CHAPTER XVII.. The State of the West India Islands When Discovered—Wreck of One

The state of the West India Islands when discovered—Wreck of one of the vessels of the expedition—A colony established—Columbus sets sail for Spain, 4th January, 1493—Arrives at St. Mary’s, 18th February, and in the Tagus a few days afterwards—Re-enters, with his ship, the harbour of Palos, 15th March—Great rejoicings—He proceeds to Seville and Barcelona—Orders for a fresh expedition—Its extent, and departure, 25th Sept., 1493—Reaches Dominica, 2nd Nov., 1493, and Santa Cruz, 14th Nov.—Arrives at Hayti, 22nd Nov.—Founds a fresh colony at Hispaniola or Hayti—Sufferings of the colonists, and disappointment of Columbus—His sanguine expectations for the future—Threatened mutiny among the colonists—Columbus proceeds on further explorations—Discovery of the island of Jamaica—Surveys Cuba, and returns to Isabella—Arrival of Bartholomew Columbus—Intrigues at home—Commission of inquiry despatched to Hayti—Columbus sets sail for Europe, 10th March, 1496—Arrives at Cadiz, 11th June, 1496—Re-visits the West, May, 1498—Reaches Trinidad, 31st July—Discovers Tobago, Granada, and other islands, reaching Hispaniola, 19th August—Finds everything in disorder—Makes a tour of inspection, but is arrested, and sent a prisoner to Spain—Arrives at Cadiz, Nov. 1500, and is restored to the royal favour—A fleet sails for the colony with Ovando, Feb. 1502, and two months afterwards (9th May) Columbus follows, and reaches St. Domingo, 29th June—Discovers the island of Guanaga 30th July—Trading canoe—Her cargo—Prosecutes his researches to the South—Reaches Cape Honduras—Discovers and explores the Mosquito coast—Puerto Bello—Forms a settlement on the river Belem, 6th Feb., 1503—Anchors at Jamaica, June 1503, and Dominica, 13th August of that year—Sails for Spain, 12th September, which he reaches 7th Nov., 1504—His sufferings and death, 20th May, 1506.

Philosophers and philanthropists may ask with some show of reason when they read the history of the West Indies during the last three hundred years, and compare the state of its inhabitants with that in which Columbus found them, if civilization has in all cases increased the happiness of the human race. “Their habitations,” remarks Washington Irving, referring to the aborigines, “were very simple, being in the form of a pavilion, or high circular tent, constructed of branches of trees, of reeds, and palm. They were kept very clean and neat, and sheltered under beautiful and spreading trees. For beds they had nets of cotton extended from two parts, which they called hamacs, a name since adopted into universal use among seamen.” Their groves were more beautiful than ever Columbus had anywhere else beheld; and the whole country, according to his description of it, was as fresh and green as the richest and most verdant valleys of Andalusia during the month of May, when the peninsula is adorned in its gayest colours. Amply supplied with springs and streams of cool and sweet water, and fruits of the richest description; with abundance of herbs of various kind; with animal food reared on the land where they lived, and abundant fish in the seas with which they were surrounded, what more could the original inhabitants of the West India Islands desire? “Here,” says Columbus in his journal, “are large lakes, with groves about them marvellous in beauty and in richness. The singing of the birds is such, that it seems as if one would never desire to depart hence. There are flocks of parrots which obscure the sun, and other birds large and small, of so many kinds, and so different from ours, that it is wonderful; and besides, there are trees of a thousand species, each having its particular fruit, and all of marvellous flavour.” These pictures may have been in some respects over-coloured by Columbus and his crew, after their arduous and weary voyage: but contemporary writers confirm the original beauty of the West India Islands; nor are there to this day many islands which look more beautiful from the sea than those which were first made known to the world by Christopher Columbus. But even if the descriptions of the happiness of the natives is in some respects overdrawn, their position, under the patriarchal rule of their native caciques, with few wants and little of fear or care, compares favourably with the state of these islands at any period since they came under the rule of the highly civilized nations of Europe. Nor were these poor people, though living in a state of nature, without some of the consolations of religion. “They confess,” remarks Peter Martyr, “the soul to be immortal, and having put off the bodily clothing, they imagine it goeth forth to the woods and the mountains, and that it liveth there perpetually in caves.”

Throughout the whole time Columbus was engaged in discovering and surveying these islands, he was under the conviction—a conviction which he carried to his grave—that they formed part of Asia, or rather of India, the name by which the greater part of that continent was then known, and that they were the islands spoken of by Marco Polo, as lying opposite Cathay in the Chinese Sea. Indeed, the great navigator construed everything he saw in harmony with the accounts of those opulent regions. When the natives spoke of enemies to the north-west, he concluded these to be people from the mainland of Asia, the subjects of the great Khan of Tatary, who, the Venetian traveller stated, were wont to make war on the islands and to enslave their inhabitants. When they described the country to the south as abounding in gold, he felt convinced that this must refer to the famous island of Zipango, of the magnificent capital of which Marco Polo had given such a glowing description. The fine gold trinkets the natives possessed confirmed their reports and his own impressions, whetted the avarice of the Spaniards, and made a search for the great Khan and his golden islands the chief results of his expedition.

Indeed the main purpose of Columbus, like that of Vasco de Gama—though the former was a man of far loftier character than the latter—was to find an opulent and civilized country in the East, with whom he might establish commercial relations, carrying home gold, spices, drugs, and Oriental merchandise. He hoped, too, that he would thus have the means of establishing the Christian religion in heathen lands, and from the profits of the undertaking to rescue the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem from the power of the Infidels. Such an enterprise had been the dream of his early manhood; nor indeed was it forgotten when his own earthly pilgrimage came to a close, for by his will he directs his son to appropriate certain sums of money to that sacred cause.

While cruising among the islands, Columbus had the misfortune to lose one of the three vessels of his expedition. She was swept during a calm by the strong current and through the carelessness of the crew on a sandbank, where she became a total wreck. Fortunately the weather continued calm, so that the lives of the crew, as well as everything on board, were saved. All the stores, with the assistance of the natives, were carefully stowed away in huts on shore. Nor was there the slightest disposition on their part to take the smallest advantage of the strangers who had come among them. Not one article was pilfered; not a “hawk’s bell,” nor a bead—to them objects of envy and delight—was taken away; nor were the most trifling articles appropriated while removing them in their canoes from the wreck to the shore. “So loving, so tractable, so peaceable are these people,” says Columbus in his journal, “that I swear to your Majesties, there is not in the world a better nation, nor a better land. They love their neighbours as themselves.” What an example the uncivilized savage here presents to the civilization of our own age, of which we so often make such vaunted boasts!

As most of the shipwrecked crew, besides some other persons belonging to the expedition, expressed a desire to be left behind, and as the two vessels would have been overcrowded with the three crews, their wishes suggested to Columbus the idea of constituting them the germ of a future colony. The wreck of the caravel provided abundant material for the fortress he had resolved to build. Her guns and ammunition were ready for its protection; and with his crews so reduced in number, he could spare provisions for the year, by the end of which he hoped to return. Having completed his arrangements, Columbus and the remaining caravels set sail for home on the 4th of January, 1493.

After suffering severely from a storm, and a long and wearisome struggle with the trade-winds, the nature and character of which was then unknown, Columbus reached the island of St. Mary’s on the 18th of February following, where he was detained for two or three days, and was afterwards obliged, through stress of weather and scarcity of provisions, to put into the Tagus.

When the tidings reached Lisbon that a Spanish barque lay anchored in the Tagus, freighted with the people and productions of a newly discovered world, the effect was electrical. For nearly a century that city had derived its chief glory from its maritime discoveries; but here was an achievement which eclipsed them all. The ship of a neighbouring and friendly, though rival, nation had, by sailing to the West, discovered the fabled land of Cathay, and had come from Zipango (Japan), and the extremity of India, laden with its treasures. Curiosity and envy combined could hardly have been more excited and aroused had Columbus brought with him the produce of another planet. For several days the once active but now lifeless though still beautiful Tagus was covered with boats and barges of every kind, all winding their way to the caravel. Visitors of every kind, from officers of the crown and cavaliers of high distinction down to the humblest of the people, thronged around the ship, eager to go on board and to see the strange human beings, plants, and animals from the new-found world, and to learn from the crew, if not from Columbus himself, the events of this remarkable voyage. Messengers came from King John with professions of congratulation on the great discovery, and an invitation to the palace, which Columbus accepted with reluctance, and only because the weather continued so stormy that he was unable to leave with his vessel for Spain. The king and the principal cavaliers of his household received him with much courtesy and pomp, though with jealous envy of his success and with many expressions of distrust and doubt.

Having satisfied the curiosity of the Portuguese court and people, Columbus set sail from the Tagus on the 13th of March, and two days afterwards entered the small harbour of Palos, having been seven months and a half absent on the most important maritime expedition recorded in history. Palos that day was the scene of extraordinary excitement and rejoicings, not unmingled, however, with doubts. Almost every family in the place had some relative or friend among the navigators. Great anxiety prevailed as to the safety of the crew of the wrecked caravel, who had remained to form the settlement at Hispaniola; and of the Pinta, which had been separated from Columbus in a storm the expedition had encountered before it reached St. Mary’s. But the fears for the safety of the Pinta were soon removed. In the afternoon of the same day on which Columbus arrived, and while the church and convent bells were still pealing forth a welcome to the great discoverer, Martin Alonzo Pinzon entered the river with his ship.

Slavish, indeed, was the welcome offered by the people to the great navigator, whose plans they had so recently rejected as mischievous and idle dreams. The whole population joined him at their principal church in offering thanks to God for a discovery, in the way of which they had themselves thrown innumerable difficulties. Wherever Columbus passed, the streets resounded with acclamations; and in that same place where he first came, a poor wanderer, craving water and bread at the gate of their convent for his famishing child, and where afterwards he had been hooted and despised, he was welcomed with honours rarely rendered to even monarchy itself.

Columbus, having despatched a letter to the king and queen, then at Barcelona, proceeded to Seville to await their orders, taking with him six of the natives whom he had brought to Spain. The letter announcing his discovery had produced an extraordinary sensation, not merely at the Spanish court, but in every part of Europe whither the news had spread. To Spain, then approaching the plenitude of her power, this discovery, following so closely on the conquest of Granada, was considered to be a special mark of Divine favour to the nation which had subdued the Moors and extended the Christian faith. Throughout the whole country it was hailed with the most enthusiastic delight, and the journey of Columbus from Seville to Barcelona was one continued triumph. Every preparation had been made at the latter city to give him a solemn and magnificent reception. Surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of courtiers and Spanish chivalry, and followed by a long retinue, of which the Indians formed a part, Columbus marched in procession through streets crowded with people, and lined by houses gaily decorated, to the chief square of the city, where the sovereigns, under a rich canopy, awaited his arrival. The principal nobility of Castile, Valentia, Catalonia, and Aragon, were there with Ferdinand and Isabella, impatient to behold and welcome the great discoverer, whose majestic and venerable appearance enhanced their admiration and enthusiasm. When he approached, the sovereigns rose as if receiving a person of the highest rank. Briefly delivering an account of his voyage, Columbus displayed the strange Indians, animals, and plants, with a few specimens of native gold, and some barbaric ornaments he had brought from the new found country; and prayers were then offered by the whole of that brilliant assembly, in which the king and queen on their knees solemnly joined.

A discovery so great and astounding soon spread far and wide, and embassies and travelling merchants diffused the tidings in every land. Sebastian Cabot describes the first receipt of the news in London, and the talk and admiration created in the court of Henry VII., as if it was “a thing more divine than human.” Indeed, the whole civilized world, filled with wonder and delight, rejoiced in an event which opened out a new and unbounded field for inquiry and enterprise, although no one had an idea of the real importance of the discovery, nor that it was an entirely new and distinct portion of the globe which had been discovered. Nor, indeed, was any time lost in securing to the crown of Spain these valuable acquisitions. Arrangements were at once made to fit out a fleet on an extensive scale, and the royal injunctions, though highly arbitrary, were now obeyed with the utmost alacrity. A fleet of seventeen vessels, large and small, were soon ready. The best pilots were chosen for the service, while skilled husbandmen, miners, and other mechanics, were engaged for the colonies it was intended to found. Horses for military purposes and for stocking the country, together with cattle and domestic animals of various kinds, were likewise provided, as well as seeds of almost every description, and plants, including vines and sugar canes; nor was there wanting an abundant supply of trinkets, beads, hawks’-bells, looking-glasses, and other showy trifles, to induce traffic among the natives. The most exaggerated accounts spread of the fabulous wealth of the territories, and adventurers of every kind, from the highest to the very lowest, were equally eager to join in the expedition. Some were doubtless inflamed with the mere hope and lust of wealth, while others less selfish in their motives pictured to themselves a wide field for the display of their military genius and skill, in what did not seem impossible to them, the actual conquest of the grand Khan and the capture of the fabled land of Cathay.

The number of persons permitted to embark in the expedition had been originally limited to one thousand, but the applications from volunteers were so numerous that fifteen hundred persons were eventually enrolled; and early on the morning of the 25th of September, 1493, they sailed from the bay of Cadiz in three large vessels and fourteen caravels. No accounts of the size of any of these vessels have been transmitted to posterity except the brief statement made in a note by Washington Irving, from the writings of Peter Martyr, who says that they “were carracks (a large species of merchant vessel, principally used in the coasting trade), of 100 tons.” But the carracks of the commercial marine of the Venetians and Genoese of those days were of very considerable dimensions, in some few instances from 1500 to 2000 tons, and were employed on the most distant voyages then known. Of one of these, Charnock, as we have seen, has given a drawing; she is a full-rigged ship, well equipped, and evidently not less than 1500 tons register, taken from a painting at Genoa, dated 1542, so that it may be fairly presumed that in his second voyage the largest of the vessels of Columbus was far beyond 100 tons. Considering that he had with him fifteen hundred persons, some of them members of the best families of Spain, with large quantities of stores and merchandise, it may be safely assumed that the “three large vessels” were carracks of from 400 to 600 tons; while the fourteen caravels may have been craft ranging from 250 down to 70 tons, as Columbus on more than one occasion had urged the necessity of having small vessels, of light draft of water, adapted for the survey of the coasts, or for river navigation.

The incidents of this voyage have been pleasantly related by one Dr. Chanca, who was physician to the fleet, in a letter addressed by him to the chapter of Seville. Starting with a fair wind and fine weather, Columbus, in six days, reached the great Canary Island, where he anchored, and remained for a day to repair a leaky vessel of his flotilla, after which they set sail for Gomera, which they were “four or five days” in reaching, and thence, after another day’s rest, during which they took in a fresh supply of wood, beef, and other provisions and replenished their stock of water, they reached in twenty days the island of Ferro; thence with a fair wind, and fine weather, they were another twenty days in sighting land, which “should have been done in fourteen or fifteen days, if the ship Capitana had been as good a sailer as the other vessels.” This land, which they made on the evening of Saturday, the 2nd of November, proved to be a lofty island, to which Columbus gave the name of Dominica, and “offered fervent prayers to heaven” for their prosperous voyage. The island appeared to be wholly uninhabited.

Proceeding to the island of Guadeloupe, they visited a village near the shore; but the inhabitants at their approach fled in great trepidation, leaving some of their children, around whose necks and arms the Spaniards placed hawks’-bells, and other trinkets, soothing them at the same time with their caresses, as the most sure means of winning the confidence of their parents. Here provisions were found in abundance, besides parrots of the most variegated plumage, as large as household fowls, and many geese domesticated like those of Europe.

After cruising among the other islands of the group of the Antilles, the expedition anchored on the 14th of November off an island, to which Columbus gave the name of Santa Cruz, which, like all the others, was inhabited by Caribs. Thence pursuing his voyage, he shortly afterwards came in sight of a cluster of small islands of various shapes and appearances, some of them covered with forests, but the greater portion naked and sterile, and all apparently uninhabited. To the largest of these he gave the name of Sta. Ursula. Proceeding onwards he soon arrived in sight of the large island, now known as Porto Rico, covered with beautiful forests, and indented with fine havens, the inhabitants of which, who appear to have been peaceful and populous, were much troubled by the ravages of their implacable enemies, the Caribs. Having remained here for two days, Columbus set sail for Hispaniola, where the fleet anchored on the 22nd of November, and having coasted round to La Navidad, where he had formed the settlement on the first voyage, he was greatly grieved to learn the disasters which in the short interval of a year had befallen the Spaniards whom he had left behind. Several of them had died of sickness; others had fallen in a quarrel which had occurred among themselves, and the remainder, it was said, had removed to other parts of the island, where they had taken to themselves native wives. Such was the end of the first European colonists in the New World.

Arrangements were, however, made for the establishment of another colony, though not on the same spot, the land in the vicinity being low, moist, and unhealthy, and destitute of stone suitable for the erection of a fortress and of other necessary buildings. After a thorough search around the coast and up various rivers for a suitable site, Columbus decided to settle upon the shores of an excellent and capacious harbour, about ten leagues east of Monte Christo, and disembarking his troops, labourers, and artificers, commenced erecting a city on a well-devised plan, with streets, squares, church, public storehouse, and residence for the admiral built of stone. To this, the first permanent city in the Western world, Columbus gave the name of Isabella, in honour of that enlightened sovereign, without whose aid these islands would probably not have been discovered till many years afterwards.

But the new colony had a severe ordeal to pass through before it was successfully established. Maladies of various kinds broke out among the settlers. Many who had suffered severely from the sea voyage, and from the salt provisions to which they had been reduced, soon fell a prey to the exhalations of the hot climate, and to the humid vapours from the rivers and undrained land; while others, accustomed to highly-cultivated countries with the comforts of a superior home, suffered severely from the stagnant air of the dense forests around them. Most, too, of the settlers were grievously disappointed, that they had not yet discovered the golden regions of Cathay and Zipango, nor even a region of Indian luxury, or wide fields for chivalrous enterprises. Gold, they soon found, could only be obtained in small quantities, chiefly through the medium of barter with the natives: even Columbus was disappointed. When the ships had discharged their cargoes, and it was necessary to send the greater part of them back to Spain, there was neither “gold nor precious merchandise” ready for shipment, which he expected the Spaniards, whom he had left behind on his previous voyage, would have collected. All these hopes had been rudely dispelled. The most extravagant expectations having been entertained in Spain, Columbus pictured to himself the disappointment of his sovereigns and of the nation when his fleet returned empty, and conveyed to an expectant and excited people the intelligence of the disasters which had befallen the first colonists in a country of such fabled wealth and unbounded resources.

However, in the twelve ships which were despatched to Spain, the remaining five having been retained for his own purposes and for those of the newly-established colony, Columbus sent home some specimens of gold, and such fruits or plants as appeared to be either curious or valuable, expressing his own confident and sanguine anticipations of soon being able to make valuable shipments of precious metals, drugs, and spices. “Without penetrating into the interior of the country,” he remarks, “we have found spots showing so many indications of various spices, as naturally to suggest the hope of the best results for the future. The same holds good with respect to the gold mines; for two parties only who were sent out in different directions to discover them, and who, because they had few people with them, remained out but a short time, found, nevertheless, a great number of rivers, whose sands contained this precious metal in such quantity, that each man took up a sample of it in his hand; so that our two messengers returned so joyous, and boasted so much of the abundance of gold, that I feel a hesitation in speaking and writing of it to their highnesses.”

