United States or Niue ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !


Of the French nation and Britons, are about one hundred and fiftie sailes, the most of their shipping is very small, not past fortie tonnes, among which some are great and reasonably well appointed, better then the Portugals, and not so well as the Spaniards, and the burden of them may be some 7000. tunne.

C. and a M. tonnes, to sende into their Easterne and Westerne Indies. The like whereof wee shalbe the rather invited to doe, since by this voyadge wee shall have many thinges for little or nothinge, that are necessarie for the furniture of greate shippinge.

These two rich prizes laden with 1400 cheste of quicksiluer with the armes of Castile and Leon fastened vpon them, and with a great quantity of bulles or indulgences, and gilded Missals or Seruice books, with an hundred tonnes of excellent wines, we brought shortly after into the riuer of Thames vp to Blacke-wall.

And this yere, 1584. the Marques de la Roche wente with three hundreth men to inhabte, in those partes, whose voyadge was overthrowen by occasion that his greatest shippe of CCC. tonnes was caste away over againste Burwage, and so the enterprize for this yere ceseth. The nature and qualitie of thother parte of America from Cape Briton, beinge in 46 degrees unto the latitude of 52. for iij.

The shippes that went on this voyage were three, whereof two were of the Riuer of Thames, That is to say, the Lyon of London, whereof Master Thomas Windham was Captaine and part owner, of about an hundred and fiftie tonnes: The other was the Buttolfe about fourescore tunnes, and a Portugall Carauel bought of certaine Portugals in Newport in Wales, and fraightened for this voyage, of summe sixtie tunnes.

For in this action wee are not to cut over the narrowe seas, in a day or a nighte, betwene Flaunders, Fraunce, or Ireland, in small barkes of xx. or xxx’ti. tonnes; but wee are to passe over the breste of the maine ocean, and to lye at sea a moneth or six weekes together, whereby wee shall be constrayned of our selves, withoute chardginge of the Prince, to builde greate shippes, as well to avoide the daunger of tempest as also for the commoditie of portage, whereunto the greater shippes in longe voyadges are moste conveniente, which the Portingales and Spaniardes have founde oute by longe experience, whoe for that cause builde shippes of v. vj. vij. viij.

The kings name is Melick Zamba, who dwelleth two dayes iourney within the land from Refisca. The 12 of Nouember 1591, I Richard Rainolds and Thomas Dassel factors in a ship called the Nightingale of London 125 tunnes, and a pinnesse called the Messenger of 40 tonnes arriued neere vnto Capo Verde at a little Iland called The Iland of liberty.

Master Iohn Hawkins, with the Iesus of Lubeck a ship of 700. tonnes, and the Salomon, a ship of 7 score, the Tiger a barke of 50, and the Swalow 30 tonnes, being all well furnished with men to the number of one hundred threescore and ten, as also with ordinance and victuall requisite for such a voiage, departed out of Plimmouth the 18 day of October in the yeere of our Lord 1564. with a prosperous winde: at which departing, in cutting the foresaile, a marueilous misfortune happened to one of the officers in the ship, who by the pullie of the sheat was slaine out of hand, being a sorowfull beginning to them all.

The enemie in the castle laid many sackes of wooll, and placed many tonnes or barrels filled with stones vpon the castle walles supposing thereby to make some little defence from our ordenance; but when an Iron bullet chanced to hit the barrels so filled with stones, it did them mightie hurt, for the stones would scatter maruailouslie abroad, whereby many of them that were in the castle were slaine.