The
Portuguese And Negroes, Finding The Dutch Busied In Carrying Away Their
Maize, Came Down The Mountain, Making A Great Noise; But De Weert,
Having Two Fusils, Fired At Them And Made Them Retire.
On the return of de Weert, he found the admiral very sick, and a council
assembled in the Hope.
He in the first place advised them to remain no
longer at the Cape Verd islands, and then resigned his command to the
vice-admiral, de Cordes. On advising with the other captains, and
learning the quantity of water in each ship, de Cordes gave orders that
such as had most should give part to the others, and that the allowance
of provisions and water should be diminished, and as fresh water was not
to be expected for three or four months, they were directed to gather
rain-water when that could be had. The greatest part of the men in the
admiral's ship being sick, two or three of them were removed into each
of the other ships, in exchange for sound men. The fleet sailed from
Brava on the 15th September, and on the 22d a signal was made from the
admiral for the other captains. They found the admiral, James Mahu,
beyond hope of recovery; and that night he and his supercargo, Daniel
Restan, both died. He was of a mild and gentle disposition, honest,
careful, diligent, and very kind to the seamen, and was much lamented by
the whole fleet. Opening the letters of the directors of the expedition,
which were directed to be opened in such a case, de Cordes was appointed
admiral, and Benningen vice-admiral; Sebald de Weert being promoted to
the command of the Faith, and Dirke Gernitsz China to that of the yacht.
These alterations did not please the seamen, who were attached to their
former commanders.
By the 4th October, the scurvy raged much among the seamen, especially
in the Hope, on which de Cordes ordered a day of prayer to be observed
in the fleet, to implore the mercy of God and a happy voyage. They were
then in the lat. of 1 deg. 45' S. At length the scurvy increased so much in
the Hope, that the admiral had not men enough to work his ship, and it
was resolved to steer for some island where fresh provisions might be
procured. They steered accordingly for Annobon, where they hoped to get
fresh meat and oranges. Towards night, the admiral, who sailed in the
van, fired a gun as a signal of seeing land, though all the pilots then
thought the land at the distance of 100 leagues. They accordingly
approached the land, and anchored on the coast of Manicongo, in lat.
3 deg. S.[85] They here lost company of the small ship belonging to St
Thomas, in which were eleven sound men, and some thought she had
deserted, while others thought she had run aground: But they afterwards
found she had gone to Cape Lope Gonzalves, where the men quitted her,
going aboard the ship of Baltazar Musheron, which was bound to America.
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