A true report of a voyage undertaken for the West Indies
by M. Christopher Newport Generall of a fleete of three
shippes and a pinnesse, viz. The golden Dragon Admirall, whereof was Captaine M. Newport himselfe;
The Prudence Vice-admirall, under the conduct of
Captaine Hugh Merrick; The Margaret under Captaine
Robert Fred; and The Virgin our pinnesse under Captaine Henry Kidgil: Begun from London
the 25. of
Januarie 1591. Written by M. John Twitt of Harewich, Corporall in the Dragon. In which voyage they
tooke and burnt upon the coast of Hispaniola, within
the bay of Honduras
, and other places, 3. townes, and
19. saile of shippes and frigats.
THE 12. daye of Februarie An. 1591. we set saile from
Dover roade, and having a prosperous winde, the 27. day
of the same moneth wee fell with
Cape Cantin on the
coast of Barbarie, and on the 28. wee arrived at Santa
Cruz roade, where having refreshed our selves some 3. or
4. dayes, we put off to sea againe, and about the 5. of
March wee passed by the
Ilands of the Canaries: and
having a favourable wind, the 4. of April An. 1592. we
fell with Dominica
in the West Indies: where making
stay a day or two, wee bartred with the Salvages for
certaine commodities of theirs, viz. Tabacco, hennes,
Potato rootes, &c.
Passing from thence to a watering place on the other
side of the cliffe, wee tooke a Portugall ship of Lisbone
of 300. tuns, which came from Guinie, and was bound
for Cartagena
, wherein were 300. Negros young and olde.
Which ship we tooke along with us to S. Juan de Puerto
rico, where we landed the marchant and one Spaniard
more within a league of the towne, and landing some 20.
or 30. musketiers, some 20. horsemen made towards us;
but wee retired to our boates without any service done.
The 9. we lay hovering all day before the towne, the
castle making a shot or two at us.
The reason why wee set the Portugall marchant aland
there was, for that he hoped to helpe us to some money
for his Negros there, but he falsified his worde with us,
so that passing along to the Westermost ende of the
sayde Iland, about some 9. or 10. leagues from the towne
wee landed the Negros, and sunke their ship.
The 11 . of Aprill we passed from thence to Mona
some
15. leagues off, where we landed: there were on the Iland
about 19. soules, the children of an olde Portugall, and
his wife who affourded us such fruits as their Iland
yeelded, viz. swines flesh, Potato rootes, &c.
From thence along wee passed to Saona, a long Iland
and very fruitfull, replenished with store of wilde beastes
and swine, where we landed, hunted, and trained our men.
Passing from hence Westward along the South coast of
Hispaniola, wee descryed a frigat, which wee chased and
tooke: wherein were 22. jarres of copper-money, being
bound for S. Juan de Puerto rico, to buy wine there.
The next day we tooke 2. small frigats more, but
nothing of any value in them.
The 15. of Aprill at night wee sacked a towne in the
sayde
Iland of Hispaniola called Ocoa, where was an
Ingenio, wherein we found sugar & poultrie great store,
but the people had discovered our ships over night, and
were fled into the mountaines. This town standeth a
league from the seaside, consisting of some fortie or fiftie
houses. They brought us much cattell, and two wayne
loades of sugar, to ransome the towne. While this action
was perfourmed, Robert Freed of Harwich, captaine of
the Margaret, tooke two frigats with certaine Spaniards
on the other side of the bay, which came to lade sugar
there at an Ingenio.
After we had here refreshed our selves, wee stode along
for
Cape Tiburon, where we watered: and making no
stay there, about the 23. of Aprill wee left our shippes in
a faire road-sted under an Iland not inhabited, and with
our frigats which wee had taken before, wherein wee
shipped all our strength which possibly wee could affourd,
leaving onely so fewe aboord our shippes as could hardly
if neede had bene, have wrought them; we passed along
by the sayd Iland to the Northwest part of Hispaniola, to
a towne called Yaguana; where the 27. in the morning
2. houres before day we landed; but wee were discovered
by meanes of a frigat that lay laden with victuals, bound
for Carthagena, the men of which frigat recovering on
lande before us, gave an alarme to the towne, who were
presently up in armes to the number of a hundred & fiftie
horses. Wee marched notwithstanding along to the
towne, having a Spaniard for our guide, where by that
time the day brake, we were before the towne, where
upon a faire greene making a stand, we were encountred
by the horsemen having no strength of foote, but certaine
few loose shot which lay in a low valley at the entrie of
the towne. The horsemen charged us very fiercely, but
seeing they could not prevaile, brought in a drove before
them of two hundred beastes or more: and so forcibly
thinking to have broken our array, it pleased God to cause
their cattell to returne backe upon themselves: and thus
their owne device sorted out to their owne detriment.
In this skirmish wee slewe their governour, a man very
hardy, and of great valure.
In the end, by reason of the Spaniards brags which
they gave out, (as by the life of their wives and children,
&c. that not one of us should goe aboord againe) a greater
doubt of intercepting of us and of our boates was stroken
into our captaines hearts then needed: and so for that
time we retired to our boates not entring the towne, and
so passed with our boates to our ships againe; where the
same night our captaine determined to goe up with our
shippes, but it fell so calme, that all the next day untill
night we could not get up, and they having discovered
us, baricadoed up their way, and conveyed all that they
had into the mountaines, leaving their houses onely bare
and naked, notwithstanding we landed, and with great
difficultie wee passed their baricados with the losse of
two men at both conflicts, entred their towne and fired
it, leaving not an house unburnt, being a towne of three
streetes having about 150. housholds.
