Scurvy during Richard Hawkins' voyage (1593)

Scurvy during Richard Hawkins’ voyage (1593) by Harri Hemilä Richard Hawkins described symptoms consistent with scurvy during a voyage in 1593. This account represents one of the earliest historically documented descriptions of scurvy, and one of the earliest recorded uses of the word scurvy in the English language. Hawkins also reported that oranges and lemons were effective in treating the symptoms. Contents Page Digitized versions of Richard Hawkins’ book 4 Sections describing the symptoms of scurvy 5 Editor’s Preface (1847) 21 Introduction (1878) by Clements Markham 23 Yellow is used to indicate the more important sections such as the symptoms of scurvy. This text is available at: https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.18001138 2025-12-20 This annotated version was prepared by: Harri Hemilä, University of Helsinki, Finland https://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/hemila https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4710-307X https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hemila+h https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2mkomzUAAAAJ https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17085738 Reports on scurvy uploaded to Zenodo by Harri Hemilä 1 The earliest recorded occurrence of scurvy on long sea voyages appears to have been during Vasco da Gama’s first voyage to India (1497-1499).1 Scurvy also afflicted the crew on Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe (1519-1522).2 Thereafter, large numbers of sailors suffered from the disease throughout the Age of Sail.3, 4, 5, 6, 7 In the English Navy, the incidence of scurvy declined dramatically at the end of the 1700s when lime and lemon juice were made obligatory to sailors.8, 9 1 Scurvy during Vasco da Gama’s first voyage (1497-1499). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17781205 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46440 2 Scurvy during Magellan’s voyage around the world (1519-1522). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18001194 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1806596 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74723 p.64-65 3 Lind J (1772) A Treatise on the Scurvy. https://archive.org/details/treatiseonscurvy1772lind/page/n5/mode/2up 4 Kenneth J Carpenter (1986) The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C: The explorers’ sickness; p.1-28. https://www.cambridge.org/fi/universitypress/subjects/history/history-medicine/history-scurvy-and-vitamin-c 5 Scurvy on John Davis’ voyage (1591-1593). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17884408 6 Thomas Stephens, S. J., the First Englishman in India. Scurvy on p.238. https://www.jstor.org/stable/607122 p. 7 Scurvy on Anson's voyage round the world (1740-1744). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17397300 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16611 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47130 8 Budd G (1840) Scurvy. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17455962 9 Between the years 1779 and 1813, the diminution of sick and of deaths in the British navy was in the proportion of four to one. In 1779, 1:2.45 were sick, and in 1813, 1:10.75 were sick, corresponding to decline by ratio 4.4. Table 1, p.539-540 in: Blane G (1815) Statements of the comparative Health of the British Navy, from the year 1779 to the year 1814. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2129027 2 The description of scurvy on Richard Hawkins’ voyage (1593) is so dramatic that the report was selected as a Nutrition Classic: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3540742 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-4887.1986.tb07575.x In his treatise, James Lind (1772)10 wrote about Hawkins’ voyage as follows: It is now above 150 years since that great sea-officer, Sir Richard Hawkins, in his observations made in a voyage to the South sea, remarked it [scurvy] to be the pestilence of that element [sea]. He was able, in the course of twenty years, in which he had been employed at sea, to give an account of 10,000 mariners destroyed by it.11 [p.60 in the 1847 reprint] In his authoritative book “The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C”, Kenneth Carpenter (1986; p.15-17)12 summarized the symptoms of scurvy on the voyage by Richard Hawkins as follows: Sir Richard Hawkins led another expedition in 1593. He had been a leader in the fight against the Armada, and both his father and grandfather had been famous sea captains. Twenty years after his return, he published his “observations” on the voyage… Because of contrary winds, it was not until mid-October, and with only four men still healthy, that they were able to go ashore – at Santos in southern Brazil. There, under a flag of truce the Portuguese allowed them to trade cloth for oranges and lemons. [p.78-79 in the 1847 reprint] There was great joy amongst my company; and many, with the sight of the oranges and lemons, seemed to recover heart, This is a wonderful secret of the power and wisdom of God, that hath hidden so great and unknown virtue in this fruit, to be a certain remedy for this infirmity; I presently caused them all to be divided amongst our sick men, which were so many, that there came not above three or four to a share. [p.81-82 in the 1847 reprint] Hawkins then considered the diseases at some length: “The signs to know this disease in the beginning are divers: by the swelling of the gums, by denting of the flesh of the legs with a mans finger, the pit remaining without filling up in a good space. Others show it with their laziness: others complain of the crick of the back, etc., all which are, for the most part, certain tokens of infection.” … He added; That which I have seen most fruitful for this sickness, is sour oranges and lemons… [p.60] 10 https://archive.org/details/treatiseonscurvy1772lind/page/n13/mode/2up p.viii. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/r7fpbavt/items?canvas=14 11 It seems highly unlikely that the quite often repeated Hawkins’ statement of “10,000” is based on accurate calculations; rather it is better to interpret it as “lots of” or “thousands”. 12 Kenneth J Carpenter (1986) The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C. https://www.cambridge.org/fi/universitypress/subjects/history/history-medicine/history-scurvy-and-vitamin-c 3 However, Carpenter was not convinced that all the symptoms described by Hawkins were explained by scurvy, and he speculated that there might also have been beri-beri: Excerpts from Sir Richard Hawkins observations… in relation to scurvy – which, from the descriptions, was probably combined with beriberi (p.16). However, Carpenter did not give any arguments to the opinion that the symptoms reported on Hawkins’ voyage would not be scurvy. Given that vitamin C is the substance particularly relevant in oranges and lemons, and that Hawkins described that the disease was cured with them, there is no need to speculate about beri-beri to explain the main symptoms. In his book, Carpenter (1986; p.14-15) also commented on the symptoms reported on John Davis’ voyage (1591-1593) that “Obviously this disease was not scurvy”. Here also, Carpenter did not give any argument for the statement, instead he referred to Creighton’s (1891) earlier text, in which Creighton did not give valid arguments for rejecting scurvy.13 Creighton noted that the sailors on Davis’ voyage had dropsy and dyspnoea, but those symptoms are not inconsistent with scurvy, instead they are quite common symptoms of severe scurvy.14 Richard Hawkins reported that “my company within a few days began to fall sick of a disease which sea-men call scurvy: and seems to be a kind of dropsy.” 