Chapter 19. Voyage Of Cavendish Round The World--A.D. 1586

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_ CHAPTER NINETEEN. VOYAGE OF CAVENDISH ROUND THE WORLD--A.D. 1586.

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--Passage 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 shore 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 shore 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 ship 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--Passes 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 noble 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 ship.

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 shore and danced and amused themselves with the negroes, from whom they learned that it would be impossible to approach her with the ships. 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 washing 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 ships 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 ship. Here vast numbers of seals were found, and also penguins. As the tides ebbed and flowed considerably, the ships were put on shore 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 asserted, 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 anchored near the first narrow or _angostura_, as the Spaniards called it. Soon afterwards lights were seen on the northern shore, which, as they were supposed to be signals, were answered from the ships.

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 ships 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 ships, carrying three thousand five hundred men, under the command of Don Pedro Sarmiento, with the title of Viceroy, it being the intention of the Spanish Government to found towns and erect forts on the shores of the narrowest part of the straits, so as to prevent the English or other nations from passing 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 passing 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 succumbed 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 shore. 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 passage 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.

Wishing 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 assailed 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 quantities. In return Cavendish invited the two principal chiefs to dine on board his ship, 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, assuring 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. Here they found a herdsman asleep on the side of a hill, but before they could get up to him he awoke, and, mounting a horse, galloped off, and, as was feared, gave information of the English being on the coast.

Cavendish, however, went on shore, where he saw three horsemen approaching, flourishing their swords. On this he sent Hernandez to enter into conversation with them. He returned, saying that they were willing to furnish as large a supply of provisions as he might require. On being sent a second time to make further arrangements, forgetting all his vows, he sprang into the saddle behind one of his countrymen, who then galloped off as fast as they could go, hurried by the shots sent after them.

Indignant at this, Cavendish resolved to send an expedition on shore to find their town and burn it. On the following day Captain Havers accordingly landed with a party of sixty well-armed men, who marched eight miles inland, till they were stopped by the steepness of the mountains at whose base they had arrived. On the way they saw vast numbers of cattle and horses wonderfully wild, as well as hares, coneys, partridges, and other birds. Finding no town, they were returning, when they espied two hundred Spanish horsemen; but as they marched along in battle array, the Dons thought it wise not to attack them, and they regained their ships that night. On the ist of April a party again went on shore to fill their water-casks at a bright stream some distance from the beach. They were thus engaged when a large band of horsemen and men on foot came pouring down upon them, and twelve were cut off, either killed or taken prisoners. The rest were rescued by the soldiers who were sent on shore, and the enemy, after a sharp fight, were beaten off, with the loss of twenty-four men.

Notwithstanding this, by keeping a vigilant watch, Cavendish obtained water for all his ships. It was afterwards ascertained that the Spaniards executed as pirates six of the men they had captured, though they sailed with a commission from their Queen, who was at open war with Spain.

Leaving Quintero, they anchored, on the 15th of April, off Moron Moreno. The natives who came off to the ships were friendly, but appeared to be a degraded race, their wigwams being of the roughest description, consisting merely of skins thrown over a pole supported on forked sticks. Their boats or _balsas_ were looked upon as ingenious contrivances. They were formed of two large inflated skins, secured together by sinews. On these they put to sea, and caught numbers of fish, with which they paid their tribute to the Spaniards, whose cruel system had reduced them to their present abject state.

Once more sailing, on the 23rd they arrived off Areca, where a small bark coming out of the harbour was captured; but the crew got away in the boat, and though the Admiral's pinnace made chase, she failed to overtake her. Finding, however, a large vessel anchored in the roads, the pinnace went alongside, and the crew having landed, captured her and her cargo. Several shots, which she narrowly escaped, were fired from the fort at the pinnace, and in revenge Cavendish resolved to attack and pillage the town. The _Content_, however, was not in sight, and it was necessary to wait for her. When she arrived it was found that she had been engaged some leagues to the southward in carrying off as much as she could conveniently stow of a cargo of Spanish wine. By this time the inhabitants had been able to conceal their treasure, and to make such preparations for their defence that Cavendish deemed it prudent not to attack them. He, however, sent the pinnace on shore with a flag of truce to learn if the Spaniards would redeem the ship just captured, hoping thus to obtain the men who had been carried off by the horsemen at Quintero. They replied, however, that they had been ordered by the Viceroy of Lima not to have any traffic with the heretics under pain of death, and that the prisoners could not be restored.

