This day we put away our pinnesse, with fiue and twenty Frenchmen in her, and gaue them such victuals as we could spare, putting fifteene of them to the ransome of sixe crownes a man.
The 23 of Iune our pinnesse came to vs from Hanta, and tolde vs that the Negros had dealt very ill with them, and would not traffike with them to any purpose.
[Sidenote: Shamma burnt by the English.] The 24 we tooke our boat and pinnesse and manned them well, and went to the towne of Shamma, and because the Captaine thereof was become subiect to the Portugals we burned the towne, and our men seeking the spoile of such trifles as were there found a Portugals chest, wherein was some of his apparell, and his weights, and one letter sent to him from the castle, whereby we gathered that the Portugall had bene there of a long time.
The 25 day, about three of the clocke at afternoone, we set saile, and put into the sea, for our returne to England.
The last day of this moneth we fell with the shore againe, and made our reckoning to be eighteene leagues to the weatherward of the place where we set off. When we came to make the land, we found our selues to be eighteene leagues to the leeward of the place, where we set off, which came to passe, by reason of the extreme currant that runneth to the Eastward: when we perceiued our selues so abused, we agreed to cast about againe, and to lie as neere the winde as we could, to fetch the line.
The seuenth of Iuly we had sight of the Ile of S. Thome, ana thought to haue sought the road to haue arriued there: but the next morning the wind came about, and we kept our course.
The ninth, the winde varying, we kept about againe, and fell with the Iland of S. Thome, and seeking the road, were becalmed neere the Iland, and with the currant were put neere the shore, but could haue no ground to ancre: so that we were forced to hoise out our pinnesse, and the other ships their skiffs to towe from the Iland, which did litle good, but in the ende the winde put vs three leagues off the shore.
The tenth day the Christopher and the Tyger cast about, whereby we iudged them to haue agreed together, to goe seeke some ships in the road, and to leaue vs: our men were not willing to goe after them, for feare of running in with the Iland againe, and of putting our selues into the same danger that we were in the night before: but we shot off a piece, and put out two lights, and they answered vs with lights againe: whereupon we kept our course, and thought that they had followed vs, but in the morning we could not see them, so that they left vs willingly, and we determined to follow them no more. But the eleuenth day we altered our opinion and course, and consented to cast about againe for the Iland, to seeke our ships; and about foure of the clocke in the afternoone we met with them.
The 13 we fell againe with the Iland of S. Thome; and the same night we found our selues directly vnder the line.
[Sidenote: The description of the Ile of S. Thome.] This Iland is a very high Iland, and being vpon the West side of it, you shall see a very high pike, which is very small, and streight, as it were the steeple of a church, which pike lieth directly vnder the line, and at the same South end of the Iland to the Westward thereof lieth a small Iland, about a mile from the great Iland.