On Shrove Wensday, being the twenty-fourth, we fell with Jamaica, and by meanes of a Mulatow and an Indian, we had, this night, forty bundles of dried beife, which served our whole companie so many dayes. We came to anchor at the westermost parte of the iland, in a faire, sandie bay, where we watered, and stayed, in hope to have some newes of our fleete, seven dayes. This, our stay, brought no intelligence, wherfore our seamen thought that our fleet, not able to recover this place, were fallen eyther with Cape Corantes or Cape St. Antoine[9]; these places we ment to touch in our course; and hence we went the first of March. On the sixth we sawe a shippe on the leaward of us, and the next morninge we made her to be the Pegasine, one of our fleete, who, as they sayde, lost the admirall neere the time as we did, beinge by the coronell sent to the Susan Bonaventure, whom they left in greate distresse, by reason of a lake they had taken, and I greatly feared, by theyr reporte, they are perished. There were in her one hundred and thirty or one hundred and forty persons, many gallant gentlemen and good men. If they perish, this shippe shall repent it. Houldinge our course for these places, we descried five sayles a stern of us. We stayed for them, and soone made them to be none of our fleete; and we had good reason to perswade us they were enimies. They had the winde of us, but we soone regained it upon them, which made them, upon a peece of ordinance shott of by the greatest shippe, tacke about; we tackt with them; when the captain of this shippe faithfully protested unto me not to shoote a peece of ordinance till we came boord and boorde, and then I promised him, with our small shot, to win the greatest or lose our persons. This we might have done without endangeringe Her Majestie’s shippes; but our enimie, playinge upon us with theyr ordinance, made our gunners fall to it ere we were at musket shot, and no nearer could I bringe them, though I had no hope to take any of them but by boordinge. Heere we popt away powder and shott to no purpose, for most of our gunners would hardly have stricken Paule’s steeple had it stoode there. I am a yonge seaman, yet my small judgment and knowledge makes me avowe, that never shippe of Her Majestie’s went so vilely manned out of her kingdom; not twenty of them worthy to come into her shippes; and I know not what had possessed the captaine, but his mind was cleane altered, tellinge me that he had no authoritie to lay any shippe aboorde, wherby he might endanger this, Her Majestie’s; and they beinge, as he sayd, the kinge’s men of warre, they would rather fire with us than be taken. Had I beene a marchant of her burden (God favoringe me), they would have bin mine, as many as stoode to the tryall of theyr fortune; but the paltrie Pegosie we lately met withall never came neere us by a league, which was some colour to our men to give them over. So after I had endeavored by mysealfe, my lewetenant and other gentlemen, by perswasion, to worke the captaine resolutely to attempt them, and findinge no disposition in him but to consume powder and shott to no purpose, but firinge it in the ayer, I yielded to give them over, perswadinge mysealfe that God had even ordained that we should not with any nature attempt where we were resisted with never so weake forces. Thus away we went, and the winde choppinge us southerly, our seamen held that our fleete coulde neither ride at Corants nor at St. Antony, which made me condescend to leave the Indies, with all her treasure, and to plye the next course to disembogue,[10] for little hope was left me that we should do Her Majestie any service, or good to our selves, when, upon the feigned excuses of endangering her shippes which she sent forth to fight if occasion were offered; and to perswade mysealfe that. Her Majestie priseth not her ships deerer than the lives of so many faithful subjects, who gladly would have ventured theyr lives, and upon no brain-sick humour, but from a trew desire to do Her Highness some service for the charge and adventure she had been at in this glorious spoken-of jorney. Fortune’s child was dead, thinges would not fall into our mouthes, nor riches be our portions, howe dearly soever we adventured for them. Thus avoydinge Silla (after the proverbe), we felle into Charibdis, and indeede we were not nowe farre from it.
Our master, a careful ould man, but not experienced upon these coastes, rather followinge the advice of others than relienge on his owne judgment, brought us, on the twelfth, three hours before daye, into a very shallow water, upon a dangerous bancke, which some held to be the Meltilettes, others for the Tortugas, eyther like enough to have swallowed us, had not God blest us with fayre weather. Freinge ourselves of this danger, upon Monday the fifteenth of March we entered the gulfe, and by ten of the clocke we brought the Cape of Florida west of us. On the seventeenth (the Lord be thanked) we were disembogued. After this, we ran with most fowle weather and contrary windes till the first of May, when we had soundinge in ninety fathoms, beinge in the Channell, and on the third we had sight of Sylly; the which day, ere night, we came to anchor, (the Lord be therefore praysed) 1596.
To give mine oppinion of the Indies, I verily think that filchinge men of warre shall do more goode then such a fleete, if they have aine forewarninge of theyr cominge. And unles Her Majestie will undertake so royally as to dispossesse him of the landes of Porterico, Hispaniola, and Cuba, her charge will be greater in sendinge thither, then the profitt such a fleet can returne, for havinge but a fewe days warninge, it is easy for them to convey theyr goods into assured safetie, as experience hath taught us. Theyr townes they dare not redeeme, beinge enjoyned the contrary by the kinge’s comandment. These places will be taken and possessed by two thousand men; and by this Her Majestie might debarre the kinge of Spain of his whole profitt of the Indies: and the first gaininge them will return her a sufficient requittal for her adventure. God grant I may live to see such an enterprise put in practise; and the kinge of Spaine will speedily flye to what conditions of peace Her Majestie will require.
Thus I have truly set down the whole discourse of our voyage, usinge therin many idle wordes and ill-compared sentences. It was done on the sea, which I thinke can alter any disposition. Your loves, I thinke, can pardon these faltes, and secret them from the vewe of others.
The first of March the fleete fell with the Pinnas,[11] on the land of Cuba, which day they had sight of the Spanish fleete by eleven of the clocke; where Sir Thomas Baskervile gave directions for the fleete as thus:—the Garland, being admirall, with one halfe of the fleete to have the vanguard; the Hope, beinge vice-admirall, with the other halfe, the rereward. The fight continued fiercely three hours within muskett shott. That night they saw the Spanish Vice-admirall, a ship of seven hundred tonne, burned, with other six lost and suncke by the next morninge, when they departed. The Hope received a leake and was forced to go from the fleete to an iland, called St. Crusado, inhabited by canniballs, where they had store of hens and Indian wheate for nine weekes. March eighth, the fleete shott the gulfe and came for England, leavinge Florida on the starboard side; and when they came to the Inchanted Islands they were dispersed, and came home one by one.
Thomas Maynarde.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Influx of volunteers.
[2] Ensign (borrowed from the Arabic).
[3] Curaçoa.