a stiff breeze,
their boat, which was astern, and had in her two Moors and two Peguers,
whom we had given to them, broke away. The French captain was now worse
than before, and threatened sore to make us pay for his voyage. Seeing
us pass, the Edward weighed and set sail, meaning to go for England; and
the people shared among them all the captain's victuals and mine, when
they saw us kept as prisoners.
Next morning the French ship went in search of her pinnace, which was at
_Laguna_, and on firing a gun she came off, having three of our people
on board, Edmund Barker our lieutenant, one John West, and Richard
Lackland, one of our mutineers. Of this I told the French captain, which
Lackland could not deny but that such a scheme was intended. I was then
put into the French pinnace to seek their boat, while they went to see
if they could overtake our ship.
Next day we all met at Cape St Nicholas, but could hear no tidings of
the French boat. As there were Spaniards and negroes on board our ship,
Captain de la Barbotiere requested to have them; on which our captain
desired him to send his boat for them, and he might have them with all
his heart. After much ado this was done, and they were brought on board.
He then demanded of these people if his boat were in our ship, and being
assured she was not, we became good friends again, to our great joy. The
12th August, 1593, our captain was again sent on board his own ship;
but, before his departure, he requested the French captain to take me
home with him, that I might certify to the owners all that had passed in
our unfortunate voyage, as also the mutinous behaviour of our crew.
Accordingly we took our leaves of each other, the Edward setting sail
for England, while we in the French ship bore up again for _Gonnavy_, or
Gonaives, where we afterwards found the French boat.[27]
[Footnote 27: In this part of the narrative, May is somewhat different
from that formerly given from Edmund Barker, in the preceding section,
or rather he is more minutely particular. The remainder of the narrative
has no farther connection with the unfortunate Edward Bonadventure.--E.]
The last of November, 1593, Monsieur de la Barbotiere departed from a
port called Laguna, in Hispaniola. The 17th of December we had the
misfortune to be cast away on the north-west part of the island of
Bermuda, about midnight. At noon of that day the pilots reckoned
themselves twelve leagues to the south of that isla
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