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 circumnavigation.
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 space 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 disbursements, which, instead of lessening, he
proposed should have laid the foundations of a more extensive fortune.
All circumstances 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 latitudes, soundings, distances of places,
bearings of lands, variations of the compass, 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 circumnavigation, 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 circumnavigation.
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 Cocke; 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.]
Sec. 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 Cocke and Mr Davis immediately departed, with
the Desire and the Black pinnace, on purpose to attack the town of
Santos.
We anchored 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.
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