The Gunner Received
Two Desperate Wounds, And Lost A Great Deal Of Blood, And The Brave
Masters-Mate, While Standing Firmly In His Post, Was Struck Through The
Ribs By A Dart, On Pulling Out Which His Bowels Followed, And He Fell
Down Dead.
On perceiving this, the negroes gave a great shout, and
pressed to enter the boat where the mate had stood, imagining as so many
of the English were wounded they would now soon yield.
But four of those
remaining in the pinnace kept them off with their pikes, while the other
four at the oars made the best of their way to sea.
At length they got out of the river, and the negroes retired having
expended all their darts. This was fortunate for the English, as six of
the remaining eight were desperately wounded, one of whom was Robert
Baker, the author of this narrative, and only two remained who were able
to handle the oars, so that they made very slow progress to the ship,
which appears to have been four leagues from the shore. When they got on
board they were all so faint that none of them were able to stand. After
having their wounds dressed they refreshed themselves; but as Robert
Baker had more occasion for rest than food he went to bed, and when he
awoke in the morning the ship was under sail for England.
SECTION X.
_Voyage to Guinea in 1563 by Robert Baker_[286]
This relation, like the former, is written in verse, and only contains a
description of two adventures that happened in the voyage, one of which
proved extremely calamitous to those concerned in it, among whom was the
author. From the title or preamble, we learn that the adventurers in
this voyage were Sir William Gerard, Sir William Chester, Sir Thomas
Lodge, Benjamin Gonson, William Winter, Lionel Ducket, Anthony Hickman,
and Edward Castelin. There were two ships employed, one called the John
Baptist, of which Lawrence Rondell was master, and the other the Merlin,
Robert Revell master. The factors were Robert Baker, the author,
Justinian Goodwine, James Gliedell, and George Gage. They set out on
their voyage in November 1563, bound for Guinea and the river Sestos,
but the port whence they fitted out is nowhere mentioned. After the
unlucky disaster that befel him in Guinea in the year before, Baker had
made a kind of poetical vow not to go near that country any more; but
after his return to England, and recovery from his wounds, he soon
forgot past sorrows; and being invited to undertake the voyage in
quality of factor, he consented. - Astley.
[Footnote 286: Astley I. 180. Hakluyt, II. 523-531. The prose abstract
here inserted is chiefly taken from Astleys collection, carefully
compared with the original versified narrative in Hakluyt. - E.]
After we had been at sea two days and a night, the man from the main-top
descried a sail or two, the tallest of which they immediately made up
to, judging her to be the most valuable; and, as captains are in use to
do[287], I hailed her to know whence she was.
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