So sanguine, indeed, was Columbus that gold would be found in great abundance that, in the same memorial, he adds, “I will undertake to go in search of these rivers; either proceeding hence by land and looking out for the best expedients that may offer, or else by sea, rounding the island, until we come to the place which is described as being only six or seven leagues from where these rivers that I speak of are situated; so that we may collect the gold in safety, and put it in security against all attacks in some stronghold or tower, which may be quickly built for that purpose; and thus, when the two caravels shall return thither, the gold may be taken away, and finally sent home in safety at the first favourable season for making the voyage.”

Few, however, of the thousand colonists who had settled at Isabella were disposed to wait patiently for the happy time Columbus had shadowed forth. Disappointed in their expectations of immediate wealth, disgusted with the labours imposed upon them by which alone they were enabled to erect their houses, and to obtain the necessary means of existence, and appalled by the maladies prevalent throughout the community, they began to look with horror on their situation: and when the last sail disappeared which was destined for Spain, they felt as if severed for ever from their homes, and that the strange land where they had settled seemed destined to be their grave. To return to Spain soon became their ruling idea. Discontent daily increased; and at last the most daring spirits among them proposed that they should seize upon one or all of the five ships then in harbour, and return home. The mutiny was, however, checked for a time by the condign punishment of the ringleaders.

When order had been somewhat restored Columbus made an expedition into the interior, and on his return, on the 29th of March, 1494, he was gratified to find that many of his expectations, in regard to the future prosperity of the colony, were likely to be speedily realised. The plants and fruits of the Old World gave promise of rapid increase; the seeds had produced young plants; the sugar-cane had prospered beyond his most sanguine anticipations; ears of corn made their appearance from seed only sown in January; while cuttings from European vines already began to form their clusters. Amid all his anxieties and troubles, it was gratifying to find that the rich plains of Andalusia were not to be compared to the virgin soil of the new-found world, which, moistened by the rivers, and stimulated by an ardent sun, possessed principles of fecundity unknown in any part of Europe. The town of Isabella, however, proved to have been built on an unhealthy situation, and in after years fell to ruins.

Having left his brother, Don Diego, in charge of the colony, Columbus set forth again, on the 24th of April, on a further voyage of discovery, and steering to the westward, resolved to revisit the coast of Cuba, at the point he had left it on his first voyage, and thence to explore it on the southern side, under the conviction that he must eventually arrive at Cathay. Though charmed beyond measure with everything he saw, nothing indicated the lands Marco Polo had described. A verdant soil, and coasts adorned by stately trees, watered by navigable rivers, and indented by commodious harbours, spoke of riches to come; while a fertile and populous country lay before him, with peaceful and industrious inhabitants, who brought him food, and fruits, and fish, in great abundance. There were however no mines of gold, or palaces covered with that precious metal; but there was everything that might encourage habits of industry, with little or nothing to satisfy the cupidity of the settlers, or to lead them to suppose they had discovered a land where man could live otherwise than by the sweat of his brow.

At Santiago de Cuba Columbus was overwhelmed by the simple hospitality of the natives; but as he approached the island of Jamaica he was met by seventy or eighty canoes, filled with savages, gaily painted, and decorated with feathers, advancing in warlike array, uttering loud yells, and brandishing lances of pointed wood. An explanation, however, from the interpreter, and a few presents to the crew of one of the canoes who had ventured nearer than the rest, soothed the caciques of the other canoes, some of which measured upwards of ninety feet in length, and eight feet in breadth, and were hollowed out of one magnificent tree. From Jamaica, Columbus proceeded to Cuba, and having devoted many months to the survey of the whole of that portion of its coast which he could reach, he set sail for Isabella, where he arrived suffering in health, and with his ships greatly in need of repair, on the 4th of September, 1494.

Here he was greatly rejoiced to meet his brother Bartholomew, whom he had not seen since he had commissioned him to lay his project of discovery before Henry VII.; and who, on his return to Spain, with the consent from that monarch, had learned that Christopher had made his great voyage of discovery to the new world. The sight of his brother was an inexpressible relief to Columbus, who, alone among strangers, greatly needed the assistance of a man whose prompt action and fearless spirit soon reduced the discontented colonists to a sense of their duty. Anxious to relieve himself from the pressure of public business, Columbus immediately invested his brother Bartholomew with the title and authority of lieutenant-governor, in place of Diego, whose mild and peaceable disposition rendered him little capable of managing the concerns of a factious colony.

By his powerful assistance, and the timely receipt of fresh supplies of stores from Spain, the reign of disorder which had so long prevailed, especially during the absence of Columbus, was brought, in a great measure, to an end; but the conduct of the Europeans had been such that the native tribes turned against them, and for a time threatened the entire annihilation of the colony.

While however the restoration of order and the future security of the colonists occupied the attention of Columbus and of his brother Bartholomew, his enemies were undermining him at home. Reports were circulated that the whole colony was in a state of anarchy, and that Columbus was abusing his power, and neglecting its interests. Loud and long were the complaints against him; and at last they were carried to such an extent, that Ferdinand fitted out a fleet of caravels, which he placed under charge of Diego Carillo, a commander of a military order, giving him instructions that should Columbus be absent, he was to take upon himself the government of the island and inquire into the alleged evils and abuses, at the same time vesting him with power to remedy such as should appear to him really in existence. A proclamation was also issued, granting permission for any native-born Spanish subject to settle in the island of Hispaniola and to undertake private voyages of trade and discovery in the New World. Those who embarked at their own expense were to have caravels assigned to them, and to be provided with a supply of provisions sufficient for the first year, with a right to hold certain lands and any houses they might erect upon them. They likewise were to be allowed to retain one-third of whatever gold they might collect, but the remaining two-thirds were to be handed over to the crown of Spain, which was also to receive one-tenth of all the other produce of the island; while one-tenth of the tonnage capacity of any ship engaged in the trade of the New World was to be at the service of the crown, free of charge.

But a few days before the departure of this expedition, the ships which had carried out fresh supplies to Isabella returned to Spain, with intelligence of the safe arrival of Columbus in Hispaniola, from his long voyage along the southern coasts of Cuba, and bringing with them specimens of the gold and of various animal and vegetable curiosities he had collected. These news so far restored the great navigator to the confidence of his sovereigns, that Juan Aguado, who had some time before returned to Spain, highly recommended by the admiral, was appointed to the command of the fleet about to sail, instead of Diego Carillo, who was known to be personally hostile to Columbus.

When Aguado, with the four caravels under his command, well freighted with supplies of every kind, arrived at Port Isabella in the month of October, Columbus was absent in the interior, being at the time fully occupied in re-establishing the tranquillity of the colony. Finding Bartholomew in command, and conceiving that his commission authorized him to supersede everyone except the admiral, he paid no respect to his brother and ordered various persons to be arrested. Weak in himself and puffed up with a little temporary power, Aguado lost sight alike of the respect and gratitude due to Columbus, and of the nature and extent of his own commission. The more discontented among the colonists at once spread the report that the downfall of Columbus and of his family was at hand, and that an ambassador had arrived from the sovereigns of Spain empowered to hear and redress their grievances. Culprits and offenders of every sort held high revel and were loud in their clamours against the oppression of the admiral, ascribing every misfortune to his mal-administration. To these clamours a weak and vain man, like Aguado, lent but too ready an ear and daily became more arrogant. When the news of his arrival and insolent conduct reached Columbus, he hastened to Isabella, and received Aguado with the most grave and punctilious courtesy, assuring him of his readiness to acquiesce in whatever might be the pleasure of his sovereigns; but resolving in his own mind to return as soon as practicable to Spain, and to ascertain for himself the reason why this commission of inquiry had been appointed.

Columbus was, however, detained longer than he wished. When his arrangements were made for returning, a violent hurricane destroyed not merely the four caravels Aguado had brought out with him, but all his own vessels, except the Nina, and she was left to him in a very shattered condition. But she was soon repaired, and from the wreck of the others he built a second vessel, which he named the Santa Cruz, and set sail for Cadiz on the 10th of March, 1496, he embarking in one of the vessels, and Aguado in the other, leaving his brother Bartholomew in command of Hispaniola. Both caravels were loaded with two hundred and fifty of the most discontented and profligate of the colonists, as also with the sick and others who desired to return to Spain. The voyage proved extremely tedious and toilsome, and it was not until the 11th of June that they anchored in the Bay of Cadiz.

The enemies of Columbus had been only too successful in undermining his popularity. The first excitement of a newly discovered world had died away. Western India had not yielded the gold and spices and wealth anticipated; and the means it really afforded for producing far greater wealth than the fabled lands of Ophir or of the mines of Peru have ever produced were then neither appreciated nor understood. The richness which lay in its soil required time and industry to develop; and the adventurous and enthusiastic Spaniards, who had interested themselves in the New World, had neither studied the art of patience, nor accustomed themselves to toil. But the sovereigns of Spain still received Columbus with favour; and, the mission of the ungrateful and arrogant Aguado not having accomplished at court all the injury he had feared, Ferdinand and Isabella were still ready to meet the wishes of the discoverer, and grant him ships for a third expedition.

It was not, however, until the spring of 1497, that any further attention was given to the wishes of Columbus, and the affairs of the New World. Although attractive and flattering to the pride of Spain, the previous expeditions to the West had unquestionably fallen far short of meeting the heavy expenses incurred upon them. No large and immediate profits could at once be realized, such as those the Portuguese reaped a few years afterwards from the discoveries of Vasco de Gama. Hence there was great delay in fitting out this fresh expedition, while the changes to be made in the future management of the Indies of the West tended to increase the delay. At length, on the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus set sail from the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, with a squadron of six vessels.

On this voyage he resolved to shape a course more to the southward than he had done on either of the two previous ones. After taking his departure from the Cape Verde Islands, he purposed sailing to the south-west until he reached the equinoctial line, and then steering directly west, until he arrived at land or in the longitude of Hispaniola. Having taken his departure from the Cape Verde on the 5th of July, he by pursuing this course found himself, on the 13th of that month, according to his observations, in the fifth degree of north latitude, in the midst of calms, and under a bright and burning sun. Continuing to steer to the west for some days, until he supposed himself to be in the longitude of the Caribbee Islands, he shaped a course for them to the northwards, intending to touch among them for refreshments and repairs; but, being somewhat out of his reckoning, he for the first time beheld, on the 31st of July, a large and fruitful island, which he named La Trinidad.

Columbus had expected, from the heat of the sun, to find the land, as he approached, parched and sterile; but Trinidad presented a very different appearance. Stately groves of palm-trees and luxuriant forests lined the shores, while the softness and purity of the climate, and the balmy breeze from the land, reminded him of early spring in the beautiful province of Valentia. While coasting along the island in search of suitable anchorage, he descried land to the south, which proved to be that low tract of coast intersected by the numerous branches of the great River Orinoco, though he little suspected that it was the vast continent of America. Remaining at the island, where he found the natives peaceably disposed, and as usual, extravagantly delighted with hawks’-bells and other trifling trinkets, Columbus shaped his course for the coast of Paria, presuming it to be an island, but, though delighted with the beauty of the country, which was cultivated in many places, highly populous, and adorned with magnificent vegetation, he was greatly astonished to find the water fresh, and that it grew more and more so the further he proceeded. He had reached the broad Gulf of Paria at the season of the year when the rivers which empty themselves into it are swollen by rains, and pour forth such quantities of fresh water as to conquer the saltness of the ocean. Here the natives were of a superior class to any he had hitherto seen. Their canoes were large and light, with a cabin in the centre for the accommodation of the owner and his family. Many of the men wore collars and burnished plates about their necks, of an inferior description of gold, while some of the women had strings of pearls round their arms, which they intimated, by signs, were procured on the northern side of their sea-coast. Here, again, Columbus was treated with profound reverence, as if he and his crews were beings descended from heaven. The honour of a banquet of bread and of various fruits of excellent flavour, together with different kinds of beverage, prepared for him in the house of the cacique, was greatly enhanced by the intelligent demeanour and martial frankness of the people, who seemed every way worthy of the beautiful country they inhabited.

Imagining the coast of Paria to be an island, he resolved to circumnavigate it, and, with that object, left the place where he had received so much kindness, on the 10th of August, and continued coasting westward within the gulf, in the vain search of an outlet to the north. But, as his own vessel was too large for the purpose of navigating these narrow waters, and as the stores of all his ships were nearly exhausted, many of them having been entirely destroyed in the tropics, whilst his own health was in a very precarious state, he felt compelled to shorten his voyage, and hasten for Hispaniola.

Discovering on his way the islands of Tobago and Granada, as also the islands of Margarita and Cubagna, afterwards famous for their pearl fisheries, he made the island of Hispaniola on the 19th August, about fifty leagues to the westward of the river Osema, the place of his destination; and having, on the following morning, anchored under the little island of Beata, he sent a boat on shore to procure an Indian messenger, to take a letter to his brother Bartholomew, who, during his absence, had formed a new settlement at Dominica. On his arrival he found that between fresh wars with the natives, and seditions among the colonists combined with their own indolence, everything had again been thrown into a state of confusion and poverty, saved only from utter annihilation by the tact and ability of Bartholomew. Too idle to labour, and destitute of those resources prevalent at home as a means of killing time, the colonists had quarrelled among themselves, mutinied against their rulers, wasted their time in alternate riot and despondency, while their evil passions, which had inflicted great calamities on the once pure and innocent natives, had likewise ensured a merited return of suffering to themselves. Confirming, by proclamation, the measures of his brother, and denouncing the leaders of the conspiracies which had been the cause of so much misery and ruin during his absence, Columbus hoped to restore confidence and order. But the ringleaders continued to be a source of trouble to him, and, unfortunately, their hands were too frequently strengthened by the arrival of numerous adventurers, who, taking advantage of the encouragement which the government of Spain had afforded to any persons who desired to emigrate to the New World, flocked there in thousands. The insolence of the rebels against his brother’s authority during his absence, though for a time subdued by his presence, had so greatly increased by the accession of numbers of well-armed and desperate confederates, that Columbus felt he required powers greater than he possessed to ensure the fidelity of the well-disposed against the intrigues of the discontented and lawless. He therefore made arrangements for returning to Spain.

Aware that many of the most worthless settlers desired to return home, he issued, on the 12th of September, a proclamation, offering free passage and provisions for the voyage to all who wished to return to Spain, hoping thus to relieve the colony of the idle and disaffected, and to weaken the power of the leaders of revolt, until he could carry into effect the necessary measures for their entire discomfiture and subjection. A large portion of the more lawless of the early colonists accepted the offer; and having sent full advices to his sovereigns, by the vessels in which they sailed on the 18th October, of what was going on in the island, Columbus entered into arrangements which he hoped would tend to restore order before he himself returned to Spain. Having been enabled to settle matters somewhat to his own satisfaction at Dominica, he left his brother, Don Diego, in temporary command of that place, and joined Bartholomew on a tour to visit the various stations, and to restore, if possible, order throughout the whole of the island.

The tour of inspection and restoration required much more time than Columbus had anticipated. Everything had fallen into confusion during the late troubles. Farms lay neglected, mines were abandoned, the flocks and herds were scattered or destroyed, the caciques had ceased to pay their tribute, and the natives no longer cultivated their allotted tracts of land. In the midst of these perplexities, and while making herculean exertions to restore order, Columbus received a reply from Spain to his communication, which, though furnishing him with increased power, coldly stated that another investigation would shortly be made into the state of affairs. He was greatly troubled in mind by its tone, naturally feeling that his complaints had little weight with the government, and that the misrepresentations of his enemies were prejudicing him with his sovereigns; nevertheless, his zeal for their cause never flagged, and his labour to restore order was incessant. At length he triumphed; faction was subdued; the Spaniards renewed their labour on the land; the fields which had lain waste were again cultivated; and the natives, like their employers, seeing the folly of resistance, and the loss they themselves sustained by it, submitted patiently to the terms which Columbus had laid down and eventually enforced.

But all these reforms had been brought about by a course which had greatly increased the number of his enemies. Every worthless fellow whom he had sent home or punished became his implacable foe and intrigued for his downfall; and too many of them had influence at court, which, in the absence of Columbus, produced its effect. At last he was superseded; and, to the disgrace of Ferdinand and Isabella, who lent too ready an ear to the calumnious reports spread against him, this great and good man was arrested, and he and his two brothers sent in chains back to the country to which he had given a new and a now mighty world.

Thus humiliated, Christopher Columbus landed at Cadiz towards the close of the year 1500. The fact of the ignominy to which he had been subjected spoke with the voice of thunder to the feelings of the people. They neither cared for nor inquired into the cause of his great humiliation. It was sufficient for them to know that this noble-minded man had been brought home in chains from the world he had discovered, and the sensation thus produced was almost as great as the reception which had awaited him on his triumphant return from the first discovery of America, in March 1493.

His own feelings of the wrongs he had sustained at the hands of his worthless enemies are nowhere so well described as in the letter he addressed, immediately on his return to Spain, to a lady who was in immediate attendance on the queen, and stood high in her favour. “I have now reached that point,” he remarks, “that there is no man so vile but thinks it his right to insult me. The day will come when the world will reckon it a virtue to him who has not given his consent to their abuse. If I had plundered the Indies, even to the country where is the fabled altar of St. Peter’s, and had given them all to the Moors, they could not have shown towards me more bitter enmity than they have done in Spain. Who would believe such things of a country where there has always been so much nobility? I should much like to clear myself of this affair, if only it were consistent with etiquette to do so, face to face with my queen.... The slanders of worthless men,” he continues, “have done me more injury than all my services have profited me.... I have had so strange a character given to me that if I were to build hospitals and churches, they would call them caves for robbers.”

This letter, combined with other representations of the real facts of the case, and with the unmistakeable expression of public opinion, made a great impression on the mind of Isabella, and had at once the effect of relieving Columbus and his brothers from their ignoble imprisonment. He was invited to the court, then at Grenada, where he appeared on the 17th of December, not in a prison dress, and in the degraded position in which he had landed at Cadiz, but in rich attire, and attended by an honourable retinue. When the Queen saw the venerable navigator approach, she was moved to tears at sufferings to which she and Ferdinand had been the unwilling or unknowing parties—in so far that they had superseded him and given to his successor power to inflict grievous wrong on one of the noblest of men. When the brave old seaman saw how his queen was affected, his spirit, which had endured with lofty scorn the injuries and insults of ignoble men, gave way; he threw himself upon his knees, and wept like a child. His sovereigns had found that he was still as worthy as ever of their confidence, and that thought was a sufficient solace for all he had suffered. Columbus was soon reinstated in all his privileges and dignities, and those who had injured him were degraded and disgraced. Everything was done which it was in the power of Isabella to do, to vindicate herself to the world from the charge of ingratitude towards the great navigator.

