UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES Elizabethan Book IJ[OF for Jtbalon , of (Bmwnfy, 1622* anti IllustratetJ 6g C. TOjitfrnrn, 1870* LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND MARSTON, FLEET STREET ; FIELD AND TUER, 50, LEADEN HALL STREET. ILontion : FIELD & TUER, 50, LEADEN HALL ST. PRINTERS IN 'ANTIQUE' TYPE. (5,243-) CONTENTS. PREFACE . INTRODUCTION . EXTRACTS . 7 9 16 APPENDIX- ROYAL PROCLAMATION FROM THE PRIVY COUNCIL To THE KING .... To THE PEOPLE AUTOBIOGRAPHY SAVAGES AND "MAREMAID" . 33 35 37 40 45 HEN who would Hue at home idlely, that may bee there imployed, or thinke himfelfe worthy to liue only to eate, drink e, and fleepe, and fo die ; hauing confumed that carelefly, his friends got worthily, or by vfmg that talent miferably, which may thus maintaine vertue honestly ? " Captain Richard Whitboiirne. " Olivia. There lies your way, due Weft. Viola. Then WESTWARD HOE." ShaksperJs " Twelfth Night," Act iii., Sc. i. " Take water ; keepe aloof from the fhore ; * * * vp with your fayles, and WESTWARD HOE!" Webster's "Westward Hoe," Act iii., Sc. 3. FEW words on the history of New- foundland may not be out of place. Discovered (officially) by Sebastian Cabot, in 1497, for Henry VII., fleets for fishing purposes soon frequented its shores. In 1583, Sir Humfrey Gilbert, by patent from Queen Elizabeth, for- mally annexed it to the British crown, and left a few settlers. Chiefly through Captain Whitbourne's efforts, it was permanently colonized under James I., the " province " being named Avalon, whilst the principal "adventurers" included the Rt. Hon. Henry Gary, Viscount of Falkland, who had received a grant of an extensive " coast circuit " there, and who sent some settlers from Ireland under Sir Francis Tannll, in 1623, Sir John Calvert, His Majesty's Chief Secretary, " The Wor. John Slany, of London, marchant, some Wor. Citizens of Bristoll, the Wor. William Vaughan, of Taracod, in the county of Carmarthen, Doctor of the Civil Law," and some others. The colony prospered, but Charles the First, influenced by his queen, permitted the French to fish there on payment of tribute. They, not satisfied with the remission of this tax by the second Charles, and by James, tried 8 WKSTWARD HOE FOR AVALON. to monopolise the island, were repressed by William, but encroached under Anne. English merchants loudly com- plained, and disputes were settled by the French definitely renouncing their pretensions to the island in 1713. Par- ticulars respecting Cabot's discovery will be found in the recent valuable account of that great navigator, by J. F. Nicholls, Esq., city librarian, Bristol, whilst the present condition of the colony is spiritedly delineated in Col. R. B. McCrea's "Sketches of Life in Newfoundland, England's ancient colony." From him we learn that at the capital, St. John's, " in proportion to its inhabitants, a larger business is done than at any other colonial city," whilst the harbour ranks as one of our most important " ocean videttes," and may easily be rendered impregnable. The climate, he tells us, is remarkably healthy, and the summer, though short, is delightful. Near the coast are valleys of exceeding beauty. Game, fish, and wild fruits abound. The gardens "bear produce fit for an emperor's table." The people are " kind and social," and Col. McCrea sums up by saying, " My lot has been cast in almost every colony of our vast dominion. Not even excepting dear old Corfu, have three happier years than those (per- force at first, and very willingly afterwards) in Newfound- land been ever spent abroad." OOKS, like everything else, have their appointed death-day ; the souls of them, unless they be found worthy of a second birth in a new body, perish with the paper in which they lived." Fronde. NE of " England's forgotten worthies," Captain Richard Whitbourne belongs to that bold race of Elizabethan seamen who dealt a fatal blow to the naval power of Spain, carried the English flag to the most distant seas, laid the foun- dation of our maritime supremacy, and made known many of those lands which, colonized by the English race, now form homes of industrious and thriving millions. Of these he may not be in the foremost rank, nor have gained historic fame, but he nevertheless did the State good and substantial service ; and as all honest writing reflects light on contemporary thought and manners, it seemed to me that his work, now rare, deserved a better fate than that of mere oblivion. I therefore offer an abstract of it ; an entire reprint would be tedious. Written 10 WESTWARD HOE with the express countenance of the king, ordered by the Privy Council to be printed, and recommended by them to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and to the rest of the Bishops, that it might be distributed in the parishes of the kingdom, to inform the people how profitable migra- tion to Newfoundland would be ; it contains much matter which, then new, is now needless. Its purpose has been answered ; the colony itself testifies to the soundness of the author's views. I take, then, such portions merely as describe either the author's experiences or the island's characteristics, or possess other interest ; the dedication, preface, &c., are given, literally, at the end, with the original spelling, which, as in other works of the period, shows that, provided the sound were true, the particular letter employed was in some cases considered unimportant. Who, now-a- days, for instance, could use such license as that of calling in consecutive lines nature's covering for the scalp " hayre," and " haire ? " So, in proper names, a letter more or less seemed matter of momentary caprice. Certain words like- wise have somewhat changed in meaning. Thus, by " a discovery of Newfoundland," the author implies, not that he first touched at the island, but that he first made widely known the features which fitted it for "plantation" pur- poses ; and when he tells how one of his ships was appro- priated by " an English erring captaine (that went forth with Sir Walter Rawleigh)," we see that " erring " implies not so much divergence from moral rectitude (though this too may be comprised in it), as wandering without fixed goal in the way which once caused knights also to be termed errant. As for the work itself, it professes to be, and is, merely a plain account of a land which the author considered ought to develope into an English colony. Thus of personal adventure it tells little. True, the preface is FOR AVALON. II autobiographical, but that form could not be avoided, for the author had to show his credentials, and he does so with a brevity which is, I venture to think, cause for regret. Thus, to prove that in describing Newfoundland he had not lacked opportunities for comparison, he tells us that he had "been often in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Savoy, Denmark, Norway, Spruceland, the Canaries, and Soris Islands," whilst to show that his naval experience was of some standing, he says, "In the year 1588, I served under the then Lord Admiral, as captain in a ship of my own, set forth at my own charge against the Spanish Armada : and after such time as that service was ended, taking my leave of his Honour, I had his favourable letters to one Sir Robert Dennis, in the county of Devon, Knight, whereby there might be some course taken, that the charge as well of my own Ship, as also of two other, and a Pinnace, with the victuals, and men therein employed, should not be any way burdensome to me. Wherein there was such order given by the then Right Honourable Lords of the Privy Council that the same was well satisfied, which service is