While this business was being transacted a vessel was seen standing into the harbour, on which the boats were sent out to intercept her; but before they could reach her she was run ashore two miles to the southward of the town. Numbers of persons were seen escaping from her, among whom were several friars, but they made such haste that before they could be taken or killed they had all got away. The vessel was boarded, but nothing of value being found in her, the boats returned to the ships.

Next morning the great ship was set on fire and one of the barks sunk, when, carrying the other with them, the squadron sailed northward. On the 27th a small bark was captured, having on board a Greek, who proved to be a good pilot for the coast of Chili, as also one Fleming and three Spaniards. They were carrying letters from Santiago, near Quintero, to Lima, giving an account of the squadron being on the coast. The crew, however, had been sworn not to reveal this should they be captured. To make them do so their thumbs were put into a winch, and the old Fleming was persuaded that he would be hung if he did not confess. Still he resisted. At last one of the Spaniards gave in and acknowledged the truth, on which the bark was burnt and the men carried off. During the next fortnight several prizes were made and two towns visited, from which an ample supply of bread, fowls, and wine was obtained.

On the 20th of April Cavendish, with a large number of his men, landed at Payta, which they took without loss, the inhabitants after a short skirmish having fled, carrying with them their treasure, to a place among the hills.

Here they were pursued, and twenty-five pounds of silver and other valuable articles taken, besides abundance of household stuff. As, however, they were a mile and a half from the town, Cavendish would not allow his men to burden themselves with anything but the silver and gold, fearing that they might be attacked by the enemy, who outnumbered them as five to one. They got back in safety to the town, which consisted of upwards of two hundred well-built houses, was kept very clean, and had a guildhall in the midst. It was set on fire with goods in it to the value of five or six thousand pounds, and burnt to the ground. The vessel in the roads was also burnt, and the squadron then steered for the island of Puna.

Here a vessel of two hundred and fifty tons was found, and forthwith sunk. Cavendish then landed, and paid a visit to the cacique, who lived in a magnificent house richly furnished, and was married to a Spanish lady. All the people in the island were completely subjected to him, and he made them work like slaves. The cacique had fled to the mainland, but was pursued. Cavendish obtained information from an Indian that a party of sixty soldiers had landed from Guaiaquil to attack him. Notwithstanding this, he marched on through the woods to some houses where he heard that the cacique and his wife had taken refuge. They had, however, again fled with their gold and silver. Cavendish, here obtained ample stores, which had previously been landed from the ship he had sunk, and also the rich leather hangings and household stuff belonging to the cacique's house, which he discovered. In the garden were fruits and vegetables of every sort in great abundance, and numbers of horses, oxen, and fat sheep on the pasture-grounds, together with turkeys, ducks, hens, and poultry of great size. Not believing that any enemy in the neighbourhood would venture to attack them, the party on shore had wandered about in search of provisions, when suddenly a large body of Spanish soldiers made their appearance, accompanied by a number of natives.

The English were driven back to the water's side, but held the enemy in check, notwithstanding their overpowering numbers, until a boat arrived to carry them off. In the meantime several English had been killed, and the boat was so overloaded that four were left behind. They, however, held their own under a cliff until the boat returned, after she had carried the rest on board. Altogether twelve Englishmen were killed, and forty-six of the enemy slain. Next day Cavendish landed with seventy men, drove the Spaniards before him, and set fire to the town, which contained three hundred houses. They then ravaged the fields, orchards, and gardens, and burnt four large ships building on the stocks.

The Spaniards not daring again to molest them, the _Content_ was hauled on shore and graved, and on the 5th of June the squadron sailed from Puna, and brought up to obtain water at a place named Rio Dolce. Here, for want of men, the _Hugh Gallant_ was burnt.

After having sighted the coast of New Spain on the 9th of July, they took what proved to them a valuable prize, a ship of one hundred and twenty tons, on board of which the pilot was a certain Michael Sancius. Having no special love for the Spaniards, he told the Admiral that a rich galleon, the _Santa Anna_, was shortly expected from the Philippine Islands.

This news exhilarated the hearts of the rovers, who hoped that she might prove as rich an argosy as that taken by Drake. The rest of the crew, six in number, with the ropes and fire-wood, being transferred to the _Desire_, the prize was set on fire. The next day another vessel was captured, engaged in warning the inhabitants that the English were on the coast, as also intended to give information to the galleon of her danger. The crew had got on shore, so their vessel was burnt. Putting into Acapulco, they found a bark laden with cocoas and anil. They here landing, burnt the town, the church, and the custom-house, in which latter they found six hundred bags of anil, to dye cloth, each bag being worth forty crowns, and four hundred bags of cocoas, each worth ten crowns. These cocoas served in the country both for food and money, one hundred and fifty of them being valued at one real of silver. They resemble an almond in appearance, but are not so pleasant in taste. The people both eat them and make a drink of them. This appears to be the first time the English met with the berry now in such general use. After various adventures on shore, the vessels came off the haven of Puerto de Navidad, when thirty of the crew went on shore in the pinnace. They here surprised a mulatto in his bed, who was travelling with letters warning the people along the coast of the proceedings of the English. His letters were captured, his horse killed, and the houses of the town set on fire, as also were two new ships on the stocks, of two hundred tons each; but the messenger was allowed to go free.