A considerable time, however, elapsed before any steps were taken to fit out another expedition in which Columbus could return to Dominica and there resume in triumph the viceroyalty of the colony. Many events prevented the immediate despatch of another fleet, some of which were in a measure beyond the control of the sovereigns of Spain. The delay was, however, a grievous disappointment to Columbus. Though Bobadilla, by whom he had been superseded and insulted, was dismissed, Ferdinand, whose professions of friendship were far from being as sincere as those of the queen, deemed it desirable to refill his place for two years by some prudent and able officer, who could put a stop to all remaining faction in the colony, and thus prepare the way for Columbus to enjoy the rights and dignities of his government, both peacefully and beneficially to the crown. But there were other reasons which induced Ferdinand to appoint one Nicholas de Ovando as governor, for a time, to the new found colony. Listening too readily to the calumnies of the many enemies at court of Columbus, he had imbibed some vague idea that the great navigator might set up an independent sovereignty, or deliver his discoveries into the hands of the Genoese, or of some other European power: he may also have felt that Columbus was no longer indispensable to him, as the throne was daily besieged by applicants to be allowed to fit out expeditions at their own expense, and to share with the crown the profits upon them.

Hence it was that the interests of Columbus were for a time overlooked. Ovando, however, received orders to examine all his accounts; to ascertain the damages he had sustained by his imprisonment, by the interruption of his privileges, and by the confiscation of his effects. His property, which Bobadilla had seized, was to be restored, and to be made good if it had been sold. Equal care was also to be taken to indemnify his brothers for their arrest and for the losses they had sustained. The arrears of the revenue due to Columbus were to be paid to him, and their punctual payment secured for the future. Such were among the instructions given to Ovando, who, on the 13th of February, 1502, sailed in the largest fleet which had previously left for the new colony.

Washington Irving, quoting from Las Casas, who, however, he states, gives the figures from memory, says “that this fleet consisted of thirty sail, five of them from ninety to one hundred and fifty tons burden; twenty-four caravels, from thirty to ninety, and one bark of twenty-five tons. The number of souls,” he continues, “embarked in this fleet, was about twenty-five hundred, many of them persons of rank and distinction, with their families.” But as the smaller craft were not adapted for a voyage across the Atlantic, and as the number of persons embarked would give eighty-three, on an average, to each vessel, which is a greater number than even the largest vessels could conveniently carry with their luggage, and the requisite stores of provisions and water for such a voyage, there is no doubt some error in the figures of Las Casas. It is more likely, especially as the vessels conveyed many persons of rank and distinction, that the smallest was one hundred, and the largest somewhere about three hundred tons burthen. This fleet, it would appear, did not arrive at Dominica until the 15th of April; and in a violent storm, which it encountered soon after leaving Spain, lost, according to the same authority, one of its number, with “one hundred and twenty persons” on board.

Age and care were rapidly reducing the otherwise strong frame of Columbus, when, on the 9th of May, 1502, he set sail from Cadiz in four small caravels on his fourth and last voyage of discovery. He was then about sixty-six years of age; but from the hardships he had encountered, and the mental sufferings he had undergone, his constitution was so much impaired, that he was more infirm than many men who were ten years his senior. In his brother, Don Bartholomew, and in his younger son, Fernando, he however found wise counsellors and able assistants, combined with sincere and affectionate sympathisers. Arriving at the Grand Canary, on the 20th of May, he took in a fresh supply of wood and water, and five days afterwards sailed for the Caribbee Islands, which he reached without shifting sail on the 15th of June, having had a fair wind and beautiful weather the whole way. On the 29th of that month he arrived at Dominica, where matters were still in so unsettled a state that he did not land, but proceeded to Port Hermoso, to the west of that island, to effect some necessary repairs to his vessels. Thence he sailed on his voyage of research, calling at Port Brazil for shelter from a gale, and leaving that port on the 14th of July, discovering, sixteen days afterwards, a small island within a few leagues of the coast of Honduras, still known by the Indian name of Guanaga or Bonacca. Here Columbus was struck with the contents of a large trading canoe which lay in the harbour, supposed to have come from the province of Yucatan, about forty leagues distant. This canoe, “eight feet wide, and as long as a galley, formed from the trunk of a single tree,” was filled with multifarious articles, the manufacture and natural production of the adjacent countries. She was rowed by twenty-five Indians; and under an awning, or cabin of palm leaves, in form resembling that of the gondolas of Venice, sat a cacique, with his wives and children, who, displaying no fear whatever of the Spaniards, seemed to indicate that their ancestors had held intercourse with the people of civilized nations; while the articles of commerce which the canoe contained tended to confirm this impression. Washington Irving adds, that, besides various Indian products Columbus had met with before, this canoe had also in her, hatchets of copper, wooden swords with sharp flints inserted, and made fast by lines of fish intestines, several copper bells and a rude kind of crucible—with various utensils in clay, marble, and hard wood. It also contained quantities of cacao, a substance not then known to the Spaniards, and which the Indians used both for food and as a species of currency. The Indians made use of a beverage resembling beer, and made from maize; and their women wore mantles, like those of the Moorish women at Granada. From some intelligent natives who were on board this vessel Columbus learned that they came from a rich and luxuriant country in the West, towards which they strongly advised the admiral to steer; and had he acted on this advice, he must have reached Yucatan in a day or two, and added to his previous discoveries that also of Mexico.

The discovery of the other opulent countries of New Spain would have necessarily followed; while the disclosure of the Southern Ocean would have revealed to him the true form of that interesting portion of the world, and, affording a succession of splendid discoveries, would have shed fresh renown on his declining years. But Columbus was intent on discovering the imaginary strait which would lead him to the land of Cathay, and the spice islands of India, which Marco Polo had so glowingly described. Consequently on leaving the island of Guanaga, he stood southerly till he discovered the land now known as Cape Honduras, where he again encountered heavy storms, by which his vessel suffered much damage. “I have seen many storms,” said Columbus, “but none so violent or of such long duration.” Against these he struggled for forty days, having advanced in that time only about seventy leagues, to another headland, to which he gave the name of Gracias a Dios (Thanks to God): here the coast turned directly south, and he obtained for his further course a fair wind for his leaky and tempest-tost caravels.

Steering along the shore now known as the Mosquito coast, Columbus passed a cluster of twelve small islands, which he named the Limanares, and continuing south for about sixty-two leagues, reached, on the 16th of September, a copious river, where one of his boats, during an expedition to obtain a supply of wood and fresh water, was totally lost with her crew. Thence he proceeded to Cariavi, which he left, on the 5th of October, for a cruise along the coast of Costa Rica until he reached a large bay, called by the natives Carabaro, where he anchored. Here the Spaniards met with specimens of pure gold, and many indications of a higher state of cultivation if not of civilization than they had hitherto seen; signs in the opinion of Columbus of his approach to the territory of the Grand Khan. Pursuing his course, the squadron, on the 2nd of November, anchored in a spacious and commodious harbour, to which he gave the name of Puerto Bello, by which the town and harbour are still known. Here they were detained for seven days by heavy rain and stormy weather. Sailing hence on the 9th of November, the squadron proceeded eight leagues to the eastward, to the point since known as Nombre de Dios, where after visiting other places on the coast, he determined to relinquish the further prosecution of the voyage to the eastward, and return to the coast of Veragua. But the wind suddenly veered to the west, directly adverse to the new course he had adopted, accompanied by a succession of heavy gales, in which he and his crew endured great sufferings. It was not until the 6th of February, 1503, that Columbus reached the river Belem, where he formed a settlement, under the impression that he had at last discovered one of the richest parts of the Asiatic continent where gold abounded, and (strange hallucination!) the part from whence King Solomon had drawn most of his unbounded wealth.

At this favoured spot his brother Bartholomew arranged to remain with eighty men, while Columbus himself returned to Spain. No sooner, however, had they commenced to erect houses, and form the colony, than they were attacked by the Indians. Numerous encounters ensued, with much loss of life and suffering. Unable to maintain their position, the settlement was soon abandoned, and the squadron in a disabled state made the best of its way to Hispaniola. On the 10th of May Columbus sighted the north-west coast of that island, but again encountering boisterous weather and adverse winds, he was unable to reach the port of Dominica, and therefore steered for Jamaica, where he anchored. From thence he despatched a message by canoe to Ovando, the governor of Dominica, requesting that a vessel might be sent to his relief, his own being unseaworthy.

More than eight months elapsed before Columbus received an answer of any kind from Ovando; and when a boat at last came with a messenger, it was only to leave a few trifling presents, and say that the necessary vessels would be provided as soon as possible. These at length arrived, and enabled him on the 28th of June, 1504, to leave his unseaworthy vessels behind him, and to set sail for Dominica which he reached on the 13th of August after a very stormy passage. Ovando and the leading inhabitants gave him a show of welcome, and their conduct was courteous towards him; but there were too deep causes of jealousy and distrust for their intercourse to be cordial; nor was his sojourn at Dominica calculated to restore confidence. The state of things in the colony were far from satisfactory, and his own immediate concerns in great confusion. His rents and dues were either uncollected, or he could not obtain a satisfactory account of them; and the little he did collect was entirely consumed in fitting out the two vessels which were to convey himself and his crews to Spain. On the 12th of September he set sail, and having experienced tempestuous weather throughout the passage, did not arrive in the harbour of St. Lucar until the 7th of November, whence he had himself conveyed, broken down in health and spirits, to Seville, where he hoped to enjoy rest after the many hardships and anxieties he had encountered.

But there was no rest for the great navigator. Care and sorrow were destined in his latter days to follow him by sea and land. All his affairs were in confusion. Exhausted and infirm he was unable to seek an audience of his sovereigns; the letters he addressed to them, pleading for his rights, and asking simple justice at their hands, remained unanswered; and the discoverer of a New World, who had adorned the crown of Spain with by far its brightest jewels, broken down by infirmities, lay despised and impoverished in the city of Seville. This extraordinary conduct on the part of the sovereigns of Spain is, however, in some measure accounted for by the fact that Isabella lay dangerously ill, of an illness from which she never recovered; while the cold-hearted Ferdinand, instigated no doubt by the enemies of Columbus, treated all his applications, if he ever read them, with indifference.

During the remainder of the winter, and a part of the spring, Columbus was detained by painful illness at Seville, and when in May, 1505, he was able to be removed to Segovia, where the court then sat, Ferdinand had lost sight of all his past services, in what appeared to him the inconvenience of his present demands, though receiving the once courted navigator with many professions of kindness. Months were however spent in unavailing attendance upon the court. In the meantime his cares and sorrows were fast drawing to a close. He had for some time felt that he was dying, and having arranged as best he could his worldly affairs, he resigned himself into the hands of that great God whom he had worshipped with the same sincerity in his hours of triumph as he had done in the time of his deep adversity. On the day of Ascension, the 20th of May, 1506, being about seventy years of age, Christopher Columbus, who had done so much without reward, and suffered so much without upbraiding, passed silently away to, I doubt not, a better and a happier world.

FOOTNOTES:

Voyages of Columbus, vol. i. p. 258.

See “Letters from the Tropics,” by the Rev. C. Kingsley in “Good Words” for 1870.

W. Irving, p. 92.

Select Letters of Columbus. Introd. p. lxiv.

Hakluyt, “Col. Voyages,” p. 7.

Voyages of Columbus, vol. ii. p. 1.

Vol. ii. p. 7.

Select Letters of Columbus, p. 19, et seq.

Memorial addressed by Columbus to Antonio de Torres, for Ferdinand and Isabella, from the city of Isabella, dated Jan. 30th, 1494, in “Select Letters of Columbus,” p. 73, et seq.

Memorial, p. 79.

This word is said to be derived from the Indian name for this tempest, Urican.—W. Irving, p. 201.

Letter of Columbus to Doña Juana de la Torres, in “Select Letters of Columbus,” pp. 153 and 158.

Voyages of Columbus, vol. iii. p. 164.

Letter of Columbus from Jamaica, “Select Letters,” p. 20.

MERCHANT SHIPPING

VOL. I.

APPENDIX.

CONTENTS OF APPENDIX.

PAGE

1. Note by Rev. J. O. W. Haweis on the Rowing of Ancient Galleys 625

2. Ordinances of Richard I. for his sailors, A.D. 1190 628

3. Mandate for the “Cogge of Norway” 629

4. Charter of Edward I. to Cinque Ports, A.D. 1272-1307 629

5. Wages of Sailors, temp. Edward I. 632

6. Roll of the Ships of Edward III. before Calais 634

7. Cost of the Repairs of Edward III.’s Ships 636

8. Extracts from Sir T. Duffus Hardy’s Syllabus of Rymer’s “Fœdera” 642

9. Form of “Safe Conduct” 650

10. Form of the “Arrest of Ships” 652

11. Form of the “Arrest of Mariners” 653

12. Extracts from “Register of Grants” 653

13. Ancient form of Procedure for the Restitution of Goods unlawfully seized 654

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX No. 1.

Note by Rev. J. O. W. Haweis on the rowing of ancient Galleys.

On a fine summer evening, when the author was seated beneath the tall elm-trees which overshadow his residence at Shepperton, on the banks of the Thames, he had the pleasure of a visit, accompanied by the Rector of the parish, from the Rev. J. O. W. Haweis, of Colwood, Crawley, in the county of Sussex. The author at the moment was in the midst of various calculations, endeavouring to solve the vexed problem of how the galleys of the ancients were rowed. As Mr. Haweis took an interest in scientific pursuits, he handed to him for consideration the notes he had made on the subject of rowing galleys, calling his attention to the fact that all ancient authors had spoken of the operation as being accompanied by the sound of music. Curious to know how a gentleman of his turn of mind would deal with the question, the author requested to be favoured with Mr. Haweis’s views on the subject under consideration. The following notes and illustrations are the result. Though he does not think they solve the problem, or would be applicable to the various descriptions of ancient galleys of which accounts have been preserved, they are sufficiently novel and ingenious as to be worthy of preservation.

“I merely propose,” remarks Mr. Haweis, “a possible quinquereme, which I imagine might be practically navigated. I am well aware that there is no reason to suppose it the actual plan of any ancient galley. The two sketches will explain themselves.

“I assume the interior breadth as from 27 to 30 feet at the largest part.

“The highest rowlock as 9 feet, the lowest 3 feet from water-line.

“The interior fittings waterproof to the height of 6 feet.

“The lower and second rowlocks, closeable at will by the rower drawing a plug from without, as the rising sea makes them useless.

“The disposition of rowlocks would thus be, for a set:—

I cannot find any other way in which to avoid collisions.

“The oars are 9 feet, 13 feet, 18 feet, 24 feet 6 inches, and 35 feet. The long oars have handles thus:—

and feather in reverse, by the pusher dropping his hands, and so helping to recover the puller.

“Any two of these oars might be pulled in time with that next above or below it without much inconvenience, but the loss of power in thus working 1 and 5 would be enormous.

“Let 5 and 4 pull together to beat of drum; four strokes and returns to eight beats—

“Let 3 pull two strokes and returns—

“Let 2 keep time with 3, the men advancing and retreating two steps.

“Let 1 take four steps forward in the two bars, and return in the same time.

“Thus all commence the stroke together; 2 and 3 renew the impulse at the bar; 4 and 5 do the same at half-bar.

“The beat of drum would be accented thus:—

“Thus all would work together, and each man have the beginning of his stroke marked.

“There might be also a deck or gangway on each side for the protection of the men from sun and rain.

“Very large sweeps were exhibited as in actual use in the Exhibition of 1851, if I remember right.

“From some rude experiments with fir poles, I think 35-feet oars could be efficiently handled.

“The lower tiers would ship first, and the hands assist the upper.

“These are mere notions; but if they should be new to you, I shall be glad I entertained them.”

APPENDIX No. 2.

Ordinances made by King Richard to be observed among seafaring men, A.D. 1190, in the second year of his reign.

“Firste, that if any man chanced to slea another on the Shipbord he should be bound to the deed body and soe throwen into the sea.

“Secondly, if he killed him on land he should yett be bound to him as before, and soe buryed quicke, together.

“Thirdly, if any man should be convicted by lawfull witnesse that he drewe any weapon to strike any other, or chanced, by striking of any man, to drawe blood of him that was smitten, he should loose his hand.

“Fourthly, if he give but a blowe with his fist, without bloodsheddinge, he should be plunged three severall tymes over head and eares in water.

“Fiftly, if any man reviled another he should for every tyme soe missusinge himselfe forfeit an ounce of silver.

“Sixtely, if any man were taken with thefte or pickerye, and thereof konuicted, he should have his head poolled and hot pitche powred upon his pate and upon that the feathers of some pillowe or cushione shaken aloft, that he might thereby be knowne for a theefe, and at the next arrivall of the shipps to any land, be put forth of the Company to seeke his adventure without all hope to retourne to his fellowes.”

APPENDIX No. 3.

A Mandate for the King of Norway, in favour of his ship the Cogge.

“Anno Domini 1229, 13th year of Henry III.

“Wee will and command all bailliffes of Portes att the which the Cogge of Norway (wherein certain of the King of Norway, his souldiers, and certayne Marchants of Saxonie, are cominge for England) shall touche, that when the forsaid Cogge shall chance to arrive att any of there hauens, they doe permitt the said Cogge safely to remayne in ther said hauens, soe long as need shall require, and without impedimente alsoe freely to deperte thence whensoever the governair of the said Shipp shall thinke it expediente.

“Witnesse the Kinge.”

APPENDIX No. 4.

New Charter of the Liberties of the Cinque Ports, confirmed in the time of King Edward, son of King Henry (EDWARD I., A.D. 1272-1307).

