The history of trauayle in the VVest and East Indies, and other countreys lying eyther way, towardes the fruitfull and ryche Moluccaes As Moscouia, Persia, Arabia, Syria, Ægypte, Ethiopia, Guinea, China in Cathayo, and Giapan: vvith a discourse of the Northwest passage. Gathered in parte, and done into Englyshe by Richarde Eden. Newly set in order, augmented, and finished by Richarde VVilles.

For .M. Captayne Furbishers passage by the Northwest. To the ryght honourable and vertuous Ladie, the Lady Anne, Countesse of VVarwyke.

FOure famous wayes there be spoken of to those fruitfull and wealthie Ilandes, we doe vsually call Moluccaes, continually haunted for gayne, and dayly traueyled for ryches therein growyng. These Ilandes although they stand East from our Meridian, distant almost halfe the length of the world, in ex∣treame heate, vnder the Equinoctial lyne, possessed of Infidelles and Barbares: yet by our neyghbours great aboundaunce of wealth there is paynefully sought, in respect of the voyage deere∣ly bought, and from thence daungerously brought home vnto vs. Our neyghbours I call the Portugalles in comparison of the Molucchians for neerenesse vnto vs, for lyke situation west∣warde as we haue, for theyr vsuall trade with vs, for that the farre South asterlynges doe know this parte of Europe by no other name then Portugall, not greatly acquaynted as yet with the o∣ther nations thereof. Theyr voyage is well vnderstoode of all men,* 1.1 and the Southeasterne way rounde about Affrike by the cape of Good hope, more spoken of, better knowen & traueyled than that it may seeme needefull to discourse thereof any further.

The seconde way lyeth Southwest, betwyxt the West In∣die or South America,* 1.2 and the South continent, through that narrow streicte where Magellanus first of all men that euer wee doe reade of, passed these later yeeres, leauyng therevnto therfore his name. This way no doubt the Spanyardes would commo∣dio••sly take, for that it lyeth neare vnto their dominions there, could the Easterne currant and leuant wyndes as easily suffer them to returne, as speedily therewith they may be carryed thy∣ther: for the which difficultie or rather impossibilitie of striuing agaynst the force both of wynde and streame, this passage is li∣tle or nothyng vsed, although it be very well knowen.

The thyrd way by the Northeast, beyonde all Europe and Asie,* 1.3 that woorthie and renowmed knight sir Hugh Willoughby

sought to his perill, enforced there to ende his lyfe for colde, con∣gealed and frosen to death. And truely this way consisteth rather in the imagination of Geographers, than allowable either in rea∣son, or approued by experience, as wel it may appeare by the dan∣gerous trending of the Scythish Cape set by Ortelius vnder the eight degree North,* 1.4 by the vnlykely saylyng in that Northerne sea alwayes cladde with Yse and Snow, or at the least continu∣ally pestred therewith, if happely it be at any tyme dissolued: be∣sydes bayes & shelfes, the water waxyng more shallow towardes the East, that we say nothyng of the foule mystes and darke fogs in the colde clime, of the litle power of the Sunne to cleare the ayre, of the vncomfortable nyghtes, so neare the Pole, fyue mo∣nethes long.

A fourth way to goe vnto these aforesayde happy Ilandes Moluccae, Syr Humfrey Gilberte, a learned and valiant Knyght,* 1.5 discourseth of at large in his new passage to Cathayo, and was at∣tempted the last yeere by your Ho. seruaunt. M Cap. Furbisher, presently takyng vpon him with his company fully to discouer the same, and is now, if I be not deceyued, ready for his voyage. The enterpryse of it selfe beyng vertuous, the facte must doubt∣lesse deserue hygh prayse, and whansoeuer it shall be finished, the fruites thereof can not be small: where vertue is guyde, there is fame a folower, and fortune a Companion. But the way is dan∣gerous, the passage doubtfull, the voyage not throughly knowen, and therfore gaynesayde by many, after this maner.

