ABSTRACT
IN the former Chapter I have, according to my usual scantling, 11 given a sufficient account of the Fortunate Acquisitions of the Spaniards, and now think my self in justice obliged to let my Countrymen know what Adventurous Voyages, and extream dangers some of our brave English Spirits have surmounted in their Discoveries of this New World; wherein I shall follow the Sun, beginning first Northward, and so proceed toward, and beyond the Equinoctial.
In which number, Sir Sebastian Cabot ought to be first mentioned, born and living in England, though a Venetian Gentleman by Extraction, who in 1496 at the charge of Henry the 7th King of England, set one with two Carravels, for discovering a Northwest Passage to Cathay and the East Indies, according to design which Columbus had first suggested to him; in pursuit whereof, he is reported to have sailed to 67 Degrees of Northern Latitude, upon the Coast of America, and finding Land, called it Prima Vista; the Inhabitants wore the Skins of Beasts, there were white Bears, and Stags far greater than ours, with great plenty of Seal and Sole fish, above a yard long, and such vast quantities of other Fish, that they sometimes staid the course of the Ship; the Bears caught these Fish with their Claws, and drawing them to Land, eat them; / he then discovered all along the Coast to Florida, and afterward returned, at which time strong preparations being making for Wars with Scotland, this design was wholly laid aside to the great prejudice of the English Nation, who in all probability might have made themselves Quarter-masters, at least with the Spaniards, in the wealthiest Parts and Provinces of America, if the business had been well followed. Sir Sebastian himself went immediately to Spain, and was imployed by that King in discovering the Coasts of Brasil, and though he afterward returned again to England in 1549, and was honoured by King Edward the Sixth, with the Title of Grand Pilot of England, and the yearly Pension of an hundred and sixty Pound, yet his design was never effectually revived.
Sir Martin Frobisher, justly deserves the second place, who in the reign of Queen Elizabeth made three several voyages to discover the North-west Passage.43 June 15. 1576 he sailed from Blackwall, and July 7 had sight of Frizeland, but could not get ashoar, because of the abundance of Ice, and an extream Fog. July 20. he had sight of an High Land, which he named Queen Elizabeth Foreland, very full of Ice, but sailing further Northward, he descried another Foreland with a Great Bay, whereinto he entred, calling it Frobishers Streights, supposing it to divide Asia from America; Having sailed sixty Leagues, he went ashore, and was encountred with mighty Deer, who ran at him & indangered his Life. He had there a sight of the Savage Inhabitants, who rowed to his Ship in Boars of Seals Skins, they eat or rather devour raw Flesh and Fish, their hair was long and black, broad faces, flat noses, colour tawny or Olive, which neither Sun nor Wind, but nature it self imprinted on them, as appeared by their Infants, and seems to be the complexion of all the Americans; their clothing was Seals Skins, the women were painted on the Cheeks, and about the Eyes with blew streaks. These Savages intercepted 5 Englishmen and their Boat, they took also one of them, whom / they brought into England, where they arrived Oct. 2. 1576. having taken possession of the Country, in right of the Queen of England, every man of the company being commanded to bring home somewhat in witness thereof; one brought a piece of black stone like Seacoal, which was found to hold Gold in a good quantity.
Whereupon the next year a second voyage was made to bring home more of this Ore, and coming into these Streights in July 1577. they found them in a manner shut up with a long wall of Ice, which very much indangered their Ships. They found a Fish as big as a Porpice dead upon the Shoar twelve foot long, having a Horn of two yards growing out of the Snout, wreathed and streight like a wax tapor, & was thought to be a Sea Unicorn; It was broken on the top, wherein the Sailers affirmed they put Spiders which presently died. It was presented to the Queen at their return, and sent to Winsor to be reserved in the Wardrope for a curiosity. They went on Shoar, and had some skirmishes with the Inhabitants, who were so fierce and resolute, that finding themselves wounded, they leapt off the Rocks into the Sea rather than fall into the hands of the English, the rest fled, only one Woman and her Child they brought away, and another man, who seeing the Picture of his Countreyman in the Ship that was taken the year before, thought him to be alive, and was very angry that he would not speak to him, wondring how our People could make men live or die at their pleasure. It was very pleasant to observe the behaviour of the man and woman when they were brought together; who though put into the same Cabbin, shewed such signs of Chastity, and Modesty, as might justly shame Christians who come so far short of them; when these Savages would trade, their manner was to lay down somewhat of theirs and go their ways, expecting the English should lay down something in exchange; if they like the value when they come again, they take it, otherwise they take away only their own; they made / signs that their Catchoe or 44King was higher of stature than any of ours, and carried upon mens Shoulders. They could not hear what became of their five men taken the year before, only they found some of their Apparel, which made them judge the Savages had eaten them; Having laden their Ship with Oar, they returned.
The next year 1578. with fifteen sail another Voyage was made by Captain Frobisher for further discovery. He went on shoar June 20 on Frizeland, which is in length about 25 Leagues, in 57 degrees of Latitude, which he named West England,where they espied certain Tents and People like the former, who upon their approach fled; in the Tents they found a Box of small Nails, red Herrings, and boards of Fir-tree, with other things wrought very Artificially, so that they were either ingenious workmen themselves, or traded with others; some think this to be Friesland, and joined to Greenland. In going from hence one Ship called the Salamander sailing with a strong gale, struck with such violence upon the back of a Whale with her full stem that she stood still without motion, whereat the Whale made a hideous roaring, and lifting up his body and tail above water, sunk instantly to the bottom; Two days after they found a dead Whale, which was supposed the same. July 2. they entred the Strieghts, the mouth whereof of was barr’d with Mountains of Ice, wherewith a Bark was sunk, with part of a house they designed to erect there, the men were all saved, and the other Ships in much danger by the severity of the Ice, Fogs, and Snow. These Islands of Ice seem to be congealed in the winter further North in some Bays or Rivers, the waters thereof being fresh, and the Sun melting the tops of the Ice rills of fresh water run down, which meeting together make an indifferent Stream; these Rocks being by the summers Sun loosed and broken from their natural Scituation, are carried whither the swift Current and the outragious Winds drive them.
Some of these Icy Rocks or Islands are half a mile about, and fourscore fathoms above water, besides the / unknown depth beneath, the usual rule being,that only one part of seven is seen above water; strange is their multitude, more strange their deformed Shapes, but most strange, that instead of destroying, they sometimes save both men and Ships, suffering the mooring of Anchors, entertaining them with sports, as walking, leaping, shooting forty miles from Land without any Vessel or Ship under them, presenting them with running Streams of fresh water sufficient to drive a Mill. The People represent the Tartars in apparel and living. It is colder here in 62, than in ten degrees farther North, which happens from the cold North East Winds, which brings this sharp Air off the Ice; The Natives are excellent Archers, they wear the Skins of Deer, Bears, Foxes, Hares, and of Fowls sowed together; in the Summer the hary side outward, in the Winter inward, yet many go naked; they shoot Fish with their Darts, and kindle Fire by rubbing two sticks together; The Beasts, Fowls and Fishes they kill, are their Houses, Bedding, Meat, Drink, Hose, Shoes Apparel, Sails Boats, and indeed all their riches; they eat all things raw, yea Grass and Shrubs, and suck Ice to satisfy 45their thirst; there is no flesh or fish which they find dead, though never so filthy, but they will take it up and eat it, yet somtimes they parboil their meats in little kettles made of Beasts Skins, the bloud and water they drink, and lick the bloody Knife with their Tongues and use the same remedy for curing their wounds, that is, licking them only with their Tongues.
