1565. this storie. having got in other places, they had secretly conveyed thither, which made them the bolder, and also for that they saw now a convenient place to do such a feat, and time also serving thereunto, by the meanes that our men were not onely unarmed and unprovided, as at no time before the like, but also were occupied in hewing of wood, and least thinking of any harme: these were occasions to provoke them thereunto. And I suppose they went The author of about to bring it to effect, in that *I with another gentleman being in the towne, thinking of no harme towards us, and seeing men assembling in armour to the treasurers house, whereof I marveiled, and revoking to minde the former talke betweene the Captaine and him, and the unreadinesse of our men, of whom advantage might have bene taken, departed out of the Towne immediatly to give knowledge thereof, but before we came to our men by a flight-shot, two horsemen riding a gallop were come neere us, being sent, as wee did gesse, to stay us least wee should cary newes to our Captaine, but seeing us so neere our men they stayed their horses, comming together, and suffring us to passe, belike because wee were so neere, that if they had gone about the same, they had bene espied by some of our men which then immediatly would have departed, whereby they should have bene frustrate of their pretence: and so the two horsemen ridde about the bushes to espie what we did, and seeing us gone, to the intent they might shadow their comming downe in post, whereof suspition might bee had, fained a simple excuse in asking whether he could sell any wine, but that seemed so simple to the Captaine, that standing in doubt of their courtesie, he returned in the morning with his three boats, appointed with Bases in their noses, and his men with weapons accordingly, where as before he caried none: and thus dissembling all injuries conceived of both parts, the Captaine went ashore, leaving pledges in the boates for himselfe, and cleared all things betweene the treasurer and him, saving for the governers debt, which the one > by no meanes would answere, and the other, because it was not his due debt, woulde not molest him for it, but was content to remit it untill another time, and therefore departed, causing the two Barkes which rode neere the shore to weigh and go under saile, which was done because that our Captaine demanding a testimoniall of his good behaviour there, could not have the same untill hee were under saile ready to depart: and therefore at night he went for the same againe, & received it at the treasurers hand, of whom very courteously he tooke his leave and departed, shooting off the bases of his boat for his farewell, and the townesmen also shot off foure Faulcons and 30. harquebuzes, and this was the first time that he knew of the conveyance of their Faulcons. 1565. The 31. of May wee departed, keeping our course to Hispaniola, and the fourth of June wee had sight of an yland, which wee made to be Jamaica, marveiling that by the vehement course of the Seas we should be driven so farre to leeward: for setting our course to the West end of Hispaniola we fel with the middle of Jamaica, notwithstanding that to al mens sight it shewed a headland, but they were all deceived by the clouds that lay upon the land two dayes together, in such sort that we thought it to be the head land of the said yland. And a Spaniard being in the ship, who was a Marchant, and inhabitant in Jamaica, having [III. 514.] occasion to go to Guinie, and being by treason taken of the Negros, & afterwards bought by the Tangomangos, was by our Captaine brought from thence, and had his passage to go into his countrey, who perceiving the land, made as though he knew every place thereof, and pointed to certaine places which he named to be such a place, and such a mans ground, and that behinde such a point was the harborow, but in the ende he pointed so from one point to another, that we were a leeboord of all places, and found our selves at the West end of Jamaica before we were aware of it, and being once to leeward, there was no getting up againe, June. 1565. The deceitfull force of the current. so that by trusting of the Spaniards knowledge, our Captaine sought not to speake with any of the inhabitants, which if he had not made himselfe sure of, he would have done as his custome was in other places: but this man was a plague not onely to our Captaine, who made him loose by overshooting the place 2000. pounds by hides, which hee might have gotten, but also to himselfe, who being three yeeres out of his Countrey, and in great misery in Guinie, both among the Negros and Tangomangos, and in hope to come to his wife and friendes, as he made sure accompt, in that at his going into the pinnesse, when he went to shore he put on his new clothes, and for joy flung away his old, could not afterwards finde any habitation, neither there nor in all Cuba, which we sailed all along, but it fell out ever by one occasion or other, that wee were put beside the same, so that he was faine to be brought into England, and it happened to him as it did to a duke of Samaria, when the Israelites were besieged, and were in great misery with hunger, & being tolde