Fyrst,* 1.6 who can assure vs of any passage rather by the North∣west, than by the Northeast? doe not both wayes lye in equall distance from the North pole? stande not the North capes of eyther continent vnder lyke eleuation? Is not the Ocean sea be∣yonde America farther distant from our Meridian by .30. or .40. degrees West, than the extreame pointes of Cathayo Eastward, if Ortelius generall Carde of the world be true?* 1.7 In the Northeast that noble Knyght sir Hugh Willoughby perished for colde: and can you than promyse a passenger any better hap by the North∣west? who hath gone for triall sake, at any tyme, this way out of Europe to Cathayo?

If you seeke the aduyse heerein of such as make profession in Cosmographie, Ptolome, the father of Geographie,* 1.8 and his el∣dest

children, will answere by theyr Mappes with a negatiue, concludyng moste of the sea within the land, and makyng an end of the world northward, neare the .36. degree. The same opinion, whan learnyng chiefly florished, was receiued in the Romanes tyme, as by their Poetes wrytynges it may appeare: Et te colet vltima Thule, sayd Virgile, being of opinion, that Iseland was the extreme parte of the world habitable towarde the North. Ioseph Moletius an Italian, and Mercator a Germane, for knowledge men able to be compared with the best Geographers of our time, the one in his halfe Spheares of the whole worlde, the other in some of his great Globes, haue continued the West Indishe lande, euen to the North Pole, and consequently, cut of all pas∣sage by sea that way.

The same Doctors, Mercator in other of his Globes and Mappes, Moletius in his sea carde, neuerthelesse doubting of so great continuance of the former continent, haue opened a goulph betwixt the West Indies and the extreme northerne lande: but suche a one, that ether is not to be traueyled for the causes in the first Obiection alleaged, or cleane shut vp from vs in Europe by Groenland: the South ende whereof Moletius maketh firme lande with America, the north parte continent with Lapponlande and Norway.

Thyrdly, the greatest fauourers of this voyage, can not deny but that if any such passage be,* 1.9 it lyeth subiect vnto Yse and snow for the most parte of the yeere, whereas it standeth in the edge of the frostie zone. Before the Sunne hath warmed the ayre, and dissolued the Yse, eche one well knoweth that there can bee no saylyng: the Yse once broken through the continuall abode, the Sunne maketh a certayne season in those partes: how shall it be possible for so weake a vessell as a shyppe is, to holde out amyd whole Ilandes, as it were, of Yse continually beatyng on eche syde, and at the mouth of that goulphe, issuyng downe fu∣riously from the North, safely to passe, whan whole mountaynes of Yse and Snow shalbe tombled downe vpon her.

* 1.10Wel, graunt the west Indies not to continue continent vnto the Pole, graunt there be a passage betwyxt these two landes, let the goulph lye neare vs than commonly in cardes we fynde it set, namely, betwyxt the .61. & .64. degrees north, as Gemma Frisius in

