of 
 lElisabetban Seamen 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 EDWARD JOHN PAYNE, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD 
 
 FIRST SERIES 
 
 HAWKINS 
 
 FROBISHER 
 
 DRAKE 
 
HENRY FROWDE 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE 
 
 AMEN CORNER, E.G. 
 
 Qlew 
 
 MACMII.LAN & CO., 66 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
Voyages of the Elizabethan 
 Seamen to America 
 
 Select Narratives from the Principal Navigations of 
 HAKLUYT 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 EDWARD JOHN PAYNE, M.A. 
 
 FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD 
 
 f>awfeins ffrobfsber Drafee 
 
 SECOND EDITION 
 
 AT THE CLARENDON PRESS: 1893 
 
I-U 
 
 TO 
 
 JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE 
 
 REGJUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY 
 
 IN THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 
 
 SPRECKELS 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION- vii 
 
 LIFE AND WORKS OF HAKLUYT .... xlviii 
 DIRECTIONS FOR TAKING A PRIZE liii 
 
 HAWKINS . r 
 
 FIRST VOYAGE (1562-1563) [Hakluyt] 6 
 
 SECON-D VOYAGE (1564-1565) [Sparke] . .... 9 
 THIRD VOYAGE (1567-1568) [Hawkins] . . . .69 
 
 FROBISHER . -83 
 
 FIRST VOYAGE (1576) [Best] .88 
 
 SECOND VOYAGE (1577) [Best] . .96 
 THIRD VOYAGE (1578) [Best] 133 
 
 DRAKE 193 
 
 FAMOUS VOYAGE (1577-1580) [Pretty] 196 
 
 GREAT ARMADA (1585-1586) [Biggs] . . * . . 230 
 
 1 00289 
 
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 
 
 BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 MR. FROUDE has happily characterized the Principal 
 Navigations of Hakluyt as the prose epic of the modern 
 English nation. This liberal estimate of Hakluyt s 
 labours contrasts amusingly with an opinion once put 
 forth by an eminent Professor of Modern History in 
 the sister University. Professor Smyth accounted the 
 Principal Navigations nothing but an unwieldy and 
 unsightly mass/ only likely to be burrowed into by 
 a few speculative persons, bent upon tracing out the 
 steps which lead to permanent alterations and improve 
 ments in the concerns of mankind/ Only the mere 
 lover of old books will deny that Hakluyt s blackletter 
 folios are both unwieldy and unsightly. But no one 
 who knows them will consent to dismiss them as 
 containing nothing but raw material for the use of the 
 philosopher. They contain episodes which are integral 
 parts of our national history episodes to which the 
 English reader cannot but recur again and again, with 
 an emotion akin to that which a Greek may be supposed 
 to have felt while listening to the exploits of the 
 Homeric heroes. And no one who has experienced this 
 
viii Introduction. 
 
 feeling will be disposed to quarrel with Mr. Froude for 
 denominating Hakluyt our national prose epic. 
 
 Among the heroes of this epic one group unde 
 niably" stands forth with commanding prominence. 
 Hakluyt s work is mainly the monument of the great 
 English navigators and maritime adventurers of his 
 own time, who overthrew the Spanish colossus that 
 bestrode the ocean, established that naval supremacy on 
 which after-ages reared the fabric of the British Empire, 
 and prepared the way for the founders of the great 
 Anglo-American nation. If the interest which men 
 command with posterity depends on the importance of 
 the services which they render to their country, on the 
 breadth, the variety and the originality of their designs, 
 as well as on the measure of success which attends 
 them on their patriotism and force of character, and 
 on the wealth of dramatic incident embodied in their 
 careers, few more interesting groups can be found in 
 English history, or in any other. Conspicuous in its fore 
 front stand the three famous navigators whose voyages 
 are commemorated in the present volume. Hawkins, 
 Frobisher, and Drake are always remembered among 
 us as the three lieutenants of the admiral who repulsed 
 the Spanish Armada. It is sometimes forgotten that 
 they were the very men who by their assaults on the 
 Spanish possessions in America had done most to 
 provoke the Spanish invasion of England. The bril 
 liancy of their exploits in the New World induced 
 men like Gilbert, Raleigh, and Cavendish, scholars and 
 gentlemen-adventurers, and soldiers rather than sailors, 
 to take up the movement which the three seamen had 
 started. The principal figure in the group, in the eyes 
 
The Elizabethan heroes. ix 
 
 of contemporaries, was undoubtedly Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 Raleigh s fame rested rather on the magnificence of his 
 projects than on the extent of his achievements. The 
 dream of his life was to oust Spain from America, and 
 thereby to make England the greatest power in the 
 Christian world. History judges by results. Had 
 Raleigh permanently colonized Virginia, subjugated 
 the caciques of Florida, made himself master of the 
 riches of La Grand Copal, ransacked the Apalachian 
 mountains of their fabled wealth in gold, crystal, rubies, 
 and diamonds, and thence marched southwards to 
 Mexico had he then discovered the imaginary kingdom 
 of El Dorado in Guiana and annexed it to the dominions 
 of his sovereign, invaded New Granada from the Orinoco, 
 marched to Quito and Cuzco, and permanently secured 
 for England what Drake called the Treasure of the 
 World, he would have done something more than keep 
 the place assigned to him among his contemporaries 
 by contemporary opinion. He would have ranked as 
 the greatest Englishman of his own or any other time. 
 But his projects, one and all, ended in failure, and 
 his fame stands eclipsed by that of the less imaginative 
 adventurers whose successes inspired him. 
 
 Yet though Gilbert, Raleigh, and Cavendish are only 
 secondary figures among the great Elizabethan maritime 
 adventurers, history will always rank them with 
 Hawkins, Frobisher, and Drake as a single group, 
 because they all toiled in the same field and with the 
 same object. To break the maritime power of the most 
 formidable prince in Europe, and to throw open to the 
 English people that New World which he arrogantly 
 claimed as his own, was the end to which they devoted 
 
x Introduction. 
 
 their thoughts, their energies, and their fortunes. 
 Amidst perils of every description, among the ice of the 
 Arctic seas and the tornadoes and pestilences of the 
 tropics, through battle and treachery worse than battle, 
 one and all carried their lives in their hands, year after 
 year, in pursuit of it. One and all laid their lives down 
 for it. Gilbert, the first to drop off, perished with his 
 Lilliputian bark while returning from the first English 
 colonizing expedition. Cavendish, heart-broken at a 
 failure which contrasted so painfully with his previous 
 brilliant success, sickened and died between Brazil and 
 England. The corpses of Hawkins and Drake sank in 
 the West Indian seas amidst the thunder of funeral 
 guns. Two only among them ended their lives on 
 land. Frobisher crossed the Channel to die of a wound 
 received in active service. Raleigh, the last survivor, 
 was sacrificed to pamper the offended pride of Spain, 
 and finished his career on the scaffold. 
 
 This general movement towards America on the part 
 of the Elizabethan maritime adventurers was only indi 
 rectly connected with that general extension of maritime 
 enterprise which accompanied the Renaissance, and of 
 J which the discovery of America was the principal fruit. 
 When Elizabeth came to the throne, the great period 
 of maritime discoveries, a period extending from the 
 middle of the fourteenth century to the middle of the 
 seventeenth, was already well advanced, and the main 
 problems of geography had been solved. The map 
 of the world, as we have it at this day, had been 
 constructed by adventurers of other nations. The 
 chief seat of the arts and sciences, in the Middle 
 Ages, was Italy ; and the improved geography which 
 
The Age of Discovery. xi 
 
 appears as the Middle Ages close was mainly due 
 to Italian energy and sagacity. In the palmiest days 
 of the Papacy and of the Italian maritime republics, 
 Italian monks and merchants penetrated the heart of 
 Asia. Italian seamen passed the Pillars of Hercules, 
 braved the unknown dangers of the stormy Atlantic, 
 explored the desolate shores of Barbary, rediscovered 
 the Fortunate Jsies of the Ancients, and increased the 
 Ptolemaic map of the world by the addition of the 
 Madeiras and the Azores. The remote regions to 
 which they had penetrated were beyond the scope of 
 Italian political or mercantile interests. They thus fell 
 under the sway of the maritime powers of the Spanish 
 peninsula; and the exploration of the Atlantic was 
 continued under the direction and at the expense of 
 Portuguese and Castilian adventurers. It must not be 
 supposed that the gradual exploration of the coast of 
 Africa, which ultimately led to the passing of the Cape 
 of Good Hope and the establishment of a connexion by 
 sea between Lisbon and India, was exclusively the 
 work of Portuguese seamen. The expeditions of the 
 Spanish and Portuguese were to a very great extent 
 made under Italian captains, with Italian crews, 
 and in vessels built by Italian shipwrights. Italian 
 mathematicians constructed the charts and instruments 
 by which they sailed, and Italian bankers furnished 
 funds for equipping them. A similar influence was at 
 work in England : the Italian merchants of London and 
 the Italian seamen of Bristol were the links between 
 the great movement of maritime exploration and an 
 insular people which at the eleventh hour began to 
 profit by it. The Genoese were best known in Bristol, 
 
xii Introduction. 
 
 though it was a Venetian who first conducted English 
 sailors to the shores of America. The skill and science 
 of Italy penetrated everywhere, allied themselves with 
 the spirit of territorial conquest and commercial enter 
 prise in other lands, and wrought out the exploration of 
 the coasts of Africa, the crossing of the Atlantic before 
 the trade wind, and the discovery of the New World. 
 Columbus did but add the finishing stroke to a work on 
 which his countrymen had been incessantly employed 
 for two centuries. When this stroke had been made, 
 the part of Italy was completed. Thirty years afterwards, 
 the powers on the Atlantic seaboard began their long 
 struggle for the substantial results of these discoveries. 
 It is at a subsequent period in this stage of the history 
 of oceanic enterprise, forty years after the struggle 
 commenced, and seventy years after the Discovery 
 itself, that England steps in. 
 
 It needs no deep research to account for this back 
 wardness of England in the exploration and occupation 
 of the New World. It is sufficient to observe that for 
 half a century after the discovery of America there was 
 little or nothing to induce Englishmen to attempt it. It 
 required many years for the Spaniards themselves to 
 discover the wealth of the New World : and it was not 
 until the extent of this wealth had become known to 
 other nations that the latter thought the New World 
 to be seriously worth their notice. England was by no 
 means a feeble power, nor were Englishmen backward 
 to perceive the immense possibilities which the dis 
 covery involved. While the voyages of Columbus were 
 as yet confined to the islands, and before the continental 
 coast had been reached, English patentees, roused to 
 
Backwardness of England. xiii 
 
 activity by these voyages, had been empowered by Henry 
 the Seventh to occupy any lands in the Atlantic not 
 hitherto known to Christian nations. These English 
 patentees reached the continent of America before 
 Columbus ever beheld it : and patents expressed in 
 similar terms were freely granted to other adventurers. 
 No regard was practically paid, either in England or 
 in France, to the Pope s partition of the globe between 
 Spain and Portugal. Had Frenchmen or Englishmen 
 desired to settle in the New World, nothing could 
 have prevented it. How then, it may be asked, 
 happened it that French and English adventurers were 
 backward in availing themselves of an opportunity ap 
 parently so magnificent ? The answer is that it was 
 not considered to be worth while. America, it is true, 
 was known to produce the precious metals. But it 
 was not until the discovery of Mexico and Peru that 
 it was supposed to be particularly rich in them. This 
 is significantly illustrated by the important document of 
 early American history contained in the play or interlude 
 of the Four Elements/ written shortly before the dis 
 covery of Mexico. In the speech of Experience* to 
 1 Studious Desire regret is expressed that Englishmen 
 had not occupied America, converted its natives to 
 Christianity, and availed themselves of its commo 
 dities/ This speech has a remarkable omission. The 
 commodities include only fish, copper, and timber : 
 there is no mention whatever of the precious metals. 
 
 The slight value likely to be set by Englishmen on the 
 gold and silver mines of America during the earlier 
 decades after the Discovery may be further illustrated 
 Irom the contemporary Spanish historian Las Casas. 
 
xiv Introduction. 
 
 For thirty years the most esteemed possession of the 
 Spaniards in America was the island of Espanola. In 
 describing this island Las Casas takes great pains to 
 demonstrate that it is not inferior in natural resources 
 and general value to the most celebrated islands of the 
 Old World ; and he accordingly compares it in suc 
 cession with England, Sicily, and Crete. We shall 
 only cite that part of his argument which refers to 
 England. He begins by showing to his own satisfac 
 tion that Espanola is larger than England, or at any rate 
 not smaller : an opinion generally accepted among the 
 Spaniards, and adopted in substance by the writers of two 
 narratives in the present volume (pp. 39, 252), although 
 that island in fact contains less than one-third of the 
 area of Great Britain, and not half the area of England 
 and Wales. No doubt, he says, England is fertile, for 
 it possesses corn, and great forests and pastures ; and 
 it abounds in sheep, for the simple reason that there 
 are no wolves. It also yields abundance of gold, silver, 
 iron, and lead ; it has pearls, and salt mines, and great 
 rivers, and a climate more temperate than that of France. 
 He then proceeds to show that in most of these respects 
 Espanola is at least equal to it. He sets little store by the 
 gold mines of Espanola; these, he thinks, only have 
 the effect of diverting industry from more profitable 
 channels. He admits that Espanola has neither silver, 
 pearls, nor tin. But to set against the silver and pearls 
 of England/ proceeds Las Casas, Espanola possesses 
 forty or fifty sugar-mills, and there is ample room for 
 two hundred/ These/ he triumphantly concludes, are 
 more valuable, and more useful to the human race, 
 than all the gold, and silver, and pearls of England ! 
 
Wars between France and Spain. xv 
 
 The discovery of Mexico revealed the fact that 
 America was unusually rich in silver and gold. This 
 discovery approximately coincided with the opening of 
 that period of war between Spain and France which 
 lasted with some intermissions from 1521 to 1556. In 
 the first of those years Cortes entered the pueblo of 
 Mexico. The two vessels which he despatched to 
 Spain, laden with treasure, at the end of the year 1522, 
 were captured shortly after leaving the Azores by the 
 Florentine captain Giovanni da Verrazzano, who held 
 a French commission. About the same time Verrazzano 
 took a large Spanish vessel homeward-bound from 
 St. Domingo, laden with treasure, pearls, sugar, and 
 hides. These prizes made him a wealthy man. Out of 
 his gains he was able to give splendid presents to the 
 French King and H igh- Admiral : and general amaze 
 ment was felt at the wealth which was pouring into 
 Spain from its American possessions. The Emperor/ 
 Francis exclaimed, can carry on the war with me by 
 means of the riches he draws from the West Indies 
 alone! This expression, it will be remembered, in 
 cluded at this time only the four greater Antilles, and the 
 parts of the continent between Guatemala and the 
 Northern Sierra Madre of Mexico. Determined to 
 have his share in the wealth of America, Francis was 
 reported to have sent to Charles a message to the 
 following effect : Your Majesty and the King of 
 Portugal have divided the world between you, offering 
 no part of it to me. Show me, I beseech you, the will 
 of our father Adam, that I may judge whether he has 
 really constituted you his universal heirs ! 
 
 In the next year, Francis despatched Verrazzano 
 
xvi Introduction. 
 
 on the famous voyage in which the shores of North 
 America were for the first time explored from Florida 
 to Newfoundland. His design was masked under the 
 pretext of seeking the North -West Passage. The 
 real object of the expedition was to lay the foundation 
 for a claim to that tract of the New World which 
 stretched northward from Mexico, in the belief that this 
 tract, like Mexico itself, would be found to yield gold. 
 Having accomplished this voyage, Verrazzano was again 
 commissioned to plunder the homeward-bound Spanish 
 shipping, and took some prizes between Spain and the 
 Canaries. On his return he encountered a squadron 
 of Spanish vessels of war. After a severe engagement, 
 Verrazzano surrendered, and was hanged as a pirate 
 at Colmenar de Arenas in November 1527. 
 
 The voyage of Verrazzano was considered by the 
 French to confer upon them an absolute title to all North 
 America, and to justify them in making settlements on 
 its soil even in time of peace. They gave it the name 
 of New France. So long as the wars lasted, piracy was 
 pursued as the most profitable form of enterprise ; in the 
 intervals of peace preparations were made for coloniza 
 tion. Thus, between the peace of Cambray in 1529 and 
 the renewal of the war in 1536 the coasts of Labrador 
 and the gulf of St. Lawrence were explored by the 
 celebrated corsair Jacques Cartier of St. Malo (1534, 
 1535). During the third war (1536-1538) these opera 
 tions were suspended ; but they were revived in the 
 interval of peace which followed (1538-1542), and in 
 1540 Cartier made a third voyage, in which he sailed 
 up the St. Lawrence, and chose a site for the subsequent 
 colony under Roberval (1542). Roberval s colony 
 
The French Rovers. xvii 
 
 proved a failure ; colonization was for the time 
 abandoned, and maritime activity resumed the form of 
 piracy. Meanwhile an event had happened which 
 gave piracy a fresh impulse. This was the conquest of 
 Peru, the richest district of the New World. A few 
 years later another element began to exercise an im 
 portant influence on the course of events. In France, 
 England, and Holland the cause of Protestantism was 
 steadily advancing. Though it does not appear to 
 have been particularly rife in the maritime provinces 
 of France, it is certain that when it was attempted 
 to suppress it by persecution large numbers of 
 Protestants joined the roving captains. Spain was 
 notoriously the main support of the Catholic party 
 throughout Europe : it was Charles the Fifth who had 
 crushed the Protestants of Germany. Even in time 
 of peace the French Protestant cruisers continued to 
 harass the Spanish vessels ; and they were imitated, 
 later on, by those of Holland and England. Out of 
 French piracy there grew a continuous maritime war, 
 waged by the Protestants of Western Europe against 
 the Spanish King as the champion of the Papacy, and 
 the patron of the Inquisition : and the movement 
 of other nations towards America, whether for the 
 purpose of plunder or of settlement, came to be 
 identified by the Spaniards, and not without reason, 
 with the cause of heresy. 
 
 It was in the interval between the second and third 
 Franco-Spanish wars that Peru was discovered. The 
 treasure furnished by America to Spain was now 
 trebled. One of the Spanish prizes taken by a French 
 cruiser was so richly laden that the shares of the very 
 
 b 
 
xviii Introduction. 
 
 cabin boys amounted to 800 gold ducats ! From 
 plundering the Spanish vessels the French seamen 
 now advanced to capturing the seaports and holding 
 them to ransom. The capture of Havana in 1536 was 
 a memorable example. A single French vessel had 
 seized the town, exacted a ransom, and sailed home 
 ward. Three Spanish ships arriving the next day, the 
 governor cf Havana despatched them in pursuit of the 
 French cruiser. The Spanish flag-ship overtook the 
 Frenchman, but hesitated to attack until the arrival of 
 her consorts. The French pirates turned on their 
 pursuers, captured all three ships, returned to Havana, 
 and levied a double ransom. 
 
 Incidents such as this naturally suggest, as the fact 
 was, that the Spaniards were no match for the French 
 rovers in seamanship. Probably there was a corre 
 sponding inequality in the arts of shipbuilding and 
 gunnery : and an inferiority on the part of the Spanish 
 vessels for the purposes of attack and defence necessarily 
 resulted from the situation. While these were selected 
 or built with an eye to their capacity for carrying bulky 
 cargoes, the French cruisers were light and easily 
 handled, manoeuvring quickly round the unwieldy 
 hulls of the enemy, and inflicting damage which it was 
 impossible to retaliate. Contemporary opinion assigned 
 other reasons for the continued successes of the French 
 corsairs. The principal one was the niggardliness of 
 the Spanish shipowners in taking precautions for the 
 protection of their vessels. The Royal Council of the 
 Indies, a board established at Seville for the purpose of 
 regulating the trade between Spain and its American 
 possessions, had ordered that all vessels employed in 
 
Negligence of Spanish Shipowners. xix 
 
 that trade should be provided with proper appliances 
 of defence, and had prescribed a minimum of equipment 
 for the purpose. Every ship was to carry at least two 
 large pieces of brass ordnance, six iron guns, and 
 a certain quantity of small arms. It is certain, none 
 the less, that most of the Spanish vessels put to sea 
 very imperfectly furnished. The haste with which the 
 preparations for sailing often had to be completed was 
 sometimes assigned as a reason. A more obvious one 
 was unwillingness to encumber the vessels with an 
 unprofitable tonnage of heavy guns, balls, and powder- 
 cask, and to provide the costly complement of gunners 
 and soldiers. For this reason especially, the regulation 
 was so unpopular, that the Council found it necessary 
 to appoint Commissaries charged with the duty of 
 inspecting each vessel before it left the mouth of the 
 Guadalquivir at San Lucar, and making sure that the 
 requirements of the board had been obeyed. These 
 officials were required to attend afterwards at Seville, 
 and to swear their corporal oath in the presence of the 
 Council, that no vessel had received their sailing permit 
 without carrying its full equipment. But the Commis 
 saries, it was said, could be readily induced to forswear 
 themselves by the timely present of a few ducats. 
 Hence it sometimes happened that three or four large 
 vessels sailed for America having among them nothing 
 better for the purposes of defence than a couple of rusty 
 iron guns, a dozen or two of shot in the locker, and 
 a single cask of half-spoiled powder. 
 
 Could it be wondered at, in such circumstances, that 
 the harbours of Normandy and Brittany were full of 
 captured Spanish barks, the captains and crews of 
 
xx Introduction. 
 
 which, stripped of all but their ragged clothes, were 
 forced to beg their way home to Spain, and that the 
 plundering not merely of such petty towns as Puerto de 
 Plata, Azua, Yaguana, and Maguana, in Espanola, but 
 of Santa Martha, Cabo de Vela, Santiago de Cuba, 
 Havana, and Carthagena themselves, were the staple 
 topics of the garrulous French sailors ? In connexion 
 with the capture of the last-named places, strange 
 stories were current of the malice and perfidy of the 
 Spaniards. It was not difficult to induce Spanish 
 sailors to act as pilots to the Frenchmen : and in this 
 way the chart of the West Indian seas quickly became 
 as familiar to the French as to the Spaniards themselves. 
 Sometimes treachery assumed a more malign form. 
 A Spanish sailor, guilty of some trivial offence, had 
 been flogged at Carthagena. He shipped on board 
 a French vessel, came back with a squadron of others, 
 showed the Frenchmen where to land and make their 
 assault, and revelled at length in the spectacle of 
 Carthagena in flames. In 1554 a French cruiser 
 plundered Santiago de Cuba, and entered the port of 
 Havana. The Spaniards, profiting by the experience 
 gained in previous raids, had removed and concealed 
 most of their effects. Negotiations for the ransom 
 were still pending when the Spaniards treacherously 
 attacked the French by night, and killed four of them. 
 The French commander avenged them by leaving 
 Havana a heap of smoking ruins. 
 
 Some stories which have come down to us from these 
 times suggest that the Spaniards were as inferior to the 
 French in personal courage as they undoubtedly were 
 in seamanship ; certainly they falsify the braggard 
 
The French superior at sea. xxi 
 
 proverb which asserted one Spaniard to be a match for 
 four Germans, three Frenchmen, or two Italians. Two 
 French rovers, after taking a carvel bound for Cabo de 
 Vela, had boldly cast anchor off the island of Mona, 
 half-way between Espanola and Puerto Rico, and a well- 
 known Spanish depot. The authorities of St. Domingo 
 despatched a fleet of five ships to capture them. One 
 French captain deemed it prudent to run, and succeeded 
 in making good his escape. The other vessel was 
 taken, carried to St. Domingo, and condemned to be 
 towed out to sea and burnt. The French sailors, loudly 
 cursing the cowardice of their commander, were sent 
 prisoners to Spain, for which purpose they were dis 
 tributed among a squadron of homeward-bound vessels. 
 Five, as it happened, were shipped on board a carvel 
 laden with sugar and carrying 15,000 ducats in gold. 
 While the Spaniards were dozing on their watch, 
 these five desperadoes slipped their irons, attacked 
 their captors, flung them overboard, and brought the 
 carvel triumphantly into a French port. 
 
 It was natural for these stories to pass from France 
 to England. But the losses inflicted by the French 
 on the Spaniards, and the defenceless condition of 
 the American ports, were not for Englishmen mere 
 matters of hearsay. Friendly relations existed at this 
 time between England and Spain. Many English 
 merchants resided in the latter country, and with the 
 full consent of the Spanish authorities they sometimes 
 shipped for the New World, and resided there for 
 years together. Two English residents in Spain, 
 named Field and Thompson, while on their voyage to 
 America, had a curious experience of the terror which 
 
xxii Introduction. 
 
 French piracy had struck into the Spaniards. They 
 had taken passage on board a Spanish carvel, and were 
 sailing as far as the Canaries some days in advance of 
 the rest of the squadron, intending to take their pleasure 
 in a leisurely fashion at those charming isles. On 
 their arrival at the Grand Canary, the Spaniards received 
 them with a volley of shot which carried away the main 
 mast. It turned out that the carvel, in which they 
 were, bore a close resemblance to another which had 
 recently been taken by a French man-of-war. The 
 daring captors had emptied their prize, armed her 
 with guns, coolly sailed back into the roadstead, boarded 
 a vessel laden with sugar, and carried her off also. 
 The carvel which carried Field and Thompson was 
 supposed to be the identical vessel by which this shrewd 
 trick had been played, and to be on the point of en 
 deavouring to repeat it. 
 
 It was scarcely possible that this desperate game, 
 with the Treasure of the World for a stake, should be 
 played year after year between the Spaniards and 
 French without some effect being produced on English 
 opinion. Swayed as peoples commonly are, partly by 
 commercial and dynastic connexions, partly by tradi 
 tional jealousy of their nearest neighbours, and partly 
 by some dim sense of right and wrong, it was natural 
 for the English to side with Spain rather than with 
 France. But whatever might be the rights of the 
 case, there gradually grew among the English people 
 a determination to secure some share for themselves 
 in the Treasure of the World. The first evidences of 
 any substantial interest being taken by Englishmen 
 in the New World date from the end of the period of 
 
The Discovery of Potosi. xxiii 
 
 wars between Spain and France. The last great step 
 in the development of America had by this time 
 been made; the Spaniards had discovered Peru and 
 the mines of Potosi. The wealth of Peru gave the 
 first effective stimulus to projects for securing a share 
 in American enterprise to the English. Potosi was the 
 most important factor in the process. The other factor 
 was supplied by the exploits of the French rovers. 
 These clearly indicated that the Spaniards were in 
 capable of keeping other nations out of the New World.* 
 Nine-tenths of the continent were unexplored : the 
 chances were that other Perus, perhaps other Potosis, 
 still awaited the adventurer. Without Potosi and the 
 French rovers there would doubtless have been in the 
 course of time English projects for the occupation of 
 America. But they would have been formed at a later 
 time, under other circumstances, and by other men. 
 
 Too much importance must not be assigned to the 
 ephemeral productions of the printing-press ; but straws 
 suffice to show which way the wind blows. Richard 
 Eden s New India 1 was published in 1553 with the 
 view of inducing Englishmen to make attempts in the 
 New World to the glory of God and the commodity of 
 our country/ America s wealth in the precious metals 
 is held out as the one inducement. If Englishmen had 
 been alive to their opportunities, says Eden, that Rich 
 Treasury called PERULARiA 2 might long since have been 
 
 1 A Treatise of the New India, &c. After the Description of 
 Sebastian Munster in his Book of Universal Cosmography. (Re 
 printed in Professor Arber s First Three English Books on America, 
 Birmingham, 1885.) 
 
 2 The Bullion-Warehouse of Seville. 
 
xxiv Introduction. 
 
 in the Tower of London/ This was eight years after 
 the year in which the silver mines of Potosi were first 
 registered in the books of the King of Spain (1545). 
 It will be remembered that after the discovery of the 
 mines of Potosi the silver mines of Europe were for the 
 most part abandoned, because it was no longer profit 
 able to work them. The same thing happened to the 
 ancient silver mines of the New World itself. Until 
 the discovery of the mines of Guanajuato in Mexico, 
 two hundred years later, Potosi was the principal source 
 of the silver supply of the world. Viewed in the light 
 of these facts, the significance of Eden s suggestion is 
 apparent ; the train of reasoning seems to be some 
 thing to the following effect. Forty years elapsed 
 between the discovery of America and the discovery of 
 the wealthy kingdom of Peru ; and the main treasure of 
 Peru, the mines of Potosi, unknown to the Indians, 
 remained undiscovered for ten years longer. The 
 probability is that the enormous continent of the New 
 World, of which Mexico and Peru themselves are but 
 comparatively small tracts, contains gold and silver 
 in all its parts. The Spaniards are yearly drawing 
 enormous quantities of both metals from their American 
 possessions. It is impossible for Spain to do more than 
 to exploit and to protect the districts she has already 
 occupied. Let Englishmen, then, emulate the famous 
 deeds of Cortes and Pizarro, and seek for gold and 
 silver in those parts which the Spaniards have as yet 
 left untouched. 
 
 When the New India was written, the question of 
 the future matrimonial alliance of the sovereign, by 
 which the fortunes of England, and the share to be 
 
Marriage of Philip and Mary. xxv 
 
 taken by her in American adventure, could scarcely fail 
 to be largely influenced, still remained undecided. Had 
 Edward VI lived, and had the intended marriage 
 between him and Elizabeth of France been carried 
 out, England s share in American enterprise would have 
 been taken in a different way. The death of Edward 
 and the succession of Mary had the effect of making 
 England again the ally of Spain. On July 19, 1554, 
 Philip of Spain arrived in England ; -and on the 25th he 
 was married to Mary at Winchester. He brought with , 
 him twenty-seven chests, each forty inches long, filled 
 with bullion, and ninety-nine horse-loads and two cart 
 loads of gold and silver. The contents of that Rich 
 Treasury called Perularia were actually on their way 
 to the Tower of London ! This was only the beginning. 
 The debased coinage of England was unworthy of a joint- 
 monarch who was master of the Treasure of the World. 
 On October 2, there arrived at the Tower of London 
 .50,000 of silver in ninety-seven boxes ; this substantial 
 sum was destined to form the nucleus of Philip s 
 English Treasury. Richard Eden, the author of the 
 New India, obtained the post of clerk in this new 
 national institution. He had watched the entry of the 
 king and queen into London ; and on this occasion he 
 had exercised his mind on the possible consequences of 
 the match which had now been made. One thing 
 appeared abundantly clear to him. The commercial 
 bond which united them being now strengthened by 
 a dynastic connexion, Spain and England must hence 
 forward proceed to exploit the New World hand in 
 hand. It was not that the interests of the two nations 
 in the Treasure of the World were to be fused. 
 
xxvi Introduction. 
 
 England, stimulated by the example of Spain, must now 
 take a new departure. Eden resolved to translate into 
 English the Decades of Peter Martyr, which contained 
 the story of the Discovery of the New World down to 
 the conquest of Mexico. In the next year (1555) his 
 book appeared. So anxious, it would seem, was he to 
 publish it, that it contained only the first three of Peter 
 Martyr s eight Decades. The rest of the volume was 
 filled with other matter of a similar description : and in 
 the preface Eden unburdens his soul of the ideas with 
 which the entry of Philip and Mary into London had 
 inspired him 1 . 
 
 Until 1492, says Eden, God suffered the great sea- 
 serpent Leviathan to have dominion in the ocean, and to 
 cast mists in the eyes of men, which hid from them the 
 passage to the Newfoundland. How great a change 
 has been wrought in sixty years ! The heroical facts 
 of the Spaniards in the New World far exceed those of 
 great Alexander and the Romans. They have delivered 
 the Indians from the bondage of Satan, and taught them 
 true religion and the arts of life. They have showed 
 a good example to all Christian nations to follow. God 
 is great and wonderful in his works : and besides 
 the portions of land pertaining to the Spaniards and 
 Portugals, there yet remaineth another portion of that 
 mainland, reaching toward the north-east, thought to be as 
 large as the other, and not yet known but only by the sea 
 coasts, neither inhabited by Christian men. . . .These regions 
 are called TERRA FLORIDA and REGIO BACCALEARUM or 
 
 1 The Decades of the New World or West India. Translated into 
 English by Richard Eden. (Reprinted in Professor Arber s First 
 Three English Books on America. ) 
 
Opinion in England. xxvii 
 
 BACCHALLAOS. In neglecting them the English have 
 no respect either for the cause of God or their own 
 commodity, and are guilty of inexcusable slothfulness 
 and negligence before God and the world. They should 
 cease ever like sheep to haunt one trade, and attempt 
 some voyages unto these coasts, to do for our parts as 
 the Spaniards have done for theirs. Eden believes 
 verily that if we would take the matter in hand 
 accordingly, God would not forget to aid us with miracles, 
 if it should be so requisite, and concludes with an 
 eulogium on Willoughby and Chancellor, who had 
 attempted by the north seas to discover the mighty and 
 rich empire of Cathay. 
 
 Practically the suggestion of Eden amounts to this ; 
 let Englishmen avail themselves of the position of the 
 future Spanish King as joint-sovereign of England, and 
 of his presence in their midst, to obtain licences to 
 explore and settle those parts of the New World which 
 are not already occupied by the Spaniards. However 
 acceptable this idea might be to the nation at large, it 
 could scarcely commend itself to the sovereigns. Mary 
 was a mere puppet in the hands of the husband whom 
 she idolized. Philip, the prospective king of Spain, re 
 garded England as a province which through his recent 
 marriage would probably accrue to the Spanish crown. 
 Such conditions afforded little countenance to the 
 pretensions which Eden advances. A merely titular 
 king of England, whose rights would cease upon the 
 death of his queen without issue, could scarcely be 
 expected to invite Englishmen to share in the inheritance 
 of the New World. Every politician in Europe knew 
 the practical advantage which the possession of America 
 
xxviii Introduction. 
 
 conferred on the Spanish monarch. Again and again do 
 the current ideas on the subject find pointed expression 
 in contemporary memoirs. It was by means of the 
 treasure of America, says one writer, that Charles the 
 Fifth wrested Italy from France, and took the French 
 king prisoner ; sacked Rome, and took the Pope 
 prisoner ; overthrew the Duke of Cleves, the Elector of 
 Saxony, and the Landgrave of Hesse. The means by 
 which this treasure was distributed had obtained among 
 diplomatists the nickname of the Burgundian Ass. 
 Laden with gold from the Rich Treasury called Peru- 
 laria, this indefatigable animal silently insinuated itself 
 everywhere, the messenger either of war or of peace, 
 as its owner might choose. Truly had Peter Martyr 
 prophesied to Charles that the Indies were a weapon 
 wherewith he should reduce the whole world to 
 obedience ! 
 
 Another important consideration must have weighed 
 strongly with Philip, if application had ever been made 
 to him to grant charters for English enterprise in 
 the New World. In the great religious struggle which 
 was convulsing Europe a considerable minority of 
 Englishmen were on the wrong side. To concede to 
 the English a footing in America might have the effect 
 of making its virgin soil the seed-plot of heresy. This 
 highly undesirable result was in fact the confessed aim 
 of the Huguenot leaders. The French corsairs who 
 had for thirty years been plundering the treasure ships 
 of Spain were mostly Protestants, and from piracy they 
 were already advancing to territorial occupation. Fore 
 seeing the possibility of their being one day driven 
 from Europe, they intended to establish themselves in 
 
Expedition of the Indonauts. xxix 
 
 the New World. In 1555 Coligny actually despatched 
 a number of French Protestants to Brazil with the 
 avowed purpose of providing a refuge for the adherents 
 of the reformed religion in case of their being finally 
 worsted in the struggle against the Catholics. The 
 Expedition of the Indonauts, as it was called by a Pro 
 testant pedant, who celebrated its departure in an in 
 different Greek poem, was understood to mark an epoch 
 in the world s history. God looked down from heaven, 
 he says, and saw that the corrupt Christians of Europe 
 had utterly forgotten both Himself and His Son. He 
 therefore determined to transfer the mysteries of 
 Christianity to a New World, and to give the wicked 
 Old World over to destruction. The colony of the 
 Indonauts proved a signal failure. Seven years later 
 a similar attempt was made in North America. In 1562, \ 
 eight months before Hawkins sailed from Plymouth on 
 his first slaving voyage, Jean Ribault sailed from the 
 Havre in charge of another body of Huguenots, bound 
 for the land called by Eden Terra Florida. Mean 
 while Mary had died, and Elizabeth had succeeded to 
 the throne. 
 
 The Anglo-Spanish connexion left on the New World 
 but a single temporary trace. In 1555 Pedro deZurita, 
 governor of Tucuman, established a settlement in one 
 of the valleys of the Argentine Andes, and gave it the 
 name of Londres or London, in honour of the union of 
 Philip with the Queen of England. It was the first 
 community in America named after an English city. 
 New London was of short duration : the colonists were 
 driven out by the Indians, and compelled to choose 
 another site. We are reminded by Eden that the 
 
xxx Introduction. 
 
 reign of Mary had seen a remarkable maritime project 
 brought to an unsuccessful trial. This project had 
 aimed at the discovery of a North-eastern passage to 
 China and India, corresponding to the South-eastern 
 passage round the Cape of Good Hope. Sir Hugh 
 
 I Willoughby had sailed with three vessels, shortly before 
 
 the death of Edward VI, with the object of exploring 
 this route. He was compelled by the sudden approach 
 
 I of winter to lay up his ships in a harbour of Russian 
 Lapland, where he and the crews of two of the ships 
 
 1 were frozen to death. Richard Chancellor, in the third 
 vessel, succeeded in reaching the White Sea, landed 
 near Archangel, and returned by way of Moscow. The 
 
 / search for the North-eastern passage was pursued no 
 further; speculative merchants and navigators turned 
 to the more hopeful project of finding the North-west 
 passage. This project, which Frobisher sailed with the 
 object of executing, carried with it an additional induce 
 ment. It involved the exploration of the district called 
 by Eden Baccalaos, including the island of Newfound 
 land and generally those parts of the New World which 
 adjoined Florida on the north. When the passage had 
 been found, it was confidently anticipated that the Pacific 
 shores of the New World, further to the southward, 
 would afford facilities and inducements to colonization 
 similar to those which were offered by Florida itself. 
 
 Such were the ideas prevalent in England regarding 
 the New World and maritime enterprise generally 
 when Elizabeth succeeded to the throne in 1558. 
 Englishmen eager to make their way to Cathay by the 
 North- west passage, and determined to have their share, 
 in some way or other, in the occupation of America ; 
 
Northern and Southern schools. xxxi 
 
 Spain proved to be feeble at sea, and unable to resist 
 the attempt ; France in a position very similar to that 
 of England, and possessing some actual experience in 
 colonization, though the colonies in Canada and Brazil 
 had proved failures. The accession of a new sovereign 
 to the throne of England might well stimulate the French 
 to engage at once in the colonization of Florida. It is 
 certain that Elizabeth was credited by the French with 
 a desire to signalize her reign by establishing colonies 
 in this district : the expedition of Ribault in 1562 was 
 perhaps hastened with the object of forestalling her. 
 Opinion with regard to the colonization of North 
 America, it should be remembered, was already divided 
 into two opposite schools, the Northern and the 
 Southern. The former was the older of the two, for 
 it dates from before the discovery of either Mexico or 
 Peru. The play-writer of the reign of Henry VIII, 
 already quoted, belonged to the northern school be 
 cause the southern school had not come into existence. 
 The wealth derivable from the New World, he thinks, 
 consists of the produce of its fisheries, long known to 
 all Western Europe, and of the pitch, tar, and soap 
 ashes which might be made out of its forests. The 
 south of America he considers chiefly noteworthy as 
 a place where men go naked on account of the great 
 heat. The northern school proposed to start from the 
 well-known fishing-grounds of Newfoundland as a basis, 
 and to settle the adjacent districts of the continent. 
 This was the scheme already initiated by Cartier, and 
 afterwards adopted (1583) by the English adventurer 
 Sir Humphry Gilbert, who, after being a partisan of the 
 southern route, like most of his contemporaries, had 
 
xxxii Introduction. 
 
 finally decided in favour of the northern just before 
 sailing. The reason for this change was the proximity 
 of the fishing-grounds, and the number of the shipping 
 which frequented them ; the fish and the surplus stores 
 of the Newlanders, he thought, would insure his 
 colonists against famine. Delighted with the aspect of 
 Newfoundland, Gilbert avowed that this voyage had 
 won his heart from the south, and that he was now 
 become a northern man altogether/ In the next year 
 (1584) he proposed to equip two separate expeditions, 
 a northern one for Newfoundland, and a southern one 
 for Florida. Another adventurer, who figures in the 
 last narrative in the present volume, proposed to solve 
 the difficulty arising from the divided field of enterprise 
 in another way. In the year of Gilbert s expedition, 
 some merchants of Bristol were meditating an indepen 
 dent colonizing expedition, the command of which was 
 offered to Christopher Carlile (p. 233). Carlile wrote 
 a prospectus to commend the project to the merchants 
 of London. A hundred colonists were to be conveyed 
 to the New World, and settled in the latitude of 40, or 
 that of Philadelphia. In this way he proposed to collect 
 the commodities of all North America at one central 
 point, uniting the advantages of North and South. 
 Carlile was anticipating the founder of Pennsylvania. 
 
 The southern school proposed to plant colonies in 
 the regions immediately northward and eastward of 
 the Gulf of Mexico, that is, in Florida ; a district of 
 which great expectations had been entertained ever 
 since its discovery by Ponce de Leon on Easter Day 
 (Pascua Florida), 1512. This part of the New World, 
 it might perhaps be supposed, had been neglected by 
 
The Spaniards in Florida. xxxiii 
 
 the Spaniards. Such was by no means the case. Even 
 before the conquest of Peru an attempt had been made 
 to conquer Florida. Pamphilo de Narvaez, best known 
 to fame by his inglorious mission to compel the return 
 of Cortes from Mexico, had landed in the country with 
 the object of emulating the successes of the last-named 
 adventurer (1528). Driven back to the sea, Narvaez 
 perished in a storm, and of the 300 men who ac 
 companied him five only returned to Mexico. They 
 brought back the tantalizing intelligence that Florida 
 was the richest country in the world/ This idle 
 exaggeration had a slender basis of fact ; for the Apa- 
 lachian mountains, further to the north, contained mines 
 both of gold and silver, which are worked to this day. 
 
 After the conquest of Peru the idea of annexing 
 Florida to the dominions of Spain was revived : and the 
 task was undertaken by Ferdinand de Soto, who had 
 been one of Pizarro s lieutenants, on becoming Governor 
 of Cuba in 1538. De Soto s unfortunate expedition 
 in search of the North American Peru (1539) is one of 
 the best known episodes in American history. During 
 more than four years the Spaniards made their way 
 through a territory sparsely peopled by Indians, 
 marching first north-eastwards to the boundary of South 
 Carolina, then successively westwards to the Apalachian 
 mountains, southwards through Alabama to Mobile, and 
 north-westwards to the Mississippi. In descending its 
 valley the commander sickened and died, and his body 
 was committed to its waters. During the whole explora 
 tion no community was reached of more importance than 
 an Indian village, and not a single mine of gold or silver 
 was discovered. The remnant of the party sailed from 
 
 c 
 
xxxiv Introduction. 
 
 the mouth of the river to Panuco in Mexico, bringing 
 with them the story of a failure more lamentable than 
 that of Narvaez. Even the missionaries, so successful 
 everywhere else in reducing the Indians to submission, 
 failed to gain any footing in Florida. In 1549 some 
 Dominican friars, who had landed with the object of 
 converting the Indians, were massacred. This incident, 
 the most recent in connexion with the Peru of the 
 north, was prominent in Eden s volume of Decades/ 
 whence the chronicler of the second voyage of Hawkins 
 transferred it to his own narrative (page 54). As is 
 remarked by Hayes, the chronicler of Gilbert s expe 
 dition to Newfoundland, it seemed as if God had pre 
 scribed limits to the Spaniards which they might not 
 exceed. Florida was evidently reserved by the decree 
 of Providence for some other nation : and that nation 
 must obviously be either the French or the English. 
 
 The expedition of De Soto had one important effect. 
 It narrowed the field of future operations in the direction 
 of the south. The new Peru must be looked for to 
 the northward of the ground covered by De Soto s 
 fruitless march. It also showed that the mineral 
 treasures of Florida lay at some considerable distance 
 in the interior of the country. No merely military 
 expedition, it seemed, would suffice to secure them. 
 The experience of the Spaniards elsewhere had proved 
 colonization, or in the phrase of the day plantation, 
 to be the necessary preliminary of conquest. It was 
 a colonist of Cuba who had discovered and conquered 
 Mexico ; colonists of Panama had discovered and con 
 quered Peru. The treasures of Florida were to be 
 reached by planting colonies on its coast, by winning 
 
Florida Stolida Sordida xxxv 
 
 the confidence of the Indians, and by gradually extending 
 explorations towards the interior. The task to be 
 accomplished was evidently more difficult than those 
 which confronted Cortes and Pizarro. The conqueror 
 of Florida must profit by the example of those fortunate 
 adventurers. Long settled in the Spanish West Indian 
 colonies, they had become adepts in the difficult art of 
 dealing with the aborigines ; were able to pick up infor 
 mation, to organize enquiries, and to act in the right 
 direction with all the force they commanded. By this 
 policy the distant mountains where the mines of 
 gold and silver were understood to be situated would 
 in time be reached. Such were the ideas current when 
 the first body of French colonists, brought over by the 
 Huguenot sailor Jean Ribault, landed in Florida in 
 the year of the first voyage of Hawkins (1562). 
 
 The first French colony in Florida was of short 
 duration. Despairing of Ribault s return, the colonists 
 in the following summer (1563) built a pinnace and 
 sailed for Europe. After suffering terrible hardships, 
 they were picked up by an English vessel. Some were 
 landed in France ; those who were not too exhausted 
 to continue the voyage were taken on to England. 
 The object of doing so was understood to be that Eliza 
 beth was minded to send an expedition on her own 
 account to Florida. Whether this were true or not, 
 it is certain that Florida was at that time an object of 
 universal interest in England. The name, indeed, had 
 become a proverb. Wits travestied it into Stolida/ or 
 land of fools, and Sordida, or land of muck-worms. 
 Pirates concealed their intentions by professing to be 
 bound for Florida. When in the next year (1564) 
 
 c 2 
 
xxxvi Introduction. 
 
 Hawkins made his second voyage to the West Indies, 
 the Queen lent one of her great ships, and some of her 
 principal councillors had shares in the venture (pp. 2, 3). 
 Several Frenchmen sailed with Hawkins (p. i7),ofwhom 
 one at least was a returned emigrant from Florida. 
 Putting these facts together, it is difficult to resist the 
 conclusion that it was intended from the first to make a 
 reconnaissance of its coasts. In the spring of the same 
 year (1564) a second body of French emigrants, headed 
 by Laudonniere, had sailed for the same destination, and 
 had established themselves on the River of May/ 
 The character of Laudonniere s colonists/ most of 
 whom had been pirates, is well illustrated by Sparke s 
 graphic account (p. 58). Many joined an Indian chief 
 and followed him to war with neighbouring tribes, 
 probably in hope of plunder. Eighty of them mutinied, 
 seized two vessels and a quantity of provisions, and 
 recommenced their old trade in Espanola and Jamaica, 
 keeping harbour in the latter island, and spoiling 
 and pilling the Spaniards, until the authorities of 
 St. Domingo took measures to stop their depredations. 
 Twenty-five escaped and returned to the River of May. 
 Laudonniere condemned the four ringleaders to l pass 
 the arquebusers/ or, in other words, to be shot, and then 
 gibbeted them. 
 
 The author of the narrative would have us believe that 
 the visit of Hawkins to the shores of Florida was an 
 accident due to an unexpected westward drift of the 
 current in the Caribbean Sea : and such was evidently 
 the view promulgated by Hawkins himself, who was 
 a master, as his negotiations with the Spaniards 
 abundantly prove, in the art of inventing ingenious pre- 
 
Hawkins and Laudonniere. xxxvii 
 
 texts. Those who read between the lines will probably 
 conclude that the visit to Florida was meditated from the 
 beginning. However this may be, Laudonniere cer 
 tainly regarded his visitors, welcome though they were, 
 as the precursors of future rivals. He had collected 
 a considerable store of silver from the Indians; but he 
 so arranged his transactions with the English captain 
 that none of the precious metal should pass between 
 them, lest the sight of it should tempt Elizabeth to 
 carry out her intention of colonizing Florida. The 
 English sailors manifested no little curiosity on the 
 great question whether the country would prove to be 
 a second Peru. The Indians, at the arrival of the 
 French, possessed abundance of gold and silver, and 
 readily parted with them. No mines whatever could 
 be heard of in the neighbourhood of Laudonniere s 
 settlement. Little doubt, nevertheless, was felt that 
 in the end mines would be found, for the country was 
 known to form one continuous mainland with the rich 
 district of Mexico (p. 63). 
 
 In the next year (1565) the Spaniards, under Pedro 
 Melendez de Avila (p. 268), destroyed the French 
 colony, and built the town and fort of St. Augustine to 
 protect the hidden treasures of the Apalachian hills, and 
 to prevent future encroachments on American soil by 
 heretics. St. Bartholomew s day, 1572, put an end 
 to the Huguenot designs upon Florida. When English 
 projects for colonization were revived after Drake s 
 return from his famous voyage, a site was chosen 
 further to the northward, within the limits of the State of 
 North Carolina. This was the original Virginia/ ex 
 plored under the direction of Raleigh by Amadas and 
 
xxxviii Introduction. 
 
 Barlow in 1584, and colonized by Lane in 1585. Drake, 
 when returning from his great expedition of that year, 
 visited the shores of Florida, destroyed the fort of 
 St. Augustine, and brought back the colonists whom 
 Lane had left in Virginia. Drake also brought to 
 England from St. Augustine a Frenchman and a 
 Spaniard, both of whom had resided there six years. 
 The old interest in Florida revived in Hakluyt s breast, 
 and he hastened to interview them. It might perhaps 
 be supposed that the apostle of colonization would 
 question them as to the commodities of the country, the 
 prospects of corn-growing and cattle-breeding, the 
 districts best adapted for planting the vine and olive, 
 and the most suitable situations for settlements, in the 
 event of the country being occupied by Englishmen. 
 Nothing of the sort seems to have occurred to Hakluyt. 
 He simply asked whether anything more was known 
 about the mines. From Pedro Morales, the Spaniard, 
 he learned that the Spaniards expected to find the 
 mountains of Apalachi, where there was abundance of 
 gold and crystal, somewhere to the north-westward of the 
 St. Helena river. Morales had himself seen a superb 
 diamond, said to have been brought from these moun 
 tains. Near them was the city called La Grand Copal, 
 believed by the Spaniards to be wealthy and exceeding 
 great. None of them had entered it, though some had 
 seen it in the distance. The French fifer, Nicolas Bor- 
 goignon (p. 266), told substantially the same story. The 
 Apalachian mountains were rich in crystal, gold, rubies, 
 and diamonds. To make passage unto these moun 
 tains, it was needful to have store of hatchets to give to 
 the Indians ; pick-axes must also be taken, to break the 
 
Drake and Frobisher. xxxix 
 
 mountains, which shone so brightly in the day-time, that 
 men might not behold them, and therefore travelled 
 thither by night. Both Morales and Borgoignon bore 
 witness to the general desire on the part of the 
 Spaniards in Florida to explore in this direction. 
 Applications, they said, were sometimes made to 
 Philip for licence to do so, but were always refused, 
 for fear lest the English or French would enter into 
 the same action, once known. 
 
 The predominance of the gold and silver of the New 
 World in all conceptions relating to its occupation by 
 Englishmen is curiously illustrated by the story of, 
 Frobisher s North- West project. His first voyage 
 resulted in the discovery of an inlet which had some 
 appearance of being the long- talked- of North- West 
 passage ; in the third, he drifted into Hudson s Strait, 
 to which this probability attached in a higher degree. 
 Neither of them was seriously explored. No sooner 
 was it ascertained that gold and silver were to be had 
 than the pretence of discovery was entirely dropped, 
 and the project became a mere mining adventure ; and 
 when it appeared that its result in this aspect was 
 a complete failure, Frobisher s scheme was summarily 
 abandoned. 
 
 Of the various methods by which Englishmen sought 
 to take their share in the treasure of the New World 
 that of Drake must be admitted to have been the most 
 practical. Drake claimed to have suffered certain wrongs 
 in the course of a commerce which according to Spanish 
 practice was illicit, though according to the English 
 interpretation of commercial treaties perfectly lawful. 
 The first of these injuries had been committed at 
 
xl Introduction. 
 
 Rio de la Hacha, in 1565-6, when he was there with 
 another captain named John Lovell. The second had 
 resulted from the attack made on the squadron of 
 Hawkins by the Spanish Viceroy in the port of San 
 Juan de Ulua in 1568 (p. 77). These injuries, in the 
 latter of which Elizabeth had shared, were deemed to 
 justify unlimited reprisals on the goods of Spaniards 
 generally, the royal treasure of course not excepted. 
 Drake did the cause of English colonization an inestim 
 able service. He finally proved the inability of the 
 Spaniards to keep other nations out of the New 
 World. The destruction of the French settlement 
 in Florida had thrown English plans for coloniza 
 tion into abeyance. The immediate effect of the 
 Famous Voyage was to revive them. Drake had 
 discovered an immense district on the Pacific shore, 
 every part of which gave promise of gold and 
 silver (pp. 218, 219), taken possession of it on 
 Elizabeth s behalf, and given it the name of New 
 Albion. California, for this it was, was exactly 
 the sort of country which the elder Hakluyt s 
 instructions, drawn up for the guidance of Fro- 
 bisher (see page 84), directed the explorer to look 
 out for when the North-West passage had been 
 traversed, and he was coasting the Pacific shore on 
 his way to Cathay. No wonder that the search for 
 the passage was renewed by John Davis in 1585, 
 1586, and 1587. Gilbert had meanwhile been ex 
 ploring Newfoundland : Raleigh s captains had made 
 their first voyage to Virginia (1584). When Drake 
 returned from his great expedition of 1585, destroying 
 the fort of St. Augustine on his way, the last vestige 
 
The Narratives. xli 
 
 of doubt as to the weakness of Spain on the American 
 coast was removed. 
 
 It remains to add a few words as to the narratives 
 before us. It has been often regretted that the great 
 seamen who conducted these voyages did not hand 
 them down to posterity in memoirs composed by them 
 selves. Contemporaries felt this especially in the case 
 of the two circumnavigators of the globe, Drake and 
 Cavendish. Hugh Holland, amongst his commendatory 
 rhymes on that most delightful of tourists, Thomas 
 Coryat, hints as much in these whimsical couplets : 
 
 What do you tell me of your Drakes and Candishes ? 
 We never were beholding to their standishes ! 
 This man hath manners seen, and men, outlandish, 
 And WRIT the same. So did not Drake, nor Candish. 
 
 Drake, who was an able speaker, a competent master 
 of written prose, and no mean adept in that pleasing 
 species of verse which lies on the border between 
 poetry and doggrel, was quite capable of becoming the 
 chronicler of his magnificent exploits. Nor was he by 
 any means indifferent to his fame. A few years before 
 his death he set about collecting memoirs of his voyages 
 with the intention of editing them. Apparently he was 
 dissatisfied with the figure which he makes in Hakluyt s 
 first folio, then recently issued ; for the first and only 
 narrative which he actually prepared for the press was 
 an account of his third voyage to the Spanish main, 
 made with the Pacha and Swan in 1572-3 (see p. 193"), 
 which is represented in Hakluyt only by a meagre and 
 inaccurate note from a foreign source. The substance 
 of the narrative had been compiled by one Philip 
 Nichols, Preacher, from information furnished by 
 
xlii Introduction. 
 
 gentlemen engaged in the expedition. Drake revised 
 it, made some additions, and prefixed a Dedicatory 
 Epistle to the Queen (Jan. i, 1592). This ingenious 
 composition consists of a single sentence, which fills 
 ( two middling-sized quarto pages, contains over three 
 hundred words, and runs fourteen feet in length of type. 
 Yet it has nothing wordy or pompous about it. 
 Studiously modest and graceful, it is a fair specimen 
 of the extinct art of enwreathing many phrases into an 
 immense period : sentences of larger compass are to 
 be found in the prose of Milton. The work was pub 
 lished thirty years after Drake s death l . Those parts 
 of the narrative in which Drake s hand is traceable, 
 excellent as they are, scarcely justify the suggestion 
 that a complete account of the Famous Voyage from his 
 pen would probably have rivalled the masterpieces of 
 Xenophon and Caesar. 
 
 Hawkins is the only captain who appears in the 
 present volume as an author. His account of the 
 Third Voyage was manifestly penned in response to 
 a demand for some authoritative statement of the 
 circumstances in which this expedition came to its 
 disastrous end. The narrative in question, though 
 straightforward and business-like, as befitted a re 
 sponsible official like the Treasurer of the Navy, is 
 somewhat jejune, and is largely made up from the 
 narrative of Philips, already in Hakluyt s possession. 
 
 Frobisher belonged to the class of gentlemen whose 
 education has been neglected. Sent to sea at an early 
 age, he had few opportunities of practising literary 
 
 1 Sir Francis Drake Revived. Calling upon this Dull or Effeminate 
 Age to follow his Noble Steps for Gold and Silver. (1626.) 
 
The Narratives Best. xliii 
 
 composition. His extant letters are for the most part 
 ill spelt and worse expressed ; that which he indited in 
 Meta Incognita to the five English captives (p. 122) 
 contrasts so favourably with his general style that we 
 might suppose it to have been written for him by some 
 one else, but for the fact that Best, not without a polite 
 sneer at the homeliness of the language, expressly 
 attributes the authorship to Frobisher. Best was 
 a careful and conscientious writer, if not a brilliant 
 one : and to him, among the authors of the narratives 
 in the present volume, the palm of general merit 
 undoubtedly belongs. Best, a gentleman who had 
 been in the service of Sir Christopher Hatton, had 
 received the ordinary grammar-school education of the 
 time, and his syntax often runs in a Latin rather than 
 an English mould. If Best has a fault, it is that he 
 takes the expeditions in which he served, and all that 
 belongs to them, including himself, somewhat too 
 seriously. Feeling sure that they cannot but largely 
 redound to the everlasting renown of the nation (p. 145), 
 he displays a harmless pride in dwelling on his own 
 share in them, and never forgets that he was one of the 
 council of five captains who were summoned from time 
 to time by Frobisher to assist him with their advice. 
 He is careful to state what happened to vessels which 
 lost the company of the others, as for instance in his 
 account of the adventures of the Gabriel (p. 160) ; this 
 is by way of introducing that portion of his narrative 
 which describes the adventures of his own vessel and 
 her two consorts before they regained the rest of the 
 fleet (p. 165). His reasoning in favour of continuing 
 the search for the other ships, instead of sailing 
 
xliv Introduction. 
 
 homeward, as the fearfuller sort of mariners inclined 
 to do, is set out at needless length (p. 167) ; his 
 discovery of ore on the island which he named Best s 
 Blessing/ and perilous voyage up the straits in the 
 cranky pinnace wanting the knees (p. 173), until the 
 English flag was descried in the distance, his regaining 
 his general, and final return in triumph to his own 
 vessel, are all described with similar minuteness. Best 
 devotes special attention to topography and ethnology ; 
 the description of Meta Incognita and its inhabitants, 
 which concludes his last narrative, is among the 
 most interesting things in the volume. His account 
 of the struggles of the fleet with the ice and storm 
 (pp. 143-147) is a striking and truthful picture of 
 the perils of the Arctic Seas, and the whole forms 
 a splendid story of English pluck and endurance. Best 
 was killed in a duel in 1584. 
 
 The general reader will probably find the narratives 
 of Best inferior in interest to that of the second voyage 
 of Hawkins by John Sparke. This is due not altogether 
 to the picturesqueness and ease with which the story is 
 told, but very much to the wide area which it covers 
 and the great variety of geographical and ethnological 
 matter which it embraces. The negroes of Africa, the 
 Caribs of the West Indies, the Redskins of Florida, 
 with their physical features, arms, food -provision, 
 manners and customs, are all described by Sparke with 
 that freshness and vivacity which comes of first ac 
 quaintance with strange worlds. Sparke takes great 
 interest in animals : witness his descriptions of the 
 camel, the young of which, he notes, is used for food 
 (p. 13), the alligator (p. 43), and the turtle, the flesh of 
 
The Narratives Sparke. xlv 
 
 which, however, he compares to nothing more savoury 
 than veal (p. 50), the bonito and flying-fish, flamingo, 
 and pelican (pp. 65, 66). He was especially struck by 
 the snakes of Florida, cooked and eaten by the French, 
 ever surpassing the English in gastronomy, if in 
 nothing else, and by its oysters, which the Indians 
 roasted in the shells, reckless of the pearls which they 
 spoiled in the process. One piece. of argument which 
 Sparke introduces is truly amusing. Having ascertained 
 that Florida possesses unicorns, he is led to conclude 
 that it probably abounds in lions. The reason is because 
 every beast hath his enemy/ Thus the wolf is the 
 natural enemy of the sheep, the polecat of the rabbit, the 
 rhinoceros of the elephant. So is it with the lion and 
 the unicorn ; and where the one is, as in Florida, the 
 other will probably be found there also. 
 
 Compared with Best and Sparke the two narratives of 
 Drake s voyages are somewhat disappointing. It may 
 be said, on the other hand, that if the Famous Voyage 
 and the Great Armada had been treated in the style of 
 Best, each would have required a volume to itself. 
 Pretty s narrative of the Famous Voyage is good as far 
 as it goes, but there is too little of it. Many facts 
 necessary to a distinct conception of the expedition 
 are omitted altogether. The writer who constructed 
 on the outlines of Pretty s narrative the work known 
 as the World Encompassed V which is four times as 
 long, and contains little further information of real 
 value, rushed into the other extreme. Fortunately that 
 
 1 The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake. Carefully 
 collected out of the notes of Master Francis Fletcher, Preacher in this 
 Employment, and divers others his Followers. (1628). 
 
xlvi Introduction. 
 
 part which describes Drake s abode on the Californian 
 coast is worked out with singular care and fulness. 
 This earliest known description of the Indians of the 
 North Pacific shore is of the deepest interest, especially 
 when we reflect that the scene of Drake s sojourn was 
 possibly the bay of San Francisco, which in some old 
 maps, as in that prefixed to Burke s Account of Euro 
 pean Settlements in America, bears the name of Port 
 of Sir Francis Drake. Another interesting point is that 
 in this voyage Englishmen first beheld the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and pronounced it the fairest cape in the whole 
 circumference of the earth (p. 229). 
 
 The narrative of Biggs was cut short in the middle 
 by the death of the writer and completed by another 
 hand. He possessed a certain power of description, 
 but even had he finished his narrative it could 
 scarcely have stood as an adequate account of the im 
 portant expedition it commemorates. Something of 
 this kind probably passed through Hakluyt s mind 
 when he inserted the Resolution of the Land Captains/ 
 which is perhaps from the pen of Carlile. 
 
 While the narratives of Best give a fair idea of the 
 methods of peaceful seamanship, neither Pretty nor 
 Biggs furnishes anything like an adequate description of 
 a sea-fight. By way of supplying this defect we append 
 a lively sketch extracted from a work written some years 
 later (1626) the Accidence for Young Seamen of 
 the celebrated Virginian hero Captain John Smith, as 
 improved in the subsequent edition called the Seaman s 
 Grammar. The details do not differ materially from 
 the practice in the time of Drake. 
 
 In preparing the text of the narratives for the press 
 
The Narratives Pretty and Biggs. xlvi : 
 
 the plan usually adopted in reprinting our English 
 Bible and Shakespeare has been followed. The obso 
 lete spelling and punctuation have been abandoned ; 
 but whatever is archaic in the substance of words and 
 the structure of sentences is carefully preserved. 
 Hakluyt s text has been preferred to first editions, 
 where such exist. Hakluyt was an excellent editor: 
 the alterations and omissions which he makes always 
 improve the narrative. Best, for instance, referring 
 to the alleged fact that the only bit of auriferous stone 
 which existed on Hall s Island (see pp. 94, 102) was 
 the very one to be picked up and carried on board, 
 solemnly ascribes it to the intervention of the Almighty. 
 This was too much for Hakluyt, who strikes the 
 passage out. The syntax of the narratives is often 
 harsh, involved, and imperfect. In general whatever is 
 intelligible has been allowed to pass without alteration. 
 In one or two places a word has been inserted in 
 brackets for the purpose of making the sense clearer, 
 but in no case has the text been unnecessarily disturbed. 
 A few manifest errors have been corrected. Here and 
 there some lines have been omitted ; occasionally a word 
 or phrase calculated to offend the reader s eye has been 
 replaced by another. In the former case, the passage 
 is marked by asterisks, in the latter by an obelus l . 
 
 1 In reading the numerals above twenty the units should precede 
 the tens : thus ( 21 should be read one and twenty, not twenty- 
 one : the 21. day the one and twentieth day, &c. 
 
LIFE AND WORKS OF HAKLUYT. 
 
 RICHARD HAKLUYT, Preacher/ as he usually described 
 himself, to distinguish him from his cousin, Richard 
 Hakluyt, Esquire, of Eyton in Herefordshire, and the 
 Middle Temple Learned Hakluyt/ or Industrious 
 Hakluyt/ as he was commonly styled by his contem 
 poraries, was probably born in or near London about 
 I 553 The family appears to be purely English, the 
 name being simply an abbreviated spelling of Hackle- 
 wit or Hacklewight (compare Udair for Woodall/ 
 &c.). While at Westminster School, where he was 
 a Queen s Scholar, young Hakluyt often visited his 
 kinsman in the Temple. Both his parents died while 
 he was a child : possibly the kinsman was his guardian. 
 The elder Hakluyt, an enthusiastic student of cosmo 
 graphy, showed the youth for the first time the new 
 map of the world, and explained to him the vast 
 revolution in nautical matters which had recently 
 taken place. Hakluyt became deeply impressed with 
 the subject, and resolved to dedicate himself to the 
 furtherance of maritime enterprise by Englishmen. 
 In due time (1570) he proceeded to Oxford as 
 a Student of Christ Church, being contemporary with 
 Raleigh, a commoner of Oriel, was admitted to the 
 degree of B.A. in 1574, and to that of M. A. in 1577. 
 He afterwards lectured in the Schools on cosmography, 
 
Life and Works of Hakluyt. xlix 
 
 being, as he claims in his earlist printed work, 
 the first to illustrate in public the difference between 
 the old imperfectly-composed and the new lately- 
 reformed maps, which he performed to the general 
 contentment of his auditory. The work in question, 
 entitled Divers Voyages touching the Discovery of 
 America and the Islands adjacent to the same, made 
 first of all by our Englishmen, and afterwards by the 
 Frenchmen and Britons, &c., was published in 1582. 
 In the next year Hakluyt quitted Oxford and went to 
 Paris as chaplain to the English Ambassador. Here 
 he wrote A Particular Discourse concerning Western 
 Discoveries (1584, not printed at the time), translated 
 the Journal of Laudonniere, and published a new and 
 corrected edition of the Decades of Peter Martyr, with 
 marginal notes and a copious index, dedicated to Sir 
 Walter Raleigh (1587). The object of this publication 
 was to incite other maritime nations, especially the 
 English, to emulate the deeds of the Spaniards in the 
 New World. In his dedicatory epistle to Raleigh 
 he draws attention to the fact that Peter Martyr 
 thrice describes Sebastian Cabot as the discoverer of 
 1 Bacalaos or Newfoundland, having sailed thither, 
 accompanied by three hundred Englishmen, pursuant 
 to a patent from Henry VII in 1496, and coasted the 
 shores of America from the Arctic circle to the latitude 
 of the Straits of Gibraltar (36) ] . Hakluyt regarded 
 Cabot as the English Columbus. He salutes Raleigh, 
 
 1 It was not Sebastian Cabot, it should here be observed, but his father, 
 John, who commanded the small bark, carrying only eighteen persons, 
 which first reached the American continent from England. Sebastian 
 may possibly have been on board. The year was 1497; and they 
 probably did no more than coast along Labrador and Newfoundland. 
 
 d 
 
1 Introduction. 
 
 who was then preparing his third colonizing expedition 
 to Virginia/ as the English Cortes; and charges him 
 to let the exploits of his Spanish prototype, recorded 
 in the musical prose of Peter Martyr, ring in his ears 
 by day, and keep him awake at night, even as the 
 trophies of Miltiades did Themistocles. In conclusion 
 Hakluyt mentions that he proposes shortly to publish 
 his Collection of English Voyages, arranged in an 
 orderly series, and cleansed from the dust of ages, in 
 
 I order that Englishmen may behold their inheritance, 
 and seize the opportunity of recovering it. 
 
