon his waking without hurting him. Coppinger, supposing the accident real, made haste to pack up his moveables to go on board; and, as the Captain was to have his general rendezvous the next day, Dampier took the opportunity of going with him. They scarce had mounted the ship's side before they discovered the trick. But when the mutineers were thus in possession of the surgeon, they presently dispatched the canoe to shore again to invite all the men who chose it to come on board, but with a strict caution not to tell the reason, lest their design should reach the ears of their Captain.
The 13th in the morning they weighed, and fired a gun. The Captain, much alarmed, immediately dispatched Mr. Nelly, his mate, to know the cause. To him they told their grievances, and shewed the journal; he persuaded them to stay till next day to hear what the Captain and merchants had to say. They did so, and Mr. Harthop came on board in the morning. He advised them to a reconciliation, and to take more rice on board. They were deaf to his persuasion; yet at his entreaty they staid till two in the afternoon to wait for the Captain, and such gentlemen or seamen as chose to accompany them, but suffered none to go ashore, except Mr. Harthop and a man with a wooden leg. Dampier remarks, that, if Captain Swan had then come on board, as a man of sense and spirit ought to have done, he might at the very last have crusht their designs, and reduced the mutineers to order and discipline; but being of a sullen, suspicious, vindictive temper himself, he dreaded the resentment of those he had marked for vengeance; and therefore suffered the time to elapse, and was with 36 others left behind in the town. Besides these, six or eight had deserted, and were up the country; and sixteen had died of poison, given them, as was supposed, by the husbands of those women whom they had seduced; and there were others on board, who had received the poison, and died of it some months after. In this manner their numbers were considerably diminished, and of 150 who sailed from Cape Corientes, not above 80 were now on board.
It has been more than once hinted, that Captain Swan sailed from London with no design of privateering, but of carrying on trade with the Spaniards on the western coasts of America. He had therefore a great quantity of heavy goods, such as iron and lead, not yet disposed of, some of which he had sold to Raja Laut, and no doubt was willing to have received the payment before he departed. This may, in some measure, account for his delay. His crew was composed of men, who, most of them, had forced themselves upon him for purposes which he abhorred; and perhaps, he wanted to have rid himself of the greatest part of them, if he could have found a proper opportunity. Those marked in his journal were, no doubt, the men most obnoxious to him, and the most averse to trade, which he was determined to follow in his way home, having already 5000 l. of his owners money, which he had received for the goods put up by auction at his first commencing buccaneer; with this he purposed to have purchased a cargo to take with him from the East Indies. Hence arose his mysterious conduct, and his want of resolution. The loss of his bark was his embarrassment. Could that have been rendered serviceable, his design could more easily have been carried into execution. The suspicious part of the crew might have been shipped on board the bark; and by giving them a wrong track, they might have been deserted in the night, and left to their own course. But a discovery being made before the Captain's designs were ripe for execution, he was entangled in his own net.
But to return: On the 14th of January, 1687, at three o'clock in the afternoon, they set sail from the river Mindanao, and next day came a-breast of Chambango, where formerly the Spaniards had a settlement, and where, it is said, there were plenty of Swine and buffaloes. On the 17th, they anchored in a good bay on the west side of a small island, where they chose their officers, constituting John Read the Jamaica-man Captain, Thomas Teat Master, and Henry More Quarter-master; and, having cut some curious short-jointed canes, and plentifully supplied the ship with water from a clearspring, they pursued their course; but on their passage they struck on a rock, where after lying two hours, they were heaved off by the rising of the tide, and escaped with the loss only of a large piece of their rudder, though in more danger than ever they had experienced in the whole voyage.
On the 18th, they anchored at the north-west end of the island of Mindera, in 10 fathom water. While they lay there a canoe with four Indians from Manilla came along side, who informed them, that at Manilla there was seldom less than 20 or 30 sail of ships of different nations, who came to traffic with the Spanish merchants; and that, if they meant to trade, they might for a trifle have a letter of recommendation from a friar to whom they were carrying dispatches, and would in a few days return with his answer. Trade, however, was no part of their employment; and the Indians were suffered to pass without molestation.
On the 23d, they reached Luconia, the island so ardently wished for by this piratical crew, and presently descried a sail, which they instantly pursued and took. She proved a Spanish bark from Pangassanam, laden with rice and cotton-cloth, and bound for Manilla. The master of this prize was boatswain to the Acapulco ship that passed by Guam; this man gave Dampier an account of all that happened on that occasion. The time of the year being too far spent to effect any thing of consequence on this coast, they concluded to sail for Pulo Condore, and there wait till the latter end of May, about which time the Acapulco ship generally arrives at Manilla. With this resolution they quitted Luconia on the 26th of February; and, on the 14th of March, cast anchor at the island of Condore, on the coast of Cambodia. Among the productions of these islands (for there is a cluster of them), there is a lofty tree, the body of which is in diameter three or four feet, from which the inhabitants extract a clammy juice, which being boiled becomes a perfect tar, and answers all the purposes of that balsam. On the 16th, they entered a convenient harbour, and employed themselves in careening their ships, in which they were assisted by the natives of the island, who brought them hogs and turtle in exchange for rice, of which they had now great plenty.
While they lay in this harbour, two of the men died who had been poisoned in Mindanao; they were opened by the surgeon, and their livers were found black, light, and dry, like pieces of cork.
Before they departed, they engaged an old native who could speak the Malayan language, to pilot them to Siam, where they expected to purchase dried fish, having nothing now but rice to eat at sea.
On the 21st of April they sailed from Condore, and, on the 24th, anchored in the bay of Siam, where, however, they could get no fish. On the 21st of May they left Siam; and, in their return to Pulo Condore, overtook a Chinese junk, laden with pepper, who told them that the English were settled on the island of Sumatra, at a place called Silleber, which was the first intelligence they received of that factory. This junk accompanied them to Pulo Condore, where Captain Read, observing a Malayan vessel at anchor within shore, sent a canoe to learn from whence they came; but, knowing the Malayans to be desperate fellows, cautioned his men not to trust themselves on board, but to hail them from the boat: but the men, not regarding the Captain's instructions, went on board armed; which the Malayans observing, fell upon them unawares with their short daggers, and stabbed five or six of them dead upon the spot; the rest jumped into the sea, and saved themselves by swimming, among whom was one Daniel Wallis, who never could swim before or since, but in his fright made shift to reach the boat, and made his escape with the rest. Here Herman Coppinger, the surgeon, went on shore, on purpose to leave this diabolical company; but Read sent an armed force, and pressed him on board again. Dampier intended following his example, but waited a more convenient place.
They were now confined at this island by stormy weather till the 4th of June; and in the mean time a Malayan Portuguese from the junk entered on board, whom they entertained as an interpreter, to facilitate an intercourse with the natives. When they weighed anchor, the wind was contrary; yet they kept plying to the westward in hopes of its shifting to carry them to Manilla, before their much longed-for prize should arrive. In this hope they continued labouring incessantly for 10 days; when, being almost worn out with fatigue, and finding no probability of accomplishing their desires, they relinquished that project in despair, and, instead of it, stood away for Prata, in lat. 20 deg. 40 min. N. where they flattered themselves with fishing up much treasure from the China ships that had been cast away on that island, some of which were said to contain immense riches. But in this too they were disappointed by adverse winds; and, notwithstanding the utmost exertion of their skill in seamanship, they were driven by the violence of the gale to the island of St. John, on the coast of China. While they lay at this island they visited the shore every day, and purchased hogs, fowls, and buffaloes. Some of the men visited the continent, but found nothing there that answered their purpose.
On the 3d of July they weighed anchor with a gentle breeze, but on the 4th there came on a violent gale from the north-east, which increased till the dead of the night, when the rain began to pour down in such torrents that the fountains of heaven seemed to be opened, and a second deluge threatened; at the same time the thunder began to crack, and the flashes of lightning that pierced through the torrents of rain, appeared upon the face of the deep as if the sea was overspread with a blue flame. The darkness that succeeded between the flashes presented the most horrid gloom that ever covered the deep. The sea was raised to an astonishing height, and the waves broke short upon the ship with such violence, that it was thought every succeeding billow must have dashed her to the bottom. One sea struck away the rails of the head, and at the same time dislodged the sheet-anchor that was lashed with its fluke over the bend of the ship in the strongest manner, and it was every moment expected to beat a hole through the ship, by striking against her bows. It then became necessary to steer right before the wind, to endeavour to secure the anchor; and it was impossible afterwards to change the course till the storm abated. The fury of the storm abated about four in the morning, about which time they observed what the sailors call a
Corpus Sant
at the mast-head. This meteor is seen at sea, sometimes at the mast-head, sometimes at the yard-arm, and sometimes upon the deck. When it appears aloft it is like a star, and is taken for a good omen; but when below, it resembles a glow worm, and always dreaded as a bad sign. The crew was overjoyed on seeing it at the very pinnacle of the ship's fane.
From two in the morning till seven they kept scudding before the wind; but the wind gradually dying away, and the sea subsiding, they set their mizzen, brought the ship up upon a wind, and lay to under their mizzen till eleven, when for two hours there ensued a perfect calm, yet the sky looked black and lowring. About one the wind shifted to the south-west, and began again to blow hard, with violent rain. They furled up their mizzen, wore ship, and suffered her to scud before the wind, as before, till ten at night, when the wind ceased, and before morning the sea was calm, and the sky perfectly serene. This storm, however, dispirited the crew, who were now driven out of their knowledge, and were anxious for nothing but a place of shelter to preserve them from the fury of a second hurricane, which they had reason to expect towards the full of the moon.
They consulted their sea-charts, and concluded to steer for the Piscadores, islands situated in lat. 23 deg. N. of which, however, they knew nothing but the name. On the 20th of July they came in sight of them; and when they arrived were astonished to see so many junks passing and re-passing as were continually in sight. They followed some of the largest into a spacious harbour, which brought them to a considerable town, such as they did not expect to have found among islands so little known. On their attempting to land, they were met by a Tartarian officer, who demanded, whence they came, of what nation they were, and whither they were bound? And being told they were English, and driven there in distress, they were kindly entertained; but were told, they must not come on shore; but whatever necessaries they wanted, should be sent them on board without delay. Mutual civilities were exchanged. The ship was supplied with the best provisions they had ever tasted; and the Captain in return sent a curious Spanish silver-hilted rapier, an English carbine, and a gold chain, as a present to the Governor. They staid till the 29th, and then directed their course to a cluster of islands that lie between Formosa and Luconia, the place they still set their hearts upon. On the 6th of August they came in sight of the islands they were in pursuit of, and, contrary to expectation, found them well inhabited.
On these islands were plenty of goats and swine, but very few birds or poultry. It is an observation of Dampier, founded on reason and confirmed by experience, that, in countries abounding in corn and maize, birds and all manner of fowls are bred in abundance; but in those islands where the inhabitants subsist chiefly on fruits, roots, and fish, birds wild and tame are more rare.
As these islands were without names in the sea charts, Captain Read called them all by one general name of Bashee Islands. The situation of their towns was remarkable. They were built on precipices inaccessible on every side, except by ladders placed at the ends of the streets, which all ran in lines parallel to each other, and on which the houses rise in ranges one above another, till they terminate in a single row. The inhabitants of these islands were acquainted with the use of iron, and they had amongst them a yellow metal that very much resembled gold, for some of which Captain Read exchanged iron; and Dampier laments that he could purchase none of it, because he had nothing to bestow in return. They were very ingenious, had large fishing-boats, and lived in a peculiar manner different from any people they had yet visited. They were not very delicate in their food; for they would gather up the goats-skins and goats-paunches which the men threw away; and would singe, broil, and eat the former; the latter they would stew (not over nicely cleansed), and, mincing raw fish very small, would mix the mess together, and with a little salt over it, make a very savoury meal. The paunches of the swine they never touched. They appeared to be very cleanly in their persons, and withal so honest and good natured, that they would take nothing but what was given them; nor were they ever out of humour with the strangers, though they had often cause enough, nor with one another. No provocation could incense them to anger; nor any opportunity induce them to theft. They brought constantly every morning goats, hogs, potatoes, and fruits, to the ship, which they exchanged for iron, nails, old hoops, or bullets. Thus the crew of the ship fared sumptuously every day, and salted 70 or 80 hogs for future use. These islands lie in lat. 20 deg. 21 min. N.
Being now sufficiently stored with provisions, and having filled their casks with water, after staying from the 13th of August till the 24th of September, and after having mended their sails, and scrubbed the ships bottom, they were preparing to sail, when a violent storm came on, which forced them to cut their cables and put to sea, leaving six of their best men on shore.
