SIR JOHN HAWKINS a.d. 



1565. 

 be surely gentle and tractable, and such as desire to 

 live peaceably, or els had it bene unpossible for the 

 Spaniards to have conquered them as they did, and the 

 more to live now peaceably, they being so many in 

 number, and the Spaniards so few. 



From hence we departed the eight and twentie, and 



the next day we passed betweene the maine land, and 



the Island called Tortuga, a very lowe Island, in the ^^^ ^^^^ °f 



yeere of our Lorde God one thousande five hundred '^^^^i^- 



sixty ^YQ, aforesaide, and sayled along the coast untill 



the first of Aprill, at which time the Captaine sayled 



along in the Jesus pinnesse to discerne the coast, and 



saw many Caribes on shore, and some also in their 



Canoas, which made tokens unto him of friendship, 



and shewed him golde, meaning thereby that they 



would trafBcke for wares. Whereupon he stayed to see 



the maners of them, and so for two or three trifles 



they gave such things as they had about them, and 



departed : but the Caribes were very importunate to 



have them come on shore, which if it had not bene for 



want of wares to traf?icke with them, he would not 



have denyed them, because the Indians which we saw 



before were very gentle people, and such as do no man 



hurt. But as God would have it, hee wanted that thing, 



which if hee had had, would have bene his confusion : 



for these were no such kinde of people as wee tooke 



them to bee, but more devilish a thousand partes and 



are eaters and devourers of any man they can catch, as 



it was afterwards declared unto us at Burboroata, by a 



Caravel comming out of Spaine with certaine souldiers, 



and a Captaine generall sent by the king for those 



Eastward parts of the Indians, who sayling along in his 



pinnesse, as our Captaine did to descry the coast, was 



by the Caribes called a shoore with sundry tokens made 



to him of friendshippe, and golde shewed as though 



they desired trafficke, with the which the Spaniard being 



mooved, suspecting no deceite at all, went ashore amongst 



them : who was no sooner ashore, but with foure or five 



29 



