No Man
Could Almost Step But Upon A Dead Carcass Or A Bloody Floor, But
Especially About The Helm, Where
Many of them had been slain while
endeavouring to steer, as it required the united strength of twelve or
fourteen
Men at once to move the rudder, and some of our ships beating
in at her stern with their ordnance, often slew four or five labouring
on each side of the helm at one shot, whose places were immediately
supplied by fresh hands, and as our artillery incessantly plied them
with continual vollies, much blood was necessarily spilt in that place.
Moved with compassion for their misery, our general immediately sent
them his own surgeons, withholding no possible aid or relief that he or
his company could supply. Among those whom this chance of war had
rendered most deplorable, was Don Fernando de Mendoca, grand captain and
commander of this mighty carak, descended of the house of Mendoca in
Spain, but having married in Portugal, lived there as one of that
nation. He was a gentleman well striken in years, of comely personage
and good stature, but of hard fortune. In the course of his services
against the Moors he had been twice taken prisoner, and both times
ransomed by the king. In a former return voyage from the East Indies, he
was driven upon the _Baxos_ or sands of _India_, near the coast of
Sofala, being then captain of a carak which was lost, and himself fell
into the hands of the infidels on shore, who kept him in a long and
rigorous captivity. Once more, having great respect for him, and willing
to mend his fortune, the king had given him the conduct of this huge
carak, in which he went from Lisbon as admiral of the India fleet, and
had returned in that capacity, but that the viceroy embarked in the Bon
Jesus, and assumed that rank in virtue of his late office. Not willing
to add too severely to the affliction of this man, Sir John Burrough
freely dismissed Don Fernando and most of his followers, giving them
some vessels for that purpose, with all necessary provisions.
Having dispatched this business, Sir John Burrough had leisure to take
such a survey of the goods in his prize, as the convenience of the seas
would admit; and seeing many inclined to commit spoil and pillage, he
very prudently seized upon the whole in the name of her majesty. He then
made a cursory inspection of the cargo, and perceived that the wealth
would be fully answerable to expectation, and would be more than
sufficient to content both the desires of the adventurers, and the
fatigues and dangers of the captors. I cannot here refrain from
acknowledging the great favour of God to our nation, by putting this
rich prize into our hands, thereby manifestly discovering the secrets
and riches of the trade of India, which had hitherto lain strangely
bidden and cunningly concealed from our knowledge, only a very imperfect
glimpse of it being seen by a few, while it is now turned into the broad
light of full and perfect knowledge. Whence it would appear to be the
will of God for our good, if only our weakness would so apprehend it,
that we should participate in those East Indian treasures, by the
establishment of a lawful traffic, to better our means of advancing the
true religion and the holy service of God.
This carak, in the judgment of those most experienced, was of not less
than 1600 tons burden, 900 of which were stowed full of rich
merchandize; the remainder being allowed partly for the ordnance, which
were 32 pieces of brass cannon of all sorts, and partly to the ships
company, passengers, and victuals, which last could not be a small
quantity, considering the length of the voyage, and that there were
between six and seven hundred persons on board. To give a taste as it
were of the commodities, it may suffice to give a general enumeration of
them, according to the catalogue made out at Leadenhall, London, on the
15th September 1592. After the jewels, which were certainly of great
value, though they never came to light, the principal wares consisted of
spices, drugs, silks, calicoes, quilts, carpets, and colours, &c. The
spices were pepper, cloves, mace, nutmegs, cinnamon, green ginger. The
drugs, benzoin, frankincense, gallinga, mirabolans, socotorine aloes,
camphor. The silks, damasks, taffetas, sarcenets, _altobassos_ or
counterfeit cloth of gold, unwrought China silk, sleaved silk, white
twisted silk, and curled cypress. The calicoes were book-calicoe,
calicoe-lawns, broad white calicoes, fine starched calicoes, coarse
white calicoes, brown broad calicoes, brown coarse calicoes. There were
also canopies, and coarse diaper towels, quilts of coarse sarsenet, and
of calico, and carpets like those of Turkey. Likewise pearls, musk,
civet, and ambergris. The rest of the wares were many in number, but
less in value; as elephants teeth, porcelain vessels of China, coco
nuts, hides, ebony as black as jet, bedsteads of the same, curious cloth
made of the rind of trees, &c. All which piles of merchandize, being
valued at a reasonable rate by men of approved judgment, amounted to no
less than 150,000 pounds Sterling, which being divided among the
adventurers, of whom her majesty was the chief, was sufficient to
content all parties.
The cargo being taken out, and the goods reloaded on board ten of our
ships to be sent to London, one Mr Robert Adams, a man of excellent
skill, took the exact bigness, height, length, breadth, and other
dimensions of this huge vessel, that these might be preserved according
to the exact rules of geometrical proportions, both for present
knowledge and transmission to posterity, omitting nothing which either
his art could demonstrate, or any mans judgment think worthy of being
known. After an exact survey of the whole frame, he found the extreme
length, from the beak head to the stern, where a lantern was erected,
165 feet.
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