“EDWARD, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earls, Barons, Justiciaries, Sheriffs, Provosts, Officers, and all Bailiffs and his lieges health, Know ye that we, for the faithful service which our Barons of the Cinque Ports have rendered heretofore to our predecessors Kings of England and to us lately in our army of Wales, and for the service to us and our heirs Kings of England faithfully to be continued for the future, have granted and by this our Charter have confirmed for us and our heirs to the same our Barons and their heirs all their liberties and quittances, so that they may be quit of all duty [thelonium] and from all custom, viz.: from all lastage, tallage, passage, cayage, rivage, sponsage, and from all wrekke, and from all their selling, buying, and redeeming [rechato] through all our land and dominion with soc and sac and thol and theam; and that they may have infangenethef; and that they may be Wrekfri and Wytefri and lastagefri and lovetopfri; and that they may have Den and stronde at Gernemuthe, according as it is contained in an ordinance by us made to that end, and to be observed perpetually; and moreover that they may be quit from shires and hundreds, so that if any shall wish to plead against them, they may not answer nor plead otherwise than they were wont to plead in the time of the Lord Henry the King, our great-grandsire; and that they may have their findings in sea and on land; and that they may be quit of all their property and of all their markets like as our free men; and that they may have their honours in our court and their liberties through all our land whithersoever they shall have come; and that for all their lands which they possessed in the time of the Lord Henry the King, our father, namely, in the year of his reign the forty-fourth, they may be quit for ever of common summonses before our Justiciaries for whatever pleas itinerant in whatever counties of this land they may be; so that the same may not be bound to come before the Justiciaries aforesaid unless any of the same Barons should implead any one or be impleaded by any one; and that they may not plead elsewhere except where they ought and where they were wont, namely, at Shypwey; and that they may have the liberties and quittances aforesaid for the future as they themselves and their predecessors have ever held them better more fully and more honourably in the times of the Kings of England—Edward, William the First, and Second, King Henry, our great-grandsire, and in the times of King Richard and King John, our grandsire, and of the Lord Henry the King, our father, by Charters of the same, like as those Charters, which the same our Barons have to that effect, and which we have inspected, reasonably testify. And we prohibit that any should unjustly disturb them or their market on pain of forfeiture of ten pounds; so however that when the same Barons shall have failed in doing and receiving justice, our Warden, and the Warden of our heirs of the Cinque ports for the time being, may enter their ports and liberties in their default for the purpose of doing full justice therein; so also that the said Barons and their heirs do to us and our heirs, Kings of England, by the year their full service of fifty and seven ships at their own cost for fifteen days at the summons of us and our heirs. We have granted moreover to the same of our special grace that they may have outfangenethef in their lands within the ports aforesaid in the same manner as the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, and Barons have in their manors in the county of Kent; and that they be not put in assizes of juries or in any recognitions by reason of their forinsec tenure against their will; and that concerning their own wines, in which they traffic, they may be quit of our right prise [recta prisa], viz., one cask of wine before the mast and another behind the mast. We have granted moreover to the same our Barons for ourselves and our heirs that they may have for ever this liberty, namely, that neither we nor our heirs shall have wardship or marriages of their heirs by reason of their lands which they hold within the liberties and ports aforesaid, for which they do their service aforesaid, and of which neither we nor our predecessors have had wardship or marriages in times past. The aforesaid our confirmation however of liberties and quittances aforesaid, and other our grants following, we have caused to be made to them anew of our special grace, saving always in all things our Royal dignity, and saving to us and our heirs the pleas of our crown of life and limbs. Wherefore we will and firmly command for ourselves and our heirs that the aforesaid Barons and their heirs have for ever all the liberties and quittances aforesaid, as the Charters aforesaid reasonably testify; and that of our special grace they have utfangenethef in their lands within the ports aforesaid in the same manner as the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, and Barons have in their manors in the county of Kent; and that they be not put in assizes of juries or in any recognitions by reason of their forinsec tenure against their will; and that concerning their own wines, in which they traffic, they may be quit of our right prise, viz., one cask of wine before the mast and another behind the mast; and that in like manner they have for ever the liberty aforesaid, viz., that neither we nor our heirs have wardship or marriage of their heirs by reason of their lands which they hold within the liberties and ports aforesaid, for which they do their service aforesaid, and of which neither we nor our predecessors have had wardship or marriages in times past. The aforesaid our confirmation however of the liberties and quittances aforesaid and other our grants following we have caused to be made to them anew of our special grace saving always in all things our Royal dignity, and saving to us and our heirs the pleas of the crown of life and limbs, as is aforesaid. These being Witnesses, the Venerable Father Robert [Kilwarby], Bishop of Porto, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, William de Valentia [Valence], our uncle, brother William de Southampton, Prior provincial of Friars Preachers in England, Roger de Mortuomari [Mortimer], Roger de Clifford, Master Walter Scamel, Dean of Sarum, Master Robert de Scardeburg, Archdeacon of the East Riding, Bartholomew de Suthleye, Thomas de Weylond, Walter de Hopton, Thomas de Normanville, Stephen de Penecestre, Francis de Bouene, John de Louetot, John de Metyngham, and others. Given by our hand at Westminster the seventeenth day of June in the sixth year of our reign .”

APPENDIX No. 5.

Account of the Freights and of the Wages of the Sailors of the ships of Edward I. in divers fleets at divers ports, assembled as well for the passage of the King to Flanders as also for the Duchess of Brabant, &c.

£ s. d.

To Ralph de Aldeburgh, Master of the ship called “The Rose,” of Lenna (Lynn ?), loading in the same ship of his own for Gascony for the assistance of the king’s army there, viz., as far as Burgh-on-the-sea, 428½ quarters of wheat from the port of Herewich, and for the freight of the same ship by way of expenses for it and the crew of the same ship, going and returning, paid into his own hands at Herewich, 30th December 15 0 0

To William Helmyn, Master of “La Mariola,” of Lenna, freighted in the same manner, from Herewich to Burgh-on-the-sea with 428½ quarters, &c. 15 0 0

To William Brum, Master of the “Virly,” of Ipswich, one constable, 48 crew, for wages from Jan. 12 to Feb. 2, 22 days inclusive 14 6 0

To Walter de Fordham, Master of the Galley of Lenna, two constables, and 87 crew, for wages from Dec. 30, when they set sail from Lenna for Herewich [Harwich], to Feb. 2, 25 days inclusive; the Master and each constable 6d., each sailor 3d. per diem 40 13 9

To the same Walter for the payment of a Lodman [pilot], hired to conduct the same galley to Brabant 13 4

The principal places of embarcation are Gernemuth (Yarmouth), Bautreseie, Gippewicus (Ipswich), Haveford (Haverfordwest), Herewicus (Harwich), Schottele, Everwarton, Colneseie, Brithlingesei, Meresei (Mersey), Lim (Lyme?), Loo in Cornwall, Portesmuth, Sandwich, La Stroude, Saltcote, London, Hardeburgh.

f. 89 b. A lantern bought. To Robert Le Horner for one large Lantern bought of the same, to hang in the ship assigned to the Duchess of Brabant for her passage to Brabant by precept of the king, that the other ships may be able to follow her in the sea at night 10s. 0d.

To John Jolif of Sandwich, Pilot (Lodman), leading the ship called “The Coga of St. Edward,” in which the body of the king passed over from Winchelsey to La Swyne, in his fleet for Flanders, paid into his own hands at Bruges on the 3rd of September 26s. 8d.

Then follows a long list of the ships carrying victuals to Gascony and Flanders, with their names, quantities carried, masters and crews’ names, &c.; as for example:

To John de Barewe, Master of the “Alice,” carrying 12 barrels flour, 209½ quarters of oats, 23 carcases of beef, wages for himself and six men for 14 days 28s.

The names of the ships are interesting as:—La Messagere, La Plente, La Mariole, La Godyer, La Seefare, La Stoule, La Blithe, Le Lionu, La Grace Dieu, La Fankonu of Carmarthen, La Sauueye, La Johanette, Coga St. Thomas, La Mariote, La Furmente, La Viryly, the Hulks of the Blessed Mary, La Constance; many names of Sts., Andrew, Peter, Catherine, Mary, the Trinity, St. Cross, &c., &c.

f. 96. A long account of the passage of the ships at Plymouth for Gascony, arranged under the following ports:—Warham, Weymuth, Exemuth, Tegnemuth, Dertemuth, Loo, Fowy, Briggewater, Bristoll’, Houue, Seford, Shorham, Portesmuth, Southhampton and Hamele, Lemyngton, Yaremuth, Pole, Warham, Weymuth, Lym (Lyme Regis), Sidemuth, Exemuth, Tenemuth, Dertemuth, Plymuth, Loo, Fowy, Kermerdyn, (Carmarthen), Briggewater, Chepstowe, Hertelpol, Ireland, Scardeburgh, Lenne, Blakeneye, Scotesmuth, Holan, Thornham, Jernemuth, Donewycus (Dunwich), Oreford, Goseford, Gippewycus (Ipswich), Herewycus (Harwich), Orewell, Colecestre, Sandwycus, Dovorria, Faversham, Folkstan, Heth’, Romenale, Rye, Winchelsey, Hastinges, Pevenese, Seford, Baiona (Bayonne), Weymuth, Tegnemuth, Dertemuth.

f. 103. Wages of the sailors at Sandwich in the same year for the fleet of ships for the passage of Robert Fitz-Payn, and his countess to Flanders, arranged under ports with similar names to the above. These additional ones also occur: Gravelinges, Karnarvan (Carnarvon).

Sum total of the wages of the Sailors, £5586 19s. 3d.

APPENDIX No. 6.

Ships of Edward III. at Calais.

MS. Harl. 246, f. 12b. | MS. Harl. 3968, f. 130. | The number of Shippes and maryners | The rolle of the huge ffleete of E. 3 that served Kinge Edw. 3 in these | before Callice to be seene in the warres. | Kinges great Gardrobe in London, | whereby appeareth the wonderfull | strengthe of England by sea in those | dayes. | THE SOWTHE FLEETE. | THE SOUTHE FLEET. | Shippes. Maryners. | Shippes. Marryners. The Kinge 25 419 | The King’s 25 419 London 25 662 | London 25 662 Ayleforde 2 24 | Ailford 2 24 Hoo 2 24 | Hoo alias Morne 2 24 Maydestone 2 51 | Maidston 2 51 Hope 2 59 | Sandwich 22 504 Margate 15 160 | Dover 16 336 Nonehethe 5 49 | Wighte 13 220 Montormont 2 23 | Winchelsey 21 596 Feversham 2 53 | Waymouth 15 263 Sandwiche 22 504 | Lyme 4 62 Dover 16 334 | Seton 2 25 Wighte 13 220 | Sidmouth 3 62 Wynchelsey 21 396 | Hope 2 59 Waymouthe 15 263 | Newhith 5 49 Lyme 4 62 | Margat 15 160 Seton 2 25 | Morne vel } 2 22 Sydmowthe 3 62 | Morne } Exmowthe 10 193 | Feversham 2 25 Tegmouthe 7 120 | Exmouth 10 293 Dertmowthe 32 756 | Tegmouth 7 120 Portesmowthe 5 96 | Dartmouth 31 757 Plymowthe 26 603 | Plymouth 26 603 Loo 20 315 | Loo 20 315 Yalme 2 47 | Yalme 2 47 Fowey 47 770 | Fowey 47 770 Brystoll 22 608 | Bristoll 22 608 Tenmowthe 2 25 | Tenmouth 2 25 Haltinge 5 96 | Hastinge 5 96 Romner 4 65 | Romney 4 65 | MS. Harl. 246, f. 13. | MS. Harl. 3968, f. 130b. | Rye 9 156 | Rye 9 156 Hythe 6 122 | Hithe 6 122 Shoram 20 329 | Shoreham 20 39 Soforde 5 80 | Soforde alias Seforde 5 80 Newmowthe 2 18 | Newmouthe 2 18 Hannilhoke 7 117 | Hamowlhook 7 117 Hoke 11 208 | Hoke 11 208 Sowthampton 21 576 | Southampton 21 576 Leymingeton 9 159 | Lemyngton 9 159 Poole 4 94 | Poole 4 94 Warham 3 59 | Warham 3 59 Swansey 1 29 | Swanzey 1 29 Ilfrecombe 6 79 | Ilfrecoombe 6 79 Poterikstowe 2 27 | Padstowe alias } 2 27 | Patrickstowe } Polerwan 1 60 | Polerwan 1 60 Wadworthe 1 14 | Wadworth 1 14 Kerdiffe 1 51 | Kardiffe 1 51 Bridgewater 1 15 | Bridgwater 1 15 Carmarthen 1 16 | Caermarthen 1 16 Colechesworth 1 12 | Cailchworth 1 12 Mulbroke 1 12 | Mulbrook 1 12 | | Shippes: Some of the Sowthe Fleete: | The totall of the } Shippes 473 | Shippes of the South } 467 Maryners 9307 | Fleet are } | | Maryners: | The totall of the } | Maryners of the } 9205 | same South Fleet are } | MS. Harl. 246, f. 13b. | MS. Harl. 3968, f. 131. | THE NORTHE FLEET. | THE NORTH FLEET. | Bamburghe 1 9 | Bamburgh 1 9 Newcaster 27 314 | Walerich 1 12 Wolriche 1 12 | Hartilpoole 5 145 Hertilpoole 5 145 | Hull 16 466 Hulle 16 466 | Ravenser 1 27 Yorke 1 9 | Yorke 1 9 Ravenser 1 27 | Woodhouse 1 22 Wodhowse 1 12 | Stockhith 1 10 Storkehithe 1 10 | Barton 3 30 Barton 3 30 | Swyneflete 1 11 Swynfleete 1 11 | Saltfleete 2 49 Saltfleete 2 49 | Grymesby 11 171 Grymsbye 11 171 | Waynfleet 2 49 Portsmouth 5 96 | Waynefleete 2 49 | Wrangle 1 8 Lemyce 19 382 | Newcastle 17 314 Blackney 2 38 | Yermouth 43 { 1075 or | { 1950 Scarborowghe 1 19 | Donwiche 6 102 Yarmowthe 43 1950 | Orford 3 62 Dornewiche 6 102 | Goford 13 303 Orforde 13 303 | Herwich 14 383 Ipswiche 3 62 | Ipswich 12 239 Merrye 13 303 | Mersey 1 6 Brightelensey 14 283 | Brightlingsey 5 61 Colchester 12 239 | Colchester 5 90 Whibanes 1 6 | Whitbanes 1 17 Derwen 5 90 | Malden 2 32 Boston 17 361 | Derwen 1 15 Swynhomber 2 32 | Wrangle 1 8 Malden 2 32 | Lynne 16 382 Barton 5 61 | Blackney 2 38 | Scarborough 1 19 | Boston 17 361 | Swynhumber 1 32 | Barton 5 91 | Somma totalis of the | The whole totall } { 4383 or Northe Fleete: | of the Shippes of } 215 { 5258 | the North Fleete } { Shippes 234 | Maryners 5624 | | Somma totalis of all the | The somme totall of all the | Englishe Fleete: | Englishe Ffleete: | Shippes 707 | Shipps 682 Maryners 14931 | Maryners { 13588 or | { 14463 | Shippes and Maryners of Forrayne | MS. Harl. 3968, f. 131b. Countreyes: | The Shippes and Maryners of | Strangers in this Ayde: | Bayon 15 439 | Bayon 15 439 Spayne 7 184 | Spayne 7 184 Irelande 1 184 | Irland 1 25 Flaunders 14 133 | Flanders 14 133 Gelderlande 1 24 | Gelderland 1 24 | Somma totalis of all the |The full nomber of the said Strangers Strangers: |Shippes and Maryners: | Shippes 38 | Shipps 38 Maryners 964 | Maryners 805

APPENDIX No. 7.

Abstract of some of the more remarkable items in the repairs of the galleys and spinaces of King Edward III. at Bayonne.

Tuesday, 25 Feb.—To Dominic of St. Domyngo £ s. d. f. for xxj. lbs. of Thomenk’ [? tow] at ij. d. halfpenny a pound iiij. iiij. ob.

To John de Speruent for one pound of oil, bought for the use of the calefetores [? caulkers]

To the same for j. quintal xxxvj. lbs. of gemma [? tar], bought for the work of caulking the great galley, at per quintal xv. vij.

To Peter Arñ for carriage of the said gemma from the house of the said John to the bridge ob. iij.

To Peter Arñ Daufereyn for j. skin of a sheep for caulking the said galley vj.

To Riudo Berñ for vj. faggots of brushwood bought for the caulking, and for their carriage to the bridge iiij. ob. qr.

To Peter de Mouhay and his three fellows drawing water from the great galley, for one day iiij. vj.

To Dominic of St. Domyngo, caulker, and his fellow; to the said Dominic xvj. d. per diem, to the other xij. d. ij. iiij.

Total of the day xxviij. s. vj. d. qr. ma.

Wednesday, 26 Feb.—To John de Ville for v. boards bought for the repair of the galleys, price of each board, ij. s.

To Joan de Tyrons for l. nails bought for the work of the galleys, price

To William Faber for j. gymbelette bought for the work of the galleys

To Forcius de Lesgo and his fellow, carpenters, to the said Forcius xv. d. wages per diem, to the other xx. d. ij. xi.

To Dominic of St. Domyngo, caulker, and a certain servant; to the said Dominic xvj. d. wages per diem, to the other ix. d. ij. j.

To the same Dominic for xvj. lbs. of Thomenk’, price per lb. ij. d. ob. iij. iiij.

To Pelegrinus de Lesgo for j. jar, iij. saucers, in which the oil was placed, and for scrapers

To Gerard Darbent for ij. corbatons at vj. d. each.

Total of the day xx. s. j. d. ob. ma.

27 Feb.—To John de Tyrons for c. nails of rym iiij.

28 Feb.—To John de Tyrons for xij. nails of cauym v.

To Peter Johannis for xij. faggots of wood for heating the gemma, and for the carriage of the same ix. ob.

3 Mar.—To John de Speruent for one lb. of oil for mixing with the gemma

4 Mar.—To Peter Johannis for one ell of tela [? woven stuff] for the work of the caulkers xij.

7 Mar.—To Joan de Tyrons for c. nails of Tylat xj.

13 Mar.—To Dominic the caulker for his expenses from Bourdeaux to Bayonne iiij. vj.

15 Mar.—To Thomas of Sandwich, for carriage of the Serpent and Bygord’ from the bridge to the house of the painter ij.

To William Mustard for bread and drink during three days given to the workmen iiij. ob.

16 Mar.—To John de Tyrons for xij. nails of cauym v.

To John de Castete and his companion for scraping the old painting of the great galley, each per diem xv. ij. vj.

To the same John for a calyp[~p], hired for this work i. ob.

To Forcius de Lesgo, and his four companions, carpenters, working upon the masts and yards, each per diem xvj. d. vj. viij.

18 Mar.—To John de Castete for hire of a calyp[~p]; and for carrying sea-sand for the galleys i. ob.

To Adam of Northampton and his two companions, for carrying the said sand and drawing water for the small and the large galley ij. ij.

To the same Adam for three tribul’ for throwing the sand from the calip[~p] to the galley i. ob.

20 Mar.—To John de Seyntmartre for two anchors bought of him for the great galley ix. x.

To William Martini for carriage of the same from the house of the said John to the smith’s, and from the smith’s house to the bridge xvij.

To Arn. Johannis de Lesgo for issues and ij. plomas of the said anchors ij. vj.

22 Mar.—To William Rudi de Mamysan for the repair of two anchors xij.

To John de Lussy for iiij. gemell’ of the masts x.

To William Rudi de Mamysan for liiij. great nails made for the gemell’ ix.

28 Mar.—To Forcius de Lesgo and his two companions for repairing the seats of the galleys, each per diem xvj. d. iiij.

To Joan de Tyrons for cccc. nails of Tylat at xj. d. per hundred iij. viij.

To the same for ccc. nails of Solira, at vj. d. per hundred xviij.

To the same for xlviij. nails of Cauym at v. d. per dozen xx.

29 Mar.—To John de Lussye for furtanes which were wanting in the said galleys x.

To William Mustard ... for bread and pomadr’ for all the workmen for iiij. days iij. vj.

ult. Mar.—To Joan de Tyrons for xxiiij. nails of Cauym for the repair of the hinder part of the great galley x.

To Forcius de Lesgo for ij. corbatons for the work on the great galley, price xij.

To the same Forcius for v. ells of board bought for repairing the Bygorus xxij.

To Arn. Gerardi for ij. ligna (timbers) for loffis and bousprete ij. vj. ob.

To William Rudi de Mamysau for j. anchor purchased of him for the great galley iiij. x.

&c. &c. &c.

f. 5 b. Friday, 14 March.—Ryndo de la Fyte for xxij. lbs. “folii albi de extinctu” for the work of painting the galleys, at xviij. d. per lb. xxxiij.

To the same for vj. lbs. of Orpiment at xvj. d. viij. ” ” ij. lbs. of Ind. at ix. s. xviij. ” ” viij. lbs. of blankett at viij. d. v. iiij. ” ” viij. lbs. of Certown at viij. d. v. iiij. ” ” ix. lbs. of vernyz at xx d. xv. ” ” iiij. lbs. of oil for mixing with the colours, at ix. d. per lb. iij. ” ” iij. lbs. “picturæ deauratæ” (? gold paint) at ij. s. vj.

To Petronilla la Mercadere for xij. lbs. of vermylon at ij. s. xxiiij.

To John de London for xxxv. lbs. and a half of “Cole” at v. d. xiij. ix. ob. ” ” for ij. lbs. of “Sedes de por[=c]” at iiij. s. viij.

