Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 2).djvu/144



Under the patronage of the queen of England and of many of her councillors, Hawkins set sail from Plymouth on a second slave-hunting expedition, on the 18th of October, 1564. His fleet consisted of the Jesus of Lubeck, of seven hundred tons, very fully armed, of his old vessel, the Solomon, which had been somewhat enlarged, and of two small sloops, of a light draught of water, suited to enter rivers and shallow waters.

"A rival expedition sailed at the same time and for the same purpose from the Thames, under David Cartel, to whom the Queen had also given a ship. Cartel had three vessels, the Minion, Elizabeth's present; the John the Baptist, and the Merlin. The Merlin had bad luck; she had the powder on board for the nigger hunt, fire got into the magazine, and she was blown to pieces. Cartel, therefore, for a time attached himself with his two remaining ships to Hawkins, and the six vessels ran south together. Passing Teneriffe on the 29th of November, they touched first at the Cape Verde Islands, where the natives being very gentle and loving, and more civil than any other, it was proposed to take in a store of them. But the two commanders could not agree; Hawkins claimed the lion's share of the spoil, and when they quarrelled, the Minion's men, being jealous, gave the islanders to understand what was intended to be done with them, so that they avoided the snares laid for them."

Hawkins and Cartel then parted company, the