Part 25 (1/2)
Parentage of Cavendish--Sails with Sir Richard Grenville to the West Indies--Introduced to the Queen--Fits out expedition for the South Sea-- Sails from Plymouth--Lands at Sierra Leone--Attacks a negro town-- Pa.s.sage across the Atlantic--Anchors off coast of Brazil--Puts into Port Desire--Large size of natives--Attacked by them--Enters the Straits of Magellan--A deserted Spanish colony--One man rescued--San Felipe visited--Port Famine--Enters the Pacific--The squadron puts into Mocha-- Obtains provisions by a mistake of the natives--An expedition on sh.o.r.e at Quintero--Twelve of the crew cut off--Anchors off Moron Moreno-- Degraded natives--Proceedings at Areca--Prisoners taken and tortured-- Payta plundered--The island of Paria and its wealthy cacique--The English surprised by Spaniards--Several killed--Cavendish burns the place--Several vessels captured--Cocoa found on board a prize--Some persons made prisoners on sh.o.r.e held captive till provisions are brought--In search of the Manilla galleon--She is attacked and captured--The prisoners well treated--The _Santa Anna_ set on fire--The _Desire_ and _Content_ set sail--Ersola, a pilot, carried off--The _Content_ lost sight of--No tidings ever received of her--The s.h.i.+p touches at Guham and proceeds on to the Philippines--Treachery of Ersola discovered--He is hung--A Spanish frigate put to flight--Death of Captain Havers--Java reached--Reception by the Rajah--The Indian Ocean crossed--A tempest--Pa.s.ses the Cape of Good Hope--Touches at Saint Helena--Hears of the defeat of the Spanish Armada--Enters Plymouth with silken sails--Knighted by Queen Elizabeth--Sails on a second voyage-- Numerous disasters--Dies of a broken heart.
At an early age Thomas Cavendish, by the death of his father, William Cavendish, of Trunley Saint Martin, in the county of Suffolk, became an orphan, and the possessor of that goodly estate on which he was born.
From his childhood he had been wont to gaze on the ocean, which rolled in front of the family mansion, and thus at an early age he became enamoured of a sea life.
Instead of spending his time in hunting and hawking, or other field sports, and indulging in the luxurious ease which his wealth would have allowed, as soon as he had power over his fortune, after following the Court of her Majesty for a short period, he resolved to undertake some n.o.ble enterprise which might bring credit to himself and redound to the honour of his country.
Hearing that Sir Richard Grenville, afterwards so celebrated, was about to sail, for the purpose of founding a colony in Virginia, in 1585, he fitted out a vessel at his own cost, of which he took command, and sailed in the fleet of that brave captain. Although he gained but small profit by the voyage, he obtained a considerable amount of nautical skill, and a knowledge of the islands of the West Indies, among which the squadron cruised before returning home.
Not satisfied with this short voyage, having conversed with several of those who had sailed with Drake, and with other pilots and mariners, he resolved on undertaking an expedition which might rival that of the renowned navigator who had a short time before returned in triumph from his voyage round the world in the richly-laden _Golden Hind_.
Through the recommendation of his friend Lord Hunsdon, he received a licence from the Queen to cruise against her enemies, and he lost no time in fitting out three vessels. These were the _Desire_, of one hundred and twenty tons burden, in which he sailed as Admiral, the _Content_, of sixty tons, and the _Hugh Gallant_, a bark of forty tons, carrying altogether one hundred and twenty-three officers, seamen, and soldiers. Having embarked near his own house at Harwich on the 10th of July, 1586, on board the _Desire_, he sailed thence for Plymouth, where his little squadron was directed to rendezvous.
Those were days when gentlemen considered it necessary to settle all disputes with the sword, and unhappily one of his followers, Mr Hope, having engaged in a duel, was mortally wounded, though he insisted on returning to his s.h.i.+p.
