Chap. I. Sir Thomas Cavendish. 
mg, that it had very much the fame Appearance with the 
Needles at the IJle of Wight , which had been before taken 
notice of by Sir Francis Drake's People, and has been 
confirmed by all who have failed thither fince. Within this 
Cape there is a very large Bay, called by the Spaniards 
Aguada Segura ; into which Bay there falls a fine frefh- 
water River, and on the Banks of it there are com- 
monly a great Number of Indians , who inhabit there 
during the Summer Seafon. Into this Bay they came, 
watered in the River, and remained there till the 4th of 
November , the Winds continuing all that time to hang 
jWefterly. They waited here for the Acapulco Ship. 
16. November 4. the Defire and the Content went beating 
up and down upon the Headland of California , which lies 
in 2 3 0 24 ; North Latitude; upon which Day, in the 
Morning, one of the Admiral’s Company, going up the 
Top-maft, fpied a Sail bearing in from the Sea with the 
Cape ; which he prefently fignified to the Company, with 
the joyful Exclamation of, A Sail, a Sail! The Admiral, 
having put all Things in Readinefs, fet forward in the 
Purfuit of her *, and, having chafed her Three or Four 
Hours, in the Afternoon came up with her, and fainted 
her with a Broad-fide, and a Volley of fmall Shot. They 
found her to be the St. Anne , belonging to the King of 
Spain, the Admiral of all the South Seas, and of 70c Ton 
Burden. Having boarded her, they found all Things in a 
good Pofture of Defence ; the Sails were laid clofe upon 
the Poop, the Mid-fhip, and the Forecaftle. All the Men 
flood clofe under Fights, which the Captain had raifed, 
provided with Targets, Javelins, Swords, and great Stones, 
which they threw into the Englifh Ship, and at them that 
had boarded theirs, forcing them to retire with the Lofs 
of Two Men, and Four or Five wounded. But the Ad- 
miral, making a frefh Attack with his great and fmall 
Shot, raked them through and through, killing and wound- 
ing great Numbers, as the Ship was full of Men ; yet they 
flood very tightly to their Bufinefs. But the next Broadfide 
reduced them to the laft Extremity, boring fuch wide 
Holes for the Water to pour in, that they faw they mull 
either yield or fink. Whereupon, hanging out a Flag of 
Truce, they defired the Admiral to fave their Lives, and 
they would yield their Ship, with all the rich Cargo, into 
his Hands. This he granted, but commanded them pre- 
fently to flrike their Sails, to hoifl out their Boat, and 
come aboard ; which was accordingly done by the Captain, 
the Pilot, and one of the chief Merchants. They told 
the Admiral what they had aboard, which appeared to be 
worth fighting for, fince there were 122,000 Pezoes of 
Gold, rich Siiks, Sattins, Damasks, Musk, with divers 
other Sorts of Merchandize, and all manner of Provifions, 
almoft as acceptable as their Riches. 
17. This Prize thus glorioufiy obtained, on November 
the 6th, they put into the Harbour Puerto Seguro, where 
all the Spaniards, both Men and Women, to the Number 
of 150, were fet afhore, the Admiral having chofen a 
very fruitful Spot for them to live upon ; and, befides, gave 
them good Store of Wine and Vi&uals, with the Sails of 
their Ship, and fome Planks, to build them little Houfes 
in the Country. The Owners thus difpofed of, the next 
thing was to fhare the Booty they had brought ; and here 
this ungrateful Work of Diftribution quickly involved the 
Admiral in the ill Circumflances of a Mutiny, every Man 
having a fharp Appetite to the Gold ; but no Man ever 
thinking he had enough. This Feud and Avarice ap- 
peared moll violently in the Content. But all was quickly 
and quietly compromifed by the candid Behaviour and Ge- 
nerofity of the Admiral, November 1 7. being her Majefty’s 
Coronation-day, they difcharged all their Ordnance and 
fmall Shot in both their Ships, and at Night continued 
the Celebration of the Feftival with Fireworks. The Ad- 
miral referved of the Prifoners in the Spanifh Ship, Two 
Japonefe Boys, and Three that, were Natives of the He of 
Manilla, a Portuguefe that had been in China and Japan, 
and a Spanifh Pilot of perfeft Knowledge in all the Parts 
between Acapulco and Nueva Efpanna , to the Hands of 
Ladrones. This Acapulco is the Haven from whence they 
fet out for the Philippines , as the Hands Ladrones are their 
Rated Places of Refrefhment. 