They put before the wind with their bare poles; but it was the first of October before they could recover to their former station. On the following day their six men were brought on board by the natives, whom they rewarded with three bars of iron, a present to them more valuaable than so many bars of solid gold. The men reported, that, as soon as the ship was out of sight, the natives were more kind to them than ever; that they endeavoured to prevail upon them to cut their hair short, like theirs; and that they offered to each the choice of a wife, with a small hatchet, a set of planter's tools, and a portion of land for each of them to cultivate by way of dowry; and, when the ship came in sight again, they then importuned them for iron, which was the only recompence they required.
This second storm quite disconcerted all their measures. They began to think that the winds and the waves were employed against them, and were terrified with the thoughts of their unhappy situation. Most of them were heartily weary of being tost to and fro to no manner of purpose, and were very desirous of getting home: only Read and Teat were determined to make their fortunes at whatever risque; they therefore, finding the crew resolute to leave this dangerous coast, persuaded them to accompany them to Cape Comorin, where, if they disapproved of their proceedings, every one should be at liberty to follow his own course. To this they all agreed; but these freebooters, fearing to meet English or Dutch ships in the direct road, proposed to coast along the east side of the Philippines, and so, keeping south towards the spice islands, to pass into the Indian ocean near the island of Timor. With this view they set sail on the 3d of October, 1687; and leaving the island of Luconia on the west,
"with all our golden projects," says Dampier, "along with it, we stood to the southward till we came in sight of the island St. John on the coast of Mindanao, and on the 16th came to an anchor on the south-east side of that island."
While they lay in this bay, the young prince of Meangis, formerly mentioned, came on board, and importuned Captain Read to transport him and his men back to his own island, promising to reward him handsomely for his trouble. He said, that a few days before he had seen Captain Swan and some of his people all well at the city of Mindanao; that they had accompanied Raja Laut in a military expedition against his enemies, and had acquired great honour and were in high favour with the Sultan; that Captain Swan was preparing to leave the island; and that he had offered 40 ounces of gold for a ship to carry him off, but did not think the Raja would suffer him to depart. Captain Read promised to stay for the prince three days, and in that time he engaged to return with his men. In the mean time Dampier took occasion to sound how the crew stood affected towards their old Captain, and found one party, who happened to be filling water ashore, very well inclined; and he desired them to be silent till he had consulted the other party whose turn it was next day to fill water at the same place; but one of the company, who appeared to be the most zealous in Swan's favour, as soon as he got aboard discovered the secret; on which Read and Teat ordered all hands on board and weighed directly.
Dampier says he was afterwards informed, that Captain Swan and his men continued long at Mindanao; that Messieurs Harthop and Smith, merchants, both died there; that Rofy and Nelly, his mates, got passage in a Dutch ship to Batavia, and from thence, after various adventures, to Europe; and that Swan himself, with his surgeon, endeavouring to get on board another Dutch ship, were run down and drowned by the natives by order of Raja Laut, who seized their gold. Among other reasons assigned for this treachery, Dampier mentions Swan's threatening, on some provocation, to raise a band of men to destroy the town, and seize upon the country. Be this as it may, the poor Captain lost his life, and the Raja kept his money. Part of his journal, as far as Cape Corientes, was recovered and preserved by a Mr. Moody, of whom mention will be made hereafter.
On November the 2d, the day the prince was to have come on board, Captain Read set sail, and stood to the west, till on the 9th, the wind changing, they came up with the north east end of the island of Celebes, in lat. 3 deg. N. 30 leagues to the southward of Gilolo, on the western side of which lie the clove islands of Tidore and Ternate, the finest in the world. At the southermost end of Celebes the town of Macasser is seated, the chief place of trade in those parts belonging to the Dutch.
They anchored in a sandy bay on the south-east side of Celebes, where they found a creeping kind of vine, the leaves of which pounded and boiled with hog's-lard is an infallible cure for old ulcers. The men, knowing its virtues, crammed their chests with it; and one man, whose legs were ulcerated, was perfectly cured by the use of it.
Here they cut down a tree 18 feet in circumference, and 44 feet in clean body. It proved unsound, and therefore unfit for the purpose they intended it, which was that of a canoe; they therefore left it, and set sail.
On the 30th, they sailed south; and in the afternoon they had a violent tornado, and saw a spout. This phenomenon appears at first like a small ragged cloud, hanging sloping from a black heavy cloud above, small at the bottom, seemingly no bigger than a man's arm. Underneath this the sea begins to be in gentle agitation, and gradually proceeds to foam and froth till a violent whirling ensues, and then it flies upwards in a pillar, the base of which may be about one hundred paces in compass, but lessening gradually till it decreases to the size of the spout, with which it meets, and through which the rising sea-water seems to be conveyed to increase the cloud. As soon as the water reaches the spout, you then see the cloud, that was at rest before, drive along with incredible swiftness, sucking up the water in its course, and causing a furious wind to fly before it. Thus it will continue sometimes half an hour, sometimes longer, till breaking off, all the water that remains below the spout falls down again into the sea, with a dreadful noise and violent agitation of the waves. Dampier relates, that one Captain Records, of London, being on the coast of Guinea, in the year 1674, in a ship of 300 tons, was overtaken by one of these spouts, which broke before he could well furl his fails to receive it. On its breaking, it made the same kind of noise as if a castle or some immense building had been plunged from a great height into the sea, and raised the billows in proportion to its height. The fury of the wind, at the same time, took the ship on the starboard bow, and snapt off the boltsprit and foremast both at once like rotten sticks, and drove the ship along ready to overset her; but the ship presently righting, and the wind whirling round, took her again on the opposite quarter, and snapt the mizzen-mast as the fore-mast and boltsprit had been snapt before. Three men were in the fore top when the fore-mast broke, and one on the boltsprit, when they fell into the sea; but all were saved, and the ship with difficulty carried into port.
December 1st, they continued to move slowly along, and on the 4th they came up with the north-west end of the island of Bouton, where their strikers killed some turtle, and brought with them an Indian who conducted them to a harbour, where they had an interview with the Sultan, and where they were permitted to purchase whatever they wanted, and where Captain Read was presented by the Sovereign with a little boy who had a double set of teeth, one set within another, on each jaw.
On the 12th, they took leave of the Sultan, and were about weighing anchor; but when they expected it to rise, being hooked to a rock, the cable came home without it. As soon as they were loose, finding the anchor irrecoverable, they steered to the south-east, and fell in with some islands five or six leagues from Callasusung harbour. They appeared very green; and as they passed them in the night they heard drums beating, but whether for mirth, or spreading an alarm, they knew not.
On the 20th, they passed the island of Omba, and saw in it many smoaks by day, and fires by night, but observed no inhabitants. From Omba they passed by Timor, where, meeting with tornados and strong gales of wind, they endeavoured to get clear of the shoals, and stood off south, intending to touch at New Holland to try what that country would afford.
On the 4th of January, 1688, they fell in with the coast of New Holland in lat. 16 deg. 50 min. S. and, steering close in, came to a point from whence the land trends east and southerly for 10 or 12 leagues, but how far southerly Dampier says he does not know. That able navigator, however, pronounced, that, if it was not a continent, it neither joined to Asia, Africa, nor America. They fell in upon the west side, and examined but a small part of this vast tract of land, of which Captain Cook, in his late voyage round the world in the Endeavour, traversed the eastern coast for near 2000 miles, and has left it still doubtful whether it is island or continent. There is a remarkable difference between Dampier's description of the part he visited on the west, and that described by Captain Cook in the same latitude on the east side.
"The land," says Dampier, "is of a dry sandy soil, destitute of water, except you make wells. There are divers sorts of trees; but the woods are not thick, nor the trees large. Most of them were dragon-trees, of the size of apple-trees—we compared the gum with the gum dragon we had aboard, and found it the same—we saw no trees that bore fruit. We saw no animal, nor any track of animal but one, and that was of a beast of the size of a mastiff-dog—few land-birds, and none bigger than a black-bird—few sea-fowls—few fish, turtle and manatee excepted. The inhabitants are the most miserable people in the world—without houses—without cloathing—without conveniences of any kind—and, setting aside their human shape, very little different from brutes. They are tall, strait bodied, thin, and small limbs; they have great heads, round fore-heads, and large brows. Their eyelids are always half-closed; they have great bottle-noses, full lips, wide mouths, and the two fore-teeth in the upper jaw wanting in all of them; but whether they draw them out or not, I know not. [Captain Cook says, those on the opposite side have their teeth entire.] They are long-visaged—without beards—of an unpleasing aspect, with no one graceful feature in their faces—their hair black, short, and curled like negroes—and their colour coal-black. They live in companies, 20 or 30 men, women, and children, together—their food is fish, and their manner of catching them is in weirs across little inlets of the sea, in which every tide leaves some—they have no instruments to take great fish—in other places they fish for cockles, muscles, periwinkles, but of these there are but few—of what they catch all partake alike—all watch the tides—for all depend upon the sea for their support; the earth producing neither herb, root, pulse, or any sort of grain. These poor creatures, adds Dampier, have a sort of weapons, consisting of a piece of wood shaped somewhat like a cutlass, and a long straight pole with a sharp end hardened in the fire: with these they made a shew of frightening us; but on firing one gun, they all ran away frighted."
Such is the description given by Dampier of the people of the north part of New Holland; and it is not a little astonishing, that a man, by once touching upon their coast, could so minutely describe a people with whom he could no otherwise converse but by signs and gestures. The crew made an acquaintance with some of them, and gave them meat, which they readily devoured, but paid no regard to the ship, nor did they seem to admire any thing that was shewn or offered to them. While the ship remained here, where nothing was to be gotten, Dampier endeavoured to persuade the men to carry her to some English factory; but that too being told the Commanders, he was threatened to be set ashore,, and left among these miserable beings.
On the 12th of March they quitted New Holland, with a view to sail to the isle of Cocos, in lat. 12 deg. 12 min. S. but the wind being contrary, they chose to bear away to the islands on the west of Sumatra, with which Dampier says he was well pleased, as he then might have an opportunity of making his escape from them. They met with nothing worth notice till the 28th, when they fell in with a woody island, where they killed boobies and men-of-war birds as many as the ship's company could eat, and where they found a land animal resembling a large crab without its great claws, such as Sir Francis Drake met with in the island of Ternate, and which being dressed, was excellent meat. These creatures burrow in the ground like rabbits, and two of them were as much as a man could eat.
They made but a short stay at this island; and, proceeding on their course, on the 7th of April they came in sight of the high land of Sumatra; and on the 13th they came to a small island called Triste, 14 or 15 leagues to the west of Sumatra, where they loaded their boats with cocoa-nuts, and struck some turtle to supply their table, having now nothing but rice to live upon.
They continued cruising among the islands to the west of Sumatra; and, on the 29th, they came in sight of a sail, to which they gave chace, and on the 30th they took her. She proved a proa, with four men belonging to Achin, laden with cocoa-nuts and cocoa-nut oil. They took out of her as much as they thought fit, bored a hole in her bottom, and sunk her, keeping the four men prisoners. All this coast is known to the English by the name of the West-coast, without adding the name of Sumatra; and the prisoners shewed the channels and openings to the island of Achin, where the English had a factory, to which many on board wished to find a passage.
The 4th of May they came in sight of one of the Nicobar islands, the southernmost of which lies about 40 leagues to the N. N. W. of Sumatra. The inhabitants of these islands are independent of every other people, and trade with the ships of every nation indifferently that happen to touch upon their coast. Their chief commodities are ambergrease and fruits, the former of which they adulterate abominably; and Captain Welden, who touched at these islands a few weeks before their arrival, purchased some at a low price that was worth nothing.
