and Letter to LorAB unfdon. 27.' Obfervations upon his Voyage 28. Other Circumftancei . of his Life, 
and the Occajion of his undertaking a Second Voyage. 29. A concife Account of that V oy age 3 hn unfor- 
tunate Attempt at the Magellanic Sir eights, and Death through Grief 
1, TT T was the conftant Policy of the Reign of Queen 
I Elizabeth , to encourage, as much as poffible, the 
ft Flame of public Spirit in the Bofoms of private 
Men, by fhewing, upon all Gccafions, the greateft Readi- 
nefs to honour all thofe who did remarkable Service to their 
Country, though fhe was very fparing of any fuch Marks 
of her Favour upon other Occafions. By this wife Con- 
duct, and by her frequent Difcourfes in Public, on the 
Glory refulting from an adtive Life, fhe excited many of 
the young Nobility, and Gentlemen of eafy Fortunes, to 
hazard their Perfons and Eftates for the public Service y 
making the Want of Fame to be as much a real Neceffity, 
as the Want of Wealth $ uniting thereby the Rich, who 
defired Honour, and the Indigent, who fought a Living, 
in the very fame Pur fuits. Thus it was brought about, 
that, in her Reign, fuch Men were of moft Ufe to their 
Country, as, under other Reigns, are fcarce of any Ufe at 
all : For, when it was once difcerned, that Merit only 
could recommend a Man at Court, thofe were moft ready 
to expofe themfelves in generous Undertakings, whofe 
Situation in the World would, at any other Time, have 
excufed them from fuch Labours and Fatigues. Thus the 
Earls of Cumberland and EJfex , Sir Richard Greenville , Sir 
Walter Raleigh , Sir Humphry Gilb&rt, Sir Robert Dudley , 
and many other Perfons of like Rank, employed great 
Sums of Money, and expofed their Perfons to the greateft 
Dangers, in equipping Squadrons againft the Spaniards , 
making Difcoveries in diftant Parts of the World, planting 
Colonies, and fuch-like Undertakings, which were the 
Glory of thofe Times, and the Wonder of ours. Amongft 
thefe, no Man diftinguifhed himfelf more, than the Gentle- 
man of whom we are now to fpeak q , whether we confider 
the Expence he was at, the Difficulties he went through, 
or the Succefs of his Exploits, all of which were due to 
that Greatnefs of Mind, and ardent Thirft of Reputation* 
which taught him to delpife Danger, and to embrace Fa- 
tigues, at an Age, when other Men are not only fond of 
Pleafures, but think too, that the Seafon of their Lives is 
a Efficient Excufe for the Luxury in which they live, 
2. Thomas Candifh , of Trimley, or Tremley , in the 
County of Suffolk , Efquire, was a Gentleman of an ho- 
nourable Family, and large Eftate, which, lying in the 
Neighbourhood of Ipfwich , a Place then of very great 
Trade, gave him an early Inclination to the Sea j which, 
as foon as he arrived at Age, he gratified, by converting 
Part of his Lands into Money, and equipping a ftout 
Bark, called the Tyger , of the Burden of 120 Tons, in 
which .he accompanied Sir Richard Greenville , in his 
Voyage to Virginia in 1585. in which he went through 
many Dangers and Difficulties, without any Profit ; but, at 
laft, returned fafe to Falmouth , on the 6th of Offober in 
the fame Year ; which, however, did not difcourage him 
from undertaking ftill greater arid more hazardous Expe- 
ditions : For, having in this Voyage feen a great Part of the 
Spanijh JVeJl Indies , and Converfed with fome who had 
failed with Sir Francis Drake through the South Seas, and 
round by the Eajt Indies , he began to be very defirous of 
undertaking a like Voyage, as well for repairing the Lofs he 
had fuftained by this Expedition, as to emulate that great 
and fortunate Officer, who was by this Time raifed to the 
higheft Plonours of his Profeffion, As foon, therefore, 
as he returned home, he applied himfelf to the Prepara- 
tions expedient for the accomplifiiing hisDefign j and either 
fold or mortgaged his Eftate, to make up the Sum necef- 
fary for building and equipping Two fuch Ships as were 
requifite for the Voyage ; and, though fuch kind of Mat- 
ters ufually take up a good deal of Time, yet fo eager, and 
fo impatient, was Mr. Candifh, that, in the Space of a Month, 
his Carpenters were at work upon the largeft Ship, and, in 
Six Months more, his little Squadron was intirely finifhed, 
