227
Crap. XX. during the Reign
j, *586. mer confess’d, that there was a newVto lPrize Portuguese Ship, of one Hundred andSar^anf twenty Tuns, laden with Meal, Sugar,t 0 and other Provisions, which had crept'’gland, into a Creek, thinking to lie there con-cealed, 'till the English had left theCoast. They manned their Pinnacesimmediately, and went in Search of her,having the Portuguese with them. Butthey could not find her that Night.
The six and twentieth, they foundher in so small a Creek, that a Ship’sBoat would hardly have ventured intoit; They took her without any Resist-ance, and bringing her off, she suppliedthem with a good Stock of Meal andSugar. The sixteenth of June, theytook a Pinnace, of no great Value ; Andwith such little Adventures the Voyageended. They did not pursue their firstDesign of going so far 'as the South-Sea,the principal Reason of which seems tohave been the Uneasiness of some of theCompany, their Weariness of the Sea,and earnest Desire of feing their nativeCountry again. They therefore return-
of§lyeen Elizabeth.
ed for England , and arrived the last of 1586,September at Plymouth Harbour.
Some lay the Blame of the little Suc-cess of this Voyage on the Admiral,
Mr. Robert IP’ithrington ; who, in alltheir Consultations, shewed an Unwill-ingness to pass the Streight of Magellan ,and always laid some Obstacle in theWay: And, on the contrary, extol theReadiness of the Vice-Admiral, Mr.Christopher Lister , who, upon all Oc-casions, was for pursuing the Designthey were fitted out for; And, in par-ticular, that, on the third of June, whenthe Admiral was absolutely bent uponReturning, he offered, if he would butlet him have six Buts of Wine, one Bar-rel of Oyl, three or four Barrels ofFish, and seven or eight Seamen, inExchange for Land-men, he would pur-sue the Voyage, with the Bark Gilfordalone; But even this was refused him.
In their Return Home, they eitherburnt or cast off their Prizes, after hav-ing taken out what Necessaries, orThingSof Value, they had on Board,
CHAP. XX.
An Expedition, for Account of Walter Raleigh, Esq-, to the Azores.
1 ^* 586 . Y N the Year, 1586. likewise, Wal-VofJj u yt, I ter Raleigh Esq; fitted out two
A. Pinnaces, viz. the Serpent of fiveand thirty Tun, and the Mary,Sparke , of fifty Tuns, designingthem to the Coast of Spain, and thencej. to the Azores.
ssfgh They set Sail from Plymouth , on thetenth of June , and directed their Coursefor Spain. By the Way they tooka small Bark laden with Sumacke, and. other Commodities, in which was theh Jr sy tQt, e Governour of St. Michaels Island, ash Portuguese, having several other Por-
tuguese and Spaniards, with him. FromW> eIj thence they failed to the Island of Gra-'‘Isil ciosa, to the Westward of the Island of4 ]s T e{ S i t Lercera. Here they espied a Sail, and,bearing with her, found her to be aQrcl ‘ Spaniard. Upon this, they difplay’d awhite Silk-Ensign on the Main-top ,ofone of their Barks, which made thempass for Spaniards, ’till they came with-in Shotof her; And then they tookdown their White Flag, and put up St.George’s Cross, in the Room of it. The
Spaniards no sooner law their Colours, 1586,than they endeavour’d to escape; But,when they found it was too late, theythrew their Ordnance and small Arms,with their Letters, and a Draught of theStreight of Magellan, over Board, andthen surrendered. In this Vessel, a-mong other Prisoners, they found DonPedro Sarmiento, Governour of theStreights of Magellan, whom they af-terwards brought to England, and pre-sented him to the Queen.
Soon after this, lying off about theIslands, they discovered another Sail,and bearing after her one of their Barksspent her Main-mast; But the other,pursuing her, took her, in the Night zAnd she appeared to be a Ship ladenwith Fish from Cape Blank, which they A Ship ladenlet go again* for Want of Men to bring with Fijhher away. The next Day, they chasedtwo Sails, one a Ship, and the other a J 'Caravel, under a Fort of the Isle ofGraciosa, whence with a small Boatand nine Men, they fetched them off,in' Spight of the Fort, and a Hundred
and