On the 5th of May they anchored at the N. W. end of the island of Nicobar, properly so called, in lat. 7 deg. 30 min N. Here Dampier quitted the free-booters, but not without some difficulty. He knew it was impossible to do it by stealth; and therefore asked Captain Read, as soon as he learned that the ship was about to sail, to set him on shore on this island. He says, he had another motive for staying at this particular place, besides that of leaving Captain Read, which he always intended, and that was, that he had here a prospect of commencing a profitable trade for ambergrease with these people, and of gaining a considerable fortune to himself; for, by rowing with the natives, and conforming to their customs and manner of living, he imagined he should be able to learn how they got their ambergrease, and likewise the whole secret of preparing it. Captain Read, thinking this as obscure a place as any, and being willing, no doubt, to be rid of a man who was for ever exciting the company to oppose him, very readily consented; and Dampier as readily took him at his word. In an instant he got all his moveables together, and stowing them in the ship's canoe, he prevailed upon some of the people to row him ashore, and to land him on a sandy bay, near to which were two houses, but without inhabitants. He had not been landed an hour before Captain Teat and three or four armed men came to fetch him on board again. He tells us, that if a cabbin-boy had been sent for him he should have returned; but he no sooner entered the ship than he found the whole crew in an uproar, several others, encouraged by his example, insisting to be set ashore likewise, among whom was Herman Coppinger, the surgeon, who having jumped into the boat with a gun in his hand, swore he would shoot dead the first man that opposed him; yet John Oliver, the quarter-master, leapt into the canoe to him, and wrenched the gun from him: he was presently followed by others, who forced Coppinger again on board. When this tumult was appeased, and the surgeon again in their possession, they suffered Dampier, with two other malecontents (a Mr. Hall, and a sailor named Ambrose), to depart quietly; and the man who rowed them on shore, having concealed an ax, gave it them at parting, well knowing what a valuable present it would be to conciliate them to the Indians. These three Englishmen were soon joined by the four prisoners taken from the Achinese proa, and the mongrel Portuguese, formerly taken from the Chinese junk, all of whom Captain Read set on shore before he departed. They were now eight in number; and, having concluded to leave the island, and row to Sumatra, at 40 leagues distance, they purchased a canoe of the natives for an ax; and, having provided a sufficient quantity of provisions for their subsistence, they all embarked on the 20
h of May, in order to proceed; but they had no sooner put to sea than the canoe overset, and turned bottom upwards. Being near the shore they preserved their lives by swimming; but though the English recovered their chests and fire-arms, yet their books and papers were miserably defaced by the sea-water; their powder escaped without injury, being sealed up. Though this accident seemed an unfortunate outset, yet it proved the means of their future safety; for while the English were drying their books, and cleaning their arms, the Achinese employed themselves in sitting up their boat with out-leaguers, which are beams placed across the body of the boat, projecting a yard or two over the sides, and united at the extremities by transverse boards jointed to the ends; while these remain entire, the vessel can never over-set. Besides the out-leaguers, the Achinesemen had provided a good stout mast, and had contrived a sail. And thus fitted out, on the 15th of May they again embarked; but their provisions being exhausted, it was necessary for them to repair to a distant part of the island, to procure a supply. Here a misunderstanding arose between them and the natives, which by the prudent management of Dampier was soon accommodated. He observes, that there is not a people upon earth that he should be afraid to approach unarmed and alone, provided no previous injury had been done them by any of his company unprovoked. An European has it always in his power to insinuate himself into the favour of the most savage people by some slight, by shewing them some toy, by smiles and submission, and even by shewing them the simple knack of lighting a match with a flint and steel. The only danger, he adds, is from their first onset, because their way is to abscond, and kill by surprize; if therefore their first fury can be avoided, the fiercest of them becomes gentle as a lamb.
The natives being again brought to good humour, they were presently furnished with such provisions as they wanted; and they again embarked on their former project. At their first setting out, the wind was fair, and the weather hot; and they proceeded rowing and sailing as occasion required, Mr. Hall and Dampier taking it by turns to manage the helm. However, after two days labour, they found that they had steered a wrong course; and, instead of approaching Sumatra, they were but eight leagues from Nicobar. They then changed their course, but were still so violently opposed by a contrary current, that on the third day they had made but little way.
On the 18th the wind freshened, and the sky began to be clouded. About nine in the morning they had an alarming presage by a circle round the sun, which in that climate is an infallible sign of an approaching storm. They therefore, after some consultation, concluded to stand before the wind to whatever land was right a-head; and for that purpose they furled their sail, settled the yard about three feet above the boat's sides, and in this manner prepared to receive the storm. About 12 at noon the gale came on, and the wind continued increasing all the afternoon. The sea swelled to an incredible height, and often broke over the little skiff (hardly so big as a below-bridge wherry, only a small matter deeper, but not so wide), which, had it not been for her out-leaguers, could not have survived a single moment; but the thinness of her body, and the firmness of her out-leaguers, were her security; for the stern being high and narrow, cut the rolling waves like the edge of a knife, and divided their force; so that what fell in the skiff came down like a shower, and was easily baled out by the Achinese. The evening of this day shewed very dreadful. Dampier's own words will best describe his feelings:
"The sky looked very black, says he, being covered with dark clouds, the wind blew hard, and the sea was already roaring in a white foam about us; a dark night coming on, and no land in sight to shelter us; and our little ark in danger to be swallowed by every wave; and, what was worst of all, none of us thought ourselves prepared for another world. I had been in many imminent dangers before now, but the worst of them all was but a play-game in comparison with this. I must confess that I was in great conflicts of mind at this time. Other dangers came not upon me with such a leisurely and dreadful solemnity; a sudden skirmish or engagement was nothing when the blood was warm, and pushed forwards with eager expectations; but here I had a lingering view of approaching death, and little or no hopes of escaping it; and, I must confess, that my courage, that had hitherto kept up, failed me here; and I made very sad reflections on my former life, and looked backward with horror and detestation upon actions which before I disliked, but now I trembled at the remembrance of them. I had long before this repented me of that roving course of life, but never with such concern as now. In this temper of mind, submitting ourselves to God's good providence, and taking all the care we could to preserve our lives,
Dampier & his Companions in their Canoe, overtaken by a dreadfull Storm.
Mr. Hall and I took turns to steer, and the rest took turns to heave out the water; and thus we provided to spend the most doleful night I ever was in. About 10 o'clock it began to thunder, lighten, and rain; but the rain was welcome to us, having drank up all the water we brought from the island. The wind at first blew harder than before; but within half an hour it became more moderate, and the sea assuaged of its fury. And then by a lighted match, of which we kept a piece burning on purpose, we looked on our compass, to see how we steered, and found we varied but little from our intended course: and, finding our vessel lively enough with that small sail which was abroad, we began to bear up to the true point to which our views were directed. But about two in the morning we had another gust of wind, with thunder, lightning, and rain, which obliged us again to put before the wind. The hard rain soaked us so thoroughly, that we had not one dry thread about us, and the cold rain chilled us extremely; for any fresh-water is much colder than the sea-water, and much more unwholesome for man's body. In this wet, starving condition, we spent the tedious night. Never did poor mariners on a lee-shore more earnestly long for the dawning light than we did. At length the day appeared; but with such dark black clouds near the horizon, that the first glimpse of the dawn appeared dreadful. We continued our course before the wind till eight in the morning of the 19th, and then one of our Achinesian friends cried out,
Pulo Way.
We, thinking the fellow had said
Pull Away,
were at a loss to conceive his reason; but presently observing his motions, we found he pointed to his companions to shew them land. We, dropping with wet, cold, and hungry, were overjoyed at this sight. It bore south, and the wind was still at west, a strong gale; yet with our small fail, no bigger than an apron, we changed our course, and bore up to it. Here our out-leaguers did us great service; and, though our boat's side was pressed down very much, we could brook it well enough, and next day we ran to the mouth of a river in the island of Sumatra, called Passange Jonca, where all fell ill of fevers, of which some died; and I that survived was a whole year before I recover'd my strength."
Here they staid ten or twelve days, and were kindly entertained, because the Achinese told the natives, that they were prisoners on board the pirate as well as themselves, and that they were all set ashore together. Hall and Dampier were strongly importuned to stay, to assist in improving their navigation; but, longing to get home, they chose to be conveyed to the English factory at Achin: a vessel was therefore provided for them, and in three days they arrived safe. Three days after their arrival, the Portuguese died, and Ambrose lived but a short time after him. Dampier and Mr. Hall, after passing examination, were kindly entertained by Mr. Driscal, an Irish gentleman, interpreter to the factory; and the four Achinese were restored to their families and friends.
Dampier was so drenched by a Malayan doctor, that he never expected to survive the effects of the potions he prescribed; yet after more than sixty evacuations from one dose, he gathered strength daily; and, after his health was a little restored, both Hall and he undertook to sail with Captain Bowry to Nicobar. This Capt. Bowry was the gentleman who sent the letter from Sumatra to Mindanao, already spoken of, which involved a double mistake. Bowry imagined an English factory to subsist at Mindanao, and the English at Mindanao, from Bowry's letter, imagined there had been an English factory at Sumatra. They sailed from Achin-road the beginning of June; but, a storm coming on, they presently returned. About this time Captain Welden arrived from Fort St. George; and Dampier engaged to sail with him to Tonqueen, in China, and afterwards made a voyage to Malacca. His next ramble was to Fort. St. George, and, after his return from thence, he came to Bencouli, an English factory on the west coast of Sumatra; from whence, about the beginning of 1691, he set out on his return to England.
After his return to Achin from his voyage to Malacca, he found there one Mr. Morgan, formerly belonging to the Cygnet, who was then mate of a Danish ship belonging to Tranquebar: and being curious to know the sequel of the adventures of his old companions, was told by Morgan, that, when they left Nicobar, they directed their course to Ceylon; but, not being able to weather that island, they were forced to seek refreshment on the coast of Coromandel, where they began to form new projects; but their schemes not succeeding, about half their number left them, among whom were Morgan and Coppinger, who both were entertained in the Danish service, and two or three others repaired to Fort St. George; but the main body went up the country, and listed in the army of the Great Mogul, where a few of them continued orderly for some time; but Oliver, the quarter-master, and a party with him, soon left the camp, and rambled about, plundering and robbing the villages, and flying whenever they were pursued.
Captain Read, having thus lost the better half of his men, after having filled his water and got rice, sailed again, still intending for the Red Sea. He had taken off Ceylon a rich Portuguese ship, and had plundered her of what he liked; but not being able to bear up against the westerly winds, he stood for the island of Madagascar. There, after various adventures, Captain Read, with half a dozen of his followers, slipt away from the rest of the company, and embarked in a ship for New York. Captain Teat succeeded Captain Read in the command; and, having joined Captain Knight, of whom mention has been made before, they sailed some time in company; but the Cygnet proving leaky, Knight gave her the slip, on which she returned again to Madagascar, and finally sunk in St. Augustin bay.
While Dampier was at Fort St. George, there arrived a ship from Mindanao, laden with clove-bark, on board of which came Mr. Moody, as supercargo. This gentleman, while at Mindanao, purchased the Prince of Meangis, of whose country mention has already been made in the former part of this relation. This unfortunate Prince, with his mother, and some attendants, had been driven off their own coast by a storm, and had been seized at sea by some Mindaneian fishermen, who brought them to Mindanao, and sold them for slaves; a common practice among savage islanders. The Prince attracted the notice of Mr. Moody by the curious manner in which he was painted, and which, by Dampier's description, exactly corresponds with that of tataowing among the New Zealanders. His design was to have brought him over with him to England; but Mr. Moody speaking the Malayan language, and being otherwise well qualified to manage the company's affairs at a new factory, he was persuaded by the Governor of Fort St. George to accept of the Chief ship of Indrapore, in the room of Mr. Gibbons, who had just resigned in order to return home. Upon this unexpected promotion, Mr. Moody importuned Dampier to go with him to be his gunner, and, in order to encourage him thereto, promised to purchase a small vessel to carry the Prince and his mother to their own country, and to send him as Commander, with full power to establish a commerce with Meangis, which could not fail of turning greatly to the advantage of all concerned. This was a generous and friendly offer which Dampier could not refuse; and accordingly he embarked in a company's coasting ship, in which there were seven or eight officers passengers, and about 60 soldiers for the new factories. They had a pleasant passage till they came upon the west coast of Sumatra, when a storm arose, by which they were driven from their intended port, and forced to make the harbour of Bencouli. At Bencouli they were all very kindly received, and the gunner of that fort being just dead, Dampier was offered the post, with a more ample salary than Mr. Moody, in a newly-established factory, could venture to allow. Dampier consented to accept of this appointment, provided Mr. Moody approved of it; and Mr. Moody, not being certain of being able to fulfil his engagement, so far as the same related to the Prince of Meangis, very readily gave Dampier leave to contract with the Governor of Bencouli; and, at the same time, assigned to him a half-share in the two slaves, the Prince and his mother, that he might not be a sufferer by leaving Fort St. George to follow him.
Matters being thus accommodated, Mr. Moody repaired to his station at Indrapore, and Dampier with the two slaves continued at Bencouli. They lived at a house in the town, and Dampier was accommodated in the fort. All this passed in 1690; but, before the year was expired, Dampier grew tired of his office, and, wanting to get home, applied to the Governor and Council for his discharge. The Council thought it highly reasonable that his request should be granted; and the Governor made no opposition, there being at that time no ship in readiness to carry him off: but, as he had foreseen, when the
Defence,
Captain Heath, bound for England, came into harbour, he then made many excuses, and at length absolutely refused to permit him to go. In vain did Captain Heath remonstrate; and in vain also did Mr. Goddard, the chief mate, interest himself in Dampier's release,—the Governor was inflexible. The
Defence
had touched at Indrapore before she put into Bencouli; and Mr. Moody had consigned the other half-share of the slaves to Mr. Goddard, on having been previously acquainted by letter from Dampier of his intention to sail for England. In consequence of this assignment, the Prince who some time before had been attacked with an infectious distemper, of which his mother died, and of which he was but just recovered, was put on board the
Defence
; and it was privately agreed between Captain Heath and Dampier, that, if the latter could make his escape, the former would undertake to carry him safe off. Accordingly, when all the company's business was completed, and the letters put on board, notice was given to Dampier of the precise time when the ship was to sail;
"and, says he, after several assays, I slipt away at midnight; and, creeping through one of the port-holes of the fort, I got to the shore, where the ship's boat waited for me, and carried me on board."
