A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume X Part 7

It hath pleased the Almighty to suffer me to circ.u.mcompa.s.s all the whole globe of the world, entering in at the Straits of Magellan, and returning by the Cape of Buena Esperanca. In which voyage I have either discovered, or brought certain intelligence of, all the rich places of the world that ever were known or discovered by any Christian. I navigated along the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Nueva Espanna, where I made great spoils. I burnt and sunk nineteen sail of ships, great and small. All the villages and towns that ever I landed at, I burnt and spoiled; and, had I not been discovered upon the coast, I had taken a great quant.i.ty of treasure. The matter of most profit unto me was a great ship of the king's, which I took at California, which ship came from the Philippines, being one of the richest for merchandize that ever pa.s.sed these seas, as the royal register, accounts, and merchants did shew; for it amounted in value to ***** in Mexico to be sold: which goods, for that my ships were not able to contain the least part of them, I was enforced to set on fire.

From the Cape of California, being the uppermost part of all New Spain, I navigated to the Philippine islands, hard upon the coast of China, of which country I have brought such intelligence as hath not been heard in these parts; the stateliness and riches of which country I fear to make report of; lest I should not be credited: for, if I had not known sufficiently the incomparable wealth of that country, I should have been as incredulous thereof as others will be that have not had the like experience.

I sailed along the islands of the Moluccas, where among some of the heathen people I was well intreated, and where our people may have trade as freely as the Portuguese, if they will themselves. From thence, I pa.s.sed by the Cape of Buena Esperanca; and found out, by the way homeward, the island of St Helena, where the Portuguese used to refresh themselves; and, from that island, G.o.d hath suffered me to return into England. All which services, together with myself, I humbly prostrate at her majesty's feet, desiring the Almighty long to continue her reign among us; for at this day she is the most famous and most victorious prince that liveth in the world.

Thus, humbly desiring pardon for my tediousness, I leave your lordship to the tuition of the Almighty.

_Your honour's most humble to command, Thomas Candish_.

Plymouth, this 9th of September, 1588.

There are many circ.u.mstances in this voyage, besides the wonderful facility with which it was accomplished, that deserve to be considered.

As, for instance, the adventuring to pa.s.s a second time into the South Sea, after it was not only known that the Spaniards were excessively alarmed by the pa.s.sage of Sir Francis Drake, but also that they had received succours from Spain, and had actually fortified themselves strongly in the South Sea. Also the nice search made by Candish, and the exact description he has given us of the Straits of Magellan, are very n.o.ble proofs of his skill and industry, and of his desire that posterity might reap the fruits of his labours. The attack of the Accapulco ship, likewise, considering the small force he had along with him, was a n.o.ble instance of true English bravery, which was justly rewarded by the queen with the honour of knighthood.

His account of the Philippines, and his description of several islands in the East Indies, are very clear and curious, and must at that time have been very useful; but particularly his map and description of China, which gave great lights in those days. We may add to all this, the great care he took in the instruction of his seamen, many of whom afterwards distinguished themselves by navigating vessels in the same stupendous course, and thereby filling all the known world with the fame and reputation of English seamen. It is not therefore surprising that we find the best judges, both of our own and other nations, bestowing very high praise on this worthy gentleman, who, in the whole conduct of his voyage, shewed the courage and discretion of a great commander, with all the skill and diligence of an able seaman; of both which eminent characters he has left the strongest testimonies in his accurate account of this circ.u.mnavigation.

The wealth brought home by Sir Thomas Candish from this successful voyage must have been considerable; an old writer says it was sufficient to have purchased _a fair earldom_, a general and vague expression, having no determinate meaning. Whatever may have been the amount of the sum, which he acquired with so much hazard and so great honour, he certainly did not make such prudent use of his good fortune as might have been expected; for in the s.p.a.ce of three years the best part of it was spent, and he determined to lay out the remainder upon a second expedition. We need the less wonder at this, if we consider what the writers of those days tell us, of his great generosity, and the prodigious expence he was at in procuring and maintaining such persons as he thought might be useful to him in his future naval expeditions, on which subject his mind was continually bent. Such things require the revenues of a prince; and as he looked upon this voyage round the world as an introduction only to his future undertakings, we may easily conceive that, what the world considered extravagance, might appear to him mere necessary disburs.e.m.e.nts, which, instead of lessening, he proposed should have laid the foundations of a more extensive fortune.

