THE THIRD CHAPTER.
WHEREIN IS SHOWED HOW THAT, AFTER WE WERE ESCAPED FROM THE SPANIARDS, WE WERE LIKE TO PERISH WITH FAMINE AT THE SEA, AND HOW OUR GENERAL, FOR THE AVOIDING THEREOF, WAS CONSTRAINED TO PUT HALF OF HIS MEN ON LAND, AND WHAT MISERIES WE AFTER THAT SUSTAINED AMONGST THE SAVAGE PEOPLE, AND HOW WE FELL AGAIN INTO THE HANDS OF THE SPANIARDS.
After that the Viceroy, Don Martin Henriques, had thus contrary to his faith and promise most cruelly dealt with our General, Master Hawkins, at St. John de Ullua, where most of his men were by the Spaniards slain and drowned, and all his ships sunk and burnt, saving the Minion and the Judith, which was a small barque of fifty tons, wherein was then captain Master Francis Drake aforesaid; the same night the said barque was lost us, we being in great necessity and enforced to move with the Minion two bow-shots from the Spanish fleet, where we anchored all that night; and the next morning we weighed anchor and recovered an island a mile from the Spaniards, where a storm took us with a north wind, in which we were greatly distressed, having but two cables and two anchors left; for in the conflict before we had lost three cables and two anchors. The morrow after, the storm being ceased and the weather fair, we weighed and set sail, being many men in number and but small store of victuals to suffice us for any long time; by means whereof we were in despair and fear that we should perish through famine, so that some were in mind to yield themselves to the mercy of the Spaniards, other some to the savages or infidels, and wandering thus certain days in these unknown seas, hunger constrained us to eat hides, cats and dogs, mice, rats, parrots, and monkeys, to be short, our hunger was so great that we thought it savoury and sweet whatsoever we could get to eat.
And on the 8th of October we came to land again, in the bottom of the Bay of Mexico, where we hoped to have found some inhabitants, that we might have had some relief of victuals and a place where to repair our ship, which was so greatly bruised that we were scarce able, with our weary arms, to keep out the water. Being thus oppressed, by famine on the one side and danger of drowning on the other, not knowing where to find relief, we began to be in wonderful despair. And we were of many minds, amongst whom there were a great many that did desire our General to set them on land, making their choice rather to submit themselves to the mercy of the savages or infidels than longer to hazard themselves at sea, where they very well saw that if they should all remain together, if they perished not by drowning, yet hunger would enforce them, in the end, to eat one another. To which request our General did very willingly agree, considering with himself that it was necessary for him to lessen his number, both for the safety of himself and the rest. And, thereupon, being resolved to set half his people on shore that he had then left alive, it was a world to see how suddenly men's minds were altered, for they which a little before desired to be set on land were now of another mind, and requested rather to stay, by means whereof our General was enforced, for the more contenting of all men's minds, and to take away all occasions of offence, to take this order: first he made choice of such persons of service and account as were needful to stay, and that being done, of those which were willing to go, he appointed such as he thought might be best spared, and presently appointed that by the boat they should be set on shore, our General promising us that the next year he would either come himself or else send to fetch us home. Here, again, it would have caused any stony heart to have relented to hear the pitiful moan that many did make, and how loth they were to depart. The weather was then somewhat stormy and tempestuous, and therefore we were in great danger, yet, notwithstanding there was no remedy, but we that were appointed to go away must of necessity do so. Howbeit, those that went in the first boat were safely set ashore, but of them which went in the second boat, of which number I myself was one, the seas wrought so high that we could not attain to the shore, and therefore we were constrained—through the cruel dealing of John Hampton, captain of the Minion, and John Sanders, boatswain of the Jesus, and Thomas Pollard, his mate—to leap out of the boat into the main sea, having more than a mile to shore, and, so to shift for ourselves, and either to sink or swim. And of those that so were, as it were, thrown out and compelled to leap into the sea, there were two drowned, which were of Captain Bland's men.
In the evening of the same day—it being Monday, the 8th of October, 1568—when we were all come to shore, we found fresh water, whereof some of our men drank so much that they had almost cast themselves away, for we could scarce get life in them for the space of two or three hours after. Other some were so cruelly swollen—what with the drinking in of the salt water, and what with the eating of the fruit which we found on land, having a stone in it much like an almond, which fruit is called capule—that they were all in very ill case, so that we were, in a manner, all of us, both feeble, weak, and faint.