On the 25th of January, 1691, they set sail for the Cape of Good Hope; and, the wind being fair, they proceeded at first very successfully: but they had not been long at sea before the men began to droop, being attacked with a distemper that stole insensibly upon them, and before they thought themselves ill were ready to die. Dampier attributes this fatal disorder to the badness of their water, which was filled from a river fed by many noxious streams from the low swampy lands that in the dry season, as it were, drained their dregs into it, which at times were as black as ink. Besides, it was stowed among the pepper in the hold, which heated it to that degree, that every morning when the men went to take their allowance, it was so hot, they could hardly bear to hold a bottleful of it in their hands;
"a thing scarce to be credited, says Dampier, that water should be ready to boil in a ship's hold."
This distemper was so universal, that not a man in the ship was wholly unaffected by it; so that when the wind blew a hard gale, there wanted hands to work the ship.
Captain Heath, pitying the condition of his men, distributed every day among them a quantity of tamarinds, some jars of which he had brought with him from India; and this was a very seasonable relief: but the wind coming south, and the passage being already protracted to an unusual length, the Captain called the whole ship's crew together, to consult what was best to be done in the present extremity, and desired every man, from the highest to the lowest, to deliver his opinion freely. Thus all circumstances being duly considered, it was unanimously agreed at last, notwithstanding the wind was then contrary, to prosecute their voyage to the cape. But as that determination would infallibly require a more than ordinary exertion of labour from those that were well, to supply the place of those that were sick, the Captain promised a month's extra pay to every man who should assist on all occasions that should require help, whether it was his watch or not; and this premium he engaged to pay at the cape. This offer was first accepted by the Officers, and then as many men as were capable of duty entered themselves upon the roll. In a short time, it pleased God, says Dampier, to favour us with a fair wind, which being improved to the best advantage by the incessant labour of those new-listed men, wafted us in a short time to the cape; and, being brought safe to an anchor by the assistance of 100 Dutch sailors, who unbent the sails, and did every thing for us they were required to do, the sick were presently sent on shore, where they remained about six weeks, and all but three or four recovered.
On the 23d of May they sailed from the cape in company with the James and Mary, and the Josiah Indiamen. They directed their course towards the island of St. Helena, and met with nothing remarkable, except a swelling sea, which taking them on the broad side, rolled every thing about that was loose between the decks and in the hold. This great tumbling sea took them soon after doubling the cape;
"an eminent token, says Dampier, that the south-west winds were now violent in the higher latitudes towards the South Pole, we having fine clear weather all the while."
On the 20th of June they arrived at Santa Helena, where they staid four or five days, and afterwards continued their voyage to England without any remarkable incident; and arrived safe in the Downs, Sept. 16, 1691.
What advantage Dampier and his partner Mr. Goddard made of their painted prince is not related; but they certainly sold him to be carried about the country to be shewn for money. He was painted all down his breast, between his shoulders, on his thighs, and round his legs and arms like bracelets.
"I cannot, says Dampier, liken the drawings to any figure of animals, or the like; but they were very curious, full of great variety of lines, flourishes, chequered-work, and innumerable convolutions, keeping a very graceful proportion, and appearing very artificial, even to the wonder of all that beheld him."
It has already been remembered, that the mother of the Prince died in India of the infectious disorder of which he was but just recovered when he embarked for Europe. On that occasion Dampier did what he could to comfort Jeoly, for that was the name they gave him; but he took on extremely, insomuch that it was feared he could not have long survived; on which account a grave was immediately dug to hide the dead body out of his sight; and being shrouded decently with a piece of fine new calico, the corpse was about to be interred; but Jeoly was not satisfied till he wrapped all his mother's cloaths about her, and two new pieces of chintz that Mr. Moody gave her, saying they were her's, and she must have them. After this he suffered her to be interred, which was done with great solemnity; but he continued to pine after her during the whole time he continued in India.
In the printed relation that was given of him when he was shewn for a sight, the showmen heightened their account with a romantic story of a beautiful sister of his being a slave with him at Mindanao, and of the Sultan's falling in love with her, and taking her to his bed; but these were stories indeed! They reported also, that the paint with which he was ornamented was of such virtue, that serpents and all venomous creatures would fly from him: but poor Jeoly was as much afraid of serpents, scorpions, and centipedes, as a little child, for he was exceedingly timorous. He died at Oxford, but Dampier does not tell the year.
The publication of the above voyage round the world having recommended Dampier to the notice of persons of the first eminence; he was afterwards employed by government in discoveries, both in the Eastern and Southern Seas. His first expedition was to the coast of New Holland, which could have no other object but discovery in view. He sailed from the Downs, on Jan. 14, 1698, in his Majesty's ship the Roebuck, carrying only 12 guns, and 50 men, and having 20 months provisions on board. On the 1st of August they fell in with the western coast of New Holland, in lat. 26 deg. S. where, however, they found nothing very different from what Dampier had before described. The only land animals they saw, were a small sort of racoons, different from those of the West-Indies chiefly in their legs, which are short before, and on which they run jumping; and a sort of guano's, or lizards, peculiar to the country, which appear to have two heads, but in reality have but one, and no tail; and, what is no less remarkable, their four legs seem to be all forelegs, so formed as that the creature may walk either way. To these may now be added the kanguroo, a quadrupede of a particular shape, as large as a sheep, and a creature of the oppossum kind, discovered by Mr. Banks; with dogs and wolves seen by the Endeavour's crew; of the latter sort some were seen by Dampier's men, but so lean that they were nothing but skin and bone. In latitude 23 deg. S. they saw dolphins, and small whales, and abundance of scuttle-shells, swimming in the sea.
Captain Cook found plenty of water on the east side of this island; but Dampier was much distressed for want of it on the west side. Being ashore employed in digging a well, he was assaulted by ten or twelve of the natives, with whom he had a skirmish, and was forced to shoot one of them dead, to disengage a young man who was surrounded by three of them, and wounded in the cheek with a lance. On a gun's being fired over the heads of the assailants, though it startled them at first, they soon recovered their surprize, and continued their hostilities; but as soon as they saw a man fall, they were terribly frightened, and fled with precipitation. Dampier very humanely adds, that he attempted the natives no farther, being very sorry for what had happened.
Among the natives engaged on this occasion, there was one who by his appearance and carriage seemed to be the chief of them. He was a young brisk man, not very tall, nor so personable as some of the rest, though more active and courageous. He was painted with a circle of white pigment about his eyes, and a white streak down his nose from his forehead to the tip of it; his breast and some part of his arms were also made white with the same paint; not for beauty or ornament as it should seem, but, as some wild Indian warriors are said to do, to make themselves look more terrible in war. He was indeed a very frightful being; for the manner in which he was painted, adding to his natural deformity, gave him more the appearance of a monster of the woods, than of a man born of a woman. Dampier in this second voyage to New Holland, confirms what he said of the natives in his first, that they are the worst featured savages he ever beheld. Captain Cook, on the contrary, or his editor, assures us, that their features are not disagreeable, their noses are not flat, nor are their lips thick; their teeth are white and even, and their hair naturally long and black, but universally cropt short: in general it is straight, but sometimes has a small curl; their beards are of the same colour with their hair, bushy and thick, which they shorten by singeing: they are of the middle stature, in general well made, clean limbed, remarkably vigorous, active and nimble; their countenances not altogether void of expression, and their voices remarkably soft and effeminate. Such are the different descriptions given by voyagers of the same people; or, to speak more precisely of people on the east and west side of the same continent; for which it is not easy to account.
Our voyager, however, not being able either to find fresh water, or a harbour to careen his ship, set sail from this miserable country about the beginning of September, 1699; and, directing his course to the island of Timor, arrived there September 15, and received a supply of water and provisions from the Chief of the Dutch factory there. He was likewise hospitably entertained by the gentlemen of the Portuguese factory on the same island. From thence he sailed to the coast of New Guinea, traded with the inhabitants, and ranging along the coast, found the main land divided into two parts. To the easternmost division he gave the name of New Britain.
In his return back he touched again at Timor, and from thence sailed to Batavia; where having careened his ship, and supplied himself with necessaries of every kind, on the 17th of October, 1700, he set sail for the Cape of Good Hope; from thence continuing his voyage to St. Helena, he arrived at that island January 31, 1701; but in his course home his ship sprung a leak at sea, and, after endeavouring in vain to stop it, he was obliged to run her a-ground on the island of Ascension; where having landed his men, and taken from on board all necessary provisions, they in a short time discovered a fine spring of water, and lived tolerably, till they were at last relieved by some English men-of-war, who were convoying home the Canterbury Indiaman, and brought them all safe to England.
In 1703, notwithstanding the bad success of the voyage just mentioned, Dampier was again employed in an expedition to the South Sea, in conjunction with Captain Pulling, who had each a ship of 26 guns, and 120 men under his command. That commanded by Captain Dampier was called the St. George; and that by Captain Pulling, the Fame. They were victualled for nine months, and had commissions from his Royal Highness Prince George of Denmark, then Lord High Admiral, to proceed in a warlike manner against the French and Spaniards; and both were upon the same terms of,
No purchase no pay.
But while they were in the Downs, some difference having arisen between the two Captains, Captain Pulling set sail alone, and left Dampier to take his own course; who, stopping some time in Ireland, was joined by the Cinque Ports galley of 90 tons, 16 guns, and 63 men, Captain Charles Pickering Commander. In this expedition, Dampier had three grand objects in view: the
first
was, to sail to Buenos Ayres, in order to surprize the Spanish galleons that usually take in their lading at that port; the
second
depended on missing the first, in which case they were to pass through the straits of Magellan to cruise upon the coasts of Peru, for the Baldivia ships that carry gold to Lima; and the
third
was only to take place, if both the former miscarried; and was, to proceed to the coast of Mexico, to intercept the Manilla ship that annually arrives at Acapulco, and is said to be worth eight or nine millions of pieces of eight, equal to a million and a half of our money.
Full of these projects, they set sail from Kinsale, in Ireland, on the 11th of September, 1703, and on the 25th arrived off Madeira, where they learned that the galleons were sailed from Buenos Ayres, and then lay at Teneriff. The first project being thus defeated, they proceeded to put the second in execution with all possible dispatch. On the 24th of November they anchored on the island Le Grand, on the coast of Brazil, where they buried Captain Pickering, and chose Lieutenant Stradling in his room.
From this island they sailed the 8th of December; and, doubling Cape Horn on the 20th of January, they changed their direction, sailed to the northward, and on the 10th of February came to an anchor in the great bay of Juan Fernandez, where they met their consort Captain Stradling, with whom they had parted in passing Cape Horn in a violent storm, which happened on the 26th of January.
At Juan Fernandez they continued refitting their ships till the 29th, when seeing a sail, they slipt their cables, and put to sea. She proved to be a French ship of 400 tons, 30 guns, and full of men. The St. George fought her about seven hours, when a gale springing up, she sheered off. On this occasion, the Cinque Ports behaved but indifferently, firing only a few guns, and lying by.
Next day, in returning to Juan Fernandez, they fell in with two French men-of-war of 36 guns each; from whom they narrowly escaped, leaving their cables, anchors, and five or six of their men belonging to the Cinque Ports on that island, with a new suit of sails, and several other necessaries which they could ill spare.
They now proceeded upon their second enterprize; but they were equally unfortunate in that as in the former. The Baldivian ships were sailed, and the gold secured. They then meditated a surprize against the town of Santa Maria, in the gulph of Panama, where the Spaniards getting intelligence of their designs, laid ambuscades, and after killing and wounding several of them, put the rest to flight.
In this manner, disappointments succeeding disappointments, differences began to arise between the Commanders; and they concluded to part company. But about this time, a large ship, fortunately for them, coming to an anchor in the night close by them, they instantly boarded and made prize of her. She was deeply laden with flour, sugar, brandy, wine, about thirty tons of malmalade of quinces, a considerable quantity of salt, with some tons of linnen and woolen-cloth. This proved a seasonable supply; and provisions that were before so scarce, that only five green plantains were the daily allowance for six men, were now so abundant on board the prize, that they might have laid in a stock for several years; yet in less than six months we find them starving.
