Not vntruely nor without cause said Iob the faithfull seruant of God (whom the sacred Scriptures tell vs, to haue dwelt in the land of Hus) that man being borne of a woman, liuing a short time, is replenished with many miseries: which some know by reading of histories, many by the view of others calamities, and I by experience in my selfe, as this present Treatise insuing shall shew.
It is not vnknowen vnto many, that I Iob Hortop poudermaker was borne at Bourne, a towne in Lincolnshire, from my age of twelue yeeres brought vp in Redriffe neere London, with M. Francis Lee, who was the Queenes Maiesties powdermaker, whom I serued, vntil I was prest to goe on the 3. voyage to the West Indies, with the right worshipful Sir Iohn Hawkins, who appointed me to be one of the Gunners in her Maiesties ships called the Iesus of Lubeck, who set saile from Plimmouth in the moneth of October 1567. hauing with him another ship of her Maiesties, called the Minion, and foure ships of his owne, namely the Angel, the Swallow, the Iudith, and the William and Iohn. He directed his Vice-admiral, that if foule weather did separate them, to meete at the Iland of Tenerif. After which by the space of seuen dayes and seuen nights, we had such stormes at sea, that we lost our long boats and a pinnesse, with some men: comming to the Isle of Tenerif, there our Generall heard that his Vice-admirall with the Swallow, and the William and Iohn were at the Iland called Gomera, where finding his Vice-admirall, he anchored, tooke in fresh water, and set saile for Cape Blank, where in the way wee tooke a Portugal carauel, laden with fish called Mullets: from thence we sailed to cape Verde. In our course thither we met a Frenchman of Rochel called captaine Bland, who had taken a Portugal carauel, whom our vice admiral chased and tooke. Captaine Drake,
now Sir Francis Drake was made master and captaine of the Carauel, and so we kept our way till we came to cape Verde, and there we anchored, tooke our boates, and set souldiers on shore. Our Generall was the first that leapt on land, and with him Captaine Dudley: there we tooke certaine Negroes, but not without damage to our selues. For our Generall, Captaine Dudley, and 8. other of our company were hurt with poysoned arrowes: about nine dayes after, the 8. that were wounded died. A remedie against poysoned arrowes. Our general was taught by a Negro, to draw the poyson out of his wound with a cloue of garlike, whereby he was cured. From thence wee went to Sierra leona, where be monstrous fishes called Sharkes, which will deuoure men. I amongst others was sent in the Angell with two Pinnesses into the riuer called Calousa, to seeke two Carauels that were there trading with the Negros: wee tooke one of them with the Negros, and brought them away.
In this riuer in the night time we had one of our pinnesses bulged by a sea-horse, so that our men swimming about the riuer were all taken into the other pinnesses, except two that tooke hold one of another, and were caried away by the sea-horse. This monster[14] hath the iust proportion of a horse, sauing that his legs be short, his teeth very great, and a span in length: hee vseth in the night to goe on land into the woods, seeking at vnawares to deuoure the Negroes in their cabbins, whom they by their vigilancie preuent, and kill him in this maner. The Negroes keepe watch, and diligently attend their comming, and when they are gone into the woods, they forthwith lay a great tree ouerthwart the way, so that at their returne, for that their legs be so short, they cannot goe ouer it: then the Negroes set vpon them with their bowes, arrowes and darts, and so destroy them.
[14] Hippopotamus.
From thence we entred the riuer called the Casserroes, where there were other Carauels trading with the Negroes, and them we tooke. In this Iland betwixt the riuer and the maine, trees grow with Oisters vpon them. There grow Palmito trees, which bee as high as a ships maine mast, and on their tops grow nuts, wine and oyle, which they call Palmito wine and Palmito oyle. The Plantan tree also groweth in that countrey; the tree is as bigge is a mans thigh, and as high as a firre pole, the leaues
thereof be long and broad, and on the top grow the fruit which are called Plantanos: they are crooked and a cubite long, and as bigge as a mans wrist, they growe on clusters: when they be ripe they be very good and daintie to eate: Sugar is not more delicate in taste then they be.
From thence with the Angel, the Iudith, and the two pinnesses, we sailed to Sierra leona, where our Generall at that time was, who with the captaines and souldiers went vp into the riuer called Taggarin, to take a towne of the Negroes, where he found three kings of that countrie with fiftie thousand Negroes besieging the same towne, which they could not take in many yeeres before when they had warred with it. Our General made a breach, entred, and valiantly tooke the towne, wherein we found fiue Portugals which yeelded themselues to his mercie, and hee saued their liues: we tooke and caried thence for traffique to the West Indies 500. Negroes. The three kings droue 7000. Negroes into the sea at low water, at the point of the land, where they were all drowned in the Oze, for that they could not take their canoas to saue themselues. Wee returned backe againe in our pinnesses to the ships, and there tooke in fresh water, and made ready sayle towards Rio grande. At our comming thither we entred with the Angel, the Iudith, and the 2. pinnesses, and found there seuen Portugal Caruels, which made great fight with vs. In the ende by Gods helpe wee wonne the victory, and droue them to the shore, from whence with the Negroes they fled, and we fetcht the caruels from the shore into the riuer. The next morning M. Francis Drake with his caruel, the Swallow, and the William and Iohn came into the riuer, with captaine Dudley and his souldiers, who landed being but a hundred souldiers, and fought with seuen thousand Negroes, burned the towne, and returned to our Generall with, the losse of one man.
In that place there be many muske-cats, which breed in hollow trees: the Negroes take them in a net, and put them in a cage, and nourish them very daintily, and take the muske from them with a spoone.
Now we directed our course from Guinea towards the West Indies.