his Mappes and Globes imagineth it, and so left by our coun∣triman Sebastian Cabote, in his table, the which my good Lorde your father hath at Cheynies, and so tryed this last yeere by your Honours seruaunt as hee reported, and his carde and compasse doe witnesse. Let the way bee voyde of all difficulties, yet doeth it not folowe that we haue free passage to Cathayo. For ex∣amples sake. You may trende all Norway, Finmarke, and Lappon∣lande, and than bow Southwarde to sainct Nicolas in Mosco∣uia: you may lykewyse in the Mediterranean sea fetche Constan∣tinople, and the mouth of Tanais: yet is there no passage by sea through Moscouia, into Pont Euxine, now called Mare Mag∣giore. Agayne, in the aforesayde Mediterranean sea, we sayle to Alexandria in Egypt, the Barbares bryng theyr pearle and spices from the Moluccaes vp the read sea and Arabian goulph to Sues, scarsely three dayes iourney from the aforesayde ha∣uen: yet haue we no way by sea, from Alexandria to the Mo∣luccaes, for that Isthmos or litle streicte of lande betwyxt the two seas. In lyke maner, although the northerne passage bee free at .61. degrees latitude, and the West Ocean beyonde America, vsually called Mar del zur, knowen to be open at .40. degrees eleuation, for the Ilande Giapan, yea .300. leagues nor∣therly aboue Giapan: yet may there bee lande to hynder the through passage that way by sea, as in the examples afore∣sayde it falleth out, Asia and America there beyng ioyned togeather in one continent. Ne can this opinion seeme alto∣geather friuolous vnto any one that diligently peruseth our Cosmographers doynges. Iosephus Moletius is of that mynde, not onely in his playne hemispheres of the worlde, but also in his sea carde. The French Geographers in lyke maner, bee of the same opinion, as by their Mappe cut out in fourme of a harte you may perceyue: as though the West Indyes were parte of Asie. Whiche sentence well agreeth with that olde conclusion in the scholes. Quidquid praeter Africam et Europam est, Asia est. Whatsoeuer land doeth neyther appertayne vnto Afrike nor to Europe, is parte of Asie.

* 1.11Furthermore it were to small purpose to make so long, so paynefull, so doubtfull a voyage by such a new founde way, if in Cathayo you should neyther be suffred to lande for silkes and sil∣uer, nor able to fetche the Molucca spices and pearle for piracye in those seas. Of a lawe denying all Aliens to enter into China, and forbiddyng all the inhabiters vnder a great penaltie to let in any stranger into that countreys, shall you reade in the report of Galeotto Perera there imprisoned with other Portugalles: as also in the Giaponyshe letters, howe for that cause the woorthie traueyler Xauierus bargayned with a Barbarian Marchaunt for a great sum of Pepper to be brought into Cantan, a porte in Ca∣thayo. The great and daungerous piracie vsed in that seas, no man can be ignorant of, that listeth to reade the Giaponishe and East Indian historie.

* 1.12Finally, all this great labour would bee lost, all these charges spent in vayne, if in the ende our traueylers myght not be able to returne agayne, and bryng safely home into theyr owne natyue countrey, that wealth and ryches, they in forreyne regions with aduenture of goodes, and daunger of theyr lyues, haue sought for. By the Northeast there is no way, the Southeast passage the Portugalles doe hold, as Lordes of that seas. At the Southwest Magellanus experience hath partly taught vs, and partly we are persuaded by reason, howe the Easterne currant stryketh so furi∣ously on that streicte, and falleth with such force into that narrow goulphe, that hardely any shyppe can returne that way, into our West Ocean, out of Mar del zur. The which, if it be true, as tru∣ly it is, than may we say, that the aforesayde Easterne currant or leuant course of waters continually folowyng after the heauenly motions, looseth not altogeather his force, but is doubled rather by an other currant from out the Northeast, in the passage be∣twyxt America and the North lande, whyther it is of necessitie carryed: hauyng none other way to maintaine it selfe in circular motion, and consequently the force and fury thereof to be no lesse in the streict of Ania••, where it striketh South into Mar del zur, beyond America (if any such streicte of sea there be) than in Ma∣gellane frete both streictes beyng of lyke breadth: as in Belog∣nine Zalterius table of new France, and in Don Diego Hermano di Toledo his carde for nauigation in that region we doe fynde pre∣cisely

set downe.

Neuerthelesse to approue that there lyeth a way to Cathayo at the Northwest, from out of Europe, we haue experyence, namely of three brethren that went that iourney, as Gemma Frisius recordeth, and left a name vnto that streicte, whereby nowe it is called Fretum trium Fratrum. We do reade againe of a Portugal that passed this streicte, of whom. M. Furbi∣sher speaketh, that was imprisoned therefore many yeeres in Lesbona, to veryfie the olde Spanyshe prouerbe, I suffer for do∣yng wel. Likewise An. Vrdaneta a fryer of Mexico came out of Mar del zur this way into Germanie: his Carde, for he was a great discouerer, made by his owne experience and trauayle in that voyage, hath been seene by gentelmen of good credite.

