foreshore, a small party set off around the bay in a small pinnace and returned with a huge number of seals and penguins. Lancaster even managed to shoot an antelope.
Despite all the fresh meat many of the men remained desperately sick. A health check revealed that less than two hundred men were 'sound and whole' and fifty were too ill to work. A decision was taken: the Penelope and Edward Bonaventure would continue eastwards while the Merchant Royal 'was sent home for England with diverse weake men'. The expedition was now down to two ships, both of which were dangerously undermanned.
It was only a matter of days before the expedition met with disaster. No sooner had the two remaining vessels rounded the Cape of Good Hope than a tremendous storm sank the Penelope with the loss of all hands:
We encountered with a mighty storme and extreme gusts of wind, wherein we lost our General's companie [the Penelope] and could never heare of him nor his ship any more, though we did our best endeavour to seeke him ... Foure dayes after this uncomfortable separation, in the morning, toward ten of the clocke, we had a terrible clap of thunder, which slew foure of our men outright, their necks being wrung in sonder without speaking any word, and of 94 men there was not one untouched; whereof some were striken blind, others were bruised in their legs and arms, and others in their brests, so that they voided blood two dayes after; others were drawne out at length, as though they had been racked. But (God be thanked) they all recovered, saving only the foure which were slaine outright. Also with the same thunder our main mast was torn very greviously from the head to the deck, and some of the spikes, that were ten inches into the timber, were melted with the extreme heate thereof.
Lancaster's vessel, the Edward Bonaventure , was now alone, a dangerous situation for a ship about to enter uncharted waters. Worse still the ship's master, William Mace, was killed by natives while making a sortie for water on the shores of Mozambique. Luckily help was at hand. When a Portuguese merchant-ship sent a message to Lancaster by way of a negro in a canoe, 'we took the negro along with us, because we understood he had been in the East Indies and knew somewhat of the countrie.'This became a regular practice among the English captains and the only sure way of finding the remote and isolated Spice Islands. Unfortunately, this particular 'negro' proved a disaster. Allowing the ship to be blown hopelessly off course, he missed the Laccadive Islands in the Arabian Sea where Lancaster had intended to revictual and decided to head to the Nicobar Islands instead. 'But in our course we were very much deceived by the currents,' and these islands also eluded the ship so that by the time she reached Penang off the coast of Malaysia the crew were once again in a desperate condition. Only thirty-three men were left alive, and eleven of these were so sick that they were unable to man the ship. After cruising the coastline for a few days, Lancaster spotted a large Portuguese ship sailing from Goa. To attack her was a great gamble but Lancaster was prepared to take the risk. Ordering the men to prime their cannon, he 'shot at her many shot, and at last shooting her maine-yard through, she came to anker and yielded'. The captain and crew escaped in little rowing boats leaving the English to ransack the vessel. She was loaded with a hotchpotch of cargo, including sixteen brass cannon, three hundred butts of Canary wine and a good supply of raisin wine 'which is verie strong', as well as red caps, worsted stockings and sweetmeats. As soon as these had been transferred onto the Edward Bonaventure Lancaster set sail in order to escape the danger of reprisals.
Sailing north-west towards Ceylon — and lost in the vastness of the Indian Ocean — the crew now decided that they had had more than enough adventure. With their captain languishing in his cabin, 'very sick, more
Despite all the fresh meat many of the men remained desperately sick. A health check revealed that less than two hundred men were 'sound and whole' and fifty were too ill to work. A decision was taken: the Penelope and Edward Bonaventure would continue eastwards while the Merchant Royal 'was sent home for England with diverse weake men'. The expedition was now down to two ships, both of which were dangerously undermanned.
It was only a matter of days before the expedition met with disaster. No sooner had the two remaining vessels rounded the Cape of Good Hope than a tremendous storm sank the Penelope with the loss of all hands:
We encountered with a mighty storme and extreme gusts of wind, wherein we lost our General's companie [the Penelope] and could never heare of him nor his ship any more, though we did our best endeavour to seeke him ... Foure dayes after this uncomfortable separation, in the morning, toward ten of the clocke, we had a terrible clap of thunder, which slew foure of our men outright, their necks being wrung in sonder without speaking any word, and of 94 men there was not one untouched; whereof some were striken blind, others were bruised in their legs and arms, and others in their brests, so that they voided blood two dayes after; others were drawne out at length, as though they had been racked. But (God be thanked) they all recovered, saving only the foure which were slaine outright. Also with the same thunder our main mast was torn very greviously from the head to the deck, and some of the spikes, that were ten inches into the timber, were melted with the extreme heate thereof.
Lancaster's vessel, the Edward Bonaventure , was now alone, a dangerous situation for a ship about to enter uncharted waters. Worse still the ship's master, William Mace, was killed by natives while making a sortie for water on the shores of Mozambique. Luckily help was at hand. When a Portuguese merchant-ship sent a message to Lancaster by way of a negro in a canoe, 'we took the negro along with us, because we understood he had been in the East Indies and knew somewhat of the countrie.'This became a regular practice among the English captains and the only sure way of finding the remote and isolated Spice Islands. Unfortunately, this particular 'negro' proved a disaster. Allowing the ship to be blown hopelessly off course, he missed the Laccadive Islands in the Arabian Sea where Lancaster had intended to revictual and decided to head to the Nicobar Islands instead. 'But in our course we were very much deceived by the currents,' and these islands also eluded the ship so that by the time she reached Penang off the coast of Malaysia the crew were once again in a desperate condition. Only thirty-three men were left alive, and eleven of these were so sick that they were unable to man the ship. After cruising the coastline for a few days, Lancaster spotted a large Portuguese ship sailing from Goa. To attack her was a great gamble but Lancaster was prepared to take the risk. Ordering the men to prime their cannon, he 'shot at her many shot, and at last shooting her maine-yard through, she came to anker and yielded'. The captain and crew escaped in little rowing boats leaving the English to ransack the vessel. She was loaded with a hotchpotch of cargo, including sixteen brass cannon, three hundred butts of Canary wine and a good supply of raisin wine 'which is verie strong', as well as red caps, worsted stockings and sweetmeats. As soon as these had been transferred onto the Edward Bonaventure Lancaster set sail in order to escape the danger of reprisals.
Sailing north-west towards Ceylon — and lost in the vastness of the Indian Ocean — the crew now decided that they had had more than enough adventure. With their captain languishing in his cabin, 'very sick, more
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