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Purchas,Vol.I. p.iro.Harris’* Col.Vol. I. p. 47.Wood sentto the East-Indies.
A Letterwritten bythe £ \ueen tothe King ofChina.
An Accountof the Fateof these&hipsin a SpanishLetter.
Eliz. Naval Expeditions, Sec. of the English,
CHAP. LVITI.
Wood’* unfortunate Expedition to the East-Indies.
A F L E E T of three Ships, equip’dprincipally at the Charges of SirRobert Dudly, was put underthe Command of Mr. Benjamin Wood.
These Ships were the Bear, theBear's Whelp, and the Benjamin : Andthe Merchants employed in this Voyagewere Mr. Richard Allot, and Mr. ‘Tho-mas Bromfield, of London. These Per-sons, intending to penetrate into the re-motest Parts of the East, and so visitChina, before they came Home, obtain-ed the Queen’s Letter to the great Kingof that Country, on their Behalf; Butyet, Her Majesty’s Recommendationcould not protect: them from Dangersand Disasters abroad, nor make theWinds and Waves favourable to them ;Since not only the whole Fleet was mis-erably lost, but the particular Relationof those Tragical Adventures miscarri-ed too.
Some Light into this Business, washowever afforded, by a Letter happilyintercepted in it’s Passage from the Wejl-Indies, written by Licentiate Alcafar deVilla fenor, Auditor of the Royal Courtof Santo Domingo, Judge of Commissionin Puerto Ricco, and Captain General ofNew Andalujia. This Letter was directed to the King of Spain, and theRoyal Council of the Indies, an Accountof which, as much as relates to the pre-sent Business, is here fubjoin’d: Tho’the Thing is so imperfect, and the mainBusiness of the English Fleet so obscure-ly touched, that it is not easy to pickany Thing very satisfactory out or it.In short, the Sum of the Story this Spa-niard tells his Master is this.
" Th at 1 the three English Ships a-" bovementioned met with three Portu-“ guese, (then the King of Spain's Sub-" jects) one of which Vessels came" from Goa, and had, amongst other" Rarities, a very fair Jewel, particu-" larly designed for that Prince, toge-ther with a vast deal of Mony, andvery valuable Goods; That all this“ Prey fell into the Hands of the Eng-" lijh\ That, after this, the EnglishFleet was so pester’d with Sickness," that all their Companies died to four.
which small Number of Survivors put" themselves, with their valuable Plun-" der, into a Boat, and so came to the" Island of Utias, three Leagues from" Puerto RicCo, from whence the Let-" ter was dated.
What became of the three Ships, orhow these Men, who were bound forthe EaJl-Indies, came to wander to thatIsland in the Wef-Indies, is left whollyin the Dark.
" When they came to Utias, theytr brought all their Goods alhoar; But" lived in very ill Circumstances there," hardly knowing which Way to dis." pose of themselves. Going from" thence for Puerto Ricco, for a Supply" of Water, they left one of the Com-" pany behind them at that Place;,e Whether by Chance, or out of De-" sign, is uncertain; But, however, he" took it so ill, that his Companions" had abahdon’d him, that he discover-tf ed the whole Matter to a Gang of" Spaniards, and told them where they" might find the three Englijh Men, and" all the King’s Treasure upon the I-" stand of Utias.
“ The Loyal Spaniards, who resolv-" ed not to lose this Opportunity of" cheating their King, went directly" thither, and having, with false Pre-" tences of Friendsliip, trepan’d the" Englijh-men into a Parly with them," they persuaded them to resign them-,c selves, with all their Booty, into" their Hands which they took Posseffi-" on of; and so dividing the Mony a-" mongst them, they left the Jewels,
the Gold, and, the Plate, in a sureft Repository under Ground. They" took Care, however, to leave out" some few Silver Bars, and other<c Goods, to give a Colour to their own" Story; And having, first of all, con-“■ trary to their Promise given, set upon“ the three Englijh, they murdered two" of them; But the third happily es-“ caped their Hands. To make all" the surer, as soon as they came back" to Puerto Ricco, they poisoned the“ fourth Englijlman, who had given" them the first Information.
ts Being