sayle, which was the eight and twentieth of August, at
which instant Captaine Vasseur which commanded in one of my shippes, and
Captaine Verdier which was chiefe in the other, now ready to goe foorth,
began to descry certaine sayles at sea, whereof they aduertised mee with
diligence: whereupon I appointed to arme foorth a boate in good order to
goe and discrie and know what they were. I sent also to the Centinels,
which I caused to be kept on a little knappe, to cause certaine men to
climbe vp to the toppe of the highest trees the better to discouer them.
(M534) They descried the great boate of the shippes, which as yet they
could not perfectly discerne, which as farre as they could iudge, seemed
to chase my boate, which by this time was passed the barre of the riuer:
so that we could not possibly iudge whether they were enemies which would
haue caried her away with them: for it was too great a ken to iudge the
trueth thereof. Vpon this doubt I put my men in order and in such array as
though they had beene enemies: and in deede I had great occasion to
mistrust the same: for my boate came vnto their ship about two of the
clocke in the afternoone, and sent me no newes all that day long to put me
out of doubt who they should be. The next day in the morning about eight
or nine of the clocke I saw seuen boates (among which mine owne was one)
full of souldiers enter into the riuer, hauing euery man his harquebuze
and morion on his head, which marched all in battaile along the cliffes
where my centinels were, to whom they would make no kind of answere,
notwithstanding all the demandes that were made vnto them, insomuch as one
of my souldiers was constrained to bestowe a shot at them without doing
hurt neuerthelesse to any of them, by reason of the distance betweene him
and the boates. The report hereof being made vnto me, I placed each of my
men in his quarter, with full deliberation to defend ourselues, if they
had beene enemies, as in trueth we thought them to haue bene: likewise I
caused two small field pieces which I had left me, to be trimmed in such
sort, as if in approching to the Fort they had not cryed that it was
Captaine Ribault, I had not failed to haue discharged the same vpon them.
(M535) Afterward I vnderstoode that the cause why they entred in this
maner, proceeded of the false reports which had bene made vnto mine Lord
Admirall by those which were returned into France in the first shippes.
For they had put in his