At One
Time, About Three Or Four Days After The Earl Had Been At The Island Of
Fayal, And Was
Departed from thence, there arrived there six ships of
the Indies, the general of which was one _Juan Dorives_, which
Landed in
that island four millions of gold and silver[382]. Then, being much in
fear of the English, and having refreshed themselves with all speed,
they set sail and arrived safe at San Lucar, without meeting an enemy,
to the great good luck of the Spaniards and bad fortune of the English;
for, within less than two days after the gold and silver was again laden
into the Spanish ships, the earl of Cumberland sailed past the island
again; so that if he had once got sight of these valuable ships, without
doubt he had got them all, as the Spaniards themselves confessed.
[Footnote 382: The denomination is not mentioned, perhaps _pezos_, or
what we call dollars. - E.]
In the month of November, two great ships arrived in Tercera, being the
admiral and vice-admiral of the fleet laden with silver, which had been
separated from the fleet in a great storm, and were in great jeopardy
and distress, ready to sink, being forced to use all their pumps, and so
terrified, that they wished a thousand times to have met the English, to
whom they would willingly have given all the silver, and every thing
they had on board, only to preserve their lives. Although the earl still
hovered about the islands, yet did he not meet with these ships, which
got with much labour and difficulty into the road of Angra, where with
all speed they unladed and landed about five millions in silver, all in
great pieces or ingots of 8 or 12 great pounds, so that the whole quay
lay covered with plates and chests of silver, full of pieces of eight
rials, most wonderful to behold:
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