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^^^^^^^^p ^^^H 


^^F tlDIje ^altlu^t ^ocittp. ■ 


^^^^^F THE DISCOVERT OF 


^^^^^m THE EMPIRE OF GUIANA, 


^^^^B Sir WALTER RALEGH. Knight. 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B f ^^^^^^^^^B 



/ « 



m • ■■ ■ 

~ • •• 






•''■><»•' .-■»'»'jj«,^ 



" * " • 



THE ' ^ '-- -•--•«:-. 



DISCOVERY 



OK THK 



LARGE, RICH, AND BEAUTIFUL 



EMPIRE OF GUIANA, 



WITH A RELATION OF 



THE GREAT AND GOLDEN CITY OF MANOA 

(which the SPANIARDS CALL EL DORADO), ETC. 

PERFORMED IN THE YEAR 1595, 



BY 

Sir W. RALEGH, Knt., 

CAPTAIN OP HER MAJESTT'S GUARD, LORD WARDEN OP THE STANNARIES, AND 
HER HIGHNESS'S LIEUTENANT-GENERAL OP THE COUNTY OF CORNWALL. 



REPRINTED FROM THE EDITION OF 1596, 
WITH SOME 

UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THAT COUNTRY. 

EDITED, 
WITH COPIOUS EXPLANATORY NOTES AND A BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR, 

BY 

Sir ROBERT H. SCHOMBURGK, Ph.D., 

Klf IGHT or THK BOTAL PRUSSIAN OBOXB OF THK BKD XAGLB, OF THE BOTAL SAXON OBDEB OF MERIT, 

OF THK FBBNCB OBDEB OF THE LEGION OF HONOUB, ETC. 



f^-* 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. 

M.DCCC.XLVIII. 

V 






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LONDON : 

PRINTED BY RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR, 

RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 



1 8705B 



- \ 



THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY. 



Council* 

SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, G.C.St.S., F.R.S., Corr. Mem. Inst. Fr., 
Hon. Mem. Imp. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, &c. &c., President. 

Vice-Admibal SIR CHARLES MALCOLM, Kwr.l „ 

•Vice-Presidents. 



The Rev. H. H. MILMAN, M.A. 



}■ 



CHARLES T. BEKE, ESQ., PH.D., F.S.A. 

CAPT. C. R. D. BETHUNE, R.N., C.B. 

CAPT. F. P. BLACKWOOD, R.N. 

MAJ.-GEN. J. BRIGGS, F.R.S. 

BOLTON CORNEY, ESQ., M.R.S.L. 

SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S. 

JOHN FORSTER, ESQ. 

J. E. GRAY, ESQ., F.R.S. 

JOHN WINTER JONES, ESQ. 

R. H. MAJOR, ESQ. 

R. MONCKTON MILNES, ESQ., M.P. 

CHARLES NEWTON, ESQ. 

REV. G. C. RENOUARD, M.A. 

W. B. RYE, ESQ. 

SIR ROBERT SCHOMBURGK, PH.D., K.R.E., K.S.M. 

ANDREW SMITH, ESQ., M.D. 

SIR GEORGE T. STAUNTON, BART., M.P., F.R.S. 

WILLIAM DESBOROUGH COOLEY, ESQ., F.R.G.S., Hon. Sec. 




How frequently are we reminded of the pleasures of 
former days by an accidental word, the perusal of a 
passage io a book, or by the view of a place associ- 
ated in thought with past enjoyments ! Scenes are 
then recalled to mind which had seemingly faded from 
the memory. Such was my case as I recently perused 
Sir Walter Ralegh's ' Discoverie of Guiana.' Every 
page, nay almost every sentence, awakened past 
recollections, and I felt in imagination transported 
once more into the midst of the stupendous scenery 
of the Tropics. As Her Majesty's Commissioner to 
survey the boundaries of British Guiana, I explored 
in 1841 that wondrous delta of the Orinoco : on that 
occasion I encamped at Punta Barima, visited the 
Amacura and Aratura, and traversed at a later pe- 
riod the regions which Keymis describes as the site 
of the gorgeous capital of El Dorado, with the sea- 



EDITOR 8 PREFACE. 



like lake, enlivened by its multitude of canoes ; what 
wonder therefore that I should read Ralegh's de- 
scriptions, expressed with such force and elegance, 
with the greatest dehght ? 

When requested by the Council of the Hakluyt 
Society to edit a reprint of Sir Walter Ralegh's 
' Discoverie of Guiana,' although a task more agree- 
able to my feelings could scarcely have been sug- 
gested, yet I hesitated, from a feeling of the diffi- 
culty for a foreigner to impart to the required notes 
and explanations the fluency and correctness of style 
which such a work deserves. These objections were 
overruled, and encouraged by the lenience with which 
some of my former labours have been judged^ I com- 
menced this work of love. 

The text of the ' Discoverie of Guiana' is here 
reproduced from the edition of 1596, without any 
alterations in the ancient orthography or the various 
spellings of proper names. The original text has 
invariably been adhered to, except where a typogra- 
phical error was evident. The work is accom- 
panied by copious notes, the places and circum- 
stances to which the author alludes being identified 
or explained from the Spanish and other historians, 
not only of that period but likewise of our own 
time. The manners and customs of the natives, the 



KOITOR S HREFAI 



deBcription of scenery and pliEenoraena of nature, 
have been so extensively commented on in the notes, 
that I almost fear incurring the reproach of having 
overburdened the text. My chief object was to prove, 
from circumstances which fell within my own expe- 
I rience, the general correctness of Ralegh's descrip- 
tions, and to exculpate him from ungenerous re- 
proaches. 

_ Jhe existence of two interesting documents in the 
Museum, which have not before been pub- 
, rendered it desirable to seize the present op- 
portunity of bringing them before the public. Of 
these documents, which were productions of Ralegh 
at two remarkable periods of his life, the first is en- 
titled "Of the Voyage for Guiana," and was pro- 
bably penned in the year 1596; the other is his au- 
tograph journal of that voyage, the ultimate result of 
which was his death on the scaffold. An interval of 
more than twenty years lies between these two docu- 
ments ; and it appeared to me that, to publish them 
■without filling up the intermediate chasm by a rapid 
sketch of the chief incidents of Ralegh's life during 
that period, would be like attempting to illustrate the 
geological structure of an extensive district by spe- 
cimeus of the rocks composing its mere extremities. 
I assume the reader to be acquainted with the chief 



EDITOR 8 PREFACE. 



events of Ralegh's life ; but as the connecting links 
of those events may have escaped his memory, the 
Introduction will be welcome. The biographical 
sketch accompanying the ' Discoverie of Guiana,' and 
the two Document3 just mentioned, form together a 
complete though succinct account, in the compilation 
of which I have spared no pains or research. 

In the composition of the biographical sketch, I 
have brought into view Ralegh's merits as the founder 
of the British colonial empire, and have devoted 
more space to this subject than I had originally in- 
tended ; it however appeared to me of paramount 
importance, in forming an opinion of the motives of 
this remarkable man. I do not deny that I am 
strongly biased in favour of Ralegh, but this partiality 
has not blinded me to his numerous failings ; on the 
contrary, it has induced me to judge his character 
with more strictness than I should have done if not 
conscious of such a leaning. 

It remains only to say a few words on the Map 
which accompanies this Work. Where pages of letter- 
press are required to explain the configuration of a 
coast, the course of a river or the situation of a place, 
a single glance at a map will convey to the mind's 
eye relative local positions, however complex, better 
than any verbal description. It was gratifying to find 



EDITOR^S PREFACE. xi 

that my proposition to illustrate Sir Walter Ralegh's 
journey up the Orinoco by a Map met with the ap- 
probation of the Council of the Hakluyt Society. 
This map is laid down in a great measure from per- 
sonal observations made during eight years' rambles 
through Guiana; the northern part of it has been 
chiefly constructed from Colonel Codazzi's Atlas of 
Venezuela. Where I have been able to identify the 
places^ rivers and islands mentioned in Ralegh's nar- 
rative, by inspecting ancient maps or otherwise, the 
name used by Ralegh has been added to the present 
one, in a style of printing which renders its discrimi- 
nation easy. 



R. H. S« 



Surbiton, Surrey, 
May, 1848. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The reign of Queen Elizabeth presents one of the 
most iateresting periods in the history of England. 
If we contemplate the master-spirits of that time, di- 
stinguished in literature, in enterprize, or in the new 
projects of colonization, as heroes or as politicians, 
we must acknowledge that the close of the sixteenth 
century offers the brightest examples, singly and col- 
lectively. The age of Shakespeare aud Spenser, in 
itself of an interest unparalleled in literature, exhi- 
bits at the same time statesmen like the Cecils and 
"Walsingham, heroes like Essex, Drake, and Howard, 
who triumphantly established the claim of England 
to be the mistress of the ocean ; and Spain, who had 
hitherto aspired to that distinction, was humbled by 
the victories of the English fleets under their com- 
mand. It was during this period that England founded 
her first colonies in America ; indeed the discoveries 
which each successive year brought to light, render 
that reign remarkably distinguished for maritime 
expeditions aud colonization. From whatever side 
we view this pleasing picture of England's fame, one 



IIV INTRODUCTION. 

man stands forth conspicuous alike as a soldier, a 
navigator, and an author ; and who, after having 
during this eventful sera attained a dazzling height 
of fame, was fated to lose his head in the succeeding 
reign upon the scaffold -. that man was Sir Walter 
Ralegh, 

Ralegh's name is one of the most renowned in 
history, and his melancholy fate has imparted to it 
a strong and peculiar interest. Although we cannot 
deny that as the founder of colonies, as the introducer 
or disseminator of two important articles of subsist- 
ence and luxury, as the promoter of commerce, as an 
active partaker in the glorious actions which led to 
the destruction of the Spanish Armada, the capture 
of Cadiz and the storming of Fayal, as an improver 
of naval architecture, but above all as the author of 
that remarkable work the ' History of the World,' 
his name would have been handed down to posterity 
with honour, yet his failings would have partially over- 
shadowed his fame, did he not also appear as a martyr, 
and the political victim of a pusillanimous prince. 

Sir Walter was the fourth and youngest son of 
Walter Ralegh', Esq. of Fardel, by his third wife 



' Ceyley bs^ s, " Few nHineB vary so much in the manner of writiiig it." 
We have seen it written in thirteen different ways, namely Bakgh, Ra- 
leghe, Raleigh, Rawleigh, Rawlie, Rawley, Ravily, Rauleigh, Raleigbc, 
Role, Real, Reali, Bslego. His original letters in the Harleian Collection, 
and hia MS. Journal of his Second Voyage, prove that Sir Walter himself 
nrote Ralegh. In the Commission for his seL'unil jounicy to Guiana it is 
written in Ryiner's ' Foedera' Ratvleigh, while the Commiaaion is headed, 
" De Commisaione SpeeiaU dilecto Waltero Rawley MiJiti concemente 
Voiagium Guianianuni." Sir Arthur Georges in a letter to Sir Robert 
Cecil writes it Rawly. In the copy of Sir Walter's arraignment, Sir 



\ 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

Catharine, daughter of Sir Philip Chatrpernon of 
Modbury, and relict of Otho Gilbert of Cotiipton in 
Devon'. The biographers of Ralegh generally admit 
p that he was born in 1552, at a farm called Hayes in 
I the parish of Budleigh in Devonshire, of which his 
father possessed the remainder of an eighty years' 
lease. We are entirely unacquainted with Ralegh's 
childhood ; Hooker and Lord Bacon agree that he 
studied at the University of Oxford, and Anthony 
Wood records in his ' Athene Oxonienses,' that Ra- 
legh " became Commoner of Oriel College in or about 
the year 1568, when his kinsman C. Champernon 
studied there ; and his natural parts being strangely 
advanced by academical learning, under the care of 
an excellent tutor, he became the ornament of the ju- 
niors, and was worthily esteemed a proficient in ora- 
tory and philosophy." Young Ralegb did not remain 
long at the University, for we find him already in 1 569 
among the gentlemen volunteers^ who were to assist 

Thomas Overbwj writes the nftme Rawleigh. In the scnrce pamphlet, 
Newea of Sir Walter Rauleigh,' it is apelt in the mimner just mentioned. 
'Fray Simou calls him " Real o Reali," Gili " Balego." King James in bis 
Declaration writes the name Ealcigh, which orthography Sir Walter's son 
Carew seems to have adopted. Sir Robert Naunton and Lord Bacon write 
Hftwleigh. We have adopted the orthography of Sir Walter himself. 

Sir Walter was therefore a brolher by the mother's side of Sir John, 
Sir Humphry, and Sir Adrian Gilbert, all eminent men during Queen Eli- 
zabeth's reign. Sir Humphry published in 1576 a Discourse on the Prac- 
ticability of a North-west passage to China, 

' Queen Elizabeth permitted Henry Champernon, a relative by marriage 
to the Earl of Montgomei'y, to conduct a troop of Tolunteers, consisting of 
one hundred gentlemen, to the assistance of the persecuted Protestants. 
On their standard was the motto, " Finem dct mihi virtus,"— Let valour 
decide the contest. Amongst their number were Philip Butshid, Francis 
Bsrcley, and Walter Ralegh. (Camden, Ann. Eliz. Ann. 1569.) 



INTRODUCTIOJ 



the Protestants in France. During this struggle for 
religious liberty he had an ample field for acquiring 
experience in the art of war, and in the Itnowledge of 
men and manners, of which he appears to have availed 
himself materially, as may be observed in the obser- 
vations on the conduct and characters of the great 
generals and their exploits during the campaign, which 
are recorded in his ' History of the World ' '. After a 
sojourn of about six years in France, he returned to 
England in 1575, and appears to have had chambers 
ill the Middle Temple ; but there seems to be no 
foundation for Wood's assertion, that he followed the 
profession of the law ; on the contrary, he solemnly 
declared on his arraignment, in a reply to the Attor- 
ney-General, that he had never " read a word of the 
law, or statutes, before he was a prisoner in the 
Tower*," We are rather inclined to suppose that the 
two years he spent in leisure at that period were 
devoted to his own improvement, and the acquire- 
ment of the Spanish language, which opened to him 
a knowledge of the writings of the Spanish historians 
on America. It is asserted by one of his earhest 
biographers, Benjamin Shirley, that only five hours 
out of the twenty-four were given to sleep, and 
that he voluntarily shared in the duties of the com- 
mon soldier and sailor. In his succeeding maritime 
expeditions he had always a box of books on board, 

' llietor^ of the World, book iv. eap. L'. sect. 16; book v. cnp. 2, sect. 
:i and 8. 

> Thcdbaia's Memoirs of Sir W. Raleigh, yi. 5, State Trinie, vol. 1. 
fol, IW. 



INTRODUCTION, 



I 



and several hours in the course of the day were em- 
ployed in study. In 1577 Walter Ralegh accompa- 
nied Sir John Norris, with Sir Robert Stewart, Co- 
lonels North, Cavendish, Morgan and others, to the 
Netherlands, to serve under the Prince of Orange 
against the Spaniards ; and it is probable that he was 
present at the battle of Rimenant, where the English 
forces under Sir John Norris greatly distinguished 
themselves'. 

On his return from the Netherlands he found his 
half-hrother. Sir Humphry Gilbert, engaged in fit- 
ting out a maritime expedition, having received a 
patent from Queen Elizabeth, for planting and form- 
ing settlements in certain northern parts of America, 
unpossessed by any prince with whom she was in 
alliance. Ralegh engaged in this adventure, and it 
appears that, although the expedition proved unsuc- 
cessful, his active mind was thenceforth especially 
directed to maritime enterprize and discovery. Dis- 
sension arising amongst the volunteers, who refused 
to embark, Sir Humphry prosecuted his adventure 
with only a few followers, among whom was Ralegh. 
The ships sailed early in 1579, and returned to port 
after various disasters, and with the loss of one of 
the vessels in an engagement with the Spaniards, 
during which, as Oldys asserts, Ralegh was exposed 
to great danger. 

The rebellion in Ireland of 1580 afforded him an 
opportunity of resuming his sword, having received a 
captain's commission under Lord Arthur Grey, who 

' Bii'ch'8 Life of f^ir W. Bnlcph, \c<\. i. [.. iv. 



INTRODUCTION. 



was appointed shortly after his arrival Lord Deputy of 
Ireland, We shall pass over this war, during which 
the most dreadful cruelties were committed, Ralegh 
distinguished himself under the Earl of Ormonde, 
and is several times mentioned in the Chronicles of 
Holinshed, afterwards continued by John Hooker, 
who dedicated to Sir Walter his translation and 
continuation of the Chronicles of Ireland. Ralegh's 
name is unfortunately connected with that merciless 
massacre of the Spaniards who fought in aid of the 
Irish rebels. They had fortified themselves at Smer- 
wiek in Kerry, where they were besieged by Lord 
Deputy Grey. After a siege of five days they sur- 
rendered at discretion, and the greater part of the 
garrison was put to the sword ; the execution of this 
order fell to Captains Ralegh and Mackworth. It 
does not appear that Sir Walter was much pleased 
with his sojourn in Ireland. In a letter to the Earl 
of Leicester, Elizabeth's favourite, by whom he ap- 
pears to have been patronized at that early period, 
he expresses his dissatisfaction with the service in 
this " common-wealth, or rather common-woe," and 
that were It not for recommending himself to notice, 
he would "disdain it as much as to keep sheep'." 
There is however a pleasing fact connected with his 
Irish campaign: Edmund Spenser, the poet, was se- 
cretary to Lord Grey, and the friendship which existed 
between Ralegh and Spenser was probably formed 
during this period. Ralegh himself possessed great 
talent for poetry ; and although he considered the 

' Cftjley's Ufe of Sir W. Ralegh, 4to, London 1805. vol. i. p. 25. 



[NTRODUCTIflN. 



exercise of this merely in the light of a recreation, 
the contemporary criticisms of Puttenham declare, 
" for ditty and amorous ode. Sir Walter Ralegh's vein 
most lofty, insolent and passionate'." 

The authenticity of some of the poems ascribed to 
him has been questioned, and we have to regret that 
no collection was made during his lifetime or shortly 
after his death^. As we shall not recur again to 
Ralegh in the character of a poet {except to quote 
" his epitaph," written the evening before the closing 
scene of his life), we would here allude to his visit, du- 
ring a temporary banishment from court, to Spenser, 
then residing at Kilcolman, an ancient castle of 
the Desmonds, which meeting Spenser so beautifully 
describes in his ' Collin Clout.' This pastoral is de- 
dicated to Ralegh as "the Shepherd of the Ocean^," 
and in it the poet gratefully records his introduction 



' Oue of the finest aud most sublime poems is, " Go, Soul, the body's 
gueit : " Sir Egerton Brydges observea, " Though the diitfi ascribed to this 
poem ia demonstrably wrong, I know no other author so capable of nri- 
ting it as Ealeigh. What must he the taste of the reader who can peruse 
these lines without sympathy, without feeling a swell and exultatioti of 
his heart?" It ia asserted by Mrs. Thonison, in her Memoirs of Sir 
Walter Ralegh, that these lines were found in a MS, collectioa of his 
poems dated 1596, which would remove all doubts respecting the author- 
ship. Sir Egert^jn observea of Ralegh's beautiful poem, known as ' his 
Pilgrimage,' that " it eontaiua a mixture of hold and sublime passages, such 
as the aspiring and indignant soul of Ralegh was likely to utter. The first 
atanza, in which the imagery drawn from a pilgrim is vividly depicted, 
fills the mind with a wild interest." 

' Within our own times Sir Egerton Brydges has pubhahed " The 
Poems of Sir Walter Raleigh, now first collected, with a Biographical 
and Critical Introduction. Printed at the private press of Lee Priory, 
1813." 

' Spenser likcwiae committed the first three books of his ' Fairj- Queen ' 
to the press under the encoun^ment of Ralegh. 



X\ liVTRODi;CTI0N. 

and recommendation to the Queen by the former after 
his restoration to favour : — 

"The Shepherd of tlie Ocean, quoth he, 
Unto that goddcas* grace me first enhauc'il, 
And to mine oaten pipe inclin'd her ear." 

Ralegh returned from his campaign in Ireland in 
1581. He was then twenty-nine years of age, hand- 
some, and of a graceful address. The fame of his 
exploits had gone before him, and it is supposed 
that the Earl of Leicester, by whom he was patro- 
nized, aftbrded him an opportunity of appearing at 
court in the course of the following year. Without 
doubting the well-known anecdote of his gallantry to 
the Queen, in throwing his cloak on the ground for 
her Majesty to walk over, we should rather ascribe 
his first introduction at court to the influence of the 
Earl of Leicester ; and in this we are confirmed by 
tlie letter which Ralegh wrote to the powerful favourite 
wlien still in Ireland ; however this may be, an op- 
portunity occurred soon after his return to display to 
the Queen the powers of his mind. Some difference 
had arisen during the Munster rebellion between 
Lord Grey and Ralegh, which was brought before 
the Council Board and discussed in the Queen's 
presence, " where," says Sir Robert Naunton, " what 
advantage he [Ralegh] had in the case in contro- 
versy I know not, but he had much the better in the 
manner of telling his tale ; insomuch as the Queen 
and the Lords took no slight mark of the man 
and his parts, for from thence he came to be known, 
and to have access to the Lords ; and then we are 



I 



I 
I 



INTRODUCTION. \\l 

not to doubt how such a man would comply to pro- 
gression ; and whether or no ray Lord of Leicester 
had then cast in a good word for him to the Queen, 
which would have done him no harm, I do not deter- 
mine ; but true it is, he had gotten the Queen's ear 
in a trice, and she began to be taken with his elec- 
tion, and loved to hear his reasons to her demands. 
And the truth is, she took him for a kind of oracle, 
which nettled them all ; yea, those that he relied on 
began to take this his sudden favour for an alarm, 
and to be sensible for their own supplantation, and 
to project bis'." 

Formed by nature in the finest mould, Ralegh also 
'possessed an assemblage of brilliant (jualities, a ready 
wit, and high mental endowments. These among 
other causes doubtless contributed to his rapid ad- 
vance in the favour of Queen Elizabeth; and in the 
course of a few years after his introduction at court, 
he was knighted, made Lord Warden of the Stanna- 
ries, Captain of the Guard, and Lieutenant -General 
of the county of Cornwall* ; he moreover received a 
grant of twelve thousand acres of the forfeited lands 
of the Earls of Desmond, and the lucrative patent for 
licensing the vendors of wine throughout the kingdom. 
These preferments exposed him to envy at court, and 
even his former patron, the Earl of Leicester, began 
to be jealous of the rising favourite, and exerted his 
influence to undermine Ralegh's career. Sir Henry 

' Fragments. Regalia, 1641, p. 35. 

° The Queen bcstoned this dignity upon him in the early part of 1587> 
conscquratly about fl?e years after he was first noticed by Her Majesty. 



Wotton, the author of ' ReliqaiBe Wottoniaote,' and 
secretary to the Earl of Essex, conjectures that 
Leicester brought forward the dawning talents of 
his son-in-law, the young Earl of Essex, to oppose 
Sir Walter's growing influence with the Queen. But 
as our object is to view Ralegh chiefly as the father 
of American colonization and a promoter of com- 
merce and navigation, we must leave him to pursue 
his career at court, noticing merely such incidents 
as affected or were closely connected with his mari- 
time enterprizes. 

Sir Humphry Gilbert had been obliged, in conse- 
quence of the failure of his enterprize in 1579, to 
delay any further attempt to take possession of the 
territories in North America which he intended to 
colonize; but as his patent was dated the 11th of 
June, 1578, granting him six years for the execution 
of his design, he undertook in 1583 another voyage 
to Newfoundland in person, to keep it in force. 

Ralegh, tired of the inactive life at court, probably 
contemplated accompanying his brother, and built for 
that purpose a vessel of two hundred tons burthen, 
which he called the Bark Ralegh ' : although he did 
not execute his project, his bark, which had cost him 
two thousand pounds^, formed part of the fleet which 
sailed under Gilbert's command from Plymouth on 
the 11th of June, 1583. The Queen sent through 
Ralegh's hands a golden token to Sir Humphry, " an 
anchor guided by a lady," to be worn at his breast, 

> Birch, vol. i. p. xi, 

' Birch's Memoita of Queen Elizabeth, vol, i. p. 34. 



I 
I 



I 



INTRODUCTION. Villi 

and she commanded him, as Ralegh writes to Sir 
Hamphry, that he should leave his picture with Sir 
Walter'. 

Scarcely had the little fleet been two days out 
at sea, when on account of a contagious disease the 
Bark Ralegh returned to Plymouth in distress*. Sir 
Humphry took possession of Newfoundland in right 
of the English crown ; but on his return two of his 
vessels were lost, in one of which, the Squirrel, he 
himself perished ; the vessel (one of only ten tons) 
foundered at midnight on the 9th of September, 
] 583 0. 

Let us here pause, and passing over the period 
which has elapsed between the year 1583 and our 
own time, cast a glance on the present condition of 
Great Britain as compared with that early period, 
Though Sir Humphry Gilbert received the first pa- 
tent for the settlement of colonies, he was cut off in 
his career ere he could execute his design, and the 
Spaniards and Portuguese were at that time almost 
entirely in possession of the New World. How differ- 
ent is the case now ! Great Britain's territorial pos- 
sessions in Europe, girded by the ocean, occupy a sur- 
face of one hundred and twenty-one thousand square 
miles, whilst in point of territorial extent she is only 

I ' Cajley's Life of Sir W. Ralegh, vol. i. p. 31. 

I * Sir H. Gilbert seems to have been ignorant that Bickueas ttna the 
cause of this desertion; he writea to Sir George Feckham after his arrival 
in Newfoiunliand : " On the 13th the Bark Raleigh ran from me, in fair 
and clear weather, having a large wind. I pray jou solicit my brother 
Raleigh to make them an example to all knavea." (Purchas' Collect, 
vol.iii, p,80S.) 

' Hakluyt, vol. iii. pp. 1-19, 165. 



INTEODUCTION. 



the sixth among the European powers, even Spain sur- 
passing her: nevertheless she occupies the first posi- 
tion in point of national greatness, founded upon her 
valuable and extensive dominions in all quarters of the 
globe. In the East her sway extends over nearly one 
hundred and twenty-five millionB of human beings ; 
in the West she rules a population of two miUious 
and a half; and in Africa and Australia she numbers 
half a milhon subjects. How striking a picture of 
her grandeur is contained in the remark, that the sun 
never sets upon her empire ! The origin of this 
superiority is to be ascribed to the valour of those 
intrepid men who, towards the end of the sixteenth 
century, wrung from Spain the supremacy on the 
ocean ; it is founded upon the enterprize and prowess 
of the maritime discoverers who distinguished the 
Elizabethan age, but above all upon the establish- 
ment and extent of the British colonies, those grand 
sources of national wealth. In perusing the pages 
of England's colonial history, we are struck with the 
beneficial results which originated from these enter- 
prizes. What was in the commencement merely 
the offspring of a spirit of adventure, was gradually 
converted into a regular system : new articles of use 
and luxury were introduced, new fields of labour were 
opened, the productions of distant regions became 
articles of necessity, and vast tracts of land before un- 
cultivated and sparely inhabited, now offered means 
of employment to a redundant European population, 
who brought with them not only the language and 
civilization, but likewise the customs and wants, 



of their own country. The activity of man's industry 
is ceaseless ; new branches of commerce were gradu- 
ally and successively developed, enlarging the inter- 
course with the mother-country, increasing her de- 
mand for colonial produce, and consequently aug- 
menting her mercantile navy. " Thus the productions 
of new regions operate to increase the activity and to 
multiply the commercial relations of the old ; this 
gives new hfe, extending even to the interior of the 
more civiUzed countries, and multiphes the objects 
of traffic; industry produces riches, and riches repro- 
duce industry ; and thus commerce at length be- 
comes the foundation and the cement of the whole 
social edifice '." Some politicians have been of opi- 
nion, "that as the Roman empire was the greatest 
the world ever saw, so it chiefly owed its grandeur to 
its colonies." 

The first English vessels which visited the West 
Indies after their discovery were two ships of war, 
under Sebastian Cabot and Sir Thomas Pert. This 
was between 1516 and 1517: two years afterwards 
the first Enghsh trading vessel arrived in Porto Rico*, 
being sent by the King, aa the commander asserted, 
to ascertain the state of those islands, of which there 
was so much talk in Europe. Captain John Haw- 
kins followed in 1565, and Captain Francis Drake 
in 1572, but neither attempted to form a settlement ; 



' Mbxuhs of F. von Getitz, in his ' State of Europe before and after the 
I French Revolution.' 

' According to Oviedo, 'Historia General de las Indios' (Sevilla, 1635), 
I thia occurred in 1527. (Oviedo, 1. 19. cap. 13.) 



XXVI INTROBUCTIOX. 

this was reserved i'or Sir Walter Ralegh, to whom be- 
longs the honour of being the founder of England's 
colonial empire. 

Unfortunately a thirst for gold was the only in- 
ducement which during the first half of the sixteenth 
century incited the Spanish conquerors to settle in 
the New World, and to this idol the lives of millions 
of human beings were sacrificed. Nor can we deny 
that many of the early English maritime adventurers 
were actuated by merely similar motives. The con- 
quest of the rich cities of Quito and Cusco spread 
such a lustre over the newly discovered regions, that 
the popular imagination connected with America the 
idea of an abundance of gold and precious stones ; 
and the acquisition of spices, the beautiful dye-woods 
and other produce of the country, had not sufficient 
attraction to induce them to encounter danger and 
privation. 

The treatises of Gilbert, Peckham , Captain Carlisle ' 
and others, prove that there were men who had more 
enlarged views than the mere discovery of gold-mines, 
and who endeavoured to awaken their countrymen to 
the advantages which settlements in the New World 
might have upon commerce and navigation. Their 
arguments however produced little effect ; the illusory 



' The production of the latter was published in 158^; it i^oDaists of 
eight leavea in 4to, and is entitled, " A Discourse upon the Intended Voy- 
age to the hethermoste parts of America, written by Captaine Carleill for 
the better inducement to satiefie such uierchauntea, as in dishurseing their 
money, do demaunde fonritti a present return of gaine ; albeit their saied 
particular disburgements are in such slender Eommee as are not worth the 
speaking of." 



I 
I 



hopes of gold were the sole allurement. We must 
keep this circumstance in mind when judging of Ra- 
legh's character, in connection with the representations 
he made of the commercial resources of Guiana. The 
ill-success of his half-brother had little or no effect in 
damping Ralegh's ardour for such undertakings; on 
the contrary, his mind appears to have been now en- 
tirely directed to the pursuit of maritime discovery, 
and his knowledge of foreign languages enabled him 
to study the Spanish accounts respecting the conquests 
of the New World, On examining the relation of 
their voyages, he found that they had not extended 
beyond the Gulf of Mexico. Having coasted along the 
Mexican Gulf, they came out by what has since been 
called the Gulf of Florida ; and by standing away to 
the east, to make the coast of Spain, a long extent of 
country stretching northward remained unexplored. 
This coast appeared to Ralegh's enterprizing genius 
a rich field for colonization, and having drawn up a 
proposition to that effect, he laid it before the Queen 
and her Council, who approved of it, and her Ma- 
jesty granted him her letters patent, " to discover, 
search, find out and view such remote heathen and 
barbarous lands, countries and territories, not actually 
possessed of any Christian prince, nor inhabited by 
Christian people'." This document is dated the 25th 
of March, 1584; and on the 7th of April following 
two vessels, fitted out at the cost of himself and some 
associates, sailed under the command of Captains 



' Hakluyt's Voj'Hges, vol. iii. p, 343, 



SXVm INTRODUCTION. 

Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow from the west of 
England'. Navigation was still in its Infancy, and 
no direct course was attempted ; they passed the 
Canaries, sailed round the West Indies, and on the 
4th of July arrived on the coast of North Carolina. 
After having sailed along the shore about one hun- 
dred and twenty miles, they east anchor at the island 
of Wocokon, of which they took possession in right 
of the Queen and for the use of Ralegh. They after- 
wards went ashore on the continent called Wingan- 
dacoa, over which a king reigned named Wingina. 
They maintained an amicable intercourse with the 
Indians, but made no settlement, and returned to 
England about the middle of September. Captains 
Amidas and Barlow drew up a favourable report of 
the fertility of the soil and the healthiness of the 
climate*, which Ralegh laid before the Queen, who 
was BO much pleased with Jt, that she conferred upon 
the new territory the name of Virginia, the discovery 
being made in the reign of a virgin Queen^. 

About two months after the return of this expe- 
dition, Ralegh was chosen one of the knights of the 
shire for the county of Devon, Sir Wilham Courtenay 
being the other. During this session the bill con- 
firming his patent for the discovery of foreign coun- 

' Oldys saja that these two vessels were equipped at Ralegh's own ex- 
pense, while others aaaert that Sir Richard GrenTiUe and Mr. William 
Sanderson ha<l a share in the undertaking. 

' It is printed in Haliluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 246. 

' The Vii^nians assert that the colony received its aame "heeause it 
still seemed to retain the virgin purity and plenty of the first ereatioo, and 
the people their primitive innocence.'' (Oldmixon's British Empire in 
America, vol. i. p. 211.) 



1MTB.0DUCTION, XIK 

tries was read a first time, on the 14th of December, 
1584 ; it passed, but not without opposition and some 
amendments. 

The favourable report of their discovery given by 
Amidas and Barlow induced Ralegh to prosecute 
vigorously his design of planting a colony in Virgi- 
nia. Early in 1585 seven sail were fully equipped, 
having on board a party of about one hundred men 
under the orders of Mr. Ralph Lane ; and the com- 
mand of this fleet was given to Ralegh's cousin Sir 
Richard Grenville. In their company was Thomas 
Hariot, one of the most celebrated early English 
mathematicians and astronomers', who was commis- 
sioned to make the survey, and to report upon the 
capabihties of the new colony. The squadron sailed 
from Plymouth on the 9th of April, 1585, and came 
to anchor at Wocokon on the coast of North Caro- 
lina on the 26th of June. The adventurers landed at 
several places in order to examine the country, and in 
August following fixed upon a site for a settlement 
at the island of Roanoak. Sir Richard Grenville 
weighed anchor and set sail for England on the 25th 
of August*. The misconduct of the colonists and the 
hostility of the natives after Sir Richard's departure 
caused the Governor, Mr, Lane, much uneasiness ; 
and as the settlers neglected the cultivation of ar- 
ticles of food, they were reduced to great distress. 
Ralegh meanwhile fitted out in 1586 at his own charge 



' Descartes is aeeused of having drann fnnn Hariut'a ' Artia AualjCii 
Praxis,' Londini, 1631, ail his pretended di5Corcric>! in nlgebra. 
' Hekluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 256. 



INTRODUCTION. 



a ship of one hundred tons, freighted with plentiful 
supplies for the relief of the colony ; but before she 
arrived, Sir Francis Drake visited Virginia on his 
return from St. Domingo and Carthagena, and the 
colonists, despairing of relief, solicited him to take 
them on board, and the settlement was broken up, 
It has been asserted by Theobald and others, that Sir 
Walter Ralegh himself accompanied this vessel which 
he sent for the relief of the young colony ; such may 
have been his intention, as Captain Smith states in 
the first book of his ' General History of Virginia ;' 
but we have so many proofs that Sir Walter did not 
leave England in that year, that we are surprized bow 
such an erroneous statement has found credence up 
to the present day. Soon after the departure of tbis 
vessel Sir Richard Grenville sailed with three ships, 
fitted out and provisioned by the Company ; but not 
meeting any of the colonists in Roanoak, he landed 
fifteen men to retain possession of the country, and 
returned to Europe. 

The following year Sir Walter Ralegh sent out an- 
other expedition, consisting of one hundred and fifty 
men under the command of Mr. John White, with 
twelve assistants, whom he incorporated under the 
name of " Governor and Assistants of the City of Ra- 
legh in Virginia'." White left Plymouth with three 
ships on the 8th of May, 1 587, and arrived at Hatorask 
on the 23rd of July. The colonists were afterwards 
landed at Roanoak, where they learned that the fifteen 
men left by Sir Richard Grenville had nearly all been 
' Hakhiyt's Voyages, vol, iii, p. 280. 



INTRODUCTION, 



massacred, and the few who escaped had fled into the 
interior. The designs of Sir Walter respecting Vir- 
ginia were again defeated ; differences arose among 
the settlers, and the cruelties comiuitted towards the 
Indians had prevented any amicable intercourse. 
They were therefore apprehensive of want, and urged 
the Governor to return for fresh supplies and new 
powers and instructions'. The arrival of Governor 
White in England could not have happened at a more 
unfortunate moment. The whole nation was en- 
grossed with the apprehended invasion of the Spanish 
Armada ; he therefore experienced great delays in fit- 
ting out only two pinnaces with supplies, while the 
fleet which was preparing to convey assistance on a 
larger scale under Sir Richard Grenville at Bideford, 
received an injunction not to proceed to sea, all 
armed vessels being required for the defence of the 
country. The two small pinnaces sailed, with fifteen 
planters and the desired supplies, on the 22nd of 
April, 1 588 ; but one having been taken near Madeira 
by two armed vessels from Rochelle, and stripped, 
they both ultimately returned to England without ac- 
complishing their purpose, and the poor colonists were 
left to their fate. 

Sir Walter had spent forty thousand pounds upon 
his colonial enterprize, and the experience which he 
had acquired at such a price, taught him the diffi- 
culties that stood in the way of the accomphshment 



' Governor White left on the 27th of August, loSJ ; M that tiE 
colony cDnaisted of eighty-nine men, seventeen iromeii, unil elevt'i 
dren. (Uaklujt, vol. iii. pp. 286, 28/.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



of SO great a design by a single individual. He re- 
solved therefore to assign his patent, and the right 
of continuing the plantation in Virginia, to a com- 
pany of merchants, reserving to himself a fifth part 
of all the gold and silver ore raised. The legal 
document to this effect is dated the 7th of March, 
1589. 

White made another attempt to relieve the unfor- 
tunate planters in the year 1589. He arrived at 
Roanoak on the 15th of August, and found that the 
English were removed to Croatan, an island twenty 
leagues to the south. He set sail for it, but a dread- 
ful storm obliged the fleet to bear up for Europe. 
This was the last effort made by the patentees for 
the rescue of the settlers, nor does it seem that 
their fate raised the slightest commiseration in the 
government of their own country. It was however 
not so with Ralegh, who, notwithstanding the trans- 
fer of his rights to a Company, upon whom the 
duty consequently devolved of assisting the colonists, 
continued to take the greatest interest in their fate. 
His intention of going to their relief, after his return 
from Guiana in 1595, was prevented by the seve- 
rity of weather which forced him from the coast' : we 
learn however from Porchas that he made several 
other attempts, and one as late as 1602: "Samuel 
Mace of Weymouth, a very sufficient mariner, who 
had been in Virginia twice before, was employed 
thither by Sir Walter Ralegh, to tind those people 
which were left there in 1587, to whose succour he 

' See page 6 of the present edition. 



INTRODUCTION. XXX 111 

hath sent five several times, at his own charges'." 
Captain Gosnold sailed the same year from Dart- 
mouth, and was the first who entered the Chesapeake 
Bay. Though the voyage was undertaken for the 
purpose of trade, he would doubtless, had he received 
any information of the English being still alive, have 
come to their assistance. The Indians seeing the un- 
fortunate settlers forsaken by their countrymen, fell 
upon and destroyed them ; and the celebrated chief- 
tain Powhattan confessed to Captain Smith, " that he 
had been at the murder of the colony, and showed 
him certain articles which had been theirs*." 

We have reviewed chronologically the events con- 
nected with the first attempts at establishing a Bri- 
tish colony in America ; and although they proved 
unfortunate, and nearly twenty years elapsed before 
any permanent settlement could be effected in Vir- 
ginia, the honour of having led " the ancient and 
heroical work of plantations " belongs to Ralegh ; for 
by drawing public attention to this part of the hemi- 
sphere, his project may be considered as the forerun- 
ner of the subsequent settlement of New England. 

Thomas Hariot, after his return with Governor 
Lane in 1588, published a report, which is remark- 
able for the large views it contains in regard to the 
extension of industry and commerce. " It is one of 
the earliest, if not the very first extensive specimen 
in the language, of a statistical survey ; for such it 
was, inasfar as there were materials in the country 

' Piirrhiw' Pilgrims, vol. i». p. 1G53. 

' Purchaa.vol. iv. p. 1728. See likewise Eilinb. Renew, No. exliii, p, 15. 



described for such a production'." Harlot's treatise, 
in connection with Sir William Alexander's ' Encou- 
ragement to Colonies,' Captain Smith's various ac- 
counts of Virginia, and numerous other publications 
of less importance, attracted general attention to the 
desirableness of following up more energetically the 
settlement of colonies. It has been observed by 
Southey, that it is not the least remarkable circum- 
stance, that, although all Ralegh's colonial enterprizes 
were unfortunate, they should incidentally have pro- 
duced consequences of great beneiit to this country. 
It is stated that, on the return of Governor Lane, 
tobacco was for the first time brought to England, 
and that Ralegh introduced the custom of smoking. 
As an article of commerce, but chiefly as affording 
a large revenue, since an impost was laid upon it in 
1614, its introduction is of great importance^. But 

' Edinb. Review, No, cxliii. p. 11. The title of tliia remarkable and 
now very rare production givea some general idea of its contents. It is : — 
" A Briefe and true report of t!ie new found lanii of Virginia : of the com- 
modities there found and to be raysed, as well marcbantable, as othera for 
vietuall, buildind and other necessarie uae for those that are and shall be 
planters there ; and of the nature and manners of the natural! inhabitants : 
discovered by the Enghsh Colony there seated by Sir Richard Greinville, 
Knight, in the yeere 1585, which remained under the government of Rafe 
Lane esq. one of her Majesties equieres, during the space of twelve monetha. 
At the special charge and direction of the honorable Sir Walther Raleigh, 
Knight i directed to the adventurers, favourers and wellnillers of the 
action, for the inhabiting and planting there, by Thomas Hariot : servant 
to the above named Sir Walther, a member of the Colony, and there em- 
ployed in iliacnveriug ; 4to London 1588." The Latin edition forms the 
first [tart of De Bry's Great Voyages. 

' It appears that soon after the introduction of smoking, a proclamation 
was issued against it, and bitter complaints were made of "this immita- 
tion of the manners of savage people." It was feared, says Camden, that 
by the practice of smoking tobacco, "Anglonim cor[)ora in barharoi'um 



INTRODUCTION, XXXV 

of still greater interest is the cultivation of the po- 
tato, which, according to Gough, Sir W". Ralegh first 
planted on his estate of Youghal near Cork, from 
whence it was soon after carried into Lancashire. 
"When this plant was first introduced as a deUcacy on 
the tables of the rich, it was little imagined that two 
centuries later it would become an article of food of 
such vital importance, that the failure of its cultiva- 
tion in two successive years would entail misery upon 
the land where it was first planted in the British 
islands'. 

It must not be assumed that Ralegh's prosecution 
of his Virginian scheme with such energy and per- 
severance prevented his attention to other maritime 
adventures. Adrian Gilbert of Sandridge, his half- 
brother, was not deterred by the unfortunate issue 
of his brother Humphry's project from prosecuting 
similar enterprizes ; and having obtained a patent, 
he instituted a partnership under the name of " The 

degenerasse videantur." (Ann. Elizab. 15B6.) The Star Chamljer ordered 
in 1614 the duty to be Ss. Wd. per pound. An Act to lay an impost ontbe 
importatkm was passed in 1GS4. Tbe quantity coneumed in England in 
1791 was nine millions and a half of pounila, and in 1845 twent^'-Hix 
millions three hundred thousand pounds, and the gross amouut of the 
duty derived from it during that year, four milliona two hundred thousand 
pounds sterling. 

' It has been asserted that Sir John Hawkins brought the first potatoes 
from Santa Fe aa early a« 15G3. We are only acquainted with bis voyage 
ftoin Guinea to San Domingo that year, having on board the first cargo 
of human merchandise carried in an English vessel. He visited however 
Santa F^ in the ' Jeaua ' in 1565. Others as<'ribe this introduction to Sir 
Francis Drake in 1586. The importance of the potato as a food-plant 
may be learoed from the circumstance, that a field planted with pota- 
toes will furnish twice db much food as It would do if cultivated with 



UXVl IKTRODrcTIOS. 

Colleagues of the Fellowship for the Discovery of the 
North-west Passage," Sir Walter joined the enter- 
prize, the conduct of which was entrusted to Captain 
Davis ; and from this voyage resulted the discovery of 
the Strait which bears Captain Davis's name. Ralegh 
shared likewise in the voyage undertaken in 1586 
by the Earl of Cumberland to the South Seas : and 
his line pinnace, the Dorothy, joined the fleet at 
Plymouth. The expedition however proved abortive, 
as they reached only the forty-fourth degree of south 
latitude, when they returned with some small prizes. 
Much greater success attended a privateering expe- 
dition to the Azores in 1586, with two pinnaces, fitted 
out at Ralegh's expense and commanded by Captains 
John Whiddon and John Evesham. Among the prizes 
taken during this cruise was one with the Governor 
of the island of St. Michael on board, and in another 
was Don Pedro de Sarmiento, Governor of the Straits 
of Magellan, one of the most eminent navigators of 
Spain '■ 

Ralegh's fame now extended beyond the confines 
of England ; he was known not only as the promoter 
of maritime discovery and the founder of colonies, 
but likewise as a patron of science in general. Hak- 
luyt, who published his first work, ' Divers Voyages 
touching the Discoverie of America,' in 1582, seems 
to have early sought the acquaintance of Ralegh, and 

' It has been asserted that Don Pedro was & near relative of Don Diego 
Sarmieiito de Arufia (afterwards Count de Gondomar), and that the fu- 
ture Spaniali ambassador had, in consequence of the enptivity of Don 
Pedro, already taken at that period a dislilie to Ralegh. This appears to 
have been merely a wetter of conjecture. 



N'TilODCCTION. 



acknowledges him, in his piel'ace to ' The Principal 
Navigations,' as one of those benefactors "from whom 
he had received his cliief light into the western navi- 
gations." Previous to the publication of this work, 
Hakluyt had sent the manuscript of a voyage per- 
formed by Rend Laudonnifere and three other French- 
men in Florida, to M. Martin Bassaniire of Paris, 
who published It in 1586 with a dedication to Ralegh, 
At the desire of Admiral Coligny, Laudonnifere was 
accompanied in his voyages by Jacque Morgue, a skil- 
ful painter. This artist afterwards came to London, 
and was chiefly aided by Ralegh in the expense of 
publishing his sketches and descriptions. Hakluyt 
translated Laudonnifere's Voyage, and dedicated it 
likewise to Ralegh : the translation was first pub- 
lished in 1587 in a separate form, and afterwards in- 
serted in the third volume of his 'Navigations.' Sir 
Walter also procured for Hakluyt the manuscript of 
a voyage made in 1541 to the Red Sea by Estevan de 
Gama, the Portuguese Viceroy of the Indies, which 
was written by Joao de Castro, one of his principal 
commanders, and was dedicated in 1542 by the latter 
to his patron the Infant Don Luiz'. 



' In ipeaking of tliis voyage in bis History of the World [Book ii. 
chap. iii. sect. 8), Ralegli observes, "wbich discourse I gave to Mr, Hak- 
luyt," An abridged transUtion appeared in Purcbos (vol, ii. ch, 6), who 
says tliftt Ralegh bought tlit iirigiual for £60. It is moat probable that 
the MS. in the Cottonian Collection (Brit. Mus. Bibl, Cotton. Tib. R. IX.) 
U the identical one purchased by Ralegh, aa Sir Robert Cotton seems to 
have been a zealous collector of all relics which had reference to Ralegh. 
It was greatly injured during the fire at Sir R. B, Cotton's in 1731. The 
late Dr. Carvalho, who Blled a Professor's Chair in the University of 
Coimbra, anil sojourned for some time afterwards in I«ndoD, transcribed 



XXXVIIl INTRODUCTION. 

It is supposed tliat about tins period Ralegh wrote 
two of his treatises upon military operations. The 
Queen had appoioted him, in 1586, Seneschal of the 
Duchies of Cornwall and Exeter, and Lord Warden of 
the Stanuaries in Devonshire and Cornwall ; and in the 
beginning of the following year he received another 
mark of her Majesty's favour, being advanced to the 
post of Captain of her Guard and Lieutenant-General 
of Cornwall. The eventful year of 1 588, when Philip's 
navy, vast and unrivalled on the ocean, threatened to 
annihilate the power of England, saw Ralegh in the 
field and on the ocean. He had been nominated in the 
preceding November one of the Council of War, to 
consider the most effectual means for maintaining the 
security of the nation. Some considered the kingdom 
strong enough to resist the landing of any hostile 
troops, and hence it was argued that there was no 
necessity for any great defensive naval preparations. 
This opinion was strongly opposed by the first mi- 
nister, and likewise by Ralegh, who demonstrated that 
no conclusions should be drawn from France or other 
European countries in the possession of many forti- 
fied places, "whereas the ramparts of England con- 
sist only of a body of men." There is a difference, 
he says, between an invasion by land and one by sea, 
where the choice of the place of debarkation remains 
with the enemy ; and he arrives at the conclusion 

Ihis MS. in 1928, anil published it in Piiria in 1833. While we ^ve every 
praise to his public spirit for rescuing thia remarkahle voyage from obli- 
vion, we cannot admit the elaim of a literary Ironvaiite, as the manuscript 
is described with sufficient precision in the Cottonian Catalogue. (See 
Athenieum, Fehruan,- 14th and 21st, ISJfi.) 



.stkoi)Iu;tkin. 



I 



that sucU an attempt could not be successfully re- 
sisted on the West of England without a fleet. The 
plan which Ralegh drew up on this occasion was based 
on a practical acquaintance with the comparative ad- 
vantages of a land and naval force, an experience that 
resulted from his campaigns in France, the Low 
Countries and Ireland, which Shirley calls "the mi- 
litary academies of those times." But from whence 
he received his knowledge of maritime affairs is a 
riddle, as, with the exception of the smart action in 
which he shared with his half-brother Sir Humphry 
Gilbert in 1579, we are not aware that he had any 
opportunity up to that period of acquiring practical 
experience in naval tactics. Sir Walter Ralegh's 
proposition was however adopted, and a fleet was 
equipped, the command of which was given to Lord 
Howard of Eifingham. 

After having raised and disciplined the militia of 
Cornwall, Ralegh joined the fleet in July 1588 with 
a squadron of volunteers, and took an active part in 
the several engagements which led to the destruction 
of the Spanish Armada. It was probably in acknow- 
ledgement of these services that the Queen nomi- 
nated him Gentleman of her Privy Chamber. When 
the expedition for the support of Don Antonio, King 
of Portugal, was resolved upon, Ralegh accompanied 
that prince, in April 1589, with Sir Francis Drake 
and Sir John Norris, and on his return was honoured 
by his sovereign, as well as the other commanders, 
with a gold chain. 

d 



\^ IMROKUCTHJN. 

The elaborate report which Ralegh published in 
defence of the conduct of his friend Sir Richard Gren- 
ville, who lost his life in the expedition under Lord 
Thomas Howard in 1591 for intercepting the Spanish 
Plate fleet at the Azores, " breathes a spirit of loyalty 
and patriotism truly admirable." It was, we believe, 
the first essay which Ralegh printed ', and the scene 
where the enemy's numerous fleet surrounded the ship 
of the admiral, who continued the fight, although mor- 
tally wounded, till all the ammunition was spent, and 
then commanded the master gunner to sink her — 
which was only prevented by the interference of the 
survivors of the crew — "presents a view of perhaps 
the most astonishing naval conflict ever delineated by 
any pen*." 

The love of enterprize which so eminently distin- 
guished Ralegh, suggested the plan of attacking the 
Spaniards in the West Indies, particularly at Panama, 
with a view of meeting the Plate fleet. He endea- 
voured to engage his friends and others in this ad- 
venture, and thirteen vessels were fully equipped for 
service. The scheme, having been laid before the 
Queen, appeared to her so feasible, that she added 
two men of-war, the Garland and the Foresight, to the 
expedition, and gave Ralegh a commission as General 

^ It is entitled, " A report of the troth of the fight about the isles of 
Azores this lost summer, betwixt the Revenge, one of Her Majesty's ships 
conunandcd by Sir Riehsrd Grenville, and an Armada of the King of 
Spain." 4to, 1591. It was aftecwarUs reprinted in Ilakluyt's Voyages in 
1599 (vol. ii. part 2. p. 169). 

' Edinburgh Review, No. cxliii. p, 17- 



INTRODUCTION, 



I 



of the Fleet, the post of Lieutenant-General being 
conferred upon Sir John Burgh. Owing to contrary 
winds, and the want of due arrangements, the fleet 
was detained until May 1592. From a letter which 
Ralegh wrote at that period from Chatham to Sir 
Robert Cecil, it appears that the Queen had repented 
allowing him to depart. This letter, which is printed 
in Murdin's State Papers, and has since been reprinted 
by Cayley, gives us the first decided proof of Ralegh's 
duplicity ; he deceived those who had trusted him, 
and there is but too much probability that he like- 
wise deceived the Queen, and wounded her in that 
most vulnerable point her self-love. We extract the 
following paragraph in explanation : — " I have pro- 
mised her Majesty," writes Ralegh to Cecil, " that if 
I can persuade the companies to follow Sir Martin 
Frobisher, I will without fail return, and bring them 
but into the sea, but some fifty or threescore leagues, 
for which purpose my Lord Admiral hath lent me the 
' Disdain' ; which to do, her Majesty many times with 
great grace bid me remember, and sent me the same 
message by Will. Killgrewe, which, God willing, if I 
can persuade the companies, I mean to perform, 
though I dare not to acknown thereof to any creature. 

I mean not to come away, as they say I will 

for fear of a marriage, and I know not what. If any 
such thing were, I would have imparted it to yourself 
before any man hving ; and therefore I pray, believe 
it not, and I beseech you to suppress what you can 
any such malicious report. For I protest before God, 



there is none on the (ace of the earth that I would be 
fastened unto '." 

Now there is every probabiHty that while he wrote 
these words, as we shall presently see, he was already 
privately married, or contemplated marriage. 

Sir Walter sailed with the fleet on the 6th of May. 
1592, but WEB overtaken the day following by Sir 
Martin Frobisher, with letters from the Queen recall- 
ing him. He notwithstanding continued his course, 
but meeting a storm off' Cape Finisterre, on the 1 1th 
of May, which scattered the fleet, he considered the 
season too far advanced for an expedition to Panama, 
and resolved to obey the Queen's orders. He divided 
the fleet into two squadrons, and gave the command 
of one to Sir Martin Frobisher^ and the other to Sir 
John Burgh. This expedition resulted in the cap- 
ture of the ' Madre de Dios,' one of the largest ships 
of Portugal, and the richest prize ever brought to 
England. The ' Madre de Dios ' arrived in Dartmouth 
on the 7th of September, at a period when Sir Walter 
was atoning in the Tower for his gallant intrigues. 
The beautiful Ehzabeth, daughter of Sir Nicholas 
Throgmorton, and one of the Maids of Honour to the 
Queen, had made such an impression upon Sir Wal- 
ter's heart, that he forgot the ardent devotion which 
he had led Queen Elizabeth to believe he cherished for 



' Cayley's Life of Ralegh, vol. i. p. 120. 

' Among Sloane's MSS. (No, 43, fol. 33) U a short relation of " A voy- 
Bge undertaken by Sir Walter Bawleigh, but bimself tetimiing left the 
charge thereof to Sir Martin Frobisher. Anno 1592." 



INTRODUCTION. xllll 

her. It is asserted by some of Ralegh's biographers, 
that when the consequences of his intercourse with 
Elizabeth Throgmorton betrayed the intrigue, he was 
already privately married to her, and that the Queen 
considered Ralegh's conduct as both personally and 
politically offensive ; — personally, as having broken 
that faith which she exacted from her favourites ; and 
politically, as interfering with her prerogative, which 
rendered her permission for the marriage of one of 
her Maids of Honour necessary. According to others, 
Ralegh did not marry her until after the discovery of 
their intrigue'. Be this as it may, the offending couple 
were imprisoned in the Tower, and Ralegh was de- 
prived of those offices which gave him free access to 
the Queen. It is asserted by Oldys that Walter, the 
eldest son of Ralegh, was born in 1594, consequently 
two years after the marriage. There is unfortu- 
nately much want of information respecting the 
private life of Sir Walter. We recollect having seen 
it stated somewhere, that doubts were expressed of 
Elizabeth Throgmorton's having been his first wife. 
A passage in a very remarkable letter which Sir 
Walter wrote at a later period, when imprisoned in 
the Tower on account of the Cobham treason, renders 
it evident that, besides his son Walter, he had a 
daughter — Carew was not then born. His misfor- 
tune produced such a despondency before his trial, 
that he resolved upon committing suicide ; and pre- 



' Camden says, " Walterus Raleglius, Regii SHtellitii jircefectus, hono- 
ria R^Eiue virgine vitiRta (qiiBm [instcfl in iixorem duxit)," eIf. Ann, 
I £liiafa. 1595, 



xhv INTHODUCTION. 

vious to this attempt upon his life, to which we shall 
have occasion to allude again hereafter, he wrote a 
letter to Lady Ralegh, in which occurs the following 
passage -. — 

" To witness that thou didst love me once, take 
care that thou marry not to please sense, but to avoid 
poverty and to preserve thy child. That thou didst 
also love me living witness it to others ; to my poor 
daughter to whom I have given nothing, for his sake 
who will be cruel to himself to preserve thee. Be 
charitable to her, and teach thy son to love her for 
his father's sake'." 

From the expressions which Sir Walter uses, we 
cannot doubt that this daughter was not the offspring 
of his marriage with Elizabeth Throgmorton, as he 
so pointedly calls his son, in addressing Lady Ralegh, 
" thy child,'' while the girl is styled " my daughter;" 
but the last sentence is still more conclusive, as the 
mother would not have required an appeal to her 
feelings on behalf of her own child. If therefore Sir 
Walter was not previously married, the daughter here 
alluded to was illegitimate, which, judging from this 
letter, seems more doubtful than the supposition of 
his having been a widower when he married Elizabeth 
Throgmorton. 

Sir Edward Stafford writes to Anthony Bacon, on 
the 30th of July, 1592, " If you have anything to 
do with Sir Walter Ralegh, or any love to make to 
Mrs. Throckmorton at the Tower, tomorrow you may 

' The Court of King James the Firsl. bv Pr. Uodfrev Goodman, Bishop 
of Gloucester, vol. ii. p. 9!i. 



I 



INTRODUCTION. xlv 

speak with them, if the countermand come not to- 
night, as some think will not be, and particularly be 
that hath charge to send them thither." Ralegh was 
not released until late in September ; the fair prisoner 
no doubt much earlier. 

It was during this confinement that Sir Walter 
"acted Orlando Furioso," as Sir Arthur Georges ex- 
presses himself ; because the Lieutenant of the Ord- 
nance at the Tower, Sir George Carew, in whose 
charge he was, would not permit him, on the occa- 
sion of Queen Elizabeth's paying a visit at Sir George 
Carye's, to leave the Tower in disguise, " to ease his 
mind but with a sight of the Queen, or else he pro- 
tested his heart would break." Equally fulsome was 
a letter which Ralegh wrote to Sir Robert Cecil (no 
doubt for the purpose of being laid before the Queen), 
in which he represents himself as cast into the depth 
of misery, " from being deprived of the light of seeing 
her'." It has been observed, that " Ralegh was bred 
in a school where scruples as to the means of grati- 
fication were not yet taught," and hence we find so 
many lamentable blemishes in his moral character. 
His proceedings in the Tower affixed to it a stain 
which after years could not entirely remove. 

After his release from the Tower, Ralegh remained 
only two days in London, and then proceeded to the 
west of England, to look after his share in the rich 
prize the ' Madre de Dios.' For some time he was 
not allowed to approach the court, but her Majesty's 



' The letter is reprinted from the Burleigh State Papers i: 
Life of Sir W. Raleigh, vol. i. p. 126. 






displeasure seems at length to have relented, when 
he exerted himself in Parliament on behalf of the 
Crown, on the question of subsidies to the Queen ; 
and he soon regained her favour so far, that on occa- 
sion of the manor of Sherborne in Dorsetshire being 
ahenated from the see of Salisbury, and falling to 
the Crown, Ralegh solicited and obtained it. Shortly 
afterwards he retired to Sherborne, where he com- 
menced various improvements, — "So that," says 
Coker, (the author of the Survey of Dorsetshire,) 
" whether you consider the pleasantness of the seat, 
the goodness of the soil, or the delicacies belonging 
unto it, it was unparalleled by any in these parts." 

During this period of exile from court, he matured 
a project which seems to have occupied his mind for 
some time. The voyages of discovery, performed by 
the Spaniards during the sixteenth century, had made 
him acquainted with vague reports of the existence of 
a rich and splendid city in the interior of the unex- 
plored parts of South America, abounding in gold, 
and to which they gave the name of EI Dorado. Vari- 
ous expeditions had been undertaken from the year 
1535 until Ralegh's time, and prosecuted with zeal, 
by individuals who enjoyed the greatest reputation at 
that stirring period. In their execution no regard 
was paid to the sacrifice of life, or to the enormous 
cost attending these adventures'. These rumours re- 
awakened the ardour for maritime enterprize and dis- 
covery, which Ralegh's life at court and his ambitious 

' Southey sajB that these expeditious " have cost Spain more than all 
» she has received from her South American posseseions." 



I 



IN'TllODUCTION. xJvit 

projects had for a while suppressed, but which under 
the disfavour of the Queen, and his temporary banish- 
ment from court, revived. He now availed himself of 
all the information he could procure from books, or 
orally from persons who had been in the New World, 
and ultimately resolved in 1594 on sending Captain 
Whiddon, an old oificer who had commanded one of 
his pinnaces during the cruise to the Azores in 1586, 
to the West Indies, to examine the coast and collect 
information. For this purpose Ralegh drew up cer- 
tain instructions, with which Wniiddon departed ; and 
his report being favourable, Ralegh determined upon 
his first voyage to Guiana. 

It is difficult to judge of the motives which first 
induced Ralegh to take this step. We are told by 
Naunton that "he found his favour declining and 
falling into a recess;" and his imagination probably 
suggested the discovery and conquest of a second em- 
pire of the Incas, or the plunder of another Temple of 
the Sun, which would not only invest him with the 
fame that his restless ambition coveted, but restore 
him to full favour at court, and fill his exchequer from 

" Yet unspoil'd 
Guiana., whose great city Geryon'a sonB 
Call El Dorado." 

The vast tracts of land still unknown in the interior 
of South America, could not fail to possess other re- 
gions where, even in the absence of that alluring idol 
gold, England might establish a colony of greater im- 
portance to her dominions than Mexico or Peru was to 
Spain. The mania for discovering auriferous regions 



was not confined to Spain ; it spread equally over 
England and Germany ; and such was the influence 
of this seducing picture, first sketched by rumour, 
and then coloured by imagination, that the more vic- 
tims it drew into its vortex, the more were found to 
embark in plans for its attainment. We cannot now 
discern, through the veil which the lapse of centuries 
has spread over the events of those days, whether 
Ralegh fully shared in the common belief; he how- 
ever possessed too much sagacity, with the failure 
of his Virginian project still fresh upon his mind, to 
suppose that any anticipated advantages from the 
settlement of a colony for the production of sugar, 
ginger, tobacco and other merchandize, would tempt 
adventurers to share in the danger and expense. He 
therefore devised his famous voyage in search of El 
Dorado, and after his return published the work, a 
new edition of which is now presented to the reader. 
Wonderful and surprising as the various events and 
actions in Ralegh's life had hitherto been, his ' Dis- 
coverie of Guiana' may be said to have formed their 
climax ; but although it conferred upon him greater 
fame than any of his former exploits, the statements 
which he advanced in it reflected more doubt upon 
his veracity " than all the other questionable acts of 
his varied life put together." 

The reader of Hume's History of England may 
recollect that Ralegh's narrative is branded as being 
full of the grossest and most palpable lies, — an unge- 
nerous and inconsiderate remark, which most proba- 
bly refers to Ralegh's statements respecting El Do- 



INTHODUCTIUN, xlix 

rado, the existence of the Amazons, the tribe without 
heads, and the auriferous rocks in Guiana. We shall 
anticipate the chronological order of events by exa- 
mining here two or three of these statements. Oar 
desire is that the reader should peruse the pages of 
this work, without considering Ralegh as the gratui- 
tous inventor of statements, which we, with the ad- 
vantage that two centuries and a half have given us, 
now regard with a smile. 

The marvellous discoveries and narratives of the 
first conquerors of America had prepared the minds 
of the credulous for the greatest wonders, and dis- 
posed them to admit the accounts given of a still 
more recently discovered country, called El Dorado, 
the gold-covered capital of which was built upon a 
vast lake, surrounded by mountains so impregnated 
with precious metals, that they shone with a dazzling 
splendour. This picture excited the cupidity of thou- 
sands, and led them to encounter dangers, privations, 
and a waste of human life unparalleled in the historv 
of enterprize. But it was not Ralegh's publication 
which spread this illusion ; the fable already existed 
in the early part of the sixteenth century, when large 
expeditions in search of El Dorado were directed to 
the eastern part of the Andes. We are informed by 
Oviedo, that in L539 Gonzalo Pizarro sought a great 
prince, of whom report related that he was covered 
with powdered gold, so that from head to foot he re- 
sembled a golden figure worked by the hands of a 
skilful artist. In lieu of El Dorado, Pizarro discovered 
the province of the Cinnamon-trees of America {Nee- 



1 INTRODUCTInX. 

tandra cinnamomoides Nees.). One of the most distin- 
guished adventurers in search of El Dorado was Phi- 
lip von Huten (erroneously called Philip de Urre), or 
Uten, as he is named hy Herrera, who set out on his 
expedition in 1541, and whose narrative excited great 
attention. The name EI Dorado was not originally 
used to designate any particular region, but a custom, 
which, as related by the Indians, was in itself suffi- 
ciently remarkable. Father Gumilla observes that, 
according to the histories of Terra firma and New 
Granada, the fable had its origin on the coast of Car- 
thagena and Santa Martha, whence it passed to Bo- 
gota. A rumour was spread through those regions, of 
a sovereign prince, who lived in a country which 
abounded in gold, and who on public occasions ap- 
peared with his body sprinkled over with gold-dust ; 
hence the name El Dorado was given to him, mean- 
ing in Spanish 'the gilded' or 'golden,' which was 
afterwards applied to the whole region. According to 
others, it denoted a religious custom, practised by 
the sect of Bochica or Idacanzas. The chief priest, 
" before he performed his sacrifice, caused powder of 
gold to be stuck upon his hands and face after they 
had been smeared with grease'." 

When after fruitless searches in New Granada the 
locality of the fable was transferred to Guiana, the 
whole province was designated by the name of El 
Dorado ; but the lake or laguna, surrounded by auri- 
ferous mountains, continued a necessary accompani- 

■ Humboldt's Personal Narraljte, vol. v. p. 814. 



meat to the shifting fable. Whether its locality was 
placed on the eastern descent of the Andes, between 
the Uaupes and Caqueta, tributaries of the Rio Negro, 
or between the Essequibo and River Parima (Rio 
Branco), the lake remaioed connected with it. When 
therefore the attention of adventurers was, at the 
close of the sixteenth century, attracted to Guiana as 
the spot where El Dorado was situated, the name of 
th.e river Parima, and the inundations of the flat 
country and savaunahs through which the rivers Pa- 
rima, Takutu, and Rupununi take their course, gave 
rise to the fable of the White Sea, or Laguna del 
Parima, or Dorado. Ralegh, after his return from his 
first voyage, was undecided where to place the locality 
of this lake ; he conceived the water to be saltish, and 
called it another Caspian Sea'. Hondiua constructed 
his ' Nieuwe Caerte van het goudreyke landt Guiana' 
after Ralegh's and Keymis's return, and was the first 
geographer who introduced the imperial city of Manoa 
upon the Laguna Parima, Rupununi, or Dorado. He 
made the lake two hundred leagues long and forty 
broad, and assigned to its locality the isthmus be- 
tween the Rupununi and Rio Branco. This inland 
sea was bounded by the latitudes of 2° north and 
1° 45' south, and was larger than the Caspian Sea. 

Captain Keymis, who accompanied Ralegh on his 
first voyage, and at his expense undertook in 1.596 
the second voyage to Guiana, identified the locality 
of the Dorado with this lake. "The Indians," says 

' Discovery of Guians. present edition, p. 13. 



INTHODITCTIU 



Keyrais, " to show the worthiness of Dessekebe (Es- 
sequibo), for it is very large and full of islands in the 
mouth, do call it the brother of Orenoque ; it lieth 
southerly io the land, and from the mouth of it unto 
the head they pass in twenty days ; then taking their 
provisions, they carry it on their shoulders one day's 
journey ; afterwards they return to their canoes, and 
bear them likewise to the side of a lake, which the 
Jaos call Raponowini, the Charibes Parime, which is 
of such bigness that they know no difference between 
it and the main sea. There he infinite numbers of 
canoes in this lake, and I suppose it is no other than 
that whereon Manoa standeth." And, 



from that period the isthmus which is formed hy the 
rivers Rupununi and Parima became the classical soil 
of El Dorado de Parima. 

Subsequent geographers, as Sanson (between 1656 
and 1669), D'Anville (1760), La Crux Olmedilla 
(1775), and Surville (1778), retained the Laguna Pa- 
rima, or Mar Blanco, but varied its locality in the 
most arbitrary manner. Sanson and D'Anville appear 
to have been doubtful whether to adopt it or not: for 
instance Sanson, in his chart of the river of the 
Amazons (1680), left out the Lake Parima, which ap- 
peared in his first map ; while D'Anville omitted 
it in the first edition of ' L'Amerique Meridionale,' 
but inserted it in the second edition, published in 
1760. 

The researches of the most eminent traveller of our 



IVTIlODUCTlt 



lili 



age, to whom every branch of physical science is in- 
debted — the celebrated Humboldt — was the first who, 
by reasoning, founded upon personal experience and 
an inspection of every document relating to the re- 
gions which had been made the locality of this inland 
lake, proved the non-existence of this White Sea, or 
Laguna de Parima. 

Humboldt obseipes, that if a geographer intended 
to construct a map of South America on astronomical 
observations, he would find to the north of the Ama- 
zon a terra incognita, three times as long as Spain ; 
or, that if a line be drawn west of Cayenne, through 
the falls of the Maroni and the Essequibo, Vieja 
Guayana, along the right bank of the Orinoco to Es- 
meralda, and thence through the confluence of the 
Rio Branco with the Rio Negro along the latter river 
as far as Vistoza, on the left bank of the Amazon, 
and to the sources of the Oyapok, there would be 
an area of 432,000 square miles on which not a 
single position has been astronomically determined. 
Thus wrote Humboldt twenty-five years ago. If we 
except the country to the east of the 55th meridian, 
these are the very regions which we have explored 
during our eight years' wanderings in Guiana between 
the years 1835 and 1844, and we can fully certify 
that the reasoning at which Humboldt arrived, by 
judiciously comparing and considering the documents 
relating to the origin of the White Sea or Lake 
Parima, are borne out by the geography of nature. 
There is no inland sea in existence. The inunda- 
tions of those extensive savannahs during the tropical 



INTKUDUCTIIi: 



winter, which cover 14,000 square miles, and are 
encompassed by the Sierra Pacaraima to the north, 
the Canuku, Taripona, and Carawairai mountains to 
the south, the thick forest of the Essequibo and iso- 
lated mountains to the east, and the mountains of 
the Mocajalii and Parima to the west, — g^ve rise, no 
doubt, to the fable of the White Sea, assisted by the 
ignorance of Europeans of the Indian language'. 

We shall not enumerate the various expeditious 
which were undertaken for the conquest of El Do- 
rado, — a phantom which has by some been regarded 
as a device of Satan " to lure men to destruction," and 
viewed by others as the means of spreading Chris- 
tianity and enlarging our geographical knowledge. 
The quaint remarks of John Hagtliorpe, a well-known 
author of the early part of the seventeenth century, 
and a contemporary of Ralegh, are very amusing; 
he says, " Sir Walter Rawley knewe very well when 



' Notwithstanding the proofs of the non-existenee of this White Sea or 
Lake Parima, a work was ]>ubUshed in New York in 1844 with the pom- 
pous title of ' El Dorado;' it is illuEtrated hy a Mop on which the Lake 
Parima figures in its whole extent. The author, Mr. Van Heiivel, visited 
the coaat region-s of Guiana without penetrating into the interior, and his 
conclusions respecting this lake rest only upon what he learned from some 
Indians, whose langua^ he did not understand, and upon the maps of 
Sanson, D'Anville and others of the last century ; and although ftilly ac- 
quainted with llumholdt's writings, "who," he says, "effaced without 
Bufflcient grounds that wondrous lake," Mr. Von Heuvel has fully restored 
it, Biul gives to it a length of from two hundred to two hundred and fifty 
mileSj and a hreadth of about fifty miles. Out of it flow the rivers Parima 
and Tokutu into the Rio Negro and the Amazon ; the Cuyuni, the Siparuni, 
n,nd the Mazaruni, into the Essequiho ; and the Paragua into the Orinoco. 
A single step backwards in our geographical knowledge is much to he re- 
gretted, and all who take interest in that acienee ought to aid in prevent- 
ing the dissemination of Buch absurdities. 



he attempted his Guyana businesse, who err'd in no- 
thing so much (if a free man may speak freelyj as in 
too much confidence in the relations of the countrie : 
For who knowes not the pohcy and cunning of the 
fat Fryers, which is to stirre up and animate the 
Souldiers and Laytie to the search and inquisition of 
new Countries, by devising tales and cements in their 
Cloysters where they Hve at ease, that when others 
have taken payne to bring in the harvest, they may 
feed upon the best and fattest of the croppe'? " 

Though we cannot go all lengths with Hagthorpe, 
there seems to be much truth in his observation. It 
is remarkable that the copy which Antonio de Berreo* 
had received of the pretended journey of Juan Mar- 
tinez came originally from his confessor, Ralegh ex- 
pressly states, that when Martinez had given up all 
hope of hfe, and was receiving the sacrament at the 
hands of his confessor, "he delivered these things 
with the relation of his travels, and also called for his 
calabazas, or gourds of the gold beads, which he gave 
to the church and friars to be prayed for^," 



' England's Espheqiier, or a discourse of the sea and navigation, with 
le things thereuDto raincideiit concemiug plantations; by John Hag- 
thorpe, Gent. London, ItllJS.' 

' As the name of Beireo occurs here tax the first time in this volume, 
1 we may observe that it should perhaps have been written more properly 
[ Berrio, as we find it in Father Simiin's Noticias ; but as Rategh, with all 
[ contemporary English and some French authors, have written it as above, 
I we have, for the sake of conformity with the original work of Ralegh, 
anumed the mode of spelling it BeiTeu throughout. Acconling to Home 
I lie married the daughter, according t4i others the adopted child, of Oon^alo 
I Xitnenei de Qucsaila. Fray Simon calls her the niece of the great Adelan- 
I tado, but all agree that she inherited bis riches. 

' Diicover}- of Guiana, p. 20 of the preient edition. 



Ivl IKTROULCTHIN. 

The account which Ralegh gives of the Amazons 
and the headless men has received severe censure. 
We shall leave our observations on the subject of the 
latter to a future opportunity, observing only that 
Hartsinck in his work on Guiana, published in 1770, 
gravely asserts the existence of a race of negroes in 
Surinam whose hands and feet were forked hke the 
claw of a lobster, consisting merely of a thumb and 
a finger. 

With regard to the account of the Amazons, it is 
not given as from personal observation, but as a report 
received from Indians, and current at the period when 
Ralegh wrote his Guiana voyage, and which even 
Condamine the French Academician considered pro- 
bable, adducing many testimonies in its favour in a 
discourse delivered before the French Academy. The 
account of a tribe of Amazons is almost coeval with 
the discovery of America, Christopher Columbus was 
told that the small island of Madanino or Matini- 
no (Montserrat) was inhabited by warlike women'. 
Orellana in his descent of the Maraiiou was cau- 
tioned at the mouth of the Napo by an old chieftain, 
to beware of the warlike women, and asserts that he 
afterwards met females fighting in the ranks of men. 
Hernando de Ribeira, the follower of Cabeza de Vega 
the Conquistador of Paraguay, asserts, in 1545, that 
he heard of a nation of Amazons, who lived on the 
western side of a large lake, which was poetically 
called the Mansion of the Sun, because that orb sank 

' Peter Martyr, Dec. i. lib. 2. Select Letters of Christopher ColumbuB, 
tTanalsted and edited for the Haklujt Society by R.H.Major, Esq., p. 15. 



I 



I 

I 



into it. D'Acuiia expressed bis firm belief in tbeir 
existence, and fixed their abode on the river Cunuriz. 
It is a strange coincidence that, according to Ralegh, 
there is a province in Guiana called Canuri, governed 
by a woman, and we might almost question whether 
the close resemblance of these two words is acci- 
dental'. D'Acuna observes: "When their neigh- 
bours visit them (the Amazons) at a time appointed 
by them, they receive them with their bows and 
arrows in their hands, and exercise them as if to 
engage with enemies ; but knowing their object, they 
lay them down, and receive them as their guests, who 
remain with them a few days^." Andrew Thevet, in 
his 'Antarctic,' has made the arrival of the Ama- 
zons' guests the subject of an illustration^. We ob- 
serve from several quotations given by Ralegh that 
he was well acquainted with Thevet's publication, a 
translation of which hy Bynneman appeared in 1568, 
and we may therefore suppose that he had precon- 
ceived an opinion in favour of their existence before 
he left England : in this however he was not singular ; 
the belief was entertained by thousands at that pe- 
riod. Father Cyprian Baraza, a Jesuit missionary, at 
the close of the seventeenth century gave an account 
of the existence of Amazons to the west of the Para- 
guay in 12° south latitude. We have already alluded 
to the statement which M. de Condamine made before 



' Discovery of Guiana, present edition, p, 108. 

" We quote this passage irom the Eoglisli trauslation of D'Acuiia's 
' Diacoverj of the Kver Amazon.' 

' ' Let Singularitea de la France Antaretiqiie, par F. Audre Thevet,' 
p. 124. PaHa, 1568. 



Iviii iNTHOUuiTioN'. 

the Academy, and tlie existence of sucli reports was 
confirmed thirty years after by Ribeiro, a Portuguese 
astronomer, without however expressing his own faith 
in these traditions'. The missionary Gih heard from 
an Indian of the Quaqua tribe, that the Aikeambena- 
nos, literally ' the women living alone,' inhabited the 
banks of the Cuchivero, which falls into the Orinoco 
opposite the island of Taran, between Caycara and 
Alta Gracia. Condamine further adduces the testi- 
mony of two Spanish Governors of the province of 
Venezuela, Don Diego (? Francisco) Portales and Don 
Francisco Torralva, which agreed in substance that a 
tribe of warlike women dwelt in the interior of Gui- 
ana. Count Pagan, in his history of the river Amazon, 
observes in his florid style, "que I'Asie ne se vante 
plus de ses comptes veritables ou fabuleuses des A- 
mazones, I'Am^rique ne lui cide point cet avantage 
. . . Et que le fleuve de Thermodoon, ne soit plus enfle 
de la gloire de ces conqu^rantes, la riviere de Coruris 
[Cunuriz] est aussi fameuse pour ses belles guer- 
ritires*." L'Abbe Guyon expresses a similar opinion 
in his ' Histoire des Amazones anciennes et modernes,' 
but it is evident that the faith in their existence rests 
upon D'Acuiia's report. 

In these accounts, which have been transmitted 
to us by the early historians, we observe a manifest 
desire to invest all that related to the new continent 



' Ribeiro de Smnpaio, ' Diario da viagem no anno de iT/A et I77fl,' 
p. 27 et seq. 

' 'Relation de la rivifre des Amazones, par le Cointe de Pagan," chap. 
tXa.. p. 157. 



ISTRODUCTIOX. lix 

with au air of hiarvel. It is however extraordinary 
that, if the tradition originated with Europeans, it was 
not only still in existence at the time of Condamine's 
voyage, but is even now current among all the Indian 
tribes who have had intercourse with the Caribs. The 
Indians of the lower Corentyn, of the Essequibo and 
Rupununi, declared to us in the gravest manner du- 
ring our travels in these regions, that the separate 
hordes of females still live on the upper part of the 
Corentyn, in a country called Marawonne. The ac- 
counts we received respecting the country they inha- 
bited were accompanied by such details, that the tra- 
dition assumed some probability. We were told that 
when we should have passed high above the great 
cataracts in the Corentyn, at the point where two 
huge rocks, called Pioomoco and Surama, rise from 
each bank of the river and bound it like a portal, we 
might consider ourselves in the land of the Woruisa- 
mocos. We received similar accounts from the IVIa- 
cusis, who reside on those savannahs which form the 
supposed site of Keymis's El Dorado. When travel- 
ling over these plains we frequently came to seques- 
tered spots where we observed a great quantity of 
broken pottery, which our Macusi Indians invariably 
adduced as a proof of the former residence of the Wo- 
ruisamocos on these places. Of all Guianians however 
the Caribs are the most versed in wonderful tales, and 
all agree in the facts, that such a republic existed in 
the interior of Guiana, towards the head of the Coren- 
tyn, and in a district which no European ever visited ; 
that these females are called Woruisamocos ; that they 



shoot with bow and arrow, and use the cura or blow- 
pipe ; that tbey cultivate their own grounds, and hold 
no iotercourBc with other Indians, except once a year, 
when they permit the men to visit them in parties of 
twenties ; and that if their offspring prove a male in- 
fant tbey kill it, but rear up the female children. 

Orellana, in his descent of the Maranon, met with 
hostile Indians at the river Cunuriz who opposed his 
advance, and among their number were females, who 
appeared quite as warlike as the men. This is the 
origin of the fable of the American Amazons, but the 
locality being once fixed, succeeding centuries have 
been unable to efface the tradition that Amazons exist 
in some part or other of Guiana. Several expedi- 
tions have been sent at different times to explore the 
Rio Trombetas, all of which were stopped by the large 
cataracts ; in some instances the explorers were mur- 
dered by the savage Indians who inhabit the upper 
branches: hence those parts of that river remained 
perfectly unknown, and were considered the abode of 
the bellicose dames. M. Montravel, commanding the 
French man-of-war 'La Boulonnaise,' surveyed the 
Amazon as high up as the Rio Negro in the years 
1842-1844, and heard a similar account when in the 
neighbourhood of the Rio Trombetas. We have there- 
fore from the south as well as from the north the same 
tradition, that the Amazons of the New World inhabit 
a centra! district of Guiana. Our route in 1844, when 
traversing these very regions, and descending the 
chief branch of the Trombetas from its source to its 
junction with the Wanamu, has, unfortunately for the 



interest attached to this romance, driven the warlike 
dames from one of their last hiding-places. The re- 
sult of this fatiguing and perilous journey has only 
strengthened our conviction that the existence of this 
republic of women was one of those inventions de- 
signed merely to enhance the wonders of which the 
New World was regarded as the seat. It would how- 
ever be unjust to condemn Ralegh's proneness to a 
belief in their existence, when we find that even 
Southey, the learned historian of Brazil, makes this 
remark: "Had we never heard of the Amazons of 
antiquity, I should withont hesitation believe in those 
of America ; their existence is not the less likely for 
that reason, and yet it must be admitted that the pro- 
bable truth is made to appear suspicious by its re- 
semblance to a known fable '." 

The next point to be considered is the censure 
which Ralegh has incurred from his enemies for his 
exaggerated representations of the mineral riches of 
Guiana. The ore which he presented to the Lord 
High Admiral Howard and Sir Robert Cecil was 
alleged to have been obtained from Africa ; he re- 
futes this charge in the preface to his ' Discoverie of 
Guiana'; and the strongest evidence of his belief in 
the mineral wealth of Guiana is afforded by the two 
expeditions undertaken at his expense in the fol- 
lowing years with the object of discovering mines in 
Guiana. Oldys relates that he saw some of the ore 
brought by Sir Walter Ralegh from Guiana, which 
had been earefally preserved in his family, and which, 

' Soiithey's History of BiBzil. p. 609. 



at the period when Oldys wrote Ralegh's life, was in 
the possession of Captain William Elwes. It cannot 
be doubted that Guiana possesses gold ; there are va- 
rious instances on record of this metal being found, 
but none where it has been met with in sufficient 
quantities to render its working profitable. Hum- 
boldt says that, from what he observed in that part 
of America, he is led to think " that gold, like tin, is 
sometimes disseminated in an almost imperceptible 
manner in the mass of granite rocks itself, without 
our being able to admit that there is a ramification 
and an interlacing of small veins. Not long ago the 
Indians of Emaramada found in the Quebrada del 
Tigre a piece of native gold two lines in diameter. 
It was rounded, and appeared to have been washed 
along by the waters." We saw a piece of native gold 
twice that size in the hands of Fray Josfe at Fort San 
Joachim, which he assured us had been found in the 
river Takutu ; and we ourselves observed minute par- 
ticles of gold in the dry bed of that river. Strange 
to say, the gold which Fray Jos^ showed us was upon 
white quartz, the " liarde white sparr" described by 
Ralegh. 

