The foureteenth day in the morning was verie foggie: but about twelue a clocke wee espied a Caruell of 60. tunne which was fishing, and we sent our Skiffe to him with fiue men, and all without any weapon sauing their Oares. [Sidenote: A Caruell taken.] The Caruell for haste let slippe her ancre, and set saile; and they seeing that, fearing that they should not fetch her, would tarry for no weapons, and in the ende ouertooke the Caruel, and made her to strike saile, and brought her away, although they had foureteene or fifteene men aboord, and euery man his weapon, but they had not the hearts to resist our men. After they were come to vs, they let fall their ancre, for wee had cast ancre because the winde was not good: I caused then the Skiffe to come for mee, and I went aboorde of them to see that no harme should bee done to them, nor to take any thing but that which they might spare vs for our money. [Sidenote: Great store of fish vpon the coast of Barbary.] So wee tooke of them 3. Tapnets of figges, two small pots of oyle, two pipes of water, foure hogsheads of saltfish which they had taken vpon the coast, and certaine fresh fish which they did not esteeme, because there is such store vpon that coast, that in an houre and sometime lesse, a man may take as much fish as will serue twentie men a day. For these things, and for some wine which wee dranke aboord of them, and three or foure great Cannes which they sent aboord of our shippes, I payed them twentie and seuen Pistoles, which was twise as much as they willingly would haue taken: and so let them goe to their ancre and cable which they had let slippe, and got it againe by our helpe. After this wee set saile, but the winde caused vs to ancre againe about twelue leagues off the riuer del Oro, as the Portugals tolde vs. There were fiue Caruels more in this place, but when they sawe vs, they made all away for feare of vs.
The 15. day we ridde still because of the winde.
[Sidenote: The Tropike of Cancer in 23. and a halfe.] The 16. day we set saile and ranne our course 40. leagues. This day, by the reckoning of our Pilots, we were right vnder the Tropike of Cancer. The 17. we ranne 25. leagues within sight for the most part of the coast of Barbary.
The 18. day wee ranne thirtie leagues, and at twelue of the clocke by the reckoning of our Pilots we were thwart of Cape Blanke.
The 22. day our Pilots reckoned vs to be thwart Cape Verde.
[Sidenote: The coast of Guinea.] The 12. day of December we had sight of land of Guinea, which as soone as we saw we halled into the land Northeast, and about 12. of the clocke at night we were neere the shoare within lesse then 2. leagues: and then we kept about and sounded, and found 18. fadom water. Afterwards we saw a light towards the shoare, which we thought to haue bene a ship, and thereby iudged it to be the riuer de Sestos, which light as soone as we espied, we came to an anker and armed our tops, and made all things ready to fight, because we doubted that it might be some Portugal or French man: this night we remained at an anker, but in the morning we saw no man, only we espied 4. rockes about 2. English miles from vs, one great rocke, and the 3. other smal ones, which when we sawe, we supposed that the light came from the shore, and so wayed, and set saile East Southeast along the shoare, because the Master did not well know the place, but thought that we were not so farre to the East as the riuer de Sestos.
This land all along is a low land, and full of very high trees all along the shoare, so that it is not possible to know the place that a man doth fall withall, except it be by the latitude. In these 24. houres I thinke we ran 16. leagues, for all the night we had a great gale as we were vnder saile, and had withall store of thunder and lightnings.
The 13. day for the most part we ran East Southeast all along the shoare, within two leagues alwayes of the same, and found the land all as at the first, ful of woods and great rocks hard aboord the shoare, and the billow beating so sore, that the seas brake vpon the shoare as white as snow, and the water mounted so high that a man might easily discerne it 4. leagues off, in such wise that no boate could land there. Thus we ran vntil 12. of the clocke, and then they tooke the Sunne and after iudged themselues to be 24. leagues past the riuer de Sestos to the Eastwards, by reason whereof we halled into the shoare within two English miles, and there ancred and found fifteene fadom water, and all off from the shoare the sea so smooth, that we might wel haue rid by an Hawser. All that after-noone we trimmed our boate and made her a saile, to the ende that she might go along by the shoore to seeke some place to water in: for wee could not goe back againe to the riuer de Sestos, because the winde blowes alwayes contrary, and the Currant runneth alwayes to the Eastwards, which was also against vs.
The 14. day we set saile and went back againe along the coast, and sent our boats hard aboord the shoare to seeke a watering place, which they found about 12. of the clock, and we being farre into the sea, met with diuers boats of the Countrey, small, long and narrow, and in euery boate one man and no more: we gaue them bread which they did eat, and were very glad of it. About 4. of the clocke our boats came to vs with fresh water: and this night we ankered against a Riuer.
The 15. day we wayed and set saile to goe neere the shoare, and with our leade wee sounded all the way, and found sometimes rockes, and sometimes faire ground, and at the shallowest found 7. fadoms alwayes at the least. So in fine we found 7. fadom and a halfe within an English mile of the shoare, and there we ankered in a maner before the mouth of the Riuer, and then wee sent our boats into the Riuer for water, which went about a mile within the Riuer, where they had very good water. [Sidenote: Riuer S. Vincent.] This Riuer lieth by estimation 8. leagues beyond the Riuer de Sestos, and is called in the Carde Riuer S. Vincent, but it is so hard to finde, that a boat being within halfe a mile of it shall not be able to discerne that it is a Riuer: by reason that directly before the mouth of it there lyeth a ledge of rockes, which is much broader then the Riuer, so that a boate must runne in along the shoare a good way betwixt the rockes and the shoare before it come to the mouth of the Riuer, and being within it, it is a great Riuer and diuers other Riuers fall into it: The going into it is somewhat ill, because that at the entring the seas doe goe somewhat high, but being once within it, it is as calme as the Thames.