mountayns. And it is true, that the governer DIEGO POLEMEQUE,1 and foure other captains, being slayn, of which my sonne WATTE slue one; PLESSINGTON, WATT'S serjeant,3 and JOHN of Morrocoes, one of his men, slue other two. I say five of them [being] slaine in the enterance of the towne, the rest went of in a whole body, and tooke more care to defend the passages to their myens (of which they had three within a leauge of the towne, besides a myne that was about five myles of) then they did of the towne itselfe. 5 Yet KEMISH, at the first, was resolved to go to the myene; but when he came to the banke-side to the lande, hee had two of his men slaine outrighte from the banke, and six other hurte, and Captain THORNIX shott in the head, of which wounde, and the accidents thereof, hee hath pined away these twelve weeks. Now when KEMISH came backe, and gave mee the former reasons which moved him not to open the myene-the one, the death of my sonne; the second, the weakenes of the English, and their impossibilities to worke and to be victualled; a third, that it were a follye to discover it for the Spanyards; and the last, both my weaknes and my beinge unpardoned—and that I rejected all these arguments, and told him that I must leave him to himselfe, to resolve it to the King and the State, he shutt upp him selfe into his cabbin, and shott him selfe with a pocket pistoll, which brake one of his ribbs; and finding that itt had not prevailed, hee thruste a longe knife under his shorte ribbs upp to the handle, and dyed. Thus much I have writt to Mr. 1 MS. Harl. reads "Polencyo." 2 Ib. reads "whereof Watte." 3 Ib. "servant." 4 MS. Sloane reads "cach two." 5 Ib. "cittie." So in both MSS. and in many other transcripts; but evidently a misreading of "fower." 7 Here MS. Harl. inserts "his." MS. Sloane, "aunswer." 9 MS. Harl. "hee." LETTER 1618. March 22. LETTER 1618. March 22. Seacretary, to whose letters I referr you. 1 But because I thinke my freinds will rather hearken after you then any other to knowe the truthe, I did after the sealinge breake open your 2 letter againe, to let you knowe in breife the state of that busines, which I pray you impart to my Lord of NORTHUMBERLAND, and SIL. SKORY" | and to Sir JOHN LEIGH. | 4 For the rest, there was never poore man soe exposed to the slaughter as I was; for beinge commaunded upon my allegiance to sett downe, not onely the country, but the very river by which I was to enter it, to name my shipps, number my men, and my artillery;-this' was sent by the Spanish ambassador to his master, the Kinge of Spaine. The King wrote his letters to all parts of the Indyes, espetially to the governor POLOMEQUE of Guiana, El Dorado, and Trinidado; of which the first letter bare date the 19th of March, 1617, at Madrill, when I had not yett lefte the Thames; which letter I have | sent Mr. Seacretary. I have also two other letters of the King's which I reserve, and one of the Councell. The King alsoe sent a comission to leavye 300 soldiers out of his garrisons of Nuevo Reigno de Granadoes or Porto Rico, with tenn peeces of brasse ordnance to entertaine us. Hee alsoe prepared an armadoo by sea to sett uppon It weare to longe to tell you how we weere preserved. | 10 If I live, I shall make it known. | My braynes are broken, and I cannot write much. I live yet, and I have told you why. WHITNEY, for whome I sold my plate at Plymouth, and to whome I gave more us. 11 1 MS. Harl. omits from "but" to "any other." 5 MS. Harl. inserts "now." 2 Ib. reads "the" 4 These five words are omitted in MS. Harl. "This now was sent," &c. 6 MS. Sloane omits the words "of Spaine." 7 MS. Harl. omits two.” 8 Ib. reads “and." ? Ib. reads "army" MS. Sloane omits this clause. 11 MS. Harl. inserts all. creditt and countenance then all the captaines of my fleete, ran from mee at the Granadoes, and WOOLASTON with him; soe as I am1 nowe but five shipps, and one 2 of those I have sent home-my fly-boate-and in her a rable of idle rascalls, which I knowe will not spare to wounde mee; but I care not. I am sure there is never a base slave in the fleete hath taken the paines and care that I have done; hath sleppt so little, and travilled soe much. My frends will not beleive them; and for the rest I care not. God in heaven blesse you and strengthen your hart. Your LETTER CLV. 1618. March 22. W. RALEGH. 1 MS. Harl. reads, "that I have." Ib. "out of those I have sent some into my fly-boate," &c. 3 Ib. inserts "all." 4 Ib. "that have." PREFATORY NOTE TO LETTER CLVI. PARTICULARS OF THE GUIANA ENTERPRISE. THIS Letter was sent to the King through the hands of "Most gratious Soveraigne, "Heere hath your Majesty something more ex farragine istius veteratoris, but what it is I know not. I only told him that your Majesty said that what he had before written was something, but that you loke! for more. To which hee answeared and protested, with many othes, that he had written all that he knew. ‘Nay,' said I, ‘you have written nothing of that you told me, concerning your conselling for takeing the Indian Fleete, and your saying that you had a French commission; and of one Captain Charles Sage, a Frenchman, who promised to bring you shipps and men from Rochell.' To this he answeared that he thought your Majesty desired nothing but the busines with the Agent and Frenchmen now, and about his escape. But,' said he, if His Majesty desire to know former matters, I can say much more;' and soc desired paper and inck to sett it downe, which before I gave him, I conjured him by all meanes I cold, to sett down all his knowledg, not only of this buisnes before herin mentioned, but of any other matter whatsoever here or elsewhere that might concerne your 1 So in MS. It should evidently be 'Faige. See the Letter to De Bisseaux. TORY NOTE TO CLVI. Majesty to know; which, he said, he wold do, but in PREFA- The copy of Wilson's letter preserved by himself in the State Paper Office, of which he had the custody, a fact very necessary to be borne in mind, in regard to all these documents of 1618,—is twice dated in his own hand, "24 Sept. ;" and is endorsed "Copy of my letter to His Majesty, with a letter to him from Sir W. Rawley;" and thus the date of Sir Walter's letter is ascertained. The letter is followed, under the same date of 24 Sept., by a series of questions and answers in the hand of one of Wilson's clerks, which read thus :— 1 The entire tenor of Wilson's correspondence—to say nothing of his well-known character-warrants from an editor the renewed caution, that for such assertions as this, as for so many others in regard to the incidents of Ralegh's imprisonment and conversation, in 1618, the reader has before him Wilson's word, and that only. 1618. |