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Updated: May 13, 2025
The marksmen from the bows kept up a continual fire at the vessel's helmsmen, if they could be seen, and at any gun-ports which happened to be open. If the helmsmen could not be seen from the sea, the canoas aimed to row in upon the vessel's quarters, where they could wedge up the rudder with wooden chocks or wedges.
Their canoas were hollow within and cut with great art and cunning, being very smooth within and without, and bearing a gloss as if it were a horn daintily burnished, having a prow and a stern of one sort, yielding inward circle-wise, being of a great height, and full of certain white shells for a bravery; and on each side of them lie out two pieces of timber about a yard and a half long, more or less, according to the smallness or bigness of the boat.
The third ship, with her sail trimmers dead, was to leeward, trying to get upon the other tack. After a time her sailors got her round, and reached to windward, to help the admiral, who was now being sorely battered. Ringrose, and Captain Springer, a famous pirate, "stood off to meet him," in two canoas, as "he made up directly towards the Admiral."
Their corpses drifted downstream, to catch in the oars of the canoas, a horrible feast for the caymans. The others returned to their comrades on the right or northern bank of the river among the howls of the Indians: "Hey, you dogs, you, go on to the savannah; go on to the savannah, to find out what's in pickle for you."
So as whosoever shall first possess it, it shall be found unaccessible for any enemy, except he come in wherries, barges, or canoas, or else in flat-bottomed boats; and if he do offer to enter it in that manner, the woods are so thick 200 miles together upon the rivers of such entrance, as a mouse cannot sit in a boat unhit from the bank.
He ordered his men to give way heartily, for the third Spanish ship, under old Don Peralta, was now bearing down to relieve the admiral. Before she got near enough to blow the canoas out of water, Captain Sawkins ran her on board, and so swept her decks with shot that she went no farther.
About the middle of November we began to work on our Ship's bottom, which we found very much eaten with the Worm: For this is a horrid place for Worms. We did not know this till after we had been in the River a Month; and then we found our Canoas bottoms eaten like Honey-combs; our Bark, which was a single bottom, was eaten thro'; so that she could not swim.
The fift of August I went with the two Masters and others to the toppe of a hill, and by the way William Eston espied three Canoas lying vnder a rocke, and went vnto them: there were in them skinnes, darts, with diuers superstitious toyes, whereof wee diminished nothing, but left vpon euery boat a silke point, a bullet of lead, and a pinne.
But the towne tooke the alarme before I meant it to them: the occasion was this, I had sent the Master of the light horsemen, with a fewe with him, to gather vp all the canoas in the setting of the Sun, and to take as many as were going from vs to Dasamonquepeio, but to suffer any that came from thence, to land.
In the Morning we had a Land Wind at North. At 11 a Clock the Sea breeze came at West, just in our Teeth, but it being fair Weather, we kept on our way, turning and taking the advantage of the Land breezes by Night, and the Sea breezes by Day. Being now past the S.E. part of the Island, we coasted down on the South side, and we saw abundance of Canoas a fishing, and now and then a small Village.
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