But We Shot Three Or Four Times, And Made
Signs To Them That They Should Make Towards The Island, Which They
Presently Did.
On perceiving that, the Englishmen made out to sea:
And
then the caravels sent on board us, saying that the people of the island
were all in arms, having received advice from Portugal, that Sir Francis
Drake was in readiness, and meant to come to the islands. They likewise
brought us news of the overthrow of the Spanish armada which had gone
against England, and that the English had been at the gates of Lisbon;
for which reason it win the king's commands that we should put into the
island of Tercera, and remain there under the protection of its castle,
till we received further orders, as it was then thought too dangerous
for us to continue our voyage to Lisbon. These news put all our fleet in
great fear, making us look upon each other as not knowing what to do or
say; as it was dangerous for us to put into the road, which lies open to
the sea, so that although they had the kings commands for so doing, the
India ships durst not anchor there, but only used to come thither,
standing off and on, and sending their boats a-land for such necessaries
as they wanted, without coming to anchor. But now necessity compelled us
to this measure, owing to our fears for the three small English ships,
also because of the kings orders, and because we understood that the
Earl of Cumberland was not far from these islands with sundry ships of
war. We made therefore a virtue of necessity, and entering the road of
Tercera, anchored close under the castle, in waiting for orders from the
king to pursue our voyage, it being then the 24th of July or St Jameses
day.
The 12th of August, the Earl of Cumberland, with six or seven ships of
war, sailed past the island of Tercera; and to our great good fortune
passed out of sight. We then set out in all haste, and, for our greater
security, took along with us 400 Spaniards of those who were in garrison
in the island, and made sail for Lisbon with a favourable wind, so that
in eleven days we arrived in the river Tagus with great joy and triumph.
For, had we been one day longer of getting into the river, we had all
been taken by Captain Drake, [Sir Francis Drake] who came before Cascais
with 40 ships, at the very time when we cast anchor in the Tagus under
the guard of several gallies.
While I remained in Tercera, the Earl of Cumberland came to St Marys to
take in fresh water and other victuals; but the inhabitants would not
suffer him to have it, and wounded both the earl himself and several of
his men, so that they were forced to depart without having any thing.
Likewise, while I was at Tercera, the same earl came to the island of
Graciosa, where he went to land in person with seven or eight others,
demanding certain beasts, poultry, and other victuals, with wine and
fresh water, which they willingly gave him, after which he departed
without doing any injury, for which the inhabitants were very thankful,
praising his courtesy and faithfulness to his promise. The earl came
likewise at that time to Fayal, where at the first they begun to resist
him; but by reason of some controversy among themselves, they let him
land, when he razed the castle, throwing all the cannon into the sea,
and took with him certain caravels and ships that lay in the road, with
all such provisions as he wanted, and then departed. Thereupon, the king
caused the principal actors in that transaction to be punished, and went
thither a company of soldiers, which went from Tereera, with all kind of
warlike ammunition and great shot, rebuilding the cattle the better to
defend the island, and no more trusting to the Portuguese inhabitants.
The 9th of October 1589[381], there arrived in Tereera fourteen ships
from the Spanish West Indies, laden with cochineal, hides, gold, silver,
pearls, and other rich wares. When they departed from the harbour of the
Havannah, they were fifty in company; of which eleven sunk in the
channel [of Florida] by reason of foul weather, and all the rest were
scattered and separated from each other in a storm. Next day there came
another ship of the same fleet, which sailed close under the island
endeavouring to get into the road; when she was met by an English whip
that had not above three cast pieces [of ordnance], while the Spaniards
had twelve. They fought a long while together, which we in the island
could distinctly see. The governor of the island sent out two boats
filled with musketeers to aid the Spanish ship; but before they could
get up to her assistance; the English had shot her below water, so that
we saw her sink into the sea with all her sails up, and she entirely
disappeared. The Englishmens boat saved the Captain and about thirty
others, but not one pennyworth of the goods, which were to the value of
200,000 ducats, in gold, silver, and pearls. All the rest of the crew
were drowned, to the number of about fifty persons, among whom were some
friars and women, whom the English could not save. The English set all
the people they had saved on shore, and then sailed away. The 27th of
the same month of October 1589, these fourteen ships sailed from
Tercera, for Seville; and on coming to the coast of Spain, they were all
taken by some English ships that watched for them, two only excepted
which made their escape, all the rest being carried to England.
[Footnote 381: In Hakluyt, all that now follows is marked as extracted
from the 99th chapter of Linschoten.]
About this time, the earl of Cumberland, with one of the queens ships
and five or six others, kept hovering about the islands, and came
oft-times close to the island of Tercera, and to the road of Angra, so
near that the people on land could easily count all the men on his
decks, and could even distinguish one from another; they of the island
not once shooting at them, which they might easily have done, as they
were often within musket-shot of the town and fort.
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