LOPEZ VAZ AD. 



1572-87. 

 see it. A]l this treasure that captaine Drake tooke was 

 merchants and other mens goods, saving one hundred and 

 eighty thousand pezos of the kings. He had also out 

 of this ship good store of victuals with other necessaries, 

 which were to bee caried for Panama and was five dayes 

 taking out of such things as hee needed. This done, he 

 sayled from hence to the coast of Nueva Espanna without 

 going to Panama. Surely this was a great plague of God 

 justly inflicted upon us for our sinnes : for the taking of 

 these ships is an especiail cause of all the dangerous warres 

 that are likely to ensue betweene Spaine and England. 



Now the ships that were sent by the Viceroy of Peru 

 from Lima after Francis Drake, arrived at Cape Sant 

 Francisco twenty dayes after hee had taken the foresayd 

 shippe, and had intelligence by a ship comming from 

 Panama, which they met at the sayd cape, that Francis 

 Drake had taken the ship with silver, and was not gone 

 for Panama. Whereupon the captaine of the three ships 

 thinking that captaine Drake had bene gone for the 

 Streights of Magellan, directed his course that way to 

 seeke him. 



Captaine Drake carried from the coast of Peru eight 

 hundreth sixty sixe thousand pezos of silver, which is as 

 much as eight hundred sixty sixe quintals, at 100 pound 

 weight the quintal, every quintal being worth one 

 thousand and two hundreth ducats of Spaine ; all which 

 summe amounteth to a million and thirtie nine thousand 

 and two hundreth ducats. Besides this silver hee caried 

 away a hundred thousand pezos of gold, that is ten 

 quintals, each quintal being valued at a thousand five 

 hundreth Spanish ducats, which last summe amounteth 

 to an hundreth and fifty thousand ducats : over and 

 besides the treasure in the sayd ship which was uncus- 

 tomed (the value whereof I cannot learne) consisting of 

 pearles, precious stones, reals of plate, and other things of 

 great worth. 



With all this purchase he sayled toward Nueva 

 Espanna ; and at an Island lying before that coast 



265 