 In the next year (1588) Hakluyt returned to England, 
 and in 1589 published in one volume folio the first 
 edition of the great work on which his fame mainly 
 rests. He entitled it The Principal Navigations, 
 Voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation/ and 
 dedicated it to Sir Francis Walsingham. A second 
 and enlarged edition, in three volumes, was published 
 1598-1600, and dedicated to Sir Robert Cecil. The 
 first and second volumes deal with the Old World, the 
 third volume with the New. The first volume includes 
 Voyages made to the North and North-east quarters 
 of the world/ beginning with the fabulous conquest of 
 
 Iceland by King Arthur in A. D. 517, extracted from 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, and ending with an account 
 of The Vanquishing of the Spanish Armada/ translated 
 from a Dutch chronicler. It is composed of miscellaneous 
 material relating to voyages in the northern seas, in 
 cluding the Baltic, and the commerce of the countries to 
 which they give access, especially Russia. Among the 
 most interesting pieces contained in it is the metrical 
 Libel of English Policy, exhorting all England to keep 
 
Life and Works of Haklnyt. \\ 
 
 the Sea, and namely the Narrow Sea (the English 
 Channel, cp. post, p. 130), written between 1416 and 
 1438. The second volume includes the Voyages to the 
 South and South-east quarters of the World, by and 
 within the Strait of Gibraltar. It embraces voyages to 
 Guinea and the East Indies, and in the Atlantic as far 
 as the Azores, which were considered to be the western 
 most parts of the Old World. Hence it happens that 
 this volume contains Raleigh s narrative of Greenville s 
 celebrated fifteen hours fight in the Revenge. The 
 third volume consists of voyages to America, beginning 
 with its mythical discovery by the Welsh prince Madoc 
 A.D. 1170, and proceeding directly to Columbus and 
 Cabot. The mass of material which had accumulated 
 in a single century is arranged as follows : (i) the 
 North- West Passage, Newfoundland and Canada, (2) 
 Eastern North America (Virginia and Florida) ; (3) 
 Central North America (New Mexico, Cibola, and 
 Quivira) ; (4) Western North America (California) ; 
 (5) Mexico and the Antilles; (6) Guiana; (7) Brazil; 
 (8) the Plate River. Hakluyt places last the voyages 
 intended for passing the Strait of Magellan and navi- , 
 gating the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Of the six 
 expeditions which had set forth with this object only 
 two had attained it : these were the famous * circum 
 navigations of Drake and Cavendish. 
 
 Hakluyt s last publication was a translation of 
 the account of De Soto s expedition to Florida (ante, 
 p. xxxiii), written in Portuguese by the anonymous 
 Gentleman of Elvas. The object of this volume, 
 which appeared in 1609, was simply to magnify 
 the newly-founded colony of Virginia, in which he 
 
 d 2 
 
lii Introduction. 
 
 was a shareholder, in the eyes of English capitalists ; 
 and he accordingly entitled it Virginia Richly Valued 
 by the Description of Florida her Next Neighbour. 
 
 Hakluyt s labours obtained him early and ample 
 preferment. In 1586 he succeeded to a prebendal stall 
 in the cathedral of Bristol, the reversion to which had 
 been granted him a year or two previously. In 1590 
 he became rector of Wetheringsett in Suffolk ; in 1602 
 prebendary, and in 1603 archdeacon of Westminster ; 
 he was also a chaplain of the Savoy. He secured in 
 1605 the prospective living of James Town, the intended 
 capital of the intended colony of Virginia, the value of 
 which had been fixed in advance at the liberal sum 
 of 500 per annum. This potential benefice Hakluyt 
 prudently supplied by a young curate named Robert 
 Hunt, who lived there only a year or two, and died 
 lamented by the colonists. Hakluyt s last preferment 
 was the rectory of Gedney in Lincolnshire, obtained 
 by him in 1612. Out of his emoluments he amassed 
 a considerable fortune, which was squandered by a 
 son. Hakluyt died in 1616, and was buried in West 
 minster Abbey. No inscription marks his grave, nor is 
 it known in what part of the church he was interred \ 
 
 1 For further information concerning Hakluyt, Hawkins, Frobisher 
 and Drake, the reader is referred to Professor J. K. Laughton s 
 articles in the Dictionary of National Biography, to which the 
 editor acknowledges his obligations in preparing the present edition. 
 Those who wish to study the subject comprehensively must have 
 recourse to Mr. Froude s History of England, to his eloquent essay 
 on England s Forgotten Worthies, by which this little work was 
 originally suggested, and to his four lectures entitled English Seamen 
 in the Sixteenth Century, delivered before the University of Oxford 
 in the present year, and now in course of publication. 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR TAKING A PRIZE. 
 
 (From Chap. III. of The Seaman s Grammar, by Captain John Smith, 
 sometimes Governor of Virginia and Admiral of New England. 
 London, 1652. The editor calls it the masterpiece of the book.) 
 
 A sail ! * How bears she [or stands she] ? To wind-ward 
 or lee-ward ? Set him by the compass ! * He stands right 
 a-head [or on the weather-bow, or lee-bow]. Let fly your 
 colours (if you have a consort, else not) ! Out with all your 
 sails ! A steady man to the helm sit close to keep her 
 steady ! Give him chase [or fetch him up] ! He holds his 
 own ! * No we gather on him, Captain ! Out goes his flag 
 and pendants, also his waist-cloths and top-armings, which 
 is a long red cloth about three-quarters of a yard broad, edged 
 on each side with calico or white linen cloth, that goeth round 
 about the ship on the outsides of all her upper works, fore 
 and aft, and before the cubbridge-heads l , also about the fore- 
 and main-tops, as well for the countenance and grace of the 
 ship, as to cover the men from being seen. He furls and 
 slings his main- yard ; in goes his sprit-sail. Thus they use 
 to strip themselves into their short sails, or fighting sails, 
 which is, only the foresail, the main and fore top-sails, because 
 the rest should not be fired nor spoiled ; besides, they would 
 be troublesome to handle, hinder our sights and the using 
 our arms. He makes ready his close fights 2 , fore and aft. 
 
 Master, how stands the chase ? Right on head, I say. 
 Well : we shall reach him bye and bye. What ! is all ready ? 
 
 1 The bulk-heads of the fore-castle. 
 
 2 Bulk-heads set up to cover the men while firing. 
 
liv Introduction. 
 
 Yea, yea. * Every man to his charge ! Dowse your top 
 sail to salute him for the sea : hail him with a noise of 
 trumpets. Whence is your ship ? Of Spain : whence is 
 yours ? Of England Are you a merchant, or a man-of- 
 war l ? * We are of the Sea ! He waves us to leeward with 
 his drawn sword, calls amain for the king of Spain, and 
 springs his luff 2 . * Give him a chase-piece with your broad 
 side, and run a good berth a-head of him ! Done, done. 
 * We have the wind of him, and he tacks about. * Tack you 
 about also, and keep your luff 3 ! Be yare at the helm ! Edge 
 in with him ! Give him a volley of small shot, also your 
 prow and broad-side as before, and keep your luff. He pays 
 us shot for shot ! * Well : we shall requite him ! 
 
 * What ! Are you ready again ? Yea, yea ! Try him 
 once more, as before ! * Done, done ! Keep your luff and 
 load your ordnance again : is all ready ? Yea, yea ! * Edge 
 in with him again ! Begin with your bow-pieces, proceed 
 with your broad-side, and let her fall off with the wind, to 
 give her also your full chase, your weather broad-side, and 
 bring her round that the stern may also discharge and your 
 tacks close aboard again ! Done, done ! . . . The wind veers, 
 the sea goes too high to board her, and we are shot thorough 
 and thorough, and between wind and water. Try the 
 pump : bear up the helm ! Master, let us breathe and refresh 
 a little, and sling a man over-board to stop the leaks : that is 
 to truss him up about the middle in a piece of canvas and a 
 rope to keep him from sinking, and his arms at liberty, with 
 a mallet in the one hand, and a plug lapped in oakum, and 
 well tarred, in a tarpawling clout in the other, which he will 
 quickly beat into the hole or holes the bullets made. * What 
 cheer, mates? Is all well? All well ! All well ! All 
 well ! Then make ready to bear up with him again ! And 
 
 1 Smith s original text has merchants, or men of war. 
 J Brings his ship suddenly close by the wind. 
 Keep nearer to the wind. 
 
Directions for taking a Prize. Iv 
 
 with all your great and small shot charge him, and in the 
 smoke hoard him thwart the hawse, on the bow, mid-ships, 
 or, rather than fail, on his quarter ; or make fast your grap- 
 plings, if you can, to his close fights, and sheer off. * Captain, 
 we are foul on each other, and the ship is on fire ! Cut any 
 thing to get clear, and smother the fire with wet cloths. In 
 such a case they will presently be such friends as to help 
 one another all they can to get clear, lest they should both 
 burn together and sink : and if they be generous, the fire 
 quenched, drink kindly one to another, heave their cans 
 over-board, and then begin again as before. 
 
 Well, Master, the day is spent ; the night draws on, let us 
 consult. Chirurgeon, look to the wounded, and wind up the 
 slain (with each a weight or bullet at their heads and feet to 
 make them sink, and give them three guns for their funerals). 
 Swabber, make clean the ship. Purser, record their names. 
 Watch, be vigilant to keep your berth to wind\yard, that we 
 lose him not in the night. Gunners, spunge your ordnance. 
 Soldiers, scour your pieces. Carpenters, about your leaks. 
 Boatswain and the rest, repair the sails and shrouds, and 
 Cook, see you observe your directions against the morning 
 
 watch. Boy, holla ! Master, holla ! is the kettle 
 
 boiled ? * Yea, yea ! Boatswain, call up the men to prayer 
 and breakfast. 
 
 Boy, fetch my cellar of bottles. A health to you all, fore 
 and aft ! Courage, my hearts, for a fresh charge ! Gunners, 
 beat open the ports, and out with your lower tier, and bring 
 me from the weather-side to the lee so many pieces as we 
 have ports to bear upon him. Master, lay him aboard, luff 
 for luff! Mid- ships men, see the tops and yards well manned, 
 with stones, fire-pots, and brass balls, to throw amongst 
 them before we enter : or if we be put off, charge them with 
 all your great and small shot ; in the smoke let us enter 
 them in the shrouds, and every squadron at his best ad 
 vantage. So, sound drums and trumpets, and SAINT GEORGE 
 i OR ENGLAND ! 
 
Ivi Introduction. 
 
 They hang out a flag of truce ! Hail him amain, ABASE * ! 
 (or take in his flag.) They strike their sails, and come aboard 
 with their captain, purser, and gunner, with their commission, 
 cocket, or bills of loading. Out goes the boat : they are 
 launched from the ship-side. Entertain them with a cry, ( God 
 save the captain and all the company ! with the trumpets 
 sounding. Examine them in particular, and then conclude 
 your conditions, with feasting, freedom, or punishment, as 
 you find occasion. But always have as much care to their 
 wounded as to your own ; and if there be either young 
 women or aged men, use them nobly, which is ever the 
 nature of a generous disposition. To conclude, if you sur 
 prise him, or enter perforce, you may stow the men, rifle, 
 pillage, or sack, and cry a prize. 
 
 1 I. e. Down with your flag ! The summons to surrender. Fr. 
 A bas ! Sp. Abajo ! (Compare p, 209.) 
 
VOYAGES 
 
 THE ELIZABETHAN SEAMEN 
 TO AMERICA. 
 
 HAWKINS (b. 1532, d. 1595). 
 
 THE history of the English in America practically begins 
 with the three slave-trading voyages of John Hawkins of 
 Plymouth, made in the years 1562-3, 1564-5, and i567-8. 
 Nothing that Englishmen had done in ^connexion with 
 America, previously to these voyages, had any result worth 
 recording. English seamen had known the New World nearly 
 seventy years, for John Cabot had reached it shortly after its 
 discovery by Columbus, and English adventurers had from 
 time to time crossed the Atlantic to explore the American 
 coasts. But as the excitement of novelty subsided, voyages 
 from England to America had become fewer and fewer. It 
 is easy to account for this. There was no opening for 
 conquest or plunder, for the Tudors were at peace with the 
 Spanish sovereigns, and the Papal title of Spain and Portugal 
 to the whole of the new continent was not disputed by 
 Catholic England. By the laws of Spain the trade with its 
 transatlantic possessions was confined to Spanish vessels. 
 Meanwhile English commerce found profitable openings 
 elsewhere. English seamen frequented the Mediterranean 
 in increasing numbers : and from the Mediterranean they 
 
 B 
 
2 Hawkins. 
 
 naturally extended their voyages to the western coast of 
 Africa. The African trade, the school of Columbus, thus 
 became the school of Hawkins, of Frobisher, and of Drake. 
 
 From the western coast of Africa the course is easy to 
 Brazil. William Hawkins, of Plymouth, father of the more 
 famous seaman whose voyages follow, had already three 
 times made the Brazilian voyage, by crossing the Atlantic 
 from Africa. The natives of the West Indian islands, reduced 
 to slavery by the Spaniards, were now being rapidly exter 
 minated, and negroes were being imported in their place. As 
 the plantations in America grew and multiplied, the demand 
 for negroes increased. The Spaniards had no African 
 settlements south of Barbary ; and the Portuguese had 
 hitherto furnished negro slaves both for themselves and 
 for the Spaniards. But the Brazilian plantations grew so 
 fast, about the middle of the century, that they absorbed the 
 entire supply, and the Spanish colonists knew not where to 
 look for negroes. This dearth of slaves in the Spanish Indies 
 became known to the English and French captains who 
 frequented the African coast ; and John Hawkins, who had 
 been engaged from boyhood in the trade with Spain and the 
 Canaries, resolved in 1562 to take a cargo of negro slaves to 
 Hispaniola, The little squadron with which he executed 
 this project was the first English squadron which navigated 
 the West Indian seas. In 1559 Hawkins had married the 
 daughter of Gunson, Treasurer of the Royal Navy. It was 
 probably owing to this connexion that fre was enabled to 
 raise money for his ventures, and to make his second 
 voyage in one of the Queen s ships, the Jesus of Lubeck. 
 
 England was on good terms with Spain, and the law 
 excluding foreign vessels from trading with the Spanish 
 colonists, of which no mention was made in the commercial 
 treaty between Spain and England, was not strictly enforced. 
 The trade was profitable, and Hawkins found no difficulty 
 in disposing of his cargo. A meagre note (p. 6) from the 
 pen of Hakluyt contains all that is known of the first 
 American voyage of Hawkins. He carried his wares no 
 farther than three ports on the northern side of Hispaniola. 
 These ports, far away from San Domingo, the capital, were 
 
Haivkms. 3 
 
 already well known to the French smugglers. Having 
 secured a cargo which filled not only his own ships but two 
 others hired on the spot, he made the best of his way back. 
 In his second voyage, as will be seen, he entered the Carib 
 bean Sea, still keeping, however, at a safe distance from San 
 Domingo, and sold his slaves on the mainland. 
 
 The second expedition was on a larger scale, and the Earl 
 of Pembroke, and Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, were 
 among the adventurers who contributed the funds. Hawkins 
 now had opposition to overcome. After his first expedition, 
 relying on the freedom of trade which existed between 
 England and Spain, he had despatched his hired vessels, 
 laden with American produce, to Seville, where the cargoes 
 were confiscated, and an order went forth strictly prohibiting 
 the Spanish colonists in the New World from trading with 
 him. But Hawkins persisted. The statement that he forced 
 the defenceless Spanish colonists to take his negroes at 
 prices fixed by him (J. G. Kohl, History of the Discovery of 
 Maine, p. 443) is incorrect. Hawkins, indeed, broke down, 
 by threats or force, the resistance of the Spanish officials ; 
 but the colonists appear to have been ready enough to buy 
 when this had been done. Having disposed of all his slaves, 
 and loaded his vessels with hides and other goods bought 
 with the produce, Hawkins returned. In the Caribbean sea 
 the current carried him far to leeward, compelling him 
 ultimately to double the western point of Cuba, and sail 
 homewards past the shores of Florida. Public opinion had 
 long indicated these shores as fitting places for colonisation 
 by Englishmen : a second French colony had been founded 
 there by Laudonniere in the previous year (1564), the 
 colonists left by Ribault in 1562 having returned to Europe 
 in 1563. Hawkins had a Frenchman on board, who had 
 been in Florida with Ribault. The frenchman guided 
 him to Laudonniere s settlement, whence he made his 
 way along the coast of North America to Newfoundland, 
 and so, with the prevailing westerly winds, to Europe. This 
 was the pioneer voyage made by Englishmen along the 
 coasts of the United States. It corresponded to that of 
 Verrazzano, forty years earlier, which had opened the way 
 
 B 2 
 
4 Hawkins. 
 
 to French colonisation in Florida and Canada. The in 
 teresting narrative which is here given is from the pen of 
 John Sparke, one of the soldiers engaged in the expedition. 
 It contains the first information concerning North America 
 and its natives published in England by an English eye 
 witness, and ranks among the most interesting pieces in 
 Hakluyt s collection. Sparke s observation that the land is 
 larger than any one Christian monarch could conveniently 
 colonise (p. 61) hints not obscurely at the occupation of 
 North America by the English. 
 
 The second voyage of Hawkins won him wealth and 
 reputation ; and in 1565 he obtained his well-known grant of 
 arms, with the crest of a demi-Moor, bound and captive. 
 A breach between England and Spain was manifestly im 
 pending, and his successes opened a tempting prospect to 
 English adventurers. The inferiority of Spain at sea was 
 more than suspected ; and the fears of the Spaniards were 
 by this time thoroughly aroused. The Spanish Ambassador 
 met Hawkins at Court, and invited him to dinner. Hawkins 
 accepted, and coolly informed the representative of Philip 
 that he proposed to repeat his voyage in the next year (1566). 
 Accidents delayed the equipment of the fleet until October. 
 Meanwhile Philip made effectual remonstrances at the 
 English Court ; and, just as Hawkins was on the point of 
 starting, letters arrived at Plymouth from Cecil, forbidding 
 him, in the Queen s name, to traffic in breach of the laws of 
 Spain, and requiring from him a bond in ,500 to this effect 
 before his /vessels departed. But the plans of Hawkins were 
 only temporarily frustrated. In another year s time the 
 aspect of things had changed ; Elizabeth had become less 
 disposed to have regard to Spanish interests, and Hawkins 
 was permitted to execute his project without hindrance. 
 Having collected on the African coast about 500 negroes, he 
 sailed for the West Indies a third time. He disposed of 
 most of his slaves in the South American ports, and carried 
 the remainder to San Juan de Ulua, the port of Mexico itself, 
 where he was surprised by the unexpected arrival of a 
 powerful Spanish fleet and made his escape with the loss of 
 all his vessels except the Minion and the Judith. Young 
 
Hawkins. 5 
 
 Francis Drake was in command of the Judith, a small vessel 
 of fifty tons. It is curious that in the narrative of Hawkins 
 the name of Drake is not mentioned. When the Minion and 
 the Judith escaped from the jaws of destruction in the port 
 of San Juan, Drake sailed straight for England. Evidently 
 Hawkins regarded this as an act of desertion ; the Judith. 
 he writes (p. 78)5 forsook us in our great misery. Yet it is 
 difficult to see what better course Drake could have taken. 
 He could render Hawkins no help, and might have been 
 a cause of embarrassment. Unable to find food for the 
 crowded passengers on board the Minion, Hawkins put half 
 of them ashore. Three of the wretched survivors of this 
 party, David Ingram, Job Hortop and Miles Philips, lived to 
 write accounts of the adventures which afterwards befell 
 them. Ingram wandered through eastern North America, 
 following the Indian trails, and was brought to Europe by 
 a French ship from the St. John s River in New Brunswick. 
 Hortop and Philips were captured and taken to Mexico ; 
 the former was sent to Spain, and reached England in 1590, 
 having served twelve years as a galley-slave. Philips 
 escaped from his captivity in Mexico and reached England 
 in 1582. The account of Philips is interesting in con 
 nexion with the brief narrative from the pen of Hawkins, 
 which is here printed, for internal evidence shows that 
 Hawkins, in writing his own version of the story, had 
 the narrative of Philips before him. The misfortunes of 
 this last voyage discouraged him; and the duties of the 
 Treasurership of the Navy, to which office, pursuant to a 
 previous grant, he succeeded in 1573, prevented him from 
 again engaging in private enterprise. His last expedition, 
 made in concert with Drake, with the intention of plundering 
 Panama, took place in 1595. Hawkins died off Puerto 
 Rico, before the fleet reached the American continent, and 
 Drake before it anchored at Porto Bello. Both found a 
 sailor s grave in the waters which their daring threw open to 
 English adventure, and ultimately converted into a common 
 field of enterprise for the maritime nations of Europe. 
 
HAWKINS FIRST VOYAGE. 
 
 [NOTE BY HAKLUYT.] 
 
 The FIRST VOYAGE of the Right Worshipful and Valiant Knight 
 SIR JOHN HAWKINS, sometimes Treasurer of Her 
 Majesty s Navy Royal, made to the WEST INDIES, 1562. 
 
 MASTER JOHN HAWKINS having made divers voyages 
 to the isles of the Canaries, and there by his good and 
 upright dealing being grown in love and favour with 
 the people, informed himself amongst them, by diligent 
 inquisition, of the state of the West India, whereof he 
 had received some knowledge by the instructions of his 
 father, but increased the same by the advertisements 
 and reports of that people. And being amongst other 
 particulars assured that Negros were very good mer 
 chandise in Hispaniola, and that store of Negros might 
 easily be had upon the coast of Guinea, resolved with 
 himself to make trial thereof, and communicated that 
 device with his worshipful friends of London : namely, 
 with Sir Lionel Ducket, Sir Thomas Lodge \ Master 
 Gunson his father-in-law 2 , Sir William Winter, Master 
 Bromfield, and others. All which persons liked so well 
 of his intention, that they became liberal contributors 
 and adventurers in the action. For which purpose 
 
 1 Lodge was Lord Mayor in 1563, Ducket Lord Mayor in 1573. 
 
 2 Benjamin Gunson, Treasurer of the Navy 1553-1573, who^had 
 succeeded his father William Gunson in the office. Hawkins "suc 
 ceeded his father-in-law in the office. 
 
Hawkins First Voyage. 7 
 
 there were three good ships immediately provided : 
 the one called the Solomon, of the burden of 120 ton, 
 wherein Master Hawkins himself went as General : the 
 second the Swallow, of 100 tons, wherein went for captain 
 Master Thomas Hampton : and the third the Jonas, a 
 bark of 40 tons, wherein the master supplied the captain s 
 room : in which small fleet Master Hawkins took with 
 him not above 100 men, for fear of sickness and other 
 inconveniences, whereunto men in long voyages are 
 commonly subject. 
 
 With this company he put oft and departed from the 
 coast of England in the month of October, 1562, and in 
 his course touched first at Teneriffe, where he received 
 friendly entertainment. From thence he passed to 
 Sierra Leona^, upon the coast of Guinea, which place 
 by the people of the country is called Tagarin, where 
 he stayed some good time, and got into his possession, 
 partly by the sword and partly by other means, to the 
 number of 300 Negros at the least, besides other mer 
 chandises which that country yieldeth. With this prey 
 he sailed over the ocean sea unto the island of His- 
 paniola, and arrived first at the port of Isabella : and 
 there he had reasonable utterance of his English com 
 modities, as also of some part of his Negros, trusting 
 the Spaniards no further, than that by his own strength 
 he was able still to master them. From the port of 
 Isabella he went to Puerto de Plata, where he made like 
 sales, standing always upon his guard : from thence 
 also he sailed to Monte Christi, another port on the 
 north side of Hispaniola, and the last place of his 
 touching, where he had peaceable traffic, and made vent 
 of the whole number of his Negros : for which he 
 received in those three places, by way of exchange, 
 
 1 So named by its discoverer, Pedro de Cintra, in 1462, from the 
 roaring of thunder among the mountains, heard at sea. 
 
8 Hawkins First Voyage. 
 
 such a quantity of merchandise that he did not only 
 lade his own three ships with hides, ginger, sugars, 
 and some quantity of pearls, but he freighted also two 
 other hulks with hides and other like commodities, 
 which he sent into Spain 1 . And thus, leaving the island, 
 he returned and disemboqued 2 , passing out by the 
 islands of the Caicos, without further entering into the 
 Bay of Mexico, in this his first voyage to the West India. 
 And so, with prosperous success and much gain to him 
 self and the aforesaid adventurers, he came home, and 
 arrived in the month of September, 1563. 
 
 1 These cargoes were confiscated on their arrival. 
 2 Passed into the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
HAWKINS-SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 [NARRATIVE BY JOHN SPARKE.] 
 
 The VOYAGE made by MASTER JOHN HAWKINS, Esquire, 
 and afterward Knight, Captain of the JESUS of Lubeck *, one 
 of Her Majesty s ships, and General of the SOLOMON, and 
 other two barks going in his company, to the coast of GUINEA 
 and the INDIES OF NOVA HISPANIA. begun in ANNO DOMINI 
 1564. 
 
 MASTER JOHN HAWKINS, with the Jesus of Lubeck, a 
 ship of 700, and the Solomon, a ship of 140, the Tiger, 
 a bark of 50, and the Swallow, of 30 tons, being all 
 well furnished with men to the number of one hundred 
 threescore and ten, as also with ordnance and victual 
 requisite for such a voyage, departed out of Plymouth 
 the 18. day of October, in the year of our Lord 1564, 
 with a prosperous wind. At which departing, in cutting 
 the foresail, a marvellous misfortune happened to one 
 of the officers in the ship, who by the pulley of the 
 sheet was slain out of hand, being a sorrowful beginning 
 to them all. And after their setting out ten leagues 
 to the sea, he met the same day with the Minion, a 
 ship of the Queen s Majesty, whereof was captain David 
 Carlet, and also her consort, the John Baptist of London, 
 being bound to Guinea also, who hailed one the other, 
 after the custom of the sea, with certain pieces of 
 ordnance for joy of their meeting ; which done, the 
 Minion departed from him to seek her other consort, 
 
 1 Bought from Lubeck by Henry VIII. for the Royal Navy. 
 
io Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 the Merlin of London, which was astern out of sight, 
 leaving in Master Hawkins company the John Baptist, 
 her other consort. 
 
 Thus sailing forwards on their way with a prosperous 
 wind until the 21. of the same month, at that time a 
 great storm arose, the wind being at north-east, about 
 nine o clock in the night, and continued so 23 hours 
 together; in which storm Master Hawkins lost the 
 company of the John Baptist aforesaid, and of his 
 pinnace called the Swallow, his other three ships 
 being sore beaten with a storm. The 23. day, the 
 Swallow, to his no small rejoicing, came to him again 
 in the night, ten leagues to the northward of Cape 
 Finisterre, he having put roomer 1 , not being able to 
 double the Cape, in that there rose a contrary wind at 
 south-west. The 25. the wind continuing contrary, 
 he put into a place in Galicia, called Ferrol, where he 
 remained five days, and appointed all the masters of 
 his ships an Order for the keeping of good company, 
 in this manner. 
 
 THE small ships to be always ahead and aweather of 
 the Jesus, and to speak twice a-day with the Jesus 
 at least. If in the day the ensign be over the poop 
 of the Jesus, or in the night two lights, then shall 
 all the ships speak with her. If there be three lights 
 aboard the Jesus, then doth she cast about. If the 
 weather be extreme, that the small ships cannot keep 
 company with the Jesus, then all to keep company 
 with the Solomon, and forthwith to repair to the island 
 of Teneriffe, to the northward of the road of Sirroes. 
 If any happen to any misfortune, then to show two 
 lights, and to shoot off a piece of ordnance. If any 
 lose company and come in sight again, to make three 
 yaws 2 , and strike the mizen three times. SERVE GOD 
 
 DAILY, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, PRESERVE YOUR VICTUALS, 
 BEWARE OF FIRE, AND KEEP GOOD COMPANY. 
 
 1 Gone large/ or from the wind. - Angles in the course. 
 
1564] Orders for the Voyage. n 
 
 The 26. day the Minion came in also where he was, 
 for the rejoicing whereof he gave them certain pieces 
 of ordnance, after the courtesy of the sea, for their 
 welcome. But the Minion s men had no mirth, because 
 of their consort the Merlin, whom, at their departure 
 from Master Hawkins upon the coast of England, they 
 went to seek, and, having met with her, kept company 
 two days together ; and at last, by misfortune of fire, 
 through the negligence of one of their gunners, the 
 powder in the gunner s room was set on fire ; which, 
 with the first blast, struck out her poop, and therewithal 
 lost three men, besides many sore burned, which escaped 
 by the brigandine being at her stern ; and immediately, 
 to the great loss of the owners, and most horrible sight 
 to the beholders, she sunk before their eyes. 
 
 The 30. day of the month Master Hawkins, with his 
 consorts, and company of the Minion, having now both 
 the brigandines at her stern, weighed anchor, and set sail 
 on their voyage, having a prosperous wind thereunto. 
 
 The fourth of November they had sight of the island 
 of Madeira, and the sixth day of Teneriffe, which they 
 thought to have been the Canary, in that they supposed 
 themselves to have been to the eastward of Teneriffe, 
 and were not. But the Minion, being three or four 
 leagues ahead of us, kept on her course to Teneriffe, 
 having better sight thereof than the other had ; and by 
 that means they parted company. For Master Hawkins 
 and his company went more to the west, upon which 
 course having sailed a while, he espied another island, 
 which he thought to be Teneriffe ; and not being able, 
 by means of the fog upon the hills, to discern the same, 
 nor yet to fetch it by night, went roomer until the 
 morning, being the seventh of November. Which as 
 yet he could not discern, but sailed along the coast 
 the space of two hours to perceive some certain mark 
 
12 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 of Teneriffe, and found no likelihood thereof at all, 
 accounting that to be, as it was indeed, the Isle of 
 Palms 1 : and so sailing forwards, espied another island 
 called Camera, and also Teneriffe. With the which he 
 made, and sailing all night, came in the morning the 
 next day to the port of Adecia 2 , where he found his 
 pinnace; which had departed from him the sixth of 
 the month, being in the weather of him, and, espying 
 the peak of Teneriffe all a-high, bare thither. 
 
 At his arrival, somewhat before he came to anchor, 
 he hoised out his ship s pinnace, rowing ashore, in 
 tending to have sent one with a letter to Peter de Ponte, 
 one of the governors of the island, who dwelt a league 
 from the shore. But, as he pretended to have landed, 
 suddenly there appeared, upon the two points of the 
 road, men levelling of bases 3 and arquebuses to them, 
 with divers others, to the number of fourscore, with 
 halberds, pikes, swords, and targets. Which happened 
 so contrary to his expectation that it did greatly amaze 
 him; and the more because he was now in their danger, 
 not knowing well how to avoid it without some mischief. 
 Wherefore he determined to call to them for the better 
 appeasing of the matter, declaring his name, and pro 
 fessing himself to be an especial friend to Peter de 
 Ponte, and that he had sundry things for him which he 
 greatly desired. And in the meantime, while he was 
 thus talking with them, whereby he made them to hold 
 their hands, he willed the mariners to row away, so that 
 at last he gat out of their danger. And then asking for 
 Peter de Ponte, one of his sons, being Senor Nicolas de 
 Ponte, came forth ; whom he perceiving, desired to put 
 his men aside, and he himself would leap ashore and 
 commune with him, which they did. So that after 
 communication had between them of sundry things, 
 
 1 Palma. 2 ,Adexe. 3 Small portable cannon. 
 
1564] The Canaries Teneriffe. 13 
 
 and of the fear they both had, Master Hawkins desired 
 to have certain necessaries provided for him. In the 
 mean space, while these things were providing, he 
 trimmed the mainmast of the Jesus, which in the storm 
 aforesaid was sprung. Here he sojourned seven days, 
 refreshing himself and his men. In which time Peter 
 de Ponfe, dwelling at Santa Cruz, a city 20 leagues off, 
 came to him, and gave him as gentle entertainment as 
 if he had been his own brother. 
 
 To speak somewhat of these islands, being called 
 in old time Insulae Fortunatae, by the means of the 
 flourishing thereof, the fruitfulness of them doth surely 
 exceed far all other that I have heard of. For they 
 make wine better than any in Spain, they have grapes 
 of such bigness that they may be compared to damsons, 
 and in taste inferior to none. For sugar, suckets 1 , 
 raisins of the sun, and many other fruits, abundance. 
 For rosin and raw silk there is great store. They want 
 neither corn, pullets, cattle, nor yet wild fowl. They 
 have many camels also, which, being young, are eaten 
 of the people for victuals, and, being old, they are used 
 for carriage of necessaries ; whose property is, as he 
 is taught, to kneel at the taking of his load, and unlading 
 again. His nature is * * * contrary to other beasts; 
 of understanding very good, but of shape very deformed, 
 with a little belly, long misshapen legs, and feet very 
 broad of flesh, without a hoof, all whole, saving the 
 great toe ; a back bearing up like a molehill, a large 
 and thin neck, with a little head, with a bunch of hard 
 flesh, which nature hath given him in his breast, to lean 
 upon. This beast liveth hardly, and is contented with 
 straw and stubble, but of force strong, being well able to 
 carry 500 weight. In one of these islands, called Ferro, 
 there is, by the reports of the inhabitants, a certain 
 1 Fruits preserved in sugar. 
 
14 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 tree that raineth continually, by the dropping whereof 
 the inhabitants and cattle are satisfied with water, for 
 other water have they none in all the island 1 . And it 
 raineth in such abundance that it were incredible unto 
 a man to believe such a virtue to be in a tree ; but it is 
 known to be a divine matter and a thing ordained by 
 God, at whose power therein we ought not to marvel, 
 seeing He did by His providence, as we read in the 
 Scriptures, when the children of Israel were going into 
 the land of promise, feed them with manna from heaven 
 for the space of forty years. Of the trees aforesaid we 
 saw in Guinea many, being of great height, dropping 
 continually ; but not so abundantly as the other, because 
 the leaves are narrower, and are like the leaves of a 
 pear-tree. About these islands are certain flitting 
 islands, which have been oftentimes seen, and when 
 men approached near them, they vanished ; as the like 
 hath been of these islands now known, by the report of 
 the inhabitants, which were not found of long time one 
 after the other. And therefore it should seem, he is 
 not yet born to whom God hath appointed the finding 
 of them 2 . In this island of Teneriffe there is a hill 
 called The Peak, because it is peaked, which is in height, 
 by their reports, twenty leagues, having, both winter 
 and summer, abundance of snow 7 in the top of it. This 
 Peak may be seen in a clear day 50 leagues off; but it 
 showeth as though it were a black cloud a great height 
 in the element. I have heard of none to be compared 
 
 1 The Arbol Santo of Ferro was an enormous tree of the laurel kind, 
 standing alone on a steep rock. It condensed daily a large quantity 
 of water from the morning mist, which was collected in two cisterns, 
 one for human use, the other for cattle. It was blown down by a 
 hurricane in 1612. Only three springs exist on the island. 
 
 a The legendary island of St. Brandan, formerly placed further 
 northward, but now believed to lie west of the Canaries. It had by 
 this time developed into an imaginary group called the Isles of 
 St. Brandan. 
 
1564] Arbol Santo Peak of Teneriffe. 15 
 
 with this in height ; but in the Indias I have seen 
 many, and in my judgment not inferior to the Peak, 
 and so the Spaniards write. 
 
 The 15. of November, at night, we departed from 
 Teneriffe, and the 20. of the same we had sight of ten 
 carvels that were fishing at sea. With whom we would 
 have spoken, but they, fearing us, fled into a place of 
 Barbary, called Cape de las Barbas. 
 
 The twentieth, the ship s pinnace, with two men in her, 
 sailing by the ship, was overthrown by the oversight of 
 them that went in her, the wind being so great that, 
 before they were espied, and the ship had cast about 
 for them, she was driven half a league to leeward of the 
 pinnace, and had lost sight of her ; so that there was 
 small hope of recovery, had not God s help and the 
 captain s diligence been, who, having well marked 
 which way the pinnace was by the sun, appointed 24 of 
 the lustiest rowers in the great boat to row to the 
 windwards, and so recovered, contrary to all men s 
 expectations, both the pinnace and the men sitting 
 upon the keel of her. 
 
 The 25. he came to Cape Blanco, which is upon the 
 coast of Africa, and a place where the Portugals do 
 ride, that fish there in the month of November espe 
 cially, and is a very good place of fishing for pargoes\ 
 mullet, and dog-fish. In this place the Portugals have 
 no hold for their defence, but have rescue of the 
 Barbarians, whom they entertain as their soldiers, for 
 the time of their being there ; and for their fishing 
 upon that coast of Africa, do pay a certain tribute to 
 the king of the Moors. The people of that part of 
 Africa are tawny, having long hair, without any apparel, 
 saving f about their loins. Their weapons in wars are 
 bows and arrows. 
 
 1 Rocket-fish. 
 
16 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 The 26. we departed from St. Avis Bay, within Cape 
 Blanco, where we refreshed ourselves with fish and 
 other necessaries ; and the 29. we came to Cape Verde, 
 which lieth in 14 degrees and a half. These people are 
 all black, and are called Negroes ; without any apparel, 
 saving t about their loins; of stature goodly men, and 
 well liking by reason of their food, which passeth all 
 other Guineans for kine, goats, pullen *, rice, fruits, and 
 fish. Here we took fishes with heads like conies, and 
 teeth nothing varying, of a jolly thickness, but not past 
 a foot long, and is not to be eaten without flaying or 
 cutting off his head. To speak somewhat of the sundry 
 sorts of these Guineans : the people of Cape Verde are 
 called Leophares, and counted the goodliest men of all 
 other, saving the Congoes, which do inhabit on this side 
 the Cape de Buena Esperanto,. These Leophares have 
 wars against the Jeloffs, which are borderers by them -. 
 Their weapons are bows and arrows, targets, and short 
 daggers ; darts also, but varying from other negroes ; 
 for whereas the other use a long dart to fight with in 
 their hands, they carry five or six small ones apiece, 
 which they cast with. These men also are more civil 
 than any other, because of their daily traffic with the 
 Frenchmen, and are of nature very gentle and loving. 
 For while we were there we took in a Frenchman, who 
 was one of the nineteen that, going to Brazil, in a bark 
 of Dieppe, of 60 tons, and being a-seaboard of Cape 
 Verde 200 leagues, the planks of their bark with a sea 
 brake out upon them so suddenly, that much ado they 
 had to save themselves in their boats. But, by God s 
 providence, the wind being westerly, which is rarely 
 seen there, they got to the shore, to the Isle Brava, 
 and in great penury got to Cape Verde, where they 
 
 1 Poultry. 
 
 2 Northwards, in Senegal. 
 
1564] Negroes of Cape Verde. 17 
 
 remained six weeks, and had meat and drink of the 
 same people. The said Frenchman having forsaken 
 his fellows, which were three leagues off from the 
 shore, and, wandering with the negroes to and fro, 
 fortuned to come to the water s side ; and, communing 
 with certain of his countrymen which were in our ship, 
 by their persuasions came away with us. But his 
 entertainment amongst them was such that he desired 
 it not ; but, through the importunate request of his 
 countrymen, consented at the last. Here we stayed 
 but one night and part of the day; for the seventh 
 of December we came away, in that pretending to have 
 taken negroes there perforce, the Minion s men gave 
 them there to understand of our coming, and our 
 pretence, wherefore they did avoid the snares we had 
 laid for them. 
 
 The 8. of December we anchored by a small island 
 called Alcatrarsa 1 , wherein at our going ashore we 
 found nothing but sea-birds, as we call them gannets, 
 but by the Portugals called alcatrarses, who for that 
 cause gave the said island the same name. Herein 
 half of our boats were laden with young and old fowl, 
 who, not being used to the sight of men, flew so about 
 us that we struck them down with poles. In this place 
 the two ships riding, the two barks, with their boats, 
 went into an island of the Sapies called La Formio, to 
 see if they could take any of them, and there landed to 
 the number of 80 in armour, and, espying certain, made 
 to them ; but they fled in such order into the woods, 
 that it booted them not to follow. So, going on their 
 way forward, till they came to a river which they could 
 not pass over, they espied on the other side two men, 
 who with their bows and arrows shot terribly at them. 
 
 1 Bird Island. The Alcatraz (Albatross), or Man-of-war Bird, is a 
 species of cormorant. 
 
i8 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 Whereupon we discharged certain arquebuses to them 
 again, but the ignorant people weighed it not, because 
 they knew not the danger thereof; but used a marvel 
 lous crying in their fight, with leaping and turning their 
 tails that it was most strange to see, and gave us great 
 pleasure to behold them. At the last, one being hurt 
 with an arquebus upon the thigh, looked upon his 
 wound and wist not how it came, because he could not 
 see the pellet. Here Master Hawkins perceiving no 
 good to be done amongst them, because we could not 
 find their towns, and also not knowing how to go into 
 Rio Grande 1 , for want of a pilot, which was the very 
 occasion of our coming thither, and finding so many 
 shoals, feared with our great ships to go in, and 
 therefore departed on our pretended way to the 
 Idols 2 . 
 
 The 10. of December we had a north-east wind, with 
 rain and storm ; which weather continuing two days 
 together, was the occasion that the Solomon and Tiger 
 lost our company. For whereas the Jesus and pinnace 
 anchored at one of the islands called Sambula, the 
 twelfth day, the Solomon and Tiger came not thither till 
 the fourteenth. In this island we stayed certain days, 
 going every day on shore to take the inhabitants, with 
 burning and spoiling their towns ; who before were 
 Sapies, and were conquered by the Samboscs, inhabitants 
 beyond Sierra Leona. These Samboses had inhabited 
 there three years before our coming thither ; and in so 
 short space have so planted the ground, that they had 
 great plenty of mill 3 , rice, roots, pompions 4 , pullen, 
 goats, of small fry dried ; every house full of the country 
 fruit planted by God s providence, as palmito 5 trees, 
 
 1 Now the Jeba River. 
 2 The Ilhas dos Idolos (Isles de Los). 
 3 Millet. * Pumpkins. 3 Cabbage-Palms. . 
 
1564] Isles de Los Sambula. 19 
 
 fruits like dates, and sundry other, in no place in all 
 that country so abundantly, whereby they lived more 
 deliciously than other. These inhabitants have divers 
 of the Sapies, which they took in the wars, as their 
 slaves, whom only they kept to till the ground, in that 
 they neither have the knowledge thereof, nor yet will 
 work themselves ; of whom we took many in that place, 
 but of the Samboses none at all, for they fled into the 
 main. All the Samboses have white teeth as we have, 
 far unlike to the Sapies which do inhabit about Rio 
 Grande ; for their teeth are all filed, which they do for 
 a bravery, to set out themselves, and do jag their flesh, 
 both legs, arms, and bodies, as workmanlike as a jerkin- 
 maker with us pinketh a jerkin. These Sapies be more 
 civil than the Samboses ; for whereas the Samboses live 
 most by the spoil of their enemies, both in taking their 
 victuals, and eating them also, the Sapies do not eat 
 man s flesh, unless in the war they be driven by 
 necessity thereunto ; which they have not used, but by 
 the example of the Samboses, but live only with fruits 
 and cattle, whereof they have great store. This plenty 
 is the occasion that the Sapies desire not war, except 
 they be thereunto provoked by the invasions of the 
 Samboses, whereas the Samboses for want of food are 
 enforced thereunto, and therefore are not wont only to 
 take them that they kill, but also keep those that they 
 take until such time as they want meat, and then they 
 kill them. There is also another occasion that pro- 
 voketh the Samboses to war against the Sapies, which 
 is for covetousness of their riches. For whereas the 
 Sapies have an order to bury their dead, in certain 
 places appointed for that purpose, with their gold about 
 them, the Samboses dig up the ground to have the same 
 treasure. For the Samboses have not the like store of 
 gold that the Sapies have. In this island of Sambula 
 
 C 2 
 
20 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 we found about 50 boats called almadies 1 , or canoas, 
 which are made of one piece of wood, digged out like 
 a trough, but of a good proportion, being about eight 
 yards long and one in breadth, having a beak-head, and 
 a stern very proportionably made, and on the outside 
 artificially carved, and painted red and blue. They are 
 able to carry twenty or thirty men ; but they are about 
 the coast able to carry threescore and upward. In 
 these canoas they row standing upright, with an oar 
 somewhat longer than a man, the end whereof is 
 made about the breadth and length of a man s hand, of 
 the largest sort. They row very swift, and in some of 
 them four rowers and one to steer make as much way 
 as a pair of oars in the Thames of London. 
 
 Their towns are prettily divided with a main street at 
 the entering in, that goeth thorough their town, and 
 another overthwart street, which maketh their towns 
 cross-ways. Their houses are built in a rank very 
 orderly in the face of the street, and they are made 
 round, like a dove-cot, with stakes set full of palmito 
 leaves, instead of a wall. They are not much more 
 than a fathom large, and two of height, and thatched 
 with palmito leaves very close (other some with reed) ; 
 and over the roof thereof, for the better garnishing of 
 the same, there is a round bundle of reeds, prettily 
 contrived like a louver 2 . In the inner part they make a 
 loft of sticks, whereupon they lay all their provision of 
 victuals. A place they reserve at their entrance for the 
 kitchen ; and the place they lie in is divided with certain 
 mats artificially made with the rind of palmito trees. 
 Their bedsteads are of small staves laid along, and 
 raised a foot from the ground, upon which is laid a mat, 
 
 1 The Moorish name (el-mahd, Arab. = cradle). 
 
 2 A wooden turret surmounting the roof of a house, having 
 openings for ventilation. 
 
1564] Negroes of Sambula. 21 
 
 and another upon them when they list ; for other 
 covering they have none. In the middle of the town 
 there is a house larger and higher than the other, but 
 in form alike, adjoining unto the which there is a 
 place made of four good stanchions of wood, and a round 
 roof over it, the ground also raised round with clay a 
 foot high, upon the which floor were strawed many fine 
 mats. This is the Consultation-house, the like whereof 
 is in all towns, as the Portugals affirm. In which place, 
 when they sit in council, the king or captain sitteth in 
 the midst, and the elders upon the floor by him, for 
 they give reverence to their elders ; and the common 
 sort sit round about them. There they sit to examine 
 matters of theft ; which if a man be taken with, to steal 
 but a Portugal cloth from another, he is sold to the 
 Portugals for a slave. They consult, also, and take 
 order what time they shall go to wars ; and, as it is 
 certainly reported by the Portugals, they take order in 
 gathering of the fruits in the season of the year, and 
 also of palmito wine, which is gathered by a hole cut in 
 the top of a tree, and a gourd set for the receiving 
 thereof, which falleth in by drops, and yieldeth fresh wine 
 again within a month ; and this divided part and portion- 
 like to every man by the judgment of the captain and 
 elders, every man holdeth himself contented. And this 
 surely I judge to be a very good order ; for otherwise, 
 whereas scarcity of palmito is, every man would have 
 the same, which might breed great strife. But of such 
 things as every man doth plant for himself, the sower 
 thereof reapeth it to his own use, so that nothing is 
 common but that which is unset by man s hands. In 
 their houses there is more common passage of lizards 
 like evats 1 , and others greater, of black and blue colour, 
 of near a foot long, besides their tails, than there is 
 1 Efts or newts. 
 
22 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 with us of mice in great houses. The Sapies and Sam- 
 boses also use in their wars bows, and arrows made of 
 reeds, with heads of iron, poisoned with the juice of a 
 cucumber, whereof I had many in my hands. In their 
 battles they have target-men, with broad wicker targets, 
 and darts, with heads, at both ends, of iron ; the one in 
 form of a two-edged sword, a foot and an half long, and 
 at the other end, the iron long of the same length made 
 to counterpeise it, that in casting it might fly level, 
 rather than for any other purpose as I can judge. And 
 when they espy the enemy, the captain, to cheer his men, 
 crieth Hungry! and they answer Heygre! And with 
 that every man placeth himself in order. For about 
 every target-man three bowmen will cover themselves, 
 and shoot as they see advantage. And when they give 
 the onset, they make such terrible cries that they may 
 be heard two miles off. For their belief, I can hear of 
 none that they have, but in such as they themselves 
 imagine to see in their dreams, and so worship the 
 pictures, whereof we saw some like unto devils. In 
 this island aforesaid we sojourned until the 21. of 
 December, where, having taken certain negroes, and as 
 much of their fruits, rice, and mill as we could well 
 carry away (whereof there was such store that we might 
 have laden one of our barks therewith), we departed. 
 And at our departure, divers our men being desirous to 
 go on shore to fetch pompions, which, having proved, 
 they found to be very good, certain of the Tiger s men 
 went also. Amongst the which there was a carpenter, 
 a young man, who, with his fellows, having fetched 
 many and carried them down to their boats, as they 
 were ready to depart, desired his fellow to tarry while 
 he might go up to fetch a few which he had laid by for 
 himself. Who, being more licorous than circumspect, 
 went up without weapon, and, as he went up alone, 
 
1564] Departure from Sambula. 23 
 
 possibly being marked of the negroes that were upon 
 the trees, espying him what he did, perceiving him to 
 be alone, and without weapon, [they] dogged him ; and 
 finding him occupied in binding his pompions together, 
 came behind him, overthrowing him, and straight cut 
 his throat, as he afterwards was found by his fellows, 
 who came to the place for him, and there found him 
 naked. 
 
 The 22. the captain went into the river called Cal- 
 towsa, with the two barks, and the John s pinnace, and 
 the Solomon s boat, leaving at anchor in the river s 
 mouth the two ships, the river being 20 leagues in, 
 where the Portugals rode. He came thither the 25. 
 and dispatched his business, and so returned with two 
 carvels loaden with negroes. 
 
 The 27. the captain was advertised by the Portugals 
 of a town of the negroes called Bymba, being in the 
 way as they returned, where was not only great 
 quantity of gold, but also that there were not above 
 forty men and a hundred women and children in the 
 town, so that if he would give the adventure upon the 
 same, he might get a hundred slaves. With the 
 which tidings he being glad, because the Portugals 
 should not think him to be of so base a courage, but 
 that he durst give them that, and greater attempts ; and 
 being thereunto also the more provoked with the pros 
 perous success he had in other islands adjacent, where 
 he had put them all to flight and taken in one boat 
 twenty together, determined to stay before the town 
 three or four hours, to see what he could do ; and 
 thereupon prepared his men in armour and weapon 
 together, to the number of 40 men well appointed, 
 having to their guides certain Portugals, in a boat, who 
 brought some of them to their death. We landing boat 
 after boat, and divers of our men scattering themselves, 
 
24 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1564 
 
 contrary to the captain s will, by one or two in a 
 company, for the hope that they had to find gold in 
 their houses, ransacking the same, in the meantime the 
 negroes came upon them, and hurt many, being thus 
 scattered ; whereas, if five or six had been together 
 they had been able, as their companions did, to give the 
 overthrow to forty of them. And, being driven down to 
 take their boats, were followed so hardly by a rout of 
 negroes, who by that took courage to pursue them to 
 their boats, that not only some of them, but others 
 standing on shore, not looking for any such matter, by 
 means that the negroes did flee at the first, and our 
 company remained in the town, were suddenly so set 
 upon that some with great hurt recovered their boats ; 
 othersome, not able to recover the same, took the water, 
 and perished by means of the ooze. While this was 
 doing, the captain, who, with a dozen men, went through 
 the town, returned, finding 200 negroes at the water s 
 side, shooting at them in the boats, and cutting them 
 in pieces which were drowned in the water ; at whose 
 coming they ran all away. So he entered his boats, and, 
 before he could put off from the shore, they returned 
 again, and shot very fiercely and hurt divers of them. 
 Thus we returned back somewhat discomforted, although 
 the captain in a singular wise manner carried himself 
 with countenance very cheerful outwardly, as though he 
 did little weigh the death of his men, nor yet the great 
 hurt of the rest, although his heart inwardly was broken 
 in pieces for it ; done to this end, that the Portugals, 
 being with him, should not presume to resist against 
 him, nor take occasion to put him to further displeasure 
 or hindrance for the death of our men : having gotten 
 by our going ten negroes and lost seven of our best 
 men, whereof Master Field, captain of the Solomon, was 
 one, and we had 27 of our men hurt. In the same 
 
1565] Sierra Leone. 25 
 
 hour while this was doing there happened at the same 
 instant a marvellous miracle to them in the ships, who 
 rode ten leagues to seaward, by many sharks, or tibu- 
 rons, who came about the ships ; among which one was 
 taken by the Jesus and four by the Solomon, and one, 
 very sore hurt, escaped. And so it fell out of our 
 men, whereof one of the Jesus men and four of the 
 Solomon s were killed, and the fifth, having twenty 
 wounds, was rescued, and escaped with much ado. 
 
 The 28. they came to their ships, the Jesus and 
 the Solomon, and the 30. departed from thence to 
 Taggarin. 
 
 The first of January the two barks and both the 
 boats forsook the ships and went into a river called the 
 Casserroes, and the sixth, having despatched their 
 business, the two barks returned and came to Taggarin, 
 where the two ships were at anchor. Not two days 
 after the coming of the two ships thither, they put their 
 water cask ashore, and filled it with water, to season 
 the same, thinking to have filled it with fresh water 
 afterward ; and while their men were some on shore 
 and some in their boats, the negroes set upon them in 
 the boats and hurt divers of them, and came to the 
 casks and cut off the hoops of twelve butts, which lost 
 us four or five days time, besides great want we had of 
 the same. Sojourning at Taggarin, the Swallow went 
 up the river, about her traffic, where they saw great 
 towns of the negroes, and canoas that had threescore 
 men in apiece. There they understood by the Portu- 
 gals of a great battle between them of Sierra Leona side 
 and them of Taggarin. They of Sierra Leona had pre 
 pared three hundred canoas to invade the other ; the 
 time was appointed not past six days after our departure 
 from thence. Which we would have seen, to the intent 
 we might have taken some of them, had it not been for 
 
2,6 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 the death and sickness of our men, which came by the 
 contagiousness of the place, which made us to make 
 haste away. 
 
 The 1 8. of January at night, we departed from 7^- 
 garin, being bound for the West Indies, before which 
 departure certain of the Solomon s men went on shore 
 to fill water in the night. And as they came on shore 
 with their boat, being ready to leap on land, one of 
 them espied a negro in a white coat, standing upon a 
 rock, being ready to have received them when they came 
 on shore, having in sight of his fellows also eight or nine, 
 some in one place leaping out and some in another, but 
 they hid themselves straight again. Whereupon our 
 men,doubtingtheyhad been a great company, and sought 
 to have taken them at more advantage, as God would, 
 departed to their ships, not thinking there had been such 
 a mischief pretended toward them as then was indeed. 
 Which the next day we understood of a Portugal that 
 came down to us, who had trafficked with the negroes, 
 by whom he understood that the king of Sierra Leona 
 had made all the power he could to take some of us, 
 partly from the desire he had to see what kind of people 
 we were, that had spoiled his people at the Idols, 
 whereof he had news before our coming, and, as I judge 
 also, upon other occasions provoked by the Tango- 
 mangos. But sure we were that the army was come 
 down, by means that in the evening we saw such 
 a monstrous fire, made by the watering place, that before 
 was not seen ; which fire is the only mark for the 
 Tangomangos to know where their army is always. If 
 these men had come down in the evening, they had 
 done us great displeasure, for that we were on shore 
 filling water ; but God, who worketh all things for the 
 best, would not have it so, and by Him we escaped 
 without danger. His name be praised for it ! 
 
1565] West Indies Dominica. 27 
 
 The 29. of this same month we departed with all our 
 ships from Sierra Leona towards the West Indies, and 
 for the space of 18 days we were becalmed, having now 
 and then contrary winds and some tornados amongst 
 the same calm ; which happened to us very ill, being 
 but reasonably watered for so great a company of 
 negroes and ourselves, which pinched us all, and that 
 which was worst, put us in such fear that many never 
 thought to have reached to the Indies without great 
 death of negroes and of themselves. But the Almighty 
 God, who never suflfereth His elect to perish, sent us, 
 the sixteenth of February, the ordinary Breeze 1 , which 
 is the north-east wind, which never left us till we came 
 to an island of the Cannibals* called Dominica, where we 
 arrived the ninth of March, upon a Saturday. And 
 because it was the most desolate place in all the island 
 we could see no Cannibals, but some of their houses 
 where they dwelled, and, as it should seem, forsook the 
 place for want of fresh water ; for we could find none 
 there but rain-water and such as fell from the hills and 
 remained as a puddle in the dale, whereof we filled for 
 our negroes. The Cannibals of that island, and also 
 others adjacent, are the most desperate warriors that 
 are in the Indies, by the Spaniards report, who are 
 never able to conquer them ; and they are molested by 
 them not a little when they are driven to water there in 
 any of those islands. Of very late, not two months past, 
 in the said island, a carvel, being driven to water, was 
 in the night set upon by the inhabitants, who cut their 
 cable in the halser, whereby they were driven ashore, 
 and so taken by them and eaten. The Green Dragon 
 of Newhaven, whereof was captain one Bontemps, in 
 March also, came to one of those islands, called Grenada; 
 
 1 Spanish JBrisa, the usual name for the Trade-Wind. 
 
 2 Caribs. See page 54, 1. 30. 
 
28 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 and, being driven to water, could not do the same for 
 the Cannibals, who fought with him very desperately two 
 days. For our part also, if we had not lighted upon the 
 desertest place in all that island, we could not have 
 missed, but should have been greatly troubled by them, 
 by all the Spaniards reports, who make them devils in 
 respect of [other] men. 
 
 The tenth day at night, we departed from thence, and 
 the 15. had sight of nine islands called the Testigos ; 
 and on the 16. of an island called Margarita, where we 
 were entertained by the alcalde , and had both beeves 
 and sheep given us for the refreshing of our men. But 
 the governor of the island would neither come to speak 
 with our captain, neither yet give him any licence to 
 traffic. And, to displease us the more, whereas we had 
 hired a pilot to have gone with us, they would not only 
 not suffer him to go with us, but also sent word by a 
 carvel out of hand to Santo Domingo to the Viceroy, who 
 doth represent the king s person, of our arrival in those 
 parts ; which had like to have turned us to great displea 
 sure, by the means that the same Viceroy did send word 
 to Cape de la Vela, and to other places along the coast, 
 commanding them that, by the virtue of his authority 
 and by the obedience that they owe to their prince, no 
 man should traffic with us, but should resist us with all 
 the force they could. In this island, notwithstanding 
 that we were not within four leagues of the town, yet 
 were they so afraid, that not only the governor himself, 
 but also all the inhabitants, forsook their town, assembling 
 all the Indians to them, and fled into the mountains ; 
 as we were partly certified, and also saw the experience 
 ourselves, by some of the Indians coming to see us, 
 who, by three Spaniards a-horseback passing hard by 
 us, went unto the Indians, having every one of them 
 
 1 Chief magistrate. 
 
1565] Coast of Cumana. 29 
 
 their bows and arrows, procuring them away, who 
 before were conversant with us. 
 
 Here, perceiving no traffic to be had with them, nor 
 yet water for the refreshing of our men, we were driven 
 to depart the twentieth day, and the two and twentieth 
 we came to a place in the main called Cumana, whither 
 the captain going in his pinnace, spake with certain 
 Spaniards, of whom he demanded traffic. But they 
 made him answer, they were but soldiers newly come thither, 
 and were not able to buy one negro. Whereupon he asked 
 for a watering place, and they pointed him a place two 
 leagues off called Santa Fe, where we found marvel 
 lous goodly watering, and commodious for the taking 
 in thereof; for that the fresh water came into the sea, 
 and so our ships had aboard the shore 20 fathom water. 
 Near about this place inhabited certain Indians, who 
 the next day after we came thither came down to us, 
 presenting mill and cakes of bread, which they had 
 made of a kind of corn called maize, in bigness of 
 a pease, the ear whereof is much like to a teasel, but 
 a span in length, having thereon a number of grains. 
 Also they brought down to us hens, [sweet] potatoes, 
 and pines, which we bought for beads, pewter whistles, 
 glasses, knives, and other trifles. 
 
 These potatoes be the most delicate roots that may be 
 eaten, and do far exceed our parsnips or carrots. Their 
 pines be of the bigness of two fists, the outside whereof 
 is of the making of a pine-apple, but it is soft like the 
 rind of a cucumber, and the inside eateth like an apple ; 
 but it is more delicious than any sweet apple sugared. 
 These Indians being of colour tawny like an olive, 
 having every one of them, both men and women, hair 
 all black, and no other colour, the women wearing the 
 same hanging down to their shoulders, and the men 
 rounded, and without beards, neither men nor women 
 
30 Hawkins Second Voyage. [156= 
 
 suffering any hair to grow in any part of their body, 
 but daily pull it off as it groweth. They go all naked, 
 the men covering no part of their body but their t loins. 
 The women also are uncovered, saving with a cloth 
 which they wear a hand-breadth. : These people 
 
 be very small feeders ; for travelling they carry but two 
 small bottles of gourds, wherein they put, in one the 
 juice of sorrel, whereof they have great store, and in the 
 other flour of their maize, which, being moist, they eat, 
 taking sometime of the other. These men carry every 
 man his bow and arrows. Whereof some arrows are 
 poisoned for wars, which they keep in a cane together, 
 which cane is of the bigness of a man s arm ; other some 
 with broad heads of iron, wherewith they strike fish in 
 the water. The experience whereof we saw not once 
 nor twice, but daily for the time we tarried there. For 
 they are so good archers that the Spaniards for fear 
 thereof arm themselves and their horses with quilted 
 canvas of two inches thick, and leave no place of their 
 body open to their enemies, saving their eyes, which they 
 may not hide ; and yet oftentimes are they hit in that 
 so small a scantling. Their poison is of such a force 
 that a man being stricken therewith dieth within four- 
 and-twenty hours, as the Spaniards do affirm ; and, in 
 my judgment, it is like there can be no stronger poison 
 as they make it, using thereunto apples which are very 
 fair and red of colour, but are a strong poison, with the 
 which, together with venomous bats, vipers, adders, and 
 other serpents, they make a medley, and therewith anoint 
 the same. * The beds which they have are made 
 
 of gossampin 1 cotton, and wrought artificially of divers 
 colours, which they carry about with them when they 
 travel, and making the same fast to two trees, lie therein, 
 they and their women. The people be surely gentle and 
 1 Gossampinus = the Cotton-tree (Pliny). 
 
1565] Caribs of Venezuela. 31 
 
 tractable, and such as desire to live peaceably, or else had 
 it been unpossible for the Spaniards to have conquered 
 them as they did, and the more to live now peaceably, 
 they being so many in number and the Spaniards so few. 
 From hence we departed the eight and twentieth, and 
 the next day we passed between the mainland and the 
 island called Tortuga, a very low island, in the year of 
 our Lord God 1565 aforesaid, and sailed along the 
 coast until the first of April. At which time the captain 
 sailed along in the Jesus pinnace to discern the coast, 
 and saw many Caribs on shore, and some, also, in their 
 canoas, which made tokens unto him of friendship, and 
 shewed him gold, meaning thereby that they would 
 traffic for wares. Whereupon he stayed to see the 
 manners of them ; and so for two or three trifles they 
 gave such things as they had about them, and departed. 
 But the Caribs were very importunate to have them 
 come on shore, which, if it had not been for want of 
 wares to traffic with them, he would not have denied 
 them, because the Indians which he saw before were 
 very gentle people, and such as do no man hurt. But, 
 as God would have it, he wanted that thing, which if he 
 had had would have been his confusion. For these 
 were no such kind of people as we took them to be, but 
 more devilish a thousand parts, and are eaters and 
 devourers of any man they can catch, as it was after 
 wards declared unto us at Burboroata, by a carvel 
 coming out of Spain with certain soldiers, and a 
 captain-general sent by the king for those eastward 
 parts of the Indians. Who, sailing along in his pinnace, 
 as our captain did, to descry the coast, was by the 
 Caribs called ashore with sundry tokens made to him of 
 friendship, and gold shewed, as though they desired 
 traffic ; with the which the Spaniard being moved, 
 suspecting no deceit at all, went ashore amongst them. 
 
32 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 Who was no sooner ashore but, with four or five more, 
 was taken ; the rest of his company being invaded by 
 them, saved themselves by flight ; but they that were 
 taken paid their ransom with their lives, and were 
 presently eaten. And this is their practice, to toll * with 
 their gold the ignorant to their snares. They are blood 
 suckers both of Spaniards, Indians, and all that light in 
 their laps ; not sparing their own countrymen if they 
 can conveniently come by them. Their policy in fight 
 with the Spaniards is marvellous ; for they choose for 
 their refuge the mountains and woods, where the 
 Spaniards with their horses cannot follow them. And 
 if they fortune to be met in the plain, where one horse 
 man may overrun TOO of them, they have a device of 
 late practised by them to pitch stakes of wood in the 
 ground and also small iron pikes to mischief their 
 horses, wherein they show themselves politic warriors. 
 They have more abundance of gold than all the 
 Spaniards have, and live upon the mountains ; where 
 the mines are in such number, that the Spaniards have 
 much ado to get any of them from them ; and yet some 
 times by assembling a great number of them, which 
 happeneth once in two years, they get a piece from 
 them, which afterwards they keep sure enough. 
 