They have great plenty of Fowl, our men killing 15 hundred in one day; they have thicker Skins, and more Feathers than ours, which requires them to be flea’d before eaten; They have no hurtful creeping things but Spiders, and a Gnat, which is very troublesom, nor any Timber but what the undermining water brings from other places; They are great Magicians, and when their heads ake, they tie a great Stone with a string into a stick, and using certain Charms, the / Stone cannot be moved with all the force of a man, yet at other times seems as light as a Feather; they lie grovelling with their Faces on the Ground, making a noise as if they Worshiped the Devil under the Earth; they use great black Dogs like Wolves to draw their Sleds, and some of a lesser kind they feed upon. In the midst of Summer, they have Hail and Snow, sometimes a Foot thick, which Freezeth as it Falls, and the Ground is Frozen 3 Fathom deep, at which time the Sun is not absent above 3 hours and an half, during which it was so very light, that we could see to read. There are no Rivers or Running Springs, but what the Sun causes to come from the Snow. They Row in their Leather Boats faster with one Oar, than we can ours with all our Oars. They seem to have commerce with other Nations, from whom they have a small quantity of Iron.
In 1585. Mr. John Davis made his first Voyage for the Northwest Discovery, and in 54 Degrees, they went on Shore on an Island where they saw divers Savages, who seem’d to Worship the Sun, pointing up to it with their Hands, and therewith striking their Breasts, the English answering them with the same Actions, they took it for a confirmed League and Agreement between them, they then leaped and danced with a kind of Timbrel, which they struck with a stick, their Garments were the Skins of Birds and Beasts, they killed white Bears, one of whose Forefeet was fourteen Inches broad, and the Flesh so fat, they were forc’t to throw it away; by their dung they seem’d to seed on Grass, which was like Horse-dung, they heard tame Dogs howl on the Shore, for killing one he had a Collar about his Neck, he had a Bone in his Pizel [penis], and seem’d inured to the Sled, two of which they found.
Next year Captain Davis made a second Voyage, and found the Savage People very tractable; they are great Idolaters and Witches, having many Images which they carried about them, and in their Boats; they found a Grave wherein many were buried, and covered / with Seals Skins, with a Cross laid over them; they are very Thievish, eat raw Fish, Grass and Ice, and drink Salt Water; here they saw a Whirlwind take up a great quantity of Water, which mounted violently into the Air three hours together with little intermission; In 63 Degrees they 46met with a vast Mass of Ice in one piece, so very large, that it appeared like an Island, with Bays and Capes like a high Cliff Land, whereupon they sent their Pinnace to discover it, who found it to be only Ice, this was July 17. 1586. and they Coasted it till the 30th following. In 66 Degrees they found it very hot, and were much troubled with Musketto Flies; all the Coasts hereabout seemed broken Islands; then returning Southward, they Coasted Greenland, but were hindred from Harbour by the Ice, their Houses near the Seaside were made with pieces of Wood crossed over with Poles, and covered with Earth; our Men plaid at Football with the Islanders upon the Ice. Captain Davis his third Voyage was performed the next year 1587. wherein he discovered to 73 Degrees, finding the Sea all open, and forty Leagues between the Shore on each side, having Greenland on the East, and America on the West, near which was another Island, which for its dreadful aspect, being covered with Snow, without Wood, Earth, or Grass to be seen, and the terrible noise of the Ice, he named the Isle of Desolation, but the untimely death of Sir Francis Walsingham, hindred the further Prosecution of these Discoveries.
In 1602. Captain George Weymouth set forth with two Flyboats at the charge of the Muscovy Company, to find out the Northwest Passage, he saw the South part of Greenland, the Water in an 120 Fathom was black as puddle, and suddenly clear again; the breach of the Ice made a noise like Thunder, and indangered the overturning both their Vessels; they had thick Fogs and Mists, which Froze as they fell; in 68 Degrees, they met with an inlet, Forty Leagues broad, and sailed therein an hundred Leagues West and by South. /
In 1605 – Captain James Hall Sailed to Greenland and had the like Encounters of Ice, which made as much noise as five Cannons discharged at once; the People were like those mentioned by Frobisher, they make Sails of Guts sowed together, and deceive the Seals by taking them with their Seals Skin Garments the Countrey is high, Mountainous, and full of broken Islands along the Coasts, the Rivers are Navigable, and full of Fish, between the Mountains are such pleasant Plains and Valleys, as is hardly to be imagined in that cold Countrey. He saw store of Fowl, no Beasts but black Foxes and Deer. The Natives wander in Companies in Summer for Hunting and Fishing, removing from one place to another, with their Families, Tents, and Baggage, they are of a reasonable Stature, Brown, Active and Warlike, eat their Meat either raw or parboil’d with Blood,Oil, or a little Water which they drink; their Arrows have two Feathers, and a Bone Head, they have no Wood, but what the Sea drives ashore. In 1606. He made a second Voyage thither, and found their Winter Houses Built with Whalebones, and covered with Earth, with Vaults two yards deep, and square underground. The next year he sailed thither a third time, and in a fourth Voyage, 1612. was Slain by a Savage, in revenge as was thought of some of theirs formerly carried away from thence. They have Hares as white as Snow, Dogs that 47live on Fish, their Pizles, as of their Foxes, being Bone; their work in Summer is to dry their Fish on the Rocks. Every Man and Woman hath a Boat made of long pieces of Fir, covered with Seals Skins, and sowed with Sinews and Guts, about 20 Foot long, and two and an half broad, like a Weavers Shuttle, so light and swift, that no Ship with any Wind is able to hold way with them, and yet use but one Oar, which they hold by the middle in the midst of their Boat, wherewith they Row forward and backward at pleasure; they generally Worship the Sun, to which they pointed at the approach of the English, striking their Breasts and crying Ilyout, not / coming near till they had done the same; they bury their dead in their cloths on the tops of Hills in the midst of heaps of Stones, to preserve them from the Foxes, making another grave hard by wherein they place his Bow, Arrows, Darts, and other Utensils. The next year Mr. John Knight made a Northwest Voyage, losing his Ship, which was sunk in the Ice, and was with three more of his company surprized by the Savages.