15 (see below p.56 in the 1847 reprint of Hawkins’ book). Probably this mention of dropsy was interpreted by Carpenter as an indication that there might be also something else than scurvy. Apparently, in many cases of scurvy, there is shortage of many other nutrients; nevertheless, dropsy is one of the symptoms of severe scurvy. 13 Creighton wrote about the Davis’ (1591-1593) voyage: “The remarkable epidemic … was probably not scurvy, or at least not all scurvy: the dropsy and dyspnœa suggest one of the two forms of beri-beri, of a peculiarly severe type” A history of epidemics in Britain by Creighton, Charles (1891), p.592-593. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17882745 https://archive.org/details/historyofepidemi01unse/page/592/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/historyofepidemi01crei/page/592/mode/2up https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001559476 14 Scurvy on John Davis’ voyage (1591-1593) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17884409 15 Dropsy. See Footnote 19. 4 The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins, Knight, in his Voyage into the South Sea. AD 1593. The 1622 version, Scurvy on pages 35-37. https://archive.org/details/cihm_18326/page/n40/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawk_0/page/34/mode/2up https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t3qv4383j&seq=46 https://archive.org/details/cihm_18326/page/n40/mode/2up The 1847 reprint, Scurvy on pages 56-61. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57502 https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawkrich/page/56/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawk/page/56/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/observationssir00bethgoog/page/n76/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/observationssir01bethgoog/page/n78/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/observationssir02bethgoog/page/n77/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/cihm_36497/page/n72/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.04871/page/56/mode/2up https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t7gq7pg9v&seq=77 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044010183309&seq=76 The 1878 reprint with Introduction by Clements R Markham16 Scurvy on pages 138-142. https://archive.org/details/hawkinsvoyagesdu00markrich/page/138/mode/2up https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yale.39002005811352&seq=204 https://archive.org/details/hawkinsvoyagesd00figugoog/page/138/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/hawkinsvoyagesd00hawkgoog/page/120/mode/2up Richard Hawkins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hawkins https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Hawkins https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-15598 https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/hawkins-sir-richard-1560-1622 https://www.tudorsociety.com/sir-richard-hawkins-1560-1622 https://www.britishempire.co.uk/biography/richardhawkins.htm https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/admiral-sir-richard-hawkins-15621622-172676 See also Editor’s Preface (1847) and Introduction (1878) at the end of this document. 16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clements_Markham https://www.rgs.org/our-collections/stories-from-our-collections/explore-our-collections/portrait-of-sir-clements-markham 5 The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins, Knight, in his Voyage into the South Sea. Only a few footnotes of the 1847 and 1878 reprints are shown, see the digitized versions for all footnotes. SECTION XV. https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawk/page/52/mode/2up Here is to be noted, that the error which we fell into in p.53 our accompts, was such as all men fall into where are currants that set east or west, and are not knowne; for that there is no certaine rule yet practised for triall of the longitude, as there is of the latitude, though some curious and experimented of our nation, with whom I have had conference about this poynt, have shewed me two or three manner of wayes how to know it. This, some years before, was the losse of the Edward p.54 Cotton, bound for the coast of Brasill, which taken with the winde contrary neere the lyne, standing to the eastwards, and making accompt to be fiftie or sixtie leagues17 off the coast, with all her sayles standing, came suddenly a ground upon the sholes of Madre-bomba, and so was cast away, though the most part of their company saved themselves upon raffes; but with the contagion of the countrie, and bad entreatie which the negros gave them, they died; so that there returned not to their country above three or foure of them. But God Almightie dealt more mercifully with us, in shewing us our error in the day, and in time that wee might remedie it; to him be evermore glory for all. This currant from the line equinoctiall, to twentie degrees northerly, hath great force, and setteth next of any thing east, directly upon the shore; which we found by this meanes: standing to the westwards, the wind southerly, when we lay with our ships head west, and by south, we gayned in our heith more then if wee had made our way good west south-west; for that, the currant tooke us under the bow; but lying west, or west and by north, we lost more in twelve houres then the other way we could get in foure and twentie. By which plainly we saw, that the currant did set east next of any thing. Whether this currant runneth ever one way, or doth alter, and how, we could by no meanes understand, but tract of time and observation will discover this, as it hath done of many others in sundry seas. 17 League. A historical unit of distance. In the UK, one league was about 5 km. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_units_of_measurement#Length https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_(unit) 6 The currant that setteth betwixt New-found-land and Spaine, runneth also east and west, and long time deceived many, and made some to count the way longer, and others shorter, according as the passage was speedie or slowe; not knowing that the furtherance or hinderance of the currant p.55 was cause of the speeding or flowing of the way. And in sea cardes I have seene difference of above thirtie leagues betwixt the iland Tercera, and the mayne. And others have recounted unto me, that comming from the India’s, and looking out for the ilands of Azores, they have had sight of Spaine. And some have looked out for Spaine, and have discovered the ilands. The selfe same currant is in the Levant sea, but runneth trade betwixt the maynes, and changeable sometimes to the east-wards, sometimes to the west-wards. In Brasill and the South sea, the currant likewise is changeable, but it runneth ever alongst the coast, accompanying the winde: and it is an infallible rule, that twelve or twentie foure houres before the winde alters, the currant begins to change. In the West Indies onely the currant runneth continually one way, and setteth alongst the coast from the equinoctiall lyne towards the north. No man hath yet found that these courrants keepe any certaine time, or run so many dayes, or moneths, one way as another, as doth the course of ebbing and flowing, well knowne in all seas; only neere the shore they have small force; partly, because of the reflux which the coast causeth, and partly for the ebbing and flowing, which more or lesse is generall in most seas. When the currant runneth north or south, it is easily discovered by augmenting or diminishing the height; but how to know the setting of the currant from east to west in the mayne sea, is difficult; and as yet I have not knowne any man, or read any authour, that hath prescribed any certaine meane or way to discover it. But experience teacheth that in the mayne sea, for the most part, it is vap.56 riable; and therefore the best and safest rule to prevent the danger (which the uncertainty and ignorance heereof may cause), is carefull and continuall watch by day and night, and upon the east and west course ever to bee before the shipp, and to use the meanes possible to know the errour, by the rules which newe authours may teach; beating off and on, somtimes to the west-wards, sometimes to the eastwards, with a fayre gale of winde. 