The 21st We Went In
Our Boats To A Town A League To The West, Where We Found Many Negroes
Under Another Chief, With Whom We Dealt On The Same Terms As At Shamma.
The 22d We Went Again On Shore, And I Got 1 Lib.
4 oz.
Of gold. The 23d
the negroes told as that the Portuguese ships had departed from the
Mina, intending to ply to windward and then come down to fight us,
giving us warning to be on our guard. The 24th we went again on shore to
trade, and I invited the chief of the town to dinner. While we were
ashore on the 25th, our ships descried 5 sail of ships belonging to the
king of Portugal, and fired several shots to recall us on board. So we
went to the ships, but by the time that every thing was in order and we
had weighed anchor it was night, so that nothing could be done. We set
sail however and tried all night to gain the wind of the Portuguese,
some of which were very near during the night. One of them, which we
judged was their admiral, fired a shot, as we supposed to call the
others to come and speak with him. The 26th we came in with the shore,
and got sight of the Portuguese at anchor, on which we made sail towards
them, giving all our men white scarfs, that the French and we might know
each other in case of boarding: But night coming on before we could
fetch the Portuguese, we anchored within demi-culverine shot of them.
[Footnote 264: Called Chama in modern maps, near the mouth of St Johns
river, about 6 leagues east from Mina. - E.]
In the morning of the 27th, both we and the Portuguese weighed anchor,
and by 11 o'clock, A.M. we had gained the weather-gage, on which we went
room with them[265]: on this they bore away towards the shore, and we
after them, and when they were near shore they put about again to
seawards. We put about likewise, and gained a head of them, on which we
took in our topsails and waited for them. The first that came up was a
small bark, which sailed so well that she cared not for any of us, and
had good ordnance. As soon as she came up she discharged her guns at us
and shot past with ease, after which she fired at the French admiral and
struck his ship in several places; and as we were in our fighting sails,
she soon got beyond our reach. Then another caravel came up under our
lee, discharging her ordnance at us and at the French admiral, wounding
two of his men and shooting through his main-mast. After him came up the
Portuguese admiral also under our lee, but was not able to do us so much
harm as the small ships had done, as he carried his ordnance higher than
they; neither were we able to make a good shot at any of them, because
our ship was so weak in the side that she laid all her ordnance in the
sea[266]. We determined therefore to lay the Portuguese admiral on
board; but on making the attempt, the French admiral fell to leeward and
could not fetch him, after which he fell to leeward of two other
caravels, and was unable to fetch any of them.
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