The voyage of John Oxnam of Plimmouth, to the west
India
, and over the straight of Dariene into the South
sea. Anno 1575. Written by the foresaid Lopez Vaz
in the said discourse.
THERE was another Englishman, who hearing of the
spoyle that Francis Drake had done upon the coast of
Nueva Espanna, and of his good adventure and safe
returne home, was thereby provoked to undertake the like
enterprise, with a ship of 140 tunnes, and 70 men, and
came thither, and had also conference with the foresaide
Negros: and hearing that the golde and silver which
came upon the Mules from Panama to Nombre de Dios,
was now conducted with souldiers, he determined to do
that which never any man before enterprised: and landed
in that place where Francis Drake before had had his
conference with the Negros. This man covered his ship
after he had brought her aground with boughes of trees,
and hid his great Ordinance in the ground, and so not
leaving any man in his ship, he tooke two small pieces of
ordinance, and his calivers, and good store of victuals,
and so went with the Negros about twelve leagues into
the maine land, to a river that goeth to the
South sea,
and there he cut wood and made a Pinnesse, which was
five and fortie foote by the keele, and having made this
Pinnesse, he went into the
South sea, carrying sixe Negros
with him to be his guides, and so went to the
Iland of
Pearles, which is five & twentie leagues from Panama,
which is in the way that they come from Peru
to Panama,
and there he was ten dayes without shewing himselfe to
any man, to see if he might get any ship that came from
Peru
: At last there came a small Barke by, which came
from Peru
from a place called Quito
, which he tooke and
found in her sixtie thousand pezos of golde, and much
victuals. But not contenting himselfe with this prize, hee
stayed long without sending away his prize or any of the
men, and in the ende of sixe dayes after, hee tooke
another Barke which came from Lima
, in which he tooke
an hundred thousand pezos of silver in barres, with the
which hee thought to have gone, & entred the river, but
first he went into the Islands to see if he could find any
pearles: where he found a few, and so returned to his
pinnesse againe, & so sailing to the river from whence he
came, and comming neere to the mouth of the sayd river,
hee sent away the two prizes that hee tooke, and with his
pinnesse he went up the river. The Negros that dwelt in
the Island of pearls, the same night that he went from
them, went in Canoas to Panama, and the Governour
within two dayes sent foure barkes 100 men, 25 in every
one, and Negros to rowe with the captaine John de
Ortega, which went to the Island of pearles, and there had
intelligence, which way the English men were gone, and
following them he met by the way the ships which the
English men had taken, of whom he learned, that the
English men were gone up the river, and he going thither,
when he came to the mouth of the river, the captaine of
Panama knew not which way to take, because there were
three partitions in the river to goe up in, and being determined to goe up the greatest of the three rivers, he saw
comming downe a lesser river many feathers of hennes,
which the Englishmen had pulled to eate, and being glad
thereof, hee went up that river where hee saw the
feathers, and after that he had bene in that river foure
daies, he descried the Englishmens pinnesse upon the
sands, and comming to her, there were no more then sixe
Englishmen, whereof they killed one, and the other five
escaped away, and in the pinnesse he found nothing but
victuals: but this captaine of Panama not herewith satisfied, determined to seeke out the Englishmen by land, and
leaving twenty men in his pinnesses, hee with 80 shot
went up the countrey: hee had not gone halfe a league,
but hee found a house made of boughs, where they found
all the Englishmens goods, and the gold and silver also,
and carying it backe to their pinnesses, the Spaniards
were determined to goe away, without following the
English men any further.
But at the end of three dayes, the English Captaine
came to the river with all his men, and above 200 Negros,
and set upon the Spaniards with great fury: But the
Spaniards having the advantage of trees which they stood
behind, did easily prevaile, and killed eleven Englishmen,
and five Negros, and tooke other seven Englishmen alive,
but of the Spaniards, two were slaine and five sore hurt.