 Thus having escaped the danger of them, we kept our 
 course along the coast, and came the third of April to a 
 town called Burboroata 2 , where his ships came to an 
 anchor, and he himself went ashore to speak with the 
 Spaniards. To whom he declared himself to be an 
 Englishman, and come thither to trade with them by 
 way of merchandise, and therefore required licence for 
 the same. Unto whom they made answer, that they 
 
 1 Entice. 
 
 2 Now Puerto Cabello, in Venezuela. It was founded in 1549, and 
 quickly became famous as a resort of smugglers. 
 
1565] Parley at Burboroata. 33 
 
 were forbidden by the king to traffic with any foreign 
 nation, upon penalty to forfeit their goods. Therefore 
 they desired him not to molest them any further, but to 
 depart as he came ; for other comfort he might not look 
 for at their hands, because they were subjects and might 
 not go beyond the law. But he replied that his neces 
 sity was such, as he might not so do. For being in one 
 of the Queen s Armadas of England, and having many 
 soldiers therein, he had need both of some refreshing 
 for them, and of victuals, and of money also, without 
 which he could not depart. And with much other talk 
 persuaded them not to fear any dishonest part on his 
 behalf towards them ; for neither would he commit any 
 such thing to the dishonour of his prince, nor yet for 
 his honest reputation and estimation, unless he were 
 too rigorously dealt withal, which he hoped not to find at 
 their hands, in that it should as well redound to their 
 profit as his own. And also he thought they might do 
 it without danger, because their princes were in amity 
 one with another. And for our parts we had free traffic 
 in Spain and Flanders, which are his dominions ; and, 
 therefore, he knew no reason why he should not have 
 the like in all his dominions. To the which the 
 Spaniards made answer that it lay not in them to give 
 any licence, for that they had a governor to whom the 
 government of those parts was committed ; but if he 
 would stay ten days, they would send to their governor, 
 who was threescore leagues off, and would return 
 answer, within the space appointed, of his mind. 
 
 In the meantime they were contented he should bring 
 his ships into harbour, and there they would deliver 
 him any victuals he would require. Whereupon the 
 fourth day we went in ; where being one day, and 
 receiving all things according to promise, the captain 
 advised himself that to remain there ten days idle. 
 
 D 
 
34 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 spending victuals and men s wages, and perhaps in the 
 end receive no good answer from the governor, it were 
 mere folly ; and therefore determined to make request 
 to have licence for the sale of certain lean and sick 
 negroes which he had in his ship like to die upon his 
 hands if he kept them ten days, having little or no re 
 freshing for them, whereas other men having them they 
 would be recovered well enough. And this request he 
 was forced to make, because he had not otherwise 
 wherewith to pay for victuals and for necessaries which 
 he should take. Which request being put in writing 
 and presented, the officers and town-dwellers assembled 
 together, and finding his request so reasonable, granted 
 him licence for 30 negroes ; which afterwards they 
 caused the officers to view, to the intent that they 
 should grant to nothing but that were very reasonable, 
 for fear of answering thereunto afterwards. This being 
 passed, our captain, according to their licence, thought 
 to have made sale. But the day passed and none came 
 to buy, who before made show that they had great need 
 of them ; and therefore [he] wist not what to surmise oi 
 them. Whether they went about to prolong the time 
 of the governor s answer, because they would keep 
 themselves blameless, or for any other policy, he kne\\ 
 not ; and for that purpose sent them word, marvelling 
 what the matter was, that none came to buy them 
 They answered, because they had granted licence onl} 
 to the poor to buy those negroes of small price, anc 
 their money was not so ready as other men s of moR 
 wealth. More than that, as soon as ever they saw the 
 ships, they conveyed away their money by their wives 
 that went into the mountains for fear, and were not ye 
 returned, and yet asked two days to seek their wive< 
 and fetch their money. Notwithstanding, the next daj 
 divers of them came to cheapen, but could not agree o 
 
1565] Sale of the lean negroes. 9 35 
 
 price, because they thought the price too high. Where 
 upon the captain, perceiving they went about to bring 
 down the price, and meant to buy, and would not con 
 fess if he had licence, that he might sell at any 
 reasonable rate, as they were worth in other places, 
 did send for the principals of the town, and made a 
 show he would depart ; declaring himself to be very 
 sorry that he had so much troubled them, and also that 
 he had sent for the governor to come down, seeing now 
 that his pretence was to depart. Whereat they mar 
 velled much, and asked him what cause moved him 
 thereunto, seeing by their working he was in possibility 
 to have his licence. 
 
 To the which he replied that it was not only a licence 
 that he sought, but profit, which he perceived was not 
 there to be had, and therefore would seek further ; and 
 withal showed them his writings, what he paid for his 
 negroes ; declaring also the great charge he was at in 
 his shipping and men s wages, and, therefore, to counter 
 vail his charges, he must sell his negroes for a greater 
 price than they offered. So they, doubting his de 
 parture, put him in comfort to sell better there than in 
 any other place. And if it fell out that he had no 
 licence, that he should not lose his labour in tarrying, 
 for they would buy without licence. Whereupon the 
 captain, being put in comfort, promised them to stay, so 
 that he might make sale of his lean negroes, which they 
 granted unto. And the next day [he] did sell some of 
 them. Who having bought and paid for them, thinking 
 to have had a discharge of the Customer for the custom 
 of the negroes, being the king s duty, they gave it away 
 to the poor for God s sake, and did refuse to give the 
 discharge in writing ; and the poor, not trusting their 
 words, for fear lest hereafter it might be demanded 
 of them, did refrain from buying any more ; so that 
 
 D 2 
 
36 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 nothing else was done until the governor s coming down, 
 which was the fourteenth day. And then the captain 
 made petition ; declaring that he was come thither in a 
 ship of the Queen s Majesty s of England, being bound 
 to Guinea, and thither driven by wind and weather; 
 so that being come thither, he had need of sundry 
 necessaries for the reparation of the said navy, and 
 also great need of money for the payment of his 
 soldiers, unto whom he had promised payment; and 
 therefore, although he would, yet would not they depart 
 without it. And for that purpose he requested licence 
 for the sale of certain of his negroes ; declaring, that 
 although they were forbidden to traffic with strangers, 
 yet as there was a great amity between their princes, 
 and that the thing pertained to our Queen s highness, 
 he thought he might do their prince great service, and 
 that it would be well taken at his hands to do it in this 
 cause. The which allegations, with divers others, put 
 in request, were presented unto the governor ; who, 
 sitting in council for that matter, granted unto his 
 request for licence. But yet there fell out another 
 thing, which was the abating of the king s custom, being 
 upon every slave thirty ducats, which would not be 
 granted unto. 
 
 Whereupon the captain perceiving that they would 
 neither come near his price he looked for by a great 
 deal, nor yet would abate the king s custom of that they 
 offered, so that either he must be a great loser by his 
 wares, or else compel the officers to abate the same 
 king s custom, which was too unreasonable, for to a 
 higher price he could not bring the buyers ; therefore, 
 the 16. of April, he prepared 100 men well armed with 
 bows, arrows, arquebuses, and pikes, with which he 
 marched to the townwards. And being perceived by the 
 governor, he straight with all expedition sent messengers 
 
1565] Departure from Burboroata. 37 
 
 to know his request ; desiring him to march no further 
 forward until he had answer again, which incontinent 
 he should have. So our captain, declaring how un 
 reasonable a thing the king s custom was, requested to 
 have the same abated, and to pay seven and a half per 
 centum, which is the ordinary custom for wares through 
 his dominions there ; and unto this if they would not 
 grant, he would displease them. And this word being 
 carried to the governor, answer was returned that all 
 things should be to his content ; and thereupon he de 
 termined to depart. But the soldiers and mariners, 
 finding so little credit in their promises, demanded gages 
 for the performance of the premisses, or else they would 
 not depart. And thus they being constrained to send 
 gages, we departed ; beginning our traffic, and ending 
 the same without disturbance. 
 
 Thus having made traffic in the harborough until the 
 28. our captain with his ships intended to go out of the 
 road, and purposed to make show of his departure ; 
 because now the common sort having employed their 
 money, the rich men were come to town, who made no 
 show that they were come to buy, so that they went 
 about to bring down the price ; and by this policy the 
 captain knew they would be made the more eager, for 
 fear lest we departed, and they should go without any 
 at all. 
 
 The 29. we being at anchor without the road, a French 
 ship called the Green Dragon, of Newhaven, whereof 
 was captain one Bontemps, came in ; who saluted us 
 after the manner of the sea, with certain pieces of ord 
 nance, and we re-saluted him with the like again. 
 With whom having communication, he declared that he 
 had been at the Mine in Guinea, and was beaten off by 
 the Portugals galleys, and enforced to come thither to 
 make sale of such wares as he had ; and further, that 
 
38 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 the like was happened unto the Minion; besides the 
 captain, Davie Car/et, and a merchant, with a dozen 
 mariners, betrayed by the negroes at their first arrival 
 thither, and remaining prisoners with the Portugals ; 
 and besides other misadventures of the loss of their 
 men, happened through the great lack of fresh water, 
 with great doubts of bringing home the ships ; which was 
 most sorrowful for us to understand. 
 
 Thus having ended our traffic here, the fourth of May 
 we departed, leaving the Frenchman behind us ; the 
 night before the which the Caribs, whereof I have made 
 mention before, being to the number of 200, came in 
 their canoas to Burboroata, intending by night to have 
 burned the town, and taken the Spaniards. Who being 
 more vigilant, because of our being there, than was their 
 custom, perceiving them coming, raised the town ; who 
 in a moment being a-horseback (by means their custom 
 is for all doubts to keep their horses ready sad 
 dled), in the night set upon them and took one; but 
 the rest, making shift for themselves, escaped away. 
 But this one, because he was their guide, and was the 
 occasion that divers times they had made invasion upon 
 them, had for his travail a stake thrust through his 
 fundament, and so out at his neck. 
 
 The sixth of May aforesaid, we came to an island 
 called Curasao, where we had thought to have anchored, 
 but could not find ground, and having let fall an anchor 
 with two cables, were fain to weigh it again ; and the 
 seventh, sailing along the coast to seek an harborough, 
 and finding none, we came to an anchor where we rode 
 open in the sea. In this place we had traffic for hides, 
 and found great refreshing, both of beef, mutton, and 
 lambs, whereof there was such plenty, that saving the 
 skins, we had the flesh given us for nothing ; the plenty 
 whereof was so abundant, that the worst in the ship 
 
1565] Cattle-breeding in Curasao. 39 
 
 thought scorn not only of mutton, but also of sodden 
 lamb, which they disdained to eat unroasted. 
 
 The increase of cattle in this island is marvellous, 
 which from a dozen of each sort brought thither by the 
 governor, in 25 years he had 100,000 at the least, and 
 of other cattle was able to kill, without spoil of the in 
 crease, 1,500 yearly, which he killeth for the skins, and 
 of the flesh saveth only the tongues, the rest he leaveth 
 to the fowl to devour. And this I am able to affirm, not 
 only upon the governor s own report, who was the 
 first that brought the increase thither, which so re- 
 maineth unto this day, but also by that I saw myself in 
 one field, where 100 oxen lay one by another all whole, 
 saving the skin and tongue taken away. And it is not so 
 marvellous a thing why they do thus cast away the flesh 
 in all the islands of the West Indies ; seeing the land is 
 great, and more than they are able to inhabit; the 
 people few, and having delicate fruits and meats enough 
 besides to feed upon, which they rather desire ; and 
 the increase, which passeth man s reason to believe, 
 when they come to a great number. For in Santo 
 Domingo, an island called by the finders thereof His- 
 paniola, there is so great a quantity of cattle, and such 
 increase thereof, that notwithstanding the daily killing 
 of them for their hides, it is not possible to assuage 
 the number of them, but they are devoured by wild 
 dogs ; whose number is such, by suffering them first to 
 range the woods and mountains, that they eat and 
 destroy 60,000 a year, and yet small lack found of them. 
 And no marvel, for the said island is almost as big as 
 all England, and being the first place that was found of 
 all the Indies, and long time inhabited before the rest, 
 it ought, therefore, of reason to be most populous : and 
 to this hour, the Viceroy and Council Royal abideth 
 there, as in the chiefest place of all the Indies, to prescribe 
 
40 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 orders to the rest for the king s behalf. Yet have 
 they but one city and thirteen villages in all the same 
 island ; whereby the spoil of them l in respect of the 
 increase is nothing. 
 
 The 15. of the foresaid month, we departed from 
 Curacao, being not a little to the rejoicing of our captain 
 and us, that we had there ended our traffic. But not 
 withstanding our sweet meat, we had sour sauce ; for by 
 reason of our riding so open at sea, what with blasts, 
 whereby our anchors being aground, three at once 
 came home 2 , and also with contrary winds blowing, 
 whereby, for fear of the shore, we were fain to haul 
 off to have anchor-hold, sometimes a whole day and a 
 night we turned up and down ; and this happened not 
 once, but half a dozen times in the space of our being 
 there. 
 
 The 16. we passed by an island called Aruba, and 
 the 17. at night, anchored six hours at the west end 
 of Cabo de la Vela, and in the morning, being the 18. 
 weighed again, keeping our course. In the which 
 time the captain, sailing by the shore in the pinnace, 
 came to the Rancheria, a place where the Spaniards 
 use to fish for pearls, and there spoke with a Spaniard, 
 who told him how far off he was from Rio de la Hacha. 
 Which because he would not over-shoot, he anchored 
 that night again, and the 19. came thither. Where 
 having talk with the king s Treasurer of the Indies 
 resident there, he declared his quiet traffic in Burboroata, 
 and showed a certificate of the same, made by the 
 governor thereof; and therefore he desired to have the 
 like there also. But the treasurer made answer, that 
 they were forbidden by the Viceroy and Council of 
 St. Domingo ; who having intelligence of our being on 
 
 1 I.e. of the cattle; the consumption of them is as nothing com 
 pared with the increase of them. Lost hold. 
 
1565] Traffic at Rio de la Hacha. 41 
 
 the coast, did send express commission, to resist us 
 with all the force they could. Insomuch that they durst 
 not traffic with us in no case ; alleging that if they did, 
 they should lose all that they did traffic for, besides 
 their bodies at the magistrate s commandment. Our 
 captain replied that he was in an Armada of the 
 Queen s Majesty s of England, and sent about other 
 her affairs ; but, driven besides his pretended voyage, 
 was enforced by contrary winds to come into those 
 parts ; where he hoped to find such friendship as he 
 should do in Spain. To the contrary whereof he knew 
 no reason, in that there was amity betwixt their princes. 
 But seeing they would, contrary to all reason, go about 
 to withstand his traffic, he would it should not be said 
 by him, that, having the force he hath, to be driven 
 from his traffic perforce ; but he would rather put it in 
 adventure to try whether he or they should have the 
 better; and therefore willed them to determine, either 
 to give him licence to trade, or else to stand to their 
 own harms. So upon this it was determined he should 
 have licence to trade, but they would give him such a 
 price as was the one half less than he had sold for 
 before. And thus they sent word they would do, and 
 none otherwise ; and if it liked him not, he might do 
 what he would, for they were determined not to deal 
 otherwise with him. Whereupon the captain, weighing 
 their unconscionable request, wrote to them a letter, 
 that they dealt too rigorously with him, to go about to 
 cut his throat in the price of his commodities, which 
 were so reasonably rated as they could not by a great 
 deal have the like at any other man s hands. But 
 seeing they had sent him this to his supper, he would 
 in the morning bring them as good a breakfast. 
 
 And therefore in the morning, being the 21. of May, 
 he shot off a whole culverin to summon the town, and 
 
42 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 preparing 100 men in armour, went ashore, having in 
 his great boat two falcons * of brass, and in the other 
 boats double bases in their noses. Which being per 
 ceived by the townsmen, they incontinent in battle 
 array, with their drum and ensign displayed, marched 
 from the town to the sands, of footmen to the number 
 of 150, making great brags with their cries, and waving 
 us ashore, whereby they made a semblance to have 
 fought with us indeed. But our captain, perceiving 
 them so brag, commanded the two falcons to be dis 
 charged at them, which put them in no small fear, to 
 see, as they afterward declared, such great pieces in a 
 boat. At every shot they fell flat to the ground ; and 
 as we approached near unto them, they broke their 
 array, and dispersed themselves so much for fear of 
 the ordnance, that at last they went all away with their 
 ensign. The horsemen, also, being about 30, made 
 as brave a show as might be, coursing up and down 
 with their horses, their brave white leather targets in 
 the one hand, and their javelins in the other, as though 
 they would have received us at our landing. But 
 when we landed, they gave ground, and consulted what 
 they should do. For little they thought we should 
 have landed so boldly ; and therefore, as the captain 
 was putting his men in array, and marched forward to 
 have encountered with them, they sent a messenger on 
 horseback, with a flag of truce to the captain, who 
 declared that the treasurer marvelled what he meant 
 to do, to come ashore in that order, in consideration 
 that they had granted to every reasonable request that 
 he did demand. But the captain, not well contented 
 with this messenger, marched forwards. The messenger 
 prayed him to stay his men, and said if he would come 
 apart from his men, the treasurer would come and speak 
 
 1 A cannon of 2$ in. bore, carrying 2 Ib. of shot. 
 
1 565] Alligators of Rio de la Hacha. 43 
 
 with him, whereunto he did agree to commune together. 
 The captain only with his armour, without weapon, and 
 the treasurer on horseback with his javelin, was afraid 
 to come near him for fear of his armour, which he said 
 was worse than his weapon, and so keeping aloof com 
 muning together, granted in fine to all his requests. 
 Which being declared by the captain to the company, 
 they desired to have pledges for the performance of all 
 things ; doubting that otherwise, when they had made 
 themselves stronger, they would have been at defiance 
 with us. And seeing that now they might have what 
 they would request, they judged it to be more wisdom 
 to be in assurance, than to be forced to make any more 
 labours about it. So upon this, gages were sent, and 
 we made our traffic quietly with them. 
 
 In the meantime while we stayed here, we watered a 
 good breadth off from the shore, where, by the strength 
 of the fresh water running into the sea, the salt water 
 was made fresh. In this river we saw many crocodiles 
 of sundry bignesses, but some as big as a boat, with 
 four feet, a long broad mouth, and a long tail ; whose 
 skin is so hard that a sword will not pierce it. His 
 nature is to live out of the water, as a frog doth ; but 
 he is a great devourer, and spareth neither fish, which 
 is his common food, nor beasts, nor men, if he take 
 them, as the proof thereof was known by a negro, who, 
 as he was filling water in the river, was by one of them 
 carried clean away and never seen after. His nature 
 is ever when he would have his prey, to cry and sob 
 like a Christian body, to provoke them to come to him, 
 and then he snatcheth at them; and thereupon came 
 this proverb, that is applied unto women when they 
 weep, lachrymae crocodtti, the meaning whereof is, that 
 as the crocodile when he crieth goeth then about most 
 to deceive, so doth a woman most commonly when she 
 
44 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 weepeth. Of these the master of the Jesus watched 
 one, and by the bank s side struck him with a pike of 
 a bill in the side, and after three or four times turning 
 in sight, he sunk down, and was not afterward seen. 
 In the time of our being in the rivers [of] Guinea, we 
 saw many of a monstrous bigness, amongst the which 
 the captain, being in one of the barks coming down the 
 same, shot a falcon at one, which very narrowly he 
 missed ; and with a fear he plunged into the water, 
 making a stream like the way of a boat. 
 
 Now while we were here, whether it were of a fear 
 that the Spaniards doubted we would have done them 
 some harm before we departed, or for any treason that 
 they intended towards us, I am not able to say ; but 
 then came thither a captain from some of the other 
 towns, with a dozen soldiers, upon a time when our 
 captain and the treasurer cleared all things between 
 them, and were in a communication of a debt of the 
 governor s of Burboroata, which was to be paid by the 
 said treasurer, who would not answer the same by any 
 means. Whereupon certain words of displeasure passed 
 betwixt the captain and him ; and parting the one from 
 the other, the treasurer possibly doubting that our 
 captain would perforce have sought the same, did 
 immediately command his men to arms, both horsemen 
 and footmen. But because the captain was in the river 
 on the back-side of the town with his other boats, and 
 all his men unarmed and without weapons, it was to be 
 judged he meant him little good ; having that advantage 
 of him, that coming upon the sudden, he might have 
 mischiefed many of his men. But the captain, having 
 understanding thereof, not trusting to their gentleness, 
 if they might have the advantage, departed aboard his 
 ships, and at night returned again, and demanded 
 amongst other talk, what they meant by assembling 
 
1565] Arrival of Spanish soldiers. 45 
 
 their men in that order. And they answered, that their 
 captain being come to town did muster his men 
 according to his accustomed manner. But it is to be 
 judged to be a cloak, in that coming for that purpose he 
 might have done it sooner. But the truth is, they were 
 not of force until then, whereby to enterprise any matter 
 against us, by means of pikes and arquebuses, whereof 
 they have want, and were now furnished by our captain, 
 and also three falcons, which having got in other places, 
 they had secretly conveyed thither, which made them 
 the bolder ; and also for that they saw now a convenient 
 place to do such a feat, and time also serving thereunto, 
 by the means that our men were not only unarmed and 
 unprovided, as at no time before the like, but also were 
 occupied in hewing of wood, and least thinking of any 
 harm : these were occasions to provoke them thereunto. 
 And I suppose they went about to bring it to effect, 
 in that I with another gentleman being in the town, 
 thinking of no harm towards us, and seeing men 
 assembling in armour to the treasurer s house, whereof 
 I marvelled, and revoking to mind the former talk 
 between the captain and him, and the unreadiness of 
 our men, of whom advantage might have been taken, 
 departed out of the town immediately to give knowledge 
 thereof. But before we came to our men by a flight-shot, 
 two horsemen riding a-gallop were come near us, being 
 sent, as we did guess, to stay us lest we should carry news 
 to our captain. But seeing us so near our men they stayed 
 their horses, coming together, and suffering us to pass, 
 belike because we were so near, that if they had gone 
 about the same, they would have been espied by some 
 of our men which then immediately would have departed, 
 whereby they should have been frustrate of their pre 
 tence : and so the two horsemen rode about the bushes 
 to espy what we did, and seeing us gone, to the intent 
 
46 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 they might shadow their coming down in post, whereof 
 suspicion might be had, feigned a simple excuse in 
 asking whether he could sell any wine. But that seemed 
 so simple to the captain, that standing in doubt of their 
 courtesy, he returned in the morning with his three 
 boats, appointed with bases in their noses, and his men 
 with weapons accordingly, whereas before he carried 
 none. And thus dissembling all injuries conceived of 
 both parts, the captain went ashore, leaving pledges in 
 the boats for himself, and cleared all things between 
 the treasurer and him, saving for the governor s debt, 
 which the one by no means would answer, and the other, 
 because it was not his due debt, would not molest him 
 for it, but was content to remit it until another time, and 
 therefore departed, causing the two barks which rode 
 near the shore to weigh and go under sail. Which was 
 done because that our captain demanding a testimonial 
 of his good behaviour there, could not have the same 
 until he were under sail ready to depart. And therefore 
 at night he went for the same again, and received it at 
 the treasurer s hand, of whom very courteously he took 
 his leave and departed, shooting off the bases of his 
 boat for his farewell, and the townsmen also shot off 
 four falcons and thirty arquebuses. And this was the 
 first time that he knew of the conveyance of their 
 falcons. 
 
 The 31. of May we departed, keeping our course to 
 Hispaniola, and the fourth of June we had sight of an 
 island, which we made to be Jamaica, marvelling that 
 by the vehement course of the seas we should be driven 
 so far to leeward. For setting our course to the west 
 end of Hispaniola, we fell with the middle of Jamaica, 
 notwithstanding that to all men s sight it showed a head 
 land ; but they were all deceived by the clouds that lay 
 upon the land two days together, in such sort that we 
 
1565] Departure for England. 47 
 
 thought it to be the headland of the said island. And 
 a Spaniard being in the ship, who was a merchant, and 
 inhabitant in Jamaica, having occasion to go to Guinea, 
 and being by treason taken by the negroes, and after 
 wards bought by the Tangomangos, was by our captain 
 brought from thence, and had his passage to go into his 
 country. Who, perceiving the land, made as though he 
 knew every place thereof; and pointed to certain places 
 which he named to be such a place, and such a man s 
 ground, and that behind such a point was the harborough. 
 But in the end he pointed so from one point to another 
 that we were a lee-board of all places, and found our 
 selves at the west end of Jamaica before we were aware 
 of it ; and being once to leeward, there was no getting 
 up again. So that by trusting of the Spaniard s know 
 ledge, our captain sought not to speak with any of the 
 inhabitants ; which if he had not made himself sure of, 
 he would have done as his custom was in other places. 
 But this man was a plague not only to our captain, who 
 made him lose by overshooting the place 2,000 by 
 hides, which he might have got, but also to himself. 
 Who being three years out of his country, and in great 
 misery in Guinea, both among the negroes and Tango- 
 mangos, and in hope to come to his wife and friends, as 
 he made sure account, in that at his going into the 
 pinnace, when he went to shore, he put on his new 
 clothes, and for joy flung away his old, could not after 
 wards find any habitation, neither there nor in all Cuba, 
 which we sailed all along. But it fell out ever by one 
 occasion or other that we were put beside the same ; so 
 that he was fain to be brought into England. And it 
 happened to him as it did to a duke of Samaria, when 
 the Israelites were besieged, and were in great misery 
 with hunger, and being told by the prophet Elizaeus, 
 that a bushel of flour should be sold for a shekel, would 
 
48 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 not believe him, but thought it unpossible ; and for that 
 cause Elizacus prophesied he should see the same done, 
 but he should not eat thereof. So this man being absent 
 three years, and not ever thinking to have seen his own 
 country, did see the same, went upon it, and yet was it 
 not his fortune to come to it, or to any habitation, 
 whereby to remain with his friends according to his 
 desire. 
 
 Thus having sailed along the coast two days, we 
 departed the 7. of June, being made to believe by the 
 Spaniard that it was not Jamaica, but rather Hispaniola. 
 Of which opinion the captain also was, because that 
 which he made Jamaica seemed to be but a piece of the 
 land, and thereby took it rather to be Hispaniola, by the 
 lying of the coast, and also for that being ignorant of 
 the force of the current, he could not believe he was so 
 far driven to leeward ; and therefore setting his course to 
 Jamaica, and after certain days not finding the same, 
 perceived then certainly that the island which he was at 
 before was Jamaica, and that the clouds did deceive him, 
 whereof he marvelled not a little. And this mistaking 
 of the place came to as ill a pass as the overshooting of 
 Jamaica : for by this did he also overpass a place in 
 Cuba, called Santa Cruz, where, as he was informed, 
 was great store of hides to be had. And thus being 
 disappointed of two of his ports, where he thought to 
 have raised great profit by his traffic, and also to have 
 found great refreshing of victuals and water for his men, 
 he was now disappointed greatly. And such want he 
 had of fresh water, that he was forced to seek the shore 
 to obtain the same, which he had sight of after certain 
 days overpassed with storms and contrary winds ; but 
 yet not of the main of Cuba, but of certain islands in 
 number two hundred, whereof the most part were 
 desolate of inhabitants. By the which islands the 
 
1565] Cuba Isle of Pines. 49 
 
 captain passing in his pinnace, could find no fresh 
 water until he came to an island bigger than all the 
 rest, called the Isle of Pinos] where we anchored with our 
 ships the 16. of June, and found water. Which although 
 it were neither so toothsome as running water, by the 
 means it is standing, and but the water of rain, and also 
 being near the sea, was brackish, yet did we not refuse 
 it, but were more glad thereof, as the time then required, 
 than we should have been another time with fine 
 conduit water. Thus being reasonably watered, we were 
 desirous to depart, because the place was not very con 
 venient for such ships of charge as they were ; because 
 there were many shoals to leeward, which also lay open 
 to the sea for any wind that should blow. And therefore 
 the captain made the more haste away, which was not 
 unneedful : for little sooner were their anchors weighed 
 and foresail set, but there arose such a storm, that they 
 had not much to spare for doubling out of the shoals. 
 For one of the barks, not being fully ready as the rest, 
 was fain for haste to cut the cable in the hawse, and lose 
 both anchor and cable to save herself. 
 
 Thus the 17. of June we departed ; and the 20. we fell 
 with the west end of Cuba, called Cape St. Anthony, 
 where for the space of three days we doubled along, till 
 we came beyond the shoals, which are 20 leagues beyond 
 St. Anthony. And the ordinary breeze taking us, which 
 is the north-east wind, put us, the four and twentieth, 
 from the shore ; and therefore we went to the north-west 
 to fetch wind, and also to the coast of Florida to have 
 the help of the current, which was judged to have set 
 to the eastward. So the 29. we found ourselves in 
 27 degrees, and in the soundings of Florida ; where we 
 kept ourselves the space of four days, sailing along the 
 coast as near as we could, in ten or twelve fathom water, 
 having all the while no sight of land. 
 
50 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 The fifth of July we had sight of certain islands of 
 sand, called the Tortugas, which is low land ; where the 
 captain went in with his pinnace, and found such a 
 number of birds, that in half-an-hour he laded her with 
 them ; and if they had been ten boats more they might 
 have done the like. These islands bear the name of 
 Tortoises, because of the number of them which there 
 do breed ; whose nature is to live both in the water and 
 upon land also, but breed only upon the shore, in 
 making a great pit wherein they lay eggs, to the number 
 of three or four hundred. And covering them with sand, 
 they are hatched by the heat of the sun ; and by this 
 means cometh the great increase. Of these we took 
 very great ones, which have both back and belly all of 
 bone, of the thickness of an inch : the flesh whereof we 
 proved, eating much like veal ; and finding a number 
 of eggs in them, tasted also of them, but they did 
 eat very sweetly. Here we anchored six hours, and 
 then a fair gale of wind springing, we weighed anchor, 
 and made sail toward Cuba ; whither we came the sixth 
 day, and weathered as far as the Table, being a hill 
 so called, because of the form thereof. Here we lay 
 off and on all night, to keep that we had gotten to 
 windward, intending to have watered in the morning, 
 if we could have done it, or else if the wind had come 
 larger, to have plied to windward to Havana, which is 
 an harborough whereunto all the fleet of the Spaniards 
 come, and do there tarry to have one the company of 
 another. This hill we thinking to have been the Table, 
 made account, as it was indeed, that Havana was but 
 eight leagues to windward. But by the persuasion of 
 a Frenchman, who made the captain believe he knew the 
 Table very well, and had been at Havana, [who] said that 
 it was not the Table, and that the Table was much higher, 
 and nearer to the sea-side, and that there was no plain 
 
1565] North coast of Cuba. 51 
 
 ground to the eastward, nor hills to the westward, but 
 all was contrary, and that behind the hills to the westward 
 was Havana, to which persuasion credit being given 
 by some, and they not of the worst, the captain was 
 persuaded to go to leeward, and so sailed along, the 
 seventh and eighth days, finding no habitation, nor no 
 other Table. And then perceiving his folly to give ear 
 to such praters, was not a little sorry ; both because he 
 did consider what time he should spend yere he could 
 get so far to windward again, which would have been, 
 with the weathering which we had, ten or twelve days 
 work, and what it would have been longer he knew not ; 
 and, that which was worst, he had not above a day s 
 water, and therefore knew not what shift to make. But 
 in fine, because the want was such, that his men could not 
 live with it, he determined to seek water, and to go further 
 to leeward, to a place, as it is set in the card, called Rio 
 de /os Puercos ; which he was in doubt of, both whether it 
 were inhabited, and whether there were water or not, 
 and whether for the shoals he might have such access 
 with his ships, that he might conveniently take in the 
 same. And while we were in these troubles, and kept 
 our way to the place aforesaid, Almighty God our guide, 
 who would not suffer us to run into any further danger, 
 which we had been like to have incurred, if we had 
 ranged the coast of Florida along as we did before, 
 (which is so dangerous, by reports, that no ship escapeth 
 which cometh thither, as the Spaniards have very well 
 proved the same,) sent us, the eighth day at night, a fair 
 westerly wind. Whereupon the captain and company 
 consulted, determining not to refuse God s gift, but 
 every man was contented to pinch his own belly, what 
 soever had happened : and taking the said wind, the 9. 
 day of July got to the Table, and sailing the same night, 
 unawares overshot Havana, at which place we thought 
 
 E 2 
 
52 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 to have watered, but the next day, not knowing that we 
 had overshot the same, sailed along the coast seeking 
 it. And the eleventh day in the morning, by certain 
 known marks, we understood that we had overshot it 20 
 leagues. In which coast ranging we found no con 
 venient watering place ; whereby there was no remedy 
 but to disemboque, and to water upon the coast of 
 Florida. For, to go further to the eastward we 
 could not for the shoals, which are very dangerous ; 
 and because the current shooteth to the north-east, 
 we doubted by the force thereof to be set upon them, 
 and therefore durst not approach them. So making 
 but reasonable way the day aforesaid and all the 
 night, the twelfth day in the morning we fell with 
 the islands upon the cape of Florida, which we could 
 scant double, by the means that fearing the shoals to 
 the eastwards, and doubting the current coming out of 
 the west, which was not of that force that we made 
 account of; for we felt little or none till we fell with the 
 cape, and then felt such a current that, bearing all sails 
 against the same, yet [we] were driven back again a great 
 pace. The experience whereof we had by the Jesus 
 pinnace, and the Solomon s boat ; which were sent the 
 same day in the afternoon, whiles the ships were be 
 calmed, to see if they could find any water upon the 
 islands aforesaid. Who spent a great part of the day 
 in rowing thither, being further off than they deemed it 
 to be ; and in the meantime a fair gale of wind springing 
 at sea, the ships departed, making a sign to them to 
 come away. Who, although they saw them depart, 
 because they were so near the shore, would not lose all 
 the labour they had taken, but determined to keep their 
 way, and see if there were any water to be had, making 
 no account but to find the ships well enough. But they 
 spent so much time in filling the water which they had 
 
1565] The Cape of Florida. 53 
 
 found, that the night was come before they could make 
 an end. And having lost the sight of the ships, they 
 rowed what they could, but were wholly ignorant which 
 way they should seek them again. As indeed there was 
 a more doubt than they knew of; for when they de 
 parted the ships were in no current, and sailing but 
 a mile further, they found one so strong, that bearing 
 all sails it could not prevail against the same, but were 
 driven back. Whereupon the captain sent the Solomon 
 with the other two barks to bear near the shore all night, 
 because the current was less there a great deal, and to 
 bear light, with shooting off a piece now and then, to the 
 intent the boats might better know how to come to them. 
 The Jesus also bare a light in her top-gallant, and shot 
 off a piece also now and then ; but the night passed, and 
 the morning was come, being the thirteenth day, and no 
 news could be heard of them. But the ships and 
 barks ceased not to look still for them, yet they 
 thought it was all in vain, by the means they heard not of 
 them all the night past ; and therefore determined to 
 tarry no longer, seeking for them till noon, and if they 
 heard no news, then they would depart to the Jesus, 
 who perforce by the vehemency of the current was 
 carried almost out of sight. But as God would have it, 
 now time being come, and they having tacked about, in 
 the pinnace s top had sight of them and took them up. 
 They in the boats, being to the number of one-and-twenty, 
 having sight of the ships, and seeing them tacking about, 
 whereas before at the first sight of them they did greatly 
 rejoice, were now in a greater perplexity than ever they 
 were ; for by this they thought themselves utterly for 
 saken, whereas before they were in some hope to have 
 found them. Truly God wrought marvellously for them, 
 for they themselves having no victuals but water, and 
 being sore oppressed with hunger, were not of opinion 
 
54 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 to bestow any further time in seeking the ships than 
 that present noon-time ; so that if they had not at that 
 instant espied them, they had gone to the shore to have 
 made provision for victuals, and with such things as 
 they could have gotten, either to have gone for that 
 part of Florida where the Frenchmen were planted 
 (which would have been very hard for them to have 
 done, because they wanted victuals to bring them hither, 
 being 120 leagues off), or else to have remained among 
 the Floridians. At whose hands, they were put in 
 comfort by a Frenchman, who was with them, that had 
 remained in Florida at the first finding thereof, a whole 
 year together, to receive victuals sufficient and gentle 
 entertainment, if need were, for a year or two, until 
 which time God might have provided for them. But 
 how contrary this would have fallen out to their expecta 
 tions, it is hard to judge, seeing those people of the 
 cape of Florida are of more savage and fierce nature, 
 and more valiant than any of the rest. Which the 
 Spaniards well proved, who being 500 men who intended 
 there to land, returned few or none of them, but were 
 enforced to forsake the same; and of their cruelty 
 mention is made in the book of Decades \ of a friar, who 
 taking upon him to persuade the people to subjection, 
 was by them taken, and his skin cruelly pulled over his 
 ears, and his flesh eaten. 
 
 In these islands they being ashore found a dead man, 
 dried in a manner whole, with other heads and bodies 
 of men ; so that these sorts of men are eaters of the 
 flesh of men, as well as the Cannibals. But to return 
 to our purpose. 
 
 The fourteenth day the ship and barks came to the 
 
 1 Richard Eden s Decades of the New World, 1555, fo. 319. In 
 his preface to this work Eden urges England to follow the example of 
 bpam and to plant colonies in Florida and Bacallaos (Newfoundland). 
 
1565] Coast of Florida. 55 
 
 Jesus, bringing them news of the recovery of the men, 
 which was not a little to the rejoicing of the captain and 
 the whole company ; and so then altogether they kept 
 on their way along the coast of Florida, and the 
 fifteenth day came to an anchor, and so from six-and- 
 twenty degrees to thirty degrees and a half, where the 
 Frenchmen abode, ranging all the coast along, seeking 
 for fresh water, anchoring every night because we would 
 overshoot no place of fresh water. And in the day 
 time the captain in the ship s pinnace sailed along the 
 shore, went into every creek, speaking with divers of 
 the Floridians, because he would understand where the 
 Frenchmen inhabited ; and not finding them in eight- 
 and-twenty degrees, as it was declared unto him, mar 
 velled thereat, and never left sailing along the coast till 
 he found them, who inhabited in a river, by them called 
 the river of May 1 , and standing in 30 degrees and 
 better. IP ranging this coast along, the captain found 
 it to be all an island, and therefore it is all low land, 
 and very scant of fresh water; but the country was 
 marvellously sweet, with both marish and meadow 
 ground, and goodly woods among. There they found 
 sorrel to grow as abundantly as grass, and where their 
 houses were, great store of maize and mill, and grapes 
 of great bigness, but of taste much like our English 
 grapes. Also deer great plenty, which came upon the 
 sands before them. 
 
 Their houses are not many together, for in one house 
 an hundred of them do lodge ; they being made much 
 like a great barn, and in strength not inferior to ours, 
 for they have stanchions and rafters of whole trees, and 
 are covered with palmito leaves, having no place 
 divided, but one small room for their king and queen. 
 In the midst of this house is a hearth, where they make 
 
 1 The St. John s River. 
 
56 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 great fires all night ; and they sleep upon certain pieces 
 of wood hewn in for the bowing of their backs, and 
 another place made high for their heads, which they 
 put one by another all along the walls on both sides. 
 In their houses they remain only in the nights, and in 
 the day they desire the fields, where they dress their 
 meat and make provision for victuals, which they pro 
 vide only for a meal from hand to mouth. There is one 
 thing to be marvelled at, for the making of their fire, 
 and not only they, but also the negroes do the same, 
 which is made only by two sticks, rubbing them one 
 against another ; and this they may do in any place they 
 come, where they find sticks sufficient for the purpose. 
 In their apparel the men only use deer skins, 
 which skins are painted, some yellow and red, some 
 black and russet, and every man according to his own 
 fancy. They do not omit to paint their bodies also with 
 curious knots, or antique work, as every man in his own 
 fancy deviseth, which painting to make it continue the 
 better, they use with a thorn to prick their flesh, and 
 dent in the same, whereby the painting may have better 
 hold. In their wars they use a slighter colour of 
 painting their faces, thereby to make themselves show 
 the more fierce ; which, after their wars ended, they 
 wash away again. In their wars they use bows and 
 arrows, whereof their bows are made of a kind of yew, 
 but blacker than ours, and for the most part passing the 
 strength of the negroes or Indians, for it is not greatly 
 inferior to ours. Their arrows are also of a great length, 
 but yet of reeds, like other Indians ; but varying in two 
 points, both in length and also for nocks and feathers, 
 which the others lack, whereby they shoot very steady. 
 The heads of the same are vipers teeth, bones of fishes, 
 flint stones, peaked points of knives, which they having 
 gotten of the Frenchmen, broke the same, and put the 
 
1565] Indians of Florida. 57 
 
 points of them in their arrows heads ; some of them have 
 their heads of silver ; other some, that have want of 
 these, put in a kind of hard wood, notched, which 
 pierceth as far as any of the rest. In their fight, being 
 in the woods, they use a marvellous policy for their own 
 safeguard, which is by clasping a tree in their arms, 
 and yet shooting notwithstanding. This policy they 
 used with the Frenchmen in their fight, whereby it 
 appeareth that they are people of some policy. And 
 although they are called by the Spaniards Gente triste, 
 that is to say * Sad people,* meaning thereby that they 
 are not men of capacity, yet have the Frenchmen found 
 them so witty in their answers that, by the captain s own 
 report, a counsellor with us could not give a more pro 
 found reason. The women also for their apparel use 
 painted skins, but most of them gowns of moss, some 
 what longer than our moss, which they sew together 
 artificially, and make the same surplice-wise, wearing 
 their hair down to their shoulders, like the Indians. 
 
 In this river of May aforesaid the captain, entering 
 with his pinnace, found a French ship of fourscore ton, 
 and two pinnaces of fifteen ton apiece by her; and 
 speaking with the keepers thereof, they told him of a 
 fort two leagues up, which they had built, in which 
 their captain Monsieur Laudonniere was, with certain 
 soldiers therein. To whom our captain sending to 
 understand of a watering place, where he might con 
 veniently take it in, and to have licence for the same, 
 he straight, because there was no convenient place but 
 up the river five leagues, where the water was fresh, did 
 send him a pilot for the more expedition thereof, to 
 bring in one of his barks, which, going in with other 
 boats provided for the same purpose, anchored before 
 the fort, into the which our captain went, where he was 
 by the General, with other captains and soldiers, very 
 
58 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 gently entertained ; who declared unto him the time of 
 their being there, which was 14 months, with the 
 extremity they were driven to for want of victuals, 
 having brought very little with them. In which place 
 they, being 200 men at their first coming, had in short 
 space eaten all the maize they could buy of the in 
 habitants about them, and therefore were driven certain 
 of them to serve a king of the Floridians against other 
 his enemies for mill and other victuals, which having 
 gotten, could not serve them, being so many, so long 
 a time ; but want came upon them in such sort that 
 they were fain to gather acorns, which, being stamped 
 small and often washed to take away the bitterness of 
 them, they did use for bread, eating withal sundry 
 times roots, whereof they found many good and whole 
 some, and such as serve rather for medicines than for 
 meats alone. But this hardness not contenting some of 
 them, who would not take the pains so much as to fish 
 in the river before their doors, but would have all 
 things put in their mouths, they did rebel against the 
 captain, taking away first his armour, and afterward 
 imprisoning him : and so, to the number of fourscore 
 of them, departed with a bark and a pinnace, spoiling 
 their store of victual, and taking away a great part 
 thereof with them, and so went to the islands of 
 Hispaniola and Jamaica a-roving, where they spoiled 
 and pilled the Spaniards ; and having taken two 
 carvels laden with wine and cassavi, which is a bread 
 made of roots, and much other victuals and treasure, 
 had not the grace to depart therewith, but were of such 
 haughty stomachs that they thought their force to be 
 such that no man durst meddle with them, and so kept 
 harborough in Jamaica, going daily ashore at their 
 pleasure. But God, who would not suffer such evil 
 doers unpunished, did indurate their hearts in such sort 
 
1565] LaudonnierJs Colony. 59 
 
 that they lingered the time so long that a ship and 
 galliasse being made out of St. Domingo, came thither 
 into the harborough and took twenty of them, whereof 
 the most part were ha-nged and the rest carried into 
 Spain, and some, to the number of five-and-twenty, 
 escaped in the pinnace and came to Florida, where, at 
 their landing, they were put into prison ; and incon 
 tinent four of the chiefest being condemned, at the 
 request of the soldiers did pass the arquebusers, and 
 then were hanged upon a gibbet. 
 
 This lack of threescore men was a great discourage 
 and weakening to the rest, for they were the best 
 soldiers that they had ; for they had now made the 
 inhabitants weary of them by their daily craving of 
 maize, having no wares left to content them withal, and 
 therefore were enforced to rob them, and to take away 
 their victual perforce, which was the occasion that the 
 Floridians, not well contented therewith, did take certain 
 of their company in the woods, and slew them ; whereby 
 there grew great wars betwixt them and the French 
 men. And therefore they, being but a few in number, 
 durst not venture abroad, but at such time as they were 
 enforced thereunto for want of food to do the same ; and 
 going, twenty arquebusers in a company, were set upon 
 by eighteen kings, having seven or eight hundred men, 
 which with one of their bows slew one of their men, 
 and hurt a dozen, and drove them all down to their 
 boats. Whose policy in fight was to be marvelled at ; 
 for having shot at divers of their bodies which were 
 armed, and perceiving that their arrows did not prevail 
 against the same, they shot at their faces and legs, 
 which were the places that the Frenchmen were hurt 
 in. Thus the Frenchmen returned, being in ill case by 
 the hurt of their men, having not above forty soldiers 
 left unhurt, whereby they might ill make any more 
 
60 HawkinsSecond Voyage. [1565 
 
 invasions upon the Floridians, and keep their fort 
 withal, which they must have been driven unto had 
 not God sent us thither for their succour; for they had 
 not above ten days victual left before we came. In 
 which perplexity our captain seeing them, spared them 
 out of his ship twenty barrels of meal and four pipes of 
 beans, with divers other victuals and necessaries which 
 he might conveniently spare ; and to help them the 
 better homewards, whither they were bound before our 
 coming, at their request we spared them one of our 
 barks, of fifty ton l . 
 
 Notwithstanding the great want that the Frenchmen 
 had, the ground doth yield victuals sufficient if they 
 would have taken pains to get the same; but they, 
 being soldiers, desired to live by the sweat of other 
 men s brows. For while they had peace with the 
 Floridians they had fish sufficient by weirs which they 
 made to catch the same ; but when they grew to wars 
 the Floridians took away the same again, and then 
 would not the Frenchmen take the pains to make any 
 more. The ground yieldeth naturally grapes in great 
 store, for in the time that the Frenchmen were there 
 they made twenty hogsheads of wine. Also it yieldeth 
 roots passing good, deer marvellous store, with divers 
 other beasts and fowl serviceable to the use of man. 
 These be things wherewith a man may live, having corn 
 or maize wherewith to make bread ; for maize maketh 
 good savoury bread and cakes as fine as flour. Also it 
 maketh good meal, beaten and sodden with water, and 
 eateth like pap wherewith we feed children. It maketh 
 
 Hawkins sold the Tiger to Laudonniere for 700 crowns, taking 
 guns and ammunition in part payment. The provisions, probably by 
 this time of little value, were a free gift. Laudonniere declined to 
 part with any of the silver which he had collected, fearing that the 
 sight of it might induce Elizabeth to found colonies in Florida, as 
 before she had desired (Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 348). 
 
1565] Maize and Tobacco. 61 
 
 also good beverage, sodden in water, and nourishable, 
 which the Frenchmen did use to drink of in the morning, 
 and it assuaged their thirst so that they had no need to 
 drink all the day after. And this maize was the greatest 
 lack they had, because they had no labourers to sow 
 the same, and therefore to them that should inhabit 
 the land it were requisite to have labourers to till and 
 sow the ground. For they having victuals of their own, 
 whereby they neither rob nor spoil the inhabitants, may 
 live not only quietly with them, who naturally are more 
 desirous of peace than of wars, but also shall have 
 abundance of victuals proffered them for nothing; for 
 it is with them as it is with one of us, when we see 
 another man ever taking away from us, although we 
 have enough besides, yet then we think all too little for 
 ourselves. For surely we have heard the Frenchmen 
 report, and I know it by the Indians, that a very little 
 contenteth them; for the Indians, with the head of 
 maize roasted, will travel a whole day ; and when they 
 are at the Spaniards* finding, they give them nothing 
 but sodden herbs and maize : and in this order I saw 
 threescore of them feed, who were laden with wares, 
 and came 50 leagues off. 
 
 The Floridians, when they travel, have a kind of herb 
 dried, who, with a cane and an earthen cup in the end, 
 with fire and the dried herbs put together, do suck 
 thorough the cane the smoke thereof, which smoke 
 satisfieth their hunger, and therewith they live four or 
 five days without meat or drink. And this all the 
 Frenchmen used for this purpose ; yet do they hold 
 opinion withal that it causeth water and steam to void 
 from their stomachs. The commodities of this land are 
 more than are yet known to any man ; for besides the 
 land itself, whereof there is more than any king Christian 
 is able to inhabit, it flourisheth with meadow, pasture- 
 
62 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 ground, with woods of cedar and cypress, and other 
 sorts, as better cannot be in the world. They have for 
 apothecary herbs, trees, roots, and gums great store, as 
 storaxliquida, turpentine, gum, myrrh, and frankincense, 
 with many others whereof I know not the names. 
 Colours, both red, black, yellow, russet, very perfect, 
 wherewith they so paint their bodies and deer-skins 
 which they wear about them, that with water it neither 
 fadeth away nor altereth colour. 
 
 Gold and silver they want not ; for at the Frenchmen s 
 first coming thither they had the same offered them for 
 little or nothing ; for they received for a hatchet two 
 pound weight of gold, because they knew not the 
 estimation thereof. But the soldiers being greedy of 
 the same, did take it from them, giving them nothing 
 for it ; the which they perceiving, that both the French 
 men did greatly esteem it, and also did rigorously deal 
 with them, by taking the same away from them, at last 
 would not [have it] be known they had any more, neither 
 durst they wear the same for fear of being taken away. 
 So that, saving at their first coming, they could get none 
 of them. And how they came by this gold and silver the 
 Frenchmen know not as yet, but by guess ; who, having 
 travelled to the south-west of the cape, having found the 
 same dangerous by means of sundry banks, as we also 
 have found the same, and there finding masts which were 
 wrecks of Spaniards coming from Mexico, judged that 
 they had gotten treasure by them. For it is most true 
 that divers wrecks have been made of Spaniards having 
 much treasure. For the Frenchmen having travelled 
 to the capeward 150 miles, did find two Spaniards with 
 the Floridians, whom they brought afterward to their 
 fort, whereof one was in a carvel coming from the 
 Indies, which was cast away 14 years ago, and the 
 other 12 years ; of whose fellows some escaped, other- 
 
1565] Commodities of Florida. 63 
 
 some were slain by the inhabitants. It seemeth they 
 had estimation of their gold and silver, for it is wrought 
 flat and graven, which they wear about their necks ; 
 othersome made round like a pancake, with a hole in 
 the midst, to bolster up their breasts withal, because 
 they think it a deformity to have great breasts. As for 
 mines either of gold or silver, the Frenchmen can hear 
 of none they have upon the island but of copper ; 
 whereof as yet also they have not made the proof, 
 because they were but few men. But it is not unlike 
 but that in the main, where are high hills, may be gold 
 and silver as well as in Mexico, because it is all one 
 main. The Frenchmen obtained pearls of them of 
 great bigness, but they were black by means of roasting 
 of them ; for they do not fish for them as the Spaniards 
 do, but for their meat. For the Spaniards use to keep 
 daily a- fishing some two or three hundred Indians, 
 some of them, that be of choice, a thousand. And 
 their order is to go in canoas, or rather great pinnaces, 
 with thirty men in a piece ; whereof the one half or 
 most part be divers, the rest do open the same for the 
 pearls. For it is not suffered that they should use 
 dragging ; for that would bring them out of estimation, 
 and mar the beds of them. The oysters which have 
 the smallest sorts of pearls are found in seven or 
 eight fathom water ; but the greatest, in eleven or 
 twelve fathom. 
 
 The Floridians have pieces of unicorns horns, which 
 they wear about their necks, whereof the Frenchmen 
 obtained many pieces. Of those unicorns they have 
 many ; for that they do affirm it to be a beast with one 
 horn, which, coming to the river to drink, putteth the 
 same into the water before he drinketh \ Of this 
 unicorn s horn there are of our company that, having 
 
 1 The Unicorn of North America was probably the bison. 
 
64 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 gotten the same of the Frenchmen, brought home 
 thereof to show. It is therefore to be presupposed 
 that there are more commodities as well as that ; which, 
 for want of time and people sufficient to inhabit the 
 same, cannot yet come to light ; but I trust God will 
 reveal the same before it be long, to the great profit 
 of them that shall take it in hand. Of beasts in this 
 country besides deer, foxes, hares, polecats, coneys, 
 ounces, and leopards, I am not able certainly to say; 
 but it is thought that there are lions and tigers as 
 well as unicorns ; lions especially, if it be true that is 
 said of the enmity between them and the unicorns. 
 For there is no beast but hath his enemy, as the coney 
 the polecat, a sheep the wolf, the elephant the rhinoceros ; 
 and so of other beasts the like, insomuch that whereas 
 the one is the other cannot be missing. And seeing 
 I have made mention of the beasts of this country, 
 it shall not be from my purpose to speak also of the 
 venomous beasts, as crocodiles, whereof there is great 
 abundance ; adders of great bigness, whereof our men 
 killed some of a yard and a half long. Also I heard 
 a miracle of one of these adders, upon the which a falcon 
 seizing, the said adder did clasp her tail about her ; 
 which the French captain seeing, came to the rescue 
 of the falcon, and took her, slaying the adder. And 
 this falcon being wild, he did reclaim her, and kept her 
 for the space of two months ; at which time, for very 
 want of meat, he was fain to cast her off. On these 
 adders the Frenchmen did feed, to no little admiration 
 of us, and affirmed the same to be a delicate meat. 
 And the captain of the Frenchmen saw also a serpent 
 with three heads and four feet, of the bigness of a great 
 spaniel, which for want of an arquebus he durst not 
 attempt to slay. 
 
 Offish, also, they have in the river pike, roach, salmon, 
 
1565] Animals of Florida. 65 
 
 trout, and divers other small fishes, and of great fish, 
 some of the length of a man and longer, being of bigness 
 accordingly, having a snout much like a sword of a yard 
 long. There be also of sea-fishes, which we saw coming 
 along the coast, flying, which are of the bigness of 
 a smelt, the biggest sort whereof have four wings, but 
 the others have but two. Of these we saw coming out 
 of Guinea a hundred in a company, which, being chased 
 by the gilt-heads, otherwise called the bonitos, do, to 
 avoid them the better, take their flight out of the water; 
 but yet are they not able to fly far, because of the drying 
 of their wings, which serve them not to fly but when 
 they are moist, and therefore when they can fly no 
 further, they fall into the water, and having wet their 
 wings, take a new flight again. These bonitos be of 
 bigness like a carp, and in colour like a mackerel ; but 
 it is the swiftest fish in swimming that is, and followeth 
 her prey very fiercely, not only in the water, but also 
 out of the water ; for as the flying-fish taketh her flight, 
 so doth this bonito leap after them, and taketh them 
 sometimes above the water. There were some of those 
 bonitos which, being galled by a fizgig 1 , did follow our 
 ship coming out of Guinea 500 leagues. There is a sea- 
 fowl, also, that chaseth this flying-fish as well as the 
 bonito ; for as the flying-fish taketh her flight, so doth 
 this fowl pursue to take her, which to behold is a greater 
 pleasure than hawking ; for both the flights are as 
 pleasant, and also more often than a hundred times ; 
 for the fowl can fly no way, but one or other lighteth 
 in her paws, the number of them are so abundant. 
 There is an innumerable young fry of these flying- 
 fishes, which commonly keep about the ship, and are 
 
 1 The Spanish fisga, a small trident with barbed points, fixed on 
 a staff ten or twelve feet long, attached by a long cord to the ship s 
 side. It is still in use for catching the dolphin and bonito. 
 
 F 
 
66 Hawkins Second Voyage. [1565 
 
 not so big as butterflies, and yet by flying do avoid 
 the unsatiableness of the bonito. Of the bigger sort 
 of these fishes we took many, which both night and 
 day flew into the sails of our ship, and there was not 
 one of them which was not worth a bonito ; for being 
 put upon a hook drabbling in the water, the bonito 
 would leap thereat, and so was taken. Also we took 
 many with a white cloth made fast to a hook, which 
 being tied so short in the water that it might leap out 
 and in, the greedy bonito, thinking it to be a flying-fish, 
 leapeth thereat, and so is deceived. We took also 
 dolphins, which are of very goodly colour and pro 
 portion to behold, and no less delicate in taste. 
 
 Fowls also there be many, both upon land and upon 
 sea ; but concerning them on the land I am not able to 
 name them, because my abode was there so short. But 
 for the fowl of the fresh rivers these two I noted to be 
 the chief. Whereof the flamingo is one, having all red 
 feathers and long red legs like a hern, a neck according 
 to the bill, red, whereof the upper neb hangeth an inch 
 over the nether; and an egript\ which is all white as 
 the swan, with legs like to a hernshaw, and of bigness 
 accordingly ; but it hath in her tail feathers of so fine 
 a plume, that it passeth the ostrich his feather. Of the 
 sea-fowl above all other not common in England, I noted 
 the pelican, which is feigned to be the lovingest bird 
 that is ; which, rather than her young should want, will 
 spare her heart s blood out of her belly ; but for all this 
 lovingness she is very deformed to behold. For she is 
 of colour russet, notwithstanding in Guinea I have seen 
 of them as white as a swan, having legs like the same and 
 a body like a hern, with a long neck and a thick long 
 beak ; from the nether jaw whereof down to the breast 
 passeth a skin of such a bigness as is able to receive 
 
 1 Egret. 
 
1565] Cattle-breeding proposed in Florida. 67 
 
 a fish as big as one s thigh, and this her big throat, and 
 long bill, doth make her seem so ugly. 
 
 Here I have declared the estate of Florida and the 
 commodities therein to this day known ; which although 
 it may seem unto some, by the means that the plenty of 
 gold and silver is not so abundant as in other places, 
 that the cost bestowed upon the same will not be able to 
 quit the charges, yet am I of the opinion that, by that 
 which I have seen in other islands of the Indians, where 
 such increase of cattle hath been, that of twelve head of 
 beasts in five-and-twenty years did in the hides of them 
 raise 1,000 profit yearly, that the increase of cattle 
 only would raise profit sufficient for the same. For we 
 may consider, if so small a portion did raise so much 
 gains in such short time, what would a greater do in 
 many years ? And surely I may this affirm, that the 
 ground of the Indians for the breed of cattle is not in 
 any point to be compared to this of Florida, which all 
 the year long is so green as any time in the summer 
 with us. Which surely is not to be marvelled at, seeing 
 the country standeth in so watery a climate ; for once 
 a day, without fail, they have a shower of rain, which, 
 by means of the country itself, which is dry and more 
 fervent hot than ours, doth make all things to flourish 
 therein. And because there is not the thing we all seek 
 for, being rather desirous of present gains, I do therefore 
 affirm the attempt thereof to be more requisite for 
 a prince, who is of power able to go thorough with the 
 same, rather than for any subject. 
 
 From thence we departed the 28. of July upon our 
 voyage homewards, having there all things as might be 
 most convenient for our purpose ; and took leave of the 
 Frenchmen that there still remained, who with diligence 
 determined to make as great speed after as they could. 
 Thus, by means of contrary winds oftentimes, we 
 
 F 2 
 
68 Hawkins Second Voyage. 
 
 prolonged our voyage in such manner that victuals 
 scanted with us, so that we were divers times (or rather 
 the most part) in despair of ever coming home, had not 
 God of His goodness better provided for us than our 
 deserving. In which state of great misery we were 
 provoked to call upon Him by fervent prayer, which 
 moved Him to hear us, so that we had a prosperous 
 wind, which did set us so far shot as to be upon the 
 bank of Newfoundland on St. Bartholomew s Eve, and 
 we sounded thereupon, finding ground at 130 fathoms, 
 being that day somewhat becalmed, and took a great 
 number of fresh codfish, which greatly relieved us ; and 
 being very glad thereof the next day we departed, and 
 had lingering little gales for the space of four or five 
 days, at the end of which we saw a couple of French 
 ships, and had of them so much fish as would serve us 
 plentifully for all the rest of the way, the captain paying 
 for the same both gold and silver, to the just value 
 thereof, unto the chief owners of the said ships ; but 
 they, not looking for anything at all, were glad in them 
 selves to meet with such good entertainment at sea as 
 they had at our hands. After which departure from 
 them with a good large wind the 20. of September we 
 came to Padstow, in Cornwall \ God be thanked, in 
 safety, with the loss of twenty persons in all the voyage, 
 and with great profit to the venturers of the said voyage 
 as also to the whole realm, in bringing home both gold, 
 silver, pearls, and other jewels great store. His name, 
 therefore, be praised for evermore. Amen. 
 
HAWKINS THIRD VOYAGE. 
 
 [NARRATIVE BY HAWKINS HIMSELF.] 
 
 The THIRD troublesome VOYAGE made with the JESUS of 
 Lubeck, the MINION, and four other ships^, to the parts of 
 GUINEA and the WEST INDIES, in the years 7567 and 1568, 
 by MASTER JOHN HAWKINS. 
 
 THE ships departed from Plymouth, the second day of 
 October, Anno 1567, and had reasonable weather until 
 the seventh day. At which time, forty leagues north 
 from Cape Finisterre, there arose an extreme storm, 
 which continued four days, in such sort, that the fleet 
 was dispersed, and all our great boats lost ; and the 
 Jesus, our chief ship, in such case as not thought able 
 to serve the voyage. Whereupon in the same storm 
 we set our course homeward, determining to give over 
 the voyage. But the eleventh day of the same month, 
 the wind changed, with fair weather ; whereby we were 
 animated to follow our enterprise, and so did, directing 
 our course with the islands of the Canaries, where, ac 
 cording to an order before prescribed, all our ships before 
 dispersed met at one of those islands, called Gomera, 
 where we took water, and departed from thence the 
 fourth day of November, towards the coast of Guinea, 
 and arrived at Cape Verde, the 18. of November ; where 
 we landed 150 men, hoping to obtain some negroes, 
 where we got but few, and those with great hurt and 
 damage to our men, which chiefly proceeded of their 
 
 1 Hawkins was captain of the Jesus, Robert Barrett master. John 
 Hampton was captain of the Minion, John Garret master ; Thomas 
 Bolton captain of the William and John, James Raunce master. 
 Francis Drake was captain of the Judith. The other vessels were 
 the Angel and the Swalloiv. 
 
7 o HawkinsThird Voyage. 
 
 envenomed arrows. And although in the beginning 
 they seemed to be but small hurts, yet there hardly 
 escaped any that had blood drawn of them, but died in 
 strange sort, with their mouths shut some ten days 
 before they died, and after their wounds were whole ; 
 where I myself had one of the greatest wounds, yet, 
 thanks be to God, escaped. 
 
 From thence we passed the time upon the coast of 
 Guinea, searching with all diligence the rivers from Rio 
 Grande unto Sierra Leona, till the 12. of January ; in 
 which time we had not gotten together 150 negroes. 
 Yet notwithstanding, the sickness of our men and the 
 late time of the year commanded us away : and thus 
 having nothing wherewith to seek the coast of the West 
 Indies, I was with the rest of our company in consultation 
 to go to the coast of the Mine \ hoping there to have 
 obtained some gold for our wares, and thereby to have 
 defrayed our charge. But even in that present instant, 
 there came to us a negro, sent from a king, oppressed 
 by other kings his neighbours, desiring our aid, with 
 promise that as many negroes as by these wars might 
 be obtained, as well of his part as of ours, should be at 
 our pleasure. Whereupon we concluded to give aid, and 
 sent 120 of our men, which the 15. of January assaulted 
 a town of the negroes of our ally s adversaries, which 
 had in it 8,000 inhabitants, being very strongly impaled 
 and fenced after their manner. But it was so well 
 defended, that our men prevailed not, but lost six men 
 and forty hurt : so that our men sent forthwith to me 
 for more help. Whereupon, considering that the good 
 success of this enterprise might highly further the 
 commodity of our voyage, I went myself, and with the 
 help of the king of our side, assaulted the town, both by 
 land and sea, and very hardly with fire (their houses 
 1 Elmina. 
 
1568! Traffic with the Spaniards. 71 
 
 being covered with dry palm leaves) obtained the town, 
 and put the inhabitants to flight. Where we took 250 
 persons, men, women, and children ; and by our friend 
 the king of our side, there were taken 600 prisoners, 
 whereof we hoped to have had our choice. But the 
 negro, in which nation is seldom or never found truth, 
 meant nothing less : for that night he removed his camp 
 and prisoners, so that we were fain to content us with 
 those few which we had gotten ourselves. 
 
 Now had we obtained between 400 and 500 negroes, 
 wherewith we thought it somewhat reasonable to seek 
 the coast of the IV est Indies ; and there, for our negroes, 
 and other our merchandise, we hoped to obtain whereof 
 to countervail our charges with some gains. Whereunto 
 we proceeded with all diligence, furnished our watering, 
 took fuel, and departed the coast of Guinea the third of 
 February, continuing at the sea with a passage more 
 hard than before hath been accustomed till the 27. day 
 of March, which day we had sight of an island, called 
 Dominica, upon the coast of the West Indies, in 14 
 degrees. From thence we coasted from place to place, 
 making our traffic with the Spaniards as we might, 
 somewhat hardly, because the king had straitly com 
 manded all his governors in those parts by no means to 
 suffer any trade to be made with us. Notwithstanding, 
 we had reasonable trade, and courteous entertainment, 
 from the isle of Margarita unto Cartagena, without 
 anything greatly worth the noting, saving at Capo de la 
 Vela, in a town called Rio de la Hacha, from whence 
 come all the pearls. The Treasurer, who had the charge 
 there, would by no means agree to any trade, or suflfer 
 us to take water. He had fortified his town with divers 
 bulwarks in all places where it might be entered, and 
 furnished himself with 100 arquebusiers, so that he 
 thought by famine to have enforced to have put a-land 
 
72 Hawkins Third Voyage. [1568 
 
 our negroes. Of which purpose he had not greatly 
 failed, unless we had by force entered the town ; which, 
 after we could by no means obtain his favour, we were 
 enforced to do, and so with 200 men brake in upon their 
 bulwarks, and entered the town with the loss only of 
 two men of our parts, and no hurt done to the Spaniards, 
 because after their volley of shot discharged, they all 
 fled. Thus having the town, with some circumstance, 
 as partly by the Spaniards* desire of negroes, and partly 
 by friendship of the Treasurer, we obtained a secret 
 trade : whereupon the Spaniards resorted to us by 
 night, and bought of us to the number of 200 negroes. 
 In all other places where we traded, the Spaniards 
 inhabitants were glad of us and traded willingly. 
 