and completely furnifiied with all Things neceffary h 
3. The largeft Ship was called the Defire , of thb 
Burden of 140 Tons ; the leffer was named the Content, of 
about 60 Tons ; to thefe he added a Bark of about 40 
Tons, called the Hugh Gallant, all fupplied at his own 
Expence, with Two Years Provifieri, and manned with 
an Hundred and Twenty-fix Officers and Sailors *, fome of 
which had ferved under Sir Francis Drake,, but moft of 
them Men of Experience •, and with whom, for their 
better Encouragement, he entered into a fair Agreement 
with refpeft to the Proportion in which all Prizes fhould be 
divided amongft them. He was likewife very careful in 
providing Sea Charts, Draughts, Maps, £lnd fuch Accounts 
as could be obtained of V byages already made into thofe 
Parts which he intended to vifit. ( He likewife procured, 
by the Favour of his Patron the Lord Hunfdon, then Lord 
Chamberlain, a Commiffion kxomQutzn Elizabeth z And 
thus, completely Mafter of all that he wanted, he fet out 
from London, July 10. 1586. fox Harwich, where he em- 
barked on board the Defire , and failed for Plymouth , where 
he arrived the Eighth of July , and Continued there waiting 
for fome of his Company till the 21ft, when he hoifted 
Sail for his intended Voyage. On the 25th of the fame 
Month died one Mr. Hope , of a Wound he received in a 
Duel he fought during their Stay at Plymouth. The next 
Day they fell in with Eight Ships from Bifcay , well mann’d, 
one of which attacked the Admiral ; but Mr. Candijh gave 
her fo warm a Reception, that fhe was glad to fheer off 5 
and the reft, deterred by her Example, continued their 
Courfe, and gave him no Difturbance ; and the Admiral 
did not continue the Chace, becaufe it grew dark, and he 
was afraid to lofe his Conforts. On Augitft 5. they fell in 
with the Ifland of Forteventura , where they met with no- 
thing remarkable, faffing thence to Cape Blanco , and fa 
to the Coaft of Guiney, with which Navigation Mr. Brewer, 
who was ori board the Admiral, was very Well acquainted. 
Here the Men began to complain much of the Scurvy, 
and therefore the Officers refolved to put fome of them 
ori Shore for their Recovery, as foon as an Opportunity 
offered with Safety. Auguft 23. they made Sierra Leona ; 
and, the 25th, fell in with the South Side of it, where 
they had Five Fathom Water at the loweft ; and, for about 
Fourteen Leagues at the South-weft, all the Way running 
into the Harbour, they had from Eight to Sixteen Fathom, 
Here they fpoiled a Town of the Negroes, who killed one 
of their Men with a poifoned Arrow, September 3. fome 
of them Went rip with the Boat Four Miles within the 
Harbour, where they Caught plenty of Fiffi, and, going 
on Shore, they got fome Lemons, feeing fome Buffaloes 
too as they were returning. The 6th, they Went out of the 
Harbour of Sierra Leona, arid ftaid one Tide, Three 
Leagues from the Point of the Harbour’s Mouth, the 
Tide there flowing at South-weft. 
4. The Seventh they departed from one of the Ifles of 
Cape Vend, which is Ten Leagues from the Point of Sierra 
Leona and the fame Day they anchored Two Miles off the 
Ifland, and, landing, found only Plantanes upon it, The 
Eighth, one of the Boats went out, and founded. At the 
Eaft Erid was a Town, to which the Negroes refort fome- 
times, as by their Provifions left there appeared. There 
is no frelh Water on all the South Side, at leaft that they 
corild find ; but, on the North, there is in Three or Four 
Places. The whole Ifland is a perfeft Wood, except a 
few frnall Spots, where fome Houfes ftand •, and thefe are 
encompaffed round with Plantane-treeS, the Fruit of which 
is excellent Food. The Place is fubjedt to Storms of 
Rain and Thunder in this Month of September . They 
left this Ifland on the 10th ; and, on the laft of October , 
failing Weft South-weft, about Twenty-four Leagues from 
Cape Frio in Brafil, they fell in with a great Mountain, 
which had a high round Top, ftanding aloft like a little 
Town, November j. they went in between the Ifland St a 
*3 Hackluit, Pur chafs, Monfon, Camden, Stowe, &c. — » ■■■■■■ — • * See Menfin, an4 The Heroes of the Reign of Elizabeth', a MS* formerly' 
belonging to Mr, le Ni‘ " 