On the 21st of July, all things being ready, the anchors were weighed, and the little squadron sailed out of Plymouth Sound. On the 25th the hapless Mr Hope died of his wound. The next day five large Spanish vessels were seen, which, steering for the _Desire_, attacked her; but the Admiral plied his guns so vigorously that they were glad to escape, having done no material damage.
Having sighted various places, on the 26th of August the squadron put into the harbour of Sierra Leone. The following day two negroes came off and gave the information that there was a Portuguese vessel higher up the harbour. In order to learn more about her, some of the crew went on sh.o.r.e and danced and amused themselves with the negroes, from whom they learned that it would be impossible to approach her with the s.h.i.+ps.
Disappointed in this. Cavendish and seventy of his men landed the following day, attacked the town, set some of the houses on fire, and took what little spoil they could find. On their return the negroes who had fled, having rallied in a wood, shot poisoned arrows at them, and hurt three or four. Notwithstanding this, the crew again landed for the purpose of filling their water-casks and was.h.i.+ng their clothes. While they were thus occupied a party of negroes rushed out upon them from the woods, and shooting their arrows, hurt several of the men, among whom was a soldier, who, breaking off the shaft, allowed the head to remain in the wound rather than have it cut out. It being poisoned, his body swelled and became black, and he died the next morning.
Touching at the Cape de Verde Islands, the squadron steered a west-south-west course across the Atlantic, and on the 31st of October sighted a lofty mountain in Brazil, twenty-four leagues from Cape Frio.
The next day the s.h.i.+ps came to an anchor between the island of San Sebastian and the main. Here the greater part of a month was spent in setting up a pinnace, preparing casks, and other necessary works.
Again sailing on the afternoon of the 17th of December, the squadron entered a hitherto unknown harbour, to which the Admiral gave the name of Port Desire, in memory of his own s.h.i.+p. Here vast numbers of seals were found, and also penguins. As the tides ebbed and flowed considerably, the s.h.i.+ps were put on sh.o.r.e to be careened and graved. No water, however, being found near the harbour, the people had to go a considerable distance to fetch it. A man and a boy were thus employed, when they were set upon by fifty huge savages, who shot their arrows, and wounded them sorely. They would have been killed had not the Admiral, with nineteen men, coming up, put the natives to flight.
Though the English followed, so rapidly did the savages run that they soon made their escape. As they were seen above the rocks they appeared like giants, and the print mark of one of their feet being measured, was found, it is a.s.serted, to be eighteen inches in length. This, however, was not a correct way of judging of their height, and was probably an exaggeration, as none have since been found much taller than the tallest Europeans. Cavendish had after this no communication with the natives of this part of the coast.
Sailing from Port Desire, the voyagers brought up off another island three leagues away from it, where they salted and dried the penguins they had taken. They now stood on in sight of land, until on the 6th of January they entered the Straits of Magellan. Here the squadron anch.o.r.ed near the first narrow or _angostura_, as the Spaniards called it. Soon afterwards lights were seen on the northern sh.o.r.e, which, as they were supposed to be signals, were answered from the s.h.i.+ps.
In the morning Cavendish sent off a boat towards the beach, where three men were seen making signals with a handkerchief. They were soon perceived to be Spaniards, who had fancied that the s.h.i.+ps were manned by their countrymen; and great was their disappointment when they found out their mistake. Their history was a sad one. They were part of a colony which sailed from Spain in twenty-three large s.h.i.+ps, carrying three thousand five hundred men, under the command of Don Pedro Sarmiento, with the t.i.tle of Viceroy, it being the intention of the Spanish Government to found towns and erect forts on the sh.o.r.es of the narrowest part of the straits, so as to prevent the English or other nations from pa.s.sing through them.
The greater number of vessels had been wrecked or had turned back, but Pedro Sarmiento at length arrived at the straits in February, 1584, where he landed the colonists, and the foundations of two towns named Nombre de Jesus and San Felipe were laid, situated about seventy miles apart. The Viceroy himself was driven away by stress of weather, and Rivera, one of his officers, with the larger portion of the provisions intended to support the colonists during the winter, sailed for Spain.
