parts groves of trees by themselves, as if they had been by all the art and labour of the world so made of purpose; and still as we rowed, the deer came down feeding by the water's side, as if they had been used to a keeper's call. Upon this river there were great store of fowl, and of many sorts: we saw in it divers sorts of strange fishes, and of marvellous bigness; but for lagartos it exceeded, for there were thousands of those ugly serpents, and the people call it, for the abundance of them, the River of Lagartos in their language. I had a negro, a very proper young fellow, who leaping out of the galley to swim in the mouth of this river, was in all our sights taken and devoured by one of those lagartos.

In the meanwhile our companies in the galley thought we had been all lost (for we promised to return before night), and sent the Lion's Whelp's ship's boat with Captain Whiddon to follow us up the river; but the next day after we had rowed up and down some fourscore miles we returned, and went on our way up the great river; and when we were even at the last cast for want of victuals, Captain Gifford being before the galley and the rest of the boats, seeking out some place to land upon the banks to make fire, espied four canoes coming down the river, and with no small joy caused his men to try the uttermost of their strength, and after a while two of the four gave over, and ran themselves ashore, every man betaking himself to the fastness of the woods; the two other lesser got away, while he landed to lay hold on these, and so turned into some by-creek, we knew not whither. Those canoes that were taken were laden with bread, and were bound for Margarita in the West Indies, which those Indians (called Arwacas) purposed to carry thither for exchange. But in the lesser there were three Spaniards, who having heard of the defeat of their governor in Trinidad, and

that we purposed to enter Guiana, came away in those canoes: one of them was a cavallero, as the captain of the Arwacas after told us, another a soldier, and the third a refiner.

In the meantime, nothing on earth could have been more welcome to us next unto gold than the great store of very excellent bread which we found in those canoes, for now our men cried, "Let us go on, we care not how far." After that Captain Gifford had brought the two canoes to the galley, I took my barge and went to the bank's side with a dozen shot, where the canoes first ran themselves ashore, and landed there, sending out Captain Gifford and Captain Thyn on one hand, and Captain Calfield on the other, to follow those that were fled into the woods, and as I was creeping through the bushes, I saw an Indian basket hidden, which was the refiner's basket, for I found in it his quicksilver, saltpetre, and divers things for the trial of metals, and also the dust of such ore as he had refined; but in those canoes which escaped there was a good quantity of ore and gold.

I then landed more men, and offered £500 to what soldier soever could take one of those three Spaniards that we thought were landed. But our labours were in vain in that behalf, for they put themselves into one of the small canoes, and so while the greater canoes were in taking they escaped. But seeking after the Spaniards, we found the Arwacas hidden in the woods, which were pilots for the Spaniards, and rowed their canoes; of which I kept the chiefest for a pilot, and carried him with me to Guiana, by whom I understood where and in what countries the Spaniards had laboured for gold, though I made not the same known to all. For when the springs began to break, and the rivers to raise themselves so suddenly, that by no means we could abide the digging of any mine, especially for that the richest

are defended with rocks of hard stone, which we call the white spar, and that it required time, men, and instruments fit for such a work, I thought it best not to hover thereabouts, lest if the same had been perceived by the company, there would have been by this time many barks and ships set out, and perchance other nations would also have gotten of ours for pilots; so that both ourselves might have been prevented, and all our care taken for good usage of the people been utterly lost by those that only respect present profit, and such violence or insolence offered that the nations which are borderers would have changed their desire of our love and defence into hatred and violence. And for any longer stay to have brought a more quantity whosoever had seen or proved the fury of that river after it began to rise, and had been a month and odd days as we were from hearing aught of our ships, leaving them meanly manned above 400 miles off, would perchance have turned somewhat sooner than we did, if all the mountains had been gold or rich stones. And to say

the truth, all the branches and small rivers which fell into Orinoque were raised with such speed, that if we waded them over the shoes in the morning outward, we were covered to the shoulders homeward the very same day. Such a quantity as would have served our turns we could not have had, but a discovery of the mines to our infinite disadvantage we had made, and that could have been the best profit of further search or stay; for those mines are not easily broken, nor opened in haste, and I could have returned a good quantity of gold ready cast, if I had not shot at another mark than present profit.

This Arwacan pilot, with the rest, feared that we would have eaten them, or otherwise have put them to some cruel death, for the Spaniards, to the end that

none of the people in the passage towards Guiana or in Guiana itself might come to speech with us, persuaded all the nations that we were men-eaters and cannibals. But when the poor men and women had seen us, and that we gave them meat, and to every one something or other, which was rare and strange to them, they began to conceive the deceit and purpose of the Spaniards.

Nothing got us more love among them than this usage, for I suffered not any man to take from any of the nations so much as a pine, or a potato root, without giving them contentment, which of course, so contrary to the Spaniards (who tyrannize over them in all things), drew them to admire her Majesty, whose commandment I told them it was, and also wonderfully to honour our nation. But I confess it was a very impatient work to keep the meaner sort from spoil and stealing, when we came to their houses, which because in all I could not prevent I caused my Indian interpreter at every place when we departed to know of the loss or wrong done, and if aught were stolen or taken by violence, either the same was restored, and the party punished in their sight, or else was paid for to their uttermost demand. They also much wondered at us, after they heard that we had slain the Spaniards at Trinidad, for they were before resolved that no nation of Christians durst abide their presence, and they wondered more when I made them know of the great overthrow that her Majesty's army and fleet had given them of late years in their own countries.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH

THE DEATH OF JOHN DAVIS

1605

John Davis was the famous navigator, born about 1550, who first devoted his attention to the search for a North-West Passage. He discovered Davis Strait and explored Baffin's Bay in 1587. He published works, entitled Seaman's Secrets, 1594, and The World's Hydrographical Description, 1595. Later he turned eastwards, as pilot of a Dutch vessel

bound for the East Indies.

HERE as I stood for Patane, about the 27th of December, I met with a junk of the Japons, which had been pirating along the coast of China and Cambodia. Their pilot being dead, with ignorance and foul weather they had cast away their ship on the shoals of the great island Borneo; and to enter into the country of Borneo, they durst not for the Japons are not suffered to land in any port in India with weapons, being accounted a people so desperate and daring, that they are feared in all places where they come. These people, their ship being spitted, with their shallops entered this junk (wherein I met them), which was of Patane, and killed all the people save one old pilot. This junk was laden with rice, which when they had possessed and furnished with such furniture, necessaries and arms as they saved out of their sunken ship, they shaped their course for Japan but the badness of their junk, contrary winds, and unseasonableness of the year forced them to leeward, which was the cause of mine unlucky meeting them.

After I had hailed them, and made them come to