to be seen recorded in the Book at Whitehall." But his visits to Newfoundland, " almost," he says, " so familiarly known to me as my own country," began even before this; for about 1580, he went there "in a worthy ship of the burden of 300 tons, set forth by one Master Cotton, of Southampton ; " and some three years later he again went to that coast in command of a ship belonging to " one Master Crooke," of the same port. It was on this occasion that he became " an eye-witness " of the taking possession of Newfoundland by "Sir Humfrey Gilbert, a Devonshire knight," under a patent from Queen Elizabeth ; in returning from which service Sir Humfrey and his ship were "overwhelmed by the seas, and so perished." Two years after this the author, again in command of a ship off 12 WESTWARD HOE that coast, met with Sir Bernard Drake, also of Devonshire, who, having a commission backed by divers good ships, " there took many Portugal ships laden with fish, and brought them into England as prizes." Next, leaping over various other voyages there, the author alights in the year 1612, when, being again on his favourite coast, he fell in with " that famous Arch Pirate Peter Easton," who " had with him ten sail of good ships well furnished, and very rich " an arch pirate indeed ! Now, having turned piracy to such profitable account, the prudent Peter proposed to retire from the profession ; and during the eleven weeks our author was kept "under his command," which implies, doubtless, that for such period he could not obtain leave to depart, much edifying dis- course took place between them on piracy's wicked ways, and Peter was moved at length to request the author to come to England, where (being rich) he had influential friends, and tell them that he was open to accept a pardon. This the author gladly undertook to do ; so, declining "much wealth" which the pirate liberally proffered him (" having no warrant to touch such goods "), he requested merely the release of a ship belonging to one Captain Rashly, of Foy, in Cornwall a man, he says, " whom I knew but only by report" which ship the pirate had appropriated off the coast of Guinea. Peter granted the favour instantly, and our author providing men, victuals* and a freight for the ship, sent her home to Dartmouth, in Devon ; but, ingratitude being rife then as now, he got for this service not so much as thanks. Giving up, then, his intended commercial voyage to Naples, the author came straight to England to fulfil Easton's behest, but he was forestalled : ere his arrival a pardon had been sent the pirate from Ireland, and so he says, I " lost both my labour FOR AVALON. 13 and charges." But did Easton profit as he desired by this fulfilment of his wish ? No. The bearer of the pardon was not zealous, it seems, in the repentant pirate's behoof, and by " a too much delaying of time " wore out Easton's patience. So the pirate, leaving the coast of Barbary, where he had promised to hover doubtless alleviating the tedium of suspense by snapping up maritime trifles " sailed to the Straights of Gibraltar, and was afterwards entertained by the Duke of Savoy, under whom he lived rich." Thus in that somewhat free and easy time a pirate owning ten good ships rich with gold, and full of fighting men, was evidently a personage whom sovereign princes were by no means prompt to snub. Two years elapse, and we again find our author off the Newfoundland coast ; this time in more respectable com- pany, that of Sir Henry Main waring, whose authority was supported by " five good mips ftrongly provided," and from him the author returned straight to England instead of taking, as he had intended, a commercial trip to Marseilles. That this return was on official business may be interred from the fact that, in the following year, 1615, he once more sailed to Newfoundland, carrying with him a commission under the great seal of the High Court of Admiralty, authorising him to empannel juries and reform disorders on the coast, and this, he says, "executed wholly at my own charge, hath been at large by me already certified into the High Court of Admiralty ; " but, considering that " the same hath been overslipped ever since," it may be judged that "barren honour" was all he gained for his labour. Well for him that he could afiord it. But if he possessed substance he also suffered losses. Shylock's enumeration of, among other risks, that from "water rats," smacks of the spirit of the time. 14 WESTWARD HOE Thus, in 1616, the author's ship of zoo tons, laden from Newfoundland to Lisbon, was rifled by a Rochelle pirate hight Daniel Tibolo, whereby he suffered loss to the extent of ;86o, in those days no small sum, whilst the master and the company in her were " cruelly handled " to boot. Nor was this all. Having, shortly after, come to an arrange- ment with "a gentleman" to whom certain patentees had transferred their right to settle people in Newfoundland, the author received from him "a conveyance under his hand and feal for the term of my life, with full power to govern within his circuit upon that coafl." So he once more sailed to his well-beloved island in a ship of his own, victualled by a joint stock company, in which he had a share, and they " likevvife then did fet forth another (hip, for a fiftiing voyage, which alfo carried fome vicluals for thofe people which had been formerly fent to inhabit there : but this fhip was intercepted by an Englifh erring captain (that went forth with Sir Walter Rawleigh) who took the matter of her, the boatfwain, and two other of the befl men, with much of her vicluals (the reft of the company for fear running into the woods), and fo left the fhip as a prize; whereby our intended fiftiing voyages of both our mips were overthrown, and the plantation hindered." In what way an English erring captain differed from a pirate it is somewhat difficult from this sample of procedure, and after this lapse of years, to discover. Possibly the former may have combined traffic with picking and stealing ; the latter, not Balked, then, in his individual efforts for the object he had at heart, the author appeals by his work to the king and the people ; not claiming, by any means, a monopoly of credit for calling attention to Newfoundland, but simply stating that no man had hitherto written a detailed descrip- tion of the island, or " published any fit motives or induce- FOR AVALON. 15 ments whereby to perfuade men to adventure or plant there." To this work, he says, his conscience had often prompted him, and he gives what is to us, when we compare, superficially, the relative populousness of England then and now, the curious reason of desiring by it "to flir up many of your Majefly's good and religious fubjec~ls duly to weigh the piety, honour, and benefit that will arife from fuch a work, confidering how your Majefty's kingdoms do abound and overflow with people." In conclusion, he thanks God that, although he had often suffered great losses by pirates and sea, rovers, no casualty had ever happened to any ship in which he himself sailed ; and he takes this comfort, that if, after more than forty years of naval life, he had reaped little other than the peace of a good conscience, he has at least the knowledge that he had ever been a loyal subject to his prince, whilst he has enjoyed the comfort of never yet in all his time having been " beholding to any doctors' counfel or apothecaries' drugs " for the preservation of his health. He trusts, also, by his work to become an instrument of some public good, and he then commences "the particular relation of the country, &c." THOMAS WHITBURN. GUILDFORD, January, 1870. RDINARY English traders we find fighting Spanish war-ships in behalf of the Protestant faith. The cruisers of the Spanish main were full of generous eagerness for the conversion of the savage nations to Christianity. And, what is even more surprising, sites for colonization were examined and scrutinised by such men in a lofty statesmanlike spirit, and a ready insight was displayed by them into the indirect effects of a wisely- extended commerce on every highest human interest." Fronde. A RELATION OF THE NEW-FOUND-LAND, WITH A MORE AMPLE D1SCOUERY OF THAT CoUNTREY, THEN EUER WAS YET SET FOORTH TO THE OPEN VIEW ; TOGETHER WITH THE BRIEFES OF SUCH PRESENTMENTS, AS WERE THERE TAKEN TO THE VSE OF YOUR MAIESTIE, BY VERTUE OF A COMMISSION VNDER THE BROAD SEALE OF THE ADMIRALTJE, DIRECTED TO ME RICHARD WHITBOURNE. UCH is the heading to the author's work, and he begins with a description of " the situation of the countrey," which is, he tells us, between 46 and 53 degrees, north latitude, whilst the cli- mate has at least the recommendation of being perfectly healthy. As for " the naturall inhabitants," they are described as but few in WESTWARD HOE FOR AVALON. 