About this time three of our Countrymen named Stephen Burrough, Mr. Pet. and Mr. Jackman, went toward the North-West touching upon the Northerly parts of Greenland, and sailed from 80 degrees to Nova Zembla; in one place they saw red Geese, and in another blue Ice, but at length loosing their Ship by the Ice, they were forced to set up an House to winter in the Isle of Desolation; they began their building about the 10 of September, the cold even then kissing his Newcome Tenants so eagerly, that when the Carpenter did but put a nail into his mouth, the Ice would hang thereon, and the bloud followed in plucking it out. In December their Fire could not heat them, their Sack was frozen, & they were forced to melt it, their Beer when thawed drunk like water; They endeavoured to remedy it with Sea-coal fire, as being hotter than wood, and stopped the Chimney and Doors to keep in the heat, when they instantly swounded away for want of Air; Their Shoes froze as hard as horns to their feet, and when they sate at the fire while they were almost burnt on the forepart, they were frozen white on their backs; The Snow rose higher than the House, which in clear weather they endeavoured to remove, cutting out steps, and ascending up as out of a Vault or Cellar; when neither Cloths nor great fires would keep out the cold, they were forced to heat Stones and apply them burning hot to their feet and bodys; in one night a barrel of water was turned into Ice; They saw no Sun from November 3. to Jan. 24. a long night of fifty two days; When the Sun had left them, they saw the Moon continually day and night never going / down, the twilight likewise remaining several days, and they saw some daylight sixteen days before the return of the Sun; The Bears who had held them beseiged, and often endangered them, forsook them with the returning Sun; these Bears are very large and cruel, some of their Skins being thirteen foot long, and yeilding an hundred pound of fat, which served them for Oyl in their Lamps; the flesh they durst not eat, some of them losing all their own skin by eating a Bears Liver; they devour any thing,48even their own kind; for having killed one with a Gun, another Bear carried it a great way over the Ice in his mouth, and then fell to eating it, whereupon making to him with their weapons, he fled, leaving his purchase half eaten, and four men could hardly carry the other half, when the whole body seemed to be very lightly carried by his fellow; The white Foxes continually visited them, of which they took many, whose flesh was good Venison to them, and their Skins in the linings of their Caps a comfortable remedy against the extream cold; they used Pattens of wood 12 with Sheepskins above, and many Socks and Soles under their feet, with shoes of Rug or Felt; Their Diet was very mean, but at length despairing of relief, they made them two open Scutes, 13 wherein they sailed above a Thousand miles after ten months continuance in this desolate Habitation, and though incompassed with a thousand dangers from the Ice which surrounded them like Tents, Towns, and Fortifications, yet at length happily returned to their own Country; However, no further progress was made till the English several years after made more profitable Discoveries, and found in Greenland (not far off) a very beneficial Trade of Whale-fishing, which continues to this time.
Now, though this Countrey is reckoned to be in Europe, and therefore out of our present survey, yet being so near adjacent, it may not be unpleasant to give a brief relation of an hunting spectacle, of the greatest chase which nature hath created; I mean, the killing / of Whales; when they spy him on the top of the water, to which he is often forced to get breath, they row toward him in a Shallop, wherein the Harponier stands ready to dart his harping Iron with both his hands, to which is fastened a line of such length, that the Whale finding himself wounded, and sinking to the bottom, may carry it down with him, it being contrived the Shallop shall incur no danger thereby; when he rises, they strike him again with Lances about twelve foot long, the Iron being eight therof, and the blade eighteen inches, the sharping Iron being chiefly intended only to fasten him to the Shallop, and thus they hold him in hot persuit, till after having cast up first Rivers of Water, and then of bloud, as being angry with both Elements, for suffering such weak hands to destroy him, he at length yields his stain Carcass a prey to the Conquerors; The Tragedy is thus exprest by the Poet. When the Whale felt his side so rudely goar’d, Loud as the Sea that nourisht him he roar’d. As a broad Bream to please some curious taste, While yet alive in boyling water cast. Vext with unwonted heat, boyls, flings about The Scorching brass, and hurls the liquor out; So with the barbed javeling stung, he raves, And courges with his tail the suffering waves. His fury doth the Seas with Billows fill, And makes a Tempest, though the winds be still, He Swims in bloud, and bloud do’s spouting throw 49To Heav’n, that Heav’n mens Cruelties might know, Roaring, he tears the Air with such a noise, As well resembles the conspiring voice, Of routed Armies when the Field is won, &c. 14
Being dead, they tow him to the Ship with two or three Shallops joined together, and then floating at the stern of the Ship, they cut the blubber or fat from the flesh in pieces three or four foot long, which are cut smaller ashore, and boiled in Coppers, which done, / they take them out, and put them into wicker Baskets, which are set in Shallops half full of water, into which the Oil runneth, and is thence put into Buts. The ordinary length of a Whale is sixty Foot, his brains are said to be the Sperma Caeti, his head is the third part of him, his mouth sixteen foot wide, the Whalebones or Finns are no other than the rough and inward part of the mouth, of which he hath five hundred, which close in the shutting thereof, like the fingers of both hands within each other; he hath a Trunk or breathing hole in his head; he hath no teeth but sucks his meat; his Tongue is monstrous great and deformed like a Woolsack, about eight Tun in Weight, part of which yeildeth eleven Hogsheads of Oyl; His food, (that nature might teach the greatest to be content with little, and that greatness may be maintained without rapine, as in the Elephant and Whale, the greatest of Land and Sea-Monsters) is grass and weeds of the Sea, and a kind of water-worm like a Beetle, whereof the Finns in his mouth hang full, and sometimes little birds, all which striking the Water with his Tail, and making a small Tide, he gapes and receives into his Mouth, neither is any thing else found in his Belly, as is affirmed by Eye-witnesses; this great Head hath little Eyes, not much unlike an Ox, and a little Throat not greater than for a Mans Fist to enter; with such huge Bones on each side, as suffer it not to stretch wider; his body is round, fourteen or sixteen Foot thick, his Genitals hang from him as in Beasts, in Generation they go into shallow Waters near the Shore, and in the Act join Bellies, (as is said of the Elephant) at which time much of their Sperm Floats on the Water, their Tail is like a Swallows, at least twenty Foot broad at the end, they have but one young one at a time, which is brought forth as in Beasts, about the bigness, but longer than an Hogshead; the Female Whale hath two Breasts, and Teats no bigger than a Mans Head, wherewith she Suckleth her young, of which she is very tender; one being killed, they could not get the young / one from the Dam; there hath been made twenty seven Tun of Oil out of one Whale.
But to return from this diversion; Captain Henry Hudson 15 in 1607. discovered farther North toward the Pole than perhaps any before him; he found himself in 80 Degrees, where they felt it hot, and drank Water to cool their Thirst, they judg’d they saw Land to 82 Degrees and farther; on the Shore they found Snow, Morses 16 Teeth, Deers Horns, Bones, and Whalebones, and the footing of other Beasts, with a stream of fresh Water; the next year 1608. he set forth on a Discovery to the North-east, at which time, as several of the Company solemnly 50affirmed, they saw a Mermaid in the Sea; he made another Voyage in 1609. and Coasted New-found land, and thence along to Cape Cod; his last and fatal Voyage was in 1610. being imployed by several Merchants, to try if through any of those Inlets which Captain Davis saw but durst not enter, there might be a passage found to the South Sea; Their Ship was called the Discovery, they passed by Iseland, and saw Mount Hecla cast out Fire, a certain Presage of foul Weather; they gave the name of Lousy Bay to one Harbour in Iseland, and found a Bath there hot enough to scald a Fowl. June 4. They saw Greenland, and after that Desolation Isle, and then plied North-west among the Islands of Ice; they ran, plaid, and filled sweet Water out of the Ponds that were upon them, some of them were aground in six or seven score Fathom Water, and on divers they saw Bears and Patridges; they gave names to certain Islands, as Gods Mercy, Prince Henrys Foreland, King James Cape, Queen Anns Cape. One Morning in a Fog they were carryed by a strong Tide into one of those Inlets, the depth whereof, and the plying forward of the Ice, gave Hudson great hope it would prove a thorough-fair.