After rummaging the prize and dividing the spoil, the Captains parted; and in two or three days, Dampier fell in with a Spanish man-of-war, fitted out on purpose to take him. The two ships had a smart engagement, and parted in the night by consent.
Soon after this engagement, Dampier and Clippington, his first Lieutenant, having some difference, Clippington seized upon the ship's tender, in which were the stores and ammunition, and with 21 of the best men weighed anchor, and set sail. When he had cleared the islands, he sent to invite all those who were willing to sail with him to come on board; but Dampier's last project being now on the point of being carried into execution, the men who remained with him resolved to abide the issue. Clippington, though he had quarrelled with the Captain, had no mind to distress the men; he therefore thought fit to restore the powder and ammunition, reserving only enough for his own use. In the bay of Tacames, Dampier had taken a small bark of 60 tons, laden with plantains. This bark they intended to keep as a tender. She had two masts, with two square sails; and they named her the Dragon.
The Master of this bark, Christian Martin by name, was a Spaniard by birth, but taken prisoner while he was a boy, and bred up in England. This man they kept prisoner on board; and now proceeded to intercept the Manilla ship.
On the 6th of December in the morning, they saw a sail, and soon came up with her. She proved their last hope, the great Manilla ship, from the East-Indies. They instantly bore down upon her, and before she could bring her guns to bear gave her several broad-sides; and, taking her unprepared, put the company on board in the utmost disorder. Captain Martin, though a Spaniard, advised to lay her aboard immediately, before the Spaniards had recovered their surprize; but that advice was disregarded till it was too late; for while two parties were quarrelling on board the St. George, the one for laying the enemy on board, the other not, the Spaniards got out a tier of 24 pounders, every one of which that took place was ready to send the St. George to the bottom. The assailants were therefore soon beaten off with disgrace, after having received a shot between wind and water in the powder room, by which two feet of planking was driven in on each side the stern. And now, being disappointed of this their last expectation, all the men grew discontented, and impatient to return home. However, they were prevailed upon to cruise a few weeks longer on the coast of Mexico; and with that view passed the ports of Acapulco, Port Angels, Port Guatulco, and several others; but without meeting with any prize worth waiting for.
Ill success is generally succeeded by discontent; the men who were before impatient of fatigue without reward, grew now ungovernable. A party, therefore, formed the design of returning home by way of the East-Indies; and these were encouraged by Mr. Funnel, the chief mate, who, having the command of the small Spanish prize alreadly mentioned, determined to hazard every thing to regain his native country, rather than continue under the direction of a man with whom there was no keeping terms. He therefore embraced the first opportunity to reach the gulph of Amapalla, to new-water his bark, and prepare for his voyage home.
It should seem, that this voyage of Dampier, though countenanced with a government commission, was notwithstanding fitted out by private adventurers; for, on this occasion, the owners agent is said to have divided the provisions and stores between those who chose to remain with Dampier, and those who determined to follow the fortune of Mr. Funnel. Their whole number was already reduced to 60 effective men, 33 of whom chose to accompany Funnel, and 27 only remained with Dampier, but upon what terms they engaged, or what course they pursued afterwards, we are not told; for Dampier, though he returned home, never published any account of this voyage. What we have related concerning it, in order to complete his adventures, as far as our materials extend, we have extracted from the account published by Funnel; who, having left Dampier in the gulph of Amapalla, on the 1st of February, 1705, takes no farther notice of his Captain; but goes on with the story of his own voyage, which was indeed unfortunate enough; for his ship was seized by the Dutch at Amboyna, the goods on board confiscated, and most of the men cruelly used, being confined and half-starved by our good friends the Dutch, who were jealous lest they should make discoveries prejudicial to their commerce. Funnel himself, however, soon got released; and, having made strong representations against the authors of his sufferings at Amboyna, he at length obtained some shew of redress; with which, though not a compensation for his losses, he was forced to be contented. On the 2d of November he, with two of his company, got passage to Europe in the Dutch East-India fleet; and, on the 15th of July following, arrived safe in the Texel, from whence, after visiting the principal towns in Holland, he came to England, and published the account just mentioned, in which he followed the example of Dampier, by giving a description of the natural productions of the islands at which he touched, their inhabitants, arts, and commerce.
We can find no traces of the latter part of the life of Dampier, who seems to have been an able navigator, but of a restless turbulent spirit, like the ocean on which he was bred. He certainly possessed the art of sailing in a very eminent degree; but he wanted that happier art of conciliating the wavering discordant passions of his followers and associates. He seems, too, to have been more cautious than brave, more subtle than wise, and more enterprizing than fortunate. In all his engagements, both as an inferior officer and as a commander, he seems neither to have braved danger nor to have feared it. It is not easy to determine, whether his thirst for gold, or desire of knowledge, was the governing principle that led him to range the world for new discoveries. If the former, he seems totally to have failed in the pursuit; if the latter, he was more successful. At Mindanao, we find him poor; at the Bashee islands he laments the want of every article that could purchase from the natives a small specimen of the yellow metal that bore the resemblance of gold; but withal so honest, that he would neither take the iron belonging to the owners of the ship to give in exchange, nor would he take the metal from the inhabitants without an equivalent. In short, I think, we may conclude, from what he himself has written, that Dampier was a man of strong natural parts, of blunt manners, of quick discernment, inflexible in his resolutions, but deficient in natural qualities to command respect, and in acquired abilities to maintain it.
THE VOYAGE OF MASTER COWLEY ROUND THE WORLD.
OF Master Cowley we can find no other account than what is contained in the voyage written by himself; therefore, we shall, in his own words, preserve such parts of that voyage as have not already been related in the voyage of Dampier; premising only, that his first setting out among the buccaneers was in the same prize, in which Dampier set sail from Virginia, under the command of Captain Cook; that he continued to serve that Commander, as Master, during his life; and that, after sailing sometime in consort with Captain Eaton in the South Seas, he chose rather to serve that gentleman than to continue with his own Captain's successor. One remark more, and then to proceed. We find him, in every collection of voyages in which he is introduced, distinguished by the appellation of CAPTAIN Cowley, though the highest employment to which he ever seems to have arrived, was Master on board the buccaneers before-mentioned; who, during the time they were suffered to commit their ravages, traversed the globe as wolves the forest, merely for the sake of whom they might devour. We find, however, but few of them successful; by far the greatest part, like other robbers, died miserably; and such of them as escaped with life, were, at certain times, exposed to sufferings not less shocking to human nature, than the distresses to which they reduced innocent people by their cruelty and lust for gold. But now to proceed:
In August, 1683, I departed, says Cowley, from Cape Charles in Virginia, lying in latitude 36 deg. N. and in longitude 305 deg. in the good ship called the Revenge, Captain John Cook, Commander, pretending to me, that I should navigate the ship to Petitguavaz, where a Frenchman was the Governor, and to which port I began to shape my course; but was told, as soon as we had left the shore, that they were now bound for the coast of Guinea, to provide a better ship; and that then their design was to sail to the Great South Sea. I was thereupon obliged to alter my course, and to steer E. S. E. for the Cape de Verd Islands in lat. 16 deg. N.
In the month of September, we made the island of Salt, where we came to an anchor, careened our ship, and afterwards sailed to St. Nicholas, where was held a consultation of officers, whether to sail directly for the South Seas in their present ship, or pursue their former resolution and proceed to the coast of Guinea to seek a better. After much debate, it was at length concluded, to try St. Jago, another of the Cape de Verd islands, and, if any ship was found in that road fit for their purpose, to lay her on board, and make her their prize.
On our approach to this island on the eastern side, we descried a large ship from the mast-head, which proved to be a Dutch East Indiaman of 50 guns, and, as we afterwards learnt, of 400 men, most of whom were on shore; but on seeing us stand towards the road, they instantly repaired to their posts, clapt a spring upon their cable, heaved their broadside to us, struck out their ports below, and running out their lower tier of guns, made themselves ready to receive us. We had now advanced too near; but marking their force, and that it was in vain to attempt a conquest, we put before the wind, and steered directly to the coast of Guinea, where we had no sooner arrived, than we fell in with a new ship of 40 guns, which we boarded, and carried away. Upon examination, we found her well stored with brandy, water, and provisions; and in order to furnish her with other necessaries from our old ship, we put into Sherborough, resolving to touch at no other port till we should come to Juan Fernandez, in lat. 33 deg. 40 min. S.
About the beginning of December, we sailed from latitude 8 deg. N. steering S. W. till we arrived in 12 deg, S. when we steered away S. W. by W. till we came into soundings on the coast of Brazil; and finding 80 fathom water in a sandy bank, we altered our course to the S. W. and about the latitude of 40 deg. S. found the sea as red as blood, occasioned by great shoals of shrimps, which coloured the ocean, for many leagues together. We found also a multitude of seals, and such abundance of small whales as to exceed the number found in the North Seas in the proportion of one hundred to ten. We held on our course till we came into lat. 47 deg. where we saw land, never before discovered. It proved an uninhabited island, to which I gave the name of Pepy's island, and at which ships may conveniently wood and water, having a harbour where 1000 sail may ride in safety. In this island we saw plenty of fowls, and round it there is no doubt abundance of fish; but, it blowing a storm, we could neither dare to approach it, nor to examine its coasts. We therefore stood to the southward, shaping our course S. S. W. till we came into the latitude of 50 deg. S. and then steering S. W. by W. resolving not to attempt the straits of Magellan, but to make the land of Ter del Fuego; and there, finding great riplings, and apprehending danger, we resolved to attempt the passage discovered by Bartholomew Sharp, in 1681, and to sail round all, leaving Staten land to the N. With this view, hauling away S. W. we came a-breast of Cape Horn on the 14th of February, where, chusing valentines, and discoursing of the witchcraft of women, there arose a prodigious storm, which continued till the last day of the month, driving us into latitude 60 deg. 30 min. which is farther than any ship ever yet sailed to the south; so that we concluded that talking of the wiles of women at sea was very unlucky discourse.
About the beginning of March, the wind coming to the south, we were soon wafted into a warmer climate; for in the 60th deg. the weather was so extremely cold, that we could bear drinking three quarts of burnt brandy a man in four-and-twenty hours, without being the least intoxicated. We steered north-by-east till we came into lat. 40 deg. S. where we fell in with the Nicholas of London, Captain John Eaton Commander; and, being glad of each others company, we sailed in consortship to the island of Juan Fernandez, where we found plenty of good fat goats, good fish, wood, and water. [Here Cowley relates the story of the Moskito-man, the account of which has already been given by Dampier.] This island is naturally fortified; so that with 100 men, and at 100 l. expence, it may be defended from the attacks of 2000 men, in case of an invasion. [Accordingly the Spaniards have taken the hint; for when the last ships sailed upon discoveries, they found it fortified.] It lies 110 leagues due west from the port of Valparayso.
We steered from this island north-north-east, till we made the high land of Arica, in latitude 18 deg. S. Being before the bay, the officers of both ships held a consultation whether best to go into Arica-bay, or proceed farther on the coast; when it was resolved to sail as low down
Cowley & his Men taking in Provisions at the Island of Iuan Fernandez.
at Cape Blanco, and there wait for the Spanish plate-fleet coming to the bay of Panama. This was an unfortunate resolution; for in Arica-bay rode at that time a ship with 300 tons of silver on board, which we missed, and in the room of her took a timber-ship bound to Lima, with 30 hands on board, which at that time stockt us with more mouths than we could well spare meat to fill. With this ship we sailed away north to the island of Lobos, in lat. 7 deg. S. where we set our sick men on shore, though we could neither find wood or water upon it. Here having heeled our ships, at a general council it was resolved, to attack the town of Truxillo, in lat. 8 deg. N. ten miles within land; and with this view just as we were weighing anchor to proceed, some of our people from the mast head espied three sail of ships passing by, which we instantly ran out and took. These ships were all laden with flour, fruit, and sweet-meats; but having had intelligence that we were upon the coast, they had left all their silver (their silver-service plate not excepted) on shore. Their provisions, however, were very acceptable; and we now thought only of seeking a proper place to lay up our stores in security, and where we might conceal ourselves for five or six months, to make the enemy believe that we had forsaken their seas, and that they had nothing to fear from fresh attacks. On this occasion, the islands called by the Spaniards Gallapagoes, or Enchanted Islands, were proposed, and the only objection made was, the uncertainty of finding them; but that being overcome, we weighed anchor, and after three weeks sail came in sight of them, being seventeen in number, to all which I gave distinct names. We came to an anchor in a very good harbour, lying towards the northernmost end of a fine island under the Equinoctial Line, in which we found plenty of fish, sea and land-tortoises, fowls of various sorts, among which were turtle-doves, so tame at first that they would often light upon the hats and shoulders of our men as they walked abroad; but not being able to satisfy their hungry appetite by catching them alive, the sailors so scared them at last, by frequently firing upon them, that they became, like other birds, very shy.