17 number and as " fomething rude and fauage people ; hauing neither knowledge of God, nor liuing under any kind of ciuill gouernment. In their habits, cuftomes and manners, they referable the Indians of the Continent, from whence (I fuppofe) they come." Still they are said to be " an ingenuous and tractable people (being well vfed)," and as ready to assist in the whale fishery for even small reward. Of the many bays and harbours of the coast, "built by the admirable workmanfhip of God," the author speaks highly, and he particularly mentions Trinity Harbour, which "is neere vnto a great Bay lying on the North-fide of it, called the Bay of Flowers; to which place no Shippes repaire to fifli; partly in regard of fundry Rocks and Ledges lying euen with the water, and full of danger ; but chiefly (as I conieclure) becaufe the fauage people of that countrey doe there inhabite : many of them fecretly euery yeere, come into Trinity Bay and Harbour, in the night time, purpofely to fteale Sailes, Lines, Hatchets, Hookes, Kniues, and fuch like. And this Bay is not three Englifti miles ouerland from Trinity Bay in many places ; which people, if they might be reduced to the knowledge of the true Trinity indeed, no doubt but it would be a moft fweet and acceptable facrifice to God, an euerlafting honour to your Maiefty, and the heauenlieft bleffmg to thofe poore Creatures, who are buried in their owne fuperftitious ignorance. The tafke thereof would proue eafie, if it were but well begun, and conftantly feconcled by induftrious fpirits : and no doubt but 'God himfelfe would fet his hand to reare vp and aduance fo noble, fo pious, and fo Chriftian a building." The author nexts dilates on " The Fertilitie of the Soyle." "There the Summer naturally produceth out of the fruitful wombe of the earth, without the labour of man's hand, great plenty of green e peafe and Fitches, faire, round, full and wholefome as our Fitches are in England : of which I have there fed on many times : the hawmes of them are good fodder for cattel and other beads in the winter, with the helpe of Hay ; of which there may be made great ftore with little labour in cliuers places of the Countrey. C 1 8 WESTWARD HOE " Then haue you there fairc Strawberries red and white, and as faire Rafpaffeberries, and Goofe berries, as there be in England ; as alfo multitudes of bilberries, which are called by fome, Whortes, and many other delicate Berries (which I cannot name) in great abundance. " There are alfo many other fruits, as fmall Peares, fowre Cherries, Filberds, &c. And of thefe Berries and fruits the (lore is there fo great, that the mariners of my Ship and Barkes company, haue often gathered at once, more then halfe an hogshead would hold ; of which diuers times eating their fill I neuer heard of any man, whofe health was thereby any way impaired. "There are alfo herbes for Sallets and Broth ; as Parfley, Alexander, Sorrell, &c. And alfo flowers, as the red and white Damafke Rofe, with other kinds ; which are moft beautifull and delightfull, both to the fight and fmell." Herbs good for physic are also found, and it had been proved by experiment that " Corn, Cabbage, Garrets, Turneps, Lettice, and fuch like, proue well there." As for the animals, they comprise, among others, " Deere, Hares, Foxes, Squirrels, Beuers, Wolues, and Beares." And the author now gives " A rare example of the gentle nature of the beafls of that countrey." ' ' Neither let me feeme ridiculous, to annex a matter of nouelty, rather than waight, to this difcourfe. "In the yeere 1615 it was well knowne to 48 perfons of my company, and diuers other men, that three feuerall times, the Wolues and beafts of the countrey came downe neere them to the fea-fide, where they were labouring about their Fifh, howling and making a noife : fo that at each time my Maftiffe-dogge went vnto them (as the like in that countrey hath not been feene :) the one began to fawne and play with the other, and fo went together into the Woods, and continued with them, euery of thefe times, nine or ten dayes, and did returne vnto us without any hurt. Hereof I am no way fuperftitious, yet it is fomething ftrange to me, that the wilde beafts, being followed by a fterne Maftiffe- dogge, mould grow to a familiaritie with him, feeing their natures are repugnant : furely much rather the people by our difcreet and gentle vfage, may be brought to focietie, being already naturally inclined thereunto." FOR AVALON. 19 Of birds, also, there is no lack, for " the Land-fowle " include " (befides great number of fmall birds flying -vp and downe, fome without name, that Hue by fcraping their food from the earth in the hardeft winter that is) " hawks, partridges, and thrushes. The songbirds number " Filladies, Nightingales, and fuch like, that fing moft pleafantly." The birds of prey comprise "Rauens, Gripes, Crowes, &c.," whilst the waterfowl are legion, the most noteworthy being the penguin. "Thefe Penguins are as bigge as Geefe, and flye not, for they haue but a little fhort wing, and they multiply fo infinitly, vpon a certain flat Hand, that men driue them from thence vpon a boord, into their boates by hundreds at a time ; as if God had made the innocency of fo poore a creature to become fuch an admirable inftrument for the fuftentation of man. " Of scarcely less value are the feathered " oxen and kine," "which fowle doe not only fteed thofe that trade thither greatly for foode, but alfo they are a great furthering to diuers fhips voyages, becaufe the abundance of them is fuch, that the Fifhermen doe bait their hookes with the quarters of fea fowle on them : and therewith fome fhips do yeerely take a great part of their nfhing voyages, with fuch bait, before they can get others." Fresh water and fuel are said to be abundant. The author suggests the probability of finding mines ; and as for fish, from the whale to the herring the waters swarm with them, the king of the coast being the cod-fish. "But the chiefe commodity of New-found-land yet knowne, and which is grown to be a fettled trade, and that may be much bettered by an orderly Plantation there, (if the Traders thither will take fome better courfe than formerly they haue done, as fhall be declared) is the Cod- fifhing vpon that Coaft, by which our Nation and many other countries are enricht." 