And, Lest The English Might Find Means To Extinguish The Fire,
And Thereby To Preserve A Part Of The Cargo,
Being in number 400 well
armed men, they entrenched themselves on shore as near as possible to
the carak, to
Keep our men aloof till the fire might consume the carak
and all her contents.
Seeing this, Sir John landed with an hundred of his men, many of whom
had to swim on shore or wade more than breast high; and having easily
dispersed those who guarded the shore, he no sooner approached the
entrenchment but the Portuguese fled, leaving as much as the fire had
spared to reward the pains of our men. Among others taken at the
entrenchment, were a Portuguese called Vincent Fonseca, purser of the
carak, with two of her cannoneers, one a German, and the other a
Hollander; who, refusing to give any account voluntarily of what was
asked, were threatened with torture, and then confessed that within
fifteen days three other caraks would certainly arrive at the same
island, there being five caraks in the fleet at their departure from
Goa, the Buen Jesus admiral, Madre de Dios, San Bernardo, San
Christophoro, and Santa Cruz, that now on fire. They had especial orders
from the king of Spain, not in any case to touch at St. Helena, where
the Portuguese caraks used always till now to refresh on their way from
the East Indies, procuring water and fresh, provisions. The reason of
this order was, that the king was informed the English men of war meant
to lie there in wait for them. If therefore, their necessities should
drive them to seek supply any where, they were commanded to put in at
Angola on the coast of Africa, and only to remain there so long as was
necessary to take in water, that they might avoid the inconvenience of
infections, to which that hot country is dangerously liable. The last
rendezvous appointed for them was the island of Flores, where they were
assured of a naval force meeting them and convoying them to Lisbon.
On receiving this intelligence, Sir John held a council with Captains
Norton, Downton, and Abraham Cocke, commanding three ships of the Earl
of Cumberland, Mr Thomson of Harwich, captain of the Dainty, belonging
to Sir John Hawkins, one of Sir Walter Raleighs fleet, Captain
Christopher Newton of the Golden Dragon, newly come from the West
Indies, and others. To these he communicated the intelligence he had
just got from the foresaid examination, and what great presumptions of
truth appeared in their story; and wishing, since God and their good
fortune had so opportunely brought them together, that they might unite
their utmost endeavours to bring these Orientals under the lee of
English obedience. Upon this it was mutually agreed not to part company
or leave these seas, till time and opportunity should enable them to put
their consultations into execution. Next day her majestys ship
Foresight, Sir Robert Cross, joined them, and he, being informed of the
matter, entered heartily on this service. Then Sir John, with all these
ships, went 6 or 7 leagues to the west of Flores, spreading them out in
a line from north to south, each ship at least two leagues distant from
each other, by which order they were able to discover two whole degrees
of the sea.
They lay in this manner from the 29th of June to the 3d of August, when
Captain Thomson in the Dainty had first sight of the huge carak called
the Madre de Dios, one of the greatest belonging to the crown of
Portugal. Having the start of the rest, and being an excellent sailor,
the Dainty began the combat something to her cost, by the slaughter and
hurt of several of her men. Within a little Sir John Burrough came up to
second her in the Roebuck, belonging to Sir Walter Raleigh, and saluted
the Madre de Dios with great shot, continuing the fight within
musket-shot, assisted by Captains Thomson and Newport, till Sir Robert
Cross came up, who was vice-admiral and was to leeward, on which Sir
John asked his opinion what was best to be done. Sir Robert said, if she
were not boarded she would reach the shore and be set on fire, as had
been done with the other. Wherefore Sir John Burrough concluded to
grapple her, and Sir Robert Cross engaged to do so likewise at the same
moment, which was done accordingly. After some time in this situation,
Sir John Burroughs ship received a shot of a _cannon perier_[389] under
water; and, being ready to sink, desired Sir Robert to fall off, that he
also might clear himself and save his ship from sinking. This was done
with much difficulty, as both the Roebuck and Foresight were so
entangled that they could not clear themselves.
[Footnote 389: Probably a large stone ball. - E.]
That same evening, finding the carak drawing near the land, Sir Robert
Crosse persuaded his consorts to board her again, as otherwise there
were no hopes of taking her. After many fears and excuses, he at last
encouraged them, and then went athwart her bows all alone, and so
hindered her sailing, that the rest had time to get up to the attack
before she could make the land. So, towards evening, after Sir Robert
had fought her three hours singly, two of the Earl of Cumberlands ships
came up, and then they and Sir Robert Crosse carried her by boarding
with very little loss, as Sir Robert by this time had broken their
courage, and made the assault easy for the rest. Having disarmed the
Portuguese, and bestowed them for better security as prisoners into the
other ships, Sir Robert had now time to contemplate the proportions of
this vast carak, which did then, and may still provoke the admiration of
all men not accustomed to such a sight. But though this first view
afforded our men sufficient admiration, yet the pitiful sight of so
many bodies slain and mangled drew tears from their eyes, and induced
them to lend aid to those miserable people, whose limbs were sore torn
by the shot, and their bodies agonized by a multitude of wounds.
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