Captain Cuellar's Adventures in Connaught & Ulster A.D. 1588.: To Which Is Added an Introduction and Complete Translation of Captain Cuellar's Narrative of the Spanish Armada and His Adventures in IrelandAllingham, Hugh
History
Captain Cuellar's Adventures in Connaught & Ulster A.D. 1588.: To Which Is Added an Introduction and Complete Translation of Captain Cuellar's Narrative of the Spanish Armada and His Adventures in Ireland
Allingham, Hugh
Armada, 1588
Don Diego Enriquez expired in their hands, and they stripped him, and
took away the jewels and money which they (the dead men) had, casting
the bodies aside without burying them.
And because it is a wonderful occurrence, and true without doubt (of a
certainty), I have wished to narrate it to you in order that it may be
known there (on your side) the manner in which this gentleman died.
And as it would not be right to omit to mention my own good fortune, and
how I got to land, I say that I placed myself on the top of the poop of
my ship, after having commended myself to God and to Our Lady, and from
thence I gazed at the terrible spectacle. Many were drowning within the
ships; others, casting themselves into the water, sank to the bottom
without returning to the surface; others on rafts and barrels, and
gentlemen on pieces of timber; others cried aloud in the ships, calling
upon God; captains threw their chains and crown-pieces into the sea; the
waves swept others away, washing them out of the ships.
While I was regarding this solemn[20] scene, I did not know what to do,
nor what means to adopt, as I did not know how to swim, and the waves
and storm were very great; and, on the other hand, the land and the
shore were full of enemies, who went about jumping and dancing with
delight at our misfortunes; and when any one of our people reached the
beach, two hundred savages and other enemies fell upon him and stripped
him of what he had on until he was left in his naked skin. Such they
maltreated and wounded without pity, all of which was plainly visible
from the battered ships, and it did not seem to me that there was
anything good happening on any side.
I went to the Judge Advocate--God pardon him!--he was very sorrowful and
depressed, and I said to him that he should make some provision for
saving his life before the ship went to pieces, as she could not last
for half a quarter of an hour longer; nor did she last it.
Most of her complement of men and all the captains and officers were
already drowned and dead when I determined to seek means of safety for
my life, and placed myself upon a piece of the ship that had been broken
off, and the Judge Advocate followed me, loaded with crown-pieces, which
he carried stitched up in his waistcoat and trousers.
There was no way to detach the portion of wreck from the ship's side, as
it was held fast by some heavy iron chains, and the sea and the pieces
of timber floating about loose struck it, nearly killing us.
I managed to find another resource, which was to take the cover of a
hatchway, about as large as a good-sized table, that by chance the mercy
of God brought to my hand. When I tried to place myself upon it, it sank
with me to a depth of six times my height below the surface, and I
swallowed so much water that I was nearly drowned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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