In 1721 the Council of Ten in Holland granted a 
privilege, whereby it was enacted that all persons 
disposed to work mines in Guiana might do so upon 
certain conditions, and Mr. Hildebrand, a miner, was 
sent from Holland for that purpose. A shaft was 
sunk at a short distance from the first cataracts in 
the Cuyuni, but the small quantity of ore found did 
not repay the expenses of working it, and the attempt 



I NTBODUCTION. Ixiil 

3 abandoned. Hildebrand went afterwards up the 
river Siparuni, a tributary of tlie Essequibo, and is 
said to have met with ore there, 

Several of the natives who came on board of 
Columbus's ship, when lying at anchor in the Gulf 
of Paria, wore pieces of gold on their breasts ; he 
made inquiries as to where they found the gold, and 
they all directed him to an elevated tract of land ly- 
ing westward, at no great distance on the confines 
of their own country '. 

The testimony of Mr. Robert Duddeley, who was 
afterwards knighted, is fully corroborative of the pre- 
valent opinion of the abundance of gold in Guiana. 
Duddeley arrived in Trinidad on the 1st of Febru- 
ary, 1595, consequently several days previous to Sir 
Walter Ralegh's leaving England. He states that a 
party whom he sent to examine the Orinoco informed 
hitn, on their return, that an Indian chief gave them 
some plates of gold, and told them of "another rich 
nation, that sprinkled their bodies with gold, and 
seemed to be gilt." Robert Harcourt also furnishes 
evidence of the general belief of the abundance of 
gold in Cayenne ; and though the reports of Sparrey 
and Keymis may be considered partial, and written 
in the interest of Ralegh, the same cannot be said of 
Duddeley and Harcourt. The existence of auriferous 
regions in Guiana was attested by the latter, who ob- 
serves, that Anthony Canabre an Indian brought him 
apiece of a " rocke of white sparre " which held both 

' Select l>ettera of Columbus, translated h 
Soriety by R. H. Major, Esq., pp. 121, 124. 



Ill edited for the Hakluvt 



INTRODUCTION. 



gold aDd silver'. Nor are Ralegh and his contempo- 
raries the only persons who assert that there is gold 
in Guiana. Baron d'Ouily received information from 
a Spaniard, towards the latter part of the seventeenth 
century, of the existence of ore in Guiana, and en- 
tered into a contract with some people from Zealand, 
in consequence of which some of the ore was brought 
to Holland, 120 lbs. of which contained 2^ ounces of 
fine gold and one ounce of silver; a similar quantity 
of another kind contained more, others less, and some 
neither gold nor silver. Otto Kay, who mentions this 
in his 'Pertinents Beschryvinge van Guiana' (Amster- 
dam, 1676), says, that he conversed with Hendrick 
Harmensz, who commanded the soldiers near the 
mines, and who told him that they had been merely 
worked near the surface. 

We have attempted to exculpate Ralegh from some 
of the gravest accusations of bad faith and gratuitous 
inventions that have been brought against him. Many 
remarks to a similar purpose will be found in the fol- 
lowing pages, where passages in the body of the work 
have called forth the animadversions of the historians 
and biographers of this great man. 

The pure and nervous style in which the ' Disco- 
verie of Guiana' is written imparts to it a lasting 
charm. Camden characterizes it as an elegant pro- 
duction ; and it attracted such attention when it first 
appeared, that it was translated into the principal 
European languages. It may not be uninteresting to 

A Relation of a Voyage to Giiiuna.' Edition of 




INTRODUCTION. IXV 

enumerate here the diftereut editions which have ap- 
peared of this work, the first of which bears the date 
of 1 596. The general belief that during Ralegh's life- 
time only one edition of his Voyage was separately 
published, is erroneous, as on a recent comparison of 
two copies bearing the date of 1 596, we have observed 
some trifling typographical differences'. The 'Dis- 
covery of Guiana' was reprinted verbatim in ' Hak- 
luyt's Voyages'*, and since in Birch's ' Works of Ra- 
legh'", Cayley's ' Life of Sir Walter Ralegh'*, and in 
the ' Works of Sir Walter Raleigh,' published by the 
directors of the Clarendon press''*. A few years after 
the pubhcation of the original, an abridged Latin 
translation^ appeared in 1599 in Nuremberg, at the 
cost of the celebrated geographer and collector Le- 
vinus Hulsius. This is embellished by five curious 
representations: the 6rst, of the Tivitivas living on 
the tops of trees ; a representation of "Manoa o el 

' This refers to the omaineiital letters ; the initiala of Sir Walter Ralegh 
(W. R.) at the end of his Preface and Address to the Reader, and the 
catchword at the end of the pages. 

' Richard Hakluyt : ' The priDcipal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques 
and Discoverica of the EngUeh nation,' etc. folio. London, 15!I9, vol. iii, 
p. 62?. 

> Thomaa Birch: ' The Worlia of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kniglit.' 8vo. 
London, 1751, vol. ii. p. 13.9. 

• Arthur Cayley, jun. : 'The Life of Sir Walter Haley, Knight.' 4to. 
London, 1805, vol. i. p. 142. 

' 'The Works of Sir Walter Raleigh, Knight, now first eoUected, to 
which are prefixed the Lives of the Author by Oldys and Birch.' 8vo. Ox- 
ford, 182!), vol. viii. p. 391. 

' 'Brevis et admiranda descriptio regni Guiantc, auri abundantisaimi, in 
America tea Novo Orbe sub hnea equinoctiali aiti. Quod nuper admodum, 
annis nimirum 1594, 1695 et 1596 per generosum D. D, Oualtherum Ra- 
legh equitem Anglum, detetrtum est, etc. Impensis Levini Hulaii. 4to. 
Noribergffi, 1599.' 



INTRODUCTION. 



Dorado," with part of the Essequibo river, and the 
Indians occupied in carrying their boats and cargoes 
over land to the Lake Roponowini, as related by 
Keymis ; the third plate represents the joyful recep- 
tion of the men, and subsequent amusements of the 
Amazons with their friends ; while the fourth shows 
how these warlike dames dealt with their enemies : 
their prisoners are hung up by the feet to trees, and 
serve as targets for their skill in archery ; others are 
preparing fires for roasting the victims : the most in- 
teresting however is the fifth plate, which exhibits 
the Ewaipanoma or men without heads'. A trans- 
lation in German seems to have been coeval with the 
Latin one^. A literal translation is likewise contained 
in the eighth part of De Bry's ' Collection of Ameri- 



' Attached to this volume is a " Tabula Loconim quorum iu libello hoc 
mentiD fit," which na a document of the geographical knowledge of the 
western hemiaphere at that period is highly curious. As HuUins' edition 
is now very scarce, that geographical table may prove of interest. The 
degrees of longitude are reekoned eastwards from the extreme uorth-westem 
point of the island of Ferro (long. 18° 7' 30" west of Greenwich), and the 
latitude is, with two exceptions, north of the equator. 



Orad. long. Grad. lat. 
2 Sept. 



Ami^aia 

Amazoues Fluv. 

CapuriFluv '&22 /Sept. 

Caaaipa 31o li ... 

Casaipagotes 31(> IJ ... 

Dorado 320 1 ... 

Demorary Fluv. ... 325 5 ... 
EgsehekeFluT, ... 322 3 ... 

Guiana 3'** 1 •■■ 

a ' Kurtze wnnderhare Beschreibung des Goldreichen Konigreiehs Guiani 
in America, von Herrn Waltherio Raleigh.' Frankfurt am Main, 4to, ¥ 
HulsiuB, Wittibe, 1699. 



Grad.long. Grad. lat. 

Jaoa 325 3 Sept. 

Iwaiponoma 315 1 ... 

Macuregnarai 316 3 ... 

Maooa 320 1 .,. 

Morcquito 31? 4 ... 

OrenoqueFluv. ... 116* 6 ,.. 

ParimaLacus 320 ... 

Trinidado 321 9 ... 



' So in the MS., but evidently a 



nded ftpr 31fi. 



INTRODUCTION. Lwil 

can Navigations and Voyages,' which was published in 
Latin, German and French, and is now of great rarity ' ; 
it is accompanied by a curious map of that part of 
South America. Oldvs observes, " There are accounts 
of two editions of Sir Walter Ralegh's Voyage to 
Guiana in Dutch, one in 4to, which must he this of 
his Discovery, and the other in 1619." Edmund 
Howes, in his addition to Stow's Annals, says, "it 
has been translated into all languages." A French 
translation appeared in 17"22, in the second volume 
of F. Cereal's Voyages*. 

An interesting manuscript in the British Museum 
contains a list of the captains and gentlemen who ac- 
companied Sir Walter on his first Guiaua voyage ; it 
is entitled, 'An abstract of diuerse memorable thinges 
worthy the noting, selected out of Sir Walter Raleighes 
first booke of his discoverie of Guyana and by hym 
performed in Anno Domini 1595^.' The following 
extract contains the list ; — 

" Tliursday the vi of February, I departed England, 

' De Bey ; ' CoUectionea Peregrinationum in Indiaa Orientales et Ocei- 
dentales. Folio. Ffaneofiuti, 1590-1699. AmerieceParsTiii.' It is entitled, 
' VeriKaima Descriptio auriferi et prceatautiEsimi Regn. Guiami, quod hisce 
temporibus, a veteribus regni Peru incolia habitatur, et a poateris Guiana- 
Capa potentiasimi quondam in Peru Regis, possidetur, una cum descrip- 
tione ditissimarum Regiomini et proTinciarum Emeria, Aromaia, et Ama- 
paia, anno 1595 per nubilissiinum et fortissimum Guolthemm Ralegb 
equitem Auglum iuventarum.' 

* ' Relation de la Guiaae, du Lnc de Parima et dea prorinees d'Etne- 
ria, d'Arromaia et d'Amapaia, de'couvertea par le Chevalier Walter Ra- 
leigh." 

■'' Brit. Mu9. Ayaeough's Cat. No. 32?2, It appeara to be a contempo- 
rary copy, perhaps transcribed froni Sir Walter's oivn manuBcript ; how- 
ever this lUt has not been published in any of the editions of hia Voyage 
known to us. 



being accompanied with diuerse Captainea and Gen- 
tlemen whose names were these : 

Captain George Gifford, Vice Admirall, 

Captain Calfeild, 

Captain Amiotts Preston, 

Captain Thynne, 

Captain Laurence Keymis, 

Captain Eynos, 

Captain Whiddon, 

Captain Clarke, 

Captain Crosse, 

Captain Facy, 

My cousin Butsheade George, 

My nephew John Gilbert, 

John Dowglass Master of myne owne shipp, 

Mr. Edward Porter, 

Lieutenant Hewes, 

Mj' cousin Greeneueile, 

— Connock, 
Anthoney Wells, 

— King, M' of the Lions whelpe, 
Jerom Farrar, 
Thomas Upton, 
Nicholas Mellechapp, Surgeon {he is now, 1618, 

dwelling in Ludlow)." 



The Voyage described in the following pages was 
directed to a river of which very little was known, at 
the time when Ralegh undertook to reach the main 
stream from Trinidad by one of the numerous chan- 
nels which intersect the delta ; the better to elucidate 



INTKODDCTION. kix 

the account of his slow progress and hair-breadth 
escapes, we prefix a few general remarks on the 
Orinoco. 

During his third voyage Columbus discovered the 
island of Trinidad, and entered the Gulf of Paria, 
which he called Golfo de las Perlas. The low land 
which forms the delta of the Orinoco he named Terra 
de Gracia ; the strong currents prevented his exa- 
mining that part of the coast, and he considered the 
four great outlets of the Orinoco to be arms of the 
sea, and called the coast of Paria which partly sur- 
rounds the gulf Isla Santa'. Vincente-Yanez Pin900 
gave the first information of this great river, which 
he called Rio Dulce*, and that name was preserved 
for some time on the maps of the sixteenth century. 
In a highly interesting manuscript map in the British 
Museum'', supposed to have been executed towards 
the end of the first third of the sixteenth century, the 
eastern branch (Boca de Navios) is called Rio Doulce ; 
and the oceanic delta, Costa Bassa, el Palmar, and 
Anegada ; the latter name no doubt refers to its being 
so frequently under water. The most western branch 
(Manamo) is called Comari. Diego de Ordaz, who 
in 1531 ascended the river as high up as the cata- 
ract of Atures, heard for the first time the name of 
Orinoco, and affirms that from its mouth to the 

' Henera [Eistoria general de loa HecfaoK de los Caatellanos en \aa 
Ula« y tierra finna del mar Oceaoo. Madrid, 1601 — 1615.), Dec. iii. lib. 3. 
pp. 79. 81. 

' GrjnjEUB, De Navigatione Pinzoni, pp. 119, 1^, 

» Add. MSS. No. 5413. 



hy 



INTKODUCTIO: 



confluence with the Meta it is called Uriaparia, and 
from that point it goes by the name of the Orinucu'. 
Baron Humboldt enumerates the following names 
which the Orinoco bears in one or other part of its 
course; Baraguau, Yuyapari, Yjupari, Huriaparia, 
Uriapari, Viapari, Paragua, Bazagua, Parava^. To 
these may be added Rio de Paria, Urinucu, Raleana^, 
Worinoque''; and we have ourselves heard it called 
Riunucku by the Maiongkong and Gulnau Indians, 
who inhabit the upper branches of this great river. 
The Gran Boca or Boca de Navios is called East 
Capuri, Vinikebery, Winikeberi, and Varima, in some 
of the early maps*. 

The uncertainty of the situation of its sources has 
in a great measure been removed by our journey in 
1839-40. We approached within thirty miles of the 
head of the chief branch, when we were obhged to 
retreat in consequence of an expected attack of the 
Kirishanas, a tribe of savage Indians alike hostile to 
the whites and their Indian neighbours^. According 
to the Indians who accompanied us, we were then a 



' Hemra. Dec. iv. p. 219 
' Humboldt's Peraono! Ni 
^ Keymia bestowed this i 
Walter Ralegb. 

' Won signifies a woman 



Dec. 



,.p.2-2. 

English translation, vol. v. p. P06. 
on it in honour of his General, Sir 



Maciisi language ; Woriuakui is a fe- 
acQoug til at tribe. 
See ' La Guaiane ou Coste Sauvagc atitremcnt El Dorado, par Pere 
Du Val d' Abbeville,' Paris, 1654 ; and ' Terreferme, par Sanson d' Abbe- 
ville.' Paris, 1656. 

' Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of Loudon, vol. x, pp. 231 , 



journey of a day and a half from the sources of the 
Orinoco ; and from the information which we procured 
in that vicinity, we assume their geographical position 
to be in latitude 1° 30' north, and longitude 64° 50' 
west. At a distance of one hundred and fifteen miles 
(sixty to a degree) from its sources, the Orinoco sends 
off the remarkable branch which connects that river 
with the Rio Negro, a tributary of the great Amazon. 
It is called Casiquiare, and receives several rivers in 
its course, until it falls above San Carlos into the 
Rio Negro'. From this remarkable bifurcation the 
course of the Orinoco to Angostura is seven hundred 
and fifty miles ; and from that place to the Boca de 
Navios, where its main branch flows into the Atlantic 
Ocean, two hundred and fifty-five miles ; its whole 
course would therefore be about one thousand one 
hundred and twenty geographical miles. The hydro- 
graphical system of the Orinoco, including its tri- 
butaries, extends over a surface of two hundred and 
seventy thousand square miles, and receives four 
hundred and thirty-six rivers, and more than two 
thousand rivulets and streams. The superficial area 
of its basin covers an extent half as large again as 
the kingdom of Spain. 

The Caroni, one of the tributaries of the Orinoco, 
to the mouth of which Ralegh extended his journey, 
joins the latter river on its left bank, in latitude 8" 8' 



in Febniary 1839, ire passed through that rc- 
n the Orinoco into tlie lUu Negro. Sec Journal 
of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. x. p. 248. 



north according to Humboldt, but in 8" 15' north 
according to Codazzi'. This river, which drains a 
surface of twenty-six thousand square miles, has the 
source of its main branch in the remarkable sandstone 
mountains of Roraima, and receives upwards of fifty 
large tributaries. About sixty-three miles below the 
mouth of the Caroni, or one hundred and seventeen 
miles from the Boca de Navios or Punta Bariraa, the 
Orinoco sends off its first branch, called Braze' Ma- 
careo, to the north, and forms that remarkable oceanic 
delta which is intersected by seventeen large branches 
and a number of smaller ones. The nearest branches 
communicate with each other, and form a network 
and labyrinth of islands, which extend between Punta 
Barima, the most eastern point^, and Cafio Vagre, the 
most western outlet, over a distance of one hundred 
and 6fty miles in a direct line. 

These numerous branches are divided into two 
chief portions, of which the one between the Bocas 
Vagre and Macareo is called the upper or western 



1 Humboldt's Peraonal Narrative, Engl. tranBlfttion, vol. v. p, 796. In 
the map which accompBnics this edition we have however adopted Co- 
lonel Codaxii't position (8° 15' north), since Humboldt himself did not 
extend his jouniey to the Caroni. 

' Tlie Macareo ia called Braro only from its efflux to where it divides 
into two chief arms, the western of which is the Cafio Manamo, which 
lUlegh MRcndeil, anil the eastern the Cafio Macareo, which he selected on 
his rt-tiirn. 

' Aecoriiiiig to our obscn-atious, made whilst the Boundary Expedition 
WM eucampod at this point, the geographical position of this point ia found 
hi lio in latitude 8° 36' 48", and longitude (iO° 18' 30"; much confusion 
(itllwHn prevailed, Punta Sabaneta being frequently mibtaken for Punta 



delta (Hororotomaka of Ralegh), and the other the 
lower or eastern (Pallamos of Ralegh) ; the former are 
likewise called the Bocas Chicas, or " little mouths." 
The bocas of the upper delta disembogue into the 
Gulf of Paria, Golfo Triste, or Golfo de las Perlas of 
Columbus, a basin which is formed by the coast of 
Paria and the island of Trinidad. It is from east to 
west nearly ninety miles in length, and from north to 
south thirty-six miles in breadth. Columbus gave to 
the celebrated passage, between the projecting point 
or promontory of Paria (Punta de la Pena) and the 
north-western point of Trinidad (Punta Monos), the 
name of the Dragon's Mouth, and it is supposed that 
it once formed an isthmus by which the present island 
of Trinidad was connected with the mainland. A 
similar supposition prevails respecting the Serpent's 
Mouth, the entrance to the gulf between the south- 
western point of Trinidad (Punta de Icacos) and Punta 
Foleto on the coast of the Orinoco, somewhat east of 
the Boca de Paternales. If this supposition be correct, 
the Gulf of Paria once formed an inland basin, which 
by some convulsions of nature burst its barrier and 
flowed into the powerful currents of the Atlantic and 
the Orinoco. 

The impetuosity with which the waters issue from 
the different mouths of these outlets is so great, that 
during the periodical swelling, or the rainy season, 
the water of the ocean is pressed backwards, and 
causes currents and counter- currents, which itrequires 
much local knowledge to overcome in navigating the 



INTROUUCTION. 



coast ; but the assertion of Depons, that the water 
of the Orinoco remains fresh at more than thirty 
leagues from its mouth, can only be considered fabu- 
lous'. In the months of July, August and September, 
when the Orinoco is highest, the water is fresh at a 
distance of six miles from Punta Barima*. The wa- 
ters in the Gulf of Paria are during that period along 
the shore fresh, but the middle of the basin is salt, 
though in a less degree than the adjacent sea. Along 
the whole coast, from the river Corentyn to the Gulf 
of Paria, certain localities are subjected to " rollers " 
or ground- swells, — a peculiar phaiuomenon, which is 
ascribed to the meeting and combination of contrary 
currents,. shallow water, and the effect of winds. The 
sea approaches on such occasions in undulating 
masses, which suddenly rise to large ridges crested 
with foam, and form billows that break with the 
greatest impetuosity against any object they meet in 
their course. The roaring of the waves resembles 
thunder, and when an unfortunate vessel is exposed 
to their fury, the spray is dashed high up the rigging 
to the mast-head : we speak from experience, as the 
schooner on board of which we sailed got unfortu- 
nately among the rollers when bound for the Ori- 
noco. Coluuibus has described the phenomenon 
very graphically, and upon his description Sir ^al- 

' Travela in South .'linericH by F. Dc|K)Iis. Englisii tniiisliiUou, vol. ii- 
p. 342. 

" Uiiring our eocampmeut at PiuiUi BHrimn ne jirocureil fregh water 
only after the eMi hail contitiueil for three or foiir liourB, but from June to 
Sc|)lember the waler is said to be ajuayt fi'<-sll. 



INTRODUCTION. IxXV 

ter Scott seems to have based the following forcible 
verses^ : — 

" The battle's rage 

Was like the strife which currents wage 
Where Orinoco, in his pride, 
Rolls to the main no tribute tide. 
But 'gainst broad Ocean urges far 
A rival sea of roaring war ; 
While in ten thousand eddies driven 
The billows fling their foam to heaven. 
And the pale pilot seeks in vain, 
Where rolls the river, where the main.*' 

We shall here conclude this sketch of the life and 
exploits of Ralegh, which has already extended to a 
greater length than we at first proposed ; but, as this 
work forms in a manner the climax of Ralegh's fame 
and adventures, we hope to be excused for enlarging 
on those circumstances of his life and character which 
serve to elucidate its narrative. 

* Rokeby, Canto I. xiii. 



THE 

DISCOVERIE 

OF THE LARGE, 
RICH AND BEWTIFVL 

EMPIRE or GviANA, WITH 

a relation of the Great and Golden City 

o/"Manoa (which the fpaniards call El 

Dorado) And the prouinces of Emeria, 

Arromaia, Amapaia and other Couii- 

tiies, with their riuers, ad- 

ioyning. 

Performed in the yeare 1595. by Sir 

W. Ralegh, Knight, Captaine of her 

Male/ties Guard, Lo. Warden 

of the Stannerics, and her High- 

nefie Lieutenant general! 

of the Countie of 

Cornewall. 




ymprinted at London by Robert Robinson 
1596. 



\ 



TO THE RIGHT 

HONORABLE MY 

■ fingular good Lord and kinfman, 

L 



Charles Howard, knight of the Gar- 

?r, Barron, and CouneelUrt and of the Ad- 

miralls of England the msji renoiu- 

ned: And to the Right Honorable 

^^Rahert Cfcy/ Knight, Councel- 

ler in her Highnes priuie 

Councels. 



I OR your Honors many Honorable and friendlie 
\ partes, I haue hitherto only returned promises ; and 
) nowe for answere of both yotir aduentures, I haue 
sent you a bundle of papers which I haue deuided belwene 
your Lo. and S'' Robert Cecyl in these two recedes chiefly : 
First for that it is reason, that wastful factors, when they 
haue consumed such stockes, as they had in trust, doe yeeld 
some cullor for the same in their account, secondly for that 
I am assured that whatsoeuer shalbe done, or written by 
me, shall neede a double protection and defence. The trial 
that I had of both your loues, when I was left of all, but of 
malice and reuenge, makes me still presume that you wil be 
pleased (knowing what little power I had to performe ought, 
and the great aduantage of forwamed enimiesj to answere 
that out of knowledge, which others shall but obiect out of 
malice. In my more happie times as I did especially honour 
you both, so I found that your loues sought me out in the dark- 
est shadow of aduersiiie, and the same afection which accom- 



IV THE EPISTLE I 

panted my better fortune, sored not away from me in my manie 
miseries ,- all which though I cannot requite, yet I shal euer 
acknowledge : and the great debt which I have no power I' 
pay, I can doe no more for a time but confesae to be due. h 
is true that as my errors were great, so they haiie yeelded veHe 
grieu0U3 effects, and if ought might have been desenied infor- 
mer times to haue counterpoysed any part of offences, Ikefrule 
thereof (as it seemeth) was long before fallen from the tree, 
and the dead stocke onely remained. I did therefore euen in 
the winter of my l^fe, Vndertake these Irauels, filer for boies 
lesse blasted with mis-fortunes, for men of greater abilitie, and 
for mindes of better incouragement, that thereby if it were 
possible I might recouer but the moderation of excesse, and the 
least fast of the greatest plentie formerly possessed. If I had 
knowen other way to win, if I had imagined how greater ad- 
uentures might haue regained, if I coulde conceiue what far- 
ther meanes I might yet vse, but euen to appease so powerefuU 
displeasure, I would not doubt but for one yeare more to holde 
fast my soule in my teeth, til it were performed. Of that little 
remaine I had, I haue wasted in effect al herein, I haue under- 
gone many constructions, I haue been accompanyed with many 
sorrows, with labour, hunger, heal, sicknes, and peril: It ap- 
peareth notwithstand that I made no other brauado of going to 
sea, then was ment, and that I was neither hidden in Corn- 
well' or else where, as was supposed. They haue grosly belied 
me, that foreiudged that I wolde rather become a seruant to the 
Spanish king, the return, and the rest were much mistaken, 
who woulde haue perswaded, that I was too easeful and sen- 

' Amongst the various reports which were sprcnd after the return of Sir 
Walter Bakgh from liia first vojage to Guiana, for the purpose of injuring 
him, or to derogate from the merit connected with it, it was also asserted 
that he himself had never left England, and had been lying secreted in 
Cornwall until the return of his vessels, when he made his re-appearance, 
and from the accounts rendered to him hy his lieutenants of their exploits, 
concocted the relation of his vojage. The accusation is too absurd to be 
eutitled to the slightest consideration. 



DEUICATORY. V 

suall to vndertake a iorney of so great trauel. But, if what I 
hatie done receiue the gratioiis construction of & painful pil- 
grimage, and purchase the least remission, I shall things all loo 
little, and that there were wanting to the rest, many miseries -. 
Bui if both the times past, the present, and what may be in the 
future, doe all by one graine of gall continue in an eternall 
distast, I doe not then knowe whether I should bewaile my selfe 
either for my loo much trauel and expence, or condemtte my 
selfe for doing lesse then that, which can de serue nothing. 
From my selfe I haue deserued no thankes, for I am returned 
a begger, and withered, but that I might have bet/red mypoore 
estate, it shall appeare by the following discourse, if I had not 
onely respected her Maiesties future Honor, and riches. It 
became not the former fortune in which I once liued, to goe 
ioumeys of picorie^, and it had sorted ill with the offices of 
Honor, which by her maiesties grace, I hold this day in Eng- 
land, to run from Cape to Cape, and from place to place, for 
the pillage of ordinarie prizes. Many yeares since, I had 
knowledge by relation, of that mighty, rich^ and beawtifull Em- 
pire of Guiana, and of that great and Golden Cilie, which the 
spanyarda call EI Dorado, and the naturals Manoa^, which 
Citie was conquered, reedifcd, and inlarged by a yonger sonne 
of Guainacapa Emperor of Peru, at such lime as Francisco 
Pazaro and others conquered the saide Empire, from his two 
elder brethren Guascar, and Atabalipa, both then contending 
for the same, the one being fauoured by the Oreiones of Cuzco, 
the other by the people of Caximalca. / sent my seruant lacob 
Whiddon the yeer before, to get knowledge of the passages, 
and I had some light from Captaine Parker sometime my ser- 
uant, and nowe attending on your Lo. that such a place there 



' Derived probably from the Spaniah picaro, ' a rogue,' picketr, ' to roii 
or piU-ige.' (See HalliweU. Diet, of Areh. axul Prov. Words.) 

* As till! nnmes and rarcuiustaDces here alluded to occur again in the 
Vovnge itself, the reader is referred to the uotea there attHolied in i;x|)1biib- 
tjim "f Sir W. lUlrgh's dlu.'innH. 



VI THE EPISTLE 

was to the southward of the great bay of Charuas, or Guaaipa : 
but I found that it was 600 miles farther off, then they 
supposed, and manie other impediments to them vnknowne and 
vnheard. After I had displanted Don Anthonio de Berreo, 
who was vpon the same enterprise, leaning my ships at Trine- 
dado, at the port called Curiapan, / wandred 400 miles, into 
the said countrey by land and riuer .- the particulars I will 
haue to the folloiving discourse, T/te countrey hath more 
quantity of Gold by manifolde, then the best partes of the In- 
dies, or Peru .- Alt the most of the kings of the borders are 
already become her Maiesties vassals : and seeme to desire no- 
thing more then her Maiesties protection and the relume of the 
English nation. It hath another grovnde and assurance qf 
riches and glory, then the voiages of the west Indies, and an 
easier way to inuade the best parts therof then by the common 
course. The king of Spaine is not so impoverished by taking 
3 or 4 port townes in America as we suppose, neither are the 
riches of Peru, or Nueua Espania so left by the sea side, as 
it can be easily washt away, with a great floods or springtide, 
or left dne vpon the sandes on a lowe ebbe. The port townes 
are few and poore in respect of the rest within the land, and 
are of little defence, and are onely rich when the fleets are to 
reeeiue the treasure for spaine .■ And we might thinke the Spa- 
niards verie simple hauing so manie horses and slaues, that if 
they coulde not vpon two daies warning, carrie all the Golde 
they haue into the land, and farre enough from the reach of 
our footmen especiallie the Indies being {as it is for the most 
part) so mountainous, so full of woods, riuers, and marishes. 
In the port townes of the prouince qf Veusuello', as Cumana, 

' The eDumeration of porta, cities, and places wliicli follow in this page 
and the succeeding, attest the extensive geograpliic&l knowledge which Sir 
W. Ralegh hud acquired of tlie regions, which during the sixteenth century 
were the scenes of Spanish adventui'e in search of El Dorado. It is observed 
of him bj- Oldvs, " There was not an expert soldier or seaman but he con- 
sidted, nor a printed or mauiiscript discourse but he perused i" and al- 



Coro, and S. lago {whereof Coro and S. lago were taken. 
by Captaine Preston' and Cumana and S. losephus by va) 
we found not the value of one rial!, of plate in either .- but the 
Cities of Barquasimeta*, Valentia, S. Sebastian, Cororo, 
S. Lucia, Alleguna, Marecabo, and Truxiltoj are not so easely 
muaded : neither doth the bvrning of those on the coast im- 
poueriah the king of spayne anie one ducket, and if we sacke 
the riuer of Hache^, S. Marta, and Cartagena, which are the 
portes of Nueuo reyno and Popayan. There are besides within 
the land which are indeed rich and populous, the lownes and 
Cities of Merida, Lagrita, S. Cliriatoferoj the i/real Cities of 



though thia relates more expressly to his preparatinns fur the Guiana. 
voyage, his epistle dedicatory affords sufficient proof of his general know- 
ledge of the geography of the noi'them half of South America. 

' Santiago de Leon de Caracas (Cai-Qeasia, Leopolis, in Latin docu- 
ments), the present capital of the repuhlic of Venezuela, was founded in 
1567 by Diego de Losada in the valley of San Francisco. The fleet of 
Captain Amiaa Preston and George Somers, consisting of four vessels, ap- 
peared before Cumana on the 21st of May, 1595; but the inhabitants paid 
a large sum of money to save the tovcn from being plundered and burnt 
down, and it was consequently spared. A part uf the crevr landed, and 
reached by a most difficult and dangerous path Santiago L^on de Caracas, 
which they took on the 29th of May, and remained there until the 3rd of 
June ; but 'as they could not come to an understanding with the inha- 
bitants respecting their contribution, they set the town and some of the 
neighbouring places on fire, and regained their vessels without having lost 
a. single man. (Hakluyt, iii. 578.) 

' Barquiaimcta, Valencia, San Sebastian, Corora, Santa Lucia, AUeguua. 
Maracayho and Triixillo, are cities and towns situated in the repnbtic of 
Venezuela; so also are Merida, La Grita, San Cristobal (S. ChrisCofero 
of Ralegh) ; the last is called in Latin documents of that time S. Christn- 
pkori Faaam. 

* Nuestra Sefiorvi de los Remedios del Rio de la Hacha, situated on the 
mouth of a river bearing the same name, was founded by Nicolas Fe- 
derman, whocalledit N. S. delas Nievas. Its name was changed as above 
in 1594. Sir Francis Drake appeared before it with hia fleet in 1595, and 
although its inhabitants wished to save the pillage of tlieir city and the 
houses from being burnt down by paying thirty-four thousand ducats, it was 
nevertheless set on fire on the 1st of December. Santa Marta and Nombrc- 
de-Dios shared a similai' fate in the following month of January, 



VMI THE EPlSTLi: 

Pampelone ', 8. Fede Bogota, Tuiiia and Mozo where fAe Es- 
meralda are/ovnde, the townes and Cities of Morequito', veils, 
la villa de Leua, Palma, vnda, Anguatura, Ike greale Citte of 
Timana, Tocaima, S. Aguila, Pasto, luago, the great city f\f 
Popaiaii it selfe^, Los Remedios, and the rest. If we take the 
ports and villages within the bay of Vraba'' in the kingdoms 
or riuers of Dariena, and Caribana. the cities and townes of 
S, luan de Roydas^, of Cassaris, q/" Anteocba, Carramanta, 



' Pamploua (PampejopoUs Nova), Santa F^ de Bogota, Tuiijn, and Muio 
(Mozo of Ralegh) are sitUBled in the republic of New Granada, of which 
Bogota foiTQs the capital. Muzo, or, as it was pompously called, " La 
Santissima Trinidad de los Muzos," founded in 1560, was at that period 
much famed for it9 rich mines of emeralds. (Herrera, Dec viii. lib. i. cap. 
15—17- Piedrahita, lib. sii. cap. 6,) 

' Mariqiiita (Mariolum or Marichisia), Velei (Velis of Ralegh), Leyba 
or LeivH (Leufl of Ralegh), k Palma, Honda (Vnda of Raiegh), Angostura, 
TynaDB, Tocaymn, Rcmedios. oettlementB and towns on the river Mag- 
dalena or Rio Grande and its tributaries, were mostly all founded bettteen 
153fi and 1570, Tliey are situated within the " Departamento de Cundi- 
naraarea," so famed in the fable of El Dorado. 

' The foundation of San Juan de Pasto (Pastum or Fanum S. Juan ad 
Fastos) was laid on the l/th of July 1539, in the valley of Guacanquer, by 
Captain l^orenzo de Aldafia, by the command of Gonzalo Dinz de Pinedo. 
The town was afterwards removed into the valley of Tris, and was called 
Villa Vi^osa de Pasto. (Herrera, Dec. vi. lib. vii. cap. 1.) Santii^o or San 
Yago (Jui^ of Ralegh) is situate at the eastern foot of the Andes, on 
the river Casisna, a tributary of the Rio Meta. The city of Popayan (Po- 
pajanum) was founded by Sebastian de Belalcazar, in 1536, on an extensive 
plain, watered by the Rio del Molino. (Genealogiaa del Nuevo reyno de 
Granada, liii. p. 121.) The latitude of Popayan is 2° 26' north, the longi- 
tude 76= 40' west. 

' The Golf of Uraba, or of Darien, by which name it is much better 
known, was one of the first places on the shores of the Caribbean Sea 
where the Spaniards erected settlements. Ojeda received from the king a 
grant of that part of the coast which extended from Cap de la Vela to the 
middle of the Gulf of Uraba; and the country which extended from the 
other half of the gulf to Cap Gracias-ft-Dios was granted to Diego de 
Nicuesa. The latter was named CastiUa-del-Oro, the former Nueva Anda- 
lucia (Herrera, Nov. Orbis, cap. 8). The north-eastern point of the Gulf 
of L'raba is called Point Caribana. 

' San Juan de Bodas, Caccres (Cassaris of Ralegh), Antioqiua, Cara- 



DEDICATORY, IS 

C&\i,andAnserma. /iBue ffolde enough to pay the Kinffe part, and 
are not easily inuaded by the way of the Ocean or if Nombre 
de Dios and Panama' be taken in the prouince o/CastiHo de 
oro, and the villageit vpon the riuera o/Cenu and Chagre*. Peru 
hath besides those and besides the magnificent cities of Quito 
and Lima so many Hands, portes, Cities, and mines, as if I 
shouldname them with the rest, it wouldseeme incredible to the 
reader : of all which because I haiie written a particuler trea- 
tise of the west Indies^, / will omit their repetition at this 
time, seing that in the saide treatise I haue anatomized the rest 
of the sea toviJies as well o/" Nicaragua, lucata, Nueua Espan- 
na*, and the Hands, as those of the Inland, and by what meanes 
they may be best inuaded, as farre as any meane Judgement 
can comprehend. But I hope it shall appeare that titere is a 

manta, Cali, Au^erma (Aaserma of Ralegh), ai'e cities and towns situate 
on the hanks of the river Cauca and its tributaries. The Cauca falls into 
the river Mogdalena. 

' Diego de Nieuesa erected a fort in a hay about eighteen miles to the 
east of Portohello, nhich he considered so convenient, that he called out, 
" ParemoB ik qui en el nombre de Dioa," — Let ua remain here in the name 
of God ; from which circumstance it was called Nombre de Dios. The 
foundation of a toi^n was hkewise laid, which was increased hy Diego de 
Albites in 1517 j the situation was however so unhealthy that Philip 
the Second ordered the toivn to be renmved to Portobello. Herrera oh- 
•en'CB that during the first twenty-eight years of the occupation of Peru 
by the Spaniai'ds more than forty thousand Spaniards died of its unhealthy 
climate, and a similar number in Nombre de Dios alone. Pediarias Davila, 
goTemor of Darlen, founded Panama (Pansmiuin) in 1518. The whole 
province of Nueva Andalucia obtained at a later period the name of Cas- 
tilltt-del-Oro. 

' The river Zinu falls into the Gulf of Morrosquillo opposite the island 
of Fuerte. Chagres lies on the isthmus of Panama. Quito, the capital of 
the republic of Ecuador, and Lima of Peru, are too well known to require 
further designation. 

* As previously observed, this composition vras never printed, and the 
manuscript appears to have been lost. 

* Nicaragua, formeriy a province of Mexico, forms now part of Guate- 
mala, Yucatan, a province of Mexico. Mexico itself was formerly called 
Nucvn EspafiB. 



THE EFISTLE DEDICATORY. 



j> way found to anawere euerie mans longing, a better Indies for 
j her maiestie then Ike King of Spain hath any, which if it 
shall please her highnes to vnderlake, I shall most willingly 
end the rest of my daies in following the same .- If it he left to 
the spoyle and sackage of common persons, if the hue and ser- 
Mice of so many nations be despised, so great riches, and so 
mightie an Empyre refused, I hope her Maiestie will yet take 
my humble desire and my labour therein in gracious part, which 
if it had not beene in respect of her highnes future honor and 
riches, I could haue laid hands and rammned many of the 
kings and Cassiqui of the Country, and haue had a reasonable 
proportion of gold for their redemption; But I have chosen 
rather to beare the burthen ofpouerly, then reproch, and rather 
to endure a second trauel and the chaunces iherof, then to haue 
defaced an enterprise of so great assurance, vnlill I knew 
whether it pleased God to put a disposition in her princely 
and royall heart either to follow or forealow the same .- / wil 
therefore leaue it to his ordinance that hath onely power in td 
things, and do humblie pray that your honors tvil excuse such 
errors, as without the defence of art, ouerrun in euery part, 
the following discourse, in which I haue neither studied phrase, 
forme, nor fashion, and that you will he pleased to esteeme 
me as your ovme {though ouer dearly bought) and I shall ever 
remains ready to doe you all honour and sei'uice. 



k£cau8e there haue beeu diuers opinioiis cooceiued of the 
I gotde oare brought from Guia/ia, aud for that an Alder- 
s man of Loudon aiid hd ofKcer of her maicsties minte, bath 
^oea out that the same la of no price, I haue thought good by the 
addition of these lines to glue amiswere as well to the said malicious 
slaunder, as to other ohieetioua. It is true that while we alwde at Che 
Iland of Triaedado, I was informed by an Indian, that n&t farre from 
the Port, where we ancored, there were founde certaine toinerall atones 
which thev esteemed to be gold, and were thereunto perswaded the 
rather for that they had seen both English and French men gather, 
and imbarque some quantities thereof: vppon this liklyhoode I sent 
40 men and gaue order that each one ehoidd bring a stone of that 
myne, to make triall of the goodnesse, which being performed, I 
assured them at their retume that the same was Marcasite, and of 
no riches or value ; Notwithstanding diuers trusting more to their 
owne scnce, then to my opinion, kept of the saide Marca»ite, aud 
haue tried thereof, since my retume, in diuers places. In Guiana it 
selfe I neuer aawc Mareagite, but all the rocks, mountaines, all stones 
in the planes, in woodes, and by the riuere sides are in effect thorow 
Bbining, and appeare manieylous rich, which being tried to be no 
Mareaaite, are Che trew signes of rich miueralles, hut are no other 
then El madre del oro (as the Spanyards terme them) which is the 
raotherofgolde, orasit is saide by others the scum of gold : of diuers 
sortCB of these manie of my companie brought also into En^and, 
euerie one taking the fayrest for the best, which is not generall. For 
mine owne partte, 1 did not conntermand any mans desire, or opinion, 
and I could haue aforded them little if I shoulde haue denied them 
the pleading of their owne fancies tlierdn i But I was rcsolucd that 



XIl TO THE READER. 

goMe must be found either in graines separate from the stone (aa it 
is in most of al the riuers in Guiana) or else in a kinde of hard stone, 
which we call tht white Sparre, of which I saw diners hils, and in 
sundrie places, hut had neither tjme, nor men, nor instnimentB fltte 
to labour. Neere vnto one of the riuers I founde of the saide white 
Sparre or flint a verj great ledge, or banke, wluch I endeuored to 
breake by al the meanes I couhle, because there appeared on the out 
side some small grames of gold, hut hndmg no meane to worke the 
same vppon the vpper part seeking the sides and circwite of the sayd 
rock, 1 founde a chft in the same, from whence with d^gera, and 
with the heade of an ax, we gotte out some small quantitie thereof, of 
which kinde of white atone (wherein golde is engeiidred) we sawe 
diners hila and rocka in euerie part of Guiana, wherein we trauelled. 
Of this there hath heene made manie triaila, and in London, it was first 
assaide hy Master Westwood a refiner dwelling in wood-street, and it 
helde af^er the rate of 12000 or 13000 pounds a tunne. Another sort 
was afterward tried by Master Bulmar and Master Dimohe assay mas- 
ter, and it held after the rate of 23000 pounds a tnnne. There was 
some of it againe tried by Master Pnfmer comptroller of the minte, and 
Master Dimoke in golde smitha hall, and it helde after 2 6900 pounds a 
tunne. There was also at the same time, and by the same persona a triall 
made of the dust of the said myne which held 8 pound 6 ounces weight 
of gold, in the hundred ; there was likewiae at the same time a triall 
made of an Image of Copper made in Guiana, which helde a third 
part gold, besides diuers trialls made in the countrey, and by others 
in London. But because there came of ill with the good, and belike 
the said Alderman was not presented with the best, it hath pleased 
him therefore to scandall all the rest, and to deface the enterprize as 
ranch as in him lyeth. It hath also been concluded by diuera, that 
if there had been anie such oare in Guiana, and the same discouered, 
that I woulde bane brought home a greater quantitie thereof: first I 
was not bounde to satisfie anie mau of the quantitie, hut such onely 
as aduentured, if any store had been returned thereof: but it is verie 
true that had all their niountaynes beeue of niassie gold, it was im- 
possible for vs to bane made anie longer staye to liane wrought the 
same : and whosocuer hath scene with what strength of stone, the 
best golde oare is inuironned, hee will not thinke it eaaie lo be had 



TU THE IICADER. Xlll 

, and especiaJlie by vs who had neither men, mstru' 

mentes, nor time (as it is saide belbre) to performe the game : There 
were on this dlscouerie, no lease than 100 peraonnes, who can all 
witnesse, that when we past any hi'aimch of the riiier to vewe the 
laiid within, and staid from our boats hut sis houres, wee were dri- 
uen to wade to the eyes, at our returne ; and if we attempted the 
same the day following, it was impossible either to forde it, or to 
Bwim it, both by reason of the switlnesae, and also for that the bor- 
ders were 1*0 pestred with fast woods, as neither bote nor man could 
finde place, either to land, or to imbarque : for in lune, luly, Au- 
gust, and September, it is impossible to nauigate any of those riuers, 
for snch is the furie of the Current, and there are so many trees and 
woods ouerflowne, as if anie boate hut touch vppon anie tree or stake, 
it is impossible to saue any one person therein ; and ere we departed 
the land, it ran with that swiftnesse, as we draue downe most com- 
monly against the wiiide, Uttle lesse than one hundred miles a day : 
Besides our vessels were no other than wherries, one little barge, a 
small coekboate, and a bad Galiota, which wee framed in hast for 
that purpose at Trinedado, and those little boatea had nyne or ten 
men apeece, with all their victuals, and armes. It is further true, 
that we were about 400 miles from our shippes, and had bene a 
moneth from them, which also we left weakely mande in an open 
roade, and had promised onr return hi 15 dayes. Others haue de- 
uised that the same oare was had from Barbery, and that we caried 
it with TS into Guiana -. surely the singularitie of that deuice, I do 
not well comprehend, for niuie owne parte, I am uot so much in loue 
with these long voiages, as to deuise, thereby to cozen my selfe, to 
lie hard, to fare worse, to be subjected to perils, to diseases, to ill 
sauours, to be parched and withered, and withajl to sustaine the 
care and labour of such an enterprize, except* the same had more 
comfort, then the fetching of Marcasile in Guiana, or hying of gold 
oare in Barbery. But I hope the better sort will iudge me by 
themselues, and that the way of deceipt, is not the way of honor 
or good Ofiiniou ; I haue herein consumed much time, and many 
crowns, and I had no other respecte or desire then to seme her 
mmesty and my Country thereby. If the spanishe natiou had 
heene of like beleefe to these detractors, we should litle haue feared 



HV TO THE READER. 

or doubted their attempts, wherewith we now are daily threatiied. 
But if we now consider of the actions both of Charles the fifle, 
who had the Maydenhead of Peru, and the abonndant treasurea 
of Atahalipa, together with the affaires of the Spanish king now 
huing, what territories he hath purchased, what he hath added 
to the actes of his predecessors, how many kingdoms he hath in- 
dangered, how many armies, garriBons, and nauies, he hath and 
doth mmntaine, the greate losses which he hath repayred, as in 88 
aboue 100 saylc of greate Bhii)]>es with their artillery, and that no 
yere is lesse vnfottunate but that many Tessels, treasures, and people 
are deuoured, and vet notwithstanding he heginneth againe hke a 
Btorme to threaten shipwracke to vs all, we shall fliide that these 
abilities rise not from the trades of sackes, and Ciuil Orenges, nor 
from ought else that either Spaine, Portugal, or any of his other pro- 
ninces produce : It is Ids Indian Golde that indaungereCh and dis- 
turbeth all the nations of Europe, it purchaseth intelligence, creepeth 
into Councela, and setteth bound loyalty at libertie, in the greatest 
Monarchies of Europe. If the Spanish king can keepe tb from for- 
raine enterprizes, and from the impeachment of his tradcB, eyther by 
offer of iuuasion, or by besieging vs in Britayne, Ireland, or else where, 
he hath then brought the worke of our perill in greate forwardnes. 
Those princes which abound in treasure haue greate aduantages oner 
the rest, if they once constraine them to a defensiue warre, where 
they are driucn onee a yeare or oftner to cast lots for their own 
garments, and from such ahal al trades, and entereoiirse, be taken 
away, to the general losse and impouerishment of the kingdom, and 
common weale bo reduced : besides when men are constrained to 
light, it hath not the same hope as when they are prest and incon- 
raged by the desire of spoylc and riches. Farther it ia to be doubted 
how those that in time of rictorie seemc to affect their neighbour na- 
tions, will remaine after the first view of misfortunes, or ill successe ; 
to trust also to the doubtfuhiea of a battel, is but a fearefull and ^■ncer- 
taine aduenture, seehig therem fortune is as likely to preuaile, as 
Tertue. It shall not he necessary to alleage all that might be said, 
and therefore I will thus conclude, that whatsoeuer kingdome shalbe 
infbrced to defend it aelfe, may be compared to a body daunger- 
oualie diseased, which for a season may he preserued with vulgar 



gathered, and those so weake ii 

uered from mutuall bi 

solution 13 not to be hoped for ii 



medicinea, but in a short time, aiid hy little and httle, the same 
must needs fall to the ground, and be dissolued. I haue therefore 
laboured all my life, both aeeording to my small power, and perswa- 
sion, to adnance al those attempts, that might eyther promise return 
of profit to our selues, or at Inst be a lett and impeachment to the 
quiet course, and plentiful trades of the Spanish nation, who in my 
weake iudgemeut by such a warre were as easily indaungered and 
brought from his powerfuhies, as any priuce iu Eiu'ope, if it be con- 
sidered from how many kingdomes and nations his reueuewea are 
Q their owne beings, and so farre se- 
t because such a preparation and re- 
a hast, and that the time which our 
s embrace, can not be had agauie to aduantage, I will hope 
that these prouinces, and that Euipyre now hy me diseouered shall 
suffice to inahle her Maiesty, aud the whole kingdome, with tio lesae 
quantities of treasure, then the king of Spayne hath in all the Indies, 
east and west, which he posseaseth, which if the same he considered 
and followed, ere the Spanyards enforce the same, and if her Maiesty 
will Yudertake it, I wilbe contented to lose her highnea fauour and good 
opinion for euer, and my hfe withall, if the same be not found rather 
to exceed, then to equall whatsoeuer is in this discourse promised or 
declared. 1 will nowe referre the reader to the following discourse 
with the hope that the periltma and chargeable labors and indeuours 
of such as thereby seeke the profit and honor of her Maiesty, and 
the Eaglish nation, shall by men of qualitie aud vertue receine such 
construction, and good acceptance, as them selues would looke to be 
rewarded withall in the like. 

tr.s. 




THE 



GVlAfi A. r.,,,1^ nh,^'" 



^N Thursday the 6 of Februarie in the yeare 1595, 
J we departed England, and the Sunday following had 
i Bight of the North cape of Spayne, the winde for 
w the most part continuing prosperous ; wee passed in 
Bight of the BurUnga and the rocke', and bo ouwardcs for the 
Canaries, and fell with Fuerte ventura the 17 of the same 
moneth, where we spent two or three daiea, and relieued our 
companies with some fresh meate. From thence wee coasted 
by the Gran Canaria, and so to Tenerife, and staled there 
for the Lyons whelp your Lordships ship, and for Captaine 
Amys Preston and the rest ; but when after 7 or 8 daies we 
found them not, wee departed and directed our course for TVi- 
jwdado with mine owne ahippe, and a small barke of Captaine 
Crosses onely (for we had before lost sight of a small Gallego on 
the coast of Spayne, which came with vs from Plymmauth) : wee 
arriued at Trinedado the 23 of March, casting ancour at Point 
Curiapan, which the Spanyards call Punlo de Galto% which is 

' Tlie isles of Berkugas, Burlings or Biorlings, and Cape Roca or the 
rock of Liabon, on the coast of Portugal. 

' Curiapan is the south -nestem point of Triuidad, now called Hicacos 
or IciLcos ; it forms with Punta Foletto, or Foleto, the Serpent's Mouth. 
Christopher Columbus mat anchor here on the 3rd of August, 1498, and 



4 THE DISCOVEllIE 

situate in 8 degrees or there abouts t we abode there 4 or 5 
daiea, and in all that time we came not to the speaeh of anie 
Indian or Spaniard ; on the coast we saw a lire, as we sailed 
from the point Carao^ towards Curiapan. but for feare of the 
Spaniards, none durst come to speake with vs. I my selfe coasted 
it in my barge close abord the shore and landed in euery Coue, 
the better to know the iland, while the ships kept the chanell. 
From Curiapan after a fewc daies we turned vp Northeast to 
recouer that place which the Spaniards cal Puerto de los Hi- 
spanioles, and the inhabitants Conquerabia^, and as before (re- 
uictualing my barge) I left the shippea and kept by the shore, 
the better to come to speaeh with some of the inliabitantes, and 
also to vnderstand the riuers, watring places and portes of the 
iland which (as it is rudely done) my purpose is to send your 
lordship after a few daies. From Curiapan I came to a port and 
seat of Indians called Parico, where we found a fresh-water 
riuer^, but sawe no people. From thence I rowed to another 
port, called by the naturals Piche, and by the Spaniardes Tierra 
de Brea*. In the way betweene both were diuers little brooks 

failed it Punta del Arenal. A aand-bank, situated round the point to the 
uorth-weat, bears to this da; the name of " log Gallos." Sir Robert Duddle;, 
»'ho anchored at Point Curiapan on tbe 1st of February 1595, called the 
hay under the point Pehcan's Bay, from the abundance of these birds 
there. (Uakluyt, vol. iii. p. 574.) The geographical position of Point 
Icacos is 10° 2' 30'' north latitude, and 61° 57' west longitude trom 
Greenwieh. It will be observed that Ralegh considers himself two degrees 
further south than he was in reality, and this refers to his whole Orinoco 
journey. 

' The point Carao is now called Ncgrs Point : in some of the Spanish 
charts this point and the small rirer to the windward of it arc named 
Punta y rio Curao. 

" Puerto d'EapaSa, or Port of Sptun, the capital of Trinidad. 

' Punta del Cedro, or Cedar Point, forma the northern point of this bay. 
It is no longer known by the name of Parico. 

' The celebrated pitch-lake of Trinidad near Punta la Brea is situated on 
the leeward side of (he island, on a small peninsula: it is nearly circular, 
and about a mile and a half in diameter. The usual appearance of the 
pitch or asphaltum is that of pit-cosl, but in hot weather it is liquid. When 
mixed uitb grease, od, or common pitch, to acquire fluidity, it is well- 



of fresh water, and one salt riuer that had store of oiatcrs vpoii 
the branehcs of the trees', and were very salt and wel tasted. 
Al their oiaters grow vpon those houghs and spraies, and not on 
\ the ground : the like ia comnionlie scene in the West Indies and 
/ else where. This tree is described by Andfewe Theuet in his 
French Antartique, and the forme figured in hia booke as a 
plante verye straunge, and by Plinie in hia xii. booke of his 
natural! historic. But in this ilandc, as also in Guiana, there 
are verie manic of them. 

At this point called Tterra de Brea or Piche there is that 
abundance of stone pitch, that all the ships of the world may 
he therewith loden from thence, and wee made triall of it in 



adapted for preserving the bottoms of ships against the destructive worm, 
the Teredo navalis. Admiral Cochrane made several esperiments to use 
it for nautical piirpoees, which failed, a» it was requiaite to mix such a 
large quantity of oil with it to render it pliable, that it far surpasaed the 
price of common pitch. 

' The first accottnts brought to Eiu^pe of oysters growing on trees raised 
as great astonishment as the relation of El Durado itself; and to those who 
were unacquainted with the fact that these moiluacous animals select the 
branches of the tree, on which they fix themselves during high wattir, when 
they are immersediitmBycertainlysouiidstrange and wonderful that shells, 
which as we know live in Europe on banks in the depths of the sea, should 
be found in the West Indies on the branches of trees. They attach them- 
selves chiefly to the mangrove tree {RhizophoTU Mangle, Linn.), which 
grows along the shore of the sea and rivers with brackish water, and covers 
immense tracts of coast, rooting and vegetating in a manner very peeuEar 
to that tree, even as for as low-water mark. Sir Walter Ralegh, in his 
History of the World (book i. cbap. iv. section 2), compares it erroneously 
with the Indian fig-tree {Ficus indica), which Becanus considered to be 
the tree of knowledge, or of life. Ralegh observes in his descrijition 
that he had seen five hundred oysters hanging on one of the branches 
(which he calls cords) of a mangrove tree. The water flowing off during 
ebb leaves the branches with the iiysters attached to them high and 
dry. Three species of mollusca are chiefly found on the mangi'ove trees, 
namely Ostrea Rhizophorte (Auct, 7], 0. falium, and a species of Mytihs. 
The 0. RhizopkoTis is eaten, and in Porto Rico the price of a barrel of 
these mangrove oysters is a piaster. We difler with Ralegh respecting 
their superior taste ; they are at the best mere substitutes for an European 
oyster, very small, and not so dehcate. 



4 THE DISCOVERIE 

triniiiiing our ships to be most excclleut good, and nicltcth not 
with tbe aunne as the pitch of Norway, and therefore for ships 
trading the south partes very profitable. From thence we went 
to the mountaine foote caUed -dtmaperima' , and so passing the 
riuer Carone, on which the Spanish Citie was seated, we met with 
our ships at Puerto de los Hispnnioles or Conquerabia. 

This iland of Trinedado hath the foraie of a sheep-hook, and 
is but narrow ; the north part is very moimteynous, the soile is 
very excellent and wil bearc sugar, ginger, or any other com- 
modity that the Indies yeetd. It hath store of deare, wyld 
porks, fruits, fish and fowle. It hath also for bread sufficient 
Mais, Cassaui^, and of those roots and fruits which are common 
euery where in the West Indies. It hath diuers beasts, which 
the Indies bane not : the Spaniards confessed that they found 
grains of gold in some of the riuers, but they hauing a purpose 
to enter Guiana (the Magasin of all rich mettels) cared not to 
spend time in the search therof any farther. This iland is called 
by the people therof Cairi, and in it are diners nations : those 
about Parico are called laia ; those at Punto Carao are of the 
Arwacag, and betweene Carao and Curiapan they are called 
Saluaios; betweene Corffo and Punto Galera^ are the Nepoios, 
and those about the Spanish Citie tearme theniselues Carine- 
pagotos*. Of the rest of the nations, and of other portes and 



' This mi, in the neighbourhood of San Fernando, is now called Na- 
parima, and has ^ven its name to the whole district. 

' These two plants supply the moat useful food of the Indian tribes ; they 
form their etiif of life. The grains of the first {Zea Hays, Liun.) fumiah 
the Iniliao corn or maize, and from the roots of the second {Mamhot 
utilim-ima, Pohl), although itself a strong poison in its natural state, the 
Indians prepare a nutritious substitute for bread. 

> The north-eastern point of Trinidad is called nt present Punta de la 
Galera; hut Columbus designated the south-eastern point of the island 
under that name, on account of a rock which lias the appearance of a vessel 
under sail. It is now known as Punta Galeota. 

* The number of Indians, the remnant of those numerous tribes who 
inhabited Trinidad at the period when Ralegh visited it, amounted in 1831 
to seven hundred and sixty-two. 



riuers I leaue to spoake lieere, beeing impei'tiuent to my pur- 
pose, and meane to describe them as they arc situate in the par- 
ticular plot and description of the iJand, three partes whereof I 
coasted with my bai-ge, that I might the better discribe it. 

Meeting with the ships at Puerto de los Hispanioles, we found 
at tbe landing place a company of Spauyardea who kept a guard 
at the descent, and they offering a signe of peace I sent Cap- 
taine fVTiiddon to speake with them, whome afterward to my 
great griefe I left buried in the aaid iland after my retm-ne from 
Guiana, beeing a man most honest and valiant. The Span- 
yards semed to he deau-ous to trade with va, and to enter into 
tearms of peace, more for doubt of their own strength then for 
ought elae, and in the end vpon pledge, some of them came 
abord : the same euening there stale also abord vs in a small 
Canoa two Indians, the one of them being a Casique or Lord of 
people called Cantyman, who had the yeare before beeue with 
Captaine Wltiddon, and was of his acquaintance. By thi8 Can- 
tyman wee vnderatood what strength the Spaniardea had, how 
farreit was to their Citie, and of Don Antkonio de Berreo' the 
gouernour, who was said to be slaine in hia second attempt of 
Guiana, but was not. 

While we remained at Puei-lo de los Hispanioles some 
Spauiardes came abord va to buy lynnen of the company, and 
such other thinges as they wanted, and also to view onr shippes 
and company, all which I entertained kindly and feasted .after 
our manner : by meanes whereof I learned of one and another 
as much of the estate of Guiana aa I could, or as they knew, for 
those poore souldiera haniug beene many yeares without wine, a 
fewe draughtes made them merry, in which moode they vaunted 
of Guiana and of the riches therof, and all what they knew of 

' Don Antonio de Berreo y Orufia, who ligutes so conepicuously in 
Balegh'a voyage, wax governor of Tnntdajl, and mai'ried to a daughter 
of the great Adelantado Gon^talo Ximcnes Ae QucBiuln, the founder of 
" Nuevorcvno de Granada," from whom he had inherited his trentiures, and 
the desire to discover the boundless riches of Guiana. 



" THE OlStOVERIE 

the waies and passageSj my aelfc seeniing to pui'poHe nothing 
lcs3i! then the entcrance or discouerie thereof, but bred in them 
an opinion that I was bonnd onely for the rehei'e of those en- 
glish, which I had planted in Virginia^, whereof the brute was 
come among them, which I had performed in my returne if ex- 
tremity of weather had not forst me from the said coast. 

I found occasions of staying in this place for two causes : the 
one was to be i-euenged of Berreo, who the yeare before betraied 
8 of Captaine Wltiddons men, and toke them while he departed 
from them to seeke the E. Bonauenlure, which arriued at Trine- 
dado the day before from the East Indies : in whose absence 
Berreo sent a Canoa abord the pinnace oucly with Indians and 
dogs inniting the company to goc with them into the wods to kil 
a deare, who like wise men in the absence of their Captaine fol- 
lowed the Indians, but were no sooner one hai-quebush shot fi-om 
the shore, bnt Berreos souldiers lying in ambush had them all, 
notwithstanding that he had giueu his wordeto Captaine Wkid- 
don that they should take water and wood aafelie : the other 
cause of my stay was, for that by discourse with the Spaniards 
I daily leai'ned more and more of Guiana, of the riuers and 
passages, and of the enterprize of Berreo, by what meanes or 
fault he failed, and how he meant to prosecute the same. 

While we thus spent the time I was assured by another 
Casique of the north side of the iland, that Berreo had sent to 
Marguerita and to Cumana for souldiers, meaning to have gluen 
me a Cassado at parting, if it had bin possible. For although 
he had giuen order through all the iland that no Indian should 
come aborde to trade with mc vpon paine of hanging and 
quartering, (hauing executed two of them for the same which I 
afterwardea founde) yet euery night there came some with most 



' Tlie conduct of Ralegh, who wbs charj^d with a callous abandon- 
menC of the poor eettlefs in Virginia, has been much ceusiired. This 
passage is one proof among many which we possess, that although he had 
given up his patent to a company of merchants, he continued to take a 
strong iuterest in the fate of the firit adventurers iu Virginia, 



OV GVIANA. 7 

lamentable complaiiitB of liia cruelty, how he had deuided the 
ilaud aud giuen to euery soldier a part, that he made the an- 
cient CaaiQui which were Lordes of the coimtry to be theii' 
slauea, that he kept them in chains, and dropped then- naked 
bodies with burning bacon, and such other torments, which 
1 found afterwards to be true : for in the city after I entred 
the same, there were 5 of the Lords or htle kings (which they 
cal Casiqui in the west Indies) in one chaine almost dead of oj^ I 
fiimine, and wasted with torments ; these are called in their y **■-*< 
own language Acarewana^ , and bow of late since English, ^^"^t.^ 
French, and Spanish are come among them, they cal themaelues 
Capitai/nes, because they perceiue that the chiefest of eucry ship 
ia called by that name. Those hue Capitaynes in the chaiue were 
called Wannawanare, Carroaori, Maquarima, Tarroopanama, and 

> Humboldt considers that Acarewana signiGes, in one uf the different 
Carib or Cnribisi diale(^ta, a chief or any person in command. This sup- 
position is correct ; more accurately it refers to the commander or head of 
the tribe to which be who ipeaks and makca use of the word belongs. 
The name of a chief or commander in the general sense of the wonl is 
Tepotori * in the Macusi language, hut if the speaker alludes to the chief 
of his own tribe or horde, he would say Epotoriwaiui ; that is, our head- 
man or chieftain. As Ralegh observeii, these petty chieftains call themselves 
now capitan or captain. Esakamapung in the Caribisi, or Tcpotorokung 
in the Macusi rtialeet, signifies a great captain or chief who has cororaand 
over a number of inferior chiefs ; it is perhaps analogous to ' king ' in the 
English language. 

The metaphorical application of the word tepotori in the Macusi lan- 
guage deserves a passing observation, as it affords an instauce of the simi- 
larity of the metaphors employed in the infancy of languages in general. 
The largest of a number of a))plcs, oranges or any other objects would be 
called hy a Macusi tepotori, the chieftain or captaJu. This apphcation 
reminds us of our own expression in childhood for the largest apple or 
orange among a number, which playfully would be called " the captain ; " 
and li we follow the idea suggested by this application, it will lead us to 
the must striking qnahtications required for a leader. 

* The editor begs here to observe, that in the orthography which he has 
adopted for Indian words he has used the sound of the vowels which tjiey 
possess in the Italian, atid for tlic cuiiaoiiauts that which they huvi: in the 
£uj;Ush lang\iage. 






» 



Atenma. So as both to bu reucnged of the former wrong, as 
also consideriug that to euter Guiana by aniall boats, to depart 
400 or 500 miles from my ships, and to leaue a garison in m.y 
backe interessed in the same enterprize, who also daily expected 
supplies out of Spaine, I should haue sauoured very much of the 
vVsse : and therfore taking a time of most aduautage, I set vpon 
the Curp du guard in the euening, and hauing put them to the 
Hword, sente Captaine Calfeild onwards with 60 soldiers, and 
my self followed with 40 more and so toke their new city which 
they called S. loseph}, by breakc of day : they abode not any 
fight after a few shot, and al being dismissed but onely Berreo 
-"and his eompanio^I brought them with me abord, and at the 
instance of the Indians I set their new city of S. Josephs on fire. 

The same day urriued Captaine George Gifford with your 
Lordships ship, and Captaine Keijmis whom I lost on the coast of 
Spaijie, with the Gallego, and in them diners Gent, and others, 
whieh to out little army was a great comfort and supply. 

We then hastened away towards our purposed discouery, and . 
first I called all the Captaines of the ilaud together that were 
enemies to the Spaniards, for there were some which BeiTeo had 
brought out of other countries, and planted there to eat out and 
waat those that were natural of the place, and by my Indian in- 
terpreter, which I caried out of England, I made them vnder- 
stand that I was the seruant of a Queene, who was the great 
Casique of the north, and a virgin, and had more Casiqui vnder 
her then there were trees in their iland ; that she was an enemy 
to the Castellani^ in respect of their tyrannic and oppression, 

' St. Joseph is now almost abandoned since Fort of Spain became tbe 
capital. The number of mhabttants amounted in 1831 to six hundred and 

' Among the Indian tribes of the tipper Orinoco and its northern tribu- 
taries, the Ventuari, Padamo, &c., the descendants of the Spaniards are 
Btill called CastilanOB. When the Maeusis sjieakof the SjianiBb inhabitants 
of the Lower Orinoco about Angostura, they call them sometimes Carra- 
kinio ([leihapa &om Caracas?], but more frequently Espanolos. The de- 
scendants of the Portuguese or Brazilians are called in the Carib dialects 



and that she deliuered all such uationa about her, as were by 
them oppressed, and haaiiig freed all the coast of the northern 
world from their seruitude had sent mc to free them also, and 
withal to defend the countrey of Guiana from their inuasion 
and conquest. I shewed them her maieaties picture which they 
BO admired and honored, as it had beene easie to haue brought 
them idolatrous thereof ' . 

The like and a more large discourse 1 made to the rest of the 
nations both in my passing to Guiana, and to those of the bor- 
ders, so as in that part of the world her maieaty is very famous 
and admirable, whom they now call Ezrabeta Cassipuna Aque- 
rewana, which is as much as Elizabeth, the great prineesse or 
greatest eommaunder. This done wee left Puerto de los Hispa- 
nioles, and returned to Curiapan, and hauing Berreo my priso- 
nour I gathered from him as much of Guiana as he knewe. 

This Berreo is a gent, well descended, and had long serued 
the Spanish king in Millain, Naples, the lowe Countries and else 
where, very valiant and liberall, and a Gent, of great assui-ednes, 
and of a great heart : I vsed him according to his estate and worth 
in all things 1 could, according to the small meanes I had. 



ami by tlie Guiauians in general Caraitva ; those of the Teutonic races, as 
the English, Germau and Uuteb, PiLraua-ghiri, signifying Sea-jieople. 
Candiva is a foreign woni, and has been introduced Irom the Tupuyas ; it 
signifies 'white man.' 

' Ralegh possessed the indispensable Bcconiphshnieat of a couiiier of 
Queen Elizabeth's reign, uamely the art of flattery, in a high degree. We 
refer to his poetry and bis letters of adulation written to the Queen during 
the period he was for the first time confined in the Tower ( nay, even the 
romantic incident of the cloak, which, as Fuller tells us, led Co bis favour 
with tbe Queen, proves him the accomplished courtier. The adulation 
which pervades the account of his discovery, irom the commence meut 
to the end, does not attonish us tberefore; hut we venture to say, from 
the knowledge we possess of tbe character and taste of the Indian, that 
a repreaeatation of Zuocaro'a portrait of her Majesty, now at Hampton 
Court, in which she is presented in a fantastic dress, and which, we must 
confess, does nut convey to our imagination the idea of beauty, «uu]d 
have had many more attractions for the assembled multitude of admiring 
Indians Chan the portrut which Ralegh showed to them. 



10 THE DiaCOVERIB 

I sent Captaine f'Fkiddon the yeare before to get what know- 
ledge he could of Gaiana, and the end of my iorney at this time 
was to discouer and enter the same, but my intelligence was 
fnrre from truetb, for the country is situate aboue GOO English 
miles further from the sea, then I was made beleeue it had 
beene, which afterward ynderatanding to be true by Berreo, I 
kept it from the knowledge of my companic, who else woulde 
neucr haue beene brought to attempt the same : of which GOO 
miles I passed 400' leauing my shippcs so farre from mc at 
ancor in the sea, which was more of desire to performe that dis- 
couery, then of reason, especially hauing such poore and weake 
vessels to transport our stlues in ; for in the bottom of an old 
Gallego which 1 caused to be fashioned like a Galley, and in one 
barge, two wherries, and a ship bote of tlie Lyons whelpe, we 
caried 100 persona and their victuals for a moneth in the same, 
being al driucn to lie in the raine and wether, in the open aire, 
in the burning aunne, and vpon the hard bords, and to dresse 
our meat, and to carry al manner of furniture in them, where- 
with they were so pestred and vnsauery, that what with victuals 
being most fish, with the weetc clothes of so many men thrust 
together and the heate of the sunne, I will vntlertake there was 
neuer any prison in England, that coulde be founde more vn- 
sauory and lothsome, especially to my aelfe, who had for many 
yearea before beene dieted and cared for in a sort faiTC differing. 

If Captaiue Preston had not beene perswaded that he should 
haue come too late to Triiiedado to haue found vs there (for the 
moneth was expired which 1 promised to tarry for him there ere 
he could recouer the coast of Spaine) but that it had pleased 
God he might haue ioyned with vs, and that wee had entrcd the 
countrey but some ten daiea sooner ere the riuers were ouer- 



' The farthest point which Ralegh reaehtd on his Orinoco joiuTiej waa 
the mouth of the river Caroni, one hundred and ti^ fnty-lite miles ilistaat 
in B direct line from Puota Curiapan or Punta de Gallo, or at the utmost 
about two hundred and fifty miles, accorihng to the wirnhngs of the Cafioa 
and Brazos. 



OP OVIANA. 11 

flciwen, we had aduentui'ed either to haue gone to the great City 
of Manoa, or at least taken bo many of the other Cities and 
townea neerer at hand, as would haue made a royall retume : 
But it pleased not God so much to fauour me at this time : if it 
shalbc my lot to prosecute the same, I shall willingly spend my 
life therein, and if any else shalbe enabled thereunto, and con- 
quere the same, I assure him thus much, he shall performe more 
then euer was done in Mexico by Cortes, or in Peru by Pacaro, 
whereof the one conquered the Empire of Mutesuma, the other 
of Guascar, and Atabalipa^, and whatsoeuer Prince shall pos- 
sesse it, that Prince shalbe Lorde of more gold, and of a more 
beautifull Empire, and of more Cities and people, then eyther the 
king of Spayne, or the great Turke. 

But because there may arise many doubtes, and how this 
Empire of Guiana is become so populous, and adorned with so 
manie greate Cities, Townes, Temples, and threasures, I thought 
good to make it knowen, that the Empcronr now raigning is dis- 
cended from those magnificent Princes of Peru of whose large 
territories, of whose polliciea, conquests, edifices, and riches 
Pedro de Cieza, Francisco Lope^', and others haue written large 
discourses ; for when Francisco Pacaro, Diego Almagro and 
others conquered the said Empire of Peru", and had put to death 



' H*legh alludes by the nftine of Pacaro to Franeispo Pisarro, by Mute- 
2uma to Montezuma, by Guascar to Huascar, by Atabalipa to Ataliualpa. 
Tbe Inra Guaynacapa Upangi, or Huajna Capae, divided his empire of 
Peru amongst his tvro sons, Uuascar-Inea and Atahualpa. 

' Pedro de Ciefa de Leon, author of the ' Croniea del Peru,' the first 
part of which was published in 1553, in Sevilla. Francisco Lopez de Go- 
mara published his History of the Indiea and the Conquest of Mexico ia 
1552-53. 

' The empire of the Incas was divided after the conquest in two goi'cm- 
ments, namely la Nueva Castilla, extending from Quito to Cuzco, and to 
sixty leagues above Chincha; and that of la Nueva Toledo, which extended 
for two hundred leagues from Chincha towards the llerraa del Estrecho or 
Straits of Magalliaens. The Marquis Francisco Piiarro was appointed go- 
vernor of the first, and Diego de Almagro, his compauion in the conquest, 
of the second. 



1-2 Till! DISCOVKBIE 

Atabalipa soiine to Guuynucapa, wbicb Atiibalipu had formerly 
caused his eldest brother Guascar to be slaiiie, one of the younger 
sonnes of Guaynacapa fled out of Peru, and tooke with him 
many thouaandes of those souldiers of the Erapyre called Oreitmes, 
and with those and many others whieh followed him, he van-'.>i' 
quished al that tract and \-aJley of America which is situate 
tweenc the great riuers of Ama:ones and Baraipiona, otherwise 
called Orenoke and Maranion'. 



' The remarks of Humboldt od this subject are to tbe foUotving effect : 
'' The flight of Mancu-Incft, brother of Atahualpa, to the cast of the Cor- 
dilleraa, nu doubt gave rise to the ttaitition of a new cin)iirc of the Incaa 
in Dorado. It was forgotten that Caxamarca and Cuzco, ttro towns wliere 
the princes of that unfortunate family were at the time of their emigration, 
are situated to the south of the Amazon, in tbe latitude of 7° f' and 13° 21' 
south, and consequently four hundred lei^es south-west of the pretendeil 
town of Manoa on the lake Farima (3° 30' north ktitude). It is probable, 
that from tbe extreme difficulty of penetrating into the pl^ns east of the 
Andes, covered with forests, the fugitive princea never went beyond the 
banks of the Beni. The following is what I learnt with ceitainty respect- 
ing this emigration of the family of the Inca, some sad vestiges of which I 
saw OD paaaing Caxamarca. Manco-luca, acknowledged as the legitimate 
successor of Atahualpa, made war without success against the Spaniards. 
He retired at length into the mountains aud thick foresta of Vilcabamba, 
which are accessible either by Huamanga and Antahuaykla, or by the valley 
of Yucay north of Cu7C0. Of the two sons of Manco-Inca, the eldest, 
Hayri-Tupac, surrendered himself to the Spaniarils ujion the invitation of 
the viceroy of Peru, UurtaJo de Mendoza. He was received with great 
pomp at Lima, was baptized there, and ihed peaceably in tbe fine valley of 
Yucay. Tlie youngest son of Manco-Inca, Tupac-Amaru, was carried off 
by stratagem from the forests of Vilcabamba and Iwbeaded on pretest of 
a conspiracy formed against the Spanish usurpers. At the same period 
thirty-five distant relatives of tbe Inca Atahualpa were seized, aud con- 
veyed to Lima, in order to remain under the inspection of the Audiencia. 
It is interesting to inquire whether any other princes of the family of 
Mimco-Capac have remained in tbe forests of Vilcabamba, and if there 
still exist any descendants of the Incaa of Peru betw een tbe Apurimao and 
tbe Beni. This supposition gave rise in l^'tl to tbe famous rebellion of 
the Cbuncos, and to that of the Amajes and Campos, le<l on by their chief, 
Juan Saiitos, called the false Atahnalim. The late political events of Spain 
have liberatetl from prison tbe remains of the family of Jose Gabriel 
CondorcBuqui, an artful and intrepid man, who, imdcr tlic name of the 






OF GVIANA. J.'i 

The Empyre of Guiana is directly east from Peru towards tlii^ 
sea, and lietli viider the Bqiiinoctiul line, and it hath more abun- 
dance of Golde then any part of Pent, and as many or more great 
Cities then euer Peru had when it florished most : it is gouemed 
by the same lawes, and the Emperour and people obseriie the 
same religion, and the same foi-me and pollicies in gonemment 
as was vaed in Peru, not differing in any part : and as I haue 
beene assured by such of the Spanyardes as haue scene Manoa 
the emperiall Citie of Guiana, which the Spanyardes cal el Do- 
rado, that for the greatnes, for the richcH, and for the excellent 
seate, it faire exceedeth any of the world, at least of so much of 
the world as is knowcn to the Spanish nation : it is founded 
vpon a lake of salt water of 200 leagues long like vnto mare 
caspiu^. And if we compare it to that of Peru, and but reade 
the report of Francisco Lope;: and others, it wil seeme more then 
credible, and because we may iudge of the one by the other, I 
thought good to insert part of the 120 chapter of L&pez in his 
generall historic of the Indies, wherein he discribeth the court 
and magnificence of Guaynacapa, auncestor to the Emperour of 
Guiana, whose very words arc these. Todo el seniicio de su casa, 
mesa, y cosina era de oro, y de plata, y quando mentis de plala, 
y cobre por mas rezio. Tenia en su recamara estatuas huecas de 
oro que pareeitm giganles, y las fiffuras at propio, y tamanon de 
quanlos animales, aues, arboles, y yeruas produce la iierra, y de 
quantos peces cria la mar y aguas de sus reynos. Tenia assi jnesmo 
sogas, costaleSfCestas, y Iroxes de oro y plata, rimeros de palos de 
&ro, que paredessen lenna raiada para quemar. En fin no auia 
cosa en su iierra, que no la tuuiesse de oro contrahecha : y aun 

Inm Tujiac- Amaru, Bttcmpted ia 1781 that rcsturatioti of the ancient 
dynasty, which Ralegh had projected in the times of Queen Elizabeth." 
(Humboldt's Persunal Narrative, English translation, vol. v. note at p. 854.) 
' We have here the first allueioD to that great lake in the interior of 
Ouiona, which for two centuries remained a geographical problem. This 
is perhaps the proxier place to draw the particular attention of the reader 
to the obaervmtions which the editor has made on the non-existence of such 
a lake in hii Introduction to this edition. 



14 



fi DISfOVEHIK 



dizen, que tenion /on fnt/iis vn vert/el en vna is/a cerca de la Puna, 
donde se yuan a holgar, guando querian mar, que tenia la ortaliza, 
lasjlores, yarboks de on y plata, inuencion y grandeza kasla en- 
(onces nunca vista. Allende de todo esto tenia infinitissima can- 
tidad de plata, y oro por Ijihrar en el Cusco, que se perdio par la 
muerte de Guascar, ca los Iitdios to escondieron, viendo que lua 
Espaiioles se lo lomauan, y embriavan a Espafia. That is. All the 
veasels of his home, table, and kitchin were of gold and siluor, 
and the meanest of siluer and copper for strength and hardnea 
of the mettal. He had in his wardroppe hollow statues of 
golde which seemed giants, and the figures in proportion and 
bignca of all the beastes, birdes, trees and hearbes, that the 
earth brmgeth forth : and of all the fishes that the sea or waters 
of his kingdome brcedeth. Hec had also ropes, budgets, chestea 
and troughs of golde and silner, heapes of billets of golde that 
seemed woodc, marked out to bume. Finally there was nothing 
in his countrey, whereof hee had not the counterfeat in gold : 
Tea and they say. The Ingas had a garden of pleasure in an 
iland uecre Puna, where they went to recreate themselues, when 
they would take the ayre of the sea, which had all kind of gar- 
den hearbes, flowers and trees of Gold and Siluer, an iuuention, 
and magnificence til then neuer scene : Besides all this, he had 
an infinite quantitie of siluer and gold vnwrought in Cuzca 
which was lost by the death of Guascar, for the Indiana hid it, 
seeing that the Spaniards tooke it, and sent it into Spayne. 

And in the 117 chapter Francisco Picarro caused the Golde 
and Siluer oi Atabalipa to hee weyeJ, after hee had taken it, 
which Lopez setteth downe in these wordea following, 

Hallaron cinquenta y dos mil marcos de buena plata, y vn mil- 
Ion y trezientos y veinte y seys mil, y guinienlos pesos de oro, 
which is : They founde fiftie and two thousand markes of good 
siluer, and one million, and three hundred twentie and sLie thou- 
sand and fine hundred pesoes of golde. 

Nowe although these reportes may seeme straunge, yet if wee 
consider the many millions which are daily brought out of Peru 



or OVIANA. lil 

into Spaine, wee may easely beleeue the same, for wee fiude that 
by the abundant treasure of that countrey, the Spanish King 
veiceth all the Princes of Europe, and is become in a fewe yearea 
from a poore king of Castile the greatest monarke of this part 
of the worlde, and hkelic euery day to increase, if other I'rincca 
forsloe the good occasions offered, and suffer him to adde this 
Empire to the rest, which by farre eKceedeth all the rest : if hia 
golde now indauager vs, hee will then be vnresistable. Such 
of the Spaniards as afterwarde endeuoured the conquest thereof 
(whereof there haue beene many as shall bee declared heereafter) 
thought that this Inga (of whome this Emperor now lining is 
descended) tooke his way by the riuer of Amazones, by that 
braunch which is called Popainene, for by that way followed 
Oreliana^ (by the commaundement of the Marquis Pacarro in 

' Ralegh commits in hia Guinua Voyage frequent miiitakea in the or- 
thography of names and the chronological succession of events. Ilis 
' History of the World' proves how careful he became in aftertimes. The 
celebrated journey, the result of which was the discovery of the Upper 
Amazon, was undertaken in 1540-1541. Gonzalo Pizarro, the brother of 
the Marquis of Pizarro, and Francisco Orellana started in 1540 from Zu- 
nmque, where they had met by accident, and descended the ri?er Coca in 
search of El Dorado, which they had been told was situated on the hanka 
of a mighty river into which the Coca flowed. They encountered great 
difficulties, and many of their followers having fallen sick, Pizarro resolved 
to construct a vessel or brigantine, upon which he embarked his invabds 
and one hundred thousand livrca in gold. The expedition was at that time 
sulfering the greatest want ; he therefore desired Orellana to take charge 
of the brigantine and to go in search of provisions, and if successful to 
return with supplies. The strong current of the river Coca, which further 
below takes the name of Napo, carried him rapidly along, and having 
entered a river of great siie, he doubted not that this was the one on which 
Dorado was said to be situated. Orellana determined on the last day of 
December 1540 not to return, which be felt persuaded to be impossible 
against the current, and to leave Pizarro and his companions to their fate, 
lie followed the current of the great stream, and in his descent he met 
with a host of Indiana who opposed his landing. lie saw among their 
mnka females fighting as valiantly as the men, and this circumstance 
tended to confirm the report which he had previously heard of the 
existence of American Amazons, from which the river received its name. 
Others called it, in honour after its discoverer, Orellana. The mouth and 



16 THE niSCOVERlE 

the yeare 1542) whose name the riiier also lieaveth this day, 
which is also by others called Mnragnon, althogli Andrew 
Theuet doth affirm that between Maragiwn and Ammones there 
are 120 leagues: but sure it is that those riuera haue one head 
and beginning, and that Maraffnon which Theuet deacribeth ia 
but a braunch of Amazonea or Oreliano, of which 1 wil epeake 
more in an other place. It was alao attempted by Diego Ordace^, 
but whether before Oreliano or after I knowe not : but it ia now 



the lower part of the river vcere k.tiown at a much earlier period than 
OreUaoa's voyage, under the name of Marafion. Peter Martyr, Oviedo, 
Pedro Cie^a, and Zarate called it in 1513 Marafion. Gardlasso de la 
Vega, Herrera, and, as Ralegh observes, likewise Andrew Thevet, made 
two separate rivers of the Amazon and Maraiion, flowing widely a.'^aii. 
Father Rodriguez gives a long disquisition " Si las Amaznnas, el Marafion, 
y el rio Oreliano son diversos, 5 uno mismo." (El Marafion y Amazonas, 
lib. i. cap. 6.) It is now usual to call the river, from its source near 
Cajatambo in Peru to the junction with the Ilualiaga, Marafioti ; from 
thence to the confluence of the Rio Negro, Solimoes; and from the Rio 
Negro to its embouehure into the Atlantic, the Ama:(on (Rio lias Amazonas). 
The Indiana call it Paranna-vacu, or Great River. Its course is computed 
at four thousand English miles. (See Herrera, dccad. tv. lib. vi, cap. 3; 
decad. vi. lib. viii. cap. G et 7 ; lib. ix. cap. 2 to 6 ; decad. vii. lib. iv. cap. 
8 et 9. Pedro de Cie?a, cap. 40. Acufia, in "cl Marafion j Amazones," 
lib. ii. cap. 10.) 