To Master John de Troia for waters for mixing with the colours xij. ” ” for a quintal of “Craye” (chalk?) iij. ” ” for 1 lb. of wax ii. vj. ” ” for eggs for mixing with the colours iii.

To Master John the painter, commencing the painting of the great galley, per diem iij. ” ” for Thomas the painter xx.

To Mark the painter and his companion, each per diem xij. d. ij.

2 April.—To Master John de Troia for verdeter xviij.

Expenses of the galley of W. Baydn de Furno. To Benedicto de Pynak’ for 1 timber called the Braunc’ bought for the galiot vj.

To John de Gys for two timbers called Tymon (rudder?) iij.

To Saubatus de Laste for iiij. timbers called Juillate xii.

To Garsia Arñ de Castere for xviij. tostes iij.

And many similar entries, mentioning ij. band’. ij. latons xxviiij. lattes (laths). Estaunzons (staunchions). xviij. boards of Byerñ for scanull nails of Tylate, Rym, and tasse. a virga (or yard). Cavill’ and Coynz. Tymon (rudder?). breo albo. x. pipes for cisera at iij. s. ix. d. each, nails of Solira, and of Tilat iiij. Corbatouns. Chastereux of the yard. repairing a broken anchor.

£ s. d. To John Garsia de Baeryz (Biarritz) for his spinace hired of him for seeking and carrying the victuals for the mariners of the two galleys of our lord the King, and of one galeot, and for other necessary carriages by sea from Capebretoñ to England whenever necessary xlv. vj.

Wages of the mariners conducting the galley “St. George” from Bayonne to England xxxv. xviij. iij. sterling.

Wages &c. “St. Edward” xxij. x. viij. sterling.

Wages &c. the galiot xvij. iij. ix.

Sum total of all the expenses incurred ccc. iii-xx. j. l. xviij. s. viij. d. money equivalent to c.j. l. xvj. s. viij. d. sterling ij. d. money.

APPENDIX No. 8.

The following condensed syllabus from Rymer’s “Fœdera,” to which great work repeated reference has been made in the foregoing pages, will serve to indicate the course of commerce between England and various states of the Continent between A.D. 1190 and A.D. 1460, and to exhibit, by the number of safe-conducts demanded and granted, the degrees in which it was interrupted by the disputes between the different monarchs of the period, or by acts of piracy. Ample illustration is also therein given of the custom of the day of pressing into the king’s service any vessel or vessels he might want for any purpose.

The names of all the states with which England was at war or at peace have been preserved, and a few incidental notices with reference to the course of trade, or of manners and customs. It will be observed that, during the reign of Edward the Third, the impressment of ships for the king’s war service descended as low as vessels of twenty tons; and that in one instance, at least, the defence of the sea was specially laid as a duty on the mercantile community. Special forms of safe-conduct, and for the arrest of ships and mariners, are added in illustration from MSS. in the British Museum.

Extracts relating to Maritime affairs from Sir T. Duffus Hardy’s “Syllabus of the Documents ... contained in Rymer’s ‘Fœdera.’”

RICH. I. 1190.—Ordinances by the king for the punishment of crimes committed on shipboard during the voyage to Jerusalem.

1191, 27 March.—The king confirms to the men of Rye and Winchelsea their privileges as under Henry II., they finding two ships to complete the twenty ships of Hastings.

JOHN. 1208, 8 April.—The king requests his mariners and merchants to aid the barons of the Cinque Ports in arresting all ships found on the seas, and conveying them to England.

1213, 3 March.—The king orders the whole shipping from every port in England to be at Portsmouth by mid-Lent.

1216, 2 June.—The king requests the jurats of Bayonne to employ their galleys in annoying his enemies.

HEN. III. 1217, 10 Oct.—The king to the king of Norway; will gladly promote commercial intercourse with that realm.

1236, 26 May.—Proclamation respecting the goods of persons escaping from shipwreck on the coasts of England, Poitou, Gascony, and Oleron.

1242, 8 June.—The king to the barons of the Cinque Ports and the men of Dunwich, to fit out shipping to ravage the coasts of France.

1242, 7 July.—The king directs that the galleys of Bristol and all the galleys of Ireland shall harass the coasts of France.

1243, 12 July.—Men of the Cinque Ports to make reprisals upon John, duke of Brittany.

1259, July.—The king permits Henry of Castile to engage ships at Bordeaux and Bayonne for his expedition into Africa.

EDW. I. 1275, 23 Sept.—The king instructs Stephen de Penecastre, constable of Dover, relative to the contentions between the merchants of London and Seland (Zealand).

1280, 17 July.—Writ of protection for the merchants of Seiland trading with England.

1285, 15 May.—Regulations by the king and his council as to the compulsory unloading of ships in the Cinque Ports in time of danger.

1298, 14 Feb.—The king orders shipping (100 vessels) to be provided at Sluys for his return into England from Flanders.

1301, 14 Feb.—The king orders the bailiffs of Yarmouth and forty-one other ports in England and Wales and six in Ireland to supply him with shipping for the expedition against Scotland.

1301, 4 Oct.—Proclamation to be made cautioning masters of ships and other sailors to be on their guard in their voyage towards Gascony and other ports of France.

1302, 7 Nov.—The king informs the warden of the Cinque Ports that instead of fifty-seven ships (which the barons of those ports are bound to furnish) he will be satisfied with twenty-five for the Scottish war.

EDW. II. 1307, 26 Sept.—The king to Dionysius, king of Portugal, respecting the restitution of an English ship recovered by the Portuguese from some pirates.

1307, 25 Nov.—The king orders the mayor and sheriffs of London to provide a ship for the conveyance of his tents [into France].

1308, 20 March.—The king orders Robert de Kendale, warden of the Cinque Ports, to take care that the merchants of France have liberty to trade in England.

1309, 12 May.—The king complains to Robert, count of Flanders, that an English ship had been plundered off Portsmouth by Flemish pirates.

1312, 28 July.—The king orders the keepers of the passages of the port of Dover to permit the abbots of seventeen houses of the Cistercian order to cross on their way to Citeaux.

1313, 15 Feb.—The king asks Robert, count of Flanders, to prevent the export of victuals, arms, &c., from Flanders into Scotland.

1313, 22 May.—The king asks the pope to send to him certain Florentine merchants arrested at his suit in the papal court for having defrauded the English revenue.

1314, 1 April.—The king orders the barons of the Cinque Ports to send to him for the Scottish war the service of ships which they are bound to provide.

1314, 26 July.—Robert, count of Flanders, asks the king to permit his subjects to trade with Flanders, and to consent to the establishment of a staple at Bruges.

1315, 13 April.—Robert, count of Flanders, complains to the king of the pillage of a Flemish ship in the port of Orwelle.

1315, 18 Sept.—The king orders the captains of his fleet to do all possible injury to the Flemish shipping.

1316, 18 June.—The king complains to the city of Genoa that the Genoese furnish the Scotch with ships and arms.

1316, 28 July.—Haco, king of Norway, informs the king of England that he will meet any complaint brought against his subjects respecting the arrest of a ship in the port of Selay.

1316, 9 Aug.—Haco, king of Norway, narrates to the king of England the facts of the complaints of the merchants of Berwick.

1318, 28 Jan.—Philip, king of France, complains to the king of England of the illegal detention in London of the goods of some French merchants.

1318, 22 Nov.—General summons of citizens and merchants to a conference to discuss the establishment of a staple in Flanders.

1322, 6 June.—The king orders that the goods and merchandise of the subjects of John, duke of Brabant, shall not be arrested.

1323, 10 April.—Notification of the settlement of all disputes between the captains of five galleys of Venice and the town of Southampton.

1323, 16 April.—The king having pardoned the misconduct of the five Venetian galleys at Southampton, the Venetians may therefore trade with England in safety.

1324, 28 Jan.—The king orders that all ships belonging to the subjects of the count of Zealand be arrested.

1324, 10 May.—The king being about to vindicate his rights in Aquitaine, orders the mayor of Southampton and twelve other ports to provide him with shipping.

1324, 10 May.—The king orders that the said ships shall be ready upon three days’ notice.

1324, 18 Sept.—The king of England assures Sanctius, king of Majorca, that he is ready to do justice in the matter of his ships, which are said to have been plundered by English pirates.

1324, 18 Dec.—The king orders that search may be made at various ports for letters from abroad which may be prejudicial to the crown.

1325, 18 Feb.—The king of England to James, king of Aragon, respecting the seizure of the galleys of the king of Majorca.

1325, 7 May.—The king of England asks Alphonso, king of Portugal, and his mother Isabella, to permit provisions to be conveyed into Gascony.

1325, 10 May.—The town of Bruges appoints proctors to treat with the king respecting commercial intercourse between Flanders and England.

EDW. III. 1326, 18 Feb.—The king orders inquiry to be made respecting a whale cast ashore upon the manor of Walton, belonging to the church of St. Paul’s London.

1326, 3 Dec.—Writ for the payment of £10 to certain sailors of Bayonne who had aided Queen Isabella in coming into England from abroad.

1327, 30 April.—The king to the burgomasters of Bruges, offering to make reparation for the capture near Boulogne of a ship of Nieuport by men of Sandwich and Winchelsea.

1331, 5 Feb.—The king orders the sheriffs of Gloucester and Somersetshire to allow William de Clyvedon and two others to export 600 quarters of corn to Ireland, where there is great scarcity.

1331, 14 Oct.—William de Clynton, constable of Dover Castle and warden of the Cinque Ports, is commanded to allow fishermen to be paid for their goods in English money, notwithstanding the act against taking money out of the realm.

1333, 6 Oct.—The king requests Alphonso, king of Aragon, to withdraw the letters of marque granted to Berenger de la Tone.

1335, 16 May.—Power to William de la Pole and others to treat with Louis, count of Flanders, and the commonalties of Bruges, Ghent, and Ypres, about the piracies, &c., committed on both sides.

1335, 26 May.—The king requests John, duke of Brittany, earl of Richmond, to make redress for four anchors taken by his subjects from the ship of John Perbroun, of Great Yarmouth, wrecked on the coast of Garound in Brittany.

1335, 26 Aug.—The mayor and sheriffs of London are commanded to send to the king the ships arrested in the port of London, and to pay 60 marks of the 500 marks granted by them in lieu of men.

1335, 20 Sept.—The king orders William de Clynton, warden of the Cinque Ports, to provide ships for the return home of certain knights in the company of the count of Juliers.

1336, 15 March.—The king orders the mayor and bailiffs of Bristol to take sureties from all masters of ships of the Cinque Ports which come to Bristol, that they will return to their proper ports to be equipped for the defence of the realm.

1336, 3 May.—The exportation of timber or boards fit for ship-building forbidden.

1336, 6 May.—The king orders John de Cobham, John de Segrave, and John de Wyndesore to pay 100 marks to Alexander Hurtyn, of Dover, deputy of William de Clynton, warden of the Cinque Ports, as part payment of £87 10s. which he has spent on the passage of the count of Juliers.

1336, 28 June.—The king, having heard that the crews of the ships arrested in North Wales refuse to serve without being prepaid their wages, orders Richard, earl of Arundel, justiciary of North Wales, to survey the ships and give the crews a reward. Similar letter to the justiciary of South Wales.

1336, 4 July.—The king releases the commonalty of Genoa from the payment of customs, to the amount of 8,000 marks, in recompense for a ship of Yoan Lucian taken by Hugh le Despenser.

1336, 5 Aug.—The king orders John de Norwich, admiral of the fleet, from the Thames northward, who is searching for hostile galleys, consisting of ships of Great Yarmouth, to hold no communication with the men of the Cinque Ports, in consequence of the dissensions between them and the men of Yarmouth. Similar letter to Geoffrey de Say, admiral of the fleet south of the Thames.

1336, 2 Oct.—The king thanks Robert, king of Jerusalem and Sicily, for having stopped the equipment of ships which, under colour of assisting the Holy Land, were intended to be used against England; and desires credence for Nicolin Flisco of Genoa.

1336, 2 Oct.—The king thanks the Genoese for having burnt certain galleys which were being prepared against him; and desires credence for Nicolin Flisco.

1336, 2 Oct.—Power to Nicolin de Flasco , called “Cardinal of Genoa,” to hire galleys for the king’s service.

1337, 28 Jan.—The sheriffs of London are ordered to deliver to Thomas de Sapleford, overseer of the works in the Tower, 5000 (?) of iron, 200 Eastland boards, and 100 qrs. of sea-coal, for making anchors for the Cristoffre and the Cogge Edward, and for other works.

1337, 1 Aug.—The king orders William Fraunk and Reginald de Donyngton to deliver a ship to William de la Pole, of Kingston-on-Hull, and Reginald de Conductu, for the purpose of exporting 30,000 sacks of wool. Similar letter to the mayor and sheriffs of London.

1338, 20 May.—The king has been petitioned by Peter de Puyane, admiral of the fleet at Bayonne, to grant him the rent of £6 on every whale caught at Biarritz, and other rents and dues in Bedured, in the bailiwick of Goes; and desires the seneschal of Gascony and the constable of Bordeaux to report as to their value.

1343, 20 May.—The king orders Richard de Aldeburgh and four others, to make inquisition concerning the carrying of two whales and two sturgeons, worth £3000, from the Manor of Hoveden; the bishop of Durham having wrecks of the sea and the right to the royal fish.

1346, 20 Nov.—Thomas de Drayton and two others are commissioned to provide twenty fishing smacks and ten boats for the siege of Calais. Similar commission for thirty vessels to Thomas Spigurnel and Philip de Whitton.

1348, 1 Oct.—Writs to the sheriffs of London, and the mayors and bailiff of seventeen seaports, to unload merchant ships and send them to join the fleet.

1354, 8 July.—The king informs the captain and council of Genoa, that he has assigned the duty on 1000 sacks of wool for the redress of injuries to Genoa ships.

1355, 27 April.—Richard de Cortenhall and Robert de Baildon are appointed to arrest ships of twenty tons and upwards from the Thames to Lynn, and bring them to Southampton by June 11 for the conveyance of Edward, Prince of Wales, to Gascony.

1360, 24 March.—John Beech, master of the sloop La Cogg Johan, of Sandwich, is ordered to unload his ship and prepare it for war. Similar orders to six other masters.

1362, 22 Feb.—Commission to Hugh de Courtenaye, earl of Devon, and two others, to inquire into the plunder of a ship called Tarrit (Tarida?), and other ships wrecked at Plymouth.

HEN. IV. 1406, 6 April.—The king orders the mayor and sheriffs of London, and the mayors and bailiffs of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and nineteen other towns, to arrange for the fulfilment of the covenant made in parliament for committing the custody of the sea to merchants.

1406, 20 Oct.—The king forbids the collectors of subsidies and customs in London, and fourteen other towns to pay the sums assigned to the merchants for the custody of the sea, as they have failed in their engagement.

1410, 18 Nov.—The king orders Henry prince of Wales, constable of Dover Castle, and warden of the Cinque Ports, to make restitution to John Dirdolf and others of Berflet in Flanders, whose ships have been taken by Sir John Prendergest.

1411, 26 June.—Licence to John Ferkyn to send the two small guns which he made for a ship, in the ship of Spain in which the king is sending his great guns to Spain.

1411, 9 Sept.—The king informs the council of North Berve, in Norway, of his forbidding the Hanse merchants leaving England in consequence of the injuries done to English merchants, and of the licence given to nine merchants at St. Botolph to leave England.

HEN. VI. 1436, 5 July.—Proclamations to be made by the sheriffs of London, Kent, and three others, forbidding armourers and victuallers increasing their prices in consequence of the assembly of the duke of Gloucester’s troops; and ordering merchants to send goods to Calais.

1438, 29 Jan.—Licence to John, bishop of Skalholt, in Iceland, to take a ship to Iceland and send it back with merchandise for the payment of his creditors.

1438, 18 Feb.—Similar licence to John, bishop of Holar.

1440, 26 Feb.—Licence to John Secheford and John Candeler to export corn and other victuals to Iceland for the use of the bishop of Scalhelte, confessor of the king of Denmark.

1449, 22 Dec.—Licence to John Taverner, of Hull, to export goods to Italy through the straits of Marrot (Marocco), in his new ship or carrack, called the Grace Dieu.

1458, 8 June.—Licence to George Morsleyn, merchant of Cracow, to bring a ruby weighing 214 carats, for sale to England.

1460, 9 May.—Safe-conduct for a ship laden with Caen stone for the repairs of Westminster Abbey.

APPENDIX No. 9.

Form of “Safe-Conduct.” (38 HEN. VI., A.D. 1459-60.)

The king by his letters patent, having force for one year, of his special favour took into his safe and sure conduct, and into his special protection, keeping, and defence, Robert le Forrester, Roger le Clerk, Leonard Banche, and John de Cormeilles, merchants of Normandy, and each of them and the factors, attorneys, and servants of them and of each of them, with liberty to travel into the realms of the king of England, and through other the domains, possessions, and territories of the king whatsoever or whithersoever else it shall seem good to them, with one ship called the Grace Dieu, of Rouen, of the burthen of seventy casks or under, of which John Gognes, Nandin le Bastier, Martin Handry, John le Blanc, John Masse, or William Emery is master, with goods and merchandise of any kind whatsoever, and with twenty mariners and one mate (pagesto) as steersman of the same ship, together with the accoutrements, furniture, and other fittings of any kind whatsoever, that may be necessary for their own persons and for the defence of the said ship and of themselves, to be taken and borne with them conjointly or separately, as well by land as by sea, either on horseback or on foot, in journeying to the same place, tarrying, sojourning, abiding, and transacting business as merchants; and in unloading the aforesaid ship and reloading her with other goods and articles of merchandise, of whatsoever kind they may be, not belonging to the staple of Calais, in passing out of and returning into the same kingdom, domains, possessions, and territories of the aforesaid king, with the aforesaid ship reloaded, and with the master, mariners, and mate, with their accoutrements, furniture, and fittings aforesaid, safely and securely to foreign parts, so often as it shall seem good to them during the continuance of the present safe-conduct of the king, freely, without any let, disturbance, or hindrance whatsoever, notwithstanding any marque, counter-marque, or reprisal granted or to be granted, or any other cause or matter whatsoever. And therefore, etc., provided always that good security be given to the king for the customs, aids, and other moneys due to the king on account of the aforesaid goods and merchandise, as is equitable. Provided also, that the aforesaid Robert, Roger, Leonard, and John de Cormeilles, their factors, attorneys, servants, master, mariners, and mate, and those who accompany them, bear and conduct themselves properly and honestly towards the king and his subjects, and do not attempt, or anyone of them attempt, or dare to attempt, or any one of them dare to attempt anything which may turn out to the contempt or injury, the loss or inconvenience of the said king or of the subjects of the said king in any way whatsoever. And that they, nor any one of them shall by any means enter into any camp, fortress, or fortified town belonging to the king unless they shall first show, or some one of them shall show, to the commandants, mayors, or governors, there present, royal letters of safe-conduct. And if it shall chance that any one of the aforesaid Robert, Roger, Leonard, John de Cormeilles, their factors, attorneys, servants, master, mariners, and mate, or any of those who accompany them, does not wish to invalidate the present safe-conduct of the king, and yet to others who do not invalidate it, any damage or inconvenience should accrue, but he desires in the case of any individual or individuals who thus invalidate it, that their persons and property should be safe, then let them bring with them this vidimus, or a transcript or translation of these presents, executed in conformity with the king’s genuine seal of obedience, to which implicit belief is to be yielded as it would be to the original. Witness, the king at Westminster, the 9th day of April.