After they had Sailed herein near 300 Leagues West, he came to a small Streight of two Leagues over, and very deep Water, through which he passed between / the two Capes, one of which he called Digges Island in 62 Degrees, into a spacious Sea, wherein he sailed above an hundred Leagues South, being now over-confident that he had found the Passage, but perceiving by the Shoal Water, that it was only a Bay, he was much surprised, committing many errors, especially in resolving to Winter in that desolate place, in such want of necessary Provisions. November 3. He moored his Ship in a small Cove, where they had all undoubtedly perished, but that it pleased God to send them several kinds of Fowl; they killed of white Patridges above an hundred and twenty Dozen, these left them in the Spring, and others succeeded as Swans, Geese, Teal, Ducks, all easy to take, besides the blessing of a Tree, which in December blossomed with green & yellow Leaves, of a smell like Spice, which being boiled yielded an Oily substance, that proved an excellent Salve, and the Decoction being drunk, an wholesom Potion for curing the Scurvy, Sciatica, Cramps, Convulsions, and other Diseases bred by the coldness of the Climate.
At the opening of the year there came to the side of his Ship such a multitude of fish of all sorts, that they might easily have fraught themselves for their return, if Hudson had not too desperately pursued his Voyage, neglecting this opportunity of storing themselves, which he committed to the care of certain careless dissolute Villains, who in his absence conspired against him; in few days all the fish forsook them; one time a Savage visited them who for a Knife, Glass, and Beads, gave them Bever and Deers Skin, with a Sled: At Hudsons return they set Sail for England, but in few dayes their Victuals being almost spent and he in despair, letting fall some words of setting some on shore, the Conspirators entered his Cabin in the night, and forced Hudson, his Son and six more, to go 51out of the ship into the Shallop and seek their Fortune, after which they were never heard of, but certainly perished in the Sea. In a few days the Victuals in the Ship being spent, they took 2 or 300 tame Fowls, and traded with the / Savages for Deer skins, Morse teeth and Furrs. One of their men went a shore, and found they lived in Tents, Men, Women, and Children, together; they were big-boned, broad faced, flat noosed and small feet like the Tartars, their Garments, Gloves, and Shoes were of Skins handsomely wrought; next morning Green, one of the principal Conspirators would needs go on shore, with divers others unarmed, the Savages lay in ambush, and at the first onset shot this mutinous Ringleader to the heart, and another as had who dyed swearing and cursing, the rest of these Traytors dyed a few days after of their wounds, Divine Justice finding executioners by these barbarous people. The Ship escaped narrowly, for one Abraham Prichard (a servant to Sir Dudley Diggs, whom the Mutineers had saved in hope he would procure their pardon from his Master) was left to keep the Vessel where he sate at the Stern in his Gown sick and lame, when the Leader of the Savages suddenly leapt from a Rock, and with a strange kind of weapon of Steel wounded him desperately before he could draw out a small Scotch Dagger from under his Gown, where with at one thrust into the side of the Savage he killed him, and brought off the Ship, and some of the wounded company Swimming to him, they hastned homeward without ever striking Sail, being so distrest for food, that they were forced to fry the weeds of the Sea with Candles ends to sustain their lives, Sept. 6. 1611. they met with a Fisherman of Foy in Cornwal, by whose means they came safe to England.
But above all, Sir Francis Drake, whose memory is most deservedly honoured of all men, ought to be recorded for his extraordinary Abilities, Experience and happy Conduct at Sea. This brave Seaman in the beginning of his Actions was Captain of the Judith with Sir John Hawkins, in the Voyage to Guiana 1567. where they received some considerable damage from the Spaniards in the Port of St. John de Vilua, contrary to their promise and agreement; and therefore / to repair himself, having first been assured by Divines, that his Cause was just, in 1572. he set out for America with two Ships and a Pinnace, one called the Dragon, wherein he himself was, and at his first attempt surprized Nombre de Dios, at that time one of the richest Towns in America; but in the Action, happening to receive a wound in one of his Feet, which disabled him, he was not able to command, nor gather that rich Spoil that lay even in sight before him; for his Company being too much discouraged with this disaster, carried him back to the Ships, even almost whether he would or no, leaving the Town, and an infinite Mass of Treasure behind them untouched, (to the great joy of the Spaniards,) a great part whereof they saw in the Governours House with their own Eyes, namely, huge. Bars of Silver lying round about the Hall, piled up a great height from the ground, ready to be transported to Spain; yet his Men forced him to 52put to Sea, so that this Voyage served only to whet his stomach to give them a second Visit with all speed.
Being somewhat recovered of his wounds, he falls with his Ships into the Sound of Darien, where he found a certain People called Symerons, which are for the most part Negro’s, and such as having been Slaves to the Spaniards, by reason of their cruelty and hard usage run away from them, and live in woods and wild places of the Countrey in great companies together like other Savages, hating the Spaniards deadly, and doing them what mischief they can upon all occasions; By these he got Intelligence that a Requa, as they call it, or a certain number of Mules, commonly 40 or 50 in a company laden with Treasure and other things was to pass in few dates from Panama in the South Sea to Nombre de Dios to be shipped from thence for Spain, which he therefore resolved, if it were possible, to surprize. These Requa’s do constantly Travel in the night, (by reason of the openness of the way, and the excessive heats in the day) from Panama to Ventacruz about six Leagues in the road to Nombre de Dios, neither had / they then any other Guard but only of those that drive them, and perhaps some Gentleman or Officer of the Kings to oversee the Treasure, by reason of their great security, having till then lived without any fear of an enemy upon that Coast, which made the design seem easy.