20 WESTWARD HOE By the " French, Bifcaines, and Portugals more than 400 faile of fhips" are, he says, sent thither, whilst "in the yeere 1615," when the author's Admiralty commission caused him to take special note, our fleet there amounted to " 250 fuile of fhips great and fmall." Their united bulk is estimated . at 150,000 tons. Five thousand persons are said to have manned them. " Every one of thefe fhips, fo neere as I could gueffe, had about 120,000 fish, and five tunne of Trayne oyle one with another," the value of which, if sold in England, where the prices were lower than on the continent, would " yeeld to your Maiefties fubjecls better then the fumme of 135,000 pound." The author then proceeds to speak of the number of persons indirectly employed by this traffic, and he intimates that, unless the English firmly root themselves on the soil, some other nation will appropriate it, to our great detriment. He next throws out suggestions as to the North-west Passage. "The Englifh are reputed for the firft clifcouerers of this Countrey : and a Subiect of this State, one Sir Humfrey Gilbert (as is touched before) hath long fince taken poffeffion thereof, to the vfe of your Maiefties royall Crowne ; and that poffeffion hath bin continued by feuerall Patents and Commiffions : fo that of right I do concieue, it appertaineth to your Maieftie, although it be not yet peopled with your Maiefties fubjecls, notwithftanding the faid Patents. " Neither feemes it impoffible to me, but that your Maieftie, and your royall Progenie, may in time annexe vnto your Crcwne a great part of the Continent of America, bordring vpon New-found-land, the fame lying neerer to your Maiefties kingdoms, then to any other countrey of thefe our knowne parts of the World : and for the rnoft part of it vnder the lame Eleuation of the Pole with vs ; and but little aboue Sixe hundred leagues diftance from hence. " At lead I cannot fee, but that from hence further Difcoueries may be made, and new trades found out, yea peraduenture the fuppofed Northweft paffage : For if it can be proued, or if there be any poffi- bilitie or probabilitie, that there is fuch a paffage, on the Northfide of FOR AVALON. 21 America towards lapan and China, which is the opinion of fome men, is to lie neere the height of 64 degrees : the fitteft place from whence to proceed to that Discouerie, is (in my opinion) the New-found-land. And for thofe that hencefoorth attempt to fearch that ftraight or paffage, to fet foorth fooner and more early, then heretofore they haue done, and to faile cliredlly to fome conuenient Harbour in New-found - ^and, there to refrefh themfelves with fuch prouifion as fliall be needfull ; and fo put out from thence about the twentieth day of May (if it be once fet in a faire Wefterly winde,) and to faile along the North part of New-found-land, and that coaft which is called Cambaleu, continuing that Northerly courfe vnto 64, which is but 15 degrees from Trinity Harbour ; and it may be failed in leffe than fixe dayes, with a faire Wefterly winde, which commonly maketh a cleere coaft all along to the North, both from fogges and Ice alfo ; both which are violent hinderers to men that haue vndertaken thefe voyages. For coming to feeke out thofe ftraights or paffages, with a large Eafterly, Southerly, or Northerly winde, which commonly bring on that Coaft the fogges and Ice, and comming fo late in the fummer, they haue thereby loft the aduantage and benefit of time for finding out fo happy a bufmeffe.'' The author then points out that the " countrey may be made a place of great vfe and aduantage, for this flate in any action, that may ingage vs by way of attempt or defence, in regard of thofe parts of the world." He states that the situation is convenient for ships to refit in returning from Virginia and the Bermudas, and he recommends migration thither as a remedy for our plethora of population. " Befides all this, it would be a great eafe to all the reft of your Maiefties subiects, if fome part of our fuperabounding multitudes were tranfplanted into New-found-land ; forbefides the great number of idle peifons that Hue here, fpending their time in drinking and other exceffes, among which many of your New-found-land men may be reckoned, during the winter feafon, whilft they are at home : There are many thoufands of poore people of both fexes, which might be fpared out of all your Maiefties Dominions, who liuing penurioufly, and in great want, would be perfwaded to remove their dwelling into New- found-land, where they might not onely free themfelues of their prefent miferies, but alfo by their induftrie, in time inrich themfelues, and 22 WESTWARD HOE defeme well of the State by their imploiments ; for there is yeerely great abundance of good fifh loft for want of labourers, and other good things alfo." Another beneficial result, too, will follow from this pro- posed plantation, namely, proper commercial regulations ; for now, the author complains, mariners set forth at "the fouled time in the yeere " in order that by arriving first in harbour they may enjoy " the name of Admirall that yeere " with corresponding advantages. Thus by undue haste among fogs and ice " many times both fhips and men haue been fuddenly caft away, to the vtter vndoing of many Adventurers, and families. So had I myfelfe a fhip loft failing to that Countrey, and divers others the like." Nor is this all. "The firft arrivers there" ofttimes wantonly destroy not only the houses or rooms used for drying the fish, but also such fishing pinnaces as they find, thus causing great loss to after-comers, all which impro- prieties a plantation with proper rule would prevent. From every ship, then, the author proposes that a certain pro- portion of men (six out of thirty) should be left; a procedure which " wil foone raife many people to be fettled in euery Harbour where our Nation vfeth to fifh,and in other Harbours there alfo in little time." Thus the profits will be largely increased, and a broad line will be drawn between those who have a permanent interest in the colony and mere traffickers to and fro. There is another point also on which the author, in capacity of merchant rather than mariner, speaks feelingly. "The allowance of victuall to maintaine euery fixe men, to carry and recarry them outwards bound and homewards, is fixe hogfheads of beere, and fixe hundred waight of bread, befides beefe and other pro- uifion ; which men, when they faile to and fro (as now they vfe) doe little good or any feruice at all, but pefter the fhip in which they are, FOR AVALON. 23 with their bread, beere, water, wood, victual!, fifh, chefts, and diners other trumperies, that euery fuch fixe men doe cumber the (hip withall yeerely from thence : which men, when the voyage is made, may be accounted vnneceffary perfons returning yeerly from thence." See, too, how much more fish the ships would hold when not " peflered " with " such vnprofilable things," whilst the men left in the country may if industrious (an important proviso) "gaine twice as much in the abfence of the mips that leaue them there." Hitherto the class of settler had not been of good report. "For certainly I haue already feene and knowne by experience, that the defired Plantation can neuer bee made beneficiall by fuch idle perfons, as I found there the yeere 1618 when I was there with power, by vertue of a graunt from the Patentees, which people had remained there a whole yeere, before I came neare, or knew any of them ; and neuer applied themfelues to any commendable thing, no not fo much as to make themfelues an houfe to lodge in, but lay in fuch cold and fimple roomes all the winter, as the Fifhermen had formerly built there for their neceffary occafions, the yeere before thofe men arriued there." This negligence filled the author with disgust. " Yet entring into confideration, how iniurious I mould be to God, and (as I did conceiue in my ccnfcience) trecherous to your Maiefty, and my countrey, hauing once as it were laid hold on y" plough, I fhould take it off and looke backe : I did then incourage my retiring fpirits ; notwithftanding all my former wrongs then fuftained. And although I found thofe people that were fo formerly fent to plant, fo unfit for that feruice, I did not only confider of the fitteft courfe whereby to aduance that work, which was formerly fo worthily intended ; but alfo truly and plainly to write this Difcouery, as now I haue, how commodioufly & beneficially it may be proceeded on ; and fo (hipped fome of them to returne home againe, and gaue others leave to depart, all, excepting fixe only ; to whom I gaue directions for building an houfe, and imploying themfelves, otherwife than formerly they had done, vntill they heard from the gentleman that fent them thither : And fo they liued there pleafantly all the next winter." 