' Diego de Ordax, one of the offieera who followed Cortez to Mexico 
and New Spain, and whom Charles the Fifth permitted to hear a burning 
volcano in his arms to commemorate liia feat of having taken sulphur out 
of the crater of the Peak of Popocatepetl, is considered to have been the 
first who ascended the Orinoco to any distance. In 1631 he reached the 
Cataract of Atures, where the difficulty of overcoming this impediment, 
and the hostihty of the Indians, obhged him to return. Alonso de Herrera 
was commanded by Geronimo de Ortal, who had been authorized by the 
king to continue the discoveries of Diego de Ordaz, to ascend in 153.3 the 
Orinoco, and he entered the Meta, where in a battle with the Indiana he 
met his death from a poisoned arrow. Alvaro de OrdM, his lieutenant, 
conducted the remains of the expedition to the Casua ftierte de Paria, a 
fortified post erected by Antonio Sedelio in the territory of the Cacique 
Yuripari, of which Ortal had taken forcible possession. (Fr. Simon ; " Se- 
gnuda Noticia historial dc las Conquistas de Tierra-lirme," cap. 17 to 26 ; 
Tercera Noticia, cap. 20 to 30. Caulin, " Historia de la Nueva-Andalucia," 
lib. ii. cap. 5, 6 et 7- Herrera, decad. v. lib. v. cap. 6 ; lib. vi. cap. 15, etc.] 



OFGVIANA. J7 

little lease theu 70 yeares since tliat Orduce a inight of the 
order of Saint laga attempted the same : and it was in the yeare 
1542 that Oreliano discouered the riuer of Amasones; but the 
first that euer sawe Manoa was Johannes Marlines master of the 
munition to Ordace. At a porte called Morequito in Guiana^ 
there lyeth at this daie a great ancor of Ordaces shippe, and this 
port is some 300 miles within the lande, vpon the greate riuer 
of Orenoque. 

I rested at this port fowre dales ; twentie daiea after I left the 
abippes at Curiapan. The relation of this Martynes (who waa 
the first that diacouei-ed Marwa) his successe and end \a to be 
Bcene in the Chaunoery of Saint luan de puerto rico, whereof 
Berreo had a coppie*, which appeared to be the greatest incou- 



I 
I 



' Tlie port of the Cazique Morequito, or, as we are informed by Francis 
Spairev, the couDtry of Aromaia (Piirchaa, vol. iv. chap. 11, 1248), was 
probably where San Miguel is now situated, about twelve miles to the east 
of the mouth of the river Caroni, or about one hundred and seventy milcn 
from the sea. Sausan, in his chart of Guiana, published in 1G79, places 
Morequito on the left bank of the Oriuoeo, which is evidcutly an en'or. 

' The copy which Berreo had received of the pretended journey of Juan 
Martinez, induced him to send his camp-master, Domingo de Yeni, to 
Spain, to prepai'e an expedition for the conquest of Dorado, or as it hegati 
then to be called, the Laguna de la Grau Manoa. Domingo de Vera ac- 
quitted himself so well in his mission, that he induced king Phihp the 
Second to embark seventy thousand ducats in the expedition : the city of 
Sevilla advanced live thousand ducats, and placed live vessels at De Yera's 
disposition. Several officers who had distinguished themselves during the 
nars in Flanders and Italy, the younger sons of nobles, and numerous 
veteran soldiers, joined the expedition, which was ultimately composed of 
two thousand individuals. To prevent such a number of persons being 
without spiritual assistance, ten ecclesiastics and a rich canon of the ca- 
thedral, upon whom the title of administrator- general was conferred, 
accompanied De Vera. Besides these secular priests there were twelve 
monks, for the conversion of souls among the heathens. The expedition 
set out on the 23rd of February 1595 from the port of San Lucar, conse- 
quently only seventeen days later than Ralegh from Plymouth, and arrived 
on the IGth of April 1595. There prevails, however, great confusion re- 
specting the dates of this expedition, and in the great work of Roubnud, 
' L'Histoire de I'Aaie, de I'Airique, et de I'Ameriquc, Paris, 1/75,' it ia 
stated that it occurred in 1594. It is our opinion that De Ver^i an'lved in 



18 TBE DISCOVERIE 

ragcnient as well to Berreo as to others that formerly attempted 
the discoucry and conquest. Oreliano after he failed of the dia- 
eoucric of Gtuatia by the said riucr of Amazones, passed into 
Spaine, and there ohtatned a patent of the king for the inuasioa 
and eonqueat, but died by sea about the Hands, and his fleet 
bceing seuered by tempest, the aetion for that time proceeded 
not. Diego Ordace followed the enterprize, and departed Spaine 



Triuiilftil in 1596, in whifh we »re confirmed by a passnge in Keymis'a 
Juumnl, who expressly informii lis, Domingo ile Vera had oDly been sent 
into $|)Bin live months before Rolegli'e arrival at Triniilad : and tlie Indian 
whom he took at the Caroni confessed that Berreo " daily looked for his 
■on from Nuevo R«yna, for his CHm|>-mRster &am Trinidad, and for horses 
fVom the CaracBi." The arrival of De Vera'i expedition could not have 
taken place in March or April 1595, as in that instance they would have 
met Italcgh's shitia. who did not leave the island of Trinidad before tlie end 
ol' Jime. Sutlin.' it to isay, that this great expedition met with sueh disaiiters, 
i(iiri'riii)i;s and HTelehedncss, that only a few are said to have returned to 
Spiiiu to relate the misfortunea of the two thousand adventurers who started 
IVoiu San Liinv. F-pideniies, famine, shipwreck, and the war-clubs of the 
Indian*, swept away »ll bnl that aiuall number. 

IllimlHilitt auplNlsca thai the narrative of Juan Martinez, which gave 
rise to this unfurtuuatie rnterpnte, was founded on the adventures of Juan 
Martin d« Albi^ar. who in the expeditiun of Pedro de Silva b 1570 was 
taktni prisouer by the Oaribs or Carikisi of the Lower Orinoco, and who 
aottlml ultinMtcly at Canira, after having long wandered with Indian tribes, 
■nil nwdc several oxcunioas to Santa Fe de Bogota. As already observed 
in the intrmluction to this edition, John Hagthorpe cousidsrs the whole 
relation " an invention of the fat fryers;" but if Juan Martin de Albujar 
was the author of the story in the han<U of Berreo, it is more than proba- 
ble that he rcmposcd it from what he had learned from the Spaniards 
nboiit the adventures of Felipe de Urre, or more properly Philip von Hu- 
tcn, and combined it with the accounts he heard from the Caribs, who 
among all Indian tribes to this [lay are considered the most superstitious 
and the greatest story-tellers. According to a manuscript which we bad 
in om' hands while in Demerara, a tribe of Mahanaos is said to have inha- 
bited tbe tributaries of the Bio Branco, Takotn, and Rupunuui, of whom 
he must have learned through the Oaribs, who possessed settlements on 
the skirts of the savannahs; and as those regions are annually inundated 
to a great extent, the grcot expanse of the iouudation, which may have 
reached the villages of the Mahanaoa, gave rise to tbe fable of the Luguna 
de Manoa, or del Dorado, or de Parima. 



with 600 soldiers and 30 horse, who aniuing on the coast of 
Guiana was slaine in a muteny with the most part of such as 
fauoured bini, as also of the rebellious part, in so much as Lis 
ships perished, and few or none returned, neither was it cer- 
tainely knowen what became of the said Ordace, vntill Berreo 
found the ancor of his ship in the riuer of Orenoque ; but it was 
supposed, and so it is written by Lopez, that he perished on the 
seas, and of other writers dinersly conceiued and reported. 
And heereof it came that Martynes entred so farre within the 
lande and arriucd at that Citie of Inga the Emperor, for it 
chaunced that while Ordace with his armie rested at the port of 
Marequito (who was either the first or second that attempted 
Guiana), by some negligence, the whol store of powder prouided 
for the seruice was set on fire, and Marlines hauing the chief 
charge was condemned by the generall Ordace to be executed 
forthwith : Marlines being much fauored by the soldiers had 
al the meane possible procured for his life, but it could not be 
obtained in other sort then this : That he shuld be set into a 
Canoa alone without any victual, onely mth his armes, and so 
tumd loosse into the great riuer : but it pleased God that the 
Canoa was carried downe the streame, and that certain of the 
Guianians met it the same cuening, and hauing not at any time 
sene any Christian, nor any man of that colour, they caried 
Martynes into the land to be wondred at, and so irom towne to 
towne, yntill he came to the great Citie of Manoa, the seate and 
residence of Inga the Emperor. The Emperor after he bad be- 
held him, knew him to be a Christian (for it was not long before 
that his brethren Guascar and Atabalipa were vanquished by the 
Spaniards in Peru) and caused bim to be lodged in his pallace, 
and well entertained : hee lined 7 moneths in Manva, but not 
suffered to wander into the countrey any where : hee was also 
brought thither all the waie bUndfield, led by the Indians, vntill 
be came to the entrance of Manoa it selfe, and was 14 or 15 daies 
in the passage : he auowed at his death that he entred the City 
c3 



20 THE DISCOVERIE 

at Noon, and then they vncouered his face, and that he trauelled 
al that daie til night thorow the Citie, and the next day from 
sun rising to sun setting, ere he came to the pallace of Inga. 
After that Martynes had lined 7 monetha in Manoa, and began 
to vnderstand the language of the country, Inga asked him 
whether he desired to retume into his own countrey, or would 
willingly abide with him : but Martynes not dcsirouB to stay, 
obtained the fauour of Inga to depart, with whom he sent diuers 
Guianians to conduct him to the riuer of Orenogue all loden with 
as much gold as they could carrie, which he gaue to Martines at 
his departure : but when he was arriucd neere the riuers side, 
the horderers which are called Orenogueponi robbed him and his 
Guianians of all the treasure (the borderers beeing at that time 
at warres with Inga, and not conquered) sane oncly of two 
great bottels of gords, which were filled with beads of gold 
curiously wrought, which those Orenogueponi thought had ben 
no other thing then his drink or meate or grain for foode with 
which Martynes had libertie to passe, and ao in Canons be fell 
down by the riuer of Orenogue to Trinedado, and from thence 
to Marguerita, and so to Saint luan de puerto rico, where re- 
maining a long tyme for passage into Spayne he died. In the 
time of his extreme sicknesse, and when he was without hope of 
life, receauing the Sacrament at the bandes of his Confessor, he 
deliuered these thinges, with the relation of his trauela, and also 
called for his Calabasa or gords of the gold bcades which he 
gaue to the Church and friers to be praied for. This Martynes 
was he that christncd the citie of Manoa, by the name of El 
Dorado, and as Berreo informed mc vpon this occasion. Those 
Guianians and also the borderers, and all others in that tract 
which I bane seen are marueyloua great dnmkai'des, in which 
vice I think no nation can compare with them : and at the times 
of their solemne feasts when the Emperor carowaeth with his 
Captayns, tnbutories, and gouernours, the manner is thus. All 
those that pledge bim are first stripped naked, and their bodies 



or (jviANA. 21 

annoynted al ouer with a kiude of wliite Balsamum (by them 
called Cwcaiy of which there ia great plenty and yet very deare 
amongst them, and it is of all other the most pretious, whcrof 
wc haue had good experience : when they are annointed all ouer, 
certaine seniants of the Emperor haning prepared gold made 
into fine powder blow it thorow hollow canes vpon their naked 
bodies, vntill they be al shining from the foote to the head, and 
in this sort they sit drinking by twenties and hundreds and con- 
tinue in drunkennes BomtimeB site or seuen dales togither : the 
same is also confirmed by a letter wi'itten into Spaine which was 
intercepted, which master Robert Dudley told me he had seen. 
Vpon this sight, and for the abundance of gold which he saw in 
the citie, the Images of gold in their Temples, the plates, armors, 
and shields of gold wbicb they vse in the wars, he called it El 
Dorado. After Oreliano who was emploied by Pacaro afterwards 
Marques Pacaro conqueror and gouernor of Peru, and the death 
of Ordace and Martynes, one Pedro de Osua% a knight of 

' The Indiana possess different kinds of gum with which they anoint 
themBelvea, and which exude from different species of trees of the genera 
AmyHg atid Calopkylhtm. The most precious is however a gum coining 
from a tree the true bot4inical diarsctar of which ia still uuknown to ua, 
but which we consider to belong to the natural order of Amyridacem. It 
possesses a grateful balsamic odour, and is called Acuyari or Acayarlou hy 
the Guianiaus, wbo consider an inhalatioD of its fn^nint odour when burn- 
ing beneficial for the lungs of conBumptive persons. 

' Pedro de Ursua descended, towards the end of 1560, the river Papa- 
menc (called at preseut Rio Caqueta or Yupura) iu search of El Dorado. 
It was during this expedition that Lopez de Aguirre rose against him in 
revolt, anil Uraua was slain, as related hy Sir Walter R4degh. When 
Aguirre was in the beigbt of his bloody career, and had received the epi- 
thet of the Tyrant, he wrote a most remarkable letter of defiance to Phihp 
the Second of Spain. Don Gonzales Ximenes de Quesada arrested his 
course of murder and rapine, and attacked him and bis band iu the valley 
of Cerinca, twelve leagues from Tienja. Surrounded on all sides, he first 
killed his daughter, whom he had destined for his successor, and allowed 
himself cowardly to be taken prisoner. He was conducted to the island 
of Trinidad, where he was executed and bis body quartered; his house 
was deraohshed, and the |dace where it stood strewn with salt. There are 
EMime doubts among historians whether AguiiTe, with Utsua's cxjtedition, 



22 



THE DISCOVE 



Nauarre attempted Guiana, taking hia way from Peru, and 
built bis brigandines vpon a riuer called Oia, which riaeth to the 
southward of Quito, and is very great : this riuer falleth into 
Ama^oTtes, by which Osua with his companies deGccnded, aud 
came out of that Prouiuce whiet is called Mutyhnes : and it 
seemeth to me that thia Empire iareaerued for her Maiestie and 
the English nation, by reaBon of the hard successe which all 
these and other Spaniards found in attempting the same, wherof 
1 will speake brieflie, though impertinent in aonie sort to my pur- 
pose. This Pedro de Osua had among his troupes a Biscayn 
called Agiri, a man meanlie borne, and hare no other ofBce 
than a Surgeant or Alferez : but after certaine months, when the 
soldiers were grieued with trauela and consumed with famine, 
and that no entrance could be found by the branches or body of 
Amasones, this Agiri raised a muteny, of which hee made him- 
selfe the head, and so preuailed as he put Osua to the sword, 
and all his followers, taking on him the whole charge and com- 
mandemcnt with a purpose not onely to make himaelfe Emperor 
of Guiana, hut also of Peru, and of al that side of the West 
Indies : he had of his partie seuen hundred soldiers, and of 
those many promised to draw in other captains and compa- 
nies to debuer vp towns and forts in Peru, but neither finding 
by the saide riuer any passage into Guiana, nor any posaibilitie 
to returne towards Peru by the same Ajnazones, by reason that 
the descent of the riuer made so gi'cat a currant, he was inforccd 
to descmboque at the mouth of the said Aviazones, which cannot 
he Icsse than a thousand leagues from the place where they 
imbarqued : from thence he coasted the land till he arriued at 
Marguerita to the North of Mumpalar, which is at this dale 

descended the Amazon to its embouchure, or whether he ascended the Rio 
Negro, its tributary the Rio Branco, and by the short " portage " crossed 
to tbe Kupununi, a tributary of the Essequibo, which river he fotlowed to 
the Atlantic. (See Fr. Pedro Simon, not. vi. cap. 30-3it. Piedrahita, Hi- 
atorift general de la eonquiatas del nucvo reyno de GrHnoda, lib, vii. cap. 8. 
Purebas, Tol, iv. Lb, vii. cap. 11. Pi^n, Relation de la rivi&re des Ama- 
zones, cap, 3!), &c.) 



or GVTANA. 33 

called Puerto de Tijranno, for that he thtre slue Don luan de 
villa Andreda, goueruor of Marguerita, who was father to Don 
luan Senniento gouernor of Marguerita when Sir lohn Burgh 
lauded there, and attempted the Iland. Agiri put to the sword 
all others in the Iland that refused to he of his partie, and tooke 
with him certaine Cemerones, and other desperate companions : 
Prom thence he went to Cumana, and there slew the Gouernor, 
and dealt in all as at Marguerita : he spoiled all the coast of 
Caracas, and the prouince of Vensuello, and of Bio de hacke, 
and ad I remember it was the same yeev that Sir lohn HawMns 
sailed to Saint luan de tjua in the lesus of Lubeck, for himselfe 
told me that he met with such a one vpon the coast that rebelled, 
and had sailed downe all the riuer of Amazones. Agiri from 
hence landed about Sancta Maria, and sacked it also, putting to 
death so many as refused to be his followers, purposing to in- 
uade Nueuo regno de Granada, and to sack Pampelone, Merida, 
Logrita, Tkmia, and the rest of the cities of Nueuo reggno, and 
from thence againe to enter Peru : hut in a fight in the said 
Nueuo reggna he was ouerthrowne, and finding no way to 
escape, he first put to the sword bis own children, foretelling 
them that they should not Hue to he defamed or opbraid by 
the Spaniards after hia death, who would haue tearmed them 
the children of a Troytor or Tgranl, and that sithence he could 
not make them Princes, he wouldc yet dehuer them from shame 
and reproch : These were the ends and tragedies of Oreliano, 
Ordace, Osua, Mortgnes, and Agiii. 
After these followed leronimo Orlal de Saragosa^ with 130 



' Geronimo ile Ortal was attached to the expedition of Don Diego de 
Otttas as treasurer, and received king Philip's commaDds after the death 
of Ordos to continue the conquest of New Andalusia. He was noininatcd 
goremor of Paria, and despatched Alonso de Herrcra (see ante, note at 
p. 16) to ascend the Orinoco. He commanded likewise Augustin Del- 
gado to proceed to the coast of Neveri and to eatablish himself in the 
neighboiirhDod of Maracajiana, where he constructed a fort which he called 
Asiento de San Miguel de Neveri. This was afterwards taken posseaaiou 
of by Antonio Sedelio, (Pedro Simon, Tercera Notieia, cap. 20-30. Can- 



2t THE DISCOVERTE 

soldiers, who failing his entrance by sea was cast with the cur- 
i-ant on the coast of Paria, and peopled about S. Miguell de 
Neueri. It was then attempted by Don Pedro de sylun a Portu- 
guese of the familie of Rigomes de sylua, and by the fauour whicli 
Rigomes had with the king, he was aet out, but he also 
wide of the mark, for being departed from Spaine with his fleetCj 
he entred by Maragnon or Amazones, where by the nations ol 
the riuer, and by the Amazones he was vtterly ouertbrowen, and 
hiniselfe and all his ai-niie defeated, onely seuen escaped, and ol 
those but two returned. 

After him came Pedro Herrmndez de Serpa, and landed 
Cumema in the Wesl Indies, taking his iourney by land towards 
Orettoque, which may bee some 130 leagues j but ere he came to 
the borders of the said riuer, be was set vpon by a nation ol 
Indians called fVikiri, and ouertbrowen in sort, that of 300 
soldiers, horsemen, many Indians, aud Negros, there returned 
but 18: others affirm that he was defeated in the very entrance 
of Guiana, at the first ciuill towne of the Empire called Macure- 
guarai. Captaine Preston in taking S. lago de Leon (which was 
by him aud his companies veiy resolutely performed, being a 
great towne, and far within the land} held a gentleman prisoner 
who died in his ship, that was one of the companie of Hernandez 
de Serpa, and saued among those that escaped, who witnessed 
what opinion is held among the Spaniards thereabouts of the 



lin, Uiatoria de la Nueva-Andalucia, lib. ii. cap. 7- Herrero, dec. v. lib. 

' Don Pedro de Silvia, having received pennisaion to attempt the con- 
qiieat of El Dorado, departed from the port of Burburuta and traversed 
the Llanos. Abaudoned by bis soliliers, he returned in Marcli 1570 to 
Barcquizemeto, iiom nbence be went to Peru and embarked ultimately 
for Spain. He was killed on hia return by tbe Caribs. (Oviedo, lib. vi. 
cap. 1 et 5.) Ralegb confounds evidently the eupcdition of Don Malavez 
de Silvia with the above, nbo departed in 156B irom Peniambuco and 
entered the Amazon. On hia return to Portugal, he equipped three ships 
and two caravels to continue the discoveries of Orellana; but all his ves- 
sels, with the exception of the mravel, on board of which i^as De t^ilvia 
himself, mere lost in the Amaion. 



OP GVIANA. 23 

great riches of Guiana, and El Dorado the citie of Inffa. Another 
Spaniard was brought aboord me by captaine Preston, who told 
me in the heariog of himaelfe and diucrs other gentlemen, that 
he met with Berreog CampmaBter at Caracas, when he name 
from the borders of Guiana, and that he saw with him fortie of 
moat pure plates of golde curiously wrought, and sworda of 
Guiana decked and inlaid with golde, feathers garnished with 
golde, and diuers rarities which he carried to the Spanish king. 
After Hernandez de Serpa it was vndertaken by the Adelan- 
lada, Don Gonzales Cemenes de Casada^, who waa one of the 
chiefeat in the conquest of Nueuo reyno, whose daughter and 
heire Don Anthonia de Berreo maried : Gonzales sought the 
paasage also by the riuer called Papamene, whieh riaeth by Quito 
in Peru, and runneth aoutheast 100 leagues, and then falleth 
into Amazones, but he also failing the entrance, returned with 
the losae of much labour and cost : I tooke one captaine George 
a Spaniard that followed Gonzales in this enterprise. Gonzales 
gaue his daughter to Berreo taking his oth and honor to follow 
the enterprise to the last of his aubstance and life, who since as 
he hath sworne to me hath spent 300000 ducates in the same, 
and yet neuer could enter ao far into the land as my sclfe with 
that poore troupe or rather a handfull of men, being in all about 
100 gentlemen, soldiers, rowers, bote-keepers, boles, and of all 

' Don Gonzales Ximenes <te Qucaada, the founder of Nueio reyno de 
Qranafla, returned Id 1533 to Spain to give an account of his conquests 
and exploits. Ralegh confounds tlie brother of Don Gonzales, captain 
Hemaii Perez de Quesada, with the great adclantado. Having understood 
that beyond the mountains west of New Granitda existed great store of 
gold and emeralds, lie de|)arted on the Ist of September 1541, accompa- 
nied by an expedition of two hundred and seventy Spaniards, nearly two 
hundred horses, and five thousand Indiana of the Moxcas tribe. He 
reached the river Papamene, and after great hardships and loss of men 
and horses, returned with the remainder of the expedition to New Gra- 
na<tft. (Hcrrcra, dccad. vii. lib. iv. cap. 12. Piedrahita, part i. lib. i\. 
cap. 3.] As already observed, Ralegh commits great mistakes, and fre- 
quently confounds the heroes of the nwnerous expeditions in Kenrrh of 
El Dorado, nor does he bind liiuiBelf to n chronological order in the rcla- 
tion of hia predecessors in search of the phantom of Gran Manoa, 



26 THE DISCOVEHIE 

sorts : neither could any of the forepasaed vndertakersj nor Berreo 
himselfe diacouer the couutry, til! now lately by conference with 
an ancient king called Carapana he got the true light thereof: 
for Berreo came aboue 1500 miles, ere he vnderstood ought, or 
could findc any passage or entrance into any part thereof, yet he 
had experience of all these forenamed, and diners others, and 
was perswadcd of their errors and mistakings. Berreo sought 
it by the riuer Cassanar, which falleth into a great riuer called 
Pato, Palo falleth into Meta, and Meta into Baraquan, which is 
also called Orenoque. 

He tooke his iourney from Nueuo reijno de Granada where he 
dwelt, hauing the inheritance of Gonzales Cemenea in those parts ; 
he was followed with 700 horse, he draue with him 1000 head 
of cattell, he had also many women, Indians, and slaucs '. How 
all these riuers crossc and encounter, how the countrie lieth and 
is bordrcd, the passage of Cemenes, and of Berreo, mine owne 
discouerJe, and the way that I entred, with all the rest of the 
nations and riuers, your Lordship shall receiue in a large Chart 
or Map, which I haue not yet finished, and which I shall most 
humbly pray your Lordship to secret, and not to suffer it to passe 
your own hands; for by a draught thereof all may bee preuented 
by other nations*. For I know it is this very yeere sought by 
the French, although by the way that they now take, I feare it not 
much. It was also told me ere I departed England, that Villiers 
the Admirall was in preparation for the planting of Amazones, to 
which riuer the French haue made diners voiages, and returned 
much gold and other rarities. I spake with a eaptaine of a 
French ship that came from thence, his ship riding in Falmouth, 
the same yeere that my ships came first from Virginia. 

' We are only ftcquainted with the details of Berreo's expedition through 
Sir Walter Ralegh's account. 

* It appears he neTcr executed this map, or if be did so, it has heen lost. 
Jodocua HoodiuB conetructed fiT>in the account of Ralegh's and Keymis's 
voyages the map entitled "Nieuwe Caerte van liet goudrj'cke landt Gui- 
ana, 15!W," Levinus Hulaius availed himself of it for the construction of 
hia map " Nova et exacta delineatio America; partis australis, etc., 1599." 



OF CVIANA. '4t 

There was another this yecre in Helford that also came from 
thence, and had been 14 moneths at an ancor in Amazones, 
which were both very rich. Although as I am perawadcd, Guiana 
cannot be entred that way, yet no donbt the trade of gold from 
thence passeth by branches of riuera into the riuer of Amasones, 
and BO it doth on euery hand farre from the countrey it aelfe, 
for those Indians of Tnmedado haue plates of gold from Guiana, 
.and those Canibah of Dominica which dwell in the Hands by 
which our ships passe yeerly to the West Indies, also the Indians 
of Paria, those Indiana called Tucaris, Chochi, Apoiomios, Cu- 
managotos, and all those other nations inhabiting nerc about the 
mountaines that run from Paria thorow the Prouincc of Ven- 
suello^, and in Maracapana, and the Canibala of Guanipa, the 
Indiana called Assawat, Coaca, Aiai, and the rest (all which shall 
be described in my description as they are situate) haue plates 
of gold of Guiana. And vpon the riuer of Amazones Theuet 
writeth that the people weare Croissants of gold, for of that form 
the Guianians most commonly make them : So as from Domi- 
niea to Amazones which ia aboue 250 leagues, all the chiefe In- 
dians in al parts weare of those plates of Guiana. Vndoubtedly 
those that trade [with the] Amazones returnc much gold, which 
{as ia aforesaid) eommeth by trade from Guiana, by some branch 
of a riuer that falleth from the countrey into Amasones, and either 
it is by the riuer which passeth by the nations called Tisnados, 
or by Car^una. I made inquirie amongst the most ancient and 
best traueled of the Oraioqueponi, and I had knowledge of all 
theriuers between Orenoqueaad j^mfKones, and was very desirous 
to vnderstand the truth of those warlike women, bicause of some 
it is beleeued, of others not : And though I digresse from my 



' Alonso lie Ojeda gave the name to the province of Venezuela. During 
his voyage with Amerigo Vespucci in 1498 he conBted along Terra firma, 
and landed at a village which consisted of twenty-six huta built upou 
piles, and connected nith each other by drawhridges, which he compared 
with Venice, from nbicl) circumstance he called the place Venezuela, or 
Little Venice. 



38 



THE DiaCOVEBl 



purpose, yet I will set downe what hath been deliuered me for 
truth of those women, and I spake with a Casique or Lord of 
people that told me he had been in the riuer, and beyond 
it also. The nations of these women are on the south aide of 
the riuer in the Prouincea of Topago, and their chiefeat strengths 
and retraicts are in the Hands scituate on the south side of the 
entrance, some 60 leagues within the mouth of the said riuer. 
The memories of the like women are very ancient as well in 
Africa as in Asia : In Africa those that had Medusa for Queene : 
others in Scitkia neere the riuers of Tanais and T/iermadon : we 
find also that Lampedo and Marl/iesia were Queens of the Amu- 
zones ; in many histories they are verified to haue been, and in 
(liners agea and Provinces: But they which are not far from 
Guiana do aecompanie with men but once in a yeerc, and for 
the time of one monetU, which I gather by their relation to be 
in Aprill. At that time all the Kings of the bordera assemble, 
and the Queenes of the Amazones, and after the Queens haue 
chosen, the rest cast lota for their Valentines. This one moneth, 
they feast, daunce, and drinke of their wines in abundance, and 
the Moone being done, they all depart to their owne Prouinees. 
If they conceiue, and be deliuered of a sonne, they returne him 
to the father, if of a daughter they nourish it, and reteine it, and 
aa many as haue daughters send vnto the begettera a Present, 
liU being desirous to increase their ownc ses and kinde, but that 
the cut of the right diig of the brest I do not finde to be true. 
It was farther told me, that if in the wars they tooke any pri- 
soners that they vsed to accompany with those also at what time 
soeuer, but in the end for ccrtaine they put them to death ; for 
they are said to be very cruell and bloodthirsty, especially to 
such as offer to inuade their territories'. These Amazones haue 
likewise great store of these plates of golde, which they recouer 
by exchange chiefly for a kinde of greene stones, which the 



' The subject of the AmazonH of America has been fully trentcd in the 
Introduction to this e<litiou, to which the reader is referred. 



Spaniards call Piedras Hijadas, and we vse for splecnc stones, 
and for the disease of the stone we also estceme them : of thcae 
I saw diners in Guiana, and commonly enery king or Casique hath 
one, which their wiues for the moat part weare, and they esteeme 
them as great iewels'. 

Bnt to returne to the enterprise of Berreo, who (as I haue 
said) departed from Nueuo ret/no with 700 horse, besides the 
prouisions aboue rehearsed; he descended by the riuer called 
Cassanar, which riseth in Nueuo reyno out of the niountainea by 

' Ralegh alludes here to the Amazon stones, which were formerly con- 
sidered to cure disenses of the Uver; hence they received the name of 
" piedraa del higado." These atoues it was pretended came from the 
country of the women without husbands. They are of a green colour and 
of B cylindrical form, about two inches long, ami perforated. The price of 
H cylinder of that size was, as Humboldt relates, from twehe to fifteen 
piasters. They were considered as amulets, and preserved the wearer against 
nervous diseases and liver complaints, fevers, and the bite of snakes. The 
Caribs and Waccawais, who among the Indian tribes re}ilace our Jew 
pedlars, in former times brought them frequently to Demenira, where they 
are known by the name of Macuaba, or Calicot stones. They are now 
seldom seen ; one of the last which the editor recollects was worn by a 
child of the Warrau nation on the river Corentyne. The Indians on the 
river Uaupea wear similar stones, but of different colour and substance, as 
a token of chieftainship and noble descent, and according to the length of 
the cyUnder and the depth of the perforation may be recognized their 
grade and nohility. The author of these remarks possesses one of these 
cylinders which is 3^ inches long and 3\ inches in circumference. Hum- 
bohlt observes that the spot which produces the Amazon atones is rather 
unknown than concealed by the Indians. He learned in San Carlos and 
in the neighbouring vilhiges, that the sources of the Orinoco, and in the 
missions of the Caroni and at Angostura, that the sources of the Rio 
Branco, were the site of these stones. (Humboldt's Personal Narrative, 
English translation, vol. v. pp. 383-387.) During our travels in Guiana we 
ascertained that these two rivers have their sources at no great distance 
fr^m each other ; hence there is some probability in the assertion. This 
does not prevent us from mentioning here, that there is, near the sonree of 
one of the chief branches of the river Caroni, at Moimt Rorainia, a mineral 
substance (jasper) resembling in colour verde-antique ; it is translucent, 
and sometimes found in thin plates, which give a sonorous sound similar 
to the one described by Humboldt, and it is of so hard a substance that 
it is used in lieu of llint by the natives (the Arecunas), who besides carry 
on with it a trade of barter with other tribes. 



30 THE DISCOVEKTE 

the citie of Tktnia, from which moimtaine also springeth Palo, 
both which fall into the great riuer of Mela, and Meta riseth 
from a mountaine ioining to Pampeiotie in the same Nusko reyno 
de Granada : these as also Guaiare, which issueth out of the 
mountains by Timana, fall aU into Baraquan, and are but of his 
heads, for at their comming togither they lose their names, aud 
Baraquan farther down is also rebaptizcd by the name of Ore- 
noqae^. On the other side of the eitie and hils of Timana riseth 
rio grande, which falleth into the sea by Sancta Marta. By 
Cassoiuir first, and so into Mela, Berreo passed, keeping his 
horsemen on the banks, where the conntrie serued them for to 
march, and where otherwise he was driuen to embarque them in 
botes which he huilded for the purpose, and so came with the 
currant down the riuer of Meta, and so into Baraquan^. After 
he entred that great and mightie riuer, he began dailie to loose 
of his companies both men and horse, for it is in many places 

' We have alrendy referred in the Introduction to the different names of 
the Orinoco. The mountaioa of BaTH^an narrow the bed of the river 
considerably, and form nbnoat a Btrait, from which the rirer, not only in 
its immediate neighbourhood, but oh high up as the Guaviare, received the 
name of Baraguan. 

' The general correct geographical knowledge which Sir Walter Ral^h 
had acquired of these regions is really wonderfnl. Near the port of Ma- 
rayal the two rivers, the Rio Nt^o and the Rio de Aguag Blancas or 
Umadea, unite, and from Leuce it receirei the name of Meta. Ralegh is 
however mistaken in considering that the river rises near Pamplona, which 
ia situated nearly two hundred milea to the north of it. On ascending 
the Meta and the Rio Negro to reach Santa Fe de Bogota, travellers dia- 
emhark near the Passo de la Cahulln, from whence the capital of New 
Granada is only eight to ten leagues distant. Tiie river which passes Pa- 
tuto, formerly a mission, is no douht the one to which Ralegh alludes when 
speaking of the Pato. After its confluence with the Tocaragua and the 
Tama, it is calleil Cassanare, and flows ultimately into the Meta. As we 
have had already an opportunity to ohserve, we know ouly Berreo'a expe- 
dition from Ralegh's account; according to coiitemporary bisCorians, this 
personage made his appearance in Trinidad about 1584, where he was in- 
stalled as Governor; anil he ia acknowledged to have been the founder 
of San Joseph do Oruiia in Trinidad and of Santo Thom^ de la Guayaua, 
on the right bank of the Orinoco, in the year 1591. (Caulin, HistoriaCoro- 
grafica de Itt Nueva-.indalucia, p. 175.) 



OF GVIANA. 31 

violentlie swift, aud hath forcible eddies, many sands, and diuera 
Eands sharpe pointed with rocks ; But after one whole yeere, 
ioiirneying for the most part by riiier, and the rest by land, he 
grew dailie to fewer numbers, for both by sicknes, and by en- 
eountring with the people of those regions, through which he 
trauelled, his companies were much wasted, especially by diuera 
ineounters with the Amapaiens : And in all this time he neuer 
could learne of any passage into Guiana, nor any newes or fame 
thereof, vntill he came to the farther border of the said Amapaia, 
eight daies ioumey from the riuer CaroU, which was the farthest 
riuer that we entred. Among those of Amapaia, Guiana was 
famous, but few of these people accosted Berreo, or woulde trade 
with him the first three months of the sly which he soioumed 
there. This Amapaia is also maruellous rich in gold (as both 
Berreo confessed, and those of Guiana with whom I had most 
conference) and is situate vpon Orenoke also. In this countrey 
Berreo lost 60 of his best soldiers, and most of all his horse 
that remained of his former yeercB trauell ; but in the end after 
diuera encounters with those nations they grew to peace, and 
they presented Berreo with 10 Images of fine gold among diuers 
other plates and Croissants, which as he sware to me and diners 
other gentlemen were so curioualic wrought, as he had not seene 
the like either in Italy, Spaine, or the Loive Cuntries : and he 
was resolued that when they came to the hands of the Spanish 
king, to whom he had sent them by his Campmaster, they would 
appeer very admirable, especially being wrought by such a na- 
tion as had no Iron instrument at all, uor anie of those helps 
which our goldsmiths haue to worke withall. The particular 
name of the people in Ainapaia which gaue him these peecea are 

I called Anebas, and the riuer of Orenoque at that place is aboue 
13 English miles brode, which may be from his out fall into the 

I Bca 700 or 800 miles'. 



it of the breailth of the Orinoco is here greatly exagge- 
rated. Ita breadth from the mouth of the Arauca to tlie junction of the 
r Meta varies hetiveun a mile and a hnlf to two mi!c!< nnd a half. 



32 THE IHSCltVEltlli 

Tliis Prouince of Amapaia is a verie low and a niarish ground 
neere the riuer, and by reason of the red water which iasueth out 
in small branches thorow the fenny and boggie ground, there 
breed diuera poysonfull wormes and serpents, and the Spaniards 
not suspecting, nor in anie sort foreknowing the danger were 
infected with a greeuoua kind of flux by drinking thcrof, and 
euen the very horses poisoned therewith : In so much as at the 
end of the six months that they abode there, of all there troups, 
there were not left ahoue 120 soldiei-a, and neither horse nor 
cattle'. For Berreo hoped to haue found Guiana by 1000 miles 
neerer than it fell out to be in the cud, by means wherof they 
susteined much want and much hunger, oppressed with greeuous 
diseases, and all the miseries that could be imagmed. I de- 
manded of those in Guiana that had trauelled Amapaia how they 
hued with that tawnie or red water when they trauelled thither, 
and they told me that after the Sun was necre the middle of the 
skie, they vsed to fill their pots and pitchers with that water, but 
either before that time, or towards the setting of the Sun it was 
dangerous to drinke of, and in the night strong poison. 1 learned 
also of diners other riuers of that nature among them which were 



Humboldt found the river near the mission of Uruana, which is sixty 
miles below tbc Mets, seventeen thousand four hundred feet, or three En- 
^Ush statute miles broad, wbile at the Baj'aguau it is only five thouaaud 
six hundred and eighty-five feet, or about one mile broad. The mouth of 
the Meta is about six bundred nautical miles from the sea. (Humboldt, 
Personal Nan'ative, vol. iv. p. 504 ; vol. v. ■p. 639.) 

' During our wanderings over the Savaonaha we experienced frequently 
the pernicious influence of the waters, chiefly during the dry season, when 
nearly every river is aeorched up, and the water, turbid in appearauce, is 
only found collected in small pools. In 1835, while traversing with Lieu- 
tenant Haining the Savannahs of the Mabu or Ireng, the author of these 
notes quenched his thirst from one of the pi>ols, and sufTered to such a 
degree from flux that be almost despaired of recovering. Similar instances 
befell our people repeatedly, whom we could not restrain from drinking 
this water in spite of our warning. We cannot explain to ourselves why 
according to Ralegh's account the water proved less pernicious if filled in 
pota at noon, except that being allowed to stami quiet, the foreign particlea 
with which it was impregnated evaporated or fell to the bottom. 



OF GVIANA. 

also {while the Suit was in the Meridian) verie safe to drink, and 
in the morning, euening, and night, woonderMl dangerous and 
infectiue. From this Prouince Berrea hasted away assoonc as 
the Spritiff and beginning of Summer appeared, and sought his 
entrance oq the borders of Orenoque on tbe south side, but there 
ran a ledge of so high and impassable mountaineg as he was 
not able by any means to march ouer them, continuing from the 
east sea into which Orenoque falleth, eucn to Quito in Peru : 
neither had he means to Carrie victual! or munition ouer those 
craggie, high, and fast hils, being all wooddy, and those so thicke 
and spiny, and so full of prickles, thorns, and briers, as it is im- 
possible to creepe thorow them : he had also neither friendship 
among the people, nor any interpreter to perswade or treate 
with them, and more, to his disaduantage, the Casiqui and 
kings of Amapaia had giuen knowledge of his purpose to the 
Guianians, and that he sought to sacke and conquer the Empire, 
for the hope of their ao great abundance and quantities of gold : 
he passed by the mouths of many great riuers, which fell into 
Orenoque both from the north and south, which I forbeare to 
name for tediousnes, and bicause they are more pleasing in 
describing than reading. 

Berreo affirmed that there fell an hundred riuers into Orenoque 
from the north and south, whereof the lest waa as big as Rio 
grande, that paaseth between Popayan and Nueuo reyno de gra- 
nada (Rio grande being esteemed one of the renowmed riuers in 
al the west Indies, and nmnbred among the great riuers of the 
world^ :) But he knew not the names of any of these, but Caroli 



' The Rio Grande or lUo de In Magdalena has its source in 1° 58' north 
l&titude, about foriy miles south of Popayan, and falls into the Atlantic in 
11° 2' north latitude ; its course is therefore about nine degrees of lati- 
tude. None of the tributaries of the Orinoco has the size of the Rio Mag- 
dalena. The Mcta, the largest tributary of the Orinoco, has a course of 
about five hundred miles. The country through which the Rio de la Mag- 
daleoa ilawa nas explored in 1536-38 by Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, 
tbe father-in-law (or, according to Fray Simon, the uncle) of Antonio de 
Berreo. He conquered the indigenous tribes, and founded on the 6th of 



3i THE DISCOVEHIE 

only, th f m what nations they descended, neitlier to what 
Prouin th y 1 d for he had no meanes to discourBe with the 
inhab ta t t y t me l neither was he curious in these things, 
being tt I la ned, and not knowing the east from the west. 
But of al these I got aoni knowledge, and of manie more, partly 
by mine own trauel, and the rest by conference : of som one I 
leiTied one, of others the rest, hauing with nie an Indian that 
spake many languages, and that of Guiana naturally. I sought 
out al the aged men, and such as were greatest trauelers, and by 
the one and the other I came to vnderstand the situations, the 
riuers, the kingdoms from the east sea to the borders of Peru, 
and from Orenoque southward as far as Amazones or Mwagtion, 
and the regions of Maria Tambali^, and of all the kings of Pro- 
uinces and captains of towncs and villages, how they stood in 
tearms of peace or war, and which were friends or enimies the 
one with the other, without which there can be neither entrance 
nor conquest in those parts, nor els where : For by the dissen- 
tion betwecnc Guascar and Atabalipa, Pai-aro conquered Peru, 
and by the hatred that the Traitcallians bare to Mutezuma, 
Cortes was victorious oner Mexico^, without which both the one 

Au^st, 1538 (the day of Transfiguration), the dty of Santa Y6 de Bogota, 
which hecame the capital nf the Nuevo Rejno de Granada. (Piedrahita, 
part i. lib. vi. cap. 1, 2 and 4 ; Florei de Ocariz, preludio 35, p. 61.) Se- 
bastian de Bclalcazer founded in 1536 the city of Popay an (Popajanum). 

' Peter Martyr speaks of a number of "fortunate and fruitful isles," 
situated somewhere in the sea near the coast of Faria, inhabited by mea 
of meek nature and easy of access, but possessing neither gold nor predoua 
stones. The inhabitants, he says, call these regions Mariatamball. (Peter 
Martyr, decad. 1. chap. 9.) If the isles and islets Blanca, Orchilla and 
Los Roqucs are not meant by it, they are imaginary. 

' After Coftez had defeated the Tlascalans, Xicoteneatl, their chief, 
offered peace, and signed a treaty of alliance. The republic of TIascala 
had always been hostile to Montezuma, and six thousand Tlascalans ac- 
companied Cortez on his firet expedition to Mexico. They remained 
his faithful allies, and afterwards assisted materially in the conqucBt of the 
great city. (Historia verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espaiia por 
Bcrnal Diaz del Castillo. Madrid, 1632, cap. /3, 149, &c. Prescott'a 
History of the Conquest of Mejdco, vol, ii. pp. 10, 415. 



OF CJVIANA. 35 

and the other had failed of their enterprize, and of the great 
honor and riches, which they attained vnto. 

Now Berrco began to grow into despaire, and looked for no 
other Buccesae than his predecesaora in this enterprize, vntill 
Buch time as he arriued at the Province of Emeria towards the 
east sea and mouth of the riner, where he found a nation of 
people very fauorablc, and the countrey full of all maner of 
vietnaU, The king of this land ia called Carapana, a man very 
wise, subtill, and of great esperience, being Uttle lesse than 100 
yeeres old : In his youth he was sent by his father into the Iland 
of TVinedado, hy reason of ciuill warre among themselues, and 
waa bred at a village, in that Iland, called Parico : at that place 
in his youth he had seene many Christians both French and 
Spanish, and went diners times with the Indiana of Trinedado to 
Marguerita and Cumana m the west Indies', (for both those 
places haue euer been releened with victual! from Trinedadu) by 
reason whereof he grew of more vnderstanding, and noted the 
difference of the nations, comparing the strength and armes of 
his country with those of the Christians, and euer after tempo- 
rized so, as whoaoeuer els did amisse, or was wasted by con- 
tention, Carapana kept himselfe and his country in quiet and 
plentie : he also held peace with Caribas or Canibak'^ hia 
neighbors, and had free trade with all nations whosoeuer els had 
war. 

Berreo soioumed and rested hia weaJte troupe in the towne of 
Carapana sis weeks, and from him learnd the way and passage 
to Guiana, and the riches and magnificence thereof: but being 
then vtterly disable to proceed, he determined to trie hia fortune 

' Not only the archipelago, but likcwiae the coast of terra firma from 
the Gulf of Darien to Paris, were called at that periDd the Weat Indies, 

' Carib and Cannibal were synonvmou* at that period. " Edaces hu- 
mimBrum carnium novi belluoiies antbropophagi, Caribca alias Canibales 
appellati," reports Peter Martjr of Angletia. The royal ileeree of Queen 
Isabella in 1504 declared the Carilia undeserving of Christian commisera- 
tion, and all Indians who bore that name were condemned to slaverj' and 
might he sold or exterminated. 



THE DISCOVERIE 



another yeere, when he had renewed his prouiaiona, and rcga- 
thered more force, which he hoped for aa wel out of Spain, as 
from Nueuo reyno, where he had left his son Don Anthonio 
Xemenes to second liim vpon the first notice giuen of his en- 
trance, and ao for the present embarqued himselfe in Carwas, 
and by the branches of Orenoque arriued at Trinedado, bailing 
from Carapana snfBcient Pilots to conduct him. From Trine- 
dado be coasted Paria, and so recouered Marguerita : and bauing 
made relation to Don luan Sermiento the gouernour of his pro- 
ceeding, and perawaded him of the riches of Guiona, he obtained 
from thence 50 soldiers, promising presentheto retume to Cara- 
pana, and so into Guiana. But Berreo meant nothing lesae at that 
time, for be wanted manie prouiaions neceaaarie for such an en- 
tcrprize, and therfore departing from Marguerita seated himselfe 
in Trinedado, and from thence sent bis Campmaster, and his 
Sargeant maior back to the borders to discouer the neerest pass- 
age, into the Empire, aa also to treat with the borderers, and to 
drawe them to his partie and lone, without which, he knew he 
could neither paase safehe, nor in anie sort be releeued with vic- 
tuall or ought els. Carapana directed this companie to a king 
called Morequiio, assuring them that no man could deliuer so 
much of Guiana as Morequiio could, and that his dwelling was 
but fine daies ioumey from Macweguarai, the first ciuill towne 
of Guiana. 

Now your Lordship shall vnderstand that this Morequito, one 
of the greatest Lords or Kings of the borders of Guiana, had 
two or three yeeres before beene at Cumana, and at Marguerita 
in the west Indies, with great atore of plates of gold, which he 
carried to exchange for such other things as be wanted in his 
owne eountrcy, and was dailie feasted, and presented by the go- 
uernors of those places, and held amongst tbem some two 
moneths, in which time one Vides^ gouernor of Cumana wan 
him to be his conductor into Guiana, being allured by those 
Croissants and Images of gold which he brought with him to 
' Don Fraacisco de Vides. 



OF QVIANA. 



trade, as also by the ancient fame and magnificence of El Do- 
rado : whereupon Vides sent into Spaine for a Patent to discouer 
and conquer Guiana, not knowing of the precedence of Berreos 
patent, which as Berreo affirmeth was signed before that of 
Vides : so as when Vides vnderstood of Berreo, and that he had 
made entrance into that temtorie, and foregone his desire and 
hope, it was verilie thought that Vides practised with Morequito 
to hinder and disturbe Berreo in all he could, and not to suffer 
him to enter through his Seigjiory, nor anie of his companies, 
neither to victual!, nor guide them in anie sort ; for Vides gouer- 
nor of Cumana, and Berreo were become mortal] enimies, as well 
for that Berreo had gotten Trinedado into hia Patent with Guiana, 
as also in that he was by Berreo preuented in the iourney of 
Guiana it seKe : howsocuer it was I know not, but Morequito 
for a time dissembled bis disposition, suffered Spaniards, and 
a Frier (which Berreo had sent to discouer Manoa) to trauell 
through his eountrey, gaue them a guide for Macureguarai the 
first towne of ciuiU and apparelled people, from whence they had 
other guides to bring them to Manoa the great citie of Inga : 
and being furnished with those things, which they bad learned 
of Carapana, were of most price in Guiana, went onward, and in 
eleuen daies arrived at Manoa, as Berreo affirmeth for certain : 
although I could not be assured therof by the Lord which now 
gouerneth the Prouince of Morequito, for he told me that they 
got all the gold they had, in other townes on this side Manoa, 
there being many very great and rich, and (as he said) built like 
the townea of Christians, with many i-oomes. 

When these ten Spaniards were returned, and rcadie to put 
out of the border of Arromaia, the people of Morequito set vpon 
them, and slew them all but one that swam the riuer, and tooke 
from them to the vahie of 40000. pesoes of goldc, and aa it ia 
written in the storie of lob, one onebe liued to bring the newes 
to Berreo, that both bis nine soldiers and holie father were be- 
nighted in the aaide Prouince. I my selfe spake with the Cap- 
taines of Morequito that slew them, and was at the place where 



88 TBE DISCOVERIE 

it was executed. Berreo inragcd heercwithall sent all the strength 
he could make into Arromaia, to he reuengtd of him, his people, 
and countrey: but Murequiio suspecting the same fled ouer 
Orenogue, and thorow the terntories of the Saitna, and tVikiri, 
recouered Cwnana, where he thought himselfc very safe with 
Vides the gouemor : But Berreo sending for him in the kings 
name, and his measengers finding hira in the house of one Fa- 
shardo on the sudden ere it was suspected, so as he could not 
then be conueied away, Vides durst not deny him, as well to 
auoide the suspition of the practise, as also for that an holy 
father was slaine by him and hia people. Morequito offred Fa- 
shardu the weight of three quiutala in gold, to let him escape, 
but the poore Guianian betraid of all sides was deliuered to the 
Campmaster of Berreo, and was presently executed'. 

After the death of this Morequito, the soldiers of Berreo 
spoiled his tei-ritorie, and tooke diuera prisoners, among others 
they tooke the vnckle of Morequito called Topiavari, who ia now 
king of Arromaia, (whose sonne I brought with me into Enff- 
land) and is a man of great vnderstanding and polUcie : he is 
aboue 100 yeeres old, and yet of a very able bodie: the Span- 
yards led him in a chain 17 daies, and made him their guide 
from place to place betwccne his countrey and Emeria the pro- 
nince of Carapajia aforesaid, and was at last redeemed for 100 
plates of gold, and diuers stones eaUed Piedras Hijadas, or 

' This account of Berreo receives some confirroatioD from the author of 
' Relation of the Habitations, and other ObaervatiDng of the ffiver Mart- 
win,' which follows Harcourt's Voyage in Purchss's Collections (Book vi. 
chap, xvii.)- Purchaa states in the margin, " I found this fairly written 
unong M. Halduj't'a iiaiiers, but know' not who was the author." It is 
however conjectured that the MS. originated with Fisher, the cousin of 
Robert Harcourt, Ee observes that he conversed with a Yaio who came 
down the river Selinama (Surinam), and who told him that he had been 
present with Morequito and Putimay when the nine Spaniards and the 
War were killed by Morequito's people, that Morequito had been put to 
death and a great many Indians hanged. He himself was taken prisoner, 
tormented wltli pincers, and his ears nailed to wood; but be ultimately 
succeeded in making his escape. 



OF GVIANA. 39 

Spleen Btoues. Now Berreo for executing of Morequito and other 
cruelties, spoilea, and slaughters done in Arromaia hath lost the 
loue of the Ormoqueponi, and of all the borderers, and dare not 
send any of his soldiers any farther into the land than to Cara- 
pana, which he calleth the port of Guiana : but fram thence by 
the belpe of Carapana he had trade farther into the countrey, and 
alwaies appointed 10 Spaniards to reside in Carnpanas towne'; 
by whose fauor and by being conducted by his people, those ten 
searched the countrey thercBbouta as well for mines, as for other 
trades and commodities. 

They haue also gotten a nepliew of Morequito, whom they 
haue Christened and named Don luan, of whom they haue great 
hope, endeuoring by all means to estabUsh him in the said pro- 
uince. Among manie other trades those Spaniards vscd in 
Canoas to passe to the riuers of Barema, Pawroma, and Disss- 
quebe, which are on the south side of the mouth of Orenoque, 
and there buie women and children from the Canibals, which are 
of that barbarous nature, as they will for 3 or 4 hatchets sell 
the Bonnes and daughters of their owue brethren and sisters, 
and for somewhat more euen their own daughters ; heerof the 
Spaniards make great profit, for buying a maid of 12 or 13 
yeeres for three or fower hatchets, they sell them againe at Mar- 
ffuerita in the west Indies for 50 and 100 pesoes, which is so 
many n-ownes'. 

The master of my ship lo. Douglas tooke one of the Canoas 
which came loden from thence with people to be sold, and the 

' We have little doubt that the place which Ralegh calls the pott of 
GuianB is Santo Thom^, Ue does not mention in direct terms the settte- 
ment which Berreo had made as early as 1591 ; perhaps policy directed 
him to keep the existence of a Spanish settlement in Ouiana a secret. 

^ By means of the interlacing of rivers between the Barima, Guainia or 
Wsini, the Morocco and Pomoroon, an active contrabaail trade was formerly 
carried on between the Dutch and the Spaniards, which is not yet qnite 
extinct, though a more enlightened commercial policy has removed those 
enormous duties which eucouraged its prosecution. At the early period to 
which Ralegh alludes the Caribs availed themselves of these communica- 
tioDS to trade in Indian slaves. Francis Sparrey relates that be piu'cbaiied 
for a common knife eight young females. 



40 THE DISCOVERIE 

most of them escaped, yet of those hee brought, there waa one 
as well fauored, and as well shaped as cucr I saw anie in Eng- 
lafld, and afterward I sawe many of them, which but for their 
tawnie colour may bee compared to anieof -£«ro/)e'. They also 
trade in those riuers for bread of Cassaui, of which they buy an 
hundred pound weight for a knife, and sell it at Marguerita for 
ten pesoes. They also rccouer great store of cotten, braaUl 
wood, and those beds which they call Hamacas or brasill beds', 
wherein in hot countries all the Spaniards vse to lie commonlie, 
and in no other, neither did we our scluea while we were there ; 
By means of which trades, for ransom of diners of the Gtitanians, 



' Dudng our eight years' wamtering among the tribes of Giiiana who in- 
liahit the vast regions from the coasts of the Atlantic to the interior, be- 
tween the Cassiquiare aod the upper Rio Trombetaa, we have met with 
many an Indian female who in figure and eomellness might have vied with 
gome of our European beauties. Although they are rather small in size, 
their hands and feet are generally exquisite, their ankles well-turned, and 
their waists, left to nature and not forced into an artificial shape by modem 
inventions, resemble the beaa ideal of classical sculpture. Ralegh is not 
the only one profuse in praise of these tawny beauties : we have Ligon, 
who gives us a description of Yarico {Yarica signifies a flower in the 
Maeusi language), whose love and emel fate Idndled the poetic fire of 
Addison and gave rise to bis pathetic tale of Inkle and Yarico. The early 
Spanish historians laud in unmeaJ^ured terms the beauty of the young 
Indian slave Dofia Marina, who became the properly of Alonso Hernandez 
de Puerto Carrero, and having learned the Spanish language rendered 
herself of great use to Cortei as interpreter during the eonquest. {Ligon's 
History of Barbados, p. 34. Bemal Diaz, Historia de la Conquinta, cap. 36. 
Prescott's Discovery of Mexico, vol. i. p. 268.) 

' During the voyage of Alouzo de Oj^da and Americo Vespucci in 1498 
we find already bammocka mentioned. They are woven upon handlooms, 
or in many instances they form merely a kind of network made of the 
fibres of the Ita palm (Mauritia jiexuoiia), silkgrasa {Bromelia, spec?) or 
cotton. Tbey are used by all tbe Indian tribes, and upon the return of 
the first navigators of America they mere introduced in lieu of the bulky 
cots on board of vessels. The Indian females are very expert in the manu- 
facture of haxiimocks and cotton-cloth. We have met among the Piano- 
ghotloa and Drioa, tribes who inhabit the regions between the sources 
of the Rio Trombetas, the Marowini and Corentyne, and who bad never 
been in contact with Europeans, cotton-cloth woven for waist-laps merely 
in a primitive way on a band-loom, of so fine a texture that they might 
have done honour to a European manufactory. 



OF GVIANA. 41 

and for exchange of liatchets and kiiiuesj Berreo recouered some 
store of gold plates, eagles of gold, and Images of men and 
diuers birds, and dispatched his Campmaater for Spainc with all 
that he had gathered, therewith to leuy soldiers, and by the 
shew therof to draw others to the loue of the enterprize : and 
hauing sent diuei'a Images as well of men as beasts, birds and 
fishes so cnrioualie wrought in gold, doubted not but to pcrsnade 
the king to yeeld to him some further helpe, especiaUie for that 
this land hath neucr been sacked, the mines neiier wrought, and 
in the Indies their works were well spent, and the gold drawn 
out with great labor and charge : he also dispatched messengers 
to his son in Nueuo reyno to leuy all the forces he could, and 
to come down the riuer of Orenoque to Emeria, the prouince of 
Carapana, to meet him : he had also sent to Sant lago de Leon 
on the coast of the Caracas to buy horses and mules. 

After I had thus learned of his proceedings past and pur- 
posed ; I told him that I had resoiued to see Guiana, and that 
it was the end of my ioumey, and the cause of my comming to 
Trinedado, as it was indeed, (and for that purpose I sent la. 
Whiddon the yeere before to get intelligence, with whom Berreo 
himselfe had speech at that time, and remembred how inquisi- 
tiue la. Tfhiddon was of his proceedings, and of the countrey 
of Guiana^,) Berreo was striken into a great melanchohe and 

' It will be recollected by the readers of Soutliey'a Life of Sir Walter 
Ralegh (Lives of the British Admirals, vol. iv.), that he doubtu whether 
Berreo ever was a prisoner of Sir Walter Ralegh. Such an assertion is 
contradicted by this passage. Captain James Whiddon was then with 
Ralegh, and if it were possible that Ralegh could have been deceived in 
the man, Whiddon would have removed that mistake. Dr. Southej bases 
his assertion on the circumstance that neither Pedro Simon nor Oviedo y 
Ba6os make the slightest allusion to Ralegh. His voyage to Guiana was 
translated into Latin, German and Dutch ; and Ilondius, n well-knoHii 
geographer of that period, r.onstrocted from Ralegh's and Keymia's rela- 
tions a map of their journey. The intercourse then existing between 
the Austrian states, Holland, and Spain no doubt brought one of th e 
translationa, if not the original, to the knowki^ of the '^\ aniards and 
Ralegh's assertion of having made a man of Berreo's renown a p on 
would surely have found contradiction, had it not bee an □ on o 
vertible fact. We cannot conceive upon what ground D '^outhey 



THE DI8C0VERIE 

sadaes, and vsed all the tirguments he could to diaswade me, and 
also assured tlic gentlemen of my company that it would be 
labor lost : and that they should suffer many miaerius if they 
proceeded : And fii-Bt he deliuered that I could uot enter anie of 
the riuers with any barke or pinact, nor hardly with anie ships 
bote, it was so low, sandie, and full of flats, and that his com- 
panies were daily grounded in their Canoas which drew but 
twelue iuches water : he further saide that none of the countrey 
would come to speake with vs, but would all flie, and if we fol- 
lowed them to their dwellings, they would bume their owne 
townes, and besides that the way was long, the winter at hand, 
and that the riuers beginning once to swcl, it was impossible 
to stem the currant, and that we could not in those smal botes 
by any means carry victuall for halfe the time, and that {which 
indeed moat discouraged my company) the Kings and Lords of 
all the borders and of Guiana had decreed, that none of them 
should trade with any Christians for gold, bieause the same would 
be their owne ouerthrow, and that for the loue of gold the Chris- 
tians meant to conquer and dispossesse them of all together. 

Many and the most of these I found to be true, but yet I re- 
soluing to make trial of all whatsoeuer hapned, directed Cap- 
taine George Gifford my Vice-admirall to take the Lions wkelp, 
and Captaine Calfield his barke to tume to the eastward, against 

coniridereil himself justified in questioning the identity of Berreo. We 
must eonfesB however that there is a great deal of confusion between the 
periods of Sir Waiter Ralegh'a arrival at Trinidad and that of the famed 
expedition of Domingo de Vera, which may have given rise to it. Fray 
Pedro Simon is, by his own showing, in error when he states that the 
expedition under De Vera left San Luear on the 23rd of Fehruary, 1595. 
It is evident, from what he observes in the commencement of the tenth 
chapter (Noticia, vii.), that Berreo dispatched bis camjimastet only the 
very year in which further on he says the expedition left aa early aa 
February. (Noticia, vii. cap. 10, p. 596 etseq.) It is more than probable 
that De Vera sailed from San Lucarin 1596; and this agrees with Keymis's 
account, who observes, that during his expedition up the Orinoco in 1596, 
Berreo, who was theti at Santo Thom^, ex[>ecCed daily his campmaster from 
Spain. The expedition under De Vera could not have arrived in 1596, ai 
to that ease they wmdd have met Ralegh's ships at Trinidad. Caulin hu 
merely copied his account of Dc Vera's expedition from Fray Simon. 



OF OVIANA. 43 

the brize what they could possible, to recouer the moutli of a 
riiier called Capuri', whose entrance I had before sent Captaine 
Whiddon and lo. Douglas the master, to discouer, who founde 
Bome nine foote water or better vpon the flood, and flue at lowc 
water, to whom I had giuen iaBtruetions that they shoulde ancor 
at the edge of the ahold, and vpon the best of the flood to thrust 
ouer, which ahold lohn Douglas hoyed and bckonned for them 
before : but they laboured in vain, for neither could they turnc 
it vp altogitber so farre to the east, ueither did the flood conti- 
nue so long, but the water fell ere they coidde haue passed the 
sands, as we after founde by a second experience : so as now we 
must either giue ouer our enterprize, or leauing our ships at 
aduenhire 400 mile behind va, to run vp in our ships botea, one 
barge, and two wherries, but being doubtfull how to carrie vic- 
tuals for so long a time in such babies, or anie strength of men, 
especiallie for that Berreo assured vs that his sonne must be by 
that time come downe with manie soldiers, I sent away one King 
maister of the lAojis whelp with his ahips bote to trie another 
branch of a riuer in the bottomc of the bay of Guanijia^, which 
was called Amana, to prooue if there were water to be found for 
either of the small ships to enter : But when he came to the 
mouth of Amana^, be found it as the reat, but staied not to dia- 

' The river Capure has its origin in one of the numerous lagtatas which 
exist between the branches or bocas ckicas; it is however evident from 
what Ralegh observes hereafter, that he alludes here to the Cafio Ma- 
careo. There is a commimicatioii by lateral branches between the Cafloa 
Vagre, Pedemalea, Capure, Cucuina, and Mncareo. 

* The river Guanipa, which has its source in the small elevations or table- 
land {Mesa} of the name name, about twenty niQes north-east of Pao, falls 
at the most simthern point of the Golfo de Paria, or Triste (Golfo de la 
Balena or Golfo de Ins Perlaa of Columbus uud Ojcdo) into a large bay 
which is protected by the island Cotoina. The river Guanipa haa no com- 
munication with the Orinoco, nor with any of its numcroua branches. The 
Cafio Vagrc, the most western branch of the dulta, the Monamo (Amana 
of Balegh) and the Pederaales disembogue into the same bay. 

^ The Boca Manamo, which, as already observed, falls into the great 
bay of Guanipa, is, next to the Macarcu, the largest of the branches, and 
is considered lo be one hundred and forty-five miles in length. A general 
description of tlie great river Orinoco and its delta haa been given in the 



44 THE DiaCOVLRIE 

couer it throughlie, bicause he waa assured by an Indian his 

guide that the Canibals of Gitanipa would asaaile them with 
many Canoas, and that they shot poisonned arrowea, so as if he 
hasted not hacke they should all be lost. 

In the mean time fearin"; the worst I caused all the Carpen- 
ters we had to cut down a Gallego bote, which we meant to cast 
off, and to fit her with banks to row on, and in all things to 
prepare her the best they could, so as she might he brought to 
drawe but fine foote, for so much we had on the bar of Capuri 
at lowe water : And doubting of Kings return I sent lo. Douglas 
againe in my long barge, as well to releeue him as also to make 
a perfect search in the bottom of that baie : For it hath beene 
held for infallible that whatsoeuer ship or bote shall fall therein, 
can neuer dessemboque againe, by reason of the violent currant 
which setteth into the said bay, as also for that the brize and 
easterhe wind bloweth directlie into the same, of which opinion 
I haue beard lohn Hampton of Plimmouth one of the greatest 
expeiience of England, and diuers others bcBides that haue traded 
Trinedado^. 

I sent with lohn Douglas an old Cassique of Trinedado for a 
Pilot, who toldc vs that we could not retume again by the bay 
or gulfe, but that he knew a by branch which ran within the 
land to the Eastward, and that he thought by it we might fall 
into Capuri, and so retume in fower daiea : lohn Dowglas 
searched those riuers, and found fower goodly entrances, whereof 
the least was as higge as the Thames at Wolwich'*, hut in the 

Introduction; it remaina however to be obaerved, that Ralegh gives to 
the CaGo Manaino the name of & river, which entera the great Ii^uim of 
Ouanipa. The river Amana liaa its source in latitude 10° north, about 
fifteen milca to the north of Uriea, and haa no communication with the 
Orinoco or its branches. 

' The currents of the ocean which set along the coaat of Guiana in a 
west-north-west direction are powerfully increased by the fresh waters of 
the Bocas chicas, which with impetuosity sweep Punto Foleto, and render 
it almost impossible to reach the south-weatem point of Trinidad, where 
Ralegh's vesaela were lying, from the Bay of Guanipa. 

' The Bocas, of which John Douglas gives his report, are the Vagre, the 
small Cafio Manamitos, the Manamo, and the Pedemales. 



baie thitherward it was shole and but six foote water, so aa we 
were now without hope of any ship or barke to passe oner, and 
therefore resolued to go on with the botes, and the bottome of 
the Galkgo, in which we thrust 60 men : In the Lions whelps 
bote and wherrie we earned 20. Captaine Calfeild in hia wherrie 
carried ten more, and in my barge other ten, which made vp a 
hundred : we had no other meanea but to carrie victuall for a 
moneth in the same, and also to lodge therein as we could, and 
to boile and dresse our meat. Captaine Gifford had with him 
Master Edw. Porter, captaine Eynos, and eight more in his 
wherrie with all their victuall, weapons, and prouisions : Cap- 
taine Ca^eM had with him my cosen Butskead Gorges and eight 
more. In the galley, of gent, and ofReera my selfe bad cap- 
taine Tliyn, niy cosen lokn Greenuile, my nephew lohn Gilbert, 
captaine WTiiddon, captaine Keymis, Edw. Hancocke, captaine 
Clarke, heutenant Hewes, Tho. Vpton, captaine Facy, lerome 
Ferrar, Antho. Wells, Will. Cannock, and about 50 more. 
We could not leame of Berreo any other waie to enter but in 
branches, so farrc to the windeward as it was impossible for vs 
to recouer : for we had as much sea to crosse ouer in our wher- 
ries as betweene Douer and Callys, and in a great billow, the 
winde and currant being both very strong, so as wc were driuen 
to go in those small botes directly before the winde into the 
bottome of the baie of Guanipa, and from thence to enter the 
mouth of some one of tliose riuers, which lo. Dowglas had last 
discouered^, and had with vs for Pilote an Indian of Barema, a 

' At the bottom of the hay disembogues the Cano Vagre, a brsnch of 
the Manamo, which flons off from the Manaino about fifteen miles higher 
up. The pilots, who are well acquainted with this labyrinth of islands and 
chaimels, select generally, during the aummer or dry season, the Cafios 
Pedemalea or Manamo, for going from Trinidad to Angostura, if their ves- 
sels are of no greater burthen than twenty-five or thirty toua. During the 
rainy season, when the curreuts run with a swiftness of four or five miles 
an hour, it takes often twenty days to reach San Rafael de Barrancas, 
while the same distance may be accomplished with the current in four 
days; in returning, however, they give the preference to the Brazo Ms- 



46 THE nSCOVERIE 

riiier to the south of Orenoque, betweene that and Amaxones, 
whose Canoas we had formerlie taken as he was going from the 
said Barema, laden with Cassaui bread to sell at Marguerita : 
this Arwacan promised to bring me into the great riuer of Ore' 
Twque, but indeed of that which we entred he was vttcrly igno- 
rant, for he had not scene it in twelue yeeres hetbrc, at which 
time he waa very yoong, and of no iudgeraent, and if God had 
not sent vs another helpe, we might haue wandred a whole yeere 
in that lahorinth of riuers, ere we had found any way, either out 
or in, especiallie after we were past the ebbing and flowing, whicli 
was in fower daies : for I know all the earth doth not yeeld the 
like eonfluence of streamea and branches, the one crossing the 
other so many times, and all so faire and large, and so like one 
to another, as no man can tell which to take : and if we went by 
the Sun or compasse hoping thereby to go directly one way or 
other, yet that waie we were also caried in a circle amongst mul- 
titudes of Hands, and eucry Hand so bordered with high trees, 
as no man could see any further than the bredth of the riuer, or 
length of the breach' ; But this it chanced that entring into a 



careo, the mouth of which lies south-east from the Soldiers' Passage, or 
Puato IcacDS, which with the traile-wind enables the vessel to fetch the 
island of Triniilad. This is the branch which Ralegh rails erroneously the 
Capiiri ; there is likewise a Boca Cnpure, hut ss it lies south-west by west 
from Puuto Icacos, it would be impossible to fetch it with the prevailing 
trade-wind ; it is therefore evident that Bajegh means the Boca Mocareo. 
The great entrance to the Orinoco (Boea de Navios) is sometimes called 
East Capure in old maps of Ralegh's period. The Macareo is eonsidered 
to be one hundred and fifty miles in length, the Monamo one hundred 
and forty-five miles ; they possess respectirely a depth of from twelve to 
fifteen feet. 

' The navigation of these branches is not without danger, and it fre- 
quently occurs that even the Indian pilots get bevrildered. In such a 
case they follow the current, and having reached the gulf, enter one of the 
branches well known to them. Id consequence of the difficulties con- 
nected with the navigation, and the danger of the chmate, the sulors are 
in the habit of repeating the following hnes : — 
" Quien se va ik Orinoco 



OF GVIANA. 47 

riuer, (which bicause it had no name we called the riuer of the 
Red croste^, our aeluea being the firat Christiana that cuer came 
therein :) the 23 of May as we were rowing vp the same, we 
espied a smal Canoa ivith three Indians, which (by the swiftnes 
of my barge, rowing with eight oares) I ouertookc ere they could 
erosse the riuer, the rest of the people on the banks shadowed 
vnder the thicke wood gazed on with a doiibtfu.ll conceit what 
might befall those three which we had taken : But when they 
perceiued that we oSred them no violence, neither entred their 
Canoa with any of ours, nor tooke out of the Canoa any of theirs, 
they then began to shew themselucs on the banks side, and of- 
fred to traffique with vs for such things as they had, and as we 
drewe necre they all staidc, and we came with our barge to the 
mouth of a little creeke which came from their towne into the 
great riuer. 

As we abode there a while, our Indian Pilot catted Ferdinanda 
would needs go ashore to their village to fetch some fruites, and 
to drinke of their artiflciall wines, and also to see the place, and 
to know the Lord of it against another time, and tooke with him 
a brother of his which he had with him in the ioumey : when 
they came to the village of these people, the Lord of the Hand 
offred to lay hands on them, purposing to haue slaine them 
both, yeelding for reason that this Indian of ours had brought a 
strange nation into their teiTitorie to apoyle and destroy them : 
But the Pilot being quicke and of a disposed body slipt their 
fingers, and ran into the woods, and his brother being the better 
footman of the two, recouered the creekea mouth, where we 
ataied in our barge, crying out that his brother was alaine, with 
that we set hands on one of them that was next vs, a very old 
man, and brought him into the barge, assuring him that if we 
had not our Pilot againe, we would presently cut off his head. 
This old man being resolued that he should paie the losse of the 

' It Ijecomea more evident from Francis Sparrey's account (Purchas, iv. 
chap. 11) tliat it was the Cafio MnDamu, before it aendsoff tbe Cafio Vagre, 
wliieh Ralegh called the rive;- of " the Red Crosae." 



48 THE DI9C0VERIE 

other, cried out to those in the woods to saue Ferdinando our 
Pilot, but they followed him notwithstanding, and hunted after 
htm vpon the foote with their Deere dogs', and with so maine a 
crie that all the woods eckoed with the shoute they made, but at 
last this poore chased Indian recouered the riuer side, and got 
vpon a tree, and as we were coasting, leaped down and swam to the 
barge balfe dead with feare ; but our good hap was, that we kept 
the other old Indian, which we haudfasted to redceme our Pilot 
withall, for being naturall of those riuers, we assured our aeluea 
be knew the way better than any stranger could, and indeed, 
hut for this chance I thinke we had neuer founde the way either 
to Guiana, or backe to our ships : for Ferdinando after a few 
dales knew nothing at all, nor which way to tume, yea and 
many times the old man himselfc was in great doubt which 
riuer to take. Those people which dwell in these broken 
Hands and drowned lands are generally called Tiuitiuas, there 
are of them two sorts, the one called Ciawani, and the other 
fVaraweete. 

The great riuer of Orenogue or Baraquan hath nine branches 
which fall out on the north side of hia owne maine mouth : on 
the south side it hath aeuen other fallings into the sea, so it 
desemboketh by 16 armes in al, betweene Hands ajid broken 
ground, but the Bands are verie great, manie of them as bigge 
as the Isle of Wight and bigger, and many lesse; from the 
first branch on the north to the last of the south it is at lest 



' The Indian dogs bunt usually in full cry ( they are trained to sdte 
the game, and to stay its flight until the huntsman comes up to T<iT| it. 
The Indian sets a great value on a good hunting-dog, and some of the 
tribes in the interior are famed for breeding them. We have known as 
much as fifteen to siicteen pounds sterling to have been paid by colonists 
for a good Indian hunting-dog. They are frequently trained to hunt only 
one peculiar kind of game, as doer. Peccaries {Dicatyha iorquatus, F. 
Cuv.), Labas {Calagenus subniger, Desm.), &e. ; others pursue several 
kinds iniliaeriminately ; in the latter instance the Indian knows, by the 
{HiOuliM barking of the dog when in chase, what he is hunting. The 
bust dogt for hunting the Jaguar ox tiger of America come from the 
Orinooo. 



OF QVIANA. 49 

100 leaguesj so as the riuera month is no lesse than 300 miles 
wide at his entrance iuto the sea, which I take to be farre bigger 
than that of Amazones : al those that inhabite in the mouth of 
this riuer vpon the seuerall north branches are these Ttuitiuas, 
of whieh there are two chicfc Lorda which haue continuall warreB 
one with the other : the Hands which lie on the right hand are 
called Pallamos, and the land on the left Hororotomaka, and 
the riuer by which lohn Dowglas returned within the land from 
Amana to Capuri, they call Macuri. 

These Tiuitiuas^ are a verie goodlie people and verie valiant, 
and haue the moat manlic speech and moat deliberate that cucr 

' Ralegh sUudea here to tlie Uaraua or Waraus, of whom he tells us iu 
the preceding page, that there are tvta sorts, the ooe called Ciawani and 
the other Warowccte. They arc the Guaraimos or Guaraunu of the Spanish 
historians, an Indian tribe who principally inhabit the delta of the Orinoco, 
and the snampy coast between the rivers Ponieroon and Barima. The low 
land extends from the coast twenty to thirty miles into the interior, and is 
inundated during eight months out of twelve. Parallel to the coast rise 
small elevations or sand-reefa, some ten, some fifleen or eren thirty feet 
high, consisting of a clayey sod, strongly mixed with sand, vegetable matter 
and iron ore (chiefly bog iron). Those hills are selected by the Warans 
and Amwaaks as dwelling-places, the more so since the soil possesses great 
fertility. The inundated lands are thickly covered with Ita-trees [Maa- 
ritia Jlemaosa, Linn.), one of the most graceful palms, which furnishes to 
the Indian " victum et amiclum," or rather bread and wine. The fibres of 
the young leaves are woven into hammocks, ropes and baskets ; the trunk 
encloses a pith, which, like that of the Sagus fariniftra, is converted into 
flour, or Am, of whieh the Waraus bake a kind of bread, called Yamma, 
and at a ceri;ain period of the year the trunk is tapped and yields a fluid 
possessing much saccharine matter, and which they ferment and use as a 
beverage. There are numerous other uses to whieh the Indiana apply it, 
from which circumstance Father Qumilla called it "arbol de la vida," the 
tree of life. 

The Waraus are to this day the most famous boat-buihlere, and furni.sh 
nearlythewholecolony of Demerara with canoes. These are made of cedar 
{Cedrela odorata, I -inn .) or of a tree called Bisci or Bisi, and are sometimes 
fifty feet in length and five to six feet broad. The Bisci grows generally 
on some of the higher land, surrounded with swamps and Ita palms : if the 
Warau Indian has singled out a tree from which he promises himself a 
good canoe, he constructs in the ueiglibourhood his temporary dwelling. 
For this purpose a spot where the Ita palm grows in thick clusters is 



50 THE DISCOVERIE 

I heard of what nation aoeuer. In the summer they haue honses 
on the grovmil as in other placea i In the winter they dwell vpon 
the trees, where they build very artificial! townes and villages, 
as it ia written in the Spanish stone of the Wes/ Indies, that 
those people do in the low lands neere the gulfe of Vraba : for 
betweene May and September the riuer of Orenoke riseth thirtie 
foote vpright, and then are those Hands ouerflowen twentie foote 
high aboue the leuell of the ground, sauing some few raised 
grounda in the middle of them : and for tbia cause they are en- 



selected, and the ptilm-treea are felled about four or five feet above the 
grouiul. In the neighbourbood of the Ita grows usunlly another graceful 
palm, the Majiicole or Manica (Euterpe, ajiccies?), the slender trunk of 
which is split into laths, which serve to construct bia floor. The Trouli 
(Manicaria sacchar^fera, Oaertn.), another tree of that family, which growa 
in groups, funiiahes excellent thatch ; and tbua his bnt is iinisbed in a com- 
paratively short time, and lasts the Indian for b longer period than he 
requires to form his canoe or gather the Ita starch. Fires are inilispensable 
to the Indian by day and night ; every one bas under his hammock a Are 
burning during night, which he keeps up with great attention. To prevent 
therefore the floor being burnt through, it ia covered with lumps of clay, 
on which the fire is made. During the period that the expedition, under 
the commiind of the author of these remarks, sojourned on the delta of 
the Orinoco, and which comprised some months of the rainy season, we 
have frequently seen houses constructed in the mode just liewribed, but 
not a single instance wherein, as observed by Ralegh, they dwelt on trees. 
We can well suppose that the nuinerous lirea which were made in each hut, 
and the reflexion of which was the stronger in consequence of the stream 
of vapour around the summit of trees in those moist regiuns, illuminated 
at night the adjacent trees ; hut the fire itself was scarcely ever made on 
the top of a tree. The inundation nses at the delta seldom higher than 
three or four feet above the banks of the rivers; and if the immediate 
neighbourhood of the sea and the level nature of the land be considered, 
this is an enormous rise. It is diflerent in the interior, where local cir- 
cumstances combine to raise the river from twenty-five to thirty-five, and 
as is asserted even to fifty feet above its general level. We do not deny 
that, in order to escape the attacks of the mosquitos, the Indian sometimes 
suspends bis hammock from the tops of trees, and we have imitated their 
example and found ourselves less annoyed ; but on such occasions no fires 
are made, nor could be made, under the hammock. 

The Waraus are of somewhat darker complexion than the Caribs or 
Carahiai and Arawaaks. They are industrious, but most negligent in their 



OP GVIANA. 51 

forced to liue in this mancr. The y neuer eate of anie th ing that 
JB set or soweDj and as at home they vse neither planting nor 
other manurance, so when they com abroad they refuse to feede 
of ought, but of that which nature without labor bringeth foorth. 
They vse the tops of Palmitos for bread', and kil Deere, fish 
and porks for the rest of their sustenance, they haue also manie 
sorts of fruits that grow in the woods, and great varietie of birds 
and foule. 

And if to apeake of them were not tedious and vulgare, surely 



persons and cillogea ; indeed the dirtiaeaa of a Wnntu ia proverbial among 
the other Indiana. It appears almost as if their feet were peculiarly formed, 
or rather their toes apiead out in such a manner as to enahle them to 
walk on the muddy ahores where another person would sink. Their 
lan^^uage differs radically from that of the surrounding tribes, and is per- 
fectly intelligihle to the Arawaaka and Carib tribes. The Wnrau is de- 
apiaed by the other Indian tribes in consequence of hia negUgeiit liabita. 
He smears his body with oU, and as he seldom takes the trouble to clean 
it, and hia colour ia besides of a darker hue, it is sometimes difiicnlt, if it 
were not for his straight hair, to distinguish him from a negro. Their 
children are so much neglected that their fingers and toes are frequently 
destroyed by chigoes and their bodiea crippled. (Joonial of the Royal 
Geogr. Society, yol. xii, p, 175-) 

' The foliage of the palm-trees, "the princea of the vegetable world," 
ends above in a green pyramidal spire, which contains numerous young 
leaves closely wrapped one over the other. The outer coating of thia spire, 
which is coarse, splits, and adopting a nearly liorizootal position, becomes 
the young leaf. The next in turn is still of a firm consistency and of a 
more beautiful green than the succeeding coating, while the thickness 
and vivid colour decrease until it reaches the third or fourth folding, when 
it becomes of a bright lemon colour, white within, but still of a tough con- 
aistence. On removing aereral of these exfoliations, the delicate Mountain- 
cabbage or Palmetto lies in many thin snow-white flakes in the middle. 
These flakes are the germs of succeeiling leaves, and consequently the palm 
being deprived of them dies, reproduction being stayed. In taste it re- 
sembles an ahnoudi and contains an oily Bubstance in cdl-like reservoirs. 
It is boiled and considered a great dehcaey ; it is hkevrise prepared as a 
salad, or eaten in a raw state. Necessity has forced us, during our ex- 
ploring exjieditions in Guiana, to make the Mountain-cahh^e for weeks 
our chief sustenance; and at a period when, deprived of salt, we were 
obliged to eat it caw, we found it in that state highly injurious to oiu- di- 




62 THE DIHCOVERIE 

we sawe in those passages of very rare colours and formSj not, 
else where to be found, for as much as I haue either aeen or reacL 
Of these people those that dwell vpon the branches of Orenoque 
called Capuri and Macureo, are for the most part Carpenters of 
Canoas, for they make the most and fairest houses, and sell them 
into Guiana for gold, and into Trinedado for Tobacco, in the ex- 
ceasiue taking whereof, they exceedc all nations, and notwith- 
standing the moistnes of the aire in which they Hue, the hardnes 
of their diet, and the great labors they suffer to hunt, fish, and 
foule for their lining, in all my life either in the Indies or in 
Em'opc did I neuer behold a more goodlie or better fauonred 
people, or a more manlic. They were woont to make warre 
vpon all nations, and eapeciallic on the Canibals, so as none durst 
without a good strength trade by those riuers, but of late they 
are at peace with their neighbors, aU holding the Spaniards for 
a common enimie. When their commanders die, they vse great 
lamentation', and when they thinke the flesh of their bodies is 
pntrified, and fallen from the bones, then they take vp the car- 
case againe, and hang it in the Casiquies house that died, and 
decke his skull with feathers of all colours, and hang all his gold 
plates about the bones of his armes, thighes, and legges. Those 
nations which are called Arwacas'^ which dwell on the south of 



1 The custom of bewailing the dead with great lamentatioiiB i: 
followed among the Wnraus than other tribes. Their dead are usuallf I 
buried in the ground under the hut which they inhabited ; aud if the de- ] 
ceased be a great man, the hut is burnt down over the grave ; otherwise 
the nearest rehitions kindle a fire over the spot, which they keep burning 
day and night : the chief mourner slings his or her hammock o 
grave, and does not leave it for days. 

