After most humble commendations: These shall be to crave your dayly blessing, with like commendations vnto my mother; and withall, to certifie you of my being: according to your will and my duety. I wrote vnto you taking my iourney from Italy to Portugall, which letters I thinke are come to your hands, so that presuming therupon, I thinke I haue the lesse need at this time to tell you the cause of my departing, which nevertheless in one word I may conclude, if I do but name obedience. I came to Lisbon toward the end of March, eight dayes before the departure of the shippes, so late that if they had not bene stayed about some weighty matters, they had bene long gone before our comming: insomuch that there were others ordained to goe in our places, that the kings prouision and ours also might not be in vaine. Neuerthelesse our sudden comming tooke place, and the fourth of Aprill fiue ships departed for Goa, wherein besides shipmen and souldiers, there were a great number of children which in the seas beare out better than men, and no maruell, when that many women also passe very well. The setting foorth from the port I need not to tell how solemne it is with trumpets, and shooting of ordinance, you may easily imagine it, considering that they go in the maner of warre. The tenth of the foresayd moneth we came to the sight of Porto Santo neere vnto Madera, where an English shippe set vpon ours (which was then also alone) with a few shots, which did no harme, but after that our ship had layed out her greatest ordinance, they straight departed as they came. The English shippe was very faire and great, which I was sorry to see so ill occupied, for she went rouing about, so that we saw her againe at the Canarian Iles, vnto the which we came the thirteenth of the sayd moneth, and good leisure we had to woonder at the high mountaine of the Iland Tenerif, for we wandred betweene that and great Canaria foure dayes by reason of contrary windes: and briefly, such euill weather we had vntill the foureteenth of May, that they despaired, to compasse the Cape of Good hope that yeere. Neuertheless, taking our voyage betweene Guinea and the Ilands of Capo Verde, without seeing of any land at all, we arriued at length vnto the coast of Guinie, which the Portugals so call, chiefly that part of the burning Zone, which is from the sixt degree vnto the Equinoctiall, in which parts they suffered so many inconueniences of heats, and lacke of windes, that they thinke themselues happy when they haue passed it: for sometimes the ship standeth there almost by the space of many dayes, sometimes she goeth, but in such order that it were almost as good to stand still. And the greatest part of this coast not cleare, but thicke and cloudy, full of thunder and lightening, and raine so vnholesome, that if the water stand a little while, all is full of wormes, and falling on the meat which is hanged vp, it maketh it straight full of wormes. Along all that coast we often times