The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 14: America, Part IIIHakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 14: America, Part III
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
[Sidenote: Chichimici a warlike and cruell people.] These people are
called Chichimici, and they vse to weare their haire long, euen down to
their knees, they doe also colour their faces greene, yellow, red and
blew, which maketh them to seeme very ougly and terrible to beholde.
These people doe keepe warres against the Spaniards, of whom they haue
bene oftentimes very cruelly handled: for with the Spaniards there is no
mercy. [Sidenote: Our men assailed by the Chichemici.] They perceiuing
vs at our first comming on land, supposed vs to haue bene their enemies,
the bordering Spaniards, and hauing by their forerunners descried what
number we were, and how feeble and weake without armour or weapon, they
suddenly according to their accustomed maner, when they encounter with
any people in warlike sorte, raised a terrible and huge crie, and so
came running fiercely vpon vs, shooting off their arrowes as thicke as
haile, vnto whose mercy we were constrained to yeeld, not hauing amongst
vs any kind of armour, nor yet weapon, sauing one caliuer, and two old
rustie swords, whereby to make any resistance, or to saue ourselues:
which when they perceiued that wee sought not any other then fauour and
mercie at their handes, and that we were not their enemies the
Spaniards, they had compassion on vs, and came and caused vs all to sit
down: and when they had a while surueyed, and taken a perfect view of
vs, they came to all such as had any coloured clothes amongst vs, and
those they did strip starke naked, and tooke their clothes away with
them, but those that were apparelled in blacke they did not meddle
withall, and so went there wayes, and left vs without doing vs any
further hurt, onely in the first brunt they killed eight of our men.
[Sidenote: Eight of our men slaine.] And at our departure, they
perceiuing in what weake case we were, pointed vs with their hands which
way we should go to come to a towne of the Spaniards, which as we
afterwards perceiued, was not past ten leagues from thence, vsing these
words: Tampice, Tampice Christiano, Tampice Christiano, which is as much
(we thinke) as to say in English, at Tampice you shall find the
Christians. The weapons that they vse are no other but bowes and
arrowes, and their aime is so good, that they very seldome misse to hit
any thing that they shoote at. Shortly after they had left vs stript (as
aforesayd) we thought it best to diuide our selues into two companies,
and so being separated, halfe of vs went vnder the leading of one
Anthony Godard, who is yet a man aliue, and dwelleth at this instant in
the towne of Plimmouth, whom before we chose to be captaine ouer vs all,
and those which went vnder his leading, of which number I Miles Philips
was one, trauailed Westward that way which the Indians with their hands
had before pointed vs to go. The other halfe went vnder the leading of
one Iohn Hooper, whom they did choose for their captain, and with the
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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