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. ... In four volumes.: [pt.1]

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 fa|shionable gallantries and vices of the times, and dissipated the best part of his ample fortune be|fore 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 per|ceive, 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 suit|able 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 con|sequently 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 encourag|ed 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 will|ing to bestow the pains of gathering the produce and bringing it home.

Among the most active and the most indefa|tigable was Sir Walter Raleigh, who not only was the most experienced, but the most success|ful 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 pur|suing it. He observed, that, by means of their great riches, the Spaniards could command in|telligence 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 pre|served, 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 destina|tion.

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, bor|dering 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, be|ing the 27th day, there came two negroes from the shore aboard our Admiral, and made signs unto our General that there was a Por|tuguese 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 pro|digious 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 dan|gerous 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 ne|groes.

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 chi|rurgeons that he plucked out all the arrow, be|cause he would not have them lance his thigh: whereupon the poison wrought so that night, that he was prodigiously swolen, and the next morn|ing 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 light|ning, in this month: I think the reason is, be|cause 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, stand|ing 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 Portu|guese 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 be|ing 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 big|ness, 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 extra|ordinary good meat; and being boiled or roast|ed, are hardly to be known from lamb or mut|ton. 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 harque|buss, 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 bur|rows 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 wa|ter; 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 arti|ficially. 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 them|selves.

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 un|to Edistone, which lieth off the sound of Ply|mouth; and we sounded, and had eight fathoms rocky ground, within a mile thereof; the rock bearing west-south-west. We went coasting a|long 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 Ma|gellan, 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 fa|mine. 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 Pen|guin 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 Phi|lip'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 stand|ing 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 exe|cution 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, ex|cept some deer which came out of the moun|tains 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 prey|ed 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 weak|ness), 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 con|clude, 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 lati|tude 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 oc|cupation, 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 south|ward,

we lay in harbour until the 23d of Feb|ruary, by reason of contrary winds; and most vile and foul weather, with such rain and violent stormy winds which came down from the moun|tains 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 mus|cles, 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 conti|nued 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 In|dians, 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 Spa|niards 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 be|hind 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 Gene|ral 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 our|selves, 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 Con|ception, 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, be|fore 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 travel|led 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 won|derfully 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 ob|served 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 water|side; 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 wea|pons 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, liv|ing 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 ar|rows 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 arti|ficially 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 man|ner.

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 four|teen

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 en|terprize. 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 Vice|roy 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 Ge|neral

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 giv|ing

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 har|bour, 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 Gal|lant put into a bay which standeth in twelve de|grees

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, hav|ing 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 furni|ture about them, spied where there were four or five hundred bags of meal on an heap co|vered 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 Garge|field; and Henry Hilliard; and we eight only, having every man his harquebuss and his furni|ture 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 sud|denly 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 drown|ing. 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. How|beit, 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, be|fore 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, me|lasses, 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, skir|mished 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 com|manded 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,

[figure]

[figure]

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 ap|parel away, because they should not clog them|selves with burdens; for he knew not whether our enemies were provided with fire-arms ac|cording 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 va|lue 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 an|chor 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 cham|bers in it, and out of every chamber was fram|ed 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 In|dian born, but is married to a beautiful woman who is a Spaniard, by reason of his pleasant ha|bitation 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 attend|ing 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 plan|tains, 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 an|swered, 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 Ca|sique 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 de|manded 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 discou|raged, 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 trea|sure 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 Cor|dovan 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 con|veyed; all which we found, and brought away what our General thought requisite for the ships.

This island is very pleasant for all the de|lights 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 pa|lace, 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 grow|eth 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 big|ness 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, cu|cumbers, 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, pomegra|nates, 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 hang|ing 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 mus|quets, 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 dis|advantage, 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 over|charged 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 ene|my, 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 north|ward 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 car|ried 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 wa|ter, 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 Mi|chael 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 be|fore, 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 Mi|chael Sancius that there should be a pinnace; but, before we could get thither, the said pin|nace 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 Ma|lacca, which is a very good place to ride in; and this day, about twelve o'clock, our Gene|ral 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 Ma|lacca, 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 Por|tuguese. 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, ex|cept 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 Mas|satlan, 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 coun|try, whereof we had some, though not without danger.

