Chap. IV. during the Reign os §iyeen Elizabeth, 147

1568. "No sooner were the JeJus andlej b f three " the Minion got about two ShipsSpanish^ " Length from the Spanijh Fleets thanSii psde - " the Fight began to be so warm

Jr °yed. " on a n Sides, that, in less than an" Hour, the Spanijh Admiral was sup-" posed to be sunk, the Vice-Admiral" burnt; and another of their chief" Ships believed to be funk, so that" they, from their Vessels, could not" do us much Harm.

" The Cannon on the Island was, in" the meanTime, fallen into the Hands" of the Spaniards ; and it was withthem they now chiefly gauled us." The Masts, Yards and Rigging of“■ the 'Jesus were so shattered, thatwe had now no Hopes left of car-rying her off With this Cannon,‘‘ likewise, they sunk our small Ships." We, therefore, resolved, to place" the Minion in such Manner, that" the Jesus might lie between her and" the Shoar, and be, as it were, a" Fence, to secure her from the Ene-" my’s Cannon, ’till Night, when we" determined to take what Provisions“ and Necessaries we could, out of the“ J e s us > 2nd then to leave her.

" While we were thus consulting," and endeavouring to place the Mi-" nion out of Danger of the Shot, from" the Shoar, the Spaniards setFire to" two great Ships, and let them drive" down towards us. Upon this the" Men on Board the Minion , without" either the Captain’s or Master’s Con-" lent, set Sail, in such Hurry andtc Confusion, that it was not without" great Difficulty that I was received" on Board.

" Most of the Men, which were" left alive in the Jesus, made shift to" follow the Minion, in a small Boat:" But the Rest, who could not get in-" to the Boat, were left to the Mercy" of the Spaniards. Thus the Minion,te with only one small Bark, of fifty" Tuns, the Judith, escaped the" Treachery of the Spaniards ; But,Minion t ^ ie ^ ame Night, the Judith likewise^ gets of. " forsook us. We were now left a-“ lone, with only two Anchors and" two Cables, our Ship so damaged," that it was as much as we could do" to keep her above Water, and a" great Number of us, with very little" Provisions. We were, besides, di-“ vided in Opinion what to do. Some* f were for yielding to the Spaniards’,,r Others chose rather to submit to the

" Mercy of the Savages’, And again 1568.

" others thought it more eligible to she miser a-" keep the Sea, tho’ with so scanty an bl . e c V l fs f• c Allowance of Victuals, as would ^hip °and :

" hardly suffice to keep us alive. Company.

“ In this miserablePlight, we ranged" an unknown Sea, for fourteen Days;

" ’till extream Famine obliged us to“ seek for Land. So great was our f^ d 7o7x-" Misery, that Hides were reckoned tream Fa-" good Food. Rats, Cats, Mice and mine*

“ Dogs, none escaped us, that we" could lay our Hands on : Parrots“ and Monkies were our Dainties. In" this Condition, we came to Land, on" the eighth of OSlober, at the Bottom" of the Bay of Mexico, in three and" twenty Degrees and a half, where" we hoped to have found Inhabitants“ of the Spaniards, Relief of Victuals,

" and a proper Place to repair our" Ship: But we found every Thing" just contrary to our Expectation.

" Neither Inhabitants, nor Provisions,

" nor a Haven for the Relief of our" Ship. Many of our Men, never-" theless, being worn out with Hun-" ger, desired to be set on Shoar, toff which I consented.

" Of about two Hundred Souls, A Hundre #

<( which we then were, one Hundred Men set on" chose to seek their Fortune onLand, Land •

" on which they were set, with great" Difficulty; And with the Remain-“ der, after having watered, I again,e submitted to the Mercy of the Seas,

" and set Sail, on the sixteenth of“ OBober .

Thus far Mr. Hawkins's own Ac-count. I shall now leave the Minion,with her Crew, ranging the Sea, inextream Misery and Want, and returnto the M<?n who were put on Shoar.

Purchas gives us 10 pathetick anAccount of the Sufferings of these poorforlorn Wretches, and they are so live-ly an Image of Tome Transactions of la-ter Years, that I lhould think I did In-justice to my Country, if I did not giveit this Instance of what we have to ex-pect, whenever we lie at the Mercy ofthe Spaniards.

" Some of our Men (fays this Author) Cruelties of" were slain, others taken and piteous - the ,

" ly tortured, all distressed; All their bufferings of" Ships likewise funk and burnt, ex- the English." cepting the Minion and the Judith ,

" which were, by a Storm ensuing, be-" trayed to Famine at Sea, that forcedrr the General to set a Hundred and

2 P " fourteen