Now yf the obseruation and remembrance of thyngs breedeth experience, and of experience proceedeth art, and the certeine knowledge we haue in al faculties, as y^e best Philosophers that euer were do affyrme:* 1.13 truly the voyage of these aforesayd trauail∣lers that haue gone out of Europe into Mar del zur, and retur∣ned thence at the Northwest, doo moste euidently conclude that way to be nauigable, and that passage free. So much the more we are so to thynke, for that the fyrste principle and chiefe grounde in all Geographie, as great Ptolome sayth, is the histo∣rie of trauel, that is,* 1.14 reportes made by trauaylers skylfull in Ge∣ometrie & Astronomie, of al suche thinges in their iourney as to Geographie do belong. It only then remaineth, that we now an∣sweare to those argumentes that seemed to make against this former conclusion.

The fyrste obiection is of no force, that generall table of the worlde set foorth by Ortelius or Mercator, for it greatly skil∣leth not, being vnskylfully drawen for that poynt:* 1.15 as manifest∣ly it may appeare vnto any one that conferreth the same wi••h Gemma Frisius vniuersal mappe, with his round quartered carde▪ with his globe, with Sobastian Cabota his table, and Ortelius ge∣nerall Mappe alone, worthily preferred in this case before all Mercator and Ortelius other doinges: for that Cabota was not only a skilful sea man, but a long trauailer, & such a one as entred personally that streicte, sent by king Henry the seuenth to make this aforesayd discouery, as in his owne discourse of nauigation

you may reade in his carde drawen with his owne hande, the mouth of the northwesterne streict lieth neare the .318. Meridian, betwixt .61. and .64. degrees in eleuation, continuyng the same breadth about .10 degrees west, where it openeth southerly more and more, vntyll it come vnder the tropike of Cancer, and so runneth into Mar del zur, at the least .18. degrees more in breadth there, then it was where it fyrst began: otherwyse I coulde as well imagine this passage to be more vnlykely then the voyage to Moscouia, and more impossible then it for the farre situation and continuance thereof in y^e frosty clime: as nowe I can affyrme it to be very possible and most lykely in compa∣rison thereof, for that it nether coasteth so farre north as the Moscouian passage doth, nether is this streicte so long as that, before it bowe downe southerly towardes the Sonne agayne. The seconde argument concludeth nothing.* 1.16 Ptoleme knewe not what was aboue .16. degrees south beyonde the equinoctiall lyne, he was ignorant of all passages northwarde from the eleua∣tion of .63. he knewe no Ocean sea beyonde Asia, yet haue the Portugalles trended y^e Cape of good hope at the south poynte of Afrike, and trauayled to Giapan an Ilande in the east Ocean, betwixt Asia & America: our marchants in y^e time of king Edward the syxt discouered the Moscouian passage farther north then Thule, and shewed Groenlande not to be continent with Lappon∣lande, and Norway: the lyke our northwesterne trauaylers haue done, declaryng, by theyr nauigation that way, the ignorance of all Cosmographers that ether do ioyne Groenlande with Ameri∣ca, or continue the west Indies with that frosty region vnder the north pole. As for Virgil he sange accordingly to y^e knowledge of men in his time, as an other Poete dyd of the hotte Zone.

Quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu. Imaginyng, as most men then dyd,* 1.17 Zonam torridam, the hot Zone, to be altogeather dishabited for heat, though presently we knowe ma∣ny famous and worthy kingdomes and cities in that part of the earth, and the Iland of saint Thomas neare Aethiopia, and the welthy Ilands for the which chiefly al these voyages are taken in hande, to be inhabited euen vnder the equinoctial lyne. To answere the third obiection,* 1.18 besides Cabota & al other trauay∣lers nauigations, y^e only creadit of. M. Furbisher may suffise, who

lately through al these Ilands of Ise, and mountaines of snowe, passed that way, euen beyond the gulphe that tumbleth downe from the North, and in some places though he drewe one ynche thick Ise, as he returning in August dyd, came home safelye agayne.