7 SECTION XVI. https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawk/page/56/mode/2up The scurvey.18 p.56 Being betwixt three or foure degrees of the equinoctiall line, my company within a fewe dayes began to fall sicke, of a disease which sea-men are wont to call the scurvey: and seemeth to bee a kind of dropsie,19 and raigneth most in this climate of any that I have heard or read of in the world; though in all seas it is wont to helpe and increase the miserie of man; it possesseth all those of which it taketh hold, with a loathsome sloathfulnesse, even to eate: they would be content to change their sleepe and rest, which is the most pernicious enemie in this sicknesse, that is knowne. It bringeth with it a great desire to drinke, and causeth a generall swelling of all parts of the body, especially of the legs and gums, and many times the teeth fall out of the jawes without paine. The signes. The signes to know this disease in the beginning are divers: by the swelling of the gummes, by denting of the flesh of the leggs with a man’s finger, the pit remayning without filling up in a good space.19 Others show it with their lasinesse: others complaine of the cricke of the backe,20 etc., all which are, for the most part, certaine tokens of infection. 18 This is one of the earliest use of term “scurvy” in English. According to Oxford English Dictionary: First use in 1589: “Our legs now [us deceive,] swolne euery ioint withall, With this disease, which, by your leaue, the Scuruie men doe call.” Hakluyt, Principall Navigations 1589; i. 139. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17941245 https://archive.org/details/cihm_35668/page/n158/mode/2up 19 Dropsy. The historical diagnosis of dropsy – which is now obsolete – indicated simply an abnormal accumulation of fluid. The word derives from the Greek hydrops (water). Alternative or supplementary terms included hydrothorax (fluid in the chest cavity), ascites (which still indicates excess free fluid in the abdominal cavity), anasarca (still used to describe generalized edema throughout the body). https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521332866.101 Dropsy. An ancient medical term used to indicate different conditions including chronic heart failure. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.07.104 Scurvy can cause heart failure, eg. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38504249 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35282368 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38464798 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27682441 20 Pain in the legs is a common symptom of scurvy. e.g. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17455962 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10685194 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15797491 8 The cause. p.57 The cause of this sicknes some attribute to sloath; some to conceite; and divers men speake diversly: that which I have observed is, that our nation is more subject unto it then any other; because being bred in a temperate clymate, where the naturall heate restrayned, giveth strength to the stomacke, sustayning it with meates of good nourishment, and that in a wholesome ayre; whereas comming into the hot countries (where that naturall heate is dispersed through the whole body, which was wont to be proper to the stomache; and the meates for the most part preserved with salt, and its substance thereby diminished, and many times corrupted), greater force for digestion is now required then in times past; but the stomache finding less virtue to doe his office, in reparting to each member his due proportion in perfection, which either giveth it rawe, or remayneth with it indigested by his hardnes or cruditie, infeebleth the body, and maketh it unlusty and unfit for any thing; for the stomache being strong (though all parts els be weake), there is ever a desire to feede, and aptnes to perform whatsoever can be required of a man; but though all other members be strong and sound, if the stomache be opprest, or squemish, all the body is unlustie, and unfit for any thing, and yeeldeth to nothing so readily as sloathfulnes, which is confirmed by the common answere to all questions: as, will you eate? will you sleepe? will you walke? will you play? The answere is, I have no stomache: which is as much as to say, no, not willingly: thereby confirming, that without a sound and whole stomache, nothing can bee well accomplished, nor any sustenance well digested.21 Seething of meat in salt water. p.58 The seething of the meate in salt water, helpeth to cause this infirmitie, which in long voyages can hardly be avoyded: but if it may be, it is to be shunned; for the water of the sea to man’s body is very unwholesome. The corruption of the victuals, and especially of the bread, is very pernicious; the vapours and ayre of the sea also is nothing profitable, especially in these hot countries, where are many calmes. And were it not for the moving of the sea by the force of windes, tydes, and currants, it would corrupt all the world. 21 Footnote in the 1847 reprint: The cause of scurvy is now known to be, the use for a long period of one diet, and that unwholesome. Since greater attention has been paid to the proper admixture of articles of food, and also to the cleanliness and ventilation of the vessel, this disease has nearly disappeared. 9 gave us for our courteous manner of proceeding. If any p.80 of my people from that time forwards, should approach to the shore, that he would doe his best to hinder and annoy them. With this answere wee resolved to depart; and before it came, with the first faire wind we determined to be packing: but the wind suffered us not all that night, nor the next day. In which time, I lived in a great perplexitie, for that I knew our own weaknesse, and what they might doe unto us, if that they had knowne so much. For any man that putteth himself into the enemies port, had need of Argus eyes, and the wind in a bagge, especially where the enemie is strong, and the tydes of any force. For with either ebbe or flood, those who are on the shore may thrust upon him inventions of fire: and with swimming or other devises, may cut his cables. A common practise in all hot countries. The like may be effected with raffes, cannoas, boates, or pynaces, to annoy and assault him: and if this had beene practised against us, or taken effect, our shippes must of force have yeelded themselves; for they had no other people in them but sicke men; but many times opinion and feare preserveth the shippes, and not the people in them. For prevention of annoyances, etc., in harbours. Wherefore it is the part of a provident governour, to consider well the daungers that may befall him, before he put himselfe into such places; so shall he ever be provided for prevention. In Saint John de Vlua, in the New Spaine, when the Spanyards dishonoured their nation with that foule act of perjury, and breach of faith, given to my father, Sir John Hawkins (notorious to the whole world), the Spanyards fired two great shippes, with intention to burne my fathers Admirall, which he prevented by towing them with his boates another way. The great armado of Spaine, sent to conquer England, p.81 anno 1588, was with that selfe same industry overthrowne; for the setting on fire of six or seaven shippes (whereof two were mine), and letting them drive with the flood, forced them to cut their cables, and to put to sea, to seeke a new way to Spaine. In which the