A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Vii Part 32

In the latter end of the year 1593, the right honourable the earl of c.u.mberland, at his own charges and those of his friends, fitted out three s.h.i.+ps of equal size and rates, having each the same quant.i.ty of provisions and the same number of men. These were, the Royal Exchange, which went as admiral, commanded by Captain George Cave; the May-flower, vice-admiral, commanded by Captain William Anthony; and the Sampson, which my lord was pleased to commit to me, Nicholas Downton. In all the three s.h.i.+ps there were embarked 420 men of all sorts, or 140 in each.

Besides these, there, was a pinnace: called the Violet, or _Why-not-I._

[Footnote 393: Hakluyt, III. 14. Astley, I 250.]

Our instructions were sent to us at Plymouth, and we were directed to open them at sea. The 6th of April 1594, we set sail from Plymouth sound, directing our course for the coast of Spain. The 24th, being then in lat. 43 N; we divided ourselves east and west from each other, on purpose to keep a good look out, with orders from our admiral to close up again at night. In the morning of the 27th, we descried the May-flower and the little pinnace, in company with a prize they had taken belonging to Viana in Portugal, and bound for Angola. This vessel was about 28 tons burden, having 17 persons on board, with some 12 tons of wine, which we divided among our s.h.i.+ps, together with some rusk in chests and barrels, 5 bales of coa.r.s.e blue cloth, and some coa.r.s.e linen for negroes s.h.i.+rts; all of which goods were divided among our fleet. The 4th of May, we had sight again of our pinnace and the admirals shallop, which had taken three Portuguese caravels, two of which we sent away and kept the third. The 2d June we came in sight of St Michaels. The 3d we sent off our pinnace, which was about 24 tons burden, together with the small caravel we had taken off the Burlings, to range about the anchorages of the Azores, trying to make captures of any thing they could find, appointing them to meet with us at a rendezvous 12 leagues W.S.W. from Fayal. Their going from us served no purpose, and was a misfortune, as they omitted joining us when appointed, and we also missed them when they might have been of much service.

The 13th of June we fell in with a mighty carak from the East Indies, called _Las cinquellagues_, or the five wounds. The May-Flower was in sight of her before night, and I got up with her in the evening. While I had ordered our men to give her a broadside, and stood carefully examining her strength, and where I might give council to board her in the night when the admiral came up, I received a shot a little above the belly, by which I was rendered unserviceable for a good while after, yet no other person in my s.h.i.+p was touched that night. Fortunately, by means of one captain Grant, an honest true-hearted man, nothing was neglected though I was thus disabled. Until midnight, when the admiral came up, the May-Flower and the Sampson never desisted from plying her with our cannon, taking it in turns: But then captain Cave wished us to stay till morning, when each of us was to give her three broadsides, and then lay her on board; but we long lingered in the morning till 10 o'clock, before we attempted to board her.

The admiral then laid her on board amid s.h.i.+ps, and the May-Flower came up on her quarter, as if to take her station astern of our admiral on the larboard side of the carak; but the captain of the May-Flower was slain at the first coming up, on which his s.h.i.+p fell astern on the _outlicar_[394] of the carak, a piece of timber, which so tore her foresail that they said they could not get up any more to fight, as indeed they did not, but kept aloof from us all the rest of the action.

The Sampson went aboard on the bow of the carak, but had not room enough, as our quarter lay on the bow of the Exchange, and our bow on that of the carak. At the first coming up of the Exchange, her captain Mr Cave was wounded in both legs, one of which he never recovered, so that he was disabled from doing his duty, and had no one in his absence that would undertake to lead his company to board the enemy. My friend, captain Grant, led my men up the side of the carak; but his force being small, and not being manfully seconded by the crew of the Exchange, the enemy were bolder than they would have been, so that six of my men were presently slain, and many more wounded; which made those that remained return on board, and they would never more give the a.s.sault. Some of the Exchanges men did very well, and I have no doubt that many more would have done the like, if there had been any princ.i.p.al men to have led them on, and not to have run into corners themselves. But I must allow that the carak was as well provided for defence as any s.h.i.+p I have seen; and perhaps the Portuguese were encouraged by our slackness, as they plied our men from behind barricades, where they were out of danger from our shot. They plied us also with wildfire, by which most of our men were burnt in some parts of their body; and while our men were busied in putting out the fire, the enemy galled them sore with small arms and darts. This unusual casting of wildfire did much dismay many of our men, and caused them greatly to hang back.