This island I called the Duke of York's Island, near to which lies a small island, which being viewed in several directions, always assumed a different shape. This I called Cowley's Enchanted Island. I examined several others; but upon none of them found fresh-water, save only upon the Duke of York's Island. The bay in which we anchored I called Albany bay, and the harbour York-road; and, after having laid up 1500 bags of flour, with a quantity of sweet-meats, and other provisions, in a convenient store-room, we sailed to the northward, to try for fresh water a second time; lest, being distressed, we should be forced, upon some future occasion, to seek relief in other harbours, when it might not be possible for us to reach the present; but we found good water in none of them; and, to our great surprize, we met with such a violent current, that when we would have returned to the Duke of York's Island, we could not stem it; and we were obliged to bear away N. N. E. when the first land we made upon the main was Cape Trespontas, upon the easternmost shore of which we watered our ship. The first day after our arrival, we buried our Captain; the second day, three Spanish Indians came down, whom our men brought on board. Being strictly examined concerning the strength and opulence of the town of Ria Lexa, they gave very satisfactory answers: but, while they were under examination, our long-boat being sent on shore to get beef, a party of Spanish Indians came down, and set their boat on fire, and drove the crew for shelter upon a rock, where they were forced to remain till we sent another boat with 20 men to rescue them.
We retained the three Indians, and led them with ropes about their necks as guides to conduct us afterwards to Ria Lexa; but one of them having got his neck out of the collar, made his escape, and alarmed the town; so that our men returned very much discouraged at this second disappointment. We now found it necessary to turn all our prisoners away to shift for themselves; and then directed our course to the gulph of St. Miguel, where we took two islands, one inhabited by Indians, the other plentifully stocked with cattle; but for gold and silver, we got but little. Here we staid and careened our ships; and here Captain Cook's ship and Captain Eaton's broke consortship; and, both ships being refitted, I got on board Captain Eaton, where I was entertained as his master, to navigate his ship to any place or port where he should direct.
[It is now that the voyage of Master Cowley may be said to commence. Hitherto he has gone hand-in-hand with Dampier; but now Cowley pursues one course with Captain Eaton, and Dampier another with Captain Davis, the successor of Captain Cook.]
We in our ship, continues Cowley, towards the middle of August, set sail from the gulph of Miguel [in the bay of Amapalla], steering for Cape St. Francisco, where we chaced a ship that escaped from us; and then we bore up to latitude 7 deg. S. where finding the country alarmed, we stood for Payta, in lat. 5 deg. S. where we took two ships lying at anchor; which the Spaniards refusing to ransom, we, by way of farewel, set them on fire. From hence we sailed to Gorgona, at which island we watered our ship for the East Indies.
This island lies in lat. 3 deg. 15 min. N. and in long. 305 deg. E. and as soon as we had supplied ourselves with wood and water, we took our departure, steering W. N. W. till we came as low almost as the rocks of St. Bartholomew, in long. 240 deg. then we sailed into lat. 15 deg. N. till we judged we were past those rocks; and then returned into 13 deg. N. which latitude we held till we made the island of Guam, in lat. 13 deg. N. and in long. 150 deg. E. according to our reckoning; at which island, when we arrived, we had a very sickly ship, no man being free from the scurvy, and most of us in a consuming condition. It was on the 14th of March about seven in the morning that we saw land. At 12 o'clock we were in lat. 13 deg. 2 min. N. by observation, having made out on our sailing, by judgment, 7646 miles, that is to say, departed so many miles from Gorgona by loss made out in longitude, which is about 2549 leagues. The next day we sailed about the south-west part of the island, and came to an anchor in a fair bay, from whence we sent a boat on shore, with a flag of truce; but, on landing, our people found that the natives had burnt their houses, and had fled; however, our men felled some cocoa-nut trees, and brought a hundred or two of them on board to refresh the crew. In the mean time a party of Indians rushed from behind the bushes, and in a hostile manner threatened to attack us; but we made signs of friendship, and one of the Indians returned to the wood, and having peeled a stick so as to make it appear white, he came forward, when one of his companions perceiving that he had no cap to compliment our people, called him back, and presented him with one for that purpose.
From Sunday the 15th till Tuesday the 17th, we continued a free trade with the Indians; but on that day our men going over to a small island on the west side of Guam, the Indians fell upon them with stones and lances, which occasioned a fray, in which some of the Indians were killed upon the spot.
Two days after, the Governor, who happened to be a Spaniard, came to a point of land near the ship, and sent a letter written in Spanish, French, and Dutch, demanding in the name of the King his Master, who we were, whither we were bound, and from whence we came? Our answer was written in French, that we were employed by some gentlemen in France upon the discovery of the unknown parts of the world. On the return of the messenger, the Governor sent a letter of invitation to the Capta
n to come on shore, with which he instantly complied, and was received under a triple discharge of cannon from the fort, which was answered by the same number of guns from the ship. They soon came to a good understanding. Our Captain made an apology for killing some of the Indians in his own defence; and the Governor gave for answer, that, if he had killed them all, he should have esteemed the favour the greater. We were afterwards told, that the Indians on the small island were in rebellion.
On Wednesday, about 12 o'clock, a Spanish Captain came on board, and continued with us till 12 the next day. He brought as a present from the Governor 10 hogs, a large quantity of potatoes, plantains, oranges, papas, and red pepper; in return for which our Commander sent the Governor a diamond-ring, and presented the Officer with a rich sword.
The next day the Governor sent on board a captain, a Jesuit, and a friar, with a request to our Commander to spare him some powder, of which he was in want. This request was readily complied with; we sent him four barrels, and offered him four great guns. The first he thankfully received, and sent a box in which were 1600 pieces of eight in gold and silver for the Captain to pay himself for the powder; but the guns he politely declined accepting. Our Captain returned the box with the money untouched, and afterwards received from the Governor a valuable present.
While mutual civilities were passing between the Governor and our Captain, our people went out every day chasing the Indians, whom they had full licence to kill and destroy wherever they met with them; but they, finding us not to be Spaniards, became very tractable, and offered to assist in supplying us with fish and fruit, which they exchanged with us for old nails and old iron. After having tarried here sometime, and a free intercourse had been established between the Indians on shore and our people on board the ship, the Indians made signs for as many of our men as chose it, to come and see them haul the seine. Our men, not suspecting any design, manned the boat, and went to look at them; but, while the men were amusing themselves with the sport, the Indians had very artfully brought their seine round the boat, with a design to draw it on shore, and thereby entangle both boat and crew; but the sailors, discovering the plot, gave the Indians no time to carry it into execution; for, being provided with fire-arms, which they never went ashore without, they fired amongst the thickest of them, killed a great many, and drove the rest away.
These Indians are large in stature, some of them being seven feet and a half high; they go stark naked; never bury their dead, but let them lie in the sun to rot. They have no arms but slings and lances; the sharp ends of the latter are pointed with dead mens bones, which, being cut like scoops, and jagged at the edges like unto saws, if a man happens to be wounded by them, and is not cured in nine days, he certainly dies. Our people took four of these treacherous savages prisoners, bound them, and brought them on board; but they had not been long among us, before three of them leapt into the sea, and with their hands tied behind them swam away like fishes. However, we sent the boat after them, and found that a strong man at the first blow could not penetrate their skins with a cutlass. One of them, in my judgment, had received 40 bullets in his body before he died; and the last of the three that was killed, swam a good English mile, not only with his hands tied behind him, but with his arms pinioned, before he expired.
The Spanish Governor's kindness increased in proportion to the mischief done to the Indians. He sent us, the succeeding day, by one of his captains, thirty hogs, some melons, pumpkins, potatoes, fruits, and rice; and received in return six small patararoes.
Having now new rigged our ship, and supplied ourselves with wood and water, we began to prepare for our departure. On the first of April, we weighed anchor, and next day came a-breast of the fort, which we saluted with three guns, and were complimented with the same number; and on the 3d the Governor sent his last present to our Captain. On the 4th we set sail, and steered W. by S. till we arrived at the height of St. Bartholomew, when we shaped our course W. N. W. till we came into the latitude of 20 deg. 30 min. N. where we fell in with a cluster of islands lying to the north of Luconia, distant from Guam 560 leagues. They seemed to be uninhabited; but the men who went ashore in the boat, found abundance of nutmegs on one of them, and saw some goats.
From these islands we steered S. W. for the island of Luconia, and on the 26th of April Cape Bajadore bore from us east; after which we came up with Cape Mindato, where the S. W. monsoon overtaking us, we were obliged to bear away for Canton in China, where we lay and refitted our ship, and where we might have laden ourselves with plunder from thirteen Tartar ships, who came thither full of the richest goods of China: but our men, being under no government, refused to attack them; saying, They came for gold and silver, not to be made pedlars to carry packs. But, alas! had reason prevailed, we might have all made our fortunes, without injuring any prince or subject in christendom; for these goods the Tartars had taken from the Chinese about two years before, and had stored them at Macao, an island near Canton, to be taken away when they judged it convenient.
From Canton we sailed for Manilla, to wait for the Tartar ship that annually goes thither, and which, we were informed, was laden one half with silver; but, tho' we were fortunate enough to come in sight of her, yet she out-sailed us, and escaped. We then bore away for an island that lies to the north of Luconia, intending there to stay till the wind came fair to carry us to Bantam, not then knowing that Bantam had been taken from the English by the Dutch.
At this island we stored ourselves with fruit, goats, and guanos; which last are here good meat: and here we found an Indian who directed us to an island, where there was plenty of great cattle; but the wind soon coming fair, we made sail to the southward, steering our course S. S. W. till we came into lat. 10 deg. N. where we were so entangled among the islands of Paragoa, that none of us ever expected to escape with life. After three days, however, we very providentially got clear; and stood in for an island at the north end of Borneo, where we hauled our ship ashore, and erected a tent, planting a battery of ten guns for our defence, in case of an attack from the natives. Here we unloaded our ship, and, having provided sufficiently for our security, we ranged the country for natives to trade with us; but they, having never seen any white men before, were very shy; and when, by chance, our men fell in with one of their canoes that was full of women, (among whom was the queen of the country and her retinue) on the approach of our ship's boat, they all leapt over-board; but, after taking them up, and treating them kindly, they laid aside their fears, and grew familiar; and, upon our offering them civility, instead of avoiding, they soon became fond of us. They brought us fish in great plenty, with oranges, lemons, mangoes, plantains, and pine-apples; and, besides these, we exchanged some trifles for bezoar, musk, and civet, with which the island is well stored.
The year was now drawing to a close, when we set sail from this little island, directing our course for Timor, where, finding the ship's company begin to grow mutinous, and not under command of their Captain, myself, Mr. Hill, and eighteen more, joined our forces together, and purchased a large boat, in which we sailed to the island of Java, distant from Timor 300 leagues. The wind being contrary to carry us to Batavia, we bore away for Cheribon, a factory belonging to the Dutch, lying eastward of Batavia, where we were kindly received by the Governor. There we heard that King Charles was dead; and that his brother James was proclaimed king; we heard also that Bantam had been taken from the English; and that the Dutch had erected a new factory in that island.
After refreshing at Cheribon, we agreed to divide our twenty men into three parties; two of which chose to sail for the bay of Bengal, and the third to stay with me; but knowing that Batavia was the Hollander's magazine for India, we proposed first to sail thither, and there to provide for ourselves as well as we could. Being all arrived, we were courteously received by the General; and I, with Mr. Hill and another friend, who were all my party, were promised our passage to Europe in their East-India fleet. About this time the General was sending four or five ships of war, with soldiers, to procure satisfaction from the King of the island, for an outrage that had been committed on a party of Hollanders, who, to the number of 80, had been slaughtered by the Javanese. These ships, it seems, were originally designed against Sillebar, an English settlement on the west coast of Sumatra; but this act of hostility happening to intervene, it had diverted their purpose, and saved the factory for this time. There were now in Batavia twenty of us, who, on hearing this news, would willingly have repaired to Sillebar; but the Dutch would by no means permit us, though we had bought a sloop for that purpose. When we were just ready to sail, the General ordered our sloop to be seized; and when we remonstrated against this incivility, they produced an old law, by which the subjects of the republic in India are forbidden to sell any vessel to any foreigner; and they even went so far as to imprison those who had transgressed it. To us, indeed, they gave the prime cost of the sloop, but paid us nothing for fitting her up.