24 WESTWARD HOE By leaving a certain percentage of seamen on the coast the number employed will be increased, the author estimates, by about a thousand a year; and, whereas but two hundred and fifty English ships then traded thither, he anticipates that the number will speedily swell to four hundred sail. Great, too, is his vexation at the wilful waste in which some of his countrymen there indulge, by cutting down and destroying the fine timber growing near the coast; nay, more lamentable still, " the Harbours and Rodes in New- found-land, that are fo beautifull and excellent, ordained by God for mips to ride fafe in at anchor," were actually suffering grievous injury through "the exceeding great flones," used by the fishermen " to preffe their drie fifh in their mips," being thrown by these improvident anglers " within three fadome of water," greatly to the detriment of ships and cables, an evil which called loudly for redress. The author then tells capitalists who may be unwilling to bestir themselves personally in this traffic, that it is possible for them to do so by proxy, and he intimates that this advice must not be classed with that of such imaginative mariners as would persuade them ' ' that on the coaft of Guinnie there, they might gather vp gold along the fea-fliore, wafhed vp by the fea in great abundance ; and likewife if they would aduenture to the Weft Indies, there they fhould load their fhips with Wheele-barrowes, and then (hare it by the pound ; and fuch like proiects." To encourage such as feel inclined to profit by the author's counsel, he now gives detailed directions by which their course may be shaped ; and, among other neglected sources of gain, he mentions the manufacture of salt for curing the fish, which can easily be done on the Newfound- land coast, to the saving of the sum annually paid for this commodity to Spain, Portugal, and France. Moreover, FOR AVALON. 25 service on this coast is much healthier than on that of the Indies ; and if the English settle here, the author anticipates that the fishing trade will fall almost wholly into their hands. Not that he would prevent foreigners from fishing if they chose, but that he believed they would eventually find it more to their profit to buy fish than to catch them. Settlers, too, might derive some gain from trade in furs. Again, "for trading thither and returning home thence, wee little feare the Turkes bondage and circumcifion, nor any outlandifh Inquifition, nor the Imbarkements of any Prince, nor fach contagious heates as thofe finde that trade neere the Lyne, neither the danger and hurt of Art - wormes, wherewith (hips that trade to mod parts fouthward are fome- times much hurt, nor many other hazards & inconueniences, to which foine of our other tradings are fubiect." Such as purpose going there are cheered by the pros- pect of being " farre from any of the Plantations of the King of Spaine," and of seeing numbers of their countrymen every year. Of " Pyrats," however, there was some small risk ; but " two good Ships of Warre, of 200 tunne apiece, and two Pinnaces of 40 tunne apiece well prouided " would amply suffice for protection (against a Peter Easton?), and the cost might easily be defrayed by a small percentage on the fishing profits. This method was adopted by the Dutch greatly to their benefit. Various harbours fit to receive settlers are now' enumerated by the author ; and as for the cold, of which some, through report, entertained a nervous dread, he invites his readers to reflect on " the great colde that is at times in Mufcouia, Sweidon, Norway, Spruceland, Poland, Denmarke, and other Eafterne and Northerne parts of the world, where the people Hue well and grow rich ; " and he drives his argument home thus : 1 " It hath beene in fome winters fo hard frozen in the Riuer of Thames, aboue London-bridge near the Court, that the tenderest faire Ladies and 26 WESTWARD HOE gentlewomen that are in' any part of the world, who haue beheld it, and great numbers of people, haue there sported on the ice many clayes together, and haue felt it colder there, then men doe that Hue in Newfoundland. " To the truth of the author's statement concerning New- foundland temperature, " one Master John Guy, late Maior of the Citie of Bristoll, that liued there two yeeres to- gether," can certify. Icebergs and fogs are next noticed, and reasons are given for their prevalence ; whilst such parts of the island as are " rockie & mountainous " are said by the author to be no worse than sites seen by him in Norway, Biscay, Portugal and Spain. Still, at times, the objections raised to his favourite project seem to have inclined him to despond. But he takes comfort from reflecting on the patience of Columbus. " And although that fithence I prefumed to write this Difcourfe, I haue been often difhartened from proceeding herein : Yet, when I did remember Columbus his good indeuours, that firft and patient Discouerer of the West Indies, whom, if God had not hartenecl him on with a worthy mincle, andabofome armed for all the ftormes of croffe fortunes, he had neuer finifhed that Honourable attempt for finding fuch an happy bufmefle out, the which Difcouery of his hath euer fince filled the Spanifli Gofers with gold and filuer, and made that Nation Lords of the greateft riches vnder the Sunne : and although that attempt of his was held at firft impoffible to come to any good effect, & Columbus laught at by fome : yet euer fithece, by his attempt I may fay, that Spaine hath had fro thence to helpe to furnifh other Criftian Kingdomes with gold, filuer, and diners other great riches ; and alfo now to that country fo difcouered, thofe commodities that great Brittaine may yeerely well fpare, and other Countries also, are the better vented : and fo likewise may be the New-found-land and the parts of America, neere thereunto, proue beneficiall for diners trades in little time." Now, drawing near the end of his " discovery," the author FOR AVALON. 