Page:The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation 15.djvu/313

 one of the clocke wee offred to land one thousand and foure hundreth men in the sandie bay betwixt the fort and the towne: But by our detracting of the time they had made a bulwarke in the sandie bay and planted Ordinance: so that by reason thereof, and the great breach of the sea that went then on shore we were not able to land without endangering our whole forces, which our General would not doe. There were of Spaniards horsemen and footmen some 900, which played vpon vs out of their trenches, most of them being shot. At the time of our landing there went by commandement of our Generals within musket shot of the shore, and rode there at ankor some three hours, the Salomon, the Bonauenture, the Elizabeth Constance, the Phenix, the Iuell, the Little Iohn, the Delight, the Pegasus, the Exchange, the Francis, the carauell, and the two catches: But when the Generall sir Francis Drake gaue ouer the landing being in his barge, the ships weighed being in some danger, and stoode off againe to the great ships. Then we went to the West end of the Island and there watered: where captaine Grimston going vp the hill with 6 or 7 in his company was set vpon by the herdmen, who with their dogs and staues killed the captaine with three or foure of his company: the rest were sore wounded: the Salomons Chirurgian taken prisoner, who disclosed our pretended voyage as much as in him lay: so as the Viceroy sent a carauel of aduiso into the Indies, vnto all such places as wee did pretend to goe to. Howbeit they had intelligence from the king of all our voyage the eight of August, which was three weekes before we set foorth of England: as also by a Fleming that had seene all our prouision at London.

The 28. being Sunday at ten of the clocke at night wee set saile, and stood away Southwest and Southsouthwest some 200. leagues, vntill we came in the height of the Islands of Cape Verde, and then more Westerly for Martinino, one of the Islands of the West Indies, which we saw the 27 of October: but the night before we had a storme, in which sir Francis with foure or fiue other ships bearing on head of the fleete was separated. Then we stood for Dominica, an Island full of inhabitants of the race of the Canibals, not past ten leagues distant from Martinino. In it groweth great store of Tabacco: where most of our English and French men barter kniues, hatchets, sawes, and such like yron tooles in trucke of Tabacco.

Before we came to Dominica our Generall Sir Francis Drake