Page:The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation 15.djvu/162

 had his passage to go into his countrey, who perceiuing the land, made as though he knew euery place thereof, and pointed to certaine places which be named to be such a place, and such a mans ground, and that behinde such a point was the harborow, but in the ende he pointed so from one point to another, that we were a leeboord of all places, and found our selues at the West end of Iamaica before we were aware of it, and being once to leeward, there was no getting up againe, so that by trusting of the Spaniards knowledge, our Captaine sought not to speake with any of the inhabitants, which if he had not made himselfe sure of, he would haue done as his custome was in other places: but this man was a plague not onely to our Captaine, who made him loose by ouershooting the place 2000. pounds by hides, which hee might haue gotten, but also to himselfe, who being three yeeres out of his Couutrey*, and in great misery in Guinie, both among the Negros and Tangomangos, and in hope to come to his wife and friends, as he made sure accompt, in that at his going into the pinnesse, when he went to shore he put on his new clothes, and for ioy flung away his old, could not afterwards finde any habitation, neither there or in all Cuba, which we sailed all along, but it fell out euer by one occasion or other, that wee were put beside the same, so that he was faine to be brought into England, and it happened to him as it did to a duke of Samaria, when the Israelites were besieged, and were in great misery with hunger, and being tolde by the Prophet Elizæus, that a bushell of flower should be sold for a sickle, would not belieue him, but thought it impossible: and for that cause Elizæus prophesied hee should see the same done, but hee should not eate thereof: so this man being absent three yeeres, and not euer thinking to haue seene his own countrey, did see the same, went vpon it, and yet was it not his fortune to come to it, or to any habitation, whereby to remaine with his friends according to his desire.

Thus hauing sailed along the coast two dayes, we departed the seuenth of Iune, being made to beleeue by the Spaniard that it was not Iamaica, but rather Hispaniola, of which opinion the Captaine also was, because that which hee made Iamaica seemed to be but a piece of the land, and thereby tooke it rather to be Hispaniola, by the lying of the coast, and also for that being ignorant of the force of the current, he could not beleeue be was so farre driuen to leeward, and therefore setting his course to Iamaica, and after certaine