 At Cartagena, the last town we thought to have seen 
 on the coast, we could by no means obtain to deal with 
 any Spaniard, the governor was so strait. And because 
 our trade was so near finished, we thought not good 
 either to adventure any landing, or to detract further 
 time, but in peace departed from thence the 24. of July, 
 hoping to have escaped the time of their storms which 
 then soon after began to reign, the which they call 
 Huricanos. But passing by the west end of Cuba, 
 towards the coast of Florida there happened to us the 
 12. day of August an extreme storm which continued by 
 the space of four days, which so beat the Jesus, that we 
 cut down all her higher buildings. Her rudder also 
 was sore shaken, and withal [she] was in so extreme 
 a leak that we were rather upon the point to leave her, 
 than to keep her any longer 1 ; yet, hoping to bring all 
 to good pass, we sought the coast of Florida, where we 
 found no place nor haven for our ships, because of the 
 shallowness of the coast. Thus, being in greater despair, 
 
 1 Apparently intended as an apology for the subsequent abandon 
 ment of the Jesus in the port of San Juan. 
 
1568] San Juan de Ulna. 73 
 
 and taken with a new storm which continued other three 
 days, we were enforced to take for our succour the port 
 which serveth the city of Mexico, called St. John de Ullua, 
 which standeth in 19 degrees 1 . In seeking of which 
 port we took in our way three ships which carried 
 passengers to the number of 100, which passengers we 
 hoped should be a means to us the better to obtain 
 victuals for our money, and a quiet place for the repairing 
 of our fleet. 
 
 Shortly after this, the 16. of September, we entered 
 the port of St. John de U/lua. And in our entry, the 
 Spaniards thinking us to be the fleet of Spam, the chief 
 officers of the country came aboard us. Which, being 
 deceived of their expectation, were greatly dismayed : 
 but immediately when they saw our demand was nothing 
 but victuals, were recomforted. I found also in the 
 same port 12 ships which had in them by the report 
 200,000 in gold and silver; all which, being in my 
 possession, with the King s Island, as also the 
 passengers before in my way thitherward stayed, I set 
 at liberty, without the taking from them the weight of 
 a groat. Only, because I would not be delayed of my 
 dispatch, I stayed two men of estimation and sent post 
 immediately to Mexico, which was 200 miles from us, to 
 the Presidents and Council there, shewing them of our 
 arrival there by the force of weather, and the necessity 
 of the repair of our ships and victuals* which wants we 
 required as friends to king Philip to be furnished of for 
 our money : and that the Presidents and Council there 
 should with all convenient speed take order, that at the 
 arrival of the Spanish fleet, which was daily looked for, 
 there might no cause of quarrel rise between us and 
 
 1 Hawkins had on board his vessels nearly a hundred negroes, 
 and there was no place north of the Cape of Florida where he could 
 dispose of them. Hence it may be inferred that his making for 
 San Juan de Ulua was not altogether involuntary. 
 
74 Hawkins Third Voyage. [1568 
 
 them, but for the better maintenance of amity, their 
 commandment might be had in that behalf. This 
 message being sent away the 16. day of September at 
 night, being the very day of our arrival, in the next 
 morning, which was the 17. day of the same month, we 
 saw open of the haven 13 great ships. And under 
 standing them to be the fleet of Spain, I sent immediately 
 to advertise the General of the fleet of my being there ; 
 doing him to understand, that before I would suffer 
 them to enter the port, there should some order of 
 conditions pass between us for our safe being there, and 
 maintenance of peace. 
 
 Now it is to be understood that this port is made by 
 a little island of stones not three foot above the water in 
 the highest place, and but a bow-shoot of length any 
 way. This island standeth from the main land two 
 bow-shoots or more. Also it is to be understood that 
 there is not in all this coast any other place for ships to 
 arrive in safety, because the north wind hath there such 
 violence, that unless the ships be very safely moored 
 with their anchors fastened upon this island, there is no 
 remedy for these north winds but death. Also the place 
 of the haven was so little, that of necessity the ships 
 must ride one aboard the other, so that we could not 
 give place to them, nor they to us. And here I began 
 to bewail that which after followed, for, Now, said I, / am 
 m two dangers, and forced to receive the one of them. 
 That was, either I must have kept out the fleet from 
 entering the port, the which with God s help I was very 
 well able to do, or else suffer them to enter in with their 
 accustomed treason, which they never fail to execute, 
 where they may have opportunity to compass it by any 
 means. If I had kept them out, then had there been 
 present shipwreck of all the fleet, which amounted in 
 value to six millions, which was in value of our money 
 
1568] Arrival of the Spanish Fleet. 75 
 
 1,800,000, which I considered I was not able to 
 answer, fearing the Queen s Majesty s indignation in so 
 weighty a matter. Thus with myself revolving the 
 doubts, I thought rather better to abide the jut of the 
 uncertainty than the certainty. The uncertain doubt 
 I account was their treason, which by good policy 
 I hoped might be prevented ; and therefore, as choosing 
 the least mischief, I proceeded to conditions. 
 
 Now was our first messenger come and returned 
 from the fleet with report of the arrival of a Viceroy ; so 
 that he had authority, both in all this province of Mexico, 
 otherwise called Nueva Espana, and in the sea. Who 
 sent us word that we should send our conditions, which 
 of his part should, for the better maintenance of amity 
 between the princes, be both favourably granted and 
 faithfully performed ; with many fair words, how, passing 
 the coast of the Indies, he had understood of our honest 
 behaviour towards the inhabitants where we had to do, 
 as well elsewhere as in the same port ; the which I let 
 pass. Thus, following our demand, we required victuals 
 for our money, and licence to sell as much ware as 
 might furnish our wants, and that there might be of 
 either part twelve gentlemen as hostages for the main 
 tenance of peace : and that the island, for our better 
 safety, might be in our own possession, during our 
 abode there, and such ordnance as was planted in the 
 same island, which were eleven pieces of brass : and 
 that no Spaniard might land in the island with any kind 
 of weapon. These conditions at the first he somewhat 
 misliked, chiefly the guard of the island to be in our 
 own keeping. Which if they had had, we had soon 
 known our fare : for with the first north wind they had 
 cut our cables and our ships had gone ashore. But in 
 the end he concluded to our request, bringing the twelve 
 hostages to ten, which with all speed of either part were 
 
76 Hawkins Third Voyage. [1568 
 
 received, with a writing from the Viceroy, signed with 
 his hand and sealed with his seal, of all the conditions 
 concluded, and forthwith a trumpet blown, with com 
 mandment that none of either part should be mean to 
 violate the peace upon pain of death : and further, it 
 was concluded that the two generals of the fleets should 
 meet, and give faith each to other for the performance 
 of the premises, which was so done. Thus at the end 
 of three days all was concluded and the fleet entered 
 the port, saluting one another as the manner of the sea 
 doth require. Thus, as I said before, Thursday we 
 entered the port, Friday we saw the fleet, and on 
 Monday at night they entered the port. Then we 
 laboured two days placing the English ships by them 
 selves and the Spanish by themselves, the captains of 
 each part and inferior men of their parts promising great 
 amity of all sides. Which even as with all fidelity 
 it was meant on our part, so the Spaniards meant 
 nothing less on their parts; but from the main land had 
 furnished themselves with a supply of men to the 
 number of 1000, and meant the next Thursday, 
 being the 23. of September, at dinner-time to set upon 
 us on all sides. 
 
 The same Thursday, in the morning, the treason 
 being at hand, some appearance shewed, as shifting of 
 weapon from ship to ship, planting and bending of 
 ordnance from the ships to the island where our men 
 warded, passing to and fro of companies of men more 
 than required for their necessary business, and many 
 other ill likelihoods, which caused us to have a vehe 
 ment suspicion. And therewithal [we] sent to the 
 Viceroy to enquire what was meant by it ; which sent 
 immediately strait commandment to unplant all things 
 suspicious, and also sent word that he in the faith of 
 a Viceroy would be our defence from all villanies. Yet 
 
1568] Treachery of the Spaniards. 77 
 
 we being not yet satisfied with this answer, because we 
 suspected a great number of men to be 1 id in a great 
 ship of 900 tons which was moored near unto the 
 Minion, sent again to the Viceroy the master of the 
 Jesus, which had the Spanish tongue, and required to 
 be satisfied if any such thing were or not. The 
 Viceroy now seeing that the treason must be discovered, 
 forthwith stayed our master, blew the trumpet, and of 
 all sides set upon us. Our men which warded ashore 
 being stricken with sudden fear, gave place, fled, and 
 sought to recover succour of the ships. The Spaniards, 
 being before provided for the purpose, landed in all 
 places in multitudes from their ships, which they might 
 easily do without boats, and slew all our men on shore 
 without mercy; a few of them escaped aboard \hejesus. 
 The great ship, which had by the estimation 300 men 
 placed in her secretly, immediately fell aboard the 
 Minion. But by God s appointment, in the time of the 
 suspicion we had, which was only one half-hour, the 
 Minion was made ready to avoid, and so leesing her 
 headfasts, and hauling away by the sternfasts, she was 
 gotten out : thus with God s help she defended the 
 violence of the first brunt of these 300 men. The 
 Minion being passed out, they came aboard the Jesus, 
 which also with very much ado and the loss of many of 
 our men were defended and kept out. Then were 
 there also two other ships that assaulted the Jesus at 
 the same instant, so that she had hard getting loose, 
 but yet with some time we had cut our headfasts and 
 gotten out by the sternfasts. Now when the Jesus 
 and the Minion were gotten about two ships length 
 from the Spanish fleet, the fight began so hot on 
 all sides that within one hour the admiral of the 
 Spaniards was supposed to be sunk, their vice-admiral 
 burned, and one other of their principal ships sup- 
 
78 Hawkins Third Voyage. [1568 
 
 posed to be sunk, so that the ships were little able to 
 annoy us. 
 
 Then is it to be understood, that all the ordnance 
 upon the island was in the Spaniards hands; which did 
 us so great annoyance, that it cut all the masts and 
 yards of the Jesus, in such sort that there was no hope 
 to carry her away. Also it sunk our small ships, 
 whereupon we determined to place the Jesus on that 
 side of the Minion, that she might abide all the battery 
 from the land, and so be a defence for the Minion till 
 night, and then to take such relief of victuals and other 
 necessaries from the Jesus, as the time would suffer us, 
 and to leave her. As we were thus determining, and 
 had placed the Minion from the shot of the land, 
 suddenly the Spaniards had fired two great ships, which 
 were coming directly with us. And having no means 
 to avoid the fire, it bred among our men a marvellous 
 fear, so that some said, Let us depart with the Minion. 
 Other said, Let us see whether the wind will carry the fire 
 from us. But to be short, the Minion s men which had 
 always their sails in a readiness, thought to make sure 
 work, and so without either the consent of the captain 
 or master cut their sail, so that very hardly I was re 
 ceived into the Minion. 
 
 The most part of the men that were left alive in the 
 Jesus, made shift and followed the Minion in a small 
 boat. The rest which the little boat was not able to 
 receive, were enforced to abide the mercy of the 
 Spaniards, which I doubt was very little. So with the 
 Minion only and the Judith, a small bark of fifty ton, 
 we escaped ; which bark the same night forsook us in 
 our great misery. We were now removed with the 
 Minion from the Spanish ships two bow-shoots, and 
 there rode all that night. The next morning we re 
 covered an island a mile from the Spaniards, where 
 
1568] Escape of the Minion and Judith. 79 
 
 there took us a north wind, and being left only with two 
 anchors and two cables (for in this conflict we lost 
 three cables and two anchors) we thought always upon 
 death which ever was present ; but God preserved us 
 to a longer time. 
 
 The weather waxed reasonable ; and the Saturday 
 we set sail, and having a great number of men and little 
 victuals, our hope of life waxed less and less. Some 
 desired to yield to the Spaniards ; some rather desired 
 to obtain a place where they might give themselves to 
 the infidels : and some had rather abide with a little 
 pittance the mercy of God at sea. So thus, with many 
 sorrowful hearts, we wandered in an unknown sea by 
 the space of 14 days, till hunger enforced us to seek the 
 land : for hides were thought very good meat, rats, cats, 
 mice, and dogs, none escaped that might be gotten, 
 parrots and monkeys, that were had in great price, were 
 thought there very profitable if they served the turn one 
 dinner. Thus in the end, the 8. day of October, we 
 came to the land in the bottom of the same bay of 
 Mexico in 23 degrees and a half, where we hoped to 
 have found inhabitants of the Spaniards, relief of 
 victuals, and place for the repair of our ship, which was 
 so sore beaten with shot from our enemies and bruised 
 with shooting off our own ordnance, that our weary and 
 weak arms were scarce able to defend and keep out water. 
 But all things happened to the contrary ; for we found 
 neither people, victual, nor haven of relief, but a place 
 where having fair weather with some peril we might 
 land a boat. Our people, being forced with hunger, 
 desired to be set on land ; whereunto I consented. 
 And such as were willing to land, I put them apart ; 
 and such as were desirous to go homewards, I put 
 apart ; so that they were indifferently parted 100 of one 
 side and 100 of the other side. These 100 men we set 
 
8o Hawkins Third Voyage. [1568 
 
 a-land with all diligence, in this little place beforesaid ; 
 which being landed, we determined there to take in 
 fresh water, and so with our little remain of victuals to 
 take the sea. 
 
 The next day, having a-land with me 50 of our 100 
 men that remained, for the speedier preparing of our 
 water aboard, there arose an extreme storm, so that in 
 three days we could by no means repair aboard our 
 ship : the ship also was in such peril that every hour 
 we looked for shipwreck. But yet God again had 
 mercy on us, and sent fair weather ; we had aboard our 
 water, and departed the 16. day of October, after which 
 day we had fair and prosperous weather till the 16. day 
 of November, which day, God be praised, we were 
 clear from the coast of the Indies, and out of the 
 channel and gulf of Bahama, which is between the 
 Cape of Florida and the islands of Lucayo. After this 
 growing near to the cold country, our men being 
 oppressed with famine, died continually, and they that 
 were left grew into such weakness that we were scantly 
 able to manage our ship ; and the wind being always 
 ill for us to recover England, we determined to go 
 with Galicia in Spain, with intent there to relieve our 
 company and other extreme wants. And being arrived 
 on the last day of December in a place near unto Vigo, 
 called Ponte Vedra, our men with excess of fresh meat 
 grew into miserable diseases, and died a great part of 
 them. This matter was borne out as long as it might 
 be, but in the end although there were none of our men 
 suffered to go a-land, yet by access of the Spaniards, 
 our feebleness was known to them. Whereupon they 
 ceased not to seek by all means to betray us ; but with 
 all speed possible we departed to Vigo, where we had 
 some help of certain English ships and twelve fresh men. 
 Wherewith we repaired our wants as we might, and 
 
1569] Arrival in England. 81 
 
 departing the 20. day of January, 1568 \ arrived in 
 Mount s Bay, in Cornwall, the 25. of the same month. 
 Praised be God therefore. 
 
 If all the miseries and troublesome affairs of this 
 sorrowful voyage should be perfectly and throughly 
 written, there should need a painful man with his pen, 
 and as great a time as he had that wrote the lives and 
 deaths of the martyrs 2 . 
 
 JOHN HAWKINS^. 
 
 1 I.e. 1569. according to modern chronology. 
 
 J John Foxe (Acts and Monuments, 1563). 
 
 15 Two questions arising out of this narrative may be here illustrated 
 by reference to those of Philips and Hortop (see p. 5 . 
 
 t. Drake s alleged desertion. Neither Philips nor Hortop cor 
 roborates this charge. Hortop says that the last orders given by 
 Hawkins to Drake were to lay the Minion aboard, to take in men 
 and other things needful, and to go out. These orders Drake duly 
 executed. The wind that night, according to Hortop, was northerly 
 and wonderful dangerous, insomuch that we feared every hour to be 
 driven on the lee shore. Hawkins, having got out, anchored again, 
 instead of putting to sea. The consequence was that Drake, who 
 put to sea at once, lost sight of him. Philips merely mentions that 
 the Judith lost company of the Minion in the night. 
 
 2. Hawkins, while keeping nearly a hundred negroes on board, 
 put ninety-six of his men ashore, to fare as they might. This, it was 
 said, was done because the negroes were worth money : and the 
 men were abandoned against their will. Philips admits that many 
 asked to be landed, but represents them as unwilling when the time 
 came ; he and others, he says, were compelled to leap from the 
 ship s boat in a rough sea, a mile from land, and swim ashore, two 
 perishing in the attempt. Hortop s account is as follows : There 
 was a mutiny among them for want of victuals : and some said that 
 they had rather be on the shore, to shift for themselves, than to starve 
 on ship-board. He asked them, who would go on shore, and who 
 would tarry on ship-board. Those that would go on shore, he willed 
 to go on fore-mast, and those that would tarry, on baft-mast. Four 
 score and sixteen of us were willing to depart. Our General gave 
 unto every one of us six yards of roan cloth, and money to them that 
 demanded it. When we were landed, he came unto us ; where, 
 friendly embracing every one of us, he was greatly grieved that he 
 was forced to leave us behind him ; he counselled us to serve God, 
 and to love one another, and thus courteously he gave us a sorrowful 
 farewell. This, it will be seen, substantially confirms the account 
 given by Hawkins, and justifies the course adopted by him in the 
 circumstances. 
 
FROBISHER (b. 1535? d. 1594). 
 
 HAWKINS was the pioneer of the Slave Trade, upon which 
 the old Virginian and West Indian colonization rested. 
 Frobisher was the pioneer of a movement of another kind 
 the long and fruitless quest of a North- West Passage from 
 Europe to the eastern shores of Asia. Yet the voyages of the 
 two captains had something in common beyond the mere 
 fact that both sought and found the shores of America. Both 
 contemplated the colonization of those shores by Englishmen. 
 The idea of English settlements in Florida was present to the 
 minds of those who sailed along its coast with Hawkins : we 
 have seen that in their opinion the country was eminently 
 suitable for cattle-ranching. The project of Frobisher em 
 braced, among other things, the planting of English Colonies 
 on the Pacific shore of the New World. It may be briefly 
 explained how this project originated. 
 
 The object of the expedition of Columbus was a Western 
 Passage to China. It resulted in the discovery of the vast 
 continent of America, which bars the way. This barrier, 
 however, might probably be turned, either at the south end 
 or at the north, or at both ; and the search for a Western 
 Passage was thus transformed into a search for a South - 
 West Passage and a North- West Passage. The former was 
 discovered by Magellan, a Portuguese in the Spanish service, 
 in 1520. The North-West Passage remained neglected for 
 half a century longer, and was first sought by the English. 
 
 The wealth and power derived by Spain and Portugal 
 from their distant enterprises in the course of time excited 
 a strong emulation in England ; and attention was fixed on 
 the North-West Passage as the natural means of providing 
 a commercial highway similar to those which the Eastern 
 
 G 2 
 
84 FrobisJier. 
 
 route to India and China, round the Cape of Good Hope, 
 provided for Portugal, and the Western route to America, 
 of which the South-West Passage through Magellan s Straits 
 formed a continuation, provided for Spain. The true con 
 figuration of the northern coasts of America was unknown. 
 It was believed that the continent tapered to the north, 
 terminating in a cape or foreland, and corresponding ap 
 proximately with the general outlines of South America at 
 its southern extremity. If this were so it followed that 
 a North-West Passage existed leading directly from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific, round Labrador, corresponding on 
 the map to the South-West Passage already proved to 
 exist round Patagonia. If such a passage were practicable, 
 it was peculiarly adapted for the use and advantage of 
 England ; and its exploration was discussed in this country, 
 just as the exploration of a Western Passage had been 
 discussed in Italy and Spain eighty years before. A tractate 
 written by Sir Humphry Gilbert, some years before the first 
 voyage of Frobisher, and printed shortly before the voyage 
 took place, embodies the current arguments in favour of the 
 existence and practicability of the Passage, and gives reasons 
 why Englishmen should discover it and occupy the coasts 
 to which it presumably conducted. Gilbert not only pro 
 poses to attract to England, by way of the Passage, the rich 
 commerce of the East, but to inhabit some part of those 
 countries, and settle there such needy people of our country 
 which now trouble the commonwealth and through want 
 here at home are enforced to commit outrageous offences, 
 whereby they are daily consumed with the gallows. The 
 intending discoverers carried with them an elaborate set of 
 practical instructions for establishing such colonies. They 
 were to be founded in some large territory of apt soil/ 
 in a climate corresponding to that of Southern Spain or 
 Barbary, where timber was abundant, where the air was 
 sweet, and where the grape-vine, olive, orange, and lemon 
 might be expected to yield abundant returns. The author 
 of these instructions doubtless had Florida in mind. One 
 might imagine him to have been thinking of California. 
 Martin Frobisher, a native of Normanton in Yorkshire, 
 
Frobisher. 85 
 
 who had learnt seamanship in London, and had been en 
 gaged, like Hawkins, in the African trade, constituted himself 
 the Columbus of this project. For fifteen years he fruit 
 lessly endeavoured to procure the means of executing it. 
 Succeeding at length through the patronage of the Earl of 
 Warwick, in 1576 he started for the North-West, with two 
 little barks of twenty and twenty-five tons burden, and 
 a pinnace of ten tons. In about a month s time he made 
 the eastern coast of Greenland. His little fleet was by this 
 time reduced to one vessel. The pinnace had been lost 
 in a storm ; the Michael, the larger of the two barks, had 
 deserted him and sailed homewards. Frobisher, in the 
 Gabriel, after passing Cape Farewell, sailed north-west 
 with the Greenland current. This course brought him to 
 the ice-bound shores to the north of Hudson s Straits, 
 which lead into Hudson s Bay. These straits Frobisher 
 did not see J ; but finding an inlet further to the north, up 
 which he sailed for sixty leagues, he conceived this to be 
 the passage of which he was in search America lying, as 
 he supposed, on his left, and Asia on his right (p. 91). 
 Frobisher hastened home with the news, intending to 
 return in the next year equipped for a longer exploration. 
 He brought with him an Esquimaux captive, and left behind 
 five of his own men, whom the Esquimaux had made 
 prisoners. In the next year Frobisher s men found some 
 articles of apparel supposed to belong to the lost Englishmen, 
 and learned from the natives that three out of the five were 
 still alive. Nothing more was heard of them by their con 
 temporaries. Nearly three hundred years afterwards an 
 American explorer (Captain Charles F. Hall) was informed 
 by the natives of Frobisher s Strait that the white men 
 who had been left in their country had built and rigged 
 a boat, digging up for the purpose the timber intended for 
 the fort, which Frobisher had buried (p. 178), and sailed 
 homewards down the Strait. If this be true, they must have 
 perished in the attempt, for they never reached England. 
 
 1 In his third voyage Frobisher drifted with the ice into Hudson s 
 Straits, which are the doubtful and supposed Straits, having always 
 a fair continent upon their starboard side, of Best s narrative (p. 150) 
 
86 Frobisher. 
 
 Besides his Esquimaux captive, Frobisher carried home 
 something which was destined to prove the ruin of his 
 schemes. Those who first landed from the Gabriel were 
 directed to bring back some object, no matter what, as an 
 evidence of possession having been duly taken. A fragment 
 of black stone was accordingly carried on board : and this, 
 when produced at Frobisher s return, became an object of 
 general curiosity. It evidently contained some kind of metal, 
 and was pronounced by experts to be iron pyrites, a mineral 
 which frequently yields a small proportion of gold. None 
 could be detected in it by any English assayer : but an Italian 
 goldsmith was at length found who pronounced it to contain 
 gold. Thenceforward the project of Frobisher assumed a 
 different complexion. The Cathay Company was chartered, 
 Elizabeth herself contributing a large part of the required 
 capital, besides lending the Aid, a vessel of two hundred 
 tons. Frobisher was appointed High Admiral of England in 
 Cathay, and such other places as might be reached by way of 
 the newly-discovered passage, with the right of exacting a per 
 centage on their exports. All this meant very little: the North- 
 West project, as the event proved, had really been trans 
 formed into a mining speculation. In this and the subsequent 
 voyage the pretence of discovery was practically abandoned, 
 and Frobisher s vessels merely brought back to England 
 vast quantities of the mineral substance which had yielded 
 gold in the hands of the Italian assayer. The three ships 
 employed in the second voyage carried home 200 tons. 
 The results obtained were kept secret : but they were so far 
 satisfactory that it was determined to secure at once as large 
 a quantity of the ore as possible, lest the new gold-field should 
 be rifled by other adventurers. The actual yield, it was true, 
 was but small : it was probably anticipated that richer beds 
 would ultimately be found. Frobisher s third fleet consisted 
 of fifteen vessels, organised in three squadrons. On reaching 
 the American coast he encountered stormy weather and 
 floating ice, lost his course and one of his vessels, and 
 drifted into Hudson s Straits, of which he was the involuntary 
 discoverer. Recovering at length, a fortnight later than he had 
 intended, the entrance to the Strait for which he was bound, 
 
Frobisher. 87 
 
 he proceeded to fill his ships with the precious mineral. He 
 had little more than a month in which to perform his task. 
 The season was advancing, and there were many vessels to 
 be loaded ; possibly much of the mineral which he shipped 
 was selected and quarried without due examination. How 
 ever this may be, the produce of the 1,700 tons of pyrites 
 which his third expedition brought back did not suffice to 
 defray its expenses of working. When this fact became 
 known, Frobisher and his schemes fell into utter discredit. 
 The voyage which he had contemplated making in the follow 
 ing year (pp. 135, 177, 178) never took place. The Cathay 
 Company ceased to exist. Frobisher s Strait itself passed 
 out of mind so completely that its place on the map was 
 forgotten, and geographers bestowed the name on a frozen 
 inlet on the eastern coast of Greenland. Davis, a few years 
 afterwards, rediscovered it, and named it Lumley s Inlet ; 
 but the name of the first discoverer has been recently 
 restored. Frobisher was incidentally the pioneer of Arctic 
 exploration ; he made known the difficulties which beset it, 
 difficulties which were first grappled with by Davis and 
 Hudson. 
 
 Frobisher s northern voyages, disastrous as they must 
 have proved to the adventurers who supported him, were the 
 foundation of his own fortunes. Taken into the Queen s 
 service, he served under Sir William Winter in the naval 
 expedition against the Spanish auxiliaries of the Irish rebels, 
 Fitzmaurice and Desmond (1579), and filled the important 
 post of Vice-admiral in Drake s expedition of 1585, the story 
 of which concludes the present volume. After the defeat of 
 the Spanish Armada, in which Frobisher played a prominent 
 part, he continued to serve his country with little intermission 
 until his death, which resulted from a gunshot wound received 
 at the storming of Crozon, in Brittany (1594). The wound 
 was unskilfully dressed, and Frobisher died of its effects at 
 Plymouth a fortnight afterwards. 
 
FROBISHER FIRST VOYAGE. 
 
 [COMMUNICATED BY FROBISHER TO GEORGE BEST.] l 
 
 WHICH thing being well considered, and familiarly 
 known to our General, Captain Frobisher, as well for 
 that he is thoroughly furnished of the knowledge of 
 the sphere and all other skills appertaining to the art 
 of navigation, as also for the confirmation he hath of 
 the same by many years experience both by sea 
 and land ; and being persuaded of a new and nearer 
 passage to Cataya than by Capo de Buona Speran^a, 
 which the Portugals yearly use, he began first with 
 himself to devise, and then with his friends to confer, 
 and laid a plain plot unto them that that voyage was 
 not only possible by the North-west, but also, he could 
 prove, easy to be performed. And further, he de 
 termined and resolved with himself to go make full 
 proof thereof, and to accomplish or bring true certificate 
 of the truth, or else never to return again ; knowing 
 this to be the only thing of the world that was left yet 
 undone, whereby a notable mind might be made famous 
 and fortunate. But although his will were great to 
 perform this notable voyage, whereof he had conceived 
 in his mind a great hope by sundry sure reasons and 
 secret intelligence, which here, for sundry causes, 
 I leave untouched ; yet he wanted altogether means 
 
 1 Further details of this voyage may be gathered from the log of 
 Christopher Hall, master of the Gabriel, printed in Hakluyt. The 
 present narrative, prefixed to Best s accounts of the Second and 
 Third Voyages, was preceded by a treatise intended to prove all 
 parts of the earth, even the poles, equally habitable. 
 
The North-West Passage. 89 
 
 and ability to set forward and perform the same. Long 
 time he conferred with his private friends of these 
 secrets, and made also many offers for the performing 
 of the same in effect unto sundry merchants of our 
 country, above fifteen years before he attempted the 
 same, as by good witness shall well appear ; albeit some 
 evil willers, which challenge to themselves the fruits 
 of other men s labours, have greatly injured him in the 
 reports of the same, saying that they have been the 
 first authors of that action, and that they have learned 
 him the way, which themselves as yet have never gone. 
 But perceiving that hardly he was hearkened unto of 
 the merchants, which never regard virtue without sure, 
 certain, and present gains, he repaired to the Court, 
 from whence, as from the fountain of our common 
 wealth, all good causes have their chief increase and 
 maintenance, and there laid open to many great estates 
 and learned men the plot and sum of his device. And 
 amongst many honourable minds which favoured his 
 honest and commendable enterprise, he was speciallv 
 bound and beholding to the Right Honourable Ambrose 
 Dudley, Earl of Warwick, whose favourable mind and 
 good disposition hath always been ready to countenance 
 and advance all honest actions, with the authors and 
 executers of the same. And so by means of my lord 
 his honourable countenance he received some comfort 
 of his cause, and by little and little, with no small 
 expense and pain, brought his cause to some perfection, 
 and had drawn together so many adventurers and such 
 sums of money as might well defray a reasonable charge 
 to furnish himself to sea withal. 
 
 He prepared two small barks of twenty and five-and- 
 twenty ton a-piece, wherein he intended to accomplish 
 his pretended voyage. Wherefore, being furnished 
 with the foresaid two barks, and one small pinnace of 
 
go Frobisher First Voyage. [1576 
 
 ten ton burden, having therein victuals and other 
 necessaries for twelve months provision, he departed 
 upon the said voyage from Blackwall, the 15. of June \ 
 anno Domini 1576. 
 
 One of the barks, wherein he went, was named the 
 Gabriel, and the other the Michael , and, sailing north 
 west from England, upon the n. of July he had sight of 
 an high and ragged land, which he judged to be 
 Frisland", whereof some authors have made mention ; 
 but durst not approach the same by reason of the great 
 store of ice that lay alongst the coast, and the great 
 mists that troubled them not a little. Not far from 
 thence he lost company of his small pinnace, which by 
 means of the great storm he supposed to be swallowed 
 up of the sea ; wherein he lost only four men. Also 
 the other bark, named the Michael, mistrusting the 
 matter, conveyed themselves privily away from him, 
 and returned home, with great report that he was cast 
 away. 
 
 The worthy captain, notwithstanding these discom 
 forts, although his mast was sprung, and his topmast 
 blown overboard with extreme foul weather, continued 
 his course towards the north-west, knowing that the sea 
 at length must needs have an ending, and that some 
 land should have a beginning that way ; and determined, 
 therefore, at the least to bring true proof what land and 
 sea the same might be so far to the north-westwards, 
 beyond any that man hath heretofore discovered. And 
 
 1 The date is incorrect. Hall quitted his moorings at RatclifFe on 
 the 7th, and left Deptford on the 8th. In passing the Royal Palace 
 of Greenwich, says Hall, we shot off our ordnance, and made the 
 best show we could. Her Majesty, beholding the same, commended 
 it, and bade us farewell, with shaking her hand at us out of the 
 window. Gravesend was passed on the i2th. 
 
 2 The land was Greenland. Friesland was the name given to the 
 Faroe Islands in the voyage of the brothers Zeni. Hall saw the 
 rocky spires of the coast rising like pinnacles of steeples in the 
 afternoon sun. 
 
J 5^] Supposed Discovery of the Passage. 91 
 
 the 20. of July he had sight of an high land, which he 
 called Queen Elizabeth s Foreland 1 , after her Majesty s 
 name. And sailing more northerly alongst that coast, he 
 descried another foreland ~, with a great gut, bay, or 
 passage, dividing as it were two main lands or continents 
 asunder. There he met with store of exceeding great 
 ice all this coast along, and coveting still to continue 
 his course to the northwards, was always by contrary 
 wind detained overthwart these straits, and could not 
 get beyond. Within few days after, he perceived the 
 ice to be well consumed and gone, either there en 
 gulfed in by some swift currents or indrafts, carried 
 more to the southwards of the same straits, or else 
 conveyed some other way ; wherefore he determined 
 to make proof of this place, to see how far that gut 
 had continuance, and whether he might carry himself 
 thorough the same into some open sea on the back 
 side, whereof he conceived no small hope ; and so 
 entered the same the one and twentieth of July, and 
 passed above fifty leagues therein, as he reported, 
 having upon either hand a great main or continent. 
 And that land upon his right hand as he sailed west 
 ward he judged to be the continent of Asia, and there 
 to be divided from the firm of America, which lieth upon 
 the left hand over against the same. 
 
 This place he named after his name, FrobisJicr s 
 Straits 3 , like as Magellanus at the south-west end of the 
 world, having discovered the passage to the South Sea, 
 where America is divided from the continent of that 
 land, which lieth under the South Pole, and called the 
 same straits, Magellan s Straits. 
 
 After he had passed sixty leagues into this foresaid 
 
 1 The N.E. corner of the island to the N. of Resolution Island. 
 
 2 The North Foreland, at the S.E. corner of Halls Island. 
 
 3 Afterwards called Frobisher Bay. 
 
g2 Frobisher First Voyage. [1576 
 
 strait, he went ashore, and found signs where fire had 
 been made. He saw mighty deer, that seemed to be 
 mankind, which ran at him ; and hardly he escaped 
 with his life in a narrow way, where he was fain to use 
 defence and policy to save his life. In this place he saw 
 and perceived sundry tokens of the peoples resorting 
 thither. And being ashore upon the top of a hill, he 
 perceived a number of small things fleeting in the sea 
 afar off, which he supposed to be porpoises, or seals, or 
 some kind of strange fish ; but coming nearer, he 
 discovered them to be men in small boats made of 
 leather. And before he could descend down from the 
 hill, certain of those people had almost cut off his boat 
 from him, having stolen secretly behind the rocks for 
 that purpose ; where he speedily hasted to his boat, and 
 bent himself to his halberd, and narrowly escaped the 
 danger, and saved his boat. Afterwards he had sundry 
 conferences with them, and they came aboard his ship, 
 and brought him salmon and raw flesh and fish, and 
 greedily devoured the same before our men s faces. 
 And to show their agility, they tried many masteries 
 upon the ropes of the ship after our mariners fashion, 
 and appeared to be very strong of their arms, and nimble 
 of their bodies. They exchanged coats of seals and 
 bears skins, and such like, with our men, and received 
 bells, looking-glasses, and other toys, in recompense 
 thereof again. After great courtesy, and many meetings, 
 our mariners, contrary to their captain s direction, 
 began more easily to trust them ; and five of our men 
 going ashore were by them intercepted with their boat, 
 and were never since heard of to this day again ; so 
 that the captain being destitute of boat, bark, and all 
 company, had scarcely sufficient number to conduct 
 back his bark again. He could now neither convey 
 himself ashore to rescue his men, if he had been able, 
 
7576] The Esquimaux. 93 
 
 for want of a boat ; and again the subtle traitors were 
 so wary, as they would after that never come within our 
 men s danger. The captain, notwithstanding, desirous 
 of bringing some token from thence of his being there, 
 was greatly discontented that he had not before appre 
 hended some of them ; and, therefore, to deceive the 
 deceivers, he wrought a pretty policy. For knowing well 
 how they greatly delighted in our toys, and specially in 
 bells, he rang a pretty loud bell, making signs that he 
 would give him the same who would come and fetch it. 
 And because they would not come within his danger for 
 fear, he flung one bell unto them, which of purpose he 
 threw short, that it might fall into the sea and be lost. 
 And to make them more greedy of the matter he rang 
 a louder bell, so that in the end one of them came near 
 the ship side to receive the bell. Which when he 
 thought to take at the captain s hand, he was thereby 
 taken himself; for the captain, being readily provided, 
 let the bell fall, and caught the man fast, and plucked 
 him with main force, boat and all, into his bark out of the 
 sea. Whereupon, when he found himself in captivity, 
 for very choler and disdain he bit his tongue in twain 
 within his mouth ; notwithstanding, he died not thereof, 
 but lived until he came in England, and then he died of 
 cold which he had taken at sea. 
 
 Now with this new prey, which was a sufficient witness 
 of the captain s far and tedious travel towards the 
 unknown parts of the world, as did well appear by this 
 strange infidel, whose like was never seen, read, nor 
 heard of before, and whose language was neither known 
 nor understood of any, the said Captain Frobisher 
 returned homeward, and arrived in England in Harwich 
 the second of October following, and thence came to 
 London, 1576, where he was highly commended of all 
 men for his great and notable attempt, but specially 
 
94 Frobisher First Voyage. [1576 
 
 famous for the great hope he brought of the passage to 
 Cataya. 
 
 And it is especially to be remembered that at their 
 first arrival in those parts there lay so great store of ice 
 all the coast along, so thick together, that hardly his 
 boat could pass unto the shore. At length, after divers 
 attempts, he commanded his company, if by any possible 
 means they could get ashore, to bring him whatsoever 
 thing they could first find, whether it were living or 
 dead, stock or stone, in token of Christian possession, 
 which thereby he took in behalf of the Queen s most 
 excellent Majesty, thinking that thereby he might justify 
 the having and enjoying of the same things that grew in 
 these unknown parts. Some of his company brought 
 flowers, some green grass ; and one brought a piece of 
 black stone, much like to a sea coal in colour, which by 
 the weight seemed to be some kind of metal or mineral. 
 This was a thing of no account in the judgment of the 
 captain at first sight ; and yet for novelty it was kept, in 
 respect of the place from whence it came. After his 
 arrival in London, being demanded of sundry his friends 
 what thing he had brought them home out of that 
 country, he had nothing left to present them withal but 
 a piece of this black stone. And it fortuned a gentle 
 woman, one of the adventurers wives, to have a piece 
 thereof, which by chance she threw and burned in the 
 fire, so long, that at the length being taken forth, and 
 quenched in a little vinegar, it glistered with a bright 
 marquesite 1 of gold. Whereupon the matter being called 
 in some question, it was brought to certain gold-finers 
 in London to make assay thereof, who gave out that it 
 held gold, and that very richly for the quantity 2 . After- 
 
 .* Arab, mdrkashita ( = pyrites) . 
 
 - The English assayers all pronounced the stone worthless. An 
 Italian, Giovanni Baptista Agnello, reported it to contain gold. On 
 
1576] Gold Ore from the Strait. 95 
 
 wards the same gold-finers promised great matters 
 thereof if there were any store to be found, and offered 
 themselves to adventure for the searching of those parts 
 from whence the same was brought. Some that had 
 great hope of the matter sought secretly to have a lease 
 at Her Majesty s hands of those places, whereby to enjoy 
 the mass of so great a public profit unto their own private 
 gains. 
 
 In conclusion, the hope of more of the same gold ore N 
 to be found kindled a greater opinion in the hearts 
 of many to advance the voyage again. Whereupon 
 preparation was made for a new voyage against the 
 year following, and the captain more specially directed 
 by commission for the searching more of this gold ore 
 than for the searching any further discovery of the 
 passage. And being well accompanied with divers 
 resolute and forward gentlemen, her Majesty then lying 
 at the Right Honourable the Lord of Warwick s house, 
 in Essex, he came to take his leave ; and kissing her 
 Highness hands, with gracious countenance and com 
 fortable words departed toward his charge. 
 
 being questioned as to how it was that he alone was able to produce 
 gold from the stone, he is said to have replied, Bisogna sapere adtilar la 
 natura ^nature requires coaxing . Agnello s assay necessarily involved 
 the addition of other substances for the purpose of separating the gold ; 
 and it has been suggested that the gold produced by him was itself 
 added during this process. There is no good reason for thinking so. 
 Pyrites often contains a minute proportion of gold. Admitting the 
 possibility of trickery in the case of the small specimen submitted to 
 Agnello. it is incredible that the fraud should have been successfullv 
 repeated when the 200 tons of mineral brought back by the second 
 expedition came to be tested. The mineral undoubtedly contained 
 gold, but not enough to pay for the carriage and working. 
 
FROBISHER SECOND VOYAGE. 
 
 [NARRATIVE BY GEORGE BEST, FROBISHER S LIEUTENANT.] 
 
 A True Report of such things as happened in the SECOND 
 VOYAGE of CAPTAIN FROBISHER, pretended for the dis 
 covery of a new passage to CATAYA, CHINA, and the EAST 
 INDIA, by the NORTH-WEST, Anno Domini 7577. 
 
 BEING furnished with one tall ship of Her Majesty s, 
 named the Aid, of 200 ton, and two other small barks, 
 the one named the Gabriel, the other the Michael 1 , about 
 30 ton apiece, being fitly appointed with men, munitions, 
 victuals, and all things necessary for the voyage, the said 
 Captain Frobisher, with the rest of his company, came 
 aboard his ships riding at Blackwall, intending (with 
 God s help) to take the first wind and tide serving him, 
 the 25. day of May, in the year of our Lord God 1577. 
 
 On Whit Sunday, being the 26. of May, Anno 1577, 
 early in the morning, we weighed anchor at Blackwall, 
 and fell that tide down to Gravescnd, where we remained 
 until Monday at night. On Monday morning, the 27. 
 of May, aboard the Aid, we received all the communion 
 by the minister of Gravesend, and prepared us as good 
 Christians towards God, and resolute men, for all 
 fortunes; and towards night we departed to Tilbury 
 Hope -. 
 
 Tuesday, the 28. of May, about nine of the clock at 
 night, we arrived at Harwich, in Essex, and there stayed 
 for the taking in of certain victuals until Friday, being 
 
 1 Edward Fenton, a gentleman in the service of the Earl of Warwick, 
 commanded the Gabriel ; Gilbert York, a gentleman in the service of 
 the High Admiral, the Michael. 
 
 2 Hope =road, or anchoring place. 
 
The Orkney Islands. 97 
 
 the 30. of May ; during which time came letters from 
 the Lords of the Council, straitly commanding our 
 General not to exceed his complement and number 
 appointed him, which was 120 persons. Whereupon he 
 discharged many proper men, which with unwilling 
 minds departed. He also dismissed all his condemned 
 men *, which he thought for some purposes very needful 
 for the voyage ; and towards night, upon Friday, the 
 one and thirtieth of May, we set sail and put to the seas 
 again. And sailing northward along the east coasts of 
 England and Scotland, the 7. day of June we arrived in 
 Saint Magnus Sound, in Orkney Islands, called in Latin 
 Orcades, and came to anchor on the south side of the 
 bay ; and this place is reckoned from Blackwall, where 
 we set sail first, [cipher] leagues 2 . 
 
 Here, our company going on land, the inhabitants of 
 these islands began to flee as from the enemy. Where 
 upon the lieutenant willed every man to stay together, 
 and went himself into their houses to declare what we 
 were, and the cause of our coming thither. Which 
 being understood, after their poor manner they friendly 
 entreated us, and brought us for our money such things 
 as they had. And here our gold-finers found a mine of 
 silver. 
 
 Orkney is the principal of the Isles of the Orcades, and 
 standeth in the latitude of fifty-nine degrees and a half. 
 The country is much subject to cold, answerable for 
 such a climate, and yet yieldeth some fruits, and 
 sufficient maintenance for the people contented so 
 poorly to live. There is plenty enough of poultry, store 
 of eggs, fish, and fowl. For their bread they have oaten 
 cakes, and their drink is ewes milk, and in some parts 
 
 1 Six condemned criminals, who were to be landed in Greenland 
 with a supply of arms and provisions. 
 
 2 The distances and latitudes were expressed in cipher in the 
 original MS., so as to keep the course secret. 
 
 H 
 
98 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 ale. Their houses are but poor without and sluttish 
 enough within, and the people in nature thereunto 
 agreeable. For their fire they burn heath and turf, the 
 country in most parts being void of wood. They have 
 great want of leather, and desire our old shoes, apparel, 
 and old ropes, before money, for their victuals, and yet 
 are they not ignorant of the value of our coin. The 
 chief town is called Kyrway. In this island hath been 
 sometime an abbey or a religious house, called Saint 
 Magnus, being on the west side of the isle, whereof this 
 sound beareth name through which we passed. Their 
 governor or chief lord is called the Lord Robert Steward, 
 who at our being there, as we understood, was in 
 durance at Edinburgh, by the Regent s commandment 
 of Scotland. 
 
 After we had provided us here of matter sufficient for 
 our voyage, the 8. of June we set sail again, and, pass 
 ing through Saint Magnus Sound, having a merry wind 
 by night, came clear and lost sight of all the land ; and 
 keeping our course west-north-west by the space of two 
 days, the wind shifted upon us, so that we lay in traverse 
 on the seas, with contrary winds, making good, as near 
 as we could, our course to the westward, and sometime 
 to the northward, as the wind shifted. And hereabout 
 we met with three sail of English fishermen from 
 Iceland, bound homeward, by whom we wrote our 
 letters unto our friends in England. We traversed 
 these seas by the space of 26 days without sight of any 
 land, and met with much drift-wood and whole bodies 
 of trees. We saw many monstrous fishes and strange 
 fowls which seemed to live only by the sea, being there 
 so far distant from any land. At length God favoured 
 us with more prosperous winds: and after we had 
 sailed four days with good wind in the poop, the 4. of 
 July, the Michael, being foremost ahead, shot off a piece 
 
1577] Arrival off Greenland. 99 
 
 of ordnance, and struck all her sails, supposing that they 
 descried land, which, by reason of the thick mists, they 
 could not make perfect. Howbeit, as well our account , 
 as also the great alteration of the water, which became 
 more black and smooth, did plainly declare we were not 
 far off the coast. Our General sent his master 2 aboard 
 the Michael (who had been with him the year before) to 
 bear in with the place to make proof thereof; who 
 descried not the land perfect, but saw sundry huge 
 islands of ice, which we deemed to be not past twelve 
 leagues from the shore. About ten of the clock at 
 night, being the fourth of July, the weather being more 
 clear, we made the land perfect, and knew it to be 
 Frisland*. And the height being taken here, we found 
 ourselves to be in the latitude of sixty degrees and 
 a half, and were fallen with the southermost part of 
 this land. Between Orkney and Frisland are reckoned 
 [cipher] leagues. 
 
 This Frisland showeth a ragged and high land, 
 having the mountains almost covered over with snow, 
 alongst the coast full of drift-ice, and seemeth almost 
 inaccessible ; and is thought to be an island in bigness 
 not inferior to England, and is called by some authors 
 West Frisland) I think because it lieth more west than 
 any part of Europe. It extendeth in latitude to the 
 northward very far, as seemed to us, and appeareth 
 by a description set out by two brethren, Venetians, 
 Nicholaus and Antonius Zeni, who, being driven off from 
 Ireland with a violent tempest, made shipwreck here, 
 and were the first known Christians that discovered this 
 land, about 200 years sithence ; and they have in their 
 sea-cards set out every part thereof, and described the 
 condition of the inhabitants, declaring them to be as 
 civil and religious people as we. And for so much of 
 
 1 Reckoning. a Christopher Hall. 3 Greenland. 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 this land as we have sailed alongst, comparing their 
 card with the coast, we find it very agreeable. This 
 coast seemeth to have good fishing : for we, lying be 
 calmed, let fall a hook without any bait, and presently 
 caught a great fish called a halibut, which served the 
 whole company for a day s meat, and is dangerous meat 
 for surfeiting. And sounding about five leagues off 
 from the shore, our lead brought up in the tallow a kind 
 of coral, almost white, and small stones as bright as 
 crystal ; and it is not to be doubted that this land may 
 be found very rich and beneficial if it were throughly 
 discovered, although we saw no creature there but little 
 birds. It is a marvellous thing to behold of what great 
 bigness and depth some islands of ice be here ; some 
 seventy, some eighty fathom under water, besides that 
 which is above, seeming islands more than half a mile 
 in circuit. All these ice are in taste fresh, and seem to 
 be bred in the sounds thereabouts, or in some land near 
 the Pole, and with the wind and tides are driven alongst 
 the coasts. We found none of these islands of ice salt 
 in taste, whereby it appeareth that they were not con 
 gealed of the ocean sea- water, which is always salt, but 
 of some standing or little-moving lakes, or great fresh 
 waters near the shore, caused either by melted snow 
 from tops of mountains, or by continual access of fresh 
 rivers from the land ; and intermingling with the sea- 
 water, bearing yet the dominion, by the force of extreme 
 frost, may cause some part of salt water to freeze so 
 with it, and so seem a little brackish ; but otherwise the 
 main sea freezeth not, and therefore there is no Mare 
 Glaciate, or Frozen Sea, as the opinion hitherto hath 
 been. Our General proved landing here twice, but by 
 the sudden fall of mists, whereunto this coast is much 
 subject, he was like to lose sight of his ships ; and 
 being greatly endangered with the driving ice alongst 
 
1577] Davis* s Strait crossed. 101 
 
 the coast, was forced aboard, and fain to surcease his 
 pretence till a better opportunity might serve. And 
 having spent four days and nights sailing alongst this 
 land, finding the coast subject to such bitter cold and 
 continual mists, he determined to spend no more time 
 therein, but to bear out his course towards the straits 
 called Frobisher s Straits, after the General s name ; 
 who being the first that ever passed beyond fifty-eight 
 degrees to the northwards, for anything that hath been 
 yet known of certainty, of Newfoundland, otherwise 
 called the continent or firm land of America, discovered 
 the said straits this last year 1576. 
 
 Between Frisland and the straits we had one great 
 storm, wherein the Michael was somewhat in danger, 
 having her steerage broken, and her topmasts blown 
 overboard ; and being not past fifty leagues short of the 
 straits by our account, we struck sail and lay a-hull, 
 fearing the continuance of the storm, the wind being at 
 the north-east ; and having lost company of the barks in 
 that flaw of wind, we happily met again the 17. day of 
 July, having the evening before seen divers islands of 
 fleeting ice, which gave an argument that we were not 
 far from land. Our General, in the morning, from the 
 maintop, the weather being reasonable clear, descried 
 land ; but to be better assured, he sent the two barks 
 two contrary courses, whereby they might descry either 
 the South or North Foreland, the Aid lying off and on 
 at sea, with a small sail, by an island of ice, which was 
 the mark for us to meet together again. And about 
 noon, the weather being more clear, we made the North 
 Foreland perfect, which otherwise is called Hall s 
 Island \ and also the small island bearing the name of 
 the said Ha//, whence the ore was taken up which was 
 brought into England this last year 1576, the said 
 
 1 Now Cape Enderby. 
 
102 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 Hall being present at the finding and taking up thereof, 
 who was then master in the Gabriel with Captain 
 Frobisher. At our arrival here, all the seas about this 
 coast were so covered over with huge quantity of great 
 ice, that we thought these places might only deserve 
 the name of Mare Glaciale, and be called the Icy Sea. 
 
 This North Foreland is thought to be divided from the 
 continent of the Northerland by a little sound called 
 Hall s Sound, which maketh it an island, and is thought 
 little less than the Isle of Wight, and is the first 
 entrance of the straits upon the norther side, and 
 standeth in the latitude of sixty-two degrees and fifty 
 minutes, and is reckoned from Frisland [cipher] 
 leagues. God having blessed us with so happy a land 
 fall, we bare into the straits, which run in next hand, 
 and somewhat further up to the northward, and came as 
 near the shore as we might for the ice ; and upon the 
 18. day of July our General, taking the gold-finers with 
 him, attempted to go on shore with a small rowing 
 pinnace, upon the small island where the ore was taken 
 up, to prove whether there were any store thereof to be 
 found. But he could not get in all that island a piece so 
 big as a walnut, where the first was found. But our 
 men which sought the other islands thereabouts found 
 them all to have good store of the ore : whereupon our 
 General with these good tidings returned aboard about 
 ten of the clock at night, and was joyfully welcomed of 
 the company with a volley of shot. He brought eggs, 
 fowls, and a young seal aboard, which the company had 
 killed ashore ; and having found upon those islands 
 gins set to catch fowl, and sticks new cut, with other 
 things, he well perceived that not long before some of 
 the country people had resorted thither. 
 
 Having therefore found those tokens of the people s 
 access in those parts, and being in his first voyage well 
 
5771 Frobisher s Strait entered. 103 
 
 acquainted with their subtle and cruel disposition, he 
 provided well for his better safety; and on Friday, the 
 19. of July, in the morning early, with his best company 
 of gentlemen and soldiers, to the number of forty 
 persons, went on shore, as well to discover the inland 
 and habitation of the people, as also to find out some 
 fit harborough for our ships. And passing towards the 
 shore, with no small difficulty by reason of the abund 
 ance of ice, which lay along the coast so thick together 
 that hardly any passage through them might be dis 
 covered, we arrived at length upon the main of Hall s 
 greater island, and found there also, as well as in the 
 other small islands, good store of the ore. And leaving 
 his boats here with sufficient guard, we passed up into 
 the country about two English miles, and recovered the 
 top of a high hill ; on the top whereof our men made 
 a column or cross of stones heaped up of a good height 
 together in good sort, and solemnly sounded a trumpet, 
 and said certain prayers kneeling about the ensign, and 
 honoured the place by the name of Mount Warwick, 
 in remembrance of the Right Honourable the Lord 
 Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, whose noble mind 
 and good countenance in this, as in all other good 
 actions, gave great encouragement and good furtherance. 
 This done, we retired our companies, not seeing any 
 thing here worth further discovery, the country seeming 
 barren and full of ragged mountains, and in most parts 
 covered with snow. 
 
 And thus marching towards our boats, we espied 
 certain of the country people on the top of Mount 
 Warwick with a flag, wafting us back again and making 
 great noise, with cries like the mowing of bulls, seeming 
 greatly desirous of conference with us. Whereupon the 
 General, being therewith better acquainted, answered 
 them again with the like cries ; whereat, and with the 
 
104 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 noise of our trumpets, they seemed greatly to rejoice, 
 skipping, laughing, and dancing for joy. And hereupon 
 we made signs unto them, holding up two fingers, com 
 manding two of our men to go apart from our companies, 
 whereby they might do the like. So that forthwith two 
 of our men and two of theirs met together a good space 
 from company, neither party having their weapons 
 about them. Our men gave them pins and points and 
 such trifles as they had. And they likewise bestowed 
 on our men two bowcases and such things as they had. 
 They earnestly desired our men to go up into their 
 country, and our men offered them like kindness aboard 
 our ships ; but neither part, as it seemed, admitted or 
 trusted the other s courtesy. Their manner of traffic is 
 thus ; they do use to lay down of their merchandise 
 upon the ground, so much as they mean to part withal, 
 and so looking that the other party with whom they 
 make trade should do the like, they themselves do 
 depart. And then, if they do like of their mart, they 
 come again, and take in exchange the other s mer 
 chandise ; otherwise, if they like not, they take their 
 own and depart. The day being thus well near spent, 
 in haste we retired our companies into our boats again, 
 minding forthwith to search along the coast for some 
 harborough fit for our ships. For the present necessity 
 thereof was much, considering that all this while they 
 lay off and on between the two lands, being continually 
 subject as well to great danger of fleeting ice, which 
 environed them, as to the sudden flaws which the coast 
 seemeth much subject unto. But when the people 
 perceived our departure, with great tokens of affection 
 they earnestly called us back again, following us almost 
 to our boats. Whereupon our General, taking his 
 master with him, who was best acquainted with their 
 manners, went apart unto two of them, meaning, if they 
 
1577] Encounter with Esquimaux. 105 
 
 could lay sure hold upon them, forcibly to bring them 
 aboard, with intent to bestow certain toys and apparel 
 upon the one, and so to dismiss him with all arguments of 
 courtesy, and retain the other for an interpreter. The 
 General and his master being met with their two com 
 panions together, after they had exchanged certain 
 things the one with the other, one of the savages, for 
 lack of better merchandise, cut off the tail of his coat, 
 which is a chief ornament among them, and gave it 
 unto our General for a present. But he presently, upon 
 a watchword given with his master, suddenly laid hold 
 upon the two savages. But the ground under foot 
 being slippery with the snow on the side of the hill, 
 their handfast failed, and their prey escaping ran away 
 and lightly recovered their bow and arrows, which they 
 had hid not far from them behind the rocks. And 
 being only two savages in sight, they so fiercely, 
 desperately, and with such fury assaulted and pursued 
 our General and his master, being altogether unarmed, 
 and not mistrusting their subtilty, that they chased them 
 to their boats, and hurt the General in the buttock with 
 an arrow ; who the rather speedily fled back, because 
 they suspected a greater number behind the rocks. 
 Our soldiers, which were commanded before to keep 
 their boats, perceiving the danger, and hearing our men 
 calling for shot, came speedily to rescue, thinking there 
 had been a greater number. But when the savages 
 heard the shot of one of our calivers (and yet having 
 first bestowed their arrows) they ran away, our men 
 speedily following them. But a servant of my Lord of 
 Warwick, called Nicholas Conyer, a good footman, and 
 uncumbered with any furniture , having only a dagger 
 at his back, overtook one of them ; and being a Cornish 
 man and a good wrastler, shewed his companion such 
 
 1 Armour. 
 
io6 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 a Cornish trick, that he made his sides ache against 
 the ground for a month after. And so being stayed, he 
 was taken alive and brought away, but the other escaped. 
 Thus with their strange and new prey our men repaired 
 to their boats, and passed from the main to a small 
 island of a mile compass, where they resolved to tarry 
 all night ; for even now a sudden storm was grown so 
 great at sea, that by no means they could recover their 
 ships. And here every man refreshed himself with 
 a small portion of victuals, which was laid into the boats 
 for their dinners, having neither eat nor drunk all the day 
 before. But because they knew not how long the storm 
 might last, nor how far off the ships might be put to sea, 
 nor whether they should ever recover them again or 
 not, they made great spare of their victuals, as it greatly 
 behoved them. For they knew full well that the best cheer 
 the country could yield them was rocks and stones, a hard 
 food to live withal, and the people more ready to eat them 
 than to give them wherewithal to eat. And thus, keeping 
 very good watch and ward, they lay there all night upon 
 hard cliffs of snow and ice, both wet, cold, and comfort 
 less. These things thus happening with the company on 
 land, the danger of the ships at sea was no less perilous. 
 For within one hour after the General s departing in 
 the morning, by negligence of the cook in over-heating, 
 and the workman in making the chimney, the Aid was 
 set on fire, and had been the confusion of the whole if, 
 by chance a boy espying it, it had not been speedily with 
 great labour and God s help well extinguished. 
 
 This day also were divers storms and flaws, and by 
 nine of the clock at night the storm was grown so great, 
 and continued such until the morning, that it put our 
 ships at sea in no small peril. For having mountains of 
 fleeting ice on every side, we went roomer for one, and 
 luffed for another; some scraped us, and some happily 
 
1577] Storm in the Strait. 107 
 
 escaped us; that the least of 1000 were as dangerous to 
 strike as any rock, and able to have split asunder the 
 strongest ship of the world. We had a scope of clear 
 without ice, as God would, wherein we turned, being 
 otherwise compassed on every side about. But so much 
 was the wind, and so little was our sea-room, that being 
 able to bear only our forecourse * we cast so oft about, 
 that we made fourteen boards 2 in eight glasses running 3 , 
 being but four hours. But God being our best steers 
 man, and by the industry of Charles Jackman and 
 Andrew Dyer, the master s mates, both very expert 
 mariners, and Richard Cox, the master gunner, with 
 other very careful sailors, then within board, and also 
 by the help of the clear nights, which are without dark 
 ness, we did happily avoid those present dangers. 
 Whereat since we have more marvelled than in the 
 present danger feared ; for that every man within board, 
 both better and worse, had enough to do with his hands 
 to haul ropes, and with his eyes to look out for danger. 
 But the next morning, being the 20. of July, as God 
 would, the storm ceased ; and the General, espying the 
 ships, with his new captive and whole company came 
 happily aboard, and reported what had passed ashore. 
 Whereupon altogether upon our knees we gave God 
 humble and hearty thanks for that it had pleased Him 
 from so speedy peril to send us such speedy deliverance. 
 And so from this northern shore we struck over 
 towards the southerland. 
 
 The 21. of July, we discovered a bay which ran into 
 the land, that seemed a likely harborough for our ships. 
 Wherefore our General rowed thither with his boats, to 
 make proof thereof, and with his gold-finers to search 
 for ore, having never assayed anything on the south 
 shore as yet. And the first small island, which we landed 
 
 1 Foresail. a Tacks. 3 Hour-glasses (running half-an-hour). 
 
io8 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 upon, here all the sands and clifts did so glister and 
 had so bright a marquesite, that it seemed all to be 
 gold ; but upon trial made, it proved no better than 
 black-lead, and verified the proverb, All is not gold that 
 glister eth. 
 
 Upon the 22. of July we bare into the said sound, 
 and came to anchor a reasonable breadth off the shore ; 
 where, thinking ourselves in good security, we were 
 greatly endangered with a piece of drift ice, which the 
 ebb brought forth of the sounds and came thwart us ere 
 we were aware. But the gentlemen and soldiers within 
 board taking great pains at this pinch at the capstan, 
 overcame the most danger thereof. And yet for all that 
 might be done, it struck on our stern such a blow, that we 
 feared lest it had stricken away our rudder ; and being 
 forced to cut our cable in the hawse, we were fain to set 
 our foresail to run further up within. And if our steerage 
 had not been stronger than in the present time we feared, 
 we had run the ship upon the rocks, having a very 
 narrow channel to turn in ; but, as God would, all came 
 well to pass. And this was named Jackman s Sound, 
 after the name of the master s mate, who had first liking 
 unto the place. 
 
 Upon a small island within this sound, called Smith s 
 Island (because he first set up his forge there), was found 
 a mine of silver, but was not won out of the rocks with 
 out great labour. Here our gold-finers made say 1 of 
 such ore as they found upon the northerland, and found 
 four sorts thereof to hold gold in good quantity. Upon 
 another small island here was also found a great dead 
 fish 2 , which as it should seem, had been embayed with 
 ice, and was in proportion round like to a porpoise, being 
 about twelve foot long, and in bigness answerable, having 
 a horn of two yards long growing out of the snout or 
 1 Assay. 2 A narw hal. 
 
577] The { Sontherland Jackman s Sound. 109 
 
 nostrils. This horn is wreathed and straight, like in 
 fashion to a taper made of wax, and may truly be 
 thought to be the sea-unicorn. This horn is to be 
 seen and reserved as a jewel by the Queen s Majesty s 
 commandment, in her wardrobe of robes. 
 
 Tuesday, the 23. of July, our General with his best 
 company of gentlemen, soldiers and sailors, to the 
 number of seventy persons in all, marched with ensign 
 displayed, upon the continent of the southerland, the 
 supposed continent of America. Where, commanding 
 a trumpet to sound a call for every man to repair 
 to the ensign, he declared to the whole company 
 how much the cause imported for the service of her 
 Majesty, our country, our credits, and the safety of 
 our own lives ; and therefore required every man 
 to be conformable to order, and to be directed by 
 those he should assign. And he appointed for leaders 
 Captain Fenton, Captain York, and his Lieutenant George 
 Best. Which done, we cast ourselves into a ring, and 
 altogether upon our knees, gave God humble thanks for 
 that it had pleased him of his great goodness to preserve 
 us from such imminent dangers ; beseeching likewise 
 the assistance of his Holy Spirit, so to deliver us in 
 safety into our country, whereby the light and truth 
 of these secrets being known, it might redound to the 
 more honour of his holy name, and consequently to 
 the advancement of our common wealth. And so, in 
 as good sort as the place suffered, we marched towards 
 the tops of the mountains, which were no less painful 
 in climbing than dangerous in descending, by reason 
 of their steepness and ice. And having passed about 
 five miles, by such unwieldy ways, we returned unto 
 our ships without sight of any people, or likelihood 
 of habitation. Here divers of the gentlemen desired 
 our General to suffer them, to the number of twenty or 
 
no Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 thirty persons, to march up thirty or forty leagues in 
 the country, to the end they might discover the inland, 
 and do some acceptable service for their country. But 
 he, not contented with the matter he sought for, and 
 well considering the short time he had in hand, and the 
 greedy desire our country hath to a present savour and 
 return of gain, bent his whole endeavour only to find 
 a mine to freight his ships, and to leave the rest by 
 God s help hereafter to be well accomplished. And 
 therefore the 26. of July he departed over to the north- 
 land, with the two barks, leaving the Aid riding in 
 Jackmaris Sound, and meant, after he had found con 
 venient harbour, and freight there for his ships, to 
 discover further for the passage. The barks came 
 the same night to anchor in a sound upon the norther- 
 land, where the tides did run so swift, and the place 
 was so subject to indrafts of ice, that by reason thereof 
 they were greatly endangered ; and having found 
 a very rich mine, as they supposed, and got almost 
 twenty ton of ore together, upon the 28. of July the ice 
 came driving into the sound where the barks rode, in 
 such sort, that they were therewith greatly distressed. 
 And the Gabriel, riding astern the Michael, had her 
 cable galled asunder in the hawse with a piece of 
 driving ice, and lost another anchor ; and having but 
 one cable and anchor left, (for she had lost two before,) 
 and the ice still driving upon her, she was by God s 
 help well fenced from the danger of the rest, by one 
 great island of ice, which came aground hard ahead 
 of her. Which if it had not so chanced, I think 
 surely she had been cast upon the rocks with the ice. 
 The Michael moored anchor upon this great ice, and 
 rode under the lee thereof: but about midnight, by the 
 weight of itself, and the setting of the tides, the ice 
 brake within half the bark s length, and made unto the 
 
1577] The Northerland Beares Sound. in 
 
 company within board a sudden and fearful noise. 
 The next flood, toward the morning, we weighed anchor, 
 and went further up the straits ; and leaving our ore 
 behind us which we had digged, for haste, left the place, 
 by the name of Beare s Sound, after the master s name 
 of the Michael, and named the island Leicester s Island. 
 In one of the small islands here we found a tomb, 
 wherein the bones of a dead man lay together. And our 
 savage captive being with us, and being demanded by 
 signs whether his countrymen had not slain this man 
 and eat his flesh so from the bones, he made signs to 
 the contrary, and that he was slain with wolves and 
 wild beasts. Here also was found hid under stones 
 good store of fish, and sundry other things of the in 
 habitants ; as sleds, bridles, kettles of fishskins, knives 
 of bone, and such other like. And our savage declared 
 unto us the use of all those things. And taking in his 
 hand one of those country bridles, he caught one of our 
 dogs and hampered him handsomely therein, as we do 
 our horses, and with a whip in his hand, he taught the 
 dog to draw in a sled as we do horses in a coach, 
 setting himself thereupon like a guide : so that we might 
 see they use dogs for that purpose that we do our horses. 
 And we found since by experience, that the lesser sort 
 of dogs they feed fat, and keep them as domestical cattle 
 in their tents for their eating, and the greater sort serve 
 for the use of drawing their sleds. 
 
