ST. HELENA ii 



partridges, pheasants and turkeys, with a large number of 

 goats and wild pigs. We do not read again of the visit of 

 an English ship till 1591, when Captain Kendall (of the ship 

 Royal Merchant), who commanded one of the first three 

 ships which set out for India, could, owing to sickness in the 

 fleet, get no further than the Cape of Good Hope. These 

 first three ships were the Royal Merchant, the Penelope 

 (Captain Raymond) and the Bonaventure (Captain Lan- 

 caster). It was deemed advisable by them that the Royal 

 Merchant should return with the sick men of the squadron 

 who were exhausted by scurvy ; so on her passage home she 

 called at the island, where her debilitated sailors derived 

 much benefit. The other two ships were afterwards 

 separated in a gale, and the Admiral (Raymond) was never 

 heard of more. Lancaster, however, reached India. Return- 

 ing after many disasters he reached St. Helena on 

 April 3, 1593, making a stay of nineteen days. Accord- 

 ing to the accounts given of his visit, it was not the place 

 of plenty and beauty described by Captain Cavendish. 

 When the sailors landed, their attention was attracted by 

 a voice singing within the chapel, which they entered. 

 Their sudden appearance greatly alarmed the forlorn singer, 

 until he found they were his own countrymen, and, to add 

 to his delight, he recognized amongst them some of his old 

 companions. This man (John Legar) was one of those 

 whom it had been deemed necessary to send home in the 

 Royal Merchant, but his disease on the voyage had made 

 such progress that he had been left by Captain Kendall 

 at St. Helena, as the only chance of saving his life. His 

 comrades had made him two suits of goat skins, and his diet, 

 together with the climate of the place, had completely 

 restored him to bodily health; but the sudden transition 

 from a state of apprehension that he might never return to 

 his native land, to joy, at the sight of his countrymen, and 

 the contemplation of once more seeing his home, was too 

 much for him ; for having taken no rest nor sleep during 

 eight days, he died from exhaustion and debility. 



In 1603, Captain Lancaster made another call. He was 

 then in one of a fleet of four ships outward bound in the 

 interests of the East India Company. At this time the 

 island was the resort of Dutch and Spanish ships as well as 