* The Arawaaks live frequently intermixed with the Waraus, otherwise J 
they inhabit to this day the rivers on the southern bank of the Orinoco. I 
They call themselves Arua or Aruwa, the name of the American tiger xa I 
jf^uar (Fefo oma, Linn.) in their language. The early Dutch coloniste-J 
cultivated their goodwill, and they have always been attached t 
since the settlement of Easequiho. The Arawaak is fairer than either tl 
Carib or Warau, and the females, taken as a tribe, are the handsomeat oj 
atl the Ouianians we have met with. 



I 



I 



or GViANA. 53 

Orenoque, (of which place and nation our Indian Pdot was) are 
dispersed in manie other places, and do vse to beate the bonea 
of their Lords into powder, and their wiues and friends di'inke 
it all in their scnerall sorts of drinks. 

After we departed from the port of these Ciawani, we passed 
vp the riuer with the flood, and ancored the ebbe, and in this 
sort we went onward. The third daie that we entred the riuer 
our Galley came on ground, and stuck so fast, as we thought 
that eucn there our discouery had ended, and that we must haue 
left 60 of our men to haue inhabited Hke rookes vpon trees with 
those nations : but the nest morning, after we had cast out all 
her ballast, with tugging and bawling to and fro, we got her 
afloate, and went on : At fower daies ende wee fell into as good- 
lie a riuer as euer I beheld, which was called the great Amana, 
which ran more directlie without windings and turnings than 
the other. But soone after the flood of the aea left vs, and we 
enforced either by maine strength to row against a violent cur- 
rant, or to retume as wise as we went out, we had then no shift 
but to perawade the companies that it was but two or three daies 
worke, and therforc desired them to take paines, eueiy gentle- 
man and others taking their turns to row, and to spell one the 
other at the bowers end. Euerie daie we passed by goodlie 
branches of riuers, some falling from the west, others from the 
east into Amana, but those I leaue to the description in the 
Chart of diacouerie, where euerie one shall be named with his 
rising and descent. "When three daies more were ouergone, our 
companies began to despaire, the weather being extreame hot, 
the riuer bordered with verie high trees that kept away the aire, 
and the currant against vs euery daie stronger than other : But 
we euermorc commanded our Pilots to promise an end the next 
daie, and vsed it so long as we were driuen to assure them fram 
fower reaches of the riuer to three, and so to two, and so to the 
next reach : but so long we laboured as many daies were spent, 
and so driuen to draw our selues to harder allowance, our bread 
euen at the last, and no drinke at all : and our men and our 



54 



THE DISCO VEKIE 



seluce so wearied and scorched, and doubtful! witEall whether 
we should euer perfonne it or no, the heat encreasing as we drew 
towards the line ; for wee were now in fine degrees'. 

The farther we went on (our victuall decreasing and the aire 
breeding great faintnes) wc grew weaker and weaker when we 
had most need of strength and abihtie, for howerlie the riner 
ran more violently than other against vb, and the barge, wherries, 
and ships bote of Captainc Gifford, and Captaine Caljield, had 
spent all their prouisions, so as wee were brought into despaire 
snd discomfort, had we not perswaded all the companie that it 
was but onlie one daies worke more to attaine the lande where 
we should be relecned of all we wanted, and if we returned that 
we were sure to starue by the way, and that the worlde would 
also laugh vs to scome. On the banks of these riuers were di- 
uers sorts of fruits good to eate, flowers and trees of that varietie 
as were sufficient to make ten volumes of herbals, we releeued 
our seines manie times with the fruits of the countrey, and som- 
times with foule and fish : we sawe birds of all colours, some 
carnation, some crimson, orenge tawny, purple, greene, watched, 
and of all other sorts both simple and mixt, as it was vnto vs a 
great good passing of the time to beholde them, besides the re- 
liefe we found by killing some store of them with our fouling 
peeces, without which, hauing little or no bread and lesse di'ink, 
but onely the thick and troubled water of the riuer, we had been 
in a very hard case*, 

' This was a great mistake of Ralegh, and does not argue mucli far the 
BBtrOQOnucid skill of his observers and sailing-master. In lieu of being in 
5°, he was then in abuut 9° north of the equatui. The mouth of the Ca- 
roni naa then supposed to be in latitude 4° north instead of 8" 8' north. 

' At the season when the fruit of the Manicole pahn (Euterpe, spec. !) ii 
ripe, the flocks of maecaws, parrots, marudis and jiowis surpass all descrip- 
tioD. The blue aud yellow Maecaws (Macrocercus Ararcmna, Auirt.) are 
iit that period the most numerous ; luid as they form an excellent soup, re- 
lembling hare-soup intaste, they mere much sought after by US. The Powii 
{Crax aleclor, Linn.) is as large as a tiukey, with more of game flavour. 
The Marudi {Penelope crislata, Grael.) may be compared to a pheasant. 
But the most delieious eatiog is aflbrded by theYiei^si aud nhistbng ducks 



I 



OF GVIANA. 55 

Our old Pilot of the Ciawani (whom, aa I aaid before, we 
tooke to redeeme Ferdinando,) told va, that if we would enter a 
branch of a riuer on the right hand with our barge and wher- 
ries, and leaue the Galley at ancor the while in the great riuer, 
he would bring vs to a townc of the Arwacas where we should 
find store of bread, hens', fish, and of the countrcy wine, and 
perawaded vs that departing from the Galley at noone, we might 
retume ere night : I was very glad to heare this speech, and 
presently tooke my barge, with eight musketiers. Captain Gif- 
fords wherrie, with liimsclfe and foure musketiers, and Captaine 
Calfield whith his wherrie and aa manie, and so we entred the 
mouth of this riuer, and bicausc we were pcrswaded that it was 
80 neere, we tooke no victuall with va at all : when we had rowed 
three howres, we maruelled we sawe no signe of any dwelling, 
and aaked the Pilot where the town was, he told vs a little 
farther : after three howers more the Sun being almost set, we 

{Dendroeygna ciduata and D. autumnalis). Which visit the inundated aa- 
TamuihB in large numbers. The musk duck or Hefa {Cairina moskata, 
Flem,) is found on the trees hordering the river, and ii in ita wild stftte 
much superior to the domesticated musk duck, which is called improjierij 
Muscovy. They make their uests on trees and rocka, and when the young 
are fledgeti the parent seizes the duckling with the bill by the neck, and 
carries it to the water below, where they are as nimble and dive with as 
much skill as if they had been reared uu the surface of that element. We 
have never succeeded in discovering a nest among the reeds and rushes, 
and beUeve that they always build their nests on trees and sometimes on 
rocks, where we have found them ourselves. It may be conjectured how 
numerous the Vicissia and whisthng ducks are diuiug the season, when 
wc observe that a single btmtsman brought sometimes half a hundred as 
the result of a morning's excursion. 

' We have met our domesticated hens from one end of Guiana to the 
other. The Indian rears poultry aa a curiosity ; be neither uses their 
eggs nor does he eat their meat. Our domestic fowls have been iutrO' 
duced by Europeans. When Piwrro anchored on the coast of Tumhez, 
he sent to king (JKiaynacapa a present of two bogs, four hens and a cock, 
which were regarded with the greatest astouishment. We have frequently 
met ia Indian villages, deep in the interior of Quiana, a purely white breed 
of fowls. The Indian cares less for hens, but sets great value upon the 
cocks, the crowing of which (called tetoug in the Macuai language) has 
taught him to judge of the time of the night. 



5G THE DISCOVEEIE 

began to auapect that he led va that waie to hctraie vs, for he cnn- 
fesaed that those Spaniards which fled from Trinedado, and also 
those that remained with Carapana^ in Emeria, were ioyned to- 
gither in some village vpon that riuer. But when it grew to- 
wardes night, and we demaunding where the plaec was, he tolde 
V9 but fower reaehes more : when we had rowed fower and fower, 
we saw no signe, and our poore water men euen hart broken, 
and tired, were ready to giue vp the ghost ; for we had now 
come from the Galley necr forty miles. 

At the last we determined to hang the Pilot, and if we had well 
knowen the way backe againe by night, he had surely gone, but 
our owne necessities pleaded sufficiently for his safetie : for it 
was aa darkc as pitch, and the river began so to narrow it selfe, 
and the trees to hang ouer from side to side, as we were driuen 
with arming awordes to cut a passage thorow those branches that 
couered the water. We were very desirous to finde this towne 
hoping of a feast, bicause we made but a short breakfast aboord 
the Galley in the morning, and it was now eight a clock at night, 
and our stomacks began to gnaw apace : hut whether it was best 
to retiirne or go on, we began to doubt, suspecting treason in 
the Pilot more and more ; but the poore olde Indian euer as- 
sured vs that it was but a little farther, and but this one turning, 
and that turning, and at last abont one a clocke after midnight 
we saw a light, and rowing towards it, we heard the dogs of the 
village*. When wee landed we found few people, for the Lord 

' The wliole coast of Ouiaoa between the Amazon and the Orinoco was 
called during the aeventcentb and eighteenth centuries Caribania, or the 
Wild Coast. It is supposed that this region received the former name 
from ita heing the chief residence of the Caribs. (Hartsinek, Beschrj-ving 
van Guiana: Amsterdam, 1770, vol. i. p. 1.) The lettersp and b being 
ft'equently confounded by the Indians, it may have been changed into Ca- 
rapana, or, what is more probable, Carapana into Caribania. 

' It is ft nana! custom with the Indian to count distances according to 
reaches or hooks (Teaakung in Macusi). We have been frequently in a 
situation similar to that which is here so strikingly described by Ralegh, 
when, tired out by fatigue, we thought the last reach was neier to come. It 
I'pquii'ed then every encom'agemcnt to induce the worn-out crew to persist 



OF GVIANA. 57 

of that place waa gone with diueva Canoas aboue 400 miles of, 
vpon a iourney towards the head of Orenoque to trade for gold, 
and to buy women of the Canibals, who afterward vnfortunatly 
paased by vs as we i-ode at an ancor in the port of Morequiio in 
the dark of night, and yet came so neei> vs, as his Canoas grated 
against our barges : he left one of his companie at the port of 
Morequito, by whom we vnderstood that he had brought thirty 
yoong woomen, diners plates of gold, and liad great store of fine 
peeces of cotton cloth, and cotton beds. In his house we had 
good store of bread, fiah, hens, and Indian drinke, and ao rested 
that night, and in the morning after we had traded with such 
of his jjeople as came down, we returned towards our Galley, 
and brought with vs some quantity of bread, fish, and hens. 

On both aides of this riuer, we passed the most beautifdl 
countrie that euer mine eies beheld : and whereas all that we 
had seen before was nothing but wooda, prickles, bushes, and 
thomes, heere we beheld plaines of twenty miles in length, the 
grasse short and grecne, and in diners parts gi-oues of trees by 
themselues, as if they had been by all the art and labour in the 
world so made of purpose : and atil as we rowed, the Deere came 
downe feeding by the waters side, as if they had beene vaed to a 
keepers call. Vpon this riuer there were great store of fowle, 
and of many sorts : we saw in it diuers sorts of strange fishes, 
and of maruellous bignea, but for Lagartos it exceeded, for there 
were thousands of those vglie serpenta', and the people call it for 

in paddling, wben ultimately the burking of the dugs announced to our 
joy thot we were approaching the desired spot. 

' Tbc Alligator [CrOEodilus sclerapt) and Cayman {Crocodilus aculux, 
Cuv.) are very numerous in the Orinoco. Tbe former seldom reaches a 
greater length than six or eight feet, and does not prove dangerous to man. 
It is however otherwise with the latter, which is said to reach sometimcB 
twentj'-five feet in length. We have seen the skeleton of a Cayman which 
we foimd lying on the banks uf tbe Rio Negro, twenty feet long. Tbe 
largest animal of that description which we measured in the river Berbice 
was sixteen feet. Tbe number of Indians along the banka of the Rio 
Orinoco, the Rio Negro, and other rivers in Guiana, who fall annually a 
prey to these monsters is very considerable. 



58 THE DI3C0VERIE 

the abundance of them the riuer of Layartos, in their language, 
I had a Negro a very proper yoong fellow, that leaping out of 
the Galley to Bwim in the mouth of this riuer, was in all our 
sights taken and deuoured with one of those Logartos. In the 
mean while our companies in the Galley thought we had becne 
all lost, (for we promised to retume before night) and sent the 
Lions Whelps ships bote with Captaine Whiddon to follow vb 
vp the riuer, but the next day after we had rowed vp and downe 
some fower score miles, we returned, and went on our way, vp 
the great riuer, and when we were cuen at the last cast for want 
of victuals, Captaine Gifford being before the Galley, and the 
rest of the botes, seeking out some place to land vpon the 
banks to make fire, espied fower Canoas comniing downe the 
riuer, and with no small ioy caused his men to trie the vtter- 
most of their strengths, and after a while two of the 4 gaue ouer, 
and ran themselues ashore, euery man betaking himselfe to the 
fastnes of the woods, the two other lesser got away, while he 
landed to lay bold on these, and so turned into some by-creeke, 
we knew not whither : those Canoas that were taken were loden 
with bread, and were bound for Marguerita in the west Indiea, 
which those Indians {called Arwacas) purposed to carrie thither 
for exchange : But in the leaser, there were three Spaniards, 
who hauing beard of the defeat of their gouemour in Trinedado, 
and that we purposed to enter Guiana, came away in those 
Canoas : one of them was a Cauallero, as the Captaine of the 
Arwacas after told vs, another a soldier, and the thii'd a refiner. 
In the meane time, nothing on the earth could haue been 
more welcome to vs next vnto gold, then the great atore of very 
excellent bread which we found in these Canoas, for now our 
men cried, let vs go on, we care not how farre. After that 
Captaine Gifford had brought the two Canoas to the Galley, I 
tooke my barge, and went to the banks side with a dozen shot, 
where the Canoas first ran themselues ashore, and landed there, 
sending out Captaine Gifford and Captaine Thyn on one hand, 
and Captaine Calfield on the other, to follow those that were fled 



I 



OF GVIANA. 59 

into the woods, and as I was creepiog thorow the bushes, I saw 
an Indian basket hidden, which was the refiners basket, for I 
found in it, his quicksilucr, saltpeter, and diners things for the 
triall of mettals, and also the dust of such ore as he had refined, 
but in those Canoas which escaped there was a good quantity of 
ore and gold. I then landed more men, and offered 500 pound 
to what soldier soeuer could take one of those 3 Spaniards that 
we thought were landed. But our labours were in vaine in that 
behalfe, for they put theniselues into one of the small Canoas : 
and so while the greater Canoas were in taking, they escaped : 
bat seeking after the Spaniards, we found the ^wacas hidden in 
the woods which were pilots for the Spaniards, and rowed their 
Canoas : of which I kept the chiefest for a Pilot, and carried 
him with me to Guiana, by whom I vndcrstood, where and in 
what countries the Spaniards had labored for gold, though I 
made not the same knowen to all : for when the springs began 
to breake, and the riaers to raise thcmselues so suddenly as by 
no meanes we codd abide the digging of anie mine, especially 
for that the richest are defended with rocks of hard stone, which 
we call the While spar, and that it required both time, men, and 
instruments fit for such a worke, I thought it best not to houer 
thereabouts, least if the same had been perceiued by the company, 
there woidd haue bin by this time many barks and ships set out, 
and perchance other nations would also haue gotten of ours for 
Pilots, so as both our selues might haue been prcuented, and all 
our care taken for good vsage of the people been vtterly lost, by 
those that onely respect present profit, and such violence or in- 
solence offered, as the nations which are borderers would haue 
changed their desire of our loue and defence, into hatred and 
violence. And for any longer stay to haue brought a more quan- 
tity {which I heare hath bin often obiected) whosoeucr had 
scene or prooued the fury of that riuer after it began to arise, and 
had been a moneth and od dales as we were from hearing ought 
fi-om our ships, leaning them meanly mand, aboue 400 miles oflj 
would perchance haue turned somewhat sooner than we did, if 



bO THE DISCOVEKIE 

all the mountaities had beea gutd, or rich stones : And to say 
the truth all the branches and small riuera which fell into Ore- 
noque were raised with such speed, as if wee waded them ouer 
the ahooes in the morning outward, we were couered to the 
shoulders homewarde the very same daie^: and to stay to dig 
out gold with our nadea, had been Opus laboris, hut not /n- 
genij : such a quantitie as would haue serued our turnes we 
could not haue had, but a discouery of the mines to our infinite 
disaduantagc we had made, and that could haue been the beat 
profit of farther search or stay; for those mines are not easily 
broken, nor opened in haste, and I could hane returned a good 
quantity of gold readie cast, if I had not abot at another marke, 
than present profit. 

This Arwacan Pdot with the rest, feared that we would hane 
eaten them, or otherwise haue put them to some cruell death, 
for the Spaniards to the end that none of the people in the pas- 
sage towards Guiana or in Guiana it aelfe might come to speech 
with VB, perswaded aD the nations, that we were men eaters, and 
Canibals : but when the poore men and women had seen vs, and 



' The rising of the rirers in the interior of Guiana is aotnetiinca bo im- 
commonly sudden, tbut, us described by Rjdegb, " if Tie waded them o\«t 
the shoes in the monuDg outward, we were covered to the shoulders home- 
ward." While ascending the river RupTmuni iu 1843 nith the Boundary 
expedition, during the rainy season, ive had encamped near the great cata- 
ract of that river ; and while the crew nere loading the canoes tve ascended 
a small elevation, and, looking southward, saw the flood at n distance of 
a mile ot two come rushing over the aavannalis. We shall never forget 
that sight j there was something pecuhar in seeing so great a mass of water, 
which threatened ua with imminent danger. We hastened back to push 
our hoats in the middle of the river, and profited hy the sudden rise of ten 
feet and more to overcome the difficulty which the cataract otherwise would 
have offered to iw. We were now able to row over the savannahs in a stniigbt 
direction, avoiding the serpentine course of the river and its increased 
current. The expanse of water resembled an extensive lake. The snow- 
white Egrette in great numhera, the American stork, the stately Jabiru, cor- 
morants, and large flocks of spurwing plovers, enhvened the surface above, 
while the tops of trees, granite blocks clothed in tropical vegetation, and 
here and there a small spot of elevated ground, alone remained visible. 



OF GVIANA. 61 

that we gaue them meatc, and to euerie one acme thing or other, 
which was rare and strange to them, they began to eonceiue the 
deceit and purpose of the Spaniards, who indeed (as they con- 
fessed) tooke from them both their wiues, and daughters daily, 
and VBed them for the satisfying of their owne lusta, especially 
such as they tooke in this naaner by strength. But I protest 
before the maieatie of the lining God, that I neither know nor 
beleeue, that any of our companie one or other, by violence or 
otherwise, euer knew any of their women, and yet we saw many 
hundreds, and had many in our power, and of those very yoong, 
and excellently fauored which came among vs without deceit, 
Starke naked. 

Nothing got vs more loue among them then this vsage, for I 
suffred not anie man to take from anie of the nations ao much 
as a Pino, or a Potato roote, without giuing them contentment, 
nor any man so much as to offer to touch any of their wiuea or 
daughters : which course, so contrarie to the Spaniards (who 
tyrannize ouer them in all things) drew them to admire hir 
Maieatie, whose eommandement I told them it was, and also 
woonderfully to honour our nation. But I confease it was a 
very impatient worke to keepe the meaner sort from spoile and 
stealing, when we came to their houses, which bicause in all I 
could not preuent, I caused my Indian interpreter at enery place 
when we departed, to know of the losse or wrong done, and if ', 
ought were stolen or taken by violence, either the same was re- ' 
stored, and the party punished in their sight, or els it was paid 
for to their vttermost demand. They also much woondred at 
va, after they heard that we had slain the Spaniards at Trine- 
dado, for they were before reaolued, that no nation of Christians 
durst abide their presence, and they woondred more when I had 
made them know of the great ouerthrow that hir Maieaties army 
and fleete had giuen them of late yeers in their owne eonntriea. 

After we had taken in this supplie of bread, with diners bas- 
keta of rootes which were excellent meate', I gaue one of the 

' The root of the CassBva or Cnssada {Manikot uHlis^ma, Pohl.) forms 



62 THE DIBCOVEEIE 

Canoas to the Arwacas, which belonged to the Spaniards that 
were escaped, and when I had dismissed all but the Captaine 
(who by the Spaniards was christened Martin) I sent hacke in 
the same Canoa the old Ciawan, and Ferdinando my fii-st Pilot, 
and gaue them both auch things as they deaiiedj with sufficient 
victuall to carie them back, and by them wrote a letter to the 
ships, which they promised to debuer, and performed it, and 
then I went, on with my new hired Pilot Martyn the Arwaean : 
but the next or second day after, we came aground againe with 
our galley, and were like to cast hir away, with all our victuall 
and pronision, and so lay on the sand one whole night, and were 
farre more in despaire at this time to free hir then before, bieause 
we had no tide of flood to hclpe vs, and therfore feared that all 
onr hopes would bane ended in mishaps : but we fastened an 
ankor vpon the land, and with maine strength drew hir off: and 
so the 15 day we discouered a farre off the monntaincs of Gui- 
ana^ to our great ioy, and towards the enening had a slent of a 
northerly winde that blew very strong, which brought vs in 
sight of the gi-cat riucr of Orenoque, out of which this riuer de- 
scended wherein we were : we descried a farre off three other 
Canoas as far as we could diseerne them, after whom we has- 
tened with our barge and wherries, but two of them passed out 

among nil Indian tribes in Guiana the chief supply of food. It is a remerk' 
alile fact, that this root, which affonls nouriahmcnt to millions in Guiana, 
Brazil and Venezuela, forms in itH natural state a dangerous poison, which 
however appears to be so volatile, that by preeaing the juice out and es- 
posing the scraped root to the tiro the latter loses this dangerous quality. 
We are nevertheless of opinion that it is unwholesome, and as it constitutes 
the principal article of food of the Indians, wc may account it among those 
causes which undermine health and contribute to an early death. It ex- 
ercises a very injurious effect upon the teeth, as we know by experience. 

The Indians cultivate Yams (DioscoTea saliva, and D. alata, Linn.), Ita- 
tAtas or sweet potatoes {Batatas edalis, Chois.], Taniers (Caladiam xagit- 
iafoUum, Vent.), and Eddas (C. esculmtum. Vent.), in their provision- 
grounds, the roots of which plants are all nutritive and wholesome. 

' These were probably the Sierra or mountains of Imataca, perhaps the 
peaks of Peluca and Faisapa, which are from eaieea hundred to two thou- 
sand feet high, 



of sight, and the third entred vp the great riuer, on the right 
hand to the westward, and there Btaied out of sight, thinking 
that we meant to take the way eastward towards the prouince of 
Carapana, for that way the Spaniards kcepe, not daring to go 
vpwards to Guiana, the people in those parts being all their eni- 
inicB, and thoac in the Canoas thought vs to hane beene those 
Spaniards that were fled from Trinedado, and had escaped kill- 
ing : and when we came so farre downo as the opening of that 
branch into which they slipped, being neere them with our 
barge and whenies, we made after them, and ere they could 
land, came within call, and by our interpreter tolde them what 
we were, wherewith they came backe willingly aboovd vs : and 
of such fish and Tortugas egges as they had gathered, they gaue 
vs, and promised in the morning to bring the Lord of that part 
with them, and to do vs all other acruicea they could. 

That night we came to an ankor at the parting of three good- 
lie riuers' (the one was the riucr of Amana by which we came 
from the north, and ran athwart towards the south, the other 
two were of Orenoque which erosaed from the west and ran to 
the sea towards the east) and landed vpon a faire sand, where 
we found thousands of Tortugas e^es*, which are very whol- 

' It appears that Ralegh anchored to the east of the spot where San 
Bafael de BorraacaK ia now situated. The bed of the river is here divided 
by several ialanda, namely — nearest to the southern or right bank — by the 
great island Tortola or Guariaipa (Ralegh's Iwana) ; next to it foIlowB the 
island of Yaya (Ralegh's Asaftpana), and closer in to the shore, where Bar- 
raneas is situated, are three amaller islands. The Caiio Manamo, or as it 
ia now usually called Brazo Maeareo, flows off to the northward at a di- 
vtaitee of about five miles eaat from Barraneas; this was the branch up 
nhich Ralegh eame. 

' The number of freshwater turtles which lay their e^a on the sandy 
islands in the Orinoco diu^ng the season is almost ineredible. Hum- 
boldt considers that the number of turtles nhieh annually deposit their 
e^B on thebanks and sandy islands of the Lower Orinoco is near a milhon; 
and this relates only to one species, the Ar«m(-Emys/<rrau,Humb.). Gui- 
ana possesses several species of freshwater turtles, hut two kinds are chiefly 
abundant; the laj^er is called by the Indians Arraou, or more frequently 
Caaaipan (Sparrey calls them Caasipam, see Purehas, iv, chap. II); it 



64 



THE DISCOVEEIE 



some meatj and greatly reatoring, so as our men were now well 
filled and highlie contented both with the fare, and neerenea of 
the land of Guiana which appeered in sight. In the morning 
there came downe according to promise the Lord of that border 
called Toparimaca, with some thirtie or fortie followers, and 
braught vs diuers sorts of fruits, and of his wine, bread, fish, 
and flesh, whom we also feasted as we could, at least he dranke 
good Spanish wine (whereof wc had a small quantitie in bottels) 
which aboue all things they loue. I conferred with this Topari- 
maca of the nest way to Guiana, who conducted our galley 
and botes to hia owne port, and carried vs from thence some 
mile and a halfe to bis towne, where some of our eaptaines 
garoused of his wine till they were reasonable pleasant, for 
it is very strong with pepper, and the inice of diuers herbs, 
and fruits digested and purged, they keepe it in great earthen 
pots often or twelue gallons' very cleane and sweete, and are 
themselues at their meetings and feasts the greatest garou- 
sers and drunkards of the world' : when we came to his towne 

reaches a considurnblc size, and weighs sometimes iiom fifty to sixty 
pounds, anil even one hundred pounds. The e^s of that kind are round, 
and the Ehell, although calcareous, is not quite firm. We have fotmd from 
one hundred to one hundred and tweuty eggs in one nest. The second 
kind ia much Buialler, heing from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter, and 
weighing seldom tncnty pounds. It depoaita ahout eighteen eggs in a nest ; 
these are somewhat larger than a pigeon's egg, which they rcsemhle in 
form, and are much more delicate than those of the former kind. These 
turtles are called Terekaiha or Terekay {Emys Terekay, Humb.); they are 
not so numerous, hut are met with in all the rivers of the interior. The 
egga of the Cassipan are chiefly employed for preparing oil ; they are like- 
wise amuke-dried and kept for food. On the bauks of the Orinoco, as 
well as on the lUo Negro, the turtle oil forma an article of trade. 

' When it is rememhered that the Indian women fiibrieate these huge 
pots without the potter's wheel, merely hy the hand, their skill is to he 
admired. The form of most of their earthen vessels is almost classic, and 
approaches nearest to the Etruscan shape. 

' The Indians prepare various intoxicating drinks ; the most common 
of which is the Paiwa or Paiivori. The cliief ingredient of this favourite 
drink is Cassada bread, which is haked of a greater thickness than for 
common purposes, and is especially charred upon a coal Hre. The nomeit 



OF OVIANA. 65 

we found two Cassiques, whereof one of them was a atratiger that 
had beene vp the riuer in trade, and his boates, people, and wife 
incamped at the port where we ankored, and the other was of 
that countrey a follower of Toparimaca : they laie each of them 
in a cotton Hamaca, which we call brasill beds', and two women 

who prepare the beverage assemble around a large jar or other earthen ves- 
sel, and having tnoistened their mouths with iresh water, they commence 
chewing the bread, collecting in the vessel the moisture which accumulates 
in the mouth. This is afterwards put into a trough (called Canaua) or 
in large jars, in which a quantity of the charred bread has been broken 
up, over which boiling water is poui'cd ; and it is then kneaded, and portions 
which are not of an even consistency are again carried to the mouth, 
ground with the teeth, and returned into the earthen pot. This process 
is repeated several times, from the idea that it conduces to the strength 
of the beverage. The second day fermentation begins, and on the third 
the liquor is considered fit for use. We bave seen a whole village, young 
and old, men and women, occupied in this disgusting process, when 
it was contemplated to celebrate our unexpected arrival among them; 
otherwise, for common use, the females alone employ themselves ex officio 
with the preparation. Their teeth suffer so much from this occupation 
that a female has seldom a good tooth after she is thirty years old. Tbevet 
pTea, in bis ' Singularites de la France Antarctique,' p. 46, a representa- 
tion of such a preparation for a feast, and observes that only vii^ns were 
permitted to prepare the beverage. This condition has been much modi- 
fled, if in reality it formerly existed. The taste of the paiwori is very re- 
freshing after great fatigue, and not unpleasant to tlie taste ; if offered 
as the cup of welcome by the Indian, it would cause great offence to refiise 
it. The beverage to which Balcgb alludes appears to have been Cassiri, 
nhich is made of batatas or sweet potatoes, but which, being allowed to 
ferment, produces intoxication when drunk in large quantities. 

' We have already observed that these hammocks are fabricated by the 
women either of cotton-thread, the fibres of the Mauritia palm, or of those 
of the Caraguata, a species of Bromelia, The hammocks manufactured 
by the Carabisi are much more durable than the Glasgow hammocks, and 
are sometimes as fine as these, though made only by the band, and with- 
out machinery. The cotton-thread is spun by means of a primitive spindle. 
The Indiana on the Uaupes, a tributary of the upper Rio Negro, manu- 
faeture hammocks from the fibre of a Bromelia, which are afterwards very 
tastefully ornamented with feathers of parrots, toucans, cocks of the rock, 
and other birds of splendid plumage. 

On descending the Rio Negro in 18^9, we saw iipwards of twenty Indians 
occupied in San Gabriel manufacturing hammocks of the fibres of the 
Mauritia palm, under the direction of tbe commandant of tbat fort. The 



66 THE 01SCOVBRIE 

attending them with six cups and a litle ladle to fill them, out of 
an earthen pitcher of wine, and so they dranke ech of them three 
of those cups at a time, one to the other, and in this sort they 
drinke drunke at their feasts and meetings. 

That Cassique that was a stranger had hia wife staying at the 
port where we ankored, and in all my life I haue seldome seene 
a better fauored woman ; She was of good stature, with blacke 
eies, fat of body, of an exceUent countenance, hir haire almost 
as long as hir sclfe, tied vp againe in pretie knots', and it seemed 
she stood not in that aw of hir husband, as the rest, for she spake 
and discourst, and di'anke among the gentlemen and captaines, 
and was very pleasant, knowing hir owne comelines, and taking 
great pride therein. I haue seene a Lady in England ao like 
hir, as but for the difference of colour I would haue swome 
might haue beeue the same. 

The aeate of this towne of Toparimaca was very pleasant, 
standing on a little hill, in an excellent prospect, with goodly 

hammock is the moat mdispCDeahle article in an Indian houae, orfoi an 
Indian's jomney. On his travels, it is carried folded up and slung round 
hia neck : the greatest precaution is used to prevent its getting wet. 
Where a. halt is made, be it of ever so short a duration, the lirst object 
sought for is a convenient tree from viliieh he can suspend it. It is a 
comphment paid to the stranger, if the host takes the hammock irom him 
on entering the house, and slings it for his guest, and it is the duty of the 
wife to do this service for her husband, The common hammocks of the 
Indians are generally open (that is, not closely woven), and coloured red 
with roucou or amotto. 

' The beauty of the hmr of the Indian females has frequently surprised 
us. We have in several instances seen the hair toudi the ground. Some 
Carahisi or Carihs from the Rupunuui accompanied us in 1836 to Geoi^e- 
town, and among them a female, who had such beautiful hair that she ex- 
cited the astonishment of every one. They anoint it daily, and chiefly use 
for that purpose the oil made from a nut called Carapa (Curupa guianeniis, 
Aublet). The bair-diess of the Arawaak women is very tasteful, but 
it is more usual among the Ouianians to allon the hair to fall over the 
shoulders. Among the Pianoghoto and Urio Indians the females gene- 
rally wear their hair short, and the men in long tresses or queues. Although 
we have seen very old people among the Indians, we recollect but a few 
;s of hair turned white from age. 



OF QVIANA. 67 

gardens a mile compaase round about it, and two very faire and 
large ponds of excellent fish adioyning. This towne is called 
Arowacai : the people are of the nation called Nepoios, and are 
followers of Carapana. In that place I sawe very aged people, 
that we might perceiue all their sinewes and veines without any 
flesh, and but eucn as a case eouered onely with akin, The Lord 
of this place gaue me an old man for Pilot, who was of great 
experience and trauell, and knew the riuer most perfectly both 
by day and night, and it shall be requisite for any man that 
passeth it to haue such a Pilot, for it is fower, fine, and sLx miles 
ouer in many places, and twentie mUea in other places, with 
woonderfnll eddies, and strong currants, many great Hands and 
diuers sholds, and many dangerous rocks, and besides vpon any 
increase of winde so great a billow, as we were sometimes in 
great perill of drowning iu the galley, for the small botes durst 
not come from the shore, but when it was very faire. 

The next day we hasted thence, and hauing an easterly wind 
to helpe va, we spared our arras from rowing : for after we en- 
tred Orenoque, the riuer lieth for the moat part east and west, 
eucn from the sea vnto Quito in Peru^. This riuer is nauigable 
with ships httle lesse than 1000 miles, and from the place where 
we entred it may he sailed vp in small pinaces to many of the 
beat parts of Nueuo reyno de granado, and of Popayan : and from 
no place may the cities of these parts of the Indies be so easily 
taken and inuaded as from hence. All that day we sailed vp a 
branch of that riuer, hauing on the left hand a great Hand, which 
they cal Asmpana, which may containe some flue and twentie 
miles in length, and 6 miles in bredth, the great body of the 

' This 



not surpnae U8 at ft penorl when the 
f of theae regions was so little known, and the river Meta was 
:s considered bs the continuation of th<! Oiinoco, instead of being 
merelj a tribataiy. As far as the mouth of the river A]iure the course of 
the Orinoco is ou aacending west, but coming from tbe south it forma 
here ita second great inflection. The firat is formed at its confluence 
with the river Guaviare; its course has been previously from the south- 



ba THE DiaCOVERTE 

riuer running on the other side of this Hand ; Beyond that mid- 
dle branch there is also another Hand in the riuer, called fwana, 
which ia twise aa big as the Isle of Wight^, and beyond it, and 
betweene it and the maine of Guiana, runneth a third branch of 
Orenoque called An-aroopana^ : all three are goodly branchea, 
and all nauigable for great ahipa. I iudge the riuer in thia place 
to be at least thirtie miles brode, reckoning the Hands which 
diuide the branchea in it, for afterwards I sought also both the 
other branches^. 

After we reached to the head of this Hand, called Assapana, 
a little to the westward on the right hand there opened a riuer 
which came from the north, called Europa*, and fell into the 
great riuer, and beyond it, on the same aide, we aukored for that 
night, by another Hand six miles long, and two miles brode, 
which they call Ocaywita : From hence in the morning we 
landed two Guianians, which we found in the towne of Topari- 
maca, that came with vs, who went to giue notice of our com- 
ming to the Lord of that countrey called Pulyma, a. follower of 
Topiawari, chiefe Lord of Arromaia, who succeeded Morequito, 
whom (aa you haue heard before) Berreo put to death, but hia 
towne being farre within the land, he came not vnto va that day, 
BO as we ankored againe that night neerc the banks of another 
Hand, of bignea much like the other, which they call Pulapayma, 
on the maine lande, ouer againat which Hand waa a very high 
mountaine called Oecope^ : we coueted to ankor rather by these 

' The island of Tortola, Ralegh'H Iwann, is about thii-tj-three miles in 

° Thia branch of the Orinoco is now called Cafio PiacoB, from the towa 
of the same name, which ia situated on the right bank of the river. It has 
Eomc trade with Dcmerara and Trinidad. 

* The real breadth ia from ubore to shore, n&inelv from Barrancas to 
Piacoa, about foiu1:ecn nautical miles. 

' This is the Guarguapo; it is connected with several large lagunea, 
which for a distance of about twelre miles nm parallel with the Orinoco. 

' Perhaps the hills on which the fortresses San Francisco and El Pa- 
driiBto were afterwards constructed. At a distance of about a mile south 
of these hills stood formerly Quayana Vieja. It ia very remarkable that 



Hands in the riaer, than by the maine, because of the Tortugas 
egges, which our people found on them in great abundance, and 
also because the ground serued better for vb to cast our nets for 
tish, the maine bauks being for the most part stonie and high, 
and the rocks of a blew metalline colour', like vnto the best 
Steele ore, which I assuredly take it to be : of the same blew 
stone are also diuers great mountaineSj which border thia riuer 
in many places. 

The next morning towards nine of the clocke, we weied ankor, 
and the brizc encreasing, we sailed alwaiea west vp the riuer, 
and after a while opening the lande on the right side, the coun- 
trey appeered to be champaine, and the banks shewed very per- 
fect red : I therefore sent two of the little barges with captaine 
Gifford, and with him captaine Thyn, captaine Calfield, my 
cosen Greenuile, my nephew lo. Gilbert, captaine Ei/nus, master 
Edw. Porter, and my cosen Butshead Gm-ges, with some fewe 
soldiers, to march oucr the banks of that red land*, and to dis- 
coner what maner of eountrey it was on the other side, who at 
their retume found it all a plaine Icuell, as fan-e as they went or 
eoidd disceme, from the highest tree they could get vpon : And 
my old Pilot, a man of great trauell brother to the Cassique 



Ralegh aYoids most studiously mcDtioaing the existence of thia settlement, 
which Antonio de Berreo founded in ISyi, consequently four jcbtb previ- 
ous to Ralegh's Brrival in the Orinoco. It is impassible to helieve that the 
Indians tihould have neglected to infonn him of its existenee, and ne are 
obliged tfl conclude thiit he omitted to mention it, as previously alluded 
to, for political reasons, as thia priority in the occupation would have esta- 
blished the clum of the Spaniards to the eouDtry. 

' The blackish gray or almoat leaden colour of some of the rocks on 
the surface in the rivers of tropical countries has attracted the attention of 
scientilic men without a proper solution having been come to. The coat- 
ing, according to the analysis of Mr. Children, consists of oxide of iron 
and manganese, Humboldt thinks that it contains besides these two ma- 
terials carbon and supercarhuretted iron. The inhabitants of the Orinoco 
say that the exhalations of these roeks of "blue metalline colour" are 
injurious Xo health, 

' The soil of the savannahs has {^nei'ally a reddish colour from an ad- 
mixture of iron. 



70 THE DISCOVEBIE 

Toparimaca told me, that those were called the plaines of tie 
Sayma 'j and that the same leuell reached to Cumana, and Car- 
racas in the west Indies, which are 120 leagues to the north, 
and that there inhabited fower principall nations. The 6rat 
were the Sayma, the next Assawai, the third and greatest the 
Wikiri, by whom Pedro Hernandes de Serpa before mentioned 
was ouerthroweu, aa he passed with three hundred horse from 
Cumana towards Orenoque, in his enterprize of Guiana, the 
fourth arc called Aroras, and are aa blacke as Negros, but haue 
smooth haire, and these are very valiant, or rather desperate 
people, and haue the moat strong poison on their arrowes, and 
most dangerous of all nations, of which poison I will speake 
Bomwhat being a digression not vnnecessary. 

There was nothing whereof I was more curious, than to flnde 
out the true remedies of these poisoned arrowes, for besides the 
mortalitic of the wound they make, the partie shot indureth the 
moat insufferable torment in the world, and abideth a most vglie 



' Ralegh alludes here to tliose vast plains or llanos which extend from 
the delta of the Orinoco to the hnnka of tlie Apure, and in a northern di- 
rection to the chain of mountains of Cumana, occupying «even thousand 
two hundred sijuare leagues. The savannahs of the Rupuuuui, Takutu, 
and Rio Brauco, the site of Keymis's El Dorado, occupy fourteen thousand 
four hundred square miles. During the rainy season they present the 
asireet of a aea of verditfe, but during summer they display a picture of 
desolation, and the fijll effects of a drought under the burning sky of the 
Tropics. In the word Sayma we recognise the Chaymas, an Indian tribe 
who inhabit the neighbourhood of Cumana, and of whom Humhotdt has 
given a very perfect description. (Personal Narrative, English trnnsktion, 
vol. ill. chap. 9.) The Wikiri are the Guaiqueriaa or Guaikeries of the 
island of Margarita, and the peninsula of Araya, and a great number reside 
in a suburb of Cumana which bears tlieir name. According to Humboldt 
a tribe of Aruros inhabit the Orinoco to the en«t of Maipures, and in a list 
of Indiana in Cayenne a tribe called Arara is mentioned as living in the. 
regions west of the Oyapoco. Ralegh observes that the Aroras were as 
black as negroes. The Waraus are generally of darker colour than the 
other Indian tribes, but the difference is not so great as to bear a cora- 
pariaon to negroes. The tribe of Assawais, whom he previously mentions, 
are perhaps the Accanais, a sister tribe of the Carabisi. 



OF QVIANA. 71 

and lamentable deatli, somtimea dying starkc mad, somtimes 
their bowela breaking out of their bellies, and are presently dis- 
colored, as blacke as pitch, and so vnsauery, as no man can en- 
dure to cure, or to attend them : And it is more strange to know, 
that in all this time there was neuer Spaniard, either by gift or 
torment that could attaine to the true knowledge of the cure, 
although they bane martyred and put to iuuented torture I know 
not how many of them, But euery one of these Indians know 
it not, no not one among thousands, but their southsaiers and 
prieata, who do conceale it, and onely teach it but from the father 
to the Sonne. 

Those medicinea which are vulgar, and aeruc for the ordinarie 
poison, arc made of the iuice of a roote called Tupara: the 
same also quencheth maruelloualy the heate of burning feauers, 
and bealetb inward wounds, and broken veines, that bleed within 
the body. But I was more beholding to the Guianians than any 
other, for Anthonio de Berreo told me that he could neuer at- 
taine to the knowledge therof, and yet they taught me the best 
way of healing as wel therof, as of al other poiaona. Some of 
the Spaniarda haue been cured in ordinary wounds, of the com- 
mon poisoned arrowes with the iuice of garlike : but this is a 
generall rule for all men that shall hcerafter trauell the Indies 
where poisoned arrowea are vsed, that they must abstaine from 
diinke, for if they take any licor into their body, as they shall be 
maruellously prouoked therunto by drought, I say, if they drink 
before the wound be dressed, or soone vpon it, there is no way 
with them but present death'. 



' The mjatery respecting the arrow-poison of the Indians, although not 
entirely cleared up, is in a great measure removed. Neither snake's teelh 
nor stinging nnta form the active principle, but the juice of a plant which 
we have descrihed as Strychnos ioxifera. (Hooker's Icon. Plant, t. 364 and 
365 ; Joum. of Bot. vol. iii. p. 240.) This phrat is only known to grow 
in three or four situations in Guiana, and is in its habit a ligneous twiner 
or bushrope (which kind of plants are called in the French colonies Liane, 
and by the Spaniards Bejuco). The Indians of the Macusi tribe are the 
best manuiacturers of the poiaon, which is entirely composed of the juice 



72 THE DlBCOV£BIE 

And so 1 wii returae again to our iouniey which for this third 
day we finished, and cast ankor againe neere the continent, on 
the left hand betweene two mountainea, the one called Aroami, 
and the other Aio : I made no stay heere but till midnight, for 
I feared howerly least any raine should fall, and then it had beene 
impossible to haue gone any further vp, notwithstanding that 
there is eucry day a very strong brize, and caaterly winde, I 



of plants. Previous travellers during the present century in Guiana never 
saw it prepared, nor did they bcc the plant growing of which it is made; 
and the accounts which they have given us of its preparation were perh^ 
imposed upon them by the Carabisis, hut reat surely not upon personal ex- 
perience, as they arc so very erroneous. The Macusis call the plant Urari-y&, 
the poison itself Urari (read Ourahree), which the Carabi«i, who constantly 
interchange the r and I, have corrupted into Urali and Ulari, of which 
WucaU has been made. The Caribs are not able to prepare the poison, 
andpurchaseit from the Macusis. It is surprising to us why a spurious name 
should have been substituted in England for the true one, since we find 
the proper name of the [wiaon mentioned already by Keymis in Hakluyt 
(vol. iii. p. 687) in a table of names and rivers, &c,, where under the bead of 
poisoned herbs occurs the plant " Ourari." The author of these notes has 
given an unadorned account of the mode of preparing the poison in the 
Annals of Natural History, vol. vii. p. 40?, and he has prejiared it himself, 
by coQcentrating merely the infusion from the bark of the plant {Stryehnog 
toxifera) which had been collected in his presence. It killed a fowl in 
twenty-seven minutes, although not sufficiently concentrated. Well-pre- 
pared poison, which is of a dark colour, shows its effects in the space of a 
minute, and kills a fowl iu five minutes. Its effect is more or less sudden 
upon different animals, and the Indians say that monkeys and Jaguars are 
more easily killed with it than any other animals. We have been assured re- 
peatedly by the Indians that there is no remedy against the Urari if it be 
good — salt and sugar are both considered antidotes against weak poison, 
but avail nothing where the Urari is strong. It has been related to us 
that, when wounded in wars, and salt is not to be had, the Indians resort 
to urine. The tbirst which follows is described as almost intolerable, and 
certain death ensues if the thirst is quenched with water ; the more the 
wounded person drinks, the greater becomes his thirst. Ralegh's relation 
is therefore perfectly correct in this respect. It has not been possible as 
yet to procure a perfect analysis of the I'rari. The agent which destroya 
the vital powers in so short a period appears to he a new principle, liitherto 
unknown to chemists. Numerous experiments have recently been made 
with it in BerUn. 



OP GVIANA. 73 

deferred the search of the countrie on Guiana aide, till my re- 
turne downe the riuer. The next day we sailed by a great Hand, 
in the middle of the i-iuer, called Manoripano, and as wee walked 
a while on the Hand, while the Galley got a head of vs, there 
came after vs from the maine, a small Canoa with seuen or eight 
Guianians, to innite va to ankor at their port, but I deferred it 
till my retnme ; It was that Cassique to whom those Nepoioa 
went, which came with vs from the towne of Toparimaca : and 
BO the fift day we reached as high vp as the Prouince oiArromaia 
the countrey of Morequito whom Berreo executed, and ankored 
to the west of an Hand called Murrecotima, ten miles loDg and 
fine brode : and that night the Cassique Aramtari, (to whose 
towne we made our long and hungry voiage out of the riuer of 
Amana) passed by vs. 

The next day we arriued at the port of Morequito, and ankored 
there, sending away one of our Pilots to seeke the king of Aro- 
jnaia, vncle to Morequito, slaine by Berreo as aforesaide. The 
next day following, before noone he came to vs on foote from 
his house, which was 14 tinglish miles, (himself being 110 
yeers old) and returned on foote the same daie, and with him 
many of the borderers, with many women and children, that 
came to woonder at our nation, and to bring va down victuall, 
which they did in great plenty, as venison, porke, hens, chickens, 
fonle, fish, with diners sorts of escellent fruits, and rootes, and 
great abundance of Pinas, the princcsse of fruits, that grow 
vnder the Sun^, especially those of Guiana. They brought vs 

' Who doea not remember Thomson's description ?^ 
" Witneaa, thou hest Anana ! thou the pride 

Of vegEttthle life, bejonii whate'er 

The poets imaged in the golden age : 

Quick let me strip thee of thy tufty coat. 

Spread thy amhro^l stores, and feast with Jove !" 
We must ^ve Ralegh the honour of having been the first who csJled this 
delicious prwluction "the priuM of fruits." It is related by Oldyn, that 
when hy a speedy voyage a pineapple was hrought from America in great per- 
fcetion, and King Jnmcs tiistcd of it, he observed, that " it was a fruit too 



n THE DISCOTEKIE 

also store of bread, and of their wine, and a sort of Paraquitos, 
no bigger than wrens, and of all otber sorts both small and 
great : one of them gaue me b beaat called by the Spaniards Ar- 
madilla, which they call Cassacam, which seemeth to be all 
barred ouer with small plates somewhat like to a Renocero, with 
a white home growing in his hinder parts, as big as a great 
hnnting home, which they vse to winde in steed of a trumpet'. 
Monardus writeth that a little of the powder of that hom put 
into the eare, cnreth deafoes. 

After this old king had rested a while in a little tent, that I 
caused to be set vp, I began by my interpretor to discourse with 
him of the death of Morequito his predecessor, and afterward of 
the Spaniards, and ere I went anie farther I made him know 
the cause of my eomming thither, whose seniaut I was, and that 
the Queenes pleasure was, I should vndertake the voiage for 
their defence, and to dehuer them from the tyrannic of the 
Spaniards, dilating at large (as I had done before to those of 
Trinedado) her Maicaties greatnes, her iustice, her charitie to all 
oppressed nations, with as manie of the rest of her beauties and 
vertues, as either I coulde expresse, or they conceiue, all which 
being with great admii'ation attentiuely heard, and maruellously 
admired, I began to sound the olde man as touching Guiana, 



delicious for a subject to taate of." We have met during our journeys in 
GuisQB conaidcrable extents of ground covered with pineapples \ but in 
their wild state they are small, seldom laiger than an apple, of a bright 
jeLow; and though their smell is highly aromatic (aurpasaiug in that re- 
gard the cultivated species), they arc stringy, full of seeds, and rather 
acidulous in taste. It is only by cultivation that they acquire theic su- 
perior flavom- and their large size. The wild pineajiple hears a different 
name among the Indian tribes from the cultivated, and we have a\a doubts 
whether it be not a different species. 

' Ralegh's description of the armadillo is certainly amusing. We can- 
not conceive how he eould describe an organ which by its situation and 
figure could not be mistaken except for what nature intended it, namely 
its tail, as "a great hunting home," &c. Tlie armadillo or cashikam 
(Dasypas novetncinctas) is very common in Giiiaua, and used aa food by 
the Indiana and by some of the Creoles. 



75 



and the state tliereofj what sort of common wealth it waa, how 
gouemed, of what strength and polUcy, how farre it extended, 
and what nations were friends or eniniiea adioining, and finally 
of the distance, and way to enter the same ; he told me that 
himselfe and his people with all those downe the riuer towards 
the sea, as farre as Emeria, the Prouince of Carapana, were of 
Guiana, but that they called themselues Orenoqueponi^, bicanse 
they hordered the great riuer of Orenoque, and that all the nations 
betweene the riuer and those mountaines in sight called Waca- 
rima, were of the same cast and appellation : and that on the 
other side of those mountaines of Wacarima there was a large 
plaine' (which after I disconered in my returne) called the valley 



' The word pona ugnifies in the Macusi language ' upon.' In that 
sense it appears to be used Likunise in this instance. 

' The name of Wacaraima, or rather Pacaraima, is derived from the 
peculiar shape which several mountains of the sandstone chain bear to the 
form of an Indian basket called Paeara. Closely connecteiJ with the 
Sierw Parima in a chain of mountains which has appeared under the 
name of Pncaraima or Pacarinha in our modem maps. Tlie author of 
these remarks has traversed that chain along its whole length, fiom the 
banka of the Corentyne to the shores of the Orinoco over more than nine 
degrees of longitude; and although it is interspersed with plains and 
vallejs, its connection from the fifty-ninth degree of longitude (west of 
Greenwich) to the reraarkahle hifurcation of the Orinoco is easily recog- 
nised. It foi'ms the divi^on of those three great basins of the northern 
part of South America, namely, the gigantic Amazon, the mighty Oriuoco, 
and its brother (bo called by Keymis), the Essequibo. The most remark- 
able feature of the chain is a ridge of sandstone mountains, of which we 
trace the first on the hanks of the Cuyuni in QP 45' north latitude and 61° 
west longitude : they are observed again at the batiks of the Maiaruni, 
and their culminating eastern point is Mount Itoraima (in 5° 9' north 
latitude and 61° nest longitude). This remarkable mountain rises to a 
height of about eight thousand feet above the sea, forming towards its sum- 
mit a mural precipice fourteen hundred feet in height, from the summit of 
which several streams precipitate themselves to the foot of the wall-like 
chff. Similarly formed, and nearly equal in height, is Cukenam, Marina, 
Wayatsipu, Gig. The river Cukenam falla a height of from eleven to 
twelve bundred'feet from the mural precipice of the same name, and forma 
one of the chief sources of the river Caroni. From the southern foot of 
the Pacaroima chain extend the great savannahs of the Rupitnuni, Takutii 



76 THE UlBCOVJilllE 

of Amariocapaiia, iu all that valley the pcopli: were also of tlie 
ancient Guianians. 1 asked what nations those were which inha- 
bited on the further side of those monntainea, beyond the valley 
of Amariocapana, he answered with a great sigh (aa a man which 
had inward feeling of the losse of his countrey and liberty, espe- 
cially for that his eldest aonne was slain in a battel on that aide 
of the mountaines, whom he most entirely loiied,) that he re- 
membred in his fathers life time when he was very old, and him- 
selfe a yoong man that there came down into that large valley 
of Guiana, a nation from so far off as the Sun slept, (for such 
were his own words,) with so great a multitude aa they could 
not be numbred nor resisted, and that they wore large coats, 
and hats of crimson colour ', which colour he expressed, by shew- 
ing a ])ecce of red wood, wherewith my tent was supported, and 
that they were called Oreiones, and Epuremei, those that had 

Bud Rio Branco or Paiima, which occupy about 14,400 square tniles, 
their average height above the sea being from three hundred and fifty 
to four hundred feet. These savannabs are inundated during the rainy 
season, and afford at that period, with the exceptiim of n short port- 
age, a communication between the Rupununi and the Pirara, a tribu- 
tary of the Mahu or Ireng, which falls into the Takutu, and the latter 
into the Rio Branco or Pariuia. Topiansri alludes to these plains aa 
inhabited by the Epuremei, and after the return of Keymis they were 
considered the site of the labnlous lake Parima. 

' Keymis and Marsham repeat the account of apparelled Indians, and 
Hartiinck, the author of the' Beaehryving van Guiana' (Amsterdam, 1770), 
observes, " The borders of Lake Parima are inhabited by numerous natione; 
some are clothed, and do not suffer strangers to come thither. In the year 
1755, upon the relatioui of a certain Indian chief, the Spanianls undertook 
three expeditions into the interior to reach Lake Parima ; but they were bo 
mnch opposed by the Indians, chiefly during the third attempt, that they 
did not feel inclined to undertake another. They brought with them four 
prisoners of the clothed nation, which Mr. Persiek of the Council of Justice 
of Essequibo, and others who were trading sair at that jteriod." We have 
httle doubt that the clothed Indians alluded to by Hartiinck were Kenicams 
or balf-eivitized Indians, who came &om the Rio Branco, which river I>aii- 
ciscoXav. deAndrade ascended as early as 1/40; several Aldeas were esta- 
blished there soon after. Ajuricaba, a powerful chieftain of (he Manaos, and 
an ally of the Dut^h, scoured the Rio Branco and Rio Negro in 1 7^> and 
captured all the Indians he could secure in order to sell them as slaves. 



OF GVIANA. 



77 



slaine and rooted out so many of the ancient people aa there 
were leauea in the wood vpon all the trees, and had now made 
themaelues Lords of all, euen to that monntaine foote called 
Curaa, sauing onely of two nations, the one called Iwarawaqueri, 
and the other Cassipagotos^ , and that in the last battell fought 
hetweene the Epuremei, and the Iwarawaqueri, his eldest son 
was chosen to cany to the aide of the Iwarawaqueri, a great 
tronpe of the Orenoqtieponi, and was there slaine, with al his 
people and freinds, and that he had now remaining but one 
Sonne : and farther told me that those Epuremei had built a 
great town called Macureguarai, at the said mountainc foote, at 
the beginning of the great plaines of Guiana, which haue no 
end; and that their houses haue many roomes, one oner tte 
other, and that therein the great king of the Oreiones and Epu- 
remei kept three thousand men to defend the borders against 
them, and withall daily to inuade and alaie them ; but that of 
late yecres since the Christiana ofFred to inuade his territories, 
and those frontires, they were all at peace, and traded one with 
another, sauing onely the Iwarawaqueri, and those other nations 
vpon the head of the riuer of Caroli, called Cassipagotos, which 
we afterwards discouered, each one holding the Spaniard for a 
common enimie. 

After he had answered thus far, he desired leaue to depart, 
Baying that he had far to go, that he was old, and weakc, and 
was euery day called for by death, which was also his owne 
phrase : I desired him to rest with vs that night, but I could 
not intreat him, but he told me that at my retume from the 
countrie aboue, be would againe come to va, and in the meaue 
time prouide for vs the beet he could, of all that his countrie 
yeelded : the same night bee returned to Orocolona his owne 

' The termination ghiri and 'ghato deuote a tribe, people, &p., in the 
great Coiib language. The Teutonic nicea are called Faranaghiri by all the 
Guianians, signifying people from beyond the sea (see ante, note at page 9). 
Ghoto implies likewise a tribe in tbe Carib language, as e, g. Purti 'ghoto, 
Piano 'ghoto, &c. 



78 THE DISCOVERIE 

towne', so aa he went that day 38 miles, the weather being very- 
hot, the countrie being situate betweene 4 and 5 degrees of the 
Equinoctiall. This Topiatvari is held for the proudest, and wisest 
of al the Orenoqueponi, and so he behaued himselfe towards me 
in all hia answers at my returne, aa I mamelled to finde a man 
of that grauity and iudgement, and of so good discourse, that 
had no hcipe of learning nor breed. 

The nest morning we also left the port, and sailed westward 
vp the riuer, to view the famoua riner called Caroli, as well hi- 
cause it was maniclloua of it selfe, as also for that I vnderstood 
it led to the strongest nations of all the frontires, that were eni- 
miea to the Epuremei, which are aubiects to Inga, Emperor of 
Guiana, and Manoa, and that night we ankored at another Hand 



e of this word has been of great intereat to us. It pravei 
that the Orenoqutipoui were a liraneh of the Macu!U trihe, who now inhabit 
the aavannslis of the Rupunuoi and Rio Branco. Orojt^in that language 
signifiea parrot ; found, water. But the oecurrence of this name, as a sin- 
guliir inst&nee, would gcarcely induce us to come to such a conclusion, if 
there were not repeated instances in Ralegh'a account which cannot be 
considered accidental. At page 57 (of the original edition) lie speakH of the 
island Ocaywita; Okai is great, iwoita river, in that language. The great 
heron (a species resembling Ardea tnnerea. Lath.) is called Wanure, hence 
Wanuretona (p. 65). The great tonn inhabited by the Epuremei is called 
Macureguaru. Macntwari'is 'a sword,' Korai the adjective 'like'; leoawm 
signifies blue or blueishj it is that colour which the water in rivers with 
clayey bottom sometimes assumes, or in which distant objects seem to be 
enveloped : Ralegh mentions at page 93 a mountain called Iconuri. Iwana 
is a common name of men among the Macusia ; Arowacai is the name of a 
Macusi village near the Cotinga. We have already alhidcd to the poetical 
signification of Yarico, the heroine of Addison's story (note at p. 40). We 
know from Ligon that she was carried away from the Spaniahmain. Even in 
the name of Topsrimaca we might trace the Macusi language. Eporimang 
is the act of making others pleased ; but to offer an example : in requesting 
B third person to try t» conciliate a group of refractory Indians, we would 
tell him topuremocka, ' make them pleased' {or rather them make pleated). 
The analt^ of these and other words is not merely accidental, hut proves 
that the Macusia, or at least a branch of that tribe, formerly inhabited the 
Orinoco. They now live on the savannahs of the Rupununi and Rio Branco 



OP GVIANA. 79 

called Caiama*, of some fiue or sixe milea in length, and the 
next day arriucd at the mouth of Caroli% when we were short of 
it as low or fui-ther downe as the port of Morequita we heard the 

' This island is now named Faxurdo ; it is about ten miles long, and lies 
in the Orinoco right before the mouth of the river Caroni. Tlie island was 
fonneriy fortified, and a batterj which Don Manuel Centurion erected 
about 1770 on the eastern point commanded both banks of the river. To 
judge from Keymia's relation, the Spaniards possessed fortiiicationa on this 
inland as early as 1596. 

' The river Caioni is one of the largest tributaries whieh the Orinoco 
receives from the Sierra Parima. Its chief branch, the Yumani, has its 
sources on the mountain Ajaugcataibang (literally, " Louse-comb moun- 
tain," from the ja^^d appearance of its mural precipice); the Cubcnara, 
which joins the Yuruani, falls from the mountain Cukenam or Icukenama ; 
from the point of junction of these two rivers, it is called Caroni. A short 
distance from its confluence with the Orinoco is the great cataract, or Satto, 
celebrated for its picturesque scenerj'. llie river is said to fall over a bar 
iroxa fifteen to twenty feet high. Accordingto the description which Father 
Caulin pves of it, the noise of the cararact is heard at a distance of several 
leagues. Diego de Orilaz found in 1531-32 at the mouth of the Caroni a 
settlement called Caroao or Carao, which afterwards received the name of 
Santo Tomas de Guayaua. llie first missionaries who arrived on the Ori- 
noco were the Jesuits Ignacio Llauri and Juhan Vergara. They com- 
menced their pious ivork in 1 57G ; but after Santo Tomas was destroyed by 
the Dutch under the command of Captain Adrian Jausen in 1579, the 
inhabitants fled to the llanos of Cumana, where the greater number 
perished for hunger, and among them Father Llauri. (Caidin, lib, i. 
cap. 2.) The town having been rebuilt further eastward, as already 
related, was taken and burnt by Keyrais iu 1618. Wlien Humboldt visited 
the Orinoco at the commencement of this century, there was iu the neigh- 
bourhood of the great cataract a village called Aguaeaqua or Caroni, with 
a population of seven hundred Indians. It is now entirely abandoned. 
The missions of the Catalonian Capuchins extended formerly from the 
eastern bonk of the Caroni as far as the banks of the Imatnca, the Cu- 
ruma, and the Cuyuui. They consisted in 1797 of thirty-eight missions, 
with a population of sixteen thousand Itiilians, engaged in agriculture and 
the breeding of cattle. By the decrees of the Hcpuhlie of Colombia of the 
I4th of December 1819, and the 28th of July 1821, these missions were 
suppressed, and at this time nearly all vestiges of their former existence 
are vanished, and the civihzed Indians are greatly reduced in number. 
Codazri assumes the number of civilized Indiana in the canton of Upata, 
to which province formerly the missions belonged, at two thousand five 
hundred. 



80 THE DISCOVERIE 

great rore and fall of the riuer, but when we come to enter with 
our barge and wherries thinking to haue gone vp some fortie 
miles to the nations of the Cassipagotos, we were not able with 
a barge of eight oares to rowe one stones cast in an hower, and 
yet the riuer is as broad as the Thames at Wolwich, and we tried 
both sides, and the middle, and euery part of the riuer, so as we 
incampcd vpon the bankcs adioyning, and sent off our Orenogue- 
pone (which came with vs from Morequito) to giue knowledge to 
the nations vpon the riuer of our being there, and that we de- 
aired to see the Lords of Canuria, which dwelt within the pro- 
iiinee vpon that riuer, making them know that we were enemies 
to the Spanyards, (for it was on this rincrs side that Morequito 
slew the Frier, and those nine Spaniards whicli came from Ma- 
noa, the Citie of Inga, and tooke from them 40000 pesoes of 
Golde) so as the next daie there came downe a Lorde or Cassique 
called IVanuretona with many people with him, and brought all 
store of proiiisions to entertaine vs, as the rest had done. And 
as I had before made my coraniing knowne to Topiawari, so did 
I acquaint this Cassique therewith, and howe I was sent by her 
Maiesty for the purpose aforesaid, and gathered also what I could 
of him touching the estate of Guiana, and I founde that those 
also of Caroli were not ouely enemies to the Spaniardes but most 
of all to the Epuremei, which abonnde in Gold, and by this IVa- 
nuretona, I had knowledge that on the headc of this riuer were 
three mighty nations, which were seated on a great lake, from 
whence this riuer descended, and were called Cassipagotos, Epa- 
ragotos, and Arawagotos, and that all those eyther against the 
Spaniards, or the Epuremei would ioine with vs, and that if wee 
entred the lande oner the mountaines of Curaa, wee should sa- 
tisfie our selues with golde and all other good things : hee told 
vs farther of a nation caDed Iwarawaqueri before spoken off, that 
held daily warre with the Epuremei that inhabited Macureguarai 
the first ciuill towne of Guiana, of the subiectes of Tnga the Em- 

Vpon this r 



e Captaine George, that I tooke with Berreo 



OF GVIANA. 81 

tolde me there was a greate Bilaer miriCj and that it was necre 
the banckes of the saide riuer. But by this time as well Ore- 
nogne, Caroli, as all the rest of the riuers were risen fowre or 
fiue foote in height, so as it was not possible by the strength of 
any men, or with any boate whataoeuer to rowc into the riuer 
against the atreame. I therefore sent Captaioe Tliyn, Captaine 
Greenuile, my nephew lohn Gylbert, my cosen Butshead Gorges, 
Captaine Clarke, ajid some 30 shot more to coast the riner by 
lande, and to goe to a towne some twentie miles oner the valley 
called Amnatapoi, and if they found guides there, to goe farther to- 
wardes the mountaine foote to another greate townc, called Ca- 
pwepana, belonging to a Cassique called Hakaracoa (that was a 
nephew to old Toj/iawari king of Arromaia our chiefest friend) 
because this towne and prouince of Capurepana adioyned to Ma- 
cureguarai, which was the frontier towne of the Empire r and the 
meane while my selfe with Captaine Gifford, Captaine Calfield, 
Edw. Hancocke, and some halfe a doseii shot marched ouer land 
to view the strange ouerfals of the riner of Caroli, which rored 
80 farre of, and also to see the plaines, adioyning and the rest of 
the prouince of Canttri : I sent also captaine JVhiddon, W. Con- 
nocke, and some eight shot with them, to see if they coulde jinde 
any minerall stone alongst the riuers side. When we ronne to 
the tops of the first hils of the plaines adioyning to the riuer, 
we hehelde that wondcrfnll breach of waters, which ranne down 
Caroli : and might from that mountaine see the riuer how it ran 
in three parts, abone twentie miles of, and there appeared some 
ten or twelue ouerfala in sight, euery one as high ouer the other 
as a Church tower, which fell with that fury, that the rebound 
of waters made it seeme, as if it had beene all couered ouer with 
a great shower of rayne : and in some places we tooke it at the 
first for a smoke that had risen ouer some great towne'. For 

' The description which Ralegh gives of the great catarnet is highly gra- 
phic, and shoivs his power in depicting scenery. The constant moisture 
which jirevaiU near cataracts imparts to the vegetation a livelier raloiir, 
and the anrrounding trees are clothed with numerous orehideons plants. 



S2 THE DISCOVERIE 

mine owiie part I was well perswaded from tbeiice to haue re- 
turned, beiug a very ill footemaD, but the rest were all so de- 
sirous to goe neere the said straunge thunder of waters, as they 
drew mee on by little and little, till we came into the next val- 
ley, where we might better discerne the same. I neuer saw a 
more beawtifiill countrey, nor more liuely pi-ospectes, hils bo 
raised heere and there ouer the vallies, the riuer winding into 
diuers braunches, the plaines adioyning without bush or stubble, 
all faire greene grasse, the ground of hard sand easy to march 
on, eyther for horse or foote, the deare crossing in euery path, 
the birds towardes the enening singing on euery tree with a 
thousand seueral tunes, cranes and herons of white, crimson, 
and carnation peai-chiug on the riucrs side, the ayre fresh with a 
gentle easterlie wind, and euery stone that we stooped to take vp, 
promised eyther golde or siluer by his complexion. Your Lord- 
ships shall see of many sortes, and I hope some of them cannot 
be bettered vnder the sunne, and yet we had no meancs but with 
our daggers and fingers to teare them out heere and there, the 
rockes being most hard of that minei-all span-e aforesaid, and is 
Hke a flint, and is altogether as hard or harder, and besides the 
veynes lie a fathome or two deepe in the rockes. But we wanted 
all thinges requisite sane onelie our desires, and good will to 
haue performed more if it had pleased God. To be short when 
both our companies returned, each of them brought also seuerall 
sortes of atones that appeared very faire, but were such as they 
found loose on the ground, and were for the most part hut cul- 



which prefer a moiBt Bituation. On descending the river Puramu, a tri- 
butary of the Upper Orinoco, in 1839, we obaervcii one evening towards 
sunset, at some distance before n«, what we at Brat mistook for clouds of 
white smoke from the fires which we supposed to have been kindled by 
some of our Indians, who had gone on before ; but we were soon unde- 
ceived ; it was a sheet of foam caused by a eotetact which the river Kunda- 
nana forms at its junction with the Paramu. It would be ditficuit to de- 
scribe the romantic scenery of this spot ; the artist who accompanied our 
expedition baa attempted to delineate it. (See Twelve Views in the Inte- 
rior of Guiana, p. 19, London : Ackermann and Co.) 



I 
I 



I 



oir aviANA. 83 

lored, and had nut any gold fised in tlictn, yet such as had no 
iudgenient or experience kept all that glistered, and would not 
be perswaded but it was rich because of the lustre, and brought 
of those, and of Marquesite with all, from Trinedado, and haue 
deliuered of those stones to be tried in many places, and haue 
thereby bred an opinion that all the rest is of the same : yet some 
of these stones I shewed afterward to a Spaniard of the Caracas 
who told me that it was El Madre deloro, and that the mine was 
farther in the grounde'. But it shall bee founde a weake pol- 
licie in mee, eyther to betray my selfe, or my Countrcy with 
imaginations, neyther am I so farre in lone with that lodging, 
watching, care, perill, diseases, ill sauoures, bad fare, and many 
other mischiefes that accompany these voyages, as to woo my 
selfe againe into any of them, were I not assured that the sunne 
couereth not so much riches in any part of the earth. Cuptaine 
Whiddon, and our Chirurgion Nick. MilUcltap brought me a 
kinde of stones like Saphires, what they may proue I knowe not, 
I shewed them to some of the Orenoqucponi, and they promised 
to bring me to a mountains, that had of them verye large peecea 
growing Diamond wise*: whether it be Christall of the moun- 

' The Ciiribs formerly hrouglit small cftlabaaheB with gold-duat to the 
Dutch at the Eseequibo, which tliey pretended to hare collected at the 
PacBcaima mountsina. Toward the end of the last centiuy, an intendant 
of Veoezuela, Don Jose Avalo, revived the idea of boundless mineral riehei 
in Guiana, and, being imposed upon by sotne Mexican miners who declared 
that the rocks of the Caroni were auriferous, erected considerable noiks in 
the neighbourhood of the tonn of L'pata. After large aums of the public 
money had been expended, it was found that the pyrites (Marquesite of 
Ralegb) contained no trace of gold whatever. Humboldt relates that not 
only was the mica-slate taken to the furnace, but strata of amphibolic 
(Homblendc) slate also were shown to him near Angostura, without any 
mixture of heterogeneous substances, which hod been worked imder the 
whimsical name of " oro negro " or black ore of gold. 

" The stones here alluded to are rock-crj'staU, which are found in dif- 
ferent situations in the Facaraitna mountains, but in the lai'gest quantities 
on the banks of the Upper Cotinga, which has hence received the name of 
the Crystal River (Rio CrisCaes) from the Portuguese. They are frequently 
very transparent, and consist of six-sided prisms, terminated by six-sided 
pyramidal points. The ciystals are sometimes tinctured vcith colouring 
g2 



THE DISCOVERIE 



tEunCj Brisioll Diamond, or Sapkire I doe not yet knowe, but I 
hope the best, sure I am that the place is as likely as those from 
whence all the rich stones are brought, and in the same height 
or very neare. On the left hand of this riuer CaroH are seated 
those nations which are called Iwarawakeri before remembred, 
which are enemies to the Epuremei : and on the hcade of it ad- 
ioyning to the greate lake Casstpa, are situate those other na- 
tions which also resist Jnga, and the Epuremei, called Cassepa- 
gotos, Eparegotos, and Arrawagotos. I farther vnderstood that 
this lake of Cassipa is so large, as it is aboue one dales ioumey 
for one of their Canoas to crossc, which may be some 40 miles, 
and that therein fall diners riners, and that great store of graines 
of Golde are found in the summer time when the lake falleth by 
the bauckes, in those braunches'. There is also another goodly 
riuer beyond Caroli which is called Arui, which also runneth 
thorow the lake Cassipa, and falleth into Orenoque farther west, 
making all that land bctweene Caroli and Ami an Hand, which is 



I 



matter, so as to resemble atnethysta, Hnd we likewise found near RorainiB 
aome smoky opal lUlegh's sccouuta arc therefore fully bome out when 
be speaks of preeious stonea. 

' The lake Cnssipa has been shifted by Biiccesaive geographera from place 
to place in the hydrograpbie system of the Orinoco, until recently, when 
its non-existence, like that of the lake Parima, baa been sufficiently proved. 
There is little doubt tbst the great inundations of tbe river Paragua, (one 
of the chief tributaries of the Ceroai, and which the missionaries of Pirita 
called a "laguna," from its extensive inundations and swampy nature,) 
together with the erroucoua explanation which Ralegh received as to the 
purport of the information communicated by the Indiana, gave rise to tbe 
account of the great lake of Cassipa, which he conceived to be forty miles 
long. Father Caidin expressly states that the river Paragua generally 
inundates the neighbouring country during tlie tropical winter (the rainy 
aeason), so that its real bed is then hardly diaeemible, for which reason it 
is called the Paragua, which means in the Caribbee language ' sea,' or ' great 
lake.' Raleghobserves that only the Caroli (Caroni) and the Arui (Rio Aro] 
issue from lake Cassipa; but in the mnpa of Sanson and D'AnTille the 
Rjo Oaura flows likewiae from lake Cassipa. This lake ia stUl indicated in 
Jeffery's ' Chart of the Coasts of Caracaa aud tbe Mouths of the Orinoco,' 
publiabed in 1794, where it approaches the right bank of the Orinoco 
withiu a few miles. 



likewise a moat beawtifull countrey. Next vnto Ami there are 
two riuers Atoiea and Caora', and on that braunch which is called 
Caora are a nation of people, whose headea appeare not aboue 
their shoulders, which though it may be thought a meere fable, yet 
for mine o\yne parte I am resolued iti8ti-ue,because euery child in 
the prouinces of Arromaia and Canuri affinne the same : they are 
called Ewaipanoma ■ they are reported to haue their eyes in their 
ahonldera, and their mouths in the middle of their breasts, and that 
a long train of haire groweth backward betwen their shoulders *. 

' Between tlie rivers Arn (Arui) and Caura. (Caora) the only stream of 
consequence is the Pao, which however must not be confounded with a 
lai^r river of that name which falls bto the Orinoco on the left or north- 
em bank. On the apposite shore, where the latter enters the Orinoco, 
and about fourteen miles lo the west of the river Aro, is a place and small 
stream called Muitaeo, to which Ralegh perhaps alludes under the name 
of Atolca. The Caora ia the river Caura, sometimes called Coori in older 

' The account which Ralegh gives of the Indian tribes who have their 
eyes in their shoulders and their mouths in the middle of their breasts, 
has been charged as another proof of hia attempt to deal in fables. Such 
Bccounta however have existed since the time of Pliny ; and when Ralegh 
reported the wonderfiil tales, which he sufficiently proves were not the 
offspring of hia own imagination, he merely related the coininon belief of 
the natives, not only at the period of his visit but up to this day. How 
frequently have wa heard, in oiu' rambling9,the most circumstantial Eicconnts 
of the existence of tribes equally absurd in appearance as Ralegh's Ewai- 
panoma I Ctesias speaks of men with the head of a dog, and Phny re- 
peats Herodotus' relation of the Aeephati, who, if the Libyans may be cre- 
dited, " have their mouths in their breasts." Sir John MandeviUe, speak- 
ing of the inhabitants of some southern islands, observes, "Alia insula 
habet homines aspectu deformes, nihil autcm colli ant capitis ostendentes ; 
unde et acephali nuncupantur : oculos autem habent ante ad scapulas, et 
in loco pectoris oa ajjertnm, ad formam ferri quo nostri caballi fra;nantur." 
We find therefore that Salegh had several prototypes, and, as he himself 
observes, he grounded his belief of the existence of such a people upon tha 
testimony of the natives. 

We learn from Humboldt's narrative that the forests of Sipnpo, where 
the misaonariea place the nation of Rayas who have the mouth at the navel, 
are altogether unknown. (Vol. 5. p. 176.) An old Indian whom the great 
traveller met at Cariehana, hoastcd of having seen these Aeephali with hia 
own eyes ; and, absurd as these fables are, Humboldt observes that they 
have spread as far as the Lbaos, " where you are nut always permitted to 
iloiibt the eiistence of the Raya Indians." It is jiralialile that Shakspearc, 



8S THE DlBCOVEUiK 

The sDime of Topiawari, wliicL 1 brought with mee into England 
tolde mee that they are the moat mightie men of all the lande, 
and vse bowes, arrowes, and clubs thrice as bigge as any of 
Guiana, or of the Orenoqueponi, and that one of the Iwarawakeri 
tooke a prisoner of them the yeare before our aniuall there, and 
brought him into the borders of Arromaia his fathers Conntrey : 
And farther when I seemed to doubt of it, hee tolde me that it 
was no wonder among them, but that they were as great a na- 
tion, and as common, as any other in all the prouinces, and had 
of late yearea slaine manie hundi-eda of his fathers people, and of 
other nations their neighbors, but it was not my chauuce to heare 
of them til I was come away, and if I had but spoken one word 
of it while I was there, I might haue brought one of them with 
me to put the matter out of doubt. Such a nation was written 
of by Maundeuile, whose reportes were held for fables many 
yeares, and yet since the East Indies were discouered, wee flnde 
Ilia relations true of such thinges as heeretofore were held in- 
credible : whether it be true or no the matter is uot great, nei- 
ther can there be any profit in the imagination, for mine owne 
part I saw them not, but I am resolued that so many people 
did not all combine, or forethinke to make the report. 

^Vlien I came to Cuirmna in the west Indies afterwards, by 
chaunce I spake with a apanyard dwelling not farre from thence, 
a man of great tranell, and after he knew that I had ben in 
Guiana , and bo farre directlie west aa C'aroli, the first question 
he asked me was whether I had seene anie of the Ewaipanoma, 
which are those without heades : who being esteemed a moat 

having read Ralegh's Guiana voyage, makes use of his account of the 
Ewaipanoma, wliich he introduces in liia Moor of Venice ; and when Othello 
giivc fair DcBileniona a relutiuu of the wonders be had seen, he included — 
" The csimibals, that each other eat, 

The Anthro]io])h»gi, and men nhose heada 

Do grow beneath their Bhoolders." 
Oldys supposes that thia was done in compliment to Sir Walter Balegh. 
Keyinia certifies the eiisteace of the headless men, and speaks, in a mar- 
ginal note, of a sort of people more monstrons, "who have eminent beads 
like doga, and bve aU the day-time in the sea, and they apeak the Csrib 
langiwfte." (Hakluyt, vol, iii. p. fi77-1 



OF OVIANA. 87 

honest man of his word, and iu all tbinges else, told me that he 
had seen manie of them : I may not name him because it may 
be for hia disaduantage, but he is well known to Monsier Mu- 
c/ierons sonne of London, and to Peter Muckeron marcliant of 
the Flemish shipp that waa there in trade, who alao beard what 
he auowed to be true of those people. The fourth river to the 
west of Caroli is Casnero ' which falleth into Ormoque on this 
side of Amapaia, and that riuer is greater then Danubius, or any 
of Europe : it riseth on the south of Guiana from the moun- 
taines which deuide Guiana from Amazones, and I thinke it to 
be nauigable many hundred miles : but we had no time, nieanes, 
nor season of the yeare, to search those riuers for the causes 
aforesaid, the winter being come vpjion vs, although the winter 
and summer as touching cold and heatc differ not, neither do 
the trees cuer senciblie lose their leaues, hut hane alwaies fruite 
either ripe or green, and most of them both blossomes, leauea, 
ripe fruite, and green at one time : But their winter onelie con- 
eiBteth of ten'ible raynes, and ouerflowings of the riuers, with 
many great stormes and gusts, thunder, and lightnings, of 
which we had our fill, ere we returned. On the North side, the 
first riuer that falleth into Orenoque^s Cari, beyond it on the 
same side is the riuer of Limo% betweene these two is a great 
nation of Canibals, and their chiefe towne beareth the name of 
the riuer and is called Acamacari : at this towne is a continuall 
markette of women for 3 or 4 hatchets a peece, they are bought 
by the Arwacas, and by them soldo iuto the west Indies^. To 



' It is probable that Ralegb aUiules to the river Cucliivcro, which 
comes from the aoiith and falls cast of Caicam into the Orinoeo. It is 
however a river of no such ai^e as to be worthy of being compared with 
the Danube. 

' The rivers Cari and limo unite previous to their falling iuto the 
Orinoco. 

' The sale of femaleB is now almost entirelj abolished among the Ouia- 
nians, although it was formerly carried du to a great extent by the Caribs. 
Tlie Macusis were accused of selling tlieir female relatives, and even their 
daughters ; and though we cannot vouch for the corrcctneaa of this asscr- 



88 THE UlSCUVLUlJi 

the west of Lima is the i-iuer Puo, beyuiid it Caluri, beyond 
that Voari and Capuri which falleth out of the great riuer of 
Meta, by which Berreo descended from Nueuo reyno de gra- 
nada^. To the westward of Capuri is the prouince of Amapaia, 
where Berreo wintered, and had so many of his people poysoned 
with the tawiiy water of the niavshes of the Ajiebas'*. Aboue 
Amapaia, towarde Nueuo reyno fall in, Meta, Palo, and Cas- 
sauar: to the west of these towardes the prouinces of the 
Ashaguas and Catetios are the riuers of Beta, Dawney, and 
Vbarro, and towardes the frontyer of Peru are the prouinces of 

tion, we knotv instancEB where females have heen sold during our visits 
from la35 to 1844, and carried to Demerara. We recollect the trial of an 
official person in the criminal court of that colony, his dismissal from 
office, and his incarceratinn, for having purchased two MocuBi girls, whom 
he was said to keeji in alavery. 

' It is not very evident which rivers Ralegh alludes to when speaking 
of the Caturi, Voari and Capuri. The latter is the Apure ; but whether 
the Caturi is the Rio Manapire and the Voari the Guarico may be ques- 
tioned, The proximity of the Apure, Araura sod Meta, and the numerous 
branches hy wliich the two farmer are connected, ^ve rise to great confa- 
aion. It is evident that Amapaia is the low swatnpy country between the 
Guarico and the Apure. The Casanare is one of the largest tributaries of 
the Meta, and is navigable up tp the foot of the Andes of New Granada. 
The banks of the Rio Pauto, a tribuCary of the Meta, were formerly inha- 
bited by Salivas. Tlie Rio Negro, which falls into the upper river Meta, 
iiaa its source within a few leagues of Santa Fc de Bogota. Indeed a 
tleet of flat-bottomed vessels may euter the Orinoco by the Boca de 
>'avios and ascend that river to the mouth of the Rio Meta, enti^ring which 
l.hey might go up one hundred and seventy-two league* till within twenty 
leagues of Santa F^ de Bogota. The communication with New Granada 
and Angostura by means of the Meta is not uncommon. These remarks 
of Ralegh sufGciently prove that he had a very good idea of the geography 
of thcHC regions. The river Goavar is probably the Guaviare or Guabiari, 
which has its source on the eastern foot of the Andes, and lions through 
the savannahs of San Juan de loa Llanos. 

