They Consulted Together, Upon Which One Of Them Sailed Backwards, As If One Ship Had Followed After Us Without Company,

And for a time that ship was out of sight; but in no long time afterwards, it returned to the

Other two, when they consulted again, and came all three together against our ship, because we were to leeward of all our ships, having the island of St George on one side instead of a sconce, [fort] thinking so to deal with us as to force us to run on shore, to which we were very near. In that manner they came bravely towards us, with their flags displayed, sounding their trumpets, and sailed at least three times about us, discharging at us their muskets and calivers and some pieces of great ordnance, doing us no harm in the hull of our ship, but spoiled all our sails and ropes, and so plagued us that no man durst put forth his head. When we shot off a piece of ordnance, we had at the least an hours work to load it again, there being a great noise and cry in our ship, as if we had been all cast away, whereupon the English began to mock us, calling out to us with many taunting words.

In the mean time, the other ships that were in company with us hoisted all their sails, doing their best to bear away for Tercera, and not looking once behind them to help us, as not caring for us, but doubting they would be too late thither, and thinking they did enough if they could save themselves, whereby it may be easily seen what kind of company they keep with each other, and what kind of order is among them. In the end, finding small advantage against us, and little knowing in what fear we were, and also because we were not far from Tercera, the English left us; on which we were not a little rejoiced, as thinking ourselves risen from death to life, though we were not yet well assured nor void of fear, till we got to anchor in the road of Tercera, under the protection of the Portuguese fort, towards which we made all possible sail. On the other hand, we were still in great doubt, not knowing the situation of the island, or whether they were our friends or enemies; and we were so much the more doubtful, because we found no man of war there, nor any caravels of advice from Portugal as we expected, to have convoyed us home, or given us intelligence, as they usually do in that country. And, because the English had been so victorious in those parts, we suspected that it went not well with Spain. The inhabitants of Tercera were no less fearful than we, for on seeing our fleet they thought us to have been English, and that we came to over-run the island, because the three English ships came in along with us and had wound up their flags; upon which the islanders sent out two caravels to us that lay there, with advice from the king for such India ships as should come there.

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