The Said Patrone Norado, Being Void Of All Hope And Finding Now
Opportunity, Consulted With The Said Sonnings For To
Swim a-seaboard
the islands, and the ship, being then out of danger, should take him in
(as was afterwards
Confessed), and so go to Tallowne, in the province
of Marseilles, with this Patrone Norado, and there to take in the rest
of his lading.
The ship being ready the first day of May, and having her sails all
abroad, our said factors did take their leave of the king, who very
courteously bid them farewell, and when they came aboard they commanded
the master and the company hastily to get out the ship. The master
answered that it was impossible, for that the wind was contrary and
overblowed. And he required us, upon forfeiture of our bands, that we
should do our endeavour to get her forth. Then went we to warp out the
ship, and presently the king sent a boat aboard of us, with three men
in her, commanding the said Sonnings to come ashore, at whose coming
the king demanded of him custom for the oils. Sonnings answered him
that his highness had promised to deliver them customs free. But,
notwithstanding, the king weighed not his said promise, and as an
infidel that hath not the fear of God before his eyes, nor regard of
his word, albeit he was a king, he caused the said Sonnings to pay the
custom to the uttermost penny; and afterwards ordered him to make haste
away, saying that the janisaries would have the oil ashore again.
These janisaries are soldiers there under the Great Turk, and their
power is above the king's. And so the said factor departed from the
king, and came to the waterside, and called for a boat to come aboard,
and he brought with him the foresaid Patrone Norado. The company,
inquisitive to know what man that was, Sonnings answered that he was
his countryman, a passenger. "I pray God," said the company, "that we
come not into trouble by this man." Then said Sonnings angrily, "What
have you to do with any matters of mine? If anything chance otherwise
than well, I must answer for all."
Now the Turk unto whom this Patrone Norado was indebted, missing him,
supposed him to be aboard of our ship, presently went unto the king and
told him that he thought that his pledge, Patrone Norado, was aboard on
the English ship. Whereupon the king presently sent a boat aboard of
us, with three men in her, commanding the said Sonnings to come ashore;
and, not speaking anything as touching the man, he said that he would
come presently in his own boat; but as soon as they were gone he willed
us to warp forth the ship, and said that he would see the knaves hanged
before he would go ashore. And when the king saw that he came not
ashore, but still continued warping away the ship, he straight
commanded the gunner of the bulwark next unto us to shoot three shots
without ball. Then we came all to the said Sonnings, and asked him
what the matter was that we were shot at; he said that it was the
janisaries who would have the oil ashore again, and willed us to make
haste away. And after that he had discharged three shots without ball
he commanded all the gunners in the town to do their endeavour to sink
us; but the Turkish gunners could not once strike us, wherefore the
king sent presently to the Banio (this Banio is the prison whereas all
the captives lay at night), and promised that if there were any that
could either sink us or else cause us to come in again, he should have
a hundred crown, and his liberty. With that came forth a Spaniard
called Sebastian, which had been an old servitor in Flanders, and he
said that, upon the performance of that promise, he would undertake
either to sink us or to cause us to come in again, and thereto he would
gage his life; and at the first shot he split our rudder's head in
pieces, and the second shot he struck us under water, and the third
shot he shot us through our foremast with a culverin shot, and thus, he
having rent both our rudder and mast and shot us under water, we were
enforced to go in again.
This Sebastian for all his diligence herein had neither his liberty nor
a hundred crowns, so promised by the said king; but, after his service
done, was committed again to prison, whereby may appear the regard that
a Turk or infidel hath of his work, although he be able to perform it -
yea, more, though he be a king.
Then our merchants, seeing no remedy, they, together with five of our
company, went ashore; and they then ceased shooting. They shot unto us
in the whole nine-and-thirty shots without the hurt of any man.
And when our merchants came ashore the king commanded presently that
they, with the rest of our company that were with them, should be
chained four and four to a hundredweight of iron, and when we came in
with the ship there came presently above a hundred Turks aboard of us,
and they searched us and stripped our very clothes from our backs, and
broke open our chests, and made a spoil of all that we had; and the
Christian caitiffs likewise that came aboard of us made spoil of our
goods, and used us as ill as the Turks did. And our master's mate,
having a Geneva Bible in his hand, there came the king's chief gunner
and took it out from him, who showed me of it; and I, having the
language, went presently to the king's treasurer, and told him of it,
saying that since it was the will of God that we should fall into their
hands, yet that they should grant us to use our consciences to our own
discretion, as they suffered the Spaniards and other nations to use
theirs; and he granted us.
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