The fourth argument is altogeather friuolous & vayne,* 1.19 for neyther is there any isthmos or streict of land betwixt America and Asia, ne can these two landes ioyntly be one continent. The fyrst part of my answere is manifestly allowed of by Homer,* 1.20 whom that excellent Geographer Strabo foloweth, yeldyng hym in this facultie the prise. The aucthour of that booke lykewyse 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to Alexander, attributed vnto Aristotle, is of y^e same opinion, that Homer and Strabo be of, in two or three places. Dionisius in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 hath this verse.* 1.21 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. So dooth the Ocean sea runne rounde about the worlde: speakyng only of Europe, Africke, and Asie, as then Asie was trauayled & knowen. With these Doctoures may you ioyne Pomponius Mela, Cap. 2. lib. 1. Plinius lib. 2. Cap. 67. and Pius. 2. Cap. 2. in his description of Asie. All the whiche writers do no lesse confirme the whole Easterne side of Asie to be compassed about with sea, then Plato doth affirme in Timaeo, vnder the name Atlantide, the West Indies to be an Ilande, as in a speciall discourse thereof. R. Eden writeth, agreable vnto the sentence of Proclus, Marsilius Fi••inus, and others. Out of Plato it is gathered that America is an Ilande. Homer, Strabo, Aristotle, Dionisius, Mela, Plinie, Pius 2. affirme the continent of Asie, Afrike, and Europe, to be enuironned with the Ocean. I may therefore boldly say, though later intelligences therof had we none at all, that Asie and the West Indies, be not tied togeather by any isthmos or streict of land, contrary to the opinion of some new Cosmographers, by whom doubtfully this matter hath been brought in controuersie. And thus muche for the first part of my aunswere vnto the fourth obiection.

The second part,* 1.22 namely that America & Asie cannot be one continent, may thus be prooued. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The most riuers take downe that way their course, where the earth is most holowe & deepe,

wryteth Aristotle: and the sea, sayth he in the same place, as it goeth farther, so is it founde deeper. Into what goulphe do the Moscouian ryuers Onega, Duina, Oby, and Rha, powre out their streames? Northwarde out of Moscouia into the sea. Whi∣che way dooth that sea stryke? The South is mayne lande, the Easterne coast waxeth more and more shalowe: from the North, ether naturally, because that part of the earth is higher Aristot. 2. met. c. 1. or of necessitie, for that the forcible influence of some Northerne Starres causeth the earth there to shake of the sea, as some Philosophers do thynke: or finally for the great store of waters engendred in that frostie and cold clyme, that the banckes are not able to holde them. Alber. in 2. Meteo. Cap. 6. From the North I say, contynually falleth downe great abun∣daunce of water. So that this Northeasterne currant must at the length abruptly ••owe toward vs South on the West syde of Fynmarke and Norwaye: or els stryke downe Southwest aboue Groneland, or betwixt Groneland and Iseland, into the Northwest streict we speake of, as of congruence it doth, yf you marke the situation of that region, and by the report of M. Furbisher, ex∣perience teacheth vs. And M. Furbisher the further he trauay∣led in the former passage, as he tolde me, the deeper alwayes he founde sea. Lay you now the sum hereof togeather. The riuers runne where the Chanels are most hollow, the sea in taking his course waxeth deeper, the sea waters fall continuallye from the North Southward, the Northeasterne currant striketh downe into the streict we speake of, & is there augmented with whole mountains of ise & snow, falling downe furiously out from y^e land vnder y^e North Pole. Where store of water is, there is it a thing impossible to want sea,* 1.23 where sea not only doth not want, but waxeth deeper, ther can be discouered no land. Finally, whence I pray you came the contrary tyde, that M. Furbisher met withal after that he had sayled no small way in that passage, if there be any isthmos or streict of land betwixt the aforesaid Northwest∣sterne gulfe and Mar del Zur, to ioyne Asia and America togea∣ther? That conclusion frequented in scholes Quidquid preter &c. was ment of the partes of the worlde then knowen, and so is it of ryght to be vnderstoode.