Having therefore engaged a sufficient number of these Symerons with no more than eighteen resolved men of his own, leaving the rest with the ships, they marcht by night over the strait of Darien, so called, as being that Neck of Land that joins the Northern and Southern part of America together, and is not above 20 mile over from Sea to Sea, though many Leagues long; They travelled undiscovered within a Leagues of Panama, and lodged themselves in a wood on each side the Road where the Mules were to pass, who at length came, so tyed one to another, as the manner is, that by stopping one, all the rest stand still. The Requa which was coming, belonged chiefly to the Treasurer of Lima, who with his daughter and Family were going for Spain, with 8 Mules laden with Gold, and one with Jewels, which doubtless had been all taken, had not one Robert Pike an Englishman prevented it, who being got drunk with Strong-waters, out of a vain ambition to be first in the action, stood up, and wearing his shirt uppermost, as they did all to distinguish each other in the night, was instantly descried by a Spanish Cavaleer, who rid somewhat before the rest, and turning his Horse, gave such speedy notice, that the chief part of the Treasure, with the Treasure himself, his Daughter and others, were saved by a timely retreat, and only some few of the foremost Mules taken, which though they had some Treasure, yet the English knowing how soon the Countrey would be alarm’d durst, scarce stay to ransack them, but taking a little of what came next to hand resolutely made their way through Venta Cruz, and so by woods and wild Forrests of the Countrey to the Ships which expected them in the Sound, yet had the good fortune to meet 53with a smaller Requa of / Mules laden with Silver and some Gold, which having better leisure to examine, they carried away as much as they were able to the Ships, burying the rest in the ground.
In 1577. Sr. Francis Drake made his Voyage about the World, in which to his immortal Fame and Honour he was the first Commander of note that incompassed this Globe of the Earth, and returned safe home again. For though Ferdinand Magellan had discovered the Streights which yet bear his name, and had gone far yet he lived not to return home, being slain at the Molucca Islands, while he was reducing them to the obedience of his new Master the King of Spain. This Voyage made Drake some amends from the Spaniards, takeing and rifling many Towns, and divers rich prizes at Sea, as at Valparaiso in the South Sea, where he took a Ship loaden with Wines, and as much of the finest Gold of Baldivia accounted the best as amounted to thirty seven Duckets of Spanish Money, besides Silver and other goods of value. At Tarapaca on the same Coasts, he met with thirteen bars of pure Silver valued at four Thousand Duckets, and after that with eight hundred Pound weight of Silver laden to Panama upon certain Sheep of America, as big as Asses, which they use for Burden. At Arica they rifled certain Barks and other small Vessels which they found in the Port, and took out of them, besides other Merchandise, fifty seven wedges of pure Silver, every one twenty pound weight, and amounting in all to one hundred and forty pound weight of Silver.
At Lima they enter the Haven, where they found twelve Ships moored fast at Anchor, their Sails taken off, and all the Mariners secure on shore, whereupon searching the Ships, they found, besides abundance of Silks, Linnen, and other rich Goods, one chest full of Ryals of Plate, which they did not think convenient to leave behind, and, which pleased them more, had there Intelligence of another Great Spanish Ship called the Cacafuego which was at Payta, laden with nothing / but treasure; this Ship had perceived them at Sea, and was making all the Sail she could for Pariama, but before she could recovor the Port, they persuing her very hard got sight of her about Cape Francisco, and after some short dispute board her, and make her yield. In this Ship they found thirteen great Chests full of Ryals of Plate, twenty six Tun of other Silver, fourscore pound weight of pure Gold, besides abundance of Jewels, precious Stones, and other rich Merchandize, all which became prize, meeting likewise in the persuit of her a single Bark laden above only with ropes & tackle for ships, but examining her within, they found no less than seventy eight pound weight of fine Gold, besides many curious Emeralds, and other choice Jewels, which having taken they sailed for Acapulco, a noted and much frequented Port in those Seas, in their way they met a Ship from China laden with Silks and China-dishes,of which they took as much as they thought good, and after that rifled the Town of Acapulco, where besides some quantity of Gold, Jewels,and other Plate, they found one pot of the bigness of an English 54bushel full of Spanish Ryals, which having emptied, they departed without being farther troublesom, only one Moon an Englishman borrowed a Chain of Gold, which he hapned to find about a Spaniard just as they were going out of Town.
Finding themselves reasonably loaden, and that their Ships had endured the Sea a long time, they resolve to return for England by the Molucca and Philippine Islands, Sailing in this South Sea to forty degrees of Northerly Latitude, where he landed, and named it Nova Albion. The Inhabitants presented him Feathers and Kalls of Network, which he required with other things, the men went naked, the Women had loose Garments of Bulrushes tyed about their middles; They came a second time and brought Feathers, and bags of Tobacco, and after a long oration by one that was Speaker for the rest, they left their bows on an Hill, and came down to our men, the women in the mean time remaining on the Hill, tormented themselves tearing their flesh from / their cheeks, whereby it appeared they were about some sacrifice, the news being further spread, brought the King thither, who was a very proper man, and had the like to attend him, two Ambassadours, with a Speech of half an hour long, gave an account of his intended coming; when he appeared, one went before him with a Scepter or Mace, whereon there hung two Crowns with 3 Chains, the Crowns were of knitwork wrought artificially with feathers of divers colour, the chains made of bone. The King was clothed in Conyskins, 17 his Followers had their faces painted with white, black, and other colours, every one even the Children bringing their Presents. He that carried the Scepter made a loud Speech of half an hour, repeating it from another, who whispered to him, which being ended with a Solemn applause, they all came orderly down the Hill without their weapons, the Scepter-bearer beginning a Song and dance and all the rest following him. The King and several others made many Orations or Supplications to Drake that he would be their King, and the King with a Song set the Crown on his head, and put the Chains about his neck, honouring him by the name of Hioh. The Common sort leaving the King and his Guard, mingled themselves among the English, viewing them severely, and offering their Sacrifices to those they best liked, which were commonly the youngest, weeping, and rending their flesh with much effusion of bloud. Our men misliked their Devotions, and directed them to worship the Living God: Every third day they brought their Sacrifices till they found them displeasing, yet at the departure of the English they, very much grieved, and secretly provided a Sacrifice; They found Herds of Deer feeding by thousands and strange Conies with heads like ours, feet like a Mole and the tail of a Cat, having under their chains a bag into which they put their meat when their Bellies are full. Sailing from hence they went back by the Cape of Good Hope; And Nov. 3. 1580. Which was the third year of their Voyage they safely arrived at Plymouth. /
55In 1585. This Gallant Seaman, having been Knighted, and much Honoured by Queen Elizabeth, made another Voyage to America, with a greater number of Ships, in which, besides other places of note, he took and burnt a good part of St. Domingo in Hispaniola; forcing the Inhabitants to redeem the other part with twenty five Thousand Duckets in Money, he took also Carthagena a Town upon the Continent, and in it Alonso Bravo the Governour, and after burning some Houses, had eleven Thousand Duckets paid him by the Inhabitants to spare the rest; he took likewise the Towns of St. Anthony and St. Helena; but at last the English in the Ships falling Sick of the Calenture, and many dying, he was forced to return for England, with what he had already got, which was valued at threescore Thousand Pound Sterling of cleer Prize, besides two hundred Pieces of Brass Ordnance and Forty of Iron.
