Page:The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation 15.djvu/150

 of our Lorde God one thousande fiue hundred sixty fiue aforesaide, and sayled along the coast vntill the first of Aprill, at which time the Captaine sayled along in the Iesus pinnesse to discerne the coast, and saw many Caribes on shore, and some also in their Canoas, which made tokens vnto him of friendship, and shewed him golde, meaning thereby that they would trafficke for wares. Whereupon he stayed to see the maners of them, and so for two or three trifles they gaue such things as they had about them, and departed: but the Caribes were very importunate to haue them come on shore, which if it had not bene for want of wares to trafficke with them, he would not haue denyed them, because the Indians which we saw before were very gentle people, and such as do no man hurt. But as God would haue it, hee wanted that thing, which if hee had had, would haue bene his confusion:for these were no such kinde of people as wee tooke them to bee, but more deuilish a thousand partes and are eaters and deuourers of any man they can catch, as it was afterwards declared vnto vs at Burboroata, by a Carauel comming out of Spaine with certaine souldiers, and a Captaine generall sent by the king for those Eastward parts of the Indians, who sayling along in his pinnesse, as our Captaine did to descry the coast, was by the Caribes called a shoare with sundry tokens made to him of friendshippe, and golde shewed as though they desired trafficke, with the which the Spaniard beeing mooued, suspecting no deceite at all, went ashore amongst them: who was no sooner a shore, but with foure or five more was taken, the rest of his company being inuaded by them saued themselues by flight, but they that were taken, paied their ransome with their liues, and were presently eaten.

And this is their practise to toll with their golde the ignorant to their snares: they are bloodsuckers both of Spaniards, Indians, and all that light in their laps, not sparing their owne countreymen if they can conueniently come by them. Their pollicie in fight with the Spaniards is maruellous: for they chuse for their refuge the mountaines and woodes where the Spaniards with their horses cannot follow them, and if they fortune to be met in the plaine where one horseman may ouerrunne 100. of them, they haue a deuise of late practised by them to pitch stakes of wood in the ground, and also small iron pikes to mischiefe their horses, wherein they shew themselues politique warriers. They haue more abundance of golde then all the