EXPEDITION LEAVES CORK 267 under his direction. Here as elsewhere Ralegh broke the ground from which others reaped a rich harvest. One Henry Pine of Mogelie was vexing Boyle as grievously as he had in years gone by vexed Ralegh with whom he was connected in industrial enterprises. So Boyle took advantage of Ralegh's visit to Cork to question him concerning the terms of a lease, and Ralegh spoke vigorously against the claims of Henry Pine, remembering well Pine's former bad treatment of him. He spoke so vigorously that in the following year, when he was reviewing all the many events of his great life, his words came back to him. He was then on the threshold of departure, and not wishing to think that any man had been harmed by him unjustly, he expressed a strong desire that the terms of this lease might be examined closely again. The action witnesses Ralegh's attention to justice and to detail. But at last a favourable wind sprang up, and on the 19th of August, though late in the year for its enterprise, the fleet set sail from Cork harbour. Nothing could deter Ralegh from his last venture. The wide sea opened out before him once again, and far away the rich land of his dreams, where wealth was waiting for him and greatness for his country. Behind him he left his adventurous past life, and his soul was inclined towards this new adventure. From Cork they set sail for Cape St. Vincent, and presently four ships hove in sight, to which Ralegh at once gave chase. The long delay made it dangerous to allow ships to pass unheeded, for by this time Ralegh must have known to some extent how much the Spaniards knew. Neither he nor any man could have suspected the scope of King James's treachery. The pursuit was long and stirring. Eventually the strange vessels were overhauled. Their leader said that they were French vessels bound for Seville. His tale bore small signs of truth. His vessels were so heavily armed, their cut so questionable, that Ralegh's men affirmed that they were merely pirates, and should be treated as pirates. But Ralegh was not in a position to run any risk, which might bring down upon him the King's anger afresh. Accordingly he took the four ships with him for a length of time, sufficient to ensure the harmlessness of any intelligence which they might carry, and treated them with courtesy. The men grumbled. Why should they be expected to believe in a trumped-up story, when the vessels were full of Spanish apparel and Spanish merchandise and unmistakable pirates, and why should they be deprived of their proper spoil? To them Ralegh answered that it was lawful for the French to make prize of the Spaniards to south of the Canaries and to west of the Azores. "And if it were not so, it is no business of mine to examine the subjects of the French King." He bought commodities from them-oil, a pinnace, a fishing-net-to the value of sixty crowns, and let them go on their way. His scruples were well considered, but they did not tend to mollify the feeling of discontent which the untoward delays at the outset of the voyage had brought into existence among the men. The ill-feeling was increased when a little afterwards a Spanish vessel was encountered which had been pillaged by them. On September 7 the fleet reaching the Canary Islands anchored off Lanzarote, and at Lanzarote an event of importance occurred which exposed the full treachery that was lying hid in the expedition, as well as in its false launching. There is small doubt that the AT CANARY ISLANDS 269 Circumstances For a band of Spaniards on the island had received news of the fleet, and had been advised as to its proper treatment by Gondomar, the ambassador in London. lent a specious cover to their conduct. Moorish pirates was known to be in the proximity of the Canaries, and their presence justified the hostile reception which awaited Ralegh's fleet. Nor would they easily believe that the vessels were English. They demanded that two officers should land unarmed, except with rapiers, and unaccompanied. Ralegh and an officer named Bradshaw landed and conferred with them in a plain, sufficiently open to prevent any secret treachery. Ralegh's demands were simple. All he desired was fresh water and food for his company. The governor of the island consented to supply him, and agreed to sell him the provisions by means of an English merchant, whose ship was at anchor in the harbour. "I sent the English factor according to our agreement, but the governor put it off from one morning to another, and in the end sent me word that except I would embark my men who lay on the seaside, the islanders were so jealous as they durst not sever themselves to make our provisions. I did so: but when the one half were gotten aboard two of our sentinels were forced, one slain, and the English factor sent to tell me that he had nothing for us, whom he still believed to be a fleet of the Turks who had lately taken and destroyed Puerto Sancto. Hereupon all the companies would have marched toward the town and have sacked it, but I knew it would not only dislike his Majesty, but that our merchants having a continual trade with these islands that their goods would have been stayed, and among the rest the poor Englishman riding in the road having all that he brought thither ashore, would have been utterly undone." But sufficient had happened for the spy, Captain Bailey. He needed little evidence for his pretty tale, and having asked and obtained from Ralegh some ordnance and some ironbound casks, he weighed anchor in the night, and set all sail for England, where his employers would listen eagerly to his pretty tale, and pay him for it. It is sad to read all that Ralegh could write of him afterwards in his apology, "what should move Bailey to leave me as he did at the Canaries, from whence he might have departed with my love and leave, and at his return to do me all the wrong he could devise, I cannot conceive. . . I never gave him ill-language, nor offered him the least unkindness to my knowledge." ... When the spy, Captain Bailey, arrived in England he despatched his account of the proceedings at Lanzarote to Buckingham, and Buckingham lost no time in acquainting King James. On October 22 Gondomar wrote fully to the King of Spain about the expedition, and Philip was more urgent than ever in pressing Sir John Digby and Lord Cottington and Lord Roos, who had been sent to Madrid by James to arrange the terms of the marriage between the Infanta and Prince Charles, that Ralegh might be immediately recalled and punished. King James was abject in his apology, and became more and more inclined to the sacrifice of Ralegh. But the spy Captain Bailey's account was too carelessly prepared; Cottington discovered divergences; Lord Carew, Master of the Ordnance, declared "those who malice Sir Walter boldly affirm him to be a pirate, which for my part I will never believe." Moreover "the poor Englishman riding in the road," whose name was Reeks, arrived on the scene and told a different story of the event. It was most unfortunate for the spy, Captain Bailey, who was sent to the Gatehouse at Westminster. |