Sir Richard Hawkins, Seaman and Geographer. page 3

Meanwhile Hawkins had held on his course and captured a ship fifty leagues north of Lima; this he burnt, after taking out what provisions he needed, put the crew ashore, except a pilot and a Greek, who begged to be taken on board because they had broken the law.

After this they gave chase to a tall ship which outsailed them. Two other vessels got away in the same fashion, which made the English sailors swear at the Dainty for being a slow sailer, "a very bad quality for such a ship."

On the 10th of June Hawkins put into the bay of Atacames, about 260 leagues from Lima, and supposing the ship free from any more pursuit, he stopped to take in wood and water and to repair the pinnace.

Eight days elapsed and they were about to sail, when a ship was seen in the offing. Instantly the love of plunder broke out, and Hawkins had to allow the pinnace to give chase, appointing Cape San Francisco as the place of rendezvous. However, two days went by and no pinnace came, so Hawkins returned to the bay and met her turning in without a mainmast. Two days more were lost in repairing the damage, and when the Dainty and her pinnace at last began to weigh anchor, a man from the masthead said he could descry two large ships and a small barque steering in towards them.

"The fleet bound for Panama, laden with treasure! Cut sail and meet them." So shouted the sailors, and ran about in an excited manner.

"No, no," replied Hawkins; "no shipping will stir on this coast as long as we are known to be here. Besides, my men, if they be merchantmen, let us wait here for them - they are standing in directly towards us; here we have the weather-gage of them. But if they are sent to fight us, we can prepare our ship for the attack better by remaining where we are."

It was done as John Davis would have done it, by gentle appeal to the reason of the men: very different would have been the treatment of Drake, whose men feared him too much to argue with him.

On the Dainty the crew were almost insolent in their waywardness; breaking out into reproaches at their commander's want of spirit, some vaunting and bragging what they would do, or wishing they had never left their own country, if they were to refuse such a fight as this.

"To mend the matter," says Hawkins, "the gunner assured me that with the first tire of shot he would lay one of them in the suds, and the pinnace should take the other to task. One promised that he would cut down their mainyard, another that he would take their flag. To some I turned the deaf ear; with others I dissembled, soothing and animating them to do that which they promised.... In all these divisions and opinions, our master, Hugh Cornish (who was a most sufficient man for government and valour, and well saw the errors of the multitude), used his office as became him, and so did all those of the best understanding."

Yet, in spite of this, Hawkins let the captain go with the pinnace to discover what they were, but on no account to engage with the ships. So the pinnace went, and the mad sailors leaned over the bulwarks, and gaped foolishly when they saw her suddenly go about; but the Spaniards began to chase her, "gunning at her all the way."

The Dainty then stood out of the bay to meet them that there might be sea-room to fight, but the wind fell, and the Dainty was forced to leeward; then the Spanish admiral came down upon her, as she hailed the foe, first with noise of trumpets, then with waytes, and after with artillery.

The Spaniards were much stronger both in guns and men, but this might have been of no avail against English seamanship, had not the chief gunner shamefully neglected his duty.

For "they came shoving aboard of us upon our lee-quarter, contrary to our expectation and the custom of men-of-war; and doubtless, had our gunner been the man he was reputed to be, she had received great hurt by that manner of boarding; but, contrary to all expectation, our stern pieces were un-primed, and so were all those which were to leeward. Hereby all men are to take warning by me, not to trust any man in such extremities when he himself may see it done: this was my oversight, this my overthrow."

Poor Richard! very dearly did he suffer for this want of attention to details. We are reminded of the great Nelson, who, when he was being carried to the cock-pit, mortally wounded, noticed that one of the tiller ropes was frayed, and ordered a new one to be put in at once.

Hawkins trusted too much to his gunner; while he with the rest of his officers was busy clearing the decks, lacing the nettings, fastening the bulwarks, arming the tops, tallowing the pikes, slinging the yards, placing and ordering the men, - half his guns were useless from sheer neglect!

"Plenty of cartridges ready, master-gunner?"

"Aye, aye, sir; there be over 500 in readiness."

Yet within an hour the cartridges fell short, and three men had to be employed in making and filling more.

"Master-gunner, I gave you out 500 ells of canvas and cloth to make cartridges, but we can't find a single yard of it."

"Got stowed away somewhere, I suspect, sir; we must make shift to charge and discharge with the ladle - rayther a dangerous job in a hot fight."

"There were brass balls of artificial fire - not one of them will go off."

"Why, no, sir; I guess the salt-water has spoiled them all."

The commander's heart misgave him: was the man false, or incapable? At length he and the master of the ship were forced to play the gunner. They found that few of the pieces were clear when they came to use them, and others had the shot first put in, and after the powder! No wonder that many believed the master-gunner to be a vile traitor.

When the action began Hawkins had only seventy-five men in all, and the Spaniards had 1300, many of them "the choice of Peru."

Twice in the course of the day the enemy were beaten off, and in the evening two Spanish ships were laid upon the Dainty at once; but the English, what with their muskets, what with their fireworks, cleared their decks very soon. If Hawkins had had more sound men, he says, he could have boarded their vice-admiral and taken it. However, the Spaniards had had enough of close quarters, and now set to and, placing themselves within a musket-shot of the Dainty, played upon her with their artillery without intermission. "In all these boardings and skirmishings," says Hawkins, "divers of our men were slaine, and many hurt, and myself amongst them received six wounds - one of them in the neck, very perilous; another through the arm, perishing the bone, the rest not so dangerous. The master of our ship had one of his eyes, his nose, and half his face shott away. Master Henry Courton was slaine. On these two I principally relied for the prosecution of our voyage, if God, by sickness or otherwise, should take me away."