greatest part of their best shippes and men were lost and perished. For that my people should not be dismayed, I dispatched presently my light horsman, with onely foure men, and 16 part of the refreshing, advising them that with the first calme or slent of wind, they should come off. The next night, the wind comming off the shore, wee set sayle, and with our boates and barkes sounded as we went. It flowed upon the barre not above foure foote water, and once in foure and twentie houres, as in some parts of the West Indies; at full sea, there is not upon the barre above seventeen or eighteen foote water. The harbour runneth to the south-westwards. He that will come into it, is to open the harbour’s mouth a good quarter of a league before he beare with it, and be bolder of the wester side; for of the easterland lyeth a great ledge of rocks, for the most part, under water, which sometimes break not; but with small shipping, a man may goe betwixt them and the poynt. The vertue of oranges. Comming aboord of our shippes, there was great joy amongst my company; and many, with the sight of the oranges and lemmons, seemed to recover heart. This is a wonderfull secret of the power and wisedome of God, that p.82 hath hidden so great and unknowne vertue in this fruit, to be a certaine remedie for this infirmitie; I presently caused them all to be reparted amongst our sicke men, which were so many, that there came not above three or foure to a share: but God was pleased to send us a prosperous winde the next day, so much to our comfort, that not any one dyed before we came to the ilands, where we pretended to refresh ourselves; and although our fresh water had fayled us many dayes before we saw the shore, by reason of our long navigation, without touching any land, and the excessive drinking of the sicke and diseased, which could not be excused, yet with an invention I had in my shippe, Distilling of salt water. I easily drew out of the water of the sea, sufficient quantitie of fresh water to sustaine my people with little expence of fewell; for with foure billets I stilled a hogshead of water, and therewith dressed the meat for the sicke and whole. The water so distilled, we found to be wholesome and nourishing. … 17 SECTION XXIV. https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawk/page/84/mode/2up The next day about tenne of the clocke, wee were thwart p.85 of Cape Blanco, which is low sandie land, and perilous; for foure leagues into the sea (thwart it), lye banks of sand, which have little water on them; on a sudden we found our selves amongst them, in lesse then three fathome water; but with our boat and shalope we went sounding, and so got cleare of them. The next day following, we discovered the ilands where wee purposed to refresh ourselves. They are two, and some call them Saint James, his ilands, and others, Saint Annes. They lie in two and twenty degrees and a halfe to the south-wards of the lyne; and towards the evening (being the fifth of November) we anchored betwixt them and the mayne, in six fathome water, where wee found our other shippes. All which being well moored, we presently began to set up tents and booths for our sicke men, to carry them a shore, and to use our best diligence to cure them. For which intent our three surgeans, with their servants and adherents, had two boates to wayte continually upon them, to fetch whatsoever was needfull from the shippes, to procure refreshing, and to fish, either with netts, or hookes and lynes. Of these implements wee had in aboundance, p.86 and it yeelded us some refreshing. For the first dayes, the most of those which had health, occupied themselves in romeging our ship; in bringing ashore of emptie caske; in filling of them, and in felling and cutting of wood: which being many workes, and few hands, went slowly forwards. Neere these ilands, are two great rockes, or small ilands adjoyning. In them we found great store of young gannetts in their nests, which we reserved for the sicke, and being boyled with pickled porke well watered, and mingled with oatmeale, made reasonable pottage, and was good refreshing and sustenance for them. This provision fayled us not, till our departure from them. Upon one of these rocks also, we found great store of the hearbe purslane, which boyled and made into sallets, with oyle and vineger, refreshed the sicke stomaches, and gave appetite. 18 With the ayre of the shore, and good cherishing, many recovered speedily.28 Some died away quickly, and others continued at a stand. We found here some store of fruits; a kind of cherry that groweth upon a tree like a plum-tree, red of colour, with a stone in it, but different in making to ours, for it is not altogether round, and dented about: they have a pleasing taste. In one of the ilands, we found palmito trees, great and high, and in the toppe a certaine fruit like cocos, but no bigger then a wall-nut. We found also a fruit growing upon trees in codds, like beanes, both in the codd and the fruit. Some of my company proved of them, and they caused vomits and purging, as any medicine taken out of p.87 the apothecaries shop, according to the quantitie received. They have hudds, as our beanes, which shaled off; the kernell parteth itselfe in two, and in the middle is a thin skinne, like that of an onion, said to be hurtfull, and to cause exceeding vomits, and therefore to be cast away. Monardus writing of the nature and propertie of this fruit, as of others of the Indies, for that it is found in other parts, also calleth them kavas purgativas, and sayth, that they are to be prepared by peeling them first, and then taking away the skinne in the middle, and after beaten into powder, to take the quantitie of five or six, either with wine or sugar. Thus they are good against fevers, and to purge grosse humors; against the collicke, and payne of the joynts; in taking them a man may not sleepe, but is to use the dyet usuall, as in a day of purging. One other fruit we found, very pleasant in taste, in fashion of an artechoque, but lesse; on the outside of colour redd, within white, and compassed about with prickles; our people called them pricke-pears; no conserve is better. They grow upon the leaves of a certaine roote, that is like unto that which we call semper viva and many are wont to hang them up in their houses; but their leaves are longer and narrower, and full of prickes on either side. The fruit groweth upon the side of the leafe, and is one of the best fruites that I have eaten in the Indies. In ripening, presently the birds or vermine are feeding on them; A good note to take or refuse unknowne fruits. a generall rule to know what fruit is wholesome and good in the Indies, and other parts. Finding them to be eaten of the beastes or fowles, a man may boldly eate of them. 28 Evidently, it was not air, but the plant foods that led to recovery. 19 The water of these ilands is not good: the one, for being a standing water, and full of venemous wormes and serpents, which is neare a butt-shot from the sea shore; where p.88 we found a great tree fallen, and in the roote of it the names of sundry Portingalls, Frenchmen, and others, and amongst them, Abraham Cockes; with the time of their being in this island. The other, though a running water, yet passing by the rootes of certaine trees, which have a smell as that of garlique, taketh a certaine contagious sent of them. Here two of our men dyed with swelling of their bellies. The accident we could not attribute to any other cause, then to this suspitious water. It is little, and falleth into the sand, and soketh through it into the sea; and therefore we made a well of a pipe, and placeth it under the rocke from which it falleth, and out of it filled our caske: but we could not fill above two tunnes in a night and day. SECTION XXV. So after our people began to gather their strength, wee manned our boates, and went over to the mayne, where presently we found a great ryver of fresh and sweete water, and a mightie marish countrie; which in the winter seemeth to be continually over-flowne with this river, and others, which fall from the mountaynous country adjacent. We rowed some leagues up the ryver, and found that the further up we went, the deeper was the river, but no fruit, more then the sweate of our bodies for the labour of our handes. At our returne, wee loaded our boate with water, and afterwardes from hence wee made our store. 