 The 29. of July, about five leagues from Beare s 
 Sound, we discovered a bay which, being fenced on 
 each side with small islands lying off the main, which 
 break the force of the tides, and make the place free 
 from any indrafts of ice, did prove a fit harborough for 
 our ships ; where we came to anchor under a small 
 island, which now together with the sound is called by 
 the name of that right Honourable and virtuous lady, 
 
ii2 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 Anne Countess of Warwick. And this is the furthest 
 place that this year we have entered up within the 
 straits, and is reckoned from the cape of the Queen s 
 Foreland, which is the entrance of the straits, not above 
 thirty leagues. Upon this island was found good store 
 of the ore, which in the washing held gold to our 
 thinking plainly to be seen : whereupon it was thought 
 best rather to load here, where there was store and 
 indifferent good, than to seek further for better, and 
 spend time with jeopardy. And therefore our General 
 setting the miners to work, and shewing first a good 
 precedent of a painful labourer and a good captain in 
 himself, gave good examples for others to follow him : 
 whereupon every man, both better and worse, with 
 their best endeavours willingly laid to their helping 
 hands. And the next day, being the 30. of July, the 
 Michael was sent over to Jackmaris Sound, for the 
 Aid and the whole company to come thither. Upon 
 the main-land, over against the Countess s Island, we 
 discovered and beheld to our great marvel the poor 
 caves and houses of those country people, which serve 
 them, as it should seem, for their winter dwellings, and 
 are made two fathom underground, in compass round, 
 like to an oven, being joined fast one by another, having 
 holes like to a fox or coney bury, to keep and come 
 together. They undertrenched these places with gutters, 
 so that the water, falling from the hills above them, may 
 slide away without their annoyance : and are seated 
 commonly in the foot of a hill, to shield them better 
 from the cold winds, having their door and entrance 
 ever open towards the south. From the ground upwards 
 they build with whales bones, for lack of timber, which 
 bending one over another, are handsomely compacted 
 in the top together, and are covered over with seals 
 skins, which, instead of tiles, fence them from the rain. 
 
Countess s Sound Esquimaux dwellings. 113 
 
 In which house they have only one room, having the 
 one half of the floor raised with broad stones a foot 
 higher than the other ; whereon strawing moss, they 
 make their nests to sleep in. They defile these dens 
 most filthily with their beastly feeding, and dwell so 
 long in a place, as we think, until their sluttishness 
 loathing them, they are forced to seek a sweeter air, and 
 a new seat ; and are, no doubt, a dispersed and wander 
 ing nation, as the Tartarians, and live in hordes and 
 troops, without any certain abode, as may appear by 
 sundry circumstances of our experience. 
 
 Here our captive being ashore with us to declare the 
 use of such things as we saw, stayed himself alone 
 behind the company, and did set up five small sticks 
 round in a circle one by another, with one small bone 
 placed just in the midst of all : which thing when one 
 of our men perceived, he called us back to behold the 
 matter, thinking that he had meant some charm or 
 witchcraft therein. But the best conjecture we could 
 make thereof was, that he would thereby his countrymen 
 should understand, that for our five men which they 
 betrayed the last year, whom he signified by the five 
 sticks, he was taken and kept prisoner, which he signified 
 by the bone in the midst. For afterwards when we 
 showed him the picture of his countryman, which the 
 last year was brought into England 1 , (whose counterfeit 
 we had, drawn, with boat and other furniture, both as he 
 was in his own, and also in English apparel,) he was 
 upon the sudden much amazed thereat : and beholding 
 advisedly the same with silence a good while, as though 
 he would strain courtesy whether should begin the 
 speech, for he thought him no doubt a lively creature, 
 at length began to question with him, as with his 
 companion; and finding him dumb and mute, seemed 
 
 1 See p. 93. 
 
H4 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 to suspect him, as one disdainful, and would with a little 
 help have grown into choler at the matter, until at last, 
 by feeling and handling, he found him but a deceiving 
 picture. And then with great noise and cries, ceased 
 not wondering, thinking that we could make men live 
 or die at our pleasure. And thereupon calling the 
 matter to his remembrance, he gave us plainly to 
 understand by signs, that he had knowledge of the 
 taking of our five men the last year ; and confessing the 
 manner of each thing, numbered the five men upon his 
 five fingers, and pointed unto a boat in our ship, which 
 was like unto that wherein our men were betrayed. 
 And when we made him signs that they were slain and 
 eaten, he earnestly denied, and made signs to the 
 contrary. 
 
 The last of July the Michael returned with the Aid to 
 us from the southerland, and came to anchor by us in 
 the Countess of Warwick s Sound, and reported that 
 since we departed from Jackman s Sound there happened 
 nothing among them there greatly worth the remem 
 brance, until the 30. of July, when certain of our 
 company being ashore upon a small island within the 
 said Jackman s Sound, near the place where the Aid 
 rode, did espy a long boat with divers of the country 
 people therein, to the number of eighteen or twenty 
 persons. Whom so soon as our men perceived, they 
 returned speedily aboard, to give notice thereof unto 
 our company. They might perceive these people 
 climbing up to the top of a hill, where, with a flag, they 
 wafted unto our ship, and made great outcries and 
 noises, like so many bulls. Hereupon our men did 
 presently man forth a small skiff, having not above six 
 or seven persons therein, which rowed near the place 
 where these people were, to prove if they could have 
 any conference with them. But after this small boat 
 
J57/] Traces of the English Captives. 115 
 
 was sent a greater, being well appointed for their rescue, 
 if need required. As soon as they espied our company 
 coming near them, they took their boats and hasted 
 away, either for fear, or else for policy, to draw our men 
 from rescue further within their danger ; wherefore our 
 men construing that their coming thither was but to 
 seek advantage, followed speedily after them. But 
 they rowed so swiftly away that our men could come 
 nothing near them. Howbeit they failed not of their 
 best endeavour in rowing ; and having chased them 
 above two miles into the sea, returned into their ships 
 again. 
 
 The morning following, being the first of August, 
 Captain York, with the Michael, came into Jackman s 
 Sound, and declared unto the company there that the 
 last night past he came to anchor in a certain bay 
 (which sithence was named York s Sound) about four 
 leagues distant from Jackman s Sound, being put to 
 leeward of that place for lack of wind, where he 
 discovered certain tents of the country people ; where 
 going with his company ashore he entered into them, 
 but found the people departed, as it should seem, for 
 fear of their coming. But amongst sundry strange 
 things which in these tents they found, there was raw 
 and new-killed flesh of unknown sorts, with dead 
 carcases and bones of dogs, and I know not what. 
 They also beheld, to their greatest marvel, a doublet of 
 canvas made after the English fashion, a shirt, a girdle, 
 three shoes for contrary feet, and of unequal bigness, 
 which they well conjectured to be the apparel of our 
 five poor countrymen, which were intercepted the last 
 year by these country people, about fifty leagues from 
 this place, further within the straits. Whereupon our 
 men being in good hope that some of them might be 
 here, and yet living, the captain, devising for the best, 
 
 I 2 
 
n6 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 left his mind behind him in writing, with pen, ink, and 
 paper also, whereby our poor captive countrymen, if it 
 might come to their hands, might know their friends 
 minds, and of their arrival, and likewise return their 
 answer. And so, without taking anything away in their 
 tents, leaving there also looking-glasses, points, and 
 other of our toys, the better to allure them by such 
 friendly means, departed aboard his bark, with intent to 
 make haste to the Aid, to give notice unto the company 
 of all such things as he had there discovered ; and so 
 meant to return to these tents again, hoping that he 
 might by force or policy entrap or entice the people 
 to some friendly conference. 
 
 Which things when he had delivered to the whole 
 company there, they determined forthwith to go in 
 hand with the matter. Hereupon Captain York with 
 the master of the Aid, and his mate (who the night 
 before had been at the tents, and came over from the 
 other side in the Michael, with him), being accompanied 
 with the gentlemen and soldiers to the number of thirty 
 or forty persons, in two small rowing pinnaces made 
 towards the place where the night before they discovered 
 the tents of those people. And setting Charles Jackman, 
 being the master s mate, ashore with a convenient 
 number, for that he could best guide them to the place, 
 they marched overland, meaning to compass them on 
 the one side, whilst the captain with his boats might 
 entrap them on the other side. But landing at last at 
 the place where the night before they left them, they 
 found them, with their tents, removed. Notwithstanding, 
 our men which marched up into the country, passing 
 over two or three mountains, by chance espied certain 
 tents in a valley underneath them near unto a creek 
 by the sea side ; which because it was not the place 
 where the guide had been the night before, they judged 
 
1577] Attack on the Esquimaux. 117 
 
 them to be another company, and besetting them about, 
 determined to take them if they could. But they, 
 having quickly descried our company, launched one 
 great and another small boat, being about sixteen or 
 eighteen persons, and, very narrowly escaping, put 
 themselves to sea. Whereupon our soldiers discharged 
 their calivers, and followed them, thinking the noise 
 thereof being heard to our boats at sea, our men there 
 would make what speed they might to that place. And 
 thereupon indeed our men which were in the boats, 
 crossing upon them in the mouth of the sound, whereby 
 their passage was let from getting sea room, (wherein it 
 had been impossible for us to overtake them by rowing,) 
 forced them to put themselves ashore upon a point of 
 land within the said sound, which upon the occasion of 
 the slaughter there, was since named The Bloody Point- 
 Whereunto our men so speedily followed, that they had 
 little leisure left them to make any escape. But so soon 
 as they landed, each of them brake his oar, thinking by 
 that means to prevent us in carrying away their boats, 
 for want of oars ; and desperately returning upon our 
 men, resisted them manfully in their landing, so long as 
 their arrows and darts lasted ; and after gathering up 
 those arrows which our men shot at them, yea, and 
 plucking our arrows out of their bodies, encountered 
 afresh again, and maintained their cause until both 
 weapons and life failed them. And when they found 
 they were mortally wounded, being ignorant what 
 mercy meaneth, with deadly fury they cast themselves 
 headlong from off the rocks into the sea ; lest perhaps 
 their enemies should receive glory or prey of their dead 
 carcases, for they supposed us belike to be cannibals or 
 eaters of man s flesh. In this conflict one of our men 
 was dangerously hurt in the belly with one of their 
 arrows, and of them were slain five or six, the rest by 
 
n8 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 flight escaping among the rocks; saving two women, 
 whereof the one being old and ugly, our men thought 
 she had been a devil or some witch, and therefore let 
 her go. The other, being young and cumbered with 
 a sucking child at her back, hiding herself behind the 
 rocks, was espied by one of our men ; who, supposing 
 she had been a man, shot through the hair of her head, 
 and pierced through the child s arm. Whereupon she 
 cried out ; and our surgeon, meaning to heal her child s 
 arm, applied salves thereunto. But she, not acquainted 
 with such kind of surgery, plucked those salves away ; 
 and by continual licking with her own tongue, not much 
 unlike our dogs, healed up the child s arm. And 
 because the day was well-near spent, our men made 
 haste unto the rest of our company, which on the other 
 side of the water remained at the tents, where they 
 found by the apparel, letter, and other English furniture, 
 that they were the same company which Captain York 
 discovered the night before, having removed themselves 
 from the place where he left them. And now, consider 
 ing their sudden flying from our men, and their desperate 
 manner of fighting, we began to suspect that we had 
 heard the last news of our men which the last year were 
 betrayed of these people ; and considering also their 
 ravenous and bloody disposition in eating any kind of 
 raw flesh or carrion howsoever stinking, it is to be 
 thought that they had slain and devoured our men ; 
 for the doublet which was found in their tents had 
 many holes therein, being made with their arrows and 
 darts. 
 
 But now the night being at hand, our men, with their 
 captives and such poor stuff as they found in their tents, 
 returned towards their ships. When, being at sea, there 
 arose a sudden flaw of wind, which was not a little 
 dangerous for their small boats ; but as God would, they 
 
1577] Demeanour of the Esquimaux Captives. 119 
 
 came all safely aboard. And with these good news they 
 returned, as before mentioned, into the Countess of 
 Warwick s Sound, unto us. And between Jackman s 
 Sound, from whence they came, and the Countess of 
 Warwick s Sound, between land and land, being thought 
 the narrowest place of the straits, were judged nine 
 leagues over at the least, and Jackman s Sound being 
 upon the southerland, lieth directly almost over against 
 the Countess s Sound, as is reckoned scarce thirty 
 leagues within the straits from the Queen s Cape, which is 
 the entrance of the Straits of the Southerland. This 
 cape being named Queen Elizabeth s Cape, standeth in the 
 latitude of sixty-two degrees and a half to the northwards 
 of Newfoundland, and upon the same continent, for 
 anything that is yet known to the contrary. 
 
 Having now got a woman captive for the comfort of 
 our man, we brought them both together, and every 
 man with silence desired to behold the manner of their 
 meeting and entertainment, the which was more worth 
 the beholding than can be well expressed by writing. 
 At their first encountering they beheld each the other 
 very wistly a good space, without speech or word 
 uttered, with great change of colour and countenance, 
 as though it seemed the grief and disdain of their 
 captivity had taken away the use of their tongues and 
 utterance. The woman at the first very suddenly, as 
 though she disdained or regarded not the man, turned 
 away and began to sing, as though she minded another 
 matter ; but being again brought together, the man 
 broke up the silence first, and with stern and staid 
 countenance, began to tell a long solemn tale to the 
 woman. Whereunto she gave good hearing, and inter 
 rupted him nothing till he had finished ; and after 
 wards, being grown into more familiar acquaintance 
 by speech, they were turned together, so that I think 
 
120 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 the one would hardly have lived without the comfort of 
 the other. And for so much as we could perceive, albeit 
 they lived continually together, yet they did never use 
 as man and wife, though the woman spared not to do 
 all necessary things that appertained to a good house 
 wife indifferently for them both, as in making clean 
 their cabin, and every other thing that appertained to 
 his ease ; for when he was sea-sick she would make him 
 clean, she would kill and flay the dogs for their eating, 
 and dress his meat. * 
 
 On Monday, the sixth of August, the lieutenant, 
 with all the soldiers, for the better guard of the miners 
 and the other things on shore, pitched their tents in the 
 Countess s Island, and fortified the place for their 
 better defence as well as they could, and were to the 
 number of forty persons, when, being all at labour, 
 they might perceive upon the top of a hill over against 
 them, a number of the country people, wafting with 
 a flag, and making great outcries unto them, and were 
 of the same company which had encountered lately our 
 men upon the other shore, being come to complain 
 their late losses, and to entreat, as it seemed, for the 
 restitution of the woman and child, which our men in 
 the late conflict had taken and brought away. Where 
 upon the General, taking the savage captive with him, 
 and setting the woman where they might best perceive 
 her, in the highest place of the island, went over to talk 
 with them. This captive, at his first encounter of his 
 friends, fell so out into tears that he could not speak 
 a word in a great space ; but after a while, overcoming 
 his kindness, he talked at full with his companions, and 
 bestowed friendly upon them such toys and trifles as we 
 had given him : whereby we noted that they are very 
 kind one to another, and greatly sorrowful for the loss 
 
*577l Frobisher s Letter to the Captives. 121 
 
 of their friends. Our General, by signs, required his 
 five men, which they took captive the last year; and 
 promised them not only to release those which he had 
 taken, but also to reward them with great gifts and 
 friendship. Our savage made signs in answer from 
 them, that our men should be delivered us, and were 
 yet living, and made signs likewise unto us that we 
 should write our letters unto them. For they knew 
 very well the use we have of writing, and received 
 knowledge thereof, either of our poor captive country 
 men which they betrayed, or else by this our new 
 captive, who hath seen us daily write and repeat again 
 such words of his language as we desired to learn. 
 But they for this night, because it was late, departed 
 without any letter, although they called earnestly in 
 haste for the same. And the next morning early, being 
 the seventh of August, they called again for the letter ; 
 which being delivered unto them, they speedily de 
 parted, making signs with three fingers, and pointing 
 to the sun, that they meant to return within three days, 
 until which time we heard no more of them ; and about 
 the time appointed they returned, in such sort as you 
 shall afterwards hear. 
 
 This night, because the people were very near unto 
 us, the lieutenant caused the trumpet to sound a call, 
 and every man in the island repairing to the ensign, he 
 put them in mind of the place, so far from their country, 
 wherein they lived, and the danger of a great multitude, 
 which they were subject unto, if good watch and ward 
 were not kept. For at every low water the enemy 
 might come almost dry-foot from the main unto us ; 
 wherefore he willed every man to prepare him in good 
 readiness upon all sudden occasions. And so, giving 
 the watch their charge, the company departed to rest. 
 
 I thought the captain s letter well worth the re- 
 
122 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 membering, not for the circumstance of curious inditing, 
 but for the substance and good meaning therein 
 contained, and therefore have repeated here the same 
 as by himself it was hastily written. 
 
 The Form of MASTER MARTIN FROBISHER S Letter 
 to the English Captives. 
 
 f In the name of God, in whom we all believe, who, 
 I trust, hath preserved your bodies and souls amongst 
 these infidels, I commend me unto you. I will be glad 
 to seek by all means you can devise for your deliverance, 
 either with force or with any commodities within my 
 ships, which I will not spare for your sakes, or any 
 thing else I can do for you. I have aboard, of theirs, 
 a man, a woman, and a child, which I am contented 
 to deliver for you, but the man which I carried away 
 from hence the last year is dead in England. More 
 over, you may declare unto them that if they deliver 
 you not, I will not leave a man alive in their country. 
 And thus, if one of you can come to speak with me, 
 they shall have either the man, woman, or child in 
 pawn for you. And thus unto God, whom I trust you 
 do serve, in haste I leave you, and to Him we will 
 daily pray for you. This Tuesday morning, the seventh 
 of August, Anno 1577. 
 
 Yours to the uttermost of my power, 
 
 MARTIN FROBISHER. 
 
 I have sent you, by these bearers, pen, ink, and 
 paper, to write back unto me again, if personally you 
 cannot come to certify me of your estate. 
 
 Now had the General altered his determination for 
 going any further into the straits at this time, for any 
 further discovery of the passage, having taken a man 
 and a woman of that country, which he thought sufficient 
 for the use of language ; and having also met with 
 these people here which intercepted his men the last 
 year, as the apparel and English furniture which was 
 found in their tents very well declared, he knew it was 
 
i57?J Return of the Esquimaux. 123 
 
 but a labour lost to seek them further off, when he had 
 found them there at hand. And considering also the 
 short time he had in hand, he thought it best to bend 
 his whole endeavour for the getting of mine, and to 
 leave the passage further to be discovered hereafter. 
 For his commission directed him in this voyage only 
 for the searching of the ore, and to defer the further 
 discovery of the passage until another time. 
 
 On Thursday, the 9. of August, we began to make 
 a small fort for our defence in the Countess s Island, 
 and entrenched a corner of a cliff, which on three parts, 
 like a wall of good height, was compassed and well 
 fenced with the sea, and we finished the rest with casks 
 of the earth, to good purpose : and this was called 
 Best s Bulwark, after the lieutenant s name who first 
 devised the same. This was done for that we sus 
 pected more lest the desperate men might oppress us 
 with multitude, than any fear we had of their force, 
 weapons, or policy of battle ; but as wisdom would us 
 jn such place, so far from home, not to be of ourselves 
 altogether careless. So the signs which our captive 
 made unto us of the coming down of his governor or 
 prince, which he called Catchoe, gave us occasion to fore 
 see what might ensue thereof; for he showed by signs 
 that this Catchoe was a man of higher stature far than 
 any of our nation is, and he is accustomed to be carried 
 upon men s shoulders. About midnight, the lieutenant 
 caused a false alarm to be given in the island, to prove 
 as well the readiness of the company there ashore, as 
 also what help might be hoped for upon the sudden 
 from the ships, if need so required ; and every part 
 was found in good readiness upon such a sudden. 
 
 Saturday, the n. of August, the people showed 
 themselves again, and called unto us from the side of 
 a hill over against us. The General, with good hope to 
 
124 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 hear of his men, and to have answer of his letter, went 
 over unto them, where they presented themselves not 
 above three in sight, but were hidden indeed in greater 
 numbers behind the rocks; and making signs of delay 
 with us, to entrap some of us to redeem their own, did 
 only seek advantage to train our boat about a point of 
 land from sight of our company. Whereupon our men, 
 justly suspecting them, kept aloof without their danger, 
 and yet set one of our company ashore, which took 
 up a great bladder which one of them offered us, and 
 leaving a looking-glass in the place, came into the boat 
 again. In the meanwhile, our men which stood in the 
 Countess s Island to behold, who might better discern 
 them than those of the boat, by reason they were on 
 higher ground, made a great outcry unto our men in the 
 boat, for that they saw divers of the savages creeping 
 behind the rocks towards our men ; whereupon the 
 General presently returned without tidings of his men. 
 
 Concerning this bladder which we received, our 
 captive made signs that it was given him to keep water 
 and drink in ; but we suspected rather it was given 
 him to swim and shift away withal, for he and the 
 woman sought divers times to escape, having loosed 
 our boats from astern our ships, and we never a boat 
 left to pursue them withal, and had prevailed very far, 
 had they not been very timely espied and prevented 
 therein. 
 
 After our General s coming away from them they 
 mustered themselves in our sight, upon the top of a hill, 
 to the number of twenty in a rank, all holding hands 
 over their heads, and dancing with great noise and 
 songs together. We supposed they made this dance 
 and show for us to understand, that we might take view 
 of their whole companies and force, meaning belike that 
 we should do the same. And thus they continued upon 
 
i5?7l Threatening attitude of the Esquimaux. 125 
 
 the hill-tops until night, when hearing a piece of our 
 great ordnance, which thundered in the hollowness 
 of the high hills, it made unto them so fearful a noise, 
 that they had no great will to tarry long after. And 
 this was done more to make them know our force than 
 to do them any hurt at all. 
 
 On Sunday, the 12. of August, Captain Fenton 
 trained the company, and made the soldiers maintain 
 skirmish among themselves, as well for their exercise, 
 as for the country people to behold in what readiness 
 our men were always to be found ; for it was to be 
 thought, that they lay hid in the hills thereabout, and 
 observed all the manner of our proceedings. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 14. of August, our General with 
 two small boats well appointed, for that he suspected 
 the country people to lie lurking thereabout, went up 
 a certain bay within the Countess s Sound to search for 
 ore, and met again with the country people ; who so 
 soon as they saw our men made great outcries, and 
 with a white flag made of bladders sewed together with 
 the guts and sinews of beasts, wafted us amain unto 
 them, but showed not above three of their company. 
 But when we came near them, we might perceive a great 
 multitude creeping behind the rocks, which gave us good 
 cause to suspect their traitorous meaning : whereupon 
 we made them signs, that if they would lay their 
 weapons aside, and come forth, we would deal friendly 
 with them, although their intent was manifested unto 
 us. But for all the signs of friendship we could make 
 them they came still creeping towards us behind the 
 rocks to get more advantage of us, as though we had 
 no eyes to see them, thinking belike that our single wits 
 could not discover so bare devices and simple drifts 
 of theirs. Their spokesman earnestly persuaded us 
 with many enticing shpws, to come eat and sleep ashore, 
 
126 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 with great arguments of courtesy; and clapping his 
 bare hands over his head in token of peace and 
 innocency, willed us to do the like. But the better 
 to allure our hungry stomachs, he brought us a trim 
 bait of raw flesh, which for fashion sake with a boat- 
 hook we caught into our boat : but when the cunning 
 cater perceived his first cold morsel could nothing 
 sharpen our stomachs, he cast about for a new train 
 of warm flesh to procure our appetites. Wherefore 
 he caused one of his fellows, in halting manner, to 
 come forth as a lame man from behind the rocks ; and 
 the better to declare his kindness in carving, he hoised 
 him upon his shoulders, and bringing him hard to the 
 water-side where we were, left him there limping as an 
 easy prey to be taken of us. His hope was that we 
 would bite at his bait, and speedily leap ashore within 
 their danger ; whereby they might have apprehended 
 some of us, to ransom their friends home again, which 
 before we had taken. The gentlemen and soldiers had 
 great will to encounter them ashore ; but the General, 
 more careful by process of time to win them, than 
 wilfully at the first to spoil them, would in no wise 
 admit that any man should put himself in hazard 
 ashore, considering the matter he now intended was for 
 the ore, and not for the conquest. Notwithstanding, 
 to prove this cripple s footmanship, he gave liberty for 
 one to shoot. Whereupon the cripple, having a parting 
 blow, lightly recovered a rock, and went away a true 
 and no feigned cripple, and hath learned his lesson for 
 ever halting afore such cripples again. But his fellows, 
 which lay hid before, full quickly then appeared in their 
 likeness, and maintained the skirmish with their slings, 
 bows and arrows very fiercely, and came as near as 
 the water suffered them : and with as desperate mind 
 as hath been seen in any men, without fear of shot 
 
J 577l Preparations for the return. 127 
 
 or anything, followed us all along the coast; but all 
 their shot fell short of us, and are of little danger. 
 They had belayed * all the coast along for us, and being 
 dispersed so, were not well to be numbered, but we 
 might discern of them above an hundred persons, and 
 had cause to suspect a greater number. And thus 
 without loss or hurt we returned to our ships again. 
 
 Now our work growing to an end, and having, only 
 with five poor miners, and the help of a few gentlemen 
 and soldiers, brought aboard almost two hundred ton 
 of ore in the space of twenty days, every man there 
 withal well comforted, determined lustily to work afresh 
 for a boon voyage, to bring our labour to a speedy and 
 happy end. 
 
 And upon Wednesday at night, being the 21. of 
 August, we fully finished the whole work. And it was 
 now good time to leave, for as the men were well 
 wearied, so their shoes and clothes were well worn, 
 their baskets bottoms torn out, their tools broken, 
 and the ships reasonably well filled. Some with 
 over-straining themselves received hurts not a little 
 dangerous, some having their bellies broken, and others 
 their legs made lame. And about this time the ice 
 began to congeal and freeze about our ships sides 
 a-night, which gave us a good argument of the sun s 
 declining southward, and put us in mind to make more 
 haste homeward. It is not a little worth the memory, 
 to the commendation of the gentlemen and soldiers 
 herein, who, leaving all reputation apart, with so great 
 willingness and with courageous stomachs, have them 
 selves almost overcome in so short a time the difficulty 
 of this so great a labour. And this to be true, the 
 matter, if it be well weighed without further proof, now 
 brought home doth well witness. 
 
 1 Lain in wait. 
 
128 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 Thursday, the 22. of August, we plucked down our 
 tents, and every man hasted homeward, and making 
 bonfires upon the top of the highest mount of the 
 island, and marching with ensign displayed round 
 about the island, we gave a volley of shot for a farewell, 
 in honour of the Right Honourable Lady Anne, 
 Countess of Warwick, whose name it beareth : and so 
 departed aboard. The 23. of August, having the wind 
 large at west, we set sail from out of the Countess s 
 Sound homeward ; but the wind calming we came to 
 anchor within the point of the same sound again. 
 
 The 24. of August, about three of the clock in the 
 morning, having the wind large at west, we set sail 
 again, and by nine o clock at night we left the Queen s 
 Foreland astern of us, and being clear of the straits, 
 we bare further into the main ocean, keeping our course 
 more southerly, to bring ourselves the sooner under the 
 latitude of our own climate. The wind was very great 
 at sea, so that we lay a-hull all night, and had snow half 
 a foot deep on the hatches. 
 
 From the 24. until the 28. we had very much wind, 
 but large, keeping our course south-south-east, and had 
 like to have lost the barks, but by good hap we met 
 again. The height being taken, we were in [cipher] 
 degrees and a half. 
 
 The 29. of August the wind blew much at north-east, 
 so that we could bear but only a bunt of our foresail, 
 and the barks were not able to carry any sail at all. 
 The Michael lost company of us, and shaped her course 
 towards Orkney, because that way was better known unto 
 them, and arrived at Yarmouth. 
 
 The 30. of August, with the force of the wind, and 
 a surge of the sea, the master of the Gabriel and the 
 boatswain were stricken both overboard, and hardly was 
 the boatswain recovered, having hold on a rope hanging 
 
1577] The voyage home. 129 
 
 overboard in the sea ; and yet the bark was laced fore 
 and after with ropes a breast high within board. This 
 master was called William Smith, being but a young 
 man and a very sufficient mariner. Who being all the 
 morning before exceeding pleasant, told his captain 
 he dreamed that he was cast overboard, and that the 
 boatswain had him by the hand, and could not save 
 him. And so, immediately upon the end of his tale, 
 his dream came right evilly to pass; and indeed the 
 boatswain in like sort held him by one hand, having 
 hold on a rope with the other, until his force failed, and 
 the master drowned. The height being taken we found 
 ourselves to be in the latitude of [cipher] degrees and 
 a half, and reckoned ourselves from the Queen s Cape 
 homeward about two hundred leagues. 
 
 The last of August, about midnight, we had two or 
 three great and sudden flaws or storms. 
 
 The first of September the storm was grown very 
 great, and continued almost the whole day and night, 
 and lying a-hull to tarry for the barks our ship was 
 much beaten with the seas, every sea almost overtaking 
 our poop, so that we were constrained with a bunt of 
 our sail to try it out, and ease the rolling of our ship. 
 And so the Gabriel not able to bear any sail to keep 
 company with us, and our ship being higher in the 
 poop, and a tall ship, whereon the wind had more force 
 to drive, went so fast away that we lost sight of them, 
 and left them to God and their good fortune of sea. 
 The 2. day of September in the morning, it pleased God 
 in his goodness to send us a calm, whereby we per 
 ceived the rudder of our ship torn in twain, and almost 
 ready to fall away. Wherefore, taking the benefit of 
 the time, we slung half-a-dozen couple of our best men 
 overboard, who taking great pains under water, driving 
 planks, and binding with ropes, did well strengthen and 
 
130 Frobisher Second Voyage. [1577 
 
 mend the matter, who returned the most part more than 
 half-dead out of the water, and, as God s pleasure was, 
 the sea was calm until the work was finished. The 
 fifth of September, the height of the sun being taken, 
 we found ourselves to be in the latitude of [cipher] 
 degrees and a-half. In this voyage commonly we took 
 the latitude of the place by the height of the sun, 
 because the long day taketh away the light not only 
 of the polar, but also of all other fixed stars. And here 
 the north star is so much elevated above the horizon, 
 that with the staff it is hardly to be well observed, and 
 the degrees in the astrolabe are too small to observe 
 minutes. Therefore we always used the staff and the 
 sun as fittest instruments for this use. 
 
 Having spent four or five days in traverse of the seas 
 with contrary wind, making our souther way good as 
 near as we could, to raise our degrees to bring ourselves 
 with the latitude of Stilly, we took the height the tenth 
 of September, and found ourselves in the latitude of 
 [cipher] degrees and ten minutes. The 1 1 . of September, 
 about six a-clock at night, the wind came good south 
 west ; we veered sheet and set our course south-east. 
 And upon Thursday, the 12. of September, taking the 
 height, we were in the latitude of [cipher] and a-half, 
 and reckoned ourselves not past one hundred and fifty 
 leagues short of Stilly] the weather fair, the wind 
 large at west-south-west, we kept our course south 
 east. 
 
 The 13. day, the height being taken, we found 
 ourselves to be in the latitude of [cipher] degrees, the 
 wind west-south-west, then being in the height of Stilly , 
 and we kept our course east, to run in with the Sleeve *, 
 or channel so called, being our narrow seas, and 
 reckoned us short of Stilly twelve leagues. 
 
 1 The English Channel. Fr. Manche ( = sleeve), from its shape. 
 
^577] Land s- End sighted. 131 
 
 Sunday, the 15. of September, about four of the clock, 
 we began to sound with our lead, and had ground at 
 sixty-one fathom depth, white small sandy ground, and 
 reckoned us upon the back of Stilly, and set our course 
 east and by north, east -north -east, and north-east 
 among. 
 
 The 16. of September, about eight of the clock in the 
 morning, sounding, we had sixty-five fathom, oozy sand, 
 and thought ourselves thwart of St. George s Channel, 
 a little within the banks. And bearing a small sail all 
 night, we made many soundings, which were about forty 
 fathom, and so shallow that we could not well tell where 
 we were. 
 
 The 17. of September, we sounded, and had forty 
 fathom, and were not far off the Land s- End, finding 
 branded sand with small worms and cockle-shells, and 
 were shot between Stilly and the Land s- End ; and 
 being within the bay, we were not able to double the 
 point with a south-and-by-east way, but were fain to 
 make another board, the wind being at south-west and 
 by west, and yet could not double the point to come 
 clear of the Land s-End, to bear along the Channel ; and 
 the weather cleared up when we were hard aboard the 
 shore, and we made the Land s-End perfect, and so put 
 up along St. George s Channel. And the weather being 
 very foul at sea, we coveted some harborough, because 
 our steerage was broken, and so came to anchor in 
 Padstow Road, in Cornwall. But riding there a very 
 dangerous road, we were advised by the country to put 
 to sea again, and of the two evils, to choose the less, 
 for there was nothing but present peril where we rode. 
 Whereupon we plied along the Channel to get to Lundy, 
 from whence we were again driven, being but an open 
 road, where our anchor came home J ; and with force of 
 
 1 P. 40, note 2. 
 K 2 
 
132 Frobisher Second Voyage. 
 
 weather put to seas again, and about the 23. of Sep 
 tember arrived at Milford Haven, in Wales, which being 
 a very good harborough, made us happy men ; that we 
 had received such long-desired safety. 
 
 About one month after our arrival here, by order from 
 the Lords of the Council, the ship came up to Bristow, 
 where the ore was committed to keeping in the castle 
 there . Here we found the Gabriel, one of the barks, 
 arrived in good safety, who having never a man within 
 board very sufficient to bring home the ship, after the 
 master was lost, by good fortune, when she came upon 
 the coast, met with a ship of Bristow at sea, who con 
 ducted her in safety thither. 
 
 Here we heard good tidings also of the arrival of the 
 other bark called the Michael, in the north parts, which 
 was not a little joyful unto us, that it pleased God so to 
 bring us to a safe meeting again ; and we lost in all the 
 voyage only one man, besides one that died at sea, 
 which was sick before he came aboard, and was so 
 desirous to follow this enterprise that he rather chose 
 to die therein, than not to be one to attempt so notable 
 a voyage. 
 
 1 The ore brought by the Aid and Gabriel, and deposited in 
 Bristol Castle, was placed under four locks, the keys of which were 
 given to the Mayor of Bristol, Sir Richard Barkley, Frobisher, and 
 Lock. That brought by the Michael was deposited in the Tower of 
 London with similar precautions. The mineral was ultimately taken 
 to Dartford to be melted. It was reported to yield a very minute 
 proportion of gold, and a somewhat larger proportion of silver. 
 
FROBISHER-THIRD VOYAGE. 
 
 [NARRATIVE BY GEORGE BEST, CAPTAIN OF THE ANNE FRANCIS.] 
 
 The THIRD VOYAGE of CAPTAIN FROBISHER, pretended 
 for the Discovery of CATAIA, by META INCOGNITA, Anno 
 Domini 1578. 
 
 THE General being returned from the second voyage, 
 immediately after his arrival in England repaired with 
 all haste to the Court, being then at Windsor, to 
 advertise her Majesty of his prosperous proceeding and 
 good success in this last voyage, and of the plenty of 
 gold ore, with other matters of importance which he 
 had in these septentrional parts discovered. He was 
 courteously entertained, and heartily welcomed of many 
 noblemen, but especially for his great adventure com 
 mended of her Majesty, at whose hands he received 
 great thanks, and most gracious countenance, according 
 to his deserts. Her Highness also greatly commended 
 the rest of the gentlemen in this service, for their great 
 forwardness in this so dangerous an attempt; but 
 especially she rejoiced very much that among them 
 there was so good order of government, so good agree 
 ment, every man so ready in his calling, to do whatsoever 
 the General should command. Which due commendation 
 graciously of her Majesty remembered, gave so great 
 encouragement to all the captains and gentlemen, that 
 they, to continue her Highness so good and honourable 
 opinion of them, have since neither spared labour, limb, 
 nor life, to bring this matter, so well begun, to a happy 
 and prosperous end. And finding that the matter of the 
 gold ore had appearance and made show of great riches 
 
134 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 and profit, and the hope of the passage to Cataia by this 
 last voyage greatly increased, her Majesty appointed 
 special commissioners chosen for his purpose, gentlemen 
 of great judgment, art, and skill, to look thoroughly into 
 the cause, for the true trial and due examination thereof, 
 and for the full handling of all matters thereunto apper 
 taining. And because that place and country hath never 
 heretofore been discovered, and therefore had no special 
 name by which it might be called and known, her 
 Majesty named it very properly Meta Incognita, as 
 a mark and bound utterly hitherto unknown. 
 
 The commissioners, after sufficient trial and proof 
 made of the ore, and having understood by sundry 
 reasons and substantial grounds, the possibility and like 
 lihood of the passage, advertised her Highness that the 
 cause was of importance, and the voyage greatly worthy 
 to be advanced again. Whereupon preparation was made 
 of ships and all other things necessary, with such 
 expedition, as the time of the year then required. And 
 because it was assuredly made account of, that the 
 commodity of mines, there already discovered, would at 
 the least countervail in all respects the adventurers 
 charge, and give further hope and likelihood of greater 
 matters to follow : it was thought needful, both for the 
 better guard of those parts already found, and for 
 further discovery of the inland and secrets of those 
 countries, and also for further search of the passage of 
 Cataya, whereof the hope continually more and more 
 increaseth, that certain numbers of chosen soldiers and 
 discreet men for those purposes should be assigned to 
 inhabit there. Whereupon there was a strong fort or 
 house of timber artificially framed, and cunningly 
 devised, by a notable learned man here at home, in 
 ships to be carried thither ; whereby those men that were 
 appointed to winter and stay there the whole year, 
 
1578] Intended colony at Meta Incognita. 135 
 
 might as well be defended from the danger of the snow 
 and cold air, as also fortified from the force or offence 
 of those country people, which perhaps otherwise with 
 too great multitudes might oppress them. And to this 
 great adventure and notable exploit many well-minded 
 and forward young gentlemen of our country willingly 
 have offered themselves. And first Captain Fenton, 
 Lieutenant-General for Captain Frobisher, and in charge 
 of the company with him there, Captain Best, and 
 Captain Philpot, unto whose good discretions the govern 
 ment of that service was chiefly commended, who, as 
 men not regarding peril in respect of the profit and 
 common wealth of their country, were willing to abide 
 the first brunt and adventure of those dangers among 
 a savage and brutish kind of people, in a place hitherto 
 ever thought for extreme cold not habitable. The 
 whole number of men which had offered, and were 
 appointed to inhabit Meta Incognita all the year, were 
 100 persons, whereof 40 should be mariners for the use 
 of ships, 30 miners for gathering the gold ore together 
 for the next year, and 30 soldiers for the better guard 
 of the rest ; within which last number are included 
 the gentlemen, gold-finers, bakers, carpenters, and all 
 necessary persons. To each of the captains was 
 assigned one ship, as well for the further searching of 
 the coast and country there, as for to return and bring 
 back their companies again, if the necessity of the place 
 so urged, or by miscarrying of the fleet the next year, 
 they might be disappointed of their further provision. 
 Being therefore thus furnished with all necessaries, 
 there were ready to depart upon the said voyage fifteen 
 sail of good ships ; whereof the whole number was to 
 return again with their loading of gold ore in the end of 
 the summer, except those three ships which should be 
 left for the use of those captains which should inhabit 
 
136 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 there the whole year. And being in so good readiness, 
 the General with all the captains came to the Court, 
 then lying at Greenwich, to take their leave of her 
 Majesty, at whose hands they all received great en 
 couragement, and gracious countenance. Her Highness, 
 besides other good gifts, and greater promises, bestowed 
 on the General a fair chain of gold, and the rest of the 
 captains kissed her hand, took their leave, and departed 
 every man towards their charge. In the Aid, being 
 Admiral, was the General, Captain Frobisher : in the 
 Thomas Allen, Vice-Admiral, Captain York : in the 
 Judith, Lieutenant-General, Captain Fenton : in the 
 Anne Francis, Captain Best: in the Hopewell, Captain 
 Carew : in the Bear, Captain Philpot : in the Thomas 
 of Ipswich, Captain Tanfield : in the Emmanuel of 
 Exeter 1 , Captain Courtney: in the Francis of Foy, 
 Captain Moyles : in the Moon, Captain Upcott : in the 
 Emmanuel of Bridgewater, Captain Newton : in the 
 Solomon 2 of Weymouth, Captain Randal: in the bark 
 Dennis, Captain Kendal: in the Gabriel, Captain Harvey: 
 in the Michael, Captain Kinnersley. 
 
 The said fifteen sail of ships arrived and met 
 together at Harwich, the seven and twentieth day of May 
 Anno 1578, where the General and the other captains 
 made view, and mustered their companies. And every 
 several captain received from the General certain Articles 
 of Direction for the better keeping of order and company 
 together in the way, which Articles are as followeth : 
 
 ARTICLES and ORDERS to be observed for the Fleet. Set 
 down by CAPTAIN FROBISHER, GENERAL, and 
 delivered in writing to every Captain, as well for 
 keeping company, as for the course, the 31. of May. 
 i. IMPRIMIS, to banish swearing, dice, and card- 
 playing, and filthy communication, and to serve God 
 
 1 Afterwards called the Armenal. 
 
 2 Afterwards called the Salamander. 
 
1578] Articles of Direction. 137 
 
 twice a-day, with the ordinary service usual in Churches 
 of England, and to clear the glass according to the old 
 order of England^. 
 
 2. The Admiral shall carry the light, and after his 
 light be once put out no man to go ahead of him, but 
 every man to fit his sails to follow as near as they may 
 without endangering one another. 
 
 3. That no man shall by day or by night depart further 
 from the Admiral than the distance of one English mile, 
 and as near as they may without danger one of another. 
 
 4. If it chance to grow thick, and the wind contrary, 
 either by day or by night, that the Admiral be forced to 
 cast about, before her casting about she shall give warn 
 ing by shooting off a piece : and to her shall answer the 
 Vice-Admiral and the Rear-Admiral, each of them with 
 a piece, if it be by night or in a fog ; and that the Vice- 
 Admiral shall answer first and the Rear-Admiral last. 
 
 5. That* no man in the fleet, descrying any sail or 
 sails, give upon any occasion any chase before he have 
 spoken with the Admiral. 
 
 6. That every evening all the fleet come up and 
 speak with the Admiral, at seven of the clock, or 
 between that and eight ; and if the weather will not 
 serve them all to speak with the Admiral, then some 
 shall come to the Vice-Admiral, and receive the order 
 of their course of Master Hall, Chief Pilot of the Fleet, 
 as he shall direct them. 
 
 7. If to any man in the fleet there happen any mis 
 chance, they shall presently shoot off two pieces by day, 
 and if it be by night, two pieces, and shew two lights. 
 
 8. If any man in the fleet come up in the night, and 
 hail his fellow, knowing him not, he shall give him 
 this watchword, BEFORE THE WORLD WAS 
 GOD. The other shall answer him, if he be one of 
 our fleet, AFTER GOD CAME CHRIST HIS 
 SON. So that if any be found amongst us, not of our 
 own company, he that first descrieth any such sail or 
 sails, shall give warning to the Admiral by himself or any 
 other that he can speak to, that sails better than he, 
 being nearest unto him. 
 
 1 A short prayer, with a psalm, was used every four hours, at the 
 changing of the watch, as the glass was clearing (running-out). 
 
138 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 9. That every ship in the fleet in the time of fogs, 
 which continually happen with little winds, and most 
 part calms, shall keep a reasonable noise with trumpet, 
 drum, or otherwise, to keep themselves clear one of 
 another. 
 
 10. If it fall out so thick or misty that we lay it to 
 hull, the Admiral shall give warning with a piece, and 
 putting out three lights one over another, to the end 
 that every man may take in his sails ; and at his setting 
 of sails again do the like, if it be not clear. 
 
 11. If any man discover land by night, that he 
 give the like warning that he doth for mischances, two 
 lights and two pieces ; if it be by day, one piece, and put 
 out his flag, and strike all his sails he hath aboard. 
 
 12. If any ship shall happen to lose company by force 
 of weather, then any such ship or ships shall get her 
 into the latitude of [cipher], and so keep that latitude 
 until they get to Frisland. And after they be past the 
 west parts of Frisland, they shall get them into the 
 latitude of [cipher], and [cipher], and not to the north 
 ward of [cipher] : and being once entered within the 
 Straits, all such ships shall every watch shoot off a good 
 piece, and look out well for smoke and fire, which those 
 that get in first shall make every night, until all the 
 fleet be come together. 
 
 13. That upon the sight of an ensign in the mast of 
 the Admiral (a piece being shot off) the whole fleet 
 shall repair to the Admiral, to understand such con 
 ference as the General is to have with them. 
 
 14. If we chance to meet with any enemies, that four 
 ships shall attend upon the Admiral; namely, the 
 Francis of Fqy, the Moon, the bark Dennis, and the 
 Gabriel; and four upon my Lieutenant-General in the 
 Judith; namely, the Hopewell, the Armenal, the Bear, 
 and the Solomon-, and the other four upon the Vice- 
 Admiral, the Anne Francis, the Thomas of Ipswich, 
 the Emmanuel 1 , and the Michael. 
 
 15. If there happen any disordered person in the 
 fleet, that he be taken and kept in safe custody until 
 he may conveniently be brought aboard the Admiral, 
 
 1 Subsequently called the Buss of Bt idgwater. 
 
1578] Drift-current from the Gulf -stream. 139 
 
 and there to receive such punishment as his or their 
 offences shall deserve. 
 
 By me, MARTIN FROBISHER. 
 
 Having received these Articles of Direction, we 
 departed from Harwich the one and thirtieth of May. 
 And sailing along the south part of England west 
 ward, we at length came by the coast of Ireland at 
 Cape Clear the sixth of June, and gave chase there to 
 a small bark which was supposed to be a pirate or rover 
 on the seas. But it fell out indeed that they were poor 
 men of Bristow, who had met with such company of 
 Frenchmen as had spoiled and slain many of them, and 
 left the rest so sore wounded that they were like to 
 perish in the sea, having neither hand nor foot whole 
 to help themselves with, nor victuals to sustain their 
 hungry bodies. Our General, who well understood the 
 office of a soldier and an Englishman, and knew well 
 what the necessity of the sea meaneth, pitying much the 
 misery of the poor men, relieved them with surgery and 
 salves to heal their hurts, and with meat and drink to 
 comfort their pining hearts ; some of them having 
 neither eaten nor drunk more than olives and stinking 
 water in many days before, as they reported. And after 
 this good deed done, having a large wind, we kept our 
 course upon our said voyage without staying for the 
 taking in of fresh water, or any other provision, whereof 
 many of the fleet were not throughly furnished. And 
 sailing towards the north-west parts from Ireland, we 
 met with a great current from out of the south-west, 
 which carried us, by our reckoning, one point to the 
 north-eastwards of our said course; which current 
 seemed to us to continue itself towards Norway, and 
 other the north-east parts of the world. Whereby we 
 may be induced to believe that this is the same which 
 the Portugals meet at Capo de Buena Speranza, where 
 
140 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 striking over from thence to the Straits of Magellan, 
 and finding no passage there for the narrowness of the 
 said straits, [it] runneth along into the great Bay of 
 Mexico, where also having a let of land, it is forced to 
 strike back again towards the north-east ; as we not only 
 here, but in another place also, further to the northwards, 
 by good experience this year have found, as shall be 
 hereafter in his place more at large declared. 
 
 Now had we sailed about fourteen days without sight 
 of land or any other living thing, except certain fowls, 
 as willmots, noddies, gulls, &c., which there seem only to 
 live by sea. The 20. of June, at two of the clock in the 
 morning, the General descried land, and found it to be 
 West Frisland, now named West England. Here the 
 General and other gentlemen went ashore, being the 
 first known Christians that we have true notice of that 
 ever set foot upon that ground. And therefore the 
 General took possession thereof to the use of our 
 Sovereign Lady the Queen s Majesty, and discovered 
 here a goodly harborough for the ships, where were 
 also certain little boats of that country. And being 
 there landed they espied certain tents and people of that 
 country ; which were, as they judge, in all sorts, very 
 like those of Meta Incognita, as by their apparel, and 
 other things which we found in their tents, appeared. 
 
 The savage and simple people so soon as they per 
 ceived our men coming towards them, supposing there 
 had been no other world but theirs, fled fearfully 
 away, as men much amazed at so strange a sight, and 
 creatures of human shape, so far in apparel, complexion, 
 and other things different from themselves. They left 
 in their tents all their furniture for haste behind 
 them, where amongst other things were found a box of 
 small nails, and certain red herrings, boards of fir-tree 
 well cut, with divers other things artificially wrought. 
 
Greenland Charing Cross. 1 141 
 
 Whereby it appeareth, that they have trade with some 
 civil people, or else are indeed themselves artificial 
 workmen. Our men brought away with them only two 
 of their dogs, leaving in recompense bells, looking- 
 glasses, and divers of our country toys behind them. 
 This country, no doubt, promiseth good hope of great 
 commodity and riches, if it may be well discovered ; 
 the description whereof you shall find more at large in 
 the Second Voyage. Some are of opinion that this West 
 England is firm land with the north-east parts of Mela 
 Incognita, or else with Greenland. And their reason is, 
 because the people, apparel, boats, and other things are 
 so like to theirs ; and another reason is, the multitude of 
 islands of ice, which lay between it and Meta Incognita, 
 doth argue, that on the north side there is a bay, which 
 cannot be but by conjoining of the two lands together. 
 
 And having a fair and large wind we departed from 
 thence towards Frobisher s Straits the 23. of June. 
 But first we gave name to a high cliff in West England, 
 the last that was in our sight, and for a certain simili 
 tude we called it Charing Cross. Then we bare southerly 
 towards the sea ; because to the northwards of this coast 
 we met with much driving ice, which by reason of the 
 thick mists and weather might have been some trouble 
 unto us. On Monday, the last of June, we met with 
 many great whales, as they had been porpoises. This 
 same day the Salamander, being under both her 
 courses * and bonnets 2 , happened to strike a great whale 
 with her full stem, with such a blow that the ship 
 stood still, and stirred neither forward nor backward. 
 The whale thereat made a great and ugly noise, and 
 cast up his body and tail, and so went under water; 
 and within two days after there was found a great whale 
 
 1 Main-sail and fore-sail. 
 
 8 Canvases laced to the foot of the course?. 
 
142 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 dead, swimming above water, which we supposed was 
 that which the Salamander struck. 
 
 The second day of July, early in the morning, we 
 had sight of the Queen s Foreland, and bare in with 
 the land all the day, and passing thorough great 
 quantity of ice, by night were entered somewhat within 
 the Straits, perceiving no way to pass further in, the 
 whole place being frozen over from the one side to the 
 other, and as it were with many walls, mountains, and 
 bulwarks of ice, choked up the passage, and denied us 
 entrance. And yet do I not think that this passage or 
 sea hereabouts is frozen over at any time of the year : 
 albeit it seemed so unto us by the abundance of ice 
 gathered together, which occupied the whole place. But 
 I do rather suppose these ice to be bred in the hollow 
 sounds and freshets thereabouts ; which, by the heat of 
 the summer s sun being loosed, do empty themselves 
 with the ebbs into the sea, and so gather in great 
 abundance there together. 
 
 And to speak somewhat here of the ancient opinion 
 of the frozen sea in these parts : I do think it to be 
 rather a bare conjecture of men, than that ever any man 
 hath made experience of any such sea. And that 
 which they speak of Mare glaciate, may be truly thought 
 to be spoken of these parts ; for this may well be called 
 indeed the icy sea ; but not the frozen sea, for no sea 
 consisting of salt water can be frozen, as I have more 
 at large herein shewed my opinion in my Second 
 Voyage, for it seemeth impossible for any sea to be 
 frozen which hath his course of ebbing and flowing, 
 especially in those places where the tides do ebb and 
 flow above ten fathom. And also all these aforesaid 
 ice, which we sometime met a hundred mile from land, 
 being gathered out of the salt sea, are in taste fresh, 
 and being Dissolved become sweet and wholesome water. 
 
1578] The Fleet among the Ice. 143 
 
 And the cause why this year we have been more 
 cumbered with ice than at other times before, may be 
 by reason of the easterly and southerly winds, which 
 brought us more timely thither now than we looked for. 
 Which blowing from the sea directly upon the place of 
 our Straits, hath kept in the ice, and not suffered them 
 to be carried out by the ebb to the main sea, where 
 they would in more short time have been dissolved. 
 And all these fleeting ice are not only so dangerous in 
 that they wind and gather so near together, that a man 
 may pass sometimes ten or twelve miles as it were upon 
 one firm island of ice ; but also for that they open and 
 shut together again in such sort with the tides and 
 sea-gate, that whilst one ship followeth the other with 
 full sails, the ice which was open unto the foremost will 
 join and close together before the latter can come to 
 follow the first, whereby many times our ships were 
 brought into great danger, as being not able so suddenly 
 to take in our sails, or stay the swift way of our 
 ships. 
 
 We were forced many times to stem and strike great 
 rocks of ice, and so as it were make way through 
 mighty mountains. By which means some of the fleet, 
 where they found the ice to open, entered in, and passed 
 so far within the danger thereof, with continual desire 
 to recover their port, that it was the greatest wonder of 
 the world that they ever escaped safe, or were ever 
 heard of again. For even at this present we missed 
 two of the fleet, that is, the Judith, wherein was the 
 Lieutenant-General Captain Fenton, and the Michael] 
 whom both we supposed had been utterly lost, having 
 not heard any tidings of them in moe than 20 days before. 
 And one of our fleet named the bark Dennis, being of 
 an 100 ton burden, seeking way in amongst these ice, 
 received such a blow with a rock of ice that she sunk 
 
144 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 down therewith in the sight of the whole fleet 1 . How- 
 beit, having signified her danger by shooting off a piece 
 of great ordnance, new succour of other ships came so 
 readily unto them, that the men were all saved with 
 boats. Within this ship that was drowned there was 
 parcel of our house which was to be erected for them 
 that should stay all the winter in Meta Incognita. 
 
 This was a more fearful spectacle for the fleet to 
 behold, for that the outrageous storm which presently 
 followed, threatened them the like fortune and danger. 
 For the fleet being thus compassed, as aforesaid, on 
 every side with ice, having left much behind them, 
 thorough which they passed, and rinding more before 
 them, thorough which it was not possible to pass, there 
 arose a sudden terrible tempest at the south-east, which 
 blowing from the main sea directly upon the place of 
 the Straits, brought together all the ice a sea-board of 
 us upon our backs, and thereby debarred us of turning 
 back to recover sea-room again ; so that being thus 
 compassed with danger on every side, sundry men with 
 sundry devices sought the best way to save themselves. 
 Some of the ships, where they could find a place more 
 clear of ice, and get a little berth of sea-room, did take 
 in their sails, and there lay adrift. Other some fastened 
 and moored anchor upon a great island of ice, and rode 
 under the lee thereof, supposing to be better guarded 
 thereby from the outrageous winds, and the danger of 
 the lesser fleeting ice. And again some were so fast 
 shut up, and compassed in amongst an infinite number 
 of great countries and islands of ice, that they were fain 
 to submit themselves and their ships to the mercy of 
 the unmerciful ice, and strengthened the sides of their 
 ships with junks of cables, beds, masts, planks, and 
 
 1 Which sight/ writes Thomas Ellis, so abashed the whole fleet, 
 that we thought verily we should have tasted of the same sauce. 
 
1578] Perils of the Ice. 145 
 
 such like, which being hanged overboard on the sides 
 of their ships, might the better defend them from the 
 outrageous sway and strokes of the said ice. But as 
 in greatest distress men of best valour are best to be 
 discerned, so it is greatly worthy commendation and 
 noting with what invincible mind every captain en 
 couraged his company, and with what incredible labour 
 the painful mariners and poor miners, unacquainted 
 with such extremities, to the everlasting renown of our 
 nation, did overcome the brunt of these so great and 
 extreme dangers. For some, even without board upon 
 the ice, and some within board upon the sides of their 
 ships, having poles, pikes, pieces of timber, and oars in 
 their hands, stood almost day and night without any 
 rest, bearing off the force, and breaking the sway of the 
 ice with such incredible pain and peril, that it was 
 wonderful to behold ; which otherwise no doubt had 
 stricken quite through and through the sides of their 
 ships, notwithstanding our former provision ; for planks 
 of timber of more than three inches thick, and other 
 things of greater force and bigness, by the surging of 
 the sea and billow, with the ice were shivered and cut 
 in sunder, at the sides of our ships, so that it will seem 
 more than credible to be reported of. And yet (that 
 which is more) it is faithfully and plainly to be proved, 
 and that by many substantial witnesses, that our ships, 
 even those of greatest burdens, with the meeting of 
 contrary waves of the sea, were heaved up between 
 islands of ice, a foot well-near out of the sea, above 
 their watermark, having their knees and timbers within 
 board both bowed and broken therewith. 
 
 And amidst these extremes, whilst some laboured for 
 defence of the ships, and sought to save their bodies, 
 other some, of more milder spirit, sought to save the 
 soul by devout prayer and meditation to the Almighty ; 
 
146 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 thinking indeed by no other means possible than by 
 a divine miracle to have their deliverance. So that 
 there was none that were either idle, or not well 
 occupied ; and he that held himself in best security 
 had, God knoweth, but only bare hope remaining for 
 his best safety. Thus all the gallant fleet and miser 
 able men, without hope of ever getting forth again, 
 distressed with these extremities, remained here all 
 the whole night and part of the next day, excepting 
 four ships, that is, the Anne Francis, the Moon, the 
 Francis of Foy, and the Gabriel , which being some 
 what a-seaboard of the fleet, and being fast ships by 
 a wind, having a more scope of clear, tried it out, all 
 the time of the storm, under sail, being hardly able to 
 bear a-coast of each [other]. 
 
 And albeit, by reason of the fleeting ice, which were 
 dispersed here almost the whole sea over, they were 
 brought many times to the extremest point of peril, 
 mountains of ice ten thousand times scaping them 
 scarce one inch, which to have stricken had been their 
 present destruction, considering the swift course and 
 way of the ships, and the unwieldiness of them to stay 
 and turn as a man would wish ; yet they esteemed it 
 their better safety, with such peril, to seek sea- room, than, 
 without hope of ever getting liberty, to lie striving against 
 the stream, and beating amongst the icy mountains; 
 whose hugeness and monstrous greatness was such 
 that no man could credit but such as, to their pains, saw 
 and felt it. And these four ships by the next day at 
 noon got out to sea, and were first clear of the ice. 
 Who now enjoying their own liberty, began anew to 
 sorrow and fear for their fellows safeties ; and, devoutly 
 kneeling about their mainmast, they gave unto God 
 humble thanks, not only for themselves, but besought 
 Him likewise highly for their friends deliverance. 
 
1578] The Fleet drifts into Hudson s Strait. 147 
 
 And even now whilst amidst these extremities this 
 gallant fleet and valiant men were altogether over 
 laboured and forwatched with the long and fearful con 
 tinuance of the foresaid dangers, it pleased God with 
 His eyes of mercy to look down from heaven to send 
 them help in good time, giving them the next day a 
 more favourable wind at the west-north-west, which did 
 not only disperse and drive forth the ice before them, but 
 also gave them liberty of more scope and sea-room ; and 
 they were by night of the same day following perceived 
 of the other four ships, where, to their greatest comfort, 
 they enjoyed again the fellowship one of another. Some 
 in mending the sides of their ships, some in setting up 
 their topmasts, and mending their sails and tacklings ; 
 again, some complaining of their false stem borne away, 
 some in stopping their leaks, some in recounting their 
 dangers past, spent no small time and labour. So that 
 I dare well avouch there were never men more danger 
 ously distressed, nor more mercifully by God s provi 
 dence delivered. And hereof both the torn ships, and 
 the forwearied bodies of the men arrived, do bear most 
 evident mark and witness. And now the whole fleet 
 plied off to seaward, resolving there to abide until the 
 sun might consume, or the force of wind disperse, these 
 ice from the place of their passage. And being a good 
 berth off the shore, they took in their sails and lay 
 adrift. 
 
 The seventh of July, as men nothing yet dismayed, 
 we cast about towards the inward, and had sight of land, 
 which rose in form like the Northerland of the Straits. 
 Which some of the fleet, and those not the worst 
 mariners, judged to be the North Foreland; howbeit 
 other some were of contrary opinion. But the matter 
 was not well to be discerned by reason of the thick fog 
 which a long time hung upon the coast, and the new 
 
 L 2 
 
148 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 falling snow, which yearly altereth the shape of the 
 land, and taketh away oftentimes the mariners marks. 
 And by reason of the dark mists, which continued by 
 the space of twenty days together, this doubt grew the 
 greater and the longer perilous. For whereas indeed 
 we thought ourselves to be upon the north-east side of 
 Frobisher s Straits, we were now carried to the south- 
 westwards of the Queen s Foreland, and, being deceived 
 by a swift current coming from the north-east, were 
 brought to the south-westwards of our said course many 
 miles more than we did think possible could come to 
 pass. The cause whereof we have since found, and it 
 shall be at large hereafter declared. 
 
 Here we made a point of land which some mistook 
 for a place in the Straits called Mount Warwick. But 
 how we should be so far shot up so suddenly within the 
 said Straits the expertest mariners began to marvel ; 
 thinking it a thing impossible that they could be so far 
 overtaken in their accounts, or that any current could 
 deceive them here which they had not by former ex 
 perience proved and found out. Howbeit, many con 
 fessed that they found a swifter course of flood than 
 beforetime they had observed. And truly it was won 
 derful to hear and see the rushing and noise that the 
 tides do make in this place, with so violent a force that 
 our ships lying a-hull were turned sometimes round 
 about even in a moment, after the manner of a whirl 
 pool, and the noise of the stream no less to be heard 
 afar off than the waterfall of London Bridge. 
 
 But whilst the fleet lay thus doubtful amongst great 
 store of ice, in a place they knew not, without sight of 
 sun, whereby to take the height, and so to know the 
 true elevation of the pole, and without any clear of 
 light to make perfect the coast, the General, with the 
 captains and masters of his ships, began doubtfully to 
 
1573] Doubts as to the Position of the Fleet. 149 
 
 question of the matter, and sent his pinnace aboard to 
 hear each man s opinion, and specially of James Beare, 
 Master of the Anne Francis, who was known to be a 
 sufficient and skilful mariner, and, having been there 
 the year before, had well observed the place, and drawn 
 out cards of the coast. But the rather this matter grew 
 the more doubtful, for that Christopher Hall, chief pilot 
 of the voyage, delivered a plain and public opinion, in 
 the hearing of the whole fleet, that he had never seen 
 the foresaid coast before, and that he could not make it 
 for any place of Frobisher s Straits, as some of the fleet 
 supposed ; and yet the lands do lie and trend so like, 
 that the best mariners therein may be deceived. 
 
 The tenth of July, the weather still continuing thick 
 and dark, some of the ships in the fog lost sight of the 
 Admiral and the rest of the fleet, and, wandering to 
 and fro, with doubtful opinion whether it were best to 
 seek back again to seaward through great store of ice, or 
 to follow on a doubtful course in a sea, bay, or straits 
 they knew not, or along a coast whereof, by reason of 
 the dark mists, they could not discern the dangers, if 
 by chance any rock or broken ground should lie off the 
 place, as commonly in these parts it doth. The Vice- 
 Admiral, Captain York, considering the foresaid opinion 
 of the pilot Hall, who was with him in the Thomas Allen, 
 having lost sight of the fleet, turned back to sea again, 
 having two other ships in company with him. Also the 
 captain of the Anne Francis, having likewise lost com 
 pany of the fleet, and being all alone, held it for best to 
 turn it out to sea again until they might have clear 
 weather to take the sun s altitude ; and with incredible 
 pain and peril got out of the doubtful place into the 
 open sea again, being so narrowly distressed by the 
 way by means of continual fog and ice, that they were 
 many times ready to leap upon an island of ice to avoid 
 
150 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 the present danger, and so hoping to prolong life awhile 
 meant rather to die a pining death. Some hoped to 
 save themselves on chests, and some determined to tie 
 the hatches of the ships together, and to bind themselves 
 with their furniture fast thereunto, and so to be towed 
 with the shipboat ashore, which otherwise could not re 
 ceive half of the company. By which means, if happily 
 they had arrived, they should either have perished 
 for lack of food to eat, or else should themselves 
 have been eaten of those ravenous, bloody, and men- 
 eating people. The rest of the fleet following the course 
 of the General, which led them the way, passed up 
 above sixty leagues within the said doubtful and sup 
 posed straits, having always a fair continent upon their 
 starboard side, and a continuance still of an open sea 
 before them. 
 
 The General albeit with the first perchance he found 
 out the error, and that this was not the old straits, yet 
 he persuaded the fleet always that they were in their 
 right course and known straits. Howbeit I suppose he 
 rather dissembled his opinion therein than otherwise, 
 meaning by that policy, being himself led with an 
 honourable desire of further discovery, to induce the 
 fleet to follow him, to see a further proof of that place. 
 And, as some of the company reported, he hath since 
 confessed that if it had not been for the charge and 
 care he had of the fleet and fraughted ships, he both 
 would and could have gone through to the South Sea 
 called Mar del Sur, and dissolved the long doubt of the 
 passage which we seek to find to the rich country of 
 Cataya. 
 
 REASONS TO PROVE A PASSAGE HERE. 
 
 ^ i. FAIR OPEN WAY. Of which mistaken straits, con 
 sidering the circumstance, we have great cause to confirm 
 
iS78] Hudson s Strait the N. W. Passage. 151 
 
 our opinion, to like and hope well of the passage in 
 this place. For the aforesaid bay or sea, the further 
 we sailed therein the wider we found it, with great 
 likelihood of endless continuance. And where in other 
 places we were much troubled with ice, as in the 
 entrance of the same, so after we had sailed fifty or 
 sixty leagues therein we had no let of ice, or other 
 thing at all, as in other places we found. 
 
 2. GREAT INDRAFTS. Also this place seemeth to have 
 a marvellous great indraft, and draweth unto it most of 
 the drift ice and other things which do fleet in the sea 
 either to the north or eastwards of the same, as by 
 good experience we have found. 
 
 3. A CURRENT TO THE WEST. For here also we met 
 with boards, laths, and divers other things driving in the 
 sea, which was of the wreck of the ship called the 
 bark Dennis, which perished amongst the ice as be- 
 foresaid, being lost at the first attempt of the entrance 
 overthwart the Queen s Foreland in the mouth of 
 Frobisher s Straits ; which could by no means have been 
 so brought thither, neither by wind nor tide, being lost 
 so many leagues off, if by force of the said current the 
 same had not been violently brought. For if the same 
 had been brought thither by tide of flood, look how far 
 the said flood had carried it, the ebb would have re- 
 carried it as far back again, and by the wind it could 
 not so come to pass, because it was then sometime calm, 
 and most times contrary. 
 
 4. NINE HOURS FLOOD TO THREE HOURS EBB. And 
 some mariners do affirm that they have diligently ob 
 served that there runneth in this place nine hours flood 
 to three ebb, which may thus come to pass by force of 
 the said current. For whereas the sea in most places 
 of the world doth more or less ordinarily ebb and flow 
 once every twelve hours, with six hours ebb and six 
 hours flood, so also would it do there, were it not for 
 the violence of this hastening current, which forceth 
 the flood to make appearance to begin before his 
 ordinary time one hour and a half, and also to continue 
 longer than his natural course by another hour and a 
 half, until the force of the ebb be so great that it will 
 no longer be resisted : according to the saying, Naturam 
 
152 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 expel/as furca licet, usque recurret. Although nature and 
 natural courses be forced and resisted never so much, 
 yet at last they will have their own sway again. More 
 over it is not possible that so great course of floods and 
 current, so high swelling tides with continuance of so 
 deep waters, can be digested here without unburdening 
 themselves into some open sea beyond this place, 
 which argueth the more likelihood of the passage to be 
 hereabouts. Also we suppose these great indrafts do 
 grow and are made by the reverberation and reflection 
 of that same current, which at our coming by Ireland, 
 met and crossed us, of which in the first part of this 
 discourse I spake; which coming from the bay of 
 Mexico, passing by and washing the south-west parts of 
 Ireland, reboundeth over to the north-east parts of the 
 world, as Norway, Iceland, &c., where not finding any 
 passage to an open sea, but rather being there increased 
 by a new access, and another current meeting with it 
 from the Scythian sea, passing the bay of Saint Nicholas 
 westward, it doth once again rebound back, by the 
 coasts of Greenland, and from thence upon Frobisher s 
 Straits, being to the south-westwards of the same. 
 
