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directing his course north-north-east, and north-east by east, till the twenty-second, when at noon he saw ice right a head about a league from him, and sailed close to it, as they did the next day, entering into many openings which they perceived to be bays. Sometimes the weather proved foggy, and then they made little way; but as fast as the fog fell, it froze on their sails and rigging; they perceived the ice here joined to the land of Nova Zembla, and run out five leagues to sea. They continued coasting the ice to find a passage, till on the twenty-ninth of June at near midnight the Prosperous Pink fired a gun and bore down upon the man of war, crying out, ice on the weatherbow; whereupon he clapped the helm hard a weather to come about, but before she could be brought upon the other tack struck upon a ledge of rocks that lay sunk. The Pink got clear, but the ship stuck fast, and there being no getting her off, the men got all ashore in their boats with what provision they could save, some arms and other necessaries; only two men were lost with the pinnace. Here they set up a tent, and saw no other inhabitants but white bears. The following days the ship broke and much wreck drove ashore, which was a great help to them, there being wood for firing, some meal, oil, brandy and beer. They killed a white bear and eat her, which they said was very good meat. Thus they continued, contriving to build a deck to their long boat to carry off some of the men, and others to travel afoot towards the Weygats; till on the eighth of July to their great joy they discovered the Pink, and making a fire for a signal, she sent her boat to help bring them off, and by noon they all got aboard. They presently stood off to westward, and made the best of their way home, arriving on the twenty-third of August at the buoy of the Nore. Taken out of captain Wood's own journal.

These are the principal discoveries attempted and performed at the north-east, which have proved unsuccessful, as failing of the main design of finding a passage that way to the East Indies.

Let us now leave the barren frozen north, where so many have miserably perished, and yet so little been

discovered of what was intended; ice, shoals, rocks, darkness, and many other obstacles having disappointed the bold undertakings of so many daring sailors, and for so many losses made us no return but the bare trade of Russia, whilst our intentions were levelled at that of the mighty kingdom of Cathay, and a passage to China, Japan, and all the other eastern regions.

Let us, I say, quit these unfortunate attempts, and

come now to speak of those so successful, made towards the south and south-east, along the coast of Afric first, and then to those of the more frequented, as more profitable Asia. The first we find in this order, if the authority we have for it be good, is of an Englishman, by name Macham, who,

An. 1344. having stolen a woman, with whom he was in love, and intending to fly with her into Spain, was by a storm cast upon the island Madeira in 32 degrees of north-latitude. Going ashore there with his mistress to refresh her after the toils of the sea, the ship taking the opportunity of a favourable gale sailed away, leaving them behind. The lady soon died for grief of being left in that desolate island; and Macham with what companions he had, erected a little chapel and hermitage under the invocation of the name of Jesus, to bury her. This done, they contrived a boat made of one single tree, in which they got over to the coast of Afric, where they were taken by the Moors, and presented to their king for the rarity of the accident. He for the same reason sent them to the king of Castile, where giving an account of what had befallen them, it moved many to venture out in search of this island. This story we find in Hakluyt, vol. II. part 2. p. 1, where he quotes Anthony Galvao, a Portuguese author, for it; and D. Antonio Manoel, in his works, among his Epanaforas, has one on this particular subject, which he calls Epanafora amorosa. Upon this information, as was said, several adventurers went out, but to no effect that we can hear of, till,

An. 1348. John Betancourt, a Frenchman, obtained a grant of king John the second of Castile, and went to conquer the Canary islands long before discovered, and

made himself master of five of them, but could not subdue the two greatest, as most populous and best defended. These were afterwards subdued by king. Ferdinand, as may be seen in Mariana, lib. XVI. p. 29. These were small beginnings, and out of regular course; next follow the gradual discoveries made by the Portuguese, which may be said to have been the groundwork of all the ensuing navigations, which happened in this manner. King John of Portugal enjoying peace at home after his wars with Castile, was persuaded by his sons to undertake the conquest of Ceuta on the African shore. Prince Henry, his fifth son, accompanied him in this expedition, and at his return home brought with him a strong inclination to discover new seas and lands, and the more on account of the information he had received from several Moors concerning the coasts of Afric to the southward, which were as yet unknown to Europeans, who never pretended to venture beyond Cape Nao, which had therefore this name given it, signifying in Portuguese, No, to imply there was no sailing further; and the reason was, because the cape running far out into sea, caused it to break and appear dangerous; and they as yet not daring to venture too far from land, were ignorant that by keeping off to sea they should avoid that danger. Prince Henry resolving to overcome all difficulties, fitted out two small vessels,