The same night wee passed with our boates to a small
village called Aguava, where we found excellent fruites
of the countrey, which by reason of their cowardly brags
wee also set on fire.
Being thus frustrated of our pretended voyage, we
stoode for the bay of Honduras
, and about the ninth of
May we discovered in the afternoone a saile thwart of the
bay of Truxillo, with whom we stoode, and having a
Spanish flagge out, they mistrusted us not, untill we had
almost fet them up: and then wee went off with our
boate, and tooke them within shot of the castle, and with
our boates wee went and fet three or foure frigats which
rode afore the towne, the castle playing upon us with
their ordinance.
Our captaine having understanding by the Spaniards,
that there were three shippes more at Puerto de Cavallos,
stood along that night for that place, but it fell out to
bee so calme, that it was the fifteenth day of May or ever
wee came there, the shippes having peradventure discovered us, stole alongst the shoare towards Truxillo, so
that being voyde of that hope, we landed; the inhabitants forsaking the towne, fled into the mountaines. Wee
remained in the towne all night, and the next day till
towards night: where we found 5. or 6. tuns of quick
silver, 16. tuns of old sacke, sheepe, young kids, great
store of poultrie, some store of money, & good linnen,
silkes, cotton-cloth, and such like; we also tooke three
belles out of their church, and destroyed their images.
The towne is of 200 houses, and wealthy; and that yere
there were foure rich ships laden from thence: but we
spared it, because wee found other contentment. And
having taken our pleasure of the towne, as aforesayd,
wee returned aboord our ships, standing backe againe for
Truxillo, we discovered one of the shippes which was
laden at Puerto de Cavallos: but they had espied us
before, as it should seeme; for they had conveyed away
as much as possibly they could ashore, and set their ship
on fire; which so soone as we had discried, we made to
her with our boats, and quenched the fire, and loaded
up with hides the shippe which we tooke at our first
comming; for she had but a thousand hides in her, and
certeine jarres of balsamum: which being accomplished,
wee sunke the shippe with the rest of the goods, and so
stood alongst againe for Truxillo. It fell out to be so
calme, that we were two and twenty dayes sailing backe
that we had sailed in sixe dayes, which was about forty
leagues: so that when we came before Truxillo, which
was about the sixth of June, we found another of the
ships there, but close under the castle, her ruther unhanged, her sailes taken from the yards, &c. notwithstanding we entered her, but they had placed such a company
of musketiers under a rampire, which they had made with
hides and such like, that it was too hote for us to abide,
and so betaking us to our shippes againe, and standing
out of the bay into the sea, wee discovered great store of
shot intrenched in those places where they suspected we
would have landed. That night there fell such a storme
of rain, thunder, lightening and tempestuous weather,
that our ships were dispersed either from other. And
having determined all of us to meet at a certeine Island,
where wee purposed to water and refresh our selves; by
meanes of the storme and other contagious weather which
followed, we were frustrated of that hope.
We had lost our prize, and certeine frigats with the
men. Two of our shippes went to seeke our prize and
our men: and other two of us came homeward. And so
we parted, not hearing either of other untill we came into
England
.
Our place of meeting should have beene at the Tortugas
neere unto the point of Florida
, but the Golden dragon
and the Prudence were put to leeward of this place:
neverthelesse wee fell with certeine islands within the
point of Florida
, where the captaine of the Dragon M.
Christopher Newport sent his pinnesse on shore with
certeine shot to seeke for fresh water, where wee found
none; but found the Savages very courteous unto us, who
came brest high into the sea, and brought us a line to
hall in our boat on shore, and shewed us that up into the
land Northward was fresh water, and much golde. And
one Michael Bagge of Ipswich boatswaines mate of the
Dragon, had given him by one of the Savages for an olde
rusty hatchet, a piece of golde wound hollow, and about
the bignesse and value of an English angell, which the
Savage ware hanging about his knee, with two pieces of
fine silver plate, whereof one the sayd Savage gave John
Locke, masters mate of the Dragon, being foureteene
groats in value, for an olde knife: the other piece he
gave to one William Wright a sailer, for an olde knife:
which pieces of silver were in forme like unto the bosse
of a bridle. These Savages were farre more civill than
those of Dominica
: for besides their courtesie, they
covered their privities with a platted mat of greene straw,
about three handfuls deepe, which came round about their
waste, with the bush hanging downe behinde.
The next day in the morning very early, there came a
frigat of the iland of Cuba
of 30 tunnes, put in by weather,
which was bound for Havana
, wherein were fifty hogges;
to which we gave chase all that day, passing the gulfe of
Bahama, and about five of the clocke in the afternoone,
after a shot or two made at her, shee yeelded unto us:
wee hoisted out our boat, and went aboord, where we
found some five Spanyards, five and fifty hogs, and about
some two hundred weight of excellent tabacco rolled up
in seynes. We lightened them of their hogges and
tabacco, and sent the men away with their frigat.
In this voyage we tooke and sacked foure townes,
seventeene frigats, and two ships, whereof eight were
taken in the bay of the Honduras
; of all which we brought
but two into England
: the rest we sunke, burnt, and
one of them we sent away with their men. And to make
up the full number of twenty, the Spanyards themselves
set one on fire in the bay of the Honduras
, lest we should
be masters of it.
We shaped our course from Florida
homeward by the
isle of Flores
one of the Azores
, where we watered, finding
sir John Burgh there, who tooke us to be Spanyards, and
made up unto us; with whom wee joyned in the taking
the mighty Portugall caracke called Madre de Dios, and
our captaine M. Christopher Newport with divers of us
was placed in her as captaine by the Generall sir John
Burgh to conduct her into England
, where we arrived in
Dartmouth
the seventh of September 1592.
