MILES PHILIPS A.D. 



1580-82. 



Mexico, and truely they had compassion of me, & 

 would spare of their victuals and any thing els that 

 they had to doe me good : amongst whom there was 

 one of them that told me that he understood by a 

 secret friend of his which often came to the prison to 

 him, that I shold be shortly sent backe againe to 

 Mexico by wagon, so soone as the fleete was gone 

 from S. John de UUua, for Spaine. This poore man 

 my prison-fellow of himselfe, & without any request 

 made by me, caused his said friend which came often 

 unto him to the grate of the prison, to bring him wine 

 and victuals, to buy for him 2 knives which had files 

 in their backes, which files were so wel made that 

 they would serve & suffice any prisoner to file off 

 his irons, & of those knives or files he brought one 

 to me, & told me that he had caused it to be made 

 for me, and let me have it at that very price it cost 

 him, which was 2 Pezos, the value of 8.s. of our 

 money: which knife when I had it, I was a joyfull 

 man, and conveied the same into the foote of my boot, 

 upon the inside of my left leg, and so within 3 or 4 

 dayes after that I had thus received my knife, I was 

 suddenly called for, & brought before the head Justice 

 which caused those my irons with the round bolt to 

 be stricken off and sent to a Smiths in the towne, 

 where was a new paire of bolts made ready for me of 

 another fashion, which had a broad iron barre comming 

 betweene the shackles, and caused my hands to be made 

 fast with a paire of manacles, and so was I presently 

 laid into a wagon all alone, which was there readie to 

 depart with sundry other wagons, to the number of 

 60. towardes Mexico, and they all were laden with 

 sundry merchandise which came in the fleete out of 

 Spaine. 



The wagon that I was in was foremost in all the 

 companie, and as we travelled I being alone in the 

 wagon, began to trie if I could plucke my hands out 

 of the manacles, and as God would, although it were 



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