All circ.u.mstances duly considered, this was neither a rash nor improbable supposition; since there were many examples in the glorious reign of Queen Elizabeth, of very large fortunes acquired by the same method in which he proposed to have increased his estate. Besides, it clearly appears, by his will, that he not only did not die in debt, but left very considerable effects behind him, notwithstanding his heavy expences, and the many misfortunes of his second expedition, of which it is proper to subjoin a brief account.--_Harris_.

In the Collection of Hakluyt, vol. IV. p. 341-355, is a long enumeration of nautical remarks, of the lat.i.tudes, soundings, distances of places, bearings of lands, variations of the compa.s.s, time spent in sailing between the several places enumerated, time of remaining at any of these, observations of winds, &c. &c. &c. written by Mr Thomas Fuller of Ipswich, who was master of the Desire in this voyage round the world; but which are too tedious and uninteresting for insertion.--E.

SECTION IV.

_Second Voyage of Sir Thomas Candish, intended for the South Sea, in 1591_.[61]

Though not a circ.u.mnavigation, owing to various misfortunes, it appears proper to insert this narrative, giving an account of the unfortunate end of the renowned Candish, by way of appendix to his circ.u.mnavigation.

From the happy success of his former voyage, and the superior strength with which he undertook the second, in which, after ranging the Spanish coast of the South Sea, he proposed to have visited the Philippine islands and China, he certainly had every reason to have expected, that the profits of this new enterprise would have fully compensated for its expences, and have enabled him to spend the remainder of his days in honourable ease and affluence.

[Footnote 61: Hakluyt, IV. 361.--This narrative, as we learn from Hakluyt, was written by Mr John Lane, or Jane, a person of good observation, who was employed in this and many other voyages.--E.]

The ships fitted out on this occasion, entirely at his own expence, were the galleon named the Leicester, in which Sir Thomas Candish embarked himself as admiral, or general of the expedition; the Roebuck vice-admiral, commanded by Mr c.o.c.ke; the Desire rear-admiral, of which Mr John Davis was captain;[62] the Dainty, a bark belonging to Mr Adrian Gilbert, of which Mr Randolph Cotton had the command; and a pinnace named the Black.

[Footnote 62: The author of this narrative informs us that he sailed on this voyage along with Mr Davis.--E.]

-- 1. _Incidents in the Voyage, till the Separation of the Ships_.

With this squadron we sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of August, 1591.

The 29th November, we fell in with the bay of St Salvador on the coast of Brazil, twelve leagues to the N. of Cabo Frio, where we were becalmed till the 2d December, when we captured a small bark, bound for the Rio Plata, laden with sugar, haberdashery wares, and negroes. The master of this bark brought us to an isle, called Placencia or _Ilha Grande_, thirty Portuguese leagues W. from Cabo Frio, where we arrived on the 5th December, and rifled six or seven houses inhabited by Portuguese. The 11th we departed from this place, and arrived on the 14th at the island of St Sebastian; whence Mr c.o.c.ke and Mr Davis immediately departed, with the Desire and the Black pinnace, on purpose to attack the town of Santos.

We anch.o.r.ed at the bar of Santos in the evening of the 15th, and went immediately in our boats to the town. Next morning about nine o'clock, we reached Santos, and being discovered, we immediately landed, being only twenty-four of us, our long-boat being still far astern. By this prompt.i.tude, we took all the people of the town prisoners in the church, being at ma.s.s, and detained them there all day. The great object of Sir Thomas Candish in a.s.saulting this town was to supply our wants, expecting to have got every thing of which we stood in need, when once in possession: But such was the negligence of Mr c.o.c.ke, who commanded on this occasion, that the Indians were allowed to carry every thing out of the town in open view, and no one hindered them; and next day, our prisoners were all set free, only four poor old men being kept as pledges to supply our wants. By this mismanagement, the town of Santos, which could easily have supplied a fleet the double of ours with all kinds of necessaries, was in three days left to us entirely naked, without people, and without provisions. Sir Thomas Candish came up eight or ten days afterwards, and remained till the 22d January, 1592, endeavouring by treaty to procure what we were once possessed of, but to little purpose; and we were then forced to depart, through want of provisions, glad to procure a few baskets of ca.s.savi meal, going away worse provided than we had come there. We accordingly left Santos on the 22d January, and burnt the town of St Vincent to the ground.

We set sail on the 24th, shaping our course for the Straits of Magellan.