' The marshes of the Anehaa are the entenaive plains of Casanare. An 
Indian tribe, the Banilias or Manibas, inhabit at present the regioot be- 
tween the rivers Uaupes, Igana and the sources of the Rio Negro, a tri- 
butary of the Amazon ; some are settled in the villus of the Rjo Negro. 
Arc they the descendants of Ralegh's Anebas, forced to emigrate from t}ie 
Casanare further southward? 



OF GVIANA. 80 

Thotnebamba and Vaximalta : adjoyniiig to Quito in the Nortli 
of Pent are the riuera of Guiacar and Goauar : and on the other 
side of the salde mountaines the riucr of Papamene which de- 
scendeth into Maragnon or Amazones passing through the pro- 
uince of Mutylones where Don Pedro de Osita who was slayne hy 
the traytour Aifiri before rehearsed, bnilt his Brigandines, when 
he sought Guaina by the waie of Amazones'. Betwcne Dawney 
and Beta lieth a famous Hand in Orenoque now called Baraquan 
{For aboue Meta it is not knowne by the name of Orenoque) 
which is called Athule^, beyond which, ships of burden cannot 
paase by reason of a most forcible ouerfall, and Current of 
waters : but in the eddy all smaller veaaelles may be drawen 
euen to Peru it selfe : But to speake pf more of these riuera 
without the description were but tedious, and therefore I will 
leaae the rest to the discription. This riuer of Orenoque ia 
nauigable for ships httle lease then 1000 miles, and for lesser 
vessels neere 2000. By it (as aforesaid) Peru, Nueuo reyno, and 
Popaian, may be inuaded : it also leadeth to that great Empire 
of Inga, and to the prouinces of Ajnapaia and Anebas which 
abound in gold: his branches of Cosnero, Mania, Caora de- 

' The Guiamr (GuHyare or CanicamBre) appears to be the CiuHyavero, t. 
tribiitEiry of the Giiaviare. The Papamene, or river of silver, is the Caqueta 
or Jupura, a tributary stream of the Solimoea or Upper Amazon, nhich 
Pedro de Ursua descended in 1560, to meet his death from the hands of 
the tjTant Aguirra. 

' Ordoz affirms that the Orinoco, from its mouth to the conflueace of 
the Meta, ia called Uriaparia, but that above this river it is called Orinucu. 
Kalegh's evidence contradicts this, as lie states expressly that above Meta 
it ia not knovcn by the name of Orenoque, and ia from thence called Bare- 
quan. The Orinoco above the junction of the Guaviare is called by the 
natives FaragUB, or great river, sea; and the erroneous interchange o!p and 
6, ao common among the Iniliana, may have given rise to Baraguan. The 
Rio Beta is a sinatl stream which, nearthe Isla Solvaje, enters the Orinoco 
&om the west; the Dawney, likewise frequently mentioned hy Sparrey, 
is probably the Rio Tomo. The cataract Ature (culled Athule by Italt^li 
and Sparrey] aUipa oil further navigation iu large boats during- the dry 
season; but when the bed of the river is full, small sloops dcacend from the 
Cassiquiare to Angostura. 



DO THE DISCOVERIE 

scend from the middle land and valley, which lyeth betweene 

the easier prouince of Pent and Guiana; and it fiilles into the 
sea betweene Maragntm and Trinedado in two degrees and a half, 
al which your Honors shal better percciue in the genei-all de- 
scription of Guiana, Ptrw, Nueuo reyjw, the kingdom of Popatjan, 
and Roidas, with the prouince of Venmello, to the bay of Vraba 
behind Cartagena, westward: and to Amazones southward'. 
While we lay at ancor on the coast of Canuri, and had taken 
knowledge of all the nations vpon the head and braunehes of 
this riuer, and had founde out so many seuerall people, which 
were enemies to the Epuremei, and the newe Conquerers: I 
thought it time lost to linger any longer in that place, especially 
for that the fury of Orenoque beganne daihe to threaten va with 
daungers in our retuine, for no halfe day passed, but the riuer 
began to rage and ouerflowe very fearefully, and the raines came 
downe in terrible sbowers, and gusts in greate abundance : and 
withall, our men beganne to cry out for want of shift, for no 
man had place to bestowe any other apparrell then that which 
he ware on his backe, and that was throughly washt on his body 
for the most part ten times in one day : and we had nowe beene 
well ncare a moncth, euery day passing to the weatwai'de, far- 
ther and farther fi-om our shippes. Wee therefore turned to- 
wards the cast, and spent the rest of the time in discouering the 
riuer towardes the sea, which we had not yet viewed, and which 
was most niateriall. The next day following we left the mouth 
of CaroU, and arriued againe at the port of Morequito where we 
were before (for passing downe the streame we went without 
labour, and against the windc, little lesse then 100 miles a day) : 
As soon as I came to ancor I sent away one for old Topiawari, 



' It Aoea not appear tliat Ralegh ever executed hii intention of giving a 
description of these regions ; at least no truce is to be discovered of such a 
manuscript, which would liave been of too great a value to have been 
passed over by bis contem))oraries and early biograpliem. The statEment 
that the Orinoco fellB into the sea in two degrees and a half must be a 
inia}irint, as he observes previously tlint the Caroni is in four degrees of 
latitude. 



op GVJANA, 91 

with whom I much desired to baue i'ai-ther conference, aud alao 
to deal with him for some one of bia eountrey, to bring with vs 
into England, as well to learne the language, as to conferre 
witball by the way, (the time being now spent of anie longer 
stay there) within three howers after my messenger came to him, 
he arriued alao, and with him sueh a rabble of all aortes of peo- 
ple, and euery one loden with somewhat, as if it had beene a 
great market or faire in England : and our hungrie companies 
clustered thicke and threefold among their baskets, euery one 
laying hand on what he liked. After he had reated a while in 
my tent, I shut out all hut our aelues, and my interpreter, and 
told him that I knew that both the Epvremei and the Spaniards 
were enemies to him, his eountrey, and nationa : that the one 
had conquered Guiana alreadie, and that the other sought to 
regaine the same from them both : And therefore I desired him 
to instruct me what hee coulde, both of the passage into the 
golden partes of Guiana, and to the ciuill townes and appar- 
rellcd people of Inga. Hee gaue me an aunawere to this effect : 
first that hee did not perceiue that I meant to goe onwarde to- 
wardes the Citie of Manoa, for neyther the time of the yeare 
serued, neyther could he perceiue any sufficient numbers for 
such an enterprize : and if I did 1 was sure with all my company 
to be buried there, for that the Eniperour was of that strength, 
as that many times so many men more were too few : besides 
he gaue me this good counscll and aduiscd me to hold it in 
minde (as for himselfe he knewe, he coulde not hue til my rctume) 
that I shoulde not offer by any meanes heereafter to inuade the 
strong partes of Guiana without the helpe of all those nations 
which were also their enemies : for that it was impossible with- 
out those, eyther to be conducted, to be victualled, or to haue 
ought carried with vs, our people not being able to indure the 
march in so great heate, and trauell, vnlease the borderers gaue 
them helpe, to cany with them both their meate and furniture : 
For he remembred that in the plainea of Macureguarai 300 
Spaniards were oucrthrowen, who were tired out, and had none 



92 TlIK DISCOVERm 

of the borderers to tbetr friendeSj but meeting their enimies aa 
they passed the frontier, were inuironed of all sides, and the 
people setting the long dry grasse on fire, smothered them so as 
they had no breath to fight, nor coulde discernc their enemies 
for the great smoke'. He told me farther that fower daies 
ioiimey from his towne was Macureguurai, and that those were 
the nest, and nearest of the sabiectes of Inga, and of the Epv- 
remei, and the first towne of appaiTelled and rich people, and 
that all those plates of Golde which were scattered among the 
borderers and carried to other nations farre and neare, came 
from the saide Macureguarai and were there made, but that 
those of the landc within, were farre finer, and were fasbibned 
after the Image of men, beastes, birdes, and fishes. I asked him 
whether he thought that those eomjianies that I had there with 
me, were sufficient to take that towne or no, he told nie that he 
thought they were. I then asked him whether he woulde assist 
me with guides, and some companies of his people to ioyne with 
vs, he answered that he would go himself with all the borderers, 
if the riuers did I'emaine fordable, vpon this condition that I 
woulde leaue with him til my returne againe fiftie souldiers, 
which hee vndertooke to victual ; I answerd that I had not 
aboue fiftie good men in all there, the rest were labourers and 
rowers, and that I had no prouision to leaue with them of pow- 
der, shot, apparrell, or ought else, aud that without those thinges 
nccessarie for their defence, they shoulde be in daunger of the 
Spaniardcs in my absence, who I knew woulde vse the same 



' TopiawBci alludes here to Berreo'g unfortunate expedition up the Ca- 
roni, of which Fray Simon gives b detailed description in his ' Setima Noticia 
hi«torial de las Conquistas de Tierra flnne.' The grass on the savannaha 
Bometimesreachesaheigiitof five to sis feet. Itia a common custom among 
the Indians to set it ou fire during the dry season, and the aspect which 
such " a sea of fire " affords, espeeially at night, is certainly sublime, 
although not unconnected with danger; we recollect that we were repeat- 
edly obliged to strike our tents aud fly for our life, when hy chance the 
mindhad changed and the flames were approaching oiu'camp ; we have like- 
wise mtnesscd the hurni:^ dowa of Indian settlements on such oi 



OF CVIANA. 93 

E towardea nnue, tbat I offered tliera at Trinedado : And 
although vpoD the motion Captaine Calfelde, Captaiiie Greemiile, 
my nephewe lohn Gilbert and diners others were desiroura to 
ataie, yet I was resolned that they must needs hane perished, 
for Berreo expected daily a supply out of Spaync, and looked 
also howerly for his BOnne to come downe from Nueuo reyno de 
Granada, with many horse and foote, and had also in Valentia 
in the Caracas, 200 horse readie to march, and I conlde not 
hane spared aboiie fortie, and had not anie store at all of powder, 
leade, or match to haue left with them, nor anie other pi-ouision, 
eyther spade, pickeaxc, or ought else to haue fortified withall. 
When I had giuen him reason that I could not at this time 
leaue him such a company, he then desired me to i'orbcarc him, 
and his countrey for that time, for hee assured me that I shoulde 
bee no sooner three daies from the coast, hut those Epuremei 
woulde iuuade him, and deatroyc all the rcmayne of his people 
and friendca, if hee shoulde any way eyther guide vs, or assist 
vs against them. Hee inrther alleadged that the Spaniards 
sought his death, and as they bad alreadie murdered his Ncpliew 
Morequito Lorde of that pronince, so they had him 17 daies in 
a chaiue before hee was king of the Countrey, and ledde him 
like a dogge from place to place, vntill hee had paide 100 plates 
of Golde, and diuers chaines of spleene stones for his raunsome, 
and nowe since hee became owner of that pronince that they 
had manie times laide waite to take him, and that they woulde 
be nowe more vehement when they shoulde vnderstand of hia 
conference with the English, aud because said hee, they woulde 
the better displant me, if they cannot lay handcB on mee, they 
haue gotten a Nephew of mine called Eparacano whome they 
haue christened Don Inan, and his sonnc Don Pedro, whome 
they hane also upparrelled and armed, by whome they seeke to 
make a partie against mce, in mine ownc countrey ; hee also 
hath taken to wife one Louiana, of a strong famdie, which are 
my borderers and neighbours : and my selfe beeing nowe olde 
and in the handcs of death, am not able to trauell nor to shift. 



as when I wast of younger years : hee therei'oie prayed va to de- 
ferre it till the next yeare, when hee would undertake to drawe 
in all the borderers to aerue vs, and tben also it woulde be more 
seasonable to trauel, for at tbin time of the yearCj we should not 
be able to passe any riuer, the waters were and would be so 
growen ere our returue. Hee farther told me that I could not 
desire so much to inuade Macureguari, and the rest of Guiana 
but that the borderers would be more vehement then I, for he 
ycelded for a chiefe cause that in the wars with the Epuremei, 
they were spoylcd of their women, and that their wiues and 
daughters were taken from them, so as for their owne partes 
they desired nothing of the gold or treasure, for their labors, but 
onely to recouer women fi-om the Bpuremei : for he farther 
complayned very sadly (as if it had bcene a matter of greate 
consequence) that whereas they were wont to haue ten or twelne 
wiues, they were now inforced to content themselues with three 
or fower, and that the Lords of the Epuremei had 50 or 100. 
And in truth they warrc more for women, then eyther for gold 
or dominion. For the Lords of countries desire many children 
of their owne bodies, to encrease their races and kindreds, for 
in those consist their greatest trust and strength. Diuers of 
his followers afterwardes desired me to make hast againe, that 
they might sacke the Epuremei, and I asked them of what ? they 
answered, of their women for vs, and their Golde for you : for 
the hope of many of those women they more desire the warre, 
then eyther for Golde, or for the recouery of their ancient terri- 
tories. For what betwecne the subiectes of Inga, and the Spa- 
niards, those frontiers are growen thinnc of people, and also 
.great numbers are fled to other nations farther off for feare of 
the Spanyardes. After I receiued this aunsweare of the oldc 
man, wee fell into consideration, whether it had beene of better 
aduice to haue entered Macureguarai, and to haue begunne a 
warre vpon Inga at this time, yea or no, if the time of the yere, 
and all thinges else had sorted. For mine own part {as we were 
not able to march it for the riuers, neither had any such strength 



OF QVIA\A. 95 

as was requisite, and durst not abide the coming of tbe winter, 
or to tarrie any longer from our Bhips) I thought it verie euill 
couiise]! to haue attempted it at that time, although tbe desire 
of golde will aunswere many obiectiona : But it woulde haue 
been in mine opinion an vtter onerthrowe to the enterprize, if 
the same should be hereafter by her Maiestie attempted ; for 
then (whereas now they haue heard we were enemies to the 
Spaniards and were sent by her Maiestie to relieue them) they 
would as good cheape haue ioyned with the Spanyards at our 
retuine, aa to haue yeelded vnto vs, when they had proued that 
we came both for one errant, and that both sought but to sacke 
and spoyle them, but as yet our desier of gold, or our purpose 
of inuasion ia not known vnto those of the Empire : and it is 
likely that if her maiestie vndertake the enterprize, they will 
rather submit themselues to her obedience then to the Span- 
yards, of whose cruelty both themselues and the borderers haue 
alreadie tasted : and therfore til I had known her raaiestiea 
pleasure, I woulde rather haue lost the sacke of one or two 
townes {although they might haue been very profitable) then to 
haue defaced or endaungered the future hope of bo many mil- 
lionsj and the great good, and rich trade which England maie 
bee possessed off thereby. I am assured nowe that they will all 
die euen to the last man against the Spanyardes, in hope of our 
succoure and returne : whereas otherwise if I had either laid 
handes on the borderers, or ransommed the Lordea aa Berreo 
did, or inuaded the aubiects of Iti^a, I kuowe all had been lost for 
hereafter. After that I had rcsolued Topiawari Lorde of Aro- 
maia that I could not at this time leaue with him the compa- 
nies he desired, and that I was contented to forbeare the enter- 
prize againat the Epuremei till tbe nest yeare, he freely gaue me 
his onelie sonne to take with me into England, and hoped, tbat 
though he himaelfe had but a short tyme to liue, yet that by our 
meanes his sonne shouldc be established after hia death : and I 
left with him one Fraunds Sparrow, a aeruant of captaine Gifford^ 
' The name of the person whom Sir Walter Balegh left behind was 



(who was deaii'ous to tarry, and coulde describe a cimtrey with 
his pen) and a boy of mine called Hugh Goodwin, to leame the 
language. I after asked the manner howe the Ejmremei wrought 
those plates of golde, and howe they coulde melt it out of the 
stone j he tolde me that the most of the gold which they made 
in plates and images was not seuered from the stone, hut that 
on the lake of Manoa, and in a multitude of other riuers they 
gathered it in graines of perfect golde and in pceces ue bigg as 
small stones, and that they put to it a part of copper, other- 
wise they coulde not worke it, and that they vsed a great earthen 
potte with holes round about it, and when they had mingled the 
gold and copper together, they fastned cauea to the boles, and 
so with the breath of men they increased the fire till the mettell 
ran, and then they cast it into moulds of stone and clay, and ao 
make those plates and Images. I haue sent your Honours, of 
two sorts such as I coulde by chance reconcr, more to shew the 
manner of them, then for the value : For I did not in any sort 
make my desire of golde knowen, because I had neyther time, 
nor power to hauc a greater quantitic. I gaue among them 
manye more pceces of Golde then I receaued of the new money 
of 20 shillings with her Maiesties picture to weare, with promise 
that they would become her seruauts thenceforth'. 

I haue also sent your Honors of the oare, whereof I knowe 



Francii Spotrey, as we see irom the publication of his deacriptioii of the 
" Ue of Triaidad, the rich countrie of GuJEiDS, and the mightie river of 
Orenoco, written by Frencia Spftrrey, left there by Sir Walter Ralegh 1596, 
and in the end taken by the Spaniards and sent prisoner into Spaine, anil 
after long captivities got into England by great ante. 1502." (Purchoa, 
vol. iv. cliap. 11.) It does not contain much additional infonnation above 
what ha^l already been told by Ralegh himself. 

' The only use which the Indiana of the interior, who have no inter- 
conrse with the coast, make of money is to wear it as an ornament ronnil 
their neck. We have distributed many a shilling for such a purposei and 
by barter between the tribes money finds thus its way to the most distant 
nations. We met among the Woyawais, a tribe inhabiting the Gources of 
the Esacquiho, a medal struck to commemorate the victor}' of Frederic the 
Great at Chottusitz on the l"th of May, 1742. 



OF GVIANA. 97 

some is as rich as the earth yecldeth aiiie, of which I know there 
is sufficient, if nothing else were to be hoped for'. But besides 
that we were not able to tarry and search the hils, bo we had 
neither piooers, bars, sledges, nor wedges of Iron, to brcake the 
ground, without which there is no working in niynes ; but we 
sawe all the hds with stones of the eullor of Gold and siluer, and 
wee tried them to be no Marquesite, and therefore such aa the 
Spaniards call El Madre del oro, which is an vndoubted assurance 
of the general! abundance ; and ray selfe saw the outside of many 
mines of the white sparre, which I know to be the same that all 
couet in this worlde, and of those, more then I will speake of. 

Hauing learned what I could in Canuri and Aromoia, and re- 
eeined a faithful promise of the principallest of those prouincea 
to become seruauntea to her Maiestie, and to resist the Spa- 
nyardes, if they made any attempt in our absence, and that they 
woulde drawe in the nations about the lake of Cassipo, and those 
Iwarawaqueri, \ then parted from olde Topiawari, and receiued 
his Bonne for a pledge hetweene vs, and left with him two of 
ours as aforesaid^ : To Francis Sparrowe I gane instmctions to 
trauell to Macureguarai, with such marchaundizes as I left with 



' Oldys observes, that some of the ore which Sir Walter Rslegh brooght 
from Guiana, and yirobnbly aome of that which he brought at this time, 
had been so carefidl; preserved in his famil;', that he himself saw it in the 
poaaession of Captun Wilham Elnes, who, with various communicatioDs 
relating to Pir Waller Ralegh, obliged him hkewiae with a sight of the ore. 
(Oxford eiijt. of Sir Walter Ralegh's Life, note at p. 221.) 

' Topiawari expected the return of Sir Walter Ealegh for a considerable 
period. In the ' Relation of the Habitations and other Observations of the 
River Martvin,' to whieh we have already had occasion to allnde (see ante, 
note at p. 38), the author mentions that the old Indian who came dcwn the 
Salinama (Surinam), and who was born at the Orinoco, told him that 
Topiawari wondered much that he had not heard from Sir Walter Ralegh, 
according to his promise, and that " To|>iawari bad drawn in the Indians 
of Wariwackeri, Amiariocopana, Wickeri, and all the people that belonged 
to Wanuritona, Captain of Canuria, and Wacariopea, Captain of Sayma, 
against Sir Walter hii coming, to have warred against the Yeandcipure- 
weis, and as yet Wanuritono and Wacariopea do expect his coming." 
(Purchas. book vi. ebap. 17) 



98 THB DISCOVERIE 

him, thereby to leame the place, and if it were poaaible to go on, 
to the gi-eat City of Manoa : which being done, we weyed ancor, 
and coasted the riuer on Guiana side, because we came vp on 
the north side, by the launes of the Saima and Wikiri. 

There came with vs from Aromaia, a Cassigue called Putijma, 
that commaunded the prouince of Warapana, (which Putijma 
slewe the nyne Spaniardes vppon Caroli before spoken of,) who 
desired vs to rest at the porte of his Conntrey, promising to 
bring V9 to a mountaiue adioyning to hia towne that had atones 
of the eullor of Golde, which hee performed ; And after wee bad 
reated there one night, I went my selfe in the morning with 
most of the Gentlemen of my campany, ouer lande towardea the 
aaide mountaine, marching by a riuera side called Mana, leaning 
on the right hande a towne called Tuteritona, standing in the 
prouince of Tarracoa, of which JVariaaremagolo ia principall: 
Beyond it lyeth another towne towardes the south, in the valley 
of Amariocapana, which beareth the name of the saide valley, ■ 
whose plaines stretch themselues some 60 miles iu length, e 
and weat, as fayre grounde, and as beawtifull ficldes, as any man J 
hath euer seeue, with diuers copses scattered heere and there by I 
the riuera aide, and all as full of deare, as any forrest or parke I 
in England, and in euery lake and riuer the like abundance of I 
fish and fowie, of which Irraparragota is Lord'. 

From the riuer of Mana, we crost another riuer in the said | 
beawtifull valley called Oiana, and rested our seines by a cleare ^ 
lake, which lay in the middle of the said Oiana^, and one of our 

' It appears that the regions whicli Sir Walter describes are the plains 
of UpatA aud PiacoB, formerly the site of numerous missioua. Theae sa- 
vannalia are nhuailantly viaited by a species of deer (willed. Beyou, Walking, 
&c. by the Indians), the large antlers of which show that it is best adapted 
for open plains or Bucannahs. There is atill great uncertainty respecting 
its speciSc distinction, but we suppose it to be the Gitaeuti of Azsra, or 
Mazaraa campestris of Smith. 

' The allusion to the lake leads us to suppose that this was the river 
Ciwacoima; the Mana would therefore be the river now called Supamo. 
The river Conoyoima has Ukewise a lake close to its bank; but from . 
the relation which foUowa, it appears that Sir Walter had to row tonM 



guides kindling vs fire with two sticfces', we staled a while to 
dry our shirts, which with the heat hong very wwte aud beany 
on our shoulders. Afterwards we sought the ford to passe ouer 
towards the mountain called Iconuri, where Putijma foretold vs 
of the mine. In this lake we saw one of the great fishes, as big 
as a wine pipe, which they call Manati, and is most e:!cclleut and 
holsome meate*. But after I perceiued, that to passe the saide 
riuer woulde require haife a daies march more, I was not able 
my selfe to indure it, and therefore 1 sent Captaine Keymk with 
sL\ shotte to goe on, and gaue him order not to returne to the 
port of Putijma, which ia called Ckiparepare, but to take leasure, 
and to march downe the said valley, as farre as a riuer called 



stance before he reached Arriaeoa, while the mouth of the Conoyoima is 
scarcely font miles from " where Orinoco deuideth it selfe into three great 
brtiLmches." 

' The skill of the Indians in kindling fire by means of two sticks is very 
surprising. None of us Europeanit were able to imitate them in this art. 
The sticks axe two different kmds of wood, one of which is softer than 
the other; the tree fr^m which the softer is taken is called Hirihiri. A 
small notch having been made in the Hirihiri wood, it U kept by means of 
the great toe and its adjunct (by the bye the Indian naes his toes as ekil' 
fully ns we do our Sngera) firmly on the ground. He now takes the stick 
of harder wood, and applying the end of it to the notch, turns it rapidly 
round with a twirling motion ; the friction enlarges the noteh of the hori- 
zontal stick, and at its side appears a small heap of wood-dust, the result 
of the revolving motion, which ultimately, when the tnction produces 
smoke, ignites like tinder. Meanwhile some dry grass and fine shavings 
of wood or the bekerada (a peculiar stuff which is found in ants' nest« and 
aervea as touch-wood) hnve been kept ready, which are put upon the 
burning embers, and the flame soon appears. It is now seldom that the 
Indians resort to their original mode of making fire ; most of them possess 
a steel, and the red and blue jaspers of Roraima serve the same purpose as 
the best flints. 

' The Lamantin or Manati {Manatas americanus, Cuv.) is very nbun- 
dant in some of the nvers in Guiana. It affords a wholesome meat, of 
good flavour, intermediate between pork and veal ; nevertheless, in cunic- 
quence of some superstitious scruples, many of the Indian tribe« do not eat 
it. As the animal ia amphibious, the Catholics are purmittvil to iiw iU 
meat during Lent and on other fast days. We know little of llic uiiato> 
mica] structure of this animal, which is atill h great rarity in our iniiM'unii. 

||2 



IW) TIIE DIaCOVEBlE 

Cumaca^i where I proniiaed to meete him againe, {Putijma him- 
selfc proraisiug also to be Mb guide,) and as they marched, they 
left the townes of Emparepana, and Vapurepana, on the right 
handc, and marched from Putijtnas house, downe the saidc val- 
ley of Amariocapana, and wee returning the same dale to the 
riuera side, sawe by the way many rockes, like vnto Golde oare, 
and on the left hand, a rounde mountaine which consisted of 
mineral I stone. 

From hence we rowed downe the streame, coasting the pro- 
uincc of Parino; Aa for the brannches of riuers which I ouer- 
passe in disconrae, those shal be better espressed in the descrip- 
tion, with the mountaines of Aio, Ara, and the rest, wbieli are 
situate in the prouinces of Parino and Carricurrina*. When 
wee were come aa farre downe as the lande called Arriacoa, 
{where Orenoque deuideth it selfe into three great braunehes, 
each of them bceing moat goodly riuers^,) I sent away Captaine 

' Cnmacn is an Arawaak word, and signifies Silk-rotton-tree {Bofniai 
Ceiba, Linn.}. A settlement called Cumaka is at piegent situated on the 
Aruka, a tributary stream of the river Barima. lUdcgb probably alludd 
here to the river Tipurua. 

' The word CarrieiuTina is n compound of CarucKri or Carucunt, which 
in theTamimac and Carib dialects si^ifies gold; yellow, like a lemon, is 
called tikire in Carib, and emmipo in Macusi. It is very remarkable that 
the Indians of Guiana have no word for silner in their language. They 
have adopted the Spanish and Portuguese plata and prala; and in the 
eyes of the untutored natives a piece of silver has much greater value 
tbaD a similar piece of gold. Humboldt considers it probable that Cam- 
f^uru is a foreign word, which may have been introduced vcith this precious 
metal from the Cordilleras. " In the Peruvian or Quichua (lengua del 
Inga) gold is called cori, whence arc derived chickicori, gold in powder, 
and coritoya, gold ore." (Humboldt's Personal Narrative, English trans- 
lation, vol. V. p. 823.) ArtieleB of brass, or any metal of a yellow colour, 
are expressed among the Guianese by a word which contains the radical 
com or cori. Halcgh introduces Carricurrina, gold-land, with some inge- 
nuity, the more since the observation that he " saw by the way many I'ocks 
like unto gold ore" had just before been stated. 

" We have alluded to this Uivision of the Orinoco on a former occasion 
(see ante, note at p. G3). The branch which Ralegh descended, and which 
he calls Cararoopana, is now known by the name of the Cafio Piacoa, from 
a town of that name which hes on the right bank of the Orinoco, and 



oy BViANA. 101 

Henry Thyn, and Captaine Greemtuile with the Galley, the near- 
est way, and tooke with me Captaine Gifford, Captaine Calfeild, 
Edward Porter, and Captaine Eynos with mine owne barge, and 
the two wherries, and went downe that braunch of Orenotpie, 
which is called Cararoopano, which leadcth towards Emeria the 
prouince of Carapana, and towards the east sea, aa well to finde 
out Captaine Keymis, whome I had sent oucr land, as also to 
acquaint my selfc with Carapana, who is one of the greatest of 
all the Lordea of the Orenoqueponi : and when we came to the 
riuer of Cumaca {to which Putijma promised to conduct Captaine 
Keymis) I left Captaine Eynos and Master Porter in the said 
riuer to expect his comming, and the reat of vb rowed downe the 
streame towardes Emeria. 

In this braunch called Cararoopano were also many goodly 
Ilandes, some of aixe miles long, some of tenne, and some of 
Twentie, when it grewe towards simne sett, we entred a braunch 
of a riuer that fel into Orenogue called Winicapora^, where I 
was enformed of the mountaine of Christall, to which in trueth 
for the length of the way, and the euill season of the ycare, I 
waa not able to march, nor abide any longer vpon the ionmey : 
we saw it a faxre off and it appeared hke a white Church towre 
of an exceeding height: There falleth ouer it a mightie riuer 
which toucheth no parte of the aide of the mountaine, but 
nisheth oucr the toppe of it, and falleth to the grounde with a 
terrible noyse and clamor, as if 1000 great belles were knockt one 
against another'. I thinke there is not in the worlde so straunge 

which coDstituteB the chief place of the cantoii of the Lower Orinoco or 
PiacoB. 

' Winicapora is probably the river now called Cafio Soai ; its name is 
derived irom the Arawauk longuuge, Woiiin signifies nun, Woamiabo 
water, and Cabara (eapora) a small river or brook. We meet frequently 
compounds of that description on the rivera Demcram and Berbicc, the 
banks of which are mostly inhabited by Arawaaks; as for esample Cami- 
cabara, CatchicabarB, &c. 

' Tbe wonders of tbe mountains of Roraima and Cukenam, upon whieli 

one of tbe brani^hes of the Caroni (the Cukenam) baa ita sources, arc so 

famed among the Indians, that the author of these notes recognises in 

' Ralegh's relation a description of these regions. We have already alluded 



102 TBB DtGCOVEElH: 

au ouerfall, nor ao wonderfull to bebolde : Berreo Eolde mee that 
it hath DiamondeB and other precious stones on it, and that they 
ahined very farre off: but what it hath I knowe not, neyther 
durst he or any of his men asccnde to the toppe of the saide 
mountaine, those people adioyning beeing hia enemies {as they 
were) and the way to it so impassible. 

Vpon this riuer of IVinecapora wee rested a while, and from 
thence marched into the Coimtrey to a towne called after the 
name of the riuer, whereof the chiefe was one Timitwara, who 
also offered to conduct mee to the toppe of the saide mountaine 
called Wacarima : But when wee came in first to the house o£ 
the saide Timitwara, beeing vppon one of their feaat daies, wee 
founde them all as drunke as beggers, and the pottea walking 
from one to another without rest' : we that were weary, and 

to this remarkable inouiit*in group of primitive sandstone, whicli estends 
about thirty miles iu a nortb-irest oaA auuth-east direetiou. aud rieea up- 
wards of five thousand feet above the table-land, tbe uppurmost fourteen 
hundred feet presenting a mural precipice of the most striking appearaiice. 
Down tbe face of these mountains rush numerous cascades, which erentu- 
allj form tributaries to the three great rivers of the northern half of South 
America, namely the Amazon, the Orinoco and the Essequibo, (See ante, 
note at p. 75.) 

' The scenes which occur during one of tbeir ilrinking feasts surpaai 
all description. The quantity of liquor (bunk on such on occasion is 
enormous; and as there would not be a sufficient number of vessels in the 
ki^st household of an Indian chieftain to contain it, a canoe ia generally 
taken from the river, rendered water-tight, and filled with their beverage. 
They do not stop until it ia emptied ; when it cornea however to the dregs, 
the greater Dumber lie scnaeleas on the ground or in their hammocks. A 
friend haa drawn our attention to a note in the 'Anglo-Saxon Dialogues 
of Salomon and Saturn,' edited by Mr. John M. Kemblc, for the M]Mc 
Society (p. 176), in which the editor aaya ; — " The ideas of cup and ship 
min|;le singularly together in the old Norae expreaaions : thua in Uymii- 
qnida, § lixxiii,, a large drinking vessel or cup is called Dl-Kiol, naeigiim 



I 

I 



pat cr til costar 



That may be tried 
if ye can carry 



dwelling the beership. 



n Haeonarquida it appears that Winfar, 
," Now we think that Ol-Kiol has a i 



vini nnris, also denotes 
c literal stgnification than 



OF GVIANA, 



hotte with marching, were glad of the plenty, though a small 
quantitie satisfied vs, their drinke beeing very strong and heady, 
and BO rested our seines awhile ; after we had fedde, wee drewe 
our seines backe to onr boats, vppon the riuer, and there came 
to vs all the Lordes of the Conntrey, with all such kinde of vic- 
tnall as the plaee yeelded, and with their delicate wine of Ptnas, 
and with aboundance of hens, and other prouisions, and of those 
stones which wee call Spleene-stones. Wee vnderstoode by these 
chiefetaines of Winicapora, that their Lorde Carapana was de- 
parted from Emeria which was nowe in sight, and that hee was 
fledde to Cairamo, adioyning to the niountaines of Guiajia, ouer 
the valley called Amariocapana, beeing perswaded by those t^nne 
Spanyardes which lay at hia house, that we woulde destroy him, 
and his countrey. 

But after these Cassiqui of Winicapora and Saporatona his 
followers perceiued our purpose, and sawe that we came as ene- 
mies to the SpanyardeB onely, and had not bo much as harmed 
any of those nations, no though wee founde them to bee of the 
Spanyardes owne seruantes, they assui'ed vb that Carapana woulde 
bee as readie to serue vs, as any of the Lordes of the prouinccs, 
which wee had passed ; and that hee durst doe no other tdl this 
daie hut entertaine the Spanyardes, his countrey lying so directly 
in their waie, and next of all other to any enterance that should 
bee made in Guiana on that side. 

And they farther assured vs, that it was not for feare of our 
comming that hee was remoued, hut to bee acquited of those 
Spanyardes or any other that shoulde come heercafter. For the 

B9 explained by Mr. Kctnble : the (custom of the Indians presents so rcmark- 
able a coincidence ivith this, that we consider the expreBsion to have a 
deeper meaning than the mere eonvenience of bo large a cup. We have 
ah^ady observed (see ante, note at p. 65) that the trough tvhich forms 
generally a utensU in the houses of chieftains, fur the purpose of containing 
the beverage during festivals, is called Canoua or Canoe, and this is the 
case in all the Guianian languages and dialects ve are acquainted nith^ 
This veasel has the shape of a boat, and on occasions, as before referred 
to, B canoe is taken in addition out of the water. 



101 



i DIBCOVBEIE 



prouiiice of Cairoma is situate at the moimtaiue foote, which de- 
uideth tlie plaioea of Guiana, from the countries of the Orenogue- 
poni : by meanea whereof if any shoulde come in our absence into 
his townes, hee woulde slippe ouer the moimtainea into the plaiues 
of Guiana amonge the Epuremei, where the Spanyardes duiste 
not foUowe him without greate force. 

But in mine opinion, or rather I assure my selfe, that Cara- 
pana (heeing a notable wise and siibtile fellowe, a man of one 
hundi'ed yeares of age, and therefore of greate experience) is 
remooued, to looke on, and if hee finde that wee retume strong, 
hee will bee ours, if not, hee will excuse hia departure to the 
Spanyards, and say it waa for feare of our comniing. 

We therefore thought it bootelea to rowe so farre downe the 
strcamej or to seeke any fai-ther for this olde fox : and therefore 
frome the riuer of Waricapana {which lieth at the entrance of 
Emeria,) we turned again, and left to the Eastward those 4 
riuers which fall from out the mountaines of Emeria and Ore- 
noque, which are Waracapari, Coirama, Akaniri, and Iparoma^ : 
belowe those 4 are also these braunches and mouths of Oi-enoqae, 
which fall into the Est sea, whereof the first is Araturi, the next 
Amacura, the third Barima, the fourth Wana, the fift Morooca, 
the eixt Paroma, the last Wijmi : beyond them, there fall out of 
the land betweene Orenoqite and Amazones 14 riuers which I 
forbeare to name, inhabited by the Arwacas and Caniballs. 

It is nowe time to i-eturue towardes the North, and we founde 
jt a wearisome way baeke, from the borders of Emeria, to re- 



' The rivei"* here allailed to we probably the Socoroeo (Waracapari), 
Imataca (Coirama), Aguire (Akaniri) and Carapo (Iparoma). The coan- 
ttj whicli in watered by these rivera is called Emeria by Ralegh. The suc- 
ceeding six rivera beM nearly the game names as mentioned by Ralegh ; 
only the Wana is called Waini or Ouainia, and the Paroma or Pawrama 
the Pomeroon. We cannot conjecture what Ralt^h means by Wijmi, 
except he confounds it with the Waini already enumerated, as the only 
river of consequence whieh follows the Pomeroon is the Esaequibo, which 
nt that period was called Disaekebe or Divortia, as we learn fi-ora Keymis, 
or Araunama by the Arawaaks. 



OF OVIANA. 105 

eoner vp againe to the head of the riuer Carerupana, by which 

we descended, and where we parted from the galley, which I di- 
rected to take the next way to the Porte of Toparimaca, by which 
we entred first. 

All the night it was stormie and darke, and fiiU of thunder 
and great showers, so as we were driuen to Veepc close by the 
bankea in our small boats, being all heartely afraid both of the 
billowej and terrible Current of the riuer. By the next morn- 
ing wee reeouered the mouth of the riuer of Cumaca, where wee 
left Captaine Eynus and Edward Porter to attend the coming 
of Capatine Keymts ouer land : hut when we entred the same, 
they had heard no newcs of his ariuall, which breddc in va a 
great doubt what might be become of him : I rowed vp a league 
or two farther into the riuer, shooting off peeces all the way, 
that he might know of our being there : And the next morning 
we hearde them anawere vs also with a peece : we tooke tbem 
abord vs, and tooke our leaue of Pulijma their guide, who of all 
others moat lamented our departure, and offred to send his sonne 
with vs into England, if we could haue staide till he had sent 
hacke to his towne ; but our hearts were cold to behold the great 
rage and increase of Orenoque, and therefore departed, and 
turned towarde the west, till we had reeouered the parting of 
the 3 braunches aforcsaide, that wc might put downe the streamc 
after the Galley. 

The next day we landed on the Hand of Assapana, (which 
deuideth the riuer from that braunch by which we went down to 
Emeria) and there feasted our selues with that beast which is 
called Armadilla presented vnto vs before at IVinicapora, and 
the day following we recoaei-ed the galley at ancour at the port 
of Toparimaca, and the same euening departed with verie fowie 
weather and terrible thunder, and showers, for the winter was 
come on verie farre : the best was, we went no lesse then 100 
miles a day, down the riuer : but by the way we entred, it was 
impossiblie to return, for that the riuer of Amana, being in the 
bottome of the bay of Guanipa, cannot be sayled back by any 



106 



THE DI8C0VER1E 



meancs, both the brize and cmrente of the sea were 80 forcible, 
and therefore we followed a braunch of Orenoque called Capuri*, 
which eutred into the sea eastward of our ships, to the end we 
might beare with them before the wind, and it was not without 
neede, for we had by that way as much to crosse of the maine 
sea, after wee came to the riucrs mouth as betweene Grauelyn 
and Doner, in such boats as your Honours haue heard. 

To speakc of what past homeward were tedious, eyther to de- 
scribe or name any of the riuers. Hands, or vUIages of the TVmi- 
tiuas which dwell on trees, we will leaue all those to the generali 
mappe : And to be Hhort, when we were arriued at the sea side 
then grew our greatest doubt, and the bitterest of all our ioumey 
forepassed, for I protest before God, that wee were in a most 
desperate estate; for the same night which we ancored in the 
mouth of the riuer of Capuri, where it falleth iuto the sea, there 
arose a mighty storme, and the riuers mouth was at least a 
league broad, so as we ran before night close vnder the laud with 
our small boates, and brought the Galley as neere as we could, 
but she had as much a doe to line as coulde be, and there wanted 
little of her sinking, and all those in her : for mme own part, I 
confesse, I was very doubtfull which way to take, eyther to goe 
ouer in the peatred Galley, there beeing but sixe foote water 
ouer the sands, for two leagues together, and that also in the 
channel!, and she drew fiue : or to aduentnre in so great a bil- 
low, and in so doubtfidl weather, to crosse the seas in my barge. 

' About four miles below Barrancaa, the first of the branches which form 
the oceanic delta of the Orinoco acpttratea from the principal trunk ; it is 
at present known under the name of Brazo (arm or branch) Macareo. 
About fifteen miles from this point the Brazo Macareo diTidcs into two 
branches, of which the left one, or western, is the Caiio Manamo, and the 
right Due, or eastern, the Cano Macareo, which Ralegh descended on the 
preaent occasion, and which he calls erroneously Capuri. This arm is 
generally selected by all vessels of no more than twenty or thirty tons bur- 
den when bonnd for Trinidad. The bay in which he passed the stormy 
night was the one in which the Macareo flows. The distance between the 
mouth of the Macareo and the south-westem point of Trinidad is about 
seven leaguee. 



OF aVlANA. 107 

The longer we tarried the worse it was, and therefore 1 took 
Captaine Gifford, Captains Calfetld, and my cosen Greeneuik, 
into my barge, and after it cleared vppe, about midnight wee put 
our selucs to Gods keeping, and thrust out into the sea, leauing 
the Galley at ancor, who durst not aduenture but by day light. 
And BO heeing all very sober, and melancholy, one faintly chear- 
ing another to shew courage, it pleased God that the nest day 
about nyne of the clocke, we descryed the Hand of TVinedado, 
and stearing for the nearest part of it, wee kept the ehore til we 
came to Cwiapan, where we found our ships at ancor, then which, 
there was neuer to vs a more ioyfull sight. 

Now that it hath pleased God to send vs safe to our ships, it 
is time to leaue Guiana to the Sunne, whom they worehip, and 
Bteare away towardes the north : I will therefore in a fewe wordes 
finish the diseouery thereof. Of the seuerall nations which we 
found vpou this diseouery I will once againe make repetition, 
and how they are affected. At our first entrance into Amana, 
which is one of the outlets of Orenogue, we left on the right hand 
of vs in the bottome of the bay, lying directly against JVinedado, 
a nation of inhumaine Canibals, which inhabite the riuers of 
Guanipa and Berreese ; in the same bay there is also a third riuer 
which is called Areo^, which riseth on Paria side towards Cu- 
marta, and that riuer is inhabited with the Wikiri, whose chiefe 
towne vpon the said riuer is Sayma; In this bay there are no 
more riuers, but these three before rehearsed, and the fower 
braimches of Amana, all which in the winter^ thrust so great 
abundance of water into the sea, as the same is taken vp fresh, 

' The Areo in & tributary of the AraRna, which river flows a short dis- 
tance north of the Guanipa into a great lagans, out of which thu rircr 
Guanipa alone issues and falls into the bay of Guanipa. Wc have already 
ohaerved that Ralegh gives the Cafio Manamo the name of the river Amana 
(see ante, note at p. 44). Tlie only river which, hesides the Giianipa, enters 
the bay is the Rio Chipa, a mere branch of the former. The river Guara- 
piche falls into the Gulf of Paria, twenty miles north-weat of the Guanipa. 

' It is scarcely necessary to observe that the rainy seaton ia called the 
winter of the tropics. 



108 TlIi: DISCUVEHIE 

two or three leagues from the land. lu the passageB towardes 
Guiana, {that is, in all those landes which the eight branches of 
Orenorjue fashione into llandesj) there are but one sort of people 
called Tiuitiuas, but of two castea as they tearme them, the one 
called Ciawary, the other Waraweeti, and those warre one with 
the other, 

On the hithermoat part of Orenoque, as at Toparimaca, and 
Winicapora, those are of a nation Calk'd Nepoios, and are of the 
followers of Carapana, Lorde of Emeria. Betweene Winicapora 
and the port of Morequito which standeth in Aromaia, and all 
those in the valley of Amariacapatia are called Orenoqueponi, and 
did obey Morequito, and are nowe followers of Topiawari. Vpon 
the riuer of Caroli, are the Canuri, which ai'e gouemed by a 
woman' (who is inheritrix of that prouince) who came farre off 
to see our nation, and asked mee diuera questions of her Maiesty, 
beeing much dehghted with the discourse of her Alaiesties great- 
nes, and wondring at such reports as we tniely made of her 
highnes many vertucs. And vpon the head of Caroli, and on the 
lake of Cassipa, are the three strong nations of the Cassipagoloa. 
Eight south into the land are the Cajmrepani, and Emparepani, 
and beyond those adioyning to Macureguarai, (the first Citie of 
fnffo,) are the Iwarawakeri : all these are profeased enemies to 
the Spanyardea, and to the rich Epuremei also. To the west of 
Caroli are diuers nations of Canihak, and of those Ewaipanoma 
without headea. Directly west are the Amapaias and Anebat, 
which are also marueilous rich in gold. Tlie rest towardes Peru 
wee will omit. On the north of Orenoque, betweene it and the 



' Aa the blood is thought to descend pure through the female line alone, 
R remalc standing at the head of a tribe ia by no nteana 
I found even the proud Carabiai ia one of tlie aettlementa on 
the Corentyne under a female ruler. Ralegh perhaps imagined that the 
account of an Indian female chieftain in Guiana would prove of interest to 
Queen Elizabeth. In the Introduction, when apeaking of the Amazons, 
we have pointed out the cloae similarity between the name Canuri and 
that of the river Canuriz, on the moulh of which, according lo I^ither 
Acuiia, Orellaua met the female warriors. 



OF GVIANA. 



109 



I 



west Indies are the fVikiri, Sai/mi, and the rest before spoken 
of, all moctall enemies to the Spanyardea. On the south side of 
the maiae mouth of Orenoque, are the Arwacas : and beyond 
them the Canibals : and to the south of them the Amasones. 

To make mention of the seueral beasts, birds, fishes, fniites, 
flowers, gummes, sweete woodes, and of their aecerall religions 
and customea, would for the first require as many volumes as 
those of Gesnems^, and for the rest another bundle of Decades. 
The religion of the Epuremei is the same which the Ingas, Em- 
perors of Peru vsed, which may be red in Cieca, and other Spa- 
nish stories, howe they belecue the immortalitie of the Soule, 
worship the Sunne, and bury with them aliue their best beloued 
wiues and treasure, as they bkewise doe in Pet/u in the east In- 
dies, and other places. The Orenuqueponi bury not their wiuca 
with them, but their Jewels, hoping to inioy them againe. Tlic 
Arwacas dry the bones of their Lordes, and their wiues and 
friendes drinke them in powder. In the graues of the Peruuians, 
the Spanyards foundc their greatest abundance of treasure : The 
like also is to be found among these people in euery prouince. 
They haue all many wiues, and the Lordes fiue folde to the com- 
mon sort : their wiues neucr eate with their husbands, nor among 
the men, but seme their husbandes at mealea, and afterwardea 
feede by tbemselues. Those that are past their yonger yeares, 
make all their breade and di-inke, and worke their cotten beddea, 
and doe all else of seruice and labour, for the men doe nothing 
but huntc, fiah, play, and drinke, when they are out of the 
wars*. 

' Conrad Oesner, an eminent physician and naturalist in Zuricli, wrote 
numerima able works on different branches of natural history, llis fame 
aa a botanist was spread over Europe ; but his greatest work was bis 
* Historia Animalium,' wliich procured him the ajipellation of the Pliny of 
Germany. lie died in 1561. 

' All tlie Indian tribes whom we have visited during our eight years' 
wanderings, bury ivitb the dead the chief treasures which tliey possessed 
in life. The Arawaaks of the present day, although they no longer dry the 
bones of their chieftains and drink them in powder, celebrate at stated 



110 



THE discover: 



I wit enter no further into discourse of their maners, lawea 
and customes : and because I haue not my aelfe seene the cities 
of Inga, I cannot auow on my credit what I haue heard, al- 
though it be veiy likely, that the Empei-oiur Iriga hath built and 
erected as magnificent pallaces in Guiana, as his auncestora did 
in Peru, which were for their riches and rarenes moat marueil- 
oua and esceding al in Europp, and I thinke of the world, China 
excepted, which also the Spanyards {which I had) assured me 
to be of tructh, as alao the nations of the borderers, who being 
but Saluaios, to those of the Inland, do cause much trc-asure to 
be buried with them, for I was enformed of one of the Cassigui 
of the valley of Amarioeapana which had buried with him a little 
before our arriuall, a chaire of Golde moat curiously wrought, 
which was made eyther in Macureguarai adioyning, or in Manoa : 
But if wee shoulde haue grieued them in their rehgion at the 
first, before they had heene taught better, and haue digged 
vppe their grauea, wee had lost them all : and therefore 1 helde 
ray fii-st resolution, that her maiesty should eyther accept or re- 
fuse the enterprise, ere any thing shoulde be done that mig^t 
in any sort hinder the same'. And if Peru had so many heapes 
of Golde, whereof those Ingas were Princes, and that they de- 
lighted so much therein, no doubt but this which nowe liueth 

periods the death of tlieir great mea, by drinking- feasts and dauces, during 
which thej flagellate themaelvea most unmercifuUy with whips. Polygamy 
exists among all the Guianiana, and the peculiar custom which forbids 
women to est with the men still prevails. Some of the Caribs form an 
exception, and we have occasionally observed, when among that tribe, 
that the females take their meals with their husbands. Tlie first wife ge- 
nerally conducts the domestic affairs, aud though she possess no longer 
the love of her husband, she retains nevertheless the management of 
domeitic matters. 

' The resting-places of the dead are held most sacred, and it has cost as 
the greatest difficulty to procure the few skulls which we were able to col- 
lect during our journey. In order to hide our treasures of organic remains 
we have been obliged to secrete them among our wearing-apparel, and thus 
they have been unconsciously carried by Indiana, whom, if the contents of 
their bui'dcn had been known to them, nothing in the world would have 
induced to place it upon their shoulders. 



I 



OF GVIANA. Ill 

and raigneth in Manoa, hath the same humour, and I am as- 
sured hath more abundance of Golde, trithin his territorie,.then 
all Peru, and the west Indies. 

For the rest, wliieh my aelfe haue aeene I will promise these 
things that follow and knowe to be true. Those that are desiroua 
to discouer and to see many nations, may be satisfied within 
this riuer, which bringeth forth so many armes and branches 
leading to seuerall conntriea, and prouinces, aboue 2000 miles 
east and west, and 800 miles south and north : and of these, 
the most eyther rich in Gold, or in other marchandizea. The 
common soldier shal here fight for gold, and pay himselfe in 
steede of pence, with plates of halfe a foote brode, wheras he 
breaketh his bones in other warrea for prouant and penm'y. 
Those commanders and Chieftaines, that shoote at honour, and 
abundance, shal find there more rich and bewtifull cities, more 
temples adorned with golden Images, more sepulchers filled with 
treasure, then either Cortez found in Mexico, or Pazzaro in 
Peru : and the shining glorie of this conquest will ecUpse all 
those so farre extended beames of the Spanish nation'. There 
is no countrey which yeeldeth more pleasure to the Inhabitants, 
either for theae common delights of hunting, hawking, fishing, 
fowling, and the rest, then Guiana doth. It hath ao many 
plaines, cleare riuers, abundance of Phesants, Partridges, Quailes, 
Rayles, Cranes, Herons, and all other fowls ; Deare of all aortes, 
Porkes, Hares, Lyons, Tygers, Leopards, and diuers other sortcs 
of beastcs, eyther for chace, or foode*. It hath a kinde of 

' We must confess that this description is too highly coloured, even for 
the period at which Ralegh wrote ; and vce can only conjecture that it was 
intended for a lure to induce his countrjmcn to embark in bis scheme for 
the conqueM and colonization of Guiana. The author of " Newea of Sir 
Walter Riuleigh," who wrote that work to draw attention to the renewed 
sehemea of Ralegh in 1617, avails himself of this passage to found upon it 
the best recommendation for embarking in the Ouiana voyage. 

* Ralegh'a observationa on animals and birds in his History of the 
World (lib. i. cap. vii. sect. 9) are very curious, but as naturalistB we can- 
not agree with him on the identity of species in Europe, Asia and America. 
Nature would never change a young rook into a macaw, though it were 



113 THE DISCOVERIE 

beast called Cama, or AiUa, as bigge as an English beefe, and in 
greatc plenty'. 

To apeake of the seuerall sortes of euery kinde, I feare would 
be troublesome to the Reader, and therefore I will omitte them, 
and conclude that both for health, good ayre, pleasure, and 
riches, I am resolued it cannot bee equalled by any region eytber 
in the east or west. Moreouer tbe countrey ia bo healthfullj a3 
100 persons and more, which lay (without shift most sluttiahly, 
and were euery day almost melted with heat in rowing and 
marching, and suddenly wet againe with great showers, and did 
eate of all sorts of corrupt fruits, and made meales of fresh fish 
without seasoning, of Tortugas, of Lagartos, and of al sorts 
good and bad, without either order or measure, and besides 
lodged in the open ayre euery night) we lost not any one, nor 
had one ill disposed to my knowledge, nor found anie Callentwa, 
or other of those pestilent diseases which dwell in all bote re- 
gions, and so nere the Eqninoctiall line*. 

reared in AmeTics, from the first «ympt4)nia of life. Some ipedes of the 
genus Ortyx resemble the Europeaa partridge, but they ore not identical 
with it; the eame may be said as to the pheasants, quuls, &c. When 
enumerating pigs, hares, lions, tigers ami leoponla, Ralegh makes bis com- 
parisons fi-om striking resemblances to these animals of the Old World. 
The pig kind is represented in America by the Peccari {Dicotyles torquahia, 
F. Cuy.) and the Poinka {D. labiataa, F. Cut.), the hare by the Agouti 
{Dasyprocta Aguti, Desm.), the lion by the Puma {Felis eancolor, Linn.), 
the tiger by the Jaguar {Felis onzd, Linn.)i the leopard by tome of the 
numerous spotted tigcr-catH, 

' This ia the Tapir (Tnpirns Americaniu, Gmel,), the largest quadruped 
of tropical America. The meAt is excellent in taste, but the Brazilians 
have a prejudice against it, and warned us repeatedly not to eat of it. 
We have never felt any ill consequences from eating it, and were highly 
delighted with our luck when we succeeded in replenishing our larder with 
such a large beast. 

' During the eight years of our ramhlea through the thick forests over 
tbc bills and the extensive savannahs, though our night's lodging was often 
merely the shelter of an umbrageous tree, — though often drenched by 
rains and exposed to the heat of the tropical sun, our fare that of the 
Indians, — yet our health, after we bad passed the first fevers in the com- 
mencement of tbe expedition, was seldom interrupted by disease. And 



OP QVIANA. 113 

Where there ia store of gold, it is in effect nedeles to re- 
member other commodities for trade : but it hath towards the 
south part of the riuer, great quantities of Brasill woode, and of 
diuers berriesj that die a moat perfect crimson and Carnation : 
And for painting, al France, Italy, or the east Indies yeild none 
such : For the more the skyn is washed, the fayrer the cullour 
Bppearetb, and with which, euen those brown and tawnie women 
spot tbemseluea, and cullour their cheekes. All places yeilde 
abundance of Gotten, of sylke, of Balsamum, and of those kindes 
most excellent, and neuer known in Eui'ope : of all sortes of 
gummes, of Indian pepper : and what else the countries may 
afforde within the land wee knowe not, neither had we time to 
abide the trial!, and search. The aode besides is so excellent 
and so full of riuers, as it will carrie sugar, ginger, and all those 
other commodities, which the west Indies hath'. 



I 



this remark applies likewise to the Europesus who accompanied us. In- 
deed if we except the melancholy death of Mr. Reiss, h^ the upsetting of a 
boat in descending a cataract, we did not lose a single individual of our 
European companions hy disease brought on by the climate or our hard- 
ships. It is otherwise however in the coast regions, where injurious 
miasmata render the sojourn frequently dangerous to Europeans. 

' Few countries on the surface of the globe can be compared with 
Guiana for vigoor and luxuriance of vegetation. A constant summer pre- 
vails ; and the fertility of the soil, the humid climate, and congenial tem- 
perature ensure a succession of flowers and liiiita. In a person accustomed 
to the sleep of nature in the northern regions, where during winter the 
trees are deprived of their greatest charms, the leafy crown and the fra- 
grant hiossoms, the appearance of the forest then clothed in the most 
lively green and covered with flowers cannot but raise astonishment and 
admiration. The dense and almost impenetrahle forest of the interior 
offers ineshaustihle treasures, not only for ship-building and architecture in 
all ita branches, hut likewise for the manufacture of furniture, and for 
many other purposes that minister to the restoration of health, or to the 
comfort and luxury of man. We know as yet but little of the medicinal 
properties of many of the numerous productions of this fertile province, 
which at present unheeded and unsought do not profit mankind, and may 
be considered as buried riches. The dye to which Sir W. Balcgh alludes 
is the Hocou, Amotto, or Terra Orellana, prepared from the red pulp or 
pellicle which covers the seeds of a shrub called by Linnteus Bixn Orellana. 



11-i THE DISCOVEKIE 

The nauigatioii is abort, for it may bee sayled witb an ordi- 
naric wind in six weekes, and in the like time backe againe, and 
by the way neither lee shore, EiiimieB coast, i-ocks, nor Bandes, 
all which in the voiagea to the West indies, and all other places, 
wee are anbiect vnto, as the cbauoell of Baliama, comming 
from the Weat Indies, can not be paused in tbe Winter, and 
when it ia at the best, it is a perilloua and a fearefull place : The 
rest of the Indies for calmea, and diseases very troublesome, 
and the Bermudas a hellish sea for thunder, lightning, and 
stormes. 

This vei-ie yeare there were aeuenteen sayle of Spanish sbippa 
lost in the channell of Bahama, and the great Phillip like to 
baue sunke at the Bermudas was put back to Saint Itum de 
puerto rico. And so it fallcth out in that Nauigation euery yere 
for the most parte, which in this voyage are not to be feared : 
for the time of the yere to leaue England, is best in luly, and 
the Summer in Guiana is in October, Nouember, December, 
laniiarie, February, and March, and then the sbipps may de- 
part thence in Aprill, and so retuine againe into England in 
lune, so as they ahall neuer be subiect to Winter weather, eyther i 
comming, going, or staying there, which for my part, I take to j 



The pigment called Caraweru or Chim) is obtaineil from the leaves of 1 
the Bignonia Ckica, and some other spei^ies of the genus Biffnonia, which [ 
ere maeera.ted. and the colouring matter is found as t. scdimeut in the fa 
of a light powder. It ia comparatively very costly nniotig the Indioas, and 
night be usefully employed in the arts tu an excellent substitute for mad- 
der, irhich it surpasses as a colour. Of balsams and gums, we need merely 
mention the balsam of eopsiva, umiri, clemi, acouchi, gum anime, gam 
lac, &c., all of which are derived from trees in the forests of Guiana. Tha i 
Indian pepper Is the fruit of Capsicum baccatum, Linn., and various other I 
species and varieties supply indispensable eondiraetits to the Indianc 
Ralegh's observations respecting the fitness of tbe soil for the cultivatioii 
of sugar have been amply realized ! the colony of British Guiana exported 
in 1S36 nearly one hunilred and eight million lumnds of sugar, and neoriy 
five milhon pounds of coffee, besides other produce. This was the largest 
export it ever made smce it was settled as a colony, nor is it lakely that 1 
it will ^ain export such a large quantity of produce. 



OK OVIANA. 115 

be one of the greatest comforts and ineouragments that can hi; 
thought on, hailing (as I haue done) tasted in this voyage by 
the west Indies so many Calmea, so much heate, such ontragious 
gustes, fowle vpeather, and contravie windes. 

To conclude, Guiana is a Countrey that hath yet her Mayden- 
head, neuer sackt, turned, nor wrought, the face of the earth 
hath not beene tome, nor the vertue and salt of the soyle spent 
by manuranee, the graues haue not beene opened for gold, the 
mines not broken with sledges, nor their Images puld down out 
of their temples. It hath neuer been entred by any armie of 
strength, and ncuer conquered or possesed by any Christian 
Prince. It is besides so defensible, that if two fortes be builded 
in one of the Prouinees which I haue seen, the flood setteth in 
so neere the bauke, where the channell also lyetb, that no shippe 
can passe vp, but within a Pikes length of the Artillerie, first of 
the one, and afterwardes of the other : Which two Fortea wilbe 
a sufficient Guard both to the Empire of liiffa, and to an hun- 
dred other seuerall kingdomes, lying within the said Riuer, euen 
to the eitie of Quito in Peru^. 

There is therefore great difference betwene the easines of the 
conquest of Guiana, and the defence of it being conquered, and 



' These obaervationa respectiog the defence of tlie Orinoco are very 
judicious. A strong battery established at Punta Barima, where the Dutch 
had aa early as IGtiU a fortified outpost, ivould pieyent any vessel from 
entering the Orinoco drawing more than eiglit feet water. Punta Barima, 
or Pomt Breme, as it was called by the Dutch, commanda entirely the en- 
trance of the Orinoco by the Boca de Navios ; and when on a. late occasion 
the right of possession to this point was the subject of discussion between 
the British Government and the Republic of Venezuela, Punta Barima was 
appropriately and emphatically stj'led "the Dardanelles of the Orinoco." 
There are at present two fortifications on the right hank of the Orinoco, 
near the site of Vieja Giiayana, called "Lob Fuertes de San Francisco du 
Asis" and "del Padiaato," which are quite neglected; the situation is 
however so well selected, that proper fortifications might prevent the ascent 
of any vessel or flat-bottomed boat entering the Orinoco by the Brazo 
Macareo or any other bnmrh of the Bocas chicas. It is to this point and 
the island of Fajardo that Hulegh seems to allude in this paragraph. 



116 



THE DISCOVERIE 



tUe West or East Indies : Guiana hath but one entraunce by tbe 
sea (if it haue that) for any vessels of burden, so as whosoeuer 
shall firat possesse it, it shall bee founde vnaccessable for anie 
Enimie, except he come in Wheiries, Barges, or Canoas, or els 
in flatte bottomed boats, and if he do offer to enter it in that 
manner, the woods are so thicke 200 miles together vppon the 
riuers of sueh entraunce, as a mouse cannot aitte in a boate vu- 
hit from the bankc. By land it ia more impossible to approcb, 
for it hath the strongest situation of anie region vnder the Sunne, 
and is so enuironed with impassable mountaynes on euerie side, 
as it 19 impossible to victuall anye companic in the passage, 
which hath bcene well proued by the Spanish nation, who since 
the conquest of Peru haue neuer left fiue yeres free from attempt- 
ing this Empire, or discouering some way into it, and yet of 33 
seuerall gentlemen, knights, and noble men, there was neuer 
anie that knewe which way to leade an armie by land, or to 
conduct shippes by sea, any thing neere the said countrie'. 
Oreliano, of which the riuer of Amasones taketh name was the 
first, and Don Antkonio de Berreo (whome we displanted) the 
last : and I doubt much, whether bee himaelfe or any of his, yet 
knowe the best waie into the saide Empyre. It can therefore 
hardly be regained, if any strength bee formerly set downe, but 
in one or two places, and but two or three crumatera or galleys 
buylt, and furnished vpon the riuer within : The west Indies 
hath many portes, watriug places, and landinga, and nearer then 
300 miles to Guiana, no man can harbor a ship, except he know 
one onely place, which is not learned in hast, and which I will 



o the liat of " namea of tlioae tvortliy Spaniards who haye 
sought to discover and conquer Guiana," which is attached to Keymis'a Voy- 
age (HakJujt, iii. pp. 687-692), he enumerates twenty attempts. This list, 
we are told, was taken from the ' Primeirft parte de las Elegias de varoneB 
illusti'ca de las Indias eompuestaa por Juan de CasCellanos.' 4to. Madrid, 
15B!I. The first part of tlua rare work is the only one which was printed ; 
the author had composed a second and third part, which may still exist ia 
some one of the libraries of Spain in manuscript, but have never appeared 



OF GVIANA. 117 

vndertake there is not any one of my companies that knoweth, 
whosoener hearkened most after it. 

Besides by keeping one good fort, or building one towne of 
strength, the whole Empyre is guai-ded, and whataoeuer compa- 
nies shalbe afterwardes planted within the land, although in 
twenty seuerall prouincea, those shall bee able all to reunite 
themselues vpon any occasion eyther by the way of one riuer, or 
bee able to march by land without eyther wood, hog, or moiin- 
taine ; whereas in the west Indies there are fewe townes, or pro- 
ujnces that can succour or reliene one the other, eyther by land 
or sea : By lande the countries are eyther desart, moiuiteynouSj 
or strong Enemies ; By sea, if any man inuade to the Eastward, ) 
those to the west cannot in many months turne against the brize } 
and easterwind, bcsidea the Spanyardes are therein so dispersed, I 
as they are no where strong, but in Nueua Hispania onely : the 
sharpe mountaines, the thornes, and poisoned prickels, the sandy 
and deepe waiea in the valliea, the smothering heate aud ayre, 
and want of water in other places, are their onely and beat de- 
fence, which (because those nations that innade them are not 
victnalled or prouided to stay, ueyther haue any place to friende 
adioyning) doe seme them in steede of good armes and great 
multitudes. 

The west Indies were first offered her Maiesties Grandfather 
by Columbus a atraunger', in whome there might be doubt of 
deceipt, and besides it was then thought incredible that there 
were such and so many lands and regions neuer written of be- 
fore. This Empire is made knowen to her Maiesty by her own 
vassal, and by him that oweth to her more duty then an ordi- 
nary subiect, so that it shall ill sort with the many graces and 

' Bartholomew Columbua brought the lirst sea-charts in illustmtioa 
of hU brother's theory respecting a western continent to England, and 
offered the serrices of Christopher Columbus to Henry the Serenth, which 
he is said to have gladly acl^epted ; but previous to any further atepa being 
token, Colunihus had attiieheil himself to the service of Queen Isnbella. 
(Fernando Colon, Vida del Amirante, cap. 10.) Ralegh is therefore in 
error when stating that the West Indies were oifercd to Henry the Seventh. 



118 THE DISCOVERIE 

beiietitea which I haue receaued to abuau her highnes, either 
with fables or imaginatioHH. The countrey is alreadie diacouered, 
mauy nations won to her Maiesties loue and obedience, and those 
Spanyards which haue hitest and longest labored about the con- 
quest, beaten out, discouraged and disgraced, which amonge 
these nations were thought inuincible. Her maie»tie may in 
this enterprize employ all those souldlers and gentlemen that 
are yonger brethren, and all captaines and Cheiftaines that want 
employment, and the charge wilbe onely the first setting out in 
victualUng and arming them ; for after the first or second yere 
I doubt not but to see in London a Contratation house of more 
receipt for Guiana, then there is nowe in ciuil [Seville] for the 
West indies'. 



' As on a former ocnLBioD, so again vte must consider this passage writ- 
ten in that exaggerated and imsginatiTC strain nhicb Ralegh supposed 
necesanry to awaken more interest in the discovery of Guiana than his 
journey had already produced. It does not behove ua to judge the spirit 
of the times nhieh might have dictated snch a course, and induced him 
to employ a poetical dress for his statements; hut in a general sense we 
have little doubt he fidly believed the existence of these riehes at a period 
when the most learned were still given to credulity; and that Ralegh 
possessed a great share of it is proved by his History of the World, where 
we find sober discussions whether parailise was in the moon, und whether 
the ark was lighted by a carbuncle. Yet, we might ask, with all our 
advances in morals and science, ilo not the printed inducements to enu~ 
grate to North and South America and Australia, which have been put 
forth during the lust twenty or thirty years, bear comparatively as exa^e- 
rated a style as those of Ralegh, by which two centuries and a half ago 
he wished to promote his magnificent scheme of colonizing one of the most 
fertile provinces of the globe? His hope expressed to the effect to see 
in London a mercantile -house (" casa de la contratacion ") of more receipt 
from that country than there was in Seville for the West Indies, proves 
that the story of gold was the glittering outside of a scheme which had 
for its object the establishment of commercial companies for the colo- 
nization of Guiana. The narrative continues to its end in a similar style, 
and we cannot lielp regretting that Sir Walter Ralegh should have em- 
ployed such coarse flattery to induce Queeu Elizabeth to lend a favour- 
able ear to his ambitious projects. He had not yet passed through the 
ordeal of bis long imprisonment, which tempered and refined his mind, 
and djiring which, by the publication of his Hisforj' of the World, he proved 



OK GVIANA. 119 

And I am reaolued that if there were but a sroal army a foote 
in Guiana, marching towards Manoa the chiefe Citie of IngB, he 
would yeeid her Maiesty by composition so many bundled tbou- 
Band pounds yeai-elyj aa should both defende all enemies abroad, 
and defray all expences at home, and that he woulde besides pay 
a garrison of 3000 or 4000 soldiers very royally to defend him 
against other nations ; For he cannot but know, how bis prede- 
cessors, yea how bis owne great vncles Guascar and Atibalijia 
sonnes to Guanacapa Emperor of Peru, were (while they con- 
tended for the Empyre) beaten out by the Spanyardes, and that 
both of late yearea, and euer since the said conquest, the Spa- 
nyardes haue sought the passages and entry of bis countrcy ; and 
of their cruelties vaed to the borderers be cannot be ignorant. 
In which respects no doubt but he wil be brought to tribute 
with great gladnes, if not, bee bath neytber sbotte nor Iron wea- 
pon in all bis Empyre, and therefore may easely he conquered. 

And I farther remember that Berreo confessed to me and 
others {which I protest before the Maiesty of God to be true) 
that there was found among prophecies in Peru (at such time 
aa the Empyre was reduced to the Spanish obedience) in their 
cbiefest temples, amongst diners others which foresbewed the 
loase of the said Empyre, that from Inglatierra those Ingas 
sboulde be againe in time to come restored, and deliuered from 
the semitude of the said Conquerors'. And I hope, as wee with 
these fewe handes baue displanted the first garrison, and driucn 



more than by guy other ftct that he poasesaed the fairest claim to literary 
immortality. Here the strength of his intellect and the enlargemeDt af 
his philosophical yiews, which were developed by seclusion, kept his highly 
imaginative and poetical temperament subaetvieut to his sounder reason- 
ings, and gave to posterity a work which has classed him with the most 
conspicuous characters of that distingiushed period. 

' The singulat fulfilment of this prophecy, certainly advanced with re- 
markable effrontery, has been witnessed in our days. England occupied 
•in the course of the kte war the whole territory between the Orinoco and 
the Amazon, and at the treaty of Paris in 1814, the colonies of Demerara, 
Essequibo and Berbice were finally ceded to Great Britain. 



120 THE DI8C0VERI& OF GVIANA. 

them out of the said couEtrey, so her Maieaty will giue order 

for the rest, and eyther defend it, and hold it a^ tributary, or 

conquere aud keepe it as Empresse of the same. For whatso- 

euer Prince shall possesse it, shall bee greatest, and if the king 

of Spayne enioy it, be will become vnreaistable. Her Maiesty 

heercby shall confiniie and strengthen the opinions of al nations, 

as touching her great and princely actions. And where the 

Bouth border of Guiana reacbetb to the Dominion and Empire 

of the Amazonea, those women shall heereby heare the name 

of a virgin, which is not ouely able to defend her 

owne territories and her neighbors, but 

also to inuade and conquere 

so great Empyrea and ao 

farre remoued. 

To speake more at this time, I feare would be but troublesome : 

I trust in God, this being true, will suflSce, and that he 

which is king of at kings and Lordc of Lords, will 

put it into her hart which is Lady of Ladies 

to poaacsse it, if not, I wil iudge those 

men worthy to be kinga therof, 

that by her grace and leaue 

will vndertake it of 

themselues. 



An Abftradl taken 

out of ceriaine Spanyardes Letters con' 

cerning Guiana and the Countries lying 

vpon the great riuer o/"Orenoque ; with 

certaine reportes alfo touching 

thefamt. 




An Aduertifement to the Reader, 

Hose letters out of which the abstractea foC 
' lowing are taken, were surprised at sea aa 
. they were passing for Spayne in the yeai'e 
I 1594 by Captaine George Popham: who 
f> the next yeare, and the aanie that Sir Walter 
. Ralegh discouered Guiana, as he was in a 
voyage for the west Indies, learned also the reportea annexed. 
All which, at his retunie, beeing two monthes alter Sir IValter, 
as also so long after the writing of the former discoui-se, hearing 
also of his discouerie : hee made knowne and dehuered to some 
of her Maiestiea most honorable priuie Councell and others. The 
which seeing they confirme in some parte the substance, I 
meane, the riches of that Conntrey : it bath beene thought fitte 
that they shoulde be thereunto adioyned. 'S^Tierein the Reader 
is to be aduertiscd, that although the Spanyards seeme to glorie 
much of their formall possession taken before Morequito then 
Lord of Aromaya, and others there aboutea, which thoroughly 
vnderstoode them not at that time, whataoeuer the Spanyardes 
otherwise pretende : Yet, according to the former discourse, and 
as also it ia related by Cai/woraco, the sonne of Topiawary nowc 
chiefe Lorde of the aaide Aromaya, who was brought into Eng- 



122 



.TISEMENT TO THE aEADEH. 



land by Sir Walter Ralegh, and was preaent at the same pos- 
session and diacouerie of the Spanyardea mentioned in these 
letters ; it appeareth that after they were gone out of their 
Countrey, the Indians then hauing farther consideration of the 
matter, and more then coniecture of their intent, hauing knowne 
and hearde of their former cruelties vppon their borderers and 
others of the Indians elsewhere ; At their next comming, there 
beeing tenne of them sent and imployed for a farther discouerie, 
they were pronided to receiue and intertayne them in an other 
manner of sorte then they had done before ; that is to say, they 
slewe them and buried them in the Countrey, they so much 
sought. They gaue them by that meanea a full and complete 
possession the which before they had but begunne. And so 
they are minded to docj to as many S])anyardes as come after. 
Other possession they haue had none since, Neythcr doe the 
Indians me&ne as they protest, to giuc them any other. One 
other thing to bee remembred is that in these letters the Spa- 
nyardes seeme to call Guiana and other Countries necre it, bor- 
dering vppon the riuer of Orenoque, by the name of Nueuo 
Dorado, because of the greate plenty of Golde there, in most 
places to be founde. Alluding also to the name of El Dorado 
which was giuen by Marlines to the greate Citie of Manoa, an 
is in the former treatise specified. This is all I thought good 
to aduertiae. As for some other matters, I leaue them to the 
consideration and iudgement of the indifferent reader. 

W. R. 



LETTERS TAKEN AT SEA BY CAPTAINE 
GEORGE POPHAM 1594. 



AUoQBO his Letters from the Gran Canaria to his brother beinij 

commaunder of S. Lucas, concerning £1 Dorado. 
There haue beene certain letters receiued here of late, of a 
land newly discouered caUcd Nueuo Dorado, frome the aonnes of 
certaine Inhabitantea of this citie, who were in the diacouerie : 
they write of wonderfull riches to be found in the said Dorado, 
and that golde there is in great abundance, the course to fall 
with it is 50 leagues to the windwarde to the Marguarita. 

Allonsoa letter from thence to certaine Marchantes of S. Lucas 

concerning the Dorado. 
Sirs, wc haue no newcs worth the writing, sauing of a dis- 
couery lately made by the spaniardes in a new land called Nueuo 
Dorado, and in two daies sailing to the windward of the Mar- 
ffuariia, there is golde in that abundance, as the like hath not 
beene heard of. We haue it for certaine in letters written fi-oni 
thence by some that were in the discouery, vnto their parentes 
heere in the City. I purpose (God willing) to bestow ten or 
twelue daies in search of the said Dorado, as I passe in voyage 
towards Carthagena, hoping there to make some good sale of 
our commodities, I haue sent you therewith part of the informa- 
tion of the saide discouery, that was sent to his Maieaty. 

Part of tlie Coppy tliat was sent to his Maiesty of the discouery 

o/ Nueuo Dorado. 
In the riuer of Pato otherwise called Oreiwgue, in the princi- 
pall part thereof called Warismero, the 23 of Aprill 1593. 



124 LETTERS TAKEN AT SEA 

Domingo de vera Master of the Cainpe and Gencrall for Anth. 
de Bereo Gouernour and Captaine geiierall for our Lorde the 
King, betwixt the riuers of Palo and Popamene alias Orenoque, 
and Marannon, and of the Uaod of Trinedado, in presence of 
me Rudrigo de Caranca register for the sea, commanded all the 
soldiers to be drawne together and put in order of battaile, the 
Captaines and soldiers, and master of the campe standing in the 
middest of them, said vnto them ; Sirs, Soldiers, and Captaines, 
you vnderstaud long since that our Generall Anth. de Berreo, 
with the trauell of 11 yeares, and espence of more then 100000 
pesoes of Gold, discouered the noble prouincea of Guiana and 
Dorado : Of the which hee tooke possession to gouerne the same, 
but through want of his peoples health, and necessary munition, 
he issued at the Hand of Marguarita, and from thence peopled 
the Trinedado. But now they had sente me to learue out and 
discouer the ways most easily to enter, and to people the saide 
prouinces, and where the Campes and Armies may best enter 
the same. By reason whereof I entend ao to do in the name of 
hia Maiesty, and the said gouernour Antho: de Berreo, and in 
token thereof I require you Fran. Carillo that you aide me to 
aduance this crosse that licth here on the ground, which they 
set on end towardes the east, and the said Master of the Campe, 
the Captains and soldiers kneeled down and did due reuerence 
vnto the said crosse, and thereupon the Master of the Campe 
tooke a hole of water and dranke it of, and tooke more and 
threw abroad on the ground : he also drew out his sword and 
cut the grasse of the ground, and the boughs of the trees saying 
I take this possession in the name of the king Don Phillip our 
master, and of his gouernour Antho -. de Berreo : and because 
some make question of this possession, to them I answere that 
in these our actions was present the Casique or pincipal Don 
Antho. otherwise called Morequito, whose land this was, who 
yeelded consent to the said possession, y/as glad there of, and 
gaue his obedience to our Lord the King, and in his name to 
the said gouernour Antho ; de Beireo. And the said Master of 



BY CAPTAINE POPHAM. 125 

the Campe kneeled downe being ifi his Ubertie, and all the Cap- 
taines and soldiers aaide that the possession was wel taken, and 
that they would defend it with their lines, vpon whoaoeuer would 
say the contrary. And the aaide master of the Camp hauing 
his sword drawen in his hand said vnto me, register that art 
here present, giue me an instrument or teatiraoniall to confirme 
me in this possession, which I haue taken of this laud, for the 
gouemour Antho. de Berreo and if it be needfull I wil take it a 
new. And I require you all that are present to witnea the same, 
and do further declare that I will goc on, taking the posses- 
sion of all these landea whereaoeuer I shall enter. Signed thus. 
Domingo de vera and vndemeath. Before me Rodrigo 
de Caranca, Register of the Army. 

And in prosecution of the said poaaesaion, anddiscoueryof the 
way and prouinces, the 27 of April of the said yere, the Master 
of the Camp entred by little and httle with all the Campe and 
men of warre, more then two leagues into the Inland, and came 
to a towne of a principall, and conferring with bim did let him 
vnderstand by meanes of Antho: Bisante the Interpretor that his 
Maiesty and Antho: de Berreo had sent him to take the said 
possession. And the said fryer Francis Carillo by the Interpre- 
ter, deliuered him certain thingea of our holy Catbolique faith, 
to al which he anawered, that they vnderstood him well and 
would becom Chriatians, and that with a very good wil they 
should aduance the crosac, in what part or place of the towne 
it pleased them, for he was for the gouernour Antho: de Berreo, 
who waa bis Master. Thereupon the said master of the Campe 
tooke a great crosae, and set it on ende toward the east, and re- 
quested the whole Campe to witnesse it and Domingo de vera 
firmed it thus, 

// ts well and firmly done, and vndemeath, before me Rod- 
rigo Caranca, Register of the Army. 



126 LETTERS TAKEN AT SEA 

The iirst of May they prosecuted the Kaide possession and 
diacouery to the towne of Carapana. From thence the said 
Master of the Camp passed to the towne of Totoco whose prin- 
cipal! is called Topiawary beeing £ue leagues farther within the 
land then the first nation, and well inhabited. And to this 
principall by nieane of the interpreter they gaue to vnderstaod 
that his Maiesty and the said Currigidw commanded them to take 
the possession of that land, and that they should yeeld their 
obedience to his Maiesty, and to his Corrigidor, and to the 
Master of the Campe in his name, and thai: in token thereof he 
would place a crosse in the raidleof his towne. Whereunto the 
said Cassigue answered they should aduance it with a very good 
will, and that he remained in the obedience of our Lorde the 
King, and of the saide Gouemour Antho: de Berreo whose vassale 
he would be. 

The fourth of May we came to a prouince about fine leagues 
thence, of all sides inhabited with much people, the principall 
of this people came and mette va in peaceable manner : and hee 
ia called Rmalo, he brought va to a very large house where he 
entertained vs well, and gaue vs much gould, and the interpreter 
asking him from whence that gold waa, he answered from a pro- 
uince not passing a dales iourney off, where there are so many 
Indians as would shadow the sunne, and so much gold as all 
yonder plaine will not conteine it. In which Countrie {when they 
enter into the Borachera) they take of the said gold in dust and 
annoint themselues all other tlicrwith to make the brauershewe, 
and to the end the gold may couer them, they annoint their 
bodies with atamped hearbs of a gluenous substance : and they 
haue warre with those Indians. Tliey promised vs that if we 
would goe vnto them they would ayd va, but they were such 
infinite number as no doubt they woulde kill vs. And being 
asked how they got that same gold, they told vs they went to a 
certaine downe or plaine and pulled or digged vp the grasse by 
the roote, which done, they tooke of the earth, putting in greate 
buckets which they carried to wash at the riuer, and that which 



BY CAPTAINE POPHAM. 127 

came in powder they kept for their Boracheras and that which 
was in peeces, they wrought into Eagles. 

The eight of May we went from theaee, and inarched about 
fiue leagues r at the foote of a bill we founde a principall called 
Arataco, with 3000 Indians, men and women al in peaee and 
with much victuall, as hens and venison in gi'eat abundance, and 
many sortes of wine. Hee intreated vs to goe to his house and 
to rest that night in his towne being of 500 houses. The in- 
terpretor asked whence he had those hens, he said they were 
brought from a mountaine not passing a quarter of a league 
thence, where were many Indiana, yea so many aa gi'asse on the 
ground, and that those men had the pointes of their shoulders 
higher then the Crownes of their headea, and had so many hens 
as was wonderfull, and if we would haue any we shoulde send 
them lewes harpes for they woulde giue for euery one two hena, 
we tooke an Indian and guue him 500 harpes, the hena were ao 
many that he brought vs, as were not to be numbred. Wee 
said we woolde goe thither, they told vs they were now in their 
Borachera and would kill vs, we asked the Indian, that brought 
the hena if it were true, he said it waa most tru. We asked 
Lim how they made their Borachera, he aaide they had many 
Eagles of Gold banging on their breasts and pearls in their 
eares, and that they daunced being al couered with Gold. The 
Indian said vnto va, if we would se them, we should giue him 
acme hatchets, and he would bring vs of those Eagles. The 
Master of the Camp gaue him one hatchet (he would giue him 
no more because they should not vnderstand we went to seeke 
gold) he brought vs an Eagle that wayed 27 pounds of good 
Gold. The Master of the Cam])e tooke it, and shewed to the 
soldiers, and then threw it from him, making shew not to re- 
garde it. About midnight came an Indian and saide \Tito him, 
giue me a pickaxe and I will tel thee what the Indiana with the 
high ahoulders meane to doe, the Interprctor told the Master of 
the Campe who commaunded one to he giuen him, he then told 
vs those Indians were commtng to kiU vs for our marchandize. 



128 LETTERS TAKEX AT SEA 

Hereupon the master of the campe caused hia compaDy to be 
Bet in order, and began to march. The 1 1 day of May, we went 
about 7 leagues from thence to a prouiuce, where we found a 
great company of Indians apparrelled, they tould vs that if we 
came to fight, they would fill vp those plaines with Indians to 
figbt with VB, but if we came in peaee, we should enter and be 
well entertained of them, because they had a greate desire to 
see Christians, and there tbey tould vs of all the riches that was. 
I doe not here set it downe, because thei'e is no place for it, but 
it shall appcare by the information that goes to his Maiesty, for 
if it should here he set downe, fewer leaues of paper would not 
conteine it. 