In 1595. Sir Francis Drake made his last Voyage, which proved not altogether so successful to him as the former, by reason, as was thought, of some misunderstanding between him and Sir John Hawkins, who was the other General joined in Commission with him for the Expedition; they both died in this Voyage, Sir John Hawkins first, as soon as ever the Ship came in sight of Porto Rico; after which Drake being Sole General, made an attempt upon that place, but could only Fire some Ships in the Haven, receiving some loss himself; yet he proceeded and took Rio de la Hatha, Raucherit, at that time a Wealthy Town, by the Trade of Pearl Fishing, and lastly Nombre de dios, but found nothing so much Treasure now, as he saw the first time, from hence marching by Land he designed to surprize Panama, but Sir Thomas Baskervile, who commanded a party of seven hundred and fifty Souldiers for that purpose, found the Passages over the Mountains so difficult, and the passes so well guarded, that he was forced to retreat, not without loss of Men, whom the Spaniards being acquainted with the / Countrey, and lying in the woods through which they were to pass, killed in their return: Hereupon they were forced to put to Sea again, and not long after Sir Francis Drake himself fell sick, and partly of a Flux and grief for his ill success, having hitherto been acquainted with nothing but good Fortune and Victory, he died within few days before Porto bello, and the Fleet under Sir Tho. Baskervile return’d to England.
Another renowned worthy among the English Adventurers of America, and especially for a prosperous and compleat circumnavigation of the Ocean, was Sir Thomas Cavendish of Trimley in Suffolk, who in July 1586 with three Ships and 120 Men set out from Plymouth for the West Indies, and Aug. 29 following fell with the Point of Sierra Liona on the Coast of Guiny, and from thence Sept: 7 with the Isle of Madrabamba about Cape Verde, a place very convenient for taking in fresh water and other necessaries for men at Sea, but otherwise much subject to sudden claps of Thunder, Lightning and storms, especially in winter. Their design was for the Streights of Magellan, and the South sea, therefore steering directly South, by the latter end of October they discover Cape Frio 56on the Coasts of Brasil, and put in at an Harbour between the Isle of St Sebastian and the Continent, where they stayed some time building a New Pinnace, and supplying their Ships with necessaries; Then sailing toward the Streights Jan. 6. they came to an Anchor at the Streights mouth not far from the place where the Spaniards intended a Town and Fort for commanding the Streights, and securing the Passage into the South-Sea against all Nations but themselves. But as it appeared that project took no effect, for of 400 Men left there three Years before by Don Pedro Sarmiento to that purpose by order of the King of Spain, there were scarce 20 remaining alive when Sir Tho: Cavendish sailed that way, the rest were either starved for want of necessary Provisions, or destroyed by the Natives. They had begun their Town which they named / St. Philip upon the narrowest Passage of the Streights about half a mile broad, in a place very convenient for their purpose, and the Town it self well contrived with four several Forts, every one having some Guns which the Spaniards when they saw themselves lost destitute and not able to subsist any longer there had buried in the ground, but the Carriages of them standing open and in view, upon search the Peices themselves were found and now taken by the English. Many Spaniards who had been left there were found dead in their houses, and lying in their Cloaths unburied. Those few who were alive, which were only twenty three, whereof two Women, though they were scarce able to go or help themselves, yet were resolved, as they said, to travel by Land toward Rio De La Plata, distant some hundreds of Leagues from the place where they were, which they had free leave to do.
Cavendish made no long stay here, but calling the place Port Famin instead of St. Philip, they held their course along the Streights till Feb. 24. they entred the South Sea, finding the whole length of the Streights to be about ninety Leagues in length in 52 degrees of South Latitude, having good and convenient Harbours on both sides almost at every Leagues end, but otherwise of most difficult passage by reason of the many windings and turnings of the Sea, and of so many contrary winds, with which from several Coasts this Passage is almost continually infested, but especially in the depth of winter at which time by the intolerable sharpnes of the cold, frequent storms, and huge flights of Snow, there is neither Sailing nor abiding upon those Seas, neither is the return so safe as the going thither.
Being now got into Mare Del Zur, and as it were upon the backside of America, they ply up and down those Coasts, visiting and not seldom pillaging the Towns, taking such Ships as they met withall, and steering their course so far Northwest, till at last / June 12. 1587. they cross the Equinoctial Line, sailing Northward up toward Panama and New Spain, but whether Intelligence had been given to those parts of their being upon the Coasts, it was some time before they could Spy any Ships. The first was July 9 when they took a New Ship of 120 Tuns burthen coming from Puna laden with ropes and other tackle, and in her 57one Michael Sancius a Provincial born at Marseilles, who to do the Spaniards a pleasure gave them information of a great Ship called the St. Anna expected from the Phillippine Islands, and which upon his Information they took within a few days after, being one of the richest Prizes that ever was taken and carried off those Seas by Englishmen, but first they Sail to Acapulco and having rifled the Town, they took a Bark in the Haven of fifty Tuns Burthen, laden with 600 bags of Anile, which is a rich sort of Dye, every bag being estimated at forty Crowns, and 400 bags of Cacao an American fruit like Almonds, and so much valued that they pass there for Meat and Money, every bag being worth Ten Crowns the whole prize in the Bark (beside what they got in the Town) amounted to twenty eight thousand Crowns.
58From hence they Sail Northward to the Bay of St. Jago, and being come as far as the Tropique of Capricorn, they were in some distress for want of Water, thinking they had none nearer than thirty or forty Leagues, but by the advice of the afore named Michael the Frenchman, who was a man of long and great experience upon those Coasts, they digged about 5 foot deep on the adjoining shore, and found very good fresh Water in a soil outwardly dry and Sandy, which he told them was an usual experiment in many other places upon those Coasts. About October they came to St. Lucar on the West side of the point of California, where they resolved to wait the coming of the St. Anna above mentioned, which about Nov. 4. appeared to their no small content. She was a Ship of Seven Hundred Tuns and Admiral of the Seas, and therefore not only / richly loaden but well mann’d, by noon the English Ships got up with her, and gave her a broadside which she answered, but soon after put her self to a close fight, and expected boarding, which the English attempting were twice beaten off, and forced to be take themselves again to their Guns, with which they so beraked her from side to side, and played it so continually, that after a dispute of 5 or 6 hours, she was made to yield, the Captain hanging out a flag of Truce, and begging mercy for their Lives, which the General readily granted, and thereupon commanding him to strike Sail and come on board, the Captain, Pilot, and some of the principal Merchants did so, they were in all 190 Persons in the Ship, Men and Women, and declared that their Lading was one hundred twenty two Thousand Pezo’s, of fine Gold, abundance of Silks, Sattins, Damask, Musk, Conserve of Fruits, Drugs, and other the richest Merchandize of India, of which they could give no certain estimate, now every Pezo in Silver is valued at eight shillings, and consequently in proportion a Pezo in Gold must be worth four pound sixteen Shillings, so that the whole value of the Prize would not be less than Ten Hundred Thousand Pound, or a Million of Sterling Money, enough to make them all Gentlemen that shared in it. The Spaniards and other People of the Ship were according to their desire set a shore at the next Port, with necessary Provisions given them, both for subsistence and their defence in Travel.