27 touches on his official voyage to Newfoundland, when he set forth from " the Port of Exceter, in the County of Deuon, on the 1 1 day of May 1615 in a Bark victualled and manned with 1 1 men and boyes at my owne charge." On the fourth of June, being Trinity Sunday, he anchored in Trinity Harbour, and there, " in the name of the holy and in- diuiduall Trinity," he called together, by virtue of his commission, the masters of the English ships there lying, and " fo began to hold the firft Court of Admiralty in your Maiefties name, that euer was (as I beleeue) holden in that Countrey to the vfe of any Chriflian Prince, and proceeded therein according to courfe of Lawe, as the tenor of my Commiffion did warrant me therein ; and alfo in other Harbors of the faid Coafl I did the like." Having carefully inquired into the disorders committed on the coast, the masters of a hundred and seventy English ships delivered to the author, under their hands and seals, their " prefent- ments," which, in turn, he transferred to the High Court of Admiralty. These presentments are summarised under twelve heads, and they comprise Non-observance of the Sabbath day ; injury to the harbours, by casting into them large stones ; stealing boats and gear ; destroying fishing- stages and huts; monopoly of convenient space; entering the service of other countries ; burning down the woods ; and lastly, idleness, which was considered, doubtless, the parent of pretty nearly all the foregoing evils. Having thus put on record their opinions, they decreed that these disorders should cease a laudable resolution, which, with no tribunal to enforce it, was, it is to be feared, for some time at least, impotent. Next, gathering the threads of his " discovery " together, the author thanks God that he had been permitted to describe the many benefits to his countrymen which colonization of the island would 28 WESTWARD HOE produce ; and he concludes by appealing to the king and to the people thus : "And thefe excellent benefits diflribute themfelues, between your Maieflie and your Subiects : your Highnefle part will be the Honour of the Adlion ; the accefle of Territory, increafe of ftrength and power, aduantage againft other Princes, augmentation of Reuenew, and eafe of your Maieflies Kingdomes, &c. The Subjects part will be the bettering and fecuring of their Trade ; inriching of themfelues ; reliefs of other Trades ; and a meanes of further Difcoueries. ' ' But thefe two haue a relation and dependency, the one on the other, that neither can fubfift without the other. I will not therefore diuide your Maicftie from your Subiects ; your Highnefle profperitie being their happinefle ; and their wealth, your Maiefties riches. " The firft thing which is to be hoped for, and which hath euer been your Maiefties principall care, is the propagation of the Chriftian faith : and by that meanes onely, the poore vnbeleeumg Inhabitants of that Countrey may be brought to the knowledge of God, and a ciuill kinde of gouernement : and it is not a thing impoffible, but that from thofe flender beginnings which may bee made in New-found-land, all the regions adioyning (which betweene this place, and the countries actually poffeffed by the King of Spaine, and to the north of New-found-land, are fo fpacious as all Europe) may be conuerted to the true worfhip of God. "The next is, the vniting of a Countrey so beneficiall already, and fo promifmg vnto your Maiefties Crowne, without bloodfhed, charge, or vsurpation, which muft needs be a perpetuall Honour to your Maieftie, in all fucceeding ages ; neither will it be an Honour onely to your Highnefle, but a benefit to the State, by a new accefle of Dominion. And what Prince can enlarge his Territories by a more eafie and more iuft meanes then this, seeing that of right it appertaineth to your Maieftie, and therefore deferues to be imbraced ? "Now if it pleafe your moft excellent Maieftie not onely to lend your eare to a Proiect of this nature, but alfo to approue the matter proiected, and vouchfafe the furtherance therein, the which out of my foules deuotion, and zealous affection to do feruice to your Maieftie and your Kingdomes, I tender on my knees ; moft humbly befeeching your Highaefle, both to accept of my honeft and zealous intent, as alfo to pardon my boldnefle and prefumption therein ; for it is, and fo FOR AVALON. 29 hath euer been my refolution, rather to beare the burden of pouerty, than iuflly to deferue, or giue caufe of reproach ; and to subiect all the dayes of my life, and the manifold dangers thereof, thereby to approue my felfe a profitable member, both to your Maieflie, and to my countrey that gaue mee my firfl breath ; for which onely caufe I haue adventured to publifh this my fimple and plaine Difcourfe, whereunto my very confcience hath a long time, and still doth not forbeare to follicite me. " The profecution and perfection of the worke, I leatie to the pleafure of God, and your Maiefties happy directions, in the difcourfe and dif- couery whereof, if I haue either been tedious, or any other way offen- fiue, it is to be imputed to my want of learning : and so, though perhaps I doe not fatisfie fome men's curiofities, yet I hope I haue fufficiently informed their Judgements ; and befeech God to incline their affections to the furtherance of fo pious and so profitable a bufmefle, as this appeareth to be. " And fo I reft, and euer will remaine, a faithfull and loyall SubiecT; to your Maieflie, an hearty and true loner of my Countrey, and a zealous wellwiflier to this intended plantation. " RICHARD WHITBOURNE.' At THEOBALDS, the 12 of April! 1622. HE COPY OF A REFERENCE FROM THE KINGS MOST EXCELLENT MA1ESTY : As ALSO A LETTER FROM THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORDS OF HIS MAJESTIES MOST HONOURABLE PRIUY COUNCELL, TO THE MOST REUEREND FATHERS IN GOD, THE LORDS ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY AND YORKE THEIR GRACES. IS Maiefty is grrciously pleased, that the Lords Archbifhops of Canterbury and Yorke, doe in their feuerall Prouinces proceed according to the Letters of the Lords of the Councell, bearing date the laft of June 1621, as well in recom- mending Captain WJMournes difcourfe con- cerning Neiv-foitnd-Iand, fo as the same may be liftributecl to the feueral Parifhes of this King- dome, for the incouragement of Adventurers vnto the Plantation there ; As alfo by furthering (in the mofl fauorable and effectuall maner they can) the collections to be thereupon made in all the faid Parifhes, towards the charge of printing and distributing thefe bookes, and the faid Captaine Wlntbonrni? s good endeauours, and feniice with expence of his time and meanes in the aduancing of the faid Plantation; and his feuerall great loffes receiued at Sea by Pyiats and otherwife, of which his Maiefty hath beene credibly certified. And further his Maiefties pleafure is that the faid Captaine Whitboutne fhallhaue the fole printing of his booke for one-and-twenty yeeres. God fait e the King. WESTWARD HOE FOR AVALON. 33 FTER our very hearty com- mendations to your good Lordfhips, whereas Cap- taine Richard Whitbourne of Exmouth in the county of Deuon, Gentleman, hauing fpent much time in New- found-land (whither he hath made fundry voyages and fome by expreffe commif- fions) hath fet downe in wry ting diuers good obferua- tions and notes touching the ftate and condition of that country, and the plantation there, wl.ich being by order from vs now printed : It is defired to be publifhed throughout the Kingdome, for the furthering and aduancement of the faid Plantation, and to giue incouragement to fuch as fhall be willing to aduenture therein, and aflift the fame, either in their perfons or otherwife, to which we thinke the publication of this booke may much conduce. And we doe giue good approbation to his good indeauours and purpofe. So haue we thought fit earneftly to recommend him vnto your Lordfhips good fauours, both for the diftribution of his Books within the Prouinces of Canterbury and Yorke, vnto the feuerall Parifhes thereof, and alfo for your Lordfhips helpe and furtherance, that after his great trauels and charges, wherein he hath fpent much of his time and meanes, hauing long time been a Merchant of good cflate, he may reape by your Lord- ihips affiftance fome profit of his labours, and towards the printing and diftributing the faid Bookes by fuch a voluntary