1 8. November 19. the Admiral, having difcharged the 
3 
Captain of the St. Anne with a noble Reward, and fuffi- 
cient Provifion for his Defence againft the Indians , fired 
the Ship itfelf, having to the Quantity of 500 Tons of 
Goods in her, and faw her burnt quite down to the Water’s 
Edge. And now this great Bufinefs being happily ac- 
complilhed, which they had fo long attended upon, they 
fet Sail very chearfully for England. But they had the 
Misfortune to lofe the Content, their Vice-admiral. She 
Raid fome little time behind them in the Road ; and they, 
expecting flie would overtake them, went on before, but 
never had her Company again. However, purfuing their 
own Voyage, they directed their Courfe to the Hands 
Ladrones , which are diftant from this Haven of Aguada 
Segura, near 1800 Leagues. And this took them up 
about forty-five Days, viz. from November 1 9 . to January 
3. Upon this Day, early in the Morning, they had Sight 
of one of the Hands Ladrones , called Guam, which lies 
in 1 3 0 40' North Latitude ; and, failing with a gentle Gale 
before the Wind, came up within Two Leagues of the 
Hand : Here they faw Sixty or Seventy Canoes full of 
Savages, that brought Cocoas, Plantanes, Potatoes, and 
frefh Fifh, to exchange for fome of their Commodities. 
They gave them fome Pieces of old Iron, which they 
hung on upon fmall Cords and Fifhing-lines, and fo let it 
vere to the Canoes ; and, by the fame Method, they got 
back to their own Ship what the Savages offered in 
Exchange. After the T raffick was ended, they came croud- 
ing with their Canoes about the Ship, and thruft in fo 
clofe, fome of them, that the Ship broke Two of their 
Canoes, though the Savages themfelves were none of them 
drowned, the Water being almoft as natural to them, as to 
the Fifties that live there : And fo they continued following 
the Ship, and would not leave the Company of it, till the 
Harquebuffes were difcharged at them, though ’tis ten to 
one if they killed any of them ; for, they are fo very 
nimble, that they drop immediately into the Water, and 
dive beyond the Reach of all Danger, upon the leaft 
Warning in the World. They were very large Men, extra- 
ordinary fat, of a tawny Colour, and wear their Hair 
mighty long for the moft part ; though fome have it tied, 
up in Knots upon the Crown, like the wooden Images that 
ftand at the Head of their Canoes. Thefe Canoes were 
very artificially made, confidering that no edged Tool was 
ufed about them ; they are about Seven or Eight Yards in 
Length, and half a Yard in Breadth, and their Heads and 
Stems were both alike : They are made with Rafts of Canes 
and Reeds on the Starboard Side, and have both Mails 
and Sails ; which latter are made of Sedges, and that either 
fquare or triangular. They have this excellent Property* 
that they will fail as well againft as before the Wind. 
19. January 14. by Break of Day, they fell in with a 
Head-land of the Philippine Hands, called Cab a del Spirito 
Santo. The Hand itfelf is large, high in the Middle, and 
depreffed to the Eaft and Weft Parts, and running a great 
way into the Sea Weftward : It lies in 30° North Latitude, 
and it is diftant from Guam ne Leagues, and about Sixty 
from Manilla, which is the chief of the Philippines. It is 
a woody Bland, and its Inhabitants are moftly Heathens. 
They fpent Eleven Days failing to this Place from Guam*, 
having fome foul Weather, and fcarce bearing any Sail at 
all for Two or Three Nights. Manilla is inhabited by 
Spaniards, who live there to the Number of Six or Seven 
hundred Perfons. It is an unwalled Town, and of no 
great Strength, though it has vaft Riches in Gold, and 
feveral good Commodities ; it has a conftant yearly Cor- 
refpondence with Acapulco, in Nueva Efpanna, befides 
Twenty or Thirty Ships from China , and the Trade of the 
Sangueloes , which is very profitable. Thefe Sangueloes 
are Chinefe Merchants, very Iharp and fenfible Men in all 
Matters of Trade and Merchandize, extremely ingenious 
in mechanical Contrivances, and the moft expert Embroi- 
derers in Silk and Sattin that are in the whole World 5 
they work any Form of Beall, or Fowl, or Fifh, in Gold, 
Silver, or Silk, with all the juft Proportion and Colour in 
every Part, and giving it all the Life and Beauty that an 
excellent Painter can do, or Nature herfelf bellows on the 
living. Original : And ’tis plain, that thefe Men muft 
bring a very gainful Trade to Manilla, fince they made no 
more of Gold than they did ; for, as they brought great 
Quantities 