On the 7th February we had a violent storm, and on the 8th, our fleet was separated by the fury of the tempest. Consulting with the master of our ship, our captain concluded to go for Port Desire, in the lat.i.tude of 48 S. hoping that Sir Thomas would go there likewise, as he had found great relief there in his former voyage. Our captain had not been able to get directions, what course to take in such a contingency as had now occurred, though he had earnestly proposed such a measure. In our way, we fortunately fell in with the Roebuck, which had been in extreme danger, and had lost her boat. We arrived together at Port Desire on the 6th March. The Black pinnace came in there also on the 16th; but the Dainty came not, having gone back for England, leaving their captain, Mr Randolph Cotton, aboard the Roebuck, with nothing but the clothes he wore. He now came aboard our ship, being in great habits of friendship with Captain Davis.

On the 18th Sir Thomas brought the galleon into the roads, and came himself into the harbour in a boat he had got built at sea, for his long-boat and light-horseman were both lost during the storm, together with a pinnace he had set up at Santos. Being on board our ship, the Desire, Sir Thomas informed our captain of all his extremities, and complained severely of his company, and particularly of several gentlemen in his ship, proposing to go no more on board his own ship, but to proceed for the rest of the voyage in the Desire. We were all grieved to hear such hard speeches of our good friends; but having spoken with the gentlemen in the Leicester, we found them faithful, honest, and resolute in their proceedings, although it pleased our general to conceive of them otherwise.

The 20th March we departed from Port Desire, Sir Thomas being in the Desire with us. The 8th of April we fell in with the Straits of Magellan, having sustained many furious storms between Port Desire and the straits. The 14th we pa.s.sed the first straits, and got through the second, ten leagues beyond the first, on the 16th. We doubled Cape Froward on the 18th, which cape is in 53 30' S. The 21st we were forced by a furious storm to take shelter in a small cove with our ships, four leagues beyond the cape, and on the southern sh.o.r.e of the straits, where we remained till the 15th of May; in which time we endured much distress, by excessive storms, with perpetual snow, and many of our men died of cold and famine, not having wherewithal to cover their bodies nor to fill their bellies, but living on muscles, sea-weeds, and water, with an occasional supply of meal from the ships stores.[63] All the sick men in the galleon were most uncharitably put on sh.o.r.e into the woods, exposed to the snow, the air, and the cold, which men in health could hardly have endured, where they ended their days in the utmost misery, Sir Thomas remaining all this time in the Desire.

[Footnote 63: It would appear that this expedition had been very improvidently undertaken, with a very inadequate supply of provisions, and, as will afterwards appear, of naval stores, trusting perhaps to obtain supplies from the enemy, as had been attempted in vain at Santos.

Either delayed by these views, or from ignorance, the pa.s.sage through the straits was attempted at a very improper season, three months after the antarctic mid-summer and during the autumnal equinoctial gales.

November, December, and January are the summer months, and best fitted for these high southern lat.i.tudes.--E.]

Seeing these great extremities of cold and snow, and doubting a disastrous end to the enterprize, Sir Thomas asked our captain's opinion, being a person of great experience in the utmost parts of the north, to which he had made three voyages of discovery in the employ of the London merchants. Captain Davis said, that he did not expect the snow to be of long continuance, for which he gave sufficient reasons from his former experience, and hoped therefore that this might not greatly prejudice or hinder the completion of the enterprize. Yet Sir Thomas called all the company together, telling them that he proposed to depart from the straits upon some other voyage, either proceeding for the Cape of Good Hope, or back again to Brazil. The company answered, that they desired rather to wait G.o.d's favour for a wind, if he so pleased, and to submit to any hardships, rather than abandon the intended voyage, considering that they had been here only for a short time, and were now only forty leagues from the South Sea; yet, though grieved to return, they were ready to perform whatever he pleased to command. So he concluded to leave the straits, and make sail for the Cape of Good Hope.

When Sir Thomas Candish returned on board the Desire, from talking with the company, Captain Davis requested he would consider the extremity of our estate and condition, the slenderness of his provision, and the weakness of his men, being in no case for undertaking that new enterprise; as, if the other ships were as ill appointed as the Desire, it would be impossible to perform his new design, having no more sails then were then bent, no victuals, no ground tackle, no cordage save what was already in use; and, of seventy-five persons in the Desire, the master only had knowledge enough for managing the ship, and there were only fourteen sailors besides, all the rest being gentlemen, serving-men, or tradesmen. Captain Davis laid these persuasions before both the general and Mr c.o.c.ke; and in fine, in consequence of a pet.i.tion, delivered in writing by all the chief persons of the whole company, the general determined to depart from the Straits of Magellan, and to return again for Santos in Brazil.

