The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 11Hakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 11
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
The nineteenth day wee went a shore euery man for himselfe, and tooke a
good quantitie of gold, and I for my part tooke foure pound and two ounces
and a halfe of gold, and our Hartes boate tooke one and twentie ounces. At
night the Negros shewed vs that the next day the Portugals would be with vs
by land or by Sea: and when we were ready to depart, we heard diuers
harquebusses shoote off in the woods by vs which wee knew to bee Portugals,
which durst come no neerer to vs, but shot off in the woods to see if they
could feare vs and so make vs to leaue our traffique.
The 20 day we manned our fiue boats, and also a great boat of the
Frenchmens with our men and the Admirals, 12 of them in their murrians and
corsets, and the rest all well appoynted, with foure trumpets, a drumme and
a Fife, and the boate all hanged with streamers of Silke and pendants very
faire, and went into the riuer and traffiqued, our man of warre lying off
and on in the riuer to waft vs, but we heard no more of the Portugals. This
day the Negros told vs that there were certain ships come into Hanta, which
towne is about two leagues to the Westward of this place.
This 21 day we manned our boats againe and went to a place a league from
this to the Westwards, and there found many Negros with another Captaine,
and sold at the same rate that wee had done with the others.
The 22 day we went ashore againe and traffiqued in like sort quietly, and I
tooke 4 pound and six ounces of gold.
The 23 day about night the Negros with their captaine came to vs and told
vs that the king of Portugals ships were departed from the Castle, meaning
the next day to plie to the windward to come to vs, giuing vs warning to
take heed to our selues: we told them againe that wee were very glad of
their comming, and would be ready at all times to meet them, and to assure
them that wee were glad of it, wee sounded our trumpets, and shot off
certaine bases whereof the Negros were very glad, and requested vs that if
the Portugals sought to hinder our traffique, to shew them all the
extremitie that we could, promising vs that if they came by land, they
would aduertise vs thereof.
The 24 we went a shore with our trumpets and drummes, and traffiqued, and I
bade the captaine of the towne to dinner.
[Sidenote: Fiue sailes of Portingals descried.] The 25 day we being a
shore, our ships had descried fiue sailes of the king of Portugals, and our
ships shot off ordinance to call vs away, and we threw euery man his caske
ashore for water, and went to our ships, and by that time we had weighed
and giuen order one to another what to do, it was night, so that that night
nothing was done. We set saile and lay close all night to get the wind if
we could: we were neere some of them, and one shot off a piece which wee
iudged to be the Admirall of the Portugals, to cause the rest to come and
speake with him: so all this night we made our selues ready for fight.
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