Among other things, the Spaniards enquired of the
Englishmen which they tooke, why they went not away
in fifteene dayes liberty which they had. They answered,
that their captaine had commanded them to carie all that
golde and silver which they had, to the place where they
had left their shippe, and they had promised him to carie
it, although they made three or foure journeys of it, for
hee promised to give them part of it besides their wages,
but the mariners would have it by and by, and so their
Captaine being angry because they would not take his
word, fell out with them, and they with him, in so much
that one of the company would have killed the Captaine,
so that the Captaine would not have them to carie the
treasure, but sayd hee would seeke Negros to carie it, and
so he went and sought for Negros, and bringing those
Negros to carie it, hee met with the five English men that
hee had left in his pinnesse which ranne from the
Spaniards, and the rest also which ran from the house,
and they told him what the Spaniards had done, and then
making friendship with all his men, he promised them
halfe of all the treasure if they got it from the Spaniards,
and the Negros promised to helpe him with their bowes
and arrowes, and thereupon they came to seeke the
Spaniards, and now that some of his company were killed
and taken, hee thought it best to returne to his ship, and
to passe backe for England
. The Spanish captaine hearing this, having buried the dead bodies, and having gotten
all things into his barkes, and taking the English men and
their pinnesse with him, he returned to Panama: so the
voyage of that English man did not prosper with him, as
hee thought it would have done.
Nowe when the foure barkes were come to Panama,
they sent advise also to Nombre de dios, and they of
Nombre de dios sent also from them other foure barkes
which (as the Spaniards say) found the English ship
where she was hid, and brought her to Nombre de dios:
and that the Viceroy of Peru not thinking it good to suffer
fiftie English men to remaine in the countrey, sent a
servant of his called Diego de Frees, with a hundreth and
fifty shot into the mountaines to seeke them out, who
found them making of certaine Canoas to goe into the
North sea
, and there to take some barke or other: some
of them were sicke, and were taken, and the rest fled with
the Negros, who in the end betrayed them to the
Spaniards, so that they were brought to Panama. And
the Justice of Panama asked the English captaine whether
hee had the Queenes licence, or the licence of any other
Prince or Lord for his attempt. And he answered he had
none, whereupon hee and all his company were condemned
to dye, and so were all executed, saving the Captaine, the
Master, the Pilot, and five boyes which were caried to
Lima
, and there the Captaine was executed with the other
two, but the boyes be yet living.
The King of Spaine having intelligence of these matters,
sent 300 men of warre against those Negros which had
assisted those English men, which before were slaves unto
the Spaniards, and as before is sayd, fled from their
masters unto those mountaines, and so joyned themselves
to the Englishmen, to the ende they might the better
revenge themselves on the Spaniards.
At the first comming of these 300 souldiers, they tooke
many of the Negros, and executed great justice upon
them: But after a season, the Negros grew wise and
wary, and prevented the Spaniards, so that none of them
could be taken.
The Spaniards of that country marvelled much at this
one thing, to see that since the conquering of this land,
there have bene many Frenchmen, that have come to those
Countreys, but never saw English men there but onely
those two of whom I have spoken. And although there
have many Frenchmen bene on the coast, yet never
durst they put foote upon land, only those two English
men adventured it, and did such exploits, as are before
remembred.
All these things comming to the hearing of the king
of Spaine, he provided two Gallies well appointed to keepe
those coastes : and the first yeere they tooke sixe or seven
French ships. And after that this was knowen, there
were no more Englishmen or Frenchmen of warre that
durst adventure to approch the coast, untill this present
yeere 1586, that the aforesayd Francis Drake, with a
strong fleete of 24 ships arrived there, and made spoile
of Santo Domingo, Carthagena, and S. Augustine, things
that are knowen to all the worlde. But it is likely that
if the King of Spaine live, he will in time provide sufficient
remedy, to keepe his countreys and subjects from the
invasion of other nations.