On the morning of the 9th of September Cavendish sent Captain Havers with forty men on shore, and under the guidance of Michael Sancius they made their way two leagues up the country. Here they surprised three householders, with their wives and children, and some Indians, a carpenter, who was a Spaniard, and a Portuguese.

They were all bound and compelled to accompany the seamen to the beach. The wives were here set at liberty on condition of obtaining a supply of plantains, lemons, oranges, pineapples, and other fruits, of which, in a short time, they brought a large supply. On this they and their husbands were allowed to depart, but Sembrano, the Spanish carpenter, and Diego, the Portuguese, were detained to make themselves useful on board.

Crossing the Tropic of Cancer, the English came to an anchor off a little island a league to the northward of Mapatalan. Here one of their prisoners escaped by swimming across to the mainland, a distance of a mile. They were now in great want of water, and on first landing did not believe that it could be found on the island; but one of their Spanish prisoners, called Flores, told them that if they would dig in the sand they could procure it. This they did, and after getting down about three feet, it bubbled up in such profusion that they in a short time were able to fill all their casks.

They remained here until the 9th of October, when again sailing, they came off the Cape of Saint Lucar, which greatly resembles the Needles of the Isle of Wight.

Here, according to the information received from Sancius, they expected to fall in with the Manilla galleon. The _Desire_ and _Content_, therefore, beat up and down off the headland of California, a bright look-out being kept for their expected prize. Soon after seven o'clock the trumpeter of the _Desire_, who had gone aloft, espied a vessel bearing in from the offing, on which he cried out, with no small joy to himself and the whole company, "A sail! a sail!"

On this the master and several others hurried aloft, when, convinced that he was right, Cavendish was informed of the joyful news.

The two small vessels were immediately got ready for the expected fight, and the sails being trimmed, they gave chase to the galleon. In the afternoon they got up to her, and without waiting to hail, they each having given her a broadside and a volley of small shot, laid her aboard, although she was of seven hundred tons burden and full of men, whereas their ships' companies had been greatly reduced with those they had at different times lost. They were at once convinced that she was the _Santa Anna_, the galleon they were in search of, belonging to the King of Spain. The tacks had been hauled down, and she was hove to, but not a man could be seen on her decks. As soon as the English began to climb up, however, they perceived the Spaniards standing close together, armed with lances, javelins, rapiers, targets, and vast quantities of large stones, with which they so warmly attacked the heads of their assailants that the latter were driven back again into their ships, two being killed and several wounded. On this, as the two little vessels sheered off, Cavendish ordered his crews again to fire their great guns, and to discharge their small arms among the Spaniards, by which the sides of the galleon were pierced through and through, and many of her crew killed and wounded.

The Spanish captain, however, like a valiant man, still stood at his post, refusing to yield. Cavendish on this, ordering the trumpets to sound, the broadside guns and small arms were again fired, with such effect that many more Spaniards were killed and wounded; while the shot striking the huge ship between wind and water, she began to fill. On this the Spanish captain struck his colours, and holding out a flag of truce, asked for quarter.

Cavendish promised that it would be given, and ordered the Spanish officers to strike their sails and lower a boat.

Without loss of time this was done, and one of the principal merchants coming up the side of the _Desire_, falling on his knees, implored the Admiral's mercy.

Cavendish assured him it would be granted, that their lives would be spared, and that they would be well treated, provided he was correctly informed of the amount of valuables on board the galleon.

The captain and pilot, who had also arrived, told him that the ship carried one hundred and twenty-two thousand pesos of gold, and that the rest of her cargo consisted of silks, satins, damasks, with musk and other merchandise, with provisions of all sorts in abundance.

They were detained on board while the galleon their prize was carried into Puerto Seguro. There was here a stream of clear water, with plenty of fish, fowl, and wood to be obtained, as also numerous hares and coneys. As soon as they had anchored, the English employed themselves in transferring the rich cargo on board their own vessels, as also in dividing the treasure, to each man being allotted a certain portion; but the crew of the _Content_ were very far from contented, and showed some inclination to mutiny. They were, however, to all appearances speedily pacified, though as it turned out they were far from being really so.

