From Thence We
Passed The Time Upon The Coast Of Guinea, Searching With All Diligence
The Rivers From Rio Grande
Unto Sierra Leone till the 12th of January,
in which time we had not gotten together a hundred and fifty
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 Myne, 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 one hundred and twenty of our men,
which the 15th of January assaulted a town of the negroes of our
allies' adversaries which had in it 8,000 inhabitants, and 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 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 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 four and five hundred negroes, wherewith we
thought it somewhat reasonable to seek the coast of the West 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
27th day of March, which day we had sight of an island, called
Dominique, upon the coast of the West Indies, in fourteen 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
commanded 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 Marguerite and Cartagena,
without anything greatly worth the noting, saving at Cape 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 suffer us to take water. He had fortified his town with
divers bulwarks in all places where it might be entered, and furnished
himself with a hundred harquebusiers, so that he thought by famine to
have enforced us to have put on land 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 two hundred men brake in upon their bulwarks, and entered
the town with the loss only of eleven 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 two hundred 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 24th of July, hoping to have escaped the
time of their storms, which then soon after began to reign, the which
they call Furicanos; but passing by the west end of Cuba, towards the
coast of Florida, there happened to us, the twelfth 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, was in so extreme a leak, that we were
rather upon the point to leave her than to keep her any longer; yet,
hoping to bring all to good pass, 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, 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 nineteen degrees, in seeking of which port we
took in our way three ships, which carried passengers to the number of
one hundred, 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.
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