Chap.IX.

during the Reign os Qv.een Elizabeth,

I *91 i

1578. Sentence was no sooner pronounced thanexecuted. The Plunder here consistedbut of about a Bushel of Rials of PlateThomas Moon, one of their Compa-ny took a rich Spaniard hying out ofthe Town, who rewarded his Trouble,in pursuing him, with a Gold Chain, andsome Jewels. Before they departed,the Admiral set aihoar some SpanifiPrisoners, and his Portuguese Pilot,whom he had taken at the Islands ofCapedeVerd, and then set Sail for theIsland of Canno.

Here the Admiral haled his Ship onShoar, and having unloaded her, grav-ed Spanish and repaired her. While they layft ear<>jl tliore, a Spanish Ship bound for the^ ur ~ Phillipine Islands, having a Governoyron Board, came in their Way; Theyeased her of Part of her Burden, andthen suffered her to continue her Voy-age.

The Admiral having now mademore then lufficient Reprisals, on theSpaniards, as well for the Publick Inju-ries, as for his own former Losses, resolv-ed to make the best of his Way to Eng-land.

♦fkaice To return by the Streight of Magel-'rlfsf re ~ ^ an Itemed very dangerous, as well byWh Reason of the frequent Tempests, and

of this Country offer’d to resign his Dig-nity to him, and become, his Vassal;in Token of which he took his Crown(which by the Way was but of Feathers)from his own Head, and placed it onhis; and his Chains about his Neck.

(See, in Purchas a particular Accountof this Conference, and the Ceremonywith which the King paid his Visit toDrake) The Admiral (according to theseRelations) accepted of this new offeredDignity, as herMajesty’s Representative,in her Name, and for her Use ; it beingprobable, that from this Donation, whe-ther made in Jest or in Earnest, bythese Indians, some real Advantagesmight hereafter redound to the EnglishNation and Interest, in those Parts : Es-pecially as the Spaniards had never setFooting in this Country, nor did theyever discover the Land by many De-grees to the Southward of this Place. Which

Tc

v calls New

Reason of the frequent Tempests, andthe uncertain Shelves and Shallows,r ' Ca - as for Fear the Spaniards should layWait for him, at his coming back.And indeed this Apprenhesion was notwithout Ground ; for Don Francisco deToledo, Viceroi of Peru, had actuallysent Peter Sarmiento thither, withtwo Ships to intercept him at his Re-turn. He therefore boldly resolved toattempt finding a Passage by North-.America, and sailed to the North-La-titude of two or three and forty De-grees, on that Coast, to discover if therewere any Streight on that Side, bywhich he might return the nearest WayHome. But then, meeting with no-thing but Severity of Cold, thick Cloudsandropen Shoars,cover’d with Snow,tho’it was then the Beginning of June, hecame back into the Latitude of eight andthirty. There he put into a conveni-f ent Harbour, in the North Parts of Ca-

Kif tr ed a iifornia, and met with a very kind Re-ception from the Indians, inhabitingthe sr me. They were naked, of anaffable Temper and merry, dancing ina Ring, offering Sacrifices, and, bymany significant Tokens shewing himtheir Willingness to make him theirKing.

.Some of our Accounts fay, the King

this Country, which is a very , .fruitful Soil, and full of Deer and Co- IOsl ’nies, he thought fit to give the Nameof New Albion, as well on Account ofthe white Banks and Cliffs, which lyetowards the Sea, as because Englandwas anciently so called, on the sameAccount. He raised a Pillar, put anInscription on it, containing the Date ofthe Year, together with the Name ofQueen Elizabeth, the Time of their Ar-rival there, and under it some of theQueen’s Coin, with Drake's Name atthe Bottom of all. During the Time oftheir Stay there, they had frequent In-tercourses with the Inhabitants, whowere continually bringing them thebest Presents they could, came everythree Days, and would offer Sacrifi-ces to them, as Deities, ’till theymade them conceive their Dislike ofit. They found a probable Appearanceof Gold and Silver in every Part of theEarth they dug up : And, among o-ther Novelties, Purchas makes Mend-don of a strange Kind of Rabbits, whoseBodies were of the Size of a Bar buryRabbit, their Heads like ours, withthe Feet of a Mole, and the Tail of aRat, and Bags on each Side, undertheir Throats, in which they gatheredtheir Meat.

Setting Sail from hence, they lostthe Sight of Land, ’till the thirteenth ofOdlober, upon which Day, in the Morn*ing, they came in with c er tains stands, Ineight Degrees North Latitude, fromwhence they met with a great Numberof Canoes, coming laden with Coco’sand other Fruit. These Canoes were

hollowed