An. 1417: commanding them to coast along Afric, and doubling that cape to discover further towards the equinoctial. They ventured to run sixty leagues beyond Cape Nao, as far as Cape Bojador, so called because it stretches itself out almost forty leagues to the westward, which in Spanish they call Bojar. Here finding the difficulty of passing further greater than at Cape Nao, for the same reason of the sea's breaking upon the cape, they returned home satisfied with what they had done. The following year,

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An. 1418, the prince sent John Gonzalez Zarco and Tristan Vaz, with orders to pass that cape; but before they could come upon the coast of Afric they were carried away by a storm, and not knowing where,

VOL. X.

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they accidentally fell in with an island, which they called Porto Santo, or Holy Haven, because of their deliverance there after the storm. It is a small island a little to the northward of the Madera: thither the prince, being informed of what had happened, sent Bartholomew Perestrello with seeds to sow, and cattle to stock the place; but one couple of rabbits put in among the rest, increased so prodigiously, that all corn and plants being destroyed by them, it was found necessary to unpeople the island.

An. 1419. John Gonzalez and Tristan Vaz making another voyage by order of the prince, discovered the island Madera, beforementioned to have been accidentally found by Macham the Englishman, and lost again till this time. The reason of calling it Madera was, because they found it all overgrown with trees, this word in Portuguese signifying wood. They set fire to the woods to clear them, which are said to have burnt seven years continually, and since the greatest want is of wood. The following years were employed in peopling and furnishing the islands discovered, till

An. 1434. Gilianez was sent by the prince to pass that dreadful Cape Bojador, though at the same time many blamed the attempt, imagining, that in case they should happen to pass much farther on those coasts, all that did it would turn black; others saying there was nothing there but deserts, like those of Lybia; and others alleging other absurdities of this nature, suitable to the ignorance the world was then in of all parts yet undiscovered. Gilianez was satisfied with sailing thirty leagues beyond the Cape, giving name there to the Bay called Angra de Ruyvas, or Bay of Gurnets, because he there found many of that sort of fish. The next year,

An. 1435. The same commanders passed twelve leagues further, where they also landed, but the people fled from them: whereupon they proceeded twelve leagues further, where they found a vast multitude of sea-wolves, of which they killed many, and returned home with their skins, which was the greatest

return made this voyage, they being valued for their rarity.

An. 1440. Antony Gonzalez was sent to the place of the sea-wolves to load his vessel with their skins. He landed, took some of the natives, and killed others; then coasted on as far as Cabo Blanco, or White Cape, and returned to Portugal.

An. 1442. Antony Gonzalez returned and carrying these persons he had taken in his former voyage, exchanged them for some Guinea slaves and a quantity of gold dust; for which reason the river that there runs into the country was called Rio del Oro, or the River of Gold.

An. 1443. The gold abovementioned sharpening mens' appetites, Nunho Tristan undertook the voyage, and passing further than the others, discovered one of the islands of Arguim, called Adeget, and another De las Garzas, or of the Herons, because they saw many herons in it.

An. 1444. A small company was erected, paying an acknowledgment to the prince, to trade to those parts lately discovered, whither they sent six caravels; which coming to the isles of Arguim took there about two hundred slaves, which yielded them good profit in Portugal.

An. 1445. Gonzalo de Cintra sailed to the island of Arguim, and venturing up a creek in the night to surprise the inhabitants, the tide left his boat ashore; so that two hundred Moors coming down upon him, he was killed with seven of his men, and from him the place was called Angra de Gonzalo de Cintra, fourteen leagues beyond Rio del Oro.

An. 1446. The caravels sailed for the same river to settle commerce, but effected nothing, and only brought away one of the natives, and left a Portuguese there to view the country. But Dinis Fernandez the same year passed beyond the river Sanaga, which divides the Azanagi from Jalof, and discovered the famous Cape called Cabo Verde, or the Green Cape.

An. 1447. Three caravels performed the same voyage without doing any thing remarkable, more than

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