by the Prophet Elizæus, that a bushell of flower should be sold. for a sickle, would not beleeve him, but thought it unpossible and for that cause Elizeus prophesied hee should see the same done, but hee should not eate thereof: so this man being absent three yeeres, and not ever thinking to have seene his owne Countrey, did see the same, went upon it, and yet was it not his fortune to come to it, or to any habitation, whereby to remaine with his friends according to his desire. Thus having sailed along the coast two dayes, we departed the seventh of June, being made to beleeve by the Spaniard that it was not Jamaica, but rather Hispaniola, of which opinion the Captaine also was, because that which hee made Jamaica seemed to be but a piece of the land, and thereby tooke it rather to be Hispaniola, by the lying of the coast, and also for that being ignorant of the force of the current, he could not beleeve he was so farre driven to leeward, and therfore setting his course to Jamaica, and after certaine dayes not finding the same, perceived then certainly that the yland which he was at before was Jamaica, and that the cloudes did deceive him, whereof he marvelled not a little: and this mistaking of the place came to as ill a passe as the overshooting of Jamaica: for by this did he also overpasse a place in Cuba, called Santa Cruz, where, as he was informed, was great store of hides to be had: & thus being disappointed of two of his portes, where he thought to have raised great profite by his trafique, and also to have found great refreshing of victuals and water for his men, hee was now disappointed greatly, and such want he had of fresh water, that he was forced to seeke the shore to obteine the same, which he had sight of after certaine dayes overpassed with stormes and contrary windes, but yet not of the maine of Cuba, but of certaine ylands in number two hundred, whereof the most part were desolate of inhabitants: by the which ylands the Captaine passing in his pinnesse, could finde no fresh water untill hee came to an yland bigger then all the rest, called the yle of Pinas, where wee anckered with our ships the 16. of June, and found water, which although it were neither so toothsome as running water, by the meanes it is standing, and but the water of raine, and also being neere the Sea was brackish, yet did wee not refuse it, but were more glad thereof, as the time then required, then wee should have bene another time with fine Conduit water. Thus being reasonably watered we were desirous to depart, because the place was not very convenient for such ships of charge as they were, because there were many shoales to leeward, which also lay open to the sea for any wind that should blow and therfore the captaine made the more haste away, which was not unneedfull: for little sooner were their anckers weyed, and foresaile set, but there arose such a storme, that they had not much to spare for doubling out of the shoales: for one of the barks not being fully ready as the rest, was faine for haste to cut the cable in 1565. Two hundred lands for the inhabited. most part not 1565. The Cape of Cuba. Florida. [III. 515.] The Isles of Tortugas. Great store of birds. the hawse, and loose both ancker and cable to save her selfe. Thus the 17. of June, we departed and on the 20. wee fell with the West end of Cuba, called Cape S. Antony, where for the space of three dayes wee doubled along, till wee came beyond the shoales, which are 20. leagues beyond S. Anthony. And the ordinary Brise taking us, which is the Northeast winde, put us the 24. from the shoare, and therefore we went to the Northwest to fetch wind, and also to the coast of Florida to have the helpe of the current, which was judged to have set to the Eastward: so the 29. wee found our selves in 27. degrees, and in the soundings of Florida, where we kept our selves the space of foure dayes, sailing along the coast as neere as we could, in tenne or twelve fadome water, having all the while no sight of land. The fift of July we had sight of certeine Islands of sand, called the Tortugas (which is lowe land) where the captaine went in with his pinnesse, and found such a number of birds, that in halfe an houre he laded her with them; and if they had beene ten boats more, they might have done the like. These Islands beare the name of Tortoises, because of the number of them, which there do breed, whose nature is to live both in the water and upon land also, but breed onely upon the shore, in making a great pit wherein they lay egges, to the number of three or foure hundred, and covering them with sand, they are hatched by the heat of the Sunne; and by this meanes commeth the great increase. Of these we tooke very great ones, which have both backe and belly all of bone, of the thicknes of an inch: the fish whereof we proved, eating much like veale; and finding a number of egges in them, tasted also of them, but they did eat very sweetly. Heere wee ankered sixe houres, and then a faire gale of winde springing, we weyed anker, and made saile toward Cuba, whither we came the sixt A hill called day, and weathered as farre as the Table, being a hill so called, because of the forme thereof: here we lay the Table. |