The Spaniards were supplied with sufficient arms to defend themselves against the natives and everything else they required, for which the captain, in the name of the rest, expressed himself very grateful. All the passengers and most of the ship's company were allowed to go except two Japanese lads, who were detained, and three others who had been born in Manilla, the youngest of whom afterwards became a page to the Countess of Essex.

Besides these, Rodrigo, a Portuguese who had visited Canton and other parts of China, and had been in Java and the Philippines, was kept, and a Spaniard, Thomas de Ersola, an experienced pilot between Acapulco, the Ladrones, and the Philippines.

The _Santa Anna_, which had still five hundred tons of goods in her, was set on fire, and all arrangements being made, on the 19th of November, to the joy of their crews, the Admiral, firing a farewell salute, stood out of harbour at three o'clock in the afternoon, and with a fair wind, steering westward, they commenced their homeward voyage.

The King's ship was soon burnt down to the water's edge, but curious as it may seem, she escaped destruction. Her cables being burnt through, she drifted on shore, when the Spaniards managed to extinguish the flames, and with the planks they had obtained and the sails and rigging which had been landed, the trees in the neighbourhood supplying them with masts and yards, they fitted her for sea, and before long contrived to make their escape.

Cavendish took a great liking to Ersola, and placed much confidence in him as a pilot. He seemed to merit this by the accurate way in which he guided the ship across the Pacific.

On going out of the harbour the _Content_ had been left astern. Night coming on, she was lost sight of, and when morning broke she was nowhere to be seen. In vain the _Desire_ waited for her. At length, spreading her sails, she stood on her course.

From that day no more was seen of the hapless _Content_, nor was the slightest clue obtained as to what became of her. Some thought that she had sailed for the Straits and been lost, but Ersola was of opinion that Captain Hare, who commanded her, thinking to be wiser than Drake, had attempted the North-East Passage, and had got so far north that he had perished, with all his company, in the ice.

That there was such a passage no one doubted, and that America was a continent by itself, independent of the rest of the world.

For forty-five days the _Desire_ glided on with a fair wind out of sight of land, until on the 3rd of January, 1588, she made the island of Guham, one of the Ladrones. From thence a number of natives came off, bringing fruits and vegetables, but became so troublesome that, losing temper, Cavendish in a most unjustifiable manner ordered a shot to be fired among them.

On the 14th of the same month the _Desire_ made the Philippines, and sailing on, came to an anchor, on the morning of the 15th, in a safe harbour in the island, called Capal. Scarcely had the anchor been dropped than one of the chief caciques of the island came off with provisions, supposing the ship to be Spanish. He being detained on board, his people were sent on shore to invite the other cacique to come off, which he shortly did, bringing an abundance of provisions, so that the whole of the clay was spent in buying hogs, hens, roots, cocoas, and other vegetables, by which the crew were greatly refreshed.

This island was about sixty leagues distant from Manilla, which was already a flourishing place, containing seven hundred inhabitants, among them many merchants from China, and also several Sanguelos, who were partly Moors, or Malays probably, and partly heathen. The Sanguelos were especially clever in inventing and making all manner, of things, so that few or no Christians could surpass them. They excelled in drawing and embroidering upon satin, silk or lawn, representing either beasts, fowls, fish, or worms, in the most natural manner. They also worked in silk, silver, gold, and pearl.

On the same night of their arrival at Capal the Portuguese Nicholas Rodrigo, who had been taken out of the _Santa Anna_, desired to speak to Cavendish in secret. His request being granted, he told the Admiral that although he had hitherto appeared to be discontented, he was truly grateful to him for the kindness he had received, and as a proof of this he desired to put him on his guard against a treacherous plot which had been devised by the pilot Ersola to deliver up his vessel to the Spaniards. As a proof that what he said was true, a letter, he stated, would be found in Ersola's chest. Search being made, the letter was discovered, which Ersola had intended to send by some natives to Manilla. It called on the authorities there forthwith to fit out an expedition to capture the _Desire_, warning them that if she escaped, the English would bring their countrymen down to attack the settlement.

A drum-head court martial was immediately held. The hapless pilot at first denied all knowledge of the letter, but at length compelled to confess his guilt, with a short shrift he was next morning hanged at the yard-arm.