 5. THE SEA MOVETH FROM EAST to WEST CON 
 TINUALLY. And if that principle of philosophy be true, 
 that Inferiora corpora reguntur a superioribus, that is, if 
 inferior bodies be governed, ruled, and carried after the 
 manner and course of the superiors, then the water 
 being an inferior element, must needs be governed after 
 the superior heaven, and so follow the course of Primum 
 mobile from east to west. 
 
 6. AUTHORITY. But every man that hath written or 
 considered anything of this passage, hath more doubted 
 the return by the same way by reason of a great 
 downfall of water, which they imagine to be thereabouts, 
 which we also b} experience partly find, than any 
 mistrust they have of the same passage at all. For we 
 find as it were a great downfall in this place, but yet 
 not such but that we may return, although with much 
 ado. For we were easier carried in one hour than we 
 could get forth again in three. Also by another ex 
 perience at another time, we found this current to 
 deceive us in this sort : That whereas we supposed it 
 
1578] Frobisher turns back. 153 
 
 to be fifteen leagues off, and lying a-hull, we were 
 brought within two leagues of the shore contrary to all 
 expectation. 
 
 Our men that sailed furthest in the same mistaken 
 Straits, having the mainland upon their starboard side, 
 affirm that they met with the outlet or passage of water 
 which cometh thorough Frobisher s Straits, and followeth 
 as all one into this passage. Some of our company also 
 affirm that they had sight of a continent upon their 
 larboard side ; being sixty leagues within the supposed 
 Straits : howbeit, except certain islands in the entrance 
 hereof, we could make no part perfect thereof. All the 
 foresaid tract of land seemeth to be more fruitful and 
 better stored of grass, deer, wild fowl, as partridges, 
 larks, sea-mews, gulls, willmots, falcons, and tassel- 
 gentles, ravens, bears, hares, foxes, and other things, 
 than any other part we have yet discovered, and is more 
 populous. And here Luke Ward, a gentleman of the 
 company, traded merchandise, and did exchange knives, 
 bells, looking-glasses, &c., with those country people, 
 who brought him fowl, fish, bears -skins. and such like, 
 as their country yieldeth, for the same. Here also they 
 saw of those greater boats of the country, with twenty 
 persons in a-piece. 
 
 Now after the General had bestowed these many 
 days here, not without many dangers, he returned back 
 again. And by the way sailing along this coast, being 
 the backside of the supposed continent of America, and 
 the Queen s Foreland, he perceived a great sound to go 
 thorough into Frobisher s Straits. Whereupon he sent 
 the Gabriel, the one and twentieth of July, to prove 
 whether they might go thorough and meet again with 
 him in the Straits, which they did : and, as we imagined 
 before, so the Queen s Foreland proved an island, as 
 I think most of these supposed continents will. And 
 
T 54 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 so he departed towards the Straits, thinking it were 
 high time now to recover his port, and to provide the 
 fleet of their lading, whereof he was not a little careful, 
 as shall by the process and his resolute attempts appear. 
 And in his return with the rest of the fleet he was so 
 intangled by reason of the dark fog amongst a number 
 of islands and broken ground that lie off this coast, that 
 many of the ships came over the top of rocks, which 
 presently after they might perceive to lie dry, having 
 not half-a-foot water more than some of their ships 
 did draw. And by reason they could not with a small 
 gale of wind stem the force of the flood, whereby to get 
 clear off the rocks, they were fain to let an anchor fall 
 with two bent of cable together, at an hundred and odd 
 fathom deep, where otherwise they had been by the 
 force of the tides carried upon the rocks again, and 
 perished. So that if God in these fortunes, as a merciful 
 guide, beyond the expectation of man, had not carried 
 us through, we had surely perished amidst these 
 dangers. For being many times driven hard aboard 
 the shore without any sight of land, until we were ready 
 to make shipwreck thereon, being forced commonly 
 with our boats to sound before our ships, lest we might 
 light thereon before we could discern the same; it 
 pleased God to give us a clear of sun and light for 
 a short time to see and avoid thereby the danger, having 
 been continually dark before, and presently after. 
 Many times also by means of fog and currents being 
 driven near upon the coast, God lent us, even at the 
 very pinch, one prosperous breath of wind or other, 
 whereby to double the land and avoid the peril, and 
 when that we were all without hope of help, every man 
 recommending himself to death, and crying out, Lord, 
 now help or never! Now, Lord, look down from heaven and 
 save us sinners, or else our safety cometh too late I Even 
 
1578] Return from Hudson s Strait. 155 
 
 then the mighty Maker of Heaven, and our merciful 
 God, did deliver us: so that they who have been 
 partakers of these dangers do even in their souls 
 confess, that God even by miracle hath sought to save 
 them. Whose name be praised evermore. 
 
 Long time now the Anne Francis had lain beating off 
 and on all alone before the Queen s Foreland, not being 
 able to recover their port for ice, albeit many times they 
 dangerously attempted it,, for yet the ice choked up the 
 passage, and would not suffer them to enter. And 
 having never seen any of the fleet since twenty days 
 past, when by reason of the thick mists they were 
 severed in the mistaken Straits, they did now this 
 present 23. of July overthwart a place in the Straits 
 called Hation s Head/and, where they met with seven 
 ships of the fleet again. Which good hap did not only 
 rejoice them for themselves, in respect of the comfort 
 which they received by such good company, but 
 especially that by this means they were put out of doubt 
 of their dear friends, whose safeties long time they did 
 not a little suspect and fear. At their meeting they 
 hailed the Admiral after the manner of the sea, and 
 with great joy welcomed one another with a thundering 
 volley of shot. And now every man declared at large 
 the fortunes and dangers which they had passed. 
 
 The four and twentieth of July we met with the 
 Francis of Foy, who with much ado fought way back 
 again through the ice from out of the mistaken Straits, 
 where, to their great peril, they proved to recover their 
 port. They brought the first news of the Vice-Admiral 
 Captain York, who many days with themselves, and the 
 Buss of Bridgewater, was missing. They reported that 
 they left the Vice-Admiral reasonably clear of the ice, 
 but the other ship they greatly feared ; whom they could 
 not come to help, being themselves so hardly distressed 
 
156 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 as never men more. Also they told us of the Gabriel, 
 who having got thorough from the backside and western 
 point of the Queen s Foreland into Frobisher s Straits, 
 fell into their company about the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 And upon the seven and twentieth day of July, the 
 ship of Bridgewater got out of the ice and met with 
 the fleet which lay off and on under Hattoris Head 
 land. They reported of their marvellous accidents and 
 dangers, declaring their ship to be so leak that they 
 must of necessity seek harborough, having their stem 
 so beaten within their hoodings, that they had much 
 ado to keep themselves above water. They had, as they 
 say, five hundred strokes at the pump in less than half 
 a watch, being scarce two hours ; their men being so 
 over-wearied therewith, and with the former dangers, 
 that they desired help of men from the other ships. 
 Moreover they declared that there was nothing but ice 
 and danger where they had been, and that the Straits 
 within were frozen up, and that it was the most impos 
 sible thing of the world, to pass up into the Countess of 
 Warwick s Sound, which was the place of our port. 
 
 The report of these dangers by these ships thus 
 published amongst the fleet, with the remembrance of 
 the perils past, and those present before their face, 
 brought no small fear and terror into the hearts of many 
 considerate men. So that some began privily to murmur 
 against the General for this wilful manner of proceeding. 
 Some desired to discover some harborough thereabouts 
 to refresh themselves and reform their broken vessels 
 for awhile, until the north and north-west winds might 
 disperse the ice, and make the place more free to pass. 
 Other some, forgetting themselves, spake more unduti- 
 fully in this behalf, saying, that they had as lief be 
 hanged when they came home, as without hope of safety 
 to seek to pass, and so to perish amongst the ice. 
 
1578] Discontent in the Fleet. 157 
 
 The General, not opening his ears to the peevish 
 passion of any private person, but chiefly respecting the 
 accomplishment of the cause he had undertaken, wherein 
 the chief reputation and fame of a general and captain 
 consisteth, and calling to his remembrance the short 
 time he had in hand to provide so great number of ships 
 their loading, determined with this resolution to pass 
 and recover his port, or else there to bury himself with 
 his attempt. Notwithstanding, somewhat to appease 
 the feeble passions of the fearfuller sort, and the better 
 to entertain time for a season, whilst the ice might the 
 better be dissolved, he haled on the fleet with belief 
 that he would put them into harborough. Thereupon, 
 whilst the ships lay off and on under Hatton s Headland, 
 he sought to go in with his pinnaces amongst the islands 
 there, as though he meant to search for harborough ; 
 where indeed he meant nothing less, but rather sought 
 if any ore might be found in that place, as by the sequel 
 appeared. In the meantime whilst the fleet lay thus 
 doubtful without any certain resolution what to do, being- 
 hard aboard the lee-shore, there arose a sudden and 
 terrible tempest at the south-south-east, whereby the ice 
 began marvellously to gather about us. Whereupon 
 every man, as in such case of extremity he thought best, 
 sought the wisest way for his own safety. The most 
 part of the fleet which were further shot up within the 
 Straits, and so far to the leeward, as that they could not 
 double the land, following the course of the General, 
 who led them the way, took in their sails, and laid it 
 a-hull amongst the ice, and so passed over the storm, 
 and had no extremity at all, but for a short time in the 
 same place. Howbeit the other ships which plied out 
 to seaward, had an extreme storm for a longer season. 
 And the nature of the place is such, that it is subject 
 diversely to divers winds, according to the sundry 
 
158 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 situation of the great Alps and mountains there, every 
 mountain causing a several blast and pirry \ after the 
 manner of a Levant. 
 
 In this storm, being the 26. of July, there fell so 
 much snow, with such bitter cold air, that we could not 
 scarce see one another for the same, nor open our eyes 
 to handle our ropes and sails ; the snow being about 
 half-a-foot deep upon the hatches of our ship, which 
 did so wet through our poor mariners* clothes, that he 
 that had five or six shifts of apparel had scarce one dry 
 thread to his back. Which kind of wet and coldness, 
 together with the overlabouring of the poor men among 
 the ice, bred no small sickness amongst the fleet ; 
 which somewhat discouraged some of the poor men, 
 who had not experience of the like before, every man 
 persuading himself that the winter there must needs be 
 extreme, where they found so unseasonable a summer. 
 And yet, notwithstanding this cold air, the sun many 
 times hath a marvellous force of heat amongst those 
 mountains, insomuch that when there is no breath of 
 wind to bring the cold air from the dispersed ice 
 upon us, we shall be weary of the blooming heat, and 
 then suddenly with a pirry of wind which cometh 
 down from the hollowness of the hills, we shall have 
 such a breath of heat brought upon our faces as though 
 we were entered within some bath-stove or hot-house. 
 And when the first of the pirry and blast is past, we 
 shall have the wind suddenly anew blow cold again. 
 
 In this storm the Anne Francis, the Moon, and the 
 Thomas of Ipswich, who found themselves able to hold 
 it up with a sail, and could double about the cape of 
 the Queen s Foreland, plied out to the seaward, holding 
 it for better policy and safety to seek sea-room, than to 
 hazard the continuance of the storm, the danger of the 
 1 Whirlwind. 
 
i5/8] Frobisher s Strait Entered. 159 
 
 ice, and the lee-shore. And being uncertain at this 
 time of the General s private determination, the weather 
 being so dark that they could not discern one another, 
 nor perceive which way he wrought, betook themselves 
 to this course for best and safest. 
 
 The General, notwithstanding the great storm, 
 following his own former resolution, sought by all 
 means possible, by a shorter way, to recover his port ; 
 and where he saw the ice ever so little open, he gat in 
 at one gap and out at another, and so himself valiantly 
 led the way thorough before, to induce the fleet to follow 
 after ; and with incredible pain and peril at length got 
 through the ice, and upon the 31. of July recovered 
 his long-wished port, after many attempts and sundry 
 times being put back, and came to anchor in the 
 Countess of Warwick s Sound. In the entrance 
 whereof, when he thought all peril past, he encountered 
 a great island of ice, which gave the Aid such a blow, 
 having a little before weighed her anchor a-cock-bill J , 
 that it struck the anchor-fluke through the ship s bows 
 under the water, which caused so great a leak, that 
 with much ado they preserved the ship from sinking. 
 
 At their arrival here they perceived two ships at anchor 
 within the harborough, whereat they began much to 
 marvel and greatly to rejoice, for those they knew to 
 be the Michael, wherein was the Lieutenant-General, 
 Captain Fenton, and the small bark called the Gabriel 
 who so long time were missing, and never heard of 
 before, whom every man made the last reckoning, never 
 to hear of again. Here every man greatly rejoiced of 
 their happy meeting, and welcomed one another after 
 the sea manner with their great ordnance, and when 
 each party had ripped up their sundry fortunes and 
 perils past, they highly praised God, and altogether 
 
 1 Her anchor not yet stowed, and hanging with bills cocked up. 
 
160 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 upon their knees gave Him due humble and hearty 
 thanks, and Master Wolfall, a learned man, appointed 
 by her Majesty s Council to be their minister and 
 preacher, made unto them a godly sermon, exhorting 
 them especially to be thankful to God for their strange 
 and miraculous deliverance in those so dangerous places, 
 and putting them in mind of the uncertainty of man s 
 life, willed them to make themselves always ready as 
 resolute men to enjoy and accept thankfully whatsoever 
 adventure his divine providence should appoint. This 
 Master Wolfall, being well seated and settled at home 
 in his own country, with a good and large living, having 
 a good honest woman to wife, and very towardly children, 
 being of good reputation among the best, refused not to 
 take in hand this painful voyage, for the only care he 
 had to save souls, and to reform those infidels, if it 
 were possible, to Christianity ; and also partly for the 
 great desire he had that this notable voyage, so well 
 begun, might be brought to perfection ; and therefore 
 he was contented to stay there the whole year, if occa 
 sion had served, being in every necessary action as 
 forward as the resolutest men of all. Wherefore in 
 this behalf he may rightly be called a true pastor and 
 minister of God s word, which for the profit of his flock 
 spared not to venture his own life. 
 
 But to return again to Captain Fenton s company, 
 and to speak somewhat of their dangers, albeit they 
 be more than by writing can be expressed. They 
 reported that from the night of the first storm, which 
 was about the first day of July, until seven days before 
 the General s arrival, which was the six and twentieth 
 of the same, they never saw one day or hour wherein 
 they were not troubled with continual danger and fear 
 of death, and were twenty days almost together fast 
 amongst the ice. They had their ship stricken through 
 
1578] Adventures of the Gabriel. 161 
 
 and through on both sides, their false stem borne quite 
 away, and could go from their ship in some places upon 
 the ice very many miles, and might easily have passed 
 from one island of ice to another, even to the shore. 
 And if God had not wonderfully provided for them and 
 their necessity, and time had not made them more 
 cunning and wise to seek strange remedies for strange 
 kinds of dangers, it had been impossible for them ever 
 to have escaped. For among other devices, whereso 
 ever they found any island of ice of greater bigness 
 than the rest (as there be some of more than half 
 a mile compass about, and almost forty fathom high) 
 they commonly coveted to recover the same, and thereof 
 to make a bulwark for their defence ; whereon having 
 moored anchor, they rode under the lee thereof for a 
 time, being thereby guarded from the danger of the lesser 
 driving ice. But when they must needs forego this new 
 found fort by means of other ice, which at length would 
 undermine and compass them round about, and when 
 that by heaving of the billow they were therewith like 
 to be bruised in pieces, they used to make fast the ship 
 unto the most firm and broad piece of ice they could 
 find, and binding her nose fast thereunto, would fill all 
 their sails, whereon the wind having great power, would 
 force forward the ship ; and so the ship bearing before 
 her the ice, and so one ice driving forward another, 
 should at length get scope and sea-room. And having 
 by this means at length put their enemies to flight, they 
 occupied the clear place for a pretty season among 
 sundry mountains and Alps of ice. One there was 
 found by measure to be sixty-five fathom above water, 
 which, for a kind of similitude, was called Solomon s 
 Porch. Some think those islands eight times so much 
 under water as they are above, because of their monstrous 
 weight. But now I remember I saw very strange 
 
 M 
 
1 62 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 wonders : men walking, running, leaping and shooting 
 upon the main seas, forty miles from any land, without 
 any ship or other vessel under them. Also I saw 
 fresh rivers running amidst the salt sea a hundred 
 mile from land. Which if any man will not believe, let 
 him know that many of our company leaped out of their 
 ships upon islands of ice, and running there up and 
 down, did shoot at butts upon the ice, and with their 
 calivers did kill great seals, which use to lie and sleep 
 upon the ice : and this ice melting above at the top 
 by reflection of the sun, came down in sundry streams, 
 which, uniting together, made a pretty brook able 
 to drive a mill. The said Captain Fenton recovered 
 his port ten days before any man, and spent good time 
 in searching for mine, and he found good store thereof. 
 He also discovered about ten miles up into the country, 
 where he perceived neither town, village, nor likeli 
 hood of habitation, but it seemeth, as he saith, barren as 
 the other parts which as yet we have entered upon. 
 But their victuals and provision went so scant with 
 them, that they had determined to return homeward 
 within seven days after, if the fleet had not then 
 arrived. 
 
 The General, after his arrival in the Countess s 
 Sound, spent no time in vain, but immediately at his 
 first landing called the chief captains of his council 
 together, and consulted with them for the speedier 
 execution of such things as then they had in hand. 
 As, first, for searching and finding out good mineral 
 ior the miners to be occupied on. Then, to give good 
 orders to be observed of the whole company on shore. 
 And lastly, to consider for the erecting up of the fort 
 and house for the use of them which were to abide 
 there the whole year. For the better handling of 
 these, and all other like important causes in this 
 
is/ 8 ! The General and his council, 163 
 
 service, it was ordained from her Majesty and the 
 Council that the General should call unto him certain 
 of the chief captains and gentlemen in council, to confer, 
 consult, and determine of all occurrents in this service, 
 whose names are as here they follow : Captain Fenton, 
 Captain York, Captain Best, Captain Carew, and Captain 
 Philpot. And in sea causes to have as assistants 
 Christopher Hall and Charles Jackman, being both 
 very good pilots and sufficient mariners, whereof 
 the one was chief pilot of the voyage, and the other 
 for the discovery. From the place of our habitation 
 westward Master Selman was appointed notary, to 
 register the whole manner of proceeding in these affairs, 
 that true relation thereof might be made, if it pleased 
 her Majesty to require it. 
 
 The first of August every captain, by order from the 
 General and his council, was commanded to bring 
 ashore unto the Countess s Island all such gentlemen, 
 soldiers, and miners as were under their charge, with 
 such provision as they had of victuals, tents, and things 
 necessary for the speedy getting together of mine and 
 freight for the ships. The muster of the men being 
 taken, and the victuals with all other things viewed and 
 considered, every man was set to his charge as his place 
 and office required. The miners were appointed where 
 to work, and the mariners discharged their ships. 
 Upon the second of August were published and 
 proclaimed upon the Countess of Warwick s Island, 
 with sound of trumpet, certain orders of the General 
 and his council, appointed to be observed of the 
 company during the time of their abiding there. In 
 the meantime, whilst the mariners plied their work, the 
 captains sought out new mines, the gold-finers made 
 trial of the ore, the mariners discharged their ships, 
 the gentlemen for example sake laboured heartily, and 
 
 M 2 
 
164 Frobisher -Third Voyage. [1 = 78 
 
 honestly encouraged the inferior sort to work. So that 
 small time of that little leisure that was left to tarry, 
 was spent in vain. 
 
 The second of August the Gabriel arrived, who came 
 from the Vice-Admiral, and being distressed sore with 
 ice, put into harborough near unto Mount Oxford. And 
 now was the whole fleet arrived safely at their port 
 excepting four, besides the ship that was lost : that is, 
 the Thomas Allen, the Anne Francis, the Thomas of 
 Ipswich, and the Moon, whose absence was some let 
 unto the works and other proceedings, as well for that 
 these ships were furnished with the better sort of miners 
 as with other provision for the habitation. 
 
 The 9. of August the General with the captains of his 
 council assembled together, and began to consider and 
 take order for the erecting up of the house or fort for 
 them that were to inhabit there the whole year, and 
 that presently the masons and carpenters might go in 
 hand therewith. First, therefore, they perused the bills 
 of lading, what every man received into his ship, and 
 found that there was arrived only the east side and the 
 south side of the house, and yet not that perfect and 
 entire ; for many pieces thereof were used for fenders 
 in many ships, and so broken in pieces, whilst they 
 were distressed in the ice. Also after due examination 
 had, and true account taken, there was found want 
 of drink and fuel to serve one hundred men, which was 
 the number appointed first to inhabit there, because 
 their greatest store was in the ships which were not yet 
 arrived. Then Captain Fenton, seeing the scarcity of 
 the necessary things aforesaid, was contented, and 
 offered himself to inhabit there with sixty men. Where 
 upon they caused the carpenters and masons to come 
 before them, and demanded in what time they would 
 take upon them to erect up a less house, for sixty men. 
 
1578] The ( habitation* abandoned. 165 
 
 They required eight or nine weeks, if there were timber 
 sufficient, whereas now they had but six-and-twenty days 
 in all to remain in that country. Wherefore it was fully 
 agreed upon and resolved by the General and his 
 council that no habitation should be there this year. 
 And therefore they willed Master Selman, the register, 
 to set down this decree, with all their consents, for the 
 better satisfying of her Majesty, the Lords of the 
 Council, and the adventurers. 
 
 The Anne Francis, since she was parted from the 
 fleet, in the last storm before spoken of, could never 
 recover above five leagues within the Straits, the wind 
 being sometime contrary, and most times the ice com 
 passing them round about. And from that time, being 
 about the 27. of July, they could neither hear nor have 
 sight of any of the fleet until the third of August, when 
 they descried a sail near unto Mount Oxford, with whom 
 when they had spoken, they could understand no news 
 of any of the fleet at all. And this was the Thomas of 
 Ipswich, who had lain beating off and on at sea with 
 very foul weather, and contrary winds, ever since that 
 foresaid storm, without sight of any man. They kept 
 company not long together, but were forced to lose one 
 another again. The Moon, being consort always with the 
 Anne Francis, and keeping very good company, plied up 
 together into the Straits, with great desire to recover 
 their long-wished port. And they attempted as often, 
 and passed as far as possible the wind, weather, and ice 
 gave them leave, which commonly they found very con 
 trary. For when the weather was clear and without 
 fog then commonly the wind was contrary. And when 
 it was either easterly or southerly, which would serve 
 their turns, then had they so great a fog and dark mist 
 therewith that either they could not discern way thorough 
 the ice, or else the ice lay so thick together that it was 
 
i66 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 impossible for them to pass. And on the other side, 
 when it was calm, the tides had force to bring the ice so 
 suddenly about them, that commonly then they were 
 most therewith distressed, having no wind to carry them 
 from the danger thereof. 
 
 And by the sixth of August, being with much ado got 
 up as high as Leicester Point, they had good hope to 
 find the souther shore clear, and so to pass up towards 
 their port. But being there becalmed and lying a-hull 
 openly upon the great bay which cometh out of the 
 mistaken straits before spoken of, they were so suddenly 
 compassed with ice round about by means of the swift 
 tides which run in that place, that they were never afore 
 so hardly beset as now. And, in seeking to avoid these 
 dangers in the dark weather, the Anne Francis lost 
 sight of the other two ships. Who, being likewise hardly 
 distressed, signified their danger, as they since reported, 
 by shooting off their ordnance ; which the other could 
 not hear, nor, if they had heard, could have given them 
 any remedy, being so busily occupied to wind themselves 
 out of their own troubles. 
 
 The flee-boat called the Moon was here heaved above 
 the water with the force of the ice, and received a great 
 leak thereby. Likewise the Thomas of Ipswich and the 
 Anne Francis were sore bruised at that instant, having 
 their false stems borne away and their ship-sides strucken 
 quite through. 
 
 Now, considering the continual dangers and con 
 traries, and the little leisure that they had left to tarry 
 in these parts, besides that every night the ropes of their 
 ships were so frozen that a man could not handle them 
 without cutting his hands, together with the great doubt 
 they had of the fleet s safety, thinking it an impossibility 
 for them to pass unto their port, as well for that they 
 saw themselves as for that they heard by the former 
 
1578] The Anne Francis and her consorts. 167 
 
 report of the ships which had proved before, who 
 affirmed that the Straits were all frozen over within, 
 they thought it now very high time to consider of their 
 estates and safeties, that were yet left together. And 
 hereupon the captains and masters of these ships 
 desired the captain of the Anne Francis to enter into 
 consideration with them of these matters. Wherefore 
 Captain Tanfield, of the Thomas of Ipswich, with his 
 pilot Richard Cox, and Captain Upcote, of the Moon, 
 with his master, John Lakes, came aboard the Anne 
 Francis the 8. of August to consult of these causes. 
 And being assembled together in the captain s cabin, 
 sundry doubts were there alleged. For the fearfuller 
 sort of mariners, being over-tired with the continued 
 labour of the former dangers, coveted to return home 
 ward, saying that they would not again tempt God so 
 much, who had given them so many warnings and 
 delivered them from so wonderful dangers ; that they 
 rather desired to lose wages, freight and all, than to 
 continue and follow such desperate fortunes. Again, 
 their ships were so leak, and the men so weary, that, to 
 amend the one and refresh the other, they must of 
 necessity seek into harborough. 
 
 But on the other side it was argued again to the con 
 trary that to seek into harborough thereabouts was but 
 to subject themselves to double dangers. If happily 
 they escaped the dangers of the rocks in their entering, 
 yet, being in, they were nevertheless subject there to 
 the danger of the ice ; which with the swift tides and 
 currents is carried in and out in most harboroughs 
 thereabouts, and may thereby gall their cables asunder, 
 drive them upon the shore, and bring them to much 
 trouble. Also the coast is so much subject to broken 
 ground and rocks, especially in the mouth and entrance 
 of every harborough, that albeit the channel be sounded 
 
1 68 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 over and over again, yet are you never the nearer to 
 discern the dangers. For the bottom of the sea holding 
 like shape and form as the land, being full of hills, dales, 
 and ragged rocks, suffereth you not by your soundings 
 to know and keep a true guess of the depth. For you 
 shall sound upon the side or hollowness of one hill or 
 rock under water and have 100, 50, or 40 fathom depth : 
 and before the next cast, yere you shall be able to heave 
 your lead again, you shall be upon the top thereof, and 
 come aground, to your utter confusion. Another reason 
 against going to harborough was that the cold air did 
 threaten a sudden freezing up of the sounds, seeing 
 that every night there was new congealed ice, even of 
 that water which remained within the ships. And there 
 fore it should seem to be more safe to lie off and on 
 at sea, than for lack of wind to bring them forth of 
 harborough, to hazard by sudden frosts to be shut up 
 the whole year. 
 
 After many such dangers and reasons alleged, and 
 large debating of these causes on both sides, the captain 
 of the Anne Francis delivered his opinion unto the com 
 pany to this effect. First, concerning the question of 
 returning home, he thought it so much dishonourable 
 as not to grow in any farther question ; and again, to 
 return home at length, as at length they must needs, and 
 not to be able to bring a certain report of the fleet, 
 whether they were living or lost, or whether any of 
 them had recovered their port or not in the Countess s 
 Sound, as it was to be thought the most part would if 
 they were living, he said that it would be so great an 
 argument either of want of courage or discretion in 
 them, as he resolved rather to fall into any danger than 
 so shamefully consent to return home ; protesting that 
 it should never be spoken of him that he would ever 
 return without doing his endeavour to find the fleet, and 
 
1578] Best delivers his opinion. 169 
 
 know the certainty of the General s safety. He put his 
 company in remembrance of a pinnace of five ton 
 burden, which he had within his ship, which was carried 
 in pieces and unmade-up, for the use of those which 
 should inhabit there the whole year ; the which if they 
 could find means to join together, he offered himself to 
 prove before therewith, whether it were possible for any 
 boat to pass for ice, whereby the ship might be brought 
 in after, and might also thereby give true notice if any 
 of the fleet were arrived at their port or not. 
 
 But notwithstanding, for that he well perceived that 
 the most part of his company were addicted to put into 
 harborough, he was willing the rather for these causes 
 somewhat to incline thereunto. As first, to search along 
 the same coast and the sounds thereabouts, he thought 
 it to be to good purpose, for that it was likely to find 
 some of the fleet there, which, being leak, and sore 
 bruised with the ice, were the rather thought likely to 
 be put into an ill harborough, being distressed with foul 
 weather in the last storm, than to hazard their uncertain 
 safeties amongst the ice; for about this place they lost 
 them, and left the fleet then doubtfully questioning of 
 harborough. 
 
 It was likely, also, that they might find some fit har 
 borough thereabouts which might be behoveful for them 
 against another time. It was not likewise impossible to 
 find some ore or mine thereabouts wherewithal to freight 
 their ships, which would be more commodious in this 
 place, for the nearness to seaward, and for a better outlet 
 than further within the Straits ; being likely here always 
 to load in a shorter time, howsoever the Strait should 
 be pestered with ice within. So that if it might come 
 to pass that thereby they might either find the fleet, 
 mine, or convenient harborough, any of these three 
 would serve their present turns, and give some hope 
 
170 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 and comfort unto their companies, which now were 
 altogether comfortless. But if that all fortune should 
 fall out so contrary that they could neither recover their 
 port, nor any of these aforesaid helps, that yet they 
 would not depart the coast as long as it was possible for 
 them to tarry there, but would lie off and on at sea 
 athwart the place. Therefore his final conclusion was 
 set down thus. First, that the Thomas of Ipswich and 
 the Moon should consort and keep company together 
 carefully with the Anne Francis, as near as they could ; 
 and, as true Englishmen and faithful friends, should 
 supply one another s want in all fortunes and dangers. 
 In the morning following, every ship to send off his boat 
 with a sufficient pilot, to search out and sound the 
 harboroughs for the safe bringing in of their ships. And 
 being arrived in harborough, where they might find 
 convenient place for the purpose, they resolved forth 
 with to join and set together the pinnace, wherewithal 
 the captain of the Anne Francis might, according to his 
 former determination, discover up into the Straits. 
 
 After these determinations thus set down, the Thomas 
 of Ipswich the night following lost company of the other 
 ships, and afterward shaped a contrary course homeward. 
 Which fell out, as it manifestly appeared, very much 
 against their captain Master Tanfield s mind ; as by due 
 examination before the Lords of her Majesty s Most 
 Honourable Privy Council it hath since been proved, 
 to the great discredit of the pilot Cox, who specially 
 persuaded his company, against the opinion of his said 
 captain, to return home. 
 
 And, as the captain of the Anne Francis doth witness, 
 even at their conference together Captain Tanfield told 
 him that he did not a little suspect the said pilot Cox, 
 saying that he had opinion in the man neither of honest 
 duty, manhood, nor constancy. Notwithstanding the 
 
1578] Best s Explorations. 171 
 
 said ship s departure, the captain of the Anne Francis, 
 being desirous to put in execution his former resolutions, 
 went with his ship-boat, being accompanied also with 
 the Moon s skiff, to prove amongst the islands which lie 
 under Hatton s Headland, if any convenient harborough, 
 or any knowledge of the fleet, or any good ore, were 
 there to be found. The ships lying off and on at sea 
 the while under sail, searching through many sounds, 
 they saw them all full of many dangers and broken 
 ground. Yet one there was, which seemed an indifferent 
 place to harbour in, and which they did very diligently 
 sound over, and searched again. 
 
 Here the said captain found a great black island, 
 whereunto he had good liking. And certifying the 
 company thereof, they were somewhat comforted, and 
 with the good hope of his words, rowed cheerfully 
 unto the place ; where, when they arrived, they found 
 such plenty of black ore of the same sort which was 
 brought into England this last year, that if the goodness 
 might answer the great plenty thereof, it was to be 
 thought that it might reasonably suffice all the gold- 
 gluttons of the world. This island the captain, for cause 
 of his good hap, called after his own name, Best s 
 Blessing; and with these good tidings returning aboard 
 his ship the 9. of August, about ten of the clock at 
 night, he was joyfully welcomed of his company, who 
 before were discomforted, and greatly expected some 
 better fortune at his hands. 
 
 The next day, being the 10. of August, the weather 
 reasonably fair, they put into the foresaid harborough, 
 having their boat for their better security sounding 
 before their ship. But, for all the care and diligence 
 that could be taken in sounding the channel over and over 
 again, the Anne Francis came aground upon a sunken 
 rock within the harborough, and lay thereon more than 
 
172 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 half dry until the next flood, when, by God s almighty 
 providence, contrary almost to all expectation, they 
 came afloat again, being forced all that time to underset 
 their ship with their main-yard, which otherwise was 
 likely to overset and put thereby in danger the whole 
 company. They had above two thousand strokes 
 together at the pump, before they could make their ship 
 free of the water again, so sore she was bruised by lying 
 upon the rocks. The Moon came safely, and rode at 
 anchor by the Anne Francis, whose help in their 
 necessity they could not well have missed. 
 
 Now whilst the mariners were rummaging their ships, 
 and mending that which was amiss, the miners followed 
 their labour for getting together of sufficient quantity of 
 ore, and the carpenters endeavoured to do their best for 
 the making up of the boat or pinnace. Which to bring 
 to pass, they wanted two special and most necessary 
 things ; that is, certain principal timbers that are called 
 knees, which are the chiefest strength of any boat, and 
 also nails wherewithal to join the planks together. 
 Whereupon, having by chance a smith amongst them, 
 and yet unfurnished of his necessary tools to work and 
 make nails withal, they were fain of a gun-chamber to 
 make an anvil to work upon, and to use a pickaxe 
 instead of a sledge to beat withal, and also to occupy 
 two small bellows instead of one pair of greater smith s 
 bellows. And for lack of small iron for the easier 
 making of the nails, they were forced to break their 
 tongs, gridiron, and fire-shovel in pieces. 
 
 The ii. of August the captain of the Anne Francis, 
 taking the master of his ship with him, went up to the 
 top of Hatton s Headland, which is the highest land of all 
 the Straits, to the end to descry the situation of the 
 country underneath, and to take a true plot of the place, 
 whereby also to see what store of ice was yet left in the 
 
1578] Best rows up the Straits in the pinnace. 173 
 
 Straits, as also to search what mineral matter or fruit 
 that soil might yield. And the rather for the honour 
 the said captain doth owe to that honourable name 
 which himself gave thereunto the last year, in the 
 highest part of this headland he caused his company to 
 make a column or cross of stone, in token of Christian 
 possession. In this place there is plenty of black ore 
 and divers pretty stones. 
 
 The 17. of August the captains with their companies 
 chased and killed a great white bear, which adventured 
 and gave a fierce assault upon twenty men being 
 weaponed. And he served them for good meat many 
 days. The 18. of August, the pinnace with much ado 
 being set together, the said Captain Best determined to 
 depart up the Straits, to prove and make trial, as before 
 was pretended ; some of his company greatly persuading 
 him to the contrary, and specially the carpenter that set 
 the same together, who said he would not adventure 
 himself therein for five hundred pounds, for that the 
 boat hung together but only by the strength of the nails, 
 and lacked some of the principal knees and timbers. 
 These words somewhat discouraged some of the 
 company which should have gone therein. Whereupon 
 the captain, as one not altogether addicted to his own 
 self-will, but somewhat foreseeing how it might be 
 afterwards spoken, if contrary fortune should happen 
 him, Lo, he hath followed his own opinion and desperate 
 resolutions, and so thereafter it is befallen him /calling 
 the master and mariners of best judgment together, 
 declared unto them how much the cause imported him 
 in his credit, to seek out the General, as well to confer 
 with him of some causes of weight as otherwise to make 
 due examination and trial of the goodness of the ore, 
 whereof they had no assurance but by guess of the eye, 
 and it was well like the other ; which so to carry home, 
 
174 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1573 
 
 not knowing the goodness thereof, might be as much as 
 if they should bring so many stones. And therefore he 
 desired them to deliver their plain and honest opinion, 
 whether the pinnace were sufficient for him so to adven 
 ture in or no. It was answered that by careful heed-taking 
 thereunto amongst the ice and the foul weather, the 
 pinnace might suffice. And hereupon the masters mate 
 of the Anne Francis, called John Gray, manfully and 
 honestly offering himself unto his captain in this 
 adventure and service, gave cause to others of his 
 mariners to follow the attempt. 
 
 And upon the 19. of August the said captain, being 
 accompanied with Captain Upcote, of the Moon, and 
 eighteen persons in the small pinnace, having convenient 
 portion of victuals and things necessary, departed upon 
 the said pretended voyage, leaving their ship at anchor 
 in a good readiness for the taking in of their freight. 
 And having little wind to sail withal, they plied alongst 
 the souther shore, and passed above thirty leagues, 
 having the only help of man s labour with oars ; and so 
 intending to keep that shore aboard until they were got 
 up to the farthest and narrowest of the Straits, minded 
 there to cross over, and to search likewise alongst the 
 northerland unto the Countess s Sound, and from thence 
 to pass all that coast along, whereby if any of the fleet 
 had been distressed by wreck of rock or ice, by that 
 means they might be perceived of them, and so they 
 thereby to give them such help and relief as they could. 
 They did greatly fear and ever suspect that some of the 
 fleet were surely cast away and driven to seek sour 
 sallets amongst the cold cliffs. 
 
 And being shot up about forty leagues within the 
 Straits, they put over towards the norther shore, which 
 was not a little dangerous for their small boats ; and by 
 means of a sudden flaw were driven and fain to seek 
 
1578] The English Flag seen in the distance. 175 
 
 harborough in the night amongst all the rocks and 
 broken ground of Gabriel s Islands, a place so named 
 within the Straits above the Countess of Warwick s 
 Sound. And by the way where they landed they did 
 find certain great stones set up by the country people, 
 as it seemed, for marks ; where they also made many 
 crosses of stone, in token that Christians had been 
 there. The 22. of August they had sight of the 
 Countess s Sound, and made the place perfect from the 
 top of a hill ; and, keeping along the norther shore, 
 perceived the smoke of a fire under a hill s side ; w r hereof 
 they diversely deemed. When they came nearer the 
 place they perceived people which wafted unto them, 
 as it seemed, with a flag or ensign. And because the 
 country people had used to do the like when they 
 perceived any of our boats to pass by, they suspected 
 them to be the same. And coming somewhat nearer, 
 they might perceive certain tents, and discern this 
 ensign to be of mingled colours, black and white, after 
 the English fashion. But because they could see no 
 ship, nor likelihood of harborough within five or six 
 leagues about, and knew that none of our men were 
 wont to frequent those parts, they could not tell what 
 to judge thereof; but imagined that some of the ships, 
 being carried so high with the storm and mists, had 
 made shipwrack amongst the ice or the broken islands 
 there, and were spoiled by the country people, who 
 might use the sundry-coloured flag for a policy, to 
 bring them likewise within their danger. Whereupon 
 the said captain with his companies resolved to recover 
 the same ensign, if it were so, from those base people, 
 or else to lose their lives and all together. In the end 
 they discerned them to be their countrymen, and then 
 they deemed them to have lost their ships, and so to be 
 gathered together for their better strength. On the 
 
176 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 other side, the company ashore feared that the captain, 
 having lost his ship, came to seek forth the fleet for his 
 relief in his poor pinnace : so that their extremities 
 caused each part to suspect the worst. 
 
 The captain, now with his pinnace being come near 
 the shore, commanded his boat carefully to be kept 
 afloat, lest in their necessity they might win the same 
 from him, and seek first to save themselves. For 
 every man in that case is next himself 1 . They hailed 
 one another according to the mariner of the sea, and 
 demanded, What cheer? And either party answered 
 the other that all was well. Whereupon there was 
 a sudden and joyful outshoot, with great flinging up of 
 caps, and a brave volley of shot to welcome one another. 
 And truly it was a most strange case to see how joyful 
 and glad every party was to see themselves meet in 
 safety again, after so strange and incredible dangers. 
 Yet, to be short, as their dangers were great, so their 
 God was greater. And here the company were working 
 upon new mines, which Captain York, being here arrived 
 not long before, had found out in this place ; and it is 
 named the Countess of Sussex Mine. 
 
 After some conference with our friends here, the 
 captain of the Anne Francis departed towards the 
 Countess of Warwick s Sound, to speak with the 
 General, and to have trial made of such metal as he 
 had brought thither, by the gold-finers. And so he 
 determined to dispatch again towards his ship. And 
 having spoken with the General, he received orders for 
 all causes, and direction as well for the bringing up of 
 his ship to the Countess s Sound, as also to freight his 
 ship with the same ore which he himself had found ; 
 which, upon trial made, was supposed to be very 
 good. 
 
 1 Proximus sum egomet mihi. (Hakluyt.) 
 
1578] Best returns to his ship. 177 
 
 The 23. of August the said captain met together with 
 the other captains (commissioners in council with the 
 General) aboard the Aid] where they considered and 
 consulted of sundry causes, which being particularly 
 registered by the notary, were appointed where and 
 how to be done against another year. 
 
 The 24. of August the General, with two pinnaces 
 and good numbers of men, went to Beare s Sound, 
 commanding the said captain with his pinnace to attend 
 the service, to see if he could encounter or apprehend 
 any of the people. For sundry times they shewed 
 themselves busy thereabouts, sometimes with seven 
 or eight boats in one company, as though they minded 
 to encounter with our company, which were working 
 there at the mines, in no great numbers. But when 
 they perceived any of our ships to ride in that road, 
 being belike more amazed at the countenance of a ship, 
 and a more number of men, they did never shew 
 themselves there again at all. Wherefore our men 
 sought with their pinnaces to compass about the island 
 where they did use, supposing there suddenly to inter 
 cept some of them. But before our men could come 
 near, having belike some watch in the top of the 
 mountains, they conveyed themselves privily away, 
 and left, as it should seem, one of their great darts 
 behind them for haste, which we found near to a place 
 of their caves and housing. Therefore, though our 
 General were very desirous to have taken some of 
 them to have brought into England, they, being now 
 grown more wary by their former losses, would not 
 at any time come within our dangers. About midnight 
 of the same day the captain of the Anne Francis 
 departed thence and set his course over the Straits 
 towards Hatton s Headland, being about 15 leagues 
 over, and returned aboard his ship the 25. of August, 
 
178 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 to the great comfort of his company, who long expected 
 his coming, where he found his ships ready rigged 
 and loaden. Wherefore he departed from thence 
 again the next morning towards the Countess s Sound, 
 where he arrived the 28. of the same. By the way he 
 set his miners ashore at Beares Sound, for the better 
 despatch and gathering the ore together; for that 
 some of the ships were behindhand with their freight, 
 the time of the year passing suddenly away. 
 
 The 30. of August the Anne Francis was brought 
 aground, and had eight great leaks mended which she 
 had received by means of the rocks and ice. This 
 day the masons finished a house which Captain Fenton 
 caused to be made of lime and stone upon the Countess 
 of Warwick s Island, to the end we might prove, 
 against the next year, whether the snow could over 
 whelm it, the frost break it up, or the people dismember 
 the same. And the better to allure those brutish and 
 uncivil people to courtesy against other times of our 
 coming, we left therein divers of our country toys, as 
 bells and knives, wherein they specially delight, one 
 for the necessary use, and the other for the great 
 pleasure thereof. Also pictures of men and women in 
 lead, men on horseback, looking-glasses, whistles, and 
 pipes. Also in the house was made an oven, and bread 
 left baked therein for them to see and taste. We 
 buried the timber of our pretended fort. Also here we 
 sowed peas, corn, and other grain, to prove the fruit- 
 fulness of the soil against the next year. 
 
 Master Wolf all on Winter s Furnace preached a godly 
 sermon ; which being ended, he celebrated also a com 
 munion upon the land, at the partaking whereof was the 
 captain of the Anne Francis, and many other gentle 
 men and soldiers, mariners, and miners with him. The 
 celebration of the Divine Mystery was the first sign, 
 
1578] Resolution to return home. 179 
 
 seal, and confirmation of Christ s name, death, and 
 passion ever known in these quarters. The said 
 Master Wolf all made sermons, and celebrated the 
 communion at sundry other times, in several and 
 sundry ships, because the whole company could never 
 meet together at any one place. The fleet now being 
 in some good readiness for their lading, the General 
 calling together the gentlemen and captains to consult, 
 told them that he was very desirous that some further 
 discovery should be attempted, and that he would not 
 only by God s help bring home his ships laden with ore, 
 but also meant to bring some certificate of a further 
 discovery of the country, which thing to bring to pass, 
 having sometime therein consulted, they found very 
 hard and almost invincible. And considering that 
 already they had spent some time in searching out the 
 trending and fashion of the mistaken straits, therefore 
 it could not be said, but that by this voyage they have 
 notice of a further discovery, and that the hope of the 
 passage thereby is much furthered and increased, as 
 appeared before in the discourse thereof. Yet not 
 withstanding if any means might be further devised, 
 the captains were contented and willing, as the General 
 should appoint and command, to take any enterprise in 
 hand. Which, after long debating, was found a thing 
 very impossible, and that rather consultation was to be 
 had of returning homeward, especially for these causes 
 following. First, the dark foggy mists, the continual 
 falling snow and stormy weather which they commonly 
 were vexed with, and now daily ever more and more 
 increased, have no small argument of the winter s 
 drawing near. And also the frost every night was so 
 hard congealed within the Sound, that if by evil hap 
 they should be long kept in with contrary winds, it was 
 greatly to be feared that they should be shut up there 
 
 N 2 
 
180 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 fast the whole year; which, being utterly unprovided, 
 would be their utter destruction. Again, drink was so 
 scant throughout all the fleet by means of the great 
 leakage, that not only the provision which was laid in 
 for the habitation was wanting and wasted, but also 
 each ship s several provisions spent and lost ; which 
 many of our company to their great grief found in 
 their return, since, for all the way homewards, they 
 drank nothing but water. And the great cause of this 
 leakage and wasting was, for that the great timber and 
 sea-coal, which lay so weighty upon the barrels, brake, 
 bruised, and rotted the hoops in sunder. Yet, not 
 withstanding these reasons alleged, the General himself, 
 willing the rest of the gentlemen and captains every man 
 to look to his several charge and lading, that against 
 a day appointed, they should be all in readiness to set 
 homeward, went in a pinnace, and discovered further 
 northward in the Straits, and found that by Scare s 
 Sound and Hall s Island the land was not firm, as it 
 was first supposed, but all broken islands in manner of 
 an archipelagus. And so, with other secret intelligence 
 to himself, he returned to the fleet. Where, presently 
 upon his arrival at the Countess s Sound, he began 
 to take order for their returning homeward, and first 
 caused certain Articles to be proclaimed, for the better 
 keeping of orders and courses in their return, which 
 Articles were delivered to every captain. 
 
 Having now received Articles and directions for our 
 return homewards, all other things being in forward 
 ness and in good order, the last day of August the 
 whole fleet departed from the Countess s Sound, 
 excepting the Judith, and the Anne Francis, who stayed 
 for the taking in of fresh water, and came the next day 
 and met the fleet lying off and on athwart Beare s Sound ; 
 who stayed for the General, which then was gone 
 
1578] Stormy weather at departure. 181 
 
 ashore to despatch the two barks and the Buss of 
 Bridgewater, for their loading, whereby to get the 
 companies and other things aboard. The captain of 
 the Anne Francis, having most part of his company 
 ashore, the first of September went also to Beare s 
 Sound in his pinnace to fetch his men aboard. But the 
 wind grew so great immediately upon their landing, 
 that the ships at sea were in great danger, and some of 
 them forcibly put from their anchors, and greatly feared 
 to be utterly lost, as the Hopewell, wherein was Captain 
 Carew, and others. Who could not tell on which side 
 their danger was most : for having mighty rocks 
 threatening on the one side, and driving islands of 
 cutting ice on the other side, they greatly feared to 
 make shipwreck, the ice driving so near them that it 
 touched their boltsprit. And by means of the sea that 
 was grown so high, they were not able to put to sea 
 with their small pinnaces to recover their ships. And 
 again, the ships were not able to tarry or lie athwart 
 for them, by means of the outrageous winds and 
 swelling seas. The General willed the captain of the 
 Anne Francis, with his company, for that night to lodge 
 aboard the Buss of Bridgewater, and went himself with 
 the rest of his men aboard the barks. But their numbers 
 were so great, and the provision of the barks so scant, 
 that they pestered one another exceedingly. They had 
 great hope that the next morning the weather would be 
 fair, whereby they might recover their ships. But in 
 the morning following it was much worse, for the 
 storm continued greater, the sea being more swollen, 
 and the fleet gone quite out of sight. So that now 
 their doubts began to grow great : for the ship of 
 Bridgewater, which was of greatest receipt, and whereof 
 they had best hope and made most account, rode so far 
 to leeward of the harborough s mouth, that they were 
 
1 82 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 not able for the rocks, that lay between the wind and 
 them, to lead it out to sea with a sail. And the barks 
 were already so pestered with men, and so slenderly 
 furnished with provision, that they had scarce meat for 
 six days for such numbers. 
 
 The General in the morning departed to sea in the 
 Gabriel to seek the fleet, leaving the Buss of Bridgewater 
 and the Michael behind in Beare s Sound. The Buss 
 set sail, and thought by turning in the narrow channel 
 within the harborough to get to windward : but being 
 put to leeward more, by that means was fain to come to 
 anchor for her better safety, amongst a number of rocks, 
 and there left in great danger of ever getting forth 
 again. The Michael set sail to follow the General, and 
 could give the Buss no relief, although they earnestly 
 desired the same. And the captain of the Anne Francis 
 was left in hard election of two evils : either to abide 
 his fortune with the Buss of Bridgewater, which was 
 doubtful of ever getting forth, or else to be towed in his 
 small pinnace at the stern of the Michael thorough the 
 raging seas, for that the bark was not able to receive or 
 relieve half his company, wherein his danger was not 
 a little perilous. 
 
 So after he resolved to commit himself with all his 
 company unto that fortune of God and sea ; and was 
 dangerously towed at the stern of the bark for many 
 miles, until at length they espied the Anne Francis 
 under sail, hard under their lee, which was no small 
 comfort unto them. For no doubt, both those and 
 a great number more had perished for lack of victuals, 
 and convenient room in the barks, without the help of 
 the said ship. But the honest care that the master of 
 the Anne Francis had of his captain, and the good 
 regard of duty towards his General, suffered him not 
 to depart ; but honestly abode to hazard a dangerous 
 
1578] Adventures of the Buss of Bridgewater. 183 
 
 road all the night long, notwithstanding all the stormy 
 weather, when all the fleet besides departed. And the 
 pinnace came no sooner aboard the ship, and the men 
 entered, but she presently shivered and fell in pieces 
 and sunk at the ship s stern, with all the poor men s 
 furniture : so weak was the boat with towing, and so 
 forcible was the sea to bruise her in pieces. But ; as 
 God would, the men were all saved. 
 
 At this present in this storm many of the fleet were 
 dangerously distressed, and were severed almost all 
 asunder. Yet, thanks be to God, all the fleet arrived 
 safely in England about the first of October, some in 
 one place and some in another. But amongst other, it 
 was most marvellous how the Buss of Bridgewater got 
 away. Who being left behind the fleet in great danger 
 of never getting forth, was forced to seek a way north 
 ward through an unknown channel full of rocks, upon 
 the backside of Beare s Sound] and there by good hap 
 found out a way into the North Sea. A very dangerous 
 attempt : save that necessity, which hath no law, forced 
 them to try masteries. This aforesaid North Sea, is 
 the same which lieth upon the backside of Frobisher s 
 Straits, where first the General himself in his pinnaces, 
 and after some other of our company have discovered, 
 as they affirm, a great foreland ; where they would have 
 also a great likelihood of the greatest passage towards 
 the South Sea, or Mar del Sur. 
 
 The Buss of Bridgewater, as she came homeward, 
 to the south-eastward of Frisland, discovered a great 
 island in the latitude of 57 degrees and an half, which 
 was never yet found before, and sailed three days along 
 the coast, the land seeming to be fruitful, full of woods, 
 and a champaign country \ 
 
 There died in the whole fleet in all this voyage not 
 
 1 See Note at end (p. 192). 
 
184 Frobishcr Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 above forty persons ; which number is not great, 
 considering how many ships were in the fleet, and how 
 strange fortunes we passed. 
 
 Having now sufficiently and truly set forth the whole 
 circumstance, and particular handling of every occurrent 
 in the three voyages of our worthy General, Captain 
 Frobisher, it shall not be from the purpose to speak 
 somewhat in general of the nature of this country called 
 Meta Incognita, and the condition of the savages there 
 inhabiting. 
 
 First, therefore, touching the topographical de 
 scription of the place. It is now found in the last 
 voyage, that Queen Elizabeth s Cape, being situate in 
 latitude at 61 degrees and a-half, which before was 
 supposed to be part of the firm land of America, and 
 also all the rest of the south side of Frobisher s Straits, 
 are all several islands and broken land ; and likewise so 
 will all the north side of the said Straits fall out to be, 
 as I think. And some of our company being entered 
 above 60 leagues within the mistaken straits in the third 
 voyage mentioned, thought certainly that they had 
 descried the firm land of America towards the south, 
 which I think will fall out so to be. 
 
 These broken lands and islands, being very many in 
 number, do seem to make there an archipelagus ; which, 
 as they all differ in greatness, form, and fashion one 
 from another, so are they in goodness, colour, and soil, 
 much unlike. They are all very high lands, mountains, 
 and in most parts covered with snow even all the 
 summer long. The norther lands have less store of 
 snow, more grass, and are more plain countries; the 
 cause whereof may be, for that the souther islands 
 receive all the snow that the cold winds and piercing 
 air bring out of the north. And contrarily, the north 
 parts receive more warm blasts of milder air from the 
 
1578] Description of the Esquimaux. 185 
 
 south ; whereupon may grow the cause why the people 
 covet to inhabit more upon the north parts than the 
 south, as far as we can yet by our experience perceive 
 they do. These people I judge to be a kind of Tartar, 
 or rather a kind of Samoed, of the same sort and 
 condition of life that the Samoeds be to the north 
 eastwards beyond Muscovy. Who are called Samoeds, 
 which is as much to say, in the Muscovy tongue, as 
 eaters of themselves ; and so the Russians, their 
 borderers, do name them. And by late conference with 
 a friend of mine, with whom I did sometime travel in the 
 parts of Muscovy, who hath great experience of those 
 Samoeds and people of the north-east, I find that in all 
 their manner of living, those people of the north-east 
 and these of the north-west are like. They are of the 
 colour of a ripe olive, which how it may come to pass, 
 being born in so cold a climate, I refer to the judgment 
 of others ; for they are naturally born children of the 
 same colour and complexion that all the Americans are, 
 which dwell under the equinoctial line. 
 
 They are men very active and nimble. They are 
 a strong people and very warlike, for in our sight upon 
 the tops of the hills they would often muster themselves, 
 and, after the manner of a skirmish, trace their ground 
 very nimbly, and manage their bows and darts with 
 great dexterity. They go clad in coats made of the 
 skins of beasts, as of seals, deer, bears, foxes, and 
 hares. They have also some garments of feathers, 
 being made of the cases of fowls, finely sewed and 
 compact together. Of all which sorts we brought home 
 with us into England, which we found in their tents. 
 In summer they use to wear the hairy side of their 
 coats outward, and sometime go naked for too much 
 heat. And in winter, as by signs they have declared, 
 they wear four or five fold upon their bodies with the 
 
1 86 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 hair, for warmth, turned inwards. Hereby it appeareth, 
 that the air there is not indifferent, but either it is 
 fervent hot or else extreme cold, and far more excessive 
 in both qualities than the reason of the climate should 
 yield ; for there it is colder, being under 62 degrees in 
 latitude, than it is at Wardhouse, in the voyage to 
 St. Nicholas in Muscovy, being at above 72 degrees in 
 latitude. The reason hereof perhaps may be, that this 
 Meta Incognita is much frequented and vexed with 
 eastern and north-eastern winds, which from the sea 
 and ice bringeth often an intolerable cold air, which 
 was also the cause that this year our Straits were so 
 long shut up with so great store of ice. But there is 
 hope and likelihood, that further within the Straits it 
 will be more constant and temperate weather. 
 
 These people are in nature very subtle and sharp- 
 witted, ready to conceive our meaning by signs, and to 
 make answer well to be understood again. And if they 
 have not seen the thing whereof you ask them, they 
 will wink, or cover their eyes with their hands, as who 
 would say, it hath been hid from their sight. If they 
 understand you not whereof you ask them, they will 
 stop their ear*. They will teach us the names of each 
 thing in their language which we desire to learn, and 
 are apt to learn anything of us. They delight in music 
 above measure, and will keep time and stroke to any 
 tune which you shall sing, both with their voice, head, 
 hand, and feet, and will sing the same tune aptly after 
 you. They will row with our oars in our boats, and 
 keep a true stroke with our mariners, and seem to take 
 great delight therein. They live in caves of the earth, 
 and hunt for their dinners or prey, even as the bear or 
 other wild beasts do. They eat raw flesh and fish, and 
 refuse no meat, howsoever it be stinking. They are 
 desperate in their fight, sullen of nature, and ravenous 
 
1578] Description of the Esquimaux. 187 
 
 in their manner of feeding. Their sullen and desperate 
 nature doth herein manifestly appear, that a company 
 of them being environed by our men on the top of 
 a high cliff, so that they could by no means escape our 
 hands, finding themselves in this case distressed, chose 
 rather to cast themselves headlong down the rocks into 
 the sea, and so be bruised and drowned, rather than to 
 yield themselves to our men s mercies. 
 
 For their weapons to offend their enemies or kill their 
 prey withal, they have darts, slings, bows, and arrows 
 headed with sharp stones, bones, and some with iron. 
 They are exceeding friendly and kind-hearted one to 
 the other, and mourn greatly at the loss or harm of 
 their fellows ; and express their grief of mind, when they 
 part one from another, with a mournful song and dirges. 
 They are very shamefaced, * * * and very chaste in the 
 manner of their living. For when the man, which we 
 brought from thence into England the last voyage, 
 should put off his coat, * * * he would not suffer the 
 woman to be present, but put her forth of his cabin. 
 And in all the space of two or three months, while the 
 man lived in company of the woman, there was never any 
 thing seen or perceived between them, more than might 
 have passed between brother and sister. But the woman 
 was in all things very serviceable for the man, attending 
 him carefully when he was sick ; and he likewise in all 
 the meats which they did eat together, would carve unto 
 her of the sweetest, fattest, and best morsels they had. 
 They wondered much at all our things, and were afraid 
 of our horses and other beasts out of measure. They 
 began to grow more civil, familiar, pleasant, and docible 
 amongst us in very short time. 
 
 They have boats made of leather, and covered clean 
 over, saving one place in the middle to sit in, planked 
 within with timber ; and they use to row therein with 
 
r88 Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 one oar, more swiftly a great deal than we in our boats 
 can do with twenty. They have one sort of greater 
 boats wherein they can carry above twenty persons ; and 
 have a mast with a sail thereon, which sail is made of 
 thin skins or bladders, sewed together with the sinews 
 of fishes. They are good fishermen, and in their small 
 boats, being disguised with their coats of seals skins, 
 they deceive the fish, who take them rather for their 
 fellow seals, than for deceiving men. They are good 
 markmen. With their dart or arrow they will com 
 monly kill a duck, or any other fowl, in the head, and 
 commonly in the eye. When they shoot at a great fish 
 with any of their darts, they use to tie a bladder there 
 unto, whereby they may the better find them again ; 
 and the fish, not able to carry it so easily away, for 
 that the bladder doth buoy the dart, will at length be 
 weary, and die therewith. They use to traffic and 
 exchange their commodities with some other people, 
 of whom they have such things as their miserable 
 country, and ignorance of art to make, denieth them to 
 have ; as bars of iron, heads of iron for their darts, 
 needles made four-square, certain buttons of copper, 
 which they use to wear upon their foreheads for orna 
 ment, as our ladies in the Court of England do use 
 great pearl. Also they have made signs unto us, that 
 they have seen gold, and such bright plates of metals, 
 which are used for ornaments amongst some people 
 with whom they have conference. We found also in 
 their tents a Guinea-bean of red colour, the which doth 
 usually grow in the hot countries ; whereby it appeareth 
 they trade with other nations which dwell far off, or 
 else themselves are great travellers. 
 
 They have nothing in use among them to make fire 
 withal, saving a kind of heath and moss which groweth 
 there ; and they kindle their fire with continual rubbing 
 
1573] Description of the Esquimaux. 189 
 
 and fretting one stick against another, as we do with 
 flints. They draw with dogs in sleds upon the ice, and 
 remove their tents therewithal, wherein they dwell in 
 summer, when they go hunting for their prey and 
 provision against winter. They do sometimes parboil 
 their meat a little and seethe the same in keetles made 
 of beasts* skins ; they have also pans cut and made of 
 stone very artificially. They use pretty gins where 
 with they take fowl. The women carry their sucking 
 children at their backs, and do feed them with raw flesh, 
 which first they do a little chaw in their own mouths. 
 The women have their faces marked or painted over 
 with small blue spots; they have black and long hair 
 on their heads, and trim the same in a decent order. 
 The men have but little hair on their faces, and very 
 thin beards. For their common drink, they eat ice to 
 quench their thirst withal. Their earth yieldeth no 
 grain or fruit of sustenance for man, or almost for 
 beast, to live upon ; and the people will eat grass and 
 shrubs of the ground, even as our kine do. They have 
 no wood growing in their country thereabouts, and yet 
 we find they have some timber among them ; which we 
 think doth grow far off to the southwards of this place, 
 about Canada, or some other part of Newfoundland. 
 For there, belike, the trees standing on the cliffs of the 
 sea-side, by the weight of ice and snow in winter over 
 charging them with weight, when the summer s thaw 
 cometh above, and also the sea underfretting them 
 beneath, which winneth daily of the land, they are 
 undermined and fall down from those cliffs into the 
 sea, and with the tides and currents are driven to and 
 fro upon the coasts further off; and, by conjecture, are 
 taken up here by these country people, to serve them to 
 plank and strengthen their boats withal, and to make 
 darts, bows, and arrows, and such other things necessary 
 
Frobisher Third Voyage. [1578 
 
 for their use. And of this kind of drift wood we find 
 all the seas over great store ; which being cut or sawed 
 asunder, by reason of long driving in the sea is eaten 
 of worms, and full of holes, of which sort theirs is 
 found to be. 
 
 We have not yet found any venomous serpent or 
 other hurtful thing in these parts ; but there is a kind 
 of small fly or gnat that stingeth and offendeth sorely, 
 leaving many red spots in the face, and other places 
 where she stingeth. They have snow and hail in the 
 best time of their summer, and the ground frozen three 
 fathom deep. 
 
 These people are great enchanters, and use many 
 charms of witchcraft; for when their heads do ache 
 they tie a great stone with a string unto a stick, and 
 with certain prayers and words done to the stick, they 
 lift up the stone from ground, which sometimes with all 
 a man s force they cannot stir, and sometimes again 
 they lift as easily as a feather ; and hope thereby with 
 certain ceremonious words to have ease and help. And 
 they made us by signs to understand, lying grovelling 
 with their faces upon the ground, and making a noise 
 downward, that they worship the devil under them. 
 
 They have great store of deer, bears, hares, foxes, 
 and innumerable numbers of sundry sorts of wild fowl, 
 as sea-mews, gulls, willmots, ducks, &c., whereof our 
 men killed in one day 1500. They have also store of 
 hawks, as falcons, tassels, &c., whereof two alighted 
 upon one of our ships at their return, and were brought 
 into England; which some think will prove very good. 
 There are also great store of ravens, larks, and part 
 ridges, whereof the country people feed. All these 
 fowls are far thicker clothed with down and feathers, 
 and have thicker skins, than any in England have ; for 
 as that country is colder, so nature hath provided 
 
1578] Day and Night in Meta Incognita. 191 
 
 a remedy thereunto. Our men have eaten of their 
 bears, hares, partridges, larks, and of their wild fowl, 
 and find them reasonable good meat, but not so delect 
 able as ours. Their wild fowl must be all flain, their 
 skins are so thick ; and they taste best fried in pans. 
 The country seemeth to be much subject to earthquakes. 
 The air is very subtle, piercing and searching ; so that 
 if any corrupted or infected body, especially with the 
 disease called Morbus Gallicus, come there, it will pre 
 sently break forth and shew itself, and cannot there by 
 any kind of salve or medicine be cured. Their longest 
 summer s day is of a great length, without any dark 
 night, so that in July all the night long we might per 
 fectly and easily write and read whatsoever had pleased 
 us ; which lightsome nights were very beneficial unto 
 us, being so distressed with abundance of ice as we 
 were. The sun setteth to them in the evening at a 
 quarter of an hour after ten of the clock, and riseth 
 again in the morning at three-quarters of an hour after 
 one of the clock ; so that in summer their sun shineth 
 to them twenty hours and a-half, and in the night is 
 absent three hours and a-half. And although the sun 
 be absent these three hours and a-half, yet it is not 
 dark that time, for that the sun is never above three or 
 four degrees under the edge of their horizon ; the cause 
 is, that the tropic of Cancer doth cut their horizon at 
 very uneven and oblique angles. But the moon at any 
 time of the year being in Cancer, having north latitude, 
 doth make a full revolution above their horizon, so that 
 sometimes they see the moon above 24 hours together. 
 Some of our company, of the more ignorant sort, 
 thought we might continually have seen the sun and 
 the moon, had it not have been for two or three high 
 mountains. 
 
 The people are now become so wary, and so circum- 
 
192 Frobisher Third Voyage. 
 
 spect by reason of their former losses, that by no means 
 we can apprehend any of them, although we attempted 
 often in this last voyage. But to say truth, we could 
 not bestow any great time in pursuing them, because of 
 our great business in lading, and other things. 
 
 NOTE ON THE SUPPOSED ISLAND SEEN FROM THE Buss 
 OF BRIDGEWATER (p. 183). 
 