20 SECTION XXVI. https://archive.org/details/observationsofsi00hawk/page/88/mode/2up Wast and losse of men. p.89 The sicknesse having wasted more then the one halfe of my people, we determined to take out the victualls of the Hawke, and to burne her; which wee put in execution. And being occupied in this worke, we saw a shippe turning to windwards, to succour her selfe of the ilands; but having discryed us, put off to sea-wards. Two dayes after, the wind changing, we saw her againe running alongst the coast, and the Daintie not being in case to goe after her, for many reasons, we manned the Fancie, and sent her after her; who about the setting of the sunne fetched her up, and spake with her; when finding her to be a great fly-boat, of at least three or foure hundreth tunnes, with eighteen peeces of artillery, would have returned, but the wind freshing in, put her to leewards; and standing in to succour her selfe of the land, had sight of another small barke, which after a short chase shee tooke, but had nothing of moment in her, for that she had bin upon the great sholes of Abreoios, in eighteen degrees, and there throwne all they had by the board, to save their lives. This and the other chase were the cause that the Fancie could not beat it up in many dayes: but before we had put all in a readinesse, the wind changing, shee came unto us, and made relation of that which had past; and how they had given the small barke to the Portingalls, and brought with them onely her pilot, and a marchant called Pedro de Escalante of Potosi. 21 This is a selection of more relevant sections of the Editor’s Preface (1847), see the entire Preface at: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57502 https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.04871/page/n5/mode/2up EDITOR’S PREFACE (1847) MANY of the early voyages to the Spanish possesp.vii sions in South America, are open to the charge of having been conducted more upon buccaneering principles, than on those that should guide nations in their intercourse with each other. Even Sir Francis Drake, on his return from one of the most memorable, endured the mortification of being considered little better than a pirate, and it required all the honors conferred on him by Queen Elizabeth, to set him right in public opinion. This is not the proper place to discuss the question, whether England was justified in allowing such expeditions to leave her shores; it is sufficient to state, that our author is not liable to any animadversion, as his voyage was undertaken under the authority of the Queen’s commission; and his conduct was marked throughout by humanity p.viii and benevolence. We can hardly appreciate too highly the adventurous daring of these early navigators; but while we give due credit to them for attempting such long voyages into almost unknown seas, in vessels of small burthen, we must not imagine that they were utterly unprovided for the nature of the expected service: on the contrary, great care seems have been taken both in selecting proper crews, and in providing them with everything needful. Sir Richard Hawkins, at page 12, alludes generally to his own preparations; and we read in the accounts of Sir Francis Drake’s expedition, “that his vessels were plentifully furnished with all manner of provisions and necessaries for so long and dangerous a voyage; and such as served only for ornament and delight were likewise not forgotten. For this purpose he took with him very expert musicians for several instruments. His furniture of all kinds was rich and sumptuous; all the vessels for his 22 table, and many in the cook-room, being of pure silver, curiously wrought, and many other things whereby the magnificence of his native country might be displayed.” … Sir Richard Hawkins followed the profession of p.xiv a seaman from an early age. Brought up in stirring times, under the eye of his father, one of the most experienced naval commanders of his time, he appears to have inherited a knowledge of sound principles of discipline, and to have become imbued with that indomitable courage, tempered with prudence, essential to the character of a good sea officer. In 1588, Captain Hawkins commanded the Swallow, a Queen’s ship of three hundred and sixty tons, and assisted in her at the destruction of the Spanish armada. He appears at that period to have attained a certain consideration, as he was employed as Queen’s Commissioner, to settle some prize claims. He next undertook the voyage the history of which is recounted in the following pages. p.xv After his return from his detention in the South Seas, we find him, in 1620, in the Vanguard, of six hundred and sixty tons, vice-admirall of Sir Robert Mansel’s expedition against the Algerines. He died suddenly shortly afterwards. Admiral Burney, in his History of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas, alluding to this work, says, “it might with propriety have been entitled a book of good counsel; many of his observations being unconnected with the voyage he is relating, but his digressions are ingenious and entertaining, and they frequently contain useful or curious information”: and Mr. Barrow, in his Memoirs of the Naval Worthies of Queen Elizabeth, thinks that the “Observations must take their station in the very first rank of our old sea voyages.” Similar considerations led the council of the Hakluyt Society29 to select it, though not exactly a rare work, for early publication; and it is submitted to the Members, with a confident hope that it will repay an attentive perusal. 29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakluyt_Society https://www.hakluyt.com 23 The editor has confined his labours to reproducing the text of the original, with only such slight alterations as were necessary where the sense of the author had been obviously marred by a misp.xvi print; giving such explanations of obsolete words and technical terms as might embarrass an unprofessional reader; identifying the places visited with their modern appellation, where practicable; and adding such remarks as occurred to him while correcting the proof sheets. C. R. D. B. [C.R. Drinkwater Bethune, Captain R.N.] Nov. 1847. 24 This 1878 introduction gives a biography of the Hawkinses. There are footnotes in the original text, but they are not copied here. See the original version at: https://archive.org/details/hawkinsvoyagesdu00markrich/page/n15/mode/2up INTRODUCTION (1878) by Clements Markham THE Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins in his p.i Voyage into the South Sea was the first volume issued by the Hakluyt Society, in 1847.30 It was edited by Admiral C. R. Drinkwater Bethune, C.B.; and most of his valuable foot-notes in the first edition have been retained, especially those explaining old sea terms and Spanish phrases. Some of the Admiral’s notes have been omitted as having become obsolete, or from other considerations. As the first edition is now out of print, it has become necessary to reproduce it. The Council decided that the present volume should be made more complete, by including the narratives of the voyages of Sir Richard’s grandfather William, of his father Sir John, and of his cousin William Hawkins. It is, therefore, intended to be a monograph of the naval enterprises of the great Elizabethan navigators of the name of Hawkins. The first of that name made three voyages to Brazil in the time of Henry VIII, and was one of our earliest naval pioneers. The second was closely connected with the history of our navy, both as a gallant commander at sea and as an able administrator on shore, during upwards of thirty eventful years. The third was a worthy emulator of his father’s fame; while the fourth is among the first founders of the success of the East p.ii India Company. The cradle of the naval Hawkinses was certainly in Devonshire, the county of Drake and Oxenham, of Grenville and Davis, of Raleigh and Gilbert, and of so many other Elizabethan naval worthies. In the reign of Henry VII, John Hawkins and his wife Joan, daughter of William Amydas of Launceston, were living at Tavistock, and their son William Hawkins is the first of the three generations of famous seamen. 