The unhappy settlers were thus left without food in that dreary region, to endure the inclemency of the winter. Numbers died of famine and cold. Month after month wore by. At length the settlers at Nombre de Jesus built two small barks, hoping to make their way to Brazil, but before they cleared the straits one was wrecked, and the survivors in the other vessel abandoned their project in despair. Of four hundred men and thirty women who had formed the inhabitants of San Felipe, only fifteen men and three women were alive when Cavendish discovered them.
Cavendish at once undertook to convey them to Peru. After some demur, they agreed to accept his liberal offer, and sent a messenger, Tome Hernandez, to express their willingness to come on board. Just at this juncture a strong easterly gale springing up, the vessels were compelled to weigh and run before it, and the hapless colonists were left to their miserable fate.
It was hopeless for Cavendish to try and turn back to their relief. As the vessel sped on, Hernandez showed them the wreck of a small bark called the _John Thomas_, which it was supposed had been left there by Drake.
After pa.s.sing through the narrows, they brought up off the island of Santa Magdelena on the 8th of January, 1587. Here in two hours they killed and salted a large supply of penguins. Running to the south-west, the next day they came off the other Spanish settlement, San Filipe. Not a living being appeared, but among the ruins of the houses and forts the bodies of several Spaniards were discovered, lying as they had died, like dogs.
In the forts several pieces of cannon were found buried, though the carriages were still standing in their places. The English dug up the guns and carried them off, the only booty they obtained worth preserving.
The town had been well built, and had near it an abundance of wood and water. In one place stood a gibbet, showing that strict discipline had been maintained by the governor until all had succ.u.mbed to the common misfortune. It is probable that the wretched inhabitants had been compelled to live on mussels and limpets till they had no strength left to gather them, and that numbers dying from starvation, the survivors had been driven by the horrible stench of the corpses in the houses to seek for pure air and provisions along the sh.o.r.e. Here they had been killed by the savages, in whose possession a variety of European weapons were seen.
Cavendish gave the name of Port Famine to the place, and the Spaniards also call it in their charts Puerto de Hambre. For three weeks the squadron lay in this sheltered harbour, unable to proceed on account of contrary winds, but at length a fair breeze springing up, they cleared the pa.s.sage on the 24th of February, and entered the Pacific.
On the 1st of March a fearful storm coming on, the _Hugh Gallant_ was lost sight of, and fears were entertained for her safety. For several days the storm raged, but at length the _Desire_ and _Content_ managed to put into Mocha, off the coast of Chili. Here, to the infinite relief of all on board, they were soon afterwards joined by the _Hugh Gallant_; but her crew were so greatly exhausted by labouring at the pumps, that they could scarcely furl the sails.
Wis.h.i.+ng to obtain provisions, Cavendish at once sent a boat to the main; but the fierce Araucanians who inhabited the country, mistaking the crew for Spaniards, of whom they have ever been the deadly enemies, furiously a.s.sailed them, but were soon compelled to retreat by a few discharges of the English calivers. They are the most warlike and intelligent aborigines of the southern part of the continent.
The following day Cavendish landed on the island with seventy men, and marched to the town of Santa Maria, where he was received in a friendly way by the chief natives, who also fancied that they were their masters the Spaniards. Here was a church with several storehouses near it, in which had been collected the tribute of provisions destined for the Spanish Governor. These stores, consisting of maize, potatoes, and dried dog-fish, were at once unsuspectingly handed over to the English, the inhabitants adding presents of hogs and fowls in large quant.i.ties.
In return Cavendish invited the two princ.i.p.al chiefs to dine on board his s.h.i.+p, where he made them merry with wine, when to their astonishment they found out that their hosts were not Spaniards, and that they had handed over their tribute to the wrong persons! On this, nothing disconcerted, the two chiefs appeared to be as friendly as ever, and tried to induce the English to go across to Arauco, a.s.suring them that they would find abundance of gold; but after the experience he had had with the Araucanians, Cavendish wisely declined to venture among them.
Touching at two other places, the voyagers entered the bay of Quintero.