The 27th, we departed from the road of Mas|satlan, 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 pri|soner, 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 In|dians, who were horsemen and kept watch there, and came from a town called Chiametla, which was eleven leagues up into the country, as Mi|chael Sancius told us. We found upon the island where we trimmed our pinnace, fresh wa|ter, 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. Lu|car, 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 Se|gura, 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 No|vember, and had the winds hanging still west|erly.

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 trum|peter 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 him|self 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 Gene|ral 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 per|formed, 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 mid|ship, with their forecastle, and not one man to be seen, they standing so close under their sights, with lances, javelins, rapiers, targets, and an in|numerable 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 trim|med 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 Cap|tain, 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 discou|raged and spoiled, and their ship being in ha|zard 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 Gene|ral, and, falling down upon his knees, offered to have kissed our General's feet, and craved mer|cy. 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, da|masks, with musk, and divers other merchan|dize, and great plenty of all manner of provi|sions, with the choice of many conserves, and several sorts of very good wines. These things being made known to the General by the afore|said Captain and pilot, they were commanded to stay on board the Desire; and on the 6th day of November following we went into an har|bour, 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 suffi|cient 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 di|vision whereof, the 8th of this month, many of the company fell into a mutiny against our Ge|neral, 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 dis|charged, to the great admiration of all the Spa|niards who were there, for the most of them had never seen the like before.

This ended, our General discharged the Cap|tain, 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 fif|teen, 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 Aca|pulco, 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 hea|thens.

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, sail|ing 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 sa|vages, 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 exchang|ed 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, mar|vellously 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 im|ages, 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 with|out any edged tool: they are not above half a fa|thom 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 sa|vages followed us so long that we could not be rid of them; until in the end our General com|manded 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, be|cause 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 block|houses, 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 San|guelos, which bringeth them many sorts of mer|chandize. 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 handi|crafts 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 em|broidering 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 Ca|pul, 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 wa|ter, 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, suppos|ing that we were Spaniards, brought us potatoe-roots, which they call camotas, and green co|coas, in exchange for which we gave his com|pany linnen to the quantity of a yard for four cocoas, and as much linnen for a basket of po|tatoe-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 like|wise 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, co|coas, 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, mean|ing 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 di|vers 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 trea|sure, and all the merchandize that was therein, and had set all the people on shore, taking him|self 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 Eng|lish. This information being given, our Gene|ral called for him, and charged him with these things, which, at the first, he utterly de|nied; but, in the end, the matter being made manifest and known of certainty by spe|cial trial and proofs, the next morning, our Ge|neral 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 Eng|lishmen, and enemies to the Spaniards; and thereupon spread his ensign, sounded his trum|pets, 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 tri|bute 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 fri|gate 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 be|calmed, 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 fri|gate, 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 over|board 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 with|in 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 hos|pital 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 con|cerning 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 In|dians. 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 de|grees. 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 be|fore, 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 com|pany 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 coo|per, 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-Wed|nesday, 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 ex|treme 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 ex|change. The fisher answered, that we should have all manner of victuals that we would re|quest. 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 to|wards 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 fac|tors

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 Ge|neral commanded every man in the ship to pro|vide 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 won|der to these heathen people, who had not com|monly 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 some|what 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 provi|sions 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 Portu|guese 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 Portu|guese 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 Spa|niards 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 plentiful|ness, 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 fol|loweth: 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 ex|change 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 him|self 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 pre|serve 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 coun|try, 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 them|selves to the heart, and, with their own hands,

[figure]

[figure]

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 submis|sive 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 bring|ing 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 com|mand,

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 enter|tainment 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 Es|peranca, 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 be|fore. At which time, by six o'clock in the morning, we espied the promontory or head|land called the Cabo de Buena Esperanca, which is a pretty high-land; and at the westernmost point, a little off the main, appear two hum|mocks,

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, hav|ing 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 dis|tant 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 plant|ed a garden, wherein grow great store of pom|pions 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 plea|sant, and planted in every place, either with fruit or with herbs.