[Footnote 394: Probably a boom or outrigger for the management of the after-sails.--E.]

Finding that our men would not again board, we plied our great ordnance at them, elevated as much as possible, as otherwise we could do them little harm. By shooting a piece from our forecastle, we set fire to a mat at the beak head of the enemy, which kindled more and more, communicating from the mat to the boltsprit, and thence to the top-sail-yard; by which fire the Portuguese abaft were much alarmed, and began to make show of a parley: But their officers encouraged them, alleging that the fire could be easily extinguished, on which they again stood stiffly to their defence; yet at length the fire grew so strong, that I plainly saw it was beyond all help, even if she had yielded to us. We then wished to have disentangled ourselves from the burning carak, but had little hope of success; yet we plied water with great diligence to keep our s.h.i.+p safe. At this time I had little hope but our s.h.i.+p, myself, and several of our wounded men must have been all destroyed along with the carak. Most of our people indeed might have saved themselves in boats on board our consorts. When we were at the worst, by G.o.ds providence our spritsail-yard with the sail and ropes, which were fast entangled with the spritsail-yard of the carak, were so burned that we fell away, with the loss of some of our sails. The Exchange also, being farther aft and more distant from the fire, was more easily cleared, and fell off abaft.

As soon as G.o.d had put us out of danger, the fire caught hold of the forecastle of the carak, where I think there was great store of benzoin, or some such combustible matter, for it flamed and flowed over the carak, which was almost in an instant all over in flames. The Portuguese now leapt over-board in great numbers, and I sent captain Grant with the boat, bidding him use his discretion in saving them. He brought me on board two gentlemen. One of them was an old man named Nuno Velio Pereira, who had been governor of Mozambique and Sofala in the year 1582, and had since been governor of a place of importance in the East Indies. The s.h.i.+p in which he was coming home was cast away a little to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, whence he travelled by land to Mozambique, and got a pa.s.sage in this carak. The other was named Bras Carrero, who was captain of a carak that was cast away at Mozambique, and came likewise as a pa.s.senger in this s.h.i.+p. Also three men of the inferior sort; but only these two gentlemen we clothed and brought home to England. The rest, and others which were saved by our other boats, were all set on sh.o.r.e on the island of Flores, except two or three negroes, one of whom was a native of Mozambique, and the other of the East Indies.

This fight took place in the open sea, 6 leagues to the southward of the sound or channel between Fayal and Pico. The people whom we saved informed us, that the cause of the carak refusing to yield was, that she and all her goods belonged to the king, being all that had been collected for him that year in India, and that the captain of her was greatly in favour with the king, and expected to have been made viceroy of India at his return. This great carak was by no means lumbered, either within board or on deck, being more like a s.h.i.+p of war than a merchant vessel; and, besides her own men and guns, she had the crew and ordnance that belonged to another carak that was cast away at Mozambique, and the crew of another that was lost a little way to the east of the Cape of Good Hope. Yet, through sickness caught at Angola, where they watered, it was said she had not now above 150 white men on board, but a great many negroes. They likewise told us there were three n.o.blemen and three ladies on board; but we found them to disagree much in their stories. The carak continued to burn all the rest of that day and the succeeding night; but next morning, on the fire reaching her powder, being 60 barrels, which was in the lowest part of her hold, she blew up with a dreadful explosion, most of her materials floating about on the sea. Some of the people said she was larger than the Madre de Dios, and some that she was less. She was much undermasted and undersailed, yet she went well through the water, considering that she was very foul. The shot we made at her from the cannon of our s.h.i.+p, before we laid her on board, might be seven broadsides of six or seven shots each, one with another, or about 49 shots in all. We lay on board her about two hours, during which we discharged at her about 20 sacre shots. Thus much may suffice for our dangerous conflict with that unfortunate carak.

