The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 07: England's Naval Exploits Against SpainHakluyt, Richard
History
The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 07: England's Naval Exploits Against Spain
Hakluyt, Richard
Discoveries in geography -- English; Voyages and travels
This sir Rich. Greenuil was a great and a rich gentleman in England, and
had great yeerely reuenues of his owne inheritance, but he was a man very
vnquiet in his mind, and greatly affected to war; insomuch as of his owne
priuate motion he offred his seruice to the Queene: he had performed many
valiant acts, and was greatly feared in these Ilands, and knowen of euery
man, but of nature very seuere, so that his owne people hated him for his
fiercenesse, and spake very hardly of him: for when they first entred into
the fleet or Armada, they had their great saile in a readinesse, and might
possibly enough haue sailed away, for it was one of the best ships for
saile in England, and the master perceiuing that the other ships had left
them, and folowed not after, commanded the great saile to be cut that they
might make away: but sir Rich. Greenuil threatned both him and al the rest
that were in the ship, that if any man laid hand vpon it, he would cause
him to be hanged, and so by that occasion they were compelled to fight and
in the end were taken. He was of so hard a complexion, that as he continued
among the Spanish captains while they were at dinner or supper with him, he
would carouse 3 or 4 glasses of wine, and in a brauerie take the glasses
betweene his teeth and crash them in pieces and swalow them downe, so that
oftentimes the blood ran out of his mouth without any harme at all vnto
him: and this was told me by diuers credible persons that many times stood
and beheld him. The Englishmen that were left in the ship, as the captaine
of the souldiers, the master and others were dispersed into diuers of the
Spanish ships that had taken them, where there had almost a new fight
arisen between the Biscains and the Portugals: while each of them would
haue the honour to haue first boorded her, so that there grew a great noise
and quarel among them, one taking the chiefe ensigne, and the other the
flag, and the captaine and euery one held his owne. The ships that had
boorded her were altogether out of order, and broken, and many of their men
hurt, whereby they were compelled to come into the Island of Tercera, there
to repaire themselues: where being arriued, I and my chamberfelow, to heare
some newes, went aboord one of the ships being a great Biscain, and one of
the 12 Apostles, whose captaine was called Bartandono, that had bin General
of the Biscains in the fleet that went for England. He seeing vs called vs
up into the gallery, where with great curtesie he receiued vs, being as
then set at dinner with the English captaine that sate by him, and had on a
sute of blacke veluet, but he could not tell vs any thing, for that he
could speake no other language but English and Latine, which Bartandano
also could a litle speake. The English captaine got licence of the
gouernour that he might come on land with his weapon by his side, and was
in our lodging with the Englishman that was kept prisoner in the Iland,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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