the countrey. They have about this Towne great store of the wheate of the Countrey, and they judge, that on one side of the towne there were one thousand rikes of Wheate, and another sort of Corne which is called Mill, which is much used in Spaine. About this towne they keepe good watch every night, and have to warne the watchmen certaine cordes made fast over their wayes, which lead into the towne, and certaine bels upon them, so that if any man touch the cordes, the bels ring, and then the watchmen runne foorth of their watch houses to see what they be: and if they be enemies, if they passe the cord, they have provision with certaine nets hanged over the wayes, where they must passe, to let fall upon them, and so take them, and otherwise then by the wayes it is not possible to enter the towne, by reason of the thickets and bushes which are about the same, and the towne is also walled round about with long cords, and bound together with sedge and certaine barkes of trees. 1557 4 pretie devise to descrie the enemie. When our men came to the towne, it was about five of the clock in the morning, for there they travell alwayes in the night by reason of the heate of the day: and about nine of the clocke, the king sent for them, for there may no man come to him before he be sent for, and then they would have caried their present with them: but the Negros told them, that they must bee three times brought before him, before they might offer their gift: and when they came to him, he talked with them, and The kings received them very friendly, and kept them about halfe friendly enteran houre, and then they departed, and after that sent for tainment of them againe three times, and last of all, they brought him their present, which he received thankfully, and then caused a pot of wine of Palme to be brought foorth, and made them drinke: and before they drinke, both here and in all the Countrey, they use certaine ceremonies. First, they bring foorth their pot of drinke, and then Their cerethey make a hole in the ground, & put some of the monies in drinking. drinke into it, and they cast the earth upon it, which our men. '1557. Mowre. they digged forth before, and then they set the pot upon the same, then they take a litle thing made of a goord, and with that they take out of the same drinke, and put it upon the ground in three places, and in divers places they have certaine bunches of the pils of Palme trees set in the ground before them, and there they put in some drinke, doing great reverence in all places to the same Palme trees. All these ceremonies first done, the king tooke a cup of gold, and they put him in wine, and hee dranke of it, and when he dranke, the people cried all with one voice, Abaan, Abaan, with certaine other words, like as they cry commonly in Flanders, upon the Twelfe night, The kinning drinks: and when he had drunke, then they gave drinke to every one, and that done, the king licensed them to depart, and every one that departeth from him boweth 3 times towards him, and waveth with both hands. together, as they bow, and then do depart. The king hath commonly sitting by him 8 or 10 ancient men with gray beards. This day we tooke one pound and 10 ounces of gold. The 28 foure pound, and then seeing that there was no more gold to be had, we weighed and went foorth. The first day of March we came to a towne called Mowre, but we found no boats nor people there: but being ready to depart, there came two Almades to us [II. ii. 43.] from another towne, of whom we tooke two ounces and a halfe of golde: and they tolde us that the Negroes that dwelled at Mowre were gone to dwell at Lagova. Lagova. The second day we came thwart of the castle, and about two leagues off, and there saw all the five Portugall ships at anker, and this day by night we fetched Shamma. 1557. The third day we had sight of one tall ship, of about two hundred tunnes, in the weather of us, and within lesse then two leagues of our ships, and then we saw two more a sterne of her, the one a ship of five hundred or more, and the other a pinnesse: and these were a new fleet at that present arrived out of Portugall. Whereupon Ships of we wayed, and made shift to double out of the land, and Portugall. then the winde comming to the South-southwest, the Hart going roome with them fell three leagues to the leewards of us. These Portugals gave us the chase from nine of the clocke in the morning, till five at night, but did no good against us. At last, we perceiving the Admiral to be farre a sterne of his company, because his maine topmast was spent, determined to cast about with them againe, because we were sure to weather them, and the winde being as it was, it was our best course: but the Hart was so farre to the leeward, that we could not doe it, except we would lose her company, so that we tooke in some of our sailes, and went roome with him which when he perceived, he looffed to, and was able to lie as neere as he did before. At night, when we came to him, he would not speake to us: then we asked of his company why he went so roome; and they made excuse that they were able to beare no saile by, for feare of bearing their foretopmast over boord: but this was a simple excuse. The fourth day, being put from our watring place we began to seethe our meat in salt water, and to rebate our allowance of drinke, to make it indure the longer: and so concluded to set our course thence, for our owne countrey. The 12 of March I found my selfe thwart of Cape das palmas. The 16 day we fell with the land, which we judged to be the Cape Mensurado, about which place is very Cape much high land. The 18 day we lost sight of the Hart, and I thinke the willfull Master ran in with the shore of purpose Mensurado. 1557. Two small Sierra Leona. Note. A French bravado. to lose us, being offended that I tolde him of his owne folly. The 27 day we fell in sight of two small Ilands, which lie by our reckoning sixe leagues off the headland of Sierra Leona and before we came in sight of the same Ilands, we made our reckoning to be forty or thirty leagues at the least off them. Therefore all they that saile this way are to regard the currents which set Northnorthwest, or els they may be much deceived. The 14 of Aprill we met with two great ships of Portugall, which although they were in the weather of us, yet came not roome with us, whereby we judged that they were bound for Calicut. The 18 day we were in the heigth of Cape verde. The 24 we were directly under the tropike of Cancer. The first day of May Henry Wilson our Steward died and the next day died John Underwood. us The fift day we were in the heigth of S. Michael. The 23 we had sight of a shippe in the weather of us, which was a Frenchman of 90 tunne, who came with as stoutly and as desperately as might be, and comming neere us perceived that we had bene upon a long voyage, and judging us to be weake, as in deed we were, came neerer us, and thought to have layed us aboord, & there stept up some of his men in armour, and commanded us to strike saile: whereupon we sent them some of our stuffe, crossebarres, and chaineshot, and arrowes, so thicke, that it made the upper worke of their shippe flie about their eares, and we spoiled him with all his men, and toare his shippe miserably with our great ordinance, and then he began to fall a sterne of us, and to packe on his sailes, and get away: and we seeing that, gave him foure or five good pieces more for his farewell; and thus we were rid of this French man, who did us no harme at all. We had aboord us a French man a Trumpetter, who being sicke, and lying in his bed, tooke his trumpet notwithstanding, and sounded till he could sound no more, and so died. The 28 we conferred together, and agreed to go into Severne, and so to Bristoll, but the same night we had sight of the Lizard, and by reason of the winde, we were not able to double the lands end to go into Severne, but were forced to beare in with the Lizard. The 29 day, about nine of the clocke in the morning, we arrived safely in Plimmouth, and praised God for our good arrivall. 1577. The third and last voyage of M. William [II. ii. 44.] He thirtieth day of January, the yeere I The Minion Admirall of the fleet. A pinnesse called the Unicorne: being all bound for the Canaries, and from thence, by the grace of God, to the coast of Guinie. understood, The next day, being the last of this moneth, we met It is to be with two hulks of Dantzick, the one called the Rose, that at this a ship of foure hundred tunnes, and the other called time there was the Unicorne, of an hundred and fifty tunnes, the Master warre betwixt of the Rose was called Nicholas Masse, and the Master England and of the Unicorne Melchior White, both laden at Bour- France. deaux, and for the most part with wines. When we came to them, we caused them to hoise foorth their boats, and to come and speake with us, and we examined every one of them apart, what French mens goods they had in their shippes, and they sayd they had none: but by the contrarieties of their tales, and by the suspicion which we gathered of their false chartar-parties, we perceived that they had French mens goods in them: we therefore caused one of them to fetch up his bils of |