By the king himself verbally

Conformable with original

(Signed) WILLIAM RILEY.

APPENDIX No. 10.

Form for the Arrest of Ships.

The king to his well beloved John Accleve and John Scadlock, greeting. Know ye that having full confidence in your fidelity and prudence we have appointed you to arrest all and singular the ships and other vessels both of our kingdom of England and of foreign parts of the burthen of twenty casks and upwards lying in our port of London, and to cause them to be conveyed with all possible speed to the port of our town of Southampton, to serve on our present voyage for our moneys reasonably to be expended in this part. Wherefore we command you that you give due heed to these instructions and carry them out in the form aforesaid. Moreover, we charge all and singular the sheriffs, mayors, constables, bailiffs, ministers, and others concerned by the tenor of these presents, and strictly enjoin them that they should assist you in the execution of these presents, both by advice and by active support as it is fitting. In witness whereof, &c. Witness the king at Southampton the 27th July. By the king himself. Pat. 3 Hen. part i. M. 25 b.

APPENDIX No. 11.

Form for the Arrest of Mariners.

The king to his beloved Haukin Pytman, master of a certain ship called the Weathercock of the Tower, (?) greeting. Know that we having full confidence in your fidelity and prudence have appointed you to arrest and seize so many mariners and servants as may be necessary for the management of the said ship as well within the liberties as without, and to place them and cause them to be placed in the aforesaid ship, under our security for their reasonable wages to be paid through your hands. Wherefore we enjoin you to give good heed in the matter of these premises and carry them out in the form aforesaid. Moreover, we charge all and singular the sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, constables, ministers, and others our lieges and subjects within and without the liberties by the tenor of these presents, and strictly command that they afford you aid in the execution of these presents, both by their advice and by active assistance as is fitting. In witness whereof, &c. Witness the king at Westminster the 2nd day of January. Patent 3 Henry, 5, part i. M. 12 b.

APPENDIX No. 12.

Register of Grants.

“A book in fol. formerly belonging (as it is said) to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, but lately bought of Mr. Strype; being a register of the grants, &c., passing the privy seal, royal signet, or sign manual during the reigns of King Edward V. and King Richard III., with some other entries made upon other occasions or in other reigns.”

Among them are the following entries:

1592.—Licence to Loys de Grymaldes, Merchaunt of the parties of Jeane (Genoa), to bring into this realme Dyamount and other Gemmys or preciouse stones; to th’ entent, that if they be for the king’s pleasure, he may have the sale (i.e., the pre-emption) thereof before alle other. Yeoven at London the 9th day of Decembre, anno primo. f. 130.

1636.—Commission to the Magistrates, &c., of the Port Towns, to man out their small Vessels and help the English Fleet in case they shall see them engaged with the Fleet of the Bretons, now lieng in Flannders. Yeven the 20th day of Dec., anno primo. f. 136.

1749.—Letter to the Owners, Maisters, &c., of the Naveye of the Counties of Norff. & Suff. entending to departe unto the parties of Islande (Iceland): requiring them not to depart towards the said parties of Islande without the king’s licence: But to assemble themselves well harneyshed & apparelled for their owne suretie; and soo to departe alle togidere towarde Humbre, to attend there upon the King’s Shippes of Hulle, as their Waughters (i.e., Waiters, or Convoy) for the suertie of them alle. Yeven the 23rd day of February, anno primo. f. 159. b.

2065.—Letters given to Gregory Walder, Maister of the Ship Marie-Lewe, of Lebyke (Lubeck), for his discharge touching the said ship, which being a stranger and dryven into Dertmouthe was (according to the olde uses and custumes of Englande by the Royall prerogatyve) reteyned for the King’s use and bought at his reasonable price. Yeven at London 21 Jan., anno 2do. f. 203.

APPENDIX No. 13.

Ancient Form of Procedure for the restitution of Goods unlawfully seized.

Endorsed in French. On the 15th day of June in the 13th year [of King Richard II.], there being present at Westminster the Chancellor, the Treasurer, the bishop of Lo, the bishop of Sarum, the bishop of Hereford, Monsr. Richard Lescro[~p], Monsr. William Lescrop, this examination was read, and the advice of the above persons and of the Guardian of the Privy seal, that restitution be made of the xiiij. tuns of wine.

The following examination was made on the 29th day of Novr., in the 13th year of King Richard II. [A.D. 1389], by Master Edmund Stafford, keeper of the Privy seal, and Edward Dalingru[~gg], and Richard Stury, knts., for the time being of the king’s council, by the same council especially appointed for this affair, upon that, namely, that from a certain ship of a certain Commendator of Germany, with certain casks of wine and other divers merchandises of the goods of Valascus Vincentius and Gunsalous Johannes, Merchants of Portugal, laden, and taken at sea by Englishmen of Sandwich against the will of the said merchants, and taken into the port of Sandwich, Robert de Assh’ton, while he lived, Constable of Dover Castle, had, as is said, 14 casks of wine, applied to his own uses, for which satisfaction had not yet been made, as is said, although the same Robert while he lived had been frequently applied to for it.

Thomas Elys, forty years of age and upwards, sworn, and examined, and diligently required respecting the said matter, says that about 7 years ago at Sandwich 14 casks of wine were taken from the aforesaid ship on the part of Robert Assh’ton for his own uses, as he then heard of public rumour, going about those parts. And of the other casks of wine taken in the same ship restitution was made, as he says, by command of the Council of the Lord King, as he heard from many persons, and he believes truly, as he says, that satisfaction had not yet been given to the said merchants for the 14 casks of wine under consideration.

John Godard, sworn, &c.: had heard from the relation of many, that such a ship had been taken with wine upon Palm Sunday about 7 years ago, &c. &c.

John Conduyt, sworn, &c.: Peter Conduyt, sworn, &c.: knew that such a ship had been taken by his father with wine, and saw the same ship, &c.

Hugh atte Welle, sworn, &c.: heard of, and saw such a ship at Sandwich, &c.; heard by common report that about the time of the last earthquake restitution had been made, &c.

Robert Sandewych’, sworn, &c.: says that such a ship was taken and carried into Sandewych, and the wine was sold to the knowledge of this witness, who had charge of the cista (chest) which held the money received for this wine, and after that that party came from Portugal with letters of the king of Portugal, by command of the Council of the king of England restitution was made to them of that money for 100 casks of wine, exclusive of that for 14 casks which Robert Assh’ton had for his own uses. And this deponent says that for a sum of money between 100 shillings and 5 marks each of these casks were sold. This deponent also says that he with those merchants stood security for Robert Assh’ton for payment of the 14 casks; and the same Robert, to the knowledge and hearing of this deponent, acknowledged his debt and said that he was willing to pay for the same, but had made frequent delay in the matter; and this deponent never heard of payment having been made in the matter. The deponent also states that he was present at the sale of the casks of wine, as is aforesaid.

And all the aforesaid witnesses, examined singly, said that they estimate each of these casks at the value of six marks, after that the said 14 casks had been taken out and selected by Robert Assh’ton as being the best.

FOOTNOTES:

MS. Harleian, 158, fol. 2 b. A nearly similar statement is given in MS. Sloane, 43, fol. 12.81

MS. Harl. 293, fol. 80. See also a long letter from Henry III. to Eric, King of Norway. Cotton. Nero, iii. p. 31, dated A.D. 1218, November 28; and a letter from Haco, King of Norway, promising to meet any complaints brought against his subjects. Rymer, “Fœd.” vol. i., sub A.D. 1216-18.

Cotton. Galba, E iv. f. 22.

As the figures differ in the different records, it has been thought best simply to add the sum of the figures given in the text.

Add. MSS. 17364.

MSS. Harl. 4819, fol. 123.

Add. MSS. 4500, fol. 148.

Add. MSS. 4500, fol. 149.

MSS. Harl. 433.

MS. Cott. Nero, B i. f. 18.

INDEX.

Abdooli, value of the port of, as the chief station for the trade in ivory, p. 113

Acesines, at junction of, with Indus, Alexander builds a great city, p. 142

Ælanitic Gulf, ports on, Elath and Ezion-geber, p. 27

Africa, ships destined for the trade with, cleared Arabian Gulf before November, p. 113

---- largely supplies Rome with corn, horses, drugs, and with animals for the games, p. 179

Agricola, his wise government of Britain; the first, also, who sailed round the whole Island, p. 322

Aguado, a commission sent from Spain under the charge of, to examine into the affairs of Columbus, p. 600

Alexander the Great founds Alexandria, B.C. 331, with the view of connecting Eastern and Western commerce, p. 100

---- not a mere conqueror, but a great promoter of commerce and of civilization, pp. 134-137

---- is prevented from prosecuting his conquest of India by the mutiny of his Greek troops in Hyphasis (Setlege), p. 138

----, Account of the fleet of, on the Indus, and of his conquests and of the voyage of Nearchus, as detailed by Arrian, pp. 138-143

----, while dying, plans the conquest of Arabia, p. 146

----, disruption of the empire of, on his death, B.C. 323, p. 147

Alexandria, Pharos, or lighthouse, at, the model for future buildings of the same kind, p. 58

Alexandria, course of Eastern trade thence, first by Arsinoe (Suez), then by Myos Hormus and Berenice, p. 101

----, commerce of Rome with, chief items of, p. 177

Alfred the Great ascends the throne of England, A.D. 871, p. 347

---- finds England overrun by the Danes, and commences to create a Royal and Commercial Navy, pp. 349-50

---- justly called the “Father of the British Navy,” p. 348

---- said to have sent Missions to the East, p. 351

---- orders the compilation of the “Winchester Book,” the model of the later “Doomsday Book,” p. 351

Amalfi, invention of mariner’s compass traditionally, but erroneously, attributed to, p. 233

----, settlements of the republic of, at Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, p. 238

----, its trade suppressed by the Pisans, A.D. 1137, p. 233

----, remarks of Mr. Hallam on the singular history of, p. 234, note

Amasis, King, grants special privileges to the Greeks and founds the port of Naucratis, B.C. 556, p. 49

Amber, story of its first discovery, and curious anecdotes concerning the trade in, pp. 11, 12

Antwerp and Bruges take the lead in Flemish trade, pp. 417-18

Arabic language spoken for centuries at most ports between the Euphrates and Canton, p. 160

Aragon, gradual advance of the trade between it and Africa, p. 549

Archimedes invents a screw of great power for the launching of Hiero’s great ship, p. 67

Argonautic Expedition rather Phœnician than Greek, Introd. p. xxvii, and probably a commercial enterprise in search of gold, p. 4

Aristotle states that the Phœnicians occasionally made their anchors of silver from Spain, p. 9

Ark of Noah, simply a raft of stupendous size, roofed over like a warehouse, Introd. p. xxiii

----, a notice of, recently discovered on Assyrian tablets by Mr. George Smith, Introd. p. xxiv, note

Arrest of Mariners, form for, Append. 11, p. 653

Arrest of Ships, form for, Append. 10, p. 652

Arrian, The Merchant, not the same as the more famous writer of Nicomedia, p. 111, note

----, various details given by, of the chief commodities passing from the East to West, and vice versâ, pp. 111-112

---- describes the voyage of Nearchus, &c., pp. 138-43

---- visits himself the Malabar coast, p. 149

Artemisium, naval engagement off, and defeat of the Persians, p. 73

Athens, its commercial importance and three harbours, the Piræeus, Munychia, and Phalerum, p. 72

----, fleet of, mainly instrumental in repelling Xerxes, p. 73

Atlantic Ocean, testimony of Edrisi to the dread the ancients had of it, p. 553

Author’s views on the arrangement of ancient rowers and on their method of rowing, pp. 281-290

Baalbek, with Tadmor (Palmyra), founded by Solomon to obtain a share of the commerce with Babylon and the East, p. 94

Babylon, admirable position of, as the entrepôt of Eastern commerce, and early manufactories at, of cotton and linen, p. 33

----, its commerce still of value, as late as Diocletian, A.D. 284, p. 34

Babylon, at the zenith of its greatness under Nebuchadnezzar, p. 97

Babylonia, ancient fertility of, confirmed by the statements of Messrs. Rich and Chesney, p. 32

Barcelona, early Republican Government of, p. 471

Barter, trade by, of Carthaginians with natives of W. Africa, p. 21

----, the sole medium of caravan trade with the East, according to Ezekiel, p. 96

Barygaza (now Baroach), on the Nerbudda, a great commercial entrepôt for the West, p. 111

Bayeux Tapestry, representation on, of the ships of William the Conqueror, p. 362

Bede, The Venerable, the first writer after departure of the Romans who mentions London, p. 339

Behaim, Martin, invents the astrolabe about A.D. 1480, p. 559

Belgæ, method of caulking ships in use among, as recorded by Pliny, Introd. p. xxix

Belzoni, M., discovers remains of ancient stations between Coptos and the Red Sea, p. 102

Berenice, fleets clear out thence eastwards in September for Arabia and Africa; in July for India, p. 102

Birch, Mr. Walter de Gray, publishes in the “Archæologia” a leaden tablet recording the aid given by Venice to Charlemagne at siege of Pavia, A.D. 774, p. 237, note

Birds used in navigation by the Northmen, as, according to Pliny, by the ancient Cinghalese, p. 359

Bitumen exported from Babylonia to Egypt in the time of Thothmes, Introd. p. xxv

Black Sea, nature of the trade of, and of the Sea of Azov, pp. 200, 201

Boats, the earliest, flat-floored and without decks, keel-less barges rather than ships, Introd. pp. xxvii-xxviii

----, Assyrian, on Tigris, &c., represented on the sculptures from Nineveh, pp. 35-39

----, Assyria, resemble in shape those on the mediæval corporate seals, p. 37

----, of the barbarians of the Euxine, description of, by Tacitus, p. 193

Boats of Skin on Assyrian sculptures, in use in Mesopotamia, Introd. p. xxiv

---- noticed by Pliny as common in British waters, and occasionally still met with in Wales and called Coracles, Introd. pp. xxiv-xxv

Boroughs, English, in the time of Edward the Confessor, nearly all in the hands of the King or of the nobility, p. 369

Bristol, trade from, to Iceland as early as King John, p. 393

Britain, position of, an island with dangerous coasts, rough seas and sandbanks, p. 299

----, its vessels at first, according to Cæsar, with ribs and keels of light wood covered with leather, p. 299

----, first known only to the Phœnicians or neighbouring tribes of the Continent, p. 301

----, not noticed by any writer between the invasions of Cæsar and of the Emperor Claudius, p. 312

----, list of towns in, recorded by Ptolemy, pp. 313-314

---- possessed a coinage of gold on Greek models before the time of Cæsar, p. 315, note

---- for the first time “Mistress of the Seas” under the strong rule of Carausius, p. 326

----, commerce of, at the time of the Conquest, in wool, lead, tin, iron, and slaves, p. 366

Britons closely connected with the Gauls, p. 302

---- ultimately gainers by the acquaintance they obtained with Rome through Cæsar’s invasions, p. 312

---- had no fleet wherewith to resist the invasions of the Northmen, p. 340

Bucentaur, state-barge of the Doge of Venice, historical details of, pp. 475-7

Cæsar, Julius, various reasons of, for invasion of Britain, p. 303

---- unable to obtain from the Gauls any information about Britain, p. 304

----, first invasion of Britain, Aug. 26, B.C. 55, with, perhaps, 8000 men in 80 galleys, p. 305

----, second invasion, B.C. 54, with, perhaps, 21,000 men and 2000 cavalry, p. 307

----, in second invasion, crosses the Thames, probably between Walton and Shepperton, and beats Cassivelaunus, pp. 310-311

----, invasions of Britain by, admitted by Tacitus and other Roman writers to have been only discoveries, p. 311

Canute ascends the throne, A.D. 1016, visits Rome and makes a treaty with Emperor Conrad in favour of the English pilgrims, and increases the number of mints in England, p. 360

Canynge, William, a celebrated merchant of Bristol in reign of Edw. IV., pp. 455-6

Caractacus, celebrated speech of, p. 315

Carausius, a Menapian soldier, seizes the fleet of Maximian, and reigns in Britain seven years, p. 197

Caravans, earliest notice of, in Genesis, ch. xxxvii., p. 25

----, route of Scythian, through Mongolia, Balkh, to N. of India and China, pp. 42-43

----, up to the time of Solomon, the only means of communication with the East, presumably used in the time of Moses—certainly in that of Gideon, pp. 86-7

----, conduct and management of, pp. 88-92

----, the more important routes of, pp. 89-99

----, south-eastern from Petra to Yemen, and along Arabian Gulf to Ophir (Saphar), northern from Tyre to the nations along the Black Sea, and southern from Tyre to Egypt, pp. 89-90

----, by Palmyra to Thapsacus and Mesopotamia, pp. 94-95

----, from Thapsacus through Palestine to Memphis, and two routes from Petra—both terminating at Gerrha, p. 95

----, route from Opis to Aradus, from Susa northwards, and thence to Candahar, &c., and from Susa, through Caspian gates, by Herât, Kâbul, and Peucela, to Central Asia, pp. 98-99

----, through Bactra, the chief route for commerce between India and the West, before Alexander the Great, and the only method of trading with China in the most remote ages, pp. 127-129

----, routes of, in India, chiefly for pilgrims to Benares and Juggernaut, p. 153.