The next morning—it being Tuesday, the 9th of October—we thought it best to travel along by the sea coast, to seek out some place of habitation—whether they were Christians or savages we were indifferent—so that we might have wherewithal to sustain our hungry bodies, and so departing from a hill where we had rested all night, not having any dry thread about us, for those that were not wet being thrown into the sea were thoroughly wet with rain, for all the night it rained cruelly. As we went from the hill, and were come into the plain, we were greatly troubled to pass for the grass and woods, that grew there higher than any man. On the left hand we had the sea, and upon the right hand great woods, so that of necessity we must needs pass on our way westward through those marshes, and going thus, suddenly we were assaulted by the Indians, a warlike kind of people, which are in a manner as cannibals, although they do not feed upon man's flesh as cannibals do.
These people are called Chichemici, and they used to wear their hair long, even down to their knees; they do also colour their faces green, yellow, red, and blue, which maketh them to seem very ugly and terrible to behold. These people do keep wars against the Spaniards, of whom they have been oftentimes very cruelly handled: for with the Spaniards there is no mercy. They, perceiving us at our first coming on land, supposed us to have been their enemies the bordering Spaniards; and having, by their forerunners, descried what number we were, and how feeble and weak, without armour or weapon, they suddenly, according to their accustomed manner when they encounter with any people in warlike sort, raised a terrible and huge cry, and so came running fiercely upon us, shooting off their arrows as thick as hail, unto whose mercy we were constrained to yield, not having amongst us any kind of armour, nor yet weapon, saving one caliver and two old rusty swords, whereby to make any resistance or to save ourselves; which, when they perceived that we sought not any other than favour and mercy at their hands, and that we were not their enemies the Spaniards, they had compassion on us, and came and caused us all to sit down. And when they had a while surveyed, and taken a perfect view of us, they came to all such as had any coloured clothes amongst us, and those they did strip stark naked, and took their clothes away with them; but they that were apparelled in black they did not meddle withal, and so went their ways and left us, without doing us any further hurt, only in the first brunt they killed eight of our men. And at our departure they, perceiving in what weak case we were, pointed us with their hands which way we should go to come to a town of the Spaniards, which, as we afterwards perceived, was not past ten leagues from thence, using these words: "Tampeco, tampeco, Christiano, tampeco, Christiano," which is as much (we think) as to say in English, "Go that way, and you shall find the Christians." The weapons that they use are no other but bows and arrows, and their aim is so good that they very seldom miss to hit anything that they shoot at. Shortly after they had left us stripped, as aforesaid, we thought it best to divide ourselves into two companies, and so, being separated, half of us went under the leading one of Anthony Goddard, who is yet alive, and dwelleth at this instant in the town of Plymouth, whom before we chose to be captain over us all. And those that went under his leading, of which number I, Miles Phillips, was one, travelled westward—that way which the Indians with their hands had before pointed us to go. The other half went under the leading of one John Hooper, whom they did choose for their captain, and with the company that went with him David Ingram was one, and they took their way and travelled northward. And shortly after, within the space of two days, they were again encountered by the savage people, and their Captain Hooper and two more of his company were slain. Then again they divided themselves; and some held on their way still northward, and other some, knowing that we were gone westward, sought to meet with us again, as, in truth, there was about the number of five-and-twenty or six-and-twenty of them that met with us in the space of four days again. And then we began to reckon amongst ourselves how many we were that were set on shore, and we found the number to be an hundred and fourteen, whereof two were drowned in the sea and eight were slain at the first encounter, so that there remained an hundred and four, of which five-and-twenty went westward with us, and two-and-fifty to the north with Hooper and Ingram; and, as Ingram since has often told me, there were not past three of their company slain, and there were but five-and-twenty of them that came again to us, so that of the company that went northward there is yet lacking, and not certainly heard of, the number of three-and-twenty men. And verily I do think that there are of them yet alive and married in the said country, at Sibola, as hereafter I do purpose (God willing) to discourse of more particularly, with the reasons and causes that make me so to think of them that were lacking, which were with David Ingram, Twide, Browne, and sundry others, whose names we could not remember. And being thus met again together we travelled on still westward, sometimes through such thick woods that we were enforced with cudgels to break away the brambles and bushes from tearing our naked bodies; other sometimes we should travel through the plains in such high grass that we could scarce see one another. And as we passed in some places we should have of our men slain, and fall down suddenly, being stricken by the Indians, which stood behind trees and bushes, in secret places, and so killed our men as they went by; for we went scatteringly in seeking of fruits to relieve ourselves. We were also oftentimes greatly annoyed with a kind of fly, which, in the Indian tongue, is called tequani; and the Spaniards call them musketas. There are also in the said country a number of other kind of flies, but none so noisome as these tequanies be. You shall hardly see them, they be so small: for they are scarce so big as a gnat. They will suck one's blood marvellously, and if you kill them while they are sucking they are so venomous that the place will swell extremely, even as one that is stung with a wasp or bee. But if you let them suck their fill, and to go away of themselves, then they do you no other hurt, but leave behind them a red spot somewhat bigger than a flea biting. At the first we were terribly troubled with these kind of flies, not knowing their qualities; and resistance we could make none against them, being naked. As for cold, we feared not any: the country there is always so warm.