This project failing, Mr. Hill, another friend, and I, embarked on board the
Solida
Indiaman, bound to Holland; and, as we were putting out of the road, we saw our ship Captain John Eaton coming in; however, we held our course; but finding the wind unfavourable, we turned down to Bantam to take in provisions, and from thence steered to Prince's Island, where we lay for a fair wind three weeks. About the end of March, we set sail from thence, with the wind at N. W. and shaped our course to the Cape of Good Hope. On the 11th of May, after a pleasant passage, we made the land called Point Primicra, bearing from us N. W. distant 12 leagues. We had the wind at N. E. being distant from the cape 560 miles, the land trending away S. W. by W. The fish which came about the ship near the island of Mona, the 30th of March, left us now, when we judged ourselves in latitude 32 deg. 47 min. S. From the 15th of May to the 29th we had sailed only 96 miles; but observing next day, we found by our latitude that we had a very strong current, that had driven our ship to the southward 34 miles farther than we judged ourselves to be; for we thought we had been in the latitude of 33 deg. 41 min. S. whereas we found ourselves in lat. 34 deg. 15 min. S. our course having been S. W. 40 miles. I argued the reason with the chief mate of the ship, and he told me it once happened in this place, that they lay a-trie with three main-sails, and the wind at W. S. W. three days; and when they took their observation, they found the ship driven to windward 200 English miles; and likewise in lat. 36 deg. 37 min. they say, they often find the like.
From hence to the 27th nothing remarkable happened; but on that day we had the wind very furious, blowing a storm from W. S. W. We lay a-trie with our main-sails, and found we were in lat. 30 deg. 2 min. S. coming in with the land; and now the current went to the eastward, and we began to fear lest we should lose our passage by the cape. Our Captain, who had long been sick, was now judged to be past recovery, and in the middle of the night died: this occasioned a great deal of confusion; and, to add to our difficulties, our water began to fail, and we were reduced to a pint a day per man. Next day we heaved our Dutch Captain's corpse overboard, when a council of-war was called, wherein it was resolved, that Captain Tominall, Commander of the Critsman, should command the Solida, and that Captain Tominall's chief-mate should command the Critsman. The pilot also of the Solida, whose name was Houdin, was ordered on board the Critsman; but he refused to go, and the men assembled tumultuously, and declared, they would not part with him. The Lord Van Heldine was in a great rage with the steersman; but the crew were resolute, and he was obliged to yield.
On the 1st of June we again came in sight of land. It appeared like a round hill flat at top, and bore from us N. N. E. with a smaller hill to the eastward of it. Next day we were before the harbour of the cape, with the wind at north, and fine fair weather. On the 3d, at night, we came to an anchor in the bay before the castle, in nine fathom water. Three days before we lost sight of the Critsman in the hard gale; but this day we saw a sail at sea, and concluded that it must be the Critsman. Here we heard, that the Francis Maria was lost, with 400 men on board; and here likewise we were told, that the King of England had taken the Duke of Monmouth, and that he was beheaded. Another piece of news we learned was, that a Portuguese carrac was cast away upon the reef, having on board four millions of guelders in gold, sent as a present from the King of Siam to the King of Portugal; and that four Dutch ships had likewise struck upon the same reef, but that they had fortunately escaped with very little damage.
This day four of the natives came down to the city, dancing naked, and offering their wives to the Hollanders for little bits of tobacco. They were the filthiest men I ever saw. Next day my two friends and I walked about the town, in which are about 100 houses, built very low to save them from the boisterous gales of wind that blow here in the months of December, January, and February: but the Dutch have here a strong castle, with 80 guns well mounted, and a spacious garden with pleasant walks, and planted with almost every kind of fruit, flowers, and herbs. This is the greatest rarity that we saw at the cape. We walked, moreover, without the town to the village inhabited by the Hodmandods (so called by the Hollanders), who are the natives of the country. These people are said to be born white, but make themselves black by anointing their bodies, and exposing their infants to the sun and smoke. Their houses, or huts, are built round, like the cabbins in Ireland of the wild Irish, with the fire-place in the middle, round which they all lie in common, covered only with the skins of some beast, and without any other bed than the ashes of the wood on which they dress their meat. They eat any thing that is foul, and will gather from the dunghills the offal that is thrown out by the Dutch to feed their dogs. Their men are not at all jealous of foreigners; but will beat their wives unmercifully for lying with their neighbours. When the women marry, they cut off a joint of the middle-finger; and if the husband dies, and the widow marries again, she cuts off another joint; and so many men as they marry, so many joints of their singers they lose. They are supposed to worship the moon, because at the full and change they assemble in great numbers, dancing and rejoicing when she shines, but howling and lamenting when they are deprived of her light.
It happened while we were at the cape, that one of the Hodmandods drank himself dead at the fort; of which his countrymen getting intelligence, they assembled about him, and with oil and milk endeavoured to recover him; but, finding all their efforts vain, and that they could perceive no spark of life remaining, they began to make preparations for his funeral, which they performed in the following manner. They first brought knives, and shaved him from head to foot; then, digging a hole in the ground, they carefully placed him in a sitting posture, with his body and head erect, and his legs and thighs stretched out horizontally, and pressed down streight; this being performed, they propt him up in this attitude with stones; and then came a company of their women to howl over him, who accompanied their lamentations with a hideous shrieking, as if death appeared before them in the shape of a monster, and was ready to devour them. After their time of mourning was over, they filled up the hole with earth, and covered it over with the green turf.
During the time of our stay at the cape, our people were chiefly employed in cleansing and scouring the ship, in fishing her masts, and in fitting and trimming her rigging. We also took in wood and water, supplied ourselves with fresh provisions; and, on the 15th of June, when the wind came fair, we were ready to sail.
We were now three ships in company, the Solida and Critsman, who came together from Batavia, and the Emeland who came from Bengal. On Tuesday the 16th, we pursued our course to the N. W. and N. W. by W. till Tuesday the 29th, without any material incident intervening. We had no observation; but I judged we were in lat. 19 deg. 54 min. S. This day it was that I spoke with an Englishman on board the Emeland, that had been some time in the Dutch service, who told me, that they came out in company with two English ships, one named the Resolution, the other the Defence, with both of whom they had parted in a storm on the coast of Coromandel; that the Resolution was leaky, and that there were little hopes of her crew's being able to keep her above water. He told me likewise, that there were several Englishmen in the King of Siam's service; that the English East-India Company was but little regarded by the Moors; but that the interlopers were very much encouraged; and that one Mr. Deane, being their Chief, lived in great splendor, never going out without 70 or 80 Moors to attend him.
We had, moreover, this day great feasting on board us, the Commanders of the other ships being invited to an entertainment. But while the men were loading the guns to pay the usual salute, they were alarmed by a strange voice from the sea, crying out,
Come help, come help, a man over-board!
on which they forthwith brought the ship to, thinking to take him up; but they neither saw, nor heard any more of him. Enquiry was then made through all the ships, if any of them had lost a man; but upon the strictest examination, it appeared that every ship had her proper complement; so that they concluded it was the spirit of some man that had been drowned in that latitude by accident.
On the 11th of July another very wonderful incident very much astonished our company. When we left Batavia we took a she-goat on board, which had then two young kids about three weeks old. This creature was observed to grow bigger every day; and all that our people could conjecture was, that it proceeded from the unwholesomness of the water that made her swell; but, to the astonishment of all of us, she now brought forth four young ones, although no male had been on board.
On the 4th of July we threw one man overboard who died the night before, though no one knew of his being ill. He was an old Dane, who, having no body on board to take care of his effects, those who first perceived he was dead fell to rummaging his chest, to secure to themselves what he had saved; but, as in like cases, they could not agree about dividing the plunder, the matter came to the knowledge of the Captain, who made the thieves give up all they had stolen, which he took under his own care for the benefit of his family.
On the 12th of July we came up with the Island of Ascension, and next day took a new departure from thence. On the 20th we found we were in lat. 15 deg. N. And now a council-of-war was called upon our Captain. His accusation was, that he had formed a conspiracy with five men more, to murder a person of quality and his lady, with some other passengers on board, and that, when the murders were accomplished, they were to seize upon their riches, and run away with the ship. The purser was the chief accuser; but, upon examination, the whole charge seemed so improbable, and the man who broached the story denying upon the trial what he had confidently affirmed before to the purser, the Captain was honourably acquitted, and the villain punished.
Wednesday the 22d, we made out in longitude from the cape 11 deg. 56 min. judging ourselves to be in long. 355 deg. 56 min. And no wit was that I cut the same Line which I did when I departed from Virginia in the year 1683, having encompassed the globe; and cannot but note, that I have been farther southward than any man that I ever heard or read of before me in this voyage, having, as I have already said, reached as far as lat. 60 deg. 30 min. S. and so it happened, that, being bound to go north about Scotland to make Holland, I passed about 60 deg. north, though I mention this as no extraordinary thing.
We met with no extraordinary occurrence till the 2d of August, when our Captain, after three days illness, died of a pain in his bowels. His chief steersman was made Commander in his room; but, though his cause was warmly espoused by the men on a former occasion, yet it was not till after much opposition that they acquiesced in his present advancement.
On the 5th of September, about 10 at night, we had a violent storm, and we had like to have been on board the Critsman; and, by endeavouring to avoid it, had well nigh overset our own ship.
On Sunday the 19th, when the weather began to clear up, I saw land, as did also two men more. I supposed it to be the island of Shetland; but our Captain would not believe it; however, about six in the evening, the Critsman's people saw land also, and let go the flag, which nettled our Captain, who blamed his own incredulity.
We came up with the Isle of Farley by the 22d, steered on, and on the 25th had the wind all round the compass. About this time we came up with a Scotch ship, who steered so that we ran her on board on her quarter; and, had we not slackened sail, should certainly have sunk her. Two passengers leapt into our ship to save their lives; but they happened to be more afraid than hurt. The ship was called the Lion of Leith; and the crew told us, that the Turks lay at Plymouth and Dartmouth, where they had victualled and careened, and from whence they had occasionally slipt out, and had taken 100 sail of Hollanders, and among them a Dutch frigate of 36 guns, which gave occasion to many hard speeches against the English nation; though we found afterwards that the whole was an idle story, framed only to amuse the Dutchmen, and to flatter their humour by belying the English.
On sailing next day with the wind at E. S. E. we found ourselves in latitude 53 deg. 35 min. N. and I judged us to be on the West-bank. At the same time we came up with two ships, one a Dane, the other an Englishman from London, with whom I sent my quadrant, and with whom myself and my two friends would willingly have gone, if our Dutch lord would have given us leave; but he told us, he could not answer the letting us go, to his Masters the States-General.
On Tuesday the 28th, we came before the Maes, with the wind at E. N. E. When it was day we saw the Brill Church, and came to an anchor in 10 fathom water. On the 30th we got bread and beer on board. Next day we entered the harbour at Helvoetsluys, after we had been seven months in our passage from Batavia. Three days after our arrival, one of my two mates died, and I made no great stay here but went to Rotterdam, where I found the Anne yacht. In her I came passenger for England, and, through the infinite mercy of God, arrived at London, October 12 following.
Of Cowley's history, as we can know nothing but from this relation of his voyage, so it is not easy either to form a judgment of his capacity, or of his acquirements. He seems to have been an excellent navigator, as we do not find, in the whole course of his pursuits, either that he was ever at a loss in finding the ports he sought, or that the ships of which he had the direction were ever in danger of being cast away. The nature of his employment in a subordinate station, led him rather to a habit of obedience than of opposition; and therefore his quitting the ship in which it was his choice to sail, is more to be wondered at, than that he should steal away from his company at Batavia with only two friends. Perhaps his conduct on this occasion might be owing to principle; for of the enormities committed by the buccaneers, with whom he was engaged, Cowley must be acquitted, because he was drawn into their service by stratagem; and a strong proof of his honesty is, his embracing the first fair opportunity of deserting them.
We know there are writers, and those of no mean credit, who have taken pains to justify the practices of the buccaneers, and who have attributed to their discoveries and to their exploits the advancement of the art of navigation, and the emolument of their country: but it neither appears to us, that their discoveries were of any consequence in a national sense, or that the riches they brought home were a counter-balance for the lives that were sacrificed in the acquisition.
Their discoveries were chiefly of lurking-places to which they were forced to retire to escape the pursuit of the enemy; and, as to the treasures they acquired, they were generally purchased with the lives of many brave men, who, had they been employed in honest commerce, would have gained profit to themselves and honour to their country.
It is not from the temporary excursions of a banditti that a nation can hope to become rich; nor is it by a hasty race round the world that the art of navigation is to be improved. The improvements of art are slow in their progress; and the acquisition of national wealth can only be obtained by a steady perseverance in industry and commerce. It is, therefore, the true interest of every commercial nation to discountenance plunderers, and to applaud those only who are employed in cultivating the arts of peace.
ough the following relations may see
to our design of g
ng
of the dis
overi
of our Engl
sh navi
y
we have judged them too curious
omitted.
