Hakluyt, II. 523-531. The prose abstract
here inserted is chiefly taken from Astleys collection, carefully
compared with the original versified narrative in Hakluyt. - E.]
After we had been at sea two days and a night, the man from the main-top
descried a sail or two, the tallest of which they immediately made up
to, judging her to be the most valuable; and, as captains are in use to
do[287], I hailed her to know whence she was. She answered from France,
on which we _waved_ her, but she nothing dismayed, _waved_ us in return.
I immediately ordered armed men aloft into the main and fore-tops, and
caused powder to be laid on the poop to blow up the enemy if they should
board us that way. At the sound of trumpets we began the fight,
discharging both chain and bar-shot from our brazen artillery; while the
Frenchmen, flourishing their swords from the main-yard, called out to
us to board their ship. Willing to accept their invitation, we plied
them warmly with our cannon, and poured in flights of arrows, while our
arquebuses plied them from loop-holes, and we endeavoured to set their
sails on fire by means of arrows and pikes carrying wildfire. I
encouraged, the men to board, by handing spiced wine liberally among
them, which they did with lime-pots, after breaking their nets with
stones, while those of our men who were aloft entered the enemys tops,
after killing those who defended them. Then cutting the ropes, they
brought down the yard by the board, and those who entered the ship plied
the enemy so well with their swords, that at length the remaining
Frenchmen ran below deck and cried out for quarter. Having thus become
masters of the ship, we carried her to the _Groin_ in Spain, or Corunna,
where we sold the ship and cargo for ready money.
[Footnote 287: In these early trading voyages, the chief factor, who
here appears to have been Baker, seems to have had the supreme
command - Astl. I. 180. b.]
After this we proceeded on our voyage and arrived in Guinea. One day
about noon, I went with eight more in a boat towards the shore to trade,
meaning to dispatch my business and be back before night. But when we
had got near the shore, a furious tempest sprung up, accompanied with
rain and thunder, which drove the ships from their anchors out to sea;
while we in the boat were forced to run along the coast in search of
some place for shelter from the storm, but meeting none, had to remain
all night near the shore, exposed to the thunder, rain, and wind in
great jeopardy. We learnt afterwards that the ships returned next day in
search of us, while we rowed forward along the coast, supposing the
ships were before us, and always anxiously looked out for them; but the
mist was so great that we could never see them nor they us. The ships
continued, as we were told afterwards, looking out for us for two or
three days; after which, concluding that we had inevitably perished in
the storm, they made the best of their way for England.
Having been three days in great distress for want of food, we at length
landed on the coast and exchanged some of our wares with the negroes for
roots and such other provisions as they had, and then put to sea again
in search of the ships, which we still supposed were before us or to
leeward, wherefore we went down the coast to the eastwards. We continued
in this manner ranging along shore for twelve days, seeing nothing but
thick woods and deserts, full of wild beasts, which often appeared and
came in crowds at sunset to the sea shore, where they lay down or played
on the sand, sometimes plunging into the water to cool themselves. At
any other time it would have been diverting to see how archly the
elephants would fill their trucks with water, which they spouted out
upon the rest. Besides deer, wild boars, and antelopes, we saw many
other wild beasts, such as I had never seen before.
We often saw a man or two on the shore, who on seeing us used to come
off in their almadias or canoes; when casting anchor we offered such
wares as we had in the boat for fish and fresh water, or provisions of
their cooking, and in this way we procured from them roots and the fruit
of the palm tree, and some of their wine, which is the juice of a tree
and is of the colour of whey. Sometimes we got wild honeycombs; and by
means of these and other things we relieved our hunger; but nothing
could relieve our grief, fatigue and want of sleep, and we were so sore
depressed by the dreadful situation in which we were placed, that we
were ready to die, and were reduced to extreme weakness. Having lost all
hope of rejoining the ships, which we now concluded were either lost or
gone homewards, we knew not how to conduct ourselves. We were in a
strange and distant country, inhabited by a people whose manners and
customs were entirely different from ours; and to attempt getting home
in an open boat destitute of every necessary was utterly impossible. By
this time we found we had passed to leeward of _Melegete_ or the grain
coast, and had got to the Mina or gold coast of Guinea, as the negroes
who now came on board spoke some Portuguese, and brought off their
weights and scales for the purpose of trade, asking where were our
ships. To this we answered, in hopes of being the better treated, that
we had two ships at sea, which would be with them in a day or two.
We now consulted together how they should best proceed.
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