Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the World — John Shaqi
Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the WorldPretty, Francis
History
Sir Francis Drake's Famous Voyage Round the World
Pretty, Francis
Voyages and travels; Voyages around the world
The common sort of people, leaving the king and his guard with our
General, scattered themselves together with their sacrifices among our
people, taking a diligent view of every person: and such as pleased
their fancy (which were the youngest), they enclosing them about offered
their sacrifices unto them with lamentable weeping, scratching and
tearing their flesh from their faces with their nails, whereof issued
abundance of blood. But we used signs to them of disliking this, and
stayed their hands from force, and directed them upwards to the living
God, whom only they ought to worship. They shewed unto us their wounds,
and craved help of them at our hands; whereupon we gave them lotions,
plaisters, and ointments agreeing to the state of their griefs,
beseeching God to cure their diseases. Every third day they brought
their sacrifices unto us, until they understood our meaning, that we
had no pleasure in them; yet they could not be long absent from us,
but daily frequented our company to the hour of our departure, which
departure seemed so grievous unto them, that their joy was turned into
sorrow. They entreated us, that being absent we would remember them, and
by stealth provided a sacrifice, which we misliked.
Our necessary business being ended, our General with his company
travelled up into the country to their villages, where we found herds of
deer by a thousand in a company, being most large, and fat of body.
We found the whole country to be a warren of a strange kind of coneys;
their bodies in bigness as be the Barbary coneys, their heads as the
heads of ours, the feet of a want [mole], and the tail of a rat, being
of great length. Under her chin is on either side a bag, into the which
she gathereth her meat, when she hath filled her belly abroad. The
people eat their bodies, and make great account of their skins, for
their king's coat was made of them. Our General called this country Nova
Albion, and that for two causes; the one in respect of the white banks
and cliffs, which lie towards the sea, and the other, because it might
have some affinity with our country in name, which sometime was so
called. There is no part of earth here to be taken up, wherein there is
not some probable show of gold or silver.
At our departure hence our General set up a monument of our being there,
as also of her Majesty's right and title to the same; namely a plate,
nailed upon a fair great post, whereupon was engraved her Majesty's
name, the day and year of our arrival there, with the free giving up
of the province and people into her Majesty's hands, together with her
Highness' picture and arms, in a piece of six pence of current English
money, under the plate, whereunder was also written the name of our
General.
It seemeth that the Spaniards hitherto had never been in this part of
the country, neither did ever discover the land by many degrees to the
southwards of this place.
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