* 1.24The fifte obiection requireth for answere, wysedome, and po∣licie,

in the trauailer, to wyn the Barbares fauour by some good meanes: and so to arme & strengthen him selfe, that when he shal haue the repulse in one coast, he may safely trauaile to an other, commodiously taking his conuenient times, & discretly making choyse of them with whom he wyl throughly deale. To force a violent entrie, would for vs Englishe men be very hard, consy∣deryng the strength and valeour of so great a nation, farre di∣staunt from vs, and the attempt thereof myght bee most peril∣lous vnto the doers, vnlesse theyr part were verye good. Tou∣chyng theyr lawes agaynst strangers, you shall reade ne∣uerthelesse in the same relations of Galeotto Berara, that the Ca∣thaian kyng is woont to graunt free accesse vnto all forreiners that trade into his countrey for marchandyse, and a place of ly∣bertie for them to remaine in: as the Mores had, vntyll such time as they had brought the Loutea or Lieuetenaunt of that coaste to be a circumcised Saracene: wherefore some of them were put to the sworde, the rest were scattred abrode: at Fuquien, a great citie in China, certayne of them are yet this day to be seen. As for the Giapans, they be most desyrous to be acquaynted with strangers. The Portugals though they were straightly hand∣led there at the fyrst, yet in the ende they founde great fauoure at the prince his hands, insomuch that the Loutea or president that misused them, was therefore put to death. The rude Indish Ca∣noa halleth that seas, the Portugalles, the Saracenes, & Mores traueil continually vp & downe that reache from Giapan to Chi∣na, from China to Malacca, from Malacca to the Moluccaes: and shal an Englishmā, better appointed then any of them al (that I say no more of our nauie) feare to saile in that Ocean? What seas at al doo want piracie? what nauigation is there voyde of peril? To the last argument. Our traueylers neede not to seeke their returne by the northeast, ne shall they be constrayned,* 1.25 except they lyst, ether to attempte Magellane streicte at the South∣west, or to be in daunger of the Portugalles for the Southeast: they may returne by the northwest, that same way they do go foorth, as experience hath shewed. The reason alleaged for proofe of the contrary, may be disproued after this maner. And fyrst, it may be called in controuersie, whether any currant con∣tinually be forced by the motion of Primum mobile, rounde about

the worlde, or no? for learned men do diuersely handle that que∣stion. The naturall course of all waters is downewarde, wher∣fore of congruence they fall that way where they fynde the earth most lowe and deepe: in respecte whereof, it was erst sayde, the seas to strike from the Northren landes Southerly. Uiolently the seas are tossed and troubled diuerse wayes with the wyndes,* 1.26 encreased and diminished by the course of the Moone, hoysed vp and downe through the sundrye operations of the Sonne and the Starres: finally some be of opinion, that the seas be car∣ried in part violently about y^e world after the daily motion of the highest mouable heauen, in lyke maner as y^e elementes of ayre and fyre, with the rest of the heauenly spheres are, from the east vnto the west. And this they do call theyr easterne currant, or leuant streame.* 1.27 Some suche currant may not be denied to be of great force in the hote Zone, for the nearenes thereof vnto the centre of the Sonne and blustryng easterne wyndes violently dryuing the seas westwarde: howbeit in the temperate climes, the Sonne beyng farther of, and the wyndes more diuerse, blowyng as muche from the north, the west, and south, as from the east, this rule doth not effectually withholde vs from trauey∣lyng eastwarde, ne be we kepte euer backe by the aforesayde Leuante wyndes and streame. But in Magellane streict we are violently driuen backe westwarde: Ergo through the North∣westerne streicte or Anian fret shall we not be able to returne eastwarde? it foloweth not. The fyrst, for that the northwesterne streict hath more sea rome at the least by one hundred Englyshe myles, then Magellane fret hath, the onely want wherof causeth all narrowe passages generally to be most violent. So woulde I say in Anian gulfe, if it were so narrowe as Don Diego and Zalterius haue paynted it out, any returne that way to be ful of difficulties, in respect of such streictnes therof, not for the neare∣nes of the Sonne, or easterne wyndes, violently forceing that way any leuant streame. But in that place there is more sea rome by many degrees, if the cardes of Cabota, and Gemma Fri∣sius, and that whiche Tramezine imprinted, be true. And hytherto reason see I none at all, but that I may as well geue credyt vnto theyr doynges, as to any of the rest. It must be Peregrinationis historia, that is, true reportes of skilful trauailers,

