We
Continued There Till The 27th January, 1615, To Load Our Ship, And To
Get All Things In Readiness For Our Voyage Home To England.
The 29th we set sail from Bantam, homewards bound; and when some hundred
leagues from thence, our captain, Mr Edmund Marlow, died.
He was an
excellent man, and well skilled in the mathematics and the art of
navigation. The first place at which we anchored was Saldanha bay, where
we arrived on the 29th April, 1615, and next day our consort the Globe
came in. Having well refreshed and refitted our ships, we set sail from
thence on the 17th May, and arrived at St Helena on the 3d June. Sailing
from thence along with our consort, on the 7th of that month, we arrived
in England on the 3d of August, giving praise to God for our safety.
SECTION XVII.
Tenth Voyage of the English East India Company, in 1612, written by Mr
Thomas Best, chief Commander.[72]
From the full tide of this voyage, in the Pilgrims, we learn that there
were two ships employed in this tenth voyage, named the Dragon and the
Hosiander, in which were about 380 persons; and these were accompanied
by two other ships, the James and the Solomon, which belonged to other
voyages, each voyage being then a separate adventure, and conducted by a
separate subscription stock, as formerly explained in the introduction
to the present chapter. We learn from other parts of the Pilgrims, that
the James belonged to the ninth voyage, related immediately before
this, and the Solomon to the eleventh, to be afterwards narrated. - E.
[Footnote 72: Purch. Pilgr. I.456.]
Sec.1. Observations during the Voyage from England to Surat.
We sailed from Gravesend on the 1st of February, 1612. At noon on the
22d March we made the latitude 15 deg. 20' N. and at two p.m. were abreast
of Mayo, one of the Cape Verd islands, being S.W. by S. about twelve
leagues from Bonavista. To the N. and N.N.W. of Mayo the ground is all
foul, and due N. of the high hummocks a great ledge of rocks runs out
from the land for five or six miles, a mile without which ledge there
are twenty fathoms water. On the west side of the island, you may borrow
in twelve or fifteen fathoms, till you come into the road, where we
anchored in twenty-four fathoms.
On the morning of the 28th March, we came close by an island in lat. 23 deg.
30', and long. from the meridian of Mayo, 1 deg. 50' E. We did not land upon
this island, but came within two or three miles of it, and in my opinion
there is hardly any anchorage to be found. It may probably produce some
refreshment, as it certainly has wood, which we saw, and it may have
water, as we observed a fair plain spot and very green on its southern
part; but we could find no ground within two or three miles of its
coast. E.N.E. some seven or eight leagues from this, there is another
island; and E. by S. or E.S.E. from the first island, about four or five
leagues, there are two or three white rocks.[73]
[Footnote 73: In the text it is not said if the latitude be N. or S. yet
S. is probably meant. No island is however to be found in the indicated
situation. In the eleventh voyage, an island is said to have been
discovered in lat. 19 deg. 34'S. certainly known to have been Trinidad,
Santa Maria d'Agosto, or Martin Vaz, of which hereafter. - E.]
We remained twenty-one days in Saldanha road, and bought for the
three[74] ships thirty-nine beeves and 115 sheep, which we paid for with
a little brass cut out of two or three old kettles. We got the sheep for
small pieces of thin brass, worth about a penny or three halfpence each;
and the beeves in the same manner for about the value of twelve-pence
a-piece. This is an excellent place of refreshment, as besides abounding
in beef and mutton, there is plenty of good fish, all kinds of fowls,
and great store of fat deer, though we could not kill any of these. It
has likewise excellent streams of fresh water, and a most healthful
climate. We landed eighty or ninety sick, who were lodged in tents, and
they all recovered their health in eighteen days, save one who died.
From the 7th to the 28th June, when we set sail from Saldanha bay, we
had continual fine weather, the sun being very warm, and the air
pleasant and wholesome.
[Footnote 74: One of the ships appears to have been separated from the
fleet, but it does not appear which. - E.]
We sailed from Saldanha road on the 28th June, and were 100 leagues to
the east of Cabo das Aguilhas before we found any current, but it was
then strong. The 31st July at noon, we found the latitude 17 deg. 8' S. our
longitude being 20 deg. 47' E. and at four p.m. we saw the island of Juan
de Nova, distant four leagues E.S.E.[75] Its size, and I think we saw
it all, is about three or four miles long, all very low and rising from
the sea like rocks. Off the west end we saw breakers, yet could not get
ground with a line of 150 fathoms, sounding from our boat. The latitude
of this island, observed with great accuracy, is 17 deg.,[76] and it seems
well laid down in our charts, both in regard to latitude and longitude.
It is a most sure sign of being near this island, when many sea fowl are
seen, and we accordingly saw there ranch fowl, some white, having their
wings tipped only with black, and others all black.
[Footnote 75:
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