----, from China to Constantinople in ninety days, viâ Oxus, Caspian, Cyrus, and Phasis, p. 161

Carthage, the most important of the colonies of Tyre, p. 16

----, ancient site of, recognised by modern travellers as the “Hill of St. Louis,” p. 17

----, in its commercial policy, adheres to the principles of Tyre, did not, as has been asserted, exhibit a lust of conquest, and only created a Navy in self-defence against the Romans, p. 19

----, first expedition from, under Hanno, to western shores of Africa; second expedition under Himilco, to the N.W. of Europe, p. 20

----, like the United States, indebted mainly to her merchant-shipping for her Navy, p. 24

----, first Treaty with the Romans, B.C. 509, shows that Rome had at that period little commerce, p. 169

Carthaginian trade with Central Africa, Malta, Elba, Spain, &c., founded on reciprocity, while that of all her neighbours was rigidly protectionist, pp. 23-24

Cassiteros and “Insulæ Cassiterides,” most probable origin of these names, p. 10

Cerne, Island of, the chief Carthaginian depôt in W. Africa, p. 21

Ceylon, the great entrepôt of the trade from the farthest East, in the earliest days, in the time of the Persians and Arabs, and to the present day, pp. 112-150

----, embassy from, to the Emperor Julian the Apostate, p. 151

----, description of its commerce by Cosmas Indicopleustes, A.D. 535, p. 155

Chaldæans, Early, like the Egyptians, of Hamite origin, and shown, by the cuneiform inscriptions, to have been the greatest people of the remotest ages, p. 27

Chanca, Dr., the physician of Columbus, writes an excellent account of his Second Voyage, p. 592

Charlemagne makes treaty of commerce with Offa, and extends French commerce by alliance with Harún-al-Rashíd, A.D. 813, pp. 343-4

---- insists that the rights of Amalfi, Venice, &c., as commercial cities, shall be respected, p. 464

Charnock, Mr., his view on the subject of ancient rowing, pp. 269-271

Chaucer, description of the English seamen of his time in Prologue to “Canterbury Tales,” pp. 436-7

China, method of caulking ships used in 1792 not unlike that of more remote times, Introd. p. xxix

---- (Thina), story of the trade with, in Herodotus, p. 128

Cicero’s defence of Roscius, argument in, turns on the method of book-keeping practised at Rome, p. 185

Cilician pirates, war with, and destruction by Pompey at Coracesium, p. 167

Cinnamon, one of the most valuable products of Ceylon, though not mentioned as coming thence in any ancient author, p. 156

Cinque Ports greatly distinguish themselves in action with the French, A.D. 1216, with the earliest existing charter of, from Edward I., A.D. 1272-1307, p. 394, note, and Appendix 4, pp. 629-632

----, duties imposed on, in return for their existing privileges, p. 402

Claudius, Emperor, intelligent zeal of, with reference to the importation of corn, pp. 176-7

----, by bounties, tries to improve the art of ship-building at Rome, p. 301

Coal-fields of Newcastle first opened temp. Edw. III., p. 410

Coal-vessels and barges, law for the admeasurement of, pp. 453-4

Coasting, the characteristic of all early navigation, p. 2

Coasting, difficulties and value of, as tending to form expert seamen, p. 2

Coasting character of the earliest voyages supports the story of the circumnavigation of Africa from E. to W., p. 86

Coasting trade from China to Bengal and Ceylon, p. 129

Coasts of English Channel defended by the West-Country merchantmen, and the French and Spanish fleets defeated, p. 434

Colchester, the principal city of Eastern Britain, made a Roman colony by Claudius, p. 320

Colonies, Phœnician, their respect for and friendship with the mother-country, p. 15

Colonists of Columbus, general disappointment of, at the scarcity of the gold they had anticipated, pp. 597-8

Columbus led by Ptolemy’s error in his longitude to fancy the New World much nearer Europe than it is really, Introd. p. xl

---- repairs to Lisbon about 1470, and marries the daughter of one of Prince Henry’s most famous navigators, Bartolomeo de Palestrello, p. 555

---- obtains an audience with the King of Portugal about A.D. 1480, but is not able to convince the learned Junto to whom his scheme was referred, p. 559

---- is kindly welcomed by the prior of the Convent of La Rabida, in Spain, A.D. 1485, p. 560

---- is received by Ferdinand and Isabella about A.D. 1486, p. 561

----, conditions on which he is to start on his voyage to the West finally settled, April 17, 1492, p. 565

----, nature and character of the vessels employed by, in his first voyage, pp. 567-571

---- starts from Palos on his first voyage Aug. 3, 1492, and sights land at the Island of Guanahani, Oct. 12, 1492, pp. 571-7

---- is fully persuaded that the land he had discovered was part of Cathay, p. 578

----, account of the natives by, in letter to the Treasurer of Ferdinand and Isabella, pp. 579-581

Columbus loses one of his ships, establishes a colony, and sails for Spain Jan. 4, 1493, p. 587

Columbus is received on his return with the highest honours and general rejoicings, pp. 588-590

----, on second voyage, starts Sept. 26, 1493, p. 591

---- discovers Guadaloupe, the Antilles, Hispaniola, and builds a new city, which he calls Isabella, pp. 593-4

---- discovers Cuba and Jamaica, p. 599

---- returns to Spain March 1496, leaving his brother Bartholomew in command, p. 603

---- sets sail on his third voyage to the West, May 30, 1498, p. 604

---- discovers Trinidad, May 31, 1498, and shortly afterwards the Gulf of Paria, Tobago, and the islands of Margarita and Cubagna, pp. 605-7

---- is sent in chains to Europe in 1500, with his brother Bartholomew p. 610

----, letter from, to Doña Juana de la Torres, recounting his wrongs and his sufferings, pp. 610-11

---- starts on his fourth and last voyage to the West, May 9, 1502, p. 614

---- discovers island of Guanaga, Honduras, the Mosquito Coast, Puerto Bello, and forms a settlement at the River Belem, pp. 615-18

---- reaches Spain on his return from his last voyage, Nov. 7, 1504, p. 619

---- dies, neglected by the Court, May 20, 1506, p. 620

Commerce, nature and usual routes of, between Rome and Britain under the Emperors, pp. 316-320

---- seriously restricted during the earlier Saxon period, pp. 342-3

Compass, Mariners’, not an invention of the Chinese, Introd. pp. xlii-xliii

----, or, as used to be thought, of the people of Amalfi, p. 233

Consul, the first English, appointed at Florence, p. 460

“Consuls of the Sea,” board of “The Six,” created by Florence, their powers and duties, pp. 524-530

Consuls appointed to each ship, with their duties and emoluments, p. 496

Constantinople founded A.D. 323, p. 197

----, its splendid position for the purposes of trade, pp. 198-200

----, efforts made by its founder to induce merchants to settle at, p. 201

----, commerce of, increased by the seizure of Alexandria and Syria by the Muhammedans, p. 223

----, Siege of, by the Crusaders mainly promoted by the commercial jealousy of Venice, p. 244

----, Trade of, much injured during the sixty years of the sway of the Latins there, p. 246

---- taken by Muhammed II. A.D. 1453, p. 252

Coptos, on Nile, goods sent thence by caravans to Myos Hormus or Berenice, p. 102

Corinth, excellent position of, as an entrepôt for commerce, p. 71

----, Isthmus of, called Diolcus, as the place where ships were drawn across, p. 77

Corinthians, the first, according to Thucydides, to build triremes, p. 70

Corn, bounties on, given at Rome on the importation of, p. 176

Corn-trade, enormous extent of, at Rome, at the commencement of the Empire, p. 188

Corsairs, Genoese, performed the duties of the men-of-war of our time, in searching neutral and friendly vessels, p. 519

Cosmas Indicopleustes, voyage to India and description of Ceylon, A.D. 535, pp. 154-155

Crete, vast armament for the reduction of, prepared at Constantinople, p. 225

Crusades, the four first, their objects and results, pp. 238-246

----, the first and second, disastrous to those who planned them, p. 238

----, the third, successful in the capture of Acre, Cæsarea, and Jaffa, p. 239

----, the fourth, diverted from its original purpose to the aid of Venice in the capturing of Zara and Constantinople, pp. 240-246

Custom-houses, Roman, with garrisons, in all the ports of the Red Sea, p. 106

Dacia, province of, ceded to the Goths by Aurelian, p. 192

Danes, The, land in the Island of Thanet, A.D. 753, p. 345

----, nature, names, and outfit of their ships, pp. 345-6

Danish Kings rule in Ireland and over Orkneys and Shetland Islands, p. 347

David, King, the first to open out the trade with Ophir, p. 27

----, the Jews owe to him their first practical knowledge of commerce, p. 28

Dead-reckoning by observation of the sun and stars all that the ancients had really to rely on, Introd. p. xli

Dias, Bartholomew, discovers the Cape of Good Hope on his return voyage from Algoa Bay to Portugal, p. 553

Duties, higher, imposed by Augustus on articles of luxury than of necessity, p. 174

Eastern Empire, its vast extent, from the Adriatic to Æthiopia and Persia, p. 215

Edgar, the first to have separate fleets at different stations to resist the Danish invasions, p. 358

English Fleet, wages of sailors of the fleet of Edward I., Append. 5, pp. 632-4

----, first roll of, A.D. 1347, p. 411; and at length in Append. 6, pp. 634-6

----, item of repairs of ships of Edward III., at Bayonne, Append. 7, pp. 636-641

----, pay of sailors, soldiers, &c., on board of, pp. 412-13

Egypt, the oldest granary for corn, as proved from Genesis, ch. xli., p. 26

----, under Pharaohs, an agricultural country, p. 46

----, commerce of, greatly promoted by the Greeks of Naucratis, p. 49

----, sailors of, bargemen employed on the Nile and canals rather than seamen, p. 50

----, boats of, how built and navigated, according to Herodotus, pp. 50-57

----, many and various kinds of vessels in, for cargoes, passengers, funeral purposes, but no large sea-going boats in, till the period of the Ptolemies, pp. 52-57

----, conquest of, by Octavianus, enormously promotes Roman commerce with the East, p. 173

Egyptian Records not to be harmonized with the Bible, p. 45

Egyptian Tombs, value of wall-paintings in, as delineating most of the customs of the country, p. 46

Egyptians, not Caucasians, or Semites, as shown by their skulls from the mummy-pits, p. 45

----, the first to build deck-houses on their vessels, p. 58

Eratosthenes draws a parallel of latitude through Gibraltar, Rhodes, and Lycia, to India, Introd. p. xl

Essex, the Earl of, the first to fit out an expedition to the Holy Land, p. 376

Ethelred, Law under, that every owner of 310 hides of land should furnish a ship for the Navy, p. 355

Eudoxus the First, voyage of, from Arabian Gulf to Gades, under Ptolemy Lathyrus, p. 81

Eudoxus the Second, of Cyzicus, story of the finding of the prow of an Egyptian ship, confirmed by Humboldt, p. 83

----, voyages to India, under Ptolemy Physcon and Cleopatra (his queen), pp. 81-83

Europe, the commerce of, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, wholly in the hands of the Lombard (or Italian) merchants, p. 478

Excise, value of, at Rome under Augustus, p. 175

Ezekiel, prophecy relating to Tyre and mainland of Phœnicia, in ch. xxvii., examined, pp. 7-14

Ezion-geber, the “Giant’s backbone,” description of, by Dean Stanley, p. 29

Fairs, the Statute, sprung out of the religious assemblies of the Sundays, p. 343

Festus Avienus, curious poem of, noticing early settlements in Britain and Ireland, p. 20

Firmus, a paper-maker, heads the revolt of Alexandria, A.D. 273, p. 159

Flanders, great increase of its trade, especially with the Italian republics and the East (viâ Constantinople), pp. 416-17

Flood, Scriptural account of, confirmed by the discoveries of Mr. George Smith, Introd. p. xxiv, note

Florence, early reputation of its banking establishments, pp. 523-4

----, naval expeditions of, to Egypt, Constantinople, and Majorca, pp. 525-6

----, the freedom of trade at, not unlike the practice of ancient Tyre, p. 527

----, the public galleys of, and their trade, pp. 530-1

----, consulates belonging to, established in various foreign countries as early as A.D. 1339, p. 531

----, principal causes of its commercial decline, pp. 532-3

Florin, a gold coin struck by the Florentines in imitation of the Venetian ducat, p. 526

Flotation, first invention of, in the hollowed log and raft, ascribed by the ancients to the gods, Introd. pp. xxi-xxii

Foreign Trade, especially that of Flanders and of the Italian republics, greatly advantaged by the wars in which England wasted her strength, pp. 416-22

Frankincense, enormous consumption of, at Babylon, p. 98

Franks, celebrated return of, from Black Sea through Straits of Gibraltar to Frisian coasts, p. 164

French, The, during the Middle Ages, with the exception of the Marseillais, chiefly notorious as wreckers, p. 470

Galley, French, description of, in 1701, pp. 262-5

Galleys, ancient, their various sizes and mode of rating, p. 253

---- of large size attributed by the ancients to Dionysius I. and to Demetrius Poliorcetes, pp. 255-6

----, general character of the ancient, pp. 256-9

----, difficulty of arranging the oars according to any ancient account which has been preserved, pp. 260-1

----, central portion of all, probably covered with awning or tarpaulin, p. 292

----, general conclusions relative to their rating or classing of, p. 296

Gaul supplies Rome with minerals, corn, salt pork, and cloths, p. 180

Genoa of comparatively little importance till it obtained the chief power in the East by its restoration of the Greek empire, whereby it obtained settlements at Galata and Pera, p. 247

---- gradually absorbs the whole commerce of Constantinople with the Black Sea and Central Asia, p. 248

---- makes war on Constantinople, whose Emperor, Cantacuzene, appeals to the Venetians and Turks for aid, p. 250

----, long struggle between it and Venice, ending in its ruin, p. 250

---- restores Greek dynasty at Constantinople, p. 509

Genoese famous as ship-builders—vessels built by them for Louis IX., A.D. 1268, pp. 510-14

Genoese pirates destroyed by the Turcoman ruler of Sinope, A.D. 1323, p. 519

Genoese ship of thirteenth century, probable representations of, from the MS. Virgil in Riccardi library, p. 513

---- of the sixteenth century, as given by Charnock, p. 518

Genoese ships, improbability of those described by Napier in his “History of Florence,” pp. 514-16

Genseric seizes Carthage, crosses to Ostia, and captures Rome, pp. 210-212

---- destroys the fleet of Leo the Emperor of Constantinople, who had attempted to take Carthage, p. 213

Gessoriacum (Boulogne), Pharos or lighthouse at, constructed by Caligula, p. 180

Glesum (glass?), the native name for amber among the Suionæ, according to Tacitus, p. 12

Gnomon the most usual ancient nautical instrument, Introd. p. xl

Goods, restitution of, ancient form for, Append. 13, pp. 654-6

Goths, first invasion of, A.D. 217, repressed by Caracalla, and divided, generally, into Ostro (east) and Visi (west), p. 191, note

----, general character of, ascertainable from the narrative of Tacitus in his essay “De Germanis,” p. 192

---- take Philippopolis and slay the Emperor Decius, A.D. 257, p. 192

Grants, register of, Append. 12, pp. 653-4

Greece the only European country which reared silkworms from the time of Justinian to the twelfth century, p. 224

Greek Empire at Constantinople restored by the Genoese, A.D. 1261, p. 246

Guanahani, the first land reached by Columbus, one of the cluster of the Lucayos or Bahama Islands, now known as Watling Island, p. 577

Hadramaut, chief trade of, frankincense, p. 120

Hadrian builds the famous Roman wall from Walls End to the Solway, p. 325

Hanseatic League, the first between Hamburg and Lübeck, commences A.D. 1241, p. 397

----, its method of trading, pp. 420-2

Hanse-Towns, important treaty with, made by Henry IV., A.D. 1401, p. 437

----, its charges of piracy against the English, and counter-charges, pp. 438-9

Haweis, Rev. J. O. W., suggestions as to the arrangements of the oars and seats, Appendix 1, pp. 625-8

Henry V. raises the finest fleet yet created in England, and builds large ships at Southampton, pp. 441-2

Henry, Prince of Portugal, justly termed “the Navigator,” sends expeditions along the Western Coast of Africa, pp. 550-1

Hiero, King of Syracuse, ship of, called the Alexandrian, probably not unlike the large American inland steamers, pp. 66-68

Hieroglyphics, Egyptian, key to the interpretation of, first discovered by Dr. Thomas Young, M.D., p. 44

Hindustan, the fame of its great wealth likely to attract conquerors at any period of history, p. 125

Hippalus, the discoverer of the Monsoons, believed to have lived in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, p. 104, note

Hipparchus the first to construct a map on the principle of “Mercator’s Projection,” Introd. p. xl

Hoest, trade by silent barter between Moors and Negroes, noticed by, p. 22

Holy Writ, the only source of our earliest information about the most ancient ships and commerce, Introd. p. xvi

Howell, Mr., views of, on ancients’ rowing, pp. 275-281

---- deems it impossible that vessels of more than five banks could have been rowed, p. 275

India, value of the trade with, and ancient and modern fear lest it should absorb too much of the precious metals required for the currency, p. 105

----, no reliable account of its actual resources before the invasion of Darius, p. 127

----, commerce of, with the West before Alexander the Great, chiefly by caravans through Bactra (Balkh), but scarcely known historically till he descends the Indus, pp. 127-134

----, comparative length of voyages to, in ancient and modern times, p. 145

---- to the E. of Indus little known till the time of the Romans, p. 148

---- shown by Arrian in his “Periplus” to have been very rich in manufactures, p. 152

----, caravans in, to Benares and Juggernaut, p. 153

----, Roman trade with, lasted more than five centuries, but interrupted by the Sassanian rulers of Persia, p. 157

----, Chinese trade with Western, and Ormuz, p. 158

Indian trade, no record of the ships, employed in, which, however, probably resembled that of St. Paul, p. 108

----, nature of the cargoes, freights thence for Europe, p. 109

Italian Republics, great variety of shipping employed by, pp. 486-493

----, custom of selling ships not required for the State, by proclamation, pp. 497-8

Jews, atrocious treatment of, during the whole of the Crusading period, pp. 469-470

Junks, Chinese, and other Chinese vessels have varied little, if at all, in the last 2000 years, pp. 131-3

Junto, the Spanish, are unwilling to admit the arguments of Columbus, pp. 561-3

Justinian, Reign of, distinguished by the overthrow of the Vandals in Africa, and of the Ostro-Goths in Italy, p. 215

Kane (in Hadramaut), in remote times, a place, having a direct trade with India, p. 119

Latitude, ancient, reckoned in stadia (of 201 yds. 1 ft. each) from the Equator to Syracuse, Introd. p. xli

Laws, Maritime, propounded by Richard I., founded on the “Rôles d’Oléron,” pp. 379-392

Leghorn, sale of, by Genoa to Florence, in A.D. 1421, a heavy loss to Pisa, p. 524

Liburnians, their light and swift galleys adopted by Octavianus at the battle of Actium, pp. 163-4

Lighthouses, ancient, at Alexandria, Ostia, Ravenna, Brundusium, Capreæ, and Gessoriacum—perhaps, too, at Dover Castle, and Moel Van in Flintshire, p. 59

London first mentioned by Tacitus, and then as a place of considerable trade, p. 313

----, charges on ships trading to, p. 355

----, merchants of, so powerful as to secure the throne for Canute’s son Harold, p. 361

----, William the Conqueror discerns its value, and gives its citizens special privileges, p. 369

Low Countries, principal commercial towns of, pp. 418-20

Lully, Raymund, attempts to prevent trade between Christians and Muhammedans, pp. 505-6

Lydia, Persians invade, in the hope of attaining thence a navy, p. 40

Lydians the first to strike coins, p. 40

Lyon, Capt., R.N., notice of trade by barter in the Soudan, p. 22

Machin, Mr., reasonable grounds for believing him the discoverer of Madeira, p. 551

Magna Charta granted by King John, A.D. 1215, p. 393

Magnesia, storm off the coast of, and heavy loss of Persian ships, p. 75

Major, Mr. R. H., edits two editions of “The Select Letters of Columbus,” p. 555

Malabar, ships for, left Berenice about the 10th of July, p. 107

----, ships from, left early in January, p. 108

----, notice in Arrian of the class of vessels employed in the trade of, p. 130

Malmesbury, William of, speaks of the great trade of London in reign of King John, p. 393

Mariners greatly favoured by the Emperors of Constantinople, pp. 203-5

----, lands granted for the support of, by the Emperors Valentinian and Valens, p. 205

Maritime commerce illustrated by the legislative measures of different nations, and traced from Phœnicia, through Greece, Rome, and the Middle Ages to the present time, Introd. pp. xvi-xviii

Marque, Letters of, first issued by Edward I., p. 404

Marseilles a port of importance about A.D. 500, p. 463

----, shipping of, profit largely by the crusading rage, pp. 466-9

----, passage money exacted by, from pilgrims, &c., pp. 468-9

Mediterranean peculiarly adapted, from its islands and bays, for the employment of small undecked craft, p. 3