as Ptolome writeth, that in suche controuersies of Geographie must put vs out of double. Ortelius in his vniuersall tables,* 1.28 in his particuler Mappes of the west Indies, of all Asia, of the northren kyngdomes, of the easte Indies, Mercator in some of his globes, and generall mappes of the worlde, Moletius in his vniuersall table of the Globe diuided, in his sea carde, and particuler tables of the East Indies, Zalterius, and Don Di∣ego, with Fernando Bertely, and others, do so much dyffer both from Gemma Frisius and Cabota, among them selues, & in diuers places from them selues, concerning the diuers situation and sun∣drye limittes of America, that one may not so rashly, as truelye surmise, these men either to be ignorant in those pointes touching the aforesayd region, or that the mappes they haue geuen out vn∣to the world, were collected only by them, & neuer of their owne drawyng. M. Furbishers prosperous voyage, and happie re∣turne, wyl absolutely decide these controuersies, and certaynely determine where the whole passage lieth, how long it is, what breadth it carieth, how perilous, how prosperous the iorney is, and what commodities the paynfull trauayler can reape therby, what gaine the venterous marchant may looke for, what wealth, what honour, what fame wyll to our Englyshe nation thereof ensue.

Thus muche, right honorable, my verye good Lady, of your question concernyng your seruantes voyage. If not so skylfully as I would, and was desirous fully to do, at the least as I could, & leasure suffered me, for the litle knowledge God hath lent me, yf it be any at all, in Cosmographie and Philosophie, and the small experience I haue in trauaile. Chosing rather in the cleare iudgement of your Ho. mynde to appeare rude and igno∣rant, and so to be seene vnto the multitude, then to be founde vnthankefull and carelesse in any thing your Ho. shoulde commaunde me. God preserue your Honour. At the Court the .xx. of Marche.

Your Ho. most humbly at commaundement. Richard Willes.

Notes

• * 1.1

  1. By the south∣east.
• * 1.2

  2. By the south∣west.
• * 1.3

  3. By the north∣east.
• * 1.4

  Ortel. tab. Asiae. 3.
• * 1.5

  4. By the Northwest.
• * 1.6

  Ob. 1.
• * 1.7

  In Theatro.
• * 1.8

  Ob. 2.
• * 1.9

  Ob. 3.
• * 1.10

  Ob. 4.
• * 1.11

  5. Ob.
• * 1.12

  Ob. 6.
• * 1.13

  Cic. i. de orat. Arist. pri. Metaph.
• * 1.14

  Lib. i. Geog. Cap. 2.
• * 1.15

  Sol. i.
• * 1.16

  Sol. 2.
• * 1.17

  Oued. 1. Meta.
• * 1.18

  Sol. 3.
• * 1.19

  Sol. 4.
• * 1.20

  Lib. Geog.
• * 1.21

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.22

  Lib. 2. Meteor. Cap. 1.
• * 1.23

  Plin. lib. 2. Cap. 67.
• * 1.24

  Sol. 5.
• * 1.25

  Sol. 6.
• * 1.26

  Luc. lib. 1. Pharsal.
• * 1.27

  VVhat the easterne cur∣rant is.
• * 1.28

  Lib. 1. Geog. Cap. 2.