And as we travelled thus for the space of ten or twelve days, our captain did oftentimes cause certain to go up into the tops of high trees, to see if they could descry any town or place of inhabitants, but they could not perceive any, and using often the same order to climb up into high trees, at the length they descried a great river, that fell from the north-west into the main sea; and presently after we heard an harquebuse shot off, which did greatly encourage us, for thereby we knew that we were near to some Christians, and did therefore hope shortly to find some succour and comfort; and within the space of one hour after, as we travelled, we heard a cock crow, which was also no small joy unto us; and so we came to the north side of the river of Panuco, where the Spaniards have certain salines, at which place it was that the harquebuse was shot off which before we heard; to which place we went not directly, but, missing thereof, we left it about a bow-shot upon our left hand. Of this river we drank very greedily, for we had not met with any water in six days before; and, as we were here by the river's side, resting ourselves, and longing to come to the place where the cock did crow and where the harquebuse was shot off, we perceived many Spaniards upon the other side of the river riding up and down on horseback, and they, perceiving us, did suppose that we had been of the Indians, their bordering enemies, the Chichemici. The river was not more than half a bow-shot across, and presently one of the Spaniards took an Indian boat, called a canoa, and so came over, being rowed by two Indians; and, having taken the view of us, did presently row over back again to the Spaniards, who without any delay made out about the number of twenty horsemen, and embarking themselves in the canoas, they led their horses by the reins, swimming over after them; and being come over to that side of the river where we were, they saddled their horses, and being mounted upon them, with their lances charged, they came very fiercely running at us. Our captain, Anthony Goddard, seeing them come in that order, did persuade us to submit and yield ourselves unto them, for being naked, as we at this time were, and without weapon, we could not make any resistance—whose bidding we obeyed; and upon the yielding of ourselves, they perceived us to be Christians, and did call for more canoas, and carried us over by four and four in a boat; and being come on the other side, they understanding by our captain how long we had been without meat, imparted between two and two a loaf of bread made of that country wheat, which the Spaniards called maize, of the bigness of one of our halfpenny loaves, which bread is named in the Indian tongue clashacally. This bread was very sweet and pleasant to us, for we had not eaten any for a long time before; and what is it that hunger doth not make to have a savoury and delicate taste? Having thus imparted the bread amongst us, those which were men they sent afore to the town, having also many Indians, inhabitants of that place, to guard them. They which were young, as boys, and some such also as were feeble, they took up upon their horses behind them, and so carried us to the town where they dwelt, which was distant very near a mile from the place where we came over.
This town is well situated, and well replenished with all kinds of fruits, as pomegranates, oranges, lemons, apricots, and peaches, and sundry others, and is inhabited by a great number of tame Indians, or Mexicans, and had in it also at that time about the number of two hundred Spaniards, men, women, and children, besides negroes. Of their salines, which lie upon the west side of the river, more than a mile distant from thence, they make a great profit, for it is an excellent good merchandise there. The Indians do buy much thereof, and carry it up into the country, and there sell it to their own country people, in doubling the price. Also, much of the salt made in this place is transported from thence by sea to sundry other places, as to Cuba, St. John de Ullua, and the other ports of Tamiago, and Tamachos, which are two barred havens west and by south above threescore leagues from St. John de Ullua. When we were all come to the town, the governor there showed himself very severe unto us, and threatened to hang us all; and then he demanded what money we had, which in truth was very little, for the Indians which we first met withal had in a manner taken all from us, and of that which they left the Spaniards which brought us over took away a good part also; howbeit, from Anthony Goddard the governor here had a chain of gold, which was given unto him at Cartagena by the governor there, and from others he had some small store of money; so that we accounted that amongst us all he had the number of five hundred pezoes, besides the chain of gold.
And having thus satisfied himself, when he had taken all that we had, he caused us to be put into a little house, much like a hog sty, where we were almost smothered; and before we were thus shut up into that little cote, they gave us some of the country wheat called maize sodden, which they feed their hogs withal. But many of our men which had been hurt by the Indians at our first coming on land, whose wounds were very sore and grievous, desired to have the help of their surgeons to cure their wounds. The governor, and most of them all, answered, that we should have none other surgeon but the hangman, which should sufficiently heal us of all our griefs; and they, thus reviling us, and calling us English dogs and Lutheran heretics, we remained the space of three days in this miserable state, not knowing what should become of us, waiting every hour to be bereaved of our lives.