At times the Spaniards parleyed and invited Hawkins to surrender, promising the usages of good war. Once the captain of the Dainty came to stir his leader to accept the terms offered, saying that scarcely any men were left to traverse the guns or oppose any defence, if the enemy should board again. Poor Hawkins was suffering agony, and believed himself to be at the point to die, but he roused himself and begged them not to trust to promises from a Spaniard, for they would assuredly be put to death as pirates or delivered to the cruel mercies of the Inquisition.

The captain and his company agreed to fight on and sell their lives dearly, so with tears and embracings - for they loved their General - they took their leave; so the action was continued through the night, and an hour before daybreak the enemy edged off in order to remedy some defects, for the English shot made larger holes than the Spanish, and a few more men would have turned the scale and given the victory to the Dainty.

This breathing time the English employed in repairing sails and tackling, stopping leaks, mending pumps, and splicing yards; for they had many shot under water, and the pumps were battered to pieces.

When the action was renewed the vice-admiral came upon their quarter, and a shot from one of the Dainty's stern-pieces carried away his mainmast close to the deck. Hawkins lay below, and knew nothing of what had occurred; then was the time to press the Spaniard home, but the Dainty was steered away, and the Spaniards had time to repair their damage.

They soon overtook the Dainty, and the fight went on through the second night, and they ceased firing again before the dawn; but there had been no interval for rest or refreshment, except to snatch a little bread and wine as they could. Indeed, some of the English crew had drunk heavily before the fight began; some ignorant seamen even mixed powder with their wine, thinking it would give them strength and courage. The result of their drinking was, of course, disorder, and foolish hardihood without reason, or vainglorious exposure to danger. And though Hawkins had prepared light armour for all, not a man would use it; yet it would have saved many from such wounds as splintered wood creates if they would have imitated their foe and worn armour.

By the afternoon of the third day the enemy had the weather-gage of them, and their guns were telling with terrible effect.

The Dainty had now fourteen gaping wounds under water, eight foot of water in her hold, her sails torn to tatters, her masts bowing and bent, and her pumps useless - hardly a man was now unwounded.

Again the master with others approached their commander:

"Sir, the Spaniards still offer good war, life and liberty and an embarkation to England. If we wait any longer, sir, the ship will sink; unless a miracle be wrought in our behalf by God's almighty power, we may expect no deliverance or life."

Hawkins was too ill to resist further; he murmured sadly:

"Haul down the ensign, then, and hoist a flag of truce."

So they bade the rest cease firing, and a Spanish prisoner was sent from the hold to tell Beltran de Castro that if he would give his word of honour the ship should be surrendered.

Seeing the flag of truce, the Spaniard shouted:

"Hoist out your boat, Englishman."

"We cannot do so; it be all shot to pieces."

"So is ours. Amain your sails, then; strike sail, can't you?"

"No, we can't; there be not enough men left to handle them."

Meanwhile the vice-admiral, not seeing the flag of truce, had come upon the Dainty's quarter, and firing two of his chase-pieces, wounded the captain sorely in the thigh and maimed one of the master's mates.

Then the Spanish admiral came alongside, and the prisoner jumped into the warship, and was received with all courtesy.

Don Beltran affirmed that he received the commander and his people a buena Guerra, to the laws of fair war and quarter. He swore by his habit of Alcantara, and the green cross of the order which he wore upon his breast, that he would give them their lives with good treatment, and send them as speedily as he could to their own country.

"The Spanish admiral wants a pledge? Here is my glove; take it to him."

Don Beltran also sent one of his captains to help to bring the English commander aboard the "admiral," which he did with great humanity and courtesy.

"The General received me," says Hawkins, "with courtesy and compassion, even with tears in his eyes and words of kind consolation, and commanded me to be accommodated in his own cabin, where he sought to cure and comfort me the best he could: the like he did with all our hurt men."

There were only forty Englishmen left, all wounded; but all recovered, in spite of the fact that no instruments, doctors, or salves were to be had. We remember that in the other case where an English ship had to surrender to the Spaniards, the Revenge disdained to swim in dishonour, and sank sullenly in a terrible storm.

The Dainty lived to fight for Spain tinder the name of La Visitation, being so named because she was captured on the day of that festival.

As soon as Hawkins was removed the Spaniards began to ransack their prize; but the water increased so fast in the hold that she nearly sank, and it needed a strong body of workers to save her.

She was finally navigated to the port of Panama, and anchored there some two leagues from the town, about three weeks after the fight.

When the good folk on shore saw the prize and heard the glad news, they lit bonfires on the hills and candles in every window; the churches and halls were illuminated, as on a holy day. As the city faced the sea, it appeared to those in the ships as though the whole place was in flames.

Don Beltran reassured Hawkins that his officers and men should be well treated, and gave him his word that if the King left him to his disposal, his ransom should be only a couple of greyhounds for himself and a couple for his brother. It sounded almost too good to be true.

Then the Englishman had the mortification of seeing his dear Dainty being rebaptized with all solemnity in the harbour, where she was shored up. Perhaps a sardonic smile curled his lip when, in the very midst of the ceremony, the props on one side gave way with a loud crash, and the reluctant ship heeled over, "entreating many of them that were in her very badly."

Here ends Sir Richard's account of his unfortunate voyage in his "Observations"; he had intended to write a second part, but deferred it too long.

Don Beltran was not allowed by his King to observe the terms he had offered; the crew were sent to serve in the galleys at Cartagena, Hawkins and twenty others Don Beltran took with him to Lima.