Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar. — John Shaqi
Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar.Miles, Alfred H. (Alfred Henry)
History
Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar.
Miles, Alfred H. (Alfred Henry)
Great Britain -- History, Naval -- Juvenile literature
obtained the town, and put the inhabitants to flight, where we took two
hundred and fifty persons, men, women, and children, and by our friend
the king of our side there were taken six hundred prisoners, whereof we
hoped to have our choice, but the negro (in which nation is seldom or
never found truth) meant nothing less; for that night he removed his
camp and prisoners, so that we were fain to content us with those few
which we had gotten ourselves.
"Now had we obtained between four and five hundred negroes, wherewith we
thought it somewhat reasonable to seek the coast of the West Indies, and
there, for our negroes, and our other merchandise, we hoped to obtain
whereof to countervail our charges with some gains, whereunto we
proceeded with all diligence, finished our watering, took fuel, and
departed the coast of Guinea, on February 3rd, continuing at the sea
with a passage more hard than before hath been accustomed till March
27th, which day we had sight of an island called Dominique, upon the
coast of the West Indies, in fourteen degrees; from thence we coasted
from place to place, making our traffic with the Spaniards as we might,
somewhat hardy, because the king had straightly commanded all his
governors in those parts by no means to suffer any trade to be made with
us; notwithstanding we had reasonable trade, and courteous entertainment
from the Isle of Marguerite and Cartagena, without anything greatly
worth the noting, saving at Capo de la Vela, in a town called Rio de la
Hacha, from whence come all the pearls. The treasurer who had the charge
there would by no means agree to any trade, or suffer us to take water.
He had fortified his town with divers bulwarks in all places where it
might be entered, and furnished himself with a hundred harquebusiers, so
that he thought by famine to have enforced us to have put on land our
negroes, of which purpose he had not greatly failed unless we had by
force entered the town; which (after we could by no means obtain his
favour) we were enforced to do, and so with two hundred men brake in
upon their bulwarks, and entered the town with the loss only of eleven
men of our parts, and no hurt done to the Spaniards, because after their
volley of shot discharged, they all fled.
"Thus having the town, with some circumstance, as partly by the
Spaniards' desire of negroes, and partly by friendship of the treasurer,
we obtained a secret trade; whereupon the Spaniards resorted to us by
night, and bought of us to the number of two hundred negroes; in all
other places where we traded the Spaniard inhabitants were glad of us,
and traded willingly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account