contribution, as D 34 WESTWARD HOE FOR AVALON. flialbe willingly giucn and collected for him within the feuerall parifh churches of the faid Prouinces : which will be both a good incourage- ment vnto others in the like indeauours for the feruice of their country and fome reward to him for his great charge, trauels, and diners lofles at fea which he hath receiued, as we are credibly certified. And fo recommending him earnestly to your good Lordfhips, We bid your Lordfhips very heartily farewell. From Whitehall the laft day of June 1621. Signed by the Lord Treafurer, Lord Priuie Scale, Duke of Lenoxe, Marqueffe Ham- bleton, Earlc of Arundell, Earle of Kelley, Lord Vifcount Doncafter, Lord Vifcount Falkland, Matter Treafurer, Master Secretary Calvert Master of the Rollcs. TO THE HIGH AND MlGHTIE PRINCE, JAMES, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, KING OF GREAT BRITTAINE, FRANCE, AND IRELA.NDE, DEFENDER OF THE FAITH, ETC. Hlost grcub Smunugnc j)T hath alwaies been my chiefeft fludie and prac- i tice, to ferue your Maieftie and my Countrey : the intent of my beft labors that way, I haue put into the following Difcouery, and, vpon good approbation thereof by diners of your Maiefties moft Honourable Priuy Councell, haue beene in- couraged to offer vp the fame Worke vnto your Ma.eftie. I confeffe my weakneffe fuch, that I cannot put fo fit a garment vpon it, either of ftile or method, as I conceiue the matter itfelfe de- ferueth. The fubflance of the worke, I fubmit to your Maiefties wifdome and iudgement ; the errors and things needleffe, to your Highneffe pardon. The purpofe thereof, is, with your Gracious allowance, to beget a difpofition in all your Maiefties Subiecls, for a Plantation in the New-found-land, grounded vpon reafon of induftry, both generally and particularly profitable to the Vndertakers and Pofterities, as we!J in matters of wealth, as alfo the meanes for increafe of Defence and Power ; which will the better goe forward, when your Maiefties Sub- 36 WESTWARD HOE FOR AVALON. je<5ls are made acquainted, with what facility it may be vndettaken ; and fo to worke the more effecluall impreffion in them, when they fliall vnderfland, that it is an Hand, neere as fpacious as Ireland, and lieth fo far diftant from the Continent of America, as England is from the neerefl part of France, and neere halfe the way between Ireland and Virginia, and the mod part of it aboue three degrees nearer the South than England, and hath been already well approued by fuch of your Maielties Subjects as have liued there aboue ten yeeres, that the Countrey is very healthfull and pleafant in the Winter. How commo- dious and beneficially that Land may be peopled with fmall charge, and proue profitable to the Vndertakers, and not hurtfull to any of your Maiefties Subiects, the following Difcourfe will make it plainly appeare, the which was prefented vnto your Maieflie at Huntingdon in October laft ; fince which time, it hath pleafed fuch of the Lords of your Maiefties mod Honourable Priuy Councell, at Whitehall, the 24 of July laft then prefent, to giue mee incouragement with their good approbation thereunto ; and ordered, that the booke mould be printed, with this further addition of their Honours favour, to be recommended to the Lord Archbifhop of Canterbury, and the reft of the Lords Bifhops, to be diftributed to the feuerall Parifhes of your Maiefties Kingdome, for the better incouragement of fuch as fhall be willing to affift that Plantation, either in their perfons or otherwife. And if your Maiefties Subiedls put it in triall to vndertake ; I truft, God will giue a bleffing to the fucceffe, whereof I haue only made a true and plaine Relation of the truth : if I fhould write other than the truth, there are many in your Maiefties Kingdomes that haue often traded to that Countrey, whom I fuppofe will be ready to difproue me. Thus being loth to be too tedious, I moft humbly recommend to God, and to your Maieftie, my endeuours, the fucceffe thereof, and my poore felfe, Your Maiefties moft humble and faithfull Subiect RICHARD WHITBOVRNE. HIS MAJESTIES GOOD SUBIECTS. AUING had my breeding for many yeeres together in the courfes of Merchandizing and Nauigation, I haue, through the expence of my tyme in that calling, fet this downe to my felfe, for my duty therein, to obferue and collect, wherein my labours might become profitable to my Countrey ; and the rather, becaufe I could not be ignorant, how much the maintenance and increafe of Shipping and Mariners con- cernes us, who may fitly be ftiled The nation of the Sea ; which generall reafons were more and more commended to me, by more particular confiderations offered me, in the notice I took of the difpofi- tion and affaires of other States, to which ours hath relation ; fome poynts whereof cannot now feafonably be mentioned ; fome others proper to what I difcourfe of, will prefent themfelves in their places, as I mail goe along in giuing account of my endeuours. Among my vndertakings and imployments in feafaring, the mofl part haue been to an Hand, called New-found-land, in part heretofore outwardly difcouered, but netier looked into by thofe difcouerers as it defamed ; from the beginning I found it promife well, in refpect of the ^89463 38 WESTWARD HOE purpose, I had to gather fomething for the bettering of the Common- wealth ; and the more I made tryall of it, the more fatisfaction it gaue me. Therefore I affected that course better than any other I fell vnto ; infomuch as I did fo fix my induftrie vpon it, that for the qualifying of my trauels, I obtained Commiffion of the State to proceede in it, and am now come to propound to my countreymen the benefit they may make of an orderly Plantation and Traffique there: the following Difcourfe will fatisfie them if they will forgiue the vnhanfomenes of the forme it is put into, and look into the matter it felfe only. The Hand of New-found-land is large, temperate and fruiteful, Ihe fruhfulneffe of it confifting not only in things of fuftenance for thofe that fhall inhabite it, but in many forts of Commodities likewife of good life and valew to be tranfported. The Natiues in it are ingenuous, and apt by difcreete and moderate gouernments to be brought to obedience. The feat is fit for Harbour and reliefe, vpon the way betweene vs and Virginia, and confequently of aduantage to vs in any action that may engage us, either by way of offence or attempt, in regard of thofe parts of the World. The Seas are fo rich, as they are able to aduance a great Trade of Fifhing ; which, with God's bleffing, will become very feruiceable to the Nauie ; and the increafe of Fifhing there, cannot defpaire of finding Fortes enow to vent the commoditie at profitable rates. Now if you would vnderfland what motiues wee haue at home with vs to carry vs thither, doe but looke vpon the populoufnefs pf our Countrey, to what a furfet of multitude it is fubiect ; confider how charitable for thofe that goe, and how much eafe it will be for thofe that flay, to put forth fome of our numbers to fuch an imployment of liuing. Compare the Englifh nature with others ; and finde whether wee haue not as much courage as they both to vndertake and mantaine ; only wee lofe it in hauing leffe induftry. Turne then towards the Lowe Countries ; behold how they haue wonne vpon us, by taking aduantage of our fitting ftill ; (and mod remarkable in this point of fifhing) which if their Audit were publifhed, would be found (I beleeue) one of the bed Agents they have, both for their flrength and wealth. There is another motiue alfo, which amongft our Aunceftors was wont to finde good refpecl, namely, the honour of the action, by the enlarg- ing of Dominions ; and that which will crowne the worke, will be the aduancement of the honour of God, in bringing poore Infidels (the Natiues of that Countrey) to his Worfhip and their own faluation. FOR AVALON. 