From hence they sailed to the Philippine Islands, and in 45 days reached the Islands Ladrones, so called, which lye in the way thither about 17 or 18 hundred Leagues from California whence they came, very convenient for fresh Water but the people wholly barbarous and Savage, and so extreamly given to pilfering and Stealing, that from thence Magellane gave them the name of Ladrones, or the Island of Thieves. In January they came to Maúilla the chief of the Phillippine Islands, which is counted the richest Countrey for Gold in the / World, but scarce of silver, the Sanguelos as they call them, who are great and rich Merchants of the Country trade continually with the Americans of New Spain for their Silver, giving weight for weight in pure Gold, from hence about the middle of March they reach the Islands of Java, where by way of barter with the Inhabitants for such things as they had got upon the Coasts of America, they plentifully stored their Ships with all kind of Flesh Meats, Fowls and Fruits, necessary for their subsistence homeward, receiving at their going away a Present of the same nature from the King of the Countrey, namely, two fat Oxen alive, ten great and fat Hoggs, abundance of Hens, Ducks, Geese and Eggs, a great quantity of Sugar Canes, Sugar in plate, Coco’s, Plantans, sweet Oranges, sowre Lemons, great store of good Wines, Aquavitæ, Salt, with almost all manner of Victuals besides; and it was no more than they had need of in the place where they were, for putting again to Sea, and making for the Cape of Good Hope; which is the utmost Point of Africk Southward; they sailed upon that vast Atlantick Ocean, before they could reach the Cape, almost nine weeks, running a Course of at least eighteen hundred and fifty Leagues without touching Land, it being reckoned to be full 2000 Leagues from the Islands of Java to the Cape of Good Hope; There lies about forty or fifty Leagues short of the Cape, a certain Foreland called Cabo Falso, because it is usually at its first discovery at Sea mistaken by Mariners for the true Cape.
From hence by June 18. 1588. they fall in sight of the Island of St. Helena, which lieth in the main Ocean, and as it were in the middle way between the Coast of Africk and Brasil, in fifteen degrees, and forty eight minutes of Southern Latitude, distant from the Cape about six hundred Leagues. It is a pleasant Island, well stored with Oranges, Lemons, Pomegranats, Pomecitrons, Dates, and so proper for Figgs, that the Trees bear all the year long; so that there are blossoms, green and ripe Figgs at all times on the same Tree. It / affords also store of wild Fowl, Partridges, and Pheasants; a kind of Turkies black and white, and as big as ours in England; great plenty of Goats, and such abundance of Swine, fat and large, that they live in Herds upon the Mountains, and are not to be taken but by hunting, and that with great pain and industry. From hence by August 24. they discover Flores, and Corvo, two of the Azores or Tercera Islands; and Sept. 9. having first suffered a terrible Storm upon the English Coast, which carried away all their Sails, and indangered the loss of all they had got; yet at last by the mercy of God, and favour of a good Wind, they arrived safely at Plymouth.
59The Right Honourable George Lord Clifford Earl of Cumberland had made several Voyages and Adventures against the Spaniards, in and toward the parts of America, in 1586. 89, 92 and 94, with various success, but in 1597. He more publickly and avowedly in his own Person undertook an expedition with eighteen or twenty good Ships, and about a Thousand Men, being himself Admiral and Commander in Chief. He set out from Portsmouth, March 6. 1597. with design at first to attend the coming out of the Carracks, which go yearly from Spain to the West Indies; but being disappointed of them through some Intelligence that the Spaniards had gotten of his Lordships being at Sea, he Sailed on for the Coast of America resolving by the way, with the consent of the Principal Commanders with him, to make an attempt upon St. John de Porto Rico, the Principal Town and Port of the Island of that name, in nineteen Degrees of North Latitude, a place where a few years before Sir Francis Drake had received some loss, Sir Nicholas Clifford the Earls Brother being slain, by a shot from one of the Platforms, as he sat at Supper with the General in the Ship called the Distance.
The Town stands in a Peninsula by itself, yet closely joined to the main Island toward the North, being a place very well seated, and fortified with two / strong Castles, one for defence of the Haven, the other of the Town; about three or four Leagues off lies a fair sandy Bay or Beach, which the Sea washeth on one side, over which the English at their landing marched directly to the Town through a thick Wood, and upon a Cawsey of some length, but of breadth only to admit three Persons to march abreast; at the end thereof, was built a strong Bridge of Wood, which reached from one Island to the other, and joined them both together, having also some Barricado’s to defend it, and a Block-house with Ordnance on the further side of the Water. They were informed that at low Water they might pass the Bridge on either side the Cawsey; whereupon waiting till two a Clock next Morning, when the Ebb would be, they attempt the Passage, but could not gain it, because the Great Guns played so directly against the Cawsey, retreating with the loss of about Fifty Men killed and wounded. Next day the General ordered another Forestanding upon the Principal Island should he attacke by Sea, the place was of dangerous access, yet by the help of some Musketeers that were gotten upon certain Rocks within the Island, so near, that they could play upon them in the Fort, within an hour the Spaniards, that kept it quitted the place, and those from Sea entred it in Boats, though the Ship that brought them near was her self cast away upon the Rocks at the first ebbing of the Water, as it was at first feared she would.
The Spaniards, who quitted the Fort, with the chief of the Town who were not already fled, retired to another Fort called Mora giving the English leave to enter the Town, and block up the Fort wherein they were, so that in few days they surrendred upon discretion, and the English were Masters of all. The General 60designed to have kept it but the English by the intemperature of the Air, and their own intemperance, especially in eating many strange and luscious Fruits, contracted such sickness, so many dying of the Calenture, / bloody Flux, and other hot diseases, that after ten weeks possession, and 600 of his men dead, his Lordship was forced to return for England, doing no further hurt to the Town, save only bringing away 80 peices of Ordnance, the Bells of their Church, and some quantity of Sugar and Ginger, sustaining no other loss in the Voyage, than of sixty men slain upon taking the Town, the six hundred dying of the Flux and other diseases, the Ship Pegasus wrackt upon Goodwin Sands, an old Frigot lost upon Ushant on the Coast of Normandy with 40 men in them, add a Bark lost by Tempest about Bermudas.
The Admiral at his return left Sir John Barclay behind, with some Men and Ships to compound with the Spaniards for the Town, but they seeing the General gone, and the English by reason of sickness not like to continue long after him, made no great hast to compound, but delayed so long that at last the English were forced to leave it to them, without burning or doing them any other mischief, as the Admiral had left Order, who sought Honour more than Spoil by this expedition as the Spaniards happily experienced.
Captain John Oxenham who had formerly been Servant, Souldier and Mariner with Sir Francis Drake, and together with him had sustained some loss by the Spaniards in the Port of Sir John De Vilua, was resolved to recover that by force which he complained was by force taken from him, and having by his former Adventures gained competent skill in Maritime Affairs, being particularly acquainted with the Coast and Commodities of the West Indies, in 1575 he got to be Captain of a Ship of an hundred and forty Tuns burden carrying seventy men, with whom he sailed for America, & arrived at the Sound of Darien where Sir Francis Drake formerly fell acquainted with the Symerons who put him upon surprizing the Treasure at Panama, a Place and People which Captain Oxenham very well knew, and intended now to make use of; Nor was it / long ere he met with some of them, who inform him that the Mules now travel with a strong Guard of Souldiers, which was somewhat contrary to his expectation, and quite altered his design; However being resolved to act some great thing, it did not much disanimate him, and therefore finding little hopes of success here, they resolve to try their Fortunes on the South Sea. To this purpose the Captain brings his own Ship on ground, and covers her with boughs and rubbish as well as he could, and burying his great Guns in the Earth he with his Company and 6 Negro’s to conduct them march by land toward the Coast of Panama and Peru.