On the 30th of June, after traversing the seas, we got sight of another huge carak, which some of our company took at first for the great San Philippo, the admiral of Spain; but on coming up with her next day, we certainly perceived her to be a carak. After bestowing some shots upon her, we summoned her to yield, but they stood stoutly on their defence, and utterly refused to strike. Wherefore, as no good could be done without boarding, I consulted as to what course we should follow for that purpose; but as we, who were the chief captains, were partly slain and the rest wounded in the former conflict, and because of the murmuring of some disorderly and cowardly fellows, all our resolute determinations were crossed: To conclude in a few words, the carak escaped our hands. After this, we continued to cruize for some time about Corvo and Flores, in hopes of falling in with some s.h.i.+ps from the West Indies; but, being disappointed in this expectation, and provisions falling short, we returned for England, where I arrived at Portsmouth on the 28th of August 1594.

SECTION XVII.

_List of the Royal Navy of England of the demise of Queen Elizabeth_[395].

The following list of the royal navy of England, as left in good condition by Queen Elizabeth at her death in 1603, was written by Sir William Monson, a naval officer of that and the two following reigns, "By which, he observes, she and her realm gained honour, by the exploits and victories they and her subjects obtained." It would occupy too much s.p.a.ce to give a contrasted list of the royal navy in the present year, 1813; but which our readers can easily obtain from the monthly lists published at London.

[Footnote 395: Church. Collect. III. 196.]

Men in Men at Of which Names of s.h.i.+ps. Tonnage. Harbour. Sea. Mariners. Sailors. Guns.

Elizabeth-Jonas, 900 30 500 340[A] 120[A] 40 Triumph, 1000 30 500 340 120 40 White Bear, 900 30 500 340 120 40 Victory, 800 17 400 268 100 32 Ark Royal, 800 17 400 268 100 32 Mere Honour, 800 17 400 268 100 32 St Matthew, 1000 30 500 340 120 40 St Andrew, 900 17 400 268 100 32 Due Repulse, 700 16 350 230 90 30 Garland, 700 16 300 190 80 30 Warspite, 600 12 300 190 80 30 Mary-Rose, 600 12 250 150 70 30 Hope, 600 12 250 150 70 30 Bonaventure, 600 12 250 150 70 30 Lion, 500 12 250 150 70 30 Nonpareille, 500 12 250 150 70 30 Defiance, 500 12 250 150 70 30 Rainbow, 500 12 250 150 70 30 Dreadnought, 400 10 200 130 50 20 Antilope, 350 10 160 114 30 16 Swiftsure, 400 10 200 130 50 20 Swallow, 380 10 160 114 30 16 Foresight, 300 10 160 114 30 16 Tide, 250 7 120 88 20 12 Crane, 200 7 100 76 20 12 Adventure, 250 7 120 88 20 12 Quittance, 200 7 100 76 20 12 Answer, 200 7 100 76 20 12 Advantage, 200 7 100 70 20 12 Tiger, 200 7 100 70 20 12 Tremontain, 6 70 52 10 8 Scout, 120 6 66 48 10 8 Catis, 100 5 60 42 10 8 Charles, 70 5 45 32 7 6 Moon, 60 5 40 30 5 5 Advice, 50 5 40 30 5 5 Spy, 50 5 40 30 5 5 Merlin, 45 5 35 26 4 5 Sun, 40 5 30 24 2 4 Synnet[B] 20 2 George Hoy, 100 10 Penny-rose Hoy, 80 8

[Footnote A: The difference between mariners and sailors is not obvious: Perhaps the former were what are now called ordinary, and the latter able seamen. Besides, the numbers of both these united, do not make up the whole compliment of men at sea: Perhaps the deficiency, being 40 in the largest s.h.i.+ps of this list, was made up by what were then called _grummets:_ servants, s.h.i.+p-boys, or landsmen.--E.]

