Page:The principal navigations, voyages, traffiques and discoveries of the English nation 15.djvu/316

 and rafted it ouer with her mastes almost to the very fortes and castles, so as they thought it impregnable. The frigats had in each of them twenty pieces of brasse, and a hundreth barrels of powder. Their chiefe lading that they brought thither was silke, oyle, and wine. The treasure which they went to fetch which was brought thither in a ship called the Vigonia, was conueyed into the strongest and surest castell of defence; being, as one of the prisoners confessed, three millions of ducats or fiue and thirty tunnes of siluer. Also they had sent all the women, children, and vnable persons into the woods, and left none but souldiers and fighting men in the towne. The fight on our side was resolute, hote, and dangerous: wherein wee lost some forty or fifty men, and so many were hurt. There was also great death of the Spaniards aboord the frigats, with burning, drowning, and killing, and besides some taken prisoners.

The 14 we rode stil, being within shot of the vttermost castell; but they fearing the next night we would come in againe, began to warpe vp the other 4 frigats, beginning first with the Admirall: which whether by chance or their owne willes we sawe to sinke; and as wee suppose so did they with all the rest, or else by stealth got vp farther within their chiefest forces.

The 15 also we rode still, and at afternoone wee espied a carauell comming from the castell point: but before our pinnesses could fetch her vp, she ranne on shore, where our boates could not come at her because of the breach, and also many of the Ilanders came downe to guard her with shot. The beginning of this night we weyed, and stoode one houre to the East, and then tacked about to the West.

The 16 being Sunday, and the 17 also we were becalmed.

The 18 we ankered a little to the Southward of the Southwest point of the Island, giuing the point a birth because of a shoald of sand that lieth some two cables length off, there we rode in foure, fiue, and sixe fadomes faire white sand, where wee set vp more pinnesses, washed our ships, and refreshed our men on shore. Here the Generall tooke a pinnesse of Hispaniola with diuers letters, signifying that two Englishmen of warre had done great hurt along their Island.

The 20 the Generall rowed to the Phenix, the Delight and the carauell, and caused them to wey and anker right against the mouth of a fresh riuer in two fadomes water in ozie sand to the Southward of the other ships some league or more. The