g LIFE OF COLON, BY HIS SON.

King John the Second, becaufe he had clothed and relieved all the crew belonging tothe aforefaid great galleys, which were coming from Flanders, relieving them in fucha manner, as they were enabled to return to Venice , they having been overcome bythe famous corfair Colon the Younger, near Lifbon,who had ftripped and turned themaihore. Which authority of fo grave an author as Sabellicus , may make us fenfible ofthe afore-mentioned Juftiniarii’s malice, fmce in his hiftory he made no mention of thisparticular, to the end it might not appear that the family of Colon was lefs obfcurethan he would make it. And if he did it through ignorance, he is neverthelefs toblame, for undertaking to write the hiftory of his country, and omitting fo remarkable avictory, of which its enemies themfelves make mention. For the hiftorian, our adver-fary, makes fo great account of his victory, that he fays ambaffadors were fent on thataccount to the King of Portugal . Which fame author in the afore-mentioned eighthbook, fomewhat further, as one lefs obliged to inquire into the admiral’s difcovery,makes mention of it, without adding thofe .twelve lies which Juftiniani inferted. Butto return to the matter in hand, I fay, that whilft the admiral failed with the aforefaidColon the Younger, which was a long time, it fell out that underftanding the before-mentioned four great Venetian galleys were coming from Flanders, they went out tofeek, and found them beyond Lifbon, about Cape St. Vincent , which is in Portugal ,where falling to blows, they fought furioufly and grappled, beating one another fromveffel to veffel with the utmoft rage, making ufe not only of their weapons, but artifi-cial fire-works ; fo that after they had fought from morning till evening and abundancewere killed on both fides ; the admiral’s fhip took fire, as did a great Venetian galley,which being fail grappled together with iron hooks and chains, ufed to this purpofe byfea-faring men, could neither of them be relieved, becaufe of the confufion there wasamong them, and the fright of the fire, which in a fhort time was fo increafed, that therewas no other remedy but for all that could to leap into the water, fo to die fooner ratherthan bear the torture of the fire. But the admiral being an excellent fwimmer, andfeeing himfelf two leagues or a little further from land, laying hold of an oar, whichgood fortune offered him, and fometimes refting upon it, fometimes fwimming, itpleafed God , who had preferved him for greater ends, to give him llrength to get tofhore; but fo tired and fpent with the water, that he had much ado to recover himfelf.And becaufe it was not far from Lifbon, where he knew there were many Genoefehis countrymen, he went away thither as faft as he could, where being known bythem he was fo courteoufly received and entertained, that he fet up houfe and marrieda wife in that city. And forafmuch as he behaved himfelf honourably, and was aman of a comely prefence, and did nothing but what was juft ; it happened that a ladywhofe name was Donna Felipa Moniz, of a good family and pensioner in the mo-naftery of All faints, whither the admiral ufed to go to mals, was fo taken with them,that fhe became his wife. His father-in-law Peter Moniz Pereftrello being dead, theywent to live with the mother-in-law, where being together, and fhe feeing him fo muchaddicted to cofmography, told him that her hufband Pereftrello had been a greatfea-faring man, and that he with two other captains having obtained the King of Por­ tugal ’s leave, went to make difcoveries upon condition, that dividing what they foundinto three parts they were to call lots who fhould chufe firft. Being thus agreed,they failed away to the fouth-weft, and arrived at the ifland of Madeira and Porto Santo ,places never before difcovered. And becaufe the ifland of Madeira was biggeft ; theydivided it into two parts; the ifland of Porto Santo , being the third, which fell tothe lot of the faid Pereftrello, Colon ’s father-in-law, who had the government of it tillhe died.

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