[Footnote B: This name ought probably to have been the Cygnet.]

CHAPTER IX.

EARLY VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH TO THE EAST INDIES, BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EXCLUSIVE COMPANY.

SECTION I.

_Voyage to Goa in 1579, in the Portuguese fleet, by Thomas Stevens_[396].

INTRODUCTION.

We now begin to draw towards India, the following being the first voyage we know of, that was performed to that country by any Englishman.

Though Stevens was only a pa.s.senger in the s.h.i.+p of another nation, yet the account he gave of the navigation was doubtless one of the motives that induced his countrymen to visit India a few years afterwards in their own bottoms. Indeed the chief and more immediate causes seem to have been the rich caraks, taken in the cruizing voyages against the Spaniards and Portuguese about this time, which both gave the English some insight into the India trade, and inflamed their desire of partic.i.p.ating in so rich a commerce.

[Footnote 396: Hakluyt, II, 581. Astley, I. 191.]

The account of this voyage is contained in the following letter from Thomas Stevens, to his father Thomas Stevens in London: In this letter, preserved by Hakluyt, several very good remarks will be found respecting the navigation to India, as practised in those days; yet no mention is made in the letter, as to the profession of Stevens, or on what occasion he went to India. By the letters of Newberry and Fitch[397], which will be found in their proper place, written from Goa in 1584, it appears that he was a priest or Jesuit, belonging to the college of St Paul at that place; whence it may be concluded that the design of his voyage was to propagate the Romish religion in India. In a marginal note to one of these letters, Hakluyt intimates that _Padre_ Thomas Stevens was born in Wilts.h.i.+re, and was sometime of New College Oxford. He was very serviceable to Newberry and Fitch, who acknowledge that they owed the recovery of their liberty and goods, if not their lives, to him and another _Padre_. This is also mentioned by Pyrard de la Val, who was prisoner at Goa in 1608, at which time Stevens was rector of Morgan College in the island of Salcet[398]."--_Astley._

[Footnote 397: In Hakluyts Collection, new edition, II. 376. et seq.]

[Footnote 398: Purchas his Pilgrims, II. 1670.]

After most humble commendations to you and my mother, and craving your daily blessing, these are to certify you of my being alive, according to your will and my duty. I wrote you that I had taken my journey from Italy to Portugal, which letter I think came to your hands, in which hope I have the less need to tell you the cause of my departing, which in one word I may express, by naming _obedience_. I came to Lisbon towards the end of March, eight days before the departure of the s.h.i.+ps, so late that, if they had not been detained about some important affairs, they had been gone before our arrival; insomuch that others were appointed to go in our stead, that the kings intention and ours might not be frustrated. But on our sudden arrival, these others did not go, and we went as originally intended.

The 4th of April, five s.h.i.+ps departed for Goa, in which, besides mariners and soldiers, there were a great number of children, who bear the sea much better than men, as also do many women. I need not tell you, as you may easily imagine the solemnity of setting out, with sound of trumpets and discharges of cannon, as they go forth in a warlike manner. The 10th of the same month we came in sight of Porto Sancto near Madeira, where an English s.h.i.+p set upon ours, now entirely alone, and fired several shots which did us no harm: But when our s.h.i.+p had run out her largest ordnance, the English s.h.i.+p made away from us. This English s.h.i.+p was large and handsome, and I was sorry to see her so ill occupied, as she went roving about the seas, and we met her again at the Canaries, where we arrived on the 13th of the same month of April, and had good opportunity to wonder at the high peaked mountain in the island of Teneriffe, as we beat about between that island and Grand Canary for four days with contrary winds, and indeed had such evil weather till the 14th of May, that we despaired of being able to double the Cape of Good Hope that year. Yet, taking our course between Guinea and the Cape de Verd islands, without seeing any land at all, we arrived at the coast of Guinea, as the Portuguese call that part of the western coast of Africa in the torrid zone, from the lat. of 6 N. to the equinoctial; in which parts they suffer so much by extreme heats and want of wind, that they think themselves happy when past it. Sometimes the s.h.i.+ps stand quite still and becalmed for many days, and sometimes they go on, but in such a manner that they had almost as good stand still. The atmosphere on the greatest part of this coast is never clear, but thick and cloudy, full of thunder and lightening, and such unwholesome rain, that the water on standing only a little while is full of animalculae, and by falling on any meat that is hung out, fills it immediately with worms.