There are fig-trees which bear fruit continual|ly 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 rea|son 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 in|to 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 to|gether; 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 big|ness 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 hang|ing 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 big|ness; 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 Ca|licut 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, ex|cept some very few sick persons of their com|pany, whom they suspect will not live until they come home; these they leave there to refresh themselves, and take them away the year follow|ing, 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 to|wards 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 Equi|noctial 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, stand|ing thirty nine degrees thirty minutes; and sail|ed 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 tem|pest, which carried away most part of our sails, by the merciful favour of the Almighty, we re|covered 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 him|self 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 for|tune 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 gen|tleman 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 ne|groes. The master of this bark brought us to an isle called Placentia, thirty leagues west from Cape Frio, where we arrived the 5th of Decem|ber, 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 De|sire 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 expedi|tion, 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 Ca|vendish desired to take this town, was to supply his great wants; and, having it now in quiet possession, we stood in assurance of having pro|visions 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 con|clusion, 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 di|rection what course to take in any such extre|mities, though many times he had entreated for it, as often I have heard him with grief re|port. 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 Lei|cester 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 di|vers 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 Lei|cester, we found them faithful, honest, and re|solute 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 ex|treme storms, with perpetual snow, where ma|ny 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 Lei|cester 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 de|gree of misery. Mr. Cavendish all the while being on board the Desire. In these great extre|mities of snow and cold, doubting what the end would be, he asked our captain's opinion, be|cause he was a man that had good experience of the north-west parts, in his three several dis|coveries 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 there|by 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 de|part 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 for|ty leagues of the South Sea, it grieved them now to return: notwithstanding, whatever he ordered, that they would perform. So he con|cluded 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 des|perate 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 Ma|gellan,

and to return again for Santos in Bra|zil.

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 sea|ward, having the wind at north-north-east, and we standing the same way, the wind not alter|ing, 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 Pin|nace,

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 De|sire, where not finding our General as we hop|ed, 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 Provi|dence, 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 pre|served our ships victuals, and spent not any during the time of our abode here.

Our Captain and Master, considering our abi|lity 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. Where|upon 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 deter|mination, they utterly misliked it, and, in se|cret, dealt with the company of both ships, ve|hemently 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 mur|derous fellows were found out, whose names were Charles Parker and Edward Smith.

The Captain, being thus hardly beset, in pe|ril 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 vow|ed faith in this action, was the cause why he purposed to go unto him in the pinnace, consi|dering 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 blas|phemously to behave themselves, without regard and thanksgiving to God for their great delive|rance. 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 re|venge, even by the punishment of the Almigh|ty. Thus, by a general consent, it was con|cluded not to depart, but to stay there for the General's return. Then our Captain and Mas|ter, seeing that they could not do the General that service which they desired, made a motion to the company, that they would lay down un|der their hands the losing of the General, with the extremities wherein we then stood: where|unto

they consented, and wrote under their hands what followeth:

The Testimonial of the Company of the Desire, touching the losing of their General, which ap|peareth to have been utterly against their mean|ings.

"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 No|vember, we fell in with the bay of Salvador, in Brazil. The 16th of December we took the town of Santos, hoping there to revictual our|selves, 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 Ma|gellan. 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 vic|tuals, 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 Ge|neral 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 east|wards, 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, ly|ing

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 hav|ing 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 wea|ther; 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 pleas|ed 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 to|wards 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 be|stow 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 abun|dance 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 vic|tuals 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 keep|ing watch upon the hills to look for our Gene|ral; and so great was our vexation and anguish of soul, as I think never flesh and blood endured more. Our misery daily increasing, time pas|sing,

[figure]

[figure]

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 per|suaded that the General might, perhaps, go di|rectly for the straits, and not come to this har|bour: 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 consent|ed, as also the Captain and Master of the pinnace, so that upon this determination we made all pos|sible 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 de|parted 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 di|rected 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 sa|vages

there. Notwithstanding the extreme cold of this place, yet do all these people go naked, and live in the woods like satyrs, painted and dis|guised, 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 De|sire, 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 intercept|ing 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 rui|nous end.