 The island was never again seen, and certainly does not exist. 
 Best s ; fruitful champaign country, full of woods, is manifestly an 
 exaggeration ; and according to Thomas Wiars, a passenger on board 
 the Buss, whose account is given by Hakluyt (vol. iii. p. 44% the 
 supposed coast, thickly encumbered with icebergs, was only viewed 
 from a considerable distance. The island was long supposed to have 
 been submerged by an earthquake; and hence the Sunk Island of 
 Buss was sometimes marked on charts. Ross, however, sounded 
 over the supposed site of the island, and found no trace of it. We 
 are compelled to conclude that it was either an immense pack of 
 floating ice, or merely the southern extremity of Greenland, some 
 promontory on the western coast, further northward, having been 
 mistaken for Cape Farewell, The latter hypothesis, however, does 
 not satisfactorily harmonize with the account of Wiars, and requires 
 us to suppose that the seamen of the Buss made a mistake in observing 
 the latitude to the extent of two degrees. This is not impossible, 
 but scarcely probable : the floating ice appears to afford, on the 
 \vhole, the best explanation of the difficulty. Packs of floating ice 
 much larger than the supposed island, which was estimated to be 
 twenty-five leagues long, are sometimes observed in these seas. 
 Such a field of ice, says Crantz (History of Greenland, vol. i. p. 31), 
 at the first appearance presents a prospect resembling a country 
 with hills and valleys, towns and villages, houses, churches, and 
 towers. 
 
DRAKE ib. 1540? d 1596). 
 
 FRANCIS DRAKE, the greatest of English naval adventurers, 
 and the first Englishman to plough a furrow round the globe, 
 was born at Crowndale, near Tavistock. whence his father 
 removed into Kent. He was one of a large family, most of 
 whom went to sea, and died at sea. like himself 1 . Like 
 Hawkins and Frobisher. he had been early employed in the 
 West African trade, and had by this or other means become 
 a man of substance. As the reader is aware .p. 5 >, Drake 
 had commanded the Judith, under Hawkins, in the third 
 voyage of the latter < 1567 1. Drake had embarked most of his 
 own capital in that venture, and claimed to have sustained 
 heavy losses by the perfidy of the Spaniards at San Juan de 
 Ulua. Failing to obtain compensation by peaceable means, 
 he had recourse to plundering the Spaniards by way of re 
 dressing his alleged wrongs. ^\t the date of the Famous 
 Voyage Drake had already made more than one successful 
 raid on the American coast, and had shown to his men what 
 he described as the mouth of the Treasure of the World 
 the door of the bullion warehouse of Nombre de Dios. On 
 the nth of February, 1573. the maroons of the isthmus 
 had conducted him to a lofty ridge, on the SIT mm ft of which 
 was a tree of giant growth, having steps hewn in it for 
 ascent. Drake mounted it. and beheld at the same time the 
 two oceans, in one of which, the mighty Pacific, no English 
 man had hitherto sailed. Drake then and there prayed God 
 to give him life and leave to sail once in an English ship 
 upon that sea. Calling up John Oxenham, one of his 
 captains, he acquainted him with his resolution to do so. 
 
 : Two of his brothers died in the expedition of 1572: another. 
 Thomas Drake, commanded the 7~*ctrttis in the Great 
 
 \ISt, p. 234 . 
 
1 94 Drake. 
 
 Oxenham vowed that by God s grace he would follow him : 
 instead of which he rashly resolved to anticipate him (1575). 
 Landing on a retired part of the isthmus, he launched a pin 
 nace on a river flowing into the Pacific, reached that ocean, 
 and captured two Peruvian vessels laden with gold and silver. 
 This perilous feat cost Oxenham his life : he was pursued, 
 taken, and sent to Lima, where he was put to death as 
 a pirate. Drake determined to tap the Treasure of the 
 World ? in another way. He proposed secretly to pass the 
 Straits at the southern extremity of the Continent, to sail 
 northwards along the coast of Chile, and thus to reach Peru 
 itself. The Peruvian ports were unfortified. They were un 
 approachable from Europe on the north ; nothing seemed 
 more unlikely than that the English pirates would dare to pass 
 the Straits of Magellan and attack them from the south. Such 
 was the plan of Drake ; and it was executed with complete 
 success. Laden with his rich booty of Peruvian treasure, he 
 deemed it unsafe to return by the same route. Obviously 
 nothing would be easier than for the Spaniards to intercept 
 him at the Straits of Magellan. Cape Horn was unknown : 
 Tierra del Fuego was believed to be part of a great imaginary 
 southern continent called Terra Australis. He therefore, 
 resolved to strike across the Pacific, and for this purpose 
 made the latitude in which this voyage was performed by 
 Spanish vessels sailing to the Philippines 1 . Drake thus 
 reached the coast of California, where the Indians, taking 
 him and his companions for gods, offered him sacrifice, and 
 besought him to remain and rule over them. Drake took 
 possession of the country in the name of the Queen, and 
 refitted his vessel in preparation for the homeward voyage. 
 The place where he landed remains doubtful. If the latitude 
 of 38 30 , given by Drake s chaplain Fletcher, is correct, it 
 must have been in some small bay north of the great bay of 
 San Francisco : perhaps the bay of Bodega best answers 
 the description. Pretty (p. 214) puts the latitude at 38 ; 
 
 1 Davis and Sir William Monson, following the narrative of Drake s 
 chaplain, Fletcher, erroneously state that Drake went as far north as 
 48 degrees. The true reading is 43. Drake never reached the mouth 
 of the Columbia river. 
 
Drake. 195 
 
 this approximately indicates the bay of San Francisco itself, 
 which is marked in old maps as the Port of Sir Francis 
 Drake. He believed himself to be the first European who 
 had visited these shores ; but it is . now ascertained that 
 Spanish explorers had preceded him. 
 
 Drake s famous circumnavigation of the globe was thus 
 no voluntary feat of daring seamanship, but the necessary 
 result of circumstances. This fact does not detract from its 
 importance. The voyage marks a great epoch in English 
 nautical history. Drake had not only plundered the Spaniards^ 
 in the very heart of their American possessions ; he had been< 
 the first Englishman to navigate the Pacific and Indian 
 oceans, and to visit the rich Oriental islands frequented byi 
 the Portuguese, whose factories were so soon to fall, together 
 with Portugal itself, into the avaricious grasp of Spain. He 
 had been the first Englishman to realize the dream of 
 Columbus, and to sail to the East by way of the West. 
 Elizabeth, who had contributed largely to the funds of the 
 enterprise, visited and knighted him on the deck of his vessel, 
 the name of which he had changed, on entering the Straits of 
 Magellan, from the Pelican to the Golden Hind. 
 
 The hull of the Golden Hind long remained at Deptford, 
 used as a restaurant. When she was at length broken up, 
 John Davis caused a chair to be made out of her timbers, 
 and presented it to the University of Oxford. This 
 interesting relic is still preserved over the Bodleian Library. 
 Cowley s fine lines, purporting to have been written by the 
 poet while sitting and drinking in it, are well known : 
 
 Great Relic ! Thou, too, in this port of ease, 
 Hast still one way of making voyages : 
 The breath of fame, like an auspicious gale, 
 (The greater trade-wind, which does never fail ) 
 Shall drive thee round the world, and thou shalt run 
 As long around it as the sun. 
 The Straits of Time too narrow^ are for thee 
 Launch forth into an undiscover d sea, 
 And steer the endless course of vast eternity : 
 Take for thy sail, this verse, and for thy pilot, me. 
 
 O 2 
 
DRAKE S FAMOUS VOYAGE. 
 
 [NARRATIVE BY FRANCIS PRETTY, ONE OF DRAKE S GENTLEMEN 
 AT ARMS.] 
 
 The FAMOUS VOYAGE of SIR FRANCIS DRAKE into the 
 South Sea, and therehence about the whole Globe of the 
 Earth, begun in the year of our Lord 7577. 
 
 The 15. day of November, in the year of our Lord 
 1577, Master Francis Drake, with a fleet of five ships and 
 barks \ and to the number of 164 men, gentlemen and 
 sailors, departed from Plymouth, giving out his pre 
 tended voyage for Alexandria. But the wind falling 
 contrary, he was forced the next morning to put into 
 Falmouth Haven, in Cornwall, where such and so terrible 
 a tempest took us, as few men have seen the like, and 
 was indeed so vehement that all our ships were like to 
 have gone to wrack. But it pleased God to preserve 
 us from that extremity, and to afflict us only for that 
 present with these two particulars : the mast of our 
 Admiral, which was the Pelican, was cut overboard for 
 the safeguard of the ship, and the Marigold was driven 
 ashore, and somewhat bruised. For the repairing of 
 which damages we returned again to Plymouth ; and 
 having recovered those harms, and brought the ships 
 again to good state, we set forth the second time from 
 
 1 The Pelican, 120 tons, commanded by Drake ; the Elizabeth, 
 a new Deptford-buiit ship of 80 tons, commanded by Winter, with 
 her pinnace the Benedict; the Mangold, of 30 tons ; and the Swan, 
 a fly-boat of 50 tons. 
 
Treachery of the Berbers. 197 
 
 Plymouth, and set sail the 13. day of December 
 following. 
 
 The 25. day of the same month we fell with the Cape 
 Cantm, upon the coast of Barbary ; and coasting along, 
 the 27. day we found an island called Mogador, lying 
 one mile distant from the main. Between which island 
 and the mafn we found a very good and safe harbour 
 for our ships to ride in, as also very good entrance, 
 and void of any danger. On this island our General 
 erected a pinnace, whereof he brought out of England 
 with him four already framed. While these things 
 were in doing, there came to the water s side some of 
 the inhabitants of the country, ^shewing forth their 
 flags of truce; which being seen of our General, he 
 sent his ship s boat to the shore to know what they 
 would. They being willing to come aboard, our men 
 left there one man of our company for a pledge, and 
 brought two of theirs aboard our ship ; which by signs 
 shewed our General that the next day they would 
 bring some provision, as sheep, capons, and hens, and 
 such like. Whereupon our General bestowed amongst 
 them some linen cloth and shoes, and a javelin, which 
 they very joyfully received, and departed for that time. 
 The next morning they failed not to come again to the 
 water s side. And our General again setting out our 
 boat, one of our men leaping over-rashly ashore, and 
 offering friendly to embrace them, they set violent 
 hands on him, offering a dagger to his throat if he had 
 made any resistance; and so laying him on a horse 
 carried him away. So that a man cannot be too cir 
 cumspect and wary of himself among such miscreants. 
 Our pinnace being finished, we departed from this 
 place the 30. and last day of December, and coasting 
 along the shore we did descry, not contrary to our 
 expectation, certain canters, which were Spanish fisher- 
 
198 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1578 
 
 men ; to whom we gave chase and took three of them. 
 And proceeding further we met with three carvels, and 
 took them also. 
 
 The 17. day of January we arrived at Cape Blanco, 
 where we found a ship riding at anchor, within the 
 Cape, and but two simple mariners in her. Which ship 
 we took and carried her further into the harbour, 
 where we remained four days ; and in that space our 
 General mustered and trained his men on land in 
 warlike manner, to make them fit for all occasions. In 
 this place we took of the fishermen such necessaries as 
 we wanted, and they could yield us ; and leaving here 
 one of our little barks, called the Benedict, we took 
 with us one of theirs which they called canters, being 
 of the burden of 40 tons or thereabouts. All these 
 things being finished we departed this harbour the 
 22. of January, carrying along with us one of the 
 Portugal carvels, which was bound to the islands of 
 Cape Verde for salt, whereof good store is made in one 
 of those islands, i The master or pilot of that carvel 
 did advertise our General that upon one of those islands, 
 called Mayo, there was great store of dried cabritos^, 
 which a few inhabitants there dwelling did yearly make 
 ready for such of the king s ships as did there touch, 
 being bound for his country of Brazil or elsewhere. 
 We fell with this island the 27. of January, but the 
 inhabitants would in no case traffic with us, being 
 thereof forbidden by the king s edict. Yet the next 
 day our General sent to view the island, and the like 
 lihoods that might be there of provision of victuals, 
 about threescore and two men under the conduct and 
 government of Master Winter and Master Doughty. And 
 marching towards the chief place of habitation in this 
 island (as by the Portugal we were informed), having 
 
 1 Old Sp. cantera (perhaps from cantharus). 2 Goats. 
 
1578] Cape Verde Islands Mayo. 199 
 
 travelled to the mountains the space of three miles, 
 and arriving there somewhat before the daybreak, we 
 arrested ourselves, to see day before us. Which appear 
 ing, we found the inhabitants to be fled ; but the place, by 
 reason that it was manured, we found to be more fruitful 
 than the other part, especially the valleys among the hills. 
 Here we gave ourselves a little refreshing, as by 
 very ripe and sweet grapes, which the fruitfulness of 
 the earth at that season of the year yielded us ; and 
 that season being with us the depth of winter, it may 
 seem strange that those fruits were then there grow 
 ing. But the reason thereof is this, because they being 
 between the tropic and the equinoctial, the sun passeth 
 twice in the year through their zenith over their heads, 
 by means whereof they have two summers ; and being 
 so near the heat of the line they never lose the heat of 
 the sun so much, but the fruits have their increase and 
 continuance in the midst of winter. The island is 
 wonderfully stored with goats and wild hens ; and it 
 hath salt also, without labour, save only that the people 
 gather it into heaps ; which continually in great quantity 
 is increased upon the sands by the flowing of the sea, 
 and the receiving heat of the sun kerning the same. So 
 that of the increase thereof they keep a continual traffic 
 with their neighbours. 
 
 Amongst other things we found here a kind of fruit 
 called cocos, which because it is not commonly known 
 with us in England, I thought good to make some 
 description of it. The tree beareth no leaves nor 
 branches, but at the very top the fruit groweth in 
 clusters, hard at the top of the stem of the tree, as big 
 every several fruit as a man s head ; but having taken 
 off the uttermost bark, which you shall find to be very 
 full of strings or sinews, as I may term them, you shall 
 come to a hard shell, which may hold in quantity of 
 
200 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1578 
 
 liquor a pint commonly, or some a quart, and some 
 less. Within that shell, of the thickness of half-an-inch 
 good, you shall have a kind of hard substance and very 
 white, no less good and sweet than almonds ; within 
 that again, a certain clear liquor, which being drunk, 
 you shall not only find it very delicate and sweet ; but 
 most comfortable and cordial. 
 
 After we had satisfied ourselves with some of these 
 fruits, we marched further into the island, and saw 
 great store of cabrttos alive, which were so chased by 
 the inhabitants that we could do no good towards our 
 provision ; but they had laid out, as it were to stop 
 our mouths withal, certain old dried cabritos, which 
 being but ill, and small and few, we made no account 
 of. Being returned to our ships, our General departed 
 hence the 31. of this month, and sailed by the island 
 of Santiago, but far enough from the danger of the in 
 habitants, who shot and discharged at us three pieces ; 
 but they all fell short of us, and did us no harm. The 
 island is fair and large, and, as it seemeth, rich and 
 fruitful, and inhabited by the Portugals ; but the moun 
 tains and high places of the island are said to be 
 possessed by the Moors, who having been slaves to the 
 Portugals, to ease themselves, made escape to the 
 desert places of the island, where they abide with great 
 strength. Being before this island, we espied two 
 ships under sail, to the one of which we gave chase, 
 and in the end boarded her with a ship-boat without 
 resistance ; which we found to be a good prize, and she 
 yielded unto us good store of wine. Which prize our 
 General committed to the custody of Master Doughty ; 
 and retaining the pilot, sent the rest away with his 
 pinnace, giving them a butt of wine and some victuals, 
 and their wearing clothes, and so they departed. The 
 same night we came with the island called by the 
 
1578] Cape Verde Islands Brazil. 201 
 
 Portugals Ilka do Fogo, that is, the burning island; 
 in the north side whereof is a consuming fire. The 
 matter is said to be of sulphur, but, notwithstanding, it 
 is like to be a commodious island, because the Portugals 
 have built, and do inhabit there. Upon the south side 
 thereof lieth a most pleasant and sweet island, the 
 trees whereof are always green and fair to look upon ; 
 in respect whereof they call it Ilha Brava, that is, the 
 brave island. From the banks thereof into the sea do 
 run in many places reasonable streams of fresh waters 
 easy to come by, but there was no convenient road for 
 our ships ; for such was the depth that no ground 
 could be had for anchoring. And it is reported that 
 ground was never found in that place ; so that the tops 
 of Fogo burn not so high in the air, but the roots of 
 Brava are quenched as low in the sea. 
 
 Being departed from these islands, we drew towards 
 the line, where we were becalmed the space of three 
 weeks, but yet subject to divers great storms, terrible 
 lightnings and much thunder. But with this misery we 
 had the commodity of great store of fish, as dolphins, 
 bom tos, and flying-fishes, whereof some fell into our 
 ships ; wherehence they could not rise again for want of 
 moisture, for when their wings are dry they cannot fly. 
 
 From the first day of our departure from the islands 
 of Cape Verde, we sailed 54 days without sight of land. 
 And the first land that we fell with was the coast of 
 Brazil, which we saw the fifth of April, in the height of 
 33 degrees towards the pole Antarctic. And being dis 
 covered at sea by the inhabitants of the country, they 
 made upon the coast great fires for a sacrifice (as we 
 learned) to the devils; about which they use conjurations, 
 making heaps of sand, and other ceremonies, that when 
 any ship shall go about to stay upon their coast, not only 
 sands may be gathered together in shoals in every place, 
 
202 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1578 
 
 but also that storms and tempests may arise, to the 
 casting away of ships and men, whereof, as it is reported, 
 there have been divers experiments. 
 
 The 7. day in a mighty great storm, both of lightning, 
 rain, and thunder, we lost the canter, which we called 
 the Christopher. But the eleventh day after, by our 
 General s great care in dispersing his ships, we found 
 her again ; and the place where we met our General 
 called the Cape of Joy, where every ship took in some 
 water. Here we found a good temperature and sweet 
 air, a very fair and pleasant country with an exceeding 
 fruitful soil, where were great store of large and mighty 
 deer, but we came not to the sight of any people ; but 
 travelling further into the country we perceived the 
 footing of people in the clay ground, shewing that they 
 were men of great stature. Being returned to our ships 
 we weighed anchor, and ran somewhat further, and 
 harboured ourselves between the rock and the main ; 
 where by means of the rock that brake the force of the 
 sea, we rid very safe. And upon this rock we killed for 
 our provision certain sea-wolves, commonly called with 
 us seals. From hence we went our course to 36 degrees, 
 and entered the great river of Plate, and ran into 54 and 
 53! fathoms of fresh water, where we filled our water by 
 the ship s side ; but our General finding here no good 
 harborough, as he thought he should, bare out again to 
 sea the 27. of April, and in bearing out we lost sight of 
 our fly-boat, wherein Master Doughty was. But we, 
 sailing along, found a fair and reasonable good bay, 
 wherein were many and the same profitable islands ; 
 one whereof had so many seals as would at the least 
 have laden all our ships, and the rest of the islands are, 
 as it were, laden with fowls, which is wonderful to see, 
 and they of divers sorts. It is a place very plentiful of 
 victuals, and hath in it no want of fresh water. Our 
 
i57 8 l Coast of Patagonia The Natives. 203 
 
 General, after certain days of his abode in this place, 
 being on shore in an island, the people of the country 
 shewed themselves unto him, leaping and dancing, and 
 entered into traffic with him ; but they would not receive 
 anything at any man s hands, but the same must be cast 
 upon the ground. They are of clean, comely, and strong 
 bodies, swift on foot, and seem to be very active. 
 
 The 18. day of May, our General thought it needful 
 to have a care of such ships as were absent ; and there 
 fore endeavouring to seek the fly-boat wherein Master 
 Doughty was, we espied her again the next day. And 
 whereas certain of our ships were sent to discover the 
 coast and to search an harbour, the Marigold and the 
 canter being employed in that business, came unto us 
 and gave us understanding of a safe harbour that they 
 had found. Wherewith all our ships bare, and entered 
 it ; where we watered and made new provision of victuals, 
 as by seals, whereof we slew to the number of 200 or 
 300 in the space of an hour. Here our General in the 
 Admiral rid close aboard the fly-boat, and took out of 
 her all the provision of victuals and what else was in 
 her, and hauling her to the land, set fire to her, and so 
 burnt her to save the iron work. Which being a-doing, 
 there came down of the country certain of the people 
 naked, saving only about their waist the skin of some 
 beast, with the fur or hair on, and something also 
 wreathed on their heads. Their faces were painted with 
 divers colours, and some of them had on their heads 
 the similitude of horns, every man his bow, which was 
 an ell in length, and a couple of arrows. They were 
 very agile people and quick to deliver, and seemed not 
 to be ignorant in the feats of wars, as by their order of 
 ranging a few men might appear. These people would 
 not of a long time receive anything at our hands ; yet 
 at length our General being ashore, and they dancing 
 
204 Drake s Famous Voyage. [1578 
 
 after their accustomed manner about him, and he once 
 turning his back towards them, one leaped suddenly to 
 him, and took his cap with his gold band off his head, 
 and ran a little distance from him, and shared it with 
 his fellow, the cap to the one, and the band to the other. 
 Having despatched all our business in this place, we 
 departed and set sail. And immediately upon our setting 
 forth we lost our canter, which was absent three or four 
 days ; but when our General had her again, he took out 
 the necessaries, and so gave her over, near to the Cape 
 of Good Hope. The next day after, being the 20. of 
 June, we harboured ourselves again in a very good 
 harborough, called by Magellan, Port St. Julian, where 
 we found a gibbet standing upon the main ; which we 
 supposed to be the place where Magellan did execution 
 upon some of his disobedient and rebellious company. 
 
 The two and twentieth day our General went ashore 
 to the main, and in his company John Thomas, and 
 Robert Winterhie, Oliver the master -gunner, John 
 Brewer, Thomas Hood, and Thomas Drake. And 
 entering on land, they presently met with two or three 
 of the country people. And Robert Winterhie having 
 in his hands a bow and arrows, went about to make 
 a shoot of pleasure, and, in his draught, his bowstring 
 brake ; which the rude savages taking as a token of war, 
 began to bend the force of their bows against our 
 company, and drove them to their shifts very narrowly. 
 
 In this port our General began to enquire diligently 
 of the actions of Master Thomas Doughty, and found 
 them not to be such as he looked for, but tending rather 
 of contention or mutiny, or some other disorder, whereby, 
 without redress, the success of the voyage might greatly 
 have been hazarded. Whereupon the company was 
 called together and made acquainted with the particulars 
 of the cause, which were found, partly by Master 
 
1578] Port St. Julian Execution of Doughty. 205 
 
 Doughfy s own confession, and partly by the evidence of 
 the fact, to be true. Which when our General saw, 
 although his private affection to Master Doughty, as he 
 then in the presence of us all sacredly protested, was 
 great, yet the care he had of the state of the voyage, of 
 the expectation of her Majesty, and of the honour of his 
 country did more touch him, as indeed it ought, than 
 the private respect of one man. So that the cause being 
 throughly heard, and all things done in good order as 
 near as might be to the course of our laws in England, 
 it was concluded that Master Doughty should receive 
 punishment according to the quality of the offence. 
 And he, seeing no remedy but patience for himself, 
 desired before his death to receive the communion, 
 which he did at the hands of Master Fletcher, our 
 minister, and our General himself accompanied him 
 in that holy action. Which being done, and the place 
 of execution made ready, he having embraced our 
 General, and taken his leave of all the company, with 
 prayers for the Queen s Majesty and our realm, in quiet 
 sort laid his head to the block, where he ended his life. 
 This being done, our General made divers speeches to 
 the whole company, persuading us to unity, obedience, 
 love, and regard of our voyage ; and for the better 
 confirmation thereof, willed every man the next Sunday 
 following to prepare himself to receive the communion, 
 as Christian brethren and friends ought to do. Which 
 was done in very reverent sort ; and so with good con 
 tentment every man went about his business. 
 
 The 17. day of August we departed the port of 
 St. Julian \ and the 20. day we fell with the Strait of 
 Magellan, going into the South Sea ; at the cape or head- 
 
 1 The squadron was now reduced to three ships, the Szvan and 
 the Christopher, as well as the Portuguese prize, having been con 
 demned as unseaworthy, and burnt or abandoned. 
 
2o6 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1578 
 
 land whereof we found the body of a dead man, whose flesh 
 was clean consumed. The 21. day we entered the Strait \ 
 which we found to have many turnings, and as it were 
 shuttings-up, as if there were no passage at all. By means 
 whereof we had the wind often against us ; so that some 
 of the fleet recovering a cape or point of land, others 
 should be forced to turn back again, and to come to an 
 anchor where they could. In this Strait there be many 
 fair harbours, with store of fresh water. But yet they 
 lack their best commodity, for the water there is of such 
 depth, that no man shall find ground to anchor in, except 
 it be in some narrow river or corner, or between some 
 rocks ; so that if any extreme blasts or contrary winds 
 do come, whereunto the place is much subject, it 
 carrieth with it no small danger. The land on both 
 sides is very huge and mountainous ; the lower mountains 
 whereof, although they be monstrous and wonderful to 
 look upon for their height, yet there are others which in 
 height exceed them in a strange manner, reaching 
 themselves above their fellows so high, that between 
 them did appear three regions of clouds. These 
 mountains are covered with snow. At both the southerly 
 and easterly parts of the Strait there are islands, 
 among which the sea hath his indraught into the 
 Straits, even as it hath in the main entrance of the 
 frete z . This Strait is extreme cold, with frost and snow 
 continually ; the trees seem to stoop with the burden of 
 the weather, and yet are green continually, and many 
 good and sweet herbs do very plentifully grow and 
 increase under them. The breadth of the Strait is in 
 some places a league, in some other places two leagues 
 and three leagues, and in some other four leagues ; but 
 the narrowest place hath a league over. 
 
 1 Drake here changed the name of the Pelican to the Golden 
 Hind, the crest of Sir Christopher Hatton. - Lat. fretum. 
 
578] Strait of Magellan The Pacific. 207 
 
 The 24. of August we arrived at an island in the 
 Straits, where we found great store of fowl which could 
 not fly, of the bigness of geese ; whereof we killed in 
 less than one day 3.000, and victualled ourselves 
 throughly therewith. The 6. day of September we 
 entered the South Sea at the cape or head shore. The 
 7. day we were driven by a great storm from the 
 entering into the South Sea, 200 leagues and odd in 
 longitude, and one degree to the southward of the 
 Strait; in which height, and so many leagues to the 
 westward, the 15. day of September, fell out the eclipse 
 of the moon at the hour of six of the clock at night. 
 But neither did the ecliptical conflict of the moon 
 impair our state, nor her clearing again amend us 
 a whit ; but the accustomed eclipse of the sea con 
 tinued in his force, we being darkened more than the 
 moon sevenfold \ 
 
 From the bay which we called the Bay of Severing 
 of Friends, we were driven back to the southward of 
 the Straits in 57 degrees and a tierce ; in which height 
 we came to an anchor among the islands, having there 
 fresh and very good water, with herbs of singular 
 virtue. Not far from hence we entered another bay, 
 where we found people, both men and women, in their 
 canoes naked, and ranging from one island to another 
 to seek their meat ; who entered traffic with us for such 
 things as they had. We returning hence northward 
 again, found the third of October three islands, in one 
 of which was such plenty of birds as is scant credible to 
 report. The 8. day of October we lost sight of one of 
 our consorts 2 , wherein Master Winter was; who, as then 
 we supposed, was put by a storm into the Straits again. 
 
 1 In this storm the Marigold went down with all hands. 
 
 2 The Elizabeth. Winter, having lost sight of the Admiral, sailed 
 home. The Golden Hind was thus left to pursue her voyage alone. 
 
2o8 Drake s Famous Voyage. [1578 
 
 Which at our return home we found to be true, and 
 he not perished, as some of our company feared. Thus 
 being come into the height of the Straits again, we ran, 
 supposing the coast of Chili to lie as the general maps 
 have described it, namely north-west ; which we found 
 to lie and trend to the north-east and eastwards. 
 Whereby it appeareth that this part of Chili hath not 
 been truly hitherto discovered, or at the least not truly 
 reported, for the space of twelve degrees at the least ; 
 being set down either of purpose to deceive, or of 
 ignorant conjecture. 
 
 We continuing our course, fell the 29. of November 
 with an island called La Mocha, where we cast anchor ; 
 and our General, hoising out our boat, went with ten of 
 our company to shore. Where we found people, whom 
 the cruel and extreme dealings of the Spaniards have 
 forced, for their own safety and liberty, to flee from the 
 main, and to fortify themselves in this island. We 
 being on land, the people came down to us to the 
 water side with show of great courtesy, bringing to 
 us potatoes, roots, and two very fat sheep ; which our 
 General received, and gave them other things for them, 
 and had promise to have water there. But the next 
 day repairing again to the shore, and sending two men 
 a-land with barrels to fill water, the people taking them 
 for Spaniards (to whom they use to show no favour if 
 they take them) laid violent hands on them, and, as we 
 think, slew them. Our General seeing this, stayed here 
 no longer, but weighed anchor, and set sail towards the 
 coast of Chili. And drawing towards it, we met near to 
 the shore an Indian in a canoa, who thinking us to have 
 been Spaniards, came to us and told us, that at a place 
 called Santiago, there was a great Spanish ship laden 
 from the kingdom of Peru ; for which good news our 
 General gave him divers trifles. Whereof he was glad, 
 
j 5 78] Coast of Chili Valparaiso. 209 
 
 and went along with us and brought us to the place, 
 which is called the port of Valparaiso. When we came 
 thither we found, indeed, the ship riding at anchor, 
 having in her eight Spaniards and three negroes ; who, 
 thinking us to have been Spaniards, and their friends, 
 welcomed us with a drum, and made ready a botija 
 of wine of Chili to drink to us. But as soon as we were 
 entered, one of our company called Thomas Moon began 
 to lay about him, and struck one of the Spaniards, and 
 said unto him, Abaxo, perro ! that is in English, Go 
 down, dog ! One of these Spaniards, seeing persons 
 of that quality in those seas, all to crossed and blessed 
 himself. But, to be short, we stowed them under 
 hatches, all save one Spaniard, who suddenly and 
 desperately leapt overboard into the sea, and swam 
 ashore to the town of Santiago, to give them warning 
 of our arrival. 
 
 They of the town, being not above nine households, 
 presently fled away and abandoned the town. Our 
 General manned his boat and the Spanish ship s boat, 
 and went to the town ; and, being come to it, we rifled 
 it, and came to a small chapel, which we entered, and 
 found therein a silver chalice, two cruets, and one 
 altar-cloth, the spoil whereof our General gave to Master 
 Fletcher, his minister. We found also in this town 
 a warehouse stored with wine of Chili and many boards 
 of cedar-wood ; all which wine we brought away with us, 
 and certain of the boards to burn for firewood. And 
 so, being come aboard, we departed the haven, having 
 first set all the Spaniards on land, saving one John 
 Griego, a Greek born, whom our General carried with 
 him as pilot to bring him into the haven of Lima. 
 
 When we were at sea our General rifled the ship, 
 and found in her good store of the wine of Chili, and 
 
 * Jar. 
 P 
 
2IO 
 
 Drake s Famous Voyage, [1579 
 
 25,000 pesos of very pure and fine gold of Valdivia } 
 amounting in value to 37,000 ducats of Spanish money ; 
 and above. So, going on our course, we arrived next 
 at a place called Coquimbo, where our General sent 
 fourteen of his men on land to fetch water. But they 
 were espied by the Spaniards, who came with 300 
 horsemen and 200 footmen, and slew one of our men 
 with a piece. The rest came aboard in safety, and the 
 Spaniards departed. We went on shore again and 
 buried our man, and the Spaniards came down again 
 with a flag of truce ; but we set sail, and would not 
 trust them. From hence we went to a certain port 
 called Tarapaca; where, being landed, we found by 
 the sea side a Spaniard lying asleep, who had lying 
 by him thirteen bars of silver, which weighed 4,000 
 ducats Spanish. We took the silver and left the man. 
 Not far from hence, going on land for fresh water, 
 we met with a Spaniard and an Indian boy driving 
 eight llamas or sheep of Peru, which are as big as 
 asses ; every of which sheep had on his back two 
 bags of leather, each bag containing 50 Ib. weight of 
 fine silver. So that, bringing both the sheep and their 
 burthen to the ships, we found in all the bags eight 
 hundred weight of silver. 
 
 Herehence we sailed to a place called Arica\ and, 
 being entered the port, we found there three small 
 barks, which we rifled, and found in one of them 
 fifty-seven wedges of silver, each of them weighing 
 about 20 Ib. weight, and every of these wedges were 
 of the fashion and bigness of a brickbat. In all these 
 three barks, we found not one person. For they, 
 mistrusting no strangers, were all gone a-land to the 
 town, which consisteth of about twenty houses ; which 
 we would have ransacked if our company had been 
 better and more in number. But our General, con- 
 
1579] Coast of Peru Lima. 211 
 
 tented with the spoil of the ships, left the town and 
 put off again to sea, and set sail for Lima, and, by the 
 way, met with a small bark, which he boarded, and 
 found in her good store of linen cloth. Whereof taking 
 some quantity, he let her go. 
 
 To Lima we came the 13. of February ; and, being 
 entered the haven, we found there about twelve sail 
 of ships lying fast moored at an anchor, having all their 
 sails carried on shore; for the masters and merchants 
 were here most secure, having never been assaulted by 
 enemies, and at this time feared the approach of none 
 such as we were. Our General rifled these ships, and 
 found in one of them a chest full of reals of plate, and 
 good store of silks and linen cloth ; and took the chest 
 into his own ship, and good store of the silks and linen. 
 In which ship he had news of another ship called the 
 Cacafuego \ which was gone towards Payta, and that 
 the same ship was laden with treasure. Whereupon 
 we stayed no longer here, but, cutting all the cables 
 of the ships in the haven, we let them drive whither 
 they would, either to sea or to the shore ; and with 
 all speed we followed the Cacafuego toward Payta, 
 thinking there to have found her. But before we 
 arrived there she was gone from thence towards 
 Panama ; whom our General still pursued, and by the 
 way met with a bark laden with ropes and tackle for 
 ships, which he boarded and searched, and found in 
 her 80 Ib. weight of gold, and a crucifix of gold with 
 goodly great emeralds set in it, which he took, and 
 some of the cordage also for his own ship. From 
 hence we departed, still following the Cacafuego ; and 
 our General promised our company that whosoever 
 should first descry her should have his chain of gold 
 for his good news. It fortuned that John Drake, going 
 
 1 Spitfire . 
 P 2 
 
212 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1579 
 
 up into the top, descried her about three of the clock. 
 And about six of the clock we came to her and boarded 
 her, and shot at her three pieces of ordnance, and strake 
 down her mizen ; and, being entered, we found in her 
 great riches, as jewels and precious stones, thirteen 
 chests full of reals of plate, fourscore pound weight 
 of gold, and six-and-twenty ton of silver. The place 
 where we took this prize was called Cape de San 
 Francisco, about 150 leagues [south] from Panama. The 
 pilot s name of this ship was Francisco ; and amongst 
 other plate that our General found in this ship he found 
 two very fair gilt bowls of silver, which were the pilot s. 
 To whom our General said, Senor Pilot, you have here 
 two silver cups, but I must needs have one of them ; which 
 the pilot, because he could not otherwise choose, yielded 
 unto, and gave the other to the steward of our General s 
 ships. When this pilot departed from us, his boy said 
 thus unto our General ; Captain, our ship shall be called no 
 more the Cacafuego, but the Cacaplata, and your ship shall 
 be called the Cacafuego. Which pretty speech of the 
 pilot s boy ministered matter of laughter to us, both 
 then and long after. When our General had done 
 what he would with this Cacafuego, he cast her off, and 
 we went on our course still towards the west ; and not 
 long after met with a ship laden with linen cloth and 
 fine China dishes of white earth, and great store of 
 China silks, of all which things we took as we listed. 
 The owner himself of this ship was in her, who was 
 a Spanish gentleman 1 , from whom our General took 
 a falcon of gold, with a great emerald in the breast 
 thereof 2 ; and the pilot of the ship he took also with 
 him, and so cast the ship off. 
 
 This pilot brought us to the haven of Guatulco, the 
 
 1 Don Francisco de Zarate. 
 
 3 Drake presented him in return with a hanger and a silver brazier. 
 
1 5 7 9l Cofls/ of Mexico Guatulco. 213 
 
 town whereof, as he told us, had but 17 Spaniards in it. 
 As soon as we were entered this haven, we landed, and 
 went presently to the town and to the town-house ; where 
 we found a judge sitting in judgment, being associated 
 with three other officers, upon three negroes that had 
 conspired the burning of the town. Both which judges 
 and prisoners we took, and brought them a-shipboard, 
 and caused the chief judge to write his letter to the 
 town to command all the townsmen to avoid, that we 
 might safely water there. Which being done, and they 
 departed, we ransacked the town ; and in one house we 
 found a pot, of the quantity of a bushel, full of reals of 
 plate, which we brought to our ship. And here one 
 Thomas Moon, one of our company, took a Spanish 
 gentleman as he was flying out of the town ; and, 
 searching him, he found a chain of gold about him, and 
 other jewels, which he took, and so let him go. At this 
 place our General, among other Spaniards, set ashore 
 his Portugal pilot which he took at the islands of Cape 
 Verde out of a ship of St. Mary port, of Portugal. And 
 having set them ashore we departed hence, and sailed 
 to the island of Canno ; where our General landed, and 
 brought to shore his own ship, and discharged her, 
 mended and graved her, and furnished our ship with 
 water and wood sufficiently. 
 
 And while we were here we espied a ship and set sail 
 after her, and took her, and found in her two pilots and 
 a Spanish governor, going for the islands of the 
 Philippinas. We searched the ship, and took some of 
 her merchandises, and so let her go. Our General at 
 this place and time, thinking himself, both in respect of 
 his private injuries received from the Spaniards, as also 
 of their contempts and indignities offered to our country 
 and prince in general, sufficiently satisfied and re 
 venged ; and supposing that her Majesty at his return 
 
214 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1579 
 
 would rest contented with this service, purposed to 
 continue no longer upon the Spanish coast, but began 
 to consider and to consult of the best way for his 
 country. 
 
 He thought it not good to return by the Straits, for 
 two special causes ; the one, lest the Spaniards should 
 there wait and attend for him in great number and 
 strength, whose hands, he, being left but one ship, could 
 not possibly escape. The other cause was the dangerous 
 situation of the mouth of the Straits in the South Sea ; 
 where continual storms reigning and blustering, as he 
 found by experience, besides the shoals and sands upon 
 the coast, he thought it not a good course to adventure 
 that way. He resolved, therefore, to avoid these 
 hazards, to go forward to the Islands of the Ma/ucos, 
 and therehence to sail the course of the Portugals by 
 the Cape of Buena Esperanza. Upon this resolution 
 he began to think of his best way to the Malucos, and 
 finding himself, where he now was, becalmed, he saw 
 that of necessity he must be forced to take a Spanish 
 course ; namely, to sail somewhat northerly to get 
 a wind. We therefore set sail, and sailed 600 leagues 
 at the least for a good wind ; and thus much we sailed 
 from the 16. of April till the third of June. 
 
 The fifth of June, being in 43 degrees towards the 
 pole Arctic, we found the air so cold, that our men being 
 grievously pinched with the same, complained of the 
 extremity thereof; and the further we went, the more 
 the cold increased upon us. Whereupon we thought it 
 best for that time to seek the land, and did so ; finding 
 it not mountainous, but low plain land, till we came 
 within 38 degrees towards the line. In which height it 
 pleased God to send us into a fair and good bay, with 
 a good wind to enter the same. In this bay we 
 anchored ; and the people of the country, having their 
 
1579] Coast of California The Indians. 215 
 
 houses close by the water s side, shewed themselves unto 
 us, and sent a present to our General. When they 
 came unto us, they greatly wondered at the things that 
 we brought. But our General, according to his natural 
 and accustomed humanity, courteously intreated them, 
 and liberally bestowed on them necessary things to 
 cover their nakedness ; whereupon they supposed us to 
 be gods, and would not be persuaded to the contrary. 
 The presents which they sent to our General, were 
 feathers, and cauls of net-work. Their houses are 
 digged round about with earth, and have from the 
 uttermost brims of the circle, clifts of wood set upon 
 them, joining close together at the top like a spire steeple, 
 which by reason of that closeness are very warm. Their 
 bed is the ground with rushes strowed on it; and 
 lying about the house, [they] have the fire in the midst. 
 The men go naked ; the women take bulrushes, and 
 kemb them after the manner of hemp, and thereof make 
 their loose garments, which being knit about their 
 middles, hang down about their hips, having also about 
 their shoulders a skin of deer, with the hair upon it. 
 These women are very obedient and serviceable to their 
 husbands. 
 
 After they were departed from us, they came and 
 visited us the second time, and brought with them 
 feathers and bags of tabacco for presents. And when 
 they came to the top of the hill, at the bottom whereof 
 we had pitched our tents, they stayed themselves ; where 
 one appointed for speaker wearied himself with making 
 a long oration ; which done, they left their bows upon 
 the hill, and came down with their presents. In the 
 meantime the women, remaining upon the hill, tormented 
 themselves lamentably, tearing their flesh from their 
 cheeks, whereby we perceived that they were about 
 a sacrifice. In the meantime our General with his 
 
216 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1579 
 
 company went to prayer, and to reading of the 
 Scriptures, at which exercise they were attentive, and 
 seemed greatly to be affected with it; but when they 
 were come unto us, they restored again unto us those 
 things which before we bestowed upon them. The news 
 of our being there being spread through the country, 
 the people that inhabited round about came down, 
 and amongst them the king himself, a man of a 
 goodly stature, and comely personage, with many other 
 tall and warlike men ; before whose coming were sent 
 two ambassadors to our General, to signify that their 
 king was coming, in doing of which message, their 
 speech was continued about half an hour. This ended, 
 they by signs requested our General to send something 
 by their hand to their king, as a token that his coming 
 might be in peace. Wherein our General having satisfied 
 them, they returned with glad tidings to their king, who 
 marched to us with a princely majesty, the people crying 
 continually after their manner ; and as they drew near 
 unto us, so did they strive to behave themselves in their 
 actions with comeliness. In the fore- front was a man of 
 a goodly personage, who bare the sceptre or mace before 
 the king ; whereupon hanged two crowns, a less and 
 a bigger, with three chains of a marvellous length. The 
 crowns were made of knit work, wrought artificially with 
 feathers of divers colours. The chains were made of 
 a bony substance, and few be the persons among 
 them that are admitted to wear them ; and of that number 
 also the persons are stinted, as some ten, some twelve, 
 &c. Next unto him which bare the sceptre, was the 
 king himself, with his guard about his person, clad with 
 coney skins, and other skins. After them followed the 
 naked common sort of people, every one having his face 
 painted, some with white, some with black, and other 
 colours, and having in their hands one thing or another 
 
1579! Drake s reception by the Indians. 217 
 
 for a present. Not so much as their children, but they 
 also brought their presents. 
 
 In the meantime our General gathered his men 
 together, and marched within his fenced place, making, 
 against their approaching, a very warlike show. They 
 being trooped together in their order, and a general 
 salutation being made, there was presently a general 
 silence. Then he that bare the sceptre before the 
 king, being informed by another, whom they assigned 
 to that office, with a manly and lofty voice proclaimed 
 that which the other spake to him in secret, continuing 
 half an hour. Which ended, and a general Amen, as it 
 were, given, the king with the whole number of men 
 and women, the children excepted, came down without 
 any weapon ; who, descending to the foot of the hill, set 
 themselves in order. In coming towards our bulwarks 
 and tents, the sceptre-bearer began a song, observing 
 his measures in a dance, and that with a stately 
 countenance ; whom the king with his guard, and every 
 degree of persons, following, did in like manner sing 
 and dance, saving only the women, which danced and 
 kept silence. The General permitted them to enter 
 within our bulwark, where they continued their song 
 and dance a reasonable time. When they had satisfied 
 themselves, they made signs to our General to sit down ; 
 to whom the king and divers others made several 
 orations, or rather supplications, that he would take 
 their province and kingdom into his hand, and become 
 their king, making signs that they would resign unto 
 him their right and title of the whole land, and become 
 his subjects. In which, to persuade us the better, the 
 king and the rest, with one consent, and with great 
 reverence, joyfully singing a song, did set the crown 
 upon his head, enriched his neck with all their chains, 
 and offered him many other things, honouring him by 
 
218 Drakes Famous Voyage. [1579 
 
 the name of Htoh, adding thereunto, as it seemed, a sign 
 of triumph; which thing our General thought not meet 
 to reject, because he knew not what honour and profit it 
 might be to our country. Wherefore in the name, and 
 to the use of her Majesty, he took the sceptre, crown, 
 and dignity of the said country into his hands, wishing 
 that the riches and treasure thereof might so con 
 veniently be transported to the enriching of her kingdom 
 at home, as it aboundeth in the same. 
 
 The common sort of people, leaving the king and his 
 guard with our General, scattered themselves together 
 with their sacrifices among our people, taking a diligent 
 view of every person : and such as pleased their fancy 
 (which were the youngest), they enclosing them about 
 offered their sacrifices unto them with lamentable 
 weeping, scratching and tearing their flesh from their 
 faces with their nails, whereof issued abundance of 
 blood. But we used signs to them of disliking this, 
 and stayed their hands from force, and directed them 
 upwards to the living God, whom only they ought to 
 worship. They shewed unto us their wounds, and 
 craved help of them at our hands ; whereupon we gave 
 them lotions, plaisters, and ointments agreeing to the 
 state of their griefs, beseeching God to cure their 
 diseases. Every third day they brought their sacrifices 
 unto us, until they understood our meaning, that we had 
 no pleasure in them ; yet they could not be long absent 
 from us, but daily frequented our company to the hour 
 of our departure, which departure seemed so grievous 
 unto them, that their joy was turned into sorrow. They 
 entreated us, that being absent we would remember 
 them, and by stealth provided a sacrifice, which we 
 misliked. 
 
 Our necessary business being ended, our General 
 with his company travelled up into the country to their 
 
1579] California named New Albion 219 
 
 villages, where we found herds of deer by a thousand in 
 a company, being most large, and fat of body. We 
 found the whole country to be a warren of a strange 
 kind of coneys ; their bodies in bigness as be the Barbary 
 coneys, their heads as the heads of ours, the feet of 
 a want 1 , and the tail of a rat, being of great length. 
 Under her chin is on either side a bag, into the which 
 she gathereth her meat, when she hath filled her belly 
 abroad. The people eat their bodies, and make great 
 account of their skins, for their king s coat was made of 
 them. Our General called this country Nova Albion, 
 and that for two causes ; the one in respect of the white 
 banks and cliffs, which lie towards the sea, and the 
 other, because it might have some affinity with our 
 country in name, which sometime was so called. There 
 is no part of earth here to be taken up, wherein there is 
 not some probable show of gold or silver. 
 
 At our departure hence our General set up a monu 
 ment of our being there, as also of her Majesty s right 
 and title to the same ; namely a plate, nailed upon a fair 
 great post, whereupon was engraved her Majesty s name, 
 the day and year of our arrival there, with the free 
 giving up of the province and people into her Majesty s 
 hands, together with her Highness picture and arms, 
 in a piece of six pence of current English money, under 
 the plate, whereunder was also written the name of our 
 General. 
 
 It seemeth that the Spaniards hitherto had never 
 been in this part of the country, neither did ever 
 discover the land by many degrees to the southwards of 
 this place. 
 
 After we had set sail from hence, we continued 
 without sight of land till the 13. day of October follow 
 ing, which day in the morning we fell with certain 
 1 Mole. 
 
22o Drake s Famous Voyage. [1579 
 
 islands eight degrees to the northward of the line, from 
 which islands came a great number of canoas, having in 
 some of them four, in some six, and in some also 
 fourteen men, bringing with them cocos and other fruits. 
 Their canoas were hollow within, and cut with great art 
 and cunning, being very smooth within and without, and 
 bearing a glass l as if it were a horn daintily burnished, 
 having a prow and a stern of one sort, yielding inward 
 circle-wise, being of a great height, and full of certain 
 white shells for a bravery ; and on each side of them lie 
 out two pieces of timber about a yard and a half long, 
 more or less, according to the smallness or bigness of 
 the boat. These people have the nether part of their 
 ears cut into a round circle, hanging down very low 
 upon their cheeks, whereon they hang things of 
 a reasonable weight. The nails of their hands are an 
 inch long, their teeth are as black as pitch, and they 
 renew them often, by eating of an herb with a kind of 
 powder, which they always carry about them in a cane 
 for the same purpose. 
 
 Leaving this island the night after we fell with it, the 
 18. of October we lighted upon divers others, some 
 whereof made a great show of inhabitants. We 
 continued our course by the islands of Tagulanda 2 , 
 Zelon, and Zewarra, being friends to the Portugals, the 
 first whereof hath growing in it great store of cinnamon. 
 The 14. of November we fell in with the islands of 
 Maluco. Which day at night (having directed our 
 course to run with Tidore) in coasting along the island 
 of Mutyr 3 , belonging to the king of Ternate, his deputy 
 or vice-king seeing us at sea, came with his canoa to us 
 without all fear, and came aboard ; and after some 
 
 1 I. e. having a gloss. 
 
 a Tagulandang, to the north-east of Celebes. 
 
 3 Motir, one of the Ternate Moluccas. 
 
1579] The Pacific crossed The Moluccas. 221 
 
 conference with our General, willed him in any wise to 
 run in with Ternate, and not with Tidore, assuring him 
 that the king would be glad of his coming, and would 
 be ready to do what he would require, for which purpose 
 he himself would that night be with the king, and tell 
 him the news. With whom if he once dealt, we should 
 find that as he was a king, so his word should stand ; 
 adding further, that if he went to Tidore before he came 
 to Ternate, the king would have nothing to do with us, 
 because he held the Portugal as his enemy. Where 
 upon our General resolved to run with Ternate. Where 
 the next morning early we came to anchor; at which 
 time our General sent a messenger to the king, with 
 a velvet cloak for a present and token of his coming to 
 be in peace, and that he required nothing but traffic and 
 exchange of merchandise, whereof he had good store, 
 in such things as he wanted. 
 
 In the meantime the vice-king had been with the 
 king according to his promise, signifying unto him 
 what good things he might receive from us by traffic. 
 Whereby the king was moved with great liking towards 
 us, and sent to our General, with special message, that 
 he should have what things he needed and would 
 require, with peace and friendship ; and moreover that 
 he would yield himself and the right of his island to be 
 at the pleasure and commandment of so famous a prince 
 as we served. In token whereof he sent to our General 
 a signet ; and within short time after came in his own 
 person, with boats and canoas, to our ship, to bring her 
 into a better and safer road than she was in at that 
 present. In the meantime, our General s messenger, 
 being come to the Court, was met by certain noble 
 personages with great solemnity, and brought to the 
 king, at whose hands he was most friendly and 
 graciously entertained. 
 
222 Drake s Famous Voyage. [15/9 
 
 The king, purposing to come to our ship, sent before 
 four great and large canoas, in every one whereof were 
 certain of his greatest states 1 that were about him, 
 attired in white lawn of cloth of Calicut, having over 
 their heads, from the one end of the canoa to the other, 
 a covering of thin perfumed mats, borne up with a frame 
 made of reeds for the same use ; under which every one 
 did sit in his order according to his dignity, to keep him 
 from the heat of the sun ; divers of whom being of good 
 age and gravity, did make an ancient and fatherly show. 
 There were also divers young and comely men attired 
 in white, as were the others ; the rest were soldiers, 
 which stood in comely order round about on both sides. 
 Without whom sat the rowers in certain galleries; which 
 being three on a side all along the canoas, did lie off 
 from the side thereof three or four yards, one being 
 orderly builded lower than another, in every of which 
 galleries were the number of fourscore rowers. These 
 canoas were furnished with warlike munition, every man 
 for the most part having his sword and target, with his 
 dagger, beside other weapons, as lances, calivers, darts, 
 bows and arrows ; also every canoa had a small cast base 
 mounted at the least one full yard upon a stock set 
 upright. Thus coming near our ship, in order, they 
 rowed about us one after another, and passing by, did 
 their homage with great solemnity ; the great personages 
 beginning with great gravity and fatherly countenances, 
 signifying that the king had sent them to conduct our 
 ship into a better road. Soon after the king himself 
 repaired, accompanied with six grave and ancient 
 persons, who did their obeisance with marvellous 
 humility. The king was a man of tall stature, and 
 seemed to be much delighted with the sound of our 
 music ; to whom, as also to his nobility, our General 
 
 1 States = men of property or estate. 
 
1579] Drake s reception at Ternate. 223 
 
 gave presents, wherewith they were passing well con 
 tented. 
 
 At length the king craved leave of our General to 
 depart, promising the next day to come aboard, and in 
 the meantime to send us such victuals as were necessary 
 for our provision. So that the same night we received 
 of them meal, which they call sagu, made of the tops of 
 certain trees, tasting in the mouth like sour curds, but 
 melteth like sugar, whereof they make certain cakes, 
 which may be kept the space of ten years, and yet then 
 good to be eaten. We had of them store of rice, hens, 
 unperfect and liquid sugar, sugar-canes, and a fruit which 
 they call Jigo, l with store of cloves. 
 
 The king having promised to come aboard, brake his 
 promise, but sent his brother to make his excuse, and to 
 entreat our General to come on shore, offering himself 
 pawn aboard for his safe return. Whereunto our 
 General consented not, upon mislike conceived of the 
 breach of his promise ; the whole company also utterly 
 refusing it. But to satisfy him, our General sent certain 
 of his gentlemen to the Court, to accompany the king s 
 brother, reserving the vice-king for their safe return. 
 They were received of another brother of the king s, 
 and other states, and were conducted with great honour 
 to the castle. The place that they were brought unto 
 was a large and fair house, where were at the least 
 a thousand persons assembled. 
 
 The king being yet absent, there sat in their places 
 60 grave personages, all which were said to be of the 
 king s council. There were besides four grave persons, 
 apparelled all in red, down to the ground, and attired 
 on their heads like the Turks ; and these were said to be 
 Romans 2 and ligiers 3 there to keep continual traffic with 
 the people of Ternate. There were also two Turks 
 
 1 Plantains. 2 Probably Greeks (Arab. Rumi}. 3 Resident agents. 
 
224 Drake s Famous Voyage. [1579 
 
 ligiers in this place, and one Italian. The king at last 
 came in guarded with twelve lances, covered over with 
 a rich canopy with embossed gold. Our men, accom 
 panied with one of their captains called Moro, rising to 
 meet him, he graciously did welcome and entertain them. 
 He was attired after the manner of the country, but 
 more sumptuously than the rest. From his waist down 
 to the ground was all cloth of gold, and the same very 
 rich ; his legs were bare, but on his feet were a pair of 
 shoes, made of Cordovan skin. In the attire of his head 
 were finely wreathed hooped rings of gold, and about 
 his neck he had a chain of perfect gold, the links whereof 
 were great, and one fold double. On his fingers he had 
 six very fair jewels ; and sitting in his chair of state, at 
 his right hand stood a page with a fan in his hand, 
 breathing and gathering the air to the king. The same 
 was in length two foot, and in breadth one foot, set with 
 eight sapphires, richly embroidered, and knit to a staff 
 three foot in length, by the which the page did hold and 
 move it. Our gentlemen having delivered their message 
 and received order accordingly, were licensed to depart, 
 being safely conducted back again by one of the king s 
 council. This island is the chief of all the islands of 
 Maluco, and the king hereof is king of 70 islands besides. 
 The king with his people are Moors in religion, observ 
 ing certain new moons, with fastings ; during which 
 fasts they neither eat nor drink in the day, but in the 
 night. 
 
 After that our gentlemen were returned, and that we 
 had here by the favour of the king received all necessary 
 things that the place could yield us ; our General con 
 sidering the great distance, and how far he was yet off 
 from his country, thought it not best here to linger the 
 time any longer, but weighing his anchors, set out of the 
 island, and sailed to a certain little island to the south- 
 
Drake leaves Ternate. 225 
 
 wards of Celebes, where we graved our ship, and 
 continued there, in that and other businesses, 26 days. 
 This island is throughly grown with wood of a large 
 and high growth, very straight, and without boughs, 
 save only in the head or top, whose leaves are not much 
 differing from our broom in England. Amongst these 
 trees night by night, through the whole land, did shew 
 themselves an infinite swarm of fiery worms flying in 
 the air, whose bodies being no bigger than our common 
 English flies, make such a show and light as if every 
 twig or tree had been a burning candle. In this place 
 breedeth also wonderful store of bats, as big as large 
 hens. Of cray-fishes also here wanted no plenty, and 
 they of exceeding bigness, one whereof was suffi 
 cient for four hungry stomachs at a dinner, being also 
 very good and restoring meat, whereof we had expe 
 rience : and they dig themselves holes in the earth like 
 coneys. 
 
 When we had ended our business here we weighed, 
 and set sail to run for the Malucos. But having at that 
 time a bad wind, and being amongst the islands, with 
 much difficulty we recovered to the northward of the 
 island of Celebes ; where by reason of contrary winds, 
 not able to continue our course to run westwards, we 
 were enforced to alter the same to the southward again, 
 finding that course also to be very hard and dangerous 
 for us, by reason of infinite shoals which lie off and 
 among the islands ; whereof we had too much trial, to 
 the hazard and danger of our ship and lives. For, of 
 all other days, upon the 9. of January, in the year 1579 , 
 we ran suddenly upon a rock, where we stuck fast from 
 eight of the clock at night till four of the clock in the 
 afternoon the next day, being indeed out of all hope to 
 escape the danger. But our General, as he had always 
 
 1 I. e. 1580. 
 Q 
 
226 Drake s Famous Voyage. [1.580 
 
 hitherto shewed himself courageous, and of a good con 
 fidence in the mercy and protection of God, so now he 
 continued in the same. And lest he should seem to 
 perish wilfully, both he and we did our best endeavour 
 to save ourselves ; which it pleased God so to bless, that 
 in the end we cleared ourselves most happily of the 
 danger. 
 
 We lighted our ship upon the rocks of three ton 
 of cloves, eight pieces of ordnance, and certain meal 
 and beans ; and then the wind, as it were in a moment 
 by the special grace of God, changing from the star 
 board to the larboard of the ship, we hoised our sails, 
 and the happy gale drove our ship off the rock into the 
 sea again, to the no little comfort of all our hearts, for 
 which we gave God such praise and thanks, as so great 
 a benefit required. 
 
 The 8. of February following, we fell with the 
 fruitful island of Barafeve 1 , having in the mean time 
 suffered many dangers by winds and shoals. The 
 people of this island are comely in body and stature, 
 and of a civil behaviour, just in dealing, and courteous 
 to strangers ; whereof we had the experience sundry 
 ways, they being most glad of our presence, and very 
 ready to relieve our wants in those things which their 
 country did yield. The men go naked, saving their 
 heads and t loins, every man having something or other 
 hanging at their ears. Their women are covered from 
 the middle down to the foot, wearing a great number of 
 bracelets upon their arms ; for some had eight upon 
 each arm, being made some of bone, some of horn, and 
 some of brass, the lightest whereof, by our estima 
 tion, weighed two ounces apiece. With this people 
 linen-cloth is good merchandise, and of good request ; 
 whereof they make rolls for their heads, and girdles to 
 
 J Batjan. 
 
1580] Rajahs of Java. 227 
 
 wear about them. Their island is both rich and fruitful ; 
 rich in gold, silver, copper, and sulphur, wherein they 
 seem skilful and expert, not only to try the same, but 
 in working it also artificially into any form and fashion 
 that pleaseth them. Their fruits be divers and plentiful ; 
 as nutmegs, ginger, long pepper, lemons, cucumbers, 
 cocos, figu, sagu, with divers other sorts. And among 
 all the rest we had one fruit, in bigness, form and husk, 
 like a bay berry, hard of substance and pleasant of 
 taste, which being sodden becometh soft, and is a most 
 good and wholesome victual ; whereof we took reason 
 able store, as we did also of the other fruits and 
 spices. So that to confess a truth, since the time 
 that we first set out of our own country of England, 
 we happened upon no place, Ternate only excepted, 
 wherein we found more comforts and better means of 
 refreshing. 
 
 At our departure from Barateve, we set our course 
 for Java Major l ; where arriving, we found great 
 courtesy, and honourable entertainment. This island 
 is governed by five kings, whom they call Rajah ; as 
 Rajah Donaw, and Rajah Mang Bange, and Rajah 
 Cabuccapolto, which live as having one spirit and one 
 mind. Of these five we had four a-shipboard at once, 
 and two or three often. They are wonderfully delighted 
 in coloured clother, as red and green ; the upper part 
 of their bodies arc naked, save their heads, whereupon 
 they wear a Turkish roll as do the Malucdans. From 
 the middle downward they wear a pintado of silk, 
 trailing upon the ground, in colour as they best like. 
 The Malucdans hate that their women should be seen 
 of strangers ; but these offer them of high courtesy, yea, 
 the kings themselves. The people are of goodly stature 
 and warlike, well provided of swords and targets, with 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 Drake s Famous Voyage. [1580 
 
 daggers, all being of their own work, and most artifi 
 cially done, both in tempering their metal, as also in the 
 form ; whereof we bought reasonable store. They have 
 an house in every village for their common assembly; 
 every day they meet twice, men, women, and children, 
 bringing with them such victuals as they think good, 
 some fruits, some rice boiled, some hens roasted, some 
 sagu, having a table made three foot from the ground, 
 whereon they set their meat, that every person sitting 
 at the table may eat, one rejoicing in the company of 
 another. They boil their rice in an earthen pot, made 
 in form of a sugar loaf, being full of holes, as our 
 pots which we water our gardens withal, and it is open 
 at the great end, wherein they put their rice dry, with 
 out any moisture. In the mean time they have ready 
 another great earthen pot, set fast in a furnace, boiling 
 full of water, whereinto they put their pot with rice, by 
 such measure, that they swelling become soft at the 
 first, and by their swelling stopping the holes of the pot, 
 admit no more water to enter, but the more they are 
 boiled, the harder and more firm substance they become. 
 So that in the end they are a firm and good bread, of 
 the which with oil, butter, sugar, and other spices, they 
 make divers sorts of meats very pleasant of taste, and 
 nourishing to nature. * * * Not long before our de 
 parture, they told us that not far off there were such 
 great ships as ours, wishing us to beware ; upon this 
 our captain would stay no longer. From Java Major 
 we sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, which was the 
 first land we fell withal ; neither did we touch with it, 
 or any other land, until we came to Sierra Leona, upon 
 the coast of Guinea ; notwithstanding we ran hard 
 aboard the cape, finding the report of the Portugals 
 to be most false, who affirm that it is the most 
 dangerous cape of the world, never without intolerable 
 
1580] Cape of Good Hope. 229 
 
 storms and present danger to travellers which come 
 near the same. This cape is a most stately thing, and 
 the fairest cape we saw in the whole circumference of 
 the earth, and we passed by it the 18. of June. From 
 thence we continued our course to Sierra Lcona, on the 
 coast of Guinea, where we arrived the 22. of July, and 
 found necessary provisions, great store of elephants, 
 oysters upon trees of one kind J , spawning and increasing 
 infinitely, the oyster suffering no bud to grow. We de 
 parted thence the four and twentieth day. 
 
 We arrived in England the third of November, 
 1580, being the third year of our departure. 
 
 1 The mangrove. 
 
DRAKE S GREAT ARMADA (1585). 
 
 NEARLY five years elapsed between Drake s return from his 
 Famous Voyage and the despatch of the formidable armament 
 commemorated in the following pages. During the last of 
 these years the march of events had been remarkably rapid. 
 Gilbert, who had been empowered by Elizabeth, in the year 
 of Frobisher s last expedition, to found colonies in America, 
 had sailed for that purpose to Newfoundland (1583), and had 
 perished at sea on his way homeward. Raleigh, who had 
 succeeded to his half-brother s enterprises, had despatched 
 his exploring expedition to Virginia, under Amadas and 
 Barlow, in 1584, and had followed it up in the next year 
 (1585) by an actual colony. In April Sir Richard Greenville 
 sailed from Plymouth, and at Raleigh s expense established 
 above a hundred colonists on the island of Roanoak. Drake s 
 Great Armada left Plymouth in September of the same year. 
 It marked a turning-point in the relations between the English 
 and Spanish monarchs. Elizabeth, knowing that the sup 
 pression of the insurrection in the Netherlands would be 
 followed by an attack upon England, was treating with the 
 insurgents. Philip deemed it prudent to lay an embargo on 
 all her subjects, together with their ships and goods, that 
 might be found in his dominions. Elizabeth at once authorized 
 general reprisals on the ships and goods of Spaniards. 
 A company of adventurers was quickly formed for taking 
 advantage of this permission on a scale commensurate with 
 the national resources. They equipped an armada of twenty- 
 five vessels, manned by 2,300 men, and despatched it under 
 the command of Drake to plunder Spanish America. 
 Frobisher was second in command. Two-thirds of the 
 booty were to belong to the adventurers; the remaining 
 third was to be divided among the men employed in the 
 expedition. 
 
Drake s Great Armada. 231 
 
 Drake s armament of 1585 was the greatest that had ever \ 
 crossed the Atlantic. After plundering some vessels at the 
 Vigo river, he sailed for the West Indies by way of the 
 Canaries and Cape Verde Islands, hoisted the English flag 
 over Santiago and burnt the town, crossed the Atlantic in 
 eighteen days, and arrived at Dominica. At daybreak, on 
 New Year s Day, 1586, Drake s soldiers landed in Espafiola, 
 a few miles to the west of the capital, and before evening 
 Carlile and Powell had entered the city, which the colonists 
 only saved from destruction by the payment of a heavy 
 ransom. Drake s plan was to do exactly the same at Cartha- 
 gena and Nombre de Dios, and thence to strike across the 
 isthmus and secure the treasure that lay waiting for transport 
 at Panama. Drake held St. Domingo for a month, and Cartha- 
 gena for six weeks. He was compelled to forego the further 
 prosecution of his enterprise. A deadly fever, which had 
 attacked the men during the sojourn at Santiago, still 
 continued its ravages. In existing circumstances, even had 
 Nombre de Dios been successfully attacked, the march to 
 Panama was out of the question ; and after consultation with 
 the military commanders, Drake resolved on sailing home at 
 once by way of Florida. He brought back with him all the 
 colonists who had been left by Sir Richard Greenville in 
 Virginia. Drake had offered either to furnish them with 
 stores, and to leave them a ship, or to take them home. 
 The former offer was accepted : but a furious storm which 
 ensued caused them to change their minds. They recognized 
 in it the hand of God, whose will it evidently was that they 
 should no longer be sojourners in the American wilderness ; 
 arid the first English settlement of Virginia was abandoned 
 accordingly. 
 
 Ten years afterwards (1595) Drake was again at the head 
 of a similar expedition. The second command was given to 
 his old associate Hawkins, Frobisher, his Vice-Admiral in 
 1585, having recently died of the wound received at Crozon. 
 This time Nombre de Dios was taken and burnt, and 750 
 soldiers set out under Sir Thomas Baskerville to march to 
 Panama: but at the first of the three forts which the 
 Spaniards had by this time constructed, the march had to be 
 
232 Drakes Great Armada. 
 
 abandoned. Drake did not long survive this second failure 
 of his favourite scheme. He was attacked by dysentery 
 a fortnight afterwards, and in a month he died. When he 
 felt the hand of death upon him, he rose, dressed himself, 
 and endeavoured to make a farewell speech to those around 
 him. Exhausted by the effort, he was lifted to his berth, 
 and within an hour breathed his last. Hawkins had died off 
 Puerto Rico six weeks previously. 
 