All along that coast, we oftentimes saw a thing swimming in the water like a c.o.c.ks comb but much fairer, which they call a _Guinea s.h.i.+p_[399].

It is borne up in the water by a substance almost like the swimming bladder of a fish in size and colour, having many strings from it under water, which prevent it from being overturned. It is so poisonous, that one cannot touch it without much danger. On this coast, between the sixth degree of north lat.i.tude and the equator, we spent no less than thirty days either in calms or contrary winds. The 30th of May we crossed the line with great difficulty, directing our course as well as we could to pa.s.s the promontory[400], but in all that gulf of Guinea, and all the rest of the way to the Cape, we found such frequent calms that the most experienced mariners were much astonished. In places where there always used to be horrible tempests, we found most invincible calms, which were very troublesome to our s.h.i.+ps, which being of the greatest size cannot go without good winds; insomuch that when it is almost an intolerable tempest for other s.h.i.+ps, making them furl all their sails, those large s.h.i.+ps display their sails to the wind and sail excellent well, unless the waves be too furious, which seldom happened in our voyage. You must understand that, when once past the line, they cannot go direct for the Cape the nearest way, but, according to the wind, must hold on as near south as they can till in the lat.i.tude of the Cape, which is 35 30' S. They then shape their course to the east, and so get round the Cape. But the wind so served us at 33 degrees, that we directed our course thence for the Cape.

[Footnote 399: Otherwise called, by the English sailors, a Portuguese man-of-war.--E.]

[Footnote 400: The Cape of Good Hope must be here meant.--E.]

You know that it is hard to sail from east to west, or the contrary, because there is no fixed point in all the sky by which they can direct their course, wherefore I shall tell you what help G.o.d hath provided to direct them. There is not a fowl that appeareth, neither any sign in the air or in the sea, that have not been written down by those who have formerly made these voyages; so that partly by their own experience, judging what s.p.a.ce the s.h.i.+p was able to make with such and such a wind, and partly by the experience of others recorded in the books of navigations which they have, they guess whereabouts they may be in regard to longitude, for they are always sure as to lat.i.tude. But the greatest and best direction of all is, to mark the variation of the needle or mariners compa.s.s; which, in the meridian of the island of St Michael, one of the Azores in the same lat.i.tude with Lisbon, points due north, and thence swerveth so much towards the east, that, between the foresaid meridian and the extreme south point of Africa, it varieth three or four of the thirty-two points. Again, having pa.s.sed a little beyond the cape called _das Agulias_, or of the Needles, it returneth again towards the north; and when it hath attained that, it swerveth again toward the west proportionally, as it did before eastwards.

In regard to the first mentioned signs from fowls: The nearer we came to the coast of Africa, the more kinds and greater number of strange fowls appeared; insomuch that, when we came within not less than thirty leagues, almost 100 miles, and 600 miles as we thought from any other land, as good as 3000 fowls of sundry kinds followed our s.h.i.+p; some of them so great, that, when their wings were opened, they measured seven spans from point to point of their wings, as the sailors said. It is a marvellous thing to think how G.o.d hath so provided for these fowls in so vast an expanse of sea, that they are all fat. The Portuguese have named them all, according to some obvious property. Thus they call some _rushtails_, because their tails are small and long like a rush, and not proportionate to their bodies; some _fork-tails_, because their tails are very broad and forked; others again _velvet-sleeves_, because their wings are like velvet, and are always bent like a mans elbow. This bird is always welcome, as it appears nearest the Cape. I should never have an end, were I to tell you all particulars, but shall touch on a few that may suffice, if you mark them well, to give cause for glorifying G.o.d in his wonderful works, and in the variety of his creatures.