30 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57502 25 owne undoing, and I trust God will so provyde for me as I shall never meddell with soche intrycatte matters more.” In 1590 he got away to sea again, in a fleet commanded by himself and Sir Martin Frobisher, with orders to do all possible mischief on the coast of Spain. But the Plate fleet was warned in time, and remained in the Indies. None of the enemy’s ships appeared, and the expedition came back without any results. Sir John Hawkins, on his return, reminded Elizabeth p.xv that “Paul planteth and Apollos watereth, but God giveth the increase.” “God’s death!” exclaimed the Queen, “this fool went out a soldier, and is come home a divine!” In the year 1588 Sir John, aided by Drake, instituted a fund for maimed and worn out mariners, which was long known as the “chest at Chatham”. This fund was the forerunner of Greenwich Hospital. Thus actively and laboriously employed, on shore and afloat, Sir John Hawkins became grey in the service of his country. Edmund Spenser, when he drew likenesses of the chief sea captains of England, in his “Colin Clout’s come home again”, speaks of old Hawkins as Proteus, “with hoary head and dewy dropping beard”. His end was heroic. In 1593 he had, with some difficulty, obtained a commission for his dearly loved son Richard, when he set out on his adventurous voyage to the South Sea in the good ship Dainty. Then came the sad news that his boy was a prisoner in the hands of the Spaniards. There can be no doubt that old Sir John undertook his last fatal voyage with a broken heart, in the faint hope of rescuing his son. An expedition was decided upon to sail for the West Indies under the command of Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, in 1595. The Queen furnished five p.xvi ships, but she drove a hard bargain with her old Treasurer of the Navy. She was to have a third of the booty, and Sir John was to victual the fleet at his own charge. He did his part well, being, as Sir T. Gorges reported from Plymouth to Robert Cecil, “an excellent man in those things, and sees all things done orderly.” Nombre de Dios was the destination of the fleet, but Hawkins died at sea, off Puerto Rico, on the 21st of November 1595. 32 So ended the life of Sir John Hawkins, one of the best of Elizabeth’s great sea captains, and the terror of the Spaniards. He was a thorough seaman, and an able and upright administrator; endowed with great courage and unfailing presence of mind; “merciful,” says Maynarde, “and apt to forgive, and faithful to his word”. Stow, in his Chronicle, speaks of him as a very wise, vigilant, and true-hearted man. On July 9th, 1596, the disbursements of Sir John Hawkins in his last voyage, were delivered by Robert Langford, Deputy Treasurer, in the name of his widow Margeret Hawkins, at £18,661, which was declared to be not more than his third part. His watery grave was far away within the tropics, but a handsome tomb to his memory was erected on the north side of the chancel of St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East, which was his place of worship during many years. It bore the following inscription… There is a basso-relievo ivory bust of Sir John p.xx Hawkins in the possession of the Reverend Bradford Denne Hawkins, Rector of Rivenhall, near Witham, in Essex, who informs me that it came to his father by inheritance, from Dr. Denne, Archdeacon of Rochester and Rector of Lambeth in the last century. I can only hear of one portrait of Sir John Hawkins. It was at Kirtling in Cambridgeshire, the seat of the Lords North, and on the dismantling of the house in p.xxi 1802 it was sold. In 1824 it came into the hands of a Mr. Bryant, whose brother sold it to Mr. R. S. Hawkins of Oxford in 1866. It is a portrait on panel, kit-cat size, of a man in armour, with small head, dark brown hair and yellowish beard, and the hand resting on a helmet. The face has a strong family resemblance to that of the ivory basso-relievo bust. Above the shoulder of the figure are reeds, a rock, and waves, and the following motto… The present owner inclines to the belief that it is a portrait of the son Sir Richard, and not of Sir John Hawkins. The will of Sir John Hawkins was proved in December 1596. 33 RICHARD HAWKINS, the only son of Sir John, was brought up to a sea life from a boy, and his father’s position and circumstances must have given him special advantages. For his father and uncle, the two brothers John and William, were men of considerable means, at one time owning thirty sail of good ships. Richard was born at about the time of his father’s first Guinea voyage in 1562. His mother died when she was only thirty-two, so that the boy became his father’s constant companion at an early age, and his reminiscences went back to a childhood spent at Plymouth and Deptford, amongst ships and dockyards. Thus, in his Observations, he calls to mind how, he being of tender years, there came a large fleet of Spaniards into p.xxii Plymouth Sound, bound for Flanders to fetch Queen Anne of Austria, last wife of Phillip II. “They entred without vayling their top-sayles or taking in of their flags; which my father Sir John Hawkins (Admiral of a fleet of her Majesties ships then ryding in Cattwater) perceiving, commanded his gunner to shoote at the flagge of the Admirall, that they might thereby see their error; which, notwithstanding, they persevered arrogantly to keepe displayed, whereupon the gunner at the next shot, lact the admiral through and through, whereby the Spaniards tooke in the flags and top-sayles, and so ramie to anchor.” In this masterful school was young Richard Hawkins brought up. At the age of twenty, “being but young and more bold than experimented”, he made his first long voyage to the West Indies in 1582, with his uncle William Hawkins of Plymouth. During the voyage he displayed boldness and sagacity which showed that he had the makings of a good officer and seaman. On one occasion the captain of one of the vessels named the Bonner reported her to be leaky and unseaworthy, and it was arranged that the stores and provisions should be taken out of her, the men divided among the other ships, and the hull sunk or burnt. Richard suspected that the captain of the Bonner made the matter worse than it really was. So he volunteered, with as many men as would stand by him, to take her home, and his uncle consented; but p.xxiii this shamed the captain, who resolved to stand by her. Thus he saved the vessel to the owners, and was commended for his resolution. During the voyage he 34 visited the Margarita pearl fishery. From his return in 1583 to the equipment of the fleet to withstand the Spanish Armada in 1588, Richard Hawkins was constantly employed on sea service. His father had married again, as already mentioned, to a lady of whom her step-son speaks as “religious and most virtuous and of very good understanding”; so that his home relations were probably undisturbed. In 1588 he commanded the Swallow in the fleet which opposed the Spanish Armada; and in the end of the