Having gone about 14 Leagues, they came to a River which the Symerons told them ran directly into the South Sea; Here they cut down wood, and built themselves a Pinnace about 45 foot long, wherein they put to Sea, making toward the Island of Pearls 25 Leagues South of Panama hoping some Ships61 from Peru or other places from the South would be sailing that way for Panama. So that though Sir Francis Drake hath deservedly the honour of first discovering the South Sea to the English by the open and known way of the Streights, yet Captain Oxenham was the first Englishman that ever sailed upon it with command. He had not waited long but there came a Bark from Quito a Province of Peru laden with Goods, and sixty Thousand Pezo’s of fine Gold, which he took, and within six days after; another from Lima, wherein were no less than two hundred Thousand Pezo’s of Silver in Bars, the value of a Pezo, both in Gold and Silver, you have in Sir Tho. Cavendishes Voyage; according to which account, this Prize amounted to nine hundred and sixty Thousand Pound Sterling in Gold, and fourscore Thousand Pound in Silver, which being enough to satisfy reasonable Men, they retire with their Pinnace up the River, intending to make all speed to their Ship, but unhappily by the Covetousness and Dissention of some of the Company, so much / time was spent about sharing their Booty, that the Spaniards at Panama had notice of it, whereupon Ships were presently dispatcht to pursue them at Sea, and Souldiers to intercept them at Land.
The Captain himself through the obstinacy and wilfulness of some of the Company, was forced to leave the Treasure with them, and Travel some Leagues up into the Country, to find Negro’s that might help him to carry it, his own Men refusing to do it, but quarrelling with him for larger pay. In the mean time the Spanish Ships came to the mouth of the River, and by the Feathers of certain Hens which the English had taken and pluckt there, they judged them to be gone up the River, and putting in after them to be soon overtook them, and their Prize together. The Captain was absent, but either the Negro’s or some of the English having discovered that their Ship lay in the Sound, neither he nor any of the rest escaped, but were all in a short time met with by the Spaniards, and having no Commission to shew, he going only upon his own Account, every Man of them were Executed save two Boys. Thus ended the stout and resolute Captain Oxenham, the Justice of whose Cause (saith my Author) I will not dispute with his Adversaries, but could wish it had been as perfectly just in all respects, as it was gallant and bravely managed on the Captains part, insomuch that his very Enemies who put him to death, do yet admire and extol it, miscarrying only through Passion, Covetousness, and Self-will of some of his Company, whose Lives paid for their folly.
That Valiant and Learned Knight, Sir Walter Rawleigh, having Intelligence of the Rich and Mighty Empire of Guiana in America, which is bounded on the North with Orenoque River and the Sea, on the East and South, with the River of Amazones, and on the West with the Mountains of Peru; In March 1595. he set forth for discovery thereof, and landed at Curiapan in Trinidado, taking the City of St.Joseph, and therein Antony Berreo the Spanish Governour; leaving / his Ships, he went with an hundred Men in Boats, and a little Galley 62with Indian Pilots, into the famous River of Orenoque, which runs from Quito in Peru on the West, and hath nine Branches on the North side, and seven on the South, the Inhabitants on the Northern them Branches are the Tivitivas a Valiant Nation, and of the most manly and deliberate Speech that I have heard, saith Sir Walter. 18 In Summer they Build Houses on the Ground, in Winter upon Trees, where they Build very Artificial Towns and Villages, for between May and September, the River rises thirty Foot upright, and then are these Islands, which the River makes, overflown twenty five Foot high, except in some raised Grounds; the Natives never eat any thing that is set or sown, using the tops of Palmettos for Bread, and killing Deer, Fish, and Pork for Meat; those that dwell on some other Branches are chiefly imployed in making Canoos, which they fell into Guiana for Gold, and to Trinidado for Tobacco, in taking of which they exceed all Nations; when their King dies, they use great lamentation, and when they think the flesh is putrified and fallen from the Bones, they take up the Carcass again, and hang it up in his House, decking his Skull with Feathers of all Colours, and hanging Plates of Gold about his Arms, Thighs and Legs; those who dwell on the South beat the Bones of their King to Powder, which their Wives and Friends Drink.
As they passed along these Streams, they were entertained with several curious Divertisements, the Deer feeding by the Water-side, the Birds of variety of colours and notes singing, the Fields embroidered with Plants and Flowers,the Fishes and Fowls of all kinds playing in the River, only the Crocodile, who preys both on the Land and Water, had almost spoiled the Comedy, by turning it into a Tragedy, feasting himself with a Negro of their company before their Eyes. Passing hence to Cumana 120 Leagues North, they came to a People as black as Negro’s, but with smooth / Hair, whose Arrows are so mortally poisoned, that they kill with unspeakable Torments, especially if men drink after they are wounded. At the Port of Morequito they anchored, and the King, who was an hundred and ten years old, came fourteen miles on foot to see them, returning the same day; they brought them Fruits great store, a sort of Pariquetto’s no bigger than Wrens; An Armadilla which seemed covered all over with small Plates, somewhat like a Rhinoceros, with a white Horn growing in his hinder parts, which they use to wind instead of a Trumpet, and the Snout of a Pig; this Beast they afterward eat.
They passed forward till they came in sight of those strange Cataracts or Over falls of Caroli, of which there appeared ten or twelve in sight, every one as high above the other as a Church Steeple. They likewise saw a Mountain of Chrystal, which appeared afar off like a white Tower, exceeding high, over which there falls a mighty River, which touches no part of the side of the Mountain, but rusheth over, leaving all hollow underneath, with such a dreadful noise, as if a thousand great Bells were rung together. Further South they were told is the Nation of the Amazons, where none but Women inhabit, conversing with the Men only once 63a year, but none of these were seen by our Men; nor any of those People whose Mouths are said to be in their Breasts, and their Eyes in their Shoulders; and others who have Heads like Dogs, and live all the day in the Sea, which Relations we may justly esteem fabulous, till we are certified of their reality by some honest Eye-witness; yet one Francis Parrey left there by Sir Walter Rawleigh, tells of a place called Camala, where at certain times Women are sold as at a Fair, and says he bought eight young Girls, the Eldest of which was not eighteen for a Red hasted Knife, which in England cost an half-penny, he bestowed these Lasses upon the Savages, and was himself afterward sent Prisoner to Spain. After fourteen years Imprisonment in the Tower of London, / Sir Walter Rawleigh made another Voyage to Guiana, which proved very Unfortunate, and soon after his return, he was beheaded in the Palace Yard Westminster, October 29. 1618.