To say something of fishes: In all the places of calms, and especially in the burning zone near the line, there continually waited on our s.h.i.+p certain fishes, called _tuberones_[401] by the Portuguese, as long as a man, which came to eat such things as might fall from the s.h.i.+p into the sea, not even refusing men themselves if they could light upon any, and if they find any meat hung over into the sea, they seize it. These have waiting upon them continually six or seven, small fishes, having blue and green bands round their bodies, like finely dressed serving men. Of these two or three always swim before the shark, and some on every side, [whence they are called _pilot fish_, by the English mariners.] They have likewise other fishes [called _sucking fish_] which always cleave to their bodies; and seem to feed on such superfluities as grow about them, and they are said to enter into their bodies to purge them, when needful. Formerly the mariners used to eat the sharks, but since they have seen them devour men, their stomachs now abhor them; yet they draw them up with great hooks, and kill as many of them as they can, thinking thereby to take a great revenge. There is another kind of fish almost as large as a herring, which hath wings and flieth, and are very numerous.

These have two enemies, one in the sea and the other in the air.

[Footnote 401: Evidently sharks, from the account of them.--E.]

That in the sea is the fish called _albicore_, as large as a salmon, which follows with great swiftness to take them; on which this poor fish, which cannot swim fast as it hath no fins, and only swims by the motion of its tail, having its wings then shut along the sides of its body, springeth out of the water and flieth, but not very high; on this the albicore, though he have no wings, giveth a great leap out of the water, and sometimes catcheth the flying fish, or else keepeth in the water, going that way as fast as the other flieth. When the flying fish is weary of the air, or thinketh himself out of danger, he returneth to the water, where the albicore meeteth him; but sometimes his other enemy, the sea-crow, catcheth him in the air before he falleth.

With these and the like sights, but always making our supplications to G.o.d for good weather and the preservation of our s.h.i.+p, we came at length to the south cape of Africa, the ever famous Cape of Good Hope, so much desired yet feared of all men: But we there found no tempest, only immense waves, where our pilot was guilty of an oversight; for, whereas commonly all navigators do never come within sight of land, but, contenting themselves with signs and finding the bottom, go their course safe and sure, he, thinking to have the winds at will, shot nigh the land; when the wind, changing into the south, with the a.s.sistance of the mountainous waves, rolled us so near the land that we were in less than 14 fathoms, only six miles from _Capo das Agulias_, and there we looked to be utterly lost. Under us were huge rocks, so sharp and cutting that no anchor could possibly hold the s.h.i.+p, and the sh.o.r.e was so excessively bad that nothing could take the land, which besides is full of _tigers_ and savage people, who put all strangers to death, so that we had no hope or comfort, but only in G.o.d and a good conscience. Yet, after we had lost our anchors, hoisting up our sails to try to get the s.h.i.+p upon some safer part of the coast, it pleased G.o.d, when no man looked for help, suddenly to fill our sails with a wind off the land, and so by good providence we escaped, thanks be to G.o.d. The day following, being in a place where they are always wont to fish, we also fell a fis.h.i.+ng, and caught so many, that they served the whole s.h.i.+ps company all that day and part of the next. One of our lines pulled up a coral of great size and value; for it is said that in this place, which indeed we saw by experience, that the corals grow on the rocks at the bottom of the sea in the manner of stalks, becoming hard and red.