Accordingly, we set sail on the 15th of May, the general being now on board the galleon, his own ship. The 18th we were free of the straits; but on pa.s.sing Cape Froward, we had the misfortune to have our boat sunk at our stern in the night, by which she was split and sore injured, and lost all her oars. The 20th of May, being athwart Port Desire, the general altered his course during the night, as we suppose, by which we lost him. In the evening he stood close by the wind to leewards, having the wind at N.N.E. and we stood the same course, the wind not altering during the night, and next day we could not see him. We were then persuaded that the general was gone for Port Desire in quest of relief or that he had sustained some mischance at sea, and was gone there to seek a remedy. Our captain then called all hands together, the general's men among the rest, asking their opinion what was to be done, when every one said he thought the general was gone to Port Desire.

Our master, who was the general's man, and careful for his master's service, and also a person of good judgment in sea affairs, represented to the company how dangerous it was for us to go to Port Desire, especially if we should there miss the general; as we had now no boat wherewith to land, neither any anchors or cables which he could trust to in such rapid streams. Yet as we all concluded that it was most probable the general had gone there, we shaped our course for Port Desire, and on our way met the Black pinnace by chance, which had also parted company from the general, being in a miserable plight. So we both proceeded for Port Desire, where we arrived on the 26th of May.

-- 2. _Disastrous result of the Voyage to Sir Thomas Candish_.[64]

Various accounts of the disappointments and misfortunes of Sir Thomas Candish, in this disastrous voyage, are still preserved, but the most copious is contained in his own narrative, addressed to Sir Tristram Gorges, whom he const.i.tuted sole executor of his will. In this, Sir Thomas attributes his miscarriage to the cowardice and defection of one of his officers, in the following terms:--"The running away of the villain Davis was the death of me, and the decay of the whole action, and his treachery in deserting me the ruin of all."

[Footnote 64: This portion of the voyage is taken from the supplement in the Collection of Harris, to the circ.u.mnavigation of Sir Thomas Candish.--E.]

In this letter he complained also of mutinies, and that, by adverse winds at S W. and W.S.W. he had been driven 400 leagues from the sh.o.r.e, and from the lat.i.tude of 50 to that of 40 both S. He says also, that he was surprised by winter in the straits, and sore vexed by storms, having such frosts and snows in May as he had never before witnessed,[65] so that forty of his men died, and seventy more of them sickened, in the course of seven or eight days. Davis, as he says, deserted him in the Desire, in lat. 47 S. The Roebuck continued along with him to lat. 36 S. In consequence of transgressing his directions, Captain Barker was slain on land with twenty-five men, and the boat lost; and soon afterwards other twenty-five men met with a similar fate.

Ten others were forsaken at Spiritu Santo, by the cowardice of the master of the Roebuck, who stole away, having six months provisions on board for 120 men, and only forty-seven men in his ship. Another mutiny happened at St Sebastians by the treachery of an Irishman, when Mr Knivet and other six persons were left on sh.o.r.e.

[Footnote 65: Sir Thomas Candish seems not to have been aware, that the month of May, in these high antarctic or southern lat.i.tudes, was precisely a.n.a.logous with November in the high lat.i.tudes of the north, and therefore utterly unfit for navigation.--E.]

Intending again to have attempted pa.s.sing through the straits, he was tossed up and down in the tempestuous seas of the Southern Atlantic, and came even at one time within two leagues of St Helena, but was unable to reach that island. In his last letter, he declares that, rather than return to England after so many disasters, he would willingly have gone ash.o.r.e in an island placed in lat. 8 in the charts. In this letter, he states himself to be then scarcely able to hold a pen; and we learn that he soon afterwards died of grief. The Leicester, in which Candish sailed, came home, as did the Desire. The Black pinnace was lost; but the fates of the Roebuck and the Dainty are no where mentioned.

The miscarriage of this voyage was certainly prejudicial to the rising trade and spirit of naval adventure in England. The ruin of Sir Thomas Candish threw a damp on such undertakings among the English gentlemen; and, on the return of these ships, several able and experienced seamen were turned adrift, to gain their livings as they best might. These thorough-bred seamen went to other countries; and, as knowledge is a portable commodity, they made the best market they could of their nautical experience in Holland and elsewhere. Among these was one Mr Mellish, who had been a favourite of Sir Thomas Candish, and the companion of all his voyages. This person offered his services to the East India Company of Holland, then in its infancy; and, his proposals being accepted, he was employed as pilot in the circ.u.mnavigation of Oliver van Noort, which falls next in order to be related.

-- 3. _Continuation of the Voyage of the Desire, Captain Davis, after parting from Sir Thomas Candish_.