Dutch
Relat
of ROGGE
'S Discover
of
Easter Island.
we permitted him to go into his boat again
depart. Two days afterwards the whole sea
covered with the savage inhabitants of
, who came swimming round the ship
multitudes, that we neither could,
it adviseable to land. They clam
ke cats up the ship's sides with the
, and came aboard, where they did
appear t
be in the least afraid of us, but
surp
zed at the largeness
ext
of our ships and rigging, and could
conce
ve the meaning of all that they saw;
curiosity was chiefly engaged by the g
guns, which they could not enough admire,
which th
y f
equently struck their hands up
could not li
them up, and
but when they saw that such log
were too heavy for them, and
, and were, in appearance, ve
mu
. They no sooner
than we immediately found that
urally
sh nimble
the inhab
tants of those isl
to which
ixed the name of the
from the great propensity of
rob and steal, if they were not
from it. Rusty nails, old iron, and whate
lay hold on, was equ
the
with which th
y jumped overboard
. They at
empted with their
of the ship, but these
too fast for them. These huge fellows came at last aboard in such numbers, that we were hardly capable to keep them in order, or keep a watchful eye upon their motions, and the quickness of their hands; so that fearing they would become too many for us, we used our best endeavours to get rid of them in a friendly way; but they not seeming inclinable to leave us, we were obliged to use harsher methods, and drive these savages out of the ships by force.
"On the 10th of April we made for the island in our boats, well armed, in order to land, and take a view of this country, where an innumerable company of savages stood on the sea side to guard the shore, and obstruct our landing; they threatened us mightily by their gestures, and shewed an inclination to await us, and turn us out of their country; but as soon as we, through necessity, gave them a discharge of our muskets,
and there brought one of them to the g
ound, they lost their courage. They made the most surprizing motions and gestures in the world, and viewed their fallen companions with the utmost astonishment, wondering at the wounds which the bullets had made in their bodies; whereupon they hastily fled with a dreadful howling, dragging the dead bodies along with them; so the shore was cleared, and
in safety.
"These people do not go naked, as many
savages do; every person is cloathed in
colours of cotton and worsted, curiously woven, or stitched; but nothing
comes them more than their ears, which
abominably long, and in most of them
upon the shoulders; so that, though they themselves look upon this as the greatest ornament they appeared very uncouth to us, who were
accustomed to such; the more so, as there
in them such extravagantly large holes
openings, that we could easily put our
through them.
"Thus far my narrative will gain credit, because it contains nothing uncommon, yet I
declare, that all these savages are of a more
gigantic size, for the men are twice as tall an
thick a
the largest of our people; they
ed, one with another, the height of twelve
, so that we could easily, (who will not wonder
it) without stooping, have passed betwixt
legs of these sons of Goliah. According to the
ght, so is their thickness, and are all, one with another, very well proportioned, so that ea
could have passed for a Hercules; but none of the
wives came up to the height of the men, being commonly not above ten or eleven fee
▪ The men had their bodies painted with a red
dark brown, and the women with a scarlet colo
"I doubt not but most people who read
voyage will give no credit to what I now
and that this account of the
eight of these
will probably pass with them
fiction; but this I declare, I have
going but the real truth, and that this people, upon the nicest inspection, were in fact of such a surpassing height as I have here described
"After the inhabitants of Easter Island had made trial of the strength of our weapons,
have before related, they began to the
more civil manner, and brought us f
om
all kinds of vegetables, sugar canes, with yams, plantains, and a great quantity of fowls, which came very a propos, and tended to refresh us greatly.
"What I have seen of the worship and idols of these savages is very wonderful. Two stones, of a largeness almost beyond belief, served them for gods; the one was broad beyond measure, and lay upon the ground; upon this stood the other stone, which was of such extent and height that seven of our people with outstretched arms would hardly have been able to encircle it; so that it appeared to me, and all others, impossible that this stone could have been lifted up and placed upon the other by the inhabitants of these islands, how large and strong soever they might be; for, besides the thickness, it was fully as high as three men. About the top of this
there was cut or carved the shape of a
head, adorned with a g
, which was
together in th
manner of inlaid work, made
all stones, in a manner not very improper,
name of the la
est idol was called Taurico,
the other Dago; at least these were the words they called to them by, and wherewith they worshipped them.
"These savages had great respect for the
idols Taurico and Dago, and approached them with great reverence, namely, with dancing, shooting, jumping, and clapping of hands,
the same manner as we read in holy writ,
the children of Israel worshipped the golden ca
which
aron set up; and when the cannon (of which they seemed to be in great terror) were discharged, and the heavy shot founded in the
eurs, they made surprizing and wonderful gestures and leaps, and pointed with their fingers first to our people, and then to their gods, whom they appeared to supplicate for help against
and to call upon with a frightful shout,
howling of Dago▪ Dago!
"Wh
le we say before this Easter Island, a heavy tempest surprized us, which pressed so much on the ships, that I had no thought but that they would drive from their anchors, and we with them come to a miserable end on thi
coast, which God prevented, the storm being at last appeased, without having done any damage to the ships.
"On the 1
th of April, leaving this island, we put to sea again, and shaped our course to the westward.
"On the
0th of May we came into the latitude of
deg.
here we fell in wi
a great
together so that we were of opinion, they had been joined together in former times, and composed one solid piece of land, but separated from one another afterwards by a pressure of the waters. Among these an island appeared above the rest, the most stately and eminent, intersected by
ny rivers and springs of water, which there
e was christened Water Island by Schouten and Le Maire, who discovered it in 1616, on their voyage to the Terra Australis. In this labyrinth of islands and rocks, we had the woeful misfortune to lose one of our ships, the African Galley, which struck upon the rocks, and beat to pieces. It may be accounted, however, a happy circumstance, that all the people aboard were saved and brought off; and being d
led among the two remaining ships, were a r
nforcement to their crews. It was impossible
or the ships to approach very near the land, where no anchoring ground was to be found.
low, sandy, and rocky island, being in the inland parts almost all drowned land; but upon the borders it is full of trees, among which n
ther palmetto or cocoa-nut trees were to be found; which I believe is the reason of its not
inhabited; nevertheless, five of our men
went ashore willingly remained on the
, and would not return again to the ships,
wearied out with the hardships they had
, and fearing many more unfore
were
ll awaiting them. The loss
above-mentioned ship would be a happy circumstance for them, since from the wrec
and what would be drove ashore,
ight
supplied with arms, and all other nec
ies.
"On the 25th of May we passed by the isla
of Flies, al
o discovered by the foresaid Schoute
in his above mentioned voyage. The inla
parts of it are likewise full of salt water, and
abounds in great plenty of wild green trees,
is inhabited by savages of a large stature,
w
th bows and arrows. The island was ve
properly named, from the incredible quanti
of nasty flies wherewith it is covered, which and come aboard, and fall so thick or the face,
other parts of the body, that one is at a loss to conceal himself from them, and every thing one eats or drinks is full of them: they put
for two or three days, when
uninvited guests
.
"On the 29th
f May we passed among
num
of rocks and islands, from whence we sometimes saw a smoak ascend, a sign
were inhabited; but we had no opportunity
g
ng ashore. This day we found ourselves
lat. 1
deg. 17
S. and long. 224 deg.
"On the 1st of June, in 15 deg. 4
min. and
deg. we came in sig
t of an island hitherto unknown to, and
ooked
, Th
ther we went on our boa
s, in order to take a view of it, and to procure refreshments; when the inhabitants, who saw us approach from afar, came
own upon the shore to make us return back, and to prevent our landing. They are people of an excellent shape, well proportioned, and comely in person; and what is surprizing, their skin is as
clear and whit
as that of a native of Holland.
They seemed to shew a resolution to stay for us; for, as soon as we came near, they jumped like madmen into the water to meet us, and pushed with great
with their weapons, which consisted of
and lances, whose points were armed with
sharp wood as hard as iron: wherefore,
ing obliged to free ourselves, and preserve our
from this hostile attack, we fired upon them
our muskets, which made those savage war
immediately take to their heels, and oblig
to look out for a place of safety; for as
they had tasted the deadly effects of these
pons, they turned their backs upon us, and
a high steep rock, which they scrambled
like monkies, with incredible swiftness.
"From thence, being convinced of our supe
r force, they gave us to understand, that all
ostilities should cease on their part, and they
ould treat with us as friends; and on our side we used every means to allure them to us, being
the utmost want of all manner of refreshments.
very thing succeeded according to our wishes; they brought us their commodities, consisting of cocoa-nuts, and a certain bitter herb of the taste of Dutch cresses, which is found here in great pl
nty. For these we gave them in exchange several trifles and trinkets; such as small look
ng-glasses, glass beads of all colours, combs, bells, and a number of such toys of little value,
which they were as well, and even better pl
d than we were with
cocoa-nuts and bitter
bs, which, however, were much more
have understood from this, that those barbarians would attack them from the tops of the
ks with stones, yet they paid no
to the signs and admonitions of the good
, but marched forward, trusting to their
Th
y had not gone far before a dreadful sho
er of stones came
upon them
no delay was made there, but we got again under sail; and because the provisions
sened gradually from day to day, and the d
ers, notwithstanding the relief from the
herbs, continued to increase, to the great
, it was r
olved, in a council of
principal officers, to return home by the
Indies. We then lay up to lat.
5 deg. 47 min.
and according to our reckoning 224 deg.
min. long. being then about 1
leagues
the coast of Peru.
"On the 12th of June we found ourselve
latitude 15 deg. 1
min. S. and longi
ude
deg. 8 min.
"O
the 14th we discovered two island w
ich we could not approach near enough
take a proper view of, by reason of the ro
and stormy sea; but, on the other hand, we
this satisfaction, that the inhabitants
, and kept hovering about
pable of producing more curious workmanship. The people in these fine boats were armed with darts, and had their heads adorned with green leaves, and their bodies cloathed with reeds. This island got the name of Bowman's island from a
ptain of that name. It was very pleasant and
lightful to behold, fruitful, and surrounded w
trees, among which the palmetto shewed
uch
"On the 15th we came in sight of an island about
even miles in length, lying in lat 13 deg.
and 25 deg. long▪ Many of us felt a longing desire to touch at this island in hopes of procuring some refreshment, but it was de
red, and we pursued our voyage without landing, in order to sav
tim
, because our miseries and inconveniencies
increased, and the disorders from many causes increased also.
"On the 18th of July we perceived many different islands, and among others New Zealand, computed to be in extent about 300 leagues, lying under 6 deg. of S. lat. and 166
long."
relation is copied verbatim from Mr.
's valuable Collection of Spanish and
Discoveries in the South Sea,
is like
the following Relation of the Discovery of
, but neit
the one nor the other
discoveries have since been
con
.
An Account of the DISCOVERY of the La
called DAVIS'S LAND.
"WE went from the Gallapagoes under
Line, for the southward;
no where till we came to the island of J.
rnande
.
made us think there was some spit of sand; but
we had
ounded, it confirmed our opinion
the earthquake. Some time after, we heard
, that at that very time there was an earthquake at Callao, which
the road for Lima, and that the sea ebbed so far f
om the shore,
hat on a sudden there was no water to be seen;
that after it had been away a considerable
, it returned in rolling mountains of water,
ed the
in the road of Callao a
up into the
, overflowed the city
, though
upon a hill, together
, and drowned man and beast for 30
along the shore, doi
g misch
ef even at
,
ough six miles w
th
n land from the
of C
llao.
ving recovered our
ght, we kept on to
southward▪ We steered
, until we came to lat. 27 deg. 20 min.
about two
before day, we fell
, low, sandy island, and heard a
noise, like that of the sea beating
a-head of the ship: where
foul upon the
the captain to put the
, and to stand off till
app
;
the capta
n gave his
onsent. So we
not foggy nor hazy. To the westward, about twelve leagues, by judgment, we saw a range of high land, which we took to be islands, for there were several partitions in the prospect. This land seemed to reach about fourteen or sixteen leagues in a range; and there came hence great flocks of fowls. I, and many more of our men, would have made this land, and have gone ashore at it, but the Captain would not permit us. The small island bears from Copayapo almost due east
00 leagues, and from the Gallapagoes, under the line, 600 leagues.
Dampier says,
"Captain Davis told me lately, that after his departure from Ria Lexa, he went, after several traverses, to the Gallapagoes, and that standing thence southward for wind, to bring him about Terra del Fuego, in the latitude of 27 deg. S. about 500 leagues from Copayapo, on the coast of Chili, he saw a small sandy island just by him; and that they saw to the westward of it a long track of pretty high land, trending away to the N. W. out of sight."
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.