At This Time
We Perceived, To Our Great Joy, Two Ships At Anchor Close Under The
Town; Upon Which We
Shifted six or seven of our men into the boat
belonging to captain Davis, being too much crowded, and retaining
About
20 arquebusiers in the pinnace, we made towards these two ships with all
possible haste.
While proceeding towards them, we saw several boats passing between the
_roaders_[366] and the shore, and many men in their shirts swimming and
wading on shore, who, as we afterwards learnt, were endeavouring to get
the ships fast aground; and the inhabitants were at the same time busied
in preparing to defend the ships and themselves against us. On coming
near them, captain Lister commanded the trumpets to be sounded, but
prohibited any firing till farther orders; yet some of the people,
either not hearing, or disregardful of these orders, began firing as
soon as the trumpets sounded, though with small injury to the islanders,
who mostly lay under the cover of trenches or other means of defence.
Captain Lister then urged on the rowers, who began to shrink at the shot
from the enemy which flew thick about their ears, and was himself the
first to board one of the ships which lay farther from shore than the
other, while we speedily followed, still plying the enemy with our shot,
and having cut her cables and hawsers, we towed her out to sea. In the
mean time, captain Davis came up in his boat, and boarded the other
ship, both having been abandoned by their crews; but, as she was quite
fast aground, he was under the necessity of quitting her, exposed to
shot and stones even from the shore.
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