eason being at
hand, some appearance showed, as shifting of weapons from ship to ship,
planting and bending of ordnance from the ship to the island where our
men were, passing to and fro of companies of men more than required for
their necessary business, and many other ill likelihoods, which caused
us to have a vehement suspicion, and therewithal sent to the Viceroy to
inquire what was meant by it, which sent immediately straight
commandment to unplant all things suspicious, and also sent word that
he, in the faith of a Viceroy, would be our defence from all
villainies. Yet we, not being satisfied with this answer, because we
suspected a great number of men to be hid in a great ship of nine
hundred tons, which was moored next unto the Minion, sent again unto
the Viceroy the master of the Jesus, which had the Spanish tongue, and
required to be satisfied if any such thing were or not; on which the
Viceroy, seeing that the treason must be discovered, forthwith stayed
our master, blew the trumpet, and of all sides set upon us. Our men
which were on guard ashore, being stricken with sudden fear, gave
place, fled, and sought to recover succour of the ships; the Spaniards,
being before provided for the purpose, landed in all places in
multitudes from their ships, which they could easily do without boats,
and slew all our men ashore without mercy, a few of them escaping
aboard the Jesus. The great ship which had, by the estimation, three
hundred men placed in her secretly, immediately fell aboard the Minion,
which, by God's appointment, in the time of the suspicion we had, which
was only one half-hour, the Minion was made ready to avoid, and so,
loosing her headfasts, and hailing away by the sternfasts, she was
gotten out; thus, with God's help, she defended the violence of the
first brunt of these three hundred men. The Minion being passed out,
they came aboard the Jesus, which also, with very much ado and the loss
of many of our men, were defended and kept out. Then were there also
two other ships that assaulted the Jesus at the same instant, so that
she had hard work getting loose; but yet, with some time, we had cut
our headfasts, and gotten out by the sternfasts. Now, when the Jesus
and the Minion were gotten two ship-lengths from the Spanish fleet, the
fight began hot on all sides, so that within one hour the admiral of
the Spaniards was supposed to be sunk, their vice-admiral burned, and
one other of their principa