The letter o/ George Burien Brittou, _/v'Om the saide Canaries 
vnto his cosen afrench man, dwelling in S. Lucas, 
coneeming the Dorado. 
SiE, and my very good Cosen, there came of late certaine let- 
ters from a new discouered country not farre from Trinedado, 
which they writ, bath Gold in greate abundance, the newes seera- 
eth to he very certaine, because it paaseth lor good amongst the 
best of this City. Part of the information of the diacouery that 
went to his Maiesty, goeth inclosed in Alonsos letters, it is a 
thing worth the seeing. 

The report o/ Domingo Marlines of lamica, cimceming 
the Dorado. 
He saitb that in 93 being at Carthagena there was a general 
report of a late discouery called Nueuo Dorado, and that a little 
before him comming thither, there came a Frigot from the saide 
Dorado, bringing in it the portrature of a Giant all of Gold, of 
weight 47 kintals, which the Indians there helde for tbeir Idol. 
But nowe admitting of Christ ianitie and obedience to the King of 
Spaine, sent their saide Idoll vnto him in token they were become 
Christians, and held him for their King. The company comming 



BY CAPTAINE VOPHAM. 129 

in the saide Frigot reported Qolde to be there in moat greate 
abundance, Diamondea of inestimable valiu^, with greate Btore of 
pearle. 

The report of a french man called Bountillier of Sherbrouk 
concerning tke Trinedado and the Dorado. 
He saith that being at Trinedado in 91. he bad of an Indian 
there a pcece of Golde of a quarter of a pounde in exchange of a 
knife, the saide Indian told him he had it at the heade of that 
riuer which commeth to Paracoa in the Trinedado, but aaid in the 
riuer of Orenoque, it was in greate abundance. Also in 93 being 
taken by the Spaniards; and brought prisoner into the lUand 
of Madera (the place for his prison) there came in this meane 
time a barke of 40 tunnes from a newe discouery, with two mil- 
lions of Gold, the companie whereof reported Gold in that place 
to be in greate abundance and called it the Nueuo Dorado. Thia 
firench man passed from Spaine in the barkc, and hauing a cabben 
nere a gentleman, one of the discouerers that came from that 
place in the said barkc had diuers times conference with him, 
and amongst other things, of the great abundance of Golde in 
the said Dorado being as they said within the riuer of Orenoque. 

Reports of Certaine Marckants of Rio de Hacha, 
concerning the Nueuo Dorado. 
Thet aaid (aduancing the kinga great treasure in the Indies) 
that Nueuo Reyno yeelded very many Gold mines, and wonder- 
ful rich, but lately was diaeouered a certain prouince so rich in 
Gold aa the report thereof may seeme incredible, it ia there in 
such abundance, and is called the Nueuo Dorado: Anthonio de 
Berreo made the said diacouery. 



The report of a Spaniard Captaine with Berreo in the 

discouery of Nueuo Dorado. 

That the information aent to the K. was in cuery point truly 



130 LETTERS TAKEN AT SEA. 

said, that the riuer of Orenoque hath seauen mouths or outlets 
into the sea, called Las Sciete bocas de drago^ that the said riuer 
runneth farre into the land, in many places very broad^ and that 
Antho : de Berreo lay at Trinedado making head to goe to con- 
quere and people the said Dorado. 



APPENDIX. 



Sia Walter Ralegh informs us in his voyage of discovery, 1 
it had been his intention, on returning from Guiana, to land on 
the coast of Virginia, for the relief of the young colony which had 
been planted thevc under his auspices'. The unfavourable wea- 
ther prevented him from executing this design ; he coasted how- 
ever Terra Firma, and anchored before Cumana. On the refusal 
of the inhabitants to furnish his fleet with provisions, he fired 
the town, and proceeded to St. Mary's and Rio de la Hacha, 
which he likewise laid under contribution ; his course was from 
thence directed towards Cuba *. On the 13th of July, 1595, he 
fell in, off Cape St. Antonio, with Captains Preston and Som- 
mers in the Ascension and the Gift, who were returning from 
their expedition against the Spaniards on Terra Firma. He 
sailed in their company until the 20th of July, when lie lost 
eight of them, and returned " with honour and riches in the 
latter end of the aiunmer 1595 to England''." We doubt 
whether the Guiana expedition proved advantageous to those 
who undertook it, hut unhesitatingly adopt Roger Coke's opinion, 
that if Ralegh got nothing else by his voyage, "he got this 
advantage, that adding experience to his excellent theory in navi- 

' See ante, p. (i. 

' Birch's Works of Ralegh, vol. i. p. xsx. Camden's Elizabeth, Ann. 
1595. Camden asserts that Ralegh eameil away great hooty from Cu- 
miLna, vhich is not probable, as the iahabitanta liad ubeady witbdrann 
their riches into the mountains at the approach of Preston towards the end 
of May. 

' Birch's Works of Ralegh, ibid. 



I 



1.12 APPENDIX. 

gation, he justly merited the applause of the best directors of 
sea afiairs of his time^." 

It is evident from the dedication and the address to the reader, 
prefixed to the publication of his voyage,that the intelligence which 
Kalegh brought of his discovery did not raise the interest which he 
expected. Many of the statements contained in this remarkable 
production were treated as fabulous, and his recommendation to 
secure the possession of these fertUe regions to England as chi- 
merical. The failure of the last expedition under Drake and 
Hawkins may have likewise contributed to lessen the enthusiasm 
of the English public for such enterprises. We have observed, 
that one of his plans was to carry a force to Guiana, of suiScient 
strength to induce the Inca of El Dorado to become the tributary 
and ally of England, and to establish commercial companies for 
colonizing Guiana. These propositions did not meet with sup- 
port; indeed there ai'e some doubts whether they were ever brought 
before her Majesty's ministers. It is more likely that the hazard 
of sending a large armament into so unhealthy a climate, pre- 
vented such a scheme from being taken under consideration at 
a period when the king of Spain seemed not to have given up 
bis designs upon England. Beside which the jealousy and in- 
fluence of Sir Walter's rivals were still too powerful to allow 
his project a favourable reception. Ralegh continued for some 
time after his return from Guiana in an apparent state of banish- 
ment from court; but we learn from a letter of Rowland Whyt« 
to Sir Robert Sidney, that he lived in great splendour about 
London. This was an expediency which worldly wisdom dictated 
to him ; it attracted the public eye, and caused the supposition 
that he lived from the fruits of bis enterprize, and hia new pro- 
jects therefore were more likely to court favour. 

To this period seems to belong a document, which, though 
extremely curious has hitherto been known only in manuscript. 
It bears the simple title, 'Of the Voyage for Guiana,' and is 

<b A Dctf i^tioD of tlie Court and State of England during the last fbur 
ruigns, by Roger Coke : lecond eilitioQ, LondoD, 1696, p. 55. 



APPENDIX. 133 

*fffeserved among the MSS. of Sir Hans Sloane in the library of 
the British Muaeum, Although arionymous, it bears so many 
internal evidences, that we cannot doubt as to its being the pro- 
duction of Sir Walter Ralegh ; it is written in that clear style so 
peculiar to him, and of which his Discovery of Guiana gives ua 
BO many instances. There are several paragraphs in this singular 
production which remove all doubts, if there should exist any, with 
regard to its genuineness. His allusion to the Amazons, who 
"with regarde of their sexe will be ready to ayde her majestic 
against the Spaniards" — the shortness of the voyage — his pro- 
ject of planting colonies, and speaking of the docihty and niild 
manners of the Indians — the observation "wee ourselves in 
parte have had the like proofe " — are only some of the numerous 
circumstantial evidences which this production bears on its face. 
The artifice, based upon the knowledge of the Queen's weakness 
for flattery, in order to insure his project a favoui-able reception, 
coincides so fully with Ralegh's expedients on former occasions, 
that it forms a collateral proof that he was the author. Every 
word of the following passage bears the impress of Sii- Walter : 
"It will add great increase of honor to the memorie of her ma- 
jeatie's name upon earth to all posterity, and in the end bee re- 
warded with an excellent atarlike splendency in the heavens." 

We have therefore not hesitated to add this piece to our 
present edition of Sir Walter Ralegh's Discovery of Guiana, as 
forming a connecting link between it and his last unfortunate 
expedition. This document, which was intended to remove any 
objections to his plan of occupying Guiana, and to enter into an 
alliance with the Inca of Manoa, is written with great clearness. 
His reasons and motives are most admirably set forth, and the 
answers to any probable objections stated with great perspicuity 
and force of argument. He was at that time fully aware that 
the plan proposed in his Discovery to cany a large force to 
Guiana, for the conquest of that empire, was considered im- 
practicable, as such an aimameut could not be spared by En- 
gland ; he changes therefore his plan with much sagacity in this 



134 APPENDIX. 

material point, and proposes now the novel measure of arming 
the Indiaas. He reaEODS that with their assistance an aruiament 
of four or five hundred men from England, containing among 
their numher artificers and armourers, would he quite sufficient 
to execute his great designs, and agrees further that such an 
expedition would keep the Spaniards in their transatlantic pos- 
sessions so occupied that " they would not hastily threaten us 
with any more of their invincible navies." 

We notice in this document for the first time, in the Uterary 
productions of Sir Walter, a practice which he afterwards adopted 
to a much greater estent in his History of the World, namely, 
a reference to passages from the holy Bible, to compare and 
prove his deductions. 



APPENDIX. 



OF THE VOYAGE FOR GUIANA'. 

ToDCHiNG the voyage for Guiana it is to be considered first, 
whether it bee to be vndertaken : secondly, the maimer of sub- 
duing it : and lastely, the meanes howe to subdue it, aud annex The nj^age 
it to the Crowne Imperiall of the Reahne of England. iia''to*'[bi 

That it is to be vndertaken will appeare, if it be proued to "nder- 
bee (1) honorable, (2) profitable, (3) neeeeaary, (4) and with no 
greate chardge, or difficultye accomplished. 

It is honoi'able, both for that by this meanes infinite nombers 
of soules may be brought from theyr idolatry, bloody sacrifices, 
ignoraunce, and inciuility to the worshipping of the trve God 
aright to ciuill conversation, and also theyr bodyes freed from 
the intoUerable tirrany of the Spaniards wherevnto they are al- 
ready or likely in shorte space to bee subjected, vnlesse her 
excellent Majestic or some other christian prince doe speedily 
assiste, and afterward protect them in their jvst defensiue 
wars against the violence of vsurpei's which if it please her 
highnes to vndertake, besida that presently it will stopp the 
mouthes of the Romish Cathohckes, who vaunt of theyr great 
adventvres for the propogaeion of the gospell^, it wdl add greate 
increase of honor, to the memory of her Majesties name vpon 
earth to all posterity and in the end bee rewarded with an 

' SloaneMSS.. 1133, fol. 45. 

' The edges uf the niiuiuscriyt hnving been cut tuu close, some of tbe 
writing la defaced. The words in brackets nre inferred from the general 
Beuse of the paragraph. 

' The desire of propagating tbc Roman Catholic faitli induenced the 
Spaniards and Portuguese iu their conquests, aud served to give religiuiis 
motives even to their cniehica. i\hicb they eoiisidered a.'i beiug aanetificd 
liy the aims Ilicy hart in vic« . 



[Pos!ii)]i- 
Utiesof 
[subd]viDg 
theGnk- 



136 APFBNUIX, 

excellent starlike splendency in the heavens, which is reserved 
for them that tunie many unto lighteouanes, as the Prophet 
speaketh. 

2. Likewise it is profitable, for heereby the Queens dominions 
may bee exceedingly enlarged, and this Realme inestimably en- 
riched, with pretioua stones, gold, silver, pearle, and other com- 
modityes which those countryes yeald, and (God giuing good 
succeBse to the voiagc) an entrance made thereby to many 
other Empyres, (which hapily may proue as rich as this) and it 
may bee to Peru it selfe and other Kingdomes of which the 
Spaniards bee now possessed, in those partes and else where. 

3. Lastly, the necessity of attempting Guiana in regard of 
our owne security (albeit noe profite should redound thereby to 
the Indians, or to ourselves directly from those countryes) ought 
greatly to weigh with vs. For if the Spaniards by the treasure 
of those Kingdomea which bee hath already, be able to trouble 
the better parte of Christendome, what would hec doe if bee were 
once estabhshed in Guiana, which is thought to bee more rich 
then all other lands which bee enjoyetb either in the East or 
West Indies. Whereas if her Majestic wearc seased of it, hee 
mighte bee soe kepte occupied in those prouinecs that hee would 
not bastcly threaten vs, with any more of bis inuincible navies. 

But although this voyage were never ao honorable, profitable, 
or necessary for our estate to be undertaken, yet if we had not 
some possibility for the effecting of our purpose, it were more 
meete to strengthen our selues at home, then to weaken our 
forces in seeking to annoy our enemy abroad. But such oppor- 
tunity and BO many encouragements doc now offer themselves 
vnto her higbnes that (I suppose) there is no prince in the 
world but hee would greatly strayne hymselfe, rather then to 
omitt the advantage of such a booty. Among others, these in- 
ducements are to bee weighed. 

1 . The Bordurers, who are sayd to bee naturails, and to whom 
onely the Empire of Guiana doth of right apperteine, are al- 
ready prepared to joyne with vs, having submitted themselves 



to the Queen's protection both against the Spauiards and Em- 
peror of Guiana who usurpeth upon them. 

3. The Spaniards for theyr oppresaions and usurpations, are 
detested and feared both by the Guianians and hordurers, by the 
former, beecause the Spaniards forced them to fly from theyr 
owne country of Peru, and hy the latter, by experience of the 
Spanish deabng towardea themselves and tbeyr adjoyning neigh- 
bors. So as it is reported none doe assiste them save the Ar- 
wacans, a vagabond, poore, and small people. But it is like that 
all the countryea of the continent who are not yet inthralled to 
the Spaniards and have heard of their outrage and especially 
the Amazones in regarde of their aexe, will be ready to ayd her 
Majeatie against the Spaniards. 

3. The voyage is shorte being but 6 weekes sayling from 
England and the like backe againe, which may so bee contiiued 
as going, abiding, and returning we may bestow an whole yeare 
without any winter at all by the way, no lee shore, no sandes, 
or enimiea coast. 

4. No ehardgc but onely at the first setting forth which need 
not be great, especially if the course layd downe in this trea- 
tise or some such like, be taken, considering the coimtry yeeldetb 
store of come, beasts, fowie, fish and fruit for victualls, and 
Steele and copper for the making of armor and ordinance, and 
among the Amapagotoa and Caraccas horses may he had and in 
short time manned for our service in the wars. 

5. It is thought the passage to it may bee easely fortiiyed by 
sea and the country by nature is defenaed by land with moun- 
taines and multitude of nations, that it is impossible in manner 
by land to bee evicted, beeing once attayned by vs. 

6. Though we arc not greatly to rely upon prophesies, yet if it 
weare found in Pern (as Don Anthonio de Berreo told Sir Walter 
Ralegh) among other prophesies that from luglatiera the Inga 
should be restored to Peru, it may fall out to bee true (as many 
of theyr prophesies did both in Mesico and Peru which indeed 
foreshewed the altaration of those Empires) at least the pro- 



138 APPENDIX. 

pheay will greatly daunt the SpaniardB and make them a&ayd 

of the worst event in these imployments. 

7. If it be remembred how the Spaniards haue nithont just 
title or any wrong at all donne to them by the harmelesae In- 
dians, forceably enuaded and wrongfully deteyned their coiintryeH 
aboute 100 yearea, committing barbarous and exquisite masaa- 
crea to the distruction of whole nations of people (arising by 
estimaeion of some of accompt among them and acquaynted with 
theyr proceedings in some few yearea to the number of 20 mil- 
lions of reasonable creatures made to the Image of God and lease 
harmefull then the Spaniards themselves) whereby more fruitful! 
laud was layd wast and depopulated then is in all Europe and 
some parte of Asia, in reuenge wherof their owne rehgious men 
do make accompte that the just God in judgment will one day 
horribly chaaten and peradueuture wholy subuert and root out 
the Spaniah nation from the world. Againe if it bee noted that 
the Spaniards haue aboue 30 severall times in vayne sought the 
conquest of Guiana, and that it doth by the providence of the 
Almighty now (as it were) prostrate herselfe before her Majesties 
feet the most potent enemy that the Spaniards hath, not ondy 
intreatiug but by vnualuable offers and \-nauawerable reasons 
alluring, even urging and forcing her highues to accept it vnder 
her alleigeaunce, who would not bee perawaded that now at 
length the great judge of the world, hath heard the sighea, 
gi'onea, laraentacions, teares, and blond of ao many milhons of 
innocent men, women, and ehildi-en aflicted, robbed, reuiled, 
branded with hot irons, roasted, dismembred, mangled, stabbed, 
whipped, racked, scalded with hott oyle, suet, and hogsgrease, 
put to the strapado, ripped alive, beheaded in sport, drowned, 
daahd against the rocks, famished, deuoured by mastifea', burned 



' The Spaniards made the firtt use of mastiffs against the Indiana in 
Hayti. These fierce doga were trained to scent the unfortuii»te natives, 
and to mangle their bodies if they offered reaiatance. The Spanish histo- 
rians celebrate the prowess of one of these doga called Bezzerillo, which 
ivaa trained to stand sentinel during night, to wfttch against unexpected 



APPENDIX. 139 

and by infinite eraeltyes consvuied, and purpoaeth to scourge 
and plague that cvrsed nation, and to take the yoake of Berui- 
tude from that distressed people, as free by nature as any 
Christian. In comtemplacion of all which things, who would 
not bee incouraged to proceed in this voiage, hauing in a maner 
none other encmyes but these Spaniards, abhorred of God, and 
man, being provoked by so many allvrements, oecacions, reasons, 
and opportunityes, in a most just cause, the safety of oui- dread 
soveraigne, of oiur selves, and of a great part of the Christian 
world thereuppon depending, 

Now havLug proued that the voiage for Guiana is to be vn- 
dertaken that there is a full hope of good successe therein with 
great honor and profytt to her Majestic and to her successors, 
and to all the subjects of her dominions ; It cometh nest to be 
discussed in what manner it is most convenient for vs to labor T 
to haue the Empire of Guiana subdved and vnited to the crowne ^i 
of England which must be either by expelling the vsurping luga 
of Manoa from Guiana vnder the right and title of the naturalls, 
and their free election, taking possession of the Tassell royall, or 
whatsoever other tokens, or ensignes of the Empyre are rctayned 
among them, to the vse of her Majestic and her successors, or 
else oncly by way of composition to draw the Inga to doe 
homage, and to bold of her Majestic as her vasseU, by reteyn 
services by way of honorable couenants vpon good consideracions 
heereafter in this Treatise to be expressed. The effecting of the 
former secmeth more profitable, but the latter more safe and 
more convenient as our case standeth which I doc gather by 
these reasons following. 



attBclis or to guard prisonura. Bezzerillu wax of audi gtiist service that 
hw master dvew for him a daj's jiay and a half as ranking with crosa-bow 
men. When sent in pureuit of an Indian, on coming up with him, be 
nubed upon his victim and dragged him by the arm to the camp, or if he 
uffereii any show of resistance he t^re him to pieces. The race of Bez- 
/erillo WHS propngBttd from the island to ihc continent for the dtstruetioo 
of the unfoitunate Indiana on the main. 



140 APPENDIX. 

1. If wee doe aeeke to depose the Emperor of Guiana then 
we shall loose the advantage of setting them on to attempt the 
recouery of Peru from the Spaniards or otherwise to inuade the 
Spanish dominions next affronting. 

3. Yt is greately to he feared that notwithstanding we might 
by the helpe of the Bordurers overthrow hym, yet in the end hee 
would rather joyne with the Spaniards {who would be ready to 
win hym vnto them by fayre promises) then suffer vs to rest 
quiett in Guiana, 

3. We shall bee much weaker and lesse able to reaiste the 
puissance of the Spaniards if we haue not the assurance of the 
Guianians and their assistants. 

4. By setting the Guianians against vs, we shall never reduce 
them to the obedience of the Gospell which ought to bee one 
principall respect in our endeavors. 

5. Wee may haue sufficient profite both by the contynuall 
trafficke and by the sayd coucnants to be agreed vpon by the 
Guianians, without the absolute conquest of Guiana. 

6. And lastly, this agi-eeth best with the prophesy which the 
Spaniards haue among them for the recouery of Peru by the 



The means Thua much of the manner of subdving the Guianians, the 

Guiana. meanes of procuring this come nexte to bee considered, which 
ought to bee just before God accordmg to our christian profes- 
sion, and honorable among men according to the accustomed 
proceedings of our English nation. For it were farr better with 
the helpe of our confederates vnder the defence of the Almighty 
to strengthen ourselves in our owne countiyes, then to purchase 
our securityc by assaulting Guiana by such practises as the Spa- 
niards vsed in the conquest of the Indies. Therefore the presi- 
dent of their dishonorable actions may not serue for our instruc- 
tions. For which purpose I lay downe this as a maxime (which 
yet upon better aduise I aine ready to retracte) that no Chris- 
tians may lawfully invade with hostility any heathenish people 
not under their allegiaunce, to kill, spoilc, and conquer them. 



APPENDIX, 141 

only vpon pretence of their fidelity. My proses and reasons be 
these. 

1. In the beginning God having made the world, reseruing 
the heauens for his throne of Majestie, gave the earth and aU 
therein, with the benefytt yssuicg from the Hunne, the moone, 
and all the starra, to the sonnea of men as is manifest by the 
blessing of God uppon Adam, afterwards renewed vnto Noah Gen. 1.21 
and his discendannts, confiiTned in parte by God himselfe to the Q^a] jjjj 
posterity of wicked Isniaell, after to Nebuchadnezer iu these J«"™-27-6. 
words I haue made the Earth, man and the beast vpon the ground 
by my greate power, and hane giuen it to whom it pleaseth me : 
But now I have giuen all these lands into the hande of Nebu- 
chadnezer the King of Bahell my seruant &c. To the hke effeet 
saytb Daniel to Nebuchadnezer: King, then arte King of Dan.: 
Kings, for the Lord of Heauen hath giuen thee a kingdome, 
power, strength, glory, &e. By all which it seemeth to me very 
liquid and cleare that by God's ordinaunce the beleuers are not 
the only Lords of the world, as beeing not able to people the 
20th parte thereof, but that by the gift of God, Idolaters, pa- 
gans, and Godlesse persons bee intituled to the possession, and 
haue a capacity to take, aud an ability to hold a property in 
lands and goods as well as they, which beeing manifested by the 
former allegacions, it is against the rules of Justice (which gi- 
ueth to euery man his owen) to depriue them of their goods, 
lands, libertyes, or lines, without juste title therevnto. 

3, When Jepthe by his Embassadors shewed to the King of ■'"^B- 
Amon the righte that the Israelites had of inuading the posses- 
sions of Amon, he makcth not his title from pretence of their 
Idolatry or Gentleisme, but because the God of Israel had giuen 
those lands vnto them. The God of Israel (sayth he) hath cast 
out the Amorites before his people of Israel, and wouldest thou 
possess it ? wouldest not thou possess that which Chemosh thy 
God giueth thee to possess ? So whomsoever the Lord God dri- 
neth out before vs, them will we possess. But God hath giuen 
no Christians any such warrant, therfor thei may not do the 



17.B. 

1 



142 APPENDIX. 

like : as nether the good Kings of Israel or Juda vsed to doo 
unlcs upon just cause of wrongs from the Idolaters receved. 

3. Christianu are commaunded to doo good vnto all men, and 
to haue peace with all men ; to doo as the! would be donn vnto ; 
to giue none offence to one or other : and laately Christ willed 
the disciples to pay tribute to Csesar, an Infidell, he i-efuaed a 
worldly kingdome, as not apperteyning vnto hym, he reproued 
his ApoBtlea when thei desired that tier might come ham heauen 

. to destroy the Samaritans, who refused to entertayn hym, say- 
ing, yon know not what spirit you are of, the sonn of man is not 
come to destroy mens lines but to saue them. Therfor no chris- 
tian Prince under pretence of Christianity only, and of forcing 
of men to receiue the ghospell, or to renounce their impietjes, 
may attempte tlie inuaaion of any free people not vnder their 
vassaladge. For Christ gaue not that power to Christians as 
Christians, which he himselfe as soveraigne of all Christians, nei- 
ther had, nor would take. 

4. By the lawe of nature and nations we agree that Prescrip- 
tion or priority of possession only, giueth right vnto lands or 
goods, against all straungers, indefesibly by any but the true 
owners. 

5. We ourselves hould it unreasonable that the Pope vpon 
cullor of religion only, should giue away, or that any prince 
should theribr presume to intrude vpon our dominions i or that 
any Protestant should incroch vpon the Papists, the Musconits, 
or Turks, vpon the like occasion ; or that an excommunicate per- 
son (whom Christ denounceth to be as an heathen) or a Mahu- 
metist comming into our eunti-y for traffique, or an alien Atheist 
(if any weare among vs) not seducing our people, should be as- 
saulted in goods or person, by any priuate man, or other whoso- 
ever, under whose juriadicion be is not placed. The like rule in 
proporcion is to be obserned for not inuadiug any Idolaters do- 
minions. 

6. To be shorte all sound Christians for the scmblable prac- 
tise do repute the Kings of Castile, and Portugall, meere usurpers 



APPKNDiX. 143 

in Africke, and America. Among the PapiatB also Bellarmine' 
Bvoweth that Pope Alexander 6, nether did, nor could give to De Itom- 
the foresayd kings the Indies to be conquered and posBeaaed, hut c. 2. 
only to be conuerted to the faith by them. And the matter being 
called into question in Spayn, betwen the Lord Bishop of Chiapa 
and D. Sepulueda*, the two vniuersities of Salamanca and Alcala 
and allso (if I mistake not mine author) the Lords of the As- 
sembly who weare apointed to heare the controversy debated, did 
resolve that such kinde of inuasiue warrs vppon infidells could 
not be justified ; howsoever the Spaniards (this notwithstanding) 
nether had, nor yet bane any minde to waive the possession which 
by violent intrusion they bane of the Indies, 

Thus much to confirme that opinion before debuered that 
Christians may not warrauntably conquer Infidells vpon pre- 
tence only of their infidelity. But I honld it very reasonable 
and charitable to send preachers safely guarded if need bee, to 
offer Infidells the gladd tidings of the Gospell, which being re- 
fused by them (or perad venture the Infidells giving hard mea- 
sure to the Preachers) this can ground no sufficient quarrel! to 
ouerrunn their countryes. I neede to speake the lesse of this, 
because her Majestic is abrady inuited to take vpon her the 
Seignorie of Guiana by the naturalls therof, whose ancient right 
to that Empire may be followed if it be thought convenient. 
But because in my simple judgment (vpon the former reasons) 
it is more safe and commendable for vs rather to seeke to bring 

' Cardinal Roliert Bellannino wbs bora at Monte Pulciano in Tuscany 
in 1542, and entered the order of Jesuits in 1560. He distinguished him- 
Belf by his erudition, and was made in 159!) a Cardinal and Archbisbop of 
Capua. Bellannino is the author of numerous controversial works, chJeHy 
directed against tbe reformed reli^on. Boyle says of bim, that he bad the 
best pen for controversy of any man of bis age. 

' The Bishop of Chiapa was the celebrated Bartholomew De Las Caaas, 
the generous and constant defender of the rights of tbe natives of South 
America. John Crinez de Sepulveda, historiographer to the emperor Charles 
the Fifth, rendered hiinaelf ignobly conspicuous as the author of a ' Viudi' 
cation of the cruelties of the Spaniards against the Indians/ in opposition 
to the benevolent designs of Las Casoa. 



144 APPENDIX. 

Guiana to become tributory, then to conquer it, I will pursue 
that conclvsion, shewing how with least charge, and greatest 
facility, we may best aduantage ourselves without conquest. 
This may be compassed by these 3 meanea. First by bringing 
the Bordurcrs and the Epireumei and Guianians to an unity 
among themselves. Secondly into a league with vs against the 
Spaniards, and their adherentes, if happely the adherentes can 
not be drawen from them, which greatly importeth to be laboured 
by V,. 

1. By discrediting the Spaniards among them, which must 
be by acquainting them with the usurpacions, insolences, and 
tyrranyes of the Spaniards before remembred vpon their kindred 
in Peru, vpon their neighbors, and vpon whomsoever ether by 
fraud or force thei can fasten possession. For proofe whereof 
Bartol : de las Casas booke of the Spanish crueltyea with fayr 
pictures, or at least a large table of pictures expressing the par- 
ticularitycs of the crueltyes there specified (neatly wroi^ht for 
the better credite of our workemanshipp, and their easier vnder- 
standing) would be sent to the Inga, and bis Cassiquca by some 
inteqjreters, that the! may publish them among their vassals, 
and to all the estates of the confining countryes rovnde about 
that thei may bee all (as much as is possible) conjo}Titly linked, 
and exasperated against the Spaniards, And by informing them 
that the Spaniards doe holde their religion of the Pope, the great 
inchantor or cousner, and troubler of the world, who sent them 
first to invade those countryes, who teacheth them to breake all 
fayth, promises, oathes, couenantes with all such as bee not of 
their owne religion, so farr forth as may seme his and their 
tume, who giueth his foUowera dispensacions to steale, robb, 
rebell and murther ; and likewise pardoneth for mony what- 
soever wronges or villanyes, are by them committed. 

2. On the other side thei may be wrought to afl'ect vs by these 
alhTements. 1. By presents sente from her Majestic to the 
Emperor and principall cassiques. 2. By ehewiug them the 
commodityes of our countryes. 3. By due commending of her 



APPENDIX. 145 

Maiestie, and this state vnto them ; aa that She ia a nioate 
gratious, mercifull, and juste Princess, releeuing sundry distressed 
nations both in her owne and forrayn countries against the 
Spaniards in the Indies, Ireland, Spayn, Portugall, and ellswher : 
for illnstracion wherof the maps containing Sr. Fran : Drakea 
exploites at Sto, Domingo &c. is to be showne vnto them': 
furthermore that she is of great magnifficence and puissance, 
her conntryea populous, rich, warlike and well provided of 
shippes as any state in the northern world, for manifesting of 
this the maps of the aeverall aheires in England, and the large 
map of the city of London', should bee conueyed vnto them. 
Also that her Majestic hath many mighty allies and con- 
federates ready to ayde her against the Spaniards (if need 
were) as the Frenchmen, Germanes, &c. and the maps of their 
countryes to bee deliuered vnto them. That the King of Spaync 
made choise among all other Princes christned as a matter of 
high advancement to joyne in marriage with her Majesties sister 
and pi-edecessor. And that her Majesties religion is farr dif- 
fering from the Spanish, maynteining truth, justice, and fayth- 
fulnes, prohibiting all murders, treasons, adulteries, thefts, and 
whatsoever correapondeth not with equity and reason. 4. Lastly, 
their fauors are to be wonn by entring a league with them con- 
cerning condiciona to be perfomied hy them in consideracion of 
honorable performances by vs to be rendred and made. 

' The work to which Ralegh here allu<!ea is apiiarently " A Summttrie 
and trve diaeoutse of Sir Fraacia Drake's West Indian Voyage. Wherein 
were taken the Townes of Saint logo, Sascto Domingo, Cartegena and 
Saint Augustine. With Qeographicall Mappes esaetly describing each of 
the Townes, with their situations, and the manner of the Armies approach- 
ing to the winning of them. Diligently made hy Baptista Boazio. Printed 
London 1589." 

' Chriatophorus Saxton'sAtlasof the Counties of England was published 
in 157&-78. It is a splendid apecimeo of a collection of early maps. The 
large map of the rity of London to which Ralegh alludes is Ralph Aggas's 
Plan of London in 1560. It was republished hy Vertue, and is sii feet by 
two feet three and a half inches. A copy of each of these works, in excel- 
lent preservation, is among the collections in the British Museum. 



1 The condicionB to be required of them are these. First to | 
renounce their Idolatry, and to worship the only true God, vnto 
which vnleaae thei will yeeld it may be doubted whether we being 
ChristiaDH may ioyne with them in armea against the Spaniards 
or not. Some profes mouing thia doubte I will briefly offer with. 
submission to sounder judgment. 

Jehoaapbat hauing aided in battell an Idolatrous King was 
checked by a Prophet sent from God to hym saying, wouldst 
eon. thou helpe the wicked, and hate them that lone the Lord. 
■ Therefore for this thing the wrath of the Loi'd is vpon thee. 
Likewise Amaziah King of Judab, hired 100 thousand men 
Israhtea (who had fallen from God by Idolatry) to ioyne with 
him in warra against the Edomites, and a man of God came 
V £ Chron. vnto hym and sayd ; Lett not the army of Israeli go with thee, 
for the Lord is not with Israeli &c. whei-euppon Amaziah dis- 
missed the IsracUites and discomfited the Kdomites. 

1. Objection. Asa by the helpe of Idolaters vanquished his 
enemyes. 1 K. 15. 30. 

Answeare. Asa is reproued for thia notwithstanding it had 
pleased God to giue hym the victory, 3 Chro. 16. 7. The like 
ia to be answered for Hernando Cortez and others who con- 
quered by the hclpc of some Indian Idolaters. 

3. Objection. It will require great time to conuert them 
from their Idolatry. 

Answeare. It shalbc sufficient at the first to assemble the 
Cassiques to persvade their people to abandon their IdoUs and 
to surcease their bloudy sacrifices, also to take their promise to 
yeeld to the gospell (which should be summarily propounded as 
it was by the Bishop Vincent de Valverde to Attibaliba') and to 

' Frftncispo Vicente de Valverde, a DominicBn monk, bishop and almoiiBF I 
to the expedition under Pizarro, approached Atahuftlpa, who came at 
head of eight thousand Indians, with a crucifix and the hreviary in 
hand, and offered him peace, The biahop spoke to the lues of the mjste- 
ries of the Christian religion, and of the partition which the Pope had made 
of the world among the Christian princes. Peru had been given, he said, I 
to the emperor Charles, who had deputed Pizarro as governor. AtahtOalps J 



APPENDIX. 

draw their people tliervnto, both now and heereafter further, as 
thei ahalbe instructed, 

3, Objection. Peraduenture thei will not coDdiacende to em- 
brace our rehgion and abiui-e their owne. 

Answeare. First being in distreaae thei will rather yeeld to 
any condicion then be depriued of our protection, especially if 
wee shew viito them that our God will not prosper vs if we 
should doe otherwise. Againc experience in other places giueth 
great hope that litle persvasion will serve to effect this matter. 
Wheresoever Cortez travelled in Mutezuma his countryes the 
people did at the first without contradiction giue hym leaue to 
demolish their IdoUs ; only (as I remember) in Thaxcallan for a 
tyme thei made some scruple of it. In China at the preaching 
of some fi-yers the people were redily persvaded to relinquish 
their Sodomitry and Idolatry, sauing thei durst not profease the 
Gospell openly fearing the Magistrates, who are jeUoua of ino- 
uations. When Pedrasuarez Cabrall', was sent into the East 
Indies by the King of Portugall, he hapned to discouer Braaill, 
wher the inhabitaunts seing the Portuguese kneeling at prayera, 
thd likewise kneeled after the same manner, making shew of 
prayeing. But of all other the Lord Bishop of Chiapa (who 
lined many yeares among the Indies) avowchetb that thei were 
teachable and capable of all good learning very apt to receaue 
the Catholic fayth, and to be instructed in good manners, hauing 

indignantly denied sueh a claim, and asserted that Paebacama woa the 
creator of the universe. Having taken the sacred book, which he was 
told contained the mysteries, ont of the bishop's hands, and fiuiling that 
it did not speak to him, he tbrcn it to the ground. The Dominican cried 
vengeance on such a crime, and Pizarro'a men commenced the onslaught 
upon the unarmed Indiana, among whom the artillery made sad havoc. 
They were pursued by the cavalry until night; Atahualpa was made pri- 
soner, two thousand of his followers lost their lives, and three thousand 
were taken captive. The Spaniards did not lose a single man during thia 
cruel act. (Zarate, Hist, del Peru, Ub. ii. cap. 5. Xereg, Gonquista del 
Peru. Herrera, decad. iv. v. lib. 1. 2.) 

' Pedro Alvarez de Cabral (or, as he is sometimes called, Pedraloez Cabral), 
a PortugiiRse navigator, discovered the coast of Brazil in April 1500. 

Li 



148 APPENDIX. 

lesse incombrances in attaining thervato then any other, and that 
after thei once tasted of religion, thei were very much inflamed, 
ardent and importune to vnderstand the matter of fayth, de- 
linering their idols to the religious men to be burned, bringing 
their children to be baptised and chatheehized, sending for them 
sometimes 50 Leagues, and receauing them as aungelles sent 
from beauen, which considered we may presvme the like of the 
Guianians, But if after deliberation it shall be found agreeable 
for V3 to ioyne with tbem before their conuersion, then this first 
condicion and the objections thervpon arising, need lease to 
trouble vs. 

I The 3 conditions should bee, that the Inga of Manoa by the 
consent of bis Lords and Cassiques surrender the ensignes of 
his Empire to ber Majestic to be retoumed to him againe to be 
bolden in cheife of tbe Crowne of England. Also her Majesties 
Lievetenantes to direct the Guianians in their conclusions both 
of warr and peace : Rendring yearely to her Majestie and ber 
successors a great tribute allotting to her vae some rich mines 
and riuers of gold, pearle, siluer, i-ocks of pretious stones &c. with 
some large fruitfuU countryes for tbe planting of her Colonyes. 

; Lastely for assvrance of these condicions tbey shall giue 
speciall hostages to be sent into England, which being ciuilled 
and conuerted heere, vpon there returne and receiving of others 
in their roraes tbei may be matched in marriage with English 
women. Tbey shall also allow some choyse places for fortifica- 
cions ; and moreover bynde themselues by the oatbes and cere- 
monyes of their countryes, that thei will be loyall and faythfull 
in the premises and in all other thinges to her Majestie and her 
successors and to her and their highnea generalls for tbe time 
beeing. 

The offers to be made vnto the Guianians, and performed on 
our partes may be these. 1. First that we will defend them 
their wines, children and countryes against the Spaniards and 
aU other intrvders. 2. Then that we will helpe them to recouer 
their country of Peru. 3. That wee will instructe them in liberall 



APPENDIX. 149 

arts of civility behoofafuU for them that thei may be compar- 
able to any cbriatian people. 4. And lastly that we will teach 
them the vse of weapons, how to pitch theyr battells, how to 
make armor, and ordinaace, and how to manage horses for 
seruice in the warrs. 

This latter point (to say the truth) is the principall scope 
wherevnto in this Treatise I haue aymed, contayning in short b 
course of expedition most fitt to be followed (though never yet 
executed (so farr as I can heare or read of) in any of tlie con- 
quests of the East or West Indies ;) yet necessary to be now 
vsed by vs our ease being farr different from the former enter- 
prises in the New world. For wee are not to goe as Cortez, 
Pisarro, or the other conquerors against a naked vnaimed peo- 
ple (whose warrs are resembled by some to the childrens play 
called logo di Canne'). Butt we are to encounter with the 
Spaniards, armed in all respectes, and aa well practised as our- 
selves. Therefore we must instruct the Indiana in the vse and 
skill of making armor, and that for these causes. 

1. We cannot spare a sufficient number to send to the con- 
quest or at least having gott possession of Guiana wee cann not 
by the helpe of the naked Indians nor safely by the ayde of for- 
reine forces to be hired, long inioyc it. For the Spaniards will 
gather their strength from Spayn, Fern, Nova Hispania, Nueuo 
Regno de Granado, the Islands, and from other their domi- 
nions to disloge va, we being farr from our supplies, which may 
be intercepted, or we so busied at home that wee cannot send 
any. 

2. If we do not take this course it is not impi-obable that 
some other Potentate will at length thineke upon it, and vse it 
to our great trouble and too late repentance. 

3. Besides if this policy be not vsed, wc cannot set the Gui- 
anians on worke to iimade the countryes cireumiacent posessed 

' Juego de CaSas,— a sport formerly used not only by children, but 
likewise by gentlemen in Spain, imitating a. skirmish, during which the 
players cast eanes or reeds at one another instead of darts. 



150 APPKNDIX. 

by tlie Spaniards which thing (vnder favor) would tend as much 
to oar Becurity, as any other, in reason to be deuised : Dcither 
can wc baue couueniently Bufiicient armor and ordinance vnlesee 
we take the heipe of the Goianiana to make some who tiaue 
brasac, and Iron ' and many Goldsmiths of rare science (as may . 
be thought) who would be very capable to receiue information 
from our Enginers, Armorers, and Artificers, which together 
with SMime ingenious persons (experimented for necessarye new 
inuentions) are to be carrj'ed thethcr for that purpose. 

1. Objection. But you will aay we want armor to furnish 
them presently. 

Answeare. It were not amiaae at the first to aduenture some- 
what extraordinary, seeing vpon our arriuall we may haue pre- 
sent payment for it, and also niony to send for more. And 
one of our armorers or gunmakers might with one labor teach 
20 Guianians, who would quickly conceaue aud imitate their 
actions. 

2. Objection. If we arme and instruct them thei will espell 
vs, as able to defend theinselues without va. 

Answeare. 1. The Indians for the most parte are a people 
very faythfuU, humble, patient, peccable, simple without sub- 
tilty, mallicc, quarrels, strife, rancor or deayer of reuengementj 
as meeke as lambs, as harmeles as children of 10 or 12 yeares. 
As the Bishop of Chiapa (a man as semeth of good credit) of bis 
owne experience doth witnesse, and wee our selues in parte have 
had the like proofe of them. So as thei hauing receiued such 
great benefits as we shall confer vp]>on them, thei giuing also 
sufficient security by hostages, others &c. vnto vs, we cannot ( 
presume that thei will be so vngratefull as to rise against vs, < 
if some doe, douhtlcBse we shall finde others that will stieke 
vnto vs. The history of the Tlaxcaltecas sayth fulncs to Her- 

' The Indians were not aequninteil with the use of iron until the con- 
quest. It vroa even asserted that South America posseeEes no iron ore. 
TLiB has been long since refuted : we have se^n rlay- iron-stone and bog- 
iron ore covering extensive districts in Guiana, 



AFPENDlIf. 15] ^H 

Dando Cortez who had prepared 50000 meu to send for his ^H 

succor, beeiag almost uanquishcd by the Mexicans, who cainc ^| 

to meete hym in his retui-ne providing 20 thousand mea and ^M 

women to bring his retinew and uictualle, who rcceiued hym ^H 

with weeping, mourning and lamentacion, for the dammage donn ^M 

unto hym by his enemyes, who enterteyned hym into their city, ^H 

cherishing hym and his men being weakCj weary, maj'med, and ^M 

abnost famished, in better sort then thei could have found in ^M 

their owne countryea, when the Tlaxcaltecaa if thei had bene as ^M 

faythles as many Christians are, might by deliuering him into ^H 

the bands of the Mexicans haue purchased their peace and ^M 

liberty ; the history I say of these and such like kindnesses ^M 

shewed vnto the mercilesse Spaniards, doe argue the great loue ^H 

and faythfulnes of the poore Indian people where thei once ^M 

have conceaned a good opinion. 

2. Wee may make choisc to arme and instructe sueb of them For the pre- 
as we find most trusty and most prone to Christianity reseruing ^"^ hare 
the powdei- and shott in our oween custody allowing them onely |nf^'"^fi 
80 much as will aerue their present vse from tyme to tyme, con- all weaijons 
cealing also the secret of making powder, or some other neces- ow]cn 
saryes from them till we haue full triall of their fidehtyes, that ^^g [th|"'' 
thei may still stand in need of va and of our counsel]. ".Jorth aai 

3. Objection. By our example the Spaniards or some other mien (for 
civill people will arme the Indians and ao displant us. [jeal(m]ay) 

Answeare. We shall haue great aduantage in beginning this j^^'janj^r-gt 
course before others. The Spaniards dare hardly trust any t'l"] t>["es 
Indians with armor. In a short time the Guianians may be in- [niiiBHnd] 
structed, trayned and consequently armed, and we by them and "/[tLe]"^' 
thei by vs defended with greater facihty (being in their owne ^j*^***^ 
country) then opugned by any others ; as wee see the estates of jiOiigiug- 
Christendome can defend their owne dominions amid the forces lorfaiile] 
of their armed aduersaryes. 'i"lg reaaoii 

Besida this easy and compendious way of possessing Guiana, [V^ing 
by arming the inhabitants, there is apeciall choiae to be had in vuto tUem. 
sending preachers of good discrecion and behauior for then' con- 



J 



152 APPENDIX. 

ueraion (who may reviue the old order of Christian Churches in 
speaking by Interpreters) also of well gouemd aouldiers and 
artisans, that will not wrong the Indians in their persons, women 
or posBessions. To that end a seuerity of Martial] Discipline is 
to be vsed in the open presence of the Gnianians (being made 
acquainted with the cause of the punishment) with full satis- 
faction for all iniuryea which by the ruder sort shalbe offered. 
This wilbe a singular nieane to worke their conuersion to pro- 
cure their louing affections, and to oblige them in assured loyalty 
to her Majeatie. Otherwise if our men practise vpon them the 
Spaniards crueltyes (which God forbid) besids the wrath of God, 
and the vtter ouerthrow of the whole seruice to bee feared, it 
will fall out with the Guianians, as with the other Indians of the 
conquered nations, who cursed the God of the Spaniards mourn- 
ing after their owne Idols, thinking them better then the Spanish 
God, whom thei held to bee the worst, the most vnjust, the most 
wicked of all Gods, because he had such seruants r and the 
Spanish king the most vnjust and cruell of all Princes, supposing 
that he did feed on humayne flesh and bloud, because he sent 
among them sueh ill subjects. As Earth: de las Casas expressely 
certified his Lordship the Emperor Charles the 5th in his suyte 
vnto hym for redresse of the horrible outrages perpetrated by 
his Spaniards against the Indians. 

To conclude if it might seeme fitt to her excellent Majestie 
that 4 or 5 hundred men (whereof some to he Leaders, some 
casters of great ordinance, some gunners, some Armorers &c.) 
were landed by hundreds in seuerall places next confining to 
Peru, Nona Hispania, Castilia del Oro, Nueuo Regno, Terra 
Florida, or els where as shalbe most eonuenient for prouision of 
armor and munition to furnish the people, with instruction to 
sett them to warr against the Spaniards, it is greatly to be hoped 
that in a short tyme the Spaniards should be so occupied with 
defending their Bordurs that we might rest more safely heere 
in England and in Guiana. And also further matter of such 
graunde consequence mightc be acomplished the like wherof 



APPENDIX. 153 

haue not come to the knowledge of the world aince the conqueat 
of the Indies. Allwaiea provided that this policy of arminge the 
Inhabitants, as a spectall secret, be discreetly carryed and con- 
cealed vntyll it be rypened and brought into open Action. 



Ralegh's confidence in the soundneBs of his extensive views 
for the aettlement of Guiana was not diminished by the coldness 
with which hia plana were received. He planned a second 
voyage, and succeeded in inducing the lord-treasurer and Sir 
Robert Cecil to take an interest in it'. Strong aohcitationa were 
made about that period in hia favour at Court, and he probably 
considered that by devoting himself personally to his interest he 
would be Burer of success ; he therefore entrusted Captain Lau- 
rence Keymis with the command of the expedition, which con- 
sisted of the Darling and the Discoverer. Keymis had accom- 
panied Ralegh on hia first voyage, and shared his firm belief in 
the wealth and capabihties of Guiana. lie set sail in January 
1596, and after hia return in the following June published a 
narrative of this expedition, which he dedicated to his patron 
Sir Walter Ralegh', Viewed a§ a literary production it is not 
without merit, but it beara the same exaggerated style as Ra- 
legh's own production, whose infatuation seems to have been so 
great, that Keymis's report tended materially to confirm him in 
the behef of the mineral riches of the banks of the Orinoco, 
upon which he maiidy built his designs of colonizing Guiana. 
Ralegh was absent from England on the return of the expe- 

' EowlandWhyte, in a letter to Sir Robert Sidney, observes, " His roy- 
age goes forward, and my lord-treasurer ventures with him ^500 m money : 
Sir Robert Cecyl venturea a new ahi)i bravely fnmiabed ; the very hull 
stands in ^SflO." (Sidney Papers, vol. i. p. 377.) 

" A Relation of the Second Vojn^e to Guiana, performed and written in 
the yew 1596 by Laurence Keymis, Gentl. London, 1596, 



154 APPENDIX. 

dition, and engaged in the memorable action at Cadiz. Duimg 
the interval of Keymis'a voyage he had been partly restored to 
favour, and appointed a member of the council of war to the 
expedition under the Earl of Esaex and Lord Effingham. After 
his return from Cadiz he bethought himself anew of hia G^uianian 
project, which, if it could be said to have slumbered, was fully 
revived by Keymis's favourable account. For the purpose of 
enlarging these discoveries, and keeping up amicable relations 
between the Indians and the English, a pinnace was fitted out 
wliich had been in the late engagement off Cadiz, the command 
of which Balegh gave to Leonard Berrie. She sailed from Wey- 
mouth for Guiana on the 27th of December 1596, and returned 
after an absence of six months'. 

These expeditions, which were undertaken almost entirely at 
Ralegh's expense, prove that his projects regarding Guiana rested 
upon a full persuasion of ultimate success, and disarm the accu- 
sation of Hume and others that be stated deliberate falsehoods 
in his narrative to further his ambitious objects. 

The public employm.ents to which Balegh was called, and his 
restoration to the favour of his sovereign, rendered it impossible 
for him to devote himself personally to the prosecution of hia 
great colonial projects; it appears therefore that Guiana, for 
awhile at least, did not occupy the chief place in the machina- 
tions and workings of his restless mind. 

Hia character offers so many contrarieties, that in following 
the different actions and events of his life one is perplexed to 
form an opinion of this great man. It is asserted by all the con- 
temporary historians that the populace disliked Ralegh ; and this 
feeling was reciprocal, as he never lost an opportunity of evincing 
hia contempt for the lower orders. Nevertheless, in the short 
period of his intercourse with the natives, he succeeded in taking 
such a strong hold on their affection and respect, that years 

' A narrative of tliis expedition., written by Master Tliomaa Mash&m, 
a gentleman of the eompany, is inaertcil in Hakltiyt's Voynges, vol. iii. 
p. fiy2. 



were not able to remove the remembrance of him. Dr. Southey 
speaks doubtfully of this attachment; we have however auch 
strong evidence of the fact in the narratives of Leigh and Har- 
court, who undertook expeditious to Cayenne in 1606 and 1608', 
that there remains no room for doubt, even were the circum- 
stances that Topiawari permitted Balegh to take his son to Eng- 
land, and that Harry the Indian lived with him two years in the 
Tower, not of themselves sufficient proofs. The respect with 
which he had contrived to impress the Gnianian chiefs was so 
strong, that the tradition of his visit was still current in the 
middle of the last century. Bancroft says, that " the Caribs re- 
tain a tradition of an English chief, who many years since landed 
amongst them, and encom'aged them to persevere in enmity to 
the Spaniards, promising to return and settle amongst them 
Bnd afford them assistance; and it is said that they still pre- 
serve an Enghsh Jack, which he left there that they might dis- 
tinguish his countrymen'". 

It would be exceeding the proposed limits of the present pub- 
lication, to follow Ralegh in that career which, during the last 
five years of Elizabeth's reign, distiguished Lim so preeminently 
as a waiTior and a legislator, but which yet unhappily offers 
likewise many instances in which his conduct deserved censure. 
His good star seemed to have reached its zenith at the close of 
that glorious reign, when it began to decline. 

Immediately after the death of Queen Elizabeth a meeting took 
place at Whitehall, for the purpose of proclaiming her successor, 
which was attended by the principal ofScers of the Crown and 

' Robert Hftrcourt's Relation of & Voyage to Gmana. (Edition, Lon- 
don, 1626, p. 11.) The author of the ' Relation of tlie Habitntiona, and 
other Ohservations of the River Marwin ' ( Piirehaa's Collection of Voyages, 
book vi, cap. 17) expressly observes, that the Indian who came to visit 
him "spake very much of Sir Walter Ralegh," and that "Topiaiwarie 
wondered that he heard not from Sir Walter, aecording to hia promise ; 
and how Topiaiwarie did verily thiuke that the Spaniai'dB hail met with 
him and skine liiin." 

' Bancroft's Essay on the Nat. Hisl. of Guiana, p. HaS. London, 1769. 



156 APPENDIX. 

men of standiug then in London ; K&legh's name occurs among 

the signatures on this important occasion'. 

It is asserted by Aubrey that Ralegh proposed at this meet- 
ing, " to keep the staff of government in their own hands, and 
set up a Commonwealth, and not to remain subject to a needy 
and beggarly nation*". This astounding assertion ia not con- 
firmed by any other historian; but there appears to be little 
doubt that Ralegh entertained an opinion, that James's power of 
appointing the Scotch to places of trust and emolument in En- 
gland ought to be subjected to some hmitations. This sentiment 
was probably conveyed to the King, who had already been pre- 
judiced against Ralegh by the Earl of Esses. Sir Robert Cecil 
seems to have feared Ralegh more than any one of those who, 
like him, aimed at power and places of honour; and in a secret 
correspondence which he carried on with the Scottish King pre- 
vious to the death of Queen Elizabeth, he succeeded in impress- 
ing James with a belief that Ralegh was unfavourable to Mb 
succession, and intended to oppose him whenever the Queen's 
death should happen^. This tended to confirm Essex's designs, 
and we cannot wonder that the King took a dislike to Ralegh 
before he bad set foot on English soil, which manifested itself 
soon after his arrival in London, in his dismissal as Captain of 
the Guard, which office was given to Sir Thomas Erskine. The 
prejudice against Halegh was so strong, that all his actions were 
misinterpreted; and ere the King had been three months in 
England, Ralegh was charged with being implicated in the 
Spanish plot or Lord Cobham's treason, which had for its object 
to dispossess James of his crown, and to place his cousin, the 
Lady Arabella Stuart, upon the throne. Sir Walter was absurdly 

' Carte, Hist, of Engl. vol. iii. p. /08, 

' Letters written by eminent persons, from the MSS, of John Aubrey, 
&c., vol. ii. p. 519. London, 1813, 

' Secret Correspondence of Sir Robert Cecil with JttraeB VI. king of 
Scotland; pnblisbed by Sir David Datjmple. Edinbiii^h, 1766. Cnylej's 
Life of Ralegh, vol. ii. p. 2. 



I 




APPENDIX. 157 

accused of having conspired with Lord Cobham for the parpOBe 
of effecting the Lady Arabella's succession, and having for that 
purpose sought pecuniary assistance from the King of Spaiu. 
Nothing seems to have grieved bim so much as the accusation 
of a conspiracy with that power towards which he felt such a 
deep-rooted hatred, and at a period when, as he says in his 
letter to the Commissioners, he had made an offer to King 
James of raising at his own cost two thousand men to attack 
Spain in her American possessions^. 

Toward the end of July Ralegh was committed to the Tower, 
and indicted at Staines in Middlesex on the 31st of September, 
1603; Cobham and Grey three days after, and all three re- 
turned prisoners to the Tower. The explorer whose energy and 
perseverance wc have admired during his first Guiana voyage, 
the hero who headed the fleet at Cadiz and braved the batteries 
of the Spaniards, the leader who in spite of natural obstacles 
and difficulties stormed Fayal, appears now to have lost his 
manly courage and fortitude, and to have made an attempt 
upon bis own life. " One afternoon," writes Lord Cecil to Sir 
Thomas Parry, ambassador in France, "while divers of ns were 
in the Tower, examining some of the prkoners, he (Ralegb) 
attempted to have murdered himself. Whereof when we were 
advertised we came to him and found bim in some agony, seem- 
ing to be unable to endure bis misfortunes, and protesting in- 
nocency with carelessness of hfe^," The wound, Cecil asserts, 
was not severe, being rather a cut than a stab^. 

' His tract, ' A Discourse touching a War with Spain, and of the pro- 
tecting of tlie Netherlnnda,' wns written shortly after the King's uccesEiou, 
for the purpose of being presented to his Majesty. He endeavoured to 
■how that Sp^ " hath b^un of late years to decline ; and it is a principle 
in philosophy," he says, " that Omais diminulio est preparatio ad cormp- 
(tonnn. That the least <lecay of any part is a forerunner of the destruction 
of the whole." How true this proved with regard to himseif ! 

' A copy of thia letter is among the MSS. in the British Museum, Ays- 
eough'sCat., No.4176. 

' In a letter of John Peyton, Lieutenant of the Tower, and doted the 



158 APPENDIX. 

This tleBign upon his life seems not to have been the result of 
momentary impulse, but premeditation. In a letter written to 
his wife previous to the attempt, he says, " I can not live to 
think how I shall be derided, to think of the expectation of my 
enemies, the scorns I shalt receive, the cruel words of lawyers, 
the infamous taunts and despites, to be made a wonder and 8 
spectacle '." 

The plague raged in London at the time when the priaonera 
were to be brought to trial, and the court sat at Winchester. 
Ralegh was conveyed to the castle at Winchester in his own coaeh, 
under the custody of Sir Robert Mansel. The public feeling was 
BO strong against him, that on his way he was assailed with 
bitter speeches and execrations by the populace. "They tbrewe 
tobacco-pipes, stones and myre at hjTu, as he was caryed in the 
coaehe; but he neglected and scorned them, as proceeding from 
base and rascal people*." 

Ralegh's trial took place on the 17th of November: he de- 
fended himself with eloquence, force and perspicuousness. He 
appealed to his acts during the former reign, which bore 
testimony that he had always condemned the Spanish faction, 
and had spent forty thousand crowns against that power. 

30th of July, 1603, occurs the following passage : " Sir Walter Rawley 
his hurt will be within these two days perfectly whole ; he does atill con- 
tinue perplexed as you left him i he is desirous to have Mr. Heriot 
[Hariot] come to him, wherein I can not eonceive any inconvenience, if it 
shall HO stand with the lords their honorable pleasure." (Memoirs of Sir 
Walter lUlegh by Mrs. A. F. Thomaou, p. 488.) 

' The letter from whicL the above paragraph is extracted is printed in 
Bishop Goodman's Court of King James the First, published by John 
Brewer, M.A., London, 1839, vol. ii. p. 93. It is a most remarkable pro- 
duction of this remarkable man, full of pathetic appeals and proo& aS 
agonizing emotions. He recommends his lady to marry again, not for 
love but to avoid poverty ; and with regard to the sinful action he is on 
the point of committing, he flatters himself in that deceptive hnpe, that 
though " it is forbidden to destroy ourselves," he trusts " it is forbidden 
in thia sort, that we destroy not ourselves despairing of God's mer»7." 

' Letter of Michael Hickes to the Earl of Shrewsbury,iu Lodge's Dlua- 
trationa.vol. iii. p. 217. 



APPENDIX, 159 

Could it be supposed, he argued, that he, whose object it had ao 
recently been to humble Spnin to the dust, as he proved by the 
treatise he had written, should now espouse her cause? Hia 
defence was however vain ; Sir Edward Coke, the Attorney-Ge- 
neral, conducted the trial on behalf of the Crown in such a man- 
ner as was calculated, says Hume, to leave an indelible stigma 
not only upon Coke's character, but upon that of hia age and 
country'. As if his presentiment of "the scorns he should re- 
ceive, the cruel words of lawyers, the infamous taunts and des- 
pites," were to be fulfilled to the tittle, the Attorney-General 
assailed him with the epithets of traitor, monster, viper, and 
spider of hell; and when by the base subservience of the jury 
he was brought in guilty of high-treaaon, the Lord Chief Justice 
Popham, before pronouncing sentence, ungenerously accused him 
" with the defence of the moat heathenish and blaaphemous opi- 
nions." Ralegh, without deigning to make any remark, accom- 
panied the aheriff to the prison " with admirable erection, yet in 
such sort as a condemned man should do^." 

The injustice of thia trial was so flagrant, that the great tide 
of popular feeling, which had hitherto run against Ralegh, now 
turned in his favour ; his fate raised the deepest sympathy, and 
his conduct under the persecution of the court engaged general 
admiration. 

Ralegh after hia condemnation wrote to the King, aueing for 
his life with dignified submission ; the result of this supplication 
was, that the Bishop of Winchester at the King's command 
waited upon him, to prepare him for death, which from that 
moment he espected daily. During that period he wrote the 



' The trifti ia fully reported ia Hargrave's State Trials, vol. i. p. 211. 
A detaileil account of it was likeriae printed "for S. Redmayne" in 1713. 
Cayley observes respecting tliese proceedings, " We ahall wish, that this 
unsightly tissue of abuse, malevolence and oppreaaion had never existed 
as such upon the records of our own country." 

' Sir Thomas Ovetbury'a 'The Arraignment of Sir Walter Raivleigh.' 
London, H)48, p. 25. 



ISO AFPENDtX. 

touching letter to Lady Ralegli which has been printed in the 
Remaina, as asserted, copied " out of his own handwriting." 
It has since been reprinted by Birch and Cayley'. We shall not 
pause at the tragi-comedy which King James resorted to with 
respect to those imphcated in the Cobham treason. Balegh was 
reprieved with the rest, and committed to the Tower during his 
Majesty's pleasure*. 

It is one of the brightest traits in Sir Walter's character, that, 
his fate being decided, instead of giving way to further despond- 
ency, the activity of liis mind was re-awakened ; and we find 
that during his imprisonment his whole energy, intellectual and 
physical, was bestowed upon a subject which has earned him 
lasting fatne in a field previously almost untrodden : we mean 
the conception and composition of his History of the World*. 
One of the particular features of this great production is the 
multiplicity of subjects he has introduced, touching upon war, 
navigation, politics, philosophy, and natural history, and illus- 
trated by examples from his own experience. And it is here 
that we find so many reminiscences of his voyage to Guiana, 
and proofs that his imagination still revelled in the golden 
visions of El Dorado, or rather the inexhaustible riches of 
Guiana. Hia History is equally fruitful in episodes, reflections 
and maxims, interspersed with eloquent and most touching 
passages and graphic expressions. What a character would 
Ralegh have exhibited to posterity, did we know him only from 

' Birch's Works, u. p. 383 ; Cayley's Life of Kalegh, ii. p. SI. 

' Sir Dudley Carleton in his letter to Mr. John Chamberlain, dated 
December 11th, 1603, observes, that Ralegh's turn for execution "is to 
come on Monday next," after the motk tragedy with the lords Cobbatn 
and Orey and Mr. Markham. 

' We liave read with very great pleasure the critical remarks in the 
Edinburgh Review (No. cxliii.) on the chief events in Sir Walter Ralegh'* 
life and the tenour of hia publications, to which we refer the reader for 
much useful information. It is the production of the late Professor 
Napier. An edition of Ralegh'a works, with a life upon an extended scale, 
was one of Prof. Napier's early literary projects. 



I 



APFEN'DIX. 

his mai'tial actions and literary productions ! Iii truth the motto 
"Tain Mai'te quam Minerva" would have found no worthier 
Bnbjeet', and would have been equally appropriate aa the one he 
himself selected. 

The assertion by the author of the ' Cui-ioaitiea of Literaturej' 
that this great work was not the legitimate production of Sir 
Walter Ralegh, and that " the eloquent, the grand, and the pa- 
thetic passages interspersed" were alone his composition, has 
been ably met by Mr. Bolton Corney, in a publication which 
Professor Napier in the Edinburgh Review styles "one of the 
most learned and acute contributions to literary history that haa 
appeared in our days *." Though Ben Jonson and Algernon 
Smith were of opinion that Ralegh had been assisted in his 
History of the World, the internal evidences which are adduced 
by Mr, Corney, Mr. Tytler, and the author of the critical remarks 
in the Edinburgh Review, leave little doubt that the entire work 
is the production of a single mind, and " wholly the compo- 
sition of its reputed author^." Mr. Corney justly observes*, 
" Sir Walter Ralegh was endowed with splendid abihties, but 
hia abilities, without other qualifications, would not have pro- 
duced the ' History of the World.' It ia in the continued at- 
tachment to literature which he so especially evinced, and in the 
habit of assiduous apphcation to bis pursuits, that we read the 
secret history of its composition. I make the assertion with 



' Ralegh's motto was "Tatn Marti quam Mereurio." Prefised to the 
' Select Eaaaya of Sir Walter Raleigh,' published hy Moseley in 1650, aud 
to the 'MaxiiuB of State,' published by Shears, Jim. ia 1656, are portraits 
of Ralegh, with hia motto as a superecription. 

» Edinburgh Review, No. cxliii. p. 6!t. 

' Alexander Rosa published, about the middle of the seveoteenth cen- 
tury, ' Som Animadversions upon Sir Walter Baleigh'a Iliatorie of the 
World,' which display a great deal of leamiog, but are either hypercritical 
or argumeotBtive. 

' Bolton Corney, ' Curiosities of Literature illustratal.' Greenwich. 1837. 
p. 63. The aphorism quoted by Mr. Corney was uTittcn by Ralegh in an 
album of Captain Segar. 



162 APPENDIX. 

confidence, being enabled to prove its congeniality with his own 
sentimenta : Opus peragnnt labor et amor." 

But few of Ralegh'a literary productions were published du- 
ring hia lifetime'; and we have to regret the uncertainty which 
exists with regard to the genuineness of several works attributed 
to him'. 

During his confinement in the Tower he dedicated a consider- 
able portion of his time to chemical inquiries and experiments. 
Cayley quotes the following passage from a letter of Sir William 
Wadcj lieutenant of the Tower, to Sir Robert Cecil, dated the 
19th of August 1605: "Sir Walter Ralegh hath hke access 
(with Cobham) of divers to him. The door of his chamber being 
always open all the day to the garden, which indeed is the only 
garden the lieutenant hath. And in the garden he hath eon- 
verted a Httle hen-house to a still-house, where he doth spend 
his time all the day in distillations"." We have seen a manu- 
script in Sir Walter's handwriting containing chemical processes, 
recipes and assays, among the latter of which we find an addi- 
tional proof of his still unshaken faith in the richness of the 
Guiana ore. We extract the following passage : — 

" I tried the oare of Quiana in this sort, I took of the oare 

' We are aware of only two, namely, ' A Report of the truth of the Fight 
about the Itles of Azores this last Summer, hetwixt the Revenge, one of 
her Majeaty's ships, commanded by Sir Richard Grcnville, and an Armada 
of the King of Spain.' 4to. 1591 ; and his ' Discovery of Guiana.' 

' We ahstajn reluctantly from the inviting opportunity i>f dwelling in 
detail upon Ralegh'a htcrary productions ; our pagaing remarks in the In- 
troduction, and in the course of this work, have directed attention to seve- 
ral of them, and for the rest we refer to Ralegh's works by Birch, and tor ] 
a very complete list to Cayley's Life of Ralegh, vol. ii. p. 186. 

' Cayley, vol. ii. p. 84. The little still-house is likcwiae alluded to i 
note from Peter Turner, Doctor of Physic, who having been called in upon I 
Ralegh's complaint of numbness, in consequence of Ms cold prison-room, 1 
iccommends his removal to warmer lodgings, "that is to say to a little .J 
roomc which lie has hilt in the garden adjoyuiug to his still-house." Thik J 
document, which is ptiutcd in full in Mrs. Thomson's ' Memoirs' (p. 495), A 
is preserved at the State Paper Otfice, and is endorsed in Cecil's hand- 
writing. 



163 



beaten small 13 gi'aynes, of filled lead half an owuce, of sandevcr 
a quarter of an ownce. I beat the aandever small and then mixed 
all together and putt it into a crosett, covering it with another 
croaett that had a little hole in the topp and luted both together, 
then 1 covered all with good coal, and with two paire of orde- 
nary bellowes we blew to it till all was melted down. Then we 
putt the lead uppon a teat under a muffle till the lead was 
consumed and had of the 12 graynes a quarter of a grayn of 
gold"'. 

This curious manuscript, consisting of seventy fnlio pages, of 
which however only fifty-three are more or leas filled, contains 
several other essays and experiments with ore, which wc shall pass 
over J but we cannot dismiss it without alluding to the celebrated 
cordial which Ralegh invented*, and which was in such high re- 
pute, that Anne, the queen of King James, took it herself; and 
when Prince Henry, her son, was in his last illness, she sent for 
some, but it had merely the effect of reviving for a short time 
the spark of life. Prince Henry died on the 6th of November 
1613, in the nineteenth year of his age. 

The prince's death was a severe stroke to Sir Walter Ralegh, 
who thus lost the patron of his studica, to whom he had dedi- 
cated his discourses on the Royal Navy and Sea Service. The 
latter piece contains an atlusiou to a previous discourse, on "a 
maritimal voyage, and the passages and incidents therein," 
which appears to be lost, These treatises on naval affairs seem 

' Brit. Mus. MSS. Sloane, No. 359, fol. Sa''. 

' It is inserted on page 63, with the auperacriptioa in his own hand- 
writing, " Our great Cordinll." The esact composition, of Ralegh's cordial 
i« not known, in eonseqnence of the original prescription merely stating 
the ingredients, and not the quanritiea. It may be a question, whether 
thia irsa done by Ralegh from a selfish motive. It was so highly thought 
of in the reign of Charles the Second, that thia monarch desired Nicholas 
Le Feburc, the royal professor of chemistry and apothecary in ordinary 
to the King, to prepare a quantity in the eiactest manner. Lc Febure 
published a tract in ICiS, 'Discoura Bur le grand Cordial de Sir Walter 
Ralegh,' whi(rh wbh translated into English while still in manuBcript, and 
published by Peter Belon in 1664. (Cayley, vol. ii. p. 90.) 

h2 



164 APPKNDIX. 

to have been the firat of the kind in the English language. He 
likewise wrote, at the Prince's desire, a discourse upon the 
double alliance proposed by the ambassador of the Duke of | 
Savoy, between the Princess Elizabeth, the eldest surviving | 
daughter of King James, and the Prince of Piedmont ; and, on 
the other hand, between Prince Henry aud the eldest daughter 
of the Duke of Savoy. Ralegh, in hia History of the World, 
alludes to a treatise on "the Art of War at Sea," which he had 
written "for the Lord Henry, Prince of Wales; a subject," 
he aays, " to my knowledge never handled by any man, ancient 
or modem : but God hath spared me the labour of ftniahiug it 
by his loss ; by the loss of that hrave prince of which like an 
eclipse of the sun, we shall find the effects hereafter"'. The 
death of the Prince of Wales materially influenced Sir Walter's 
fate, and we doubt whether Ralegh would have ended his days 
on the scaffold had the Prince Lved. 

The despondency which seized Sir Walter on this occasion 
was so great, that we have to aacribe to it the discontinuance of 
the other volumes of his History of the World. He says ia the 
concluding words of that great work : " Beside many other dis- 
couragements persuading ray silence, it hath pleased God to take 
that glorious Prince out of the world to whom they [his sub- 
sequent labours] were directed. Whose unspeakable and never- 
enough lamented loss, hath taught me to say with Job, versa est 
in luctum eithara mea, et organum meum in vocem flentium." 

We have already alluded to an instance of despondency in 

' History of the World, book v. cap. i. § 6. Id the British Museum, 
under MS Cotton, Titus, b. viii. axt. 24, nill be found the heads and 
chapters of this work in Sir Waiter's handwriting, affording (mother proof 
that one of the subjects altraya uppermost in his mind was bow to humble 
Spam. One of the inti'Dded chapters was, " Of the King of Spajne'a 
wenkness in the West Indies and how that rich trade [not mine, as errone- i 
ously quoted by Tytlcr] might be taken from bim" ; and> " Of his weak- , 
ness in tbc East Indies nnd what places be holds in both." On the next 
folio (page 218) are written five names of ports nnd headlands; among ' 
these the name of Morocco attracted o 
tiiat nane tv tlie east of the Oiinoco. 



APPENDIX. 165 

Sir Walter's life, produced by adversityj scarcely to be expected 
rrom a man whose character seemed endowed with such general 
strength and firmness of resolution. Ifthe death of the Prince 
was really the principal cause of the discontinuance of his Hi- 
story, it affords au additional proof of this assertion. 

His captivity had not diverted Ralegh from his Guiana pro- 
jects. The voyages of Leigh and Harcourt, to which we have 
already referred, kept his interest awake. We learn from his 
apology, that he was every year, or every second year, at the 
charge of sending to Guiana, to keep the natives in hope of being 
relieved from the Spanish yoke'. The strongest proofs of at- 
tachment were shown by Harry the Indian, who shared Ralegh's 
captivity for two years. It appears from a document in the 
Harleian Collection, that in 1611 he made a most remarkable 
proposition to the Government ; and as its tenour places Ralegh's 
firm bebef in the existence of gold mines in Guiana beyond 
question, the publication of this paper is of high interest*. 

"An agreement betweene S'' Wa: Raleigh and the Lords 
for the journey of Guiana, to be performed by Captaine 
Keemish in Anno 1611. 

"Your Lordshipps as T remember did offer to be att the 
charge to transport Keemish into Guyana with such a propor- 
tion of men in twoe sbipps as should be able to defend him 
against the Spaniards inhabiting vpon Orenoke if they offered 
to assaile him (not that itt is meant to offend the Spaniards 

' When Robert Harcoiirt arriTed in 1608 at the Bay of Wiapoeo (Oya- 
poke), the loiliajis came <m board, aud " Carosana, and one or two more 
of them were attired in old eloatha, which they had gotten of certaine En- 
glishmen, who by the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh had traded there the 
yeare before." (Harcourt'e Voyage of Gtiiana, AUde's edition of 1626, 
p. 10.) 

^ We met with this document in the Harleian Collection, (MKS. Harl. 
3!t. t'ol. iJ40-Ti50,) previous to our knowledge that a short extract from it 
had been puhhshed in the Eihnbiirgh Revieu'. 



166 APPENDIX. 

there or to beginne any quarrell with them except themselvea 

shall beginne the warre). 

"To knowe what number of men shall be sufficient may itt 
please your Lordshipps to informe your selves by Captaine More, 
a servant of Sir John Watts, who came from Orenoke this last 
spring, and was oftentimes ashore att St. Thome, where the 
Spaniards inhabite, which numbers made knowne to your Lord- 
shipps and to the Captaines which you shall please to imploy 
with Keemish those Captaines shall be able to judge with what 
force they will vndei'take to secure Keemishes passage to the 
Mine which is not above live miles from the navigable Biver 
taking the neerest way. 

" Now your Lordshipps doe require of mee that if Keemish 
live to arrive and shall be guarded to the place and shall then 
faile to bring into England halfe a Tunne or as much more aa 
he shall be able to take npp of that slate Gold ore whereof I 
gave a sample to my Lord Knevett That then all the charge of 
the journey shall be laid vpon mee and by mee to be satisfied 
whereto I willingly consent, and though itt be a difficvdt matter 
of exceeding difficulty for any man to find the same acre of 
ground againe in a country desolate and overgrowne which he 
hath seene but once and that sixteene yeares since which were 
hard enough to doe vpon Salisbury Plaine yett that your Lord- 
shipps may be satisfied of the truth I am contented to adven- 
ture all I have (but my reputacion) vpon Keemishes memory, 
hoping that itt may be acceptable to the Kings Majestic and to 
your Lordshipps soe to doe considering that if Keemish misse 
of his marks my poore Estate is vtterly oncrthrowne, and my i 
wife and children aa utterly beggared. 

"Now that there is noe hope after the Tryall made to fetch 
any more riches from thence I have already given your Lord- 
shipps my reasons in my former letter and am ready vpon a 
Mappe of the Country to make demonatraeion thereof if itt 
shall please your Lordshipps to give me leave, but to the kings j 
Maiesties wisdome and your Lordshipps I submitt myselfe. 



APPENDIX. 167 

"But that which your Lordshipps doe promise ia That halfe 
8 Tunne of the former oare being brought home that then I 
shall have my Libertie and in the mcane while my free pardon 
vnder the greate Seale to be left in his Maiesties hands till the 
end of the Journey." 



This paper is of great importance ; in the first place it relieves 
Kalegh from any charge of practising deception with the slate- 
gold-ore of which he had given a sample ; how otherwise would 
he have offered to be at the risk of sending Keymis on such an 
errand ? and, in the next place, it shows that he apprehended at 
that early period an interference of the Spaniards " inhabiting 
upon Orenokc :" he even informs their Lordships of the exist- 
ence of the very town which was afterwards destroyed by Keymis : 
hence the Government were fully informed that there was a 
Spanish settlement in the district where he considered the mine 
to be situate'. We must therefore dismiss the accusation that 
he had concealed this fact, under the supposition that he would 
not have been permitted to undertake his second voyage had the 
Government been aware of it. 

His proposition was not accepted at that period. The death 
of Cecil, which occurred six months previous to that of Prince 
Henry, had given Ralegh new hopes of regaining his freedom. 
We learn from a letter which he wrote about that time to the 
Queen, that he was as closely locked up as on the first day*. 



' Tliia sentence refutes Dr. Southey's aeeiuation, that Ralegh deceived 
the King by concealing from liim that the Spaniards bad any foociug in 
Guiana 1 and thus, "deceiving and deceived, began in an unhappy hour 
liis miserable voyage." We cannot help expressing our astonishment that 
Buch a strong case for his defence should liave been overlooked by hia 
biographer?. 

' A letter from Sir William Wade to Lord Cecil, dated December 9tb, 
1608, explains the reason of hia strict confinement. It appears he 
"shewed himself upon the nallin his garden to the view of the people, 
who gaze upon him, and he atareth on them. Whieh be doth iu. his cun- 
ning humour, that it might be thought his being before your Lordship 
waa rather to clear than to charge him." Which maiie Sir Wilham " bold 



168 APPENDIX, 

Neither the interference of the Queen nor of the King of Den- 
mark in his favour produced any effect, except that iu 1614 tbe 
liberty of the Tower was allowed to bini. Sir Ralph AVinwood, 
no friend of the Spanish interest, had succeeded Lord Cecil as 
Secretary of State, and Ralegh addressed a letter to him in July 
1615, in which he renews his proposition of a journey to Gui- 
ana, and refers to his former offer to Lord Cecil. He concludes 
this epistle with the following strong expression, "to die for 
the King and not by the King is all the ambition I have in this 
world'." In a previous letter to the Queen he proffered the 
same service, not actuated by personal interest in the matter, but 
solely to approve his faith to his Majesty, and "to do him a 
service such as hath seldom been performed for any King'." 

What neither the intercession of the Queen and the late Prince 
Henry, nor the request of tbe King of Denmark could produce, 
was effected, after the disgrace of Car, Earl of Somerset, by a 
bribe to the uncles of the new favourite, Vilhers, afterwards 
Duke of Euckingbam. It is very probable that the idea of the 
existence of a mine, from which great benefits might be reaped, 
induced the needy King to lend a favourable ear to Villiers' inter- 
cession ; and the gates of the Towei', so long closed on Ralegh, 
were now opened, on the 17th of March, 1615-16^. The bribe 
which had been paid to Sir William St. John and Sir Edward 
Villiers (half-brothers to the Lady VUliers, mother to the new 
favourite) was fifteen hundred pounds. It was asserted by 
Carew Ralegh, that an additional bribe of fifteen hundred pounds 
would have procured a full pardon, which assertion receives some 
confirmation from the author of " tbe Observations on Saunder- 



to reati'ttin him again noil meet with liis iinlisereet humour.'' (Cajlej's 
Life of Ralegh, vol. ii. p, 8fi. 

' Brit. MuB. Harleitm MSS., xxxix. Plut. 50 C. foi. 351. 

= Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Rnlegh, by Mrs. A. T. Thomson 
p. 493. 

' Camden fises the date three dayg later; but acconiiog to a letter 
whirh Ralegh wrote on his liberation to Sir George VilUer*, returning him I 
thanks for bis intcruession, it was on tbe ilay above natned. 



APPENDIX. 169 

son's history of Mary aud James," who says that the uncles of 
Villiers offered for an additional seven hundred pounds not only 
full pardon to Ralegh, but "liberty not to go his voyage if he 
pleased." This would be a strong pi-oof, if it could be sub- 
stantiated, of Ralegh's entire confidence of success, and that the 
Guiana voyage was a condition of his release. The offer was 
declined. Carew Ralegh, in a letter to James Howell, gives as 
reason, that his father consulting Lord Baeon whether the com- 
mission the King had given him did not imply bis pardon, re- 
ceived an opinion in the affirmative, accompanied by his advice 
rather to apply that sum towards the outfit for his expedition. 

Sir Walter had no sooner obtained his freedom than he made 
every preparation for his voyage, and so high was the opinion 
entertained of his wisdom and the soundness of his scheme, 
that in the face of former failures, many offered to become 
aysoeiates in the enterprize, either in person or in gold. It was 
generally known that Ralegh intended to embark his remain- 
ing fortune in the undertaking ; and this, united with the great 
reputation he had acquired in naval affairs, induced many mer- 
chants, both in England and abroad, to contribute to the adven- 
ture. The alluring picture of a gold-mine, or the advantages of 
Guiana as a colony, were too seducing to permit sounder reflec- 
tions. Through the influence of Sir Ralph Winwood, Ralegh 
obtained a commission for the voyage, under the great seal as 
alleged by some, and directed, " Dilecto et fideli meo Waltero 
Raleigh militi';" but, as asserted in the Royal Declaration and 
in Rymer's Foedera, only under the privy seal, without those 
expressions of trust and grace^. This commission, which was 
dated Westminster, the 26tb of August 1616, empowered him 



' Roger Coke : ' A Detection of the Court and State of England during 
the lost four reigns.' Second edition. London, 1696, pp. 55, 57. Rapin 
Thoyraa, in his ' Qistoire d'Angleterre,' vol. vii. p. 120, observes that tlie 
King " lui BCcorda la commisaion qii'il deniitndoit, adressee, A DOtre ame 
et f^ul W»lter Rawleigh," &c. 

' Rymer's Fredera, vol. xvi. p. 78!'. 



170 APPENDIX. 

to proceed to the south, and to such parts of America as were 
unappropriated hy other states, and to search for all such 
articles and commodities therein as might be useful to corn- 



While these preparations were going on, the Spanish am- 
bassador, Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuiia {afterwards Count de 
Gondomar) did not remain a silent spectator. Ralegh's former 
voyage to Guiana, and his deep-rooted enmity to Spain, raised 
his apprehension that this expedition was intended for something 
more than the working of a mine or the settlement of colonies. 
Gondomar, who possessed already at that period great influence 
over the weak-minded monarch, failed not to complain of Ra- 
legh's expedition, which he designated as hostile and piratical 
to King Philip and his subjects. So great an armament, as he 
had informed himself was going on, could never have for its ob- 
ject the working of a mine; and he offered, if Ralegh would 
proceed with one or two ships only, to induce the King of Spain 
to give him a safe convoy back, with any quantity of gold he 
might have procured in Guiana, and that he, the ambassador, 
would remain a pledge for his safety. As this offer was refused, 
Gondomar was fully warranted in mistrusting Ralegh's pacific 
assurances. Sir Ralph Winwood, upon the King's command, had 
exacted from Ralegh a statement of the number of his men, the 
burthen and armament of his ships, and the country and river 
which he was to enter. This statement was communicated to 
the Spanish ambassador, who forwarded it to his court; and 
Philip in consequence sent a royal " cedula " to the governors at 
Puerto Rico, Trinidad and New Granada, ordering them to take 
the necessary precautions and prepare for an attack'. 

' It is not (irnbable that Rnlcgb's original letter mliich contained the • 
statement was found in the governor's archives at San-Thome, as asserted , 
by his son Carew Ralegh. Father Simon states however that the royal 
cedula, which warned the governor Don Diego Palomeque of Ralegh's boa- 
tile intentions, was dated Maiirid, the 19th March. Ifil?. (Fray Simon, 
Noticias historialea de las Coiiquistas de tierra finna, Setima Notieia, cap. 
xiiii. p. 636.) 



APPENDIX. 171 

Seven vessels lay ready equipped in the Thames in the com- 
Tucncemeiit of March. We extract from the scarce publication 
entitled " Newes of Sir Walter Ilauleigh " the following list of 
the vessels, which has not been published in that detailed form 
either hy Oldys or Birch'. 



"A view and survey of such ships as were in the river of 
Thames, ready to goe to sea, vnder the command of Sir Walter 
Raulcigh, Knight, and of their names, tonnage and number of 
men, taken by certaine Gentlemen appointed therevnto by the 
Right Honourable Charles Earle of Nottingham, Lord high 
Admirall of England, the 15th of March 1616*. 

"The Destiny of London, of the bm-then of 440 tons, 
whereof Sir Walter Rauleigh gocth Gcnerall, Walter Rauleigh 
the younger, Captaine, Robert Burwick master, 300 men, 
whereof 100 saylers, 20 watermen, 80 Gentlemen, the rest Ser- 
vants and Labourers ; 36 pieces of Ordnance. 

" The Starbe alias the Jason of London, of the burthen 
of 240 tons, John Pennington Captain, George Cleuingham, 
master; 80 men, one Gentleman and no more; 25 pieces of 
Ordnance. 

