So He Concluded To Leave The Straits, And Make Sail For The
Cape Of Good Hope.
When Sir Thomas Candish returned on board the Desire, from talking with
the company, Captain Davis requested he would
Consider the extremity of
our estate and condition, the slenderness of his provision, and the
weakness of his men, being in no case for undertaking that new
enterprise; as, if the other ships were as ill appointed as the Desire,
it would be impossible to perform his new design, having no more sails
then were then bent, no victuals, no ground tackle, no cordage save what
was already in use; and, of seventy-five persons in the Desire, the
master only had knowledge enough for managing the ship, and there were
only fourteen sailors besides, all the rest being gentlemen,
serving-men, or tradesmen. Captain Davis laid these persuasions before
both the general and Mr Cocke; and in fine, in consequence of a
petition, delivered in writing by all the chief persons of the whole
company, the general determined to depart from the Straits of Magellan,
and to return again for Santos in Brazil.
Accordingly, we set sail on the 15th of May, the general being now on
board the galleon, his own ship. The 18th we were free of the straits;
but on passing Cape Froward, we had the misfortune to have our boat sunk
at our stern in the night, by which she was split and sore injured, and
lost all her oars. The 20th of May, being athwart Port Desire, the
general altered his course during the night, as we suppose, by which we
lost him. In the evening he stood close by the wind to leewards, having
the wind at N.N.E. and we stood the same course, the wind not altering
during the night, and next day we could not see him. We were then
persuaded that the general was gone for Port Desire in quest of relief
or that he had sustained some mischance at sea, and was gone there to
seek a remedy. Our captain then called all hands together, the general's
men among the rest, asking their opinion what was to be done, when every
one said he thought the general was gone to Port Desire.
Our master, who was the general's man, and careful for his master's
service, and also a person of good judgment in sea affairs, represented
to the company how dangerous it was for us to go to Port Desire,
especially if we should there miss the general; as we had now no boat
wherewith to land, neither any anchors or cables which he could trust to
in such rapid streams. Yet as we all concluded that it was most probable
the general had gone there, we shaped our course for Port Desire, and on
our way met the Black pinnace by chance, which had also parted company
from the general, being in a miserable plight. So we both proceeded for
Port Desire, where we arrived on the 26th of May.
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