same year, with the consent and help of his father, he prepared for a voyage to China and India by way of the straits of Magellan and the South Sea, with the object of discovering and surveying unknown lands, and reporting upon their inhabitants, governments, and on the commodities they yield, and of which they are in want. With this object he caused a ship to be built in the Thames, between 300 and 400 tons, “pleasing to the eye, profitable for stowage, good of sayle, and well-conditioned.” His step-mother craved the naming of the ship and called her the Repentance. Richard often asked her reason for bestowing upon his ship so uncouth a name, but he could never get any other satisfaction than that “Repentance was the safest ship we could sayle in, to purchase the haven of heaven”. Queen Elizabeth afterwards passed by, on her way to Greenwich Palace, and, causing her bargemen to row xxiv round the ship, disliked nothing but her name. She christened her anew, and ordered that henceforth she should be called the Daintie.34 Other duties delayed the voyage, and in the meanwhile the Daintie was usefully, employed in the Queen’s service, but in April 1593 all things were in readiness, and the young adventurer prepared to sail on his great enterprise. Richard Hawkins was now in about his thirtieth year; and he already had a wife and children. He had married a short time previously a lady whose Christian name was Judith, but I have not yet succeeded in ascertaining to what family she belonged. He was already an experienced sea captain, and had seen much service. He was a man of resource, observant and eager to adopt every new improvement or good suggestion. Devoted to his profession, his whole mind was wrapped up in its interests, he paid 34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_ship_Dainty_(1588) 35 close attention to every detail, and nothing seemed to escape him. Thus his Observations are a perfect storehouse of valuable information of all kinds, and every incident of the voyage leads him off into reminiscences of former experiences, or into statements of facts and observations gathered from others. The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins will be found from pages 89 to 329 of the present volume. On the 13th of June 1593, Richard Hawkins, having taken his unhappy last leave of his father, sailed from Plymouth on board the Daintie, accomp.xxv panied by the Fancy pinnace of 60 tons, and a victualler named the Hawk. The most noteworthy event during the voyage across the Atlantic was the sighting of land of which Hawkins believed himself to be the first discoverer, and which he named “Hawkins’s maiden-land”. This was on the 2nd of February 1594, in latitude, according to Hawkins, about 49° 30' S. Hawkins wrote from memory, and fortunately he is corrected, as regards his latitude, by one of his officers named Ellis, who tells us that the land was in 50° S. and about fifty leagues off the Straits of Magellan. Without doubt they sighted the Falkland Islands, but the group had already been discovered by John Davis,35 the great Arctic Navigator, in August 1592. Davis reached Berehaven on June 11th, 1593, and Hawkins sailed from Plymouth on June 13th, so that Hawkins was not aware of the previous discovery. Passing through the Strait of Magellan, the Daintie ranged up the west coast of South America, encountered a Spanish fleet off Chilca, from which she was separated by a gale of wind, and anchored in the bay of p.xxvi Atacames on June 10th, 1594. Hawkins was now on the coast of the province of Quito, a little to the north of the equator. Atacames Bay is in 0° 57' 30" N. To the left is Cape San Francisco, off which Sir Francis Drake captured his rich prize the Cacafuego on March 1st, 1579. To the right is the mouth of the great river of Santiago, and the bay of San Mateo. It is a coast which was much frequented by Dampier and the buccaneers in the end of the following century. On the 14th of June Hawkins was in the Bay of San 35 Scurvy occurred also on the voyage of John Davis https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17884408 36 Mateo. On the 17th he was about to make sail and p.xxvii leave the coast of South America, when the Spanish fleet, under the command of Don Beltran de Castro, came round the point. Hawkins fought a most gallant action, and did not surrender until he had received several wounds, was quite over-matched, and the ship was sinking. He also gives a most spirited and interesting account of it, interspersed with remarks on naval discipline, gunnery, and seamanship. After three days’ hard fighting the gallant young Englishman surrendered to superior force on the 22nd of June, 1594. The Spanish commander, Don Beltran de Castro, a humane and honorable man, granted quarter, and promised that Hawkins and his people should be allowed to return to their own country. Don Beltran received young Hawkins with great courtesy and kindness, and accommodated him in his own cabin. The prize was taken to Panama, where she arrived on the 9th of July, the distance from San Mateo being 500 miles, a very slow passage. She was re-christened the Visitacion. I have inserted, after the Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins, a Spanish account of the naval action between our hero and Don Beltran de Castro, which I have translated from the life of the Marquis of Canete, Viceroy of Peru, by Dr. Don Christobal Suarez de p.xxviii Figueroa. Readers will thus be able to form a judgment from the accounts of both sides. They agree on p.xxix all material points. Hawkins wrote from memory, and many years after the event; while Suarez de Figueroa, although he was not an actor in the scenes he describes, had the great advantage of having at his disposal all the official and other documents formerly in the possession of the Viceroy of Peru at the time. Hawkins and his fellow prisoners were taken to Payta, and thence to Lima. Hawkins was at first treated with kindness and consideration by the Marquis of Canete, then Viceroy of Peru; and his servant Saunders says that he was beloved for his valour, by all brave men in those parts. He was received, says Saunders, by all the best of the country, and carried by them to a princely house all richly hanged, the which he had to himself. But afterwards he was claimed by the Inquisition, and suffered much anxiety and annoyance. The Viceroy delayed entire compliance 37 with the requisition of the Holy Office on the ground that he had no instructions. Nevertheless, within six or seven days of his arrival at Lima, Hawkins was carried by a Father to the “Holy House”, to rest there p.xxx till they heard what should be done with him. The honour of Don Beltran de Castro, who had promised that Hawkins and his people should be allowed to return to England, was also compromised. The Marquis wrote to Philip II for orders, and received a very ambiguous reply, dated December 1595. The King wrote:— “You understand that he (Hawkins) is a person of quality. In this matter I desire that Justice may be done conformably to the quality of the persons.” This loop-hole probably enabled the Viceroy to defy the Inquisition, and Hawkins was sent to Spain, by way of Panama in 1597, after a detention of three years at Lima. Purchas gives two interesting extracts from letters written by fellow captives of Hawkins. The first is A brief note written by Master John Ellis, one of the captains with Sir Richard Hawkins in his voyage through the Strait of Magellan, begunne the ninth of April 1593, concerning the said strait and certaine places on the coast and inland of Peru. Ellis made a journey from Lima across the Andes to Guamanga and Cuzco. He was the first Englishman who ever visited the ancient capital of the Yncas,36 which he describes as being as “big as Bristol, having a castle on a hill with stones of 20 tons weight strangely joined together