 The following narrative is in the main the composition of 
 Walter Biggs, who commanded a company of musketeers 
 under Carlile. Biggs was one of the five hundred and odd 
 men who succumbed to the fever. He died shortly after the 
 fleet sailed from Carthagena ; and the narrative was com 
 pleted by some comrade. The story of this expedition, 
 which had inflicted such damaging blows on the Spaniards 
 in America, was eminently calculated to inspire courage 
 among those who were resisting them in Europe. Gates, 
 one of Carlile s lieutenants, obtained the manuscript and 
 prepared it for the press, accompanied by illustrative maps 
 and plans. The publication was delayed by the Spanish 
 Armada ; but a copy found its way to Holland, where it was 
 translated into Latin, and appeared at Leyden, in a slightly 
 abridged form, in 1588. The original English narrative duly 
 appeared in London in the next year. The document called 
 the Resolution of the Land-Captains was inserted by 
 Hakluyt when he reprinted the narrative in 1600. 
 
DRAKE S GREAT ARMADA. 
 
 [NARRATIVE MAINLY BY CAPTAIN WALTER BIGGS.] 
 
 A Summary and True Discourse of SiR FRANCIS DRAKE S 
 West Indian Voyage, begun in the year 1585. Wherein 
 were taken the cities of SANTIAGO, SANTO DOMINGO, CAR- 
 THAGENA, and the town of ST. AUGUSTINE, in FLORIDA. 
 Published by MASTER THOMAS GATES. 
 
 THIS worthy knight, for the service of his prince and 
 country, having prepared his whole fleet, and gotten 
 them down to Plymouth, in Devonshire, to the number 
 of five and twenty sail of ships and pinnaces, and having 
 assembled of soldiers and mariners to the number 
 of 2,300 in the whole, embarked them and himself at 
 Plymouth aforesaid, the 12. day of September, 1585, 
 being accompanied with these men of name and charge 
 which hereafter follow: Master Christopher Carlile, 
 Lieutenant-General, a man of long experience in the 
 wars as well by sea as land, who had formerly carried 
 high offices in both kinds in many fights, which he 
 discharged always very happily, and with great good 
 reputation ; Anthony Powell, Sergeant-Major ; Captain 
 Matthew Morgan, and Captain John Sampson, Corporals 
 of the Field. These officers had commandment over 
 the rest of the land-captains, whose names hereafter 
 follow: Captain A nthony Platt, Captain Edward Winter, 
 Captain John Goring, Captain Robert Pew, Captain 
 George Barton, Captain John Merchant, Captain William 
 Cecil, Captain Walter Biggs 1 , Captain John Hannam, 
 1 The writer of the first part of the narrative. 
 
234 Drake s Great Armada. [1585 
 
 Captain Richard Stanton. Captain Martin Frobisher, 
 Vice-Admiral, a man of great experience in seafaring 
 actions, who had carried the chief charge of many ships 
 himself, in sundry voyages before, being now shipped 
 in the Primrose; Captain Francis Knolles, Rear-Admiral, 
 in the galleon Leicester ; Master Thomas Venner, captain 
 in the Elizabeth Bonadventure, under the General ; 
 Master Edward Winter, captain in the Aid] Master 
 Christopher Carlile, the Lieutenant-General, captain of 
 the Tiger ; Henry White, captain of the Sea-Dragon ; 
 Thomas Drake l , captain of the Thomas ; Thomas Seeley, 
 captain of the Minion ; Baily, captain of the bark Talbot ; 
 Robert Cross, captain of the bark Bond; George Fortescue, 
 captain of the bark Bonner ; Edward Careless, captain 
 of the Hope ; James Erizo, captain of the White Lion ; 
 Thomas Moon, captain of the Francis] John Rivers, 
 captain of the Vantage ; John Vaughan, captain of the 
 Drake ; John Varney, captain of the George ; John 
 Martin, captain of the Benjamin ; Edward Gilman, 
 captain of the Scout] Richard Hawkins, captain of 
 the galliot called the Duck ; Bitfield, captain of the 
 Swallow. 
 
 After our going hence, which was the 14. of September, 
 in the year of our Lord 1585, and taking our course 
 towards Spain, we had the wind for a few days some 
 what scant, and sometimes calm. And being arrived 
 near that part of Spain which is called the Moors 2 , we 
 happened to espy divers sails, which kept their course 
 close by the shore, the weather being fair and calm. 
 The General caused the Vice-Admiral to go with the 
 pinnaces well manned to see what they were; who upon 
 sight of the said pinnaces approaching near unto them, 
 abandoned for the most part all their ships, being 
 Frenchmen, laden all with salt, and bound homewards 
 
 1 Francis Drake s brother. 2 Muros, S. of Cape Finisterre. 
 
Coast of Spain. 235 
 
 into France. Amongst which ships, being all of small 
 burthen, there was one so well liked, which also had 
 no man in her, as being brought unto the General, he 
 thought good to make stay of her for the service, 
 meaning to pay for her, as also accordingly he per 
 formed at our return ; which bark was called the Drake. 
 The rest of these ships, being eight or nine, were 
 dismissed without anything at all taken from them. 
 Who being afterwards put somewhat farther off from 
 the shore, by the contrariety of the wind, we happened 
 to meet with some other French ships, full laden with 
 New/and fish, being upon their return homeward from 
 the said Newfound/and; whom the General after some 
 speech had with them, and seeing plainly that they were 
 Frenchmen, dismissed, without once suffering any man 
 to go aboard of them. 
 
 The day following, standing in with the shore again, 
 we descried another tall ship of twelve score tons or 
 thereabouts, upon whom Master Carlile, the Lieutenant- 
 General, being in the Tiger, undertook the chase ; whom 
 also anon after the Admiral followed. And the Tiger 
 having caused the said strange ship to strike her sails, 
 kept her there without suffering anybody to go aboard 
 until the Admiral was come up ; who forthwith sending 
 for the master, and divers others of their principal 
 men, and causing them to be severally examined, found 
 the ship and goods to be belonging to the inhabitants 
 of St. Sebastian, in Spain, but the mariners to be for 
 the most part belonging to St. John de Luz, and the 
 Passage 1 . In this ship was great store of dry Newland 
 fish, commonly called with us Poor John ; whereof 
 afterwards, being thus found a lawful prize, there was 
 distribution made into all the ships of the fleet, the 
 same being so new and good, as it did very greatly 
 
 1 Pasages, E. of San Sebastian. 
 
236 Drakes Great Armada. [1585 
 
 bestead us in the whole course of our voyage. A day 
 or two after the taking of this ship we put in within the 
 Isles of Bayon 1 , for lack of favourable wind. Where 
 we had no sooner anchored some part of the fleet, but 
 the General commanded all the pinnaces with the 
 shipboats to be manned, and every man to be furnished 
 with such arms as were needful for that present service ; 
 which being done, the General put himself into his 
 galley, which was also well furnished, and rowing 
 towards the city of Bayon, with intent, and the favour 
 of the Almighty, to surprise it. Before we had advanced 
 one half-league of our way there came a messenger, 
 being an English merchant, from the governor, to see 
 what strange fleet we were ; who came to our General, 
 conferred a while with him, and after a small time spent, 
 our General called for Captain Sampson, and willed him 
 to go to the governor of the city, to resolve him of two 
 points. The first, to know if there were any wars between 
 Spain and England ; the second, why our merchants with 
 (heir goods ivere embarged or arrested? Thus departed 
 Captain Sampson with the said messenger to the city, 
 where he found the governor and people much amazed 
 of such a sudden accident. The General, with the 
 advice and counsel of Master Carlile, his Lieutenant- 
 General, who was in the galley with him, thought not 
 good to make any stand, till such time as they were 
 within the shot of the city, where they might be ready 
 upon the return of Captain Sampson, to make a sudden 
 attempt, if cause did require, before it were dark. 
 
 Captain Sampson returned with his message in this 
 sort : First, touching peace or wars, the governor said 
 he knew of no wars, and that it lay not in him to make any, 
 he being so mean a subject as he was. And as for the stay 
 of the merchants with their goods, it was the king s pleasure, 
 
 1 The Cies Islets, at the mouth of the Vigo River. 
 
1585] Isles of Bayona. 237 
 
 but not with intent to endamage any man. And that the 
 king s counter-commandment was (which had been re 
 ceived in that place some seven-night before) that 
 English merchants with their goods should be discharged. 
 For the more verifying whereof, he sent such merchants 
 as were in the town of our nation, who trafficked those 
 parts; which being at large declared to our General 
 by them, counsel was taken what might best be done. 
 And for that the night approached, it was thought 
 needful to land our forces, which was done in the 
 shutting up of the day ; and having quartered ourselves 
 to our most advantage, with sufficient guard upon every 
 strait, we thought to rest ourselves for that night there. 
 The Governor sent us some refreshing, as bread, wine, 
 oil, apples, grapes, marmalade, and such like. About 
 midnight the weather began to overcast, insomuch that 
 it was thought meeter to repair aboard, than to make 
 any longer abode on land. And before we could recover 
 the fleet a great tempest arose, which caused many of 
 our ships to drive from their anchor-hold, and some 
 were forced to sea in great peril, as the bark Talbot, 
 the bark Hawkins, and the Speedwell , which Speedwell 
 only was driven into England, the others recovered 
 us again. The extremity of the storm lasted three 
 days ; which no sooner began to assuage, but Master 
 Carlile, our Lieutenant- General, was sent with his own 
 ship and three others, as also with the galley and with 
 divers pinnaces, to see what he might do above Vigo, 
 where he took many boats and some carvels, diversely 
 laden with things of small value, but chiefly with house 
 hold stuff, running into the high country. And amongst 
 the rest he found one boat laden with the principal 
 church stuff of the high church of Vigo, where also was 
 their great cross of silver, of very fair embossed work, 
 and double-gilt all over, having cost them a great 
 
238 Drake s Great Armada. [1585 
 
 mass of money. They complained to have lost in 
 all kinds of goods above thirty thousand ducats in 
 this place. 
 
 The next day the General with his whole fleet went 
 from up the Isles of Bay on to a very good harbour 
 above Vigo, where Master Carlile stayed his coming, 
 as well for the more quiet riding of his ships, as also 
 for the good commodity of fresh watering which the 
 place there did afford full well. In the meantime the 
 governor of Galicia had reared such forces as he might 
 (his numbers by estimate were some 2000 foot and 300 
 horse), and marched from Bayona to this part of the 
 country, which lay in sight of our fleet ; where, making 
 a stand, he sent to parley with our General. Which 
 was granted by our General, so it might be in boats 
 upon the water ; and for safety of their persons there 
 were pledges delivered on both sides. Which done, 
 the governor of Galicia put himself with two others 
 into our Vice-Admiral s skiff, the same having been 
 sent to the shore for him, and in like sort our General 
 went in his own skiff. Where by them it was agreed 
 we should furnish ourselves with fresh water, to be 
 taken by our own people quietly on the land, and have 
 all other such necessaries, paying for the same, as the 
 place would afford. 
 
 When all our business was ended we departed, and 
 took our way by the Islands of Canaria, which are 
 esteemed some 300 leagues from this part of Spain ; 
 and falling purposely with Palma, with intention to have 
 taken our pleasure of that place, for the full digesting 
 of many things into order, and the better furnishing 
 our store with such several good things as it affordeth 
 very abundantly, we were forced by the vile sea-gate, 
 which at that present fell out, and by the naughtiness 
 of the landing-place, being but one, and that under the 
 
1585] The Canaries. 239 
 
 favour of many platforms well furnished with great 
 ordnance, to depart with the receipt of many of their 
 cannon-shot, some into our ships and some besides, 
 some of them being in very deed full cannon high. 
 But the only or chief mischief was the dangerous 
 sea-surge, which at shore all alongst plainly threatened 
 the overthrow of as many pinnaces and boats as for 
 that time should have attempted any landing at all. 
 
 Now seeing the expectation of this attempt frustrated 
 by the causes aforesaid, we thought it meeter to fall 
 with the Isle Ferro, to see if we could find any better 
 fortune ; and coming to the island we landed a thousand 
 men in a valley under a high mountain, where we stayed 
 some two or three hours. In which time the inhabitants, 
 accompanied with a young fellow born in England, who 
 dwelt there with them, came unto us, shewing their state 
 to be so poor that they were all ready to starve, which 
 was not untrue ; and therefore without anything gotten, 
 we were all commanded presently to embark, so as that 
 night we put off to sea south-south-east along towards 
 the coast of Barbary. 
 
 Upon Saturday in the morning, being the 13. of 
 November, we fell with Cape Blank, which is a low 
 land and shallow water, where we catched store of fish ; 
 and doubling the cape, we put into the bay, where 
 we found certain French ships of war, whom we 
 entertained with great courtesy, and there left them. 
 This afternoon the whole fleet assembled, which was 
 a little scattered about their fishing, and put from 
 thence to the Isles of Cape Verde, sailing till the 16. oi 
 the same month in the morning; on which day we 
 descried the Island of Santiago. And in the evening 
 we anchored the fleet between the town called the 
 Playa or Praya and Santiago ; where we put on shore 
 1000 men or more, under the leading of Master 
 
240 Drake s Great Armada. [1585 
 
 Christopher Carlile, Lieutenant-General, who directed 
 the service most like a wise commander. The place 
 where we had first to march did afford no good order, 
 for the ground was mountainous and full of dales, being 
 a very stony and troublesome passage ; but such was 
 his industrious disposition, as he would never leave, 
 until we had gotten up to a fair plain, where we made 
 stand for the assembling of the army. And when we 
 were all gathered together upon the plain, some two 
 miles from the town, the Lieu tenant-General thought 
 good not to make attempt till daylight, because there 
 was not one that could serve for guide or giving know 
 ledge at all of the place. And therefore after having 
 well rested, even half an hour before day, he commanded 
 the army to be divided into three special parts, such as 
 he appointed, whereas before we had marched by several 
 companies, being thereunto forced by the badness of the 
 way as is aforesaid. Now by the time we were thus 
 ranged into a very brave order, daylight began to appear. 
 And being advanced hard to the wall, we saw no enemy 
 to resist. Whereupon the Lieutenant-General appointed 
 Captain Sampson with thirty shot \ and Captain Barton 
 with other thirty, to go down into the town, which stood 
 in the valley under us, and might very plainly be viewed 
 all over from that place where the whole army was now 
 arrived ; and presently after these captains was sent 
 the great ensign, which had nothing in it but the plain 
 English cross, to be placed towards the sea, that our 
 fleet might see St. George s cross flourish in the enemy s 
 fortress. Order was given that all the ordnance 
 throughout the town and upon all the platforms, which 
 were about fifty pieces all ready charged, should be shot 
 off in honour of the Queen s Majesty s coronation day, 
 being the 17. of November, after the yearly custom of 
 
 1 Musketeers. 
 
1585] Description of Santiago. 241 
 
 England, which was so answered again by the ordnance 
 out of all the ships in the fleet, which now was come 
 near, as it was strange to hear such a thundering noise 
 last so long together. In this mean while the Lieutenant- 
 General held still the most part of his force on the hill 
 top, till such time as the town was quartered out for the 
 lodging of the whole army. Which being done, every 
 captain took his own quarter ; and in the evening was 
 placed such a sufficient guard upon every part of the 
 town that we had no cause to fear any present enemy. 
 Thus we continued in the city the space of fourteen 
 days, taking such spoils as the place yielded, which 
 were, for the most part, wine, oil, meal, and some other 
 such like things for victual, as vinegar, olives, and 
 some other trash, as merchandise for their Indian 
 trades. But there was not found any treasure at all, 
 or anything else of worth besides. 
 
 The situation of Santiago is somewhat strange ; in 
 form like a triangle, having on the east and west sides 
 two mountains of rock and cliff, as it were hanging over 
 it ; upon the top of which two mountains were builded 
 certain fortifications to preserve the town from any 
 harm that might be offered, as in a plot is plainly 
 shewed. From thence on the south side of the town is 
 the main sea ; and on the north side, the valley lying 
 between the foresaid mountains, wherein the town 
 standeth. The said valley and town both do grow very 
 narrow; insomuch that the space between the two cliffs 
 of this end of the town is estimated not to be above ten 
 or twelve score [yards] over. In the midst of the valley 
 cometh down a riveret, rill, or brook of fresh water, which 
 hard by the seaside maketh a pond or pool, whereout 
 our ships were watered with very great ease and pleasure. 
 Somewhat above the town on the north side, between 
 the two mountains, the valley waxeth somewhat larger 
 
 R 
 
242 Drakes Great Armada. [1585 
 
 than at the town s end ; which valley is wholly converted 
 into gardens and orchards, well replenished with divers 
 sorts of fruits, herbs, and trees, as lemons, oranges, 
 sugar-canes, cocars or cocos nuts, plantains, potato-roots, 
 cucumbers, small and round onions, garlic, and some 
 other things not now remembered. Amongst which the 
 cocos nuts and plantains are very pleasant fruits ; the 
 said cocos hath a hard shell and a green husk over it, 
 as hath our walnut, but it far exceedeth in greatness, 
 for this cocos in his green husk is bigger than any man s 
 two fists. Of the hard shell many drinking cups are 
 made here in England, and set in silver as I have often 
 seen. Next within this hard shell is a white rind 
 resembling in show very much, even as any thing may 
 do, to the white of an egg when it is hard boiled. And 
 within this white of the nut lieth a water, which is 
 whitish and very clear, to the quantity of half a pint or 
 thereabouts ; which water and white rind before spoken 
 of are both of a very cool fresh taste, and as pleasing as 
 anything may be. I have heard some hold opinion 
 that it is very restorative. The plantain groweth in 
 cods, somewhat like to beans, but is bigger and longer, 
 and much more thick together on the stalk ; and when it 
 waxeth ripe, the meat which filleth the rind of the cod 
 becometh yellow, and is exceeding sweet and pleasant. 
 
 In this time of our being there happened to come 
 a Portugal to the western fort, with a flag of truce. To 
 whom Captain Sampson was sent with Captain Goring 
 who coming to the said messenger, he first asked them, 
 What nation they were ? they answered, Englishmen. H e 
 then required to know if wars were between England and 
 Spain ; to which they answered, that they knew not, but 
 if he would go to their General he could best resolve him of 
 such particulars. And for his assurance of passage and 
 repassage these captains made offer to engage their 
 
1585] Events at Santiago. 243 
 
 credits, which he refused for that he was not sent from 
 his governor. Then they told him if his governor did 
 desire to take a course for the common benefit of the 
 people and country his best way were to come and 
 present himself unto our noble and merciful governor, 
 Sir Francis Drake, whereby he might be assured to find 
 favour, both for himself and the inhabitants. Otherwise 
 within three days we should march over the land, and 
 consume with fire all inhabited places, and put to the 
 sword all such living souls as we should chance upon. 
 So thus much he took for the conclusion of his answer. 
 And departing, he promised to return the next day ; but 
 we never heard more of him. 
 
 Upon the 24. of November, the General, accompanied 
 with the Lieutenant-General and 600 men, marched 
 forth to a village twelve miles within the land, called 
 Saint Domingo, where the governor and the bishop, 
 with all the better sort, were lodged ; and by eight of the 
 clock we came to it, finding the place abandoned, and 
 the people fled into the mountains. So we made stand 
 a while to ease ourselves, and partly to see if any would 
 come to speak to us. After we had well rested ourselves, 
 the General commanded the troops to march away 
 homewards. In which retreat the enemy shewed them 
 selves, both horse and foot, though not such force as 
 durst encounter us ; and so in passing some time at the 
 gaze with them, it waxed late and towards night before 
 we could recover home to Santiago. 
 
 On Monday, the 26. of November, the General 
 commanded all the pinnaces with the boats to use all 
 diligence to embark the army into such ships as every 
 man belonged. The Lieutenant-General in like sort 
 commanded Captain Goring and Lieutenant Tucker, 
 with one hundred shot, to make a stand in the market 
 place until our forces were wholly embarked ; the Vice- 
 
 R 2 
 
244 Drake s Great Armada. [1585 
 
 Admiral making stay with his pinnace and certain boats 
 in the harbour, to bring the said last company aboard 
 the ships. Also the General willed forthwith the galley 
 with two pinnaces to take into them the company of 
 Captain Barton, and the company of Captain Biggs, 
 under the leading of Captain Sampson, to seek out such 
 munition as was hidden in the ground, at the town of 
 Praya, or Playa, having been promised to be shewed it 
 by a prisoner which was taken the day before. 
 
 The captains aforesaid coming to the Playa, landed 
 their men ; and having placed the troop in their best 
 strength, Captain Sampson took the prisoner, and 
 willed him to show that he had promised. The which 
 he could not, or at least would not ; but they searching 
 all suspected places, found two pieces of ordnance, one 
 of iron, another of brass. In the afternoon the General 
 anchored with the rest of the fleet before the Playa, 
 coming himself ashore, willing us to burn the town and 
 make all haste aboard ; the which was done by six of 
 the clock the same day, and ourselves embarked again 
 the same night. And so we put off to sea south-west. 
 
 But before our departure from the town of Santiago, 
 we established orders for the better government of the 
 army. Every man mustered to his captain, and oaths 
 were ministered, to acknowledge her Majesty supreme 
 Governor, as also every man to do his uttermost en 
 deavour to advance the service of the action, and to yield 
 due obedience unto the directions of the General and his 
 officers. By this provident counsel, and laying down this 
 good foundation beforehand, all things went forward in 
 a due course, to the achieving of our happy enterprise. 
 
 In all the time of our being here, neither the 
 governor for the said King of Spam, which is a 
 Portugal, neither the bishop, whose authority is great, 
 neither the inhabitants of the town, or island, ever came 
 
1585] Departure from Santiago. 245 
 
 at us ; which we expected they should have done, to 
 entreat us to leave them some part of their needful 
 provisions, or at the least to spare the ruining of their 
 town at our going away. The cause of this their un 
 reasonable distrust, as I do take it, was the fresh 
 remembrance of the great wrongs that they had done 
 to old Master William Hawkins, of Plymouth, in the 
 voyage he made four or five years before, whenas 
 they did both break their promise, and murdered many 
 of his men ; whereof I judge you have understood, and 
 therefore it is needless to be repeated. But since they 
 came not at us, we left written in sundry places, as also 
 in the Spital House (which building was only appointed 
 to be spared), the great discontentment and scorn we 
 took at this their refraining to come unto us, as also at 
 the rude manner of killing, and savage kind of handling 
 the dead body of one of our boys found by them 
 straggling all alone, from whom they had taken his 
 head and heart, and had straggled the other bowels 
 about the place, in a most brutish and beastly manner. 
 In revenge whereof at our departing we consumed with 
 fire all the houses, as well in the country which we saw, 
 as in the town of Santiago. 
 
 From hence putting off to the West Indies, we were 
 not many days at sea but there began among our people 
 such mortality as in a few days there were dead above 
 two or three hundred men. And until some seven or 
 eight days after our coming from Santiago, there had 
 not died any one man of sickness in all the fleet. The 
 sickness showed not his infection, wherewith so many 
 were strucken, until we were departed thence ; and then 
 seized our people with extreme hot burning and 
 continual agues, whereof very few escaped with life, 
 and yet those for the most part not without great 
 alteration and decay of their wits and strength for 
 
246 Drake s Great Armada. [1585 
 
 a long time after. In some that died were plainly 
 shown the small spots which are often found upon 
 those that be infected with the plague. We were not 
 above eighteen days in passage between the sight of 
 Santiago aforesaid, and the island of Dominica, being 
 the first island of the West Indies that we fell withal ; 
 the same being inhabited with savage people, which go 
 all naked, their skin coloured with some painting of 
 a reddish tawny, very personable and handsome strong 
 men, who do admit little conversation with the 
 Spaniards ; for, as some of our people might under 
 stand them, they had a Spaniard or twain prisoners 
 with them. Neither do I think that there is any safety 
 for any of our nation, or any other, to be within the 
 limits of their commandment ; albeit they used us very 
 kindly for those few hours of time which we spent 
 with them, helping our folks to fill and carry on their 
 bare shoulders fresh water from the river to our ships 
 boats, and fetching from their houses great store of 
 tabacco, as also a kind of bread which they fed on, 
 called cassavi, very white and savoury, made of the 
 roots of cassavi. In recompense whereof we bestowed 
 liberal rewards of glass, coloured beads, and other 
 things, which we had found at Santiago; wherewith, 
 as it seemed, they rested very greatly satisfied, and 
 shewed some sorrowful countenance when they per 
 ceived that we would depart. 
 
 From hence we went to another island westward 
 of it, called Saint Christopher s Island ; wherein we 
 spent some days of Christmas, to refresh our sick 
 people, and to cleanse and air our ships. In which 
 island were not any people at all that we could hear of. 
 
 In which time by the General it was advised and 
 resolved, with the consent of the Lieutenant-General, 
 the Vice-Admiral, ard all the rest of the captains^ 
 
1586] Dominica and St. Christopher s. 247 
 
 to proceed to the great island of Hispamo/a, as well 
 for that we knew ourselves then to be in our best 
 strength, as also the rather allured thereunto by the 
 glorious fame of the city of St. Domingo, being the 
 ancientest and chief inhabited place in all the tract 
 of country thereabouts. And so proceeding in this 
 determination, by the way we met a small frigate, bound 
 for the same place, the which the Vice- Admiral took ; 
 and having duly examined the men that were in her, 
 there was one found by whom we were advertised 
 the haven to be a barred haven, and the shore or land 
 thereof to be well fortified, having a castle thereupon 
 furnished with great store of artillery, without the 
 danger whereof was no convenient landing-place within 
 ten English miles of the city, to which the said pilot 
 took upon him to conduct us. 
 
 All things being thus considered on, the whole forces 
 were commanded in the evening to embark themselves 
 in pinnaces, boats, and other small barks appointed 
 for this service. Our soldiers being thus embarked, 
 the General put himself into the bark Francis as 
 Admiral ; and all this night we lay on the sea, bearing 
 small sail until our arrival to the landing-place, which 
 was about the breaking of the day. And so we landed, 
 being New Year s Day, nine or ten miles to the west 
 wards of that brave city of St. Domingo ; for at that 
 time nor yet is known to us any landing-place, where 
 the sea-surge doth not threaten to overset a pinnace 
 or boat. Our General having seen us all landed in 
 safety, returned to his fleet, bequeathing us to God, 
 and the good conduct of Master Carlile, our Lieutenant- 
 General ; at which time, being about eight of the clock, 
 we began to march. And about noon-time, or towards 
 one of the clock, we approached the town ; where the 
 gentlemen and those of the better sort, being some 
 
248 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 hundred and fifty brave horses, or rather more, began 
 to present themselves. But our small shot played upon 
 them, which were so sustained with good proportion 
 of pikes in all parts, as they finding no part of our 
 troop unprepared to receive them (for you must 
 understand they viewed all round about) they were 
 thus driven to give us leave to proceed towards the 
 two gates of the town which were the next to the 
 seaward. They had manned them both, and planted 
 their ordnance for that present and sudden alarm 
 without the gate, and also some troops of small shot 
 in ambuscado upon the highway side. We divided 
 our whole force, being some thousand or twelve 
 hundred men, into two parts, to enterprise both the 
 gates at one instant; the Lieutenant-General having 
 openly vowed to Captain Powell, who led the troop 
 that entered the other gate, that with God s good 
 favour he would not rest until our meeting in the 
 market-place. 
 
 Their ordnance had no sooner discharged upon our 
 near approach, and made some execution amongst us, 
 though not much, but the Lieutenant-General began 
 forthwith to advance both his voice of encouragement 
 and pace of marching ; the first man that was slain 
 with the ordnance being very near unto himself; and 
 thereupon hasted all that he might, to keep them from 
 the recharging of the ordnance. And notwithstanding 
 their ambuscados, we marched or rather ran so roundly 
 into them, as pell-mell we entered the gates, and gave 
 them more care every man to save himself by flight, 
 than reason to stand any longer to their broken fight. 
 We forthwith repaired to the market-place, but to be 
 more truly understood, a place of very spacious square 
 ground ; whither also came, as had been agreed, Captain 
 Powell with the other troop. Which place with some 
 
1586] Capture of St. Domingo. 249 
 
 part next unto it, we strengthened with barricades, 
 and there as the most convenient place assured 
 ourselves, the city being far too spacious for so small 
 and weary a troop to undertake to guard. Somewhat 
 after midnight, they who had the guard of the castle, 
 hearing us busy about the gates of the said castle, 
 abandoned the same ; some being taken prisoners, 
 and some fleeing away by the help of boats to the other 
 side of the haven, and so into the country. 
 
 The next day we quartered a little more at large, 
 but not into the half part of the town \ and so making 
 substantial trenches, and planting all the ordnance, 
 that each part was correspondent to other, we held 
 this town the space of one month. 
 
 In the which time happened some accidents, more 
 than are well remembered for the present. But amongst 
 other things, it chanced that the General sent on his 
 message to the Spaniards a negro boy with a flag of 
 white, signifying truce, as is the Spanish ordinary manner 
 to do there, when they approach to speak to us ; which 
 boy unhappily was first met withal by some of those 
 who had been belonging as officers for the king in the 
 Spanish galley, which with the town was lately fallen 
 into our hands. Who, without all order or reason, 
 and contrary to that good usage wherewith we had 
 entertained their messengers, furiously struck the poor 
 boy thorough the body with one of their horsemen s 
 staves; with which wound the boy returned to the 
 General, and after he had declared the manner of this 
 wrongful cruelty, died forthwith in his presence. 
 Wherewith the General being greatly passioned, com 
 manded the provost-marshal to cause a couple of 
 friars, then prisoners, to be carried t< the same place 
 where the boy was strucken, accompanied with sufficient 
 guard of our soldiers, and there presently to be hanged, 
 
250 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 despatching at the same instant another poor prisoner, 
 with this reason wherefore this execution was done, 
 and with this message further, that until the party who 
 had thus murdered the General s messenger were 
 delivered into our hands to receive condign punishment, 
 there should no day pass wherein there should not two 
 prisoners be hanged, until they were all consumed 
 which were in our hands. Whereupon the day 
 following, he that had been captain of the king s galley 
 brought the offender to the town s end, offering to 
 deliver him into our hands. But it was thought to 
 be a more honourable revenge to make them there, 
 in our sight, to perform the execution themselves ; 
 which was done accordingly. 
 
 During our being in this town, as formerly also at 
 Santiago there had passed justice upon the life of one of 
 our own company for an odious matter, so here likewise 
 was there an Irishman hanged for the murdering of his 
 corporal. 
 
 In this time also passed many treaties between their 
 commissioners and us, for ransom of their city; but 
 upon disagreements we still spent the early mornings 
 in firing the outmost houses ; but they being built very 
 magnificently of stone, with high lofts, gave us no small 
 travail to ruin them. And albeit for divers days 
 together we ordained each morning by daybreak, until 
 the heat began at nine of the clock, that two hundred 
 mariners did naught else but labour to fire and burn the 
 said houses without our trenches, whilst the soldiers in 
 a like proportion stood forth for their guard ; yet did 
 we not, or could not in this time consume so much 
 as one-third part of the town, which town is plainly 
 described and set forth in a certain map. And so in 
 the end, what wearied with firing, and what hastened 
 by some other respects, we were contented to accept 
 
>s86] Ransom of St. Domingo. 251 
 
 of 25,000 ducats of five shillings six-pence the piece, 
 for the ransom of the rest of the town. 
 
 Amongst other things which happened and were found 
 at St. Domingo, I may not omit to let the world know 
 one very notable mark and token of the unsatiable 
 ambition of the Spanish king and his nation, which 
 was found in the king s house, wherein the chief 
 governor of that city and country is appointed always 
 to lodge, which was this. In the coming to the hall 
 or other rooms of this house, you must first ascend 
 up by a fair large pair of stairs, at the head of which 
 stairs is a handsome spacious place to walk in, some 
 what like unto a gallery. Wherein, upon one of the 
 walls, right over against you as you enter the said 
 place, so as your eye cannot escape the sight of it, 
 there is described and painted in a very large scutcheon 
 the arms of the King of Spam ; and in the lower part of 
 the said scutcheon there is likewise described a globe, 
 containing in it the whole circuit of the sea and the 
 earth, whereupon is a horse standing on his hinder part 
 within the globe, and the other fore-part without the 
 globe, lifted up as it were to leap, with a scroll painted 
 in his mouth, wherein was written these words in Latin, 
 NON SUFFICIT ORBIS, which is as much to say as, The world 
 sufficeth not. Whereof the meaning was required to be 
 known of some of those of the better sort that came 
 in commission to treat upon the ransom of the town ; 
 who would shake their heads and turn aside their 
 countenance, in some smiling sort, without answering 
 anything, as greatly ashamed thereof. For by some 
 of our company it was told them, that if the Queen 
 of England would resolutely prosecute the wars against 
 the King of Spain, he should be forced to lay aside that 
 proud and unreasonable reaching vein of his ; for he 
 should find more than enough to do to keep that 
 
252 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 which he had already, as by the present example of 
 their lost town they might for a beginning perceive well 
 enough. 
 
 Now to the satisfying of some men, who marvel greatly 
 that such a famous and goodly-builded city, so well in 
 habited of gallant people, very brave in their apparel 
 (whereof our soldiers found good store for their relief), 
 should afford no greater riches than was found there. 
 Herein it is to be understood that the Indian people, 
 which were the natives of this whole island of Hispaniola 
 (the same being near hand as great as England], were 
 many years since clean consumed by the tyranny of the 
 Spaniards ; which was the cause that, for lack of people 
 to work in the mines, the gold and silver mines of this 
 island are wholly given over. And thereby they are fain 
 in this island to use copper money, whereof was found 
 very great quantity. The chief trade of this place 
 consisteth of sugar and ginger, which groweth in the 
 island, and of hides of oxen and kine, which in this 
 waste country of the island are bred in infinite numbers, 
 the soil being very fertile. And the said beasts are fed 
 up to a very large growth, and so killed for nothing 
 so much as for their hides aforesaid. We found here 
 great store of strong wine, sweet oil, vinegar, olives, 
 and other such-like provisions, as excellent wheat-meal 
 packed up in wine-pipes and other cask, and other 
 commodities likewise, as woollen and linen cloth and 
 some silks ; all which provisions are brought out of 
 Spain, and served us for great relief. There was but 
 a little plate or vessel of silver, in comparison of the 
 great pride in other things of this town, because in 
 these hot countries they use much of those earthen 
 dishes finely painted or varnished, which they call 
 porcellana, which is had out of the East India ; and 
 for their drinking they use glasses altogether, whereof 
 
Landing at Carthagena. 253 
 
 they make excellent good and fair in the same place. 
 But yet some plate we found, and many other good 
 things, as their household garniture, very gallant and 
 rich, which had cost them dear, although unto us they 
 were of small importance. 
 
 From St. Domingo we put over to the main or firm 
 land, and, going all along the coast, we came at last in 
 sight of Carthagena, standing upon the seaside, so near 
 as some of our barks in passing alongst approached 
 within the reach of their culverin shot, which they 
 had planted upon certain platforms. The harbour- 
 mouth lay some three miles toward the westward of 
 the town, whereinto we entered at about three or four 
 of the clock in the afternoon without any resistance 
 of ordnance or other impeachment planted upon the 
 same. In the evening we put ourselves on land towards 
 the harbour-mouth, under the leading of Master Carlile, 
 our Lieuteriant-General. Who, after he had digested us 
 to march forward about midnight, as easily as foot 
 might fall, expressly commanded us to keep close by 
 the sea-wash of the shore for our best and surest way ; 
 whereby we were like to go through, and not to miss 
 any more of the way, which once we had lost within an 
 hour after our first beginning to march, through the 
 slender knowledge of him that took upon him to be our 
 guide, whereby the night spent on, which otherwise 
 must have been done by resting. But as we came 
 within some two miles of the town, their horsemen, 
 which were some hundred, met us, and, taking the alarm, 
 retired to their townward again upon the first volley of 
 our shot that was given them ; for the place where we 
 encountered being woody and bushy, even to the water 
 side, was unmeet for their service. 
 
 At this instant we might hear some pieces of artillery 
 discharged, with divers small shot, towards the harbour ; 
 
254 Drake* s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 which gave us to understand, according to the order set 
 down in the evening before by our General, that the 
 Vice-Admiral, accompanied with Captain Venner, Captain 
 White, and Captain Cross, with other sea captains, and 
 with divers pinnaces and boats, should give some 
 attempt unto the little fort standing on the entry of the 
 inner haven, near adjoining to the town, though to small 
 purpose, for that the place was strong, and the entry, 
 very narrow, was chained over ; so as there could be 
 nothing gotten by the attempt more than the giving 
 of them an alarm on that other side of the haven, 
 being a mile and a-half from the place we now were 
 at. In which attempt the Vice-Admiral had the rudder 
 of his skiff strucken through with a saker 1 shot, and 
 a little or no harm received elsewhere. 
 
 The troops being now in their march, half-a-mile 
 behither the town or less, the ground we were on grew 
 to be strait, and not above fifty paces over, having the 
 main sea on the one side of it and the harbour-water or 
 inner sea (as you may term it) on the other side, which 
 in the plot is plainly shewed. This strait was fortified 
 clean over with a stone wall and a ditch without it, the 
 said wall being as orderly built, with flanking in every 
 part, as can be set down. There was only so much 
 of this strait unwalled as might serve for the issuing 
 of the horsemen or the passing of carriage in time of 
 need. But this unwalled part was not without a very 
 good barricado of wine-butts or pipes, filled with earth, 
 full and thick as they might stand on end one by 
 another, some part of them standing even within the main 
 sea. This place of strength was furnished with six great 
 pieces, demiculverins 2 and sakers, which shot directly 
 in front upon us as we approached. Now without this 
 wall, upon the inner side of the strait, they had brought 
 
 * Bore 3^ inches, shot sib. a Bore 4! inches, shot 9lb. 
 
Assault on Carthagena. 255 
 
 likewise two great galleys with their prows to the 
 shore, having planted in them eleven pieces of ordnance, 
 which did beat all cross the strait, and flanked our coming 
 on. In these two galleys were planted three or four 
 hundred small shot, and on the land, in the guard only 
 of this place, three hundred shot and pikes. 
 
 They, in this their full readiness to receive us, spared 
 not their shot both great and small. But our Lieutenant- 
 General, taking the advantage of the dark (the daylight 
 as yet not broken out) approached by the lowest ground, 
 according to the express direction which himself had 
 formerly given, the same being the sea-wash shore, 
 where the water was somewhat fallen, so as most of all 
 their shot was in vain. Our Lieutenant-General com 
 manded our shot to forbear shooting until we were 
 come to the wall-side. And so with pikes roundly 
 together we approached the place, where we soon found 
 out the barricades of pipes or butts to be the meetest 
 place for our assault ; which, notwithstanding it was well 
 furnished with pikes and shots, was without staying 
 attempted by us. Down went the butts of earth, and 
 pell-mell came our swords and pikes together, after our 
 shot had first given their volley, even at the enemy s 
 nose. Our pikes were somewhat longer than theirs, and 
 our bodies better armed ; for very few of them were 
 armed. With which advantage our swords and pikes 
 grew too hard for them, and they driven to give place. 
 In this furious entry the Lieutenant-General slew with 
 his own hands the chief ensign-bearer of the Spaniards, 
 who fought very manfully to his life s end. 
 
 We followed into the town with them, and, giving 
 them no leisure to breathe, we won the market-place, 
 albeit they made head and fought awhile before we got 
 it. And so we being once seized and assured of that, 
 they were content to suffer us to lodge within their 
 
256 Drakes Great Armada. [1586 
 
 town, and themselves to go to their wives, whom they 
 had carried into other places of the country before our 
 coming thither. At every street s end they had raised 
 very fine barricades of earth-works, with trenches without 
 them, as well made as ever we saw any work done ; at 
 the entering whereof was some little resistance, but 
 soon overcome it was, with few slain or hurt. They 
 had joined with them many Indians, whom they had 
 placed in corners of advantage, all bowmen, with their 
 arrows most villainously empoisoned, so as if they did 
 but break the skin, the party so touched died without 
 great marvel. Some they slew of our people with their 
 arrows ; some they likewise mischiefed to death with 
 certain pricks of small sticks sharply pointed, of a foot 
 and a-half long, the one end put into the ground, the 
 other empoisoned, sticking fast up, right against our 
 coming in the way as we should approach from our 
 landing towards the town, whereof they had planted 
 a wonderful number in the ordinary way ; but our 
 keeping the sea-wash shore missed the greatest part 
 of them very happily. 
 
 I overpass many particular matters, as the hurting of 
 Captain Sampson at sword blows in the first entering, 
 unto whom was committed the charge of the pikes of 
 the vant-guard by his lot and turn ; as also of the taking 
 of Alonzo Bravo, the chief commander of that place, by 
 Captain Goring, after the said captain had first hurt 
 him with his sword ; unto which captain was committed 
 the charge of the shot of the said vant-guard. Captain 
 Winter was likewise by his turn of the vant-guard in this 
 attempt, where also the Lieutenant-General marched 
 himself; the said Captain Winter, through a great desire 
 to serve by land, having now exchanged his charge at 
 sea with Captain Cecil for his band of footmen. Captain 
 Powell, the Serjeant-Major, had by his turn the charge 
 
1586] Capture of Carthagena. 257 
 
 of the four companies which made the battle. Captain 
 Morgan, who at St. Domingo was of the vant-guard, 
 had now by turn his charge upon the companies of 
 the rearward. Every man, as well of one part as 
 of another, came so willingly on to the service, as 
 the enemy was not able to endure the fury of such hot 
 assault. 
 
 We stayed here six weeks, and the sickness with 
 mortality before spoken of still continued among us, 
 though not with the same fury as at the first ; and such 
 as were touched with the said sickness, escaping death, 
 very few or almost none could recover their strength. 
 Yea, many of them were much decayed in their memory, 
 insomuch that it was grown an ordinary judgment, when 
 one was heard to speak foolishly, to say he had been 
 sick of the calentura, which is the Spanish name of 
 their burning ague ; for, as I told you before, it is 
 a very burning and pestilent ague. The original cause 
 thereof is imputed to the evening or first night air, 
 which they term la serena ; wherein they say and hold 
 very firm opinion that whoso is then abroad in the open 
 air shall certainly be infected to the death, not being of 
 the Indian or natural race of those country people. By 
 holding their watch our men were thus subjected to the 
 infectious air, which at Santiago was most dangerous 
 and deadly of all other places. 
 
 With the inconvenience of continual mortality we 
 were forced to give over our intended enterprise to go 
 with Notnbre de Dios, and so overland to Panama, 
 where we should have strucken the stroke for the 
 treasure, and full recompense of our tedious travails. 
 And thus at Carthagena we took our first resolution 
 to return homewards, the form of which resolution 
 I thought good here to put down under the principal 
 captains hands as followeth : 
 
258 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 A RESOLUTION of the LAND-CAPTAINS, what course they 
 think most expedient to be taken. Given at CARTHAGENA, 
 the 27. of February, 
 
 WHEREAS it hath pleased the General to demand 
 the opinions of his captains what course they think most 
 expedient to be now undertaken, the land-captains being- 
 assembled by themselves together, and having advised 
 hereupon, do in three points deliver the same. 
 
 THE FIRST, touching the keeping of the town 
 against the force of the enemy, either that which is 
 present, or that which may come out of Spain, is 
 answered thus : 
 
 We hold opinion, that with this troop of men which 
 we have presently with us in land service, being 
 victualled and munitioned, we may well keep the town, 
 albeit that of men able to answer present service we 
 have not above 700. The residue, being some 150 men, 
 by reason of tneir hurts and sickness, are altogether 
 unable to stand us in any stead : wherefore hereupon 
 the sea-captains are likewise to give their resolution, 
 how they will undertake the safety and service of the 
 ships upon the arrival of any Spanish fleet/ 
 
 THE SECOND point we make to be this, whether 
 it be meet to go presently homeward, or else to 
 continue further trial of our fortune in undertaking 
 such like enterprises as we have done already, and 
 thereby to seek after that bountiful mass of treasure 
 for recompense of our travails, which was generally 
 expected at our coming forth of England : wherein we 
 answer : 
 
 That it is well known how both we and the soldiers 
 are entered into this action as voluntary men, without 
 any impress or gage from her Majesty or anybody else. 
 And forasmuch as we have hitherto discharged the 
 parts of honest men, so that now by the great blessing 
 and favour of our good God there have been taken three 
 such notable towns, wherein by the estimation of all 
 men would have been found some very great treasures, 
 knowing that Santiago was the chief city of all the islands 
 
1586] Resolution of the Land-Captains. 259 
 
 and traffics thereabouts, St. Domingo the chief city of 
 Hispaniola, and the head government not only of that 
 island, but also of Cuba, and of all the islands about it, 
 as also of such inhabitations of the firm land, as were 
 next unto it, and a place that is both magnificently built 
 and entertaineth great trades of merchandise; and now 
 lastly the city of Carthagena, which cannot be denied to 
 be one of the chief places of most especial importance 
 to the Spaniard of all the cities which be on this side of 
 the West India : we do therefore consider, that since all 
 these cities, with their goods and prisoners taken in 
 them, and the ransoms of the said cities, being all put 
 together, are found far short to satisfy that expectation 
 which by the generality of the enterprisers was first 
 conceived ; and being further advised of the slenderness 
 of our strength, whereunto we be now reduced, as well 
 in respect of the small number of able bodies, as also 
 not a little in regard of the slack disposition of the 
 greater part of those which remain, very many of the 
 better minds and men being either consumed by death 
 or weakened by sickness and hurts; and lastly, since 
 that as yet there is not laid down to our knowledge any 
 such enterprise as may seem convenient to be under 
 taken with such few as we are presently able to make, 
 and withal of such certain likelihood, as with God s 
 good success which it may please him to bestow upon 
 us, the same may promise to yield us any sufficient 
 contentment : we do therefore conclude hereupon, that 
 it is better to hold sure as we may the honour already 
 gotten, and with the same to return towards our gracious 
 sovereign and country, from whence, if it shall please 
 her Majesty to set us forth again with her orderly 
 means and entertainment, we are most ready and 
 willing to go through with anything that the uttermost 
 of our strength and endeavour shall be able to reach 
 unto. But therewithal we do advise and protest that it 
 is far from our thoughts, either to refuse, or so much as 
 to seem to be weary of anything, which for the present 
 shall be further required or directed to be done by us 
 from our General. 
 
 THE THIRD and last point is concerning the 
 ransom of this city of Carthagena, for the which, before 
 
 s 2 
 
260 Drakes Great Armada. 
 
 it was touched with any fire, there was made an offer 
 of some 27,000 or 28,000 sterling : 
 
 1 Thus much we utter herein as our opinions, agreeing, 
 so it be done in good sort, to accept this offer aforesaid, 
 rather than to break off by standing still upon our 
 demands of 100,000 ; which seems a matter impossible 
 to be performed for the present by them. And to say 
 truth, we may now with much honour and reputation 
 better be satisfied with that sum offered by them at the 
 first, if they will now be contented to give it, than we 
 might at that time with a great deal more ; inasmuch as 
 we have taken our full pleasure, both in the uttermost 
 sacking and spoiling of all their household goods and 
 merchandise, as also in that we have consumed and 
 ruined a great part of their town with fire. And thus 
 much further is considered herein by us ; that as there 
 be in the voyage a great many poor men, who have 
 willingly adventured their lives and travails, and divers 
 amongst them having spent their apparel and such 
 other little provisions as their small means might have 
 given them leave to prepare, which being done upon 
 such good and allowable intention as this action hath 
 alwa} s carried with it (meaning, against the Spaniard, 
 our greatest and most dangerous enemy), so surely we 
 cannot but have an inward regard, so far as may lie in 
 us, to help them in all good sort towards the satis 
 faction of this their expectation ; and by procuring them 
 some little benefit to encourage them, and to nourish this 
 ready and willing disposition of theirs, both in them and 
 in others by their example, against any other time of like 
 occasion. But because it may be supposed that herein 
 we forget not the private benefit of ourselves, and are 
 thereby the rather moved to incline ourselves to this 
 composition, we do therefore think good for the clearing 
 ourselves of all such suspicion, to declare hereby, that 
 what part or portion soever it be of this ransom or com 
 position for Carthagena which should come unto us, we 
 do freely give and bestow the same wholly upon the 
 poor men who have remained with us in the voyage 
 (meaning as well the sailor as the soldier), wishing with 
 all our hearts it were such or so much as might see 
 a sufficient reward for their painful endeavour. And 
 
1586] Resolution of the Land-Captains. 261 
 
 for the firm confirmation thereof, we have thought meet 
 to subsign these presents with our own hands in the 
 place and time aforesaid. 
 
 Captain Christopher Carlile, Lieutenant-General ; 
 Captain Goring, Captain Sampson, Captain Powell, &c. 
 
 But while we were yet there, it happened one day 
 that our watch called the sentinel, upon the church- 
 steeple, had discovered in the sea a couple of small 
 barks or boats, making in with the harbour of Carthagena. 
 Whereupon Captain Moon and Captain Varney, with 
 John Grant, the master of the Tiger, and some other 
 seamen, embarked themselves in a couple of small 
 pinnaces, to take them before they should come nigh 
 the shore, at the mouth of the harbour, lest by some 
 straggling Spaniards from the land, they might be 
 warned by signs from coming in. Which fell out 
 accordingly, notwithstanding all the diligence that our 
 men could use : for the Spanish boats, upon the sight 
 of our pinnaces coming towards them, ran themselves 
 ashore, and so their men presently hid themselves in 
 bushes hard by the sea-side, amongst some others that 
 had called them by signs thither. Our men presently 
 without any due regard had to the quality of the place, 
 and seeing no man of the Spaniards to shew themselves, 
 boarded the Spanish barks or boats, and so standing 
 all open in them, were suddenly shot at by a troop of 
 Spaniards out of the bushes ; by which volley of shot 
 there were slain Captain Varney, which died presently, 
 and Captain Moon, who died some few days after, 
 besides some four or five others that were hurt : and so 
 our folks returned without their purpose, not having 
 any sufficient number of soldiers with them to fight on 
 shore. For those men they carried were all mariners 
 to row, few of them armed, because they made account 
 with their ordnance to have taken the barks well 
 
262 Drakes Great Armada. [1586 
 
 enough at sea ; which they might full easily have done, 
 without any loss at all, if they had come in time to the 
 harbour mouth, before the Spaniards boats had gotten 
 so near the shore. 
 
 During our abode in this place, as also at St. Domingo, 
 there passed divers courtesies between us and the 
 Spaniards, as feasting, and using them with all kindness 
 and favour; so as amongst others there came to see 
 the General the governor of Carthagena, with the 
 bishop of the same, and divers other gentlemen of the 
 better sort. This town of Carthagena we touched in the 
 out parts, and consumed much with fire, as we had done 
 St. Domingo, upon discontentments, and for want of 
 agreeing with us in their first treaties touching their 
 ransom ; which at the last was concluded between us 
 should be 110,000 ducats for that which was yet standing, 
 the ducat valued at five shillings sixpence sterling. 
 
 This town, though not half so big as St. Domingo, 
 gives, as you see, a far greater ransom, being in very 
 deed of far more importance, by reason of the excellency 
 of the harbour, and the situation thereof to serve the 
 trade of Nombre de Dios and other places, and is 
 inhabited with far more richer merchants. The other 
 is chiefly inhabited with lawyers and brave gentlemen, 
 being the chief or highest appeal of their suits in law of 
 all the islands about it and of the mainland coast next 
 unto it. And it is of no such account as Carthagena, 
 for these and some like reasons which I could give you, 
 over long to be now written. 
 
 The warning which this town received of our coming 
 towards them from St. Domingo, by the space of 20 days 
 before our arrival here, was cause that they had both 
 fortified and every way prepared for their best defence. 
 As also that they had carried and conveyed away all their 
 treasure and principal substance. 
 
586] Ransom of Carthagena. 263 
 
 The ransom of 110,000 ducats thus concluded on, as 
 is aforesaid, the same being written, and expressing for 
 nothing more than the town of Carthagena, upon the 
 payment of the said ransom we left the said town and 
 drew some part of our soldiers into the priory or abbey, 
 standing a quarter of an English mile below the town 
 upon the harbour water-side, the same being walled 
 with a wall of stone ; which we told the Spaniards was 
 yet ours, and not redeemed by their composition. 
 Whereupon they, finding the defect of their contract, 
 were contented to enter into another ransom for all 
 places, but specially for the said house, as also the 
 blockhouse or castle, which is upon the mouth of the 
 inner harbour. And when we asked as much for 
 the one as for the other, they yielded to give a thousand 
 crowns for the abbey, leaving us to take our pleasure upon 
 the blockhouse, which they said they were not able to 
 ransom, having stretched themselves to the uttermost 
 of their powers ; and therefore the said blockhouse was 
 by us undermined, and so with gunpowder blown up in 
 pieces. While this latter contract was in making, our 
 whole fleet of ships fell down towards the harbour- 
 mouth, where they anchored the third time and employed 
 their men in fetching of fresh water aboard the ships 
 for our voyage homewards, which waterwas had in a great 
 well that is in the island by the harbour-mouth. Which 
 island is a very pleasant place as hath been seen, having 
 in it many sorts of goodly and very pleasant fruits, as 
 the orange-trees and others, being set orderly in walks 
 of great length together. Insomuch as the whole island, 
 being some two or three miles about, is cast into grounds 
 of gardening and orchards. 
 
 After six weeks abode in this place, we put to sea the 
 last of March ; where, after two or three days, a great 
 ship which we had taken at St. Domingo, and thereupon 
 
264 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 was called The New Year s Gift, fell into a great leak, 
 being laden with ordnance, hides, and other spoils, and 
 in the night she lost the company of our fleet. Which 
 being missed the next morning by the General, he cast 
 about with the whole fleet, fearing some great mischance 
 to be happened unto her, as in very deed it so fell out ; 
 for her leak was so great that her men were all tired 
 with pumping. But at the last, having found her, and 
 the bark Talbot in her company, which stayed by great 
 hap with her, they were ready to take their men out of 
 her for the saving of them. And so the General, being 
 fully advertised of their great extremity, made sail 
 directly back again to Carthagena with the whole fleet ; 
 where, having staid eight or ten days more about the 
 unlading of this ship and the bestowing thereof and her 
 men into other ships, we departed once again to sea, 
 directing our course toward the Cape St. Anthony, being 
 the westermost part of Cuba, where we arrived the 27. 
 of April. But because fresh water could not presently 
 be found, we weighed anchor and departed, thinking in 
 few days to recover the Matanzas, a place to the east 
 ward of Havana. 
 
 After we had sailed some fourteen days we were 
 brought to Cape St. Anthony again through lack of 
 favourable wind ; but then our scarcity was grown such 
 as need make us look a little better for water, which we 
 found in sufficient quantity, being indeed, as I judge, 
 none other than rain-water newly fallen and gathered 
 up by making pits in a plot of marish ground some 
 three hundred paces from the seaside. 
 
 I do wrong if I should forget the good example of the 
 General at this place, who, to encourage others, and to 
 hasten the getting of fresh water aboard the ships, took 
 no less pain himself than the meanest ; as also at 
 St. Domingo, Carthagena, and all other places, having 
 
1586] The Fleet sails homewards, 265 
 
 always so vigilant a care and foresight in the good 
 ordering of his fleet, accompanying them, as it is 
 said, with such wonderful travail of body, as doubt 
 less had he been the meanest person, as he was the 
 chiefest, he had yet deserved the first place of honour ; 
 and no less happy do we account him for being 
 associated with Master CaHile, his Lieutenant-General, 
 by whose experience, prudent counsel, and gallant 
 performance he achieved so many and happy enter 
 prises of the war, by whom also he was very greatly 
 assisted in setting down the needful orders, laws, and 
 course of justice, and the due administration of the 
 same upon all occasions. 
 
 After three days spent in watering our ships, we 
 departed now the second time from this Cape of 
 St. Anthony the 13. of May. And proceeding about the 
 Cape of Florida, we never touched anywhere; but 
 coasting alongst Florida, and keeping the shore still in 
 sight, the 28. of May, early in the morning, we descried 
 on the shore a place built like a beacon, which was 
 indeed a scaffold upon four long masts raised on end 
 for men to discover to the seaward, being in the latitude 
 of thirty degrees, or very near thereunto. Our pin 
 naces manned and coming to the shore, we marched 
 up alongst the river-side to see what place the enemy 
 held there ; for none amongst us had any knowledge 
 thereof at all. 
 
 Here the General took occasion to march with the 
 companies himself in person, the Lieutenant-General 
 having the vant-guard ; and, going a mile up, or some 
 what more, by the river-side, we might discern on the 
 other side of the river over against us a fort which 
 newly had been built by the Spaniards ; and some mile, 
 or thereabout, above the fort was a little town or village 
 without walls, built of wooden houses, as the plot doth 
 
266 Drake s Great Armada. [if 86 
 
 plainly shew. We forthwith prepared to have ordnance 
 for the battery; and one piece was a little before the 
 evening planted, and the first shot being made by 
 the Lieutenant-General himself at their ensign, strake 
 through the ensign, as we afterwards understood by 
 a Frenchman which came unto us from them. One 
 shot more was then made, which struck the foot of the 
 fort wall, which was all massive timber of great trees 
 like masts. The Lieutenant-General was determined to 
 pass the river this night with four companies, and 
 there to lodge himself entrenched as near the fort as 
 that he might play with his muskets and smallest shot 
 upon any that should appear, and so afterwards to 
 bring and plant the battery with him ; but the help of 
 mariners for that sudden to make trenches could not 
 be had, which was the cause that this determination was 
 remitted until the next night. 
 
 In the night the Lieutenant-General took a little 
 rowing skiff and half a dozen well armed, as Captain 
 Morgan and Captain Sampson, with some others, besides 
 the rowers, and went to view what guard the enemy 
 kept, as also to take knowledge of the ground. And 
 albeit he went as covertly as might be, yet the enemy, 
 taking the alarm, grew fearful that the whole force was 
 approaching to the assault, and therefore with all speed 
 abandoned the place after the shooting of some of their 
 pieces. They thus gone, and he being returned unto 
 us again, but nothing knowing of their flight from their 
 fort, forthwith came a Frenchman 1 , being a fifer (who 
 had been prisoner with them) in a little boat, playing on 
 his fife the tune of the Prince of Orange his song. And 
 being called unto by the guard, he told them before he 
 
 1 Nicolas Borgoignon. The Prince of Orange s Song was a 
 popular ditty in praise of William Prince of Orange (assassinated 1584). 
 the leader of the Dutch Protestant insurgents. 
 
1586] Fort of St. Augustine taken. 267 
 
 put foot out of the boat what he was himself, and how 
 the Spaniards were gone from the fort ; offering either to 
 remain in hands there, or else to return to the place 
 with them that would go. 
 
 Upon this intelligence the General, the Lieutenant- 
 General, with some of the captains in one skiff and the 
 Vice-Admiral with some others in his skiff, and two or 
 three pinnaces furnished of soldiers with them, put 
 presently over towards the fort, giving order for the 
 rest of the pinnaces to follow. And in our approach 
 some of the enemy, bolder than the rest, having stayed 
 behind their company ; shot off two pieces of ordnance 
 at us ; but on shore we went, and entered the place 
 without finding any man there. 
 
 When the day appeared, we found it built all of 
 timber, the walls being none other than whole masts or 
 bodies of trees set upright and close together in manner 
 of a pale, without any ditch as yet made, but wholly in 
 tended with some more time. For they had not as yet 
 finished all their work, having begun the same some 
 three or four months before ; so as, to say the truth, they 
 had no reason to keep it, being subject both to fire and 
 easy assault. 
 
 The platform whereon the ordnance lay was whole 
 bodies of long pine-trees, whereof there is great 
 plenty, laid across one on another and some little earth 
 amongst. There were in it thirteen or fourteen great 
 pieces of brass ordnance and a chest unbroken up, 
 having in it the value of some two thousand pounds 
 sterling, by estimation, of the king s treasure, to pay 
 the soldiers of that place, who were a hundred and 
 fifty men. 
 
 The fort thus won, which they called St. John s Fort, 
 and the day opened, we assayed to go to the town, but 
 could not by reason of some rivers and broken ground 
 
268 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 which was between the two places. And therefore being 
 enforced to embark again into our pinnaces, we went 
 thither upon the great main river, which is called, as 
 also the town, by the name of St. Augustine. At our 
 approaching to land, there were some that began to shew 
 themselves, and to bestow some few shot upon us, but 
 presently withdrew themselves. And in their running 
 thus away, the Sergeant- Major finding one of their 
 horses ready saddled and bridled, took the same to 
 follow the chase ; and so overgoing all his company, was 
 by one laid behind a bush shot through the head ; and 
 falling down therewith, was by ^ the same and two or 
 three more, stabbed in three or four places of his body 
 with swords and daggers, before any could come near 
 to his rescue. His death was much lamented, being 
 in very deed an honest wise gentleman, and soldier 
 of good experience, and of as great courage as any man 
 might be. 
 
 In this place called St. Augustine we understood the 
 king did keep, as is before said, 150 soldiers, and at 
 another place some dozen leagues beyond to the north 
 wards, called St. Helena, he did there likewise keep 150 
 more, serving there for no other purpose than to keep 
 all other nations from inhabiting any part of all that 
 coast; the government whereof was committed to one 
 Pedro Melendez, marquis, nephew to that Melendez the 
 Admiral, who had overthrown Master John Hawkins in 
 the Bay of Mexico some 17 or 18 years ago. This 
 governor had charge of both places, but was at this 
 time in this place, and one of the first that left the 
 same. 
 
 Here it was resolved in full assembly of captains, to 
 undertake the enterprise of St. Helena, and from thence 
 to seek out the inhabitation of our English countrymen 
 in Virginia, distant from thence some six degrees north- 
 
1586] Drake sails home by Virginia? 269 
 
 ward. When we came thwart of St. Helena, the shoals 
 appearing dangerous, and we having no pilot to under 
 take the entry, it was thought meetest to go hence 
 alongst. For the Admiral had been the same night in 
 four fathom and a half, three leagues from the shore ; 
 and yet we understood, by the help of a known pilot, 
 there may and do go in ships of greater burden and 
 draught than any we had in. our fleet. We passed thus 
 along the coast hard aboard the shore, which is shallow 
 for a league or two from the shore, and the same is low 
 and broken land for the most part. The ninth of June 
 upon sight of one special great fire (which are very 
 ordinary all alongst this coast, even from the Cape of 
 Florida hither) the General sent his skiff to the shore, 
 where they found some of our English countrymen that 
 had been sent thither the year before by Sir Walter* 1 
 Raleigh, and brought them aboard ; by whose direction 
 we proceeded along to the place which they make their 
 port. But some of our ships being of great draught, 
 unable to enter, anchored without the harbour in a wild 
 road at sea, about two miles from shore. From whence 
 the General wrote letters to Master Ralph Lane, being 
 governor of those English in Virginia, and then at his 
 fort about six leagues from the road in an island 
 which they called Roanoac] wherein especially he 
 shewed how ready he was to supply his necessities and 
 wants, which he understood of by those he had first 
 talked withal. 
 
 The morrow after, Master Lane himself and some of 
 his company coming unto him, with the consent of his 
 captains he gave them the choice of two offers, that is to 
 say : either he would leave a ship, a pinnace, and certain 
 boats with sufficient masters and mariners, together 
 furnished with a month s victual, to stay and make 
 further discovery of the country and coasts, and so much 
 
270 Drake s Great Armada. [1586 
 
 victual likewise as might be sufficient for the bringing of 
 them all (being an hundred and three persons) into 
 England, if they thought good after such time, with any 
 other thing they would desire, and that he might be able 
 to spare : or else, if they thought they had made 
 sufficient discovery already, and did desire to return 
 into England, he would give them passage. But they, 
 as it seemed, being desirous to stay, accepted very 
 thankfully and with great gladness that which was 
 offered first. Whereupon the ship being appointed and 
 received into charge by some of their own company sent 
 into her by Master Lane, before they had received from 
 the rest of the fleet the provision appointed them, there 
 arose a great storm (which they said was extraordinary 
 and very strange) that lasted three days together, and 
 put all our fleet in great danger, to be driven from their 
 anchoring upon the coast ; for we brake many cables, 
 and lost many anchors ; and some of our fleet which had 
 lost all, of which number was the ship appointed for 
 Master Lane and his company, were driven to put to sea 
 in great danger, in avoiding the coast, and could never 
 see us again until we met in England. Many also 
 of our small pinnaces and boats were lost in this 
 storm. 
 
 Notwithstanding, after all this, the General offered 
 them, with consent of his captains, another ship with 
 some provisions, although not such a one for their turns 
 as might have been spared them before, this being unable 
 to be brought into their harbour : or else, if they would, 
 to give them passage into England, although he knew 
 he should perform it with greater difficulty than he 
 might have done before. But Master Lane, with those 
 of the chiefest of his company which he had then with 
 him, considering what should be best for them to do, 
 made request unto the General under their hands, that 
 
1586] Colonists of l Virginia brought back. 271 
 
 they might have passage for England: the which being 
 granted, and the rest sent for out of the country and 
 shipped, we departed from that coast the 18. of June. 
 And so, God be thanked, both they and we in good 
 safety arrived at Portsmouth the 28. of July, 1586, to the 
 great glory of God, and to no small honour to our Prince, 
 our country, and ourselves. The total value of that 
 which was got in this voyage is esteemed at three score 
 thousand pounds, whereof the companies which have 
 travailed in the voyage were to have twenty thousand 
 pounds, the adventurers the other forty. Of which 
 twenty thousand pounds (as I can judge) will redound 
 some six pounds to the single share. We lost some 
 750 men in the voyage ; above three parts of them only 
 by sickness. The men of name that died and were slain 
 in this voyage, which I can presently call to remem 
 brance, are these : Captain Powell, Captain Varney, 
 Captain Moon, Captain Fortescue, Captain Biggs, 
 Captain Cecil, Captain Hannam, Captain Greenfield , 
 Thomas Tucker, a lieutenant ; Alexander Starkey, 
 a lieutenant ; Master Escot, a lieutenant ; Master Water- 
 house, a lieutenant ; Master George Candish, Master 
 Nicholas Winter, Master Alexander Carlile, Master 
 Robert Alexander, Master Scroope, Master James Dyer, 
 Master Peter Duke. With some other, whom for haste 
 I cannot suddenly think on. 
 
 The ordnance gotten of all sorts, brass and iron, were 
 about two hundred and forty pieces, whereof the two 
 hundred and some more were brass, and were thus 
 found and gotten : At Santiago some two or three and 
 fifty pieces. In St. Domingo about four score, whereof 
 was very much great ordnance, as whole cannon \ demi- 
 
 1 The whole cannon had a bore of 8 inches, and carried a shot of 
 60 Ib : the demi-cannon 6} inches, shot 30 Ib. : the culverin 
 5 inches, shot 18 Ib. 
 
272 Drakes Great Armada. 
 
 cannon, culverins, and such like. In Carthagcna some 
 sixty and three pieces, and good store likewise of 
 the greater sort. In the Fort of St. Augustine were 
 fourteen pieces. The rest was iron ordnance, of which 
 the most part was gotten at St. Domingo, the rest at 
 Carthagena. 
 
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