Our day of peril was the 29th of July. You must understand that, after pa.s.sing the Cape of Good Hope, there are two ways to India, one within the island of Madagascar, or between that and Africa, called the Ca.n.a.l of Mozambique, which the Portuguese prefer, as they refresh themselves for a fortnight or a month at Mozambique, not without great need after being so long at sea, and thence in another month get to Goa. The other course is on the outside of the island of St Lawrence or Madagascar, which they take when they set out too late, or come so late to the Cape as not to have time to stop at Mozambique, and then they go on their voyage in great heaviness, because in this way they have no port; and, by reason of the long navigation, and the want of fresh provisions and water, they fall into sundry diseases. Their gums become sore, and swell in such a manner that they are fain to cut them away; their legs swell, and all their bodies become sore, and so benumbed that they cannot move hand nor foot, and so they die of weakness; while others fall into fluxes and agues, of which they die. This was the way we were forced to take; and, although we had above an hundred and fifty sick, there did not die above seven or eight and twenty, which was esteemed a small loss in comparison with other times. Though some of our fraternity were diseased in this sort, thanks be to G.o.d I had good health the whole way, contrary to the expectation of many: May G.o.d send me as good health on the land, if it may be to his glory and service. This way is full of hidden rocks and quicksands, so that sometimes we dared not sail by night; but by the goodness of G.o.d we saw nothing all the way to hurt us, neither did we ever find bottom till we came to the coast of India.

When we had again pa.s.sed the line to the northward, and were come to the third degree or somewhat more, we saw crabs swimming that were as red as if they had been boiled; but this was no sign of land. About the eleventh degree, and for many days, more than ten thousand fishes continually followed, or were round about our s.h.i.+p, of which we caught so many that we eat nothing else for fifteen days, and they served our turn well; for at this time we had no meat remaining, and hardly any thing else to eat, our voyage drawing nigh to seven months, which commonly is performed in five, when they take the inner pa.s.sage. These fishes were no sign of land, but rather of deep sea. At length two birds were caught of the hawk tribe, which gave our people great joy, thinking they had been birds of India, but we found afterwards that they were from Arabia; and when we thought we had been near India, we were in the lat.i.tude of Socotoro, an island near the mouth of the Red Sea. Here G.o.d sent us a strong wind from the N.E. or N.N.E. on which they bore away unwillingly toward the east, and we ran thus for ten days without any sign of land, by which they perceived their error. Hitherto they had directed their course always N.E. desiring to increase their lat.i.tude; but partly from the difference of the needle, and most of all because the currents at that time carried us N.W. we had been drawn into this other danger, had not G.o.d sent us this wind, which at length became more favourable and restored us to our right course.

These currents are very dangerous, as they deceive most pilots, and some are so little curious, contenting themselves with ordinary experience, that they do not take the trouble of seeking for new expedients when they swerve, neither by means of the compa.s.s nor by any other trial. The first sign of approaching land was by seeing certain birds, which they knew to be of India; the second was some sedges and boughs of palm-trees; the third was snakes swimming at the surface of the water, and a certain substance which they called _money_, as round and broad as a groat-piece, and wonderfully printed or stamped by nature, as if it had been coined money. These two last signs are so certain, that they always see land next day, if the wind serve; which we did next day, when all our water, for you know they have no beer in these parts, and victuals began to fail us.

We came to Goa the 24th day of October, and were there received in a most charitable manner. The natives are tawny, but not disfigured in their lips and noses, like the Moors and Kafrs of Ethiopia. The lower ranks go for the most part naked, having only a clout or ap.r.o.n before them of a span long and as much in breadth, with a lace two fingers breadth, girded about with a string, and nothing more; and thus they think themselves as well dressed as we, with all our finery. I cannot now speak of their trees and fruits, or should write another letter as long as this; neither have I yet seen any tree resembling any of those I have seen in Europe, except the vine, which here grows to little purpose, as all their wines are brought from Portugal. The drink used in this country is water, or wine made from the coco palm-tree. Thus much must suffice for the present; but if G.o.d send me health, I shall have opportunity to write you once again; but the length of this letter compelleth me now to take my leave, with my best prayers for your most prosperous health. From Goa, the 10th November 1579.--Your loving Son,