without mortar”. Purchas next gives two letters from T. Saunders, servant to Sir Richard Hawkins, addressed to his father, Sir John, from the prison at San Lucar. Saunders speaks of one Master Lucas, p.xxxi who was condemned to the galleys by the Holy Office and sent to Nombre de Dios, where he died. Sir Richard was sent to Spain in a galleon which touched at Terceira, in the Azores. A fleet under the Earl of Essex chased her into the roads, and she did not escape without loss, for the splinters from the English shot killed and wounded a dozen Spaniards. The galleon, with Hawkins on board, then continued its voyage to Seville, and in the Observations there is an account of a curious accident which befell two ships at anchor in the river, owing to a Spanish punctilio. Sir Richard was thrown into prison at Seville, in 36 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Empire 38 defiance of the terms of his surrender, and was dishonourably detained for several years. Don Beltran de Castro was indignant at a breach of faith which compromised his honour, and persistently protested against it, but for a long time without avail. In May 1598 p.xxxii a letter to Cecil reported that Hawkins was still kept in the castle at San Lucar, as a hostage for Spaniards in England. Another letter from Lisbon reported that Captain Hawkins escaped out of the castle of Seville in September 1598, but was taken, thrust into a dungeon, and great store of irons put upon him. In the following year the unhappy captive managed to send a message to England. One Deacon, Sir Richard’s servant, was passed over by Martin de Marseval from St. Jean de Luz, and enabled to get on board a British vessel of St. Ives in the Breton port of Conquet, in August 1599. In April 1600 Richard Cooke, another messenger, brought news of the captive, taking a passage in the Diana of Portsmouth. By one of these channels Hawkins made a touching appeal to Queen Elizabeth, his letter being dated April 1st, 1598. He wrote from his prison in Seville, asking for compassion in the name of his father’s services, who sacrificed his life for his Queen. He added that he himself had spent fifteen years in her service without pay or recompense, knowing that she had infinite charges while he had a good estate; and he urged that he was in danger of perpetual imprisonment unless her powerful hand was reached out. The letter concludes with a pitious appeal in the name of his wife and children. In 1599 he was removed to Madrid. His next letter is dated from the Court Prison at p.xxxiii Madrid, on October 23rd, 1599, and addressed to Sir Henry Nevill, the English Ambassador at Paris. He tells him that he is the unfortunate son of Sir John Hawkins; that he fought for three days and nights and was wounded in six places; that most of his men were killed and wounded, and that he surrendered when the ship was ready to sink. The Spanish general sent his glove as a pledge to give life and liberty; but he had been detained lest he should return and molest the Spaniards. Most of his people had been freed long ago. He entreated the Ambassador to intercede with the Queen for him. “I and my father”, he concluded, “ever since we could bear arms, spent time and sub39 stance in her service.” The dishonorable detention of Richard Hawkins at last excited the indignation of a more powerful man than Don Beltran de Castro. The credit of his release p.xxxiv is due to the Count of Miranda, who declared, if a prisoner was detained whose liberty had been promised, no future agreement could ever be made, because faith in Spanish honour would be destroyed. His views prevailed, and Richard Hawkins at length returned to England, after a dreary captivity of nearly eight years. It was a sad home-coming. The brave old father gone, the estates of both ruined, and long years of the prime of life utterly wasted. Richard Hawkins settled down, with his wife and children, in one of the most secluded combes between Dartp.xxxv mouth37 and the Start Point.38 The road from Dartmouth to Slapton leads southwards along the coast, with the sea generally in sight, first up a very steep hill to Stoke Fleming, then down to the little hamlet of Blackpool in a shingly bay, up again to Street, and down to the long reach of Slapton Sands,39 which extends for several miles, almost to the Start. The “sands” are in reality a steep bank of fine shingle, within which there is a fresh water lake called the Ley, about three miles long, full of roach and pike, and frequented by water fowl of all kinds. A causeway leads across the Ley and over the hill, down into the pretty little village of Slapton. The church has a low tower and spire, a nave separated from the two aisles by four arches, and good perpendicular windows. There is a very richly carved wooden rood screen across the chancel and others across each aisle, with grapes and vine leaves carved along the upper borders. Old glass from other windows has been collected in a south chancel window, consisting of coats of arms of the Bryan family (or three piles azure). Near the church, and in the hollow where the village is built, there is a tall ivycovered tower of the fourteenth century, part of a chantry founded by Jane, the wife of Sir Guy de Bryan, K.G. Slapton was originally the property of the Bryan family. In the time of Henry VIII it was sold to Edward Ameredith, and his son 37 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dartmouth,_Devon 38 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Start_Point,_Devon 39 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slapton,_Devon 40 John sold Slapton and Pole to Sir Richard Hawp.xxxvi kins. From Slapton church a pretty Devonshire lane leads up for a quarter-of-a-mile to Pole, where is the site of the old residence of the Bryans, Amerediths, and Hawkinses, in a secluded hollow, with many fine trees. No ruins remain now, and the site is occupied by a modern house and farm buildings. From the lane leading down from Pole to Slapton there is a view of the sea, with Start Point in the distance. It was here that Sir p.xxxvii Richard Hawkins lived during the last twenty years of his life, with his wife and family; passing down the lane to Slapton church every Sunday, and doubtless recounting his adventures and sufferings to friends and relations during many a summer stroll and winter evening in the old house at Pole. But Sir Richard Hawkins was very far from being an idle man in his Devonshire home. He was knighted by James I, was appointed Vice-Admiral of Devon, p.xxxviii and was often at Plymouth on business connected with his office. In March 1605 we find him sequestering a Spanish prize laden with Brazil wood and sugar, which was driven into Salcombe bay. In June 1608 he is corresponding with the Earl of Nottingham respecting some pirates, and discussing a question of Admiralty jurisdiction; and in September of the same year mention is made of his active prosecution of pirates, in his office of Vice-Admiral of Devon. He was also engaged in projects for a new voyage of discovery. In March 1614 there was a proposal before the Governors of the East India Company for carrying out a favourite scheme of Sir James Lancaster to send a ship through Magellan’s Straits to the Solomon Islands, and it was suggested that Sir Richard Hawkins should have the command. He was generally held to be of “courage, art, and knowledge” to attempt such enterprise. There is a letter from Sir Richard himself to the Company on this subject, dated July 16th, 1614. He referred to a discovery formerly made by him, and to his desire to undertake another voyage to the Straits in person. A Committee was appointed to confer with Sir James Lancaster on the subject, and then to treat with Sir Richard, but with orders not to meddle with his ship, which was very old. He offered, with others, to join the Company in adventuring p.xxxix 41