The _Desire_ remained nine days at Capal, during which Cavendish obliged the chief cacique, as well as the caciques of a hundred other islands, to pay tribute to him in hogs, hens, potatoes, and cocoas. The tribute being received on board, he hoisted the flags and sounded the drums and trumpets. Then telling them that the English were enemies to the Spaniards, he paid them in money more than an equivalent for the provisions they had brought. To show their pleasure, the caciques rowed about the ship in their canoes at a great rate. The brave voyagers, who never doubted the existence of Satan, firmly believed what they stated,--that those people wholly worshipped the devil, and oftentimes have conferences with him who "appeareth unto them in a most ugly and monstrous shape."

Setting sail on the 24th, the _Desire_ ran along the coast, past Manilla, putting to flight some frigates which had been sent after her, and dispersing some Spaniards who fired at her boat.

One or two men died at this time, and on the last day of February Captain Havers succumbed to a burning ague, from which he had suffered several days, to the great grief of all on board.

Passing by the Moluccas, the _Desire_, after various adventures, reached Java, where she was visited by the chief Rajah, named Bolamboam, an aged despot who possessed a hundred wives, while his son had fifty. His people were said to be the bravest of all those inhabiting the south-east part of the world, for they never feared any death.

Several Portuguese who were settled in this part of the island visited the ship, and, hearing that their King, Don Antonio, was a friend of the Queen of England, urged Cavendish to advise him to come out and found a kingdom which would comprehend the Moluccas, Ceylon, China, and the Philippines. A friendly reception was also promised to the English.

Firing a parting salute on the 16th of March, Cavendish took his departure, traversing for forty days that "mightie and vaste sea between the yle of Java and the main of Africa, observing the heavens, the crosiers or southern cross, the other starres, the fowles, which are marks unto seamen of fair weather or foul weather, approaching of lands or islands, the winds, the tempests, the rains and thunder, with the alterations of the tides and currents."

On the 10th of May the _Desire_ was overtaken by a terrific storm, but it calmed in a few hours, and the next day a look-out from the masthead saw land, which was supposed to be the Cape of Good Hope, but was ultimately proved to be False Cape.

It was not until the 16th of May that, with a brisk gale, the ship passed the Cape of Good Hope, and on the 8th of June she came in sight of the island of Saint Helena. Only four people were found upon the island, but it was abundantly stored with fruits and vegetables of all sorts, carefully cultivated, while there were numberless goats and hogs running wild among the mountains.

The Portuguese homeward-bound East Indian fleet, the smallest of which vessels were of eight or nine hundred tons burden, laden with spices, Calicut cloth, precious stones, pearls, and treasure, had called off there only twenty days before.

Having touched at the Azores on the 3rd of September, the _Desire_ fell in with a Plymouth vessel coming from Lisbon, which gave the voyagers the glorious information of the overthrow of the Spanish Armada.

Directly afterwards the _Desire_ encountered a terrific gale, which carried away the greater part of her remaining sails. To replace them others were manufactured from the Indian damasks, and the canvas made of the silk grass of the South Seas, which had a most lustrous appearance. One of her topsails was of cloth of gold, while her officers and crew were dressed in silk clothes, their own having probably long since worn out.

Thus equipped, on the 9th of September the _Desire_ entered the long-wished-for port of Plymouth, to the great astonishment of the inhabitants, who, as they gazed at her, fancied that all her sails were of silk, supposing naturally that this betokened the value of her cargo. In this they were not far wrong, for the wealth Cavendish brought home was enough to buy a fair earldom.

He was received with great kindness by the Queen, who, considering that his exploit almost rivalled that of Drake, bestowed on him the honour of knighthood. He boasted to his patron, Lord Hunsdon, that he had burnt and sunk nineteen sail of ships, small and great; that all the villages and towns where he had landed he had burnt and spoiled, and had carried off a great quantity of treasure, his most profitable transaction being that of the capture of the _Santa Anna_, as her cargo was the richest that had ever floated on those seas, so that his ships could only contain a small portion.

Happy would it have been for the gallant Cavendish had he remained contentedly on shore, but his eager soul burned for fresh enterprises. Having fitted out a squadron of three ships and two barks, in one of which, the _Roebuck_, John Davis went as captain, he sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of August, 1591, for the purpose of finding a North-West Passage by way of the Pacific into the Atlantic. Disaster, however, followed him from the first. He was deserted by one of his captains, and failing to get through the Straits of Magellan, was compelled to return home. He died of a broken heart, after a vain search for Saint Helena, where he hoped to refresh his crew, towards the end of the year 1592. _

Read next: Chapter 20. Cape Horn First Doubled By Schouten And Le Maire--A.D. 1615-17

Read previous: Chapter 18. Voyage Of Sir Francis Drake, Continued--A.D. 1579-80

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