"The Encountek of London, of the burthen of 160 tons, 
Edward Hastings Captaine, Thomas Pyc master; 17 pieces of 
Ordnance. 

"The John and Francis dias the Thtjnder of the bur- 
then of 150 tonnes; Sir William Sentleigcv, Knight, Captaine, 
William Gurdcn, master, GO souldiers, 10 land-men, 6 Gentle- 
men, 20 pieces of Ordnance. 

" The FLYiNd JoANE of London of the burden of 120 tons. 



' Cayley obserrea that this list ia not to be found in the copy of the 
tract nliich he powieaseil. A copy which ia bound up in a volume of manu- 
scripta in the Britiah Muaeum (Ayscough'a Cat. No. 3272) coutaina the 
Lat at the end. 

' This is evidently B misprint and ought to he 161/, 



172 APPENDIX. 

John Chidley Captaine, William Thorne master, 25 men, 14 
pieces of Ordnance. 

"The Husbakd alias the Southampton of the burthen of 
80 Tonnes, John Bayley Captaine, Philip Fabian master, 25 
mariners, 2 Gentlemen, 6 pieces of Ordnance. 

"A pinnace called the Page of 25 Tonnes, James Barker 
Captaine, Stephen Selby master, 8 saylers, three Kabneta' of 
brasse." 

The following manuscript note is added to this liat : — 

"Sum total 1215 Tonnes— Men 431— Ordnance 121. There 
is no more men sett downe in the Encounter, but only 2, vis. 
the Captayne and Master." 



The superscription of this document is of great importance, 
as imparting to it an official character, and proving undeniably 
that James' ministers had full notice of the magnitude of this 
armament; it ia therefore evident that they winked at conse- 
quences which they must have foreseen. 

The assembling of tiuch a fleet could not fail to raise great 
curiosity, and it was visited by all the ambasBadors resident in 
London, — among the rest by Count Deamarets, the ambassador 
of France. In some dispatches which this diplomatist forwarded 
to hia court^, he asserts that he had visited Sir Walter Ralegh's 
ship the Deatiny several times ^, and had entered with him into 
conversation, during which Ralegh showed himself highly dis- 
contented, representing himself as having been unjustly im- 
prisoned, and stripped of his estate — in a word, most tyrannically 
used, and as having on that account resolved lo abandon his 

' Robinet, a amoll piece of ordnnntre, about tno hundred pounds in 
weight »nd an inch and a quarter within the mouth. 

' As far as ive know the first allusion to these despatehes occurs in that 
masterly article in the Edinburgh Review, to which we have already had 

^ Ralegh protests in his apologj that he saw Desmareta ouly once on 
baard of his vessel. 



country, aitd to make the King of France the frst offer of his 
services and acquisitions, if his enterprize, from which he confi- 
dently expected great results, should succeed. 

If this assertion of Count Desmai'ets be founded on truth, it 
is distressing that we must look upon the man, whose life pre- 
sents 80 many events which excite our admiration, as an un- 
serupulons hypocritCj alike destitute of principle and patriotism. 
In hia letter to the Queen, he protests by the everliving God 
that hia main object in the voyage was to approve his faith and 
to serve the King; and when ultimately on the point of de- 
parture for effecting hia plans, he offers to transfer the results 
of hia voyage to a foreign monarch. Fortunately for the me- 
mory of Sir Walter Ralegh, there is one point which gives room 
for doubt in the correctness of Desmareta' information, and 
we readily give the benefit of that doubt to Ralegh. The 
dates of these dispatches are respectively the 12th of January, 
17th aud 30th of March and the S-lth of April, 1617, and 
it is asserted in the Edinburgh Review that the words in 
italics are translated from the last dispatch. Sir Walter sailed 
from the Thames on the 26th of March ' ; it is therefore re- 
markable that, if the proposal was made by Ralegh dming 
the visit of the ambassador on board the Destiny, he should 
not have communicated it in hia dispatch of the 30th of 
March, but have permitted a whole month to pass over before 
he reported it. 

We do not wish to represent Ralegh's character as wholly 
free of blemish : we meet but too frequently occurrences in his 
eventful life that require all our charity, and the indulgence 
which the age he lived in may claim, in judging him ; but we 
cannot bring ourselves, merely from the evidence which these 
dispatches contain, to consider him so deceitful a traitor to his 
king and country as they represent him. 

' According to CBinileii's Atinala c)f James the First, he xiiled on (lie 
2Stli of Jliirrli. 



The expedition anchored at Plymouth, where Ralegh was 
joined by the following vesaela : 

The Convertine, commanded by Laurence Kcymis. 

The Confidence, commanded by Wollaston. 

The Flying Hart, commanded by Sir John Feme. 

The Chudley. 

A Fly-boat, commanded by Samuel King. 

Another, commanded by Robert Smith. 

A Carvel. 

On the 3rd of May Ralegh published, from " Plymouth in 
Devon," his orders to the fleet, which, having been reprinted by 
Birch and Cayley from the tract already referred to, we pass 
over, adding only the following observation of the author of 
the ' Newes : ' "I will acquaint you with some particulara 
touching the general government of the fleet, which, although 
other men doubtless in their voyages in some measure observed, 
yet all in the great volumes which have been written touching 
voyages, there is no precedent of so godly, severe, and martial 
government, which not only in itself is laudable and worthy of 
imitation, but also fit to be written and engraven in every man's 
soul that covets to do honour to his king aud country in this or 
like attempts'," Can-we imagine, after this protestation, that 
the framer of these rules meditated deception and treason F is it 
not more likely that the zeal of Desmarets led him to exagge- 
rate or misrepresent the truth ? 

Ralegh gives in his apology an account of the various difficul- 
ties he had to overcome ere he could sail from Plymouth, which 
did not take place until the end of June or beginning of Jnly. 
He encountered a strong gale to the westward of Scilly, in which 
the Flying Joane nearly sunk and was obliged to put into Cork ; 
and it was the 19th of August before he could proceed on the 
fatal voyage, which eventually cost him his hfe. 

The question has frequently occurred to ub, while contem- 
' Newei of Sir Walter Rauleigli. p. 1". 



APPENDIX. 175 

plating this eventfui period in Ralegh's life, when he had staked 
his whole happiness as it were upon the cast of a die, whether his 
mind never misgave him respecting the success of this expedition. 
His faith ia the existence of the gold-mine must have been im- 
plicit, or how could he have persuaded his faithful and attached 
wife to part with all she possessed to raise money for the outfit 
of this fatal expedition ? The sum of eight thousand pounds, 
given by the King as a compensation for Sherbonrne, and which 
had been lent to the Countess of Bedford, had been called in, 
and Lady Ralegh consented to the sale of an estate belonging 
to her at Mitchara, for which she received £2500. This sacri- 
fice sufficiently proves Lady Ralegh's confidence in the practica- 
hihty of her husband's scheme, as she was now almost reduced 
to beggary, being obliged to subsist upon the four hundred 
pounds which had been granted to her in lieu of jointure, a part 
of which she had even pledged at the departure of her husband. 
This is proved by a letter fi'om Lady Ralegh to Su- Jidiua Cfesar, 
in which she complains of delays in the payment of her annuity, 
and which we insert, as we are not aware of its having been 
published previously. The letter is as follows : " I make no 
doubt but you will see me satisfied and relieved in this my just 
desire being agreable to his Majesty's expresse commandment 
that I should receiue my payment without molestation or delay 
which I am daily put off by Mr. Byngley. I should have re- 
ceived £200. at Miehelmas, most of it being due to poor men 
from Sir Walter for his necessaries, and the rest to maintain me 
till our Lady day ; but I have not reeeiued one penny from the 
Exchequer synce Sir Walter went'". 

We have hitherto only been made acquainted with the inci- 
dents of the voyage from Cork to Guiana by some passages in 
his Apology, though a journal of his second voyage in his hand- 
writing exists in the British Museum, in the collection of his 
friend Sir Robert Cotton. After having perused this journal 

' Lansdowne MSS., No. 142, fol, 292. 



with care and attention, we cannot but express our astonialiment 
that it waa not published by Birch, or in the Oxford collection 
of Ralegh's works. Although there are some parts of the 
journal which consist of a dry enumeration of eoiirsea sailed 
and distances made, it is so replete with interesting remarks on 
meteorological phtenomena and currents, to say nothing of the 
incidents of the voyage, that these are alone of sufficient import- 
ance to waiTant their publication. Moreover it contains some 
explanations which throw light upon Ralegh's actions. It has 
been asserted that the journal is so full of blanks as to be unfit 
for pubhcation ; but in reahty the few blanks which occur are 
of httle importance, and we are inclined to think that the au- 
thor of such an assertion did not peruse the document with suf- 
ficient attention. We do not hesitate therefore to insert the 
journal literally from the manuscript, expressing only our regret 
that the weight of misfortune which befell Ralegh prevented his 
continuing it after, probably, the news of the loas of his son 1 
reached him at Trinidad. 



L 



SIR WALTEK RALEGH'S JOURNAL OF HIS SECOND 
VOYAGE TO GUIANA. 

Printed from the original ilonnscripl iit the British Museum.' 

The 19"" of August [1617] att G a clock in the morninge 
having the winde att N.E. we aett saile in the river of Corck 
where we had attended a faire wiude 7 weekes. 

From 6 in the morniug till 10 att night we ran 14 Leagues 
S. hy W. from 10 att uight till 10 in the morning we had no 
winde, so as between 10 in the morning and 4 att afternoone 
we made not above 2 L,^ 

Att 4 the SO"* day the winde began to fresh, and we stired 
away S. S. W. keipiug a westerly course fering the westerly 
windes, and from 4 to two a clock after midnight being the 
morninge of the 21 day we i-ann 13 L, 

From 2 in the morning of the 21 day being thnrsday till 8 
in the same morning being 6 howrea we ran 6 L : S. b. W, 
Then the winde came to the W. and W. by S. very httle winde 
till one a clock the winde betweene the west and the S, and wee 
rann not in that time above 3 L. At one the winde began to 
sheft up att N. E. and presently to the N. W. and blew strong 
80 aa by 4 wc ran 6 L. 

Prom 4 to 8 we ran 7 L. from 8 to 12 other 7 L. from 12 
to 4 being friday morning 6 L. from 4 to 8. 6 L. the course 
S.S.W. from 8 to 12 other 6 L. S.S.W. and taking the bight, 
we found our selves in 4-8 Degrees wanting 10 minutes, wcthen 
stearde away S. by W. and so from 12 on friday the 22 day to 

' Cotton MSS.; Titus, B. VIII. fol. 15.1. 

■ L. signifies throughout leagues, of which there are twenty to a degree, 
D. degrees, M, minutes. 



I 



8 in the morning being satcrday the 23 day we ran neere 24 L. 
S.byW. the winde being att N.N.E. 

From 8 on Saterday morning to 8 on Sunday morning being 
Bartelmeie day and the 24 we ran 35 L. S. by W, 

Tben it grew calme and we ran not above 10 L. from Sund^ 
the 2't to Monday the 25. 

Att 8 in the morning the wynde fayled and blew but a little 
gaie att S.E. Munday night it blew strong at S. and it fell 
back from the S. to the S.S.W. and overblew so as we could ly 
but W. northerly, and so continewed all twesday the 26 day the 
winde falling back at one a clock of the same day to the S.Vf'. 
we cast about and lay S.E. the other way that night [for]' a tr^. 

Wensday morning the 27 we sett saile and lay S.S.E. and 
then S. by E. the wind att W.S.W. then changed to the W.N.M*. 
and N.W, so as from 5 the wensday morning to 12 a clock <S[ 
the same day we ran some 7 L. and brought the north part 
cape Finiater est. 

From 12 we steerd away S. and S, by E. to recover agayne 
our falling from our course towards the Vt'. till 12 the next day 
being the 28 when as we found ourselves in 43 D. wanting 
10 m. 

From 12 the 28 to 12 the 29 having the winde att N. we 
ran 35 L. and were in 40 [D.] wanting 30 m. 

From 12 the 29 to 12 the 30 day we ran on 30 L. 8 : and 
brought Lisborne E. northerly. 

Att 12 the same 30 day we discovered 4 sailea and giving 
them chase and ran W.S.W, till 7 att night, then leaving thfe 
chase we stood S.S.E till 12 att night, and then S. so as by 8 
a clock Sunday morning we had gon 18 L. and were 20 L'. 
short of the Cape Saint Vincent. These 4 shipps were frendi 
and came from cap Blanck laden with fishe and traine oel and 
were bound as they pretended for Civile* in SpaynCj but becausi 
tljey should not give knowledge that 1 was then past by ioiued 



' This word ia partly efi'sred ii 
' Seville in Spain. 



>riginal and not quite le^ble. 



I 

I 



ATPENDIX. 1/9 

them with me 100 leagues to the southward and then buying 
of them a pinnes of 7 toone and 3 pipes of traine oel, for which 
I gave them in reddy monie 61 crowncs I dismissed them. It is 
trew that I had arguments enough to perswade me that they had 
not fishe but robd the Portngala and Spaniards att cap Blanck, 
for they were not only provided and furnished like men of wan- 
but had in them store of Spanish apparell and other things taken 
ther. But because it is lawful! for the french to mate prise of 
the Spanish Kings subjects to the south of the Canaxes and to 
the west of the Asaores and that it did not belong to mee to 
examine the subjects of the french King, I did not suffer my 
companie to take from them any peneworth of their goodes 
greatly to the discontentment of my companie who cried out 
that they were men of warr and theeves, and so in deed they 
were, for I mett with a Spanierd afterward of the gran Canares 
whom they bad robd. 

Prom 8 Sunday morning to 12 munday being the 1 of Sep- i Sep. 
tember wc rann 40 L. and were in 35 D. lacking 8 m. and 
made our way S. by E. 

From 12 on Munday to 12 on twesday the 2 day we rann 30 2 Sep. 
L. having lien by the lee 4 howres and were in 33 [D,] and half. 

From 12 on twesday to 12 on wensday the 3 day we ran 3 Sep, 
30 L. 

From 13 on wensday to 12 on thursday the 4 of Sep. we i Sep, 
ran but 14 L. S. by E. Friday the 5 and Saterdaj the 6 day 5 & 5 Sej. 
we ran with a good gale and made Lancerota' on saterday before 
ne, but on Saterday night we stood of till midnight and then 
stood in and on Sunday the 7 day came to ancor neere the shore 
of Lancerota wher we landed our men to strech their leggs. The 
people fearing that we had bine the same fleet of Turckes which 
had spoyled Porta Sancta* putt them seines in arms and came 
to the sea side with a flag of trewes. The Govcrnoure being 

' Lnnzarota, one of the Canary lales, in lat. 2a°67'N., long. 13°33'W. 
' Porto Santo, one of tht Madeiras. 



180 APPESDIK. 

desiruB to speake with mee to which I yeilded taking with mee' 
, Bradshew with each of vb a sword and the Govemour 
with one of his so armed came into the playne to meet mee, our 
troopes staying att equall distance from vs. After he had saluted 
mee, his first desire was to know whether we were Chi-istians or 
Turckes, wherof being satisfied, he demanded what I sought for 
from that miserable and barren Hand peopled in efi'ect all with 
Moriscos, I answered him that although I landed many men to 
refresh them, I had no purpose to invade any of the Spanish 
Kings territories having receiued from the King my master ex- 
press commandment to the contrary, only I desired for my monie 
such fresh meat as that Hand yeilded, and because he should 
not doubt of what nation we were I willed him to be informed 
by the Inglish Marchant whose ship lay by vs and whom we 
found in his port, att our arivall trading with him and others of 
the Hand and had lately brought them wine from Tenerife and I 
Btayd for his lading of come, whemppon he prayed me to sett ■ 
down in writing what I desii'cd and it should be furnished the 
next day, promising to send me that night some few muttons 
and goates for myself and the Captaines. In the morning being 
munday the 8 day the Inglish Marehants man came to me by i 
whom I sent him a noate for a quantitie of wheat, goates, sheep, ' 
henns and wine for which the Marchant should make the prise, 
and to whom I would deliver so much redy moni or other tniek 
as it amounted vnto, pi-omising him that my companies should ■ 
not go from the sea syde aboue a mile or twoj nor offend any of 
the inhabitants, I stayd the next day but nothing came which 
day we spent in trayning and mustering our companies on the 
sea shore, the next he wrate me a letter in Spanish wherin be 
protested on the faith of a Cahaliro that he would send the pro- | 
uisions the 3 day being the 11 of September and sent me the | 
Inglish marchant which lay aboue att his towne with 2 firench I 



' A similar blank in the original, which in the Apology for his last Voy- 
age, i* filled up with Lieutenant. 



APPENDIX. 181 

factors to assure me, whoQi be abused by protesting as much to 
them. For myne owne part I never gave faith to his words for 
[I] knew be sought to gayne tjme to cany the goods of the 
towne beiug 7 miles from vs into the mountaynea. My com- 
panie prest me that they might march towards the townc, but 
besyds that I knew that it would offend bis Majesty I am sure 
that the poore Inglish Marchant should have byne ruined whose 
goods he bad in bis hands, and the way being mountenous and 
most extreeme atonic I knew that I must have lost 20 good men 
in taking a towne not worth two groats for they were 300 men 
wherof 90 muakcticrs uppon a ground of infinite advantage. 
When the 3 day was past I sent the marchants man with a letter 
charging him with his promise and faith given, and that did 
I not know that it would offend the King my soveraine, I would 
puH his Moriscos out of ther towne by the cares, and by the 
marchants man I sent some 20' to buy some henns and other 
trifles, by whom he returned awnswere that we were the same 
Tm-cks which had taken and destroyed Porta Sancta' and tber- 
fore he was resolved to stand vpou his garde and were we IngUsh 
yet if he gave vs any releife be was sure to be banged ; taking 
the monie from the marchants man and beat him for offring to 
buy any thing for vs without bis leaue. I sent back the mar- 
chants man and wrote vnto him that because he was a poore 
fellow and neided apparell, if he would send back the mai'chants 
I would send bim 40 riall more to boy bim a dublet to his hose, 
and for the rest it was enough for mee to know his masters dis- 
position who notwithstanding the peace with our King, yet be 
had given order, that no releife should be given to any of bis 
aabjects, and that evening departed and came the next day att 

' It uppeara almost as if the Governor of LaDzarota had a presentiment 
of the fate which was to befall the island next year. A fleet of Turks and 
Algerians, consisting of siity sails, under the command of Tabfto Arraei 
anil Soliman, landed on the 1st of May 161S five thousand men, stormed 
and sacked the town, and led nine hundred Christians intfl captivity. (Nu- 
ticifts de la Historia General de las Islas Ac Canuriu, por Don Joseph De 
Viern y Clavijn, vol, li. p. 364.) 



182 APPENDIX. 

ni^ht to the Grau Caaarus, aud fi-om the south part stint a Spa- 
nierd which was a fisherman of that Hand with a letter to the I 
Governour to whom the other Hands were subject as to the 
supreme audience with the coppie of the Governour of Lancerota ^ 
his letter to me and mine to him, and how I had no intent to 
invade any of those Hands nor to oifcud any of the Spanish 
Kings subjects, but only sought for water, and for fresh meate 
for my mouie, praying the Governor to take knouledge that I 
had it in eommaridment from the King my master not to offer 
any violence, nor to take any places belonging to the Spanish 
King, only I desired fi-om liim to linow if any such command- 
ment were given to the govemoure of Lancerota not to trade 
with vs but to offend vs iu all he could, or whether himself being 
the Kings Leiuetenaut of all the Hands, had any such order; 
in the meane while landing to gett a little water which I did with 
great difQcultie the quantitie being not half a tonne, I thought 
it perilous to stay in those extreme hott calmes my companie 
in all the shipps falling extremely sick wherof many died for 
want of water, I did therfore determine to stay but one day more 
for the Governours awnswere wher being on the land with a few 
men I sett 3 or 3 aentenels doubting the people might come 
downe on the suddaync, the Handera finding a centenel of 2 of 
our companie somewhat fare of from the rest they crept neere 
them by the favor of the trees and on the sunday ran vpon them, 
our musketier shooting of, gave vs the alarum our pick being | 
charged with 3 of them receiued 3 wounds being one Smith a 
master mate of S'' J. Fernea shipp' but behaned himself so well 
as he slew one of them and recovored bis pike. Cap. Thomehurat . 
being a viliant and active man hasted to their reakew and with a 
horsmans peece shott another of them, M"" Ilawtou with his pick i 
wounded the thyrde, so as all three died iu the place, the r 
taking their beelea. Wee were now out of their debts, for att I 
Lanecrota by the vanitie and madness of a sergeant who standing J 



' The Flying Hart. 



centenel would needs force the governours centenel from his 
ground, they being 20 and ours but 3 wherof we lost two'. 

From the calmes of the great Canares wher att this time of 
the yeere (the epringa being dried vp ther was no water to be 
had,) we set aaUe the* of September and stood for Gomera 

wher some of our companie assured vb thcr was water enough ; 
but we fell to leeward of it that night, the next day being thura- 
day the^ wee turn'd it vp and recovered the jiort, being 

the best of all the Canares, the towue and casteU standing on 
the very breach of the sea, butt the billowes do so tumble and 
overfall as it is impossible to land vppon any part of the strand 
but by swimming, sauing in a cove vnder steep rocks wher ther 
can pass towards the towne but one after another and could they 
pass 10 men in frunt yet from the steep mountayne of rock over 
the way they were all sure to be beaten in peeces with massy 
atonns. Before we were att ancor they shott att vs from those 
rocks and wee to lett them know, that we had good ordeuance 
gave them aome 20 demiculverin thorow their bowses and then 
forbeare, I then sent a Spanierd on shore to the Count Lord and 
Govemour of the Hand and wrate lonto him that I came not 
thither as the Hollanders did, to sack their towne and burne 
their churches as the Hollanders did in the yeere* but 

being in neecssitie of water, for it only, and therfore as he had 
begvn the warr in shooting first, so it should be his fault to con- 
tinew it by denying vs to relieue our selves wherevnto wee were 

' The folloning paragraph from De Viera appitrently refera to Ralegh's 
fleet ; " Tambien se sabe que otra Esquadra de !4 buqiies bntio infiiictuo- 
SBmcnte aquel Puerto en Septiembre de 1617 durante alguuos dias." (No- 
ttcias de la Historia General de laa Islas de Cimaria, vol. iii. p. 40.) 

' A similar blank in the original, 

' A aimilar blank in the original ; it was apparently, to judge from what 
fbUons hereafter, the I8th of September. 

* A similar blank in the original. Ralegh probably alludes to the great 
expedition under Peter ran der Doez, consisting of sevcnly-six vessels 
manned with ten thousand men; they attacked Gomera on the 13tb of June 
15!)!!, hut were ultimately obliged to re-embark with great loss, bb reported 
by Joseph De Vieia. [Nutieias de la Hiatoria dc Cansrin, vol. iii. p. 39.) 



184 APPENDIX. 

muyuly cunatraynde. Tu tUis lie iiiadb nwuswere in writing and 
in faire termea that he was advertised from the other Hands that 
we were the same Tureks which had taken Porta Sancta, other- 
wise he would be reddy to do me scruice, I answered that he re- 
ceiued that aduertiaement from the Moriseo of Porteventura, but 
to putt him altogether out of doubt I would send him 6 other 
Simniards of the Gran Canares, taken on Affnca ayde in a small 
barck who should resolue him that we were ChrietiaDs and the 
vassalls of the King of Great Brittaine in perfait league and 
amitie with the King of Spaine. This being done wee made an 
agreement that hts Boldiera and others to the number of 800 
should quitt their trenches vppou the landing places wher they 
were so well assured by divers redoubtes one above another as 
the Hollanders were forst to land their armie six mile from this 
poi't when they tooke it as aforesayd, and wher in passing the 
mountayns they lost 80 soldiers; and I for my part should pro- 
mise on the faith of a Christian not to land above 30 mariners 
without weapons to fill water we were within a pistoU ahott of 
the wash of the sea, myself farther promising that none of those 
should enter their houses nor their gardens. Vppon this agre- 
ujent I sent my bote ashore with my baricos aduenturing but two 
poore saylera ashore and 4 to keip the boate which had in her 
head 2 good murderers and for the more saufty, and brought six 
ahipps with their brod sydcs towards the towne which I would 
haue beaten down in 10 howres if they had broken the agre- 
ment. 

By the Spanierd which can-ied my letter to the Count, I sent 
his Ladie 6 exceeding fine handkerchers and 6 paire of gloves, 
and wTate vnto her that if thcr were any thing worthy of her in 
my fleet she should command it and me. She sent me awnswere 
that she was sorry that her barren Hand had nothing worthy of 
mee, and with her letter sent niec 4 very great loaves of snger, 
a baskett of Lemmons which I much desired to comfort and re- 
fresh our many sick men, a baskett of oranges, a baakett of most 
delicate grapes, another of pomegranetts and of figgs, which 



APPENDIX. 185 

trifles were better welcome vnto me tlmn a 1000 ci-ownes could 
have bine. I gave hei' aarvanta 2 crownee to each, and answer- 
ing her letter in the fairest terraea I could, because I would not 
rest in her debt, I sent her 2 ovncea of amber greece, an ovnce 
of the delicate extract of amber, a great glass of rose water in 
high estimation here, and a very excellent picture of Mari Mag- 
dalen, and a cuttworck ruff. These presents were receiued with 
BO great thancks, and so much acknowlegdmentof debt as could 
be exprest, and vppoa saterday there was sent mee a baakett of 
dellicate white lounebett, and 2 duasen of fatt henns with divers 
frutes. In the mean while, friday, saterday and part of Sunday 
we filde 240 pipes of water, and the aunday evening we departed 
without any offence given or received to the valew of a farthing, 
for testimonie wberof the Earle aent bis Friar abord my shipp 
with a letter to D. Diego Sarmiento ambassador in Ingland 
witnesing how noble we had behaued ourselves, and how justly 
we had delt with the inhabitants of the Hand. 

Being reddy to sett aaile we deliuered the Spanish fisherman 

his barck, and diseharced another am.Bll barck taken here att l 

S 
our first ariual with aU their furniture, and directed our courae s 

from Gomera on the same Sunday fortnight (being the 21 of 

September) which we arived att Laneerota, having spent 14 dayes 

among these Hands. 

From Sunday att 4 att after uowne to munday att 4 being 2 
the 22 day we ran 20 L. for we caiied a slack saile for some of 2 
our fleet which were not reddy to way with us. 

From 4 on munday to twelve att nowne on tweaday being the 2 
23 we ran 25 L. S.W. by S. with the briaes at N.E. 

From 12 on twesday to 12 on Wensday being the 24 of Sep- j 
tember we made 6 L. a wach, drawing att our steme alonge \ 
boat of 14 toonnc faatned with 2 great cabletts which hunge 
deipe in the way and greatly hiudred our aaylinge, holding the i 
same south W. by S. course the winde constant. We had att 
this time 50 men sick in our shipp. 

From 12 on wensday to 13 on thuraday the 25 day the brisea i 



2eSe 

I 



29 S 

I 

lastl 

I 



continewing but not so strong, we raun about 33 L. S.W. by 
W. and found our selves in 23 [D.] and 17 minutes. 

From Thnraday 12 to friday 12, being the 26 day we brought 
ourselueE into 22 [D.] northerly the winde continewing, and the 
course S.S.W. for wheraa we resolued to fall with the wether- 
moat Hand of Cap: de Vert, called S' Antoine, being informed 
that the same was desolate and could yeild vb no refresliing 
and that we had 60 men sick abord us, we determined to tuch 
att Bravo where I was told that ther were people and fresh 
meat. 

From 12 the 26 to 12 the 27 we ran 38 L. and were in 19 D. 
20 min: the course S. by W. 

From 12 the 27 to 12 the 28 being Sunday we had a. few 
hours calme and ran but 27 L. and were at 12 a clock in 18 D. 

Munday att noone we found our selues in 16 D. and 20 min: 
and Munday night by the starr we found our selues in 15 D. 
and half, and then we lay att hull from 8 att night to 6 in the 
' morning when as wee saw the Hand of Stiago ' faire by va, 
Munday being Michelmaa day ther died our Master Surgent 
Mr. Nubal to our great loss, the same day also died Barber one 
of our quarter masters, and our sade maker, and we had 60 men 
sick and all myne owne sarvants amongst them that I had none 
of myne owne but my pages to scrue mee. 

Twesday night we stood of because we ment to water att ' 
Bravo four leages to the westward of fridgo fuego* being 13 
le: to the W. of Stiago. Holcroff the Sergeant of my sonns , 
companie died. ' 

That night the pinnes that was Cap : Barkers having all her 
men asleap, and not any one att the wach, drave under our bow- 
spreet and sunck but the men were saved though better worthy 
to have binn hanged then saved. 

Wensday we stood back with Bravo but found very inconve- 

' St. Jflgo, one of the Cape Verde Isknda ; Brava or St. John, pre- 
viously allutled to, is one of the most aoiitlicrn of the group. 
' Fuego ct Fogo, another of the t.'iipu Verde Islands, 



AFFENUIX. 187 

nient Aneoring, and rough ground, aud that night having the 
Viceadmirall with me att aupper, my self being newly come 
from the shore to feel out a better rode, a burtecano fell vppon 
VB with most violent rayne, and brack both our cabells att the 
iflatant greatly to the damage of the Shipp, and all our Uvea, 
but it pleased God that her head cast from the shore and drave 
of. I was myself so wete as the water ran in att my neck, and 
eut att my knees, as if it had bine powred on me with pailcs. 
All the rest of our fleet lost their cables and ancors, 3 of our 
small men that ridd in a cove, close under the land, had like all 
to have perished ; Cap : Snedul grated ou the rocks ; WuUeston 
and King ' scapt them not their ships lenght, 

Thursday wee stood vp vppon a tack to recover the Hand, for 2 Oct. 
I had sent of my skiff to fish not half a quarter of an hower 
before the hurlecan, and I gave her lost and 6 of my men in her 
to my great discbmfort, having had so great mortalitie, but I 
thanck my God I found them in the morning under the shore 
and recovered them, but I lost another of my pinneces called the 
50 crownea (because I payd 50 crownes to the french men for 
her) in this storm. 

Fryday one of my trumpeters and one other of the Coockrome 
died. 

Finding that the raynes and atormes were not yet past in this 
place and finding no faire grovud to ryde in, I resolved rather 
to leiue the Hand and the refreahing we hoped for here, then to 
indanger our ahippa, the most of them having lost a cable, and 
ancor and myself two. This Hand of Bravo standeth in* 
a httle Hand but frutfuU, having store of Goates, cattle, maize, 
figga, aud water ; it hath on the north syde little Hands and 
broken grovnds, which doth aa it were impale it ; on the west 



' Captriia WulFtatoD commanded the Confidence and Cnptitiu Simiuel 
King a Fly -boat, (NtHC8 of Sir Wnlter Rauleigli.) 

' A similar blank in the original. The geograpbical position of Brava 
Road is lat, 14^ 49' north, longitude 24° 44' west. 



188 APl'ENDIS. 

Isyde it hath an exc«Ileut watring place in a coue ' in which iher 
may ride a duasen shipps if they come either before or after the 
rainea and storms which bcgiun in the middle of Julie and end 
in the middle of August, and in this cove and all alongst the 
west syde aboundancc of fish. There is a currant which setts very 
strong from the south to the north and runns in effect all wayea 
so*. This night Cap: Pigott's Leiuett«nant, called Mien died. 
3 Oct. Thursday night I stood of a league and then lay by the lee 

kthe most part of the night to stay for some of our shipps that 
were in the cove to take water bo as by 12 on friday we were 
about 10 L. of the Hand. On friday morninge being the 3 of 
■ 4 Oct. October our Cape Marchant Kemishe died. Friday att noone 

we lay agayne by Lee to stay for Ring who was in my flibote, 
and lay so till saterday having sent back Cap: Barker in the 

»carvcll to seek him, but hcring of neither wee filed our sailes att 
12 and stood away a thwart the ocean steering liway towards the 
coast of Guiana S.W. by W. 
s Oct. From Saterday 13 to Sunday 12 we made 30 L. 

g Q From Sunday 12 to Munday 12 we made 28 L. this Munday 

morninge died Mr. John Haward, Enaigne to Cap: North, end 

' Thia oppeara to be tlie bay called Fuma or the Ovea, where by 
httuliag in near the rock there is water enough for a firat-rste man-of-war, 
and biiiog Und-loeked from all wiuds, atTorda a aaA; ancborage. 

' This remarkable observtition of Ralegb'ti has since been confirmed. 
In uo part of tbe ocean have mariners been more perplexed in accounting 
for current! than near the equator, chiefly betwL-ea the mcridiaDs of 
twenty-five degrees and forty degrees west. Tbe etfect of the African 
monsoon, if the periodical wind prevailing during the changes of the season 
may be called so, is to divert a great portion of tbe equatorial stream to tbe 
north, north-north-east, and north-east, even beyond the Cape Yerde 
islanda. The Ajnericun Exploring Squadron, which left Madeira on the 
25th of September, 183H, after passing the parallel of tbe Canary Islands, 
net a north-easterly current of about half a mile an hour, where a cur- 
reut in a south-nesteriy direction is generally supposed to prevail. This 
[)assage in Ralegh's journal confirms our high opinion of the acuteness 
of hie observations of whatever related to seamanship ; hence no wonder 
that he rose to a reputation as a navigator which, after the death of Drake 
and Hawkins, waa enjoyed by very few of bis eoulemporaries. 



Leiuetenant Payton and Mr. Hwes fell sick. Ther also died to 
our great greif our principall refiner Mr. Fowler '. 

From Munday att 13 to twesday the 7'^ of October we made 
but 4 L, a wacb and in all 24 L. by the high not so much, for 
tweaday att uoone we found ourselves but in 12 D. and 30 min: 
and then the currant sett us half a poynt to the westward of the 
S.W. by W.* 

From 12 uppon twesday to 12 onWenaday the 8* of October 
we had little winde and made but 22 L. and we found ourselves 
in a leven deg: and 39 min: this eveningc my sarvant * 

Crabb died so as 1 had not any one left to attend me 
but my pages. 

From 13 on Wensday to 12 on Thursday we bad a fresher 
gale and made 30 L. but all this day wee bare little aayle the 
weather being rainy with gusts and much winde as it ia com- 
monly in these parts att the small of the moone. 

From 12 on thursday to 12 on friday we bad nothing but 



We found 

att 12 this 
Munilay in 
13 D. and 7 

Oct." 7. 



' The Attorney-General Yelverton reproRched Sir Walter Ralegh da- 
ring hia examination before the ComniissionerB, that the opening of a mine 
had never been the object of his last voyage, otherwise he would have 
made better ari'angements for such a purpose. A sitoilar charge is con- 
tained in the Royal Declaration. The regret which Ralegb cx])rcsse$ in 
his journal at the death of Mr. Fowler the refiner, proves the importance 
which he attached to this person ; and at the examination before the Com- 
missioners, he positively asserted that he had laid out two thousand pounda 
in providing the necessarv materials. (Brtt. Mus. Lansdowne MSS. 142, 
fol. 412.) 

" The great current from the north-west changes immediately after 
passing the Cape Verde Islands; it becomes first southwly and sets after- 
wards to the west. Captain James Grant, B.N., observes, that on getting 
cienr of the Cape Verde Islands, be found a strong current setting to the 
south. This merges ultimately in the great equatorial current, or, to use 
a term better known to navigators, the central drift. [See the Editor's re- 
marks on the currents of the Caribhee Islands in tbc Jonmal of the Royal 
Geographical Society, vol. ii. p. 166.) 

' A similar blank in the original. The death of Crab is likewise men- 
tioned in Sir Walter's letter to Lady Ralegb. (See MS. copy in the Ear- 
leian Collection, 39 Flut. 4. C, and Sir Walter Ralegh's Bemaines, edition 
of 1656, p. 163,) 



raine and not much M-inde, i 



: made but 4 L. a «ach to 



¥ 



witt 24 L. and the neerest that we could observe the sonn 
shining but little and by startts, was 10 Deg. and 8 min : bat 
in the aftemoone it clered np which we hoped that God would 
have continewed for we were all drovrad in our cabins butt aboat 
4 a clock ther rose a most fearful] blackness over the one half o£ 
the sky and it drave agaynst the winds which threatned a tor- 
nado and yet it pleased God that it brake but into raine and the 
evening agayne hopefull bat ther blew no winde att all so aa we 
lay becamed all the night, and the next day, at 12 on Saterday 
we observed and found our selves in 10 degrees and 10 minutes, 
and had not made from noone to noone above 5 L. 

From Saterday the 11 day at 12 to Sunday att 12 we had all 
calmea as before, and the little breath which we sometimes bad 
was for the most part south and to the westward, which hath 
seildome bine seene in this passages and clj'mate so as we made 
not above 6 L. W. by S : in the aftemowne the winde toohe vs 
a stayes and blew a little gale from the N.N.W. 

This Sunday morning died Mr. Hwea' a very honest and 
civile gentleman having lycn sick but 6 dayes. In this sort it 
pleased God to visite vs with great sicknes and loss of our ablest 
men both land men and sea men ; and having by reason of the 
tumado att Bravo fayled of our watering we were att this time 
in miserable estate not having in our shipp above 7 dayes water, 
60 sick men and nearly 400 leagues of the shore, and becalmed. 

We found our selves this day at noone in 10 Deg. and bo we 
hadrayacd since saterday noone butt 10 minutes. 

From Sunday noone to munday noone we made not above 
12 L. observe we could not for the darek weather, a lamentable 
24 houres it was, in which we lost Captayne John Pigott my 
Leiutenant G: by land ; my honest frinde Mr. John Talbote 
one that had hued with mee a leven yeeres in the tower, an 



I 



' In tlie letter to Liuiy Ralegh, enumerating tlie j 
calls him "my coiiain Mr. Uewi," (See tHe'^ mmffi 
Ilnrleiau Collection.) 



:rsops who . dincl, lie 
(ttipt copies in t 



APPENDIX. 191 

excellent generall skoller and a faithfull trew man as lived'. 

We lost also Mr. Gardner and Mr. Mordent two very faire con- ' 

ditioned gentlemen, and myne owne cooke Francia. 

From Munday att 12 to Twesday att 12 having in the night Oct. it. 
a fresh gale with much raine, we ran some 26 L. I observed 
thia day, and ao I did before, that the morning rainbow doth 
not give a faire day as in Ingland, but ther followed much raine 
and winde * and that we found the windes here for 6 or 7 dayes 
to geather to the Southward of the East aa att South-est and 
Bonth S.E. and allwayes raine and gusts more or less. 

Wenaday morninge we sow another rainebowe and about 10 Oct. 15. 
a clock it began to gather as black aa pich in the south and fronl 
thence ther fell as much raine as I have scene but with little 
wind. 

From Twesday 13 to 13 this wenaday we ran not above 14 
leagea, obaerve we could not neither munday, twesday nor wens- 
day for the darckness of the skye which is very strange in these 
parts, for moat of the aftemoone wee atered our shipp by can- 
dellight. 

From wenaday 12 to thursday 13 we had all calmes sauing 
some few howera in the night and from 7 in the morning till 10 
sud the winde we had was so weake as w 



Oct. 16. 
Thursday 
motQing a 

Lg; about 10 in the morning it began to raine and it continewed 

' John Talbot was odc of tliose mho had permission to remain in the 
Tower with him. (See Brit. Mua. MSS., Ayscougli's Cat. No. 4160, exsi., 
wliere there is a liat of " Persons permitted to have access to Sir Waiter 
Ralegh.") The way in which he mentions Talhot's death proves how 
highly he valued him, and how severely he felt his loas. la his letter from 
Caliana to Lady Ralegh, after naming aeveral of those who fell victims to 
the disease, he says ; " but to mine inestimable grief Ilammon and Talbot." 
^ A rainboiT in the early part of the day is generally considered a pro- 
gnostic of changeable weather under the tropics ; hence the doggrel so 
n the mouth of the mariner : 

" A rainbow in the morning 
Sailor take Wttmiiig ; 
A rainbow towania night 
Is the sailor's deUght." 



I 



I 



192 APPENDIX. 

strong till 2 att after dinner, tlie effect of the momiug raine- 
bow. About 3 the winde the little that it was, blew att west 
■ S.W. which hath not often bine seene. Captain Jennings died 
and many fell sick. 

From thursday 12 to friday 13 we could make no reckning, 
for the winde changed bo often betweene the 8, and the west, as 
after the changing of the tack (livers times we found it best to 
take in all our sailea and ly att hull, for the winde that blew was 
horrible with violent raine, and at S.W. and S.S.W, and so it 
continewed all night and bo it doth oontinew this saterday 
morning and thinck that since the Indies were discovered never 
waa the like vpinde found in this high, which we gess to be about 
9 Deg: for we could not obserue since mimday last'. i 

Saterday morning it cleaved vp and att noone we found our 
selves in 9 Deg. and 45 Min : as we supposed, but the winde 
directly contrary as well in the stormes as in the soonn shininge, 
and liing att hull we drave to the north W. and fell altogether 
to leeward, we sett saile after dinner and stoode by a winde to 
the Eastward but could ly but S. E. and by E. 

The night proved altogether calnie, so as we moved no way. 



' The iDtcmal principal rainbow is seldom seen under the tropica nitV 
out the secondary or external one. We have seen in those latitudes on 
two occasions a supernumerary bow, and to SHch a phenomenon Halegh 
seems to allude when speaking furtber on of a third rainbow. 

' Capuin Cook, in his second voyage, met with similarnenthertn these 
latitudes, where we suppose Ralegb was at the period to which his JDnmal 
alludes. Captain Flinders in the Investigator, in 1801, after having passed 
on the 15th of August St. Antonio, the north-westernmost of the Cape 
Verde Islands, found the wind to dwindle into a calm. For three days 
afterwarda it waa light anil variable, between north and south-east, at 
which it sometimes blew from the north-west and south-west, and some- j 
times from the eastward. Those variable winds, with every kind of wea- 
ther, but most frequently with rain, continued until the 23rd of August in I 
latitude 1 1° north. Dc la Perouse exi)eHenced similar winds during hii 
passage in September 1 785, which proves that this changeable weather it 
by no means uneommon between the months of August and October, a, I 
period during which the greater number of hurricaiiea occur iu the Wert ' 



but we hoped that vppoii the change of the nioone, which 
changed Sunday about aleven a clock, that God would send vs 
the longc looked for brise. This night died my eusen Paytoii 
Leiuetenant of my sonns companie. 

Sunday proved also starck calme and extreeme bote, so as Octnb. 19. 
betweene saterday noone and Sunday noone we could not reckcn 
that we had gon a leage, hut that we had driven somewhat to 
the northward for we found ouraelves on Saterday in 9. deg ; 
and 45. miii ; and Sunday att noone in 9. D. and 50. min. The 
evening proved exceeding faire and clere round about the hori- 
zon, and the soun sett so faire, it being also the day of the 
change as we all hoped for exceeding faire weather, hut the 
rules and signea of weather do not hold in this climate, for att 
midnight the sky was overcast and it began to gust agayne, hut 
the winde good, the Munday morning was also exceeding darek, 
and it blew and did raine violently, towards 12 it cleered vp 
with a freah gale att est and by S. bo as I make accompt that 
we rann from 12 on Sunday to 12 on munday aome 16 Leg: 
Munday between 6 and 7 att night we had a stronge gust with Oct. 20. 
so much winde and raine aa we were forst to lye att hull tiU 
midnight, and then wee sett satle, in the morning wee had much 
raine and winde, and that fearfull and resiatleaa fall of a clonde 
called a spoute, and it fell blessed he God some 2 mile from [ua] 
to windward^. 

From munday 12 to twesday 12 we had hardly aduanced 13 
L. for we found ouraelves att 12. but in 9. deg : twesday night 
proved faire and the winde till midnight att E.N.E. after mid- 
night it fell slack and ao continued till 12 on Wensday. 

' Waterspouts are very frequent during the hot season in the West In- 
dies ; while residing at Tortola, one of the Virgin Islands, we saw as many 
as five at once in the channel between Thatch Island and Jost van Dyke. 
It is however singular that Ralegh should observe one between the Cape 
Verde and Windward West India Islands, where scarcely any of these 
electrical appearances are ever seen. The West Indians consider this phe- 
nomenon a prognostic of rain, which generally takes place within twenty- 
four hours of its appearance. 



194 APPENDIX. 

Weiisday we observed and fouud ouraelvea but in 8. D. and 
12 min : aud had not made above 22 Le : for the currant that 
setta here strongly to the N.W, took va in the weather boow and 
duld our way, alwayea thrusting vs to leeward. 

This Wensday morning we saw a thyrd rainebowe ; of the 
two former we had the effect of foule weather, it also lightned 
the most part of these 2 nights which they say foreahewes raine 
and so we have found it hetherto. Wensdayes rainebowe gave ua 
but one gust att night all the rest of the night being faire about 
8 a clock we saw Magellaiis Ctoude rovnd and white which 
riseth and setteth with the stares'. 

Thursday morning was faire and we obserued and found our- 
selves in 7 Deg : and 40 Min : from Wensday noone to Thurs- 
day noone wee made vppon a course S.W, and by S, 18 leages. 
We had on thursday evening a rainebow, and ther followea a 
foule night, and a dark friday till noone with a winde att S.S.E. 
so bare as we could not lye onr course, and so longe we have had 
those windes southerly agaynst the very order of nature in this 
navigation as we have cause to feare that we shall not be able to 
fech our port but be putt to aeeward*. 

' The Magellanic clouds are of a darker appearance than the bright 
Milky Way, and are seen in the hcavena towards the South Pole. They 
consist of three clnaters, two of them near each other. The lai^est lies 
far from the South Pole, hut the other tn'o are not more remote from it 
than the first splendid star at the foot of the Southern Cross. These 
nebulosities are objects of as high an interest as the Southern Cross, the 
Luei Sante of Dante (Purg. i. 37), and were first distinctly described afler 
the voyage of the great navigator whose name they bear. As Ralegh rightly 
observes, they have the same apparent motion as the stars, and are now 
considered to consist of a dense collection of stars at an immeasurable 
distance from our planet. See Humboldt, ' Examcn Critique de I'Histoire 
de la Geographic dunouveau Continent,' vol. iii. p. lii'2; vol. iv. pp. 316- 
335 i vol. V. p. 226. 

° The experience of more than two centuries and a quarter has made 
us better acquainted with the peculiar changes of these latitudes, which 
Ralegh considers as anomalies. It has been assumed by meteorologists 
that a zone of variable breadth extends between the regions of the south- 
eastern and north-eastcni trade-winds, wherein calms and rains generally 



APPENDIX. 195 

Prom thuraday 13 to friday 12 we made but 12 L. and Oct. 24. 
found oiiraelvea in 7 D. and 20 min : our water being also neere 
spentj we were forst to come to half allowance, friday about 3 
att aftemoone the winde came altogether southerly and rather to 
the westward so as we could lye but west southerly and make 
but a W.N.W. way and in the Eveninge we saw a winde gall in 
the est. The winde increasing towards night, and the sky fear- 
fully overcast we lay att hull and so continewed all night with 
violent raines and much winde. 

Saterday morning it clered up in the S. and we lay est S.E. Octo, 25. 
the other way to keip ourselves vp, but being able to lye but 
E.S.E. and E. by S., the sea also heaving us to the northward 
we made but a leeward way, att 3 in the aftemoone in a gust 
the winde came N, and then hoped to recover our bight but it 
calmed agayne in the raines and so it continewfed] in effect all 
night, and the morning that httle winde which we had was butt 
att S, esterly so as betweene saterday 12 and sunday 12 we oct. 26. 
made not above 9 L. and raysed not 10 min: towards the 
South. 

From Sunday 12 a clock to munday 12 we had the winde Oct. 27. 
no better then S. and by E. and S.S.E. and made but 10 L. att 
most. 

From Munday to twesday 13 a clock we had little winde with Oct, 28. 
faire weather, only at 5 in the morning we had a little gale, first 

prevail, and which is visited only by striking vicisaitudea, namely by terrible 
thuodcr and lii^htning, by waterspouts, and rains so heavy that the whole 
tone itself has been called by mariners "the Rains." The limita of this 
Kgion reach in August to 1 5° of north latitude ; and although Ralegh gives 
UB no intimation of his longitude, we douht not from his description that 
he was cngulphed in that zone. M. dc la Pcrouse observes, "The trade- 
wind left ns in 14° north latitude, and the wind then constantly blew 
between west and west-aonth-weat, till we reached the Line. We were not 
a day without wind, end once only had rain, when indeed it was so abun- 
dant as to fill twenty-five casks." (See the Editor's ' History of Barbados,* 
p. 21, for detailed reraarlts on this subject, to which would have been 
added Ralegh's iUuatration of these regions had he been acquainted with 
this journal at the period when thoae remarks weil^ penned.) 



I 



196 APPENDIX. 

at B.N.E. and then att E. and by S. and we made not above 8 
Leg: and found ourselves in 7 D. storing away S. to recover 
oiu- hight. Here we found the cunipas to vary 7 deg,' 

From Twesday to wensday 12 we had the winde large but 
BO gentle a winde, as we made not above 10 leg. and found 
ourselves by an obscure observation in 6 Dcg. 2 rainebowes we 
had in the morning but faire weather hath hitherto followed, and 
so we hoped that the rainea had bine past, but the eirkle about 
the moone the twesday night and the duble rainebow on wena- 
day morning payd vb towards the evening with raine and winde, 
in which gust we made shift to save some 3 hogaeds of water, 
hesyds that the companie having byne many dayea scanted and 
prest with drough dranck vp whole quarter canns of the bitter 
raine water. The wensday night was also calme with thunder 
and lightninge. 

Thiu^sday morning we had agayne a duble rainebow which 
putt us in feare that the raines would never end, from Wensday 

' It ii much to be regretted that Sir Walter does uot state whether that 
variation, or rather deeliii»tion of the compttaa, was to the eaat or to the 
west of the true miigactic meridian. It would have formed a base upon 
which to build our conclusions in regard to the cbaDgea of the declination 
since that period; and it mould have proved of the more value, since we 
possess so few observations with respect to the declination in those re- 
gions during the seventeenth century. A reference to Hanateen's ' Mag- 
netiamus der Erde ' leaves however no doubt that Balegh'a variation was 
east of the true magnetic meridian. The line of no variation which passed 
through London about 1G60 has since been progressively moving towards 
tbe east, namely towards Siberia ; but the Hue of no ttariation from Ra- 
legh's position to tbe high southern latitudes moves to tbe west, and is 
now, and has been for yeara, to the west of Ralegh's position. Ao- 
eording to his observations at noon, he was in 7° north latitude, and from 
what follows hereafter, we suppose him to have been about 48i° west of 
Greenwich, which would place him in the geographical meridian of Para, 
and, aeconiing to Gausa's Karte of the present state of terrestrial niag^ie- 
tism, in about 3^ + declination. Gauss assumes that tbe magnetic nie- 
ridiau of no variation passes the eastern group of the West India islands 
and touches the South American continent near Surinam. We observed 
in 1846 that the declination in Barbados, the most eastern island of the 
group, amounted to 1° 27' east. 



APPENDIX. 197 

12 to Thursday 13 we made not above 6 L. having allwayes 
uncomfortable raines and dead calmes. 

The last of October att night rising out of bedd, being in a 
great sweat by reason of a anddayne giist and much clamor in 
the shipp before they could gett downe the aailes, I tooke a vio- 
lent cold which cast me into a burning fever then which never 
man indured any more violent nor never man suffered a more 
furious heat and an unquenchable drough, for the first 20 dayes 
I never receaved any sustenance but now and then a stewed 
prune but dranck every houre day and night, and sweat so 
strongly as I changed my shirts thrise every day and thriae 
every night. 

The 11 of November we made the North Cape of Wiapoco' i' °*N 
the cape then hearing S.W. and by W. as they told mee for I 
was not yet able to move out of my bedd we rode in 6 fadome 
5 leauges of the shore, I sent in my skiff to enquire for my old 
sarvant Leonard the Indien who bine with me in Ingland 3 or 
4 yeers, the same man that tooke Mr. Harcovts brother and 50 
of his men when they came uppon that coast and were in ex- 
treame distress, having neither meat to carry them home nor 
meanes to hue ther but by the help of this Indien whom they 
made beheue that they were my men*, but I coidd not here of 

' The Cape of Wiapoco, now Cape Orange, was called by Captain Ke}-- 
mis in \59G Cape Cecyl. It forms the south-eastera point of the great 
bay into which the river Oyapoco (formeriy Wiapoco) dischaa^s itself. 
Captain Charles Leigh arrived on the '2'2bA oi May 1604 at the mouth of 
the Oyapoco, which he called Caroleigh, anil took poMession of it in the 
name of King James, lie settled a colony on the first heights on ascend- 
ing, oamed by hita Mount Howard. The death of Captain Leigh caused 
the colonists to ahandon their settlement, and they retmned to England. 
(Purohas, vol. iv. lib. vi. cap. 12, 

' Robert Harcourt followed Leigh's eoterprize, and arrived on the 17th 
of May 1608 in the river Oyapoco. The natives came on board, and were 
much disappointed in not seeing Sir Walter Ralegh, who had sent to some 
of them the year previous a message and siime Eunipean clothing as a 
remembrance, in which they presented themselves on board of Uarcourt's 
vessel. Harcourt desired his cousin Captain Fisher to visit Leonard 
Regtipo, who, as mentioned in the text, had been with Ralegh iu England, 



198 APPENDIX. 

liim by my boat that 1 seat in for he was removed 30 mile into 
the country, and because I had an ill rode and 5 leages of, I 
durst not stay hia sending for, but stood away for Caliana' wher 
the Casaique was tilso my sarvant and had lived with mee in the 
tower 2 yeera. 

Yet the 13 day wee wayd and stood somewhat neerer the 
land some 3 leagea of, my bote going and returning brought va 
some of the country frutes, and left in the port two HoltanderB 
for Onotto, gums, and spekeld wood*. 

The 13 1 sett sade alongst the coast and ancored that night 
in aleven fathom neere an Ilaude wher there were so many burds 
as they kild them with staves ; thcr growes vppon it those treea 
which beare the great codds of herecuUa silke. This Dand is 

and waB noiv residing on the river ConKtvini, nhicL falls Houtli of the river 
Caasipouri into the sea, Leonard accompanied Captain Fisher on his re- 
turn to Oyapoco, although distant above a hundred milca from his coun- 
try, and Barcourt attests the great affection which he seemed to have for 
lUlegh, (See the ' Relation of a Voyage to Guiana, performed by Robert 
Harcourt,' edition of lfi2fi, pp. 10-11, and 18-19.) 

* Caliana, or rather Caiana, as called by Keymis, is the river Cayenne- 
He reports of the harboiur, " On all that coast we found not any Uke it ; we 
thereibre honoured this place by the name of Port Uoward." The bar has 
become shallower, since Ralegh crossed it in the Destiny ; il admits at pre- 
sent scarcely any vessel of a larger draught than fourteen or fifteen feet. 
(Plan de I'Embouchure de la Riviere de Cayenne, lev^ en 1830, par M. 
Greasier.) 

' The Amotto is an orange dye prepared &om the putp, or rather pelli- 
cle, which surrounds the seed of the Bixa Orellana, Linn., a shrub which 
grows wild in Guiana. The speckled wood here alluded to is the beautiAil 
Letter- or Snake-wood, called by the French, Bois de lettces mouchet^, 
and by the Dutch, Letter-hont. It comes from a tree {Piratinera Gai- 
anensU Aublet) which is now very scarce, and is only to be met with iki 
in the interior, where we found it near the Canucu mountains, and like- 
wise on the banks of the Upper Esaequibo, between the first and second 
parallel of latitude. Robert Harcourt says of it : " There is a hard, heavy, 
red-sjieckled wood in that country, called Paira timinere, which ia north 
twenty or thirty pounds a tun." (Harcourt, p. 48.) It is called by the 
Cariba and the Macusis, Paica j and timinere, signifies ' punted ' to diatin^ 
guiah it from a species which is not speckled. Aublet has made his generic 
name for the tree by corrupting it into Piratinera. 



but tittell and ia from the maine land some 4. leag:' tbe same 
aftemoone we wayed and stood alongat the coast towards Ca- 
liana W.S.W. and S. W. and by West ; and ancored agaioe in the 
evening some 5 leauges S.W. from the Hand of byrds, in five 
fatome within a kinde of bay. 

The l^"" day we stood ont of the bay, and passed by 3 or 4 uNovemb. 
Ilands^ wher ther grew many trees of those that bere the coddes 
of silke also, by the Hands we had 10 fathom, from whence we 
stood alongst into 6 fathom, and came to an ankor, thence I 
Bent my barge ashore to enquire for my servant Harry the In- 
dien, who [sent] his brother vnto mee with 2 other Cassiquea 
promising to come to me with provisions if I came not into tbe 
river within a day or two. These Indiena atayd with mee that 
night, offring their service and all they had. Myue owne weak- 
nes which still continewed, and the desire I had to be caried 
ashore to change the eare, and out of an vnsavory ahipp, pes- 
tered with many sick men which being vnable to move, poysoned 
vs with a most filthy stench, perswaded me to adventer my shipp 
over a barr wher never any vessel of burden had past. In the 
rode my barge fonnd one lanaon of Flushing, who had traded 
that place about a duasen yearea who came to me wher I ridd 
without, ofFring me hia service for the bringing in of my ahipp, 
and assuring mee that on the topp of a full sea ther was 3 



' The island Sir Walter Bpeoks of is at present called " Le Grand Con- 
notable," being a, corruption of the Dutch word Constapel, or Cannonier. 
It has a pyramidical shape, and is a great resort for sea-birds, the dung of 
nhicb lias given it quite a white appearance. The captains of Dutch ves- 
sels on passing by formerly amused themselves by firing a few shots aC tbe 
rock to see the immense number of birds which lightened arose in the 
air, and from whicli circumstance it received its name. 

The "codds of HercuUa Silk" are the fruit capsules of the Silk-cotioii 
Tree {Bombax Ceiba Linn., or perhaps of B. globosa Aublet). The seeds 
are enveloped in long silky hairs somewhat like tbe true cotton, but as 
there is no adbesioa between the hairs, they cannot be used in tbe mu- 
nufactuie of stufTs. 

' Several small islands along the coast ai'e nam called la Mere et Ifs 
Filles, le Pere, le Malingre, and TEnfant [lerdu. 



H 200 APFENDIX. 

B fathoQi, wherupon the real of my fleet went into the river and 

ancored within in 4 and 5 fathom. It flowea ther N.E. and S.W., 
here I etayd att ancor from the \4'*' day to the 17 day, when 

TJ^o*«mli. by the help of Janson I gott over the barr in 3 fathom a quarter 

I less, when I drew 17 foot water. 

After I had atayd in Caliana a day or two my sarvant Harry 
came to me, who had almost forgotten his IngUsh, and brought 
mee great store of very good Casavi bread, with which I fedd 
ray company some 7 or 8 dayes, and putt vp a hogaed full for 
store, he brought great plenty of rosted mulletts which were very 
good meat, great store of plantens and pionea with djvera other 
sorts of frutes and piataehes', but as yet I dui'st not adveuter to 
eat of the pione which tempted me exceedingly, but after a day 
or two being carried ashore and sitting vnder a tent, I began to 
eat of the pione, which greatly refresht me, and after that I fedd 
on the porck of the country', and of the ArmadiUios and began 
to gather a little strength. 

Jlere I also sett all my sick men ashore, and made cleane 

my shipp and wher they all recovered and here wee buried Cap : 

CapiPiijott. Hastings, who died 10 dayes or more before and with him my 

aergent maiors Hart, and Captajne Henrie Snedall, giving the 

charge of Snedalla abipp to my Sarvant Captayne Robert Smith 

■ of Cornwale. We also in this river sett vp our barges, and made 

^^M ' The fruita mentioned liy Ralegh are the plantains {Masa paradisiaca 

^^M Linn.), pine-apples (Ananas aativus Mill.), and ground-nut (Araehis kt/- 

^H pngisa Lion.). 

^^1 ' The animal of which Sir Walter speaks is the Peccary. It resembles 

^^1 in its general appearance a European hog; but there are so many differ- 

^^1 ences in its structure, that it forma a separate genus. The peccaries poa- 

^^1 seas on their back a gland which coutnina a fluid matter of a nusky smell, 

^^1 which organ is cut out as soon as they are killed. There are two spedes; 

^^P one witb a white oblique line In the form of a coIIht round tfae neck, and 

^H the other of a uuiform darker colour and of larger size. The lirat is the 

^^1 Dicolyles tOTquatus, the otber D. lahiatas of Ciivier. An occasional hunt 

^^H of these animals has afforded us much arausement while in the forests of 

^^K Guiana, which, M they are sometimes met in flocks of hundreds, is not 

^H entirely without danger. Tbe meat is very good eating, though they are 

^H seldom fat. 



APPENDIX. 201 

cleane our shipps trimde vp oui' caak, aud filled store of water, 
sett vp our smithes forge aud made such yron work as the fleet 
neded. In thia river we refresht our selves from the 17 day of 
November till the 4'^ of December. I 

Cap. Janson whom we found a veiy honest mau, departed 
from Caliana towards Flushing the' and Captaine 

Peter Ally being still trobled with the Vertigo desirous ther- 
fore to retume because vnable to indure the roling of the shipp, 
1 gott passage for hira with Janaon and for' who 

could not yet recover his health in this hott country. 

The 4^ of December I waycd aud fell downe to the havens i 
mouth not daring to loose the spring tyde, the rest of my Shipps 
had yet somewhat to do about their boates which they newly 
sett v'p, to witt the fliing Hart, wherin was Sir John Fern, and 
the Chndley, all promised to follow within a day or two, and I 
told them that I would stay them att the triangel Hands called 
Epinessarie", only the viccadmirall followed mec to witt Cap : 
Peniugton in the Jason and notwithstanding that I had sounded 
the barr twise or thrise before I dui'st putt over, yet I came 
aground in 16 foote, it being a quarter ebb ere I could gett over 

' SimilftT blanks in the originBl. The letter wliieh Sir Walter wrote to 
Lady Ralegh by this op|iorttmity is dateil " from Catiana iii Guiana the 
14th of Norember." (See Remains of Sir Walter Ralegh, edition of 1(>6K, 
p. 161. Harleian Collection, No. 39 Plot. 4. C.) We cannot discover who 
accompanied Captain Alley; that officer arrived in January IGIS in Eng- 
land, and it is supposed that he was the bearer of the manuscrijlt which 
IS afterwards jirinted under the title of ' Newes of Sir Walter Rauleigll,' 
which is dated the 17th of November 1617. 

' The Triangle islands received that name from their position : they were 
afterwards called " iles du Diable," from some Indian superstition, and are 
Lt present known as the "Oes du Saint," or isles of health. The miser- 
ible remnant of the unfortunate emigrants who to the number of twelve 
thousand left France and arrived in Cayenne in 1713, for the purpose of 
settling near the mouth of the Kourou, were brought to these islands. An 
epidemic having broken out among them at the Kourou, some recovered 
here their health in order to fall victims to starvation, as famine soon com- 
!ed to prevail at theae barren islets, They form a tine and well-shel- 
tered harbour for the largest veaacl. 



I 



202 APPENDIX. 

by reason of the little winde which I found a sea borde, we vsed 
all the help we had by warpiiig and otherwise being greatly 
assisted by the viceadmirall boatea and warpps, but wee stuck 
two hole tydea and two nights, and afterward had fowle water 
in 3 fathom, but God favored vs with very faire weather, and the 
ground was all oase, and very soft, for had it bynn hard ground 
and any weather att all, we bad left our bones tber. 

In this melancolly toyle we spent the S"* and 6"" day and 
then came to Anker att the triangle Hands before spoken of in 
6 fadom wber I stayd for the rest of the fleet till the 10 daye 
who neglecting the spring tyde though they drew by farr less 
water than I did, were like to have perished uppon the flattes 
wher I atrock. 

The 10 day the rest of the fleet came to mee all but the Cfaud- 
ley and then I imbarked my men in five shippa for Orenoke, to 
witt 400 Soldiers, and Saylers, the shipps I sent of were the 
Incounter commanded by Cap: Whitney. The Supply of Cap; 
King, the Pink of Robert Smith, Cap: Oleston, and Cap: Hall. 

S' Warran Scntleger to whom as to my Leiuetenant I gave 
the charge of those companies, fell extrame aicke att Caliana, 
and in his place as Sergent Maior I appointed my nephew George 
Ralegh, the land companies were commanded by Cap: Parker, 
Cap: North, my sonn W. Ralegh, Captaine Tliornehurst, Capt: 
Hall, and Cap: Chudles, Levetenant; Captaine Kemiah having 
the cheife charge for their landing within the river. 

The 10 day they parted from vs with a moneth vittles or 
somewhat more, I gave them order to stay a day or two in Shuri- 
namo', to gett pilotts and to bring some of our great barges 
a ground who were weake and leeke by twoing them from 
Caliana. I also gave them order to send into Dessekebe' for I 
assured them that they could not want Pilotts ther for Orenoke, 

' The. river Surinam. 

' The river Esscqiiibo. The Ihitch were here established as early lu 
1580-90, They were however driven rrom their settlemfuta by the Spa- 
niards, assisted by the Indiana. 



I 
I 



AFFIiNUlS. 203 

being the next great river adioyning vnto it, and to which the 
Spaniards of Orenoke had dayly recourse. 

The 15 of December we made the land neere Pvncto Anegada Dei-en 
at the mouth of Orenoke', and that night we saw the northest 
part of Trinidado, and came to ancor in 30 fathom 6. L. of the 
shore, from thence we coasted the Hand neere the south syde in 
15 fathom and neere the shore in 10. and 11 fathom and com- 
ing close abord the poynt of the rode att the west end of the 
Hand which poynt they naturally call Curiapan, and tlie Spa- 
niards Puncto de gallo we had 5. fathom. It floweth on this 
south coast E.N.E. and W.S.W. it is needfull to saile neere the 
poynt of Gallo which you may do boldly because ther lyeth 
a dangerous legg of rock so half a mile of the rode to the 
westward, a most forcible current that setts of the poynt, a 
greater current can no wher be found the currant of Bahama 
excepted, 

The 17 we came to Ancor at Puncto Gallo wher wee stayd 17 Dec I 
(taking water fish and some Armadellias, refreshing our men with 
palmeto, Guiavas^, piniorellas and other frute of the countiy) 
till the last of December. In sayling by the south coast of 
Trinidado I say in one day to witt the 16 of December 15 raine- 



■ript map of the world, to which we have had opportiuuty 
to allude on a former occasion, the right bank of the Caiio MaDamo near 
its embouchure is called Anegada (from anfgar in Spanish, to immerse or 
cover with water). From Sit Walter Balegh's account it is evident that he 
alludes to a more eaatem point, probabl; the present Point Barima, which 
is called Terra basse in the old manuscript map. Tbie conclusion is ren- 
dered more probable by some observations ia his Apology. (See Cayley, 
vol. ii. p. 124.) 

' The Guiavas, or rather Guavas, are the fruits of Psidivm pomifemm 
and P. pyrtferum Linn., trees about eighteen feet high. They are as lai^ 
as B middle'sized apple, which they resemble in shape, of a bright yellow 
outside, and the pulp of a reddish colour, intermixed with very small hard 
seeds. The second kind (P. pyriffrum,) is considered by many to be merely 
a variety of the first, improved by cultivation. They have a pleasant sub- 
acid and aromatic taste, and, prepared with sugar and milk, may be com- 
pared to strawberries. A rich jelly or marmalade is likewise made of 
them. We do not know what fruit Ralegh calls Piniorellas. 



I 

Iheli 

I 



20t APl'ENUIX. 

bowes, and 2 wind galU, and one of the rainebowes brought 
both ends together att the steme of the ahipp making a perfait 
cirkell wliich I never buw before nor any man in my shipp had 
accne the like'. 

The last of December we wayed ancor and tamed np Dorth 
est towards Conquerabo, otherwise called the port of Spajiie 
being new yeers eve, and wee came to Ancor at Terra de Bri, 
short of the Spanish port some 10 leagues. This Terra de Bri 
is a peece of laud of some 2 leagues longe and a league brode, 
all of ston pich or bitumen which riseth out of the ground in 
little springB or fountaynea and bo running a little way, it hard- 
neth in the aire, and covereth all the playne ; ther are also many 
springs of water and in and among them fresh water fishe*. 
Here rode att ancor, and trymd our boates, we had here some 
fishe, and many of the country fesants somewhat bigger then 
oura^, and many of the henna exceeding fatt and delicate meat. 

The 19 of Januarie we sent vp Sir J. Ferns shipp to the Spa- 
nish port, to try if they would trade for Tobacco and other 
things, but when her boate was neere the shore while they on 
the land were in parle with Cap: Giles who had charge of the 
boat, the Spaniards gave them a volley of some 20 niusketts att 
40 paces distant, and yet hurt never a man, as our bote putt of 
they called our men theevcs and traytora with all manner of 
opprobrious speeches*. 

' In the Bpray of t!ie sea or a caacade a eircular minbotv is often si 
uul if it were not for the interruption of the earth a circular sj 
wouhl be seen at all times when the conditions are favourable fur forming 
a rainbow. 

' See attle, p. 2, note 4. 

' Several si^cies of birds from Guiana and other parts of South America 
have been compared with the pheasants of the Ohl World, but chiefly Pene- , 
lope crislatus GmeL, P. pipile Jacq. and Pkasianiu Mainot Gmel., the I 
Catraca of BufTon. Tlic first is the most common, and is called Marudi ir 
British Guiuna ; the flesh is tasteful, tlioU);h sometimes (aa we know by 
experience) very tough. 

' Fray Simon, in his ' Noticias liistorialca,' asserts that Ralej^h intended J 
to disembark his menfor the purpose of assaulting St. Joscpli. Lieutenant I 
Benito de Baena, informed of his projeet, posted his people so advantage- | 



APPENDIX. 205 ■ 

The' of Jauuarie we, sent back the Viceadmirall Cap: H 

Penington to puncto Gallo to attend the returne of our compa- ■ 

nies in Orenoke. I 

The 29 of Jan: we loat one of Sir Jo; Ferns men, who being Jan. 2>m 
aahore boyhng of the country pich was shott by a Spaniard who H 

lay in the woods all night with five other Spanierda, our shipps H 

taking the alarm we waied out our boates, I tooke my barge H 

with aix shott, Capt: Chudley tooke his skiff, and Sir W. Sent- H 

leger his, wee pursued them with all hast possible and forst them H 

to forsacke their canoas and run into the thick woods, leaving I 

behinde them their cloakes, and all other their implements but H 

their ai'ins. Ther were of Sir J: Tern's men three, and one boy, ■ 

one of them was slayne, one swam abord, and third hidd him- H 

self in the woods till my barge came ashore, the boy we suppose I 

was caried with them alive. ■ 

The last of Jan : we returned from the pich land to Puncto Jan. Owl 
Gallo, hoping to meet our men which we sent into Orenoke. ' ( 

The first of Februaric the aentenell which we had layd to the Feb. the I. 
eastward of Puncto Gallo to dlscouer if any shipps or boates cam 
from the east alongst the coast, for we could not diseoucr any 
thing whcr we rode till they were within a mile of vs by that 
the poynct lay out so fan ; these of the sentenell discovered 7 
Indicns and brought them vnto vs. They had a village some 
16 mile from vs to the eastward, and as it proucd afterward 
oame but as spies to diseouer our forces, they were two dayca 
ahord and would be acknown, that they could apeake any word 
of Spanish, hut by signes they made va know that they dwelt 
but one dayea jurney towards the east. I keipt 3 of them abord 
and sent 12 of my men with the other 4 to see their towne and 



ously at Port of Spain, that the attack of the English was repulsed vrith 
the loss of several men, one being taken prisoner, who informed De Baena 
of the departure of a part of the fleet for the Orinoco. Halegb's simple 
acniunt of this affair is wore probable; the prisoner of whom De Baena 
speaks was doubtless the boy lost during the affiiii' of the 2!lth of January. 
' A similar blank in the original. 



2(Ki API'ENDIX. 

to trade with them, but in ther way thitherward one of the 
Viceadmiralla men espied an Indien, one of the 4 who two yeere 
before he had Bcene in Orenoke, and taking him by the arme 
told him that he knew him, and that he could speake Spanish, 
in the end after many threates, be spake, and confest, that oae 
of the tlu'ee abord my shipp could also speake Spanishe ; wher- 
vppon the Viceadmiralla man returning abord mee, and I threat- 
ing the cheif of these which I had keipt, one of them spake Spa- 
nish, and told mee that certajTie Indiens of the droand lands 
inhabited by a nation called Tibttivas ariving in a Canoa att his 
port, told him that the Inglish in Orenoke had taken S' Thome, 
slaine Diego de Palmita the Govemour, slayne Cap: Erenetta, 
and Cap: John Rues, and that the rest of the Spanierds (their 
Captaynea slayne) fledd into the mountaynes and that two Ing- 
lish Captayncs were also slayne. This tale was also confirmed 
by another Indien whieh my men brought from the Indien 
towne with divers other particularities, which I forbeare to sett 
downe till I know the trewth, for the 6 of this moneth I sent 
the viceadmirall skifi" from Puneto Gallo towards Orenoke man'd 
with 10 musketiei-a to understand what my men had don their, 
and the cause of their longe stay, having received no newse 
from them since they ehtred Orenoke but by these Indiens since 
the 10 of December, other then that they were att the rivers 
mouth, which newac Cap: Chudley (who accompanied them bo 
farr) brought mee. 
.' The 3 of January my men returned from the Indien town 
and brought with them some Casavi bread with other frutea, 
and very faire Orenges. 

The forth of January a boat that I had sent over to the south 



' We have copied the date literally from the original manuBcript, though 
it i% evident that Ralegh meant the month of February. The great sus- 
pense about the fate of the Orinoco expedition, which at that period must 
have been much inereasud by the reports brouftht to him by the Indiana, 
doubtless caused an error, which gives us 8 picture of the nn.'iiety of his 



syde wber I saw a great fier returned not finding any people 
ther. 

The 6. day I sent a skiff over toward Orenoke man'd with Jo 
10 muaketiera, to here what was become of my men their. The 
same day came into this port Cap: Giner of the He of Waight 
and his pinnes. 

The 8 day I sent 16 mnsketiera by land to the Indien towne J' 
to bring away some of the Indiens which spake Spanish and to 
separate them from those two which I keipt abord mee because 
I found them so divers in their reports as towching Orenoke, 
and because one of them had confest the day before that him- 
self with the pilott which I sent into Orenoke in the skiff, and 
one of them in the Indien towne, were in S' Thome when it 
was taken by the Ingliah. I was desirus by taking 2 or 3 of 
the rest to know the trewth but so careless were the mariners 
I sent as they suffered all to go loose and to escape ; but I had 
yet 2 Indiens abord mee, and a third went pilot for Orenoke, 
one of these I sent away with knives to trade with a nation in- 
habiting the eat part of Trinidado called the Nepoyios, with this 
charge that if he came not agayne after 4 dayea (which was the 
time by him required) that I would then hange his brother which 
was the pilot as aforesayd, and this other Indien abord, to which 
the Indien abord condiscented. 

But the 12. of Februarie, I went ashore and tooke the Indien Feb, la, 
with mee faatned and well bound to one of my men, so caried 
him with me to shew me the trees which yeild balsemum of 
which I had recouered a nuttfull of that kinde which smells like 
Angolica and is very rare and pretioua', and after it was 10 

' Ralegh's observation, that thu balsam resembled Angelica, by which 
he alludea to the violet- scented Orris-root {Iris jloTentina), causes us to 
conjecture that it is the balsam of Tolu, which is yielded by a tree palled 
MyTQSpermmn lolniferum, Rich. We have found that useful tree near 
the Saerere mountains, between the rivers Rupununi and Takutu, and the 
natives of these regions wear the seeds, which are equally fragrant ivith the 
resin, aa omameuta round their body. If we are eorrect in our supposi- 
tion, this tree is no longer to be met with in Trinidad, 



208 APPENDIX. 

a clock and very hott, the wood also being full of musketos, I 
returned and left my Indien in charge with one of my maaters i 
mates and 3 others, but I was no sooner gonn but they untyde 
him and he att the instant tooke the wood and escaped, notwith- 
standing that r had told them that if the Indien gatt but a tree i 
betweene him and them and were loone that all the IngtiEh in 
the fleet could not fetch him agayne. I had now none left but 
the pilott sent to Orenoke and I fcare me that be alao will alipp 
away by the negligence of the mariners who (I meane the com- 
mon sort) arc dilligent in nothing but pillaging and stealing. 

The 13 day Cap: Giner and I made au agremcnt that be 
shoulde follow me with his small shipp and pinnes for 6 monetba . 
after thiB 13 day. i 

The same Evening I sent Sir W. Sentleger Cap: Chudl^ and 
Cap: Giles with 60 men to the Indien towne to try if I could 
recover any of them, 



Here closes Sir Walter Ralegh's jounial. It is very probable 
that the nest day brought him the letter which Kcymia had 
written on the 8th of January from the Orinoco, containing the 
information of his son's death. M'e may well conceive that this 
bereavement, and the total faibu-e of his plana rendered hi in 
incapable of chronicling the subsequent events. In his letter 
to Sir Ralph Winwood, in speaking of the death of bis bob, 
he Bays, " with whom, to say truth, all the respects of this 
world have taken end in me ; " and what could better depict tie 
state of bis mind than tbe request to Sir Ralph, " to give a copy 
of this letter to my Lord Carew ; for to a broken mind, a sick 
body, and weak eyes, it is a torment to write many letters'," 
The events connected with the expedition up the Orinoco, aa 

n Coll. No. 39, Plut, 4. C. 



far aa they are known to us from hia letters addressed to Lady 
Ralegh, Sir Ralph Wiowood, Lord Carew, and fi-om tbe Apo- 
logy for his last voyage, are vague and unsatiafactory ; it may 
be of interest therefore to relate briefly the account which the 
Spanish historians give of the assault of Santo Thome or St. 
Thomas'. It will however be requisite to take a retrospective 
view of some occurrences which preceded this event. 

After the death of Antonio de Berreo, the Governor of Trini- 
dad, Guiana and El Dorado, as he pompously styled himself, hia 
son Don Fernando succeeded bim, who at the commencement 
gave general satisfaction. He however changed his conduct 
towards the colonists, and their complaints having reached the 
court of Madrid, Captain Don Sancho Alguiza received orders 
to proceed from Venezuela to Guiana to investigate the matter. 
Alguiza considered the complaints well-founded, and Don Fer- 
nando waa suspended fi.-om hia governorship, while his chief 
accuser received a command, by virtue of tbe decision of tbe Su- 
preme Council, ratified by Philip the Third, to administer the 
government. Don Fernando de Berreo lost no time in proceeding 
to Madrid, where he pleaded his defence and the services of his 
late father with great success ; and although Phihp had already 
nominated Don Diego Palomeque de Aeuiia (a relative of Don 
Diego Sarmiento de Aeuiia, afterwards Count dc Gondomar*) aa 
Governor, and had actually signed the requisite documents for 
that purpose on the 8th of November, 1615, Berreo neverthe- 
less won the good graces of the Duke of Lcrma, the virtual ruler 
of Spain, of which Philip was but nominal sovereign ; and that 
powerful favourite induced the monarch to bestow upon Berreo 
for life the Govern or-genei'alship of New Granada, including the 
inferior government of Guiana and Trinidad, for which Palo- 
meque had already received a commission, Palomeque and 
Berreo left Spain together for their government, and the former 

* The name of this towD is variously spelt ; besides the above, it ia some- 
times viritten Son Tom^, Santo Tamas, and Santo ThoniS. 

' Dr. Lingarderroueouslysayalhat Palomeque waa Gondomar'shrother, 



210 APPENDIX. 

had only arrived a tew months in Guiaua when he received 
royal cedula, dated the 19th of March, 1617, in which he waa 
desired to guard himself against the contemplated attack of 
Gualtero Beah, who it was alleged was preparing an expedition 
consisting of several frigatea aod vessels, well-armed and manned, 
for the purpoac of invading Guiana. Palomeque was htewiae in- 
formed that a report had reached Madi'id by way of England, that 
five or six vefisels were being equipped by adventiu-ers in Hol- 
land with the intention of descending upon the coaat of Guiana'. 

The complaint of Sir M'alter Ralegh, that he had been be- 
trayed by bis own royal master long ere he departed from Eng- 
land, is therefore fully authenticated by the Spanish historiau. 
Fray Simon, 

We have seen from Kalegh'a journal that the expedition in- 
tended for the Orinoco left the Triangle Isles on the 10th of 
December*. While crossing the bar off the " Functo Anegado" 
(probably Foint Barlma), the Encounter, commanded by Cap- 
tain Whitney, and the Confidence by Captain Wollaston, got 
aground, and lay fast for three days. The expedition arrived 
ofi' the island of Yaya (Assapana of Ralegh's first voyage) ac- 
cording to the English accounts on the 1st of January, 1618^; 
according to the Spwiiah historian, on the 12th of January*. 
An Indian fisherman saw the fieet approaching and hastened to 
give the Governor Falomeque information of it, who did not lose 
a moment to make the necessary preparation for the defence of 
Santo Thome, which town had been removed from the mouth of 
the Caroni since Keymia's voyage in 1596, and consisted now 
of one hundred and forty houses, a church, and two convents. 
He asaembled the principal colonista, and called together all 
the people labouring in the fields, among whom he distributed 



I 
I 



' Fray Simon, Setims Noticia Histor. cap. xxiii. p. 636. 
' See ante, p. 202. 

* Keymis'a letter to Sir Walter isdated"this8thof January, 1617-18." 
See Manuscript copy in Sir Hana Sloane's Collection. 

* Fray Simon, I. c. p. 637- 



I 



APPENDIX. 311 

arms and ammunition. Their number amounted to flfty-sevenj 
of whom more than a fourth were invalids. Two pieces of artil- 
lery were posted on the banks of the Orinoco, and thus prepared 
the Governor awaited the arrival of the EngUsb. At eleven 
o'clock three vessels hove in sight near Punta Araya, some 
leagues above the mouth of the river Guarguapo. Soon after 
the Carvel and the five launches followed, and five hundred 
men' were disembarked near the Narrows (Ensenado) of Arugo 
or Aramaya. Under the supposition that the forces which had 
been landed were to make a diversion by land, while the vessels 
were to attack the town by water, Don Diego despatched Captain 
Geronimo de Grados with ten men to occupy an ambuscade on 
some rising ground about "three musket shots" from Santo 
Thome*. The English soon forced him to abandon this post 
and to fall back upon the town, which during the night of the 
Ist to the 2nd of January (in the ninth hour of Friday the 
12th of January, according to the Spanish account) was attacked 
on two points. The Spaniards, overpowered by numbers, were 
obliged to retreat, after having offered a most valiant resistance. 
It appears the English considered themselves already victorious, 
and one of their number advanced before the rest, shouting vic- 
tory, but Grados gave him such a sword-stroke on the left side 
of the neck, " that he sent the heretic to have the cry answered 
in heUS." 

Though the guard-house was taken, the Spaniards rallied 



' This number ia according to the Spanish account ; Sir Walter aftys 
however that aoldiera aud sailors together amuunted only to four hundred 
men, white Simon asserts that the whole uquipment of Ralegh amomited to 
more than a thousand raen. (Fray Simon, l. c. p. 63?.) 

^ Oradoa used a stratagem to make the number of his men appear much 
lai^r than it was, hy cutting a match-cord in pieces, which he lighted 
and placed at intervale. 

