Page:The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation 15.djvu/180

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men and fortie hurt: so that our men sent forthwith to me for more helpe: whereupon considering that the good successe of this enterprise might highly further the commoditie of our voyage, I went my selfe, and with the helpe of the king of our side, assaulted the towne, both by land and sea, and very hardly with fire (their houses being couered with dry Palme leaues) obtained the towne, and put the inhabitants to flight, where we tooke 250 persons, men, women, and children, and by our friend the king of our side, there were taken 600 prisoners, whereof we hoped to haue had our choise: but the Negro (in which nation is seldome or neuer found truth) meant nothing lesse: for that night be remooued his campe and prisoners, so that we were faine to content vs with those fewe which we had gotten ourselues.

Now had we obtained between foure and fiue hundred Negros, wherewith we thought it somewhat reasonable to seeke the coast of the West Indies, and there, for our Negros, and other our merchandize, we hoped to obtaine, whereof to counteruaile our charges with some gaines, whereunto we proceeded with all diligence, furnished our watering, tooke fuell, and departed the coast of Guinea the third of Februarie, continuing at the sea with a passage more hard, then before had bene accustomed till the 27 day of March, which day we had sight of an Iland, called Dominica, vpon the coast of the West Indies, in fourteene degrees: from thence we coasted from place to place, making our traffike with the Spaniards as we might, somewhat hardly, because the king had straightly commanded all his Gouernours in those parts, by no meanes to suffer any trade to be made with vs: notwithstanding we had reasonable trade, and courteous entertainement, from the Ile of Margarita vnto Cartagena, without any thing greatly worth the noting, sauing at Capo de la Vela, in a towne called Rio de la Hacha (from whence come all the pearles) the treasurer who had the charge there, would by no meanes agree to any trade, or suffer vs to take water, he had fortified his towne with diuers bulwarkes in all places where it might be entered, and furnished himselfe with an hundred Hargabuziers, so that he thought by famine to haue inforced vs to haue put a land our Negros: of which purpose he had not greatly failed, vnlesse we had by force entred the towne: which (after we could by no meanes obtaine his fauour) we were inforced to doe, and so with two hundred men brake