When We Made The Shore On The 4th, We Found
Ourselves Off Lagua, 30 Leagues To The Eastwards Of Our Reckoning, Owing
To The Currents Setting East.
Going on shore with our negro interpreter,
we learned that there were four French ships on the coast:
One at
_Perinnen_, 6 leagues west of Lagua; one at _Weamba[277]_, 4 leagues
east of Lagua; a third at _Perecow[9]_, 4 leagues east of Weamba; and
the fourth at _Egrand[10]_, 4 leagues east of Perecow. We accordingly
proceeded toward Weamba, where we saw one of the French ships under sail
to which we gave chase; and lest we should over-shoot her in the night,
the Minion was brought to anchor, and the Tiger and Christopher followed
the chase all night.
[Footnote 276: The Mina is here to be considered as the gold coast of
Guinea, called Mina or the mines on account of its great produce in gold
dust. The castle of St George del Mina, is usually called in these early
voyages _the castle._ - E.]
[Footnote 277: Or Wiamba, where the English had afterwards a
fort. - Astl. I. 172. d.]
[278][Footnote 278: 9 This seems to have been little Barakhow, or
Berow. - Astl. I. 172. c.]
[279][Footnote 279: 10 Probably Akkara, where the English, Dutch, and
Danes had afterwards separate forts - Astl. 1.172. d.]
The 5th we found three French ships at anchor: One called _La Foi_ of
Harfleur of 200 tons, the second the _Venturuse_ of Harfleur of 100, and
third the _Mulet de Batville_ of Rouen of 120 tons. On nearing them, we
in the Minion were determined to lay the admiral on board, while the
Christopher boarded the vice-admiral, and the Tiger the smallest. But
they weighed and got under sail, on which the Christopher, being our
headmost ship, bore down on La Foi, and we in the Minion on the Mulet,
which we took; but the Venturuse sailed so swift that we could not take
her. The one we took was the richest except the admiral, which had taken
80 libs, of gold, the Venturuse having only 22 libs.; while our prise
had 50. They had been above two months on the coast; but three others
had been there before them, and had departed a month before our arrival,
having swept the coast of 700 pounds of gold. Having continued the chase
all that day and night, and the next day till 3 P.M. and being unable to
get up with them, we were afraid of falling too far to leewards, and
made sail back to the shore. On the 7th, I convened the captains
masters and merchants of all our three ships, when we weighed the gold
taken in the prize, being 50 libs. 5 oz., after which we put men out of
all our ships into the prize to keep her. On the 12th, on coming to
_Egrand_, having taken all the goods out of the prize, we offered to
sell the ship to the Frenchmen; but she was so leaky that they would not
have her, and begged us to save their lives by taking them into our
ships.
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