' " Que cmbio eL heiege a que le respontieran a au canto en el inflemo." 
(Fray Simon, L c. p. 640.) This was moat probably youjig Ralegh, though 
Simon thinks he was slain by Don Diego, or rather that they fell by each 
other's hands. 

pa 



212 APPENDIX. 

again in the public square or Plaza, and threw themselves intol 
some houses adjoining, in which loop-holes had been cut ; from I 
thence they successfully fired at the English with " their mur- j 
derers" and tonsketH, till the assailants set tire to the houses. 
The Governor Don Diego dc Palomeque and Captain Monge 
were missing, and another captain wounded ; the Spaniards re- 
solved therefore to retreat to the convent of San Francisco, which j 
was on the opposite side of the town from that where the En- 
glish had entered : this was however stormed, and they fled 1 
into the adjacent forests'. On the first alarm that the enemy 
was entering Santo Thome, the women with their children and | 
the invalids had taken flight, without provisions of any kindj 
towards the Caroni*. Garcia de AguJlar and Juan de Lazama, 
the two alcaldes upon whom the command devolved after the j 
death of the Governor, sent Grades with a few soldiers to escort 1 
the women and children across the river, from whence he con- 



' The fate of Father Francesco de Leuro, the Curate of the city, gives an 
inatance of the faithhil attachnjcnt of the ludians. The poor Padre had 
lost the use of his hmhs for the last six months, and was confined to his 
bed. In the confusion which aroae when the English entereil the town, 
he had been forgotten by every one except an Indian woman, Luysa 
Fonseea (Simon calls her "una India ladina," namely one who was able to 
apeak the Spanish language), who carried the poor priest out of his hoxue • 
to an adjacent pit. Here he waa found by the Enghah, who treated him ' 
with humanity and kindness. When the English evacuated Santo ThomS 
they set the few remaning houses on fire, and the poor paralytic priest 
was again forgotten, and, less fortunate than on the former occasion, was 
burnt with the house in which he was lying. | 

' Fray Simon aays, " Dandoles fuer^aa el miedo una legua basta la 
boca del rio que Uaman Caroui, y entra en et Orinoco amba de la ciudad." 
(Cap. xxiv. p. G41.) This historian no doubt errs in naming the Caroni. 
The site of Santo Thome was formerly near the confluence of the Caroni 
with the Orinoco j but we team that it had been removed tiarther down, 
and was now at least ten leagues to the east of that river. The river here 
alluded to is probably the Guanapo, which flows into the Orinoco a short 
distance to the west of the present Guayana rieja, the site of the town 
destroyed by Kejmis, and a small laguna is called to this day Seiba; it i 
must however he observed, that there is likewise an island of that una, 
the Orinoco, about sis leagues above the mouth of the Caroni, 



APi-ENDlX. 213 

ducted them afterwards to the island of Seiba, where it was 
thought they would be more secure. Here he shared a little 
Indian corn or maize and some di-ied meat among them. 

Young Ralegh and four others, who were among the fallen, 
were put in shvouda in the gaard-housCj and conveyed ijito the 
church, accompanied by all the soldiers under arms, with 
muffled drums beating, pikes trailing, and five banners carried 
before them, aa the fallen men were all Captaina^. The son of 
the General and another were buried near the high altar, and 
the three others in the body of the church. On the day of the 
funeral, continues Father Simon, arrived two vessels, one of them 
larger than the others, which was taken for the " Capitana de 
la armada'." 

The English left no stone in the town unturned in search of 
gold, silver or precious stones. Disappointed in their expectation, 
they sent one huudred and fifty men armed with pikes and other 
instruments to scour and ransack the neighbouring plantations 
and to drive away the cattle. The Spaniards laid several am- 
buscades, and attacked them with such success, when divided, 
that they quickly fell back upon the town, which they continued 
to occupy^. 



' Captain Parker states that they lost only two captains, namely Ra- 
legli and Cosmor, both of whom were probably buried near the high altar. 

' Keymis in hia letter to Sir Walter Ralegh, dated January 8tli, ob- 
serves, " Captains Whitney and Wollaston are but now come to us." 
The greatest confusion prevails in all the dates between the EngUsh and 
the Spanish accounts. Gumilla. in his * Orinoco UlusCrado', places Ra- 
legh's first expedition in 1545. 

' The conflict which took place at the taking of Sunto Thome is related 
by Ralegh in his Apology in the following words : " It seemes that the 
Se^eant major Keymis and the rest were by accident forced to change 
their first resolution, and that finding a Spanish towne or rather village, 
set up twenty miles distant from the place where Antonio Berreo (the 
first Govemour by me taken in my first discoveiy) who had attempted to 
plant, viz. some two Leagues to the westward of the mine : They agreed 
to land and encamp between the myne and the Towne. which they diil 
not Busjiect to be so neer them as it was, and meaning to rest themselves 
on the River's side till the next day, they were in the night set upon 



214 APPENDIX. 

The English afterwards sent two launches manned with forty 
men up the river to the Cafio Seibaj where the women and chil- 
dren would probably have been token if Captain Grades had 
not removed them. This officer posted ten Spaniards and ten 
Indian archers advantageously near the entrance of the Cafio, 
who opened such a well-directed fire against the first launch, 
that nine men out of the ten in the boat were killed'; the other 
boat made no further advance, and returned towards Santo 

And charged by the Sponiarda, wliicb being unlooked for, the Common 
sort of them were so amazed, a» had not the Captaiocs and Bome other 
valiant Gentlemen made a Hesd and encoun^^d the rest, they had all 
been broken and cut in pieces. To repell this force putting themselvei 
in order, they charged the Spaniards and following them upon their re- 
treat they were ready to enter the Town, ere they knew where they were, 
and being then charged againe by the Oovemour and fourc or five Cap- 
taines, which led their companies, tny sonne not tarrying for my mus- 
ketiers, run up in the head of a company of pikes, where he was first shot, 
and pressing upon a Spanish Captaine called Erinettn with his sword, 
Erinetta taking the small end of his musket in his hand, stmcke him on 
the head with the stock and feld him, whom againe John Pletdngton my 
sonnes Serjeant, thrust through with his Halbert, at which time alao the 
OoTcrnuur Diego Palmeque and the rest of the Spanish Captaines being 
slajne, and their companies divided, they betooke themselves into a bouse, 
or hold ailjoyning to the market place, whence with their murderers and 
muskets {the houses having loopholes put out toward the market place) 
they slew and wounded the EngUsh at their pleasure, so as we had no way 
to save ourselves but by firing those houses adjoj'uing, which done all the 
Spaniards ran into the bordering woods and hills, keeping the English 
still waking with perpetual alarums. 

" The town such as it was being in this sort possesad, Eeymis prepared 
to discover the myne, which at this time he was resolved to doe, as i^- 
peareth by his letter to me of his owne handwriting hereafter inserted ; he 
tooke with him Captaine Thomhurst, Master Wilbam Herbert, Sir John 
Uambden, and others, but at bis first approach neer the banke where he 
meant to land, he received from the wood a vollew of shot which slew two 
of his company, hurt six others, and wounded Captain Thomhurst in the 
head, of the which he languished three months after." (Sir Walter Raw~ 
leigh bis Apolofcie in the Select Essayes and Observations, &c., London, 
1650, p. 29.) 

' AcfionUng to the description which Sir Walter Ralegh gives of this 
affair. Captain Keymis lost two men, six were hurt, and Captain Thom- 
hiu^t received a wound in bis bead. 



I 

I 



I 



APPENDIX. 215 

Thome. The English commander, incensed at this failure, 
now armed three boats, and having embarked a larger force, 
they e.vplored the river as high up as the Guarico, which falls 
into the Orinoco near the village of Cabruta, about one hundred 
and ten leagues from Santo Thome '. They were twenty days 
absent upon this expedition, during which the English sounded 
the river at different points, estabhshed communications with 
the Caribs, the inveterate enemies of the Spaniards, and showed 
every disposition to establish themselves permanently on the Ori- 
noco. The Spaniards resolved to oppose such a design by all 
the means in their power ; and having consulted with their In- 
dian allies, the latter placed sixty archers at their command, who 
with twenty-three Spaniards well-armed entered the town, then 
in possession of the English, intending to approach the guard- 
house secretly during the night, where the enemy had the 
strongest force, and to fall unexpectedly upon them, after having 
set the neighbouring houses on fire. Their plan did not succeed, 
in consequence of heavy rains, which had rendered the roofs of 
the honses so moist that they could not fire them : they con- 
tented themselves therefore with pouring at daybreak a shower 
of balls and arrows upon theu' enemies, after which they re- 
treated. The English had been twenty-six days in possession 
of the town, when the Spaniards, who still secreted themselves 
in the neighbourhood, sent four soldiers with a letter containing 
information of these occurrences to the Real Audien5a of Santa 
Te, requesting that troops and ammunition might be speedily 
despatched to the Orinoco for their protection. They likewise 
demanded a supply of clothing, as in their retreat from the town 
they had no time to carry off any besides what they had upon 
them. They further requested the Andienja to nominate an 
ofBcer to govern them, and to send some spiritual assistance, 
as Fray Juan de Maya, the guardian of the convent of San 
Francisco, was the only priest who had escaped. The president 

' The ascent of the espcdition ao high up the river is nut mentioned 
by Ralegh, nor in tmy other Eugliiih accouut. 



216 APPENDIX. 

of tlic Audicuja receivL'd the letter on the 9th of Aprilj and con- 
sulting the archbishop, Dou Hernando dc Arias, and other in- 
fluential men, it was resolved to send Don Fernando de Berreo 
with Diego Martin de Baena to the Oriuoeo, to assist the 
Spaniards. The latter arrived before Santo Thome on the 19th 
of August. The Enghsh, whose numbers had been meanwhile 
mueh weakened by disease and the attacks of the Spaniards 
and Indians, had abandoned the town, carrying with them all 
objects of any value, pilfering the church and the cabildo, 
and embarking some hundred and fii'ty quintals of tobacco : five 
hundred more had been destroyed by the fire'. On their de- 
parture they set the town on lire, which consumed the church, 
the convent, and the few houses that had escaped the former 
conflagration. They carried away with them a number of aick 
and wounded, and had suffered a loss of at least two hundred 
and fifty men. We possess no data in the English letters re- 
specting this unfortunate expedition when Keyniis's party left 
Santo Thome; but according to the Spanish historians^ Pray 
Simon and Caulin, the English re-embarked on the 29th of 
January, 1618. 



' Fray Simon give* a detEuled account of the boot)'. Tlie amount of 
gold which they found in the treasury was 600 reales in niouey, n gold 
bar (" una barra de oro de cabo y cola "), an ingot and some other pieces, 
which together amouuttd to about 2000 reales, besides a weighty gold chain, 
a large silver hand-basin [aguamanilj, and «ome golden trinkets wbicli 
had been deposited there. Simon accuses them of having taken away 
some of their guns and the bells from the ehurch and the two convents 
of San Domingo and San Francisco, with all the church ornaments. He 
estimates the whole private loss at 40,000 reales. They likewise cairied 
away three negro slaves (two the property of a widow) and two IndiauB, 
one of whom returned ultimately from England to his native country. 

' The Spanish account agrees in general with the chief events made 
known by Kcyrais and Parker, but Fray Simon is silent on the existenoe . 
of mines at that period. He observes towards the conclusion of his rela- 
tion of the attack on Santo ThomS, that it was reported, that " Gualtero 
Reeli was a great pirate, and that he had formerly navigated the coasts of . 
Trira-finna and ttic Islands ' de Barlobento,' and that there was a rich gold 
miue on the banks of tlie Orinoco, from which he carried to I^ndon some 



I 



APPENDIX. 217 

It ia not known when the expedition under Kcymis reached 
Trinidad. On joining Ralegh he endeavoured to justify his pro- 
ceedings, alleging that he had neither a BufGcient force to de- 
feud hia position against the attacks of the Spaniards, nor 
people to work the mine ; and that young Ralegli heing alain. 
Sir Walter himself unpardoned, and as he supposed not likely to 
live, he had no reason to open the mine either for the Spaniards 
or the King. Ealcgh indignantly rejected hia excuses, and re- 
proached him as the sole cause of the niin which be considered 
unavoidable ; and this appeara to have made such an impreasion 
upon Keymia's mind, that he shortly after attempted to shoot 
himself in the breast. The pistol was small, and the ball 
having struck upon a rib did not immediately take effect j and, 
determined upon self-destruction, he plunged a knife into his 
side. " Hia boy going into his cabin, found him lying upon 
hia bed with much blood by him, and looking in his face saw him 

A letter, of which merely an extract has hitbei-to been pub- 
lished', alludes to Keyinis's suicide in most uncharitable expres- 
sions. This document is also of interest, as giving some more 
details of the Orinoco expedition. 



I 



" A Letter written by Captaine Charles Parker, one of 
S' Walter Raleighs companie at Guiana; to Captain 
AUey. An"16173. 
"Captain Alley, 
" Your goinge from vs was vei-ie fortunate in that you pre- 
vented the vndergoinge vnspekable miaeryea for wee disimboged 

CKska fall of the earth, as already mentioned." (Setima Noticia, cap. sxix. 
p. 663.) This observation cuntradicta Dr. Southey'a assertion, that Dono 
of the Spanish historians mentioned Ralegh's former visit to Guiana. 
(Southey's Lives of the Admirals, vol. iv. note at p. 310.] 

' Ralegh's letter to Sir Ralph Winwood. 

' Edinburgh Review, No. cxliii, p. 85. 

' Brit. Mua. MSS. Harl. 39. fol. 351 . Several of the old MS. popics of 



218 APPENDIX. 

from Caliana towards Orenoeo Captaioe Witnes ahipe Captaine 
Wouliston the flieboat and karvill, the Admirall vizadmirall with 
the other gi-eat ahipes went from Trinidadoe to harbor tyll owr 
returne, wee were a month going vpe Orinoeoe at laste we landed 
witbiii a league of St. Thome, and about one of the cloclie at 
nighte we made an assaulte, whcr we loate Captaine Ralegh and 
Captain Coamor, but Captaine Raleghe lost him selfe with his 
vnaduiscd daringnea as you shall heare, for I will acquinte yoUj 
how we were ordered. Captain Cosmor led the forloroe hope with 
some 50 men, after him I brought upe the first devission of 
shotte, next brought vp Captaine Raleigh a devission of Pikes 
who no sooner hearde vs charged hut indiaereetely came from 
his commaunde to vs, wher he was vnfortuiiatly weleomed witi 
a bullett, which gave him no tyme to call for mercye to our 
hevenly father for his sinful! lyfe he had ledde ; we presently 
tooke the Towne without lose of any more then two wherof on 
was M' Haringtoo the Countise of Bedfords kinsman. The Spa- 
nyard was not strouge, and mistrustynge our poteneie fled, and 
lefte their Gouernor with some other 2 Captaines, which bravely 
dyed : The Gouernor Don de Jego Palmeko de Acuna, Captain 
Santo, Captaine Alisnetto when wee were possessed of the Towne 
Captaine Kemish tooke diveres gentlmen with him to fynde the 
myne, and trifeled vpe and downe some 20 dayes keepinge vs in 
hope still of findinge it, but at laste we found his delayes meere 
illusiones and him selfe a mear macheviU, for he was false to all 
men and moste odious to him selfe, for moste vngodly he but- 
chered himselfe lothinge to live since he could doc no mor vil- 
lany ; I will speke no more of this hatefull fellow to God and 
man ; But I informe you as neere as I caune what we that staye 

letters written from tbe ialand of St. Christopher'a bear, like Parker's, the 
year 1617. There can be no doubt tbat, chrooologically, IfilS is meant. 
The confiiaion has arisen from the great inconvenience, until the altering 
of the style in 1752, tbat the civil or legal year commenced on the 25th , 
uf March, while the historical began on tbe 1st of January, and it was ' 
customary to aiBx to events which occurred during the first three tnontha | 
of the year two dates, e. g. 1617-lS, &c. 



APPENDIX. 219 

shall tru.3te to, we have devidcd our selves ali'edy, Witney and 
Woulaston are consorted to looke for homward bound men, the 
Admyrall, vizadmiraU S' John Feme wUl for new-found laude 
to revittuall, and aftere to the western Hands to looke for hom- 
ward bounde men, for my parte by the permiaayon of God I will 
make a voyadge or burie my selfe in the sea ao I pray you make 
knowne to my frcnds ; Aboute the latter end of Auguste I hope 
wee shall have fethered our neate and beinge in Harbur moru I 
cannot write, onely this I desire God that you may prosperously 
live that wee may fortunatly meet. 

" I rest yo' affectionate firend 

"Charles Parker." 
" The xsij* of Much 
1617." 

The report which was spread by Ralegh's enemies, that he had 
treacherously slain Keymis, has not the slightest probability, 
and is the foulest slander upon his memory. The reasons given, 
that if dead he could not divulge Ralegh's previous knowledge 
of the non-existence of mines, and his determination of commit- 
ting piracy, are too shallow to deserve any credence, Ralegh 
waa sincerely attached to Keymis, and when he contemplated 
committing suicide in the Tower, he wrote in his letter to Lady 
Ralegh, "Be good to Keymis, for be is a perfect honest man 
and hath much wrong for my sake'." Only the poignancy of bis 
grief can excuse Ralegh's bitter reproaehea of Keymis, which no 
doubt hastened his commission of self-destruction. 

We observe from Captain Parker's letter that dissatisfaction 
had already broken out at this period among the conunandera 
and crew of the squadron, and Ralegh mentions in his letters 
to Sir Ralph Winwood and to his wife, dated St. Christopher's, 
March Slst and 22nd respectively, that he had sent home, under 
the charge of his cousin Herbert, several of the disaffected per- 

' See Rjilegh'a ktter to his wife in Bishuji Guodniiia's ' The Court of 
King James,' vol. ii. p, fl.'i. 



220 APPENDIX. 

sons. It was ultimately determined to proceed to Newfoui 
land, for the purpose of refitting; at this place the crew of his 
ship, the Destiny, became mutinouB, aud the vessels which 
had hitherto remained with the squadron were on the point of 
separating, when Kalegh and Feme held out to them the hope 
that combined they might succeed in interrupting and vanquish- 
ing the Mexican treagure-fleet'. It is oaserted that this was 
merely a stratagem to keep them together ; and having succeeded 
ill quelling the mutiny, Ralegh insisted on returning directly to 
England*. They made in the first instance Kingssale in Ireland, 
aud arrived in Plymouth in the beginning of July, 1618. The ■ 
unfortunate result of llalegh's expedition, and the news of his at- 
tack upon Santo Thome, bad reached England before him, and it is 
reported that Captain North communicated the melancholy ne 
to King Jamea with much caution and feeling on the 13th of 
May. Gondomar being informed of it demanded an audience 
of the King, promising that all he had to say should be i 
eluded in one word. When he came into the royal presence, he 
cried out vehemently, " Piratas, piratas, piratas 1 " and left the 
audience. 

It is said that Kalegh, as soon as he learned (even before he 
landed) of the royal proclamation, resolved to surrender himself, 
Vyhether he placed too fatal a reliance upon the expediency of 
bis proceedings, or whether it was an additional proof of that 

* A minute of the proreedings of the Connnission, in the haudmiting 
of Sir Julius Cfcsar, one of its membera, says, " On being confronted with 
Captains St. Leger and Pennington lie confessed that he pro|Hised the 
tiiking of the Mexico fleet if the mine failed," (Brit. Mua. Langdowne 
MS9. No. 142, fol. 412. 

' Fray Simon reports erroneously that Ralegh proceeded ^m Trinidad 
to Vii^^nia, and that he landed afterwanis at the harbour "de Plemna en 
Inglaterra," from whence he went to L<radon, where his wife received him 
with great lamentations in consequence of the death of her son. This 
information was brought by the servant whom Ral^h took with him from 
i>Bnto Thom^, and who idtimntely returned to Guiana after having wit- 
nessed the execution of the knight, — o circnmstance u|K)d which the Spa- 
nish historian dwells with undisguised satisfaetiDn. 



APPENDIX. 221 

despondency in hia character to which we have had occasion to 
allude several times, cannot now be detennined ; but Captaiu 
King, his faithful companion in so many of his adventures and 
expeditions, asserts that he instantly resolved to surrender him- 
self; and, to prevent any misconstruction of his plans, he moored 
his ship and sent his sails ashore on entering the harbour. 

The subsequent events are of sufficient notoriety. It is as- 
serted by Oldys, that the commissioners who had been appointed 
to examine Ralegh, were unable, even in the strictest exercise of 
their duty, to exti-act from the depositions of hia late companions 
in the Guiana voyage any evidence of treasonable designs or 
piratical practices. This assertion of bis too lenient biographers 
is directly contradicted by the minutes of Sir Juhus Caesar'; 
moreover the allusions contained in Captain Parker's letter, and 
Ralegh's own observation in the letter to his lady from St. Chris- 
topher's*, leave no doubt that it was his intention, if he should 
fall in with the " Plate fleet," to attack it. " This day," says Sir 
Thomas Wilson, who acted as spy upon Ralegh, in his report, 
" he told me what discotu-se he and ray Lord Chancellor had had 
about taking the Plate fleet, whicb he confessed he woiald have 
taken had be lighted upon it. To which my Lord Chancellor 
said, 'Why you would have been a pirate.' 'Oh,' quoth he, 
' did you ever know of any that were pirates for milbons ? they 
only that work for small things are pirates.' " 

The commissioners did not venture to hazard a fresh trial, 
founded either upon the attack of Santo Thome or the unsup- 
ported evidence of Stuckley and Mannourie, of treasonable 
designs; and as Ralegh was to fall a victim to Goudoniar's 
vengeance, for the sake of the desired Spanish alliance, the old 



' Brit. Mu8. Idinadowne MSS., No. 142, fol. 412. These minutes are 
very loosely petrned, and almost require a commentary to be iotelligible. 

' " I have cleaned my ship of Bick men and sent them home, and hope 
that God ndl send uti sometrhat before tvc return." 



TZ2 



aentcnce for high-treason, passed in November 1603, was now to 
be executed. On Wednesday the 28th of October he waa taken 
out of hia bed, though suffering from fever, and conveyed from 
the Tower by writ of Habeaa-corpus to the King's Bench bar at 
Westminster, where his plea of a pardon implied by his subse- 
quent commission waa overruled, and execution ordered. Sir 
Walter was delivered into the custody of the sheriffs of Mid- 
dlesex, and conveyed to the Gatehouse near the Palace-yard. 
The warrant for his execution had evidently been signed before- 
hand : as soon aa the sentence was passed, it was produced already 
signed. The pusillanimous King had gone to Hertfordshire, to be 
out of the way. Between Kalegh'a return from the King's Bench 
and his execution, which took place the next morning, the 29th 
of October, 1618, he is supposed to have written the pathetic 
verses which we quote further on. We learn from Aubrey that 
"the time of hia execution was contrived to be on my Lord 
Mayor's Day (viz, the day after St. Simon and St. Jude), that 
the pageants and fine shewes might drawe away the people 
from beholding the tragedie of one of the gallanteat worthies 
that ever England bred'." 

Ralegh's mind rallied wonderfully from the moment that bis 
fate was decided, and we are told by Dr. Tounson, Dean of 
Westminster, who attended Sir Walter in his last hours, that " he 
waa the moat fearless of death that ever was known ; and the 
most resolute and confident, yet with reverence and conscience." 
" The world," Ralegh calmly observed, " is itself but a larger 
prison, out of which some are daily selected for execution," 
His courage did not leave him to his last moment, and having 
given the signal that he was ready, by lifting up hia hand, he 
was beheaded at two strokes, without the least convulsion or 
motion of his body. Thus died one of the bravest and most 
distinguished ornaments of Queen Elizabeth's reign. 

' Aubrey's Letters, London edition, vol. ii. p. 520. 



On Ike Sttuff of a Candle. 

" Cowards may fear to die ; but courage stout 

RAther than live in snuff, veil) be put out." 

Verses foand in his Bible, in the GaUKouit at Weslmiiuler. 
" Even such is time, that takes on trust 
Otir youth, our joys, our all n« bare. 
And pays us but with age and dust. 
Who in the dark and ailent grave, 
When we have wander'd all our ways. 
Shuts up the story of our days I 
But from this earth, this grave, this dust. 
The Lord shall raise me up, 1 trust." ' 

We have already observed that the exact day of thia great 
man's birth ia not kuown ; Camden and others state that he was 
sixty-six years of age at hie death, according to which he must 
have been bom in the year 1552. We have likewise alluded to 
the statement of his former biographersj that Walter (who fell 
in his twenty-fourth year at Santo Thome) and Carcw were hia 
only children ; but contrary to this assertion is a passage in the 
remarkable letter addressed to his wife, when he contemplated 
committing suicide in the Tower, in which he expressly states, 
"To my poor daughter, to whom I have given nothing," &c. 
It ia much to be regretted that such scanty notices of his daily 
and familiar life have been preserved, and that such a question 
should remain undecided. If the letter be genuine (which we 
doubt not), the fact is proved that Sir Walter had besides his 
two sons, Walter and Carew, a daughter; and the question only 
remains to be determined, whether she was the offspring of his 
marriage with Lady Ralegh ; but as we have already stated our 
opinion on thia subject in the Introduction to this volume, we 
refer to those pages. 

Sir Robert Naunton and Sir John Harrington, who knew 

' Numerous versions exist of these verses, which Archbishop Sancroft, 
who transcribed the lines, calls " Ralegh's Epitaph made by himself and 
given to one of his [attendants] the night before bis suffering." The above 
has l>eeu copied from Ralegh's Works, Oxford edition, vol. viii. p, 729. 



2:il AppKNoix. 

Ralegh personally, describe him as of good appearance. " He 
had in the outward man," saya Naunton, " a good presence in a 
handsome and well- compacted person, a strong natural wit, and 
a better judgement, with a bold and plausible tongue, whereby 
he could set out hia parts to the best advantage'." And Au- 
brey, speaking of his picture, says, " In the great parlour of 
Downton at Mr. Ralegh's is a good piece (an original of Sir W.) 
in a white satin doublet all embroidered with rich pearles, and a 
mighty rich chainc of great pearles about his neck* .... He had a 
most remarkable aspect, an exceeding high forehead, long-faced 
and sour-eielidded, a kind of pigge-eie^." Though this descrip- 
tion seems rather equivocal, Aubrey soon after asserts that Sir 
Walter's graceful presence was no mean recommendation to him*. 

Ralegh dressed with taste and magmficence ; the splendid silver 
armour in which, as Captain of the Guard, he rode abroad with 
Queen Elizabeth was famed even in that age, so remarkable fur 
profusion in dress. The engraving of Sir Walter by Vertue, 
executed in 1735 from an original portrait then iu the posses- 
sion of his descendants the Elwes family, is considered the best. 

The character of this great man presents one of the enigmas 
which the study of human nature occasionally offers to the scru- 
tinjeing eye of posterity. While we cannot refrain fr'om regard- 
ing with admiration most of his actions, his life furnishes like- 
wise evidences of lamentable inconsistencies. It has been ob- 
served by Hallam, that " he never showed a discretion bearing 
the least proportion to his genius;" and we willingly avail our- 
selves of the observation of this historian, to cover with charity 
so many moral deflections in Ralegh's history, which would 
otherwise be stains upon his character. 

' Fragmenta RegBilia, Art. Ralegh. 

' Aa we are uot aware that the custom of weuing chains of pearls was 
followed by any other but by Ralegh at that period, we are almost inclined 
to believe it was in imitation of the Indian fashion, where men and women 
alike to this day wear neeklaiies of glass htads, since they are no longer 
able to procure real pearls. 

' Aubrey's Letters, vol, ii. p. 511. • Ibid. p. 51G. 



I 



» 



I 



APPENDIX. 233 

An unbiased view of the great events ol' Sir Walter's life 
proves that he was naturally ambitioiiH, aud that to attain his 
object he was not always scrupulous as to the means he enj- 
ployed. Many of his errors were the offspring of visionary 
ideas and chimerical plans — a strikiug feature of the period in 
which he lived. What greater proof of this assertion can we 
require, thau hia grave disquisition whether there was a cry- 
stalline heaven, a.primtim mobile, whether the tree of knowledge 
was the f^cus indicus, and other questions of a similarly ludicrous 
nature ' ? 

We have already stated our opinion that Ralegh beUeved 
firmly in the riches of Guiana, and we do not impute to him 
excessive credulity for having given full faith to the fallacious 
accounts which existed at that period of the metallic wealth of 
Guiana J but we blame bim for the means which he used to 
procure converts to his opinions and contributions to the execu- 
tion of bis schemes^. His gross flattery to Queen Elizabeth, and 
his exaggerated style in representing his belief in the wealth of 
Guiana as resting upon personal examination, are likewise cen- 
surable. It is evident that he entertained ulterior plans greater 
than merely the working of gold-mines, namely the acquisition 
and colonization of Guiana; but bis views in this great under- 
taking were liable to question. Ralegh was looked on by his 
contemporaries with distrust ; by his theatrical deportment du- 
ring his first imprisonment in the Tower, he had forfeited the 
good opinion of many of his fellow- courtiers, and the belief 

' History of the World, First Book, cap. i. iii. iv. vii. &c. 

* " la his youth hia companioiis were boyaterouH blades, but generally 
those that had wttt, except otherwiee upon desigae to getC tlieni engaged 
for him e. gr. Sir Charles Snell of Kingtou Saint Michael in North Wilts, 
my good neighbour, an honest young gent, but kept a perpetual sott ; he 
engaged him to build a ship (the Angel Gabriel) for the deaigne for Guiana 
which cost him the Manor of Yatton Keynell, the farme of Easton Piers, 
ThomhiU, and the Churehlease of Bps. Cftnninga, which ship upon Sir 
Walter Ralegh's attainder was forfeited." (Aubrey's Letters, etc. vol. ii. 
p. 514.) 



» 



226 AFFENDIS. 

that he was not over-scrupulous in his asHertiouB gained gronnji 
rapidly. Ben Jonaou says of him, that he esteemed fame more 
than couscienee. 

A haughty and proud demeanour, and an utter contempt for 
the lower clasaeB, were not qualified to procure him popularity; 
and the share which he wae thought to have had in the tra- 
f^cal fate of Essex, the idol of the people, materially contributed 
to this popular aversion. Aubrey observes, that " he had an 
awfiilness and ascendancy in hia aspect over other mortals," 
which is not always a gift to be coveted, as it frequently leads 
to personal enmity; nevertheless no man was more beloved 
than Ralegh by his immediate attendants and companions, se- 
veral of whom accouipanicd him repeatedly on his adventurous 
expedition a. 

Though we have not been able to go all lengths with Ralegh's 
admirers, in bestowing indiscriminate praise upon all his ac- 
tions, we are fully impressed with the opinion that his defects I 
were the offspring of the characteristic period in which he lived, 
and that those parts in which Ralegh shone far outweighed his 



Richly endowed with natural gifts, his indefatigable industry 
procured him a surprising knowledge, not only in mihtary and 
maritime science, in geography and history, but likewise in the 1 
mechanical arts. Whatever object occupied his mind, he de- I 
voted to it the whole power of his genius, assisted by an energy J 
almost unparalleled. Cecil remarks of him, " he can toil ( 
ribly'." This quality may lessen the amazement so frequently I 
expressed by his contemporaries, from whence he got his ac- 

' We have rather been surpriseii to find an ineidenta] remark which | 
siieaks to the eontrarj-. In a letter, written probably by one of the aei 
taries of the Earl of Essex, mftking some apologieH why he had not heard.'! 
from the court, occurs the following passage : " And for good Mr. Ralegh, j 
who wonders at his owne diligence (because diUgence and he are not fami- 
liars)" ett. The writer of this qiistle gives another inatimce of oitr sss 
tion. that Ralegh was not in repute for a strict aitEierence to truth; 
continues, "Thus do you see that a man whose fortune scants him of. J 



APPENDIX. 237 

quirements. Ralegh's early lil'e was passed in full activity du- 
ring hia military career in Ireland, France and Portugal; and 
when at home {we learn from Aubrey), he frequented taverns 
and other places of amusement'. Under such circumstances, 
which are not conducive to the acquisition of learning, the de- 
velopment of the powers of his mind, and the extent of kuow- 
ledge which he displays in his writings, are truly miraculoua. 
With this were united a polite address, a strong natural wit, and 
great powers of conversation; what wonder therefore that he 
captivated Elizabeth, " who was much taken with his elocution, 
loved to hear his reasons, and took him for a kind of oracle ! " 
Sir Arthur Georges assures us, in his ' Relation of the Island 
Voyage,' that even Essex preferred Ralegh's conversation to that 
of moat of his friends. 

His inclinations seemed to direct him to a sea~fariag life and 
maritime exploits, which he followed with a greater zeal than 
any other pursuit. Hia voyages were not undertaken upon ha- 
zard ; the publication of his Guiana expedition gives sufficient 
evidence of his knowledge of the works of authors who had 
written on the Jfew World, in which be was greatly assisted by 
his acquaintance with foreign languages. 

The charge of atheism, which Father Parsons brought against 
Ralegh, deserves so little credit that we have passed it over. 
The poetry and prose writings of Ralegh alike breathe " a strong 
and genuine spirit of piety," and none more so than his epitaph 
written during the last hours of his life. 

Though Ralegh acted a distinguished part in his military, 
' naval and civil life, he was chiefly illustrious in maritime affairs, 

meanes to do you service will not bear coalee to be ftecuaed of diJnesa, 

especially by yuut Rereadmirall who making baste but once in a year to 
; write a letter in poat, gave date from Weymouth to hia last dispatche, 
■ which by the circumatances I knew was written from Plymouth." (Brit. 
I Mus. Lnusdowne MSS, 86, No. 19.) It netds scarcely be observed, that 

the circumstances here alluded to refer to the expedition to Cadiz in 1696. 
' " Ralegh inatilnted a club or meeting of beaux esprili at the Mermaid, 

» celebrated tavern in Friday Street." (Gifford'a Life of Jonaon, p. ti5.) 



^ 



228 APPENDIX. 

and Bhines most conspicuously as a founder of colonies and 
promoter of commerce. His naval exploits were conducted with 
boldness and determination, and we liave few examples of more 
active patriotism in a private individual than in Ralegh. The 
phantom to which he sacrificed his reputation, his fortune, and 
his life, namely the gold-mines of Guiana, haunted him to his 
last moments. His Apology expresses a continued assurance in 
the eristence of gold-mines near the banks of the Orinoco ; and 
in " the inventory of such things as were found on the body of 
Sir Walter Rawleigh, Knight, the IS"' day of August, IGIS," 
which document was sent to Sir Thomas Wilson hy Sir Robert 
Naunton, Secretary of State, occur the following objects : 
" A Guiana idol of Gold. 

"A Spleenstone, [left with him for his own ase), 
" One wedge of fine gold at 22 carratts. 
" An other stoh of coarser gold. 
" Item one plott of Guiana and Nova (R — ) ' and another of , 

the river of Orenoque. 
" The description of the river Orenoque. 
" A plott of Panama. 

" A tryal of Guiana ore with a description thereof. 
" A Sprig jewel. 
" Five assays of the Silver myne^." 

These articles were probably taken from him after his recom- 
mittal to the Tower, when in the act of making his escape. 

It appears from this inventory that Sir Walter had written I 
some accounts of the Orinoco, in addition to what are con- 
tained in his 'Discovery of Guiana;' and the manuscript hero 1 
alluded to may have been part of "the particular treatise of the 
West Indies," Sec. which, with a map of the Orinoco, he men- 
tions several times in the description of his first Guiana voyage^. 



' The omitted words are probably Rsyno de Granaila. 
' See ■ Life of Sir Wfjtei- Raleigh,' by Patrick Fraaer Tj-tler, pp. 46fi, I 
467. Edinburgh. 1833. 

' Amongst tbe MSS. of Sir Joseph Jekyll, Maater of the Rolls, whid 



We learn from a letter which Lady Ralegh wrote after her 
husband's death to Lady Carew, that Sir Thomas Wilson (" the 
spy," as he has been called by Ralegh's biographers) continued 
his persecution against the family, and seized his books, manu- 
scripts and mathematical instruments'. We have therefore a 
clue to the fate of the numerous manuscripts which Ralegh is 
said to have left behind, and we think with Mr. Tytler, that, 
"as Wdaon was at the time Keeper of the State Paper OfBce, 
there is still a hope that Ralegh's manuacripta may be found 
amongst some of the unexplored treasures of the gi'eat national 
coRections." 



I 



were sold by auction in London in 1739, was a volume containing " Seve- 
ral letters wrote by Sir Walter Rawleigli in relation to Quiftna, subscribed 
bj his own hand." It la not known wbat became of tbis volume, nor nbc- 
tlier the letters were autographs or only trsnHcripta. They were marked 
Lot 312. 

' Tbis letter is printed entire in Tytler's ' Life of Sir Walter Ralegh,' 
p. 464. " I beseech your Ladyahip," writes Lady Ralegh, " that you will 
do me the favour to intreat Sir Thomas Wilsoa to surcease the pursuit of 
my husband's books and Uhrary ; tbey being all the land and living which 
he left to bis poor child; hoping that he would inherit him in these only, 
and that he would apply himself to learning to be fit for them; which re- 
quest I hope 1 shall fulfil as far as in me lieth. Sir Thomas Wilson has 
already fetched aviay all his mathematical instruments, one of which cost 
iglOO when it was made ; I waa promised thera all agam, but I have not 
received one back." 



ERRATA. 

Page XV f for remainder read unexpired term. 

— 55 (note), for Cairina moshata read Cairina moschata. 

— 118 (note), line 10 from bottom, for mercantile house read India House. 



INDEX. 



[The Roman Numbers refer lo the pages of the E 



AcAMACARI, the chief town of the 
Cannibals, 87. 

AenrewKna, BJgnifiea eazique, 7 and notel. 

Acuiia, Don Diego Palomeque de, ap- 
pointed Governor of Trinidad, 209 i 
hia preparationa for the defence of 
Santo ThDmS,210; is slain dnriag the 
assault, 213. 

Acuyari, a fragrant gnm, 21 (note 1). 

Ajuirre, Lopez de, 21 (noteS), 22 ; slaya 
Pedro de Uraua, 22; his death, 23, 

Ajuricaba, a powerful Indian chieftain, 



76 (n< 



1)- 



Akaniri, a river of the Orinoco, 104. 

Alligators and Cayman, 57 and note 1 ; 
a young negro devoured by an, 58. 

Almagro, Diego de, 11 and note 3, 

Amacura, ariverof the Orinoco, 104. 

Amana (Mananio), a branch of the Ori- 
noco, 43 and note 3, 53, 107. 

Anapttia, a land rich in gold, 31, 108 ; 
the people called Anebas, 31 ; pemi- 
cinua influence of (he water, 32 and 

Amariacapana, a valley inhabited by the 
ancient Guianians, 76. 

Amazons, remarks on the opinions re- 
specting their existence, Ivi; the Ca- 
ribs consider the source of the Coren- 
tyue as their abode, lii; the upper 
branches of the Rio Trombetag consi- 
dered as their abode, U; tbese loca- 
lities were visited by Cbe editor witb. 
out meeting Amazons. Ix; wariike ap- 
pearance, 27, 109. 

Amazons, river of, discovery, 15 and note 
I i different names, 16 (uote) ; abun. 
dance of gold, 27. 

Amazon stones, 28 and 29 (note 1). 

Aniidas and Barlow, Captains, discover 
Virginia, Hxviii. 

Auebaa, an Indian tribe, 31 ; marches of, 
" " !, 108. 



Apparelled Indians, called Oreiones and 

Epurenici, 76 and note 1. 
Appendix, 131. 

Araluri, a river of the Orinoco, 104. 
ArawagotoB, an Indian tribe, BU. 
Areo, atributary river of the Amana, 107. 
Armadillo, 74 and note 1. 
Amotlo, 198 and note 2. 

Orinoco, 72. 
Aromaja, a province of Guiana, 73 ; king 

of, visits Ralegh. 73. 
Aioras, an Indian tribe black as negros,70. 
Arowacai, town of Topariinaca, 67. 
AiTBTOopanB or Carraroupatia, a branch 

of the Orinoco, 68, 101. 
Arriaroa, where the Orinoco divides itself 

into three branches, 100 and note 3. 
AiTOw-poisonof Indians, 70, 7 1 and notel . 
Arni, a river of the Orinoco. 84, 85. 
Arwacaa or Arawacks. an Indian tribe 

in Trinidad, 4 ; in Guiana, 52 and note 

2, 62. 
Ashaguaflj province of the, B8. 
Assapana (Yava), an island in the Ori- 
noco. 63 (note 1), 67, 68, 105. 
Assawai, an Indian tribe on the Orinoco, 

70. 
Atahualpa, 11 and note 1, 12 and note 

1,119; gold and silverof, 14. 
Atbule(Ature),an island and cataract, 89. 
AloicB. a river of the Orinoco, 85. 
Attempts in search of El Dorado, xlii, 

15, 17,24,26, 116 and ni ' 



■ Anebas, an Indian tri 
H SH and note 2, 108 

H Anta or Tapir, 112 ai 



BalsBQ 



B, 207. 



BaragnsD, a strait of the Orinoco, 30 and 

Barema (Barima), a river in Guiana, 39, 

15, 104. 
Barima Punta or Point, Ixxii. liiiv, 115. 
Beauty of Indian females, 40 and note I , 



232 



INDEX. 



vernor of Trinidad, Iv, 5 and note 1 ; 
surprizes some of Captain Whiddon's 
men, 6 ; his cruelties to the Indians, 
7 ; taken a prisoner by Ralegh, 8 ; his 
descent, 9 ; possesses a copy of Marti- 
nes's Journey to El Dorado, 17 ; mar- 
ries the daughter, according to others 
the niece, of Quesada, Iv, 5, 25 ; his 
expedition in search of El Dorado, 26, 
29; sends by his camp-master some 
croissants to the Spanish king, 31 ; 
loses the greater number of his people 
in the province of Amapaia, 32 ; arrives 
in the province of Emeria, 35 ; arrives 
at Trinidad, 36 ; sends his camp-master 
to discover El Dorado, 36 ; Don Fran- 
cisco de Vides' enmity, 37 ; sends some 
Spaniards and a friar to discover El 
Dorado, 37 ; attempts to dissuade Ra- 
legh from his journey, 42; his expe- 
dition up the Caroni, 92. 

Berreo, Don Fernando de, son of the 
former, succeeds his father as Gover- 
nor of Trinidad, 209; appointed Go- 
vernor of New Granada, 209. 

Berrie, Captain Leonard, commander of 
an expedition to Guiana, 154. 

Beta, a river of the Orinoco, 88, 89 and 
note 2. 

Bezzerillo, a famous mastiff, 138 (note 1). 

Birds, great quantity of, in the Orinoco, 
54 and note 2. 

Brava island, 187. 

Brazil beds or hammocks, 40 and note 2, 
65 and note 1. 

Brydges', Sir Egerton, opinion of some 
of Ralegh's poetry, xix (note 1). 

Burlings, 1. 

Caiama (Faxardo), an island at the mouth 
of the Caroni, 79 and note 1. 

Cairamo, a province, divides the plains of 
Guiana, 104. 

Calfeild, Captain, 8, 42. 

Caliana, Caiana or Cayenne, 198 and note 
1. 

Calms and contrary winds in the equato- 
rial regions, 192. 

Cannibals, 35 and note 2, 44, 52 ; Aca- 
macari their chief town, 87, 107, 108, 
109. 

Cantyman, an Indian cazique, 5. 

Canuri governed by a woman, 108 and 
note 1. 

Canuria, a province of Guiana, 80. 

Caora (Caura), a river of the Orinoco, 
85 and note 1 . 

Captains and gentlemen who accompa- 
nied Ralegh on his first Guiana voy- 
age, Ixviii. 

Capurepana, an Indian town, 81. 



Capurepani, an Indian tribe in Guiana, 

108. 
Capuri (Apure), a river of the Orinoco, 88. 
Capuri (Capure), a river of the delta of 

the Orinoco, 43; Ralegh returns by 

a branch he calls erroneously Capuri, 

106 (note 1). 
Carapana, king of Emeria, 35; flees to 

Cairamo, 103 ; his policy, 104. 
Carapana, the port of Guiana, called, 39 ; 

province of Carapana, 56 (note 1), 63, 

126. 
Caraweru or Chico, an Indian pigment, 

114 (note). 
Cari,a river of the Orinoco, 87 and note 2. 
Carib or Caribisi, their dialects, 7 (note 

Carib and Cannibal synonymous, 35 (note 
2) ; sell women and children, 39, 87 
(note 3). 

Caribania or the Wild Coast, 56 (note 1). 

Carinepagotos, an Indian tribe in Trini- 
dad, 4. 

Carone, river in Trinidad, 4. 

Caroni (Caroli of Ralegh), a tributary of 
the Orinoco, Ixxi, 78, 79 and note 1 ; 
leads to Manoa, 78; strong current, 
80 ; silver-mine at the Caroni, 81 ; 
great fall of the Caroni, 81. 

Carraroopana or Arraroopana, a branch 
of the Orinoco, 68 and note 2, 100 
(note 3), 101. 

Carricurrina (Gold-land), a province in 
Guiana, 100 and note 2. 

Casanare river, 30 and note 2, 88 and 
notes 1, 2. 

Casnero, a river of the Orinoco, 87 and 
note 1. 

Caspian Sea, li, 13. 

Cassavi, 4 ; trade in bread of, 40. 

Cassipa, a great lake, 84 and note 1, 108. 

Cassipagotos,an Indian tribe, lit 80, 108. 

Castellani, Indian name for the Spaniards, 
8 and note 2. 

Castro, Joao de, his MS. Journal of a 
Voyage to the Red Sea, preserved at 
the British Museum, xxxvii (note 1). 

Catetios, province of the, 88. 

Ceremonies, strange, at the death of In- 
dians, 52 and note 1, 109 and note 2. 

Chiparepare, the port of Putijma, 99. 

Ciawani, an Indian tribe on the Orinoco, 
48, 108. 

Cie9a, Pedro de, 11 and note 2. 

Cobham's, Lord, treason, 156. 

Coirama, a river of the Orinoco, 104 and 
note 1. 

Colonial empire. Great Britain's, compa- 
rative view of, xxiii; Ralegh the founder 
of, xiv, xxvi, xxxiii, 227. 



I 



ColDDialprojecteof Ralegh, 113, 118 and 

uote 1, 136. 
CuloniatB, unfortunate late of the Virgi- 

ColumbuB erroueouslf Bsserled to have 
offered the West ladies to Hetiry the 
Seventli, IKaiid note 1. 

Contraband traile between the Dutch and 
Spaniards, 39 Tnote 2). 

Conquerabia or Puerto de las Hi^panioles, 
2. 

Cortez, Hernando, 11,34. 

Cotton cloth mannfactured by the In- 
dians, 40 (note 2). 

Croissants of gold worn by the Indians 
of the river Amazon, 27 ; presented to 
Berreo, 31 ; carried to Cumana, 36. 

Crystal river, 83 (note 2). 

CuJcenam, a great mountain and 'water- 
fall, 75 (note 2), 101 (note 2). 

Cuniaea, a river in Guiana, 100 and note I. 

Carcai, a balsam with which the Indians 



a, 21. 



n the, II 



ex. 233 

of Pedro Hernandez de Serpa, 24 ; of 
Don Gonzales Ximenes de Qucsada, 
2'i and note 1 ; of Antonio de Berreo, 
26, 29, el seq. ; savannahs of Rupuni, 
site of El Dorado, li, 70 {note I), 76 
(note;; attempla in search of it, U6 
and note 1 ; extracts from certain Spa- 
nish letters respecting, 121 -, discovery 
of Nuevo Dorado by Domingo de Vera, 
123. 

Emeria, province of, Berreo's arrival in 
the, 35, lb, 101: river Waricapana lies 
at the entrance of, 104. 

Emparepani, an Indian tribe in Guiaiia, 
108. 

Emperor of Guiana descended from the 
princes of Pern, 1 1 ; Ms body sprinkled 
over with powder of fine gnid, 21. 

Empire of the Incas, 12 and note, MB, 91, 
119. 

Epaiogotos, an Indian tribe, 80. 

Epuremei, an Indian tribe, 76 and note 1, 
64,91.94. 

Europa (Guarpiapo), a river of the Ori- 



Dawney, a river of the Orinoco, BB, 89 
(note 2). 

Deer of Guiana, 99 and note 1. 

Desmarets, Count,ani1iBSSBdor of France, 
visits Ralegh's ship the Destiny, 172; 
improbability of his itatemeat respect- 
ing Ralegh's otTer of services, 173. 

Piseovery of Uuiana, sn accdunt of the 
several editions and translations which 

Dissekebe (Easeqiiibo), a river in Guiana, 

39, 104 (note I), 
Dogs, Indian, i» and note 1 ; a kind of 

mastiff used against the Indians, 138 



Donglas, John, rr 



i, 43. 



if Ralegh's ship. 



Drinking-feast, great, 102; strange cus- 
tom of using a canoe in lien of a ves- 
sel to couttun the liquor, 102 (note 1). 

Dutch attack Gomera, 183 and note 4. 

Dve-wooda of Guiana, 113, 

Eaglesofgold, 41, 127. 

El Dorado, earl; accounts of, ilix-lv, 
13; expeditious in search of, 15, 16; 
discovered by Johannes Martines, 17 ; 
De Vera's expedition for the conquest 
of, 17 (note 2) ; named so by Martines, 
20; emperor of, his body sprinkled 
over with powder of fine gold, 21 ; 
why callei) El Dorado, 21 ; eipedition 
of Pedro de liraua, 21 and note 2; of 
Ueninimo de Ortal, 23 and note 1 ; of 
Don Pedro de Silvia. 24 and note 1 ; 






, an Indian tribe without 



», Ivi, i 
Extracts taken out of certain Spaniards' 

letters respecting El Dorado, 121. 
Pall or great cataract of Roraltiia and 

Cukenam, 75 (noie 2), 101 (note 2) ; 

of the Caroni, 82 ; of the Poramu, 1^2 

(no..). 
Faxardo or Fajardo, an island at the 

mouth of the Caroni, 79 and note I, 

115 (note 1). 
Fire kindled by means of two sticks, 99 

Flood, great, aspeu-t of a, CO (note 1). 

Forts on the Orinoco, their favourable 
situation for the defence of the coun- 
try, 115 and note 1, 117. 

Frobisber, Sir Martin, recalls Bategh and 
takes the command of the expedition 
to Panama, xlii. 

Geographical table appended to tlulsius's 
edition of Ralegh's Discovery of Gui- 
ana. Iivi (note 1). 

Gifford, Captain George, Ixviii, 8, 42. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphry, fits out a maritime 
eipedition, ivti ; sails from Plymouth 
on an expedition to North America, 
xxii; receives from Queen ElLcaheth a 
golden token, txii ; perishes on the 

Goavar (Guaviare). a river of the Orino- 

Gold, in the sixteenth century the only 
inducement to attempt colonixation, 
ixvi ; some of the, brought by Ralegh 



23 i 



INDEX. 



from Guiana was preserved in his fa- 
mily, Ixi, 97 ; Humboldt's opinion on 
the existence of, in Guiana, Ixii ; apiece 
of, found upon white quartz in the 
river Takutu, Ixii ; attempts for work- 
ing mines in the Cuyuni, Ixii ; Colum- 
bus', Dudley's, and Harcourt's testi- 
mony of having met with gold orna- 
ments among the Indians, Ixiii ; Baron 
d'Ouily's testimony, Ixiv ; grains of, in 
Trinidad, 4 ; abundance of, in Guiana, 
13; flowers and trees, etc. of, 14, 92 ; 
brought to the river of Amazons from 
Guiana, 27 ; Indians of Trinidad receive 
gold from Guiana, 27 ; croissants car- 
ried by King Morequito to Cumana, 
36; eagles and images of, 41, 127; 
refiner's basket, and where the Spa- 
niards have laboured for gold, 59 ; 
rocks of the Caroni promise to contain 
gold and silver, 82; attempts of the 
Spaniards to dig for gold at the Caro- 
ni, 83 (note) ; abundance of gold in 
Macureguarai, 92 ; gathered in pieces 
at the lake Manoa, 96; method of 
melting it, 96 ; ore from Guiana, 97 
and note 1 ; Iconuri, a mountain re- 
ported to contain gold, 99 ; rocks like 
gold-ore, 100 ; abundance in Manoa, 
111 ; trial of Guiana ore, 162, 228. 

Gold-dust brought by the Caribs to the 
Dutch, 83 (note 1). 

Gomara, Francisco Lopez de, 11 and 
note 2. 

Gondamar, Count de, alleged reason of 
his dislike of Ralegh, xxxvi (note 1) ; 
protests against Ralegh's expedition, 
170 ; accuses Ralegh of piracy, 220. 

Goodwin, Hugh, left vrith the cazique 
Topiawari, 96. 

Grenville, Sir Richard, commands the 
fleet for Virginia, xxix ; commands an 
expedition for the relief of the colony, 
and lands merely fifteen men and re- 
turns, xxx ; his memorable action, xL 

Guanipa river and bay, 43 and note 2, 
107 (note 1). 

Guascar, Inca of Peru, 11 and note 1. 

Guaynacapa, 11, 12; magnificence of his 
court, 13. 

Guiacar (Guayavero), a river of the Ori- 
noco, 89 and note 1. 

Guiana, empire of, 11; the emperor de- 
scended fi^om the princes of Peru, 13, 
15 ; healthfulness of the interior, 112 
and note 2 ; dye-woods, balsams, etc., 
113 and note 1; excellent soil, 113; 
short navigation from Europe to, 114 ; 
best time for a voyage, 114; easily 
fortified, 115 and note 1. 



Hagihorpe, John, his opinion respecting 
El Dorado, liv. 

Haining, Lieutenant, 32 (note 1). 

Hair, beautiful, of Indian females, 66 and 
note 1. 

Hakluyt, Richard, seeks the acquaintance 
of Ralegh, xxxvi ; receives from him a 
MS. of De Castro's voyage to the Red 
Sea, xxxvii. 

Hammocks, or Brazil beds, 40 and note 2, 
65 and note 1. 

Harcourt, Robert, Ixiii, 165, 197 and note 
2. 

Hariot, Thomas, a great mathematician, 
accompanies Lane to Virginia, xxix ; 
his report on the capabilities of Vir- 
ginia, xxxiii and xxxiv (note 1). 

Harry, an Indian, formerly a servant of 
Ralegh when in the Tower, 198, 200. 

Henry, Prince, a patron of Ralegh, his 
death, 163. 

Hens raised by the Indians, 55 and note 
1. 

HerecuUa silk, 198, 199 (note 1). 

Hororotomaka islands in the Orinoco, 
49. 

Humboldt's opinion on the existence of 
gold in Guiana, Ixii ; remarks on the 
new empire of the Incas, 12 (note) ; on 
Johannes Martines's pretended jour- 
ney, 18 (note); remarks on the In- 
dians vnthout heads, 85 (note 2). 

Iconuri, a mountain reported to contain 
gold, 99 ; Keymis is sent to visit it, 99. 

Indian tribes in Trinidad, 4. 

Indian captains, 7; called together by 
Ralegh, 8 ; her Majesty's picture shown 
to them, 9. 

Indian slaves, trade in, 39 (note 2), 76 
(note 1), 87 and note 3. 

Indians dwelling upon trees, 50. 

Indian women, their good appearance and 
fine figures, 40 and note 1 ; their beau- 
tiful hair, 66 and note 1. 

Indians great boat-builders, 49 (note 1), 
52. 

Indian customs at the death of their 
chiefs, 52 and note 1, 109 and note 2. 

Indians count distances by reaches or 
hooks, 56 and note 2. 

Indian drinks, 64 and note 2. 

Indians without heads, 85 and note 1 ; 
Mandeville's and Keymis's opinion of 
their existence, 85 (note 1), 86. 

Indians wear coins as an ornament, 96 
and note 1. 

Introduction, the editor's, xiii. 

Inventory of things that were found on 
Ralegh at his re-committal to the 
Tower, 228. 



I 



31 of the Orinoco, 104 Knd 



IvarawBqueri, an inilian tribe, 77, 81, 
97, lOS. 

laioB, itn Indiaii tribe in Triuidad, i. 

JameH, King of Eogland, liiB opinion of 
pine-apples, 73 (note 1) ; liie dislike to 
Ralegb, 156 ; bis trKgi-aomedy with 
respect to those implicated in the 
Cobham treason, 160; gives him a 
6)r the Toyago W Guiana, 



^, 222. 

Jasper, a kind of. used in lieu of flints, 
29 (note 1), 99 (note 1). 

Keymis'SgC^tun Laurence, report of the 
lake Rapoaowini, Ui ; accompanies Ra- 
legh to Guiana, IxTiiii his opinidu on 
the headless Indians, B6 (note) ; jour- 



it land Ic 






I 



d, 99 ! undertakes 
a SECoad voyage to Guiana, 153 ; com- 
uiBiida the Coavenine during Ralegh's 
seL-and voyage to Gniana, 174 ; com- 
mands tbe expedition to the Orinoco, 
2(J2; commits Euiride, 217; Captain 
Parker's uncharitable remarks, 2lSt 
Ralegh's opinion of, 219. 

Lake, great, of salt vrater, 13 (note l)\ 
lake Cassipa, SD, Sj and note 1. 

Lamentations of the Indiajia at the death 
of their chiefs, 1)2 and note 1. 

Lane, Kalpb, Governor of Virginia, xiix ; 
introduces tobacco, xxxiv. 

LfuiiBToia stormed and sacked by the 
Turks, 181 (note 1), 

Las Casas, BartbolamGW de, defender of 
the rights of tbe Indians, 143 and note 

Leonard Regapo, an Indian, formerly 
Ralegh's servant, 197 and note 2. 

Letter-wood or speckled wood, 19S and 
notes. 

Leuro, Father Francesco de, his deplo- 
rable &te, 212 (note I). 

Limo, a river of tbe Orinoco, 87 and 
note 2. 

Llanos of Orinoco, 70 (note 1). 

Macareo, a branch of Ihe oceanic delta 
of the Orinoco called Capuri by Ra- 
legli, 13 (note 1), 106 and note 1 ; Ra- 
legh returns by this branch, 106. 

Maeiicejoorai, first town of tlie empire of 
the Epureniei, 24, 77. 80. 92, 94, 1U8. 

Macusi Indians probably inhaliileil fur- 
merij Ihe Orinoco, 78 {note 1). 



EX. 235 

Madre de Dios, a Portuguese ship, cap- 
ture of the, xlii. 

Magdelena, Rio de la, 33 (note 1). 

Magellanic clouds, 194 and note I. 

Maize or Indian corn, 4, 

Mana, a river of Ihe Orinoco, 98 and note 
2. 

Manati or Lamantin, 99 and note 2. 

Manoa, great city of, 1 1 ; named bv Mar- 
tines ElDorBdD,20, 80. 110: lUlegh's 
proposition for its conquest, 110, 139, 
148. 

Map and description of tbe Orinoco se- 
veral times alluded to bv Ralegb, 26, 
53, 90 and note 1,228. 

MaraTiDnorAmazonas.lS, 16 and note 1. 

Marawonne. the country of the Ama- 
zons, lix. 

Mariatamball, isles of, 34 and note 1. 

Marina, Dofia, the beautiful Indian slave, 
40 (note I). 

Marqiiesite called La Madre del oro, 83 

Martines, Johannes, his relation respect- 
ing Manoa or El Dorado, 17 and note 2; 
left in a canoe, 19; airives at Manoa. 
19 ; returns laden with gold, 20 ; rob- 
bed by tbe Indians, 20 i dies at Puerto 
Rico, 20. 

Masham, Master Thnmas, author of a 
narrative of Berrie's voyage to Guiana, 
1S4 (ml. 1). 

Mauritia palm, called the tree of life, 49 

Meta river, 26, 30 and note 2, 88 and 

Mines otvihite spar, 97. 

Missions of Catalonian Capuchins, 79 

(note 2). 
Monteiuma, 1 1 and note 1 . 
Moreqnilo, a port in Guiana, 17 anil 

note 1,73, 90. 
Morequito, a great king on the borders 

of Guiana, 36 ; his people slay a friar 

and nine Spaniards, 37, 80 ; is executed 

by Bcrreo'a camp-master, 38, G8. 
Motto, Ralegh's, 161 (note 1}. 
Murrecotima, an island in theUrinaco,73. 
Musk ducks, ib (note). 
Nepoios, an Indian tnbe in Trinidad, 4 ; 

in Guiana, 67, 108. 
North-west Passage, the CoUei^es of 

the FellawshipforthediscoveTy of the. 



k 



236 iND 

Orange, Cape, 197 (note 1 ). 

Ordaz, Diego de, hia eipiulition in search 

of El Dorudo, 16 and note 1, 18 ; ttie 

fbundn- of a settlement called Caroao, 

n (note 2). 
Ore of Guiana Ralegb's experiment with 

the, 162. 
Orcllsjia, Francisco, IS and note 1. 
Orelluna ar Amazuuas, a river, \6 and 



Orenoqaeponi, an Indian tribe, 21, 75 ; 
derivation of thdc name, 7S, 108 \ pro- 
bably a bruch of the Macaai tribe, 78 
(note 1). 

Orinoco, description of the, liix ; its dis- 
cover}', Ixix ; different namei, Ixx, 30 ; 
its source! and lenglh, liii; its delta, 
lixti ; impetuDBity of its current, Ixiiii ; 
its breadth near the river Meta, 31 
(note 1) ; near Barrancas, G? and note 
3 ; Ralegh's departure from Trinidad in 
boats for the, 45; danger of navjga' 
tion, 46 and note 1 ; branches of tbe, 
48; its rapid rite, 60 and note I, 90, 
in.')! Ralegh's description of, 48, 6?, 
HO. 

Oroootona, the town of Topiawari, 77 






! 1, 78. 



Oro negro, 83 (note 1). 

Onal, Geronimo de, his expedition In 

search of Bl Domdo, 23 and note 1. 
Orthngraphy of Indian words, 7 (note}. 
Oysters groning on trees, 3 and note 1. 
Paiwa, or Palnori, an Indian drink, 64 
*2). 



Palomeqae de Acufia, Don Diego, Gover- 
nor of Trinidad and Guiana, 209 ; is 
slain during the attack upon Santo 
Thomi?, 211 (note 3), 212. 

Pao. a river of the Orinoco, 88. 

Papamene or Silver river, 89 and note I. 

Parico, a port and seat in Trinidad. 2. 

Parima, ]atie,li, liii, 13(nDtel), 76(notes) ; 
its non-existence, liv and note 1. 

Psrino, a province in Guiana, 100. 

Parker, Capt. Charles, his letter to Capt. 
Alley eonlaiuing a description of the 
eipedition up the Orinoco, 217; his 
ungenerous attack upon Keymis, 218. 

Psto, a river of the Orinoco, 88 and 

Pawroma (Pomeroon), a river in Guiana. 

30, 104 and note 1. 
Piacoa, a town of the lower Orinoco, 68 

(note 2) ; a (iraneb of the Orinoco, 

68 (note 2), 100 (note 3). 
Picbe or Tierra de Brea, 2 and note 4, 3. 



Pilots for the voyage up the Orinoco, 44 ; 
an Indian of fiarenjs. 45 ; Perdinando, 
his adventure vrith the Tivitivaa, 47; 
Perdinando's ignorance of the Orinoco, 
48 ; aCianani taken as pilot, 46 ; deter- 
□linaiiou of hanging the, &6 : capture 
of an Arawaca,andfarcedtoactas, 59; 
tlie Ciawani aiid old Perdinando lent 
back, 62 ; from Arowacai,' 67. 

Pinas (Pine-apples) the prince of frnfts, 
73 and note 1 ; King James's opinion 
of, 73 (note 1). 

Piteh-hikc of Trinidad, 2 (note 4). 3, 

Pizarro, Marquis Francisco, 11 and note 1, 
14,15. 

Pizarro, Gonzalo, expedition of, in search 
ofEl Dorado. 15 (note I). 

Pturahly of wives prevaila among In- 
dians, 94 ; the lirst wife conducts the _ 
domestic aflsin, 110 (note). 

Point Curiapan, 1, 

Point IcacDS, 1 (note 2), 

Point Carao, 2. 

Poisoned arrows of Indians, 70, 71 ai 

Potato, Ral^h the first cultivator of 6 
in Ireland, xixv ; doubt respectir 
first introduction, xxxv (note). 

Pottery of Indians, 64 and note 1. 

Brestan, Captain Amys. 1 ; takes Saaf 
Jago de Leon, 24; Ralegh's Epistle J 
Dedicatory, vii. 

ProdiictB of tbe country, 109. 

Prophecy that England should once i 
in possession of Guiana,119 and ni 
137. 

Punto Gallo, 1. 

Punto Galcra, 4 and note 3. 

Putapayma, an island in the Orinoco, SB. 

Putyma, or Futijma, a lord of Gtdl 
68 ; slays a friar and nine Sptnianli, 
99 ; conducts Ralegh and part of hit 
company to a mountain vtith stone* 
of the colour of gold, 98 ; Ralegh 
takes leave of, 1 1)5. 

Quesada, Don Gonzales Ximenes de, 
founder of Nuevo reyno de Granada, 
25 and note 1 ; his expeditiou in (MTtAil 
of El Dorado, 25 ; his danghtcr (ae 
cording to Fray Simon, bis niece. If. 
33) marries Don Antonio de Berrc^H 
25. 

Rainbows, frequency of, 191, 192, 19&r'S 
203 ; arc cousidered a prognostic rfB 
rain if occurring in the morning, 19lT 
(note 2). ■ 

Rains, the, 194 (note 2). 

Ralegh, Sir Waker, birth and desceat^ 
xiv ; enters college, xv ; joins the v~ ' 
lunteersdestitied for France, X.- - 



» 



under Sir John Norris in Ihe Nelher- 
Isnda, iTii ; joins his brother Sir nmn- 
phry Gilbert in a nuariHme expeiiitian, 
ivii; receives a captain's commission 
under Lord Arthur Grey during the re- 
bellion in Ireland, xriii; makeE the «;• 
quunlance of Spenser, xviii-, his talent 
ioi poetry, xviii i returns from Ireland, 
XX. ; the doak-storr and introduction 
at court, XX i his rapid advancement 
in the Queen's favour, xxi ; Rts out a 
vessel to avcoinpsny Sir Ilumphry Gil- 
hert's expedition, xxii ; return of Ita- 
legh 'a vessel on account of a contagious 
disease, iiiii ; the founder of coloniea, 
xivi ; recciies letters patent for the 
discovery of foreign countries, xxvii ; 
fits out two vessels under Captains 
Araidas and Barlow, ixviii discovery 
of Mr^nia, xxviii ; chosen a knight of 
the shire, xxviii ; sends another expe- 
dition under Ralph Lane to Virginia, 
xxix ; a settlement made at the island 
of Roanoak, siix ; return of the set- 
tlers in Drake's fleet, xix; erroneous 
assertion that Ralegh himself visited 
Vi]^;^a, XXX ; fits out S thu;d expedi- 
tion under Mr. John White, xx<f; its 
failure, xxxl i relinquishes his plsos of 
colonizing Virginia and assigns his pa- 
tent to a company of merchants, xiiii ; 
his continuediutereslin thefateof the 
colonists, xixii ; iDtrodnceB the custom 
of smoking, xuiv ; the first coltivator 
of the potato, xxxv ; a Colleague of the 
Felloviship for the Discovery of the 
l^orth-nest passage, xxxvi; takes a 
share in the enterprize to the South 
Seaa and fits out a privaleering expe- 
dition, xixvi ; his fame as a patron of 
maritime discovery, xxxvi ; his ac- 
quaintance with Richard ]lahluyt, 
xxxvi ; patronises Jacqne Morgue, a 
French painter, xssvii; presents Hak- 
luyt with De Castro's MS. of a voyage 
to the Red Sea, xxxvii; appointed 
Seneschal, Lord Warden, Captain of 
the Guard, etc., xxxviii ; his opinion on 
the country's defence, xxxviii; joins the 
fleet under Lord Howard, xxxix ; ac- 
companies Don Aotonio to Portugal, 
xxiix ; plans an expedition to Panama, 
ll; his duplicity, xli; sails with the 
fleet, but is recalled by Sir Martin 
Frobiaher, Klii ; capture of the Madre 
de Dios, riii ; his intrigiie with Eliza- 
beth Throgmorton, xlui; imprisoned 
in the Tower, xhil ; uncertainty whe- 
ther Elizabeth Throgmorton was Ra- 
legh's first wife, xliii, 223 ; hii conduct 



in the Tower, xlv ; his release, ilvi ; his 
exertions in Parliament on the qnes- 
tion of subsidies to the Queen, xlvi ; 
obtains the manor of Sherborne, xlvi ; 
matures Me project of visiting Guiana, 
xlvii ; remarks on his assertions re- 
specting £1 Dorado, xlviii; the head- 
less men, Ivi ; the Amazonii, Ivi ; the 
mineral riches of Guiana, hi; the 
style of his narrative of the Discovery 
of Guiana, Ixiv ; difl^rent editions and 
translations, Ixv; Epistle Dedicatory 
and Address to the Reader, see 'Dis- 

Ralegh's departure &om England and 
arrival at Trinidad, 1 ; prevented froni 
visiting Virginia, fi ; Burpri?J!5thc town 
of San Joseph and takes Bcrreo a pri- 
soner, S; colls the Indian captains of 
T^nidad together, S ; shows them the 
Queen's picture, 9 ; Ibe furthest poiot 
he reached on the Orinoco, 10; his 
chart or map of the Orinoco, 26 and 
note 3, 53,228; his geographical know- 
ledge, 30 (note 2) ; informs Berreo of 
his project to visit Guiana, 41 ; confu- 
sion in the dates between his and De 
Vera's expedition, 42 (note). 

Ralegh's voyage up the Orinoco. Ei- 
pedirion from Trinidad for examining 
the entrances to the Orinoco, 42; pre- 
parations for departure, 44; distri- 
bution of persons accompanying him, 
45; Arawacan pilot, 46; enters the 
river called the river of the Red Crosse, 
47; pilot's adventure with tlie Tivi- 
tivBS, 47 ; description of the Orinoco, 
4S ; Indians dwelling upon trees, 50; 
the galley mns aground, &3 ; erroneous 
statement of latitude, 54-, the com- 
pany put upon short allowance, 54 ; 
fruits and birds, 54 1 enter a bye- 
branch of the Orinoco for victualling 
at an Indian vill)^. 55 ; description 
of scenery, 57 ; give chsse to four 
canoes and find a store of good bread, 
58 ; a refiner's basket, 59 ; strict orders 
to the company to refrain from pilfer- 
ing, 61 ; roots serving as food, 61 and 
note ; the Ciawan pilot and Ferdtnando 
sent back, 62 ; chase after some other 



lE the in 



inbrai 



of the Orinoco, 63 ; find a number of 
lortugaa eggs, 63 ; Toparimaca visits 
Ralegh, 64 ; invites the company to his 
town, 64 ; islands Asapana, etc., 68 ; 
anchor at Putapayma, 68; ditto uear 
monntains Aroarai and Aio, 72 ; reach 
the province of Arromaia, 73 ; anchor 
near the island of Murrecotima, 73; 



the luDg of Aromaiu TiBits Ralegh, 73; 
the river Caroli (CHroni} lenHi u> Ma- 
noi, 7S: Brrival at the mouth of the 
Caruli, 79 ; au expeditioti sent in 
Hsreh of a ailver-mine, SI ; Ralegh 
proceeiJs to flee the grent fell of tbc 
Cnroli, 81 ; (treat riie of the Orinoco, 
90; return towardt the east, 90; Ra- 
legh sends (or Topiawari, 9U ; hii arri- 
val uid description of the empire of 
the Inca, 91 ; dissumlfi Ralegh from at- 
lempling al that time the coiiqueK of 
Manoa, 93, 95 ; pcnnila his only aoo 
lo acconipaiif Ilalegh In England, 95; 
leaves Sparrey and Goodwin with To- 
jriawarl, 9B ; distributes money among 
the Indians, 96 ; departure from More- 
qnito, 9B ; march overUnd to the moun- 
tain Iconiiri, 98 ; aliiU of Indiana in 
kindling fire hy meana of two aticka, 
99 and note 1 ; Kejmis eontinnea the 
march to Iconuri, 99; provinces of 
Parino and Canicurrina, 100 and note 
2 ; deaeenda the branch of the Orinoco 
called CararoopanaorArraroopana, 11)1; 
visit to Timitwara and great drinking 
feast, 102 and note 1 ; return from 
Waricapana lo the port of Topariniaca, 
lOS; attend at Cumaca die return of 
Keymia, lOS ; laud at Assapana, 105 ; 
ralBm liythe Capnri (Cauo Macareo), 
106 1 severe storm at their arrival on the 
seaaide, 106 ; safe arrival at Curiapan 
in Trinidad. 107; bis excellent ob- 
servations on (he defence of Guiana, 
115 and note 1, 117; hia colonial 
project and exaggerated style, 118 ; his 
proposition for the conquest of Manoa, 
119; pophecic* of Peni, U9 ; his 
■dvertiaenient to the extracts from 
some Spanish letters, 121. 
Kalegh returns from Guiana, f.rea Cu- 
mana. and lays St. Mary and Rio de la 
Hacha under contribution, 131 ; meets 
Captains Preston and Sommera, 131 ; 
arrives in England, 131; continues 
from court, hut hves in splendour, 132 ; 
author of a manuscript entitled 'Of 
the Voyage for Guiana,' 132, 133 ; 
plans a second voyage, the command 
of which is given to Keyniis, 153; 
partly restored to favour, 154 ; third 
voyage to Guiana at his eipense, 154 ; 
bis unpopularity at home and great 
influence upon the natives of Guiana, 
164 ; present at a meeting after the 
death of Queen Elizabeth. 155; King 
James's dislike lo Ralegh and dismis- 
sal as Captain of the Guard, 156 ; ac- 
cused of treason, 156; imprisoned in 



the Tovrer, 157 ; his attempt ti 
mit suicide, 157 ; his trial at Win* J 
Chester, I5S; imprisonment i . _ 
Tower, his ' History of the World,'! 
160; his motto, 161 (noM 1) ; his cl " 
mical experiments, 162 ; his p 
tion to the Lords for a new journejr tl 
Guiana, 165; brilies the undei O. 
Villiers and reeeivei hia liberty, 168 ;3 
his (ffcparaiioiis foe a new voyage ti 
Guiana, 169 ; receives a commitaioi 
from the King, 169 ; Gondomar's dis- 1 
approlwtion of Ralegh's expedlljrm, 1 
170 ; lisl nf vessels to be employed ia'l 
the voyage. 171 ; the foreign ambafsa* J 
dors visit bis fleet, 172 ; accused bf^fl 
Deamarcts of having offered his ser-^ 
vicea to the king nf France, 1 72 ; im* \ 
probability of this assertion, 173i aaili.l 
frniD the Thames, 173 ; bii orders to 1 
(he fleet, 1 74 ; his departure &om 1 
Cork, 174. I 

Ralegh's Journal of his second voyage, I 
175. 177; de|>artiire from Cork, 177 j 
gives chase to fbnr French vessels, 178 t 
malieE Lancerota. 1 79 ; deception of 
the governor, 180; arrives at the Gran 
Canaries. 182; the islanders attack the 
sentinel, 1 82 ; arrives at Gomera, 183 ; 
his vessels are fired at and Ralegb re. 
turns the shot, 183 ; misunderstandiDg 
explained and the governor's kind 
reception, 164; his departure &om 
OomGra, 185; great sickness and mor- 
tality on board the fleet, 185, 188 ; loss 
of Captain Barker's pinnace, 186; a vio- 
lent hurricane off Brava, 187 | current), 
188, IB!); death of the refiner, 199; 
great calms, rajus and contrary winds, 
190, 19S-, death nf Mr. Talbot, ISO; 
frequency of rainhows, 191, 192, 1B6, 
203; wa(erspoUts, 193; magcllanie 
clouds, 194 ; the rains, 194 ajid n ' 



2 ; bis ' 






1,197; 



rives at the North Cape of Wiapoco, 
197; anchors near an island callnl now 
Le grand Conn(!table, 198; anchora 
within the river Caliana and seta his 
sick men ashore, 200 ; deatii of Cap- 
tains Hastings and Snedall, 200 ; de- 
parture of Captain Alley, 201 ; gets 
aground on crossing the liar, 202 ; 
awaits the rest of the fleet at the Tri- 
angle islands, 202; embarkation and 4 
departure of the expedition for tha I 
Orinoco, !02 ; anchors at Puncto 4 
Gallo, 203 ; at Terra de Bri, 204 j Sit J 
J. Fern's expedition to the Spai^shfl 
port, 204 ; attack of the 8paiiisrds,1 
205; scizea tome Indians, 205; re. ff 



I 



GGiTes ttiroagh them a report that the 
English had taken Santo Thome, 2UG ; 
escape of the Indiaua, 207 i balsam- 
trees, 2Q7 ; discoatiniiea hia journal, 
208; eventa of the Orinoco expedition 
u related by Fray Simon, 209 ; ditto 
as rehited by Ralegh in his Apology, 
213 (note 3); ditto by Capt. Charles 
Parker, 218 1 slanderous accusation 
□f his enemies, 219 ; his reproach of 
Eeymis, 219 ; mutiny on board his 
ships, 219; proceeds with the fleet to 
fjewfoundland and arrives in lingland, 
220 ; accused of piracy, 221 ; sen- 
tenced to death and executed, 222 ; 
Ilia veraea written before his execution, 
223; deacription of hia person, 224 i 
hia character, 224 ; indefatigable in- 
doatry, 221) ; inventory of things found 
on him at hia reenmmital Co the Toiver, 
22a ; loss of his manuscripts, 229. 

Kalegh, Lady, her descent, shi ; uncec- 
tBinty irhether Elizabeth ThrogmortuD 
was Sir Walter's first wife, iliii ; her 
disinterestedness and attachment to Sir 
Walter, 175; sells her estate at Mit- 
cham, 175 ; letter to Sir Joliua Ciesar, 
175 ; letter to Lady Carew respecting 
her husband's library, 229 (note 2). 

Balegh, Walter (eldest son of Sir Wal- 
ter), hri birth, xliii ; appointed Cap- 
tain for the Orinoco expedition, 202; 
hia death at Santo Thome, 211 (note 
3), 212, 213 {note 3), 21.1, 

Ked Crosa. river of the, 47. 

Hio Grande, 33 and note 1. 

Hise, rapid, of rivers. 60 and note 1. 

RoanoBk, settlement of a colony at the 
island of, x\ix; number of selllers at 
the departure of White, xxii; the 
colonists remove to Croatan, xixii. 

Rocks, of > blue metalline colour, 69 and 
note 1 ; promise to ( 
silver, 82 ; like gold < 

Kock-crystals, B3 and n 
of. 101. 

Soots serving as food, 61 and note 1. 
' Koraima, a great mouutun and wai 

fall, 75 (note 2), 101 (note 2). 
I Salvaioa, an Indian tribe in Trinidad. 
i San Joseph, town in Trinidad, 8 and n 



Santo Thome, Santo Tomas.or San Tome, 
settled hy Berreo, 39 (note 1); called 
by Ralegh the port of Gniana, 39 (note 
]); the ftrst settlement destroyed by 
the Dutch. 79 (note 2j ; preparations 
in defence of, 210 j Spanish aceoont of 






; mountain 



the assault by the English, 211 ; acconut 
hy Ralegh. 213 (note 3); acooant by 
Captain Charles Parker, 21 B ; departure 
of the English, 216; booty carried 
away by ihem, 216 (note 1). 

Savannahs the site of Koymis's El Do- 
rado, lii, 70 (note 1), 75 (note 2). 

Savannahs of a reddish soil, 69 and note 
2, 70 and note 1 ; aubiime aspect when 
on fire, 92 (note 1), 

SayniB, plains of, 70 and note I. 

Saymas, an Indian tribe on the Orinoco, 
70 and note 1, 109. 

Sepulveda, John Ginezde,143 and note2. 

Serpa, Pedro Hernandez de, his expedi- 
tion in search of El Dorado. 24. 

Silver-mine at the Cuyuni, Ixii; at the 
Canini, 81. 

Silvia, Don Pedro de, his expedition in 
search of El Dorado, 24 and note I. 

Simon, Fray, confusion in the datea of 
Ralegh's and De Vera'a eipcditiou. 42 
(note) ; his account of Ralegh's expe- 
dition up the Orinoco and the assault 
of Santa ThomS, 209 ; his opinion of 
Uttlegh, 216 (note 2). 

Soathey's remarks respecting the Ama- 
zons, IxL; doubt of Berreo s imprison- 
ment, 41 (notel). 

Sparrey, Francis, left with the cazique 
Topianari, 95 and note 1 ; his descrip- 
tion of Trinidad and Guiana, 95 (note 

Talbot, John, a faithful friend of Ra- 
legh's, his death, 190, 191 (note 1). 

Tapir or Anta, 112 and note I. 

Tarracoa. a province of Guiana, 98. 

Throgmorton, Elizabeth, afterwards Lady 
Ralegh, ilii, 

Timitwara, a chief of Guiana. 102 ; Ra- 
legh visits him. 102; a great feast, 102 
and note 1. 

Tivitivas (Waraus), a tribe of Indians on 
the Orinoco, 49 (note I } j live on treu, 
controverted as erroneous, 60 (note) ; 
great carpenters of canoes, 52, 108. 

Tlascalans. 34 and note 2. 

Tobacco, said to have been introduced 
by Governor Lane, xxxiv; its import- 
duty derived there&om. 



:.Z). 



Toparimaca, a great lord of the border 
of Guiana. 64; arrives with bis follow- 
ers to visit Ralegh, 64 ; hia town, 
Arowacai, 66. 

Topiawari, chief lord or king of Aro- 
maia, 38, 68 ; visita Halcgh at Port 
Mnrequitu, 73 ; hia conversation with 
Italegii, 74; his town, Orocolona, 77; 
Ralegh aends for him, 90 ; his conver- 



210 ISO 

BOtion with llalegli and dttcrli'tinn of 
the empire of ibe IncR, 91 j gives ad- 
vice not to »ttempt the conquest of 
GuiniiB, 93i given his only ton lo ac- 
cain|isiiy Ralegh to England, 9& ; Ra- 
legh dciiutu, and leaves Sparrtr and 
CM>dwtn with him. !)!. 

Tortola, an island, SS (note 1}. 

Torlaga* or turtU-eggi, their great num- 
ber, G3 and note 2. 

Ti«eDf]ifeorMauritiapalni,4g(natel}; 
/VcK) iKdica, called by Ralegh, 225. 

Triangle irlanda, 201. 202. 

Trinidad, arrival at, 1 ; deneripiion of, 4 ; 
called Cairi by tbe nalivei, 4 ; grains 
of gold in the rivers, 4 ; Indian tribes, 
4 ; San Joseph, tbe chief town, taken 
b; Balegfa, S ; arrival of Berreo, 36. 

Tt^ctl winter, IDT and note 2. 

Tnteritoiia, a town of Guiana, 98. 

UlmrKi, a river of tbe Orinoco, 8S. 

Urari, celebrated arrovr-poison, 71 (note 
I)- 

UrsiiB, Pedro de, hia eipedition in search 
of El Dorado, 21 and note Z; slain by 
J^uirre, 21 (note 2). B9. 

Variation of the compass, ISC anJ note 1. 

Venezuela, its derivation, 27 (note 1). 

Vera, Domingo de, caiop-niuster of Ber- 
reo, 17 (note 2), 41 1 confusion in the 
datea of this expedition. 42 (note) ; dis- 
covery of Nuevo Dorado, 1Z4 ; talics 
possession of 11 for King Philip in the 
nameofBcr™o,121. 

Vidts, Don Frandsco de. Governor of 
Ciimana, 36 { procurts a patent for 
dibcovering El Dorado, 37 ; his enmity 
to Berreo, 37. 

Virginia, liiscovery of, xiviii ; origin of 
its name, xxviii; second expedition 
under Ralph Lane, xxix ; a settlement 
made at the island of Roanoak, xxix ; 
return of the expedition in Drake's 
fleet, XXX ; third ei|iedition under Go- 
Temor White, xix ; number of eolo- 



niafB left at Virginia at llie i , 

of White, ixxi (note 1|; tUdrw 

nate fate, zxxiii ; Ubito^ { 

from visiting, G. 
Wacarima, mouiiUuru of, inlitihbcd f 

the Orenoquepoai, 7b i deri' 

tbe name, 7b [note 2), 102. 
Wana (Waini or Guainia), ■ liwr 'I 

Guiana, 104 and note 1. ' 

WanuretoiiB virita Ralcgli, L .. 
V'aracapari, a river of the Orinoco, Ifl 



W£ 


loco, iS, 108. 


idiau t 


tibe on tin Ql 


w] 


iraue, an Indio 


n tribe 


, 49 and OMc 


erroneous ^sei 


lion of Ihdr lirinc 4 




lees, 50 (note 


!)■ 


- 1 


Wi 






- Emeria, IM.| 


Wb 


Iter, pemidoui influi 


=nceo^32« 



Waterspouts, 193. 

West Indies, tbe first Euf^li 
which visited the, nv. 

West Indies, 114, 116, 117, 118. 

Whiddon, Captain James, 5, 10, -^Ii'JR 

While, Jolin, suis as Governor tfV 
ginia in 1587, xxi ; on the wialt 
colonists returns to England H 
plies, xxxi; makes a fruitless lii 
10 relieve the colony, iixiL 

Wikiri, an Indian tribe on the Odl 
70 and note 1,107, 109. 

Winieapora, a river, 101 and notnj,^ 

Wocokon, Captains Amidaa u "" 
anchor at the island of, xx*ii.. 

Women and children, trade In, ^3 
note 2, 57, 87 and note 3. 

lameoftbeA 



Wurali, erroneous name of ai 

72 (note). 
Yarica, the heroine of Addison's 

Inkle and Yarico, iO (note 1). 
Yaya, on island in the Orinoco, 63 (no 

1).210. 



IHHililHilffiilliHnnil 

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