Melvill, General, theory of the arrangement of ancient oars, pp. 266-9

Merchandise, rapid demand at Rome for the most costly, at the close of the Roman Republic, p. 172

Merchant Navy of England, state of during reign of Edward III., p. 414

Merchant vessels during the Middle Ages, armed and used as ships of war, p. 501

Merchant vessels charged by Henry IV., A.D. 1406, with the defence of the English coasts, pp. 439-40

Merchants, College of, established at Rome, B.C. 494, p. 169

Merchants, no senators permitted to be, and, as a class, looked down upon by Cicero and others, pp. 170-1

----, English form commercial associations of, abroad, especially with Flanders, A.D. 1248, p. 397

----, statute of, for the recovery of debts enacted by Edward I., A.D. 1283, p. 405

----, English, additional privileges given to, by Edward II. and Edward III., A.D. 1326,7-77, p. 409

----, laws greatly favouring, under Richard II., A.D. 1377, pp. 425-6

Merchants of Bristol, Northumberland, &c., largely dealers in slaves at the time of the Conquest, p. 366

Miletus, the parent of many colonies along the Black Sea, &c., p. 40

Moncenigo, Tomaso, famous speech of, as Doge, A.D. 1421, recapitulating the revenues of Venice, and opposing wars as unprofitable, pp. 480-2

Monsoons, periodical winds so called, first made known by voyage of Hippalus, in the time of Claudius, p. 104

Mosaic narrative of early history confirmed by antiquarian and linguistic research, and especially by the discoveries in Egypt and Nineveh, p. 123

Muhammedans, rise and rapid conquests of; their effects on commerce, pp. 218-19

---- found the town of Bussorah, and carry their trade to Sumatra and Canton, pp. 159-60

---- secure the entrepôt of Alexandria, and compel the natives of the West to seek new routes for the trade with the East, p. 160

---- take Jerusalem A.D. 636, Alexandria A.D. 638, and Africa A.D. 647, p. 219; but fail in all their early attempts to take Constantinople, pp. 219-21

----, papal bulls to prevent trade with, generally disregarded by the Venetians, pp. 504-6

Musiris, the furthest port to the East to which the ships of the West traded directly, p. 112

Naucratis, story of the port of, p. 48

Navigation Act, the first, A.D. 1381, of short duration, p. 427

Navy, English, great increase of, under Edward the Elder, Athelstan, and Edgar, pp. 351-3

----, special tax for the support of, p. 433

Nearchus, nowhere specifies the size of his ships, p. 144

----, length of voyage of, from the Indus to Susa, p. 145

Nebuchadnezzar builds Teredon, near Bussorah, p. 14

Needle, variation of, causes great alarm to Columbus and to his sailors, pp. 573-4

Nile, The, the chief source of the wealth and prosperity of Egypt, p. 50

Norman Power in Italy first limited to Aversa, but soon comprehends the modern kingdom of Naples, p. 232

Normans, origin of the; settlements in France and in Italy, p. 231

---- make two futile attempts to take Constantinople, A.D. 1081-1084, pp. 234-5

Norway, commercial treaty with, A.D. 1217, p. 396; and mandate in favour of the king’s ship, the Cogge, Append. 3, p. 629, and note

Oars, oblique arrangement of, shown on the relief from Trajan’s Column and on sculpture from Kouyunjik, p. 275

Offa, accession of, A.D. 755, his able reign and attention to commerce, pp. 340-341

----, dispute, but ultimate commercial treaty, with Charlemagne, pp. 341-344

Oleron, Rôles d’, principal articles in, and various details, pp. 379-392, and note, p. 379

Omana (Oman), vessels and trade with, in dates, &c., the same now as in ancient times, pp. 120-121

Ophir, various opinions of learned men as to its true position, p. 28

----, the “gold of,” probably a qualitative name, like “guinea-gold,” p. 28

Opis, a centre of caravan routes to Aradus and other places, p. 98

Ostia, port of, proposed by Cæsar, but executed by Claudius and Nero, commemorated on a brass medal of Nero, p. 189

Ovando, Nicholas de, sent as Governor to the West Indies, with the object of re-establishing the authority of Columbus, Feb. 1502, p. 613

Oxus, doubt whether the main stream of, ever flowed into the Caspian, p. 43

Paddle-wheel Steamer greatly resembles the row-galley of the ancients, p. 291

Pardessus, M., valuable work by, on the Maritime Laws of the Mediæval Nations, pp. 379-390

Pattala (near Kurachi), the most western mart of India, p. 111

Petra, the great centre of Arabian commerce, p. 95

Phœnicia, the leading maritime state at the earliest period, its average length and breadth, and mainland trade of, with the chief causes of its commercial success, pp. 4-14

Phœnicians, original seat of the, Introd. p. xxvi

----, advance of, from Persian Gulf to Mediterranean, illustrates the great law of migration westwards, p. 5

---- form the connecting link between the civilization of the East and of Europe and Western Africa, p. 6

----, the inventors of the alphabet, and the discoverers of the Cynosure or last star in the Little Bear, p. 14

----, the first to double the Cape, by order of Pharaoh Necho, B.C. 610-594, p. 80

Piracy, universal, during the long weak reign of Henry III., A.D. 1216-72, p. 395

Piræeus, port of, planned by Themistocles and executed by Pericles, p. 72

Pisa, early importance of, and trade with Saracens, p. 520

----, representation of ship on the Leaning Tower at, p. 521

----, long and bloody war with the Genoese for nearly two centuries, p. 522

Pliny, dread by, of the absorption of the precious metals for the useless luxuries of the East, p. 173

“Policie—Libel of English,” curious poem so called, asserting England’s right to the “dominion of the narrow sea,” and notice in of the trade of England with Flanders, Prussia, Germany, Spain, Italian Republics, Iceland, &c., pp. 443-9

Polo Marco, effects of the travels of, and of Sir John Maundeville, on the enthusiastic spirits of the fifteenth century, p. 557

Ports of England, the chief, temp. Edward I., p. 407

Portuguese take care to keep to themselves the secret of the “Guinea Trade,” p. 552

----, maritime discoveries of, pp. 549-553

Probus, Emperor, wall of, 200 miles long, from Danube to the Rhine, p. 196

Ptolemy (the Geographer), by an error in longitude, places China 60° nearer Europe than it is really, Introd. p. xl

---- in error with respect to the size but not to the commercial importance of Ceylon, p. 148

----, his account of India beyond the Ganges shows that it had been reached by navigators before his time, p. 149

---- places many “Emporia,” or places of call for merchants, along the coasts of India, p. 151

Ptolemy, son of Lagos, first Greek ruler of Egypt, p. 58

---- carries out the designs of Alexander the Great with reference to Alexandria, pp. 58 and 101

Ptolemy (Philopater), description, in Athenæus, of his great ship, built probably for show rather than use, of his Thalamegus, and of other smaller vessels, pp. 60-64

Ptolemy Philadelphus builds the port of Berenice, on the Red Sea, and attempts to cut a canal from Arsinoe, on the Red Sea, to the Pelusiac (or eastern) arm of the Nile, p. 59

Pytheas, the first to make a voyage to the North, account of, in Pliny, p. 11

Rámáyana, description in, of the wealth of Ayodhya (Oude), p. 126

Reciprocity, Treaties of, and extension of maritime commerce under Richard III., A.D. 1485, p. 459

Relics, disgusting purchase of, by ecclesiastics of the tenth and eleventh centuries, p. 368

Revenue and Expenditure, first accounts of, A.D. 421, pp. 452-3

Rhodian Maritime Law, remark of M. Aurelius relative thereto, p. 183

---- accepted by the Romans, and ultimately embodied in the “Rôles d’Oléron” and “Hanse Town Ordinances,” p. 184

----, the chief rule also for the ships of the Italian Republics, p. 502

Rhodians, their character as merchants and jurists, p. 181

---- the first to establish regulations for co-partnership, payment of officers, &c., p. 183

Richard I., Cœur de Lion, fits out an expedition in aid of the Holy Land (the Second Crusade), A.D. 1189, p. 375

----, results of the expedition under, p. 378

---- Ordinances of, for seafaring men, Append. 2, p. 628

Richard II., strangely inconsistent and protective laws of, pp. 428-430

Robertson, Dr., remarks on the story of Sesostris’s conquest of India, p. 124

Roman Commerce, its extraordinary extent and value under the first Emperors, pp. 177-180

Roman Commerce with the East, its general effect, the enriching a select few of the people, p. 173

Roman Empire, corruption and decay of, after the Antonine Princes, pp. 190-191

Roman Navy, chief stations of, at the commencement of the Empire, p. 164

----, slow in construction and at first very rude, with a list of ships built and their fate, during the Punic Wars, pp. 165-6, note

Romans in early times averse to maritime affairs, and dependent on Greece and foreign nations for the supply of their commercial wants, p. 163

----, first pay real attention to commerce on the destruction of Carthage and Corinth, p. 166

----, their method of book-keeping, pp. 184-6

Rome, the extremes of wealth and poverty visible there under the later Emperors, pp. 206-7

----, enormous baths at, for the free use of rich and poor, under the later Empire, p. 208

----, siege of, by Alaric and Goths, A.D. 408, p. 208

Romney Marsh, or Lymne, on each occasion the probable scene of Cæsar’s disembarkations, p. 307

Routes of Commerce, by land and sea, between West and East, p. 100

Rowers, action of, mainly regulated by the size of the galley, p. 289

Rowing of Ancient Galleys, peculiar view on the, by the Rev. J. O. W. Haweis, Append. 1, p. 625

Russians first mentioned in history as the owners of the entrepôts of Novgorod and Kief, and as settlers in Constantinople, pp. 228-9

----, ships of, scarcely more than large canoes, p. 229

---- make four unsuccessful attempts to seize Constantinople, pp. 229-30

----, ancient tradition that, in the last days, they should become masters of Constantinople, p. 231

Rymer’s Fœdera, condensed syllabus of, Append. 8, pp. 642-650

Safe Conduct, form of, Append. 9, pp. 650-2

Sailors, in ancient ships, chiefly of two classes, viz. mariners and rowers, Introd. p. xxxiii

Sailors, Greek, ordinary pay of, in the time of Demosthenes, p. 73

Saints, Biographies of the, the only historical documents from the fourth to the eighth centuries, p. 339

Sardes, Royal Road from, to Susa, described by Herodotus, pp. 92-93

Sataspes, Voyage of, and visit to a nation of dwarfs (Bosjesmans?), p. 81

Saxons, first coming of, and of other Teutonic tribes; their early ships probably copies of Roman galleys, pp. 327-8

Scale, Sliding, the first, applied to the importation of corn, p. 457

Scotland, no maritime force or trade in, till Alexander III., A.D. 1249, p. 406

Sculptures from Assyria exhibit most of the ordinary mechanical implements, as the pulley, saw, pick-axe, &c., p. 39

Scythians, according to Herodotus, carry on their trade in seven distinct languages, and are partly nomad owners of caravans, partly agriculturists, pp. 41-2

Sea, the dominion of, formally claimed by England in A.D. 1416, pp. 449-450

----, the limits of, determined A.D. 1674, by treaty with States-General, and not a mere barren title, pp. 451-2

Seals, Corporate, of the towns of Sandwich, Poole, Dover, Faversham, &c., A.D. 1238-1325, pp. 398-402

Seamen, English, wages of, in reigns of Harold and Hardicanute, p. 361

Seamen, European, manners, customs, and superstitions of, during Middle Ages, pp. 531-546

Seamen of London play important part in the coronation of Harold at Oxford, p. 361

Search, Right of, first enforcement of, in the case of Flemish ships, pp. 424-5

Seleucus, in treaty with Ptolemy the son of Lagos, establishes the trade between Red Sea and Hindustan, p. 148

Semiramis not a mythical personage, but an historical Queen of Nineveh, p. 5

Senators forbidden to engage in trade, lest they should neglect their duties to the State, p. 170

Sesostris (or Rameses II.), sculptured memorials of, at Nahr-el-Kelb, near Beyrût, and near Sardes, pp. 47-8

----, no evidence that he really conquered any part of India, pp. 123-4

Sheba, Queen of; her visit to Solomon, p. 29

Ships, decorations of, various names of, ceremonies at the launching of, officers employed in—the master, mate, boatswain, with various details of—rig and sails, undergirders, anchors and cables, and decks, Introd. pp.xxx-xxxvii

----, speed of, recorded instances of, in ancient authors, Introd. p. xliv

----, tin-freighted, anecdote of the captain of a, p. 11

----, possible that some as large as those of Ptolemy Philopater may have been constructed, p. 65

----, remarkable, of Olaf and Swein, Kings of Norway, and of Earl Godwin, pp. 357-8

---- of Italian Republics, stringent regulations regarding, when at sea, p. 502

---- of the Middle Ages, their decorations, &c., pp. 536-7

Silkworms brought from China by two monks, and reared by order of Justinian, in Greece, p. 216

Silver so abundant in Spain that Aristotle states that the Phœnicians made their anchors of it, p. 9

Singhalese at no period fond of maritime pursuits, p. 155

Slaves, a considerable item in the trade from Ireland, Saxony, Denmark, &c., p. 358

Solomon, King, promotes Jewish commerce, by commercial arrangements with Hiram, King of Tyre, his fleets being manned by Tyrian sailors, but under Jewish supercargoes, pp. 29-30

---- his fleets essentially coasters, p. 31

----, commerce promoted by him died almost with his death, p. 32

Spain largely supplied Rome with mineral products, p. 179

----, commercial treaty with England A.D. 1351, p. 424

Spices, enormous quantities of, imported from India to Rome, p. 110

St. Paul, account of the ship of, from a work by Mr. Smith, of Jordan Hill, Introd. p. xxxvii

Stanhope, Michael, Vice-Admiral of Suffolk, fine seal of, p. 401

Swyn, splendid victory off, A.D. 1340, and superiority of English sailors in naval tactics and intrepidity, p. 435

“Tarshish, ships of,” probably a phrase like our modern one of “Indiamen,” p. 9

Tennent, Sir Emerson, excellent work on Ceylon by, p. 156

Tin brought in the largest quantities from the Scilly Islands, partly in Phœnician ships to Gades, partly on horses’ backs across France to Narbonne, and early used with alloy of copper in “lion-weights” from Nineveh, and “Celts” from European graves, p. 10

Toscanelli, P., the best cosmographer of his days, supports the views of Columbus, p. 556

Trajan, Emperor, supposed galley of, found at the bottom of Lake Riccio, Introd. p. xxix

Treaty between Charlemagne and Offa, A.D. 796, pp. 343-4

Triremes, the first, said to have been built by the Corinthians, p. 254

Truro, pig of tin preserved there, p. 10

Tudela, Benjamin of, his testimony as to the state of Constantinople and the East in the twelfth century, p. 224

Turks, The, first make good their footing in Europe A.D. 1341, and gradually secure the country round Constantinople and Adrianople A.D. 1360-1389, p. 251

Tyre, traders of, extended their commercial intercourse to the Northern and Erythræan seas, Introd. p. xix

----, its commerce with the East carried on by caravans from Arabia Felix to Petra, and thence to Gaza, Askalon, and Ashdod, p. 13

----, merchants of, the first to establish agencies and factories and regular colonies, with a commercial policy liberal and enlightened in intercourse with other peoples, and worthy of imitation by some of the nations of our own times, pp. 15-16

Ulysses, ship of, described by Homer, Od. v. 243, Introd. p. xxvii

Vandals plunder Spain and Africa, p. 209

Venice, its rapid rise, and the cause thereof, pp. 235-8

----, exorbitant demands of, for shipping supplied for the Fourth Crusade, p. 243

----, galleys of, rob Alexandria of the body of St. Mark, p. 465

---- raises a fleet to suppress the Istrian and Dalmatian pirates, p. 465

----, annual ceremonial at, of the espousal of the Adriatic, p. 475

----, laws and commercial policy of, liberal, but, on the whole, protective, p. 479

----, special laws of, excluding from participation in her trade, German, Hungarian, or Bohemian merchants, pp. 479-480

----, character and extent of its arsenal, p. 482

----, tradition of enormous ship built there, A.D. 1172, and probability that she was so constructed, pp. 483-5

----, a fixed number of young and indigent nobles sent with each ship, p. 494

----, rejoicings at, when a ship was ready to start on its voyage, p. 500

Venetian Merchant Ships, value of their cargoes, p. 495

Venetians, in agreeing to carry Crusaders to Holy Land, demand an exorbitant freight, with leave to establish factories, p. 472

----, complaint against, on part of the troops employed on shore at siege of Tyre, p. 474

----, the Pope grants the dominion of the Adriatic to the, A.D. 1159, p. 474

----, contract by, to supply ships for Louis of France, A.D. 1268, pp. 485-486

Vienne, Sir John de, with a French fleet, plunders the English coasts from Rye to Plymouth, p. 432

Vikings of Scandinavia, account of, and of their remarkable skill as seamen, pp. 331-5

----, occupy the Hebrides, sea-lochs of the Highlands, and the north of Ireland; discover America (Vinland), and cruise along the Mediterranean to Constantinople, pp. 334-5

----, ancient clinker-built boat of, discovered in Denmark, pp. 335-7

Vincent, The Rev. Dr., doubts any circumnavigation of Africa before that of the Portuguese, p. 84

----, reply to his argument on this subject, pp. 85-6

Vinisauf, Geoffrey de, describes the crusading fleet of Richard I., pp. 376-8

Vossius’s discussion of ancient rowing in his “Construction of Ancient Ships,” pp. 271-3

Waghen, John de, of Beverley, privateering commission granted to, p. 432

Warwick, Earl of, “the King-maker,” piratical attack by, on a fleet of Genoese merchantmen, p. 454

Wealth of England at the time of the Conquest almost wholly in the hands of the great ecclesiastics, pp. 367-8

West, Evidences of land to the, recognisable in objects washed upon the western shores of Madeira, p. 563

Whales caught as far south as Biarritz, p. 391, note, and Append. 8, p. 648

William the Conqueror, character and number of vessels with which he invaded England, pp. 362-3

----, his fleet, really of inferior vessels, small in size and hastily put together—not, perhaps, unlike the present Lerwick fishing-boats, pp. 363-4

----, state of commerce, &c., in England when he invaded it, and taxation of different towns unequal, and on no determinate principle, pp. 365-372

----, remarkable decay of many leading towns during his reign, as shown by the returns of his “Domesday,” pp. 371-2

---- greatly increases the power of the English fleet mainly by aid of the Cinque Ports, p. 374

Winds, periodical, in Persian and Arabian gulfs and in Indian Ocean, favourable to early navigation in boats of small capacity, p. 3

---- the Etesian (or annual), blow steadily from the N. in July, between the Euxine Sea and Syene, during the period the Nile is at its highest, p. 103

Wine-Ships, return of all that entered at any English ports (except the Cinque Ports) for A.D. 1299, p. 408

Wisby, merchants of, adopt all essential particulars of the “Rôles d’Oléron,” p. 392

Xerxes, ships of, difficulty as to the drawing them up on a lee shore, with a gale coming on, pp. 75-6

----, ship-canal of, across Mount Athos, confirmed by recent observations, p. 76

Yemen (Arabia Felix), early notices of its remarkable wealth, and of the importance of the trade with, pp. 116-18

END OF VOL. I.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

Transcriber's Note