39 I commend the defigne to the entertainement of his Maieftie and his Kingdomes : becaufe I efteeme it fuch a one as deferues, not only to be vndertaken, but to be gone thorow withall. And as it is a Proiecl of no fantafie in mee, but a truth grounded vpon a well-weighed experience ; fo haue I not prefumed to publifli it but vpon good approbation, as hath already appeared. If thefe confiderations, with many others here omitted, but contained in the enfuing Difcourfe, may worke an impreffion in the affections of his Maiefties subiects, for the aduancement of God's glory, their owne and their Countries profperity, it (hall be fome content toward the great paines, loffes of time, and expence of my meanes that I haue fuftained in the profecuting thereof, for which I truft you will at lead returne your thankfull acceptance ; and fo I remaine Your louing friend R. W. I well know, that it is an hard matter to perfwade people to aduenture into flrange Countries ; efpecially to remaine and fettle themfelues there, though the conditions thereof be neuer fo beneficiall and aduantageous for them : yet I cannot be out of all hope, that when it fhal be taken into confidera- tion, what infinite riches and aduantages other Nations (and in particular the Spaniards and Portugals) haue gotten to themfelues by their many Plantations, not onely in America, but alfo in Barbary, Guinnie, Binnie, and other places : And when it fhall plainely appeare, by the following Discourse, that the countrey of New-found-land (as it is here truely described) is little inferior to any other for the Commodities thereof ; and lies, as it were with open armes towards England, offering itfelfe to be imbraced, and inhabited by vs ; I cannot be out of hope (I fay) but that my Countrymen will be induced, either by thriuing examples of others, or by the ftrength of reafon, to hearken, and put to their helping hands to that, which will in all likelyhood yeeld them a plentifull reward of their labors. But before I enter into a discourse of the countrey itfelfe, I hold it fit to make knowne partly the meanes and degrees, whereby I attained vnto the experience and knowledge I haue thereof. And firft, for mine owne poore eftate and condition, it is well- knowne that my breeding and courfe of life hath been fuch, as that I haue long time fet many people on worke, and fpent mod of my dayes in trauell, fpecially in Merchandizing, and Sea Voyages. I haue been often in France, Spaine, Italy, Portugall, Sauoy, Denmarke, Norway, Spruceland, the Canaries, and Soris Hands : and for the New-found- land, it is almoft fo familiarly knowne to me as my owne Countrey. WESTWARD HOE FOR AVALON. 41 In the yeere 1588, I ferued vnder the then Lord Admirall, as Captaine in a fhip of my owne, fet foorth at my charge againl the Spanifh Armada : and after fuch time as that feruice was ended, taking my leaue of his Honour, I had his fauourable Letters to one Sir Robert Dennis, in the County of Deuon, Knight ; whereby there might bee fome courfe taken, that the charge as well of my owne fhip, as alfo of two other, and a Pinnace, with the victuals, and men therein imployed, fhould not be any way burthenfome to me. Wherein there was fuch order giuen by the then right Honourable Lords of the priuie Councell, that the fame was well fatisfied ; which feruice is to bee feene recorded in the Booke at White-Hall. Now, to expreffe fome of my Voyages to the New-found-land, which make moft for the prefent purpofe . My firft Voyage thither, was about 40. yeeres fince, in a worthy fhip of the burthen of 300. Tunne, fet forth by one Mafter Cotton of South- hampton ; we were bound to the grand Bay (which lieth on the North - fide of that Land,) purpofing there to trade then with theSauage people (for whom we carried fundry commodities) and to kill Whales, and to make Trayne oyle, as the Bifcaines doe there yeerely in great abundance. But this our intended Voyage was ouerthrowne, by the indiscretion of our Captaine, and faint-heartedneffe of fome gentlemen of our company: whereupon we fet faile from thence, and bare with Trinity Harbor in New-found-land : where we killed great ftore of Fish, Deere, Beares, Beauers, Scales, Otters, and fuch like, with abundance of Sea-fowle, and fo returning for England, we arriued fafe at South-hampton. In a voyage to that Countrey about 36. yeeres fince, I had then the command of a worthy fhip of 220. Tun, fet forth by one Mafter Crooke of South-hampton : At that time Sir Humfrey Gilbert, a Deuonfhire Knight, came thither with two good Ships and a Pinnace, and brought with him a large Patent, fio the late moft renowned Queene Elizabeth, and in her name took poffeffion of that Countrey, in the Harbour of S. Johns, whereof I was an eye-witneffe. He failed from thence towards Virginia ; and by reafon of fome vnhappy direction in his courfe, the greateft fhip he had, ftrucke vpon Shelues, on the Coaft of Canadie, and was there loft, with moft part of the company in her : And hee himfelfe being then in a fmall Pinnace of 20. Tun, in the Company of his Vice- Admiral (one Captain Hayes) returning towards England, in a great ftorme, was ouerwhelmed with the Seas, and fo perished. In another voyage I made thither, about 34. yeeres paft, wherein I 42 WESTWARD HOE had the command of a good fliip partly mine owne ; at that time one Sir Bernard Drake of Deuonfhire, Knight, came thither with a Com- miffion, and hauing diners good Ships vnder his command, he there tooke many Portugall Ships laden with fifli, and brought them into England as Prizes. Omitting to fpeake of other Voyages I made thither, during the late Queenes Raigne, I will defcend to later times. In the yeere 1612, being in New-found-land, at which time that famous Arch- Pirate, Peter Easton, came there, and had with him ten fayle of good fhips well furnifhed and very rich, I was kept eleuen weekes vnder his commaund, and had from him many golden promifes and much wealth offered to be put into my hands, as it is well knowne: I did perswade him much to defist from his euill courfe ; his intreaties then to me, being, that I would come for England, to fome friends of his, and follicite them to become humble petitioners to your Maieftie for his pardon : but hauing no warrant to touch fuch goods, I gaue him thanks for his offer ; onely I requested him to releafe a fliip that he had taken vpon the Coast of Guinnie, belonging to one Captaine Raflily of Foy in Cornewall ; a man whom I knew but only by report : which he accordingly releafed. Whereupon I prouided men, victuals, and a fraught for the faid (hip, and so sent her home to Dartmouth in Deuon, though I neuer had fo much as thanks for my kindneffe therein. And fo leaning Easton, I came for England, and gaue notice of his intention, letting paffe my Voyage that I intended for Naples, and loft both my labour and charges : for before my arriuall, there was a Pardon granted, and fent him from Ireland. But Easton houering with thofe fhips and riches vpon the Coafl of Barbary, as he promifed, with a longing defire, and full expectation to be called home, loft that hope, by a too much delaying of time by him who carried the pardon. Whereupon he fayled to the Straights of Gibraltar, and was afterwards entertained by the Duke of Sauoy, vnder whom he liued rich. I was there alfo in the yeere 1614, when Sir Henry Manwaring was vpon that Coafl, with fiue good Ships ftrongly prouided ; he caufed me to fpend much time in