The 4th of October, the storm growing be|yond 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 un|der 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 whe|ther 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 suc|cour. 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 into|lerable 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 re|ceived a present deliverance. The next day, being the 11th of October, we saw Cape De|seado, 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 over|setting of the ship; and, besides, to our utter dis|comfort, 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 some|what 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 be|fore 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 la|mentable 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 outra|geous, our men could scarcely stand by their la|bour; 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 con|clude, 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 fa|thoms. While our boat was on shore, and we had great store of penguins, there arose a sud|den storm, so that our ship did drive over a breach, and our boat sunk at the shore. Cap|tain 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 re|covered 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 har|bour. Our master, at our last being here, hav|ing 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 re|mained 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, Pur|pet, 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) al|though 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 tar|gets: 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 multi|tude of savages to the ship, throwing dust in the air, leaping and running like brute beasts, hav|ing 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 pre|sently 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 har|bour, 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 re|turn 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 re|stored 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 lay|ing 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 ex|pert in the set of those tides, which run after ma|ny 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 allow|ance 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 wa|ter for four men a-day. This was our allow|ance;

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 sun|rising, 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 remain|ed 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 la|boured upon the sails and ship, every man tra|vailing 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 Fe|bruary, 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 slaugh|ter: 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 cor|ner, out of sight of the ship, there came a mul|titude 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 mas|sacre.

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 ruin|ous. 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 ano|ther, and recounting over all our extremities, no|thing 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 loath|some 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 nei|ther stand, 〈◊〉〈◊〉, nor go; whereupon our men grew big with grief. Our Captain, with ex|treme 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 re|stored to our country, to whom be all honour and glory world within end."

We have already observed, that the above re|lation 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 com|plete account of the proceedings of any one of the ships engaged in this second expedition of Cavendish, from her first setting out till her re|turn 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 en|deavour to shew, in pursuance of our plan of tracing the great out-lines of the lives of our celebrated circum-navigators, from their first en|tering 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 com|pany of ungovernable sailors, not under that subordination, which regular discipline always establishes to officers properly commissioned, he will then be prepared to determine, whether Ca|vendish 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 unavoid|able 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 E|quator, 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 dis|tress for want of provisions, and yet the oppor|tunity was suffered to pass without obtaining any effectual relief; and that this distress is not ag|gravated by the writer of the above voyage, ap|pears from the testimony of Knivet, in Purchas's Pilgrams, who says,

"that here they had such disorders among themselves, that if the Por|tuguese 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 pro|ceeding into the South Seas by the straits of Ma|gellan 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 there|fore 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 consulta|tion, 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 south|ward 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 rea|son 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 Tris|triam 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 ad|verseness of our fortune, that in coming thi|ther we spent the summer, and found in the straits the beginning of a most extreme win|ter, 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 deter|mine 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 Chris|tians 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 sum|mer before. Here twenty-five of his men, get|ting 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, Caven|dish 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 agree|able to the expectations of Davis, to have re|turned to the straits of Magellan, and to have proceeded to the South Seas, in prosecution of his first design. But there seemed a fatality at|tending 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 Spi|rito 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 complain|ed of from their first arrival on the coast of Bra|zil 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 mea|sure to live upon sea-weeds, muscles, periwin|cles, 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 com|plains, 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 unfortu|nate life. But God suffered not such happi|ness 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 under|gone, and in which the major part of their companions were suffered to perish without pity,

and to languish without relief: for, if we may be|lieve 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 mise|rable 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, com|manded by Captain Cotton, who went a volun|teer, and whose ship, having parted company on her first arrival on the coast of Brazil, instead of pursuing her voyage to the South Seas, re|turned back to England with very little da|mage.

The Roebuck, in which sailed from Ply|mouth 170 brave seamen, after stealing away from the General in the night, as already re|lated, was never more heard of; the Black Pin|nace 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 ex|ploits 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 wor|thy 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."