Not finding our general at Port Desire, as we had expected, and being very slenderly provided, without sails, boat, oars, nails, cordage, and other necessary stores, and very short of victuals, we were reduced to a very unpleasant situation, not knowing how to proceed. Leaving ourselves, however, to the providence of the Almighty, we entered the harbour, and, by the good favour of G.o.d, we found a quiet and safe road, which we knew not of before. Having moored our ship, by the help of the boat belonging to the Black pinnace, we landed on the southern sh.o.r.e of the bay, where we found a standing pool, which might contain some ten tons of fresh water, by which we were greatly relieved and comforted.

From this pool we took more than forty tons of water, yet left it as full as at first. At our former visit to this harbour, we were at this very place and found no water, wherefore we persuaded ourselves that the Almighty had sent this pool for our relief. We found here such remarkably low ebbs as we had never before seen, by means of which we procured muscles in great plenty. Providence also sent such great abundance of smelts about our ship, that all the people were able to take as many as they could eat, with hooks made of crooked pins. By these means we husbanded the ship's provisions, and did not spend any of them during our abode at this place.

Considering what was best to be done in our present circ.u.mstances, that we might find our general, and as it was obvious we could not refit our ship for sea in less than a month, our captain and master concluded to take the pinnace and go in search of the general, leaving the ship and a considerable part of the men till the return of the general, who had vowed he would return again to the straits. Hearing of this determination, two pestilent fellows, named Charles Parker and Edward Smith, secretly represented to the men, that the captain and master meant to leave them to be devoured by cannibals, and had no intention to come back; on which the whole company secretly agreed to murder the captain, master, and all those who were thought their friends, among whom I was included. This conspiracy was fortunately known to our boatswain, who revealed it to the master, and he to the captain. To appease this mutiny the captain found it necessary to desist from his intentions, and it was concluded not to depart, but to wait at Port Desire for the return of the general. After this the whole company, with one consent, made a written testimonial of the circ.u.mstances by which we had lost company of the general, and the indispensable necessity of returning home.

In this testimony or protest, dated Port Desire, 2d June, 1592, it is represented, that the shrouds of the ship are all rotten, the ropes all so decayed that they could not be trusted; the sails reduced to one shift all worn, of which the topsails were utterly unable to abide any stress of weather; the ship unprovided with pitch, tar, or nails for repairs of any kind, and no means of supplying these wants; the provisions reduced to five hogsheads of salt pork, and such quant.i.ty of meal as admitted only an allowance of three ounces for a man each day, and no drink remaining except water. This instrument is signed by John Davis and Randolph Cotton, the captains of the Desire and Black pinnace, and thirty-eight more, but the name John Jane, or Lane, does not appear among them.

After this, they proceeded to refit the ship with all expedition, for which purpose they built a smith's forge, making charcoal for its supply, and made nails, bolts, and spikes. Others of the crew were employed in making ropes from a piece of cable; and others again in all the necessary repairs of the ship, sails, and rigging; while those not fit for such offices, gathered muscles and caught smelts for the whole company. Three leagues from Port Desire there is an island, having four small isles about it, on which there are great abundance of seals, and where likewise penguins resort in vast numbers at the breeding season.

To this island it was resolved to dispatch the Black pinnace occasionally, to fetch seals for us to eat, when smelts and muscles failed, for we could get no muscles at neap-tides, and only when the ebb was very low.

In this miserable and forlorn condition we remained till the 6th of August, 1592, still keeping watch on the hills to look out for our general, suffering extreme anguish and vexation. Our hope of the general's return becoming very cold, our captain and master were persuaded that he might have gone directly for the straits; wherefore it was concluded to go there and wait his coming, as there we could not possibly miss seeing him if he came. This being agreed to by the whole company, we set sail from Port Desire on the 6th August, and went to Penguin island, where we salted twenty hogsheads of seals, which was as much as our salt could do. We departed from Penguin island towards night of the 7th August, intending for the straits. The 14th we were driven among certain islands, never before discovered, fifty leagues or better from the sh.o.r.e, east-northerly from the straits.[66] Fortunately the wind shifted to the east, or we must have inevitably perished among these islands, and we were enabled to shape our course for the straits.

[Footnote 66: These are doubtless the Falkland Islands, or Malouines, but to which no name seems to have been affixed on this occasion.--E.]

We fell in with the cape [Virgin] on the 18th of August, in a very thick fog, and that same night came to anchor ten leagues within the straits'

mouth. The 19th we pa.s.sed the first and second narrows, doubled Cape Froward on the 21st, and anch.o.r.ed on the 22d in a cove, or small bay, which we named _Savage Cove_, because we here found savages.